September 26-29, 2024
The Sheraton Denver Downtown
1550 Court Place
Denver CO 80202
Sign up now for FFRF’s 47th annual convention
Have you signed up yet for FFRF’s national convention in Denver? Well, what are you waiting for?
We’ll be celebrating our 47th national convention on Friday, Sept. 27, and Saturday, Sept. 28, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown. Because this year’s big event is earlier in the year than usual, don’t delay in getting registered and securing your hotel room.
The convention’s keynote speakers will be author Bonnie Garmus, actor Jon Huertas and Ron Reagan.
Garmus will accept FFRF’s Emperor Has No Clothes Award. Her thought-provoking novel, “Lessons in Chemistry,” has sold in the multimillions. The award-winning global phenomenon, which has been translated into 42 languages and has been on the bestseller list for more than a year, was recently turned into a TV series on Apple TV starring Brie Larson. The novel, part romantic comedy and part satiric commentary, is about a determined chemist who encounters so much sexism in the 1950s that she turns to hosting a highly scientific TV cooking show. While the book’s feminism has been much-remarked upon, also standing out is that almost every main character is a pronounced atheist.
Actor Jon Huertas is best-known for starring as Miguel Rivas for six seasons on NBC’s popular “This Is Us.” Viewers know him as Detective Javier Esposito from ABC’s hit dramedy “Castle,” as well as for a stand-out performance as Sgt. Tony “Poke” Espera in HBO’s limited docudrama series, “Generation Kill,” where he offered a streetwise view of the Marine Corps invasion of Iraq. As an Air Force veteran himself, Jon calls that his most meaningful role. He is one of the few Latinx actors who has broken the ceiling in mainstream TV, portraying characters telling diverse but universal stories. He’s an open atheist and will be speaking on “True Freedom: Breaking the Shackles of Religious Indoctrination.” Jon explains: “Blacks and Latinos in the Americas have long been two of the most religious groups. I want to talk about how we can help people of color feel safe about facing their skepticism and allow people like me to feel free enough to be open about being nonbelievers.”
The Human Rights Campaign will be honored with the 2024 Henry Zumach Freedom From Religious Fundamentalism Award. The award, which comes with a monetary prize of $50,000 (minimum), will be accepted by Brandon Wolf, the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign. Wolf is a nationally recognized advocate for LGBTQ+ civil rights and gun safety laws and a survivor of the 2016 shooting at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub. In 2019, Wolf became the first survivor of the Pulse tragedy to testify before Congress and returned in 2022 to testify on the rise of anti-LGBTQ hate violence before the House Oversight Committee. His memoir, “A Place for Us,” was released in July 2023 and became an instant bestseller.
Katherine Stewart will receive the “Freethought Heroine” award. Stewart has covered religious liberty, politics, policy and education in her vairous professional roles. Her latest book, “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism,” is a rare look inside the machinery of the movement that brought Donald Trump to power. The recent documentary feature movie “God and Country,” co-produced by Rob Reiner and Stewart, is based on “The Power Worshippers.” Stewart’s journalism appears in the New York Times, NBC, the New Republic and the New York Review of Books. She last spoke at FFRF’s convention in 2021 in Boston.
FFRF is also excited for the return of “unabashed atheist” Ron Reagan, who recorded FFRF’s long-playing TV commercial, and last spoke at a conference in 2015. Reagan, a political commentator and broadcaster, is the freethinking son of President Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
Another crowd-pleaser returning to speak about religion and politics will be New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, whose book “Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism” in 2006 was an early warning call. Goldberg, who is also an online contributor to MSNBC, will receive FFRF’s Clarence Darrow Award and statuette.
Also addressing Christian nationalism is Bradley Onishi, who is on the faculty of the University of San Francisco and co-host of the top-ranked religion and politics podcast, “Straight White American Jesus.” He is author of the timely book, “Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — And What Comes Next.”
FFRF, which held the first-ever panel of nonreligious state legislators at its conference last year, is assembling for 2024 a panel of secular Colorado state legislators. Confirmed are: Rep. Judy Amabile, a businesswoman and progressive advocate who represents the 49th district, and Rep. Brianna Titone, a geologist who represents the 27th district and was the state’s first openly transgender state legislator.
“The Consequences of Religious Decline in the U.S.” will be the topic of University of Tampa sociology Professor Ryan T. Cragun’s speech. Cragun, who served as a Mormon missionary before leaving religion, is an expert on the rise of the “Nones” (religiously unaffiliated) and author or co-author of a host of books including “Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society,” “What You Don’t Know About Religion (But Should),” “How to Defeat Religion in 10 Easy Steps” and “From One Missionary to Another.”
Last but not least, FFRF Co-President Dan Barker will be speaking about his forthcoming new book, “Contraduction: The Death of the Design Argument.” After 140 debates for FFRF, Dan proposes a new way of looking at assumptions behind “fine-tuning” arguments for the existence of a god.
The convention will feature its usual reports by the co-presidents, the legal staff and legislative/lobbying team, plus a chance to peruse FFRF book and product tables and mingle with other freethinkers. The annual meetings of the state representatives and membership take place on Sunday morning, Sept. 29.
