Forgoing Faith

Senior biology major Alicia Godersky grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, in a secular family. Neither she nor her sister ever had any sort of beliefs forced upon them. Instead, they were both expected to figure things out on their own.

Now, Godersky considers herself an atheist. She said her family is atheist as well, even though they consider themselves agnostic.

So, what does that mean?

"Atheism is a rejection of faith as a means of finding truth," Godersky said.

Merriam-webster.com defines religion as "the service and worship of God or the supernatural" and "a cause, principle or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith." Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and the many different faiths that fall under the umbrella of Christianity would fit under this definition - along with many others. But would atheism and agnosticism fall under the category of "religion?"

Some would say that yes, they are religions, but most people who are atheist or agnostic would be hard-pressed to support that argument.

In short, atheists are sure to a certain degree that there is no god, whereas agnostics are unsure or unwilling (or both) to declare whether or not there is one.

However, Godersky said that both groups reject organized religion for similar reasons.

The Secular Student Union (SSU), for which Godersky is an officer, is a Registered Student Organization (RSO) at the UW where students are able to discuss their lack of faith. According to the RSO's Web site, the group provides not just atheist, agnostic or otherwise nonreligious students, but all students, with a forum to "discuss and debate general issues of religion and philosophy."

Photo by Cliff Despeaux. Michael Amini, next year's Secular Student Union president, plays billiards during the end of year barbeque Tuesday afternoon.

Godersky's fellow officer, Xianhang Zhang, a graduate student in industrial engineering, said it is a venue for people to get together to discuss issues involving atheism and faith with no political agenda. It is open to people of all faiths and there is a different topic each week.

Last quarter, the SSU's theme was religion outreach. Zhang said the group invited different religious RSOs every week for a Q&A session. They hosted groups representing the Jewish, Mormon, Biblical Literalist, Hindu and Muslim communities. Zhang said these sessions were extremely successful.

"Everyone enjoyed it," he said.

Joy Severin, an intern for The City Church, a church based in Kirkland with a building in the U-District on Northeast 50th Street and 17th Avenue Northeast, attended the "Ask a Bible Literalist" session that the group hosted. Severin said that going in, she wasn't exactly sure what to expect. She initially thought she would be put on the spot and grilled to no end, but instead, Severin said she was surprised by the atmosphere.

"It was a lot more civilized than I expected," she said.

During the session, questions were asked about Severin's faith and beliefs, and she couldn't help but be impressed.

"They knew what they were talking about," she said.

This is not surprising, said Michael Amini, a junior and Near Eastern languages and civilization major, who is another officer for the SSU. He said that many atheists know the Bible better than many Christians do - which shows that they turn to atheism not out of ignorance, but as a rejection of what they have learned.

It is this kind of knowledge that Severin said she was able to appreciate during her time with the group. The session helped her gain a better understanding of atheism and agnosticism, and as a result, she was able to have an intelligent conversation without being ignorant or rude. Instead of causing her beliefs to fall apart, this questioning of her faith strengthened them.

Severin feels there should be more meetings like this where people of different backgrounds can discuss these differences.

The SSU is working on doing just that. While many reactions atheists receive are benign curiosity, atheism is still viewed as OK to be prejudiced against, said Zhang, who was raised in the secular Australian culture. As a result of this prejudice, Zhang said a lot of people stay "in the closet" or call themselves agnostic to avoid the stigma that comes with being an atheist.

Amini said that one of the most irritating reactions he gets when people find out he is atheist is the assumption that he has no morals. Contrary to this, Amini said that because he believes there is no divine justice and this is the only life he has, he is going to live it the best way possible. This makes for the view on his lack of morality interesting.

Photo by Cliff Despeaux. Andrew Potsko, director of student ministries, fires up hamburgers and hot dogs for the SSU barbeque.

"Morality predates religion," he said.

Amini has experienced the stigma of being atheist firsthand. Unlike Godersky and Zhang, who were both raised in nonreligious families, Amini was raised Mormon. When he told his family that he was atheist, he said his mom told his sister that it would have been better if he had died, and his dad said he is not contributing to society. He said his parents still love him and welcome him in their home, but they don't want him staying alone with his younger brother and sister.

These are the types of obstacles that people face for being different that need to be faced and discussed, Severin said.

"Most of the time, especially with young people, our cultural differences act as barriers instead of doors," Severin said.