Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio

The Paisano

Trade in your soul for a porn magazine at UTSA

Much like an annoying colony of fire ants after heavy rain, a mound of radical, extremist atheists frequently pop up on the university grounds espousing their nihilistic dribble at public meetings. Each year, a small group of very vocal individuals known as Atheist Agenda (AA) burst forth upon the UTSA campus, desperately seeking attention by trying to coax countless students to trade in religious texts for pornographic magazines. Creatively, AA has titled this obnoxious appearance “Smut for Smut.” However reprehensible, AA’s convergence upon the UTSA campus is protected by freedom of speech, but at what cost?

Many students and onlookers are noticeably distressed by this attempt to vilify what they believe to be sacred and the cornerstone of American society. These “Smut for Smut” events generally create an overtly hostile atmosphere within the university and play out as carefully orchestrated publicity events that are designed to gain attention by offending the sensibilities of the majority. Many students go to school to focus on academics solely. These students can sometimes find these AA gatherings to be very disruptive and emotionally upsetting. Often, students momentarily forget the tenets of their religious beliefs and lose their temper, while others seek to understand and challenge the collection of malcontents and their radical belief system.

Consequently, UTSA police officers and security personal must be diverted from their normal security duties to protect this aggravating group of naysayers.

AA does not just target Christian Bibles. The small group also accepts Korans, self-help books (God forbid someone try to help themselves) and other religious texts. If an individual wants to trade in their text, then the lucky person can look forward to receiving a Penthouse or Playboy magazine from wild-eyed AA members.

AA maintains that they want to educate people about the horrors that lie within religious texts and to finally reveal how dangerous these works of fiction are to the masses. Their preferred method for communicating this to students is by trading something of greater value for something they believe to be of lesser value.

I find it very troubling that these young people are willing to devote so much time and energy to a cause that is disruptive to the student population and adversely impacts the image of the university within the community.

I often imagine prospective new students taking a tour of UTSA, exploring the buildings, the faculty and the students that embody the tradition that is so much a part of the this university and then witnessing the degradation that emanates from ‘Smut on Smut’. Ultimately, it appears as if AA wants to trade their values for the values that the majority of student hold so dear. In other words, the Atheist Agenda wants to trade historic writings that have had a profound impact on countless individuals in exchange for rubbish that most people could care less about.

More to Discover