While most of the speakers are typically bright and respectful, it's the average atheist that completely turns people off. The only thing worse than thinking that human beings are 5,000 years old is thinking you're incredibly smart for not believing it. I don't personally believe in a higher power, but I do appreciate that there are religions out there who take it upon themselves to do good and help the world. I work at my old church's charity meal programs when I can and still maintain a relationship with as many of the people as I can. The same people helped me find someone a long time ago who went missing while strung out of her mind on drugs and loneliness. She was so grateful to have someone love her that she dropped her habits, and joined the fellowship, finding comfort in having some sort of guidance and outside presence in her life.

The world is incredibly messed up (has always been, will always be), and if someone can find comfort in that somebody is looking out for them, and cares about them, then I have no problems. If someone is using their belief set to spread or cause misery, though, that's when I direct my vitriol to either the leading individual or the central ideas that cause these problems.

As for the convention, fine. But what's with agnostic and atheist pride? Fine, you don't believe in something, tabula rasa and all that. Now what? What do we do besides talk about how fucking smart we all are?