York club organizing food drive to prove they have hearts, souls
TamaraKhandaker
Staff Writer
@anima_tk
According to a study done at the University of British Columbia, atheists are distrusted more than any other religious group, gay men, feminists, and to the same degree, just as distrusted as rapists.
However, a York student group is aiming to challenge that perspective.
“I find [the results of the study] very offensive,” says D’Arcy McNaughton, president of the student group Freethinkers, Skeptics, and Atheists at York (FreeSAY), a group aimed at anyone who defines themselves as a secular thinker. “This study is suggesting that we are hedonistic, and that because we don’t believe in God, we are immoral.”
The study, titled “Do You Believe in Atheists? Distrust is Central to Anti-Atheist Prejudice,” involved approximately 350 American adults and 420 Canadian university students in its survey.
The study found that people associated descriptions of dishonest individuals—for example, someone who damaged a parked car and walked away, or found a wallet and took the money inside it—with atheism more than Christianity, Islam, Judaism, homosexuality, and feminism.
A poll, which found that only 45 per cent of American respondents would not vote for an atheist presidential candidate even if he or she was qualified, prompted the researchers to explore further anti-atheist sentiments in society.
Atheists are also the group that American respondents would least approve of their children marrying.
“With more than half a billion atheists worldwide, this prejudice has the potential to affect a substantial number of people,“ said UBC PhD student Will Gervais, who is the leading author of the study.
FreeSAY is now looking to change this perception by demonstrating the group’s social activism, and increasing its presence on York campus through positive actions. The group will be holding a food drive to take place between January 30 and February 3 in Vari Hall, and the proceeds will go to the North York Harvest Food Bank.
Michael Soo, a member of FreeSAY, believes that the respondents of the study did the survey based on the popular stereotypes of what an atheists are, and cites lack of awareness as one of the main problems.
“As atheists, we believe that you do not need God to be good,” says McNaughton. “Our actions are not fueled by a promise of a kingdom after we die, so we do good actions now because they are having an effect right now.”
