Founded 2011 | ||
Founder Marissa Torres Langseth and John Paraiso Location Imacron Media Center, 4th floor 115 Kamuning Rd Quezon City 1103, Philippines Locations Planetveien 22, 1540 Vestby, Norway Method Education, outreach, advocacy Mission To promote public understanding of atheism and agnosticism;
To eliminate myths and misconceptions about atheism and agnosticism;
To promote social responsibility by replacing superstitious imperatives with rational secular solutions, grounded in lack of supernatural beliefs. | ||
The Philippine Atheists and Agnostics Society (PATAS) is a nonprofit organization for the public understanding of atheism and agnosticism in the Philippines. It serves to educate society, and eliminate myths and misconceptions about atheism and agnosticism. It speaks against discrimination of the non-religious, and for equal opportunities as Filipino citizens. PATAS encourages harmonious information exchange among its atheist and agnostic members, and encourages its members to come out and speak for their lack of religious beliefs. The society was founded in February 2011 by Marissa Torres Langseth and John Paraiso, who served as the first chairperson and president, respectively. Langseth retired in 2014 and Yek Lai Fatt became the new chairman.
Contents
Atheism/Agnosticism 101
Members meet in public parks in the Philippines to discuss about atheism and agnosticism, and how to approach discussions and debates.
Coming Out Campaign
One of the activities of the society is a monthly Coming Out Campaign, where they prepare audio and video presentations, as well as inform people about atheism and agnosticism. They do this in public parks and other key areas throughout the Philippines.
Know Your Religion
PATAS also organizes Know Your Religion (KYR) events which entail visits to various religious institutions in the Philippines. Among its objectives is to understand better the culture of religious faith for PATAS members to be able to give first hand reviews and critiques as to what they see, as well as engage in focused group discussions with religious devotees.
Good without Religion
An organized outreach program for marginalized communities which include feeding, education, and medical/dental outreach programs.
First Atheist and Agnostics Convention
On April 21, 2012 PATAS organized the First Atheists and Agnostics Convention in the Philippines. That was also the first atheists/agnostics convention in Asia. It was a one-day learning event and social gathering of Filipino nonbelievers.
The convention, with its theme: “Filipino non-belief—are you ready for this?”, also served as a venue for the public exposure for socially-involved and organized community of Filipino nonbelievers.