On September 21, a lecture about science and religion was held in the School of Humanities and Social Science Building. In this lecture, Science and Religion: A Critical Read Through Richard Dawkins, Professor Jeongmin Lee of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences criticized Dawkins’ The God Delusion from an atheist’s point of view. The host of the lecture was the student’s club for atheists called Free Thinkers, which was newly made last semester. To learn more about the club and their lecture, The KAIST Herald met with the founder of Free Thinkers.

Could you briefly introduce yourself?
Hello, my name is Sihu Song and I double major in Computer Science and Bio and Brain Engineering. This is my last semester in KAIST. I’m the founder and current leader of Free Thinkers. Regarding my religious background, I grew up in a devout Won Buddhist family.

How did you decide to found Free Thinkers?
Just as theists each have different interpretations of their religions, there are various kinds of atheists as well. Some atheists insist that religions should be eliminated. On the other hand, some think that religion is necessary and has a role in society that cannot be substituted. Until now, there was no place for those atheists to share their opinions. Though several Internet communities have played a similar role, they are simply anti-religious groups in which members cannot make constructive conversation. Therefore, I wanted to open up new opportunities for people to freely discuss about issues related to religion. Moreover, I have always thought that a KAIST student who is supposed to be a scientist should possess a rational way of thinking, not a religious belief. Meanwhile, there was an affair which prompted me to make Free Thinkers. President Young-Gil Kim of Handong University, the founder of Korea Association for Creation Research, received an honorary doctorate from KAIST and there was intense controversy among students regarding this issue. At that time, I saw a comment from a student on ARA, asking “if there is a club for creationists on campus, why not a club for atheists?” When I saw this, I found the conviction needed to make this organization.

Given that the founding of an atheist club is a sensitive matter, didn’t you worry about the responses you might get from others? Were there any difficulties in gathering club members?
Of course I worried a lot about the possible responses from others. At first, I hid what I was doing from everyone except a few people. But then, the problem was that I couldn’t gather new members with this passive attitude. So I chose to post my contact information on ARA, after which six to seven people called me and now the number of active members is fixed at six. Also, there are non-official members who occasionally participate in our weekly debates.

While Christians can openly say that they believe in God, atheists can’t speak out their thoughts on religion. One of the reasons why I founded the club was to construct the atmosphere in which atheists can freely discuss their points. I thought that if I really want to achieve this goal, I should take the lead. So as the new semester began, I am trying to spread the word about what I’m doing.

Could you explain the lecture for our readers?
The club members and I felt the need to communicate with people outside of the club. Because we are not competent enough yet to deliver lectures ourselves, we contacted Professor Jeongmin Lee. His point was that Richard Dawkins misunderstood what religion is. Professor Lee insisted that Dawkins unjustly criticizes all religions entirely by only examining Christian Fundamentalism, a very minor aspect of Christianity. Professor Lee also said that religion definitely has a role that can never be substituted by science.

The lecture lasted about two hours, and a following debate among the audience took another two hours. There were approximately twenty participants, consisting of both undergraduate and graduate students. Participants included three theists and every participant stayed until the debate ended. It was a really productive and valuable time, and I saw enough potential for conversations between theists and atheists.

Are there any planned future activities?
For now, nothing has been determined. We have some rough ideas of future activities. Firstly, we are thinking of delivering lectures by ourselves. Or, we might hold an event to showcase movies and documentaries on atheism. Another idea is to hold a forum between evolutionists and creationists. Some students from the Department of Biological Sciences could represent the evolutionist side and for creationists, we think we could invite members of the Research Association for Creation and Science. Of course, we will keep holding our weekly debates.

Do you have any last comments?
Free Thinkers need more members. It is true that current members have similar thoughts about science and religion. But as I mentioned, there could exist different opinions among atheists and we need that variety of thoughts. We are open to everyone, so do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested in broaching the problem between science and religion.