Since 2005, in-your-face atheism had a platform at the University of Texas at San Antonio in a student organization known for its “Smut for Smut” campaign.

In the campus' free-speech area, Atheist Agenda exchanged free porn for Bibles, Korans and any religious book held dear.

The group's message was that religions are more damaging than Hustler magazine.

The yearly event was low-hanging fruit for news outlets nationwide and abroad. The irreverence sparked lively debate and occasional security. Evangelical Christian groups counter-demonstrated. Muslim students confronted. Not the most flattering publicity — by design.

But times have changed.

This semester, Atheist Agenda renamed itself the Secular Student Alliance, one of 402 groups affiliated with an Ohio-based umbrella organization of the same name. The makeover underscores a national trend in which secular humanist groups have been dropping edgy, insult-minded strategies for more welcoming ones.

“We don't plan on doing (the smut-for-smut campaign) ever again,” said Jacob Schmidt, an officer with the newly formed group. “We encourage conversation, but we did it in the wrong way, just getting a rise out of people. And once you make someone defensive about their beliefs, you're not going to get through to them.”

More and more atheist groups are replacing antagonism with civility, motivated by human reason to do charitable work rather than spite against all things religious, said Greg Epstein, humanist chaplain at Harvard University and author of “Good without God.”

“We're really not that interested in tearing people down anymore. We're trying to tear down bad beliefs, but not the people who believe them,” he said. “What's going to emerge from this is a more powerful and influential secular humanist community. There really are millions and millions of us. It was easier to dismiss us when they pigeon-holed us as anti-religious. We're not. We're millions of good people, working to build a better society for everyone.”

Declining membership and the graduations of Atheist Agenda leaders last semester precipitated the change, Schmidt said. Former leaders did not return repeated requests for comment. But former members, now active with the Secular Student Alliance, said the old guard encountered resistance last semester to its over-the-top methods.

“A lot of people would come to meetings but then everyone would go straight to attacking religion,” said Schmidt, a former Atheist Agenda member. “It would really turn people off from the group. People left because we were so aggressive. We wanted to kind of settle down.”

Meetings now attract people of diverse interests, including those affiliated with a religion but seeking a place to question or doubt without conditions, leaders said.

The new group is awaiting approval as a registered UTSA student organization. But weekly recruiting efforts already reflect a kinder bunch of people.

At a small table in the central campus this week, they passed out fliers challenging the ideologies of major world religions. Alliance president Charles Duncan smiled pleasantly and, in an even-handed tone, spoke of how science and reason was a suitable basis for human charity.

“We're out here just promoting the values of humanism. You can be moral in the absence of religion,” said Duncan, 24, who in 1997 prayed for Christian salvation during a Billy Graham sermon at the Alamodome and officially came out as an atheist two years ago. “Our goal now is to, instead of inciting hostility, we want to engage in civil dialogue.”

Next semester, they are planning “Darwin Week” near the same outdoor plaza where “smut for smut” took place. They'll discuss evolution with biology and geology professors and an anthropologist. It will be followed by a debate indoors with leaders of Protestant, Catholic and Muslim student groups.

No suggestive materials involved.

alevy@express-news.net