Who Do You Think You Are? Gods?

In 2016, I took part in the Godless Perverts reading at Skepticon. The performance wasn’t recorded, which opened up the possibilities for more than one performer. It also means no one outside that room knows what I said there, until now.

I lucked out on sex education. My house was the place the other kids came to learn how babies were made and whether the things that were happening to their bodies and minds were normal. Me? I didn’t have to wonder. I had the information before I could ever get curious.

Now, of course, we were Minnesotan (fourth generation here), so that means we didn’t actually talk about any of this. It came out of books. That the books were radical says more about the time they were written than anything, about attempts to codify the openness of the Sixties and to prepare new generations to live in that open world. Though who knows? They might be radical again in a year or two.

Photo by wilecany.

That our house was the house for these books also says a lot. It says some things about poverty and education, given how and where I lived, but it also speaks to religion and shame. Strict rules around pleasure and sexuality were one of the reasons my parents abandoned organized religion and promised never to foist it on their children. Apparently eloping before their scheduled wedding just so they could fuck felt ridiculous even to them.

Those books and their place on our public bookshelves were part of their efforts to spare us what they went through. I don’t know whether we were supposed to find the books on the private bookshelves, the erotica and the sex guides. As I said, Minnesotan. But they served the same purpose.

I entered adolescence with a solid sense of sexual possibility. I can’t quite tell you how I reconciled that with being pathologically shy at the time, but I did get over the shyness. Continue reading “Who Do You Think You Are? Gods?”

Who Do You Think You Are? Gods?
{advertisement}

Find Me at CONvergence!

We’re just under two weeks to CONvergence. As usual, I’ll be there, paneling and other stuff. Here’s where you can find me if you like that sort of thing.

Super Heroes and PTSD
Thursday July 4, 2019 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Hyatt 2 Northstar B
PTSD has become a much better understood concept in the past decade. Please join us for a discussion that will explore how super heroes from Batman to Spiderman and everywhere in between seem to suffer from this disorder, and how they deal with it. Participants: Peter David, Stephanie Zvan, Lathan Murrell, Sean Casey (mod), John Shea, MD

Writing Religion
Thursday July 4, 2019 5:00pm – 6:00pm
Hyatt 2 Greenway HI
We’ll discuss techniques that help ensure that you represent the effect religion (or the lack of it) has on your storytelling. Participants: Bryan Thao Worra, Rory Ni Coileain, Shauna Aura Knight, Stephanie Zvan (mod), Tim W Lieder

Detoxifying Fandom
Friday July 5, 2019 8:30pm – 9:30pm
Hyatt 2 Greenway CDE
Why does toxic fandom happen? How do we fight back against it? Can’t people just like things? Participants: Taylor Cisco, Shaun M Duke, Stephanie Zvan (mod), Boone Dryden, Ashley Myhre

Everyone Is Cancelled
Sunday July 7, 2019 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Hyatt 2 Northstar B
When a public figure crosses a line, they can be shunned by fans in our cancel culture. We’ll discuss how far someone can go, and whether canceling someone can be worthwhile. Participants: Rakhi Rajpal, Stephanie Zvan, Susan Willson (mod), AlysshaRose Jordan

I’ll also be in the Magic School party room with science demos aimed at young audiences and discussion salons aimed at older audiences. Minnesota Atheists is sponsoring the room again this year. I’ll update here with specific programming I’m doing there once our schedule is final.

Find Me at CONvergence!

Mythicist Milwaukee in Their Own Words

Callie Wright of The Gaytheist Manifesto released an extra edition of the podcast this week. In it, she speaks with the organizers of Mythicist Milwaukee’s conference being held this weekend about their decision to invite YouTube anti-feminist (anti-Sarkeesian, Gamergater) “Sargon of Akkad” (Carl Benjamin) to speak at their conference.

It’s not a friendly interview. Callie challenges them on nearly everything they have to say. In response, they say…anything, really. They brought him in as an entertainer. They want to settle the record on him. These are conversations already being had, so why not on their stage. People are bored with atheism. We don’t know what’s in his heart. He’s not really as bad as people say. He does a bunch of dry stuff talking about political philosophy.

This seems to be the most straightforward statement of their position:

He has a huge platform. He’s wildly successful in his own right. Why not Sargon? I understand what you’re saying about Twitter and all these other things, but guess what. There’s been entertainers that troll each other all the time. That’s just the way the world goes.

Also known as, we don’t really care what he did.

Callie did a great job pointing out false equivalencies and attempts to stray from the topic. There are a few things I want to add, though. Continue reading “Mythicist Milwaukee in Their Own Words”

Mythicist Milwaukee in Their Own Words

Supporting Skepticon

Skepticon 9 text logo, angular blue lettering with a drop shadow.
If you listened to this week’s episode of The Humanist Hour, you know that I support Skepticon. I’ve spoken there. I’ve run a workshop there for free each year they’ve offered them, and last year and this, I’ve been one of the organizers of a full track of panels under Secular Women Work. I’ve helped them with communications and fundraising, and I’m part of their Dino Club for monthly donors. And this year, though I can’t say more just yet, I’m helping them bring panels back to their programming. (Okay, I strong-armed them into having panels again, if you must know.)

So when I say Skepticon is worth supporting, you know I’m talking from experience. This year, Skepticon, like many other conferences and organizations after Reason Rally and before the election, is behind in its fundraising. It needs your support.

If you like Skepticon and want to help make it a reality, consider doing one of the following:

If the fact that Skepticon is changing how we run conferences for the better isn’t enough, Skepticon’s been talking about why you want to support them for the last couple of weeks. Continue reading “Supporting Skepticon”

Supporting Skepticon

#SSJCon: What’s Race Got to Do With It?

This is part of my coverage of the Secular Social Justice Conference this past January in Houston. I raised money to get me to the conference to report out because conferences like these cover topics that are rarely talked about in the movement. I also raised money to get Josiah Mannion to the conference to take photos. You can see his full conference photoset. If you appreciate the work we do, we’re also raising money cover a portion of our costs to do the same for the Women in Secularism conference in September. You’ll find a donation button at the end of this post.

For the last session of the first day, we all came back together in the main auditorium for a very large panel discussion on race and intersectionality.

What’s Race Got to Do With It? Racial Politics and Intersectionality in the Atheist Movement:
Frank Anderson, Black Skeptics Chicago
Georgina Capetillo, Secular Common Ground
Alix Jules, Dallas Coalition of Reason
Sincere Kirabo, American Atheists
Jimmie Luthuli, Secular Sistahs
Juhem Navarro-Rivera
Vic Wang, Humanists of Houston
Moderator: Daniel Myatt, BSLA

This is the panel I think should be required viewing for anyone in the movement who talks about “echo chambers” and “political correctness” in the movement. I have never seen a panel this wide-ranging or willing to explore possibilities at another secular movement conference. When was the last time you sat through an argument on the pros and cons of revolution? You can watch the session for yourself at the end of this post. If you do, however, you’re going to forever know “SJWs can’t abide disagreement with their ideas” for the lie it is.

Photo of panel with Georgina Capetillo in focus in the foreground.

Photo of panel with Juhem Navarro-Rivera and Jimmie Lithuli in focus in center.

Photo of several people in the audience at the panel.

Darrin Johnson tweeting from the audience.
Darrin Johnson tweeting from the audience.

Photo of Alix Jules laughing on the panel.

Photo of Juhem Navarro-Rivera speaking on the panel.

Black and white photo of Frank Anderson listening during panel.

Large crowd photo of audience during the panel.

Gordon Maples live-tweeting from the audience.
Gordon Maples live-tweeting from the audience.

Photo of Vic Wang speaking during the panel.

Our videographer, capturing the Q&A.
Our videographer, capturing the Q&A.

Seriously. That’s where we left the panel. Do we tear it all down and rebuild–something? So if you’re interested in hearing real, substantial disagreement among advocates for social justice, watch the panel.

Want to support this kind of reporting out from Women in Secularism? We could still use a little help to get there:




#SSJCon: What’s Race Got to Do With It?

#SSJCon: LGBTQ Queer Atheists of Color

This is part of my coverage of the Secular Social Justice Conference this past January in Houston. I raised money to get me to the conference to report out because conferences like these cover topics that are rarely talked about in the movement. I also raised money to get Josiah Mannion to the conference to take photos. You can see his full conference photoset. If you appreciate the work we do, we’re also raising money cover a portion of our costs to do the same for the Women in Secularism conference in September. You’ll find a donation button at the end of this post.

The second session of the day also consisted of two panels. Choosing was so difficult. Josiah took pictures in the “LGBTQ Queer Atheists of Color” session. I covered the economics session, since I felt my background would be more useful here.

LGBTQ Queer Atheists of Color and Social Justice
Diane Burkholder, Kansas City Freethinkers of Color
Ashton Woods, HBN
Brandon Mack, Rice U
Moderator: Debbie Goddard

Unfortunately, there has been no video posted from this session. I’d been waiting for it, hoping to catch up. At least the majority of Twitter coverage happened here, because this is all the record we have. Continue reading “#SSJCon: LGBTQ Queer Atheists of Color”

#SSJCon: LGBTQ Queer Atheists of Color

#SSJCon: Finding Economic Justice

This is part of my coverage of the Secular Social Justice Conference this past January in Houston. I raised money to get me to the conference to report out because conferences like these cover topics that are rarely talked about in the movement. I also raised money to get Josiah Mannion to the conference to take photos. You can see his full conference photoset. If you appreciate the work we do, we’re also raising money cover a portion of our costs to do the same for the Women in Secularism conference in September. You’ll find a donation button at the end of this post.

The second session of the day also consisted of two panels. Choosing was so difficult. Josiah took pictures in the “LGBTQ Queer Atheists of Color” session. I covered the economics session, since I felt my background would be more useful here.

Finding Justice in an Economic System that Proclaims Financial Opportunity for All
James T. Jones, Prairie View University
Darrin Johnson, BSLA
Richard Peacock, Orlando Black Non-Believers
Twaunette Sharp, HBN
Cleve Tinsley, IV, Rice U
Moderator: Donald Wright

I’m really glad the conference ran this session. It isn’t a subject we talk about nearly enough. At the same time, I wish the session had been more focused. I understand why it wasn’t. We have to do the introductions first. We have to do a certain amount of 101-level discussion to make sure we understand the problem before we can really talk about solutions. So, really, any frustration I had with this session is really just frustration that we’re this far behind on this topic.

Live tweeters were more evenly split for this set of sessions. You’re really getting just the highlights here, but you can watch the video of the whole session at the bottom of this post. Continue reading “#SSJCon: Finding Economic Justice”

#SSJCon: Finding Economic Justice

#SSJCon: Humanism and Hip Hop

This is part of my coverage of the Secular Social Justice Conference this past January in Houston. I raised money to get me to the conference to report out because conferences like these cover topics that are rarely talked about in the movement. I also raised money to get Josiah Mannion to the conference to take photos. You can see his full conference photoset. If you appreciate the work we do, we’re also raising money cover a portion of our costs to do the same for the Women in Secularism conference in September. You’ll find a donation button at the end of this post.

After opening remarks, which I’ll cover in a post summarizing the experience of attending the conference, we split off into two sessions. Josiah took pictures in the “Humanism and Hip Hop” session, because you can’t keep him away from that. I covered “Feminism(s) of Color” for much the same reason.

Humanism and Hip Hop
Monica Miller, Lehigh University
Jason Jeffries, Rice Univ.
Xan Wright, HBN
Moderator: Tony Pinn

This was a well-attended session but most of the tweeters were in the other session. I watched the panel and added my reflections/encapsulations here to the tweets of the people in the room. Hopefully they’ll whet your appetite to watch the whole thing. You’ll find the full video of the panel at the bottom of this post. You may need to watch it more than once, because I’ve never seen anyone talking about humanist hip hop in a way that was anything less than richly dense with information and overturned assumptions. Continue reading “#SSJCon: Humanism and Hip Hop”

#SSJCon: Humanism and Hip Hop

#SSJCon: Feminism(s) of Color and the Secular Movement

This is part of my coverage of the Secular Social Justice Conference this past January in Houston. I raised money to get me to the conference to report out because conferences like these cover topics that are rarely talked about in the movement. I also raised money to get Josiah Mannion to the conference to take photos. You can see his full conference photoset. If you appreciate the work we do, we’re also raising money cover a portion of our costs to do the same for the Women in Secularism conference in September. You’ll find a donation button at the end of this post.

After opening remarks, which I’ll cover in a post summarizing the experience of attending the conference, we split off into two sessions. Josiah took pictures in the “Humanism and Hip Hop” session, because you can’t keep him away from that. I covered “Feminism(s) of Color” for much the same reason.

Feminism(s) of Color and the Secular Movement
Deanna Adams
Maggie Ardiente, AHA
Heina Dadabhoy, Freethought Blogs
AJ Word, Secular Sistahs
Moderator: Sikivu Hutchinson\

This session was a great one to start the conference with because it demonstrated so many of its strengths. For a movement that prides itself on challenging ingrained ideas, what we actually see is a lot of people getting shouted down the moment they say something that makes others uncomfortable. This wasn’t a comfortable panel. It included several ideas that will make people mad. It’s interesting that it takes a conference like this to allow those ideas to be aired and heard and considered.

I included my tweets and the tweets of several others to give you a sense of what people were reacting to and how. Hopefully they’ll whet your appetite to watch the whole thing. You’ll find the full video of the panel at the bottom of this post. Continue reading “#SSJCon: Feminism(s) of Color and the Secular Movement”

#SSJCon: Feminism(s) of Color and the Secular Movement

Help Me Report on Women in Secularism

I’m looking for people who want to make it easier for me to report what happens at this year’s Women in Secularism conference in Washington, D.C. in September. If that’s all you need to hear, this donation button is for you. Otherwise, read on.




I’ve asked your help for this sort of thing before. Late last year, I asked for your help to get to and cover the Secular Social Justice conference in Houston.

I’m not really in a position to offer individual rewards to donors, but if you make it possible for me to go, you can follow along as I and my phone and my trusty backup battery tweet the conference. For those not on Twitter, I’ll also produce session reports here based around those tweets and others from attendees, plus comments on ideas that were too complex to be compressed.

I also asked for your help to get Josiah Mannion there to take pictures. Continue reading “Help Me Report on Women in Secularism”

Help Me Report on Women in Secularism