What The Secular Student Alliance Offers Students

Ever wonder what the Secular Student Alliance is doing to help? Listen to Richard Dawkins, SSA affiliate leaders, and staff explain what the national organization is doing to help students and why you should get involved!

Special thanks to:
Richard Dawkins
Brian Dalton (Mr. Deity)
Patrick Liddell (Background Music)
and all of our incredible student leaders!

• Category

  Nonprofits & Activism

[butchkitties]

If I lived in a country where people tried to force public schools to open each day with a recognition of the majesty of unicorns, or put In Unicorns We Trust on our currency, banned the sale of alcohol on Wednesdays because that's the day we're supposed to spend honoring unicorns, or made it impossible for people who don't believe in unicorns to be elected to public office, etc... I'd be in a "I don't believe in unicorns" advocacy group, too.

[endthedisease]

After I finish my taxes this year if I see that I've made more than last year I'll donate $100 to them.

[Andrew Moore]

I have to do some serious praying for you.

[butchkitties]

Throw in the fact that infinite punishment is infinitely unjust, and I see no reason to worship the Christian god. Any deity that would send even a single soul to eternal torture is not only a god that's wholly unworthy of worship, but it's a god too evil to trust any promises he makes about salvation. If he exists, he'll probably throw you in the lake right next to me just to giggle at the surprise on your face.

[butchkitties]

And Pascal's Wager only works if you ignore all of the world's religion. What if the Muslims are right? What if the Hindus are right, and being Christians means you'll be reborn as a worm? What if the one true god is Thor, and he's going to thump you with his hammer for all eternity because you never sacrificed any goats to him?

I'm willing to "take my chances" on the lake of fire for the same reason you're willing to take your chances on Thor's hammer.

[butchkitties]

NDEs can be replicated by injecting people with the right drugs. Christians see hell. Hindus see Yamraj. What you see is molded by what you were predisposed to believe. They're not proof of an afterlife. They're proof that people undergoing the same type of organ failure (in this case, the brain) have similar symptoms. Which kinda falls under the category of: "Duh, what did you expect?"

I expect my death to be like before I was born: I don't exist.

[Andrew Moore]

Let me ask you something. If you were to die what do you think would happen? You really should read other people's testimony of their near death experiences, some have experienced hell and said it was so horrible it changed their lives forever. Hell is real and unless you accept Christ you will go there. I would much rather take my chances believing in God who will save me from an eternity of burning in extremely hot fire.

[butchkitties]

How can you be sure there isn't an invisible, intangible elephant in the trunk of your car? There's no reason to think there is one, but you can't definitively prove there isn't. Burden of proof is on the one making the positive claim. Until there's evidence for a god (and your inability to cope with stressful situations without believing in a god is not evidence) I will stick to the null hypothesis.

[Andrew Moore]

That's really sad. Some people don't have anyone to rely on. Say you're trapped in a large dark cavern all alone and nobody knows where you are and there is NO way out. What if you're oncologist cannot cure you're cancer? I would find peace in God, and know that even if I die He would still save me from being doomed to hell. How sure are you that neither Heaven nor Hell exists?

[butchkitties]

Depends on the situation. Cancer? I'd appeal to an oncologist. Foxhole? I'd appeal to my fellow soldiers. Maybe I'll even rely on myself alone. The key being that I would appeal to someone who actually exists.

[Andrew Moore]

God is not a fairy tale, He is real. When you are in a desperate situation where it seems like all hope is lost what else do you turn to?

[Kevin Bergey]

People like me, yay!