On Tuesday, a teacher came up to the group I was hanging out with at lunch. He wanted to let us know that he was starting a chapter of a service club called the National Exchange Club. I thought it was a pretty interesting idea; I had just been thinking about starting or joining a club, and Colleges Like It™ when you're in clubs. More importantly, I've been feeling like a lousy sluggard the past something-teen weeks because I honestly don't do much. I figured joining this club would give me a sense of accomplishment and other nice stuff.

I decided to go to the first meeting, which was yesterday afternoon. There was a smallish group of people there, many of whom I knew. The teacher sounded like a fun guy to be around, and I sounded like I was going to have a pretty decent time doing service projects and things of that nature. He happened to mention that Exchange Club luncheons, to which our school chapter would be invited once in a while, begin with prayer. This got me a bit suspicious. He then passed out an information sheet about the National Exchange Club. Included was their "Covenant of Service," which had been "adopted as the philosophy which characterizes an Exchangite." It begins like this (emphasis added):

This I cannot accept. As an atheist, I accept no divine privileges, nor will I consecrate my energy to uplifting religious ideals. If those are things that characterize an Exchangite, there is no way I can be one. This club is one that promotes religion, and promoting religion flies in the face of my personally held principles. By putting religion on the same plane as good citizenship, the Exchange Club holds the regrettably widespread belief that If You're Religious You're Good And If You're Not You're Bad. Religion has given us the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Holocaust, to name but a few atrocities. An atheist isn't the kind of person who would slaughter his fellow men for having different imaginary friends in the sky.

Secondarily, the club urges its members to be blindly patriotic at all times. Though promoting religion is the deal-breaker, I don't like this much either. I'll be patriotic when I feel my country deserves it. I have right to feel patriotic whenever I want, and you can't forget that dissent is patriotic. Needless to say, I won't be joining the Exchange Club. A theist might ask why I'm making such a big deal out of it, but I'm sure theists wouldn't join a club that promotes atheism, even as a secondary goal. I'm going to show everyone that you can be a good person without believing in gods.

I wish there was something I could do about this club effectively discriminating against atheists, but I think it's been established that a private club can discriminate against whoever it wants, especially atheists -- the last group that it's socially acceptable (and often encouraged) to hate. Ironically, the day I was introduced to the Exchange Club, I had been considering starting an atheism club, so I just might go through with it eventually. Hey, I know: we could do community service projects.

My friends from the church youth group I was in before I became an atheist have called on me to participate in another improvised "Comedy Nite" like the one we had last year. I thought it would be awkward coming back to my Catholic friends as a nonbeliever, but I've been assured that they won't think much of it. (My friend Mandi is still a nominal member of the group even though she has converted to Judaism.) I'm pretty sure there won't be much religious discussion or anything, so I think it will be okay. I've been helping my sister organize the project. We have to have everything set up in time for the show on Sunday night, and I think we can manage like last time. In fact, I think it'll be even better.

The $39 Experiment is exploring the question, "Can you get free stuff from companies these days?" Apparently some companies will give you free samples of their products if you but ask.

Here's why diamonds aren't a girl's best friend. To summarize: you have been psychologically conditioned to want diamonds, which are essentially worthless but whose prices are kept artificially high, making miners subject to war and disease.

One year ago: "It was a good way to get out of class, that's for sure."
Two years ago: "It's official: the human race as we know it is spiraling downward to an end."