In response to Mr. Doreza’s article in the November 8th, 2013 issue of The Lawrentian:
Mr. Doreza employed some ridiculous anti-logic when he lampooned atheists in last week’s edition of The Lawrentian. Doreza’s arguments about atheism suffer from ignorance regarding atheism’s status in both the Lawrence community and the broader country. While it is true that more people list no religious affiliation here at Lawrence than in the country as a whole, they remain a significant minority. Not that such a figure matters much; the numbers of atheists in the United States prove far more telling, because they speak to what kinds of experiences with which most students enter college. As of 2007, 1.6% of Americans identified themselves as atheists, with another 2.4% calling themselves agnostic. Their strength as an interest group may be growing, but guess how many atheists are currently in Congress? Zero. How many have been on the Supreme Court? Maybe one. How many have been president? Zero that we know of. Mr. Doreza’s argument about atheists being unchallenged at Lawrence is as laughable as saying that blacks in the 50s were unchallenged going to a school in the north. Just because they weren’t incurring the worst of racism in the United States doesn’t mean they weren’t experiencing it every day.
A 2013 Gallup poll showed that 53% of voters would never vote for an atheist president, even if the candidate fit every other criteria important to that voter. Atheists are just above convicted felons in a similar poll asking Americans which groups they found most trustworthy. I don’t mean to diminish the Draheim resident’s predicament; comfort and safety must always be goals in any roommate situation, and this atheist girl should not hurt her roommate. That said the Christian roommate doesn’t have to go home and hear every day about how she is a failure as a human being, or will spend an eternity in hell, or should kill herself. No, that delight is reserved for those brave enough to voice their skepticism of Judeo-Christian myths. Additionally, a good college doesn’t always make everyone comfortable. If one goes through their entire education at Lawrence without once feeling offended, uncomfortable or challenged, please ask for your money back.
—Ian D. Koziara ‘14