Tuesday, September 15, 2009

In the upcoming year...

...I am going to be president of BASS, the Bruin Alliance of Skeptics and Secularists. Add that to the list of things I intend to blog about more in the future. BASS is a student group at UCLA which advocates skepticism and secularism. Note that it does not have "atheism" in the name, but certainly atheists tend to be the most enthusiastic and activistic supporters of both skepticism and secularism. And since there's no other atheist/agnostic group on campus (excluding the Objectivist club), we're happy to fill that needed role, while at the same time accepting all supporters of skepticism and secularism.

So, funny thing, I don't actually know how to act as president. I have been asking the former presidents for tips, but I never get as much information as I'd like. Luckily, they're still around to advise. I guess we'll see how that goes!

I think the idea was that, even though I have little experience, I have somehow gained a reputation for being very reliable. I have anti-ADD, an uncanny ability to un-derail conversations. I should be able to assemble a set of officers who know what they're doing, and I'll be the cruel taskmaster who keeps them all focused. It's a contrast with former president Roy, who has lots of experience and major skeptical connections, but whose unreliability is a running joke. We still love him, of course. (Disregard the plans for "I hate Roy" t-shirts, with which Roy still hasn't followed through.)
My readers, have any of you participated in skeptical or atheist groups? How was your experience with it?

5 comments:

Thesauros said...

My experience with atheists is that the belief they are intelligent seekers of truth, who follow the evidence and believe nothing that is not supported by evidence is simply an unfair, inaccurate stereotype.

miller said...

Yep, most atheists are pretty normal. Hooray for breaking down stereotypes!

Royimous said...

Ouch :P

Eduard said...

I like BASS!

What about the logo?
Allusion to fish of fishing people?
With differencing legs?

miller said...

The logo is derived from the common Darwin fish symbol, which was originally based on (or a parody of?) the Jesus fish. It's not really a fish but a tiktaalik.