A Bright Blog Interview - Jessica Ahlquist

Jessica Ahlquist - Student, Activist, and Blogger
Center for Inquiry's Volunteer High School Coordinator

If the mounting evidence from demographic surveys is to be believed, the current generation is the least religious in America's history. Jessica Ahlquist is an active member of the present generation of non-believers, a committed atheist who's made waves throughout the non-believing community (and the state of Rhode Island) for her courageous leadership on church-state separation in public schools. Her battle for civil rights began when she noticed that school she attends has, for the past five decades, displayed a prayer banner in the auditorium that includes a reference to a "Heavenly Father" and a closing "Amen." Jessica rightfully recognized this as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by a public agency, and filed a lawsuit through the ACLU against the Cranston, Rhode Island school district. Responses from the atheist community have, of course, been supportive (Richard Dawkins called her a "hero"), while the reaction from her local community has been mixed. (One example: When asked if the banner should remain in the high school auditorium during an all school assembly, Cranston mayor Allan Fung emphatically it should "stay exactly where it is"). 

Jessica has kindly agreed to an interview for A Bright Blog and be featured in my ongoing series on Inspiring Rationalist Women.

ABB:  Most of our readers have already heard about your battle for civil rights in school. Many of us, however, have not heard about your personal experience of atheism. Have you always been a non-believer, and what experiences helped create your atheist identity?

JA: When I was younger I identified as a Christian, though I was not very religious. My parents had always raised me to accept people, think for myself, and question things. It wasn’t until I was in the fifth grade and my mother became very sick with a mental illness that I turned to God and requested his help. When he never answered my prayers, I started to doubt that he existed and eventually grew to accept that he did not.

ABB: There's quite a lot of debate about what makes human beings "religious." Is belief hardwired into our biology, or is it something instilled by family and culture? Can human beings build moral societies based on science?

 JA: I don’t think that religion is anything hardwired into our biology. If anything, it would be fear of the unknown that makes us so vulnerable to these lies. Society seems to be why people are religious, especially today. And of course, people want to be accepted by their families, friends, and everyone around them. As a person who does not believe in anything supernatural or has any fear of a god’s punishment, I still maintain good morals and always try to do the right thing. Science can definitely be used as a guideline for morals. I’m a vegetarian because despite not believing in a soul, I think it’s wrong to take the life of another animal when science has allowed there to be so many other food options that don’t cause harm.

ABB: You talk about science with a lot of conviction and enthusiasm. How you think science fits into your view of the world, and what you think it offers to humankind as a whole?

JA: I see science as fundamental and absolutely crucial to everything we do. I believe it’s often undervalued and misunderstood to be a bad or negative thing. Confusingly, many seem to think that it detracts from the beauty of the universe, but I think it’s the exact opposite. Knowing that things like the universe, the planet, and the life on it were not designed by a creator is not disappointing in any way; it’s the exact opposite. The idea that the universe is somehow here, that all of these amazing things have occurred by chance is far more amazing to me. And of course, I think that science is the key to making improvements. There doesn’t seem to be much that science can’t fix someday.

ABB: Let's talk about the growing phenomenon of atheist bullying. As more young people come "out" about their atheism, there's been a concurrent rise in hateful, often violent responses from their communities. (The case of Damon Fowler from Louisiana comes to mind.) What has been the lowest or most difficult moment in your battle over the past year?

JA: Bullying is definitely a real thing that does a lot of damage to a lot of people. Outspoken atheists do seem to commonly become the victims of harassment in both society and on the internet. For me, the insults and feeling of ostracism began at the very beginning, when I attended my first subcommittee meeting back in November of 2010. One event that stands out in my mind was this one day at school when Mayor Fung came in to give a talk about minorities for “Diversity Week.” At the end of his talk, there was a Q & A in which a student asked for his opinion on the school prayer. He pointed to the prayer and declared in front of hundreds of students that he wanted to see the prayer stay where it was and that it was perfectly legal. Almost everyone in the auditorium stood and applauded him, cheering him on. This was hurtful and extremely upsetting, especially after the mayor had just given a speech about how important acceptance of minorities is.

ABB: That's very concerning, but sadly not unusual. Atheists have a long way to go. How would you like to continue your fight for the rights of non-believers after high school? Do you see yourself starting a scientific career, or perhaps becoming a writer or professional advocate? 

JA: I recently became the Volunteer High School Coordinator for the Center for Inquiry and I plan to continue working with them even after I have graduated. For a career, I hope to be a writer, but I am open-minded to many different possibilities.

ABB: Congratulations on the new job! How do you envision reaching out to young people who want to get involved with the atheist community?

It’s really been amazing to have the opportunity to do something like this. When you think of the atheist community, you tend to think of younger people, but those younger people are mostly college students. There aren’t too many high school aged people out there who even know that the atheist community exists. I didn’t until I began fighting the school prayer and received support from different organizations and people. One way that I really want to start reaching out to high school students is by making ourselves more known and much easier to get in touch with.

ABB:  As noted earlier, we're celebrating women who inspire the world through rationalism or atheism - including yourself. Are there any female role models that have guided and inspired you?

I wasn’t actually too aware of many female atheist activists out there until after I had already begun speaking out against the prayer in my school and was invited to several conferences. My first conference was the American Humanist Association annual conference. There I got to meet amazing people like Dawkins (Lucky! - Ed.) and Pinker, but I also had an opportunity to meet some brilliant atheist women. Margaret Downey stands out in my mind as definitely one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. She’s definitely been an inspiration for me since she started at a young age and maintained her activism through her life so far. Others were Greta Christina, Jen McCreight, and Rebecca Watson, whose blogs I now read constantly. Meeting them was a big change and very inspiring since most of the atheists I had ever met or looked up to had been men.

ABB: I'm going to end with a purely-for-fun question. Rumor has it you're a Doctor Who fan, which I'm finding is surprising common among atheists. The doctor does favor a rationalistic view of the universe. What do you think - is the Doctor an atheist? And which doctor is your favorite?

I'm a HUGE Doctor Who fan.  I do think the Doctor is an atheist.  How could he not be?  My favorite doctor has to be David Tennant, who I almost cried over leaving the show.

ABB: Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with us, Jessica. Good luck as you finish your high school career and move on to what is sure to be a very promising future!


Jessica maintains a witty and insightful blog at http://jessicaahlquist.com/ - check it out! She's also started a Facebook page which you can find here. Her case against the Cranston School District will be heard on October 13, 2011. A Bright Blog will be present to report on the trial and outcome.