Name: Anthony Marsh (Co-founder of Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists)
Positions Held: President 06-07; Club Advisor 07-08
About AAR
The club was founded in the Spring Quarter of the 06-07 year. When we were thinking about starting a club, we had a problem when my two co-founders and I were trying to figure out what to call our club. There was a club that preceded us called Students for Science and Skepticism and their aims were largely the same as ours, but their name was very different. I lobbied very strongly to put what we are, atheists, in the name of our club. This decision, in my view, helped shape the direction of the club. It became about creating a community. This necessarily means standing up to be counted. This necessarily means coming out of the shadows. This necessarily means being honest about what and who we are.
We had three aims at the creation of the club: to create a lobby of like-minded folks who could help to enact political change, to create a community of freethinkers and in so doing show the world we’re not untrustworthy and immoral, and to create a safe space where people could be honest about their beliefs without fear of reprisals or condemnation. The first is extremely difficult, the second is on-going, but at the very least I can say we achieved our third goal. Our members came from all parts of society, and some of them had very painful stories of discrimination. Some of them had to hide how they truly feel from their parents and close friends. For some of them, this was the first time they could be open about how they feel. I’m proud to have had a hand in that.
My two co-founders and I would have been satisfied if ten people attended meetings on a regular basis. We were shocked at how quickly the club grew and how much of a demand there was for such a community. We were also surprised at how many of our members thought they were the only ones who weren’t religious. As of this writing, our facebook page has over 200 members, and hopefully even more will learn that they are not alone.
About the Bake Sale and “Smile There Is No Hell”
The approximate date of our first bake sale would probably be about mid-April 07. The counterprotest with the Smile There is No Hell banner was discussed when I was an officer, but actually took place after I graduated. With regards to both events, however, the club always wanted all of our public events to have the same effect: draw positive attention to our cause. Thankfully, they mostly succeeded. We can’t take credit for the idea of an atheist bake sale; one of our members borrowed the idea from a secular group at another campus. But we all instantly fell in love with the idea. We knew it would draw attention, and as a new club that was a high priority for us. Beyond drawing attention, however, we had a few broader ideas we wanted to convey. First, we wanted to push freethinkers and nonbelievers to question ideas they may have unwittingly absorbed. Do we really have some essence of ourselves that is not material? Do souls really exist? Second, we wanted to push believers in how they conceptualize these ideas. If souls are really intangible, then you wouldn’t be able to trade them like commerce. Also, if there is an omnipotent god out there, he/she/it is not going to be bound by a contract you signed with us in exchange for a cookie.
“Smile, there is no hell” is a slogan that we felt truly encapsulated our club. It doesn’t shy away from what we think and feel, but its not aggressively confrontational either. It also allowed us to focus on the positive elements of our message. We are more about building a community that is self-affirming rather than criticizing and diminishing others. Relatedly, we have always been disturbed by the fundamentalist protestors that spread messages of hate on campus. We wanted to provide a corrective that also included a positive message. It was the perfect opportunity to counteract the negative slurs of hate-mongers with our own message.