Despite the fact that we were surrounded by intellectuals, scholars, authors, activists, professors, and scientists on March 24, I think comedian/ musician Tim Minchin may have said it best: “Three hundred years after the Enlightenment we have to have a rally for the (expletive) obvious.” The date marked the largest secular event in world history, gathering over 20,000 atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for what organizers dubbed the Reason Rally. It was held “to unify, energize, and embolden secular people nationwide.” It certainly accomplished those goals for me. The line-up was well worth the drive, especially considering it was completely free. In addition to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, physicist Lawrence Krauss, activist Taslima Nasrin, and the leaders of several top science and freethinking organizations, including American Atheists President David Silverman, there were also a slew of skeptic entertainers, including comedians Minchin, Eddie Izzard, Paul Provenza, and Jamie Kilstein, magician James Randi, and “Mythbusters” co-host Adam Savage.
If I listed all the guests, I’d be here all day, but the important thing to talk about is why they came from all over the world to stand outside in the pouring rain. Religious people could reasonably walk down the street and assume that most people generally believe what they do. It’s much more complicated than that for freethinkers. We’re more dispersed, so while our numbers are greater than many assume, it’s been difficult to meet face-to-face and discuss the issues that matter to us most. It was strange, but comforting, to look back at thousands of people and, for the first time in my life, know for a fact that most of those people see the world just like I do. It was labeled by many as a “coming out,” though I’ve been an open about my atheism for most of my life. It was important that all of us just made our presence known on this historic occasion, not just to each other, but to a nation that generally fears and misunderstands us. There were many things that united us besides the lack of a higher power dictating our lives.
The speakers talked about social justice, gender equality, gay rights, and the importance of maintaining a separation or church and state – issues that transcend our differences in beliefs. It is up to the progressives who think outside the box to stand up for what we know is right. One of the other major criticisms I’ve heard about the event since I returned home was its tone, which was often snarky and, some have argued, “disrespectful” of others’ beliefs. By default, if you don’t believe what someone else wholeheartedly does, you’re committing blasphemy in their eyes. But as Dawkins pointed out, we haven’t exactly been shown civility, either. Right across the street, I read signs of protesters blatantly telling me that I would burn in the fires of hell, and believe me, I’ve been told much, much worse to my face over the years. Now an atheist, Nate Phelps, the estranged son of Westboro Baptist Church leader Fred Phelps, welled up as he spoke at the rally about the hate and abuse he suffered at the hands of his family’s church, which joined other Christian protesters just a few hundred feet away. Many mainstream churches hesitate to consider those bigots a church, of course, but their imagery involving punishment and death often feels the same to those on the receiving end. Even those who side with us are met with disdain and mistrust. An open-minded Catholic friend of mine attended the rally and found that he agreed with much of what was said.
When his co-workers found out where he had been, gossip started flying about whether or not he was an atheist. While he countered that he would be a good person either way, they may never look at him, or treat him, the same way again. I’ve lost both friends and family just for being open about who I am. Unlike what I hear from conservative radio hosts, pundits, and religious leaders on a regular basis, no violence was encouraged or tolerated at the rally. To pretend that those who believe in a higher power have always taken the moral high ground towards those who were different from them is not only historically inaccurate – it’s downright laughable, so excuse us for having a chuckle now and again. For too long, we have been told that we are “fools” for not believing, in many cases persecuted to death. If the worst thing that this movement does is hurt somebody’s feelings with a crack that hits too close to home, I find that pretty tame compared to how we’ve been treated over the years.
And yes, this is a movement. Like it or not, secularism is on the rise, but that isn’t some sort of storm cloud warning or preachy threat – we’re just letting everyone know that we’re here, proud of who we are, and willing to be good without the fear of penalty in the afterlife. All it takes is a simple Google search to see all the negative press the Reason Rally has received. If you disagree with our philosophies then there’s likely little I can do to change your mind, but think for a moment about why these cynical attitudes towards atheists prevail. What would these organizations have to gain by marginalizing our ideas? Quite a bit, as the state of our country proves. If elections were decided by who was the most educated and qualified, as opposed to who invoked their faith the most on the campaign trail, you’d probably see a lot less fruitless debating about social issues and a lot more work being done by overpaid legislators who are currently more concerned about your bedroom than the economy. In other words, things would be a lot more reasonable. Do we really need to rally for that? Yes, apparently we do.