Seriously. I couldn’t stop smiling. We laughed, we cheered, we clapped, we got wet and cold (standing in an off-and-on drizzle for 8 hours will do that to you) …
… and we did something legendary.
I hung out for most of the day with FreethoughtBlogs co-bloggers Ed Brayton, Dan Fincke and Brianne Bilyeu, but also got to meet author-blogger-speaker Greta Christina — who gave me a big hug! Got to see Richard Wade and Hemant Mehta, plus a number of other people whose names and gigs did not stick in my tired (up too early, too much flying and driving, not enough eating) old head.
Good to see Ben, Dareth, Mike and others from my local atheist Meet-Up group!
I’ll be blogging about the Rally at greater length after I get some rest, but you can already find quite a few videos on YouTube.
You’ll be happy to know the nice Christians were out in force to save our wayward souls. They just HAD TO be there. Just COULDN’T let it happen without preaching and waving banners.
One young man wearing a Jesus Saves From Hell t-shirt was called aside by a cop. I could hear him saying “freedom of speech!” and all, but he did finally depart the heart of the crowd for its edges. (Hey, the cops were there for US this time!)
As I was walking from my parking garage to the Rally on Saturday morning, I got approached by at least six groups of godders. They were standing on every corner around the Rally, handing out DVDs with intense eyes and too-friendly voices.
I just laughed at them — “I’m not here for you!” — and kept walking.
One of them called after me “Don’t be so closed-minded!” —Ha! Irony, huh?