Sean the Blogonaut

Parliament of World Religions – Attendance underwhelming

Blogonaut — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:47:03 +0000

There were claims of 10-13000( I noted this on the Parliament website, however it has since been revised to 8000) attendees by organisers, the Victorian premier was more circumspect with his estimate of 5000 but it seems that the actual numbers of people attending the event were closer to the 4000 mark.

About 4,000 delegates are gathered for the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne this week. The opening of the meeting was blessed by Zoroastrians, Jains, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Baha’is, Aborigines, Shintos and in song.

Cathnews

As an event promoting interfaith an community harmony it appears that it has fallen well short of the mark.

What is the reason for this poor attendance?

We can be sure it’s not lack of funding with millions of tax dollars donated to the religious conference. Could it be that Australians just don’t care about what the religious have to say?

I am sure that Australia’s religious leaders will opine about the increase of secularisation and the fact that we are headed down a slippery slope toward oblivion. But perhaps the real reason is that Australians are realising how irrelevant religion is to living a good life.

Global Atheist Convention – Over half the tickets are sold

Blogonaut — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:15:26 +0000

According to convention organisers 1400 tickets have been sold to the event:

Tickets to the Global Atheist Convention – the perfect (and slightly ironic) Christmas gift!

Thank you to everyone who has bought a ticket to join us at the Global Atheist Convention – with around 1,400 tickets sold already The Rise of Atheism is shaping up to be a landmark event for rational thought in Australia!

Whether you consider yourself an atheist, rationalist, secularist, sceptic, humanist or any other kind of freethinker, don’t miss out on seeing scientists Richard Dawkins and PZ Myers, philosophers Peter Singer and AC Grayling, human rights activist Taslima Nasrin, comedians Catherine Deveny, Craig Reucassel and Julian Morrow from The Chaser plus a long list of other impressive presenters, including a women’s panel chaired by Maggie Millar and featuring Jane Caro, Lyn Allison, Leslie Cannold and Tanya Levin.

And what better Christmas present for your rational family member, friend or colleague than the unique opportunity to join the largest gathering of freethinkers in Australia’s history?

Gold Weekend Passes have sold out but there are Full Weekend Passes, Sunday-Only Passes and Saturday Night Dinner Passes still available. Visit http://www.facebook.com/l/2024b;www.atheistconvention.org.au for full Convention details and ticket sales.

We’ll see you in Melbourne!

I am hoping to secure some employment between now and March so that I will be able to attend the dinner – which is itself beginning to shape up as a nice little variety show.

Should that not be possible they I am sure that I can get drunk…I mean see the sights of inner city Melbourne with some likeminded people.

And divided we shall fail

Blogonaut — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:16:36 +0000

I have been planning for some time to do a bit of research on the history of Freethought, Skepticism, Humanism and Atheism in Australia. It’s my perception, quite frankly, that until very recently their has been a division between various groups that belong to one or more of the categories above. Now whether this is due to geographical factors i.e. the spread out nature of our population, or fundamental differences in mission or something else entirely I am not sure. One thing I am sure of is that if these groups don’t coalesce and work together on shared issues or support each others endeavours, each of us is doomed to fail.

Am I being a bit pessimistic?

What I am not suggesting is that we come together to form an uber organisation bent on global domination but rather that each of us in the groups above and those of us with multiple memberships in organisations fitting under these categories, work toward collaboration and promoting each others issues, specifically where it doesn’t cost us anything or where we can offer “in kind” support.

I am already starting to see this happening, case in point-

Jason Ball is one of the Global Atheist Convention Organisers, and a prominent member of the Young Australian Skeptics. He recently attended Briskepticon(Australian National Skeptics Convention) and earlier in the year he was guest of the CFI with sponsorship from the Rationalist Society of Australia and the Council of Australian Humanist Societies. Jason appears to have seemlessly integrated three of the above categories into his activism.

I also note that the Skeptic Zone have aired adds for the Global Atheist Convention on their last two podcasts and Skeptic Zone reporter and researcher Kylie Sturgess will be speaking at the convention.

You my readers, probably have your own examples, perhaps even you yourself are already doing what I am suggesting?

One thing I know for sure is that if we fail to work together on issues beneficial to each of us then nothing changes and we each row our own barbed wire canoes.

Sir Humphrey would be proud…Victorian decision not to fund Atheists reads like the script of Yes Minister

Blogonaut — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:27:09 +0000

The events surrounding the decision not to fund the Global Atheist Convention seemed eerily familiar to me but I couldn’t pin it down. What was the cause of this niggling déjà vu?

It hit me this morning. It was reading like a scene from Yes Minister

Indeed it seems that from the start their has been a reluctance to engage with the Global Atheist Convention organisers. This is not religious bigotry, just the usual interference that Bureaucracies run when there is no benefit to the party in power for supporting your event.

David Nicholls, President of the AFA gives some indication of the piss-farting around that the convention organisers have had to go through to first submit an application, and then get an answer on its success:

…The application was made in June 2009 through the Premier’s Department. It was then passed like a ball of flaming brimstone to the Convention and Visitors Bureau and, from there, to the Victorian Multicultural Commission where it has remained, smouldering, for months.

The AFA was advised that the basic criteria for funding was over one thousand ticket sales, including purchases from interstate and overseas. That goal was accomplished in October.

Also in October, the Atheist Foundation received a letter of rejection from the Premier’s Department. But, when AFA President, David Nicholls, questioned the decision he was told the letter had been sent in error, because the application was now being handled elsewhere.

This week, the Convention & Visitors Bureau advised that it was rejecting the AFA’s application because the Convention was already ‘secured’. This was a surprise to the AFA, who believed their application was being handled through the Multicultural Commission and had never been told that securing a venue would disqualify the Convention from funding. In fact, the venue was secured months ago prompting no comment from any government department until now.

“One has to ask,” says Nicholls, “how you can confirm 1,000 ticket sales before having a venue secured.”

“And,” Nicholls continues, “if our application didn’t meet the government criteria, why did they hold on to our application for five months without once mentioning that fact?”

…

[Source]

I particularly like the two mutually exclusive requirements issued by two different departments i.e. we need you to sell more than 1000 tickets(which presumes a secured venue) and we need you not sell any tickets and be looking for a venue.

Is it about money? I don’t think so, the support of the Parliament of World Religions aside from bringing in tourism also makes the Victorian government look good in promoting religious Harmony. I don’t think that they can gain the same benefits out of the Global Atheist conference.

In May, 2009 Victorian Premier Mr Brumby highlighted what he thought were the benefits:

Ms HUPPERT — … Can you provide us with more information about how this event[Parliament of World religions] will benefit Victoria?

Mr BRUMBY — Yes, I can. As I said before, I think the Parliament of the World’s Religions, which will be held later in the year at the new convention centre, will be a fantastic event for our state. There will be 5000 visitors come to our state from all around the world, representing all the religions. I think you could not get a better event in terms of reinforcing our community harmony and our multiculturalism. As I said, it will be held at the new convention centre, which is 6‑star rated and the largest in Australia.

[source]

So while I have heard that one of the reasons why the Parliament of World Religions was financed was because of tourism, it seems quite clearly that Mr Brumby sees other benefits, particularly to the image of Victoria under his parties governance.

Atheists are simply lacking the ”political sexy”.

Chaser boys at Global Atheist Convention

Blogonaut — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:28:24 +0000

Global Atheist Convention Organisers have just announced that Craig Reucassel and Julian Morrow from The Chaser will headline the Saturday night entertainment at the Global Atheist Convention to be held in Melbourne next March.

From their press release:

The Chaser team, who once famously depicted atheists nailed to question marks, has a fine record of holding nothing sacred – including religion.

Convention organiser, David Nicholls, says, “Apart from being hugely entertaining, we believe that comedians and performers are absolutely integral to disseminating our message that religion’s role in Australian society and politics needs a massive overhaul.”

“In the course of Australian history, cartoonists and comedians have defined Australian identity and values far more than any politician or clergyman,” Nicholls explains. “Irreverent comedy has always been crucial in popularising progressive ideas and toppling ‘sacred cows’. Comedians like Craig and Julian cut through the bullshit of tradition and authority and give things we hold sacred a well-deserved kick up the bum.”

The Atheist Foundation of Australia holds that no institution or opinion, secular or religious, should be off-limits when it comes to scrutiny, parody or even ridicule. If an idea or belief is so fragile that it cannot withstand an assault by comedians, it is surely a concept which is past its time.

"That’s why we’ll spend most of our time taking the piss out of atheists," Julian Morrow explained.

Sounds to me like it will be a night to remember. For international readers the Chaser are perhaps most famous for their comedy stunt below in which they showed how poor the security was around George Bush at the APEC conference.

Other comedians that will be performing are Catherine Deveny

and Sue-Ann Post

Welcome”Rationalist Blog” to the ANZAB crew

Blogonaut — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:32:15 +0000

Rationalist Blog has joined ANZAB (Australian and New Zealand Atheist Blogroll) recently, and below is his intro:

Rationalist Blog provides religious commentary from CJ Werleman, the author of God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible

Are you Interested in joining the ANZAB? Click here.

Interested in the Rise of Atheism conference? Click here

Not bigoted, just cheap?

Blogonaut — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:48:08 +0000

Following on from today’s earlier post – A Victorian government spokesman has informed us that the Global Atheist Convention will not be funded because it doesn’t meet the funding criteria:

Government spokesman Luke Enright said: "The decision not to fund this event has nothing to do with religious ideology – the convention just doesn’t meet the criteria required to receive government funding".

Criteria include that the event has at least 1000 delegates and has not already been booked for Melbourne.

Kate Lahey, The Age November 26

Riiight!

Let’s see number of tickets sold for the Atheist convention so far = 1400 (out of a possible 2500) – criteria one met.

Event not already booked for Melbourne – hmmm, how does this one work. The convention organisers approach Government and say,

“Hey we might hold a conference in your state if you give us some funding, we’ll just wait around until you do before we set anything in concrete”. It seems the AFA and the Convention organisers needed to be a bit more coy.

It took the government 5 months to come to the decision not to fund the Convention. Questions we must ask are – Why it took so long? Was the convention organiser made aware of this condition? Did the Government delay the decision making so as not to have to fund the convention? Are the Victorian government just incompetent?

Now, if given the choice between funding someone who is well organised, and efficient and funding someone who has no plans set in concrete and may move their event to another state – who would you rather have your tax dollars spent on?

It was refreshing, to note that some Christians are smelling an undercurrent of bigotry in this decision. Ms Colleen Hartland MP has accused the government of :

"vile" religious bigotry.

stating also that,

"Diversity does not just come in different religious beliefs, but also in the reasonable and intelligent rejection of those beliefs,"

So currently in Australia we have

the federal government funding religious chaplains in state schools without evidence of efficacy
Victorian Government funding religious conferences when organisers threaten to take their conference to another state?

Australia secular? Its a wonder how with the Christmas lamb that we keep throwing to the religious.

Atheist Organisers too efficient … Global Atheist Convention will not be funded by Victorian government

Blogonaut — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:58:55 +0000

I opened up my google reader this morning to find the rather disappointing news, that after dragging its feet for months, the Victorian government, state and local had decided not to help fund the Global Atheist Convention, despite it having shelled out 2.5 million for the Parliament of World Religions.

The Parliament of the World’s Religions begins on December 3 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. It has received $2 million from the Federal Government and $500,000 from Melbourne City Council.

The Atheist Foundation of Australia says it approached all three levels of government for a total of $270,000 for its conference, to be held at the same venue early next year, but has received no funding.

Kate Lahey, The Age, November 26

It is really hard for me to see how this can’t be considered blatant discrimination. I have not been able to confirm it yet but there is some suggestion that the Global Atheist Convention was considered too successful, too far along in its planning to receive the funding.

If this is the case it seems that the Victorian government supports poor management, and waste of tax payers funds and the religious.

Care to write a letter to the Age?

The link is here

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeild

Blogonaut — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:04:18 +0000

I have just discovered Scott Westerfeld via his book Leviathan , I haven’t bought the book yet but here’s a taste of what to expect.

Now the book appears to be classified Young Adult – why do publishers do this? It does nothing but restrict your audience, surely? I am a fan of steampunk and it was the cover and interior artwork of the hardcover version of the book that made it standout from the abundance of Twilight merchandise at Target today. It is interesting to note that Westerfeld was quite deliberate in his inclusion of illustrations. I think it’s one of the major things that drew me to the book in the first place.

The coolest thing about this series for me has been working with illustrator Keith Thompson. We decided to make the books look like they were published back in 1914, when almost all books (even adult) were illustrated. So Keith created a sort of “Victorian manga” style, part steampunk and part old-fashioned biotech. We’re putting about 50 pieces of art in each book, most of them full page!

Scott Westerfeld

I am also interested in the Darwinist, biotech, floating whale ship riff as well.

If you wan to take a look at Keith Thompson’s work check his website. I am sure that I have some role playing games with his artwork in them.

If you want some reviews of the book checkout:

Official sffworld.com Book Review

Neth Space

Profound Moment – Symphony of Science

Blogonaut — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:56:30 +0000

Maybe I was just feeling a little emotional today but in listening to the video clip below I was hit with an overwhelming sense of awe(though awe doesn’t do the feeling justice). If I were religious I would probably describe it as a spiritual experience.

Whoever says that scientists are dispassionate, that they don’t live in the real world…

Well I simply don’t think that it gets anymore real or profound than that which is expressed below.