What motivated you to attend and what were your takeaways from the discussions?Īron Ra: As a YouTube atheist, what I see of the social justice movement is limited to the various hate groups whining about SJWs. Once at last year’s American Atheists convention as a fellow State Director and more recently at the Secular Social Justice Conference that was held at Rice University.Īs you know, Secular Social Justice was a stark departure from the more “mainstream” tenor of atheist-oriented events as it centered on the intersecting social, economic, and political issues that impact the daily life of secular people of color. Kirabo: We have met in person a couple times. There is no truth to any of them, meaning that there is nothing we can actually show to be true-except that they all appear to be nothing more than manmade mythology. But once I compared Abrahamic religions to Hinduism and others, I realized that the only common bond between them were faith-based assertions of what is essentially magic. I decided that even if every denomination was based on a kernel of truth, that truth would be at the root of them all, and not in any of the newer sects that keep emerging-those would be further from that truth. This prompted me to compare the different denominations, and then the different religions. I learned that if you want to know what a Mormon believes, you shouldn’t ask a Baptist. Could you please describe what thoughts, doubts, and experiences led you from a Mormon upbringing to the path you currently travel as a self-described “infidel”?Īron Ra: The advantage to being raised as a Mormon was that, once we moved out of areas dominated by Mormons, I got to experience the bigotry of different Christian denominations against each other.

Sincere Kirabo: First, let me say I enjoy your work regarding scientific communication and progressive secular activism.

But I decided to probe a bit further about Aron Ra’s thoughts regarding humanism and secular activism, going beyond dishing about evolution and the flaws in theistic belief.

I was already acquainted with Aron Ra’s work through his YouTube channel where he discusses biology and atheism and counters creationist claims with scientific education. However, I was able to interview two of these atheist activists for the American Atheist magazine. In my brief stint with American Atheists as a regional director, I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to really get acquainted with many of the state leaders.

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