Secular Student Alliance: Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics & Others - Blog

This Week: Spring 2010 Affiliation Renewal

27-February-2010

This Week:
Spring Affiliation Renewal

Renew Your Group's Affiliation with the Secular Student Alliance

New Leader?
No Longer a Leader?
Let us Know!

It's time for the Secular Student Alliance's Spring 2010 Affiliation Renewal! This is the semiannual survey which we administer to all our student groups in order to make sure you're still alive, see what you've been up to, and find out how we have (or haven't) been able to help.

Every SSA affiliate group is required to complete the Affiliation Renewal in order to remain affiliated with the SSA. (Even if you just affiliated last week!) If I do not receive a renewal form from your group, I will be contacting you to find out what happened! But you can save us both the game of phone tag if you just take the time this week to complete the form.

Help! Our Flyers Keep Getting Torn Down!

4-March-2010

A vandalized flyer at the University of Chicago, shredded by a key. Others were torn down altogether, had crosses drawn on them, and derogatory comments written in.

I hear from a number of affiliates each semester that the flyers they post for meetings or events are being torn down or vandalized. This is an unfortunate and all-too-common problem, and it's a shame that some people can be so threatened by the mere presence of our groups that they feel the need to prevent interested students from participating.

Frustrations aside, we've put together some strategies that your group can try to alleviate or overcome this problem. Some might work better than others, depending on your campus environment and policies, and we're always happy to hear what happens when you try these ideas.

"Good Without God" a Good Idea? "Yes," says Sharon Moss

2-March-2010

by Sharon Moss

I’ve been around the philosophical block a number of times. As a life-long atheist and an activist with 10 years of group-running experience under my belt, I feel like I’ve heard most of the arguments in our community. I don’t read many books on atheism/humanism/insert-other-labels-here anymore. I almost didn’t even pick up a copy of Greg Epstein’s Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. But I’m glad I did. Epstein covers new ground and provides important, thought-provoking points for the movement.

The Secular Student Alliance Interviewed on The Young Turks

28-February-2010

Secular Student Alliance's Communications Director, Jesse Galef, was recently interviewed on the popular and influential talk/internet show The Young Turks. The 7-minute interview covered the controversy sparked by the Secular Coalition for America's policy briefing with the Obama administration and other news of the day.

Watch the interview on The Young Turks' Channel.

Review: SSA's 2010 Northern California Leadership Summit

27-February-2010

Jason Cooperrider, president of SHIFT at the University of Utah

by Jason Cooperrider

This past February, I had the pleasure of attending the Secular Student Alliance's Northern California Leadership Summit at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. It was my honor to represent SHIFT (Secular Humanism, Inquiry and Freethought), the secular student group at the University of Utah, as its president and co-founder.

Ted Cox and Matt Dillahunty Added to SSA Speakers Bureau

26-February-2010

The Secular Student Alliance is pleased to announce that we have added Mormon-turned-atheist Ted Cox and atheist activist Matt Dillahunty to our Speakers Bureau. The Speakers Bureau consists of freethought speakers who have graciously offered to speak / present / debate on your campus for free, provided you are an official affiliate of the Secular Student Alliance. Learn more about the Bureau at www.secularstudents.org/speakers.

Openings for the SSA Board of Directors

21-February-2010

The Secular Student Alliance is looking for dedicated leaders who would like to run for positions on the SSA's Board of Directors! The SSA is a democratic organization and all SSA members are eligible to run for a position on the Board of Directors. Elections take place this May, and board terms are two years long.

Board members are responsible for setting goals and policy for the organization, fundraising, reviewing progress, and promoting SSA. All Board members are expected to participate in fundraising. We are happy to train you to do this, but you must be willing.

SHIFT Celebrates Carl Sagan Day

19-February-2010

by Jason Cooperrider

On Saturday, November 7, 2009, Secular Humanism, Inquiry and Freethought (SHIFT) at the University of Utah, celebrated what would have been the 75^th birthday of Carl Sagan, famed astronomer, skeptic, activist, and writer. Sagan was born on November 9, 1934 and was lost to the world on December 20, 1996. During his 62 years on our planet, Sagan inspired many people and had a significant impact on our world. He was a brilliant scientist, primarily in the field of planetary astrophysics, and had an uncanny talent for explaining scientific ideas to and popularizing science for the general public. He did this through his books, interviews, talks, and popular television series, Cosmos. In 1980, Sagan co-founded The Planetary Society, which continues its original mission of promoting space science, travel, and colonization. He was also one of the pioneering (and lifelong) proponents of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).

This Week: Get Ready to Renew!

13-February-2010

	This Week: Get Ready to Renew!
Affiliation Renewal Preview

Dealing with Disaster: Darwin Day 2010 at GMU

9-February-2010

by Shelley Mountjoy

Friday, February 12th, 2010 was the 201st Anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Commonly called "Darwin Day," it is a great chance for our community to gather to celebrate humanity and science.

At George Mason University, the Office of Student Activities will approve funding for food at only one event per year. What would be more appropriate for a non-religious group than a Flying Spaghetti Monster Pasta Dinner? So, I filled out the necessary paperwork so that our group, the Secular Student Alliance (GMU), could host a pasta dinner. Another leader in our group made arrangements for a speaker, and our group planned to celebrate Darwin Day with what would have been a fabulous pasta dinner and awesome guest lecture.

"Good Without God" a Good Idea? "No," says Frank Bellamy

9-February-2010

by Frank Bellamy

When I picked up this book, I didn’t have high expectations. Even those expectations were not met. Greg Epstein's Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe disappointed me with its use of the sort of fallacious reasoning we nontheists routinely have to refute from religious people.

Epstein's basic philosophy is outlined in Chapter 3: "Why Be Good Without a God." There, he attempts a bad line of argumentation more commonly found in christian writing (the lowercase letter is intentional). First, he tells us that we all need one single, unified purpose of life. Then, Epstein lists many things that he doesn’t consider his preferred purposes of for one reason or another. Finally, he tells us what he believes the preferred purpose of life is—and claims that it is the only life purpose that can satisfy our needs.

For Epstein, the purpose of life turns out to be dignity rather than god, but he uses the same reasoning as many christian leaders use. As a result, he makes two of the same errors they do. There’s no reason to assume that we each need one single, unified purpose for life. One person may have many different purposes in his or her life. Interestingly, once the reader asks what dignity really is, it doesn't meet Epstein's own standard for a life purpose. Epstein never gives a clear definition of dignity, but every attempted definition consists of concern for one's self and concern for others. Both aspects are important, but combining them under the word “dignity” doesn't create a unitary purpose, especially considering that Epstein rejected each of them separately earlier in the chapter.

The book sinks to its lowest point in the chapter on pluralism. Epstein spends most of the section confusing the believer with the belief, a mistake which can only harm the cause of pluralism. Epstein opens the chapter by attacking what he alleges is the so-called new atheists' view of religious people: that they are poison and ought to be hated or destroyed. As anyone who has read books by these prominent atheist authors would know, none of them actually hold this view. Sam Harris’ book is titled The End of Faith, not The End of the Faithful. Christopher Hitchens wrote that religion poisons everything, not that the religious are poisonous, as Epstein seems to attribute to him.

A couple of pages later Epstein commits the same error in the opposite direction, confusing dislike of humanism for dislike of humanists. As he puts it, "It is hard to like those who don't like Humanism, who don't like atheism, who would discriminate against me, who would be prejudiced." But one can dislike humanism while liking some humanists, just as many humanists dislike christianity while liking some christians. Pluralism isn't about forced respect for other people's beliefs; it’s about being able to dislike other people's beliefs while appreciating the individual.

A troubling theme in Epstein's writing is his repeated attempts (including his decision to capitalize the word “humanism”) to claim for humanism the same privileged status that religion has in American society. In an interview, he said "any protection that you are going to give to a religion under law you need to give us the same." One of the big purposes of the nontheistic movement, of having organizations and meetings, is precisely to undermine and ultimately abolish the privileged status of religion, not to adopt it for ourselves.

These are only a few of the misconceptions to be found in Epstein's book. But what makes Good Without God offensive to me is that unlike the "new atheists" (as he calls them), who do not claim to represent all secular people, Epstein has the arrogance to claim he speaks for you, me, and everyone else who does not believe in a god (see the subtitle). He clearly does not. I agree with PZ Myers, who said, "just as we can be good without god, we can also be good without rituals, good without sacraments, [and] good without priests and chaplains."

Frank Bellamy is a graduate student in cognitive science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the president of the Secular Student Alliance at RPI, and the content manager of the eMpirical.

Atheist Students and Leaders Participate in White House Briefing

8-February-2010

This story originally appeared on Unreasonable Faith on March 1, 2010. Used here with permission.

By Jesse Galef

The atheist movement made a big step last Friday when the Secular Coalition for America arranged a policy briefing with White House officials. A delegation of about 60 nontheists convened in the nation's capital to engage with the administration. I can't repeat what the administration said – these meetings are held off the record – but I can say that I've never felt more proud and optimistic about the political status of atheists.

Learning Activism: My Secular Student Alliance Internship 2009

6-February-2010

by Samantha Snyder

Sami Snyder, Fall 2009 Secular Student Alliance intern

It's in a dungeon. That was my first thought as I timidly made my way through the basement of an office building, searching for the headquarters of the Secular Student Alliance. I knew I was in the right place when I saw the dry erase board with a picture of the Flying Spaghetti Monster saying "Howdy!" I was just starting my internship at the Secular Student Alliance for the 2009 Autumn quarter. It was to be a very unique experience: I met a lot of new people, felt like I made a difference helping nontheistic student groups, learned excellent professional skills, and tasted just how amazing Graeter's ice cream is.

Secular Student Alliance New England Leadership Summit

1-February-2010

The Secular Student Alliance is proud to announce its New England Leadership Summit, to be held April 16-18, 2010. The summit will be hosted at Harvard University in Boston, MA. This weekend session is a great opportunity for student leaders to fine-tune their group-running skills, meet other leaders from the area, network with local off-campus organizations, and have a great time!

We're excited to be holding this event in conjunction with the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy's award ceremony for the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism, being presented this year to the MythBusters. Join us for the award ceremony at a special discounted rate of only $8 when you register through the New England Leadership Summit.

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A Polite Response to an Impolite Article

29-January-2010

Lucy Gubbins is the president of the Alliance of Happy Atheists, a secular student group at the University of Oregon. In January, their campus newspaper made the strange decision to reprint an anti-atheist screed which had first been published at Portland State University three months earlier. Lucy mobilized her group to respond with polite letters to the editor. Here's the letter she got printed:

Reprinting anti-atheism commentary offensive, lacking balance

Lucy Gubbins, President of the UO Alliance of Happy Atheists

By Lucy Gubbins | President, Alliance of Happy Atheists