The Interfaith Conversation Cafe in St. Paul, which gathers people of many religions for a monthly discussion, is now open to nonreligions. The organizers have removed "faith" from the name, explaining that atheists felt excluded by it, and are calling it the "Interbelief Conversation Cafe."
"We are leaders in the field," said Frank Burton, a member of the Minneapolis branch of Circle of Reason, a group that includes atheists and believers and lobbied for the change.
Minnesota's atheists are coming out of the closet.
The St. Paul Saints have had an atheist-themed baseball game in each of the past three seasons. There's an "Atheists Talk" program on KTNF-AM 950 on Sunday mornings.
Nationally, books on atheism have been best-sellers, and the debut of the channel Atheist TV was announced last week.
"I think atheists are getting organized," said University of Minnesota professor Penny Edgell, who will be teaching what she said is the state's first class in atheism starting in September. "It's a wave of visibility."
Well what do you know? It looks like the place to be an Atheist is Minnesota.
Who knew?
Personally I love stories of Atheists being accepted around the world, and of their voices being heard instead of having them silenced by those who want to vilify and persecute them for daring to reason.
Like I've been saying --
ReplyDeleteAtheism is the new Gay.
Another Round On The Political Roots Of Atheism
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday we featured Nick Spencer’s argument that the rise of modern atheism had less to do with the advance of science than the fallout from the entanglement of religion and politics in early modern Europe. Kenneth Sheppard pushes back with a number of qualifications and questions:
http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/08/17/another-round-on-the-political-roots-of-atheism/
Ricky is a douchebag.
ReplyDeleteSince Ricky makes such excellent sense, only a doucebag would refer to him as such.
DeleteProject much?
Ricky nailed it (pun intended.)
ReplyDeleteWell what do you know? It looks like the place to be an Atheist is Minnesota.¶ Who knew?
ReplyDeleteWell, Minnesota is the home of PZ Myers! http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/
"...one of the first people ... to take atheism seriously was the French physicist, mathematician and theologian Blaise Pascal (1623 - 62)"
ReplyDelete--A History of God, Karen Armstrong pp. 297
And, may I add, atheists don't go around killing people.
ReplyDeleteMurkyWaters
I need to contradict you on this. Had you said MOST atheists don't, I would have agreed with you. But atheists are people as well. Flat statements are generally dangerous to make.
DeleteI like Ricky Gervais but I'm just surprised it's Minnesota. There's something about the title that's cracked me up
ReplyDelete"Saint Paul Atheists have officially left the closet" Did all saints have their own Atheists? Or just Saint Paul?
All kidding aside, this is at least a step in the right direction..