A sad, sparse crowd of a few thousand people dotted the expansive National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Saturday to be part of a “Reason Rally,” an event devoted increasing the political power of Americans who reject religion.
“There are millions and millions and millions of atheists in America,” Robyn E. Blumner, CEO of the Richard Dawkins Foundation, told the meager flock of believers in nothingness.
Blumner also complained that no one listens to atheists.
“We are invisible,” she lamented. “We have no political power. We can be dismissed by politicians with utter impunity. We can be insulted and we can be ignored and there is no political cost for it.”
Blumner said the reason no one listens to atheists is because they don’t tell enough people about their view of the world as a grim void, according to a statement sent to The Daily Caller.
“We are too quiet,” Blumner said in her speech on the National Mall. It’s time for atheists to “make some noise,” she said.
Blumner also provided a window into her understanding that the universe stems from abject cosmic nothingness.
“My view is that the ‘soul’ does not exist outside a functioning brain, nothing was ‘meant to be,’ and things that seem inexplicable are not miracles or paranormal experiences. They are simply not yet explained,” she said at the Reason Rally.
Unofficial estimates of the crowd at Saturday’s Reason Rally were pegged at between 15,000 and 20,000.
The Friendly Atheist, a blogger at Patheos, has suggested that this number is significantly inflated. Actual attendance, the Friendly Atheist said, was probably about 8,000 people — tops.
Prior to Saturday’s Reason Rally, the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation — a group which spends virtually all of its time attacking Christian symbolism — unleashed a two-week advertising campaign involving public buses and public transportation ad kiosks in the Washington, D.C. area. (RELATED: Sad, Lonely Atheists Spend Gobs Of Cash Covering Buses And Kiosks With ‘Atheist Pride’ Ads)
“I’m an Atheist and I Vote,” the Reason Rally-touting bus ads aimed at America’s “exploding secular voting demographic” blared.
The kiosk ads encouraged passersby to purchase “atheist pride” gear. (“Use code ‘secular’ for discount.”)
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which boasts about 24,000 members nationwide, is most famous for requesting that President Barack Obama offer official religious recognition for Americans who are not religious. The February 2016 request, made via a letter, insisted that it is time for an American president to “reach out to secular America.” (RELATED: Sad, Lonely Atheists Long For Obama To Acknowledge Their Spiritually Empty Lives)
The group says its members care deeply about environmental restrictions, gay marriage and the right to abort babies.
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