Saturday, July 21, 2007 | Reason : In the News | print version

Ditching God: Emboldened Atheists Are Finding Purpose In Coming Out Of The Closet

by Charles Lewis, Canada.com

Thanks to Adam for the link.

Reposted from:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f1ac5e50-4c6f-4a74-a27b-e828026589a0&p=1

The Centre for Inquiry Ontario office is on the main floor of an old row house in downtown Toronto, but has the look of a spacious church basement. It has a piano, folding chairs in neat rows, and shelves of books, many with God in the title. But because it is a drop-in centre for atheists, humanists and secularists, the books are entitled, The God Delusion, Can We Be Good Without God? and Road to Reason; the magazines include the Canadian Free Thinker and Skeptical Inquirer; and there are T-shirts for sale emblazoned with "Darwin" and "Heretic." There is a kitchen in the back to cook the occasional mass spaghetti dinner.

"The church basement was the place where people came on a Saturday night -- it wasn't necessarily religion-related," says Peter Aruja, a 23-year-old political science student at nearby University of Toronto who volunteers at the centre. "And that's what we're trying to build here: the atheist church basement."

The centre has been open for a year; it has 70 active members, an anonymous donor who pays the rent, and on almost any day, there is a meeting or someone who drops by for advice on how to tell their family they have given up on God.

Click here to continue article:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f1ac5e50-4c6f-4a74-a27b-e828026589a0&p=1

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1. Comment #57863 by Wrought on July 21, 2007 at 5:27 pm

Sounds fun, which I lived nearby. Perhaps one day the local church where I live will take down the board which states who is preaching and start putting up "Free Inquiry Meeting" and "Science Fair" signs... probably too much to hope for.

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2. Comment #57875 by Glacian on July 21, 2007 at 7:25 pm

Ahh! It's great to see CFI getting some mention. I just submitted a petition to have my group approved at my college, Broward Community College, in Davie, Florida, as an official CFI group, so I'm happy to say I'm now president of a student CFI club myself.

We'll be sure to have plenty of events and activities for students and to work with our local CFI group too. CFI is great because they don't focus solely on atheism but promote science, reason, free thought, and all manner of associated issues we skeptics/atheists/agnostics/whatever-you-ares are concerned about.

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3. Comment #57923 by Ophelia Benson on July 22, 2007 at 10:37 am

Well now this is an eerie feeling - as of being lost in a hall of mirrors or similar. I'm typing this comment at the original Center for Inquiry itself, the one in Amherst (just outside Buffalo, New York, and across the street from SUNY Buffalo), in the brief time before I go to the airport to return home from CfI's summer conference 'Beyond Belief,' at which I gave the keynote address. The building is quieter than I've known it in two and a half weeks (apart from one evening when I was here until 9), because the conference is now over, but it was humming before. We had lunch with CfI (and CSICOP, Skeptical Inquirer, Free Inquiry, etc) founder Paul Kurtz on Thursday, along with Joe Hoffmann and others.

Good luck CfI Ontario.

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4. Comment #57928 by locri on July 22, 2007 at 11:28 am

Although I think it's a great thing that organizations like CFI exist, I do have a few things I feel like I have to say.

I live nearby the particular center mentioned in the article and have been there twice. The one time I went there and there were actually a fair amount of people I was rather disappointed that there seemed to be a lot of clique-ishness in the group. I tried to start up a conversation with a few people but no one really seemed interested.

There were two people closer to my age that were pleasant to talk to for the bit that I did, but seemed absorbed into other things so I wasn't able to talk to them much either.

Maybe it was just a bad day for me and the people I tried to talk to, but it didn't feel as welcoming as I had hoped. I'm not quite sure why. I hope this experience isn't common when trying to join Atheist/Freethought groups, but I've noted that there is a similar trend in religious groups. It's very easy to call yourself a part of that group, but to truly be part of the community can become a difficult thing.

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5. Comment #57937 by Glacian on July 22, 2007 at 12:54 pm

Locri, that doesn't sound like a great experience to me, either. I really dislike cliqueshness and always have. I'm actually a bit anti-social, but found the need for an atheist presence to make its voice heard on my campus downright necessary after seeing the club list and seeing that there were 6 or 7 religious groups.

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6. Comment #57988 by LeeLeeOne on July 22, 2007 at 7:08 pm

There were and are always "Newman Centers" on or very nearby many college campuses. These are religious based (blech) but still have the same "clique" attitude mentioned by Locri. Any organization, has its base (hence, organization). Sometimes it is very difficult to break into the mindset but, with a lot of searching and repeated attendance, I finally found a local student atheist (off campus) organization I felt comfortable with. It takes time, and a lot of work on your part. As an atheist, I can only assume you do not expect a hand-out, a free-ride, or the "easy way in." Do some volunteer work with this group; no flags, no bells, no whistles, no expected recognition. Being honest and endearing yourself with any qualities or skills you may possess really does make a difference!

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7. Comment #58042 by bamboospitfire on July 23, 2007 at 5:30 am

"There is a kitchen in the back to cook the occasional mass spaghetti dinner."

Is this the FSM equivalent of the Eucharist? Presumably it is accompanied by a nice Chianti.

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8. Comment #58059 by Mark R on July 23, 2007 at 7:59 am

Locri, not sure where about you live in the Toronto area but you might want to look a bit east for the CDRH - we are the Clarington Durham Region Humanists. We started this year in Feb. and building a network of people of ALL ages around Durham area. We are hosting coffee nights and at present 2 a week. We are hosting our first Science Fair in Bowmanville for grade 6 to 8 students to take place in spring 2008.

We have a website you can check out and quite a few of the involved met right here at this forum as well. Our strength is people and we have a great bunch that is very friendly.

www.cdrh.humanists.ca

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9. Comment #58080 by fallenone on July 23, 2007 at 10:21 am

Apparently, today's Post has some letters to the editor from angry religious apologists in 'response' to the article. Usual strawman arguments regarding Hitler and Stalin as evil atheist rubbish included. We mustn't give up in face of bad logic... Make your voice count! Write to: letters@nationalpost.com, and don't forget that full info is required (ie. name, address, email, and phone number). I know it's Big Brother like, but have to play by their rules to get the letters published.

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