Posted by Hemant Mehta in Over the weekend, an article about the Secular Student Alliance and a couple of our affiliates was written up by Eric Gorski of the AP and published in several media outlets throughout the country.
“A lot of people on campus either don’t know we exist or are afraid of us or hate us,” says [Anastasia] Bodnar, president of the [Iowa State University] Atheist and Agnostic Society. “People assume we’re rabble-rousing, when we’re one of the gentlest groups on campus.”
As the stigma of atheism has diminished, campus atheists and agnostics are coming out of the closet, fueling a sharp rise in the number of clubs like the 10-year-old group at Iowa State.
Campus affiliates of the Secular Student Alliance, a sort of Godless Campus Crusade for Christ, have multiplied from 80 in 2007 to 100 in 2008 and 174 this fall, providing the atheist movement new training grounds for future leaders
The article needs to be updated already.
Since the fall, the SSA is up to 192 current groups. And we’re hearing from several new ones each week.
We’re close to reaching the $50,000 match offer, but we’re not quite there yet. Thanks to everyone who has helped us so far. We plan to hire a new staffer in January and that’s only possible because of your generosity.
“a sort of Godless Campus Crusade for Christ” and “providing the atheist movement new training grounds for future leaders”?
Um, Erik Gorski, hi, listen, this is embarrassing but, well, your bias is showing…seriously, this is FABULOUS news and great to see AP coverage, but to me this reads like coded language aimed at rabble-rousing and terrifying Christian Soldiers into marching onward against the heathens. Or am I just being paranoid?
Yeah, the comparison to CCC is very uncharitable. *shudder*
Still, nice to see more people coming out of the closet.