By Sara Wood
Wilmington, NC – The very first Carolinas Secular Conference is scheduled for November in Carolina Beach. The weekend will bring together a community of non-religious groups from North and South Carolina and WHQR's Sara Wood reports that the main focus is to build coordination of regional groups toward a larger, collective movement.
Han Hills, President of Humanists and Free-thinkers of Cape Fear says that the conference is not only a chance for regional organizations throughout the Carolinas to pool their resources but to also bring in new and curious members.
"A lot of people aren't comfortable with the church environment of a Sunday, but they still want be involved in a community to support important causes of equality and social justice. So what we're showing is that if you're non-religious if you're a non-believer or an agnostic or someone that just doesn't really take to organized religion but you still want to be involved in a community, we're out there."
Hills says the conference will focus on coordinating around community development and social issues, not attacking organized religion.
"And I think if religious groups can understand that, if they take the time to visit our site and read what we're doing and see the sort of initiatives that we care about, I think that they shouldn't have a problem with it. And I would hope that they would applaud anyone who is willing to get off the sofa, turn off the television and get out and try and make a better world for us all."
While Humanists and Free-Thinkers of Cape Fear has been around for 7 years, many regional secular groups are much younger. Hills says the conference is an opportunity to build a greater community, bringing attention to causes such as poverty, disease, hunger, pollution and human rights issues.
Learn more about the Carolinas Secular Conference
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