For senior mining engineering major Lance Nenninger, being agnostic has been tough on a campus where many believe in Christianity, but the rebirth of the Freethinkers at Virginia Tech has given him some hope.
Freethinkers at Virginia Tech is a student organization that aims to educate students and the community on the importance of a separation between church and state.
It welcomes all beliefs that revolve around freethinking -- the philosophical viewpoint that states beliefs should come from science or logic, not emotion or traditional dogma. The club welcomes those who hold any beliefs, but freethinkers are commonly atheists or agnostics.
Jonathan Hughes resurrected the club this fall.
"The organization has been around for a while, but for the last three or four years it was kind of dormant, so I just brought it back," Hughes, the club president, said.
Having been raised by a scientist, Hughes took on a more factual point of view in his beliefs.
"I just sort of started looking at the world in a more logical and critical-thinking kind of way and that's basically the foundation of freethought," Hughes said. "When I found out there was a title to go along with it, I just kind of followed up on it."
The Freethinkers is a broad group with different belief backgrounds behind it, including atheism, agnosticism, even deists. Since atheists are those who do not believe in God, there can be some backlash from the Tech students who do.
"Yes, I catch crap, but when I do, I usually retort with an unanswerable question," Nenninger said. "Every religion is full of mistakes, and they are easy to put out to turn the tides of an unpleasant encounter."
Since the club was brought back, Hughes said there hasn't been any intense criticism. He said it can be difficult when others place their beliefs on him or the organization because of people making personal attacks on freethinking. As he's seen new faces at every meeting so far this semester, he definitely believes that people are finding out about the group.
"I think that we would catch a lot of flack from religious groups or others who don't necessarily agree with us," Hughes said. "I kind of welcome it, in a sense. It's definitely nice to talk to people and hold healthy discussions and debates, mainly because sort of the backbone to freethinking is exactly that, always questioning your beliefs."
Nenninger said he thinks the organization is great for agnostics such as himself.
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Freethought is a gift from God. Reality (some call it science) forces thoughts into accepting the physical truth. It does not necessitate against spiritual truth. Freethinkers are not completely free if they go to the extreme of insisting on denying God (though they are free to believe that). Free thought should ultimately lead to deeper thinking and not surface thinking or what one makes something be for them. Clearly, as indicated by the comments about reincarnation being a "cool idea," there is more truth that the accepted physical truth. I do appreciate the desire of the Freethinkers for healthy discussion and debate and that they welcome interaction with anyone. I welcome this too and welcome anyone to see my thinking at www.vtlessonstolearn.com
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A group of atheists get together and talk about religion. I simply cannot imagine that. You are a freethinker because you do not allow yourself to investigate the existence of God. It doesn't sound very free to me. "There is no God because He did not fall into my outstretched hand". It doesn't sound very logical. Fighting against locked-step forced conforming religion is not a bad thing. You just have to know what you are fighting. Every follower of God should question what they believe. The Bible instructs believers to test their faith. But a person who refuses to open their eyes is not going to see, whether they are religious or not. If you are truly a free thinker, open your mind to the possibility of things you do not know and have not seen.
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Sorry for getting into the game late, Henry, but you'll notice that it is specifically mentioned that anyone is welcome to a free-thought meeting. The organization exists because some people like some assurance that the group of people they are with won't judge them for their beliefs. That means anyone, not just atheists or agnostics. But let's not stop there. It's just as easy for an atheist to say that you've refused to open your eyes to see that religions are mass organizational techniques used to keep a certain set of people powerful while the rest accept their state. An Animist may equally convincingly say that you have refused to open your eyes to the fact that everything contains a soul unique to itself that deserves worship. A Pastafarian may tell you that you're refusing to open your eyes to the certain fact that you need to drink more beer. The point is that your statements presume that people who don't believe in God have not inspected faith as an option, and that to be exposed to His brilliance is to automatically see the light and accept it as truth. You belittle your fellow human beings with this assumption, and you expose your own willful ignorance.
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