Magic, Science, and Nones.
We needed this.
Welcome to Jesus Unfollower, where we laugh at religious absurdity.
If you’re like me, you grow tired of religious zealots. I made the super smart decision to make content about atheism and religion daily, so now I get comments like this one every day:
Thanks, Kris. Super sweet of you!
When we leave church, many of us lose the only community that we had. I had heard about conferences for nonbelievers for years, but I didn’t know just how important they are until I went to NaNoCon, the Nashville Nones Convention, last year.
Those of us who interact with radical Evangelicals on social media (or just talk about the heavy topic of religion) need to seek out places where we can connect with those who are like us, and that’s exactly what these conferences provide.
The best way that I can describe NaNoCon is…rejuvenating.
I had to go back this year!
I got the chance to see some of my good friends and to be on my first panel! We talked about ways for the atheist community to reach new people.
There were tons of cool workshops, panels, and speakers.
Coleman Watts helped us understand how to have better conversations with conspiracy theorists.
Dr. Darrel Ray of The Secular Therapy Project and Recovering from Religion started things off with some levity.
Thank you to Kyl W, Doug M, Jim O, Kelly K, Isaiah S, pospdx, Fianna, and Peter Z for becoming the most recent paid subscribers!
Glenda Jordan (not pictured…that’s Jesus) spoke about neurodivergency, purity culture, and kink.
I was bummed that I didn’t get to meet Promise Backlund in person, but she did a phenomenal job virtually, talking about prioritizing humanity.
Hemant Mehta highlighted how our government is not doing enough to keep us safe from dangerous Christian nationalists.
Matt Dillahunty brought the magic and skepticism.
Monte Mader brought the motherfuckin’ house down as she dismantled Christian nationalism and poked holes in its flawed logic.
Forrest Valkai broke down the basics of science communication and helped us learn how to engage diverse audiences with big conversations about bigger facts!
Fish Stark helped us to envision a humanist world. American Humanist Association is doing some incredible work, and, if you want to put money toward a movement that matters, I’d suggest donating to AHA.
It was great to meet so many people in person for the first time! For those of you who came up to me and said hi, just know that it made my weekend.
There are several people that I didn’t mention here because that would take all day, but I had a blast.
Make sure you come to the next one! There’s a conference October 23-25 called Rocket City Reason, and I’ll be speaking at that one, along with AHA’s online conference, Humanity NOW.
I don’t make much money from social media, and what little I do make is always at risk because of the nature of this content.
Paid subscribers here on Substack are how I can keep doing this.
If my page has made you laugh or feel less alone, become a paid Unfollower!
NaNoCon was fucking awesome, and anyone who goes to JesusUnfollower.com/NaNoCon can get 50% off an annual paid subscription! You’ll get bonus content every week and help me create better content to fight Christian nationalism.
Thank you for reading, and remember: You don’t need a god to be good.
Kevin
As my grandmother used to say, Jean: "Heaven for the climate, hell for the company."
It was so great to see you and @engagingtragedy again. I’m a lot, but I thank you both for being generous sounding boards. I look forward to sharing my next critical thinking video with you.
Please reach out if I can help in any way in rejuvenating or relaunching the SSA group at UT Knoxville.