From all that I have read of the convention, it does seem that congratulations are in order, to the organizers and to the presenters.

My concerns that it would turn into a self-congratulatory clone of a religious festival were clearly misplaced.

It has certainly given us more than a few fine examples of the way in which atheists should treat the religious, their odd beliefs and their insistence on special treatment.

So what's new? Throughout history men and woman who fail in their marriages, embrace immorality then set up their own standard of self righteousness. Quite pathetic really but predictable. Really funny to see them putting their faith in such fallen High Priests.

Runner

¿Qué?

Well I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. There was a refreshing absence of humbug.

I did not want to appear under a false flag so I made a point of wearing a discreet cross over my dress. Some attendees questioned me closely about my beliefs but, interestingly, none tried to "convert" me.

Much of the conference was devoted to airing the evils of "big religion". Unsurprisingly "big religion" is no more moral than "big banks". In fact it is arguable that the banking industry is actually less corrupted than the religion industry.

I don't know if Jesus attended World Youth Day. If he did I have no doubt he went about muttering:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean". (Mt 23.27

So what's new? Atheism is new

Throughout history men and woman who fail in their marriages,
All the men I met there were happily married.

embrace immorality. Have you read the bible lately? morality Your kidding.

then set up their own standard of self righteousness. Those set by standards of common sense and decency NOT those immoral standards paraded from the bible

Quite pathetic really but predictable. Nothing is more predictable than a Christian bigot

Really funny to see them putting their faith in such fallen High Priests. Better our "High Priests" than Joseph Alois Ratzinger, George Pell, the Mad Monk and "God Almighty" Kevin

I congratulate the organisers for getting this conference together, and wish I could have been there.

However, it did attract some pretty bad press, alleging that some participants (Dawkins included) made insulting comments about religious people. If the media reports were true, those comments were unnecessary, and atheists at large could have done without the outrage they inevitably generated.

See, for example, this report in Monday's SMH: http://www.smh.com.au/national/dawkins-derides-sainthood-as-pythonesque-20100314-q676.html

and the understandably indignant letters to the editor on Tuesday: http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/reasoned-arguments-needed-not-insults-20100315-q9i3.html

Steve Fielding doesn't present as the sharpest pencil in the box - he says he has a "specific learning difficulty", whatever that is. I do have some reservations about a man who has problems understanding complex arguments holding the balance of power in the upper house of our nation's parliament (in the same way that I would be hesitant to employ a blind man as a bus driver - it's just not the job for him with such a disability), but perhaps calling him "more stupid than an earthworm" is going too far, and the alleged "Pope Nazi" comment is right out of order.

If people want to believe in irrational things, we should let them get on with it, as long as they don't interfere in our lives. Name-calling only attracts bile aimed at atheists in return.