Atheists give free hugs to fellow students

[Dardedar]

DAR
Maybe we ought to offer hugs at our Springfest Freethinker booth.

***
Atheists give free hugs to fellow students

By JESSICA PALOMBO
Campus correspondent

March 23. 2007 6:01AM

Turlington Plaza, the University of Florida's hot spot for preachers of ominous messages, was the backdrop for an ideological clash Thursday afternoon.

Frank Zaccaro, toting a Bible, was screaming warnings of hell to passersby when a group of atheists tried to hug him.

"No, I don't want that!" he yelled, and jumped back beyond their reach.

One of the rejected huggers, Robert Stark, said, "It would have been a good juxtaposition to the whole, him yelling about hell."

Stark and about 10 other members of the Atheist, Agnostic and Freethinking Student Association were tabled nearby, advertising "Free Hugs" and publicizing the upcoming speech "Why There Really Is No God."

On Sunday, the group hosts Eddie Tabash, author, lawyer and noted atheist, who will examine the question: "Who made whom: God or man?"

The event will begin at 2 p.m. in Norman Hall, Room 137, and is free and open to the public. A Q&A session will follow.

"We're working on the image of atheists," AAFSA President Daniel Morgan said. "We're trying to show people that there are young, happy atheists who want to give hugs."

Morgan, a 25-year-old University of Florida chemistry graduate student, said atheism faces a "gray problem;" people often picture atheists as "older, grumpy professors."

Vice President Brandon Smock said tabling was an attempt to dispel some common misconceptions and to "provide an alternative to the inflammatory speech that usually dominates Turlington Plaza."

"Atheists are some of the most moral, friendliest, most intelligent people I know," he said.

Tabash's appearance is sponsored by the Center for Inquiry, an international nonprofit group advocating scientific naturalism.

For more details about AAFSA or the event, visit http://aasauf.blogspot.com/.

Link

[Doug]

DAR
Maybe we ought to offer hugs at our Springfest Freethinker booth.

***
Atheists give free hugs to fellow students

DOUG
Someone sent me that story and three hours after you posted it, I was online about to do the same thing--and make the same suggestion.

But out of context, it might look like skeptics are lonely and desperate for hugs.

By the way, I know Eddie Tabash. Trivia: he used to work out with Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was into bodybuilding.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

There's a shortage of free hugs in America. This country has so connected touch with sex and violence, people are afraid to hug and afraid to accept hugs. Too bad. Not enough hugs makes your spine shrivel according to a doctor I used to go to (back when I went to doctors).

[Doug]

This country has so connected touch with sex and violence, people are afraid to hug and afraid to accept hugs. Too bad.

Well, we could offer to have sex and/or beat people up, in addition to the hugs...

[ChristianLoeschel]

Good plan Doug. Can I propose taking our atheism promotion to the sorority houses?

[Doug]

Good plan Doug. Can I propose taking our atheism promotion to the sorority houses?

DOUG
Sure. Maybe some members would even want to meet at WACA (Whips and Chains of Arkansas) where they do the BDSM thing and hug, have sex, and beat someone up--all at the same time!

Well, I guess that's not Springfest, is it?

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

Best stick with the free hugs.