american atheist magazine feb 2009
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8/10/2019 American Atheist Magazine Feb 2009
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8/10/2019 American Atheist Magazine Feb 2009
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FE B R UA R Y 2 9
Vol47, N o 2
ISSN 0516-9623 (Print)
ISSN 1935-8369 (Online)
AMERICAN ATHEIST PRESS
Editor
Frank R. Zindler
editor@atheists.org
AMERICAN ATHEIST
'A Journal of Atheist News and Thought'
General Editor
Bill Hampl
editor@americanatheist.org
Design
Layout Editor
David C. Smalley
dsmalley@atheists.org
Cover Design
David C. Smalley
Published monthly
(except June & December)
by American Atheists Inc.
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 158
Cranford, NJ 07016
908.276.7300 P
908.276.7402 F
www.atheists.org
2009 American Atheists Inc.
All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permiss ion is prohibited.
American Atheist is indexed in the
Alternative Press Index.
American Atheist Magazine
is given free of cost to members of
American Atheists as an incident
of their membership.
Subscription fees for one year of
American Atheist:
Print version only: $45 for 1 subscription
and $30 for each additional gift subscription
Online version only: $35
Sign up at www.atheists.org/aam
Print & online: $55
Discounts for multiple-year subscriptions:
10% for two years
20% for three or more years
Addi tional postage fees
for foreign addresses:
Canada Mexico: add $15/year
All other countries: add $35/year
Discount for l ibraries and institutions:
50% on all magazine subscriptions
and book purchases
MERIC N THEIST
CONTENTS
4 From The President
New Editors Are Announced
Ed Buckner
5
From The Out-Going Editor
Frank Zindler
6
Editor Introductions
Bill Hampl
David Smalley
8
Letter from the Editor
Bill Hampl
9
Legal Update
Edwin Kagin
10 American Atheists National Conference
Atlanta, Georgia April
9-12
Surrounded by Marxists
Dr. Massimo Pigliucci
14
Spirit, Soul, and Mind
Frank R. Zindler
17
Foxhole Atheist of the Month
Sergeant Brooks W Dingus, by Kathleen Johnson
18
Prayer Babies
Guy P Harrison
21 Why Atheists Make the Best Type of Citizen
Marie Alena Castle
22
Does Science Make Belief in God/Allah Obsolete?
Secret Authors (Courtesy of Humanist International)
24 The Faithful Atheist
David Smalley
28 Thoughts on some Material Atheist Freedoms
Greg Lammers
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C
hange keeps coming
to American Atheists
and no doubt will never
cease to come. We have recently
completely revamped our Web-
site (and I say 'We' only because
I'm the president and therefore
have the formal privilege of
including myself for credit
even when others have done
all the work), using impressive
talent and many hours of work
from David Silverman, Jared
Alessandroni, Blair Scott, and
others, and I join many others
in welcoming this change and
delighting in it, but I also know
that Ed Gauci and many others
deserve great credit for the valuable Web-site that gave
way for the new one. In a similar way, I am proud to
introduce two new names-Bill Hampl and David
Smalley-to our readers and members but also proud to
acknowledge the irreplaceable contributions of the people
they succeed. Frank Zindler, a leader of leaders, has
succeeded in finding two people to partially replace him
and Ann Zindler-or more accurately to do an important
part of the work they have done. Frank has been editor of
American Atheist magazine for many years, both before
and after Ellen Johnson served in that capacity. Ann
has given untold hours of creative and technical work to
layout and the design of the magazine. Both have also led
the crucial efforts of American Atheists Press to publish
books o f singular importance to Atheists and other readers
and thinkers world-wide-and happily, the Zindlers will
continue to lead that effort. All who care about books-
and every member of American Atheists ought to be in
that category-can breathe a sigh of relief about this last
piece of information.
When it comes to taking credit as president, whether I
deserve it or not, I'm eager to take some of the credit for the
results of Frank Zindler's exhaustive search for editorial
renewal for American Atheists Magazine. We-especially
Frank, but I did do some of this, too-talked to many truly
outstanding creative and technologically accomplished
people who offered American Atheists their services.
Smalley and Hampl stood out as candidates highly likely
to succeed, but their competition was plentiful and strong.
Frank and I are agreed that we will be well rewarded for
securing the services of many others from among the ap-
plicants and we certainly intend to do just that. But now
let me explain why I have such extraordinarily high ex-
pectations for our new General Editor, Bill Hampl, and
our new Design Layout Editor, David Smalley.
Ed Buckner, PhD
President of
American Atheists
AMERICAN ATHEIST FEBRUARY 2009
Bill Hampl is a classy exemplar of Atheism and of
excellence. He values community contributions and vol-
untarism, and his willingness to take on such important
responsibilities to lead our chief enduring path of com-
munication with the world (starting with our members)
demonstrates the seriousness of his commitment. He is a
master of clear English, of writing, and of editing, and
will show readers that willing Atheist writers have much
to offer and can be persuaded to offer it. A protege of the
late 'Rev.' Jerry Falwell (you may want to read Bill's own
comments about Falwell before you call me up and dress
me down), Hampl's perspective and experience will give
fresh understanding toAtheism and this organization. The
words you will see in the months to come will be, as they
have in the past, the words of many different Atheists with
many ideas, some of them in conflict with some of the
rest. But behind those words, encouraging those words
and organizing them with greater clarity, will be the mind
and work of Bill Hampl. You will like what you read.
Dave Smalley is no less excellent an Atheist than Bill
Hampl, but he is nevertheless a very different guy. You
will like what you read, but you will also like what you
see-and the mind and creativjty that makes the way the
publication look interesting and engaging will be primar-
ily Smalley's work. He has mastered so many different
graphics and layout software packages that a layman like
me had literally never even heard of many of the tools
with which he is proficient. His expertise and interests ex-
tend as well to video, and the crucial work to be done on
the magazine will assuredly not be the only arena where
either of these leaders will be contributing. More impor-
tant than the technical sophistication, though, is Smalley's
creative eye, his highly developed talent at artistic com-
position and juxtaposition, as well as his ability to/break
out of traditional structures. Both Smalley and Hampl will
be using both words and images to maintain the traditions
that make all of us so proud our magazine, but Smalley
will be the lead image composer while Hampl is the lead
wordsmith. The work of each will complement the work
of the other, to our lasting benefit.
Welcome, William Hampl and David C. Smalley. You
cannot imagine-even though I know both of you are glo-
riously imaginative-just how glad all of us in American
Atheists are to have you with us.
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From the
Out Going Editor
Frank R . Z indler
J
ust in the nick oftime, salvation is at hand Just as I
was about to 'go down for the third time,' someone
has thrown me a life-preserver. Actually, it wasn't
just one someone, it was two someones - and I am not
the only person whose life has been saved. My wife
and life-partner Ann has been in the Atheist publica-
tion business with me - days and nights - for over
thirteen years, and she is just as exhausted from chasing
publication deadlines as I am. The two stalwarts who
have effected our salvation are Bill Hampl and David
Smalley.
Early last summer, after I became acting president
of American Atheists, I found myself doing the equiva-
lent of three full-time jobs: the job of president, the job
of magazine editor (in addition to my on-going job as
managing editor of American Atheist Press), and the
job I do for pay - working past retirement age as a
linguist and editor for a scientific publishing society.
Although Ann and I had produced the American Atheist
magazine for nearly eleven years after the death of the
Murray-O'Hair family in 1995, because Ellen Johnson
assumed the editorship ofthe magazine, we had not had
to worry about the journal for two years and we were
able to concentrate our efforts on book production.
Then, literally over night, we had to resume publication
of the magazine. Needless to admit, it was too much;
we couldn't publish the magazine in a timely fashion
and deadlines routinely were missed.
Early last summer I placed two ads in the maga-
zine and on the Atheist blog: one for a new president of
American Atheists, and one for a new editor of Ameri-
can Atheist.
The presidential position was filled last Oc-
tober with the accession of Dr. Ed Buckner, and that left
me more time to concentrate on finding a replacement
for myself as magazine editor. It was about as easy as
trying to change from a snow-suit into a tuxedo while
running a relay race-and avoiding arrest for indecent
exposure. Fortunately, Ed helped me in this task as
well. Out of a large pool of applicants (Damn There
are lots of talented Atheists out there) we were able
to settle on two men whose talents nicely complement
each other: William ('Bill')
Hampl and David Smalley.
Bill will be serving as
general editor of the maga-
zine, concerning himself
with interacting with au-
thors and printers, selection of materials for publica-
tion, editing them and preparing them for publication,
and copy-editing proofs before each magazine is 'put to
bed.' David Smalley will concern himself with overall
design of the magazine, layout of text in Adobe InDe-
sign (the industry standard for creating publications),
creation of artwork, processing photographs, and even
such mind-numbing tasks as creating order-blanks and
application forms. Oh, yes: each of them will be receiv-
ing the exact same salary as I have always received:
zero dollars and zero cents per year. Their unhesitating
willingness to assume these onerous positions is a mea-
sure of their dedication to the cause of Atheism.
Once again, Ann and I will focus on publishing
new Atheist books and reprinting Atheist classics. We
hope to enlist the aid of several of the other editorial ap-
plicants whose talents seem more appropriate in book
publishing than in magazine production.
Ann and I thank both Bill and David for coming to
our rescue. We are confident that with their energy and
enthusiasm American Atheist will once again become a
journal of substance, a magazine of which we canjustly
be proud. With their help-and with the help of some
of the other applicants-we think that American Athe-
ist Press as a whole will be buoyed up and will once
again be the printed voice of Atheism for the English-
speaking world.
Thank you, Bill and David
FEBRUARY 2009 - AMERICAN ATHEIST
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mvery excited. to assume the
role of General Editor for this
great organization's chief pub-
lication. I like to think of myself
as just another gay Atheist in the
civil service, but let me provide
a little background on myself. I
was brought up Baptist in a small
town in Massachusetts. My parents
elected to send me to a Baptist high
.school forty-five minutes from
my house rather than have me
attend the local public school.
At my high school, the teach-
ers strongly admonished my
fellow students and me both
from socializing or dating
people from other religions-
Catholics were a big no-no-
and also from attending any
secular colleges. Some of
the more popular institutions
of higher learning were Bap-
tist Bible College East, Bob
Jones University, and Jerry
Falwell's Liberty University
in Lynchburg, Virginia. As
a reward for graduating third
in my class (out of a class of
nine students), Liberty actually
awarded me a partial two-year
scholarship. I spent my fresh-
men year there, experimenting with
my sexuality, and narrowly avoided
being kicked out.
After taking some time off, I
went against the grain and attended
secular schools of higher learning. I
have earned a Bachelor's of Music,
a Master of Arts in English, and a
Master of Science in Management,
with a concentration in Account-
Introducing ...
Bill Hampl
the new General Editor
of American Atheist
ing. I went even further against the
grain and embraced my sexuality.
Eventually, I met my spouse, Jeff,
through a mutual friend at a vol-
leyball party, and I do not even like
to play volleyball. When same sex
marriage was legalized in 2003, Jeff
and I registered for our marriage
license on May 17. May l S was
my birthday, and we were married
amused by my WWJD-Who
Wants Jelly Donuts? bumper stic
er, ordered from the Atheist web
site, and still available there.
I am truly thankful for the conf
dence in my ability shown by Fran
Zindler and Ed Buckner to act
editor of this great magazine. I w
endeavor to provide interesting a
ticles and informative insights. F
example, when Jeff and
attended training to fost
and/or adopt children, th
instructor told the cla
not to identify as atheist
as doing so would neg
tively affect our chance
of obtaining children.
s ' I will seek to put fo
ward in print much
what we Atheists ho
dear such as free thinkin
and also how the med
present coverage of us.
Thank you and I loo
forward to working f
you and with you
on May 20
th
Also that week, we
bought our house, and our cat had
kittens
Since July of 2000, I have been
employed as an English Instruc-
tor for sailors and Marines at the
BOOST/STA-21 Programs for the
Department of Defense at the New-
port Naval Base in Newport, Rhode
Island. My students are greatly
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Introducing ...
David Smalley
the new Design
Layout Editor
of American Atheist
s with great pleasure and ap-
preciation that I accept the po-
sition of Design and Layout
Editor for the American Atheist. I
have long enjoyed providing cre-
ative solutions for intellectual ac-
tivism, and this is my greatest quest
yet. The humble beginning of the
American Atheists organization is
an inspiration to many, and my ul-
timate goal is to help continue that
legacy by adding value wherever I
can. By bringing creative concepts
to the table, I hope to attract and in-
spire even more freethinkers for our
cause. I will take this introductory
opportunity to present a brief sum-
mary of how this relationship came
to be.
lt was January 10, 1980, just
nine days after the New Year - I was
lying there new to the world, and my
father was already furious with me
because I missed the tax deadline
for him to claim me in 1979 My
mother was also upset, because ap-
parently, I had attempted to enter the
world sideways, obviously against
her will. Needless to say, people be-
ing upset by my unique approach to
life started at an early age
I was raised in a primarily secu-
lar household with a Christian foun-
dation from a Catholic mother and
an Episcopalian father, who never
agreed on much; accept that their
attendance in church wasn't all that
important. Neither really cared too
much about living by particular reli-
gious doctrine, but the 'fear of God'
was ever-present in our home. After
their divorce, when I was just five
years old, my mother instilled in me
what she felt were Christian values;
which I later came to know as hu-
manisuc ethics, but nevertheless,
she did a bang-up job
My religious knowledge as a
child was minimal to say the least. I
was simply taught to fear the wrath
of 'God' but I never understood
why. This caused a unique interest
in religion, and I wanted to know
what everyone was so afraid of.
Even as a small child, I didn't grasp
the concept of having so much love
for something, yet being terrified of
it at the same time. In any event, as
a teenager, I became active in local
Baptist churches and gospel choirs
as a musician, typically playing the
drums each Sunday morning, and
being listed as the premier drum-
mer for main events and recordings,
including a live performance at the
famed
'Potters House'
in Texas.
I'm even plastered on the cover a
religious album as the drummer for
a popular gospel choir Over the
years, I began to ask questions, and
those answers lead me to realize the
many fallacies of religion. Still, the
powers of ingrained fear lead me to
continue performing with religious
groups, until I finally began my
quest to find real answers. Needless
to say, the answers I received and
knowledge I discovered eventually
lead to the marvelous freedom of
Atheism
Moreover breaking the mold, I
was the first person on my mother's
side of the family in 20 years to
graduate high school, and the first
ever to further an education with a
university. My adult volunteer work
as a secular humanist, helping the
homeless and less fortunate, and a
deep interest in exactly why intel-
ligent people fall victim to the ab-
surdities of religion, both led me to
pursue an education in psychology
with an emphasis in applied behav-
ioral analysis at Kaplan University.
While continuing my education, I
also host an online atheistic discus-
sion forum titled The Smalley De-
bate,
where theists of all types come
to argue their case, as I present evi-
dence of how each of them are mis-
lead Our very own Frank Zindler
was my first inspiration, as I read
the transcript of his radio debate of
Noah's Ark on the American Athe-
ists Web-site.
For two years, I worked with a
national television network, UATV,
as a graphics designer, video edi-
tor, and television producer. I often
performed voiceovers for cartoons
and television commercials, as well
designing scripts, magazine lay-
outs, and billboards. Combining a
creative background in graphics,
media, and music, with an activist's
mindset toward Atheism, the posi-
tion of Design Editor of American
Atheist magazine feels like the per-
fect fit For a long time now, the way
Atheists have been portrayed in the
general view has been a strong mo-
tivator for me to spread the word of
reason and free thought. I am eager
to show the world how secular hu-
manism is a productive way of life.
I currently reside in Plano, Tex-
as with my beautiful wife Brandy,
and two amazing children, Brayden
and Talissa.
I look forward to serving in our
cause for reason.
The Smalley Debate
Blog Discussion
www.davidsmalley.blogspot.com
FEBRUARY 2009 - AMERICAN ATHEIST
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O
n December 2,2008, American Atheists, Inc., togeth-
er with eleven named plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit in the
Franklin County Kentucky Circuit Court against the
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, the KENTUCKY
OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY, and the persons re-
sponsible for enforcing the laws that govern that Kentucky
department. The named plaintiffs are MICHAEL G. CHRIS-
TERSON, JAMES F. COFFMAN, LUCINDA HEDDEN
COFFMAN, JAN EWING, EMMETT F. FIELDS, ALEX
GRIGG, EDWIN HENSLEY, HELEN KAGIN, GARY
MARYMAN, DAVID RYAN, and JAMES K. WILLMOT.
These plaintiffs are all Kentucky residents, and they live in
a wide variety of Kentucky counties. Some are members of
American Atheists; others are not. All of them are strong as
new rope. Rarely has such a list of constitutionally aware
plaintiffs been assembled. American Atheists, Inc. is a non-
profit corporation' incorporated in Texas, with its principal
place of business in New Jersey. The corporation is also reg-
istered to' do business in Kentucky. This is a legal nicety
that it is respectfully suggested be implemented in all states.
Becoming registered to do business in a given state is gener-
ally fairly simple and inexpensive for a not-for-profit corpo-
ration, and doing so can prevent certain unpleasant potential
problems should litigation in a given state prove necessary.
tial Proclamation urging Americans to pray and fast during
one of the most dangerous hours in American history, and
the text of President John F. Kennedy's November 22, 1963,
national security speech which concluded: For as was writ-
the Commonwea lth
of Kentucky is in
fact attempting to
establish a religion
ten long ago: 'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman
waketh but in vain. ' Effective: March 28, 2002 History:
Created 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 82, sec. 2, effective March 28,
2002. That's why.
This action is believed to be in conformity with the legal
philosophy of American Atheists as set forth at http://athe-
ists.org/press Jeleases/Legal_Philosophy _Announced and
at http://atheists.org/ American_Atheists _Legal_Philosophy.
Kagin
Information on the lawsuit can be found
at http://atheists.org/Kentucky_Home-
land_Security_Lawsuit and the text
of the Complaint at http:// www .:
atheists.org/uploadlaavky.pdf.
Why all the fuss? Because
Kentucky has passed into
law the following incredible
language, mandating that the Edwin Kagin - National Legal Director
executive director of the Ken-
American Atheists
tucky Office of Homeland Secu-
rity shall: Publicize the findings of the General Assembly
stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to
the security of the Commonwealth by including the provi-
sions of KRS 39A.285(3) in its agency training and edu-
cational materials. The executive director shall also be re-
sponsible for prominently displaying a permanent plaque
at the entrance to the state's Emergency Operations Center
stating the text ofKRS 39A.285(3). http://www.lrc.ky.gov/
krs/039g00/010.pdf>. KRA 39A.285(3) states, in black
letter law: 39A.285 Legislative findings - The General
Assembly hereby finds that: (1) No government by itself
can guarantee perfect security from acts of war or terror-
ism. (2) The security and well-being of the public depend
not just on government, but rest in large measure upon in-
dividual citizens of the Commonwealth and their level of
understanding, preparation, and vigilance. (3) The safety
and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart
from reliance upon Almighty God as set forth in the public
speeches and proclamations of American Presidents, includ-
ing Abraham Lincoln's historic March 30, 1863, Presiden-
It seems to me, and to the plaintiffs, that the Com-
monwealth of Kentucky is in fact attempting to estab-
lish a religion, in violation of Section 5 of the
Constitution, of Kentucky and of the First
Amendment to the Constitution of the Unit-
ed States. In a recent national radio inter-
view with a fundangelical talk show host,
I presented a hypothetical of whether, in
choosing between two Kentucky cities
of equal size in which to attempt to survive
the kind of threat the Kentucky Office of
Homeland Security was set up to meet, each city having an
army of defenders of equal size, one would rather be in the
city where the defenders were well armed Atheists trained
in anti-terrorism tactics, or in the other city where the de-
fenders were unarmed fundangelicals who only prayed and
relied upon supernatural powers-for deliverance. The host
was outraged. Sorry. I didn't make the facts. You can hear
this interview at . The comments on it continue and you are
invited to join it. The host does not believe that our Consti-
tution gives the right to believe in 'false gods.' No kidding.
Rarely have I encountered such irrational and scary venom.
And people like that are permitted to vote and to sit on juries.
An 'Answer' has been filed by the State of Kentucky
to the 'Complaint.' It should be on our website soon. In its
Answer, Kentucky says the laws are not unconstitutional.
Also, among other things, the Answer says that any damages
suffered by the plaintiffs as a result of these laws is of their
own doing.
Stay tuned.
FEBRUARY 2009 . AMERICAN ATHEIST
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The 35th
N a t i o n a l o n v e n t i o n o f
_
~
Thursday, April 9
th
6:00 - 9:00 PM
Great Hearth Room Registration and informal reception with cash bar.
Friday, April 10
th
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Lullwater Ballroom 7:00 - 9:30 PM Silverbell Room
Open Banquet, Award Ceremony, Members Meeting
Saturday, April 11th 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Lullwater Ballroom 7:00 - 9:00 PM Silverbell Room
Open Banquet, Honor Lifetime/Gift and Legacy Members
Sunday, April 12thDining Room Hosted Breakfast
Arrive anytime between 8:00 and 11:00 AM and be greeted by your board members directors.
Sunday, April 12th 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Afternoon Group Outing: Red State, Blue State; Old South, New South, From the Civil War to Civil Rights
Destinations being Stone Mountain and its many attractions, then on to the historical Ku Klux site and on to
Sweet Auburn, the birthplace and resting place of Dr. Martin Luther King. $50 per person. Includes box lunch,
transportation, and all admissions. Accessible for handicapped and limited mobility.
Additional information: President, Ed Buckner (770) 803-5353 or atheists.org/events/Nationatconvention.
AMERICAN ATHEIST' FEBRUARY 2009
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AMERICAN ATHEISTS
NATIONAL CONVENTION
APRIL 9-12 in Atlanta Georgia
Emory Conference Center Hotel
1615 Clifton Road
Atlanta GA 30329
A
merican Atheists will host its 35th National Convention at the spectacular Emory Conference Center
Hotel in Atlanta, Ga. Make plans now for an exciting weekend of social events, outstanding talks by re-
nowned speakers, workshops and so much more. We'll have a special convention rate at this world-class
meeting venue, plus extended 'shoulder dates' so you can visit the many tourism attractions in beautiful Atlanta
Don't forget our Thursday night (April 9) Convention Jump-Start for an evening of fun with fellow Atheists from
around the world. Said to be the Best Kept Secret in Georgia, the Emory is a hidden oasis as its Frank Lloyd
Wright-inspired architecture and serene wooded views combine diverse meeting space, beautiful gardens, walking
trails, and much more to create a one-of-a kind experience.
The Emory is just 20 minutes from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The downtown business
district and vibrant Buckhead are less than 12 minutes from the hotel. Complimentary on-site parking is an added
bonus.
The Emory offers a two-tiered guest room rate. Guest rooms in the hotel are $109 plus tax for single/dou-
ble. Guest rooms in the inn (directly connected to the hotel) are $89 plus tax for single/double and include break-
fast. You must make your reservations directly with the hotel on or before March 10, 2009 to enjoy our special
convention rate. Be sure to tell them you are with the American Atheist convention.'
Emory Hotel reservations: 404-712-6000
www.emoryconferencecenter.com
Confirmed Speakers
Ed Buckner: President, American Atheists, Inc.
Richard Dawkins:
Evolutionist/science celebrity
Mike Malloy: Nationally-syndicated talk radio personality
Jim Morrow: Award-winning writer and novelist
Dr. J. Anderson Thomson: Psychiatrist, researcher, author
Nate Phelps: Estranged son of Pastor Fred Phelps
John Lombard: Beijing business owner, activist
Special Events
(D)evangelical Stand Up Comedy Troupe
Mass De-baptism Ceremony
FEBRUARY 2009 - AMERICAN ATHEIST
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R
ecently I had a strange experience: I was hav-
ing dinner in Manhattan, near New York Uni-
versity, surrounded by a group of pleasant and
smart people, who happened to be Marxists It was a
nice evening, following a panel discussion at New York
University on morality without gods. Still, I couldn't
help feeling I had been thrown back to my high school
days
(circa
1977), when people were using terms like
'means of production' and 'oppression of the workers'
with genuine conviction and equal obliviousness to the
subtleties of actual socio-economic and political situa-
tions.
What I thought I
was going to hear from
my Marxist companions
was something along
the lines that Marx's
analysis of class strug-
b
gle and of the founda-
y
tions of capitalism was still largely
correct, and in fact even relevant to
the recent collapse of the worldwide by Dr. Massimo Pigliucci
financial system unleashed by the
most unbridled (as in unregulated) form of capitalism
the world has seen since the era ofthe aptly named rob-
ber barons. That, I think, is actually a defensible posi-
tion, as much as I don't believe for a second that Marx's
solution will ever work in any real human society. (My
take is that both extreme socialism and extreme capi-
talism make the same mistake, albeit for symmetrical
reasons: they ignore fundamental aspects of human na-
ture. Capitalism puts too much emphasis on self-inter-
est, dismissing the fact that we are social animals with
strong cooperative instincts; Socialism errs on the other
side, proposing an ant-like society where individual-
ism is progressively squeezed out of the human experi-
ence.)
If one actually reads Marx's The Communist Mani-
festo,
one can hardly disagree with most of his theses.
That a key to human history is the economic struggle
among classes is true, though my view of history does
not admit of a one-cause-fits-all sort of explanation.
That a more just society would be created by a fairer
redistribution of wealth and especially of the control of
'the means of production' is also true unless your defi-
nition of 'justice' is that (economic) might makes right.
And that people's understanding of their own condition
is largely shaped by a system that wishes to perpetuate
itself despite its flagrant injustice is also something I
don't dispute.
But my Marxist dinner companions really stunned
me when they claimed that Stalin wasn't all that bad,
and that Mao was even better. Come again? Let's
start with Stalin. His radical policies and pursuit of
power killed millions through famine, and that was just
the beginning. His regime was one of the most violent-
ly repressive in human history, with again millions of
people exiled to labor camps or simply eliminated, and
entire ethnic groups 'resettled' because they were not
to his liking. Oh, and while Stalin gets a lot of credit
for resisting the Nazi invasion, thereby helping to turn
the tide against Hitler during World War IIlet us not
forget that he
also pushed
the Molotov-
Ribbentrop
Surrounded
Marxists
AMERICAN ATHEIST- FEBRUARY
2 9
pact, which paved the way for Hitler's invasion of Po-
land, and thus the onset of the war. My Marxist friends
quibbled on exactly how many millions were killed (to
me, one million is one too many), and claimed that Sta-
lin's was the first experiment in applied communism,
and he had to make up stuff as he went. Well, let me
declare the first experiment such a total and abject fail-
ure that I really don't think we should attempt a second
one.
But of course many other such 'experiments' were
carried out during the 20th century, one of the most
cruel being Mao's. Far from me to be able to offer an
in-depth analysis of Maoism (or Stalinism, for that mat-
ter) here. But let us consider some examples of what
the great leader of communist China did. Mao admit-
ted to the execution of about 700,000 people just in the
1949- 53 period-justified, in his mind, because of the
necessity of consolidating power. The real number is
more likely to be somewhere between 2.5 and 5 mil-
lion. Moreover, another 1.5 million Chinese were sent
to labor camps to be 'reformed.' During the so-called
'great leap forward,' Mao's second five-year plan that
began in 1958, his policies resulted in widespread fam-
ine that killed tens of millions of people. The exact
numbers are in dispute, depending on the method used
to calculate the deaths. A widely accepted figure is of
20 million, though other estimates take that to be a
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8/10/2019 American Atheist Magazine Feb 2009
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conservative number,
with a range going all
the way to the mind-
boggling figure of
72 million. Again, if
this is the hallmark
of success, I'd hate to
see a failure.
Why is it that oth-
erwise intelligent,
nice people, clearly
concerned with jus-
tice in the world, can
still whole-heartedly
claim that commu-
nism is a good idea? I suspect it is for reasons very
similar to those allowing Christians (just to pick an-
other random group of reality-challenged people) to
read the Old Testament and seriously claim that
all those instances of Yahweh commanding his
people to slaughter, rape and pillage 'in his
name' are really quotes taken out of con-
text. In what context, pray, does that sort
of injunction become morally accept-
able? The problem, in other words, is
the uniquely human penchant for
they
claimed
that Stalin
asn t all
that bad
adopting an ideological position and then sticking to
it - reality be damned.
As my favorite Marx, Groucho, aptly said (ironi-
cally, while talking about matters of economics in the
masterpiece movie Duck Soup): A child of five would
understand this. Send someone to fetch a child offive.
That is not that different
from what I wanted
to scream at sev-
eral points during
that recent dinner.
Luckily, the Neo-
Marxist Club is one
club I simply cannot
join, on the grounds
that they really
wouldn't al-
low some-
one like me
to be one of
their mem-
bers.
Dr. Massimo Pigliucci is a professor
of biology at the State University of
New York at Stony Brook. As one of
the world
s
foremost evolutionary
theorists and debaters of creationists,
he is truly a celebrity of science.
American Atheists is proud to number
him among its life members .
FEBRUARY 2009 - AMERICAN ATHEIST
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SPIRIT SOUL AND MIND
By Frank R. Zindler
Formerly a professor of biology
and geology in the SUNY system,
Frank R. Zindler for more than a
quarter of a century has served
as a linguist and editor for a
scientific publishing society in
Ohio. Author of The Jesus the
Jews Never Knew and more
than 100 magazine articles and
essays, he has participated in
over 400 radio and TV debates
and talk shows as an advocate
for Atheism and science. He is
managing editor of American
Atheist Press and receives
e-mail atfzindler@atheists.org.
W
henever I peruse a dic-
tionary, I am struck by
the amazing number of
words which refer to nothing at all
in the real world. Many of the words
are obviously fabulous: leprechaun,
unicorn, gremlin, Philosopher's
Stone, Zeus, elf, Fountain of Youth,
ghost, etc. Others, though referring
equally to non-existent things, are
less obviously fabulous: The Mean
Sun, The. Average Citizen, vital
force, spirit, soul, and - in at least
some of its accepted meanings -
mind.
AMERICAN ATHEIST FEBRUARY 2009
Why the human species has
invented so many words which re-
fer to nothing in reality is a most
interesting question for scientific
investigation, and probably would
require a complete book to eluci-
date properly. In this article I shall
only attempt to deal with a few such
words, specifically, the words spirit,
soul, and mind.
It is a striking fact that nearly
all languages of the world, extinct
as well as extant, have - or have
had - words which could be ren-
dered as 'spirit' or 'soul' in English.
At first glance, it would seem that
this is a good argument in favor of
the real existence of souls and spir-
its. For, would it not be improbable
that so many different peoples and
languages could be mistaken? If
many different unrelated languages
have independently invented words
for soul, is that not a good reason to
believe they did so because there re-
ally is such a thing?
Well, no, I think not. The first
clue to the solution of this puzzle
comes from etymology, the study of
word origins.
While the origin of the English
word soul is obscure, the word al-
most certainly had its origin in a
word which meant 'breath' or 'wind'
or 'air,' or something like that. The
word spirit - generally a synonym
for soul - comes from the Latin
spiritus, and clearly meant 'breath'
originally. Spiritual and respiratory
both derive from the same root
Moreover, if we check in the
Greek and Hebrew bibles to see
which words are translated as 'soul,'
etc., in the King James Version, we
will find many whose literal mean-
ing is 'breath' or 'wind.' For ex-
ample, the Hebrew word neshamah
(literally meaning 'breath') is twice
rendered as 'spirit,' once as 'soul.'
The Hebrew-Aramaic word ruach
(lit., 'wind') is rendered 240 times
as 'spirit,' six times as 'mind.' The
word nephesh (lit., 'breath') is ren-
dered 'soul' 428 times, 'mind' 15
times, 'ghost' twice, and 'life' 119
times. Turning to the Greek Bible,
we find pneuma (lit., 'breath') ren-
dered as 'ghost' 91 times (includ-
ing the rendering 'Holy Ghost'),
292 times as 'spirit.' The reader will
recognize the same root in the word
pneumonia, a word referring to a
disease of the organs of breath. And
finally, in this somewhat pedantic
parade of words, we may note the
important word psyche. As expect-
ed, its literal meaning is 'breath.'
As we might have guessed, it is
rendered as 'soul' 58 times, 'mind'
three times, and 'life' 40 times.
The .fact that nearly all words
now meaning 'soul,' 'spirit,' 'life,'
etc., trace their origins to words
meaning 'breath' or 'wind' leads me
to conclude that the derived mean-
ings were an outgrowth of the in-
ability of primitive people to solve
a basic biological puzzle, namely,
what constitutes the difference be-
tween a live body and a dead one?
To the ancient authors of the
Bible - men who still thought they
were living on a fiat earth beneath
a solid sky (firmament) - the so-
lution seemed deceptively simple:
living things breathe, dead things
do not. At first, only animals (from
Latin anima, meaning 'breath' or
'breeze' originally) were consid-
ered fully alive. The case of plants
was viewed with confusion for a
long time. Some authorities consi-
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8/10/2019 American Atheist Magazine Feb 2009
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dered them live, others did not. The
ancients did not realize that 'souls'
were really only a gaseous mixture
of nitrogen and oxygen, contaminat-
ed with varying amounts of water
vapor, carbon dioxide, noble gases,
and - depending upon what one ate
and whether or not one brushed af-
ter every meal - varying amounts
of aromatic substances
In the Genesis creation myth,
the animating power of breath is
clearly depicted. God, after having
molded Adam from the dust, has to
breathe into him the breath of life
in order for him to become a living
soul. Breath is life.
The manner in which breath be-
came equated with life is not diffi-
cult to discern. A person newly dead,
say, of a heart attack, anatomically
is not much different from what he
was like before he died. He still has
five fingers per hand, a tongue in
his mouth, a brain in his head, and a
heart in his breast. The ancients, un-
conscious of the microcosmic fever
of chemical marriages and divorces
that we call metabolism, could see
only one obvious difference: the
lack of breath of the dead.
When a man expired (lit.,
'breathed out), his spirit (lit.,
'breath ') left his body, and he died.
When a man sneezed, his spirit was
forcefully ejected from his body,
and one had to say God bless you
or make a magical gesture, such as
the sign of the cross, very quickly,
before evil spirits could come to
take over the momentarily spiritu-
ally vacant carcass. Demonic 'pos-
session' was the result, quite simply,
of inhaling one or more of the evil
breaths thought to hover in the air
around us. For early Christians, the
Devil's breath was everywhere.
Of course, not all possession
was necessarily evil. People could
become 'inspired' - that is, the
breath of a god could take over their
bodies to deliver words of wisdom
or apocalyptic admonitions. Indeed,
the origin of the Christian church it-
self was thought to have originated
in an act of mass possession by the
Holy Ghost ('Holy Breath' in the
Greek textl), In Acts 4:31 we read
that when the Apostles and others
had ended their prayer, the build-
ing where they were assembled
rocked, and all were filled with the
Holy Spirit [breath] and spoke the
When a
man sneezed,
his spirit was
forcefully
ejected from
his body,
and one had
to say God
bless you
word of God with boldness.' (Given
the close association of words with
breath - thought to be life itself -
is it any wonder that religions of all
kinds have always focused on the
magical significance of words?)
Lest anyone still think the link
between breath and the foundations
of Christianity be doubtful, attention
is drawn to the tale running through
John 20:22. Jesus has come back to
visit the Disciples to tell them that
lie is sending them out to forgive
or not forgive the sins of the world.
Then he [Jesus] breathed on them,
saying, 'Receive the Holy Spirit '
Right from the beginning, Christi-
anity was based upon warm breath
- which in time became hot air.
Modem biologists, unlike the
ancient makers of myths, know that
all the phenomena of living sys-
tems can be reduced to physical and
chemical terms. They have no evi-
dence of any 'vital force' or mysti-
cal spirit - and no need to seek for
such. They recognize the fully alive
body and the newly dead body to be
but two arbitrary points along a con-
tinuum of decreasing organization.
So much for spirit, soul, and
ghost. Originally denoting breath
or wind, they are words which have
acquired a host of mystical conno-
tations as pre scientific people at-
tempted to account for the differ-
ence between life and death. But
what of the word mind? Does it re-
fer to anything real? Or is it, too, a
fabulous entity?
Unlike the analysis of spirit and
soul, the analysis of mind is not at
all simple. This is so largely through
the grammatical accident that in all
the European languages, ancient as
well as modem, the word mind is a
noun.
We tend to think of nouns as sub-
stantive: table, chair, and plumb-bob
are all nouns, and all are substantial.
There are many words, however,
which though grammatically nouns,
are not at all substantial. Words like
beauty, truth, and velocity would be
examples. Unfortunately, our think-
ing tends to be hedged around by
the grammar and hidden assump-
tions of the language with which we
think. And so it happens again and
again that abstract nouns come to
be thought of as representing things
just as substantial as those repre-
sented by common nouns. And thus
we have the basic confusion neces-
sary to found philosophical systems
such as Plato's - whose perfect tri-
angularity exists in triangle-heaven,
and so on.
Because mind was a noun, it
FEBRUARY 2009 - AMERICAN ATHEIST
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16/31
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S
ergeant Brooks
W. Dingus
joined the
Navy in 1981
and spent four
years on active
duty and nine in
the Naval Reserves
as a meteorological technician, responsible
for collecting data from weather balloons
and making forecasts. In 2007, he joined the
Army Reserves as an Aviation Operations
by Kathleen Johnson
Specialist and in 2008, he changed
career fields and switched to
Psychological Operations. SGT
Dingus anticipates a future
deployment to Iraq or Afghani-
stan. He has been either an Ag-
nostic or Atheist for more than
35 years and is an active member
of the Central Texas Chapter of the Military
Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, an
organization affiliated with American Atheists.
FEBRUARY 2009 - AMERICAN ATHEIST 1
R O O F R E S U E F U N D
O N T R I U T O R
THANKS TO THE GENEROSITY of the
person listed below, American Atheists is
well on the way to paying for the rescue of
the Charles E. Stevens American Atheist
Library & Archives.You are truly an Atheist
hero
R ic h a r d A A n g ro n
5
Monthly Roof-Rescue Donations
will be listed in this
section every month.
-
8/10/2019 American Atheist Magazine Feb 2009
18/31
Prayer
Babies
Guy P. Harrison
I know
9
million dead children
who do not believe in prayer.
Horrific child death rates in the world's most
religious nations provide a powerful blow against
all claims that prayer works.
A
0ung mother in India prays to Vishnu, a
Hindu god revered for his mercy. She begs
or the life of the dying infant in her arms.
The 10-month-old girl suffers from dysentery and
can no longer cry in her weakened state. Like the
god who does not answer the mother's prayers, the
baby is silent. Eventually she dies.
A Muslim mother in Bangladesh faces a simi-
lar crisis. Her four-year-old son is severely mal-
nourished and near death. In a panic, the mother
prays to Allah for help. She screams for the god
to take away the boy's pain and let him live, if
only for another day, another hour. Nevertheless,
he dies.
A mother in Chad stares into the dull eyes of a
young daughter who is losing her fight against ma-
laria. The mother is afraid to blink. She fears the
child will die if she breaks eye contact for even a
fraction of a second. The mother is a Christian and
prays to Jesus. She pleads for a miracle as death
creeps closer. Finally, the crying mother offers Je-
sus anything in return for the life of her child. Still,
the baby dies.
This is business as usual in the developing
world. Every day of the year, thousands of moth-
ers who sincerely believe in a god or gods watch
helplessly as their babies die. Virtually every one
of these deaths occurs despite a torrent of passion-
ate prayers asking gods for life. The prayers are
sent out to a variety of divine beings, in many lan-
guages and from many nations. They are diverse
in both structure and delivery, faithful to the id-
iosyncrasies of numerous belief systems. Every
day and night, countless prayers from Muslims,
AMERICAN ATHEIST - FEBRUARY 2009
Hindus, Christians and other believers fill the skies
on behalf of impoverished babies on the verge of
death. But the babies keep dying by the tens of
thousands. They perish precisely as one would ex-
pect if good nutrition, clean water, medication and
access to doctors are all that matter. They die as if
no gods exist or, at the very least, as if prayer does
not work.
More than 26,000 children under the age of
five die every 24 hours in developing nations, ac-
cording to UNICEF. Most of them are killed by
malnutrition and diseases that are easily prevented
or treated in wealthier societies. This carnage to-
tals more than 9 million children per year, a statis-
tic that more people in the West should be aware
of. Future generations may look back on us and
forgive our rampant tribalism, lust for war, and
destruction of nature, but how will they ever un-
derstand our indifference to 9 million dead babies
year after year?
Being unlucky in birth and sentenced to death
by poverty is bad enough but the manner in which
these millions of children die each year is merci-
less as well. They suffer terribly in their final days
and hours, enduring high fevers, severe headaches,
cramps and nausea. Is anything in our world more
unjust than their fate? No matter what the politi-
cians and headlines tell us, this continual massacre
is far worse that wars, terrorism and natural disas-
ters. The only reason these Children die out of view
is because they are powerless and therefore invis-
ible to the rest of the world. Are there any other
victims who make more appropriate candidates
for a god to rescue than these babies? One would
think prayers for them would be a high priority for
a god to respond to rapidly and favorably. Even
if a god's answer is no to the mothers' prayers
and for some mysterious reason 9 million babies
must die each year, how can we explain why that
god refuses to ease the children's suffering before
they die?
The nearly 10 million children under the age
offive who die in extreme poverty each year have
more in common than lack of money. They also
live out their brief lives inside the most religious
societies on Earth. Based on the levels of belief in
their nations, it is likely that virtually all of them
had mothers who believe in a god or gods. Devel-
oping nations such as Haiti (Christianity), Yemen
(Islam) and Bangladesh (IslamlHindu), for
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and its role in helping to convince people that gods
exist, prayer deserves more attention and more
scrutiny. Some nonbelievers ignore prayer as an
unimportant side issue but it's more than that. Con-
vince believers that prayers are not answered and
many of them may begin to consider the possibility
that no gods exist in the first place. Unfortunately,
no scientific study can conclusively disprove prayer
because believers can always challenge the results.
Prayer is too flexible, too elusive, too personal,
too silent, too invisible and too mysterious to ever
achieve total scientific closure. A study that fails to
validate prayer does not disprove prayer as a real
phenomenon .. It can only show that prayer didn't
work in that specific case and believers know this
very well. The loopholes alone make prayer studies
unlikely to change the minds of believers. Maybe
just participating in a prayer study is an insult to the
gods and will ensure that the prayers will fail. Who
determines the proper way to pray? The world's
believers have never been able to agree on who the
real gods are, which sacred writings are valid, or
even how one should dress and eat. It is unlikely
that they will ever agree on how to pray. Some-
one can always say a given study failed to validate
prayer because of one technicality or another. This
does not mean that skeptics should give up, how-
ever.
Praying mothers and their dying babies-ap-
proximately 100 million per decade-provide a
devastating blow against belief in prayer. Atheists
should cite this tragedy forcefully and frequently
because the agony and death of young innocents on
a massive scale makes a compelling case against
the power of prayer. And it is something that many
good-hearted believers are likely to take note of.
Personal stories of answered prayers and canned
comebacks are unlikely to gain much traction be-
fore a mountain of dead infants. The millions of
children who died last year, and the mothers who
prayed for them, deserve a mention every time
someone claims that prayer brought on a miracu-
lous healing of some disease. When believers say
praying brought them more money, a better job
or success in love, atheists need only bring up the
26,000 babies who were not saved by prayer yester-
day and the 26,000 who won't be saved today.
It is not rude or unfair to ask believers why their
gods do not respond to the most urgent and impor-
tant prayers of all. Given the prominence of prayer
AMERICAN ATHEIST' FEBRUARY 2009 '
in so many religions, this is a meaningful challenge
It may promote rational thinking by spurring be
lievers to question even more than prayer. For un
doubtedly some of them will have the honesty an
courage to consider the possibility that the prayers
of so many broken-hearted mothers go unanswered
every day because no gods are there to hear them.
Guy P. Harrison is an award-winning journalist and
the author of 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in
a God, published by Prometheus Books. Contact him
at guyfeedback@gmail.com
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Why Atheists Make the
Best Type of Citizen
ur religious culture, Athe-
ists are not so much on the
outside looking in as caught
in the crossfire. We'd just as
soon be left alone, but the de-
mand from all sides is that we
have a god belief. Because we
don't, the Bible calls us fools,
it is assumed we have no mor-
al compass, and we cannot get
elected to public office.
As for patriotism, An Athe-
istic American is a contradiction
in terms, according to Con-
gressman Louis Rabaut, who in-
troduced the bill putting under
God in the pledge in 1954.
The elder George Bush reit-
erated this on August 27, 1987,
at a Chicago press conference:
...1 don't know that Atheists
should be considered as citi-
zens, he said, nor should they
be considered patriots. This is
one nation under God. All this
simply because we accept that
the natural world is all there is,
having no reason to think other-
WIse.
These accusations have been
piled on us for so long that Athe-
ists rank at the bottom in social
acceptability. But, as the girl
said as she picked up the shovel,
With such a big pile of crap,
there has to be a pony in here
somewhere. There is.
The truth is that Atheists ac-
tually make the best type of citi-
zen and cause the least trouble of
any demographic group.
We go only by what makes
sense and improves life in the
here and now. Our commitment
to secular government has made
us strong supporters of free-
dom of conscience and of every
movement to repeal oppressive
laws. This includes abolition,
women's suffrage, workers'
rights, civil rights, reproduc-
tive rights, gay rights, children's
rights, medical research, and
physician aid in dying. We ap-
By Marie Alena Castle
preciate liberal religionists who
also support these issues. We op-
pose religious authoritarians as
politically and socially harmful.
In the workplace, we are there to
get the job done. We need no ac-
commodations for prayers, holy
days, religious attire or services
we refuse to pro-vide because of
religious beliefs.
In politics, we have no con-
tentious religious beliefs to im-
pose and we don't do religious
wars. In public education, our
interest is in educating students
about the arts and sciences, and
teaching them to think critically,
behave responsibly, and make
the most of their abilities.
Like all humans, Atheists
create myths to express ideas.
J don t
know that
Atheists
should be
considered
as citizens
- George
Bush Sr.
While religious myths offer in-
spiration from the past with sto-
ries of miraculous and heroic
events, Atheist myths look to the
future, often expressed through
science fiction.
Perhaps the most powerful is
the world of Star Trek, created
by Atheist Gene Roddenberry,
where humans have given up
wars, social preju-dices and di-
visive beliefs, and used science
to end hunger and poverty.
That is a myth to inspire us that
has some faint hope of realiza-
tion.
This is the reality humans
face and must deal with: We are
a vulnerable species in a uni-
verse that is basically a huge
debris field 15 billion light years
across, full of violence and de-
struction. We are hunkered down
on a small, unstable rock wob-
bling through that debris field.
The life forms that evolved in
the thin biosphere surrounding
this rock survive by eating each
other. The evolutionary process
that brought us to consciousness
works off of high birth and death
rates with many defective prod-
ucts. There is no greater pre-
scription for misery.
But here we are, with one
life to live and no one to turn
to for help but each other. We
humans have worked might-
ily to overcome nature's short-
comings, with the only god
in sight being us, warts and all.
Despite the difficulties, life re-
mains an exciting challenge, and
we accept it.
Marie Alena Castle is com-
munications director for Athe-
ists For Human Rights (www.
Atheistsforhumanrights.org
based in Minneapolis, Minneso-
ta. For most of her life she has
been involved in one cause or
another, including labor unions,
women s rights, abortion rights,
civil rights, gay rights, etc. She
discovered that all the causes
could be addressed by Atheism,
since the source of all their trou-
bles was religion .
FEBRUARY 2009 - AMERICAN ATHEIST 2
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Secret A uthors From Dangerous C ountries
A sked That Their Iden ities Be W ithheld ...
[This article is courtesy of Humanist International]
Does Science Make Belief in Allah/God Obsolete?
N
cessarily,it does - says a physicist. . .If not,.we
must invent a science- friendly, science-compat-
ible fiction of allah/god. First, try the pantheon
of available fictional creators. Inspect thoroughly. If
none fits the bill, then invent a new one. The allah/god
of your choice must be a stickler for the so-called divine
principles laid down by the priests-the classical inven-
tors of allah/god over the centuries. Science does not
take kindly to the so-called deity who, ignorant people
suppose, if piqued or euphoric, sets aside seismological
or cosmological principles and in wild dreams of many,
can causes the moon to shiver, the earth to split asun-
der, or, as to some stupid people, such a deity may even
cause the universe to suddenly reverse its expansion.
This fictional allah/god must, among other things, be
stoically indifferent to supplications for changing local
meteorological conditions, the task already being natu-
rally performed by the discipline offluid dynamics.
Therefore, religious people, even if they pray ear-
nestly with their buttocks elevated in the air, dance with
great energy around totem poles, shall not cause even
a drop of rain to fall on parched soil. This newly in-
vented, rule-abiding and science respecting allah/god/
bhagwan equally well dispenses with tearful Christians
singing the Book of Job, pious Hindus feverishly recit-
ing the
havan yajna,
or earnest Muslims performing the
special rain prayers
in hot dry deserts as they face
the former abide of idols, the so-called holy Ka'aba.
The fact is that the equations of fluid flow, not
the number of earnest supplicants or quality of their
prayers, determine weather outcomes. This is grossly
irreligious; otherwise, one could imagine joining the
faithful of all religions in a huge simultaneous but vain
global prayer that stupids feel would wipe away the per-
nicious effects of anthropogenic global climate change.
Your chosen allah/god cannot entertain private petitions
AMERICAN ATHEIST - FEBRUARY 2009
for good health and longevity, prevent an air crash, or
send woe upon demand to the enemy. Mindful of mi-
crobiology and physiology, she/he cannot cure leprosy
by dipping the afflicted in rivers or have humans remain
in unscathed condition after being devoured by a huge
fish. Faster-than-light travel is also out of the question,
even for the so-called prophets and special messengers.
Instead, she/he must stay as the fictional and nomi-
nal runner of the world according to the laws and unto
the letter, closely following the flow of Nature. A scien-
tific fictional creator should certainly know an awful lo
of science which the formerly invented medieval allah/
god didn't need. To differentiate between the count-
less universes discovered by superstring theory is a
headache. Fine-tuning chemistry to generate complex
proteins, and then initiating a cascade of mutations that
turn microbe to man, is also no trivial matter.
But bear in mind that there are definite limits to
knowledge, whether by man or by any fictional creator:
the fictional allah/god can supposedly know only the
limited, the knowable. Omniscience and science do
not go well with each other. The difficulty with om-
niscience-even with regard to a particle as humble as
the electron-has been recognized as an issue since the
1920s. Subatomic particles show a vexing, subtle elu-
siveness that defeats even the most sophisticated effort
to measure certain of their properties even when tried
by a fictional allah/god. Unpredictability is intrinsic
to quantum mechanics, the branch of physics which al
particles are empirically seen to show. This discovery
so disturbed Albert Einstein that he rejected quantum
mechanics, pronouncing that the fictional allah/god
could not play dice with the universe. But it turned
out that Einstein's objections were flawed-uncertainty
is deeply fundamental. Thus, any science-abiding fic-
tional deity we invent will be incompletely informed on
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many aspects of nature. Is one being excessively au-
dacious, perhaps impertinent, in setting down terms of
reference for a fictional divine and non-existent entity?
Really Humans have always invented their objects of
worship. Smarter humans go for smarter fictional ver-
sions of allah/god. Anthropomorphic representations-
such as an allah/god with octopus arms-are a bit out
of fashion today but were enormously popular just a
few centuries ago. As well, some people might object
to binding fictional allah/god and the real human to the
same rules of logic, or perhaps even sharing the same
space-time manifold.
But if we drop this essential demand then little shall
remain. Reason and evidence would lose meaning and
be replaced by fiction, tradition, and the delusion of rev-
elation. It would then be wrong for us to have 2 + 2 = 5,
but okay for inventing the fiction of an allah/god. Cen-
turies of human progress would come to naught.
Let's face it: the day of the mythical Sky God is
long gone. In the Age of Science, religion has been
re-invented, and the medieval allah/god of classical
religions has lost repute and territory. Today, people
pay lip service to trusting that rusty allah/god, but they
still swallow medicines when sick. As a case in point,
Muslim-run airlines start a plane journey with prayers
but ask passengers to buckle-up anyway, and most sus-
pect that people who are falsely rumored to rise miracu-
lously from the dead were probably not quite dead to
begin with. These days if you hear a voice telling you
to sacrifice your only son, you would probably report
it to the authorities instead of taking the poor lad up a
mountain, and if you really took your son to an alter for
sacrifice, the state would be sure to put you in a men-
tal asylum, regardless of whether you call yourself the
prophet Abraham or somebody else. As you can well
imagine, the old trust is disappearing.
Nevertheless, there remains the tantalizing fiction of
a divine power somewhere 'out there' who is blamed to
run a mysterious, but scrupulously and rather stupidly, a
miracle-free universe. In this universe, the fictional Al-
lah/God may be dishonestly ascribed to act in ingenious
ways that seem miraculous. Yet these fictional and 'nev-
er-actually-verified-miracles' do violate physical laws
and seem ridiculous. Ordinary and naturally, no super-
natural interventions in the physical world could permit
quantum tunneling through cosmic holes. It would be
perfectly unfair for a scientific mind to invent a fictional
allah/god to explain the nonlinear dynamics to explain
how tiny fluctuations quickly build up to earthshaking
results-the famous 'butterfly effect' to give a rather
dull explanation of the deterministic chaos theory.
Nietzsche and the other philosophers were plain
right-God was never alive, but always dead. Even as
the fiction of divine habitat, the sky, shrinks before the
aggressive encroachment of science, the quantum foam
of space-time may be ascribed to create a little confused
space for the crazy delusion based on the spare univers-
es, offering space both for self-described 'deeply and
spiritually confused believers.' Many eminent prac-
titioners of science have successfully persuaded them-
selves that there is no logical contradiction between
faith and belief, by inventing a science-fiction of Allah/
God, or by clothing a traditional fiction in new termi-
nology of science fiction. Unsure of whether they hap-
pen to exist at all, humans are likely to scour the miser-
able delusion of heavens forever in search of some sort
of meaning.
T h e Founde r's F rie nd s
S o ma ny o f y ou h elp Ame ric an Athe is ts w i th dona t ions
a n d o th e r f in an c ia l s up p or t- and w e w anted to find a w ay
to sa y T ha nk Y ou W e a re p le ased to ann ou nc e th e re -e s-
t a b lis hmen t o f an Ame r ic an A the ist tra ditio n- Th e F ou nd ers'
F rie nd s, b e gu n b y t he M urra y O 'H a ir f am ily .
T hose c ontrib uting $ 50 or more to Ame ric an Ath eists w ill
have the ir names and amounts entered in sub sequent is-
s ue s o f t he Am er ic a n A th e is t. Just fill o ut th e b lu e c ard w ith
t he in fo rm at io n r eq ue st ed , in clu de y ou r g if t, a nd m ail it b a ck
to us in the enc losed env elop e. B e sure to c hec k th e a pp ro -
p ria te b ox a uth oriz in g u s t o t ha nk y ou b y p rin tin g y ou r n ame
a nd c on trib utio n a mo un t in t he ma g az in e. M a ilin g a dd re ss -
e s w ill no t b e mentioned. T his is our w ay of sa ying T HAN K
Y O U to a n e xtra ordina ry g rou p of p eop le -th ose o f y ou w ho
w a nt to d o m ore a nd fin an cia lly s up po rt th e c ritic al w ork o f
Amer ican Athe is ts
Ame r ic an A the is ts t h anks t he fol low ing pe rsons for t h eir
generous cont ribu tio ns t o our cause .
D ic k H o ga n TX - 2 0 0
S h a n e W . R o p e r A Z - 7 5
J ew e l S n o w N Y 3 0 0
C a t C o l t r e ll A Z - 1 0 0
B u rt o n B o ga rd u s C A 5 0 0
C a ro lin e G i lm a n N Y - 5 0
B . L o b i tz S C 1 0 0
E . A . a n d J . S . V a rg a s M A 1 2 5
L e s te r W . B a rn e tt P h D . L A 1 0 0
Z b ig n ie w Z io b ro w s ki T X - 5 0
H o w a r d M . P a lm e r C T 1 0 0
G a ry G a h a g a n P A 1 0 0
N e a l C a ry V A 5 0 0
A th e n a B e rg e r C A 2 5 0
FEBRUARY 2009 - AMERICAN ATHEIST
2
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the
FAITH FU i THEIST
O
ne of the stronger arguments against Atheism
is not made by religious folks at all, but often
times by our friends, the Agnostics; who claim
Atheism requires just as much faith as religion. The ba-
sis of their argument is that the separation of Atheism
and Agnosticism basically comes down to Atheists hav-
ingfaith that there is no god, while Agnos-
tics stand firm on the notion that Atheists
and theists alike are attempting to resolve
the unattainable. To further this argu-
ment, during a religious debate, a Chris-
tian once said to me, Idon't have enough
faith to be an Atheist
This claim comes
from the many religious folks that as-
sert being an Atheist requires
persons to have all knowledge
of the universe in order to
firmly state that
there,
are
no gods. Of course, be-
ing that we all lack
that knowledge,
the claim is made
that Atheists must
have a tremendous
amount of faith - even
more so than theists. With these
postulations coming from both
David Smalley
ends of our debate spectrum, let's
dive into exactly what they mean,
davidsmalley. blogspot. com
and how you can handle this when
presented with the accusation in your own debate.
First of all, as with any good discussion, we must
speak the same language as our opponent and not allow
them to set the definitions ofthe conversation. Do not let
them coax you 'into accepting 'faith' as only a religious
term. The word actually derives from the Latin
fidere,
meaning 'to trust' which is akin to fides, also meaning
'promise, loyal, and assurance.' This is-how we adopted
the phrase 'bona fide' meaning 'real' or 'factual,' and
'fidelity' meaning' loyalty' and 'sincerity.' Webster has
three English definitions for faith; the first being 'an
allegiance to a duty or person, and sincerity of inten-
tions.' This is used when stating a person is 'faithful' to
their spouse. The second version of the word is wholly
dedicated to belief in a god, so we can quickly rule tha
one out for Atheists. The final definition simply state
'complete trust, especially with strong conviction.
Well, they have us there We do trust evidence and sc
ence. It is impossible to say Atheists have no faith at al
in the literal sense.
A preacher once told me,
You would be a grea
Christian if you ever started to believe; we coul
use your level of conviction in our church H
followed by saying I have to say, I respect yo
for having so much determination to stand u
for what you believe in. I responded with Cor
rection - I stand upfor what I don't believe in.
That statement set the tone that w
Atheists do not project a system o
beliefs that require the burden
of proof. It is the duty of th
accuser to prove the exis
tence of their god, and w
only stand up to them when
they assert their beliefs a
fact or common knowledge
without absolute proof. Thi
is where the problem come
in. What may be proof to on
may not be proof to another; so wha
is the meaning of proof?
Imagine for a moment that faith i
measured in a single tube (such as
thermometer) in which the actual flui
represents evidence percentage, and as it rises, people
become closer to a full confirmation (proof). Any re
maining space in the tube is a lack of evidence, als
known as faith. Of course, upon discovering all pos
sible evidence, the tube is full because faith is no longe
needed. I call this
the-Faithometer Theory;
and it con
cludes that a belief in the most far-fetched assumption,
with the least amount of evidence, must have the larges
amount of faith.
In the simplest form of examining this theory, let'
set the scenario that Beth is standing in front of a closed
door. By stating that she believes a dog is behind th
door, she is making that statement on 100% faith, be
cause she has no evidence to support that claim (he
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ithometer is empty). Once she hears a dog barking,
er evidence rises to approximately 50%, because she
st concede that while she's fairly certain the barking
s coming from behind the door, the audio she hears
uld be a recording, or the dog could be in an adjacent
oom. Her statement is then made up of 50% evidence,
nd 50% faith. If she were to open the door and find
dog, her evidence would rise to 100% because she
uld have effectively proven her faith, and confirmed
he existence of the dog. This would be the ultimate
. However, with only partial evidence, and the
ssibilities of fallacies lingering, she must rely on a
reat deal of faith to make the claim that a dog is behind
door.
In a slightly more ambiguous form, you may have
aith that your mother gave birth to you - so you go to
he hospital where you were allegedly born, and check
e records. Sure enough, your mother's name is next
yours, and the documents provide you with a sub-
tantial amount of evidence for your Faithometer. But
that really absolute proof? Should your Faithometer
e at OO%?The documents could have been mistyped
r you could have been unintentionally switched at
th, and given the name of the child that was set to
o home with your mother. Even with this document
evidence, there is a slight chance of error. Therefore,
hile you may wholeheartedly believe _your mother
birth to you, 100% of the evidence has not been
ained; therefore, even though your Faithometer has
substantial amount of evidence, say 98%, you are still
lying on a small percentage of faith - but still, it is
ith.
With a full understanding of both aforementioned
cenarios, do you think it is fair to make the claim that
ou and Beth have just as much faith? When she hears
e dog barking, is that just as much evidence as your
certificate? Of course not - simply because you
sonally deem proof to be only that which satisfies
our particular doubts. Therefore, if you do not have
nough information, or even a problem complicated
ough to form more detailed inquisitions, your doubts
ll be limited, and therefore require less evidence be-
re you consider it proof (this determines the size of
r Faithometer).
We must remember that all seas are at the same lev-
, regardless of depth. On the surface, they appear to be
same - but once you're in the water, the bottom can
ean all the difference in the world Simply because
o people have faith, it does not make them equally
ind to facts. Faith can be both justifiable and unjustifi-
able. We find a great
example with the
deep-sea fisherman
and scientists whom
prior to 2004, had re-
covered the bodies of
giant squid, but had
neither filmed nor
captured one living.
These people had
justifiable faith that
giant squid existed
alsehoods
du~ to the probable
evidence they had
found. It would com-
pletely discount their
records and evidence
to say they had just as
much faith as the be-
lievers of Demeter, the Greek Goddess of Agriculture
Since we Atheists do not have all the answers, some
level of justifiable faith is required, in the literal sense-
just as the scientists looking for the giant squid
trusted
there was one living before it was proven. But pointing
back to the Faithometer Theory, when a greater amount
of knowledge is discovered, a smaller amount of faith
is required. In addition, it is much more far-fetched to
say a magical god exists and is intervening in human
lives on earth, than it is to state no such magic is pos-
sible. In fact, one statement is 'sensible and rational, and
the other is an unjustifiable claim. Perhaps it is fair to
say the theist must have all knowledge of the universe
in order to claim their god is the only god (Most Chris-
tians would probably argue that as fact, but biblically,
Yahweh even mentions 'showing off' for other gods in
the Old Testament). It's reasons like this, that a theist
has the burden of proof with such an outstanding ac-
cusation fueled with unjustifiable faith.
If I were to try to be an Agnostic, and say,
1just
don't know if there is a god, I would feel just as silly as
saying
1
just don't know
if
there is a Tooth Fairy. In
the literal sense of trusting in evidence, I'm okay with
being a faithful Atheist, but my faith is justified, and
nothing like the unjustifiable faith required by believ-
ing in magic The strongest faith often lies in the false-
hoods of others - otherwise known as the lack of evi-
dence held by our opponent. The Atheist has not made a
single claim to require faith, accept that all supernatural
claims are without proof. If an Atheist has faith in any-
thing, it's that theists accept fallacies as evidence.
The
strongest
faith often
lies in the
of others
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Faithometer is empty). Once she hears a dog barking,
her evidence rises to approximately 50%, because she
must concede that while she's fairly certain the barking
is coming from behind the door, the audio she hears
could be a recording, or the dog could be in an adjacent
room. Her statement is then made up of 50% evidence,
and 50% faith. If she were to open the door and find
a dog, her evidence would rise to 100% because she
would have effectively proven her faith, and confirmed
the existence of the dog. This would be the ultimate
proof. However, with only partial evidence, and the
possibilities of fallacies lingering, she must rely on a
great deal of faith to make the claim that a dog is behind
the door.
In a slightly more ambiguous form, you may have
faith that your mother gave birth to you - so you go to
the hospital where you were allegedly born, and check
the records. Sure enough, your mother's name is next
to yours, and the documents provide you with a sub-
stantial amount of evidence for your Faithometer. But
is that really absolute proof? Should your Faithometer
be at 100%? The documents could have been mistyped
or you could have been unintentionally switched at
irth, and given the name of the child that was set to
go home with your mother. Even with this document
as evidence, there is a slight chance of error. Therefore,
hile you may wholeheartedly believe _your mother
ave birth to you, 100% of the evidence has not been
btained; therefore, even though your Faithometer has
substantial amount of evidence, say 98%, you are still
elying on a small percentage of faith - but still, it is
aith.
With a full understanding of both aforementioned
scenarios, do you think it is fair to make the claim that
ou and Beth have just as much faith? When she hears
he dog barking, is that just as much evidence as your
th certificate? Of course not - simply because you
ersonally deem proof to be only that which satisfies
our particular doubts. Therefore, if you do not have
nough information, or even a problem complicated
nough to form more detailed inquisitions, your doubts
ill be limited, and therefore require less evidence be-
ore you consider it proof (this determines the size of
r Faithometer).
We must remember that all seas are at the same lev-
, regardless of depth. On the surface, they appear to be
same - but once you're in the water, the bottom can
ean all the difference in the world Simply because
wo people have faith, it does not make them equally
ind to facts. Faith can be both justifiable and unjustifi-
able. We find a great
example with the
deep-sea fisherman
and scientists whom
prior to 2004, had re-
covered the bodies of
giant squid, but had
neither filmed nor
captured one living.
These people had
justifiable faith that
giant squid existed
due to the probable
evidence they had
found. It would com-
pletely discount their
records and evidence
to say they had just as
much faith as the be-
lievers of Demeter, the Greek Goddess of Agriculture
Since we Atheists do not have all the answers, some
level of justifiable faith
is
required, in the literal sense-
just as the scientists looking for the giant squid
trusted
there was one living before it was proven. But pointing
back to the Faithometer Theory, when a greater amount
of knowledge is discovered, a smaller amount of faith
is required. In addition, it is much more far-fetched to
say a magical god exists and is intervening in human
lives on earth, than it is to state no such magic is pos-
sible. In fact, one statement is sensible and rational, and
the other is an unjustifiable claim. Perhaps it is fair to
say the theist must have all knowledge of the universe
in order to claim their god is the only god (Most Chris-
tians would probably argue that as fact, but biblically,
Yahweh even mentions 'showing off' for other gods in
the Old Testament). It's reasons like this, that a theist
has the burden of proof with such an outstanding
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