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.