Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1988)
. ■_* JL^ __ ZJV*9m l good wa\/ to meet others with iinterests in science fiction. “We all just have a good time, ” Busch says. “You meet lots of different people. ” Charles Reyes, a senior engineering technology major, says open gaming is his favorite activity. This involves strategic games, wargames and fantasy role playing. “We meet every Friday and Saturday night in room 026 of the MSC and just try different games, ” Reyes says. “I think it’s extremely important that the MSC recognizes Nova as a student organization,’’ Reyes says. “It’s helped the committee grow since then. t.u. doesn’t have as big a science fiction organization as A&M does even though their campus is more liberal. ” Junior modem languages major Carl Marshall, says one of his favorite activities is fantasy role playing. “Fantasy role playing is when you get into the spirit of the character through your imagination,” Marshall says. Busch says imagination makes Nova different from other campus science fiction organizations. Dan Kloke, chairman of Cepheid Variable, another MSC science fiction group, says their organization is expanding. “Cepheid Variable is for anyone interested in horror, suspense, or science fiction,” Kloke says. Science fiction relates to everyone’s interests and majors, he says. The engineer is interested in the technology, and the English major critiques the plot. Cepheid Variable adviser Daralyn Wallace says they gather to meet people who share the same interests. “Everyone has lots of fun because they all have common interests, from Japanese animation to Star Trek, ” Wallace says. “We like to have discussions and ‘arguments’ about how things could have been done differently in a movie to make it more realistic.” Robin Reinarts, a senior secondary education major, says Cepheid Variable is best known for AggieCon, an annual science fiction convention that brings 2,000 people to A&M to participate. “AggieCon traditionally brings four or five major science fiction/fantasy guest speakers, as well as artists, authors, and 20 or 30 regional guests, ” Reinarts says. “This is the 20 year anniversary for AggieCon, so we’re hoping to get a good crowd. (Cepheid Variable) provides a good chance to meet different people from every major — from grad students to the freshman who is struggling to make it through business math. ” Kloke says Cepheid Variable members do more than organize AggieCon. They sponsor movies, have meetings and parties to watch movies, and trade sound tracks, videos, and books. “We’re a special interest group, ” Kloke says. “We’re not different or unique. We’re just here to have a good time. ” Students discuss f>tiilosof>lnies By Wade See Texas A&M has changed a lot over the years. Some people say for the worse, others say for the better. But, in terms of constitutional rights and religious freedom, it’s come a long way baby! The embodiment of religious freedom and a mecca for philisophical thought is the Students With Alternate Philosophies (SWAP), formerly the Atheist, Agnostic and Freethinker Society. It has been a University recognized organization since Fall 1986. Since the club’s inception, going has been a bit rocky. At times, meetings had as few as three people, and at others, meeting rooms have been packed. Some of the most successful meetings in terms of the number of people attending were titled “Knowing God Through Drugs, ” “Gay Student Services President Speaks on Homosexuality,” “Brother Who Explains Satanic Rites” and “Sexism in the Bible. ” Loris Salinas, senior French major and president of SWAP, says the group’s purpose is to create a forum for a wide variety of ideas and topics on philosophy, religion and current issues. “Anyone is welcome with an open mind who would like to share his or her viewpoints with others or just to listen to a free exchange of ideas, ” Salinas says. “We’re not out to convert anyone. It’s not our purpose to convert others. “Christians say it’s in the bible for them to witness, but there’s nothing in my religion that says I have to witness. ” Christians witness by speaking to non-believers, testifying their personal experiences with God. Salinas says the club doesn’t encourage Christians to come to the meeting with the intent of witnessing. “Most of our members have already heard all the arguments that Christians tell us for Christianity, and they’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not something they need to be concerned about, and it doesn’t offer a new perspective, ” he says. The club also has a social function. “You get to meet people who question their faith or who like to talk about it, ” Salinas says. The club plans to have a barbecue and also take a trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival. Salinas says the renaissance theme fits perfectly into the club’s philosophy. “The Renaissance symbolizes people questioning authority and things that have been taken for granted as true, ” he says. The club is not out to get attention, Salinas says, it’s here to expose people to alternative viewpoints. “Religious people always get one side of the coin,” he says. “I think it’s important to get the other side of the coin, too. ” Salinas referred to a program the club held on witchcraft. “To actually meet someone who is a witch is totally different than just learning about witches from a Christian, ” he says. “The person may not be all that bad. They could learn something from it. I think it would open their mind some. ” Bud Cox, a junior mechanical engineering major and treasurer of the club, says many people have misconceptions about the club. “Many Christians think it is organized to pull young minds away from God,” Cox says. “It’s actually more to challenge intellectual thought no matter whose side it’s on. To promote freedom of opinion and invite various speakers on different topics.” Salinas says the club’s existence at A&M is vital. It gives people an alternative to the conservatism on campus as well as an alternative to Christianity. “People who are afraid because they are questioning their beliefs are encouraged when they come to our meetings because they see people who also question it and find out it’s not so bad after all, ” Salinas says. “The club is also vital because it brings out issues that perhaps are suppressed because they are sensitive, ” he says. Not all members of the club are atheist or agnostic. Cox describes his beliefs as Christian. He says his definition of Christianity lies in the way a person treats his fellow man. “I call myself Christian because I follow what I believe Christianity to be, ” Cox says. “That way I don’t provoke a controversy that would be unnecessary. ” If a person asks seriously though, Cox says he will describe his faith in more detail. “I don’t believe in any of the divinity of Jesus and all that,” he says. “It’s more of a philosophical love God — love thy neighbor approach. I consider that’s what Christianity really means. I consider the rest of of it a product of man’s desire to discover religious truth. “I believe miracles and tales to be the stuff of legends and lore and pretty much belong there, ” Cox says. He adds that the Bible still has value, and that he takes from it what he finds useful to his life. One married couple in the group, who asked not to be identified, doesn’t claim any religion in particular. The husband spoke on his views about the existence of God. “I’m not ruling out the possibility that God exists, but any kind of system that is intended to move you toward God is bound to make you miss God, ” he says. “I don’t believe in any kind of dogma or set morality. Morality is relative. Religions are usually a set code of laws and ethics. Reality can’t be understood by a set code of anything. ” The couple has another person to consider when questioning their beliefs — a young child. The question of how they should raise their child in the context of religion is one they’ve thought quite a bit about. The wife described her intentions to raise their child as not forcing him into or away from religion. “I don’t want to keep him in the dark about religions as they are, ” she says. “I hope I will tell him about religion in a way that’s not going to influence him one way or another. I want him to have all the information he needs to make an educated decision himself. I ultimately want him to make his own choice. ” Until recently, they had been taking their son to the club meetings, but have stopped because he is getting too restless. They say they will bring him back when he is older if the club environment is right. “If it’s gonna be a group turned toward a set dogma of its own we won’t bring him, ” she says. “But if it’s an exploratory thing, like we want it to be, where everyone is stateing their own feelings and everyone’s ideas are excepted as legitimate, then I would like him to go-” The couple says they appreciate the club’s existence at . A&M. “It’s a place where we can go and talk about other than Christian beliefs and at least there are some people there who will take it seriously, ” the wife says. “You don’t have many opportunities to do that at A&M. I enjoy being able to talk about my own spiritual quests and hear about other people’s without any sort of dogma attached to it. ” Thursday; Oct. 13,1988/At Ease/Page 11
