Virtual Enlightenment Salon on Hereditary Religion and the Dangers of Religious Indoctrination – January 22, 2023
Lawrence Krauss
Armin Navabi
Valerie Tarico
David Orenstein
Gennady Stolyarov II
Ben Ballweg
Jason Geringer
Art Ramon Garcia, Jr.
On January 22, 2023, the U.S. Transhumanist Party invited panelists to discuss the dangers of religious indoctrination of children and the importance of freethought and allowing children and young adults the option to decide for themselves how to approach religion, if at all. The USTP Officers – Gennady Stolyarov II, Jason Geringer, Art Ramon Garcia, and Ben Ballweg – conversed with four distinguished guests from the freethought movement:
– Dr. Lawrence Krauss – Particle physicist, cosmologist, bestselling author, lecturer, President of The Origins Project Foundation, and host of The Origins Podcast.
– Armin Navabi – Author and podcaster, ex-Muslim atheist, founder of the online freethought community Atheist Republic, author of Why There Is No God: Simple Responses to 20 Common Arguments for the Existence of God
– Dr. Valerie Tarico – Psychologist, writer, social commentator on religious fundamentalism, author of Trusting Doubt: A Former Evangelical Looks at Old Beliefs in a New Light
– Dr. David Orenstein – Professor and department chairperson at CUNY Medgar Evers College, national and international speaker on issues related to the freethought movement, the American Humanist Association’s representative to the United Nations, co-author of Godless Grace: How Nonbelievers are Making the World Safer, Richer and Kinder
4:53 – Lawrence Krauss’s Opening Remarks
10:11 – Morality Without Religion
16:12 – Armin Navabi’s Question to Lawrence Krauss (what he should tell parents) (and Lawrence’s answer)
18:50 – How to Not Have to Prove a Negative (Question to Lawrence Krauss)
22:10 – Lawrence Krauss: Celebrate Our Sentience
23:44 – Armin Navabi’s Opening Remarks
31:15 – Armin Navabi Asks Western Atheists to Support Middle East Atheists
34:44 – David Orenstein’s Opening Remarks
41:36 – Valerie Tarico’s Opening Remarks
49:30 – Question: What Will Fill the Vacuum if and when Religion Goes Away?
59:58 – What One Would Do with a Former Church?
1:11:00 – Darth Kermit
1:13:35 – Ben Ballweg on How Can Crusaders Be Good
1:24:34 – Art Ramon’s Question on Whether There Is a Battle Coming (Armin Navabi Answers)
1:29:31 – Whether Technology Could Bring the Religious to Humanism
1:47:45 – Closing Remarks
This conversation was hosted in accordance with the U.S. Transhumanist Party’s support of freethought and the rights of children, as expressed in the USTP Platform.
Section XXIII: The United States Transhumanist Party supports the rights of children to exercise liberty in proportion to their rational faculties and capacity for autonomous judgment. In particular, the United States Transhumanist Party strongly opposes all forms of bullying, child abuse, and censorship of intellectual self-development by children and teenagers.
Section XXV: The United States Transhumanist Party welcomes both religious and non-religious individuals who support life extension and emerging technologies. The United States Transhumanist Party recognizes that some religious individuals and interpretations may be receptive to technological progress and, if so, are valuable allies to the transhumanist movement. On the other hand, the United States Transhumanist Party is also opposed to any interpretation of a religious doctrine that results in the rejection of reason, censorship, violation of individual rights, suppression of technological advancement, and attempts to impose religious belief by force and/or by legal compulsion.
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