Cancellation of the 2018 Global Atheist Convention called a massive blow to the Atheist Foundation of Australia

In my previous post, I wrote about the cancellation of the 2018 Global Atheist Convention which was sponsored by the Atheist Foundation of Australia (see: The 2018 Global Atheist Convention has been cancelled. Substantially lower ticket sales was given as the reason. ).

Robert Martin from Melbourne’s City Bible Forum indicated about the cancellation of the 2018 Global Atheist Convention: "This is a massive blow to the Atheist Foundation as an organisation and to organised atheism in Australia. Where to next? What do they stand for?”

According to Martin, fragmentation within today's atheist movement in Australia is a key reason that the convention may have been difficult to sell. 

2016  Reason Rally was a failure in terms of attendance

The 2018 Global Atheist Convention has been cancelled. Substantially lower ticket sales was given as the reason. The boring nature of atheist conferences was not mentioned

The 2018 Global Atheist Convention has been cancelled.,

 According to the Atheist Foundation of Australia, Inc.

The Convention Committee secured Victorian government funding, a great program of speakers and the same venue that housed the successful 2010 and 2012 conventions. With those elements, the AFA proceeded with the Convention. However, ticket sales have been substantially below expectations and below the levels for previous conventions, so, unfortunately, the Convention cannot proceed.

In the article Atheists are boring snoozefests. Incontrovertible proof!, I wrote about how boring atheists/atheism are/is. 

 The atheist Jeremiah Traeger wrote about atheist conferences:  

"As for conferences, I could imagine a number of reasons why they are getting smaller. Isn’t it possible that atheism, as a movement, just isn’t really as exciting or novel as it was 7 or 10 years ago?" 

The atheist Jerry Coyne said about atheist conferences which he attended:

But to me the speakers and talks have often seemed repetitive: the same crew of jet-set skeptics giving the same talks. 

...a few things bothered me, most notably the air of self-congratulation( which I excused on the grounds of enthusiastic people finding like-minded folks for the first time), the “fanboyness” directed at some of the famous atheists (they hardly let poor Richard alone, and I’m not sure he liked that!), and the lameness of quite a few of the talks. Again, how much new can you say about atheism?^[

Atheist David Smalley wrote relating to atheist infighting: "And we wonder why we’re losing elections, losing funding, and our conferences are getting smaller."

In 2017, The atheist activist Lee Moore said about atheist conferences, "Most conferences are gone now.They're either gone or in some kind of life support form."

Atheist admits that the atheist movement could be more boring than it was 10 years ago. How could atheists and atheism become even more boring?

In the article Atheists are boring snoozefests. Incontrovertible proof!, I wrote about how boring atheists/atheism is. 

 The atheist Jeremiah Traeger wrote about atheist conferences: 

As for conferences, I could imagine a number of reasons why they are getting smaller. Isn’t it possible that atheism, as a movement, just isn’t really as exciting or novel as it was 7 or 10 years ago? 

I didn't think it was possible for atheists/atheism to become even more boring. But evidently, it may have happened.

Another sign the atheist movement in America has imploded: Cancelled atheist conferences

YouTube atheist Thunderfoot said about the atheist movement after Reason Rally 2016 had a very low turnout:

I'm not sure there is anything in this movement worth saving. Hitchens is dead. Dawkins simply doesn't have the energy for this sort of thing anymore. Harris went his own way. And Dennett just kind of blended into the background. So what do you think when the largest gathering of the nonreligious in history pulls in... I don't know. Maybe 2,000 people. Is there anything worth saving?

So is there another sign that the atheist movement in America has imploded?

Yes! Cancelled atheist conferences!

Behold the cancelled atheist conferences:

New Atheist Convention Cancelled

Looks Like Yet Another Atheist Conference is Cancelled

Note to Atheists: Don’t Run a Conference Unless You Know What You’re Doing


Reason Really 2016 Crashed and Burned



Thunderf00t vs. Eric Hovind at the Reason Rally 2012