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.

"I believe organized religion is good for those who need something to believe in to give their life meaning," Nenninger said. "I, however, have a very logical outlook on things and will not believe in something that cannot be proven just because everyone else also believes in it. I like this organization because I can believe what I want to, and they are OK with that."

Nenninger believes that in the past organized religions have gotten out of control, causing mass wars and genocide, citing the Crusades and Jihad.

"Maybe there are some gods out there. Maybe there are some supernatural forces. I think reincarnation is a cool idea because there can't just be nothing out there, and that kind of thing," Nenninger said.

Many freethinkers have a hard time dealing with Christmas, which, Hughes said, is "every atheist's nightmare."

"I always grew up celebrating Christmas as a family-driven holiday," Hughes said. "My mom liked to go to the midnight church service, but it was only to sing. We never talked as a family about the Christian significance of the holiday.  I think it's a culturally important holiday that many people use as a time to get closer to their family."

Hughes said that even though it's hard at times not participating in certain activities for such a widely known holiday, he makes it work for his own beliefs.

"While I do continue to celebrate the holiday -- and I still call it Christmas, too -- I don't make any connections between it and Christianity," Hughes said. "At the same time, I'm not really an advocate of renaming it (a la Festivus).  I think a name is exactly what you make of it, and it's the actual intent behind the name that matters, so I call it Christmas and stop there. I don't go any deeper."

The Freethinkers at Virginia Tech is affiliated with two national organizations, the Campus Freethought Alliance and the Secular Student Alliance, both of which try to encourage freethought and make people aware that there are other beliefs out there in addition to the traditional ones.

"One of our main goals is to be a resource for those people questioning their own beliefs, or people who have their own beliefs or if they just want to see the other side. Our organization is open to anyone; we would welcome Christians or Muslims or anyone who would want to talk about it," Hughes said.