From yesterday through this morning, over a span of 25 and a half hours without rest, I carried out 18 debates, and interviews. It was an extraordinary experience. I am leaving this post at the top of the blog with links to all the discussions. The topics were wide reaching and exciting and my conversation partners endlessly stimulating. I have enormous gratitude to each of them for participating.
My Metaethical Views Are Challenged, A Debate With “Ivan”
On Being A Gay Pakistani Atheist in America. An Interview with “Ehsan Ali”
Meet The Web Guy Behind Camels With Hammers: An Interview With Dave Smith
On Atheism and Parenting: An Interview with George Waye
On How To Help Spiritually Abused Women. An Interview with Vyckie Garrison of No Longer Quivering
From Transgenderism to Transhumanism: An Interview With Zinnia Jones
Butterflies and Wheels At Camels With Hammers. My Interview with Ophelia Benson
Defending The Catholic Faith, But Not The Pope. A Conversation With Mary The Catholic Graduate Student
Philosophy, Logic, and Goal Theory Ethics: An Interview With Richard Carrier
How To Talk About Racism. An Interview With Ian Cromwell of The Crommunist Manifesto
Is Anything Intrinsically Good or Bad? An Interview with James Gray
Lord Cthulhu Comes To Camels With Hammers: An Interview With PZ Myers
On Relativisms and Races. An Interview With Greg Laden
What Would JT Do If He Were Following The Law: An Interview About Students’ and Teachers’ Rights
An Interview With Shelley Segal
What About Philosophical Christianity With Progressive Values? A Debate With Marta Layton
Being An Atheist In Morocco. An Interview with “Damya”
A Conversation With James Croft About Philosophy, Humanism, and Ethics
Bonus Interview: Richard Wade Interviews Dan Fincke on Existentialism and Philosophy Concepts All Atheists Should Know
Other notable posts from the blogathon:
On The Value of Debunking Intricate Absurdities Point by Point
Jesse Galef and the Obnoxious CNN Interview Questions
All of this hard work by my amazingly interesting friends and I is brought to you on behalf of The Secular Student Alliance. Here is why I think you should support them:
When I deconverted, I was lucky in that I was a philosopher and so had both a natural knack and a lot of valuable training working out a lot of these issues for myself. And my closest friends were philosophers so whether they remained Christian or became atheists, I had people I stayed close to who (in most cases—more about that in a moment) would not only still love and support me but be invaluable aids in helping me sort through the myriad puzzle pieces I had to put together if I was going to get on with living a good life based on good understanding.
But even with all their help and with all my philosophy classes, I was still very much confused and made huge philosophical errors and some embarrassing and shameful personal ones. What I needed was good atheist role models with developed constructive atheistic worldviews so that I did not have to wander in the wilderness before I figured out an enormous amount of things the hard way, on my own, which could have been taught to me much more rapidly and productively by attentive and informed peers and teachers. I worked out a whole lot by myself and it was seriously not the most efficient way to do things. If only my school had a Secular Student Alliance, I would have had a world of resources and a group of people at my disposal. Not having such an organization, or an atheist internet community, or even any awareness of the constructive good Unitarian churches offer unapologetic atheists, I struggled for many more years than I should have had to in order to finally feel and think in some vitally necessary, constructive ways again.
And were there a Secular Student Alliance, quite possibly my closeted atheist friend who clung to religious organizations and people so desperately for the love they offered, would have found an accepting community that did not require him to be a liar.
Greta has collated many more testimonies from people whose lives have been impacted by the Secular Student Alliance.
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