FFRF Day 1

This year we attended our first-ever FFRF (Freedom From Religion Foundation) annual convention. This is their 40th annual convention, and this one was held in their home city, Madison, Wisconsin. Next years convention will be held in San Francisco (we'll be there, Will!)

Day 1 opened with an Open House at their HQ, Freethought Hall. 

It's a small building but their importance dwarfs their size, and it's within sight of the Wisconsin state capitol building.

I love FFRF's activism. You have probably heard about them suing this or that school board or school for injecting religion into their habits or curriculums. FFRF's success rate on these suits is extremely high. In a nutshell, FFRF defends the separation of state and church.

One of the obvious things about Freethought Hall is that the staff are big readers. There are books, books, books, everywhere. Row after row of books. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!

There was a good turnout for the Open House, but I think the average age of an FFRF member must be 60+. Fortunately, most of the staff is probably under 40 years old, and we need more younger members. 

Just outside Freethought Hall is the Rose Zerwick Memorial Garden, complete with the Atheists in Foxholes monument and paver stones that you can purchase by donating to the org.

They have a life-size model of Charles Darwin, and we dutifully took pictures with it. Damn thing is very lifelike.

The formal opening of the Convention was held at the Madison Monona Terrace Convention Center, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building on the north shore of Lake Monona. It's a beautiful building. 

On Day 1, Cara Santa Maria received a Freethought Heroine Award. She gave a talk on science and how to communicate it. She runs a podcast, Talk Nerdy, and is a regular contributor to "Bill Nye Saves the World."

Next up was Katha Pollitt, a columnist for The Nation magazine. She was given a "Forward Award" and gave a rather chilling talk about Trump and science.

The evening program included a Year in Review, and the FFRF has been busy indeed. Win. Win. Win.

Maryam Namazie, an Iranian-born ex-Muslim, was the next speaker, and she received a "Freedom From Religious Fundamentalism Award." Those in the Muslim world who are brave enough to defy their governments deserve our support and assistance. In many of these countries, apostasy (leaving the religion) and blasphemy are still punishable by death. Pretty amazing.

The wife wasn't feeling too well this evening, so we skipped the talk by Paula Poundstone, the headliner. I heard later her talk was mostly just humor, which is fine, of course, but she was mostly simply "on tour" supporting her new book.

It's great to be surrounded by so many like-minded people, and I have to say I have never encountered a nicer and friendlier crowd. You can read about the convention and see some videos at this link.