Dealings With The AFA

[Irrev-Black]

@two dogs - your post has me looking for a Dire Straits song, and it ain't Twistin' By The Pool.

[two dogs]

@two dogs - your post has me looking for a Dire Straits song, and it ain't Twistin' By The Pool.

Money for Nothing?

The bastards were too tight-arsed to spend $15,000 to sponsor the Secularism Australia Conference 2023[ (yet claiming that they were a sponsor), seemingly reluctant to do fuck all with their considerable funds to achieve their aims and objectives?!

[two dogs]

...
The bastards were too tight-arsed to spend $15,000 to sponsor the Secularism Australia Conference 2023[ (yet claiming that they were a sponsor), seemingly reluctant to do fuck all with their considerable funds to achieve their aims and objectives?!

To be fair, for the 12 months ended 31 January 2023, the AFA had assets of $166,823.57, of which $77,212.21 was in shares from a bequest, so they had only around $90,000 in readily accessible funds leading up to said conference.

I appreciate that a $15,000 sponsorship would have consumed ~17% of their accessible funds, but they don't seem to have any plans to spend any money?.

What really shits me is that in the past, the organisations in the coalition behind the Secularism Australia Conference have generously donated to the AFA's 2011 and 2016 "Mark No Religion" census campaigns. Yet, the current AFA arseholes were unwilling to reciprocate!

Their current net assets of $246,244 are largely due to the value of the bequest of 9,181 shares in Technology One Limited apparently doubling since last year!

[two dogs]

I'm still awaiting a response from the AFA regarding my request for a copy of the minutes of their 2024 AGM, which was held on March 22nd.

Yesterday evening, I sent a fourth email attempting to elicit a response. It went through a number of drafts, in an attempt to tone down my frustration, including removal of the statement "Piss, or get off the pot!"

I further expanded the recipient list in the hope that someone on the CoM might respond!

[Irrev-Black]

So old it pre-dates the Dorito logo.

Wind-up-AFA-500.png (90.79 KiB) Viewed 609 times

[two dogs]

Un-fuckin-believable!



I've endured this shit for at least 2022, 2023, and 2024, not receiving the minutes I requested until over two months after the AGMs, despite the AFA's Constitution stating that they must be recorded within one month!

Karen is a lovely, kind-hearted person who has been the AFA Secretary for decades. When I was on the AFA CoM, I recall her indicating, probably circa 2015, that she'd like to be relieved of that role by the end of 2017. Sadly, no effort has apparently been made since then to make that happen.

You'd think that if she repeatedly failed to fulfil her constitutional duties, the CoM would have some concerns, but apparently not.

Fuck me dead, here are the voluminous 2023 AGM minutes that took her months to record!

[Irrev-Black]

Contrast the AFA with this email I received from American Atheists.

(quoted in part.)

Dear Friend,

On Wednesday, American Atheists announced a bold new plan—one that clarifies our objectives, outlines the strategies we’ll use to achieve them, and defines the values that will guide us there.

This organization has been around for more than six decades now. Of course, a lot has happened in that time: our country has changed, and our nonreligious community has grown. So, too, must we change and grow.

When we began this year-long strategic planning process, I wanted us to be intentional about doing things differently. As a woman, an atheist, and a longtime LGBTQ+ advocate, it was important to me that we engage a group of voices as diverse as our secular community. We solicited feedback from members, community leaders, activists and advocacy partners. But we didn’t shy away from talking to the critics and detractors that weren’t in our corner or even in the same room.

The result of all that work is so much more than words on a page.

In the end, we developed a comprehensive strategy for the future with the input of more than 34,000 people, hundreds of focus group participants, and dozens of organizations through surveys, over 200 stakeholder interviews, and conversations across all levels of American Atheists. When we looked at the data and listened to those voices, the message was loud and clear: We must do more to meet the challenges of today because the stakes have never been higher.

The ideological divide in our country is reaching a tipping point. Threats and acts of political violence are on the rise. Trust in public institutions is at an all-time low. Misinformation is rampant. People, including those in positions of great power, are abandoning the very notion of democracy in favor of theocracy. The wall between religion and government is crumbling. And all of this is happening now and happening fast.

These are difficult times, but with a renewed drive and a clear direction, American Atheists stands ready to lead the way.

There's the bar set.

Does the AFA even have its figurative running shoes on?

[two dogs]

...
I've endured this shit for at least 2022, 2023, and 2024, not receiving the minutes I requested until over two months after the AGMs, despite the AFA's Constitution stating that they must be recorded within one month!

Karen is a lovely, kind-hearted person who has been the AFA Secretary for decades. When I was on the AFA CoM, I recall her indicating, probably circa 2015, that she'd like to be relieved of that role by the end of 2017. Sadly, no effort has apparently been made since then to make that happen.

You'd think that if she repeatedly failed to fulfil her constitutional duties, the CoM would have some concerns, but apparently not.
...

Here's the most recent update on my quest to obtain the minutes of the AFA's 2024 AGM, held on the 22nd of March 2024.



Perhaps I'm a heartless, unfeeling, old arsehole, but I recall being able to function quite normally not too long after the death of my parents (in 1999 and 2001) and subsequent to arranging & attending their funerals, resuming work in a demanding IT systems support role after a couple of days of compassionate leave?