The ’13-’14  leadership for SAIU has been selected! After the President, Secretary, and Treasurer were elected by popular vote on April 7th, they  selected three individuals to carry out a semester term as small group leaders. All new officers will be sworn in at the end of year potluck on Sunday, April 21st. If you would like to read more about what each of these people will be responsible for, you can read information here. Additionally, there are four appointed positions which SAIU’s current president, Jessika Griffin, selected with recommendations from SAIU at large.

President

Orion Day studies both the natural and social sciences, and he will be leading the SAIU in further outreach and advocacy for secular issues.

Secretary

JT Stewart studies psychology and sociology at IU, he enjoys music, art, and analyzing everything.

Treasurer

Katie Russell studies human development and family studies at IU, she is very interested in sexual health and reproductive rights.

My final official day as SAIU President is April 21st, at which time we will swear in all the new officers at our end of year potluck. I wanted to go over all the wonderful things SAIU has accomplished this year and thank all of you for a wonderful year!

May ’12 – July ’12

We kept the group alive throughout the summer with regular discussions and movie viewings. Check our events calendar in mid-May for updates on the summer activities for 2013. Summer activities draw a smaller group of people, and are great for those of you who don’t have much time to participate during the school year.

In June, myself and Orion, Outreach Director, travelled to the Center for Inquiry Student Leadership Conference in Amherst, NY. We picked up Alishba Zarmeen on the way, founder and President of Earlham Humanists. SAIU was also awarded Best Online Outreach for 2011. Read more »

This post is a member’s response to a current event. The opinions expressed in this piece are not necessarily those of the SAIU.

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My previous post on the Sam Harris / Glenn Greenwald clusterfuffle was mostly procedural. I restricted myself to assessing the authenticity of Murtaza Hussain’s citations, barely touching on the deeper issues of substance he and Greenwald raised. But now that we’re on the topic, this is a great opportunity to pierce through the rhetoric and try to get a bit more lucid and careful about what’s actually being disputed.

My biggest concern with the criticisms of Harris is that they freely shift between a number of different accusations, often as though they were equivalent. At the moment, the most salient seem to be:

A. He’s a racist, and has a racially motivated hatred of Muslims.

B. He has an intensely irrational fear and hatred of Muslims.

C. He has an intensely irrational fear and hatred of Islam.

D. His concerns about Islam are exaggerated.

E. He doesn’t appreciate just how harmful and dangerous the United States is.

F. He advocates militarism and condones violence in general.

I’d like to start disentangling these claims, in the hopes of encouraging actual discussions — and not just shouting matches — about them. Although I’ll use Harris and his recent detractors as a revealing test case, the conclusions here will have immediate relevance to any discussion in which people strongly disagree about the nature and geopolitical significance of Islamic extremism.

Read more »

This post is a member’s response to a current event. The opinions expressed in this piece are not necessarily those of the SAIU.

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I know of no living public intellectual whose views get caricatured and misrepresented quite as routinely as do Sam Harris‘.

What’s disheartening isn’t that people disagree with Harris. It’s that they haven’t taken the time to understand what’s there to disagree with! I don’t know whether Harris is right or wrong regarding a lot of the positions he defends. But I do know that whether he’s right or wrong is of profound importance — that these are topics that strike at the heart of our political and ethical principles. So it is endlessly disappointing when other public figures simply fail to engage with any views or assertions even in the vicinity of Harris’.

A case in point: Yesterday, Glenn Greenwald retweeted an Al Jazeera article by Murtaza Hussain, “Scientific racism, militarism, and the new atheists“. The article argues for a strong continuity between the pseudoscientific racism of many historical thinkers, and the contemporary criticisms of Islam by “new atheists” like Harris.

Although I’m unfamiliar with Hussain’s other work, my past experience with both Greenwald and Al Jazeera has generally been very positive. So I was stunned to find the article in question packed with misinformation and outright libel. A relatively careful and sensitive attempt to defend a thesis like Hussain’s might appeal to psychological studies and sociological models indicating that our fear of the Other can sometimes unconsciously skew our priorities, potentially causing anyone — even an avowed anti-racist like Harris — to misunderstand the causes for his own concerns. But this sort of armchair psychoanalysis is not Hussain’s approach. Instead, he simply misstates Harris’ actual, on-the-record views, making him out to be an overt supporter of racism, fascism, and genocide.

Harris confronted Greenwald, pointing out that the article was simply not accurate. And Greenwald… stuck by the article.

Read more »

Over the course of this school year we have raised $561 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! We collected $295 through our Send an Atheist to Church fundraiser, online donations, and selling paper balloons to decorate our office door. Through the Flying Spaghetti Monster Feast we collected $266.

Thank you to everyone who participated in these events in any way!

Nominations are happening on Sunday, March 31st and elections are Sunday, April 7th. There are three elected positions (President, Secretary, Treasurer) and three positions filled by application (Director of Outreach, Director of Community, Director of Reflection, tentative names). The applications will be available on March 30th and are due Sunday, April 7th and the new executive board will review them and have interviews. Read the descriptions here, as well these answers to questions you may have:

Q: What if I’m interested in the secular movement, but haven’t really been involved with SAIU?

A: As long as you are a member (meaning you have attended at least one event this year) you can run or apply

Q: What if I’m not sure if I’m qualified?

A: Just apply to a position anyway and the executive officers will make that decision

Q: I’m afraid I won’t get elected or selected

A: Don’t be afraid! Even if you don’t get elected or selected for a position, there is still plenty of leadership opportunities that pop up throughout the year. Your attempts at leadership later will look better if you try this time too.

Q: What if I’m a 35-year-old, non-traditional student

A: You can still run for election or apply for a position

Q: I don’t know if I’ll have enough time for the job

A: Go ahead and apply for a position and then note that you would like to talk with a current officer about time commitments. It does take time and a commitment to be a good officer but just because you think you might be busy doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for you.

Executive Officer Duties and Expectations

Executive officer positions have a term of one year, from May to May.

President: The president is responsible for checking in on all other officers to ensure they are completing their work. The president should communicate with potential speakers and arrange speaking events throughout the year.The president covers any duties not covered by current officers.

Secretary: The secretary does the obvious task of taking notes at meetings, but also manages the Freethought library and keeps track of attendance at meetings and membership statuses. The secretary should also check the mail box regularly and reserve rooms for events.

Treasurer: The treasurer makes sure we don’t go broke, comes up with fundraising plans, and approves or denies small group requests for money. The treasurer should also apply for grants from the SSA, CFI, IUSA, and other organizations.

Small Groups and Small Group Directors

Small group directors serve single semester terms. From May to December and from December to May. To apply for a position see this application page.

Reflection Small Group
Goals: The goal of this group is to foster self-reflection and further understanding of important philosophical ideas. The group is to provide approachable education and discussion to the members at large

Small Group Activities

• Regular discussion meetings to satisfy members intellectual curiosity
• Coordinate with other student organizations with interest similar to discussion topics

Activities with SAIU at-large

• Bring relevant ideas from the scientific world to the group by highlighting recent journal articles and news events within the allotted time

Outreach/Activism Small Group
Goals: The goal of this group is to inform the greater IU and Bloomington community about secular issues and humanist values, and to provide opportunities for members to engage in community activities within the scope of SAIU

Small Group Activities

• Organizing and attending service events
• Contact legislators about secular issues and bills
• Organizing secularism panels to speak in classes

Activities with SAIU at-large

• Scheduling and coordinating weekly tabling events around ideas brought forth from all the groups, and recruiting regular tablers for weekly tabling
• Providing action alerts to members for important and timely issues, looking to Americans United, CFI Office of Public Policy, Secular Coalition for America, and other secular organizations for guidance

Community/Social Small Group
Goals: The goal of this group is to focus on the emotional support and wellbeing of members through social activities and by fostering a caring and understanding culture toward secular students on campus.

Small Group Activities

• Plan social activities such as coffee hours, bowling, game nights, ladies nights, scavenger hunts, and celebrations
• Organize and facilitate secular support groups, which are regular meetings for members to share personal stories in a judgement-free zone.

Activities with SAIU at-large

• Participate in Ask an Atheist tabling events
• Greet and welcome new members after they have attended a weekly meeting, and ask them about their expectations and experiences
• Introduce new members to the leaders and structure of the group at large

Expectations of all small group directors

• Have something to present at the weekly meetings of the members at large (Sunday evening meetings)
• Assign roles within the small group as they see fit
• Schedule and direct weekly meeting of group
• Keep the group at large informed of area events, lectures, and presentations relevant to group interests
• Keep the group at large informed of issues relevant to the groups; including political, social, scientific, educational, local, community (without endorsing specific parties or candidates)
• Coordinating with members of both SAIU small groups, IU student organizations, and other non-IU organizations with similar goals on projects

Summertime is a great time in the secular world. It is a time when students are actually able to go to awesome conferences! There are many secular and freethought conferences during the year, but due to our large student base I want to focus on the ones that take place in summer. Here’s a list of conferences, dates, descriptions, and links! If you want to register or have registered for any, post to the secular discussion facebook group to coordinate carpooling efforts with others from SAIU attending!

Secular Student Alliance Annual Conference | June 21-23 & July 12-14 | secularstudents.org

SAIU is an affiliate of the Secular Student Alliance (SSA). Some SAIU officers will certainly be going to the SSA conference to build leadership skills, but anyone from the group is welcome to join. As a group we will attend the conference in Columbus, OH. It is a great opportunity to hear awesome speakers, connect with other student organizations from around the country, and generally have a good time.

Center for Inquiry Student Leadership Conference | July 25-28 | link coming soon

SAIU has sent delegates to this conference for a few years now, it is a great way to get some leadership skills and ideas for the group, and hang out with many secular students from all over. SAIU is an affiliate of Center for Inquiry on Campus. At least two SAIU officers will attend but other members are welcome to come with us! The conference takes place in Amherst, NY. You can read about our time there in 2012 and 2011 on the blog.

Women in Secularism | May 17-19 | womeninsecularism.org

This conference takes place in Washington, DC. This conference will discuss and celebrate the many contributions women have made to the secular movement, while critically examining both the successes and failures of secularism in addressing women’s concerns.

The Amazing Meeting | July 11-14 | randi.org

This conference is held in Las Vegas, NV and is focused on scientific skepticism. It’s full of lectures and workshops and is attended by a lot of amazing people. TAM is organized by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) and is now in its 11th year.

Elections are coming up! Nominations will be Sunday, March 31st and Elections will be Sunday, April 7th.

I understand that not everyone is available to come to Sunday meetings so if you are interested in a position but have a legitimate reason you cannot make it just email secular[at]indiana.edu and we’ll work something out.

This year we’re doing it a little bit differently. The elected positions are President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Three other positions will be available based on an application. We do not have official names for them yet but basically they’re positions as small group leaders, those groups being based on interest and need. We will be modifying the constitution and bylaws to reflect these changes but for the purposes of knowing what your options are to run for or apply to here is some rough, and unofficial, information about each position. Read more »

As you may recall, SAIU put out a survey to learn more about what members want and to get feedback on a proposed structure change. Hopefully you took the survey! Here I will show the results, and also address some of the questions and comments from the survey. 50 people took the survey.

Question 1: If you do not attend meetings regularly, why not?

[Some missing percentages because regular attendees did not answer, and there was an "other" comment box option]

43% are not available at the meeting times (Sundays at 7 and Thursdays at 7), 21% are not interested in the types of meetings (currently our regular meetings fall into “discussion” or “social”), 12% do not feel comfortable and welcomed at meetings (some explaining further that they felt men talked over women), 12% do not know the time/location of the meetings, some of whom just found out about SAIU this week.

Some of the “other” responses were:

I’m Lazy

I do not feel well acquainted enough with members

I am too busy

I do not feel welcomed at meetings

The people who do not feel welcome at meetings also noted that they have not been in a long time (around a year!). To that I say : Student organizations change leadership (and a large portion of membership) yearly and I encourage you to attend another meeting and see what has changed. Additionally, if people do not express in person that they are uncomfortable then no one knows. Thankfully people have brought this up at meetings and we were able to correct actions. If no one knows someone is uncomfortable, then we can’t do anything about it.

For those who are too lazy, well there’s nothing I can do for you, same goes for if you are too busy. I encourage you to come to our tabling and speaker events which happen less often than our weekly meetings. You also do not need to come to evrey meeting, showing up once a month or so is totally fine!  Read more »

On February 1, Christian apologist William Lane Craig and philosopher of science Alex Rosenberg debated the relationship between theology and ethics, cosmology, metaphysics, and a range of other topics at Purdue University. And, good golly, they covered a lot. In the interest of deepening this already-broad conversation, I’ll assess the merits of a smattering of their assertions, both scientific and philosophical.

But I’m not going to weigh in on who won. Because I do agree with a fundamental point raised by Rosenberg, not about the debate’s topic but about formal debate itself:

“Philosophy and theology don’t proceed by courtroom-style debate. We’re engaged in a cooperative search for the truth, both theists and atheists, not an adversarial contest for victory. [...]

“But that’s the problem with this kind of a debate, and this kind of a format. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because what I’d like to be able to do is ask William Lane Craig a question, and listen to his answer, and formulate a reply, and listen to his answer. And then give a view, and listen to his question. Which is the way in which philosophical dialogue proceeds, and which enables us at least to find out where the crucial issues are between us, and how we could mutually agree to adjudicate these matters.“

Rosenberg’s request is simple. He wants to talk to Craig. He wants a real-time back-and-forth, a friendly and open exchange of ideas rather than a stiff gladiatorial combat. If there is a battle of any significance here, it is between all of us and the forces of ignorance and error. Inasmuch as the debate was enlightening, both debaters won; inasmuch as it is was muddled or superficial, both debaters lost. As did we all.

But that battle continues. Just because the debate is presented as highbrow sumo wrestling doesn’t mean we can’t exploit it to open up a richer dialogue. I encourage you to join the discussion, and let me know which of my points you agree or disagree with!

Read more »