davisagasa

Thank you to everyone who was a part of AgASA's Winter 2009 quarter.
The Atheism Series went well and we got to know certain members and topics better. The series went as follows:

- January 21st: Atheism in Religion - Mohammad gave a presentation about the history and mentality of Islam.
- January 28th: Atheism in Film, Music & Art - Shiva gave a presentation on anti-theistic sentiment in metal music.
- February 4th: Atheism in Literature - Cat gave a presentation on literature.
- February 11th: Atheism in Philosophy - Arash gave a presentation on the most common philosophical arguments behind theism, weak atheism, and strong atheism with respect to burden of proof.
- February 18th: Atheism in Mental Health - Jenny presented a comparative look at the happiness of atheists vs. theists where a long discussion ensued about each group's approach toward death.
- February 25th: Atheism in Global Culture - Sam presented on atheism in different areas of the world, namely Europe, Africa and Asia.
- March 4th: Atheism in Charity - Shiva led a discussion on charity and its merit (or lack thereof) as an accompaniment to an ideology.
- March 11th: Atheism in War - Faculty adviser Aaron Sikes presented on his experience as an atheist in the military and compared the mentality of theist and atheist soldiers.

AgASA will work on compiling these presentations into a library so that they may be referred to any time.

AgASA

2/18/09

Atheism in Mental Health by Jenny Bernstein

-        Can atheists have better mental health than religious people?

-        Can belief in God be a mental disorder?

-        Do atheists or theists recover better/more readily from life’s challenges?

-        How do atheists deal with life’s biggest challenge: death?

-        How do the religiosity and end-of-life attitudes of doctors affect their patients?

-        Jenny and the audience commenced in a discussion about the possible distinction between mind, body, and soul.

 

"Because our logo isn't offensive enough!"

The award for this is a $30 gift certificate to Borders, and a free AgASA t-shirt with your logo on it.

Whoever can design a logo which we decide to actually use on t-shirts, our banner, our a-frame, website, and maybe even fliers, will be the winner.

Try to keep the logo somewhat simple, not directed at a specific religious group, and not too offensive (unless its really funny). Also, try to avoid generalizing atheists by using, for example, an atom or a Darwin fish.


It's really hard to come up with a logo to define all atheists, so you might want to just think about AgASA at UC Davis when coming up with ideas. It's also hard to not try and use a whole bunch of words, but simple, easy-to-draw pictures make the best logos.

Some ideas: writing AgASA in an eye-catching way, a really cool letter A...

The coolest logo won't necessarily win if we, for any reason, decide it wouldn't be in our best interest to use it. Keep in mind what AgASA is all about!

Post your logos on the facebook event page in the photos section: www.facebook.com/event.php

The deadline is Friday, March 13th. Yes, I picked Friday the 13th on purpose (for good luck, of course)

Don't be shy about posting your ideas, the more we have to pick from, the better!

AgASA

2/11/09

-        Cat made announcements:

o       Michael Cui’s condition and our need to write him a card

o       Darwin Day tomorrow

o       IV. vs. AgASA next Saturday (21^st)

o       We have a blog for AGASA

o       Contest: logo contest, upload images on Facebook event. $30 gift card for Borders

 

Arash Presented on Atheism in Philosophy:

-        Preliminary defitinitions:

o       God

o       Theism

o       Atheism

§         Weak

§         Strong

-        Talked about burden of proof

-        Arguments for why God exists:

o       Ontological argument

o       Cosmological argument

-        Arguments for why God does not exist:

o       Argument from Sin

o       Argument from Incompatibility of Divine Attribute

 

                                                                         Drawing on the board!

 

                                                

                                         Classic AgASA Discussion!

Good afternoon AgASA-ites!

We are having our long-awaited presentation on "Atheism in Philosophy" by "senior member" Arash Khosrowshahi, who will introduce different arguments for and against theism and will reduce them down to rubble.

Please feel free to get comfy, bring your pajamas, popcorn and some snacks, as the presentation promises to be in-depth as well as entertaining and maybe a little long...

We meet in 118 Olson at 6pm.

See you all then,

--
~Catalina Chao~
President, AgASA 2008-2009

"It will yet be the proud boast of women that they never contributed a line to the bible." –George W. Foote

Thanks everyone for making the potluck so much fun!

There was LOTS of food,



some Donkey Kong,



silly hats,



silly people,



some arts and crafts,
and of course some monkeying around...




I know we didn't actually get anything painted or come up with a logo, but we still had a lot of fun!

This is the second Atheist and Agnostic Student Association/InterVarsity Christian Fellowship mixer in the history of AgASA/IV mixers! You don't want to miss out on this one! We're playing kickball at Walnut Park and then heading to Woodstock's for delicious pizza. For those of you who aren't sure how to play kickball, here is the wikipedia page with the rules:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kickball
It's basically just baseball, except instead of hitting a baseball with a bat you kick a pogo ball with your foot.

This is going to be really fun, so don't miss out!

Day: Saturday, February 2st
Time: 3pm
Place: Walnut Park
You can RSVP at the event page on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=63510479344


Walnut Park is the giant open field on Lillard Dr.
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=38.541083,-121.719375&spn=0.013729,0.034547&z=15
If you need directions or need to plan a ride, email me at jlbernst@ucdavis.edu

AgASA

1/28/09

 

·        Shiva presented on Atheists in the Media, Film, Art, and Music

·        She then presented extensively on Atheists in Metal

·        Music has been an integral part of religion for as long as religion has been around

o       Music is thought to be very inspiring and uplifting

·        Some types of Metal:

o       Black

o       Death

o       Pagan

·        Metal originated in Norway, but has other regional developments

·        Pagan Metal:

o       Less intense

o       Promotes pride in one’s heritage and ancestry

·        Metal has two main themes:

o       Exposing hypocrisy in institutions (particularly, religion)

o       Returning land and ways of life to the natives of that land.

·        Shiva then responded to questions and comments from the audience

Shiva's follow up:

Hey guys,

During and after my presentation last week on music I had some requests to follow up on certain things...

First, you seemed to want to hear a sample of Skyforger to hear the bagpipe. Here's a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M45QTtJZ8Fk&feature=related
The audio quality is a bit poor, so give them a break if something sounds awful. Skyforger is from Latvia, by the way.

Here's another popular band with an overload of traditional sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ise7oUz3LYk

Here's another band you might find interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej690uaBwUA
Tyr, from the Faroe Islands.

Also, I mentioned Iranian metal, and I had a couple of requests to give some examples of that. Here are some links to music from Iranian metal bands in (and maybe outside) of Iran:

www.myspace.com/arasband
www.myspace.com/kahtmayan
www.myspace.com/mordab
www.myspace.com/sorginnkal

AgASA   2/4/09

-        Cat presented about “Atheists in Literature”

-        First slideshow was a catalogue of famous atheist authors

o       Joseph Conrad

o       Oscar Wilde

o       George Orwell

-        Some categories of atheist literature:

o       Classical dysopian novel

o       Religious satire/commentary novel

o       Humanist novel

o       Some examples:

§         Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzche

§         His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

§         The Crucible, Arthur Miller

Representation of Atheism, Humanism, and Anti-theism in literature

-        Moby Dick: The whale, Moby Dick, is a representation of God

o       The will of Moby Dick cannot be defeated, only accommodated or avoided

o       Moby Dick cannot be physically or scientifically described

o       God-like characteristics of Moby Dick:

§         Impersonal force

§         White (color connotations reversed: white now represents evil)

§         Hogs n’ Gods. Hogs = people?

-        Huckleberry Finn contains religious satire

o       Uses ironic situations to illustrate absurdities such as:

§         Superstition and folk beliefs

§         Hypocrisy of slave-owners

·         Right vs. wrong

o       Huck relies on his sensory experiences of the world, his own logic and developed conscience to sort out right vs. wrong. This is a contrast to blind following of Biblical guidelines.

-        2001: A Space Odyssey

o       This is a humanist novel

o       Evolution is not “the end” but merely a stepd in a thousand directions of possible beginnings.

 

Some conclusions:

-        Not enough female atheist novelists.

-        Portrayals of atheism sometimes depend on anti-theism (or inversions/reflections of Christianity)

-        People interpret their marbles and made parallels to themselves as atheists as part of an exercise to compliment Cat’s presentation.





 

AgASA

1/21/2009

·         Mohammad presented on Atheists in Religion. The presentation focused on Islam and how ridiculous it is

·         Fundamentals of Islam

o       What does Allah mean?

o       Allah does not grant his followers a will. Allah does not have human characteristics.

·         Differences and similarities between Sunni and Shi'ite muslims

o       Sunnis think the successor of Mohammed should be chosen by the people

o       The Shi’a think Mohammed’s successor will come on his own.

o       Both think that the Quran is not to be questioned

o       There is long-brewed hatred between the Sunnis and Shi’a.

·         Sufi is the third most popular Islamic denomination, next to Sunni and Shi’ite.

o       Currently, there are approximately 37 different denominations of Islam

·         One may enter the Islamic faith, but one cannot leave without being killed or persecuted

·         Mohammed created Islam in order to unite the Arabs of the Middle East. He wanted the fighting and bickering to stop

·         The Quran:

o       Book used by Muslims

o       Very brutul and passionate idealogies.

o       The book is very controversial and hard to interpret clearly

o       What is the relationship between orphans and polygamy? Mohammed himself was an orphan

o       Quran says that when one gains power, it is permissible to hold that power and even increase it by any means necessary, even though that may hurt innocent people

 

·         Old Ages of Islam

o       Ali Rashidun

o       Abbasid Ummayad

·         New Ages of Islam

o       Ottoman Empire

o       Safarid Empire

o       Mughul Empire

·         A secondary reason (aside from the Surge) why Muslims hate Jews is due to the influence of the hatred of Jews by the Christians.

·         After his presentation, Mohammed answered questions.

In time for Winter Quarter of 2009 AgASA would like to present its Atheism Series.

The Atheism Series will explore the place of atheism and agnosticism in various facets of life through very short, informational lectures, long interactive discussions, and member presentations.
The topic of each week's discussion will be announced ahead of time to prepare attendees for gathering any type of info they are interested in sharing or discussing with the group about the subject.
Attendees are welcome to give presentations about any of the topics they relate to or find interesting. If you are interested in giving a presentation, contact any of the officers with the topic of your presentation and you will be scheduled in.

The Atheism Series kicks off with the topic Atheism in Religion on Wednesday, January 21st.
AgASA member Mohammad AlKhamis will give a presentation about Islam.

The Atheism Series will go as follows:

Wednesday, January 21st: Atheism in Religion
Wednesday, January 28th: Atheism in Film, Music & Art
Wednesday, February 4th: Atheism in Literature
Wednesday, February 11th: Atheism in Charity
Wednesday, February 18th: Atheism in Global Culture
Wednesday, February 25th: Atheism in Law
Wednesday, March 4th: Atheism in Philosophy
Wednesday, March 11th: Atheism in War

AgASA Minutes

1/14/2009

·         Cat introduced all of the officers

·         We then engaged in an icebreaker game

·         After the icebreaker, Cat brought up the case of MI-issued stickers in bio books that claim evolution is nothing than a theory. Although it is readily obvious evolution is a theory (a well-supported one), the aim of the sticker fiasco is to trivialize the authority of the theory of evolution.

·         Should Barack Obama endorse the Boy Scouts and become honorary President of the club?

o       What is the deal with the Boy Scouts?

o       One needs to be religiously affiliated in order to join, but does not necessarily need to have Christian faith

o       Why shouldn’t Barack Obama endorse them?

§         Some consensus from the club: Boy Scouts are a government-funded organization, and one of their goals is to promote religion. Furthermore, the Boy Scouts do not allow homosexuals into the club. This seems like a clear case of the violation between the church and state, not to mention a case of discrimination.

o       Is this something we should even care about? Are there more important issues we should be concerned with, both politically and religiously?

Come watch South Park with us to de-stress before finals! Same room and time, Olson 206 at 6pm

 

November 15, 2008: Saturday 10:06pm

GODLESS is over, but the night lives on in our hearts and minds...

There are a few thank you's in order --

** Thank you to all the officers who poured all their effort and as much of their time possible into making "Godless" arguably AgASA's greatest success.

** Thank you to our adviser, Aaron Sikes, whose presence provided us reassurance every step of the way.

** Thank you to everyone who came to setup early and for everyone who did their share in helping the event move smoothly.

** Thank you to anyone who made donations toward secularism and healthy debates about a rather "taboo" topic.

** Thank you also to Dan Barker, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the Secular Students Alliance for bringing this dynamic story to UC Davis and getting us atheists and agnostics all ignited--and for perhaps getting all the religious groups on campus all riled up. Now at least we know that they know we exist!

** Finally, thank you to all the members who filled up virtually 400-500 seats! Last night was a very proud and defining moment in AgASA's history and it would not have been possible without all of you.

From the bottom of my (reasonable) heart,
I remain -- your very proud president -- Cat
~In solidarity~

'Godless' author, former preacher attracts large audience
Dan Barker, prominent atheist and ex-preacher, tells UC Davis his story
Written by PATRICK McCARTNEY
Published November 17, 2008

Dan Barker, a former preacher who has become an outspoken atheist, told his story to over 300 members of the campus community on Friday night.

Barker, the author of the recently-published Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists, spent most of his two-hour talk explaining how genuine his religious feelings and convictions were - and how they became undone by the time he was 34.

"Religion at its core is divisive; religion creates an in crowd and out crowd; the chosen versus the damned," said Barker, 59, during the opening of his discussion. "Getting rid of religion won't solve all our problems, but it'll be one less reason to fight among ourselves."

Barker became a born-again Christian during high school and delivered his first sermon when he was 15. He said he felt a calling into ministry and majored in religion at Azusa Pacific University.

Barker said he could feel God talk to him and exuded his enthusiasm for Jesus wherever he went.

"I was busy with ministry all the time because Jesus was coming soon," Barker said. "We wouldn't just pray in a restaurant - we'd invite the whole restaurant to pray."
Since he became an atheist, Barker said some critics contend he could not have been a true Christian - a claim he rejects.

"I had asked Jesus to come into my heart and I became born again. I used to preach that you're saved by faith. I also had the faith and feelings," he said. "It just felt wonderful, it just felt great."

In addition to serving as an associate pastor at three different churches, Barker traveled the country preaching the gospel and performing Christian music. He still receives royalties for two Christian musicals he wrote in 1977 and 1978: "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "His Fleece Was White as Snow."

Barker said fundamentalist Christians like to first jump to the supernatural to reach their conclusions, and he was no exception.

In one instance, Barker said he believed God was directing him where to drive and he ended up at a dead-end next to a field. After waiting for a few minutes, Barker said he "heard" God thank him for passing a test of patience.

"I felt victorious; I obeyed God," Barker said. "These things happen a lot [with fundamentalist Christians]."

Barker now believes there is a scientific explanation as to why some people have more genuine-feeling religious experiences than others.

"I think it's possible that some of us have a susceptibility to mysticism; some of us feel it more, most of us fall somewhere in the middle," he said.

But as he grew older, Barker said some of these feelings began to fade. He said his ministry started to change because he started meeting "different flavors of Christians" and Jesus "still hadn't come again."

"I went through a process where I started preaching more love and less hell. Jesus kept not returning and eventually I moved over [to the more liberal side of Christianity] as I met different varieties of Christians," he said.

"I realized that there is no one Christianity," he said. "Each one can prove to themselves that they are the right one."

By the time he reached his early thirties, Barker said he became troubled by biblical inconsistencies and by the fact that what he perceived to be small issues of faith - such as whether Adam and Eve were historical - were tearing apart congregations.

"Paul said God is not the author of confusion, but can you think of a book that's caused more confusion than the Bible?" Barker said. "I realized that the human race has a propensity to believe things that are patently false. What makes me exempt?"

Finally, after a long struggle with his doubts and a period of keeping his disbelief secret, in 1984 Barker wrote a one-page letter to friends and family telling them that he had become an atheist.

"I didn't hate Jesus. I fell in love with reason," Barker said. "When you realize life is precious, it has more value. I would rather accept this fact, as scary as it might be, than lie about it."

Barker is now co-president of the Freedom from Religion Society and co-host of Freethought Radio, an atheist radio program broadcasted on Air America.
Barker praised the UC Davis Atheists and Agnostic Student Association, the sponsor of his talk, and argued that the rising popularity of such student groups is indicative of a national trend.

"The fastest-growing religious identification in the U.S.A. is 'non-religious.' More and more people are coming to secular thinking on their own," he said.
But not everyone is becoming secular, as evidenced by the presence of a contingent of Christians at Barker's talk.

A first-year UC Davis Intervarsity Christian Fellowship student, who wished to remain unidentified, said Barker challenged his negative view of atheists. However, Barker was not about to change the student's mind.

"I think Barker can believe what he wants, but no matter what he says, I'm going to believe," the student said. "I have a strong passion for God."
 
PATRICK McCARTNEY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.



Seats are filling up fast!


Making sure to pick the most challenging questions


Signing Matt's Book


Why get one book when you can get two?!


Dan Barker and Cat, Agnostic and Atheist Student Association's Amazing President for 2008-2009!


Great Succes! Yay AgASA!

Well-known Atheist author to speak on campus
Written by ERICA LEE
Published November 14, 2008

The UC Davis Agnostic and Atheist Student Association (AgASA) will host well-known atheist activist and speaker Dan Barker at 6 p.m. today in 123 Science Lecture.

A former evangelical preacher of 19 years, Barker will discuss his recent book Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists. His lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer session with audience members as well as a book-signing.

Barker's presentation will mark AgASA's first large scale event of the year, said Shiva Kasravi, the group's evens coordinator.

"Dan Barker is a really big name in the atheist and agnostic community, so we are very excited to welcome him to campus," she said. "This will be the first time that AgASA has hosted an event in such a large setting, so it is a big deal for us."

AgASA president Catalina Chao said she thinks Barker's background will bring a new dynamic to his appearance.

"Barker is an example of someone who didn't come from an atheist background, but rather came to that conclusion through his own experience and reasoning," she said. "He brings a lot to the table because of his extensive knowledge about topics like Christianity and philosophy … it lends him a lot of credibility."

While AgASA hopes students attend tonight's event with an open mind, Shiva said the group does not want to impose its beliefs on anybody.

"We just want people come and enjoy hearing [Barker] speak," she said. "We hope that people come and ask a lot of questions, but also really listen to his story."

AgASA has invited numerous departments and groups on campus, including various religious organizations, Chao said. The Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, an inter-denominational faith group, will be among the attendees.

"The response has actually been very good," she said. "I know for a fact that many members from Intervarsity are attending.… It wouldn't be as fun if Barker was just talking to atheists who already agree with him."

Chemistry professor Bryan Enderle, who is a staff member for Intervarsity, said he is looking forward to attending the event.

"I want to hear what [Barker] has to say and to see how he arrived at place he arrived at," he said. "I don't personally ever see myself arriving at the same place, but I am definitely interested to hear how it happened to him."

Intervarsity members often attend AgASA meetings and the two groups sometimes hold events together, Enderle said.

"I think it is important for different religious groups on campus to maintain a dialogue about God," he said. "It is a good way to clear up misconceptions and stereotypes on both sides."
 
ERICA LEE can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Minutes 11/06/2008
¨    There was a complaint about our club logo e-mailed to Cat.

¨    The officers have decided to take action. The members are not to backlash in any inappropriate manner.
¨    We need to know if we are in any violation of any UC Davis policy regarding club logos.
§    Many members brought up the point that we are just exercising our freedom of speech.
§    Should we consult an attorney or is this going too far (at least for right now)?
¨    Should AgASA use this opportunity to capitalize on our publicity?
§    Shiva brought up the good point that we should not attract any unwanted attention to Dan Barker and his event, as that would be unfair to him and his reputation.
¨    Cat would like to re-launch the movie project documenting what true atheism is like and that we are not baby eaters.
¨    The club will continue to table for the rest of the week up until Friday night. The tabling hours are: 12-2PM.
¨    Flyering Schedule: Mondays and Wednesdays at approximately 6PM at the Coffee House on campus.
¨    We screened “Enemies of Reason” by Dawkins and discussed the merits of the movie afterwards.