~/

Fructidor, 188

Volume 22, N 9

NEWS

ON THE COVER

Attack on The Constitution

Born-Again Morals or Boycott

Soos It to Him "

Dr. O'Hair Rebuffed Again

American Atheist Center News Report

As The Reed Is Bent

10

Angry Atheist

14

The Rationalist Association of South Africa

22

ARTICLES

Why The Untold History? - Oscar

12

Religion and Science Fiction - Peter Christiansen

15

Population and Catastrope - David Chris Allen

18

The Silent Atheist - John C. Henderson

20

Incomparable Atheism - Donald B. Fitchett

21

FEATURED

COLUMNS

Roots of Atheism - Frances Wright

23

The Woman's Bible - Elizabeth Cady Stanton

26

Atheist Masters - Chapman Cohen

29

The Skeptic's Secret Room - Gerald Tholen

31

Short on Control - Ignatz Sahula-Dvcke

32

American Atheist Radio Series

35

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair
MANAGING EDITOR
Jon Garth Murray
ARTIST
Felix Santana
NON-RESIDENTIAL STAFF
Bill Baird
Angeline Bennett
Wells Culver
Ignatz Sahula-Dycke
Elaine Stansfield
Gerald Tholen

The American Atheist magazine is

published monthly by American Atheists, located at 2210 Hancock Drive,
Austin, Texas 78756, a non-profit,
non-political,
educational
organization. Mailing address: P.O. Box 2117,
Austin, Texas 78768. Copyright 1980
by Society of Separationists, Inc. Subscription rates: $20.00 per year. 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 magazine is indexed in:
MONTHL Y PERIODICAL INDEX

"Oscar," I asked him, "What is the

intent of this cover?"
His eyes showed his shock. "But, of
course, we must show to them that there
is treachery in the lure of the priest.
Everyone must see that the priest gives a
false promise of a beautiful picture, not a
real one. There the priest tries to imitate
the beauty of nature and of natural life,
but he cannot, for what he offers is a
shabby imitation.
"What was it that Nietzche said? I
remember it always. The world of the
priests is so ugly that they make an ugly
world and try to charm the young to come
that way - down that path. They want to
direct him out of this world, to the unnatural world they construct.
"In every page of the magazine we give
this message - and so, I have made a
cover of what is true. The young people
are lured by falsehood, by treachery.
ensnared in the unnatural. I tell them,
they can be free. Nature is better.
"Why do you ask this? You see the
picture."
We see, Oscar, we see. The message is
clear in your translation.

REGULAR

Letters

to The Editor

Editorial

2
3

The Untold
Serious

FEATURES

Story

Smiles

13
34

Poems

37

Film Review

38

Book

39

Chapter

Review
Chatter

40

ISSN: 0032-4310

AUSTIN, TEXAS

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80)

PAGE 1

T
LETTERS TO THE EDITO~R~
Wanted: Battlefield Converted Vets ,...-.."..---------------...~~
.. cracy.
Sincerely yours, .:
Jon Garth Murray,
I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONESAIO/JIJRIN6\
J. W. Baechler
Much has been reported on reliWORLDWARiI,fATHER.J.AMINMYFOXHOU'
Kentucky
gious services in recognition of the '\' AND LAM AN ATHEIST!!
50th anniversary of the Veterans' AdDear John.
ministration, which was created on
The American Atheist Center has
July 21, 1930, by presidential order, ~
fr I
had the plans on the dra wing boerd for
but nothing appears to be noted about
years now/or a "Ouerterty Review of
observances of battlefield convened
A theist Thought. ",
Atheists who have contributed to the
~-'It has a hundred or more, "Atheist
security of our nation. In our pluralistic
Classic Books" which need to be renation, with its Constitutional proprinted end wideJy distrib'uted. '.
,
vision for separation between church
It has planned I)igh schqoland college courses (tl:!aching .c/utli,?es,
and state, I think exemplary moral and
syllabi, guidelines, reterence books)
social life styles of battlefield con'which could be, taught on Atheism. . ,
verted Atheists deserve attention from
-------'--'--.---------~
It has television and redia programs
the news media.
planned out ahead by the scores.'
With a spirit of youth insight into
majoritv of biblical "scholars" writing
The single most heertbreskinq as:
appreciating Veteran Atheists' con- .
for
the
general
public
are
clergymen
or
,
PCJct
of working at the American
tributions to enhancing and heightsectarian apologists posing as.irnparAtheist Center is to know, in depth
ening the quality of thought in the
tial academicians. (The situation is like
what needs to be done and not to have
United States, I am,
blind men attempting to do brain surthe finances to do it.
Leon Arnold Muller
gery,)
.
The second most heartbreaking asIllinois
Because of this monopoly-on know- '
pect is to receive letters, such .es
ledge, the American pulpit unfortuyours, from knowledgeable and per- .
Leon.
nately controls, or rather suppresses
ceptive persons who also see what
We think that they should be
disturbing
information
before it
needs to.be done - and then to need
honored also. Will any of you Atheists
reaches the average churchqoer. Here,
to tell those persons that ~e cannot do
out there who converted to Atheism in
in Lexington, Kentucky where I attend
it. .
the foxholes (so to speak) please
the University of Kentucky, historical
The incessant argument (all is not
contact us so that we can gather some'
ignorance among the fundamentalist
peace and light here) is how do we do
locals is astounding, The results?Cenmaterial on this to present to the
what needs to be done with no funding'
tralKentucky
i,l)a redneck version of
and how much longer can we delay
media? We, too, are tired of hearing
"Fantasy Island" ~ Jesus cultists atwhen .the powers of ignorance are
that old canard that "There are no
tempting to replace biological science
everywhere rampant andmafignant in
Atheists in foxholes."
our culture.
._
with the Hebrew mythology of GeneJon
sis in our city schools; on Sunday,
The effort against. religion must be
-enterpristnq businessmen and womassive and we know that wechew
men cannot open their doors and
on the edges of the problem ..
grocers dare not sell a beer; pushy
We are pedaling as fast as we can.
evangelists accost one on Campus and
We are trying to shake American
downtown; and just last semester, our
Atheists awake to the "clear and
El1glish department came under fire
, present danger. "
for using Such "anti-Christian" books
Help how you can where you are by
as Catcher in The Rye.
making more persons aware. Solicit
their support for the American Atheist
.The informative role of Atheism may
Center. It" is the only thing on the
. be helped by these suggestions. Estabhorizon. Meanwhile, we are doing the
.Iish a broad-based association of qualiseme. Join the ranks of "those prefied historians and anthropologists to
cious few" who know in. depth.
disseminate critical.j-esearch to the
Again and again I am personally
general public through the electronic
impelled back to an old 'Anarchist
media as Well as through print. Perpoem: There was much mourning behaps a publication supplemental to
cause an Anarchist had been exethe American Atheist is in order. In the
cuted and this poet wrote that one
present magazine, devote more time
should not mourn the dead,
to hard-core; well-documented investi"But rather mourn the apathetgation into Judeo-Christian scriptures
ic throngs'
and beginnings, Inform the readership
The cowed and the meek,
about new books in these fields and
the availablltvof olderworks.
" ..who'seethe world's great misery
and its wrongs,
I, and others, here are hungry for
And dare not speak. "
knowledge. In view of present political
Madalyn Murray O'Heir
and social trends, Americans will soon
Editor-in-Chief
face an old choice - Reason or Theo-

~~=::==--::--::~~iiii
~~;:'I

--::-~>

PAGE 2

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

EDITORIAL

,JON GARTH MURRA Y

TIME FOR A CHANGE

Over the period of time that I have been actively involved
with the Atheist movement.] have had occasion to be on many
a media event and to talk to many individual Atheists. Out of all
those 'discussions; with Atheists and non-Atheists alike., I
have come to the conclusion that both gro~p~:are "hung-up"
(to use an expression)' on a number of philosophical
arguments. All of these are concerned' with the central issue
of "causation." which is to say in the venacular "How did
evervthinq get here?" The central issue can be broken down
into a number of sub-issues, such as "How did I get here?" (i.e.
whence was life derived?); "What was the origin of the
universe?" (i.e. 'presuming that there is a knowledge-based
definition of "universe"); or "WhY does there seem to be .an
order to evervthinq?" (i.e. imposing upon the material world
we see the criterion of order which we allege to be in our
culture) ..
For thousands of years, philosophers have divided into
camps and argued back and forth over various causation
theories. None of them have prevailed either one way or the
other. Some theories are no longer used because scientific
data Is now available which rules them out completely, but
others remain -'- as yet'. irrefutable. All of these philosophical
theories are based, however, on speculation. They are all
subjective interpretations of what little we know of the
"universe" - an indefinable term, They are attempts to solve
an equation that still has joo many missing variables.
The discipline of philosophy has concerned itself with
rationalizing the yet unrationalizable. I like to call a philosopher's work "mental masturbation." That is because it
accomplishes nothing and impedes progress toward any real
solutions by endless circular argumentation on subject matter
that is not relevant to human life. I know that my "hate mail"
basket will overflow now from all.of you philosophy Ph.D's out
there, but I couldn't care less about the origin, if any, of the
universe. When all the parts of the equation are in from
science, not from philosophy, it can be solved and we can all
swell up together with pride in that knowledge. Until that time
the human community needs many concrete answers to many
pressing concerns i'n health, education and welfare areas, to
name a few..
You say, "Alright already. You don't like philosophers. So
what?" Well, thefact that so 'many Atheists are hung up on
philosophy has been reflecting itself in the pages of tbis
publication for too long. I think we seem to be beating a dead
horse. Month after month we tellyou what vou'alreadv know.
You know that there is no god. You know that god theories are
psychologically harmful. You knowthatevolution
is nottheory
but fact. We don't need to keep .hammering away at .these
things over andover again.
.
Therefore, I am proposing a change in the entire format of
this publication, a change that will emphasize the pragmatic
nature of Atheism. I am, literally, "fed up" with the causation
question. Whether or not 1- or you - can prove the existence
or non-existence of a god is immaterial.

A major format change in the magazine will take time,

however. It\ cannot be done in one issue, but must be
approached in steps.
You will notice, in this issue, the first such step. We have
divided the news into two parts. The first section will try to give
an overview of what is going on in the "separation of state and
church" area all across the United States. Most of you see
state/church news with blinders on - the blinders of your
. individual geographical area's newspapers and electronic
media and what they care to air or will permit to be aired. A
very important state/church battle could be going on in the
courts of the state next door and your newspapers may not
have a wordof it. This first news section is designed to change
that and to keep you informed. The second news section is
designed to report on what individual Atheists and chapters of
your American Atheist organization are doing. Instead of
filling. the whole news section every month with American
Atheist organizational events, you can see both spectra national impactful news, regional news - and whatwe are
trying to do to combat religion's pernicious influence. In
addition, the "Chapter Chatter" page will inform you on what
the Chapters are doing each month.
Over the next several months I hope to begin phasing out
m9re and more philosophy and moving toward articles explaining aspects of state/church case law, church lease-back
gimmicks, new scientific findings that have a bearing on
religious claims or science outreach of concern to Atheists,
such as research on aging, exposes of religion in politics so
that you can be informed as a voter and a citizen, and
information on how the churches reach into ftireign affairs to
cause changes in your living (such as oil and Jerusaleml).
We will have one new column which is "Atheist Masters,"
in which pragmatic essays of the old master Atheists will be
printed. The first is in this issue.
I would like to hear from ALL of you in respect to this change.
If you are as fed up with the same old philosophical garbage as
am I and you want some real information on which to chew, I
want to know it.
To make this a successful transition, however, we need
your help too. If you are knowledgeable in any area of the
continuinqseparation
of state and church controversy, or if
you have information which should be made known, please
get to me.
If we all pitch in together, we can make the American Atheist
the most valuable reference tool in the United States, not
alone for you but for everyone.
The research we propose will need hands, minds, and
research time. Therefore, we need money to do this. Make
certain that you send your share to the Magazine Sustaining
Fund.1 have never mentioned money before in an editorial but
- you know where to write: Jon Murray, Director, American
Atheist Center, P.O.Box 2117, Austin, TX 78768, for both your
letter of comment and your check. The magazine, and I, need
your issue-oriented feed-back, and what we have here is an
issue.

FRUCTIDOR ] 88 [9/80]

AUSTIN, TEXAS

PAGE 3

..front ~agt l\tbitw

",

WE'

~ i.,

SW

~,

THE ATTACK ON THEC'ONSTITUTION

The militarists-the nee-fascists. the religious have recently, all, combined to
make a -formidable attack on the constitution of the United States and the
founding principle of "separation of powers." The attack seeks to place power in
respect to highly charged issues of the day into the hands of "neighborhoods"
where churches and business interests have the most strength. This stretches
from the "neighborhood" of your block to the' "neighborhood" which encompasses your state.
The experiences from, several continuing rrianuevers on the part of these
. intellectual neanderthais have been formalized into a battle plan - into tactics
- which they hope to make work on a nati~nallevel at this time. "Local options"
have been successfully used to keep certain counties or' localities "drv" and,
thus, saved from the demonology of alcohol. In order to control what the
religious define as pornography the idea of "community standards" has been
.promulgated and, now, even accepted by the federal courts. The Roman Catholic
Church is winning, at local level, all over the United States in respect to its battle
tor "busing to parochial schools," for the "child benefit" programs of lunch
money, books, special teachers, special training, as tax dollars pour into its
schools - always as "local" interests bring pressure on state legislative bodies
for bills to be passed in favor of the churches, or other vested interests. The
Equal Rights Ame.ndment has been stopped in states where church influence is
the most powerful, Busing for racial integration is everywhere under attack on the local level - where pressures can be more easily applied and felt.
"Local options" work; they work for the loud-mouthed and weak minded, who
know tOQwell that the "cultured," the "educated," the "refined" person would
rather give up his rights than stoop to the fight, ugly as it always is. 'It is at
"community level" that the minister is king. It is there that the pressure can be
brought, as the local merchant, or local politician sees the power of the grass
roots of the church. It is there that the community can be terrorized.
.
These forces understand the "emotional" fight and the "red flag" phrase. Both
have worked for them beautifully for the. issue of "abortion" which is not THE
issue at all. The real issue is sex education and dissemination of birth control
information. But the churches, which oppose both, know that if the cry is after
the "murder" of abortion the real fight can be by-passed and neither sex
education or birth control information will ever get to our children.
It is with the use of these well learned tactics that the highly emotional
"prayer in schools" issue was chosen to ride through the United States
Congress a bill which would strip legislative review powers from the highest
court of our land and to attack the separation of powers built into our founding as
a nation: After all, the United States Supreme Court appointments are for life
and presumably the justices are then "above" politics, not needing to be
reelected for term. But, the United States Congress can be reached - in the
House of Representatives, every two years and - in the Senate every six Years.
These persons can be influenced, for they seek reelection, and here the battle
was drawn.
.'
It was hardly a champion of liberty or of Atheism who saw the ruse, but we
must credit him with the fact that he had courage enough to identify it and to
speak to it, on the floor of the Senate and in the public press.

NEWSHORT
The future of the police chaplain in
Charlotte, North Carolina, became very
short and quite questionable on August
20th, when a Federal Court judge of that
district denied a request by the city for a
90-day extension of his contract.
.As reported in last month's American
Atheist, Patricia Voswinkel, Director of
the North Carolina Chapters of American '
Atheists was successful in her suit to have
the chaplain removed as being an unconstitutional establishment of religion by
the city of Charlotte.
A contract between the city and the
Providence Baptist church had provided a
$20,000 a year job for the pastor's nephew with the city paying one-half of that
amount. and the church providing the re- .
.mainder so that the new police "chaplain," who had a degree in journalism,
could provide "spiritual" guidance to officers on the force.
.
.
Patricia Voswinkel won her suit on
July 18th but the chaplain had vowed to
stay on the job. Later the city's attorney
asked for a 90 day extension to his contract so that the "city council could determine what to do about a future /
(police) counseling position and t9 allow
time for (the nephew) to find a new job."
The judge took the request under advisement and on the 20th of August ruled
that the Charlotte police department was
prohibited from "further
implementation" of the contract between the city
and the Providence Baptist Church.
Mrs. Voswinkel was elated and told reporters, "I'm very happy about it. This
was a fair decision that he made. I don't
see how he could really have ruled otherwise."
Meanwhile, the nephew. planned to
"show up" for work as usual.
The city , naturally (?), was reporting
that it would try to redefine the job and
to recruit applicants since it saw the job'
not as an unconstitutional entanglement
of city and church as did the federal
judge but rather as "the judge objecting
to our method of selecting a counselor"
and the name "chaplain" which the counselor had been given!

The news is chosen to demonstrate, month alter month, the dead reactionary hand of religion. It dictates your habits, sexual conduct, family
size. It censures cinema, theater, television, even education. It dictates life values and lifestyle. Religion is politics and, always, the most
authoritarian and reactionary politics, We editorialize our ,""WS to emphasize this thesis. Unlike any other magazine or newspaper in the United
States. we admit it.
..

PAGE 4

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

~/

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

Congressional Record -

54138,

U.S. Senate

Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I seek recognition.

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senatoifrom
Massachusetts, Mr. Edward Kennedy.
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I -... like others, late on
Thursday, was faced with the issue, virtually without any.
notice, of the amendment of the distinguished Senator from'
North Carolina (Jesse Helms - ed.) an amendment which
would 'have a greater impact and assault on the Supreme
Court of the United States and its jurisdiction than has taken
place in this country over the 200 years of its history. I am
mindful that the debate was virtually free of any discussion by
those expressing opposition to it.
I do think it is important that the membership on the floor of
the Senate have some awareness and understanding of the
extraordinary significance of this measure. Some of the most
important decision, perhaps the two most important decision
that have been made by the Supreme Court, were those that
were understood by every student in law school - they
learned it early - and by most college students, the Marbury
against Madison decision (1 Cranch 137, 2 L.Ed. 60, 1803
-ed.), which permitted the Supreme Court's judicial review of
acts of Congress, and the Martin against Hunter's Lessee
decision (1 Wheat 304, 4 L.Ed. 97, 1816 - ed.), which
recognized the Supreme Court's jurisdiction to rule on State
laws. Those are, really, the two bedrock decisions which have
established the importance of Supreme Court judicial decision
making.
We are asked this afternoon to impede the second of those
decisions by eliminating or restricting the judicial authority
and power of the Supreme Court on one particular issue
-school praverts)
.. , However, the Helms admendment
reaches a significance far beyond this issue of prayer. . .. 1 do
think the Helms amendment reaches the foundation of this
Nation in one of the most important decisions that our
Founding Fathers made. That is on the separation of powers.
... this, Mr. President, is virtually the first assault on the
Supreme Court of the United States in over a 100 years, trying
to define its jurisdiction in such a way as to affect the merits or
the outcome of a particular Supreme Court decision.
...
if the Congress of the United States is prepared to
exclude jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in one partricular
area, in the area of voluntary prayer, why cannot the Congress
of the United States - maybe, not this year, maybe not next
year, maybe not in 20 years, but, say, in 30 years or 50 years
-virtually
establish a religion in the United States of America
and provide for the Supreme Court exclusion from ruling on
the appropriateness of that enactment.
Mr. President, I would think that others in this body would
be somewhat leery of this particular procedure. It might not be
long before Members of this body, at some future time, m,ight
say, "We are going to confiscate certain business properties
(oil? - ed) in this country," and then, after the confiscation
process add one little, final clause, and say that no Federal
court or Supreme Court will have jurisdiction over the matter,
or oveCcompensation, or due process for business.
I can see that, sometime in the future, the free press might
be under assault or attack. Maybe we are just going to take this
one, small action dealing with the free press, and then we are
going to take the old Helms language and exclude the press
from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United
States. This Helms amendment establishes a precedent for all
types of mischief.
Make no mistake about it. It is not just o~'the issue of the
AUSTIN, TEXAS

voluntary prayer. The Helms amendment reaches one of the

most basic and fundamental issues, and that is the appropriateness of the Supreme Court to be the interpreter of the
Constitution of the United States, an issue which I thought
was resolved many years ago.
.
The problem that we will be facing should be understood by
all Members. It would exclude the Supreme Court from
making judgments in this particular area. We are going to run
into a situation in which 50 States could have 50 different
interpretations of what the law of the land is - one ruling in
Connecticut, another in Massachusetts, another in Rhode
Island (to,say nothing ofMormon Utah - ed.) - all affecting
one of the most fundamental tenets of our society, and one
which- has had an important role in the shaping and
formulation of our Union ....
Mr. President, ... I hope we understand the extraordinarily
dangerous aspect and precedent of this amendment. There
will not be a group or an interest in this country, if we accept
this amendment, that is not going to be back here, talking to
the Members, talking to us as individuals, talking to us as
parties, and advocating some other provision to limit the
jurisdiction of the Federal court systems.
This amendment is bad policy. It seeks to refute one of the
fundamental aspects on which this country was established
-=- separation of powers.Itis extremely dangerous, and should
be rejected.
I hope this amendment by the Senator from North Carolina
will be defeated, (end of quotation from Congressional Record)
The argument of Senator Kennedy was in vain. It was made
on April 9,1979 and the Rollcall Vote was YEAS - 61, NAYS
- 30, NOT VOTING - 9. (The list is available to readers by
request to our offices. - ed.) The following amendment tothe
Judiciary Act was then official:
o 1259 Appellate jurisdiction limitations.
"(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1253, 1254,
and 1257 of this chapter the Supreme Court shall not have
jurisdiction
to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or
otherwise, any case arising out of any State statute,
ordinance, rule, regulation. or any part thereof, or arising out
of any Act interpreting, applying, or enforcing a State statute,
ordinance, rule, or regulation, which relates to voluntary
prayers in public schools and public buildings. "
The fight immediately proceeded to the House of Representatives. In that body, the bill was introduced by Philip
Crane (R-III). Robert Kastenmeier (D-Wis) immediately bottled
it up in the Subcommittee on Courts and the right wing
religious community began a campaign to force Congressmen
to sign a discharge petition to remove it from Subcommittee
and bring it to the House floor. It is not curious at all that the
proponents of this legislation were not even members of the
House. Those who would force it through are a dozen
, representatives of born-again medievalist Christianity, to wit:
Pat Robertson (president, Christian Broadcasting Network incidentally, the son of a former Senator from Virginia), Jerry
Falwell (president, Moral Majority). Robert Dugan (president,
National Association
of Evangelicals),
Ben Armstrong
(director, National Religious Broadcasters), Dean Kantzer
(editor, Christianity Today). Jesse Helms (senator from North
Carolina), William Bright (president, Campus Crusade for
Christ). Nelson Bunker Hunt, (oil tycoon, son of H. L. Hunt).
Although 218 names were needed on the discharge
position, the evangelicals managed only 178 by the time of the
writing of this article (mid-August). The dirty tactics involved
were incredible, including the publication of the names of the
holdouts in evangelical journals and bulletins with the impli-

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGES

,J
cation that these persons were anti-prayer and thus anti-god,
exhortations to the religious in the United States to write to
every such Congressperson - to flood them with mail.
The American Atheist Center was stunned to see the
editorials emerging in the hard press. The Columbus Citizen
called the bill"dangerous," and "inciting to religious conflict."
The New York Times noted that "The framers of the Constitution knew that precisely such political-religious enthusiasms
could lead to laws incompatible with religious freedom .", The
Chicago Tribune was of the opinion that the court "should
strike such a subversive notion down," The Richmond TimesDispatch called the proposed law "extremely ill-advised." The
Washington Star held that there is no reason to give the states
"political discretion over devotional exercises in public
schools," which would only "give the potential" for "disrupting the civil peace." The St. Louis Dispatch felt "the
lawmakers would be ill-advised to the exercise such power"
which would "set a dangerous precedent." The Chicago SunTimes severely chastised the Illinois Senator (Crane) noting
that "What the court prohibited - and what Crane wants - is

government prayer. Yet, we can't believe that any truly

religious person would entrust the Illinois Legislature with
writing religious devotions or even mandating them." Even
conservative Universat P~ess Syndicate writer, .Jarnes J.
Kilpatrick, used-a column to say that the Helms and Crane
Amendments were "if not demonstrably unconstitutional,"
then "lamentably unwise."
This is the fifth major push - in the United States Congress
- to return prayers to public schools, often each such push
lasting for two', three, or more years. There have been thirty or
more attempts in nearly as many states. Meanwhile, the only
finger-in-the-dike has been the existence of American Atheists.
This gr~s roots o.rganization, which is now manifesting itself
in its 47 chapters (in 32 states) as well as with the national
American Atheist Center, stands almost alone and almost
unfunded. Although its presence is felt, the need for financing
of action is sti,11imperative. The dangerous exercise of Helms
and Crane is but a new mode in the continuing struggle to
maintain a victory won by the Murray-O'Hair family.,To that
end, all American Atheists must be committed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BORN-AGAIN

MORALS OR BOYCOTT
,\

If you thought Proctor and Gamble really wanted to sell soap

- you are wrong, wrong, wrong. In reality the company wants
to sell sex! At least that is the contention of the National
Federation for Decency, still another born-again group, this
time, monitoring television in order to tell you what to see, or
- alternately - to tell you what company to boycott.
A group of 500 "trained" born-agains volunteered to
monitor 742 hours of programming for three months, in 14
mostly Southern states, earlier this year. This is real "local
option" in action and a small taste of that to which you may be
subjected if these forces win in their cold war. Theyfound that
non-Christian values (their definition and only the lord knows
the criteria used) outnumbered Christian values (again their
definition) by more than two to one. Led by a minister who
feels that every program on television is a "sermon" either for
or against Christ, the results of the survey looked like this:
Top Ten Programs with Christian Values
(O.K. for you to view)
1. Little House on the Prairie - NBC
2. The Waltons -- CBS
3, Here's Boomer - NBC
4. Palmerstown USA - CBS
5. Wonderful World of Disney - NBC
6. Different Strokes - NBC
7. Trapper John, M.D. - CBS
8. Chips - NBC
9. Eight is Enough - ABC
10. Galactica - ABC
Top Ten Programs with non-Christian Values
(These are all "No-No's;" turn them off!)
1, United States - NBC
2. Archie Bunker's Place - CBS
3. Dallas - CBS
4. Three's Company - ABC
5. The Ropers - ABC
6. Flo- CBS
7. WKRP- CBS
8. Knots Landing - CBS
9. Sanford - NBC

..

~~~~~~~.~~~~~~

PAGE 6

10. Love Boat -

ABC

It is clear from all of this that NBC is much more pure than
CBS. Presumably if any of these good Christians ever saw
HBO the shock would be too much to bear.
.
And how did Procter & Gamble get into this? That firm is the
top sponsor of sex on prime time television - when the
kiddies are still up. All of this brings us to the good guys versus
the bad guys again.
Top Ten Sponsors of Christian Values
, (It is O.K. to purchase their products)
1. Prudential Insurance
2. Citicorp
3. Texaco
4. Kraftco
5.J. C. Penney
6. Sunkist Growers
7. Hallmark Cards
8. Shell Oil Co,
9. Volkswagen
10, Oscar Mayer
Top Ten Sponsors of non-Christian Values
(Obviously you will boycott the bastards)
1. General Foods
2. Procter & Gamble
,3. Ford- Motor Co.
4. Pepsi Co.
5. American Home Products
6. General Motors
7. Lever Bros.
8. Johnson & Johnson
9, Bristol-Myers
10. Sterling Drugs
Big Born-Again Brother is watchingl
For your own copy of this report, write to the National
Federation for Decency, Box 1398, Tupelo; Mississippi, 38801.
Weill Where did you expect it to be headquartered? New York?

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

;tocu~on atbttfjt~.
... anb Wt won't takt it snmnoret
8005

It to 'Him!

It was in early July that Troy Soos of the Chicago Chapter of American Atheists telephoned the Director of the National
American Atheist Center, Jon Murray. He wanted to read the syndicated Sydney Harris column which had appeared that day in
the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, wherein another SWAT had been taken at Atheism. Troy was furious. He also was
remembering that just several weeks before he had been in attendance at the First Annual National American Atheist Summer
Solstice Picnic at the American Atheist Museum in Petersburg, Indiana. There, he had heard Dr. OHair give a pep-talk, one facet
of which had to do with "loss by default:" She had exhorted the Atheists-there to stop taking the abuse of the religious
community and simply, when insulted, to seek ajusticiable return to the insult. He planned to go to the Op-Ed page editor of the
newspaper and to demand equal column space to answer Harris. He was encoureqed to do so.
Within a day he was back. He had telephoned the editor and was told that if he could write a reply, and if it was a good one, it
would be printed NOT as a letter to the editor but as an Op-Ed column. He was then. already, into the writing of it.
It was just about a week later that he called again. This time he was reading his column which had appeared in the July 12th
issue of the same newspaper. He was exhuberant. It was true: if an Atheist talked back, everybody gained. It was a learning
experience for the community - and the Atheist. The Op-Ed pa{Je editor was so delighted with what he had wrtitten that he was
invited to send in an Atheist column whenever any issue came up!
We know how many Troys there are out there: how many of you are "fed up and can't take it any more." All you need to do is
exactly what Troy did: speak up, speak out. In order to elucidate, we print the Chicago Sun-Times exhange in full. Read and learn.

ATHEISTS HAVE SAME BLINDNESS AS RIGID

FUNDAMENTALISTS
by Sydney J. Harris

DON'T MISREPRESENT ATHEISM AND

AGNOSTICISM

Chicago Sun- Times, 7 July 1980

Chicago Sun-Times, 19 July 1908

I tell you, one ofthe subjects it just doesn't pay to write about
is religion. No matter what you say, vituperative letters pour in
from the people who disagree with you. And the Atheists are
just as vocal in their denunciations as the believers are.
This spring, I referred, in a parenthetical remark, to Atheism
as a false and shallow doctrine. Well, sir, you would have
thought I attacked the Trinity, the Incarnation and the Torah
the way those letters gushed in from devout Atheists who felt
their creed had been maligned.
After all, I was merely stating my opinion, which is the most
one can do on such a complex and recondite subject; but when
you go after someone's basic belief (or basic disbelief, in this
case), you rouse the furies to their fiercest pitch.
Some of my best friends - as the smarmy saying goes and closest relatives have been dedicated Atheists. My father,
one of the loveliest men who every lived, had no use for
religion in any of its credal forms. As I have said before, he
didn't believe in god, but god believed in him, which is more
important; what you believe counts for less than how you feel
and act toward your fellow man.
io be a convinced Atheist strikes me as dumb - shallow, if
not demonstrably false. This is why, about 100 years ago, the
great scientist, Thomas Huxley, coined the word "agnostic."
He felt the need for a word to describe and define those who
neither affirmed nor denied a deity and felt it was a matter.
beyond human knowledge.
Now agnosticism is a perfectly respectable and tenable

Sydney J. Harris recently wrote a column presenting his

views on Atheism and agnosticism. He misrepresented both
the position of Atheism and the non-position of-agnosticism.
Harris refers to Atheism as "a false and shallow doctrine,"
"dumb," "unyielding and dogmatic." Atheism is neither dogmatic nor doctrinal. And if it is false, then Harris (or anyone
else, for that matter) should produce a god.
Atheism is simply the position of people who are without
theism, or belief in god. That is all it is. Any further philosophies or codes of behavior are an individual's responsibility to
develop. Just as lack of belief in a tooth fairy or bogeyman is
not labeled a doctrine, doqma or philosophy, neither should
Atheism be labeled as such.
Contrary to the Harris column, Thomas Huxley did not coin
the word "agnostic" to describe "those who neither affirmed
nor denied a deity." Charles Bradlaugh, a 19th century
Englishman and outspoken Atheist, was elected several times
to the House of Commons; he was repeatedly denied his seat
in Parliament because he would not swear "so help me god."
In an effort to take his seat, Bradlaugh asked biologist Thomas'
Huxley of the prestigious House of Huxley to declare that he
also was an Atheist. Huxley replied that he was not an Atheist;
he was an "agnostic." He believed there was a god, but that
the god could not be known. This is not at all an intermediate
position. Even the National Catholic Almanac states that god
is invisible and incomprehensible. (The Almanac, incidentally,
lists 21 other attributes of this "incomprehensible"
god.)

(continue same column next page)

(continue same column next page)

AUSTIN, TEXAS

by Troy Soos

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGE 7

philosophical posrtron: It IS not dogmatic, and makes no

pronouncements about the ultimate truths of the universe. It
remains open to evidence and persuasion; lacking faith, it
nevertheless does not deride faith.
Atheism, on the other hand, is as unyielding and dogmatic
about religious belief as true believers about "heathens." It
tries to use reason to demolish a structure that is not built
upon reason; because, though rational argument may take us
to the edge of belief, it requires a "leap of faith" to jump the
chasm.
I personally find little difference between the rigid fundamentalist who insists that everyone is going to hell who does
not share his notion of salvation and the obdurate Atheist who
insists with equal fervor that everyone who believes in god is
deluded or demented.
Indeed, I find the Atheist more culpable (if-more attractive
than the other) because the "reason" he venerates should
lead him to respect the limitations of reason and turn him at
least into an agnostic.

On The Other Hand

sometimes that does not work. Ever. Dr. Q'Hair gets
rebuffed. She has attempted many many times to be
accepted by any hard media (newspaper) as a columnist on
the subject of Atheism, or as an Atheist looking at the news
of the day. She has visited editorial offices, written letters,
made telephone calls.
Her latest rebuff came at the same time that Soos was
socking it to Harris.
Is she discouraged? "Atheists," she opined, "are rubber
balls. Knock them down and they bounce right back." If
American Atheists do not make it the first time, there is
always another chance, and another and another. The
future belongs to Atheism. We'll make it.

THE AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN

308

GUADAlUPI

AUSTIN, TlxAS

RAYMOND

78701

M.u:lom

EOITOR

August
Mrs. M~dalyn Murray
President,
American
P.O. Box 2"117
Austin, TX 18768

15, 19J30

O'Hair
Atheists

Deal M:-s. O'Hair,

Your atheistic
VhWS
seem to get q e ne r-ovs
~xpnsur~
in our news space. ~ don't feel any need
for a column on the subject.

Many people now label themselves "agnostics" because

they won't absolutely rule out the possibility of the existence
of a supernatural being. Most are, in reality, Atheists, since
they function without theism.
Noted psychotherapist Albert Ellis remarked on this while
addressing this year's National American Atheist Convention.
He began, "I am, a practical Atheist. I do not say that there
cannot possibly be a god. There can be one tucked away in the
universe somewhere. But there has never been any evidence
to indicate it, and the odds against a supernatural being
existing are probably about 50 billion to one. So I choose to
believe that there is not a god, and I am therefore an Atheist."
The frequent and faulty attempts to justify agnosticism as
opposed to Atheism often take the form of "one must disprove
an assertion to disbelieve it." This is not true in any field of
study. It being impossible to prove a negative, the responsibility for proof is on the theory's proponent. An example:
A prophet announces that ethereal beagles f.rom Pluto will
drop gold bars on lawns of people who pile rocks in front of
their homes. There will be three reactions:
1. A religious grbup ("cult" if it contains fewer than 10,000
members) will immediately form and begin piling rocks and
waiting for gold bars to fall from the sky.
2. Atheists will say, "Prove it," and go about living their
lives.
3. Agnostics will be unable to disprove the claim and will
toss some stones on a pile each morning, just in case.
After distorting the definitions of Atheism and agnosticism,
Harris goes on to allege that Atheism "tries to use reason to
demolish a structure that is not built on reason." If by
"structure" he means "religious faith," he is wrong. Something built on wishful thinking cannot be taken down by
rationality. Most 'Atheists recognize this, and do not waste
their time attempting to do it. That would be like trying to
convince a 4-year-old in December that there is no Santa
Claus.
Both organized religion and god-belief are dying from lack of
substance. No assault from Atheism is necesssary. The fears
that foster religious superstition are being continually dispelled by science. Solar eclipses are no longer worsfiipped,
exorcisms are no longer performed for epilepsy and "divine
displeasure" can be averted through the use of lightning rods.
It has never been demonstrated that supernatural intervention caused any event or phenomenon.
As to Harris' contention that Atheism,is "shallow" and that
Atheists exhibit "blindness," I am perfectly happy to limit my
life to reality. Those who wish to reside in the never-never
land of ghosts, devils, witches, gods and goblins are welcome
to do so. Just leave the superstitions in the church, the home
or the coven where they belong, and don't inflict them on
sensible people through government or public education. The
issue of state-church separation is one in which Atheists are
active. Keep the faith, if you must, but keep it to yourself.

Sincerely,

~~.

A Few Reasons for Doubting

The Inspiration of the Bible
Robert G. Ingersoll
$2.00
Robert Ingersoll is the single best
known Atheist writer and orator. of
all time. In this he presents 61 compelling arguments as to the absurdity
of the Bible having come from god.

R~1/c 0

PAGE 8

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

AME,RICAN ATHEIST

AT LAST DECENCY AND TRUTH

IN A T.V. PROGRAM!
Tuesday, August 5, 1980
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AUSTIN. TEXAS

ifI

JIII"'

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

D.T.

,..,

PAGE 9

----(

AS THE REED IS BENT ]~---

The poet William Ernest Henley could well have been describing David Reed when he wrote the poem "lnvictus," the
second stanza of which screams out:
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
The initial story was in the April issue of this magazine and a
follow-up appeared in May. There is a cost for freedom of
speech and freedom from religion. That cost is variable with
the circumstances and the people involved. When symbolism
is especially important the cost is heavy, as demonstrated in
the matter of David Reed. A capsule time sequential is
provided here to give background.
5/15/78
David Reed affirrnedas a Webberville, Michigan:
police officer. During his two-year service he has a spotless
personnel record with a commendation and letter of high
"recommendation by his supervisor.
"
" ..
11/1/78
Reed, an open and avowed Atheist, notifies his
supervisor that he has joined the American Atheist organization. He has no reason to hide his affiliation.
9/1/79
Reed begins an investigation into the problem of
police chaplaincies, with approval of his supervisor.
1211179 Reed has an interview published inthe Lansing
State Journal newspaper, with his supervisor's approval.'
3/19/80
Reed makes a public statement at a State Senate
public hearing on H.B. 4508, a "voluntary" prayer bill for
public schools, with his supervisor's assent,
3/26/80
Reed's editorial comments on H.B. 4508 are
published in the Lansing State Journal newspaper, with his
supervisor's enthusiastic approval.
4/4,5,6/80
Reed provides personal police protection for
Dr. O'Hair at the 10th Annual National Convention of
American Atheists in Southfield, Michigan, being seen on T.V.
and with other public appearances, with his supervisor's full
knowledge, consent and approval. (Dr. O'Hair was again
under a series of death threats at the time.)
At the same time David Reed appeared on the cover of this
magazine, the The American Atheist. in which his article "The
Chaplaincy and Theocracy" was featured together with an
article on Reed. The full color cover picture was of Reed in
police uniform. Since the police of the United States have
come to have the image of neo-fascism, popularly known as
"pigs" and under investigation in many states for brutality
against minority groups, the "police uniform" is powerful
symbolism. In this instance the uniformed officer was used as
a symbol to reverse the popular image of the "pig" and show
that honesty, integrity and intelligence is possible in the police
forces of the nation.
The Webberville police and the Ingham County sheriff
department saw the cover picture as an insult to the uniform
and to police image.
4/10/80
At a shift change meeting of Ingham County
sheriff deputies it was discussed that Reed should be tarred
and feathered, or killed, for oisgracing the uniform ofa police
officer. The same evening a senior deputy, worried over these
threats, reported them to Reed as being substantial enough
that he thought Reed's life was in danger.
Reed contacted the national office of American Atheists and
Dr. O'Hair immediately notified the F.B.I., the office of GoverPAGE 10

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

nor Milliken of Michigan and the State Police of Michigan, as

well as the news media, The theory behind this was that an
expose of the threats and the situation brought more security
to Reed and his family.
Reed was suspended with pay "for his own protection" as
independent investigations were started by the State Police
and the Ingham County Sheriff Departments, both of which
- at first blush - found that the threat was real.
5/2/80
Reed was suspended "without pay" when his
. supervisor suddenly turned against him and charged him with
filing and pursuing a criminal complaint "that he knew to be
false.'( L.ater a report was made on the investigation that there
was "insufficient evidence to suggest that anycrime had been
committed." Reed, of course, had only advised his supervisor
that a crime was planned.
5/10/80
Reed submitted to a Brevital Sodium (truth
serum) examination to verify that he was warned of the death
threat by the senior deputy. The examination substantiated
his report.
5/30/80
Reed was fired for "misconduct and.his inability
to function as a competent police officer."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan intervened
in the case on Reed's behalf.
7/1/80
Michigan Employment Security Commission determined that Reed's "discharge was for other than misconduct."
and that Webberville Police's "facts relating to his discharge"
were "mostly opinions and not substantiated nor proved
conclusively."
Reed now has opened files with the Michigan Civil Rights
Commission and the Federal Civil Rights Commission for

investigation into this case of Christian persecution of an

Atheist.
It was at this point that the Michigan Chapter of American
Atheists called for picketinqof the Webberville Police Station.
That Chapter, headed by Bob Mangus, had been most supportive of Reed during this entire period. Every step of his
defense had been carefully discussed, or planned, and
Mangus had kept in close touch with Reed.
The Chapter reports as follows: "The joint venture (picketing
by several chapters of American Atheists) went off without a
hitch. ... There were twenty of us to rally support for David
Reed's reinstatement efforts. We were from Chicago, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Michigan and ranged in age from 5% to
84 years. We more than accomplished our goals - public
education and symbolic demonstration of our outrage. We
drew respectable coverage from the Associated Press, the
Lansing State Journal and the Enterprise newspapers and
superb coverage from WJIM-TV, Channel 6, Lansing. That
coverage was the lead-in for the 6:00 P.M. news and was
picked up as the number 3 spot story on the 11 :00 P.M. news.
Also present was the American Atheist Television Cameraman, George Kniss, Pennsylvania Chapter, who taped about
one-half hour of the picketing. He also taped a full 30 minutes
with Wendy Pulver of Pennsylvania as she interviewed David.
These tapings were forwarded to Austin, Texas, for incorporation into the American Atheist News Cable Television
Program."
The honor roll of attendees at the picketing included:
ILLINOIS CHAPTER Kit Drew, Newton Berry,
Bari Tarman, Bill Yale;

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80)

AUSTIN, TEXAS

PAGE 11

PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER Reynold Bourquin,

Wendy Pulver, George Kniss, Gloria and Steve Lashek;
VIRGINIA CHAPTER Arnold Via (his famous
uniform was lost by the airlines in transit);
MICHIGAN CHAPTER Bob Mangus, Henry
Schmuck, Daile Reed, Bernard Milinsky (84 years old - and
loving every moment of the action), AI Richman (76 years old),
Steve Budai, Steve Penney, Gary Kaufman, Pamela (5% years
old) and Robbie (7% years old) Mangus.
The picketers all wore "flag armbands," as Reed pointed out
to show that "Atheists areAmerican, We are as American as
mom and apple pie. That's why we're wearing the armbands."
Reed, who graduated cum laude in law enforcement from
Lansing Community College, has much at stake. And, as is

characteristic with a good fighting Atheist, he is putting it all

on the line - while other Atheists support him on the picket
line.
Once again, in this "Affirmative Action" plan of American
Atheists, it has been demonstrated that Atheists can come out
of the closet. Nothing happened to the pickets. All went well.
That Reed was fired exhibited a special case of symbolism. The
bastions of Christianity include the American Legion, 'the
Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the police across the nation.'
Reed was (and is) inestimably brave to openly espouse that by
which he lives - Atheism - while in the ranks of the latter.'
An ordinary Atheist won't have this difficulty. But, a little or a
lot of trouble is now becoming less and less material as more
and more-Atheists speak out ..

.~~~~.~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Untold History" is an illustrated serial developed to
graphically portray a part of the contemporary history of the
world which is generally not given in the serious scholarly
volumes written by historians who do not desire to offend th~
most venerable of man's institutions: the Roman Catholic
Church. Historians are notoriously wary.of being charged with
"anti-Catholic bigotry" and forego the truth rather than suffer
the insult.
In "The Untold History - Part I" there is a focus on the last
forty-two years of the history of Spain. There is no equivocation as this history denounces the Roman Catholic Apostolic
Church as the main and direct force responsible for the
destruction of freedom of the mind for most of the present-day
surviving Spanish famili-es. But there is a more serious charge
and that is that during the blood bath in the years 144 to 146
(i.e. 1936 to 1938) those who were eradicated were those who
had dared to think. It was a repetition of an earlier age about
which few historians dare to write openly. But the redoubtable
Charles Darwin in his most famous work The Descent of Man,
2nd Edition, 1874, made it clear:
."Who can positively say why the Spanish nation, so
dominant at one time, has been distanced in the race. The
awakening of the nations of Europe from the Dark Ages is a
still more perplexing problem. At that early period, as Me.
Galton has remarked, almost all the men of a gentle nature,
those given to meditation or culture of the mind, had no refuge
except in the bosom of a church which demanded celibacy;
and this could hardly fail to have had a deteriorating influence
on each successive generation. During this same period the
Holy Inquisition selected with extreme care the freest and the
boldest men in order to burn or imprison them. In Spain alone
some of the best men - those who doubted and questioned,
and without doubting there can be no progress - were
eliminated during three centuries at the rate of a thousand a
year."
The main tool used by religious dictators to pursue their goal
of complete dominance of the human race, through unquestioned acceptance of their authority, is a brutal and
permanent indoctrination that begins in the early stages of
intellectual development of a human being and which never
abates until he dies, indeed giving him the irnpression-thatit
can reach beyond the- grave to seize him and torture him
further in "after" life if need be. So that this complete
indoctrination may be effective, the educational pro~ess must'
be seized by the church. When a public school system comes
PAGE 12

...

into being in any country it is necessary for the Churchto seek.

its destruction. Thus, in 146 (1938) the Vatican .beqan its
assault upon the entire system of public education in Spain.
"The Spanish Law of Primary Education of 1945 (153)
makes it obligatory for all teachers in state schools to take a
course in (Roman) Catholic doctrine before they can teach, _
and Article 5, Chapter II, Section I, says that 'Primary education, inspired with a (Roman) Catholic sense and consistent.
with Spanish educational traditions. will conform to the
principles of the (Roman) Catholic dogma and faith andto the
prescriptions of Canon Law.'," as cited by Paul Blanshard in
American Freedom and Catholic Power. Of course, that new
law of the triumphal Cruzada was in total agreement with the
"famous" words of the (Roman) Catholic Bishop of Cartagena
(Spain) in 144 (1936), "Blessed be the canons if in the gap
they open the gospel blooms." In intellectual tyranny they
recognize that they have developed a new kind of (Roman)
"Catholic citizen." A national ,survey made in 175 (J 967)
showed that "A veryhigh percentage of Spaniards donot have
a mental age any gre!'lter than a 12 year old."
In "The Untold History. - Part II,". the subject .is Latin
American cultural milieux seen as a direct consequence of the
happenings in Spain after 146 (1938).
.
Jose lnqenieroswas one of the leading intellectuals of Latin
America. In that context it is very interesting to read a quote
concerned with him in a book written by the Catholic Arnerican writer, John J. Kennedy (not to be confused with President John F. Kennedy), Catholicism, Nationalism and Democracy in Argentina. Identifying ingenieros and his work, La
Evolucion de las Ideas A rgentinas, Vol. II, he states, " ...lnqenieros indicates his general evaluation of the church forces in the
struqqles of the nineteenth century. He asserts that there is an
'international political party' at work throughout the century
in those countries where (Roman) Catholicism is the dominant
creed and that this party, operating under the guise of national
interest, pursues a single purpose: 'To maintain the preeminence of the Holy See in all nations and under all
regimes.'."
.
Again in the thirties, (circa, 138-147) an Argentinian
Senator, Dr. Lisandro de la Torre made the following accusation in his Intermedio Filosofico: "In the Middle Ages, the
(Roman) Catholic Church attempted to establisha theocratic
government of the world, based on the permanent preoccupation with lite after death, which was presented as the
only goal of human life. If the church had succeeded there

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80)

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ATHEIST

would be no differences between Europe and Asia today. The

cancer of Asia is superstition. But the church failed to suceed.
After ten centuries of evil influence, the Roman Catholic
Church was restrained by the Reformation and the French
Revolution. The Argentinian Republic remains liberal as in its
earlv days. It is only since yesterday, since the reactionary
revolution of September 1, 1930 (146) that the clergy has
infiltrated the government and attempted to take possession
of education. While this phenomemon has not basically
changed Argentinian thinking, it is nevertheless necessary to
oppose it strongly. Extinction of the secular or non-religious
school is most symptomatic of the advances the church is
atternptinq in our country."
Neither Ingenieros nor Lisandro de la Torre was wrong. As
Paul Banshard testifies in American Freedom and Catholic
Power "The (Roman) Catholic Church cooperated gladly with'
the serni-Iascist dictatorship in Argentina when it was established in 1943 (151), and helped swing enough votes to Peron
in the election of 1946 (154) to 'give him the victory. Peron
responded with a decree making the Roman Catholic religion
part of the curriculum of the public schools. Today in Argentina, under Peron, the church censors the school textbooks
and supervises the published works on morals .... The New
York Herald Tribune of June 25, 1947 (155) said that Peron
was hoping 'with the aid of Spain and the Vatican, to build a
third great bloc of nations capable of holding a balance of
power as between the United States and Russia. Thisbloc is to
be Latin, both in Europe and in America, and the tie that binds
it is to be a common faith in the Roman Catholic Church.'''
In reference to Latin America, he describes the situation in
158 (1950): " ...The Latin American spectacle is not reassuring.ln every nation in Latin America today the hierarchy is
trying to get special privileges and financial support from the
gove'rnments for its churches and schools. In nine of the
twenty republics south of the Rio Grande, Roman Catholicism
is the official state religion and receives some kind of financial
aid from the governments. In the other eleven republics the
hierarchy never ceases to demand this church-state alliance
asa basic right. In some of the nine special privilege countries,
church-dominated governments discriminate against nonCatholics as openly as did the regime of Franco in Spain and
religious liberty for Protestants is only nominal. Pius IX won a
permanent position of special privilege for the church in
several Central American countries by concluding a series of
concordants with these nations. The concordant with Honduras, which may be taken as typical, says in Article I: 'The
Catholic Apostolic Roman religion is the religion of the
Republic of Honduras, and it will be kept fully without
modifications, and always with all rights and prerogatives to
which it is entitled by the law of God and the prescriptions of
the holy canons.'
."Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, Costa Rica, the Dominican
Republic, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela have given
the Roman Catholic Church both a privileged position in the
law and in financial support. In countries like Peru and
Argentina the hierarchy controls and censors public-school
education and harrasses Protestant clergymen."
Todav's facts show that Blanshard's conclusions were
correct. The Roman Catholic Church via revolution or by using
the power of government, is nowtaking the last steps to a
united Latin-America under Vatican rule.
In 174 (1966) the Roman Catholic' Church finally assumed
power in the only possible country that could exercise a very
different leadership in Latin America: Argentina. On June 27
of that year, General J.C. Ongania led the "Argentinian
Revolution" and took over all political power, becoming the
AUSTIN, TEXAS

new president. According to the magazine Prensa Confiden-

ciel. issued the second week of September, 181 (1973): "The

political journalists, looking for information about the new
government and totally confused by the sudden intrusion of
individuals absolutely unknown until that moment into the
official ranks of the government and its highest positions of
power, soon learned that the best source of information was
the office of the. Universidad del Salvador (i.e. the Jesuit
University) occupied at that time by its Dean, Father Ismael
Quiles, SJ."
. "The Untold History - Part III" is a narrative of an especially
curious case of religious tyrannical behavior in Mexico, hardly
known outside of that nation.
The evidence is impeccable. The Archivo Historico Diplomatico Mexicano, Volumen 27 is a part of the Mexican historical
and diplomatic files, publications of the Secretary of Foreign
Affairs of Mexico, 1928 (136): "Documents for the first time
published in this volume embrace more than 25 years. During
that period the intermittent relations between Mexico and the
Vatican were developed. Starting in 1858 (66) the communications with Rome were discontinued shortly before the official
declaration was made of the doctrine of separation of church
and state.
"Once the. independence of Mexico was established the
most urgent problem to be resolved was to define the situation
of the church in the new country and to establish a relationship, as well as regulations, concerned with that relationship.
To understand the total magnitude of the problem in such days
it is important to keep in mind that the (Roman) Catholicclerqv
of Nueva Espana (old name of colonial Mexico) was an agent
(more than an ally) of the Spanish government. The whole
financial power of the country was in church hands. The
military rebellion of Iguala (origin of the Mexican political
independence) was stimulated by the clergy, in complicity
with some absolutists Spaniards and tolerated by the pleased
Masonic lodges.
"Public education was completely under the direction and
rule of the clergy, and their help to achieve Mexican political
independence was conditioned on their right to veto the new
liberal laws established by Las Cortes(the Congress of Spain):
freedom of the press, suppression of the Tribunal de la Fe (the
Inquisition) and several religious institutions, and coincident
with the latter, the secularization of various beneficient or
charitable institutions, What the clergy wantd, above all, was
the consolidation of its property rights and worldly goods. It is
not necessary to be familiar with the colonial history of our
country (Mexico) to know that such property right in the
Mexican church was precarious in colonial times. Holdings
were at the discretion of the crown and a royal decree could
abolish any religious order or religious institute whatsoever
with all its worldv goods pasing to the crown without opposition or contraction of any kind .
. "The Mexican clergy reasoned that the hour had now
arrived to free itself from the royal dependence under which it
had lived until then, subjected completelv to civil authority.
With revolution freedom was onlyfor the prevailing class. Out
of all this issued lengthy and at times impassioned debates on
the right of pattronato (the powers of the church hierarchy). If
the church succeeded in depriving the government of the
"right to present" (that, is the right to select candidates for the
high ranks of the church) she could also stop the state from
collecting and dispensing the diezmos(a special tax laid fQr'the
benefit of the church). Then the clergy would have absolute
freedom, authority, and power, with complete right to appoint
their prelates and to enjoy the right to lay taxes beneficial to

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

can't an pg. 17
PAGE 13


The Northern,

Vol. 8, No. 28, a

student publication of Northern Kentucky University said it all. Under the

headline of "Lutes Charges Library
Censored Publications" the following
story appeared earlier this year.
NKU library patrons have unfairly
been denied the privilege of reading
American Atheist magazine, according to NKU student Andrew Lukes.
Ex-Library Director Bob Holloway
"was apparently receiving the magazine and just throwing it away," said
Lutes.
Lutes said he approached Holloway
in 1978 concerning the possibility of
the library receiving and shelving the
American Atheist publication. Holloway did not agree to the library paying for the magazine, but told Lutes.
the library would be happy to accept it
as a gift subscription.
"ApparentlyMr. Hollowaywasbeing
two-faced with me," said Lutes. "1
checked with the publication and they
confirmed that the library has been
receiving the magazine, but it has not
appeared on the shelves."
Holloway has since left the NKU
faculty and taken a position with the
Auburn University Library in Auburn,
Ala. Lutes reported that he checked
the shelves within the last couple of
weeks and the American Atheist was
still not present.

PAGE 14

"Whatever the problem has been in

the past is pure speculation," said
acting library director Bob Schneider.
Necessary arrangements have been
made, and "future issues will be
shelved," according to Schneider.
Lutes and Schneider both confirmed
that the publication was addressed to
Holloway personally, not specifically
the NKU library ..
Holloway, contacted at Auburn Univer
ity, said that the magazine was not
being forwarded to him at his new
location.
"After I talked with Andrew (Lutes)
we did receive a few copies, but not
very many," added Holloway.
"We just didn't get it for very long,"
added Holloway. "And before I left this
winter, we had not received it for quite
some time."
Reading that article on the front
page of this student journal one would
be led to believe that the American
Atheist magazine was an off-again,
on-again, sometimes, maybe,. cause
journal of no import and uncertain
issuance. Checking on the status of
this library, however, it was seen that
the request for a 'complimentary
subscription for the college had been
received from Andrew Lutes in 1978
and that the magazine had been sent
to the library, regularly, for a two year
period, with three copies going (1) to
the W. Frank Steely Library, (2) to the
Library-Serials Department, and (3) to
attention of Bobby Holloway.

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

~J

It was four months after the above

that the Library wrote to the American
Atheist Center indicating that
Serials Department was the correct
recipient and asking for the records to
reflect this. Both Lutes and Snyder
had been in error. The magazine had
never been sent personally to Holloway. All computer recorda at the
American Atheist Center continue to
reflect the original status: the NKU
library is receiving a complimentary
subscription and has been receiving
one for the last two years.
This library, and indeed most state
college libraries, pay for subscriptions
to religious magazines,which are prominently displayed, then later bound,
referenced, indexed and stored in the
stacks.
The religious community takes care
that its thrust is felt everywhere. Unless
and until American Atheists learn that
they must also do what they can for
their cause, it will continue to creep
forward, when indeed it deserves to be
the base upon which the future is
built.

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

RELIGION AND SCIENCE FICTION

/
Peter Christiansen

Historically there have been two types of literary fiction. The

first is realistic fiction, in which the writer limits his z herself by
an acceptance of the realities of life as we know it. The
situation and the events described by these authors, even if
highly improbable, are certainly not impossible.
The second type of fiction is known as fantasy, and is
completely unrealistic. In fantasy all the known perimeters of
existence are ignored, and the writer is limited only by the
boundaries of his/her own imagination.
But in the 19th century, a third class of fiction began to
emerge, known as Science Fiction. It is neither fact nor
fantasy, yet both.
It is no accident that SF developed in the 19th century.
Writers were being exposed to the first major conflict between
science and religion, a conflict that came to a head in 1859
with the publication of Darwin's The Origin of the Species. The
first SF writers attempted to go beyond the main stream of
thinking, toward the possibilities of both science and religion.
The purpose of SF has always been to suggest future
developments and modes of existence. Most SF is baa, filled
with sex, violence and empty of meaningful ideas. However,
this is true of most literary fiction, from the Bible to contemporary books and magazines, electronic literature (radio
and TV) and film. Most scholarly literature, as well, contains
few original ideas or findings.
Good SF writers are judged by their ability to extrapolate
from real facts. In this sense, SF writers base their writings on
the current threshold of scientific knowledge and ultimately
are judged by their ability to predict future developments.
Jules Verne, the first major populizer of Science Fiction,
was violently opposed to literature being limited to "known"
facts and just as violently opposed to literary fantasy. His
marvelous journeys moved beyond fact - to possibilities.
Verne conceived of the submarine, the airplane, the space
rocket - all possibilities extrapolated from hard facts, and all
denied as possible by the vast majority of scientists and non-,
scientists of the day. Verne pioneered a sub-category of SF,
technological SF, which is concerned with future hardware
development.
H. G. Wells, Verne's younger contemporary, pioneered a
second class of SF. Wells was concerned with future software
development, developments in life-style or ways of living that
could and/or would result from advances in hardware.
Indeed, Wells was concerned with religious questions.
Historically, religion has been a major theme of SF writers.
Most SF writers are antagonistic to traditional r,eligion. In the
past one hundred years, in their efforts to explore and break
religious taboos, it has been the SF writers, not the professional theologians, who have raised some of the most signifiAUSTIN, TEXAS

cant theological questions.

Robert Heinlein in Revolt in 2100 and Sixth Column
expressed a fear that religion in the future would be theocratic
fanaticism. Fritz Lieber took a cue from Heinlein and in Gather
Darkness depicted the world in the year 2305 ruled by a
debased religious cult which uses science and psychology to
keep people oppressed. Rebellion spreads among the faithful,
who organize an underground satanic cult complete with
witches and warlocks.
A much more common theme for SF writers is religion in
other worlds. In Clifford Sirnak.s The Voice in The Void, earth
explorers desecrate the tomb of the Martian Messiah who,
they discover, came from earth. The Creator, by Simak, was
rejected for publication 'by every SF magazine to which he
submitted it on the grounds of "blasphemy." In The Creator,
two scientists experimenting with a time machine learn that
earth is but one of many experiments by a macrocosmic Being
who now wishes to destroy what he has created.
Sin has been a subject of several SF stories. Two SF writers,
C. S. Lewis and Ray Bradbury, have written separate stories
with a similar point. C. S. Lewis in Out of The Silent Planet
portrayed Mars as the perfect planet where original sin has
never been committed. Ray Bradbury, in The FlhJ Balloons,
tells of two Episcopal priests who set out to establish a church
on Mars and redeem the natives, only to learn that Martians
have made themselves perfect and are free from sin and have
no need for.any religion.
The crucifixion has been a theme in Science Fiction. In
Robert Silverberg's Up the Line, the crucifixion becomes a
popular tourist attraction for time machine travelers. In
Michael Moorcock's Behold The Man, the leading character
uses a time machine to rescue Christ and winds up crucified in
his place.
It is quite possible that many writers seeking to explore and
break religious taboos have had their works published as
Science Fiction simply because they were unable to sell them
in other literary markets, SF readers tend to be much more
open-minded than readers of other types of literature. In the
First World War, both the Allied and the Axis powers claimed
god was on their side. In Lester Del Ray's For I Am A Jealous
People, god becomes so angry and disgusted at this that when
aliens attack the earth, god takes the side of the aliens.
Arthur Clarke, mostlfamous as the author of 2001, in an
earlier story, The Star, explores the idea that god is capable of
good and evil. He describes the anguish of a Jesuit priest (who
is a starship navigator) when he learns that the star of
Bethlehem wa,s a nova which destroyed a great alien
civilization.
And of course there must be a story about a giant computer.

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGE15

In Frederic Brown's Answer, the monster computers of each

of 96 billion worlds are linked together to form a single 'super
computer network. A question is' put to the computer, "Does
god exist?" After a few micro-seconds,
the computer
responds, "He does now!"
SF writers have created religions. Perhaps the most famous
of this type of SF story is Heinlein's Stranger in A Strange
Land, which tells the story of Michale Valentine Smith, the
first human born on Mars. Physically and mentally superior to
humans born on earth, and reared in the religion of Mars,
Smith comes to earth to preach the Martian religion, the Way
of Grok. First hailed as a new messiah, eventually he is killed;
but he uses his superior mental and physical abilities to
elevate himself to a higher plane. The story was seized upon
by members of many of the hippie communes which sprang up
in' the late 60s and early 70s, and was the model for Charles
Manson's family.
Some SF writers have written stories based on ancient
myths. The bulk of our human heritage is myth. Some SF
writers have sought to explain mythology in naturalistic
terms. One of the most notable of these, Robert Young's The
Boarding Party, tells us that years ago aliens orbiting the earth
in a spacecraft ran out of water, so they lowered pipes to the
earth to obtain a supply ofwater. This, Young suggests, is the
origin of the Jack and the beanstalk myth. In another story:
The Deep Space Scrolls, Young explains that Noah's ark was a
spaceship and Noah was one of a group of aliens fleeing the
destruction of their home planet.
Phillip Jose Farmer has emerged as one of the SF writers
most concerned with Religious Science Fiction. Farmer is not
only a brilliantly gifted writer; he is also guided by a highly
developed philosophy of Religion as Science Fiction. Farmer
believes that religion is our conscious expression of our
unconscious or instinctive drive for survival, for immortality.
The brain, knowing that a person can't live forever, rationalizes a future-or other world in which immortality is possible. In
this light, religion is indeed the earliest form of Science Fietion.

Nevertheless, and paradoxically, Farmer believes that the

possibility of immortality is not science fiction. In Farmer's
Riverworld Series, a major work of contemporary SF, the
entire human race is resurrected by aliens and brought to live
on a distant planet beside the banks of a river millions of miles
long. The promise of Farmer's Riverworld Series is that
humanity will not be given immortality by supernatural means
but will attain it on its own by direct, i.e., scientific, means.
Good SF writers base their writings on the threshold of
current scientific knowledge. Osborne Seqerberq is a former
John Hay Scholar at Brown University and has worked for
United Press, UP Movietone News, CBS News and United.
Nations Television. In a book titled The Immortality Factor,
Segerberg tells of two Delphi studies on the subject of
Immortality. A Delphi study is a technique used in technological forecasting which seeks to get a specific agreement
from a broad spectrum of experts as to when a particular
development or "breakthrough" will occur. (This is an alternative to public meetings and discussion, which all too frequently become dominated by one or two very vocal participants,
creating a bandwagon effect and often resulting in erroneous
conclusions.) In a Delphi study, a broad spectrum of experts is
sent a questionnaire asking them to predict when a certain
scientific breakthrough or advance will occur and why they
believe it will occur. at that time. Then, based on those
responses, the panel is sent a second questionnaire, provided
with information from the first survey and asked if the
members wish to revise their earlier prediction based on this
information. In 1964, Theodore Gordon and Olaf Helmer,
pioneers in the use of the Delphi technique, surveyed a broad
sampling of experts on the question,
"When will we
understand and control the human aging process?" In 1969, .
Douglas Bender at Smith, Kline & French Pharmaceutical
Laboraties, conducted a Delphi study, asking the same
question and the final consensus was: sometime before the
year 1993. With each successive Delphi study on this
question, the estimated date for a major breakthrough has
advanced.
,',

17

~
~

**
~

~
~

PAGE 16

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80)

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

In the 1940s, Arthur Clarke predicted that sometime in the

21 st century, communication satellites would orbit the earth,
making it possible for instantaneous two-way radio, television, and telephone communication any place on earth. This
idea )/Vasdismissed as science fiction by most of the scientists
and non-scientists at that time. In the 1960s we began
orbittinq just such communication satellites, not only proving
Clarke's critics wrong, but also proving Clarke's estimate
muchtoo conservative. Perhaps as a result of this experience,
Clarke has formulated Clarke's Law: "If a distinguished
scientist says that a problem is impossible to solve, he/she.is
certainly premature, and almost certainly wrong."
Science Fiction has traditionally been treated as a term of
dismissal. In 1950, many of the most distinguished members
of the. British Association for The Adva ncement of Science
objected to the idea of a discussion on interplanetary flight,
considering it to be mere science fiction. In 1956, the noted
British Astronomer Royal referred to manned space flight as
science fiction. In the mid-1960s, genetic engineering was
regarded as SF.
.
F. M. Esfandiary, a lecturer at The New School for Social
Research in New York City and at UCLA, has written Optimism
One, .Up-Wingers and Telespheres. In 1962, long before heart
transplants and recombinant DNA, Esfandiary was writing
about physical immortality. In the late 1960s, when the U.S.
and the entire world became preoccupied with the Vietnam
War and WaS mired in despair, Esfandiary was heralding an
upcoming Age of Optimism. During the 1973 energy crisis,
when everyone talked of a coming Dark Age and Limits of
Growth, Esfandiary was confidently projecting an upcoming
Age of Abundance. Today, as many people complain about the
collapse of the industrial world, Esfandiary is enthusiastically
mapping out a post-industrial world. In an age when optimism
and optimists are still highly suspect, Esfandiary talks about a
new hope in the world. He says we are living in the most
promising and revolutionary period in all of history. We are not
only moving to a new historical stage, but we are actually
flowing to a a whole new level in evolution.
Optimism One is recommended by Nobel Laureat, Glenn
Seaborq, as "
a remarkable book ..... ruthlessly realistic,
impressive
" Esfandiary tells us that when a new idea or
invention is first proposed, it is dismissed as science fiction
~nd its originator as a dreamer. Then, when the new idea or
development appears imminent, those who originally dismissed it as science fiction now denounce it as dehumanizing,
frightening and fascistic (until the late 1950s, it was communistic). Finally, when the idea or invention is developed and
begins to spread rapidly, those who originally dismissed it as
SF, then as dehumanized, now ask, "What is so original about
that?"; "It's in the Bible. ": "Read Karl Marx. ": "I myself have
advocated it for years."
Today, even the most sober scientific journals contain increasing amounts of material that twenty years ago, when I .
entered college, was dismissed as science fiction. The great
breakthroughs of recent years, space flight, women's liberation, computers and trial marriages are causing a dawning
awareness that from here on everything is possible.
Traditionally, people have looked to fiction for inspiration.
They have looked to the fantasies, illusions created by artists,
poets and religionists. Today, for the first time in history, facts
are increasingly becoming a source of inspiration for more and
more people. Today, because of the rapid advances being
made in scientific technology (hardware), most SF writers are
focusing on software. Manvconcerned about possible pr.ob-,
lems which could result were we to mishandle our progress,
paint a dim view of the future. They do so as a warning, not
AUSTIN, TEXAS

because they see catastrophe as inevitable, but because they

foresee problems that might arise unless we act responsibly.
Many contemporary SF writers, however, portray a dim view
of the future, not for any lofty moral reason, but simply
because tragedy and disaster sell better and are easier to
write.
Peter Vajk, the author of Doomsday Has Been Cancelled
reminds us that in children's fairy tales the hero and/or
heroine always struggles valiantly against adversity and then,
suddenly, the story-ends with the phrase " .....
they lived
happily ever after." This illustrates the obvious but still
important fact that it is far more difficult to describe a happy
and comfortable life without sounding naive, utopian and
boring.
It is no accident that the teachings of the major religions and
of the great mystics have always been sparse in providing the
details of heaven and nirvana, but very explicit in describing
the ravages of hell. This long religious tradition continues to
this day, even in liberal religion. It is far easier to construct an
elaborate and believable scenario for the collapse of our
existing social order than it is to describe, step by step, how
our present system could evolve into something new and
better.
Fortunately, there is emerging a small but steadily growing
group of SF writers who seek to show that human life and
human destiny need not be sordid, empty and a brief encounter with disaster. Peter Vajk reminds us:
In the times of the pharaohs, Moses and the
children of Israel set out on a journey to reach the
promised iand. But Moses and his entire generation were condemned to wander in the desert until
they died, never setting foot inside the land
promised to Abraham. This is clearly explained in
the Midresh, a collection of early Hebrew commentaries on the scriptures, as follows:
"You doubted me," God tells the lawgiver, "but I forgave you that doubt.
You doubted your own self and failed
to believe in your own powers as a
leader, and I forgave that also. But yoU:
lost faith in these people and doubted
the divine possibilities of human nature. This loss of faith makes it impossible for .vou to enter the Promised
Land."
With faith in the possibility of a humane and
positive future, we can move forward in joy and
hope and build the kind of future we desire for
ourselves and our children.

WHY THE UNTOLD HISTORY

con 't from pg. 13

them which the people would be required to pay. On the other

hand, in accord with the ideas and opinions of that time, the
state would recognize as untouchable and sacred the right of
property and of church ownerhsip. All the prededent facts
would give the clergy the opportunity to constitute a state
inside the Mexican state, with inclinations to primacy over any
other authority, thus winning an opportunity to direct the
nation toward the fullfillment of the goals of a theocracy."
(tobe continued next month)

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGE 17

Ai

tli

j
POPULATION AND CATASTROPHE
David Chris Allen

The size of the world population is a primary factor in

increasing the threat of nuclear war and the risk of environmental catastrophe. As the population grows, competition for
the world's natural resources becomes more frantic. The
current confrontation in the Persian Gulf over oil could easily
lead to a nuclear holocaust. To support a large population in an
industrial society large risks have to be taken with the
environment. We are forced to build more electrical power
plants and we must choose between nuclear and fossil fuel.
The nuclear plants pr;oduce radioactive waste products and
can melt down. The fossil fuel plants produce air pollution that
causes acid rain, emphysema, and slow climate changes that
can affect crop production. We are forced to produce huge
quantities of toxic chemicals to run our' industry and poison
our insect pests. And the chemical wastes have to go
somewhere.
Once the threat of a large and growing population is
recognized the next step is to decide that something can be
done about it. If we cannot take control and stop population
growth by voluntarily reducing the birth rate, nature will take
its course and forcibly reduce the population by increasing the
death rate. This reduction can easily be catastrophic.and total.
Deciding to act is primarily a matter of taking responsibilityfor
the size of the population. The wide variety of birth control
methods available today gives us the means of reducing the
birth rate. All that is required is the will to take responsibiity for
the population growth rate and the motivation to use birth
control.
The greatest opposition to man's efforts to gain control of
his own reproduction comes from organized religion. Although this opposition is only one of many ways in which
religion is a bad influence in our society, it is one of the most
important. Undermining our will to take control of our population growth threatens the well-being of future generations
and even our very existence and that, by any humanistic ethic,
is wrong and immoral. Risking nuclear war, polluting the
environment and consuming natural resources to maintain'
rapid population growth is just a way of stealing from our
descendants. The American value of equal opportunity for all
can be extended through time for our children and grandchildren if we can get control of the population growth rate.
Many religious leaders simply declare flat out that birth
control and efforts to gain control over population growth are
insidious sins. They actively encourage their followers to
reproduce freely and have large families. That their preaching
actually increases the risk of nuclear war and environmental
catastrophe is of little concern to them, compared to the more
immediate rewards of increasing the size of their flock, and
consequently their own power and income.
PAGE 18

Many fundamentalist leaders teach that these potential

catastrophes are evidence of the coming of judgment day.
They claim that the physical world is doomed because god is
angry about sinners, so we shouldn't waste any effort trying to
save it. Instead we should get right with god and follow them
into the promised land. These end-of-the-world enthusiasts
delight in claiming that man's reason is imcompetent to save
us and urge us to abandon it in favor offaith.lt is appalling how
many people have totally given up doing anything about
population growth because of this argument.
Belief in an afterlife also contributes to this paralyzingly
fatalistic state of mind. If a catastrophe-occurs, the souls of the
faithful will go to heaven and the souls of sinners will go to
hell. The wishful thinkers who believe they have an immortal
soul and an infinite afterlife are preoccupied with fighting sin
and saving their own souls and others' (souls) so that they will
be rewarded in their afterlife. The physical well-being and
worldly environment of their descendants in future generations matters little to them compared with spiritual concerns.
Belief in a before-Iif,e causes problems, too. Some religions
teach that the soul exists before birth and lives in a prelife
world until a baby is conceived or born into which the soul
moves. Birth is then thought of as progress in the development
of souls, so limiting the birth rate means slowinqdown that
progress. People will say, "If my parents had stopped at two, I
wouldn't be here.t'lt may sound absurd, but they are serious.
There are a large number of people' who really Itelieve it.
The belief that "god is in his heaven and all is alright with
the world" is a form of optimistic fatalism. The mere existence
of an all-powerful, all-knowing, benevolent god is enough, in
many people's minds, to keep them from worrying. God will
take care of us and our environment if we foul it up. All we
have to do is pray. God is ill charge, so we are not really
responsible.
The belief that sexual activity outside of marriage is immoral
also contributes to high birth rates. Knowledge about birth
control and access to birth control is denied to young people
and they are told that they are sinful if they even think about
sexual activity. Guilt prevents many young people from
seeking birth control devices or from even seeking information-because to do so would be to plan for possible sex and no
"nice" girl or boy would do such a thing. Then, when a
pregnancy occurs, because they didn't use birth control, guilt
and fear force the couple into a marriage of little love and
probably more children. A comprehensive sex education
course in the schools would go a long way towards alleviating
these problems, but pressure from organized fundamentalists
is effectively blocking this solution.
Churches also keep the birth rates of their membership high

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

~/

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

STARVATION MAP OF THE WORLD

The Black Areas ~re Constantly Growing

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LATIN

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AMERICA

~_

A~_
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AfRICA!!:1

AUSTRAUA

~
More than 3,000 calories and more
than 1.050 ounces of proteins daily

3,000 calories and less than 1.050

ounces of proteins daily

,.

by promoting sexism and the double standard of morality for

men and women, Girls are reared to believe their only role in
life is that of a wife and mother. Boys are reared to believe that
their only respectable role in life is that of provider for a wife
.and children, Women are discouraged from work outside the
home and are encouraged to occupy themselves exclusively
with raising a large family, Men are taught that women are
incompetent outside the home and are encouraged to resist
the attempts of women to seek activity outside the home, If
women were allowed to participate in life on an equal basis
with men they would find other satisfying roles in life than that
of serving exclusively as a housewife and baby factory and the
birth rate would, consequently, be significantly reduced,
There are churches that have liberated their doctrines in
some of these areas, There are active environmentaiists who
are motivated by the belief that they are the custodians of the
natural wonders that god has created, Every bit of humanistic
ethic that the churches can inject into their religious philosophy helps, but time is short and we can't afford to wait for the
slow evolution of church doctrine, With fundamentalist
churches increasing in membership, income, influence and
assertiveness, there is little hope for significant cooperation
from the churches in dealing with the population problem,
Solving this problem is a matter of facing reality and taking
responsibility for the long term effects of our attitudes toward
reproduction, Religion offers people a socially acceptable way
of escaping from reality into the spiritual world, It also offers
simple solutions to people's problems that help them avoid
taking responsibility, Just stop sinning and accept god and
jesuchrist and he will fix everything, These simple solutions
relieve people of the burden of having to attack these problem's
directly, understand them and seek real solutions,
These features of religion actually make it attractive to the
many people who are tired of thinking and tired of caring, The
more problems our society has, the more frustrated people get
and the more they turn to religion for escape and comfort, So
the best interest of organized religion actually lies in opposing
efforts to get control of population growth,

AUSTIN, TEXAS

Less than 2,150 calories and 0.525

ounces of proteins daily

New ZEALAND ~
Less than 2,000 calories and less
than 0:525 ounces of proteins daily

Zero Population Growth is the only activist organization in

America that is specifically addressing the population problem, It is trying to encourage people to adopt an ethic of
stopping population growth out of a sense ohesponsibility to
future generations, ZPG sometimes chattenqes religion, but
only from within the structure of religious doctrine, For
example, the Salt Lake chapter offers a brochure called "Zero
Population Growth and Mormon Doctrine" written by a
Mormon member. It uses Mormon doctrine to challenge the
validity of statements by contemporary authorities that population control is an insidious sin,
But neither ,ZPG nor any other organization is prepared to
flatly condemn religion for encouraging population growth
and opposing efforts to get control of it. Only American
Atheists willing to do this and to make an issue out of all the
ways that religion contributes to the population problem, If we
don't speak out, no one else will.
,',
Religious leaders constantly promote the idea that religion
isgood for everyone, Most people in America believe them, or
they believe that religion isn't doing any harm, Even some
Atheists believe this, Here is a clear example of how religion is
,not only harmful, but i:j serious threat to the survival and
well-being of humanity, In the interest of humanity and in the
interest of exposing the harm that religion does, we need to
promote an understanding of the way religious doctrine
impacts the population problem, Once again, the points of
doctrine at fault are as follows:
1,
the belief that birth control is sinful;
2,
the belief that efforts to get control of population
growth are sinful;
3,
the belief that sexual activity outside of marriage
and especially among young people is sinful;
4,
belief in a judgment day;
5"
belief in an afterlife;
.
6,
belief in a before-life;
7,
optimistic fatalism; and
8,
belief in sexism and the double standard,
And finally, there is the special interest that religion has in
encouraging population growth so that people will be
frustrated by the resulting problems and turn to religion for
comfort,
'

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

!!B

PAGE 19

THE SILENT ATHEIST

John C. Henderson

It would probably be a statistical impossibility to statewith

any degree of accuracy the actual number of Atheists in the
United States today. This is because a large number of people
who secretly hold atheistic beliefs are unwilling to stand up
and be counted. The reasons for this moral and intellectual
cowardice are, I believe, primarily economic, social, and
political.
In the economic sphere are vast numbers of people whose
livelihoods depend directly on the public and to some extent on
public approval. This group would include those in the
educational field, businessmen and certain professionals.
Certain occupations are more vulnerable to public censure
than others. An architect, for example, would be less susceptible to economic pressure than would a school administrator or teacher. The same would apply to engineers and
carpenters. No one is particularly concerned about the religious persuasion of the person who builds his house or
dredges a harbor, but it's quite a different matter when it
comes to the question of who teaches the children. The
architect, engineer, and carpenter, then, are in a better
position to openly profess their Atheism than are the school
superintendent, principal, or teacher.
Certain businessmen, such as undertakers for examples,
find it a distinct advantage to join the largest church in town.
The advantage here is two-fold. In addition to meeting large
numbers of potential clients and customers, he generates
good will for his business and by making himself highly visible
as an ardent church worker in such positions as elder, deacon,
or vestryman, he gets an abundance of free advertising.
Even doctors, who practice the most lucrative of all professions, are not entirely immune to public disapproval. Many
people feel that a physician's medical skill must be supplemented by some intangible supernatural force [n order to
achieve the best results for the patient. There are, doubtless,
scores of persons who would prefer to entrust their health and
physical well-being to a religious quack than to a skilled and
highly trained medical Atheist.
In the sphere of politics, an aspirant to public office who had
the courage to openly and honestly profess his Atheism would
never be elected to anything - not even outhouse inspector.
Such a candidate would be mercilessly smeared, reviled,
villified, and libelled with such epithets as "blasphemous:'
"immoral:'
"anti-Christ,"
"degenerate:'
"perverted:'
etc.
Therefore it is politically expedient for a person with aspirations to public office to make a great show of being religiously
oriented. The ridiculous "born again" posture of our own
president is a classic example of this politico-religious syndrome. It seems ironic that a body politic which ostensibly
demands honesty of its public servants, makes honesty a
political impossibility.
Thirdly, there is the social aspect of hidden Atheism. Many
people, unfortunately, place social approval above principle.
Fearing ostracism, or social disapproval of friends and relatives, these people feel that there is safety in silence. The
social climber, who desires membership in the most prestigious clubs, must profess some sort of religious affiliation or
be viciously black-balled.
A fourth, and perhaps more insidious reason for atheistic
silence, is the sin of apathy. Many non-believers look on

religion as a silly, but harmless form of superstition. They

assume a "Iive-and-Iet-live" attitude. They feel that another's
beliefs, no matter how absurd, are no concern oftheirs as long
as it doesn't interfere with them. These people are sadly
misguided. The "live-and-let-live" attitude would be all right if
the religionists paracticed the same philosophy. The inescapable fact, however, is that religious groups don't leave
anybody alone. And religion is far from being a harmless
superstition. There is nothing harmless about a body of dogma
that inspires groundless fear, impedes social and economic
progress, limits the quest for knowledge, and promotes bigotry
and prejudice.
The apathetic Atheist, who feels that religion is all right so
long as it leaves him alone, fails to realize that he is not being
'left alone. Whenever any organized religious group becomes
strong enough to impose its will on others, it invariably does
so. In both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, for example, the
Roman Catholic lobby was powerful enough to have legislation enacted which forbids the sale of any birth control drug or
device. Doctors in those states are prohibited, by law, from
giving birth control advice to any patient, regardless of the
patient's or the doctor's religion. The law applies to aI/persons.
in those states without regard to any person's religious or
non-religious orientation. Thus the will of the Roman Catholic
minority is imposed upon the non-Catholic majority. While the
apathetic were sleeping, the militant were working.
I recently had an experience with religious legislation here
in my home county. About a month prior to the writing of this
article, my home was partially destroyed by fire. This happaned on a weekend and necessitated the quick relocation of
myfamily to a new place of residence. On the Sunday morning
after we had moved into a new house, I discovered that we
needed a certain electrical appliance. Because of a-Sundav
"blue law" which the city council had passed in response to
religious pressure, I was unable to purchase this much
needed .item. The fact that I had just been burned out of my
home and needed this item to assist in getting resettled made
no difference. Certain items had been singled out and banned
from sale on Sunday, and electrical appliances of all sorts
were included. The store manager was apologetic, but his
hands were tied. It is interesting to note, however, that while I
could not purchase an item for an emergency situation
because of the religious "blue law:' the massage parlors and
pronographic movie houses were operating full blast.
So those complacent Atheists who think that the religious
beliefs -of others are of no concern to them are sorely
mistaken. Many people fail to realize that wealthy church
groups which pay no taxes on vast real estate holdings, stocks,
businesses, and various non-religious enterprises, are simply
making the tax burden all the heavier for the rest of us.
We all must realize that religion ... is ever militant. It is
seeking to control every aspect of our lives. Religionists ... are
never content to practice their own beliefs and let others do
likewise. Thus, through apathy and indifference, we allow our
rights and freedoms to be gradually eroded. We must meet
militance with militance. The indifferent must wake up, the
timid must muster courage, the silent must speak up and be
heard, and the hidden must come out of the closet. Unless
these things are done, we all stand to lose.

...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PAGE 20

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80)

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

~aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~
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INCOMPARABLE ATHEISM

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Donald B. Fitchett
r

Our Christian leaders would have us believe that our society

would be without morals if it were not for religion.
As a self-confessed Atheist, I disagree, since I consider my
personal value system and morality to be far superiorto that of
most Christians.
Some comparisons:
1. I have no desire to build multi-million-dollar
simply to propagate ancient superstitions.

5. I have little or no interest in the old mythical tales of a

man named Christ, who claimed to have powers to "heal" the
sick.
However, I have a grf!at deal of concern about the millions of
poor people in this country who do not have access to decent
medical treatment.

churches
6. I am not concerned with outrageous stories of a woman
named Mary who supposedly lived 2,000 years ago and who
claimed to have had a baby without benefit of sexual
intercourse.
..

However, I am very concerned about building decent houses

for the millions of our people who live in rat-infested slums.

2. I have no interest in the outrageous stories of a man

named Christ who claimed to have fed several thousand
people with just five loaves of bread.

However, I am very much concerned about the fifty million

American women who are daily denied even the most
elementary human rights.
I

However, I am deeply concerned about the millions of

Americans who go to bed hungry each night and the old folks
who are forced to eat dog food to survive.
3. I have very little sympathy for the convict named Christ
supposedly executed 2,000 years ago for the crime of sedition
(insurrection against lawful authority.)
However, I am very concerned about the millions of Americans who have been sent to prison without a fair trial, victims
of a grossly unjust social system.
4. I am not very concerned about the ancient stories of a
man who "ran the money-changers from the temple."
However, I am deeply concerned about the bankers, right
here in our own country, who rob our people of the fruits of
their labor.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

7. I simply can't accept the ridiculous story that a "god"

created the earth in just seven days.
However, I am very much concerned about millions of
American women who are denied the right to decide whether
or not they should "create" a baby in their own bellies (the
right to have a free abortion).
8. I am not concerned about the stupid story of a man
named "Adam," who allegedly ate the "forbidden fruit."
However, I am deeply concerned about and angry as hell at
the superstitious bigots (church leaders) who insist on teaching our children to feel guilty about their own sexuality.
There is no doubt in my mind that school children, two
hundred years from now, will look back at us, wondering how
their forefathers could have been so ignorant as to believe all
of the absurd stories propagated by the Christian church - a
church which has truly mastered the art of hypocrisy.

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80)

PAGE 21

UNITED WORLD ATHEISTS

AUSTRALIA

THE RATIONALIST ASSOCIATION

OF SOUTH AFRICA
Nigel Sinnott
The fol/owing article appeared as a "Letter to the Editor" in
Rationalist News (November-December, 1978), which is published in Chippendale, N.S.W., Australia.
I was very sorry to read in your last issue of the sad condition
of the Rationalist Association of South Africa, though I knew
from private correspondence with Bruce Breeze that things
had not been well for some time. The South African Association has' had an interesting, if sad, history and has had to
operate in far from favourable circumstances. If it has now
"virtually closed its doors," I hope that it will not be judged too
harshly from a distance.
In 1975 I had the good fortune to attend the annual general
meeting of the Rationalisf Association of South Africa in
johannesburg. At that meeting there was talk of closing down
the Association's journal, "DieRasionalia/The
Rationalist,"
partly for reasons of economy, partly because of the burdens it
imposes on other grounds. I asked permission to speak and,
when this was granted, made a strong plea to the Association
to keep its journal going, both for sentimental reasons (the
paper had an interesting history) and because it served as a
communications network for members scattered throughout
a large country, few of whom could attend meetings in
Johannesburg regularly.
About a year and a half later the editor of "The Rationalist"
found it necessary to retire as she needed to concentrate her
free time on writing a book. It appears that the Association
was unable to find another volunteer to actas editor, and for
this reason the paper folded up. The consequent collaspe of
the Association's morale and organizational structure comes
as no surprise. At least other societies can learn from this sad
sequence of events: keep publishinq at all costs if you wnat to
remain viable and worthwhilel
The South African organization started as a. Humanist
Association about 1953; some two years later the dynamic
Professor Eddie Roux was elected chairman and the name
was changed to the Rationalist Association. When imports of
Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not a Christian" were banned

by the South African government, Roux and the Association

duly published English and Afrikaans versions of it in Johannesburg. The success of this venture encouraged Roux to
launch 'The Rationalist" in October, 1960.
In 1964 the then South African Minister of Justice (and just
retired Prime Minister) J. B. Vorster "banned" Eddie Roux
under the Suppression of Communism Act (despite the fact
that Roux had severed all connexions with the Communist
Party in the mid-1930s). This meant that Professor Roux was
debarred from teaching, lecturing, writing (without prior
permission) and publishing: so his loyal wife, Win, took over
the editorship in his stead. Eddie Roux died (still under a
banning order) in 1966 and when ill-health prevented Win
Roux from carrying on with the paper, Ann Weinberg took over
as editor. The story of the Roux family is one of the most
courageous and moving I know: anyone who has not read
Rebel Pity by Eddie and Win Roux (Penguin Books, 1972)
should buy, beg or borrow a copy without delay.
.
Given the Association's past history and the present state of
South Africa, it is remarkable, not that Roux's successors have
finally closed the doors, but that they tried to keep them open
for so long. I appeal to Freethinkers in Australia and elsewhere
to continue giving moral support to the Rationalist Movement
in South Africa, even if there seems little prospect of such aid
being
reciprocated
or havtng
immediate
impact.
If
Freethought vanishes from South Africa - and it has a long
and honourable history - then another light will have gone
out over that unfortunate continent.

Freedom Unde'r Siege, The Impact of Organized Religion

On Your Liberty and Your Pocketbook
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
$10.00 (autographed)
Mrs. O'Hair deals with politics, not religion; with separation of state and
church, and not Atheism. This report shows how your treasured liberties are
slowly being eroded as the churches increase their power over every aspect of
American life, limiting your freedom of choice and even your access to information regarding those choices.

Why I Am An Atheist
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
$2.00
One of a series of lectures delivered
to universities and colleges across the
nation.

What On Earth Is An Atheist!

Madalyn Murray O'Hair
$4.95

For more information contact:

PAGE 22

American Atheists, Inc.

P. O. Box 2117
Austin, TX 78768
FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

~J

For the first time in print, the complete texts of fifty two radio programs
presenting the Atheist Point of View.
,AMERICAN

ATHEIST

Ro ts
of theism
FRANCES WRIGHT
Religion
"things unseen
unknown" must be ignored.

This is the last part of a three part article on Frances Wright

the first open and avowed Atheist in the United States. Parts
one and two described her youth, her first encounters with
religion her attempt to found a city where slaves would be
freed. The series continues with her open attacks on religion.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

and

causes

Of course, just at this time the United States was in the grip
of a "religious revival." Anne Royall and Frances Trollope
wrote about what they called "such disgusting scene(s)" as a
tent revival service, but Frances Wright was incensed. "The
victims of this odious experiment on human credulity and
nervous weakness were invariably women." Yet, the women
joined in the hue and cry against her. She bore columny,
reeproach, persecution and "pity." She endured the scoffs
and the jeers all the while that she rebuked the ignorance and
bigotry which produced them. The clery, of course, were her
most bitter enemies. In Baltimore, she met furious opposition,
almost the height of the bitter rancor of religius bigotry.
Although her life was threatened, she rose and lectured
anyway. When her carriage was almost overturned she calmly
remained seated in it. She survived a smoke-barrel set alight
in one hall, the gas lighting being turned off in another,
plunging thousands who had come to hear her into darkness.
Riotous disturbances accompanied her and the pious press
deliberately sought to incite the prejudices and the passions of
the people against her.
Undismayed, she repeated her message over and over
again: religion was acceptance of "things uns-een and causes
unknown." It was better to stick to science as a method and
materialism as a philosophic base, where things were seen
and causes were known. She begged the people to see how
they were deceived, the women to see how they were abused,
and she stomped the nation to do it. hiring her own halls,
paying her own transportation, advertising her lectures as she
could. She was the first bonafide American slave abolitionist.
the first feminist. the first open and avowed Atheist. the first
female lecturer, the first radical editor, the first to decry the
strictures of female clothing, the first to advance birth control,
free love, a union of workmen, the ten hour day. Her
pertinency, in review, is astonishing .
. As indicated, there was a thrust atthetime by the "Christian
Party in Politics" to translate the United States into a Christian
nation, especially by demanding the election to office of
church members only. The group urged the federal government to officially recognize Sunday as a day of Christian
worship by suspending all government services, including the
delivery of mail. (Please note who won. Government has
suspended governmental services on "the sabbath" and not
alone is there no mail delivery on that date, but stores are
closed and "Blue Laws" persist.)
Miss Wright challenged them head-on, lecturing from St.
Louis(as far West as the nation went) to New York. Once in the
latter city, she moved the New Harmony paper there and

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGE 23

Sylvia D' Arusmont

Revivalist

as a child

dubbed it the Free Inquirer, boldly proclaiming that it was "the

first periodical established in the United States for the purpose
of fearless and unbiased inquiry on all subjects."
She purchased the old Ebenezer Church in the Bowery, New'"
York (for $7,000), refurbished it and renamed it the "Hall of
Science." Lectures and meetings were featured. The Free
Inquirer was printed in the basement. Educational classes
were started and a bookstall was set up. Phiquepal D'Arusmont taught enrolled pupils "just knowledge" and Robert Dale
Owen shared in the total enterprise. Her sister, Camilla, and
Richeson Whitby, Camilla's husband, came to New York t60,
Nashoba having been closed in June, 1828.
Frances Wright rented a farmhouse on the banks of the East
River, ten miles from the city, and there they settled. During
that year, she founded the New York Workingman's Party,
which united skilled tradesmen and factory workers in a
horizontal union. On April 28, 1829, with Miss Wright's
urging this group demanded an unheard of fen hour working
day. The party was crushed within a year.
Frances Wright was writing now, developing adherents,
going on extended lecture tours, organizing. She wanted: birth
control, equal rights and equal education for women, a tenhour day for the working man, abolition of slavery, the
elimination of religion, a free press and freedom of speech.
The battle became so fierce that even Frances Wright had to
withdraw for a time. She decided to take Camilla, who was ill,
to Paris, in July, 1830. It was at this time, also, that she found
that she was herself pregnant. They were just in Paris about
six months when Camilla died, never having fully recovered,
either, from the rigors of Nashoba.
D'Arusmont, then, also came to Paris and with his help Miss
Wright negotiated a settlement with Camilla's husband in
return for his relinquishing a claim on the sister's estate. (She
paid him 300 pounds a year for life.)
.
Apparently even Frances Wright hesitaged to bring a
bastard child into the world of 1830 and she married D'Arusmont in the mayor's office in Paris in July, 1831, with General
Lafayette as a witness.
For a while they lived in Paris, but Miss Wright was to cross'

PAGE 24

camp meeting

the Atlantic nine more times. The first child died and a
daughter, Frances Sylva was born in 1832. They lived, in
Paris, first on the Rue Frejus and then in an apartment at 3 Rue
de Vielle Estrapade in the Quartier des Ecoles, where she
often had Auguste Comte as a guest. Nothing could quell her
thirst for knowledge and her outreach to all of the thinkers of
her age. Comte's influence on her with his "Positive Philosophy" and his idea of "A Religion of Humanity" was to
influence her for-the rest of her life.
After the brief bout with maternity, Miss Wright went to
England in summer, 1833, thereto give her course of lectures.
She remained until summer of 1834. In 1836 both she and
D'Arusmont returned to the United States. Once on these
shores, she was caught up again in her old activit{and this
time, she stayed for four years. During this period, she
assisted Abner Kneeland in founding his anti-religious paper,
the Boston Investigator.
This time the press and the religionists were determined to
destroy her. She was shouted down on the platforms, her
audiences broke up her meetings.
She chose, finally, Cincinnati, Ohio, as her home. In winter,
1844, she inherited still another considerable fortune. Of
course, the intact laws of both England and the United States
decreed that all her property was her husband's. When her
Scot attorneys advised a deed of trust to give D'Arusmont,
also, a life stipend, he sued. He wanted all American money,
'and property. A waif from Paris whom they had reared as their
own child sided with D'Arusmont. Miss Wright had set this
(then) grown man up as a brewer in Cincinnati, but soon he
and D'Arusmont had the money and it was Miss Wright who
was living on a stipend. Divorced under the laws of Tennessee, she lost custody of her daughter as well.
When these matters were settled, she visited Hayti to see if
her freed Negroes were well, tried twice to reorganize at least
a plantation at Nashoba and then, in 1851, she fell on the icy'
sidewalk in Cincinnati and broke her hip. She suffered a year
of physical torment until the 13th of December, 1852. On that'
morning, she made a will giving all she possessed to her;
daughter, Frances Sylva D'Arusmont and she died that

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

afternoon. She was 57 years old.

Frances Wright is not even mentioned by most Atheist
historians. Others characterize her as "a reformer - not a
thinker," or as a "mentally undisciplined enthusiast." Ordinary historians, if they mention her at all, characterize her as
"the first apostle of women's rights in the United States," or
note that in all ages "women have always crucified redeemers
.of their own sex" such as Frances Wright. Always religious
coin is used in the language describing any Atheist. Yet, it is
reluctantly agreed that her lectures were the initial ferment
which led to the demand for equal political rights for women,
but the' women's rights proponents - rarely mentioning her quietly bury her Atheism when they do. In one history book,
The Woman Movement Feminism in The United States and
England (published 1971) the author (William L. O'Neill)
mentions her only in a footnote: "Frances Wright was actually
the first woman to speak regularly in public, but although
wonderful she was not respectable."
As one reads the fragments of her story, it is clear that she

ATHEIST

early fell in love with the idea of civilized, individual freedom

and she was willing to commit her life to it.
Her daughter placed a marble monument over her grave in
Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati. It reads, "I have wedded
the cause of human improvement, 'staked on it myfortune, my
reputation and my life. F.W. 1829" and "Human-kind is but
one family; the education of its youth Should be equal and
universal. F.W.D. 1835." There is no indication of her
mother's Atheism.
Although the monument erected may have been fitting for
Frances Wright in the eyes of her daughter, the American
Atheist cause owes her more and must pick up her question as
a banner, to ring down the halls of history until itcan become
reality: "Who speaks of liberty when the mind is in chains?"
Who indeed can unshackle the human mind?
All Atheists know in their hearts -- only we, Frances Wright,
only we.
We cannot, we must not and we will not fail you, now that
we have recovered you again, at last.

CASSETTE TAPES _'.

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The subject matter deals with the total effort to remove pra)ier from public schools
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2 Hours
American Atheist Radio Series
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Set 3
1 Hour
436
Joseph Lewis on Robert G. Ingersoll
437 .. '
Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part I
438
Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part II
439. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part III
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'.' . ,Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part IV
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Ingersoll on The Holy Bible, Part V
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IngersolLon The Holy Bible, Part VI
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Contact an All-American Atheist
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HILDA

MEETING
~

~LAVANAM

[in 1fJl191f~]

WORLD ATHEIST MEETING II

FRIMAIRE 25-28, 188

12/25-28/80

World Atheist Meet Two will be held at .The Atheist Centre, Vijayawada, Andre Pradesh, India in December 1980, sponsored jointly by the American Atheist Center (Director - Jon Murray) and t~e ~theist Centre of India (~Irector - Lava?am)
in the tradition of international cooperation begun by Dr. Madalyn Murray 0 Hair and Gora, through United World Atheists.

AUSTIN, TEXAS

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGE 25

THE WOMAN'S BIBLE

by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, et al.
.

.~
I

The Woman's Bible. written by the first feminists who

sought the legal emancipation of women in our nation over
one hundred years ago, is serialized in this m~gajline so that
the women of today attempting to secure ,the Equal Rights
Amendment
toward that end will understand that the
enemy was - a hundred years ag~ - and is - today religion. The great feminists. led by Susan B. Anthony and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. were by and-larqe Atheist. They
knew that without attacking the source of the oppression of
women - religion - they could not emancipate her.
It is only when the women of our time recognize that the
first freedom is mental freedom that they will be able to find
the equality which they seek. Another woman. even earlier
than our "feminists"
(Frances Wright) said it succinctly:
"Who can speak of liberty when the mind is in chains?" Who
indeed? To give our current women that modicum of
courage with which they need to arm themselves to fight.
we reproduce in serial form the great feminists' attack on
the Bible. which was - in their time and in this country
-radical.
defiant. breathtaking in its audacity. Surely. the
women of the United States can - if they try hard enough
- come to the courage of these women. who preceded
them by over a hundred years.

Chapter

XI

Genesis xxxv.
8 But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried
beneath Beth-el under an oak: and the name of it was called
Allonbachuth.
,
9 And God appeared unto Jacob again when he came out
of Padan-aram, and blessed him.
10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: Thy name
shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy
name: and he called his name Israel.
16 And they journeyed from Beth-el: and there was but a
little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she
had hard labor.
17 The midwife said unto her, Fear not: thou shalt have
this son also.
18 And it came to pass as her soul was in departing (for
she died), that she called his name Ben-oni; but his father
called him Benjamin.
19 And Rachel died, endwes buried in the way to Ephrath,
which is Beth-Iehem.
20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that isthe pillar of
Rachel's grave unto this day.
PAGE 26

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

AME"RICAN ATHEIST

Why Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, should be interjected here

does not appear. However, if all Isaac's and Jacob's children
had been entrusted to her care through the perils of infancy, it
was fitting that the younger generation with their father
should pause in their journey and drop a tear to her memory,
and cultivate a tender sentiment for the old oak tree at Bethel.
There is no manifestation of gratitude more beautiful in
family life than kindness and respect to servants for long years
.of faithful service, especially for those who have watched the
children night and day, tender in sickness, and patient with all
their mischief in health. In dealing with children one needs to
exercise all the cardinal virtues, more tact, diplomacy, more
honor and decency than even an ambassador to the Court of
St. James. Children readily see whom they can trust, on
whoseword they can rely.
In Rachel's hour of peril the midwife whispers sweet words
of consolation. She tells her to fear not, that she will have a
son, and he will be born alive. Whether she died herself is of
small importance so that the boy lived. Scott points a moral on
the death of Rachel. He thinks she was unduly anxious to have
'sons, and so the Lord granted her prayers to 'her own
destruction. If she had accepted with pious resignation
whatever weal or woe naturally fell to her lot, she might have
lived to a good old age, and been buried by Jacob's side at last,
and not left alone in Bethlehem. People who obstinately seek
what they deem their highest good, ofttimes perish in the
attainment of their ambition. (Thus Scott philosophizes.)
Jacob was evidently a man of but little sentiment. The dying
wife gasps a name for her son, but the father pays no heed to
her request, and chooses one to suit himself. Though we must
admit that Benjamin is more dignified than Ben-oni; the
former more suited to a public officer, the latter to a household
pet. And now Rachel is gone, and her race with Leah for
children is ended. The latter with her maids is the victor, for
she can reckon eight sons, while Rachel with hers can muster
only four. One may smile at this ambition of the women for
children, but a man's wealth was estimated at that time by the
number of his children and cattle; women who had no children
were objects of pity and dislike among the Jewish tribes. The
Jews of today have much of the same feeling. They believe in
the home sphere for all women, that wifehood and motherhoodare the most exalted offices. If they are really so considered,
why does every Jew on returning Holy Day say in reading the
service, "I thank thee, oh Lordi that I was not born a woman."?
And if Gentiles are of the same opinion, why do they consider
the education of boys more important than that of girls? Surely
those who are to fill the most responsible offices should have
the most thorough and liberal education.
The home sphere has so many attractions that most women
prefer it to all others. A strong right arm on which to lean, a
safe harbor where adverse winds never blow, nor rough seas
roll, makes a most inviting picture. But alas! even good
husbands sometime die, and the family drifts out on the great
ocean of life, without chart or compass, or the least knowledge
of the science of navigation. In such emergencies the woman
trained to self-protection,
self-independence,
and selfSUpport holds the vantage ground against all theories on the
home sphere.
-The first mention we have of an aristocratic class of Kings
and Dukes, is in the line of Cain's descendants.
Genesis xxxvi
18 Andthese are the sons of Aholibemeh, Esau's wife: duke
Jeusb. duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these were the dukes that
came of Aholibamah the daughter of Aneh, Eseu's wife. ,

AUSTIN, TEXAS

The name Aholibamah has a suggestion of high descent,

but the historian
tells us nothing
of the virtues
or
idiosyncrasies
of character, such a high-sounding names
suggests, but simply that she was the daughter of Anah, and
the wife of Esau, and that she was blessed with children, all
interesting facts, which might have been intensified with a
knowledge of some of her characteristics, what she thought,
. said and did, her theories of life in general. One longs all
through Genesis to know what the women thought of a strictly
masculine dynasty.
Some writers claim that these gross records of primitive
races, have a deep spiritual meaning, that they are symolical
of the struggles of an individual soul from animalism to the
highest, purest development of all the Godlike in man.
Some on the Revising Committee take this view, and will
give us from time to time more exalted interpretations than the
account in plain English conveys to the ordinary mind.
In my exegesis thus far, not being versed in scriptural
metaphors and symbols, I have attempted no scientific
interpretation of the simple narration, merely commenting on
the supposed facts as stated. As the Bible is placed in the
hands of children and uneducated men and women to point
them the way of salvation, the letter should have no doubtful
meaning. What should we think of guide posts on our
highways, if we needed a symbolical interpreter at every point
to tell us which way to go? the significance of the letters? and
the point of compass indicated by the digital finger? Learned
men have revised the Scriptures times without number, and I
do not propose to go back of the latest Revision.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Chapter XII
I

Genesis xxxix
1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar an
officer of Pharaoh. captain of the guard, an Egyptian. bought
him of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither.
2 And the Lord was with Joseph. and he was a prosperous
man; and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
4 And Joseph found grace in his sight. and he served him:
and he made him overseer over his house and all that he had
he put into his hand.
7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's
wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she solicited him.
8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold
my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he
hath committed all that he hath to my hand.
9 How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against
God?
10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day byday
that he hearkened not unto her, and she caught him by his
garment. and he left his garment in her hand and fled.
, 13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his
garment in her hand and was fled forth.
14 That she called unto the men of her house and spoke
un-to them, saying, See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us
to mock.us; and he came into me, and I cried with a loud voice:
15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my
voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled.
16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came
home.
17 And she spake unto him according to these words,
saying, The Hebrew servant which thou has brought unto us,
came in unto me to mock me:
18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried,
that he left his garment with me, and fled out ..

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGE 27

19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words

of his wife, that his wrath was kindled.
20 And Joseph's master took him; and put him into the
prison, a place where the king's prisoners werebouna; and he
was there in the prison.
.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and shewed him mercy,
and gave him favour in, the sight of the keeper ot.the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's
hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatever, '
they did there, he was the doer of it.
Potiphar's wife surpasses all the women yet mentioned 'in
perfidy and dishonor.
Joseph's virtues, his dignity, his honor, go far to redeem the
reputation of his ancestors, and the customs of his times. It
would have been generous, at least, if the editor of these
pages could have given us one woman the Gouf)terpart of
Joseph, a noble, high-minded, virtuous type, Thus far those of
all the different nationalities have been of an ordinary low
tvpe. Historians usually dwell on the virtues of the people, the
heroism of their deeds, the wisdom of their words, but the
sacred fabulist dwells on the most questionabl-e behavior of
the Jewish race and much in character and lanquaqe that we
can neither print nor answer.
Indeed the Pentateuch is a long painful record of war,
corruption, rapine, and lust. Why Christians who wished to
convert "the heathen to our religion should send them these
books passes all understanding, It is most demoralizing
, reading for children and the unthinking masses, giving all
alike the lowest possible idea of womanhood, having no hope
'nor ambition beyond conjugal unions with men they scarcely
knew, for whom they could not have had the slightest
sentiment of friendship, to say nothing of affection. There is no
mention of women except when the advent of sons is
announced, When the Children of Israel go down into Egypt
we are told that the wives of Jacob's sons were taken too, but
we hear nothing of Ja~ob's wives or concubines, ~ntilthe
death and burial of Leah is incidentally mentioned. Throughout the book of Genesis the leading men declare from time to
time that the Lord comes to them and promises great
fruitfulness. A strange promise in that it could only be fulfilled
in questionable relations. To begin with Abraham, and go
through to Joseph, leaving out all conjugal irregularities, we'
find Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, Isaac and Rebekah had
Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Rachel (for she alone was his true
wife), had Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph and Asenath had
Manassah and Ephraim. Thus giving the Patriarchs just seven
legitimate descendants in the first generation. If it had not
been for polygamy and concubinage, the great harvest so
recklessly promised would have been meagre indeed,
I

Genesis xli
45 And pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah;
and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poter-prereh
priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before
Pharaoh of Egypt.
50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of
the famine came: whichAsenath the daughter of Potipherah
priest of On bare unto him.
51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born Menesseh:
For God. said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and a'lIin
father's house.
52 And for the name of the second called he Ephreim: For'
God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

This is all we ever hear ofAsenath, that she was a good

woman, probably worthy of Joseph, it is fairto infer, for had
she been otherwise her evil deeds would have been
recorded. A, few passing remarks wherever 'we find the
mention of woman is about all we can vouchsafe. The
writer probably took the same view of the virtuous woman
. as the great Roman General who said "the hightest praise
for. Caesar's wife is thatshe should never be mentioned at
all....
'. .The texts' one L6t'sf, 'daughters 'and TJmar we "omit
altogether, as anworthy a, place. i~ the "Woman's Bible."
(lot's daughters first got their father drunk, then "laid"
with him and later.bore his children. Tamar disguised
herself as a whore, by the side of the road, inor,der to
entice her father-in-law to purchase her favors and from
this exercise she became pregnant by him. - ed.) In the
remaining chapters ofGenesis, the brethren of Joseph take
leave of each other; the fathers bless their sons and
grandsons, and also take leave of each other, some to go to
remote parts of the country, some to die at a ripe old age. As
nothinq is said of their wives and daughters, the historian
probably knew nothing of their occupations
nor environments. Joseph was a hundred and ten years old when
he died ..They embalmed him according to the custom in
Egypt, and put him in a coffin, and buried him in the land of
his fathers where his brethren had promised to take his
bones after death to rest with his kindred at last.
I.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

The literal translation of the first verse of chapter xxxix of
Genesis is as follows:
"And Joseph was brouqht down to Egypt. and Photiphar,
Pharaoh's enuch. chief of the cooks, an Egyptian bought
him of the Ishmaelites who brought him down. "
These facts which are given in Julia Smith's translation
of the Bible throw a new light on the story of Joseph and the
woman who was Potiphar's wife only in name.
Lillie Devereux Blake

PAGE 28

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

~/

'REGISTER
TODAY
820.00 per person
Mava, Convention Coordinator
American Atheist Cent.,

Send to: John

2210

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Dr., Austin.

[or telephone;

TX 78766

512-4681244)

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

Chapman Cohen
at adolescence, exploited during manhood and womanhood.
The circle is complete. "Ye are my sheep." And for what else
Chapman Cohen was the third President of the National 'are sheep but to be properly, thoroughly, and profitably
sheared?
Secular Society in Great Britian, that organization which had
Now, we do not question that if people are to be made
begun with the great Charles Bradlaugh. He started his career
religious, the earlier years are the best in which todo the trick.
by giving Freethought lectures in 1890 and in 1915 succeeded
It is, in fact, the only period in which success can be reckoned
G.W. Foote (of Bible Handbook fame) as President of the N.S.S.
He also became the editor of the "Freethinker" magazine. He on. Some years ago we had occasion to hunt up biographical'
wrote, enthusiastically, for Atheism and his work included A
details concerning a number of prominent figures in Christian
Grammar of Freethought(1921); Theism andAtheism (1921);
history. We found that the immense majority of these
Materialism Restated (1927); God and The Universe (1927);
experienced "Conversion" at a young age. Thus religious
conviction came to St. Thekla at 18, St. Agnes at 13, St.
Primitive Survivals and Modern Thought (1935); and Almost
An Autobigraphy (1940).
Antony at 18, Martin of Tours at 18, Euprasia at 12, Benedict
at 14, Cuthbert at 15, St. Bernard at 12, St. Dominic at 15, St.
A collection of his essays which appeared in the weekly
Catherine at 7, St. Teresa at 12, St. Francis at 12. In a
journal, the "Freethinker,"
mostly under the heading of
statistical survey, conducted a few years back by Professor
"Views and Opinions," was issued as a four-book collection in
Starbuck, 'and dealing with present day conversions, out of
1.923. Although most of the articles were written around some
topical event, it was found that they treated of more per1,265 cases, it was found that religious conversion began as
manent issues of which passing affairs are so often no more
early as the ages of 7 or '8, increased gradually till 10 or 11,
than a .reflection, The sole motive in writing them originally
then a more rapid increase till 18, followed by a rapid decrease
up to the age of 26, when it practically disappeared. Starbuck's
was to aid the diffusion of what was then called "Freeconclusion - a conclusion we pointed out many years before thought," a precursor of Atheism.
Since the articles are short and pithy, they lend themselves
was that "conversion" is distinctly a phenomenon of adoto the format of this journal and they will be a part of the
lescence. When the notorious Dr. Torrey was in E"ngland, in
1904, the editor of the "British Weekly" invited opinions from
"Atheist Masters" series which, with this issue, now becomes
a permanent part of the American Atheist.
ministers of religion as to the value of Torrey's work. Information as to the age of converts was not requested, but it
appeared incidentally. Thus, the Rev. T. Torrey (Birmingham)
Religion and The Young
reported that .16 out of 25 converts were children. Rev. A.
LeGros (Rugby) said the converts were amoung their youngest
"The Church Times" of April 4, 1919, contained a curious
members. Rev. Singleton (SmethwiCk) said the converts were
but illuminating document addressed by the Federation of
under 13 years of age. Others followed with the same story.
Catholic Priests to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
Susceptibility to religious impressions, to the point of the
The letter itself is concerned with the proper age of confirmation, but it says more than it is supposed to say, and
feeling known as "conversion." is essentially a phenomenon
of adolescence. Incidentally, i( should be noted that this is not
conveys a lesson very different from the one intended. The
peculiarly a Christian phenomenon. It is common to all
point submitted in the document is the age at which boys and
girls are most susceptible to religious teaching and influence; , reliqions, All over the world, withsavaqes as with civilized
peoples, the beginning of adolescence is the time chosen for
the unconscious lesson of the communication is the perreligious initiation, The Federation of Catholic priests are not
version of the mind and character of youth in the interests of
the only ones who have discoved that religion must be
religious organizations. It is pointed out that psychologically
the greatest, "receptivity to religious impressions" in children
impressed upon people while they are young. It is the practice
of all medicine-men from the most primitive times down to our
is at about twelve years of age. A couple of letters from
own .
clergymen, it is said ,of wide experience, drive home the
. Now, why should the religious appeal be so powerful
lesson. And the programme is, on the whole, complete. First,
between, say, the ages of twelve and twenty-six, and become
the young child, by religious instruction, is to be familiarized
almost powerless afterwards? The answer to this question is
with -reliqious phrases, expressions, and doctrines. This is
that the phenomenon under consideration is no more than a
enough to give religious form and phrases a certain hypnotic
distortion of sexual and social developments in terms, and in
value, so that they may be taken without examination. Then at
about twelve - a really susceptible age - the child is to be the interests of religion. To begin with, adolescence is a time
formally and offciallyconfirmed. Doctored in childhood, branded
of great and significant organic growth. There is a developIntroduction

AUSTIN, TEXAS

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGE 29

ment of new organs and new functions, with a transformation

of both the emotional and intellectual output. Before puberty
the main function of the brain is acquisition. After puberty
new tracts of brain tissue become active, and development
becomes more rapid. But all periods of rapid development are
periods of instability, and with both sexes this adolescent
instability involves a susceptibility to suggestion and to
impressions. Moreover, the mental and emotional life undergoes a transformation. There is a more conscious and direct
concern with the life of others, the interest is less self-centred.
There is a consciousness of new desires, new attractions, a
vague feeling of unrest, with a desire for the company of the
opposite sex. The childish desire for protection weakens; the
more mature desire to play the part of protector asserts itself.
The changes here are fundamentally
sexual and social.
Human life, it may be said, has a two-fold aspect. As a mere
animal organism nature secures the perpetuation of the
species through the sex impulse. As a human being, part of
the social structure, "cell in the social tissue," nature secures
what is necessary by the presence of impulses and cravings as
imperious in their way, and more permanent in their expression, than mere sex-craving. In practice the .two impulses
supplement each other. The species is perpetuated in the
interests of society; society is perpetuated in the interests of
the species. And, as is only to be expected, there are developed
desires and capacities suitable to each phase of life as it
ernerqes. Thus, with puberty and adolescence, which marks
the sexual and social maturing of the individual, a whole new
field of motive and feeling comes into operation. Their real and
legitimate spheres of operation are. family and social. They
have not the slightest necessary connection with religion.
Ignorance has permitted this plastic period of life to be utilized
by religion. It has done so to the direct and serious injury both
of the individual and of society at large.
The whole significance of puberty and adolescence is not
the development of a religious sense, but the entry of the
individual into the larger life of the race. If we eliminat-e
religion altogether, there is not a single feeling experienced at
adolescence, not a single individual craving, that would not
undergo complete development and receive full satisfaction.
The truth of this is shown by the fact that it occurs in a very
large number of cases. The desire to serve has no necessary
connection with religion, neither has the craving for the ideal,
the care of others, nor even the capacity for sacrifices. All
these are qualities that may be expressed in the service of
religion, but they exist and function apart from it. Naturally,
when an individual is completely ignorant of the nature of his
or her own development, and where those around are/no better

informed; where, moreover, those in a position of authority

are ready with a special interpretation, it is not surprising that
the religious hypothesis is accepted as the genuine one. I't is
substantially the same phenomenon that meets us in connection with the growth of knowledge in other directions.
Plagues and famines, comets and earthquakes, disease and
disaster, were equally interpreted by ignorance as the
workings of god in the world. And whether we are dealing with
interpretations of phvsical phenomena as the work of god in
the world, or the feelings and impulses of human nature as
"the voice of god in the human soul," we are on the same level
of interpretation. It is a matter of ignorance permitting, and
interest perpetuating, an explanation of things that have no
warranty in fact.
We quite agree the puberty is a period of tremendous and
important possibilities for either good or evil. And for that very
reason it is essential that the developing capacities of boy and
girl should be wisely and properly directed. At puberty, as we
have pointed out, what takes place is the socialization of the
child. All that takes place may be described as Nature's
preparation for the larger life of the race. Naturally, it is a
period of great susceptibility, and this gives religionists their
chance. The new vague feelings that arise in connection with
adolescence are given a religious. interpretation, and tendencies which in a better ordered state of society would be
turned into a helpful and proper channel of social activity, are
expended in the services of a stupid and often degrading
superstition. Religion's gain is here society's loss. Those
energies which should be intelligently expended on sane
social service are squandered on religious work.) There is a
vast diversion of human feeling and energy, and a gross
misinterpretation
of human faculty. There is no religious
awakening at puberty; there is only the dawn of a larger and
social consciousness. There' is no sense of communion with
god; there is onlva nascent sense of the identification of self
with the larger social body. A wise social guidance would
educate and develop this to a socially useful end. It is part of
the tragedy of life that, generation after generation, we see it
exploited in the interests of superstition?

Or Even
Poetry
.
.

Angeline Bennett
TELL ME TRUE

With beautiful words

Is life a dream?
a nightmare?
Is it champagne?
just beer?
Perhaps life is a myth
And we really are not here:

PAGE 30

THE EASEL IS EMPTY

I painted a picture
A picture word-painted ... all heart
With words you condemned it
With words needle sharp
With words ripped the canvas apart.

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80)

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

NATURE'S WAY
GERALD THOLEN

THE SKEPTIC'S SECRET ROOM

Beyond all doubt, Thomas Henry
Huxley had to have been one of the
most accomplished "wordsmiths"
in
history. He "single-handedly" invented and popularized one of the most
meaningless, yet commonly used generic term ever to be uttered by mankind - agnostism!
By virtue of the literal definitive
. meaning of the word, as presented by
Huxley and subsequently espoused by
our dictionaries, there can be no such
thing as an "agnostic!" The implied
meaning of agnosticism is based on
the assumed idea that "god is unknowable." If I have become aware of
anyone thing in my life it is the fact
that perhaps 90% of what "we" know
is errantly
based on assumed
evidences. To make matters worse,
many conclusions formed on the
framework of assumed evidence are
then used as further evidence to support yet other positions. Thus error is
compounded until all sense of reality
is eventually lost in argumentative confusion. This was the case during Huxley's generalized era - i.e., the socalled "great philosophical era." Duringthis time there was an endless waste
of discussion and writings devoted to
the effort of trying to qualify or dignify
the belief systems of religion and to
further ostracize those who would not
conform to them.
Huxley claimed
that
"god
is
unknowable." How would he know?
Admittedly he "knew nothing of god,"
so how could he make any statement,
intelligently, concerning that about
which he "knew nothing?" To clarify
my position, if I were to claim that it
was impossible to understand the
particulars concerning a certain subject or problem, it would in fact be
necessary for me to have at least some
knowledge of that thing on which to
base my claim. It follows, then, that if I
HAVE some such supportive knowledge, the subject or thing could definitely be classified as "knowable."
Where people become confused is

by transposing word meanings and

misdefining
descriptive.
reference
terms. The dictionary is full of them!
Actually, the word that Mr. Huxley
should have used should have been
"skeptic." The problem that this would
have presented was the unacceptability of the term "skeptic." Skepticism
carries with it connotations of "disbelief," which was commensurate to
heresy and punishable'Ibv religious
"law." Certainly, no one dared to be
"skeptical" of god! So, Huxley had to
fabricate an idea - invent a new and
acceptable term - which could be hidden in the mist of human ignorance.
The continuing trouble is that to this
day the "mist" has never cleared and
apathetically
induced
human
ignorance still uses this terminology
which. is grammatically absurd.

Pseudo-intellectuals
'If any item, thing, or substance (in:

T. I-I. l l rx i.nv.

cluding gods) EXISTS, its very existence is marked by certain qualifying

evidences. Look up the word "exist!"
Therefore, having evidences necessary to qualify as being "existent,"
such inherent evidence ARE interpretable by an intelligence (brain).
Whether those evidences have yet
been observed and interpreted is, of
course, another question. There are
many things of which we are not yet
knowledgable.
However, if those
"many things" actually exist, it is
simply a matter of time before those
things are eventually 'interpreted and.
understood. We call the process
education.
But what of the millions of pseudointellectuals who stand ready to proudlyboast "I am an agnostic." Are they
proposing that they have a legitimate
place of secrecy wherein they can
conceal their ignorance or are they
simply bungling literal interpretive
values of sound symbols in an effort to
create a noble resting pl~ce for their
actual dissension to religious rhetoric?Whatever their motive, let's investigate the validity of their position. All
we need is a standard dictionary.
Agnosticism: (def 2) "An intellectual
doctrine or attitude offering the 'uncertainty' of all claim to ultimate
knowledge. "
Agnostic: (def 1) "A person who
holds that the 'ultimate cause' (god)
and the essential nature of things are
. unknown and unknowable." (def 2) "A
person who denies or doubts the possibilitv of ultimate knowledge in some
area of study; not known.or incapable
of being known."
How utterly impressive this long
accepted garbage seems to be at first
glance. How many millions of incornprehensive people have used this ruse
while attempting to disguise their
doltishness or to present themselves
as "acceptable" in this religiously fanatical world?
Intimidation was the mother of "agnosticism." Huxley had unwittingly
(continued on page 33)

AUSTIN, TEXAS

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

PAGE 31

ONOURWAY

Ignatz Sahula- Dycke

SHORT ON CONTROL

Man is in many respects a

remarkable creature, though mainly
because possessing Imagination. But
this faculty which sets man apart from
. other creatures is a quantity which for
some reason he yet hasn't learned to
use to full extent. The imagination is
by no means an activity that, when
exercised, transforms every action
into a triumph. Very often what we
imagine will turn out and rate A-plus,
ends up D-minus.So, though a nigh
miraculous attribute, imagination can
trigger'serious
problems
unless
controlled by good judgment affirmed
by the senses and the rationale of
experience.
Being also a creature in many ways
contrary, man at times employs his
imagination for nothing so much as for
holding himself beneath the level
which it seems that Nature had given
him to attain.
If man utilized his
imaginativeness wisely and, in this
way, improved and amplified his other
natural gifts that already made him
into what he factually is, he would - as
he now only promises to - become
what hecould be:admirably and distinctively human. He would sympathize
with Nature and become its supporter
instead of, as presently, its despoiler.
He would appreciate the substances
and forces of Nature out of which he
evolved. Properly thus advised, his
imagination would endlessly benefit
him. He'd expend less time searching
for happiness, but, once found, devote
the time gained to its relishing.
So, the mistakes man makes, the
discomforts he suffers, the harm his
imaginativeness does him, have all
been due to his lack of knowledge
about the factual behavior of Nature,
and to the misinterpretation of it that
ever since prehistoric
times the
shamans, medicine men, prophets,
swamis, fakirs, witch doctors, and
others of the priestly gentry (who under-

PAGE 32

stand how to profit from man's ignorance)have diligently labored only

to increase. They don't want man to
learn and know for obvious reasons ..
Man is by nature impatient; wants
answers to his queries; and when he
doesn't get them he imagines substitutes, or accepts those which others
fabricate and soffer him. This, says
history, has taken place in the instance of man's belief in the dogmas
that for almost two thousand years
have typified christianity: a doctrine
which its priests substituted for hardwon stark truth that, by design or
accident, enters and animates the
minds of a good third of the billions of
human creatures today occupying our
planet Earth.
The doctrinaire
fabrications
of
christianism nave over the centuries
so saturated Western imaginations as
to have made almost impossible for
anyone to converse in any of the
Western nations' languages without
employing one or another word or
phrase that goes directly or obliquely
to the roots of the religion. Words
such as angels, devils, satanic, godly,
temptation, sacrifice, damnation, hell,
heaven,and myriad others all keep
alive and in the van of the common
people's imagination
the misconceptions and blatant lies that the
religion began s.owing in susceptible
Grecian and Roman common people's
minds from its very outset on the
shores of the eastern Mediterranean.
It's consequently virtually impossible for even the most strictly
disciplined Western mind to ignore
this constant intrusion of the religion
into every happening of Western life.
This forces me to assume that the
effects of christianistic misteachings
will persist in memory long after the
religion, as now constituted, will have
died out only to be replaced by one of
another.type: a buoyantly happy one

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

secularly conceived and rationally

aspirational.
Until that day dawns,
uncovered bones of the christianistic
one will remain as an impediment
with which all Atheists will have to
live - and ignore - lest its appeals to
thoughtless imaginations weaken and
destroy the principles which our
country's wise founders elected as
ramparts for her protection.
She
needs it, beca use the nabobs of
religion, after all, are solemnly sworn
to promote, with all power that they
command, a government by rules that
all religions describe as commandments come down to Earth from their
god.
Although the "devout," who obediently support the nabobs' ambitions,
are simple folk who only occasionally
respond to the so-called intellectuals
among them, the pressure exerted by
the total number in their jnass is
impossible to ignore. Nearfy all of
, them imagine that their worshipping
of a god obtains them the god's
protection from misfortune.
In most
instances such people don't reason
about the right or wrong of it.
They "have faith", and no matter how
staunch it is, it's an activity they
exercise in response to what they
consider a standing threat of hell-fire
if on Sundays unattended.
These
praying
people are encouraged to
imagine that this gives them an edge
over those who don't. They personify
the judeo-christian theocratic outlook
that would prevail in our U.S.A. were
their priesthoods
to realize their
authoritarian ambitions.
Ail of such theocratic ambitions constantly endanger freedom. Butimagination and other aspects of intellectual
creativity have during the past four or
five centuries never lacked champions
willing to wield a lance for them. One
such victory materialized when David
Hume (1711-1776) indicated, by writ-

AMERICAN

ATHEIST

ing An Inquiry Concerning Human

Understanding, that Europe's philosophic rthinkinq was of Eastern cut:
sufficient reminder
.that before his
time the man of the West yet hadn't
learned to express trenchantly the
thouqhts that would confirm Westernism as unique.
Nothing that was penned in English
before Hume's time made the East's
"eve-for-au-eve"
philosophy seern
more antiquated than Hume's dictum
that unpremeditated actions are to be
held blameless no matter how contrary to moral and religious standards;
and blamable only when demonstrated as deliberate. This undoubt-

edly whetted the thinking of our nation's

well-informed founders, and promoted
a new sense of justice - justice
administered without religious connotations: a justice constitutionally
impartial,
tempered by juries of
qualified citizens. The nation grew,
strengthened by principles such as
this arid others that; now as always,
sustain freedom and oppose theocracy.
By Hume's standard the childishly
trustinq believers are to be held blameless. Blamable, however, are those
who through religious brainwashing
have made the believers intellectually
inert: fanatically attached to theistic

DIA:L AN ATHEIST

NATURE'S WAY
(continued

fantasies which, disguised as holy

truths, prevent them from questing for
and meeting Dame Truth face to face:
she who from her dais always just
over the ever-receding horizon croons
to all stout-minded human mites that
if nothing's ventured nothing's to be
won.
Well, now! The believers having an
imagination largely atrophied by their
ingestion of religious nonsense, and
having only as much of good judgement as their religious advisors allow
them, are hardly slated everto find out
what Dame Truth's crooning is allabout.

from page 31,

CHAPTERS OF AMERICAN

stumbled into an area that he had not

anticipated. In trying to "protect" the
skeptic or non-believer, he created a
haven for ALL who could not totally
accept the insanity and horrors of
reliqion. Priest and parishioner alike
had certain immanentdoubtsthatweredeeply hidden within their riddled
minds. Here was an out for them as
well. Here also was a condition
whereby religionists could display
- their "enormous ability to be good,
tolerant Christians." If a non-believer
would simply switch over and become
an "agnostic," he would not necessarily have to be killed or otherwise
punished. At the same time those
religionists who were becoming better
educated in the sciences, thus becoming more atheistic, could safely
and quietly withdraw from the terrifying arena of religion's smothering
and ominous indoctrination.
So it is that every time we use the
expression agnostic, or legitimately
accept its use by others, we are only
allowing a fictitious credibility of a
word without significant meaning.
When magician pulls a rabbit out of a
silk hat he often accompanies the
performance with an utterance of the
word "abracadabra." This sound symbol, of course, has absolutely no connection with the act of producing the
rabbit. And, according to my dictionary, "abracadabra" is - quote - "gibberish, jargon, or nonsense used in
incantations." Agnostic is simply a
gibberish expression used to ward off
religion's irate intimidations.

Phoenix, Arizona'

Tucson, Arizona

(602) 899-7411
.-.. (602) 623-3861

Los Angeles, California

(213) 277-6770

Sacramento, California

(916) 989-3170

San Diego, California

(714) 232-6767

S..an Francisco, California

(415) 969-4477

Denver, Colorado

(303) 233-1278

Atlanta, Georgia

(404) 329-9809.

Chicago, Illinois

(312) 335-4648

Houston, Texas

(713) 367-0574

Indianapolis, Indiana

(317) 234-9652

Lexington, Kentucky

(606) 278-8333

Boston, Massachusetts

(617) 344-2988

Detroit, Michigan

(313) 721-6630

New York, New York

(212) 726-3647

Charlotte, ~orth Carolina

(704) 568-5346

Portland, Oregon

(503) 287-6461

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

(412) 734 0509

Dallas, Texas

(214) 388-7669

Galveston, Texas

(713) 935-4721

Salt Lake City, Utah

(801) 364-4939

Grottoes, Virginia

(703) 370-5255

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

(414) 442-9786

Marshalltown, Iowa

(515) 753-7522
PAGE 33

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80)

AUSTIN. TEXAS

ATHEISTS

~l~~

~ _

RIDICULE IS FREQUENTL Y EMPLOYED

WITH MORE POWER AND SUCCESS THAN
SEVERITY.

-Horace.

------- ------.-----------~ifHURC:H
-c~~

.-----1

WHo C!ARES ~ J~,

I!~H!,
~i

1)!Nr

c:g ~~D.
SJ

w.

Pastor: "Children.
you responded.

I asked who of you wants to go to heaven. All of

except you. Charles. Why?"

Charles: "Well. Father. I cannot. Mother said Imust come straight

home from school."

, \
LEVITATIOill
CLASS"5
ST~F"AOWT
.AC"~EMY

'4

HEt.P, POLICE", WE HAYE SOMEBODV SUSPENDED

HALF WAY BEiWfEN
THi: FLOOR AND CEILING
AND WE CA"-'T GE' HIM DOWN!"

PAGE 34

FRUCTIDOR188

[9/80]

AMERICAN

ATHIEST

THE AMERICAN ATHEIST RADI~SERIES

-"

NEW TESTAMENT ROOTS

******* Program 391 *******

Hello there, this is Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American
who was also born of a virgin. Thus we see a people,
Atheist, back to talk to you again.
antedating Persians, Chinese, and Egyptians to an inI have been having a good time playing with an old book
estimable extent, still holding to the dogma of a god-begotten
titled The Origin of The Christian Bible, written by O. B. god.
Whitford, an M.D., back in 1885.
"Five thousand three hundred and fifty four years ago, the
He Particularly dislikes the New Testament and goes to the
Chinese first savior was born (remember that this book was
full attack on the persons of Mary and .Jesus. He relies heavily
written in 1885 - so it is now 5,459 years ago). When his
upon the (Chinese) Sanscrit for an account of the birth of the
mother conceived him, a rainbow was seen to surround her.
savior Buddha, which he says, "is so nearly allied to that of
Something brilliant, bright, and sparkling is always reChrist that the names used for one are used for the other. For presented as hovering over and around the immaculate
instance, the mother of Buddha, Maya, is changed to Mary in
mothers of Christs. In almost every Catholic house can be
Hebrew; in Sanscrit the name of the child is Chrisna - in
seen the picture of Jesus on the gallows with a star-like crown
Hebrew, Christ. The resemblance is too palpable not to expose
upon his head, exhibiting a transparent illumination, in
the forgery.
.
imitation of the pagan gods who were crucified for the
"Buddha, full of compassion, came down to earth to atone
salvation of their people.
for the sins of mankind. But before leaving paradise for his
"The Chinese have had many incarnated gods (man-gods),
earthly journey, exclaimed: 'Ye mortals! Adorn your earth; for
among whom are the following who were invested with
Bodhisatwa, the great Mahasatwa, not long hence shall
superhuman attributes: Shinnoong, Xaca, Hoang-ty and
descend from Tasita to be born amongst you; make ready and
Fo-hi.
prepare; Buddha is about to descend and be born of the.virgin
."Fo-hi was conceived during a heavenly romance which is
Maya.' Does this sound anything like Isaiah's prophecy?
told as follows:
"In the eyes of the Buddhist this personage is sometimes a
"Three nymphs came down from heaven to wash themman and sometimes a god; or rather both and the .pther, a I selves in a river; but scarce had they got there before the herb,
divine incarnation, a man-god; who came to the world to . lotus, appeared on one of their garments with its coral fruit
enlighten men, to redeem them, and to indicate to them the
upon it. They could not imagine whence it proceeded, and one
way of safety.
was tempted to taste it, whereby she became wegnant and
"This idea of redemption by a divine incarnation is so was delivered of a boy, who afterward became a great man, a
general and popular among the Buddhists that during our
founder of religion, a conqueror and legislator.
. travels in upper Asia we everywhere found it expressed in a
"Xaca's father was a white elephant.
neat formula. If we addressed a Mongol or a Thibetan (sic) with
"Heau-Ky's mother became pregnant by stepping on a toe
the question, 'Who is Buddha?' he would immediately reply,
print made by a god.
'The savior of man.'.
"Confucius' father was a dragon."
"The miraculous birth of Buddha, his IHe and instructions,
Is there any more reason in one of these myths than in the
contain a great number of the moral and dogmatic truths
other? "If so," Dr. Whitford says, "I fail to see it."
professed in Christianity.
"For ages prior to the time of Jesus ...
Egypt had her
" ... When Buddha avatar descended from the regions ofthe
virgin-born savior without a worldly father. The pictures of
soul and entered the body of the virgin Maya, her womb
Isis, the virgin mother, are enqraved on the walls of temples,
suddenly assumed the appearance of clear, transparent
she holding her infant son god in her arms.
crystal, in which Buddha appeared beautiful as a flower,
rt
These Egyptian pictures of Isis and the infant Horus are
kneeling and reclining on his hands. The body of the queen
exact counterparts of the picture of Mary and her infant son
was transparent, and the child could be distinctly seen, like a Jesus, as now seen in nearly all homes of rel iqious
priest seated upon a throne in the act of saying bana (prayer),
superstition.".
or like a golden image enclosed in a vase of crystal, so that it
Ra, the Egyptian god, was born from the side of his mother
could be known how much he grew every succeeding day.
without being engendered. Menes, of Egypt (and, by the way,
The same thing was said of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Early
the first king), from whom the Hebrews plagiarized the name
art represented the infant distinctly visible in her womb.
of their law-giver Moses, was recognized as a god.
"In many historical books can be seen the charts and
On all the walls of the Egyptian temples can be seen
pictures ofthe virgin mothers in travail with all the incarnated
pictures of all the gods and their virgin mothers, the most
gods of the Old World, even to the uttermost extremity of
conspicuous of which is the goO Ra, because he is always
.Hindoostan, where exploreres have found people so retrorepresented with an effulgent ray of the sun. of which he
graded that human custom in dress is entirely i$lnored; and yet
claims to have been begotten, and to which the Egyptians all
they worship and adore the memory of the Salivahana (savior)
pay homage, and worship the memory of their god Ra as the
FRUCTIDOR188

AUSTIN, TEXAS

[9/80]

PAGE 35

son of the sun, and his children as the sons of the sun's son.
The Egyptians had no divine god but the sun. The sun-worship
the Persians transmitted to the Egyptians through Zoroaster,
who was born of a ray of the divine reason. As soon as he was
born, the glory from his body enlightened the whole room, in
consequence of which he was, at once, proclaimed the son of
the sun-god.
In heathen mythology all that was required to make a god of
an infant was to produce the proper credentials that the
infant's ancestors worshipped the sun as a god. The pagans
recognized the planet Jupiter as a god and the father of many
god-men.
The Egyptians called upon the sun, their god, for all their
wants and in this were essentially monotheistic.
In Egypt and in Rome, in both ancient and modern
mythologies, gods were numerous. Many were born of
virgins. Romulus, the founder of Rome, was of divine origin.
His mother, Rhea-Sylvia, was a virgin. Julius Caesar and
Augustus Caesar were both gods of celestial parentage.
(Incidentally, Julius Caesar was said to have been born from
the side of his mother - and the operation of removing a child
directly by incising the uterus is still called a "Caesarian
section" birth.) Alexander claimed to be the son of Jupiter
Ammon. His mother, 01ympias, was chaste and pure. Cyrus,
king of Persia, was considered to be of divine origin. He was
called "Christ" and "Anointed of God" and "God's Mes"
senger" - titles which Christians have placarded more than
those obtained from any other pagan source. Plato was also of
celestial birth. His mother, Perictione, was a pure virgin.
Pythagoras, born 570 B.C., was begotten by a ghost and
Aesculapius, the miracle-performer, was begotten by god
himself.
Even in North America, the Cherokees had a great prophet
and law-giver, who was called the great spirit, Wasi. The
Algonguins, the Ojibways and the Iroquois, of the Northwest,
all worshipped and adored the Great Spirit of Michabou, who
was born of an earthly mother, and who was begotten of the
celestial Manitou. This god-begotten aboriginal was sent by
the aboriginal high god to redeem the entire human race.
According to pagan and modern mythologies, Christs,
redeemers of fallen men, are so numerous that heaven cannot
be missed, even by an infidel.
"Is there an intelligent, sane person living who would dare
maintain that the dogma of the incarnation of Christ antedates
that of the Hindoo, the Persian, the Chinese, the African, the
Scandinavian, the Mexican; the Egyptian, the Indian of North
America? If so, his education has stifled his judgment and
limited his reason to grope in the narrow confines of Christian
superstition.
He must either claim originality or admit
forgery." (The doctor then concludes:) "Christianity - since it
comes 'from more ancient religions - is as old as the world
and the age of the world is beyond the conception of
intelligence. tr

The great Chinese philosopher Confucius, who was born in

551 B.C. issued the following human advice:
"Obey heaven and follow the orders of him who governs it.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Do to another what yo; woutd
he should do unto you: thou only needest this law stone: it is
the foundation and principle of all the rest.Acknowled~e.thY
benefits by the return of other benefits, but never revenge
injuries. "
, .
, "
'
This was written over five hundred years before the gospel~
in which is ascribed to Christ the' credit" of giving the' same
advice. "Mvcreed-bound Christian friends, do not be afraid to
be honest; do not tremble at the publication of truth, for in the
light of modern scientific reasoning facts must be indelibly
inscribed upon the vision and error.trampled into.oblivion." ,
In the Hindo (Manu's) poem, and Mahab~ra(,both written
about 600 B.C., we find the following beautiful sayings Which
Christianity has attributed to Christ, although Christ was not
born for six hundred years after they were written:
"An evil-minded man is quick t9 see 'his n~ighbor's faults,
though small as mustard seed; hi.!t when h~, turns h'is eye~
toward his own, though large as bilva fruit, hf/none descries."
In Matthew vii, 3, Christ is given' as saying, "And why
beholdest thou the mote that is in (hy brother's eye, but
considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye."
Again, in the Mahabarata is the admonition:
"Conquer a man who never gives by gifts: subdue untruthful
men by truthfulness: vanquish an angry man by gentleness:
and overcome the evil man by goodness." In Romans xii, 21,
we see "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good,"
And, of course, in the Mahabarata:
"In granting or refusing a request a man obtains a proper
rule of action by looking on his neighbor as himself. "which in
Matthew xxii, 39" comes out as "Love they neighbor as
thyself."
.
And, so it is - that all the Christian precepts existed for
thousands of years before Christianity - as men, everywhere
and in all eras, attempted to find the rules of conduct best
suited for the humanrace.
.
'

This informational broadcast is brought to you ~s a public

service by the Society of Separationists, Inc., a non-profit,
non-political, tax-exempt, educational organization dedicated to the complete separation.of state and church. This
series of American Atheist Radio Programs is continued
through listener generosity. The Society of Separationists,
Inc., predicates its philosophy on American Atheism. For
more information write to P.O. Box 2117, Austin, Texas
78768.

"My earlier views oj the unsoundness oj the Christian scheme oj salvation "and
the human origin oj the Scriptures have become clearer and stronger with
advancing years and I see no reason jor thinking I shall ever change them. "
ABRAHAM LINCOLN

PAGE 36

FRUCTIDOR

188 [9/801

"

ANlERICAN

AnfEIST

:?IoemJ

t:.:.

"

"

TIU:' CHAINED
. ,

HERACLES

STEPPENWOLF'S

Bound and chained, he waits,

Straining against the ropes,
Their 'strength never abates,
For he ,~trengthens them by fears

=:

Her echo, her echo,

Of the who loved the lost
She lived for his shadow
And yet could not live with him,
For she was living her dream,
Embracing it to her bosom,
For she knew her lonely path
And strolled it with a leisurely pace,

no hope

A dream passes before his eyes, '

Revealing a pinch of beauty,
Promising mqre than the skies, '
It flees leaving him empty,
. .

\~~

He
To
T0
To

His echo, his echo,

, Of the one who was lost
He loved her dearly
And yet could notlike her.
For he was still chasing his dream,
Barely sensing it, just sensing,
For he never had seen the sign for his way
And still wandered through the woods,

is not able to go, '

escape, to chase the dream, '
with his bow catch thedoe,
bask in the light of that .beam,

He awakes and seesthe vision,'

Smiling at him through the fog,
He strains again; the ropes slip from him,
He knows they never were; he made the bog,

.,:;-:-<'".,.".., ...

LOVE

r,~

J'

Robin Murray-O'Hair

->w:;~'.~..:.:.:.-.~~~

~M"~",~.,._ .."~
'~~

.w.,,_. __

.~

A MODERN ALEXANDER

THAT MAN

Deftly, so deftly a hand moves across

A humble whitened sheet
The same hand that could move
Nations, minds, and strengthened hearts,
Moves now in an ordinary task,
Hiding in the lowly,
Too great to show its glory,
It now reposes with its mighty tool,
A cheap old pen,
Bought to tell why and when,
It works by the light of eyes
Shining with intelligence,
Those very same ey~s which both tear
And gently, gingerly repair.
They see always the distant views
But hide their far insights
..,
In the near and minor plights,

Youquery who that man might be

Who mounts yonder noble steed,
See his worn and battered'arms,
New decked with happy laurel wreathes,
See the people cheer him so,
For they love his deeds,
Surely they love his deeds,
"

\.,

You asked the right man to tell, ,,'

For I am his squire, his faithful servant
He left not long ago to fight,
To fight a horrid enemy,
Who was not yet known,
He was alone in' his valiant vision,
Except for me, who only half understood,
The people laughed and jeered, '
NWe have no enemies!" they said,
And they, graced his new-made arms
With'many a rotten egg,
He .stillwent on, alone but for me,
Who only half understood,

Robin Murray-O'Hair

Now understand that lonely gleam of his eye

~nd frown hid beneath a joyous smile,
For he knows he has not yet fought
A!1dthey willlaugh at the next like him,
Robin Murray-O'Hair

AUSTIN, TEXAS

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

FILMREVIEW

oJ 11 [ ['I

gl

elaine stansfield
There is a revival of interest in this
film, and it certainly bears seeing a
second time. I did, and I loved it all over
again.
Time After Time is an utterly beguiling movie, with a strong but nevertheless subtly carried Atheist message, which for once does not derogate the message. As an intelligent,
gentle, considerate man, H. G. Wells is
played by Malcolm McDowell as an
avowed Atheist of great charm and
courage. You may remember him in a
totally different role in A Clockwork
Orenqe, a film of stomach-turning
violence. Here, we have a thoughtful
man born ahead of his time, who
believes that modern technology will
create within three decades (from the
year 1890) a peaceful and splendid
society. Therefore he invents a time
machine to get to that projected era.
However, when his surgeon friend
turns out to be Jack the Ripper and
uses the machine to escape the bobbies into 1979, Wells' first thought is:
"I must follow him. I cannot let that
maniac loose in Utopia." Follow him
he does, for his machine was set for
automatic return to its "home" time,
and after many weary days, finally
tracks down a totally unrepentant
criminal, played by David Warner.
"Look," he tells Wells, forcing him
down towatch 1979 television, "you
call this Utopia?" He flips channels
from one scene of violence to another.
"Why, back in our day I was weird, but
here I'm just an amateur. I'm at home
here, this is where I belong." The wild
look in his eyes tells us of the dangerous conflict to come.
Despite the gruesome surgical, 'but
bloody, killings of women which become ever more compulsive, the story
is really a sweet romance of considerable appeal. The woman Wells falls in
love with is thoughtfully conceived by
Mary Steenburgen, a young lady who,
we note with some relief, does not
look at all like a movie star. She is not
beautiful and perhaps, as' she forces
Wells to say to her, she may not even
be especially attractive, but she has a
down-to-earth charm and a husky,
quirky little voice that endear her to us.
PAGE 38

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,
The first time he comes into her bank,
where
she
heads the
Foreign
Exchange department, she knows he
is what she wants, and she makes her
pitch almost immediately by offering
to show him the city (San Francisco,
Calif.)
At first diffident and distracted with
the need to capture his enemy, he
soon realizes she is in grave danger,
too. Now he is in a terrible dilemma:
shall he risk sounding like a madman
by telling her the truth, or shall he
hope to catch the man and return him
to his own time, thereby losing her? As
they fall more in love and the murders
get worse, the audience is clearly
unhappy with either choice.
The script is careful to make Well's
Atheism plain in three different spots.
He speaks of it openly in the dinner
scene with his friends in the beginning of the picture. He comes out for
an "I do not believe in god" statement
later. And, during his darkest moment,
late in the film, utterly fatigued mentally from unsuccessfu Ily tryi ng to protect the girl and physically from trying
to chase the/villain, he staggers into a
church and sits down. Facing the altar,
he speaks ironically, "I do not believe
in you, but I certainly do need help ... "
This is a reasonable, scholarly person, not the type of which heroes are
made and there are several instances
that brought me up short, realizing
how much the movies have conditioned us to believe that all heroes
should be able to solve any situation,
fight and kill for their cause or their
lady, and should, in a word, be invinFRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

cible. So when Wells fails, in one or

another of those areas, we must understand this is part of the man's
character. We must fight the inculcation of the movie ethic that we ought to
be disappointed in him, or - even
more ironically - in the scriptwriter or
director for his being unable to pull
that rabbit out of the hat. This means
that, in effect, we have been encouraged not to admire the gentle hero
who is not a man of action. What a
world!
picture, with a surprise ending. It's
been a long time since I've attended a
movie where the audience burst into
spontaneous applause at the end, as
they did here. The director is Nicholas
Meyer, who wrote The 7% Solution. tt
is another Orion Pictures release.
Watch them, they're doing well.

A POLfSH JOKE

EVE R'r' DAY IT IS

TO BRIBE
THESE FAT CATS!

EA S/ER

AMERICAN

ATH61ST

$ BOOK REVIEW

ESSAYS ON ATHEISM
Edited by Jon Garth Murray
Chapman Cohen, introduced to you in this issue of American Atheist, published in the years 1923 to 1938, when he.
was President of the National Secular Society of England, a
series of four small books which was comprised of selected
essays from his writings for the Freethinker magazine, the
voice of that orga nization. The entire collection consisted of 87
such essays.
The American Atheist Press is now re-issuing these books
in soft back edition. The first of the series will contain twenty
three essays in 100 pages, 6" x 9" and is available at this time.
The other three will be in print before the end of the year.
The essays' titles are provocative, such as "Is Religion of
Use?" And, the answers are just as exciting today as when
written. Let us test this by quoting the opening lines of this
particular essay:
"There are no questions of so vital importance to man as
those that cluster around religion. So said a daily paper the
other day. And we meet the assertion with a flat denial. Really,
there is no subject of so little intrinsic importance as that of
religion. "
The five page answer then elaborates on the initiar replv,
even quoting from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
"Our young people are diseased with the theological problems
of original sin, origin of evil, and the like. These never
presented a practical difficulty to any man - never darkened
any man's road who did not go out of his way to seek them.
These are the soul's mumps, and measles, and whooping
cough - a simple mind will not know these enemies."
Perhaps one of the most earnest arguments advanced today
to save religion is that we can view the Bible and other
authoritative
religious documents from a more exalted
position than could the primitive Christians. The "liberal"
theologian is distinguished from the "fundamentalist" by his
more sophisticated sophistry and indeed looks down his nose
at the theologian who hews to the Judeo-Christian premises
as originally pronounced. In a curious little essay having to do
with the celebration of Christmas, which begins with an'
analysis of the virgin birth, Cohen picks up this thesis. He
argues:
"For the value, perhaps the whole value, of a comprehension of the religious beliefs of the lower races (here
Cohen was referring to the work being done in his time on the
idea of the Polynesians and the Australian Aborigines being
'primitive' races - ed.) lies in their relation to the religious
beliefs of the races that are more advanced. But, owing to the
widespread fear of vested interests, this is very seldom done.
The origin of the savage gods is clearly indicated in scores of
authoritative works; but there are few, if any, of our first-class

AUSTIN, TEXAS

men that have the courage to point to the further truth that our
modern ideas of god are descended from these primitive and
clearly mistaken beliefs, and rest on no other and no better
foundations. ",
'
The virgin birth, as well as other such primitive principles 'of
Christianity, perseveres in the mythology of our day. Concerning this Cohen explains:
"Its persistence only serves to drive home the lesson that all
religion, no matter how refined, has its roots in the delusions
that have their say over the mind of mankind in its most
primitive stages."
These short examples are sufficient, together with his essay
on "Religion and The Young" presented in this issue, to give a
flavor of the man. The other essays in this first booklet include:
"Christianity and The Survival of The Fittest," "Christmas
Trees and Christmas Gods," "A Famous Witch Trial," "Religion and Labour," and "Disease and Religion."
The Atheists of the world have long been plagued by the
cowardice of Professor Thomas Huxley, he who coined the
word "agnostic" to give refuge to the intellectually ignoble.
Cohen deals fu-rther with Huxley's ignominy in two essays
titled "Professor Huxley and The Bible," and "Huxley's
Nemesis." These two essays, characteristically, are great
reading for Atheists.
,:-.
The four books are "primers" for those interested in
Atheism. (They will be titled, as Vols. I through IV, Essays on
Atheism.) They are simple to understand, based on fundamental principles and altogether good basic learning texts.
They would be excellent gifts for teen-agers especially or for
those persons just coming to Atheism, no matter what their
education.
Each will sell for $4.95, postage and handling $1.00 extra.
To preorder all four, as a special pre-publication inducement
to you, all four volumes can be yours for $20.00. Then, as they
are printed, they will be mailed to you. You can expect to
receive each additional booklet at about three week intervals
- since they are now in the process of being printed. This is
the beginning of the American Atheist Press series of exclusively Atheist books, booklets and pamphlets. If the A.A.P. had
the rnonev which the Roman Catholic Church has, it could get
these books out in leather bound volumes and at a reasonable
price. Until the A.A.P., through its sales, can be large enough
to print in such quantities that each book can be priced at the
lowest possible figure, it must print in smaller unprofitable
quantities at a price which covers the cost. Meanwhile,
remember that you are helping to start a truly Atheist press 'in' ~
the nation and that although A.A.P. must price in this way
now, your patronage supports the initial funding for future
"cheap" prices on books with which the nation can literally b'il
flooded in the immediate years ahead.

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

~I

PAGE 39

_CHAPTER

CHATTER

Coast to Coast
Upstate New York: Mary A. Bobone, Director, reports that a
New Jersey: Paul Marsa, Director, chastizedthe U.S. Postal
Service, again. This time his efforts were directed against the
fund raising SUPER garage, porch and lawn sale is planned for
ten cent "Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City" stamp. His
September 20-21. A work meeting to effectuate this was
request was normal: thatthe Postal Services stop the constant
scheduled ahead of the sale. That's the way to do it, Mary!
propagandizing of religion, in violation of the United States
Kentucky: John Crump, Director, is still working on his
recordings of his Atheist records, with Atheist words and
Constitution.
Atheist music written by him, and with John Crump as the
Mississippi: Paul Tirmenstein, Director, was again locked in
battle with Letters to The Editor in the New Albany Gazette
recording star. We are waiting for them - to sell and help to
distribute them, John. They are needed!
newspaper. Paul, who lives in the thick of the Bible belt, takes
John also spoke recently at Eastern Kentucky University in
umbrage with almost everything the paper prints and gains
Richmond, to a class sutdying Religion and Politics .. John is
constance space in this hinderland of the mind with his
adept with words and Atheism was well represented.
pungent letters. We salute you, Paul, again.
Flagstaff, Arizona: Joe Krueger, Director, has made it
Los Angeles, California: John Edwards reports that the
formal in a recent letter of complaint addressed to the City
Chapter Library now comprises thirty-eight books and many
Council. His complaint and objections were to the continuing
back issues of the American Atheist Library. Queen Silver
generously supplied many of these. The plan there is for a
practice of opening city council meetings in Flagstaff with
circulating library, but non-members must put up a deposit.
religious ceremony (prayer).
Tucson, Arizona: Dr. Bill McHoliand, Director, reports that
Illinois:
The Chapter has taken a permanent monthly
classified ad in "Science Digest" to read as follows:
the chapter is now in the "Information and Referral Service" of
AMERICAN A THEIST magazine, monthly journal of Atheist
the "Calendar" section of the Tucson Citizen, the Dandy Time
and the Tucson Weekly News newspapers.
news and thought. Sample issue $1.00; $20.00Iyear. P.O.
Box 2117, Austin, TX 78768.
Utah: Richard Andrews, Director, reports regularly on progress
with the projected annual convention at the Salt Lake Hilton
Troy Soos noted in his letter of notification to the national
Motel, scheduled for April, 1980. This chapter also vigorously
office that the ads result in good response and that they are
protested to the U.S. Postal Service the insult of a comcheap, costing about $15-$20 a month.
American Atheist Museum: Pam Thoren advised that the
memorative stamp for the 150th anniversary of the Mormon
First Annual National Summer Solstice Picnic had been so
church. Rich asks everyone who reads the magazine to write
successful, with about 75 persons in attendance, that the to Postmaster General William Bolger, at the U.S. Postal
Thorens are planning enthusiastically toward the next.
.
Service, Washington, D.C. 20260, and complain of the continuing propagandizing for religion which takes placeon U.S.
New York City: Bill Sykora, Director, advises that the Statler
stamps.
Hilton Hotel Gold Room is available for Sunday, September
28th, 3-6 P.M., seating 250, and wants a national repreCalifornia: Don Latimer, Chapter Director for the entire state
and hence coordinator for the San Diego, the Los Angeles, the
sentative to be there. We're working on it, Bill. Dr. Q'Hair is
Scaramento and the San Francisco chapters, advises that
negotiating with the University of Princeton for a speech just
personal reasons compel him to resign from the directorship.
about that time.
We have induced Don to "hang in there" until the end of the
Tennessee: Harold Church, Director, reports that due to the
year, but anyone who feels qualified for this position, should
publicity received within the Nashville area from the national
consult with Don about what it entails, or make inquiry to the
office, from the Atheist Museum, from the Dial-An-Atheist
national office, The American Atheist Center. Don is an ardent
services, plus the Atheistads which he has placed, Atheism is
Atheist and although his time limitations are such that he
now discussed pro and con by columnists, by Letters to the
cannot continue in this important job, all you folks in Los
Editor, and that the general public in that area are conscious of
Angeles will still See him at those chapter meetings. So, why
Atheism whereas 3 or 4 years ago Atheism was never
not shake his hand at the California State Convention during
mentioned in public forums.
'the Autumnal Equinoxand tell him what a fine job he has done
In addition Harold reports that the mayor of Nashville
up to this time?
recently at the councilmen's assembly tried to levy a tax on the
Colorado: Eddie Greist, Director, has two more children's
Nashville churches to obtain additional revenue for the city.
Although he was unable to muster enough votes, it is books completed and In the hands of National's artist, Felix
apparent he will try again in the future.
Santana. Eddie is an accomplished writer and Dr. Q'Hair has
Georgia: The Chapter Newsletter informs that the Atlanta
already used on media, again and again, the theme of one of
Journal-Constitution
featured a report on their Dial-Anthe new books, I Didn't Eat The Apple. This delightful tale
Atheist. The chapter was then averaging about 100 calls a day
makes it easy for a child to understand and oppose the idea of
and the newspaper not only listed the number, but the mailing
original sin. And, since Christians are childlike the slogan of
address. It was unexpected and appreciated free publicity, but
the title is an effective weapon with the adults. Thanks Eddie,
it immediately broke down the standard tapes for an influx of
we needed that! Felix is working on the books but, as usual,
calls resulted. Heavy duty tapes have been purchased and the
National is overloaded with projects. We are trying to have
Chapter is in the Dial-An-Atheist business again. ,
. them available for the Winter Solstice.
PAGE 40

FRUCTIDOR 188 [9/80]

AM.ERICAN ATHEIST

JOIN
AMERICAN
ATHEISTS
P.o. BOX 2117
AUSTIN, TX 78768

1.
To. stimulate and promote freedom of thought and inquiry
concerning religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals and
practices.
2.
To collect and disseminate information, data and literature on all
religions and promote a more thorough understanding of them, their
origins and histories.
3.
To advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways, the
complete and absolute separation of 'state and church; and the
establishment and maintenance of a thoroughly -secular system of
education available to all.
4.
To encourage the development and public acceptance of a
humane ethical system, stressing the mutual sympathy, understanding and interdependence of all people and the corresponding responsibility of each, individually, in relation to society. ,'.
5.
To develop and propagate a social philosophy in which man is the
central figure who alone must be the source of strength, progress and
ideals for the well-being and happiness of humanity.
6.
To promote the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems
affecting the maintenance, perpetuation and enrichment of human
(and other) life .
7.
To engage in such social, educational, legal and cultural activity
as will be useful and beneficial to members of American Atheists and to
society as a whole.

Definitions
SEND $15DO FOR ONE
YEAR'S MEMBERSHIP AND
YOU WILL RECEIVE THE
FIRST NEWSLETIER, A
MEMBERSHIP CARD
AND A CERTIFICATE

1.
Atheism is the lif&philosophy(Weltanschauung)
of persons who
are free from theism. It is predicated on the ancient Greek philosophy of
Materialism.
2.
American Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which
unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and ai ms at establishing
a system of philosophy and ethics verifiable by experience, independent of al'l arbitrary assumptions of authority or creeds.
3.
Materialism declares that the cosmos is devoid of immanent
conscious purpose; that it is governed by its own inherent, immutable
and impersonal law; that there is no supernatural interference in
human life; that man - finding his resources within himself - can and
must create his own destiny; and that his potential for good and higher
development is for all practical purposes unlimited.

THE UNTOLD HISTORY IV

; OR HOW ORGANIZED RELIGIQN PA VES-ITS ROAD TO POWER

BECAME CHieFS OFARMEl) 6ROUPS

(THE MOSTFAH()()S WERB::OCHOA,SfOANo,
. VEGA,PEDROZA,TORRE$,ANGULO, eit.),
MI:JRDeRING-TEACHER5.PEASANT5,etc ..
AFTER THEY KILLED THE ARMED

12 GUARDSTHEY B(}RNE!) TNE'TRAIN

kiLLING MORE THAN 50 PERSONS{20
CHILDREN AMONG THEM):

\
I

HEL~ FOR CHRIST!

(ANb THe
VATICAN)
, ,

THESf:TIONS'

.'fRE REPEATED IN MANY OTHERPLACES.

I
I
I

1928, ELECTIONS/;ALVARO OBREGON::

= CALLES=TRDU8LE
-~RTHE~~(m

NO REELECTION

NO OBREGON!
NO~

,.0

000

ITISNECESSARY
~fjTO HILL ALVARO

OBREGON!
IN CHAPtJLTEPEC THEPNJESTMJ6lJEI.PRO,II15
'BIlOTHeRANI)TWOMOPEPRSONSA77MPT
.17
TO K/LI1. 08RE60N (PllfS/PfNTIAUANPIMTf. W1TH80M85.

,DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN IN THE U'NITED STATES'

__
,