32nd Annual 2009 Convention Overview

Seattle, Washington

Ron Reagan, self-described “unabashed atheist,” well-known radio host, Seattle resident and son of Pres. Ronald Reagan, will headline the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s 32nd annual national convention in Seattle on the weekend of Nov. 6–8, 2009.

The Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue, with an ideal location in downtown Seattle, is the site. The Foundation is returning to the venue of its 2004 Northwest Mini-Convention.

The Foundation plans an upbeat gala event.

Confirmed speakers:

• Ursula K. Le Guin, the renowned fantasy and sci-fi author from Portland, will receive an "Emperor Has No Clothes" Award. Self-described as "irreligious," Ms. Le Guin has written many novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories exploring Taoist, anarchist, ethnographic, feminist, psychological and sociological themes. Her most famous fiction includes Earthsea, Hainish Cycle, and Left Hand of Darkness.


• Ron Reagan, self-described "unabashed atheist," well-known radio host, Seattle resident and son of Pres. Ronald Reagan, will headline the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s 32nd annual national convention in Seattle on the weekend of Nov. 6–8, 2009.


• Daniel Everett, chair of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Illinois State University. Everett went from missionary to atheist while working with the Amazon Pirahas tribe. In his book, Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle (2008, Pantheon Books), he in part recounts his loss of faith under the example of the Pirahas.


• Jennifer Michael Hecht is the author of award-winning books of philosophy, history, and poetry. Her Doubt: A History (HarperOne, 2003) demonstrates a long, strong history of religious doubt from the origins of written history to the present day, all over the world. Hecht's The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, Atheism and Anthropology (Columbia University, 2003), won the Phi Beta Kappa Society's 2004 prestigious Ralph Waldo Emerson Award "for scholarly studies that contribute significantly to interpretations of the intellectual and cultural condition of humanity."


• Former Los Angeles Times religion reporter William Lobdell, author of the fascinating and thoughtful new memoir, Losing My Religion, about losing his faith as a devout believer while covering the religion beat. Lobdell will receive the 2009 “Emperor Has No Clothes” Award and has titled his speech, “Free at Last!”


• Barry Kosmin, a principal researcher of the American Religious Identification Survey, the definitive survey which found that the nonreligious had grown to 15% of the adult U.S. population by 2008. Kosmin is the author of several books, including coeditor of Secularism and Science in the 21st Century. Dr. Kosmin holds degrees from the Universities of London and McMaster (Canada) and directs the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture at Trinity College. He will speak on “The Rising Tide of Secularity in the U.S.”



• Also speaking on the welcome growth of secularism will be sociologist Phil Zuckerman, author of Society Without God. His contribution, “Atheism: Contemporary Rates and Patterns,” in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism documents the inability of popular religiosity to thrive in modern, egalitarian democracies. His speech will be on “The Goodness of Godlessness.”

Note: The Red Lion Hotel ballroom has seating limitations. Please plan ahead! Every year there are members disappointed they did not reserve their hotel room in time. Area FFRF members are also invited to register early so FFRF can juggle space requirements. Hotel rooms may now be reserved while they last at the Red Lion Hotel for $159.00 single or double occupancy, $179.00 triple occupancy and $199.00 quadruple occupancy. Phone 1-800-504-3909 or 206-971-8000 identifying yourself with the Freedom From Religion Foundation to receive the group rate, by no later than Oct. 16, 2009. Call now–no guarantee rooms will last!

The convention begins at 7 pm (registration opens earlier) on Fri., Nov. 6. A complimentary dessert reception follows the Friday night opening. The convention continues through Saturday. The annual membership and Board of Directors meetings take place on Sunday morning. Convention emcees are Foundation co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor.

Two optional group meals will be offered (a nice way to socialize): the traditional Saturday Non-Prayer Breakfast (registration is closed for breakfast, no meals may be ordered at the door), and the Saturday night banquet. (See menu below.) Per membership vote, there will be a 2-hour midday break for lunch/sightseeing on your own on Saturday.

Menu

Saturday’s Nonprayer Breakfast (REGISTRATION CLOSED) will be the Great American Classic: scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, fresh-baked muffin, bacon and sausage, chilled juices and coffee or tea. A vegetarian option is available (minus meat, with substitute).

Saturday’s banquet dinner starts with the Red Lion House Salad (mixed seasonal leafy greens, diced apple, candied spiced almonds and shredded carrot with choice of dressing), and features Chicken Chardonnay, tender sauteed chicken topped with a Yakima Valley Chardonnay wine sauce, artichoke hearts and fresh mushrooms. Dinner includes chef’s choice of starch, artisan breads and butter, freshly brewed coffee or decaf, hot or iced tea. (A vegetarian entree is available.) The meal concludes with Truffle Ganache: chocolate chiffon cake and Belgium semisweet chocolate ganache. $50 includes the 20% gratuity.