Along this stretch of Old Route 66 and all over the city it runs through is a thriving community of secular citizens. In the home town of Oral Roberts University where some 60% of the population attends church, some of these freethinking souls emerge from their incognito lifestyles to congregate as a community; as members of one of those organizations that make this place habitable. Saturday morning in the conference room of a local Midtown Tulsa shopping mall was the time and place for the January meeting of the Atheist Community of Tulsa. The guest host for this meeting was none other than Internet radio personality The Thinking Atheist. This event also coincided with the host’s the 200th radio podcast which airs on Tuesdays at 6 PM CST. Tune in for this show this Tuesday evening on The Thinking Atheist website.
The Atheist Community of Tulsa is but one of several local secular organizations which provide a social outlet and opportunities for fellowship and support for like minded individuals. There are some members who managed to grow up without the trappings of religion or the belief in deity. The vast majority however are former believers raised in religious faith who, for whatever reason, no longer subscribe to religious dogma or a belief in a supreme being. Several are dealing with true believing religious family members who have not accepted their rejection of faith well and some have been outright ostracized by clerics and members of their former churches. Periodic ACT outings at local establishments provide a safe environment for those struggling with such things to gain acceptance, exchange stories and ideas and sometimes to just vent when needed.
The Atheist Community of Tulsa is also a sponsor of Free Thought Oklahoma, or FreeOK for short, which is an annual function the first of which took place in 2011. FreeOK is a camp meeting of atheists, agnostics, free thinkers, humanists and pagans and takes place one entire Saturday during the summer. It involves a slate of speakers ranging from activists, journalists, legal scholars, scientists, educators and even some former clergy. It has drawn attendees from as far away at New Mexico, south Texas, Kansas and Missouri. Topics discussed have included the separation of church and state, losing one’s faith and how to deal with it, evolution and molecular biology, safe sex practices, how to be secular in a religious environment, and life stories from speakers such as Nathan Phelps, the atheist son of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps. Like an old time tent revival energizes the believers, FreeOK has been know to energize the non-believers. The Thinking Atheist himself even fessed up to coming out as a non-believer during the first FreeOK in 2011 even though he was well known to ACT long before that.
As I have stated elsewhere, organizations such as ACT are what make this stretch of the Mother Road habitable for us non-conservative, non-believing folks. One thing I have noticed about ACT since my first involvement with the group in 2008, it has only gotten larger. I look for that trend to continue.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8opxew2YXnY