2012 Global Atheist Convention

Circumstances have conspired to get in the way of my writing up the 2012 GAC – partly because of my being busy with assorted aspects of theatre (rehearsal, shows and reviews) and partly because I got a shitty head cold that rendered me incapable of writing.

Unfortunately, it taking so long has meant that I've lost both momentum and some of the details of what I actually experienced; so, rather than struggle to dredge up what might be inaccurate information, I'm going to focus more on the 'bigger picture' rather than the specifics of what happened.

Putting it in context

Once again the question of 'what's the point of an atheist convention?' came up, this time on an (atheist) friend's Facebook status; this led to a somewhat complicated discussion in which I ended up being a little blunt with the person who'd asked it – and which subsequently became a lot more heated after I'd left it.

And, since it's a question that's been asked by a few people since – both atheists and theists – I thought it worth answering as best I can.

What do you talk about?

I suppose the first thing to clarify is that to consider it a convention about atheism wouldn't explain it – it's far more accurate to say it's convention for atheists, about a whole range of topics relevant to atheists and atheism. The question of 'why' the majority of attendees are atheists didn't come up; it's kind of a given.

So, why have it?

I guess it'd mean different things to different people, so I'll only speak for myself.
Like any other group of people, you can probably separate atheists along a spectrum measuring interest in the intellectual and philosophical aspects of life from low to high; I – and presumably most of the other attendees – would lie closer to the 'high' end, meaning they'd be interested in lectures on topics like ethics, philosophy, science and politics.

Then there's the idea of a sense of community – and I think this is one of the important points that many people, atheist and theist alike, aren't grasping. And it's so important that I'm putting it in large font.

Simply put: despite the fact Australia isn't, overall, a heavily religious country, atheism, for a lot of people, isn't easy. If someone's come to it after having grown up in a strongly religious family/community, the opportunity to meet and gather with like-minded people is very appealing – heck, it was part of the reason I went, and I grew up free from any (serious) belief in religion¹, and have never experienced any negative consequences for my unbelief; I just like to talk about the topics mentioned upthread and I don't find that many of my friends – the meatspace ones at least – are all that interested in doing that.

Another part of it is solidarity, in the political sense. It's not something people are necessarily aware of – since it's deliberate played down by the politicians and the media – but, despite the fact we are supposedly a secular country with quite a low self-reported level of strong religious belief, certain religious groups have a grossly disproportionate amount of political power and influence and with that comes the ability to determine social policy. And I, for one, have a huge problem with that.

To have something like an atheist convention that attracts around four thousand attendees and some of the world's leading thinkers is a way of sending the message that there are significant numbers of unbelievers out there who take their position on such things seriously, and they want their views considered by parliament – and may just factor that into to which box they tick come election time.

Last, but certainly not least, there's the chance to just have some fun. The presenters included quite a few standup comedians – though that in itself did raise some questions, as noted by Russell Blackford here. And there were a few of my friends from the internet going as well, and I was looking forward to having a few drinks with them.

The speakers – an overall impression 

There was a combination of inspiring, informative, illuminating, frustrating (in terms of what they revealed rather than their performances) and fascinating speakers – ethicists, writers, philosophers, scientists of numerous fields, comedians, film-makers, sciences educators and others.

We were told how cutting-edge research is answering the question of how the universe works – and, later, how our brains perceive the world. We had atheism explained in a historical context, in a social and political context and in a legal context. We were shown how we can be moral and ethical without gods or holy books. We heard about what different atheist groups around the world have achieved in defeating religious opposition to free speech. There were philosophical takes on everything from death to meditation.

We giggled, we laughed, we clapped, we cheered, we cringed. Heads were shaken in disgust. Tears were wiped away.

AC Grayling's hair was admired by all. Geoffrey Robertson made lawyer jokes. Daniel Dennett made us wish he was our uncle and then told us about The Clergy Project, which was set up to help professional theologians who are secretly atheist but can't reveal that for fear of the consequences. Leslie Cannold told us we lived in a 'soft theocracy' and then showed us why. Sam Harris asked us to meditate; we – most of us, anyway – meditated. He's just that sort of guy.

Lawrence Krauss's vocal similarities to Wallace Shawn as Vizzini in The Princess Bride made us wonder if he'd advise us to never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line. Ayaan Hirsi Ali blew us away with her bravery. PZ Myers showed that 'Minnesota Nice' doesn't always apply (read the transcript here). Peter Singer gave us lots to think about out while seemingly plugging Stephen Pinker's latest book.

A dozen or so Muslim men (of course; the women, apparently, were 'at home where they belong', according to them) chanting and bearing misspelled signs – and one calling for the murder of Ayaan Hirsi Ali; so much for the 'religion of peace' – but were shocked into silence by a succession of same-sex couple kissing and repeated choruses of 'where are the women?'

Husband and wife Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor and science educator Eugenie Scott explained how to fight the good fight against the anti-atheists in the USA; Richard Dawkins said he wanted to take the term 'intelligent design' back from the anti-science creationists. Jason Ball and Tania Smith showed us that Australians are involved in atheism on a global level, and short filmmakers Emma McKenna and Craig Foster premiered their latest work, Parrot.

And, to be perfectly honest, that doesn't even cover half of it.

Live-tweeting (the tag was #atheistcon) was prevalent – it gave each speaker an interesting subtext – and Lawrence Leung judged one of mine worthy of one of the 'best tweets of the day' awards. Specifically, this one:

There some online debate (see here and here) and regarding comedian Jim Jefferies, whose abrasive style rubbed more than a few the wrong way; the fallout once again raised the question about whether misogyny – even when feigned as part of a character, as it is argued Jefferies' shtick is – is a problem in the atheist community².

It was also a reminder that we live in a country that's supposedly secular, but where religious groups have significant political power, influencing state and federal governments to unfairly benefit their interests and against the interests of citizens who do not share their specific beliefs – in areas such as taxpayer-funded religious proselytising in schools, funding for special religious events and marriage equality.

I'm rather hoping something can be done about that.

Christopher Hitchens tribute

Both Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss were good friends of Hitch's, and they each gave a short speech about the man. And there was this video of a few of Hitch's 'greatest hits':

I so wish he'd made it to the convention. To have seen him in action, live, would have been an unforgettable experience. He was one of the most outspoken, uncompromising enemies of sloppy thinking and injustice; while he was not without his faults, he stood up for what he believed in and refused to back down under any circumstances, and did not grant religion the privilege many public figures do.

He will be missed.

Around the traps 

I had interesting conversations with assorted people, including writer/philosopher Russell Blackford, Gruen Transfer's Jane Caro, AC Grayling, Martin from Furious Purpose, Mr Deity's Brian Dalton and a bunch of people from Twitter who I'm now following.

Further reading

That's about all I've got to say on the event. But there are plenty of other people out there who've written/spoken about it; here are some links to their blogs/videos/articles:

Pharyngula
Martin S Pribble
Butterflies and Wheels (this one is very thorough)
Lawrence Krauss in the SMH
Article about the Clergy Project in The Age
FearBlandness on YouTube (part 1; there are several more)

¹I went to Church – well, Sunday School – sporadically until about age 9, and the local Uniting Church youth group for a few years after that; I was never, however, a believer in any sense of the word – to the point where I didn't grasp the idea that people genuinely believed in any of it until a few years after that. It's still something I'm more than a little perplexed by.
²I – personally – don't find his style of comedy funny, though I'm aware of the fact that plenty of people seemed to enjoy it. But I can also appreciate why some people wouldn't, as well as the argument that even feigned misogyny has no place in the atheist community, which – as I mentioned – has had some problems with being perceived as unwelcoming toward women.