# Have Any of You Been to an Atheist Convention? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 1, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216 "2011-10-01T01:24:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/1 "2011-10-01T01:24:33Z")
I am going to one next month–merely to be with my sister and her husband, who are also going and whom I rarely see. I am a big ol’ atheist, but I am \*not \*a convention person, and I have the horrible suspicion this is going to he full of the worst kind of humorless, strident atheists, who are going to bore and/or annoy the hell out of me. Any time people with a “cause”–no matter how worthwhile the cause is–get together, self-righteousness breaks out. I mean, I am an old-movie fanatic, but the few old-movie conventions I have been to are packed with obsessive nerds with no other interests. I have a feeling I am going to be spending a lot of time at the hotel bar looking for a godless one-night stand. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/2 "2011-10-01T01:34:31Z")
I’ve never been but I was considering going to one next month, although I am worried for the same reasons as you. Which one are you going to, if you don’t mind me asking? Maybe we could meet up in a bar or something… ETA: the one I was thinking of going to is actually in November, which isn’t next month (I keep forgetting it isn’t October yet for some reason…) So, disregard. Sorry ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/3 "2011-10-01T02:40:59Z")
I didn’t even know there were atheist conventions. What do people do at them? Get together and talk about how much they don’t believe in God? Or do they shake things up a little and talk about how much they don’t believe in Buddha and Ahura Mazda and Xenu? Do the people who don’t believe in Allah get in doctrinal disputes with the people who don’t believe in Krishna? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/4 "2011-10-01T02:49:39Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I am going to one next month–merely to be with my sister and her husband, who are also going and whom I rarely see. I am a big ol’ atheist, but I am \*not \*a convention person, and I have the horrible suspicion this is going to he full of the worst kind of humorless, strident atheists, who are going to bore and/or annoy the hell out of me. Any time people with a “cause”–no matter how worthwhile the cause is–get together, self-righteousness breaks out. I’m a “big ol’ atheist” too, well, mostly on the inside. Heh. Anyway, no. I would never go to an atheist convention. If you’ve ever been to a Mensa Snowball, I suspect an atheist convention is the same thing; a bunch of smarmy, pseudo-intellectuals engaged in tiresome expressions of superiority and aloof condescension. No thanks. Never again. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/5 "2011-10-01T04:37:23Z")
While I haven’t been to one, in my imagination they’re - if I may use a religious metaphor - all about preaching to the choir. > [@](#): > > “I don’t believe in God.” > > “Me either.” > > “Religion is silly.” > > “Well, I can see how it’s a comfort to people who fear death and who want to believe that there’s a plan and a meaning behind all this randomness. But, yeah, pretty silly really.” > > “OK, so, now what?” > > “…” I’m already an atheist, I don’t feel the need to go to lectures on why I should be an atheist. I know religion is nonsense, I don’t need it explained to me. I get it already. Hopefully someone who’s actually been to one can explain to us what actually goes on at one of these events. If they are, in fact, merely pretexts so that the godless can hook up with each other for casual sex, _then_ I might be interested. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/6 "2011-10-01T05:05:06Z")
I didn’t know there was such a thing either. Nor would I go to one, mostly because I don’t like going to conventions of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/7 "2011-10-01T05:22:59Z")
I’ve been to one. Expect old people, lots of old people. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/8 "2011-10-01T09:44:50Z")
Is there some sort of programme? Maybe that wil give you a better idea of what to expect. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/9 "2011-10-01T10:17:09Z")
Never been to an atheist convention, but I have been to James Randi’s “The Amazing Meeting”, which is a skeptic’s convention, and which as it happens almost perfectly correlates with atheism. It was fairly entertaining, IMHO. There was some talk about atheism, mostly revolving around how to present ourselves to the general public. But for the most part it was about listening to entertaining “skeptical” speakers, such as Penn & Teller, Adam Savage, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins, James Randi himself, and many more. And if they get boring, it’s held in Vegas, so there’s no shortage of other stuff to do. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/10 "2011-10-01T12:15:04Z")
The first time I went to Vegas was for an atheists convention (many years ago when I was still in to being a “grouper” over that). Not a whole lot of atheism talk happened – mostly just stuff you’d expect a bunch of people who were slightly less repressed than normal to do in Vegas. Although we did go to see Penn and Teller. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/11 "2011-10-01T12:35:58Z")
I agree-what on earth would the discussions be about? God is dead…still. What else is new? Athiesim is not a religion-it has no doctrines, clergy, scriptures, or ritual-so what on earth is there to discuss? Maybe the pressing issue of “atheist heretics”? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/12 "2011-10-01T12:44:56Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I agree-what on earth would the discussions be about? > God is dead..still. > What else is new? > Athiesim is not a religion-it has no doctrines, clergy, scriptures, or ritual-so what on earth is there to discuss? Maybe the pressing issue of “atheist heretics”? Yes. I fail to see the point. It’s like that Mitch Hedberg joke: > [@](#): > > I went to the Home Depot, which was unnecessary. I need to go to the Apartment Depot, which is just a big warehouse with a whole lot of people standing around saying, “We don’t have to fix shit.” ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/13 "2011-10-01T14:56:44Z")
**Have Any of You Been to an Atheist Convention?** I don’t believe I have. > [@ralph124c](#): > > Maybe the pressing issue of “atheist heretics”? They are called “accommodationists,” haven’t you heard. They do not despise religious believers nearly enough. There is also the highly contentious matter of whether asking women in elevators if they want to go for a coffee is evil, or ought to be mentioned in public fora. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/14 "2011-10-01T15:59:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I didn’t even know there were atheist conventions. What do people do at them? Get together and talk about how much they don’t believe in God? Or do they shake things up a little and talk about how much they don’t believe in Buddha and Ahura Mazda and Xenu? Do the people who don’t believe in Allah get in doctrinal disputes with the people who don’t believe in Krishna? My thought exactly. I certainly wouldn’t want to go to such a convention. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/15 "2011-10-01T16:17:01Z")
" I went to an Atheist convention and all I got with was this godless t-shirt." ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/16 "2011-10-01T19:26:16Z")
Maybe you could start with something smaller to see if you really want to go through with it - perhaps a convention for people who don’t believe in voodoo or something. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/17 "2011-10-01T20:04:34Z")
There are going to be a number of authors speaking–plugging their books and whatever their books were advocating in the way of political and educational reform–and awards given (to a high school student who formed an atheist’s group at her school, for instance). And get-acquainted lunches and dinners. The \*only \*reason I am going is that I so rarely get together with my sister and her husband. I have a feeling I am going to get into a few brawls, as the newsletter from the group leads me to believe they are whiny and humorless and tend to make the rest if us look like cry-babies by picking unwinnable fights. Oh, dear. The things I do for family. Thank goodness my sister and I agree on religion and politics, though. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/18 "2011-10-02T01:53:31Z")
I went to one to cover it in the (pseudo-)press. It was geared toward college students who were involved with atheist organizations on campus, so there was a lot of focus on how to lead groups, how to engage with the public about their views, those sorts of things. It seemed that there was also a good bit of talk about how to bridge gaps between atheists and theists and at how to create a sense of community for atheists (similar to those created by religious institutions). ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/19 "2011-10-02T09:39:12Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > There are going to be a number of authors speaking–plugging their books and whatever their books were advocating in the way of political and educational reform–and awards given (to a high school student who formed an atheist’s group at her school, for instance). And get-acquainted lunches and dinners. The skeptic’s convention that **Dr. Strangelove** went to sounds like more fun, and a more natural topic for a convention. > [@akennett](#): > > I went to one to cover it in the (pseudo-)press. It was geared toward college students who were involved with atheist organizations on campus, so there was a lot of focus on how to lead groups, how to engage with the public about their views, those sorts of things. It seemed that there was also a good bit of talk about how to bridge gaps between atheists and theists and at how to create a sense of community for atheists (similar to those created by religious institutions). That sounds fine, but not terribly entertaining. The ethos behind some of these things is to get atheists engaging as a community, in a way that many churches do. However, from what Eve is saying, hers sounds like a more political one. I’ve vaguely toyed with the idea of attending a meeting of the British Humanist Asociation, so I’d be interested to hear how it turns out. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/20 "2011-10-02T12:00:27Z")
Remember, the platter of roast infant gets passed to the _left_. Basically, it’s like, “What do physicists discuss at physics conventions?” “Yep, damn fine physics out there, Jim.” “Sure thing, Emily. I sure do love living in a knowable universe founded on simple laws.” “I think about the Hermitian when I’m alone at night.” “You’re a damnable theoretical physicist and I shall not have you darken my towels!” Basically, it’s a way to discuss ideas that involves more chance of social interaction than a blog or web forum. There will likely, as **Eve** said, be lectures and such, too, in order to generate discussion. Frankly, the very fact atheists don’t have a theology should clue you in to how diverse our ideas on political issues and such can be; there is no party line, just parties. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216.md?page=2)