About Us
The Upstate Coalition of Reason is made up of atheist, freethought, and humanist groups working together in the Greenville and Spartanburg 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.
Check out the Events calendar and the Groups page to see what’s happening in your area!
Groups
Piedmont Humanists is the Upstate’s original non-theistic social group for atheists, agnostics, secular humanists and freethinkers. pH exists chiefly to help folks who don’t fit in with the prevailing religiosity in Upstate South Carolina find a sense of community. We’re here to connect, discuss, be active, have fun, pitch in, and otherwise be ourselves — and hopefully show the other locals that nonbelievers are people, too. Check our events page for meetings and activities! See us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/296602207030949/
Upstate Atheists is a non profit group with a focus on improving the community and helping those in need. This group will do volunteer work, run food drives, take in donations (clothes and essentials) for those in need, road side clean up, etc. We are always open to new ideas and love hearing from our members. We meet monthly to discuss our goals and then we put our plans into action. All ideas are greatly appreciated. Not only is this a great way to give back to the community, it is also a great place to meet like minded people. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/372309996155697/
We are a local group of Self-Actualized Parents, Same Sex Parents, and Single Parents with activities surrounding the family unit. Our goal is to form strong social ties with other like-minded families that choose to follow a path not dictated by the mainstream masses of today. We are leaders, teachers, mothers, fathers striving to provide the best for our children in a safe and open circle of friends. We have a wonderful, fascinating, thought provoking group dynamic in that we are made up of Secular Humanist, Atheist, Liberal Christiian, Agnostic, Buddhist, Wiccan, Spiritual, and Free Thinkers. Our group’s sole focus is active, local participation in events that engage family in a network of friends. We have many homeschool families, and varying ages of kids and parents alike. Contact [email protected] for inquiries.
Push Back The Darkness is a local atheist activist group based in Spartanburg SC. The group was started to encourage various forms of atheist activism around the globe. We have developed into a strong local group with social, recreational, charitable and especially activist meet ups in the form of marches. We have many members from the southeastern part of the USA but also have many other members from across the country and Europe. Our goal is to create strong free thinking communities wherever possible and help remove the stigma from the word atheist. We want to face dogmatic thinking wherever it is found and enjoy ourselves in the process! Contact [email protected] for inquiries.
Greenville Tech Freethought Organization (GTFO)
Greenville Tech Freethought Organization (GTFO) This group is for students of Greenville Technical College that are looking for a code of ethics and morals that affirms the inherent dignity and worth of every human being, without invoking the supernatural. We are dedicated to the search for meaning and values on this earth through reliance on intelligence and the scientific method, democracy and social sympathy.
Furman University Society of Free Inquiry (SoFI)
SoFI is NOT an anti-religious organization though we do promote Secularism and Humanist values. I know that these may just sound like big fancy words for "Atheist" but they’re not. Some of the things that Secularist and Humanist organizations all over the country propose is that a person can live a moral lifestyle without a religious basis, that the world around us can be better explained through reason and logic, rather than faith, and that the division of church and state is necessary for a succesful government.
However, one of this groups’ main goals is to provide a place for non-believers to not feel pressured or looked down upon because of their beliefs, or lack thereof. We provide discussions, debates, and presentations for students so that they can perhaps decide what they believe if they’re unsure, or to help those who don’t believe to be able to defend themselves in an educated manner.
The Secular Student Alliance of Clemson is a Clemson club for atheists, agnostics, nontheists, humanists, skeptics, freethinkers, and other students who do not believe in a god or gods. We promote the ideals of scientific and critical inquiry, democracy, secularism and human-based ethics. We accomplish this through five areas of focus: education, service, activism, community and cooperation.
Secular Student Alliance at Lander University
The Secular Student Alliance of Lander University is a welcoming community for anyone in favor of a more secular American society. Living in the bible belt can be a hard thing for freethinkers, but it would be a lot easier if we stick together. Together we can work to break the stigmas that people have about the "skeptical".
Our mission is to organize, unite, educate and serve students and student communitied that promote the ideals of scientific rationality, secularism, deomocracy and human-based ethics.
Secular Student Alliance at Presbyterian College
Don’t believe in God? Join the club!
Even at church-affiliated schools, there exist small populations of nonreligious students, including agnostics, atheists, humanists, and other freethinkers. Being at a church-related school, there are times that these students may feel left out or excluded.
And we’re here to help!
Bringing philosophy back to the people. Socrates Cafe is a philosphy discussion group that is open to absolutely everyone. This group is for people that are interested in discussing philosophical and social issues which have a bearing on their lives today.
