SACRAMENTO, Calif.—A lot of religions consider Sunday to be "holy" and have worship services on that day, but what about the non-religious?
Well, welcome to the 22nd Annual California Freethought Day (CFD), a gathering of atheists, agnostics and other generally non-religious types that will be taking place on Sunday, October 8, on the grounds of the state capitol near its west entrance.
(The official address is 1305 10th St., Sacramento 95814.) Freethought Day is free to all who wish to attend.
"CFD is more like a festival and rally than a conference," explained CFD President David Diskin. "Because this is an outdoor event, there are no projectors or screens, but there will be a lectern. We are projecting 200 in attendance, based on our 2022 attendance. We're also livestreaming the event, via Facebook and YouTube."
The festivities actually begin the night before at a fundraising reception to be held at Sacramento's Reason Center at 1300 Ethan Way #675. Kicking off at 6:30 p.m., it will feature an open bar, finger food and speakers including Abraham Mackey, Alexis Record, Bruce Gleason and several others. The cost to attend the reception is $75.
The theme of this year's Freethought Day, which will officially begin at 11 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m., is the scientific method and those who use it to better humanity. Among the speakers on Sunday will be physician Dr. Candace Lawson and science educator Jen Young, as well as poet/activist Nancy Gonzalez, comedian Maryam Moosavi, and Darrel Ray, president of the organization Recovering From Religion.
One of the day's features will be its Authors and Podcasters Panel, slated to begin at 1:10 Sunday afternoon, and participants on the panel will include former AVN Legal Editor Mark Kernes, science-fiction/fantasy author J. Scott Coatsworth and podcast hosts Trace Dominguez and Thomas Smith.
Kernes will be discussing his book Preachers vs. Porn: Exposing Christianity's War on Sexxx, a collection, with new introductions, of articles originally published in AVN and on AVN.com that chronicle how the world's various religions have dealt with sex and sexual media, often by pushing for laws that seek to suppress that most basic human activity and any depictions of it.
Copies of the book may be purchased at the event.
Attendees will also be able to receive literature from a variety of organizations that will have tables along the paths leading up to the Capitol steps.
More information on the event, and lodging for those who wish to stay overnight, may be found at Freethought Day's website, and those who register on the site can expect to pick up free snacks, drinks and a collectible keepsake button at the registration table.
For those interested in the event but unable to attend, it will be live-streamed on Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter).
