fayfreethinkers.com

Note: Due to copyright restrictions the "Razorback Freethought Alliance" group has changed their name to "Occam's Razors."

New student group questions role of religion in society

Religion
J. Claire Wilson
Issue date: 9/12/07 Section: News

The Razorback Freethought Alliance, a new student group at the UA, plans to question the role of religion in society and promote reason, science and the freedom of inquiry in education, according to the group's Web site.

"I was raised in a very strict, fundamentalist tradition of Christianity," said Teresa Blalock, vice president of the Razorback Freethought Alliance.

"In high school, when I began to question things like whether or not everything in the Bible should be taken literally, I was told that some things should simply be believed based on faith. This wasn't a satisfactory answer for me, yet I had no other alternative," she said.

Kevin Metcalf, a law school student who has worked 18 years in law enforcement, founded the Razorback Freethought Alliance.

"Working in counter-terrorism led me to investigate the Islam culture and beliefs so that I could better understand the extremist perspective that includes acts of violence," Metcalf said.

"This led me to explore my own beliefs, and I found that they were not any better supported than any other belief system based on faith." Metcalf said he "recognized the inherent danger of basing action on faith and revealed religion."

Others on campus, including Bill Harter of the physics department, said they see the need for this group to help change the way students see the world.

Harter decided to become the faculty sponsor of this group because he "was quite concerned with the inability of current students to think clearly and critically as well as their tendency to accept primitive superstitions."

The Freethinkers, as they are called, are a unique group, Harter said, for "where else can a student escape the mind-shrink and make-believe that permeates the current society and mature into an adult?"

Educators may be to blame for this, Harter said, because "many professors welcome the dumb-down era that began 20 or 30 years ago since they no longer have to work as hard at teaching and can concentrate on their research."

The rest of the article.

DAR
Now the Traveler editorial board has chimed in. Feel free to go over and post in their comment section:

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Respect necessary for true dialogue about beliefs

The Traveler Editorial Board
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: Opinion

Diversity and acceptance are issues that have long been promoted on the UA campus, by administrators, faculty and student groups alike. There are several organizations on campus that promote awareness of different religions and encourage the UA community to learn more about their beliefs. We think these groups play a very important role in presenting a variety of views on religion and philosophical beliefs to expand the worldviews of those at the UA.

It is because of our wish to do our part in this sharing of beliefs that The Arkansas Traveler ran a Sept. 12 article on a new group on campus, the Razorback Freethought Alliance. The group -- which is now called Occam's Razors, according to a post on the Traveler's Web site by group President Kevin Metcalf - was formed to expose people to "an alternate belief pattern," according to the Sept. 12 article. Occam's Razors is a group that strives to question the role of religion in society and to promote reason, science and the freedom of inquiry in education, according it its Web site.

We believe those who question religion should have the same rights to share their thoughts and opinions as those who adhere to religious beliefs, and we were excited to know that those people would have the benefit of another campus group to help them share their beliefs. We applaud the members of the group who expressed a wish to show their fellow students that, despite their differing views on religion, atheists, agnostics and other freethinkers are no different from others in the UA community.

However, we were appalled at the way the group's faculty sponsor, Bill Harter, represented himself - and Occam's Razors -- in the article. Harter made several comments that we feel crossed the line and were just plain disrespectful to those at the UA who do practice a religion. It is a blatant insult and a virtual slap-in-the-face to those on campus who are religious to say he "was quite concerned with the inability of current students to think clearly and critically, as well as their tendency to accept primitive superstitions."

If groups like Occam's Razors truly have the goal of sharing their differing beliefs about God, religion and philosophy, a good place to start would be to respect others' opinions and beliefs. Comments like Harter's will only increase any pre-existing hostility toward groups like Occam's Razors, not allow for intelligent discussion about their beliefs.

Why would anyone want to discuss issues with a group of people who say they are unable to think clearly or critically? It is as if Harter is saying anyone who holds certain religious beliefs lacks intelligence.

Harter said about the group, "Where else can a student escape the mind-shrink and make-believe that permeates the current society and mature into an adult?"

Is Harter insinuating that everyone who follows a religion has failed to reach adulthood? We sincerely hope not, because it's hard to take someone seriously when his generalizations only illustrate a mindset of intolerance while he lobbies for the increased tolerance of his own group.

We don't think atheists and agnostics are "begrudgingly accepted as citizens," as suggested in the article. Although these groups might be underrepresented in this area of the country, commonly referred to as the "Bible Belt," that does not necessarily mean they have to be persecuted. And forming a group such as this is a perfect way to share their thoughts and beliefs with others to ensure persecution doesn't take place.

However, if the goal of Occam's Razors truly is to increase the dialogue about issues of religion as their Web site states, they need to quickly distance themselves from people with Harter's mindset. It's absolutely acceptable to have beliefs that differ from others', but it is, in our opinion, inappropriate and childish to insult those people because you do not agree with their beliefs.

This sort of behavior and speech will only serve to insure the very misunderstanding and backlash the group was formed to circumvent.

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Darrel wrote:DAR
Now the Traveler editorial board has chimed in. Feel free to go over and post in their comment section:

DOUG
I posted. You have to register and sign in, but it didn't take long.