The 2010 Global Atheist Convention (also called The Rise of Atheism) was an international meeting of atheists

Atheism

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

 in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, sponsored by the Atheist Foundation of Australia

Atheist Foundation of Australia

The Atheist Foundation of Australia, Inc. was established in South Australia in 1970, when The Rationalist Association of South Australia decided upon a name change to better declare their basic philosophy, namely atheism....

 and Atheist Alliance International

Atheist Alliance International

Atheist Alliance International is a global network of atheist organisations around the world. AAI was founded in 1991.AAI's vision is "to transform society into one that understands and respects atheism; that supports and respects a worldview based on the values of reason, empiricism and...

. It took place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 12 to 14 March 2010. Over 2,000 delegates attended, with all available tickets selling out more than five weeks prior to the event.

Presenters

Speakers included evolutionary biologist and bestselling author, Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins

Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...

, Catherine Deveny

Catherine Deveny

Catherine Deveny is a comedy writer and stand-up comedian, and was a regular columnist in The Age newspaper between 2001 and 2010...

, Phillip Adams

Phillip Adams

Phillip Andrew Hedley Adams, AO is an Australian broadcaster, film producer, writer, social commentator, satirist and left-wing pundit. He currently hosts a radio program, Late Night Live, four nights a week on the ABC, and he also writes a weekly column for the News Limited-owned newspaper, The...

, Taslima Nasrin

Taslima Nasrin

Taslima Nasrin is a Bengali Bangladeshi ex-doctor turned author who has been living in exile since 1994. From a modest literary profile in the late 1980s, she rose to global fame by the end of the 20th century owing to her feminist views and her criticism of Islam in particular and of religion in...

, Peter Singer

Peter Singer

Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...

, PZ Myers

PZ Myers

Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris and the author of the Pharyngula science blog. He is currently an associate professor of biology at UMM, works with zebrafish in the field of evolutionary developmental biology , and also cultivates an...

, Dan Barker

Dan Barker

Dan Barker is a prominent American atheist activist who served as a Christian preacher and musician for 19 years but left Christianity in 1984.-Biography:...

, Stuart Bechman, Sue-Ann Post

Sue-Ann Post

Sue-Ann Post is an Australian comedienne and writer.Self described as "Australia’s favourite six foot, lesbian, ex-Mormon, diabetic, comedian and writer", Post has performed as a stand up comedian internationally and throughout Australia since 1991.She has written an autobiography A Bit of a...

, Kylie Sturgess

Kylie Sturgess

Kylie Sturgess is an award-winning blogger and independent podcast host of 'The Token Skeptic Podcast'. A Philosophy and Religious Education teacher with over ten years experience in education, Kylie has lectured on teaching critical thinking, feminism, new media and anomalistic beliefs worldwide...

, John Perkins, Tamas Pataki, Max Wallace

Max Wallace

-Who Killed Kurt Cobain?:Wallace coauthored the international bestseller Who Killed Kurt Cobain? with Ian Halperin in 1998, .-Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain:...

, Russell Blackford

Russell Blackford

Russell Blackford is an Australian writer, philosopher, and critic, based for many years in Melbourne, Victoria. He was born in Sydney, and grew up in Lake Macquarie district, near Newcastle, NSW. He moved to Melbourne in 1979, but returned to Newcastle to live and work in 2009.-Writing career:As a...

, Ian Robinson, AC Grayling, Robyn Williams

Robyn Williams

Robyn Williams AM is a science journalist and broadcaster resident in Australia who has hosted the Science Show on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1975, Ockham's Razor and In Conversation .-Background:Robyn Williams was born in Buckinghamshire, England, and educated in Vienna and...

, Simon Taylor

Simon Taylor

Simon Taylor may refer to:*Simon Taylor , drummer for InMe*Simon Taylor , Scottish professional rugby union footballer*Simon Taylor , convict ship to Western Australia...

, NonStampCollector, Craig Reucassel

Craig Reucassel

Craig Bruce Reucassel is a television and radio comedian from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser...

 and Julian Morrow

Julian Morrow

Julian Francis Xavier Morrow is an Australian comedian and television producer from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is best known for being a member of the satirical team The Chaser...

 (The Chaser

The Chaser

The Chaser are an Australian satirical comedian group, known for their television programmes on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation channel. The group take their name from their production of satirical newspaper, a publication known to challenge conventions of taste...

). In addition, a panel of women chaired by Maggie Millar

Maggie Millar

Maggie Millar is an Australian actress, best known for her TV appearances as Marie Winter in Prisoner, Elizabeth Bradley in The Sullivans and Rosie Hoyland in Neighbours.-External links:*...

 featured Lyn Allison

Lyn Allison

Lynette Fay "Lyn" Allison is an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1996 to 2008, representing the state of Victoria. She was the last federal parliamentary leader of the Australian Democrats....

, Tanya Levin

Tanya Levin

Tanya Levin is a social worker.In 2007 Levin published People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story of a Life in and out of Hillsong, an exposé of the Hillsong Church....

, Leslie Cannold

Leslie Cannold

Leslie Cannold, PhD, is an author, academic ethicist, columnist, activist, and high-profile Australian public intellectual....

 and Jane Caro (The Gruen Transfer

The Gruen Transfer

The Gruen Transfer is an Australian television program focusing on advertising, which debuted on ABC1 on 28 May 2008 and has run for four seasons...

).

External links

• The Rise of Atheism 2010 Global Atheist Convention