By Owen Jacques
21st August 2011
via Sunshine Coast Daily
Coast atheists set to hit the road for a convention of reason
SUNSHINE Coast’s non-believers are hitting the road.
Early next year, the 2012 Global Atheist Convention will again be held in Melbourne with some of the world’s best-known speakers on the list.
Referred to in jest as the “four horsemen of the anti-apocalypse”, God Delusion author Richard Dawkins, best-selling Sam Harris who wrote The End of Faith, Daniel Dennett and provocateur extraordinaire Christopher Hitchens will headline the event.
Atheists of various persuasions on the Coast are already preparing for their non-holy pilgrimage.
Peter Bycroft of Sunshine Beach refers to himself not as an atheist but a secular humanist.
That is, a non-religious person who has faith in human nature.
He will head south for what he believes is a chance to listen to some of the best speakers in the world.
“It’s an opportunity to hear leading experts talking about rationalism and atheism,” he said.
“There is quite a good mix of ages – you get a grip on the breadth of demography in this new enlightenment.”
“It’s usually well attended from the Sunshine Coast.
“Every postcode but one [on the Coast] is above the state average for non-believers.
“At the northern end [of the Coast] is the highest proportion.
“And non-believers often feel they are in the minority but they are growing into a majority.”
Mr Bycroft said with any large group, you will have the “drum bangers” – those pushing their views on to others, but it was not something he was interested in.
“The idea of these angry atheists, I’m not one of them,” he said.
More than 2000 attended the Rise of Atheism convention in 2010, the first of its kind in the country.
http://www.sunshinecoastatheists.com/
I guess the Sunshine Coast misses out on being a candidate for the “promised land”. Does anyone know the best postcodes for atheists?
I’ll be there and I also attended the 2010 event. I’m from Mudjimba. It’s great to see these events being organised and reported on in the media. Look up Christopher Hitchins on youtube and watch any of his debates he has with the religious. He tears them a new A-hole every time! Love that guy!
Why are you so unhappy that you have to come up with something like this? Why are you so insecure and miserable that you have to do this to hurt others? Did you ever think that maybe we don’t want your atheist nonsense and pride filled unrepentant mind labyrinth ‘truths’ PUSHED ONTO US? God bless you. Or your psychologist. I’m filled with pity for your people who have to act like the way you do on your site and setting up ‘conventions’ to feel better. Thats a lot of pain and fear, insecurity and intolerance. you must really be psychologically a mess.
Huh? This is a celebration of reason .. why do you think that equals ‘unhappy’?
I’m not miserable nor insecure, in fact it sounds like you are if you think that if people do not believe in a god or gods, and get together discussing issues around religion it is somehow ‘doing it to hurt others’
I don’t believein a god, that’s a simple fact. I didn’t choose to be this way to hurt others. If you are hurt by the fact I don’t believe, that myself and others are congregating and forming like minded communities … I would say it’s your problem not ours.
Australia is a multicultural, multi-faith community. Those of faith getting together and chatting, having conventions, community stuff doesn’t hurt me in the least so long as they are not asking for things like tax breaks to do it.
Hey, YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO!
No one is pushing anything onto you. You are here judging everyone who doesn’t believe in what you believe.
Your responses don’t hurt me, they make me feel sad that people such as yourself are not actually a minority. The bigotry and hatred that you are showing here, putting others down based on them coming together in a social community is not new.
How do people such as ourselves deal with it? In the past it used to be in silence as you were burnt at the stake in early times, or more recently simply cold shouldered in our communities.
We do not believe, we talk and discuss our society and religious privilege in it and the problems that causes. Of course you don’t like it, it threatens religious privilege and you have been taught that anyone that doesn’t think the same way as you is not as good as you.
It really shows.
Davo, thank you
Saves the rest of us from having to deal with that.
Treasure – I hope you one day learn some tolerance. Atheists respect reason and evidence, that doesn’t make us evil, doesn’t make us lesser citizens and it doesn’t and shouldn’t prevent us from having a forum to congregate in. Peace.
have your convention !!!!!!! but god will strike u down with pillars of fire!! just kidding man!!:):) but to tell u the truth i dont think anyone cares if u have a convention.I’m personally jewish but i dont give crap, not that it matters if i do. BUT ur movement, at least from this site seems to have certain militancy about it. Why the strenuousness tone?? chill out no one really cares what ya do as long as u keep it cool! stop making it sound like your fighting some “war”…one of the biggest claims against organised religion is that it has caused a lot of hate in the world, which it has. So shouldn’t the standing principle of an atheist be to work on spreading love? or at least tolerance? im just not getting that vibe it sems more like ur waging a war on religion instead of tolerating it as u expect to be tolerated..
Militant as in flying planes into buildings, shooting doctors or arming children in Uganda?
Not sure what you class as militant … do you mean congregating to celebrate reason and discuss concepts in regard all that is, is a militant action?
Would be interested if you could point out what you consider militant here.
Atheism simply means without a belief in a god or gods, outside that opinions can diverge massively. There are plenty of things I disagree with other atheists on, the only thing we have in common is a lack of a belief in a deity.