| Meetings |
| Meetings will begin Fall 2008 |
| E-mail List |
| E-mail Arash with "AGASA" as the subject and either "add" or "remove" in the email <askhos AT ucdavis DOT edu> |
| Other Internet Resources |
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AGASA Message Board: |
| Mailing Address |
| AGASA / SPAC. box #96 / UC-Davis / Davis, CA 95616 |
Visit us:
Office: 1237 Social Sciences and Humanities Building
Street: Corner of 3rd Street and A Street
City: Davis, CA
The Agnostic and Atheist Student Association, or AGASA is a campus organization with the purpose of uniting the many agnostics and atheists on campus and providing an opportunity to socialize with like-minded individuals, while questioning religious and theistic beliefs. The club is predominantly made up of people who identify as materialists/naturalists/physicalists (people who do not believe in any form of the supernatural) and non-theists who believe in some things that are supernatural. However, everyone is welcome to the general meetings and to partake in the discussions.
Officers
| President: | Catalina Chao | ccchao@ucdavis.edu |
| Treasurer: | Dustin Ayer | diayer@ucdavis.edu |
| Social Chair: | Jenny Bernstein | jlbernst@ucdavis.edu |
| Student Advisor: | Arash 'Ash' Khosrowshahi | |
| Event Coordinator: | Shiva Kasravi | skasravi@ucdavis.edu |
| Meeting leader | Samuel Won | samwon@ucdavis.edu |
| Sectretary | Mher Boyadzhyan | mhboyadz@ucdavis.edu |
History
AGASA was formed in response to what was perceived as a very aggressive and deceptive marketing on the part of some of the Christian organizations on campus. The group was founded by three people, all of whom have now moved out of Davis and on to other things. Founder, Bryce Kuklok class of 2004, designed the official logo of AGASA to be a Jesus fish on a plate ready to be eaten. His reasoning in starting the organization was that there were no fewer than a dozen religious organizations present on what was supposed to be a secular public campus, yet there was no outlet for the godless, who were bombarded on a daily basis by the rhetoric and propaganda of faith based groups. The original intended name of AGASA was Aggie Agnostics, but in a move inconsistent with the reality of other student groups present on campus, Bryce was barred from using the term "Aggie".
The group's former president was Kris Fricke, who aspired to restart the club several times during the 2002-2003 school year. In the mid-winter quarter of 2005, Kris held a meeting and people actually showed up and were interested in getting AGASA going again! After officer elections and official affiliation with larger Agnostic and Atheist groups (such as
Secular Student Alliance and
Atheists and Other Freethinkers), the new board is excited to start having fun and meeting new agnostics and atheists hidden in the Davis community.
Events/Points of Interest-
Meetings-
Party - Barbecue
Date:Thursday, October 2, 2008
Time: 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Oxford Circle Park (Near Cuarto)
Street:Oxford Circle. (Cross street: Wake Forest Drive)
It's time again for that annual blasphemous BBQ!
Although club funds will be used to purchase main ingredients, in an effort to offset net cost, it would be beneficial if individuals bring with them at least one of the following items:
1) Paper plates
2) Paper cups
3) Soda
4) Hamburger buns
5) Hotdog buns
6) Napkins
7) Plastic utensils
8) Chips
9) Dessert
10) Any delicious finger food
We will have a sign-up list for those wishing to contribute to the event. If you are going to bring something, you my either write on the event wall or contact Mher or Cat at
mhboyadz@ucdavis.edu, or ccchao@ucdavis.edu and let them know.
Also, please note that persons with vegetarian or vegan dietary preferences will need to bring their own dishes.
Hope to see all of you there!
Movie Project
We've launched our movie project which aims to clear up misconceptions surrounding atheism, so if you want to help out let us know!
Jessica's radio interview with Newdow
On December 7th, Jessica Rockwell, our Social Chair Fall quarter 2005, interviewed Michael Newdow, who is trying to take "under God' out of the pledge and "in God we trust" off of our currency. If you missed the live show, please listen to it at:
http://kdvs.org/shows/view/show_id/110
Support of Pete Stark-
Pete Stark, Congressman of the 13th Congressional District of California, has become the first legislator in U.S. history to openly come out as a non-theist. To participate in a draft letter for his support, click on the following link:
http://www.secular.org/activism/thank_stark_070312.html
To visit Stark's website and contact him directly, visit
http://www.house.gov/stark/contact.
National Day of Prayer/Gift of Life Day-
May 3rd is National Day of Prayer. AGASA encourages everyone who believes in secularism to take action this day. Atheists will counter ‘National Day of Prayer' with blood donations. Lifesaving action, not passive prayer, is the message. What do you do on May 3, 2008, the “National Day of Prayer,” if you are an atheist, do not believe in prayer and are opposed to the observance of a prayer day being imposed on all American citizens?
While believers are praying on May 3rd, groups of atheists will go to blood banks in scores of U.S. locales to donate their blood and sign up for organ donation programs. It is a nationwide action which we hope will point out that there are alternatives to silently beseeching a deity to perform miracles.
We want to make a public statement about how nonreligious people can observe the so-called National Day of Prayer, which we have renamed "Gift of Life Day."
Assorted Pictures
Mathew, George, Liza, Chad, and Jessica at the
Atheists and Other Freethinkers meeting in
Sacramento.
AGASA Potluck 5/28/05.
Justin finds God in
San Francisco
Kris &
Michael Newdow. Atheist Convention Easter weekend 2004.
Alannah &
Penn Jillet. Atheist Convention Easter weekend 2004.
Jessica &
Richard Dawkins. Atheist Convention Easter weekend 2004.
Questions, Comments, Concerns, or Queries
Note: You must be logged in to add comments
2007-11-25 19:07:14 I think it is worth nothing that the original Pledge of Allegiance did not contain the phrase "under God." See, e.g.,
The Pledge of Allegiance - A Short History. I make this comment because of the above rally, which says we need to "remove" the phrase "under God" from the Pledge. I think it would be more accurate to say that some would like to see the U.S. restore the pledge to its original, pre-Communist-paranoia, separation-of church-and-state version. —CovertProfessor
2008-01-18 03:40:51 meetings are during my lecture :( —fredchen
2008-01-21 13:28:31 How about working on a list of non-believers who have contributed to the world in the areas of helping the poor, caring for the sick, establishing hospitals, schools, orphanages, etc. or have made contributions to the creative arts, such as painting, sculpture, literature, musice, etc. Certainly there are some literary lions who have been athiests, how about some others? —christinecipperly
2008-03-30 17:37:31 Where were you guys when I was an undergrad? Oh how I needed something like this. I'm overjoyed that godless, secular humanists, such as myself, have something for them. —CurlyGirl26
2008-04-16 17:10:06 My hero, Ayn Rand was an atheist. She's a famous author and proponent of objectivism. —CurlyGirl26
2008-07-09 15:30:10 I think it's a great idea to trumpet the successes of atheists and agnostics, but what about pointing out that none of the wars, genocides, or other terrors perpetrated throughout history have ever had an atheist at the helm. Stalin's massacres are the only exception I can think of. —ArthurFrane
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I think you are right about Stalin. I'm hard pressed to come up with another example. Also, I think I read somewhere that athiests comprise something like less than 1% of the convicts on Death Row. Have you ever noticed that all these rapists, murderers, child molesters, etc. all purport to have "found Jesus" and are all religious now? They always do that thing where they proclaim that they were lost and "saved" by the Loooooord! Somehow, I always find this ironic. —CurlyGirl26
2008-10-03 21:51:52 How do I join this club? —ThanhVu


