Atheists Getting More Shine

There's an article on The New York Times Web site right now, about the growing popularity of disbelief in God. Groups such as the Secular Coalition for America, an umbrella group for 10 atheist organizations, are finding their memberships growing exponentially. There are also college campus groups, such as the Secular Student Alliance, which has nearly 150 chapters. And as you're driving down your closest highway, don't be surprised if you see adopt-a-highway signs for atheiest groups--the article says the groups are putting themselves in the public eye by volunteering at food pantries and cleaning trash from the roadsides to gain notoriety.
"They liken their strategy to that of the gay-rights movement, which lifted off when closeted members of a scorned minority decided to go public," the article states. The atheists' strategy of showing their faces appears to be working, as the New York Times article states that among findings on the recently published American Religious Identification Survey, the group of those saying they have no religion is the only one that has increased in all U.S. states in nearly 20 years.
The article says that athiests are not necessarily looking to strip others of their belief in God, but rather that they are attempting to put a more positive spin on athiesim and to shatter stereotypes about athiests.
Atheists are embracing the world and attempting to reach people of today in ways that are meaningful to them. Are we, as Christians, always doing this? Or are we using strategies that worked for the Americans of the 20th century, who were already primed to respect Christianity? We were preaching to the choir in a way back then. Are we still trying to preach to the choir, without realizing the pews are empty?
I hate to be a broken record, but I think we are. I think more Christian groups need to come up with more effective strategies for reaching a public that is looking for more in life. For example, I heard an older Christian woman recently express doubt about starting a blog by saying that the Internet is a dangerous place because it can bring Christians too close to contact with the negative things of the world. Sure, I understand that there are places where you can find pornography, images of graphic violence, and other terrible things, but there are people out there in less sinful places who are hurting and in need of encouragement from the Good News. To me, it makes sense to make outreach in these areas, and not to fear being "in the world" or be disgusted to the point of social paralysis by placing yourself there.
Jesus looked for people to be "fishers of men" in his day. Today, I'd argue that we need to be "Web catchers," drawing people in to our corners of the Internet. There is an audience of millions out there online. Through positive entertainment, encouraging stories, and insightful commentary on scripture as it applies to our daily lives, we can do more to reach them in ways that will appeal to them.