Big News!!
by John_Lombard on Jan.10, 2009, under Events & Happenings, Humanism, Society
It has just been confirmed that I will be one of the main speakers at the National Convention of American Atheists! Right up there with noted luminaries such as Richard Dawkins…I’m quite excited about this! I’ll be going there with Nate Phelps (son of the notorious Fred Phelps of “God Hates Fags” fame), who is also an atheist, and will be talking about his experiences growing up in the Phelps home. Nate and I have been corresponding quite a bit recently, and are collaborating on our presentations.
The abstract of my presentation is as follows:
While there is some debate over whether the Chinese government should be classified as an atheist government, there is no doubt whatsoever that their education is an atheist system. Not only is religion not taught, it is actively discouraged. Thus, a great many Chinese grow up as atheists. However, the educational system fails to teach critical thinking skills; instead, information is presented in a format where all students must simply accept and repeat what they are taught, and disagreement or alternative ideas are discouraged and penalized. The result is that, when presented with new information and beliefs, many Chinese are unable to rationally evaluate that information. Much of what we see in China today — rapid spread of religion and cults, a dogmatic defense of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and proliferation of numerous worthless or dangerous products — is a result of this. This presentation will give an overview of the current situation and trends within China, and then discuss some of the ramifications, and lessons that can be learned by us.
This is the second time that I’ve had the opportunity to be a speaker at a major conference (I was also a speaker at the World Humanist Congress in Washington, D.C. last year), and I hope that this exposure and experience will give me even more opportunities in future! 
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January 11th, 2009 on 4:02 am
First,congratulations!!!It is a great opportunity and experience O(∩_∩)O~
Our education system is an atheists one.But the truth is that religion is not encouraged but we are taught about the definition\certain features on different religions,like Buddism,Daoism,Islamism,Christianism etc.,from a very critical angle,say “Marxism”,even though some of us don`t want to be a Marxian,we just have to accept and repeat.To sum up,whether we are atheists,it is fair enough to say that most Chinese have no faith.
And nowadays it`s hard to live on in this compepitive world,so some of us find sustenance in religion or cults as consolation but not faith.It`s totally superfacial,fragile,blind.So there forms an impatient and impetuous modern society,rushing to catch up with all new information but have no idea of evaluating or accumulating.
It is a very complicted situation not just caused by lacking of critical thinking skills but the source:we are lost.We kick our ancestors` ass,we try to occidentalize but till now not 100% successfully.We are lost and we are distributed.
For instance,traditional Chinese medicine is very controversial.It is trashed,it is valued.Here I prefer to hold a neutral stance:before western medicine can 100% prove Chinese medicine is pseudoscience,still it has a really valuable reason to exist,to evolve with time.Those dangerous products are only partially rooted from the ancient prescriptions.I think the quacks should be scold for that.
In the end,I give you all my blessings on your presentation.Hope my information will help a little:-P
April 17th, 2009 on 6:32 am
John,
It was very nice to meet you in Atlanta. My email is jsgardener@yahoo.com. Sorry to leave this in comments but I couldn’t locate a contact page.