The National Atheist Party first approached me at the Reason Rally, asking if I would represent them in some way. Originally their convention was supposed to be in Boston just shortly before the presidential election. That would have been great -speaking at a political rally in New England when the political environment was at its most charged. However that event had been relocated to the other side of the continent and rescheduled for this weekend.
Over the last several months, I’ve heard some discussion over the idea of having an ‘atheist’ political party. Strangely the NAP has actually attracted some Christians who are frustrated with how the Religious Right took over the Republican party, and how the Democratic party panders to God in their political platform -regardless of the majority vote on that decision. So there has been some discussion about changing the name, and that will doubtless come up at this event too.
So this Saturday, March 9th, (at 9:00am!) I will be at the South San Francisco Convention center for NAPcon2013. I’ll be happy to see some friends again, Jamila Bey, Jessica Ahlquist, Shelly Segal. Richard Carrier gets to show me up again. There’s also this Dusty Smith character whom I’ve never met yet. This may be his first public appearance.
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voidhawk
March 4, 2013 at 9:15 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Hmm, not sure that I like the idea of a specifically ‘atheist’ party (Even though I can see the need for atheist representation) For one thing it doesn’t describe the sort of policies it would promote – the recent symepit debacle has demonstrated that being atheist is no guarantee of good judgement. Further, I would prefer a secular, rather than avowedly atheist party.
aronra
March 4, 2013 at 2:26 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
If you would rather see a ‘secular’ rather than ‘atheist’ party, see the link I provided about ‘changing the name’.
C Tran
March 4, 2013 at 3:28 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Oh man, I love Dusty! But I have to admit when I saw the title of his video on my YouTube homepage, I thought it was a joke!
SageDave
March 13, 2013 at 3:07 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Ladies and gentlemen:
There is a deep discussion engaging the members of the NAP concerning such a name change. The leading proposal is The American Secular Party.
One of the reasons I believe the party is absolutely needed is to counter the growth of the extreme right-wing religious-right who believe that their god is the only god and that the United States must be governed by the laws of that god and not by the people. Theocratic versus Republican governments. (Republican here is the type of government, not the political party affiliation.)
Issues such as gay rights and marriage equality, gun legislation, abortion and the right to choose, the introduction of creationism/Intelligent Design as science, even state nullification of federal laws can be directly traced to the radical arm of the Christian political movements.
Yes, a name change is important, but more important is keeping with the understanding of our Founders; that there is a fine balance between church and state, each with its own realm and each not to cross the other. (Please do not read this that I am pro-religion. I am not. I do recognize the importance of mythological beliefs to some and the community these beliefs create.)
Sage Dave
March 13, 2013 at 3:14 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
@AronRa – The link to the second video is showing it is “Private” and cannot be viewed. Just a note.