Do you not believe in God? Do you think that faith in humanity is more important than faith in a higher power? Or do you just think that reason is more important than belief? If so, mazel tov. You’re an atheist, or at least a rationalist/freethinker/secular humanist. And you’ll be happy to know that you can meet your nonbelieving brethren and sistren at the day-long event, the Reason Rally, in Washington, D.C., on March 24th.
Also in attendance will be Comedian Eddie Izzard; author and biologist Richard Dawkins; co-host of MythBusters, Adam Savage; comedian Bill Maher; and high school activist Jessica Ahlquist. They, and many others, will be speaking from 10am to 6pm, here.
In fact, there are more of them than you might realize (Hah. I almost said “believe”). David Silverman, president of American Atheists, said, “Atheists are the fastest-growing religious subgroup in all fifty states. There are more atheists in this country than there are Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists combined and doubled.”
That’s a whole lot of godless. Who knew there were so many? I didn’t…and I’m an atheist.
But that’s the point. According to Silverman, one of the country’s more enthusiastic and vocal proponents of atheism, there’s a reason (“reason” geddit?) that America isn’t swelling with atheist pride. “Ninety-nine percent of atheists are closeted.”
However, the Internet has made it easier than ever for nonbelievers to meet, albeit electronically. Silverman said, “Anybody can go online and meet millions of atheists immediately. Nobody feels alone, and fewer people feel afraid, so they come out louder.”
So why does the Reason Rally website claim this is “the largest gathering of the secular movement in history?” Because it is: many atheists groups exist across the country (such as the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, Camp Quest, the Society for Humanistic Judaism, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation) each with their own separate ways of approaching their philosophy. And twenty of them will be there, along with exuberant atheists, as well as those who are just coming out of the god-free closet.
Historically famous atheists such as Carl Sagan, Alan Turing, Sigmund Freud, Thomas Edison would have been there in spirit–had atheists believed in spirits, that is.