$2.

50

The Journal Of Atheist News And Thought

PIERRE SIMON LAPLACE

Pierre Simon Laplace was born on March 28th; 1749
and died on March 5th, 1827. He early distinguished
himself as a mathematician, sought the attention of
D'Alembert and secured a teaching appointment through
him. His genius being obvious, he was quickly made a
member of the Academy of Sciences. He was later
politically r~warded for his contributions to science.
His 'principle work was with celestial mechanics,
which he pursued from 1799 to 1827. His original intention was to deduce, from the discoveries of the great astronomers who had preceded him, a complete and harmonious system of celestial bodies' movements.
This he did by successfully applying the Newtonian
theory of gravitation to the solar system by accounting
for all the observed deviations of the planets from their
theoretical orbits. In this way, he became the discoverer
and demonstrator of the theory of Jupiter's satellites
and their influence on that planet.
He strictly subordinated all speculation to physical
investigation, successfully demonstrating the obedience
of nebulous masses to natural laws.
He shares with Lagrange the honor of proving the
stability of the solar/planetary system.
Laplace displayed the massiveness of his genius most
conspicuously in the theory of probabilities, bringing
this science nearly to perfection. Describing this as
common sense expressed in mathematical language, he
demonstrated its importance not alone in physics and in
astronomy, but into the causes of phenomena, and the
ordinary problems of chance.
We honor this great astronomer and mathematician in
this month of both his death and his birth.

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JOSEPH PRIESTLEY
Joseph Priestley was born on March 13th, 1733 and
died in 1804. Reared by a Calvinist aunt after the early
death of his own parents, he was destined for the ministry. However, an impediment in speech directed him
away from that effort into language and science.
Early rejecting original sin and the damnation of man,
he found himself in much difficulty with the clergy. He
could, however, find no other employment and was forced into the ministerial occupation which he continued
most of his life, with major changes as possible. He
once attempted to teach mathematics, but found this
unprofitable. He was forced to return, again and again,
to employment as a minister, turning first to the Unitarian and then away from all the faiths. He relinquished
all belief in inspiration of the scriptures, collected texts
against the doctrine of atonement, hassled with the
clergy, losing an opportunity to be the scientist on Captain Cook's second expedition because of his heretical
religious stands. Finally settling on Deism he wrote
about "natural" religion, but nothing saved his laboratory and his library which were both burnt by a religious
mob.
His contributions to language, grammar, education
'and politics were outstanding.
Priestly, of course, was one of the persons who isolated oxygen. He also discovered ammonia, sulfur dioxide,
silicon tetraflouride and nitrogen.
Forced to flee England, primarily because of his lack
of devotion to religious dogma, he settled in Pennsylvania where he wrote extensively on religious theoretics before he died.
As a precursor to Atheism, we honor Joseph Priestley
in this month of his birth.

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VENTOSE (March) 11981 Vol. 23 No.3

NEWS
IDIOT'S DELIGHT

ARTICLES
Life and Times of The Match!
Fred Woodworth
USSR: Verbal Scientific Atheism Education
Boris Konovalov

, 5
17

FEATURED COLUMNISTS

Roots of Atheism - Abner Kneeland

Atheist Masters - Joseph Lewis
Worse Than Any Malady - Sahula Dyke
Orchestrated Anguish - Gerald Tholen
American Atheist Radio Series The Second Commandment

11
13

16
18

REGULAR FEATURES
~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2
15

Editorial
Poems

Editor in Chief
Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Managing Editor
Jon G. Murray
Artist
Felix Santana
Poetess
Robin Eileen Murray-O'Hair
Angeline Bennett
Staff
Production
Ralph Shirley
Richard Smith
Beverly Walker
Non-resident staff
Ignatz Sahula-Dycke
Gerald Tholen

Austin, Texas

HAVE YOU INCL UDBD

AM.EJUCAN ATHEISTS
IN YOUR WILL?
For overtwentyyears AlllerlcaaAtheists
has been the only nationwide organization dedicated exclusively to defending
Atheist civil liberties and the constitutional principle of state-church separation.
Including a bequest to American Atheists in your will is the best way to ensure
that future generations will have the
tools to protect (HI)' most basic freedom,
freedom of the .
Our legal depwtment can advise you
regarding correct forms and procedures,
tax advantages, a'" annuities (guaranteed income contracts).
Aerica. Atheists
P.0.B01l[ :&117
Austin, TX 78768
Ventose (March) 11981

III

HYPATIA
Hypatia, Greek philosopher, astronomer
and mathematician of the ecclectic school,
daughter of Theon who headed the Neo-Platonic school in Alexandria was born in
370. She assisted her father in his work before becoming a renown scholar in her own
right. She was particularly known for her
great eloquence, rare modesty and beauty as
well as for her intelligence.
Such was her reputation that she became
a preceptress
in the school of Plotinus and
expounded the principles of his system to a
numerous auditory of students from all parts
of the East. Her house became the resort of
all the persons of learning and distinction in
Alexandria, and, among others, of Orestes,
the Prefect, between whom and Cyril .- the
Christian patriarch - a conflict respecting
authority existed. Seeing that Hypatia was
an intellectual intimate of Orestes, Cyril excited the fanatical Nitrian Christian monks
to kill Hypatia. On her way to lecture, she
was torn from her chariot, dragged to the
Caesareurn (then a Christian church), stripped naked, done to death, cut to pieces with
oyster shells and burnt piecemeal.
We honor Hypatia who was brutally murdered by Christians, on March ?nd, 415.

The American Atheist magazine is

published monthly by American Atheists, located at 2210 Hancock Drive.
Austin, Texas, 78756, a non-profit,
non-political, educational organization. Mailing address: P.O. Box 2117,
Austin Texas 78768. Copyright, 1981
by Society of Separationists. Inc. Subscription rates: $25.00/year; $40 two/
years. Manuscripts submitted must be
typed, double-spaced and accompanied
by a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
The editors assume no responsibility
for unsolicited manuscripts.
The American Atheist Magazine
is indexed in
MONTHL Y PERIODICAL INDEX
ISSN: 0032-4310

Page 1

EDITORIAL

JON GARTH MURRA Y

MORON MAJORITY
Ever since the campaign which led to the election of
our actor-President first began, the emergence of a new
group has stirred comment on every side of the separation of state and church issue. That group is the Moral
Majority lead by Jerry Falwell out of Virginia.
The good mister Falwell seems to f.eelthat it is time for
the United States to return to those good old days of
pre-Constitution theocracy that our founding fathers
knew so well. Those were the fine times, yes, indeed!
The days of the Mathers who had us all "by the thread,"
hair shirts, scarlet letters, dunking stools, stocks and an
occasional lighting of the faggot (no reference to
modern slang intended although from Falwell's point of
view, not a bad idea at all).
The Falwellian era should rival that of Queen Victoria
in conservatism to say the least. Americans will be
given all kinds of freedoms. Let's take a look at a list of
our expanded liberties under Falwell:
A) the right to hire a funeral director, fill out a census
form, file a death certificate, buy a matchbox coffin and
order flowers for the next spot of blood you may find on
your killer tampon;
B) the right to hire a good criminal lawyer for a
murder
trial
on six counts of wearing a condom to
.
.
prevent pregnancy;
C) the privilege of experiencing bankruptcy "court
with your doctor over the costs of keeping your dead
relatives artificially alive for seven years, not to mention
the cost of fertilizer;
D) the right to "love it or leave it" with a one-way
ticket to Moscow, guaranteed, proletariat .class.:
E) the right to have your child recite prayers each day
in school to the god or gods of his/her home room
teacher;
F) the right to ship your child to a "Christian" school
"first class" via franking privilege, courtesy of your
fellow taxpayer (be sure to pack him well against secular
mishandling);
G) the right to have your children told that they were
made out of mud pies by a lunatic who later drowned
everyone except an old drunk and his family;
F) the right to be taxed without representation to pay
for all of the above.
Can all of this become reality? Is it all really backed by
the President, or is he just acting? Only his hair dresser
and most of California know for sure. Strom Thurmond
is setting up the Inquisitional tribunal in the background
just in case, so if it is needed the coals will already be
hot.
What do the main-line boys think of all this? They love
it. While the Nation turns its eyes to the Moral Majority
and its soft shoe, the established churches continue the

Page 2

same old plan of ball control. The big three, Protestant,

Roman Catholic and Jew, are carving away at the wall of
separation step by step as they always have but now
with less opposition. Now their former opposition is
keying on the Moral Majority while leaving the main
liners free to run.
Where are the Atheists? Well, for the most part, with
the rest of the opposition flat on their face - having
been faked out by Falwell while the main liners roll on.
We see many new organizations all under a variety of
freethought pseudonyms popping up to tackle Falwell,
not paying any attention to the real ball carrier. Most of
these groups are composed of those of main line
denominations who fail to see the true support that
Falwell is giving them in the long run.
Millions are being raised to fight the decoy. Will this
insure true separation of state and church? I don't think
so. Separation means separation. It does not mean
allowing the ones who can mixquietlytogo ahead while
stopping the shouter.
Our nation was captured for Christ in the fifties
without a shot being fired. Now that Falwell and others
are making waves to clean up the loose ends faster than
the master plan calls for, heads are being turned. Where
were these "liberals" when our National Motto was
changed from "E Pluribus Unum" to "In God W.eTrust?"
Where were they when "under God" was inserted into
our pledge? Where were they when it became manditory for all federal judges to believe in godrrhey were
right in there voting with the rest of the pack - and the
Atheists were in the closet.
Don't be fooled by these so-called "liberal" or "humanist" groups' out to fight the Moral Majority. They
would impose the self-same "rights" on all of us in their
own good time. God concepts should be the object of our
fight, not denominational interpretations thereof or
varying tactics for their aggrandizement. We saw the
same kind of tactic on the part of the main liners fail
when they tried to pin all of their evils on the"cults. "They
loved the red herrings, Jim Jones and Rev. Moon. That
attempt failed, only to have the same persons who
screamed about Jim Jones et al be decoyed by Falwell. I
am ashamed of these "liberal" groups falling hook, line,
and sinker for another dodge. Let us hope that they get
over it like they got over cults. At the same time be proud
that American Atheists did not fall for either decoy.
It just goes to show that a stand on principle is the best
stand. When one stands on principle, one does not run
as high a risk of getting faked out of the game, especially
if the principle is a narrow, but good, one. The be-all, and
defend-all groups get side-tracked very easily. The
stalwarts stand.

Ventose (March) 11981

I'

Austin Texas

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me art man as btll ...

.."--i.../ ..

If you wonder why the United States is in trouble, you need only look at the
idiocies practiced by the business community.
Once a month about 30 to 40 members of the Wall Street community assernble to hear how Jewish bibilical tradition and Talmudic law can be applied to
modern-day commerce and money-making. The idea is to "link business ethics"
The laws of the bible to which these
of the past to the future. Yeshiva University was asked to supply the Rabbis and
men turn is strange indeed. Let us look at
now a partner of Oppenheimer & Company, a partner of Salomon Brothers, an
Deut. xxiii,19 wherein it is commanded
account executive of Bache Halsey Stuart and 30 more meet for "Jewish inthat a Jew may not "lend upon usury" to
sights" in the "quest for direction on Wall Street."
another Jew, but unto a non-Jew, "thou
It makes you want to quit trading to read that. Yet, that is only the start.
mayest lend upon usury; " or take Deut.
Every Tuesday morning at eight o'clock, in the seventh-floor private dining
xiv 21 which ordered that "if a thing
room of the New York Stock Exchange, 20 goyim meet regularly to babble in
dieth of itself" a Jew may not eat it but
.tongues. They include stock brokers, floor traders, analysts, accounting firm
can give it or sell it to a non-Jew to eat.
members (especially from Ernst and Whinney), lawyers and investment bankers.
How about slavery, where a Jew may be
Each, bringing his own bible, they meet to confront "the pressures of the correleased in seven years, but a non-Jew
porate world" with bible context.
cannot be released at all, Ex. xxi, 2-6?
On Thursday morning, at eight o'clock, the scene shifts to One Chase ManIt is not only that - shall a man really
hattan Plaza and the executive board room of the M. A. Shapiro & Co. brokerkill his wife if she differs with him about
age firm. This meeting is usually of about 20 people. A prayer starts it, "Oh
religion Deut. xiii, 6-1O? or should a wiLord, help us to apply the truths in Your word to our business lives." Most of- .dow spit in the faces of her brothers-inten at these meetings one finds the chairman of the accounting firm of Arthur
law, Deut. xxv, 9?

Young and Company, the chairman of the J. C. Penney Company, the president
Why should a person not be permitted
of Exxon corporation, the chairman of the American Institute of Certified Pubto enter a church if he has a flat nose, or
lic Accountants and a trader on the floor of the American Stock Exchange, a
is lame, or has a broken foot, Lev. xxi.
member of the board of Josephtal & Co.
-20? Why should god object to a man
The chairman of the J.C. Penney Company follows in the footsteps of its
wearing a garment made of mixed materifounder - who incidentally once made it plainly known that he never wanted an
als, or demand that no one round the corAtheist in his employ or in his store - "I believeJt is essential to a complete
ners of his beard, Lev. xix, 19, 27? Why
and balanced life to recognize the sovereignty of God and to establish a personal
should anyone be killed for working on
relationship with Him. We have recognized this in the history of our nation.
Sunday, Num. xv, 32-36? Why does god
Phrases such as 'One nation, under God: and 'In God we trust' illustrate this."
object if people raise horses, Deut. xvii,
A securities analyst with Cyrus J. Lawrence put it this way, "When. someone
16? Do the men who lap water like a dog
is going through a rough time, I have a basis to share the love of Christ with
really make the best soldiers, Judges vii,
him." A broker at Troster Singer Stevens Rothschild rounded it out, "I am first
5? Should 15,000 men be killed simply
obligated to God for my life. My firm should never dominate that." The chairbecause they look into a box, I Sam. vi,
man of the Borg-Warner Company in Chicago, however, felt it proper to send a
19? Should bastards be condemned never
memo to all employees that they should not do anything contrary to "their perto enter the church, Deut. xxiii, 2? If a
sonal beliefs, ... "
woman is not a virgin on her wedding
How do the rest of the business executives view this nonsense? The chairnight shall she be killed, Deut. xxii, 21?
man of Sperry corporation, who knows "many executives" who are "bornCan we stop a plague by thrusting a
again," says "It can't help have a beneficial effect on the business community."
spear through the body of a woman,
because, "There is a serenity and a deep self-confidence, an inner peace, I have
Num. xxv, 8? Did god really believe that
noticed in some of these guys."
rabbits are cud chewers, Deut. xiv, 7?
The Conoco executive who founded the whole thing affirms, "Nothing reWhy would the god of this bible tell men
places them (the Scriptures) for being valid, the real manual of operations in the
that they could never see his face, and
market place." He assigned the executive vice president of the Conoco company
then show his bare butt to Moses, Ex.
to chair the first gathering at the offices of Conoco, in New York City. His inxxxiii, 20-23? Is it possible for iron to
spiration came from Senator Mark Hatfield and others involved in the weekly
float in water, 2 Kings, vi. 6? Was it really
Senate and House prayer breakfasts and a Governor of Nebraska's prayer breaknecessary for Moses to put the blood of a
fasts for his staff.
bullock on the tip of Aaron's right ear,
In talking of how it is most effective he noted, "You always want to get
and upon the thumb of his right hand,
down to the Scriptures, and always prayer." Toward this end he took an early
and upon the great toe of his right foot
retirement to organize full-time, prayer breakfasts at big oil conventions. By last
and do we need to do that now before
year, 28 meetings were being held in the petroleum industry alone, involving
eating our steaks at the table, Lev. viii,
.rnore than 7,250 businessmen.
23?
The news is chosen to demonstrate, month after month, the dead reactionary hand of religion. It dictates your habits, sexual
conduct, family size. It censures cinema, theater, television, even education. It dictates life values and lifestyles. Religion is politics and, always, the most authoritarian and reactionary politics. We editorialize our news to emphasize this thesis. Unlike any
other magazine or newspaper in the United States, we say so.

Id-I t.s' 0 ell- g h t

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Ventose (March) 11981

Austin, Texas

1/

Page 3

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... anb we tuon'ttake it anpmort!
CRUMP WINS FIRST ROUND - NO BIBLES DISTRIBUTED
Just the moment that he heard about it, John Crump,
Director of Kentucky Chapters of American Atheists, was
keyed up and ready to go.
The Gideons International had made an announcement that
it planned to distribute the so-called Gideon Bible to the fifth
grade of the Woodford County elementary schools in late
February. John was in with his protest before the last word
was uttered on the wire service release.
Seeking aid from the Central Kentucky Civil Liberties Union,
John was successful and a suit was filed on the 25th of
February based on the premise that "there is an infringement
on individual rights and liberties as protected by the U.S.
Constitution when religious materials are given out in a public
institution by public employees to schoolchildren who constitute a captive audience. Joining John in the suit was the
Central Kentucky Jewish Association, the CKCLU and a "Jane
Doe" who had a child in the Woodford County schools.
The Gideons quickly "changed their plans' because of the
suit and the publicity. Woodford County officials, however,
seemed unwilling to compromise saying that they could "see
no harm in what they were doing." The attorney for the
Woodford County Board of Education opined, "My opinion is
that since no one was being forced to accept the Bibles nor
pressured nor directed nor anything else that that did not
foster an entanglement of church and state ....
The First
Amendment guarantees people the right to get information."
This county through its elected officials had been encouraging
Bible distribution for some years. Another county, Madison,
had agreed to follow a 1968 state attorney general's opinion
that advised against distributing religious material in public
schools, only in November, 1979. The Woodford County Board
had, meanwhile, voted to continue the practice.
The day of the suit John Crump hied himself over to the
Superintendent of the Board of Education in Woodford County
and added another dimension to the quarrel. Stating that he
represented American Atheists, champions of state/church
separation in the United States, he pointed out that there
should be no Bible distribution and that this was a prime
concern. However, if the schools should insist on the distribution, John warned that he would demand that Atheist
literature and children's books also be distributed. He 'confirmed these demands in a letter: (1) stop all religious
materials distribution or (2) permit equal distribution of
Atheist materials.
With the Gideons backing out. the school adamant, the law
suit stayed.
It was at this point that the "Religious Freedom Crusade
Ministries" of Pensacola, Florida, requested permission to
distribute New Testament Bibles on Thursday, March 12th.
Since the Kentucky fight had not been carried on the national
wire services, it was apparent that a religious element in
Kentucky had called for help to the Florida "Crusade."
With this offer pending, the Woodford County Board of
Education met on March 9th to take under advisement the
warning and demand of John Crump, representing American
Page 4

IN SCHOOLS

Atheists, and the "Religious Freedom Crusade Ministries",

which now was threating to sue if the request which it had
made to distribute New Testament Bibles was denied. A local
minister appeared at the Board hearing threatening that local
ministers would organize and distribute the Bibles "away from
school property" if necessary. John Crump pointed out. "We
view this event as a step towards better understanding of the
importance of maintaining what Thomas Jefferson called 'a
wall of separation' between state and church."
The Madison Board of Education at this point declared that it
had denied a similar request from the Florida group and that
the Madison Board was abiding by the 1968 Kentucky
attorney general's opinion advising against distribution. of
religious materials on school property.
By March 11, the Lexington Herald newspaper was taking a
stand. An editorial titled "Some Advice to the Wise" stated
that the newspaper "might as well add our voice to the rising
chorus." Noting that the religious persons involved "will do
whatever is necessary to defy the clear intention of the
Constitution and the Supreme Court on the matter of separation of Church and State," the editorial warned, tr the
public schools are a public institution; they are not to be used
for sectarian purposes, whether that means posting the Ten
Commandments on the wall, or obliging students to recite a
Buddhist prayer every morning.
"All Americans are free to practice their faith; they are not
free to impose it on others, or to give official sanction to any
particular religion (in this case, Christianity). Hie fact that
most people in Woodford County may be Christians is irrelevant. The Constitution was designed to guard against the
tyranny of the majority. New Testaments should be distributed
in church, and at home. Otherwise, John Crump - and untold
others - are free to use the public schools for their own
propaganda as well.
"The Madison County Board recently declined to allow a
Florida group to distribute New Testaments in the Madison
schools. The Woodford County Board would be wise to follow
suit. Otherwise a suit will follow, and they will be forced to do
later what they can do now."
Crump, meanwhile, had been quoted in the newspaper as
placing the School Board on notice that a second suit would be
filed (the first one contra the Gideons and the School Board by
this time had finally been dropped) against the School Board
and the Florida-based Christian Ministries if Bibles wer'e
distributed. The School Board then delayed a decision until its
April 13th meeting.
The Central Kentucky Civil Liberties Union, standing by,
breathed a sigh of relief and privately told John that his threat
to demand the right to distribute Atheist children's literature
had been most effective in the altercation up to this point.
John Crump, our watchdog in Kentucky, is still in his
"ready" stance, and if there is a another actual confrontation
in April, it will be reported in these pages. Meanwhile, to
obtain the latest update, give the Kentucky Dial-An-Atheist
a ring. (606) 278-8333.

Ventose (March) 11981

Austin Texas

LIFE AND TIMES OF

THE MATCH!
In Tucson, Arizona there used to be a little monthly
newspaper that was long on enthusiasm but chronically
short of cash. I was the editor, and for eight years I
packed The Match! brimful of the most reasonable,
normal, understandable ideas I could think of. That
these ideas were Atheistic and Anarchic shocked and
horrified ordinary people, into whose hands I did everything in my power to seethatthe paper found its way. To
the casual reader who picked it up at a newstand or
found a .copy somewhere else, The Match! must have
seemed to be the incorporation of an outlandish, terrifying philosophy at war with all sane and accepted
concepts; at least I suppose so from the many letters I
received from outraged citizens. But then, that's exactly
how I regarded - and still regard - their social
philosophy and order: the large-scale enactment and
institutionalization of lunacy.
The Match! started out as the bulletin of a local
campus group called SLAM, which stood for Student
Libertarian Action Movement. The folks associated with
SLAM, when I first ran into them back in 1969, were
beginning to carry out active social protest against the
oppression of individuals by institutions and government. To their pair of targets I added religion, and when
the bulletin turned into a newspaper, I made sure it
always carried an attack or expose that sniped at
goddism. Starting with an article called "The GodGovernment Complex" (1969), I carried this-theme
through to the very end, and the final issue, dated
February, 1977, contained a biting attack on the foundations of Mormonism, disputations with a reader who
thought religion was harmless as long as it wasn't
"organized:' and many other remarks including a prominent advertisement for my flier entitled "There Is No
God."
Early in the history of The Match! it seemed to me that
these ideas were important enough to warrant serious
treatment, so I started reading about typography and
newspaper design. At that time there were many socalled underground newspapers around the country,
most of them unattractive sheets aimed at the uncritical, and the fine things they sometimes had to offer
were all to often regrettably canceled out by sloppy
presentation and, in general, typographical ineptness.
Determined that The Match! should rise above this
level, I researched every aspect of newspaper production and tried to delve into the psychology of layout to
see how to influence a reader, how to make a paper at
least look credible, no matter how far-reaching its
criticisms might be. Like so many other small papers of
those days, this one was composed of typewritten
columns made up into page and sent to an offset
lithographerfor printing. I began to make plans to acquire
typsetting equipment, but before I could do so there
was a terrible blow that almost crushed the career of the
paper before it had fairly begun.

Fred Woodworth
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November.

1974 issue

Early in 1971 I was arrested and beaten-up by seven

policemen after inadvertently parking in a lot reserved
for police cars only. The lot was unmarked, and nobody
else would ever have been bothered, but in this case it
was apparent that the men who dragged me out of my
car knew who I was. Although I made no resistance, I
was booked on a felony charge of aggravated assault
against a police officer, and was subsequently indicted
by a grand jury. Until then I had been teaching classes at
the university, where my writing and publishing activities had been more or less tolerated; but with the arrest,
front-page news stories about indictments, and so on,
my job was quickly terminated. The case dragged on for
months, and I became convinced that I would end up in
prison. Since I no longer had a job I couldn't plan any
farther ahead than the time of my trial, I decided to
devote my remaining time completely to The Match!. the
journal had suffered from an irregular publication
schedule, and had lost money to a serious degree with
every issue. Through the spring and summer of 1971 I
labored to make the paper the best product possible
given the resources at hand, and managed to get out
several issues before fall. By the time my trial came up
in October, I had exhausted my resources and was
prepared to go to jail.
In my gloomy expectations I hadn't counted on the

Ventose (March) 11981

Austin, Texas

I~

Page 5

wonderful ability of my attorney. He flayed the police

alive on the witness stand and stripped them of every
shred of believability. As an Atheist I was effectively
barred from testifying in my own defense because the
formula of the oath invokes "god" -- wordcame from
the prosecutor that he intended to accuse me of perjury
if I did swear "so help me god" (he needn't have worried
about that!) and if I refused to do so he would drag my
Atheism into the courtroom, where my attorney felt that
our good case would be jeopardized by animosity among
Christians on the jury. (Next time you hear about
countries where dissidents are prevented from speaking in their own defense, remember this.) Though I
didn't say a word in the courtoorn. to my surprise, I was
acquitted.
Meanwhile the long hours I'd been devoting to the
paper were starting to payoff; subscriptions came
rolling in and for the first time the paper was paying its
own way. I resumed myoid plans to improve and
develop The Match! into a strong voice.
Although I never got back my teaching job, I was soon
able to support myself by doing composing jobs on the
newly-acquired junked typesetting machines I was able
to pick up cheap. With study and a lot of work I restored
them to solid, reliable condition and learned how to use
them. And thus armed with the tools of do-it-yourself
journalism, I set out to undermine whatever ideas
seemed stupid and absurd.
Through the next few years, as the fortunes of The
Metch! waxed and waned, I attacked the abuses and

there was no privacy. While shrieking crowds prayed,

and worshipped the flag at sporting events, and egged
on the staggering savages on football fields, towering
over all, stealing from everyone, giving nothing, professing to have dominion over everything from people's
genitals to the words printed in books, stood the
monstrous figure of Religion.
Under my own name and several noms de plume,
especially that of the intrepid "I.R. Ybarra," I published
countless articles that ridiculed religious fantasy and
unreason. When the Jehovah's Witlesses claimed the
world would end in 1974,1 wrote laughing pieces to run
in 1975. I argued against the slimy, latter-day forms of
religion, including pyramidology hoodoo, flying saucer
idiocy, astrology rot, and plants-can-think bunk. These
attacks were interspersed with book reviews, news,
reprints of classic essays from suppressed thinkers of
the past, and criticisms from readers, which I always
tried to meet head-on and fairly.
Obviously with such a range of issues and interests
The Match! was no local paper. By mail subscriptions it
reached far out into the world, to readers in every part of
the United States, to India, Canada, Brazil, Norway,
Japan and many other countries, including a single
reader, touchingly enough, in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. But this very wide-ranging facet of the paper, of
which I was so proud, was at the same time its eventual
undoing, in part. Having to depend on the postal system
meant relying on people who were usually utterly
hostile to these ideas, to deliver them to the readers. The

Another Year,A1lf)therDoomsday
From TII~ MaId!, May, 1975'

OOMSD4Y IS GE'I'TING RESCHEDULED-agaIn.

Arter the deadline came and went
for the Jehovah's
Wltlesses'
promIsed wIpeout of the world In 1974, they were left
mndlng
around wearing shlt-eatlng
grtns, But even If they haven't got brains they've
cot brass, so now they've moved It up another year, and next target for the Bte Moment
Is September of '75. However, <,vangellcal spokestdlots are already mrtlng to hedge,
and they're ail set with excusps to be handed out like trlck-or-treat
candy In the Fall,
or course, that'll nudge Nallonal l'Ire and Brimstone Week over Into 1976 and how
the Bicentennial people will Ilk" that Is anybody's ~u<,ss. Maybe this Is what's been
worrying those government dltherers
who are pls stng tn Ihelr pants with fright over the
posslhlllty of something going wrong with the phony act they have planned. U you ask us,
religious fanallcs like the Wltless"s, pushing a drluslonal hope, pose a severe threat to
world peace, actualty, since all It lakes Is a couple ot them at one mlssHe silo to set o(f
Just the sort of holocaust they think the Blhble (or t"lIs.
When It was well Inlo 1975 and completely oovtous thai J.e. and his rapist daddy-cumpoltergeist ("the murderous father, Ihe nnnatura l son, the lascivious chost") weren't about
to show up to face our wailing revolver s, an Alht st n! my acquaintance ha_Ded
to be
accosted on the street by a blank-faced
W.lIT.Ol
hawking "Awake", Ihe organlzatlon's
monlhly effort at a kJnd o( holy Nallonal Taltler. "Hey" said our friend, merrily; "thought

you people weren't planning to be around after 19741'

A fleck of saliva dribbled in the corner of the divine tract-pusher's
mouth. "None
knows Ihe day, none knows the hour,' she droned,
"Aren't you aware thai your magazine claimed several years ago that 1974 would be
the end of the world?".
"None knows the day, none knows the hour.'
"Isn't It true," our friend perststed,
"that 'Awake's' publishers DID claim to know?'
"None knows the day, none knows the hour."

Pretty trlcIcy, hub? Any time you can't answer a hard question, just pretend to be
insane. But the world's rellgtons have put together financial empires worth cool trillions
by being tricky. Last year the membership of the Wltlesses alone soared 34%, and hundreds of thousands or persons, victimized by these sanctlmonlous hallucinations,
ran Into
Witless halls pleading tor Immediate baptismal rituals. Once that happens they're hooked,
and the religtonlsts can bilk and swlndl them at will with meaningless threats and prom1ses. When the heavenly clowns don't make a Scheduled performance,
that only gives the
t1naoclal/psychologlcal
wizards who are running the show a chance to preach about the
forthcoming
rewards In godland for those who maintained their beliefS during adverse
times. Relntorced by the common bond of adherence to an absurd superstition which the
world ridicules, the faithful grow stronger In their illusions and dementia.
"Every religion Is good, but the sflllest Is the best,"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

horrors of psychosurgery, the depressing, ruinous effect of taxation, the corruption of the place of the
individual in society to that of a drone in a beehive,
where the sole, supreme function is to aid the Whole.
This Whole, this public good we hear about so much,
was a social fiction that became to me the more
obnoxious as I examined it; laws rooted in Christian
superstition and busybodyism .forrned a tangle of hindrances to life and free expression. Victimless laws
abounded. Drug-team thugs smashed their way into
private dwellings, tax robbery drained productive effort
and encouraged sloth and parasitism, snooping investigations into private affairs supposedly ensured that no
'subversion' would bring about a social state in which

Page 6

caprice and maliciousness of any little official, and

jesusist mail-sorter or Bible-fanatic letter-carrier along
the way spelled doom to my vulnerable material. There
were some subscribers to whom it was impossible to
mail a copy of the paper; no matter what steps were
taken, the journal would simply not get there.
I registered complaints with postal officials, but to no
avail. Once a mail inspector came to my home; listening
politely to a description of these abuses he made notes
and then suggested, "Just give me a list of your
subscribers. I'll check to make sure they all receive your
paper." (!) Among the many problems the publication
suffered, this postal harrassment was unquestionably

Ventose (March) 11981

Austin Texas

the most serious, although difficulties with the printer

were not to be shrugged off either. Even with the
equipment I had, I could only set the type, not print, the
paper. Finished layouts, ready to be photographed and
made into press plates, had to be delivered to the
printer, where again characters wearing cruxifixes got a
chance to re-enact in the 20th century their tradition
handed down through hundreds of years. Mysterious
thumb-prints got on front-page plates, ends of columns
were dropped off, pages were underinked to the point of
being unreadable. My complaints were met by indifferent calm: "Whattaya want? This is newsprint, ya
know." Meanwhile thousands of Sears catalogues and
the Green Valley News spewed off the same press, on
the same paper, with no such problems. The printer had
been a little unhappy about The Match! account all
along, but especially so after a visit from the FBI, which
his bookkeeper told me about in 1972. After that normal
credit was cut off and the terms were immediate cash
on the barrel head. But no other printer in town would
handle the paper.
COin-operated newsstands vending The Match! were
frequent victims of vandalism. One in particular was
heavily damaged once a day, every day for months.
Though I often tried to catch the person responsible, I
was never successful, and the war of nerves went on
and on. Every day for something like four months I
repaired the stand and set it back up! Finally whoever it
was gave up.
So serious problems were nothing new, but I have to
admit I was staggered when the location I published
from, myoid apartment at 713 E. 5th Street, was put up
for sale and the new landlord effectively evicted me by
tripling the rent. I transferred the operation to an
. ancient quonset hut, and there produced most of the
issues for 1975 and 1976. But then the elderly lady who

owned the place received a threat against me from a

Christian woman who said she wishes she could bash
my head in with a hammer, and in fear for her property
the landlady asked that I move again.
Finally the equipment ended up in the kitchen of the
tiny home I rented on Hoff Avenue, now the site of
condominiums. In the various hurried moves I'd had to
make, some of my machinery regrettably was damaged,
and no amount of work seemed to fix it. My personal
typesetting business was ruined and I had to take a job
as a janitor. Not having any real place to work, no money
to repair the equipment no credit with the printer, a
mounting postal bill with the ever-decreasing certitude
that copies of the paper would even be delivered, I
started to get discouraged, and after producing three or
four issues of the pubication under these conditions,
limping along wih wrecked machines and a once-more
irreqular schedule, I gave up in the middle of typesetting
Volume 7, No.2, which would have been the 74th issue.
It might be said that the lesson in all this, if there is
one, is that I made myself too vulnerable by working
alone. On the other hand, it invariably seemed to
happen that potential co-workers always started to talk
to me about this or that feature that in my view was the
backbone of the paper. "Well, yeah, its a good paper, but
do you have to keep attacking religion so much? I mean,
they don't bother you, why bother them? And anyway,
nobody believes in that stuff anymore." The answer I
always made to such people was Goodbye.
Countless times I've considered trying to bring the
paper back. Frankly, I miss it. But the same problems
that caused its demise are still around, onlv worse.
Though I may never publish it again - indeed I
sometimes ask myself where I ever got the energy - it
was a voice against superstition and oppression, and as
I look back, I'm proud of it.
~

" The envelope, please. Winner of the Holier-Than-Thou Award this year is ... "

Austin, Texas

Ventose (March) 11981

Page 7

Ro ts
of theism
C

A_B_N_E_R_K_N_E_E_L_A_N_D __

Meanwhile, Francis Wright had founded "The First

Society of Free Enquirers" in Boston Massachusetts in
1829. In 1830 Kneeland went there to be the resident
lecturer, replacing a previous lecturer by the nama of
Jennings. It was in that same year that he became
associated with Dr. Charles Knowlton, a neighbor.
When Dr. Knowlton wrote the first medical birth control
handbook distributed in the United States, he was
arrested and imprisoned for it. Kneeland immediately
attempted to come to his rescue reporting the trial
extensively in a publication he had started in 1831, the
Boston Investigator. When William Lloyd Garrison came
to the city and sought in vain for a church or hall in
which to speak upon slavery, and was about to resort to
the Commons, Abner Kneeland (and his friends) offered
Garrison the use of the Julien Hall in which they held
their lectures, then under their control. Garrison's antislavery lectures were d.elivered there. An irate proprieter turned them all out so that they were forced to
move to the Federal Street Theatre.
Although com mentors relate that the "next few years
were filled with turmoil," the allusion is lost since no'
facts are known. However, the December 20th, 1833,
issue of the Boston Investigator contained three articles
and severe consequences for Kneeland. Two of the
articles were reprinted from the Free Inquirer of New
York City. The first of these dealt with the subject of the
virgin birth, "and contained a quotation from Voltaire so
indelicate that four successive judges protected four
different juries from the embarrassment of listening to
it." The second was an irreverent ridicule of prayer. The
third was a statement of the editor, as follows:

Page8

1. Universalists believe in a god which I do

not; [so Kneeland had written] but believe that
their god, with all his moral attributes is nothing
more than a chimera of their own imagination.
2. Universalists believe in Christ, which I do not;
but believe that the whole story concerning him
is as much a fable and fiction, as that of the god
Prometheus . . . . 3. Universalists believe in
miracles, which I do not; but believe that every
pretension to them can either be accounted for
on natural principles or else is to be attributed to
mere trick and imposture. 4. Universalists believe in the resurrection ofthe dead, immortality
and eternal life, which I do not; but believe that
all life is material, that death is an eternal
extinction of life to the individual who possesses
it, and that no individual life was ever or ever will
be eternal.
Abner Kneeland may not have known it when he
made his opinion known that day but hewas transgressing not alone the laws of god, but of man. On

Ventose (March) 11981

~/

Austin Texas

July 3, 1782, 51 years prior, the legislature of the State

of Massachusetts had passed "An Act against Blasphemy." The substance of the law was explicit: "If any
person shall wilfully blaspheme the holy name of God,
by denying, cursing, or contumeliously reproaching
God, his creation, government or final judging of the
world, or by cursing or reproaching Jesus Christ or the
Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching the Holy Word of God, that is, the canonical
scriptures as contained in the books ofthe Old and New
Testaments, or by exposing them or any part of them to
contempt or ridicule, which books are as follows: [lists of
all books of the bible]; every person so offending shall be
punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, by sitting in the pillory, bywhipping, or by sitting on
the gallows, with a rope about the neck, or binding to the
good behavior, at the discretion of the Supreme Judicial Court before whom the conviction may be according
to the aggravation of the offence."
Kneeland was indicted, arrested and brought to trial
in the Municipal Court of Boston within weeks. Immediately the prosecuting attorney linked him to "Fanny
Wright, Robert Dale Owen and Dr. Charles Knowlton."
The argument to the jury was aimed at all.
Kneeland, who was legally responsible for the contents of the journal, did the best he could to escape the
ancient law and its inhuman punishment. His attorney
first challenged the constitutionality of the law under
which Kneeland had been indicted; second, denied
Kneeland's responsibility for the two articles printed
from the New York Inquirer and third, attempted to
construe the meaning of Kneeland's own words so that
blasphemy could not be inferred.
The judge, in his charge to the jury, reminded them
that he was a deacon in the (Universalist) Brattle Street
Church, declared the law to be constitutional, brushed
aside any but the most obvious meaning of blasphemous words and admonished of the grave social consequences of unpunished blasphemy. He philosophized,
quoting Erskine,
"Of all human beings, he says, the poor stand
most in need of the consolation of religion, and
the country has the deepest stake in their
enjoying it, not only from the protection which it
owes them, but because no man can be expected to be faithful to the authority of man,
who revolts against the government of god."
The jury brought in a verdict of guilty, the jul:lge
pronounced sentence of three months in jail and Kneeland promptly appealed to the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, in 1834, Kneeland married again,
this time Dolly L. Rice with whom he fathered four more
children. All twelve children of these four marriages
were delivered by Kneeland himself by the "Thomsonian system" [now being researched].
On May 28th, 1834, the second trial ended with the
jury not being able to come to a verdict, by an eleven to
one vote.

Austin, Texas

The state tried again, and the third trial was had in
November, 1835, when he was again convicted. Kneeland then moved for a new trial which was had in
March, 1836. This was also appealed but in the Massachusetts Supreme Court, in 1838, he was sentenced
to serve sixty days in jail. Kneeland was then 64 years
old.
Along the way, he had dispensed with an attorney and
delivered speeches in his own defense in 1834 and
again in 1836 before the Supreme Court.
The final 39-page decision issued in April, 1838 (four
and one-half years after the offense) is a justification for
the continued use of the blasphemy law. The court had
difficulty since it had full knowledge that this was a
curtailment of freedom of the press, freedom of speech
and freedom of conscience. Therefore one of the conclusions reached was to "intent" and "manner" of
Kneeland. The intent was "bad. the manner was
"calculated to give just offence" and, in all, his remarks
were malicious falsehoods, and obscene or profane
publications. Yet, the court also held that the statute
under which he had been indicted was " ... not intended
to prohibit the fullest inquiry and freest discussion for all
honest and fair purposes ... rr included among which
was not " ... to prevent the simple and sincere avowal of
disbelief in the existence and attributes of a supreme,
intelligent being, upon suitable and proper occasions."
When measured against the 16th article of the
Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, which declared
that the liberty of the press ought not to be restrained,
the statute under which Kneeland was prosecuted was
found not to be repugnant to freedom of the press.
Kneeland had argued as best as he could. He did not
want to go to jail. His plea had been, "I had not occasion
to deny that there was a god; I believe tp.at the whole
universe is nature, and that god and nature are synonymous terms. I believe in a god that embraces all power,
wisdom, justice and goodness. Everything is god. I am
not an atheist. but a pantheist."
It did not work because he really did not believe what
he was forced to say to stay out of jail. His prosecutors
knew him well. For the court noted it was the "said" and
not the "unsaid" which it could seize upon: " ... the
enjoyment of concealed opinions cannot be restrained
by human institutions." But Francis Wright had already
spoken to the issue with her query, "Who can speak for
human freedom when the mind is in chains?" A closet
Atheist unable, or so cowed as to be unwilling, to speak
openly had - really - no right to an opinion at all.
Actually, when the court arrived at the central issue of
the case, all was apparent. "The discussion, in decent
language, of all the other subjects mentioned in the
statute, is left open; but the denial of god, whether in
decent language or otherwise, is prohibited." The judges went on to define blasphemy as "consisting in
speaking evil of the Deity with an impious purpose to
derogate from the divine majesty, and to alienate the
minds of others from the love and reverence of God."

Ventose (March) 11981

II'

EO

Page 9

The court called upon legal opinions and cited the

constitutions
of New Hampshire,
Vermont, Maine and
New York as prohibiting blasphemy.
Kneeland must go
to jail.
The Imposition of the sentence aroused protest
througho",the st.te. Editorial writers fell back upon
the warehouse
of Puritan intolerance to vilify the judges
and the law. It was to no avail. A petition for pardon was
drawn up by no less a person than William Ellery
Channing pleading that the honor of the state required
the pardon. It was signed by Williamm Lloyd Garrison,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, and about 170 other prominent
persons and ministers.
Kneeland was in the common
jail from which he could see the Bunker Hill Monument.
With all the letter-writing,
petitioning,
visitors, the
sixty days were accomplished
on 12th August, 1838,
and Abner Kneeland was released from jail. His crime:
expressing frankly his religious beliefs.
Kneeland was disheartened
and disappointed.
He still
believed in the Philosophical
Creed he had composed
four years prior to this time. He had used it during the
trial and reaffirmed it after his release.
.
ABNER KNEELAND'S

Code OJ Morals
THEORUM
I. Human happiness is -the grand and
ultimate object of man; hence whatever tends to increase the
amount of human happiness, on the whole, taking into
consideration all its bearings, and all its consequences, is
good in a moral sense, and ought to be performed,
independent of law, fashion or custom, and there should be
no law to prohibit it. But whatever tends to diminish the
quantum of human happiness, on the whole, in the same
sense as above, is evil in a moral sense, and ought to be
avoided, even were there no law, fashion or custom against
it.
THEORUM II. Whatever is congenial to nature, in all
living beings, tends to health and happiness; but the excess
of every thing, whether in eating, drinking, or any other
gratification, is injurious and should be avoided; and the
neglect of what nature requires may be equally injurious,
and should be be neglected.
But the better to understand these abstract Moral Principles, the following Rules are proposed. They are fundamental, and should, never be lost sight of in principle, or
departed from in practice. They constitute, with the Philosophical Creed, the Religion of Free Enquirers.
I. Truth is most sacred of any thing in the Universe: and
children should be ever taught, both by precept and
example, to speak the truth, and nothing but the truth, on all
occasions; and from which they should never swerve in
future life.
2. Justice and equity should be observed in all the
transactions of man; and never be designedly departed from
in any instance.
3. Benevolence and Charity are beautiful ornaments, and
adorn the human character; hence, these moral virtues
should be constantly kept on view.

4. Noone should promise without the means and the

intention of fulfilling what is promised; and if the promise is
to be fulfilled at a future time, there should be at least a
reasonable expectation
at the time the promise is made, of
having the means to fulfil it.
5. All contracts are of a civil nature; mankind are
incapable of making any other; and they should be considered sacred and binding on the parties as long as the
contract lasts.
6. The parties making a contract, should be authorised to
dissolve it by mutual consent; but if the parties cannot agree,
a third party may be called in, the judiciary, if necessary, not
to perpetuate the contract, but to say on what conditions it
shall be dissolved.
7. The marriage contract should not be an exception to
the foregoing rules; 'for how can two walk together, except
they are agreed?' But no marriage contract should be
disannulled without reasons to the satisfaction of disinterested persons who may be the referees, subject to an
appeal if necessary; and all provisions be made for the
children, in case there be any, that the laws provide for, and
of which the property of the parties admit.
S. All debts should be considered as debts of HONOR,
and promptly paid as such; which if any fail to do, they
should not be trusted; and those who do trust them should
suffer or abide the consequences without troubling others
therewith. But let it be understood, if a man does not pay his
honest debts when he has the means, it is a crime, and should
be punished as such. See article 11.
9. Societies should all be based upon these principles, and
every member, during his or her membership,
should
conform strictly to the rules of the society; and in case of
failure should be liable to be expelled from the society; and,
if necessary for the public good, should be publicly advertised, as a warning to others.
,.
10. All parents should maintain and properly educate
their children, and should not extend their number beyond a
fair prospect and probability oftheir being able to do so; but
should they neglect to do it, having the means, they should
be liable to be fined to that amount, and to have their
children taken from them; for no children should be
neglected, much less suffered to grow up either in wretchedness or in ignorance.
Were these rules to be perfectly observed and all that is
implied in them strictly regarded, there would be no
occasion for any criminal laws: but owing to the frailty of
man, they may be violated, and therefore it is necessary,
Ir. To have laws to prevent tresspasses and frauds of
every kind; to protect the weak against the strong; to protect
the upright dealer against the swindler; to protect virtue of
every grade and name, against the inroads and ravages of
every species ofvice.ln these laws, therefore, there should be
included (and no matter how severe the penalty,) laws
against seduction, and all violations of the marriage contract, which, of all contracts or moral rules, should be held
the most sacred.
These are the moral rules and principles which should
never be lost sight of in practice, or in the making of civil
[continued

Page 10

Ventose (March) 11981

on p. 15]

Austin Texas

JOSEPH LEWIS
THE DECLINE OF THEISM
In our own day we see a revolution taking place in the
ranks of religion. We see the liberating force of the great
Freethinkers of the past having their effects upon our
generation by the breaking of the chains of superstition
that have enslaved mankind to a degrading religion.
Our fight today is no longer against Theism. The
arguments that were used by Freethinkers more than a
century ago are now being used by the liberal minister
against his more orthodox brother.
Who can deny that progress has been made when
ministers themselves repudiate Theism?
Who today would expose himself to public ridicule
and defend Theism in the face of its history and its
record?
It has perverted the mentality of man and has caused
him outrageously to abuse his own life.
In the name of god and for the love of god, hell, in all its
fury, was let loose upon the earth.
No wonder Theism is being repudiated and disowned.
The liberal minister will have none of it.
Like Caesar, "but yesterday it might have stood
against the world, but now lies it here and none so poor
as to do it reverence."
Even in our theological colleges, we see the impossibility of trying to harness a man of intelligence with
the bridle of Theism, and as a result of this impossible
combination, there is a widespread repudiation of
religion and all that it stands for.
We are witnessing a period of intellectual honesty thai
does credit even to ministers of religion. There is a
positive and an aggressive advance towards the ideals of
Freethought.

for his "great courage:' while as a matter of fact these

things have been so obvious to us that we look with pity
upon people who still believe them.
FULL WAY WITH TRUTH
We have no applause for those who have stolen the
thunder from the leaders of Freethought only to cloak it
in a garment of so-called "liberal religion."
We are encouraged at the progress they have made,
but unless they come the full way, they must be
watched with the same vigilance and fought with the
same force as the Calvins and Knoxes.
Halfway measures will never do. They invariably
prove futile.
What a complete revolution has taken place when
people must make apologies for their religious beliefs,
and give symbolical interpretations to the incomprehensible ravings of insane menl When they must deny
and reject the beliefs that were but a few decades ago so
tyranically imposed upon the people and for which
unnumbered thousands suffered the penalty of torture
and deathl
THE BONDAGE OF BELliFS

Is the modern trend to perpetuate religion, or is it

doomed to occupy the same place in history as the
institution of slavery? And how apt is that comparison of
religion with slaveryl
Throughout the ages religion has imprisoned and
chained and stultified the brain of man, just as the
institution of slavery hasbound and manacled and torn
the limbs of man!
And when the efforts were made to abolish the
hateful
institution of slavery there were many who by
THE DEATH OF MYTHS
their compromises only prolonged its existence.
And the efforts of those today who are compromising
And the time is not far distant when a minister who
with religion and making apologies for its past crimes,
takes money for prayers for the repose of the so-called
are only prolonging its existence and making more
soul of man, will be charged with misrepresentation and
difficult
the task to eradicate this blot upon civilization.
fraud just as others are now being apprehended for
They are interfering with the removal of the worst
similar schemes of deception.
obstacle that has ever blocked the intellectual progress
When a minister today makes a public declaration
.
of
Man.
that he can no longer believe in the virgin birth, the
HUMANIZING RELIGION
resurrection of Christ, in the inspiration of the Scriptures; acknowledges that Moses was very often misA rose may smell as sweet by any other name, and
taken, and can find no justification for the existence of a
religion will be just as obnoxious under any other title.
personal god, the brass band plays and the flags wave

Austin, Texas

Ventose (March) 11981

Page 11

There are some who claim that religion can be

humanized, but how can we humanize something that
does not admit of humanization?
How can we humanize ignorance, superstition and
brutality? Can we humanize the thumb-screw, the rack
and the auto da fe?
If we could humanized religion then the dream of the
alchemist will have come true.
If we could humanize religion then truly base metal
can be converted into gold.
Humanism and Unitarianism differ only in degree and
not in kind from Catholicism and Presbyterianism. The
great trouble with the liberal Unitarian, the Modernist
and the Humanist is that we do not know where they
stand. Their attachment to religion as an element of
respectibility is still an enigma. Their so-called emancipation from the fetishes and superstitions of their more
orthodox brethren is more apparent than real.
Before the Board of Education of this city some years
ago, when the proposal was made to permit children to
receive religious training on public school time, the
most fanatical supporter and most vehement proponent
of this scheme was a Unitarian Minister.
He loudly decried the fact that our children were being
"deprived" of a religious education. He stood side by
side and shoulder to shoulder with Monsignor Lavelle of
St. Patrick's Cathedral and the late Bishop Burch of the
Protestant Episcopal Church.
DEFENSEOF PIOUS FAKE
This minister was terribly perturbed because he was
afraid our children would grow up without some knowledge of the story of Adam and Eve; that they would not
be acquainted with Jonah's sojourn in the belly of the
whale, or of the miraculous conversation of Baalam and
his Ass.
And while Freethinkers were making an effort for the
newspapers publicly to state, on their behalf, that they
had offered a thousand dollars reward for the evidence
of one authentic cure that took place at the grave of the
consumptive priest, Father Patrick Powers, buried in the
cemetery at Malden, Massachusetts, Charles Francis
Potter was making a declaration from the platform of his
Humanist pulpit, concerning these so-called cures, that
"there was something in it."
If it is Mr. Potter's contention that auto-suggestion
has accomplished beneficial results in patients suffering from mental disorders, our answer is that we
heartily approve of the application of mental therapy in
such cases, but do not believe that it should be administered in a grave yardl
By his public statement he condoned this shameful
exploitation of thousands of credulous people who were
making a weary pilgrimage, at the sacrifice of their
health, to this latest fraudulent undertaking of the
church.
Immediately following Mr. Potter's statement, Gardner Jackson, writing in the Nation, exposed this pious
fraud. Mr. Jackson very significantly showed the close
blood relationship between the superintendent of the

Page 12

cemetery and Cardinal O'Connell of Boston. They were

brothersl He also very vividly depicted the baskets of
money that were being emptied as rapidly as the poor
deluded creatures would fill them.
In our opinion, it was the duty of every American to
use his efforts to prevent the establishment in this
country of so barefaced a fraud as the establishment of a
shrine similar to that of Lourdes which now disgraces
France.
If to condone such a disgraceful exhibition as a
gesture of compromise with religion is a sample of
Humanism, then we want none of itl
CHURCH PARASITISM
And even John Haynes Holmes, for whom I have the
highest personal regard, and who stands at the forefront of the liberal ministers of this country, cannot be
pardoned for his advocacy of exempting church property
from taxation. He claims that churches increase the
property value of the surrounding buildings and permit
the maximum of air and light.
I say that if you make a parkoutofthe land upon which
the church stands, you will accomplish all that Mr.
Holmes claims for the church, and one thing more. It will
do away with the evil of the church and free the country
of these institutions of superstition and houses of
stultification.
But with the advent of the skyscraper building on
church property even this argument falls to the ground.
The present tendency of the church is to get "under
cover" of an income-producing apartment house or
office building.
Let us replace the churches of this city with a system
of parks and we will make New York the most beautiful,
and most attractive and the most healthful city on the
face of the earth.
,<;
Society has no right, through the insrumentality of its
government, to exempt from taxation a single institution, while a member of the community is without
food and shelter.
The church may be successful in convincing a person
that the more he suffers here the less he will suffer
hereafter, but we are concerned with putting food into
his stomach, clothes on his back, and shelter over his
head now.
.
One may believe what he will as long as he is well fed
and protected from the elements, but the moment he
falls below that condition he is actually deprived of food
necessary to life by the church that does not pay taxes.
In reality it is actually stealing food from one who is
starving.
It is like a miser counting his gold while poverty is
knocking at his bolted door.
To delude a man into believing that the more he gives
of the possessions of this life for the imaginary benefits
to be enjoyed in a mythical one is to perpetrate upon him
a monstrous and unforgivable fraud.
Every steeple that rises above a church is a dagger
thrust into the heart of Humanity. It has proved so in the
past. And by the past, we judge the future.
~

Ventose (March) 11981

Austin Texas

ON OUR WAY

Ignatz Sahula- Dycke

WORSE THAN ANY MALADY

Anyone interested in, disgusted

with, or perturbed by the reappearance of maudlin religious sentimentality that after nearly a century of relatively peaceful slumber
was aroused here and there during the recent presidential election, will have to look far and wide
to find within the seething mass of
our American fellow-citizens the
few individuals who are thoughtful and rational enough to realize
that this religionary interlude was
artificially (and by no means spontaneously or naturally) brought into existence by only a few exploitatively inclined religious preachers
and self-righteous individuals. Greedyforthe power in material riches,
this small group induced a large
segment of the religiously bamboozled electorate to join and support them.
We can pretty well anticipate
how rough a time this promises,
especially to Atheists and other
humanists, by noting that our new
President Mr. Reagan is reported
to have said that "Some of the
exponents of Atheism are demanding things for their religion that
they would deny others." Mr. Reagan has never been lauded as
even a tyro philosopher; he is now
elected to play the part of a politician, but hasn't yet even proved
himself to be more than a politician of nominal stature. He won
the oval office because he ran
against an opponent who grossly
disappointed the American electorate long before the end of his
four years in the White House.
Reagan'swords, quoted above,testify that he knows very little about
what the centuries-old perennially
pressing concerns, aspirations (and
desires) of all humanists and today's American Atheists consist.
The humanists,Atheists and other

Austin, Texas

rational nonbelievers definitely

DO NOT deny to others - as
Reagan implies - what they them
selves are asking for. Humanists,
just like American Atheists and
other freethinkers, are in fact only
asking for the Constitutionally fra nchised equality with Theists and
all other Americans who participate in, contribute to, and benefit
from self-government.
Atheism provides its proponents
with an unobstructed view of the
circumstances of existence prevailing at any given time. Atheists
aren't more percipient than other
people; their sensual equipment
seems of a higher order than the
equipment of other folk because
the film of religious belief which
confutes perception of the believing cadres doesn't impede or interfere in any way with the Atheists'
sense of vision. Atheists simply
don't view the world through windows glazedwith fly-specked, dusty
and mud-spattered panes of religious dogmas. Atheists enjoy the
rewards granted them by their unspoiled acuity (that everyone could
enjoy and benefit form, were they
. to reject religious fantasies).
Atheists don't follow some blackrobed dervish like a gaggle of geese
their gander. They think, are enterprising, stand on their own feet
exercise good judgment and are
consequently far more appreciative of our American individualliberties and freedoms than are the
believers. The dull perceptiveness
of the believers is like that of
horses equipped with blinders depriving them of peripheral vision.
They only see what the clerics
keep them staring at in front of
their collective nose. The believer's
predisposition, to believe only what
his religion permits him to see,
deprives him of the syllogistic fac-

Ventose (March) 11981

~/

tors necessary for arriving at logically sequent conclusions; he simply doesn't have access to the
information about all that happens
in his environment upon which
the Atheist who has it forms a
sound opinion. And all this is admirably, if reconditely, worded in
the very first article of the Bill of
Rights. (For everybody's benefit
Mr. Reagan!)
"Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
That first sentence of Article I of
the Bill of Rights, states that any
congressional activity aiming to
legally establish or buttress whatsoever religion or howsoever prohibit its free exercise is unconstitutional. It grants religious freedom to everyone, but PROVIDES
that this granted freedom isn't to
be used as a pretext for unconstitutionally establishing some religion.
I'm occasionally disturbed by
wondering how many members of
our Senate and House would pass
a simple test showing the extent to
which they understood the sundry
provisions incorporated in our U.S.
Constitution and its Bill of Rights.
That such a test would signally
benefit the entire nation has recently been brought home to me
by the behavior of Senator Helms,
who'd amend the Constitution so
as to prevent the Supreme Court
from passing judgment upon the
constitutionality of officially condoned religious prayers at taxsupported public gatherings and
other assemblies. It seems to me
that every member of the House
and Senate should demonstrate
he knows that our U.S. is a consti-

Page 13

tutional republic: a fact of which

almost every schoolboy is aware.
Observations such as this are a
matter of getting at truth, and if we
ask what is the truth, then only
such answers are worth trusting
as are supported by sensual evidence.
Any existing talent for accurate
analysis of any premise must at
our present stage of intellect be
deemed resulting from and accepted as an empirically sensed
phenomenon - even if untraceable to any specific cause.
In common with other skeptics,
I'm an Atheist because Atheism
enables me to understand, and
keep foremost in mind, the various
past and present activities of religion which, if excused or unopposed, would give the religious
cartel a free hand to destroy the
fundamental principles of personalliberty that enabled us citizens
to develop our country into the
singularly grand nation it potentially still remains. Only the citizens'
constant vigilance can prevent a
religious take-over of the executive, legislative and juridical functions of our government. In circumstances of the kind now gathering on the horizon, and sure to
playa significant role in the near
future (when newly elected authorities might feel inclined to grant to

institutionalized religion a voice in

government), a policy structured
on a basis of religious dogma promises not less trouble but more of
it.
Every time a preacher expatiates to the members of his congregation about the "glories, joys
and blessings" available to them
through their submission and obedience to his religiously dogmatic
admonishments, he as much as
points out to them that their daily
lives are far below the level which
a staunch faith in their imagined
god's omniscience would enable
them to acquire and enjoy. In brief,
the preacher this way asks them to
look upon their daily life as a
failure - as a state of existence far
short of what it should be. Thus
preaching dissatisfaction, the preacher runs down the only thing he
really ought to be encouraging
every living creature to prize and
enjoy: namely, life itself.
And since so many people do as
he tells them, the problem thus
traces down to the fact that all the
people of our nation are, all unaware, victims of a malady that
permeates to every nook and cranny of our land. When I talk about
this disease, this blight or malady,
the tendency on the part of my
listeners is to laugh or at least
scoff. But I see this predicament

which assails us as anything but

laughable oramusing because it is
slowly strangling us. It's a worse
curse than any disease because
it's painless - even pleasant to
some. It's name is alienation. Expresident Carter is reported to have
said that his first allegiance is to
god; anyone can see that in this
way our American ideals are being
eroded by this kind of religious
sentimentality - and why our fellow citizens feel their leaders deserted them.
Given a Congress whose membership understood this religious
way into alienation, Americans
could be completely cured of this
disease within any President's first
term, provided he, too, understood
it. Religion is a variety of senselessness, an indifference to basic
principles - departure from norms
that tend to keep our minds in
rational working order. Our Atheism, American Atheism, is the sure
antidote against this rnind-destructive sickness, of which religious
addiction is the most common,
most threatening and most prevalent symptom today. ~

,.
\

-----~--.----~

"Sister Marie - Have you seen the custodian about?"

Page 14

Ventose (March) 11981

Austin Texas

COULD BE

SPRING

"May God strike you dead!" the faithful have cried

To many a blasphemous tongue that let loose
Could it possibly be that their leaders have lied
About some alleged power which is really a ruse.

Like a clear mountain spring,

The earth ripples in a feathery breeze.
Shoots part the moist earth
Amidst the melodies of welcomed birds
Which start to build their nests
As the earth builds a fresh one.
The ladybug graces the field
In her bright robes again.
And all animals leave earthwarmed dens
To feel again the warmth of the first fire.

LEAVE THEM ALONE

Why do we joy in converting
How do we count the gain
Those who are "different" deserve note
Why must we all be so vain.
Angeline Bennett

Robin Murray-O'Hair

-~--:

A_B_N_E_R_K__N_E_E_L_A_N_D
[continued

from

p. 10)

laws. And how far soever similar rules and regulations may
be extended, all should partake of the same spirit, and be
built upon these fundamental principles.
Kneeland's next intellectual adventure was (he embracing of the idea of an Atheist colony. Kneeland was
well acquainted with Frances Wright's Tennessee
Neshoba and Robert Dale Owen's Indiana New Harmony colonies and decided to, himself, establish one.
The free-soil Territory of Iowa had just been established
by Act of Congress. Based on the old Frances Wright
group, "First Society of Free Enquirers," he established
a hope and reached out to physically acquire an extensive tract of land in Van Buren County, two miles
south of Farmington, on the bank of the Des Moines
River. The community was named Salubria, while still
only in existence on paper and dedicated to both
rationalism and the worship of nature.
The entire enterprise was carried on through the
pages of the Investigator. A levy of $10 was made upon
each member of the Society. The founders of the new
Salubria group declared, "No minister shall ever come
to this community to air his superstitions."
In May, 1B39, Kneeland and his wife and three
children arrived in Ft. Madison, Iowa. He and his
stepson built a comfortable two story house in Salubria.
In December, 1841, he finally obtained a government
patent for the land. His friends assembled at this home,
his books were shipped there.
.
Salubria did not prosper. Kneeland ran for the territorial legislature on his own Free Thought ticket in
1840, but failed in his bid. He first took to the lecture

Austin, Texas

~~--------------------------------platform and then to school teaching in Helena, Arkansas. His financial difficulties caused him to offer
some personal property for sale, including his private
library of 200 books.
For some time, perhaps more than a year, he sent
letters back to the Investigator for publication. Meantime, with his fourth wife still bearing children, Kneeland was engaged in much physical labor. He helped to
build his house, hoed the garden, worked in the hay
field.
He died at his home in Salubria on August 27, J844,
at the age of 70.
Salubria never took root. The few who came had their
descendants absorbed by religious groups in adjacent
communities. In fact Kneeland's own daughter Susan
became a devout member of the Congregational Church
and a granddaughter presided over a Sabbath School in
a chapel built on half an acre of ground donated by a
descendant of a free thinker.
Meanwhile, Kneeland had turned the Investigator
over to Josiah P. Mendum, as publisher, with Horace
Seaver as editor. It survived for over forty more years.
Established in 1830, it was a central focus for the
publication of Freethought literature until July 30,
1904, when it finally "suspended publication" forever.
There never was, again, a trial for blasphemy in
although the legislature of that state
reaffirmed the validity of the law in 1979. Abner
Kneeland paid a high price for the frankness he used in
expressing his opinions. His story adds to the rich
heritage of American Atheism.

MasschuseHs

Ventose (March) 11981

>-if

Page 15

NATURE'S WAY
GERALD THOLEN

"ORCHESTRATED ANGUISH"
The human race has devised
some very debilitating practices
over the years. Some of them
though accepted as normal
moral, are rather primitive and
barbaric in a true sense. Warfare
is probably the most extreme example. Everyone agrees that it is
senseless and inhumane, but still,
fight we will - and rationalize it
later.
Punitive systems also seem rather prehistoric. But I guess that
we can legitimize
Neanderthal
punishment methods in dealing
with Neanderthal criminals. As
hard as it is to accept. in some
cases that's all certain criminal
types seem to understand.
The 'Oscar' award for insanity
still goes to warfare, however, because it is perpetrated by the socalled 'upper level' intellectual
leadership people. I suspect that in
many ways the maniacal acts condoned by the 'good guys' in wartime only serve to stimulate the
low intellectual outlook of the 'bad
guy' robbers, murderers, and rapists.
There are other primitive rituals
that seem to hang on and on - all
equally accepted and rationalized
in the eyes of 'man.' Nevertheless
they are just as outmoded and
useless. One such Cro-Magnonlike carryover was vividly pointed
out to me this past February. It was
after my brother Lloyd died. The
'customary' eulogy, though wellintentioned, is actually a very
heartless and untimely act carried
out illogically and by pure habit.
Consider for a moment the efficacy of funerals and wakes. Since
thedav following his death I have
been wondering why it is that
people participate in the anguish
that accompanies an 'old-fashioned crying session' to which the
honored party is completely unaware. What purpose, or rather,

0;

Page 16

WHO's purpose is being served?

Such 'wailing and moaning' parties were invented by archaic biblical societies. The deceased person's survivors felt that they 'owed'
a gala sendoff to the deceased.
The custom was supposed to aid
the mythological soul's entrance
into the 'hereafter' - whatever
that is. (Excluding Atheists,
of
course!) Yet, even religious contemporaries agree that it is a person's lifestyle that guarantees him/
her a 'front row seat' in 'heaven' or
'hell' -not the measure of pomp
and fashion facilitated during their
interring.
It happens that Lloyd was not an
overly religious man. He told me
on occasion that he was not really
a 'believer,' yet I can't say that he
was an Atheist. I think that he, like
so many others, just wasn't really
concerned-However, his wife and
our mother were quite religiousespecially our mother. Like other
Atheists, these are things which I
accept and live with. When elderly
persons, or persons of faltering
health, become further burdened
due to the death of a son or a
daughter, serious considerations
must be made. Quite often tragedy
follows tragedy when the surviving parent is caught up in the
anguish of the moment. Strokes
and heart attacks are common at
such times. Even if a second tragedy doesn't occur. the aging parent must suffer excruciating sorrow and discomfort. The feeling of
loss is unavoidable. Yet, after surviving the initial shock brought
about by death, survivors are exposed to the orchestrations of the
funeral!! Why?
Would it not be better to pass a
crisis only once? Do we really need
a second curtain call of sadness? I
rarely cry - though at times it's
hard not to. Somehow adjustment
seems more important for every-

Ventose(March)11981

one concerned even though personal readjustment for myself may

be difficult. No one is a stranger to
sadness. We've all had our share
of heartbreak. I've learned to avoid
looking for more. Lloyd died the
unpleasant death occasioned by
canc~r. That's a very bad trip. So
bad, In fact, that at the final hour
death was a somewhat welcome
release. Two weeks before he died
he told me, his wife, and his son,
that he wanted to be cremated post-haste. He also wanted to die
at home - not in a hospital. His
requests were fulfilled. His wife
and children did, however, hold a
b~ief funeral home service (religious). Luckily she endured the
anguish of sad words and consoling friends. At the same time I
will never be able to accept the
prearranged rituals which can only promote a sorrowful experience.
The only outcome served is the
psychologically pitiful manifestation of religiosity. It is NOT needed
by humanity because it has no
meaning to the person who died.
We do not 'ritualize' post morterns! They also are held for the
benefit of survivors! Why then
should we ritualize the disposition
of a corpse? Indoctrination has
taught us the need to suffer - or
perhaps it has taught us to publicly
demonstrate our apologies for any
past unkindnesses toward the deceased. It is rather hypocritical to
display love and emotion for a
person who is no longer able to
acknowledge our actions.
It seems logical to hold grief and
personal discomfort to a minimum.
Quick execution of the necessary
details and rapid readjustment in
the lives of the survivors is in the
best interest for all concerned.
Someone once said: "Funerals are
for the living - the dead are beyond caring." To any with whom
I've shared personal friendship, ,.11
say now - when I die, have a good
blast of Scotch and cheer up.
Things could be worse - it could
be you!

Austin Texas

USSR: Verbal Scientific-Atheism

.

Education

by Boris Konovalov, Candidate of Science (Philosophy)

Senior Research Associate, Institute of Scientific Atheism
(Moscow)
community centers. The "students" receive good knoWledge on the origin and essense of various religious
Scientific-atheistic
propaganda in the Soviet Union
beliefs, their historic evolution, of the ways of overhas, in the sixty years of the state's existence, traversed
coming them, of the fundamentals of scientific Atheism,
a long and difficult road. In the first two or so decades it
its historic forms, and many other questions. A notabl.
was mainly of a critical nature. Later, the stress was laid
fact is that the system of People's Universities has
on propagandizing scientific knowledge that explained
the problems and offered answers to questions, which
become very widespread in the country - there are now
the masses of people had previously sought for in . about thirty thousand of them, with an enrollment of
over seven million, who study various cultural, medical.
religion. From about the mid-1950s the principal aspect
in propaganda became socio-moral problems (the social , agricultural. etc., problems there. The 450-odd uni. versities of scientific Atheism have more than fifty
comprehension of the prospects of mankind's developthousand "students".
ment, the struggle for peace, the interrelationship
between society and the individual, the meaning of life,
As an accessory means of propaganda, Soviet Athe. ists make use of documentary, scientific-popular
or
happiness, kindness, etc.).
feature films, usually shown at the end of a lecture. For
Today the most widespread forms of verbal scientificinstance, especially successful is a lecture on "Science
atheistic propaganda are, as before, lectures, mainly
and Religion on the Purpose and Meaning of Life" when
delivered by scholars or public figures - activists of the
it is complemented by the feature film "Everything Is
All-Union Voluntary Znaniye (Knowledge) Society. The
Left to The People", shot by the Leningrad film makers
lecturers of this society alone annually deliver more
and including an episode in which a scientist (a physithan a million lectures on problems of history, on the
cist) and a priest converse on the meaning of life. For the
theory and practice of scientific Atheism. The subject of
scientist the purport of life is to create something new,
these lectures is very varied - for example, "Atheism
something useful for men, to make one's own contriand Religion in the Present-day Struggle of Ideas", "The
bution to the progress of mankind. "Otherwise one was
Specific Features of Modern Religious Consciousness",
born for no purpose at all, lived for no purpose and died
"The Scientific-Technical Revolution and Religion".
forever," he says. "As everything is left to the people,
Scientific-atheistic
propaganda in the Soviet Union
and it is in that which one leaves that oblivion or
does not merely criticize the insolvency of the religious
imtnortality lies." The priest's philosophy in life is in
concepts of the world, of man's role in it, and so on, but
stark contrast to the scientist's: man must-serve god,
expounds the scientific-materialistic
views on various
natural phenomena, on human life, on the dialectics of
must recognize his own insignificance, his sinfulness,
and must continuously pray for forgiveness.
society - in other words, shows what practical results
man can achieve if he shakes off religious illusions,
Noteworthy is the fact that a number of very sucwhat values scientific Atheism brings him. Thus, among
cessful films made by Soviet studios in the past twenty
the subject matter of lectures delivered in the past few
or so years provide the lecturers with very convincing
years and aimed at revealing the creative, life-asserting
arguments. Besides that, quite a few popular science
values of Atheism, are "Atheism in the Spiritual Life of
films are shown to the audiences, as well as documenSocialist Society", "Atheism and the Social Activities of
taries on the structure of the universe, the origin of life
on earth, the conquest of space, etc.
Man", and many others.
Ever more popular' in recent years are series of
The radio, too, takes part in spreading scientificlectures on burning problems of scientific Atheism.
atheistic knowledge. In several republics, regions and
Such series, consisting of four to six lectures and
territories of the Soviet Union, the radio-journals "Scidevoted to some particular subject (such as "Science
ence and Religion", "The Bell", "Religion, B'eliever,
and Religion on the Meaning of Life" or "Religion and
Life" and others are broadcast regularly, and in them
Atheism in the Era of Scientific-Technical Revolution")
not only scholar-Atheists
take part, but also former
are organized mainly at clubs, schools, and universities
believers or priests who have given up religion. The
radio-journals comment on current events in presentand other higher educational establishments, at muday religious life, give surveys on letters sent in by
seums or scientific Atheism centres. The advantage of
listeners.
. such series as compared to incidental lectures is that
the audience gets a systematized and much more
Naturally, the tone of these broadcasts' criticism or
appraisals - as, by the way, of other forms of mass
complete knowledge of some specific problem.
Another very popular form of verbal scientific-athescientific-atheistic
propaganda as well - is restrained
istic propaganda in the Soviet Union are the People's
and moderate; in Soviet society it is customary to treat
with respect the religious feelings of believers who
Universities of scientific atheism (free two-year evening
enjoy exactly the same rights as do Atheists.
courses of an educational nature), set up at clubs or

Austin, Texas

Ventose (March) 11981

Page 17

THE AMERICAN ATHEIST RADI~SERIES

I
mE
SECOND COMMANDMENT

Hello there, this is Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American

Atheist, back to talk with you again. Joseph Lewis,
recent American Atheist author, had much to say about
the second commandment. Exodus 20:4-6 "Thou shalt
not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of
anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is the water under the earth: 5. Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I
the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate me; 6. And showing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep
my commandments. "
This is the commandment which the Roman Catholic
Church leaves out of its list of commandments. That
church, as Lewis noted, does make such "graven
images" in direct prohibition and violation of this
commandment. and also worships these images in
defiance of this angry, jealous and vengeful god. That
the Roman Catholic Church has practiced this defiance,
with impunity, for centuries, indicates either that this
god is impotent or that the commandments are f-alse.
This commandment not alone reveals the brutality of
the bible god but makes the commandment an instrument of intolerance, persecution, fanaticism and oppression. How can anyone worship a god who will stipulate
the curse he will inflict upon poor, helpless children, for
three and four generations after anyone fails to worship
him? This means that if your great-grandfather happened not to worship god in the way he thought he should
be worshipped, you are condemned. Most of you don't
even know who your great-grandfathers were. You had
four of them and if anyone of them stepped out of line,
you are condemned.
Since religion fashions its code of conduct upon the
morality of its gods, are we to assume that the character
of the bible god is to be emulated? Are hatred, jealousy,
vindictiveness moral attributes we should desire to
have or to teach our children? Remember that the ten
commandments are infallible moral guides.
If the bible god had not been subject to jealous fits and
passions of rage as well as having periods of forgiveness
and blessings, he could not have qualified as a god for so
primitive a people as the nomadic Jews. They needed a
god suited to their mode of life and the jealous, arrogant
god of this commandment was eminently acceptable.
Jealousy is the last attribute one would expect to find in
a god - but of whom would god be jealous? Believers in
god certainly cannot be unaware of the nature of their

Page 18

god as revealed in this commandment.

In the United States we have fought the notion of
McCarthyism which brought forth the idea of "guilt by
association". Also, the basis of the hysteria of that time
was deeply seated in the idea of jealously guarding our
nationalism. We play religious games.
The origin of the prohibition against making and
worshiping images is based upon the belief in what is
called sympathetic magic. Sympathetic magic is magic
predicated on the belief that one thing or event can
affect another, at a distance, as a consequence of a
sympathetic connection between them. In primitive
societies it was believed that an image of a person
contained part of the soul of the one it represented, and
that whoever possessed the image could bring evil to
the person. It was, therefore, feared as a malignant
weapon in the hands of an enemy and its prohibition
became a matter of serious concern which culminated
in a fanatical taboo.
When Christianity came into power, the era that was
to be known as the Dark Ages began. Not only were the
cultures of Greece and Rome destroyed, but with them
went every vestige of that high civilization which is still
the envy of the modern world. Art was a victim. The
magnificent statues and paintings were irretrievably
lost. Every piece of art which could be seized and
destroyed, was. Every early church father condemned
the making of images. For the first five centuries of the
Christian era the art of the preceding civilizations was
destroyed because the making of images was prohibited
as provided by this commandment. The doctrine of
image worship was adopted after a bitter struggle
within the church. A powerful group, which opposed
images as a heathenish rite, was called the Iconoclasts,
or image-breakers.
Eventually those who reverted to image worship won
the battle. The Roman Catholic Church considered this
victory of such great significance that a day was set
aside to perpetuate the memory of the event. It is called
the Feast of Orthodoxy and is celebreated on the first
Sunday of Lent.
But, during the first five centuries of Christianity, a
lamb was used as the symbol of the religion, proving
that it was a religion based upon a blood sacrifice. Then,
in the year 692, the crucifix was officially authorized by
the Council of Constantinople to be the symbol of
Christianity.
"Hereafter instead of the Lamb, the human figure of
Christ shall be set up on the images. "

Ventose (March) 11981

Austin Texas

Of course, the Protestants developed the image of

Christ walking in a field carrying a lamb.
The Reformation destroyed the strangle hold of Catholicism on the world but it brought with it a destructive
influence on art by its very reversion to the strict
interpretation of this commandment. It would be unfair
to castigate Catholicism for its detrimental influence on
art because of its resort to image worship and not
condemn Protestant Christianity for returning to the
literal provisions of this commandment.
With the Reformation came a revival of the earlier
Iconoclastic idea with a holy crusade for emancipation
from all things connected with Romanism. Under the
heading of "monuments of superstition", again, beautiful and perfectly innocent statues and pictures were
ruthlessly destroyed by the Protestants at the same time
that miserable images of .idolatrous worship were
demolished.
.
.
The first objects of the fury ofthe Iconoclasts were the
statues of the Virgin Mary. They were dragged down;
daggers were plunged into them; they were broken;
fragments were scattered. Statues of Christs were
wrenched from their places in the churches by ropes
and pulleys and then shattered. In one Dutch church, in
the choir three hundred feet above the altar a figure
representing the body of Christ was pulled down,
broken with sledge hammers and trampeled into a
pulverized mass. This was even put into the laws of the
Dutch Republic, and I read now one of the "Acts of the
General Assembly" passed on July 29, 1640. "Forasmuch as the Assemblyis informed that in divers places
of this kingdom, and specially in the North parts of the
same, many idolatrous monuments, erected and made
for religious worship, are yet extant, such as crucifixes,
images of Christ, Mary and the saints depatted, ordained and said monuments are to be taken down,
demolished and destroyed, and that with all convenient
diligence, "
The influence of this commandment was threefold. In
Christian lands it was responsible for the fanatical
destruction of art. It was also responsible for the
prostitution of art. Among the Hebrews especially, it
destroyed all artistic expression, Even today, the artist is
not held in any esteem - as in the United States.
Joseph Lewis, himself born into the Jewish religion,
believes that the origin of anti-semitism was this
commandment. After the Roman conquest of Jerusalem, the EmperorTiberius sent Pilate to govern the new
province. One of this first acts was to erect statues of
Caesar throughout the new kingdom. The Jews at once
protested. They also protested that the image of the
Emperor was on the coins issued in the land and
preferred to starve rather than to use the coins. They
objected to the use of the Roman flag, So loud, well
organized and fanatical was their objection that the
Roman government acceded to their wishes. In fact, the
Roman government went so far as to issue coins with
their own emblem on them for the exclusive use of the
Jews. Still troubles came. In the reign of Herod the
Great, his public works were the envy of the world. He
built magnificent palaces, beautiful marble baths, erect-

ed coliseums and stadii for the Olympic games, developed the country's harbors and encouraged commerce
and peaceful foreign intercourse. He built a theatre at
Jersalem and also a very great amphitheater in the
plain.
The Jews were in opposition to this on religious
grounds. In respect to the Olympic games they were
adamant. The trophies given were thought to be images
and the Jews were "sorely" displeased at them.
Now, Herod rebuilt the great Temple of Solomon
which had been destroyed in the war as a part of his idea
of public service. On top of the gates of the temple he
placed a great eagle of black and gold as a symbol of the
power and strength of the Roman legions. The Jews
objected to the eagle above the gates of the temple. It
was pulled down from the temple and smashed to
pieces since it was an image. This time the Romans
retaliated and in the ensuinq conflict about forty persons lost their lives,
The "protests" and the demonstrations finally began
to irritate the populace. The Romans began to give out
that something must done about the Jews in the
fanatical objection to images which were regarded by
the Romans as great works of art, A statue of Caesar,
made by a noted sculptor was placed at the entrance to
the harbor of a small seaport in Galilee. It was supposed
to demonstrate the loyalty of Judea to Rome and was
greatly admired as a work of Art. The Jews, however,
objected strenuously to having it there, basing their
case on the idea of its being a graven image.
Up to this time the Jews enjoyed the same civil rights
and privileges as the Greeks. They could practice their
religion to the fullest extent, provided it did not interfere
with the laws of the country. This was a liberal and
tolerant attitude for the time. But, when two statues,
one of Rome, the other of Caesar were put in a building
in Phoenicia, the Jews demolished them -.Jhis was reported to the Emperor, Caligula, and he ordered that a
statue of himself be put in the Temple of the Hebrews at
Jersalem as a warning that such civil disobediences
would not be tolerated again. The commanding general
was met with a great number of Jews, including women
and children to protest this, insisting that no images or
idols could be put in the temple. The general then had
this exchange with them.
"'And am not I also,' said he, 'bound to keep the lawof
my Lord? For it I transgress it and spare you (the placing
of the statue) it is but just that I perish; while he that sent
me, and not I, will commence a war against you; for I am
under command as well as you.'
"Hereupon the whole multitude cried out that 'they
are ready to suffer for their law (of the Lord). '"
"The general then quieted them and asked them if
they meant to make war upon Caesar. The reply was:
'We will offer sacrifices twice each day for Caesar, and
for the Roman people, but that if he would place the
images among them, he must first sacrifice the whole
Jewish nation; and that they were ready to expose
themselves, together with their children and wives, to
be slain.'
"They then 'left off tilling' their fields, threw them'.;

Austin, Texas

Ventose (March) 11981

II

Page 19

selves on their faces and demonstrated there for 40

days."
Because of this refusal to permit "images" - the
Jews were deprived of their civil rights, beaten by
infuriated mobs, driven out of the city into prescribed
quarters ... and thus started the establishment of the
ghetto and the beginning of that anti-Semitic hatred
which still survives. The complete dispersion of the
Jews took place after Titus Caesar captured Jerusalem.
From then on, god's "chosen people" - because of this
commandment which he required them to keep - have
suffered every conceivable torture, persecution, massacre and martyrdom, as well as every conceivable
infamy and humiliation known to man.
The rewards enjoyed by the Jews for their faithful
observance of this commandment are the beatings and
massacres of pogroms, the misery of ghetto life, the
epidemics of anti-Semitism.
I quote Lewis directly now, "There is a popular
misconception that the prejudice against the Jews
started after the supposed crucifixion of Jesus. This is
not true. The story of the crucifixion of Jesus ante-dates
the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem. The crucifixion story is the result of their fanatical demonstration
against the Roman ensigns and statues, and was not
the cause of what is now called anti-Semitism.
"The New Testament narrative ofthe nailing of Jesus
to the cross has no more basis in fact than the exodus of

the Children of Israel from Egypt, and contains about the

same amount of truth. There is serious doubt as to
whether Jesus ever lived, and there is not a single
authentic piece of historical evidence to substantiate
his existence. It is probably one of the many monstrous
tales that was fabricated about the Jews after the
fanatical demonstration in the observance of their
superstitious religion. The wildest and most fantastic
tales concerning their religious observances were circulated solely for the purpose of further arousing the
. antagonism already manifested against them."
And that has to do with Joseph Lewis' observations
on the second commandment, which is: Exodus 20:4-6
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth: 5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6.
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love
me, and keep my commandments. "
In this case, the Jews, who loved him, and kept his
commandments, were driven out of Jerusalem, dispersed, despised, hunted down, while the Roman Catholics
who defied the commandment prospered and still do.
Well, the third commandment next time.
(usual close for this radio program) ~

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Address your reply to Lonely Atheist (L.A.)

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PiiiSiiiToiiEiTYOUi-l
. . i
I

!..--"~ii~~H16=~

...-

11 th American Atheist Convention

Germinal (April) 17-18-19, 11981
REGISTER TODAY
$20.00 per person
Send to: Richard Smith, Registrar
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2210 Hancock Dr., Austin TX 78756
[or telephone: 512-458-1244]

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PRAIRIAL (JUNE), 20-21, 11981 (1981)

PETERSBURG, INDIANA