What a wonderful event the Iowa Secular Summit was!
This past weekend the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers along with the Humanist Society of Iowa put on the Iowa Secular Summit, an event focused on separation of church and state, building bridges, and the science behind evolution. Attendance was high, the company was good, and even the food hit the spot. This event was a great success and a stark reminder that there are indeed people of all faiths – and no faiths – that care about secular values and enjoy the good company of non religious folk.
First up we had Bill Doherty of Braver Angels fame, but also a family counselor with decades of experience in the field. His message of building bridges and highlighting the importance of dialogue really hit home with some back-and-forth messaging from the audience. Bill entreated us to think about things that used to not be so polarizing; climate, judges, education, social media, and even science itself, and how those things have become hot button issues. Many had different views on these things and Bill drove home just how important it is to not become activated by certain words but rather to ask questions. Asking questions and showing individual stories is how you build a shared set of values and can find answers and his organization, Braver Angels, is designed to do just that.
After Bill, we got a rousing lecture on the history of Evolution from Aron Ra. Aron was here from Texas to recount the Scopes Monkey Trial and the history of evolution from the very beginning of the idea. Aron was able to demonstrate that evolution has been a known quantity since human beings began using rudimentary scientific observations with seeds and selective breeding while exposing creationists as rejecting reality. His expertise on the subject showed through as he moved easily from multi-syllable taxonomic descriptions to passionate accented historical quotes without missing a beat. We learned the beginnings of the theory all the way to the most modern attempts to refute it, with Aron showing that those that claim creation or biblical accounts are not only incorrect but are often willfully being incorrect. It was absolutely a pleasure to have him visit, definitely a highlight of the event for many!
Next, we broke for lunch and resumed the Summit with two separate panels. First we had representatives from American Atheists, Progress Iowa, and the Iowa State Education Association share their experience building bridges with other communities. Some spoke of their relationship building with faith-based organizations alongside labor organizations to advocate for secular humanist values like education, separation of church and state, and clean water and air. They shared their challenges as well, highlighting how these kinds of things can’t be done alone or without building these networks with other groups. Great questions were fielded by the audience with a great comment from Katy Siddal of Progress Iowa: “they’re taking a lot of freedom away from a lot of people to give massive amounts of freedom to a small group of people” when speaking on how to get more people engaged.
Our second panel was made up of folks who essentially live in the Capitol for each annual session with representatives from Bleeding Heartland, One Iowa, and the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa. They discussed the nuances of politics in the statehouse with things not always being as they appear to be on the outside. The good news from this panel was that there are quite a few folks in the statehouse in both parties that agreed with many of the things we would consider good policy. The bad news was that it seemed one party was resistant to any kind of stepping out of line and voting their conscience, and the prognosis from the panels on changing minds seemed grim. Still, the stories and advocacy work they shared were inspiring, with plenty of examples of good discussions between their organizations and others. Many things were gleaned from the discussion with this panel and I would think this should be a recurring theme each year at the summit.
If you missed the Iowa Secular Summit, you missed out. Despite a heavy draw from the No Kings protest that was done on the same day, we had a packed house and plenty of engagement with our speakers. There wasn’t a person there that day that didn’t learn something new, hear a different perspective, or connect with a new community or group. The Iowa Secular Summit remains a highlight of the year for those interested in the separation of church and state alongside secular and humanist ideals. This event will only get bigger. I am proud to be a part of it and extend my sincerest thanks to the attendees, speakers, and our panelists.
In good we trust.