Where do you go when you have religious beliefs that do not fit in with the mainstream religious views? Who can you trust to give you religious fulfillment without judging you for not following a specific religion?
The Shepherd University Secular Student Alliance is an organization composed of individuals of questioning faiths, such as atheists, agnostics and other such secularists. Erin Piasecki, a senior English major with a minor in women’s studies, is the current president of the Shepherd University SSA.
Piasecki grew up culturally Catholic. When she was 13 – 14 years old, her parents asked if she wanted to continue being a part of the Catholic faith. She declined.
Piasecki said, “There’s no word for not fitting in with the religious majority.”
Her family was also very liberal and often conflicted with the church.
The SSA just struck a chord Piasecki has always felt. The group is extremely open and not affiliated with any particular secular organization. Piasecki likes the group’s openness, though it makes the group hard to manage at times. It is up to the group members to decide which direction the SSA should take.
The hardest challenge for Piasecki has been finding a way to unite the numerous affiliations under the secularist name. The secular title holds several belief systems under its banner, but that does not mean the beliefs all get along together. Piasecki said that her biggest challenge is giving all the members of SSA what they want and meeting the needs of the group as a whole.
To prepare for being the SSA president, Piasecki attended the yearly SSA conference in Columbus, OH. Former SSA president Aaron Rock attended the conference the year before for the leadership seminar, and Piasecki had decided to follow in his footsteps.
Piasecki said, “There are a lot of people who felt the way I felt.”
According to a report by PEW, there are more non-believers now than there have been in the last 40 years.
“This group needs to be in place to be there for them,” said Piasecki.
Piasecki feels it is important to have a place where you do not have to explain what you mean by ethics as a non-religious person. Piasecki feels that there is a large amount of religious organizations but few places for a secular person. The SSA is a safe haven for secular students in a non-secular environment.
The SSA is a bit tongue-in-cheek when it comes to events. The first big event was Sell Your Soul for a Cupcake, where fake contracts were signed in exchange for a cupcake.
Piasecki said, “We got some funny looks, some confusion and some people wanted us to explain ourselves.”
The group was not asked for explanations in a mean way. People just wanted to know more about what the organization was doing.
The group also recently celebrated Charles Darwin’s birthday by holding a discussion panel on Darwin Day, Feb. 12, 2013.
On why she feels the SSA is important, Piasecki said she believes “it serves a social good on this campus and on campuses across the country.”