american atheist magazine july 1982

8/9/2019 American Atheist Magazine July 1982

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The 2 . 5 0

American Atheist

A Journal of Atheist News and Thought

Vol. 24, No.7, July, 1982

. A H Y E S . . .

N E V E R

G IV E A

U C K E R

A N E V E N

B R E A K


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AMERICAN ATHEISTS

is a non-profit, non-political, 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 histories;

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;

to promote the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems affecting the maintenance, perpetuation and

enrichment of human (and other) life;

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.

P.O.Box2117 AUSTlN,TX78768-2117

Send 40for one year's membership and you willreceive our newsletters, amembership

card and certificate, and one year of AMERICAN ATHEIST magazine.

Atheism may be defined

as the mental attitude which

unreservedly accepts the

supremacy of reason and

aims at establishing a life-

style and ethical outlook

verifiable by experience and

the scientific method, inde-

pendent of all arbitrary as-

sumptions of authority and

creeds.

Materialism declares that

the cosmos is devoid of

immanent conscious pur-

pose; that it is governed by

its own inherent, immutable

and impersonal laws; that

there is no supernatural

interference in human life;

that man - finding his

resources within himself -

can and must create his own

destiny. Materialism restores

to man his dignity and his

intellectual integrity. It teaches

that we must prize our life

on earth and strive always to

improve it. It holds that man

is capable of creating a

social system based on reason

and justice. Materialism's

faith is in man and man's

ability to transform the world

culture by his own efforts.

This is a commitment which

is in every essence life assert-

ing. It considers the struggle

for progress as a moral

obligation and impossible

without noble ideas that

inspire man to bold creative

works. Materialism holds

that humankind's potential

for good and for an outreach

to more fulfilling cultural

development is, for all prac-

tical purposes, unlimited.


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Vol. 24, No.5 May, 1982

l E c i l[ h 1 ( Q : ) f f T I r o n ~5 1 f l li @ ( @ d l I B 3 l l i~ ~ - Jon Garth Murray ... 2

k f I i l il @ r n J ~ r o r n k l 1 l l i@ n ~ l1 I R S r o c i ln @ r n J @ ~

- Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair. 15

f lE A l f l J lR . l E J D C O l L l U l M I l M l l 1 r

k 1 f n f I i l i l@ f I I R S @ ~ ll i r n n r n @ - Ignatz Sa hula Dycke 3

@ w @ ) ] ' l l i n n n ~

Gerald Tholen 12

k S l r n I R S r o r n c i l-

Richard Smith ' 23

N l E W

] ] ) 1 D r n @ @ ) ] ' ~ l J l l i ~ ) ] , 1 D ~ S l k l l i@ r o c i l~ . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

] ] ) n r o n o 1 D r n o k l 1 l l i @ n ~ l 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

C C r n @ ) ]'@ ~ ~ n r n r o n I R S @ ~ ) ] 'c i l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8

A IP { 1 r l l C I L IE

W ) ] '@ ~ @ ) ] 'w @ W ) ] 'n c i l W r o ~ @ -

Yevgeni Mayat

6

W @ [ g 3 D J) ] , ~1 l li O r n l1 @ n n @ ~ l 1 D J1 D n ~ Bill Talley 7

[ F ) ] ' r o @ f I i li l @ r n l 1 I ) ] ' f I i l il[ F ) ] ,@ D J c i l

Freudian Excerpts 14

I P j J l@ W D f r S l f n r o n r n I F r o 1 1 D f I i l il r o ~W ) ] ' l 1 D Ji l lr o n

(Note)

2 6

C C f I i l i l f I i l i l@ r n l1 r o l J 'S l f Gregory Fahy, PhD 2 7

Editor-in-Chief

Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Managing Editor

Jon G, Murray

Poetry

Robin Murray O'Hair

Angeline Bennett

Gerald Tholen

Production Staff

Art Brenner

Bill Kight

Richard Smith

Gerald Tholen

Gloria Tholen

Non-Resident Staff

G, Stanley Brown

Jeff Frankel

Ignatz

Sahula-Dycke

Fred Woodworth

The

American Atheist

magazine is pub-

lishedmonthly at theGustav Broukal Ameri-

can Atheist Press, 2210 Hancock

Dr.,

Aus-

tin, TX 78756, and 1982 by Society of

Separationists, Inc., anon-profit, non-politi-

cal, educational organization dedicated to

the complete and absolute separation of

state andchurch, Mailing address:P.O.Box

2117/Austin, TX 78768-2117.A free sub-

scription isprovided asan incident of mem-

bership in the American Atheists organiza-

tion. Subscriptions are availableat $25. for

oneyear terms only, Manuscripts submitted

must be typed, double-spaced and accom-

panied by a stamped, self-addressedenvel-

ope. The editors assume no responsibility

for unsolicited manuscripts.

The American Atheist magazine

is indexed in

Monthly Periodical Index

ISSN: 0332-4310

no _

American Atheist

A f 1 f . .. . .. v . . . . .

ON THE COVER

Ahh, yesl Shades of Claude William

Dukenfield - better known to us all as

W.C. Fields. His masterful portrayal

of the magnificent fraud will be

remembered and re-enacted for count-

less generations. Those who loved his

roguish mock pompousness remem-

ber him as a devout nonbeliever. We

therefore apologize for using this satiri-

cal characterization of Jerry Falwell in

the Fieldsian image. We know that

although Mr. Fields maintained his

image both on and off stage, hewas

at least a hard working and accom-

plished artist. His image was an

earthy facade which reflected the

gross charlatanry of humankind with

all its perfect rascalities. His ability

to maintain such an image and still

'command respect and admiration can

only identify him as a gentleman with

unique talents and deep humourous

honesty and poise.

Falwell, on the other hand, plays a

similar role - but in a realistic sense.

His Fieldsian image is not an actl - '

it's Falwell personified It is his inten-

tion to sell Falwellian philosophy to

the world - in earnest. He sells it

daily to the tune of millions of dollars

per week. Too bad that Claude Duken-

field was basically too honest to be-

come an evangelical preacher - he

could have made Falwell look like a

piker bycomparison, Too bad also that

so many people take Falwell, the

second-rate Fieldsian impersonator,

seriously. Itwas only intended to bean

act, Jerryl

G Tholen

Austin, Texas

July,

1982

Page I


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EDITORIAL

JON RTH MURR Y

The Good Book

In an interview early in his bid for the office of president,

Reagan was adamant: the only guide which the nation really

needed was the good book - the bible. He made itknown

that he did not subscribe to the theory of evolution, that

Nancy's place was in the home, that parochial schools

should receive the largess of government and that abortion

was an evil upon the soul of the nation.

All of his utterances on these issues, heavily related to

religion and that peculiar activity thereof which is yclept

fundamentalism, were either muted or ignored by the

media as they focused on his charisma, his innate charm

and the doctrine of economic chaos which they chose to

label Reaganomics, touting it to the heavens. There were

only two groups in the nation involved with his aside and

sotto voce religious utterances: (1) American Atheists who

were appalled and spoke loudly about that side of the

president, albeit being then the voice of the turtle abroad in

the land and (2) the fundamentalist, radical, religious right.

The former watched, evaluated and warned; the latter

schemed, conspired, aided and abetted. The former could

only scream aloud, Don't you hear what he is saying?

while the latter poured millions of dollars and man hours

into his campaign. The smug media was complaisant when

in the early weeks of his term in office he did not turn

immediately to embrace the radical religious right. Speaking

of politics as usual, it was only in an aside that the media

deigned to notice or comment that the religious NCPAC

group had chastised Reagan for not amply rewarding its

activity. The phenomenon of six liberal Senatorial aspi-

rants to re-election being ousted from office was analyzed

as being primarily a disgust with liberalism rather than the

machinations of a compact group of religious nuts working

in concert, using sophisticated but blackguard techniques

and money.

When Reagan's appointments to power emerged in the

next year or two James Watt, a fundamentalist madman

was esconced in the Department of Interior, roman catholic

Alexander Haig was firmlyentrenched in the State Depart-

ment and Bob Billings was decimating public education

from inside the federal Department of Education. That was

only the tip of the iceberg. But, the media (with the

exception of cartoonists) continued to ignore the religious

base from which flowed the political implications. The basic

primitivism of the president himself was not explored, but

for, again, the most casual asides concerned with his deep

commitment to religious ideals. But, the radical religious

right knew him well. The leaders and groups of that stance

had taken time out to learn his positions and to explore in

depth the shallowness ofthe man. They found access to him

easy and they consorted there, in the White House, with the

most respectable religious representatives who understood

that the madmen were advancing old-line religion as well as

their fundamentalism as they intruded more blatantly into

the political process. It was almost likehaving the Jesuits in

power again. There was no more need for back-rooms, or

intrigue. Any take-over could be overt and proclamations

were broadcast that the religious had an equal right to

political power.

Page 2

Ju ly. 1982

The election process in our nation rolls around every two

years and Reagan began early this year to woo the religious

radical right again - this time with action, not promises. He

directed his staff to prepare a bill to be introduced into

Congress to give financial relief to parents who send their

children to parochial schools, another bill to outlaw abor-

tions. He turned back an I.R.S. ruling which would require

religious schools NOT to be racist. And, he had a White

House billpresented to Congress to return prayers to the

public schools.

In this decade the attack has been directed against

science, education, women and peace - with the President

of the United States in the vanguard of the attack. His

witting lackeys in the United States Senate and the House

of Representatives, completely devoid of either courage or

intellectual acumen, rush to do his bidding.

But hardly anyone would have thought that they were

capable of the treachery which is documented in the article

on page 4 of this issue of the American Atheist, titled

Danger - Theocracy Ahead.

Our founding fathers abhorred the bible and repudiated

it. The finest words of Thoma's Paine were the scathing

unmasking of this vile and abominable, unspeakably ob-

scene and disgusting book. His Age of Reason was a

scathing attack on this anti-human, anti-life, anti-female

accumulation of printed offal produced by diseased minds.

Indeed, the first six presidents of the United States took

pride in being deists, which is to say: repudiators of

christianity, the bible and the church systems of the

then new America. They were joined whole heartedly by

Benjamin Franklin, Co . Ethan Allen, George Mason,

Lafayette, Stephen Girard and a host of others. Church

attendance was down to 3%and there was hope at the time

that religion would entirely disappear.

Now for the United States Congress to resurrect and

eulogize a book which has caused more misery to all of

mankind, in every age, since its hallowing, than any other

idea or document is a crime against humanity, against

education, against science. This abject subservience to fear

- for it is fear that motivated the vote - of reprisals from

the religious nuts of our nation can no longer be tolerated.

The bible is the worst of human thought, not the best. It is

the excrement of primitive man, now to be discarded, not

resurrected.

Our Congress sinks constantly lower. In the terrible fears

of McCarthyism it put the shameful and disgraceful motto

In god we trust onto our currency and coins, befouled the

national pledge of allegiance with the insert under god,

and embarrassed our nation in the world with an enforced

day of prayer. McCarthyism is behind us, but now the

Brave New World of 1984,locked into religious hysteria and

non-think, threatens us ahead. It is the responsibility of

American Atheists to stop this erosion of our original

founding ideas: get to your senators and representatives,

and to your (ugh) president and tellthem ofyour shock and

dismay. It's our country being befouled - it is our duty to

stop it.

The American Atheist


5/32

On Our

Way

Ignatz Sahula-Dycke

A TIME OF RECKONING

The current era is certainly a time for every American's

concern for his country. Whenever in any land as great a

number own up to being god-believers as ours have, it's a

testimonial to thoughtlessness -- as well as to the people's

submissiveness to an imaginary authority. Especially so

when their church-engendered outlook prompts them to

see themselves above reproach. It prompts them to lie

magnificently to one another about their bible's sanctity and

the necessity they assume exists for its survival. Most

Americans of this stamp have rarely, ifever, suffered from a

want of anything except more of the luxurious living they

enjoyed in full measure most of the time, and consequently

-- I suppose out of sheer ennui - appoint themselves as

mentors to their less fortunate lower middle class citizens.

In this category of less fortunate people I number those who

drove only one automobile, had a small powerboat, and

drank beer or domestic champagne. Class distinctions of

this kind are what in past years most of us strived for, of late

had to despondently give up, and in today's austere

circumstances are beginning to feel unjustly deprived of.

Most of those who rank as upper middle class, if judged

by their smug outlook, deem themselves god's elect and

presume that were all their inferiors further down the ladder

god- thankers, they'd find life a lot brighter and more secure.

These opinionated upper crust folk are confident that god

selected them in particular for the position they occupy in

our frothy American life. I feel compelled to include in their

number a good half of the members of our congressional

body in Washington. We Americans have come a long way

emotionally since 1776, but rationally and aspirationally

most of the way in reverse. .

So, except for the dangers of the divisiveness of the

christianist ethic which has ever since the days of Rome's

earliest popes characterized it, there's very little else for

anyone to worry about in our land of liberty where

evangelists, preachers, and other holy mendicants are

able to extortively collect, through threats of some god's

displeasure, a cool tax-free billion or more each year from

their trembling biblical indoctrinees. It seems to me that

anyone ought to readily perceive that christianist doctri-

naires (who now for twenty centuries have boasted about

their religion's ability to expunge in every nook and cranny

of every land on earth the misery of the common people)

have roundly failed to deliver. The christian doctrine is

anachronistic today; it has reached the end of the rope

given it by the eighty generations it benumbed with god-talk

and its promises of heaven and threats of hell. It no longer

draws the crowd - like a circus that left behind its calliope

and trained elephants.

This above-mentioned contingent of churchmen isn't

entirely to blame for their behavior, and shouldn't be.

They've been encouraged in their craft nearly everywhere

they've secured a foothold. The authorities have through-

Austin. Texas

out Western history found them useful and largely indispen-

sable. Wherever clerical god- talk wasn't supported openly it

was done tacitly, and the bamboozled mass accepted it as

its lot because the priests always touted it as god's ticket to

heavenly bliss: bliss promised but to date never dished up.

Thousands are nowadays realizing how true this is, and how

sad and critical was the era of religious tomfoolery out of

which they at long last managed to emerge. So, at least for

the time being, we have this bit to comfort us. When we shall

have corrected the mess now befoundering us, it will be far

more generally understood than ever before that human

ingenuity and work accomplished it - not some god, no

matter how charming his thespian proxy or interpreter.

The recovery that all of us are striving for is still eluding

us, and in a large way impeded by people who continue

believing and saying that none are to be trusted who don't

believe in a god. Both our president and our secretary of

state have in recent days been reported to have said this for

publication. Opinions of this variety make reconcilement of

the various differences between nations only more difficult.

It's clearly apparent to me that during the past twelve or

fifteen years we've suffered from a rash of born-again

chiefs of state, everyone of whom sanctimoniously tried to

inveigle us into his Jordan for a taste of his kind of baptismal

holy water. Nixon constantly reminded us of his mother's

Quakerism; Carter said he thought he'd like to be an

evangelist, Reagan is frequently and publicly appealing to

his particular godling to bless us. The proper place for

religious contemplation, and ardent outpouring of this kind

is within the mental complex of anyone so inclined - never

in the sphere of politics. Yet, nowadays it is irritatingly

commonplace that almost without exception anyone who

enters public office waxes authoritarian once used to it, and

shows that he thinks himself specially chosen by his god to

be the religious prefect of his neighbor instead of his elected

servant.

This happens so prevalently it should rank as megaloma-

nia. Not only have kings, premiers, presidents and other

chiefs of state been victims of this malady, but it's presently

shown to be contagious by the goings-on in our Senate and

House, a veritable revival meeting where a fervently reli-

gious faction ignores rationale. Most of this is being

contrived there by wily preachers who, besides flaunting

creationism, are gaining through the voting potentiality of

their fundamentalist cohorts the ear of the people in

congress who seek re-election. Besides this there exists in

our land an element confidently believing that a religious

revival will speed up our economic recovery, even though

religion has had two thousand years to prove itself beneficial

and has shamefully failed. Should it be given another two

thousand years?

But there's also another clique whom the plethora of

contributors has emboldened and made arrogant. Begin-

Ju ly 1982

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ning as itinerant evangelists these individuals today exert

dictatorial power. We hear about Roberts, Graham, the

Armstrongs, Swaggart, and others because they command

it. It's eerie that preachers of this species aren't ignored in

an era marked by science: by trips to the moon, satellites

that bring us close-ups of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and

other planets; as well as earth-circling machines that

transmit information from all points of the globe_

So here we are, benefitting from scientific research and

technology, but with a large segment of our population

worshipping concepts that today reflect hardly more than

the crudity of the caveman's club and sling. Sooner or later,

of course, even these bamboozled citizens will arrive at the :

conclusion that life on our planet depends first of all on our

sun and forces that exist within space in constant ferment,

creating here and destroying there, both at one and the

same time. They're churchgoing believers by force of habit,

staying with it because they are lacking the backbone to

outright reject it. Right or wrong, we can't evade that

Western humankind is progressing despite the bible in its

hand, inasmuch as the fable of genesis is day by day rattling

less and less in its frontal lobe. As for us Americans, there's

very little in all this to make anyone a pessimist.

The life of today's American - yours and mine - is

unquestionably the most enviable of any on the globe. We

take it for granted, forgetting that in the Constitution and

Bill of Rights the deep wisdom of our nation's Founders

makes it so. Hence, as long as we will use our heads to

preserve it i nviolate, our worries about inflation, oil, employ-

ment, human rights and other matters good and bad,

important or trifling, will pale in the light it sheds equally

upon the humblest no less than the proudest of us.

DANGER THEOCRA CY AHEAD

The religious know better than anyone else that if they win the symbols they win the country. The bottom line

is tax support for religions in the United States, especially judeo-christianity and those sects within it that have

the most power. The name of the result is theocracy.

We are the only country in the world with religious slogans on our money and god in our pledge. We are the

laughing stock of the world with our religious media. Billy Graham is recognized as a clown worldwide. No other

governments open their proceedings with prayer. Yet, ours is the nation which paved the way for the concept of

state/ church separation.

Now the Congress of the United States wants to demonstrate to the world that it is populated by asses. Read

the Senate Joint Resolution here reproduced just as it was voted - and ask yourself why the media and your

representatives kept as quiet as they did about it.

The nation is slowly being delivered over to the religious nuts, by your legislative bodies, by your judiciary

power, by your executive branch at city, county, state and federal level. Either you do something about it NOW

or you will be in their hands tomorrow.

97TH

CONGRESS

S

RES 6

D SESSION

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 5, 1982

Referred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service

JOINT RESOLUTION

Authorizing and requesting the President to proclaim 1983 as

the Year of the Bible .

.'Vhereas the Bible, the Word of God, has made a unique contri-

bution in shaping the United States as a distinctive and

blessed nation and people;

Whereas deeply held religious convictions sprmgmg from the

Holy Scriptures led to the early settlement of our Nation;

Page 4

July, 1982



7/32

Austin, Texas

Whereas Biblical teachings inspired concepts of civil government

that are contained in our Declaration of Independence and

the Constitution of the United States;

Whereas many of our great national leaders-among them

Presidents Washington, Jackson, Lincoln, and Wilson-paid

tribute to the surpassing influence of the Bible in our

country's development, as in the words of President J ack-

son that the Bible is the rock on which our Republic

rests ;

2

Whereas the history of our Nation clearly illustrates the value of .

voluntarily applying the teachings of the Scriptures in the

lives of individuals, families, and societies;

Whereas this Nation now faces great challenges that will test

this Nation as it has never been tested before; and

Whereas that renewing our knowledge of and faith

God

through Holy Scripture can strengthen us as a nation and a

people: Now, therefore, be it

1

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 That the President is authorized and requested to designate

4

1983 as a national Year of the Bible in recognition of both

5 the formative influence the Bible has been for our Nation,

6 and our national need to study and apply the teachings of the

7 Holy Scriptures.

Passed the Senate March 31 (legislative day, February

22), 1982.

Attest:

WILLIAM F. HILDENBRAND,

Secretary.

SJ 165 RFH

July. 1982

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TO PRESERVEWORLD PEACE IS THE URGENT TASK OF

TODAY

Yevgeni Mayat, Candidate of Science Philo-

sophy), Moscow House of Scientific Atheism

Over the past few years the threat to peace has grown

tremendously. The activity of militarist circles and the

military potential accumulated in the world have confronted

the human race with the choice: to be or not to be? In light of

this uncompromising option the joint efforts of everyone,

whether they are believers or Atheists, are bent on saving

humankind and world civilization from nuclear catastrophe.

One of the specific features of Soviet society is that most

of its members are confirmed Atheists. At the same time,

there are believers among Soviet people. Like all Soviet

people they are gainfully employed, enjoy all the rights of

Soviet citizens and take an active part in the country's

public life. The Soviet Constitution guarantees each citi-

zen's right to profess or not to profess any religion and to

conduct religious worship or spread atheistic education. All

Soviet citizens are equal under the law, irrespective of their

attitude to religion. However, Atheists deliver lectures and

publish articles in the press trying to show believers the

unscientific character of religious concepts and dogmas and

their illusory and harmful nature for society and the

personality. But they do avoid criticizing the religious

convictions of believers, no matter which religion it is.

A few years ago all sober-minded people regarded

nuclear war as suicide, but today we hear statements about

its limited permissibility. The dangerous policy pursued by

certain Western circles aimed at attaining military superior-

ity is giving rise to the creation of new types and systems of

mass destruction. The arms race is an increasingly heavy

load for the people to shoulder. In this situation only one

choice can be made - to intensify the struggle for a stop to

the arms race and for the policy of disarmament. In this

struggle all Soviet citizens, believers and Atheists, form a

united front and welcome the peaceful foreign policy of the

Soviet government, whose course is aimed averting the

threat of war and at strengthening international security

and cooperation.

Soviet people are unanimous that with the current

exacerbation of the world situation it is of paramount

importance to maintain cooperation with all peace forces.

Although the ideals of marxist humanism radically differ

from religious ideals, they agree that man is a supreme

value. A basic principle of Soviet ethics is Everything for

the sake of humankind, for the benefit of humankind. This

thesis proceeds from the ethics of the Soviet people.

Showing respect and consideration for all people, irrespec-

tive of their profession, we cannot remain indifferent to

racial or religious prejudices and to outmoded reactionary

customs, to everything which prevents us from displaying

our social activity.

We do not believe that the concern for peace is the

monopoly of politicians and statesmen. We, Atheists, are

convinced that in the present alarming situation religious

people should not remain passive, and we do not think that

world peace and its preservation are not the tasks of

churches and religious associations. That is why we wel-

Page 6

July. 1982

come the appeal of the participants in the Moscow world

conference of religious workers to the Twelfth Special

Session of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament.

This appeal calls for us to act resolutely to stop the arms

race, to cleanse our Earth from the blight of nuclear

weapons and to devote the enormous resources now

wasted on armaments to the building of a world without

wars.

No matter what our world outlook is, no matter whether

we are religious or Atheists, we should not shut our eyes to

reality. There is no justification for the fact that billions of

dollars are spent on armaments, while hundreds of millions

live in poverty, in slums, are jobless and fear the next day.

No man, whether he is a believer or an Atheist, can remain

indifferent to sorrowful children, the physical and moral

sufferings of the oppressed and poor and to the existence of

social evils.

While they call for joint action with believers, Atheists

have no intentions to ignore their differences with them on

other problems - religious world outlook, religious ideolo-

gy, religious concepts and doctrines which, in our opinion,

hinder the progress of humankind. Even now religious

conflicts bring about the expulsion of millions of people

from their native lands and mass massacres. It is only

internationalism, an inalienable principle of the scientific

materialist world outlook, which is a safeguard for the

harmonious development of national relations. This world

outlook strives for the unification of working people not on

the basis of illusory ideals, but on the basis of real objectives

and tasks.

Soviet Atheists proceed from the thesis that the active

participation of believers in the struggle against militarism,

against the threat of a new world war and for social justice is

of profound educational importance. Speaking frankly

about our differences with the religious ideology, we stress

another aspect - the community of vital interests of the

working people, irrespective of the fact whether they are

religious people or Atheists.



9/32

WE BURY THE INTELLECTUALS

by Bill Talley

Alcoholics Anonymous Saves the Religious, Discards the Majority, but There are Alternatives

By any dictionary definition, Alcoholics Anonymous is a

religion. The written and oral tenets of the program are shot

through with old-time godism, as well as such medieval

practices as confession, self-abnegation, ritual, prayer and

absolution. The exclusively christian lord's prayer, from the

new testament's sermon on the mount, is used to close all

meetings in a hand-holding ritual of unanimous christian

worship. Jews, moslems, hindus - all non-christians either

go along or join the Atheists and other unteachables back

on the streets.

This is in direct contradiction to the official Alcoholics

Anonymous preamble which is read at most of their

meetings, which says, ... we are not allied with any sect,

denomination, organization or institution ... To open their

meetings, all Alcoholics Anonymous groups use what they

call the serenity prayer: God grant me the serenity to

accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change

the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

Well indoctrinated members tell new people, This is not

a religious program; it's a spiritual program. Whereupon

they usually lapse into a sermonette about the necessity of

having a higher power for unseen help with getting sober.

If the new person is not scared away (it's tough enough to

admit one needs help in the first place), then the talker has a

new pigeon, as they are rightly called. Like most other

religionists, they haven't bothered to look up the word they

disavow, or if they have, they play fast and loose with

semantics, distorting meanings to their best advantage. If

they looked up the word

cult,

they would find that

Alcoholics Anonymous qualifies for that designation, too.

Even in the more instructive parts of the program, the

oral discussion of alcohol and how to kick it, what would be

taken as metaphors by any thinking individual becomes

gospel and is taken by the devout as the literal word of the

almighty. Let go and let gawd, is one of the oral dogmas

which is taken literally as divine canon. The true believers

are convinced that some heavenly parent is literally control-

ling their lives, down to job and family decisions. And,

they avow, every time I take it back, I screw things up.

This refers to the third step of the 12-step program, which is

covered later. (12 apostles equals 12 steps, right? More

christianity. )

Also characteristic of such religious self-help organiza-

tions is a cultish fanaticism that infects the mainstream of

Alcoholics Anonymous membership, leaving the moderate

and the atheistic to flounder or seek other sources of help

with addiction to alcohol. Other sources, unfortunately, are

not as available as Alcoholics Anonymous in the neighbor-

hoods, on a daily basis.

The fanatics have one powerful argument that is difficult

even for professionals to contend with: nonconformity can

have tragic consequences - prison, death or worse,

massive brain damage which can leave the addict a

vegetable, fit only for an institution. Alcoholics Anonymous

Austin, Texas

old timers can truthfully point to such cases and chronicle

them in ghastly detail as examples of what happens to those

who don't get the program.

To get the program, one must work the 12 steps, which

are billed in the Alcoholics Anonymous book as sugges-

tions for recovery, but in reality are preached as manda-

. tories to salvation. This includes the greatest stumbling

block for intelligent drunks, the infamous Third Step:

Made decision to turn our will (sic) and our lives over to the

care of god as

we understood him.

The italicized ... as

we understood him,

was an after-

thought tacked on at the insistence of the only Atheist of the

original 100 alcoholics who, in 1939, huddled together for

mutual support and formed the embryonic nucleus of what

is now the international organization of Alcoholics Anony-

mous.

His story is recounted in the Big Book of Alcoholics

Anonymous as one who objected to the religious preoccupa-

tion of his fellows, only to prove himself wrong by getting

deathly drunk again and coming back full of contrition and

newfound faith in the Alcoholics Anonymous religion and its

gawd. The Atheist's story is used as a parable to teach that

alkies really have no choice but to get religion - find a

higher power - or perish. And that includes fully taking

the third step with deadpan belief in its literal meaning. This

is done with one's sponsor, a member of respectably long-

term sobriety who volunteers to coach his/her pigeon

through the program.

SPIRITUAL BASIS - OR ELSE

In Chapter 4, entitled We Agnostics, the Big Book

admits, About half our original fellowship were of exactly

that type (Atheist or Agnostic). Thus, using second

person, past tense to soften its commandments, the book

quickly adds, But after awhile we had to face the fact that

we must find a spiritual basis of life - or else. This kind of

blatant threat is repeated through the rest of the book,

though it again admits, ... something like half of us thought

we were Atheists or Agnostics. But only thought they

were. Truth is, they didn't know what an Atheist or an

Agnostic really was.

The tipoff to the root problem with Alcoholics Anony-

mous, and its greatest contradiction, comes in the next

paragraph: If a mere code of morals or a better philosophy

of life were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of us

would have recovered long ago. By itself, that says that

alcohol addiction is not a moral or philosophical problem;

that immorality is not, as society erroneously believes, the

underlying reason for the dissipation and ruin of problem

drinkers.

The demographic facts back up that proposition. The

membership of Alcoholics Anonymous and the rest of the

alcoholic fraternity includes clergy from virtually all reli-

gions, as well as moral and immoral representatives of every

July. 1982 Page 7


10/32

conceivable segment and strata of secular society. Recent

research points to the inevitable conclusion that the

problem is a biochemical one, and that it is definitely

hereditary. A research pharmacologist in Houston has

isolated a substance known as THIQ (for short) which is

found in the hypothalamus of all problem drinkers. And,

surprise, the same substance shows up in the brains of all

sedative addicts, including those hooked on heroin, valium,

librium, etc. No THIQ is found in the brains of non-

alcoholics.

These findings have not been published in the popular

press, probably for fear that these discoveries will lead to a

cure (and they will) which might lead thousands of hopeful

alkies to jump off the wagon thinking salvation is just around

the corner. The scientists probably have a point, though I

hope to do a definitive article on the latest findings as soon

as the data can be located.

In the next breath after the morality disclaimer, the

founders reveal that they were still hooked on the errone-

ous beliefs of society, and they confess that alcoholism must

after all be a problem of morality, as the book says, ...we

have written a book which we believe to be spiritual as well

as moral.

So. Though a mere code of morals was not sufficient to

overcome alcoholism, they say, and not even going to

church helped, they've written a moral and spiritual book

anyway, and everyone knows that morality is always

equated with religion, so the book has to brew up a special

new brand of religion - just to add alcohol to christianity,

throw in some drunk stories and serve without research,

giving almighty gawd all the credit and none of the blame.

The only way any alcoholic can find and keep sobriety

ny

alcoholic, it says - is by believing in a Power (their

caps) greater than ourselves, which wouldn't be so difficult

except that greater is translated to higher and it is most

often referred to as God (sic).

These contradictions are in direct contradiction to the

disease theory, which is also postulated in the book and in

oral dogma; that alcoholism is an incurable, progressive

disease which must be regarded as such, except that they

inject prayer instead of antibiotics, which has about as

much effect. On the surface the disease theory seems as

good as any. In practice, however, the idea becomes

another of Alcoholics Anonymous's self-fulfilling prophe-

cies, which leads many a sufferer to believe that once (s)he

has fallen off the wagon (s)he probably won't make it

back, so one might as well go out and get bombed. I

personally know of more than a few such cases.

Again the book adds irony to the paradox by describing in

a graphic scenario the thorniest barrier to recovery via AA:

And it means, of course, that we are going to talk

about god. Here difficulty arises with agnostics. Many

times we talk to a new man (the male gender

dominates the entire book) and watch his hopes rise

as we discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our

fellowship. But his face falls when we speak of spiritual

matters, especially when we mention god, for we have

re-opened a subject which our man thought he had

neatly evaded or entirely ignored.

His face falls, his hopes are dashed, but they're going to

stuff gawd up his nose anyway, because one dependency

must be replaced with another. Next the book cornmise-

Page 8

July. 1982

rates briefly with the non-believer (though present day

members are not so considerate in meetings) by saying:

We know how he feels. We have shared his honest

doubts and prejudice. Some of us have been violently

anti-religious. to others, the word god brought up a

particular idea of him with which someone had tried to

impress them during childhood.

Oldest brain washing technique known to man - state

the opposing position before the opposition can, and then

discredit it, leaving the enemy no offense. Later the writers

brush against rationality:

We looked upon this world of warring individuals,

warring theological systems, and inexplicable calami-

ty with deep skepticism. We looked askance at many

individuals who claim to be godly. How could a

supreme being have anything to do with it all? And

who could comprehend a supreme being anyhow?

Now they're getting somewhere, the reader thinks, until

- alas - they blow it again:

Yet, in other moments, we found ourselves thinking,

when enchanted by a starlit night, 'Who, then, made

all this?'

As if it were possible that anyone could have made all

this, and as if our high-school science hadn't proven with

overwhelming evidence that there has never been nothing-

ness and never will be. The boom is fully lowered when, at

last, the book says:

When, therefore, we speak to you of god, we mean

your own conception of god. This applies, too, to

other spiritual expressions which you find in this

book. Do not let any prejudice you may have against

spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking your-

self what they mean to you.

In other words, drunk, your revulsion at spiritual terms is

merely prejudice, so don't question anything, just be good

and go along with the party line or you're going to die drunk.

As any religionist knows, a tiny opening is all that is needed

for the complete takeover of any irrational belief system,

and the authors state:

At the start, this was all we needed to commence

spiritual growth, to effect our first conscious relation

with god as we understood him. Afterward, we found

ourselves accepting many things which then seemed

entirely out of reach.

Now, therefore, once the founders accepted society's

view that the problem is one of weakness and immorality, it

follows that morality can only come from a spiritual

program, and spiritual just naturally means worshipping a

gawd, though the new man is given permission at first to

conjure up his own conception of gawd, however limited it

may be.

Orally it is often said in meetings that one may choose to

believe in a light bulb or a doorknob as a higher power, until

one can accept the invisible model later on. None of which

has the remotest relevance to not swallowing alcohol. In all

of the 12 steps, the word alcohol appears only once - in the

first step: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol

-and that our lives had become unmanageable. The rest

is religion and penance, which is practiced by the fanatics in

a manner similar to that of the crazy Penitentes of New

Mexico, except the whipping is symbolic. If you think not,

consider the fourth step: Made a searching and fearless



11/32

moral inventory of ourselves. Not a psychological inven-

tory, mind you, a moral inventory. It gets Worse.

The single most powerful idea to come from Alcoholics

Anonymous, Not taking the first drink, only one day at a

time, appears nowhere in the 12 steps or in the big book. It

is oral tradition that persists because it works for almost

everyone.

MOST DON'T MAKE IT

According to statistical projections developed by the

National Council on Alcoholism, there are 10 to 13 million

alcoholics in the U.S. After 45 years (since the first two

clung to each other in 1935), Alcoholics Anonymous claims

a sober membership of slightly more than one million. The

best guess of the council is that 8.5 million go untreated by

any program, religious or otherwise.

It is safe to say that the majority of that 8.5 million have

heard of and had some contact with Alcoholics Anony-

mous, but for one reason or another have chosen to go on

drinking. A large number have had experience with profes-

sional treatment methods also, yet continue to think they

can somehow control their drinking. All of which is perfectly

natural. Any addict will prefer the known agony and

ignominy of the addiction to the unknown horrors of

withdrawal and abstinence, until the victim becomes so

vitiated (s)he simply can't go on anymore. At that point the

addict will either choose death or any straw that is within

reach. And the religion of Alcoholics Anonymous makes it

easy to reject help, deny there is anything wrong and laugh

at anyone who says there is. Alcoholics Anonymous is a

perfect excuse to keep on drinking.

PROFESSIONALS SHUNT PATIENTS TO

ALCOHOUCSANONYMOUS

If there were such a thing as a wise alcohol addict, we

could say that the wise addict, Atheist or not, should avail

him/herself of professional counselling, which is now avail-

able in most populous counties of the U.S. at a reasonable

cost through in/out patient programs funded by a mix of

federal, state and county monies (depending now upon

what rev. Ronnie does).

There are also some private hospital programs that cost

between $4,000 to $6,000 for a 30-day intensive therapy

program. As reasonably priced as the county programs are,

based on a sliding scale which determines ability to pay,

they are still a drain on the finances of people who, more

often than not, are in deep financial trouble as a by-product

of their drinking. But even ifone does manage to afford such

a program, the professionals and para-professionals in such

institutions nearly always push their clients directly into

Alcoholics Anonymous as a means of maintaining the

tentative sobriety they have begun through methods sup-

posedly based on the latest state-of-the-art-methods. Thus

they dump their clients into a church whose tenets are 180

0

opposite to their own. The private hospital programs

charge $4000 to $6000 for this spiritual favor. The reason

most often given is Alcoholics Anonymous's track record,

which, though statistically poor, is better than anything

else around at this time.

Alcohol addicts normally require at least daily contact

with some kind of support mechanism for an extended

period of time, often years, before they become comfort-

Austin. Texas

able and confident with sobriety. The best most county

programs offer is participation in a group that meets weekly

for a fee, or drop-around privileges wherein one might or

might not get to chat with a counsellor or with some still

shaky detoxees who are still obsessed with drink.

HOW DOES ALCOHOUCS ANONYMOUS

WORK? .

In favor of Alcoholics Anonymous it can be said that daily

meetings and/or contact with other alkies at coffee clubs

are easily available and free of charge until the newly sober

addict can afford to donate to the collection basket and the

coffee fund. (We shan't go into the folly of the use of caffein

by people who are addicted to a sedative.) In small towns,

'however, weekly is the best the local alkies can manage,

except for the use of the telephone, which is a weak

substitute for the big city clubs that offer camaraderie and

sober role models virtually any time of the day, seven days a

week, christmas and new year's included.

In short, it is the fellowship and the hands-on experience

of other alkies that makes the Alcoholics Anonymous

program work, as well as the willingness of old timers to help

newcomers. You can't con them (about alcohol), and you

can't scare them. They've been there. It's almost that

simple.

CATCH 23: ATHEISM AS AN EXCUSE

TO DRINK

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Atheists who

are members of Alcoholics Anonymous, though it is

impossible to count them due to their reticence about

coming out of the closet. For that matter, it is all but

impossible to accurately count Alcoholics Anonymous

members at all, because of the anonymity factor - there

are no records, no figures on how many stay sober and the

tradition against record keeping is as strong as any idea in

the program. This is one advantage, really, that Alcoholics

Anonymous has over the institutional programs.

The known Atheists in the various Alcoholics Anony-

mous groups, such as myself, are grudgingly tolerated by

the moderate religionists, largely because there is nothing

they can do about it; the third tradition (there are 12 written

traditions, also) states flatly, The only requirement for

Alcoholics Anonymous membership is a desire to stop

drinking. That's a stiff requirement, since virtually all alkies

have only the desire to stop suffering when they first walk in.

However, there is no tradition that says the gawd-fearing

members have to make it easy for those who are different.

There is, as in most American institutions, a vast amount of

prejudice, the most vocal of which is the bigotry displayed

toward both Atheists and professionals in the alcohol field.

In general, Alcoholics Anonymous regards professional

counsellors with the same intolerance that held science

back 1700 years in the dark ages.

There is also the usual amount of racial hatred, plus a

generally pervasive prejudice against those who are addic-

ted to drugs other than alcohol. There is virtually no

tolerance for the Alcoholics Anonymous member who

sells out and becomes a paid counsellor, though the

program acknowledges that the most effective help comes

from one who can say, I've been there.

The nonbeliever who chooses to ignore the spiritual

Ju ly. 1982

Page 9


12/32

terms spoken of in the book is left with a fractional fragment

of a program, and is usually made to feel embarrassedly

uncomfortable. (S)he becomes the object of non-humorous

jokes and jibes before, during and after meetings. More than

one religionist has told me, This is a spiritual program, and

you have no right to bring up any objections to it in

meetings. The best answer I've heard to that is, There

might be someone here who needs to hear what I have to

say. We Atheists often leave meetings feeling worse than

when we went in.

The most prevalent taunt is the accusation that the

heretics really want to go back to booze. Everyone knows

there is a kernel of truth in such a charge, because all

alcoholics want to go back to their old friend booze,

though they know that if they do the consequences will

probably be more ghastly than before.

Hardliners are also fond of self-fulfilling prophecies, such

as, You're going to get drunk, or You'll never make it in

this program - you're headed for the marble orchard ifyou

don't find gawd. Alcoholics Anonymous members acquire

a complete repertoire of stock sayings and pat answers

after only a few months in the program. Like all cultists, they

use buzz phrases impugningly to bring the unwashed into

line.

These banalities can spread like viruses through the

amazingly efficient grapevine that extends throughout the

U.S. and the world. A Klever new buzz phrase will travel

across a continent faster than a bad Polish joke. There are

many such sayings for use on people who happen to have

acquired educations and reasoning skills some time before

they acquired their addictions. We bury the intellectuals,

is one of the most pernicious of the lot. You can smell the

original thinkers, they say. You can tell the educated ones

- they're the ones with puke on their tweeds, is another

charmer. Nobody's too dumb for this program; but there

are many who are too smart, and they're dead. Utilize,

don't analyze, is a stock answer to any intelligent question.

If it ain't in the big book, I don't want to hear about it.

About any group that permits intelligent input, they call it

Analysts Anonymous. Of course, analysis is anathema to

any religion. On humility, a highly prized attribute in any

noneducational system, they say, If you think you've got

humility, you ain't got it.

There are thousands more, but two of the classics are:

Things get better when you don't have an idiot (yourself)

running your life. and the ever popular There are no

coincidences - gawd puts the right people in our way at the

right time.

And on they go, until the literate members disguise their

training with bad grammar and parroted phrases from the

latest batch of cutesies.

Gawd and conformity are given credit for recovery, but

none of the blame for disaster.

Obviously the cultists regard the big book as having been

divinely inspired and they revere the two co-founders, Bill

W. and Doctor Bob, as the chosen messengers of gawd.

Paradoxically, recidivism - return to drink - is laid at

the feet of religion by the old timers and the book, as they

cite the lack of ...a fit spiritual condition as the cause of

anyone getting drunk again, even when the victim happens

to be an old timer who has had 10 to 20 years of religious

sobriety. As the faith healers say, The reason you aren't

cured is you don't have enough faith.

Page 10

Ju ly 198 2

ATHEISTS CANNOT BE SEEN AND NOT

HEARD

It is virtually impossible - and very unhealthy - for the

atheistic addict to keep his/her views to him/herself in

meetings where everyone else gets to speak in turn of

feelings and ideas about living without alcohol. Profession-

als have been of little help to the sincere, thinking Atheists,

so they are left to find each other and talk among

themselves.

Historically, shrinks and para-shrinks have adamantly

avoided the subject of religion on their therapy procedures,

following their own superstitious beliefs that the subject is

too touchy for open discussion and that ignoring it is a

strong enough hint that it has no place in healthy thinking;

or that facing and dealing with such irrational belief systems

is not, somehow, important to the treatment of sick thinking

and feeling. They seem to conclude that treatment of

mental disorders must take place apart from religious

problems, and it is counter-productive to even mention it.

DR ELLIS KICKED THE SILENCE HABIT

One psychotherapist finally shucked those taboos and

faced up to the evils of religion in mental health. Dr. Albert

Ellis of New York, NY developed a new treatment system

which he calls Rational Emotive Therapy. His system,

which is used at his Institute for Rational Living in New

York, aggressively attacks the masochistic and self-

abnegating religious beliefs and all other manifestations of

irrationality based on the supernatural, the fatalistic and the

superstitious.

In a much praised/maligned paper entitled, The Case

Against Religion,* published in the September, '70 Mensa

Journal Ellis advocated that all psychotherapists who are

not similarly sick should aggressively attack such non-

thinking in the minds of their disturbed patients and work to

eradicate all such pernicious beliefs wherever they are

found.

In that paper Ellis exposes the several layers of guilt and

fear which are spooned over to the religious by the clergy,

their divine writings, and fellow religionists who eagle-

eyedly watch him to make sure that he doesn't deviate one

iota from their prescribed standards of behavior.

To those layers of guilt and fear the Alcoholics Anony-

mous religionists add the everpresent threat of getting

drunk and the consequences of disgrace in the eyes of the

group and/or imminent death-the only cure for alcohol-

ism.

To summarize: Ellis says in his paper, Conventional

religion is, on many counts, directly opposed to the main

goals of mental health - since it basically consists of

masochism, other directedness, intolerance, refusal to

accept ambiguity and uncertainty, unscientific thinking,

needless inhibition, and self-abasement. The latter is the

chief technique of Alcoholics Anonymous prophets, who

constantly repeat such inanities as, My life is still unman-

ageable; I have to turn it over to gawd and keep my will out

of it. You're damn right they say that

Descendant from the Ellis system is one developed

especially for alcoholics by a colleague, Maxie C. Maultsby,

*available from American Atheist Press/P.O. Box 2117

Austin, TX 78768 @$3.00 each.



13/32

Jr., M.D. Called Rational Self Counselling the program

was developed and tested at the University of Kentucky

Medical College in Lexington, thanks to a grant from the

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Dept.

of Health, Education and Welfare.

The program is a self-help treatment method, which is

thoroughly explained inMaultsby's book, A

Million Dollars

for your Hangover.

The title is an unfortunate reference to

the million dollars awarded for the formulation of the

program by the HEW grant. In his introduction to the book

Maultsby states:

Almost twice as many alcoholics get treatment

from Alcoholics Anonymous than from medical and

other health professionals. Yet, most research studies

show that Alcoholics Anonymous does not give any

more effective treatment to alcoholics than health

professionals give. That fact indicates that alcoholics

prefer self-help treatment methods to those of tradi-

tional health professionals.

BUT, less than 10%of America's 10 million alco-

holics accept Alcoholics Anonymous's self-help treat-

ment. Consequently, over 85% of America's alcohol-

ics are not receiving any treatment. Obviously, there-

fore, we need other types of self-help treatment

methods that are as effective as Alcoholics Anony-

mous. That's why I recommend the

New Self-Help

Alcohol Treatment Method.

Maultsby describes his scientific research methods,

which used four control groups, including an Alcoholics

Anonymous group run by their counselors. He concludes,

Our research indicates that Rational Self-Counselling

(taught either by professionally trained counselors and

therapists or by our lay-counselors) was as effective as

treatment byAlcoholics Anonymous. Ina footnote, Maults-

by adds, Treatment byprofessional Insight Therapists was

similarly effective. Maultsby does not, as Ellisdoes, attack

the religious nature of Alcoholics Anonymous, but the

underlying meaning is clear.

To date, however, public awareness of this self-help

method is virtually nonexistent. Therefore, the only two

really effective portions of the Alcoholics Anonymous

program - the mutual support system of group fellowship

and easy availability - are still the exclusive property of

Alcoholics Anonymous, Maultsby's book does not recom-

mend or even mention the formulation of such groups,

choosing to base his system on private, individual self-help.

While the method is easily learned and proven effective, the

lack of a built-in long-term support mechanism and the lack

of publicity leave its future as an alternative to Alcoholics

Anonymous in doubt.

The first difference one notices between Rational Self

Counselling and Alcoholics Anonymous is a big one. It is a

life and death difference, to which Alcoholics Anonymous

party liners would be actively opposed ifthey knew about it:

It is Maultsby's recommendation that problem drinkers

-especially advanced ones - receive help for withdrawal

from alcohol. He states:

Without medical care, up to 25% of advanced

alcoholics will die if they suddenly stop drinking. For

them the hospital is the safest place to take step one

(Stop Alcoholic Drinking). Step two, simply, is:

Medically Treat Alcohol Withdrawal.

Austin, Texas

Step two involves the professional administering of

medications to prevent seizures, D.T.'s, suicides, internal

bleeding, heart attacks, etc. The popular Alcoholics Anony-

mous lineis opposed to medical help withwithdrawal, citing

the poor track record of physicians and believing that the

newly dry alky should have to suffer so (s)he willremember

the ordeal, and should have to take his/her chances with the

consequences of previous sinful behavior, Jes' like I done,

by gawd.

Unfortunately, most detoxification centers operate on

the same assumptions, providing no medication for with-

drawal symptoms unless the patient indicates (s)he has had

seizures before - or until AFTER they have one in detox.

Most detoxes have a policyof cold turkey (You're supposed

to suffer, they say.)

The overwhelming evidence shows that Maultsby isright.

There are thousands of deaths and near deaths as a result of

detox treatment, where there should be none. Even the

diets are generally dead wrong for withdrawing drunks,

most of whom are hypoglycemic. They get sugars and

starches that produce waves of glucose in the blood, which

triggers overdoses of insulinwhich leave the victims devoid

ofthe proper levels ofglucose for brain and nervous system

functioning.

The rest of the differences between Maultsby and

Alcoholics Anonymous/Detox are too numerous to men-

tion here. The two outstanding characteristics of Rational

Self Counselling are learning to recognize the differences

between rational and irrational thinking, and practicing not

drinking in the presence of booze.

SO FORM YOUR OWN GROUP, PEOPLE

SAY

The obvious answer to the dilemma of atheist alcohol

addicts is to form an entirely new group that is based in

accepted science and founded by professionals inthe field,

to be taken over and operated by lay addicts.

The first step in that procedure, in my opinion, might be

to stop calling it alcoholism and start calling it alcohol

addiction or simply drug addiction. It's a more precise

definition which avoids the disease idea, the morality

malarkey and the inherent put-down.

A few such programs have been started, but most have

failed - and in the most predictable and worst ofallpossible

ways. The members, including some of the leaders, have

fallen off that infernal wagon. Some of those died in the

rutted mire of the drinker's road. Other groups simply fell

apart due to a lack of structure, plus feelings of insecurity

and guilt stemming from the loss of the established order of

Alcoholics Anonymous. Besides, the Alcoholics Anony-

mous religion, likeall religions, offers something for nothing

- magical solutions that appeal to the mooches.

Whatever we critics say about the Alcoholics Anony-

mous church, it does have a structure of sorts and a kind of

institutional stability that will be difficult for any new

program to duplicate for some time to come. And any other

way requires work.

Even so, another new group has been started in the

Denver area. A handful of Atheists and other doubters,

myself included, who had taken to attending Alcoholics

Anonymous meetings together in the same kind of mutual

support fellowship that has worked these 45 years for

July, 1982

Page II


14/32

~ ~ ~

Alcoholics Anonymous, decided to try meeting separately,

informally, to study what really works for alkies. We

scrounged our own coffee pot and took up collections for

supplies.

In seeking some kind of structure, we learned what Dr.

Madalyn Murray O'Hair learned in the early days of

American Atheists: that Atheists have a natural dislike for

structure of any kind, and everyone has ideas and feelings

proudly held and forcefully advanced. But we were able to

agree on one thing - NO DOGMA Not even the proven

methods of Rational Self Counselling were accepted on

faith. We could borrow from and learn from any and all

sources, but we would not subscribe to or promulgate any

particular way as the only way. We also agreed that sobriety

- freedom from addiction - should be the great, overrid-

ing purpose of the group, lest we should forget what

brought us together and lest the prophecies of our Alcohol-

ics Anonymous clergy should come true.

Word spread. The best publicity was the calumny that

immediately rang out in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings

around the city and suburbs of Denver. The clangor still

continues, and we're doing everything in our power to see

that it doesn't stop.

We wrote what we jokingly called a Malcontent's

Manifesto, or a preamble to our meetings to be read in the

manner of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, to let new

people know what they have walked into, and to reassure

ourselves with the longed-for familiarity of well worn words

that ostensibly start the meetings off on course and help

keep it there.

From what must be a Freudian need for alliteration in the

name, like Alcoholics Anonymous, we tentatively chose the

name Alternatives to Addiction. Another AA. Now, how-

ever, it is called Turning Points in Sobriety.

Form is beginning to gel. These are serious minded men

and women who know well the real task at hand, though

there will never be the kind of hard-line, one-way party line

that characterizes the original Alcoholics Anonymous.

Because of the proclivity of the members for reading,

searching, learning and thinking, the resultant structure will

be rich in ideas and scientific psychotherapeutic methods.

At the moment we have a mixture of transcendental

. meditation, neurolinguistic programming, gestalt, transac-

tional analysis, eastern and western philosophy, including

existentialism and - would you believe - some of Alcohol-

ics Anonymous's greatest hits: living one day at a time; if

you don't drink, you can't get drunk; nothing can get you

drunk but drinking.

We do not interpret one-day-at-a-time to mean literally

that we refuse to think about the future, as Alcoholics

Anonymous does. We use the idea to develop the habit of

setting realistic expectations, rather than the gigantic, long-

term and seemingly unattainable goals we were pledged to

in schools, churches and Dale Carnegie courses. We have

anticipation, rather than anxiety about the future. So far

today it's working.

Nature s Way

GERALD THOLEN

OVERKILL

It seems that the name of the game for society has always

been either over-reaction or no-action-at-all. People are

seldom moved to make logical deliberate decisions in any

area other than those which enhance petty personal

comforts. Let's take the seemingly very impersonal compu-

ter industry, for instance. Herein lies a product of almost

pure technological wizardry - an electronic masterpiece of

our times. Its capabilities are well known by us all - as are

its limitations. Somehow, however, some of us developed a

mid-development-stage paranoia concerning the rapid

growth of dependency on our newly-found data processing

machines. References were made to the fact that we were

becoming only numbers on a punch card instead of

human beings. A resentment developed - not because of

what our machines were doing - but because of what we

were doing with our machines The tremendous influx of

computerized equipment added insult to injury and sudden-

ly the public had seemed to develop a bitter animosity

toward machines in general. There developed a totally

illogical and simplistic campaign determined to return us to

the good ole days - a get back to nature idealism.

Luckily, faced with the reality of outdoor toilets and

scrubboards, we apparently regained our computerized

senses. Our reflex didn't stop there, however - it snapped

Page 12

July. 1982

all the way past center and on into the opposite court. Now

we see people of all ages and orientations converging upon

electronic stupefiers like PAC-MAN or SPACE INVA-

DERS.

Similar things have long been happening with our motor-

ized means of transportation. The horseless carriage was

at first feared and hated. The early motor driven bicycles

were considered degenerate devices of the devil. Now we

seem to see ourselves as a stereotyped race of robotized

A.J. Foyts and Evil Knievils.

Do you sometimes wonder about our directions and

priorities? Did you wonder enough about them when voting

to remove the inadequacies of Jimmy Carter from the

office of President?? Perhaps not. It would seem that, in

general, as a nation of intelligent (?) people, we rarely

display the ability to think our way out of unpleasant

situations. We invariably supply ourselves with something

either worse or more

nonsensical

than we had before. It's

simply emotionally accelerated overkill.

The Reagan, Haig, Helms & god (R.H.H.&g) Corpora-

tion, sponsored by overreaction to Carter, has once again

tried to conjure up the old McCarthy godless Atheist-

Communist specter. What they are really succeeding in

doing is to disgust the public and cause people to look more



15/32

closely at the charges. People's curiosity, once aroused, isa

dangerous thing ; it requires satisfaction in the form of

observation and thought. We have been

made

to sample

the alternate Fascist-Christian-Conservative discipline

spooned to us for the past year or so. It has not been an

enjoyable experience Now, it's occurring to many to look

at the dreadful alternative - godless Atheist Commu-

nism. Here lies a real danger; there is no such thing as

Atheist Communism There are Atheists, and there are

Communists - two distinct and very different positions.

Will the

proven

naivety of the public be able to grasp this

truth? According to our intellectual track record, I doubt it.

The average person, having little true understanding of

Atheism or Communism, may inadvertently think that

there really is some mysterious connection between the

two. It is almost a sure bet - (knowing again our national

tendencies to overreact) - that many people willlook right

past Atheism and on into Communism The overall results

of the R.H.H.&g. Corp. will therefore be to

establish

an

examination ofCommunism by politically provoked Ameri-

can citizens who might never have had an interest in

Communism otherwise.

Meanwhile, American Atheists willhave been on record

for years as the only organization capably attempting to

define Atheism as a singularly unique position

without

regard to political persuasion. The irony of it all is that the

ongoing bumblings of the likes of Falwell, Roberts, R.H.H.

&g. Corp., etc., etc., will have attracted the public's

attention to our efforts. In this instance overkill may have

beneficial aspects. But What about those nerds who shot

past Atheism and entangled themselves in the web of

Communism. Will they be able to make rational intelligent

political

judgments and decisions??? Remember our nation-

al track record

I have to take many things into consideration before

attempting articles for the American Atheist magazine. So

many considerations enter into the words that need to be

uttered but seldom are. For instance, let's take the Britain/

Argentina affair. Here we have a world power stalwart

being wristslapped by a third world nation. How inconsi-

derate Does lowly Argentina think it has any right to the

Falklands simply because they were the one-time rightful

owners of the property? I mean, after all, what about the

rights of sovereignty of our offended allies in England?

Aren't we the ones who dedicated tons and tons of

newsprint and days of TV time to the very important

reporting of the Charles/Diana pairing? And - isn't Eng-

land the shill we need in United Nations controversial

voting? Who gives a damn about the sovereignty of the

American states implied by the Monroe Doctrine anyway?

It wouldn't be tactful of us to side with a third world

banana republic would it? Especially when that country

has been less than worshipful of us I feelthat we may be

layinga foundation ofmistrust byour Western Hemisphere

neighbors that willlivewith us for years like a recurring bad

dream. The trouble is, mistrust isnot a dream - it's a reality

- the same reality that we must face in the instances of the

Arab states.

We, as a nation, have wantonly accused other states of

being barbaric and inhumane. At some future point we

may regret these words for they are

not

conducive to

freindship and trust. We are, or have been, as guilty as any

others in the area of barbaric and tyrannical aggressive- .

ness. We politically refuse, even today, to agree that women

are equal under the law.

Science has been another area of reactionary overkill.

The last science film you saw was probably not a

documentary on astrophysics or astronomy. It was Star

Trek or some other black hole nonsense. We saw

these pseudoscience epics by the record breaking millions.

Yet, very few people - including many who refer to

themselves as scientists - understand some of the basic

truths of science.

We tend to fillour minds with trivia and the continuing

search for non-essential pleasantries and distractions. The

boredom of not knowing leads us to a path of least

resistance when we attempt to gain knowledge. We accept

that which is the most novel and care little iftrue quality is a

part of our intellectual attainment. We are intrigued by the

bizarre and the spectacular because we have been taught to

accept the unreal, the fantastic. The unrealized acceptance

of spectacular and bizarre ideas isthe concept of god itself.

That is the perfect example of overkill in the daily

humdrum lives of people too busy with trivia to take the

time to truly enlighten themselves.

Dl lA lL= lY [] ]~D AllHI lE ll il (512) 458-5731

Dl lA lL=A lN =A illH IlE l l il

CHAPTERS OF AMERICAN ATHEISTS

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Page 13


16/32

FRAGMENT

FROM

FREUD

(excerpts from

The Future of An Illusion

... observe the difference between your attitude to

illusions and mine. You have to defend the religious

illusion with all your might. If it becomes discredited-

and indeed the threat to it is great enough-then your

world collapes. There is nothing left for you but to

despair of everything, of civlization and the future of

mankind. From that bondage I am, we are, free. Since

we are prepared to renounce agoodpart of our infantile

wishes, we can bear it if a few of our expectations turn

out to be illusions.

Education freed from the burden of religious doc-

trines will not. it may be, effect much change in men's

psychological nature. Our god Aoyoc is perhaps not a

very almighty one, and he may only be able to fulfill a

small part of what his predecessors have promised. If

we have to acknowledge this we shall accept it with

resignation. We shall not on that account lose our

interest in the world and in life, for we have one sure

support which you lack.Webelieve that it ispossible for

scientific work to gain some knowledge about the reality

of the-world, by means of which we can increase our

power and in accordance with which we can arrange

our life. If this belief is an illusion, then we are in the

sameposition asyou. But science hasgiven usevidence

by its numerous and important successes that it is no

illusion. Science has many open enemies, and many

more secret ones, among those who cannot forgive her,

for having weakened religious faith and for threatening

to overthrow it. She is reproached for the smallness of

the amount she has taught us and for the incomparably

greater field she has left in obsurity. But, in this, people

forget how young she is, how difficult her beginnings

were and how infinitesimally small is the period of time

since the human intellect has been strong enough for

the tasks she sets. Are we not all at fault, in basing our

judgments on periods of time that are too short? We

should make the geologists our pattern. People com-

plain of the unreliability of science-how she announ-

cesasa law to-day what the next generation recognizes

'as'an error and replaces by a new law whose accepted

Page 14 July, 19t2

validity lasts no longer. But this is unjust and in part

untrue. The transformations of scientific opinion are

developments, advances, not revolutions. A law which

was held at first to be universally valid proves to be a

special case of a more comprehensive uniformity, or is

limited by another law, not discovered till later; a rough

approximation to the truth is replaced by a more

carefully adapted one, which in turn awaits further

perfectioning. There are various fields where we have

not yet surmounted a phase of research in which we

maketrial with hypotheses that soon haveto berejected

as inadequate; but inother fields we already possess an

assured and almost unalterable core of knowledge.

Finally, anattempt hasbeen madeto discredit scientific

endeavour in a radical way, on the ground that. being

bound to the conditions of our own organization, it can

yield nothing else than subjective results, whilst the

real nature of things outside ourselves remains inac-

cessible. But this is to disregard several factors which

are of decisive importance for the understanding of

scientific work. In the first place, our organization-that

is, our mental apparatus-has beendeveloped precisely

in the attemmpt to explore the external world, and it

must therefore have realized in its structure some

degree of expediency; in the second place, it is itself a

constituent part of the world which we set out to

investigate, and it readily admits of such investigation;

thirdly, the task of science isfully covered if we limit it to

showing how the world must appear to us in conse-

quence of the particular character of our organization;

fourthly the ultimate findings of science, precisely

because of the way in which they are acquired, are

determined not only by our organization but by the

things which have affected that organization; finally,

the problem of the nature of the world without regard to

our percipient mental apparatus is an empty abstrac-

tion, devoid of practical interest.

No, our science is no illusion. But an illusion it would

beto suppose that what science cannot give us we can

get elsewhere.



17/32

American Atheist Radio Series

Madalyn O Hair

GEORGE E. MACDONALD - AMERICAN ATHEIST

Good evening; this is Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American

Atheist, back to talk with you again.

American Atheism has a very long and a very proud

history. It has many personalities who labored intensively

for separation of state and church and for freedoms of

individuals. One of these persons was George E. MacDon-

ald. He was born in New England on April 11, 1857. His

father had been killed in the Civil War in the Second Battle

of Bull's Run. My great grandfather was killed in that same

battle and I wonder if those two did not know each other.

George MacDonald, as most children of that age, spent

his youth on a farm and it was on one such farm in New

Hampshire that he first questioned the existence of god.

How it came about I read in his own words:

I went to sunday school in Keene, Surry, and

Westmoreland. Having thus heard a great deal about

god's being everywhere present, I at the age of sixteen

called on him for a showdown. The calling took place

on top of Surry Hill, from which, as I have said, all the

rest of the universe was visible on a clear day. And this

day was clear; the stillness so profound it could be

heard. Having found a comfortable place to repose,

on a mossy knoll, I bent my mind to the problems of

the cosmos, to discover if peradventure

J

might think

them out to a solution. Nothing having come of my

mulling and pondering, I said aloud, addressing the

welkin (sky, air); 'Here is the place and the moment for

god to produce himself and to tell me about things. He

might speak or he might appear.' And I was almost

afrai

american atheist magazine july 1982

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