That Guy From China

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!