Hopefully the answers to these frequently asked questions give you further insight into our student group.

Click on a question to jump to it:
What is a non-theist?
Are you part of a national or international organization?
Do you have to be a non-theist to join?
Does The Society endorse political candidates, or a certain ideology?
Are there other non-theist groups at Purdue University?
What rules and regulations govern your organization?
Are donations made to The Society of Non-Theists tax deductible?
How was the website designed?
Is your organization run entirely by Purdue students?

Q: What is a non-theist?
A: From Wikipedia: "Nontheism is a term that covers a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of—or the rejection of —theism or any belief in a personal god or gods. Invented originally as a synonym of secularism, it has become an umbrella term for summarizing various distinct and even mutually exclusive positions united by a naturalist approach, sometimes in the plural, nontheisms." This includes but is not limited to atheists, agnostics, humanists, ignostics, objectivists, non-cognitivists, and anyone who doubts or questions the existence of a God or gods. This definition is becoming increasingly prevalent, used for instance by Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA), when he outed himself as the first open non-believer in our current United States Congress.

Q: Are you part of a national or international organization?
A: The Society of Non-Theists at Purdue University is an independent student organization, founded and run by students here at Purdue. We have an affiliation agreement with the Secular Student Alliance and Center for Inquiry - On Campus which provide us with helpful resources for operating our group. However, our organization's operations are autonomous, and our events, policies, and purpose are defined solely by our group and its membership.

Q: Do you have to be a non-theist to join?
A: Many members tend to be atheists and agnostics, but there is no belief requirement for membership.

Q: Does The Society endorse political candidates, or a certain ideology?
A: The Society does not endorse any political candidates. If asked, many members would probably share their beliefs and opinions regarding politics and certain politicians. The Society does take a special interest in supporting a separation of church and state within our government and political institutions, as well as free speech rights secured under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Q: Are there other non-theist groups at Purdue University?
A: No, for now, we are it. There once was a chapter of the Campus Freethought Alliance at Purdue University, but that organization is no longer in existence. The Purdue Skeptics Society often deals with some issues of non-theism, but they are primarily interested in matters of pseudoscience and the paranormal. The Society occasionally holds events in coordination with the Skeptics.

Q: What rules and regulations govern your organization?
A: We have laid out our rules for operation in our organization's constitution. That constitution is formed under guidelines set by Purdue University, and our organization is subject to the applicable laws of the State of Indiana in the United States.

Q: Are donations made to The Society of Non-Theists tax deductible?
A: No, they are not. Hopefully this does not deter you from supporting our cause.

Q: How was the website designed?
A: The website is hand-coded in PHP with the TextPad text editors by webmaster Andy Sage, based on design and content by co-founder Edward VanBogaert.

Q: Is your organization run entirely by Purdue students?
A: Yes. By university guideline, all officer positions and voting members are undergraduate or graduate students of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. We do have a faculty advisor (Dr. Alan Friedman of the Biology Department) who serves as a liason to fellow faculty members and provides some suggestions for the operation of our group.