|
Source
Atheists, others gather at Reason Rally By Lori Aratani, Published: March 23 It was, one speaker said, their coming-out moment. Atheists, non-theists, secularists and others who say they believe in reason, not God, gathered Saturday on the Mall for the first Reason Rally, where they pledged to stand up for their beliefs in a society that they say sometimes views them with skepticism and distrust. Richard Dawkins spoke with The Washington Post's Sally Quinn about the upcoming Reason Rally, a gathering of atheists, agnostics and non-believers, that will take place on the National Mall on Saturday. Richard Dawkins spoke with The Washington Post's Sally Quinn about the upcoming Reason Rally, a gathering of atheists, agnostics and non-believers, that will take place on the National Mall on Saturday. “God is a myth,” said Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists. “Closet atheists, you are not alone.” Despite intermittent rain, several thousand people gathered on the lawn across from the National Museum of American History to hear a roster of speakers that included comedians, activists and the first openly atheistic member of Congress — Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.). “We’re here,” the crowd yelled in a chant led by Fred Dewords, national director of the United Coalition of Reason. “We’re godless — get used to it.” Organizers said the aim of the rally was twofold: to unite individuals with similar beliefs and to show the American public that the number of people who don’t believe in God is large and growing. “We have the numbers to be taken seriously,” said Paul Fidalgo, spokesman for the Center for Inquiry, which promotes scientific method and reasoning and was one of the organizations sponsoring the rally. “We’re not just a tiny fringe group.” According to the American Religious Identification Survey in 2008, the number of people who claim no specific religious belief was 34 million, 15 percent of the U.S. adult population. A survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted in 2008 yielded similar numbers. Saturday’s attendees included a mix of young and old, white, black, Hispanic and Asian. Inside the exhibitor tent, they could speak with representatives of groups ranging from the Society for Humanistic Judaism, a group that embraces the secular roots of Jews, the Hispanic American Freethinkers and Recovering from Religion, a group whose goal is to help people leave their religion. A small number of counterprotesters stood at the fringes of the rally, holding signs that said, among other things, “Jesus forgives sin” and “Fear God.” Some of them engaged in heated debate with non-believers. One woman, a Reason Rally attendee, approached a group of counterprotesters with a sign on which she’d written, “So many Christians, so few lions.” Catherine Williams, 13, of Leesburg came to the rally with her mother, Lisa, and brother Nathaniel. She said she attends a small conservative private school where she is the only student who is openly an atheist. Sometimes, she said, it can be uncomfortable because many of her classmates are vocal about their religious beliefs. When talk in the classroom focuses on religion, students turn and look at her for her reaction, she said. “Coming here makes me feel less alone,” she said, a sentiment echoed by many in Saturday’s crowd. Dustin Taylor, 21, a student at SUNY Cortland, attracted some attention with his T-shirt, which said: “Free drinks to the person who can prove God exists.” The student, who plans to become a science teacher, said he wants to ensure that his future students have a strong grounding in science. Too often, he said, people believe something simply because it’s what they’ve been told. Taylor, along with classmates Erica Deretz and Nick Gardner, recently formed the Secular Student Alliance on the SUNY Cortland campus. The three were in the District for the rally and to take part in the American Atheists National Convention, meeting Sunday and Monday in Bethesda. Deretz carried a poster with the slogan, “Let’s have a moment of science.” Matthew Zemo, 29, of Brooklyn said atheists have been too nice for too long. He said he hopes the rally will encourage people to step up and speak out. “This gathering is long overdue,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”
Richard Dawkins to atheist rally: 'Show contempt' for faith By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY About 20,000 atheists gathered within shouting distance of the Washington Monument on Saturday for a Reason Rally hell-bent on damning religion and mocking beliefs. A full pantheon of demigods of unbelief -- British scientist and full-time atheism rabble-rouser Richard Dawkins was the headliner -- kept a crowd of all ages on their feet for more than six hours (and counting -- I left before the band Bad Religion was set to play). Dawkins didn't appear until five hours into the event, but few seemed discouraged by the near-constant rain or drizzle. They whistled and cheered for his familiar lines such as: I don't despise religious people. I despise what they stand for ...Then Dawkins got to the part where he calls on the crowd not only to challenge religious people but to "ridicule and show contempt" for their doctrines and sacraments, including the Eucharist, which Catholics believe becomes the body of Christ during Mass. That was a step further than Craig Lowery, a Dawkins fan, said he's willing to go. Lowery, of Washington, D.C., applauded but admitted he's not a confrontational atheist, saying: I might make fun of them in my head but I wouldn't say it. Most people, religious or otherwise, are good people.Outrage was the parlance of the day, however, for many speakers, including David Silverman, Reason Rally organizer and American Atheists president. He reveled in the group's reputation as the marines of atheism, as the people who storm the faith barricades and bring "unpopular but necessary" lawsuits. Silverman may have gone a bit further in his rhetoric than he intended. In a thundering call for "zero tolerance" for anyone who disagrees with or insults atheism, Silverman proclaimed, "Stand your ground!" Unfortunately, of course, the phrase "stand your ground," is in the news this week as the legal cover for the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., last week. Under Florida's "stand your ground" law, George Zimmerman could claim he feared Trayvon, a teen armed with iced tea and Skittles, would harm him. Silverman meant a verbal, not a literal, call to arms here. Still, the line didn't draw applause as his other take-no-insults charges did. Several of the featured names were famous folks who sent in videos: Penn Jillette, Bill Maher and U.S. Rep. Pete Stark. Others, popular in the Internet niche of skeptics, free-thinkers and atheists, came to the microphone to address the soggy crowds in person. A sampling: Friendly Atheist blogger Hemant Mehta urged people to run for office, any post from school board to Congress to dogcatcher.Many were surprised to learn that Fred Phelps, head of Westboro Baptist Church -- famous for its anti-gay signs at the funerals of innocent people -- has an atheist son, Nate. Nate drew big applause for denouncing the fundamentalist faith of his family. Meanwhile, 12 men with big signs warning Jesus demands repentance ignored the official holding pen fenced off for counter-demonstrators. Instead, they stood on the grass about 100 yards from the podium, each surrounded by a knot of eager-to-argue unbelievers. Because every rally seems to include a family that brought their tots to hear "the truth" -- religious or otherwise (The Washington Post had a sweet picture from the Religious Liberty rally in D.C. on Friday), I chatted up one of the many families at this event. Michelle and Joshua Gajewski brought Mark, 2, and Amity, 7, with them from Richmond, Va., to "be with people who share our views," Michelle said. Joshua said they're the only out atheists in their families. On Saturday, many parents might be getting the news -- "Hi, Mom, I'm an atheist" was a popular sign. Organized by a coalition of godless groups led by the American Atheists, along with secularists, humanists and niche groups (students, blacks, Jews, etc. ), the American Atheists hold an annual convention in the Washington suburb of Bethesda on Sunday. The theme: "Come out, come out, wherever you are! That's not easy, said Rebecca Cunningham of Fredericksburg, Va. When she changed her status on Facebook to atheist, she lost 34 "friends."
‘Reason Rally’ draws thousands to National Mall, but passion lacking By Chris Wilson | The Ticket WASHINGTON, D.C.--No thunderbolts fell on the atheists gathered on the National Mall Saturday afternoon for the Reason Rally--just scattered showers that probably kept some otherwise loud-and-proud non-believers home. The thousands who did brave the drizzle were enough to loosely pack an area of the mall the size of a city block, where they were treated to the full range of what you might call the free-thinker movement: a poet delivered an obscenity-laced polemic that he wrote "in a fever dream, in all caps"; a former pastor played a few Mr. Rogers-style songs about how atheists are friendly; and biologist Richard Dawkins headlined. There was also a video tribute to the late Christopher Hitchens. The crux of the message was similar to that of any disenfranchised group--that atheists are here, they vote, and they want respect. Many of the speakers borrowed language and ideas from the gay rights movement, describing how "coming out" as a non-believer can alienate one from one's family and provoke discrimination. One attendee even held a colorful a sign that read, "Atheism: It's like being gay in the 80's." But the rally seemed to lack energy as an often incongruous procession of activists--with the Washington Monument as their backdrop--tried to fire up a sea of umbrellas. "Sometimes it's tough, since these are calm, reasonable people," observed Isaac Bowen, a freshman at the University of Michigan who had arrived by bus that morning with a few dozen other members of the secular student alliance. But those speakers who did take a more aggressive, impassioned approach ("Welcome to Rick Santorum's worst God-damn nightmare," one speaker declared) rubbed other attendees the wrong way. "We're not all vulgar," said Rachel Jaffe, a librarian at the University of Binghamton in town for a conference. Jaffe said she was pleased to see so many families in attendance, but was surprised some parents were letting their children listen. Organizers had cordoned off a wide triangular area for protesters, but by 1 p.m., the only person in the protest pen was a young man promising that heretics would be devoured by Cthulhu, a fictional deity in H.P. Lovecraft novels. Closer to the stage, a small group of Christian activists held a largely cordial counter-rally. Mark Sasse, a member of Buffalo's Bible Believer Baptist Church, carried a sign that read, "The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God." He soon found himself debating the meaning of a passage in Luke with one of the attendees. (Full disclosure: In a brief violation of reporting ethics, a Yahoo News reporter held Sasse's sign stable for him while he got his Bible out of his backpack.) "Most people have been quite courteous," Sasse said. "I just want to let people know there's hope." While organizers claimed a crowd of at least 20,000, it was difficult to estimate as people came and went, sometimes dipping into a museum or retreating to the long lines at the concession stand. For all the emphasis on free inquiry, few seemed to notice that the line across the Mall, by the Merry-Go-Round, was much shorter. |