$2.

00

The Journal

Of Atheist News And Thought

.Second

World Atheist
-

Meet,

GIORDANO BRUNO
Giordano Bruno was burnt to death on the 17th of
February, 1600.
When an effort was made to find a picture of his likeness for this magazine, it was discovered that the church
destroyed his image as well as his body. The illustration
here is from the imagination of an artist only.
Likewise, little of the details of the life of Bruno are
known. He entered the order of the Dominicans at
Naples when he was fifteen years old. Soon accused of
impiety because he could not accept the immaculate
conception or the idea of transubstantiation,
he fled
from Rome about 1576. He hated Aristotle and eagerly
accepted the new ideas of Copernicus.
A scholar, he was accepted as a lecturer at the University of Paris even though he refused the mass. After a
short sojourn in England, where his principal books were
written he returned to Paris, but was soon driven from
his refuge because of his continuing support of Copernicus and his anti-Aristotelian stance.
The emissaries of the inquisition were then on his
track. On a visit to Venice he was apprehended and
thrown into prison. In 1593 he was brought to Rome.
Seven years were spent in confinement there. He was
burnt at the stake, while alive, with his tongue and
mouth bound.
It is said that his last act of defiance
was to turn his face from the cross which was poked at
him on hoisted stick.
Bruno's works were neglected for centuries, but in
1889 a strong popular movement forced the erection of
a monument to him in the Campo dei Fiori, the place of
his execution. We honor him in this month of his death.

HENRY HAVELOCK ELLIS

Henry Havelock Ellis was born on February 2nd,
1859 in Croydon, Surrey, England. His primary contribution to humankind was in his study of human sexual
behaviour.
Ellis was the son of a sea captain and hence was able
to travel, the first sojourn away from his home being
Australia. He returned to England in 1879, at age 20 to
enter a hospital to study medicine, which he did two
years later.
His major work consisted of a seven-volume study
titled Studies in the Psychology of Sex. When a legal
dispute arose over the first book, the judge hearing the
case publicly charged that the book's claim- to being a
scientific study was "a pretence, (sic) adopted for the'
purpose of selling a filthy publication."
The other volumes were published in the United
States but were legally available only to ehe medical profession until 1935. In colleges of that era the books were
kept under lock and key and it was necessary to prove
that a class requirement was being fulfilled in order to
call them out.
Ellis' work was one of the first and assisted in clearing
the air so that there could be open discussion of human
sexuality.
Later he became a champion of women's rights as
well as sex education.
We honor him, essayist, editor, physician and freedom fighter, in this, his, month of birth.

PLUVIOSE (February)

Lf[}{]O~ O~~lliJrn

NEWS
"BE CRAZY"
"COME LET US~TOGETHER"

Second World Atheist Meet, INDIA

ARTICLES
Giordano Bruno Organization

FEATURED COLUMNISTS
Roots of Atheism - Abner Kneeland

Atheist Masters - Joseph Lewis

11

From The Mine into The Hopper - Ignatz Sahula Dyke

13

Will The Real Scientist Stand Up - Gerald Tholen

15

American Atheist Radio Series - The First Commandment

17

REGULAR FEATURES
Editorial - Jon G. Murray

Staff
Production
Gale Schreier
Ralph Shirley
Richard Smith
Beverly Walker

Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Managing Editor
Jon G. Murray
Artist
Felix Santana
Poetess
Robin Eileen Murray-O'Hair
Angeline Bennett

Non-Resident Staff
Ignatz Sahula-Dycke
Gerald Tholen

Madalyn & Staff,

I don't know how it happened, but the notation of
"Pittsburgh" [on page 1 of the Frimaire (December)
magazine] isWRONG, WRONG, WRONG! That article is
from the Chicago Reader and is the Illinois Chapter's
number. You work your fingers to the bone & what
happens? Pittsburgh gets the credit! Auurrgghh! If it
isn't too much trouble, please print a correction next
time around. Hang together, as Poor Richard said,
Chris Oleynichak
Secy, Pittsburgh Chap.

~.ON

119Bl; VOL. 23, NO.2

THE COVER--------.

Ernst Haeckel, German physician and

biologist, born February 16, 1834, a professor of zoology and com parative anatomy,
was the apostle of Darwinism in Germany
for over 50 years and probably responsible
for the acceptance of Darwinism on the
continent. He treated it as the cardinal
conception of modern biology and championed it everywhere.
Work"ing on the basis of Darwinism: his
original classification of the whole animal
class into Protozoa and Metazoa was made
and still stands. He drew up the first geneological tree of the various orders of all animals.
He regarded psychology as merely a
branch of physiology and through this study
was led to deny the immortality of the soul,
the freedom of the will and the existence of
a personal god.
In 1877, he thoroughly rebuted the idea
that evolution was a theory (an unproved
hypothesis) and as such should not be taught
in the schools.
An open and avowed Atheist, we salute
Ernst Haeckel, who was also the father of
ecology, in this month of his bi rth.

READER'S YEAR IN REVIEW 1980

Robert C. Hobson

Th. a t
of 1980

FREE-LANCE
CONNOISSEUR
OF EXCELLENCE

Chicago:
Best Prerecorded Phone'':
Message: Dial-an-Atheist. 335-4648

The American Atheist magazine is

published monthly by American Atheists, located at 2210 Hancock Drive,
Austin, Texas, 78756, a non-profit,
non-political,
educational
organization. Mailing address: P. O. Box 2117,
Austin,-Texas 78768. Copyright, 1981
by Society of Separationists, Inc. Subscription rates: $25.00/year; $40/two
years. Manuscripts submitted must be
typed, double-spaced and accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The editors assume no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts.
The American Atheist Magazine
is indexed in
MONTHLY PERIODICAL INDEX
ISSN: 0032-4310

Pluviose (February) 11981

Austin, Texas

DI

Page 1

EDITORIAL

JON GARTH MURRA Y

One of the things of which Atheists are accused most often

is being amoral or nonethical. In order to understand that
charge a little better let's look at what morals and ethics are.
Morals refer to the set of generally accepted customs or
conduct and correct living in a given society, and to the
practice of an individual within that society in relation to
these. The second part of this definition is the most important.
We see that morals are rules that are laid before a young
person particularly coming into society. That individual has
two major options with respect to those rules. A) He/she can
choose which one or all of the rules to follow; B) he/she can
determine for themselves to what degree to follow those they
have selected to follow at all.
A person is judged by others in society on the basis of what
rules they choose to follow and to what extent they follow
them. Supposedly one who follows all the rules and does so
with 100% accomodation to each is the most "moral."
In the United States the rules which are laid down for the
determination then of ones "morality quotient" (my own label)
are based upon Judaeo-Christian teaching and history. The
immediate problem for an Atheist is then one of being
presented with a set of rules that may be wholly unacceptable,
with judgment by the rest of society hinging on adherence to
them.
Since morality is a subjective matter based on the cooperation level of the individual, it then follows that if an
Atheist chooses a low level of cooperation he could be labeled
a-moral or less moral than others. That is why that label
bothers me not in the least. Yes, to a great extent I am less
moral than tile (Christian) others, but in relation to what
standard?
Now ethics are a different situation. Ethics imply adherance
to a high standard of honest and honorable dealing particularly with the business world. Ethics also refer to the
methods used when dealing with others, again, usually within
a business context. As an Atheist I consider myself most
ethical. I am honest with my opinions and my method is one of
straightforward confrontation of situations and ideas. I don't
think that an Atheist, in general, could be then considered
unethical on the basis of his or her Atheism alone.
Getting back to morality again, if morality is then subjective
and on a level of percentage of individual compliance then it
seems logical that it must be discussed in terms only of a
closed system, that is, within a single society or social group.
One cannot calculate the "morality quotient" of an individual
by dividing their participation or adherence percentage into
the rule-set of a society not that of the individual.
This is exactly what the United States is doing in many areas
of its foreign policy. We calculate the "morality quotient" for
the citizens and leaders of Iran, for example, using our rule set
in place of theirs. The resulting quotient is then not valid. The
morality of the Ayatollah is probably quite high when calculated on the basis of a Moslem rule-set. We do the same
with Israel but they get a high quotient since their rule-set is
almost identical with the one used in the United States. The
U.S.S.R. gets a very low quotient since their rule-set is one
based on materialism and is therefore almost the antithesis of
the U.S. one.
Page 2

We are told that. children never laugh and play in the

U.S.S.R., that the citizens still live in huts or poverty or have no
modern conveniences at all. We are told that they (the
U.S.S.R.) go around constantly with dour expressions and that
they only live for the opportunity of escape from their rule-set
to ours. We are told also that this is because our rule-set
allows the subjectivism implicit in the definition of morality
while the rule-set in the U.S.S.R. requires perfect participation.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Yet, on the basis of
such assumptions we stand ready to "nuke" the world in an
effort to free the people of the "Communist" countries,
including many more than the U.S.S.R. itself, from their ruleset and bring them under the umbrella of our rule-set which
we perceive as superior.
The Judaeo-Christian
based rule-set is not alone not
superior to a rule-set based on materialism, it is wholly
unacceptable as a standard for the conduct of any animal,
human or not. In addition the Christian moral rule-set has guilt
as one of its built in catalysts to foster higher overall
percentage of participation and adherence.
.
As an Atheist I am basically anti-authoritarian
and am
therefore uninterested in following any rule-set that I cannot
be allowed to establish myself rather than being handed one
by default (being born into a particular society) against which I
am to be measured. Atheism predicates a system of conduct
based on eclectic, rational, construction of one's own rule-set
from all the information which can be gathered. Is it so much
easier to follow guidlelines which you create rather than those
created by an outside authority whether that is a diety or a
state?
If, however, I am to be bound, by circurnstanee beyond my
control, to fall within a rule-set not of my own construction I
would rather fall within one that is closer to the one that I
would construct than one that is further away. The rule-sets in
some of the "Communist" or "Socialist" states are constructed from more of the same building blocks that I would
choose for myself than is the rule-set here in the United
States.
While I prefer their morality, assuming a choice had to be
made, I see it as being more compatible with our governmental precepts, as they were originally laid down by our
founding fathers. It is a strange situation indeed to be in a
country of one's preferred political system but have one's
preferred moral-set exist in another state with an undesirable
political system.
No wonder we Atheists have a hard time getting along with
religionists. How backward! A totalitarian government with a
liberal moral-set and a liberally conceived government with a
totalitarian moral-set. As an Atheist I am trapped between the
two. The Christian moral-set is tailor made for a totalitarian or
fascist state while the materialist moral-set is tailor made for a
truly democratic state.
We have a long road ahead of us to turn the systems around.
My only hope is that we can beat General Haig and his ilk
toward this end through peaceful means, rather than through
a planned nuclear holocaust in which all Christians would
delight.

Pluviose (February) 11981

Austin Texas

jfront llagt Rtbttw

f----------:-----"BE

weare mab a~ bell ...

CRAZY"
"COME LET US ~TOGETHER"

,.

I.

THERE WILL BE NO SHOOTOUT

AT THE J.C. CORRAL

It is important not to let the guard down. Although the Moron Majority is not as
much in the news as it was immediately prior to the election, they -like termites are busy destroying the foundations upon which the nation rests.
As indicated in the last American Atheist magazine, the reactionary right is using
this group, and its spokesmen, in every conceivable way. While often disclaiming
that words or deeds are "excessive" the Moron Majority personalities are put on
covers of magazines, interviewed on television network shows - and now endorsed
by the very proper, very powerful opinion maker, the Wall Street Journal. In an editorial (no less!) in the issue of Friday, the 13th (note that date!) of February, the
most laudatory and rational endorsement of Falwell yet seen in the press appeared.
Stealthily the legal shenanigans begin. Congressman Philip Crane, of Illinois, has
introduced H.R. 865 in the House of Representatives, a repeat of last year's bill to
remove the Federal court's jurisdiction over the question of voluntary school prayer
so that state legislative bodies can return Bible reading/prayer recitation to the publie schools under states rights' laws.
The Bobsey twins, Senators Moynihan and Packwood, are in the process of
introducing another "tuition tax credit" bill into the U. S. Senate. Almost identical
to the bill defeated last year, it would divert about $1% billion the first year ($11/2
billion the second year and going up after that) to parochial and private schools in
the form of tuition reimbursement by federal income tax credits to parents. The
beginning maximum annual benefit would be $250 a year, raising to $500 the seeond year. Once the principle is established this would escalate rapidly. His the beginning death of the public schools of the United States.
What is in store is pointed out by the Wall Street Journal's (approving) editorial.
There are 17,000 "Christian academies" now, with one being formed every seven
hours (i.e. 2,200 a year.)
The proposed Human Life Amendment was introduced into Congress on January ~3rd by Sen. Jesse Helms and Rep. Robert Dornan. It reads as follows:
Section 1. The right to life is the paramount and most fundamental right of a
person.
Section 2. With respect to the right to life guaranteed to persons by the fifth and
fourteenth articles of amendment to the Constitution, the word "person" applies to
all human beings, irrespective of age, health, function, or condition of dependency,
including their unborn offspring at every stage of their biological development in.eluding fertilization.
Section 3, No unborn person shall be deprived of life by any person. Provided,
however, that nothing in this article shall prohibit a law permitting only those medical procedures required to prevent the death of a pregnant woman; but this law,
must require every reasonable effort be made to preserve the life and health of the
unborn child.
Section 4. Congress and the several States shall have the power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
The Right-to-Lifers have given notice that Section 2 of the above includes the
right of the sperm to find the ovum and that any attempt to stop this artificially
shall be construed to be depriving the ovum of the right to life. Birth control is
out of the window.
As a glimpse into what is meant: Virginia's Western Community College's earnpus radio station, WVWR, ran a lecture on Sex Education by a college professor on
January 17th. The General Assembly of Virginia was immediately badgered into
holding up the station's appropriation bill until its general manager knuckled under
and vowed that no such programs would be aired in the future.
PBS is currently under attack for permitting the airing of the "Cosmos" series in
which Dr. Carl Sagan presented evolution as a fact. In addition, a bioethics series
out of a Seattle affiliate (KCTS-TV), titled "Hard Choices," gave programs for
moral consideration on the six topics of sex selection, genetic screening, human
experiments, behavior control, death and dying and justice in health care. Noting
that funding for this came from the "Community Outreach" program of the National Endowment for The Humanities, (NETH) the Moron Majority plan to hassle
NETH.

In January, 1981, the Oklahoma

ter of American Atheists officially
into being, with Samuel Freeman
head. Beginning with an official

Chapcame
as its
com-

plaint against Oral Roberts' mail plea to

support himself and the 800 feet high Jesus Christ he had seen, the Chapter had
the earmarks of success.
The second project singled out was a
planned protest at the annual Easter Pageanl in the "Holy City" at the Wichita
Mountains Wildlife Refuge. The ritual
which takes place on federal land amid
religious symbols already affixed to the
property was clearly unconstitutional
from the Atheist viewpoint. Freeman had
already contacted the A.C.L.U. and was a
litigant in an effort to have the statue of
Jesus removed.
The news media was naturally interested and published a medium sized column on page 2 of the Daily Oklahomian
newspaper concerned with the planned
protest.
By the next day, both the Oklahoma
state and the national Ku Klux Klan leaders were in touch with the media stating
that they would be at the Easter pageant
_ in their sheets, "to preverrfthe Atheists
from entering the refuge's Holy City."
With the killings of protesters recently
behind the Klan in North Carolina, the
national officers at the American Atheist
Center immediately contacted Sam and
the Oklahoma Chapter.
"Call it off." They said. "One Atheist
is worth 10,000 Klansmen. Those people
are crazy; don't tangle with them."
The "grand wizard" in the meantime
fumed, "We are not going to sit back and
watch those jokers go down and drag the
Lord God's name through the mud."
We can with impunity say that there
probably never was an Atheist Klansman.
The Imperial Wizard of the Klan would
enthusiastically agree with us. They represent the intolerance and the ignorance
of Christianity.
You are brave Samuel Freeman - but
in this case, it is best to go the legal route.
You mean more to society alive than
dead.
---1

The news is chosen to demonstrate, month after month, the dead reactionary hand of religion. It dictates your habits, sexual
conduct, family size. It censures cinema, theater, television, even education. I, dictates life values and lifestyles. 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 say so.
Austin, Texas

Pluviose (February) 11981

Page 3

.10(U5

on ~tbti5t5

... anb we wonft take It annnoret

The most difficult lesson which can be learned by the independent
Atheists is that they must unite
if they are to keep the
world from being plunged back again into the Dark Ages of a dominant
religion. The Ionian culture was well on its way to the
ordinary use of science to advance humankind
when it met head-on with nascent Christianity.
It was the populous, ill-educated,
mass of Christians who won and took over western culture for the next 2,000 years.
In the spirit of soladarity which is needed to be exhibited in each nation and not alone in the world, Lavanam, Director of the
Indian Atheist Centre, and Jon Murray, Director of the American Atheist Center had called for a world conference
in 1980.
It was held in India, in Vijayawada, at the Indian Atheist Centre on December 24th, 25th and 26th.
Lavanam, the, Director of the Atheist Centre of India, reports that the Second World Atheist Conference was a grand success.
Atheists and Atheist sympathisers
came from the United States, England, Ireland, Holland, Denmark, West Germany,
Finland
and Sri Lanka. About 1,200 delegates from all corners of India were in attendance,
representing the states of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharastra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Utter Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal,
Orissa and Andra Pradesh. The press and radio also extensively covered the Conference both at local and national levels.
Mr. Lakshmanan,
Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha (Indian Parliament) qave a very powerful speech while inaugurating
the conference. Three other members of the Indian Parliament participated,
Vidya, Lavanam's sister, and Dr. Kulandaivelu and Mr. A. P.
Janardanam.
Dr. Kulandaivelu
declared the opening of the International
exhibition of Atheist literature, especially. Prof. Harry
Stopes Roe, Chairman of the British Humanist Association, introduced
the Souvenir collection to the Conference.

Second
World
Atheist
Meet
Vija~awada

I
N
D
I
A

John Edwards getting a hot foot!

Page 4

Pluviose

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(February)

11981

Austin

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John Edwards, Director of

the Los Angeles Chapter of
American Atheists .del ivered a
speech at the convention which
emphasized the need for intercontinental communication
and
outreach.
As the world turns more and
more to Atheism, as church attendance slips in country after
country across the world, it becomes .increasingly
important
that Atheist leaders have rapport.
John is shown here with a
pepper lei giving his casual,
warm, presentation. Shown also,
left to right are Gor a's widow,
Vidjya, Lavanam and Erkki Hartikainen of Finland.

--.

A special feature of the Second World Atheist Meet was an illustration of the old fakir trick of walkinq on red hot coals. Gora.
the founder of the Atheist Centre in India, had investigated this phenomenon at great length, and as a bioloqis t hacl attempted to
obtain a scientific explanation of it. He did just that.
He found that the explanation was simple - that anyone could walk on fire. He himself wal ked on fire to illustrate his point.
At this Second World Atheist Meet a large area was prepared for "fire walking." When it was explained, scientifically, to John
Edwards, he saw also that he could equal the feats of the Indian fakirs.
On the opposite page is a picture of John, walking on the red hot coals. Of course, it's a brisk "walk," but exactly the kind
that has been accomplished for many years to convince the Indian people of the powers - and the words - of the holy men of
India.
John will be showing a film of this event at the Eleventh Annual National American Atheist Convention being held In Salt
Lake City, Utah, April 17th, 18th and 19th of this year. Until that time, we keep the secret'

Austin, Texas

Pluviose (February)

11981

Page 5

Daily more than five thousand people attended the public

meetings in the evenings. Some meetings were arranged for
non-Indian delegates at Madras, Ootacamund
and ThiruchipalIi in South India at which Vijayam, another of the Gora family
presided.
Besides John Edwards, Harry Stopes Roe, Chairman of the
British Humanist Association,
Erkki Hartikeinen,
General Seeretary of the Union of Free Thinkers of Finland, Prof. Martin
Pfieffer, Secretary of the M. I. Z, the Atheist Group of West
Berlin, Casper Vogel, Managing Editor of the Dutch Humanist
T.V. and Radio and Kate Thompson of England were in attendance as foreign visitors and dignataries.
This was the first time in history, even on this much of a
scale, that Atheists and Atheist sympathisers
of the East and
West took the opportunity
to be together and to exchange
views and experiences in the cause of Atheism.
In this sense, this World Atheist
an historic one.

Meet is being considered

~~s
~tSTHKt.

.... t: s

Page 6

to the Indian Atheist

A new building

(February)

at the Centre

As Bangladesh
was represented
at this
Meet, it is fitting to give here a short history
of the "Rationalist
Hope of Bangladesh."
Even though the Bangia Desh emerged as
a free nation only in 1971, secular trends
were visible long before.
About
1926, a
group of intellectuals
in the University of
Decca founded
the Decca Muslim Sahitya
Sarna]. Prof. Kazi Mohtar Hussin, Prof. Kazi
Addul Wadood, Addul Hussain, an advocate
poet Addul Ouadar and poet M'a"ohtar Hus:
sain Chowdary
were founders
of it. They
published a Journal Sikha, (flame) to dispel
the darkness of obscurantism
and superstition. But the flame was soon put out by the
Nawab of Decca family. However, the spirit
of enlightened
self criticism and the desire
for change continued to grow.
In 1957 the Milan Sangha (Society of
Friends) was founded
by Md. Abdul Hasanet, the the-n Inspector
General of Police.
Since his retirement,
Md. Hasanat has been
giving all of his time to the growth of the
Milan Sangha, a rationalist forum, propagating rights from family planning to law reform and social change.
Meetings, discussions and pamphlets
impart rationalist
and
humanist, as well as secular, outlooks among
people. The intellectual
section of society is
extending good support for the spread of the
organization.
Milan Sangha is a ray of hope for the
spread of the secular outlook
in Bangia
Desh.

Centre

Pluviose

8f.fA 'A
"':~Sl(

as

In order to give a sense of unity and to cover as broad a

range as possible, the Atheist Centre in Vijayawada prepared a
Souvenir book which was distributed
there. This is a 146 page
effort giving the current status of Atheism in various countries
of the world and attempting,
where possible, to give a short
history of the progress, or the despair, in which Atheists have
found their organizations.
Information
of Atheism in Australia,
Finland, Israel, the
United States, India, Africa, Bangladesh, Japan, Yugoslavia,
Czechoslavakia,
Poland, Bulgaria, and China gives hope that
the days of religious oppression
are numbered
and that one
day we will gain the ultimate freedom, finally: freedom of the
mind.

Entrance

~~fS

11981

Austin

Texas

UNITED WORLD ATHEISTS

ITALY

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GIORDANO BRUNO
This Italian Association of Freethinkers is named after
the great pantheistic philosopher Giordano Bruno, who
was arrested by the Roman Catholic Inquisition as a
dangerous heretic, put in prison for 9 years, subjected to
physical and moral tortures, and sent to the stake in a
Roman square (Piazza Campo dei Fiori: Square of the
Field of Flowers) on the 17th of February, 1600.
The Association was created in Rome in the year
1903 and immediately joined the International Federation of Freethinkers.
In the year 1904 a first International Congress of
Freethinkers took place in Rome and approved a solemn
declaration, which is valid yet.
In 1909, a Second International Congress took place
in Paris. The newspaper La Ragione (Reason) began to
be printed towards the end of 1907, as a daily; it drew its
inspiration from the French Revolution and reasongoddess-worship; in 1912, the Association merged with
a similar association, named directly for Giordano
Bruno.
From 1919 to 1924 the paper La Ragione was
published regularly enough; its last number is dated
May 29, 1924, after a long fight against clericalism and
at the same time against Fascism, which had seized
power in October of 1922. The Association was dissolved by the fascist government; La Ragione was
prohibited, and the seat of the Association was pulled
down by order of fascist authorities, which wanted to
favour the Catholic Church. Leaders and members of
"G. Bruno Association" were arrested and banished.
During the Second World War, the patriot Giordano
Bruno Ferrari, sculptor Ettore Ferrari's son (creator of
the famous monument to Giordano Bruno in Piazza
Camp dei Fiori) was shot by the Nazis in March 1944.
The paper La Ragione could _again be printed in
August 1949; there was already in Italy a Demochristian government under the church's inspiration
and influence.
At that time the "G. Bruno Association" was aided by
Freemasonry; but from 1961 any aid is over and the

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majority of the Association's members are of leftist

tendencies. Nevertheless the Association remains a
non-political association and receives no aid from any
political party. In 1962, a national congress elected as
president the senator, Eduardo Di Giovanni, who died
last year at the age of 104. After his death a famous
Marxist scientist, Senator Ambrogio Donini, who was a
professor of history Christianity and other religions at
the University of Rome and of Bari, was elected P.resident. But Professor Donini resigned after some months,
because of health reasons. Now the new President is
the Senator Leto Morvidi, a Communist.
La Ragione editor and vice-president of the G. Bruno
Association is Giorgio Conforto, who is known thanks to
his Handbook of the Atheist and Freethinker, and his
recent book Lyric of Captivity and Deportation (Canti di
prigionia e di deportazione).
La Ragione content may be divided into five sections:
1) articles of scientific Atheism, against .religion and
particularly Catholicism; 2) information and comments
about Atheism and Freethought in the principal countries (USA and Latin America; USSR and other socialist
countries; countries of the Third World); 3) international
problems and Italian ones connected with religion and
churches; 4) G. Bruno Association's activities: lectures,
conferences, congress, publications; 5) quotations from
Atheist and Freethinker's press and book reviews.
Particularly, La Ragione quotes entire articles from
American Atheist or American Rationalist.
From the financial point of view it keeps itself by
means of subscriptions, entrance fees, donations, and
advertising. La Ragione was before monthly; but because of financial difficulties, it has been bimonthly for
the last two years.
The Association's members are above all Atheists;
they may be divided into Marxist Atheists (supporters of
the Marxist scientific Atheism) and idealistic Atheists
(supporters of the French Illuminism); there are also
Pantheists, Freethinkers, Deists, and so on.
Giorgio Conforto
Editor of La Ragione and Vice-President of the G. Bruno
Association.

Pluviose (February]

11981

Page 7

il."

Ro ts
of theism
ABNER KNEELAND
In searching out Atheist material a curious pattern
develops within the discipline of Atheism. One finds
that certain Atheist leaders are held in very low esteem.
Often they are ignored in compilation histories or
brushed aside with a contemptuous off-hand remark.
Pages of accolades, for example, are given to Thomas
Huxley, "peer of the realm," who did more to harm
Atheism than anyone in his century (the 19th) while
D.M. Bennett, who did more good, is almost completely
ignored.
Women have had hard shrift. If they are not verbally
abused, their accomplishments are denigrated. Often
they are unmentioned.
The law of evolution works, reflecting (even in Atheism) the cultural values of the milieu in which developing Atheism found itself. Dogged always by the
idea that it must be "respectable", Atheists dealt unkindly with their most honest, most brave; those who
practiced intellectual integrity. Chapman Cohen, about
whom we know almost nothing (except that he was
contemptuously called a Jew by one "prestigious"
freethought chronicler) is one case in point. When the
writings and contributions to society of these men and
women are sought out, they are found to be brilliant
expositors of the Atheist genre of free thought.
Joseph McCabe, who could not overcome his Catholicism completely, was internationally respected. Joseph Lewis, who completely shed his Judaism, never
was accepted into the ranks of the Atheist hero class.
Yet, as one reads the lucid, logical and totally radical
(i. e., goi ng to the root of the issue) ideas of these men
and women, it is apparent that these were our (Atheism's) great founding fathers, the Masters.
And so it is with Abner Kneeland, who was a lifelong
friend and cohort of Dr. Charles Knowlton, lately reported in "Roots of Atheism" (American Atheist, Oct.,
Nov., Dec., 19BO;Jan., 1981) Apparently each and every
one of our great men and women were not only 1,000
years in advance of the theists but. Iterally, hundreds of
years in advance of the Atheists of their day. The fearful,
the timid, trailed along in the wake of their words and
deeds, as they cut a wide swath of shock in their cultural
place and time.

Page 8

Always their "followers" preferred the satetv of

association with some branch of the church (Unitarianism, after it became respectable) or the churches'
intellectual whores, the philosophers of all ages. To be
honest, to be open, to couch one's Atheism in clear
terms brought upon these leaders the onus of nonacceptance. Atheists of all ages, before ours, opted for
the esoteric, the language which would obfuscate,
pseudo-intellectualism.
It is, therefore, with considerable pleasure that we set
the record straight. We eschew the company of the
famous Huxleys and instead embrace the real, but
relatively unknown, fighters who were the ones who got
us, in the final analysis, from there to here.

Pluviose (February) 11981

Austin Texas

Abner Kneeland Is one ofthese. He was born April

7, 1774 in Gardner, Massachusetts, the fourth child of a
veteran of the Revolutionary Army, Timothy Kneeland
(an Irishman) and Miutba (Stone), his wife. His youth
was spent on his father's farm and his formal education
was obtained inthecommon schoolsofthecommunity.
He went one term to the Chesterfield (New Hampshire)
Academy. He then joined his brother doing carpenter
work in Vermont. There he also taught school. In April,
1797, just age 23, he married the first of what was to be
four wives. This first, by whom he had four children
(including one set of twins) was Waitstill Armsbee.
Curiously, he did not join the Baptist Church until
1801, being twenty-seven years old when he was
"dipped." He then began to preach in July of 1802
although he continued with carpentry until 1803. In the
interim his relationship with the Baptists was brief. He
separated from the denomination over the doctrine of
"restitution ofthings." Plans had been made by the New
England Baptists to try him for heresy, but this was
reduced to an admonition to him.
Following a summer's illness (1802) he visited a
sister whose husband was a Universalist. There he was
requested to preach several discourses, which he did in
an outspoken manner, fully showing his rupture with
the fundamentalism of the Baptist churches of his era.
The news of his manner of preaching reached an
adjacent town, Alstead. The committee of the Universalist Society then requested him to speak and after two
Sunday sermons he was invited to attend on the church.
At that time, money for preaching was raised by a town
tax and divided between the Universalists and the
Congregationalists. The Universalists had put forth
their profession of faith to avoid compulsory taxation to
support orthodox Congregationalism. However, in this
case, the preacher was so good that when the Universalist's portion had been expended, the Congregationalists engaged Kneeland to preach their portion. Before
the money ran out, a town meeting was called and by
vote he was invited to settle as minister of the town. He
accepted but his ordination was postponed since no
meeting-house existed. However he was licensed as a
minister at a Universalist convention held in New
Hampshire in 1803. His actual ordination was given on
October 30th, 1805 and the famous Rev. Hosea Ballou
preached the sermon and gave "the right hand of
'- fellowship" to him.
His first wife died in 1806 in February and he married
again in June the same year, this time to Lucinda
Moriah Mason. This marriage produced four more
children.
Kneelandwaselectedtotlteleglslaturewltilepreacltlng
at Langdon during 1810 and 1811. He served in
Langdon as a preacher nearly seven years. It was during
this time that he became interested in spelling reform,
especially the elimination of silent letters. In 1807 he
published A Brief Sketch of a New System of Orthography. He later prepared a number of reformed spelling
text books. He was one of our nation's first orthographic
reformers. At this time he even proposed a new alphabet with a distinct letter for each element of the human
voice. One of his publications in this period was A
Child's First Book. He also published a "defining"
Austin, Texas

spelling book of 200 pages. His second wife died in

childbirth in 1812. The following year he married a
wealthy widow, Mrs. Eliza Osborn. Later he was asked
to serve in Charlestown, Mass. and a Universalist
Church was erected specifically for his use. He remained there for three years (1812-1815). During his
tenure there he opened a dry goods store in Salem, near
Boston. His church biographer notes that, "About this
period his mind was seriously exercised in regard to the
divine authenticity of the scriptures." He made these
doubts known to the Rev. Hosea Ballou, which resulted
in a friendly correspondence, which was later printed
(1816) in book form. Each man wrote ten letters and the
publication was issued under the title, A Series of
Letters in Defence of Divine Revelation. (The American
Atheist Library and Archives has not been able to locate
a copy of this book.)
This exchange allayed for a time the doubts Kneeland
had entertained and he returned (in 1816) to a Universalist ministry in Whitestown, New York. One year later
he transferred to Philadelphia where the Callowhill St.
Universalist Church was built under his direction. He
remained at this church for seven years, devoting most
of his time to publications. He edited the Christian
Messenger from 1819 to 1821, the Philadelphia Universalist Magazine and Christian Messenger from 1821
to 1823 and the Gazetteer in 1824. (Again, although
actively attempting to locate these magazines, the
Americn Atheist Center has been unsuccessful). The
experience would prove to be invaluable later. He also
published in 1824 a volume of Universalist sermons,
Lectures of the Doctrine of Universal Salvation, which
was popular enough to go to a second edition. During
this period he also debated with a Presbyterian clergyman on "universal salvation" and published the argument in book form (a duodecimo of nearly 400 pages)
about the beginnings of Christianity.
._
His curiosity was Insatlable and at age'about 45 Ite
taugltt Itlmself Latln, Greek and Hebrew. In 1822 he
published his own translation of the New Testament in
double columns, in Greek and English, A Greek and
English Testament with Notes.
In 1825 Kneeland moved to New York where he
became pastor of the Prince Street Universalist Society
of New York but later moved to a dissenting group, the
Second Universalist Society. There, he continued his
magazine work, editing'The Olive Branch and in 1828
the Olive Branch and Christian Inquirer, which he
described as devoted to "free inquiry, pure morality and
rational Christianity."
It was while he was in New York that Kneeland
became acquainted with Robert Dale Owen and Frances Wright D'Arusmont. His sermons reached such a
point that "The Universalist refused longer to recognize
him as an accredited preacher and after some crimination, in May, 1829, he suspended himself from the
church. Apparently his friend and possible counsellor,
Hosea Ballau, convinced him that this was the least
troublesome way in which to proceed.
Tlteannouncement ofYolunfary wltltdrawal reflected a
troubled but consclentlous attitude:
"WHEREAS, the circumstances which have
attended my ministry in New York, and which

Pluviose (February) 11981

Page 9

has resulted from my labors in that place, are

such as to produce a dissatisfaction in the
minds of many, and to induce a belief that I am
not what I profess to be, a real believer and
defender of the Christian religion; and
"WHEREAS, this dissatisfaction and belief
concerning me have become considerably extensive in other religions among Universalists,
it is my desire that all associations and individual brethern of the order would allow me to
suspend myself as to the fellowship of the order
until I shall be able to give entire satisfaction
that the cause of the world's Redeemer - of
God, of truth, and righteousness - is the cause
in which I am laboring and to which my talents
are devoted. WiShing you success, brethern, in
all that is good, I subscribe, myself, yours,
affectionately in the land of peace.
(signed) Abner Kneeland
He was then 55 years old.
Before leaving New York, in the fall of 1B29, he gave a
series of lectures in Broadway Hall on Christian evidences. These discourses were also published in a book,
A Review of the Evidences of Christianity, 1829.
Later, he was to write that it was while at North
Hartford, N.Y. that he had read, for the first time, the
works of Dr. Joseph Preistley. He averred that in reading
Disquisition on Matter and Spirit, he became a Materialist in every and in the strictest sense of the word. In
writing of the experience he said, "Here the scepticism
of the editor began, and so far as we know, to this cause,
and this cause only, which gradually continued in spite
of all his efforts to prevent it, the whole fabric of
Christian evidence was completely demolished in his
mind, without leaving even a wreck behind." (More on
Priestley in another issue of this magazine at a future
date.)
The American Atheist Library and Archives contains a
photocopy of a holograph letter written by Kneeland on
March 31, 1830 to the Rev. W. I. Reese of Portland,
Maine which, while repudiating the title "Atheist,"
defines accurately the stance of Atheism. It reads:
New York
March 31st 1980
Friend Reese,
Yours enclosing seven dollars, is just
received, and as you expected cost me 56 cts
postage, but still I was glad to receive it,
though if I had not, I should have imputed it to
inability, and not to so base a principle as a
supposition that it could be right to wrong a
heretic.
You mistake me, or else the meaning of the
term, if you think me an Atheist. I am no more
an Atheist than I am a Theist. But as I affirm
and deny nothing in relation to the subject and
think it all vanity and folly either to affirm or
deny without evidence (and here I conceive we
have none, no not even the shadow of,
.

Page 10

evidence). I do not see any more propriety in

calling me an Atheist than there would be in
calling me a theist. I understand an Atheist to
be one who denies the existence of god; and a
theist, or deist, one who affirms, or at least
believes in the existence of god. I am neither
one nor the other; but acknowledge my total
ignorance in relation to the subject. I have
tried, and tried very hard, to gain some
knowledge about it; but have gained none. I
know as much about the bible, and of what it
contains, as I ever expect to know; but the
bible gives me no knowledge of god. At this,
perhaps, you will "smile" again. Be it so, I will
allow you to smile at my ignorance, so that it
is not the smile of contempt. I can assure you,
notwithstanding the term god is found
occasionally in my hymns; I could very well
dispense with the term; for truly, I can attach
no other idea to it than that of a creation of
the imagination - a sort of poetic license, as
Jewish god, Christian god, Pagan god,
Calvinistic [?] god, Arminian god, etc. etc. No
one, I think, can rationally support that we
attach the idea of Being to the abstract
virtues, wisdom, love, truth, etc. although we
may celebrate them in poetry as so many
gods. They have no meaning for us, whatever,
only as they relate to man. In this sense, they
mean something; but as gods they mean
nothing. But were the ignorance of ancient
times to return, then, perhaps, ancient
customs may return with them; or we may
others as bad. But, after all, I have not been
able to discover anything like "confusion in
langauge, or embarrasment of belief," however my language may have appeared to
others; and unless they can make that _
confusion, etc. appear, it will, perhaps fje
harmless.
You seem to wish to see "a lair and candid
statement of what" I "do believe. " To which I
have no kind of objection, as my creed is very
short. I believe, then, from the best evidence I .
have been able to obtain that all that exists
now, as to the identity of matter, ever did
exist, and ever will; that is, in some state, form
or condition, is con-stantly and mutually
changing; some very slow, others more
rapidly. The change of all, is not always
perceivable by us; yet, there is reason to
believe, that one law, if law it may be called,
pervades the whole. When and how man and
other animals first came into being, I do not
pretend to know, neither do I form any
opinion; at least, any further than this, as he
grows now, something like a vegetable, in the
womb of his mother at first, so, for ought I
know, he might have grown originally in the
womb of the earth, or elements in the same
way. If it be asked, Why does not the earth
produce animals now; it may be answered, for
the same reason that women do not have

Pluviose (February) 11981

1/

[continued on p. 14]

Austin Texas

And so throughout the history of intellectual progress

is this attitude true. Call it negative, call it dogmatic, call
it destructive, call it what you will. It is the main spring of
progress.
~
Is a physician destructive when he cures a patient of
disease?
A CURE FOR MENTAL DISORDER
NEW GODS -

WHAT FOR?

Some of our present-day humanists, emancipated to

the degree that they no longer accept deities like
"Jehovah," cry for a new concept of god. They want
something to put in the place of what has been taken
away.
Do they want also a substitute for Hell?
And what would be their answer to this question, "If
the devil should die would god make another?"
They are like children crying for the moon.
Will anyone be so good as to tell me what we need a
new concept of god for? Haven't we had gods enough?
Hasn't it been task enough to get rid of the conglomeration that has already plagued the human race?
I plead that we no longer contaminate heaven with
these hideous creatures and frightful monsters of
religious hallucinations.

The human race has suffered for centuries and is still

suffering from the mental disorder known as religion,
and Atheism is the only physician that will be able to
effect a permanent cure.
No wonder the great Buckle was prompted to say:
"Every great reform which has been effected has
consisted, not in doing something new, but in undoing
something old."
But what hypocrisy it is on the part of ministers of
religion to call Atheism a negative philosophy,. when
their own Ten Commandments are a series of "Thou
shalt nots" But Atheism is also an aggressive and a militant and a
constructive philosophy.
It is interested in the HERE and NOW.
It finds problems enough here that require immediate
solution and does not fly to others that it knows not of.
MAN MUST HELP HIMSELF

DESTRUCTIVEOF SUPERSTITION
Atheism cannot sit idly by and watch 'Injustice perMinisters also take delight in saying that Atheism is petrated, nor permit the exploitation of the weak by the
strong.
dogmatic and destructive.
Its ideal is the establishment of justice - man made
If Atheism is called dogmatic it is because dogmatism
. justice, even though it be.
is the law of nature.
If man waited for god to feed him he would starve to
A fact is the most stubborn thing in the world. Matter
death.
insists upon occupying space all by itself and motion will
Atheism believes in education. It believes in telling
continue in motion regardless of the opinions concerning it.
the facts of life and revealing the truths as they are
discovered regardless of whose opinions it shocks. It is
Time does not stop to listen to prayers.
ever ready and willing to accept the new and discard the
"The Moving Finger writes; and having writ,
old. Atheism does not believe that man's mission on
Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit
earth is to love and glority god, but it does believe in
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
living this life so that when you pass on, the world will
Nor all your tears wash out a word of it."
be better for your having lived.
And Atheism is destructive in the same sense that
That is the ideal that now inspires more hearts to help
Columbus was a destroyer, when he corrected the
humanity in its upward march than ever before in the
erroneous conception, induced by false theological
history of the human race.
ideas, of the flatness of the earth, when he sailed across
That is the ideal that inspired Shelley, that inspired
the ocean and proved the rotundity of the planet upon
which we live.
Voltaire, and Humboldt, and Garibaldi; that inspired
Mark Twain, and John Burroughs, and Luther Burbank.
Atheism is destructive in the same sense that Galileo
That is the ideal that inspires Sir. Arthur Keith, Albert
was a destroyer, when he corrected the erroneous
Einstein and Thomas A. Edison.
conception, induced by false theological ideas, concernIf man wants help he must abandon his appeals to
ing th existence of only one moon, when he discovered
the satellites of Jupiter.
god. They will prove only "echos of his wailing cries."

Austin, Texas

Pluviose (February) 11981

1.1

Page 11

THE EVOLUTION OF IDEAS

Atheism does not place any trust in god. The inscription on our coins is a lie.
It was not long since when a person who denied the
existence of a personal god, who refused to accept the
Bible as a divine revelation, who branded as absurd that
Christ was miraculously conceived, who characterized
as a delusion the resurrection, and who stigmatized as a
myth immortality of the soul, was charged by minsters
of religion with being an Atheist.
Thomas Paine was called a "filthy little atheist" upon
evidence that he did not even approximate this.
To call oneself anything but a Freethinker or an
Atheist after the denials of these religious premises is
to belie one's own words.
We do not intend to let the clergy, to suit their fancy or
their moods, give us our definition of Atheism.
It may be perfectly satisfactory for the editors of the
Encyclopedia Britannica to commission a clergyman to write upon Atheism, but that is no reason why
we should accept him as an authority.
If a clergyman knew enough about Atheism to write
with authority upon the subject he would no longer
remain a clergyman.
The rejection of religion and the denial of god has
been the definition of Atheism from time immemorial.
We have accepted it in the past. and we accept it today.
We do not intend to compromise upon a single point.
If religionists have advanced to our position, it is they
who must accept our banner.

and explored the regions of unlimited space, he was

called an Atheist because he found no god within the
confines of space and no heaven within the region of his
explorations.
When the Geologist determined the age of the earth
through its rock and soil formations, he was called an
Atheist because he too destroyed a belief in the special
six-day creation and repudiated the biblical cosmogony.
When the Historian went back to ancient and prehistoric times and discovered civilizations of high ethical and moral culture, of intellectual achievements that
are still an amazement to us, he was called an Atheist
because he exposed the myth of Adam, uncovered the
mistakes of Moses, and branded with the epithet of
fraud the commands of Johovah.
When the Physician sought to alleviate the pain and
suffering of Man, he was called an Atheist because he
refused to accept the existence of disease as a special
visitation of a vengeful god.
Even the discovery of anesthesia, the most humane of
all of man's accomplishments, was branded as an
impious intrusion, and an effort to circumvent and
defeat the so-called will of this monstrous creature. And
Timothy Dwight, a gentleman, once president of Yale
College, preached a sermon against vaccination on the
ground that smallpox was a decree of god and it was a
frightful sin to avoid it.
Every Scientist who refuses to be held back by narrow
theological limitations, and searches Nature for her
secrets, becomes an Atheist, the Millikans, the Osborns, and the Pupins to the contrary notwithstanding.
That electrical wizard, a Prometheus himself, the late
Charles P. Steinmetz, said that Atheism was the ultimate philosophy of the scientists.
"Where there are three students of nature there are
two Atheists," is an old saying.
INGERSOLL'S HIGH IDEAL

PIETY CONDEMNS THOUGHT

Have we so soon forgotten the-Scopes Trial when
Evolution was denied a place in the school curriculum
because it was branded as godless; when all Evolutionists were charged with being blasphemous Atheists?
Atheism has given to the human race the intellectual
monarchs of the world.
When the great Darwin discovered the law of the
origin of species, he was called an Atheist because he
disproved the special creation of Man.
THE STEPS OF SKEPTICISM
When the Chemist went into his laboratory and
discovered the indestructibility of matter, he was called
an Atheist because he proved the impossibility of a
creator.
When the Astronomer poi nted his telescope to the skv

Page 12

In this age and generation no one need cloak his

Atheism with some garment of so-called religious
respectability. "
Charles Bradlaugh's and Robert G. Ingersolls' fight to
make Atheism respectable has fortunately come to
pass.
When religion expresses a nobler sentiment than that
contained in these words' of Ingersoll's, then, and only
then, might it assume a superior attitude. He said:
"Call me infidel, call me Atheist, call me what you will,
I intend to so treat my children that they can come to my
grave and truthfully say, 'He who sleeps here never
gave us one moment of pain. From his lips, now dust,
never came to us an unkind word.'"
Compare that statement with the words of Jesus
Christ when he said that if a man hate not his mother
and his father, his brother and his sister, his wife and his
children, he cannot become his disciple, and then
decide whose mantle you prefer to wear!

Pluviose (February) 11981

rl

Austin Texas

ON OUR WAY

Ignatz Sahula- Dycke

FROM THE MINE INTO THE HOPPER

In our discursive and speculative moments we occasionally review the days of America's rugged
individualism, the years when people, whether singly or in groups,
prided themselves on thinking and
doing thinqs in the way they were
more or less instinctively impelled
to do them. It seems, now, that
those times are gone forever. American life is scandalously stereotyped now, regimented, hackneyed, dehumanized. We have grown
increasingly conscious of the behavior of others, and ridiculously
anxious to think, say, eat, watch,
etc., what all others think, say, eat,
and watch. We've permitted ourselves to become an irresolvable
conglutination of "monkey-see'smonkey-do's". It isn't anything we
can be proud of - it's something
of which we should be ashamed
and about which we should be
deeply concerned. In short we're
now behaving as we do because
we've to a great extent stopped
thinking for ourselves.
Weare literally inviting an atrophy of our brains, the singular
possession that enables us to call
ourselves human - the principal
thing differentiating us from the
lowest forms of Nature's organic
life. Could this indicate that we
humans are on the slippery slicks
to oblivion - on our way to where
rest the bones and skeletons of
mastodons,eryopsi, stegosauruses,
and other now extinct creatures? I
hate entertaining the thought that
our behavior tends to make this
probable; but unless we take off in
some other direction than the religious one in which we're treading,
the likelihood of humankind's extinction is to be reversed only by
the way we interpret, react to, and
comply with Nature's immutable
capriciousness. At the existing
level of human development we
are a far piece from understand-

Austin, Texas

ing, even slightly, whether or not

life on our earth traces to Nature's
whimsies and, if it does, how theyare to be responded to by any
organism that's intellectually equipped, as we are, to anticipate,
modify and possibly exploit them.
There's a measure of theorizing
in the preceding paragraph, yet
nothing but factual reality in anything whatsoever that harbors superstitious phantasms and pussilanimous dogmas conceived for
the purpose of disintegrating rational judgment. I don't know of
any osmotic process enabling anyone who believes in religious imagery to be deemed pristinely
sane. It's been clinically established that religious beliefs are NOT
established congenitally, but solely by indoctrination. Consequently
the advisable course for anyone is
to believe religion only if such
belief improves human existence,
and -~if we find that it doesn't
-then recognize our belief in it to
be an error of judgment, and therefore injurious. The believer's patient expectations of course are
involved in this. How long should
the believer wait for the improvement?
Ever since prehistory, throughout thousands of years, the religions have been dangling the carrot of improvement over the believers' noses, knowing it to be nothing
but tempting bait. The kind of improvement which the religions promised had never materialized. What
soever improvement that now exists has been the result of human
activities that oppose, contradict,
and ignore religious commands
and "advice". It's therefore undeniable that disbelief and distrust of
religion's syncretic shanty-mash
is in fact the force that has moved
us forward, out of the intellectual
doldrums of the Dark Ages in which
religion kept us up to the fifteenth

Pluviose (February) 11981

II

century.
Intellectual freedom and personalliberty of the kind we Americans
enjoy date only from the early
teens of the eighteenth centurya few decades more than 200
years ago. Yet, now, if you'll take a
look around you, you'll see almost
as many people trying to change,
and even destroy, what the entire
Western world only those two centuries ago held us in envy for that of which religion ever aimed
to deprive us. It's interesting, instructive, and also disturbing to
note, as all Atheists and other
freethinking citizens do, the great
numbers of people who appreciate
their essentially American freedoms but at the same time help
promote the moves being organized for the purpose of attentuating, crushing, and even destroying
those boons. Such folk thoughtlessly forget. wherv.they praise
religion, to look at religion's previously mentioned batting average.
Were they to look into it they'd
realize that, if judged on the basis
of results, religion has added very
little (except misery) to the sum
total of human experience. Religion is a useless, pointless, and
more-injurious-tha n-beneficent activity and occupation. Its power, despite all current propaganda to the
contrary, is steadily declining. Even
here, in the soothsaying swindler's paradisel
Billy Graham, whose advancemen decoy motley crowds of hellphobiacs and the curious to his
"crusades", said no few times what
today Joh n PauIII is coyly tryi ng to
jolly his listeners into believing:
that all will be well if we will only
trust in god and praytogetherl Myl
Have you ever seen photos of the
carnage perpetrated by a rene-

Page 13

gade dog in a pen full of sheep?

Prudent people never forget that
besides the docile in this world of
ours there also exist the predators.
It would be nice if this weren't true
but, sad to say, that's the way it is.
The life of homo erectus. as of all
creatures, goes on cyclically. In
one era or epoch the quality of life
for a while improves, and for another declines. Cussing the timing
of it never does any good, nor does
praying. We've to an extent learned to control Nature's foibles of
this kind - even made them to
serve our desires - but never by
ignoring them. Religion, which in
the past loomed prominently in
mankind's cyclic problems, always
delayed actions which, promptly
taken, would have solved the difficulties without further ado.
Here in our USA, conditions being
such as they are, Atheists, Universalists, Humanists, and other Freethinkers, constitute the group whose
uninhibited thinking can't help but
contribute the much needed modicum of common sense and good
will which we of the electorate
recognized was so glaringly lacking. It resulted in a significant
turnover that. politically, promises

to forefend here in our USA the

growing trend to rule by mob by
which in recent years all of us
have been threatened. Although
religious cults and lobbies are everywhere rampant nowadays,
our
country's incoming administration,
(headed by a Californian made cultwise by governing there) is far
better equipped than the departing
one for controlling what at times
threatens to develop into a religiously fomented political pandemonium if not a catastrophe.
We, the citizens of this nation,
have seen periods both good and
bad - enjoying the good times and
withstanding the bad. We survived
because we as a nation can - as
has countless times been said be likened to a crucible in which
many ingredients are combined to
make a tough steel. America, our
USA, is a country of many parts all
held together by the ideal of liberty. There have been times in our
history when we had to endure the
penalties of regimentation on which,
once it served the purposes of our
survival, we turned our backs to
become the same self-reliant individuals as before - the selfsame

sons and daughters of our Constitutionally structured and protected land.

In the Constitution's Bill of Rights
our Founders urge us to understand that this nation is one guided by reasoning and devoted to
equal justice for all, of any race,
rich or poor, religious or not, weak
or strong.
Are we now to assume that
those of us are worthy citizens
who today, after 200 years of America's intellectual and personal liberty and fredom, still worship some
dusty icon, idol. or outlandish deity?
Is anyone who is so confused as to
worship superstitious concepts an
American? Can anyone be deemed
an American who doesn't know
that, before our Stars and Stripes
could exist, religious oppression
had first of all to be defeated here?
Are they to be called fellow Americans who today affirm their allegiance to some imaginary maverick
god in preference to our flag? Our
Constitution answers every question, yearning, and need. NoAmerican deserving of the name will
ever find anything more worthy of
respectful contemplation.

continued from p. 10

ABNER KNEELAND
children after a certain age - she is too old to
have children now! All this is conjecture - we
know nothing about it; neither as I conceive, is
it a matter of the least concern, of the least
consequence to us. So may the earth be ultimately destroyed, from some cause or other,
but that is no concern of mine whatever, I
know of no relation, obligation, duty or
responsibility to any being or beings in this
universe except to myself and others of my
own species. I do not think it right to be cruel,
even to other animals; but I do not stand in the
same relation to them as I do to man. They
would confer on me no benefit, voluntarily,
unless they were first domesticated by men for
that purpose. My own interest, which is
happiness, consists in endeavoring to make
others as happy as I can, as well as myself. On
my own account, it is of no consequences
whatever whether I live long or die shortly; all
I want, is to be happy while I live: but on the
account of others, I wish to live as long as I
can be useful to them, in any manner or form,
for I anticipate their happiness even aiter I am

Page 14

dead; and this idea adds to my happiness now.

I form no idea of a hereafter any more than I
do of a herebefore. This world existed be/ore
my birth; but what was that to me? So it will
exist after I am dead; and what is that to me?
It will be nothing to me then; but I now wish
that they (the inhabitants) should then be
happy. Thus I have informed you, as explicitly
as I can; and in per/ect candor, my present
impressions from all that I know or have
reason to believe.
I extend my views no farther. Of superhuman beings, or invisible worlds, I know
nothing; except it may be these worlds, similar
perhaps to our own, which are too distant to
be seen by us; but if they are inhabited, our
world must be as invisible to them as theirs is
to us, continue to preach as long as you can
believe; but when you can no longer believe,
perhaps you will find it expedient to do as I
have done, Continue to lecture for the good of
your species in this world without any regard
to another. At all events, I am your well
wisher,
Abner Kneeland

Pluviose (February) 11981

[to be continued next month]

Austin Texas

NATURE'S WAY
.

GERALD THOLEN

WILL THE REAL SCIENTIST STAND UP

There has to be a better word
with which to describe that certain
type of individual I have in mind.
The word - scientist - has degenerated through abuse to a
point where it is inadequate to
describe the very small number of
historical geniuses who actually
discovered scientific laws. After
all, in this day and time anyone
might regard himself as a scientist
simply by using a few big words
and/or acquiring a mail order college degree.
Scientist" mimes don't have to
actually understand their particular 'scientific' field. Consider the
'scientific creationists' for instance. They don't even have to know
the meaning of the 'big' words that
they use. Chances are that people
exposed to their rhetoric
don't
know much about the subject matter either. So, who will 'expose'
them?
The occasional genius that might
happen to read psuedo-scientific
misinterpretations are few and far
between. Quite often they are to
involved in more pressing study
than to be able to offer criticism.
Thus 'science' has become a prostituted word whereby creationism,
'UFOism', psychic phenomenonism, etc., etc., have tended to ooze
into the voids which separate the
knowns in science.
Little can be done to cure this
situation. The only way that people
will ever be able to eliminate the
charlatans from science is to become scientifically educated themselves. Everyone knows that a
child will sit in wide-eyed amazement while listening to fantasy
and mythology. The American public is equally childish in its capacity
for being intrigued by the paranormal, science fiction, and the
occult; literary history will verify
that Dracula sells much better

Austin, Texas

than bio-chemistry and genetics.

(Undoubtedly this is due to our
youthful indoctrination by society.)
Still, it would be unfair to hold the
psuedo-scientific writers entirely
responsible for our inability to judge what we read intelligently. That
is the duty of each Individual reader.
I have read reports from some
'scientists' claiming the existence
of something called "anti-matter"l1l1
Now try to imagine for a moment
-a non-existent
substance,
or
rather a LESS than non-existent
substance with 'negative existence' (what ever that is) that can
'cancel out' its counterpart-existing substance. Such an idea is
ridiculous for intelligent people to
discuss. Yet some 'scientists' advocate that very ideal And of course
we've all heard such expressions
as 'before anything existed' or 'in
the begir1ning.' Can there still be
people who are totally unaware of
physics First Law? If people haven't learned the very basic principles of science, how will they
ever keep up with recent more
rapid scientific developments?
It has been my observation that
science today is saturated with
'writers', not 'discoverers.' On the
one hand, science writers do at
least perfrom a primary service whetting the naive mental appetite of the masses. However,
quite often they do more harm
than good by compounding erroneous assumptions which ultimately limit the ability of people to
become entirely rational. For the
most part people associate science only with the recent TV extravaganzas and the books of a few
noted writers. The painstaking efforts of lesser known reserachers
may yet be years from public attention. There is a great deal of new
information not yet publicized that
may ultimately revolutionize phy-

Pluviose (February) 11981

sics. All that is needed is proper

exposure and consideration. Meanwhile millions are spent elaborating on the same old time-worn
theories because they have good
box office appeal. To Mr. and Ms.
Public, science and science fiction
seem to run together in an indistinguishable blob.
Since it is impossible to reserve
the words 'science' and 'scientists' for the exclusive use of the
few who attempt to refine data to a
point of infallible purity, perhaps
we should fashion new words in
their stead. Seeing as how science
is a deliberate study of NATURAL
phenomenon it would first be necessaryto design a word that would
be foreign to the supernaturalists.
How about a word like ATHESCIENCE (a-the-si-ens).
This blends
ATHEIST (without theistic beliefs)
with science (the natural study of
existing evidences). I don't see
how religionists could try to claim
such a title. But then I suppose the
small number of timid science researchers would not associate with
it either.
In Carl Sagan's recent TV series
Cosmos he told how the lonians
were subdued (annihilated)
by
Christianity. This causes me to
wonder why people like Dr. Sagan
are hesitant to openly aid and
defend Atheism. It is certainly in
their best scientific interest to do
so. Thomas Edison didl The acceptance of religious intimidation has
become a way of Iife for many even
though they know the consequences of such subjugation. How can
any rational person who's devoted
years of study to the natural sciences come to any conciusion other
than: th.r.'. no,odl They must
certainly be Atheists. Can it be that

Page 15

book sales or personal recognition

is so important as to nullify personal outlooks?
In my estimation a scientist is
under greater obligation to expose
the inefficacies of religion than are
others. What greater expression of

contempt for religion is there other

than saying 'I am an Atheist?
Politicians and/or other noted persons may have been fooled by the
god business but certainly
not
scientists -legitimate
Athescientists, that is.

It took men of great courage to

fashion a nation where science
could flourish. Scientists owe a
greater measure of courage to insure its continuance.

..

A part of the work of the Atheist Centre in India is to provide education to the "untouchables."
Gora and his children have
all advocated intermarriage
of the castes and have demonstrated
this in their own lives.
Shown here is one of the classes with the untouchable children in a group. for-picture taking - and their souls are not being
sapped out of them because the picture was taken! Also, food is provided for a lunch. Another picture shows them at their meal.
The joyousness of youth, living, learning, reaching out cannot be stifled anywhere, and here John Edwards caught several of
the children in their happiest mood as they danced and sang for the visitors.
,_,

Page 16

Pluviose

(February)

1 1981

Austin

Texas

THE AMERICAN ATHEIST RADI$SERIES

f" ~

:-r .

t:

ITHE FIRST COMMANDMENT

~--~
Hello there, this is Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American
Atheist, back to talk with you again. I begin now to
review Joseph Lewis' analysis of the ten commandments. ,
The prologue to the ten commandments identified
god, as he says, "I am the Lord thy God, who brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
slavery." God identified himself as a jew and the jews as
as, chosen people. There were hundreds of small
nations and city states in those days all of which
practiced slavery. He could have chosen any ethnic
group and freed all those slaves, or freed slaves in many
other nations, or freed all slaves in all nations. He chose
instead, according to the bible, to free only a small band
of jews who were in Egypt. He did not even free all jews,
but only those in bondage in Egypt.
If we compare this to Abraham Lincoln the idea
staggers. Lincoln freed the Negroes, but he was not
himself a Negro. The slaves were not "his" people. He
was not bound to them by ties of blood. He did his work
purely for the love of humanity. No member of the
human race was a stepchild to him. He did not flatter the
Negroes by calling them his "chosen people." His
passion was the principle of freedom - for all mankind.
The lord jahweh was interested only in the small jewish
group he had freed since he was himself a jew.
A poet put it nicely in a couplet:
How odd of god
To choose the Jews.
He chose a particular man to assist him with this work
through whom he was to give the ten commandments
which were to govern all human conduct forever,
everywhere, to these people. This was Moses. Curiously, Moses has much in common with Sargon the Elder,
the first Semetic king who reigned over Babylonia about
2,500 years before the present era. There is preserved
in the library of Ninevah a copy of the inscription taken
from one of his statutes on which were carved .the
details of his charmed life.
"Serqon. the mighty king, the king of Agade,
amI.
My mother was lowly, my father I knew not.
And the brother of my father dwells in the
mountain.
My city is Azuripanu, which lies on the banks
of the Euphrates.
My lowly mother conceived me, in secret she
brought me forth.
She set me in a basket of rushes, with

bitumen she closed the door.

The river bore me up, unto Akki, the
irrigator, it carried me.
Akki, the irrigator, lifted me out.
Akki, the irrigator, as his own son rearedme.
Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener appointed me.
While I was a gardener, the goddess
Ishtar loved me, and for four years I
ruled the kingdom.
The black-headed peoples I ruled, I governed. "
We see that Sargon the Elder was born of lowly
circumstances, that his mother put him into a bullrush
basket and floated him on the water and that he became
the son of a ruler and finally bcame a ruler himself.
Also, he had a brother who dwelled in the mountains,
even as Moses had a brother Aaron. As with Moses, the
kinq's daughter loved and protected him in his first
position.
In the tale of Sargon, he went on to rule and be
associated with god ideas of that era 2500 years before
Moses. In the case of Moses, it was necessary that he
pick out a god or that a god should pick hjrn out. In this
case, god picked out Moses, who curiouslv'savs to god in
his discussion with him as to why he was chosen to do
god's biddi ngs, "What's your name? What god shall I tell
these people I represent?" (Exodus 3: 13) At that point,
god says, that his name is "I am that I am." (Exodus
3: 14). The first order of the day then was to impress the
people who were in bondage in Israel that they should
follow either that leader or that god. Remember that
they had been in bondage as slaves, allegedly, in Egypt
for many hundreds of years and all during that period
their god had not done a damn thing for them. The god,
or his agent, must then show some evidence that (1) god
had a real interest in them and (2) would do something
for them if they would only worship him at this point in
time.
To impress the "Children of Israel" with his power,
god through his chosen man, Moses, decided he must
perform some extraordinary deeds. Moses started out
modestly enough (under specific instructions from god)
with some magic, turning a rod into a serpent. However,
this was easily duplicated by the Egyptians' legerdemain and Moses was forced to progress rapidly into
other activities, such as destructive and horrifying
miracles. A river was spilled onto land and became

Pluviose (February) 11981

Austin, Texas

II

Page 17

blood. This was a real begininning, but the peculiar

thing is that a conspiracy began.
Moses was to lead god's "chosen people" out of
Egypt. Howver, if he did this simply and surely it would
not demonstrate the supernatural power of god nor that
such power was working through Moses. Therefore,
god conspired with Moses that Moses should perform
miracle after miracle to impress and gain the consent of
the Egyptian Pharaoh to "let my people go." Actually,
the scheme was to build up a crescendo of punishing
and calamitous miracles until a dreadful holocaust
could be inflicted on the innocent people of Egypt. This is
the brainstorm of a sadistic monstrous god in cohort
with a psychotic murderer then age 80 (and his 83-yearold brother.) Moses would demand of the Pharoah "Let
my people go. " The Pharoah being an honorable man
would say "0. K. they can go. "Moses would then say to
the people, "Let's go kids." Whereupon god would
intervene and "harden the heart of the pharoah" so that
he would stop the people, saying that they could not go.
God then had an excuse to strike the Egyptian people
(not the Pharoah) wtih disease, plagues, elements
erupting. All of this was staged so that the jews would
see that the god, who had just arrived, was one which
they should follow. The entire game-plan was to build
his esteem, his image, his power, in order to impress the
jews to opt for him as their god and follow him out of
Egypt. They, as a class, were spared the disease,
plagues and calamities.
For example in Exodus 3:29 the lord warns Moses
that the Pharoah cannot let the jews go, because of
what the all powerful god plans to do:
"I will harden his heart, that he shall not let
the people go. ",
This plan is repeated over and over throughout the saga
of the confrontation between Moses and the Pharoah.
Thus with foreknowledge that god is going to assist him
with the miracles and at the same time that god is going
to harden the heart of the Pharoah, Moses and god were
able to effectuate a game plan for their miracle presentment in Egypt.
With the river dry, with blood everywhere in the land,
with every fish dead and rotting, with a tremendous
stink and no water to drink anywhere in the land for
seven days, a modern ruler would be involved in
stopping the phenomenon somehow. In addition, all the
people would be dead from dehydration in that time. (It
is not explained how the jews escaped this first mess.)
But, the lord had hardened the heart of the Pharoah and
he could do nothing, nor did he desire to do so. However,
after the lord stopped hardening his heart, he said,
"Take your people and go." Whereupon, when they
tried to go, the lord hardened the Pharoah's heart again
so that he stopped them. This was designed only so the
lord, through Moses, could bring bring a plague of frogs.
Again, the same scenerio is seen - with the Pharoah
advising Moses to take his people and go, the lord then
hardening the Pharoah's heart so that even another
plague could be brought on the Egyptian people. In each
instance, every plague killed everything: plants, vegetation, beasts, people, every growing thing. Each plague

Page 18

increased in severity. All the dust of the land turned to

lice. After this a swarm of flies blanketed the land.
(Again it is impossible to know how this did not affect
the jews.) Then came a contagious fever affecting
domestic animals and all of the cattle (which - incidentally - were already dead) died. Then everyone and all
the cattle were beset with boils and blain. (However,
everyone was already dead several times already, dead
from no water, dead from the other plagues, and all the
cattle had been killed several times.)
Meanwhile, god continued to harden the heart of the
Pharoah while he tortured the innocent Egyptian people
in order to reveal his greatness to the jews, who were
not afflicted. He did this, Exodus 9: 14 so "that thou
mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. "
You can bet there never wasl
Following this, a hail storm came which was intermingled with fire. It ruined every herb in the field and
every tree, all of which had already been destroyed,
totally decimated. It also killed (again) all the animals
which had already died several times before. At this
point, even Ronald Reagan, the President of the United
States, would have surrendered to Russia to stop such a
string of national catastrophes. There is no Atheist
anywhere who would not have said, "I believe. I believe,
alreadyl" However, apparently the jews - who needed
much convincing - were still not voting for the "larn
that I am." Therefore, god continued to harden the heart
of the Pharoah so that locusts and darkness next were
called out by Moses. The locusts were to eat everything
that had been spared by the fire and the hail, the lice, the
dust. Exodus 1:14 "and there remained not any green
thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all
the land of Egypt." How were the jews spared? They
were still in Egypt. Pharoah still could not surrender,
however, because the lord god had hardened his heart
again and he was obeying the will of the jew!sh god-not
his own Egyptian god. All of this was broug'nt about so
that the jewish god could put on this act to convince the
little band of jews to follow him.
The question is apparent: if this is the god of the whole
world, why did he send so much punishment on so
many people (all of Egypt) to convince a small band of
captive jews only? Is this the god of love?
The worst is yet to come.
God decided to kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.
Concerning this, Lewis notes:
"When it comes to killing innocent children, I think it
time our attitude change and that proper condemnation
be expressed. Mind you, not only will the firstborn of the
house of Pharaoh. but even 'the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill' be killed for no other
reason than to demonstrate the power of the lord, who
keeps hardening Pharaoh's heart so he won't let the
children of Israel go. "
In all of this, the jews (allegedly) were exempt. Their
cattle were, somehow, not killed; they did not suffer
from the plague of frogs, lice, flies, locusts; they did not
suffer blains or boils, nor die from lack of water for seven
days.

Pluvibse (February) 11981

Austin Texas

But, now god got busy and killed all the firstborn of the
Egyptians to such an extent that Exodus 12:30 "There
was not a house where there was not 'one dead'." He
then commanded that this terrible slaughter would be
an event for the jews to celebrate as a joyous holiday of
their people. He states that it must be feast day, forever,
so that this butchery would ever be remembered. Of
course, of the jews, he killed no one. This is probably the
most devastating punishment any nation had ever
undergone in the history of the world. This is a true
holocaust. Surely even Hitler could have learned from
this little pipsqueak jew god. When every home had a
death in it. the Pharoah then invited Moses and his
followers to leave. If the Russians, or the Chinese,
would kill one person in every home in the United
States, do you think that we, or our President. would say
tothem, "0. K., you can leave now."? Remember, this is
the first born killed. My brother who is three years older
than I would have been killed. It did not matter as to age.
Pharoah, who had to be a firstborn in order to be the
Pharoah, would have ben killed. Oh yes, all the first born
of all the cattle were killed, again. In the midst of this
slaughter, the lord god appeared in order to give the
jews a recipe for roast lamb, with orders to make certain
they had "shoes on their feet" when they ate it. (Exodus
12:8-11)
Moses and god then continue with the most incredible of incidents, parting a sea, drowning a pursing army
(which was all dead several times already, all mounted
on all the cattle which had been killed perhaps half a
dozen times), materializing food from air, and all so that
the "Children of Israel" would be duly impressed with
these performances and come to "fear the lord" and
"believe his servant Moses." If just one thinqlike this
would happen to him, Mr. Lewis perceives, he would
immediately begin to believe in god. But, the Israelites
wanted to return to Egypt. Desite everything they had
seen, everything in which they had been involved,
everything through which they had lived, they still did
not Quite believe in Moses or his god and turned instead
to the making of an image of a calf which they wanted to
worship.
Of course, there is nothing in Egyptian history to show
that any plagues had killed all the cattle; that any great
storm or disease had ruined everything growing there
including all trees; that any great wave of death had
killed in every home. There is nothing in Egyptian
history to show that there was a mass exodus of people
at any time.
.
But when the group of jews led by Moses finally
arrived at the foot of Mt. Sinai, they were still not
impressed. Imagine having food come to you out of the
air I Imagine wandering in a desert for forty years and
not having either your shoes or your garments wear out
in all that timel I would be so impressed that I would
believe in almost anything by then.
But god and Moses were unable to convince these
people. In the third month after they were out of Egypt,
god and Moses had a conversation in which god
directed the people to purify themselves and that he
would appear to them personally, if they would do this

Austin, Texas

for three days.

They were to wash their clothes and refrain from
sexual intercourse for three days. So, all the people did
this. On the third day, as promised, thunder and
lightening came and 'a thick cloud settled on the
mountain. Then a trumpet was heard so "exceeding
loud that all the people that was in the camp trembled".
The mountain Quaked. It was covered with smoke and
fire. Then "Moses speke, and god answered him by a
voice. "
That would convince me, and I am the number one
Atheist in the world today.
And the first commandment given was as follows:
Exodus 20: 1-3, "1. And god spake all these words,
saying, 2. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. "
This indicates that the entire spectacular in Egypt was
simply to convince the people that he was Number One
of all the gods which existed then.
This is very curious, because of all the things we learn
about the Judeo-Christian religion, the most important
is that it allegedly introduced monotheism. In this
commandment, god does not rule out other gods, he
simply wants to be number one, numero uno. He
himself recognized the existence of other gods. The jews
then felt that he was the one god who was their god, but
not the one and only god. He was the national god of the
jews just as "Chemosh was the god of Moab and Milcom
the god of Ammon". The first commandment is only a
recognition by the jews that their god had finally
persuaded them through this display of heartless,
merciless, torture and death dealing that they had better
vote him in as their tribal god.
At this point, thoroughly discouraged with the human
race, or certainly that portion of it personified by his own
jewish ethnic group, Joseph Lewis notes that the mind
capable of conceiving a universe created according to
natural laws and subject to no human intervention did
not evolve until nearly two thousand years after the
recordings of this sickjewish tribal thought. This conception, he notes, culminated in the declaration of Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) that "the universe is
governed by natural laws" which conclusion is the
result of the accumulated wisdom of scientific progress.
The bible, Mr. Lewis sees, did not contribute a single
idea to the discoveries that led to this conclusion.
The bible deity is an anthropomorphic god who is
supposed to answer prayers and confer favors and
rewards, who demands sacrifices, metes out punishment for disobedience to his commands and wishes,
and penalizes the children of men for their "sins." He
could free a people from bondage by the dispicable
means we see here; cause locusts to devour a land and
just as easily drive them away; he could cause pestilences and floods; he could harden hearts; do all
manner of evil; he could send manna from heaven; he
could divide the waters of the sea; he could stop the sun
and the moon. He was jealous and vindictive. He was
petty and mean.
It would have been just as easy for him to -have the

Pluviose (February) 11981

Page 19

Pharoah's heart as to have hardened it. We can only

believe that he desired to kill innocent men. women.
children and cattle and every green growing thing to
show enough power so that the Jews would really
believe he was their god instead of the multitude of
other gods they carried with them.
The biblical evidence of god admitti ng to other gods is
throughout the old testament. No where is there any
command to obliterate them. Joshua 24:14 . 'Now
therefore fear the Lord. and serve him in sincerity and in
truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served
on the other side of the flood. and in Egypt; and serve ye
the Lord. "Also in Exodus 22:20 "He that sacrificeth
unto any god. save unto the Lord only. he shall be utterly
destroyed. "So it is in Judges 11:24 "Wilt not thou
possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to
possess? So whomsoever the Lord our God shall drive
out from before us. them will we possess." And. in
Kings I. 11:33 "Because they have forsaken me. and
have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidoniens. Chemosh the god the Moabites. and Milcom the
god of the children of Ammon. and not walked in my
ways. to do that which is right in mine eyes. and to keep

my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. "

Of all of this. Albert Einstein said. in the New York Times
on September 11. 1940. "During the youthful period of
mankind's spiritual evolution. human fantasy created
gods in man's own image, who by operation of their will
were supposed to determine, or at any rate to influence
the phenomal world." No one can accept this. The story
of the alleged rescue of the Jews from Egypt is a tale of
brutal savagry. It is the worst reason in the world that
there should be a monotheistic god who "shall have no
other gods before me." This is demonstrated by a tale
told by the principals in it that the "I am that I am" was
the worst of all possible gods and one which should
have been abandoned while the human race was still
young. We demean ourselves as human beings by
accepting this tale. It is less than subhuman and the
demonstrated god is dispicable. This is the thrust of the
first commandment as seen by Joseph Lewis. Atheist
writer of recent times: an order to worship one malevolent god, an order of which we should be ashamed.
It gets worse as we review the ten commandments. I
will be back next program with commandment number
two.

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