Backlash Against Secularism Conference

In case you're able to attend and file a report, the Center for Inquiry is holding a conference in NYC. From their press release:

“The Secular Society and Its Enemies,” to address the alarming abandonment of Western secular values in a world increasingly mired in divisive religious strife and deadly sectarian battles. Organizers cite the abandonment of Enlightenment values by traditionalists such as Pope Benedict XVI, the rejection of secularization by social theorists, and taboos against criticizing religion among liberals, as seen in the debates surrounding the “New Atheism.”

The conference will convene November 9-11 at the New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, Manhattan. Presenters include some of the most prominent names of recent social commentary, including author Christopher Hitchens, lawyer/author Alan Dershowitz, astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, evolution advocate Eugenie Scott, social critic Wendy Kaminer, ethicist Peter Singer, authors Susan Jacoby and Nat Hentoff, and others. 

“Despite the secular foundation of successful modern societies, radical religious fervor has reached an all-time high, and the world is waking up to the fact that belief can no longer be considered benign,” said Dr. Paul Kurtz, founder of the international Center for Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism.

“All theocracies, trumpeted or clandestine, have proven to be disastrous,” Kurtz said. “When the rights of our diverse citizenry are governed by the influence of a single faith, all those outside that narrow worldview—that is, the majority—suffer, both the religious and secular.”

“Support for those who oppose religious fanaticism isn’t limited to the nonreligious,” Kurtz said. “Catholics, Protestants, and especially the world’s subjugated Muslims have a very real stake in protecting our secular society from those who would bind legislation with the Decalogue or weave Sharia law into our courts.”