About Us
The Columbia Coalition of Reason is made up of atheist, freethought, and humanist groups working together in the Columbia, SC area. Our twin goals are to foster a sense of community among the like-minded and raise public awareness that people who don’t believe in a god or gods can be decent citizens who contribute to the larger society.
So, if you are of a secular mind, you aren’t alone. Thousands of your friends and neighbors in this area think and feel as you do. And there are local groups that advance your views and welcome your participation! This website will help you find events to attend, activities in which to participate, people with whom to socialize, and groups to join.
After all, like everyone else, we benefit from a supportive community for friendship, learning, social service, and activism. Moreover, atheists and agnostics make up a significant portion of the population, both nationally and globally, outnumbering most religious and other minorities combined. For example, the American Religious Identification Survey reports that 12 percent of Americans are nontheistic. This places us as one of the largest minorities in America. Yet we don’t enjoy the benefits of our numbers because we aren’t well-organized. This coalition is here to change that.
To the traditional religious community we want to say that, although we nontheists are without a belief in the supernatural, we do share the compassionate human values that most people embrace. As hard working, tax-paying, ethical citizens, we care deeply about our families, our communities, our state, our nation, and the world.
To contact the coalition, please call 803-221-0007 or email us at [email protected]
Groups
Freethought Society of the Midlands
We’re a fun, growing group that likes stimulating conversations about topics of interest to freethinkers, such as philosophy, politics, and science. We also like bowling, ice cream, and movies, not necessarily in that order. We welcome new members and always enjoy seeing new faces! If you want to spend time with new friends who don’t think there’s anything wrong with you if you dont have a strong belief in the supernatural, come join us! We also welcome believers and those who are questioning. We don’t have all the answers, but we’d love to hear what you have to share! (See our facebook page above, or our Meetup.com page here!)
Secular Humanists of South Carolina Midlands
The Secular Humanists of the South Carolina Midlands is an autonomous local affiliate of the Council for Secular Humanism, which is North America’s leading organization for non-religious people. Operating as a not-for-profit educational association, the Council supports a wide range of activities to enrich the lives of people who find knowledge, understanding, meaning, and value in life by neither looking to the supernatural nor relying on faith. Looking to nature instead, secular humanism relies on reason and scientific inquiry, emphasizing individual liberty and personal responsibility, while promoting human society based upon value for compassion, tolerance, diversity, cooperation, competition, production, and trade.
The local group, as a member of Affiliated Secular Humanist Societies (ASHS), sponsors visiting speakers, public debates, and discussion groups on issues ranging from art and ethics to science and technology. The group also cosponsors statewide conferences with local humanist and atheist organizations throughout South Carolina. Local members offer a permanent base of support for local student groups organized in affiliation with the Center for Inquiry On Campus.
Pastafarians at University of South Carolina
The Pastafarians at USC is a multipurpose organization for atheists, agnostics, skeptics, freethinkers, and the collectively known “non-religious” students at USC. Major goals and agendas include having like-minded fellowship, providing a supportive community for the non-religious, combating religious bigotry with comedic relief, promoting pride in our beliefs and convictions, safeguarding the wall of separation of church and state, as well as doing community service in the name of Humanism.
The purpose of Camp Quest is to provide kids and teens from freethinking families a residential summer camp dedicated to improving the human condition through rational inquiry, critical and creative thinking, the scientific method, self-respect, ethics, competency, democracy, free speech, and the separation of religion and government.
To contact the coalition, please call 803-221-0007 or email us at [email protected]
