Inheritors of the Wind

Yesterday was day two of the Freedom From Religion Foundation's 2007 convention. Like a total maroon, I had neglected to pack my notebook in the morning after having emptied it out to make room for books that I'd purchase later in the day. Hence I have no quips nor much in the way of specifics regarding the speeches given. Arriving at the convention center, I overheard a gentleman asking the concierge for directions to the FFRF activities and I told him to follow me. We chatted as we waited for the doors to open. He was a local as well and the owner of a small company that writes software for the medical industry. A bit after 9 we were allowed into the hall and found a seat near a guy named Lane who had organized a lunch meetup for folks at Internet Infidels. Professor P.Z. Myers of Pharyngula fame had committed to attend. Lane got a lot of grief yesterday for living in Kansas, let me tell ya.



The morning began with Prof. Robert Kimbrough welcoming everyone. He was a professor of English here at the UW after having been a genuine atheist in a foxhole. At one point he mentioned his red tie and told the audience in no uncertain terms that it was not in support of the Badgers but rather for socialism and this drew loud applause. Although his remarks were brief, Prof. Kimbrough did mention that he had seen men wounded and his comrades die in war. That comment gave me a brief pause as I contemplated the things he must have seen and experienced. I knew that Hitchens was likely to bring up his support for the war in Iraq and that this wouldn't go over very well with this crowd. I don't recall Kimbrough expressing too many anti-war sentiments in his short time onstage, however.



Kimbrough was followed by Ellery Schempp, a physicist who is also know for having begun the hubub that begat the Abington School District v. Schempp Supreme Court case which found Bible readings in public schools to be unconstitutional. He was awarded Hero of the First Amendment. Schempp was a warm and funny man. He had a wonderful avuncular quality which made his speech an absolute pleasure to listen to. His description of his time in Abington High School seems so remote to me now here in 2007 but it was only 24 years ago that his case was decided. Schempp had to suffer through Bible readings which began each day and eventually decided he wouldn't stand for them any longer. Students were required to read the Bible silently and one day Schempp brought in a copy of the Quran instead. This immediately angered his teacher and the school's principal. I was truly appalled to hear him say that the principal wrote letters of disrecommendation to every college to which he applied. Isn't wrath a cardinal sin?



Matthew LaClair could reasonably be described at Schempp's successor for taking on a proselytizing history teacher at his public school in New Jersey last fall. His theatre training has served him well as he was a remarkably able and eloquent speaker despite being a mere 17 years old. He described his former teacher who condemned non-believers to hell, told students that dinosaur's were on Noah's ark, and that the Big Bang Theory is ridiculous. LaClair noted how the the principal didn't believe him until given recordings of the teacher in action. The school board did not punish the proselytizer and he remains at the school to this day. That some Christian teachers will seek to foist their beliefs on school kids is a given. It's sad but not unexpected. But even sadder was that none of Matthew's fellow students and friends at school found it in themselves to express support for him even privately. Only a geometry teacher at the school stood up for him. Before TV cameras, students asked about LaClair's charges all denied them until the recordings surfaced.

I had the pleasure of talking to Matthew after the day's events had finished. He was smart and well-spoken and he reiterated what he had said in his speech about perseverance in the face of adversity and standing up for what you believe. Unlike most speakers, he didn't poke fun at religion but spoke instead about the courage of one's convictions in the face of religious bullying. He is off to college next year and I asked him what he wanted to do. His reply was to take over The Daily Show when Jon Stewart gets too old.



Stephanie Salter was the last speaker before lunch. She currently works for the Terra Haute Tribune-Star in Indiana although she has done stints in New York for Sports Illustrated and for papers in San Francisco. Ms. Salter was one of the few, if not the only, Christian in attendance. Despite her beliefs, she was being recognized for her staunch advocacy of separation of church and state. In her speech, she related having to deal with what she called "baseball bat Christians" in Indiana. By this she meant those Christians who felt compelled to beat others over the head with their beliefs. She read a couple of her columns, one of which described how a local church had erected a 50' cross with a nice red light perched atop it. The application to put this monstrosity up sailed through the zoning boards and city bureaucracy which prompted Ms. Salter to write a column about the favoritism involved with the situation which generated lots of nasty e-mails and letters to her courtesy of folks who supposedly invoke the notion of love thy neighbor.

With the arrival of the noon hour I was off to the Brocach Irish Pub.