american atheist magazine may 1985
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May, 1985
A Journ.al of Atheist News and Thought
2.95
Atheism
and
Country
... See
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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.
Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and
aims at establishing a lifestyle and ethical outlook verifiable by experience and the scientific method,
independent of all arbitrary assumptions of authority and creeds.
Materialism declares that the cosmos is devoid of immanent conscious purpose; 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 very
essence life asserting. 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 practical purposes, unlimited .
• •• •• • ••••••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • •• •• • •• • •• •• •
American Atheist Membership Categories
Life membership S500.00
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All membership categories receive our monthly Insider's Newsletter, membership card(s), a
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organizational mailings, i.e. new products for sale, convention and meeting announcements, etc.
American Atheists - P.O. Box 2117 - Austin. TX 78768-2117
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May, 1985
Vol. 27 No 5
m e r i c n t h e i s t
Journal of Atheist
News
and Thought
Editorial: Atheism and Country - Jon Murray
2
Ask A.A.
5
News and Comments: Atheist Addresses State Legislature
6
Via Atheism 8
Another Sade: Part Two - Maurice LaBelle
11
Jesse on My Mind - Stephen B. Thorne
5
Thoughts on Sex, A Free Press, and Non-Authoritarian Society - Fred Woodworth
7
Born of Water - Lowell Newby 9
Minnesota Takes The Cake - August Berkshire 2
Poetry
23
The Case of BigDaddy - Frank R. Zindler
24
DigitizingDestiny - Margaret Bhatty
28
Dial-An-Atheist 29
Historical Notes
3
The Flood and Ark Stories - Madalyn Q'Hair
3
- Gerald Tholen
33
Book Reviews
36
Me Too - Jamie Massey
37
Letters to The Editor 38
Classified Advertisement
4
Reader Service
4
On The Cover: To paraphrase an old English saying - Now is the time for all good Atheists to come to the aid of their country. It
might be added that the time for such action is long overdue. Civilization has entered into a second Age of Enlightenment which, this
time, isoriginating, to an impressive degree, in our own nation. During the nineteenth century Enlightenment, physical and intellectual
release from the burdens of religio-politicalrepression and the attempted proliferation ofscientific information and rational thought were
bitterly opposed by church-controlled authoritarianism. The problems thus generated, in a large sense, were jousts between Left-and
Right-wing factions of religion ingeneral. But, there existed a generous sprinkling of early Atheism which was largely responsible for the
necessarily limited success of the movement. Ifyou have been reading the American Atheist magazine you are aware of much of the
history of the era. Today, the with even more rapid development of scientific (i.e. rational) knowledge, insanely fundamental religious
interests are again hopelessly trying to stem the inevitable; the further intellectual advancement ofhumanity. This time Atheism isinthe
forefront. Be conscious of our true Americanism. Be proud of our inherent Atheism which willallow it to flourish.
G.Tholen
Editor/Robin Murray-O'Hair, Editor Emeritus/Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Manag-
TheAmerican Atheist magazine ispublished monthly by the American Atheist Press
ing Editor/Jon G. Murray, Assistant Editor/Gerald Tholen,Poetry/Angeline
(an affiliate of American Atheists), 2210 Hancock Dr., Austin, TX 78768·2596, and a
Bennett, Gerald Tholen, Production Staff/Bill Kight, Gloria Tholen, Sandra M.P.
non-profit, non-political, educational organization dedicated to the complete and
McGann, Douglas A. Barnes Non-Resident/G. Stanley Brown, Jeff Frankel, Merrill
absolute separation ofstate and church. (Allrights reserved. Reproduction in whole
Holste, Margaret Bhatty, Fred Woodworth, Frank R. Zindler.
or in part without written permission is prohibited). Mailing address: PO Box
2117/Austin, TX 78768·2117. Subscription isprovided as an incident of membership
The American Atheist magazine
inthe organization ofI'.merican Atheists. Subscriptions
alone
are available at $25.00
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for one year terms orJy. (Frequency monthly. Library and institutional discount:
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50%.) Manuscripts submitted must be typed, double-spaced and accompanied by a
ISSN: 03324310
stamped, self-addressed envelope. A copy of American Atheist Magazine Writers
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Guidelines is available on request. The editors assume no responsibIlity for
unsolicited manuscripts.
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Austin, Texas
May, 1985
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EDITORIAL/Jon G. Murray
ATHEISM AND COUNTRY
O
n April 5th, 6th and 7th of 1985, the
Fifteenth Annual National Convention
of American Atheists was held in Austin,
Texas. In 1968 the First Annual National
Convention was held in the same city. No
conventions were held in three separate
years due to fear of attendance and funding
difficulties therefore. The 1968meeting, for
example, was characterized byguests diving
under the tables to hide from the media
which came to cover the event. The 1985
Convention was a far cry from the first.
Unity and Power
In 1983 we celebrated the twenty-year
anniversary ofthe founding ofthe American
Atheist organization. A new motto came out
of that Convention, held in San Francisco,
for the future of Atheism in this country.
That motto was Unity today - power
tomorrow. We onlyhad an apprehension at
that meeting, two years ago, that unity and
power would be the key concepts to our
continued success. Now, with the events of
the last two bitter Reagan years behind us,
we have come to understand that those
concepts are essential to not only our con-
tinued growth but to the far more basic goal
of survival of Atheism in our nation.
Atheists as Outcasts
Just in the past two years the Wall of
Separation between state and church, en-
visaged by the founders of our nation, has
been smashed flatby the combined fists of
religion and government. It is now obvious
that allof us, as Atheists, must work togeth-
er to build a power base large enough to
prevent our being physically silenced in the
very near future - for certainly the next
four years under Reagan can only be omi-
nous. Atheism has, with his administration,
been totally and irrevocably removed from
society. We find ourselves now as outcasts
who are no longer able to participate in the
normal processes ofdissent withinthe social
order. Where heretofore we had an avenue
ofdissent inthe judiciary, this has now been
closed to Atheists. There isno possible hope
of appealing to the other branches of gov-
ernment - the executive or the legislative,
both captured by or capitulating to the
pressures of organized radical right religious
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elements of our society.
Convention Relocation
The circumstances surrounding the re-
location of the Fifteenth Annual Convention
ofAmerican Atheists are a case inpoint and
should serve as a beacon light for projected
activities in years to come. In the second
week of March several concerned persons
called the American Atheist Center to ad-
vise that a ninety-minute talk program on a
local all-religious radio station in Austin,
Texas, was broadcasting planned disruption
of the American Atheist Convention. Upon
investigation itwas found that the boast was
made by a host ofa religious talk show, small
in stature (physical as well as intellectual), a
born-again Christian who did not even have
a church of his own. He operated a Chris-
tian fellowship from a very small born-again
Christian book shop in a half-empty shop-
ping center in the outskirts ofAustin. Upon
investigation it was found that his church
rented a Junior High School cafeteria on
Sunday, complete with cooking odors, and
that his congregation consisted of an (al-
leged) two hundred members (counting the
kiddies), perhaps as many as forty or fifty
families.
Intimidation Attempt
The plan proposed (which was actually
later effectuated) was to rent the other side
of a large ballroom in which the American
Atheist Convention was to be held. With the
two parts of the rooms separated only by a
thin pull-out wall-divider, the disruption
could be carried out by bringing ina religious
rock band, and several large church choirs
to make joyful noises to the lord so that the
Atheist speakers could not be heard. Also
with Convention registration tables side-by-
side, the prospect ofjoustling ofthe Atheists
by the fervid born-againers was much more
than a mere possiblity.
American Atheists did the logical and
reasonable thing: its Convention was moved
to a different hotel on the opposite side of
the city. The born-againers found them-
selves, on the days ofthe Convention, faced
with an empty room adjacent to their hoot-
and-holler session. Their opportunistic bal-
loon of interruption was burst so that their
May, 1985
efforts came to naught. American Atheists
can parry any thrust. I recount this to you
here because the absolutely incredible fol-
lowed: President Reagan, informed of the
proposed disruptive plans, sent a letter of
encouragement to the born-againers - as
he continued to take a personal interest in
the activities of American Atheists and
Madalyn O'Hair.
Unequal Rights
Substantively, a group of pipsqueak, but
loud, religious fundamentalists forced this
year's American Atheist Convention to be
moved from one hotel to another - with the
President of the United States encouraging
the action and applauding at the sidelines.
Appeals to city officials to intervene fell on
deaf ears, as election day for the Austin
mayor and city council coincided with the
opening day of the Convention. Not alone
would we never have considered a premedi-
tated disruption of a religious meeting, but
we could have suffered legal sanctions had
we attempted any such move. In every city
in the nation there are laws on the books
with prescribed penalties for disruption of a
religious ceremony. No such lawsexist for
the protection of non-religious speech or
assembly beyond the blanket statement of
the First Amendment. Religion -has gone
unopposed for so long that it has acquired
the power to make opposition to it a crime,
should that opposition turn to actual disrup-
tion. Religionists, on the other hand, can do
as they please using their religious convic-
tions as a shield against the law that restrains
the non-religious. American Atheists moved
out of a motivation to prevent potential
property damage, physical violence, and a
circus atmosphere. The rational were forced
to counter the irrational by giving way, as
has always been in history. Willy-nilly, the
religious are bent on confrontation and
harm; the Atheists - as counterfoil -
adhere to reason and safety. The incident
forecasts a rough road ahead for all of us.
The fact that a small fanatical group was
successful in making us move our Conven-
tion, causing us considerable inconven-
ience, this year means that we can anticipate
more ofthe same with increasing severity in
succeeding years.
American Atheist
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Reason is The Answer
We must keep in mind as we go along that
Atheism has a proud American heritage.
Some of the most valued contributors to
modern society (from many different na-
tions) were and are Atheists. We are few,
but we are the elite and we should be very
proud ofthat. Atheists are Atheists, by and
large, because they are those who possess
the basic power to reason required to escape
from the systemic net of irrationality that
covers our daily lives. We are continually
bombarded, day and night, by religious,
political, economic, and ideologic irration-
ality in this nation. The United States isnow,
in fact, the chief exporter nation of funda-
mentalist religion to the world, a title that has
a hidden warning for those of us who are
concerned with world politics.
The time is now for Atheists to make
themselves known intheir communities and
to stand up and -showoffboth their courage
and their reason in the face of irrationality.
On Saturday, April 6th, a local television
station sent its camera crew to the Conven-
tion. With three hundred and ten seats filled,
those of us at the speakers' podium were
pleased to see Atheists smile into cameras
panned closely on their faces - the most
that anyone did to change appearance was
to check that a necktie was properly straight,
or that a dress was without a creasing fold.
Not one person dived under a table. What
does the cigarette ad stress? You've come
a long way, baby. And, indeed, Atheism
has.
Isolate and Eradicate
If we allow ourselves to be silenced and
isolated outside ofsociety, we can be swept
under the rug for good. If,on the other hand,
we stand up and let our voices be heard in
unison, we will have much less to fear, at
least inthe short run. The longrun ofhuman
concern, with education and science on its
side, can take care of itself. We must stick
together for the same reason that a herd of
antelope sticks together inthe face ofa pride
of lions. The ability to isolate is the ability to
eradicate. American Atheists gained from
the publicity which attended the scheme of
the born-againers to disrupt our Convention.
That gain came from concerted action and
determination with a proper evasive action
to throw the attack off-guard and make it
ineffective while strengthening and en-
hancing the position and image ofAmerican
Atheists.
But there are other factors unrelated to
the state/church separation battle, or the
continuing effort to have Atheism recog-
nized as a viable alternative to religion. The
economic conditions of our nation make it
more difficult,ina continuing way, to assem-
ble in convention as airfares, hotel accom-
Austin, Texas
SHE.EL-
I DON', KN O W \
RON...
LET'S C-ONSUL T
TINKER-BELLE
O N TI-f IS ONE....
May, 1985
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mociations, and restaurant prices rise. When
Atheists do, therefore, so assemble no mat-
ter what the cost one sees in the attendees
those who share the determination to stand
out among their fellows as purveyors of
reason within their communities. The cost is
admittedly high, monetarily and also psycho-
logically. It takes a brave one to openly
identify and to dig into one's own pockets to
finance the adventure.
Sorry Warriors
In the perilous times in which we are, it
becomes more and more imperative that
Atheists do identify themselves as such.
Who else willsave our beloved country from
the plunge into medieval ages which seems
to be our destiny as the Falwellians mount
the attacks which willbring us to a state of
ignorance, mental servility, and stagnation
in science and in education? If we are so
frightened that wecannot even openly group
inorder to flex our educational and political
muscles, we are sorry warriors inthe cause
of freedom.
Lonely Leaders
Itis extremely depressing to me that often
Atheists meet in order to get caught in the
trap of religious fly-paper: to engage in
endless circular arguments concerned with
biblical errancy, to repeat and repeat per-
sonal testimonial sessions of their salvation
from religion,to clingtogether intinygroups,
meeting again and again, craving reinforce-
ment that evolution is really here to stay. As
Atheists we do not need continual psycho-
logical stroking. Our strength is in our
uniqueness. Of course, we are different
from the herd. Leaders are' always lonely.
No one ever promised you a rose garden
when you started to actually use your mind.
Revolutionizing
Ifeelthat some ofthe persons who remain
primarily concerned with striking out at the
Bible are not functional Atheists at all.They
are still deists or simply anti-clerics or some
other precursor oftrue Atheism. The physi-
cal trappings of faith, such as the Bible,
represent to them a reminder of the pain
caused to them by the dogma in which they
were reared as a youth. They need to punch
at this thing that was once forced on them
against their will.This makes them feel good
for the moment, but in the long run religion
can take allofthese punches they can throw
and come back for more, renewed in vigor.
Atheists need only to find one another, to
meet, to sit down comfortably for the won-
derment of finding that we all look, talk,
walk, dress, and appear to be ordinary
members ofthe human community. Itisonly
what is between our ears that makes us
Page 4
different. And, after we have come to know
one another on a social level,we can findour
areas ofexpertise as each ofus undertakes a
part ofthe larger task of revolutionizing the
thinking of the citizens of our nation.
A first order of business is grouping for
survival in the next four Reagan years - a
primary objective. But inaddition weneed to
work in the larger area: how to deprogram
an entire nation from the formidible long-
term indoctrination of religion which its
citizens have endured. We cannot do this
unless we are all introduced one to the
other.
Where The Battle Is
As the chief organizer of this year's Con-
vention, I strove to chieve a blend of
educatic n, camaraderie, and recreation over
the course ofthree Spring days. Especially, I
wanted the persons assembled to look at,
and take pride in, the American Atheist
Center. Iwanted as many as possible to see
the Austin, Texas, up front trenches. For
the first time, the Murray-O'Hairs opened
their home to over a hundred guests from
across the nation inorder to make them feel
that they had come home. I tried to say, in
every way, This is where the battle is. This
The Atheist Alamo
Ifyou ever go to Texas
Where they like a damn good fight
And you want to see some history done
To fashion matters right
When you've gone from San Jacinto
Where the massacre was won
To Goliad where heros died
Your journey's just begun
For valor wasn't conquered
At the Mission Alamo
So head yourself to Austin
There's a place you ought to go
To a little fort on Hancock street
Whose walls refuse to fall
And the battle there that's raging
Is the greatest one of all
It's the fight to free the human mind
From religious tyranny
And the courage of the seiged within
Is courage fit to see
As bold defiant volleys rise
From ramparts thinly manned
Religion's paying dearly now
To charge this rebel band
And no matter what the world willface
As ages come and go
Each noble mind willyet recall
This Atheist Alamo -
Gerald Tholen
May, 1985
iswhere the lines are drawn. This is how we
do it. Come and put your feet on hallowed
ground. I almost felt like Co . Travis draw-
ing the line in the dirt with his sword at the
Alamo forthose ofcourage to step forward. I
cannot describe to all of you who have
supported this organization over the years
how good it made me feel to have that
challenge answered byone and allwho came
to Austin this year. Although the staff of the
American Atheist Center stands ready to
continue in the face of any odds, it helps to
know that we have the moral and financial
support, now, of so many. In years past we
didnot even have that. Itfeels good not to be
alone.
Renewed Resolution
The rewards from the Convention were
more than we had hoped. Daily the letters
are coming in - for the first time in fifteen
years - from persons who attended the
Convention. They have strengthened hopes.
They feel the beginnings of determination
rising within themselves. They are full of
pride. They were caught in three days of
wonderment, with excellent speakers, a
fabulous hotel, a city fresh with wildflowers
of the season, an American Atheist Center
more beautiful, functional, coordinated, and
equipped than they had in their wildest
dreams ever believed to be possible. The
letters are filled with intention and resolu-
tion.
Atheism and Country
Well, what is holding us back? The reli-
gious fundamentalist group which attempt-
ed to thwart or to disrupt the American
Atheists' Fifteenth Annual National Conven-
tion called its effort a rally for God and
Country. It is instructive that in the slogan-
eering god came before country. Atheists
have always been America's finest citizens.
It has always been an Atheist out infront in
attempts to ameliorate the condition of
humankind. With a proud heritage of
Frances Wright, Thomas Edison, Luther
Burbank, Mark Twain, Clarence Darrow,
Margaret Sanger, Henry Ford, Andrew Car-
negie, and many others, it is to the Atheists
that America owes much. We again, now, in
our time take up the cudgels for freedom of
speech, freedom of the press, freedom of
thought, freedom of the mind. We work so
that America willbe in the good hands of an
atheist majority as wemove to overcome the
evils of religious facism now closing its
clamps upon the nation.
Freedom and Justice for
All
We must remember that as Atheists we
are fighting for the rights of the religious
(cont'd on
pg.
39)
American Athei
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ASK A.A.
In Letters to the Editor, readers give
their opinions, ideas, and information.
But in Ask A.A. American Atheists
answers questions regarding its poli-
cies, positions, and customs, as well as
queries of factual and historical situa-
tions.
Ijust found out that John Quincy Adams
swore on a lawbook, not the Bible,during his
inauguration. Why did he do that? Was he
an Atheist or just intelligent enough to
realize that church and state must remain
separate? Did any other presidents swear on
anything other than the Bible?
Source: NBC News, 3:40 p.m. EST, 21st
January, 1985
Joe Wanner
Pennsylvania
The Founding Fathers and the first five
presidents of the United States were deists.
They eschewed the Bible
as a
document of
import. Persons either attacking or ignoring
the Judeo-Christian Bible were Co/. Ethan
Allen, Thomas Paine, George Mason,
Benjamin Franklin and Presidents George
Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jeffer-
son, James Madison, and john Quincy
Adams. At one point John Adams, in a letter
to Thomas Jefferson, purportedly said,
This would be the best of all possible
worlds if there were no religion in it. We are
attempting at thispoint to authenticate the
quote. It
is
allegedly
in a
letter which
Jefferson wrote to Adams, quoting Adams'
earlier letter to Jefferson. John Adams was,
of course, the father ofJohn Quincy Adams.
Deists, in the day and age of the founding
of our republic, adhered to a system of
thought that advocated a natural religion,
divorced from the Judeo-Christian Bible,
based on reason rather than revelation,
emphasizing nature's harmony and intelli-
gibility, and rejecting the idea that the
Creator could interfere with the laws of
nature and the matters of mankind on
earth. Simply put, and as it appears in our
Declaration of Independence, the Founding
Fathers believed
in ...
nature and nature's
God. It is axiomatic that they would not
accept the Bible, but considering the polit-
ical state of affairs at that time, it is not
surprising that most of the Presidents did
succumb and use the Bible for swearing in.
The younger Adams was, simply, a man of
bravery and conviction.
American Atheists solicits Atheist re-
searchers to assist infinding the answers to
all of these queries. We would like to know
the comments concerned with John Quincy
Adams' actions at the time, and his replies, if
any.
Austin, Texas
It is high time American Atheists talked
about the prejudice present in all religious
people. They love their god because of the
moral teaching, parables, drama, and mira-
cles in the Bible. Through the encourage-
ment offaith, they gain a strong prejudice for
their god.
Ifreligionists had more exposure to logic,
Atheism, scientific method, and relevant
science in school or elsewhere, they would
lose their prejudice. I don't think religionists
are insane, only ignorant. Religion isnothing
more than a superstition. Please explain why
American Atheists keeps saying religion is
insanity instead of a supersitition.
Richard Skarda
California
A superstition is a belief, or notion, not
based on reason or knowledge, inor of the
ominous (i.e., that which causes an irra-
tional fear or portends evil or harm) sig-
nificance of a particular thing, circum-
stance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.
Superstitions are that one cannot walk
under a ladder, have a black cat cross one's
path, and the like. Religion isa beliefset. All
religions have a complete, often sophisti-
cated, belief set which is the basis of that
religion. This primarily isconcern over what
exists beyond the visible world - specifi-
cally in the acceptance that there is a
transcendent spiritual entity which (1) cre-
ated the world,
(2)
governs it,
(3)
controls its
destiny and that of all individuals existing in
that world, (4) intervenes in history or in a
disruptive way in natural events as a re-
sponse to supplications, rituals, and prayers
of its devotees, and (5) rewards and pun-
ishes after death certain individuals for their
adherence or nonadherence to the belief set
during life. .
Persons who are psychotic are those who
are unable to relate to reality. Religious
persons are
so
consumed with their make-
believe god, make-believe heaven and hell,
and all of the accoutrement of their religion
that they are unable to cope with the reality
of living.
Some poor sap who evades walking under
a ladder isprobably responding to the omin-
ous idea that a bucket of paint or other
material could fall on his head. Even
a
person who evades a black cat crossing his
path may be responding to an old adage
that such a creature (not visible in the dark
to a coachman) could startle horses on a
coach and cause an accident. This is totally
different than the irrational, and basically
insane, idea of committing one's life to
Jesus Christ.
It is granted that religious people are
May, 1985
ignora.nt, but so were all Atheists at one
point in their lives. Upon educating them-
selves
in
respect
to
their
prior
religious
indoctrination they abandoned their irratio-
nal, i.e., psychotic, thinking, and restored
themselves to normality.
Religion is not mere superstition. It is the
acceptance of an irrational belief set, with
the consequent stultification of thought pro-
cesses. American Atheists will continue to
differentiate between superstitions and re-
ligion, the former having some basic signal
in them to avoid
a
certain activity, but the
latter simply connoting insanity.
Christianity is defined by you as a preju-
dice coming from a love of god based on
the moral teaching, parables, drama and
miracles in the Bible. Judeo-Christianity is
characterized by intolerance of all other
ideas - particularly of science and know-
ledge. This is much more pernicious than
mere prejudice. The average Judeo-Chris-
tian fears his god rather than loves him.
There are few, if any, moral teachings in
the Bible. The parables have for a thousand
years been scrutinized for coherent mean-
ing; none has been found by the most
earnest theologians. The miracles in the
Bible are as phony as Ringling Brothers,
Barnum and Bailey's unicorns.
What does it take to get a letter answered.
You guys never write replies to personal
letters.
Janice Mierzejewski
Ohio
What it takes is more hands at The
American Atheist Center. We continue to
be inundated with mail; there are not per-
sons enough to answer it all.During the last
ten years we have devised innumerable
form letters to make reply, but the questions
and situations about which the Atheists of
the nation query are
so
complicated and
novel that many of the form letters are not
efficacious. We are back-logged, at the last
count, about four years in trying to make
individually tailored replies
or to
check
on
state/church separation violations reported
to the Center.
This is not necessarily disastrous since
the violations continue, most often, for
decades. As quickly as we can work with
them we do so - finding that the problem is
still
existing
and that our resources are still
too meager to blunt the problem or to
eradicate it.
You can all help by financing the Ameri-
can Atheist Center as best as you can.
Meanwhile, be patient - and understand-
ing, please.
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sometimes bitter pills to swallow. That the
child
should have a say in the matter seems
not to be a concern of at least some of the
legislators 'who voted last December to
maintain the religious exemptions from the
laws against child abuse.
The idea that the child should be allowed
to live long enough to be able to develop a
religious opinion differing from that of his
parents - if it is thought of at all - is
rejected in horror by parents who, like the
biblical patriarch Abraham, are ready and
willingto sacrifice their little Isaacs as a sign
of religious devotion. But unlike Abraham,
who isreported to have had second thoughts
in the matter and spared his son at the last
minute, a number of Ohioans have felt they
had to equal the faith of the biblical judge
Jephthah who actually sacrificed his daugh-
ter to his god.
In Western religious tradition, children
traditionally have been viewed as chattels
-objects to be shaped and molded ac-
cording to the neuropsychiatric biases re-
sponsible for the theological opinions held
by their parents. Only with the relaxing of
religion's grip upon Western civilizationhave
we come to see that the child has rights of his
own, and that the state has a legitimate
interest in the protection of children against
abuse and mistreatment by their parents. If
parents want to handle rattlesnakes as a
religious act, that is their own look-out. But if
parents expect their five-year old children to
do it, the state cannot be indifferent. The
state must save the children.
NEWS AND COMMENTS
ATHEIST ADRESSES
STATE LEGISLATURE
In December, 1984, Ohio State Rep.
Paul Jones, D-Ravenna, tried to get a
bill passed in the Ohio Legislature to
remove the religious exemption from
the child
absue
laws
(sections
2151.03,
2151.421, and 2919.22 of the Ohio Re-
vised Code), but lobbying groups such
as the Christian Science Church suc-
ceeded in scuttling Jones' bill. That left
intact
the following language:
Nothing in this section shall be
construed to define as an abused
or neglected child any child who is
under spiritual treatment through
prayer in accordance with the
tenets and practice of a well-
recognized religion in lieu ofmed-
ical treatment.
Tosave the children, once again, Rep.
Jones introduced another bill (House
BillNo. 67)which seeks to remove such
language from the laws of Ohio. Hear-
ings on
the
billwere
held
on
March 21,
1985,at
the
Ohio
State
House,
before
a
subcommittee of the House Children
and Youth Committee. The subcommit-
tee was chaired byRep. Jane Campbell.
Frank R. Zindler,
representing
the
Ohio Chapter ofAmerican Atheists tes-
tified before the subcommittee on that
date. He told reporters, I cannot tell
the legislators how to vote but it is my
hope that if they have
a better under-
standing of the constitutional and social
dimensions of the issue, they will be
able
to
take whatever
action is needed
to make Ohio as safe a place for chil-
dren as are most
other states.
The text of his addresS follows:
Introductory Comments
I am Frank Zindler, speaking on behalf of
the Central Ohio Chapter of American
Atheists. American Atheists is also known
as the Society of Separationists. We are an
educational organization devoted to the
maintenance ofabsolute separation of state
and church. It isone ofour major tenets that
most of the evilsofthe world are the result of
ignorance or at least are made worse by
ignorance. Our educational out-reach is,
Page 6
therefore, an attempt to help solve some of
the world's most serious problems. It is
hoped that by sharing the atheist under-
standing ofthe question offaith-healing - as
well as our understanding of the require-
ments of the Federal Constitution with re-
gard to tate-church separation - the Ohio
State Legislature may be assisted in arriving
at the best possible solution of the problem
posed by the religious abuse of children.
First let me share myunderstanding ofthe
various constitutionally secured freedoms.
The Federal Billof Rights guarantees free-
dom of speech, freedom of religion, and
freedom of the press - to name but a few of
its guarantees. But none of these freedoms
is absolute or without bounds. Allfreedoms
must be balanced against one another, and
one man's freedoms must be weighed
against the freedoms of his fellows. Justice
Holmes stated in a famous dictum that
freedom ofspeech does not extend to falsely
crying fire in a crowded theater. It is also
accepted that freedom of the press does not
extend to the printing of libel. And - until I
moved to Ohio several years ago - I
thought it was common understanding that
freedom of religion did not extend to the
performance of child sacrifice.
But to my shock, child sacrifice as a
religious right would appear, de
facto,
to be
legal inthe State ofOhio. Both when reading
the statutes and when reading the news-
papers this impression is confirmed. We
need not recount the particular recent cases
of children dying for their parents' faith.
These have been well documented by the
media, and the legislature doubtless has
more details than Ido. It is sufficient for our
purposes simply to note that the principle of
religious freedom has been perverted: In
Ohio the religious freedom of parents has
been extended to the point where their
children have none at all. The dead know
nothing of freedom.
Judging from the published remarks last
December of Sen. Lee Fisher of Cleveland,
the religious freedom of parents is thought
to be essentially without bounds. If parents
believe they can stop hemorrhage ina child's
severed limb by prayer, the state is to stand
by reverently watching and, after the child is
dead, do no more than to cluck consolingly
that the trials of faith are often arduous and
May, 1985
House BillNo. 67
One of the most shocking features of the
relevant sections of the Revised Code is the
repeated use of the phrase in accordance
with the tenets of a well-recognized reli-
gion. This phrase is
prima facie
in violation
of the no-establishment clause of the First
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It is
unconstitutional because it attempts to
create by law a hierarchy of religions: rec-
. ognized or officially sanctioned religions,
and unrecognized or illegitimate religions.
Now it is neither the duty nor the right of
government to judge the legitimacy or truth
of any religion. Nor is it legal for government
to establish religion in general in a position
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N EW S AND CO M MEN TS
superior to non-religion. With regard to the
topic under discussion - child abuse and
neglect - it is not for the government to
decide that a given child was allowed to die
for legitimate religious reasons and an-
other child's death resulted from application
of illegitimate religious doctrines, It is the
duty of government, completely without
regard to the particular religions involved, to
save the children,
Clearly, the well-recognized religion
phrase must be eliminated in order for the
Ohio statutes to comply with the First
Amendment. It istruly astonishing that such
wording ever slipped into the laws of this
state.
Sec. 2151.03
Lines 2.15 - 2.21 ofthe proposed billare
ungrammatical and unclear in meaning as
they stand. The phrase is not a neglected
child for this reason alone is ambiguous:
does this mean that the child is neglected,
but is to be considered neglected for other
reasons in addition to the reasons given in
the preceding phrases, or does it mean that
mere spiritual treatment by itself is insuf-
ficient to define the child as neglected?
The addition of subsection (F) [which
defines a neglected child as any child who,
in lieu of medical or surgical care or treat-
ment for a wound, injury, disability, or
physical or mental condition, is under spir-
itual treatment through prayer, ifthe failure
to provide the medical or surgical care or
treatment results inserious physical harm to
the child ] is, in my opinion, a step in the
right direction. I would caution, however,
that restricting this subsection to physical
injury may be too narrow. It must be re-
membered that many religious groups con-
sider aberrant behavior to be the result of
demonic possession, and it is not at all rare
for an emotionally disturbed child to be
treated by exorcism instead of psychiatry.
The long-range emotional and mental dam-
age resulting from such abuse is difficultto
measure, but it is very real nevertheless.
Sec.
2151.421
This section of the law requires various
official and professional persons to report
suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.
There is a problem in this section which is
rather peculiar inthat itprovides a loop-hole
with which adherents of one particular reli-
gious sect may avoid compliance.
Lines 2.35, et
seq.,
continuing the list of
responsible persons, include any person
rendering spiritual treatment through pray-
er in accordance with the tenets of a well-
Austin, Texas
recognized religion, acting in his official or
professional capacity, having reason to be-
lieve
that a child less than eighteen years of
age ... has suffered any wound, injury,
disability, or condition. of such nature as to
reasonably indicate abuse or neglect ...
It would almost appear that this section
was designed to allow Christian Science
practitioners to escape responsibility for the
deaths and injuries at which they attend. For
according to the tenets of this well-recog-
nized religion, there is no such thing as
physical illness. One cannot really have leu-
kemia for the simple reason that one doesn't
really have any blood at all - let alone red
and white corpuscles According to this
sect, disease - indeed matter itself - is an
illusion, the result of disordered thought.
Death also is merely an illusion which, for
reasons Mary Baker Eddy never succeeded
inanswering, we allexperience. So perverse
isour proclivity to such illusion, in fact, that
we repeatedly imagine we see even dead
plants and animals
Now a Christian Science practitioner
could - with a completely clear conscience
- claim that the sickness and death of any
child dying during his manipulations was not
reported because (1)the child wasn't sick
in the first place and (2)the child isn't really
dead. Moreover, we must remember that
these practitioners are required to remain as
ignorant as possible of the symptoms and
classifications of diseases. Not knowing the
symptoms of disease, a Christian Scientist
can plead truthfully to have had no reason to
expect disaster. .
I believe that this loop-hole can be closed
by adding, perhaps at line 3.17, a sentence
such as Disbelief in the reality of physical
illness or biological death on the part of the
officials listed supra does not release such
persons from the obligation of reporting
under the terms of this statute. We may
note also that in Indiana, all citizens have a
legal obligation to be reporters of child
abuse, and thus long lists such as we see in
lines 2.24 - 3.4 are unnecessary.
Sec.
2919.22
This section deals with endangerment of
children. Since line 7.12 mentions the treat-
ment of both physical or mental illness or
defect . . . by spiritual means through
prayer, it is only consistent to amend line
7.19 to discuss treatment failure which re-
sults in serious physical or mental harm to
the child.
Apart from the suggestions listed above,
House Bill67 as offered by Rep. Paul Jones
appears to be both necessary from a social
point of view, and well thought out from a
May, 1985
legal point of view.
Conclusion
Ifpublished accounts are any guide to the
nature of the dispute over this bill, it would
appear that the major opponents of the bill
have been representatives of the Christian
Science church. I have already mentioned
some of the astonishing beliefs of this sect,
and we need not examine them further.
Rather, in concluding my testimony before
this committee, Iwould liketo analyze some
ofthe arguments which have been published
and attributed to a Christian Science spokes-
man named W. R. Evans.
In a letter to the Children and Youth
Committee, Evans is said to have opposed
this billbecause itwould prevent Christian
Scientists from legally practicing faith heal-
ing. I believe this is an exaggeration. Faith
healing would still be allowed, provided that
additional medical care were provided in
cases where itwas necessary. The believers
would still be free to claim that it was the
prayer, and not the penicillin, that cured the
double pneumonia.
Evans' letter claims that a doctor could
failinhis treatment ofa child and not be held
legally liable, while a parent practicing faith
healing would be. This argument fails on
two counts. First, itfailsto acknowledge that
a doctor can be held guilty of malpractice if
his treatment is not in conformity with
practices considered to be the most effica-
cious bythe medical profession at that point
in the evolution ofmedical science. Second-
ly, it presumes that the probability of suc-
cessful therapy is just as low with medical
treatment as it is with faith treatment.
What the Christian Scientists and other
mental healers need to do is demonstrate to
this committee and to the world of medical
science that the expectation ofcure isjust as
great with their system as it is with accepted
medical procedures. Let them show, for
example, that in mice infected with plague
bacilliprayer preserves as many animals as
does streptomycin. Let them show that in
dogs in a state of hypovolemic shock due to
massive blood loss, prayer prolongs life as
reliably as does blood transfusion. The fact
that no medical procedure is ever one
hundred percent reliable does not mean that
such procedures do no good at all or no
better than faith healing. No prudent person
inthis age ofscience willwant to give up our
hard-won knowledge of the workings of our
bodies and go back to the Dark Ages viewof
demons and spirits as the cause of disease. It
is not, I hope, naive to suppose that all the
members of this legislature are prudent
persons.
Page 7
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10/44
allydefensible and socially responsible solu
tion of the problems involving the religiou
abuse of children. Ifthere are any questions
concerning my testimony, or if I can be o
further help, please ask me now or at any
time in the future.
NEWS AND OMMENTS
Finally, Evans says that the IRS, Medi-
care, Medicaid, and many insurance com-
panies acknowledge the effectiveness of
Christian Science treatment Ican only say
that ifthis istrue, itisterrifying. Itmeans that
these other agencies are in need of edu-
cation with regard to the facts of faith
healing. It does
not
mean that the Ohio State
Legislature should playmonkey-see, monkey-
do.
ope that in sharing with the committee
an atheist understanding of the issues re-
lating to House Bill67, I have made it easier
for the committee to arrive at a constitution-
VIA ATHEISM
askew almost immediately when the prison
refused to grant a charter of recognition to
his proposed Atheist group. He made head-
lines across the nation when Warden J. P
Mitchell of the Virginia State Penitentiary
prison denied approval for a Chapter o
American Atheists in his prison. A threaten-
ed law suit and a continued three month
negotiated push by Arnold and the atheist
prisoners finally won entry into the prison
for a new, but associated with American
Atheists, group - PALA. Currently, Via has
PALA organized in twenty-three states with
a single resolute reason: to free prisoners
from
jail-house religion. In 1984 he issued
two awards: a PAL of The Year Award to
Hugh L. Dalton in the Bastrop, Texas,
Federal Penitentiary for his
federal
fight and
a PAL of The Year Award to William B
Randolph in the Buckingham Correctional
Center inDillwyn,Virginia for his state fight
Via's first outreach to the prisons had
been under the auspices of American Athe
ists since he had begun the first Virgini
Chapter of that organization with a Virgini
state grant of authority to operate there on
March 20, 1980.
An indication of his involvement is shown
by his budget for the year 1980, which
included extensive newspaper advertising,
Newsletter expenditure, telephone bills, and
travel expenses:
January: $1,127.11
February: 421.60
March: 1,446.75
April: 523.60
May: 189.90
June: 386.76
July: $2,050_50
August: 531.92
September: 815.72
October: 1,023.15
November: 498.31
December: 799.63
The total expenditures of the year
($9,795.05) included a $50.00 check each
and every month toward the mortgage o
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary,
via - 1:
by way of,
2:
through the medium of,
3:
by means of'
On May 6, 1925an event occurred which
would make a difference to American Athe-
ism in our times: Arnold Via was born. The
squawking, red-faced brat began immediate-
ly to set up his howls in the world, and -
fortunately for allof us - he has never quit
American Atheists is very pleased to honor
Arnold Via on his day of birth and to tell the
world that we are happy that he is one of us.
Those ofyou who do not know Arnold Via
are missing something, but you can find out
a little about him by reading feature articles
in prior
American Atheist
magazines: Ac-
tion Atheist: Arnold Via which appeared in
the December, 1978(Vol. 20, No_12)issue,
Viva Via in the February, 1980 (Vol. 22,
No.2) issue, Prison Atheist League of
America Challenges Religious Influence in
America's Prisons in the April, 1983 (Vol.
25, No.4) issue, and The Recycling of An
Atheist in the October, 1983 (Vol. 35, No.
10)issue. Hewas featured on the front cover
of the February, 1980,issued under the title
Our man in Virginia but, actually, he
would be our man anywhere in the world.
Via has worked long, hard, and arduously
for the concept of Atheism and poured his
own money into what he has advocated for
more years than he cares to admit His most
recent magnanimous act was to drive from
Grottoes, Virginia, to Austin, Texas, to
spend two weeks on the repair of the roof of
The American Atheist Center. Characteristi-
cally, almost as an aside, he finished estab-
lishing the first Chapter of PALA (prison
Atheist League of America) in a federal
penitentiary while in Texas. Heretofore, he
has had his efforts focused on the state
prison systems. Inthe Bastrop, Texas, Fed-
eral Penitentiary, situated thirty miles east of
Austin, Texas, Hugh Dalton battled for two
and one-half years to establish.the Chapter,
recognized finallyby the Warden on Febru-
ary 13th, 1985. And Via was in attendance
for the first meeting.
Arnold Via's first involved fight for Athe-
ism began in 1976 with the issuance of his
own book, One
Step toward Atheism
which
succinctly stated his position. It had hap-
pened that he had a Letter to the Editor
refused by his local newspaper and felt that
he was entitled to speak his piece as, were
the religious in his community and state. A
Christian creationist had written a Letter to
the Editor denying evolution and the news-
paper refused, in those early days, to print
Via's response. Almost immediately he set
to a veritable campaign of letter writing and
ad purchasing, at a time when ads for atheist
material were routinely turned down by
newspapers everywhere. By 1978, he had
broken through all barriers and was able to
place, without censorship, any ad that he
desired to place.
Watergate brought another facet ofAthe-
ism to lifein Via's career. Disgusted by the
antics of Charles Colson and his efforts to
organize Christian Fellowships in the prison
system, knowing that those institutions were
already overburdened with religion, Via
made his first foray into the Virginia State
Penitentiary system in August, 1980, al-
though Atheists are few inthe prison system,
only _03%(by which ismeant less than 1%of
the prison population is Atheist). Incarcer-
ated Atheists are subjected to a religious
indoctrination which can only be described
as frightening. Parole is almost impossible
without a statement of reliance upon god
and a minister. The religious community is
permitted to move into the prison system to
intimidate, coerce, and drain money from
both the prisoners and the prisoners' fami-
lies. Via had been corresponding with a man
in the Virginia State Penitentiary, and he
found that in the tens of thousands of
prisoners there, thirteen Atheists were in-
cluded. He immediately reached to the pri-
son's educational department to see if he
could find those Atheists and meet with
them. He understood that the penal system
in the United States saw each convict as a
sinner rather than a criminal and he de-
cided to change it all. His plans were set
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Via weathers the continuing harassments
of the system, such as a refusal on March 3,
1984, to permit him to mail his PALA
Newsletter, The Virginian within the prison
system of that state. The Virginia Depart-
ment ofCorrections was arrogant enough to
not even notify him of this action taken and
had he not been a careful reader of Virginia
newspapers he would not have been in-
formed. Under the most adverse conditions,
the membership of PALA has continued to
grow. A continuing game plan of the prison
systems isto frequently and arbitrarily move
Atheist prisoners so that they are scattered
and isolated. In addition, there isa refusal to
forward their mail so that often their Amer-
ican Atheist magazines are returned, cost-
ing excessive postage charges.
Via's home has been accepted as a half-
way house for parolees when they are first
dismissed and he has had two paroled
atheist visitors as guests in his home.
On October 12, 1984, a member of PALA
in the Virginia State Prison at Richmond
staged a protest when inmate religious lead-
ers took the stage in the main prison dining
room callingfor a minute of silent prayer for
an execution scheduled that night. And,
again, Via stood with him, seeing what could
be done.
Together with a Maryland attorney, Bob
Zauner, he has in his most recent activity
protested on behalf of PALAproposed rules
on Religious Beliefs and Practices of Com-
mitted Offenders issued by the Federal
Bureau of Prisons. The primary opposition
was to the payment of chaplains from gen-
eral revenue funds, rather than the use of
volunteer free chaplains.
And this comprises only a short summary
of the activities and the good that Arnold Via
has undertaken during his association with
American Atheists. We are pleased to honor
him onthe day of his birth. Hang in there,
Arnold; we expect you to fight for another
thirty years yet. In line with your continuing
effort, we offer to all one of the cartoons
which you have distributed widely.
We mean to say by this cartoon that there
are millions of Atheists out there and more
of them should be carrying the ball. Al-
though, like Barkus, Arnold is willing,we all
need to understand that it takes a team, not
a single man.
NEWS ND OMMENTS
of Zoning Appeals, for a permit for the
American Atheist Infinite Cemetery on a
1.5acre tract ofhis acreage on the north side
of Rte. 614, in the Middle River District,
Grottoes, Virginia. The permit was granted.
And on August 30, he buried the first
Atheist, Fredrick Conway, age 34, who had
died of cancer at the VirginiaState Peniten-
tiary in Richmond, Virginia, on August 12.
The burial excited news media across the
nation, since neither embalming nor a coffin
was used. The body, curled in a fetal posi-
tion, was buried nude because - as Via put
it - we come into the world that way and
we go out that way. The dead don't have
control of their bodies. It's the livingwho go
through all the ritual. The entire expense
for the interment amounted to $26.00, most
of which was spent on gasoline ($17.00) for
the one-way trip from Richmond. Another
$5.00 went for the plastic sheet in which
Fredrick was temporarily wrapped and $4.00
was the cost offiftyfeet of quarter-inch rope
to bind the plastic covered body on itsride in
the bed of his pick-up truck.
In another battle, inDecember, 1982, Via
was at the Augusta County School Board
meeting to challenge the distribution of
Gideon Bibles in the schools of that district.
A hard working, pragmatic man of direct
approach, Viashoots straight from the shoul-
der without mincing words. Imagine our
surprise then to receive a letter from him in
1983which said:
A dreamer and his dream
to the death he carried it,
to the end he would rather see,
his dream and the ideals
wrapped within
unfold to encompass
all that is him.
Relentless struggle sees
even the strong weaken
at times,
but it is the true victor
who carries it through
regardless of opposing
currents and streams
his outstretched arms
reaching and straining
for that light, colored green ...
It was, then, no surprise that he should
officiate at an Atheist marriage in the State
Prison on May 14. The bride was sent home
to change her blouse, which was too sug-
gestive but a maid of honor who wore the
same kind of apparel was approved to stay
for the ceremony.
Arnold Via attends every Convention
every year, no matter where it is celebrated
in the United States: Washington, D.C.;
Detroit, Michigan; San Francisco, Califor-
Page 10
nia; Austin, Texas. He travels to Indiana
regularly for the American Atheists' Solstice
picnics. He drove to Webberville, Michigan,
to picket City Hall there on behalf of an
Atheist policeman fired of his Atheism.
He began in March, 1982, to try to con-
vince the State of Virginia to issue an
automobile license plate for his Cadillac
which would openly identify him on the
roads. Permitted six letters only, he asked
for, but was refused, individualized license
plates which carried messages as follows:
NO-GOD, NOO-GOD, GOD-LES, DOG-
GOD, and GOD-DOG. When arguments
erupted over each of these, he tried for
ATH-IST, ATHE*ST, A-THEST, ATHEST,
and A-3'ST, but had to settle in the end for
ATH-EST.
~o .
VIrgInIa
T H E S T
o
Via again began to nag the National office
throughout 1983 to obtain transparent de-
cals of American Atheists' logo in a circle to
place on the inside of automobile windows.
And again, these were finallytailor-made so
that they would be available to members
everywhere.
By late December, 1983, he was able to
convince the Virginia State Prison that a
Winter Solstice party should be held for
Atheist prisoners. Although all of the De-
cember dates were given to religious groups,
the Solstice was finally celebrated at the
prison on January 7,1984, wellattended by
over one hundred paid guests from the
prison population, together with family and
girl friends.
On March 19, 1984, a member of PALA
was able to obtain a copy of his treatment
plan from his counselor to find that in the
Self Improvement Area that counselor
had noted, Randolf claims to be an atheist
[sic] and doesn't appear to have any worth-
while objectives. A referral to the National
Prison Project of the American Civil liber-
ties Union in Washington, D.C. brought a
quick complaint by the ACLU to the prison
which emphasized, To eliminate a possible
infringement of protected first amendment
rights, our office would suggest that a new
treatment plan be written leaving out any
reference to inmate Randolfs religious pref-
erence. PALA also vigorously objected,
noting, May I suggest that all extrinsic
references to Mr. Randolfs personal philo-
sophical beliefs be deleted from future treat-
ment plans.
May, 1985
Happy Birthday, Arnold, from all of us at
The American Atheist Center, who love
you.
American Atheis
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The following is the fifth of a series of
articles on the French philosophes, the
intellectual leaders of the Enlighten-
ment of seventeenth and eighteenth
century Europe. The first article on the
Marquis de Sade appeared in the April
issue.
T
he Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) has
one of the most heinous reputations in
Western thought, but modern scholars have
reassessed the events of his life, and he is
currently viewed as a man ofvast learning; a
person who analyzed the human animalwith
an intellectual ardor and courage seldom
equalled; a creator whose influence has
been significant, although subterranean. He
considered himself to be an extraordinarily
lucid and enlightened philosopher, an eight-
eenth century Socrates - the supreme
logician, the seer victimized by hypocrites
and diseased minds. He was correct. He
proudly called himself an Atheist philoso-
pher. Even in the depths of despair during
his twenty-six-year imprisonment, he never
recanted.
Sade was a creation and creature of the
Enlightenment, and he should be considered
not only within the historical context of the
Enlightenment, but also in light of his endur-
ing contributions to Western thought, es-
pecially Atheism. His philosophy is frequ-
ently given inadequate attention, however,
because of the fascination with his personal
and
a
Dying Man (Dialogue entre
un
Pretre
et un
Moribund;
July 12, 1782). While this
work is of little literary value, it contains
many of Sade's lifelong philosophical con-
cepts. Briefly, a priest arrives at that fatal
hour to minister to a dying man, and the
two men subsequently discuss theology.
Sade, like many of the
philosophes,
de-
lighted in exposing the errors and contra-
dictions in Christian theology. The goal of
such intellectual gymnastics was to degrade
Christianity and to defend one of Sade's
favorite themes: Atheism.
One of Sade's arguments for Atheism is
that nature is self-generating; therefore,
there can be no god. The Dying Man says
that things necessarily occur; there is no
supra-human intelligence guiding Nature.
He chastizes the Priest for believing inwhat
you do not understand . . . I defy you to
prove the existence of this god you talk
about ... Your god is a product of your
emotions. He develops the contention
when he later states that natural effects
must have natural causes; because natural
causes explain occurrences, why invent
unnatural ones such as a god, the existence
of which, logically, would have to be ex-
plained ... inshort, it is clear that your god is
unnecessary. The Dying Man gives the
Priest sage advice: Study physics carefully
and you will understand nature better; de-
velop your ability to reason; get rid of your
illogical concepts. When you have done so
you willhave no need of a god.
Sade continues the attack on Christianity
when the Dying Man rhetorically asks the
Priest, if I were to be so ignorant as to
accept your preposterous ideas about the
lifeand because ofhis use ofsexually explicit
scenes to demonstrate his concepts. In this
article, I have deliberately omitted many
aspects of Sade's methodology in order to
highlight some of his most significant pre-
cepts. Iam concerned with Sade as a man of
the Enlightenment rather than as a forerun-
ner of Krafft-Ebing and Freud.
Sade's ideas are especially provocative to
Atheists because he reconstructs ethics on
non-Christian foundations. Thus, he chal-
lenges Atheists to re-orient their morality.
Given the ingrained Judeo-Christian ethical
code, Sade has posed a Herculean task for
Atheists to eradicate the teachings ofschool,
parents, society, government, and church.
But he accepted the challenge.
After being inprison for three years, Sade,
at the age offorty-two, began the first of his
extant writings,
Dialogue between
a
Priest
Austin, Texas
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existence of some imaginary being who
requires people to worship him, then tellme,
how I should worship him? Should he, the
Dying Man asks the Priest, follow the
daydreams of Confucius or the absurdities
of Brahma; perhaps I should bow to the
Great Snake God of the African Blacks; or
should I pray to the Sun God of the Peru-
vians; maybe the god ofMoses isthe correct
one; or do you suggest that IfollowMoham-
medanism; which Christian sect is the right
one? ... be reasonable, the Dying Man
admonishes the Priest, your Jesus is no
better than Mohammed, Mohammed no
better than Moses, and the three of them
combined no better than Confucius, who
May, 1985
did after all have some wise statements, but
the others were lunatics. Sade's emphasis
on cultural relativity was quite common in
the Enlightenment, especially after books on
travel to other cultures began infiltrating
French society. Of special significance were
the travel journals of Cooke (1769) and
Bougainville (1766-1769),both ofwhom trav-
elled to the South Pacific.
The Priest raises the last possible defense
for Christianity - the concept ofan afterlife
- but the Dying Man says that there is
nothing at all after death. Once again, like
a true titan of the Enlightenment, Sade
returns to an observation of nature: I have
seen in Nature only perpetual generation
and regeneration. Nothing ever 'ends' in
nature, my friend, nothing; man today, worm
tomorrow, the day after tomorrow a fly;
such is the cycle of life.
Of Education
Sade was freed from prison on April 2,
1790, and while hawking his miserable plays
he wrote
Philosophy in The Bedroom (La
Philosophie dans
Ie
Boudoir;
1795). This
work focuses on a favorite subject of En-
lightenment thinkers: the education of a
young person. The instruction becomes a
platform for Sade to analyze human nature
and propound his ideas about its proper
development; his answers make him one of
the most revolutionary thinkers ofthe Enlight-
enment.
In
Philosophy in The Bedroom,
Eugenie
de Mistival, a young, pubescent girl, wishes
to learn about herself and life.WhileMadame
de Saint-Ange, a notorious libertine, in-
structs her, the authority in all matters is
Dolmance, a homosexual. As the work
progresses, other characters join in
Eugenic's instruction. Her education formal-
ly begins when she says that some human
actions are indecent. Dolmance immedi-
ately dismisses decency as A Gothic
expression [which is contrary] to Nature
Sade poses the fundamental question of
who is to decide what is decent? Morality,
he states, is relative to culture, and thus
there are no absolute definitions of vice
and virtue. Eugenie naively believes that
there must be some actions which are so
dangerous and evil that everyone would
consider them to be criminal. Dolmance
assures her that ''There are ... none, not
even stealing, incest, murder - not even
parricide. She is shocked, but he com-
ments that what are considered crimes in
one society are honored, exalted, and
viewed as exemplary in another.
After he has established the philosophic
foundation stone that there is no absolute
definition ofvirtue, Sade then posits his view
that morality should be based on a person
being natural, that is, obeying one's inclin-
ations. Of course, a person will have to
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disregard the abnormal moral teachings of
Christianity, because only when an indi-
vidual is free, he reasons, can a person
become wiseand recognize that, your body
is your own, yours alone; you are the only
person in the world who has the right to
determine how you are to enjoy your body.
For example, inorder to be natural, certain
Judeo-Christian dicta must be rejected, es-
pecially the strictures against a person
hav-
ing premarital sexual experience. Madame
de Saint-Ange contends that Such ridicu-
lous [laws about not having premarital sex-
ual relations] are the creations of men, and
we women must not submit to them.
Sensationalists
Sade considerably extended and refined
many of his views in Eugenie de Franval
(1788). In this work, Sade broaches a forbid-
den subject, the ultimate taboo - incest. He
shows how far he was willing to carry his
logicthat people must be free to be natural,
that is, following their sexual proclivities.
Pubescent Eugenie feels the fire ofdesire ;
consequently, she wants to experience the
delights and ecstasy of sexual inter-
course. She falls in love with her father, who
understands, encourages, and then satisfies
her sexual cravings. Were Franval and
Eugenie wrong to have sexual relations?
Does incest deserve the condemnation it
has received? Not according to Sade; to him
the first premise of morality is that Self-
interest isthe concern ofeverything a person
does. This definition of the human animal
as a pleasure-seeking, pain-avoiding crea-
ture was an advanced concept in the En-
lightenment but by no means unique to
Sade. There was a considerable school of
psychologists, the sensationalists, who
thought that the human animal operated on
the basis of the sensations of pain and
pleasure. One of these people was Julien
Offray de la Mettrie (1709-1751), a pupil of
the great scientist Herman Boerhaave (1668-
1738) at the University of Leyden. La
Mettrie's most famous work is Man the
Machine (L'Homme Machine; 1748), and
there is reason to think that Sade had read
this work. Franval also defends incest as
being natural for some people; moreover,
the moral strictures against incest must be
seen as a manifestation of cultural relativity,
a subject which fascinated Sade. Eugenia
reasons that when a moral dictum varies
from one culture to another, then that
stricture cannot be considered sacred. She
defends incest on the basis of consenting
adults having the right to practice whatever
sexual act they want. Eugenia rhetorically
asks, Do we disturb you when you seek
your pleasures? Respect us when we seek
ours. Franval adds that Beauty and love
are oblivious to legislative laws . . . which
must be crushed beneath our feet because
Page 12
they hinder our pursuit of happiness, im-
pede our ability to reason, and keep us from
the most delightful pleasures. Such laws are
despicable
Virtue and Vice
Sade's masterpiece is
Justine,
or
the
Misfortunes of
Virtue
(Justine,
Ou
les Mal-
heurs de la Vertu; 1791).The work began as
a short story in 1787,and three revisions and
four years later it had become a novel of
about three hundred pages. Because of the
sexually explicit episodes, the work proved
popular, and itwent through five editions in
Sade's lifetime. He
revised
the work in 1797
and published it with a companion work.
The complete title ofthat edition isThe New
Justine, nr the Misfortunes of Virtue, Fol-
lowed by the History of Juliette, Her Sister
{or the Benefits of Vice} (La Nouvelle
Justine, Ou lesMalheurs de la Vertu, Suivie
de I'Historie de Juliette, Sa Seour {ou les
Prosperiies
du Vice};1797); the two novels
total about one thousand pages. The comple-
mentary nature of these two novels is fre-
quently and unfortunately overlooked when
evaluating Justine. The most significantdiffer-
ence between the two works is that Justine
ismarkedly anti-feminist; Juliette is decided-
ly pro-feminist. The distinction is important,
because without a knowledge of Sade's
attitude toward women in Juliette, Sade
appears as a sadistic misogynist in Justine.
Juliette presents the clearer view of Sade's
attitudes toward women because when he
wrote the last version ofJustinejJuliette, his
life was relatively pleasant. After thirteen
years in prison, he was free; he had found
the woman who would become his mistress
for almost a quarter ofa century; his divorce
freed him from the woman he had come to
hate, a detestation which became all the
more intense when she became a nun; and
his mother-in-law, who had him put inprison
for thirteen years, was gone. There was no
longer a reason for him to hate women.
The second issue which clouds the study
of
Justine
is the sexually explicit content.
While Sade admitted to spicing up the
work inorder to improve sales, the novel is
quintessentially a conte philosophique, that
is, a story which is philosophical rather than
literary. The line between asking the reader
to enjoy and to think isfrequently vague, but
the authors of philosophical stories un-
questionably wanted the reader to contem-
plate a particular philosophical position. In
Candide, Voltaire wants the reader to de-
cide if this is truly the best of all possible
worlds ; Upton Sinclair, in The Jungle (1906)
wants the reader to consider socialism. The
philosophical story in the eighteenth cen-
tury was a marvelous art form designed to
perplex the censor, expose, and ridicule a
contrary philosophy and to present compli-
May, 1985
cated abstract issues in a manner readily
understandable to the unsophisticated. The
philosophical story is pop philosophy.
This is the literary context of Justine and
Juliette: The two novels are didactic rather
than erotic; the depictions ofsexual activity,
including flagellation, sodomy, rape, homo-
sexuality, as well as murder, bondage, and
child molestation serve only to exemplify
philosophical points. Sade, however, went
further than any other philosopher in the
Enlightenment in using sex to illustrate his
concepts.
Justine is the story of Juliette and her
younger sister Justine, who are orphaned
when they are fifteen and twelve years old
respectively. The difference in age is impor-
tant because Sade considered fourteen to
be the age ofmaturity fora girl. The two girls
are thus left at liberty to become whatever
they want. Again Sade uses young people
to show the effects ofeducation. Juliette is a
sensationalist, that is, she has determined
that it is morally better to seek pleasure
rather than pain; consequently, she elects to
be a libertine. Justine follows the other path
when she concludes that, I prefer to die
rather than be immoral ... Yes, Iwould die a
thousand time's before I would disobey the
Christian principles Iwas taught as a child.
The two girls followseparate paths.
Justine encounters a series of monstrous
characters, both male and female, who
reason with her and lecture her about hu-
man nature, society, and the cosmos, but
she lets her Christian morality restrict her
rationality. Consequently, she never under-
stands herself, especially her sexuality. She
meets Monsieur Dubourg, one of the rich-
est merchants ofParis. Impoverished, she
asks him to take pity on her and
give
her
some money; he asks her: What right do
you have to expect a rich person to help you
if you are useless to him? ... The virtue
which you so conspicuously flaunt is worth-
less in this world; really, what ignorance to
kneel before its altars, inhale its incense -
no, no. That virtue ofyours won't help you at
all. The only thing which will help you get
ahead is that which brings you money or
power. She then gets a menial job with a
notorious usurer, Monsieur du Harpin. He
teaches her that theft islogical because only
two out of every twenty thieves die on the
gallows; mathematically, the chances ofcap-
ture and execution can be reasonably risked.
Harpin tries to enlist Justine in his plot to
steal, but she resists; in turn, he plants a
valuable ring in her room and reports her to
the police; she is, of course, immediately
arrested. I defended myself, she com-
plains, but it didn't do any good.
In prison, she meets Madame Dubois, a
person who has committed every coneiv-
able crime. Imaginative, she has arranged
for the prison to be set afire so that during
the ensuing confusion she and Justine can
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escape. She knows that many people will
be burned to death, but don't worry about it
- when our lives are at stake, forget other
people Madame Dubois' words prove proph-
etic: Twenty-one people die in the firewhile
she and Justine escape. She invites Justine
to join her band of robbers. Justine refuses;
her reward for her virtue isto be sexually
assaulted.
Justine escapes the bandits with one of
their victims, Monsieur Saint -Florent, whose
lifeshe has saved. He, inturn, takes her into
a forest, suddenly knocks her to the ground,
does with me everything he wants, robs
her, and leaves her with little to cover her
nakedness. Recovering, she spies two men
who have come to the forest to have homo-
sexual relations; one of them isthe Count de
Bressac. She is discovered by them and
subsequently taken to Bressac's castle
where she becomes a maid to his aunt.
Justine learns that Bressac hates his aunt
and isplotting to killher so he can inherit her
wealth. Before the murder, Bressac teaches
Justine that religion must be seen within
social, political, and psychological contexts
because rulers use it as a means of restrain-
ing their subjects.
Christianity Evaluated
Bressac scorns Christianity. As the En-
lightenment progressed, Christianity, espe-
cially Catholicism, came under increasing
vilification, and Sade was one of the most
extreme blasphemers. He calls Jesus a
worthless Jew, the child of a whore and a
soldier ... born in a filthy barn, yet he had
the cheek to masquerade as the son of the
creator of the universe. The disciples are
described as intellectually bovine teen-
agers who were probably homosexuals.
Bressac tries to enlist Justine inhis plot to
murder his aunt by offering her a fortune,
but she refuses. In spite of Justine's at-
tempts to save her, the aunt is murdered by
her nephew. Justine is subsequently cap-
tured by Bressac, tied up in a forest, at-
tacked bythree dogs owned by himwhile he
watches with his lover, and left to fend for
herself.
During her wandering, she happens upon
a Benedictine monastery occupied by four
lonely monks of renowned faith. In reality,
they are among the most debauched crea-
tures in all of literature. During one of the
intermezzi in the sexual circus, one of the
licentious priests lectures Justine that a
person's character and desires are formed in
the womb; thus education is incapable of
changing them. He describes people as
rapacious beasts, comparable to the tiger or
the leopard. Ask the lamb, he continues,
why it exists, and it will tell you that it
doesn't understand why the wolfeats it. Ask
the wolf why the lamb exists, and he will
answer that the lamb livesto be food for him.
Austin, Texas
Wolves devour lambs, lambs are eaten by
wolves - the strong overpower the weak,
the weak are victimized by the strong.
That's nature
Justine miraculously escapes from the
monastery. More monsters and lectures
await her. Eventually, she sees two men
trampling a man beneath their horses'
hooves. After the two men leave, she rushes
to his rescue; he isRoland, who