Media Advisory: Godless Convention in Lexington
October 4, 2012
This weekend atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, humanists and others of like mind will gather at the inaugural Kentucky Freethought Convention, organized with the aid of the Bluegrass Coalition of Reason in Lexington and the Louisville Coalition of Reason of Louisville–with major funding provided by the United Coalition of Reason in Washington DC.
This convention follows in the wake of the Bluegrass Coalition of Reason’s “Don’t believe in God? Join the club” billboard campaign. Members of the press are invited to attend the conference and will be given opportunities to interview speakers.
WHO: Seth Andrews, Annalise Fonza, Edwin Kagin, Jim Krupa, Will Gervais, Gretchen Mann, and Jen McCreight will speak at the conference.
— Seth Andrews was a Christian radio broadcaster for a decade and now hosts the “Thinking Atheist” podcast.
— annalise Fonza, Ph.D, served six congregations in three states as a United Methodist clergywoman before changing her beliefs and turning in her credential. She is now a professional writer and researcher.
— Edwin Kagin, J.D., is the national legal director for American Atheists.
— Jim Krupa, Ph.D., is a professor of environmental and evolutionary biology at the University of Kentucky.
— Will Gervais, Ph.D., is an associate professor of social psychology at the University of Kentucky.
— Gretchen Mann, M.D., the chief medical officer, Military Entrance Processing Station, Louisville, worked to end worldwide Gideon proselytizing on military bases.
— Jen McCreight is a member of the Secular Student Alliance board of directors, an atheist blogger, and a Ph.D. candidate in genome sciences at the University of Washington.
WHERE: University of Kentucky
Grand Ballroom
UK Student Center
404 S. Limestone
Lexington, KY 40526
WHEN: Saturday, October 6th, 2012, from 9:00 AM to 6:40 PM.
WHY: Nontheists–atheists, agnostics and others who subscribe to no religion–may feel they have no voice in a time when traditional religions dominate public discourse.
They may also feel alone–that they aren’t respected in their communities and are vilified simply because they don’t believe in a god. But now they have a place to turn and like-minded people to know.
Come learn more about those who don’t believe in a god and why such a public conference is needed to change common perceptions of secular Americans.
The Kentucky Freethought Convention website has further information ( http://www.kyfreethoughtconvention.com/ ).
The University of Kentucky Secular Student Alliance ( http://www.facebook.com/groups/ukyssa/ ) is the campus freethought group hosting the event.
The United Coalition of Reason ( UnitedCoR.org ) is a national umbrella organization that has provided major funding for the conference and financed the associated billboard campaign in Lexington.
# # #
Contact:
Clay Maney
Coordinator
Bluegrass Coalition of Reason
859-338-8807
CManey@gmail.com
www.BluegrassCoR.org
Edwin Hensley
Coordinator, Louisville CoR
502-939-9275
edwin.hensley@insightbb.com
www.LouisvilleCoR.org
KFC?
REALLY??
It’s finger-licking blasphemy.
Heh. Acronym notwithstanding, it sounds like a fun Saturday.
RFID Chipping case in Texas
Edwin
Can you write some commentary on the issue of the RFID chip badge in the San Antonio school?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2011352/texas-school-uses-rfid-badges-to-track-student-locations.html
Here is a position paper on it
http://www.spychips.com/school/RFIDSchoolPositionPaper.pdf
Apparently this is a pilot program and some Christians are refusing to comply because they feel it is the “mark of the beast”.
While I know a lot of “Skeptics” may mock that there is some serious issues regarding RFID chip technology that I think is demonstrating a lot of legitimate slippery slope issues.
I felt it was an important issue that some Atheists may blow off because it is the Christians who may be taking the strongest stance on the issue (due to the Satan slant) and RFID is a serious ethical and moral and societal issue regarding privacy, free speech, personal soveriegnty etc.
What say you?
Here is the ATT “Trend Report” (they are one of the big companies profiting off of the RFID chipping technology..
here is their propaga…. I mean “Trend Report”
http://www.corp.att.com/edu/docs/k12rfid2.pdf
sorry, I know this is off topic.. but it just concerns me and with the Christian bent I was curious how Atheists view this issue…
——————————————–
“Privacy Concerns
Obstacles remain to RFID’s wider migration from the commercial
arena to the educational market. First, some parents object
that electronically tracking their children’s whereabouts might
compromise their privacy. Still, as AT&T associate director of
K–12 education marketing Kevin Carman points out, using
RFID technology simply helps schools do more efficiently
and effectively what they’re already doing manually—taking
attendance, for example, and monitoring and controlling who
enters and leaves their buildings.
Besides, Carman notes, RFID tags come in two varieties: passive
and active. Passive tags carry very little information about
the person or thing being tracked. Lacking an independent
power source, they’re unable to transmit signals over long
distances. In most applications, therefore, students carrying passive
tags cannot be tracked continuously, only when they pass close to
readers at doorways and other checkpoints. Compared with active
tags, Carman says, “they’re a little less Big Brotherish.” Active tags
are powered by self-contained batteries and can transmit signals
to standard Wi-Fi access points hundreds of feet away. As a result,
they’re better suited for tracking the exact location of visitors or
physical assets like computers and projectors.
In addition to contending with privacy concerns, many schools
have yet to figure out what sort of tag would be easiest for
students to keep with them at all times. Wallet cards are————–