Questions of Faith aims to report on and consider the 2010 Global Atheist Convention, which takes place in Melbourne between 12 March and 14 March. Atheism is described in the Oxford Dictionary as ‘a theory or belief that God does not exist’, so the Convention fits well into the brief of the ABC’s Religion and Ethics Online. It represents belief as it questions it.

Margaret Coffey and Gary Bryson, ABC broadcasters, will be joined by guest bloggers through the duration of the Convention, as well as in the immediate aftermath as the blog draws together final thoughts. You will find here audio and images from the Convention, and we intend that the blog will stand as a thoughtful record of this innovative event.

MARGARET COFFEY
Margaret Coffey is a broadcaster with ABC Radio National’s Encounter series. Her programs have won national and international awards, including the New York Prize for best feature, and both the radio prize and the cross-media prize in the Austcare Media Awards.
For Margaret, Encounter is an opportunity to involve theologians and theological ideas in the discussion of contemporary issues and to enlarge public understanding of religion and religious culture, its intellectual vibrancy, and the role of faith in people’s lives.
Following her blog account in Talking of Faith of the Parliament of the World’s Religions 2009 in the great multi-faith city of Melbourne, Margaret will contribute in Questions of Faith to the ABC’s coverage of the 2010 Global Atheist Convention. 

GARY BRYSON 
Gary Bryson is a broadcaster and author who has worked in several countries, and with ABC Radio National since 1992. He was executive producer of Late Night Live for nine years until 2002. In 1999 he produced and presented a four-part series, Empires of Division: A Short History of Race, which won the Human Rights Award for Radio in 2000.
In 2002 he devised and presented Bioscope, a series of radio biographies, and in 2003/2004 he presented The Europeans. He now produces features for ABC Radio National’s religious documentary program, Encounter. He is a secular humanist, with a particular interest in philosophy, the history of ideas, and religious belief in all its forms. Apart from contributing to this blog, Gary will be covering the 2010 Global Atheist Convention for a program to be broadcast on Encounter on April 11.