Discussion tackles atheism

About 15 students gathered Tuesday night in the Teter Quad formal lounge to discuss atheism and spirituality. The program was sponsored by the CommUNITY Education Program and several religious groups on campus. \nTimothy Bagwell, a former member of the Church of God in Anderson, spoke about his religious experiences and what he called his conversion to atheism. He asked students to consider what the terms "spirituality" and "atheism" meant to them and whether they thought the two were mutually exclusive.\nBagwell discussed his perception of religion as a man-made method of meeting one's needs and giving significance to one's life. Bagwell said he believes a person does not necessarily need religion to be spiritual, and thus his spirituality comes from within himself, rather than a belief in an external God.\nStudents engaged in an active dialogue with Bagwell, voicing questions, doubts and comments. Throughout the evening, facilitators focused on maintaining an open and honest atmosphere for the exchange of ideas and questions.\nTuesday evening's event was one in a series of six weekly discussions on world religions. The series, called Common Quest, began Jan. 30, and will conclude March 6 with a discussion of Hindu culture and traditions. \n"I want to provide safe space for conversations on religion and faith expression to happen," Rebecca Jimenez, campus minister of the Center for University Ministry, said. "It (religion) is often disdained, and those who are serious about their faith are denigrated and suspected of ignorance or naivete … I hope these dialogues will offer the opportunity to really broaden students' perspectives."\nThe center was one of the discussion's sponsors.\nTeter CommUNITY Educator Shaila Mulholland, a senior who organized the program, echoed Jimenez's sentiments. She said the goal of the series is to provide students with an opportunity to learn about others' religious experience, share their own experiences and see similarities between the two.\n"We try to stay away as much as possible from a lecture format because, personally, I think that more can be learned through discussion and asking questions," Mulholland said. "It's a lot easier to find common ground when you do this instead of talking strictly about doctrine."\nJimenez and Mulholland said they have been pleased with the response from students. Although numbers dwindled Tuesday, 25-30 people have been in attendance at previous discussions. With one week left, the program's sponsors said they hope to positively affect students. \nThe other sponsors of the discussion were the Undergraduate Religious Studies Association, Teter Student government, Muslim Student Union, Helene G. Simon Hillel Center, Indian Students Association, Jewish Studies Student Association and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.