Struggling for Freedom: Taking Materialism Seriously

This speaker participated in our 2018 Conference. Learn more about our 2023 conference speakers here.

Saturday, May 19 | 3:30pm-4:00pm

This presentation will argue that it isn’t enough to embrace metaphysical materialism as freedom from superstition. To take materialism seriously requires us to consider our current political and economic situation as well.Drawing on current debates in political economy and social movements in the US and elsewhere, I will attempt to show that humanism, which rightly embraces scientific materialism as an antidote to superstition in all it’s forms, must also take historical materialism seriously in order for human flourishing to be fully realized and the destruction of our ecosystem to be halted.

Ryan Bell

Ryan Bell is National Organizing Manager at the Secular Student Alliance. After nearly 20 years in congregational pastoral ministry Ryan left his church in 2013 and shortly thereafter began an exploration of atheism and humanism at the Year Without God blog. Since leaving his faith behind, Ryan has been a writer and speaker on the subjects of religion, humanism and justice. In 2015, he launched a project called Life After God and the Life After God podcast. His recent writing can be found at The Humanist, CNN, and The Guardian.