American Atheist Magazine May 1985

8/9/2019 American Atheist Magazine May 1985

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May, 1985

A Journ.al of Atheist News and Thought

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Atheism

and

Country

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AMERICAN ATHEISTS

is a non- profit, non- political, educational organization, dedicated to the complete and absolute separation of

state and church. We accept the explanation of Thomas Jefferson that the First Amendment to the

Constitution of the United States was meant to create a wall of separation between state and church.

American Atheists are organized to stimulate and promote freedom of thought and inquiry concerning

religious beliefs, creeds, dogmas, tenets, rituals and practices;

to collect and disseminate information, data and literature on all religions and promote a more thorough

understanding of them, their origins and histories;

to encourage the development and public acceptance of a human ethical system, stressing the mutual

sympathy, understanding and interdependence of all people and the corresponding responsibility of each

individual in relation to society;

to develop and propagate a culture in which man is the central figure who alone must be the source of

strength, progress and ideals for the well-being and happiness of humanity;

to promote the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems affecting the maintenance,

perpetuation and enrichment of human (and other) life;

to engage in such social, educational, legal and cultural activity as will be useful and beneficial to

members of American Atheists and to society as a whole.

Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and

aims at establishing a lifestyle and ethical outlook verifiable by experience and the scientific method,

independent of all arbitrary assumptions of authority and creeds.

Materialism declares that the cosmos is devoid of immanent conscious purpose; that it is governed by its own

inherent, immutable and impersonal laws; that there is no supernatural interference in human life; that man -

finding his resources within himself - can and must create his own destiny. Materialism restores to man his

dignity and his intellectual integrity. It teaches that we must prize our life on earth and strive always to improve

it. It holds that man is capable of creating a social system based on reason and justice. Materialism's faith is in

man and man's ability to transform the world culture by his own efforts. This is a commitment which is in very

essence life asserting. It considers the struggle for progress as a moral obligation and impossible without noble

ideas that inspire man to bold creative works. Materialism holds that humankind's potential for good and for an

outreach to more fulfilling cultural development is, for all practical purposes, unlimited .

• •• •• • ••••••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • •• •• • •• • •• •• •

American Atheist Membership Categories

Life membership S500.00

Sustaining membership S100.00/year

Family/Couple membership : S50.00/year

Individual membership S40.00/year

Senior Citizen/Unemployed* membership S20.00/year

Student membership* S12.00/year

*1.0. required

All membership categories receive our monthly Insider's Newsletter, membership card(s), a

subscription toAmerican Atheist magazine for the duration of the membership period, plus additional

organizational mailings, i.e. new products for sale, convention and meeting announcements, etc.

American Atheists - P.O. Box 2117 - Austin. TX 78768-2117


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May, 1985

Vol. 27 No 5

m e r i c n t h e i s t

Journal of Atheist

News

and Thought

Editorial: Atheism and Country - Jon Murray

2

Ask A.A.

5

News and Comments: Atheist Addresses State Legislature

6

Via Atheism 8

Another Sade: Part Two - Maurice LaBelle

11

Jesse on My Mind - Stephen B. Thorne

5

Thoughts on Sex, A Free Press, and Non-Authoritarian Society - Fred Woodworth

7

Born of Water - Lowell Newby 9

Minnesota Takes The Cake - August Berkshire 2

Poetry

23

The Case of BigDaddy - Frank R. Zindler

24

DigitizingDestiny - Margaret Bhatty

28

Dial-An-Atheist 29

Historical Notes

3

The Flood and Ark Stories - Madalyn Q'Hair

3

- Gerald Tholen

33

Book Reviews

36

Me Too - Jamie Massey

37

Letters to The Editor 38

Classified Advertisement

4

Reader Service

4

On The Cover: To paraphrase an old English saying - Now is the time for all good Atheists to come to the aid of their country. It

might be added that the time for such action is long overdue. Civilization has entered into a second Age of Enlightenment which, this

time, isoriginating, to an impressive degree, in our own nation. During the nineteenth century Enlightenment, physical and intellectual

release from the burdens of religio-politicalrepression and the attempted proliferation ofscientific information and rational thought were

bitterly opposed by church-controlled authoritarianism. The problems thus generated, in a large sense, were jousts between Left-and

Right-wing factions of religion ingeneral. But, there existed a generous sprinkling of early Atheism which was largely responsible for the

necessarily limited success of the movement. Ifyou have been reading the American Atheist magazine you are aware of much of the

history of the era. Today, the with even more rapid development of scientific (i.e. rational) knowledge, insanely fundamental religious

interests are again hopelessly trying to stem the inevitable; the further intellectual advancement ofhumanity. This time Atheism isinthe

forefront. Be conscious of our true Americanism. Be proud of our inherent Atheism which willallow it to flourish.

G.Tholen

Editor/Robin Murray-O'Hair, Editor Emeritus/Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Manag-

TheAmerican Atheist magazine ispublished monthly by the American Atheist Press

ing Editor/Jon G. Murray, Assistant Editor/Gerald Tholen,Poetry/Angeline

(an affiliate of American Atheists), 2210 Hancock Dr., Austin, TX 78768·2596, and a

Bennett, Gerald Tholen, Production Staff/Bill Kight, Gloria Tholen, Sandra M.P.

non-profit, non-political, educational organization dedicated to the complete and

McGann, Douglas A. Barnes Non-Resident/G. Stanley Brown, Jeff Frankel, Merrill

absolute separation ofstate and church. (Allrights reserved. Reproduction in whole

Holste, Margaret Bhatty, Fred Woodworth, Frank R. Zindler.

or in part without written permission is prohibited). Mailing address: PO Box

2117/Austin, TX 78768·2117. Subscription isprovided as an incident of membership

The American Atheist magazine

inthe organization ofI'.merican Atheists. Subscriptions

alone

are available at $25.00

isindexed in

for one year terms orJy. (Frequency monthly. Library and institutional discount:

Monthly Periodical Index

50%.) Manuscripts submitted must be typed, double-spaced and accompanied by a

ISSN: 03324310

stamped, self-addressed envelope. A copy of American Atheist Magazine Writers

copyright 1984by Society of Separationists, Inc.

Guidelines is available on request. The editors assume no responsibIlity for

unsolicited manuscripts.

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Austin, Texas

May, 1985

Page 1


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EDITORIAL/Jon G. Murray

ATHEISM AND COUNTRY

O

n April 5th, 6th and 7th of 1985, the

Fifteenth Annual National Convention

of American Atheists was held in Austin,

Texas. In 1968 the First Annual National

Convention was held in the same city. No

conventions were held in three separate

years due to fear of attendance and funding

difficulties therefore. The 1968meeting, for

example, was characterized byguests diving

under the tables to hide from the media

which came to cover the event. The 1985

Convention was a far cry from the first.

Unity and Power

In 1983 we celebrated the twenty-year

anniversary ofthe founding ofthe American

Atheist organization. A new motto came out

of that Convention, held in San Francisco,

for the future of Atheism in this country.

That motto was Unity today - power

tomorrow. We onlyhad an apprehension at

that meeting, two years ago, that unity and

power would be the key concepts to our

continued success. Now, with the events of

the last two bitter Reagan years behind us,

we have come to understand that those

concepts are essential to not only our con-

tinued growth but to the far more basic goal

of survival of Atheism in our nation.

Atheists as Outcasts

Just in the past two years the Wall of

Separation between state and church, en-

visaged by the founders of our nation, has

been smashed flatby the combined fists of

religion and government. It is now obvious

that allof us, as Atheists, must work togeth-

er to build a power base large enough to

prevent our being physically silenced in the

very near future - for certainly the next

four years under Reagan can only be omi-

nous. Atheism has, with his administration,

been totally and irrevocably removed from

society. We find ourselves now as outcasts

who are no longer able to participate in the

normal processes ofdissent withinthe social

order. Where heretofore we had an avenue

ofdissent inthe judiciary, this has now been

closed to Atheists. There isno possible hope

of appealing to the other branches of gov-

ernment - the executive or the legislative,

both captured by or capitulating to the

pressures of organized radical right religious

Page 2

elements of our society.

Convention Relocation

The circumstances surrounding the re-

location of the Fifteenth Annual Convention

ofAmerican Atheists are a case inpoint and

should serve as a beacon light for projected

activities in years to come. In the second

week of March several concerned persons

called the American Atheist Center to ad-

vise that a ninety-minute talk program on a

local all-religious radio station in Austin,

Texas, was broadcasting planned disruption

of the American Atheist Convention. Upon

investigation itwas found that the boast was

made by a host ofa religious talk show, small

in stature (physical as well as intellectual), a

born-again Christian who did not even have

a church of his own. He operated a Chris-

tian fellowship from a very small born-again

Christian book shop in a half-empty shop-

ping center in the outskirts ofAustin. Upon

investigation it was found that his church

rented a Junior High School cafeteria on

Sunday, complete with cooking odors, and

that his congregation consisted of an (al-

leged) two hundred members (counting the

kiddies), perhaps as many as forty or fifty

families.

Intimidation Attempt

The plan proposed (which was actually

later effectuated) was to rent the other side

of a large ballroom in which the American

Atheist Convention was to be held. With the

two parts of the rooms separated only by a

thin pull-out wall-divider, the disruption

could be carried out by bringing ina religious

rock band, and several large church choirs

to make joyful noises to the lord so that the

Atheist speakers could not be heard. Also

with Convention registration tables side-by-

side, the prospect ofjoustling ofthe Atheists

by the fervid born-againers was much more

than a mere possiblity.

American Atheists did the logical and

reasonable thing: its Convention was moved

to a different hotel on the opposite side of

the city. The born-againers found them-

selves, on the days ofthe Convention, faced

with an empty room adjacent to their hoot-

and-holler session. Their opportunistic bal-

loon of interruption was burst so that their

May, 1985

efforts came to naught. American Atheists

can parry any thrust. I recount this to you

here because the absolutely incredible fol-

lowed: President Reagan, informed of the

proposed disruptive plans, sent a letter of

encouragement to the born-againers - as

he continued to take a personal interest in

the activities of American Atheists and

Madalyn O'Hair.

Unequal Rights

Substantively, a group of pipsqueak, but

loud, religious fundamentalists forced this

year's American Atheist Convention to be

moved from one hotel to another - with the

President of the United States encouraging

the action and applauding at the sidelines.

Appeals to city officials to intervene fell on

deaf ears, as election day for the Austin

mayor and city council coincided with the

opening day of the Convention. Not alone

would we never have considered a premedi-

tated disruption of a religious meeting, but

we could have suffered legal sanctions had

we attempted any such move. In every city

in the nation there are laws on the books

with prescribed penalties for disruption of a

religious ceremony. No such lawsexist for

the protection of non-religious speech or

assembly beyond the blanket statement of

the First Amendment. Religion -has gone

unopposed for so long that it has acquired

the power to make opposition to it a crime,

should that opposition turn to actual disrup-

tion. Religionists, on the other hand, can do

as they please using their religious convic-

tions as a shield against the law that restrains

the non-religious. American Atheists moved

out of a motivation to prevent potential

property damage, physical violence, and a

circus atmosphere. The rational were forced

to counter the irrational by giving way, as

has always been in history. Willy-nilly, the

religious are bent on confrontation and

harm; the Atheists - as counterfoil -

adhere to reason and safety. The incident

forecasts a rough road ahead for all of us.

The fact that a small fanatical group was

successful in making us move our Conven-

tion, causing us considerable inconven-

ience, this year means that we can anticipate

more ofthe same with increasing severity in

succeeding years.

American Atheist


5/44

Reason is The Answer

We must keep in mind as we go along that

Atheism has a proud American heritage.

Some of the most valued contributors to

modern society (from many different na-

tions) were and are Atheists. We are few,

but we are the elite and we should be very

proud ofthat. Atheists are Atheists, by and

large, because they are those who possess

the basic power to reason required to escape

from the systemic net of irrationality that

covers our daily lives. We are continually

bombarded, day and night, by religious,

political, economic, and ideologic irration-

ality in this nation. The United States isnow,

in fact, the chief exporter nation of funda-

mentalist religion to the world, a title that has

a hidden warning for those of us who are

concerned with world politics.

The time is now for Atheists to make

themselves known intheir communities and

to stand up and -showoffboth their courage

and their reason in the face of irrationality.

On Saturday, April 6th, a local television

station sent its camera crew to the Conven-

tion. With three hundred and ten seats filled,

those of us at the speakers' podium were

pleased to see Atheists smile into cameras

panned closely on their faces - the most

that anyone did to change appearance was

to check that a necktie was properly straight,

or that a dress was without a creasing fold.

Not one person dived under a table. What

does the cigarette ad stress? You've come

a long way, baby. And, indeed, Atheism

has.

Isolate and Eradicate

If we allow ourselves to be silenced and

isolated outside ofsociety, we can be swept

under the rug for good. If,on the other hand,

we stand up and let our voices be heard in

unison, we will have much less to fear, at

least inthe short run. The longrun ofhuman

concern, with education and science on its

side, can take care of itself. We must stick

together for the same reason that a herd of

antelope sticks together inthe face ofa pride

of lions. The ability to isolate is the ability to

eradicate. American Atheists gained from

the publicity which attended the scheme of

the born-againers to disrupt our Convention.

That gain came from concerted action and

determination with a proper evasive action

to throw the attack off-guard and make it

ineffective while strengthening and en-

hancing the position and image ofAmerican

Atheists.

But there are other factors unrelated to

the state/church separation battle, or the

continuing effort to have Atheism recog-

nized as a viable alternative to religion. The

economic conditions of our nation make it

more difficult,ina continuing way, to assem-

ble in convention as airfares, hotel accom-

Austin, Texas

SHE.EL-

I DON', KN O W \

RON...

LET'S C-ONSUL T

TINKER-BELLE

O N TI-f IS ONE....

May, 1985

Page 3


6/44

mociations, and restaurant prices rise. When

Atheists do, therefore, so assemble no mat-

ter what the cost one sees in the attendees

those who share the determination to stand

out among their fellows as purveyors of

reason within their communities. The cost is

admittedly high, monetarily and also psycho-

logically. It takes a brave one to openly

identify and to dig into one's own pockets to

finance the adventure.

Sorry Warriors

In the perilous times in which we are, it

becomes more and more imperative that

Atheists do identify themselves as such.

Who else willsave our beloved country from

the plunge into medieval ages which seems

to be our destiny as the Falwellians mount

the attacks which willbring us to a state of

ignorance, mental servility, and stagnation

in science and in education? If we are so

frightened that wecannot even openly group

inorder to flex our educational and political

muscles, we are sorry warriors inthe cause

of freedom.

Lonely Leaders

Itis extremely depressing to me that often

Atheists meet in order to get caught in the

trap of religious fly-paper: to engage in

endless circular arguments concerned with

biblical errancy, to repeat and repeat per-

sonal testimonial sessions of their salvation

from religion,to clingtogether intinygroups,

meeting again and again, craving reinforce-

ment that evolution is really here to stay. As

Atheists we do not need continual psycho-

logical stroking. Our strength is in our

uniqueness. Of course, we are different

from the herd. Leaders are' always lonely.

No one ever promised you a rose garden

when you started to actually use your mind.

Revolutionizing

Ifeelthat some ofthe persons who remain

primarily concerned with striking out at the

Bible are not functional Atheists at all.They

are still deists or simply anti-clerics or some

other precursor oftrue Atheism. The physi-

cal trappings of faith, such as the Bible,

represent to them a reminder of the pain

caused to them by the dogma in which they

were reared as a youth. They need to punch

at this thing that was once forced on them

against their will.This makes them feel good

for the moment, but in the long run religion

can take allofthese punches they can throw

and come back for more, renewed in vigor.

Atheists need only to find one another, to

meet, to sit down comfortably for the won-

derment of finding that we all look, talk,

walk, dress, and appear to be ordinary

members ofthe human community. Itisonly

what is between our ears that makes us

Page 4

different. And, after we have come to know

one another on a social level,we can findour

areas ofexpertise as each ofus undertakes a

part ofthe larger task of revolutionizing the

thinking of the citizens of our nation.

A first order of business is grouping for

survival in the next four Reagan years - a

primary objective. But inaddition weneed to

work in the larger area: how to deprogram

an entire nation from the formidible long-

term indoctrination of religion which its

citizens have endured. We cannot do this

unless we are all introduced one to the

other.

Where The Battle Is

As the chief organizer of this year's Con-

vention, I strove to chieve a blend of

educatic n, camaraderie, and recreation over

the course ofthree Spring days. Especially, I

wanted the persons assembled to look at,

and take pride in, the American Atheist

Center. Iwanted as many as possible to see

the Austin, Texas, up front trenches. For

the first time, the Murray-O'Hairs opened

their home to over a hundred guests from

across the nation inorder to make them feel

that they had come home. I tried to say, in

every way, This is where the battle is. This

The Atheist Alamo

Ifyou ever go to Texas

Where they like a damn good fight

And you want to see some history done

To fashion matters right

When you've gone from San Jacinto

Where the massacre was won

To Goliad where heros died

Your journey's just begun

For valor wasn't conquered

At the Mission Alamo

So head yourself to Austin

There's a place you ought to go

To a little fort on Hancock street

Whose walls refuse to fall

And the battle there that's raging

Is the greatest one of all

It's the fight to free the human mind

From religious tyranny

And the courage of the seiged within

Is courage fit to see

As bold defiant volleys rise

From ramparts thinly manned

Religion's paying dearly now

To charge this rebel band

And no matter what the world willface

As ages come and go

Each noble mind willyet recall

This Atheist Alamo -

Gerald Tholen

May, 1985

iswhere the lines are drawn. This is how we

do it. Come and put your feet on hallowed

ground. I almost felt like Co . Travis draw-

ing the line in the dirt with his sword at the

Alamo forthose ofcourage to step forward. I

cannot describe to all of you who have

supported this organization over the years

how good it made me feel to have that

challenge answered byone and allwho came

to Austin this year. Although the staff of the

American Atheist Center stands ready to

continue in the face of any odds, it helps to

know that we have the moral and financial

support, now, of so many. In years past we

didnot even have that. Itfeels good not to be

alone.

Renewed Resolution

The rewards from the Convention were

more than we had hoped. Daily the letters

are coming in - for the first time in fifteen

years - from persons who attended the

Convention. They have strengthened hopes.

They feel the beginnings of determination

rising within themselves. They are full of

pride. They were caught in three days of

wonderment, with excellent speakers, a

fabulous hotel, a city fresh with wildflowers

of the season, an American Atheist Center

more beautiful, functional, coordinated, and

equipped than they had in their wildest

dreams ever believed to be possible. The

letters are filled with intention and resolu-

tion.

Atheism and Country

Well, what is holding us back? The reli-

gious fundamentalist group which attempt-

ed to thwart or to disrupt the American

Atheists' Fifteenth Annual National Conven-

tion called its effort a rally for God and

Country. It is instructive that in the slogan-

eering god came before country. Atheists

have always been America's finest citizens.

It has always been an Atheist out infront in

attempts to ameliorate the condition of

humankind. With a proud heritage of

Frances Wright, Thomas Edison, Luther

Burbank, Mark Twain, Clarence Darrow,

Margaret Sanger, Henry Ford, Andrew Car-

negie, and many others, it is to the Atheists

that America owes much. We again, now, in

our time take up the cudgels for freedom of

speech, freedom of the press, freedom of

thought, freedom of the mind. We work so

that America willbe in the good hands of an

atheist majority as wemove to overcome the

evils of religious facism now closing its

clamps upon the nation.

Freedom and Justice for

All

We must remember that as Atheists we

are fighting for the rights of the religious

(cont'd on

pg.

39)

American Athei


7/44

ASK A.A.

In Letters to the Editor, readers give

their opinions, ideas, and information.

But in Ask A.A. American Atheists

answers questions regarding its poli-

cies, positions, and customs, as well as

queries of factual and historical situa-

tions.

Ijust found out that John Quincy Adams

swore on a lawbook, not the Bible,during his

inauguration. Why did he do that? Was he

an Atheist or just intelligent enough to

realize that church and state must remain

separate? Did any other presidents swear on

anything other than the Bible?

Source: NBC News, 3:40 p.m. EST, 21st

January, 1985

Joe Wanner

Pennsylvania

The Founding Fathers and the first five

presidents of the United States were deists.

They eschewed the Bible

as a

document of

import. Persons either attacking or ignoring

the Judeo-Christian Bible were Co/. Ethan

Allen, Thomas Paine, George Mason,

Benjamin Franklin and Presidents George

Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jeffer-

son, James Madison, and john Quincy

Adams. At one point John Adams, in a letter

to Thomas Jefferson, purportedly said,

This would be the best of all possible

worlds if there were no religion in it. We are

attempting at thispoint to authenticate the

quote. It

is

allegedly

in a

letter which

Jefferson wrote to Adams, quoting Adams'

earlier letter to Jefferson. John Adams was,

of course, the father ofJohn Quincy Adams.

Deists, in the day and age of the founding

of our republic, adhered to a system of

thought that advocated a natural religion,

divorced from the Judeo-Christian Bible,

based on reason rather than revelation,

emphasizing nature's harmony and intelli-

gibility, and rejecting the idea that the

Creator could interfere with the laws of

nature and the matters of mankind on

earth. Simply put, and as it appears in our

Declaration of Independence, the Founding

Fathers believed

in ...

nature and nature's

God. It is axiomatic that they would not

accept the Bible, but considering the polit-

ical state of affairs at that time, it is not

surprising that most of the Presidents did

succumb and use the Bible for swearing in.

The younger Adams was, simply, a man of

bravery and conviction.

American Atheists solicits Atheist re-

searchers to assist infinding the answers to

all of these queries. We would like to know

the comments concerned with John Quincy

Adams' actions at the time, and his replies, if

any.

Austin, Texas

It is high time American Atheists talked

about the prejudice present in all religious

people. They love their god because of the

moral teaching, parables, drama, and mira-

cles in the Bible. Through the encourage-

ment offaith, they gain a strong prejudice for

their god.

Ifreligionists had more exposure to logic,

Atheism, scientific method, and relevant

science in school or elsewhere, they would

lose their prejudice. I don't think religionists

are insane, only ignorant. Religion isnothing

more than a superstition. Please explain why

American Atheists keeps saying religion is

insanity instead of a supersitition.

Richard Skarda

California

A superstition is a belief, or notion, not

based on reason or knowledge, inor of the

ominous (i.e., that which causes an irra-

tional fear or portends evil or harm) sig-

nificance of a particular thing, circum-

stance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

Superstitions are that one cannot walk

under a ladder, have a black cat cross one's

path, and the like. Religion isa beliefset. All

religions have a complete, often sophisti-

cated, belief set which is the basis of that

religion. This primarily isconcern over what

exists beyond the visible world - specifi-

cally in the acceptance that there is a

transcendent spiritual entity which (1) cre-

ated the world,

(2)

governs it,

(3)

controls its

destiny and that of all individuals existing in

that world, (4) intervenes in history or in a

disruptive way in natural events as a re-

sponse to supplications, rituals, and prayers

of its devotees, and (5) rewards and pun-

ishes after death certain individuals for their

adherence or nonadherence to the belief set

during life. .

Persons who are psychotic are those who

are unable to relate to reality. Religious

persons are

so

consumed with their make-

believe god, make-believe heaven and hell,

and all of the accoutrement of their religion

that they are unable to cope with the reality

of living.

Some poor sap who evades walking under

a ladder isprobably responding to the omin-

ous idea that a bucket of paint or other

material could fall on his head. Even

a

person who evades a black cat crossing his

path may be responding to an old adage

that such a creature (not visible in the dark

to a coachman) could startle horses on a

coach and cause an accident. This is totally

different than the irrational, and basically

insane, idea of committing one's life to

Jesus Christ.

It is granted that religious people are

May, 1985

ignora.nt, but so were all Atheists at one

point in their lives. Upon educating them-

selves

in

respect

to

their

prior

religious

indoctrination they abandoned their irratio-

nal, i.e., psychotic, thinking, and restored

themselves to normality.

Religion is not mere superstition. It is the

acceptance of an irrational belief set, with

the consequent stultification of thought pro-

cesses. American Atheists will continue to

differentiate between superstitions and re-

ligion, the former having some basic signal

in them to avoid

a

certain activity, but the

latter simply connoting insanity.

Christianity is defined by you as a preju-

dice coming from a love of god based on

the moral teaching, parables, drama and

miracles in the Bible. Judeo-Christianity is

characterized by intolerance of all other

ideas - particularly of science and know-

ledge. This is much more pernicious than

mere prejudice. The average Judeo-Chris-

tian fears his god rather than loves him.

There are few, if any, moral teachings in

the Bible. The parables have for a thousand

years been scrutinized for coherent mean-

ing; none has been found by the most

earnest theologians. The miracles in the

Bible are as phony as Ringling Brothers,

Barnum and Bailey's unicorns.

What does it take to get a letter answered.

You guys never write replies to personal

letters.

Janice Mierzejewski

Ohio

What it takes is more hands at The

American Atheist Center. We continue to

be inundated with mail; there are not per-

sons enough to answer it all.During the last

ten years we have devised innumerable

form letters to make reply, but the questions

and situations about which the Atheists of

the nation query are

so

complicated and

novel that many of the form letters are not

efficacious. We are back-logged, at the last

count, about four years in trying to make

individually tailored replies

or to

check

on

state/church separation violations reported

to the Center.

This is not necessarily disastrous since

the violations continue, most often, for

decades. As quickly as we can work with

them we do so - finding that the problem is

still

existing

and that our resources are still

too meager to blunt the problem or to

eradicate it.

You can all help by financing the Ameri-

can Atheist Center as best as you can.

Meanwhile, be patient - and understand-

ing, please.

PageS


8/44

sometimes bitter pills to swallow. That the

child

should have a say in the matter seems

not to be a concern of at least some of the

legislators 'who voted last December to

maintain the religious exemptions from the

laws against child abuse.

The idea that the child should be allowed

to live long enough to be able to develop a

religious opinion differing from that of his

parents - if it is thought of at all - is

rejected in horror by parents who, like the

biblical patriarch Abraham, are ready and

willingto sacrifice their little Isaacs as a sign

of religious devotion. But unlike Abraham,

who isreported to have had second thoughts

in the matter and spared his son at the last

minute, a number of Ohioans have felt they

had to equal the faith of the biblical judge

Jephthah who actually sacrificed his daugh-

ter to his god.

In Western religious tradition, children

traditionally have been viewed as chattels

-objects to be shaped and molded ac-

cording to the neuropsychiatric biases re-

sponsible for the theological opinions held

by their parents. Only with the relaxing of

religion's grip upon Western civilizationhave

we come to see that the child has rights of his

own, and that the state has a legitimate

interest in the protection of children against

abuse and mistreatment by their parents. If

parents want to handle rattlesnakes as a

religious act, that is their own look-out. But if

parents expect their five-year old children to

do it, the state cannot be indifferent. The

state must save the children.

NEWS AND COMMENTS

ATHEIST ADRESSES

STATE LEGISLATURE

In December, 1984, Ohio State Rep.

Paul Jones, D-Ravenna, tried to get a

bill passed in the Ohio Legislature to

remove the religious exemption from

the child

absue

laws

(sections

2151.03,

2151.421, and 2919.22 of the Ohio Re-

vised Code), but lobbying groups such

as the Christian Science Church suc-

ceeded in scuttling Jones' bill. That left

intact

the following language:

Nothing in this section shall be

construed to define as an abused

or neglected child any child who is

under spiritual treatment through

prayer in accordance with the

tenets and practice of a well-

recognized religion in lieu ofmed-

ical treatment.

Tosave the children, once again, Rep.

Jones introduced another bill (House

BillNo. 67)which seeks to remove such

language from the laws of Ohio. Hear-

ings on

the

billwere

held

on

March 21,

1985,at

the

Ohio

State

House,

before

a

subcommittee of the House Children

and Youth Committee. The subcommit-

tee was chaired byRep. Jane Campbell.

Frank R. Zindler,

representing

the

Ohio Chapter ofAmerican Atheists tes-

tified before the subcommittee on that

date. He told reporters, I cannot tell

the legislators how to vote but it is my

hope that if they have

a better under-

standing of the constitutional and social

dimensions of the issue, they will be

able

to

take whatever

action is needed

to make Ohio as safe a place for chil-

dren as are most

other states.

The text of his addresS follows:

Introductory Comments

I am Frank Zindler, speaking on behalf of

the Central Ohio Chapter of American

Atheists. American Atheists is also known

as the Society of Separationists. We are an

educational organization devoted to the

maintenance ofabsolute separation of state

and church. It isone ofour major tenets that

most of the evilsofthe world are the result of

ignorance or at least are made worse by

ignorance. Our educational out-reach is,

Page 6

therefore, an attempt to help solve some of

the world's most serious problems. It is

hoped that by sharing the atheist under-

standing ofthe question offaith-healing - as

well as our understanding of the require-

ments of the Federal Constitution with re-

gard to tate-church separation - the Ohio

State Legislature may be assisted in arriving

at the best possible solution of the problem

posed by the religious abuse of children.

First let me share myunderstanding ofthe

various constitutionally secured freedoms.

The Federal Billof Rights guarantees free-

dom of speech, freedom of religion, and

freedom of the press - to name but a few of

its guarantees. But none of these freedoms

is absolute or without bounds. Allfreedoms

must be balanced against one another, and

one man's freedoms must be weighed

against the freedoms of his fellows. Justice

Holmes stated in a famous dictum that

freedom ofspeech does not extend to falsely

crying fire in a crowded theater. It is also

accepted that freedom of the press does not

extend to the printing of libel. And - until I

moved to Ohio several years ago - I

thought it was common understanding that

freedom of religion did not extend to the

performance of child sacrifice.

But to my shock, child sacrifice as a

religious right would appear, de

facto,

to be

legal inthe State ofOhio. Both when reading

the statutes and when reading the news-

papers this impression is confirmed. We

need not recount the particular recent cases

of children dying for their parents' faith.

These have been well documented by the

media, and the legislature doubtless has

more details than Ido. It is sufficient for our

purposes simply to note that the principle of

religious freedom has been perverted: In

Ohio the religious freedom of parents has

been extended to the point where their

children have none at all. The dead know

nothing of freedom.

Judging from the published remarks last

December of Sen. Lee Fisher of Cleveland,

the religious freedom of parents is thought

to be essentially without bounds. If parents

believe they can stop hemorrhage ina child's

severed limb by prayer, the state is to stand

by reverently watching and, after the child is

dead, do no more than to cluck consolingly

that the trials of faith are often arduous and

May, 1985

House BillNo. 67

One of the most shocking features of the

relevant sections of the Revised Code is the

repeated use of the phrase in accordance

with the tenets of a well-recognized reli-

gion. This phrase is

prima facie

in violation

of the no-establishment clause of the First

Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It is

unconstitutional because it attempts to

create by law a hierarchy of religions: rec-

. ognized or officially sanctioned religions,

and unrecognized or illegitimate religions.

Now it is neither the duty nor the right of

government to judge the legitimacy or truth

of any religion. Nor is it legal for government

to establish religion in general in a position

American Atheist


9/44

N EW S AND CO M MEN TS

superior to non-religion. With regard to the

topic under discussion - child abuse and

neglect - it is not for the government to

decide that a given child was allowed to die

for legitimate religious reasons and an-

other child's death resulted from application

of illegitimate religious doctrines, It is the

duty of government, completely without

regard to the particular religions involved, to

save the children,

Clearly, the well-recognized religion

phrase must be eliminated in order for the

Ohio statutes to comply with the First

Amendment. It istruly astonishing that such

wording ever slipped into the laws of this

state.

Sec. 2151.03

Lines 2.15 - 2.21 ofthe proposed billare

ungrammatical and unclear in meaning as

they stand. The phrase is not a neglected

child for this reason alone is ambiguous:

does this mean that the child is neglected,

but is to be considered neglected for other

reasons in addition to the reasons given in

the preceding phrases, or does it mean that

mere spiritual treatment by itself is insuf-

ficient to define the child as neglected?

The addition of subsection (F) [which

defines a neglected child as any child who,

in lieu of medical or surgical care or treat-

ment for a wound, injury, disability, or

physical or mental condition, is under spir-

itual treatment through prayer, ifthe failure

to provide the medical or surgical care or

treatment results inserious physical harm to

the child ] is, in my opinion, a step in the

right direction. I would caution, however,

that restricting this subsection to physical

injury may be too narrow. It must be re-

membered that many religious groups con-

sider aberrant behavior to be the result of

demonic possession, and it is not at all rare

for an emotionally disturbed child to be

treated by exorcism instead of psychiatry.

The long-range emotional and mental dam-

age resulting from such abuse is difficultto

measure, but it is very real nevertheless.

Sec.

2151.421

This section of the law requires various

official and professional persons to report

suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.

There is a problem in this section which is

rather peculiar inthat itprovides a loop-hole

with which adherents of one particular reli-

gious sect may avoid compliance.

Lines 2.35, et

seq.,

continuing the list of

responsible persons, include any person

rendering spiritual treatment through pray-

er in accordance with the tenets of a well-

Austin, Texas

recognized religion, acting in his official or

professional capacity, having reason to be-

lieve

that a child less than eighteen years of

age ... has suffered any wound, injury,

disability, or condition. of such nature as to

reasonably indicate abuse or neglect ...

It would almost appear that this section

was designed to allow Christian Science

practitioners to escape responsibility for the

deaths and injuries at which they attend. For

according to the tenets of this well-recog-

nized religion, there is no such thing as

physical illness. One cannot really have leu-

kemia for the simple reason that one doesn't

really have any blood at all - let alone red

and white corpuscles According to this

sect, disease - indeed matter itself - is an

illusion, the result of disordered thought.

Death also is merely an illusion which, for

reasons Mary Baker Eddy never succeeded

inanswering, we allexperience. So perverse

isour proclivity to such illusion, in fact, that

we repeatedly imagine we see even dead

plants and animals

Now a Christian Science practitioner

could - with a completely clear conscience

- claim that the sickness and death of any

child dying during his manipulations was not

reported because (1)the child wasn't sick

in the first place and (2)the child isn't really

dead. Moreover, we must remember that

these practitioners are required to remain as

ignorant as possible of the symptoms and

classifications of diseases. Not knowing the

symptoms of disease, a Christian Scientist

can plead truthfully to have had no reason to

expect disaster. .

I believe that this loop-hole can be closed

by adding, perhaps at line 3.17, a sentence

such as Disbelief in the reality of physical

illness or biological death on the part of the

officials listed supra does not release such

persons from the obligation of reporting

under the terms of this statute. We may

note also that in Indiana, all citizens have a

legal obligation to be reporters of child

abuse, and thus long lists such as we see in

lines 2.24 - 3.4 are unnecessary.

Sec.

2919.22

This section deals with endangerment of

children. Since line 7.12 mentions the treat-

ment of both physical or mental illness or

defect . . . by spiritual means through

prayer, it is only consistent to amend line

7.19 to discuss treatment failure which re-

sults in serious physical or mental harm to

the child.

Apart from the suggestions listed above,

House Bill67 as offered by Rep. Paul Jones

appears to be both necessary from a social

point of view, and well thought out from a

May, 1985

legal point of view.

Conclusion

Ifpublished accounts are any guide to the

nature of the dispute over this bill, it would

appear that the major opponents of the bill

have been representatives of the Christian

Science church. I have already mentioned

some of the astonishing beliefs of this sect,

and we need not examine them further.

Rather, in concluding my testimony before

this committee, Iwould liketo analyze some

ofthe arguments which have been published

and attributed to a Christian Science spokes-

man named W. R. Evans.

In a letter to the Children and Youth

Committee, Evans is said to have opposed

this billbecause itwould prevent Christian

Scientists from legally practicing faith heal-

ing. I believe this is an exaggeration. Faith

healing would still be allowed, provided that

additional medical care were provided in

cases where itwas necessary. The believers

would still be free to claim that it was the

prayer, and not the penicillin, that cured the

double pneumonia.

Evans' letter claims that a doctor could

failinhis treatment ofa child and not be held

legally liable, while a parent practicing faith

healing would be. This argument fails on

two counts. First, itfailsto acknowledge that

a doctor can be held guilty of malpractice if

his treatment is not in conformity with

practices considered to be the most effica-

cious bythe medical profession at that point

in the evolution ofmedical science. Second-

ly, it presumes that the probability of suc-

cessful therapy is just as low with medical

treatment as it is with faith treatment.

What the Christian Scientists and other

mental healers need to do is demonstrate to

this committee and to the world of medical

science that the expectation ofcure isjust as

great with their system as it is with accepted

medical procedures. Let them show, for

example, that in mice infected with plague

bacilliprayer preserves as many animals as

does streptomycin. Let them show that in

dogs in a state of hypovolemic shock due to

massive blood loss, prayer prolongs life as

reliably as does blood transfusion. The fact

that no medical procedure is ever one

hundred percent reliable does not mean that

such procedures do no good at all or no

better than faith healing. No prudent person

inthis age ofscience willwant to give up our

hard-won knowledge of the workings of our

bodies and go back to the Dark Ages viewof

demons and spirits as the cause of disease. It

is not, I hope, naive to suppose that all the

members of this legislature are prudent

persons.

Page 7


10/44

allydefensible and socially responsible solu

tion of the problems involving the religiou

abuse of children. Ifthere are any questions

concerning my testimony, or if I can be o

further help, please ask me now or at any

time in the future.

NEWS AND OMMENTS

Finally, Evans says that the IRS, Medi-

care, Medicaid, and many insurance com-

panies acknowledge the effectiveness of

Christian Science treatment Ican only say

that ifthis istrue, itisterrifying. Itmeans that

these other agencies are in need of edu-

cation with regard to the facts of faith

healing. It does

not

mean that the Ohio State

Legislature should playmonkey-see, monkey-

do.

ope that in sharing with the committee

an atheist understanding of the issues re-

lating to House Bill67, I have made it easier

for the committee to arrive at a constitution-

VIA ATHEISM

askew almost immediately when the prison

refused to grant a charter of recognition to

his proposed Atheist group. He made head-

lines across the nation when Warden J. P

Mitchell of the Virginia State Penitentiary

prison denied approval for a Chapter o

American Atheists in his prison. A threaten-

ed law suit and a continued three month

negotiated push by Arnold and the atheist

prisoners finally won entry into the prison

for a new, but associated with American

Atheists, group - PALA. Currently, Via has

PALA organized in twenty-three states with

a single resolute reason: to free prisoners

from

jail-house religion. In 1984 he issued

two awards: a PAL of The Year Award to

Hugh L. Dalton in the Bastrop, Texas,

Federal Penitentiary for his

federal

fight and

a PAL of The Year Award to William B

Randolph in the Buckingham Correctional

Center inDillwyn,Virginia for his state fight

Via's first outreach to the prisons had

been under the auspices of American Athe

ists since he had begun the first Virgini

Chapter of that organization with a Virgini

state grant of authority to operate there on

March 20, 1980.

An indication of his involvement is shown

by his budget for the year 1980, which

included extensive newspaper advertising,

Newsletter expenditure, telephone bills, and

travel expenses:

January: $1,127.11

February: 421.60

March: 1,446.75

April: 523.60

May: 189.90

June: 386.76

July: $2,050_50

August: 531.92

September: 815.72

October: 1,023.15

November: 498.31

December: 799.63

The total expenditures of the year

($9,795.05) included a $50.00 check each

and every month toward the mortgage o

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary,

via - 1:

by way of,

2:

through the medium of,

3:

by means of'

On May 6, 1925an event occurred which

would make a difference to American Athe-

ism in our times: Arnold Via was born. The

squawking, red-faced brat began immediate-

ly to set up his howls in the world, and -

fortunately for allof us - he has never quit

American Atheists is very pleased to honor

Arnold Via on his day of birth and to tell the

world that we are happy that he is one of us.

Those ofyou who do not know Arnold Via

are missing something, but you can find out

a little about him by reading feature articles

in prior

American Atheist

magazines: Ac-

tion Atheist: Arnold Via which appeared in

the December, 1978(Vol. 20, No_12)issue,

Viva Via in the February, 1980 (Vol. 22,

No.2) issue, Prison Atheist League of

America Challenges Religious Influence in

America's Prisons in the April, 1983 (Vol.

25, No.4) issue, and The Recycling of An

Atheist in the October, 1983 (Vol. 35, No.

10)issue. Hewas featured on the front cover

of the February, 1980,issued under the title

Our man in Virginia but, actually, he

would be our man anywhere in the world.

Via has worked long, hard, and arduously

for the concept of Atheism and poured his

own money into what he has advocated for

more years than he cares to admit His most

recent magnanimous act was to drive from

Grottoes, Virginia, to Austin, Texas, to

spend two weeks on the repair of the roof of

The American Atheist Center. Characteristi-

cally, almost as an aside, he finished estab-

lishing the first Chapter of PALA (prison

Atheist League of America) in a federal

penitentiary while in Texas. Heretofore, he

has had his efforts focused on the state

prison systems. Inthe Bastrop, Texas, Fed-

eral Penitentiary, situated thirty miles east of

Austin, Texas, Hugh Dalton battled for two

and one-half years to establish.the Chapter,

recognized finallyby the Warden on Febru-

ary 13th, 1985. And Via was in attendance

for the first meeting.

Arnold Via's first involved fight for Athe-

ism began in 1976 with the issuance of his

own book, One

Step toward Atheism

which

succinctly stated his position. It had hap-

pened that he had a Letter to the Editor

refused by his local newspaper and felt that

he was entitled to speak his piece as, were

the religious in his community and state. A

Christian creationist had written a Letter to

the Editor denying evolution and the news-

paper refused, in those early days, to print

Via's response. Almost immediately he set

to a veritable campaign of letter writing and

ad purchasing, at a time when ads for atheist

material were routinely turned down by

newspapers everywhere. By 1978, he had

broken through all barriers and was able to

place, without censorship, any ad that he

desired to place.

Watergate brought another facet ofAthe-

ism to lifein Via's career. Disgusted by the

antics of Charles Colson and his efforts to

organize Christian Fellowships in the prison

system, knowing that those institutions were

already overburdened with religion, Via

made his first foray into the Virginia State

Penitentiary system in August, 1980, al-

though Atheists are few inthe prison system,

only _03%(by which ismeant less than 1%of

the prison population is Atheist). Incarcer-

ated Atheists are subjected to a religious

indoctrination which can only be described

as frightening. Parole is almost impossible

without a statement of reliance upon god

and a minister. The religious community is

permitted to move into the prison system to

intimidate, coerce, and drain money from

both the prisoners and the prisoners' fami-

lies. Via had been corresponding with a man

in the Virginia State Penitentiary, and he

found that in the tens of thousands of

prisoners there, thirteen Atheists were in-

cluded. He immediately reached to the pri-

son's educational department to see if he

could find those Atheists and meet with

them. He understood that the penal system

in the United States saw each convict as a

sinner rather than a criminal and he de-

cided to change it all. His plans were set


11/44


12/44

Via weathers the continuing harassments

of the system, such as a refusal on March 3,

1984, to permit him to mail his PALA

Newsletter, The Virginian within the prison

system of that state. The Virginia Depart-

ment ofCorrections was arrogant enough to

not even notify him of this action taken and

had he not been a careful reader of Virginia

newspapers he would not have been in-

formed. Under the most adverse conditions,

the membership of PALA has continued to

grow. A continuing game plan of the prison

systems isto frequently and arbitrarily move

Atheist prisoners so that they are scattered

and isolated. In addition, there isa refusal to

forward their mail so that often their Amer-

ican Atheist magazines are returned, cost-

ing excessive postage charges.

Via's home has been accepted as a half-

way house for parolees when they are first

dismissed and he has had two paroled

atheist visitors as guests in his home.

On October 12, 1984, a member of PALA

in the Virginia State Prison at Richmond

staged a protest when inmate religious lead-

ers took the stage in the main prison dining

room callingfor a minute of silent prayer for

an execution scheduled that night. And,

again, Via stood with him, seeing what could

be done.

Together with a Maryland attorney, Bob

Zauner, he has in his most recent activity

protested on behalf of PALAproposed rules

on Religious Beliefs and Practices of Com-

mitted Offenders issued by the Federal

Bureau of Prisons. The primary opposition

was to the payment of chaplains from gen-

eral revenue funds, rather than the use of

volunteer free chaplains.

And this comprises only a short summary

of the activities and the good that Arnold Via

has undertaken during his association with

American Atheists. We are pleased to honor

him onthe day of his birth. Hang in there,

Arnold; we expect you to fight for another

thirty years yet. In line with your continuing

effort, we offer to all one of the cartoons

which you have distributed widely.

We mean to say by this cartoon that there

are millions of Atheists out there and more

of them should be carrying the ball. Al-

though, like Barkus, Arnold is willing,we all

need to understand that it takes a team, not

a single man.

NEWS ND OMMENTS

of Zoning Appeals, for a permit for the

American Atheist Infinite Cemetery on a

1.5acre tract ofhis acreage on the north side

of Rte. 614, in the Middle River District,

Grottoes, Virginia. The permit was granted.

And on August 30, he buried the first

Atheist, Fredrick Conway, age 34, who had

died of cancer at the VirginiaState Peniten-

tiary in Richmond, Virginia, on August 12.

The burial excited news media across the

nation, since neither embalming nor a coffin

was used. The body, curled in a fetal posi-

tion, was buried nude because - as Via put

it - we come into the world that way and

we go out that way. The dead don't have

control of their bodies. It's the livingwho go

through all the ritual. The entire expense

for the interment amounted to $26.00, most

of which was spent on gasoline ($17.00) for

the one-way trip from Richmond. Another

$5.00 went for the plastic sheet in which

Fredrick was temporarily wrapped and $4.00

was the cost offiftyfeet of quarter-inch rope

to bind the plastic covered body on itsride in

the bed of his pick-up truck.

In another battle, inDecember, 1982, Via

was at the Augusta County School Board

meeting to challenge the distribution of

Gideon Bibles in the schools of that district.

A hard working, pragmatic man of direct

approach, Viashoots straight from the shoul-

der without mincing words. Imagine our

surprise then to receive a letter from him in

1983which said:

A dreamer and his dream

to the death he carried it,

to the end he would rather see,

his dream and the ideals

wrapped within

unfold to encompass

all that is him.

Relentless struggle sees

even the strong weaken

at times,

but it is the true victor

who carries it through

regardless of opposing

currents and streams

his outstretched arms

reaching and straining

for that light, colored green ...

It was, then, no surprise that he should

officiate at an Atheist marriage in the State

Prison on May 14. The bride was sent home

to change her blouse, which was too sug-

gestive but a maid of honor who wore the

same kind of apparel was approved to stay

for the ceremony.

Arnold Via attends every Convention

every year, no matter where it is celebrated

in the United States: Washington, D.C.;

Detroit, Michigan; San Francisco, Califor-

Page 10

nia; Austin, Texas. He travels to Indiana

regularly for the American Atheists' Solstice

picnics. He drove to Webberville, Michigan,

to picket City Hall there on behalf of an

Atheist policeman fired of his Atheism.

He began in March, 1982, to try to con-

vince the State of Virginia to issue an

automobile license plate for his Cadillac

which would openly identify him on the

roads. Permitted six letters only, he asked

for, but was refused, individualized license

plates which carried messages as follows:

NO-GOD, NOO-GOD, GOD-LES, DOG-

GOD, and GOD-DOG. When arguments

erupted over each of these, he tried for

ATH-IST, ATHE*ST, A-THEST, ATHEST,

and A-3'ST, but had to settle in the end for

ATH-EST.

~o .

VIrgInIa

T H E S T

o

Via again began to nag the National office

throughout 1983 to obtain transparent de-

cals of American Atheists' logo in a circle to

place on the inside of automobile windows.

And again, these were finallytailor-made so

that they would be available to members

everywhere.

By late December, 1983, he was able to

convince the Virginia State Prison that a

Winter Solstice party should be held for

Atheist prisoners. Although all of the De-

cember dates were given to religious groups,

the Solstice was finally celebrated at the

prison on January 7,1984, wellattended by

over one hundred paid guests from the

prison population, together with family and

girl friends.

On March 19, 1984, a member of PALA

was able to obtain a copy of his treatment

plan from his counselor to find that in the

Self Improvement Area that counselor

had noted, Randolf claims to be an atheist

[sic] and doesn't appear to have any worth-

while objectives. A referral to the National

Prison Project of the American Civil liber-

ties Union in Washington, D.C. brought a

quick complaint by the ACLU to the prison

which emphasized, To eliminate a possible

infringement of protected first amendment

rights, our office would suggest that a new

treatment plan be written leaving out any

reference to inmate Randolfs religious pref-

erence. PALA also vigorously objected,

noting, May I suggest that all extrinsic

references to Mr. Randolfs personal philo-

sophical beliefs be deleted from future treat-

ment plans.

May, 1985

Happy Birthday, Arnold, from all of us at

The American Atheist Center, who love

you.

American Atheis


13/44

The following is the fifth of a series of

articles on the French philosophes, the

intellectual leaders of the Enlighten-

ment of seventeenth and eighteenth

century Europe. The first article on the

Marquis de Sade appeared in the April

issue.

T

he Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) has

one of the most heinous reputations in

Western thought, but modern scholars have

reassessed the events of his life, and he is

currently viewed as a man ofvast learning; a

person who analyzed the human animalwith

an intellectual ardor and courage seldom

equalled; a creator whose influence has

been significant, although subterranean. He

considered himself to be an extraordinarily

lucid and enlightened philosopher, an eight-

eenth century Socrates - the supreme

logician, the seer victimized by hypocrites

and diseased minds. He was correct. He

proudly called himself an Atheist philoso-

pher. Even in the depths of despair during

his twenty-six-year imprisonment, he never

recanted.

Sade was a creation and creature of the

Enlightenment, and he should be considered

not only within the historical context of the

Enlightenment, but also in light of his endur-

ing contributions to Western thought, es-

pecially Atheism. His philosophy is frequ-

ently given inadequate attention, however,

because of the fascination with his personal

and

a

Dying Man (Dialogue entre

un

Pretre

et un

Moribund;

July 12, 1782). While this

work is of little literary value, it contains

many of Sade's lifelong philosophical con-

cepts. Briefly, a priest arrives at that fatal

hour to minister to a dying man, and the

two men subsequently discuss theology.

Sade, like many of the

philosophes,

de-

lighted in exposing the errors and contra-

dictions in Christian theology. The goal of

such intellectual gymnastics was to degrade

Christianity and to defend one of Sade's

favorite themes: Atheism.

One of Sade's arguments for Atheism is

that nature is self-generating; therefore,

there can be no god. The Dying Man says

that things necessarily occur; there is no

supra-human intelligence guiding Nature.

He chastizes the Priest for believing inwhat

you do not understand . . . I defy you to

prove the existence of this god you talk

about ... Your god is a product of your

emotions. He develops the contention

when he later states that natural effects

must have natural causes; because natural

causes explain occurrences, why invent

unnatural ones such as a god, the existence

of which, logically, would have to be ex-

plained ... inshort, it is clear that your god is

unnecessary. The Dying Man gives the

Priest sage advice: Study physics carefully

and you will understand nature better; de-

velop your ability to reason; get rid of your

illogical concepts. When you have done so

you willhave no need of a god.

Sade continues the attack on Christianity

when the Dying Man rhetorically asks the

Priest, if I were to be so ignorant as to

accept your preposterous ideas about the

lifeand because ofhis use ofsexually explicit

scenes to demonstrate his concepts. In this

article, I have deliberately omitted many

aspects of Sade's methodology in order to

highlight some of his most significant pre-

cepts. Iam concerned with Sade as a man of

the Enlightenment rather than as a forerun-

ner of Krafft-Ebing and Freud.

Sade's ideas are especially provocative to

Atheists because he reconstructs ethics on

non-Christian foundations. Thus, he chal-

lenges Atheists to re-orient their morality.

Given the ingrained Judeo-Christian ethical

code, Sade has posed a Herculean task for

Atheists to eradicate the teachings ofschool,

parents, society, government, and church.

But he accepted the challenge.

After being inprison for three years, Sade,

at the age offorty-two, began the first of his

extant writings,

Dialogue between

a

Priest

Austin, Texas

;

~~ J ; 9?Je Jk

existence of some imaginary being who

requires people to worship him, then tellme,

how I should worship him? Should he, the

Dying Man asks the Priest, follow the

daydreams of Confucius or the absurdities

of Brahma; perhaps I should bow to the

Great Snake God of the African Blacks; or

should I pray to the Sun God of the Peru-

vians; maybe the god ofMoses isthe correct

one; or do you suggest that IfollowMoham-

medanism; which Christian sect is the right

one? ... be reasonable, the Dying Man

admonishes the Priest, your Jesus is no

better than Mohammed, Mohammed no

better than Moses, and the three of them

combined no better than Confucius, who

May, 1985

did after all have some wise statements, but

the others were lunatics. Sade's emphasis

on cultural relativity was quite common in

the Enlightenment, especially after books on

travel to other cultures began infiltrating

French society. Of special significance were

the travel journals of Cooke (1769) and

Bougainville (1766-1769),both ofwhom trav-

elled to the South Pacific.

The Priest raises the last possible defense

for Christianity - the concept ofan afterlife

- but the Dying Man says that there is

nothing at all after death. Once again, like

a true titan of the Enlightenment, Sade

returns to an observation of nature: I have

seen in Nature only perpetual generation

and regeneration. Nothing ever 'ends' in

nature, my friend, nothing; man today, worm

tomorrow, the day after tomorrow a fly;

such is the cycle of life.

Of Education

Sade was freed from prison on April 2,

1790, and while hawking his miserable plays

he wrote

Philosophy in The Bedroom (La

Philosophie dans

Ie

Boudoir;

1795). This

work focuses on a favorite subject of En-

lightenment thinkers: the education of a

young person. The instruction becomes a

platform for Sade to analyze human nature

and propound his ideas about its proper

development; his answers make him one of

the most revolutionary thinkers ofthe Enlight-

enment.

In

Philosophy in The Bedroom,

Eugenie

de Mistival, a young, pubescent girl, wishes

to learn about herself and life.WhileMadame

de Saint-Ange, a notorious libertine, in-

structs her, the authority in all matters is

Dolmance, a homosexual. As the work

progresses, other characters join in

Eugenic's instruction. Her education formal-

ly begins when she says that some human

actions are indecent. Dolmance immedi-

ately dismisses decency as A Gothic

expression [which is contrary] to Nature

Sade poses the fundamental question of

who is to decide what is decent? Morality,

he states, is relative to culture, and thus

there are no absolute definitions of vice

and virtue. Eugenie naively believes that

there must be some actions which are so

dangerous and evil that everyone would

consider them to be criminal. Dolmance

assures her that ''There are ... none, not

even stealing, incest, murder - not even

parricide. She is shocked, but he com-

ments that what are considered crimes in

one society are honored, exalted, and

viewed as exemplary in another.

After he has established the philosophic

foundation stone that there is no absolute

definition ofvirtue, Sade then posits his view

that morality should be based on a person

being natural, that is, obeying one's inclin-

ations. Of course, a person will have to

Page 1


14/44

disregard the abnormal moral teachings of

Christianity, because only when an indi-

vidual is free, he reasons, can a person

become wiseand recognize that, your body

is your own, yours alone; you are the only

person in the world who has the right to

determine how you are to enjoy your body.

For example, inorder to be natural, certain

Judeo-Christian dicta must be rejected, es-

pecially the strictures against a person

hav-

ing premarital sexual experience. Madame

de Saint-Ange contends that Such ridicu-

lous [laws about not having premarital sex-

ual relations] are the creations of men, and

we women must not submit to them.

Sensationalists

Sade considerably extended and refined

many of his views in Eugenie de Franval

(1788). In this work, Sade broaches a forbid-

den subject, the ultimate taboo - incest. He

shows how far he was willing to carry his

logicthat people must be free to be natural,

that is, following their sexual proclivities.

Pubescent Eugenie feels the fire ofdesire ;

consequently, she wants to experience the

delights and ecstasy of sexual inter-

course. She falls in love with her father, who

understands, encourages, and then satisfies

her sexual cravings. Were Franval and

Eugenie wrong to have sexual relations?

Does incest deserve the condemnation it

has received? Not according to Sade; to him

the first premise of morality is that Self-

interest isthe concern ofeverything a person

does. This definition of the human animal

as a pleasure-seeking, pain-avoiding crea-

ture was an advanced concept in the En-

lightenment but by no means unique to

Sade. There was a considerable school of

psychologists, the sensationalists, who

thought that the human animal operated on

the basis of the sensations of pain and

pleasure. One of these people was Julien

Offray de la Mettrie (1709-1751), a pupil of

the great scientist Herman Boerhaave (1668-

1738) at the University of Leyden. La

Mettrie's most famous work is Man the

Machine (L'Homme Machine; 1748), and

there is reason to think that Sade had read

this work. Franval also defends incest as

being natural for some people; moreover,

the moral strictures against incest must be

seen as a manifestation of cultural relativity,

a subject which fascinated Sade. Eugenia

reasons that when a moral dictum varies

from one culture to another, then that

stricture cannot be considered sacred. She

defends incest on the basis of consenting

adults having the right to practice whatever

sexual act they want. Eugenia rhetorically

asks, Do we disturb you when you seek

your pleasures? Respect us when we seek

ours. Franval adds that Beauty and love

are oblivious to legislative laws . . . which

must be crushed beneath our feet because

Page 12

they hinder our pursuit of happiness, im-

pede our ability to reason, and keep us from

the most delightful pleasures. Such laws are

despicable

Virtue and Vice

Sade's masterpiece is

Justine,

or

the

Misfortunes of

Virtue

(Justine,

Ou

les Mal-

heurs de la Vertu; 1791).The work began as

a short story in 1787,and three revisions and

four years later it had become a novel of

about three hundred pages. Because of the

sexually explicit episodes, the work proved

popular, and itwent through five editions in

Sade's lifetime. He

revised

the work in 1797

and published it with a companion work.

The complete title ofthat edition isThe New

Justine, nr the Misfortunes of Virtue, Fol-

lowed by the History of Juliette, Her Sister

{or the Benefits of Vice} (La Nouvelle

Justine, Ou lesMalheurs de la Vertu, Suivie

de I'Historie de Juliette, Sa Seour {ou les

Prosperiies

du Vice};1797); the two novels

total about one thousand pages. The comple-

mentary nature of these two novels is fre-

quently and unfortunately overlooked when

evaluating Justine. The most significantdiffer-

ence between the two works is that Justine

ismarkedly anti-feminist; Juliette is decided-

ly pro-feminist. The distinction is important,

because without a knowledge of Sade's

attitude toward women in Juliette, Sade

appears as a sadistic misogynist in Justine.

Juliette presents the clearer view of Sade's

attitudes toward women because when he

wrote the last version ofJustinejJuliette, his

life was relatively pleasant. After thirteen

years in prison, he was free; he had found

the woman who would become his mistress

for almost a quarter ofa century; his divorce

freed him from the woman he had come to

hate, a detestation which became all the

more intense when she became a nun; and

his mother-in-law, who had him put inprison

for thirteen years, was gone. There was no

longer a reason for him to hate women.

The second issue which clouds the study

of

Justine

is the sexually explicit content.

While Sade admitted to spicing up the

work inorder to improve sales, the novel is

quintessentially a conte philosophique, that

is, a story which is philosophical rather than

literary. The line between asking the reader

to enjoy and to think isfrequently vague, but

the authors of philosophical stories un-

questionably wanted the reader to contem-

plate a particular philosophical position. In

Candide, Voltaire wants the reader to de-

cide if this is truly the best of all possible

worlds ; Upton Sinclair, in The Jungle (1906)

wants the reader to consider socialism. The

philosophical story in the eighteenth cen-

tury was a marvelous art form designed to

perplex the censor, expose, and ridicule a

contrary philosophy and to present compli-

May, 1985

cated abstract issues in a manner readily

understandable to the unsophisticated. The

philosophical story is pop philosophy.

This is the literary context of Justine and

Juliette: The two novels are didactic rather

than erotic; the depictions ofsexual activity,

including flagellation, sodomy, rape, homo-

sexuality, as well as murder, bondage, and

child molestation serve only to exemplify

philosophical points. Sade, however, went

further than any other philosopher in the

Enlightenment in using sex to illustrate his

concepts.

Justine is the story of Juliette and her

younger sister Justine, who are orphaned

when they are fifteen and twelve years old

respectively. The difference in age is impor-

tant because Sade considered fourteen to

be the age ofmaturity fora girl. The two girls

are thus left at liberty to become whatever

they want. Again Sade uses young people

to show the effects ofeducation. Juliette is a

sensationalist, that is, she has determined

that it is morally better to seek pleasure

rather than pain; consequently, she elects to

be a libertine. Justine follows the other path

when she concludes that, I prefer to die

rather than be immoral ... Yes, Iwould die a

thousand time's before I would disobey the

Christian principles Iwas taught as a child.

The two girls followseparate paths.

Justine encounters a series of monstrous

characters, both male and female, who

reason with her and lecture her about hu-

man nature, society, and the cosmos, but

she lets her Christian morality restrict her

rationality. Consequently, she never under-

stands herself, especially her sexuality. She

meets Monsieur Dubourg, one of the rich-

est merchants ofParis. Impoverished, she

asks him to take pity on her and

give

her

some money; he asks her: What right do

you have to expect a rich person to help you

if you are useless to him? ... The virtue

which you so conspicuously flaunt is worth-

less in this world; really, what ignorance to

kneel before its altars, inhale its incense -

no, no. That virtue ofyours won't help you at

all. The only thing which will help you get

ahead is that which brings you money or

power. She then gets a menial job with a

notorious usurer, Monsieur du Harpin. He

teaches her that theft islogical because only

two out of every twenty thieves die on the

gallows; mathematically, the chances ofcap-

ture and execution can be reasonably risked.

Harpin tries to enlist Justine in his plot to

steal, but she resists; in turn, he plants a

valuable ring in her room and reports her to

the police; she is, of course, immediately

arrested. I defended myself, she com-

plains, but it didn't do any good.

In prison, she meets Madame Dubois, a

person who has committed every coneiv-

able crime. Imaginative, she has arranged

for the prison to be set afire so that during

the ensuing confusion she and Justine can

American Atheist


15/44

escape. She knows that many people will

be burned to death, but don't worry about it

- when our lives are at stake, forget other

people Madame Dubois' words prove proph-

etic: Twenty-one people die in the firewhile

she and Justine escape. She invites Justine

to join her band of robbers. Justine refuses;

her reward for her virtue isto be sexually

assaulted.

Justine escapes the bandits with one of

their victims, Monsieur Saint -Florent, whose

lifeshe has saved. He, inturn, takes her into

a forest, suddenly knocks her to the ground,

does with me everything he wants, robs

her, and leaves her with little to cover her

nakedness. Recovering, she spies two men

who have come to the forest to have homo-

sexual relations; one of them isthe Count de

Bressac. She is discovered by them and

subsequently taken to Bressac's castle

where she becomes a maid to his aunt.

Justine learns that Bressac hates his aunt

and isplotting to killher so he can inherit her

wealth. Before the murder, Bressac teaches

Justine that religion must be seen within

social, political, and psychological contexts

because rulers use it as a means of restrain-

ing their subjects.

Christianity Evaluated

Bressac scorns Christianity. As the En-

lightenment progressed, Christianity, espe-

cially Catholicism, came under increasing

vilification, and Sade was one of the most

extreme blasphemers. He calls Jesus a

worthless Jew, the child of a whore and a

soldier ... born in a filthy barn, yet he had

the cheek to masquerade as the son of the

creator of the universe. The disciples are

described as intellectually bovine teen-

agers who were probably homosexuals.

Bressac tries to enlist Justine inhis plot to

murder his aunt by offering her a fortune,

but she refuses. In spite of Justine's at-

tempts to save her, the aunt is murdered by

her nephew. Justine is subsequently cap-

tured by Bressac, tied up in a forest, at-

tacked bythree dogs owned by himwhile he

watches with his lover, and left to fend for

herself.

During her wandering, she happens upon

a Benedictine monastery occupied by four

lonely monks of renowned faith. In reality,

they are among the most debauched crea-

tures in all of literature. During one of the

intermezzi in the sexual circus, one of the

licentious priests lectures Justine that a

person's character and desires are formed in

the womb; thus education is incapable of

changing them. He describes people as

rapacious beasts, comparable to the tiger or

the leopard. Ask the lamb, he continues,

why it exists, and it will tell you that it

doesn't understand why the wolfeats it. Ask

the wolf why the lamb exists, and he will

answer that the lamb livesto be food for him.

Austin, Texas

Wolves devour lambs, lambs are eaten by

wolves - the strong overpower the weak,

the weak are victimized by the strong.

That's nature

Justine miraculously escapes from the

monastery. More monsters and lectures

await her. Eventually, she sees two men

trampling a man beneath their horses'

hooves. After the two men leave, she rushes

to his rescue; he isRoland, who

American Atheist Magazine May 1985

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