People who follow trends in higher education are aware of a renewed emphasis on religious plurality and spirituality on college campuses. But all the articles, conferences, and campus activities surrounding religion and spirituality rarely, if at all, acknowledge one group: students who are atheists. If colleges are to be truly inclusive, they should embrace atheist perspectives as well.
According to a study by the Higher Education Research Institute, “The Spiritual Life of College Students,” about 15 percent of college students have no religious preference or interest in religious and spiritual matters. National polls also demonstrate that growing numbers of Americans are indicating “nonreligious” as their religious identification, with college students and college-age Americans constituting the least-religious demographic in the country. While that is not the majority of students, it is certainly a considerable proportion. Yet little is known about such students and their views.
Few scholars, for example, have focused on atheist students. One of the exceptions is Robert J. Nash, professor in the College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermont, who provided some thoughtful insights in his essay, “Inviting Atheists to the Table” in Religion & Education (Spring 2003). Likewise, the editor and writer Emily Nussbaum explored the perspectives of a group of secular-humanist students in “Faith No More” (Lingua Franca, October 1999). For the most part, however, atheists have been neglected as a topic of study.
As a result, misconceptions about atheism and atheist students abound. Perhaps the most common is that many people believe that atheists are vehemently antireligious, intent on persuading others to forsake their religious beliefs. That may be related to some popular books on atheism such as The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins (Houghton Mifflin, 2006), or Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris (Knopf, 2006). Another misconception, noted by Dan Barker in his book Godless (Ulysses Press, 2008), is that atheists live without meaning or purpose; thus, they lack a moral compass at best and are Devil worshipers at worst.
It is not surprising, then, that a study conducted by the University of Minnesota in 2003 reported that self-reported atheists, who account for less than 3 percent of the American population, are viewed as one of the least trusted demographics. Not sharing in the nation’s core value of religion, according to the study’s authors, significantly marginalizes atheists. Such perceptions and misconceptions cause atheist students to hide their beliefs to avoid confrontations.
Recent research by one of us, John A. Mueller, is beginning to provide a counternarrative. In one of the first qualitative studies on college atheists, he has conducted in-depth interviews with 20 students at a mid-Atlantic university over the course of four months. The students’ responses have provided many insights that contradict the prevalent stereotypes.
For example, the research shows that many students who identify as atheist — or related designations, such as humanist or free thinker — are, in fact, quite thoughtful about their purpose, morals, and values. They suggest that being good for the sake of goodness is equivalent to, or perhaps better than, being good to follow Scripture or to get into heaven, because it comes from a more personal and authentic place. They state that their life purpose is to use their skills and talents in service to the environment, humanity, and all living creatures. Their purpose and morality are less about personal salvation after death and more about celebrating and contributing to the human condition.
Further, atheist students are generally familiar with many religious traditions, cultures, and philosophies, which, along with their understandings of science, contribute to their nonbelief. Most atheist students are not interested in converting others from their own religious beliefs or setting up a hierarchy of who is better than whom — they just want to be accepted for their own perspectives. One student told us that he thinks people spend time looking at other religions and knocking them down for the one god others believe in and concluded, “I just believe in one less god than everybody else.”
Atheist students, however, tend to be cautious about whom they share their perspective with because they do not want to offend others or make them uncomfortable. Nor do they want to be put in the position of having to defend their worldview. To avoid being thought of as people with no morals or life purpose who are destined for hell, they choose to remain invisible.
It is the responsibility of educators to create an environment that encourages atheist students to come forward and share their views. That will require reframing atheism as simply another perspective for exploring purpose, meaning, and morality — independent of a god, gods, or religious doctrine. A first step is for administrators and faculty members to learn more about atheism, including its history and varied definitions. As people begin to learn about atheism, the pervasiveness of misconceptions will become more evident, as will ways to counter those misconceptions. Good sources of information include the articles that we’ve mentioned and Web sites that provide useful information specifically related to atheist students. Those include American Atheists (http://atheists.org), Secular Student Alliance (http://secularstudents.org), the Center for Inquiry on Campus (http://www.centerforinquiry.net/oncampus), and Friendly Atheist (http://friendlyatheist.com).
Administrators and faculty members should also:
Create a welcoming environment for atheist students. Colleges should provide information about atheism and talk openly about it. As part of that effort, they could highlight Web sites of student groups, such as the blogs available at Friendly Atheist. They also should check to see if their own campuses have atheist student groups — which are becoming more prevalent — and figure out how to support them. The group might need an adviser or would welcome sharing its perspectives in a class or public forum. Institutions could also publicize the American Atheists scholarship, which provides up to $2,000 to a student whose application best demonstrates commitment to atheism through campus activism.
Include atheism in student programming. Special educational forums about atheism can validate that worldview and clarify conventional misconceptions. In addition, interfaith efforts that explore various religious traditions have become common on campuses and offer an opportunity to include nonbelieving perspectives as well. Campus ministries or interfaith councils consist of people who are interested in highlighting the value of differences among religious traditions. They may welcome partnerships with those interested in sharing atheist worldviews.
Ensure that atheists can, like other students, explore their inner development. By inner development, we refer to the process of examining and living one’s values, ethics, meaning, and purpose. Campuses should provide the same opportunities for atheist students that they provide for students who identify themselves as religious or spiritual.
Create safe spaces that are “atheist only” for students. Student organizations for atheists can serve as communities for students who feel they must withhold this aspect of their identity in other social settings. Helping students connect to off-campus atheist groups through the Internet can also provide support. Colleges should also encourage atheist students to share their perspectives in interfaith settings so they can clarify their own beliefs in juxtaposition with other religious and spiritual traditions.
Look to other institutions for best practices. A notable example is Harvard University, which has created a humanist chaplaincy “dedicated to building, educating, and nurturing a diverse community of humanists, agnostics, atheists, and the nonreligious.” The chaplaincy provides a formal structure to incorporate nonbelieving perspectives into interfaith dialogues and support the developmental needs of atheist students.
Making the changes that we’ve suggested offers obvious benefits for atheist students, most notably the chance to affirm their beliefs and openly communicate their perspectives with other students. The benefits to nonatheist students are substantial as well. The challenge of accepting atheism as an alternative outlook can help them continue their own inner development and broaden their worldview.
Kathleen M. Goodman is a doctoral student and research assistant at the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education at the University of Iowa. John A. Mueller is an associate professor of student affairs in higher education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Their article, “Invisible, Marginalized, and Stigmatized: Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Atheist Students,” will be published in the Spring 2009 issue of New Directions for Student Services.
http://chronicle.com Section: Commentary Volume 55, Issue 21, Page A64