American Atheist Magazine July 1983

AMERICAN ATHEIST
July, 1983
A Journal of Atheist News and Thought
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$2.50
1963
1983
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AMERICAN ATHEISTS
In 1959, the Murray familystarted a legal case which was destined to reach the United States Supreme Court
to be decided there on June t 7, 1963just twenty years ago. The name of the case was Murray u. Curlett and the
decision of that august body was that bible reading and unison prayer recitation in the public schools of the land
were both unconstitutional exercises vis-a-vis the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
The road from 1959 to 1963 was hard and long. Scores of attorneys were contacted to handle the case and
each and all were afraid of it Indeed the attorney who drafted the original complaint which was filed with the
court quit the case a week thereafter. The Murray family insisted from the beginning that it should be known
that they were opposed to the exercise of bible reading and prayer recitation because they were Atheists, and
no attorney wanted to mention that in the case. But, Madalyn Murray insisted, and finallyone attorney asked
her to draw up a short statement (about 250 words) on what an Atheist was that would be put into their petition
for relief. That statement was written - and became famous as the media across the land reproduced it
everywhere. Now, these twenty years later, we reproduce it here for you:
"Your petitioners are Atheists and they define their lifestyle as follows. An Atheist loves
himself and his fellow man instead of a god. An Atheist accepts that heaven is somethingfor
which we should work now - here on earth - for all men together to enjoy. An Atheist
accepts that he can get no help through prayer but that he must find in himself the inner
conviction and strength to meet life, to grapple with it, to subdue it and to enjoy it. An Atheist
accepts that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow man can he find
the understanding that will help to a life of fulfillment.
"Therefore, he seeks to know himself and his fellow man rather than to 'know' a god. An
Atheist accepts that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist accepts that a
deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not
escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanquished, war eliminated. He
wants man to understand and love man. He wants an ethical way of life.He accepts that we
cannot rely on a god nor channel action into prayer nor hope for an end of troubles in a
hereafter. He accepts that we are - in a sense - our brothers' keepers in that we are, first,
keepers of our own lives; that we are responsible persons, that the job is here and the time is
now. "
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AMERICAN ATHEISTS
P.O.BOX 2117
AUSTIN, TX 78768-2117
Send $40 for one year's membership. You will receive our "Insider's Newsletter" monthly,
your membership certificate and card, and a one year subscription to this magazine.
lJ[}{]D~ D~~(![Jrn
ON THE COVER
(VoI.25, No.7) July, 1983

REGULAR FEATURES
Editorial
,
Dial-an-Atheist
American Atheist Radio Series
2
36
26
NEWS
1-75 and the Statue of Christ - Bob Campbell
The Textbook War - William Talley ........................
.4
9
ARTICLES
Falwell's Australian Visit a Failure - Mark Plummer
Declaration of Mental Independence - Robert Owen
Jerry Falwell on the Nuclear Freeze
Current Religious Myths - Gale Schreier
16
17
22
34
FEATURED COLUMNISTS
Christian Propaganda '- Jeff Frankel
God-Fearing - Ralph Shirley
To America, With Love - Margaret Bhatty
Age of Revolution - Merrill Holste
23
24
28
30
POEM
Atheists' Fourth of July -
Editor-in-Chief
Robin Murray O'Hair
Managing Editor
Jon G. Murray
Assistant Editor
Richard M. Smith
Poetry
Angeline Bennett
Gerald Tholen
Production Staff
Art Brenner
Bill Kight
Gerald Tholen
Gloria Tholen
Alexander Stevens
Non-Resident Staff
G. Stanley Brown
Jeff Frankel
Merrill Holste
Margaret Bhatty
Fred Woodworth
Clayton Powers
Austin, Texas
Gerald Tholen
21
The American Atheist magazine is publishedmonthly at the Gustav Broukal American Atheist Press,2210Hancock Dr., Austin, TX 78756, and 1982 by Society of
Separationists,Inc., a non-profit, non-political, educational organization dedicated to
the complete and absolute separation of
state and church. Mailing address:P.O. Box
2117/Austin, TX 78768-2117.A free subscription is provided as an incident of membership in the American Atheists organization. Subscriptions are available at $25.00
for one year terms only. Manuscripts submitted must be typed, double-spaced and
accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed
envelope.The editors assumeno responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts,
The American Atheist magazine
is indexed in
Monthly Periodical Index
ISSN: 0332-4310
July, 1983
I have always admired the educational TV ad that advises, "A mind

is a terrible thing to waste!"
It
contains a message for everyone
because the mind, in all but unique individual cases, has a striking
similarity to an ordinary no-refill,
no-return container. A brain that
has absorbed nothing but trivia
and nonsense over the years has
about the same usefulness as a
waxed-paper dixie cup - it accommodates one or two soft drinks,
then it's ready for disposal. This is
why some folks are interesting
conversationalists
and some are
not. It's as simple as this - if more
people were interested i.n expanding their perceptions of the real
world around them during formative years, they would have more
to talk about with othersl
Some will say: "Fine. This presents no real problem. We'll simply start inputting
sophisticated
knowledge in young minds when
they mature."
- Wrong I That
won't work. Let's go back to the
soda-filled dixie cup. It's already
filled with sodal Empty it out and
you're likely to have a soggy useless mess that is not fit for further
use. And, being already filled with
with nonsense, there's no room in
it for a good, delicious drink of
wholesome milk.
Obviously
then, the problem
arose when the container was originally filled with nonsense. Filling a child's mind with mythological garbage produces the same
situation but in a significantly different manner. Theplaque depositsof godism that eventually clog
the brain cells tend to render them
useless in the real world. To attempt to remove them is, in most
cases, hopeless. Reality tells us
that they should never have been
introduced to the mind in the first
place. One can only hope, if there
is any remaining space at all, to
overwhelm their destructive presence with good solid knowledge.
To make matters worse, any attempt to remove "brain plaque" by
shock methods, drugs, or surgery,
simply brings us back to the everpresent "dixie cup" dilemma you would wind up with a soggy,
useless mess.
G. Tholen
Page 1
Jon Garth Murray
CH1LD ABUSE AND "GOD"

The religious community, in general, over the past forty
years has taken it upon itself to lobby the federal and state
government for many categories of "exemptions". Some of
these exemptions are from taxation of various kinds and some
are from government regulations in different areas. This
Journal has paid the most attention, as has the media, to the
tax related exemptions of various religious groups. These exemptions hurt those of us who must increase the amount that
we must pay each year out of our hard earned wages to the
tax man. Their effect is one, however, that is easily overlooked. Another type of exemption is not so easily overlooked
and is more directly harmful to a specific section of the population. I speak of religious exemptions in child abuse and
neglect cases.
Most of you are probably unaware that almost every state
in the Union has exemptions to their child abuse and neglect
statutes for abuse perpetrated on religious grounds. The history of these statutes goes back to the federal government
in the mid 1970's and one church in particular. In 1974
Congress wrote the "Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment
Act". During that writing the Christian Science church which
is headquartered in Boston lobbied Congress vigorously to
obtain the following language in the Child Abuse Act.
"No parent or guardian who in good faith is providing
to a child's treatment solely by spiritual means ... shall
for that reason alone be considered to have neglected
the child."
The Christian Scientists did not stop at the inclusion of
that wording. They then began to lobby the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare (That department is now
called the Department of Health and Human Services). As
a result of that lobbying the then H.E.W. Department issued
a ruling that states would be ineligible for federal child protection grants unless they had a religious exemption similar
to the federal one cited above on their books. That ruling
remained as federal H.E.W. policy until January of this year.
In January of 1983 the Department of Health and Human
Services, despite much objection from the Christian Scientists, notified the states that they no longer had to exempt
religious groups from child abuse regulations to receive child
protection grants.
The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect of the
federal government now says that 47 out of our 50 states
wrote the required religious exemptions into their child abuse
statutes
between
1974
and
the
end
of
1982.
What will the states do now that the requirement has been
lifted? Most likely nothing. The director of the National
Center on Child Abuse has been quoted by the media as saying
"Most states will probably leave well enough alone.".
You may now ask the questions "Well, so what?", "What
trouble could such an exemption cause? Plenty, is the answer.
Recently The News-Sentinel newspaper of Ft. Wayne, Indiana
gave extensive coverage to the deaths caused by Indiana's
Page 2
July. 1983
compliance
with the federal H.E.W. ruling. Indiana
law states:
"It is a defense that the accused person, in the legitimate
practice of his religious belief, provided treatment by
spiritual means through prayer, in lieu of medical care, to
his dependent".
According to the Indiana paper there have been 52 known
deaths from lack of medical treatment amoung the followers
of a particular sect called the Faith Assembly church which is
headquartered
in that state. The deaths have occured in
Indiana and five surrounding states of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and recently just added Pennsylvania
as number six. Seven families accounted for 18 of the 52
deaths. Only a fraction of the 52 who died were old enough
to understand the teachings of the sect or make medical
decisions for themselves.
Faith Assembly church was founded and is headed by the
Rev. Hobart Freeman. He was born in Ewing, Kentucky in
1920, a small town of perhaps 500. In 1952 he became "bornagain" when he went into the Southern Baptist ministry. In
1961 he earned a doctorate in theology and began to teach
at an Indiana theological seminary. In 1963 he was fired for
his radical departures from traditional Southern Baptist
teaching. In 1966 he began forming his own congregation and
they meet in basements of private homes adopting a "babeling
in tongues" type faith. In 1972 he hooked up with a reformed
alcoholic with a criminal record who was running a drug and
alcohol rehabilitation center in a barn. His congregation moved
from basements to the barn and renamed it the "Glory Barn".
In the Glory Barn, Freeman began teaching shunning of medical treatment based on biblical verses. In his sermons in the
Glory Barn he referred to Luke 9:23 & 24 (And he said to
them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my
sake, the same shall save it). He also referred to Luke 14:26 &
33 (If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and
mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,
and his own life also, he cannot by my disciple. So likewise,
whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he
cannot be my disciple). These references fell under the head-
ing of "burning your bridges behind you" or leaving the

modern world of science and medicine and caring for your life
or the life of loved ones by faith alone.
That spirit of shunning the outside world was a constant
theme of his sects activity. Painted on the wall of the Glory
Barn was the verse of I Corinthians 1:10 (Now I beseech you,
brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all
speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions amoung
you; but that ye be perfectly joined tegether in the same
mind and in the same judgment.) reminding his followers
that diverse opinions were not welcome within the congregation. A very strict set of rules he called the "Faith Walk"
The American Atheist
outlined acceptable and unacceptable behavior for members.

Those who broke the "Faith Walk" would be ridiculed before
the rest, excommunicated or sentenced to burn eternally in
hell.
Another favorite verse of the congregation is Luke 11 :24
(Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when
ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shal/have them).
On the basis of the promise in that verse parents in the Faith
Assembly congregation looked on and prayed while their
minor children died from lack of medical help.
The 52 confirmed dead included the following categories:
1) 28 babies whose mothers shunned doctors during preqnancy and delivery.
2) 7 children with untreated illnesses and injuries.
3) 10 adults who refused to submit to treatment for ill
nesses and injuries. An example is a man of 37 who quit
kidney dialysis treatment.
4) 7 mothers who died of complications from home
deliveries.
Of the seven children who died of untreated illnesses they
were:
1) Age 16 months - male - died of chicken pox and
pneumonia.
2) Age 15 months - male - died of haemophilus influenza,
a type of meningitis, usually not fatal if diagnosed and
treated early.
3) Age 1 year - male - died of pneumonia untreated for a
week. The parents prayed over the body for three hours
after he stopped breathing before calling Rev. Freeman,
NOT medical personel.
4) Age 12 years - female - died of congenital heart disease.
A local obstetrics-gynecology
expert said "That's a
problem that can be corrected, but it takes open heart
surgery, not prayer". Insertion of an artifical heart valve
could have saved the girls life.
5) Age 4 years - female - died of malignant rhabdomyosarcoma, a terminal cancer. A tumor near her right eye grew
for two months covering most of her face by the time of
death. Her parents prayed while it grew. Her 5 year old
sister has the same type of cancer. She was taken into
custody by welfare department officials and is now on
chemotherapy. She now has a chance.
6) Age 15 months - male - died after authorities obtained
custody of him after his sister died of untreated pneumonia and he had surgery to remove a large tumor from his
abdomen. His lungs had filled with fluid as well.
7) Age 1 year - female - died from blood poisoning and
pneumonia contracted after receiving 2nd and 3rd degree
burns over half her body. She had spilled an 18-ounce pot
of scalding tea on herself at a restaurant. The parents
refused medical aid although the restaurant owner offered
to pay for it.
None of the deaths listed above need have occured. They
took place out of blind stupidity and ignorance on the part of
gullible parents who had been taken in by a fraud. Many of the
media investigators of this particular sect and others of like
mind have come to the conclusion that medical treatment is
not a "considered" option for these persons. It simply never
crosses the minds of victims or their guardians to call for medical help. They are taught divine healing from birth in such a
closed social order that they simply don't even have a frame
of reference to any other approach to illness. We can then
see why the I Corinthians 1: 10 verse was emblazoned on the
Austin, Texas
wall of the Glory Barn.

Members of sects like the Faith Assembly reach the point
very early in life of not being able to question what faith
dictates under any circumstances. Rev. Freeman himself, for
example, walks with a noticable limp. He wears a lift on one
shoe since one leg is shorter than the other due to a childhood
bout with polio. One of a very few former Faith Assembly
members said she had always wondered "If he's healed, why
does he need a lift on his shoe?" That is why she is an exmember. Current sect members don't wonder about the limp.
They just have faith.
Members of the Faith Assembly are taught that when the
hand of danger touches them they should chant over and over
again "I plead the blood of Jesus". Members believe that this
chant will protect them from dreaded outside influences such
as reason or science. As they say the chant they visualize a
"shield of blood surrounding their heads and protecting them
from spirits of ideas critical of Rev. Freeman".
No state legislator desires to tackle the "ugly" job of trying
to repeal these federally engendered religious statutory exemptions. They think more of retaining their seats in the legislature than they do for the lives of children who cannot protect
themselves against the madness of their parents. Although the
Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel gave extensive coverage to the Faith
Assembly sects activities, only the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and
the Detroit Free Press picked up the story at all as papers with
Assembly related deaths in some of the counties they covered. Their articles were sketchy indeed compared to the NewsSentinel coverage. Outside of the seven affected states we can
only find evidence of the Atlanta Constitution picking up the
story. A great number of persons in the U.S. don't even know
that this sort of thing is going on in their nation and that their
state (all but three) has religious exemption provisions in its
child abuse laws.
It seems that some relief may be in sight, however. The state
of Oklahoma just passed a new state law in April of this year
that strips faith healers of immunity from child abuse statutes.
It is ironic that Oklahoma, home of Oral Roberts and his 700
foot Jesus and new faith center ( faith healing hospital) would
be the state to take the lead in statutory reform on religious
child abuse.
The largest part of the problem comes from the fact that
in state after state, and the federal Congress as well, our
"lawmakers" will only consider legislation with language
"that wouldn't violate freedom OF religion" in the words
of an Indiana legislator. Another Indiana legislator said,
regarding the Faith Assembly sect "I know they are sincere.
I was hoping they would make some changes on their own".
The Constitutional concept of freedom OF religion must
embody the concept of freedom FROM religion if we are
to avoid future casualties from religious ignorance. We seem
to be entering a neo-Middle Age in this country where actions once condemned by society by virtue of the lessons
of history are now being excused in the name of religion.
Behavioral patterns based on reason are becoming suspect.
The revival of the insanity defense in our courtrooms is a
case in point.
Rev. Freeman of Indiana should have been held equally
accountable for the murders of all 52 persons who died in
six states along with their legal guardians. -It is time that
society made learned lunacy, as distinguish from physical
mental disorders, an unacceptable
excuse for criminal
activity.
~
July, 1983
Page 3
1-75 AND THE STATUE OF CHRIST

An action by Bob Campbell
Atlanta Chapter of American Atheists
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In March, 1981 the federal court ruled in favor of an ACLU challenge to the placement of a large cross in a Northeast
Georgia state park. In a ruling which has since been affirmed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge
Horace Ward ordered the cross removed saying, "... apparent state sanction for one religion over all others can cause
tension and a concomitant risk of political divergence on theological grounds. English history had taught the early
Americans to forestall such potentially violent developments by preventing, first in the Virginia Billfor Religious Liberty
and then in the First Amendment, the political predominance of a single faith over any other. "
Nothing makes that point any better than the current dispute over the plans of the Georgia Department of
Transportation to erect a large granite statue of christ along Interstate 75. The Committee For The Removal Of All
Images That Attempt To Portray The Divine (CRAID) began circulating petitions objecting to the use of over $12,000 in
state funds to erect "a statue of a Caucasian (white) jesus at the grave of former African American (black) slaves."
The cemetery began as a burial site for slaves who worked on the Gilbert plantation and was then used by several black
churches until about 1952. Then commercial development began encroaching on the cemetery until, by the late 1950s, no
headstone or any signs of cemetery remained. DOT officials learned of the cemetery only when they discovered four
cemetery markers in the rear of a liquor store at the site. They were then faced with the choice of changing the already
completed plans for I-75 expansion or moving what they estimated may be 2,000 unmarked graves. Instead they proposed
to Fulton Superior Judge Sam McKenzie, who was presiding over the condemnation of the land, that a monument be
erected.
Neither Bob Campbell, representing American Atheists, nor the ACLU, nor others who have complained, object to
such a monument. The objection is to the placement of a religious figure on public land. The initialplans for the monument
simply called for a central plaza with an obelisk monument inscribed with the names of the persons known to have been
buried at the cemetery. Later the statue of jesus was added to the plans.
Opponents of the religious statue met with DOT Commissioner Tom Moreland and members of the planning
committee to request that the statue be removed from the planned monument. State officials have refused these requests,
so Bob Campbell and others have filed suit against them.
.
Why sue? Perhaps James Madison, author of the First Amendment, put it best: "It is proper to take alarm at the first
experiment on our liberties .... Who does not see that the same authority which can establish christianity, in exclusion of
all other religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of christians, in exclusion of all other sects?"
The case which has been filed is printed below:
In the United States District Court

for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division
JOHN C. BURDINE, SABIR KASIB MUHAMMAD, HATTIE E. ROBINSON, KITTRICH R.
SCHILKE, BOB LEE CAMPBELL, individually,
and in his capacity as representative of the SOCIETY OF SEPARA TIONISTS, INC. (d/b/a "American Atheists''), and the AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF GEORGIA,
Plaintiffs
Page 4
July, 1983
v.
THOMAS D. MORELAND, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION,
PETER MALPHURS, in his official capacity as State Environmental Analysis Engineer for the Georgia Department of Transportation and as Chairman of the
Gilbert Cemetery Memorial Committee, and the
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT
OF TRANSPORTATION,
Defendants
COMPLAINT
This action is brought pursuant to 28 U.S. Code Sections 1983 and 1988, the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to
the United States Constitution, the Constitution of the State of Georgia, Art. I, Section 2, Paragraph 10, and 28 U.S. Code
Sections 220 I and 2202.
This Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action pursuant to 28 U.S.c. Section 1331,28 U.S.c. Section
1343(3) and (4), and pursuant to its ancillary. and pendent jurisdiction.
THE DEFENDANTS
Defendant Thomas D. Moreland is sued in his official capacity as Commissioner
of the Georgia Department
of
Transportation.
At all times pertinent hereto, Commissioner
Moreland was and is a resident of this District and is,
therefore, subject to the jurisdiction and venue of this Court. Commissioner Moreland may be personally served at the
Department of Transportation,
No.2 Capitol Square, Atlanta, Georgia.
Defendant Peter Malphurs is sued in his dual official capacities as State Environmental Analysis Engineer, the Georgia
Department of Transportation
official with direct supervisory responsibility for the Gilbert Cemetery project, and as
Chairman of the Gilbert Cemetery Memorial Committee. At all times pertinent hereto, Defendant Malphurs was and is a
resident of this District and is, therefore, subject to the jurisdiction and venue of this Court. Defendant Malphurs may be
personally served at the Department of Transportation,
No.2 Capitol Square, Atlanta, Georgia.
The Georgia Department of Transportation
("GDOT") is an agency of the State of Georgia, and is subject to the
jurisdiction and venue of this Court. Service of process on the Department may be effected by serving Commissioner
Thomas D. Moreland at the Georgia Department of Transportation,
2 Capitol Square, Atlanta, Georgia, and by serving the
Attorney General of the State of Georgia at the Department of Law, 132 State Judicial Building, Atlanta, Georgia.
THE PLAINTIFFS
Plaintiff John C. Burdine' is a citizen and taxpayer of the United States and the State of Georgia who resides at 3836
Fairlane Drive, S.E., Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.
Plaintiff Sabir Kasib Muhammad is a citizen and taxpayer of the United States and the State of Georgia who resides at
1394 Stewart Avenue, S. E., Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.
Plaintiff Hattie E. Robinson is a citizen and taxpayer of the United States and the State of Georgia who resides at 1435
Adele Avenue, S. W., Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.
Plaintiff Kittrich R. Schilke is a citizen and taxpayer of the United States and the State of Georgia who resides at 528
Waverlyn Way, Riverdale, Clayton County, Georgia.
Plaintiff Bob Lee Campbell is a citizen and taxpayer of the United States and the State of Georgia who resides at 1126
Euclid Avenue, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. Plaintiff Campbell is an active member of the Society of Separationists,
Inc.) (d/ b/ a "American Atheists"), and is duly authorized to represent the Society of Separationists,
Inc. ("SOS") in this
action. SOS is a Georgia nonprofit corporation organized and operated by citizens and taxpayers of the United States and
the State of Georgia for the purpose of defending civil rights and civil liberties protected by the Free Exercise and
Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. SOS has a longstanding and
well-established record of participation in litigated matters over church/ state separation issues in state and federal courts.
Plaintiff American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia ("ACLU-Ga") is a Georgia nonprofit corporation organized and
operated by citizens and taxpayers of the United States and the State of Georgia for the purpose of defending civil rights and
civil liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Georgia. ACLU-Ga has a longstanding,
well-established record of participation in litigated matters over church/ state separation issues in state and federal courts.
THE FACTS
G DOT brought a condemnation proceeding in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, Civil Action No. C-74635,
for the purpose of taking 4.414 acres of land to expand the highway cloverleaf at the intersection of 1-75 and Cleveland
Avenue, S.E., in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.
Located on a portion of the condemned.tract
in the northwest quadrant of the 1-75/ Cleveland Avenue intersection is the
Gilbert Cemetery, a burial ground containing the remains of an unknown number of people interred from the midnineteenth century through approximately
1952.
G DOT made no systematic effort to identify the persons interred in Gilbert Cemetery and has ascertained the identities of
fewer than 40 of the estimated 1500 buried in Gilbert Cemetery.
G DOT has made no systematic effort to identify the descendents of those persons interred in Gilbert Cemetery and has
ascertained the identities of fewer than 15 descendents.
GDOT has not ascertained the religious preferences, if any, of persons buried in Gilbert Cemetery or the religious
preferences, if any, of the descendents of persons buried in Gilbert Cemetery.
In the interests of avoiding the substantial costs involved in identifying and individually compensating the owners of
burial easements in Gilbert Cemetery, G DOT sought and obtained approval from the Superior Court of Fulton County to
provide aggregate compensation
in the form of a memorial commemorating
the cemetery within the I-75/Cleveland
Avenue cloverleaf. A correct copy of the Fulton Superior Court's Order of March 10, 1982 ("Order of March 10, 1982")
approving this alternative aggregate compensation scheme for the taking of individual burial easements is attached hereto
as Exhibit "A."
Austin, Texas
July, 1983
PageS
The Order of March 10, 1982 appointed a committee ("the Committee") to formulate a proposal for the design of an
appropriate
memorial for the Gilbert Cemetery. The Committee consisted of five members, two of whom were state
employees. Defendant Peter Malphurs, a GOaT employee, chaired the Committee and directed its operations.
The Committee met privately on four occasions to formulate a memorial proposal. These meetings occurred at GOaT
facilities and were attended by various GOaT employees, including Messrs. Rodney Tarrer, Edd Laws, and Bob Thorn,
who provided suggestions and technical advice Ior the memorial design.
After formulating a proposal for the Gilbert Cemetery memorial, the Committee unveiled its recommendations
at a
public hearing attended by approximately 35 people at the Dodd Sterling united methodist church on April 6, 1982. Notice
of the hearing was disseminated "during worship services at several neighborhood churches on the preceding Sunday. "This
public hearing, at which no participant expressed specific support/or the erection 0/ a statue of'jesus or any other religious
symbol to commemorate Gilbert Cemetery, was the exclusive opportunity provided for comment by burial easement
owners or the public on the Committee's recommendations.
On or about May 6, 1982, the Committee filed a report (the "Report") detailing its actions and recommendations
for a
Gilbert Cemetery memorial with the Superior Court of Fulton County. A correct copy of the Report is attached hereto as
Exhibit "8."
The Report (at pp. 8,13) calls for the acquisition, erection, display, and maintenance of a statue of a "religious figure"and
"several white crosses" with public funds on public property located within the cloverleaf at the northwest quadrant of the
1-75/Cleveland Avenue intersection.
The statue and crosses proposed by the Committee for inclusion in the Gilbert Cemetery memorial are symbols
commonly understood and ordinarily associated with the christian religion.
The Fulton County Superior Court approved the Report and directed GOaT to comply with and implement its
recommendations
in an Order dated June 24, 1982 ("Order of June 24, 1982"), a correct copy of which is attached hereto as
Exhibit "C."
Subsequently, GOaT commissioned an artisan named Dario F. Rossi to sculpt a seven-foot tall statue ofjesus from blue
granite ("the Statue") to serve as the "religious figure" specified in the Committee's Report.
GOaT has purchased the statue with public funds and is proceeding as rapidly as possible to erect, display, and maintain
the Statue and crosses on public property with public funds.
Despite repeated notice provided by these Plaintiffs and others that GOaT's proposed expenditure of public funds to
acquire, erect, display, and maintain the Statue and crosses on the 1-75/ Cleveland Avenue cloverleaf would violate the
United States Constitution and the Constitution of Georgia, GOaT has rejected appeals to submit the constitutionality
of
its proposed actions to formal scrutiny by the Attorney General of Georgia or by a court of competent jurisdiction. Instead,
GOaT has indicated its determination to proceed with these constitutionally objectionable activities until ordered to desist.
COUNT I
Plaintiffs incorporate the allegations of paragraphs I through 26 (all of the preceding paragraphs) as if fully set forth
herein.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides: "Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion ... " This prohibition on the establishment of a religion applies with full force and effect to the
official acts of the State of Georgia performed through its officers, employees, and state agencies, including, without
limitation, GOaT, its officers, and its employees.
The Defendants have violated and are continuing to violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by
actively initiating, formulating, encouraging, and proceeding with the plan to acquire, erect, display, and maintain religious
symbols on public property with public funds.
The Defendants' acquisition, erection, display, and maintenance of religious symbols on public property with public
funds violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution in that:
(a) the use of symbols identified with the christian religion to commemorate persons whose religious preferences (if any)
have not been ascertained was and is intended to advance an identification of the State of Georgia with the christian religion;
(b) the primary effect of the placement of the statue and crosses in the cloverleaf at 1-75 and Cleveland Avenue will be to
identify the State of Georgia with the christian religion; and
(c) G DOT's participation in designing the Gilbert Cemetery memorial and the ongoing financial commitment required of
GOaT to maintain the Statue and crosses on public property in perpetuity constitute ongoing excessive entanglement
between the State of Georgia and the christian religion.
Plaintiffs have suffered and will suffer continuing irreparable harm to their constitutional rights as citizens and taxpayers
of the United States as a result of the Defendants' constitutional violations.
WHEREFORE,
Plaintiffs respectfully pray:
(I) that the Defendants be preliminarily and permanently enjoined from making any further expenditure of public funds
or taking any further action to acquire, erect, display, or maintain the Statue, crosses, or any other religious symbol on
public property at the site of the Gilbert Cemetery; and
(2) that a declaratory judgment issue declaring the Order of June 24, 1982 unconstitutional
and unenforceable to the
extent that it directs Defendants to perform any act enjoined by this Court.
Plaintiffs
Page 6
incorporate
the allegations
of paragraphs
COUNT II
I through 31 (all of the preceding paragraphs)
July, 1983
as if fully set forth

herein.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides: "Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free
exercise [of religion]." This prohibition on governmental interference with religious liberty applies with full force and effect
to the official acts of the State of Georgia performed through its officers, employees, and state agencies, including, without
limitation, GDOT, its officers, and its employees.
Plaintiff Muhammad is a parent and a muslim who lives in close proximity to the 1-75/ Cleveland Avenue intersection and
regularly travels past the Gilbert Cemetery site with his family.
Plaintiff Schilke is a parent and a member of the jewish faith who frequently travels past the Gilbert Cemetery site with his
family.
The public display of graven images used to depict divine beings is offensive to the fundamental theological beliefs and
practices of these plaintiffs and oppressive to their sensitivities as members of minority religious faiths.
Plaintiff Campbell is an Atheist.
The public display of christian symbols is offensive to Plaintiff Campbell's fundamental beliefs and practices as an Atheist
and oppressive to his sensitivities as an Atheist.
The Defendants' use of public funds and public property to acquire, erect, display, and maintain symbols commonly
understood
and ordinarily associated with the christian religion violates the First Amendment
rights of Plaintiff
Muhammad, Schilke, and Campbell in that:
(a) the Defendants' acquisition and public display of a graven image undermines and interferes with the liberty of
Plaintiffs Muhammad and Schilke to guide and control the religious training of their children in compliance with the beliefs
of their respective faiths.
WHEREFORE,
public property at the site of the Gilbert.Cemetery; and
COUNT III
Plaintiffs incorporate the allegations of paragraphs I through 39 (all of the preceding paragraphs) as if fully set forth
herein.
The Constitution of the State of Georgia, Article I, Section 2, Paragraph 10, provides:
No money shall ever be taken from the public Treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, or
denomination.
The Defendants have spent, and are continuing to spend funds appropriated from the treasury of the State of Georgia to
acquire, erect, display, and maintain symbols commonly understood and ordinarily associated with the christian religion on
public property.
These expenditures from the public treasury are intended to and will have the effect of aiding and advancing the christian
religion.
Defendants' expenditures of public funds and use of public property in aid of the christian church and religion have
caused the Plaintiffs to suffer irreparable harm to their rights under the Constitution of the State of Georgia.
WHEREFORE,
public property at the site of the Gilbert Cemetery; and
COUNT IV
Plaintiffs incorporate the allegations ot paragraphs I through 44 (all of the preceding paragraphs) as if fully set forth
herein.
.
Hattie E. Blake, reverend James Blake, and Pearl Blake Walker are interred in Gilbert Cemetery.
Plaintiff Robinson is the granddaughter
of Hattie E. Blake and reverend James Blake, the niece of Pearl Blake Walker,
and an heir-at-law of each.
As an heir-at-Iaw to persons interred in Gilbert Cemetery, Plaintiff Robinson owns a property in the burial easements of
her relatives interred in Gilbert Cemetery pursuant to the laws of the State of Georgia.
Plaintiff Robinson has never been served with process or received appropriate
legal notice of the condemnation
proceeding filed by Defendant DGOT in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Civil Action No. C-74635.
Plaintiff Robinson objects to the Defendants' plan that she receive undifferentiated, aggregate compensation in the form
of the proposed Gilbert Cemetery memorial in lieu of individual compensation for the taking of her property rights as owner
of a property interest in the burial easements.
Defendants have violated the rights of Plaintiff Robinson under the Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments
of the
Constitution of the United States in that:
(a) the Defendants have taken Plaintiff Robinson's property without just compensation;
Austin, Texas
July, 1983
Page 7
(b) the Defendants have intentionally and systematically excluded Plaintiff Robinson and other persons similarly
situated from the process of selecting an appropriate memorial to the dead interred in Gilbert Cemetery; and
(c) the Defendants have unlawfully participated in a scheme to deprive Plaintiff Robinson of due process and just
compensation for her property rights by initiating, formulating, and executing an alternative form of compensation
to
burial easement owners in the Gilbert Cemetery in lieu of individual compensation
without notice or opportunity for a
hearing.
WHEREFORE,
Plaintiff Robinson respectully prays that:
(a) Defendants be preliminarily and permanently enjoined from proceeding with the acquisition, erection, display, and
maintenance of religious symbols on public property within the cloverleaf at 1-75 and Cleveland Avenue;
(b) Defendants be directed to make reasonable and systematic efforts to identify all persons who own interests in burial
easements at Gilbert Cemetery, to take all practicable steps necessary to give such persons notice of the condemnation
proceedings, and to afford persons so notified an opportunity for a hearing before depriving them of their property rights in
the burial easements; and
(c) Defendants be directed to justly compensate all owners of burial easements at Gilbert Cemetery in accordance with the
laws of the State of Georgia.
WHEREFORE,
all Plaintiffs respectfully pray:
public property at the site of the Gilbert Cemetery;
extent that it directs Defendants to perform any act enjoined by this Court;
(3) that judgment be rendered against Defendants for Plaintiffs' expenses of litigation, including reasonable attorneys'
fees recoverable pursuant to 42 U.S.c. Section 1988; and
(4) such other and further relief as the Cou~t deems appropriate.
3t
Page 8
July, 1983
The
Text
Book
War
A one-sided national crusade by radical right religionists is now a full-scale book war and the
Colorado Chapter of American Atheists has won the opening battle in a Denver suburb.
We thought it would be an easy war. We thought it would
be against the religious fundamentalists who are attacking
textbooks in a suburb of Denver, Colorado, as well as in a
well-financed, professionally coordinated campaign that is
expanding throughout school districts acr.oss the country,
using the connived war cry of "rally against secular humanism." This kind of war we could handle. Our un-paid, sparetime volunteer task force could handle this and still have
time left for something interesting. In fact the administrators
and most school board members of Jefferson County
School District R-l were glad to see us coming - relieved
that our challenges of "textbooks with christian bias" would
neutralize the onslaught of the radical right fundamental
religionists, giving the district officials the opportunity to
restate and reinforce their policy of official neutrality in all
matters of religion. We were greeted with smiles in Jeffco
R-l.
But the real enemy revealed itself when McGraw-Hili's
representative replied to my letter of criticism of one of the
books dropped by the school district as a result of our
challenges. It appears that even without the political/economic pressures exerted by radical right religionists, the
religious bent of the publishers themselves is enough to
have long since established a decided christian bias in many
textbooks. The mom-and-pop team which fronts for the
fundamentalists would have been better off to have kept
their mouths smugly shut, since they invited attention to the
underlying pre-censorship and the original bias in the
books.
Before you nod off, muttering "What else-is new?" let me
say this outdoes the usual pervasive bias we find everywhere in the media, in legislatures and in society at large.
For example, there are history textbooks (published before
anybody ever heard of the fundamentalist mom-and-pop
censorship team or the Moron Majority) which teach the
biblicalversion of middle eastern history as unqualified fact;
there are "family-living" books which state categorically,
using specious survey findings (rejected by Jeffco educators), that marriages which have strong religious involvement always are more successful - except of course those
in which two religions are mixed! American history books
credit puritanism with a positive role in the development of
the country, without even mentioning the religious wars and
atrocities in the colonies and totally ignoring the prevalent
Austin, Texas
deism of the founding fathers. So the bias is very real and is

more blatant, more deceptive than expected. Even so, an
executive vice president of McGraw Hill Book Co. said in
reply to a letter from me, that our concerns are" ... difficult
to understand ... " More about this reply letter later.
The Jeffco fundamentalists, led by a phantom organiza
ion known as CUPS (Committee to Upgrade Public
Schools) were caught repeatedly in bald-face public lies and
stupid blunders. They are the laughing stock of the Jeffco
R-l district. One person flatly blames the Jeffco schools for
corrupting the person's children, causing them to live outof-wedlock with their lovers, to reject the person's radical
rightwing religio-political ravings and to call the person
"crazy" and a "fascist." This type of person, or organization, is hardly the real problem, though they can be thanked
for getting us started on our own challenges.
Alas, we made some blunders too, or the district would
have dropped more than just four books from the curricula
because of our challenges. I'll point out our errors so you
(now galvanized into action) can avoid them as you move to
challenge books in your local school district. The real
victory came in the new policies recommended by all three
"subcommittees of the curriculum council" which considered our challenges. Every subcommittee (one each for
elementary, junior high and high school levels) recommended that textbook selection committees should be alert
for undue christian bias in all new books to be considered
for adoption by the district. Assuming their advice will be
followed, this marks a major precedent in textbook purchasing and, hence, publishing.
This is the least you should expect from challenges you
may make, and it's probably much more important than
causing individual books to be dropped, because Atheists
are NOT into book banning anyway. To avoid charges of
hypocrisy, literary freedom, according to religious fundamentalists, must include availability of books with (to us)
objectionable christian slants. However, just deleting certain books from active use in the curricula is not tantamount
to banning; they can always be kept by the school district in
its library under the heading of "religion," where they
belong. That was our answer whenever the press or the
subcommittee members brought up the question of censorship. Rejecting books because they are historically and
factually falsified is not censorship in any case - it is
July, 1983
Page 9
adherence to minimal standards of academic verity, if not

excellence.
The first shots were fired by the fundamentalists. On one
of those magnificent Colorado autumn mornings when the
sun was brilliant as the air was crisp and I was feeling
especially fit either for loving or fighting as I opened the
Rocky Mountain News with my first cup of coffee at the
kitchen table. My back arched in my rumpled bathrobe and
my blood boiled as I scanned a photo of two baggy-eyed
radical rightwing religious fundamentalists who had challenged four textbooks becuase they contained what they
claimed was "secular humanism." The story quoted one
person as saying about a book entitled Values Clarification
(when a reporter pointed out that the book only raises
questions about "living together" without recommending
the practice), "Raising questions is the most effective
technique of indoctrination. This is what Satan did to Adam
and Eve."
As soon as I got to my office I began making my first
mistakes. I fired off a letter to the leader of the CUPS
"organization" challenging a debate, and one to the district
superintendent, (Believe it or not, a Dr. Peper!)* supporting
his statement that such claims were part of "the big lie"
against public education. So far, so what? I had not initiated
any action of my own for American Atheists, so I sent copies
of both letters along with a brief news release to the reporter
who had written the story. I really should have called the
reporter, instead of waiting for the post office to do its
plodding work.
The next day I received a call from the education writer
for the Rocky Mountain News. The debate idea intrigued
him because it would be a "real event" about which he could
write, not just a rhetorical response. In the course of the
conversation it occurred to both of us almost simultaneouslythat Atheists, too, could institute such a challenge Was he
feeding me an idea with which to work? He can't ethically do
that, so the answer was "No."
After a strategy conference with Dr. O'Hair via long
distance, I confirmed that we would indeed review some
textbooks and challenge any that contained "christian
bias," having no doubt that we would find plenty of that. The
reporter also called Dr. O'Hair and quoted her the next day
in the paper saying the idea was "Beautiful! Absolutely
beautiful!" She told him she would encourage every Chapter of American Atheists in the nation to make similar
challenges at their school districts. All hell broke loose, to
use a christian expression.
Textbooks are big news. My telephone rang incessantly,
with my call-waiting line interrupting every interview from.
reporters in towns and cities across the country. The
American Athist Center's telephones rang even more, Dr.
O'Hair later told me; all lines lit up like the last hour of a
Jerry Lewis telethon. The story made the Washington Post,
U.S.A. Today and other major papers, plus who knows how
many local papers, TV newscasts and radiocasts which
picked up the story from Associated Press and United
Press International releases. Somebody called the momand-pop team of fundamentalist censors who had been in
the news and the pop part ot the team said, "I thought we
"Editor's note: This little sidelight reminds us of the ironic
name of the superintendent who fought the Murrays in
Baltimore 20 years ago - Dr. Brain.
Page 10
July, 1983
were returning to traditional christian values." I was interviewed by radio stations in Oregon, Oklahoma (there, by a
born again x-ian) and about half of the 32 radio stations in
the Denver market. Dr. O'Hair was interviewed by that
many more and it went on for weeks. Later I was interviewed by a West German newspaper and I participated in a
TV debate with a fundamentalist ringer, who turned out to
be a trained performer on full time salary to something
called "Christian Research Associates." Iwon, of course, in
spite of a biased moderator.
Eventually Playboy ran a blurb in its "News Forum"
section and I am still getting calls from here and there;
notably from young student reporters and editors of school
papers around the region. Education Today has done a
couple of follow-ups for its audience of teachers nationwide.
I was invited to participate in a panel at Western State
College in Durango, Colorado, but the freaky weather this
season closed down all airports in the region. (Ifyou've ever
flown the milk run over the Rockies in a storm, you'll know
how relieved I was.) But now comes the Widefield School
District (one very much in the news because of many
ruckuses with radical rightwing religionist fundamentalists)
inviting me to go head-to-head with one of them, a former
state legislator and chairman of the House Education
Committee (who was defeated for re-election in the primary
after he tried to intimidate the state's 181 school districts.)
We like to think that our Denver Chapter of American
Atheists' well-reported X-rated bible reading event had
something to do with his demise as a politician.
[10
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This latest debate was a function of a group called Federal

Program Administrators of Colorado and it will follow a
moron majority propaganda film, "Let Their Eyes Be
Opened," at a meeting in Vail, Colorado, October 6th of this
year. (Mark your calendar if you are in commuting distance.)
Textbooks, as I said, are big news and the work of
American Atheists in this field is enormously important. We
can neutralize the entire fundamentalist movement and
re-establish strict academic veracity at the school district
level, simply by utilizing the established curriculum chalThe American Atheist
lenge procedures which every district has or should have in

place. If the challenge procedures don't work, we can sue.
We can force our public schools to teach verified truth and
to return to constitutional neutrality, which means the
elimination of christian slants from history, sociology,
health, home economics and civics courses. It can mean
virtually forcing every school district at all three levels to, at
least, offer - if not require - courses in comparative
religion, which would have to include Atheism as the
obvious alternative to the many superstitions and stupidities of the world.
Those who attended the 13th Annual National Convention in San Francisco heard me say that this is a big and
complex topic and we Colorado Atheists are only now
beginning to realize the full implications of it.
The second mistake we made, collectively, was to show
up at the Jefferson County (Jeffco) curriculum library,
where all textbooks are displayed for public access, and to
fan out - seven of us - into the stacks, choosing books at
random. The rules did not permit checking out any books
and we were not allowed to use the district's photocopy
machine, so we were forced to scan the books right there in
a couple of hours, after work, before the library closed at
7:00P.M. As a result of this random approach, we managed
to waste our time on several books that were no longer in
use in classrooms and we failed to select a balanced number
of books from the three major academic levels. We only
reviewed one book from the elementary level. We weren't
clear about the levels with which we were dealing until
officialreplies came back from the administration.
This was wrong. We should have made contact with a
school principal from each level first to acquire a list of
books actually in use in classrooms. If we lacked cooperation at that level, we should have scanned the computer
printout at the library itself would have shown which books
and were in daily use in classrooms and where they were
being used. Of course, districts in different parts of the
country will have different procedures - the point is that
we must learn what those procedures are and plan to follow
them as closely as the district administrators will allow.
Some Chapters of American Atheists, and you, will
encounter more prejudice than we did here in semi-literate
Colorado, which is just barely above the bible belt. Our
state attracts transplants from all parts of the United States,
so it would be hard to find a more pluralistic diverse state
this side of California. (In terms of diversity and pluralism, of
course, San Francisco has us all whipped. Whew!)
It should be noted, however, that Jefferson County is
predominantly well-off, conservative Republican, and
hence religious, suburb of Denver, so we endured our share
of icy stares and reticence to help: a sure sign we were in the
right place.
Another mistake was not recognizing the difference
between teachers' guides and actual student texts. Most
books willhave a teacher's guide which is either published
as a separate volume or as a fatter version of the basic book
with comments from the authors added to help the teachers
present the material. These too can be challenged for
christian bias but they must be identified as such.
In Jeffco there are official forms to fillout for each item
challenged. But nooooo! I merely wrote letters to the
superintendent, two of them, listing the books to which
American Atheists objected, citing publisher, date of publiAustin, Texas
cation, chapter, page number and a brief description of

each objectionable part. As it turned out that was good
enough, for the same day I read in the sur bur ban press
about the formal procedures, I received my first reply Dr.
Peper. As I said, they were glad to have us appear. I
recommend, however, picking up the proper forms (if any)
from a school principal or district headquarters, to that
there is no administrative excuse for disallowing Atheist
challenges based on the failure to use a specified form.
The closest thing we had to a full-time Atheist researcher
was one who happened to be between engagements. Gale
Schreier, a former employee of the American Atheist
Center, spent several eight-hour days reviewing books. He
did thorough jobs on a few of the most blatantly christian
biased history books, one of which was outrageous enough
to offend even a mealy-mouthed agnostic: Emergence of
Europe. It was out of print and out of use, however, so
Gale's blistering attack was for naught. In listing titles and
complaints, I managed to leave that title off, and to
transpose another in its place. That was embarrassing, but
neither of the books involved were in use, so the whole
exercise was moot.
Many of us assumed that when we found one or two

blatantly offensive passages that we "had them where it
hurt." Wrong again! The teachers and others on the subcommittees searched assiduously through every book to
find mitigating passages and qualifying statements, such as,
" ... some followers believed ... " distinctions which no
student in public school would recognize. One or two
disclaimers, they say, make it okay to fill books with
christian dogma at great length. Even sympathetic academicians are not going to help us find bias, lies and errors. We
are bearding the lion in his own den, so every book every
film, every teachers' guide must get a thorough goingthrough to find as much objectionable material as possible,
as well as to note those disclaimers before the committee
members do and to discredit them as an excuse for literally
preaching christianity in what is supposed to be a teaching
tool in a taxpayer (government) supported school. There
should be no surprises when you go before curriculum
July, 1983
Page 11
We challenged 15 books in all, but no audio-visual items.

Those are as open to scrutiny as the books, so I plan to
include them in our next project. Had we eliminated those
books not in use, our total would have been only five or six
books, but had we done so we would have taken the time to
examine other items, knowing which ones were worth
searching. That will make all the difference next time the
Denver Chapter of American Atheists go after a school
district.
By the way, don't plan on finding the challenged books on
the shelves after the committees get started; they'll disappear into the hands of the members of the committees.
Obviously it helped that I happen to live in Jefferson
County and that a stepson of my marriage happens to
attend one of the high schools. It was the first time I was glad
of that arrangement,
but it is probably mandatory
that
whoever is signing the challenges actually live in the district
involved, and it would certainly help if that person had kids
or some relative's kid(s) actually enrolled in one of the

schools involved. Like "standing to sue," it seemed to make
a big difference to the administrators
and the local press.
(Editor's note: taxpayer status is enough to get into court
when that time comes. But as Talley points out, often the
media makes the difference, and is more+sympathetic,
when a local person is "protecting" the rights of his/her
child, ren.])
As to demeanor, the opposite to the approach of the
fundamentalists
might be the best. My approach was firm
but congenial and polite. I spoke readily, rapidly and
assertively, but I avoided raving and insulting accusations.
Believe it or not, this brought positive comments
from
nearly all of the committee members - some of whom were
fundamentalists
and others of whom had their less radical
religious feelings. My inside contacts tell me that we are
viewed as the good guys, while the radical religious right
fundamentalists
are the villains. What a pleasurable switch
from the usual pugnacious
reception Atheists receive,
notably from people in the media who share our favorite
Amendment with us.
You probably know as well as I how to handle the press,
but I would remind you not to neglect the local neighborhood papers. They get slighted enough by others, so we
should be the ones to have open, honest and congenial
communications
with these out-landers. I had the feeling
that they would "get us" if we didn't keep them informed
and they are very influential in their own latitudes.
Since the first story broke in the Rocky Mountain News,
the competing Denver Post chose not to publish a line
about any of it. That was unavoidable in this case and the
assignation with the News was the best strategy for this
particular circumstance; from it came much needed national and international coverage. Next time, however, I will
contact both competitors and encourage them to compete
for angles and information just as they would if the subject
matter was a mayor's ripping off an orphanage's trust fund.
That assumes the interest will still be there the second time
around, which is somewhat doubtful, for they don't dote
upon American Atheists' every utterance as they do with
the pope and with the falwellians. To guard against the
possibility of a he-hum attitude next time out, I'm going to
give them what they have been asking for: a head-on
confrontation
with a fundamentalist
whacko, at a school
board meet ring. Also, the open threat of a lawsuit or other
(what they term as) antics will get their attention, if it is
handled properly. Such controversial,
hence newsworthy,
elements are there if one looks for them and the must be
utilized to overcome the general diffidence (to put it kindly)
the press feels toward our point of view. On the other hand,
Dr. O'Hair has advised me that the media likes nothing
better than a continuing story. "One shot deals" are not
enough to keep the suckers buying the papers or glued to
the radio or television. Everyone wants to know when and
where the next round will be and who is going for the final
match. But, despite this chatter,
publicity is really a
secondary
consideration.
The first priority is neutrality
toward christianity, and religion in general, in curricula as
well as school campus activity. What is the phrase the U.S.
Supreme Court uses? "There must be no advancement
of
religion" by any agency of government, and that means our
public schools and the books used in them.
Another hint came from one of the insiders. The fancy,
July, 1983
committees, and there needs to be a fairly pervasive bias

proven by your examination of the material. One of the
most common comments was, "Well, that's only one page
in a four-hundred page book; surely we can't drop the whole
book because of an offensive page or two." Next time they
say that to me, my reply will be, "If one page in this book said
that Ptolemy was right after all and the sun and planets do
revolve around the earth, you would throw it out in an
instant. In fact, that's what the bible preaches and most
fundamentalist christians must believe."
We weren't nearly picky enough, due probably to that
endemic timidity we all (except Dr. O'Hair, I should say)
experience
from time to time among the enemy. One
experienced educator pointed out that the god, savior and
saints of christianity were capitalized, while the deities of the
other religions were not - a clear case of bias that should
be found objectionable
by anyone interested in quality
academics, but that was overlooked by our task force. If we
were checking for accuracy of chemical formulae, we would
be very persnickity
indeed - why not with history,
sociology and all the rest?
Page 12
four-color hardback books are far more expensive than the

paperback versions that school districts will sometimes buy
to save money. Economics tend to rule in academia as
everywhere else, so when you can clobber a very costly
hardcover book, you're likely to get the rapt attention of the
administrators in your school district. Also, the place where
publishers will feel the pinch most readily is during the
process of public review of new, proposed textbooks which
have not yet been adopted. In Jeffco, new books are put on
display at a public library twice a year - spring and autumn.
If we can squelch a lot of lucrative sales before they are
made, we'll have a huge impact on the entire publishing
industry and it will be prone to listen to what Atheists have
to say. The mom-and-pop
team of radical right wing
religionist fundamentalists has played this game in Texas,
the nation's most lucrative textbook market where $50
million worth of books are purchased annually.
Perhaps the best way to fully understand the scope of the
textbook wars is to send, as I did, for a transcript of a PBS
edition of CRISIS TO CRISIS - a show entitled, "Books
under Fire!" The address is:
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The American University'
Washington, D.C. 20016;
This transcript can be cited in your dealings with curriculum
committees too, as evidence that the attack on academic
freedom is real.
It is traditional in the United States, almost to the point of
being religious, that education must be a grass-roots local
matter that must be left up to the parents and pillars of each
community, so even prssure at the state level is ignored by
many school districts. Agree with that or not, the pressure
must be felt at the district level in order to have enough
impact to change the picture nationally.
Although the radical rightwing religionist fundamentalists
don't realize it, their campaign to take over public schools
will unquestionably
result in more national involvement,
perhaps national control of minimum curriculum standards.
Working to hasten such a shift may also be worth our while
(as soon as the nation gets rid of Terrel H. Bell, Secretary of
Education of the U.S.). In the meantime, however, a lot of
small groups in small districts are going to have to repeat
textbook challenge procedures over and over again 1 until
the publishing industry gets the message and decides to
direct - for the first time in U_S_history - its profit motives
toward satisfying a nationwide cry for academic excellence
and veracity. It's a laborious and redundant process, but for
now it's the only one we have.
As you conduct your own text book reviews and
challenges, look for the book defended so mincingly 'by
McGraw-Hili, Your Marriage and Family Living_ Take with
you the text of the letter, reproduced verbatim below and
see if what I see as rationalizations
are even close to the
truth of what you find in that book. I believe you will find
that, before a congressional
committee, such statements
would be regarded as out-and-out obfuscation of the thrust
of the passages concerned:
"Your overriding concern - that the text "promotes religion in general and christianity inparticular
as the only cement for a cohesive family unit" - is
difficult for me to understand on examination of the
'Editor's note: (Do you read that right? Over and over again. It's going to
be a long war' And. our children and grandchildren
are worth it.)
Austin, Texas
passages you cite, particularly in the context of a 472

page book. If you mean that the values of a society
based on judea-christian ideas are reflected in our
books and many other publishers, (sic) then I would
have to agree with you.
Such a bias would be hard to escape in any book,
no matter how hard an author tried to remain bias
free. You will find that, upon close examination,
however, the values of any culture are reflected in its
literature, whether the literature be schoolbooks,
newspapers, novels, or poems. That does not mean
our books attempt to promote or establish any
retiqion. In fact, we attempt to keep our books as
bias-free as possible.
With reference to the material in question:

Page 41
"Religion in The Control of Negative Emotions"
It is true as stated in the introductory sentence that
religious prescriptions such as those cited have been
used historically as a device for dealing with negative
emotions. However, the questions following the three
examples clearly raise for discussion the same issue
you do - the mental health implications of such a
coping strategy.
Page 59
"Religion in Action"
Please note the last sentence. Again, the assumption is open to question.
"Coming to Terms with Religion"
Like civic morality, sexual morality, teenage culture, and friendship, religion is a common area of
adolescent-parent conflict. Note that this section
refers also to the social and service roles that religious
institutions legitimately play in the lives of many (not
all) adolescents.
Page 61
"Test Your Moral and Religious Values"

The questions presented here for discussion provide the opportunity to explore the relationship
between religion and morality. In no way do they
present religion and morality as synomomous. (sic)
Thank you again for your interest. Sincerely.
July, 1983
Page 13
The following list of books challenged in Jeffco R-1 is

certainly not adequate to wave before a curriculum subcommittee - that's one of the lies in which the fundamentalists
were caught. They waved a list of texts that was typed and
xeroxed in Longview, Texas, claiming to have generated
the list and typed it up themselves. A reference to the locale
of origin, deep in the middle of the list, as well as some
penned notes made locally, gave them away. The face of the
mouthpiece of the religious group sagged at the disclosure
and there was a prompt increase in the volume of the
attack. (This whole experience is not without its hilarious
moments. You will actually love it when you get into the
fray.)
We're absolutely certain that your own task force can
come up with a much better list than this:
HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL TEXTBOOKS

Echoes of Time: A World History - McGraw-Hill,
Page
1977
261
" ... during the long reign of Augustus an event took

place which was to have a great impact on the course of
western civilization. This was the birth of Jesus Christ."
Goes on to quote the bible as' a history source, quoting
"Saul of Tarsus" alongside accepted historians of the time.
Not in use; out of print. This gives an idea of what has
gone before.
**The Human Expression, A History
Cultures - J. B. Lippincott Co., 1977.
of Peoples
and
Page 67
" ... christianity was founded by Jesus Christ almost
2,000 years ago."" ... Jesus rose from the dead ... "
The claims of christianity are presented as facts without
disclaimers, we said. The committee
disagreed on the
quotes above but found other passages were disclaimers
which were not used properly and voted to notify the
teachers using this book.
As you read these books carefully scrutinize those of the
publishers listed here. Those who have offended will be
doing so again in their new editions of these texts.
Living World History (Fifth Edition) - Scott Foresman &
Co., 1982.
Page 102
" ...
Jesus Christ was crucified, ... " etc.
Page 118
" ... reappeared after the crucifixion ... "
More bible quoting to verify events, replete with editorial
comments about wondrous miracles and the benevolence'
of god. The Committee felt there were disclaimers enough
and that the material had been handled objectively. Also,
the Committee said, " ... in reporting the history of the
Roman Empire some references
to biblical stories are
pertinent."
**Unfinished Journey,
Mifflin Co., 1980
a World
History
Houghton-
Page 73
Tells of the birth of jesus christ, presented as fact and not
as theological speculation. The instructor's guide goes so
far on page 21 as to state categorically that jesus was a real,
historical person and not a mythical character.
Page 14
July, 1983
The Committee
agreed that the material "presented
about Jesus is done as fact and without qualifications. The
section on early Christianity,
72ff. as well as the
corresponding
Instructor's
Guide is clearly catechetical
rather than historical." They recommended
this one be
"deleted"
from curriculum;
notes sent to all teachers
explaining the challenge.
Emergence of Europe - McDougall-Littell
This is the one for which the title was transposed,
although the description of the flaws was accurate. It is
blatantly, shamelessly, openly religious throughout, speaking of "The miracle of the Sinai, ... " of god as a kind and
gentle father full of love for all mankind, using quotes from
proverbs, talking of the city of god, the tragedy at Calvary,
the trial, crucifixion and ascension of jesus christ, etc.
The Committee did not consider this one because of the
error, but it is not in use in Colorado. Look out for this one.
It may be in your district and we can furnish you our analysis
and blast.
Age of Europe -
Scholastic
Book Service, 1976
Page 172
" ... the puritans left us much, including the distrust of
pleasure ... "
The Committee said that this book was a remedial text
for a low reading level program and other parts of it were
very good; since it was one of very few ot its kind, they voted
not to remove it. The objection of the puritans' role in the
United States, however, was well taken.
Story of Nations - Holt, Rhinehard & Winston
The book is out of print, not in use. The Committee took
no action. But, it gave us pause that this book had been
used in our school district system, since it contains the
same basic flaws as the others.
America in Time This book credits christianity for the United States
without mentioning the intentions of the founders for a
secular society, and only deals with the First Amendment's
freedom of religion clause without mentioning the separation clause. It is purely an "enrichment" book, however, not
a regularly used textbook so there was no action taken.
Again, this is another trap for the unwary reader. If such a
book is assigned to a fast reader, for "enrichment"
purposes, our question is: "With what is the child enriched?"
Biology: An Inquiry into The Nature
of Life
Pages 413-415
(Note: it is important to specify the edition involved. The
page numbers of the book we reviewed did not correspond
to the edition the Committee studied. Some of our reviewers were more careful about this than others.) Our
objection was to the juxtaposition of creationism next to the
accepted scientific laws of evolution. American Atheists
said it was unnecessary and unscientific to include a biblical
story in a science text. The Committee disagreed, claiming
evolution received more space and creationism came out
second best in the comparison.
**Your Marriage and Family Living -
McGraw,
Hill, 1977
Page 41
II
"Religion in The Control of Negative Emotions"

Page 59
"Religion in Action"
"Coming to Terms with Religion"
Page 61
"Test Your Moral and Religious Values"
You have already read about this, above, in the letter to
me from the publisher. The committee voted to delete this
book saying it was indeed overly supportive of religion and
openly scornful, by absence of comment, of a non-religious
way of life.The Committee noted that the statistics used to
prove that marriage goes better with god were poorly,
unprofessionally compiled and presented.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

Social Studies
Page 193
"The First Amendment protects people's right to worship
as they please, ... " but no separation of state and church is
mentioned.
Separation would be too much for these third graders,
the Committee said. Howver, it did recommend that future
books be checked for sections that DO deal with the
subject as an initial introduction to government and freedoms in the United States. Otherwise the book is thought to
be so good that this "little boo-boo" should not scuttle the
whole book.
**Personal Adjustment, Marriage and Family Living 1975

Page 198,199
Another survey, perhaps from the same source, claiming
to show that" ... marriages containing religion are more
likely to succeed."
The Committee agreed with our assessment, but said
that other portions of the book were appropriately presented and the book should be retained for the immediate
future, but reviewed at "new book time" for a better edition.
This book, the Committee said, should be dropped at that
time.
Obviously we could have been better prepared; cited

editions, fought harder on important issues, such as deism
of the founding fathers and the need to emphasize separation of state and church. Unquestionably we willdo so in the
future. Also Gale Schreier's heart was nearly torn asunder
when he found that not only was his favorite pro-christian
text book not properly considered, but also not in use.
We're all older and wiser now. Denver Public Schools, look
out!
To the mom-and-pop radical rightwing religious fundamentalists who started this whole business of review of
public schools texts: You should have left well enough
alone. If what you say is true, that "secular humanism" is
being taught as a religion all over this country, why don't
you sue to rid the schools of it? We can tell you now since we
have been through the first round. You don't because
christians, especially fundamentalists, are not very big on
proof. They are better at badgering educators than they are
at bringing in proofs of their propagandistic, politically
motivated outrageous charges, or even of their magicalmystical claims about gods, saviors and other spooks.
As Dr. Peper pointed out, the battle is over" ... the big
lie" which American Atheists know is the christianizing of
history.
JUNIOR HIGH (MIDDLE SCHOOL) TEXTBOOKS

Many Americans: One Nation
Credit for education and structure in the society of the
United States is given to the puritans, with no mention of
the Salem witch executions, the pressings, the wars and
other cruelties. No mention is made of deism as a founding
principle.
The Committee disagreed. This text, the Committee
said, is for junior high school students who read at the
fifth-grade level, so the "concept of deism" would be too
sophisticated for them. This is the doctrine of "lie to the
young." Make sense? Nope. If junior high school students
can understand the concept of puritanism, they can understand the execution of witches and the anti-christian
attitudes of our founding fathers.
**Books censured and/or recommended

from the curriculum by a subcommittee.
U.S. History: Two Centuries of Progress

This is an upper reading level book, but it is out of print
and is gradually being replaced by other books. No mention
of deism, none of separation of state and church.
American Society
Again the puritans, who preceded deists, were most
instrumental in founding this country, the Committee said.
Since this is an average reading level text, it was felt, the
Committee said, that deism would be too sophisticated a
concept for junior high school students to understand.
But, again, they could most certainly understand killing
witches and enforcing a strict set of blue laws that controlled behavior in every aspect of human life, including the
privacy of the bedroom.
Some other school district should nail this one. And,
according to Dr. Peper, Denver Chapter of American
Atheists could always appeal some of these decisions.
However, at this point we were anxious to declare a victory,
if only partial.
Austin, Texas
July, 1983
for "deletion"
$
WANTED
A few good Atheists to form a chapter
in the Central Pennsylvania area
Contact:
('J
Jon Frank Otstot

c/o American Atheists
Box 2117/ Austin, TX 78768
LET ME DIE
BEFORE I WAKE
orJean's Way)
By Derek Humphry(author
Unique guide to "If-deliverance

for dying personl
(incll. neweletter) S15. Nonprofit.
Hemlock Society, P.O. Box 66218
los Angeles, CA 90066. Phone (213)391-1871
S11 plp_ Memberlhip
Page 15
FALWELL'S AUSTRALIAN
VISIT A FAILURE
by Mark Plummer
Jerry Falwell's visit to Australia in May, '82 was a failure
for Falwell and his Australian supporters.
A few months before his visit members of the Sydney Gay
Community had the foresight to register "Moral Majority"
as a trademark in five of the six Australian states. This gave
them the exclusive right to use the words "Moral Majority"
which they then used on T-shirts, stickers and badges in
slogans such as: "Moral Majority demands Gay Rights,"
"Moral Majority deplores fast breeders," "Moral Majority
loves lesbians," and "Moral Majority supports abortion on
demand." Slip-up number one by the organizers of Falwell's
tour - always ensure you have ownership of the title of
your movement.
I challenged Falwell to a national debate while he was in
Australia and called on the organisation bringing Falwell to
Australia, the "Word of Life Fellowship," (w.l.f.) to disclose
its finances. There was no response.
The w.l.f. is an American-led fundamentalist group which
was started in Australia by an American couple, Dave and
Mary Hillis, in 1970.
Shortly before Falwell's arrival a coalition called "T oleration" was formed in Sydney to provide a collective opposition. Organisations responsible for the formation of Tolera. tion comprised the Council for Civil Liberties, Women's
Electoral Lobby, Women in Education, The Gay Rights
Lobby and the Humanist Society. Some 200 people met and
elected Australian University professor Ken Buckley as
Toleration's chairperson.
Professor Buckley stated that what had really upset him
was that groups such as Sydney's "Festival of Light," a
christian right-wing coalition, expressed their viewpoints in
exaggerated, misleading and bullying ways while very little
attention had been given to counterviews.
Just before Falwell's arrival I distributed seventy press
"kits" on Falwell to the media. Several newspapers ran
feature articles on Falwell to the media such as "Here
comes the prophet of doom" and "Jerry's holy war." These
articles were fairly negative, describing his expensive
house, his support for stamping registration 'numbers on
the foreheads of communists, his belief in the nearness of
armageddon and his views on homosexuality and blacks.
One paper described the "closed incestuous nature of his
sect" and introduced the term "F alwellian" to denote his
beliefs. It ana lysed the effects of the moral majority.
Awaiting Falwell's arrival in Sydney was the rev. Fred
Nile, the closest local equivalent of Mr. Falwell. When
Falwell stepped off the plane, he said he had never heard of
Mr. Nile or the "Festival of Light." Slip-up number two by
the tour organisers. Some quick briefing by the w.Lf. and
Falwell was ready to embrace Nile and the "Festival of
Light." Falwell had his first confrontation with Australian
demonstrators who chanted/'Ban bigots from bible belts"
and "Bury Jerry." Jerry kept smiling.
Page 16
July, 1983
Also in Australia at this time was Senator McGovern who

told the Australian Press that the moral majority was hung
up on people's sex lives to the exclusion of the really
fundamental issues in life. He said he would like to see
people such as the "Moral Majority" a little more concerned
with the broad issues of economic and social justice and less
concerned with the personal sex life of people.
The night of Falwell's arrival a public meeting was held in
Canberra, Australia's national capital with myself as guest
speaker. I was careful to distinguish between the intolerant
bigoted American "Moral Majority" and the Australian
"Moral Majority" whose members I found dedicated to
pluralism and democracy. I described Falwell as the U.S.'s
ayatollah wanting to change the United States into a
theocracy. I claimed that Australia was not a suitable
breeding ground for a movement similar to the U.S.'s
"Moral Majority." This claim caused livelydiscussion led by
some Americans in the audience.
The next morning Igave an interview on a Canberra radio
station and then went to the National Press Club where
Falwell was scheduled to make his only public appearance
in Australia.
Outside the Press Club were about a hundred demonstrators. They had been encouraged to attend a "Puritan
Party" suitably dressed.
The demonstrators wore a variety of garb including a klu
klux klan outfit and priest's vestments. One person dressed
as a court jester and carried a sign" Jesters for Falwell." My
prize went to a poster titled "Fanaticism - Be In It" showing
three characters beating up a fourth person. Four police
attended to control the crowd.
Jerry was late. Slip-up number three. Always allow plenty
of time for the possibility of delays when planning any
itinerary. Inside the Press Club, only half of the dining room
was used and members of the National Press occupied only
one table. The rest were filled by people such as myself.
From the responses to Falwell it was apparent that few were
pro-Falwell.
Falwell turned up 45 minutes late with nothing for the
people inside to do but eat their meals and drink the house
wine.
Falwell only spoke for a few minutes when the demonstrators came in and invaded the dining room. They were
greeted with supporting applause by the diners and stayed
for a few minutes shouting slogans before leaving. It was the
first time the Press Club had ever been invaded.
Falwell proceeded to describe the demonstrators as
representing minorities of homosexuals, women and
Blacks. When a woman journalist pointed out that women
constituted a majority in Australia, the only answer Falwell
could give was "fine, fine" and to continue to grin. Falwell
gave a clear indication in his answers how right-wing his
views were.
The press reporting of the Press Club Dinner concentrated on the demonstration
and Falwell's ability to
maintain a smile like a Cheshire
cat throughout
the
demonstration.
Falwell then went to Sydney for a weekend with the w.l.f.
"Youth Quest" culminating, according to the organisers,
with a "giant rally" on Sunday. The rally, titled "God, Truth
and Country Rally" was attended by at most 400 fundamentalist believers and an equal number of demonstrators.
The press gave prominence to the demonstrators

including the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence," an order of gay
male nuns garbed in nun's habits who held a mock "Moral
Minority" service at the centre.
Falwell blamed the demonstrators
for intimidating the
"good and timid" people who were going to come but felt
too scared to leave their cars. Perhaps he should have
blamed his organisers for producing so few or his god for
failing to bring forward the millions of "sheep" he claims
"When a woman journalist pointed out that women constituted a majority in

Australia, the only answer Falwell could give was 'fine, fine' and to continue to grin."
Considering that the organisers had spent months publicising the rally among their own flock and that that number
included interstate followers, the rally can only be described
as a fiasco. In Australia's largest city of 3.5 million, Falwell
could only attract 300-400 people.
follow him in the United States. He could also blame himself

for his lack of research and preparation
for his trip to
Australia. He stopped smiling.
Australians just don't want Falwell. I don't think he will
return to Australia in a hurry.
ORATION, Containing a
DECLARATION
OF MENTAL INDEPENDENCE
delivered in the Public Hall, at New Harmony, Ind.,
by Robert Owen
during the fifty-first year of American independence
at the celebration of the Fourth of July, 1826, of the christian era
(Editor's Note: The sketch illustrations are based upon print reproductions oioricinols by Charles
Alexander Lesueur (1778-1846) depicting the event of a July 4th barbecue celebration by the New
Harmony townspeople led by Robert Owen.)
We meet to commemorate
the period, when the inhabitants of this new world attained the power to withdraw from
the control of the old world, and to form a government for
themselves.
This event is likely to prove, in its consequences,
as
important as any which has occurred in ancient or modern
times. It has been the means of preparing a new era in the
history of man, and of producing
such a change of
circumstances as will admit of the introduction of measures
to change, entirely, the character
and condition of the
human race.
The revolution in America, sanctioned and secured by
the Declaration of Independence
in 1776, gave to a people
advancing towards civilization, the first opportunity
of
establishing a government, which would, by degrees, permit
them to acquire that greatest of blessings MENTAL LIBERTY.
This was, indeed, a most important point gained: it was
the first time such privilege had been ever possessed by
mankind.
Its fruits have been visible in the gradual advance towards
mental liberty , which has been made during the half century
which this day completes from that memorable event. But, I
conclude, it will be in the next half century, now about to
Austin, Texas
commence,
that the wondering world will learn justly to
estimate the value of the high achievement which was then
attained.
It was not the mere political liberty then conquered from
"The revolution in America ... gave to a

people advancing towards civilization,
the first opportunity of establishing a
government, which would, by degrees,
permit them to acquire that greatest of
blessings MENTAL LIBERTY."
the old world that was the real victory gained by the
inhabitants of these vast regions; for political power had
often been wrested from one party and obtained by
another: But, it was the right which they thereby acquired
and used, to establish the liberty of freely extending thought
upon all subjects, secular and religious; and the right to
express those thoughts openly, so soon as the existing
prejudices, derived from the old world, could be so far
removed as to direct the mind of the multitude to investigate
facts and reject the mysteries of disordered imaginations: to
July, 1983
Page 17
teach them to discern the value of the former, as they

always direct to the development
of real knowledge; and
instruct them rightly to estimate the evil of the latter, as they
lead to those errors which have made man a compound of
folly and a recipient for misery.
Yes, my friends, the Declaration of Independence,
in
1776, prepared the way to secure to you MENTAL LIBER
TY, without which man never can become more than a
mere localized being, with powers to render him more
miserable and degraded than the animals which he has been
taught to deem inferior to himself. It is true, the right of
mental liberty is inherent in our nature; for, while man exists
in mental health, no human power can deprive him of it: but
until the Revolution of 1776, no people had acquired the
political power to permit them to use that right, when their
minds should be so far freed from early imbibed prejudices
as to allow them to derive benefits from its practice. No
nation, except this, even yet possesses the political power
to enable the people to use the right of mental freedom.
This right - this invaluable right - you now enjoy by the
Constitution
obtained for you by Washington,
Franklin,
Henry, and the other worthies associated with them.
You have indeed abundant reason to rejoice in this
victory, obtained over the thick mental darkness which, till
then, covered the earth.
The collision of mind which produced that victory, and
which was produced by it, elicited a spark of light, which
enabled the prominent actors in those scenes to discover a
glimpse through the long night of error and misrule, with
which the inhabitants of all the earth had been previously
afflicted.
-.1'
Still, however, these men, whose minds wer~ in advance

of the age in which they lived, were encircled by the.
prejudices which they and their fathers brought from
Europe, and which had descended
to the inhabitants of
those regions through many ages of despotism, superstition
and ignorance. And although a few of these highly-gifted
men of the Revolution saw a stronger and clearer light at the
distance, as they supposed, of some ages before them; they
were too conscious of the extent of the old errors around
them to attempt more than to secure the means in the
Constitution which they formed, by which their successors
might work their way to the superior distant light, and gain
for themselves
the innumerable
advantages
which real
mental liberty could bestow upon them.
It is for YOU and YOUR successors
now to press
onward, with your utmost speed, in the course which, by so
Page 18
July, 1983
many sacrifices, for your benefit, they have opened for you.
They discovered
some of the innumerable
impositions
which had been practiced on your predecessors;
they saw
more of them, than in the temper of those times, they could
venture publicly to expose; but they have left such decided
proofs of their own feelings and views regarding them, that
none, who reflect. can doubt the strong desire they felt to
attack and destroy still more of them, and, if possible, to
annihilate all the arts and mysteries by which the few had so
long held a pernICIOUS, despouc sway and control over the
many.
These wise men were withheld from going beyond the line
determined upon at the Revolution, apprehending
that, by
attempting to gain a greater advance upon ignorance and
superstition,
they might put to hazard the benefits they
found they could secure; and herein they evinced their
knowledge of the times in which they lived and acted.
These worthies knew, that their descendants,
starting
from the point which they had gained, could, in due time,
without such risk, make other and still more important
advances toward mental liberty -- toward that which will,
when fully attained, enable man to remove the cause of all
crime and the misery which arises from the commission of
crimes. To attain this mental liberty, in its full extent and
highest purity, and to be secure in its permanent possession, will be the greatest victory that man can gain.
My friends, it surely cannot be your wish that any good
and great cause should be effected only by halves, - and
more especially when that which remains to be done, is,
beyond all calculation, the more important? There is a noble
object before us, to be won by some party or another in this
or in some other country. It is no less than the destruction of
the threefold causes which deprive man of mental liberty,
which compel him to commit crimes, and to suffer all the
miseries which crime can inflict. Could we but gain this
object - soon would rational intelligence, real virtue, and
substantial happiness, be permanently established among
men: ignorance, poverty, dependence,
and vice would be
for ever banished from the earth.
Let me now ask, Are you prepared to imitate the example of your ancestors? Are you willing to run the risks which they encountered? Are you ready, like them, to meet the prejudices of
past times, and determined
to overcome them at ALL
hazards, for the benefit of your country and for the
emancipation of the human race? Are you, indeed, willing to
sacrifice your fortunes, lives, and reputations,
if such
sacrifices should be necessary, to secure for all your fellowbeings, the GREATEST GOOD that, according to our
present knowledge, it is possible for them ever to receive?
Are you prepared to achieve a MENTAL REVOLUTION, as superior in benefit and importance to the first
revolution as the mental powers of man exceed his physical
powers?
If you are, I am most ready and willing to join you in this
deed - the last and most daring that has been left for man in
his irrational state to perform.
But, my friends, knowing, as I do, the immeasurable
magnitude of the GOOD which this Mental Revolution will
effect and permanently secure for human nature through all
future ages - I deem the continued existence, a little longer
here, of a few individuals to be of no consideration whatever
in comparison
with its attainment;
and, therefore, as I
From The American Atheist Press Bookshelf

All the Questions You Ever Wanted
to Ask American Atheists With All 0/ the Answers
by Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair and Jon G. Murray
From 1959,the Murray-O'Hairfamily has been "facing the nation" in
television and radio interviews and
talk/back shows, in debates, panel
discussions, lectures, forums, informal gatherings, parties, banquets, conventions, brunches, lunches, at podiWT17IAU mE
ums, microphones, loudspeakers.
ANSWERS
They have done this before private
groups, fraternal and business organi.,
..
'-"""-.,0_
zations, universities, women's clubs,
in churches. They have spent hours
with the hard media. They have been
accosted in stores, restaurants, busi$6.95
ness places, swimming pools, public
toilets. Even in airplanes, buses,
trains subways they have been stopped for questioning.
Deluged with questions by mail, in newspapers, in magazines, in
person, in a continuing way they have come to be the prof~ssional
voices of American Atheism in our time, in both our nation and
throughout the world. This has been a battering, for - by and large the questions have been more attacks than queries. Together, they
have assembled their usual answers, just as they usually give them on
the air in the public, or whereever delivered. As you study this book,
and study it you must, you willbecome aware for the first time what
American Atheism is.
~-
NOBODY HAS A PRAYER

by Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair
WHAT ON EARTH IS AN ATHEIST!

by Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Ifany Atheist speaks up for what he
or she thinks, ALL HELL BREAKS
LOOSE. He or she is accused of
everything with which a human being
can be charged. De minimus he is a
"communist, a child beater, a criminal
of the lowest sort, who knows nothing
of love, and who is lacking completely
any understanding of beauty, and is
incapable of 'feeling' or emotional
response."
This attack has been tolerated by
the Atheist community. Hardly anyone stands up to say, "How now,
$5.95
Brown Cow - you can't say that
about us." As a consequence, go to
your library tomorrow and see if you can find any b.ook~ i.nit about
Atheism, written by Atheists. Even colleges and universities do not
stock such items.
Dr. O'Hair felt, after the Supreme Court case which removed the
bible and prayer from the public schools of America that it was
necessary to let the people of America know what Atheists are, and
so after a legal struggle with the FCC, a radio program was begun to
ex~lain just that. This book is a compilation of the. verb~tim
transcripts of the original 52 shows aired over those radio stations
that would sell time to American Atheists.
THE LOGIC & VIRTUE OF A THEISM

by Joseph McCabe
Joseph
McCabe
IIO.oDY HAS
A AY
The issue of prayer in government

and in schools has absolutely not died
down in the last 23 years since the
Murray-O'Hair family began its drive
to stop this governmentally supported religious nonsense. The millions
of dollars and years of time and human energy which have been consumed in an attempt to circumvent
the 1963 US Supreme Court decision,
which removed bible reading and
prayer recitation from the public
schools, are mind-boggling. Nothing
$3_00
will stay the christian zanies. Their
real-life zeal to include every person in
our nation into their religious
schemes is more frightening than any Amityville horror stories on the
tube.
No matter where you go, no matter with whom you talk, you will
need to be informed on this single issue - unfortunately - for
perhaps another ten years. Here, at your fingertips, is a complete
compilation of all the facts you need to know: the leading legal cases
involved, including that first one - Murray u. Curlett, and the last one
just decided in Tennessee; a complete review of the legal history of
the prayer fight; and articles on the theory and meaning of prayer
from the American Atheist Radio Series.
You willbe happy to have the book in your hands. Without it, you
can't counter "their" arguments. So, bolster yourself rightly this time
with a copy of Nobody Has a Prayer.
Joseph McCabe grew up thoroughly indoctrinated to believe that no

finer lifecould be his than to become a
catholic priest. When a teenager, he
entered the roman church's franciscan order of monks. Though faithful,
he was not so religious that he could
be blind to the sordid, hypocritical,
mentally unhealthy interior life of the
priesthood. In a long crisis of faith,
McCabe sought to defeat his doubts
by intensive study of the roman catholic theologians. The end result, after
$3_29
12 years as a priest, was his realization that the theological "proofs" of
christianity were nonsense.
The solid foundation of McCabe's life philosophy was his absolute
certainty that Atheism is the only hope to right all that is wrong with
civilization. The atheistic approach to problems, that is, the application of scientifically guided reason not distorted with artificial
concerns such as the mythical need of the human species for religion,
is by McCabe seen as the only means to really reconstruct society to
meet the challenge of a civilization possessing a level of science and
technology unsurpassed by any previous civilization on this planet.
McCabe revalues all ethics by the sole realistic standard or test: Does
an ethical "law" have value in human service? For McCabe, the virtue
of Atheism is that it prepares the reason to be scientifically guided and
the logic of Atheism teaches the reason to be rational.
..
~~------------..--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~-----~
CHAPMAN COHEN SPECIAL!

ESSA YS IN FREETHINKING
Vol. I
Vol. II
Vol. III
Vol. IV
(Psychology and Saffron Tea,

Christianity and the Survival of
the Fittest, A Bible Barbarity,
Shakespeare and the Jew, A
Case of Libel, Monism and Religion, Spiritual Vision, Our Early Ancestor, Professor Huxley
and the Bible, Huxley's Nemesis, Praying for Rain, A Famous
Witch Trial, Christmas Trees
and Tree Gods, God's Children, The Appeal to God, An
Old Story, Religion and Labour, Disease and Religion,Seeing the Past, Is Religion of Use?,
On Compromise, Hymns for
Infants, Religion and the
Young)
112 pp
(Religion and Opinion, A Martyr of Science, As Good as

Christians, A Fearful Example,
The Happy Atheist, The Gospel of Pain, Christian Pessimism, Persecution and Truth
- The Gospel of Suffering,
Religion and Sex, Vulgar Freethinkers, God's Will, Vice and
Virtue, Religion and Today,
Why We Laugh, Public Opinion, The Benefits of Humour,
The Clergy and Parliament, On
Finding God, The Condescending Christian, God's Advisory
Committee, An Old Maxim,
Truth Will Out, War and War
Memorials)
110 pp
(Atheism
- English and
French, Religion and the Fear
of Death, God and Man, Religion and State, Design in Nature, God and his Biographers,
God and Morals, Fasting and
Death, The Disconsolate Atheist, Witch Doctors in London,
Our Father - the Savage, The
Ethics of the Pulpit, Man and
Morals, Civilization and the
Cross, The Blessed 'Sawbath,'
Dying Like Christians, Do Miracles Happen?, The Brain and
the 'Soul')
102 pp
(Edmund Burke on Atheism,

George Bernard Shaw and the
N.S.S., Christianity and Intolerance, The Ways of God, An
Apology for Parsons, A Christian Myth, Mythology and History, What is Blasphemy?, Blatant Atheism, The Ghost of
Religion, Christianity and Myself, Whoso Would Be a Reformer!, The Function of Atheism,
Should Opinion Be Free?, The
Great and the Small, God Save
Sunday, Life and Death, The
Real Chesterton, The Holy Bible, Again the Bible, Christ and
Christmas,
The Christian
Myth)
121 pp
Special! Four Volume Set Of Essays

445 pp
$12.00
cannot know the present state of your minds, and as the

continuance of life at my age is very uncertain, I have calmly
and deliberately determined, upon this eventful and auspicious occasion, to break asunder the remaining mental
bonds which for so many ages have grievously afflicted our
nature, and, by so doing, to give forever FULL FREEDOM
TO THE HUMAN MIND.
Upon an experience, then, of nearly forty years, which,
owing to a very peculiar combination of circumstances,
has
been more varied, extended arid singular than perhaps has
ever fallen to the lot of anyone man, and, during which
period my mind was continually occupied in tracing the
cause of each human misery that came before me to its true
origin; - I now DECLARE, to you and to the world, that
Man, up to this hour, has been, in all parts of the earth, a
slaue to a TRINITY of the most monstrous euils that could
be combined to inflict mental and physical euil upon his
whole roce.
I refer to PRIVATE, OR INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY ABSURD AND IRRATIONAL SYSTEMS OF RELIGION
- and MARRIAGE, FOUNDED ON INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY COMBINED WITH SOME ONE OF THESE IRRATIONAL SYSTEMS OF RELIGION.
It is difficult to say which of these granp sources of all
crime ought to be placed first or last; for they are so
intimately interlinked and woven together by time that they
cannot be separated without being destroyed: - each one
is necessary to the support of the other two. This formidable trinity, compounded
of Ignorance, Superstition
and Hypocrisy, is the only "demon," or "devil," that ever
has, or, most likely, ever will torment the human race. It is
well calculated, in all its consequences,
to produce the
utmost misery on the mind and body of man of which his
nature is susceptible.
The division of property among
individuals prepared the seeds, cultivated the growth, and
brought to maturity all of the evils of poverty and riches
existing among a people at the same time; the industrious
experiencing
privations and the idle being overwhelmed
and injured by wealth.
"Religion, or Superstition,
- for all
religions have proved themselves to be
Superstitions, - by destroying the judgment, irrationalized all the mental faculties of man, and made him the most abject
slave, through the fear of nonentities
created solely by his own disordered
imagination. "
Religion, or Superstition, - for all religions have proved
themselves
to be Superstitions,
- by destroying
the
judgment, irrationalized all the mental faculties of man and
made him the most abject slave through the fear of
nonentities created solely by his own disordered imagination. Superstition
forced him to believe, or to say he
believed, that a being existed who possessed all power,
wisdom and goodness - that he could do and that he did
everything - and yet that evil and misery super abound;
and that this being, who makes and does all things, is not the
direct or indirect author of evil or misery. Such is the
Austin, Texas
foundation
on which all the mysteries and ravings of
superstition
are erected in all parts of the world. Its
inconsistency and inconceivable folly have been such as to
keep the world in continual wars and massacres, to create
private divisions leading to every imaginable evil; and it is
probable that Superstition has caused more than its third of
the crimes of the suffering of the human race.
The forms and ceremonies of Marriage, as they have
been hitherto generally performed,
and afterwards supported, make it almost certain that they were contrived and
forced upon the people at the same period that property
was first divided among a few leading individuals and
Superstition was invented: this being the only device that
could be introduced to permit them to retain their division
of the public spoils, and create to themselves an aristocracy
of wealth, of power, and of learning.
To enable them to keep their children apart from the
multitude who were to be kept in poverty, in ignorance, and
consequently
without power, - and to monopolize all
wealth and power and learning to themselves, - some such
contrivance as Marriage, with mysterious forms and ceremonies to hide their real intentions from the ignorant, was
absolutely necessary that they might, through the influence
of their wealth, learning and power, select the most
beautiful and desirable women from among all the people,
- and thus enslave and make them, in fact, a part of their
private property.
This was the commencement
of that system which led to
such endless crimes and miseries and degradation of the
human faculties by tempting the inexperienced
to barter
their feelings and affections for wealth, trappings, and
power, when too late for their happiness they discover they
have been deceived and that wealth, learning and power
can make no amends for the want of those natural feelings
and affections in the union of which all feel the present
happiness of life to consist.
Among the truly intelligent, Marriage will be respected
only when it shall be formed between those who are equal in
wealth, education and condition, who are well acquainted
with each other's habits, minds and feelings, before they
enter upon the engagement;
and who know also that by
their nature the continuance of affection does not depend
upon the will of either, but that it will diminish or increase
according as they produce pleasurable
or disagreeable
sensations in each other. Marriage, to make it a virtuous
and happy connexion, must be contracted by both parties
solely with a view to their happiness. As, then, it is a law of
nature that our affections are not at the control of the will;
and as happiness can be enjoyed only when we associate
with those for whom we cannot avoid having the most
esteem, regard and affection; it should be as reputable, and
equally authorized by law, to dissolve marriage when the
esteem and affection cannot be retained for each other, and
when the union promises to produce more misery than
happiness, as to form the marriage in the first instance.
When however the parties are on a perfect equality in
wealth, condition and education, and intimately acquainted
with each other's thoughts and feelings before marriage;
and when no motive whatever exists but genuine affection
to induce the parties to unite; it is most likely that marriages
so formed would be more permanent than they have ever
yet been. But the present and past character
of man,
formed by the inconsistent and incongrous circumstances
July, 1983
Page 19
..
around him, have made him so artificial in his feelings, views
and conduct that a decisive conclusion cannot be drawn
upon this most interesting part of the subject. Be this,
however, as it may, we may be sure that as soon as man
shall be trained rationally and surrounded by those circumstances only which are in unison with his nature, he willact
only rationally; that is, in such a manner as to secure the
highest and purest happiness to himself and to his fellowcreatures.
Arrival and preparation for the feast.
course of events that the Declaration of Political Independence, in 1776, has produced its counterpart, the
DECLARATION OF MENTAL INDEPENDENCE in 1826
- the latter just half a century from the former.
Rejoice with me, my friends, that your Mental Independence rests now as secure as your Political Independence;
for the overwhelming power of TRUTH OVER ERROR is
such that, as soon as arrangements can be formed to admit
of the full development of Truth to the world, and it is once
publicly promulgated, no art, or falsehood, or force, can
ever afterwards return it back into forgetfulness or unteach
the truths which it has taught.
Under the circumstances in which this Mental Revolution
has been made, no human power can undo or render
nugatory that which has now been done.
This Truth has passed from me, beyond the possibility of
recall: it has been already received into your minds: speedily
it willbe heard throughout America, and from thence it will
pass North and South, East and West, as far as language is
known, - and almost as fast as it shall be conveyed, human
nature will recognize and receive it. In countries in which
ignorance and despotism hold their sway over the multitude, arts will be used to keep it from being heard among
them: but neither armies, nor barriers of any kind, can now
prevent a great and important truth from finding its way, by
some means or another, into the darkest recesses of error
and deception.
Rejoice, then, with me, my friends, that this light is now
set upon a hill;for it willincrease daily, more and more, until
it shall be seen, felt, and understood, by all the nations of the
earth.
The revolution, then, to be now effected, is the DESTRUCTION of this HYDRA OF EVILS - in order that
the many may be no longer poor, wretched beings, dependent on the wealthy and powerful few; that Man may
be no longer a superstitious idiot, continually dying from the
futile fear of death; that he may no longer unite himself to
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the other sex from any mercenary or superstitious motives,
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nor promise and pretend to do that which it depends not on
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himself to perform.
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Upon the experience of a lifedevoted to the investigation
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of these momentous subjects,I fearlessly now declare to
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you, from a conviction, as strong as conviction can exist in
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the human mind, that this compound of ignorance and
"-(l1,1r.,Tf1.
1
fraud, IS THE REAL AND ONLY CAUSE OF ALL THE
CRIME, AND MISERY ARISING FROM CRIME, WHICH
:~ \;. ..-~-:~~ '
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CAN BE FOUND IN HUMAN SOCIETY_
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This threefold horrid monster has been most speciously
-t;'~J.r'~:'
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gilded and decorated with external trappings to awe the
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f./:r,-of'",r-"
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ignorant multitude and deter them from examining the
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black venom and corruption within. It was in sundry times
and places made death for any mortal, except the initiated,
Departure after the feast. The large building in the
to approach these hidden mysteries; and nothing short of
background is the Harmonist grist mill located on
the east bank of Cut-off River.
the Inquisition with the aid of that fearful unmeaning term
SACRED could have, for so long a period, kept man, - .
Rejoice with me that we now live under a government
irrational as these terrors made him, - from discovering
unconnected with any of the superstitions of the dark ages
the imposition which was practiced upon him for the sole
of ignorance; a government established purposely to give
purpose of keeping him in mental slavery and bondage.
man his natural rights; to give him the full power to obtain
For nearly forty years have I been employed, heart and
mental liberty as soon as he could disburthen himself of the
soul, day by day, almost without ceasing, in preparing the
means and arranging the circumstances, to enable me to prejudices of his ancestors.
The individuals who compose a great majority of your
give the death-blow to the tyranny and despotism which, for
unnumbered ages past, have held the human mind spell- present general government are happily free from the
weakening and deadening influence of Superstition; their
bound, in chains and fetters, of such mysterious forms and
experience is too extensive, their minds are too enlightened
shapes, that no mortal hand dared approach to set the
to be longer held in slavery and bondage by imaginary
suffering prisoner free. Nor has the fulness of time, for the
accomplishment of this great event, been completed until notions unsupported by a single fact. They will therefore
rejoice to see their fellow-citizens and their fellow men
within this hour, - and such has been the extraordinary
If!;:
7.
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Page 20
July, 1983
- .. -"'.
'
throwing off the yoke which has hitherto kept their finest
faculties in bondage, and they will look forward with
increased hope to the advantages which the rising generation, freed from these errors, willacquire and possess.
All who are deeply versant in human nature can readily
estimate the difference between a generation whose judgment shall have been carefully cultivated from infancy and
whose best faculties shall have been early called into full
action and one in which the judgment has been forced to
become subservient to a misguided imagination and in
whose mind all natural facts have been distorted and made
to bend and support mysteries only calculated to blind the
understanding and call forth the weaker and worse feelings
of human nature. Your government, and all the enlightened
men of these States and of other countries, now look to the
improved education of the faculties of children to produce a
race of rational beings whose minds will be freed from the
superstitions, prejudices, and errors of past times; and I
trust that in this respect no parties will be disappointed.
In furtherance of this great object we are preparing the
means to bring up your children with industrious and useful
habits, with natural and, of course, rational ideas and views,
with sincerity in all their proceedings; and to give them kind
and affectionate feelings for each other, and charity, in the
most extensive sense of the term, for all their fellowcreatures,

By doing this, by uniting your separate interests into one,
by doing away with individual money transactions, by
exchanging with each other your articles of produce on the
basis of labor for equal labor, by looking forward to apply
your surplus wealth to assist others to obtain similar
advantages, and by the abandonment of the use of spirituous liquors, you will in a peculiar manner promote the
object of every wise government and of all really enlightened
men.
And here we now are, as near, perhaps, as we can be in
the center of the United States, even, as it were, like the
little grain of mustard seed; but with these great truths
before us, with the practice of the social system, as soon as
it shall be well understood among us, our principles will, I
trust, spread from Community to Community, from State
to State, and from Continent to Continent, until this system
and these truths shall overshadow the whole earth, shedding fragrance and abundance, intelligence and happiness, upon all the sons of men,
I would that you, and those who now live in this and other
countries, could partake, for many years, of all these
enjoyments.
"I hope to see the day when ... we won't have any public schools. The
churches will have taken them over again and christians will be running
them. What"a happy day that will be."
_ Jerry Falwell
ATHEISTS' JULY THE FOURTH
e_
That ill-fedband of rag-tag-patriotic men

Exists no more to shelter us from royal swords,
Their hearts, once stirred by brave poetic pen
Now silent in the face of new tyrannic hordes.
Are we here
Forgetting
Shall we our
And make
doomed again to kneel before the cross and crown

now the valor seen along our way?
cherished freedoms then lay down
a cruel mockery of this treasured day?
Or could WE nobly stand as once they stood

And press again for human justice to be done?
The hearts of all must surely seek that final good
That would unveil within the hour when freedom's won.
G. Tholen
Austin, Texas
July, 1983
Page 21
JERRY FALWELL ON THE NUCLEAR
FREEZE
(Editor's Note: The Washington Spectator reported on May 15th, '83 that Ronald Reagan has given orders to the
National Security Council to give special secret briefings to this religionist.)
My dear friend,
Never in my life have I been so
deeply concerned with the future of
this great nation.
America is in serious trouble.
And now I must decide whether I
should be silent - and let the freezeniks destroy this country - or speak
out - and risk the wrath of the liberal
press ... and perhaps even jeopardize
the future of the old-time gospel houri
I have struggled long and hard with
this decision - and I believe with all
my heart that there is only one course
of action for me to take.
I must speak out loud and clear
against the nuclear freeze.
I am going to launch a major campaign to save our country and the
freedoms we hold so dear.
As christiens, you and I can look
forward to the day when jesus christ,
the prince of peace, will sit down upon
the throne of david in Jerusalem. Then
all the world will know perfect peace.
But today, we have a scriptural responsibility to pray for peace. We are
told to work for peace.
In ii timothy 2: 1 -5 we are told to pray
for the world's leaders, that god will
bring peace on this earth.
The purpose of that peace is that
we might preach the gospel.
But I believe the nuclear freezeniks
are attempting
to put the United
States in a position where there will
be no peace.
If the United States gives in to the
freezeniks' demands, we will soon
find ourselves surrendering to the Soviets.
And I for one do not want peace at
that price I
I do not want peace at the price of
enslaving my children - and your
children.
Remember - in the last several
years the Soviets have been involved
in a military build-up unlike anything
the world has ever known.
According to the president and members of the National Security Council,
the Soviets have a clear advantage
over the United States in both nuclear
and conventional weaponry.
And I agree with the president Reagan that if we can rebuild our military
position to one of equality with the
Soviet Union there is a much better
Page22
chance of negotiating a verifiable

freeze - and eventual arms reduction
treaties.
So, my friends, I believe America is
at a serious crossroad today.
And I honestly do not believe America will survive if the nuclear freezeniks are successful.
I cannot bear the thought of our
children and future generations growing up like slaves of marxist leninism.
I would rather die than see this
happen.
I absolutely refuse to say, "Better
Red than Dead!" I would rather be
"Dltad than Red."
My friend, I know what must be
done - and I am willing to do it.
And I am writing to you now to ask
for your prayers and your financial
support.
I need your prayers as never before.
Pray that god will give me the physical
and mental strength I am going to
need.
Will you help me fight this battle?
Will you help me spend the next 18
months of my life guaranteeing that
our children will grow up in a free
nation?
And if your answer is "Yes," I'm
asking you today to make a financial
contribution to help me launch one of
the biggest campaigns ever in the
history of the old-time gospel hour.
I am asking you to consider a gift of
.just $25 - or perhaps you can even
give a gift of $100 or more.
I don't think this is too much to ask
considering what is at stake.
I believe that god has led me to do
what I am about to do.
And I am well aware that the liberal
press, liberal politicians, bureaucrats,
and leftists will attack me viciously.
I am aware that liberal clergymen,
leaders in the National Council of
Churches, and others will pour out
wrath upon my head.
But your children and mine and our
freedoms are worth whatever personal price I must pay.
All I need to know is that I have your
prayers and financial support behind
me.
Again. I urge you to send a gift of
$25 or more - or whatever you can
send today.
Our nation's future is weighing in
July. 1983
the balance. We are about to commit

national suicide.
The nuclear freezeniks are building
up a tremendous head of steam.
But it is not too late to stop them - if
we act now.
My friend, if you will support me, I
am willing to commit myself to the
following:
1. To travel relentlessly for the next
18 months - and speak to as many
Americans and christians as possible,
to warn them about the dangers of
backing a nuclear freeze.
2. To speak to 100,000 pastors in
person - and explain to them what
the freezeniks are doing - and what
they can do to prevent us from losing
our religious freedoms.
3. To purchase full-page newspaper
ads to inform Americans that what
they are seeing on television is false
propaganda being spread by the freezeniks.
4. To go into prime-time television
with the true story about a nuclear
freeze and what effect it will have
upon our nation and our freedoms.
With all my heart, I believe god
wants me to do this. My family has
agreed to allow me to spend my time
and energies in this direction.
But, I must still be at Thomas Road
baptist church every Sunday. I am a
preacher, and I will always be one.
The old-time gospel hour television
and radio programs must also remain
on the air no matter what the cost.
And so too, liberty baptist schools
must continue to grow and train young
champions for christ.
What I am discussing with you will
be an extra effort on my part - and
that's why I need your prayers and
support.
Much is now at stake, my friend.
With all my heart I ask you to help
me lead America out of this dangerous
hour.
I ask for your prayers and your
financial support - today.
$*~--$
Happy Hiroshima Day

everybody
Jeff Frankel
CHRISTIAN PROPAGANDA
In my last column I discussed propaganda and its
anatomy. I also showed how it is used by religionists to
deceive and induce people to react emotionally instead of
intellectually. This time I'm going to take a look at one of the
most offensive publishers of christian propaganda in the
world today. Chick publications, an internationally known
company, specializes in pocket size comic books. These
books, distributed to impressionable young people by
churches throughout the world, contain some of the most
pernicious propaganda ever perpetrated upon an innocent
mind.
I was thirteen years old when I first read This Was Your
Life, an experience I shall not forget. The book begins by
showing a man with many material possessions approached
by the grim reaper and "seized" by death. After his funeral,
his spirit is summoned from his grave by an angel. Much to
the man's shock, he is "brought before god," and his life is
played back like a movie. Scenes are shown where the man
told dirty jokes, lusted after a beautiful blonde, and contemptuously walked out of church, "spurning christ" in the
process. The poor man sees the follyof his ways, but it is too
late; god sentences him to everlasting punishment in hell.
Even though I was "saved" (spelled S-U-C-K-E-R-E-D) at
that point in my life, I was still frightened by what I had read.
Joe tries to convert corporal Henderson, the only person

in the troop who treats Joe in a humane manner, by telling
him of the horrors of judgment day when his entire life
would be reviewed. After thinking it over, Henderson
rejects "christ." The sergeant overhears their conversation
and is enraged. He roughs up "holy" Joe and threatens to
kill him if he doesn't knock off the preaching. When a
volunteer is needed for a very dangerous mission, the
sergeant sees it as a golden opportunity to get rid of "holy"
Joe. He sends him out on the mission.
The following day, Henderson and the sergeant find Joe's
body. Upon seeing the peaceful expression on Joe's face,
the sergeant "wonders" if what Joe had said was real. He
drops to his knees and "repents." Suddenly, he and
Henderson are hit by an enemy ambush. A very graphic
panel of the comic shows the two men lying onthe ground
after their bodies had been riddled by machine gun fire.
As in This Was Your Life, an angel comes. But instead of
waiting for a funeral, the "spirits" of Henderson and the
sergeant are ushered forth immediately after death. (I guess
god has no set policy on this. Perhaps he just leaves it up to
the angel on duty!) Henderson is "brought before god," and
his life is reviewed. His rejection of christ earned him an
eternity in hell. Meanwhile the sergeant, an insensitive bully
"Sadly, many minds, once indoctrinated with propaganda of this nature, are never
free again."
My mind did not then function at a high enough level to
question the unfairness and sadistic brutality of such
punishment, or of the doctrine which pushed such a sick
idea at me. I am fortunate because my mind eventually
developed to a point where I was able to see through such
nonsense. Sadly, many minds, once indoctrinated with
propaganda of this nature, are never free again.
The ideas presented in the book, Holy Joe, are just as
perverse as those in This Was Your Life and far more
dangerous. The story begins with soldiet "holy" Joe, a
handsome, innocent-looking individual, kneeling in prayer
by his bunk. He is spotted, held up for ridicule by his
sergeant, and bombarded with shoes by his fellow soldiers.
Ever the meek submissive christian, Joe shines the shoes
and returns them. This upsets the sergeant, who puts
"holy" Joe on K.P. for a week. This does nothing to break
Joe's spirit or prevent him from preaching to everybody in
sight. So the sergeant sends him to see "the head shrinker,"
a balding, bespectacled, chain-smoker with a penchant
toward nervous frustration. After analyzing "holy" Joe, "the
head shrinker" tells the sergeant that Joe is harmless, that
he is simply deriving satisfaction from a religious neurosis
(all the while "wondering" if what he said about jesus could
be true).
Austin, Texas
who thought nothing of sending a soldier out to die simply

because he didn't like him, was admitted to heaven on the
strength of his last minute repentance.
The ideas that this pocket size piece of propaganda puts
into the minds of its unassuming readers are dangerous to
both the mind of the individual and society as a whole. The
hero of this piece, "holy" Joe, is a mild-mannered masochist, who shines shoes that were thrown at him and smiles
as the sergeant sends him off to certain doom. A role model
of this nature is just the type preachers want for their flock
to emulate. Someone who asks no questions and who
smiles when dung is dumped upon him is considered to be a
godsend by a manipulative minister.
The unsavory characterization of "the head shrinker" is
part of a disturbing trend I've seen in christian propaganda.
In it, anything connected with the fields of psychology and
psychiatric medicine is discredited; psychology's practitioners are portrayed as untrustworthy charlatans. Christianity has flourished on the "strength" of taking in people
with poor self images and boosting their egos with a heavy
dose of the placebo known as "christ." If someone can be
led to distrust psychology as a way of dealing with their
problems, it increases the probability of their turning
toward religion.
con t d on pg. 25
July, 1983
Page 23
Ralph B. Shirley
GOD FEARING
I
(Reprintedwith
permission by the author from God - The Greatest Hoax, to be repubiJshed by American Atheist Press this year)
/7
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, I I
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!
Whenever the word "god" is mentioned in the United

States, with the exception of a small percentage
of the
educated population (including many self-educated
persons), everyone assumes the speaker is talking about the
"god" mentioned in the "bible." And it is further assumed
that "bible" means the tale handed down from the land of
the jews or Israelites in stories written by different men and
eventually combined as one book consisting of the old
testament and also, for christians, the new testament.
When some prominent scientists say they believe in "god,"
they do not bother to make any negative statements about
what they do not believe in. The public, therefore, assumes
that they mean the god in the bible - that is, a personal god
that watches over us and to whom we can pray.' They
assume this although very few scientists have ever made
such a statement. This writing, therefore, is directed largely,
but not exclusively, to those persons who believe in a bible
god. "The simple believeth every word." (Prou. 14:15). Most
persons who have been fortunate enough to have had
someone question their belief ceased to believe in a bible
god at an early age, and the more logical ones ceased to
believe in any kind of god.
Page 24
July, 1983
Most people, however, have been sheltered from anyone

who might start them thinking about the validity of their
religion. They are always told to "believe" and "This is the
word of god." But no one has ever told them to "think"
about the religion and decide if they believe it to be true or
false. They not only are not given any arguments against the
validity of the bible but such books are even kept out of the
public libraries so a person could not even do research on
their own.
". . . as long as you have a "religion,"

regardless of what it is, you will have the
respect of persons who believe in "a
religion."
The federal government also joins in this gigantic hoax by
putting "In God We Trust" on all coins and bills, and by
custom, requiring the president of the United States and the
justices of the Supreme Court to take oaths on the bible and
swear"So help me god." The federal government through
the Federal Communications Commission sanctions the

perpetration of the hoax by continuing to issue licenses to
radio and television stations that tell people to "Go to the
church of your choice and worhsip god." They then follow
this with a statement that the time for the message was
furnished as a "public service." In other words, convincing
people to believe in a superstition is a public service. Also,
the president of the United States and senators and
representatives of the United States frequently refer to god
in their speeches. Of course, very few are superstitious
enough to actually believe in a religion but they feel that if
they want the vote of the masses they must give lip service
to religion.
catholics also consider it very regrettable that the protestants and jews cannot be saved. After all, they won't even be
receiving the last rites.
All of them believe that other people of the world who do
not believe in the bible are lost souls. On the other hand,
most people think that anyone who professes to believe in
"god," regardless of what country in which they reside, .
necessarily means that he or she believes in our "god" as
defined in our "bible."
Most public officials do not believe in this personal god or
bible, but they must go to church or the synagogue and act
like believers if they hope to have any chance at all of being
elected. They must put their hand on the bible to be sworn
"Most people, however, have been sheltered from anyone who might start them
thinking about the validity of their religion."
The bible was written by different men in separate tales,
many of which are unrelated, and there are many inconsistent and contradictory statements in it. Theologians, therefore, try to "explain" everything that is inconsistent and
contradictory and we consequently have jews who do not
believe in the new testament, and catholics and many
denominations of protestants each having their own explanation of the inconsistent and contradictory statements
in the bible. For the most part, I will try to stay away from
discussion of such statements, because even ifthe bible had
been written by only one man who did not contradict
himself, it would still be a false superstitious tale and we
should be able to see through it.
As a further introduction, we should consider some of the
beliefs of that majority who believe in a bible god. They
believe that "their" god and bible are the only true ones. The
protestants believe that the jews are entitled to their beliefs
but regrettably will not go to heaven. The jews believe the
same thing about the protestants who certainly are not
god's "chosen" people. And both of them have very serious
doubts that the catholics willever see the pearly gates. The
CHRISTIAN PROPAGANDA
--------------------------------------------------from pg. 23
There is much christian propaganda floating around
.....
The sergeant being welcomed into heaven sets a dangerous precedent. Minister-turned-Atheist Paul Blanshard,
in a critique of the infamous John 3:16, said "When I can be
saved by believing right, there is no earthly use in doing
right." When someone accepts what is depicted in a booklet
like Holy Joe as fact, they can easily come to the same
conclusion as Blanshard - with far different results. A
self-centered individual could see this as his ticket to do
whatever he wants, as long as he "repents" before he dies.
The idea that a man like the sergeant can attain heaven by
saying the right thing at the right time can open the door for
a deluge of antisocial behavior.
The subject of creationism vs. evolution has also been
treated in comic book form. Primal man? is a classic piece of
propaganda, clearly defining who the "good" guys are. The
director of a documentary film on evolution is drawn to
appear apelike, and the only motivation of the filmproducer
is made out to be money. As in Holy Joe, the handsome
"good" guy stands alone against several ugly "bad" guys.
The very Aryan creationist anthropologist is portrayed as
an unselfish individual who exposes the" evil" motives of the
film team.
Austin, Texas
into office because it has been the practice to do so and no

one has the nerve to request that he be sworn in without the
bible, except for some minor non-elected officials. Contradictory to this, but holding true to their uneducated and
illogical beliefs, some christians will vote for jews because
the jews believe in "god" and they (the christians) "are not
prejudiced against a person because of his religion."
Logically, if they really believed in jesus christ, they would
dislike a jew as much as they dislike an Atheist or agnostic.
They will not hesitate to vote against an Atheist because of
his non belief in religion. In other words, as long as you have
"a religion," regardless of what it is, you willhave the respect
of persons who believe in "a religion." Such people would
not try to be prejudiced against an Indian who believed in a
rain god or sun god but would be prejudiced against an
Atheist. This attitude is obviously ridiculous. Freedom of
religion must include the freedom not to believe as well as
the freedom to believe. And any prejudice against an
Atheist is prejudice against him because of his "religious
beliefs."
~
which is as bad or worse in content than that published by

Chick. To me, the Chick booklets are the most offensive
because, being in comic book form, they are most likely to
be read by children. Propaganda which sets out to twist
anyone's mind is cruel and unjust. Propaganda aimed at the
"It is my opinion that the distribution of

such twisted literature to children is ...
child abuse. It is a practice which should
be denounced by civilized people everywhere."
immature minds of children is sick and downright" evil." It is
a systematic trick typical of christianity to poison the minds
of the young and innocent. In a previous issue of the
American Atheist, the teaching of hell was branded as child
abuse. It is my opinion that the distribution of such twisted
literature to children is also child abuse. It is a practice
which should be denounced by civilized people everywhere.
July, 1983
~
Page 25
Or. Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Program 45 We hear constantly that the United States is a christian

nation and that it was founded on the principle of christianity. Of course, historically this is just not true. The "founders" of our nation were so fed up with christianity that they
repudiated it over and over again. Why were they fed up?
Let me read you a little about the tolerant christians who
founded our first states while we were still tied to England as
our mother nation, and see if you don't' immediately
per c e iv e why 0 u r "f 0 u rrd in g fat her s" wan t ed no part of this intolerance and hypocrisy. Let us look at
the laws of the lord and the laws of the land, state by state, in
those colonial times.
We can begin with that great mother state, Virginia, and
cite for you the "Lawes Divine, Moral and Martial," decreed
by Governor Thomas Dale in that state in 1612. Here we go!
First: To speak impiously of the trinity or one of the divine
persons, or against the known articles of the christian faith
was punishable by death.
I willpause in order for that to sink in, This means that a
unitarian, as we know them now, or ajew, or a buddhist, or
a moslem, could be punished with death for professing
those faiths in Virginia. But let me go on and finish this series
of laws,
Two: To avenge blaspheming god's holy name, the
punishment was death.
Three: To curse or "banne"; for the first offense some
severe punishment in relation to local customs; for the
second, a "bodkin" (this is a knife) "should be thrust
through the tongue"; ifthe culprit offended the third time by
swearing, this was punishable by death.
Four: To say or do anything "to the derision or despight
of god's holy word," or to say or do anything in disrespect to
any minister, the guilty party was "openly whipt three times,
and to ask public forgiveness in the assembly of the
congregation, three several Sabath daies [sic],"
.
Five: Non-attendance at church or religious services
entailed a penalty for the first offense, the stoppage of
allowance; for the second offense, a whipping; for the third,
the galleys (i.e. jail) for six months.
Six: If anyone broke the sabbath, and we have remnants
of this in our present "blue laws," the first offense brought
the stoppage of allowance; the second, whipping; and the
third - death!
These boys did not play!
Seven: Every person in the colony, or every person who
came into it, was required to repair to the minister of the
church for examination in the faith, Ifhis religious education
was unsound, he was to be instructed. Ifhe refused to go to
Page 26
July, 1983
April 7, 1969
the minister for this examination, he was to be "whipt." If he
refused a second time, he "should be whipt twice and
compelled to acknowledge his fault on Sabath day in the
assembly of the congregation," and if he refused a third
time, for that third refusal he was to be "whipt every day
until he makes his acknowledgement."
Fines were imposed for non-attendance at church.
Payment of tithes (this is ten per cent of one's income and is
equivalent to the surtax we now have on our incomes) was
made compulsory for all, and a first lien was put on every
resident's tobacco to make certain that he paid his tithe. All
parish churches were built by local taxation. Puritan clergy
were banished from the state or forced to attend anglican
services. Quakers were fined, imprisoned or banished.
Catholics were disqualified from public office and any priest
who dared to come to Virginia was subject to instant
expulsion from the state. Anyone who did not present an
infant child for baptism was penalized by a fine or other
penalty.
How does all that grab you? We are only beginning. Now,
let's look at the great state of New York. In this state all
residents were compelled, under penalty of arrest and
imprisonment, to contribute to the support of the church
and the minister! All laws required the baptism of all
children and they could be baptised only by a "reformed"
minister in a "reformed" church!
In 1653 the lutherans petitioned the state for liberty of
worship and permission to import a lutheran minister, and
the petition was rebuffed. Some lutherans were so illadvised as to persist in holding services in their homes and
were thrown into prisons for this, Baptists who were
secretly holding religious services in their homes were
arrested, fined, whipped and banished when they were
caught. Quakers were especially disliked and were designated as "instruments of satan," subject to immediate
expulsion from the colony. As a matter of fact, any ship that
brought anyone of them into the harbor could be confiscated, and the penalty for harboring a quaker for one single
night was fifty pounds. One quaker was sentenced to two
years hard labor for the crime of preaching.
Allthis was changed in 1664 when the duke of York came
into power, for he presented "Instructions" to the colony
and these contained such rare orders as providing for the
erection of a church building in every parish, with the cost
for it, as well as the support of the minister of the parish,
raised by a public tax. Finally, in 1683, this state really got
"religious liberty" for at that time the "Charter of Liberties"
was adopted by the assembly of the colony and this decreed
that: "No person professing faith in god by jesus christ is to

be molested or called in question for any difference of
opinion in matters of religion (and that the churches already
in New York do appear to be privileged churches}."
In Maryland came probably the most famous of all the
so-called "Acts" which gave "religious freedom." This is the
"Act of Toleration" passed in 1649 and hailed everywhere as
a right to freedom of religion. So, like nasty culprits, as
Atheists are designated, let us take a peek tonight at this
famous charter of religious "liberty." The statute itself was
entitled "An Act concerning Religion," and it had four
principal provisions. The first' three were really denials
rather than grants of religious liberty, for the first section
imposed the penalty of death and forfeiture of estate on any
person who "shall henceforth blaspheme God, that is curse
Him, or deny our Saviour Jesus Christ to be the Son of
God, or shall deny the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and
Holy Ghost, or the Godhead of any of the said three
persons of the Trinity or the unity of the Godhead, or shall
use or utter any reproachful speeches, words or language
concerning the Holy Trinity, or any of the three persons
therein." Utterance of "reproachful words and speeches"
concerning
the virgin mary or the "holy apostles or
evangelists" was punishable only, merely, by fine, whipping,
imprisonment and banishment.
'
The second section imposed fines, whipping and imprisonment on any person who called another person "an
heretic, schismatic, idolator, Puritan, Independent, Presbyterian, papish priest, Jesuit, Jesuited papist, Lutheran,
Calvinist, Anabaptist,
Brownist, Antinomian, Barrowist,
Roundhead, Separatist, or any other name or term in a
reproachful manner relating to matter of religion."
The third section imposed fines or imprisonment
for
profaning the lord's day. The fourth section, which is the
famous one said to be the first real law for freedom of
religion, reads like this, and I am reading the law itself here.
"And whereas the enforcing of the conscience in
matters of religion has freqently fallen out to be of
dangerous consequences
in those commonwealths
where it has been practiced, and for the more quiet
and peaceable government of this province and the
better to preserve mutual love and unity among
inhabitants, no person or persons whatsoever within
this province ... professing to believe in Jesus Christ,
shall henceforth be in any ways troubled, molested or
discountenanced
for or in respect of his or her religion
nor in the free exercise thereof, nor in any way
compelled to the belief or exercise thereof, nor in any
way compelled to the belief or exercise of any other
religion against his or her consent."
What happened to jews or Atheists under such a rule?
You all know. You know it instinctively. Yet this was so
liberal that when Maryland was taken away from the
Baltimores, the Act was repealed. In 1658 the province was
restored to lord Baltimore and the Act was again put in
force.
We can go on unendingly. In Rhode Island a law was
enacted that limited citizenship and eligibility to public office
to protestants. In 1762 the Superior Court of Rhode Island
refused the application of two jews for citizenship in that
state. In Pennsylvania, under the "Great Law" enacted in
1682, persons had to "acknowledge one God" in order to
live "peaceable and justly under the civil government," but
Austin, Texas
profanity was penalized, Sunday observance was required

and the idea of "looseness, irreligion and Atheism" was not
to be permitted "under pretence of Conscience."
Political
privileges were limited to christians
and this did not
encompass either catholics or jews.
In 1700 New York enacted a law under which anyone
practicing catholic religion "shall be deemed and accounted
an incendiary and disturber of the public peace and safety
and an enemy of the true Christian religion and shall be
adjudged to suffer perpetual banishment."
In 1704 Maryland forbade Roman catholic priests to baptize children; in
1716 that state imposed severe penalties on public officials
who participated in the mass after taking an oath of office.
In Virginia, as late as 1776, denial of the trinity was
punishable
by imprisonment
for three years. Baptists,
between 1768 and 1774, were whipped, beaten, arrested,
fined and imprisoned for existing in Virginia during that
period. Remember that 1776 is not even two hundred years
ago.
"Your history books do not explicitly

set forth in detail the extraordinary laws
which religions of every stripe put forth in
the colonial period. They are, and they
ought to be, ashamed to do so."
When the Constitution
of our nation was being hammered out, the framers of that work were quite aware of the
laws in each state. Remember that they had to fight for the
First Amendment to the Constitution and that it was not
ratified by all the states until 1791. This is only one hundred
and seventy eight years ago.
Your history books do not explicitly set forth in detail the
extraordinary
laws which religions of every stripe put forth
in the colonial period. They are, and they ought to be,
ashamed to do so. In that period so many hundreds of
persons suffered injustly by these laws that christianity was
stigmatized and rejected by our nation's leaders. Deism was
the intellectuals' position in that day and age and deism was
the concept that there really only existed "Nature and
Nature's God," identified in that way in the Declaration of
Independence,
which was not alone a declaration of independence from England, but also of our independence from
these restrictive christian ideas.
Yet I have barely touched upon these laws and we can
elaborate on them later, for that is all the time there is
tonight.
SPECIAL NOTICE
The American A theist magazi ne wi II be rei nstati ng its
letter-to-the-editor section in the very near future. You
are invited to send your comments and/or questions
regarding subjects that are pertinent to Atheists' interests.
Your submission should be typed, double-spaced,
brief and to the point. Please limit your letters to to
approximately 200 words (or less) and confine your
discussion to one topic per submission please.
July, 1983
Page 27
Margaret Bhatty
TO AMERICA, WITH LOVE

Indians might be disappointed that the American immigration department hasn't taken too kindly to our special gift to
the U.S.A. - bhagwam Rajneesh. The debate about
whether or not he is a genuine teacher of religion appears
rather like looking a gift horse in the mouth. We assure you
his credentials are impeccable. He claims to love capitalism
and firmly believes in science, technology and materialism.
He sees communism and the U.S.S.R. as satanic and
supports "the freedom to be unequal." Not for him the
narrow life-negating philosophy of conventional hinduism;
he practices what he preaches. And where other uptight
godmen teach tantrism to achieve a spiritual "high," he uses
it to induce the beatific orgasm .:
Why has he chosen America to establish his kingdom?
Because, he says, "it is the most open-minded and democratic country in the world which guarantees freedom from
religious persecution and has a proud tradition of tolerance
and acceptance."
Though he declared once that California and not the
Himalayas is the world's most spiritual center, he has had to
settle instead for Big Muddy Ranch near Antelope, Oregon
to transform into a "paradise on earth." He paid a cool six
million dollars for this run-down property and, in anticipation of a long stay, has renamed it Rajneeshpuram, or City
of Rajneesh.
.
Page 28
July, 1983
We are surprised that American officialdom should

quibble about him not being a religious teacher simply
because he hasn't spoken a word for so long. In the Indian
tradition of sagedom immense wisdom is ascribed to the
senile and to the dumb. In fact, for $2.50 you can buy The
Rajneesh Nothing Book. It consists of 200 blank pages.
In any case, how much can a god really say for himself?
According to counts lovingly made by his devotees, the
master has already spewed 33 million words at the rate of
13,000 a day for 7 days a week, 52 weeks in a year in addition
to answering more than 20,000 questions. Judging from the
prices of his published works and tapes of his discourses,
every word is worth its weight in gold, smutty jokes and all.
What is the essence of his teaching?
On sex? "For me going into sex for reproductive reasons
is sinful because it is animal, it is unconscious and it is
biological." (Compulsory sterilization is one of the more
closely guarded secrets of his cult.) When you are free of
your nasty animal proclivity to breed, then you can attain
"superconsciousness" from the sexual experience. Then,
says he, "you are rising higher than biology; you are going
above the animals; you are reaching the peaks of humanit y. "
On love? "Prayer groping towards god." (Good groping,

friends!)
On family? "The most outdated thing. It has done its
work. It is no longer needed. In fact, it is the most hindering
phenomenon for human progress."
On wealth and money? "I am not against money; I am
against money-rnindedness. I am not against possessions; I
am against possessiveness." Neatly put, especially with this
stipulation - applied primariiy to himself rather than his
followers: "There is no need to renounce money. Without
money life will become very dumb."
Borrowing heavily from Western cult concepts, the
bhagwam's ashram in Poona became the Indian equivalent
of a Californian esalen institute with a variety of therapies
offered to induce states of "expanded consciousness."
As an experience-industry, the Rajneesh cult is a multimillion dollar business with 220 centers in India and 250
round the world along with 80,000 initiated sanyasins or
disciples. The Rajneesh foundation is one of the richest in
the godman line of goods, and it is managed by two astute
Indian women from Gujarat.
Being a religious foundation, it went untaxed until Morarji
Desai became prime minister. It is rumored that he
withdrew this exemption leaving the "enlightened master"
in tax arrears to the tune of two million rupees ($200,000)
and subsequently forcing him to leave the country. Rajneesh and Desai clashed often in the popular press. The
godman denounced Desai as a pious pee-drinking hypocrite
while Desai, seeing Rajneesh as a blot on hinduism's "fair
name," wanted him and his orange-robed devotees out.

If the Indian middle-class strongly disapproved of the
ashram's permissiveness, they also found the whole scene
highly intriguing. Historically, Poona has a long unbroken
tradition of brahmin orthodoxy. The goings-on in the 6-acre
playground offered everyone plenty of scope for dirtyminded speculation. Residents accused the ashramites of
corrupting the hindu way of life by behaving improperly in
public "hugging, kissing and holding hands in the street."
There were serious and violent incidents some of which
plainly indicated a certain criminal element is present in the
cult. The hostility of the people quite spoilt the sunshine and
happiness the master dispensed. Efforts were made to
secure land outside Poona, in Gujarat, and in the Himalayas, but without success. Finally, in June of 1981, the
bhagwam, 17 close disciples and his Rolls-Royce cars were
quietly spirited away on a PanAm flight from Bombay. For
months thereafter nobody knew where he had gone.
"Rajneesh and Desai dashed often in the

popular press. The godman denounced
Desai as a pious pee-drinking hypocrite
while Desai, seeing' him as; a blot on
hinduism's 'fair name,' wanted him and
his orange-robed devotees out."
Rajneesh Chandra Mohan comes from jain parentage
and was born in 1931 in a small town in central India. He is a
self-proclaimed god since he never took initiation from any
guru. This has allowed him ample scope for exercising his
divine instinct. "I am not part of any tradition," he says. "I
am the beginning of a tradition."
Sanyas, according to hinduism, means abandoning the
world and its pleasures, but Rajneesh offers neo-sanyas,
self-centered hedonism. The postmark on letters from the
Poona ashram was "Let's go!" Every devotee who is
accepted as a sanyasin (after contributions) is given a hindu
name, a 108-bead necklace with a medallion of the master
and an orange robe. He chose orange because it stands for
sun, fire and life. It also allegedly gives off positive "lifeaffirming vibrations."
"I am the Truth, I am the Door, I am the Gate. Come to
me, pass through me," declares Rajneesh using the kind of
patter which probably rings familiar echoes in the minds of
his many western devotees with their christian roots.
But to be able to get anywhere close to ':the Truth, the
Door and the Gate," let alone pass through, a seeker must
first pass the "sniff test." This messiah is allergic to strong
smells. They activate his asthma. In the Poona ashram two
sanyasins gave every visitor a good sniff-over before
admission to the buddha hall where he held audience. From
Chanel to honest sweat, the entire range of smells was tabu.
His closest companion is the reincarnation of his former
girlfriend, Sushma Sharma who died in 1947. She is now
called Ma Yoga Vivek. "Just before I died," she says, "I
made him promise that he would call me back, that
wherever I was he would call me back." He "kept his
promise" and "called her back" all the way from England
where she'd been reborn as an Englishwoman.
Of this wispy and almost unknown sanyasin the "enAustin, Texas
lightened master" says, "Vivek is so close to me that she is

constantly on the cross. And I go on creating many
situations. I have to create them because only through
friction does integration happen. Only through harder and
harder situations does one grow. Growth is not soft. It is
painful. Many people say, 'what do you do with Vivek?' I am
killing her slowly. That is the only way for her to be a totally
new being, to be reborn."
"Many people say, 'what do you do with

Vivek?' I am killing her slowly. That is the
only way for her to be a totally new being,
to be reborn."
Male chauvinism and ambiguity have always typified the
gods.
Ma Yoga Vivek's job is "to care for the master's body."
while at Poona she also drove him in his million-rupee
Mercedes from his cloistered room to the buddha hall every
day - a distance of 100 yards.
Packaged spiritual therapies offered by the cult include
vague dance forms like the nataraj meditation and the sufi
dance which is much ike an American square dance. The
Rajneesh International No-University offers neoacupressure massage, Rajneesh dynamic body therapy, Rajneesh
intensive massage, Rajneesh breath therapy and Rajneesh
tao, the cheapest in the range.
Gita Mehta in her book Karma Cola presents an amusing
yet perceptive expose of the commercialisation of hindu
spirituality. When she visited the ashram, the Indian
matriarch in charge explained how important it is to
discover the roots of one's energies and understand one's
urges and drives. "So we are telling those who come to us,
'do not be afraid. Go toward your anger.' After all, ifa man is
obsessed with violence, how will he have time for more
important things? We have meditations in the ashram
where the disciples beat each other. Hai ram, what simple
pleasure they get from hitting and thrashing. I tell you only
yesterday one boy had his wrist smashed, but he is happy
and it is very beautiful."
Groups of eight, locked into leather-padded rooms, were
armed with two-foot long wooden coshes with rubber
padding wrapped in green cloth. Green, Ms. Mehta points
out, is the Indian colour for peace. The meditation lasted
one hour with the participants in a state of "spiritual
excitation. "
The ashram had a flourishing printing press churning out
brochures, books and pamphlets on the "master." The
public relations was handled by a former Canadian renamed krishna Premo "What is happening now is similar to
what happened under the Bodhi tree in Gaya 2,500 years
ago, or on the shores of Galilee nearly 2,000 years back. The
trouble is it's happening in such godless times. That's why
we need a Press Office."
The department is now probably working overtime to'
create public opinion on behalf of the bhagwam. In February, a group of orange-robed sanyasins demonstrated
outside the U.S. Embassy in Delhi against his. possible
deportation. The truth is that if America rejects him, India
doesn't want him back.
Maybe Guyana will take him.
~
July, 1983
Page 29
Merrill Holste
AGE OF. REVOLUTION

\
The central character in the beginning of the judeochristian set of religious fairy tales known as the bible was
old man moses. He started out as a sheepherder, very
dissatisfied with his boresome work. He could think of no
other way to get out of sheepherding than to start a new
religion. And so he did. This moses went up to the top of
Mount Sinai one day to confer with his god who lived up
there in those days of old. Upon coming down he discovered thathis dupes had become backsliders. They had
gone back to their original bull-worship religion. Old moses
was furious and outraged. He ordered his gang of bully-boy
enforcers to go and exterminate all the backsliders. His
words as reported to us the old testament are these:
"Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and
out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay
every man his brother, and every man his companion,
and every man his neighbor. And the children of levi
did according to the word of moses: and there fell of
the people that day about three thousand men. For
moses had said, 'Consecrate yourselves today to the
lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his
brother; that he (the lord, of course) may bestow upon
you a blessing this day.''' exodus 32:26-29.
This shows how vicious this man moses was, and how
furiously vengeful he was against anyone who dared
disobey his religious orders. All through the old and new
testaments it was the same. Allthrough the middle ages the
people followed moses's dictation to the letter. They
murdered, tortured, hanged and burned at the stake
anyone who even hinted at having the least doubts on
religious matters, or failed in any way to obey the dictatorial
demands and extortions of the priests and preachers. It
would be the same today ifthe clergy could only destroy our
present day fund of scientific knowledge that proves the
bible stories only to be a system of myths and folklore. The
churches would destroy our schools and colleges and
would bring back the inquisition. With that as a brief
synopsis of judeochristianity, we will study the history of
various instances of governments retaliating against the
church's greedy acquisition of wealth to the point that they
have owned as much as one half of a country's assets. The
cure was expropriation!
King Henry VIII (1491 - 1547)

King Henry the VIIIbecame king of England in 1509 upon
the death of his father, Henry VII. He immediately married
Catherine of Aragon, the widow of his older brother. In time
Henry tired of the wife that political considerations hap
impelled him to marry. Henry ordered his Roman catholic
cardinal, Wolsey, to arrange with the pope to get him a
Page 30
July, 1983
divorce from Catherine. Wolsey was unable to secure the

divorce. King Henry blamed Wolsey for the failure to
arrange the divorce, so Henry banished Wolsey from court
and ordered him to retire to his archbishopric of York. The
king also expropriated his fallen minister's palace at York
Place, afterward known as Whitehall. Wolsey was very fond
of wealth, luxury and display; so the expropriation of
Wolsey's gorgeous plate, his furniture, clothing and the
tomb which he had prepared for himself at Windsor was a
big haul for the king.
Sir Thomas Cromwell, Henry's new Secretary of State,
advised him to declare himself to be the head of the church
in England. This the king promptly did. All the higher clergy
made preparations to resist the king's actions. For this, on
the basis of praemunire (Standard History of the World, by
H.F. McGee and I. Schulmann. Published by the Standard
Historical Society. Cincinnati, Ohio. p. 2645), Henry fined
the clergy 118,840 sterling and in addition required them to
make the acknowledgment that he was the "Protector and
Supreme Head of the Church and Clergy of England," thus
laying the foundation for complete separation of the English
church from Rome. This was the beginning of the church of
England.
"In1536 and 1538 Henry suppressed and

expropriated the property and wealth of
the monasteries and nunneries. It was
estimated that these owned one third of
England."
Henry then proceeded to annul the pope's claim to
tribute and obedience from England and put a stop to the
payment of large sums of money the pope had been getting
from England every year. In 1536 and 1538 Henry
suppressed and expropriated the property and wealth of
the monasteries and nunneries. It was estimated that these
owned one third of England (History of Sacerdotal
Celibacy, by H.C. Lea. p. 387). Henry also expropriated
their jewels, costly works of art and enormous treasures of
the tombs and shrines of the saints. The biggest haul came
from the shrine of Thomas
Beckett from which two big
chests of gold and jewels went to the royal coffers. Of
course, this earned Henry an excommunication from the
pope, but the excommunication had no effect because
Henry was too strong and the people of Englandhad no love
for the pope (Stan. Hist. p. 2640-53; Hist. Sac. Cel.;
Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. V. 1905; History of the
Wor/d. Ridpath, p. 215-228).
Peter the Great (Russia)

Peter the great was born in 1672. Russia during the
previous seven centuries had been solidly christian under
the dominance of the Greek patriarchs of Constantinople.
Joseph McCabe tells us that Russia had fallen to a very low
state of barbarism and ignorance under the Greek christian
influence. "That Peter had not the least belief in the
christian religion is sufficiently clear. He hated all priests,
monks and nuns, and he never favored any other form of
religion. Peter, it is true, attacked the church and despoiled
it. During his reign as czar the patriarch died, and Peter
forbade the clergy to elect a successor. He appointed a
layman to be 'Superintendent of the Patriarchal Throne,'
and through him Peter regulated (which is to say, drastically
reduced) the revenues of the church and the monasteries.
The monasteries were then just what they had been in
medieval Europe and still are to a great extent - comfortable nests for idle rogues who fleeced the people." (One
Hundred Men Who Moved the World, Vol. X, Joseph
McCabe)
Catherine the Great (Russia)

Catherine became empress of Russia from 1762 till 1796.
She effected many reforms in the government. She expropriated the funds of church sinecures ~nd applied this
money to useful secular purposes (Stan. Hist., Vol. VIII,
p.3167).
The Jesuits
Many writers against the jesuits complained that the
order kept the people ignorant, religiously intolerant, etc.
In Portugal the first of the innovators of reform was
Carvalho, the all-powerful prime minister of king Joseph
(17501777). He justly ascribed his country's decline to the
grasping ambition of the jesuits. During the bigoted and
extravagant reign of Joseph's father, king John V (1706
1750) all the gold and diamonds of Brazil had been
inadequate to save Portugal from bankruptcy. The jesuits
were detected in an attempt to murder the king. This
resulted in the expulsion of the jesuits from Portugal. In
Sept., 1759 all the jesuits were rounded up and shipped off
to the pope. Their properties left in Portugal were, of
course, expropriated. The jesuits were successively banished from Spain, France and Naples. Their properties were
generally expropriated. Pope clement xiv was eventually
obliged to abolish the order of jesuits as a disturber of the
peace in christendom in 1773 because of the pressure and
urgency of all the Roman catholic sovereigns. The last
general of the jesuit order was imprisoned in the Castel S.
Angelo. The same pope appointed as the "examining
magistrate" an obscure monsignore Alfani who proved to
be both cruel and greedy. He pounced upon the estates of
the jesuits and expropriated them to fill his own pockets
(Stan. Hist. p. 31443146; Hist. of Sac. eel. p. 558;
Encyclopedia of the Papacy, p. 217).
Emperor Joseph II (Austria, 1780-1790)

Emperor Joseph did not pursue his mother's "prudent"
policy in carrying forward the work of reform. As emperor,
he at once undertook a series of reforms in church and state
which offended the Roman clergy and the zealous friends of
the church. Joseph's reforms prejudiced the privileged
nobility and outraged the national feelings of his catholic
Austin, Texas
subjects. Of course, they naturally were "outraged," as the

Stan. Hist. says, because Joseph first introduced religious
toleration so that lutheran, calvinistic and Greek orthodox
churches were free to exercise their religion. And these
were given equal civil and political rights with catholics.
Joseph diminished the number of monasteries and nunneries by seven hundred. He applied the expropriated
properties to improvement of schools and establishments
of useful projects. He abolished serfdom and established
personal freedom. He informed the papal nuncios that he
would receive them only as political ambassadors. (Stan.
Hist. p. 3150)
American Revolution
The stirrings of freethought that began in 18th century
Europe encouraged the American colonists and inspired
them to fight to free themselves from the taxation and
commercial restrictions imposed by their English overlords
who apparently considered the American colonists to be
little more than serfs. Many of the colonists appear to have
been freethinkers. They did not believe that they should
obey their overseas masters according to the biblical
mandate in ephesians 6:5 and i. peter 2:18 where they were
told, "Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters
according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness
of your heart, as unto christ." Practically all signers of the
Declaration of Independence were freethinking deists. Only
a few were "men of the cloth." (A deist, by the way, is not a
christian because he does not believe that jesus was the son
of god come to "save" mankind from the mythical sin of
adam by means of his death and resurrection as a sacrifice
to atone for that mythical sin.)
Many of the churches during the Revolution sided with
king George III of England. The church of England in
America was deserted during the war by the tories, or
loyalists. It barely survived the Revolution in America. The
church was always under suspicion by the Revolutionists.
The remnant of the church of England in America found it
necessary to reorganize as the independent protestant
episcopal church. When the Revolution started, many
churchmen discovered that the environment in the newly
declared United States of America was too hostile for them,
so they migrated to Canada or went back to England.
During the war many churches, vacant or otherwise, were
demolished or converted into barracks (Stan. Hist.
p. 3289). Thus some church properties were expropriated
by the new country. But the American churches had not yet
had time to accumulate extensive properties and wealth, so
general expropriations did not take place.
French Revolution
The success of the American Revolution so inspired the
downtrodden people of France that in 1789 they began their
own revolution (Stan. Hist. p. 3331). The tremendous
French Revolution convulsed the whole of Europe for 20
years and changed the political, religious and social structure of the entire continent. It was a revolt against church
power and its "secular arm" whose head was the king. The
great revolution began with the storming of the Bastille on
the 14th of July, 1789. The authority of the government was
soon at an end, and all power was taken over by the people.
The peasants no longer paid their dues to the clergy and the
nobility. They took terrible revenge for the tyranny they and
July, 1983
Page 31
their ancestors had suffered for centuries. The French

people (Revolutionists) established the National Assembly
as their new government. The newly formed Assembly
abolished serfdom, along with all tithes, labor -dues, manorial rights, all exclusive privileges, titles and distinctions of
rank in France. The church was expropriated of all its
possessions. Monasteries and religious orders' were dissolved. The priests were required to swear to support the
new constitution. Those who refused were deprived of their
offices and "persecuted" (Stan. -Hist. p. 3363-65). If they
refused to swear allegiance to the new people's government, they had to flee the country or go underground.
Infidelity and Atheism reigned supreme (Ibid. p. 3386). The
christian era was wiped out and replaced by the New
French Era, dating from Sept. 22, 1792. Atheism was
declared to be the new "faith" of France. The churches
were rifled (expropriated) and the treasures of gold and
silver were carried with laughter and song to the bar of the
new Convention. The statues of saints in gold and silver
were addressed in burlesque speeches: "0 you instruments
of fanaticism, blessed saints of-all kinds, be at length
patriots! Serve your country by going to the mint to be
melted." The church of notre dame was converted into a
temple of Reason. And there, on November IOth, 1792, the
Festival of Reason was celebrated. Madame Momoro, the
young and beautiful wife of a Jacobin printer, was chosen to
represent the "goddess," Reason. Everyone joyfully joined
in the festival, and sang "The Republic Forever! Down With
Fanaticism!" (Ridpath, Vol. VI, p. 668-669)
At the beginning of the French Revolution, Napoleon had
become a lieutenant in the French army. (Napoleon said he
had become an Atheist at the age of 13.) At this time the
British occupied the French port of Toulon. Napoleon
suggested a plan to drive the British out of the port. He was
given charge of the operation, the British were disastrously
defeated (Dec. 20,1793), and Napoleon was on his meteoric
rise to fame.
In 1796 Napoleon was given command of an army in
Northern Italy. With smaller forces than the Austrians had,
he completely defeated and routed them in a series of
battles in which he had five major victories. (History of the
World. Vol. VI, Ridpath p. 684). He became master of
Northern Italy (Stan. Hist. p. 3408-10). The contributions
Napoleon levied against the vanquished clothed, fed and
paid his army besides sending to the French public treasury
30 millions of francs (Ibid. p. 3413). Napoleon plundered the
churches, galleries and libraries of their richest ornaments,
captured the Venetian fleet and their military stores (Ibid.
p. 3412-13). The papal states were overrun and the papal
government would have been overthrown but for the.
clemency of Napoleon, who made a treaty with the pope at
Tolentino. The pope had to pay 15 million francs plus one
third of the papal states to France (Ridpath, Vol. VI, p. 683).
Napoleon's view of the catholic religion was that it should be
good for something, and that something was that it should
subserve his purposes (Ibid. p. 720). Napoleon may have
made the treaty with the pope at Tolentino because he
expected to use the pope at a later time. Napoleon's
treatment of the pope (Ibid. p. 685) was not satisfactory to
the French Directory. They sent General Berthier to march
on Rome. Berthier was welcomed by the people as the
deliverer of Italy. The soldiers looted the churches of their
treasures and priestly symbols. The Roman Republic was
Page 32
July, 1983
proclaimed. The pope's power was overthrown by Berthier.

The personal property of the pope was auctioned off; the
robes of priests and cardinals, rich in gold and lace, were
burned so that the gold in them could be gathered from the
ashes (Ibid. p. 686).
"The pope's power was overthrown by

Berthier. The personal property of the
pope was auctioned off; the robes of
priests and cardinals, rich in gold and
lace, were burned so that the gold in them
could be gathered from the ashes."
In November, 1807 Napoleon sent a French army into the
Spanish peninsula to take over Portugal and Spain. Some
battles were lost and some were won.
Napoleon took charge himself in 1809 and quickly
captured Madrid. He set up a Cortes (legislature). He
further established his brother, Joseph, as king of Spain
(initially installed in 1808) to be in charge of the Spanish
government. Napoleon immediately ordered the end of the
inquisition. Two thirds of the convents were taken. Feudal
rights of the nobles were abrogated along with confiscation
of their estates (Great Events. Vol. V, p. 199; Ridpath, Vol.
VI, p. 725). Church lands and estates were expropriated.
Mexico
The clergy in Mexico were terrified by the events that
were taking place in Spain (Stan. Hist. p. 4345). They feared
that the same measures would be put into effect in Mexico
that would reduce their power and wealth. The priests
became active in planning a revolution to free Mexico from
the new government in Spain. In 1810 the priest, Miguel
Hidalgo (Ibid. p. 4344), organized a conspiracy which was
defeated by the government. Hidalgo was captured and
shot. In 1813 another priest, Morelos, started another
insurrection. Morelos was defeated by government forces
and in Dec. 1815 he, too, was condemned and shot. This
shows that the church is ever vigilant in looking after its own
interests, and is ever ready to fight to maintain its wealth

and power at the expense of the people.
In 1820 news came that a revolution in Spain had brought
in a new government. King Ferdinand VII, who began
reigning in 1813, was compelled to grant and proclaim a
liberal constitution. The Spanish viceroy, Apodaca, sent to
Mexico by the royalists, secretly favored the party opposed
to it, and made plans for its overthrow. Somewhere in this
period of time there is mention of "some favorable inroads
on the property and prerogatives of the church that
alienated the clergy from the new government." Just how,
or when or where this took place, my sources do not make
clear. But this must have been an expropriation of some
kind. At any rate, the viceroy sent from Spain selected Don
Augustin Iturbide to make the first move against the
government. The Iturbide faction won out in the turbulence. Iturbide briefly reigned in Mexico as emperor Augustin I. But soon he was defeated and shot (History Ready
Reference. Larned. p. 2170-71).
Mexico continued its turbulent course till 1855 when
president Santa Anna was deposed and General Comonfort became president in 1855. Early in 1856 the new
president recommended to his congress a measure for the
confiscation and sale of church lands. The Roman catholic
church resisted, of course. Benito Pablo Juarez became
president of Mexico. He immediately began putting in effect
Comonfort's reform measures. Marriage became a civil
contract. Monastic vows were abolished. Ecclesiastical
tribunals (courts) were abolished. The enormous property
of the church - one half the real estate of Mexico - was
expropriated and made useful to the state. Church and
state were legally separated (Ridpath, Vol. VIII, p. 772-75).
President Juarez was not able to put all of his reforms into
effect. Revolutions and counterrevolutions continued in
turbulent Mexico. A revolution in 1910 led by Francisco
Madero succeeded. Madero proved incapable of accomplishing reform. Another civil war followed under such
leaders as Huerta, Carranza, Zapata, Villa, Obregon and
De la Huerta. A reform constitution was adopted in 1917.
Under it mineral wealth was expropriated (Columbia
Encyclopedia). Church lands were expropriated, priests
were required to wear civilian clothes when on the streets,
and their numbers were limited so that many had to leave
Mexico and go to foreign countries. Mineral and oil lands
were taken over by the government whether foreign or
domestically owned.
Other Latin CountriesIn this overview of confiscations-expropriations

of
church wealth I don't want to skip Paraguay which in 1824
suppressed all monasteries as being useless (Hist. Sac. Cel.
p.558).
In Spain the work begun by Napoleon's invasion continued under various governments from 1820 till 1850. In
1851 a concordat was signed under which some of the
orders were reestablished. (Ibid. p. 556-559)
In Italy, under king Victor Emmanuel, laws were passed in
1866,1867, and 1873completing the destruction of religious
houses and confiscation of their property. (Ibid.)
New Granada in South America (Colombia, Venezuela
and Ecuador) started expropriating in 1852 and ended in
1863. (Ibid.)
Austin, Texas
Russian Revolution
During World War I, in 1917, the big Russian revolution
broke out. Atheism became the "religion" of the land and all
church properties were taken over (expropriated) by the
state. All lands in the country were taken over by the state
also. Some christians still remain in Russia, but their
numbers are few. And they are principally the elderly
people. Many of the churches have been transformed into
museums exhibiting the bad effects of religion.
* * * * *
And now we come to the present here in our U.S.A.
According to a recent U.S. News & World Report, dated
May 18,1981, of the $47.7 billion that was reported to go to
charity, religion got $22.1 billion.That is a lot of money going
to a stupid, ignorant superstition that would be as vicious as
it was in the middle ages ifand when it ever gets the chance.
"Of the great advances made by the

human race during its' Age of Revolution'
that started some 250 years ago, .. the
Atheists and freethinkers ... were in the
forefront every time a forward step was
made. So, it is up to us to support in every
way we can our Atheist organizations.
We must not let religious superstition win
by default."
We can see them trying to get their superstition respectfully
taught in the public schools on an equal footing with
science. Of the great advances made by the human race
during its" Age of Revolution" that started some 250 years
ago, we note that it was the Atheists and freethinkers that
were in the forefront every time a forward step was made.
So, it is up to us to support in every way we can our Atheist
organizations. We must not let religious superstition win by
default.
* * * * *
REFERENCES
Standard History of the World. H.F. McGee & I. Schulmann.
Standard Historical Society. 1930.
History of the World. Ridpath
Encyclopedia Britannica. 1905.
World Almanac. 1977. 1979.
Columbia Viking Desk Encyclopedia.
New Concise Illustrated Encyclopedia.
History for Ready Reference. Larned.
100 Men Who Moved the World. Joseph McCabe.
The Great Events by Famous Historians.
History of the English Speaking People. Winston Churchill.
The Unholy Bunkie.
American Atheist. Inside cover. July, 1981.
History of Sacerdotal Celibacy. H.C. Lea.
Encyclopedia of Religion. Vergilius Ferm.
New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. II.
Dynamics of Religion. J.M. Robertson.
Encyclopedia of the Papacy. Kuhner.
The Story of Religious Controversy. Joseph McCabe.
The Story of the Inquisition. Freethought Press.
July, 1983
Page 33
CURRENT RELIGIOUS MYTHS

There are several misconceptions in wide circulation
these days, which receive constant reinforcement from the
pulpit, the press, and politicians. The myths have acquired
the credibility usually reserved for verifiable fact.
by Gale Schreier
MYTH NO.1: OUR NATION WAS FOUNDED ON

CHRISTIAN VALUES.
False. Our nation was founded in response to christian

values, for our founding fathers knew full well the slavery
promulgated over Europe by the church. Too, they knew of
the danger to personal liberty present in all sects of
christianity. Despite the opposition of the clergy, it was
possible to create a system of government that answered to
men, not to a god. It is not mere chance that our
Constitution does not mention god, christian, or jesus. Nor
is it insignificant that, by 1950,254 separate attempts to put
these words into the Constitution had been made by
christian congressmen. Today, "good" christians continue
to seek such legislation to further their own ends, and in the
process democracy decays into dictatorship. Instead of
officials who answer to the people, we have officials who
answer to a god.
What religionists overlook is that their theological doctrines are "mere opinion," and by their being such, Congress has no constitutionally mandated power either to
advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the

effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools, and
the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all
over the earth."
Again, Jefferson: "I have recently been examining all the
known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our
particular superstition one redeeming feature. They are all
alike, founded upon fables and mythology."
In 1800 Jefferson was denounced for opposing the
reading of the bible by school children. In that year was
published the following editorial: "Should the infidel Jefferson be elected to the presidency, the seal of death is that
moment set on our holy religion, our churches will be
prostrated, and some infamous prostitute, under the title of
the goddess of Reason, will preside in the sanctuaries now
devoted to the worship of the most high."
Despite the fulminations of the priesthood, Thomas
Jefferson was elected president (1801-1809). Under his
enlightened leadership the fledgling nation grew and prospered beyond anyone's expectations.
And from James Madison's Detached Memorandum:
"Strongly guarded as is the separation between religion and
government in the Constitution of the United States, the
danger of encroachment by ecclesiastical bodies may be
illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short
deny or recognize such doctrines.
history."
In order to demonstrate that christian values were not

held in high esteem by the authors of our government, I
offer the following.
Thomas Paine, who helped unite the American colonists
in the common cause of revolution, was, for his publications
The Age of Reason and Common Sense, labelled a "filthy
little Atheist" by the clergy of his day. With regard to the
childish dependency of christians on their god, Paine
queried, "Is it in the best interest of a man to remain a boy all
his life?"
Madison declared that: "The establishment of the chaplainship to Congress is a palpable violation of equal rights as
well as of Constitutional principles."
Yet today, the violation continues. Both the House and
the Senate have chaplains, their combined salary is
$85,000.00 a year. $85,000.00 tax dollars just to have two
christians utter a few words of mumbo-jumbo!
Paine, Madison, Franklin, Washington, Adams, Monroe,
Allen, Hamilton, Jefferson - all revered Americans - were
deists, heretics, infidels, rationalists. Were they alive today,
"Iwould not label a drug addict un-American; nor would 1consider drug addiction a
desirable American condition. And so it is with religion. Christians are not
necessarily un-American, yet their influence on American culture is decidedly
undesirable. "
John Adams, second president of the U.S. (1797-1801)
stated: "As I understand the christian religion, it was, and is,
a revelation. But how has it happened that milli'onsof fables,
tales, legends have been blended with both jewish and'
christian revelation that have made them the most bloody
religion that ever existed?" Of theology in general he said,
"This would be the best of all possible worlds if there were
no religion in it."
From Thomas Jefferson: "It does me no injury for my
neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks
my pocket nor breaks my leg.... It is error alone which
needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.
Subject opinion to coercion, and whom willyou make your
inquisitors? Fallible men, governed by bad passions, by
private as well as public reasons .... Millionsof men, women
and children since the introduction of christianity have been
burned, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not
MYTH NO.2: ATHEIST IS THE SAME AS COMMUNIST.

Was Abe Lincoln a communist? How about Mark Twain?
Thomas Edison or Luther Burbank? What about Susan B.
Anthony, Florence Nightingale, or Margaret Sanger? Are
98% of all American scientists commies?
Thousands of Denverites (Colorado) have called me a
communist, told me to go "back to Russia," etc. I am an
American, and I hold in high esteem the American way of
life. I am also an Atheist. As such, I recognize the danger to
July, 1983
Page 34
they would be Atheists.

I would not label a drug addict un-American, nor would I
consider drug addiction a desirable American condition.
And so it is with religion. Christians are not necessarily
un-American, yet their influence on American culture is
decidedly undesirable.
Americanism offered by religion. With great sadness I

foresee a demise of America, led not by the communists
from afar, but by the christians here at home. It would be the
same demise that happened to Rome, Egypt, China - all of
the civilizations when they replaced a value on intelligent,
rational thought with a value on ignorance and superstition.
When beliefs replace logic, and faith replaces fact, civilization is on the wane.
MYTH NO.3: OUR CURRENT "PROBLEMS" - ENERGY, THE ENVIRONMENT, SO-CALLED DECADENCE,
ARE "PROOF" THAT GOD IS PUNISHING US FOR
NOT GOING TO CHURCH.
Once again christian ethics have created the problem, so
religionists avoid responsibility by projecting the blame onto
innocent parties, such as science. We have a space-age
technology misused by a stone-age mentality. Can anyone
be surprised that we are having problems?
The belief that man is somehow a special creation, given
domination over other life,the world his to use (abuse), is of
decidedly religious origin and has fostered an attitude of
exploitation and indifference.
Our problems are solely the result of our own actions; the
solutions will be borne of our own efforts. The burgeoning
population - called "good" by godists - has placed ever
increasing demands on the finite resources of this planet.
The convoluted illogicof christendom claims this is "proof"
that armageddon is near, the same moronic ravings that
have been incessantly uttered for the past twenty centuries.
This in turn becomes an excuse to shirk responsibility.
After all, if the oil shortage is god's will, why should I
conserve? My willvs. his? Why, in fact, should should Itry to
help anyone or change anything if it happens to be god's
will.?
Actually, nature is neither kind nor cruel, just indifferent.
Primitive humans, not knowing the natural causes of flood
and famine, of storm and sickness, imagined natural
disaster to be the work of gods. If people could just figure
out what the gods wanted, then they could, ineffect, control
nature. That hasn't worked. There has never been, nor will
there ever be a god who could even cure a toothache, let
alone do anything else. Impotent fantasies - that's all that
the gods are.
All of the "miracles" of modern life - medicine, agriculture and space exploration - are direct results of scientific
curiosity and human inventiveness. Just one Atheist inventor Thomas Edison - did more for the betterment of
the human race than all of the world's priests, preachers,
rabbis, and witch doctors combined. Of course, the comparison is a bit unfair to the memory of Edison; one adult
should be able to do the work of many children.
As the General Council of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science warned in July, 1929, legislation that aims at prohibiting the teaching of accepted
scientific disciplines, such as evolution, willtend to destroy
the climate of free and open inquiry necessary for progress.
Fifty years later creationists are threatening to destroy that
very climate of free inquiry. Creationists in several states
are attempting to pass legislation that would label scientific
fact "theory" and would label biblical mythology "fact."
Onward we trudge, led by christians, right back into the
dark ages.
Austin, Texas
MYTH NO.4: PEOPLE WOULD BE LESS MORAL

(MORE CRIMINAL) WITHOUT THE "GUIDANCE" OF
CHRISTIANITY.
Our prisons are full of catholics, jews, christians, criminals of every religious persuasion.
The psychological aspects of this have been well researched over the past half century. In 1923 a study
involving 3300 New York City area school children showed
that believers of the bible were less honest. It figures. If one
is made to believe lies, then why not also tell them?
Catholicism and most other christian sects, with their
bizarre repressive fixation on sexuality, consider normal
healthy sexual pleasure to be a major sin. Lying, cheating
and stealing, obvious criminal actions, are considered to be
minor sins. Again religion promotes a distorted value
system that does no one any good; it causes a great deal of
human misery in promoting itself.
As recent investigations have shown, when an individual
comes to believe in an authority greater than himself or
herself, that individual forgets the need to accept responsibility for his or her actions. With this in mind, it should be
apparent that an Atheist, realizing that there is no authority
greater than the self, must, of necessity, behave in a
responsible manner. Christians, on the other hand, can,
and usually have, passed the buck, believing that it is "god's
will," or "the devil made me do it," both juvenile copouts.
Charles Manson, Jim Jones, Oral Roberts all believe(d)
the bible to be the true word of god. Is murder, suicide, child
torture, or fraud moral? Respect for life and the rights of
others, kindness, charity are human attributes, regardless
of one's beliefs or the lack thereof.
The general goal of psychotherapy (of any sort) is to help
the individual become minimally anxious and hostile. T 0wards that end, the following traits may be considered as
desirable: self-direction, tolerance, acceptance of uncertainty, flexibility, scientific thinking, commitment, risk-taking,
self-acceptance.
Does religion encourage the development of these traits?
NO!
The religious person is other-directed. He has to please
his god, his clergy, his church before he can consider
pleasing himself.
The religionist believes that her particular church has the
truth; all others are less than true or are plain wrong. This
tends to foster prejudice, bigotry and intolerance of others.
The religious person, with his insistence on absolutes, is
unable to accept the fact that this is a world of probability
and chance.
Flexibility, which is essential to proper emotional functioning, is also blocked by religious belief. The person who
rigidly believes in a god, and who sustains this belief with
faith unfounded in fact, clearly is not open to change, and is
necessarily bigoted.
In regard to scientific thinking, it isn't possible to be truly
pious and objective.
Religious commitment tends to be obsessive-compulsive.
Often motivated by guilt or hostility, it may serve as a
coverup which masks but does not change the underlying
disturbed feelings.
The religionist believes in unvalidatable assumptions
precisely because she does not want to risk following her
own preference but wants the guarantee that some higher
power will back her.
July, 1983
Page 35
Finally, the religious person is unable to accept himself

just because he is alive; rather, that self-acceptance depends on an 'imagined acceptance by his god.
Various religious "therapies" have become popular for
the treatment of drug addiction and alcoholism, but they are
no cure. That they are not should be apparent. One is
simply swapping dependencies and remaining emotionally
unhealthy. This is supported by the observation by Albert
illness. Parents insist on destroying the personalities of their

children with religion.
Atheism is the only cure.
In closing this analysis on the "virtues" of christianity, I
present the following from noted science writer Isaac
Asimov:
"There has been at least one other occasion in
history when Greek secular and rational thought
"The religious person is unable to accept himself just because he is alive; rather
that self-acceptance depends on an imagined acceptance by his god."
Ellis, Ph.D: "All true believers in any kind of orthodoxy ...
are distinctly disturbed, since they are obviously rigid,
fanatic, and dependent individuals .... Many religionists of
various groups are ... emotionally childish. For that is what
all manner of religion essentially is, childish dependency."
Our culture is in one heck of a mess. Our president is an
emotional cripple. Many of our political and civic leaders
and educators are encouraging others to contract the
bowed to the mystical aspects of christianity; and

what followed was a Dark Age.
We can't afford another."
To all the good christians in this country, I suggest: You
like mental slavery so much, why don't you go to Ireland,
Iran, Israel, or India.
ATHEISM IS AMERICAN!
DIAL AN ATHEIST
DIAL-AN-A THEIST
CHAPTERS OF AMERICAN A THEISTS
DIAL- THE-ATHEiST
(512) 458-5731
Tucson, Arizona
(602) 623-3861
Phoenix, Arizona
S. Francisco, California
Reno, Nevada
(702) 972-8203
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Northern New Jersey .. '
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Northern Virginia
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Eastern Missouri
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(804) 428-0979
Page 36
July, 1983
SUGGESTED AMERICAN ATHEIST

INTRODUCTORY READING LIST
Knowing that Atheist material is very hard to find in most public library sources in the United States,
American Atheists suggest the following publications which are available from us as an introduction into the
multifaceted areas of Atheism and state/church separation. To achieve the best understanding of thought in
these areas the featured publications should be read in the order listed. These by no means represent our
entire collection of Atheist and separationist materials. A more complete catalogue is available upon request
for $1.00.
All the Questions You Ever Wanted to Ask American Atheists with All of the Answers
by Jon Murray and Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair [paper, 360 p.]
Freedom under Siege, The Impact of Organized Religion on Your Liberty And Your Pocketbook
by Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair [cloth, 282 p.]
Separation of Religion and Government
by Frank Swancara [cloth, 246 p.]
Why I Am An Atheist, including a history of materialism
by Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair [booklet, 40 p.]
'"
What on Earth Is An Atheist! (A collection of programs from the American Atheist Radio Series)
by Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair [paper, 287 p.]
The Case against Religion: A Psychotherapist's View
by Dr. Albert Ellis [booklet, 17 p.]
Pagan Origins of The Christ Myth
by John G. Jackson [booklet,'30 p.]
Sex Mythology
.
;.
by Sha Rocco [booklet, 55 p.]
Ingersoll The Magnificent
A Few Reasons for Doubting the Inspiration of The Bible
by Col. Robert G. Ingersoll [booklet, 30 p.]
Atheist Truth vs. Religion's Ghosts
by Col. Robert G. Ingersoll [booklet, 45 p.]
The Logic and Virtue of Atheism
by Joseph McCabe [booklet, 58 p.]
An Atheist's Bertrand Russell
ed. by Jon G. Murray [booklet, 50 p.]
Essays in Freethinking, Vol. I
Essays in Freethinking, Vol. II
Essays in Freethinking, Vol. III
Essays in Freethinking, Vol. W
by Chapman Cohen [booklets, 112 p.]
$4.00 each, or set of four vols:
American Atheist Heritage: Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln, and Burbank
by Joseph Lewis [booklet, 55 p.]
Our Constitution - The Way It Was
Women and Atheism, The Ultimate Liberation
;
Fruits of Philosophy
by Charles Knowlton, MD [booklet, 58 p.]
Why I Left The Roman Catholic Church
by Charles Davis, formerly Britain's leading catholic theologian
Letters from A Roman Catholic
by Carolynne Simms [two in one booklet, 27 p.]
War in Vietnam - The Religious Connection
An Atheist Epic: Bill Murray, The Bible and The Board of Education
by Dr. Madalyn Murray O'Hair [paper, 316 p.]
Essays of An Atheist Activist
by Jon G. Murray [booklet, 67 p.]
The Ten Commandments
by Joseph Lewis [c1oth,644 p.]
Order from:
American Atheist Press

P.O. Box 2117
Austin, TX 78768-2117
$6.95
10.00
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ATHEISM:
AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

American Atheist Magazine July 1983

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American Atheist Magazine July 1983

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AMERICAN ATHEIST

A Journal of Atheist News and Thought

(VoI.25, No.7) July, 1983

I have always admired the educational TV ad that advises, "A mind

Jon Garth Murray

CH1LD ABUSE AND "GOD"

ing of "burning your bridges behind you" or leaving the

outlined acceptable and unacceptable behavior for members.

wall of the Glory Barn.

1-75 AND THE STATUE OF CHRIST

In the United States District Court

as if fully set forth

The American Atheist

deism of the founding fathers. So the bias is very real and is

adherence to minimal standards of academic verity, if not

This latest debate was a function of a group called Federal

lenge procedures which every district has or should have in

cation, chapter, page number and a brief description of

Many of us assumed that when we found one or two

We challenged 15 books in all, but no audio-visual items.

or some relative's kid(s) actually enrolled in one of the

The American Atheist

committees, and there needs to be a fairly pervasive bias

four-color hardback books are far more expensive than the

passages you cite, particularly in the context of a 472

With reference to the material in question:

"Test Your Moral and Religious Values"

The following list of books challenged in Jeffco R-1 is

HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL TEXTBOOKS

" ... during the long reign of Augustus an event took

Jesus Christ was crucified, ... " etc.

Book Service, 1976

"Religion in The Control of Negative Emotions"

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

**Personal Adjustment, Marriage and Family Living 1975

Obviously we could have been better prepared; cited

JUNIOR HIGH (MIDDLE SCHOOL) TEXTBOOKS

**Books censured and/or recommended

U.S. History: Two Centuries of Progress

Jon Frank Otstot

Unique guide to "If-deliverance

S11 plp_ Memberlhip

Also in Australia at this time was Senator McGovern who

The press gave prominence to the demonstrators

"When a woman journalist pointed out that women constituted a majority in

follow him in the United States. He could also blame himself

"The revolution in America ... gave to a

teach them to discern the value of the former, as they

Still, however, these men, whose minds wer~ in advance

From The American Atheist Press Bookshelf

NOBODY HAS A PRAYER

WHAT ON EARTH IS AN ATHEIST!

THE LOGIC & VIRTUE OF A THEISM

The issue of prayer in government

Joseph McCabe grew up thoroughly indoctrinated to believe that no

CHAPMAN COHEN SPECIAL!

(Psychology and Saffron Tea,

(Religion and Opinion, A Martyr of Science, As Good as

(Edmund Burke on Atheism,

Special! Four Volume Set Of Essays

cannot know the present state of your minds, and as the

Arrival and preparation for the feast.

The American Atheist

most extensive sense of the term, for all their fellowcreatures,