# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/21 "2011-10-02T15:29:26Z")
Well, I always have a good line of agreeable cocktail chatter, so I suppose I will do alright. And many board meetings have taught me the art of sticking a knife into my leg or holding an ice cube to stay awake during dull lectures. ---
**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 3, 2011, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/22 "2011-10-03T02:46:07Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > 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. But discussions of what? Physicists, to use your example, are all united by physics. But the only thing atheists have in common is they don’t believe in religion. That rules out religion as a topic. And there is no other common topic. To me, a gathering of athiests makes no more sense than a gathering of people who aren’t baseball fans. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/23 "2011-10-03T03:13:35Z")
Atheist convention sounds as weird as religious kind… I know it’s not but it almost sounds oxymoronic to being atheist if these meeting become too frequent: making a religion-like gathering out of atheism. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/24 "2011-10-03T03:30:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But discussions of what? Physicists, to use your example, are all united by physics. But the only thing atheists have in common is they don’t believe in religion. That rules out religion as a topic. And there is no other common topic. > > To me, a gathering of athiests makes no more sense than a gathering of people who aren’t baseball fans. There’s plenty of interesting discussions to be had on the topic of atheism: political issues like how to protect secular government, social issues like how atheists should best act amongst the feverently religious, whether athiests should “evangeilize” and if so how, how to improve the publics general low opinion of atheists, etc, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/25 "2011-10-03T03:51:10Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > 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. I don’t know much about gods but my understanding of the position of the major religions is that it’s pretty much impossible to have any other sort of one-night stand, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/26 "2011-10-03T04:23:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And there is no other common topic. I disagree here: There is a common topic in that a lot of us think we live in a rational Universe amenable to being figured out by human logic, that it makes no sense to believe in the existence of something without evidence for it, and that morality flows from inherent human desires to live in societies of others. Those are all philosophical positions, and they can all be discussed and debated. You seem to be taking a stand common among religious people, that atheism is simply a hole where a religion used to be and that atheists therefore live hollow lives. It’s not true. What we fill our lives with varies, but there are some common threads there. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/27 "2011-10-03T07:38:57Z")
I’ve been to a couple of “Freedom From Religion Foundation” conventions because they are headquartered here in Madison and are held here pretty often. Frankly, I wasn’t real impressed. There was just endless trashing of religion. I don’t particularly object to that, but their stated purpose is to promote the separation of church and state, and being openly contemptuous is a very poor strategy to achieve their goal. IMO, they should actually be working WITH various church organizations toward the goal. Some faiths would never cooperate in something like that, of course, but some would, if for no other reason than to assure a level playing field without some “favored” religion getting legislation favorable only to them. My sister goes almost every year. She loves it. And it’s kinda fun, in a way. But it’s poor politics for this particular organization. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/28 "2011-10-03T10:00:51Z")
Where is this, Eve? Might do me good to get out of the house. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/29 "2011-10-03T14:39:51Z")
Absolutely the most deadly thing I can think of is a bunch of people in a room who all agree on a particular thing and are there to discuss that thing. I think I’m falling asleep just thinking about it. The only thing that livens these things up is the tendency for it to turn into a competition over who is the most dedicated, biggest fan of The Thing, whatever it may be. Not fun. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/30 "2011-10-03T14:48:30Z")
I may have to make it my duty to be the Mentos in their Coke bottle. ---
**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 3, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/31 "2011-10-03T14:50:49Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > You seem to be taking a stand common among religious people, that atheism is simply a hole where a religion used to be and that atheists therefore live hollow lives. It’s not true. What we fill our lives with varies, but there are some common threads there. I’m not a religious person. I’m an atheist myself. But I’m not a devout atheist. I’ve never felt the need to attend atheist services or convert other people to atheism. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/32 "2011-10-03T15:04:17Z")
No. I don’t believe in them. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/33 "2011-10-03T15:10:27Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I may have to make it my duty to be the Mentos in their Coke bottle. Maybe you should go dressed as a nun just to see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/34 "2011-10-03T16:06:50Z")
> [@Big\_Norse](#): > > Maybe you should go dressed as a nun just to see what happens. Has there ever been a nun lynching before? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/35 "2011-10-03T16:18:06Z")
> [@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”? Do you have schisms in athiesm? Anti-anti-Popes? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/36 "2011-10-03T17:08:13Z")
As God is my witness, I have not. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/37 "2011-10-03T17:58:31Z")
I am an atheist. I swear to god I am. Some of the things that are good about being an atheist, is it is free and you don’t have to attend meetings. I don’t want to screw that up. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/38 "2011-10-03T18:44:09Z")
Speaking as a Catholic… Here I always thought the ONE and only clear advantage of atheism was that you DIDN’T have to go to meetings, and could do whatever you wanted on Sunday! A shared belief is a very good reason to get together with other like-minded people. A shared NON-belief is a very silly basis for getting together! That’s why so many people go to Star Trek conventions while NOBODY goes to “Star Trek Sucks” conventions If you don’t believe in God, well then sleep late on Sunday! Or go to the beach. Or go fishing. Or put on a pot of coffee and read a good book. Or watch football, or play 9 holes of golf, or do whatever DOES interest you! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/39 "2011-10-03T18:50:49Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > That’s why so many people go to Star Trek conventions while NOBODY goes to “Star Trek Sucks” conventions ! I would \*totally \*go to a Star Trek Sucks! convention. ---
**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 3, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216/40 "2011-10-03T19:04:51Z")
The SDMB is my atheist convention. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-you-been-to-an-atheist-convention/598216.md?page=3)