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AMERICAN ATHEIST Wiki Commons
On the cover: The National Prayer Breakfast is one of the most f lagrant demonstrations of government
mingling with religion. This year, Trump promised to repeal the law barring churches from endorsing or
funding candidates for public office. If he succeeds, a significant piece of the wall of separation will be
gone. Story on page 28.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Pamela Whissel
[email protected]
LAYOUT and GRAPHICS EDITOR
Rick Wingrove
In This Issue
[email protected]
COPY EDITOR 4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Karen Rei lly Religion May Save Us After All | Pamela Whissel
PROOFREADERS
Gil Gaudia 5 On Congress, the Pope, and the Separation of Church and State |
Shelley Gaudia Rob Kirkpatrick
Den Jackson
AMERICAN ATHEIST PRESS 8 A Most Righteous Adventure | Natasha Stoynoff
MANAGING EDITOR
Frank R. Zindler
[email protected] 12 DOGMA WATCH
Balderdash on The Mount | Michael B. Paulkovich
Published by
American Atheists, Inc.
Mailing Address: 14 Recovery without God | Elle Mott
P.O. Box 158
Cranford, NJ 07016
Phone: 908.276.7300
18 Display the Ten Commandments Now! | Brian Bolton
FAX: 908.276.7402
www.Atheists.org 22 DANTHROPOLOGY
An Activists Toolkit | Dan Arel
2017 American Atheists Inc.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part
without written permission is prohibited. American
26 Its Time to Eat Some Babies! | Steve Cass
Atheist is indexed in the Alternative Press Index.
American Atheist magazine is given free of cost to
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28 COVER STORY
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One-year print subscription to American Atheist
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32 Dealing with Political Irrationality | Gleb Tsipursky
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1ST QUARTER 2017 www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 3
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Pamela Whissel
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
by Natasha Stoynoff
God hates women and fears them. Adam is a weakling, Eve is not.
1ST QUARTER 2017 www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 9
When youre making fun of the so-called creator of the
universe, theres no possibility of being mean.
bully and a fraud. And they both speak for the angry, the kinda goes rogue and changes the rules and mainly talks about
resentful, the repressed, the ignorant, and the small. As black himself.
comedy, well, this is brilliant. For the country, yikes!
At least your God character chastises himself in the rare
And neither your God nor The Donald seem qualified to moments he sees hes not perfect. I like how you get into
be in charge. his psyche and try to figure him out.
Right. God is all-powerful and all-knowing, yet his plans I wanted to find an emotional center for him and play it
never work out! And it infuriates him. Either his plans are that he is very self-aware...that hes actually tormented by the
stupidwhich they often areor hes a fraudwhich he knowledge that all of these [f laws] are true, and that on some
sometimes seems to beor, and this is the funniest, he is level hes not what he pretends to be. And it bothers him.
profoundly mentally ill and deeply self-loathing, essentially
wanting his plans to fail so that he can punish himself. All Let me guess. Its all moms fault?
three are comedy gold and the last is platinum. Well, God either had no mother, which is tough, or she
deserted him, which is brutal. God clearly dislikes women
Lets go over some of the stupid plans you so deftly point right from the start. Hes a misogynist when we meet him. The
out. First of all, God gets confused by what Jesus says. question is why. I think its about mother. What else could it
Like when he calls himself the son of man so often. Is he be?
implying that Joseph is his father? Wrong! Hes not the son of
man, hes the son of God! He doesnt even bother to give names to a lot of women. He
turns Lots wife into a pillar of salt, but doesnt bother to
And Lazarus...that was a mistake. take two seconds to name her!
Bringing Lazarus back from the dead. Does [Jesus] not Because women dont matter. Because theyre inferior.
realize that doing this completely undermines the power of Because he hates them and fears them. Adam is a weakling,
his own resurrection? Eve is not.
The big flood he gets right, though. Because, as you point He likes handsome men, though. And he pays lots of
out, he had those giant, underground fountains installed attention to mens nether regions, especially with the
ahead of time. brilliant circumcision idea.
It was very clever pre-planning, no? I like it because it He kills two birds with one stone. Get men to prove their
makes it totally obvious that he was going to drown everyone love and devotion to him and also enhance the aesthetic of the
from the start. penis. Hes obsessed with men.
All the prayer chains in the world werent going to save me.
For me, it was the need to overcome my addiction through a juice. With information gained from the store clerk, I called her
Twelve Step recovery group. There are over two hundred Twelve back. She pulled out her road map and then prayed for me. Each
Step Groups, which include Alcoholics Anonymous, Cocaine evening, when I pulled into a rest stop for the night, I called her, as
Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and promised. On my third day, when I was close to home, I called her
Overeaters Anonymous. These fellowships, with a worldwide with the update. Oh, good! I knew our prayers were working,
membership in the millions, offer social support, group Ruth said.
discussion, and a course of action with dependence on a higher Normal people can stop whatever it is that gets them into
poweroften identified as Godto promote and sustain trouble. I wasnt normal. I could not stop because I was deeply
recovery from addiction. engulfed in my addiction, which rendered me unable to grasp
My own journey to recovery began when I woke up one any coping mechanisms or solutions. In fact, I had joined Ruths
summer morning in 1998 to find myself behind the wheel of my Baptist church in the hopes of turning my life around. Try as I
car, parked in a vacant gravel lot. I had no idea what time it was, mightor as they might at churchmy failures, defiant attitude,
save for the light of the rising sun bombarding my pounding head. and fiascos so common to the traits of my addiction continued.
I forced my eyes open and peeled my cheek off of my drivers side My church family was both forgiving and encouraging, but all the
window. A crossroads with a long, barren stretch of rural highway prayer chains in the world werent going to save me.
Who Would Be Executed in the United States? And God spoke all these words:
We know from long experience that chronicling
moral directives without imposing punitive sanctions on I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out
transgressors has minimal benefit. So shouldnt we expect that of the land of slavery.
those who propose displaying the Ten Commandments would You shall have no other gods before me.
also endorse Yahwehs punishment scheme? What impact
would enforcing the Mosaic death penalty in the United You shall not make yourself an image in the form of anything
States have on the population? What would the execution in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water
rate be under strict adherence to the capital punishment below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them;
requirements associated with the Hebrew Decalogue? for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the
The first commandment orders residents to worship only children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth
Yahweh and relegates all other gods to prohibited status. generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a
About one tenth of the population would be immediately thousand generations of those who love me and keep my
executed unless they renounced their false gods. If Pauls commandments.
directive concerning the applicability of the death penalty to
irreligious citizens is accepted, then an additional fifth of the You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the
nations people would be eliminated. Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Correctly punishing violators of the second and third
commandments, which forbid idolatry and blasphemy, Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days
respectively, would exterminate the Deists, Wiccans, you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is
sculptors, astrologers, and mediums among us. a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any
While there is some disagreement about which day is the work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or
sabbath, in almost all U.S. communities it is Sunday (the female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing
Lords Day). Outlawing all work on the traditional day of rest in your towns. For six days the Lord made the heavens and
as required by the fourth commandment would cause a major the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the
disruption of the U.S. economy. Furthermore, enforcement seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and
would involve executing millions of Americans, including made it holy.
entire hospital staffs; firefighters; police officers; paramedics;
911 dispatchers; security guards; professional athletes; store Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live
clerks; restaurant workers; customer service representatives; long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
and many, many others.
Regarding the fifth commandment, which counsels You shall not murder.
respect for parents, it is a sad fact that abuse of the elderly is
a serious problem. The explicit appeal to the selfish motives You shall not commit adultery.
of offspring doesnt seem to enhance compliance with the
directive. Likewise, it is doubtful that capital punishment for You shall not steal.
those who strike or curse parents would improve the situation,
but they still must be killed. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
An Activists
Toolkit
An excerpt from The Secular Activist: A How-to Manual
for Protecting the Wall between Church and State
by Dan Arel
A fter just a few weeks in the White House, the Trump Administration has taken
bold steps to crumble the wall that separates church and state. Gone is the legal
protection allowing transgender students to use a school bathroom and locker room
that corresponds with their gender identity. The idea of a nationwide Muslim ban is
not yet extinguished. Congress is hard at work at a religious freedom bill that would legalize
LGBTQ discrimination by Christians. If the wall is to survive this onslaught, our vigilance
must be stronger and more confident than ever. And when I say our, I do literally mean all of
us.
I wrote The Secular Activist because not everyone realizes just how significant their impact
can be on our democracy. Effective, successful activism comes in many different forms. Not
everyone has to spend ten hours a day on this cause. You can still make a big difference, even
if all you can spare is ten minutes a month. This excerpt from the book shows you how.
Activism is not a one-size-fits-all activity. can give up their job or find a job fighting for the causes they
If there is one thing I hate, its when one type of activist puts care about. Even for those who make a living as activists, they
down other activists who are not doing things the right way, too must juggle life, family, and friends with their activism. To
the proper way, etc. I prefer we all realize activists fit very this end, every activist should ask themselves two questions:
different molds, have very different skill sets, and have varying
amounts of time they can contribute. It is hard to criticize a Are you doing as much as you want for your cause?
parent who works full-time to support a family, and spends Are you doing as much as you can for your cause?
much of their free time with that family, for only being able
to post status updates or attend protests once in a blue moon. If you answer yes to both, youre doing great. If you answer
Yet activists who devote their lives to a cause often struggle to no to one or the other, maybe it is worth considering whether
understand why others dont care as much as they do without you might support the cause in other ways that better match
realizing others do care as much, if not more, but often have your passion, skills, and time. It is also okay to look at something
personal restraints on how much they can do. Not everyone and realize you just dont want to make activism a priority. Even
YouTube
For those of you who dont mind a little extra work but still
want to sit in your favorite chair, there is YouTube. The site
offers a great way to make your voice heard and address social
issues and has the potential to reach large audiences. Video
interview shows, social commentary, informational videos,
and humor all go a long way to further the cause.
For inspiration, check out The Bible Reloaded. Though not
appropriate for all ages, it is hilarious and one of my favorites.
Creationist Cat is another clever show that rips on religion
while making social commentary. It is so insanely dumb I
cannot stop watchingI mean, its a cat that is a creationist.
Some of the best guests are on Ra-Men, hosted by Aron Ra
and Mark Nebo. Aron also tackles some of the biggest subjects
in his solo videos and does a great deal to spread the fight for
secularism and science education.
You dont have to start big. Record what you have to say and
share it and if people like it, it will catch on.
Other
There are many other ways to make your voice heard
online, such as through an Instagram account that shares
memes and information, a podcast, a Vine, or a Periscope. Be
creative in the ways you reach people, and you will see results.
Not everyone has to go take down a giant to make a difference.
Simply make your voice heard, and tell people what you think
they should know, and hopefully many will join you and get
onald Trump, like every president since bid.3 At the time, the only political speech limits placed on 501(c)
Dwight Eisenhower, attended the annual (3) non-profits were those related to influencing legislation.
National Prayer Breakfast in Washington,
D.C. on February 2. The event is Why It Makes Sense
sponsored by a secretive Christian group called the Fellowship, Proponents of the Johnson Amendment argue that with
which works to provide elected officials with teachings about the privileges of tax-exemption and tax-deductible donations
Jesus Christ. Controversy has swirled around the event because come reasonable government restrictions. No one forces an
of this group and for the speeches presidents have given there. entity to register with the IRS as a 501(c)(3); it is a privilege
This year was no exception, but the presidents remarks that the government grants with the enormous benefit of being
were more than controversialthey were downright alarming tax-exempt and accepting tax-deductible gifts. Because entities
with his promise to get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson self-select to be 501(c)(3)s, they must accept the restrictions
Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak that come with it.4
freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that, remember. We also support the amendment because the government,
American Atheists believes that the Johnson Amendment through the IRS, treats churches differently than all other non-
is a crucial part of the wall between religion and government, profits. The IRS lists five criteria that entities must meet to be
and we encourage you to contact your U.S. representative and considered a 501(c)(3):
both of your U.S. senators to tell them that you dont want the
amendment repealed. 1. The entity must be organized and operated exclusively
for religious, educational, scientific, or other charitable
Who is Affected? purposes.
The Johnson Amendment prohibits non-profit organizations 2. The net earnings may not inure benefit of any private
registered under provision 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue individual or stakeholder.
Code from endorsing or opposing any person running for 3. No substantial part of its activities may be attempting to
elected office. It is not aimed at churches1 in particular; the influence legislation.
amendment applies to all entities that form for religious, 4. The entity may not intervene in political campaigns.
charitable, literary, scientific, or educational purposes who 5. The organizations purposes and activities may not be
register for this designation. Having 501(c)(3) status confers illegal or violate public policy. 5
two valuable privileges: tax exemption for the entity and
allowing donations to the organization to be tax-deductible for When an entity seeks this status, it must fill out an
the donor.2 American Atheists has a 501(c)(3) designation as an arduous application that requires it to register its Articles
educational non-profit, and is therefore subject to the Johnson of Incorporation and the dissolution clauses of its bylaws. If
Amendment restrictions granted 501(c)(3) status, each year the entity must submit
a Form 990 that details its revenues, expenses, assets, and
History liabilities. Some organizations that receive large donations must
The Johnson Amendment became law in 1954 without also file a Schedule of Contributions, which includes individual
fanfare or debate. In fact, the Congressional Record shows donors names.
no discussion at all related to the bill, which was introduced
by Lyndon B. Johnson, then a senator from Texas. Johnson But If the Entity is a Church
sponsored the amendment in order to limit the influence of two Their only requirement for meeting these five criteria is
anti-communism, non-profit organizations that were spreading simply to claim that they do. Churches do not have to complete
the national conservatism of McCarthyism while also helping to any other part of this non-profit application, file an annual
fund the campaign of Johnsons opponent in his senate re-election Form 990, or file a Schedule of Contributions. Why? Because
Our brains are wired in such a way that emotions play a much
larger role in influencing our beliefs than we intuitively perceive.
1ST QUARTER 2017 www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 33
Bill Donohues defamation became more insidious
when he said that Atheists stand for nothing,
believe in nothing, and are good for nothing.
the November 2015 shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic Intentional Insights.
in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Today, there are more radicals in While these people span the entire spectrum of political
Islam than in other religions, but the focus needs to be on radical views, from the most conservative to the most liberal, they all
behavior as much as religion itself. care first and foremost about the truth. Making politics less
Though it was to a much lesser extent, the Clinton campaign irrational by helping people make accurate assessments of reality
also appealed to human irrationality, mostly in response to the is a bipartisan issue. Everyone wins by having more rational
Trump campaigns success with it. Consider the comment by citizensexcept those politicians who rely on misleading and
Clinton that half of Trumps supporters belong in the basket manipulative rhetoric to sway voters.
of deplorables and are irredeemable by their sexism, racism, Unfortunately, this election cycle showed how easy and
and homophobia. This choice of words appeals to the horns effective it is to appeal to human irrationality. The future is dark
effect by associating deplorable with a large portion of the for Atheists rights if we do not focus our efforts on addressing
U.S. population. Yet consider someone who was convinced by this problem in our political system. After all, its up to our elected
Trumps rhetoric that Muslims are to be feared. This person officials and appointed judges to uphold church/state separation,
has developed irrationally racist beliefs, but does this make which is in grave danger now that Trump has made it clear that he
the person inherently deplorable or irredeemable? Certainly wants churches and religious organizations to be able to endorse
not! At least she apologized for this comment, yet such rhetoric political candidatessomething that hasnt been allowed since
represents the perspectives of many liberals. the passage of the Johnson Amendment in 1954.
Fortunately, we are not doomed to this fate of irrationality. This will be a long, difficult fight because most members
Recent scholarship by Dan and Chip Heath in Decisive: How to of Congress wear their religious faith proudly on their sleeves.
Make Better Choices in Life and Work (2013) shows that we can They do this because it sways voters as effectively as misleading
become more rational in our voting and in how we assess politics rhetoric does.
in general. Doing so requires only four things:
Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is an activist for reason and rationality. He serves
1. Its necessary, but not at all difficult, to as the president of Intentional Insights, a non-profit that popularizes
learn about typical thinking errors. science-based rational thinking and wise decision-making in politics
and other areas of life. He researches decision-making as a professor at
2. We have to notice when they are potentially
The Ohio State University. He is also a speaker, consultant, and coach.
impacting us, and then resist this influence.
Go to GlebTsipursky.com to learn more.
3. We must call out those politiciansand their
spokespeoplewho appeal to such thinking errors.
4. We need to learn how to engage meaningfully with others Endnotes
when we see that they are falling for such manipulation. 1. How the Heck Can Voters Think Donald Trump is More
Honest than Hillary Clinton? by Chris Cillizza, Nov. 2,
Many will claim that this is unrealistic and that U.S. citizens 2016, WashingtonPost.com
are inherently irrational in their politics. I beg to differ. Over the 2. Dueling Billboards Face Off in Christmas Controversy,
last few months, I have published many articles and appeared Nov. 30, 2010, Religion.Blogs.CNN.com
on a number of TV and radio programs to talk about how to 3. CatholicLeague.org/adopt-an-atheist-campaign-begins
make politics more rational.10 I did so as part of my service as the 4. How Americans Feel about Religious Groups, July 16, 2014,
volunteer president of Intentional Insights, a non-profit devoted PewForum.org
to spreading rational thinking and wise decision-making in 5. NCBI.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22059841
politics and other areas of life. 6. ScientificAmerican.com/article/in-atheists-we-distrust/
Many people have emailed me to express gratitude for 7. CatholicLeague.org/land-diversity-dishonesty
the chance to learn how politicians try to manipulate them. 8. JohnstonsArchive.net/terrorism/wrjp255a.html
Some of them have asked how they can most effectively learn 9. Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or
to make rational political assessments. Plenty among them Support of Extremism, Aug. 30, 2011, People-Press.org
now donate their time and money to support the mission of 10. GlebTsipursky.com/about
Ask around, and see how many people assume that under
God has always been a part of the Pledge of Allegiance or
that In God We Trust has always been on U.S. currency.
34 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org 1ST QUARTER 2017
A Most Righteous Adventure Continued from page 11
My father had a little pyramid set up in the living room, and be now, about 45 or 47. They were given the responsibility to
hed lie down inside it because he was going to live to be 240 write a song that is going to save the universe, essentially, and
years old. It was kind of a joke, but not. He was really scared of transform reality. But they havent done it yet. And they get
death. Just look at his work, and you can see its everywhere. the call like, You got to do it right now! So they take another
But we did talk about writing. I really admired and learned journey to try to find that song thats going to save the world.
a lot from himespecially the day-in-day-out discipline of Its [tentatively] called, Bill & Ted Face the Music.
how to be a writer.
Will Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter reprise their roles as
Did you ever consider writing in the horror genre? Bill and Ted?
I never would have wanted to be a horror writerI would Sure, theyre part of the whole thing. [Co-writer] Ed
have been too scared. I dont like scary things. Im already Solomon and I started talking to them about this years ago.
scared. I dont want to see scary things. I love to laugh and Weve been working on this hand-in-hand with those guys for
make other people laugh. If youre laughing at something, I seven years now.
think its really hard to be scared of it.
Who will you send them back to meet?
He liked to scare people, you want to make them laugh. At this point Jimi [Hendrix] is in the story, but what ends
Perhaps youre both trying to purge or escape the same up on screenif anythingwho knows.
fears in different ways.
Yeah, theres truth to that. Too bad God doesnt have a sense of humor. You could
have sent them back to biblical times.
What did you think of his metaphysical world? If you think about it, comedy is strongly connected to surprise.
I bought into it for a while, and then I started thinking, God is incapable of being surprised. He knows everything.
This is all bullshit! Its made up! Its just to make you feel better!
Id say, Its not a spirit in the hallway, it was your Will we see a sequel to The Story of God?
imagination, Dad. Theres a much simpler explanation. And Im thinking of doing a follow-up, because God is such a
that would make him very, very mad. Hed say, Why are you great character. Maybe Ill follow him through the Quran and
so skeptical? Why dont you believe in anything? through the Book of Mormon, which is the dumbest, most
laughable book Ive ever read. It is ludicrous from beginning
Laughterthats your belief system. to end, much more so than the Old Testament.
Im a very worried, anxious person. Its hard for me not to
be upset about one thing or another. But laughter and play, Maybe you can send God to a therapist at some point.
those are the relief, you know? Those are the escape from that. A Freudian one! Except he doesnt have a mom. But itll
The laughter feels so good to me, it always has. work!
Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure is a cult classic. Do people Do you think God will ever learn his lesson?
quote lines to you when they discover youre the co-writer? Nope. Hes trapped. He is perfect and, therefore, incapable
People will say to me, Excellent! or Whoa! But theres of learning anything.
a whole lot of people out there who have no idea what Bill &
Teds Excellent Adventure is. Theyre like, huh? The majority, And what about Satan? Does he finally get his due in
Id say. Satans Story?
Yeah, your speculation that Satan ends up being The One
What? Does this mean were old? Surely when they were comes true. In the end, hes clearly the smarter guy. Satan is
kids, your children thought you were the coolest dad ever Bugs Bunny to Gods Elmer Fudd.
for writing that.
No, not at all. Its just Dads job, you know? Natasha Stoynoffs most recent book is Chicken Soup for the Soul:
Curvy & Confident: 101 Stories about Loving Yourself and Your Body with
Well, as one of the old folks, Im glad to hear you have a Supermodel Emme. Her 2016 People magazine story about being
new Bill & Ted sequel in the works. grabbed by Donald Trump during a 2005 interview is not fake news
Yeah, were going to revisit them at the age that theyd really but she wishes it were.
When a very, very religious person has a very skeptical child, its
going to be bumpy.
1ST QUARTER 2017 www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 35
Political Action Churches Continued from page 31
6. Recognition of Tax-Exempt Status: Automatic Instructions for Schedule C (Form 990 or 990-EZ), IRS
Exemption for Churches, Tax Guide for Churches & (2016); https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i990sc.pdf.
Religious Organizations, p. 2 (2015); https://www. 11. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church
irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf (emphasis added). & Sch. v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 (2012).
7. IRC 7611. 12. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2751 (2014).
8. Special Rules Limiting IRS Authority to Audit 13. There is no court decision that says the Johnson
a Church, https://www.irs.gov/charities-non- Amendment is unconstitutional; rather, the opposite is true.
profits/churches-religious-organizations/special- But recent decisions call into question previous court opinions.
rules-limiting-irs-authority-to-audit-a-church See Christian Echoes Natl Ministry v. United States, 470 F.2d
9. Several Appeals Court cases have determined that the 849, 857 (10th Cir. Okla. 1972) (finding [i]n light of the fact
restrictions of the Johnson Amendment and more broadly that tax exemption is a privilege, a matter of grace rather than
the restriction of 501(c)(3)s are not a substantial burden right, we hold that the limitations contained in Section 501(c)
on religious exercise. See Branch Ministries v. Rossotti, (3) withholding exemption from nonprofit corporations do
211 F.3d 137 (D.C. Cir. 2000) (holding that not being not deprive [a church] of its constitutionally guaranteed right
able to express opinions about candidates for public office of free speech. The taxpayer may engage in all such activities
does not substantially burden a 501(c)(3) organization); without restraint, subject, however, to withholding of the
Christian Echoes National Ministry v. U.S. 470 F.2d 849 exemption or, in the alternative, the taxpayer may refrain
(10th Cir. 1972) (holding that limitations of conduct in from such activities and obtain the privilege of exemption.).
501(c)(3) are constitutionally valid and do not deprive an 14. The Posts View: Trump is Wrong. Pulpit Freedom
organization of free speech or free exercise of religion). Already Exists. Washington Post, Aug. 5, 2016; https://www.
10. However, other provisions of 501(c)(3) do restrict washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-is-wrong-pulpit-
attempts to influence legislation. The IRS allows a certain freedom-already-exists/2016/08/05/77706c10-5815-11e6-
amount of lobbying to be done by these entities. See 9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html?utm_term=.8b8a000b6da0.
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AK Alaskan Atheists Anchorage http://www.meetup.com/AlaskanAtheists/
NY Ward Melville High School Secular Student Alliance East Setauket http://goo.gl/K2koj
To collect and disseminate information, data, and literature on all religions and promote a more thorough
understanding of them, their origins, and their histories;
To advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways the complete and absolute separation of state and church;
To act as a watchdog to challenge any attempted breach of the wall of separation between state and church;
To advocate, labor for, and promote in all lawful ways the establishment and maintenance of a thoroughly secular
system of education available to all;
To encourage the development and public acceptance of a humane ethical system stressing the mutual sympathy,
understanding, and interdependence of all people and the corresponding responsibility of each individual in relation
to society;
To develop and propagate a social philosophy in which humankind is central and must itself be the source of
strength, progress, and ideals for the well-being and happiness of humanity;
To promote the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems affecting the maintenance, perpetuation, and
enrichment of human (and other) life; and
To engage in such social, educational, legal, and cultural activity as will be useful and beneficial to the members of
American Atheists and to society as a whole.
Definitions:
A theism is the comprehensive world view of persons who are free from theism and have freed themselves of supernatural
beliefs altogether. It is predicated on ancient Greek Materialism.
A theism involves the mental attitude that unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a life-
style and ethical outlook verifiable by experience and the scientific method, independent of all arbitrary assumptions of
authority and creeds.
M aterialism declares that the cosmos is devoid of immanent conscious purpose; that it is governed by its own inherent,
immutable, and impersonal laws; that there is no supernatural interference in human life; that humankind, finding
the resources within themselves, can and must create their own destiny. It teaches that we must prize our life on earth
and strive always to improve it. It holds that human beings are capable of creating a social system based on reason and
justice. Materialisms faith is in humankind and their ability to transform the world culture by their own efforts. This is
a commitment that is, in its very essence, life-asserting. It considers the struggle for progress as a moral obligation that is
impossible without noble ideas that inspire us to bold, creative works.
M aterialism holds that our potential for good and more fulfilling cultural development is, for all practical purposes,
unlimited.
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