A good way to start a fight is to talk about religion. Tell someone they are wrong about their beliefs and an ideological boxing match will ensue.
"I might not be right, and I accept that."
This is the mentality with which James Doolittle, sophomore in aerospace engineering, and many other members of the Secular Student Alliance approach the topic of religion.
The Secular Student Alliance meets once per week to discuss pressing issues on the topic of religion.
The Alliance has created an open forum where individuals can tackle the sensitive topic of religion in a calm, open-minded manner.
The average meeting consists of one hour of formal discussion led by either the president or the vice president of the Alliance.
Each weekly topic is predetermined and sent out to members, who are then encouraged to do the appropriate amount of research in order to maintain a professional atmosphere.
Though the group consists of many agnostic-atheists, Alex Nall, senior in communication and president of Secular Student Alliance, said she tries hard to fight the stereotype associated with atheists.
"Secular Student Alliance is a group dedicated to the acceptance of those on campus with alternative beliefs, or the lack thereof," Nall said. "We are also dedicated to outreach, making people around campus know who we are and that we are not conforming to the stereotype you hear about those with or without religion."
Many members of the Alliance feel as though these stereotypes are inaccurate and lead to discrimination.
"I think a lot of people don't really understand what atheism is," Doolittle said. "It's the disbelief in God, but the way a lot of people look at it is, 'they don't believe in God, therefore they are not good people.' There is something about the fact that we don't believe in a God, or whatever you happen to worship, that makes us (appear to be) incomplete or broken, wrong, evil or whatever."
Doolittle also explained how negative stereotypes created fundamental misunderstandings of what it means to be agnostic-atheist.
"People really like to confuse those two terms. Agnostic is not in itself a noun. It's really a descriptor. Agnostic-atheist means that you don't believe in a God, but you cannot empirically prove the existence or nonexistence of one," said Doolittle. "God, just looking at it as a concept, exists outside the realm of human understanding just based on the nature of what God is, and so there is no way we could scientifically or reasonably prove the existence or nonexistence of that God. That's the way I look at it."
Doolittle acknowledges there are many atheists who are not open-minded and attempt to proselytize.
"I don't think highly of people (who proselytize), especially when they are doing exactly what they don't want other people to do," Doolittle said. "You know, trying to shove a view down somebody's throat."
According to Parker Stripling, vice president of the Secular Student Alliance and sophomore in aerospace engineering, the Alliance is in no way trying to convert students.
"If a person's religion makes them happy, allows them to be a good person and doesn't impede the lives of others then I have absolutely no problem with it," Stripling said.
Despite having his own system of belief, Stripling maintains open-mindedness to all religions.
"I think if evidence, real hard evidence, was presented in front of me I am more than likely to believe it," Stripling said.
Even Doolittle maintained an open-mind with religion and the potential for his conversion to a religious belief.
"I am totally open to the possibility that someone, should they have strong, empirical evidence to present to me that a deity exists, then yeah, I would be 100 percent open to that," Doolittle said.
The Secular Student Alliance is open to students of any and all beliefs.
Nall encourages students who have religion to join in on the discussion.
"There's no real reason to be afraid. Even though we accept people who are anti-theists, we don't accept people who are belligerent about it," Nall said. "The main purpose of this group is to have a place where people can have a discussion about what they want to talk about and feel safe and comfortable."
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