American Atheist Magazine Winter 2003-2004
American Atheist Magazine Winter 2003-2004
American Atheist Magazine Winter 2003-2004
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American Atheist
A Journal
of Atheist
Why I am an Infidel
14
Luther Burbank
The genius who developed the
Burbank Plum, the Shasta Daisy, and
800 other varieties of fruits, vegetables,
and flowers comes out of the closet.
The Deja-Viewing
53
Tony Pasquarello
After seeing another good Atheist
suffer the indignity of 'a good Christian
funeral,' Tony reminds us that he
warned us about this back in 1982.
13
Luther Burbank
13
E. Haldeman-Julius
The "Plant Wizard" as described in E.
Haldeman-Julius'Little Blue Book No.
1020.
Winter 2003-2004
A Physicist's Critique of
the Existence of a God
54
Alfred Bahr
A German physicist has a new way to
prove that gods are impossible.
Page 1
American
Atheist
Volume 42 Number
Page 2
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This is to certify that I am in agreement with the aims, purposes, and the definitions given by American Atheists inside the front cover. I consider: myself to be an
A-theist (i.e., non-theist), and I have, therefore, a particular interest in the separation of state and church and the efforts of American Atheists Inc. on behalf of that
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o
o
o
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o
journal,
is available
separately
for
to the
American Atheist.
2003-2004
American Atheist
Editor's Desk
Frank R. Zindler
Parsippany,
New Jersey
2003-2004
Page 3
DISINFORMING
THE FAITHFUL
By Frank R. Zindler
dis.in.for-ma.rion
n. deliberately false
information leaked by a government, as
to confuse another nation's intelligence
operations
-Webster's New World Dictionary of
American English
Third College Edition
hroughout the course of the twentieth century, human knowledge
increased at an astounding, explosive pace. Newtonian physics gave way
to relativity and quantum mechanics.
The very concept of causality itself had
to be rethought
in the face of
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and
Kurt Godel shook the foundations of
mathematics and logic. As Darwin's theory of natural selection found confirmation in the blossoming of the science of
genetics, a veritable flood of fossil discoveries filled in most of the gaps in the
evolutionary history of tetrapods, birds,
whales, humans, and many other types
of organisms. The sequencing of genes
and genomes made it possible to refine
our understanding of the evolutionary
interrelations of microbes as well as
those of the plants and animals of ordinary human experience. Chimpanzees
were found to be 98.5% human. The conclusion that we live in an unplanned,
insentient universe became ineluctable.
Parsippany,
New Jersey
Winter
2003-2004
Page 5
Winter 2003-2004
American Atheist
New Jersey
2003-2004
Evolutionary
theory has great
heuristic value; that is, it makes useful
predictions and leads to discovery. By
contrast, Behe's god is the quintessential 'god of the gaps.' It leads to no discoveries, and as each gap in knowledge
is narrowed, the god shrinks proportionally. As each gap is filled, Behe will have
to go back to the vanguard of discovery
to find a new unanswered question
raised by evolutionary scientists. Then,
for a time, he will be able to proclaim,
"This system is irreducibly complex and
can't be explained in evolutionary
terms." But Behe will probably still be
alive when that problem is solved, and
he will have to recycle his claim with yet
another newly uncovered conundrum.
As a matter of fact, the prestigious
journal Nature has just published a discovery that undermines Behe's contention that cilia and flagella are irreducibly complex entities. It has just
been discovered that the intraflagellar
transport proteins that are needed for
growth and maintenance of flagella in
the single-celled alga Chlamydomonas,
are also needed for normal development
of the brain and spinal chord in mice.*
While these particular proteins are
essential for the functioning of cilia and
flagella, they don't need these motor
structures to be biologically employed. It
can be expected that other flagellar components soon will be found to have a
variety of other functions as well. Cilia
and flagella will be seen to be jerry-built
organelles resulting from the same sort
of evolutionary tinkering that is seen
everywhere as the hallmark of the blind,
undesigning process of natural selection.
One of the theoreticians behind
Behe is William A. Dembski, whose
Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between
Science & Theology is on sale for just
$11.99. With great affectation of erudition, Dembski claims that there are scientific ways to detect design in objects
and systems. Well, so did Archdeacon
Paley at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, when he first used the nowcliched example of watches pointing to
the existence of watchmakers.
The
Blind
Watchmaker,
by
Richard
Dawkins, quite thoroughly has laid this
question to rest. Another ID title available is Designer Universe: Intelligent
Prophecy
When Ronald Reagan was yet governor of California, he expressed his
belief in the Book of Revelation publicly,
indicating that he believed he was living
in the 'end times' foretold in that apocalyptic book. When he became president,
I lived in constant fear that he might at
any minute decide that it was necessary
to catalyze the advent of Armageddon. If
God wants the world to end in our time
how could any God-fearing president act
contrary to the divine will? Would that
red telephone be in his office if the Good
ture of Bible prophecy with this astonishing visual guide! Features stimulating text; over 50 dynamic color charts;
timelines to clarify end-times chronology; and a 6-panel foldout panoramic
view of God's plan for the ages. The
result of decades of research and study
by two prophecy experts." Also available
are LaHaye's Are We Living in the End
Times?; The Complete Bible Prophecy
Chart; The Merciful God of Prophecy;
The Rapture:
Who Will Face the
Tribulation?; and Understanding Bible
Prophecy for Yourself Keys to Unlocking
the End Times.
Once again, rationalists may laugh
at the whole concept of prophecy, with
its fundamental
assumption
that
Yahweh or Jesus wasn't really speaking
to the people the Bible says he was
addressing but rather was talking to
people who would live thousands of
years later in lands yet unimagined. It is
no laughing matter, however, to consider
the danger inherent in a world whose
leaders and lobbyists not only actually
believe such nonsense but think, moreover, that the future is not going to be
the logical result of actions we have
taken in the past and present, but
Page 9
your
Winter 2003-2004
Page 11
Present day:
1543 A.D.:
Winter 20032004
American Atheist
Luther
Burbank:
Infidel
Genius
Introduction
by Frank R. Zindler
rowing up on my grandfather's
small farm in Michigan, I
learned early-on that some ofthe
most beautiful flowers and the most
delicious and productive varieties of
fruits and vegetables had been 'produced' by a man named Burbank. After I
learned how to read real books, not just
the primers and readers taught in the
two-room school I attended, one of the
first books of any kind I was to read all
the way through was a children's biography of the "Plant Wizard" Luther
Burbank. The book gave no hint that the
man who had been named after the
founder of my family's religion held heterodox views in the sphere of faith.
There was not a word or phrase that
would have suggested that Luther not
only wasn't a Lutheran, he wasn't even
a Christian or believer of any kind at all.
Luther Burbank (1849-1926) became
my first hero, and I read his biography
at least twice. I resolved to follow in his
Parsippany, New Jersey
Luther
Burbank
(Apparently written by
Haldeman-Julius)
[Pages 3-4 of E. Haldeman-Julius'
Blue Book No. 1020]
Little
WhyIAm
An Infidel
by
Luther Burbank
[Pages 5-9 ofE. Haldeman-Julius'
Little Blue Book No. 1020]
C! cience
oclassified
Page 14
c:::Jc::::::l
(
(I
Winter 2003-2004
Page 15
Burbank
Answers
Some Questions
Excerpted from Fifty Years of Freethought: Story of The Truth Seeker
From1875, Vol. II, by George E. Macdonald (New York: The Truth Seeker
Company,
Miss
Brunzell
printed
the
answers of Burbank on a separate
sheet and inclosed them with future
copies of the Questionnaire,
in the
trust they would encourage to frankness some of our scientific men who
Winter 2003-2004
Page 17
Like kernels of popcorn, livid defenders of the faith, scorched by the heat of
what a great man sees as Truth,
jumped high into the air, and with
quavering voices went into convulsions. Sententious champions of the
gospel squared off to engage Burbank
in Quixotic jousting, and fanatics ran
amuck with anonymous threats of
every dire punishment known either
to God or the evil eye. One writer,
addressing his protest to the newspaper that
had
first
interviewed
Burbank on the subject, consigned the
plant wizard to no less a tropical climate than hell itself, where it was
promised he would meet Conan Doyle
and Sir Oliver Lodge.
2003-2004
Webster's
New
International
Dictionary that an infidel is:
1.In respect to a given religion, one
who is an unbeliever; a disbeliever;
especially a non-Christian or one
opposing the truth or authoritative-
theory of his old friend, Henry Ford, that we return to earth after death
i1
to live again in some other form - perhaps a maple tree or a fox terrier.
Burbank had that day been quoted in a brief dispatch as disputing the
Parsippany,
New Jersey
Winter
2003-2004
Page 19
, ' ... as a scientist I cannot help feeling that all religions are on a tottering foundation. None is perfect or
inspired. As for their prophets, there are as manS'
todast as ever before, onlS'now science refuses to let
them overstep the bounds of common sense."
III
So it becomes necessary for me
(since I have talked with Burbank
many times on many subjects) to tell
more about him as a man and as a
Winter 2003-2004
New Jersey
2003-2004
of them in a single day, with the temperature steadily mounting. In all this
febrile rush of things, however, the
scientist was not too busy to write a
reassuring letter to his newspaper
friend, who in the midst of the furore
had sent him a solicitous
note
expressing hope that his story and its
reaction would not forever deprive
Burbank of a zest for living.
"To be sure," the scientist wrote, "I
have had my hands full the last few
days, as I am receiving some five hundred or more letters a day, but the
publication of our interview made my
life happy, not miserable."
And then, doubtless with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, he
returned with sardonic glee to the
word around which the whole controversy has ranged, subjoining, "Faithfully yours, Luther Burbank."
IV
In the meantime, the orthodox
clergy of California joined with that of
other sections in soundly berating
Burbank for being so courageous as to
voice his views.
Said the Rev. Fred A. Keast of the
First Methodist Episcopal Church in
Santa Rosa, where Burbank
had
attended services sporadically: "Mr.
Burbank, in a time when the youth of
the land are jazz crazed and breaking
away In large numbers from religious
teachings, has voiced foolish utterances." And he went on, according to
press dispatches, to score Burbank as
an uneducated man.
Whereat
the
latter
replied:
"Although I went to college as a youth,
I never considered it necessary to
steep oneself in academic learning, in
order to learn how to think. I welcome
a fair and square, open and aboveboard fight on any subject, including
this, but I despise a man who sneaks
around under a cloak or cover of any
society or clique to strike his blows."
Said the Rev. E. E. Ingram, pastor
of the First Presbyterian Church at
Santa Rosa: "If words can be made to
mean anything that one wants them
to mean, we are bordering on linguistic anarchy. I regard Mr. Burbank's
statement as most unfortunate and
not worthy either of Mr. Burbank's
head or heart. Mr. Burbank does not
Page 21
lowers.
1893 Burbank
Catalog
Burbank merelS' smiled, pointing his finger suggestivelS' toward the dietional'S', and replied: "I
said 1 am an infidel in the true sense of that word.
Look it up, if S'oudon't believe it."
according to the rules laid down by
others, are considered unfaithful to
the established order. In that respect
I, too, differ with the established order
and established designations."
Nor did Burbank stand alone in
his fearless tearing away of old veils.
Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, president
of Stanford University, had this to
say: "The great accomplishment of science has been to place much of superstition in the discard. Science deals
with ascertainable facts. Religiongoes
farther than science in that it deals
with personality and persons. The
great difficulties that science has had
with religion have come largely from
the fact that there has always been a
strongly dogmatic quality in organized religion. A race grows with accumulated experience, just as does a
child, and with a racial growth there
come new conceptions of religion.
There is evolution in religion and religious thought that is as evident as the
evolutionary processes in other phases of the world."
Of the western ministers, only
one, Rabbi Jacob Nieto, spoke up in
partial defense of Burbank's views.
"While not going so far as to say that
religion today is on a tottering foundation," he told interviewers, "I do
believe that it is in a state of transition and that Tom Paine's 'age of reason' is dawning upon the world. If Mr.
Burbank meant that he is an agnostic
rather than an infidel I can understand his position, for neither do I
believe everything that is told me. It is
true that the Bible has been edited
and re-edited many times, in each
case to suit the spirit of its particular
age and occasion, but I would not say
that Christ's words have been garbled.
As to immortality, let us remember
the verse in Ecclesiastes: 'Then shall
the dust return to the earth as it was
and the spirit shall return unto God
who gave it'."
Winter 2003-2004
v
The battle of the dictionary, and,
for that matter, the eternal battle of
the ages - almost as old as the battle
of the sexes - continued to ebb and
flow.
Burbank, rising as ever at six
o'clock and putting in a hard day's
work in his experimental gardens fifty
miles from San Francisco, lent a not
too attentive ear to the conflict, going
on serenely about his labors, his conscience clear, his mind keenly alert,
but willing to wait for Death itself to
show whether there is anything
beyond. Burbank knew that the reason of weak men staggers before the
thought of immortality, and that
through appetite for it "imagination
foldsher weary pinions."
As for himself, let the curtains
draw aside when they might. He knew
he would continue to believe that
Christ was but a man, and that when
we quit this life we lie down to rise no
more.
Nor had he any apologies to make
for his heresy. If anyone asked him,
there were always the words of
Carlyle:
Pin thy faith to no man's sleeve.
Hast thou not two eyes of thy
own?
American Atheist
Joseph Mceabe
[Pages 25-32 of E. Haldeman-Julius'
Little Blue Book No. 1020]
New Jersey
it
enshrined
him
in
my
States.
"Yes, another big element in the movement," he
occasions when he does
assents. "And to think of this
speak in public, he speaks
great country in danger of
out in a way that goes far to
being dominated by people
redeem
the
credit
of
ignorant enough to take a few
American science. "Here," he
ancient Babylonian legends
said to me, "you have the
as the canons of modern culsentiments
I lately
exture. Our scientific men are
pressed in the pulpit of a
paying for their failure to
chapel at Santa Rosa."
speak out earlier. There is no
It was just the same outuse now talking evolution to
spoken denunciation of thethese people. Their ears are
ology. "No avenging Jewish
stuffed with Genesis."
God, no Satanic devil, no
I almost felt at times as
fiery hell, is of any interest
though I were talking to
to me," he said. Jesus? He
Darwin, and I expected some
...children are, he said, "the
liked the literary figure, but
deprecation of my vigor and
greatest sufferers from outgrown
"the clear light of science
lack of diplomacy, such as
Darwin used gently to adminteaches us that we must be
theologies. "
ister to Haeckel. Not a bit. I
our own saviors." God? "The
patible with religion. They retort at
took courage and remarked
that
God within us is the only available
once, 'Certainly not with our reliGod we know." We must come out
Fundamentalism
must be fought
gion.'"
from "behind theological barbed-wire
"with both fists."
Burbank uses the word religion,
fences," into "the great ocean of scien"Of course it must," he said, "and
but it is never misleading. It is, he
tific truth." "Science, unlike theology,
our scientific men must be criticized
says, "Justice, love, truth, peace, and
boldly. They will not feel comfortable
never leads to insanity." The word
harmony,
a serene unity with science
when you and I are through with
"ceremony," he pungently said, "is
and the laws ofthe universe." It is idethem."
derived from cerements" or "grave
alism, and there is not the slightest
clothes." Very topical, in a chapel.
He spoke with envy of the
countenance of any sort of theology in
Religion is a matter of feeling, and
Rationalist Press of England and its
Burbank's use of the word.
honorable company of distinguished
"feelings are all right if one does not
I remind him that Dr. David Starr
men of science and letters. I told him
get drunk on them." "Obsolete misJordan is popularly supposed to have
that I am to do a bigger work in
leading theologies," he said, "bear the
hinted that his friend went too far.
America than I have ever done in
same relation to the essence of true
"Not in the least," he says disdainEngland. "Mr. Haldeman-Julius,"
I
religion that scarlet fever, mumps,
fully. "Jordan is one of my best
began ...
and measles do to education." But
friends, and thinks as I do."
"Doing splendid work," he said.
what will become of the children? If
And, in fact, though the language
"Can we have some of these Little
there was one thing Burbank was
is a little more diplomatic, Jordan's
Blue Books to help in the work?"
zealous about it was the training of
pronouncement
is, substantially,
He lighted up with enthusiasm
children, and children are, he said,
Agnosticism. Mr. Burbank did not
when I described the plan which Mr.
"the greatest sufferers from outgrown
believe in knocking a man down when
Haldeman-Julius and I have hatched
theologies. "
it is not good for him to stand up. He
- fifty Little Blue Books covering the
No, there is not much to add to
provided a chair. Dr. David Starr
entire ground of religious controversy
that. Luther II threw his ink-pot at
Jordan
is inclined to provide a feather
and inquiry, systematically and courthe devil - the parson - with a vigor
bed. There are physicians who think a
teously, but firmly and inexorably.
that surprises when one recalls the
wooden chair the most healthful seat.
"That will be magnificent help," he
fleshy physique of the first Luther,
Anyhow,
there is no Millikanism or
said. "And let us have some of the Big
and contrasts it with the gentleness
Osbornism about either of these two
Blue Books too."
and silver hair of the second. But he is
fine American gentlemen.
as disgusted as I at the "timidity" of
Haldeman-dulius
"Bryan - a great friend of mine,
his brother scientists in America. I
by the way - had a Neanderthal type
explain, almost apologetically, that I
I explained that some of the latter
of head," Burbank says. "As to Riley,
have
entitled
an
article
"The
are already in circulation and more of
he has not even the oratorical skill of
Cowardice of American Scientists."
a Rationalist nature will come. The
Bryan. The whole movement is based
"Quite right," he says. "And it is
old man was visibly delighted. Almost
on the poor whites of the south."
not only cowardice, but wrong tactics.
alone in his scientific world he outspoI remind him of the ten million
What
is the
use
of assuring
kenly disdained
creeds and cerereligious colored people of the United
Fundamentalists that science is commonies. Undermining ancient dogmas
Dictionary
of
Modern
Rationalists, but, on the rare
Page 24
Winter 20032004
American Atheist
Haldeman-Julius
said. This after 1900 years experimental verification of his efficacy! And in
the heart of California, where Luther
Burbank showed that the only way
and truth and life is science. All honor
to him that he did not leave it to such
obtuse minds to "draw their own conclusions," as so many do. "Science is
the only savior," he said to people. He
said it in church one memorable day.
"I very rarely speak in public,
and, curiously, my two addresses are
in churches," he said, eyeing me, I
thought, apprehensively.
"I know no better place to say
such things," I retorted, and I thought
sadly of the very different things
which American men of science had
recently, been saying in the churches
of Kansas City during the convention
of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
"Sorry about the delay, but we're having a problem sorting out species and subspecies."
Winter 2003-2004
Page 25
Burbank
died ..
His death was not only a bereavement to his family and friends, but the
entire country, aye, the whole civilized
world mourned his passing.
The world mourned because a
man had died who had brought happiness to the human race; had added to
the sum total of knowledge, and had
made the world better for his having
lived.
Luther Burbank was a rare spirit,
a tender soul. He was a noble son of
the earth and his death was an
irreparable loss to mankind.
We honor Luther Burbank today
not only for his independence
of
thought, although that alone would
entitle him to our homage, but also
because of his achievements as a scientist and his accomplishments in the
realm of Nature.
Stone and marble do not seem to
be fit attributes
for this lover of
Nature and so we plant a tree to his
memory. It symbolizes more appropriately his life and work.
Flowers and plants and trees
were his intimates and formed part of
his family.
Page 26
2003-2004
New Jersey
Winter
20032004
Page 27
Electricity;
she is not the Great
Pattern any more than she is the
Blind Chance."
A great artist was once asked by a
lady admirer what he mixed his
paints with to get such marvelous
results,
and he answered: "With
brains, madam." Burbank's brain bore
the same relation to flowers as did the
artist's to his paints.
With an almost uncanny touch
the artist can, with a daub of paint,
change the perspective of his picture;
and so sensitive was Burbank to the
pulse of the flower, that he could, with
the slightest touch, make it perform
wonders for him.
In his own words he defines this
unusual characteristic. "It was with
this instinct for selection that I was
gifted. It was born in me, and I educated and gave it experience, and have
always kept myself attuned to it. I
have particularly sensitive nerves that accounts partly for my unusual
success in selecting, as between two
apparently identical plants and flowers or trees and fruits. I have always
been sensitive to odors, so that I could
detect them, pleasant or disagreeable,
when they were so slight that no one
about me was conscious of them."
Burbank never grew old in mind
or body. He was as ready to accept a
new truth as to discard a wrong
. impression.
This attitude of mind is the first
requisite of knowledge. It is the first
principle of an alert intellect.
And these words of Burbank
should become an axiom in our language:
"Intolerance
is a closed mind.
Bigotry is an exaltation of authorities.
Narrowness is ignorance unwilling to
be taught."
That he did not consider the Bible
a divine revelation can be attested by
these words of advice:
"Let us read the Bible without the
ill-fitting colored spectacles of theology, just as we read other books,
using our own judgment and reason,
listening to the voice within, not to the
noisy babel without. Most of us possess discriminating reasoning powers.
Can we use them or must we be fed by
others like babes?"
No dogmatism hampered Burbank. No theology prevented him from
Winter
2003-2004
Winter 2003-2004
Page 29
Atheism and
Natheism
Part II
By Tony Pasquarello
In an earlier paper, I coined
the term 'natheism' to stand
for a relatively new version of
Atheism which defines 'atheism' as "lack of belief in God."
Natheism retains the term
'atheism' but redefines it. I
then argued that natheism is
mistaken; the standard conception and dictionary definition - "denial of the existence
of God" - is indeed, correct.
For these papers, I have chosen not to provide direct attribution or identify the source
of specific remarks. The positions are there, and fairly represented; those who take them
will recognize their handiwork. All are taken from
items in the Bibliography. I
A
frequent
contributor
to
American Atheist,
Tony Pasquarello is perhaps best known
for his hilarious quasi-autobiographical
book The Altar Boy
Chronicles, published in 1999 and
still available on the American
Atheist
Web-site
-cwww.atheists.org. Tony is a retired philosophy
professor
(Ohio
State
University) who continues a lifelong career as a professional
pianist.
Page 30
New Jersey
Winter
2003-2004
3. Those
distinguished
thinkers
who, deliberately
or unwittingly,
retain 'believe in' in their formal
xaminaticns ofthese concepts, all the
way to their last formulations, are
just perpetuating
muddiness
and
murkiness, bad weather for reasoning. The flawed believe-in locution is
endemic in the writing - and thinking
- of Natheists; it might even be fingered as the "enabler." Here are direct
quotes from leading proponents of
natheism:
"All atheism requires is the
lack of belief in God."
"An atheist does not believe in
the existence of a God."
"Atheists ... lack belief in a
god."
"'Atheist'
means
'without
belief in God'."
Yes, these would be considered
ordinary, commonly employed expressions, but they're hardly appropriate
if one claims to be doing serious, philosophical explication. In that context,
they must be adjudged as circuitous,
bloated, evasive attempts at hinting
(wink, wink), that God doesn't exist,
without saying it directly.
4. I've often wondered why Atheists
don't make greater use of the wonderfully apt, ready-made, 'Santa' analogy,
when discussing
God's existence.
Using any of the myriad gods from
humanity's mythic past would also
serve, but not as well. Santa is a current, vivid, and dynamic figure with
tens of millions of devout followers.
And, they're all small children, i.e.
intellectually immature. If an adult,
native-born American were to state
his position on Santa, using similar
expressions - natheispeak
- we
would conclude that his sleigh wasn't
hitting on all reindeers. "I'm just without belief in Santa"; "I lack a belief in
the existence of Santa." Statements
like these would make us cringe, if not
scream. Why doesn't he speak plainly?
Why doesn't he say simply that Santa
isn't real?
As we acquire the terms of a language, we acquire concepts. As we
acquire facility in using a term, we
acquire the cluster of related concepts
that comprise that linguistic family.
We acquire beliefs, ideas, opinions,
judgments, etc. It is, therefore, logically
Page 31
2003-2004
Pro - Non-Existence
I think an analogy can be drawn
that illuminates both my comments
about political correctness and about
a logical presupposition; an analogy
between Natheism and the liberal faction in the abortion controversy. It
was nothing less than a stroke of
genius to adopt the slogan "prochoice" instead of "pro-abortion." Who
can be against freedom of choice?
That would be un-American. And who
wants to hear the distasteful term
"abortion," with all its yucky, biologi-
cal connotations?
Yes, "pro-choice"
was a masterful public-relations gambit.
Yet, we should be aware of the
logic of the situation: the claim that
one ought to be able to perform cer
tain actions without legal repercussions or sanctions presupposes
the
belief that the action is morally permissible, i.e., not wrong. That could be
the reason why we find no pro-choice
advocates for bank robbing or child
molesting. Those calling for the legalization of prostitution or marijuana
should adopt this strategy and just
refer to themselves as "pro-choice."
So, being pro-choice presupposes, and
therefore implies, being pro-abortion.
'Pro-abortion' obviously does not mean
that abortion is a wonderful thing and
everyone should have one; its meaning would parallel the sense in which
we are
all
'pro-appendectomy'.
However, the use of 'pro-choice' was a
triumph of political correctness and
strategic savvy.
Here's the analogy: in all cases of
any interest to our inquiry, being
'without
belief in God' describes
Agnosticism, or presupposes Atheism.
And if the usual description of God as
all-powerful and all-knowing, as well
as all-rewarding and all-punishing, is
at all accurate, the only way to be
---
1--..::---_
Page 34
Winter 2003-2004
Bibliography
I am listing some key items in this controversy - both pro and con - with which I
am familiar. All are by freethinkers. Some
are eminently sensible; some few level justified critiques at Atheism. I agree with a good
deal of what is said. However, some have
raised my hackles to Viagral levels; some
appear to be sound-bites written for Pat
Robertson; some are more critical of Atheism
than the Pope is!
Cooke, Bill, "Atheist in a Bunker," Free
Inquiry, Spring 2003, Vol. 23, No.2.
Dawkins, Richard, "A Challenge to Atheists,"
Free Inquiry, Summer 2002, Vol. 22, No.3.
Eller, David, "Atheism:
Positive
and
Negative," American Atheist, Autumn
2003.
Estling, Ralph, "Another Skeptical Inquiry,"
Skeptical Inquirer, Sept./Oct. 200l.
Flynn, Tom, "ASecular Humanist Definition:
Setting The Record Straight,"
Free
Inquiry, Fall 2002, Vol. 22, No.4.
Frazier, Kendrick, "Science and Religion
2001: Introductory Thoughts," Skeptical
Inquirer, Sept./Oct. 200l.
Kagin, Edwin, "Speech," American Atheist,
Winter 2002-2003.
Kurtz, Paul, "First Things First: Toward a
Minimal
Definition
of Humanism,"
PHILO, Vol. 1, No.1, Spring-Summer
1998.
Kurtz, Paul, "Secular Humanism: A New
Approach," Free Inquiry, Fall 2002, Vol.
22, No.4.
Murray, Jon and Murray O'Hair, Madalyn,
All the Questions You Ever Wanted to Ask
American
Atheists,
American
Atheist
Press, 1983.
Pigliucci, Massimo, "Methodological vs.
Philosophical Naturalism," Free Inquiry,
Winter 2002/03, Vol. 23, No. l.
Shermer, Michael, "Do You Believe in God?"
Skeptic, Vol. 6, No.2, 1998.
Smith, George H., Atheism: The Case Against
God, Prometheus Books, 1989
Zindler, Frank R., "Atheism: Its Logical and
Philosophical Foundations,"
American
Atheist, Summer 2000.
American Atheist
-Shipley.
2. Godlessness.
(Webster's
Revised
Dictionary, 1996)
Unabridged
Winter 20032004
American Atheist
AGNOSTICISM:
THE BASIS FOR ATHEISM,
NOT AN ALTERNATIVE TO IT
By David Eller
Ai
Page 37
reality. Third and perhaps most importantly, experiences are subject to interpretation and the vagaries of memory.
An individual who has a 'spiritual experience' (whatever that is; see my earlier
article on spirituality) (4) might interpret it as the Christian God in one time
or culture, as nirvana in another, as a
'good trip' in another, and as a hallucination in yet another. In other words,
even if the experience is real, the object
or referent of the experience is questionable and ultimately not known. But
if this is the case, then personal experience cannot be a source of religious
knowledge either. Predictably,
the
appeal to personal experience is another well-known logical fallacy.
This is at least partly because it
faces the second problem with religious
knowledge - that it does not conform to
the rules of evidence and logic. Even if
we might, for argument's sake, accept a
personal religious experience or an
authority's testimony as evidence for
the existence of some god, this evidence
still fails to satisfy the conditions of falsifiability, comprehensiveness, honesty,
replicability, and sufficiency on which
sound
knowledge
depends.
For
instance, why do we accept that authority rather than some other? Why do we
accept this person's experience instead
of that person's? Also, there is no way
we can test them, either for accuracy or
for actuality; we cannot verify that you
had any experience at all, let alone the
one you claim. This is, of course, the
main charm of personal experience for
Theists, since it is unimpeachable by
science or reason. However, no one not even a Theist - lives his whole life
this way, taking for granted and acting
on somebody else's subjective claims; if
someone said, "I had a vision that
chocolate bars cure cancer," or even,
"My alternative healer said that chocolate bars cure cancer," you would be a
fool to stop your medical treatment and
go on a regimen of candy. Precisely
because
personal
experience
and
ancient authority are so unapproachable for purposes of testing and falsifiability, they are untrustworthy as evidence. Agnosticism - that is, reason
rejects them.
You Don't Know - But
Do You Believe?
We may safely conclude, then,
that there is no 'religious knowledge'
American Atheist
and composition
of reality. Metaphysics is distinct from, although significantly related to, epistemology, so
the Theism/Atheism schism is distinct
from, although significantly related to,
Agnosticism.
However - and this is
the theme of the entire present article
- they are not related in the sense that
most people think.
Name your god. He/she/it either
exists or not. Call it a metaphysical
question if you like. In the final analysis it is an empirical question: the fact
is either the god does or does not exist.
There is no third alternative. We may
not easily be able to know which, but it
is one of the two. How is the empirical
question to be solved? The only possible answer is with the correct method;
here, empirical truth and methodology
meet. In other words, here Atheism
and Agnosticism meet. In other words,
here belief and knowledge meet.
What ultimately is the relation
between the two dimensions - between
Agnosticism and Atheism/ Theism,
between method and fact, between
metaphysics
and
epistemology,
between belief and knowledge? The
answer is clear. If you have no knowledge of a thing, if your methods yield
no knowledge of it - not of its existence, not of its characteristics - then
how could you justifiably ever believe
anything about it? You cannot. If you
do not know, you should not believe.
Your only sensible option is to reject
the knowledge claim and to eschew
any belief on the subject. Your only
sensible option is Atheism.
Therefore, if Agnosticism is the
method
pertaining
to
religious
knowledge, then the only valid conclusion from that method is Atheism.
There is, then, a natural and unavoidable connection between the two concepts. If Agnosticism is the process,
Atheism is the product. I am an Atheist
because I am an Agnostic. I have
reached the conclusion of Atheism
because I have traveled the only road
there is and arrived at the only point to
which that road leads. Of course, not
all people practice Agnosticism - certainly not in their religious lives - and
not all, obviously, recognize their
inevitable state as Agnostics. Those
who do practice it conspicuously must
inevitably concede that there is no
foundation whatsoever for making any
religious claims that have any reality
Page 39
Conclusion
To Believe or Not to Believe,
That Is the Question
There may still be those who call
themselves
"Agnostics" as if that
names their position or frees them
from the necessity of taking a position.
But Agnosticism does not invite you to
suspend judgment; it invites you to
reach judgment in full light of the facts
and the logic and to stand by it. And,
as the old adage goes, if you don't take
a position, then you are taking a position - a position against. If you are not
actively a Theist, you are passively an
Atheist. If you are waiting to believe,
you are not believing now. God, if
he/shelit exists, will not make the distinction.
Page 40
REFERENCES
1 Pasquarello, Tony. "Atheism and
Natheism.' American Atheist, Fall
2003, 19-24.
2 Eller, David. "Atheism, Positive and
Negative." American Atheist, Autumn
2002,42-4.
3 Humphries, Christian, ed. The World
Encyclopedia. NY: Oxford University
Press, 2001, 11.
4 Eller, David. ''Why I am not Spiritual:
Spirituality
as the Alienation of
Humanity." American Atheist, Winter
2003,12-5.
5 Eller, David. "Belief and Knowledge: A
Conceptual
Analysis."
American
Atheist, Summer 2001, 47-9.
American Atheist
*****
"How do we know he has it, Captain
Gramwell?" the nervous young man
hollered over the storm.
"Another of his kind told us all
about it," Gramwell hollered back in the
dimness of their lights. "It's amazing
what those barbarians will say when
you drive a few steel spikes through
their bodies."
Maine
author
David
M.
Fitzpatrick
is a freelance writer
and militant Atheist whose fiction
has appeared in such publications
as Brutarian Quarterly, Night to
Dawn, Amazing Journeys, and
American Atheist. He can be
reached at [email protected].
Parsippany, New Jersey
"I wonder what's taking the skimmer so long," the kid said.
Gramwell smiled. ''Youtired of this,
kid?"
"No, sir," the kid said, but his face
said otherwise.
"Not discouraged from the rain and
the wind?" he asked with a sardonic
grin. Rain smacked his wrinkled face;
wind whipped his soaked hair around.
He was the only one in the group not
wearing any headgear. The rest of them
were bundled up as if ready for an Arctic
trip. "Not tired and hungry and wishing
you were dry?"
"I suppose I am, sir," the kid yelled.
"But I want to see him caught."
"As well you should," Gramwell said
with a chuckle. "And we'll get him, son.
We have to. He carries something we
need. So all of you remember," he said,
raising his voice, "as tempting as it is,
keep this one alive - and don't damage
him. We don't know where it's hidden."
"Sir, the skimmer is on its way,"
came a voice from the liquid darkness,
and Gramwell smiled with satisfaction.
*****
He broke the rise and saw it.
Straight ahead, nearly invisible in the
black torrent, he saw the dark outline:
the forest, several hundred feet away. A
surge of hope exploded in his heart like
a firecracker and he surged drunkenly
forward. If he could break the treeline
before they topped the ridge behind him,
he'd be safe. Without dogs or air support, they'd never track him in there.
His heart was like a woodpecker
trapped inside a tree. His lungs felt like
swelling balloons, full of chilly air and
cold water. If all he got out of this was
pneumonia, he'd be lucky.
His foot suddenly hit an unseen
rock and he went over the way they'd
toppled what was left of the Washington
Monument when he was eight. He hit
Winter 20032004
*****
He was on cold concrete, still wet.
Every joint was stiff. Every muscle
ached. He had a pounding migraine. He
Page 41
"Ah, yes
typical Christian
hypocrisy. The Church has decided God's
will: stealing gets you strapped up for a
while, but not honoring God is punishable by death."
"That's because 'Thou shalt have no
other gods before me' is first on the list.
You broke the primary Commandment."
Clevalis laughed, shaking his head.
"So much for 'judge not, lest ye be
judged.' Anyway, the logic is flawed.
Being an Atheist isn't the same as having another god, you know."
Thomas blinked. "Being a what?"
"An Atheist - you know, godless
types. But I suppose they don't teach
you about that."
"They sure don't, mister."
"So how many times have you been
up on the cross?"
"Is that your business?"
"I'm trying to make it my business."
The kid considered it. "This will be
my fourteenth. But I've never been
spiked. They've all been minor thefts ...
well, I got caught lying once when I was
in school, and I skipped daily service
once a few years back and got caught."
Clevalis gave a low whistle. "You
don't learn, do you?"
"I just have a... theft problem. I
don't get caught often. I have some nifty
tech gear that usually gets me out of
trouble."
"Tech gear is very immoral for citizens to possess," Clevalis said. ''You get
caught with that ... "
"No kidding. The only reason I've
gotten caught at all is because I didn't
want them to see me using my tech
gear." He shrugged, smiling under his
blond mop. "So once in a while things go
wrong and I get tied up for a while."
"So what's your tech gear?" Clevalis
pressed.
Thomas shook his head. "Sorry, I
don't tell anyone that." He shifted
uncomfortably on the floor, changing
which knee was up and leaning the
opposite way. "So why are you locked
up? They usually crucify you guys
immediately. "
"I'm a special Atheist."
Thomas grunted in amusement.
"That's an oxymoron. What's so special
about you?"
"I'm sure you wouldn't care."
"Hey, you wanted to make things
your business. Now it's my turn."
Clevalis nodded with a raised brow.
"Fair enough. I have a cybernetic
implant in my body. The Church wants
it."
Winter 2003-2004
*****
"Captain Gramwell?"
Gramwelliooked up from his paperwork at the face ofthe cop leaning in his
doorway. "Go ahead, officer."
"Bringing the prisoner, as ordered."
Gramwell's face hardened.
"All
right."
The young cop came in, Clevalis in
tow and in handcuffs. Two other cops followed. The office was spacious, the far
wall open glass; the spires and bell towers of countless cathedrals standing tall
in the backdrop of the cloudy sky could
be seen for miles. The walls were
adorned with the decorations Clevalis
expected: Christ on the cross, painting
of the Last Supper, a few assorted
Psalms, portraits of Church leaders.
Bookcases full of Bibles and other religious texts lined every wall.
Clevalis, now in a prison issue black
jumpsuit, took it all in as he was led
before the monstrous mahogany desk.
Gramwell, decked out like the officers in
his dress whites, blue field with a superimposed red cross huge on his chest,
leaned back in his chair and regarded
the prisoner for a few long moments.
"You sad bastard," Gramwell finally
said. "Standing there in your godless
glory, nothing but a filthy animal.
Running free in our good society, corrupting the lives of good Christians ...
running from the acolytes as they chase
you all over God's Creation. Pitiful,
Clevalis - shameful and embarrassing."
"I'm not ashamed or embarrassed,"
Clevalis said quietly.
Gramwell rocketed forward in his
chair, slamming both hands on his desk
with a resounding smack. The whiteclad officers jumped at the sudden
sound. Clevalis didn't flinch.
"I'm ashamed because of you!"
Gramwell snarled, his dark face a mask
of rage. Age lines in his face hardened
into steel grooves. "I'm embarrassed
that you're living in my world. I'm
offended by the very smell of you, you
evil little punk. You and your kind disgust me."
He calmed abruptly, smiling lightly
and clasping his hands before him. "But
that can all be past you. Everything can
change. We give you people a chance the chance you're deserved as a child of
God. Officer, get this man a book."
Parsippany, New Jersey
The first cop scrambled to a bookcase behind him, fished out a volume,
and scurried to the desk. He set it down,
bowed his head briefly with his hands
together before him, then backed off to
his original position.
Clevalis regarded the book, disinterested. It was big, thick, and white,
with black letters emblazoned across the
cover:
THE HOLY BIBLE
THE PERFECT WORD OF
ALMIGHTY GOD
NEW MODERN CHRISTIAN
AUTHORITATIVE
ULTIMATE FINAL VERSION
REVISED
"That is a Bible," Gramwell said. "It
will be your very own Bible when you
leave here. It will be your personal
understanding of God's word and His
will, carried with you everywhere you
go, for consultation whenever you need
it - if you make the right choice. That
~o~\ ~ ~0f~~B~U~~
W\e,~!
Wt'\oDA
~~u~\L- \1'"1
~~
C>
Winter
2003-2004
Page 43
Page 44
*****
"Good thing you have that implant,
or they'd have roughed you up," Thomas
said to him later. "They usually do."
"That's the 'convert or we'll beat you
until you do' technique," Clevalis said
from his comer of the cell. He lay on his
back, one arm over his eyes, and chuckled. ''You seem like a reasonably intelligent guy, Thomas. You mean to say you
can't see how silly that is?"
"I never said it wasn't silly," Thomas
said. "I told you before 1don't agree with
everything the Church says. It's just
that ... 1believe in God and you don't."
"That's not the point. Your religion
supports free will and your Church doesn't."
"I support free will. Heck, I've made
free choices to break more morals and
Commandments than anyone I know,
but that doesn't mean I don't believe."
Clevalis looked from under his arm
at him. "Okay, I'll go out on a limb.
There's no way I'm ever going to accept
your god or your religion, or this fascist
society that requires me to do so.
Knowing that, do you think I should be
allowed to live free or should 1be put to
death?"
"What
you're
really
asking,"
Thomas said slowly, "is whether 1think
anyone, regardless of beliefs, should be
allowed to live in our society without
Church control."
Clevalis smiled. "Like I said, you're
a reasonably intelligent guy."
Thomas returned the smile. ''You're
pretty sharp yourself, for a disbeliever."
Clevalis grunted his way into a sitting position, legs crossed, and leaned
forward with his elbows on his knees.
"So how about it?"
"Well, first off, 1think you're wrong
to disbelieve. 1can't imagine how you're
unable to see the truth."
"I believe as I do because I've used
logic and reason to direct my life,"
Celvalis said. "Now tell me how you
believe what you do."
Thomas shrugged. "I was brought
up that way. I learned from my parents ... from living in our society. It's all
around us ... it's in everything we do."
There was a long silence in the dark
cell. Thomas and Clevalis stared at one
another for the long moments; Thomas'
face blank and searching, Clevalis'
anticipatory. Presently, understanding
washed over Thomas and he smiled
weakly. "I get it. You're saying I believe
Winter 2003-2004
*****
Thomas dreamed he was running,
barefoot, from the acolytic police. They
were chasing him through the streets of
the cathedral-populated city. No matter
where he ran, people crowded on the
sidewalks shouted insults and threw
stones. Some of the faces were people
who were sure of themselves in their
righteousness. Others were far more
doubtful- insulting and stoning because
they knew they were supposed to. In the
crowds were plenty of metallic robots,
too.
"Thief1"they screamed at him.
American Atheist
*****
Thomas woke with a violent shudder and stifled cry. It was dark in the
cell, even darker than usual. At night,
they killed the main lights down the hall
and left just the emergency lighting.
''You okay?" came a soft voice from
the darkness.
It took his muddled brain a moment
to focus. "I'm fine," he said shakily.
"Just ... bad dream."
"What were they doing to you?"
''Who?''
"The Church. 'It's just stealing, they
don't spike for that,' and other stuff.
What did you do to deserve spiking?"
"If you must know, I was charged
with violating the First Commandment ... for listening to you."
Clevalis whistled lightly. ''Well, I
don't think they spike for that in the
real world - yet. "
They lay quietly for a few minutes,
until Thomas' eyes had adjusted to the
darkness. He said, "So what does this
specialist do to you when he arrives in
the morning?"
"He'll use a tech device to scan me.
In five seconds they'll know where it is."
A few silent moments passed before
Thomas said, ''You were right in your
assessment of me. What they're doing to
atheists is wrong. What they do to liars
and thieves is wrong. Just about everything they do is wrong. I want to believe,
I want to keep believing ... but the
Church has twisted everything."
"It's hard to expect anything less
from the followers of a religion filled
with contradictions and illogic."
Thomas sighed, exasperated. "I'm
trying to communicate with you, and
you're crapping on my religion - and
you're not backing your mouth up with
any facts. Give me some examples of
how my religion is contradictory and
illogical."
"I could give you a thousand, but
I'm due to be crucified in a few hours; so
I'll leave you with one good one: if God is
all-powerful and perfect, why does he
need to be worshipped?"
"How is that contradictory or illogical?"
"Because he either needs people to
worship him, in which case he isn't allpowerful; or he wants people, which
makes him vain and thus imperfect. An
all-powerful, perfect God who wants or
needs anything is nothing short of a
totally illogical contradiction."
Winter 2003-2004
Page 45
*****
The next morning, their wrists and
ankles were shackled and secured
together with belly chains, and they
were escorted outside to the prison's crucifixion yard. Decorated with three
dozen crosses, the yard looked like a
field of giant daggers. Already, six
moral-breakers were tied up on crosses,
enduring the taunts of the crowd.
Several dozen citizens were beyond the
fence, letting the sinners hear their
thoughts on the sins. An occasional
stone was lobbed over the fence, but
nothing like Thomas knew it soon would
be - especially with an Atheist being
spiked.
"This is it," Clevalis whispered, nodding toward a group of guards coming
toward them. "Better not look like you're
friendly with me."
Led by Captain Gramwell, the
guards escorted a plainclothes tech over
to them. "This is the one," Gramwell
announced as the tech readied a hand
scanner. "Let's get this over with so I can
Page 46
get on with these crucifixions. You planning on repenting while you're up there,
Clevalis?"
"No," Clevalis said quietly. "And
there's no implant to find. Youwere misinformed."
The tech smiled smugly. "We'll see
about that."
"Don't bother," Thomas interrupted.
"He's gotten rid of the implant."
Everyone looked at him in surprise
- especially Clevalis. Gramwell stepped
up, nose to nose with Thomas. ''You're a
known thief and a liar, Thomas. You'd
better not be lying now."
"I'm not - I swear to God," Thomas
said. ''The implant was in his right
index fingernail. But he chewed off the
end so you wouldn't find it."
''You backstabbing bastard," Clevalis breathed incredulously.
Thomas ignored him as the tech
hurriedly scanned. The guards grabbed
up Clevalis' hand and produced the
proper finger. Clearly, the end ofthe fingernail had been recently chewed off.
The tech looked up, eyes wide. "I'm not
reading any implants in this man's
body."
Gramwell
turned
angrily
to
Clevalis. "Where is it?"
Clevalis gave no reply, and Thomas
said, "He'll never talk, Captain. But I
can tell you where it is. He flushed it
this morning. I'd have told the guard,
but I didn't know he was going to do it.
They returned him after a visit to the
toilet and he told me."
Clevalis
looked
astounded.
Gramwell ordered one of his officers,
"Shut down the sewer systems. Take the
tech down there to scan for it." To
Clevalis, he said, "All this does is delay
our finding the implant. You're still
dying today, you atheist scum."
"What about me?" Thomas interjected. "If it weren't for me, you'd never
know where to look. You might have
scanned him and assumed he never had
the implant at all. I've now made it possible for you to find the Atheists living
among us."
Gramwell sighed and nodded. "All
right. You'll get no pardon, but your punishment is hereby commuted. But don't
expect any 'get out ofjail free cards' from
me in the future."
"I appreciate that, sir," Thomas
said, and extended his hand. Gramwell
regarded it for a moment before taking
it. Thomas pumped it heavily with a
huge smile. "However, I have had the
unpleasant task of being stuck for two
days in a tiny cell with this Atheist
Winter 20032004
*****
By the time Thomas had returned
in his street clothes, all seventeen sinners - besides Clevalis - had been
strung up on crosses. Thomas stood,
silent and stoic, next to the still-chained
Clevalis.
Captain Gramwell was on the loudspeakers, playing to the huge crowd outside the fence. "We have one more for
you today, citizens ... one that will make
your faith in Almighty God ever
stronger!"
The crowd roared its approval.
Clevalis leaned his head toward Thomas
and whispered, ''What the hell are you
doing?"
''You don't believe in hell," Thomas
said with a smile.
"Here we bring you a Godless soul!"
Gramwell hollered, pounding the air
above his head with a fist. "Captured
while trying to destroy your right to
know the truth - an atheist spy!"
They screamed. They cheered. They
waved arms in the air.
"Citizen Thomas," Gramwell said,
"take the prisoner to his cross."
Thomas gripped Clevalis' arm and
strode forward. Clevalis stumbled along
clumsily in all his chains. The crowd,
like some beast with hundreds of voices,
cheered them on as they mounted the
steps.
"I hope there's something I'm missing," Clevalis said.
"You won't miss a thing," Thomas
said.
The punisher, all in white, waited
above. The binding straps were attached
to the cross, but the punisher held a
mallet in one hand and three gleaming,
stainless steel spikes in the other. When
they reached the top, he handed the
tools to Thomas and prepared to bind
Clevalis to the cross. Thomas stopped
him with a raised hand.
''You can spike him," the punisher
said, ''but I'm required to strap him."
"I know," Thomas said. "Just give
American Atheist
SENSE.
Winter 20032004
Page 47
By G. W. Foote
hristmas eve had come and
~
almost gone. It was drawing
nigh midnight, and 1 sat solitarYc
my room, immersed in memory,
~
dreaming of old days and their buried
secrets. The fire, before which I
mused, was burning clear without
flame, and its intense glow, which
alone lighted my apartment, cast a red
tint on the furniture
and walls.
Outside, the streets were muffled deep
with snow, in which no footstep was
audible. All was quiet as death, silent
as the grave, save for the faint murmur of my own breathing. Time and
space seemed annihilated
beyond
those four narrow walls, and 1 was as
a coffined living centre of an else lifeless infinitude.
My reverie was rudely broken by
the staggering step of a fellow lodger,
whose devotion to Bacchus was the
one symptom of reverence in his
nature. He reeled up stair after stair,
and as he passed my door he lurched
against it so violently that I feared he
would come through. But he slowly
recovered himself after some profane
mutterings, reeled up the next flight of
stairs,
and finally deposited
his
well-soaked clay on the bed in his own
room immediately over mine.
After
this
interruption
my
thoughts changed most fancifully. Why
I know not, but I began to brood on the
strange statement of Saint Paul concerning the man who was lifted up into
the seventh heaven, and there beheld
things not lawful to reveal. While pondering this story I was presently
aware of an astonishing change. The
walls of my room slowly expanded,
growing ever thinner and thinner,
until they became the filmiest transparent veil which at last dissolved
utterly away. Then (whether in the
spirit or the flesh I know not) 1 was
hurried along through space, past
Page 48
New Jersey
2003-2004
we were able to hear their conversation. Raphael had just returned from a
visit to the earth, and he was reporting
to Michael a most alarming defection
from the Christian faith. People, he
said, were leaving in shoals, and
unless fresh miracles were worked he
trembled for the prospects of the
dynasty. But what most alarmed him
was the spread of profanity. While in
England he had seen copies of a blasphemous paper which horrified the
elect by ridiculing the Bible in what a
bishop had justly called "a heartless
and cruel way." "But, my dear.
Michael," continued Raphael, "that is
not all, not even the worst. This scurrilous paper, which would be quickly
suppressed if we retained our old
influence, most wickedly caricatures
our supreme Lord and his heavenly
host, and thousands of people enjoy
this awful profanity. I dare say our
turn will soon come, and we shall be
held up to ridicule like the rest."
"Impossible!" cried Michael; "Surely
there is some mistake. What is the
name of this abominable print?" With
a grave look, Raphael replied: "No,
Michael, there is no mistake. The
name of this imp of blasphemy is - I
hesitate to say it - the Free--"*
But at this moment my guide
again hurried me along. We reached
the splendid gate once more, which
slowly opened and let us through.
Again we flow through the billowy
ether, sweeping past system after system with intoxicating speed, until at
last, dazed and almost unconscious, I
regained this earthly shore. Then I
sank into a stupor. When I awoke the
fire had burnt down to the last cinder,
all was dark and cold, and I shivered
as I tried to stretch my half- cramped
limbs. Was it all a dream? Who can
say? Whether in the spirit or the flesh
I know not, said Saint Paul, and I am
compelled to echo his words. Sceptics
may shrug their shoulders, smile, or
laugh, but "there are more things in
heaven and earth than is dreamt of in
their philosophy."
*A reference to the Freethinker, the journal
edited by Foote - for which he underwent
prosecution and conviction on a charge of
blasphemy. Foote spent a year in prison. At
the same time, a religious commission was
appointed to examine the works of Mill,
Darwin, Huxley, and others with the intent of
bringing blasphemy prosecutions against
their publishers. FRZ
Page 49
On Avoiding
That Last Visit
Tony Pasquarello
Page 50
Winter 2003-2004
American Atheist
20032004
While, strictly speaking, nonsense is literally nonsense, it may deeply affect us,
emotively. Whatever the logical failings
of religion - and they are legion - one
must admire its psychological adroitness in grasping this point. After all, ifit
lacked both logical and emotional
appeal, how account for its
enormous success? Religion has managed to identify itself with much that
human beings find good,
important and valuable,
and thereby implied that
to approve the latter is to
accept the former. In the mind of the
typical person - even the non-churchgoer - religion connotes morality, peace,
brotherhood; hospitals, colleges, charities, food programs; camaraderie and
fellowship; celebration and ceremony
and sanctification. The supreme task for
the Atheist-humanist is to break that
connection, to sever the supposed bond
between religion and all those other
desirable values, and to keep insisting
that where religion does right, it does
right for the wrong reasons.
In short, the task is de-theologizing; keep whatever is of value, keep the
emotive significance, the beauty, the ceremony, and discard the fantasy foundation - those theological underpinnings
expressive.
Sna
shotsatjasonlove.com
Really? I was
killed by a man
named Jesus.
Jesus Sanchez.
-r=>.
'
Page 52
Winter 2003-2004
American Atheist
Tony Pasquarello
mathematical-logical puzzles and paradoxes. And I could never forget the theological puzzles and paradoxes. I was frequently impressed by Jerry's ability to
unravel some knotty conundrum, and to
spot the key fallacy involved or see the
key to the solution when I could not.
Naturally, with such intellectual aptitude, Jerry became an outspoken, confirmed Atheist. His frequent letters in
the local paper enlivened and enlightened - small candles in the dreadful
night of the region's religious fanaticism.
Jerry's greatest fear, shared by
many, was a painful, prolonged death,
with uncountable quills of tubing protruding from every natural and artificial
bodily orifice. He had never seen anything "precious" or "wonderful" or
"unique" about human life. Life was,
like death, just a fact of life. So, at 58,
that deplorable, incurable brain sickness did its thing; Jerry took his own
life. Without any terminal affliction,
with a million bucks in the bank, without a penny of indebtedness, and with
the love and devotion of a good woman,
Jerry left. Quickly and neatly, without
pain or company. And the rest of us, so
terrified and confused over death, can
hardly say whether Jerry's act was one
of courage or cowardice, madness or
supreme rationality.
At Jerry's death, his mother and
brother swooped in, took charge, and
decided that the venue for all proceedings would be Jerry's native village, 25
miles away; he hadn't lived there for 40
years. I first became suspicious when I
noted the obituary's mention of a
"Reverend" who would be conducting
the memorial service. I appealed both to
Jerry's mate and to his brother to
Winter 2003-2004
Page 53
A Physicist's Critique of
The Existence of a God
by
Alfred Bahr
Page 54
20032004
Winter 2003-2004
Page 55
Page 56
American Atheist
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