For many organizations at the University, it is a regular practice to create chalk illustrations around campus, particularly between the Ferguson Center and the Quad.
Among the organizations that create such illustrations is the 2-year-old group known as the Alabama Atheists and Agnostics.
This semester, AAA has chalked advertisements for the club that read: “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone!” as well as quotes from atheism ads, such as “Millions of Americans are good without God” and even the drawing of a “flying spaghetti monster” that reflects the relatively lighthearted attitude of the organization.
Some of the quotes that were chalked onto the sidewalk were recently met with a heavy amount of opposition, however.
“Over the course of a week, all of the chalking we did were defaced in some way,” said AAA president Gordon Maples. “One of the chalkings, we made a point to repair, and it was repeatedly defaced over the course of the week. We have continued to repair it each time it has been damaged in order to make a point.”
This fact would seemingly indicate that there is a substantial opposition to not only AAA chalkings, but to the organization itself. Maples, although he admits that AAA does not appeal to everyone, said he believes the opposite.
“Outside of our target demographic, non-theistic students, people seem on the whole either apathetic or mildly curious,” Maples said. “There are students on campus who do seem to take offense to our organization’s existence, but they appear to be in a minority.”
Kaitlyn O’Neal, a freshman majoring in advertising, said she thinks students should be tolerant of the beliefs of their peers, yet said she didn’t necessarily agree with what the club had chalked.
“I believe that everyone has a right to their opinion, as long as they don’t sound threatening or try to force their beliefs upon you,” she said. “As long as you don’t, then it’s okay.”
According to Maples, AAA members continue chalking, despite the fact that their creations are often erased, to prove a point.
“We are not discouraged by these actions, and we will continue to reach out to our fellow non-theists in the student body,” Maples said. “We are trying to reach out to interested students with our chalking, just as any other student group does. We continue to chalk because it works: we have new members coming in all the time that would not have known about the group if not for our chalking.”
