Student group's panel affirms atheist beliefs

What organizers had intended to be an open discussion forum aimed at dispelling misconceptions surrounding atheism quickly turned into support for atheism itself.

The Penn Inquiry & Freethought Forum, a new club aimed at discussing secular opinions and ideas, hosted "Ask a Skeptic" last night in Huntsman Hall, hoping for a balance of religious and non-religious attendees who would foster healthy debate.

But only one audience member out of roughly thirty raised her hand when the panel asked if anyone was religious.

The panel featured two IFF members and Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists Incorporated.

"Ask a Skeptic" panelists began with an introduction of current misconceptions surrounding atheism.

Panelist and College sophomore Eric Arneson noted that atheists are sometimes seen as "bomb-throwing Bolsheviks."

But the discussion soon became a reaffirmation of atheist beliefs.

Audience member and College senior Bonnie Waring said that panelists "were biased toward the atheist point of view."

Johnson said that "religion uses free will to get God off the hook; . free will is a fraud," and later added that "people helped people in Katrina because [the helpers] are atheists."

Arneson said God "is a bizarre and foreign concept to me," just "some guy in a nice hat."

College senior Devin McIntyre, the lone audience member who said she believed in a God - she is a follower of a small Druidry religion - described her personal experiences with God to the forum.

But Arneson quickly shot back by saying that "personal experiences don't mean rational experiences."

Johnson also noted that ADF Druidry, a new religion founded in 1986, would never become mainstream because "if your religion isn't as aggressive as Christianity, it won't make it."

When asked what she hoped the outcome of "Ask a Skeptic" would be, Johnson said to "register [atheists] to vote; . it's all politics."

Waring said that the purpose of the meeting was not fulfilled.

Wharton freshman Anthony Leem agreed, saying that the purpose of the meeting became "proving that all things religious are wrong."

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