Fayetteville Freethinker

Doug Krueger Speaks Out For Atheists

— FAST FACTS Glossary Of Terms

Atheist - One who believes there are no gods.

Agnostic - One who withholds judgment about the

existence of gods. The term was coined by Thomas

Huxley in 1869. Prior to this, uncertainty was included

in the definition of atheism. Some modern atheists are

reclaiming this older, broader understanding of the term.

Secular humanist - One who ascribes to a world

view that emphasizes human rather than religious val

ues. Secular humanists stress reason, scientific inquiry,

individual freedom and responsibility, human values and

compassion, and the need for tolerance and cooperation.

Freethinker - One who forms beliefs about religion

and the supernatural through conscientious reflection

and rational inquiry and not based upon authority and

tradition.

AT A GLANCE Fayetteville Freethinkers

Motto - “Think more, believe less”

Meets - At 2 p.m. the last Saturday of the month at

Fayetteville Public Library

Open - To atheists, agnostics and people of faith.

Freethinking is a method of arriving at conclusions, not

a set of beliefs.

Information: fayfreethinkers.com Source: Staff ReportDoug Krueger likes a good debate.

Whether he’s taking on Christian fundamentalism or investigating UFOs, he applies his wit and intellect with obvious glee.

“I’m after the truth more than anything else, whether it’s comfortable or not,” the Fayetteville resident said. “Being an atheist gives me a great sense of satisfaction. I’m facing the world as it is the best I can. I’m not trying to put my own lens on it.”

Krueger is a professor at NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville, where he teaches philosophy and world religions.

He’s also co-founder of the Fayetteville Freethinkers, a group that stresses “conscientious reflection and rational inquiry” as pathways to belief about religion and the supernatural.

The 51-year-old has spoken at a number of public forums in the past two decades, advancing an atheistic view against traditional religious beliefs. He’s a fixture on the local debate scene, as well as online and in other parts of the United States.

“It’s a lot of fun - very rewarding,” Krueger said. “The purpose is not to change people’s minds on the spot. But to plant some seeds of doubt, or seeds of common sense, maybe. And show people, someone can be an atheist and not be a bad person.” A LOVE FOR LOGIC

Krueger began to question the concept of faith as a teenager. He’d attended a Catholic church in the Rio Grande Valley as a young child. When he was 9, his mother married a minister in the United Church of Christ.

Ed Krueger worked as a community organizer, aiding farm workers in South Texas, California and Chile. The experience abroad - Doug was 14 when the family moved to South America - gave him a broader perspective of the world.

“It started to seem to me that most of what people believe tends to be a product of theirculture, not an investigation of truth, per se,” he said. “Any religion that says ‘Ours is correct and everyone needs to believe this way’ seemed bizarre.”

Krueger discussed his doubts with his stepfather, who counseled, “Never be afraid of the truth.” That struck the teen as a good rule to live by, he said. “I asked myself, will I go wherethe truth leads? The answer was ‘yes.’”

If the question sounds vaguely familiar to Star Trek fans, it may be because the 1960s television show was a major influence in Krueger’s life. He is still a Trekker today.

The character of Mr.

Spock got him interested in logic, he said. Reading about the topic led him to the broader field of philosophy.

By the time Krueger was in high school, his direction was clear, he said. He wanted to become a professional philosopher.

Krueger attended the University of Texas-Pan American in his hometown of Edinburg for two years and then transferred to Grinnell College in Iowa.

He earned a master’s degree from Purdue University in 1987.

He moved from liberal Christianity through Deism to atheism during this time, Krueger said. As a new atheist, he asked the question many people share: Without religion, where were his ethics going to come from?

His philosophy classes gave him the answer. Ninety-nine percent of the field of ethics has nothing to do with God, Krueger said.

Virtue-based theories that date to Aristotle, Immanuel Kant’s ethical theory and the utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill all provide sound philosophies for living.

When it comes to making sense of the natural world, science offers a far better explanation than religion, Krueger said.

“It seemed to me I’d reached a point in my life where I had everything I needed. I had an explanation of events and an explanation of ethics. I had pretty much everything I need in terms of a world view - without having God involved.” TAKING A STAND

Krueger came to the University of Arkansas as a Ph.D. student in the early 1990s. He shared an office with a Baptist and a Roman Catholic, both of whom he describes as fundamentalist in their views.

“I noticed something interesting. Those two guys disagreed on everything - except the fact that I was going to hell,” Krueger said with characteristic humor.

He began studying the Bible for himself, reading both the text and commentaries.

What he learned surprised him, Krueger said. “I found out the reputation of the Bible is very different from the reality of the Bible. If that’s the Good Book, I hate to see the Bad Book.”

Passages that condone slavery, genocide, misogyny and other societal ills reveal the sham of Bible-based ethics, he believes. People who cling to its teachings as the final authority are “putting ideology ahead of common sense and morality.”

The Baptist office mate invited Krueger to take part in a public debate. Giffels Auditorium was packed, he said. Organizers had to turn away as many people as were seated.

“It was a great experience. I got to get up there and show people that atheists are not scary. We don’t have horns growing out of our heads,” Krueger said. “I could see people in the audience thinking about this issue in ways they hadn’t before.”

He’d parked his car six blocks away, waiting for a backlash that didn’t come.

“For the most part, people aren’t violently antagonistic, just conceptually antagonistic,” he said.

The Rev. Michael Holland, vicar of St. Clare’s Anglican Chapel in Fayetteville, said Krueger’s outspoken stancecan benefit people of faith.

The two men were teaching assistants together at the UA.

If a philosopher’s job is to help people become more fully who they are, as Holland believes, then Krueger’s mission is a positive one. His advocacy of atheism asks people of faith to clarify their own positions, Holland said.

“Helping people come to have their own beliefs, free to think on their own, seems like a good thing to me,” he said.

‘GAME OVER’ FOR PEOPLE OF FAITH

Krueger’s early talks became the genesis for a book.

“What Is Atheism? A Short Introduction” was published by Prometheus Books in 1998. It was one of only a handful of books on the market at the time, he said.

Now, a plethora of material is available.

There has been “a sea change” in public opinion in the past 10 years, Krueger said. Eight years ago, 20 percent of those in the 18- to 26-year-old age group were unaffiliated with any religion, he said. Today, 20 percent of the total population and a third of those under 30 identify as “nones,” according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

“The younger generationis much more open to nonbelief than their parents,” Krueger said. The changing demographics are reflected in cultural issues such as the growing acceptance of homosexuality. The theory of evolution is a given for most people today.

“As far as the culture wars go, it’s pretty much game over. The older people lost.” The U.S. is following Europe into a post-Christian society, he believes.

The Internet is playing a big part in that, Krueger said. In earlier times, only scholars had easy access to the realm of scriptural research. “Now, just with a few keystrokes, this information (lists of biblical atrocities or contradictions, for example) pops up.”

Krueger used some of that information to debunk the historicity of Jesus in a presentation at the Nov. 24 Freethinker meeting. His talkwas lively and knowledgeable, yet he oversimplified the scholarly debate.

When he questioned why there were no contemporary written accounts of Jesus’ life, he seemed to assume a widespread literacy that did not exist, for example.

Darrel Henschell, cofounder of the Fayetteville Freethinkers, said he and Krueger started the group to counteract the “intellectual carelessness” they saw in the society around them. For people to graduate from the UA and advance a young earth theory is “kind of embarrassing,” Henschell said.

“We decided to be little goats instead of sheep, to stand up and do something about it,” he said.

Henschell described Krueger as a serious philosopher, a jovial person and a seasoned presenter. He loves television and movie trivia, Star Trek and magic. He is the father of four.

Don Merrell, a philosophy professor at NWACC, said Krueger’s enthusiasm and wit make him popular with his students. His classes fill up early each semester, Merrell said.

“He works very hard as a teacher. He’s trying to make sure students understand.” He uses everyday analogies to make abstract material accessible, Merrell said. He keeps his own views out of the classroom, while promoting them avidly in his free time.

Krueger founded the Freethinkers to provide people a forum for their ideas, Merrell said.

“He puts a voice to something people are unsure of, a voice to (alternative) ideas.”

Style, Pages 27 on 01/10/2013

Upcoming Events