Phil Ferguson is one of the newest members of the Secular Student Alliance's Board of Directors.  On March 11, he saw Richard Dawkins speak in Madison, Wisconsin.

Richard Dawkins is on a speaking tour to promote the paperback release of The God Delusion, sponsored in part by the Secular Student Alliance.  On March 11th, Mr. Dawkins was in Madison, WI and I only had to drive five hours to see him.  I arrived in Madison early to take Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Debbie Goddard from the Center for Inquiry to lunch.  Upon my arrival, I was informed that Mr. Dawkins would also be joining us.

From Left to Right: Debbie Goddard from the Center for Inquiry, SSA Board Member Phil Ferguson, Richard Dawkins, and Annie Laurie Gaylor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.  Photo by Dan Barker.

After lunch, we went to the Wisconsin Union Theatre to get ready for the event.  I met with the students and helped set up a table to sell t-shirts and buttons.  I worked the crowd and gave away 100 SSA wristbands.  The red wristbands said “Atheist” and, interestingly, were much more popular than the blue wristbands with the word “Humanist.”  The students were very excited to be at the event and could hardly wait for the show to start.   All 1,300 seats of the theatre were filled and several hundred more stood in line hoping for an empty seat.

The objective of the presentation was “consciousness raising,” to make people aware that it is ok to not believe in religion and that irrational behavior should not be tolerated.  Mr. Dawkins discussed a laundry list of ancient gods and explained that we are all atheists when it comes to these gods; he just goes one further.  He also discussed the problem of indoctrination and how it closes the mind and destroys a child’s natural curiosity.  The presentation lasted for about an hour and shortly after there was a heavily-attended book signing session.