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religious
2. To collect and disseminate information, data and literature on all religions and
promote a more thorough understanding of them, their origins and histories.
3. To advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways, the complete and absolute
separation of state and church; and the establishment and maintenance of a
thoroughly secular system of education available to all.
4. To encourage the development and public acceptance of a humane ethical system,
stressing the mutual sympathy, understanding and interdependence of all people
and the corresponding responsibility of each, individually, in relation to society.
5. To develop and propagate a social philosophy in which man is the central figure who
alone must be the source of strength, progress and ideals for the well-being and
happiness of humanity.
6. To promote the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems affecting the
maintenance, perpetuation and enrichment of human (and other) life.
7. To engage in such social, educational, legal and cultural activity as will be useful
and beneficial to members of American Atheists and to society as a whole.
"Definitions"
1. Atheism is the life philosophy (Weltanschauung) of persons who are free from
theism. It is predicated on the ancient Greek philosophy of Materialism.
2. American Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly
accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a system of philosophy
and ethics verifiable by experience, independent of all arbitrary assumptions of
authority or creeds.
3. The Materialist philosophy declares that the cosmos is devoid of immanent conscious purpose; that it is governed by its own inherent, immutable and impersonal
law; that there is no supernatural interference in human life; that man-finding
his
resources within himselt=can and must create his own destiny; and that his potential for good and higher development is for all practical purposes unlimited.
ERICAN
JHEIST
Vol. 19, No. 11
November, 1977
ON THE COVER
CONTENTS
NEWS
Gaylor Charges Legislator
Bias
U. S. Post Office Bows to American
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
GUEST EDITORIAL, JOHN CRUZ
Atheist.
2
3
4
5
FEATURE
ARTICLES
On Keeping God Alive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Christians
and Crim inals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Death
Freedom
from Religion
,
, ..
Superstitions
Grow in Soil of Ignorance
Speaking for Women
Where Do We Go from Here?
. .
. . . . . ..
.
Reflections
on Robert G. Ingersoll.
, .,
AMERICAN ATHEIST RADIO SERIES
The Arius Conflict
POEMS
EDITOR IA L
7
9
11
13
16
20
23
26
28
31
32
Editor-in-Chief:
Madalyn Murray O'Hair/Managing Editor: Jon G. Murray/Editor:
Edmund Bojarski /Assistant Editor:INancy Bojarski Circulationt.Jo h n Mays/Production: Barbara Herold, Ralph Shirley/Non-residential
Staff: Anne Gaylor, Warren
Shibles, Ignatz Sahula-Dvke, G. Richard Bozarth, Voltaire E. Haywood .
The American Atheist magazine is published
monthly
by American
Atheists,
2210 Hancock Drive, Austin, Texas, 78756, a non-profit, non-political, tax-exempt,
educational organization. Mailing Address: P. O. Box 2117, Austin, TX, 78768;
copyright @ 1977 by Society of. Separationists, Inc.; Subscription rates: $15.00 per
year; $25.00 for 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.
Name
Address
City, State, & Zip
The American A theist
RENEWAL
_
Page 1
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN,
AMERICAN ATHEIST CHAPTER
With the verve of Sch Iitz beer advertisers - both
the brewery and the advertisers being from Milwaukee ,- the American Atheist Chapter there
was "gung-ho"
in its approach to the announcement of its aborning.
We are all here convinced that the Schlitz companies must be Atheistic with the themes in their
advertising of "We're from Milwaukee and we
ought to know." that "You only go around once in
this life, so grab it for all the gusto you can get. r r
Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Jon Garth Murray were in Milwaukee to participate in a 90 minute television talk program in that city and the
Milwaukee Atheists were out in force. There was a
dinner at a local steak house, the television program, a meeting at the hotel afterwards and the
following morning a Press Conference was set up.
The Press Conference was unique. I n all of the
fighting we have done, we have never been able to
convince other groups interested in First Amendment issues to join us. But - again, a first in history was accomplished - this time the Milwaukee
Atheists did it.
In attendance at the Press Conference were
Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Jon Murray of our
national office, Eunice Edgar, Executive Director
of Wisconsin Civil Liberties Union, D' Ann Prior,
State Coordinator.
Wisconsin National Organization for Women, Elinor Yeo, Religious Coalition
for Abortion
Rights, Carol Holt, Preserve Our
Public Schools of Wisconsin, and AI Haugen, State
Director, American Atheists of Wisconsin. As a
special guest, Anne Gaylor, Director of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, also was present.
It was an earth shaking event - almost. Because
absolutely none of the media came out. Television,
radio, newspaper had all been invited, but none
had the courtesy to advise that they would not
cover the event. If you live in or near Wisconsin,
you might give radio, television and newspaper
heads a telephone call to ask them why there was
no coverage of this important coalition, acting together, for the first time ever anywhere in the
United States.
Meanwhile, the persons involved were planning
to visit editors' offices and news desks throughout
the city.
But these Atheists know that nothing comes
easy which is for humanity's benefit. As their Presi-
Page 2
CHARGES
LEGISLATOR
BIAS
Anne Gaylor, who is considered to be the leading Atheist in Madison, has fired a new salvo at the
Wisconsin legislature.
This time she pointed out that the legislators'
religious affiliations show up in their voting records
and official actions.
For example, Gaylor notes, two-thirds
of the
Wisconsin senators who recently sent a letter to
Health and Social Services Secretary Donald Percy,
asking him to stop state funding of abortions for
poor women, are Roman Catholics.
"1 think it is imperative that the general public
know the religious composition of the Senate and
the predominant religious pedigree of this particular group of men who want to deny abortions to
the poor," she said.
Gaylor said she has researched the religious affiliation of the senators in the current "Legislative
Counselor," a periodical published by the Wisconsin Protestant Legislative Council, and found that
of the state's 33 state senators, 18 are Roman
Catholic.
Fourteen of those 18 signed the letter to Percy,
she added.
Gaylor pointed out that "Catholics comprise approximately one-third of the state population, yet
over 40 percent of the Assembly is of that religion
and over 50 percent of the Senate. Wisconsin women have taken representation in the legislature,
while Roman Catholics are over-represented. No
wonder so many anti-woman bills get introduced,
"What is at stake here in the funding of abortions for poor women are women's lives and health
and futures, and frequently their families' stability
and security. Are we to sit by and let religionobsessed males determine that poor women must
be dragged deeper into poverty because reproductive health care available to the more affluent may
NATIONAL ENQUIRER.
For some time now this has been
on my mind and I am appealing to
you for your possible help. WHY
IN THE
NAME
OF JUSTICE
CAN'T
SOMETHING
BE DONE
ABOUT THIS. I believe this Congressman
is now serving his 2nd
term and he will be up for re-election next year - 1978. It seems
some Religious preach one thing
BUT practice something
else.
In
my opinion this is being a HYPOCRITE. Enclosed is a $50.00
bill
toward the expense of the investigation of this matter. You are to be
commended
for your courageous
stand for RIGHT against WRONG'
This country
is badly in need of
more people like you.
Sincerely, ANONYMOUS
P. S. For personal reasons
to remain Anonymous.
I desire
Editor
Dear Anne,
Ireland has produced some of
the world's outstanding Atheists
(vide George Bernard Shaw), so
your "genetic quirk of fate" has excellent ancestry, as no doubt has
mine.
Thank you for the poem which
we enjoyed and which we hope will
engender a thousand similar efforts
by our readers, at which time the
Atheist Press will be forced to consider the publication of a very thick
volume of Atheist poetry.
Editor
Editor,
It is indeed ironic that the recent
article [October,
1977, p. 19] on a
woman's
right to choose abortion
was written by a man and that he
frequently
used the pronoun
"he"
as in " ...
he must determine
for
himself on the basis of the arguments what conclusion he wishes to
draw." Once and for all - is is tor
each WOMAN to make decisions regarding her own body - it is not
for the men in Congress, the men in
the state legislatures, or the man in
the street to decide. This society
through its written and unwritten
laws have long succeeded
in con-
Page 4
Dear Madam,
I am writing this to call your attention
to the following
matter.
Congressman
Robert F. Drinan
(D-Mass) is a Roman Catholic Priest
and is a member
of a Religious
Order
of Priests
known
as the
JESUITS (Society of Jesus) whose
headquarters
are in Rome, Italy.
Members of this religious organization are required
to take several
VOWS, among these VOWS is the
Vow of Poverty. Since this Priest is
keeping this vow he is required to
turn over to this Jesuit organization
his entire Salary as a Congressman.
This is really something.
Here we have a case of the U.S.
Govt. and the American Taxpayer
supporting
a Religious Organization
- this is a violation of the AMENDMENT The Separation
of Church
and State. The eligibility of this Jesuit
Priest
to
serve
as
a
Congressman
should be challenged
.: also this Jesuit
Organization
should be required to return to the
US Treasury the total sum of money received from this Jesuit priest
while serving as a US Congressman.
A news item regarding this. appear-:
ed in one of the past issues of TH E
Dear Anonymous,
The Janus-faced Congressman
Drinan has long been one of our
back burner projects for which
there has been no funding. We share
your concern over the U.S. taxpayer's financing, even so indirectly,
such Roman Catholic flouting of
our laws as the illegal fund raising
bingo games in Texas played with
the collusion of the police.
We hope to use your generous
contribution
in bringing to life a
new Massachusetts Chapter of American A theists which will have as
one of its goals the enlightenment
of the citizens of that state re the
expenditure of their money by a
representative whose first loyalty is
to Rome rather than to Boston.
Massachusetts readers are asked to
write to us right now. Next year
will be too late.
Editor
J!jJ3~'
Ed Bojarski, Editor
The time:
the beginning of the 22nd Century.
The place: a typical classroom in one of the major
megatropolises spreading across the United States of
America.
The dozen teenaged students, comfortably
sprawled across the lounges are especially attentive
to the lecture of their instructor.
It is an excellent discourse, due to the interest
she has in the subject. It covers a chaotic era in American history; Due to sudden advances in technology,
rapid social changeswere precipitated.
The resulting anomaly was a technologically
progressive society retarded by primitive and regressive religious mores.
The central figure of the instructor's speech is a
pioneer in a movement instrumental in bringing this
country, and subsequently the world, out of this regressivestage.
Because of the socio-economic ramifications of
the movement, this person and movement were especially significant ..
This figure was Madalyn Murray O'Hair, and the
movement, of course, was the American Atheist
group.
Wishful thinking? Certainlv not. It's going to
happen. For those of us who can't see it, it's there.
The trees are in our way.
Our new Atheist center, our constantly improving magazine, our increasing number of chapters,
membership, income, advertising and law suits are all
positive indications of solid progress.
There is one element of our movement, however, that disturbs me. Since my involvement with
American Atheists, I regularly run across an attitude
of Atheist parents concerning the rearing of their
children.
.
The articulation may vary, but the theme is always the same.
It goes like this: "I'm going to let my children
make up their own minds. They know that I don't
believe, but it would be unfair to impose my beliefs
on them."
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
My wife and I, rearing our two boys as Atheists,
strongly disagree with this attitude and wish to share
with you our reasoning and empirical knowledge. Atheist parents who make this statement do so for one
of the following reasons:
(A) They really believe it.
(B) They don't believe it, but are rationalizing
to protect their children from Christian ostracism.
Of the former group of parents, I am curious about
several things.
Do we let our children make up their own
minds about playing in traffic? Brushing their teeth?
G.
Richard
ZIGGY
The American A theist
PageB
CHRISTIANS
& CRIMINALS
Page 9
;;
violence as being normal; an individual who looks inward, (and gets irrational answers), to solve h is complex problems; an individual who acts on emotions
rather than intellectual reasoning; an individual who
is so egocentric that he feels no moral or social obligations to other individuals or society, (psychopathic
personality; ... then you have a very dangerous criminal.
To indoctrinate a child in irrational religious beliefs is criminal, and should be punishable by not less
than twenty years in prison.
Page 10
SHIBLES' CORNER
'W"arrenshibles
DEATH
"What is death?" and "How can we cope with
it?" are the greatest problems man has to face. How
man has coped with these problems is mainly by
avoidance, denial, superstitious and mystical belief.
Almost entirely lacking was honest, open inquiry,
Death is still a taboo topic.
It is often thought that one solves the problem
of death by going to church. But contemporary theologians point out that religion does not clarify the
concept of death or dying and in fact, it says almost
noth ing about it. These views wi II be presented and
examined. Heliqion is found to have more to say
about how one should live. In any case, religion involves faith and fixed beliefs and cannot serve as a
means of adequate, objective inqu iry. But th is is
just to say that the philosopher's task is not merely
to present religion or science but rather to do philosophy, for example, the philosophy of religion and
philosophy of science. Philosophy is taken here to be
a critical clarification of concepts and methods in arw
area of study for the purpose of understanding and
to solve man's practical problems. Philosophy should
be clear, concrete, and relevant to man's evervdav
problems.
The above situation led to my offering' in the
spring of 1972 an interdisiplinary
3-4 credit Seminar
on Death at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater.
The method and sources used in the course were the
same as those used in this book except that the class
situation allowed for discussion, group therapy and
confrontations, and term papers.
An attempt is first made to find out what people
actually believe and say, both directly and in traditional literature. Quotations of both professional and
non-professional people are extensively used not just
to support arguments, but at times only to indicate
what beliefs they hold. The survey is made adequate
by being an interdisciplinary
analysis. An extensive
bibliography, which was not previously available, was
gathered and included in this book. A student questionnaire was devised and administered to provide
actual statements and beliefs currently held.
The next step is to examine such concepts to see
if they can withstand criticism and counterexample.
Are they category-mistakes, naming fallacies, misuses
of language, etc.? Do the terms involved have an intelligent use in the context of everyday experience? The
method specified here is very similar to that used in
ordinary-language. philosophy, but it is a modified
and expanded version of it. One particular way it has
been modified or even replaced by the development
The American A theist
of a "metaphorical
method" of doing inquiry. This
book is in part an extension and application of my
previous work on metaphor.
The "metaphorical
method" is seen at work throughout this book. But
also any method is and may be used as long as it can
withstand critical examination or give suggestive insight. Thus there is also an examination of methods.
So after beginning with a report of the ordinary
language used an attempt is made to clarify the concepts of death and dying, as well as the existing theories and methods used. An attempt is made to provide
both a broad comprehensive presentarion as well as a
concrete in-depth analysis. It will be seen that statements made about death and dying are often misuses
of language, and that prevailing views in a number of
cases must be radically revised. The study does not
just leave everything as it was. This means that many
will find what is said here is controversial or even
shocking.
I n many cases much more work is needed, and
this book is in part an attempt to encourage such research and to break the taboo on the discussion and
study of aging, death and dying. This book is not just
a survey. Some contemporary
and some original research is presented here, especially in the area of philosophical psychology in examining the relationship
between emotions and death. An original analysis of
the concept of death is also given.
One of the arguments which seems to come out
of the material presented is that inquiry into death
points up the importance of inquiry itself. Some
reasons for this are the following:
1. Emotions are seen to be largely assessments
which guide feeling. For our emotions to be positive,
to prevent fear, anxiety, shock, etc., our assessments
must be clear and intelligent - thus the need for inquiry.
Inquiring into death is one of the ways of overcoming and coping with the fear of death. The very
act of discussing and communicating
about death is
therapeutic. This book has, as one of its goals, to help
one. cope with death by providing clarifications
of
both death and emotions. If one's assessments are
clear he will be less subject to negative emotions, and
merely openly discussing the subject
of death will
help to prevent fear, anxiety, shock, etc., when confronted with the death of a friend or the approach of
one's own death. Informed open communication
is
crucial.
2. Facing death leads one to consider how best
to live. Inquiry as a goal allows one to examine what
Page 11
:SOMEI-l~WI
~lfoJ~
I K~~w '111Nr rr ~~
I'< 11-Us. II
-n::> Be
L..,
Page 12
The American A theist
FREEDOM
FROM
RELIGION
by Ralph First
It's hard for me to recall just when I became
an Atheist. I mean the real honest to goodness kind
who no longer has doubts and uncertain feelings
about it.
Webster defines Atheism thus-1. a: disbelief in the existence of diety; b: a doctrine that
there is no diety; 2. UNGODLINESS, WICKEDNESS.
How the hell did wickedness get in there?
gers made his hands appear to be wearing baseball fielder's gloves. Usually some of the congregation would go forward and with much weeping and
wailing were gathered into the arms of Jesus. Then
followed a long, terrifying account about some
poor fellow who had committed a crime and swiftly and cruelly he was punished by the hand of god.
One day when we were alone Dad confided:
"That preacher makes up everyone of those stories
and much as I hate displeasing Mom, I'll never go
to church again, and, he added, "1'11 not be made
a fool of."
II
II
Page 14
cized by friends and neighbors if he/she should declare a disbelief in god and religion in general.
I must admit that I was past my fiftieth
birthday before I became confident enough in my
own Atheism to profess it to others. I have read as
many books on the subject as I could find. This
includes the History of Evolution and other books
by the great philosophers. I have just recently read
A Philosophy of Time, by Louis A. Rietmaster that
is an education in itself. This studying has confirmed what I had already felt-that
the world was
formed through hundreds of millions of years of
evolution and, there is not now and never has been
a god as described in the Bible and by the Christian world of today. If, as they say, god created the
world (in six days yet) a world so full of misery,
starvation, blindness, cancer and other incurable
diseases of the mind and body, then I wouldn't
want to be that god, my tears would make the
oceans... There is a greet feeling of freedom after
becoming a true Atheist. I no longer make excuses
to anyone as to why I don't attend church and if I
feel like saying, goddamnit, I say it without fear
that I'll be struck down' by a bolt from the heavens.
In November of 1974 I applied for entry into the Winter Haven Hospital for surgery. The
young woman who made out the form requesting
admission came to the inevitable question; "What
is your religion?"
Her mouth dropped. open in
alarm when I answered: "1 have no religion and do
not belong to any church."
To quote
Madalyn
O'Hair,
"The
First
Amendment
is a guaranty of the separation of
church and state-a guaranty of not just freedom of religion but freedom from religion."
In my entire lifetime there have been many
wars. I often wondered at the temerity of great
leaders of the world who would, without fail, say
at the opening and during hostilities, "God is on
our side!" or "God is on the side of right!". But I
noticed that it was the guns biggest in size and
numbers that won the battles.
... It seems that nothing
religious segment of humanity
MAN'S NATURE
/'
'\
The American A theist
IS TO SIN
ME SO
Page 15
SUPERSTITIONS GROW
Not long ago, a certain magazine that used to express a left political viewpoint ran an article defending astrology. At about the same time, a television
talk-show interviewer mentions casually that
apparently, plants can think ... " A friend remarks to
me that he is about to get a job working for a company that manufactures small aluminum pyramids;
and what do thev do with these pyramids, I asked.
"They sell 'em to people to keep razor blades sharp."
Once again we have to recognize a very regrettable
phenomenon: in some way, highly unreliable informfl
'on
THE UNIVERSE
IS KNOWABLE.
NOTHING
THAT IS WITHIN OUR REACH TO EXAMINE
IS BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION ...
... IT APPEARS THAT THE MOST IGNORANT
THEORIES AND HOAXES STILL REQUIRE REFUTATION.
ation is being scattered amongst a receptive and gullible audience. Dependence upon the techniques of
television and the mass communications facilities in
general has killed the critical faculty in many people,
while the demands of advertising and entertainment
have produced a variety of pseudo-factual features
catering to the desires of the mindless to be amused.
When the appetite of audiences is molded into a
hunger for something that need not be examined but
only accepted, an unexciting truth pays less than a
mysterious fiction that masquerades as reality.
So, while every major newspaper in the land runs
a daily or weekly astrology column, while every network with a few million viewers dedicatedly propagates the notion that a plant is capable of thought,
and while any book publisher you care to name is
willing to rush into print a chatty manual on "pyramid power" that is supposed to do anything from
sharpening knives to making plants grow better, the
only avenues for' expression of dissent to these
falsehoods and myths are journals here and there that
reach, at most, a few thousand of readers. Nevertheless, for whatever good it may be, I wish to add my
voice to those few others which object to the avalanche of impossible claims and mystical non-knowledge that is today being widely regarded as Truth.
In case these comments lead, in some individuals,
to a rejection of the prevailing silliness and a desire
to independently criticize all the pseudo-science that
is beginning to descend as a shroud over the light of
science and reason, then my purpose will have been
served.
IN SOIL OF IGNORANCE
life and health and disease? Science might just as well
collapse entirely, and our hospitals be replaced with
the tents of witchdoctors.
Although it may be lucrative to claim that plants
can think, this allegation is entirely fabricated and untrue: Plants have no thinking apparatus and are quite
unconscious.
ad titillated
people's ability to reason - a thought
tugged at the back of their minds: if the th irtieth barber in the picture shaved just as cleanly as the first,
why did they stop at thirty? Why not go on to fifty,
or a thousand? Suddenly everyone used a blade over
and over. Now convinced that the blade would remain sharp for a long time, users were reluctant to
throw one away. Earlier, however, when they had
thought that the thing to do was to discard a blade
after two uses, a three-or-four times used blade appeared to be impossibly worn out and dull; men nicked and cut their faces with these blades. Later, when
the only thing that had changed was their mental attitude, far older blades seemed to work just fine.
This illustrates the so-called Placebo Effect. It often happens that when a person believes something
will work, it does work, for the very simple reason
that more patience and care are put into use. Actuallv. of course, shaving blades examined under a micoscope exhibit a regular, continuous dulling in use,
totally irrespective of the beliefs of the user.
People who claim that placing blades in the center
of a pyramidal contrivance makes them sharp through
some "cosmic" action are Jikewise allowing their beliefs to influence what they seem to find as results, at
least when they are sincere but mistaken individuals,
and not outright charlatans and frauds attempting to
hoax others.
In case anyone might think that the little cardboard, aluminum or plastic pyramids of this new fad
have any sharpening or restoration effect upon shavblades, these questions need to be asked: First, can
changes be noted in a blade stored in a "pyramid",
from day to day, when examining the blade under a
microscope? The answer is no. Unless the blade is
used, in which case it will tend to become duller,
there is no change.
Second: If tiny amounts of metal were somehow
eroded from a blade to make tt sharper, wouldn't a
blade be worn away to nothing in a long storage?
Why, then, have actual, full-size pyramids not had
the effect of "sharpening" and wearing down to nothing the implements people placed within them thousands of years ago?
IT IS A SHAME TO HAVE TO DIGNIFY
TRIVIA
AND
STUPIDITY
OF
THIS
KIND,
WHICH SHOULD HAVE VANISHED
WITH THE
MIDDLE AGES ...
Third: By what mechanism does a pyramid supposedly accomplish its action? If by the concentration
through refraction of cosmic rays, as was the try at
explanation by the pseudoscientists in back of this
money-making fraud, how can thin layers of cardboard or aluminum - or anything else - refract rays
Page 17
~/
CONCLUSION
The universe is knowable. Nothing that is within
our reach to examine is beyond our comprehension.
With this realization we are proud and dignified peo-
~
Reprinted
ATHEIST THOUGHT
pie possessingintelligence. If the intelligence abdicates its right to know, it deservesto fall back into
the caves and the jungles and the ocean from which
it arose.
I . R , Vb arra
H. C.
Department
of Psychology,
Buffalo, New York
References
University
and
LANSDELL
of Buffalo,
Notes
,},
5.
6.
tional Anatomy
of the Human
Brain (Little, Brown,
Boston, 1954).
J. F. Delafresnaye, Ed., Brain Mechanisms
and Consciousness
(Thomas,
Springfield,
Ill., 1954).
K. H. Pribram and L. Kruger, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.
58, art. 2, 109 (1954). An excellent
discussion
of
some of the implications
of animal and physiological
research for the study of human emotions and taboos
is given by D. O. Hebb and W. R. Thompson,
in
Handbook
of Social Psychology,
vol. I, G. Lindzey,
Ed. (Addison-Wesley,
Cambridge,
1954),
W. S. McCulloch,
in Cerebral Mechanisms
in Behavior,
L. A. Jeffress, Ed. (Wjley, New York, 1951),
Page 19
..:::.
..
And
Religion
" Let-them-eat-cake"
philosophy.
Carter said,
"There are many things in life that are not fair,
that wealthy people can afford and poor people
can't." One would think poor women were asking
for yachts or diamonds or palatial homes rather
than merely the right and the means to control
their own reproductive lives.
It is instructive that on July 12, the day Carter
offered poor women his homily, Carter also asked
the Senate to consider the "undue financial burden of his multi-millionaire buddy, Bert Lance.
Carter should be picketed everywhere he goes.
Feminists should be where he is with signs that
say:
CARTER BETRAYS WOMEN!
CARTER POLICIES WILL KILL WOMEN!
CARTER EXPECTS POOR WOMEN
TO BE INCUBATORS!
IS CARTER THE PRESIDENT
OF THE RICH?
Others should hear from us, too-all those rich
politicians and judges who would say to the poor
woman, unwillingly pregnant: "Ah, but you can
be a breeding machine." What could be more
sexist and elitist than telling a woman who is
poor that she may not have an abortion, but, of
course, a delivery will be paid for so that a more
affluent couple may adopt her child.
What feminists do not need is women like presidential aide Midge Costanza. She is an example
of what should not be, of what should not happen.
About 40 of Carter's women appointees objected
to his "Let-them-eat-cake"
statement regarding
Medicaid coverage of abortion and held a meeting.
But under Catholic Midge Costanza's tutelage,
it was decided NOT to send Carter a strong, joint
official memorandum, but to write him "private
letters", to try to avoid the appearance of pressuring Carter. Can you imagine? At stake are the
lives and health and futures of poor women all
over the country, and Costanza wants to avoid
"the appearance of pressuring Carter." Can you
imagine black male leaders worrying about pressuring Carter? Vernon Jordan laid it on Carter
in the most public way possible, and next day
there was a presidential promise of a "flood of
Page 20
jobs" for blacks. Can you imagine the anti-abortionists worrying about pressuring anybody?
Women are fighting many battles, but the basic
fight, the one without
which other fights may
be meaningless, is the battle to control our own
reproductive
lives. Equal pay for equal work
doesn't mean a thing to the poor woman who is
having a baby every year. We need to move control of women's health to women. We need female,
not male, priorities. Can you imagine the ridiculousness of a society which will spend millions to
amass the technical
knowledge
to pinpoint
a
landing on the moon, but which still cannot pinpoint a woman's ovulatlon>
Why should we women have to put up with
lousy, harmful
methods of contraception,
while
millions of our tax dollars, which could be spent
on useful research, are wasted so that men are
ready to make war? Why can we not put abortion
within women's control? We need a simple, early
abortifacient
a woman can take herself-half
a
teaspoon in a glass of milk and presto-there
is that
late period. Of course, such things are possible,
but they are not apt to happen with the likes of
Carter, Califano, Berger and our own Wisconsin
nun, State Representative JoAnn Duren, making
the decisions.
(Note to out-of-staters:
JoAnn
Duren is a Cathol ic legislator in the Wisconsin
Assembly
whose major motivation
is ramming
Vatican
decrees down
everyone's
throat.
She
opposes contraception
for everyone, as well as
abortion.)
Speaking of religion, it really is critically important to note today that the leaders in putting down
feminists, now as in the past, have .been religious
leaders, both male and female. The fundamentalist
churches in the south, the Mormon
church in
the west, and the Catholic church all over the
country have opposed women's rights.
Do you think it is a coincidence that Phyllis
Schlafly, who so successfully opposes the Equal
Rights Amendment,
is a Catholic? Do you think
it is really a coincidence that United States Representative Henry Hyde, author of the infamous
Hyde Amendment
to ban federal funds for abortions, is Catholic? Do you think it is another coincidence that Wisconsin's JoAnn Duren is Catholic?
HELL,
NO! The Catholic
church
is women's
enemy. It trades in women's misery. It measures
its success by women's degradation.
Think of the multitudes of women whose lives
have been lost because of Catholic dicta against
contraception,
sterilization
and abortion.
Think
of the women whose Iives have been shortenedThe American A theist
Page 21
BOOK REVIEW
CLASSICS
FREE THOUGHT
OF
ed:
A NEW ATHEIST'S LAST RITES
A MINIREVIEW
Blanshard
atheistic and agnostic writings by a variety of Christian skeptics, ranging from Voltaire to Thomas Paine
to Mark Twain and Bertrand Russell. Although the
editor's preface explains that he hopes the book will
help transform current 'religious and moral' thinking,
its main attack isn't aimed at Buddhism, Mohammedanism, the cults, or a particular school of ethics.
It is aimed, rather, at the divinity of the Bible that
provides the doctrinal authority for Judaism and
Christianity.
"I n my opinion, the editor is pathetically misleading and its [sic] distressing to learn from his biography on the book's jacket that his first calling in
life was to the clergy. He is truly a fool in the Bible
sense, otherwise he wouldn't be able to create this
work. 'The fool hath said in his heart, there is no
God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable
works, 'there is none that doeth good." (Psalms 14: 1)
"When the Christian reads this book, he doesn't
hear the witticisms of its clever authors, only the
wailing of souls in hell who were lead [sic] their [sic]
by their writings. The editor should publicly recant
th is work before it s [sic] too late and personally
burn all copies of it he can find. In the case of this review copy, I'll savehim the trouble.
"The whole tone of this book is repulsive because
of its gross blaspheme [sic]. It mocks God openly
and then laughs in His face.
"I'm sure the editor isn't surprised to find there are
people who dislike his book. Freethinkers should
look for a wide variety of ideas and opinions, and develop a strong enough stomach to Iisten to them, if
they are seeking the truth."
Paul
copies of Classicsof Free Thought, at $12.95 per copy plus 55 cents postage and
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Name
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WHERE
DO WE GO FROM
Ignatz
HERE?
Sa hula - Dye k e
the god they talk about is supposedto have created. Unthinking people accept this old myth as
the truth, but only becausethere are myriad things
about the cosmos and its life that they do not
understand. Hence, when people worship the concept called "god", they worship nothing but
their own ignorance-hardly a procedure of activity anyone could call rational or commendable.
If this weren't true about their behavior, thenimmediately upon seeingsome new and astounding
invention-they
wouldn't call it a miracle of
science, as they do, but would add it to the list
of miracles until then being ascribed to that
mythical god. A miracle, after all, logically remains a miracle whether or not man understands
its manifestation. But, surprisingly true beyond
any dispute is, that as soon as anything of a miraculous nature is explained to man, he immediately
calls it an ingenious creation all his own, and no
longer some god's.
Where is this irrational state of mind now taking
the people of the West? The thinking people of
the West, not all of them Caucasians,are presently
and fortunately enabled to arrive at pretty sound
conclusions about th is question if they'll realize
that a good two-thirds of the world's people
are Asians and Africans, all of them aware that
Western man is constantly being impelled by the
dogmas of his ostensible eleemosynary Christianism to believe that he is a bosom favorite of
his imaginary god, and thus endowed with surpassing wisdom entitling him to dictate to all mankind how it should behave and live. This forces
the aforementioned Asians and Africans to see
him not at all as a man of wisdom, but as a lucky
interloper who, if he weren't rich as Croesusand
armed to the teeth, might possibly be occupying
a place far back in the column of the various rational peoples today questing for facts and truths
conducive to a contented and satisfying life.
The Westerner, because of his double vision
(one half rational, and the other half insane, due
to the religious fantasies he has been persuaded
to believe are factual truth), imagines himself
looming much more importantly in world affairs
than he actually does. Organized, commercial
religion has led him away from humility, and from
Page 23~
The Way to Design, a mathematical analysis for designing, Dallas, 1943, alsoAlias Kinson, a sociologically slanted novel, New York, 1963, also The God
Fixation, The God Delusion, The God Business all recent books. Born Bohemia, Austria-Hungary,
1900. Active service USNRF 1918-1919.
mentarian Christian ism, which as arbitrarily dictates the limits beyond which such a teacher (or
for that matter, anyone else) is considered dangerous. And only rarely do we hear a voice protesting
against the political approval and support given
to all varieties of religious activism.
Our institutions of higher learning in fact approve of any kind of Christianistic dogoodying
whenever it appears in the student's thematizing
under the heading of territorial, national, or
international relations. Sadly enough, our coinage
which circulates all over the world still bears the
words "In God We Trust", in consequence of a
clerically initiated superstitious episode during
the early days of our Civil War;* and now so does
our currency. Believe it or not, the appearance
of this motto on our paper money is of much more
recent date. This resulted from similarly inspired
action, but also astute political truckling to reiigionary lobbying, having been authorized by
Congress in 1955. And we haughtily say that
we are advancing!
It's enigmatic, and surprising, how few are the
people who, curious about the integrity of their
outlook, trouble themselves to review historical
records for some factual verification of their
conclusions. Were they to do this they'd discover
sundry old records showing beyond all contradiction that the theistic concepts, cherished by
so-called Christians, are pure myths obviously
unworthy of worship. Aside from the fact that
the greater part of the world's people are far
better informed than the Christian himself is
about these myths-knowing them as concepts
more perniciously mind-enslaving than any fear of
the whip, torture and death-they'd
promptly
see them for what they are: mere, ridiculously
inferior Christianistic echoes of ancient, superstitious concepts, dogmas, and beliefs.
These very same concepts of ancientry-today
still existing and worshipped in Christianity-were
commonly venerated here and there all over the
globe thousands of years before Saul of Ta!sus
stumbled across them in some far easternprovince
of the Roman empire, where he servedasa Roman
soldier; later on taking them to Greece and Rome
where his preaching popularized them. Thereafter,
Page 24
French philosopher,
17th Century
Reflections
An
on
Robert
Address
Atheist
by
on
G. Ingersoll:
A "Born
August
11,
Agai
nil
1977
by Voltaire E. Heywood
On this occasion, the one hundred forty-fourth
anniversary of the birth of Robert Green Ingersoll,
I would like to praise him, not only for his polished rhetoric, natural fluency, and vital subject
matter, but also for this greatest attribute, his
courage in speaking his mind. Actually very few
points that Ingersoll illustrated so melodiously
were unique to him. His secular ideas had been
collated by men of reason since the Age of Enlightenment. Voltaire, Rousseau, Locke, and
the like, all had a greater originality than Ingersoll ever did. He merely presented and consolidated the precepts of freethought, secularism
and agnosticism more spectacularly than any
and all of his predecessors.
Truly, aside from his particular wit, articulation, intelligence and showmanship, the one
characteristic .that sets Ingersoll apart from .all
others before him is his special courage and perseverance. He overcame hesitation and fear and
expressed himself honestly, regardless of the
consequences. Few so-called great men can claim
that virtue.
Similarly, Ingersoll conquered the overwhelming
suppressionof organized religion, which, if allowed
to go unchecked, may still be a serious threat to
us in our own century. For who can deny the
present wave of fundarnentalisrn ' again slowly
rising to inundate freedom of thought and individual liberties in our own land?
Nevertheless, of this courageous orator, Eugene
V. Debs once said, "Ingersoll lived and died far
in advance of his time." I do not think that statement is accurate. Did not Plato deny that divine
judgment could be bought off with offerings?
This was certainly a flagrant sacrilege against
a basic tenet of pantheism. Was he too beyond
his time?
And what of the men of the Enlightenment?
As they searched classical antiquity for a viable
alternative to a faith which no longer satisfied their
intellectual needs and provided unsatisfactory responsesto the needsof the world, the rest of civil ization still clung steadfastly to religious dogma.
Werethey also out of step with their time?
No, Robert G. Ingersoll did not live too soon.
He, like all men of reason, has no assignedplace
Page 26
1/
Page 27
Page 28
!I
450.
I will be with you next week, same day of the
week, same time, same station.
Until then, I do thank you for listening and goodbye for now.
C2~'iY
MAN
MAk'S
SC:NSc
o
CREDO
John Wayne,
your most infamous role will be.
a Judas goat beneath the green beret,
as you sidestep death's moat
to lead ten thousand soldier boys
deployed in death's parade
through the hell of war.
To moulder in unquiet, haunted graves
dupes betrayed by a Judas goat
wearing a jaunty green beret.
Anita Bryant,
sterile shall be the bed you lay,
your bitter seedsshall blight
earth's fields of green.
Your obnoxious harvest
a growth of weeds shall be
because in the name of love
black hatred you created.
Preacher Lawson,
your proselytising is an ego trip from which
the bitter gall of hatred drips.
"Let he who has not sinned
cast the first stone.."
Judge not for ye too
shall be judged .. r r
See you in hell!
Let these words forever be
a remembered song within your head"Seven cities Claimed blind Homer dead,
along whose streets the hungry poet
begged his bread."
.
BOREDOl\~
She lends no hand to happiness
Contributes to no cause
Encourages no forward move ...
Her life is one long pause.
from:
Page 31
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