Statement on the 2014 Orange County Freethought Alliance Conference

This weekend, I am slated to speak at the Orange County Freethought Alliance Conference as well as the Sunday Assembly to take place the day after the conference. As someone who has participated as a principal volunteer since its inception as well as spoken there in 2012, the conference is an integral part of my year.

On Friday, it was brought to my attention via a Facebook post and confirmed with several volunteers that the “Surprise Speaker” slated for the very first speaking slot is Michael Shermer. It has since been confirmed via an official conference email. Michael Shermer, like me, is local and has spoken at the conference in the past. Unlike me, he has many troubling allegations of misconduct against him, conduct of the kind that is in clear violation of conference anti-harassment policies of exactly the kind in place at the OCFTA.

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Statement on the 2014 Orange County Freethought Alliance Conference
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Top 4 Myths About Being a Skepchick

4. We get paid to be Skepchicks.
There are many, many benefits to being a Skepchick that I can’t name here: brand recognition, a platform with a built-in audience, a private and public support system of cool people, the opportunity to attend conferences as a speaker even when you’re starting out as a nobody with a big mouth, and so on. We do earn some ad revenue (thanks, Rebecca!) but there is no secret fund from which some sort of Skepchick salary is drawn. This is, for the most part, a labor of love.

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Top 4 Myths About Being a Skepchick

Women in Secularism: Interview with Susan Jacoby

Photo Credit: Chris Ramirez

Women in Secularism 3 is only five weeks away. The speakers list includes, in addition to myself, our very own Amy and Debbie as well as the previously-interviewed Lindsay Beyerstein. Today, I am honored to present my interview with Susan Jacoby. To call her an accomplished freethinking writer and journalist would be an understatement. Personally speaking, her book, Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism was not only the first female-authored book on non-belief I read, but the first I had encountered that took a comprehensive and historical look at America’s history of non-belief. Here are her thoughts on the history and present of freethought, secularism, literature, and journalism.

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Women in Secularism: Interview with Susan Jacoby