Atheists as members?

[naraht]

As sort of related to the racial/religious requirement thread. Most of the move to remove religious requirements from fraternities/sororities were to allow either Jews or Catholics.

Would your fraternity/sorority allow initiation of a declared Atheist?

[kddani]

Originally posted by naraht
Would your fraternity/sorority allow initiation of a declared Atheist?

Why not?

[Tom Earp]

Sure, if they felt like conforming to the Ideals and Tenets of The Organization.

[Kevin]

Well, if you're going to let the jews and Catholics in, you might as well allow athiests also.

[tinydancer]

Originally posted by ktsnake
Well, if you're going to let the jews and Catholics in, you might as well allow athiests also.

i'm so sorry. that made me laugh and i know that is so wrong

[Tom Earp]

Originally posted by ktsnake
Well, if you're going to let the jews and Catholics in, you might as well allow athiests also.

[kddani]

what about Scientologists?

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by kddani
what about Scientologists?

Hey, you've got to draw the line somewhere!

Kidding.

I don't see athiests being a problem in our chapters.

[MysticCat]

There has been some discussion of this topid here:

Joining an organization and not being religious and here:


Christianity in ritual.

You'll see in that second thread some discussion of the fact that Kappa Sigma (perhaps reflecting some Masonic influence) requires belief in God. The specifics of that belief are up to the individual. There may be other GLOs that, again reflecting some Masonic or other influence, require belief in a Supreme Being. My Fraternity does not.

[ilikehazing]

From my understanding, Kappa Sigmas is NOT christianity based. That's just what I had been told. I was told that when they founded Chi Omega at Arkansas, that they also passed along the non-christian based aspects. Just what I've been told.

[CutiePie2000]

I've recycled an old post of mine and here it is:

Robert Egan addresses this very subject in "From Here to Fraternity"..he writes: God, Man and Fraternity

Pledges often wonder whether they must admit to a belief in the Big Guy (God, the Almighty, the Creator) during initiation. Yes and No. Yes, some rituals may mention the word God, since many were founded during more traditional times, but no, almost no rituals (according to one study) ask outrightly in the pledge actually believes in Him (or Her).

The rule of thumb is this: If the ritual mentions God, and you are a nonbeliever, either pretend you didn't hear it, or think of God as atoms, love, or a sunny day at the beach, say the stock phrases; and worry about your principles later, such as after the initiation party, after you leave college, or when you reach the Gates of Heaven. Everybody does.

Take it as you will......

[Erik P Conard]

we have initiated felons, athiests, agnostics, religious folk, queers, lesbians, porn stars, fruitcakes...we have no "clause."
Character, reputation...important, and even then sometimes we stub our toes.
Open rush, open arms. open minds

[xo_kathy]

Originally posted by ilikehazing
Kappa Sigmas...I was told that when they founded Chi Omega at Arkansas, that they also passed along the non-christian based aspects.

Kappa Sigma did NOT found Chi Omega. Dr. Charles Richardson, a MEMBER of Kappa Sigma and friend of our 4 female founders, helped the ladies form the fraternity and wrote our ritual and constitution.

Chi Omega's open motto is Hellenic Culture and Christian Ideals. That said, we had quite a few Jewish girls in my chapter and they never had a problem with the open motto. And while I don't want to comment on my ritual, I will say that accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is not part of it.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by ilikehazing
From my understanding, Kappa Sigmas is NOT christianity based. That's just what I had been told.

Read carefully. I didn't say it was. I referred to a thread where Kappa Sigmas represented that, despite what Robert Egan says in "From Here to Fraternity," Kappa Sigma requires initiates to profess belief in a Supreme Being, not unlike Freemasonry. As I said, the specifics of that belief can be up to the individual. But one can be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Hindu, possibly Buddhist, Unitarian-Universalist, Deist, Theist or any number of other things and affirm belief in a Supreme Being.

BTW, the pledge manual of Kappa Sigma, Bononia Docet, states (on page 33):

Before any man can be initiated as a Kappa Sigma, he must give his word that he is not a member of another college fraternity and profess a belief in God, and scripture and its teachings. While the Ritual does not require adherence to any one religion, it requires belief in certain values, including that man is responsible to a higher authority.

ETA: Anything I know about this comes only from public sources and from discussion on GC, not from any knowledge of esoteric Kappa Sigma information. So don't take me as an authority on this -- just as someone who is passing along previously posted information that some friendly Kappa Sigs inform me may be a little off the mark. In other words, add a few grains of salt.

[AChiOhSnap]

I relayed this story already in the Gamma Gamma Chi thread, but apparently many GLOs (or their individual chapters) would have, in the past, had a problem with initiating a non-Christian.

In the early 1970s, my boyfriend's mom was a member of a nationally prominent NPC sorority. After they gave out bids one year, they found out that one of their new members was Jewish. They refused to let her initiate since a Jewish girl "could not partake in a Christian ritual" and immediately depledged her -- my bf's mom feels bad now, of course, but she said at the time it was a unanimous decision because they really felt that it was a religious ritual.

It may have just been her chapter, and I know it wouldn't be that way now, but it's a valid question. In some cases, religion very much mattered.



Edited for spelling