Attendance at a secular humanism conference raising money for Sarnia charities is expected to double this year, an organizer said.
“Basically because we’ve improved the lineup,” said Bob Barnes with Bluewater Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics (BAHA).
“We’ve got 12 great speakers,” he said.
Among them, at the Aug. 25-27 BAHA Con at Point Edward’s Sunbridge Hotel, are the Friendly Atheist editor and contributor Hemant Mehta, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation Annie Laurie Gaylor, and humanist speaker, writer and coach Drew Bekius.
About 150 people attended the inaugural BAHA Con in 2022, said Barnes, the non-profit group’s president, calling it “a total success.
“We had a good crowd and good speakers, but we’ve really improved it this year,” he said, noting attendees are expected from as far as the southern United States.
BAHA started about 15 years ago and currently has 85 members, Barnes said.
Members started planning around 2020 for a conference to raise money for charity and improve the group’s image locally, he said.
“Because when you look the word ‘godless’ up in the dictionary, it says ‘evil, wicked and sinful,’ and that’s the image that a lot of people have if you’re not a Christian, they think you’re a bad person,” he said.
“And the truth of the matter (is), a lot of the pillars of this community belong to our group, but everybody has to be quiet about it,” he said.
The conference in 2022 raised $2,000 for the Alzheimer Society of Sarnia-Lambton and St. Joseph’s Hospice.
Bluewater Health and the Alzheimer Society will receive this year’s proceeds, Barnes said.
Aims are to make the conference the “first conference” of its kind in North America, he said.
This year’s opens with a dinner and finishes with a Duc d’Orleans II cruise, a highlight in 2022, Barnes said.
Details about speakers and tickets are available at bahacon.com.