Update

I am sorry I haven't done more to keep in touch the past few days. I am preparing to send out an email with pretty important information for all of our members. If you do not receive this email by tomorrow, please email us (gatorfreethought at gmail) ASAP. I will come back in and paste the full-text of the email to our members in the next post.

In brief, I wanted to highlight the positive response and interest I've gotten in this group so far, and relay some news.

Positive response: I had a lot of people contact me after the letter in the paper appeared, and I've received a lot of random messages in Facebook and via email about the group. All told, the email list I'm sending out the message to is 50 people. That's pretty damn good for the amount of time we've been going, and the relative ineptitude on my part at spreading awareness.

News: I am working on getting us a room for meeting on campus. I want to have at least one, preferably two, meetings on campus before the finals hit. I also want to meet with the officers of GF, with an open invitation for all to attend, at a local bar/restaurant within the next week or two. We need to get some planning, goal-setting, and communication done.

The real thrust of our efforts will be in getting things in full-swing for the fall semester. Over the summer, I expect at least a few of you will be in Gainesville, and I hope to meet with those interested over the summer to keep the ball rolling. I don't want to depend on late-stage planning and organization, though, so I hope to get some firm plans in place for the fall before the semester lets out.

Those of you who would like to be added to this email list for GF, please email me at gatorfreethought at gmail.

A side note, I submitted another guest column to the Gainesville Sun and the Alligator about atheism, this one a bit more nuanced than the last piece. The full-text of my submission is below the fold. Make sure the gatorfreethought at gmail address is in your "safe list" so that it doesn't get spammed.

In reading about the recent articles on immigrant laborers protesting discriminatory laws, incessant debate over gay marriage and general gay rights, and the lobbying powers of various big businesses and platform groups, I note one consistent sound from the peanut gallery: silence on atheism.

An atheist is literally “without god”, not anti-god. A recent study from UM-Morris [editor's note: link] confirms what many of us "godless heathens" already knew--that atheists are more distrusted than Muslims, immigrants, gays, and every other minority group. Apparently, the surveyed feel atheists aren’t "sharing their vision of American society." It confirms that we are also the minority Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry. George H.W. Bush once said, [editor's note: August 27, 1987, at a Chicago airport press conference, question posed by Robert Sherman, link] "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

This sadly echoes the feelings of many in our society today. Although many religious fundamentalists decry "tolerance" and berate the "secularization" of America, it sure hasn't materialized for those without a belief in any god. Is this a minor issue?

The largest religious self-identification survey ever undertaken in America, ARIS 2001, revealed [editor's note: link] that 14.1% of Americans identified themselves as "no religion". Out of those, only 2.8% of them, or an estimated 902,000 people, self-identify as "atheist". You may be smugly satisfied at this point that such a small fraction of our population (0.4%) is insignificant. If so, you may not be able to add 2+2. Reading the recent study findings underscores a sad truth--most atheists are "closeted". Living in a society which scorns and distrusts them more than any other group, and considers atheist a four-letter word, is hardly conducive to open admission of one's worldview. I, and many others I've met, have literally hidden behind a veneer of topic-changing, church-attending (even participation), and teeth-grinding silence, during moments when, in centuries past, we may have been "outed" and subsequently burned alive at a stake, for our views.

Does religiosity make one (or society) more moral, or better off? Many of the Founders thought so. Unfortunately, a recent peer-reviewed study by G.S. Paul [editor's note: link] compiling the crime rates and numbers of atheists found what many of us had suspected but never dared utter--that the most atheistic Western democracies (Japan, Germany & Scandinavian countries) have the best K-12 educations, highest life expectancy, evolution acceptance, the lowest homicide rates, abortion rates, STD rates, teen pregnancies, infant mortality...and that the U.S. was the dead worst in nearly all these. Make of it what you will. Not only this, but in the highly-religious South, these rates skyrocket, while in the more-secular Northeast, conditions "approach European norms."

Who are we atheists? Doctors, lawyers, scientists, politicians (all closeted, of course), homemakers, just like you.

What do we do? We work, we raise children, we plan for the future, we give to charity.

What do we want? Diverse things, including promotion of mutual understanding, science, and our common future. For society to recognize us as ethical and patriotic citizens of a nation which was NOT founded under any god, but upon the motto, "e pluribus unum". For society to learn about us, dispel preconceived notions birthed in fear and ignorance, and wake up to the fact that living alongside atheists may actually be good for them.

We’re tired of this cramped closet.

Word count (without editor’s notes): 553
Word count (with editor’s notes): 579

Taking Responsibility for Gator Freethought -- Delegation

How can you help?

We all know that a well-delegated group is a growing and healthy group. We are constantly looking for volunteers to help us develop materials and support events for the group. If you are interested, or have any ideas or suggestions, please email us. Here is the breakdown of the sorts of things we do:

1. Tabling
2. Hand out business cards and flyers
   
3. Post flyers and use sidewalk chalk (check out rules)
4. Spread the word generally, invite friends to meetings
5. Join the blog as a contributor, and write posts to pass along news and events of interest to our group
6. Be an administrator/officer
7. Join our Facebook group, subscribe to the blog via RSS, receive new posts via email to keep up with news and events, and come to meetings!

The best thing you can do for the group right now is spread the word, and support our events and meetings with your attendance and involvement.

The most imperative events of our group are the IDEAL Student Organization Fairs, which are a way to get new members (especially underclassmen) at the beginning of the semesters. We then try to have a meeting the same night as the IDEAL SOF to invite interested parties to, and have tabling at least a few times in the first few weeks of the semester. We have a portable table, table materials (including posters, bulletins, magazines and descriptive materials from our affiliated groups), and we will be recruiting during the typical student organization drive in the first month or so of each semester.

There is an IDEAL Student Organization Fair each semester, and the fall is crucial to our success at growing the group. I would just say that so long as the group makes a focused effort at spending 2-3 weeks at the start of the fall semester doing the IDEAL SOF and tabling, it will be fine and it will continue to grow, contingent upon us actually doing things which will spread the word and pique interest and attendance.

We have some handouts and flyers (all new versions available HERE or HERE) for use with these sorts of events. Especially note the business card, which can be printed six to a page at the dimensions of 2.5" x 3.5", and is the best way for you to pass along AAFSA information. Just print yourself out a few dozen and keep some in your wallet or purse, and hand them out whenever you find the opportunity.

Unfortunately, UF has many regulations regarding how we can put up the flyers/handouts (versus handing them out directly). Therefore, we can’t just go around stapling out stuff to all the bulletin boards on campus, or else we’ll get in trouble. Check the rules out, if you decide to do so.

Another way to go about advertising the group is to use sidewalk chalk. Again, there are regulations regarding how it may be used, which makes it less practical and viable than handing out our business cards. We must follow the university policies for student organization advertising on-campus.

A most facile means of spreading the word includes using internet forums, e-mail signatures, bulletins, Facebook messages, AIM signatures…these are all free and easy ways to spread awareness. You could just put a standard line in your signature with “Gator Freethought: http://www.gatorfreethought.org/” for emails and/or AIMs.

Join our Facebook! Make your own flyers or advertisements and share them with the group. When it comes to advertising for GF, here are a couple of guidelines I will stipulate, on top of those regulations the university has:

• We are not “of UF”. We are “at UF”.The former phrase presumes official endorsement / sponsorship, which UF strongly emphasizes that officially registered student organizations do not have.
• We are Gator Freethought at UF, never Gator Freethought of UF, never UF’s Gator Freethought. They recognize us, that’s all, and they're picky about this.
• Good choices for flyers and sidewalk chalk are short quotes by famous freethinkers (note the flyers I wrote up). They should be catchy, challenging, but need not be overly confrontational or belligerent (e.g., “Jesus is dead, deal with it,” is not a prime choice). However, “I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic…” (Albert Einstein, link), is fine. I think you get the drift.
• Flyers should have a big bold message that catches the eyes, then the follow-up info. It is most important to have our name and homepage, but other information is nonessential. It may be easier to just put "gatorfreethought.org" down instead of the full http://www.gatorfreethought.org
  
• Try to be concise. Just make sure you get the spelling right on the URL and name :)
  
• If we can organize 1 hour for one week (say 3-4 days) from two people (or more), devoted solely to flyers, and/or tabling, you would be amazed at how fast and far the level of campus awareness would be raised in a matter of weeks. We saw this in action during the Tabash debate, and the word was spread very effectively just by a few people making an effort for a few hours for one week.
  

Many thanks and much love to the burden bearers for their efforts and help!

I like simple links!

Prayer has no effect on healing in scientific study. Surprise, surprise.

Joining

Plugging in to Gator Freethought is simple, free, and requires no forms or signatures.

Those of you who want to join up, simply join our Facebook group and come to meetings!

If you want to know what is going on with the group, and keep abreast of general developments, you ought to subscribe to the blog via RSS.

Things you can help with are outlined in this article.

If you want to join this website as a contributor, please email the webmaster, or speak to any officer at a meeting.

If you have ideas, suggestions, constructive criticism, please let us know.  Feel free to contact us, and to leave comments and feedback on our website or Facebook group.

Group Overview

The following outline provides nearly all the useful information you can ask for about Gator Freethought:

Overview:

Welcome to Gator Freethought* at UF. We are the one and only registered student organization dedicated to promoting open dialogue about religion and nonreligion alike. We provide people of any religious background the opportunity to meet and discuss religion and nonreligion alike. You do not need to identify with any particular religious or nonreligious beliefs; you need only identify as a freethinker—someone who holds his or her beliefs because he finds them, after careful thought and rational inquiry, to be the most reasonable beliefs one could possibly hold. Many of our members self-identify as non-religious, secular, naturalist, humanist, atheist, agnostic, ignostic—but others also self-identify as Christian, Jewish, or Islamic, and still more find the entire idea of self-identification either impossible or pointless.

We meet every 2-3 weeks during the school year to hear a guest speaker on some topic of interest, after which we have a lively and interesting discussion, and typically go out for food and drinks afterwards. In addition, our members usually offer to host get-togethers every few weeks for the group.

If you consider yourself interested in critically examining religion and nonreligion alike, you will fit right in. Again, the only requirement is that you allow your own beliefs to be discussed critically and rationally, just as you discuss critically and rationally the beliefs of others. We are interested in examining arguments both for and against the existence of God. Though we are made up of atheists, theists, and everything in between, the group itself is neither religious nor nonreligious. We are neither "anti-religion" nor "pro-religion." We are neither "anti-atheism" nor "pro-atheism." We are defined not by our conclusion—whether for or against God—but by our method—free, peaceful, and rational inquiry. Come out and join us! If you have any questions, please contact us here.

Purpose:

We aim to provide a forum for discussion, rational debate, guest speakers, and social activity in order to promote an open and supportive environment for the free discussion and analysis of religion and nonreligion alike. Our goals are to enable students to meet and discuss religious, philosophical, ethical, political, and other issues in an environment free from the pressure of reaching a certain conclusion (for instance, whether for or against the existence of a god); to promote skepticism, rational thought, critical inquiry, science, and the worth of the individual; and to ensure the separation of church and state. We do not all agree on politics, values, ethics, or fashion, and we do not demand conformity − instead, we encourage freethinking.

Meetings:

Always check for scheduled meetings HERE. We will be using an alternating schedule of

i) formal lectures by guest speakers, followed by Q&A
ii) semiformal topical forums, in which we have an open dialogue without moderation, but attempt to stay on topic
iii) purely social events involving food/drink/whatever

The short, interesting talks and Q&A will come from departments in philosophy, comparative religion, theology-related groups, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry etc. They could speak on everything from epistemology, metaphysics, culture wars, arguments for/against gods, string theory and cosmology, abiogenesis… anything relevant to religious belief.

We also have hosted and plan to host speakers from SSA, AA, CFI, and others for campus-wide debates or large-audience talks.

We also work with Campus Crusade for Christ at UF, Gator Christian Life, and Servants of Christ Anglican Church on events in order better to promote an open and unafraid dialogue about religion.

Origins:

Gator Freethought began as the Atheist, Agnostic, and Freethinking Student Association, which was resurrected in March of 2006 by a chemistry graduate student. He had noticed the lack of any freethought group on campus, and given the proliferation of openly religious groups, he decided to create an openly nonreligious one. In the past, other groups have filled this role: HASA (oldest), AASA (older), AASA (2002). Since these groups had all dissolved, he contacted the old leadership and registered AAFSA with the Center for Student Involvement. We have now evolved to Gator Freethought, and so too has our purpose. Our identity has shifted from being a collection of a certain kind of discussers—atheists, agnostics, freethinkers—to a certain kind of discussion—freethought.

Plugging In:

See here if you want to join, and see here for how to help out with our efforts.

Organization:

We are registered with UF's Center for Student Involvement as an official student organization. See that record here. Also see our GF Constitution or the older AAFSA one.

Officers:

Our current officers are:

• President: David Zucker
• Vice President: Paul Dorasil
• Treasurer: Allen Paulino
• Secretary: Ben Sarbey
• Faculty advisor: Philosophy Prof. D. Gene Witmer

Frequently Asked Questions:

We have an FAQ page to answer general questions about the group, our purpose, etc., in more detail.

Contributing to the Gator Freethought Site (Blog):

If you haven’t been added to the contributors list on the Gator Freethought site, you can still write comments (even anonymously). However, if you wish to post articles to our site, you must be sent an invite. Those of you who have an interest, please check out the contributors information, which gives you step-by-step instructions for getting started with Blogger.

* formerly the Atheist, Agnostic & Freethinking Student Association at UF

Constitution

The following is a revised constitution for Gator Freethought.

(rev. 5/25/07)

Article I: Name

The name of this organization is Gator Freethought, hereafter abbreviated by the acronym GF.

GF is a special interest group at the University of Florida. GF is a not-for-profit and non-commercial student organization.

Article II: Purpose

The purposes of GF are the following:

1. To provide an open and supportive environment for, and enhance the educational experiences of, local freethinkers.

2. To promote the examination, discussion, and advocacy of: freethought generally, philosophical issues related to the existence of god(s) and skepticism towards supernatural claims.

3. To promote ethics through secular humanism, responsibility, science, rational thought, critical inquiry, and the worth of the individual.

4. To ensure the separation of church and state.

Activities consistent with our purpose and sponsored by GF may include:

1. Discussions and presentations
2. Visits from guest speakers from local and national secular organizations
3. Organized debates
4. Demonstrations and lobbying
5. Coordination and affiliation with like-minded organizations

Article III: Membership

Official membership shall be limited to registered students of the University of Florida. Membership is automatically granted to any registered student who requests it. A private record of the membership of GF shall be kept by the secretary of GF. Our meetings and activities are open to the public at large, however, non-registered students at UF, including the faculty advisor, cannot vote in elections. Faculty, staff, the spouses of members, and other students may be associate members. Associate members may not hold office or vote on matters concerning this organization. Members are free to leave and disassociate without fear of retribution or harassment.

Article IV: Nondiscrimination and No Hazing Statement

GF does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, age, national origin, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation. GF does not support any induction requirements for members, nor does GF sponsor or condone “hazing” in any form. Consistent with University policy and our own ethical principles, no member will be pressured or forced to participate in any hazing, or degrading initiation ritual, nor any process to disengage from GF. Members are free to leave and dissociate without fear of retribution or harassment.

Article V: Meetings

Regular official meetings will be held at least once a month. The frequency of meetings may be changed by a hand-vote decision of a simple majority of the members present at any official meeting of GF.

Article VI: Finance

No dues, "hat-passing", or membership fees of any kind will be imposed on GF members at any time.

Student government funding may be sought as a concurring decision of the President and Treasurer.

Article VII: Officers

Elected officers and their duties include:

1. President -- shall be the official representative of the group to other organizations and UF; preside over regular and executive meetings; act as the liaison between members and the faculty advisor; coordinate group activities.

2. Vice-President -- shall assist the president; preside over meetings in the absence of the president; work with the Secretary in keeping a record of members and attendance; perform the duties of the president in his or her absence.

3. Secretary -- shall record minutes of each meeting, to be used as an historical record.

4. Treasurer -- shall have custody of all funds and items of value possessed by the organization; keep complete records of funds; pay bills; oversee other monetary transactions including fund raising and social activities; prepare and maintain an annual budget; be present at student government meetings as necessary to aid in the procurement of funding.

All of the officers must be willing to fill in for the duties and responsibilities of the other officers should the need arise.

Article VIII: Election Procedures

Elections shall be held at the first regular meeting during the month of February.

Officers are elected by a simple majority of all members during the first official meeting in February. The election will be conducted by secret ballots, and the counting will be openly conducted by and confirmed by all of the officers present at that time. The results of the election will take effect the next day. Thus, the terms for officers run from the day after the election until the day of the next election, a term of one year. There are no rules of any kind surrounding nominations, nor who may run for election. Any member of GF may nominate herself/himself for any officer candidacy and is eligible for election to any position. Any officer may be re-elected to any office an unlimited number of times.

Temporary appointments may be made, at the discretion of the President, in order to fill a position, if a vacancy occurs. A special election would then be held at the next meeting to elect a new officer to the vacated office using the same guidelines as the general election − a simple majority vote by the members using secret ballots.

Should the members choose to impeach an officer, impeachment may occur by a 3/4 majority vote of all of the members present at an official meeting of the organization. A special election would then be held at the next meeting to replace the impeached officer using the same guidelines as the general election − a simple majority vote by the members using secret ballots.

Article IX: Faculty Advisor

The duties of the faculty advisor include:

1. Support the club members in fulfilling the purpose of the club
2. Be an academic resource for the club
3. Represent the club to the community and the University of Florida as needed.

The faculty advisor will be chosen by the President. Once the faculty advisor accepts, she or he will continue to hold the position until the advisor (any of the following):

1. No longer wishes to hold the office
2. Can no longer fulfill the requirements of office
3. Is voted by a 2/3 majority of the members to be replaced during the general election. Thus, the term of the faculty advisor runs from the first official meeting in February until the next election. The new faculty advisor will be chosen by the President in all cases.

Article X: Adherence to Student Regulations

Members of GF are willing to adhere to the Student Guide and other laws, bylaws, rules, and regulations governing the University of Florida and its students at all times.

Article XI: Amendments

A 2/3 majority of members present at an official meeting may amend this constitution or rewrite it. The new constitution must then be ratified before the old one is retired and replaced. A review of this constitution must occur yearly, during the session of general elections (first regular meeting in February).

Helping Out

How can you help?

We all know that a well-delegated group is a growing and healthy group. We are constantly looking for volunteers to help us develop materials and support events for the group. If you are interested, or have any ideas or suggestions, please email us. Here is the breakdown of the sorts of things we do:

1. Tabling
2. Hand out business cards (we need to update graphics to match new name) and flyers
   
3. Post flyers and use sidewalk chalk (check out rules)
4. Spread the word generally, invite friends to meetings
5. Join the blog as a contributor, and write posts to pass along news and events of interest to our group
6. Be an administrator/officer
7. Join our Facebook group, subscribe to the blog via RSS, receive new posts via email to keep up with news and events, and come to meetings!

The best thing you can do for the group right now is spread the word, and support our events and meetings with your attendance and involvement.

The most imperative events of our group are the IDEAL Student Organization Fairs, which are a way to get new members (especially underclassmen) at the beginning of the semesters. We then try to have a meeting the same night as the IDEAL SOF to invite interested parties to, and have tabling at least a few times in the first few weeks of the semester. We have a portable table, table materials (including posters, bulletins, magazines and descriptive materials from our affiliated groups), and we will be recruiting during the typical student organization drive in the first month or so of each semester.

There is an IDEAL Student Organization Fair each semester, and the fall is crucial to our success at growing the group. I would just say that so long as the group makes a focused effort at spending 2-3 weeks at the start of the fall semester doing the IDEAL SOF and tabling, it will be fine and it will continue to grow, contingent upon us actually doing things which will spread the word and pique interest and attendance.

We have some handouts and flyers (all new versions available HERE or HERE) for use with these sorts of events. Especially note the business card, which can be printed six to a page at the dimensions of 2.5" x 3.5", and is the best way for you to pass along GF information. Just print yourself out a few dozen and keep some in your wallet or purse, and hand them out whenever you find the opportunity.

Unfortunately, UF has many regulations regarding how we can put up the flyers/handouts (versus handing them out directly). Therefore, we can’t just go around stapling out stuff to all the bulletin boards on campus, or else we’ll get in trouble. Check the rules out, if you decide to do so.

Another way to go about advertising the group is to use sidewalk chalk. Again, there are regulations regarding how it may be used, which makes it less practical and viable than handing out our business cards. We must follow the university policies for student organization advertising on-campus.

A most facile means of spreading the word includes using internet forums, e-mail signatures, bulletins, Facebook messages, AIM signatures…these are all free and easy ways to spread awareness. You could just put a standard line in your signature with “Gator Freethought: http://www.gatorfreethought.com/” for emails and/or AIMs.

Join our Facebook! Make your own flyers or advertisements and share them with the group. When it comes to advertising for GF, here are a couple of guidelines I will stipulate, on top of those regulations the university has:

• We are not “of UF”. We are “at UF”.The former phrase presumes official endorsement / sponsorship, which UF strongly emphasizes that officially registered student organizations do not have.
• We are Gator Freethought at UF, never Gator Freethought of UF, never UF’s Gator Freethought. They recognize us, that’s all, and they're picky about this.
• Good choices for flyers and sidewalk chalk are short quotes by famous freethinkers (note the flyers I wrote up). They should be catchy, challenging, but need not be overly confrontational or belligerent (e.g., “Jesus is dead, deal with it,” is not a prime choice). However, “I have repeatedly said that in my opinion the idea of a personal God is a childlike one. You may call me an agnostic…” (Albert Einstein, link), is fine. I think you get the drift.
• Flyers should have a big bold message that catches the eyes, then the follow-up info. It is most important to have our name and homepage, but other information is nonessential. It may be easier to just put "gatorfreethought.com" down instead of the full http://www.gatorfreethought.com
  
• Try to be concise. Just make sure you get the spelling right on the URL and name :)
  
• If we can organize 1 hour for one week (say 3-4 days) from two people (or more), devoted solely to flyers, and/or tabling, you would be amazed at how fast and far the level of campus awareness would be raised in a matter of weeks. We saw this in action during the Tabash debate, and the word was spread very effectively just by a few people making an effort for a few hours for one week.
  

Many thanks and much love to the burden bearers for their efforts and help!

Gator Freethought Information

The following outline provides nearly all the useful information you can ask for about Gator Freethought:

Overview:

Welcome to Gator Freethought, formerly/a.k.a. the Atheist, Agnostic & Freethinking Student Association at UF. We are the one and only registered student organization dedicated to promoting and supporting the needs and wants of the nontheist** community of UF, and Gainesville at large. The Gator Freethought email (spam-proofed):

Purpose:

We aim to provide a forum for discussion, rational debate, guest speakers, and social activity. This group will, certainly, fill a void at UF − providing a place to “plug in” if you consider yourself a nontheist, but we do not discriminate (see the constitution below) against members or visitors to our meetings, regardless of their views, so long as they are genuinely interested in being a part of our group (and not solely in proselytizing). So, even believers who may wish to sharpen their views, or understand atheism, are entirely welcome.

We do not all agree on politics, values, ethics, or fashion, and we do not demand conformity − instead, we encourage freethinking. Given there are probably 100 religion-related groups at UF, it is certainly time for a group for the nonreligious. AASA used to fill that void, but went defunct and has now been evolved to Gator Freethought. Given that a 2001 CUNY ARIS research survey revealed that 14% of Floridians mark, “no religion” as their religious preference, there is certainly a need to provide this segment of the population with community and advocacy. We hope to seriously engage with the university community, in order to promote our values alongside, and not necessarily in competition with, those promoted by other campus groups and political organizations. The core values and purposes of Gator Freethought are listed in the constitution. See the FAQ #1, #5 and #9 for more.

Meetings:

Always check for scheduled meetings HERE. We will be using an alternating schedule of

i) formal lectures by guest speakers, followed by Q&A
ii) semiformal topical forums, in which we have an open dialogue without moderation, but attempt to stay on topic
iii) purely social events involving food/drink/whatever

The short, interesting talks and Q&A will come from departments in philosophy, comparative religion, theology-related groups, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry etc. They could speak on everything from epistemology, metaphysics, culture wars, arguments for/against gods, string theory and cosmology, abiogenesis…really interesting stuff.

Long-term, we plan for the group to host many speakers from SSA, AA, CFI, and others to come in and do campus-wide debates or large-audience talks.

We also want to work with Campus Crusade for Christ at UF, Gator Christian Life, &c. (yes, you read that correctly). We want to be available to them to present an alternative voice and possibly engage with them in dialog and debate on campus. We simply have to make an effort to engage in dialog with those people who desire to have one, and this will often be religious campus groups.

Why a Blog?

Although we have space on our grove account for a healthy web page, we went with a blog for several reasons. One of the reasons the group fell apart was lack of interconnectivity in administration. Once the group was not renewed after the last president departed, the old grove page went dead, rendering communication between members effectively null. We realized from the outset that we had to look forward to this sort of situation possibly arising again, and prevent it. Another step we took to try to help prevent the dissolution of the group was to write a succession document to assist the transition in leadership. A blog, and especially an independently-hosted blog, is the perfect solution: many contributors, all constantly posting and revising and refining information…it’s like natural selection in action. One could also see the blog as a sort of subset of the Gator Freethought community all its own.

Another reason a blog is favorable was to make posting notices, news, and meeting information facile for EVERYONE. A single web page is almost always one person’s responsibility, and thus can be no more up-to-date and revised than that person’s schedule allows. Many people don’t know how to FTP, and major problems can arise with too many people using FTP or trying to do serious web updates. This prevents major headaches in putative webmaster(s)’ lives. Also, ideally, the functional “freshness”, and scope, and depth, of information here is limited not by my own schedule (or whatever webmaster), but by ALL the contributors’ schedules.

Want to join this site? Email us, and we’ll send you a Blogger invite. You can use a pseudonym and stay completely anonymous. Also, see the contributors page.

Plugging In:

See here if you want to join, and see here to help out with our efforts.

Organization:

We are registered with UF's Center for Student Involvement as an official student organization. See that record here. Also see our Gator Freethought Constitution (rev. 9-12-06) [external link]

Officers:

The offices of President and Treasurer must be filled to claim organization status with UF. All other leadership is optional, but rather necessary for the health of the group. There are some requirements for officers (at least part-time status at UF, >2.0 GPA), and the first core of officers was taken on a voluntary basis. The next core will be elected in accordance with the constitution. The officers are usually listed here on our Facebook group. Our current faculty advisor is Philosophy Prof. D. Gene Witmer.

Frequently Asked Questions:

We have an FAQ page to answer general questions about the group, our purpose, etc., in more detail.

Contributing to the Gator Freethought Site (Blog):

If you haven’t been added to the contributors list on the Gator Freethought site, you can still write comments (even anonymously). However, if you wish to post articles to our site, you must be sent an invite. Those of you who have an interest, please check out the contributors information, which gives you step-by-step instructions for getting started with Blogger.

**By nontheist, I want to include anyone and everyone who does not have a belief in a personal god, who does not think it possible to know whether or not God exists, as well as those who strongly disbelieve in any sort of god, as well as those who are amenable to some aspects Deism or Buddhism, but reject a supernatural ontology. Nontheists can thus be Atheists, Agnostics, Infidels, Heathens, Freethinkers, Humanists, Unitarian Universalists, etc… We want a big tent in freethought, and we don’t have doctrines to agree with.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What's this group about?
2. What is freethought? What's a freethinker?
3. So, what exactly is an atheist? How does it differ from an agnostic?
4. What's the point of this whole club? What's your purpose?
   
5. Are you guys (Communists/fascists/pro-choice/into Goth/etc.)
6. So you guys are a club that doesn't believe in anything?
   
7. What is Humanism? Does it logically follow from atheism?
8. What sort of things does the group do?

1. What's this group about?
Gator Freethought is a registered student organization at UF that provides people of any religious background the opportunity to meet and discuss religion and nonreligion alike. You do not need to identify with any particular religious or nonreligious beliefs; you need only identify as a freethinker—someone who holds his or her beliefs because he finds them, after careful thought and rational inquiry, to be the most reasonable beliefs one could possibly hold. Many of our members self-identify as non-religious, secular, naturalist, humanist, atheist, agnostic, ignostic—but others also self-identify as Christian, Jewish, or Islamic, and still more find the entire idea of self-identification either impossible or pointless. We meet every 2-3 weeks during the school year to hear a guest speaker on some topic of interest, after which we have a lively and interesting discussion, and typically go out for food and drinks afterwards. In addition, our members usually offer to host get-togethers every few weeks for the group.
2. What is freethought? What's a freethinker?
A good definition for freethinking is given by Wikipedia: “Freethinking or free thought is the practice of forming one's beliefs independently of the perceived factual/logical falsehoods and intellectually limiting effects of conventional wisdom, urban legends, popular culture, cognitive bias, prejudice, tradition, and authority.” Freethinkers (also written “Free thinkers”) base their beliefs on what they perceive to be facts and logic. Also see Bertrand Russell’s take on freethinking. A Freethinker thus does not necessarily follow strong or weak atheism, or even agnosticism, but rejects the traditions and authority of religions as reliable arbitrars of truth, by definition. In that sense, one who arrives at the same conclusions of a religion, but arrives there independently, could be said to have been a Freethinker. Buddha, as an example, is thought to have advocated freethinking, but advocated metaphysics which most naturalistic/materialistic atheists would reject.
3. So, what exactly is an atheist? How does it differ from an agnostic?
The official definition of "atheist" excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary is "one that disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods." The same dictionary defines "agnostic" as "one who believes that there can be no proof of the existence of God but does not deny the possibility that God exists." However, like all things that deal with beliefs, the public understanding and the borders between terms are fuzzy. Some define agnosticism as "weak atheism" or "passive atheism"--the lack of belief in a god. "Strong atheism" or "active atheism" is defined by some as a belief that there definitely is no god, or that one specific god does not exist. This is troubling to some, as proving a universal negative proposition is difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, most strong atheists qualify their belief by purporting to show that there is some logical defect with the concept of gods generally, or of one god in particular (i.e., they may claim that the attributes of omnibenevolence and omnipotence are logically impossible given the evil in our world, just like the idea of a square circle). Many members of our group are agnostic with respect to gods generally, but are atheistic with respect to specific gods, such as Yahweh or Jehovah or Thor or Zeus or Santa Claus. In fact, this is true of everyone -- if you disbelieve in a particular god, then you are an atheist towards that god. A good rule of thumb when using the words "atheist" or "agnostic" is to first give your definition and context for the meanings of the words. The word "atheist" has gotten quite a bad reputation over the last few thousand years, and we'd like to change that as much as possible.
4. What's the point of this whole thing? What's your purpose?
Those are very good questions. We want to provide an alternative voice and view to the somewhat-overheard voices and views of our cultural competitors, especially organized religion. Though we desire to be heard, we also stand for the idea of free speech and thus don't view our mission as trying to "defeat" or "drown out" other voices. In fact, one of our missions is to host debates between those espousing different viewpoints and our members, since open and honest inquiry is one of our founding principles. We want to advocate science, reason, and the freedom of inquiry in all areas of human endeavor. We attempt to accomplish this by bringing in thoughtful and engaging speakers, then allowing the group members to challenge these ideas and each others' in the post-lecture discussions. To learn. Also to have fun. If a group isn't fun in some sense, then it is an unsuccessful club. In a more specific sense, our group exists to do the following: Discuss philosophy and current events with an emphasis on how they affect an atheist/agnostic. Provide a sense of community to those who have decided that a church is a poor place to build a community. Provide a voice of skepticism and temperance to religious groups on our campus. To fight dogma in all its forms. Finally, for those who want to be activists, to sponsor activities that will make people think about their beliefs. This last point has to be approached with care. Evangelism is one of the most perpetually irritating aspects of religion. We are not out to convert anyone. This is not an "evangelical" group. Therefore, our goal isn't to go out and make disbelievers out of the UF population at large--our goal is to show any interested parties the flaws in existing belief systems so that they will be forced to examine their own beliefs as critically as possible. This is the goal of debates. In short, we want to help people (ourselves also) to think about things they have stopped thinking about. This is the essence of freethinking − don’t take any belief for granted, or on the grounds of authority, or fear, or dogma. Think freely. (For more see #1 & #8)
5. Are you guys (Communists/fascists/pro-choice/into Goth/etc.)
No. Unlike many groups, the sort of "precepts" of freethought make it such that there is no "group position" on any political, fashion, or even religious issue. Each individual has an individual opinion, and we celebrate our diverse views. Our members have a wide range of political and personal beliefs. To say that all atheists are Communists would be like saying all Christians are Republicans. For example, Stalin made atheism a part of his form of Communism, but those two aren't always found in the same place -- the Social Gospel has historically been a form of quasi-Christian socialism. Some members of our group are Objectivists, who are atheists that strongly support laissez-faire economics. We think that there are many rational political views and many rational philosophical views, and that these are all worth exploring. It is important to remember that many fascists were religious, including Hitler (an avowed Catholic). There is thus no direct correlation between politics and religion. We occasionally have a few so called "Goth" people at our meetings, but they're by no means in the majority (but if they were the majority, that would be fine too). Pro-choice and pro-life stances are value and ethics judgments which are not logically dependent upon ones belief about the existence of a Deity.
6. So you guys are a club that doesn't believe in anything?
No. This is one of the most frequent questions (objections) we've heard. First, if we didn't believe in anything we would be nihilists, and we would need to rename the group! Second, some would hold that an affirmation that absolutes do not exist is self-contradictory and irrational. Third, atheists and agnostics frequently do share values with many religions, particularly their metaphysical and ethical standards. Many of our members are Humanists, who believe in an ethical responsibility to humanity. We are not necessarily all secular humanists, though. No matter what beliefs we personally hold, we feel that rational inquiry is the best way to arrive at true conclusions, and that skepticism is the best way to evaluate any given supernatural claim (and many natural ones). Consider the atheists involved in GF: the only thing that makes someone an atheist is the lack of belief in a god. They share little else, and we find this makes our group stronger, giving us a healthy diversity of opinion and a fertile ground for discussions. In general, it is safe to say that we are all advocates of reason and evidence over faith and superstition, that we strongly support education in the liberal arts and sciences, and that we wish to engage in thoughtful dialogue and discussion along these lines.
7. What is Humanism? Does it logically follow from atheism?
No. As Kurt Vonnegut succinctly described: being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead. “Humanism is a progressive lifestance that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.” Atheism does not necessitate any particular form of ethics, nor politics.
8. What sort of things does the group do?
We are social creatures, not minds in a vat (we hope, wink-wink). Learning from each other is often ancillary to fellowshipping with one another. About 2/3 of our meetings are open-discussion format, even after formal lectures, and the topical debates. They're not so much led as guided. A topic is presented, or a lecture given, and the group is encouraged to share their opinions. Freethinkers don't agree on everything--in fact, there is very little that we do agree on outside of the lack of evidence for a deity. Occasionally we'll bring in a guest speaker or hold panel discussions with religious groups for debate. We are also planning many social events in the upcoming year that range from parties to movie nights to road trips.

First Meeting a Success

The social went quite well last night. We had eight people show up, out of eleven RSVPs, which isn't bad at all for a first meeting. Two of my RSVPs had to proctor and take an exam that they had overlooked when sending the RSVP, otherwise would've been there. I had more than a few emails apologizing for being elsewhere committed last night. I was quite encouraged with this response and the apparent readiness on the part of lots of nontheists to get this group rolling.

We enjoyed some food, a little drink (and I mean little...I've now got enough beer left over to not buy any for quite some time!), and much-needed discussion and fellowship with like-minded people. If you attended, or not, you may want to know what was accomplished and where we go from here. I've got some notes and thoughts, from me and from the attending GF members (and guests/visitors), and general information below the fold:

What now?

If you attended, or not, you may want to know what was accomplished and where we go from here. The main thing is figuring out who we are, what we are going to do, and how. We do not want to propogate the negative sterotypes of a group which is focused on anti-theism (or, in particular, anti-Christianity or anti-Islaam...), atheistic evangelism, "just" having fun, or "just" being intellectual. We do want to provide a forum and social network for atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, Deists...etc. We do want to provide both heady discussions and casual banter. We do want to spread awareness of the existence of atheists and freethinkers, to inform the public about who we are and what we think. We do want to show people that atheism is a positive thing, to disrupt preconceived notions, especially atheism "just" being without a god or the notorious and false conception that atheist = anti-religion/angry/selfish/Communist/ Objectivist/straight/gay/white/male...ad nausem.

See the GF FAQ for more on how we encourage and exhibit diversity across all of those criteria. We know that the best way to dispel these preconceived notions is with positive activism, activities, and how our image and character are maintained as a group.

Obviously, a huge priority is growing the group -- bringing a friend with you to the next meeting, checking on the website (and contributing with posts and comments!), putting up flyers (you can spell it either way, "y" or "i"), and linking to the blog from your email signature, website. For more, see my page on helping out. It's really easy to sign up for Blogger and post comments and relevant articles when you find the time.

I am going to reserve a room on-campus for GF. We will not meet on campus more than twice a month. We will probably have a social (which is not considered an official meeting) at least once or twice a month. Members may host a party, in the capacity of an individual, not acting in the capacity of an GF officer, and invite other members to attend. If you want to know more about this, read the regulations that affect us as a student organization and how we have to handle this group to make it a success.

The format of our meetings will center largely on informal discussion and socializing. We may go out to eat after the meetings (or for a beer), but that is the individual's prerogative.

Notes/Minutae:

We spoke briefly of our mission as a group to grow, and how this may, at times, be perceived as (if not intended as) "Evanglistic Atheism". We are still discussing our methods and approaches to advertisement and how we will try to handle things. I want to point out, as I did last night, that what one person's motives are do not have to be reflected by the group as a whole. For those who want to really give some thought to the question, "should atheists evangelize?" a few important considerations are in order:
1) is atheism a postive thing? if so, should we promote it?
2) do most people describe their deconversions positively? are they glad they shrugged off superstition, fear, dogma, etc.?
3) unlike religious conversions, which are rendered absolutely impotent without emotional appeals (using fear, guilt, the hope of not dying), atheism and its adherents subscribe to rational thinking as the foundation of their worldview (almost universally). thus, should its methods of being promoted even be compared to those methods which rely heavily upon emotion? is asking people to question what they believe intriniscally different than asking them to believe a particular thing? especially when that particular thing is based on dogma, authority, tradition, etc.?
4) what unites atheists, besides the absence of god belief? this may seem an odd question, but whereas religions are "packaged" with all sorts of ancillary doctrines and information, all taken as a "whole", does atheism necessarily entail any particular philosophy? i would argue, "no." thus, atheism is not a religion, but one component of an individual's worldview, and not the whole of it.

There is a lot more to say about this. Read this recent article I found outlined the issues well, even if you don't agree with the conclusions, for more.

Louis put together a recommended reading list at the Alachua County Libraries. The list he submitted is not available yet through their website, but should be approved and included shortly. I will post the link back here (and in the sidebar) when this happens. A list of his selections, by category (which unsuprisingly closely follows my "Reading Rainbow" suggestions in the sidebar--if you would like to contribute your "favorite/recommended books" list, email gatorfreethought@gmail.com) is compiled in a nice trifold brochure that I can provide copies of upon request.

Thanks to all for attending, and I'm looking forward to the friendships and the conversations that are sure to follow.

Party time, excellent

Hey, folks! The new AAFSA veep and I are hosting a party at my apartment THIS Friday, 3/25, starting at around 10pm. I'm going to make punch, but you can bring alcohol if you're a picky drinker.

I live at Boardwalk Apartments, #M-14. Please try to RSVP--I know it's short notice but it'd be nice to have a head count.

This is not an official AAFSA event but I'd love to have you all there!

_____________
[added by Daniel]
Boardwalk Apts WEBSITE, 2701 SW 13th St, see Rob's Facebook for RSVP/phone/contact info

New Study Supports Public Distrust of Atheists

A new study just came out about public perception of atheists. It's certainly worth your time and thought. PZ Myers commented on it here. The breakdown is that people distrust atheists because they don't identify them as sharing a common "core", in the researchers' findings. The researchers also found that more educated citizens, and those who live on the East and West Coasts, tended to sympathize more strongly with us godless heathens. One thing I find suspect is her assessmen that only 3% of the US population are atheists. I think the number is probably at least around 5-8%, and then another 5% consider themselves "agnostic, irreligious, no religion", etc. Indeed, in the largest religious self-identification survey ever undertaken, 14% of those surveyed reported "no religion":

Another interesting trend is the disproportionate number of young people in this category, relative to the scarcity of those over 65 in this category (35%/8%):

The first three paragraphs follow:

Atheists identified as America's most distrusted minority, according to new U of M study
What: U of M study reveals America's distrust of atheism
Who: Penny Edgell, associate professor of sociology
Contact: Nina Shepherd, sociology media relations, (612) 599-1148
Mark Cassutt University News Service, (612) 624-8038

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (3/20/2006) -- American's increasing acceptance of religious diversity doesn't extend to those who don't believe in a god, according to a national survey by researchers in the University of Minnesota's department of sociology.

From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in "sharing their vision of American society." Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.

Even though atheists are few in number, not formally organized and relatively hard to publicly identify, they are seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public. "Atheists, who account for about 3 percent of the U.S. population, offer a glaring exception to the rule of increasing social tolerance over the last 30 years," says Penny Edgell, associate sociology professor and the study's lead researcher.

I personally think that aversion to the word "atheist" is reflected by the study here and comparing it to the confidential self-identification of "no religion". It should also be noted that the percentage growth from 1990 to 2001 in "no religion" as the self-identification was from 8% to over 14%, a trend that is reflected in Europe as well.

Letter to the Editor Published In Alligator Today

I am well aware that abortion is not a topic that all atheists, agnostics, nontheists, or even theists agree on. I don't expect (and hope that this won't happen) the group to be uniform on such issues. Personally, I think once the fetus develops a complex nervous system, causing it unnecessary pain is, in fact, an ethical transgression. Unnecessary (medically or due to rape/incest) late-term abortions, should not be outlawed, although they inflict harm on feeling and conscious beings. The reasons are complicated, and I laid them out in more detail here. PETA laws protect conscious animals (cephalopods are included in this group as the only invertebrates) from unnecessary pain and suffering. Why should a fetus be any different? Obviously, animals and fetuses can be considered property [legally belonging to someone], but only the latter resides inside the body of an individual. The legal issue is thus in the former case whether or not we can do as we like with our property, including torturing it, while in the latter case involves an additional complexity: do we have complete sovereignty over our own bodies, and everything in them? It is on this point that the concession must be made.

At any rate, this issue is one of many I hope to discuss with you AAFSA thinkers.

Since it is the first (albeit tiny) advertisement for AAFSA, I thought I'd pass along my letter to the editor at the Alligator, which was, in part, published in response to Kornegay's letter on March 10. The full text of the letter follows. I only see one thing I wish I'd corrected, substituting "conscious" at the end of the letter for "real":

Human Life Doesn't Begin at Conception
March 21, 2006

I can only cringe inside as I read the bald assertions that abortion is equivalent to genocide, and Marshall Kornegay declaim the worn-out platitude, "An unborn child is no less worthy of life than a 4-year-old."

Does anyone really believe that?

If you are caught in a burning building with a crying toddler on one side and a zygote in a petri dish on the other, and you only have the opportunity to save one, which would cry in terror, which would scream with pain, which would be cognizant of danger, fear or pain at all?

This isn't a rhetorical question.

Do you or any metaphysical dogmatists disconnected from reality really believe that?

The commitment to the magic mantra "life begins at conception" has impeded research that may prove to alleviate the suffering of millions, all because a zygote has been placed in a false dichotomy with a suffering, feeling, crying, thinking, laughing child.

Asinine devotion to this spiritual ideology is not commendable; it's merely a pipe dream that costs real people their basic rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

S. Daniel Morgan
President, Atheist, Agnostic & Freethinking Student Association
6LS

Kornegay's earlier letter:

Abortion really is tantamount to genocide
March 10, 2006

Campus Rabbi Jonathan Siger believes that comparing genocide to abortion is a false analogy. "Last time I checked," he said, "there is not a great fetus civilization or race of fetuses."

I don't believe that belonging to a great civilization has an effect on one's worth. A homeless person is no less worthy of life than a university professor. An unborn child is no less worthy of life than a 4-year-old.

One's worth and membership in the human family is established at conception. Fetuses are a part of a race. Fetuses belong to the human race and represent every ethnic/racial group. Anti-lifers refuse to acknowledge that the unwanted children whose lives they seek to terminate are no different than the unwanted Jews, Native Americans, Cambodians or Rwandans in their respective holocausts.

We will never know what great accomplishments the unborn children who were aborted might have achieved, just as we will never know what the Jews killed during the Holocaust and the Africans killed during slavery might have added to human civilization.

Marshall Kornegay

5ED

First Meeting Tomorrow Night - Social

So, the first meeting is almost upon us. So far, I have 11 RSVPs (besides my wife and I). If the number stays pretty low, I will probably be giving you a call or email to get your preference on food and alcohol so that I don't buy too much stuff that no one wants.

Remember, the flyer (with address and parking directions) is here. I really need RSVPs. You can do this through Facebook, at this event listing, or mail me or call me (281-1247). You can also RSVP by leaving a comment here in this post. You may of course bring any sort of guests you like, just remind them it is a social, not an out-and-out kegger. We'll wait until at least our third meeting for that ... ;)

If you are on Facebook, haven't received an invite, and/or aren't in our group or on my friends list, just message me (Daniel Morgan) or mail me or call me (281-1247) and I will send you a Facebook event invite and add you to my friends list. So far, the group is growing pretty well, at 25 members on AAFSA Facebook (besides me) and a few more sure to participate who haven't joined the AAFSA Facebook group.

We will eat and talk. I don't have any topics or plans to "lead" discussion, as I'm sure we'll find plenty to chat about and get acquainted over. I have a few things that we have to talk about, especially the frequency and location of meetings, and format, for us to determine the course of AAFSA over the next year or so. Always note that the sidebar contains almost anything you could ever want to know about AAFSA, and I am always open to suggestions.

Please, if you have a website, a blog, or email signature, include a link to AAFSA somewhere, and spread the word. To help you out, I've made tinyurls of the group's germane longer links:
UF student org. listing: http://tinyurl.com/r4suv
Facebook us! http://tinyurl.com/rc5ln

Looking forward to it!

Cheers,
Your godless host - D

Carnival of the Godless

The Carnival of the Godless, a bimonthly collection of the best atheist and generally godless writings in the blogosphere, may be of interest to some of the members here.

COTG #36 is presently being hosted at Daniel Morgan's blog. Check it out!

If you like blogs about godlessness, and specifically a blog by ex-ministers and ex-apologists which details the reasons they left the faith (I'm there, as well), see Debunking Christianity. Note the big names like Dan Barker, Farrell Till, John Loftus (former apologist and student of W.L. Craig), Ed Babinski (author of "Leaving the Fold"^{amazon/buy.com/b&n/bamm}), Joe Holman (of ministerturnsatheist.org fame)...and then, little ol' me.

Defenders of the Faith, NYT op-ed

Prof. Witmer passed along an op-ed that is certainly worth posting here. I copied the first three paragraphs and link to the NYT source for your perusal.

March 12, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Defenders of the Faith
By SLAVOJ ZIZEK, London

FOR centuries, we have been told that without religion we are no more than egotistic animals fighting for our share, our only morality that of a pack of wolves; only religion, it is said, can elevate us to a higher spiritual level.

Today, when religion is emerging as the wellspring of murderous violence around the world, assurances that Christian or Muslim or Hindu fundamentalists are only abusing and perverting the noble spiritual messages of their creeds ring increasingly hollow. What about restoring the dignity of atheism, one of Europe's greatest legacies and perhaps our only chance for peace?

More than a century ago, in "The Brothers Karamazov" and other works, Dostoyevsky warned against the dangers of godless moral nihilism, arguing in essence that if God doesn't exist, then everything is permitted. The French philosopher Andr� Glucksmann even applied Dostoyevsky's critique of godless nihilism to 9/11, as the title of his book, "Dostoyevsky in Manhattan," suggests.

This argument couldn't have been more wrong: the lesson of today's terrorism is that if God exists, then everything, including blowing up thousands of innocent bystanders, is permitted ? at least to those who claim to act directly on behalf of God, since, clearly, a direct link to God justifies the violation of any merely human constraints and considerations. In short, fundamentalists have become no different than the "godless" Stalinist Communists, to whom everything was permitted since they perceived themselves as direct instruments of their divinity, the Historical Necessity of Progress Toward Communism...

Read more at the NYT

Slavoj Zizek, the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, is the author, most recently, of "The Parallax View."

What Is A Freethinker?

What makes a freethinker is not his beliefs, but the way in which he holds them. If he holds them because his elders told him they were true when he was young, or if he holds them because if he did not he would be unhappy, his thought is not free; but if he holds them because, after careful thought he finds a balance of evidence in their favor, then his thought is free, however odd his conclusions may seem.

Bertrand Russell, "The Value of Free Thought" (Essay, 1957)

Thoughts? Comments?

Ruse-Nelson Debate at JU

One of the common threads of the group is a love for rational thought and promoting science. To this end, here is an event worth announcing: Ruse-Nelson Debate--March 14, Jacksonville University, Terry Concert Hall-Auditorium, 7 PM. Details:
JU Press Release
JU Calendar
Contact Erich Freiberger at 256-7115 for more.

Michael Ruse and Paul Nelson will be debating "Evolution v. Intelligent Design", but I'm sure their topics will cover Darwinism and origins arguments as well. Admittedly, philosophers will be talking science, which is always a scary thing (jesting), but it should prove worth the 1.5 hour drive. I will be attending, and any interested should car pool. Contact me via email if interested.

Prof. Witmer's Talk, Letter to the Editor 2

Last night, Prof. Witmer's talk on, "How to Think About (the Lack of a) God," was really interesting. He systematically went from defining God, belief, attitudes and obstacles to the arguments, epistemic positions, what faith is, and concluded with an eloquent "Problem of Evil" argument for God's nonexistence. If you weren't there, you're square...but not a round square, 'cause that's sort of like God.

On another note, I just submitted the second letter to the editor at the Alligator, with a brief introduction and explanation of our organization. Please help me out by submitting letters to the editor at the Alligator and Gainesville Sun in response to interesting op-ed pieces. It really helps raise awareness and advocacy of nontheism in general, and our group in particular. The full-text of my letter follows:

In response to Jim Ellis' well-written column rebutting Jake Ramsey, I feel a godless perspective is in order. I tend to side with those who want to ensure citizens the freedom to voluntarily assemble into religious communities (or any type of communities) with their own non-state-sponsored bylaws and rules. On what constitutional grounds can we deny them that freedom? Could one not extrapolate this to communal living? Kibbutzim? On the flip side of the coin, the freedom of private body politics to exist raises a very interesting question to those of us who wish to live in a public, secular state: what does the Constitution clearly guarantee? The Establishment Clause clearly guarantees that we have the right to live in a secular state, one in which the government does not respect the establishment of religion, nor can the government prevent (private, non-state-sponsored) free exercise thereof. These are words that people like Tom Monaghan may not like to hear, but they remain true. Our Founders rejected every religious motto offered up by the Convention in favor of the secular, "E Pluribus Unum". They did not use "Under God" or "In God We Trust", and rejected the idea of governmental religious creeds, and state-lent validation to the existence of a God. Is private faith so weak it must be supported through state sanction? The only reason those phrases appear today is due to fear and war. The phrase "Under God" was injected to the Pledge in 1954, during the Red Scare of post-WWII politics, to separate us from, "the godless Communists". The motto "In God We Trust" appeared on our currency in 1864, due to the efforts of religious revival during the Civil War, to unify a war-torn country under some common banner. See a trend here? War and fear are powerful tools for those with an agenda to change the application and intent of the Constitution. I hear the words of Franklin (no friend to theists), "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." This should apply equally to the religionists who want state support as to Jake Ramsey, who may or may not be afraid of what Monaghan's efforts reap. The godless in Gainesville who find themselves agreeing with this sentiment may be interested to know that a registered student organization exists to promote freethinking, and the separation of church and state: AAFSA - Atheist, Agnostic and Freethinking Student Association. Thank the nonexistent Deity that we have the freedom to exist in this secular state, and then look us up.

Faculty Advisor's Talk

Just a reminder that our advisor, Prof. Witmer, is giving a talk tomorrow night at 7:15 (talk starts at 7:30) for PhilSoc, "How to Think About (the Lack of a) God." See the meetings post for details.

I'm going to be there, and I hope to see you there too...FLO 3rd floor philosophy library.

Social, Grove Page, CFI Event, Flyers

First, here are the details for the social on March 22.

The old grove page has been replaced with a new "quasi-redirect" page. However, I left the links intact and downloaded all the files to my HD. I know a few of you are programmers, and if you are willing to write a short little block of code to redirect the traffic here automatically, I would appreciate it. The Center for Inquiry - Florida is hosting a quite intriguing conference in Tampa during the weekend after our opening social (March 22), March 24-26. Eddie Tabash, famous for his debates against creationists and theists of various flavors, will be speaking, among others.

I have also created some very simple flyers. They are all in .doc and .htm format, and you can download them to your PC and print them out and put them any/everywhere you like. The only difference between the .htm and .doc is that I did leave in the "Facebook us!" line with a link in the .htm, so that if you want to use e-flyers, you can just paste links to them around and about on message boards, bulletins and such. Use whichever ones you like, or create similar ones yourself. Just please keep them civil, we don't want to throw too many flames before we even get this party started.

Speaking of party...special attention should be brought to the social flyer -- .doc and .htm format. Spread it around!

Letter to the Editor

When I have time, I am going to send the following letter to the editors of the Alligator and Gainesville Sun, with a few edits and changes for the latter:

In the wake of the recent SG elections at the UF campus, politics goes on as usual. The issues of the day include, but are not limited to, parking woes, student fees, SG funding and appropriations, representation of minorities...full stop.
One of the major issues, promoted by the Alligator to become a real platform, has been the lack of representation for Asian-Pacific students by the Student Affairs office. According to two separate Alligator articles, Asian-American students comprise about 7% of the student body at UF. Without getting sidetracked, let me say that I think it is wonderful that diversity is supported on campus for ethnic, cultural and racially-related issues. But is there a disconnect for support of diversity when it comes to religion, or lack thereof?
UF sponsors clubs for Christianity, Islam, news articles in the Alligator on catchy new efforts on the part of campus-minded Rabbis to engage Jewish interests. Even the Hare Krishna's get to serve food on campus without a license, thus opening the door for them to expand their influence and add to their numbers. Campus activists are allowed to stand in Turlington and spew venom, even if what they promote is rationally indistinguishable from hate speech.
There's plenty of "Old Time Religion", and concomitant representation and advocacy for it, on the UF campus and in the SG. But what about atheism?
In one of the largest religious polls ever conducted, the American Religious Identification Survey (CUNY) found in 2001 that 14% of Americans self-identified as "no religion", up from 8% in 1990. Phil Zuckerman (Sociology, Pitzer) concludes from extensive compilation of worldwide studies that, "Based on a careful assessment of the most recent survey data available, we find that somewhere between 500,000,000 and 750,000,000 humans currently do not believe in God." That places the number of non-religious persons worldwide in fourth behind Xians (2 B), Islam (1.2 B), and Hinduism (900 M), and ahead of every other religious group. Using the ARIS data, Cliff Walker calculated a weighted projection of godlessness by state, finding Oregon scored highest at 28%, North Dakota lowest at 4%, and Florida right on the national average at 14%. With such a number in mind, one would not appear amiss in predicting more than a few groups at UF promoting, supporting, and otherwise centered on nontheism.
Until a few days ago, there was not even one single student organization at UF about or for atheists, godlessness, freethinking, humanism, etc. Not one, although there are at least double the percentage of godless students at UF as Asian-Pacific students. Why is that?
Can you name one openly godless US Congressperson? One atheist SG representative? Can you find a politician advocating uncompromised church-state separation, removing the Red Scare-injected "under God" from our Pledge, restoring the Founders' "E Pluribus Unum" as the sole motto (removing the Civil War crisis-injected "In God We Trust")? How often do the 86% attempt to ensure fair representation for the 14%? Conversely, how many racial barriers are crossed over race issues, cultural differences laid down over common goals, and how much self-interest and lobbying do we see in government?
Why is that?
Well, AAFSA at UF is a start, and we all ought to thank the non-existent Deity, or, instead, my own efforts to found it, for that.

We Are Official

We are now officially recognized as a student organization, and listed here on the SAC website. I received an email from the Asst. Dir. for Student Involvement which contains valuable information that all interested parties should check out. I am posting the full-text of the email below the fold, and you all ought to read it.

Here is the full-text of the email that contains quite important information for our group:

Dear Student Organization President and Advisor,

The request of your organization to become a registered student organization on the University of Florida campus has been approved. Please know that all leadership in your organization will be responsible for understanding:

The Student Organization Handbook has almost everything you need to know to manage your organization and assist you in your role as a student leader or advisor of a student organization on the University of Florida campus. Become familiar with this web site and use it as a reference throughout the year... share it with other officers and/or members of your organization.

If your group plans to use meeting space in the J. Wayne Reitz Union, reservations must be done in advance; contact Event Services on-line at to reserve a space. Groups that fail to use the facilities in a responsible manner will lose the privilege of utilizing these facilities. Some examples of inappropriate use of the space include but are not limited to:

* Using empty rooms with out permission
* Using space in the building for activities such as painting banners or creating props without permission
* Using musical instruments or amplified music with out utilizing the services of Spinal Tech
* Hanging or attaching material to walls or painted surfaces
* Having food not purchased from Classic Fare or other building food services, such as Wendy?s

There are scholarships available from Classic Fare Catering for student organization programs open to all UF students. Check out the online forms here. IDEAL coordinates the Student Organization Fair every semester and can provide training and workshops to help your organization be successful. Topics include: retreat planning, officer training, team-building, developing a mission statement, conflict resolution, etc. To view more training topics or learn how IDEAL can help you, visit here.

If you are having an event off campus and alcohol will be served, it is recommended your organization follow the Best Practices for Off Campus Events.

In addition, please note 4 important policy matters with which you should be familiar:

1. In order to hold an elected or appointed office in a student organization or student governing group, a student must be registered for at least 12 hours, be free of conduct probation and academic warning or probation, and have a minimum 2.0 overall GPA as well as a 2.0 for the previous semester for Fall Semesters, Spring is considered the previous semester, NOT Summer A, B or C).
2. No student organization may sell tickets or carry on any moneymaking project on campus without the approval of the Office of Campus Programs.
3. There are definite rules concerning posting publicity on campus. Please refer to the student organization handbook before planning any advertising. For more, see here and here.
4. Registration of a student organization does not cause the organization to become an agent of the University of Florida for any purpose and members of the organization may not represent to any person that the University is responsible for any debts or acts of the organization nor may the use, "The University of Florida" in their name; ex. University of Florida Car Club.

Office of Student Involvement staff members are available to answer any questions you may have about student organizations at UF. Please contact them via SACDesk@union.ufl.edu or 352-392-1671.

Sincerely,

Kelli Hardy
Assistant Director of Student Involvement
kellih@union.ufl.edu
352-392-1671

If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to comment on this post or email aafsa.uf AT gmail.com.