rebekah

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Posts by rebekah

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The Council for Secular Humanism 2010 Conference: Or, why are humanists so old?

This last weekend I attended The 30th Anniversary Conference of Free Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism in Los Angeles, CA.  This was my first atheist/humanist/freethinker type of conference, so I was very excited to finally get to meet some of the movers and shakers of the movement.

And in fact, I was actually able to talk to many people on my “must meet” list: including James Randi, D.J. Grothe, PZ Myers, Lawrence Krauss, Paul Kurtz, Jennifer Michael Hecht, and Richard Dawkins (I’ll spare you the obligatory fan girl picture).

Overall, it was a great experience.  If anything, I’ve learned to appreciate the fact that these big names in the atheist movement are just regular people — many of which I stood in line with grabbing coffee before a morning session.  Though, admittedly, it was a bit odd “getting used” to seeing Dawkins milling around the same room as I.

A few impressions, good and bad, of the whirlwind weekend I had in LA:

  • The attendees were definitely on the older side of the age scale.  I went with a group of Freethinkers from Saskatoon, and I think we may have brought down the average age of the room by 15 years or more.  Not that being older is a bad thing — but often the life of a movement can be found in its younger members.  There weren’t many under-40s in attendance.
  • The session topics for the conference panels were pretty interesting.  For example, on Friday afternoon there was the “Science and Religion: Confrontation or Accommodation?” panel between Chris Mooney and PZ Myers, amongst others.  (Part 1 and Part 2)  [If you're still hankering for more accomodationalist v. confrontationalist smackdowns, Mooney recorded an additional Point of Inquiry debate between himself and PZ.  (read: I'm not a Mooney fan)]
  • But the highlight of the weekend had to be the debate between Sam Harris and Robert Wright.  Granted, it took twice as long to get into the ballroom to hear the debate, thanks to the amp’d up security (a shame when speaking out causes you to hire bodyguards).  The full debate between the two (“Where Should Seculars Stand Today and Tomorrow ­­­­­on Questions of Religion and Belief?”) can be watched here. (read: Wright gets his ass philosophically handed to him by Harris)
  • Despite the conference’s title of “Setting the Agenda,” I didn’t notice much agenda being set.  The last session on Sunday morning was supposed to be a time for the attendees to ask questions and pose suggestions to the CFI/CSH leadership and panelists about the future of the secular humanism movement.  Unfortunately, due to a (really) unseemly outburst by Kurtz and an ousted CFI employee, most of the morning was spent recovering from shouting matches between the audience and the panel.  I tried to get Ron Lindsay (President and CEO of CFI) to commit to putting more effort/resources into secular parenting groups in the US and Canada, but his answer was mainly full of defensiveness over what CFI is already doing (read: not much) and evading any commitment beyond what is happening now in a handful of groups.

The LA Times wrote a piece about the conference, and I think Mark Oppenheimer (he who wrote the infamous NYTimes Kurtz article a couple weeks ago) will be issuing an article about the conference in the next few days.

Overall, I was really glad to be a part of such an experience — even if much of the conference was a bit marred by all the interpersonal politics going on behind-the-scenes. Now, more than ever, I recognize the unpredictable role that “human” can play in humanism.

[p.s. Katie and John, Lindsay showed a PowerPoint slide of you two standing in front of CFI Transnational with Justin.  You're famous! (or something)]

Introducing Rebekah

Hey readers,

I’m excited to be a part of this blog with other Canadian atheists, except that I’m not technically Canadian (though I am an atheist).  I’m from the States — specifically: Savannah, Georgia, which is definitely a part of the Bible belt.  I grew up as an pastor’s kid and was highly involved in the church, in several capacities.  My childhood was influenced by evangelical (read: fundamentalist) Christianity, and I’ve also had experiences in a mega-church environment and also the “emerging church” movement.

Happily, these days I’m a recovering ex-evangelical and I’m out of the Christian faith system — though all of my family is still heavily involved.  Here in Saskatoon, I’m active with the Saskatoon Freethinkers, and I coordinate the Saskatoon Secular Family Network group and Café Apostate.

This weekend, I’m helping to host our area’s 1st Annual Freethinker Family Camp, and in the fall I’m beginning my training to become a secular Celebrant.

My contributions to the blog will be more about the humanist side of Canadian atheism — specifically around the area of secular parenting.  When describing our secular parenting group, I jokingly said our purpose is to “inoculate our kids against indoctrination” — and I think it goes both ways.  Even if as an atheist, I think it’s possible to restrict your kids’ education/experiences to only see the world in one way.  Even though I’m not a believer, I can see the importance of exposing our kids to different faith belief systems, and letting them make the choice as to what they “are”.  I like the term “freethinking” because it leaves the choice up to them as to what they want to believe (or not).

I’m looking forward to the discussions this blog will inspire!  I’ll do my best to stir the pot.