Every month, our Southern California Campus Organizer Neil Polzin writes an update describing what he and the groups in his area have been up to.  


February 25, 2008 – Charging Onward

We are charging at the new year, along with it's new challenges.  Now, going into March, even the last of the community colleges have returned from break, meaning school is back into full swing here in Southern California.

We are coming off an amazing Darwin Day.  Secular Student Alliance Affiliates celebrated Darwin Day on February 12, hosting events to promote science and reason as virtues.  Here in Southern California, groups did a range of things, from events promoting science directly to people via tabling while passing out material and stickers, to one school having a lecture series to help promote science and reason.  Overall Darwin Day is making huge bounds, with lots of help from students, especially those here in Southern California.

With school back into full swing, the weeks are quickly passing.  On top of all of the meetings and events that students will be having in March, Pi Day is also approaching.  Pi Day is the 14th of March each year, and is a day that many groups use as a platform to bring science into the picture.  This March 14th will only be different due to the Secular Student Alliance affiliates here in Southern California.  In previous years this day has not attracted any attention from Atheist or secular groups.

In addition, more and more students are showing up each month to the Atheist United meeting.  With a new change in format, the meetings are slowly bringing younger atheists out for the first time.  The meetings provide them with an opportunity to socialize and meeting people with a similar rational world view.  The next Atheist United meeting in March should be no different.  This meeting will be a spring party, the format allowing for people to be social and mingle.  If you are not already planning to, come down to CFI West and bring a student along with you. It provides a great opportunity for both people to find a place of belonging and to have fun!

As we go into the spring, it is an exciting time to be an atheist.  More and more pop culture is surfacing aligned with the atheist viewpoint, and each month more momentum is building.  This can be seen on Capitol Hill, where the Secular Coalition for America is achieving victories that was beyond everyone wildest hopes just a few years ago (and hiring their second full-time lobbyist!).  It can be seen can be seen on campus, with more student affiliate groups of the Secular Student Alliance than ever before.  It can be seen in the national polls in which more and more Americans align themselves with the atheistic viewpoint, a disproportionate number of those students and young people under 25.  Both local and national atheistic groups are reporting record numbers of members.  Here in Southern California, we even have the amazing opportunity coming up in September to join in at the Atheist Alliance International conference hosted in Long Beach at the Queen Mary.

 

 

Neil Polzin is the Southern California Campus Organizer of the Secular Student Alliance.  His position is funded by a generous grant from Atheists United.  Thank you!