[extropy-chat] The next steps for individuals (was: Aw Nuts! Bush Wins...)

[Patrick Wilken]

On 4 Nov 2004, at 11:38, Al Brooks wrote:

>  I can't think of anything do-able, except maybe
> finding someone interested in communicating with
> select persons in the 'Middle East' to attempt to
> interest them in transhumanism/extropianism.

What about the Midwest and the South? It would seem to me that the 
problem is a lot closer to home. Its clear that the insane Christian 
meme that we have been politely ignoring for years has come home to 
roost. It was ignorable as long as it was not able to control the 
strings of government too tightly, but there are now enough 
fundamentalist christians to control the fate of the only remaining 
superpower.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/08/15/nyt.kristof/

I live in a small East German town. Just down the street I have a bunch 
of Texan Baptist missionaries who have opened up a cafe to lure and 
convert secular communists. These guys are really well organized and 
funded. Not only that I constantly bump into Mormons from Utah on the 
tram. How many Extropians do you find in Texas trying to spread the 
word? What hope do progressive forces have in a democracy when they are 
not willing to actively engage those who disagree with them? Reading 
(or writing) op-ed pieces in NYTimes is not going to change anyone's 
views in small towns in South or Mid-West. We need to become much more 
directly active if we want to change beliefs.

We need Extropian missionaries in the South and Midwest!

best, patrick