...any club that would have me

Posted by Johnny at 11:39 p.m.

My brief research into clubs at the U of C has yielded the results I was expecting: there are 14 clubs dedicated to some form of religion, and 0 dedicated to humanism, atheism, or free thinking (or anything even remotely related). The Religion category, as listed on the Student's Union website, is as follows:

• Ahmadiyya Muslim Students Association
• Baptist Student Ministries (BSM)
• Calgary Chinese Christian Fellowship (CCCF)
• Campus Association for Baha'i Studies (CABS)
• Campus for Christ
• Catholic Community, U of C
• GNOSIS
• Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF)
• Iranian Students' Association
• Latter-day Saints Student Association
• Muslim Students' Association (MSA)
• Navigators, U of C
• Sikh Students' Association
• Victory Campus Ministeries (formerly U of C Life)

NOTE: There is a Jewish Student's club, which has been debatably been placed under the Ethnic/Cultural category. I would have included that under the Religions category, since Judaism is a religion.

NOTE: Iran is not a religion, it is a country, contrary to what the Student's Union would have you believe.

Now, if you've ever read this blog before, you can probably guess that I'm disappointed by the lack of representation in this list for those students who live without religion, such as myself. I can't be the only one on campus who believes that religion, as with every other byproduct of humanity, should not be protected from scientific, and thus logical, analysis, nor should we slow the growth of humanity and the human condition in the name of protecting archaic and irrational beliefs. If I'm the only one, then I will dedicate the inevitably shed tear to those capable of saving humanity from itself.

If club week fails to deliver this year, as it did last year, then by the time I return to classes in 2007, I promise to be ready to start a Secular Humanist club on campus. I've yet to decide on a good club name, but Free Thinkers Nonymous is near the top on my list of ideas.

During this next year, I will learn as much as I can about Humanism, drawing from the ever-reliable Free Inquiry, Paul Kurtz, Richard Dawkins, and anything else I can find. I will also need ideas for activities that can be carried out by the club; there are only so many pro-choice counter-protests you can do before the campus eye loses interest.

I doubt that I'm the right person to start this club, since my knowledge of Humanism only slightly outweighs my knowledge of religion. But if I know more about Christianity than a lot of the Christians I know (thanks to Reid), then my knowledge of Humanism can't be that bad. I guess if this club fails to take off, I can always start a progressive music appreciation club.