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Guest questions theology
By Tyeisha Prior
On October 17, 2012
Buffalo State's Freethinkers Club is hosting a presentation called "Can We Be Good Without
God" from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday in Bacon 117.
Garret Merriam, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Southern Indiana, will
introduce his presentation entitled "If There is a God, Then Anything is Permissible: Why
Theism Leads to the Collapse of Ethics."
Merriam said the discussion is based on a line from Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky's
novel "The Brother's Karamazov" which says, "If there is no God then anything is permissible."
Merriam said Dostoevsky argued that only a divine power can provide "a stable, objective
foundation for mortality."
Merriam is arguing that it is harder to ground ethics with the belief in God than without one.
Merriam has presented this topic once before and said that he would like to improve on his
previous presentation.
Discovering one of Merriam's works online, Casey Brescia, president and founder of the
Freethinkers, said he found his thoughts to be interesting.
Coincidently, Brescia found Merriam's YouTube channel, SisyphusRedeemed, while browsing
one day.
Merriam was contacted by one of the members of the Freethinkers Club through email and
accepted the offer.
Brescia said that he thought it was great that a college professor was using the Internet to
showcase their ideas on certain topics.
Through this presentation, Merriam said he wants to challenge students to think about topics in a
way that they hadn't before.
"I plan on making a compelling argument, of course, but I don't particularly care if people agree
with me or not, so long as they find my ideas interesting and thought provoking," Merriam said.
Nora Hurley, treasurer of the Freethinkers Club, said that she is excited to hear Merriam's
argument.
"I also hope that people who disagree with him will come to the event so as to question and
challenge him. I find I get the most out of these events when both sides of an argument are
presented," Hurley said.
Brescia said the purpose of the Freethinkers is to expose students to new ideas that they haven't
encountered elsewhere and to think carefully about various topics.
Hurley said that it's a club involved in finding the truth.
Hurley added, "Our common goal as a group is to promote positive changes in the world. This
usually involves discussing and debating problems or misconceptions in society and how we can
help promote awareness of them".
The club has had discussions about war, philosophy, religion and other topics in the past.
They also try to bring in guests with opposing opinion about topics. For Merriam's presentation,
Brescia said he is hoping to invite Christian groups to debate the topic at hand.
Brescia added, "[We want] to start a dialogue on campus amongst students talking about these
sorts of questions. We don't want them to confine these thoughts in their heads, but actually talk
about it."
Usually, the club holds two to three presentations a semester, but have had as many as four.
The Freethinkers is also having another event at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 25 in Ketchum 113.
Beth Delecki Earns, professor of mathematics, will be holding a presentation on the topic, "Is
Religious Homeschooling Good Care?"
The Freethinkers Club meets at 4 p.m. on Fridays in Bacon 225.
Tyeisha Prior can be reached by email at prior.record@live.com.
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