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.