Collegiate Times

Freethinkers president Melissa Lauer begins a presentation on skepticism about global warming.

Talking the talk

"I can sit down and talk to my Dad about religion, and we absolutely disagree, but we can have a cordial conversation," Graf said. "My approach to free thought and to atheism is more about how we come to our beliefs rather than what we believe. I believe that is much more fruitful than the back-and-forth ping-pong match of an argument around belief. That is what free thought is all about. We focus on the method of coming to belief and the beliefs that we hold provisionally until new information comes along."

Not that this sort of dialogue is easy.

"I think overly zealous people on both sides of that divide can look on the other side and think, 'Well, there's nothing I can learn from you.' I think that's arrogance," said Jim Pace, head pastor of New Life Christian Fellowship. "I like learning about where people are in their life. What motivates you? What drives you? What makes you want to be a better person? What impact do you want to have on the world?"

For those Freethinkers without a religious background, engaging in these discussions can be their primary exposure to a given faith tradition.

"Those who were always raised in a sort of non-religious household, and we can get a perspective," Hughes said.

At some points, Graf added, critical consumers of religion may actually approach Freethinking more than some professed atheists.

"For freethinkers, it doesn't count to say, 'This is what my dogma says.' Somebody can come to atheism from, 'I don't want to believe in a God, therefore I don't.' That's not a good reason. So certainly, you can be an atheist and not a Freethinker," Graf said.

Even with the opportunity for growth through conversation, Blacksburg's Freethinkers feel pressure to obscure or tone down their beliefs.

"The weird thing about freethinkers is that they are typically shunned. On this campus, I've had people find out I'm not a believer and straightforwardly walk away from me. Minorities have problems with acceptance everywhere and so they'd rather just not talk about it," than stump for their beliefs," Lauer said.

While not having encountered the same sort of responses as Lauer, Hughes said that "on a national basis, and the most distrusted demographic are the atheists. So I think that probably exists around the university."

Of course, Hughes said his judgment remains to be evaluated.

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