The Atheist Agenda

Last updated

The Atheist Agenda is an organization founded in 2005 by group of atheists from the University of Texas at San Antonio. [1] The group is dedicated to the philosophy of freethought, as well as promoting aggressive activism against theology and theological institutions, encouraging non-believers to take pride in their history and community, and providing to them with fellowship intended to be similar to shared by those of a religious background. The Agenda holds meetings open to anyone interested and stages demonstrations (most notably the "Smut for Smut" campaign [2] ) in the San Antonio and Austin areas, to make their viewpoints known. A documentary was produced regarding Atheist Agenda and their Smut for Smut campaign in 2011, titled Dissonance. Since its creation, the Atheist Agenda has grown from small gathering of students to a group of hundreds, with members at The University of Texas at Austin and University of Houston in addition to those at UTSA. The atheist agenda at UTSA later disbanded.

Contents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Texas System</span> Public university system in Texas

The University of Texas System is a public university system in the U.S. state of Texas. It includes nine universities and five independent health institutions. The UT System is headquartered in Downtown Austin. It is the largest university system in Texas with 250,000+ enrolled students, 21,000+ employed faculty, 83,000+ health care professionals, researchers and support staff. The UT System's $42.7 billion endowment is the largest of any public university system in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madalyn Murray O'Hair</span> American atheist activist (1919–1995)

Madalyn Murray O'Hair was an American activist and Holocaust denier supporting atheism and separation of church and state. In 1963, she founded American Atheists and served as its president until 1986, after which her son Jon Garth Murray succeeded her. She created the first issues of American Atheist Magazine and identified as a "militant feminist".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Texas at San Antonio</span> Public university in San Antonio, Texas

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning more than 758 acres, UTSA is the largest university in San Antonio and the eighth-largest by enrollment in the state of Texas. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity" and offers over 170 degree options from its nine colleges.

The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the pseudoscientific idea of intelligent design (ID), which asserts that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." Its chief activities are a campaign to promote public awareness of this concept, the lobbying of policymakers to include its teaching in high school science classes, and legal action, either to defend such teaching or to remove barriers otherwise preventing it. The movement arose out of the creation science movement in the United States, and is driven by a small group of proponents. The Encyclopædia Britannica explains that ID cannot be empirically tested and that it fails to solve the problem of evil; thus, it is neither sound science nor sound theology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio</span> Academic hospital in San Antonio,Texas, US

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is a public academic health science center in San Antonio, Texas. It is part of the University of Texas System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Powers Jr.</span> American attorney, 28th president of the University of Texas at Austin

William Charles Powers Jr. was an American attorney, academic, and university administrator who served as the 28th president of the University of Texas at Austin, becoming the second-longest serving president in the university's history. He held the position from February 1, 2006, to July 2, 2015, when he was succeeded by Gregory L. Fenves. Before his death, Powers held the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair at the University of Texas School of Law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowdy the Roadrunner</span>

Rowdy is the mascot of the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners. He appears at athletic events, such as football and basketball games, and other university sponsored events. An anthropomorphic roadrunner, Rowdy is based upon the Greater Roadrunner.

Robert T. Pennock is a philosopher working on the Avida digital organism project at Michigan State University where he has been full professor since 2000. Pennock was a witness in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial, testifying on behalf of the plaintiffs, and described how intelligent design is an updated form of creationism and not science, pointing out that the arguments were essentially the same as traditional creationist arguments with adjustments to the message to eliminate explicit mention of God and the Bible as well as adopting a postmodern deconstructionist language. Pennock also laid out the philosophical history of methodological and philosophical naturalism as they underpin to science, and explained that if intelligent design were truly embraced it would return Western civilization to a pre-Enlightenment state.

Claude William Black Jr. was an American Baptist minister and political figure. Black was born in San Antonio, Texas, which was segregated at the time. Black's parents are Claude Sr., who served as the Vice President of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and Cora Black, who was a housewife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Texas</span> Overview of education in Texas

Texas has over 1,000 public school districts—all but one of the school districts in Texas are independent, separate from any form of municipal or county government. School districts may cross city and county boundaries. Independent school districts have the power to tax their residents and to assert eminent domain over privately owned property. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) oversees these districts, providing supplemental funding, but its jurisdiction is limited mostly to intervening in poorly performing districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican American Youth Organization</span>

The Mexican American Youth Organization is a civil rights organization formed in 1967 in San Antonio, Texas, USA to fight for Mexican-American rights. The creators of MAYO, Los Cinco, consisted of José Ángel Gutiérrez, Willie Velásquez, Mario Compean, Ignacio Pérez, and Juan Patlán. MAYO and its political organization, Raza Unida Party, played an important part in Texas history during the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were a part of the larger Chicano movement in the United States, and played a role in bringing about civil rights for Mexican-Americans.

Peter T. Flawn was President of the University of Texas at Austin from 1979 to 1985. He was also a geologist and educator.

Ricardo Romo is an American urban historian who served as the fifth President of the University of Texas at San Antonio from May 1999 to March 2017.

The UTSA Roadrunners football program represents the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in the sport of American football. The Roadrunners compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the American Athletic Conference. They are coached by Jeff Traylor, who started in 2020. The Roadrunners play their home games at the Alamodome, which has a seating capacity of 65,000 but whose capacity for UTSA games is normally restricted to 36,582.

The UTSA Roadrunners men's basketball team represents the University of Texas at San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas, US in NCAA Division I as a member of the American Athletic Conference from the 2023–24 season. Originally competing as an NCAA independent in 1981–82, the Roadrunners moved to the Trans-America Athletic Conference in 1986–87, then moved to the Southland Conference in 1991–92, then moved to the Western Athletic Conference in 2012–2013, then moved to Conference USA in 2013–2014 where they remained for the next 10 seasons. UTSA plays its home games at the on-campus Convocation Center, and is coached by Austin Claunch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I-35 Rivalry</span> Collage rivalry

The I-35 Rivalry is a college rivalry between the Texas State University Bobcats (TXST) and the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners (UTSA). It is named for the Interstate Highway that connects San Marcos, Texas, and San Antonio, Texas, the respective sites of both universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries</span>

The University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries (UTSA Libraries) is the academic library of The University of Texas at San Antonio, a state research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. UTSA Libraries consists of the John Peace Library (JPL) on the Main Campus, the Downtown Library, and the Applied Engineering and Technology (AET) Library. The libraries provide students and faculty with a comprehensive access to information as well as spaces for active learning, teaching, and interdisciplinary scholarship.

Rolando Burgoa Pablos is an American executive, attorney, and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas. He was sworn in as the 111th Secretary of State of Texas on January 5, 2017. On December 6, 2018, Pablos announced his resignation as Secretary of State effective December 15.

Anita Valencia is a visual and mixed media artist known for her work with recycled materials.

References

  1. Carlson, Tucker (2005-12-06). "Trading bibles for porn in San Antonio". NBC News. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
  2. O'Conner, Matt (2005-12-02). "Students Trade Bibles for Porn". XBiz . Retrieved 2008-03-21.

Further reading