Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
James G.
Blaine
and the
Defense of
Public Education
$2.95
Life
Couple Life*
Sustaining
Couple */Family
Individual
Senior Citizen**
Student**
*Include partner's name
$750
$1,000
$150/year
$75/year
$50/year
$25/year
$20/year
**Include photocopy of 10
Allmembership categories receive our monthly American Atheist Newsletter, membership card( s), a subscription to the American Atheist, and additional organizational mailings (such as new products for sale, convention and meeting announcements).
American Atheists, Inc. P.o. Box 140195 Austin, TX 78714-0195
Alerican Atheist
A Journal
of Atheist
June 1992
Editor's Desk
R. Murray-O'Hair
Director's Briefcase
Jon G. Murray
Ask A.A.
Cover art and design by
David Canright.
Talking Back
17
44
19
My Path to Atheism
Philip A. Stahl
Historical Notes
23
55
26
46
Austin, Texas
Keeping kosher and being kind to animals don't go hand-in-hand if one respects Muslim and Jewish dietary
laws.
Poetry
57
58
Me Too
29
61
62
Classified Ads
64
Page 1
AmericanAtheist
Editor
R. Murray-O'Hair
Editor Emeritus
Dr. Madalyn OHair
Managing Editor
Jon G. Murray
Poetry
Angeline Bennett
Non-Resident Staff
Margaret Bhatty
Victoria Branden
Merrill Holste
Arthur Frederick Ide
John G. Jackson
Frank R. Zindler
The American Atheist is published by American Atheist Press.
Copyright 1991 by American Atheist Press.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole
or in part without written permission is
prohibited. ISSN: 0332-4310:
Mailing address: P. O. Box 140195, Austin,
TX 78714-0195. Shipping address: 7215
Cameron Road, Austin, TX 78752-2973.
Telephone: (512) 458-1244. FAX: (512) 4679525.
The American Atheist is indexed in IBZ
(International Bibliography of Periodical
Literature, Osnabruck, Germany) and Alternative Press Index.
Manuscripts submitted must be typed,
double-spaced, and accompanied by a
stamped, self-addressed envelope. A copy
of American Atheist Writers' Guidelines is
available upon request. The editors assume
no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts.
The American Atheist Press publishes a variety of Atheist, agnostic, and freethought
material. A catalog is available for $l.00.
All Christian Bible quotations are from the
King James Version, unless otherwise
noted.
This magazine is printed on recycled paper.
The American Atheist is given free of
cost to members of American Atheists as an incident of their membership. Subscriptions for the American
Atheist alone are $25 for twelve issues
($35 outside the U.S.). Gift subscriptions are $20 for twelve issues ($30
outside the U.S.). The library and in-
First name
Address
City/State/Zip
This is to certify that I am in agreement with the "Aims and Purposes" and
the "Definitions" of American Atheists. I consider myself to be Materialist or
Atheist (i.e., non-theist) and I have, therefore, a particular interest in the
separation of state and church and American Atheists' efforts on behalf of
that principle.
I usually identify myself for public purposes
as (check one):
D Atheist
D Agnostic
D Realist
D I evade any reply to a query
D Other:
_
D Freethinker
D Humanist
D Rationalist
D Objectivist
D Ethical Culturalist
D Unitarian
D Secularist
~---------------
Date
names above.)
$150/year
D Couple/Family,
$75/year (Please give
all names above.)
D Sustaining,
D Individual, $50/year
D Age 65 or over, $25/year
(Photocopy of ID required.)
D Student, $20/year (Photocopy of ID required.)
American Atheist
Editor's Desk
R. Murray-O' Hair
Austin, Texas
dulged in the anti-Roman Catholic hysteria of his times. He concentrated instead on the need for a public school
system which would afford every child
an opportunity for education regardless
of creed. As some political forces in the
United States work to surrender the
minds of upcoming generations to private, religious hands, the story of past
efforts to ensure a nonreligious school
system is of increasing importance.
Most sectarian teachers yearning for
public funds wish to instruct students in
the life of another subject of this issue:
Jesus. American Atheist columnist
Frank R. Zindler would be quick to point
out, however, that that character never
had a life - just a biography. In "How
Jesus Got a Life," he tries to explain
how that life story was constructed.
The idea that Jesus was not a historical figure is not new to Atheists or theologians. For over a hundred years,
scholars have argued against the historicity of Jesus Christ. Holes have been
poked in the secular proofs by many of
our own, including, with humor and eloquence, Frank Zindler. But until now
few have approached the question of
how and why the myth of Jesus' lifewas
constructed. Whence the details of the
Christ-myth, if there was no Christ?
Frank Zindler has done much painstaking research on this question, planning to develop the results into a book.
As we await the completion of his work,
we may ponder his preliminary findings
in "The Probing Mind." His argument
for the Mithraic roots of the Jesus story
is thought-provoking. After reading it,
you will view the symbols of Christianity in a new light.
Unfortunately, in the United States
you willoften view those Christian symbols on public land or at government
events. Atheist activism on behalf of
state/church separation is the focus of
the "News and Comments" section of
this issue. In the past, Atheists have
most often appealed to the courts of the
land to shore up the besieged wall of
separation. Now a new generation of
June 1992
Atheist activists are taking their dissatisfaction with state support of religion to
the streets in public protests. After reading the news of recent American Atheist efforts, we hope that you will be inspired to join the "Atheists Are Citizens
Too!" Rally this August.
Sidewalk activism is sure to be an important part of the American Atheist
movement in years to come. But sometimes it is necessary to take our concerns to court - particularly when we
are summonsed there. In the "Director's Briefcase," Jon G. Murray updates
readers on the recent decision in a case
concerning Texas jury oaths. As longtime readers know, the Lone Star state
requires jurors to take an oath or affirmation "So help me God." As a result of
protesting such an oath, I was jailed in
1987. The resulting litigation has culminated in a decision that an Atheist jailed
for refusing a god-oath has no right to
sue to challenge that oath or to protest
the incarceration. Jon Murray untangles
the garbled reasoning which federal
judges used to come to that conclusion
and outlines the steps which American
Atheists will now take to correct the
jury-oath situation.
The problem of Atheists and oaths is
not a new one. For centuries, oaths prohibited Atheists from taking their places
in public offices, injury boxes, and in witness stands. "Disqualification and Atheists" is the subject of this issue's edition
of the "American Atheist Radio Series."
You willbe amazed at the perversions of
justice which occurred in this country
until recent times. Wills were voided
and murderers went free whenever a
witness did not hold a belief in a god.
Most states now allow Atheists to testify, though some still prohibit them
from holding any public office (candidate Clinton's Arkansas permits them
to do neither). It will take many more
years of activism in the courts and on
the sidewalks for Atheists to overcome
such discrimination. This magazine will
be on hand to provide the information
they need to do so. ~
Page 3
Director's Briefcase
A duty an Atheist
has no right to fulfill
t is the case, in every society of which
I know, that the "majority" does in
fact "rule." What I mean by that is
that the laws of a given society reflect
the majority's perception of what is right
and what is wrong. The norms of both
ethics and morality are defined by the
majority. Our country is no different.
The majority of individuals in the United
States have a belief in a deity of some description and in a future system of rewards and punishments in reference to
that alleged deity. It is not then surprising that certain aspects of our legal system would reflect that predominant belief system. This is not to say that any
portion of our legal system is founded
upon theological tenets, such as the
"Ten Commandments." One of those
aspects is the use of oaths or affirmations as a means of qualifying individuals
to take part in the legal system or to
serve as public officials.
The problem then arises as to the majority's handling of those in the minority
who do not adhere to the belief system
on which such legal qualifiers as oaths
and affirmations are based. What does
the majority do with those who will not
go along with the accepted custom or
rote behavior which has been institutionalized? That is the quandary in
which Atheists find themselves when
they attempt, willingly or under coercion, to interact with government. The
Atheist who attends a city council meeting' for example, is confronted with an
invocation which opens most every
such meeting in our society. The Atheist who must participate in courtroom
activities is confronted with a series of
oath or affirmation situations.
[I
Jon G. Murray
Page 4
Reform by dissent
What should that Atheist do when an
oath is demanded of him or her by the
legal system? The Atheist has one of two
choices. The first choice is to act hypocritically and succumb to the process by
taking the religious oath or affirmation.
The second choice is to use the situation to protest the intrusion of religion
June 1992
June 1992
American Atheist
Suing a judge
On November 16,5 1989, a Section
1983 action was filed in the Federal
Court for the Western District of Texas
seeking damages and declaratory= and
injunctive? relief. (Section 1983 is the
part of the Civil Rights Act under which
citizens can sue in federal court and
recover attorney's fees if they prevail.)
The suit was filed against Travis County
Judge Guy Herman (the judge who had
found Miss Murray-O'Hair in contempt
and had ordered her jailed). The suit
was styled as a class action on behalf of
all individuals in Texas whose religious
convictions, or lack thereof, precluded
them from taking the juror oath. The
plaintiffs (that is, Miss Murray-O'Hair
and the Society of Separationists, Inc.8)
claimed that Miss Murray-O'Hair's First
(free exercise clause) and Fourteenth
(equal protection) Amendment rights
had been violated because she was imprisoned for refusing to take a religious
oath.
June 1992
trict Court and the Texas attorney general, alleging a continuing pattern:
whereby they [Atheists] (1)respond
as requested for jury service in the
Travis County District Court, (2)
refuse to take a "God" oath, and
(3) are excluded by the presiding
Judge from jury service."
This prior suit had stemmed from that
fact that I had been denied jury service
in a Travis County district court because of my refusal to take an oath or
affirmation on May 18, 1987. The judge
before whom I appeared simply dismissed me from jury duty rather than
tackling the oath issue. That action was
filed under establishment clause 10 theory, which means that it claimed the
Texas court system "establishes" religion by denying participation on juries
to all those persons who will not swear
or affirm "so help me God." The district
court (lowest level federal court) dismissed that suit for "failure to make a
claim." That means that the court found
that there was nothing it could find in
either the Texas or federal constitutions
which explicitly spelled out that citizens
have the "right" to serve on a jury. Jury
service is, the court said, a "duty" imposed upon selected citizens but not a
guaranteed constitutional right which a
citizen could assert. Thus the court
ruled that we had not stated a claim on
which it could grant relief. On appeal,
the United States Court of Appeals for
the Fifth Circuit affirmed that finding of
the district court.'!
Therefore, the Texas jury oath (affirmation) question could not be resolved
through litigation under establishment
clause theory. Under that theory there
has to be an explicit "establishment" of
government preference for religion by
rule, statute, or constitutional provision.
There was no specific "law" which
stated that a judge had to allow anyone
in particular to serve on a jury. He was
within the law to have dismissed me.
her free exercise rights had been violated in addition to her Fourteenth Amendment right to "equal protection of the
laws."
There is an aside to litigation brought
under free exercise clause theory by
Atheists. The First Amendment talks
about free exercise of religion. Since an
Atheist has no religion, how can one
claim any free exercise rights? Well, we
really can't as an entire class of citizens.
12The"free exercise clause" of the Constitution is the section reading, "Congress shall
make no law . . . prohibiting the free exercise
[of religion]."
Page 8
June 1992
No right to sue
American Atheist
June 1992
Page 9
16ArticleIII,Sec. 2, Constitution of the United States (in pertinent part): "The judicial
Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and
Equity, ... [and] to Controversies and between a State, or the Citizens thereof ... "
Page 10
edly unlawful conduct, and that relief from the injury must be likely
to follow from a favorable ruling."
Exclusion of Atheists
as a one-time problem
Based on its definition of standing, the
en bane court picked up on a case from
California involving the use of chokeholds by city police officers in Los Angeles (City of Los Angeles v. Lyons, 103
S.Ct. 1660 [1983]) to show that Miss
Murray-O'Hair's "complained of injury"
was not "real and immediate." In the
Lyons case, police stopped a resident
for a traffic violation and applied a
choke hold to him. The victim obtained
a preliminary injunction prohibiting the
police from using that chokehold again
threatened by death or serious injury.
The Supreme Court reversed that injunction on the grounds that:
"past exposure to illegal conduct
does not in itself show a present
case or controversy regarding injunctive relief . . . if unaccompanied by any continuing, present
adverse effects."18 To obtain equitable relief for past wrongs, a plaintiff must demonstrate either continuing harm or a real and immediate threat of repeated injury in
the future . . . . Similar reasoning
has been applied to suits for declaratory judgments. 19 '
The en bane court therefore concluded that:
O'Hair lacks standing to obtain
prospective relief for the same
2oIbid.,p. 6.
2IIbid., p. 8.
22Ibid.,p. 8.
American Atheist
/'
23Ibid.,p. 9.
24Huntv. Washington State Apple Advertising
Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333, 343 (1977).
25Society of Separationists, Inc. v. Herman,
No. 99-8660, April 17, 1992, p. 11.
Austin, Texas
Miss Murray-O'Hair in the first Fifth Circuit decision= on this issue prior to
rehearing by the en banc court.
Judge Goldberg's retorts to the majority are so cogent that I feel that it is
best to let him speak for our side against
this latest adverse ruling. Let me run
through his dissent point by point. First
he states:
I adhere to the view that Judge
Herman trespassed upon O'Hair's
constitutional right to freedom of
religion when he excluded her
from jury service and jailed her for
refusing to "affirm" without first
proposing that she make a nonreligious, conscience-binding declaration of a commitment to tell the
truth. And because there is not
only a likelihood of recurrence,
but a statistical certainty [emphasis in original] that O'Hair and
members of the Society of Separationists willagain be summoned
for jury duty before Judge Herman, I find no jurisdictional impediment to their bringing this lawsuit
to challenge Judge Herman's practice.27
Given that there are hundreds of
members of American Atheists in the
greater Austin area, Judge Goldberg's
point about the "statistical certainty" of
the situation recurring is certainly true.
We must also consider the fact that jury
summons cards are sent to registered
voters in Travis County, Texas and that
Atheists, generally speaking, are members of the set of persons who are not
alone legallyeligible"voters" but who do
in fact get out and vote. Therefore, they
A continuing controversy
Secondly, Judge Goldberg argued:
The undercurrent of the standing
requirement is the notion that
courts should only adjudicate
those cases in which the plaintiffs
have a "personal stake in the outcome in order to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens
the presentation of issues necessary for the proper resolution of
constitutional questions." The
plaintiffs in this "case" have a personal stake in the outcome and
the constitutional issues presented are razor sharp: the plaintiffs
are atheists [sic] who object to the
mingling of religion in governmental activities. They brought this
lawsuit based upon the practice
employed by Judge Herman of
Travis County Court - on more
than one occasion - [emphasis
as in original] requiring that prospective jurors make an "affirmation." Whatever one might think
of the constitutionality of Judge
Herman's practice ... no one
should doubt that this litigation
presents a case and controversy
within the meaning of Article IIIof
the Constitution."
28Ibid.,pp. 1-2.
Page 11
30Ibid.,p. 4.
31These are all cases cited by the majority,
similar in fact situation to Lyons but from
various other geographical areas.
32Society of Separationists, Inc. ti. Herman,
No. 99-8660, April 17, 1992, GOLDBERG
dissenting, p. 10.
American Atheist
Miss Murray-O'Hair does not have to go out and violate the law
in order to become subject to another encounter with Judge Herman.
She only need to sit at home and await, completely innocently,
the receipt of a future jury summons.
order to become subject to another encounter with Judge Herman. She only
need to sit at home and await, completely innocently, the receipt of a future jury
summons.
The courts fail to acknowledge that the very same method of impaneling
jurors which Judge Herman employed on that fateful day in 1987
is also repeated by hundreds of judges statewide every day, year round,
in which Texas county courts at law are in session.
Austin, Texas
June 1992
Page 15
[t]his is not a decision, but a travesty. Riddled as it is with prejudiced remarks, it would be more
appropriate as a right -wing tract.
The continuing abuse of Atheist
rights in Texas should be remedied
by the Fifth Circuit, not sidestepped and ignored. This is a signal to all Atheists that the courts
are no longer agents of the Constitution but pawns of the religious.
To change the jury-oath situation,
we must now consider civildisobedience and protests.
Miss Murray-O'Hair went on to point
out the human factor in this controversy
which has been totally ignored by the
legal system:
Our office is constantly contacted by individual Atheists frightened by the prospect of being
called for jury duty. In the state of
Texas it is assumed that jurors are
religious. The Atheist is treated as
a freak and an outcast who must
interrupt normal proceedings to
beg for the right to be exempted
from a god-oath. This is a degrading experience for Atheist citizens.
"That this situation exists in the
adopted home state of the American
president [George Bush] is simply appalling," she noted, "But what is more
appalling is that judges would hide behind 'the letter of the law' to deny a
minority its rights."
Not a single news media source, hard
or soft (i.e., print media or electronic
media) carried Miss Murray-O'Hair's
sentiments on this issue - so unconcerned were they with the rights of
those outside of the accepted social
circle.
June 1992
American Atheist
Ask A.A.
Kosher killings
Austin, Texas
June 1992
Page 17
The unfortunate reality of our presentday culture is that newspapers, magazines, and the electronic media can and
do refuse to take advertising for "advocacy" groups. They are all privately
owned and can be as selective as they
desire to be.
For over twenty years, American
Atheists has advocated that members
put small advertisements in local newspapers, or in magazines or journals to
which they ordinarily subscribe. It has
even furnished the artwork for such
ads. The return on these ads has been
very low and their placement in a newspaper is more for the education of the
Atheist trying to insert them thanfor the
result of their appearing.
We have tried small classified ads
offering a provocative book title, a free
sample of the American Atheist magazine, or free Atheist literature. The DialTHE-Atheist offers free literature to
anyone calling. The "American Atheist
Television Forum" also offers free sample copies of the magazine, often small
booklets or brochures, and always introductory packets of information. The
return is minimal.
When any of the Murray-O'Hairs or
any American Atheist spokespersons
appear on either television or radio,
Page 18
Austin, Texas
Scheduled for the day before the Republican National Convention opens in
that city, the event is meant to draw attention to discrimination Atheists face.
The rally will focus on anti-Atheist remarks made by President Bush and
members of his administration.
The official proclamation puts out a
call for the rally in stirring words:
Whereas George Bush stated
publicly that he does not consider
Atheists to be full citizens of the
United States; and
Whereas George Bush stated
further that he does not consider
Atheists to be patriots of the United States; and
Whereas George Bush has refused to apologize for these bigoted and prejudiced statements;
Therefore be it resolved that
the Atheist community of the United States of American does hereby call a meeting of protest.
AllAtheists are requested to be
present and accounted for in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, August
15, 1992, and Sunday, August 16,
1992, for the purpose of public
protest at the start of the 1992 Republican National Convention.
Though plans are subject to change,
the "Atheists are Citizens Too!" Rally is
scheduled for August 16. (The Republican convention is August 17-20.) American Atheists will sponsor lectures and
videos on state/church separation and
Atheism on August 15. Social events are
also planned, so that rally participants
have a chance to mingle, revving up
their spirits both off and on the protest
lines. By late June, over one hundred
Atheists had registered for the event.
American Atheists emphasizes that
the rally willnot be anti-Republican, nor
will the group endorse any candidate.
"Why we are concerned here," PresiJune 1992
dent Jon Murray says, "is that the political parties must demonstrate their
commitment to represent all the people
- regardless of their religion or lack
thereof." In recent years, the Republican party has taken on a distinctively
evangelical Christian tone, supporting
prayer in the public schools, vouchers
for religious schools, restrictive abortion laws, and generally seeking legislative support of religion. As Mr. Murray
points out emphatically, "Atheists have
been marginalized in the political process; their deepest concerns are simply
ignored."
"Absolutely nothing"
Other members of his administration
share Mr. Bush's prejudice. A longtime
concern of American Atheists has been
the exclusion of nonbelievers from veterans' groups. Many such groups require members to believe in a god or to
take an oath "So help me God." When
asked by Robert Sherman what he
would do to end such discrimination
against Atheists, Ed Derwinski, the secretary of the Department of Veterans'
Affairs, said that he would do "absolutely nothing." That was on December 23,
1990. On January 3, 1991,encountering
Mr. Derwinski on a second occasion,
Mr. Sherman rephrased the question:
What should American Atheists do to
have the Bush administration take an
interest in the problem of such discrimination against American Atheist veterans? This time, Mr. Derwinski's response was more specific:
What you should do for me is what
you should do for everybody. Believe in God. Get off our backs.
Americans Atheists has no intention of
getting off the backs of the administration when it comes to educating politicians and the public-at-Iarge. By sponsoring a rally shortly before the opening
of the Republican National Convention,
American Atheists willdraw national attent ion to the need for complete and
absolute separation of state and church
and for the end of discrimination against
Atheists.
Further information concerning the
"Atheists Are Citizens Too!" Rally is
available from the national office of
American Atheists at P. 0. Box 140195,
Austin, TX 78714-0195.- R. MurrayO'Hair ?fie
Page 20
June 1992
Forum Coordinator
Atheist General Headquarters
P.O.Box 140195
Austin, TX 78714-0195
(512) 458-1244
American Atheist
[fJ
ongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," - it would seem plain that
this phrase prohibits the government of
the United States from setting up official
religious ceremonies. After all, what is
an "established religion" but a set of government-mandated or -sponsored religious beliefs and services?
But the First Amendment did not
stop thousands of state and city governments from organizing, promoting, and
supervising religious events this spring
under the guise of the "National Day of
Prayer." American Atheist protests accompanied two such city-sponsored
services in Texas.
In 1952, Congress gave the president
the authorization to designate a specific day each year as the National Day of
Prayer. No president since has failed to
do so. President Bush's proclamation
making May 7,1992, the National Day of
Prayer was issued on the "fifth day of
March, in the year of our Lord nineteen
hundred and ninety-two." Using distinctly Christian language, Mr. Bush reminded Americans to place their
. . . trust in the steady, unfailing
light that is the love of God.
Time and again, Scripture tells
us of the constancy of the Almighty.
Indeed, His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, wrote the Psalmist, and His Dominion endures
throughout all generations.
Mr. Bush went On to claim that the
success of the United States was due to
the continuing prayers of our leaders
and citizens. He also urged Americans
to "echo" a prayer of Solomon:
Austin, Texas
Page 21
Admitting to incompetence
American Atheist
Douglas Kachel
Austin, Texas
Individual expression
A few months ago I attended a regional recital for high school musicians, an
obviously select and talented group of
young Americans. The hours of work to
hone their individual talents, whether
instrumental or vocal, and the efforts of
the supportive and encouraging parents
must have been prodigious. Amish
Page 23
Creativity,
beyond perhaps a simple variation in a quilt design
or placing plants in an interesting arrangement in a flower bed,
would be conspicuously absent in Amish culture.
Papa is all
The Amish society is a deeply rigid
patriarchal society. Most Americans,
particularly women, would be repulsed
by the sharp sex-role divisions and by
the expectations placed on the Amish
wife and mother. All leadership roles whether bishop, preacher, or deacon Page 24
One can still see in Amishland many incidents of a wife trailing a step or
two behind her husband as they walk down an aisle at a market or along
the sidewalk of a town. This dominance of the Amish husband and father is
best expressed in a phrase popular among the Amish: "papa is all."
My path to Atheism
or those of us who are not born in hell. In this gruesome rendering, an
into Atheist families, the path to immense Satan - complete with bat
that enlightened state of mind wings, horns, scales and a pointed tailmust be forged with no small amount of gleefully plunged a pitchfork into the
courage and conviction: courage to bare hides of a man and woman trapped
meet head-on the distrust and jibes of beneath the grating atop a fiery pit.
Sister Mary Jean Claire, our current
family and friends, and conviction of the
mentor in the faith, exploited the class'
soundness of one's position to weather
the innumerable personal attacks from shocked sensibilities to the fullest.
religious bigots in the larger society. "Look closely at this picture, children,"
This, of course, is assuming
that the Atheist in question
has decided to "come out of
the closet" and dare to draw
attention to himself in the
media. I may be wrong, but
to my way of thinking, "quiet"
Atheists - those who prefer
silence and anonymity are largely responsible for
the success of the religious
zealots worldwide.
Ironically,my path to Atheism began within a dysfunctional familywhich only functioned when religious rituals
took center stage. Bickering
In this childhood nativity scene, the author kneels
at the far right.
and endless arguments were
the norm unless there was a
First Communion or confirmation in- her sugar-sweet voice enjoined us,
volving me or one of my four siblings. At "Now, I want you to think of yourselves
in the place of one or the other of these
other times, my parents orchestrated
two sinners. I want you to imagine that
family religious rituals, usually around
Christmas or some "holy day of obliga- fire burning every inch of your flesh, as
well as your soul, for all eternity. Forever
tion." In the accompanying photograph,
taken in 1953,the scene captured "angels and ever without stopping. Think of the
pain you experienced if you ever burnt
praying at the crib of the baby Jesus" actually my newborn brother Mike. a finger, and imagine it a million times
When we were a bit older, we were told worse and through your whole body to do "practice Masses," with one broth- with Satan stabbing you again and again
er emulating the priest and the other while you burn."
Having gained our attention through
two altar boys.
In the meantime, to ensure our prop- pure dread and terror, she got into the
er Roman Catholic indoctrination, we heart of the lesson: how to avoid mortal
were all enrolled in Catholic parochial sin. At the conclusion, we were told how
schools in Milwaukee. It was there that it was important to "bring others to the
the good nuns drilled into us the horren- one true faith, lest they perish in hell's
dous concepts of hell, heaven, and mor- eternal fire." I recall going to a Lutheran
friend after school that day, in a failed
tal sins. One of the most enduring
images from that time was a full-page effort to get him to convert and escape
color illustration, from a third grade reli- his otherwise certain eternal damnation.
gion text, depicting two sinners burning His scornful laugh amazed me, especially
[I
A science writer
describes his trip
out of the closet
and into the ranks
of activist Atheists.
Philip A. Stahl
Page 26
June 1992
American Atheist
June 1992
.~
Ii
A neglected savior of
the nation's public
school system is finally
recognized.
Many of the states of the Union considered the feasibility of taxing the real
estate property owned by the churches
during this era. The nation was filled
with the news of it, and the tax support
Madalyn Q'Hair
Austin, Texas
June 1992
Page 29
Blaine in brief
1782 as commissary-general
of the
Northern Department of the American
Army in the War of Independence. His
father, Ephraim Lyon Blaine, was a Presbyterian of Scotch-Irish descent; his
mother, Maria Louise nee Gillespie was
a Roman Catholic. Both were families of
considerable wealth, his father in fact
being one of the richest men in western
Pennsylvania. The land now occupied
by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was once
that owned by his great grandfather, being sold to the Economites for $25,000 in
1825.
His family was wealthy enough to give
him an education, and he entered Washington College" in November 1843 when
he was thirteen years old. There he excelled in spelling matches and debates.
He graduated in 1847 at age seventeen
and began to teach in the Western Military Institute, Blue Lick Springs (Georgetown), Kentucky. There was only the
apprentice system in law but having an
interest in it, during this same time, he
was studying that profession. He did become a member of the bar and at one
time was a commissioned justice of the
peace.
He married Harriet Stanwood, a
teacher in a young ladies' seminary in
Kentucky, allegedly on June 30, 1850
(she died in 1903). However, in 1874 a report appeared in the Democratic Sentinel that their first son had been born
three months after the wedding. Blaine
simply retorted that he had two marriage ceremonies six months apart and it was left at that.
He later began to teach in the Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind (Deaf
and Dumb) at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he remained from August 1852
to November 1854. He wrote prolifically and often contributed to the Daily Inquirer newspaper in that city. In 1854,
following the death of their first child,
Stanwood Blaine, the young couple
of religious schools was a matter of concern in every state, as well as at the nationallevel. The Roman Catholic church
- then seen by many as the ultimate
symbol of religious corruption - was
under attack from the Know-Nothing
party.
All of this is either glossed over or excluded from the history books of our
time even though it convulsed the nation, reached into every state legislative
body, and was a matter of concern for
all the citizens of the nation.
The effort to keep tax dollars from the
Roman Catholic school system was
general. A proposed amendment to be
added to the Constitution of the United
States was labeled "the Blaine amendment." The U.S. Congress fought over
it bitterly for ten or more years. And in
most states of the Union where state
constitutional amendments were also
sought, the amendments were known
by that name. That of Texas, where the
National Office of American Atheists is
located, is typical (see "Public Funds
and Sectarian Purposes").
It is inconceivable but true, that these
hard fought battles, all of which changed
the face of public education for over a
century, are totally ignored in the history books of the nation. The names of
the three persons (James G. Blaine,
Ulysses S. Grant, and Robert G. IngersolJ2)who were most probably responsible for this change are not even appended as footnotes or glosses in the
textbooks of the nation, in public education where the major battle was fought.
Climb to influence
Page 30
June 1992
American Atheist
Page 31
.1
;;,,'-'0
i'qr,
r1C"'H"L
American Atheist
warrior,
like a
June 1992
American Atheist
-~~~i:~---::-~
~.~..
=-=,,--,-,~=-:::c..=""""'~~WE
Blaine's big dream was a Pan-American Union toward which he worked during both his terms of secretary of state.
A congressional
resolution of 1888, in
fact, authorized the president to call for
such an organization and thus was the
Pan-American Union born. It was housed
in a magnificent building in Washington,
D_C, which cost $1,100,000, of which
Andrew Carnegie" contributed
threefourths. Blaine's (last) national strength
was exhibited in 1892. In that year, on
June 4 he resigned from the presidency
of the Pan-American Union. Immediately his supporters again sought his nomination for the presidency at the Republican National Convention. It was not to
be.
Blaine, whose health had been bad for
months, failed rapidly and died of Bright's
disease on January 27, 1893.
p.142.
June 1992
morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and equal rights and privileges to all men, irrespective of
nationality, color, or religion. Encourage free schools and resolve
that not one dollar appropriated
for their support shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian schools; that neither the state
or nation, nor both combined,
shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to
afford every child in the land the
opportunity of a good commonschool education, unmixed with
sectarian, pagan, or atheistical
dogmas.
Leave the matter of religion to
the family altar, the church, and
the private school supported entirely by private contributions.
Keep the church and state forever
separate. With these safeguards I
believe the battles which created
the Army of the Tennessee willnot
have been fought in vain. 22
This speech, allegedly, came out of
the blue. There is nothing in the history
of the time that would indicate that
Grant was continually pursuing the end
of state/church separation. The closest
one can find is a remark in passing that
Grant was "heretical."
On December 14, 1875, Blaine introduced the following resolution into the
House of Representatives, apparently at
the insistence of and in cooperation with
Grant.
Resolved by the Senate and the
House of Representatives, That
the following be proposed to the
several States of the Union as an
amendment to the Constitution:
22The Annals of America, (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 1968), vol. 10,
1866-1883, Reconstruction and Industrialization, pp. 365.
Page 36
Article XVI
No State shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; and no money raised
by taxation in any State for the
support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor,
nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the control
of any religious sect, nor shall any
money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious
sects or denominations.
The resolution was referred to the
Judiciary Committee. On August 4,
1876, by a vote of 180-7 (with 98 not voting) the resolution was passed by the
House (with several slight verbal
changesl.P The resolution was read in
the Senate on August 7, 1876. Changes
were there proposed and the original
resolution with all the substitutions was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. This committee revised it significantly:
Article XVI
No state shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; and no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust
under any State. No public property and no public revenue of, nor
any loan of credit by or under the
authority of, the United States, or
any State, Territory, District, or
municipal corporation, shall be appropriated to or made of use for
Bibliography .
Appleton's Encyclopaedia of American
Biography.
Balestier, Charles Wolcott. James G.
Blaine.
Beale, Harriet S. Blaine, ed. Letters of
Mrs. James G. Blaine. New York:
Duffield and Co., 1908.
Blaine, James Gillespie. Twenty Years
of Congress from Lincoln to Garfield,
with a Review of the Events which
Led to the PoliticalRevolution of 1860.
2 vols. Norwich, CT: The Henry Bill
June 1992
Forcing us to be good
(or else!)
n July 1991,a jury in Chicago acquitted the Reverend Michael Pfleger of
criminal destruction of property in a
case involving defacement of advertising billboards. The display signs in question promoted alcohol and cigarettes.
Pfleger admitted his legal guilt, maintaining that he defaced three billboards
near his church only after companies
had ignored his requests to eliminate
them.
O
Censorship goes
further than
determining what one
can read. An expanding
circle of moralists
would limit our choices
of entertainment,
health care, and even
beverages and foods.
Conrad F. Goeringer
Page 38
Wages of sin
Despite rhetorical devices like appealing to the "lives of children" or "attacks"
on ethnic or other communities, Pfleger's
actions and rationales typify a larger, farranging, and dangerous characteristic
of religious movements - an impulse to
make others "do good." His billboard
terrorism is actually directed less at the
advertising industry than it is at those
who may see such promotional displays,
namely, poor Blacks. There is an implicit assumption that the mere presence of
such "powerful" messages constitutes a
seductive, nearly irresistible order - to
drink PowerMaster, smoke Kools, or engage in other activities which are out of
fashion or not "good." In this respect,
the deeds of the Reverend Pfleger and
other religious activists are far more
dangerous than any message conveyed
by a splashy billboard.
Social and political activism by religious figures in the United States during
the past ten years has often been associated with right wing fundamentalists.
Since the turn of the century, however,
even more traditional or sometimes liberal clergy were involved in campaigns
to eradicate everything from saloons
and houses of prostitution to a staggering range of books, magazines, plays,
and movies. Beginning in the 1950s, the
battle against moral laxness was linked
to the anticommunist mentality of the
cold war. What was perceived as a
weakening of the nation's moral fabric
was also presented as proof of a conspiracy directed from foreign capitals
like Moscow or Peking.
The Reagan presidency was a high
point for those conservative religious
movements which called for vigorous
legislation to eliminate one of the "sins"
- pornography. There were other tarAustin, Texas
gets as well, including evolutionists, situation ethicists, Atheists, secular humanists, drug dealers, and others. All these
constituted a well-entrenched enemy to
the fundamentalists; worse yet, these
individual groups were somehow linked
in a grand, yet murky, conspiratorial
design.
After the defeats by a liberal Supreme
Court in.the 1950sand early 1960s,there
were new arguments to employ in the
battle against perceived moral frailty.
Much of the fundamentalist argument
rested on the shaky premise that merely
seeing, reading, or hearing something
which was heretical, pornographic, or
sinful in some way, initiated a causal
chain of events culminating in debauchery and even violent behavior. There
was little need to distinguish between
the cheesecake of Playboy and the excess of Hustler, or even the underground of "kiddie" pornography. Reasoned questioning was quickly subsumed in an emotional swamp, with
appeals to everything from "community
standards" to protecting the safety of
children or the sanctity of the family.
But even in the early years of the
Reagan presidency, civil libertarians
could still thwart the censoring or banning of materials at appellate court levels; there was also a widespread notion
that a whole spectrum of behaviors what to read, write; see, or produce was a personal matter, not the province
of government or other institutions.
Worse yet for the fundamentalists
June 1992
were numerous reports by federal commissions on the extent, nature, and effect of pornography. These studies concluded that empirical proof for the
"grand conspiracy" hypothesis was
lacking. Pornography did not lead to
violence or the other behaviors predicted by the conspiracymongers.
By the mid-1980s, however, opposition to a number of "sins" had gained
new adherents and fashioned novel,
somewhat convoluted arguments. A
segment of the women's movement, led
by activists such as Andrea Dworkin,
abandoned the inherent civil libertarianism of the feminist cause to declare
that pornography, among other ills,
"exploited" and "oppressed" women.
Page 39
Her call to arms attracted a large number of liberals who had supported the
aims and purposes of the women's
movement. Pornography - with its objectification of women, its depictions of
male control, and its establishment of
"centerfold" standards. of beauty or
body shape - was, in and of itself, evil,
For some, it was a short leap from this
assumption to insisting that government should ban these materials for being degrading, exploitative, and contributing to violence against women and
children.
What emerged was a peculiar and at
times uncomfortable alliance between
many political liberals, segments of the
feminist movement, and Christian fundamentalists. Some feminists, while
condemning pornography, still objected
to using the state as a mechanism for
censorship. Others believed that boycotting stores which sold magazines or
theaters which ran objectionable films
was a workable compromise between
benign tolerance and outright banning. 1
Thus, the traditional libertarian arguments against censorship - especially
those which differentiated between individual thought and deed - were quickly sidelined as a new impulse for compulsory moral goodness emerged. Just
as the cold warriors of the 1950s feared
that viewing a "communist" movie like
Salt of the Earth or having access to the
The "sin industry" has been a convenient and profitable target for a number
of interests throughout our history. "Sin
taxes" on cigarettes and alcohol provide
billions of dollars in desperately needed
government revenue. In a time when
healthful living as defined by the surgeon general or the American Lung Association has become a near-faddish
pursuit, the fifty states and Washington
still cannot say no to the lure of additional money flowing from sin taxation.
State lotteries, the legal form of
gambling in many areas, serve a
similar purpose. Indeed, the
prospect of bulging coffers in
an era of budgetary cutbacks
has given new vitality to arguments on behalf of new, legal
"sins" such as prostitution and
marijuana, which can be taxed
just like beer and cigarettes.
With so much money being
generated by unhealthful, sinful
pursuits, we may not be able to
afford the prospect of full compliance with either the health
Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Mahoney opposed
department's or Father Pfleger's
the PBS broadcast of a film attacking the Roman
Catholic church's stand on homosexuality.
moral agenda.
Page 40
June 1992
LI Q U 0 R ;",sAL[ 0 H 0 L
0)
AL[OHOL PoleoN'
legalization, poke fun at the public perceptions of certain intoxicants in past times.
And one prolegalization magazine, High
Times, ran photos of "drug czar" William
Bennett consuming his share of dry martinis
and puffing on tobacco cigarettes prior to
addressing a "drug war" law-enforcement
conference. One's intoxicants and sins of
choice are usually determined by the prevailing social and political norms.
June 1992
Prohibition hangover
The result of the Great Experiment
has now become the stuff and history of
romantic legends. Corruption within
government was widespread; indeed,
listening to oral accounts of Prohibitionera survivors reminds one of our current battle against intoxicants of a different sort. "Wise guys" flashed rolls of
cash, drove huge cars, and projected
the tempting life-style of wealth, power,
and prestige. Many police and other lawenforcement
officials found payoff
money to be a welcome supplement to
their meager paychecks. And the lure of
the forbidden sustained a burgeoning
market for bootleg booze, whether from
the distilleries in Canada or a neighbor's
backyard still. Either way, the United
States simply could not be forced to be
good. The religious euphoria of Prohibition had turned into a massive day-after
hangover.
The notion that people could not be
trusted when exposed to the temptation
of vice persisted after the death of the
Experiment, though. What could not be
banned could be regulated; and what
could not be regulated could be somewhat contained in select ethnic communities. The nation's patchwork of fifty
different sets of rules which govern the
production, sale, and use of alcohol exists to this day, complete with some notorious blue laws which ban or regulate
booze on the Lord's Day. Prostitution is
legalized in some Nevada counties and
some counties of other states. Tobacco
use is heavily taxed, and warning labels
are affixed to individual packs and advertising billboards.
Page 41
The desire of religionists to use force and law to control the thoughts of others has
no borders. Left: In 1989,Muslims demonstrators in Paris shouted "Death to Rushdie" in protest of his novel, The Satanic Verses. Below: In 1988, Christians surrounded Universal Studios in California to demand the withdrawal of the film "The
Last Temptation of Christ."
June 1992
American Atheist
Page 43
Talking Back
Of uncaused causes
Page 44
June 1992
'I?
Prove there isn't a god.
What's wrong vlith prayer in
public schools?
If evolution is real, how come
monkeys aren't (waiving into
human beings? .....
.
. d for
Page 45
t+J
Frank R. Zindler
Page 46
. To pole of ecliptic
2~-1---...
/\
\
'-1.
I
I
I
\---I
\
I
\
cial set of four, contains errors of geographys and custom- that would not have
been made by an eyewitness. John's
Gospel, the latest of the set, is both too
late and too ethereal to be taken as a
biographical account at all- eyewitness
or otherwise. There is nothing about the
Gospels to make one take them seriously from a biographic point of view: there
is no good reason to think them other
than ancient examples of the art of fiction.
If the historicity of Jesus cannot be
supported by the New Testament writings, what about extra biblical sources?
Did any Greek or Roman or Jewish historians observe his career and write
about it? Not one.
Although Josephus," Tacitus," Suetonius.s and other ancient authors are
often cited as evidence for a historical
Jesus, it is clear that their accounts
(even if they could be proven authentic)
are derivative, not original. Josephus,
2An example of Mark's ignorance of Palestinian geography is found in the story he recounts about Jesus traveling from Tyre on
the Mediterranean to the Sea of Galilee,
thirty miles inland. According to Mark 7:31,
Jesus and his gang went by way of Sidon,
twenty miles north of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast! Since to Sidon and back
would be forty miles, this means that Mark's
messiah walked seventy miles when he
could have walked only thirty. Although
Mark seems unaware of the problem, the
translators of the King James Version seem
to have understood it quite well - adroitly
obfuscating their translation accordingly:
"Departing from the coasts of Tyre and
Sidon ... "
3Mark 10:12 tells us that a wife, if she divorces her husband and marries another, is
guilty of adultery. While this was possible in
some pagan societies, it was not an option
open to Israelite women.
4Josephus ben Matthias (ca. C.E. 37-ca.l00),
Jewish historian and general.
sCornelius Tacitus (ca. C.E. 56-ca. 120),
Roman orator, historian, and politician.
6Gaius Suetonius Tranquilus (ca. C.E. 69-ca.
122), Roman biographer and historian.
Austin, Texas
")
../1
I
I
II. Christianity
religion.
began as a mystery
That there was indeed a secret Gospel and an initiation into the mysteries
of the religion now known as Christianity is dramatically attested by the
"Secret Gospel of Mark," found in a manuscript discovered by Morton
Smith in 1958 in the Monastery of Mar Saba southeast of Jerusalem.
June 1992
American Atheist
-..
a
-.-.
."
';~
,.i.
'
Perseus
(The Latin name for this Phrygian/Persian hat was mitra - which also was an
acceptable Latin spelling for Mithra!)
The Mithraists consumed a sacred meal
(Myazda) which was completely analogous to the Catholic eucharistic service
(Missa, or Mass), Like the Christians,
they celebrated the atoning death of a
savior who was resurrected on a Sunday. A major center of Mithraic philosophy was Tarsus - St. Paul's hometown - in what now is southeast
Turkey.
Aquarius
SOUTH
CELESTIAL POLE
Figure 2. Viewed from the earth, the universe of stars seemed to the ancients to
be attached to the great "celestial sphere" which had the earth as its center. The
"celestial equator" is the projection of the earth's equator upon the inside of the
sphere. The circle of the ecliptic is the path which the sun appears to follow against
the background of "fixed stars." The zodiac is a belt of sky, extending 9 above and
below the ecliptic, which can be divided into twelve zones of equal size, each characterized by the presence of a particularly prominent constellation. The moon and
visible planets all appear to move within the confines of the zodiacal belt. The equinoctial points are the two places where the equator intersects the ecliptic, at an
angle of approximately 23.5. Around 128 B.C.E., Hipparchus of Rhodes discovered
that the position of the equinoxes was not constant. He determined that the vernal
(spring) equinox had once been in the constellation Taurus but had, by his day,
moved ("precessed") almost all the way through the constellation Aries. At the beginning of the Christian era, the vernal equinox moved into Pisces.
13Aglance at Figure 2 willshow that the constellation Perseus is located above the constellation Taurus. Mythologically, Perseus
became amalgamated with Mithra, and the
physical ascendance of Perseus over Taurus
suggested that Mithra-Perseus had killed the
bull.
Page 49
This Palestinian visit from the Magi could have been the catalyst
that triggered various Jewish groups - and perhaps some non-Jewish
groups - into thinking that the messiah whom they had been awaiting
had already come and had not been noticed.
there is a kernel of historicity in it. I believe, however, that the Greek text has
been misunderstood with regard to the
point of origin of the Magiand just where
they were when they saw the star that
triggered their trip. The King James
Version tells us of "wise men from the
east," who "have seen his star in the
east." Modern translations tend to have
the wise men see "his star at its rising."
The Greek word for 'east' used in these
two passages is ana tole and it can indeed refer to the east or to the rising of
a heavenly body. But it can also be the
name of a place - Anatolia. Anatolia
could signifyeither the peninsula of Asia
Minor (i.e., the area now called Turkey),
or a particular province of Phrygia. It
thus appears that Matt. 2:1-2 should
actually read:
Now when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judaea in the days
of Herod the king, behold, there
came Magi from Anatolia to
Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is he that is born
King of the Jews? for in Anatolia
we have seen his star, and are
come to worship him.
This Palestinian visit from the Magi
could have been the catalyst that triggered various Jewish groups - and perhaps some non-Jewish groups - into
thinking that the messiah whom they
had been awaiting had already come
and had not been noticed. Lest this
seem too farfetched, it should be noted
that even in our own sophisticated age
notices of Christ's "second coming" are
of regular occurrence. It is not irrational
to suppose that somewhere right now
there is a small cult which believes that
Jesus is back on earth. IS
It.is clear that the people who wrote
the New Testament believed in reincarnation and "redivivus appearances" of
such characters as Elijah. This would
have made it fairlyeasy for a Magian visit
to convince people that their messiah
had already appeared. A particularly ilJune 1992
American Atheist
17Helmut Koester, Ancient Christian Gospels: Their History and Development (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990),
pp.124-5.
Austin, Texas
siah would do, they came to be interpreted as a record of what he had done.
News that the messiah had already
come would spread rapidly. The fact
that no one had noticed the first coming
was the reason the myth of the second
coming had to be invented. Nothing
actually had been accomplished by the
first coming - except on paper!
An example of such a checklist has
been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Scrolls scholar Theodor Gaster tells us
about
a catena of fiveScriptural passages
attesting the advent of the Future
Prophet and the Anointed King
and the final discomfiture of the
impious. The first four are taken
from the Pentateuch, and include
an excerpt from the oracles of
Balaam. The fifth is an interpretation of a verse from the Book of
Joshua. An interesting feature of
this document ... is that precisely
the same passages of the Pentateuch are used by the Samaritans
as the stock testimonial to the
coming of the Taheb, or future
'Restorer.' They evidently constituted a standard set of such quotations, of the type that scholars
have long supposed to have been
in the hands of New Testament
writers when they cited passages
of the Hebrew Bible supposedly
confirmed by incidents in the life
and career of Jesus.l"
June 1992
VII. Gnosticism helped to reinterpret the checklists and other preChristian literary creations, as documents pertaining to the life of the
unnoticed messiah.
Before the so-called New Testament
was completed, the leaders of the primitive Christian church had to do battle
with a "heresy" called Gnosticism. The
Gnostics were persons who believed in
gnosis, a type of introspective knowledge. According to Kurt Rudolph, a
leading authority on Gnosticism, gnosis
is
knowledge given by revelation,
which has been made available
only to the elect who are capable
of receiving it, and therefore has
an esoteric character.l?
It is now known that Gnosticism is older
than Christianity, and an argument can
be made that Christianity is a Gnostic
heresy, rather than the other way around
as traditionally taught.
Through "revelation" Gnostics and
others could decide not only that their
checklists should be reinterpreted, but
18Theodor H. Gaster, The Dead Sea Scriptures, 3rd rev. and enlarged ed. (Garden
City, NY: Anchor Books/Doubleday, 1976),
p.363.
19Kurt Rudolph, Gnosis: The Nature and
History of Gnosticism (San Francisco:
Harper & Row, 1985), p. 55.
Page 51
21J._P.
Migne,Patroiogiae Cursus Compietus,
20JamesM. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi
Library, 3rd rev.ed. (SanFrancisco:Harper,
1988),pp. 8-9.
June 1992
1863),columns 389-390.
American Atheist
:~ =. :
That is to say, they were able to find explanations for their composition which
did not require a historical Jesus.23 And
what of the other 20 percent? Allwe can
say is that their true origins are unknown.
It yet remains to go through the entire New Testament to extract all the
materials supposedly containing information on the life of Christ and to
trace them to their sources. It remains also to sort out which of the
characters in that book are historical and which are fictional.
Historical Notes
35 years ago
President George Bush is attempting
to make "school choice" a campaign
issue this fall, but his idea was a topic of
controversy many years before he entered the White House. Bush advocates
direct payments to parents to spend at
the schools they choose. One of the
early attempts to siphon taxpayer money to private schools (the majority of
which are religious) entailed giving parents income tax deductions for the
money spent on private schooling. This Humanist, published in Philadelphia,
idea of "tuition tax credits" is still updated its readers in its June 1962
issue:
advocated by many.
Paul Blanshard, the noted critic of the
The Murray case has been filed
Roman Catholic church, took the entire
in the Supreme Court for considconcept to task in the Mev/June 1957
eration. No doubt it willbe considissue of The Humanist, calling it "the
ered in the October term. Mrs.
most serious threat to the principles of
Murray, basing her arguments on
church-state separation" in that time.
Constitutional grounds, has a very
He particularly decryed an amendment
good chance of winning this most
to Internal Revenue Code introduced
important case. The Society will
by Representative Gerald Ford of Michdo all in its power to aid her in
igan. It stated:
every possible way.
For purposes of this paragraph,
The decision in Murray v. Curlett, as
payments of tuition by the taxthe case was styled, was handed down
payer for the attendance of his
the following year - in favor of the
children at a primary or secondary
Atheist plaintiffs. And the Free Humanschool conducted on a religious
ist was as good as its word, supporting
basis by an organization orgathe Murray family before and after the
nized and operated for religious
decision.
and educational purposes shall be
treated as a contribution or gift by
20 years ago
the taxpayer to such organization.
After a long struggle and a lawsuit, the
Blanshard warned that "the next step Internal Revenue Service granted a taxbeyond such a bill is exemption from all exemption to the Charles E. Stevens
public school taxes for those who pay American Atheist Library and Archives,
Inc. on May 30, 1972.This was the first
tuition to sectarian schools."
time in the history of the United States
that any organization with the word
30 years ago
About three decades ago, Atheist and Atheist in its title was given a tax exempfreethought journals frequently featured tion.
In addition to the sweetness of this
articles and reports on "Baltimore
school prayer case." An admitted Atheist victory, the library had acquired its first
woman, Madalyn Murray, had chal- facility.It was described in the April 1972
lenged the practice of Bible reading and issue of Poor Richard's Reports Newsprayer recitation in Maryland public letter, issued by the Society of Separaschools and was actively pursuing her tionists, the Atheist organization based
case through the courts. The Free in Austin, Texas:
Page 56
June 1992
Poetry
Summer Certainty
There are clouds today . . .
immaculate white ones.
They pattern themselves diversely
in abandonment of "cause."
Truth?
I rouse from the blue fascination
of puff-balled sky:
No sign of rain
No chance of storm
Not a hint of divinity.
Angeline Bennett
T. Dunn
Biblical Logic
Matthew Behling
Business as Usual
A nonreligious man
was very lucky indeed,
for he amassed a fortune
with gratifying speed.
All of his investments
seemed to nearly double,
and he lived the better life
without a bit of trouble.
A preacher came to visit
when he was near the end,
begged him to leave his fortune
"to the Lord, who is my friend.
You have no kith or kin,"
said he, as smooth as glass,
"Why don't you do it now
before your judgement's passed?"
if god is omnipresent
then
why is hell the absence of god
three equals one
and
one equals three?
Aristotle would have a fit
Ian A. Wood
If You Were He
If you were He could you subdue the urge
to zap each pious, tiresome soul who chants
a dreary hymn of praise? Would you not purge
the earth of fawning, righteous sycophants?
Could you abide the childish tunnel view
that credits you with all the good and light
yet sees no fault and fails to censure you
for any ache or grief that fills the night?
If you were He would you feel grave remorse
when musing on the cruel and bloody scenes
of holy wars you tacitly endorse,
your banner gracing each side's war machines?
Marguerite Bell
William N. Nesbit
Austin, Texas
June 1992
Page 57
A belief in an afterlife
of rewards for theists,
poses a "this life" of
punishment for
Atheists.
Madalyn Q'Hair
Page 58
Nonreligious witnesses were disqualified not because of any prior "blasphemous" utterances or any Atheistic opinions, but merely because their opinions
did not conform to the requirements of
the common law. The Supreme Court of
Illinois, in 1856, held Mr. Ira Aldrich
"incompetent" as a witness after noting
that at the trial he said:
Alabama reversed the rapist's conviction on the ground that the child was disqualified as a witness simply because, in
the court's own words,
she manifested an entire want of
instruction as to the nature and effect of an oath, 'of all religious training, and utter ignorance of the existence of a Supreme Being, "the
rewarder of truth and the avenger
of falsehoods."l0
In his book, Swancara
notes that:
tion.f
In 1921 the Supreme Court of Maine ruled that the assumed disbeliever
in punishments and rewards in afterlife
does not feel bound and impelled to tell the truth when a witness,
even though complying with all the formalities of an oath or affirmation.
MeToD
III
Over thousands of
years the trappings of
religious belief have
shifted and changed.
But have the results?
Austin, Texas
as any historian ever made a serious, scholarly attempt to calculate how many millions of human
beings have been slaughtered for the
love of "the one true god"? Or how
many more millions have been driven
from their homes, brutalized, or put to
the sword, because they were "religiously inferior" and, not coincidentally,
militarily inferior?
Since the beginning of recorded history, the bloody game has been played.
Sometimes the players are different, or
perhaps over the centuries the oppressed becomes the oppressor; but
other than the sword being replaced by
the automatic weapon and missile, little
has changed. The conquerors see themselves as "smiled upon by god." They
"do god's work" when they invade and
subjugate the nonbeliever. For this, they
say, "god loves them."
There has been another constant in
this endless slaughter down through the
millennia: the clergy. There has always
been an anointed intermediary with the
deity. The deity has varied - though he
has always been "the one true god" as has the intermediary. This holy person, both feared and esteemed for his
intimacy with god, has had many titles,
but he (or she) has always been there to
inspire, to direct, and to make god's
wishes known.
Shamans, medicine men, druids, witch
doctors, oracles, and priests: they and
others of their profession have consulted the stars, cast bones upon the
ground, imbibed hallucinogens, inhaled
sulphurous fumes, and studied the
warm, bloody entrails of eviscerated
animals. Why have they done this? Because, the holy men assured, god chose
these methods to reveal his message
(through the interpretation of the intermediary) to his favored people. Then,
blessed by the holy man and reassured
by his message from "the one true god,"
the members of "the one true religion"
eagerly went forth to ravage (in his
name) their supposed religious and/or
ethnic inferiors.
June 1992
:~:~"~~n~~OI!C
"no"n.
IJSA
}""
Page 62
Helen E. Johnson
California
A battle won
I was able to convince my Rotary
Club to stop having invocations at the
start of their meetings. Acquiring some
American Atheist Press publications
midway through the seven-month battle
gave me lots of good ammunition.
Keep up the good work!
Karl Hadley, M.D.
Washington
Rewriting history
A whileago I bought Joseph McCabe's
book History's Greatest Liars. What a
delightful volume! It is a pleasure to encounter a historian who cares so much
about the truth! I value his devotion to
scholarship.
Many Americans cannot even place
their own country on a world map, so I
realize that the McCabe book is not for
everybody. But those who do care
about the history of the European tradition may find much "new" information
in the McCabe book. I put "new" in
quotes, because the information is actually quite old. It only seems new to us because so much of our history has been
whitewashed.
I read about the burning of "pagan"
libraries that took place in A.D. 389 all
across the Roman Empire; I read about
the massacre of the Albigensians and
Waldensians, in which hundreds of
thousands were killed by a 400,000strong papal army; I read about the
Thirty Years War, in which 10 million
were killed; I read about a thousand
years of papal tyranny, opulence, and
corruption; Iread of the contrast between
Roman freedom and medieval serfdom.
McCabe makes it clear that these massacres, wars, and book burnings were
not just random occurrences. Rather,
they were the result of religious totalitarianism. Many of those who died
stood on the side of freedom, tolerance,
and rationality. This history is relevant
to us today, for we too have our book
burnings, our holy wars, and our totalitarian religious mindset. I often saw the
Holy War against the Evil Empire as a
kind of "Nuclear Inquisition," in which
the United States, with god on its side
and on its coins, achieved "Victory" by
threatening to subject the Commie Her-
Praying agnostics?
I happened to see a bumper sticker
which read: "DyingAtheistsPray Faster."
My only comment is that if that person
were to start praying, he or she wasn't
a true Atheist in the first place. The
pope tells his parishioners the same
thing should they oppose any of his infalliblepreachings. What's good enough
for the Roman Catholic church is good
enough for us Atheists. There's no such
thing as a part-time Roman Catholic or
an almost-Atheist. Those people are
labeled "agnostics." The bumper sticker
should have read: "Dying Agnostics
Pray Faster."
Gerald Lunderville
California
Name
Address
City
Name
State
Effective Date:
-------------------------------------Address
Zip
City ------------------------------------State
_
Zip
June 1992
Page 63
Alerican Atheist
reader
Classified
Ads
service
The American Atheist is pleased to publish free advertisements for nonprofit educational and charitable organizations as a public service. Submissions should be sent to
Advertising, American Atheist Press, P. O.
Box 140195,Austin, TX 78714-0195.We reserve the right to reject or cancel any advertisement at any time for any reason.
The American Atheist does not accept
paid advertising of any kind.
~anizations
D A gift subscription for a friend (address below). ($20/year; $30/year outside the U.S.)
City:
State:
Zip:
City:
State:
_
Zip:
Card#:
Bank No./Letters::
Expiration Date:
Signature:
_
_
_
Publications
1992 Catalog of American Atheist Press
books and booklets. Just off the press. Send
$1. Write: A.A.P., 7215Cameron Rd., Austin,
TX 78752-2973.
Euthanasia and Religion by Gerald A.
Larue. A survey of religious rules on the
right to die. 155 pp. Paperback. Product
#5548. $10.00 plus $3.00 postage and handling. A.A.P., 7215Cameron Rd., Austin, TX
78752-2973.TX residents add sales tax.
Christianity before Christ by John G.
Jackson surveys the historical evidence for
the existence of Jesus. 237 pp. Paperback.
Product #5200. $9.00 plus $2.50 postage and
handling. A.A.P., 7215Cameron Rd., Austin,
TX 78752-2973.TX residents add sales tax.
My path ...
(Continued from page 28)
American Atheist
suggested
American Atheist
introductory reading list
~
Literature on Atheism is very hard to find in most public
and university libraries in the United States - and most of
the time when you do find a book catalogued under the
word Atheism it is a work against the Atheist position.
Therefore we suggest the following publications which are
available from American Atheist Press as an introduction
into the multifaceted areas of Atheism and state/church separation. To achieve the best understanding
of thought in
these areas the featured publications should be read in the
order listed. These by no means represent our entire collection of Atheist and separationist materials.
O'Hair.
Paperback.
56 pp. Product
$6.00
O'Hair. Paperback.
$9.00
$4.00
O'Hair.
$8.00
321
$8.00
407
$8.00
pp. #5098
pp. #5097
O'Hair.
$8.00
358
$8.00
$10.00
$10.00
II. Essays on American Atheism, Vol. II by Jon G. Murray. Paperback. 284 pp. #5350
$10.00
Cohen.
$9.00
McCabe.
Cohen.
$9.00
Paper$6.50
$4.00
37 pp. #5184
$4.00
by Sha
Rocco.
Stapled.
#5440
O'Hair.
55 pp.
$4.00
$3.50
$14.95
Paper$9.00
Akerley.
Paper$10.00
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the governmept
for a redress of grievances.
No State shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; and no money raised by taxation in
any State for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, nor any public
lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the
control of any religious sect, nor shall any money
so raised or lands so devoted be divided between
religious sects or denominations.
- Article XVI, "The Blaine Amendment,"
Introduced to the House of Representatives by
James G. Blaine on December 14, 1875