American Atheist Magazine First Quarter 2014

American Atheists
AMERICaN ATHEIST
A JOURNAL OF ATHEIST NEWS AND THOUGHT
Coming Out of the Closet: Why Its Worth It
An Interview with Richard Dawkins

Also in this issue: The Science of Faith How Adults Can Help Young Atheists Gideon Bibles Make Room for Atheist Books
1ST QUARTER 2014
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1ST QUARTER 2014
AMERICAN ATHEIST
A Journal of Atheist News and Thought 1st Quarter 2014
Vol. 52, No. 1
ISSN 0516-9623 (Print) ISSN 1935-8369 (Online)
Photo by Rick Wingrove

Above: Chad and Lena Brown, proud to be openly Atheist. Cover: The license plates from American Atheists members across the U.S. Cover Concept by Ken Loukinen. Photo of Richard Dawkins by Lalla Ward.
Pamela Whissel mageditor@atheists.org LAYOUT and GRAPHICS EDITOR Rick Wingrove rwingrove@atheists.org COPY EDITOR Karen Reilly PROOFREADERS Gil and Jeanne Gaudia Shelley Gaudia AMERICAN ATHEIST PRESS MANAGING EDITOR Frank R. Zindler editor@atheists.org Published by American Atheists, Inc. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 158 Cranford NJ 07016 Phone: 908.276.7300 FAX: 908.276.7402 www.atheists.org 2014 American Atheists Inc.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. American Atheist is indexed in the Alternative Press Index. American Atheist magazine is given free of cost to members of American Atheists as an incident of their membership. Annual Individual Membership with subscription for one year of American Atheist print magazine: $35. Online version only: $20. Couple/Family Membership with optional print magazine: $35. Sign up at www. atheists.org/aam. Discounts available for multiple year subscriptions: 10% for two years, 20% for three or more years. Additional postage fees for foreign addresses: Canada and Mexico: add $10/year. All other countries: add $30/year. Discounts for libraries and institutions: 50% on all magazine subscriptions and book purchases. 1ST QUARTER 2014 www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 3
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
In This Issue
5 Coming Out of the Closet as an American Atheist | J. T. Eberhard 8 An Interview with Richard Dawkins | David Muscato 10 Good News Clubs - Part Three: What We Learned | Dale DeBakcsy 13 Parents, Teachers, and Administrators Help Young Atheists | Hemant Mehta 16 The Godless Congregations of the Sunday Assembly | Becky Garrison 20 Secularisms Pope: A Misleading Misunderstanding | David Orenstein, Ph.D. 22 The Science of Faith: Part One | Ce Atkins 24 All of the Good, None of the God - Part Two: Uganda | Conor Robinson 28 Gideon Bibles Make Room for Atheist Books | Ed Buckner, Ph.D. 32 How I Stood Up for My Right to Sit Down | Grover Helton 34 DOGMA WATCH: Eat at Yahwehs | Michael B. Paulkovich 46 Why I am an Atheist | Pinghui V. Liu, M.D.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

What do you call a wrong decision made in the name of religion? A clerical error.
Thats what the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) called it when they were asked why they first told American Atheists President Dave Silverman that his application for the custom license plate ATHE1ST was offensive but then reversed the decision. The reversal came after a rash of bad publicity. As the news report from the U.K.s Daily Mail put it, they didnt realize who they were rejecting. If they had known who they were rejecting, they would have known that, as soon as his application was rejected, Silverman would share the news on his Twitter account @MrAtheistPants. They would have known that our Public Relations Director, Dave Muscato, would send out a press release. And that the press release would include a picture of Silverman holding a piece of dcor thats been in the American Atheists Center for as long as anyone can remember: a vintage New Jersey license plate that says ATHEIST. (Silvermans has a numeral 1 because this all-letter version was already taken.) So why the red light for Silvermans application but a green light for the earlier one? A spokesperson for the MVC told one reporter that the clerk had exceeded her authority. In other words, Silvermans application was randomly assigned to an employee who happens to have a personal problem with Atheism but has no authority to decide that the MVC officially has this problem, which it clearly doesnt. In fact, no one in the U.S. ever has the authority to decide that the laws of their god outrank the laws of the state. But it happens all the time, and, for a number of reasons, nothings done to remedy it.
No one in the U.S. ever has the authority to decide that the laws of their god outrank the laws of the state.
Sometimes nothings done because a person doubts their ability to fight the injustice. Sometimes they second-guess their understanding of their rights. Often, a person will assume theyre the only one whos ever encountered such a roadblock. They assume this because theyve never encountered another Atheist. And theyve never encountered another Atheist because too many are still in the closet. American Atheist is a handbook for coming out of the closet. This magazine is also a handbook of how to show others the way out. This issue also features an excerpt from The Young Atheists Survival Guide, Hemant Mehtas new book, which is full of ways that adults can assist students who want to stand up for their rights as non-believers. Were also featuring the words of ten-year-old Grover Helton, who tells us how he demanded fair treatment in his schooland got it. Grovers activist career is off to a great start, and I wouldnt be at all surprised if he turns out to be like Ed Buckner, the former President of American Atheists, whose article is about his most recent victory: the placement of Atheist books right next to the Bibles that the State allows the Gideons to place in all the cabins of Georgias state parks. When Atheists refuse to be denied the rights that everyone should enjoy, its more than an opportunity for progress. Its also an opportunity for closeted Atheists to take notice and realize that they are far from alone. And every time an Atheist comes out, it strengthens this countrys wall that separates church and state without separating believers from non-believers. Maintained properly, its the best thing that can happen to both.
Pamela Whissel Editor-in-Chief MagEditor@Atheists.org
LEFT: President Dave Silverman with the vintage plate RIGHT: No offense after all: Silvermans new plate
4 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org 1ST QUARTER 2014
Coming Out of the Closet as an American Atheist:
Why Its Worth It

by J.T. Eberhard
No price is too steep for the privilege of owning ones self.
always like to start an article with a statement of the obvious, to help the reader and writer begin on common ground. For this article, the statement is: We live in a very religious nation. It wasnt hard to come up with that, because in the United States churches outnumber schools and libraries by several orders of magnitude. Yet Atheism is growing, which means theres not only a decent chance that you, my lovely reader, are a non-believer yourself, but theres also a good chance youre relatively new to your non-belief. You may even still attend churchwhile not buying into a word of the preaching. If you are a believer, there are decent odds that you are questioning and wondering what life is like on the other side. (The other side being Atheism in this life, not heaven or hell in the next.) Let me help fill you in. As an out Atheist, Im perhaps a little biased, but I think being out is pretty damn grand. But even I can admit that there is good and bad to living out of the closet as a non-believer. Since Im a cynic, well begin with the bad. For two and a half years, I worked for an organization called the Secular Student Alliance. Have you heard of the national organization
By indulging your very humanity and freely enjoying life in all its splendor, you can be an inspiration for others to do the same.
1ST QUARTER 2014 www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 5
Campus Crusade for Christ? These days, theyre calling themselves just Cru. They organize clubs on college campuses. The Secular Student Alliance (SSA) organizes similar clubs for Atheists who arent interested in a crusade so much as theyre interested in eating pizza with other Atheists. I used to work for SSA as their high school organizer. All in all, it was a pretty sweet gig. As soon as I started that job, I immediately noticed a big difference between religious students and non-religious students: most of the non-religious students hadnt told their parents about their disbelief. Ive never heard of a Christian student living in fear of their own family discovering their Christianity, so I began to wonder about what was stopping the Atheist students from being open with their parents. It quickly became evident that the reason was feara most heartbreaking fear of the very people who loved them. These students feared losing a happy relationship that seemed to hinge entirely on the lie that two millennia ago, a man rose from the dead. In extreme cases, the students feared total ostracism. Im sad to say that, during my time with the SSA, I frequently saw these fears become reality. Can you imagine parents withholding Christmas presents from a child because
Being out does your loved ones the honor of being able to love you, not the person youre pretending to be.
the child cannot make themselves believe a man walked on water is? Consider, for a moment, that many Christians believe hell to be as if that belief is what made a child worthy of love rather than any a place of such immeasurable suffering that, within a few seconds of of their other virtuous qualities? After two and a half years working arrival, a person will experience pain greater than the sum of all the directly with high school Atheists, Im sad to say, I can imagine it very agony in human history. Being someone who might separate another clearly. person from their faith, and thereby condemn them to hell, is enough Take the case of Damon Fowler, a Louisiana teen who not only to make you a villain in the eyes of an appreciable number of your came out to his parents, but also asked his public high school to stop American neighbors. issuing sectarian Christian prayers at graduation. While the school This is why so many believers fight not merely to expose other compliedthey understood they were breaking the lawcountless peoples children to religion, but to keep it constantly in their faces, even Christians in the community were merciless. In one newspaper in public-school classrooms. Its why Jessica Ahlquists home town of interview, a teacher of Damons questioned his worth to the school. Cranston, Rhode Island, spent two years demanding that their school Lifelong friends stopped board take moneylots speaking to him. He of moneyearmarked received death threats. for education and spend it One true believer instead on an unsuccessful texted Damons brother court fight to keep religion to tell him that he was in their public schools. going to put Damons life With hell in the balance, in danger. Damon was who could blame them? booed at his graduation These people wanted to rehearsal. His parents help and they were acting even stopped speaking rationally within the to him and eventually context of their beliefs. kicked their underage Because if they are right, son out of the house by its not life and death. Its throwing his possessions much more. outside (where some of Its easy to see how them were then stolen). a believer can view an Coming out is the best way we have to make To an Atheist, Atheist not as a mere sure the hate stops in our lifetime. disbelieving in the skeptic, but as an agent miraculous tales of the Bible may seem to be of no more consequence of suffering, if that Atheist is telling people not to fear hell. Thats what than disbelieving the stories of the Koran or the fables of Aesop. But catalyzes this behavior towards other peoples children, and it doesnt to believers, the prospect of either eternal paradise or eternal suffering get much better in adulthood. Most of us have been presumptuously are very, very real and very, very consequential. Pity is often the best- asked where we go to church instead of being asked if we even go to case scenario for when a fundamentalist neighbor learns that youre an church. Ive known adults whove feared losing their jobs if they didnt Atheist. After all, they believe that regardless of how kind, generous, partake of lunchtime prayer circleswith their boss presiding. and virtuous you may be in this life, youre destined nonetheless These things and more are what it can mean to be an Atheist in for eternal torture in the afterlife. But it can be much worse. Our America, and they are ever on my mind when I talk to an Atheist skepticism can make us seem like we are as bad as criminals. about coming out of the closet. And the great irony is that the deepest And it can get even worse. What if, like me, you are the type of of believers will suggest that Atheists stay in the closet out of shame, Atheist who critiques the reasons people give for their faithnot as if Atheism is a flaw to hide, rather than a reason to fear the social because you are mean, but because you find it interesting and no more penalties crafted by religious people. offensive than when a co-worker talks about how lovely a chap Jesus But this is how religion wins: through fear. It is how religion has
People just like you are continually adding their names, in full public view, to the ranks of the religiously skeptical.
You dont need to pretend to believe in things you dont in order to have a community.
always won. Why should we believe in Jesus? Because youll go to hell peoplethe very people whom believers themselves know to be kind if you dont. Be afraid! Drive along any stretch of Interstate and youll and honestto hell. see plenty of signs and billboards threatening eternal punishment for And, as the adage goes, no price is too steep for the privilege of disbelief. What you will never see is one that proclaims, Come to our owning ones self. Living without fear, free to indulge your curiosity church, we have evidence! Religions do not win by reason. They do to its fullest, is a luxury that is incompatible with the arbitrary taboos not win by behaving honorably. They win by keeping people afraid of religion. Without religion, you can love the consenting adult of because there are no natural consequences for disbelief in the here- your choice, regardless of gender and regardless of any Bronze-Age and-now. The faithful need to make up for that dearth themselves. prohibition that still survives today. You can touch the person you And they do. love in the ways you imagine. By indulging your very humanity and So why does someone like me, who generally doesnt wish freely enjoying life in all its splendor, you can be an inspiration for suffering on anybody, encourage most people to risk all this misery others to do the same. and come out of the closet? Because it has to stop. The fear that keeps Being out also does your loved ones the honor of being able to Atheists in the closet will suck just as much for future generations as love you, not the person youre pretending to be. Being honest about it does for you. I grew up in a world where people were afraid to be who you are is the only way to never make liars of your family and Atheists. Im still living friends who say they love you in a world where people when they dont know who you are afraid to be Atheists. are. To keep quoting axioms I dont want anybody that did not originate with me, else to grow up there. it is far better to be hated for Its not the world I want who you are than to be loved to hand to my kids. Its for who you arent. not the world I want to Remember, the good news hand to your kids. And is that Atheism is growing fast despite all the slings in the United States. In virtually and arrows that come every city and every small town with it, coming out is there are secular groups waiting the best way we have to to welcome you. You dont need make sure it stops in our to pretend to believe in things The most crafty arguments are less effective than three lifetime. you dont in order to have a simple words said to a loved one: Im an Atheist. As someone who community. You need only argues with religious people for a living, I believe arguments are bring yourself, as you are, without pretension or lies. powerful. And yet my most crafty arguments are less effective than Atheism is growing so rapidly because people just like you are three simple words said to a loved one: Im an Atheist. Someone who continually adding their names, in full public view, to the ranks of believes Atheists are pathological in the extreme might not believe the religiously skeptical. As soon as enough people have the courage that their daughter is pathological in the extremeor their parents to wrest control of their lives from religion, we can show Christians or their best friend. This is what the gay rights movement has been how to be a majority that behaves kindly and compassionately. I so incredibly successfully with: urging LGBT people to come out of hope you will help us get there, for there is a joy in living openly the closet. Because of this campaign, many Americans are realizing that will never be available to those who cater to the arbitrary rules for the first time in their lives that not only do they know gay people, of a religion. but that they like and love gay people. So it can be with Atheists. This is how we show others that, no matter how they feel about Jesus, J.T. Eberhard is the co-founder of the Skepticon conference and served Atheists are loveable, good peoplewho are already loved. Its how as the events lead organizer for its first three years. His blog, What we force the question of the morality of a god who would condemn Would J.T. Do?, is at Patheos.com/Blogs/WWJTD.
Living free to indulge your curiosity to its fullest is a luxury incompatible with the arbitrary taboos of religion.
An Interview with Richard Dawkins

by David Muscato
All religions are absurd, but Mormonism is in a class of its own.
is is one of the most eloquent voices for reason. His book, The Selfish Gene, published in 1976, is widely held to be one of the most important books of the 20th century. His latest, An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist, is an intimate memoir of the childhood and intellectual development of this evolutionary biologist and world-famous Atheist. He also stars with Lawrence Krauss in a new feature film, The Unbelievers. It trails the two scientists on their global speaking tour where they encourage their audiences to cast off antiquated religious and politically motivated approaches to the most important issues of our time. Here, he talks about his work as well as the latest activism of American Atheists.
Dawkins new film, The Unbelievers, will be in theaters and released digitally in early 2014.
Q: Your new movie, The Unbelievers, follows your speaking tour with Lawrence Krauss. Do you consider it a road trip story in the style of Jack Kerouacs On the Road? RD: Lawrence and I had filmed conversations in cities including Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Phoenix, London, and Oxford. You have to do a good deal of traveling to get from one of those places to another, and the director artfully interposed scene-shifting travel shots. So, in that sense, you could call it a road trip movie, but that description doesnt do justice to the film, nor would comparison with any great American novel. We talk to each other about science, religion, and the interface between the two. Its an intellectually challenging film, but I think its fun, too, and theres lots of humor. The format of the conversations is the mutual tutorialthe biologist learning from the physicist and vice versa. It also could be said that we are pioneering a moderator-free style of interview. We both believe that moderators often get in the way and impede rather than facilitate public conversation. The Unbelievers will be both in theaters and in digital format in early 2014. Q: Your new book, An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist, is an autobiography that leads up to your writing The Selfish Gene when you were 35. Do you recommend that an aspiring scientist write a book to further their career? RD: No, I wouldnt recommend it as a career move for a scientist, although it might be for a philosopher or historian or literary critic. I suppose it did work out for me, but a colleague published a series of excellent books, making important and original creative contributions to evolutionary and taxonomic theory, and his career suffered because they were books rather than papers in high impact journals. Q: American Atheists put up an animated digital billboard in Penn Plaza in New York City that said, Who needs Christ during Christmas? Nobody! It urged people to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas: friends, family, gifts, and food. Do you support people who celebrate a non-Christian Christmas, or are we enablers? RD: Along with my family, I celebrate Christmas in exactly the same
spirit as the question suggests. I say Happy Christmas rather than the awkward and embarrassing Happy Holiday Season, and send Christmas cards, not holiday cards. Most people in academic science who call themselves Jews are actually Atheists, and I dont mind calling myself a cultural Anglican in the same spirit. Q: American Atheists is suing the Internal Revenue Service for discrimination. In the U.S., churches and religious non-profits dont have to reveal their financial records while all other nonprofits do. They dont have to disclose the value of their assets, how much they pay staff, and what they are spending on child molestation lawsuits. How do you predict this will all play out? RD: It is impossible to overstate how passionately I support this initiative. I have no confidence that it will succeed, partly for the general reason that, to borrow from Dickens, the law is a ass, a idiot and partly because the current Supreme Court is so shockingly biased. Nevertheless, I so much want it to succeed, so I will be donating $1,000 to the fund supporting the lawsuit. Q: The American Atheists annual convention is in Salt Lake City, April 17-20, 2014. If you arent able attend, what would you like to say to the brave non-believers who will gather in a state with millions of potentially angry Mormons? RD: All religions are absurd, but Mormonism is in a class of its own. Founded by a proven charlatan, historically steeped in racism and sexism, its founding document a palpable fake (a 19th-century document written in 16th-century English), Mormonism ought to be a public laughing-stock. It is extraordinary that influential and powerful people pander to it. Nevertheless, we shouldnt insult individual Mormons, just mercilessly ridicule and satirize their preposterous beliefs.
David Muscato is the Public Relations Director for American Atheists. Dawkins official website, RichardDawkins.net, features a newsletter which names a Secular VIP of the Week, as well as a Question of the Week competition, where the winners receive a copy of Dawkins latest book, An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist. Everyone who signs up for the newsletter receives a digital copy of the first chapter. For the latest information on the release of The Unbelievers, go to UnbelieversMovie.com.
1ST QUARTER 2014
Good News Clubs

by Dale DeBakcsy
Part Three:
I
Katherine Stewart wrote the definitive work on the stealthy and deceptive methods of the Good News Club.
What We Learned, How They Stayed, and Why We Will Eventually Win
n the two previous issues of American Atheist, Dale DeBakcsy has chronicled the efforts of parents in Californias Castro Valley School District to protect their children from the pervasive and deceptive Good News Club (GNC). A product of the Child Evangelism Fellowship, the clubs exist in public schools nationwide with the sole purpose of indoctrinating children in the beliefs of Christian fundamentalism. Yet their harvesting efforts (their term), aimed at children as young as four, falsely present the Good News Club as an after-school activity that teaches morality in general, sprinkled with a little Bible instruction. The clubs always meet on school grounds, even when nearby church space is free and available to them, so that they are perceived by children to be part of the school system. In Part One, DeBakcsy gave us an overview of the tactics of the Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), quoting from their own training literature. For example, the pamphlet Why Evangelize Children? makes the case that it is clear from the Bible that a child who has not trusted Jesus Christ as his Saviorno matter how young he isis therefore spiritually dead, a sinner by nature and action. In Part Two, he interviewed Katherine Stewart, author of The Good News Club: The Christian Rights Stealth Assault on Americas Children. In it she chronicles her investigation into the way the clubs stealthily establish their presence in public schools nationwide. In this final installment, we catch up with the Castro Valley parents. While they havent been able to eradicate the clubs from their school district, they did cast light on the true motives of the CEF and, in the process, opened the eyes of many more parents.
t is a story that begins, as few tales do these days, with a letter to the editor of my local newspaper, The Castro Valley Forum. Its the sort of newspaper that shows pictures of dogs up for adoption and runs front-page news stories like Food Trucks to be Part of Castro Valley Farmers Market. The op-ed page of this paper has long been where Castro Valley, California, an unincorporated town of 60,000 people, grapples with The Big Issues. And on April 24, 2013, I found there a six-paragraph note penned by our resident civil rights champion, Billy Bradford, warning about the arrival in Castro Valley of something called the Good News Club (GNC).1 Worse, not only had the GNC arrived, but it had been in place in two of our elementary schools for three years already, quietly expanding its operation. The school attended by my children, ages 6 and 9, was not infected in the first GNC outbreak, and until Bradfords letter to the editor, I had no idea that any of this had been happening for years in my own town, a testament to just how well the GNC parent organization, the Child Evangelism Fellowship, has trained its volunteers in quietly acquiring new territory for their child-proselytizing efforts. As I read up on the GNC and their tactics, I was aghast that any organization so explicitly devoted to the emotional bullying of children would not only be allowed to exist in our schools, but was apparently thriving there. Scores of parents were happily sending their kids into the maw of this carefully constructed, innocence-mauling machine. It was time to flex the muscles of the most potent tool for social change yet constructed on the wings of human fancy: It was time to postsomething on Facebook! And this is where the first Lesson Learned comes. Expect consequences. My Facebook friends are entirely used to me cocking snooks at organized religion, so going on about the Good News Clubs did me no personal harm, but those acquaintances of mine who seconded my call for some level of organized response found themselves losing actual, inthe-flesh friends as a result. That would be bad enough, but the GNCsympathetic parents didnt keep their feelings quietly to themselves. Instead, they told their children to be suspicious of our children. As a result, within a week of posting our thoughts on Facebook and writing to The Castro Valley Forum in support of that first letter,2 my older daughter was cornered at school by two boys who told her that if she didnt shape up and believe in god, she would burn in hell. Meanwhile, a friends daughter had that charming flyer from Part One of this series shoved beneath her backpack. How could our kids go from having no problems about their lack of belief to being the objects of religious hate speech within the turn of a week? Such timing strikes me as too exact to be a coincidence. You might be all manner of John-Thomas-Scopes-brave, but you should seriously ask yourself if you are prepared to let children bear perhaps the greatest part of the fight.
We wrote to our district superintendent to determine how this invasion was permitted in the first place, attended GNC meetings to confirm that the children were repeatedly compelled to identify themselves as hopeless sinners, and reported the details of what wed learned to The Forum.3 We found that the people who initially wrote in defense of the idea of the clubs did not continue their defense after we showed precisely what is done there. This was the second thing we learned.
The second-grade daughter of one of the parents in our group found this flyer under her backpack after the final GNC meeting of last year. At that time the kids were encouraged to share a paper cut-out wheel of sin with their friends. We dont know yet if this flyer is connected to the GNC or not, but the timing was interesting.
A little fact goes a long way. The Good News Clubs thrive on secrecy and no one looking too closely beneath the artfully constructed mask.4 The defenders they tend to attract are people well-disposed to the generic idea of children receiving instruction in morality. That same defense crumbles when it is pointed out, by using specific quotes from their own literature, how the GNC goes about achieving its ends. Its important to understand that attacking the GNCs from the standpoint of church stuff should never be allowed near school stuff will stir up resentment. But attacking it on the grounds of its publicly stated attitude toward children moves the discussion away from the realm of the Culture Wars and in the direction of those tactics which nobody is particularly keen to defend: self-esteem crippling and psychological bullying. Once people ceased rallying to defend an increasingly skeezylooking cause, we turned our attention to what could be done at the school-administration level. We kept up a correspondence with the superintendent and addressed the school board at its final meeting. To us, the issue seemed pretty clear-cut: these people are encouraging children to think of their classmates as sub-human, and so they shouldnt
I was aghast that any organization so explicitly devoted to the emotional bullying of children would not only be allowed to exist in our schools, but was apparently thriving there.
Our schools are so underfunded that they simply cant protect themselves, and the GNC presses that fact to its advantage.
be allowed anywhere near a school. It seemed like it would be easy to get them out of the Castro Valley School District. And thats where lesson three comes in. It isnt. Three years ago, when the GNCs first elbowed their way into the district, the superintendent fought the encroachment and actually took the Child Evangelism Foundation to court. Thousands upon thousands of dollars later, the district lost and the GNC haughtily enjoyed the spoils of its legal muscle: a harvest of children, willingly given. In California, school funding is in a dire state, so the idea of spending more money to fight the GNC in yet another likely futile court case is something the district is rightly cautious of. It is a horridly tragic thing to have to write, but our schools are so underfunded that they simply cant protect themselves, and the GNC, with the sure predatory instinct of a wolf pack, presses that fact to its advantage. The 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Good News Clubs v. Milford Central School, which upholds the rights of GNCs to exist in public schools, is too much for a single district to summon the resources to combat. Thus, if a GNC wants to set up shop at a public school, there is pretty much nothing that can stop them. So, for those who treasure notions of standing up before the Supreme Court and declaring, No, sir! I defend the children and justice! you should probably start moderating your expectations now. And so we did. If the club must be tolerated after school, we could at least try to ensure that they not be allowed to advertise in any way during school hours on school grounds. We made the case that the flyers for the club, which school volunteers place in the packets that go home with the children every week, should be barred from such distribution. The trick is that, according to the district, you cant bar an organization from distributing material based on that organizations beliefs. Im skeptical about that claim. I doubt if the KKK would get very far in their attempts to insert a Come to our Ku Klux Klan Barbeque! Itll be Racist-astic! flyer into the kids take-home packets, but its the reigning rationalization for allowing the club access to the schools messaging methods. Largely, then, club-infected schools have the choice between letting the flyers go into the take-home packets or stopping the distribution of all flyers. For the Good News Club, its a great position to be in. If they are allowed to distribute their flyers, then they appear to have official school sanction in the eyes of the children. And if theyre not allowed, they can point to their opponents and say, Look at those cold-hearted bastards who have made all of the other clubs sufferjust to keep our innocent morality-boosting group from sending out a few modest fliers. Or at least that would be the position theyd be in if the public werent prepared for the tussle by an information campaign ahead of time. As it stands now, the GNC has a choice between giving up the flyers and thereby gaining the ability to perhaps settle unobtrusively into the muck again, or raising a fuss over them and risking even closer scrutiny of their universally awful beliefs and practices. The rank and file believers in the movement would doubtless choose the latter, thinking that they have nothing to hide, but long experience has taught the puppet masters controlling CEF strategy that such publicity can only work against their best interests. And thats how its worked out for us. Even though the district hasnt, as far as Ive been able to ascertain, taken steps to amend their distribution policies, the flyers have yet to surface again in the elementary school attended by the girl who received the infamous note under her backpack. Seemingly, the GNC has pulled them of their own accord. And thats the biggest lesson of all in the months-long story of our grapple with them. Change is an ion engine. One of the most exciting ideas in space travel is to use tiny beams of particles to act as thrusters; each little escaped ion adds a fraction of a boost to the speed of the vessel until, ion by ion, it hurtles through the galaxy at thousands of miles an hour. Minute drops of energy, delivered regularly enough, can produce huge results. We cant wipe out the clubs in one fell swoop just yet, but we can make them so highly doubt their ability to function in a public arena that they will concede the field on matters of ever greater import. Giving way on their flyers today will set a precedent for future such skin-saving timidity, until their recruiting resources are whittled away so much that somebody at the CEF gets tired of all the backsliding and strikes out on some bold gesture to regain momentum. And when that gesture is made, and when it shows itself to be as truly appalling as it must be, well be waiting and ready hundreds of thousands of parents the country over, poised to bring our case before the Supreme Court once more. And this time, well win.
Dale DeBakcsys blog, Twilight of the Nearly Everything, is at SkepticFreethought.com. Hes also a regular contributor to The Freethinker (Freethinker.co.uk) and Philosophy Now (PhilosophyNow.org).
Endnotes 1. http://tinyurl.com/LetterToEditor-April23 2. http://tinyurl.com/LetterToEditor-May1 3. http://tinyurl.com/LetterToEditor-May15 4. http://tinyurl.com/LetterToEditor-May8
If a GNC wants to set up shop at a public school, there is pretty much nothing that can stop them.
How Parents, Teachers, and Administrators
Can Help Young Atheists
by Hemant Mehta
He surveyed the teachers who had to cut class short to make room for the monthly Bible lessons and discovered that several of them felt as he did.
early a third of Americans under the age of 30 have no religious affiliation, the highest in any recorded generation. In this growing segment of nones are many young Atheists who have faced prejudice in their high schools and communities for standing up for their constitutional right of freedom from religion. In the freethought community, the focus has largely been on what these young Atheists themselves can do to form their clubs, promote their personal views, or defend separation of church and state. Just as important, however, is the support they get from the adults in their lives: their parents, teachers, and school administrators. The Young Atheists Survival Guide: Helping Secular Students Thrive is the latest book by Hemant Mehta. He discusses how to deal with teachers and administrators who promote faith in public schools, how to handle the peer pressure and ostracism that may come with being an outspoken Atheist, and how to create successful student groups that encourage conversation over conversion. This excerpt from the book shows how one doesnt even have to be an Atheist to support non-religious students in pubic schools.
The head of the states Christian Family Association believed the Constitution needed to take a back seat to his faith.
Many of the students I profile in the book have had to struggle just to get their schools to follow the law when it comes to church/state separation. But perhaps nobody had it as bad as Michael Chandler. Michael was in a district where violations of church/state separation werent just occasional occurrences; they were literally a part of the schedule. What makes his story especially interesting is that Michael wasnt a student at the school. He was one of the administrators. For 25 years, he worked in the DeKalb County School District in Stone Mountain, Georgia, just northeast of Atlanta. He spent the first 12 years as a teacher before being appointed as assistant principal of Valley Head High School (actually a K-12 school) in 1985. One of his first tasks, assigned to him by the principal, was to schedule a time for the Ponderosa Bible Camp to come into the classrooms and teach Bible lessons. Even though Michael pointed out the potential legal issues to his boss, he was told this was a tradition and it would continue, so Michael did as he was told. This was a new job, after all, and he didnt want to seem too pushy. Every month, for the rest of the school year, a portion of academic time was set aside for religious indoctrination at the hands of the Christian group. Students who wished to be excused had the option of sitting in the hallway or going to the principals office. No matter which option students choseif they chose one at all the other students were bound to criticize, Hemant Mehta ostracize, and demonize them. Michael didnt realize how bad things were for kids who chose not to participate until he sat down with two new transfer students. One day during my second year at Valley Head I was enrolling two little girls in school. They were in third or fourth grade. These two girls came from another school in the same system so they were aware of how things worked in DeKalb County. I finished and I asked them if they had any questions. One girl looked at me and asked, Do you have Bible stories in this school? I said, Im afraid we do. Why do you ask? Tears ran from that little girls big brown eyes. She teared up and said, At my other school I had to sit in the hall and the kids were mean to me. That was a number of years ago, but I can still see that little girls face today. She was harassed and intimidated because she was, at that point, a Jehovahs Witness, and her mom didnt want her listening to the Bible stories. I looked in her eyes and decided that day to do something, or do what I could, to stop it. He surveyed the teachers who had to cut class short to make room for the monthly Bible lessons and discovered that several of them felt as he didthat religious proselytizing had no place in a public school. Michael took that information to his principal and a change was made: There would be no more Bible lessons for students in grades four through six. However, the principal said, students from kindergarten through third grade would continue them because they need their Bible stories. It wasnt good enough. Michael took his complaint to the district superintendent and, with his reputation on the line, got the district to stop the Bible lessons completely. It was a victory, but it fixed only one of many infractions in the district. Michael wasnt done yet. The Gideonsbest known for putting Bibles in hotel roomswere his next opponents. As you might expect, their goal was to get a copy of the Bible into as many hands as possible, including those of schoolchildren. For years, well-dressed representatives came to Valley Head, visiting the fifth through eleventh grade classrooms, handing copies of the New Testament to the children. If any student refused, the Gideons rep would say, Why not? You need this. It will save your soul. You need to take this home to your mother and father. Michael, again, spoke with his principal about the legal problems surrounding bringing religion into the classroom and, again, it worked. The Gideons were banished from the classrooms. But they didnt disappear entirely. Instead, they set up shop at a sidewalk across the street from the school, hoping to catch students as they left the building. Just to avoid the Biblethumpers, Michael made sure the buses for the youngest children were rerouted to pick them up from the back of the building. The arms race didnt stop there. One day, when the Gideons knew Michael would be out of the office, they went directly onto the buses to give the Bibles to children. Even Alabama says you cant do that, Michael said later. On another occasion the following fall, on a day warm enough that the windows on the buses were down, the Gideons threw Bibles through the windows in order to get them in the hands of students. Michael only found out what happened because he ran into a student the next day who had a cut lip as a result of being hit by one of the books. The Gideons kept at it for several years. When Michaels own son Jesse began fifth gradethe first grade level the Gideons paid special attention tohe came home with a New Testament. When pressed, Jesse said that he took it because he thought he had to. Michael couldnt believe it. The separation of church and state failed because the school gave him the impression [that accepting the Bible] was something he was supposed to doit had the school stamp of approval on it. It resulted in another argument with the principal, who told Michael, Youre going to hell because you dare question what Im doing. It was
14 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org
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On a day warm enough that the windows on the buses were down, the Gideons threw Bibles through the windows in order to get them in the hands of students.
1994. Michael had been in his administrative position for nine years. At that point, he began reaching out to attorneys who could help him file a lawsuit against the district. Of the 25 or so lawyers he contacted in the state of Alabama, not a single one accepted the case. It would hurt business too much to side with someone trying to get religion out of the classroom. Finally, he spoke with the ACLU. Its representatives told Michael to document everything, which he did for the next two years, videotaping instances of Christianity permeating into the public school curriculum and getting his colleagues to do the same. After all that time, what did Michael find? The D.A.R.E. drug-awareness program, mandatory for fifthgraders, included a Bible reading and minister-led devotional. (The teacher in charge curiously argued that the Bible verses werent religious in nature.) Local ministers at a Parent Teacher Organization meeting delivered two separate invocations. Jesses fifth-grade teacher made sure a Bible story was read aloud before the kids went to lunch. Homeroom teachers would pass out flyers advertising church events. Devotionals were recited over the loudspeakers before home football games, which Michael was required to attend as an administrator. Graduation services and mandatory school assemblies included prayers or Bible readings. On February 1, 1996, Michael finally filed his lawsuit against the district with the help of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the ACLU. Even though the countys attorney signed paperwork promising all religious activities would stop, they didnt. A member of the school board later referenced the lawsuit by saying that the majority ought to rule in cases like this and anybody who didnt like it could go return to wherever they came from. Michael wasnt sure how to take that. Ive lived here for 47 years. I have nowhere to go. So hes going to have to put up with me for a lot longer. The lowest point during the Chandler familys fight may have been that following October, when young Jesse went to eat lunch. By this time, students were aware that his father was trying to ban Christianity from the schools. As Jesse stepped into the cafeteria that dayand many others after thatnearly two hundred other students stood up to recite the Lords Prayer. This was hardly free exercise of religion; it was bullying. It was a verbal slap in the face to Jesses entire family. When Michael heard about the incident, he asked his son if everything was okay and if there was anything he could do. Jesse responded courageously, Im all right. As long as it doesnt bother me, theyre not winning. Eventually, though, Jesse began to eat lunch in a separate classroom instead of going back into the cafeteria. Michael, who also held teaching duties at his school, wasnt immune from the Christian students retaliation. According to one of his students, When he comes into the class, we stop whatever were doing and start talking loudly about the Bible. Those students would have been surprised to learn that Michael was a Christian, too. He just believed in the separation of church and state. Judge Ira DeMent finally told the school in March of 1997 to put a stop to all religious activities immediately. He reaffirmed that ruling later in the year. In his judgment, Judge DeMent delineated what the law did and didnt allow.1 What did it allow? Students could use religious textbooks in an objective way. They could pray or proselytize on their own time (not during class). They could make a reference to God in a speech as long as it didnt call for an audience response. They could announce meetings of religious clubs over the intercom. They could wear jewelry or clothing expressing their faith (appropriately). What students and teachers were not allowed to do was lead prayers during class time, graduation ceremonies, or over the intercom. They could not allow third parties (like the Gideons) to hand out Bibles on their property or during class time. Despite the ruling permitting private prayer and limited public acknowledgment of God, Christians were incensed. Dean Young, the head of the states Christian Family Association, believed the Constitution needed to take a back seat to his faith. It is a sad day in this state and nation when a single judge can force his opinion on the people of Alabama when the vast majority of the citizens in this state disagree with that opinionIf one federal judge can dictate to the people of this state how they cannot perform religious activities, we are not very far from the time when they will remove all religious rights of the people. Of course, the only activities that were banned were the ones that suggested school endorsement of religion or forced that religion upon students against their wishes. While the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected part of Judge DeMents ruling (thus allowing student-led prayers at graduation and over the intercom system), the Supreme Court later vacated that ruling in 2000 in Chandler v. Siegelman, forcing the Appeals court to reconsider its decision.2 It took well over a decade, but Michael ultimately prevailed.
Hemant Mehta is a high school math teacher in Chicago. He blogs at Patheos.com/Blogs/FriendlyAtheist. The Young Atheists Survival Guide is available on Amazon.com, as are his two other books, I Sold My Soul on eBay and The Friendly Atheist: Thoughts on the Role of Religion in Politics and the Media.
Endnotes 1. CaseLaw.FindLaw.com/US-11th-Circuit/1044189.html 2. CaseLaw.FindLaw.com/US-11th-Circuit/1181490.html
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Sunday Assembly
by Becky Garrison
Photo credits: Jack Davolio
The
Two British comedians have a vision to plant a godless congregation in every town, city, and village that wants one.
Sunday Assembly, London
he myth about there being no Atheists in foxholes has been disproved for some time. The current frontier (but hardly the final one) is Atheists in church pews and synagogues and temples and mosques. As more and more of them share their doubts openly, its becoming clear that many of them stick around because they still find value in the community aspect of their religion, even after they stop believing the doctrine. Last year, British comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans founded The Sunday Assembly as a godless congregation to celebrate life. Their motto is Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More. Sunday Assemblies are now popping up all over in the United States, England, Ireland, and Australia. Becky Garrison is a regular contributor to this magazine and to ReligionDispatches.com. On that site, she recently posted an interview with Jones and Evans, which we are reprinting here.
The Sunday Assembly was conceived by British comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans as a godless congregation that celebrates life. In just a few days on Indiegogo, theyve raised almost 24k (toward a 500k goal) to help plant Atheist churches in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, the United States, Canada, and beyond. They took some time from their busy touring schedule to chat via Skype about this accidental movement thats now becoming a global phenomenon.
If you start talking about living this one life as fully as possible, you can suddenly open the door very wide.
Is this how you envisioned Sunday Assembly playing out when you launched your first service in London in January? Pippa Evans: No, we didnt think it would take off this fast and that wed be touring around the world spreading the word of the Sunday Assembly. We thought this would take a lot longer to grow. London could be such a lonely place, and church has always played that role in bringing people together. So we assumed people would come, see it was a good time, and eventually we would start doing community things. Sanderson Jones: Given our background as comics, were used to trying things out and then if enough people come, you do it again. We thought wed give it an experiment and see what happens. Who were your influences and mentors in this venture? Evans: Well, I was inspired by church, having gone to church when I was younger. Jones: I had the idea in my head for some time. When Alain de Bottons book Religion for Atheists came out, I realized if I dont do this soon, then someone else will. So I might as well get a move on. Evans: We now hold our church in the same building as his School of Life. Jones: The difference between our two programs is that his has a lot more price tags. We want it to be free for people to enter. Also, were about building a community, not a business. What were the origins of the Sunday Assemblys Public Charter? Jones: We were going for a walk in the woods when we heard a voice that told us to go to a tree and dig it up. Like Joseph Smith? Evans: Yeah. Well, we wanted to write down what Sunday Assembly is all about. Also, we asked some people who come to Sunday Assembly what they thought and incorporated their thoughts. Jones: Some said it was too joyful. So we put the bit in there that says life is hard. We want to make sure this is a celebration of life which is the philosophy that undergirds our work. In a rather odd reversal, we now have hipster pastors dropping the f-bomb and comics working clean. Evans: Wed like to have children come to Sunday Assembly. Our oldest person is over 80 and our youngest person is under one. Jones: My show Taking Liberties got investigated by the police during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival a few years ago for being deemed as too obscene. But here wed like to have a service that appeals to the entire family. We realize we need to work on diversity. As a comic, you just want anyone who turns up. We dont want just people who look just like us. Evans: We need more ugly people to show up.
Pippa Evans
What gifts do comics bring to Sunday Assembly that one doesnt find in traditional church planters? Jones: No idea. Ive never met a church planter. I think weve learned things from putting on events that are certainly useful like knowing how to entertain a crowd and make sure they come back. Also, we know how to present an idea that you can package and promote. My career has been mostly massive self-promotion. Evans: We give those wanting to start church plants a crib sheet and advice on how to set up the services. Also, were only planting churches in places where people have indicated a desire for such a church plant. Once people have started their congregation, we give
We need to make sure we put in the structures that dont let men climb to the top and put themselves in charge.
We were going for a walk in the woods when we heard a voice that told us to go to a tree and dig it up.
them specific community management tools, turning all of the talent into the congregation and making it available to the wider community. Jones: We decided while the spotlight was on us, lets go a hundred percent and see what happens. If we can get the momentum to get this up and running, then we can help people launch their own services. If we can unite them using one website that were calling Sunday Assembly Everywhere, then we can scale it and make it really easy to set it up. Instead of us doing our own thing, our effort can be multiplied a million times over. Jones: Were also working on our branding. Humanism is such a wonderful idea, but its got some of the worst marketing that Ive ever seen around it. How does Sunday Assembly address the sexism and homophobia inherent in U.S. church culture? Evans: The fact that were a woman and a man running things helps. Jones: As we develop these assemblies, we realize we need to make sure we put in the structures that dont let men climb to the top and put themselves in charge. So far, though, Id say most people who want to get a Sunday Assembly started are women. Often in the U.S., a church plant becomes a vehicle for a charismatic pastor to launch their author/ speaker show. How do you envision Sunday Assembly becoming more than an entertaining service? Jones: Our guides for starting a Sunday Assembly are mostly resources and recommendations, not rules. One recommendation is that the host rotates. No host can do more than three Sunday Assemblies a year. This prevents someone from seeing Sunday Assembly as a chance where they get to stand up and deliver a talk once a month. We found that if people who come to speak happen to have books to sell, we dont find its appropriate for them to market their books in this venue. Were trying to weed out the person who wants to just get in and bang the drum. Also, if you look at our accreditation process, its a bit like a trade association. Lets say if someone starts getting a bit Islamophobic, we can tell them they have the freedom to say what they want but we wont post them on the website. Evans: And were very big on feedback. Jones: When we came up with our first set of Sunday Assembly guidelines, some people felt it looked a bit businesslike and controlling. We try to listen to criticism that we think is valid. Describe your relationship with the Humanist Community at Harvard. Jones: Both Greg Epstein and Chris Stedman have spoken at the Sunday Assembly in New York City. Greg has been so helpful to us as a
Sanderson Jones
Launching a crowd-funding campaign to raise 500,000 sounds like mega-church-pastor money. Jones: Were trying to build a series of tools so that not tens or hundreds but thousands of congregations can be started. The bulk of this money is to build the digital platform, and this amount is what it costs to build and maintain comparable international platforms for a two-year period. Once we raise this money, we can build this digital platform that will make it easy for people to meet up with people in their area, start their own community, and grow their community virally. Evans: This has become an international organization so quickly. We were sort of okay running Sunday Assembly from our bedrooms, but international movements cant be done by emails at three in the morning anymore.
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Some said it was too joyful. So we put the bit in there that says life is hard.
sounding board and advice-giver. He is great. How do you address concerns that by calling this a church, you may be giving people the impression that Sunday Assembly is equipped to provide actual pastoral care? Jones: We have always said that Sunday Assembly is a phased growth into a full, church-like structure. At Sunday Assembly London we are going to try to go weekly in 2014, and we are adding the services that you get at church. Pastoral care will first come in the form of small groups, with more serious problems being passed on to relevant service providers. However, we want to take care of the whole person. Since launching the first Sunday Assembly in New York City on June 30, 2013, this group experienced some growing pains with some the board of directors choosing to form their own group called The Godless Revival. Your thoughts? Jones: Its my understanding that the chief split is between those who are more on the Atheist side of the fence, and then those who want to have a more inclusive message. This division has meant that the inclusive contingent resigned from the board. This then led the remaining gang to start a new group called The Godless Revival. Obviously, I think it is very sad that this has happened but, ultimately, it is for the benefit of the community. One day, I hope there will soon be communities for every different type of Atheist, agnostic, and humanist. We are only one flavor of ice cream, and one day we hope therell be congregations for every godless palate. Whats your response to those who say that by calling this a church, youre making Atheism into a religion? Jones: I think religion has become associated with some certain practices, which, because people dont like religion, they think that all of the things associated with it are bad. But thats not the case. There are loads of things which it does that are not bad in and of themselves, but theyve become guilty by association. The big difference is theres no supernatural in our thing. How does Sunday Assembly bring together like-minded liberal Christians who no longer believe in the supernatural or worship a Father God, but like church community with humanists/Atheists in a quest to live an authentic life? Jones: Weve got some people who love the Sunday Assembly who fit that description. If you start talking about living this one life as fully as possible, you can suddenly open the door very wide. Id like to make this as un-Atheistic as possible. Atheism is boring. Were both post-religious. Evans: We dont check anyones beliefs at the door but seek out people who are just happy to be alive. To learn more, go to SundayAssembly.com.
Becky Garrison is a storyteller and religious satirist. Her seven books include Roger Williams Little Book of Virtues and Red and Blue God, Black and Blue Church (a Publishers Weekly Starred Review). Her website is BeckyGarrison.com and shes on Twitter (@Becky_Garrison).
1ST QUARTER 2014
Secularisms Pope:
A Misleading Misunderstanding
by David Orenstein, Ph.D.
To do good works for the sake of the work without any reward is called humanism.
ews reports in recent months have shown that Pope Francis is focusing rather passionately on remaking the Roman Catholic Church into a less exclusive and perhaps a bit more open and humanely focused entity. At the same time, he is making statements that the faithful and the Church itself should be less obsessed with bedroom topics and personal lifestyle choices and focus on charity work instead.
Even if the Pope appears as a change agent, remember that the real change must call for the eradication of the Churchs doctrine, at least as it confronts secular society.
The Pope recently reached out to Atheist journalist Eugenio Scalfari and has even suggested that Atheists can indeed be moral people (but we knew this already). Hes now gone on record bemoaning the Churchs past obsession with rooting out homosexuality (what a relief to all those gay priests and LGBTQ parishioners alike) and has asked the faithful to turn to good works (lets forget about waterboarding being invented by the Church during the Spanish Inquisition and, more recently, bishops attempting to stop the Affordable Health Care Act from becoming law). These papal actions seem on the surface to put even those who objectify the Church at ease a bit. The Pontiff s rather liberal statements appear like a 180-degree turn for the papacy and the institution of the Church alike. And perhaps reform is needed. But why now? Well, for starters and based on survey data, although there are an estimated 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide, there are far fewer Catholics who view the Church as having any relevance in their day-to-day lives. In the United States, a large majority of American Catholics find the Church philosophically out of step with the modern world.
It wasnt until 1992 that Pope John Paul II apologized to Galileo.

So this apparent liberalization is really nothing more than what is clearly the secular world again changing the religious institution by literally dragging it into a new century and a new way to see and be seen. Church progressif thats what we wish to call itis not really defined by it moving forward on its own merits so much as it is defined by adapting to the cultural trends, mores, and beliefs in a given society. Otherwise, the Church would still be telling people rather seriously that the Earth is the center of the solar system and that biological evolution isnt real. Of course, in these instances, they tried first to stifle the guy who made the claims about the orbit of the earth and it wasnt until 1992 that Pope John Paul II apologized to Galileo. (You try holding your breath for 350 years!) To this day, the Churchs position on evolution is that it is real, but god created it and he is the first cause of the Big Bang. The evidence for supernatural creation is not just lacking but is totally absentregardless of what Creationists may say or write. Its just not science. Its important to note that this Pope is a Jesuit, meaning that he is a member of the Society of Jesus, a religious order that is itself a modern adaptation to change. The Jesuit order didnt exist until after the earlier Protestant Reformation. At that point in history, a call to bring enlightenment to Catholics was mandated by Pope Paul III. So an educated and enlightened priestly class was born to attest that the Church wasnt just about total authority, prayer, idol-worship, and liturgy even though up until that time (and today still) it was exactly that. The Jesuits are an evangelical order and also the only Catholic priestly order that takes a special pledge of obedience to the Pope. But we must remember that the Roman Catholic Church is still a very conservative church whose doctrine, theology, and dogma of faith are substantial, misogynistic, myopic, and anti-humanistic. Here are some of its highlights, both past and present: Original sin You are born dirty, bad and a sinner. Contraception No usage ever, even to avoid sickness, STDs, or pregnancy. Abortion Every fetus must be brought to term, no matter its actual health or viability. Women Second class by virtue of gender, cannot be priests, just nuns and lay leaders Homosexuality A sin, although Jesus never mentions it Indulgences Pay the church in cash for your sins and go to heaven. Witch hunts Religion is superstition, and authoritative religion knows no bounds. Political involvement Constantly attempting to enact church doctrine in secular society through political lobbying Clerical celibacy Why, for goodness sake? Really? Satan There is a devil and he wants your soul. Heaven and Hell (depending on how good you are) either way, living forever would be terrible, really. Obedience and martyrdom Best way to control the poor and keep a flock. If your station in life is bad, just wait to be rewarded in the next life. Prayer Pray for change, pray for external help, dont really try to change anything yourself. No one doubts that there are Catholics and people of other faiths who do good work to benefit humanity. People of all faiths feed the poor, help the sick, and sincerely try to heal the world in numerous ways. However, we do know that such good works can be done without religious faith and without reasons based on superstition, obedience to sky gods, and access to heaven. To do good works for the sake of the work without any reward is called humanism, not religion. There are also Church leaders of a priestly class who have attempted to lead social revolutions. In modern times, Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador paid for his service with his life in 1980, and 92-year-old Daniel Berrigan, is a radical priest still calling for socialist revolution in the name of Jesus. Both men were and remain outsiders in Church hierarchy. Both men are also Jesuits. But while we should accept the proposed and attempted changes Pope Francis is suggesting, we must remember that this is a drop of paint on large wall. In fact, it is a wall which really doesnt need to exist at all. It is a non-weight-bearing wall, like all faith is non-supportive of humanitys ultimate goal to live in peace and harmony. So even if the Pope appears as a change agent, remember that the real change must call for the eradication of the churchs doctrine, at least as it confronts secular society, and not just a refocus of doctrine and Church teaching.
David Orenstein, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor of Anthropology and Department Chairperson at Medgar Evers College (CUNY). A lifelong Atheist, he is an international speaker on humanist issues. This article was adapted from a post on his blog, PaleoLibrarian.info.
This apparent liberalization is really nothing more than what is clearly the secular world again changing the religious institution by literally dragging it into a new century.
SCIENCE INTERVIEW SERIES
The Science of Faith Part One

by Ce Atkins
J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D.
Introduction
True or false: its natural to believe in god. The well-known maxim everyones born an Atheist implies that its not. In his book Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith, J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D., demonstrates that it is natural to believe in god. But he doesnt take issue with the idea that everyones born an Atheist. In Part One of our interview with Thomson, he explains to American Atheist contributor Ce Atkins how its really both.
You say that religion is a by-product of innate biological mechanisms. What do you mean by that? A lot of people, when they hear the word by-product, become dubious because they think that sounds weak. How could something so powerful like religion be a by-product? I think thats contributed to the school of thought that hypothesizes that group selection fosters the existence of religion. Because religion has been such a powerful and extraordinary force in human history, they reason, something that powerful must come from powerful reasons, and the word by-product sounds puny. But we need to keep in mind that reading and writing are byproducts of biological mechanisms. They are cultural creations built with biological mechanisms that evolved originally for other purposes. Reading and writing are vision, language, and fine motor skills, all of which evolved originally for other purposes. We brought them together in this cultural invention we call reading and writing. I doubt anyone would underestimate the power that reading, writing, and literacy had on the human species. Religion is also a cultural creation that builds on, or is a by-product of, biological mechanisms that originally evolved for other purposes. Religion is not directly a biological adaptation itself. Would you touch on some of these mechanisms? I think one can make a list of about 25 to 30 mechanisms that are utilized to create, sustain, and spread religious beliefs. A nice mnemonic to help remember seven of the prominent mechanisms is DAAMM IT or, if you are an engineer, DAAM MIT. Those mechanisms are: decoupled
cognition, attachment, agency detection, moral inferential systems, a minimally counter-intuitive world, intentionality, and theory of mind. These are fancy names for things that we take for granted because theyre common, everyday mechanisms that we use to negotiate our social world. Lets start with decoupled cognition, which means that I can decouple my cognition from time and place. We can think about a conversation that were going to have with someone in the future and we can also remember conversations weve had with someone in the past. We can have a complex social conversation with an unseen other. We do this all the time. For example, you and I are doing this interview and concentrating on it right now. But I guarantee we will also, at several moments in this conversation, think about a personal interaction that is disconnected from this time and place, like a conversation we must have next week or one we had last week. We take that ability for granted, but its actually a pretty unique piece of human cognitive software. And it illustrates how religions take everyday social mechanisms and utilize them so we can have a conversation with an unseen other, a dead ancestor, or a god. All the beliefs that go into religions, no matter how bizarre they seem, are actually one small step from everyday psychological mechanisms. I think decoupled cognition is a nice way to illustrate that. Right now, I could ask you to imagine having a conversation with President Obama. We have the ability to do that instantly. We can imagine a conversation where we ask for something from him and promise to give him something in return. Thats an appeal to someone much higher on the hierarchy than you or I. Its appealing to an authority and its promising
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reciprocityreciprocal altruism. Ill do something for you if you do something for me. You can see that its just one more small step to praying to a god and asking him for something or to talking to a dead ancestor. Similarly, all of us who have had a loved one die can very easily call them up in our minds and imagine a conversation with them. Thats another example of decoupled cognition. To me, one of the most interesting parts of decoupled cognition is that its built into the very anatomy of the brain. We can process our own thoughts and the thoughts and feelings of others in the medial aspect of our frontal lobes, the midline. But we process our bodies, and our perception of other peoples bodies, in the lateral cortex. So the mind/body split is built into the very architecture of our brains. We dont see minds as connected to bodies. Thats the default setting of our brains. But obviously they are. As Steven Pinker says, the mind is what the brain does. That separation of mind and body makes it very easy to think about souls. What are souls? Souls are just minds disconnected from the body. For me to think ahead about this interview, I might think about what questions you may ask. I can do that without you literally sitting in front of me. I can have a complex interaction with you in my mind before Ive met you or talked to you directly. I can imagine a conversation with someone Ive never met. So that leads right into praying to a god, asking a god for advice, and the god speaking to you? And weve never met god nor seen his picture. But thats not unusual. We have conversations all the time with people weve never met and people we are going to meet in the future. Can you speak to other mechanisms in DAAMM IT? Think about it like vision. Were not conscious of the myriad adaptations that go into vision. We just experience vision in all its threedimensional splendor. But there are very specific mechanisms. There are color detectors, edge detectors, movement detectors, and many specific mechanisms. Anything that you view is originally an upside-down, two-dimensional image on your retina. A complex array of machinery converts that into the three-dimensional image that you see. When I refer to these mechanisms, again, its not just a single mechanism, its multiple mechanisms at play. But we experience it as a single whole. What Im trying to do is to break it down into its component parts while keeping in mind that all these mechanisms are operating simultaneously. Lets go back to the example of making a request to President Obama. We have social hierarchies, we have authority figures, and we are all more deferential to authority than we care to believe. Remember the famous Stanley Milgram experiments in which people gave lethal electric shocks to an errant subject on the order of an authority? The victim was an actor and no electric shocks were actually given, but it remains one of the most sobering and shocking experiments in social psychology. We have automatic behavior mechanisms in the face of authority, like submissiveness, which come into play. So those become operable in the face of religious authority? Yes. The ultimate religious authority is god, but then there are his messengers, agents of what is known as the mere messenger strategy. The mere messenger exercises authority, but without full responsibility. It is a brilliant strategy deployed by every priest, nun, preacher, and used car salesman. Id like to give you a bigger discount on this five-year-old Toyota, but I need to check with the boss. After going into the back room and smoking a cigarette, he comes out and says sadly, Sorry, but the boss wont budge. The Pope is just the mere messenger for god. He commands authority, but shirks full responsibility. Can you speak to the attachment mechanism? The basic mammalian attachment mechanism that we have was originally the mother-infant bond. Its a caretaking mechanism. Humans
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also use that attachment mechanism in other relationships, like fatherinfant, close friendships, and romantic partners. We have a fundamental attachment system that religion harnesses beautifully. The JudeoChristian god is a parent, a supernormal parent. The Catholic Church preys on our kin attachment mechanisms. The pope is the holy father, the priests are brothers, and the nuns are sisters. One of my favorites examples of religions use of the attachment mechanism can be seen in two-year-olds. A distressed two-year-old will walk over to you, look up, extend their arms towards you, and beseech you to pick them up. Thats one visible display of the basic attachment mechanism. If you attend a Pentecostal worship service, what do you see? The congregants hands are outstretched above their heads. Theyre beseeching god, the parent, to pick them up. Theyre expressing the fundamental attachment mechanism. Another biological mechanism that religion exploits is agency detection. We have what are called hyperactive agency detection mechanisms, or HADD. If we hear a door slam, we startle and assume its human agency until proven otherwise. We will mistake a shadow for a burglar, but never a burglar for a shadow. We over-read agency, and we especially over-read human agency. If we look at a computer screen and one circle is moving towards another circle, we think of it as literally one circle chasing the other. We can very easily over-read agency and intention. And that tendency is a survival mechanism? Yes. Think about the smoke detector in your home. The steam from boiling water can set if off. A false positive is noisy and inconvenient, but a false negative, a fire where the smoke detector fails to go off, is deadly. So we have a low threshold that is biased towards false positives, because if the rustling in the leaves is just the wind, and weve been startled and frightened, thats momentarily inconvenient. But if the rustling in the leaves is a predator, and were not paying attention to it, were dead CONTINUED PAGE 31
All of the Good, None of the God
Part Two: Uganda

by Conor Robinson
Nursery students at Kasese Humanist Primary School
athfinders Project is a year-long international service trip sponsored by the Foundation Beyond Belief, a non-profit organization with the mission to focus, encourage, and demonstrate the generosity and compassion of secular humanists. Through the project four young Atheist leaders are completing clean water, education, human rights, and environmental conservation projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These projects will give the volunteers an opportunity to engage in dialogue across religious, cultural, and ethnic boundaries, as well as to evaluate countries and partner organizations with the ultimate goal of selecting one site for launching the Humanist Service Corps. American Atheist is following them as they do good for the world, not for god. In Part One, Conor Robinson, a 2010 graduate of Yale University and the projects director, wrote about the groups experience in Cambodia. In Part Two, he takes us to the towns of Kasese and Kamuli in Uganda, where they volunteered as school teachers.
The national curriculum hides the existence of most of the worlds faiths and explicitly teaches that nonreligious people are bad people.
Although the Constitution says Uganda shall adopt no State religion, all government schools are religious.
In Uganda and other parts of Africa, every white person is a muzungu. The word either comes from the Kiswahili language, where zungu means spinning in place, like the dazed and confused Europeans who first set foot on the continent, or from the Bantu language, where wachizungu means aimless wanderer, again like the first explorers who inevitably got lost on African land. Nowadays, the word muzungu is used to describe anyone who is not black, but it has alternate meanings too, which are telling. East Africans, for example, use muzungu to refer to any rich person, regardless of skin color. But in Uganda, muzungu might as well mean money. Ugandan children get excited any time they see a muzungu. Whenever we walked past young ones, they insistently shouted, Muzungu! until we turned around so they could wave to us enthusiastically. They were often the same children who fought with each other to hold our hands as we walked from house to house, visiting the families of our students. The same children who, when we were stationary, stroked our arms and inspected every hair and freckle. Some of this is nothing more than curiosity and interest in a rare sight, but its also because they believe we have money and they think we will
Kasese students give it to them. Our colleagues offered by way of explanation that the children wanted to touch us because the muzungu have money. This perception is not limited to children, although it takes slightly different forms in adolescence and adulthood. Whereas the children approach with their hands out and demand what we are carrying or whatever is in our pockets (I want that ball or Give me my money, for example), our fellow teachers ask us for tuition money for themselves or the children. Others ask us to purchase computers for them or sponsor their soccer teams. To be fair, it is true that we are rich in comparison to our Ugandan colleagues and students. Our money is a factor not only in our ability to travel, but also in the willingness of the schools to host us. Indeed, many organizations only accept volunteers because of the funds they bring. And our cash does make a difference. At Kasese Humanist Primary School, our presence meant more chalk, pens, pencils, notebooks, soccer balls, netball balls, and a volleyball netthings that benefited all students. Similarly, when we arrived in Kamuli, we found out that the Mustard Seed Secondary School computer lab lacked a CD/DVD drive with disc-writing capability. The national exam for the practical computers course was only three weeks away, and in order to pass, each student is required to burn a data disc. The computer teacher had been begging the administration to buy a disc drive for months. We bought one for
The Pathfinders with Kasese Humanist Primary School Director Robert (center).
In secondary school, the Christian religious education curriculum teaches students that moral behavior is inseparable from religiosity.
We were surprised to find that our interest in understanding others through their beliefs was regarded as strange.
them our first weekend in town. So it was, at least in part, because of our budget that we were able to produce these tangible outcomes. But our impact in Kasese and Kamuli cannot be measured in dollars, cents, or Ugandan shillings. Across Kasese Humanist Primary School and Mustard Seed Secondary School, we collectively spent nearly 1,000 classroom hours teaching English, computers, science, religious education, and math. In her computers classes, Michelle exposed students to desktops, laptops, and the Internet for the first time. Ben used his enthusiasm and vast knowledge of experiments to rescue students from the tedium of rote memorization and opened their eyes to the wonder of scientific discovery. Wendy helped her students, who had had a lifetime of classes fostering religious faith, see the value of a truly comparative religious education that fosters religious literacy animals that God created. In secondary school, the Christian religious education curriculum teaches students that moral behavior is inseparable from religiosity, while the English curriculum, for instance, uses propagandistic texts as reading-comprehension passages. The instructional emphasis on rote memorization over critical thinking only exacerbates the problem. For almost the entirety of their educational careers, Ugandan students are never challenged to examine their assumptions about themselves, the world, and others. They never come to understand the value in exploring differences because difference is scorned rather than celebrated. Tolerance and empathy arent merely overlooked, they are actively discouraged. Indeed, the national curriculum hides the existence of most of the worlds faiths
Conor Robinson warming up students in PE class
and tolerance. For my part, I gave students some of the first systematic reading instruction and reading intervention they had ever received. I also demonstrated several high-impact teaching methods that were easy for my colleagues to implement. But the most important work we did was outside the classroom. When we arrived in Uganda, we were surprised to find that our interest in understanding others through their beliefs was regarded as strange. First at Kasese Humanist Primary School and then at Mustard Seed Secondary School, we discovered that the students valued an education about the natural world, but did not feel the need to learn about each other. Having seen the Ugandan curriculum up close, we now know why. Although the Constitution says Uganda shall adopt no State religion, all government schools are religious. Moreover, the religious education curriculum overtly indoctrinates students, while the curriculum for every other subject reinforces the privileged position of religion in Ugandan society and politics. For example, the Religious Education curriculum in primary school requires students to identify their savior and their creator, and the science curriculum asks students to draw, label, or identify
and explicitly teaches that nonreligious people are bad people. Our primary and secondary school students expressed skepticism when we explained that there are religions which not only worshipped deities other than God/Allah, but even multiple deities. In more than one way, we were able to serve as a living counterexample to the odious elements of Ugandas curriculum. The students were able to see that we are Atheists with a knowledge and interest in world religions. They were able to see that we are good people. Most importantly, they were able to see our desire to learn from others precisely because they are different. We engaged directly with the students, their families, and their communities, trying to glean all we could from them in the short time we had. And the truth is, the Ugandans taught us lessons from the moment we stepped off the plane in Entebbe on September 11 to the time we boarded the plane for Ghana two months later. Some of our first lessons in Uganda were in openness and warmth. Hospitality and generosity are built into the very vernacular in Uganda; the most common greeting in Kasese is, You are welcome, and it is meant literally. In Kamuli its, Well done. And we did feel truly
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Michelle (second from left), Ben (center), and Conor (far right) explore Kasese with Deputy Head Teacher Gideon (far left) and Director Robert (second from right). welcomed and appreciated, even by total strangers. For example, the Director of Kasese Humanist Primary School traveled eight hours by bus to pick us up from the airport and then accompanied us on the eight hour bus ride back to the school, where the teaching staff welcomed us not as volunteers, but as peers. The local families made us comfortable in their homes and their children continue to email us their questions about the subjects we taught. At an exhibition netball match between the female Members of Parliament and a Kasese club team, the politicians pulled us into the action. On our very first night in Kamuli, the Mustard Seed Secondary School staff welcomed us with a faculty dinner. The proprietor of our guest house in Kamuli was Ugandas former ambassador to France, and he took time out of his busy schedule to show us around and give us the history of the region.
to their backs. Students, we found out our first week in Kasese, keep hours that would make many American students blanch. Many students opt to live on campus so as to have more time for their studies. The teachers, obviously, must follow the same schedule, and some do so while continuing their own education. Because of all the hard work, there is a level of respect between Ugandan teachers and students that I have seldom seen elsewhere. Students can often be heard thanking teachers for their lessons, and teachers feel comfortable leaving classes alone for at least two periods a day, knowing that the students will lead each other in review sessions from their notes. Our female colleagues demonstrated what it means to remain upbeat in the face of all odds. They make the most of limited career options and are never cowed by gender dynamics that affect their lives daily. Dowries are still the norm in Uganda, and women are expected to repay their husbands for the bride price through their obeisant
The Pathfinders with KHPS staff at the Equator
The Pathfinders with their students in Kasese The secondary-school students asked excellent questions about American culture and politics, and the faces of random people on the street lit up when they discovered we were teachers. Time and time again, the residents of Uganda showed us how to be gracious hosts. Knowing how it feels to be welcomed in such a way, I dont see how we could fail to incorporate more warmth and generosity into our own interactions with others from around the world. The Ugandans also taught us about diligence and hard work. Women work the fields and the markets with newborn babies swaddled
behavior for the duration of the marriage. The results are predictable: because of the perceived debt, Ugandan women remain in abusive relationships. Domestic abuse statistics are daunting. Even outside the confines of any relationship, Ugandan women are expected to be deferential to men. They serve food to them, pour water for them to wash their hands, and kneel when greeting them. These are simply the ways that women show them the respect they are due because they are menand for no other reason. For their part, men are not expected to show respect for women, and yet these women deserve incredible respect. As we encounter obstacles in our travels and in our own lives, I hope we are able to keep them in perspective and learn from the intelligence, determination, optimism, and humor demonstrated by our female colleagues in these hostile conditions. I have no doubt that we will continue to discover even more lessons from our experiences here. The beautiful and recursive paradox of Pathfinders Project in Uganda was that by teaching, we put ourselves in the best position to be taught. Because we wholeheartedly committed ourselves to learning from others, we were able to teach, by example, the most important thing any student could ever learn. The next issue of American Atheist will feature highlights from the Pathfinders journey in Ghana. In the meantime, follow each of them on their blogs at PathfindersProject.com and visit their Facebook page at Facebook.com/PathfindersProject.
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Gideon Bibles Make Room for Atheist Books

Why state parks in Georgia are giving drawer space to both
by Ed Buckner, Ph.D.
Left: The Skeptic's Annotated Bible now keeps company with Gideon Bibles in Georgia's state park cabins. Opposite page, top to bottom: New roommates; Steve Wells, co-publisher of The Skeptic's Annotated Bible; the original nine Bibles in the three-bedroom cabin; Jeff Dore of Atlanta's WSBTV reporting on the arrival of the Atheist books
his is the story of an impromptu vacation that evolved into an international news event and, quite possibly, a rest-of-my-life campaignand, for once, I was not even trying to attract publicity. My wife, Diane, our son, Michael, and I (all Life Members of American Atheists) have long been big fans of state and national parks and have visited most of Georgias 62 state parks. Long ago, when I was an employee of the State of Georgia (and Michael was a toddlerhes now in his forties), we often stayed in state park cabins when I traveled on business. These days, we visit parks mostly on day trips and only rarely stay overnight. When Michael mentioned last spring that he had a three-day weekend around the time of his birthday, Diane and I jumped at the chance to celebrate by taking him to Amicalola Falls State Park, north of Atlanta. It was fairly short notice, and they had no two-bedroom cabins left, so we took a three-bedroom, though it was more than we needed. During our stay, we discovered first one, then another Gideon Bible in our cabin. In their article about me, The Economist magazine said it best: Then he found another. And another, and another. The final tally was nine, enough for all but the largest families. Seven of these were the whole packageOld and New Testaments. Two, one of these in Spanish, were softcover editions of just the New Testament plus
Psalms and Proverbs. (That two were softcover may prove to be legally significant, as we shall soon see.) When we checked out at the end of our stay, I brought all nine books to the front desk. I stacked themone on top of the other for effect and advised the desk clerk that I objected to the books presence in a state park cabin. I also asked that management respond to my objection. I exchanged e-mails with the manager but alerted no media, hired no lawyers, notified no Atheist groups. A few weeks later, I received a call from Colonel Homer Bryson, Deputy Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which oversees all the state parks. He told me that DNR had directed all parks with lodging to remove the Bibles from the bedrooms, pending review from Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens. I was well pleased and slightly surprisedI foolishly thought Id quietly won. I guess it does pay to complain, I remember thinking. Sic transit gloria. The next day, Nathan Deal, the Governor of Georgia himself, announced at a televised news conference that all Bibles would be restored to all lodging in all parks. He added that materials from other religions and perspectives could also be donated to the park properties, but that he couldnt guarantee their safety. I want to re-emphasize that I was not seeking out church/state violations on my vacation. If there had been only one Bible in our cabin,
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Of course there are government-operated places where it is appropriate to have and display Bibles. They are called libraries.
we might not have even noticed it. But we ran across more and more Bibles in every room of the cabin as we put a few items in drawers for our brief stay. The number of Bibles is not really important to the constitutional problembut it certainly did improve the chance wed notice. Of course, Im always interested in Bibles, whether its an older King James Version that, for example, includes a reference to drinking ones own piss in Isaiah 36:12, or the newer version with the language cleaned up slightly. (The ones we found were all of the older variety.) All nine also included the infamousat least to AtheistsPsalm 14:1: The Fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. I have often been told by fundamentalists that Psalm 14:1 proves Im a fool (and it is repeated almost verbatim in Psalm 53:1, so Jehovah is apparently really serious about this). Im asked all the time, even by fellow Atheists, why I care about a Bible in a dresser drawer that I could, after all, just ignore. I remind them that some Christians use this bookespecially Psalm 14:1to try to bludgeon me (only metaphoricallyso far) with their claimed truth that Im an immoral fool whom they can therefore rightly oppose and control. When that book, which includes that outrageous verse, is placed in a way that appears to be endorsed by my states government, Im especially concerned. After the Governors proclamation of biblical harmlessness, the floodgates opened and my ordeal began. Woodalls Campground Management was one of many magazines to interview me, and it was in their article that all this was described as an ordeal for the Buckners. I never used that term. (Of course, Im enjoying all this immenselyeven as I am disappointed in my own state government.) It was especially delightful to see the fantastic support from Atheist organizations and publishers. American Atheists seized the opportunity to accept the Governors gracious invitation to use Georgias state parks to promote Atheist education and provided copies of John Hendersons Fear Faith Fact Fantasy and Ibn Warraqs Why I Am Not a Muslim. Steve and Phil Wells, the father-son writers and publishers of The Skeptics Annotated Bible, provided over 100 free copies of their beautiful, leather-bound book. Months later, the pair made a follow-up visit to Georgia to help verify that the Atheist books, including theirs, were still in the two parks where we had donated them earlier. Others paid attention, too. A Christian in a nearby suburb mailed me a Bible and the address of his church, declaring that he wanted me to know of biblical wisdom and Christian love. (I wondered if maybe he also wanted me to know he knew my not-readily-available home address, but I didnt ask.) It took a while, but eventually the state got around to sharing with us the rules for donating material to the parks. At first, they pretended that they had previously had no official policy regarding Gideon Bibles. But an open records request revealed that, for years, park management had had an operations manual known as the Red Book, a kind of bible for managing the parks, which lists the normal inventory of things to be placed in park bedrooms. And, yes, you guessed right. Bibles are on the list, but no other allegedly sacred text or Atheist book or reference work. The new policy specifies that donated books must be hardback, no thicker than two inches, and no bigger than eight by ten inches. And park staff will take no responsibility for protecting or replacing materials. Recall that two of the Bibles in our cabin were softcover. No word on whether management has complied with its own new rules and removed them yet. The policy also requires donors to deliver exactly the same number of books as there are bedrooms in any given park. Whether intentional or not, the hardcover requirement is a real problem for many Atheist donations. Its hard to come by large quantities of hardcover books by Madalyn Murray OHair, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and others. The Atlanta Freethought Society wanted
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The number of Bibles is not really important to the constitutional problembut it certainly did improve the chance wed notice.
our books would be placed within 24 hours. That trip was in August. In October, Steve and Phil Wells visited both parks and were able to confirm that the books are still there. I have since sent the attorney at Georgia DNR a letter formally requesting that the state change its apparently arbitrary policy and allow softcover donations. Next park? Probably Indian Springs State Park, the oldest in Georgia and one of the oldest in the U.S. My complaint and the governors subsequent actions have put me on local TV, national radio, and in news stories all over the nation and in Britain. I know I never saw all the blog entries and comments thereon, but I saw hundreds of them, mostly from the U.S. but also elsewhere. Thanks to those, and some incredibly nave media inquiries, I got to write and be quoted about things we Atheists know but others seem not to. Here is a small sample of what I got to say. Individual American citizens are completely free to hold with outrageous opinions such as that Atheists are fools, or not, of course. But state-owned parks must not favor Protestants or Catholics, Atheists, Mormons, or Muslims, thus protecting everyones religious liberty. The Georgia Constitution is actually clearer even than the U.S. Constitution: Separation of church and state. No money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, cult, or religious denomination or of any sectarian institution (Paragraph VII, Section II, Article I). and My personal goals in life include promoting Atheism, but I emphatically dont want state government to do so. Reading, talking, observing, taking courses, etc., led me, long ago, to the firm (though still slightly tentative) conclusion that humanity and our physical universe make much more sense if seen as strictly natural. Gods appear to be inventions of man and culture, not real. Id be happy to provide a reading list for anyone who wants to know more about Atheism. and Administrations come and go, in Washington and in Atlanta, but secularism has been one of the key American ideas since our founding in the 1780s. Violations of church/state are common but dangerous. and The U.S. is not a Christian nation, except in terms of a label a majority of its citizens use in various ways. It has not ever been a Christian nation, but is instead a free country, for Christians and everyone else. (A majority of us are females, but we dont refer to the U.S. as a female nation.) Anyone really interested in secularism and the false idea that we are or should be a Christian nation is invited to read [the book I wrote with my son, Michael,] In Freedom We Trust: An Atheist Guide to Religious Liberty. and It is quite silly to say that I am afraid of a Bible in dresser
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to donate some of its titles, such as Keith Parsons Why I Am Not a Christian and Carol Faulkenberrys An Uppity Old Atheist Womans Dictionary, but theyre softcover only. After collecting the books from American Atheists and SAB, Inc., we pasted appropriate labels in each copy. (We wanted to be sure that Governor Deal and Attorney General Olens get the credit they deserve for promoting Atheism). Then Diane and I took a road trip. Our first stop was Red Top Mountain State Park, near Cartersville, in northwest Georgia, where we were met by a state-level public relations spinmeister from the Department of Natural Resources. Also attending was Jeff Dore of Atlantas ABC affiliate WSB-TV to report the event. Then we drove another 100-plus miles to A. H. Stephens Historic Park in east Georgia. One reason for choosing this park was that it has only eight bedrooms, making a small number of books sufficient to meet the requirements. But another reason was that its main attraction is the restored home of the parks namesake, Alexander Hamilton Stephens, the Vice President of the Confederacya Christian nationwho, in his Cornerstone Address of 1861, declared that the guarantees of the U.S. Constitution rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a Government built upon it-when the storm came and the wind blew, it fell. Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition. This, our new Government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. The ironyapparently not lost on current park manager Andre McLendonis that the site is now overseen, and the history preserved, by a manager who is black. He was most cordial to us, assuring us that
drawer. I have dozens of Bibles in my house and would wager I know more about the Bible than most clergy, much less most lay Christians. What I am afraid ofand every Christian should also be afraid ofis giving any government the power to endorse religious viewpoints or to make religious decisions for citizens. and Of course there are government-operated places where it is appropriate to have and display Bibles. They are called librariesplaces where all manner of Atheist and religious books are and should be available for individual readers to check out as they see fit. and Our state parks dont provide dictionaries or even guides to the flora and fauna of Georgia in state park bedrooms. Any Protestant Christians who want to consult a King James Version of the Bible can certainly bring oneor even ninewith them when they visit our state parks. So, if it is not to provide the appearance of endorsing Protestant Christianity, what is the real reason for Bibles in state park bedrooms? I dont know how this will all finally play out; I may be delivering books for the rest of my life. If it all draws attention to Georgias wonderful state parks, Ill be delighted. But the Bibles? The right answerthe one I quietly suggested at the beginningis to keep state government and our state parks out of the religion business. The cultural and natural preservation and recreation mission of the parks is an important one, and I dont think turning state park cabins into battlegrounds over religion is wise or constitutional. I dont plan to give up on reaching the right outcome if a way can be found to do that. I hope not to tire of this fight till I win it, but Im tired already of being
played for and thought of as a foolby conservative, Bible-believing literalist Christians and by Georgias governor. Lawsuit(s) to come? Stay tuned. One way or another, this is a story to be continued
Ed Buckner is the past President of American Atheists and a current member of the Board of Directors. He and his son, Michael, are the coauthors of In Freedom We Trust: An Atheists Guide to Religious Liberty (Prometheus Books).
Another title thats joined Gideon Bibles in Georgias state parks.
THE SCIENCE OF FAITH CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 particularly if its a human predator. So we over-read agency and human agency because its better to be safe than sorry. Its easy for us to imagine an agent who is responsible for things, so a deity can become not just another agent, but a supernormal human agent. One of the chief arguments for the necessity of religion is that if it didnt exist, we would be unable to behave morally. There are different arguments against that view. One of the best is that our moral inferential systems are part of our biology. Moral inferential systems are adaptations to help us negotiate group living. Theyre hardwired in us. They operate automatically and, much of the time, unconsciously. Is there a module in the brain, a set of connected neurons that comprise the moral inferential system? Yes. Therere called moral inferential modules. What is utterly fascinating is the research that some child development psychologists are mapping in infants as young as three to six months of age. To me, these are some of the most beautiful child development experiments that have been done. Look at Paul Blooms article in the [May 5, 2010] New York Times Magazine, The Moral Life of Babies, or his new book, Just Babies, The Origins of Good and Evil. His wife, Carol Wynn, is one of the chief researchers. The research shows infants being able to discern between good and bad behavior, between helpful and not helpful behavior. These are pre-verbal infants making sophisticated social judgments about agents that they do not interact with directly, but that they observe. The research was so stunning that the first report of it was in Nature [March 25, 2010].
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Will it eventually be possible to map out the basic components of our innate moral inferential systems? I think were well on our way to mapping out our basic moral psychological mechanisms. Not only that, well be able to trace their development arcs and map out their manifestations in infancywhen they come online, so to speak. Another book on this topic is The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt. In the chapter on moral psychology, he lists five domains where we have these automatic mechanisms. We make judgments automatically about harm and care, fairness and reciprocity, in-groups and loyalty, authority and respect, and purity and sanctity. Language is an analogy often used. We have innate grammar, and then we learn our groups language. We have innate moral systems, and then we learn the cultural variation that is the morality of our tribe. Religions claim that if werent for them, we wouldnt have morality, and thats really not the situation. Religions, in a sense, profit from or exploit the fact that our moral systems are largely unconscious and automatic. All of us will have moral judgment, and we have a hard time saying why we make the decisions we do. We have to come up with the reasons afterwards.
In Part Two, Thomson will explain the neurobiology of ritual (the brain on religion), the original religion, how he talks to people who believe, and more. Ce Atkins is the creator and editor of PostGenetic.com. He proposes new cultural coding mechanisms for interfacing with exponentially accelerating complexity at the societal level.
How I Stood Up for My Right to Sit Down

by Grover Helton, age 10, as told to American Atheist
My dad said it was okay if I stood and said the pledge, and it was okay to not say the pledge. But avoiding my problems was unacceptable.
have never said the Pledge of Allegiance at my school because it says one nation under god and I dont believe in god. But I always stood up with the rest of the class. Then I didnt want to do that anymore. My dad has the original Pledge of Allegiance hanging on a wall at home, and I wanted to show it to my teacher. So I brought it downstairs one morning to take to school and my mom said, Are you sure you are allowed to take it? I told her that Dad said it was okay (he didnt). When I got to school, I showed it to my teacher and I tried to sit down during the pledge, but he made me stand up. The next day, I tried again. I told my teacher that I didnt want to say the pledge because it makes me feel uncomfortable and I sat down again. He told me to stand up and said to me I had to say the pledge because Im an American citizen. Then I tried going out in the hall during the pledge so that I didnt have to say it. At that point, I was trying to figure out what to do. When I told my dad, he said to me that it was okay if I stood and said the pledge, and it was okay to not say the pledge. But avoiding my problems was unacceptable. So I decided to talk to the principal. Before I did that, I went online and researched the court cases of kids sitting during the pledge. I put student pledge lawsuit into Google. There were a lot of links that came up. There was one from Brownsville, Pennsylvania, where a middle-school student was first punished for not
Only one classmate got mad at me for doing it, but I told him it was the law.
Young American Atheists Grover and Kelly Helton
standing during the pledge, but then she was allowed to sit. When I went to the principal, I said I was uncomfortable about saying the pledge and I spoke to my teacher, and he said I had to say the pledge. I said to the principal that I did some research on the law. Then the principal said I did not have to say the pledge, and it was his job to find the laws of school. Then he said to tell him about the research I did. I told him there was a girl in school and the girl was being punished for not standing during the pledge. So she sued the school and she won and that was how the law was made. The principal said, Ill speak with the teacher and let him know you are allowed to sit during the pledge. At recess, the teacher asked me what I was going to do when the pledge started, and I said to him I was going to sit down. Most people didnt care. Only one classmate got mad at me for doing it, but I told him it was the law. He eventually got over it. In the middle of all this, we had a parent-teacher conference. The teacher kept asking my dad if there was anything else he would like to discuss. He kept telling him no and only talked about my schoolwork. My dad always said if something didnt bother me enough to do something about it, then he wasnt going to do anything about it for me. He wanted to see if I could take care of it myself. Im glad I did it. I was nervous, but I was confident I was right and
I went online and researched the court cases of kids sitting during the pledge.
had the support of my dad. When my sister, Kelly, found out, she said if I didnt have to stand, then why did she? I told her she didnt have to. But I didnt know what would happen because she sits in the very front of class, right by the teacher. I sit in the back of class so when I first tried it, not many kids noticed. But she didnt have any problems on her first try. My dad asked her if she is the only one in her class who sits during the pledge. She said not anymore. Now there are three other kids who sit, too. Editors note:
Grover Helton is a fifth-grader in Louisville, Kentucky. His sister, Kelly, is in fourth grade. His dad is Jim Helton, American Atheists Regional Director for Kentucky. Hes still waiting to get his poster back from Grover. To read the article Grover showed his principal, go to TinyURL.com/ GroversResearch. The lawsuit referenced in the article is West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943). In it, the Supreme Court ruled that no official can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. Read the entire ruling at OpenJurist.org/319/ US/624.
Dads poster of the pre-god Pledge of Allegiance, which was made religious in 1954. He got it at EvolveFish.com.
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DOGMA WATCH
Religion has had an enormous impact on the world. In this series, Michael B. Paulkovich examines dogmas, myths, and religious notions, past and present.
by Michael B. Paulkovich
n the Bible, Hebrew law asserts its kosher food notions in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomyan early attempt at a healthy diet it seems, a sort of ancient Atkins. However, Mr. God administers convoluted instructions on how to separate the lawful foods from the prohibited. For instance, in Leviticus 11:3, he ordains that his subjects may ingest hooved animalsbut only when the hoof is cloven and only if they also chew their cud. I am not joking: cud. It thus implies that pigs are poison (no cud, no good). Leviticus 11:7 explicitly proscribes pork. This repeats in 11:26 and, again, in Deuteronomy 14:8. Yahweh would have been a total drag at a pig roast or football tailgate. Seems god could have taken pork off the menu just as effectively by stating, Eat not beasts that wallow in filth. Even better: Do not eat animals that might carry trichinosis. But then, omniscient god surely did not know what trichinosis wasyetor high blood pressure for that matter. The omniscient deity also thinks rabbits chew their cud (Deuteronomy 14:7).
in his description of forbidden foodstuff? Why didnt god, in all his omniscience and douchenozzlery, simply say, Do not eat flying squirrels or pygmy gliders? Moreover, why are we not allowed to eat four-footed flyers? Of course, those gliding mammals were unknown to the Near East writers of the Pentateuch. Perhaps the various authors were referring to mythical airborne animals of other ancient writings? Such winged quadrupeds include the gryphon, the Zu, and Bellerophons horse, Pegasus. The Bible, it seems to me, is pure baloney (another among gods porcine verboten, unless its all-beef). The engineer in me has compelled that I draw up a flow chart as a visual aid to the weary and righteous believer who wishes to, as it were, Eat At Yahwehs (See Figure 1). Even today, one can discover men and women of faith who believe such hooey to be the word of their wacky and fictional overlord, and
Fins and Scales and Flying Squirrels Tails Leviticus 11:9 permits consumption only of those piscine varieties that hath fins, and scales. So god is dolphin-friendly! The tasty meat of the shark is nutritious, but god damn it, forbidden by the totalitarian dictator the Hebrews dreamed up. Both Leviticus 11:12 and Deuteronomy 14:9 repeat this fins/scales edictmore redundancy in this mottled manuscript of fabled perfection. Leviticus 11:20 forbids eating beasts with four feet that fly. Take a moment to ponder all flying four-footed animals. I came up with three: pygmy gliders, flying squirrels, and flying lemurs, none of which actually fly but simply float unflappingly. A quick trip to Google revealed a few more: flying phalangers, pseudocheiridae, and feather-tailed possums, for example. If that is what god means, then why the hell did the old bastard not mention them specifically? Why was god so cryptic and backwards
The author writes that under a microscope, the molecules of holy water are actually cross-shaped.
What about kangaroos, penguins, koala bears, marine iguanas, and the flightless cormorant? Are we allowed to eat those or not?
therefore to be historical and valid. In my doctors waiting room recently, I thumbed through Alkalize or Die by Theodore Baroody. It is largely a valid, scientific treatise on nutrition. My suspicions about the authors credulity first arose when I came across a passage declaring that, for health reasons, one should eat seafood only with fins and scales. I immediately recognized that preposterous piffle. Thus, a skeptical eyebrow twitched. Later, the author writes that under a microscope, the molecules of holy water are actually crossshapedand so squirmed another annoyed eyebrow. Recent, legitimate studies have shown that most holy water vessels are infested with microbes such as e. coli. Perhaps that is what Baroody is seeing through his Mattel microscope. I am always suspicious of anyone claiming the nebulous and occult concept of holiness. Following the Baroody theme, lets consider The Creation Diet, Gods Pattern for Health, Happiness, and Holiness by Joy Brown. We read therein that modern lifestyles wreak devastation on the spiritual, mental/emotional, and physical well being (11). She leaves out the part about pre-modern lifestyles embracing the wise teachings of Jesus, who said, in John 5:11-14, that the cause of illness is sin. Lots of other times, he said that devils are to blame. See: Matthew 4:24, 7:22, 8:16, 8:28, 8:31, 8:33-34, 10:8, 12:24, 12:27-28; Mark 1:3233, 1:39, 3:15, 3:22, 5:12, 6:13, 9:38; and Luke 4:41, 8:33, 8:35-36, 8:38, 9:1, 9:49, 10:17, 11:15, 11:18-19, 11:20, 13:32). We thus have the savior to thank for stalling medical advances for some 1,800 years. Exorcism just doesnt cut it. The author buzzes and beeps and prattles on for 350 pages, explaining how to follow the obtuse food edicts of the Hebrew Tanakh, right down to the fins and scales decree (243). Any heathen of heterodoxy who has enjoyed crab cakes, grilled mako, lobster, or shrimp is likely to ignore that such fruits de mer are forbidden by the hoary Hebrew cuisinier. And bacon? I loves me some B.L.T., but it aint even legal according to Yahweh of the sky-way. Yet one discovers anti-pork dictates long before Jewish superstition. The Tanakh mandates have obviously been pilfered from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Spell 112: And Ra said to the gods, The swine is an abomination to Horus; may he get well. And the swine became an abomination to Horus (Renouf, 184). So the Egyptians proscribed pork before 1600 B.C.E., a millennia before the Hebrew Bible. Note that these strict culinary charters contradict Genesis 9:3, which alloweth consumption of every thing that moveth. I dont know if they alloweth thingth that only moveth when windth bloweth, like planth. I can entertain a possible reason for some of this: an ancient Hebrew got hold of European lobster (Homarus gammarus) or round crab (Atelecyclus rotundatus), indigenous to the region, and consumed them after improper preparation, thus becoming sick. Or some hungry fisherman caught a jellyfish, also lacking fins and scales and got stung. It is curious that those dietary precautions were placed in a book of Hebrew theocratic law rather than some tribal text of secular stature. I suppose the Tanakh is an all-in-one compendium of history, law, and science. Or at least one of the first attemptsalthough feeble and childishat such a grandiose undertaking. Chimps at the typewriter, I suppose. Long before typewriters.1 What does Yahweh McPartypooper say about kangaroos, penguins, koala bears, marine iguanas, and the flightless cormorant? Are we allowed to eat those or not? Of course those ancient and ignorant Hebrew writers knew nothing of animals indigenous to the wrong and godless corners of the globe, chimps included. Corners of the globe included, for that matter. Corporations are people, my friends, presidential hopeful Romney famously exclaimed. Yeah, Mitt, and your god thinks bats are birds. This we discover in Leviticus 11:13-19: And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey, And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; Every raven after his kind; And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat (italics mine). Translation errors, the court apologist or jester will claim, the original Hebrew word was Okay, whatever. Let us suppose god indeed knew bats are mammalian and not avian. Why then in this inspired word of god did he not reach his heavenly hand down to earthly translators to stay their errant quills and keep sacrosanct scriptures scientifically sound in all translations? Note that when god was dictating his kosher food menu to Moses and Aaron, he failed to mention that humans are not to be eaten.2 Seems like the entirety of Leviticus 11 could have been summed up quite well if god had anticipated Orwell to proclaim, Two legs bad, four legs good. Flying squirrels and the like notwithstanding. What Would Jesus Stew? Let us peek into the New Testament in hopes of discovering what the haloed and hallowed prophet of Judea hath proclaimed regarding Heavens Kitchen. Consider the sage counsel from the Sermon on the
These strict culinary charters contradict Genesis 9:3, which alloweth consumption of every thing that moveth.
Mount: Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body... Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them (Matthew 6:25-26). He advises us against seeking or growing food. Jesus thinks that birds put no effort into hunting for berries, seeds, or fish. He says god feeds birds, so why should humans bother seeking food? God takes care of birds, and thats all you need to know, or so declares Jesus. And a little prayer and worship and tithing wouldnt kill you either, would it? I studied the New Testament until I puked, and my considered opinion is that Jesus was a couple of Dennys pancakes short of a Grand Slam. Starting in Matthew 5:28, he goes on for dozens of verses accusing us of thought crimes and proclaims we should take no thought for the morrow because all we have to do is pray, and all your wishes will be granted by god: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Matthew 7:7-8). And dont forget love thine enemies (Matthew 5:44). Lets invite Al-Shabaab over for a weenieroast. Hebrew National, of course. Either Jesus or Matthew, or both, were complete numbskulls: dont bother farming or fishing or studying, or working, or thinking. Go ahead and guzzle Jolt cola, finish off another box o wine, and cram more pork rinds into your gullet. (Except they wouldnt have been pork rinds. Not kosher. Maybe they snacked on rockfish rinds.) The halo-boy from heaven declared it is all of no consequence, as his dad will take care of you. Just pray, pray, pray like Jesus always did. But then in the perfectly circular logic of Christianity, Jesus was praying to himself. Eat (kosher), Pray (to yourself), Love (your enemies). However, dear reader, take good care in the manner of your prayer. Jesus said, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do (Matthew 6:7).3 Surely you are familiar with the Lords Prayer, repeated weekly by rote from the mouths of pious and unwavering Christians: Our father, who bla bla in heaven, bla bla be thy bla. One wonders why contemporary Christians do not heed the commands of their savior. Perhaps a better question: Why dont Christians actually read their Bibles? If they would do so, I guarantee most of them would renounce Christianity. As the heathen do.
Michael B. Paulkovich is a Contributing Editor at The American Rationalist. He also writes for Free Inquiry and other journals. His book, No Meek Messiah: Christianitys Lies, Laws and Legacy, was published in 2013.
References Baroody, Theodore, Alkalize or Die. Holographic Health Inc, 1991. Brown, Joy, The Creation Diet, Gods Pattern for Health, Happiness, and Holiness. Maitland: Xulon Press, 2006. Encyclopedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible. Edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, 1899. Renouf, Peter Le Page, The Egyptian Book of the Dead: Translation and Commentary, Volume 1. London: The Society of Biblical Archaeology, 1904. Endnotes 1. Chimps at the Typewriter would be a good name for a band. 2. I know a rugby team from Uruguay that is more than simply glad of that. 3. The Encyclopedia Biblica (vol. 3, 2901) attributes this statement by Jesus to his belief in magic and superstitions.
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High school students graduating in 2013-2014, full-time undergraduate students, and full-time graduate students are eligible to apply. Applicants must complete the application located at Atheists.org/Scholarship. Submit a 500- to 1,000-word essay describing your specific Atheist activism. Winners will be announced by February 28, 2014. All applicants will be awarded a free one-year membership to American Atheists. The scholarship winners will receive free admission to the American Atheists National Convention, April 17-20, 2014, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The following will be awarded:
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ince the last issue of this magazine, 7 members of American Atheists increased their commitment by becoming Lifetime Supporters or by upgrading their Lifetime Supporter memberships. Thanks to the following for their continued support to further promote our shared goals and values:
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AIMS AND PURPOSES

merican Atheists, Inc. is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, educational organization dedicated to the complete and absolute separation of state and church, accepting the explanation of Thomas Jefferson that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was meant to create a wall of separation between state and church.
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To stimulate and promote freedom of thought and inquiry concerning religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals, and practices; To collect and disseminate information, data, and literature on all religions and promote a more thorough understanding of them, their origins, and 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
theism involves the mental attitude that unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a lifestyle and ethical outlook verifiable by experience and the scientific method, independent of all arbitrary assumptions of authority and creeds. 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.
A 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.
M
M
aterialism holds that our potential for good and more fulfilling cultural development is, for all practical purposes, unlimited.
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Why I am an Atheist
by Pinghui V. Liu, M.D.
If all of these gods really exist, then why dont they fight among themselves for dominion over our world?
I had the chance to attend a meeting of her group, and it was there that I learned that they worship a man by the name of Bahullh, whom they believe to be the messianic figure whom God made manifest. Then I learned about the United Society of Believers in Christs Second Appearing, which was brought to the U.S. in the 18th century from England by Ann Lee. Her followers, who became known as the Shakers, believed that she was made manifest by God as embodied in the female form. As a professor in the Department of Microbiology of the University of Louisville School of Medicine, I had some exposure to Islam through my students from countries like Iran and Turkey. Then I eventually found out about the Unitarian church, but I dont feel that this group is really a religion because they dont have any particular creed to believe in. However, I started attending this church because I felt comfortable around the people.
became an Atheist because none of the worlds religions ever made much sense to me. I was born in Taiwan and have been exposed to many different faiths and its my impression that religion causes much hatred among people and has caused much destruction in the past. In Asia, many people still associate Christianity with colonial empires and the racial prejudices of Westerners. My grandfather was the first native minister of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, which was introduced to that country by the Church of Scotland in the early 20th century. Both of my parents were pious Christians, and I grew up in a very conservative, religious environment. The Taiwanese are descendants of the Chinese, who have three major religions. Taoism is essentially the worship of nature. Confucianism has as its god the great teacher Confucius. The third, Buddhism, came from India.
If there was no Garden of Eden, then there was no forbidden fruit. And if there was no forbidden fruit, there is no original sin.
When Taiwan was transferred to Japans rule in 1895 after the first Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese religion of Shinto (which means Gods way) came to Taiwan. My parents sent me to a Japanese grade school, where I became familiar at an early age with Shinto practices. I observed Christianity at home, I saw the Shinto religion at school, and when I stepped out into the street, I saw the practices of the other three. When I was 12, I was sent to a German-language high school in Tokyo because my father was planning to send me to medical school in Germany in 1940. (But because of World War II, I never went.) The high school was founded by an association that promoted Japans friendship with Germany, so I had some exposure to Germany under Nazi rule. We had visitors from Germany called Hitlerjungend (the Hitler Youth). Our teacher for German language class, Jacob Saar, was a member of Nazi party. To greet his students in the classroom, he would raise his arm and say, Heil Hitler! That was the environment in which I grew up. After I came to America in 1954, I joined an international club at the YWCA, where I met a girl who was a missionary of the Bahai faith.
It was the study of anthropology that led me to reject Christianity in spite of my family background. I came to realize that there was no such thing as the Garden of Eden or Adam and Eve. And if there was no Garden of Eden, then there was no forbidden fruit. And if there was no forbidden fruit, there is no original sin. And if there is no original sin, then the basis of Christianity falls apart. It seems pretty stupid that god would create forbidden fruit with the only purpose of tempting Adam and Eve in order to create original sin. The story was created to explain why human beings are living in a world full of misery. All through my life, I kept wondering, if all of these gods really exist, then why dont they fight among themselves for dominion over our world? The answer is that they dont fight because they dont exist. The statement in the Bible that god created man in his own image is wrong. These gods were created by men in their own image. This is the reason that I dont believe in any god.
Pinghui V. Liu, M.D., is a professor emeritus of microbiology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.
Why are you an Atheist? We are soliciting submissions that answer this question in 800 to 1,000 words. Send them to MagEditor@Atheists.org. Essays may be subject to revision and publication is at the sole discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.
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I stand for equality under the law, for treating others how I want to be treated, for the fundamental human right to live a happy life free of tyranny. Chris Kluwe
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Celebrate the diversity of our community at the largest annual gathering of atheists in America. Our 2014 National Convention will be the most fun you can have in Salt Lake City without breaking the law. APRIL 17-20, 2014 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
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American Atheists

Coming Out of the Closet: Why Its Worth It

An Interview with Richard Dawkins

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FIRST QUARTER 2014

www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 1

THIRD QUARTER 2013

Questions? Call 908-276-7300 or email MagEditor@atheists.org

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www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 2

Photo by Rick Wingrove

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Pamela Whissel Editor-in-Chief MagEditor@Atheists.org

Coming Out of the Closet as an American Atheist:

Why Its Worth It

No price is too steep for the privilege of owning ones self.

An Interview with Richard Dawkins

All religions are absurd, but Mormonism is in a class of its own.

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www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 9

Good News Clubs

Endnotes 1. http://tinyurl.com/LetterToEditor-April23 2. http://tinyurl.com/LetterToEditor-May1 3. http://tinyurl.com/LetterToEditor-May15 4. http://tinyurl.com/LetterToEditor-May8

How Parents, Teachers, and Administrators

Can Help Young Atheists

14 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org

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Endnotes 1. CaseLaw.FindLaw.com/US-11th-Circuit/1044189.html 2. CaseLaw.FindLaw.com/US-11th-Circuit/1181490.html

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www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 15

Sunday Assembly, London

18 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org

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www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 19

It wasnt until 1992 that Pope John Paul II apologized to Galileo.

SCIENCE INTERVIEW SERIES

The Science of Faith Part One

J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D.

All of the Good, None of the God

Part Two: Uganda

Nursery students at Kasese Humanist Primary School

Conor Robinson warming up students in PE class

26 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org

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The Pathfinders with KHPS staff at the Equator

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www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 27

Gideon Bibles Make Room for Atheist Books

28 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org

www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 29

Another title thats joined Gideon Bibles in Georgias state parks.

How I Stood Up for My Right to Sit Down

Young American Atheists Grover and Kelly Helton

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www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 33

36 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org

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American Atheists is Now Accepting Applications

2014 Student Activist Scholarships

All submissions must be made electronically to Scholarship@Atheists.org.

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www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 37

38 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org

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