Freethought Society forming – Florida Times-Union, The (Jacksonville, FL) –
September 4, 1998 | Florida Times-Union, The (Jacksonville, FL) | Monica Richardson, Times-Union staff writer | Page B-6
Earl Douglas Coggins has questioned religion all his life. When he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and an examiner asked for his religious belief, he didn’t know what to say. He still has his military dog tags that read: “No preference.”
For people just like him, Coggins is forming the First Coast Freethought Society. The group will have its first meeting from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m. Thursday at the Southeast branch library, 10599 Deerwood Park. The organization will be for people like Beth Perry, of the Southside, who was a “very devout Christian” for 20 years but changed her mind after studying religion and decided to become a freethinker and an atheist. “This group will serve the needs of the non-religious,” said Coggins . “We’re not going to be adversarial. We’re not trying to attack religious people. We just want to educate the public about what a freethinker and an atheist is in a non-violent manner much like Martin Luther King Jr. educated people about civil rights non-violently.”
The group will be affiliated with the Council for Secular Humanism, an umbrella organization for non-religious groups around the country. According to the New-York based organization, this is the first organized atheist and free-thought group to form in the Jacksonville area.
After moving last year from Keystone Heights and participating in a humanist group in Gainesville, Coggins said he looked for a similar organization in Jacksonville but couldn’t find one. That’s when he decided to start the First Coast Freethought Society. Some of the things the society will do in the future as it meets monthly are to engage the religious community in debates on issues such as separation of church and state and whether God exists. The group also will sponsor conferences, workshops, lectures and bring in speakers such as Dan Barker of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Even before the group’s first meeting, interest has been steady, Coggins said. In some cases, the interest isn’t always favorable, but Coggins said he is expecting at least 50 people to attend Thursday. The group has promoted itself by placing fliers in libraries across the city, including at Jacksonville University, the University of North Florida and Florida Community College at Jacksonville.
“It hasn’t been easy,” said Perry. “Some people have a problem with the fliers. I think some people think we’re going to hell as far as they’re concerned. But we really want this organization to serve as an education tool.” Coggins and Perry said atheists have a bad reputation because people think they are “devil worshippers.” “Basically, we don’t have a religious faith, and if you say the moon is made of green cheese, freethinkers will say prove it,” said Coggins. “We don’t just assume. We take the common-sense
approach. And, we believe that some religions are promoting inappropriate information about evolution.”
JoAnn Mooney, executive director of the Alliance of Secular Humanist Societies, said the First Coast Freethought Society will be one of eight humanist groups in Florida and 62 across the country that are affiliated with the alliance. “It’s really beginning to snowball,” said Mooney. “People are starting to realize they’re humanist, and they want to meet people like them.”
