As a devoted atheist, anti-christ and humanist, I am working hard to make sure that people in my metro area are able to free themselves from God in their lives. And because humanity seems to be so ritualistic, I have became ordained with the First Church of Atheism a few months ago. The rationale as to why I did this is because I’d like to perform secular ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, commitment ceremonies, etc. for people who just don’t want to defame their special moment with the name of a god, any god. But oh so sadly, I am the only listed atheist minister in Colorado. Now, this might not pose a problem for people in the Denver/Boulder corridor but what about those poor godless people in places where public transit cannot reach? What about those who need these kind of ceremonies but cannot get them because of the fact that there simply is no atheist minister in their area?
Also, we need to be better organized and better trained to provide care to new atheists. I remember that when I left the faith, I was a mess because I could not reconcile the fact that there was no god. But with time, I eventually learned that yes, you can lead a moral life without religion. And while websites like Christians Anonymous and Ex-Christian.net do help with the deconversion process, people should definitely know about these before hand. Since atheism has no doctrine, we can enjoy the humour in documents like the 10 Suggestions for Atheists (I’d call them commandments, but who could possibly command atheists to do these things?).
I would encourage everyone to become ordained. It is relatively easy and absolutely free to become ordained! Although, you will have to pay for a certificate if you wish to actually perform official ceremonies. True, there are some upsides and downsides that come with there being a “Church of Atheism”, but I think that the upsides outweigh the downsides and people of reason and discernment should seriously consider becoming atheist ministers!
So far I’ve found that just being a minister in an atheist church has helped a lot in bringing up the subject. It gets people asking a lot of questions which is nice. In the few months I’ve been ordained I’ve already changed a few peoples understanding of what a marriage ceremony is and what atheism is. Evolution, although not strictly atheist, is a good starting point too.