CFI - On Campus: The Course of Reason


home \| about \| affiliates \| press \| forum \| activism Resources for: Students \| Faculty \| Group Leaders
Declaration of Necessity We as representatives of various student skeptical, secular humanist, atheist, agnostic, and freethought campus organizations have assembled out of concern. As members of a small but significant minority, we often have been forced to reside in a social environment caustic to our needs, interests, and convictions. Instead of diminishing, opposition to free thought is now increasing with ominous rapidity. We have witnessed a resurgence of religious fundamentalism, hand-in-hand with growing belief in mysticism, the paranormal, and the occult. We have witnessed a growing disdain for science and a flight from reason and the principles of the Enlightenment, both in popular media and in the halls of academe. We have witnessed a deplorable onslaught by religious factions upon personal liberties. We have witnessed their concomitant effort to undermine secularist ideals in government, law, and education - striving to replace science with pseudo-science, knowledge with ignorance, tolerance and pluralism with prejudice and oppression. The very core of our rational, secular, free, and democratic society has been brought under attack in our communities, on our campuses, even in our classrooms. We cannot afford to endure this development with indifference. A resolute defense of the principles of reason is necessary as never before. Organized student opposition is necessary as never before. Though the tide of unreason is rising, we have taken it upon ourselves to stand in union against it. We have resolved to confront our difficulties directly, whenever and wherever they might arise. Our task is to actively defend and fight for the rational principles and ideals we hold so dear and to demonstrate, by argument and practice, that it is possible to lead a good and meaningful life without religion. Ethics and morality can be based on rational and humanistic ideals and values. Thus, it is with great pride and enthusiasm that we convene to establish the Campus Freethought Alliance, dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of freethought, skepticism, secularism, non-theism and humanism, and to the national consolidation of campus resources for that end. It is our hope that by pressing to create campus environments more friendly toward the rational viewpoint, we might aid in ameliorating the negative condition of society at large. Given the fact that student religious organizations exist on virtually all college and university campuses (Campus Crusade for Christ, Newman Centers, Hillel, Muslim organizations and the like) -- and that corresponding freethought, secular humanist, and unbeliever groups generally do not-- we think it vitally important that freethought organizations be formed on every campus. Too many secular humanists, atheists, and skeptics face the demands of college life alone. A campus freethought organization can provide much-needed support, and when necessary, help to defend unbelievers' rights. We call upon our fellow students to establish skeptical, secular and freethinking organizations on college and university campuses across this land. We invite our fellow students to lift high the banner of rationality and to join us in this most necessary endeavor. Signed this day, 9 August 1996 Amherst, New York Derek Carl Araujo of Harvard University Chad Stephen Docterman of Marshall University Etienne Rios of State University of New York at Buffalo Alireza Aliabadi of University of Maryland at College Park Keith Justin Augustine of University of Maryland at College Park Brianna Kathleen Waters of University of Maryland at College Park John Muhrer of Webster University Selena Brewington of University of Oregon Jason Erickson of University of Minnesota Nicholas J. Rezmerski of University of Minnesota John Simons of Western Washington University Adam Butler of University of Alabama at Birmingham Jason Roylee Tippitt of University of Tennessee at Martin Vincent Bruzzese of Stony Brook University Michael S. Valle of University of Illinois at Chicago Diana Carter of University of Guelph Jason Pittman of Kalamazoo College John F. Kennedy of New Mexico State University Deidre Conn of Marshall University Jascha Jabes of Queen's University Alex Clark of Auckland University Eric Shook of University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Peter Braun of University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Carrie Fowler of State University of New York at Albany Mieriam Black of University of Colorado at Boulder Michael Kraft of University of British Columbia Scott Oser of University of Chicago Ben Domingue of Lafayette High School David Beckman of Amherst College Nathan Hartshorn of Amherst College Vagan Karayan of University of California at Los Angeles Sara E. Moodie of Brock University DJ Anderson of Newark High School Doug Semler of University of California at Irvine Daniel Smith of Pennsylvania State University Joe Lynch of University of Houston Michael Lowry of University of Texas at Austin Joel Finkelstein of Columbia University Christopher Green of Christopher Newport University Amnon Eden of Tel Aviv University Nancy Richardson of University of Puget Sound Gautam Srikanth of Carnegie Mellon University Bradley Davis of Birmingham-Southern College Stephen Ban of McGill University Anthony Walsh of University of Missouri at Kansas City Sarah Carlson of Massachusetts Institute of Technology
join \| contact \| contribute