At City College, there is a veteran student who is president of the Sac City Freethinkers club and simultaneously carries another interest that may be surprising.
“I like religion,” says 34-year-old Steven McIntosh, head of the only group at City College that offers a gathering specifically for non-religious students. He has been with the group for two years and was voted president last fall.
McIntosh says he grew up in a household with strict Mormon beliefs until he began drifting from the dogmatic aspects at age 18 and took more of an interest in science and other religions. McIntosh is still officially and actively part of the Mormon religion. He still holds some Mormon beliefs. In addition, he also associates himself with Catholicism and a handful of other religions.
McIntosh says believing in a dogma (a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof) is an “integral part of the human experience,” although he has been a self-proclaimed atheist for some time.
“McIntosh uses his experience with religion to teach others,” says Donald Peat, a student who has been a member of the Sac City Freethinkers for one semester.
According to the faculty adviser of the group, graphic communication professor Don Button, one way McIntosh teaches others is by dispelling stereotypes about both religious and non-religious people. “He does that very well,” Button says.
McIntosh also uses his familiarity with religion to bring people of different backgrounds together. As president of the Sac City Freethinkers, McIntosh takes extra steps to extend a friendly hand to religious groups on and off campus by inviting and encouraging social get-togethers. Button says that last December McIntosh helped orchestrate a “godless” holiday party for the Freethinkers, religious groups and non-club students, as an opportunity for a fun gathering that did not exclude anyone.
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“God, religion, spirituality— it’s all up for grabs,” he says. “Any idea is open to criticism and open to defense.”
McIntosh exercised this philosophy when he chuckled about people moving away from dogma. “Reading your Bible seems to lead to atheism,” he says.
At one of the discussion meetings this semester between the Sac City Freethinkers and the Bible club of City College, Grace Alive, there was a group debate on a touchy subject, which brought out a lot of toe-tapping and other forms of nervous fidgeting. McIntosh sat relaxed. With deliberate blinks and a still face, he focused and listened intently to both sides as they spoke. When voices began to rise, he diverted the topic to keep the situation neutral.
McIntosh says he approaches his open-minded and reason-based philosophy with a sense of humor to keep things light. After the discussions with the Bible club, a group was outside talking when a large insect flew off course and crashed into McIntosh, then buzzed around his head. He suggested the bug may be part of a plague sent by God, who was angered at his freethinker’s stance on deities.
McIntosh says he has entertained the idea of a higher spiritual power, but he feels there is “not enough suffi cient evidence for God.” He says, however, he would be accepting of someone who did not share this view.
McIntosh says he still finds awe and wonder in the universe, just not through the concept of any deity.
“The fact that all the atoms in my body were once an exploding star, I think that’s cool,” McIntosh says.
