Atheist conferences

My weekend:

First, off to quickly visit the Atheist Alliance International conference in Los Angeles, put on by local heroes Atheists United. I interviewed guest speaker Robert Price for this certain new project I am finishing right now (here's a clip from the interview). I was there at registration time, and it looked like they had a good crowd of folks getting signed in. In the book room, I met Gary from the great online store Evolve Fish.

I met a nice guy named Richard from Atheists United at the registration table, and he asked why I wasn't sticking around. Had to tell him I was about to hop on a plane to the competing convention.

Then it was off to the 31st Annual National Convention of American Atheists in Philadelphia. About three hours after landing, I was presenting my plans for The Beast and the new project (post on the new project to come) to 150 or so atheists. A great crowd. Afterward, I met folks from San Francisco Atheists (including Don Havis, who wrote the essay "Jesus Never Was"), New York City Atheists, and all sorts of other places. (I'm just linking those from whom I retained a scrap of paper, as I have a horrible memory.)

It was a very encouraging weekend. While theocracy becomes a greater threat to the United States every day, plenty of liberals I know think the thing to do is to wring one's hands and make a few fatalistic jokes. The people I met this weekend believe the thing to do is to actually organize and do something about it. They have different strategies, but they're all taking action, and it felt good to see it happening.