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",,"nded
AMERICAN ATHEISTS
is a nonprofit. nonpolitical. educational organization. dedicated to the complete and absolute separation of state and church.
We accept the explanation of Thomas Jefferson that the "First Amendment" to the Constitution of the United States was
meant to create a "wall of separation" between state and church.
American Atheists are organized to stimulate and promote freedom of thought and inquiry concerning religious beliefs,
creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals and practices;
to collect and disseminate information, data and literature on all religions and promote a more thorough understanding
of them. their origins and histones;
to encourage the development and public acceptance of a human ethical system, stressing the mutual sympathy,
understanding
and interdependence
of all people and the corresponding
responsibility of each individual in relation to
society;
to develop and propagate a culture 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;
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the cosmos
is devoid of
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resources within himself can and must create his own
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on earth and strive always to
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r
and justice. Materialism's
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ability to transform the world
culture by his own efforts.
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obligation
and impossible
without
noble ideas that
inspire man to bold creative
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()Q\. nfor good and for an outreach
to more fulfilling cultural
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Editorial: Culture Shock - Jon G. Murray
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The American Atheist magazine is published monthly at the Gustav Broukal American Atheist Press, 2210 Hancock Dr., Austin, TX 78756, and 1982 by Society of
Separationists, Inc., a non-profit, non-political, educational organization dedicated to
the complete and absolute separation of
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The American Atheist magazine
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ISSN: 0332-4310
April, 1982
Page 1
EDITORIAL
Jon G. Murray
.CULTURE SHOCK
Page 2
April,1982
ATHEISTS IN AUSTRALIA
AND
:.
._1 __.(
v
~ ~:
NEW ZEALAND
l\:
tit>
,-
April,1982
Page 3
Apri/,1982
Joseph McCabe
(Australia - 1910)
.r~~./_ ',~
/1
1?fJ!l71
April,1982
PageS
April,1982
April,1982
Page 7
April,1982
Page 9
April,1982
the labor party and by 1947, fifty one of the seventy one
Federal Labor Party members of parliament were roman
catholic. By the fifties the labour movement was split with
the roman catholic archbishop of Melbourne finally forming the Democratic Labour Party after the model of
Europe's Christian Democratic parties - which we now
know were all funded by the C.I.A. as a part of the cold war.
The capture of the labor movement in Australia, or a split
off into a conservative faction, was necessary to control
labor, or to manipulate it, along conservative roman
catholic lines and also to use it as a vehicle to capture not
alone aid for the parochial schools but other assistance for
the roman catholic bloc in the nation. The success story is
phenomenal.
Organized labor, in a nation which is basically Socialistic
- as in Australia, has political clout which is unknown in the
United States. This is a concept foreign to our country. But,
with a large party which could bring "popular support" to an
issue, the politicians handling the matter of aid to parochial
schools could easily be put in fear of election or reelection to
public office ifsuch an organized sector of the populace was
not appeased. Meanwhile with the church heirarchy applying the pressure of that politicized support, it was almost a
foregone conclusion that aid to the churches would be
sustained. Nonetheless a test was necessary. The church
riding roughshod had to be opposed.
Section 116ofthe AustralianConstitution istitledCOMMONWEAL TH NOT TO LEGISLA TE IN RESPECT OF RELIGION and briefly commands: "The Commonwealth shall
not make any law for establishing any religion, or for
imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the
free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be
required as a qualification for any office or public trust
under the Commonwealth." Of course, the struggle in
Australia did not come just after World War II. It, too, had
long roots into the past. But, it came to disaster in 1981. As
in the United States, a trickle of state aid was first given to
church schools by the Commonwealth in the 1950's. The
trickle increased to a flood by the 1960's and 1970's, usually
in the same categories of financial assistance which have
been given in the United States (see above). Finally
individual citizens who believed in the desirability of strict
state/church separation and who conscientiously objected
to being taxed for the propagation of any religious beliefs
proposed a legal text - a court challenge - of the existing
laws which gave the assistance to the roman catholic
church particularly.
In the United States we have the problem of "standing to
sue" which has been used as a device to keep minorities out
of the court system. In Australia the litigants had a similar
difficulty but it was posited in the guise of "gaining entry to
the court." Before the case could be hear a state attorney
general needed to give fiat (permission) in such a relator
action. That is, when the question deals with a public right
and a private right, such as a constitutional issue, the case
must actually be brought by a state attorney general, who
has absolute discretion as to proceeding or not. But, the
attorneys general are in politically sensitive post ions and
they, too, have religious affiliations.
In July, 1956, a federal program of state aid to church
schools was introduced. Citizens in Canberra wanting to
test the law soon found that the attorney general was one of
the sponsors of the aid in question and a dedicated roman
April,1982
Page 11
SO)(
the roman catholic Democratic Labour Party) asked a
committee of legal experts to examine the possibility of a
court challenge. The Australian Labour Party was only in
power in several states and the committee reported back
that most probably the attorneys general of those states
would not issue fiat. A public rally was finally called for
September 21, 1971 and at this an all out campaign for a
court test was launched. But, it took another one and a half
years to solve the problem of obtaining fiat. In all of this,
apparently, the Atheists, the Rationalist, the Humanists, the
Secularists in Australia - as organized bodies - did
nothing. The burden of pushing the case devolved on to one
or two persons, with the protestant religious groups
everywhere in sight. Atheists participating did so only as
individuals. Every attorney general in the commonwealth
was approached. Those in Western Australia, New South
Wales and South Australia simply refused fiat at once in
1972. Tasmania refused in July, 1973. Again they were all
approached, all six Australian states as well as the federal
attorney general. Finally, on November 28, 1973 the
Victorian attorney general granted fiat subject to conditions. Just trying for a right to suit had taken from August,
1964 when D.O.G.S. was formed, to November, 1973 - a
period of nine years. Meanwhile, the church schools
enjoyed their privileges and the tax funds channeled to
them, creating incredible precedent problems to overcome.
During the fight this Victorian attorney general stated
that in "the law of the jungle where the churchmen nearly
reign supreme" there is much difficulty. He went on, " ...
that the failure to get fiat in 1957, 1964-65 and 1972-73
(except for Victoria) can be directly attributable to the
activities of certain churchmen and the politicans fear of an
adverse reaction from roman catholic voters in particular.
Page 12
April,1982
April,1982
Page 13
ATHEISTS
ROBIN,A.F. PARKr~S6N,JON
AT
FOOT OF SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE
RATIONALIST
RATIONALIST HOUSE
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Page 14
April, 1982
American Atheist
AN AUSTRALIAN "DINGO"
AT MELBOURNE ZOO
JAMES GERRAND, PRESIDENT OF
HUMANIST SOCIETY OF VICTORIA
LAWRENCE
BULLOCK
CO-FOUNDER
UNITED WORLD ATHEISTS
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
IN
AUSTRALIA
Austin, Texas
April, 1982
Page 15
case of schools conducted by some religious denominations, are intended to serve the purpose of inculcating in
their pupils the religious beliefs and values of the church
concerned. It may be accepted that in some cases, if not in
most, church schools are seen by the church as fulfilling a
religious as well as a purely educational purpose: their
functioning is regarded as an integral part of the religion
which supports the schools."
At page 25: "For the reasons I have given, I consider that
the words 'The Commonwealth shall not make any law for
establishing any religion,' where they appear in s. 116,
mean that the Commonwealth Parliament shall not make
any law for conferring on a particular religion or religious
body the position of a state (or national) religion or
church." The judge had to reach back to an argument
posed by U. S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story (1779
-1845) and which Thomas Jefferson vigorously opposed.
This interpretation essentrally holds that all aid to all
churches, alldenominations. all religious organizations are
permissible so long as one is not given precedence over the
other. It is hardly conceivable that our founding fathers had
such an idea in mind. But the judge went even further with
his garbled religious ideas. "If it be assumed that in some
schools religious and secular teachings are so pervasively
intermingled that the giving of aid to the school is an aid to
the religion, and if it be further assumed that some religions,
which conduct more schools than others, will receive more
aid than others, it still does not follow that any religion is
established by the legislation."
1974 )."
The end of the case is really a financial footnote. The
commonwealth
of Australia recommended,
then, that in
1981 of the funds from taxation which are set apart for
schools 48% be provided for private, non-governmental,
schools and that 47.8% be given to State, government,
public schools. In view of the fact that in the year 1981,
77.6% of school childlren attended government schools and
only 22.3% were served by private, non-governmental,
schools the implications are staggering.
When the Murray-O'Hairs
arrived in Australia, they
found the Atheists/rationalists/humanists
to be warm,
welcoming, personable people. They were accepted, wined,
dined, promoted in the media and given every consideration. They met with leaders and led for luncheons, meetings, dinners, breakfasts. They visited in their homes and at
their usual places of gathering. They were given private
transportation,
taken on conducted tours. Beautiful hotel
accommodations
were made for them. Even the weather
stayed superb.
The Murray-O'Hairs
were several days into their visit
before they had an opportunity to meet Mark Plummer.
This young attorney took off from work to acquaint them
then with the parochiaid situation. The loss of the case in
early 1981 had brought a surge of building for the church
schools, which - by the end of that year - were being
totally supported by the state. The church had had plans on
the drawing boards, land purchased, and he drove us to a
number of magnificent school buildings built by the commonwealth of Australia for the roman catholic church. He
cited figures in the millions of dollars for the mounting costs
of the roman catholic school system.
But most pathetic was that the young minds in those
schools would each and everyone be victims of indoctrination with medievalist religious dogma approved and, indeed,
endorsed by one of the advanced states of our century.
They visited with John T. Dunn who had been President
of the D.O.G.S. organization during the fight. And, these
two alone seemed aware of the enormity of the loss.
The Atheist/rationalist/humanist
organizations,
leaders
and members, were still on the level of pumping out little
journals with philosophical discussions,
having monthly
meetings and having a speaker to come in to discuss the
problem that evil presented to religion. Little booklets and
pamphlets written in the 1860's were still being reprinted.
When it was all over, after they had spent almost a month
in Australia and New Zealand the message came through
loud and clear: the Atheist/rationalist/humanist
leaders
were not leaders, they were care takers, or proprietors.
What had been built by Southwell, by Symes, by McCabe,
by others had been slowly dying of attrition. The building in
Melbourne
had been sold and money used for some
expenses; a smaller building had been bought. An income
from rental of the upper floors of that building was so
important to the residual organization that an active part in
April,1982
Commonwealth's
Page 16
Australian
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Origin of Easter
Merrill Holste
April,1982
Jehovah Witness and the Roman Catholic Douay all use the
word "passover," at this place for this annual spring festival.
Originally, christians observed no holy days of any kind
- no birth days, no anniversaries. The apostle Paul wrote in
his letter to the Galatians at chapter 4: 10-11, I quote: "Ye
observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid
of you, lest I have bestowed my labors in vain." And to the
Colossians he wrote at Chapter 2:16-17, "Let no man
therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect to any
holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days." He
wrote to the Romans at 14:5 in a similar manner.
So, why is the Easter festival held at the time of the spring
equinox by christians now? Solstice festivals were celebrated
throughout the Pagan world for thousands of years before
the christian era ever began. Our word, Easter, comes from
the Germanic languages, forerunners of our English. It is
Eostre, Eoster or Ostara iri the Anglo Saxon. It is Ostern in
the German where it was the celebration.for the coming of
spring. Why did the christians adapt their 'passover to the
mode of celebration used by the Pagans? The missionaries
and preachers who were trying to convert the Pagans found
that these people insisted upon continuing in celebrating
their joyous spring festival. And, if the missionaries were to
be successful in attracting the Pagans to their rather somber
and joyless religion, they found that they had to adopt these
Pagan festivals in order to gain converts from among the
Pagans. The missionaries felt that by adopting they could
sanctify the Pagan celebration of the vernal equinox by
adding to it their brand of christian verbiage.
The early christians were a sect of the Jewish religion and
celebrated the Easter Passover as the Jews did. This
Passover was an annual religious feast celebrated on the
evening of the 14th of Nisan, the beginning of the Jewish
New Year, and continued to the 22nd of Nisan. The
Passover was an annual festival of the Jewish religion,
instituted according to Exodus XII to commemorate the
sparing of the Israelites in Egypt at the time their god was so
angry with the Egyptians that he decided to kill all the
firstborn of the Egyptians. The Israelite god, via his earthly
agent, the priestly dictator Moses, ordered the Israelites to
make a blood sacrifice. They were ordered to select a
yearling lamb, a male without blemish, from the sheep or
goats on the tenth day of the month Nisan. The order was to
kill this lamb as a sacrifice on the 14th day in the evening.
They were to make this day the beginning of their new year
from that time on. They were to eat this lamb roasted, not
raw or boiled. It was to be roasted with fire, head and legs
with the purtenances thereof, and I quote: "and that which
remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire." "It
is the lord's Passover." Passover for the Jews begins each
year on the required number of days after the vernal
equinox. The Israelites were ordered to mark their doorposts and lintel with the blood of this sacrificial lamb so that
Mose's god could know Israelite houses from Egyptian. The
. The American Atheist
Apri/,1982
Page 19
Oannes, and the Greek Phoibos were all fish men. The
fisherman's ring is still worn by the pope in Rome. Jesus, like
Jonah! is a fish-man as attested to by the miracles he was
supposed. to have performed. Jesus's miracle of feeding the
multitude was performed by using the two fishes of the
zodiac plus five loaves of bread. Five plus two equals seven,
the number of the gods represented by the sun, moon and
the five planets. The twelve disciples are the twelve signs of
the zodiac, the companions of the sun-god during one year.
The gods of the zodiac were the yearly companions of the
sun-god in other cultures also. The stories of Jesus's miracles
of feeding the multitude all mention that twelve baskets of
remnants were left over from the miraculous feast. See Matt.
41:20, Mark 6:43, Luke 9:12 and John 6:13.
The christian missionaries' were trying at that time to
convert the heathen nations of northern Europe, the Gerroans, the Gauls .the Angles, the Saxons, the Scandinavians,
the Slavic peoples and others. They found that the dark,
semitic looking christ did not appeal to the vigorous
northern tribes, so they made their figure of christ into a
blond north European with fair hair and blue eyes. They
made their dying god figure like that of the heathen god,
Prometheus chained to his rock with the head and face of
Appolonius of Tyana.
I am wondering now that the vernal equinox has moved
into the border between the zodiacal signs of Pisces and
Aquarius, will the "savior-god" take on the figure of a man
with a big water jug? Aquarius is the next sign after Pisces to
be the home of the vernal equinox.
ON ABORTION
John Ward
'*
Preface
necessary.
Entering into the emotion ridden abortion issue is to play
into the hands of the religious who have seized upon this
"end result" instead of the basic issue. The basic issue is
that of prevention of impregnation by (1) education concerned with human sexuality and following that (2) access to
pregnancy prevention by (A) medication or (B) mechanical
devices. Each time any representative of American Atheists
is interviewed on television, radio or in any speech at
college, university or group, the basic issue is handled first
and it is pointed out that abortion is a "back up" when the
first two methods have [ailed. It is further emphasized that
the first two methods of prevention of impregnation fail
because a group of socially and politically powerful
churches bring about this failure. The roman catholics, the
mormons, certain fundamentals
and evangelicals,
and
almost all of the right wing factions of the jews, baptists,
methodists,
lutherans, ad nauseum actively oppose sex
education, not alone in primary and secondary public
schools and in higher education institutions, but even in
their own homes. This most often includes not only
methods of avoiding impregnation
but also information
about the ordinary functions of those parts of the anatomy
Page
20
April,1982
i II
I I
i'
I.
i: II
l' I
"BUT
Austin Texas
ON ABORTION
John Ward
Although the 1913 Supreme Court decision may appear to
have solved the abortion question for Americans, there are still
efforts being made to reverse this decision. These may, in time,
become efforts to put through an amendment to the Constitution. While these efforts may all end in failure, they may in the
meantime involve the expenditure of much effort and money
that could be better employed on other more critical problems
in the country. Thus it would seem that a concise statement
regarding the elements of the conflict making evident their
foundations, implications, and logic as they are related to the
First Amendment to the Constitution may be pertinent and
timely.
All anti-abortion arguments, regardless of how they may be
publicized or stated, are based on religious values and assumptions. Essentially all of the arguments arise from: (1) ideas of
the "sanctiy" of human life with or without the attribution of
''immortal soul"; (2) absolute ideas regarding the nature of
."life" as an attribute bestowed by some supreme or otherworldly power; and (3) absolute ideas regarding the moment at
which "life" infuses the fetus or at which "life" is terminated
by the destruction of the fetus.
All anti-abortion arguments stem from the religious scruples
and values of those in opposition. Some who see, even though
dimly, the pitfalls of the religious arguments take their stand
on biological factors which they view as absolute, but which
when analyzed will be found to involve some supernatural attributes that ultimately rest on deep-seated beliefs resting on religious assumptions. All opponents of abortion generally seek
to strengthen their arguments by emotionalizing them through
the use of the term "murder" as contrasted morally and legally
with the term"kill," thus attempting to influence the courts
and the public through an ad hominem approach.
Biological science has not been able to observe or demonstrate any quality in human life that is not present in some degree in all mammalian life. Nor has it been able to observe any
distinct point at which the quality of life is demonstrably
modified or changed by the addition of some unique or distinctly new factor. Metabolism and irritability, the two distinctive
factors that can discriminate all living matter from all nonliving matter, are present at all times in all living matter from
the simple cell of protoplasm to the most complex of mammals,
man.
Qualitative variety in life forms is accomplished, so far as
can be observed, solely through quantitative modifications in
cell organization. The basic cell of protoplasm with its fundamental irritability remains constant. Thus if one wishes to argue for the sanctity or uniqueness of life, one must include all
life forms. If this is so, any destruction of life is abhorrent and
any life is possible only on the basis of mutual cannibalism.
From the earliest times men have sought to explain the
mysteries of birth, life and death by attributing spirits to all
things that lived. In the case of man the spirit was promoted
to the status of "soul," a supposedly unique possession that
was believed to put man in a special relationship with whatever
omnipotent power was thought to exist in order to account
for the otherwise mysterious universe.
This has enabled man to distinguish himself from all other
members of the animal world with whom he otherwise (embarrassingly) shares so many common (and inconvenient) qualities. This belief in a spirit or spirits cannot be proven or disproven by any observations, scientific or otherwise. It can only
be maintained by an act of individual, personal faith. Any argument on it is futile, impossible of any resolution.
Those who oppose abortion by implying that the fetus is
an
April,1982
Page 21
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April,1982
as
time
a self-centered, so to say, self-balanced unity. Perhaps
the most striking feature of it is that it acts as though it "desired" to maintain itself. But we cannot say of a spinning top
which resists being upset that it desires to go on spinning. The
very constitution of the living system may compel it to increase: thus a self-fermenting protein system, granted its conditions, must increase. The behavior of the living body is an example of this, and we call it living. The behavior of an atom is
an example of this, and we do not call it living. The behavior
'Of those newly discovered so-called "viruses" is an example of
this, and there is hesitation whether or not to call it "living."
The difference is not one of ultimate nature but of scheme and
degree of complexity." (Man, On His Nature by Sir Charles
Sherrington)
Thus those who seek to establish a specific point at which
the fertilized egg in the womb becomes a viable living thing are
not on firm ground, scientific or otherwise. All that biological
science can affirm is that the human fetus will, when born,
probably be amenable to education and training which may
make the creature substantially similar to other human animals
in its behavior. Until it is actually born and is free from the
mother, it possesses only possibilities and questionable potentialities, not certainties.
Neither life, soul, spirit nor mind can be found or demonstrated in any way. All that can be shown is that certain chemical accumulations gradually evolve increasingly complex irritability which finally becomes the integrated organizational irritability displayed by man. There is no specific demonstrable
point at which "something" extra is added. The quality of life
appears to be a quantitative variable. A qualitative difference is
not essential to explain life.
. The use of the term "murder" implying a moral discrimination as opposed to "kill" introduces difficulties that are ultimately emotional but which stem from semantic causes. Objectively the words describe the same action, namely, the termination of the capacity for irritability of one entity by an action of another entity. The actual differences in the actions as
implied by the terms are subjective, that is, it is not what happens but rather a qualitative difference in the "mind" of the
entity that commits the action.
Any living entity is said to be killed when its quality of life
is terminated by an outside agency, that is, when it does not
cease to exhibit that quality through some internal failure in its
dynamic organization. The term "murder" can only be used
(by definition) when both the object of the action and the instigator of the action are human. The term contains the necessary implication of ''intelligent intention" and a "human" object, and that requires (by definition) that both entities be
human.
However, here the actual limits of the actions are not too
precisely discriminated, because under some conditions one
man may terminate the lives of other men in exactly the same
way, but, because "justification" can be found in some instances, they will be designated as "killing," while those that
cannot be "justified" will be designated as "murder."
Thus an animal never murders a man - he kills him. A man
never murders an animal - he kills it. In the case of man: one
man kills another man when his reasons for the action are accepted by the religious, legal or other value systems of his society. One man murders another man when his reasons for the
action contravene the legal or religious systems of that society.
It is here that we reach the crux of the problem, for society
is not only a theoretical unit, but it is actually composed of
many men, and many men do not necessarily all interpret the
value systems under which they live in the same way. Thus
under the same social system we may find men adhering to different religious beliefs that make distinctions not necessarily
established or recognized by the legal system of the general society and that may, moreover, be more limiting than the legal
The American Atheist
,-
system.
In this way we may find some men prohibited by their religions from committing actions accepted by their legal codes,
while other men may have no reasons within their own value
systems that prevent them from enjoying the full freedom of
action allowed by the law. At this point conflict is inevitable if
one man, or group, insists that the limits established by his (or
their) religion obtain as the final deciding factor in the interpretation of the legal code.
Thus in the case of abortion the Supreme Court has finally,
after many years, recognized the intrusion of religious restrictions into areas of personal freedom supposedly guaranteed by
the Bill of Rights and has re-interpreted the law so as to assure
freedom from those restrictions. There is nothing in that freedom that compels any citizen to practice abortion. The man
who finds comfort in the belief that he has an "immortal soul"
is free to guide his conduct by that belief. The man who does
not feel the need for that belief is, and should be, free to enjoy
the freedom from that belief, if he so wishes.
The fetus is not alive until it is born (by definition); therefore, it cannot be killed, for that which is not alive cannot be
killed. The law cannot recognize the fetus as human until it is
alive. To do so is to assume its infusion with some humanizing
Then there is the theological approach to' birth control - 'Oh, god, I hope I'm not pregnant!'
April,1982
Page 23
Apri/,1982
April,1982
Page 25
CONTAINMENT OR LIBERATION?
John Foster Dulles
There are a number of policy matters which I would
prefer to discuss with the committee in executive session,
but I have no objection to saying in open session what I have
said before: namely, that we shall never have a secure peace
or a happy world so long as Soviet Communism dominates
one-third of all the peoples that there are, and is in the
process of trying at least to extend its rule to many others.
These people who are enslaved are people who deserve
to be free, and who, from our own selfish standpoint, ought
to be free; because if they are the servile instruments of
aggressive despotism, they willeventually be welded into a
force which willbe highly dangerous to ourselves and to all
of the free. Therefore, we must always have in mind the
liberation of these captive peoples.
.
Now, liberation does not mean a war of liberation.
Liberation can be accomplished by processes short of war.
Page 26
April,1982
American
Atheist
A CORDIAL INVITATION
THIRD ANNUAL SUMMER SOLSTICE PICNIC
Time:
Dress:
Place:
Agenda:
New video tape exhibits. A report about what happened at the National Convention in Washington, D.C. A chance to
meet casually a a whole group of other Atheists. A personally guided tour of the Museum by the old philosopher, Lloyd
Thoren. Astronomy slide show. Plans for future exhibits, especially for kids - showing inclined planes, wedges, levers,
pulleys and axles which enabled man to build idols, churches and huge historic monuments dedicated to non-existent
gods, but more importantly tools used to construct sensible things like hospitals, safe shelter, better roads, aquaducts and
dams for clean water and many other useful projects.
The American Atheist Museum telephone number is: (812)
354-6608. If you can't make this annual event, all vacationing Atheists always receive a warm welcome all summer long.
Feel free to call Lloyd or Pam Thoren at the Museum for local directions and accommodation suggestions. For airport
pickups at Evansville - call the same number
April,1982
Page2i
This tribute willbe read at the Arlington Cemetary during the 1982 Washington, D.C. American Atheist Convention.
DIAL AN ATHEIST
CHAPTERS OF AMERICAN ATHEISTS
Dial- The=Atheist
(512) 458-5731
(314) 771-8894
(505) 884-7630
(518) 346-1479
(704) 568-5346
Phoenix, Arizona
(602) 899-7411
(405) 677-4141
Tucson, Arizona
(602) 623-3861
Portland, Oregon
(503) 287-6461
Sacramento, California
(916) 989-3170
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
(714) 232-6767
(801) 364-4939
(415) 974-1750
Alexandria, Virginia
(703) 370-5255
Denver, Colorado
(303) 692-9395
South Florida
(305) 384-8923
(813) 577-7154
Atlanta, Georgia
(404) 329-9809
Chicago, Illinois
(312) 335-4648
Evansville, Indiana
(812) 425-1949
Lexington, Kentucky
(606) 278-8333
Boston, Massachusetts
(617) 344-2988
Detroit, Michigan
(313) 721-6630
Page 28
April, 1982
(201) 777-0766
WHAT HAPPENS
WHEN A 25-MEGATON BOMB !;
IS DETONA TED 3 MILES IN THE AIR?
1 A 200-million degree fireball, 8 miles high, vaporizes everything
within 6 miles.
2 Heat waves incinerate everything flammable within 30 miles.
Blast waves pulverize everything else.
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3 People suffer fatal injuries, blindness, burns and other injuries for
80 miles. Massive property damage also results within that area.
4 A 30-mile-high cloud of radioactive dust spreads, contaminating
thousands of square miles - possibly resulting in global- and
atmospheric contamination.
5 After-effects of radiation sickness and soil, water, air and food
contamination, etc., will continue for prolonged periods.
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