Vol.
No.
;J
MarcL,.
1984
50
Ceats
~,
lEI IE II ITiEIST'I
IOBERT BURlS
"
News
Newscope
Death
17
Universe
The
Interlocking
The
Christian
Vegetation
to
Review
of
Mondo
Cane
18
Dictatorship
20
Century
Gods
Book Bargains
p oetry Vehicle
Letters
v,
and
22
Sun
Gods
24
26
of
Controversy
28
Editor
30
Ads
31
Cartoons
32
The Staff ..
Editor in Chief Assistant Editor
Madalyn
Murray
Garry
De
Young
Associate Editors
Robert
Jack
Anton
Brady
Ralph
Contrbuting Editors
Lou
Virgil
Alt
McClain
Wilson
Blois
Circulation
William'
Murray
Marian
Walker
1,
News
Newscope
Death
17
Universe
The
Interlocking
The
Christian
Vegetation
to
Review
of
Mondo
Cane
18
Dictatorship
20
Century
Gods
Book Bargains
p oetry Vehicle
Letters
v,
and
22
Sun
Gods
24
26
of
Controversy
28
Editor
30
Ads
31
Cartoons
32
The Staff ..
Editor in Chief Assistant Editor
Madalyn
Murray
Garry
De
Associate Editors
Young
Robert
Jack
Anton
Brady
Ralph
Contrbuting Editors
Lou
Virgil
Alt
McClain
Wilson
Blois
Circulation
William"
Murray
Marian
Walker
Baltimore,
Maryland 21214
News
If I may have the attention of the chairman
of the Judiciary Committee, I should like to propound a question to him, because if my interpretation of the bill is incorrect I shall gladly
withdraw my amendment.
I would like to propound just one question. I
am thinking in terms of a private enterprise for
profit, which would be covered by this bill. A
man comes for employment and the employer is
honest enough to tell the applicant, while he is
otherwise qualified, he will not hire anyone of
atheistic
convictions.
The man then uses his
remedies provided by this measure. It is my interpretation of the bill that as a part of his civil
rights purported to be extended by this FEPC
title, he could allege he has been discriminated
against and proceed against the employer.
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
Proceedings and Debates of the 88th Congress,
Second Session, Washington, D. C.
Saturday, February 8th, 1964
Vol. 110, No. 24, Pages 2514 -2518:
Amendment offered by Mr. Ashbrook
MR. ASHBROOK. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment. (to the Civil Rights Act of 1963 - ed.)
The Clerk read as follows:
"(f) Notwithstanding
any other prOVISIOn of
this title, it shall not be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to hire
and employ any person because of said person's
atheistic practices and beliefs."
Page 1
The American
on the facts
A the is t
and circum-
There
21214
As our Nation grew, she pushed her boundaries across her frontiers and her men of God
were the keepers of civilization pending the formal planning of our political subdivisions.
The concept of a nation which respects
has continued to this very hour.
God
Maryland
God We Trust."
Baltimore,
That is correct.
A few years ago I had the privilige as a Me mber of the U. S. House of Representatives
of
helping to write into our basic statutes the recitation in the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag
that we are "one nation under God".
In furtherance of that dedication we set aaside a prayer room in this Capitol where men
of all faiths might repair for communion with
God.
We erected the declaration "In God We Trust"
over the Speaker's chair of this very Chamber.
We stand today upon the very summit of the
world. Men of earth proclaim our greatness. It is
written upon the winds. Soon it will be reflected
upon the stars. Surely the God of all things has
directed us. Divine Providence has led us.
In the midst of it all is man. God put him
there. He gave him the wonderful attribute of
free choice of religion. We call it freedom of
religion. We protected that choice in the Constitution itself. America gave the atheist the
right of disbelief. It gives it to him today. But
surely, our America gives the employer the
right to reject an applicant for employment who
does not believe in God. Under this amendment
we are speaking of private employment. Today
the American employer has a right to insist that
his employees believe in God. Thi s amendment
insists that that right not be taken away from
the American employer if he desires to exercise
it.
There will be cries of anguish from those on
the other side of this debate that this amendment is abridging a freedom of free man. On
yesterday many of these same people voted to
give a swarm of bureaucrats the right to cut off
the very milk that goes into the mouths of little
schoolchildren
of whatsoever color. They voted
to uproot customs and habits that were more
Page 2
The American
Atheist
Balt imore,
Mr. JONES
that.
(Mr. WHITTEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)
(These remarks were
mendment. - ed.J
addressed
Mr. CELLER.
does.
to a prior a-
,..t
...,
[,'(ctt.t1
to a speech
-.
That
It would be interesting
to see how many
people are going to stand up here and be counted, and say they feel an employer is compelled
to give consideration to the hiring of an atheist,
when he is trying to run a business that is based on good moral groun~
your attention
of Missouri.
I would invite
Mr. BROMWELL.
"'f'4
Mr. Chairman,
and hope it
I move to
The American
Baltimore,
A the is t
Mr. Chairman, I should like to make this comment on the recent remarks of the gentleman
from Missouri. Although I am reluctant to do so,
I disagree with the chairman of the committee.
While the debate was in progress here a moment
ago I looked in Webster's dictionary, and in my
opinion, discrimination on the ground of religion,
if we accept the definition in the dictionary
which we have in the front of this Chamber,
does not include atheists. It says that atheism
and religion are antithetical
terms. Hence, under the terms of this bill, one cannot discriminate among Methodists, Catholics, or Mohammedans, yet may discriminate
against an atheist
with impunity.
Mr. JONES of Missouri. If the gentleman will
yield, in other words, the gentleman would have
no objection to putting this amendment in the
bill ?
Mr. BROMWELL. I think in the circumstances,
under my view, it would be surplusage and unnecessary.
21214
-----)
I move to strike
Mr. Chairman, I am opposed to this amendment. I was one of the original co-sponsors of
the proposal to include the words "under God"
in the Pledge of Allegiance.
I am a Catholic
by faith, but I respect the right of other people
to believe or not to believe. I do not see any
reason to discriminate
against a person on account of race, color, national origin, or religion.
If a person seeks not to believe in God, I believe it is his American right not to believe, although I would continue to adhere to my religion.
Believing that this Nation grew because it had
in its basic fabric a strong belief in God, nevertheless I as an American and as a Member of
this Congress feel that this amendment is entirely out of order. Therefore, I oppose it and
hope that the rest of the Members, feeling as
strongly as we do about this great country of
ours and about the right of every individual to
believe in his own religion, will vote down this
amendment.
Mr. GROSS. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike
out the requisite number of words.
Maryland
to the gentleman
Mr. Chairman,
will
Mr. BROMWELL. I would hesitate to anticipate an opinion of the Supreme Court. It is entirely possible you would have a judicial construction
which would make the amendment
necessary.
The American
Baltimore,
Atheist
21214
MeHe
Maryland
the Pharisees,
poor with their
pressing down
help nor would
Page
I move to strike
The American
Baltimore,
Atheist
/">
Maryland
21214
Mr. Chairman,
from
Mr. FLYNT,. I say to the gentleman from California that I have an amendment at the desk
which I believe will answer the question the
gentleman from California has raised. I hope he
will support my amendment at the proper time.
I move to
of my
///
("
T he American A the is t
As many of us know, we have not had an opportunity to talk about this fundamental matter.
This is the reason why I wish to take a few minutes to talk about the amendment of the gentleman from Missouri.
I am in favor of the amendment. It would not
deny a man a right of belief. It would not deny a
man a right to be an atheist. It would merely say
to a man who owns property, a man who has jobs
to give, "You do not have to give that man a job
if he is an athei st. "
I have gone about my district
that there are two fundamental
of life and that of communism.
our Nation was founded on a
immortal Declaration
In Thomas Jefferson's
of Independence he said:
more communications
Maryland 21214
Mr. Chairman,
for years saying
between our way
The first is that
belief in God.
I have received
Baltimore,
Page 7
The American
Atheist
Maryland
21214
Mr. SCHADEBERG.
strike out the requisite
Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment of the gentleman from Ohio.
Mr. MATTHEWS. I want to thank the gentleman. And let me say again I believe every man,
every man, ought to have a right to his beliefs
as far as his religion is concerned, but at the
same time I do not believe that a man who owns
property, who has a business, should be made to
hire a man if he is an atheist.
Mr. JENNINGS. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield to me?
Mr. MATTHEWS. I yield to the gentleman from
Virginia.
Mr. JENNINGS. I want to commend the gentleman for the fine talk he has made and to associate myself with his remarks and his beliefs.
Mr. MATTHEWS. I thank the gentleman very,
very much.
Mr. BEERMANN. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. MATTHEWS. I yield to the gentleman from
from Nebraska. There is no finer man in the Congress than he is. Is the gentleman going to agree with me?
Page
r;
Baltimore,
I move to
Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment. At this time I should like to ask the chairman of the committee a question with reference
to this section of this bill. Can the chairman assure the Members that this bill, as written, exempts fraternal orders in their daily activities,
as well as in the operation of Masonic homes,
Woodman homes, Moose homes, Elks homes, Odd
Fellows Homes, and in the operation of their respective lodges, orphans homes, and homes for
the aged?
Mr. CELLER.
Baltimore,
orders.
Maryland 21214
Mr. Chairman,
will
Mr. RYAN of New York. I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina.
Mr. WHITENER. I will say to the gentleman
he either inadvertently
or purposely entirely
misconstrued what I said. I will say to the gentleman and to Members of the House that what-
by a
Page 9
Rep.
Rep.
Rep.
Rep.
Dem.
Dem.
Dem.
Dem.
Rep.
Dem.
Ohio.
Calif.
Nebr.
Iowa
N. Y.
Ala.
Ga.
Ala.
Iowa
Va.
Chet Holifield
W. Pat Jennings
Charles S. Joelson
Paul C. Jones
D. R. Matthews
William M. McCulloch
Ray Roberts
Peter W. Rodino Jr.
William F. Ryan
Henry Carl Schadeberg
William M. Tuck
Basil L. Whitener
Jimmie L. Whitten
Victor Wickersham
N. Y.
Wisc.
Va.
N. Car.
Miss.
Okla.
WAR PSALM
It used to be, "They are playing our Song",
but today it comes out entirely different as we
combine God, War and Patriotism.
from
(name)
House of Representatives,
United States Congress
Washington, D. C.
_
(state)
LEAD
US NOT - INTO
THE
Maryland 21214
Calif.
Va.
N. J.
Mo.
Fla.
Ohio
Texas
N. J.
Dem.
Dem.
Dem.
Dem.
Dem.
Rep.
Dem ,
Dem.
Dem.
Rep.
Dem.
Dem.
Dem.
Dem.
Baltimore,
PRAYER
ROOM!
Page 10
Baltimore,
LITTLE
BROTHER
I'S WATCHING
Maryland 21214
Rhode Island
Massachusetts ...
Conneticut
New York
New Jersey
Wisconsin
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Michigan
Minnesota
California
Montana
Maryland
Ohio
.
60%
50
49
40
39
31
30
29
24
24
22
22
21
20
These states represent 264 electoral votes only six less than needed "to win" the White
House in the big raffle corning up.
John F. Kennedy did not win a sing Ie farm
state and he lost the electoral votes of Florida
Kentucky, Mississippi,
Oklahoma, Tennessee:
Virginia and half of Alabama. Without the unprecedented 78% of the Catholic vote he would have
lost the big Eastern States with their large
electoral count - and the election. As it was
remember that John F. Kennedy won by less
than one tenth of one percent.
To take a detail, the 62 counties in the
decisive state of New York, for example, the
Democratic county committeemen in 57 were
Catholic.
The convention candidacies
hinge
on such details. Robert Kennedy is pushing the
a bove statistics
hard to win for himself the
opportunity to stand 'one heart beat from the
pre sidency. '
In this struggle to win a place as Johnson's
running mate, Brother Bobby is meeting a problem - Lyndon Johnson's well known conviction that the future of the United States should
never depend on Bobby Kennedy which conflicts
with tribal chieftain Joseph Kennedy's law that
'If something happened to his brother, Bobby
would take over.'
1964
Thousands of Hindus and Moslems in the
Gaya district of Bihar State, India, are trekking
to temples and mosques to pray day and night
for survival. Smallpox there has killed more than
300 in the last two and one half months.
Page 11
The American
Baltimore,
Atheist
MAE MALLORY
Maryland
21214
back,
not to be
TROUBLE
IN PARADISE
Page 12
The American
Baltimore,
Atheist
TOUCHBACK
Ten ministers last month were backing circulation of a petition on the campus of Oklahoma State University to ban public prayers at
starting of football games.
The ministers, representing seven denominations, said they were asking for the ban because they did not believe a football game was
"a proper place for prayer".
Within two nights the petition carried approximately 250 names from the university's
11,000
students. The question was debated in the Student Senate which concurred with prayer before
games. The 10 ministers, trying to have the students see the light issued a statement which
said, "Since the football audience is not a community which shares a common faith, there can
be no common worship. It is a misuse ... to
attempt to impose upon them (the spectators),
through a prayer, any particular form of worship"
21214
The second charge is that some of the policies of the organization are parallel to the policies of the Communist Party. We use one of
the specific charges as an example. One charge
is that Advance demands an end to all nuclear
tests by the United States. Since this charge
was made. the United States Senate ratified a
test ban treaty with the Soviet Union. Therefore,
using the same criteria, the United States Senate should also be appearing before the Subversive Activities Control Board.
George Meany, head of the AFL-CIO labor
movement recently called for a 35 hour work
week. This is also a platform of the Communist
Party. Is Meany then a McCarran Act suspect?
We use another charge against Advance as a
further example. They are cited as opposing the
McCarran Act! But, Harry Truman, when he was
President vetoed this Act and it went back and
passed the Congress over his veto. About a year
ago Mr. Truman reiterated his position against
the Act. Therefore, he should also be appearing
before the Subversive Activities Control Board.
At the first hearings against Advance, the
paid informers testified that they had spent part
of their time spying on such groups as the
N.A.A.C.P.,
SANE and the Unitarian Church.
For all you good anti-religonists
who feel
secure and hidden while you attend the Unitarian
Church, we will repeat that last statement. At
the hearings, paid informers testified that they
had spent part of their time SPYING ON THE
UNIT ARIAN CH URCH.
If enough signatures are obtained, the ministers will submit the petition to the Student Senate.
RETREAT
Maryland
HER ESY
A Danish artist, Asger J orn, recently astounded the art World by refusing to accept a
prize of $2,500 from the Guggenheim Museum of
New York. The Associated
Press interviewed
Mr. Jorn on January 17th and he stated that he
did not like the "authoritarian
mentality"
inspiring the donors of awards.
Searching further the AP found a relative in
Copenhagen who recalled,
"When Asger J orn
was a young and fighting artist, he contracted
tuberculosis
because of undernourishment.
At
that time he applied for support from various art
13
SUBVER'SIVE
ACTIVITY
CASHIERED
Baltimore,
Page 14
!I
Maryland 21214
KIRCHE,
KINDER,
KUCHEN
Baltimore,
Maryland 21214
Tass news agency in making the announcement stated, "Motherhood and upbringing of
children in the USSR are regarded as an important service to the state."
Don Arwine, University of Colorado 'director of hospitals, said the identifiable hospital
costs of transplants
during the past two or
three years has declined from $12,000 to about
$5,000 to $7,000 for each operation.
NO DIVINE
PROTECTION?
Pope Paul was quite worried during his recent trip to the Middle East, and had special
precautions taken regarding his food because of
fears of possible hydatidosis infection.
Hydatidosis
is commonly known as Sheep
Herder's Disease, and Paul, the 'Chief Shepherd' knew damn well he was not immune. The
parasite which causes the disease is common to
that part of the world, and is transmitted through
food.
Prof. Carlo Sirtori, president of the Carlo Erba I nstitute, Rome, said that the disease was
"like malaria. It can invade any organ, from the
muscles to the brain, the bones, the lungs, the
liver, and, like malaria, it is a sickness of the
underprivileged
countries."
Well, if it is a
disease of the underprivileged, we wonder what
Pope Paul was worried about; that lets him out.
ANOTH ER INVASION
The human mind is tempting territory
which
the authoritarian always desires to invade. Now,
we find that the Federal Government is charging
ahead into this field without restraint, and without due cause.
The Federal Government has been giving liedectector tests to thousands of its employes, often without observing formal regulations government regulations.
A study of this ordered by Representative
Cornelius E . Gallagher, Democrat of New Jersey revealed that Federal agencies own hundreds of polygraphs -- the technical name for lie
detectors - and use them frequently. Mr. Gallagher took an interest after a complaint from a
constituent, a single constituent wrote to him.
After an eight month investigation the following "preliminary" figures were reported.
During the year, June 1962-June 1963, (the
fiscal year) the Government carried out 23,122
lie dectector tests.
The Government owns 525 polygraphs,
which it paid $444,000.
Page 15
for
The American
Atheist
Baltimore,
Maryland
21214
Of the 25 agencies that permit use of lie detectors, only 7 have formal regulations governing their use.
There are 656 "authorized polygraph operators" ranging from high school graduates to
holders of Ph.D. 's in the Government.
avail-
WHOSE ENVOY?
Senator Hubert Humphrey, a Protestant asked
the White House to appoint an envoy to the Vatican according to the Chicago American of Tuesday, February 25, 1964.
According to the story, Humphrey is quoted
as saying:
"It is in our self-interest to have regular regular representative at the Vatican. It is foolish
public policy for us to deny ourselves this vantage point at a crucial period in world history.
Page
ATHEISTS
CAN ADOPT
newspaper,
page banner
announced:
Can Adopt'.
The American
Atheist
Baltimore}
Maryland
21214
Newscope
Are the new Federal Reserve $1 bills, now
being put in circulation, legal tender? Representative Wright Patman (D., 'I'ex.), chairman of
the powerful House Banking and Currency Committee, doesn't think so.
He has ordered a full-scale investigation of
the Federal Reserve Bank's issuance of the new
paper bills to replace the Treasury's silver certificates. As a starter, Patman has ordered Federal Reserve Bank chairman William McChesney
Martin Jr. to furnish to his committee a report on
the Federal Reserve's authority to issue the
paper money. Before making the demand, Repre sentative Patman told a closed-door meeting
of his committee: "I have checked all the laws
and cannot find anywhere that Congress has
given the Federal Reserve Board the power to
issue these bills. I'm going to see that the issuance of this money is stopped."
PATMAN
When Marriner Eccles, Governor of the Federal Reserve Bank appeared before a Senate Investigation Committee some time back, he said,
"When the banks take a billion dollars of government bonds as they are offered, they credit
the United States Treasury with a billion dollars, and charge their Government Bond Account
with a billion dollars; or, they CREATE, by a
bookkeeping entry, the money with which they
buy the bonds."
Any Congressman who would receive a hundred letters on the subject of the new $1 bill
would ask Representative Patman what goes on
and may even support him. We should praise
Allah when we find a Congressman with some
courage and some sense of the urgency of
retaining the democratic framework in which we
can still operate.
Write to your Congressman and to Representative Patman. Every Congressman answers all
mail sent to him by his constituents.
You are
needed in this fight: WRITE TODAY.
Page
17
The American
Atheist
Baltimore)
Maryland
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Death Universe
A Review of Mondo Cane
Robert
An ton
Wilson
The American
Atheist
Baltimore,
21214
Page
Maryland
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The American
Atheist
Baltimore}
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A. Moore
fearful,
insecure,
the individual
bePage
The American
Atheist
Baltimore}
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21214
In a sense, we best learn by having the opportunity to study the fruits of the greatest contrasts in "ways of life". For example, if we
would, we could learn that the Christian god is
not concerned with who, or whatever religion or
lack of it, may go however high in the sky - the
story of the Tower of Babel notwithstanding.
We
could learn that large scale unemployment CAN
be eliminated by a government sufficiently determined to do so, and that capitalism is not the
only route to a rising living standard. The question arises, however, as to whether as we ind iduals will learn from our "enemies",
or merely
react shortsightedly - and hence become as "religious" in our way as they are in theirs.
What if, instead, we took the course of freedom and non-conformity?
A brilliant friend of
mine was once "railroaded"
to a mental hospital for a year for "disrobing in public". I must
confess I think he must have been a bit off if he
really expected to get away with it! - but whom
had he harmed? What had he shocked but conformity? And how was he cured by imprisonment? Another friend of mine is derided
because he sports a beard, the examples of Abraham Lincoln, Karl Marx, and Jesus Christ notwithstanding.
Making international
news were two movie
stars who were (or were supposed to have been)
Page
21
encourage
cases in
old world
barbarism
The American
Atheist
Baltimore,
Maryland
21214
contentment.
up in the
Blois
Part 2: Final Blow
Man does not give up his Gods easily. Many
pagans who adopted the new religion did so to
save their skins, and not through any intellectual conviction. It is wise to be a hypocrite
when one's life is in danger. The hero stands
alone, fights and becomes a martyr for the
cause. The coward runs and hides, but lives to
fight another day when conditions may be more
favorable to his side. And so it was that in 361
a Christian returned to the pagan faith of his
ancestors and became Emperor. Julian the Apostate was now Emperor of Rome. Had he made
known his aversion to Christianity it is very
likely that he would have been killed many
years before. As it was, Christianity was now
in too strong a position to remove quickly.
J ul.ian dare not remove the 50 years of imperial protection
too abruptly.
However, he
could help to restore some of the pagan temples
and property. With this start, in a few years the
tide could be turned. Unfortunately, Julian was
killed two and a half years later. And the dreadful march towards Christianity resumed.
By 375, in Constantinople
and the East, all
pagan churches had been closed for twenty
years and their-revenues
confiscated. Imagine if
that happened in the USA - few churches could
survive such a blow. Taxation of Church property will help - but that's another story.
The Emperors immediately following Julian
were Christian, but they followed a live and let
live policy. They observed a complete neutrality
Page
JJ
but
milnot
own
the
apthe
The final blow came. In Rome in 382, Emperor Gratian reversed the 'freedom to all religions' edict established
by Julian. Gratian confiscated the revenues and properties of the temples, annulled all privileges
of pagan priests
and Vestal Virgins, and had the Altar of Victory,
symbol of the Roman religion, removed from the
Senate at Rome. We are less than two decades
from the end of the century and the blow is coming fast.
In 376 A. D. a drought in Asia drives the
Huns upon the Germans. With only one direction
to go, the Germans break through the Romanized
Goth and Vandal lines and pour into the Roman
Empire. With Christianity
pressuring internally
and the Goths externally, it is a mute question
as to which will capture the Roman Empire first.
Valentinian II became Emperor in 383 and,
backed by a zealous Christian priest Ambrose,
he and the Eastern Emperor Theodosius proceeded to outdo the previous savagery. Christianity
was showing its true colors with a vicious vengeance. Theodosius tortured and punished Antioch. In Thessalonica,he
invited the public to
games in the Circus and then had his soldiers
massacre them. Estimates
run from 7,000 to
150,000 men, women and children murdered in
that massacre. A Jewish synagogue was burned
by a mob in Persia. The Prefect ordered it rebuilt; Theodosius confirmed the order. Monk Ambrose violently opposed this move and forced
22
The American
Atheist
issued
another decree:
was death.
In 394 two boy Emperors, Honorius and Arcadius, gave the Christian faith its golden opportunity. The Bishops gained control of the
Empire by using Honorius as a figure head. Honorius decreed that the last pagan temples should
be destroyed or converted to public use, and all
funds confiscated. Christian Bishops were given
powers to ensure that the law was carried out.
And so, Christianity triumphed by the simple expedient of killing off, or threatening to do so,
its opposition. It now had the power to enforce
its threat. This was in 408 A. D.
Constantine began the Christian Century in
312, and the Bishops finished it in 408. The
mighty Roman Empire was converted from pagan
to Christian in 96 years. Rome did not fall to
the Goths until 410. The Christians won the Empire a full two years before the Goths reached
Rome. Now it was a simple matter of absorbing
these barbarians into the Christian faith.
At the beginning of the fourth century the Empire had a postal system, free orphanages, free
Baltimore,
Maryland
21214
education,
free medical care, free recreation,
and free bread. These things perished with the
Empire. Christianity could see no need for them.
As Constantine's
chaplain,
Bishop Eusebius
put it,
"It is not from ignorance of the things they
(pagan scholars)
admire but from contempt of
their useless labor that we think little of these
matters and turn our souls to better things."
Apparently when you have Christ,
need knowledge.
you do not
Page 23
The American
Atheist
Baltimore,
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7,
,II
Page
24
Baltimore,
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1/
The American
Baltimore,
Atheist
Maryland
21214
800k 8argain
BA'K TO <;'0]:>
AMENDMENTS
expires
Page
26
Virgil McClain
Freethought Society of America, Inc.
4547 Harford Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21214
The American
Atheist
Baltimore,
Maryland
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before
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The American
Atheist
Baltimore,
Maryland
21214
Poetry
Vehic Ie of Controversy
Garry
move-
Page
De Young
28
The American
Baltimore,
Atheist
"useful".
Fortunately today we feel that mathematics is important. We have research grants
available to enable mathematicians to pursue
this field. However, we poets feel that today in
America the attitude prevails that we should be
doing something "practical",
that poetry is useless, a mere waste of time.
Certainly we don't agree. And the natural cadence of the poet that provides the emphasis to
what he is saying is not something that can be
mechanically structured.
Poets are thinkers; they are intellectuals;
they almost invariably are fully aware that formalized courses in college do not produce an
educated person. A poet tries to convey what is
really taking place in the society in which he
lives.
No, you don't teach a person to be a poet.
And poetry has absolutely nothing to do with
rank. Poetry more than anything else is freedom.
it is the rock bottom concern with life.
And, perhaps the greatest failing of a poet is
that he too is human.
We are in the midst of a social revolution.
And it is a violent revolution. Just look at your
daily newspapers with pictures of human beings
lying in the streets in Atlanta, with riots in
Cleveland, with school boycotts. Unrest is running rife. In years to come these pictures will be
published and people will wonder about those
horrible times of the sixties. Remember, in any
revolution there are towns and villages that do
not have open violence. It is when this violence
breaks out in your own neighborhood that it
really strikes home, that you fully realize that
we are in the midst of a revolution.
And all revolutions have symbols of open
defiance. All of us are very much aware of the
insulting intent of the St. Christopher medals
and the statues on the dashboard which as much
as proclaim , "I am a catholic, and what are you
going to do about it."
When people live under tyranny, it is the responsibility of the few that possess the flair of
courage to come up with an even more brazen
symbol. It is with this thought in mind, and harkening back to the age of the Cavalier Poets that
Page
Maryland
21214
we remember that these poets were in the forefront in the fight against the despotism of the organized religion of that day.
With this as the inspiring thought, I felt that
those Other Americans, the seventy some million
that are not superstitious,
should have something to sport. And I have come up with the suggestion that we wear gold berets. If you can't
locate a gold one, get a while one and dye it
with brilliant yellow dye. Once the word spreads,
it will be obvious who the wearers of the gold
beret are, and what they stand for.
So, stand for freedom, for freedom now!
And consider
Cavalier.
yourself
as I do, an Atomic
If I professed religion
I'd bring it up to date,
To its three cardinal virtues
I'd add the fourth one - Hate.
I hate the institutions
Of poverty, and war,
Disease, and every other sin
Of our festering social sore.
I hate the greed of profitsThe basis of all strife.
I hate its sacrifice of youth
Of beauty; Love and LIFE.
I hate the way the two per cent
Have robbed the ninety-eight,
-Old men who totter midst the spoils
Of wealth they don't create.
I hate the rank destruction
Of the things men need to live.
Its aftermath - the great white plague,
And the suffering it gives.
I hate - 0, how I hate
The cowardice of throngs
Who know, but dare not speak
Against these awful wrongs.
29
Baltimore,
Maryland 21214
To Ye Editor
letters
Dear Ed.
Female
Ralph Blois
Rockford, Illinois.
I
How many childre n have you?
I
There are many people interested in the magazine and reading only. For those people, The
Freethought Society of America, Inc. puts out the
magazine, sells records, pamphlets and books.
For those persons
interested
in ACTION,
OA Inc. is involved in a series of suits and
reports on them in an "Lneider' Newsletter",
which supplements
this magazine, but is sent
to members of OA, Inc. only.
I
I
I
What type of work do you do?
I
If retired,
Dear Ed,
Since I have been a member and a subscriber for several months and I have become
very enthusiastic
about the whole bit,
I begin
to wonder about the rest of the group. Who are
they? What makes them what they are? Where are
they?
In what religious
I
religious
or not religious?
Paul F. King
25 Hancock Street
Bedford, Massachusetts
to me, at
I
do you have?
I
To what religious
inquiry.
questionnaire
I
somewhat
anonymous
Page 30
The American
Atheist
Baltimore,
Maryland
21214
We must believe all of it - every sentence uttered in it - or none of it.) Perh aps no one but
Wilson was confused by his three sentences;
certainly Bertrand Russell never needed a special theory to deal with "Everything
that Cretans say is a lie". It is false because some
sentences
said by Cretans are not true, while
others including the' sentence under consideration, are false. A~. for the paradox of the liar,
and the Theory of Types, they are interesting
matters, but it is best not to learn about them
from movie reviews.
Evelyn Edwards
Bradshaw, Maryland
Richard P. Wiebe
Berkeley 4, Californ ia
Dear Editor,
I know that any minority
zine has a constant struggle
ancially.
The magazine
has never been on a self sustaining basis,
and cannot be until the circulation passes
the 12,000 mark. In the seven year
existence
of the magazine
it had been the policy
to send out letters to all subscribers
appealing
for funds twice a year. Usually a small percentage re s ponded with enough to keep the magaz ine
in circulation.
Your current editor has decided
not to issue
such appeals.
Instead
we raised the subscription rate to $5.00 a year so that our break-even
point will come with 6,000 paid subscribers
instead of 12,000. But the interim period
where
many of you are still riding on a $2.00 a year
sub is rough going for us. The lady is not funny
when she suggests
green stamps.
We can use
any money you can spare .. or stamps ..........
or anything you can think to send.
Dear Ed,
Had Robert Anton Wilson in "Why Does Hamlet Hesitate?"
been attempting to parody namedropping scholarship,
he could scarcely
have
dragged in more extraneous references than he
has in that review. It would then be unfair to
single out for criticism the portions of the review which are about 8%, but the asides deserve
closer scrutiny, if they deserve scrutiny at all.
Help Promote
GOVERNMENT-RUN
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PROSTITUTION
GRP NEWS
South Laguna,
California.
-rIME! H~
Baltimore,
WOUl-T>rfy
1>ARE R~TvR N.
Page 32
Maryland 21214
Freethought may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason, and aims at establishing
a system of philosophy and ethics verifiable by experience, independent of all arbitrary assumptions of a uthority or creeds.
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