Geeks Without God Talks about CONvergence a Little bit More
Well CONvergence is almost here and even though we geeked out about the convention a couple of weeks ago, we decided we wanted to do it a little more. This week we talk about stuff like the costumes that we’ll be wearing (OK – the costumes Nick and Molly will be wearing) and we tell some fun stories from past conventions.
The con is coming up in just a couple of days so if you are as excited about it as we are, this episode is a great way to whet your appetite.
Geeks Without God Talks About CONvergence
Our podcast got started at CONvergence 2012 and as CONvergence 2013 approaches, we decided to spend some time talking about the convention because, honestly, it’s one of our favorite weekends of the year. The three of us have a busy weekend planned. How busy?
Well, you can listen to the episode to find out!
Shit that Pissed me off This Week – 4/5
New York’s Cardinal Dolan wants to Improve the Catholic Church’s Message about Gay Marriage
Oh that’s great Cardinal! I’m glad to see that a high-ranking member of the Catholic Church finally realizes that the Church has no right to make moral judgements for those individuals who aren’t Catholic and you’d stay out of the political arena and…wait a minute.
No. That’s not what he thinks at all. He wants gay people to know that sex is only OK if you are trying to produce offspring so while it is totally OK to be gay, you can’t actually have sex or be married or anything like that. Gay people are totally entitled to friendship, though.
He also wants gay people to know that the Catholic Church is not anti “anybody.” They don’t hate gay people. They just want to make sure that gay people know they aren’t permitted to sexual fulfillment the way straight people are.
I came up with a new message! What do you guys think?
So basically, the difference between gay guys having male friends who are gay and me having male friends who are gay is a lifetime of unresolved sexual tension? I bring this up an awful lot but you know what? If that is really what god wants for gay people, god is a dick.
How about you work on improving that message, Cardinal?
Geeks Without God Talks About Conventions!
This week, we brought our friend Matt Savelkoul back to the podcast so we could talk about conventions and atheism. We are appearing at the Skep-Tech conference this weekend so the episode works as sort of a set-up for that appearance. Actually, we spend most of the podcast talking about CONvergence because that is the convention all of us know the best. Given the breadth of the topic, it’s pretty amazing that we managed to keep the podcast under one hour.
Matt also gets to ask us five questions because he’s been on the podcast before. I gotta say that I love having return guests because as much as I enjoy our five questions, I enjoy the change up when someone gets to ask their own questions because it’s different every time. I also like spending time talking about what I like. That’s why I’m co-hosting a podcast, I expect.
One final bonus, if you listen to the podcast, you can find out how to win a free copy of Atheist Voices of Minnesota! That’s cool, right?
Yes, yes, I KNOW we need a Bigger Boat
Note: These are my thoughts about some of the issues facing CONvergence. They should not be construed as policy decisions, policy recommendations or as a dismissal of the point of view of anyone making suggestions for the convention. I’m just thinking out loud.
Once CONvergence is over, the inevitable parade of commentary begins on what would help make the convention better. I don’t hate this commentary. I welcome it. One comment we hear almost constantly is “x panel needs a bigger room” and while the comment is absolutely fair, the response is not so easy.
Geeks Without God Episode 2!
Hey everyone! Episode 2 of Geeks Without God went live this morning! Recorded in front of a live audience at CONvergence, we talked to Kammy Lyon of Skepchick.org about SkepchickCon and coming out as an atheist.
It’s only 30 minutes long! Go listen!
I don’t want you to feel comfortable about being a bigot
I wrote a radio play for Vaudevilification Tennis and because the show took place during Pride, I decided to include a “public service announcement” against the gay marriage ban. My opinion on the issue should be clear but I saw a good opportunity for some comedy that also made a statement that is important to me.
When it came time to put that script in the CONvergence show, I initially balked at the idea of including the public service announcement because I felt that CONvergence is not a political convention and the announcement might be out of place.
Two things changed my mind.
CONvergence 2012 Highlights
There were a few low points at CONvergence 2012 but they aren’t even worth mentioning. Most of them had to do with last minute planning failures and my complete inability to sleep past 7:30, even when I went to sleep at 5:00 A.M.
So forget that stuff, here’s some of my best moments from CONvergence 2012 (more or less in chronological order):
Powerpoint Conspiracy Karaoke
Having complely killed at Power Point Karaoke today, I’m sharing my performance from last year’s panel. It was the first time it had been done at CONvergence and I had to go first. I think I did OK.
This year I killed it. I know I keep saying that. But I totally killed it.
Grail Diary 