Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
EVANGELICAL
THE GREAT
MERICAN
lHEISf
DEBATE OF '78
FREEDOM
OF CHOICE
$1.25
A Journal Of
Atheist News
And Thought
September, 1978
!I
EDITORIAL
COMMENT CORNER
NEWS
American Judaism Ailing
Zanies Afoot In Kentucky
The Great Debate - O'Hair Zaps Preacher
FEATURE ARTICLES
An Atheist Deals With Death
8utterfly
McQueen - Our 4-Star Atheist
God & The Gladiators
Catholic Immigration:
Domination Through
Women, Know Thine Enemies
Religious Broadcasts & Other Sit-Coms
Bill Baird's Column
AMERICAN
ATHEIST RADIO SERIES
ATHEIST BOOK REVIEW
The Naked Emperor
September,
2
3
5
7
9
14
16
18
22
24
.25
26
34
Numbers
36
Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair / Managing Editor: Jon Garth Murray
General Editor: Frank Duffy / Production: Ralph Shirely / Circulation: John Mays
Non-Residential Staff: Ignatz Sahula-Dycke, G. Richard Bozarth, James Erickson,
Wells Culver, J. Michael Straczynski, Joe Kirby, Elaine Stansfield, Bill Baird,
Gerald Tholen
The American Atheist magazine is published monthly by American Atheists, 2210 Hancock
Drive, Austin, Texas 78756, a non-profit, non-political, tax-exempt, educational organization.
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2117, Austin, TX, 78768; copyright 1978 by Society of Separationists, Inc.; Subscription rates: $15.00 per year; $25.00 for two years. Manuscripts submitted
must be typed, double-spaced and accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The
editors assume no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts.
THE AMERICAN
ATHEIST
Post Office Box 2117
Austin, Texas 78768
Enter my subscription
NEW
Total Enclosed $,
MAGAZINE
RENEWAL
Name
Address
Texas
September,
1978
.....
ON THE COVER
1978
September, 1978
religious onslaught so long as they do nothing to hinder the devouring creed. Under the guise of Olympian
intellectualism
they linger in their dignity with arms
folded and backs toward the religious beast which
will eventually devour them as they lecture condescendingly to those who fight their battles for them.
As psychologist Nathaniel Branden has written:
"I n
logic these two positions [Atheism and Theism] exhaust the possibilities.
Agnosticism
is not a third
position, it is the evasion of a position."
Hence it is that as Atheists we go it alone against
the mindless behemoth of religion while potential
allies are immobilized
because, in his/her desire to
"play it safe," an Agnostic's belief in the possibility
of god's existence - without
reason - is, in effect,
a capitulation
to the forces of irrationality
who likewise sustain their faith entirely bereft of reason.
For the Agnostic, contemplation
of the large nurnbers of Theists (slhe would provoke should (s)he reveal the Atheist within which supports the Agnostic
without
is cause enough to evade a choice between
Theism and its superior - Atheism. It is a reluctance
and/or an inability to prosper amid the hostility from
one's inferiors which distinguishes a cactus-like Atheist
from the Agnostic who would please all and offend
none.
Like the browning leaves which rain from the trees
during this and every Autumnal
Equinox season, the
Agnostic is subject to the wind of greatest velocity.
Leaves are expendable as trunk and branch and root
- and often thorns - are required for lasting permanence in a universe which acknowledges no "third
position"
between existence and non-existence.
To
seek such an alternative where none is possible is to
pretend to be rational.
COeMeMENT
O
.R
Mother Atheism
Dear Editor,
In the May 1978 issue the article, "Whose Sister Is Science?" by G. Richard
Bozarth states: "Perhaps it is better to describe Atheism as the child of science."
This is wrong. Atheism is not the child of science. Science is the child of Atheism.
In the July 1978 issue Mr. Bozarth, in his wonderful "Atheist Letters -I", states
in answer: First, what is Atheism? Atheism may be defined as the 'mental attitude
which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason.' "
This is the mental attitude that put science to work. From primitive times to today, man, not satisfied with his condition, has tried to better his life.
We owe all our progress to Atheism. We should understand that all scientific
thought, from medical science to anthropology, belongs only to Atheism. We can't
live without Atheism. Atheism is as necessary to every human being as are the water,
food and air that we must have to live. There is nothing contradictory about Atheism.
It would be wonderful if everybody would study the book, The Necessity of
Atheism, by D.M. Brooks, M.D.
I C
ampos
,
Topeka, KS
.Mr, Campos,
, Science is the child of Atheism only in the sense that what we call scientific curiosity is an atheistic virtue. By this, I mean, one who is scientifically curious accepts
no explanation about natural phenomena simply because an authority insists the
explanation be accepted. Aristotle and Galen were once such authorities, and William
Harvey's great work on the motion of the heart and blood begins by blasting away
at blind acceptance of these ancients' "truths."
God, or rather the various priesthoods have always been such authorities. But, as
Harvey put it, true scientists, "who are only eager for truth and knowledge, never
regard themselves as already so thoroughly informed, but that they welcome further information from whomsoever and from whencesoever it may come." This is a
disticntly Atheist sentiment, for priests and their flocks usually always consider
themselves thoroughly informed by their special "divine truth."
However, many great scientists have been and are devout religionists. The
atheistic spark of scientific curiosity is obviously not enough to account for the astounding rise of Atheism in the past two centuries. Scientific knowledge is responsible. The increase of such knowledge has given us so many answers about nature,
when once humans could helplessly only explain by the magical operations of deities,
that the necessity of a deity has steadily diminished. In this sense I mean Atheism is
the child of science. The unprecedented success of the American Atheists came
after the unprecedented explosion of scientific knowledge that is the most unique
aspect of this century. Not even an Ingersoll could put together a comparable organization last century, prior to the explosion.
..
..
I agree that a successful scientist must necessarily have a degree of atheistic spirit,
and this has always been true, as Mr. Campos so correctly observes. But Atheism that is, atheistic philosophy - in order to thrive and grow and build national centers, requires a truly scientific civilization such as Western Civilization has become
in this century. What is a cause may be called a parent.
G. Richard Bozarth
N
E
R
Rabbi Agrees
One Generation
To Another
Mr. Shirley,
In your recent AA column ["Theological Mythomania", June issue] you wrote,
"I beseech you [the clergy J , let your congregations of unthinking sheep go free and
earn your bread by the sweat of your prow ... "
.
.
I would like you to know that I take your words to heart. I am a Jewish rabbi
(in Hebrew rabbi means, simply, "teacher") - a lay rabbi - nev.er went to theology school, and I work as a social worker for the state of Alaska With t~en-agers.
Both in my social work and in the Sunday school classes I occasionally teach
to Jewish children, I do not preach the biblical line, but the scientific and rational.
I find it's possible to reach the students on this level. So you see, there are some
rabbis (and probably some ministers) .who are fig~ting thei~m and ~rying to free
people's minds from the old superstIt~ous. ~rap. suu, I remam a Je~lsh teacher. I
don't teach Judaism, though. I teach scientific theory and human ethics,
Dan Bloom
Juneau. AK
Austin, Texas
September, 1978
Page 3
More
Reader
COlDlDent
Mutual Vibes
Dear Editor,
As a long-time S.O.S. member I
would like to comment on a recent article.
In the July issue of The American
Atheist writer Ignatz Sahula-Dycke in
his article, "Christianist Face-Saving:
Anti-Semitism", makes few references
to the Arab world. I feel you should've
noted how few Jews there really are in
this world. Also, I believe there are
more Jewish Atheists than any other
sect ratio-wise.
You must understand that I as a
Jewish Atheist have two stigmas to
overcome: that of being labeled a Jew
in addition to the hated term of Atheist.
If you'll pardon the expression, I have
two crosses to bear in life.
I am a Jew because I am called one.
It has nothing to do with religion.
Rather, you'll find I am one of the
best damned Atheists you could ever
meet!
This does not mean I am capable of
disregarding the pains my people endure. I assure you that I can fight Jewish fanatics much easier than those of
any other sect.
In summary, I say bug off the Jews.
They have and will continue to have
problems of their own without the
help of this magazine to which I subscribe and sympathize with as I consider Madalyn the heroine of our times.
Long after we are dead she will be remembered - positively, I hope.
I may have taken your article somewhat out of context, yet I detected
certain "vibes."
I would also like to say, Mr. SahulaDycke, that you are a brilliant intellectual and an outstanding writer. Let's
stick together in the fight for reason
for our mutual benefit.
As author Tom Robbins said:
"People need logic, but want magic."
H. Harold Riloff
Wynnewood, PA
Mr. Riloff,
Yes, the people want magic, but,
sadly, all they get from religion is
double-talk. You're right about the
vibes. Thanks for writing.
Ignatz Sahula-Dycke
Page 4
Special Thanks
Dear Editor,
The two weeks that we spent at the American Atheist Center in Austin were
quite an experience. The daily long hours of work which we witnessed and shared
proved how deeply dedicated our "leaders" are to the cause of American Atheism.
From early in the morning till almost midnight, seven days a week, we were impressed with the efficiency of the national staff.
It was an extremely encouraging experience, but it was also disheartening at
times. We were pleased to meet so many people with like opinions who shared our
Atheist philosophy. It was great to watch a computer print mailing labels for thousands of Atheists all over the world. The printing press, which on many occasions
seemed to run non-stop, was fascinating to watch as it turned out thousands of
sheets of Atheist news.
Working in the library with the thousands of very old (and new) Atheist-oriented
books was very informative. Itis so important for Atheists to have a secure place to
store and protect the old Ingersoll, Paine, McCabe, and other titles on Atheism.
Stamping and "golding" the new American Atheist membership cards enabled us
to become acquainted with the names of Atheists from almost every state. Hopefully
we will be able to meet most of these people at next year's convention in Dallas.
What was discouraging was NOT the religionists' fight against Atheism, but
instead a situation which finds Atheists fighting among themselves. Some would
write that they were going to cancel their magazine subscription [see below] because
they. didn't like American Atheism being symbolized by the atomic energy insignia.
Another Atheist asked that his name be taken off the mailing list because he didn't
agree with a particular article in the magazine. Some would cease mailing in a
monthly pledge because they weren't receiving personal replies from the center.
Unless everything was done exactly as these people demanded, they would quit!
We ask that before any fellow Atheists quit our organization they visit the
national center in Austin. See how busy things are all the time. See how many letters are received each day, all of which cannot possibly be answered. Judge for yourself how dedicated to Atheism every person working there is. We can only be effective if we are UNITED.
We like our American Atheist Center. We are impressed by the people working
there. If you live too far from Austin to visit in person, please don't neglect your
monthly pledge of support. The center can't operate without YOU, and you can't
be adequately represented without the center!
Kurt Lenhart
Megan Zusne
Tulsa, OK
Indeed it was our distinct pleasure to have two hard-core Atheists such as Megan
and Kurt visit and share the load with us. As coworkers they were outstanding in
their perseverance in seeing a difficult task completed. As fellow Atheists these two
teen-agers from Oklahoma were immeasurably encouraging to us as representatives
of a new generation of freethinkers who will see the Aims & Purposes of American
Atheism achieved. Megan and Kurt: thanks.
The National Staff
.....!!@*%*!!&t*%*$!!I. .....
Dear Editor,
The editorial justification for the use of the atomic energy symbol as the emblem
of the Atheist movement [June issue] leaves me cold with disgust. To say that the
attack on atomic energy is "an attack on the scientific method" only mouths the
insanity spewed by those lovers of progress at any cost - even the survival of
humankind.
It is not the scientific method at issue here; many rational people have in fact
used that method to arrive at their position in opposition to the unbridled use of
nuclear energy.
I regret that as much as I desire to contribute to the spreading of Atheist thought
in this country, I cannot in good conscience support an Atheist organization such
as yours. Please cancel my subscription.
Hal Nelson
Granite Falls, WA
September, 1978
~I
Not Enough
"Jewish communal loyalty is produced by beliefs in the religion or Judaism of the community." Basing Jewish survival on "ethnic-oriented nonreligious institutions"
is absurd, he
charged.
Advocates of polydoxy do not see
their movement leading to the downfall of Reform congregations. Rather,
they say, the Institute of Creative
Judaism will supply educational materials to allow Reform Jews to learn the
widest possible range of religious
views.
Reform Judaism is an American
phenomenon that assimilated the influx of Jewish immigrants from Europe
in the early 1900s. It abandoned many
rituals of the stricter forms of Orthodox
and Conservative Judaism.
But, Reines said, in recent years too
many Reform congregations have begun taking on the older trappings and
forcing their members to follow certain beliefs. He called that attitude a
mental straitjacket.
"Reform Judaism never came of
'The news which fills one half of the magazine is chosen to demonstrate,
month after month, the dead reactionary
hand of religion. It dictat~
good habits, sexual conduct, family s!ze,. it censures cinema, theater, television.' even education.
It dictates life valu~s and ~ifestyle. Religion is
politics and, always, the most authoritarian
and reactionary
politics. We editorialize our news to emphasize this thesis. Unlike any other magazine or newspaper in the United States, we are honest enough to admit it.
.J
Austin, Texas
September, 1978
Page 5
Italian WOlllenDefying
Pope's Abortion Threats
Many Italian women are openly defying the Roman Catholic Church as
they are taking advantage of Italy's
new liberalized abortion law.
This despite a major campaign
by the church, the refusal of many
doctors and nurses to perform the
operation, and a shortage of beds so
acute that in one Rome hospital
women admitted for abortions were
crammed two to a bed.
On June 6, a new law superseding
an old Fascist-era statute went into
effect permitting abortion for the first
time in Italy, whose dominant Roman
Catholic Church considers it tantomount to murder as a crime against
the "purity of the Italian race."
Passed in Parliament by Communist, Socialist and moderate parties
over the opposition of the ruling
church-backed
Christian Democrats,
the law allows a woman over 18 to
seek an abortion for physical, economic, social or psychological reasons dur-
Page 6
September, 1978
~/
joekirby's
--bottom line onthe divine
Austin,
point," said Bert Combs, chief counsel for the board, who is a former governor of Kentucky, is that the state
has not only the right but the obligation
to assure itself that there are qualified
teachers teaching these children."
The lawyer for the plaintiffs, William
A. Ball, who successfully fought a similar suit for the Amish in Minnesota, is
contending that the current situation
is "excessive entanglement between
the state and church schools." His
witnesses in three days of testimony
have said repeatedly that any state interference in their schools would be
a violation of their religious liberty.
Witness for the plaintiff Rev. C.C.
Hinton Jr. of the Saline Christian
Academy in Somerset, Ky., delivered
the fundamentalists' view.
"Th Bible says that we are to diligently train our children to love the
lord and serve the lord," Hinton said.
"In order to be diligent about it on a
day-by-day basis it must be a part of
every subject, not an addition to our
subjects. For instance, our basic textbook in the science department is
the Bible."
Texas
September, 1978
Page 7
Unfair Advantage
Clifford said the practice posed
"potential political divisiveness," and
gave religious groups a financial advantage which they could not obtain by
renting space in the commercial market.
Conford said that any use of public
buildings for religious purposes, no
matter what the taxpayer cost and involvement of public officials, was
"antithetical to the fundamental principle of separation between church
and state embedded in both the federal
and state constitutions.
"It is particularly opprobrious to
countenance violation of separatism in
public schools, where children are
taught to respect the basics of democracy, including that fundamental principle," he said.
Page 8
September, 1978
~/
Great Debate
Of '78!!
O'Hair Zaps Cincinnati Preacher
Part of an audience of 1,200 Cincinnati-area residents who came to witness the "Great Debate of '78.
At the American Atheist Center there is general agreement
that debating Christians is a waste of time. Often we recommend to persons who ask for "replies to religious arguments"
that they should not bother to give. any. The Christians use
Atheists to reinforce their own beliefs and go away even more
fortified in their insanity.
It has become the practice of the president of American
Atheists, Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair, to debate only for one
purpose: money. It is a gratifying experience to take Christian
money and use it for the advancement of Atheism.
In mid-June, one such debate was arranged to be held in
Cincinnati, Ohio. The minister of the largest Church of Christ
wanted a formal, structured presentation, with a timekeeper, a
moderator and the hiring of a large auditorium. He desired to
Austin,
September, 1978
Texas
Page 9
Page 10
September, 1978
~/
proof that all Atheists were NOT communists, and the debate
came close to terminating before it began. It was finally agreed
to suspend discussion on this issue and to not have a reference
to it in the debate.
However, at the news conference the same issue was introduced by hostile media persons. The minister responded with
remarks about "reds" and Mrs. O'Hair almost blasted him out
of his chair refusing to have this issue joined to the debate or
to American Atheism and again it was agreed to set it aside.
Every TV and radio station and newspaper covered the
press conference. News concerned with the debates appeared
in half-page articles in the first issue of each newspaper, then suddenly - was dropped from later issues and during the three
days of debate little further coverage was given.
The weekend chosen was unfortunate because the pennant
contender Cincinnati Reds baseball team was playing an important home series at that time and each game that weekend
drew more than 50,000 fans. Again unfortunately for the introduction to reason for residents of Cincinnati, Frank Sinatra
was appearing in town that weekend before standing-room-only
crowds.
These other "events" were going on in the same general
area and traffic was heavy; still, 1,200 persons came to the
first debate on Friday night, 16 June. This debate was to be
contesting ''That there is a god" vs "That there is no god."
Knowing the futility of "debates," Mrs. O'Hair seized this
opportunity to educate those in attendance and presented a
complete survey of every argument ever advanced for the god
idea, with historical references as to who had introduced each
argument, where (in what countries) and when. A review of
the tenets of materialism was also given, in a carefully worded
presentation aimed at a high-school level of comprehension.
The minister used the primitive argument of "causation."
'That is: everything must be caused by something else, and,
"in the beginning" the first "cause" was god. However, in
counter argument he did not understand the phrase "infinite
regression" - his hold on the argument being popular instead of scholastic.
Ineducable Audience
It was obvious that the religious persons (who compromised 95% of the audience) did not know what was being
said. The philosophical arguments were clearly over their
heads. When they understood a sentence or phrase here or
there they would jeer, or alternately applaud or shout encouragement for the lord. When the minister first stood up his
mere presence was met with much enthusiasm.
The minister himself did not understand that his argument
had been countered and picked several themes for the benefit
of his audience. One of these was "brute matter" as he hammered away that people, with their "living souls," must be
special creations of god. His presentation was so bad that Mrs.
O'Hair went on with two other educational tidbits, one on the
nature of life as seen by microbiologists and the other on the
nature of the universe as seen by astrophysicists, attempting to
give a simplified analysis.
One can educate, if people are educable. These hallelujah
Christians were not. By the time of the third counter, the
"debate" began to have ludicrous moments as seen from the
Atheist viewpoint. The minister, Gaston Cogdell, however, was
deeply earnest, concerned and serious. He really felt that if he
said there was a god, there must be one. He pleaded that since
he existed, god must have made him, because he could not be
"matter" alone.
Jon Murray, Dr. O'Hair's second, parried all arguments,
writing them in longhand, and she simply read them, elabor-
LAUGH
AND
BE
WELL
Austin, Texas
September, 1978
Page 11
ON OUR WAY
Ignatz sahula-dyeke
Misplaced Devotion
If there is one characteristic that above all others distinguishes the human creature from all the others of earth, it is
his ability to think. Were we more charitable, we might concede
that up to a point the creatures of the animal world also think,
but this sentiment hasn't been generally applauded.
Anyhow, man's thinking enables him to deal with life in
terms of the future and, to an extent, also of his past. It permits him to anticipate that at some future time, on the basis
of his manifested faculties, he will be able to identify in himself precisely the mental and corporeal qualities that his ancestors developed for him during their peripatetic adventurings perhaps many generations before he was born.
We already think we know that many of our traits and talents are transferred to us from our fore bearers; and for this
reason can pretend that man, as a species, leads a kind of
everlasting existence. But our thinking ability should also prod
us to understand that our body is an organism that will die
when improperly nourished, or diseased, and that, once it
dies, it is impossible to reconstitute it - that it can't be restarted and brought back into the cycle of life - as some or
most of the religious confidently claim.
Only a person who can convince everyone that murder is
no crime should believe the religious claim that the dead can
be resurrected. Otherwise such belief is unjustifiable.
The human creature, over a period of a few million years,
evolved slowly and painfully into the civilized man of the
present. The human being wasn't from the very first moment
of his appearance on earth the thinking creature that many
religions preach he was. Last of all, as every realist is aware,
anthropological investigations have shown beyond all argument that any number of types of human creatures that
once existed became totally extinct, and disappeared without
leaving a trace of their characteristics. Among these extinct
types were the Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon, Peking, Java, and
other specimens of prehistoric humankind.
Hence, much that you and I can say we know about ourselves and our species might have validity, but we still don't
know whether our kind of people are the descendants of a
type of human that lived before the types mentioned above
became extinct, or are the descendants of a type that appeared on earth at some later time.
Sophistic theologians (there are no other kind) and inveterate believers of religious mishmash derive great comfort
from the dearth of the data that science has thus far been able
to classify about anthropoid life; it encourages them to boast
that Genesis is much more consistent, especially if viewed
symbolically, and that the "Good Book" holds more truth
between its covers than all the data of science.
The delightfully amusing thing about theologians is that
they're able to see only their own "revealed" side of this
vexing problem. As to truth, the only really authentic thing
about religion and its fables is that both still exist, misleading
. the thoughtless and the simple-minded, adding up to a profitable, untaxed business.
The preceding paragraphs have taken us to the point
where any reasonably honest cleric who happens to be in the
know of clergydom might agree that religion is profitable. But
Page 12
September, 1978
~I
Austin, Texas
September, 1978
Page 13
Madalyn
Murray
O'Hair
An Atheist
Deals With
Deat h
Reprinted by permission of
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Pattie Klein
Star-Telegram Writer
The death of a loved one always is hard to accept, but for
most people, the blow is softened somewhat by religious convictions. The anguished mind can take sustenance from the belief that god provides eternal life, and someday, somehow,
somewhere, a reunion awaits.
But if it's hard for the average person to accept death, then
certainly, the Atheist's agony is compounded.
The Atheist cherishes no such soothing visions to quiet his
grief. In the Atheist's view, no heavenly being awaits to greet
the deceased and lovingly wrap him in a cloak of eternity.
When you're dead, you're dead.
Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the nation's most outspoken and
Page 14
September, 1978
Austin, Texas
"
Death
Isa
nonsense
word.
None
of us
can
expenence
death.
The only
thing
that
we can
expenence
islife.
September, 1978
~I
"
Page 15
~ef,tte~~
11tc2etf~
4-Star
Atheist
Page 16
September, 1978
~/
elaine stansfield
Sci-Fi & The Occult
Generally speaking, the movies are
uneasy on the subject of religion, either
indulging in "family" schmalz, as television does in "The Waltons", where
everyone talks familiarly of god as if
he were kissing cousin to Uncle Sam
(or maybe Uncle Don from Schneetady), or they approach the subject
sideways via the devil or beings from
outer space.
Indeed, one wearies enormously of
the long procession of priests and
Good Guys clutching crucifixes as
they pursue vampires in steam-clouded
bogs, valiantly saving the heroine, or
priests clutching same as they always
"succeed" in exorcizing the evil beings
who have possessed her body. Or her
house. Better yet if they have handy a
pointed stake in the shape of a cross to
plunge into the heart of the devil creature!
Long before "The Exorcist" made
everybody connected with it a millionaire, the movies had been making vampire films to frighten the children, and
possession stories to bewilder or terrorize their parents. There is a rumor
that the Catholic hierarchy not only
will not give these pictures bad marks,
but in fact promotes such undertakings,
for does not the church always win in
the end?
Are not they the ones with the
Secret Weapon? And do they not come
on like the landing of the Marines to
save the people in a rousing climaxconclusion? And do they not cause the
departing moviegoer a sigh of relief
that the church will always save them
in the nick of time?
'
In the meantime, the moviemaker is
twice blessed, for "Of course I'm not
proselytizing, I'm just giving the people what they want - a good horror
movie," he says, as he rakes in the money. And are we, the Atheist outcasts,
doomed to be forever trapped in theaters where the second feature is another
"Carrie", or "Omen", or "Damien',?
(Coming up: "The Amityville Horror! ")
Or perhaps we even forget to criticize these pictures, vaguely thinking of
them as just another scary piece of entertainment, like "Jaws". But stop and
think a minute: an excellent case can
Austin, Texas
September, 1978
Greek mythology.
"Star Wars" is a fairy tale, and fairytales and religion go hand in hand, so
when the good monk (played by Alec
Guiness) and later Luke, fight the
black-masked Darth Vader, spirit of
evil, there is absolutely no doubt who
will win. The fleet space cars and fighter planes are so much hardware (spectacular fun to watch) and, incidentally,
inspired the hilarious short-subject
spoof called "Hardware Wars", using
waffle irons and old automobile parts
for their space vehicles.
It may be, aside from the excellent
special effects, that "Close Encounters"
is the worst copout on the audience.
The script leaves much to be desired, since it spends nine tenths of its
length setting up The Visit. Well, again,
we were there, so we were convinced
at the time, but thinking about it outside the theater, it seems everyone
went crazy. One could scarcely blame
the hero's wife for leaving him, as he
began throwing the whole back garden into the kitchen in order to build
the replica of a mountain in there. Nor
could one see anything benevolent in
the practical jokes and kidnappings
the space beings practiced on other benighted earth people.
But at long last they gather at the
mountain as the huge vehicle of a
space city lands. The creatures have a
fuzzy but skeletal outline, with long
legs and large heads. They deposit the
people who have been kidnapped, and
before they leave engage in a musical
dialogue, with earth scientists playing
an enormous xylophone, and the space
vehicle responding with a tuba - somewhat reminiscent of the dreadful misuse of the Strauss waltz accompanying
space flight in "2001".
Granted, my plot outlines are cynical, but how can it be that people are
accepting these charming lunacies as
substitutes for some kind of religious
outlet? It boggles the mind.
It would seem as if all "space-converts" should be excellent candidates
for Atheism. It is a pity we have no
similar movie to reach them. If any
fellow-Atheists are scripwriters, I urge
them to think about tackling the project.
Page 17
By
Joe
Falls
Page 18
September,
1978
A lot of pressures'
The American
Atheist
to share
<it with their teammates.
That's
Austin, Texas
..... ...
~
September, 1978
younger
athletes.
A religious group of more recent vintage is Athletes in Action (AlA). These
are top basketball players;' wrestlers,
gymnasts, etc., who banded together
in an effort to produce excellence in
their chosen sport. The idea is that
the public is more apt to listen to them
if they have something to show. In
other words, get their attention, then
their 'souls, The AlA basketball team
is one of the best in the country and
has beaten some of the top college
teams in the last two years. The interesting part takes place at- halftime.
While their opponents return to the
dressing room, the AlA players remain on the court and talk to the fans.
They speak to them as individuals, trying to explain their religious beliefs,
with the hope they can enlighten some
and recruit others to their faith.
Sports Ambassadors is an overseas
equivalent of Athletes in Action, sending basketball teams to play and preach
in more than 40 countries in Europe,
the Orient, Africa, and Central Jnd
South America.
listen to how some famous athletes
found God:
Don Gullet, Yankee pitch-er: "It
seems like I was always getting hurt, my
arm, a leg, something else was always
going wrong. I never felt more sorry for
myself than when my knee buckled in
the 1976 World S-eries in Cincinnati. I
was led from the field and doctors told
me I had suffered a dislocated tendon.
It couldn't have come at a worse time.
I had played out my option with Cincinnati and now I was in line to get a
big contract with another team. Now I
didn't know what was going to happen.
. I moped around the house all winter
until my wife Cathy finally said to me
one day, 'God has a reason for everything. Sometimes He puts things in our
path just to test us: I'd heard all of this
stuff before, but it made me think of a
familiar Bible verse: 'But seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added
unto you. Take, therefore, no thought
for the morrow: That did it. I looked
around at Cathy and my kids and my
house-heck,
the food she was cooking
even smelled delicious-and
I said to
myself, 'Good night! look what the
lord has given me already!' "
Page 19
still playing for the New England Whalers last month, when he turned 50.
-~:::::::-..
....................
'
==~
--
Page 20
September, 1978
~J
Austin, Texas
Holy Baloney
By Wells Culver
II
September, 1978
Page 21
Museum
Of God
By
Arthur
Maier
How do you do, ladies and gentlemen; welcome to the Museum of God. As you know, the Museum of God is one of the
oldest museums on the moon, having been opened back in the
year 2002, when people considered it a miracle that there were
daily flights to the moon, and that the trip only took 22 hours,
Incidentally, I used that word, miracle, back there for a purpose, because the original meaning of the word suggested that
it involved something done by god. But I am getting ahead of
myself; let's start with the earliest concept of god and follow
the rise and fall of this remarkable and often amusing conception back to the earliest times of man's existence on earth.
Modern time-travel techniques have revealed that the idea
of god was originated by an early Homo sapiens whose name
sounded something like "Bin," approximatley 13,000 B.C. He
conceived the idea of the sun being god, and he made it a
practice to bow down to it each morning as it arose.
Soon, others copied him; Bin became recognized as the
leader of the sun-worshippers, and soon his followers, much to
his own surprise, insisted on bringing gifts to him in tribute to
his discovery, so that he no longer had to hunt for his food. Indeed, he found himself receiving more food than he needed for
he and his wife and their small son, at which point he invented
the religious principle known as polygamy. It is said that at
one point in his long career he had 34 wives and 146 children.
As might be expected, time-travellers have brought back
evidence that other wise men wasted no time insetting up
competing religions; there were the moon-worshippers, the
fire-worshippers, the water-worshippers with their amazing innovation of total immersion, and the war-like snake-worshippers.
However, religions finally became so diverse and numerous
that the profits made by any individual priest, unless he was
particularly tragico-dramatic, were barely enough to feed and
clothe him and one wife plus a few children. It was at this
point that the concept of marriage was invented, providing a
way of guaranteeing fidelity on the part of a wife even if
her husband was not prospering.
Catholic Immigration:
By
Esther
Mattson
Page 22
September, 1978
Should
Catholic
schools
gain in
strength
through
infusion
of public
money, the outcome will be a gradual
weakening of the public school system
and the growth of a separatist society,
to the detriment of all.
The main purpose of this article,
however, is to alert the reader to the
real prospect
of domination
through
numbers, primarily the numbers gained
through
immigration
to the United
States from Catholic countries, chiefly
from Mexico and points South since
they are the main contributors.
The last great mass migration from
Mexico to the U.S. took place in the
late 1940s and early 1950s and was
finally halted toward the close of Truman's term by North American labor
protests, only to begin again on a mass
scale in the early 1970s. Zero Population Growth has focused on the problem of immigration,
both legal and illegal, from the standpoint
of overpopulation and its attendant problems.
Statistics
available from ZPG (as
interpreted
by Atheists)
show that
Catholic immigration
is indeed a serious threat on many fronts. The problems of overpopulation
and resource
depletion and their solution should be
matters of primary concern to us all,
and I hardly need to mention
they
ment to outlaw
abortion
- which
gets its impetus
from the Catholic
hierarchy [see list of U.S. diocesan antiabortion
contributions
on page 24 Editor]
is a case in poin t. There is
more at stake here than loss ofreligious
freedom. At stake is our Constitution.
The only thing that stands between any
one of us and. the whims, the arbitrariness, the prejudices
and the special
interests of those who have authority
over us are the protections
guaranteed
us in our Constitution
and the Bill of
Rights.
If our Constitution
is to be amended
every time it stands in the way of special interest pursuits, it follows that we
could amend away our entire Bill of
Rights. Should Catholics become a majority in this country,
they will have
the power to do exactly that.
For all of the reasons stated here, I
believe it is the duty of Atheists to inform themselves
on the issue of immigration,
legal and illegal (for both
types are causing problems) and to do
whatever they can to bring these problems to a halt.
For free information
on the subject
of immigration,
write to: Esther Mattson, 11328 N. Riverland Rd., Mequon,
WI 53092
Austin,
Texas
September,
1978
Page 23
Wqmen,
Know Thine
Enemies
Celibate Fathers Know Best - Catholic bishops are the chief source of funds for the campaign to deny women
freedom of conscience on abortion. The National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, a committee operated' by
the bishops, raised $906,404 between January 1976 and March 1977. Of this sum, $459,403 came in the form of donations ranging from $500 to $200,000 from 120 separate Roman Catholic dioceses around the country. A breakdown of
these donations diocese-by-diocese follows. Contributors of $500 or more are required by law to report such contributions to the Internal Revenue Service.
(figures rounded to dollars)
Diocese of Albany, NY
$ 1,500
Diocese of Alexandria, VA
1,485
Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, PA .. 3,000
Diocese of Arlington, VA ...
1,535
.4,000
Archdiocese of Baltimore, MD
1,525
Diocese of Baton Rouge, LA
Diocese of Beaumont, TX .
1,000
Diocese of Belleville, IL
.
1,100
Diocese of Bismarck, ND
.
1,510
Diocese of Boise, ID
.
1,200
15,000
Archdiocese of Boston, MA .
5,000
Diocese of Bridgeport, CT .
10,000
Diocese of Brooklyn, NY .
Diocese of Brownsville, TX
. 500
12,000
Diocese of Buffalo, NY.
Diocese of Burlington, VT.
1,500
Diocese of Camden, NJ ...
6,610
Diocese of Charleston, SC '.
. 500
.1,000
Diocese of Cheyenne, WY .
5,070
Diocese of Cincinnati, OH .
13,500
Diocese of Cleveland, OH .
Diocese of Columbus, OH .
4,055
1,500
Diocese of Corpus Christi, TX.
2,085
Diocese of Covington, KY .
Diocese of Davenport, IA .
2,055
Diocese of Denver, CO .
6,000
Diocese of Des Moines, IA .
1,600
Archdiocese of Detroit, MI
'7,500
. 4,600
Archdiocese of Dubuque, lA
1,000
Diocese of Duluth, MN ..
2,000
Diocese of Erie, PA .....
Diocese of Evansville, IN. .
900
Diocese of Fairbanks, AK .
500
7,000
Diocese of Fall River, MA .
3,000
Diocese of Fargo, ND ....
i.sio
Diocese of South Bend, IN.
Diocese of Ft. Worth, TX
500
2,500
Diocese of Fresno, CA .
2,000
Diocese of Gary, IN. . . . .
Page 24
September, 1978
720
1,000
500
5,000
2,270
2,900
16,000
1,470
3,000
7,250
5,000
. 840
. 750
5,000
. 900
2,900
2,750
. 850
4,101
1,200
1,100
10,000
3,875
1,850
5,263
1,944
5,000
7,000
1,127
. 840
11,600
20,000
.4,000
5,000
750
1,220
2,000
1,630
500
2,200
Diocese of Phoenix, AZ .
Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA
Diocese of Portland, ME .
Archdiocese of Portland, OR
Diocese of Providence, RI .
Diocese of Pueblo, CO . . .
Diocese of Reno, NV. . . . .
Diocese of Richmond, VA. .
Diocese of Rochester, NY . .
Diocese of Rockville Center, NY
Diocese of Sacramento, CA . .
Diocese of Saginaw, MI. . . . ..
Diocese of Salt Lake City, UT. .
Diocese of San Antonio, TX. ..
Diocese of San Diego, CA . . . ..
Archdiocese of San Francisco, CA
Diocese of Santa Rosa, CA.
Archdiocese of Santa Fe, NM .
Diocese of Scranton, PA. .
Archdiocese of Seattle, WA
Diocese of Spokane, WA. . . .
Diocese of Springfield, IL . .
Diocese of St. Cloud, MN . . .
Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO .
Archdiocese of St. Paul, MN. .
Diocese of St. Petersburg, FL .
Diocese of Steubenville, OH..
.
Diocese of Stockton, CA
Diocese of Superior, WI .
Diocese of Syracuse, NY. .
Diocese of Toledo, OH. . . . . ..
Diocese of Trenton, NJ. . . . . ..
Archdiocese of Washington, D.C..
Diocese of Wheeling, WV. .
Diocese of Wichita, KS. . .
Diocese of Wilmington, DE
Diocese of Winona, NM . .
Diocese of Worcester, MA .
Diocese of Yakima, WA
Diocese of Youngstown, OH.
1,000
9,000
1,100
1,700
12,000
. 500
. 500
. 2,265
. 1,500
10,040
. 3,224
. 1,754
. 500
. 2,000
10,673
. 4,000
. 1,100
1,000
7,200
6,849
. 700
. 1,815
. 2,970
. 5,000
10,000
. 3,950
. 1,300
2,000
. 1,700
. 3,316
. 3,380
. 8,018
. 4,000
20,000
1,900
2,000
. 2,000
. 6,800
.. 500
. 3,035
NATURE'S WAY
gerald tholen
Religious Programs & Other Sit-Coms
How many times have you had to restrain the urge to do
violence to your radio or TV because of some of the idiotic
claims and antics aired on pathetically fashioned religious programs?
Many people with whom I've talked have become so aggravated that they refuse to turn their sets on any more. Others
do as I do and listen to the absurd goings-on while rolling
on the floor as if they were watching a Laurel & Hardy classic.
Listening to the likes of "The PTL Club", or that all-time
favorite, "700 Club" is far better than watching science-fiction
and even more unbelievable.
Recently a very interesting thought occurred to me concerning the psychological effect these programs are bound to eventually have on the public mentality. The thought came to mind
most vividly a while back when Madalyn and our A.A. organization were being accused of trying to have the FCC prohibit
such programs. Why in the world would we want such naive
programs banned or even limited? The reverse psychological
effect that such programs afford can only benefit people seeking rationality. The statements and actions of clowns make
even an average intelligence seem to carry an air of genius.
It is true that some of the religious "soap operas" attract
large audiences of people who, at best, have an adolescent mental capacity. So what else is new? This has been going on for
centuries.
Still we find that real human intellect has managed to creep
forward at a steady pace. Consider the national outlook only a
few years back in our lifetime under the holocaust of McCarthyism. By comparison, the Atheist outlook is even more awesome because of the shabby efforts of our adversaries. This
fact is becoming more evident by the hour: people who are
semi-shocked at the childishness of these pitiful air-wave
attempts by the clergy are beginning to become even more
bored with religion.
A most interesting occurance happened to me about a month
ago. John Matthews, the MC for a very popular radio talk show
on KAUM-FM in Houston, invited me on his show as a spokesman for Atheism.
Needless to say, I was overjoyed at the opportunity! The
show airs from 10-12 p.m. on Sundays and, in my anxiety to
represent the Atheist viewpoint, I and wife Gloria arrived at
the studio at 8:30 and had to wait for what seemed and eternity for the program to start. Matthews arrived at about 20
minutes before air time and we sat and talked a few minutes
to get acquainted. He told me that the station had already received numerous calls inquiring about the program and that he
was expecting a record number of "call-ins." Beautiful! What
more coud I ask for?
Apparently Matthews had seen my truck in the parking lot
because the first question he asked me during the on-the-air
introduction was, "Please tell me and the radio audience
about the bumper sticker on your camper - 'BORN AGAIN
ATHEIST'."
It was a most welcomed and delightful experience to inform
them that every creature is born an Atheist - free of religious
affiliation of any kind. A "BORN AGAIN ATHEIST" simply
reverts to his/her innate Atheism after they realize that the
Austin, Texas
September, 1978
1/
Page 25
him, "In all fairness, who would have the definite economic
advantage between the two of us." He admitted that, of course,
he would. Enough said.
The most beautiful opportunity of all came when a visiting
Baptist preacher called in. This I welcomed dearly. In his oratorical clergy style he asked me, "Why is it that so many people call for a minister when they are dying?"
I do not think that the man realized the immense egotistical implications of his question. I answered him very slowly
and clearly. "Dying is a very traumatic experience. People
nearing death are often hysterical with fear or paralyzed with
hopelessness. Certainly he and other clergy had not ministered
to every dying person and, in fact, he was only aware of those
pitifully doomed persons who had called for a minister.
What else could we expect from a person whose mind had
been tatooed since childhood with the delusion the (s)he would
receive his/her reward in heaven? In the weakened, frantic
stages of dying many people are not strong-minded enough to
recount the wonderful times they have had with their family
and friends.
Instead they turn to a total stranger who, in reality, can do
nothing but hand them their ever-present crutch once again!
Many of us train our dogs when they are just pups to fetch the
newspaper. Should you then expect that creature, in its last
days preceding death to act any differently? I suppose we're
all creatures of habit to some extent.
Host Matthews was elated over the tremendous audience
response the program received ("possibly my best show"). He
assured me continual repeat performances in the future. I can
hardly wait!
FR,EEDOM OF CHOICE
hill
Compulsory
Hi. I'm Bill Baird. I've been invited by Dr. O'Hair to write a
monthly column sharing my views and experiences with you.
Just to give you a little background about myself, I've been
seriously involved for the past 15 years in the struggle to legalize birth control and abortion. The belief that we the people
have the basic human right of freedom of choice concerning
birth control and abortion has taken me on a collision course
not only with governmental powers but also with the awesome
power of organized religion, primarily the Roman Catholic
Church. The price for this belief in individual human rights has
been high since I've been in prison eight times in five states.
Cases such as Baird us Eizenstadt in the U.S. Supreme Court
decision of 1972 legalized birth control nationally and was
quoted in the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortions.
I am also the director of two non-profit abortion facilities
in Hempstead, Long Island, and in Boston, Massachusetts. A
case due soon before the U.S. Supreme Court called Baird us
Bellotti concerns the rights of minors to abortion services
without parental interference will also be an important struggle
for the freedom of young people. I've also appeared in the
national media such as NBC's "Today" show, "Good Morning,
America", Mike Douglas, Dick Cavett, Newsweek, Time, Life,
etc. I'm interested not only in sharing my experiences with
you but also in hearing from you.
By the time this article goes to press, Massachusetts Attorney General Frank Bellotti is expected to have announced
that he is appealing my recent court victory that permits
minors equal rights to have an abortion.This was won a few
weeks ago in the U.S. Federal District Court in Boston. It is
important that we realize that approximately 1 million abortions are done nationally of which one-third are performed on
teen-agers. It is also important that we realize that governmental figures reveal abortions are nine times safer than childbirth, because teen-agers have a 30 percent greater chance of
death if they maintain the pregnancy for reasons such as
toxemia pregnancy, etc.
Page 26
September, 1978
haird
Pregnancy
Ninety percent of all abortions are done before the twelfth
week whereby the tissue is usually smaller than an acorn. We
all know that acorns are not oak trees any more than embryos are people as the Roman Catholic Church would have
you believe.
I would like you to think back to the time when you were a
teen-ager. What would you do if you or someone else close to
you became pregnant? Think about that. Years ago when I set
up the nation's first abortion clininc and birth control center
in Hempstead, Long Island, pregnant women came to my center from every state in the nation seeking help in terminating
unwanted pregnancies. Many of them were teen-agers. Many of
them would take a douche bag and fill it with Lysol or bleach
or turpentine in an effort to force it into the uterus. Some
would fill it with soap suds, not aware that soap was made not
only from lye, but also from fats which can be absorbed by
the body and often the minor could die from a fat embolism.
Often a youngster would take a baster, the kind that you
would use for gravies on a turkey roast, and fill it with a saltwater solution, squeeze it into the uterus and often squeeze
it so hard that air would be forced into major blood vessels
and the woman would die from an air embolism. Many times
I would see women who had used coathangers, knitting needles, catheters, rammed into the uterus. In fact, I gave up a
career as clinical director for a drug company after a woman
died before me with an 8-inch piece of wire coathanger imbedded in her uterus.
Rights Of The Individual
Yet, when the U.S. Supreme Court did rule in 1973, they
said something very important: they said if the right of privacy means anything, " ... it is the right of the individual to
be free . . . to decide whether to bear or begat a child."
(Baird us Eizenstadt) They didn't say the right of the adult,
they said the right of the individual. Now we are talking about
the individual rights of minors.
Austin,
Texas
Parental Hypocrisy
The hypocrisy of a society that refuses to recognize the sex
uality of its citizens, including minors, is appalling. Often it is
because of the seeds of discontent
sown by the Roman Catholic Church in particular.
This has often led to the realization
that many parents refuse to recognize their children as sexual
beings. Ninety-three
percent of the teen-agers I've seen cannot
tell their parents they have intercourse,
let alone that they are
pregnant.
I wonder how many of those who are now reading
this have ever sat down with their teen-agers and recognized
their
sexuality and discussed openly and freely intercourse,
birth control and abortion?
The denial of a realistic sex education also presents its share
of problems.
I, personally,
have been continually
fighting
school administrators
at institutions
whose students have written asking me to address them about birth control and abortion, yet the administrators
refuse to permit me to be heard.
For instance,
at Bernier HIgh School in Masapequa,
Long
Island, recently students invited me to speak but school administrators
said no because "this is not an issue for students."
I had to go into a courtroom
and threaten
them with legal
action before we were allowed to be heard. Two weeks ago,
Methan High School in Bellmoor, Long Island, refused two of
my employees
from giving their scheduled
birth control
lecture
because of "their connection
with Bill Baird and
abortion. "
I found out that three years ago a resolution
was passed
banning me for life from several school districts in Long
Island because of "Bill Baird's attacks against organized reo
ligion." We are currently
in the process of filing a lawsuit
against these school districts, but all of this is expensive and
takes time.
The case that we have which is on its way to the U.S. Suo
preme Court concerning
minors' rights has national
signifigance. It affects every state in the nation. Tragically, much of
the Massachusetts
press suffers from benign neglect or outright
hostility toward this case. For instance, last week the Boston
Globe's columnist, David Farrell, wrote in a featured column,
"Bill Baird is a huckster."
It's the old story, which I know
Madalyn Murray is so painfully aware of, that if you can't win
on the issue itself, you attack the personality of your foe.
My concern is that this case is as important
as any other
case going before the Supreme
Court. Look at the Bakke
case concerning reverse discrimination
and how much the public has been informed about this case. Here Baird us Bellotti is
a case which really concerns medical discrimination
against a
September,
1978
Page 27
class of people, primarily minors, yet when was the last time
you heard the media report any matter concerning this case?
When have you heard any of the "pro-choice" groups consistently and openly support this case? I am personally in debt
for over $50,000 for this struggle. What is so painfully frustrating is that society says, give your energy, give your freedom, take the abuse that follows (often death threats, punches,
kicks, etc.), yet as you are undergoing this abuse you must
finance it also. And if you lose the case you must pay the state
of Massachusetts and the anti-abortion forces their legal expenses.
Brilliant attorneys such as Joseph Balliro, Joan Schmidt
and RoyLucas don't come inexpensively.
All across this nation you are witnessing a direct assault
upon our abortion laws. You saw what happened with the
Medicaid ban of abortion babies. Thirteen states have passed resolutions calling for a ban on all abortions. Only 21 more
states are needed to call for a constitutiinal amendment. We've
seen the restrictive clinic licensing procedures, and now the
attack upon the rights of minors.
This is .prirnarily an unholy "holy war" financed in a good
part by the Roman Catholic Church.
If you believe in individual rights and in our freedoms,
now more than ever we must stand up, unite our forces and
let our voices be, heard. Write letters of support, join demonstrations, sign petitions, economically boycott the church's
business holdings such as Trappist Hams, Monk's Bre-ad, Christian Brothers' Wine, etc. I am trying to establish a lecture tour
to make myself available to speak in your community, college,
high school, civic group on the issue of birth control and abortion. I'd be grateful if you would write me at the:
Bill Baird Abortion Center
673 Boylston St.
Boston, Mass 02116
or at
107 Main St.
Hempstead, Long Island
N.Y. 11550
I would like to conclude by saying that the issue is not
abortion, it is an issue of compulsory pregnancy. Can a nation
force minors, or anyone else for that matter, to go through an
unwanted pregnancy against their will? To me that is sexual
slavery and it is a barbaric concept which must be fought by
all freethinking people.
POLEMIC SYNOPSIS
ralph b. shirley
-Bogeyman
... Which one is the devil and which the god? ...
......
planned
Page 28
September, 1978
A JOYOUS ATHEIST
,~ g. riehard bozarth
How Not To Write A Holy Book
Writing about the Bible in his The Church and the Bible,
B.C. Butler, Abbot of Downside, assures us, "God cannot be
the author of false meaning. He cannot lie, and he is the divine
author of these books." This is standard dogma almost any
Christian will reverently tell anyone who will listen. Chances
are the Christian doing the telling hasn't read the Bible, except for recommended verses like John 3:16, which are supposed to impress or frighten potential converts. When challenged by someone who has read the Bible, the Christian soldier
can usually be made to look like an idiot. I know, for I've
made idiots out of them more than once.
How can that be? If the books of the Bible are divinely
authored, surely nothing could be more self evident than that.
It should be as plain as talking to a burning bush. How, then,
can a book containing no lies and no false meanings be turned
into a weapon to rout earnest, apple-cheeked Christians?
The answer begins immediately - in the beginning, so to
speak. In Chapter One of Genesis there is an account of the
creation of the world. In Chapter T)Vo of Genesis there is a
radically different account of the creation of the world. But
this is too easy, and a lazy Atheist would stop half way through
Chapter Two, laugh out loud, and throw god's true word aside
assuming he or she needs no more than this to convince a
rational person that the book is mythological nonsense.
Dealing With Madness
We must remember, we are not dealing with rational people.
We are dealing with Christians. More work is required.
First, let's turn to Genesis 22: 1-19, which records one of the
famous biblical stories, the one about Abraham's almost-sacrifice of his son, Isaac. Anyone who had sunday school as a part
of their childhood knows the story. Old Yahweh demands
Abraham sacrifice Isaac to him. Being insane with devotion to
god, Abraham proceeds as ordered. Just in the nick of time,
old Yahweh stops him, and the lesson learned is that while god
expects one to be devoted to him enough to sacrifice one's
child to him, god would never want such a sacrifice because he
is the true god. Human sacrifices are only for false, evil pagan
gods.
One might even believe this until one reads Judges 11:29-40.
Here one finds a pleasant bedtime story for one's children.
Jephthah is going off to fight the Ammonites. Naturally, he
wants to win. Being a pious man, he prays to old Yahweh and
vows that if god gives him victory, he will make to god a human sacrifice of "the first person to meet me from the door of
my house when I return in triumph."
What did old Yahweh do? Naturally, he gave Jephthah a
victory over the Ammonites. Upon returning, the first person
he meets at his house is his daughter, his only child. What did
Jephthah do? Naturally, "he treated her as the vow that he
had uttered bound him." After all, he was a religious man.
This makes me regret General Westmoreland failed to learn his
lesson. If only he had, we could have won the Vietnamese
war! Gosh!
Another famous Bible story is told in 1 Samuel 17:1-51.
Austin, Texas
September, 1978
Page 29
swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and scribes and the
elders." When god wrote John 18: 1-11, he must have felt
a bit more drama was needed, so he added a Roman cohort to
the arresting mob.
The famous kiss of death given by Judas takes place in
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but not in John. Maybe god was
worried Anita Bryant might start thinking JC Superstar liked
getting kissed by Judas.
In all four gospels, a servant of a high priest gets an ear
cut off, but the divine author of these books can't make up
his mind who did it. In John he squarely names Simon Peter,
but in Mark it was done by a bystander. In Matthew and
Luke it was done by an unnamed follower. This whacked off
ear only gets healed by JC Superstar in Luke. In the other
three he leaves the poor guy suffering. In Mark there is a unique
happening. A young man trying to run away loses his clothes
and flees naked. Not so in Matthew, Luke and John. Well,
it must have been a pretty confused situation, so we mustn't
be too hard on god. He's only omniscient, you know.
JC Superstar gets nailed to the cross, then buried. All four
gospels agree Joseph of Arimathea took the body and buried
it. Our author is a little confused on who accompanied Joseph
on the task. In Matthew 27:57-61 it was Mary of Magdala and
"the other Mary." In Mark 15:42-47 it was Mary of Magdala
and Mary the mother of Joset. In John 19:38-42 the only person accompanying Joseph was Nicodemus. Okay, this looks
bad, but maybe god was asleep, and had to fill in the details
with inaccurate human testimony. Or maybe the big fella was
showing Mary how he did the virginal conception trick again
when all this was happening.
Surely, though, he was right there, pen in hand, to accurately record the details of JC Superstar's resurrection. This was
the Big Event, for as god wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14: "If
Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and
your believing it is useless." God rises to the occasion by leav-
Lttttr
Page 30
ing no doubt that his pride and joy was indeed resurrected. It's
the events afterwards god can't get straight.
In Matthew 28: 9-10 JC Superstar appears first to Mary of
Magdala and the mysterious "other Mary." In Mark 16:9 and
John 20:11-18 he appears only to Mary of Magdala. In Luke
24: 13-35 he doesn't mess around with women; he finds two
men, one named Cleo pas, to appear to when they were enroute to Emmaus. These fellows returned to Jerusalem to tell
the apostles, only to have those boys tell them JC Superstar
had already appeared to Simon. When god was writing Paul's
epistles, he changed the story again, so in 1 Corinthians 15: 5
the first person to see the resurrected son of god is a fellow
named Cephas.
What is incredible about the Bible is not its divine authorship; it's that such a concoction of contradictory nonsense
could be believed by anyone to have been written by an omniscient god. To do so, one would first have to not read the
book, which most Christians do not, or, if one reads it, dump
in the trash can one's rational intelligence - become a fool
for god, in other words.
If Christians can believe the Bible was written by a god, is
it any wonder they can be so easily suckered into dying on
Crusades, supporting
Inquisitions,
subverting the First
Amendment, and perpetuating horrible cruelities by denying
women the right to legal abortions?
This is what I mean when I say Atheism involves one in
the least amount of foolishness. To be a Christian, one has
to pervert his or her mind so that all of the befuddled myths
described above no longer are contradictory or befuddled or
myths.
To be an Atheist, one need only be able to laugh when such
obvious nonsense is offered as divine truth. To be an Atheist
is to have the joy of being free from the burden of ridiculous
holy books like the Bible. To be an Atheist is to have a human
mind that has not been sacrificed on the altar to god.
September, 1978
routines.
In 1787, Thomas Jefferson in a
letter to his nephew wrote: "Question
with boldness even the existence of a
god." If anything is a "sin," it is teaching a child that a god exists. Paralyzing
a child's mind with the idea that his or
her puppy died "because it was god's
will," or that prayers to god can solve
Austin,
Texas
September,
1978
Page'31
INSIDE-OUT
j. Iniehael straeznski
Journal Of A Brown-Bagger
MONDAY: Had a terrible night last
night. Again I have been tormented by
frightening dreams and the inability to
get change for a twenty after ten
o'clock. I dreamt that I was in a small
room, being interrogated by a nearsighted minister who demanded that I
either tell him the meaning of Life, or
betray what E.F. Hutton has really
been saying in all those television commercials. I, however, refused to answer his questions, and would only repeat my name, rank, and a series of
phone numbers that I'd memorized
off a men's room wall.
This must not go on any longer.
(Actually, this can't go on much longer. My lease expires at the end of the
month, at which time I shall be evicted
in favor of a Nazi soccer team from
Cleveland.)
TUESDA Y: Had another close call
today. My producer invited me to a
football game, and when the benediction began, I broke out in another
coughing fit, which I could only get
rid of by sticking my foot in my mouth
and blowing air out through my ears,
an act which a drunk beside me found
incredibly amusing.
My producer was not pleased at all.
My analyst says that these attacks
are all signs of a deep-seated psychological repression, and that I should either
stop denying portions of my own character or take up saving balls of string.
She then tried to explain that we live
in a modern world, and that people are
more accepting of the eccentricities of
others. Realizing the truth in her statements (as well as the fact that my hour
was up, and there was another patient
standing by the door, twitching), I
confided my great secret to her ... that
I am a closet Atheist.
Her reaction was quite unusual. I've
never had anyone try to force-feed me
a couch before.
WEDNESDA Y: Nothing whatsoever
happened today. I'm beginning to
think that the Existentialists are right.
THURSDAY: Went for a walk in
the park today. This, I have since concluded, was a definite mistake. While
walking through the lush scenery and
the scenic lushes, I literally stumbled
upon a group of people who were doing
Page 32
the most disgusting things to one another. It was the most offensive display
of perversion that I have ever stood
and watched for 20 minutes with
sweaty palms and a 50-millimeter Minolta with only three rolls of film
which I didn't get to use all of anyway,
since I was discovered and brought to
their leader.
He proclaimed his name was Jesus
Abdul
Mohammed
Isis Topinski.
(JAM-IT, his monogrammed jammies
with the little booties and pink rabbit
read.) He went on to say that he was
the Head of the First Church of the
Bleeding Pusswart, and that he and his
'followers had found Truth through
meditation and the study of French
postcards. They all then invited me to
join their group. Anyone was eligible,
they said, provided that he had taken
at least three lessons from an Arthur
Murray School of Dance, or seen more
than five Fred Astaire movies.
I respectfully declined the offer,
and their leader let me pass by giving
his group's traditional gesture of farewell
gesture I had, in my ignorance,
previously reserved for drivers that cut
in front of me on the freeway - and
by striking me repeatedly about the
nose and face with a live chipmonk.
FRIDA Y: Went to the funeral ceremony for a friend whose last wish was
to be cremated and to have his ashes
sprinkled over Rex Reed. Unfortunately, the mortuary had neglected to
pay its gas and utilities bill, with the
result that we all had to sit in a circle
around the coffin, throwing lit matches.
It's been a very depressing day. I
called my agent, Jim Fitch - of Fitch,
Fitch, and son of a Fitch - to find out
what he thought of my last screenplay.
He said it looked great in his birdcage.
It stood up under wear much longer
than The National Enquirer, and more
morally proper than the financial section of The Wall Street Journal. (He
always used to complain that he never
could adjust to waking up in the morning and discovering that during the
night his parrot had crapped all over
IBM, IT&T, and DuPont.
SATURDA Y: Have decided to begin
work on another motion picture, an
experimental film to be entitled "Death
-a
September, 1978
ATHEIST
Poems are made by fools like me
But only god can make a tree
And on Iy god who makes the tree
Also makes the fools like me
IT MAKES ME BLUE
E. Y. HARBURG
law.
S.H. CRANE
CREATION'S
RIDDLE
ERIC FREDERICK
Old folks like me
Don't have money to spare
But we can still carry a banner
For Atheist Madalyn O'Hair.
BERTHA BROOKS
Austin, Texas
September, 1978
Page 33
5 February 77 ....
KLBJ ....
Austin, TX
*******************************************
Hello there,
This is Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American Atheist, back to
talk with you again.
Way back in the history of America, persons in opposition
to Christianity tried to organize - when and where they could.
Usually, but not always, the organization was attempted in
larger towns, or cities, but the religious forces were more organized in large towns or cities and suppression or dispersion of
the anti-Christian forces was generally rapid.
Immediately after the revolution in the United States there
was a widespread period of irreligion, but it was, by and large,
unorganized. It was not until about the 1820's that any real organization was begun. A well-known skeptic, Dr. Thomas Cooper
of South Carolina, wrote, "In a great city it [destruction of
priests 1 may be done; but in the scattered villages of this country, the mass of the people are too ignorant, and too timid, to
afford their support to anyone who opposes the prevailing
clerical pre ten tions."
There is a world of difference between one man fighting a
single-handed fight against the prejudices of his community
and a compact, determined organization of persons gaining
courage in union.
The wealthy and the educated had been Deist during the revolution, but their children returned to orthodoxy or paid lipservice to the beliefs of the multitude in order to control the same.
Let's look first at New York and the situation there. On 29
January, 1827, forty people held the first Thomas Paine Birthday Celebration in Harmony Hall in New York City and established a "Free Press Association" to involve itself with "natural
religion" - as opposed to the Christian religion. The idea was
to have a forum where these persons could meet for debates,
lectures and social gatherings. One of their first thoughts was to
form a library. What was "natural religion?" Well, someone
signing himself only as "a Deist" wrote concerning this early in
the Association's history. His statement was:
"Our religion is the religion of nature - the belief in one
God; and our golden rule, to do to others as we would wish
to be done by ....
"The sacred banner is now unfurled with 'Truth' for its
motto; and a rallying point established. We invite all freemen
who yet groan under the yoke of religious despots to shake
off their fetters and join with us in the good work: we have
no founder of doubtful parentage to force upon them; we
lead them up to the fountain head. We have no holy mother,
virgin, or myriads of saints to look up to. Our god is not the
Bible god, who visits the sins of the father upon his innocent
offspring. Our god is a god of mercy, who will not punish
Page 34
September, 1978
mankind for not believing what they cannot understand .... "
The weekly lectures which this Association featured became
quite successful. Indeed, the meetings needed to be moved to a
larger hall and at one point even some "ladies came to them.
At first the lectures were largely theological in that attacks were
made on Christian tenets. However, by the end of the first year,
scientific lectures were inaugurated. The popularity of the meetings and lectures was such that there were two a day on the day
of assembling - and Sundays were the days of these meetings.
Some 200-300 persons were usually in attendance, of which 50
to 60 would be ladies.
The success of this downtown New York City meeting was so
great that a group called the "Society of Free Enquirers" decided
to hold an uptown meeting each week.
Some of the titles of the debates and lectures are instructive
as to what was going on. For instance the debate on 28 December,
1828 was titled "Whether a revelation by a supreme being has
ever been made to man; and if so, what are the evidences?" In
1830 these lectures and discussions were heard: "Is the sum of
human happiness augmented or diminished by the belief of a revealed religion?" "Are the evidences of the Christian religion
better attested than the Mohametan or any Pagan creeds?" and
"Is the evidence drawn from miracles sufficient to prove the divine origin of the Christian religion?"
When Frances Wright hit New York, the attendance at the
series of lectures was so good that it is reported.that "thousands
were turned away" because they could not get into the halls. On
3 January, 1829 there were 1,500 people in the Masonic Hall
for the first lecture. It was reported that there had not been
such Jxcitement in New York since Thomas Jeffereson had been
elected to the presidency in 1800.
Clergy Above Criticism
At first the newspapers were not openly hostile, as they reported with astonishment about the success of the lectures. But
when Frances Wright attacked the clergy, the counterattack began. She was labeled as a "blasphemer" and "a voluptuous
preacher of licentiousness," a"female monster," an "infidel."
The word "blasphemer" does not sound all that bad today, but
in the era reported here there were criminal laws against blasphemers. One must remember that in the colonies blasphemy had
been punishable by death.
One newspaper hinted at the possibility of wrecking the Park
Theatre where she lectured if she persisted in "publicly and ostentatiously proclaiming doctrines of atheistical fanaticism, and
even the most abandoned lewdness."
But everything was going well for the freethinker, and in
March of 1829 Frances Wright took the proceeds from her lectures, added some of her own money, and purchased the old
Ebenezer Baptist Church, near the Bowery, which had been up
for public auction. She paid $7,000 for it and christened it the
"Hall of Science." It seated from 1,200 to 1,300 persons. see to it that our history is gathered and saved and passed on to
The Hall of Science was kept open from April of 1829 to every succeeding generation from this date forward.
May of 1932 and by and large it was a fairly profitable enterI cannot help but admire the bravery of a group of persons
prise, paying expenses out of admission fees. As the organization
in Galena, Illinois, in their forming an organization in 1884 and
undertook other areas of concern, the broadening of it finally restricting the membership so that entry to the organization was
destroyed it. As it undertook to be concerned for the rights of refused "to any minister of Christ, or devotee of the Christian
the working man, for republican education, for injustice in the creeds, or individual having the ability, but not engaged in some
legal system, the thrust of that for which it had been organized useful employment or occupation."
diminished. As an example, in September of 1831 the Hall of
There were many German Rationalist groups in the United
Science began to be, among other things, a medical dispensary
States too, and wherever German immigrant groups settled,
for the relief of the sick, to administer medical advice and give there were to be found these advocates of reason. Can you imagordinary medicines free. Such an endeavor became a heavy fi- ine a group of these new arrivals "renouncing all religions" and
nancial burden and the Hall of Science had to raise money by pledging themselves to "follow the dictates of reason, the laws
renting to a Presbyterian congregation for services on Sunday
of nature and the voice of our conscience, in all our actions,"
morning. It was, then, unlikely that the Presbyterian church or and yet, that was as early as 1843!
its tenets would be attacked in a lecture in the afternoon.
What would happen today if a group of Atheists asked memSoon the Hall of Science was closed and later sold to a Meth- bers to sign alliance regulations that they would "never join any
odist congregation.
church or synogogue," never "contribute to church ends," "nevAlso, a group called "Moral Philanthropists" came into exis- er be married or buried by a priest," "never allow their children
tence, with Abner Kneeland in command. This was functioning
to be educated in the Christian or any other religion?" We
at Tammany Hall. By 1832 the idea came to have rationalist re- would probably be attacked as bigots - and that is just what
vivals in imitation of the religious revivals. The idea caught on happened to these old groups.
and the meeting room was often overflowing - a signal success
when one considers that the seating was for 2,000. The Panic of
This informational broadcast is brought to you as a public
1837, of course, brought a financial disaster to this venture as service by the Society of Separationists, Inc., a non-profit, nonwell as to many others.
political, tax-exempt, educational organization dedicated to the
But there were many freethought organizations in New York complete separation of state and church. This series of Amerduring this period, most of them small. As the largest ones, which ican Atheist Radio series programs is continued through listener
I have described here, diminished in membership or influence,
generosity. The Society of Separationists, Inc. predicates its
they relocated and took other names.
philosophy on American Atheism. For more information, or for
It was apparent that the organizations needed a base, that they a free copy of the script of this program, write to P.0 Box 2117,
needed paid functionaries, but often salaries were unavailable or Austin, Texas. That zip is 78768.
if paid, they were small, and irregular. What one could get as a
lecturer one year was not available the next. Libraries were
needed to preserve material. Some kind of old-age security was
needed for those who spent their lives in the cause. Efforts were
made toward all these ends, but the efforts were not great enough
or concerted enough to accomplish what was needed:
Developments in Boston and New York were about parallel.
The success of the organizations often depended upon the charismatic leadership of one person and the organization would
fluctuate in success as that leader attended to the cause. When
he was superceeded by a lesser star, the organization would
wane. Other cities had similar situations on a smaller scale.
These included: Philadelphia, Pa; Providence, Rhode Island;
Tariffville, Connecticut; West Avon, Massachusetts; Woodstock,
Vermont; Camden, Maine; Calais, Vermont; Rochester, New
York; Paterson, New Jersey; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Wilming.'--''1~)ct9-:Cl-'
ton, Delaware; and St. Louis, Missouri.
I suppose the most shocking thing about it is that no one in
(EXCEPT
FOR)
our era ever heard about this stream of irreligious history. The
A
MAN
f=OR
A MAN
fact that there have been small and large organizations ever since
A
WOMAN
FOR
A
WOMAN
we were a nation has been completely hidden.
One could almost say that there has been a conspiracy of
A BOY FOR A BOY
silence in respect to them. Unless one has a Ph.D. dissertation or
A GIRL /=ORAGIRL
a Master's degree thesis to follow where someone has researched
A D06 FOR. A DOC;
it out, there is no general information.
A CAT FOR A CAT
We have most recently come through our bicentennial year,
BEFORE CHVRCH
and during this there was much emphasis placed on the fact
AFTER CHURCH
that Christianity has been here during those two centuries.
There was no mention of the fact that anti-Christian factors
DURING CHlJRC~
have also existed during that same period.
ON TI-lE, FRONT PORCH
. It will take much research, many dissertations or theses to unN6 ULL M
c.
cover that which Christian historians have made to disappear.
DURING ~\G~11t>E.
We have a long and honorable history and it has been, in a sense,
stolen from us. It is safe for me now to put everyone in the
world on notice that it will not happen again. I will personally
III'
We PJ.eaclJ"
ILWIE
ILVJE
I1n
I
I
Austin,
Texas
September, 1978
Page 35
....-..-.-.--.-.--.-.--.
~
YES! . ..
I would like to order
copies of Hermon M.
Levine's THE NAKED EMPEROR at $3.95 per copy plus 40 cents
postage and handling. Enclosed please find $4.35 for each copy.
Make checks/money
VISA
MASTERCHARGE
No.
Name
Expiration
Date
Address
City
Signature~
(Texas Residents add 5% Sales Tax)
Page 36
-----------State
Zip --
September, 1978
AMERICAN ATHEIST
POST CARDS
5 for $1_00
$10.00
1 Hour
'.'
Joseph Lewis on Robert G. Ingersoll
Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part I
Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part II
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part III
1 Hour
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part V
Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part VI
Robert G. Ingersoll on Superstition
Radio Series
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Lee Carter, Ph D
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that have been proposed throughout
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An Atheist Epic - Bill Murray,
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Why I Am An Atheist
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
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For the first time in print, the complete texts of fifty two radio programs
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