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There is much, MUCH, more to this
sad and sordid story but, these are the highlights.
Beltway Atheists Meetup was formed
in December of 2006 by Rick Wingrove and Jeff Wismer.
The primary goal was to be an inclusive regional social organization
for atheists and to facilitate atheist activism. Rick created
the name, designed the logo, wrote the mission statement, and
put up this website. Jeff became the first Organizer of Beltway
Atheists.
In May of 2008 Beltway Atheists, Inc., a non-profit corporation,
was formed as a separate entity for fund raising, education
and advancement of atheism.
By summer of 2008, membership in Beltway Atheists Meetup had
reached almost 450.
In August 2008, under intense pressure, Jeff Wismer resigned
as Organizer of BA Meetup. And, because of Rick's primary activities
as Virginia State Director and Capitol Hill Representative
for American Atheists, he asked Shelley Mountjoy to act as
Organizer for the BA Meetup.
By the middle of 2009, Shelley Mountjoy was an officer in
over 10 atheist organizations including several in the DC area.
Some of these organizations had interests in conflict with
the interests of BA.
By fall of 2009, the working relationship between Shelley
and Rick had grown quite strained.
In December of 2009, as Organizer of BA, Shelley refused to
plan, participate in, or even attend Beltway's 3rd annual Festivus
party. She also refused to allow the use of the Meetup account
to sell tickets to the event. Days before the event, a rumor
was circulated that the event was cancelled.
Following an especially hateful email from Shelley, I cut
off all direct communications. I simply could not stand the
prospect of another pointless and combative phone conversation
with Shelley.There exist no phone calls or emails from me addressed
to Shelley after December of 2009
In April of 2010, there was an exchange of emails,
among a select group of current and former BA members, which
provoked Shelley to expel several long time members
of Beltway Atheists.
These were private emails, not posted on the Beltway message
board. None of the emails were addressed to Shelley, but one
of the recipients, Christopher Arntzen, who had recently emerged
as Shelley's Assistant Organizer, forwarded the email thread
to Shelley.
Shelley and Christopher jumped into the email debate and treated
valid criticism of errors in judgement as personal attacks.
When the debate did not go well for them, their critics were
ejected from BA.
Shelley/Christopher first ejected a woman, Kathryn B.,
who was the 4th member of Beltway Atheists, for reasons which
were transparently personal and vindictive.
For exposing the personal and vindictive nature of Kathryn's
expulsion, Rick, the co-founder of BA, was ejected from Beltway
Atheists - for reasons which were transparently personal and
vindictive.
When Rick was ejected, his partner Ellen B., posted a notice
on the Beltway message board saying simply that he had been
kicked out of Beltway Atheists. The message was taken down
and Ellen was ejected within a couple of hours - for reasons
which were transparently personal and vindictive.
In a final email in that string, Rick noted that despite his
removal, the meetup he co-founded would continue to carry the
name he created and owns. Rick rejected calls by my friends
and supporters to pull the name because it would have been
a dick move and he had previously told Shelley that he would
never do that. Within a day, however, Shelley changed the name
of the Meetup to the Capital Beltway Atheists, a move which
confused and angered many members, and causing some to resign.
Shortly after the purge at Beltway
Atheists, Rick formed a new Meetup with an old name - NOVA
Atheists. For now it is focused on Northern Virginia. It is
intended to be an inclusive social organization for local atheists
like Beltway once was.
On June 9, 2010, the once great
Beltway Atheists locked down and went private! After a period
of turbulence, the meetup was once again open up.
For more fun with less drama, you can find us here: http://www.meetup.com/NOVA-Atheists/
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Good
people, not god people
