My wife Ann and I attended NaNoCon 2026—the annual Nashville Nones Conference—which began on July 31 near Nashville, Tennessee. It was 3 days of community, education, and advocacy with non-religious folks from Tennessee and beyond. The overall mood was optimistic, tempered with some sobering realities, and not a few drops of the F-bomb in all its conjugations.
These are some of the highlights of a full weekend…
First there was a welcome address that included a strident appeal to follow the conference’s code of conduct. We then divided up to attend breakout sessions of our choosing. The options made for some difficult decisions, since I would have liked to attend all of them. Next time I’ll need Hermione Granger’s time-turner that allows one to be in two places at once.
Sheriff’s deputies were on hand to keep an eye on the gathering heathens. It was announced later that they came at the conference organizers’ invitation to ensure everybody followed the code of conduct. And of course the car says what it says.
There’s a pollinator garden outside the lodge. It attracted a number of birds, including this male goldfinch. Also, hummingbirds galore. If you know me, you had to expect at least one bird picture.
The first breakout session we attended was led by Mary Kate Brown. Her talk was titled “Disability Inclusion for a Kinder, Smarter, Godless World”. She had a participatory discussion with us on the barriers that are often faced by people with various disabilities, including some that we typically don’t consider.
The second session was led by Daryl Brown Goldberg: “Meaning Without Belief: Building Meaning, Purpose, and Connection as a Skeptic”. He covered how these needs are often met by religious communities, and how people can fill these needs without religion.
We ended the evening with comedy routines by Daniel Hobbs and AHA Executive Director Fish Stark.
Saturday morning started with a talk by Glenda Jordan: “Neurodivergency, Purity Culture, and Kink: The Bondage that Connects Them”. She took us through how the uptight sexual mores of purity culture have caused massive psychological damage, and discussed how it can inadvertently lead to alternative forms of sexual desire and expression.
Next was Recovering from Religion founder Dr. Darrel Ray, whose talk, “Are You Herding Cats? That’s the Problem” outlined a less hierarchical way of managing secular advocacy groups.
For the first of the afternoon breakout sessions, Ann and I chose different talks. She went to Forrest Valkai’s talk, “Science Communication 101”, and I went to Helen Greene and Jennifer Bartley’s talk titled “A Roadmap to Religious Trauma Recovery”. In the talk I attended, we learned about the losses one faces when leaving their religious faith, especially if it was a high-control religion.
The next talk was held by humanist chaplain Joe Pittenger, whose subject was “Finding Meaning and Connection After Religion”. It dovetailed nicely with the prior session I attended. The first one explained what one loses, and Joe’s talk covered how one can recover by making new connections and finding new communities.
The last breakout session we attended was led by Daniel Cartier: “Staying Connected to Those who Believe Differently”. Daniel’s talk was quite inspiring. As a very liberal, out, gay Yankee who moved to a bright red area of Tennessee, he had expected to encounter naked hostility over his political and sexual orientations. Daniel, however, showed us how he made himself a hard person to hate, and managed to find friends and community in his new home. He may not have influenced their political views very much, but he showed how a little kindness can open seemingly locked doors.
The late afternoon continued with 5 general sessions. These sessions were opened with a humorous Pastafarian “invocation” given by Dr. Darrel Ray, who was dressed in a pirate outfit.
The first speaker of the afternoon was Forrest Valkai, whose talk was “How to Debunk Literally Every Creationist”. He outlined the general logical fallacies that creationist apologists tend to use, and how to counter them.
Next was “An Important Conversation on Secular Political Advocacy”, led by Sam McGuire of American Atheists and Will Jeudy of Secular Texas PAC. They portrayed the uphill battle that secular and progressive activists face, and how to overcome them by supporting progressive candidates wherever you (and they) may be.
Hemant Mehta, the “Friendly Atheist” podcaster, had a talk titled “How a Christian Nationalist Lie Harmed Us All”. He took us through the history of an FBI investigation into a wannabe domestic terrorist, and how it was spun into a focus of right-wing outrage.
Next was Monte Mader, a Liberty University graduate, who described her escape from religious fundamentalism and the cost she paid for leaving. She gave an outline of the last 48 years of white Christian nationalism’s ascendency, and how we can push back. Most encouragingly, she pointed out the ways in which their overreach is now leading to an implosion of their power.
The final speaker of the day was AHA executive director Fish Stark, speaking on “When We Win: Envisioning a Humanist World”. His was an encouragingly optimistic talk. Instead of focusing on what we’re fighting against, he painted a vision of a country where people who work for a living don’t have to rely on welfare, and don’t have to die or go broke if they can’t afford healthcare. He envisions current MAGA voters seeing how they’ve been misled and embracing love instead of hate and oppression; especially when they see that this regime is also hurting them while the oligarchs hoard the benefits of others’ productivity. The implosion of their support is happening in real time, and he urged us to show compassion and understanding to repentant MAGA supporters after they see the reality of what’s been wrought.
Fish also mentioned the AHA’s Day of Empathy grants of $100,000. He specifically recognized how some of this was used in South Carolina to distribute 1200 packs of menstrual supplies. When we heard this, Ann and I high fived each other: that was SHL and the Lowcountry Period Pixies he was calling out!
There was an outdoor dinner buffet, then we were treated to a magic show by Matt Dillahunty; followed by a party where Santa Claus (in August, for some reason) played DJ.
On Sunday morning, there were 3 panels covering ways to reach people via social media, the importance of defending democracy, and ways to get involved in its defense. True to the overall theme of the conference, the message was hopeful with just a smattering of despair over what our country has become.
We came away with some enthusiasm that even our small personal contributions could make a difference. And that our voices could be amplified when we work together to make our country and the world a better place. Even if (with a nod to Herb Silverman) we don’t have a prayer.
If you’ve ever pondered whether it’s worth it to attend a secular conference, I’d say that it depends on your priorities and your ability to travel. After attending several of them, I find that for me it’s well worth the effort. Each conference I’ve attended has been different in size and agenda. They have all, however, been progressive in their approach to political matters, especially where humanist values and the separation of church and state are at issue.
These meetings all have an educational component. Some of the topics may be ones you hadn’t even thought of before. They can also be quite motivating to those who aren’t sure what they can do to make the world a better place.
And of course, there’s the social aspect. Even party wallflowers like me will get to meet like-minded people; and maybe even (cringe) TALK to them. Upon registration at NaNoCon, we were given colored stickers to apply to our badges. Green means “Go ahead, talk to me”. Yellow means, “Check with me first before engaging in conversation”. Orange means “I’d really rather not talk with you if I don’t already know you”. This way, someone can see at a glance whether you’re up for conversation. Though I’m more on the yellow-to-orange scale, I chose green to help push myself out of my shell.
Though the subjects that are covered will at times be serious, there are also going to be moments of inspiration, laughter, and light-hearted fun. If that sounds appealing to you, do yourself a favor and look into having a great weekend.