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From ai815@freenet.carleton.caMon Aug 21 11:10:57 1995
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 1995 05:19:52 -0400
From: Greg Erwin <ai815@freenet.carleton.ca>
To: kris.taylor@smorgasboard.org, lloydk@teleport.com, gerryu@delphi.com
Subject: August 1995 Nullifidian
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*The*E-Zine*of*Atheistic*Secular*Humanism*and*Freethought**
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###### Volume II, Number 8 ***A Collector's Item!***#####
################### ISSN 1201-0111 #######################
####################### AUG 1995 ###########################
nullifidian, n. & a. (Person) having no religious faith or
belief. [f. med. L _nullifidius_ f. L _nullus_ none +
_fides_ faith; see -IAN] Concise Oxford Dictionary
The purpose of this magazine is to provide a source of
articles dealing with many aspects of humanism.
We are ATHEISTIC as we do not believe in the actual
existence of any supernatural beings or any transcendental
reality.
We are SECULAR because the evidence of history and the daily
horrors in the news show the pernicious and destructive
consequences of allowing religions to be involved with
politics or government.
We are HUMANISTS and we focus on what is good for humanity,
in the real world. We will not be put off with offers of
pie in the sky, bye and bye.
Re: navigation.
Search for BEG to find the beginning of the next article.
Search for the first few words of the title as given in the
table of contents to find a specific article. I try to
remember to copy the title from the text and then paste it
into the ToC, so it should be exact. Search for "crass
commercialism:" to see what's for sale. Subscription
information, etc is at the end of the magazine, search for
END OF TEXTS.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. THE DIVIDED HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH. R.G. Ingersoll
2. The Harm Caused by Religion -- annotated bibliography
compiled by Wendell Watters, MD.
3. Infomercial and Poem, (Anti-creationist materials
from Dennis L. Matson)
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|| BEGINNING OF ARTICLE ||
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29 page printout
Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
**** ****
THE DIVIDED HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH.
1888
"Let determined things to destiny hold unbewailed their
way."
There is a continual effort in the mind of man to find
the harmony that he knows must exist between all known
facts. It is hard for the scientist to implicitly believe
anything that he suspects to be inconsistent with a known
fact. He feels that every fact is a key to many mysteries --
that every fact is a detective, not only, but a perpetual
witness. He knows that a fact has a countless number of
sides, and that all these sides will match all other facts,
and he also suspects that to understand one fact perfectly
-- like the fact of the attraction of gravitation -- would
involve a knowledge of the universe.
It requires not only candor, but courage, to accept a
fact. When a new fact is found -- it is generally denied,
resisted, and calumniated by the conservatives until denial
becomes absurd, and then they accept it with the statement
that they always supposed it was true.
The old is the ignorant enemy of the new. The old has
pedigree and respectability; it is filled with the spirit of
caste; it is associated with great events, and with great
names; it is entrenched; it has an income -- it represents
property. Besides, it has parasites, and the parasites
always defend themselves,
Long ago frightened wretches who had by tyranny or
piracy amassed great fortunes, were induced in the moment of
death to compromise with God and to let their money fall
from their stiffening hands into the greedy palms of
priests. In this way many theological seminaries were
endowed, and in this way prejudices, mistakes, absurdities,
known as religious truths, have been perpetuated. In this
way the dead hypocrites have propagated and supported their
kind.
Most religions -- no matter how honestly they
originated -- have been established by brute force. Kings
and nobles have used them as a means to enslave, to degrade
and rob. The priest, consciously and unconsciously, has been
the betrayer of his followers.
Near Chicago there is an ox that betrays his fellows.
Cattle -- twenty or thirty at a time -- are driven to the
place of slaughter. This ox leads the way -- the others
follow. When the place is reached, this Bishop Dupanloup
turns and goes back for other victims.
This is the worst side: There is a better.
Honest men, believing that they have found the whole
truth -- the real and only faith -- filled with enthusiasm,
give all for the purpose of propagating the "divine creed."
They found colleges and universities, and in perfect, pious,
ignorant sincerity, provide that the creed, and nothing but
the creed, must be taught, and that if any professor teaches
anything contrary to that, he must be instantly dismissed --
that is to say, the children must be beaten with the bones
of the dead.
These good religious souls erect guide-boards with a
provision to the effect that the guide-boards must remain,
whether the roads are changed or not, and with the further
provision that the professors who keep and repair the
guide-boards must always insist that the roads have not been
changed.
There is still another side.
Professors do not wish to lose their salaries. They
love their families and have some regard for themselves.
There is a compromise between their bread and their brain.
On pay-day they believe -- at other times they have their
doubts, They settle with their own consciences by giving old
words new meanings. They take refuge in allegory, hide
behind parables, and barricade themselves with oriental
imagery. They give to the most frightful passages a
spiritual meaning -- and while they teach the old creed to
their followers, they speak a new philosophy to their
equals.
There is still another side.
A vast number of clergymen and laymen are perfectly
satisfied. They have no doubts. They believe as their
fathers and mothers did. The "scheme of salvation" suits
them because they are satisfied that they are embraced
within its terms. They give themselves no trouble. They
believe because they do not understand. They have no doubts
because they do not think. They regard doubt as a thorn in
the pillow of orthodox slumber. Their souls are asleep, and
they hate only those who disturb their dreams. These people
keep their creeds for future use. They intend to have them
ready at the moment of dissolution. They sustain about the
same relation to daily life that the small boats carried by
steamers do to ordinary navigation -- they are for the
moment of shipwreck. Creeds, like life- preservers, are to
be used in disaster.
We must also remember that everything in nature -- bad
as well as good -- has the instinct of self-preservation.
All lies go armed, and all mistakes carry concealed weapons.
Driven to the last corner, even non-resistance appeals to
the dagger.
Vast interests -- political, social, artistic, and
individual -- are interwoven with all creeds. Thousands of
millions of dollars have been invested; many millions of
people obtain their bread by the propagation and support of
certain religious doctrines, and many millions have been
educated for that purpose and for that alone. Nothing is
more natural than that they should defend themselves -- that
they should cling to a creed that gives them roof and
raiment.
Only a few years ago Christianity was a complete
system. It included and accounted for all phenomena; it was
a philosophy satisfactory to the ignorant world; it had an
astronomy and geology of its own; it answered all questions
with the same readiness and the same inaccuracy; it had
within its sacred volumes the history of the past, and the
prophecies of all the future; it pretended to know all that
was, is, or ever will be necessary for the well-being of the
human race, here and hereafter,
When a religion has been founded, the founder admitted
the truth of everything that was generally believed that did
not interfere with his system. Imposture always has a
definite end in view, and for the sake of the accomplishment
of that end, it will admit the truth of anything and
everything that does not endanger its success.
The writers of all sacred books -- the inspired
prophets -- had no reason for disagreeing with the common
people about the origin of things, the creation of the
world, the rising and setting of the sun, and the uses of
the stars, and consequently the sacred books of all ages
have indorsed the belief general at the time. You will find
in our sacred books the astronomy, the geology, the
philosophy and the morality of the ancient barbarians. The
religionist takes these general ideas as his foundation, and
upon them builds the supernatural structure. For many
centuries the astronomy, geology, philosophy and morality of
our Bible were accepted. They were not questioned, for the
reason that the world was too ignorant to question.
A few centuries ago the art of printing was invented. A
new world was discovered. There was a complete revolution in
commerce. The arts were born again. The world was filled
with adventure; millions became self-reliant; old ideas were
abandoned -- old theories were put aside -- and suddenly,
the old leaders of thought were found to be ignorant,
shallow and dishonest. The literature of the classic world
was discovered and translated into modern languages. The
world was circumnavigated; Copernicus discovered the true
relation sustained by our earth to the solar system, and
about the beginning of the seventeenth century many other
wonderful discoveries were made. In 1609, a Hollander found
that two lenses placed in a certain relation to each other
magnified objects seen through them. This discovery was the
foundation of astronomy. In a little while it came to the
knowledge of Galileo; the result was a telescope, with
which man has read the volume of the skies.
On the 8th day of May, 1618, Kepler discovered the
greatest of his three laws. These were the first great blows
struck for the enfranchisement of the human mind. A few
began to suspect that the ancient Hebrews were not
astronomers. From that moment the church became the enemy of
science. In every possible way the inspired ignorance was
defended -- the lash, the sword, the chain, the fagot and
the dungeon were the arguments used by the infuriated
church.
To such an extent was the church prejudiced against the
new philosophy, against the new facts, that priests refused
to look through the telescope of Galileo.
At last it became evident to the intelligent world that
the inspired writings, literally translated, did not contain
the truth -- the Bible was in danger of being driven from
the heavens.
The church also had its geology. The time when the
earth was created had been definitely fixed and was
certainly known. This fact had not only been stated by
inspired writers, but their statement had been indorsed by
priests, by bishops, cardinals, popes and ecumenical
councils; that was settled.
But a few men had learned the art of seeing. There were
some eyes not always closed in prayer. They looked at the
things about them; they observed channels that had been worn
in solid rock by streams; they Saw the vast territories that
had been deposited by rivers; their attention was called to
the slow inroads upon continents by seas -- to the deposits
by volcanoes -- to the sedimentary rocks -- to the vast
reefs that had been built by the coral, and to the countless
evidences of age, of the lapse of time -- and finally it was
demonstrated that this earth had been pursuing its course
about the sun for millions and millions of ages.
The church disputed every step, denied every fact,
resorted to every device that cunning could suggest or
ingenuity execute, but the conflict could not be maintained.
The Bible, so far as geology was concerned, was in danger of
being driven from the earth.
Beaten in the open field, the church began to
equivocate, to evade, and to give new meanings to inspired
words. Finally, falsehood having failed to harmonize the
guesses of barbarians with the discoveries of genius, the
leading churchmen suggested that the Bible was not written
to teach astronomy, was not written to teach geology, and
that it was not a scientific book, but that it was written
in the language of the people, and that as to unimportant
things it contained the general beliefs of its time.
The ground was then taken that, while it was not
inspired in its science, it was inspired in its morality, in
its prophecy, in its account of the miraculous, in the
scheme of salvation, and in all that it had to say on the
subject of religion.
The moment it was suggested that the Bible was not
inspired in everything within its lids, the seeds of
suspicion were sown. The priest became less arrogant. The
church was forced to explain. The pulpit had one language
for the faithful and another for the philosophical, i.e., it
became dishonest with both.
The next question that arose was as to the origin of
man.
The Bible was being driven from the skies. The
testimony of the stars was against the sacred volume. The
church had also been forced to admit that the world was not
created at the time mentioned in the Bible -- so that the
very stones of the earth rose and united with the stars in
giving testimony against the sacred volume.
As to the creation of the world, the church resorted to
the artifice of saying that "days" in reality meant long
periods of time; so that no matter how old the earth was,
the time could be spanned by six periods -- in other words,
that the years could not be too numerous to be divided by
six.
But when it came to the creation of man, this evasion,
or artifice, was impossible. The Bible gives the date of the
creation of man, because it gives the age at which the first
man died, and then it gives the generations from Adam to the
flood, and from the flood to the birth of Christ, and in
many instances the actual age of the principal ancestor is
given. So that, according to this account -- according to
the inspired figures -- man has existed upon the earth only
about six thousand years. There is no room left for any
people beyond Adam.
If the Bible is true, certainly Adam was the first man;
consequently, we know, if the sacred volume be true, just
how long man has lived and labored and suffered on this
earth.
The church cannot and dare not give up the account of
the creation of Adam from the dust of the earth, and of Eve
from the rib of the man. The church cannot give up the story
of the Garden of Eden -- the serpent -- the fall and the
expulsion; these must be defended because they are vital.
Without these absurdities, the system known as Christianity
cannot exist. Without the fall, the atonement is a non
sequitur. Facts bearing upon these questions were discovered
and discussed by the greatest and most thoughtful of men.
Lamarck, Humboldt, Haeckel, and above all, Darwin, not only
asserted, but demonstrated, that man is not a special
creation. If anything can be established by observation, by
reason, then the fact has been established that man is
related to all life below him -- that he has been slowly
produced through countless years -- that the story of Eden
is a childish myth -- that the fall of man is an infinite
absurdity.
If anything can be established by analogy and reason,
man has existed upon the earth for many millions of ages. We
know now, if we know anything, that people not only existed
before Adam, but that they existed in a highly civilized
state; that thousands of years before the Garden of Eden was
planted men communicated to each other their ideas by
language, and that artists clothed the marble with thoughts
and passions.
This is a demonstration that the origin of man given in
the Old Testament is untrue -- that the account was written
by the ignorance, the prejudice and the egotism of the olden
time.
So, if anything outside of the senses can be known, we
do know that civilization is a growth -- that man did not
commence a perfect being, and then degenerate, but that from
small beginnings he has slowly risen to the intellectual
height he now occupies.
The church, however, has not been willing to accept
these truths, because they contradict the sacred word. Some
of the most ingenious of the clergy have been endeavoring
for years to show that there is no conflict -- that the
account in Genesis is in perfect harmony with the theories
of Charles Darwin, and these clergymen in some way manage to
retain their creed and to accept a philosophy that utterly
destroys it.
But in a few years the Christian world will be forced
to admit that the Bible is not inspired in its astronomy, in
its geology, or in its anthropology -- that is to say, that
the inspired writers knew nothing of the sciences, knew
nothing of the origin of the earth, nothing of the origin of
man -- in other words, nothing of any particular value to
the human race.
It is, however, still insisted that the Bible is
inspired in its morality. Let us examine this question.
We must admit, if we know anything, if we feel
anything, if conscience is more than a word, if there is
such a thing as right and such a thing as wrong beneath the
dome of heaven -- we must admit that slavery is immoral. If
we are honest, we must also admit that the Old Testament
upholds slavery. It will be cheerfully admitted that Jehovah
was opposed to the enslavement of one Hebrew by another.
Christians may quote the commandment "Thou shalt not steal"
as being opposed to human slavery, but after that
commandment was given, Jehovah himself told his chosen
people that they might "buy their bondmen and bondwomen of
the heathen round about, and that they should be their
bondmen and their bondwomen forever." So all that Jehovah
meant by the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" was that one
Hebrew should not steal from another Hebrew, but that all
Hebrews might steal from the people of any other race or
creed.
It is perfectly apparent that the Ten Commandments were
made only for the Jews, not for the world, because the
author of these commandments commanded the people to whom
they were given to violate them nearly all as against the
surrounding people.
A few years ago it did not occur to the Christian world
that slavery was wrong. It was upheld by the church.
Ministers bought and sold the very people for whom they
declared that Christ had died. Clergymen of the English
church owned stock in slave-ships, and the man who denounced
slavery was regarded as the enemy of morality, and thereupon
was duly mobbed by the followers of Jesus Christ. Churches
were built with the results of labor stolen from colored
Christians. Babes were sold from mothers and a part of the
money given to send missionaries from America to heathen
lands with the tidings of great joy. Now every intelligent
man on the earth, every decent man, holds in abhorrence the
institution of human slavery.
So with the institution of polygamy. If anything on the
earth is immoral, that is. If there is anything calculated
to destroy home, to do away with human love, to blot out the
idea of family life, to cover the hearthstone with serpents,
it is the institution of polygamy. The Jehovah of the Old
Testament was a believer in that institution.
Can we now say that the Bible is inspired in its
morality? Consider for a moment the manner in which, under
the direction of Jehovah, wars were waged. Remember the
atrocities that were committed. Think of a war where
everything was the food of the sword. Think for a moment of
a deity capable of committing the crimes that are described
and gloated over in the Old Testament. The civilized man has
outgrown the sacred cruelties and absurdities.
There is still another side to this question.
A few centuries ago nothing was more natural than the
unnatural. Miracles were as plentiful as actual events. In
those blessed days, that which actually occurred was not
regarded of sufficient importance to be recorded. A religion
without miracles would have excited derision. A creed that
did not fill the horizon -- that did not account for
everything -- that could not answer every question, would
have been regarded as worthless.
After the birth of Protestantism, it could not be
admitted by the leaders of the Reformation that the Catholic
Church still had the power of working miracles. If the
Catholic Church was still in partnership with God, what
excuse could have been made for the Reformation? The
Protestants took the ground that the age of miracles had
passed. This was to justify the new faith. But Protestants
could not say that miracles had never been performed,
because that would take the foundation not only from the
Catholics but from themselves; consequently they were
compelled to admit that miracles were performed in the
apostolic days, but to insist that, in their time, man must
rely upon the facts in nature. Protestants were compelled to
carry on two kinds of war; they had to contend with those
who insisted that miracles had never been performed; and in
that argument they were forced to insist upon the necessity
for miracles, on the probability that they were performed,
and upon the truthfulness of the apostles. A moment
afterward, they had to answer those who contended that
miracles were performed at that time; then they brought
forward against the Catholics the same arguments that their
first opponents had brought against them.
This has made every Protestant brain "a house divided
against itself." This planted in the Reformation the
irrepressible conflict."
But we have learned more and more about what we call
Nature -- about what we call facts. Slowly it dawned upon
the mind that force is indestructible -- that we cannot
imagine force as existing apart from matter -- that we
cannot even think of matter existing apart from force --
that we cannot by any possibility conceive of a cause
without an effect, of an effect without a cause, of an
effect that is not also a cause. We find no room between the
links of cause and effect for a miracle. We now perceive
that a miracle must be outside of Nature -- that it can have
no father, no mother -- that is to say, that it is an
impossibility.
The intellectual world has abandoned the miraculous.
Most ministers are now ashamed to defend a miracle. Some try
to explain miracles, and yet, if a miracle is explained, it
ceases to exist. Few congregations could keep from smiling
were the minister to seriously assert the truth of the Old
Testament miracles.
Miracles must be given up. That field must be abandoned
by the religious world. The evidence accumulates every day,
in every possible direction in which the human mind can
investigate, that the miraculous is simply the impossible.
Confidence in the eternal constancy of Nature increases
day by day. The scientist has perfect confidence in the
attraction of gravitation -- in chemical affinities -- in
the great fact of evolution, and feels absolutely certain
that the nature of things will remain forever the same.
We have at last ascertained that miracles can be
perfectly understood; that there is nothing mysterious about
them; that they are simply transparent falsehoods.
The real miracles are the facts in nature, No one can
explain the attraction of gravitation. No one knows why soil
and rain and light become the womb of life. No one knows why
grass grows, why water runs, or why the magnetic needle
points to the north, The facts in nature are the eternal and
the only mysteries. There is nothing strange about the
miracles of superstition, They are nothing but the mistakes
of ignorance and fear, or falsehoods framed by those who
wished to live on the labor of others.
In our time the champions of Christianity, for the most
part, take the exact ground occupied by the Deists. They
dare not defend in the open field the mistakes, the
cruelties, the immoralities and the absurdities of the
Bible. They shun the Garden of Eden as though the serpent
was still there. They have nothing to say about the fall of
man. They are silent as to the laws upholding slavery and
polygamy. They are ashamed to defend the miraculous. They
talk about these things to Sunday schools and to the elderly
members of their congregations; but when doing battle for
the faith, they misstate the position of their opponents and
then insist that there must be a God, and that the soul is
immortal.
We may admit the existence of an infinite Being; we may
admit the immortality of the soul, and yet deny the
inspiration of the Scriptures and the divine origin of the
Christian religion. These doctrines, or these dogmas, have
nothing in common. The pagan world believed in God and
taught the dogma of immortality. These ideas are far older
than Christianity, and they have been almost universal.
Christianity asserts more than this. It is based upon
the inspiration of the Bible, on the fall of man, on the
atonement, on the dogma of the Trinity, on the divinity of
Jesus Christ, on his resurrection from the dead, on his
ascension into heaven.
Christianity teaches not simply the immortality of the
soul -- not simply the immortality of joy -- but it teaches
the immortality of pain, the eternity of sorrow. It insists
that evil, that wickedness, that immorality and that every
form of vice are and must be perpetuated forever. It
believes in immortal convicts, in eternal imprisonment and
in a world of unending pain. It has a serpent for every
breast and a curse for nearly every soul. This doctrine is
called the dearest hope of the human heart, and he who
attacks it is denounced as the most infamous of men.
Let us see what the church, within a few years, has
been compelled substantially to abandon, -- that is to say,
what it is now almost ashamed to defend.
First, the astronomy of the sacred Scriptures; second,
the geology; third, the account given of the origin of man;
fourth, the doctrine of original sin, the fall of the human
race; fifth, the mathematical contradiction known as the
Trinity; sixth, the atonement -- because it was only on the
ground that man is accountable for the sin of another, that
he could be justified by reason of the righteousness of
another; seventh, that the miraculous is either the
misunderstood or the impossible; eighth, that the Bible is
not inspired in its morality, for the reason that slavery is
not moral, that polygamy is not good, that wars of
extermination are not merciful, and that nothing can be more
immoral than to punish the innocent on account of the sins
of the guilty; and ninth, the divinity of Christ.
All this must be given up by the really intelligent, by
those not afraid to think, by those who have the courage of
their convictions and the candor to express their thoughts.
What then is left?
Let me tell yon, Everything in the Bible that is true,
is left; it still remains and is still of value. It cannot
be said too often that the truth needs no inspiration;
neither can it be said too often that inspiration cannot
help falsehood. Every good and noble sentiment uttered in
the Bible is still good and noble. Every fact remains. All
that is good in the Sermon on the Mount is retained. The
Lord's Prayer is not affected. The grandeur of self-denial,
the nobility of forgiveness, and the ineffable splendor of
mercy are with us still. And besides, there remains the
great hope for all the human race.
What is lost? All the mistakes, all the falsehoods, all
the absurdities, all the cruelties and all the curses
contained in the Scriptures. We have almost lost the "hope"
of eternal pain -- the "consolation" of perdition; and in
time we shall lose the frightful shadow that has fallen upon
so many hearts, that has darkened so many lives.
The great trouble for many years has been, and still
is, that the clergy are not quite candid. They are disposed
to defend the old creed. They have been educated in the
universities, of the Sacred Mistake -- universities that
Bruno would call "the widows of true learning." They have
been taught to measure with a false standard; they have
weighed with inaccurate scales. in youth, they became
convinced of the truth of the creed. This was impressed upon
them by the solemnity of professors who spoke in tones of
awe. The enthusiasm of life's morning was misdirected. They
went out into the world knowing nothing of value. They
preached a creed outgrown. Having been for so many years
entirely certain of their position, they met doubt with a
spirit of irritation -- afterward with hatred. They are
hardly courageous enough to admit that they are wrong.
Once the pulpit was the leader -- it spoke with
authority. By its side was the sword of the state, with the
hilt toward its hand. Now it is apologized for -- it carries
a weight. It is now like a living man to whom has been
chained a corpse. It cannot defend the old, and it has not
accepted the new. In some strange way it imagines that
morality cannot live except in partnership with the
sanctified follies and falsehoods of the past.
The old creeds cannot be defended by argument. They are
not within the circumference of reason -- they are not
embraced in any of the facts within the experience of man.
All the subterfuges have been exposed; all the excuses have
been shown to be shallow, and at last the church must meet,
and fairly meet, the objections of our time.
Solemnity is no longer an argument. Falsehood is no
longer sacred. People are not willing to admit that mistakes
are divine. Truth is more important than belief -- far
better than creeds, vastly more useful than superstitions.
The church must accept the truths of the present, must admit
the demonstrations of science, or take its place in the
mental museums with the fossils and monstrosities of the
past.
The time for personalities has passed; these questions
cannot be determined by ascertaining the character of the
disputants; epithets are no longer regarded as arguments;
the curse of the church produces laughter; theological
slander is no longer a weapon; argument must be answered
with argument, and the church must appeal to reason, and by
that standard it must stand or fall. The theories and
discoveries of Darwin cannot be answered by the resolutions
of synods, or by quotations from the Old Testament.
The world has advanced. The Bible has remained the
same. We must go back to the book -- it cannot come to us --
or we must leave it forever. In order to remain orthodox we
must forget the discoveries, the inventions, the
intellectual efforts of many centuries; we must go back
until our knowledge -- or rather our ignorance -- will
harmonize with the barbaric creeds.
It is not pretended that all the creeds have not been
naturally produced. It is admitted that under the same
circumstances the same religions would again ensnare the
human race. It is also admitted that under the same
circumstances the same efforts would be made by the great
and intellectual of every age to break the chains of
superstition.
There is no necessity of attacking people -- we should
combat error. We should hate hypocrisy, but not the
hypocrite -- larceny, but not the thief -- superstition, but
not its victim. We should do all within our power to inform,
to educate, and to benefit our fellow-men.
There is no elevating power in hatred. There is no
reformation in punishment. The soul grows greater and
grander in the air of kindness, in the sunlight of
intelligence.
We must rely upon the evidence of our senses, upon the
conclusions of our reason.
For many centuries the church has insisted that man is
totally depraved, that he is naturally wicked, that all of
his natural desires are contrary to the will of God. Only a
few years ago it was solemnly asserted that our senses were
originally honest, true and faithful, but having been
debauched by original sin, were now cheats and liars; that
they constantly deceived and misled the soul; that they were
traps and snares; that no man could be safe who relied upon
his senses, or upon his reason; -- he must simply rely upon
faith; in other words, that the only way for man to really
see was to put out his eyes.
There has been a rapid improvement in the intellectual
world. The improvement has been slow in the realm of
religion, for the reason that religion was hedged about,
defended and barricaded by fear, by prejudice and by law. It
was considered sacred. It was illegal to call its truth in
question. Whoever disputed the priest became a criminal;
whoever demanded a reason, or an explanation, became a
blasphemer, a scoffer, a moral leper.
The church defended its mistakes by every means within
its power.
But in spite of all this there has been advancement,
and there are enough of the orthodox clergy left to make it
possible for us to measure the distance that has been
traveled by sensible people.
The world is beginning to see that a minister should be
a teacher, and that "he should not endeavor to inculcate a
particular system of dogmas, but to prepare his hearers for
exercising their own judgments,"
As a last resource, the orthodox tell the thoughtful
that they are not "spiritual" -- that they are "of the
earth, earthy " -- that they cannot perceive that which is
spiritual. They insist that "God is a spirit, and must be
worshipped in spirit."
But let me ask, What is it to be spiritual? In order to
be really spiritual, must a man sacrifice this world for the
sake of another? Were the selfish hermits, who deserted
their wives and children for the miserable purpose of saving
their own little souls, spiritual? Were those who put their
fellow-men in dungeons, or burned them at the stake on
account of a difference of opinion, all spiritual people?
Did John Calvin give evidence of his spirituality by burning
Servetus? Were they spiritual people who invented and used
instruments of torture -- who denied the liberty of thought
and expression -- who waged wars for the propagation of the
faith? Were they spiritual people who insisted that infinite
Love could punish his poor, ignorant children forever? Is it
necessary to believe in eternal torment to understand the
meaning of the word spiritual? Is it necessary to hate those
who disagree with you, and to calumniate those whose
argument you cannot answer, in order to be spiritual? Must
you hold a demonstrated fact in contempt; must you deny or
avoid what you know to be true, in order to substantiate the
fact that you are spiritual?
What is it to be spiritual? Is the man spiritual who
searches for the truth -- who lives in accordance with his
highest ideal -- who loves his wife and children -- who
discharges his obligations -- who makes a happy fireside for
the ones he loves -- who succors the oppressed -- who gives
his honest opinions -- who is guided by principle -- who is
merciful and just?
Is the man spiritual who loves the beautiful -- who is
thrilled by music, and touched to tears in the presence of
the sublime, the heroic and the self-denying? Is the man
spiritual who endeavors by thought and deed to ennoble the
human race?
The defenders of the orthodox faith, by this time,
should know that the foundations are insecure.
They should have the courage to defend, or the candor
to abandon. If the Bible is an inspired book, it ought to be
true. Its defenders must admit that Jehovah knew the facts
not only about the earth, but about the stars, and that the
Creator of the universe knew all about geology and astronomy
even four thousand years ago.
The champions of Christianity must show that the Bible
tells the truth about the creation of man, the Garden of
Eden, the temptation, the fall and the flood. They must take
the ground that the sacred book is historically correct;
that the events related really happened; that the miracles
were actually performed; that the laws promulgated from
Sinai were and are wise and just, and that nothing is
upheld, commanded, indorsed, or in any way approved or
sustained that is not absolutely right. In other words, if
they insist that a being of infinite goodness and
intelligence is the author of the Bible, they must be ready
to show that it is absolutely perfect. They must defend its
astronomy, geology, history, miracle and morality.
If the Bible is true, man is a special creation, and if
man is a special creation, millions of facts must have
conspired, millions of ages ago, to deceive the scientific
world of to-day.
If the Bible is true, slavery is right, and the world
should go back to the barbarism of the lash and chain. If
the Bible is true, polygamy is the highest form of virtue.
If the Bible is true, nature has a master, and the
miraculous is independent of and superior to cause and
effect. If the Bible is true, most of the children of men
are destined to suffer eternal pain. If the Bible is true,
the science known as astronomy is a collection of mistakes
-- the telescope is a false witness, and light is a luminous
liar. If the Bible is true, the science known as geology is
false and every fossil is a petrified perjurer.
The defenders of orthodox creeds should have the
courage to candidly answer at least two questions: First, Is
the Bible inspired? Second, Is the Bible true? And when they
answer these questions, they should remember that if the
Bible is true, it needs no inspiration, and that if not
true, inspiration can do it no good.
North American Review, August, 1888.
END
**** ****
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|| END OF ARTICLE ||
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"The time appears to me to have come when it is the duty of
all to make their dissent from religion known."
[John Stuart Mill]
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|| BEGINNING OF ARTICLE ||
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The Harm Caused by Religion -- annotated bibliography
Many humanists feel that we should not attack religion; that
we should be "pro-human", not "anti-religious", as if these
two sets of attitudes existed in pure form. Others feel
that we should learn as much as we can about the real impact
of Christianity on society and on individual human beings.
This group of humanists believes that we can only promote
pro-human attitudes if we understand the depths of the anti-
human attitudes promoted by centuries of Christian god-talk.
These books attempt to enlighten on that point.
1. A. Alvarez. _The Savage God: A Study of Suicide_,
Penguin Books. London. 1974. Originally published by
Weidenfeld and Nicholson. 1971. 320 pages (See part 2:
Background)
The author traces the history of Christian attitudes toward
suicide, starting with the suicidal diathesis inherent in
the martyrdom of Christ and the copy-cat behaviour of the
early Christians who often went out of their way to invite
death in order to be united with their Lord. When it became
apparent that an earthly church would have to be developed,
this self-destructive behaviour worried the Church fathers,
notably Augustine. A series of edicts designed to
discourage voluntary martyrdom was issued, culminating in
the one issued by the Council of Toledo in 693 AD, in which
even unsuccessful victims of suicide were threatened with
excommunication. But since the core doctrine remained
intact, the suicidal diathesis remains to this day.
2. Karen Armstrong. _The Gospel According to Woman:
Christianity's creation of the sex war in the West_. Elm
Tree Books. London. 1986. 323 pages.
The author, an ex-nun, documents the part played by the
Christian church in creating the sexist climate from which
we are now trying to free ourselves. Although Christianity
did not invent sexism, according to Armstrong, it has been
more destructive than any other religion in promoting the
inferior status of women, especially perhaps in placing
their reproductive capacity at the control of the male god-
talking establishment.
3. Mary Daly. _The Church and the Second Sex_. Beacon
Press. Boston 1985. 230 pages.
Mary Daly, as a Roman Catholic theologian, set out in 1968
to write a book which attempted to demonstrate that the
goals of modern feminism were (or could be) compatible with
the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. By 1985 she had
reversed her position one hundred and eighty degrees, and
wrote a second edition, in which she concluded that "sexism
was inherent in the symbol system of Christianity itself and
that a primary function of Christianity in Western culture
has been to legitimize sexism."
4. Rudolph M. Bell. _Holy Anorexia_. The University of
Chicago Press. Chicago. 1985. 248 pages.
Historian Bell has made a startling discovery; the majority
of female saints in the Roman Catholic church may have been
anorectic. Of the 261 Italian female saints who lived
between 1200 AD and the present, the record was incomplete
in about one third; but of the remaining 170 saints, more
than half of them displayed clear signs of anorexia. Many
of them also inflicted all manner of punishments on the
sinful bodies, including flagellation with chains; and many
of them died before they were 40, some literally starving
themselves to death. Among this number were Catherine of
Siena, Clare of Assisi, and Margaret of Cortona, women who
were revered for their holiness and who became heroic role
models for young girls to emulate.
5. Edmund D. Cohen. _The Mind of the Bible-Believer_.
Prometheus Books, Buffalo. 1986. 424 pages.
Psychologist Cohen, a survivor of Christian fundamentalism
himself, analyses the strategies by which these god-talking
manipulators seduce lonely, troubled human beings.
Beginning with Device 1 (The Benign Attractive Persona of
the Bible) and going on to Device 7 (Holy Terror), step by
step the human intelligence and reasoning powers of the
victims are eroded to the point where they are persuaded to
do the same thing to other human beings. Although Cohen is
talking specifically about the extreme fundamentalist sects,
the same processes are at work in so-called man-line
Christianity.
6. Abraham Feinberg. _Sex and the Pulpit_. Methuen.
Toronto. 1981.
In this book Rabbi Feinberg explores the Christian approach
to sexuality, and in a forthright manner, lays bare the real
motives underlying Christian teachings about sexuality and
reproductivity. In his own words "The sex drive itself gave
organized religion an opportunity to amass what was
indisputably the greatest power ever lodged in human
hands.". The power was used to wage demographic war on all
other groups, a war it won since Christianity is numerically
the largest religion on earth today.
7. Reay Tannahill. _Sex in History_. Stein and Day. New
York. 1980 465 pages.
Chapter 6 in this book gives an excellent account of the
political origins of Christian teachings about sexuality.
8. Ludwig Feuerbach. _The Essence of Christianity_. Tr.
by George Eliot. Prometheus Books. Buffalo. 1989. 340
pages.
This book was originally published in 1841. In it, German
philosopher Feuerbach promotes the notion that human beings
invest ordinary concepts with divine meaning and
significance; in praising God and adhering to Christian
ideals, we merely reaffirm what is best in ourselves. the
true danger to humanity occurs when theology acquires the
force of dogma and doctrine and loses sight of its emergence
from human nature, as has occurred during most of
Christianity's existence. In this book Feuerbach takes on
all aspects of Christian doctrine, including the miracles,
creation, prayer, the virgin birth, faith, revelation,
immortality and many others.
9. Philip Greven. _Spare the Child_. Alfred A. Knopf.
New York. 1990. 263 pages.
This book explores the religious and secular rationales for
the physical punishment of children and challenges us to re-
examine long held assumptions. The author makes the point
that most of our secular assumptions have roots in the
religious ones, demonstrating once again that Christian
teachings have had a profound effect on the entire western
society, and in their secularized form act on people who
never darken a church door. He uses many excerpts from
present-day American Protestant writers to demonstrate that
violence against children is still being promoted by
Christian clerics.
10. Alice Miller. _For Your Own Good_. The Noonday Press
(Farrar. Straus. Giroux.) New York 1990. First published
in German under the title "Am Anfang war Erziehung" (1980).
tr Hildegarde and Hunter Hannum. 282 pages.
Psychoanalyst Miller traces the roots of physical violence
towards children in the western world to the influence of
Christianity, as she calls it: "poisonous pedagogy". This
book should be read in conjunction with Greven's book (#9).
She illustrates her thesis with, among others, a
biographical account of Adolf Hitler's early Christian
childhood.
11. Charles W. Sutherland. _Disciples of Destruction: The
Religious Origins of War and Terrorism_. Prometheus Books.
Buffalo, New York. 1987. 435 pages.
In this book the author outlines the religious roots of war
and terrorism, citing and indicting Judaism, Islam,
Christianity and Communism which he sees as a secular
religion with roots in Christianity. It is a long book with
some very interesting historical references to back up the
author's thesis, one that has certainly been reinforced by
events in Yugoslavia, India, Northern Ireland, Lebanon and
Africa in recent years.
12. Wendell W. Watters MD. _Deadly Doctrine: Health,
Illness and Christian God-talk_. Prometheus Books, Buffalo,
New York, 1992. 190 pages.
This book which draws on one psychiatrist's experience of 25
years working with individuals, couples and families,
demonstrates how many of the points of Christian doctrine,
by now thoroughly engrained in the wood work of western
society, are antithetical to the principles of health,
"mental" as well as "physical" health.
13. Albert Ellis. _The Case Against Religion and the Case
Against Religiosity_. American Atheist Press. P.o. Box
140195, Austin, TX 87814-0195.
Psychotherapist Ellis is a practitioner of Rational Emotive
Therapy and in the course of his clinical work with patients
has come to the conclusion that "believers in any kind of
orthodoxy are distinctly disturbed, since they are obviously
rigid, fanatic, and dependent individuals. Many liberal
religionists of various groups are emotionally childish.
for that is what all manner of religion essentially is:
childish dependency."
14 Joachim Kahl. _The Misery of Christianity (A Plea for a
Humanity without God)_. Pelican Books. 1972 (tr. from the
German by N.D. Smith). Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England.
An ex-Protestant minister, Kahl analyses the theology of the
Christian church and, based on his experience as a Christian
cleric, comes to the conclusion that "theology is a
parasite, eating at a table which others have set". He
claims that "man must turn away from seeking refuge in
illusion and in a morass or unreason: his only salvation is
in rational thought".
15. Dan Barker. _Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to
Atheist_. FFRF (Freedom from Religion Foundation), Madison,
Wisconsin. 1992.
An ex-fundamentalist preacher, the author examines
Christianity in a penetrating analysis and concludes that
Christianity is "morally repugnant" and "harmful", and he
states that "The concepts of original sin, depravity,
substitutionary forgiveness, intolerance, eternal punishment
and humble worship are all beneath the dignity of
intelligent human beings and conflict with the values of
kindness and reason". He adds, "Religion also poses a
danger to mental health, damaging self-respect, personal
responsibility and clarity of thought". This is a book
every humanist should own.
16. Phyllis Graham. _The Jesus Hoax_. Leslie Frewin.
London. 1974.
This former Carmelite nun tells the compelling story of her
long search for spiritual fulfilment and happiness -- and
how she eventually found both outside established religion.
She subsequently discovered that the "teaching" of Jesus,
"far from being beneficial to humanity, has grievously
retarded social progress and degraded the level of
intelligence."
17. William Fielding. _Shackles of the Supernatural_
Vantage Press, Inc. 120 West 31st Street New York, NY 10001
1969.
This is the second edition of a book originally written 30
years previously by a writer on psychology, sexuality and
philosophy. In this book he states that supernaturalism
perpetuates many of the world's evils: war, fanatic
nationalism, and racial hatreds. He points out that the
natural world and the supernatural world governed by the
whims of a deity are as irreconcilable as ever, and that the
paradox of their co-existence is increasingly untenable to
more and more thinking people. One of the most enlightening
points developed in this book is that there is a natural
ethics governing all animal life, human included, and that
the development of this natural ethics in individuals is
seriously compromised by the insertion of the notion that
morality is derived from supernatural precepts.
/*******************************************/
In addition to the above books, all humanists would be
advised to acquaint themselves with 2 books which were very
influential in promoting the Christian notions that have
been demonstrated to be so damaging to human beings, notions
discussed in the above books, and notions from which we are
trying to free ourselves as the twentieth century draws to a
close.
They are:
1. Thomas a Kempis. _The Imitation of Christ_. Moody
Press. Chicago 1980. 359 pages.
Written in 1427 by an Augustinian monk, this book has been
credited with having as much influence as the Bible in
spreading Christianity. Readers will be astonished how
overtly and emphatically believers are warned to avoid human
contact, to actively seek suffering and to avoid learning if
they wished to be united with Christ. Self-esteem is
severely criticised.
2. Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger. The Malleus
Maleficarum (The Witches' Hammer). Dover Publications. New
York 1971. 278 pages.
The authors were Dominican monks who in 1486 wrote the first
edition of what become a manual for the subsequent witch
hunts, accepted by Catholic and Protestant legislatures
alike for some 300 years. It describes the process of
demonic possession which afflicted women primarily, men
being exempt since they were made in the image of the male
deity! One editor has described this monstrous document as
"the most important, wisest and weightiest book in the
world". Sprenger, who himself was responsible for the
deaths of hundreds of women and girls, is described by the
same editor as "a mystic of the highest order, a man of most
saintly life." Enough said.
If you plan to look at either of these letter two books,
pour yourself a double Scotch and have a go. Good luck!
Wendell W. Watters, MD
ADDENDUM
18. C. Daniel Batson and W. Larry Ventis. _The Religious
Experience: A Social-Psychological Perspective". Oxford
University Press. New York. 1982.
In the early nineteen eighties, psychologist Batson and
Ventis reviewed the available research literature on three
questions pertaining to religion: (1) Does religion promote
"personal freedom or bondage?" (2) Does religion promote
"mental health or sickness?" (3) Does religion promote
"Brotherly love or self-concern?" The concluded "There is
strong evidence that being religious is associated with
poorer mental health, with greater intolerance of people who
are different from ourselves, and with no greater concern
for those in need. This evidence suggests that religion is
a negative force in human life, and one we would be better
off without." The subjects were, of course, mainly middle
class American Christians.
=========================================================
|| END OF ARTICLE ||
=========================================================
"Trying to find God is a good deal like looking for money
one has lost in a dream." [Lemuel K. Washburn, _Is The Bible
Worth Reading And Other Essays_]
===========================================================
|| BEGINNING OF ARTICLE ||
===========================================================
Infomercial and Poem, Dennis L. Matson
From: "Dennis L. Matson" <72234.330@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Useful material
Here is the list of items I'm currently selling:
BIBLE ERRORS ($3.80): Here is a handy booklet that attempts
to make the strongest possible case for biblical error that
will fit into its 47 pages (5.5 x 8.5). It examines several
biblical errors in depth even as it develops the concept of
error, which is where the sophisticated biblicist makes his
ultimate, slippery stand. Feel free to make a few quality
copies for your favorite 'enemies.'
HOW GOOD ARE THOSE YOUNG-EARTH ARGUMENTS? ($14.50): A
revised Xerox-book (8.5 x 11) of 103 pages, comb-bound for
easy Xeroxing of its arguments. It has a plastic cover and
is attractively laid out. The seven page bibliography gives
you some idea as to the documentation available in this
dynamite book, a book which distills the best scientific
rebuttals I could round up against 30 young-earth arguments,
some attacks against carbon-14 dating, and some attacks
against the order and nature of the geologic column. Quite
a few miscellaneous points, ranging from the philosophy of
knowledge to objections against teaching evolution, are also
touched on along with some special topics such as supplying
the water for Noah's flood, the speed of light, and whether
mammoths were quick-frozen.
If you have ever watched a slick creationist in a
debate, and had the frustration of seeing him get away with
murder, then you will truly enjoy reading this book. The
first edition was written to support Ed Babinski in his
debate with creationist Dr. Kent Hovind.
For the budget-minded, meaning most of us, I'll make a
special offer. I'll send you a free copy if you can sell 4
of these books. If you want the ASCII text on diskette, I
will consider charging maybe $7.00. If you are connected to
WWW, you may find a copy floating around for free. However,
there is no substitute for the physical book; its text,
tables, and diagrams are beautifully laid out and ready for
Xeroxing. The diagrams cannot be converted to ASCII.
A FEW SEDIMENTARY PROBLEMS FOR NOAH'S FLOOD ($2.00): A 5
page essay showing the hilarious problems that an asteroid
impact at Chicxulub presents for Noah's flood. That was the
impact that probably killed off the dinosaurs.
RADIOMETRIC DATING AND WOODMORAPPE'S LIST OF BAD DATES
($2.00): A 7 page monograph that gives the ultimate answer
to the creationist tactic of listing bad radiometric dates
and claiming that the method is no good. A condensed
version of this work may be found in my Xerox-book listed
above.
A SHORT LIST OF EVOLUTIONARY TRANSITIONAL FORMS ($2.50): A
12 page whirlwind tour that makes it clear there are plenty
of intermediate transitional forms. I plan to revise this
work this year or the next, but it is still devastating.
ON TAKING THE BIBLE AND NOAH'S FLOOD LITERALLY ($2.00): 7
pages. A touch of babylonian cosmology and some heavy-duty
common sense. Rips away at the theological absurdity of
Noah's Flood.
ERRORS OF REASONING ($2.50): A 10 page listing of logical
and other errors of reasoning. Here is a handy source if you
want to throw a little Latin into your essays. Each error
is carefully explained.
THE FLOOD ($2.00): A long (but interesting) poem that
exposes the moral absurdity of Noah's flood.
CALCULATING THOSE ODDS ($2.00): A 6 page tour of the major
pitfalls involved in trying to assign a probability to
evolution, especially as is done by many creationists. The
essay is written from a novel perspective, which makes it
highly readable and fun.
DATABASE USE: I maintain a database on 'scientific'
creationism and biblical error. For a fee of $10.00 I'll
search 3 specific subjects/names. Within reasonable limits
I'll try to print out all the references obtained, but if
there are less than 10 found you will receive credit for
future searches. For an additional 10 cents per page, I'll
Xerox any of the sources that I have which are listed.
(That decision can be made later, after checking your own
sources.) You might even send me a wish list of
subjects/names and tell me how much you are willing to
spend. I'm pretty flexible, so there is no need to worry
about being zinged by some technicality. For your
enjoyment, a poem for freethinkers:
DOUBT
The fool cannot doubt;
he has no mind.
Poor thing!
The slave dare not doubt;
he has no voice.
Shameful thing!
The fanatic will not doubt;
he has no uncertainty.
Dangerous thing!
For the fool---
guidance.
For the slave---
a hammer to break chain.
For the fanatic---
doubt!
Dare to doubt,
and you are free.
Know doubt,
and you know the beginnings of
wisdom.
Attain wisdom,
and you know how little you really
know.
All of which,
begins with a doubt.
Dave Matson 12/4/90
Dave Matson
P.O. Box 61274
Pasadena, CA 91116
Best Wishes, Dave Matson
==========================================================
|| END OF TEXTS ||
==========================================================
"They were allowed to stay there on one condition, and that
is that they didn't eat of the tree of knowledge. That has
been the condition of the Christian church from then until
now. They haven't eaten as yet, as a rule they do not."
--Clarence Darrow
"Everywhere in the world there are ignorance and prejudice,
but the greatest complex of these, with the most extensive
prestige and the most intimate entanglement with traditional
institutions, is the Roman Catholic Church.." [H.G. Wells]
'...the Bible as we have it contains elements that are
scientifically incorrect or even morally repugnant. No
amount of "explaining away" can convince us that such
passages are the product of Divine Wisdom.'
-- Bernard J. Bamberger, _The Story of Judaism_
"Atheism is the world of reality, it is reason, it is
freedom, Atheism is human concern, and intellectual honesty
to a degree that the religious mind cannot begin to
understand. And yet it is more than this. Atheism is not an
old religion, it is not a new and coming religion, in fact
it is not, and never has been, a religion at all. The
definition of Atheism is magnificent in its simplicity:
Atheism is merely the bed-rock of sanity in a world of
madness."
ATHEISM: An Affirmative View, by Emmett F. Fields
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1". This leaves three 49 character lines available for your
own address, phone number, email, fax or whatever. Each
sheet is US$2, the entire set of 7 for US$13; 2 sets for
US$20. Indicate quantity desired. Print address clearly,
exactly as desired. Order from address in examples below.
Laser printed, 8 pt Arial, with occasional flourishes.
[NOT ACTUAL SIZE]
<-------------------2 5/8"---------------------->
_________________________________________________
|"Reality is that which, when you stop believing |/\
|in it, doesn't go away." [Philip K. Dick] | |
|Greg Erwin 100 Terrasse Eardley | 1"
|Aylmer, Qc J9H 6B5 Canada | |
| email: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA | |
|________________________________________________|\/
_________________________________________________
|"...and when you tell me that your deity made |
|you in his own image, I reply that he must be |
|very ugly." [Victor Hugo, writing to clergy] |
|Greg Erwin 100 Terrasse Eardley |
|Aylmer, Qc J9H 6B5 Canada Ph: (613) 954-6128 |
| email: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA |
|________________________________________________|
Other quotes in between the articles are usually part of the
label quote file. Occasionally I throw in one that is too
long for a label, but which should be shared.
Other stuff for sale:
Certificate of Baptism Removal and Renunciation of Religion.
Have your baptism removed, renounce religion, and have a
neat 8" x 11" fancy certificate, on luxury paper, suitable
for framing, to commemorate the event! Instant eligibility
for excommunication! For the already baptism-free:
Certificate of Freedom from Religion. An official atheistic
secular humanist stamp of approval for only $10! Pamphlet on
"how to get excommunicated" included FREE with purchase.
Poster 8x11: WARNING! This is a religion free zone!
All religious vows, codes, and commitments are null & void
herein. Please refrain from contaminating the ideosphere
with harmful memes through prayer, reverence, holy books,
proselytizing, prophesying, faith, speaking in tongues or
spirituality. Fight the menace of second-hand faith!
Humanity sincerely thanks you!
Tastefully arranged in large point Stencil on luxury paper.
Order from the same address as above.
/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\
============================================================
Neat books available from H.H. Waldo, Bookseller! Books by
Ingersoll! Heston's 19th Century Freethought Cartoons!
Holy Horrors, An Illustrated History of Religious Murder and
Madness, by James A. Haught..........................$21.95
Christian Science, by Mark Twain.....................$15.95
(reprint of original attack)
Deadly Doctrine, by Wendell W. Watters, MD...........$27.50
(Psychological damage caused by Christianity)
Leaving the Fold, Testimonies of Former
Fundamentalists, by Edward Babinski..................$32.50
and many, many more. Ever changing inventory. Friendly
letters and news from Robb Marks, Proprietor.
add $2 postage/handling for first book & 0.50 for each
additional book. (All prices US$)
Send 2 first class stamps for H.H. Waldo's current catalog.
(Use international reply coupon, or get hold of US Stamps)
TO:
H.H Waldo, Bookseller
P.O. Box 350
Rockton, IL 61072
or phone 1-800-66WALDO !!!
tell 'im: "that nullifidian guy sent me!"
Once again: ISSN: 1201-0111 The Nullifidian Volume Two,
Number 8: AUGUST 1995.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The problem with religions that have all the answers is that
they don't let you ask the questions.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(*) There is no footnote, and certainly not an endnote.
--
It is undoubtedly easier to believe in absolutes, follow blindly, mouth
received wisdom. ... The question is not whether we could ever achieve a
humanist equilibrium, but whether we are attempting to achieve it. --John
Ralson Saul / Greg Erwin, VP, Humanist Association of Canada
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