Although the attendance was lower than the projected 30,000 atheists, the Reason Rally was populated enough that a number of pro-life atheists in attendance managed to not cross paths with each other! (Shout out to those of you who were in the crowd and didn’t manage to find me. We’ll have to connect next time around!)
Pro-Life Humanists set up our sign at various spots around the reflecting pool, in order to maximize our exposure throughout the day. We handed out our pro-life condoms and literature and enjoyed great exchanges with people willing to engage and consider our position. I even had the opportunity to interact a little with infamous Christian apologists Ray Comfort and Eric Hovind – who were curious and I think somewhat impressed that I would be pro-life despite my atheism. I didn’t let them rope me into an evangelistic tug-of-war.
Unbeknownst to us, pro-life atheist Rosemary Geraghty from Life Matters Journal was also doing outreach at the Reason Rally. Although it’s a shame that we weren’t able to connect, it’s great to know that she was doing outreach in a place where we weren’t. Together we hopefully made an impact on the event! Her summary of her own experience at the Reason Rally is well worth reading!
I followed up with my time at the Reason Rally by volunteering for the conference the following day. As a volunteer, I was able to engage fellow volunteers in civil conversations on abortion as well as make a face-to-face connection with several prominent speakers. One told me that she’d never met a pro-life atheist before, and that it was definitely something she’d have to give some more thought to.
Sometimes it’s all about little ripples. One person at a time, one pro-choice argument diffused and then another… Every conversation matters. Even the ones that have nothing to do with abortion but that simply leave a person realizing they’ve just met a pro-lifer they actually liked.
Thanks to everyone who donated to our Reason Rally Gofundme campaign! Quite literally couldn’t have done this without you! Thanks for helping us make ripples!
P.S. Meet Chip! He’s a pro-life vegan atheist! We met at the Reason Rally after-party and he’ll be helping us edit pamphlets in the future. Hooray to Chip!
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