At CSH Conference

I will be on a panel at the Council for Secular Humanism's 30th Anniversary Conference in Los Angeles (California), which is taking place October 7th-10th (2010). Unfortunately this event was way more amazing than I knew, so it's already sold out. So this notice won't be of any use to anyone--except those already lucky enough to be going. But I will be joining several other speakers on a joint panel discussion about the future of secular humanism in America, concluding the conference between 9am and noon on Sunday October 10. I will be attending the whole conference, though. So I'll be around. They will be selling my books, through their own vendor (I'm not involved in that), but if you find me I'll sign anything you buy. For those who want to salivate at what you can't go see, everything you'd ever want to know about the conference is provided on a rather spectacular website. The speaker roster is very impressive, and the events promise to be pretty extraordinary.

Appearing in Sacramento

I'll be speaking in Sacramento, California, later this month, on Sunday, September 19 (2010). The talk will take place at 3pm in the Fahs Room of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento (UUSS) at 2425 Sierra Boulevard (Sacramento 95825), sponsored by HAGSA (The Humanist Association of the Greater Sacramento Area).

I'll be discussing the contents and controversy of The Christian Delusion (and bringing up some other stuff related to it from other books of note, including Atheists, The Authoritarian Specter, and The Moral Landscape) and also selling and signing copies of that book as well as my other books (Sense and Goodness Without God and Not the Impossible Faith) after the event. For info and driving directions see the HAGSA Meeting Page. I believe it's free, but donations in support of snacks and coffee are appreciated (or even bring actual snacks to add to the table).

The Infidel Delusion!

Ever since The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails (TCD) came out we've been expecting deluded and irrational attacks. One such going the rounds now is the laboriously long treatment by the Christian crackpots at Triablogue, which they have amusingly titled The Infidel Delusion (I say amusingly because the "I know you are but what am I" tactic only reinforces the stereotype that many Christians are emotionally stunted children--who also have no grasp of irony).

I shall publish responses to their ill-conceived rebuttals to my own chapters in TCD eventually (since I love dispelling misinformation in my fields of expertise), but I wanted to start with a more general illustration of how irrational and deluded they are (and thus of what it means to be irrational and deluded). More replies are being developed by other contributors to TCD (see link provided on the Official TCD Website).