There are a few reasons people have told me they are offended by our posters. I can understand some people. Others, I just have to clarify our reasoning. Then there are some that I squarely disagree with.

Sustainability

An RA has alluded to being unhappy that we are using so much paper, and all I can do is apologize, and promise that we are trying to be as efficient as possible. We have promoted the group though every non-paper method available. Facebook group and ads, google groups, aim, email, face-to-face, and this website. We choose to use paper as well because we want to make sure the less internet-savvy freethinkers are able to participate as well. We will try to reduce and conserve once we are established.

EDIT: We have now published a page on our efforts to operate a sustainable organization. http://sbufree.com/sustainability

Freethought

Some have also commented on a contradiction or hypocrisy in our name. They say that to be a “Freethinker” you must accept all kinds of beliefs. They say that by excluding theists, we are just as closed-minded as them. I explain that we aren’t the first ones to use the word in this context, and that in fact to use it to refer to an open minded theist would actually be a contradiction of the definition of the word.

Freethinker: A person who has formed their opinions using reason and rational enquiry; somebody who has rejected dogma, especially with regard to religion.

Then I go on to explain why we reject religion, and why it is in one’s best interest to do so. I use part of the argument brought up by Moiz Khan. Religion asks you to be a slave, a sheep, and it asks you to submit yourself to a supernatural. It asks you to give up reasoning, to give up thoughts, to give up judgment, and to consider yourself unworthy. I cannot see how I could characterize any person who lives by this as a freethinker, or even someone who thinks freely (to avoid the definition of freethinker).

But let’s suppose there is a theist who, a most theists do, pick and choose what they follow and believe; an a la carte theist, or a “Cafeteria Catholic” as many intellectual Catholics refer to themselves. This theist claims that he does not obey any higher power, and has drawn his own conclusions about God and the universe. Firstly, I wouldn’t believe it, because where did they get these beliefs from in the first place? This alone would be enough proof to show they are not freethinkers, but if we can get past that, then why did they (likely) choose the Judeo-Christian Yahweh over any of the other gods through time?  Did they consider polytheism when they came to this realization? We welcome deists to become members, and we invite our theistic brothers and sisters to discuss their beliefs with us, but we will not consider theists to be freethinkers.

Free Speech

Finally there are the people who are offended by the posters’ content. I will not give the least bit of sympathy to such people.

• You are on a college campus that fosters open discussion and higher thought.
• You are in a country that guarantees our right to free speech. I firmly believe that we must talk about these issues in order to make progress. Nothing is sacred.
• You are in a universe that has never come up with evidence for a supernatural, so the least you can allow us to do is point these three things out with a few simple posters.

On top of that, we are not here to offend anyone, and for all that we could plaster the campus with, we have kept our posters very tame and neutral. Most of them just ask a simple personal question: Not sure about religion?… No God? No Problem… Feeling Skeptical?… We are here to portray a positive image of atheists, and we hope you can respect us for that, the same way we respect you.

Tags:   first amendment · free speech · freethought · posters · questions · respect · slavery · sustainability4 Comments