Close-Up With Atheist, Agnostic, & Free Thinkers Club Carlos Rosales

ESF student Carlos Rosales sat down with James Johnson, the vice-president and co-founder of the Atheists, Agnostics, and Free-Thinkers Club, for a personal interview. Here, Johnson details the many ups and downs the club has gone through as it tried to get itself instituted in the Syracuse University system, as well as the philosophy behind wanting t0 create an atheist club on campus.

Carlos: Why did you decide to create a club for Atheists, Agnostics, and Free Thinkers on campus?

James: Atheists are considered the least trusted type of people because of all the past labels that have been placed upon us. Like, when some people think about “atheists,” they think that we sacrifice babies or something. The fact of the matter is that all of the negative connotations that we are given are not true. We are just free thinkers, and one of our goals is to try to get rid of such labels because we can do good things.

Carlos: How did you begin everything?

James: I wanted to give back to the university community in some way and give involved in either a political or religious club, but couldn’t find one. So, I went on Facebook and saw that there was a Syracuse University Atheist group, which was created by the other co-founder; James Addoms. I asked him if he was interested in creating an atheist club on campus, and he was down with it. After that, he wrote the constitution and we went through a rough application process to create the club.

Carlos: What were some of the difficulties that you went through as you tried to create this club at Syracuse University?

James: Well, when we first got started Hendricks Chapel turned us down because the group we wanted to create fell under “non-religious” groups. So, the only other choice was to go under as a political group and make the assumption that we have a governmental goal like activist for separation of church and state. It was a difficult process because our club has a distinct school of thought from most clubs and was difficult to place under a category. Which is a part of the process.

Carlos: What did you think about the vandalism that some people do to your posters?

James: Well, it’s a sad thing that people have to resolve to that. But, if they think that tearing down the flyer will stop or slow us down then they have got another thing coming. I’ve dealt with it before, and when it happens it furthers our cause more than anything  because we try to stand up against irrational behaviors like that. Rather, I would invite them to come to a meeting. We have something to offer both non-religious and religious people alike. Most beliefs are strengthened by debate, and if you think you are right about your belief than it’ll make it through the debate.

Carlos: What are your meeting times and futures goals/plans?

James: We still haven’t set down times yet, but whoever is interested can check out the Syracuse University Atheist group on Facebook for further information. As far as goals go, we plant to host debates with other clubs and with professors of theology and philosophy. Also, we want to bring speakers like Richard Dawkins, author of “The Selfish Gene,” as well as advocate for separation of church and state and increase science in literacy.