For Immediate Release
Contact:
Merrill Miller, 202-238-9088 ext. 105, merrillmiller@americanhumanist.org
(Washington, D.C., Sept. 4, 2015)—As part of a united coalition to advocate for the rights of humanists and atheists in the United States, the American Humanist Association is co-sponsoring Reason Rally 2016. An event expected to be the largest gathering of nontheists in history, the Reason Rally will take place June 4, 2016, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
“Let’s celebrate being good without a god and raise awareness of the discrimination and stigma nonbelievers face in the United States,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. “With clerks refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and taxpayer funds being directed to organizations that openly discriminate against people of different faiths, religious privileging has gone too far in America. Our trust for a better, more tolerant America lies in the firm foundation of reason.”
Reason Rally 2016 is a four-day event in which the nation’s growing community of nontheists and their theistic allies will come together in the nation’s Capital to celebrate reason. The festivities will include activism, comedy, and informative talks by many featured speakers, already including: Cara Santa Maria, neuroscientist, journalist and Talk Nerdy podcaster; Eugenie Scott, former executive director of the National Center for Science Education and activist for the teaching of evolution; Paul Provenza, actor, comedian and filmmaker; Yvette d’Entremont, also known as “Science Babe,” a comedian and skeptic of alternative medicine; and James Randi, a magician and famous debunker of pseudoscience.
The latest Pew Religious Landscape Study revealed that in 2014, 22.8 percent of Americans were unaffiliated with any religion, prompting Speckhardt to conclude, “With nearly 23 percent of Americans now identifying with no religion, it’s time for us to demonstrate to politicians and to the world that we are a presence that cannot be ignored.”
More information about the Reason Rally 2016 can be found at www.reasonrally.org.
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Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, DC, the American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming philosophy of humanism, which—without beliefs in any gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.