San Diego Coalition of Reason

08/23/2026

Congressman Jared Huffman, along with Rep Jamie Raskin, founded the Congressional Freethought Caucus. Finally, a caucus devoted to protecting our secular government and promoting true religious freedom, which celebrates the right to NOT believe in the supernatural. What started with four members is now a caucus of 37. This is a "working" caucus... Rep Huffman will tell you more!

A recording from Author Salon Series at Redeeming Democracy

08/23/2026

Atheisting in the park: We had to set up next to some Christians today. Living Stream Ministries. They were passing out Revision Bibles. Because everyone else gets it wrong. So these guys thought they would do their own version. Some of us talked to them. They didn't want to talk to me. I tried to ask some simple questions. And got one word replies. One thing for sure, they were into magical thinking. Tommy and Wayne faired much better than I did. At least they were polite and friendly. There was laughter coming from their tent. We don't here that from the others.
Had a lot of friendlies stop by. We love these people. 🙂
Two guys from Russia (Now in Florida) are here for a physics conference. A wife & husband stopped by. She had a question and he thought we would be the perfect people to ask. Her question was "What is secular humanism?" I told her it is basically, taking the supernatural out of the picture and trying to make the world a better place for everyone. The secular park is we are not biased towards one religion or another. Everyone is treated the same.
We hand out lollipops. So we get a lot of kids that drag their parents over to get a lolli.
I walked away for a few minutes. When I got back everyone was arguing over semantics with a guest. I interrupted to ask what the point was? No one had a point. So I shifted the conversation back to something more interesting. Asking the guy about his belief? He didn't like to use the word god. HE was 'spiritual.' I told him I separate the word into two categories. #1 woo-woo, supernatural nonsense. The other, more neurological. Meaning that I can look at the world in wonder and amazement. And I see that as a non-supernatural spiritual.
Had a weird conversation with Thom and Manny. Thom was on about not taking money from Billionaires. Something about it wouldn't make a difference. I have difficulty understanding him. It is manner that he speaks. I can't tell what he means. So Manny was our moderator. He did a good job at translating. Because Thom couldn't understand what I was saying. At least he was trying. Anyway, the short version is- I asked Thom if he thought 'trickle down economics worked?' He said yes. And I walked away.
So, even on slow days, we still have a good time.
From Carlos: ""Well….. today was interesting, I’ll get to it in a bit…… Weather was pretty hot but still beautiful. Got there earlier than usual. Full house for us atheists in the afternoon with all the chairs being used. And still 2 peeps had to stand. It thinned out by the late afternoon but we still have the best conversations amongst ourselves. Not many people approached, it happens once in a while. We got a lot of appreciative comments for representing atheism. I didn’t get into too many convos or deep dialogue. The one interaction that was kind of fun was when this guy approached. Personally, I had no fu***ng idea what he was talking about or what his point was. He kept lumping all atheists into a singularity like we all think alike. I had to correct him a couple times, said that we all have different thoughts and opinions, but can definitely disagree. The only thing we have in common is atheism. He was trying his best to ask good questions. He went off on some weird edgy type stuff, like “we are our own gods” or whatever. I call that the B**g Hit theory. He lost me when he said us humans, can grow back organs and limbs by just thinking. I just facepalmed.
Speaking of us atheists not always agreeing on everything, we had a “slightly” heated debate among two of my favorite guys. They def got into it. To me, those two are the most intelligent amongst us. I listened. But at one one point, had to walk away. I love both and didn’t want to take sides. For me, that was a new experience. Hopefully, it gets squashed in the future. Other than that, it was a great day.""
From Wayne: ""Another very good day at the booth, with interesting conversations for me within the booth, and with like-minded visitors, and with a few religious people. A few of us each talked with folks in the Christian group next to us (we later found to be LSM.ORG) and my interaction with the younger man was civil and I think interesting for both of us. I later talked with another young man who has a PhD in Psychology but is a Christian and we agreed on much but he said he'd respond with "yes, but" but we agreed that thought is an emergent property of our billions of brain cells and that religions have (or had) sociological functions and that the universe is awesome.
I later talked with a middle aged woman who seemed to pause when I interjected "We don't believe in God but do good" and discussing further her views of God (all people valued, no racism, etc), and my explanations of Humanism, she and I agreed that she's a Religious Humanist and I'm a Secular Humanist and we largely agree; she also believes that good actions are more important than a belief in God, and I do too.""
The single no vote is me chumming for Thom's vote. We know how he'd vote if he ever did 😉 The toll came out as expected. We still talk to people that think slavery is not condoned in the Bible. 🤦

08/19/2026

How religions get started!

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Western New York—includ...

08/19/2026

Secular Spotlight (Freedom From Religion Foundation) talks about Robert G. Ingersoll, the Great Agnostic.

FFRF's Dan Barker and Scott Knickelbine explore the remarkable lega...

08/19/2026

08/17/2026

This is why we need to keep our skepticism muscles strong! There’s no shortage of misinformation and nonsense out there—and it seems every generation must learn anew how important it is to question, investigate, and demand evidence.

Welcome to the Morning Heresy, CFI’s regular roundup of news and headlines for the reality-based community. Skeptical Inquirer deputy editor Benjamin Radfor ...

08/16/2026

Atheisting in the park: Well, another fun day. I don't know how many more of these I can take 😛
Had fin conversation with a guy that admitted he was brainwashed. That was kind of weird. After pointing our problems with the text. And comparing science/ history to the Bible. He just said he believed the Bible because he was brainwashed.
Several times I mentioned Euhemerism. And gave Haile Selassie as an example of a person getting promoted to god status.
Then I see this guy with a shirt that the symbol looks familiar, but I can't place it. So I ask the guy. It was the symbol for Rastafarian. Told the guy about that, he smiled and walked on.
Talked with a native American lady. She was very spiritual. And also didn't let anyone finish anything without interrupting. We mostly agreed about humanism.
We got a newbie today. Caroline. She was a total delight to talk to. She made the mistake of saying she liked history. I was happy to point out a bunch of things she was not aware of 🙂 We did cover a few different time periods and some mythology.
It cracks me up how we will sit there and talk among ourselves for a few hours. And then all of a sudden we get overwhelmed with people. I'm not complaining. Just telling you the pattern.
So, in other words- we had a good time 😃
From John - ""Had an interesting and rare conversation with a Jain practitioner. Dave was from NY and had landed in San Diego just four hours earlier.
Jainism does not believe in a creator god and a core belief is to do no harm. I let Dave know Jainism and Humanism are very similar concerning the well being of others. Jainism is a more extreme position as it extends to all forms of life.
Dave told me Jainism is strictly vegan, and forbids fermented foods. Fermented foods contain micro bacterial life and are avoided to prevent consuming the massive quantities of yeast and microorganisms generated during fermentation. Root vegetables (potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, radishes, ginger, beets) are also forbidden because harvesting them kills the entire plant and destroys microscopic organisms living in the root systems.
He had to leave after a brief conversation but stated he would like to revisit us. I let him know we are here every Saturday and he was welcome to join us.
Hope we see him again.
I personally have many questions about Jainism.""
From Wes - ""A nice older guy with a “railroad workers united” shirt on ended up being an atheist and expressed confusion over the current political environment with the religious in power and that it’s likely they’d rather have a jihadist Muslim in power than an atheist. I brought up the point that the Christian’s are basically freaked out about sharia law but are basically trying to implement their own version and it’s very much a pot calling the kettle black situation. He also mentioned a song that got the artist in trouble for making an atheist song called “Let the Mystery Be” by Iris Dement. Unfortunately had to head out rather quickly.""
From Tim - ""I don’t think this is very interesting, but here’s what I drummed up: # An Argument at the Booth: A Clearer Account
A cyclist abruptly stopped at our booth and shouted, "You couldn't do this in an Islamic country like Afghanistan!" His implication was clear—that our free speech rights somehow stem from America's Christian colonial heritage. From my chair, I attempted to engage him in discussion, but he showed no interest in dialogue, seemingly triggered merely by our presence. To him, our atheism apparently made us un-American.
I tried explaining that Afghanistan wasn't always so restrictive until their religious fundamentalists gained power. Daniel chimed in, noting Iran's similar trajectory. I pointed out that Christian-dominated governments haven't always been lenient toward free speech either, and that our current administration actively attacks these rights. He retorted that immigrants and Democrats were to blame for these changes. When I disagreed, he dismissed me as living in a "news bubble." His aggression had worn me down, and finally I told him to "F**k Off."
Others attempted to engage him, but again he seemed more interested in berating us than discussing. At this point, he revealed he was a Mexican immigrant, which prompted Daniel—who was still seated—to switch to Spanish. The rest of us watched, unable to follow the conversation but observing that the intensity didn't diminish. When Daniel stood up to face him, the cyclist dismounted completely, which I interpreted—combined with the escalating intensity—as an aggressive move. I stood to deter any physical aggression, which seemed to shift his posture slightly toward relaxation. Daniel and the man continued arguing, but we could tell Daniel had reached his limit too. I returned to my seat.
Wesley then arrived and engaged the cyclist from the opposite end of the booth, making it difficult for me to follow their exchange. The intensity grew substantially, drawing a small crowd of onlookers. "Free speech" must have been mentioned, because Wesley became animated and louder, exclaiming something like, "I can use my free speech. F**k you! Fuuuuccck Yooouuu!" His hands swept dramatically from his mouth toward the sky. A passerby told Wesley, "You should go somewhere else with that foul mouth," to which Wesley responded in kind. A young woman, attracted by the argument, seemed to be enjoying the verbal beating Wesley was delivering. Wesley offered her an opportunity to speak from a woman's perspective, but again I couldn't follow what was being said.
Richard showed up. I think he mentioned he hadn’t visited for about 4 years.
Mitchell showed up around noon without his didgeridoo “Draco”. He had taken a break from playing at the park due to the hot weather, but was surprised how nice the weather actually was today and remarked he’d be playing under the shade of a tree anyway, so I expect he’ll return soon. I talked to him about my interest in buying and learning the didgeridoo. Draco is a flat D key and was made specifically for him. He had mentioned to me a month ago that he’d give me some pointers in the early morning on Saturday’s which would be awesome!
Mitchell named the 1 year old tree that he’s nursing near his usual spot. It’s actually regrowth from it old form that had been cut down by some nitwit. He has named it “Eywa” after the Tree of Souls depicted in the movie Avatar.
It’s 33 inches tall now. It was incredibly tiny a year ago.""
From Carlos - ""Beautiful 80s weather with a slight breeze. (I love my weather reports😂). Got to the booth really late, almost 3. Apparently, I missed Daniel and Tim going off on a Mex-maga that wouldn’t leave. Daniel is usually the calm one. Got pretty crowded at times so I just talked with booth buddies. Talked to a cultural Jew, basically an atheist. Hopped in and out of some other convos. One guy said that science proved a creator. I just laughed, shook my head and let Rob and Rich take over. These two college aged girls were standing kind far but smiling. So I just approached them. Those ladies are who I want to take over this country. From Delaware, smart, open minded, and just awesome. We talked for about half hour about pro-choice, transphobia and some other woke/queer topics. We pretty much agreed on everything. Making this shorter than usual, my night job is busy. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad day at the booth.""
Got a few weird reactions from the question today.

08/12/2026

As AI and social media make falsehoods harder to detect, the community devoted to debunking bad information faces an uncertain future.

08/11/2026

Public policy must be based on evidence and science, not religious dogma.

08/09/2026

EDITED- Atheisting in the park, again: Much better this week. Had lots of good conversations. The first guy I talked to was fun, well for me anyway. He started with the Bible is historically accurate. One of the most annoying things believers do, besides just being ignorant. Id their state of denial. I explained that most of the Bible is not history. And then showed him why. But I also showed him how some parts are history and how we know that. It really gets annoying when it gets laid out in detail how historians do their job. And the believer asks me how do I know the Bible is not true? 🤦 Dude, I just told you. Were you not listening. Even gave him some homework- Michael Grant: A Historians review of the Gospels. Then he moves on to morals. Atheist and the Bonobos by Franz De Waal answers a lot of these questions. He brought up obedience. I explained Euthyphro's dilemma. He couldn't understand how obedience is not morals. He kept blaming humanity for all the bad things. Could not let his god have any of the responsibility for what it made. At one point he couldn't understand how I can complain about god if I don't believe in it. He literally said "I thought you didn't believe in god?" I had to explain that I was addressing the stories. The same thing as complaining about Joffrey in Game of Thrones. Then making fallacious arguments. I explain, in detail the problems. They always deny it.
We talk to a lot of ignorant people. The funny thing is that often they will say they don't know a lot about "X", and when you point out their ignorance they get offended. This was Travis. He even, several times, said he knows nothing. Tommy jumped all over that. Travis bring up the flood story. My favorite. I explain the problem from a geological, mythological, internal problems. And he doesn't understand why his Bible doesn't carry more weight? 🤦 Second time today. I just explained it in detail what the problems are with the Bible and realty. 'but, but, but, I believe.' We tried, unsuccessfully, to help him understand the difference between magical thinking and critical thinking.
A gentleman stopped by. I told him to take a few of the 'safe' buttons we give away. He told me I was a good atheist, and he was an evil atheist. We both laughed.
We sure have some goofy conversations when just talking among ourselves. We talked about Pluto, our fur babies, politics (ugh), movies, cannibalism, astrology vs theology (They are the same thing. In that they are both just made up)
Talked with a very friendly family from Mexico. I don't know why be that was kind of surprising. Nice though. Very intelligent. We discussed people getting more fanatical.
The last family that talked to us. I think we surprised the teenager that was asking the questions. We gave him a lot to think about.
edit - - (EDIT) From John: ""August 8, 2026 Several of us spoke with a family of four. Mom, Dad, teenage son and daughter. Their son was mid/late teen, daughter a few years younger. Son was leading the conversation and was curious about our belief/non belief. Asked if belief in religion was harmful in any way.
Rob, Alex and I each provided a different example of potential harm. Next: “Do you believe the biblical stories/why not?” Again, we all stated strange/contradictory/cruel and unjust examples to not trust the stories. Rob and I both suggested reading about similar myths prior to the Hebrew Bible.
I mentioned historical accounts of Horus (writings of Plutarch) for similarities to Jesus claims.
Alex stated the Hebrew exodus did not happen. Complete absence of material waste, no graves or human remains. Rob cited scholarly papers by Jewish archaeologist Israel Finkelstein and Professor, independent archaeologist Yoni Mizrahi as support.
Alex explained that appropriating older stories, like the Bible most certainly did, is a behavior that humankind has always used to provide validation of ideas to a different audience Copying ideas was and is a standard practice.
Entire family was very attentive and the parents were encouraging both kids to ask questions. We all let them know they were doing a great job of parenting.
I later spoke with mom and dad at the board and discussed the QOTD for a moment. Tommy spoke with them and congratulated them on being such great and supportive parents. Whole family was nominally Christian. I found out they were from Oklahoma. They were staying on Coronado Island. So a very different environment than they were familiar with. They love it and plan on returning. I suggested that information from Seth Andrew and Forrest Valkai might interest them. Both Seth and Forrest are also from Oklahoma.
They stayed for close to an hour before it was time for them to be off for dinner. Thanks all around and said when the comeback to SD, the booth will be on their list.""

From Wes: ""Eh, I didn’t really have anything this time other than “I got to pet a very friendly dog for a long time” 😆
Oh “and got to listen to Tommy and Iran talk a bunch while people watching.”"

From Carlos: ""We are so spoiled. Like we have amazing weather all year round. A little hot, but beautiful. I got there late and Rob was knee-deep in a good conversation with a theist that has never read the bible, apparently. Those types just make me facepalm. It was relatively quiet and little foot traffic. We had a couple good groups of conversations. A 10y/o and his father walked up. After a couple minutes I could tell they were atheists. But the boy wanted to ask some questions, and they were good for his age. Dad appreciated what we are doing and gave his kid a $20 to donate to us. After that it went really quiet, so we debated about which Nicolas Cage movies are good. It was a hilarious convo. A couple of very nice women talked to us but very xtian. We had an agreeable chat. Yet, she did want to cite some scriptures. Which does nothing for me. A few other groups talked to us. Then when we started to pack up, a family of four, very xtian, and super nice stopped by. The son, a teenager was quite honest and genuine with his questions, in order to see what atheists think. It was a good talk, but we have too many chefs that want to jump in and talk. Other than that, and as usual, fun day.""
From Wayne: ""Another very good day at the booth, with many interesting discussions among ourselves and a long and interesting set of discussions with a Christian visitor, Travis. Tommy and I talked with him at first, but it soon became a booth-wide discussion. Tommy explained his type of Satanism to him but it took Travis a while to understand that they believe Satan is NOT real. I talked a little about my being religious in my youth, United Methodist, it wasn't unpleasant for me, and I grew out of it as I reasoned about it (and sometimes had discussions/debated with my Sunday school teachers). In talking with Travis, we learned that he does not accept Evolution and many of us explained how the evidence for it is overwhelming, etc. Later we all were discussing 'critical thinking' and how various aspects of that are important for all people, etc. Near the end a couple of us talked with Travis's wife who had returned and she was pleasant too and said she didn't mind waiting for him.""
We did get a lot of conversation over the QOTD. For some strange reason, believers want to alleviate god of any responsibility for something He created. And yeah buddy do they get made when it gets pointed out that that is an abusive relationship.
This week was way better than last week 😁 yay