Atheist Internet Outreach Newsletter
Fall 1999 NEWSLETTER
SPEAKING OF FAMILY VALUES
It seems as if someone's always pontificating about "family values" these days. No matter how often it's invoked, its meaning never seems quite clear. One of Webster's definitions of family is "the basic unit in society, having as its' nucleus two or more people living together and raising children", but we all know that the pious finger-wagging engaged in by religious extremists extends to all models except the "Leave It To Beaver" variety. Even so, common sense and experience tells us that people come together to create families of many different kinds.
The term "values" is even more difficult to sum up. My dictionary says value is "an ethic or moral". Those words, then, are interchangeable, but common usage has given "moral" a religious connotation, as in "the Moral Majority". . . which was neither, as the joke goes. I heard a radio host define tolerance as "people of all religions accepting one another regardless of their religious differences," then he added, "and accepting the non-religious because they have rights, too". Initially impressed by his open-mindedness, I was chagrined to hear him quickly say, "of course, we'd prefer a little religion in everyone, for the preservation of family values and all that." This sentiment, so often heard, illustrates how closely linked with religion ethics, morals and "family values" have become.
The fact that religion has been responsible for a great preponderance of abuse of those very values is rarely mentioned, except by nonbelievers weary of being unfairly blamed for all that goes wrong in the world. Ironically, the Bible is no repository of family values, as anyone who has read it can attest, even though few evidently bother to do so. Jesus may have said "And a man's foes shall be they of his own household," but those aren't the biblical family values you usually hear preachers, politicians and demagogues extolling. Instead, they deflect attention from such negative examples (and there are many) in the misnamed "good book", by pointing to something more consistent with the usual spin that's been put on current religious mythology.
Archaeologists and anthropologists have uncovered proof that early civilizations produced numerous codes of ethics predating those of modern religions. The Code of Hammurabi, which was discovered in Persia in 1901, predates by hundreds of years the oldest known code at that time, the Book of the Covenant of the Old Testament. Hammurabi ascended the Babylonian throne around 2250 BCE, and, showing a conciliatory attitude to the numerous gods worshipped by his subjects in various states under his control, described himself in the code's prologue as "of the seed royal which Sin begat", referring to the moon-god Sin, the creator-god of that time and region. But it was the Sun-god, Shamash, whose figure was carved into the stone and from whom King Hammurabi said he received the law codes which administered a uniform justice throughout his realm. His proclaimed goal of justice and a noteworthy consideration for the rights of women throughout Hammurabi's Code sets it apart from the later Hebrew codes upon which Judaism and Christianity were founded.
In 1952 an even older law code was discovered in Mesopatamia. King Ur-Nammu, who lived 300 years before Hammurabi, enacted social reforms to protect orphans, widows and the poor into his code, stressing restitution to the victim as much as punishment for the perpetrator. The remarkable similarities of the Ur-Nammu and Hammarabi codes to the style and legislation incorporated in the much more recent Hebrew code shows without question that the biblical code was appropriated from the earlier ones and was no more inspired by gods than those were. This is indisputable proof that human beings considered ethics and family values of importance long before religionists started telling us how much we lack them. It is self-serving theists who are responsible for the stereotype that family values are practiced only by those of religious belief. How better to discourage a wavering believer than to paint all nonbelievers with the label of immorality?
As an atheist mother with real family values. . . as opposed to the phony variety often paraded for public consumption. . . I resent it. Because my ethics came about as a result of my experiences and my evolution into a rational and emotional human being, I take responsibility for my actions seriously, as most atheists do. Unlike religious people, whose morality is founded upon a fear-based system of punishment for doing wrong, and for whom do's and don'ts are doled out by other human beings as the absolute word of an unknowable god, we have to accept responsibility for making the right decisions, and accept the consequences. There is nowhere else to pass the buck. I realized long ago that acting compassionately towards other people and other species, because I choose to do so, is the highest form of ethical behavior; it is doing the right thing solely based on the belief that it is right, as opposed to being good because you are afraid of punishment or hopeful of reward in some mythical hereafter.
It's common to hear that we would all be running around murdering one another without the carrot-and-stick approach embodied in religion, but there's absolutely no proof for it. In fact, non-religious societies have much lower crime rates than the United States, one of the most overtly religious countries in the world. Over 150 years ago, Charles Darwin recognized that there are, and probably always will be, individuals not fully evolved mentally, morally and socially, but he believed they ought to be handled with scientific knowledge and understanding rather than promises of rewards in the bye-and-bye. He believed that the family, and by extension, community, state, nation and in fact, civilization itself, can survive only if mutual aid and cooperation result in the development of feelings such as sympathy, obligation, and conscience, which arise from our experiences. Those feelings are just as natural, simple, fundamental and original in humans as are hunger and the need for warmth.
Darwin not only granted the supremacy of conscience, but he accounted for its purely naturalistic origin. How preferable that is to being told that we are helpless to control our dark urges unless we submit to an unseen and unknowable fantasy! Ironically, theists accuse atheists of having no hope, but it is they whose dark view of humanity preaches an inability to live ethically unless we harbor a fear of supernatural intervention.
Had god-belief and dogma not gotten in the way of giving everyone a real foundation for ethical conduct, our world would be a more peaceful one. No one can convince me that we have evolved to appreciate beautiful art, a gorgeous sunset, or a stirring piece of music, to feel love for a child, a parent, a partner, or a kitten, to use our curiosity and our knowledge to cure disease and to explore our world and beyond, but we are incapable of using human intellect and emotions to govern our actions and relate compassionately to one another. I believe that each of us must take responsibility for showing, through our own behavior, how to be ethical in dealing with one another, not out of fear of punishment or hope of reward, but because it is our only hope for a better life for all of us, and by extension, the Earth, our home, and all its inhabitants.
References:
"Records of the Past", Vol. IV, Part IV, April 1905
"The Seven Mighty Blows to Traditional Beliefs", by A.J. Matill, Jr., 1995
"Descent of Man, Charles Darwin", 1874
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THE GOLDEN RULE(S)
There's a common misconception that the so-called Golden Rule is a Christian ethic, but the reality is that it originated long before. . .
Do not to your neighbor what you would take ill from him.
- Pittacus, 650 BCE
Do not unto another that you would not have him do unto you. Thou needest this law alone. It is the foundation of all the rest.
- Confucius, 500 BCE
Avoid doing what you would blame others for doing.
- Thales, 464 BCE
What you wish your neighbors to be to you, be also to them.
- Sextus (Pythagorean), 406 BCE
We should conduct ourselves toward others as we would have them act toward us.
- Aristotle, 384 BCE
Cherish reciprocal benevolence, which will make you as anxious for another's welfare as your own.
- Aristippus of Cyrene, 365 BCE
Act toward others as you desire them to act toward you.
- Isocrates, 338 BCE
This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.
- Hinduism, 300 BCE
What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.
- Rabbi Hillel, 50 BCE
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
- Jesus of Nazareth, circa 30 CE
Editor's note.
An explanation from the Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Terms:
The Christian origin of the designation of years as "B.C." (Before Christ) and "A.D." (Anno Domini, Latin for "in the year of the Lord") has led some people to favor a less culturally specific designation.
"C.E." stands for "the Common Era," and "B.C.E." for "Before the Common Era." In practice, the terms are perfect synonyms for "B.C." and "A.D."
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ON THE OTHER HAND:
Religiosity stunningly defies rationality
- A shooting in a Ft. Worth, Texas church which left seven people dead re-opened the news story of the Columbine (Colorado) High School shootings last April. The Denver Post lost no time in interviewing the mother of a murdered Columbine student on September 16, who advised those who lost their children inside the church to hold on to their religious faith.
"I know it sounds crazy," she said, "but it is your faith in the Lord that is going to see you through this."
- In a related Denver Post story, a Christian counselor in Ft. Worth said that he expects there will be many people questioning why God would allow people to be killed as they stood in church, praying.
"There are no answers to that," he said. "The answers come in each person's experience."
- Ellen Gray, a columnist for the Knight Ridder newspaper chain, asked rhetorically if violence could happen where she lived, then answered:
"Of course, it could happen here. Horror happens everywhere. It does not, however, happen every day in every place, which may be God's way of making it possible for most of us to get through our lives without ending each day as a warm puddle of spit."
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IN THE NEWS. . .
- A September 5 news item datelined Ft. Worth, Texas reported that Southern Baptists asked their members to pray that Jews will convert to Christianity this month during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.
Reaction by some Jewish leaders was swift. "Baptists have a right to believe what they believe," said Mark Briskman, southwest regional director for the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. "But we find this offensive. It shows an element of arrogance because they are specifically targeting Jews during this holy season."
- Commenting in his September 26 column on Southern Baptists targeting Jews for conversion, Washington Post writer William Raspberry opined:
". . . this whole proselytizing thing is annoying. It's one thing for friends of different religious persuasions to exchange views and to try to bring one another around, quite another for those of one religion to target another as ignorant and lost and in need of conversion.
"But if they "know" that they are right, and that you are tragically, damnably wrong, just what are they supposed to do?"
That he could even ASK such a foolish question. . .
- Associated Press reported on August 29 that a group known as Jews for Jesus plans to build a $10 million theme park called Holy Land Experience on fifteen acres near Walt Disney World. Hoping that Jesus and John the Baptist can compete with Mickey Mouse and Goofy for tourist dollars, the attraction will re-create the land of Israel as it was after Jesus' death. Visitors will see replicas of Herod's Temple and the limestone caves of Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.
A replica of the Tabernacle, which biblical Jews built to house their god's presence, and a Garden Tomb, the spot where Jesus was said to have been buried after he was crucified, and then rose from the dead three days later, will be built. Actors dressed as biblical figures and quoting verses from the Bible will mix with tourists. Officials with Zion's Hope, the theme park owner and the local branch of Jews for Jesus, hope to open in the fall of 2000 and to attract 150,000 tourists annually.
One obvious question to ask is which verses from the Bible will be chosen for presentation? I think a good choice might be the story of Lot offering his two virgin daughters to a mob with sex on their minds in order to save the two visiting male angels. This could be most effectively performed while Mom, Dad and the kids. . . well, maybe not the daughters. . . enjoy the edifying morality tale in the bright Florida sunshine.
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HOW CAN YOU HAVE MORALS IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD?
by Zoom
I am asked this question quite frequently when people find out that I am an atheist. It is amazing that some people would follow "morals" and "ethics" because supposedly if they don't they consider themselves sinners. But they can't grasp that as a rational, reasoning individual, I choose to be moral and ethical because it is the right thing to do, not because I have been commanded to be this way. Anyone who accepts the command Do not kill without question, would just as easily accept the command Go kill without question.
"But you believe that we are nothing more than advanced animals, and the animal world is dog-eat-dog survival of the fittest; how can anything be considered right or wrong? Good or evil?"
In a dog-eat-dog world where might is right, survival of the fittest is indeed the rule: a cheetah could not hope to live very long if it took an antelope's feelings into consideration. The argument then, is not about survival of the fittest, but about the nature of different animals. As the arguer stated, we are ". . . nothing more than advanced animals." And after making that acknowledgement, he drops it from his argument.
We are indeed advanced animals. The key word here is advanced, not animals. In all of nature, man has reason as his primary means of survival. Free will is a feature found in only one of earth's animals: man (so far to be seen). Free will -- meaning that man has the ability to choose his own way -- is a uniquely human quality. We are not just animals responding to outside stimuli; we can choose our responses.
Free will is the basis of ethics. Free will is the basis of morality. Any morality not based on free will, is simply a commandment. A system of ethics based on "thou shalt" is not a rational one (based on reason). A system of ethics that puts the good of society over the good of the individual, is not an ethical system. As Ayn Rand puts it, ethics provides, "a code of values to guide man's choices and actions -- the choices and actions that determine the purpose and the course of his life." (Peikoff, 1993)
Because man has free will and the ability to choose, he can determine his own goals in life: he can determine which values (out of many) he will pursue. If there were no difference in the outcome of his actions, man would have no goals or values: no matter what he did, the results would be the same -- he would not be able to choose between alternatives. There is no good or evil -- no right or wrong -- when there isn't any choice but to do a thing.
The nature of man is the basis of an ethical system. Any system of ethics must address three basic questions:
- For what end should a man live?
- By what fundamental principle should he act in order to achieve this end?
- Who should profit from his actions? (Peikoff, 1993)
An ethical system based on the nature of man and the nature of reality, answers these questions with:
- The ultimate value is life.
- The primary virtue is rationality.
- The proper beneficiary is oneself. (Peikoff, 1993)
Man can choose between good and evil actions. But why should he? Why should he choose good actions over evil actions; doesn't it become a matter of perspective now? Good for whom?
The fundamental flaw working behind any survival of the fittest (might is right) philosophy (communism, socialism, and almost all religions), is that it is based on zero-sum. Meaning that all of the values in the world are limited (fixed at the current levels). Meaning that in any contest, there are winners and losers. And once again, they drop the key ingredient: the nature of man.
Man can create. Man can make new things where none previously existed. Man's life is not zero-sum unless he chooses it to be. A cheetah is not called evil because it kills in order to survive. A man who kills to survive is considered evil because he has a choice in his actions.
Everyone has the right to his or her own life. Choosing to initiate force against someone is evil. Everyone has a right to believe whatever he or she will. The "majority" has no right to determine what the "minority" will believe or think; no mob has any rights over any individual simply because they think or believe differently. Everyone has the right to keep what he or she earns or creates. No one has the right to what someone else has. This last point is what ethics and morality are all about.
The good is leaving people alone to live their own lives by their own efforts. To answer the question, how can I have morals if I don't believe in God, is simple: I choose to let others live their own lives according to their own wishes and desires. I have no right to tell anyone how to live or what goals and values to seek. I don't need any commandments to tell me these things; they are based on reality and the nature of man (reason), not revelation, superstition, or mysticism.
A system of ethics based on commandments is a fallacy, simply because you can still choose not to follow them.
References:
Leonard Piekoff, 1993, "Objectivism: The Philosophy of Any Rand"
Thanks to "Zoom" for submitting this essay. Please see submission info at the end of the Newsletter.
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ATTENTION: TEEN WRITERS WANTED!
The Atheist Outreach Newsletter is just a little over one year old. During that time, atheists have contacted us from all over the world. A growing number of them are teens, some as young as 14. All of us know from experience that it can be difficult to be a nonbeliever in a religious society. . . but it's even harder to be an atheist teen. Their voices, like ours, are seldom heard. For some time, I've been planning to launch a Young Atheist column in the Newsletter. This is an invitation to our teen members to submit their stories, their thoughts, their experiences. All submissions which are genuine and thoughtful will be considered. See submission info at the end of the Newsletter.
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UPCOMING KEN BURNS DOCUMENTARY
On November 7th and 8th, a four-hour Ken Burns' documentary, Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, will air on PBS stations around the country.
In early 1998, upon reading that a documentary was being filmed, I sent a letter to Burns, well-known documentarian of "Baseball" and "The Civil War", and asked if the filmmaker had the courage to paint a truthful portrait of the two women, most especially the outspoken Stanton, whose criticism of religion's terrible impact on women resulted in her tremendous contributions being downplayed in the history of women's suffrage. When the studio asked for quotes and references reflecting Stanton's attitudes towards religion, I was happy to oblige. I also contacted Annie Laurie Gaylor of Freedom From Religion Foundation, who sent the film company a copy of her ground-breaking book, "WOMEN WITHOUT SUPERSTITION, No Gods - No Masters", as well.
One of Stanton's quotes which interested the film company is this: "I have endeavored to dissipate these religious superstitions from the minds of women, and abase their faith on science and reason, where I found for myself at last that peace and comfort I could never find in the Bible and the church. . . The less they believe, the better for their own happiness and development. . . For fifty years the women of this nation have tried to dam up this deadly stream that poisons all their lives, but thus far they have lacked the insight or courage to follow it back to its source and there strike the blow at the fountain of all tyranny. . . religious superstition, priestly power and the canon law."
On November 7th, I'll be watching, hoping to see a fair depiction of these women's attitudes towards religion, instead of the usual religious correctness. Please note the two dates on your calendar, watch it, and send any comments you might have. More in an upcoming issue. . .
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QUOTABLE. . .
- "The most moral people in the world are those who act selflessly without promise of reward or threat of punishment in the hereafter."
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, Free Inquiry Magazine, Summer 1999
- "One of the things about morals is that they're always declining. I can't think of any time in the history of at least the 20th century, probably longer, when anybody has talked about a period of increasing and improving morals. It's in the nature of morals to decline."
Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses", when asked by Mother Jones magazine whether the aspirations to be "famous" of a large percentage of high school students in a documentary could be attributed to "a decline in our morals".
- "Most people find the source of moral authority in their religions, but I don't. That's because there would be multiple authorities, many of them in conflict and most of them biased. . . I find the source of moral authority in the lessons of history -- the principles that arise out of the mass of good choices, bad ones and all the rest in between. . . History is written by a multitude of narrators, most of them in conflict and all of them biased. But at least we don't see them as authorities -- or shouldn't, anyway. This is one of the reasons that a study of world history from diverse sources is so important for young people. Not only do we learn from the mistakes of others, but we also learn that it is wiser to enthrone and follow principles than it is to enthrone and follow people."
Columnist Marilyn Vos Savant, listed in the "Guiness Book of World Records" Hall of Fame for "Highest IQ".
- "Much of our moral freedom is good; it is pleasant to be relieved of theological terrors, to enjoy without qualm the pleasures that harm neither others or ourselves."
Will Durant, The Lessons of History
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FOR THE RECORD . . .
- The June 17 New York Times reported this political conversation:
In a speech, Tom DeLay, R-Texas, House majority whip, said: "Our school systems teach the children that they are nothing but glorified apes who are evolutionized out of some primordial soup of mud."
To which Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, commented: "I know we've had a lot of discussion about what was causing the (Littleton) problems here but I just heard the majority whip say it was Charles Darwin's fault."
- An interview with Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura in the November issue of Playboy magazine includes this:
"Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business."
And this: "I witnessed many instances of so-called religious leaders zealously marketing their beliefs to people too uneducated to comprehend what they were talking about and too poor to afford the money they were being asked to hand over." Later in the interview, he added, "I haven't started any wars throughout time. Has religion?"
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IN THE MUSE . . .
The Freeman's Resolution
by William F. Denton (1823-1883)
I will not bow to a titled knave,
Nor crouch to a lordly priest:
A martyr's torments I'd rather brave,
Than be of my manhood fleeced.
I'll bend my knee to no fancied god,
I'll fear no ghost so wan,
Erect and free I'll stand on the sod,
And act as becomes a man.
I'll pin my faith to no bigot's sleeve;
I'll swallow no griping creed;
I'll ask my Reason what to believe,
And ever her answer heed.
I'll hide no truth in a coward heart,
The world would be blest to know;
My boldest thought as it wills impart,
Nor check the mind's onward flow.
I'll love the true, I will do the right,
Ruled only by Reason's sway,
Let all do so; and the world's dark night
Will melt into rosy day.
(Published 1879)
Here's an old favorite that reminds me of the Kansas Board of Education's decision:
The Monkey's Viewpoint
by Anonymous
Three monkeys sat in a cocoanut tree
Discussing things as they're said to be.
Said one to the others, "Now listen, you two,
There's a certain rumor that can't be true.
That man descends from our noble race. . .
The very idea is a disgrace.
No monkey ever deserted his wife,
Starved her babies and ruined her life,
And you've never known a mother monk
To leave her babies with others to bunk,
Or pass them on from one to another
'Til they scarcely know who is their mother.
And another thing you'll never see. . .
A monk build a fence 'round a cocoanut tree
And let the cocoanuts go to waste,
Forbidding all other monks a taste;
Why, if I'd put a fence around the tree,
Starvation would force you to steal from me.
Here's another thing a monk won't do. . .
Go out at night and get on a stew,
Or use a gun or club or knife
To take some other monkey's life,
Yes, Man descended. . . the ornery cuss. . .
But, brother, he didn't descend from us!"
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LETTERS:
- Regarding that infamous decision on teaching evolution, August Berkshire of Minnesota Atheists writes:
"This week the Kansas State Board of Education announced that the state's public schools are Y1K ready."
- A reader who was less than impressed with the Summer '99 issue of the AO newsletter writes:
"I don't understand your approach, this looks like just so much nit picking garbage. Discussing things from the bible, just gives this book of folk tales more credibility. There are no supernaturals, never were any, and never will be any. The real issues center around how people in this day and age can be so easily programmed for such nonsense, what damage folk religions are doing to the planet and future generations of life on the planet, what could be substituted for the various folk religions, etc. . . "
- Thanks to a subscriber who expressed a different view:
"Thank you, thank you thank you!!!! Your Newsletter #4 (my first) was wonderful reading! . . . I printed the newsletter so my 15 year old son could read it. I want him to grow up more informed than I did, and less confused. . . Please keep those newsletters coming! I will go to your bookshop and look for Ingersoll books."
- A visitor to the AAI Web Center writes:
"I have obtained the habit of crossing the offending phrase "in god we trust" off all my cash. I figure that if enough people jump on the bandwagon, maybe our combined voices will be heard and the unjust abomination will be removed from our dough for good. Personally, I even grind it off my coins with a dremel tool. Please join me in this crusade and tell all of your friends. Maybe we can do some good."
The editor replies:
"I have a stamp that says "IN US WE TRUST", which I stamp over the in-god phrase on dollar bills and on envelopes I send out, and a stamp which says "Atheist Money" for use on paper currency and all checks I write. I haven't gone so far as to grind the offensive phrase off of coins yet, but good for you . . . "
Thanks to those who took the time to write. Your comments about the newsletter are encouraged, and if you have any thoughts about how we atheists can survive and thrive in a seemingly irrational world, please let us hear them.
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SPOTLIGHT ON AAI MEMBER SOCIETIES:
Atheists of Florida, by Ed Golly, President
Founded in 1992 as a nonprofit Florida corporation, Atheists of Florida, has four chapters at present. The organization came about as a result of the closure of American Atheists chapters in 1991. Both Tampa and Miami had active chapters which wanted to continue to be involved in state/church separation issues. Former Miami chapter director Christos Tzanetakos founded Atheists of Florida and we immediately incorporated the Tampa Bay chapter.
We are a democratically-operated organization. Our bylaws specify a Board of 18 directors which we elect for 3-year terms. The directors elect a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer who govern all chapters.
In 1993, we began production of the Atheists of Florida Forum, a cable tv public access video series which discusses all aspects of the atheist lifestyle and state/church separation issues in sixty 30-minute segments. The series was archived by the Tampa cable system which continues to run the series several years after completion of all production. The series won two awards at the Sunshine Cable TV ceremony.
Shortly after the inception of Atheists of Florida, the Mark Twain Scholarship Fund was formed. The fund holds an annual essay contest open to college-level students throughout Florida, and thanks to the internet, we now receive applications from students around the nation. The Board of three reviews all submissions independently and will distribute awards this year as follows: First and second place, $500.00, third and fourth place, $300.00. The winning essays are then printed in the Atheists of Florida newsletter and the applicants receive a complimentary one-year subscription to the newsletter.
For several years Atheists of Florida has maintained a table at the Elm Street Flea Market, an open market at the University of South Florida. Our table has also appeared at the Greater Tampa Bay Pride Fest, Circus McGerkis, a people's fair in St. Petersburg, and in November, we participate in the Miami Book Fair International. These forums provide excellent opportunities to mingle with the public and expand our mailing list and membership. For example, we don't hand out a free newsletter, rather we take the address of the person and mail them the next three issues. Then we ask them to join by personal letter. We also offer a discounted membership for the event day only.
Our newsletter is expanding from eight to ten pages. The entire production is done in house on our own copier. Our current production run is 350 issues.
Upcoming challenges include a so-called interfaith chapel illegally constructed at the Tampa International Airport which we will likely challenge in court as a state constitutional violation. Atheists of Florida is currently attempting to develop a chapter in Orlando. Future target cities include Ft. Myers and Jacksonville. It all takes time and energy, and with no paid employees, that's not easy.
-Ed Golly
Tampa Bay Chapter
Palm Beach Chapter
Dade and Broward counties
Editor's note:
Atheists of Florida Chairman Alfred E. Lyngzeidetson, a Professor of Psychology and Religion, wrote this in an article for the Winter '95/'96 issue of Free Inquiry. It's worth reprinting:
". . . we must repeatedly stress that a humanist life view is a thoroughly liberating experience, whereas the Christian obsession with a fixed system of values and a fixed direction in life leads to a rigid, stagnating, and psychologically stifling existence. This is so, because theirs is an existence that promotes an outlook that is unhealthy and self-defeating, by depriving the individual of the very things necessary for a full and worthwhile life: the ability to adapt to dynamic and changing conditions; the willingness to redefine and re-evaluate what one is and ought to be in the light of changing circumstances; and the capacity for accepting the complexity and uncertainties of life as a positive antidote to tedium, boredom, and stagnation."
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ATHEIST ALLIANCE NEWS:
The Real Y2K Problem: Catering To Religion Threatens Social Stability
(June 3, 1999 - Commentary released to the Media, by AAI President Marie Castle)
Election year 2000 is at hand and in the spirit of the millennium. The presidential candidates of the major parties have got religion. This is not good news. If this thing sells, Y2K may herald the advent of a social disaster never envisioned by the voters. After all, religion in the abstract has such a warm fuzzy feel. But, as we atheists like to say, the devil is in the dogmas.
Perhaps this religion is a side effect of prosperity. The dearth of economic issues leaves political hopefuls scrambling for something to promise. Clinton's alley-cat behavior and the ongoing school shootings are apparently the best our politicians can come up with on which to hang a campaign. So they've hung theirs on "religious values". This in a nation already awash like no other in religiosity -- but whoever said election campaigns have to be based on reality?) We hear in nearly every speech how lacking we are in these values and how the speaker, if elected, will return us to those good old days of moral rectitude. (Those were also the days when a President's sexual behavior was kept secret and kids didn't have ready access to guns.)
As to what will reinstate those old-time values, there is little agreement except that government must be involved to provide the necessary validation, de facto coercion and -- most importantly -- funding. The Republicans (George W. Bush, Elizabeth Dole, Dan Quayle, Pat Buchanan, et al) favor the "commandment" approach: Thou shalt not have an abortion or same-sex relationships or meaningful sex education . . . the list goes on. Thou shalt use public schools for public prayer and proselytizing and teaching creationism . . . this list goes on too.
The Democrats (Al Gore and Bill Bradley) favor the "permissive" approach of welcoming values-teaching religion into the public social services arena. Although they reject the "thou shalt nots" of the Republicans, they see no problem with accommodating the "thou shalts".
While Bradley is vague on this, Gore is not. In a May 28 speech to religion reporters he urged government partnership with "faith-based organizations". He also showed a narrow-minded disdain for those of us in reason-based organizations who are on the "none of the above" end of the religious spectrum by referring to non-religious values as "hollow secularism," as though religious beliefs and rituals are necessary to validate human-centered activities.
There is nothing "hollow" about the immense contributions nonbelieving secularists have made to science, education, social welfare and human rights. Religion-free human values were quite sufficient for: Florence Nightingale (professionalized nursing), Jane Addams (founded the settlement house system and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931), Stephen Girard (established the first free college for orphans in the U.S.), Andrew Carnegie (endowed our public library system), Eugene V. Debs (fought for workers' rights), Clarence Darrow (legal defender of labor and constitutional rights), Jean Henri Dunant (organized the International Red Cross), James Smithson (founded the Smithsonian Institution), Frances Wright (first person to buy slaves for the sole purpose of freeing them), Marie and Pierre Curie (discovered radium), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (early feminist leader), Margaret Sanger (fought for women's right to use birth control), Charles Lindbergh (aviation pioneer), James Lick (financed the Lick Observatory), John Dewey (educator), and Helen Keller (blind-deaf writer).
The Real Y2K Problem
The bipartisan dismissal of secularism is only part of the problem a religion-saturated Y2K may generate. Unlike religion-free values, religious values come with strings attached. Bringing religion into government means taxpayer support for whatever values-promoting activities are carried out. It means religions need not hide their "mission". It means they are free to proselytize on government time and with taxpayer money. It means religions will be scrambling to dip into the huge, bottomless government pot of gold. It means horrendous political pressure for legislation favorable to one or the other religious institutions as they strive for dominance and the financial and political power it brings.
Finally, it means the end of the First Amendment, our nation's primary means of maintaining religious peace. Destroying the prohibition against an establishment of religion ultimately destroys the free exercise of religion. The politically dominant religion(s) will see to that. They always have. They do now. They always will.
We may come to understand too late that religious values, which sound nice as a general term, are not common values at all when spelled out. Nothing is more divisive than religion. Values beloved by one are abhorred by another. As each religion tries to advance its own agenda through political pressure, our descent into a religious free-for-all and "us vs. them" mentality will accelerate. We may realize too late what Pres. James Madison meant when he wrote in an 1803 letter objecting to using government land for churches: "The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries."
This and other news releases can be found on Atheist Alliance's Information Retrieval section.
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A Letter from Joe Zemel, President of Atheist Outreach
Atheist Outreach is one of the fastest-growing atheist groups in the world. Our primary goals are to start new Atheist Alliance member societies where there currently are none, and to connect atheists with existing organizations nearby.
To further this goal, please contact me at info@atheistalliance.org and let me know if you are willing to help start an atheist group in your area. We can assist in finding potential members through the Internet, as well as advertising your new group in the AO newsletter. Suggesting activities to attract members, as well as assisting in various aspects of organizing, such as bylaws, etc., are some of the ways we can help, and there are no dues for any organization to join Atheist Alliance. If you're willing to get involved in starting a new group, we'd be pleased to hear from you.
Please don't forget to visit our redesigned Web Center, which now includes the fully indexed Freethought And Atheist Bookshelf, allowing you to browse, read reviews and purchase a wide variety of related books. Also updated is the Atheism On The Internet page, which has grown to more than 300 links, ranging from atheist resources to humor, merchandise, and much more. See http://www.AtheistAlliance.org/
Rates for Secular Nation, the quarterly magazine of Atheist Alliance, are $20.00 per year, $38.00 for two years and $53.00 for three years. Seehttp://www.AtheistAlliance.org/secular/ for details on how to subscribe.
Support non-prophet organizations! Financial support is vital. AAI and its member societies are run by volunteers, but there are expenses in helping new groups get started, undertaking atheist projects, handling correspondence through postal and electronic mail, and hosting a web site, for example. If you'd like to help, please mail donation to:
Atheist Outreach
c/o Jim Cox
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575
With reason,
Joe Zemel, President
info@atheistalliance.org
Atheist Outreach, a member organization of the Atheist Alliance
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ABOUT THE ATHEIST OUTREACH NEWSLETTER:
Unless otherwise noted, all contents of the Atheist Outreach newsletter are written by Sandra Feroe (slferoe@aol.com).
Atheist Outreach officers are:
Joe Zemel, President/webmaster
Sandra Feroe, Vice President/Newsletter writer-Editor
Jim Cox, Secretary-Treasurer
Dave Feroe is Atheist Alliance/Atheist Outreach web designer.
Atheist Outreach Newsletter is an online publication of Atheist Outreach, a member organization of Atheist Alliance, Inc. We are volunteers whose goals are to promote issues concerning separation of state and church, provide a means for atheists around the world to communicate with each other, and support the aims and purposes of the Atheist Alliance and its member societies.
Membership in Atheist Outreach is free. Simply send your name and email address to AtheistOutreach@atheistalliance.org. Should you prefer not to receive future issues, send an "unsubscribe" message to the above address.
All newsletter subscribers have permission to utilize the articles on thematically-appropriate internet discussion groups, websites and organizational newsletters. Always give credit to Atheist Outreach when doing so. We would appreciate your citing the Atheist Outreach Web address (below), although this is not required.
Submissions reflecting an atheist point of view are invited. Submissions by young atheists through high school are solicited for a Teen Atheists column. All other atheists college-age and up are encouraged to submit their thoughts as well. Send to slferoe@aol.com.
Sandra Feroe, Editor
Visit Atheist Outreach at http://www.atheistalliance.org
"A free mind in a free society can still make mistakes, but those errors will never be canonized."
- Jim Cox, AAI Vice President/AO Secy/Treasurer
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