Over the last weekend, the American Atheists held their annual convention in the beautiful Queen City of the West, Cincinnati. Being presented with such an unusual and fortuitous opportunity, my curiosity left me no choice but to take advantage and make the hike downtown. I had heard that Gayle Jordan, an unsuccessful candidate for Tennessee state senate, would give a powerful address with her amazing story and I was not disappointed in the slightest.
Not having any prior experience with the organization, I was struck by several observations.
These people are smart … really smart, but I guess that makes sense in an organization where EVERYTHING is based on hard science, from belief formation to decision making. In addition to their intelligence they are incredibly courageous. These people make the voluntary choice to Stand Up, eschew the closet at personal risk to wealth and well being, and Stand Out to fight for religious freedom for EVERYONE. Freedom from legal discrimination and freedom from social discrimination. These people are Democrats on steroids!
This is in direct contravention to the fake religious freedom being enforced by white evangelical controlled governments. Fake religious freedom which is nothing less than a license to discriminate: from the denial of family rights such as marriage and adoption, all the way to allowing legalized child rape and forced childbearing. In the United States of America in the 21st Century. FTS.
This group has a strong synergy with LGBTQ concerns. The movement of so many people, especially disillusioned young people, to identification as Non-Religious adds new relevance to Atheism as a supportive community alternative.
Atheism is based on reason, as opposed to some rule-based morality where the rules were evolved to empower a bigoted unconstitutional white patriarchy.
For me, the most satisfying takeaway was that since we only have one chance and one life to make the world a better place, Activism is a key component to living THE good life.
Anyone who cares about free thought should appreciate that.