“A common moral we all share is coexistence, openness to diversity, and enjoying each other’s' company regardless of differences”.
For years, the secular community has been negatively associated with being anti-religion, anti-God as well as a disdain for those who are part of the religious community. SPOILER ALERT: that is all bullshit!
The main misconception about the secular community that they want to be clarified is that they are not anti-religion but rather, they have formed a community based on shared values of trying to understand the world better through a non-religious lens. Many group meetings are based on philosophical discussions or ethical points of views. Occasionally many of their members come from the religious community to give their perspectives on matters such as global issues, politics, the environment and much more.
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of these such groups exist. One of the groups I spoke with is largely composed of local university students where they have weekly meetings every Friday at a local café. All of those involved say that they formed a Secular Alliance in order to have a sense of community to engage in philosophical, political and social topics with a non-religious bias.
Quinn Wolter, a member of a non-official University of Pittsburgh Secular Alliance branch says, “The 'secular community' is really only starting to blossom now in an age of lower religiosity and higher connectability [sic], largely brought on by the Internet… Suddenly, the nonreligious aren't such an outweighed community. All sorts of demographics host secular members, and they want that same sense of community and platform for discussion that, say, church provides for a Christian. The Secular Alliance here at Pitt certainly originated there: members can volunteer in their community without being preached to, gather together weekly to ponder worldviews that don't involve gods, and enjoy all the tinsel and trappings that churches provide outside of the basic 'house of God' purpose they serve”.
The definition of what it means to be non-religious has also changed. To many members, non-religious or atheist does not have to mean that the cultural aspects of religion are shut out or ignored completely. Rather, they can be celebrated in tandem with discussing controversial topics minus the moral guilt brought on by traditional values of mainstream faiths and belief systems. This is where the misconceptions about the secular community begin to form. One who identifies as secular isn’t necessarily anti-religion. One member of the group who wished to remain anonymous expressed her reason for joining the Secular Alliance.
“A lot of times when people think of an atheist, they think of someone who has completely separated themselves from organized religion. While I’m an atheist, I’m also a proud Jew who still observes many holidays. I really like being in the secular community, though, because everyone comes together with different ideas and experiences, and we all learn from them. I think people think that atheists and agnostics are angry people who want to convince the world that God isn’t real, but I think they are people who are willing to listen to all sides of an issue”.
She wasn’t the only member who expressed this view. Several members such as Danielle Shuster also discussed the negative stereotypes secular members are faced with in mainstream scrutiny. The main misconception is the false definition of secularism equals atheist and atheist means having a hate for God.
“Just because we're Secular/irreligious [sic] does not mean that we hate religious people or that we can't get along with them,” said Shuster.
Wolter expanded upon this misbelief, explaining that "most members do not 'hate God.'" Negativity towards religion might drive a lot of folks towards apostasy, but many more have been nonreligious their whole lives. Others simply grew out of religious belief as they learned more about the world. Similarly, God is not the sole topic of our discussion[s]. We have covered a staggering array of topics, from abortion and death sentences to space exploration and philosophical paradoxes. Climate change, politics, sexism, technology, law and Google search results have all seen entire discussions dedicated to them, along with the other 50 or so topics I'm forgetting. Most of all, Atheism is not synonymous with Secularism. We have religious, nonreligious, and undecided regulars in our club. Their comfort and ability to enjoy the space we provide is tantamount, as everyone gathers for the sake of conversation with an unclouded lens. Secularism is as important to a devout Theist as it is an ardent Atheist.”
In a world that is facing more scrutiny to identify or delineate from mainstream religions, secular communities like this Pittsburgh local Secular Alliance are coming together to take part in discussions which for too long have discounted their opinions. The truth of the matter is whether you are religious, non-religious or secular, we all have a responsibility to think critically of the world around us and respond to the crises our world is facing. Whether these issues are political, economic, environmental or social; local or global, traditional religious thought should not be the only opinion considered.
