SEPTEMBER

1976

Vol. 18

No.9
$1.00

In- - Th is

,~.

I s sue: .

State Can Aid Church Colleges

", . Or Not. to Be"

A Journal

of

. Thought

PAGAN cmdsrs
A

EW LV REV I SED EDIT ION

UMEROUS
SAVIOR-GODS

0 F THE
IN THE

FA M 0 USB 0 0 K 0 NTH
HISTORY
OF RELIGION

by

J.

M. Robertson

The author's most distinctive thesis is

that the Gospel story was a mystery
play which came to be accepted as an
account of real happenings. The origin
of this ritual drama is an ancient Palestinian rite in which an annual victim
known as Jesus was actually sacrificed.
Passion plays were a common feature
of the popular religions of that time.

That Christ never lived this is the

astonishing but ably argued point of
view of this book by a famous authority on comparative religion. This is a
newly revised edition prepared with a
biographical
Introduction
by Hector
Hawton, editor of the (British) Humanist.
The Pagan Christs of the title are the
numerous savior-gods in the history of
ancient religion, whose death and resurrection were periodically celebrated.
Among them are Adonis, Attis, Osiris,
Mithra. The ancient gods of Mexico,
Huitzilopochtli
and Quetzalcoatl,
are
also savior-gods.
No one seriously
claims that anyone
of these was a
historical character. Why, then, is an
exception made of the alleged Founder
of Christianity? It cannot be because the
miraculous events associated with the
Pagan Christs are -ncredible, they. are
no more so than the Gospel narratives.

Among the religions dealt with, the

chapters on the Mayan and Aztec religions of Central and South America
are particularly notable.
J. M. Robertson (1856-1933) was a distinguished Biblical scholar, authority o.n
Shakespeare, and the publisher of England's leading freethought journals.
Robertson's book has played a powerful but unacknowledged
role, for it has
compelled 'the main body of historians
of early Christianity to recognize the
pagan and mythical elements in the
Gospel accounts which are our only
record of Jesus.
..

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THE AMERICAN
Vol. XVII,

ATHEIST

No.9

Editor:

MAGAZINE
September

ON THE
1976

Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Contributing

Editors:

Issac Asimov
Anne Gaylor
Jon Murray
Avro Manhattan
John Sontark

Cover Artist:

Jo Kotula

Design and Layout Editor:

Marilyn Hauk

Printer:

Dan iel Baladez

The American Atheist is published monthly by

the Society of Separationists, lnc., 4408 Medical
Parkway, Austin, TX 78756, a non-profit,
nonpolitical,
tax-exempt,
educational
organization.
Mailing address: P. O. Box 2117, Austin, Texas,
78768. Subscription rates $12.00 per year; $20.00
for two years. Manuscripts: The editors assume no
responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. All manuscripts must be typed, double-spaced and accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

CONTENTS-THIS

ISSUE

News
State Can Aid Church Colleges
4
Bishops Ask Religious Teaching in the Public Schools
8
Speaking for Women
Let's Have a Firestorm
IRS

of

Letters to the
14

Letter to the Editor

16

Editorial

17

American Atheist Radio Series

Origin of Idea of Atheist Church

18

Honor Roll

21

Feature Article
"
Or Not to Be"

22

COVER

Meanwhile the war in the Crimea developed

(1854) and there was an utter absence of the commonest preparation to receive sick or wounded of
the army there. Florence Nightingale set out with'
37 nurses, partly volunteers, partly professional
nurses, but all trained in hospitals. They soon had
10,000 men in their charge with a lowered death
rate being brought about in just 3 months time.
With the 50,000 pounds which she was
awarded in recognition of her services (raised by a
grateful public) she founded the Nightingale Home
for training nurses at St. Thomas and King's College Hospitals.
,'".
Her publication,
Notes on Nursing, called
for the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet and the selection and administration
of diet to assist the vital strength of the patients.
She was particularly interested in sanitation
and helped to organize a County Council Technical Instruction Committee which sent out teachers
to the cottagers to give practical advice on ventilation, drainage, disinfectants, cleanliness.
Florence Nightingale died in London on
the 13th of August, 1910, as she had lived, convinced that man alone can help himself and solve
his problems-a
working Atheist
putting those
ideas into practice, living and dying convinced
of their truth.

I
September 1976/American Atheist - 3

~/

Florence Nightingale
was born May 15,
1820 in Florence, Italy, but spent her childhood in
England. From her youngest years her strong love
of nature and animals manifested itself. Wherever
there was human suffering, she was to be found
with ardent desire to use her talents for the benefit
of humanity. She spent much time at hospitals,
reformatories and other charitable institutions. In
order to teach herself what should be done with
such institutions
she went through a course of
training in the I nstitute of Protestant Deaconesses
at Kaiserswerth,
England, taking an extra six
months to learn every detail of hospital management. From there she went to Paris to study the
system of nursing and management in the hospitals under the care of the sisters of St. Vincent de
Paul. When she returned to England she reorganized the Governesses' Sanitorium in London which
she also aided with money.

News
The news presented in these columns, which
fills approximately
one-half of the magazine, is
chosen to demonstrate to you, month after month
that the dead reactionary hand of religion is always
on you. It dictates how much tax you pay, what
food you eat and when, with whom and how you
have sexual relations, if you will have children and
how many, if you are a woman whether you will
or will not become pregnant and if you will or will
not remain so, what you read, what plays, cinema
and television you may see, and what you should
or should not believe about life.
Religion is politics and, always, the most
authoritarian and reactionary politics.
We editorialize our news to emphasize this
thesis. Unlike any other magazine or newspaper in
the United States we are honest enough to admit
it.

STATES CAN AID CHURCH COLLEGES

States may extend direct financial grants to
church-related colleges without transgressing the
First Amendment
barrier between church and
state, a badly splintered Supreme Court ruled in
late June."
In a 54 decision sustaining a Maryland aid
program, the court made clear that, while the majority continues to frown on almost all aid to parochial schools at the elementary and secondary level, it will tolerate substantial government subsidies
for church-affiliated
colleges and universities.
This distinction, suggested by the high court
in 1971 and now established more firmly, is based
primarily on evidence that such religious institutions of higher learning allegedly spend little time
on religious teaching and are rarely under the
thumb of church authorities.
At the college level, government subsidies do
not violate the First Amendment's ban on establishment of religion as long as the aid supports only the nonsectarian activities of the institution, the
court held in an opinion by Justice Harry A. Blackmun.
The case split the court into three camps.
The other members of the court, Chief Juctice
Warren E. Burger and Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.,
subscribed to Blackmun's opinion.

September 1976/American Atheist 4

rl

Two other justices, Byron R. White and Wil

liam H. Rehnquist, voted to uphold the Maryland
subsidies and concurred in the final result. But, in
a separate opinion, they complained that Blackmun's reasoning was unnecessarily complicated.
The four dissenters, even more divided than
the majority, filed three separate opinions among
them. The most outspoken came from Justice William J. Brennan Jr., the court's only Catholic, who
called the Maryland program "a blunderbuss discharge of public funds" that required "too close a
proximity"
between church and state.
Dissenting votes were also cast by Justices
Potter Stewart, Thurgood Marshall and John Paul
Stevens.
Under the five-year-old
held recently, the state's 18
universities shared up to $5.3
grants. On the average, about
total went to four institutions
tions.

Maryland law upprivate colleges and

million annually in
one quarter of that
with church affilia-

Those four-Notre
Dame, Loyola and Saint
Joseph of Baltimore
and Mount Saint Mary's
in Emmitsburg-are
operated by Roman Catholic
orders. They were named as defendants in the lawsuit brought by taxpayers challenging the constitutionality
of the Maryland law and seeking refunds of aid already disbursed.
In turning back this challenge, Blackmun's
opinion broke no new legal ground. H:e relied instead on three yardsticks, developed in earlier parochial aid cases, that require judges to assess the
purpose and effect of a particular program as well
as its tendency to "entangle" government in relgion.
Using these criteria, Blackmun found that
the purpose of the Maryland statute was unquestionably secular. The subsidies were developed, he
said, with the aim of strengthening private colleges
and universities in general, not just religious insti.tutions.
Nor was there any evidence, Blackmun said,
that the subsidies advanced the religious mission of
the colleges. Although theology classes were mandatory at all four institutions
and some classes
opened with prayer, he said the prevailing atmosphere was one of "intellectual
freedom ... without religious pressures."

omy

Blackmun also emphasized the legal autonof each school. I n contrast to Cathol ic ele-

mentary and secondary school, which are usually

operated by the diocese and individual parishes.
[source: San Francisco Chronicle, 6/22/76]

'SUFFER THE LITTLE

CHILDREN'

To Brother Lester Roloff, a fundamentalist

preacher and radio evangelist from Corpus Christi,
it is a battle between church and state, between the
Bible and the bureaucracy.
To his Bible-believing followers, who come
to his revivals, stand for hours in a crowded courtroom and shout "amen" to his preaching, Roloff
is a bulwark against government 'busybodies' who
poke un-Christian noses into their Bible schools
and their church homes.
To the State Department of Public Welfare
and the state attorney general it is a simple matter
of the law. Roloff operates three homes for children in South Texas. Such homes must be licensed
under the Child Care Act of 1975 and the law
which preceeded it.
For more than a year, Roloff has refused to
perm it welfare workers to inspect the homes. Recently, faced by a temporary restraining order issued by Austin Dist. Judge James R. Meyers, he
continued his refusal.
The state wants him held in contempt of
court and an injunction issued requiring him to allow the inspections.
For two days, Dist. Judge Charles Mathews
heard testimony from tearful fathers who claim
Roloff saved their sons, from criminal youth who
credit Roloff with putting them back on the
straight and narrow, from fundamentalist preachers
who refer children by the dozens to Roloff homes.
To a man, they say, they would refuse t?
permit state inspection of the homes because It
would violate their religious convictions.
Roloff makes no secret of the fact that it
has been his policy for a year that welfare workers
are not permitted on the premises.
Pressed, most of the witnesses admit that it
is not the inspections that distrub them, but the
private interviews licensing staff conduct with the
children. These interviews, they say, violate the
parent-ch i Id relationsh ip.
"The welfare people are not saved. They will
not consider the spiritual welfare of my son," said

James Gilman a retired house painter from Orlando, Fla., whose son, Jack is at Roloff's Lighthouse
Home for Boys.
Gilman explained
in an emotion-choked
voice that his son was convicted of rape and spent
several months in Orange County Jail before being
released on probation and sent to the Lighthouse.
Dr. Gary Coleman, pastor of the Lavon
Drive Baptist Church, Garland, and president of
the Garland Christian Academy, said he would not
permit welfare workers to interview children at the
school.
"1 would not violate my religious conviction
in a matter so important as relationship of child
and parents," he said.
William Henderson, an Atlanta, Ga., minister
who says he was rehabilitated by Roloff after a
stint in the Gonzalez County Jail for armed robbery and kidnapping said parents entrust their
children of Roloff.
"God gave the children
welfare," Henderson said.

to parents, not the

Dixie Huffman, a Corpus Christi licensing

representative for the welfare department, has testified to a number of complaints of abuse at the
Lighthouse, which is a barge anchored in the int~rcoastal canal, and the Anchor home for boys In
Zapata. Roloff also operates the R.~bekah Home
for Girls in Corpus Christi.
Jack Gilman, 18, a Lighthouse resident, testified that boys are thrown into the water from the
barge as a disciplinary measure.

original
dents.

Gilman also was at the Lighthouse when its

dormitory
was burned down by the resi-

Without private interviews, welfare workers

say, it is impossible to document brutality
and
abuse which might occur at the schools.
One escapee, John Tayler, who claimed
abuse, is now in welfare department custody, Ms.
Huffman said.
The Roloff struggle continues in court, and
there is another struggle down the road for the welfare department.
This year for the first time,
church-related schools like the Garland Christian
Academy come under the state's licensing jurisdiction.

September 1976/American

Atheist - 5

Standards for all private schools, nursery

schools and kindergartens were adopted recently
by the state welfare board. They became effective
in June and affect about 1,500 schools.
The standards specifically exempt curriculum and program from regulation, and the Child
Care Act of 1975 prohibits any regulation which
interferes with religious practices.
But opposition
loud and continuous.

to

the

licensing

has been

Most church-related schools are likely to escape through a loophole in the act which exempts
schools which belong to an organization which sets
its own standards, as long as those standards are
equal to state, county and city health, safety, fire
and sanitation codes.
[source: Dallas Times Herald, 6/6/76)

KING ARTHUR

A HOAX, BOOK SAYS

The story of King Arthur's Avalon and the

knights of the Round Table has been labeled a
12th-Century publicity stunt dreamed up by Glastonbury monks to raise money for rebuilding their
abbey. In a new book on the history of Christianity in Somerset Cou ntv, official cou nty historian
Dr. Robert Dunning said the legend began after
the Glastonbury
abbey burned down in 1174.
King Henry II contributed money to help rebuild
the abbey, but his successor, King Richard I,
stopped the contributions because he needed money for the third crusade, according to Dunning.
"What better means of publicity for Glastonbury's
flagging building fund than to identify Glastonbury
with Avalon and to find the tomb of Arthur?" No
evidence for the existence of King Arthur has been
found.
[source: St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 5/28/76)

EXCESSIVE ENTANGLEMENT
We slowly learn the involvement of government and religion by the oblique glimpses re-.
ceived in news releases.

Church to administer funds to them. This is highly

irregular and abusive of constitutional
restrictions
upon federal agencies.
The American Atheist community
must interject justice in these situations. We are, now, receiving information concerned with the abuses, as
an article in Southern Cross discloses, under date
of 29th Jan., 1976. The Southern Cross is published by the Diocese of San Diego of the Roman
Catholic Church.
The particular article reproduced, here, below is apologetic and defensive. Yet, it is informational.

DIOCESAN RESETTLEMENT AGENCY DENIES

MISUSING REFUGEE

FUNDS

Charges that the refugee resettlement office

of the diocesan Catholic Community Services has
mishandled federal funds provided to aid refugees
"are completely without basis in fact," said M.rs.
Helen Ettorree, resettlement director.
Nguyen Anh Giao, a Vietnamese refugee,
made the charges in a letter published in the Jan.
25, 1976 ed itio,n of the San Diego Union.
He claimed that the resettlement office denied him financial assistance under the Refugee Resettlement Act of 1975 in which Congress appropriated $4.5 million for resettling Vietnamese refugees through voluntary agencies.
.Mrs. Ettorre said that Ngyuyen's charger.
were "false and based on misunderstanding of the
resettlement program as conducted by the United
States Catholic Conference (USCC)." The diocesan
office works in conjunction
with
the usee.
Nguyen claimed
nancial assistance by
savings were stolen by
ter: "As I understood
gave each (volunteer)
$500-refugee criteria.

he was denied $500 in fithe refugee office after his

burglars. He said in the letthe money the government
agency was based on the

The federal government has sufficient agencies, or has resources in state or city agencies, such
as Departments of Publ ic Welfare, that it has no
need to engage, in contractual relationships, with
rei igious organ izations.

"I wonder how many other Vietnamese refugees have actually received money from the fund
provided by the federal government and where the
rest (of the money) has gone," Nguyen concluded.

However, when the Vietnamese refugees,

largly Roman Catholic, poured into our nation, the
U.S. Government turned to the Roman Catholic

"We do not have the money in our hands or

in our office," Mrs. Ettorree said. "We ourselves
must apply for the funds and are reimbursed by
the government through the national usce office

September 1976/American Atheist - 6

II

only

after we forward

receipted

bills to them."

She said the $500 was the figure agreed between the federal government and the national
USCC office, and that the money is intended to
help defray the cost of resettl ing refugees into
American society. "The money was never intended
to be paid as a direct subsidy to each refugee,"
Mrs. Ettorre said.
A refugee or his sponsor must present receipted bills to her office to receive financial aid,
according to Mrs. Ettorre. "if the aid request is
approved, we will take the receipted bills and pay
the refugee.
"Then we forward the receipted bills and
necessary paperwork to the national USCC office
and they reimburse us. These are the rules that
have been spelled out to us and this is the procedure we have followed since the inception of the
program," Mrs. Ettorre said.
She said that her office does not grant assistance to any refugee who has not been processed
through USCC, for any luxuries such as cars or televisions or if the refugee is self-sufficient, is able to
pay all his own expenses and one or more of his
family have a good job.
"Mr. Nguyen has an excellent job working
with computers, and he and his wife have no family with them," Mrs. Ettorre said."
If a refugee is denied assistance "after coming to see us seeking help, it is due to our thorough
investigation of the facts and the denial is based
on the income of the refugee, his being self-sufficient, in no dire need or on welfare," Mrs. Ettorre
said.

CREATION

STORY OK'D FOR SCHOOLS

The Kentucky Senate in late February 1976

approved and sent to the House a bill to allow the
teaching of the Biblical theory of creation in public
schools. The bill would only be permissive and
would not require the subject to be taught.
[source: The Houston Post, 2/21/76)

PRAYER BREAKFAST

RAISES EYEBROWS

The 18th annual California Governor's Prayer Breakfast, under Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.,
was unorthodox-to
say the least, according to
some participants.

A bare-chested Indian danced, a Sufi choir

sang spiritual songs to the accompaniment
of a
guitar and drums, and guests were served, yogurt,
pineapple, prunes and cheeses instead of the traditional bacon and eggs.
Put together in large part by Jacques Barzahi, Gov. Brown's special assistant for the arts, the
prayer breakfast was a departure from tradition
but in keeping with the chief executive's unorthodox style.
And it caused a few raised eyebrows among
the 800 or so tradition-minded
members of the
"Sacramento establishment" who attended.
The sermon-or
lecture-was
given by anthropologist
Gregory Bateson of he University of
California at Santa Cruz and former husband of
Margaret Mead. He spoke of peyote, snakes and
pregnant goats and said the words "religion"
and
"prayer"
have different
meanings to different
people.
U.S. District Judge Thomas J. MacBride,
who helped organize the first prayer breakfast here
in 1957, described the Brown program in the Sacramento Sconvention Center as "most different."
Gov. Brown, 37, who spent 1-2 years in a
Catholic seminary preparing for the Jesuit order
before turning to politics, gave the benediction.
"We have to walk with humility,"
Gov.
Brown said. "Our technology can take_ us only so
far. Our government can only give us
much. We
are all connected and dependent on each other."

so

He preceeded that statement with the comment that it is "going to become more difficult
and more imperative that we recognize that we're
just a small part of a very large and diverse reality
that none of us really understands very well."
[source: Religious News Service, 1/30/76)

SCHOOL BOARD HAS NO PRAYER

With Darneau V. Stewart now seated as the
new president of the Detroit Board of Education,
the other members won't have a prayer. Since
1971, when Patrick A. McDonald was first elected
board president, it's been tradition to begin each
meeting with silent prayer. McDonald, a lay deacon
in the Roman Catholic Church, was the one who
first suggested the 1970 recall of four pro-integration board members. Stewart, senior minister at
People's Community Church, was one of those re-

September 1976/American

Atheist - 7

called. Stewart says he believes people should pray

at home and not at school board meetings. " I am
not in favor of mixing church and state," he says.
The board will no longer begin with prayer.
[source: Detroit Free Press, 6/10176]

GOD,

THE CRIME FIGHTER

He has been sheriff there for 15 years; he

was in the FBI before that, a dedicated lawman.
Yet lawlessness, despite the best he and his
men could do, continued
to increase in Duval
County.
If the increase was some less than the national increase it was still too much for conscientious sheriff Dale Carson.
Upgraded exams, departmental
discipline,
improved communications-these
facilitated apprehensions-but,
for all that, crime increased locally
another 11 per cent last year.
It haunted the lawman in charge.
One sleeplessness night, Dale's judicial orientation spawned the realization that some Judgment Day he was going to be asked what he, as a
lawman, did about lawlessness and he was going to
have to reply, "Not enough."
He'd have to throw himself on the mercy of
the Highest Court with the plea that he'd "tried."
his maker

So, the sheriff conceived and spawned a citywide campaign to counteract crime with community involvement, by concerning himself more with
the cause than the cure.
Sheriff Carson would insist that others had
more to do with the project than did he-Mayor
Tanzler, for one; Dave Harrell and his committee
of concerned businessmen; Moody Adams' counsel,
and the voluntary involvement of clergy from hundreds of churches.
Billboards

called out the message: "Let's

newspapers and radio and television

September 1976/American Atheist - 8

try god."

And then, the culmination

of the campaign:
this Bicentennial series of meetings bringing thousands to the Jacksonville Coliseum for a reaffirmation of "the faith "of our founders.

But Dale Carson and the tens of thousands

who are lighting candles alongside his-here
and
hereaftercan know that they tried. And that
they tried everything.
Of course, god, who created everything and
controls all, is also creating the high crime rate and
protecting
it from the inroads of even those who
"try everything."
[source: Paul Harvey in the Austin. Citizen, 5/18/76]

BISHOPS ASK RELIGIOUS TEACHING

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

IN

Asserting that recent Supreme Court decisions have led to a substitution

of anti-religious
values for religious values in public education, the
Roman Catholic
Bishops of Pennsylvania called
recently for educational reform that would permit
religious teaching within the public school curriculums.
In a statement made public by John Cardinal
Krol of Philadelphia, the bishops proposed broad
cummunity discussion of state-sponsered education
that would end what they consider a monopoly of
secularistic
philosophy
that
opposes
retiqion.
The bishop's
initiative reflects growing corcern over public schools in prominent
Roman
Catholic circles. As court decisions reduce hopes
for state aid to private schools, and those schools
face mounting
financial
problems,
the church's
hierarchy has gradually shifted its attention to pubJic education.
Rights of Learning
"We believe," Cardinal Krol said at a Harrisburg, Pa., news conference on behalf of the state's
20 bishops, "that every student has the right to
hear about god, about religion and about moral values in the normal course of his or her studies."

try

god."
Local

"Let's

I don't know when, if ever, their effort will

show up in the crime statistics of Duval County.

Dale Carson is the strikingly handsome sheriff on the world's largest city-the
almost 1,000
square mile consolidated city of Jacksonville, Fla.

And then Dale Carson imagined

asking, "But did you try me?"

relayed the invitation:

Among the bishops' suggestions are expansion of present school programs to include optional
courses taught by the religious, and exemption by

dents from school programs that they or their parents find offensive. The bishops also recommend
that certain subjects be avoided or treated with
"extreme sensitivity."
Among these are abortion,
euthanasia and birth control.
Distinguishing between a secular outlook,
defined as hospitable to religion, and secularism,
which opposes religion, the statement says that
"taxpayers' money and the public school system
may not be used to impose the establishment of a
religion of secularism."
In 1974, according to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 11.7 million of 15.2 million Roman Catholic children attend public elementary and secondary schools. As the percentage
of Catholics in public schools has risen, so has
consternation among students and parents about
values being imparted in nonsectarian school settings. Rei igious adherents of other faiths have expressed similar concern.
At the same time, public schools have introduced an unprecedented variety of courses in comparative religion, the Bible as literature and such
ethical issues as sex education and race relations.
The bishops' statement says that schools cannot
be neutral in matters of rei igion and moral itv.
Discussion of Needs Sought
Further, by stating that theistic concepts
have been excluded from public education, the
bishops say that an anti-religious outlook has been
fostered, though not necessarily with the approval
of teachers and school officials.
A primary
purpose of the document,
spokesmen for the bishops said, is to stir widespread discussion on the needs of parents who are
dissatisfied with the moral climate in the schools.
Several possibilities for reform are put forward. One suggests that parents and students be
allowed freedom of choice of courses in religion.
"Specifically,"
the statement says, "the question is
whether a creative approach to publicly sponsored
education could allow for alternate schools orprograms which meet the reasonable desires and expectations of religious parents and their children."

or ideological communities

of particular

students."

Conceding that such programs-which

resemble released-time instruction, prohibited in the
past-could
raise Constitutional
questions, the
bishops call for a reversal of the Supreme Court's
decision banning the practice, or a Constitutional
amendment allowing religious teaching in public
schools.
The document warns against allowing violations of church-state separation to inhibit consideration of "new ideas or the revival of useful ideas
from the past." The bishops state further:
"On the one hand, education
of values: public educators rightly
public schools promote values, and
ially parents, rightly expect them to

cannot be free
state that the
citizens, especdo so.

"On the other hand, the law of the land, as

interpreted by the courts, prohibits any values in
public education except secularistic ones."
The landmark Supreme Court cases banning
school prayer and Bible reading arose from a desire
to protect students from pressure to adopt religious beliefs. In arcuinq for the rights of religious interests, the bishops emphasize that any new programs must avoid coercion or embarrassment of
those who choose not to take part.
Critics have persistently contended that coercion and discomfort is unavoidable where religious instruction is offered and that such instruction
promotes divisiveness and tension.
..
The bishops' statement acknowledges that
social and economic factors have caused more parents to enroll their children in public, rather than
parochial, schools.
Later in the document, the bishops say the
though "aid to church-related schools" through a
means such as the voucher system "is one obvious
way" of widening the scope of educational options, "the question is raised here in a different
context-that
of publicly-sponsored
education itself."
[source: New York Times, 2120176]

Special Teachers

THAT NEW TIME RELIGION

Theoretically,
the
document
continues,
schools could be restructured so that the students
would "take most of their courses in common,
while value-oriented subject areas were taught by
independent contractor teachers from the religious

There is the sound of old-time evangelism I"

the air these days and, powerfully
amplified b
modern technology, it is beinq heard across the
country.

September 1976/ American Atheist - 9

Evangel ists of every known rei igious persuasion-some not so well known yet-are following
that forceful Psalms proverb: they are making joyful noises unto the lord. Says religion expert William McLoughlin of Brown University, who teaches
seminars in Revivals and Awakenings in America:
"The country is at the peak of a new rei igious awakening. We aren't sure god is on our side anymore. When America feels threatened, it has always
gone back into its past. And that leads some people
to the old-time religion."
Some authorities say
evangelism flourishes during recessions and depressions. Others discount the hard times theory and
point to a national shift back to the old values. As
one minister puts it: "People have tried all the fads
and been to the moon. They are hungry now for
straight, old-fashioned answers to their problems."
It is generally agreed, however, that evangelism moves in 30-year cycles, sweeping in, fading
out and then returning again. No doubt about it,
it has returned again.
Many like the current mood to the early
1900's, when Billy Sunday triggered a nationwide
movement. Many Sunday imitators suddenly appeared on the scene. Sunday, the Ch icago baseball player-turned
evangelist-originated
the flamboyant style used by many modern-day evangel ists.
"Come on, you miserable sinners, get down on
your knees," he used to say, "The devil has two
strikes on you already."
But Sunday, Aimee Simple McPherson and
Father Divine did not have television. And more
than anything, TV has become the magic key to
evangel istic success today. Some 23 evangel ists are
now syndicated on national TV, twice as many as
10 years ago. Several hundred are heard weekly on
local radio. TV and radio not only allow evangelists
to reach staggering numbers of people but have become electronic churches for millions.
"It used to take years and years for an evangelist to get a national reputation," observes Gaylord Creedon, a television consultant to evangelists.
"With TV, it can be done within a year."
The father of big-league evangelism is Billy
Graham, whose crusades are now televised on 325
stations around the world at a cost of more than
$1 million per crusade. Graham works closely with
local church groups. The prime objective of his
crusades are to "bring uncommitted
individuals
into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and
firmly establish them in a local church." Other evangelists with massive followings
include Oral
Roberts, who broadcasts weekly from NBC studios
in Burbank, California; Rex Humbard; Frederick
September 1976/American Atheist - 10

III

Eikerenkowtter
(Reverend Ike); the former Kathryn Kuhlman;
Garner Ted Armstrong;
Robert
Schuller, and Pat Robertson.
While Graham and Roberts may be better
known, they were not the first to tap the awesome
power of TV. That precedent goes to Humbard, a
fundamentalist preacher who had $65 in his pocket
when he landed his first TV show in Cleveland.
Today, Humbard broadcasts from his 5,OOO-seat
Cathedral of Tomorrow
in Akron, Ohio. He is
watched weekly by some 34 million people on over
400 stations around the world, far more than
watch Johnny Carson. His annual TV budget: over
$4 million.
"God laid on my heart a burden to stay in
Akron to build a large church and televise that
church's services to every state," says Humbard.
"He also laid it upon my heart to do a world-wide
program. That's been our vision from the very beginning. Our goal is to have the voice of this ministry heard anywhere on the face of the earth." But
TV evangelism has become horrendously
expensive. It costs up to $1,500 an hour to buy time in.
such cities as Los Angeles and New York. Most of
the evangel istic programs are now produced by
professional TV companies and feature large numbers of musicians and singing groups. "There is just
no comparison between today's shows and the
ones we saw a few years ago," says one TV executive. "They are hiring top sound and lighting people and are every bit as professional as Cher or All
in the Family."
The paradox is that while evanqelism is on
the upswing, church attendance is down across the
country. Many clergymen are, in fact, lamenting
the declining influence of the churches and synagogues. A leading Presbyterian minister in New
York says: "The city has largely abandoned rei igion and for that reason will pay a terrible price."
But a Denver priest says: "It's not religion that's
being discarded. What's happening is that the solid
and more traditional churches are receeding in influence and the sensational is coming forth."
- Many evangelists say that people are turning
away from organized religion and searching for personal solutions to their problems. Says Humbard:
"I'm making my sermons more simple so the people can understand them." And Rev. Ike points
out:' "People don't want religious doctrine and
dogma. They want solutions to their problems. I
convert people to believe in themselves. I don't
convert people into any form of organized religion.
Heaven and hell are states of mind. People are beginning to real ize that god is present in every individual."

While business is booming for most evangelist, some-including

Humbard--have faced severe
financial problems recently. The escalating costs of
television combined with tight money have clearly
slowed the pace of expansion. Even Graham, who
appears on prime-time
television
every three
months, has turned cautious during the latest recession. "We are looking closer at our spending and
cutting back where we can," a Graham spokesman
notes.
[source: Austin American Statesman, 12/27/75)

APOLOGIES, BUT NO REBATES

The Pallottine Fathers, a Roman Catholic
order, received more than $20 million in contributions in a recent 18-month period but spent less
than three cents of each dollar on missionary work,
according to an audit of their books.
The audit showed that the order took in
$20,431,344
in contributions
between July 1,
1974, and December 31, 1975, principally through
mass-mail solicitations seeking money to support
its missions in the United States and overseas.
These missions, however, received under
$1,000,000, or about 3% of each dollar, after the
Pallottines spent nearly $15.6 million on fundraising, paid other expenses and covered almost
$3.5 million in losses on the stock market and
from various real estate investments, according to
the audit.
Baltimore Archbishop William Donald Borders said last night his study of the audit "indicates
a very serious violation of the trust which the public is invited to place in church organizations.
"I do not condone the investment practices
reported in the audit," the archbishop continued.
"In principle, I cannot possibly accept the amount
of charitable funds used for the maintenance of
fund raising programs. This money should have
been used for the purposes for which it was solicited."
According to the audit, some of the listed
investments made by the Pallottines' fiscal arm
headquarterd in Baltimore involved loans to individuals and firms whose records have been subpoenaed by the office of the U. S. attorney for Maryland in connection with the upcoming trial of Gov.
Marvin Mandel on charges of political corruption.
The individuals include W. Dale Hess, a codefendant of Mandel and former member of the
Maryland House of Delegates, and C. Dennis Web-

ster the order's real estate adviser and an alleged

conduit of a $54,000 Pallottine loan to help Mandel pay for his 1974 divorce from his first wife.
There was no mention of the governor in the
audit. Outstanding loans with values of less than
$50,000 were not identified specifically.
The audit also reported that Donald Webster, Dennis' uncle and the treasurer of Mandel's
1974 re-election campaign, had received "for nominal considerations" shares of some firms in wh ich
the order invested. His accounting company received $224,000 for keeping the Pallottine books
during the audited period.
Also listed as the recipient of a $300,000
Pallottine
loan in 1974 was Towson attorney
George W. White Jr., a close associate of former
Vice President Spiro T~ Agnew and a land developer currently involved in a federal bankruptcy proceeding.
The audit by Arthur Andersen & Co. of Philadelphia was requested late last year by Archbishop Borders following newspaper articles concerning
the finances of the Pallottines. It is scheduled to be
published in The Catholic Review, the weekly
newspaper of the Baltimore archdiocese.
Accompanying
the audit was a statement
from the Very Rev. Domenick T. Graziadio, the order's provincial superior in Pennsauken, N. J., who
apologized for the activities of their fundraising
wing formerly headed by Rev. Guido.~ohn Carich.
"We readily admit that serious mistakes and
judgmental errors have been made," the superior
wrote.
Father Graziadio said the 2,137 member order has placed a moratorium on investments. "We
recogn ize that there has been a disproportion
between the amount invested and the amount immediately distributed to our foreign investments,"
terminated its "sweepstakes" fund solicitations and
is 'substantially cutting back and toning down' the
_ fund-raising operation.
"We recognize fully that the attendant publicity concerning this entire matter has had a profound impact not only upon the entire Pallottine
'community
throughout the world but also upon
other rei igious and charitable organizations engaged in fund raising and in many respects upon
the church as a whole," the superior wrote.
He said the audit represents full disclosure
by the order. The auditor's cover letter said reSeptember 1976/American

Atheist - 11

searchers were given full access to all Pallottine

cords.

re-

The audit showed the order holding $3.79

million in commercial notes and marketable bonds
at the end of 1975. Also listed was corporate stock
worth $4.022 million, some $522,741 less than the
order paid for it.
Also enumberated were $3,593,024 in loans
made by the order to business and individuals, including $35,000 to Hess in 1974 and loans totaling
$398,500 to four Hess-connected firms, including
two whose books have been supoenaed by federal
prosecutors.
The audit also disclosed that the Pallottines
invested $5,128,318
in 10 limited partnerships to
develop commercial
and residential properties in
Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Tennessee and Florida.
It said the order lost $1,678,187 on these investments and another $391,257 on a motel and
two trailer parks in Florida.
The partnership
following firms:

investments

Manor Glen Limited

County, $360,055.

involved

Partnership,

Baltimore

Union Deposit Mall Equities Limited

nership, Dauphin County, Pa., $433,931.
Albion
Condominium
N.J., $530,000.
Fredericktowne
Md., $281,059.

Investors,

Kitty
Hawk
Limited
Hawk, N.C., $299,400.

Equity
$740,689.

Anti-Catholic
sentiments on the part of Jews
have become more of a problem in American life
than anti-Semitism
among Catholics, a leading social scientist told the Interreligious
Affairs Commission of the American Jewish Committee at its
annual meeting in Washington D.C. in early May.
"There is strong and powerful anti-Catholic
feeling in the Jewish community,"
said the Rev.
Andrew M. Greeley, a Roman Catholic and director of the National Opinion Research Center at the
University
of Chicago. "The empirical
evidence
shows it, the impressions of many Catholics indicate it and not a small number of Jews will acknowledge it-though
usually off the record."
Greely said
between Catholics
lent" but warned
which could cause

that the "general relationship"

and Jews in America is "excelof a number of "flashpoints"
trouble.

He cited as one problem traditional

Jewish
opposition
to the use of public funds to aid parochial schools. "I am not prepared to say how much
of the interminable
hectoring about separation of
church and state is crypto-bigatory,
but some of
it surely is," the priest-sociologist
said, " and the
nasty, vicious tone of the opposition
leaves little
doubt that there is more at stake than constitutional principles .. .-

Part-

Pine Hill,

Ltd., Sanibel Island, Fla.,

Southeastern Land Investments

ger County, Tenn., $50,000.

Valley

SEES BIAS BY JEWS

"Quite apart from the questions of state aid,

one has the impression that a very substantial number of American Jews hate and despise Catholic
parochial schools and systematically
ignore evidence about their positive
benefits,"
he said.

North Associates, Frederick,

Sanibel Associates
$500,000.

Hunt
$1,317,834.

the

CATHOLIC

Partnership,

Associates,

Funding,

Ltd., Grain-

Kitty

Cockeysville,

Baltimore

Md.,

County,

Bensalem Condominium
Investors,
Bensalem, Pa., $615,350.
[source: Washington Post, 6/18/76]

September 1976/American Atheist - 12

He also charged that there is "substantial discrimination

against Catholics ... at the upper levels
of America's elite culture" which is heavily populated by Jews.
Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum, who heads the Interreligious
Affairs
Commission,
reported that a
new study by his agency has found a solid wall of
opposition
among Christian leaders to the controversial Arab-backed
resolution
passed by the
United Nations last November which defined Zionism as "a form of racism."
According
to the study, the common denominator of the Christian opposition to the antiZionism resolution is a Christian rejection of antiSemitism.
"Christians attacked the resolution because
they saw it as directed not only against Israel, not

only against Zionism, but against Jews and Judaism; in other words, as an act of political anti-Semitism," the 91 page report said.
[source: Washington Post, 5/13/76]

MORE LOBBYING
In direct violation of the I RS code which
prohibits efforts to "influence legislation" by tax
exempt organizations, a coalition of religious leaders in late May urged "enactment of meaningful
tax reform, including an income tax." Telegrams
stating that position have been sent to every member of the legislature in Trenton, N.J.
The telegram also advises "we have resolved
to report our concern to, and enlist the support of,
the people of our various constituencies".
The
statement asserts the rei igious leaders took th is
stand "for the sake of welfare, educational, housing and other social needs of the state in view of
the current economic crisis".
The signers were 14 men of the cloth, Catholics, Jewish and Protestant. Among them were:
Most Rev. Peter L. Gerety, Archbishop of
Newark; Most Rev. Lawrence B. Casey, Bishop of
Paterson; Most Rev. Michael J. Dudick, Bishop of
Passaic; Right Rev. George E. Rath, Bishop of
Newark; Rabbi Hillel Horowitz, Rabbinical Counsel of New Jersey; Rabbi David J. Panitz, president
of the New Jersey Board of Rabbis; Rev. Paul
Sobel, president, the United Presbyterian Church;
Rev. Paul L. Stagg, general seceretarv, New Jersey
Council of Churches; Bishop Prince A. Taylor,
United Methodist Church; Rev. George Younger,
American Baptist Churches, executive minister;
Right Rev. Albert W. Van Duser, Bishop of the
Dioceses of New Jersey.
[source: The Herald-News, 5/22/76]

FOR WHOM MA BELL TOLLS

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for
thee." That, with apologies to John Donne and
Hemingway, is what the Seattle-area Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company and the Washington
Utilities and Transportation Commission seem to
have in mind. The Commission approved in April
a proposal by Northwest Bell to pass along to
phone users as "necessary operating costs" its donations to church-related and other private colleges
and charities.
Americans United Seattle chapter and other
Washingtonians disagree with the Commission's

ruling and filed suit on May 21 in King County

(Seattle) Superior Court to challenge its constitutionality. The AU members and others do not object to Northwest
Bell's stockholders'
making
charitable or religious donations from the company's profits, but they object very strongly to a
government regulated monopoloy's
forcing them
through its rate structure to contribute involuntarily to religious institutions. That, they contend,
clearly violates thei r constitutionally
guaranteed
religious liberty.
According to plaintiffs'
attorney John D.
Blankinship, the Commission's order, "as a condition to obtaining service ... compels persons to contribute to those recipients selected by the telephone company as deserving charities. The order
thereby deprives such persons of property without
due process of law in violation of both federal and
state constitutions."
The Commission's order, Blankinship's petition to the court adds, "authorizes the Pacific
Northwest Bell Telephone Company to deny telephone service to a person unless he contributes to
a religious recipient which the telephone company
selects but which is objectionable to him. By being
thus forced to contribute to a religion which is objectionable and even blasphemous to the ratepayer
he is molested or disturbed
in person or in property on account of religion in violation of Article
1, section 11 of the Washington State Constitution.
The respondent's order constitutes a gift of public
funds to schools under sectarian control or influence in violation of the First Amendment of the
United States Constitution."
,.
Northwest Bell plans to donate $37,500 in
coerced public"donations"
to several church colleges in Washington State, despite the fact that
Washington State voters last November defeated
in referendum a proposed state constitutional
amendment to authorize state tax aid for sectarian
colleges and parochial schools. The utility's total
1976 "donations" are expected to reach $248,000.
Earlier protests to the Commission by Americans United, a plaintiff
in the suit, and other
telephone users were unsuccessful, even though
Commission Counsel Assistant Attorney
General
advised against the decision.
The problem is not unique to Washington
State. In 1970 New York's Public Service Commission ruled that government regulated utilities may
raise rates to customers to cover charitable donations. New York utilities contributed about $3 million to charity in 1975. Earlier this year the New
York Assembly passed a bill to forbid the Public
September 1976/American

IV

Atheist - 13

Service Commission
to allow utilities
to count
charitable donations as operating expenses, but the
bill was killed in the Senate in May. In Illinois the
courts have ruled against the practice.
[source Washington Post, 5/13/76]

PRAY

FOR SEPARATION
CHURCH

AND

Proud Mary's is located in a 200-year-old

building and the pastor says the tavern owners have
not shown proper reverence for the site.
"It looks unsightly,"
insisted Becker.
out of keeping with the neighborhood."

OF

Proud Mary's co-owner, lawyer John Scott,

has called the opposition "bigoted"
and "pure political bunk." Scott, who could not be reached for
comment
has vowed to keep the watering hole
open.
[source: Daily News, 6/7/76]

PUB

Fat Mary's by another name still doesn't

smell sweet to the First Baptist Church in Bloomfield, N.J.
The owners of the embattled tavern have
changed its name--wh ich some assailed as sacri legious--to Proud Mary's and have altered the apparently equally offensive "Booze and Bites" sign to
read "Drinks
and Bites." Yet, the neighboring
church is not happy.

PRIESTLY

Looks

CELIBACY

IS "OBSOLETE"

As a Jesuit priest, John McLaughlin

once
characterized
priestly celibacy as "obsolete."
As
a $30,OOO-a-year White House speechwriter, he al~o
predicted that Richard Nixon would go down In
history as "the greatest moral leader of the last
third of this century."
Now a freelance writer and
lecturer, McLaughlin,
48, has received a release
from his Jesuit vows and recently married Ann.
Dore, 33, a public relations adviser and ~anager of
McLaughlin's
unsuccessful 1970 campaign for the
Senate from Rhode Island. Explained McLaughlin:
"1 want to share my life with the gifted and lovely
person who, surprisingly,
wants to share her life
with me."
[source: Time Magazine, 9/8/75]

"They're
still less than 200 feet from us,"
the Rev. Robert Becker said recently. "They've
sti II desecrated a historic site."
'It

"It's

Unsightly'

Under the regu lations of the state Division

of Alcholic
Beverage Control, a bar must be at
least 200 feet from a house of worship. On that
basis Becker said the church would "most likely"
chall~nge the reissuance of an ABC license."
Speaking for Women:

let's

Have

a Firestorm
of letters

to

the

IRS

Anne Gaylor

~L~/

,'\..
<::::;-\..i
~~
~~

Why the Internal Revenue Service, in its wis-

f!n

~-<;

, dom, has not seen fit to question and. investigate

~
~
/

:.;}

..,.:'~
b~

~<>\

~~
'\..0'

1(...' , .'V
,. :.J\' ~
v,/

<,'

the tax-exempt
status of the Catholic
Church,
when that church so obviously engages in blatant
political activity on a massive scale, is one of the
bureaucratic mysteries of the century,
Most tax-exempt
organizations do not lobby. Few will send a representative to a public legislative hearing to speak, even in an "information
only" capacity. Most agonize if any of their activities might seem to border on violation of that part
of the Internal Revenue Code which states that

'-J~.::7
"," -e-

A.-.l'~~':~
V
<.
"'"" ~.....
7

,~

<........

r-:".q ...

September 1976/ American Atheist - 14

1/

"no substantial part" of an organization's activities shall be devoted to influencing legislation. Most
tax-exempt organizations are law-abiding, and bend
over backward not to do anything that could be
construed as support for a candidate or other political action.

bones, as well as my mind, that if any other taxexempt group in the state had sent out 54,000 letters urging specific lobbying activities, its tax-exempt status would not have lasted out the year.
This abuse is not an isolated incident; it is universal
Catholic Church political practice.

To the standard questions in Internal Revenue Service inquiry letters, "Will your organization urge or encourage the public to contact members of any legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting or opposing legislation?" and
"Will your activities include the advocating of the
adoption or rejection of any legislation by a legislative body?", the answers are resounding "NO's!"
Tax-exemption is too' difficult to win, and too prolonged a process to endure, for most groups to risk
its loss through any political activity.

A recent national example, which alone

would be enough to put the tax-exempt privilege
of any other organization on the skids, was a statement by Archbishop Joseph Bernardin of Cincinnati who is president of the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops. Quoted by the Associated
Press (June 25, 1976) in newspapers allover the
country, Bernardin assailed the Democratic platform for its mildly pro-abortion
plank, and exhorted all United States bishops to urge their parishioners "to take a more active role in the political process." Bernardin's action was not just a press
release, but a written' directive mailed to all bishops
in the country. The "smoking gun" is there for
anyone to see. Why won't the I RS look?

Yet here is the Catholic Church in America

constantly, openly, flagrantly influencing legislation and engaging in political activity. There can be
no question, for example, that the Catholic Church
in the United States has mobilized as a political
force on the abortion issue. Through its archdiocesan newspapers, its parish bu Iletins and its pu 1pits, it has consistently directed members to engage
in anti-abortion political activity on a monumental
scale. Within its parish structure, it has mobilized
Catholics for anti-abortion mass rallies, for lobbying trips to Washington D.C. and state capitals,
for letter writing campaigns and huge petition
drives.'
Earl ier th is year the Cathol ic bishops of the
United States met in Washington D.C. to issue a
"Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities",
a political
plan aimed at amending the U.S. Constitution to
ban abortions. Anyone reading this extensive plan
can not escape the real ity that th is is a pol itical
document-a
political undertaking-promulgated
at
the Catholic Church's highest level, and fully supported at local levels by local bishops.
These Catholic Church abuses are widespread and occur at all strata from the pronouncements of archbishops to the passage of political
petitions down rural church aisles. Here is an example.
In the aftermath of the United States Supreme Court abortion decision in 1973, the bishop
in the Catholic diocese in Madison, Wisconsin sent
54,000 letters to Catholic families in the diocese
urging their political and lobbying involvement regarding pending 'anti-abortion
legislation in the
state. He not only urged them to write letters, but
actually told them at attend
a specific abortion
hearing at the Wisconsin capital. I know in. my

What is needed is a firestorm of letters to the

I RS from all around the country. Surely there
must be some government officials who share our
dismay that these violations occur, and that taxation laws and privileges are being selectively applied. Write the IRS. Include local examples if you
have them. Later on, as they appear, and they surely will, send the news stories about violations from
your daily papers. Go to the library and read your
local Catholic diocese newspaper-it's
full of ammunition.
Every Atheist, agnostic, humanist or freethinker who reads this magazine has the tools for
effecting change right at hand-your
pen or typewriter and your unfettered mind.
Here is where to write:
Commissioner Donald C. Alexander
Internal Revenue Service
1111 Constitution Ave., NW.
Washington, D.C. 20224
- J. Burdette, Chief
Exempt Organizations
Operations Branch, IRS
Department of the Treasury
Washington, D.C. 20224
Curtis Jenkins
Division Chief
IRS, P. O. Box 13163
Baltimore, MD 21203
Choose one, or write all three!-

September 1976/ American Atheist,

15

Letter

to the Editor

The following exchange occured in Letters

to the Editor of the News- Virginian, Waynesboro,
Va. on 6/12/76 and 6/18/76. Arnold Via is an
American Atheist and a member of 5.0 :5. Inc.
Thoughts on Justice
According to a local judge, the object of the
juvenile court is not to punish but to rehabilitate.
The government, which is god's minister to punish
evildoers, has become the friend of the criminals.
The whole idea of judging juveniles less severely than adu Its is against the Bible. Accord ing to
the Bible, there's one sentence for stealing: pay
back double what you stole. If the thief couldn't
pay and couldn't lend the money to pay for his
crime, he would be sold as a slave for six years.
That would take him away from his old gang, keep
him from dragging his friends down with him, give
him six years of experience at work at a useful
trade, give him a chance to make new friends, lawabiding friends.
The law demanded an eye for an eye-strict
justice. Jesus taught us not to resist one who is evil,
but to turn the other cheek. But Jesus, while taking vengence away from us, didn't take the sword
away from the government. Anyone who thinks
the powers that be should turn the other cheek in
the face of evildoers is against the Christian religion.
The social system in Bible times was different, of course. And if judges go by the Bible they
will have to find appropriate substitutes for slavery. Parents who pay for the crimes of their kids
will likely discipline them. And parents who won't
pay deserve to have their kids taken away from
them and put in a foster home. Kids who are so
bad they can't be placed in a foster home should
be locked up.
This country was the envy of the world as
long as the Bible was honored and respected in the
schools and by society in general.
Everybody wants a solution to the crime'
problem. What's wrong with getting back to the
Bible?
Barney Ovensen-Greenville, Va.
Justice and the Bible
In reply to Barney Ovenson's letter of June
12, he asked the question, "what's wrong with getting back to the Bible as a solution to the crime
problem?" I assume he's including the Old Testament as part of his Bible in his attempt to show
September 1976/American Atheist 16

II

that justice by the Bible judges was better than justice by our civil judges of today. Hence, from the
Bible, where was Mr. Justice when Eve committed
the very first crime or sin of mankind? She was
told that she would surely die for eating the pippin, but did she? Or when Cain murdered his only
blood brother, was given a slap on the wrist and
left to breed more of his own kind.
Where was the Bible judge when ole Abraham committed adultery and attempted to murder
his son? When Moses murdered a friendly Egyptian, and went scot-free? When Noah got drunk and
was indecently exposed, and the judge looked the
other way. Lot's daughters were never punished
for their incestuous behavior but their mother was.
Did Shechem go to jail for the rape of Dinah? No
sir-tee. Amnon didn't even get a suspended sentence for the rape of his sister Tamar.
The character that tied torches to foxes'
tails and ran them through the neighbor's wheat
field was laughed at ... no arson here. Where was
justice when John's head was cut off and used for
a football? When Jesus plucked ears of corn on the
Sabbath, he went unpunished. Why?
Peter's lies were only something to crow a
bout. The rooster crowed. Even the angel Lucifer
is out running loose. And what a bad record he
had.
.
It appears to me that Barney has iqnored certain facts in his Bible like he also ignores history.
The Holy Roman Church during the middle ages,
with their ecclesialtical judges, did little to deter
crime. They only invented the guillotine. Can anyone picture a guillotine on top of Main St. hill in
Waynesboro? Who could watch the head of a 12year old boy rolling down the hill on Easter morning to pay for his crime for stealing a little girl's
bicycle?
Barney stated that the whole idea of judging
teenagers less severly than adults is against the
Bible. Judging them as adults is against my grain.
Rather than going back to the Bible for a solution
to-the crime problem, I suggest going forward, with
libertarianism, not fundamentalism. What did Jesus
mean when he said, "Render unto Caesar what's
Caesar's and unto god what's god's?"
I was taught in public school that Christianity's purpose was to save souls from hell; there's a
civil power to fight crime. There's a big difference
between a sin and a crime. Whoever heard of a sin
lab?
Arnold Via-Grottoes,
Va.

Editorial
Let me introduce myself. I am the guest editorial writer for this month. My name is Richard S.
Richardson. I am the Director of the Missouri
Chapter of the Society of Separation ists, Inc., based in St. Louis, Mo.
I have something to say which I feel is, or
should be of grave concern (no pun intended) to all
of us. Does this name sound familiar, or does it
mean anything to you? Robert Green Ingersoll. To
those of us who are well-versed in the works of our
Atheist giants of the past, this name will always remain on top when we think of the nineteenth century. When we think back to the thirty five years
during wh ich time Ingersoll put himself out front
to destroy the ignorance of superstition (i.e, religion). We must recognize how important our every
day life is to continue this battle now since the
church has grown stronger every year by way of
land and business tax exemptions, accumulation of
stocks, bonds and in a philosophical and psychological way also. The list is endless as to how the
church uses us, today.
But I want to speak of the giant, Ingersoll.
Last year I decided to see our national capitol and
thus to beat the bicentennial rush and crowds.
Eight hundred and twenty five miles from home, I
covered every facet of this governmental town and what better time to see the grave site of ' Royal
Bob' at Arlington National Cemetery, Va. One
stops at the main office and makes inquiry of the
grave one is desirous of seeing. Picnics are not permitted (understandable) and one is not allowed to
just wander about the cemetery. One can walk or
ride to a site. I recommend the ride in this instance since the grave of Colonel Ingersoll is a bit
far off from the parking area. Not really interested
in anyone but Ingersoll, I drove to the area designated on the furnished map. It is not an easy task
to locate it. I drove and after, frantically, asking
three grave care-takers, I reached the site.
I was appalled. This giant man had been put
on a small reclining hill in a grove of trees off the,
main stream of the cemetery, with a small head
stone among common markers. There was total
neglect and isolation.
The head stone had stains
running down the side, years of mineral rust on the
top, all this along with bird droppings.
"Damn it",
and heartbroken.

I said, as I stood there ashamed

Have you ever thought of visiting his gravessite? Truthfully

now, have you? What would you
think if "Mom" were treated this slovenly? I stood

at this grave site in total disgust, on 7th August,

1975. It was a bright beautiful day, and also my
birthday, but I was feeling only gloom and shame
for every Atheist within the immediate range of
this cemetery. I felt like attacking this headstone
with cleanser and brush. But then I thought it
would be best to call this attention to all and to see
if the American Atheists cared enough to get off
their asses and come out to correct this shameful
neglect of one of American's true giants.
I took twenty pictures of every angle of the
site, along with the identifying graves left, right,
front and rear of his headstone. But my concern,
my love, my shame, was Grave 1620, Section 3.
If we care, if we really care, every head stone
that marks the grave of a free-thinker, of an avowed Atheist should be cleaned up - with a rally such
as no one has before seen in our history. This is
our bicentennial
too,
our people, American
Atheists should care!
It is necessary for all of you -- especially those
living in Virginia, Washington and Maryland to
come out long enough to take care of our own.
I have laid the way for you - in finding and
identifying the grave - and I expect you to treat
the matter of dignified care of this grave site with
priority.
I want to know what you have done. I
want you send me pictures of the constant care
you apply to this important matter.
..
You can reach me at Missouri S.O.S., c/o
Director Richard S. Richardson, P. O. Box 12282,
St. Louis, Missouri 63157.
I will then report back to the national office
of S.O.S. and they in turn will report to the nation
of Atheist friends.
We all know who our heroes are, and Robert
G. Ingersoll was one of the greatest of them. The
least we can do is to show respect, and provide the
care that goes with the respect.
I will return to this grave-site one day. I hope
that on that next pilgrimage,
I will find it
tended, perhaps even with a fresh flower or two.
If we care enough, it can be brought to inclusion
within the tour that is given to the hundreds of
thousands
of
annual
visitors
to
Arlington
National Cemetery. I want that tour guide to say,
with some respect -if not with fondness- "And
here is the grave of the most outspoken and militant Atheist of the 19th Century, Robert Green
Ingersoll."
September 1976/American Atheist - 17

AMERICAN
Origin
Program 276-292
KTBC Radio

ATHEIST
of Idea

of Atheist

5th January 1974

Austin, Texas

Hello there,
This is Madalyn Mays O'Hair,
Atheist, back to talk with you again.

American

A rare book dealer in New Hampshire has

just procured for me, a book titled, Volume X of
the Freethinkers' Magazine, which was published
in 1892.
Th is means that from 1882 forward, for ten
years there was an Atheist magazine being published in Buffalo, New York. Here I am, the single
authority on Atheist history in the United States
and I knew nothing about this. The editor was H.
L. Green and I knew nothing about him either.
But, all I need is a name, or a date, or a place and
I can go to work on it.
It appears that in 1877 a New York Freethinkers Association was organized with a Dr. T.
L. Brown of Binghamton as President of it. Mr.
H. L. Green was the corresponding secretary at
that time. In 1883 Mr.Green decided to begih the
publication
of a Freethought Directory. I can't
imagine what that was. Later, he began the Freethinkers' Magazine. He finally died in Chicago, Illinois on October 30, 1903. He was 75 years old
then. In his career he had been a farmer, a log rafter, a school teacher, a lawyer, an office holder,
a justice of the peace and an anti-slavery teacher.
When he died his magazine was incorporated with
one called the Torch of Reason. I will need to find
that now, too, if I can.
On the cover page of this particular book
that I have is a poem wh ich is not cred ited as belonging to anyone at all and hence, I believe, was
either written by the editor or adopted by him. It.
says:
"The hour is coming when men's holy Church
Shall melt away in ever-widening walls,
And be for all mankind; and in its place
A mightier Church shall come, whose covenant
word
Shall be the deeds of love. Not Credo then;
Amo shall be the password through its gates;
Man shall not ask his brother any more
'Bel ievest thou?' but, , Lovest thou?' "

RADIO

SERIES

Church

The password Amo, of course, is Latin for

"1 love".
What would a church of Atheists be
Mr. Green prints a part of an interview with
ert G. Ingersoll, the great Atheist orator of
Civil War America, and I want to read that to

like?
Robpost
you.

"Now understand,
I am not finding fault
with any of these religions or with any of these
ministers. These religions and these ministers are
the necessary and natural products of sufficient
causes. Mankind has traveled from barbarism to
what we now call civilization by many paths, all
of which under the circumstances were absolutely
necessary; and while I think the individual does as
he must I think the same of the church, of the corporation, and of the nation, and not only of the
nation but of the whole human race. Consequently, I have no malice and no prejudices. I have likes
and dislikes. I do not blame a gourd for not being a
cantaloupe, but I like cantaloupes [sic]. So I do
not blame the old hard-shell Presbyterian for not
being a philosopher, but I like philosophers. So to
wind it all up with regard to the tendency of modern thought, or as to the outcome of what you call
religion, my own belief is that what is known as
religion will disappear from the human mind. And
by 'religion' I mean the supernatural. By 'religion' I
mean living in this world for another, Of- living in
this world to gratify some supposed being, whom
we never saw and about whom we know nothing,
and of whose existence we know nothing. I n other
words, religion consists of the duties we are supposed to owe to the first great cause and of certain
things necessary for us to do here to insure happiness hereafter. These ideas, in my judgment, are
destined to perish, and men will become convinced
that all their duties are-within their reach and that
obligations can exist only between them ~nd other
sentinent beings. Another idea, I think, will force
itself upon the mind, which is this: That he who
lives the best for th is world Iives the best for another if there be one. In other words, humanity
will take the place of what is called 'religion'.
Science will displace superstition, and to do justice
will be the ambition of men."
My creed is this: Happiness is the only good.
The place to be happy is here. The time to be
happy is now. The way to be happy is to make
others so.
I have for a long time wondered why some-

September 1976/ American Atheist - 18

body didn't start a church on a sensible basis. My

idea is this: There are, of course, in every community of lawyers, doctors, merchants, and people of
all trades and professions who have not the time
during the week to pay any particular attention to
history, poetry, art or song. Now, it seems to me
that it would be a good thing to have a church and
for these men to employ a man of ability, of talent, to preach to them Sundays, and let this man
say to this congregation, 'Now, I am going to
preach to you for the first few Sundays-eight or
ten or twenty-on
art, poetry, and intellectual
achievments .. .' Let him speak of statesmen, dramatists, poets, actors, sculptors, lawyers, ... And so
let him go through with nation after nation, biography after biography, and at the same time let
there be a Sunday-school connected with this
church where the children shall be taught something of importance. For instance, teach them botany, and when a Sunday is fair, clear, and beautiful, let them go to the fields and woods with their
teachers, and in a little while they will become acquainted with all kinds of trees and shrubs and
flowering plants. They could also be taught entomology, so that every bug would be interesting,
for they would see the facts in science-something
of use to them. I believe that such a church and
such a Sunday-school would at the end of a few
years be the most intelligent collection of people in
the United States. To teach the children all of
these things and to teach their parents, too, the
outlines of every science, so that every listener
would know something of geology, something of
astronomy, so that every member could tell the
manner in which they find the distance of a starhow much better that would be than the old talk
about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and quotations
from Haggai and Zephaniah, and all this eternal
talk about the fall of man and the garden of Eden,
and the flood and the atonement, and the wonders
of Revelation! Even if the religious scheme be true,
it can be told and understood as well in one day as
in a hundred years. The church says, 'He that hath
ears to hear let him hear'. I say, 'He that hath
brains to think, let him think.' "
Mr. Ingersoll was not the only person concerned with such an establishment. In November,
1868 a series of lectures were given in New York
on Positivism, the philosophy of Auguste Comte.
From that sprang two societies. The first was the
Liberal Club and the second the Society of Humanity. The Society of Humanity met every Sunday
and had a direct secular or human 'religious' object. James Parton became very interested in this
idea.
The view of this approach to Humanity religion is expressed best by an editorial of the maga,

zine issued by the qroup.

"What the world needs, more than anything
else, are Liberals of this kind, faithful
in small
things, patient and enduring in the daily and socalled trivial duties of life. This is a heroic thing to
do. It is a sublime privilege to be living at all, now.
To be one of the rank and file, faithfully working,
learning, growing, and, at the same time, extending
the influence of liberty, knowledge and humanity,
is to be a hero where Liberalism needs her heroes
most, and where there is room for all."
This editor in reviewing the contributions
made by James Parton as he guided this idea says,
"Of his own views of Liberal work we had
many expressions, but the substance of them is
found in the conclusion of his letter to the Congress of the National' Liberal League, held at St.
Louis, September 25, 1882, and which is as important now as then. It is doubtless the message he
would still send to every Liberal from his grave,
were it possible:
'I need net remind you of the importance of
a cordial union ernonq the friends of the cause. All
who are aiming to promote human welfare by secular means, should attach little importance to differences of opinion in matters of detail.
The great point is to secure A LIVING SOCIETY OF SECULARITY,
in every town of the
United States, meeting for mutual and personal
good!' "
._
This is what Col. Robert Ingersoll meant by.
sensible churches to take the place of those
churches which refuse to advance into the present
age of individual liberty, science and humanity.
Mr. Parton was very fond of comparing Wesley and the Methodists, with Voltaire and the encyclopedists of France. He would say, "You see
it is all in organization. Those who will not organize are soon lost. Truth, without a home, will die."
Of course, the Methodist church is not only still around but exerting considerable continuing influence on our total culture. Voltaire is a museum piece-no organization ever flowed from him,
qr his ideas. The impact is diffused. Many of the
ideas still fight for a space in our world.
Mr. Parton also attempted in all of his writings and his influence then to make the State and
its duties and services become a secular church. He
made popular the phrase "The true religion of a
citizen of the United States is the United States of
September 1976/American Atheist - 19

America."
Well, that sets me off. I am rather happy
that Mr. Parton did not succeed in that idea and
that the course of American Atheism has run in
another direction. The Atheist of today is not eager to have the state for god either. We are the
single group which talks of the bastions of the individuals being maintained against any encroachments, by the state, by computers or even by science. All we have is life. If we can not, at least,
each of us, develop a life style of our own, a
unique personality, and a reaching out to the attainment of our best potentials, we may as well go
back to god as to the state.
Well-again--H.
L. Green, the editor of the
Freethinkers' Magazine, the tenth volume of which
I now have, decided that he would found and sustain such a radical group and that he would have a
free reading room in Syracuse, New York. He managed to maintain it for five years before it floundered. After that he went to the Executive Committee of the National Liberal League for three years.
I have been trying to trace that group now; it was
considerable and very influential, for about five
years.
From there, Mr. Green founded the New
York State Freethinkers' Association which had
a national reputation, particularly for the conventions which, it held for nine years.
When Mr. Green's health failed, so did the
Freethinkers' Association, and it was then that he
retired to the publication
of his Freethinkers'
Magazine.
I intend to take the next several weeks to
acquaint you with the big fights of that era-and

you will be surprised at just how contemporary

they sound today even though this was allover
eighty odd years ago.
Meanwhile, of course, the modern Atheists
are trying to attain such an organization and such
backing that we will be able to set up the kind of
community
inter-action and learning experience
which Mr. Ingersoll saw as a "Secular Church" with
a Sunday-school attached thereto where all children can learn those things which are natural and
precious to human life. When the first such church
gets going, you can just bet that this Atheist, me,
will be in the middle of it all.
Until that time, we continue with these programs as a part of the learning process about American Atheism.

This informational
broadcast is brought to
you as a public service by the Society of Separationists,
Inc., a non-profit,
non-political,
taxexempt, educational organization dedicated to the
complete and absolute separation of state and
church. This series of American Atheist Programs
is continued
through listener generosity.
The
Society of Separationists (Inc.) predicates its philosophy on American Atheism. For more information, or for a free copy of the script of this program, write toP. O. Box 2117, Austin, Texas.
That zip is 78768. If you want the free copy of
this particular script ask for number 276-292. The
address again for you is P. O. Box 2117, Austin,
Texas, and that zip is 78768.
I will be with you again next week, same day
of the week, same time, same station. Until then, I
do thank you for listening and "good-bye" for
now.

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The American

Atheist

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Centre

ROll

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(alphabetically listed)
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" ...0r

Not

Be' ,

to

Barry Maher
Sometimes, thinks the lord, being god the
father might not be the best job in Heaven; or even
on Earth for that matter. The Earth. Now there's
the rub, right there. Just one petty little problem
after another. Heaven could be so much more
heavenly without having to worry about the future
of those ... those ...
"Very well, cherub. Show him in." Heaven
without Earth. I'd be caretaker without a care, he
reflects.

bunch. Having a little

mate, is he?"

trouble

with

the new cli-

"No lord," Peter ventures cautiously.

that Priest, ... the other one."

"Not

" 'The other one'. Well, that certainly narrows it down, doesn't it? Listen Peter, if you don't
get on with it, you're going to incur my almighty
wrath. Why in the time you've wasted, I could have
rebuilt the entire planet, planted a few new stars,
and drained a sea or two, why if ... "

"Without a job, is what you mean," offers

Peter meekly, entering through the golden doors.

"O.K.

lord, settle down

please, I was only

"I've told you not to do that!"

"WHAT PRIEST, SHITHEAD!!?"

"Can I help it if the thoughts of the lord are
so powerful that they fill the very air, making manifest to one and all the glorious workings of your
celestial mind which can ... r r
"Oh,
please."

alright.

Just

calm

down,

will

you

Peter drops back as if to punt, fumbling

pers into the air.

pa-

"Walsh?" This squeek is more a suqqestion

than an answer.
"Hunh?"

Peter has been fussing with a mess of papers.

The more he fusses, the more papers end up on the
marble floor of the throne room. He's a small man
and gives the impression of being meticulous.about
the detail and oblivious to the chaos which always
seems to surround him. A newcomer might guess
that in life he had been a Certified Public Accountant, or perhaps a parish priest.

"Father Walsh, " Peter offers, pulling a dogeared folder out. of the mess that he's carrying.
"Here's his file."
"His file! Beware of sacrelige Peter. What
need have I, the all-knowing god of ~osts, of a
file."

"What is it this time, Peter?"

then.
"LORD!"
he begins, in his usual distressed
tone. Everything has been a crisis to Peter since he
was retired to Paradise.

"PETER!" intones the lord, using his Chartton Heston voice.

Peter wi Its appropriately.
"Lord,"
he tries again, in a slightly more
conversational manner, "Lord, you know I hate to
disturb you ... "
"Like

hell,

"

under

the almighty

"But," continues the bureaucrat,

... that priest again. The crazy one."

breath.
"it's

that

"Rasputin?"
asks the lord. "I thought we'd
seen the last of him when he went down to ,M.'s

September 1976/American Atheist 22

Everyone has to assert themselves now and

Peter cringes suitably, but remains silent.

"Go on, go on," continues the god of Abraham et. al. "Read it to me then."
Peter adjusts his pince nez bifocals. As a
heavenly spirit, his ey'es are perfect of course, but
the image seems to impress his subordinates. He
reads: "Walsh, Reverend Francis Xavier; age 33;
-born Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Decem .. ."
"Never mind that crap!" The sky darkens.
Sitting on a marble throne all day has done nothing
to improve the divine disposition. " Just the pertinent facts, if you please."
"Oh. Sure
Father Walsh was
tions of Heaven
done that. Now if

lord. Well, I've said before that

enough to shake the very foundaand this time he may just have
you remember ... r r .

("If I remember? Oh god!")

"Sorry. Anyway, about three years ago, I
got the first really disturbing report. From Tinkerbell. .. You know ... over in the Guardian Angels?"
"Tinkerbell!

less remarks about 'the good shephers Walsh and

his flock of black sheep'. So young Walsh turned
the car over to some local welfare case. Even if the
fire hadn't decimated the dealership, I don't imagine that they ever would have offered another vehicle to that parish."

!?"

Peter is irritated. "Well, you know how hard

it is to find decent police help up here, what with
the opposition getting all the top prospects. If
you'd listen to my ideas for a free agent draft instead of this ridiculous merit system that Junior
thought up, then maybe ... rr

"PETER!!!" The word sweeps across the

room, picking up The Rock and depositing him at
the base of the farthest wall beside the golden
doors. Papers are everywhere, several remain fluttering in the air, like the feathers of some cut-rate
Icarus, only to settle finally on a disheveled, but
not unusually distraught, Peter.
"In the beginning, " he blurts, grasping a
familiar phrase, while searching through the debris
on hands and knees, "Walsh started small. They all
do, of course. First, it was Zen and sensitivity sessions. Then there was the problem about the Sunday collection. Seems he had a surplus of welfare
types in his parish, so he took it into his head
one week to distribute money instead of collecting
it. The books were totally fouled up, as you can
well imagine."
"Huumrn,"
hummed Jehovah, in harmony
with the music of the spheres.
"I had the figures here a moment ago, lord,
but. .. t r Peter has gathered up most of the scattered forms, files, etc. in a bundle in his arms. His
attempts to organize them have no apparent effect
on the disorder.
"Never mind Peter, it's not important.
ly get on with it. What happened next?"

Kind-

"Well, Father Walsh's Bishop was pretty upset with him, but up here we just sort of let the
matter slide, figuring it to be just a well-meaning
prank of another Iiberal minded novice. Anyway,
very shortly, we got another report on him. Didn't
want to accept the new car provided annually to
the parish priests by the local car dealership. Some
nonsense about being economically united with his
flock. The owner of the car lot, a member in good
standing of a ve~y fine suburban parish, I might
point out, was extremely indignant. Not only did
he refuse to take Walsh's car back, but he was also
led to be somewhat vocal with several rather taste-

"After that," continues Peter, "it was just

one thing after another: block clubs, welfare rights
meetings, rent boycotts .. .whatever the issue, our
friend Walsh would waste no time hauling his ...
er ... himself up into the pulpit to take a side. He
set poor against rich, worker against boss, tenant
against landlord. Such a disturbance. So much unpleasantness."
Peter, warming to his topic, has lost all of
his papers and is waving his arms around as if conducting the music of his sentences. It is a very rare
display of what is, for him, emotional extravagance. "Socialism! Bad enough, he lowered his
church into the gutter of daily existence, but to
attempt to ally it politically with the very lowest
order of good-for-nothing ... r r a meaningful pause,
then he continues. "Imagine calling Jesus a pinko.
Blasphemy, nothing less than BLASPHEMY." The
bureaucrat wipes the sweat from his holy brew as
he finishes.
"Certainly, Peter." The lord has heard this
kind of diatribe before, and makes a mental note
not to invite Peter and Norman Thomas to the
same party. "But don't you think," he says with
Divine Tolerance," that these things are meerly indications of his youth. He is, you must remember,
a member of his generation. Long hair? social action, living for the moment, marijuana, these seem
to be simply signs of the age. I wouldn't let it upset
me unduly if I were you. No matter, what did you
decide to do about all this?"
"I

brought

the matter up with

"And what did Junior say?"

"Well lord, you know Jesus. He didn't seem
to be very concerned. He even thought that giving
instead of collecting money on Sunday might be a
qood idea once in a while. No head for business
matters at all, I'm afraid. He even mentioned having Walsh commended."
.
"So you let the matter stand?" The lord god
is capable of skepticism too.
"Wel" naturally, I couldn't disobey, but on
the other hand the situation was hardly tolerable."
"So?"

September 1976/American Atheist - 23

rl

your son."

Well, lord, luckily Walsh's Bishop once again

found out what was going on and decided to step
in personally, so I didn't actually have to do anythinq."

filling their
cheese.

living

room

with

small curd cottage

"The Bishop found out by himself, of

course?" Sarcasm might not be appropriate
in
Heaven, he muses, but Old Peter would try the patience of a Saint. And come to think of it, he often
did.

"I wonder," ponders he who rules Heaven

and Earth, "if I could trade you plus Ruth and
Gehrig for Rasputin? .. WHAT ARE YOU TALK-

"Why lord, such language!"

ING ABOUT, TIME MAGAZINE!!?"

"The 'god is dead' issue," is the simple reply.

"Well, ... er ... ahrn. .. You know, I mean after all, Heaven works in mysterious ways, right
lord?" Peter winks conspiritorily,
with him it
seems almost an unnatural act.
"Oh

wow,"

says god without

enthusiasm.

"Anyway,
the Bishop called our friend on
the carpet. Asked Walsh just exactly what he
thought he was doing, stirring up all this trouble
and on the lord's time, too. Walsh answered that
according to his interpretation
of the New Testament, it was his function to do whatever he could
to improve the lives of his parishoners."
"He did, did he?" asks the lord noncommittally. He's pretty sure that, by voicing disapproval
of Walsh's statement, he'd be running the risk of
another silly argument with Jesus over policy. Jesus' concern was firmly rooted in the present and
god the father tended toward Peter's idea of
Heaven as the Land of the Future.
"The Bishop," Peter continues, "told him
that it was not up to him to interpret the Bible to
satisfy his whims. Told him his concern should be
with souls and not bodies. He repeated that several times: 'leave the transitory life of the body to
the gurus and the politicians and worry about the
future life of the soul!' This last sentence is delivered by Peter as if it were an imprecation to the
lord. God looks askance at him and Peter, catching
himself, blushes slightly.
"At any rate," he says in a more subdued
tone, "all was quiet from Father Walsh for quite a
while after that. Then ... Iet me see, it must have'
been just about the time when you finally made
the cover of Time magazine that we got another
complaint about ... "
"Hold

it, please."

"Hunh?"
"Just what the hell are you talking about
now?" asks god in exactly the tone of voice that
you might use to ask someone why they insist on

September 1976/ American Atheist - 24

Events in Eternity are totally beyond time as

we experience it, of course. However, if the resulting furor had taken place on Earth, the most celebrated of those who had the misfortune to be around for the start of it would scarcely be a memory by the time that it had subsided.
When the pieces fall together again, Peter
resumes business as usual. "Anyway lord, as I was
saying, this time Walsh was out to stop war, or
maybe it was just some specific war that they were
having down there. It's pretty hard to keep track
of all their conflicts. At any rate, our Father Walsh
was not only protesting it, he had even graduated
to breaking the law: blocking offices, sitting in,
lying in, sleeping in. Whatever. To top it all off, on
several occasions, he was actually incarcerated."
"Peter,"
interrupts the lord, "this doesn't
seem to be all that serious. As I said, this kind of
thing appears to be fairly widespread among those
of Walsh's generation."
"It gets worse, lord. Oh, does it ever get
worse. Just have a little patience and ... "

"PETER!! Watch it!"

"Sorry,"
says Peter almost casually. "Well
to get on with it, the Bishop calls Father Walsh in
and gives him the same lecture as before. Walsh replies that this time he hasn't been trying to make
the present life better for his parishoners, this time
he has been fighting for something more basic: the
preservation of those lives, the continued existence
of those souls that he was told were his concern.
This, of course, borders strongly on the blasphemous and the Bishop tells him so. Those souls, says
the Bishop correctly, will continue to live no matter; what happens to the body in the here and now.
(or perhaps I should say, 'in the there and then').
As a priest, Father Walsh should be worrying not about the qual ity or the duration of the journey of
life, but rather about the spiritual bankroll of the
soul and the end of that journey. As you can see
lord, the Bishop is quite an effective speaker. And
he makes it very clear to our friend that, from that

point on, his sole concern," noticing the pun, Peter

smiles, surprised at his own wit, "his sole concern
should be with seeing that his flock earn their ultimate reward in Heaven."
"Fine,"
says god. "So everything
What's the problem?"

is O.K.

"The problem lord, is that he died."

"What?"
"Father
judged."

Walsh died and he's here to

be

"So judge him," says the lord, with what in

a lesser being might seem to be impatience. "Can't
you do anyth ing by yourself anymore? I've got a
universe to run, you know. I can't be bothered
with every little ... "
"This

is sort of a special case. I think that

"Don't intertupt me, goddamn it," Jehovah

interrupts. "Listen, get out of here! Go hassle the
Pope or something, will you?"

'What was that?"

"You
go to Hell."

shouldn't.

I belong in Hell. I have to

"Please,"
The good lord looks slightly
pained as if he might be suppressing a cosmic
belch. "Enough with the humility. I get enough of
that from the kid. Jesus! I can hardly stand it
sometimes." He pauses a moment, perhaps to consider the frustrations of fatherhood. Then: "Listen,
We'll take a look at the record and then /'11 decide
where you should go. You may very well end up in
Hell yet, so don't think you're so smart with all
this false modesty crap."
He starts looking around the room. "Let's
see now ... what did that boob do with your record?"

"PETER! GET IN HERE!!!"

Thunder
cracks and it rains on L.A. for three days straight.
"Yes, lord," from the face peering around
the door. "Here I am." Peter follows his head into
the throne room.

"About
Father Walsh... ?" asks the Rock,
hanging in there.

"You forgot the good father's records." The

voice is controlled, but then, "You moron!" blurts
out in an aside that can be heard allover Heaven.

"Oh for. .. O.K., O.K., send him in. I'll judge

him personally. I don't understand what your
problem is Peter."

"Oh," says Peter, "I have them right here."

He hands the file over. "Sorry." A little bit frightened, Peter starts for the door.

"You'll

see, lord."

"Just send him in and get out of here,"

says the prime mover, resigned to his fate.
Peter leaves, scattering papers and penci Is
on the way out. Then through the massive doors
comes a small figure in clerical garb, looking incredibly humble, but nontheless standing straight.
He approaches the throne slowly as the lord eyes
him.
"Father Walsh," says god, using his cerimonial voice, very dignified and not too overbearing to
be tolerated.
"Yes sir, oh lord," answers the priest clearly.
"What have you to say for yourself, Fath ...
er... man." The sire of the Universe remembers
just in time how .ridiculous it sounds for him to refer to anyone as 'Father'.
"You shouldn't,

sir."

"Listen,
stay put willya.
Let's get this
cleared up as quickly as possible. I feel like creating, and when the muse calls ... Well you know
how it is." Th is last the lord del ivers in a rather
confidential
tone, a tone he only uses when talking to himself.
"Certainly,
know better.

lord,"

offers Peter, who should

'What?" says the lord, focusing on his chief

aid. "You do like hell, you little runt. Only I create
_and don't you forget it."
"Yes,

lord,"

says Peter, hearing the word.

"Now, let's see," says the final cause looking

'through the records. "You're a priest, a shepherd.
Now as you probably know, we judge a priest to
a large extent by the job he does shepherding his
flock."
Walsh nods respectfully. Politely, god nods
back, then asks, "How did he do, Peter?"

September 1976/ American Atheist - 25

"Oh, he did very well there, lord. Very well

indeed. In fact, he was actually close to the record
for saving lost souls; that is, given the era and the
conditions under which he labored. However, lord,
his methods were, to. say the very least, unorthodox. Why he ... "
"Unorthodox?

Did he save souls?" interupts

god.
"Well,
it ...

yes, lord.

fornia

slipping

into

the

Pacific.

Later comes Peter's voice, once again from

the base of the wall. This time however, sounding
even more sickly than usual, it comes from underneath Father Walsh, himself looking none too
healthy, even for a dead man. "No, lord, no! ... But
you can't ... " Here the voice quickly
interrupts
itself, "I mean, please hear this case fully.
His
methods ... h is methods ... "

"Oh

Peter throws up his hands to indicate that he

is at a loss for words. This is pretty unlikely and,
and, as if to prove it, he continues almost immediately. "Like I said before, it shakes the very foundations of Heaven."
"Listen,
Pipsqueak."
says the lord, addressing Peter by one of his celestial titles, "nothing, I
repeat, nothing shakes the foundations of Heaven.
I am the lord god, who liveth and reigneth forever
and ever ... r r
lord. Certainly."

"Father
Walsh," says Jehovah, turning to
the priest, "I wish to take this opportunity
to commend you for saving so many souls. Some people
around here with no imagination, think that a soul
isn't properly saved unless it is saved the wav.souls
were saved 2,000 years ago. But, those of us who
keep abreast of the times, we know better, don't
we?" If this were not the ruler of all creation
speaking, one might get the impression that he is
trying to get Father Walsh to side with him against
Peter.
With sacred rnaqnirnitv,
the lord goes on,
"We don't think that we have to examine the record any further. We think that we can judge ... "

"No, lord! STOP!!!" cries Peter.

"Peter!" snaps the lord. He hates to be interrupted when he's doing Louis XIV. "Are you telling me how to run this show?"
"Please, lord. You can't allow ... "
"I WHAT?"
"You can't,"
a little shakey.

violently

Many. But the way he did

r r

"Amen,

rather

says Peter feeling

more than

"YOU ARE TELLING ME ... " the cosmic

outrage that follows, covers his words. One of the
more minor consequences of his holy fury is CaliSeptember 1976/ American Atheist - 26

god,"

says

he.

"Alright.

Alright."

"Father Walsh," god continues, "I apologize

for the delay, but if you don't mind, for the sake
of this creton, would you be so kind as to tell us
how you managed to save so many sinners."
"Surely, sir ... er ... lord," begins the priest.
"First,
I waited until they came to confession.
Even the biggest sinners seem to come occasionally."
"Yes, go on."
"Then
I confessed them, taking care that
they made a thorough confession. I absolved them
from all their sins, even any that they may have
overlooked, as I was empowered."
"Fine,
cedure."
"And

fine,

all according

then I murdered

to standard

pro-

them."

r~

God seems striken. Then there

nothingness, at least, so it seems to Walsh. For, just as human ears can not hear sounds above a certain
range, the human mind, and especially this human
mind, is incapable of registering the Universe's response to Walsh's statement.
After a long time which seems like an instant, Walsh is able to make out the words, 'YOU
MURDERED THEM???' floating out of the Chaos
which has taken over the throne room. He waits
as god fights to regain control over the Universe.
Then, as order starts returning, he answers.
"Yes." Walsh, a man of great faith, has of
course, understood nothing of the incredible loss
of meaning he has experienced.
He is the child
who, unable to grasp death as a concept, doesn't
recognize the corpse in the living room. The same
child who, not seeing the future corpse in the mirror, might easily squander time in ever-growing
handfuls as he reaches for the future.
"Yes,"

he repeats, "while

they were still in

the purity of a state of grace... 50 they all went to

Heaven. No one on Earth ever suspected that I ... "
"You murdered your flock!"
planets fell out of orbit.

Several small

"I got them into Heaven." He wasn't contradicting the lord, this is just the way he thinks of
his deed.

"Peter!l?" In charity, let us simply note that

god is less than pleased. Much less.
"Yes, lord. Yes, he did get them into Heaven." We admitted them all, and quite a large number it was too. All hardened sinners, but in a state
of grace when they died. So we let them in. We had
to.
"You ... YOU ... YOu. .. " It is, of course,
impossible for the divinity, himself, to blaspheme.
He certainly can give it one hell of a try though.
Later, angrily, "You murdered your parishoners ...

You go to Hell!"
"Wait, lord,"

intrudes

Peter again.

"Wait nothing. This ... this is my priest. i

put him in charge of souls for me on Earth and ...
he kills, murders ... "
"But, lord ... "
"But nothing. Why didn't you send "him
straight to Hell, yourself. Do you realize the magnitude of what he's done. The actual murders are the
least of it .. .why if this ever caught on ... " The
word is, momentarily at least, silent with consternation.
"Well, lord," says Peter quickly,
the silence, "it's like this."

afraid of

"Like what?" regains our absolute, trembling slightly, perhaps simply with rage.

priest,

"Like this. Father Walsh," Peter adresses the

"why
did you murder those people?"

"Why Saint Peter, to assure them of their

final reward in Heaven, of course. They were,
after all, my responsibility
and quite frankly, I
doubt if any of them would have made it by any
other means".
"That,
checked it."
"50

lord, was really the motivation.

what?"

asks the

creator,

coining

I've

phrase.
"So? . .well, let's see. Father Walsh, do you
know that murder is a mortal sin?"
"Not to mention
lord parenthetically.
"Yes

sir,"

subversion,"

answers the

mumbles the

homicidal

"And
did you confess those murders?"
Hooking his thumbs around his suspenders, Peter
leans toward the witness.
"No," says Walsh wondering
noticed those suspenders before.

why he hadn't

"And why not?"

"Well, you see sir, I couldn't confess them
because in order to make a good confession, you
must be sorry for what you've done. And as a
priest and a true believer, I couldn't possibly be
sorry that I had made it possible for those people
to attain the ultimate goal of human life. I was
happy for their success and proud of the part that
I was able to play."
"Oh lord," says god, uninspired,
ning to catch on."

"I'm

begin-

"So, if I may continue," says Peter, glancing

significantly at his god. "You knew, Father Walsh,
that you would die with the murders on your
sou/."
"Oh yes sir, definitely.
But I feft that it
would be worth it. I mean, I would go to Hell, but
all of these lost sheep would make it to Heaven.
For their sake, I figured that I could learn to endure the eternal torments of damnation."
The
faintest trace of a smile seems to flicker around the
corners of his mouth as he speaks.
"Shit!"
says the lord, then grumbles something rather unkind about sheep and shepherds.
"Oh well, that's that. He's got us Petey-boy, he's
got us."
"I guess so, lord." Then, turning to the
priest to formally deliver the verdict, "O.K. Father
Walsh, for cold-bloodedly
murdering members of
your parish, ... er... ah, rather for unselfishly sacrificing yourself so that these sinners could attain
salvation, go to Heaven. Very tricky. Giving up
your eternal life for others is, of course, the consummate act of love. So we can't do other than reward you for your sacrifice by givin9 you the eternal life that you gave up. Those are the rules, I

September 1976/ American Atheist - 27

rl

cleric.

one thing in mind: no Earth ... no Heaven. Their

belief is the very stuff of our life."

guess.
"Peter," pronounces the lord regretfully, "I
told you that this salvation stuff was a pretty 'iffy'
proposition. Now we have to reward this dude for
murder. Word of this gets around and a few faithful fanatics might very well kill off the whole damn
planet; send them all to their future without even
waiting for them to live their lives first. Can't have
that or we're all out of business."
"Alright Walsh," adds the lord, "go get your
wings and harp and things. And remember, hold
your tongue. You're one of us now, so just keep

"Looks like it might be the very stuff of our

death, if you ask me," laments Peter, turning to
lead Walsh out the door.
"Nobody
asked you," says god disspirited.
"Never mind the sarcasm, just get him out of here.
And then fix me a drink, willya Peter? Something a
little stronger than wine, if you please. You might
see if that last bunch left any of their nectar
around ... r r

.: CaribbeanParadise
(SUnday Morning).

Myth
We had a god once
entity of love and beauty
but yet
removed.
From the east
came songs of immortality
but it was only
the dawn.
We searched for truth
and in the west
found only
shadows.
As we gazed upward
the night reflected
our mere
existence.
Upon this understanding
we turned inward
and our search
ended.
-Bobbie Jenke

The straggling ragged

Procession of worsh ippers
Their abysmal poverty
Glaringly evident
In their mended clothes
And painfully thin bodies,
Contrasting sharply
With the look of faith
And devotion in their eyes,
Proceed in good humor
To the sky piercing
Cathedral
To be greeted by
Church dignitaries
In brocaded finery
Plump bodies
And jewled hands,
Who told their flock
Of the rewards awaiting
Them
In the Hereafter.
-Norman Smith

. Biology
..~Qot~~

Jesus, Jesus, quite contrary,

Issued from a virgin, Mary.
Fortunately, parturition
Since he followed the old tradition.
-Robert Gordon

September 1976/American Atheist - 28

WHAT IS A GOD?
od is our mighty fortress.
,~ ,~~~ ',"'"' ", our COpl'I0 t
~,;~~ ~ our guide. judge.
~~~'~~
father. and alibi.
God followed us to the Pacific. the Rhine. to the bathroom.
the Pole. the moon.
And wherever He sent us. wherever He followed us.
God was there waiting for us.
God is aVoice speaking to us in the night.
a convergence of events leading to a sales opportunity.
an invisible means of support.
He is the last word of dialogue in a movie about an old man.
a kid. and a dog. the author of the Gideon Bible.
and the hope of the future with the unknown up His sleeve.
He is yesterday's justification. todays improved radial tire.
tomorrow's game show host when the fix is in.
He comes in all colors. black.brown, yellow. and red.
And He's white all over.
He knows when you've been sleeping. He knows when you're awake.
He lifted the Bambino's homer into the second tier. and
sometimes He lets John Wayne miss. just to keep you on your toes.
God likes hamburgers. weekends. insects.
Catholics. Protestants and the occasional Jew.
hard work. good neighbors. and Bold Enforcer in the fourth at Belmont.
He is Omnipresent. Eternal. Omniscient. and
an honorary citizen of these United States. whatever the country of
His birth. But after youve succumbed to cancer. or
been crushed by a car. or expired by sucking chest wound or
heart failure. when you've killed yourself. or been killed.
or just plain died. He can make everything right
with those two little words:
"Hello. sailor!"
BY SEAN KEllY
~v~ :,1

. ~~

FOUND IN AN OLD NATIONAL

~/

LAMPOON;

DATED 1975

BOOK

REVIEW

Pagan

Christs

There are few, if any, books being written

currently in the United States trying to develop the
philosophy of American Atheist, expostulating
on
state/church
separation or doing exhausting and
definitive study of the precepts of rei igion.
We need many such books, but we continue
to rely on the works of the rationalists of the last
century.
Time and again reprints are brought out
of these works.
Each time the costs are high, the
paper is not that good and the bindings are cheap.
Because we are Atheists, it is felt that we are "fair
game" to be "ripped off" by a publisher now and
then, here and there, who wants to make a fast
buck.
Unless, and until, we begin to reprint and to
publish our own "old classic" authors and our new
"struggl ing" authors, we can expect to be treated
in this way.
It is instructive that when these "old" books
are reprinted, we have little or no say as to what
will come out or when. The title that strikes some
fancy somewhere is the one that will be done. Or
the one which has fewer pages, and hence car. be
done more cheaply is cranked out.
Nonetheless we try to bring your attention to
a book a month .' old or new, rip-off or bargain,
good or bad, so that you will get a spectrum of
such writing to analyze.
The book for this month, Pagan Christs, is
one of the old classics. In the current reprint issue
it is a 171 page, hard back book, measuring 5W' x
8~", The review copy which we have has heavy
stains along the bottom of the cover. The dust
cover, however, sports a bright, new and brilliant.
red design.
J. M. Robertson was one of the deans of the
school of Bible criticism. His works are always well
done. He was a man to be envied, an Englishman
who was self taught, living in the period of brilliant
attacks upon Judiac-Christianitv
in that country.
He spent thirteen years in Parliament - and
we can equate that with a member of the United
States Congress being an open, avowed and notorious Atheist, and see how far ahead England has

September 1976/American Atheist - 30

been

of the

United

States,

even 75 years ago.

The first edition of the book was published in

1903, in England. The main aim of the book being
to show that alleged historical events on which
Christianity
was based had never reallyoccured,
it
was necessary for Robertson
to prove that the
reputed founder of Christianity,
Jesus Christ, had
never existed.
Robertson employed a vast canvas to advance
this theory since he was approaching the scholars
of England with it. But, for the nonspecialist reader the complexity
of the argument and the abundance of detail distract attention from the essential
outline.
This edition of the book has been pruned to
enable the ordinary, contemporary
reader to gain a
quick
overview.
Lengthy
refutations
of prior
authors,and references to books that are inaccessible to American
readers have been eliminated.
In order to show that Jesus Christ was a
Robertson assumes that he is one of a class of
savior-gods.
He then shows that throughout
the
world these savior-gods had common features, and
common antecedents.
He does not try to lead back to one cultural
centre from wh ich all were dispersed, but rather
tries to prove his case that all the gods have evolved
from the same type of primitive ritual.
The main theme of this book then is that all
rei igions - even as we know them today - have
evolved from primitive concepts and savage rites,
including human sacrifice and cannibalism. So far
from Chistianity
being an exception,
it is a conspicuous example of such development.
The history of religion
manufacture of gods by men.

is a history

of the

The price of this book is outrageous - but the

overview which it is gives may well be worth the
price simply so you can argue with your religious
friends.
See inside front cover for order blank, at
$5.95 - and on this one, allow at least a month for
delivery. It comes from New Jersey.

THE SOCIETY OF SEPARATIONISTS,

Inc.

Aims and Purposes

1. To stimulate and promote feedom 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 ehtical 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 arts and sciences and of all problems
- -perpetuation~nd
enrichment of human (and other) life.

affecting the maintenance,

7. To engage in such social, educational, legal and cultural activity as will be useful and beneficial
to the members of this Society (of Separationists, lnc.l and to society as a whole.

Definitions
1. Atheism is the life philosophy (Weltanschauung) of persons who are free tram 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 aims at establishing a system of philosophy and ethics verifiable
by experience, independent of all arbitrary assumptions of authority or creeds.
3. The Materialist philosophy 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 -- canand must create his own destiny; and that his potential for good and higher development is for
all practical pruposes unlimited.

The Society of Separationists, lnc., is a non-political. non-profit, educational, tax-exempt organization. Contril;>1,!91bO,t\
tions to the Society are tax deductible for you. Our primary function is as an educational "watch-dog" orqanization to preserve the precious and viable principle of separation of state and church. Membership is open to those "T"I
who are in accord with our "Aims and Purposes" as above indicated. Membership dues is $12.00, per person, per-" v
year. An incident of membership is receipt of a monthly copy of the "American Atheist Insider Newsletter". We
are currently forming local chapters and membership in the National organization automatically gives-you entrance to your local chapter.

The Truth,
at last, Revealed

about

Shocking? Perhaps. But it is only a small

part of the fascinating mountain of evidence gathered in FREEDOM UNDER SIEGE by attorney
Dr. Madalyn Murray O.Hair and her researchers as
part of their ongoing fight to.preserve the First Amendment guaranty of the separation of state and
church - a guaranty of not just freedom of religion but freedom from religion.

FREEDOM
UNDER SIEGE
by Madalyn

Organiz ed Religion

Murray O'Hair

Organized religion is working to destroy your

freedom. It strives to influence your elected representatives and to write the laws under which
you live, to regulate your children's schools and
dictate what is taught there, to censor your entertainment and choose what you and your neighbor can see and read, and to determine for all
women the right to control their lives and their
bodies. And it is your money that makes this
tyranny possible. The churches have their billions
invested in profit-making
enterprises; and their
wealth grows daily from gifts, grants, rents, interest, capital gains and government subsidies. They
are now financial giants, no longer dependent upon
their parishioners for support. What they count on
is their freedom from taxes. The churches' billions
are accumulated at your expense.

Official
government
and church
figures
prove that churches have as their membership only
a minority of our citizens. This books shows the
continuing pressures that this minority exerts on
the lives of the majority of Americans.
Dr. O'Hair deals with politics, not religion;
with separation of state and church, 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.
FREEDOM UNDER SIEGE dares to focus
on the facts about this growing threat - a threat
that our politicians and the press, radio and television have been unwilling to confront.
HARDCOVER
~i

- 282 pAGES - $8.95

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