United Coalition of Reason


The United Coalition of Reason, or UnitedCoR for short, is a national organization in the United States that works to raise the visibility of local groups in the community of reason. Nationally this is done by conducting campaigns that highlight the fact that nontheists live in every community across America. Locally this is done by organizing and nurturing local groups to communicate with each other and hold events and other outreach activities.

History

The organization was founded in early 2009 by a philanthropist and entrepreneur from Philadelphia, PA. Its first year created a network of twenty local coalitions, drawing worldwide notice. This effort included the sponsoring of several ad/media campaigns around the country such as non-believer billboard and bus ads in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. In 2010 the organization launched ten more local coalitions with the help of the American Humanist Association and paved the way for numerous others to launch in 2011. The most significant developments during 2010 were acts of vandalism against billboards or bus ads in Sacramento, California; Detroit, Michigan; and St. Augustine, Florida. Also significant was a call by local clergy in Fort Worth, Texas, for a boycott of the bus system because of ads by the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason.

Goals

The organization's website describes four key goals, all achieved without soliciting donations from local leaders or other organizations:
Although not a full member, the national coalition has endorsed the mission of the Secular Coalition for America. UnitedCoR has itself been endorsed by or has cooperative relations with American Atheists, the American Ethical Union, the American Humanist Association, the Center for Inquiry, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Atheist Alliance International, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, the Humanist Society, FreeThoughtAction, the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the Secular Policy Institute, the Association for Mindfulness Meditation and Secular Buddhism, the Richard Dawkins Foundation, the Secular Student Alliance and many others.
The organization has local coalitions all over the United States and in Canada in: