american atheist magazine (second quarter 2015)

8/21/2019 American Atheist Magazine (Second Quarter 2015)

1/48

A JOURNAL OF ATHEIST NEWS AND THOUGHT

A MERICAN A THEIST

Also in this issue:

Dealing with Hotel Bibles

American Atheists Convention in Memphis

Welcome Back to the Crusades

THE REAL STORY FROM AN EXMORMON MISSIONARY

Display until Aug. 31SPRING 1595

ATHEISTS.ORG SECOND QUARTER 2015


2/48

Subscribe to

American Atheist

Subscript ions

Amer ican Atheist Magazine

P.O. Box 158

Cranford, NJ 07016

Q u e s t i o n s ? C a l l 9 0 8 - 2 7 6 - 7 3 0 0 o r e m a i l P W h i s s e l @ A t h e i s t s . o r g

Name:

Address:

City:

State: Zip:

Email:*

Phone:

I am paying by: Visa Mastercard Discover Amex

Amount:

Credit Card #:

Expiration date MM/YY:*Required for digital subscriptions

Digital subscriptions are free to members. See p. 45 or go to Atheists.org/membership.

Print subscriptions without membership (4 quarterly issues) - $20/year

Go to Atheists.org/subscribe or complete the form below and send it to: ATHEIS TS.OR G FOURTH QUARTER 2

From Methodist

Minister to Atheist

Activist

American Atheists A JOURNAL OF ATHEIST NEWS AND THOUGHT

A MERICAN A THEIS

Ages of Atheism

The Times They Are A-Changi

Apollonius of Tyana

Greta Christina at Reason Rall

Eliminate That Atheist!

Morality Versus Worship

Robert Trivers Interview

The Return of Collective Guilt

San Francisco Gay Pride Parad

Gnostic Atheism

Banner Over New York


3/48www.atheists .org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 32ND QUARTER 2015

Cover photo: Greg Hawkins sports his old missionary garb along with his new American Atheists credentials. His article starts on page 5. Above: Comedians Frank Conniff andTrace Beaulieu riff on the film God’s Not Dead at out convention in Memphis. Coverage o

AACon 2015 starts on page 14.

In This Issue

AMERICAN ATHEISTA Journal of Atheist News and Thought

2nd Quarter 2015

Vol. 53, No. 2

ISSN 0516-9623 (Print)

ISSN 1935-8369 (Online)

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Pamela [email protected]

AMERICAN ATHEIST PRESSMANAGING EDITOR

Frank R. [email protected]

LAYOUT and GRAPHICS EDITORRick Wingrove

[email protected]

Published byAmerican Atheists, Inc.

Mailing Address:P.O. Box 158

Cranford, NJ 07016Phone: 908.276.7300

FAX: 908.276.7402www.Atheists.org

©2015 American Atheists Inc.

r ig hts reser ved . R epro duc tio n i n w hole or in par thout wr itt en per mi ss ion is proh ibi ted . Ame ric anei st is indexed in the Alternative Press Index.

ric an Ath ei st magazine is given free of cost tombers of American Atheists as an incident of theirmbership.

e-year print subscription to Am er ica n Ath ei stazine: $20. Subscribe online at www.Atheists.

/subscribe. Annual Individual Membershiph A mer ica n At hei st s, wh ich inc ludes fr eene access to recent issues of Am er ica n Ath ei st azine: $35. Couple/Family Membership is $50.

n up for membership at www.Atheists.org/join.mbership dues are tax-deductible as charitable

. Subscriptions to Am er ica n A the is t magazine aretax-deductible.

PROOFREADERSGil and Jeanne Gaudia

Shelley Gaudia

5 The Real Story from an Ex-Mormon Missionary Part II | Greg Hawkins

8 Dogma Watch: What is Christianity? | Michael B. Paulkovich

11 Poetry: Mirror, Mirror | Mordavith

13 Dealing with Unwanted Hotel Bibles | Steve Lowe

16 Our National Convention in Memphis | J.T. Eberhard

18 Notable Book: A History of Loneliness by John Boyne

20Notable Book: 13:24: A Story of Faith and Obsession

by M. Dolon Hickmon

24Notable Book: One Nation Under God: How Corporate America

Invented Christian America by Kevin M. Kruse

26 Mission Impossible!| Tony Pasquarello

28 Set List: Stand-Up Without a Net | Becky Garrison

30 Encounter in a Lincoln | Tracy Jamison

32 Welcome Back to the Crusades | David Orenstein, Ph.D.

46 Danthropology: Why I Am An Atheist | Dan Arel

COPY EDITORKaren Reilly

Correction: In our previous issue, we incorrectly identified entertainment reporter Dominick Cross as the entertainmeditor at the Times of Acadiana (“Censorship in Louisiana” by Gregory Alexander). We apologize for the error.


4/484 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org 2ND QUARTER 2015

Pamela WhisselEditor-in-Chief [email protected]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

N o joke. It was during American Atheists’ nationalconvention. Okay, it was actually four nuns and fiveducks. And it was an elevator, not a bar, and the ducks

walked out before the rest walked in. But there was an Atheistmeand we were all in the Peabody Hotel in Memphis the dayafter the convention, when many of us were still in town.

It was a few minutes after 11:00 a.m. The lobby was packed because at 11:00 every morning, the Duckmaster, a special lyappointed hotel bellman, escorts the Peabody’s five residentducks from their palatial digs in the penthouse to the elevator,

which they ride to the lobby, where they march down a red carpetto the marble fountain to spend the day. At 5:00 p.m., the ducksmarch back to the penthouse with equal fanfare. You don’t have

to be a hotel guest to watch, so it’s a popular Memphis attraction. Among the observers that day were four nuns from theMissionaries of Charity (MCs), the religious order founded byMother Teresa of Calcutta. In their blue and white, sari-stylehabits, these nuns are instantly recognized by anyone who paysattention, like I once did, to the story of Mother Teresa. Whenshe was alive, Mother Teresa was considered by many Catholicsto be a living saint. Not a saint in the way that someone hasthe patience of a saint, but a saint saint, in that god is so alivein you that you’re more than a mere human. Many Catholicscorrespondingly believe that all MCs are living saints. So there

were several people who gazed at the women and said things like,“Look! Those are Mother Teresa’s nuns!” with such reverentastonishment that what they were really saying was, “Look!

Some living saints!” Years ago, Christopher Hitchens’ book The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice delivered me fromthat misconception, and Mar y Johnson’s Book, An UnquenchableThirst , wil l keep me emancipated for life. Both books reveal thegruesome truth that the MCs are not devoted to helping thepoor; they are devoted to perpetuating poverty, because they

believe that poverty and suffering are the only paths to Jesus.Now, it’s one thing to choose this li festyle. It’s another to imposeit on someone else, and that’s exactly what the MCs do in their“service” to vulnerable, helpless people.

The story of someone successfully pulling off a life of utterself lessness is always just that: a story. But it can be very powerful.Sometimes it’s so powerful that it grows into a myth solid

enough to fuel a religion. The myth that the MCs are a sourceof relief for the poor, orphaned, sick, homeless, or dying has been exploited by the Vatican to an extent that’s nothing shortof evil. The staggering amount of money donated to the MCscould fund first-rate hospitals and schools all over the world. But

An Atheist, a Nun, and a Duck Walk into a Bar

instead of providing food, clothing, and shelter to those whodesperately need it, the money goes into a Vatican Bank accountand the MCs never see it again. But even if they did control thismoney, it still wouldn’t relieve suffering. Anything resemblingcharitable outreach is carried out by them with inexcusablearchaic inefficiency. Don’t take my word for it. Read these booksor go online for plenty of legitimate sources to support all of this

Back to the lobby. Did I think these women were a band oscam artists? No. The scam is engineered at the Vatican. A n MCspends most of her day in prayer, and even if she wanted to useher time helping people, it’s not her call. Her life is one of total,unquestioning obedience to her superiors in an organization

whose primary mission is to keep its members in line.

I have no idea why the nuns were at the hotel, and they seemedabout as interested in the ducks as the ducks were in them. Buthere’s why I was interested: these nuns rarely interact with theoutside world. Just like polygamous families on a Mormoncompound, or the members of an Hasidic Jewish communitythey don’t keep up with current events or watch television or usethe internet or read anything not approved by their superiors

And like women who live under Sharia law, they’re escorted byat least one other sister when they go out. Because they are verymuch each other’s keepers, I knew this might be the only chancein their lives to hear what I was about to say to them.

After the Duck March was over, the sisters did not hangaround the lobby. I heard someone say that the Duckmaster

wanted his picture taken with them, but I knew that wouldn’

happen because the MCs shun cameras. They deliberatelydodged one person in the lobby who tried to get a photo as they were quickly and protectively ushered back to the elevator by thetwo lay women accompanying them.

Anyone who recognized them was giving them plenty odeferential elbow room, so when the elevator doors opened andthe six women got in, no one else tried to slip in with them. Exceptme. As soon as the doors closed, I turned to the nun standingnext to me and, with my head slightly tilted, I said in a soft voice“Can I ask you a question? Do you ever have any doubts about

what you’re doing?” With a big smile, she replied, “By the graceof God, no.” Then I said, “Well, if you ever do, please know thatthere are people in the world who would understand and accept

you.” And then, as if on cue, the elevator doors opened to my floor

I didn’t say anything or even turn around when someonecalled out “God bless you!” as I walked away. If there was theslightest chance that what I said would linger in that elevator foreven a couple of seconds, I wanted to give the words plenty ofdeferential elbow room.



I n the previous issue of American Atheist , I introducedreaders to the script that Mormon missionariesare taught to present to potential converts. In thatarticle, I described the first of six lessons designedto recruit members to the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-Day Saints. I defined some key terms, like“missionary” (someone who “invites others to comeunto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel throughfaith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism,receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end”),“lesson” (the presentation given by a Mormon missionary), and“investigator,” (a non-Mormon who has agreed to sit th rough atleast one lesson). As I described the content of “Lesson One:The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” I did my bestto provide a side of the story that Mormon missionaries won’ttypically share.

In this article, the second of a six-part series, I’ll share thedetails of “Lesson Two: The Plan of Salvation,” as prescribedin the Mormon missionary handbook, Preach My Gospel . Mypurpose, again, is to help you make an informed decision

with crit ical knowledge about the Mormon church and itsteachings. Lesson Two only takes place once you invite themissionaries back into your home after completing LessonOne with them. The Plan of Salvation is the Mormonattempt to answer three commonly asked questions:

Where did we come from, why are we here, and where do we go after this l ife?

The Real Storyfrom an

Ex-Mormon Missionary Part Twoby Greg Hawkins



In La Fond-Jeannette, Haiti

Where Did We Come From?Mormons believe in a “pre-Earth life” or a “pre-mortal

existence.” Before we were born, we all lived in the Spirit World wit h God the Father, whose name is Elohim, and Godthe Son, whose name was Jehovah until he came to Earth. Nowhis name is Jesus. In the pre-Earth life, we were all spirit sonsand daughters of Elohim and spirit siblings of Jehovah andLucifer (Satan). Mormon doctrine does not provide a lot ofinformation about what we did in the pre-Earth life, but we aretold that Elohim wanted us to learn and grow. For some reason,

we weren’t able to do this in our pre-mortal existence, so our brothers Jehovah and Lucifer each cooked up a plan for ourimpending mortal ex istence.

In Jehovah’s plan, we were provided with “agency,” or theability to choose our own actions while on Earth. This wouldinevitably lead to sin, which distances us from God the Father.But Jehovah would go down to Earth to atone for everyone’s sins,thus allowing each one of us to choose for ourselves whetherto return to God after this life. Lucifer’s plan did not includeagency, but it did automatically return everyone to Elohim.

Things got complicated when Lucifer decided he wanted al lthe glory for himself. Elohim liked the idea of all of his childrenreturning to him, but he didn’t like the idea of Lucifer getting allthe glory, so he threw his support behind Jehovah. Two thirds ofus in the pre-Earth life chose the plan of Jehovah, and one third

of us chose Lucifer’s plan. Elohim then punished Lucifer and hisfollowers by banishing them from pre-Earth life and sendingthem to Earth without bodies. Since you and I have bodies, weare among the good guys.

Why are We Here? After we get to Earth, we are given the agency to choose to

follow either God or Satan. Because Jesus atoned for our sinsthrough his suffering and death on the cross (however the hellthat’s supposed to work), we all have the free gift of eternallifeas long as we follow God’s commandments. Mormonsconsider our life on Earth to be one long entrance exam. In orderto get an A, we must perform certain rituals and follow church

doctrine. Faith, grace, and works are all essential to passing theexam, but the emphasis is on “works,” the details of which arethe topic of Lesson Three. But back to Lesson Two for now.

Where Do We Go after this Life? After we die, our spirits go to spirit paradise (if we’re good)

or spirit prison (if we’re bad). Not much is said about what goeson in either place, but the general consensus is that the spiritsin paradise act as missionaries to the spirits in prison. Once aspirit in prison accepts the truth (i.e. Mormonism), it moves toparadise and becomes a missionary to other spirits in prison.

Spirit paradise provides only temporary respite, however As part of the plan, every spirit must undergo resurrection to be reunited with its perfected body. After our resurrection, we will be judged by God, Jesus, and Joseph Smith, the founder ofthe Mormon Church. We will then get sorted into one of God’sthree kingdoms of glory. The top kingdom, where Elohimlives, is the Celestial Kingdom. Here people become Godsthemselves. Heterosexual Mormon couples who land here will

be able to continue having children to sta rt the entire cycle alover again for another batch of spirits. The doctrine is f uzzy onexactly what happens to these spirits, but Mormons are toldthat they wi ll be chi ldren on a new planet ruled by a brand-newGod and his wives, the Goddesses. (Mormons believe that they

will probably practice polygamy in the Celestial Kingdom.)The middle kingdom is the Terrestrial Kingdom, which

is the place for inactive Mormons and other good people Although it doesn’t carry with it the benefits of having chi ldrenand being with God the Father, this existence is still a pretty

sweet deal. Everyone in the Terrestrial Kingdom gets to be visited by Jesus and all of the Celestialized beings. They alsoget to visit those below them in the Telestial Kingdom, the placefor prostitutes, liars, murderers, and all those who just love sinin general. Although it is the lowest of the three, the TelestialKingdom is still much better than Earth li fe.

There’s one more place that we might go. It’s called OuterDarkness. It’s similar to the Christian hell but much moreexclusive. Outer Darkness is a place of eternal torment. Satanand his angels, the Sons of Perdition, live there. How you endup in Outer Darkness isn’t spelled out clearly, but you’ll go hereif you obtain a perfect knowledge of the truth and then rejectit. Potential candidates for Outer Darkness include apostates

who were once prominent in the Mormon Church, as well asthe Pharisees who crucified Jesus. And that, in a ver y brief nutshel l, is a summary of the Plan

Mormons consider our life on Earth

to be one long entrance exam.

After our resurrection, we will be judgedby God, Jesus, and Joseph Smith, the

founder of the Mormon Church.



CONTINUED ON PAGE 34



What is Christianity, and why is itso popular? In his book What’s So Great aboutChristianity , Dinesh D’Souza employs the logical

fallacy known as argumentum ad populum whenhe says, “Our secular culture cannot get enoughof Christ. Two thousand years after his death, hecontinues to be a big story as well as the focus ofnever-ending controversies. The Da Vinci Code seems to have inspired a whole host of spinoffs…”

Well, Dinesh, so did the story of Hercules withThe Ashes of Hercules (1909), Hercules and the BigStick (1910), Hercule (1938), Hercules (1953), The

Loves of Hercules (1960), The Fury of Hercules (1962),Son of Hercules (1964), Hercules the Invincible (1964), Hercules (1964), Hercules the Avenger (1965), Hercules (1983), Hercules

Returns (1993), Hercules (1997), The Legend of Hercules (2014),

and I’m probably missing a few.Does this list, by virtue of being long, make the Hercules

stories true? Of course not. Now let us examine this “big story”of Jesus the Christ.

What It IsChristianity is the belief that god created his son specifically

for a suicide mission so that he would rule the world and saveus from Adam’s transgression because the mother of everyonetalked to a serpent who convinced her to eat a fruit that god usedto booby-trap their home so that Jesus could diebecause theprice of sin must be paidand be sent to heaven to be with his

father, thus changing the very laws that god had created by way of a violent and immoral blood sacrif ice.

What It Is NotIt is not a very clever plan. God could have simplychanged his own immoral laws and forgiven his people

without having to create a son so that he could have said sonkilled and then brought back from the dead.

What It ClaimsChristians believe, with zero evidence, that god made a

huge sacrifice for his children: “For God so loved the world,that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believethin him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).But they also believe that Jesus is in heaven for all eternity, atthe “right hand of God” (Romans 8:34, Mark 16:19). So, really,

Jesus endured a bad Passover weekend, and god sacri ficednothing.

What Their Savior Taught Jesus taught his apostles that spit cures blindness (Mark 8:23

John 9:6), that his believers are immune to poison and can handle venomous snakes (Luke 10:10, Mark 16:17-18), that they shouldnot defend themselves in court (Matthew 5:40), that you should

whip your slaves (Luke 12:47), that you should k ill disobedientchildren (Mark 7:10), that “devils” cause illness (Matthew 7:22Matthew 8:16, Luke 8:33), and if a man f inds a woman attractivehe should pluck his own eyes out (Matthew 5:28-29).

WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?

by Michael B. Paulkovich

DOGMA WATCHReligion has had an enormous impact on the world. In this series, MichaePaulkovich examines dogmas, myths, and religious notions past and prese



Why It Is Not BelievableOf the thousands of deities that have been invented over

the course of human history, the one that seems least likely isthe Judeo-Christian deity, who drowned his children in a massflood, sent his own son to be crucified, and demands that youcut the penis of your baby boy.

No, really. What is Christianity? Although over two bill ion Christians live in the world

today, this religion almost died out in the fourth century C.E.But a decree from the Roman Emperor Theodosius the Greatelevated its practice to a legal mandate and the penalty for not

being Christian was death.

Christianity is a stunning series of fictions, errors,coincidences, mendacities, legends, forgeries, and legalinjunctions, both imperial and ex cathedra. Its roots lie inBabylon and Egypt before 1500 B.C.E., when the ancientHebrews cobbled their biblical canon, the Tanakh. When theSeptuagint (the Tanakh plus some related Greek texts) wastranslated in Alexandria by Greek-speaking Jews around 300-250 B.C.E., the rampant translation errors created considerableconsequences. Like the time a virgin got pregnant.

In the orig inal Hebrew, the words of Isaiah 7:14 say, “Hinnehha-almah harah ve-yeldeth ben ve-karath shem-o immanuel,”

which means, “A young woman is with child, and bears a sonnaming him Immanuel.” Our young woman with child got

lost in translation, and the Greek text became “a virgin shallconceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” It

was this erroneous translation of the Hebrew Tanakh that waslater incorporated into the biblical canon.1

Then we have first-century tales by Greek writers whotransformed the Jesus character into the “son of god” whileincorporating the virgin blunder with a replica of their ownGreek son of god, Attis (a shepherd on Earth, the only begottenson of god, and born in a cave on December 25 of a virginmother).

All of this was followed by second- and third-century fraudsand forgeries, including the expanded and nefarious ending toMark 16:9-20 (not found in the early scriptures), where Jesus

casts seven devils out of Mary Magdalene, makes a post-executionappearance, and is “received up into heaven.” All these weresecond-century inventions, but this is not to say that the originalaccounts are believable or have been in any way corroborated.

When Theodosius issued his imperial edicts declaring

Christia nity to be the only legal relig ion of the empire under painof death, Christians destroyed the great Library of Alexandriaand burned every one of its booksalmost a mi llion of themin 391 C.E.2,3 Over the next 1,500 years, Christianity would bspread by lies and murder.

A (Very) Short List of Lies1. The Abgar Forgeries are letters forged early in the fourth

century, supposedly between first-century King Abgar, Jesusand Tiberius, claiming Jesus had healing powers.

2. Apostolic Canons are the f raudulent legislation of Christ ’apostles, created by the Church around 400 C.E. to gain poweand wealth.

3. The Symmachian Forgeries are sixth-century fraudulentexts granting bishops criminal impunity for al l time to follow When they were endorsed by Pope Symmachus (498-514 C.E.)the clergy were thus given eternal get-out-of-jail-free cards.

4. The King Pepin Forgery is a letter created by Christianaround 751 C.E. They claimed it was a prophecy written in thefirst century by St. Peter for Pepin, King of the Franks, to readsix hundred years later.

5. The Donatio Constantini (Donation of Constantine) was forged around the eighth centur y. It claims that EmperoConstantine the Great had decreed, four centuries earlier, thamuch of Italy, as well as many of its riches and possessions

were to be given to the pope and the Roman Church. The

Catholic Encyclopedia aff irms “this document is without doubt forgery” yet it was part of Canon law for centuries. For examplegovernance of the City of Rome was not returned to the peopleof Italy until the nineteenth century. The Catholic Encyclopedianotes that “on 20 September, 1870, Rome, having been taken byforce of arms, declared its union with the Kingdom of Italy.”4,5

6. False Decretals were documents forged in the eighthand ninth centuries in an attempt to give legal protection tothe clergy: “...the emperor makes a present to the pope and hissuccessors of the Lateran Palace, of Rome and the provincesdistricts, and towns of Italy and all the Western regions…”6

A (Very) Short List of Murder—Make that Genocide—

Victims1. The Donatists were Christians in Northern Africa whos

superstitions differed slightly from official Catholic views. In317 C.E., Christian military forces wiped the Donatists fromthe face of the earth because they could not “be converted to

Christianity is a stunning series of fictions,errors, coincidences, mendacities,

legends, forgeries, and legal injunctions.

Rampant translation errors createdconsiderable consequences.

Like the time a virgin got pregnant.



Damien Lee Thorr

the worship of the Catholic communion.”7,8

2. When King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spainenacted the Inquisition in 1480, they kicked off centuriesof Christian oppression, torture, and executions of all non-Christiansespecially Jews.

3. The people of Stedingen, Germany, refused to pay tithes orperform forced labor as serfs. In 1233, the Vatican accused themof collusion withget this!the devil, who, according to PopeGregory IX, “appears to them in different shapes, sometimesas a goose or a duck… [T]he Devil presides at their Sabbaths.”9,10 Gregory commanded a crusade against the Stedingers, andChristian soldiers murdered about 30,000 people.11

4. The Cathars lived in Languedoc, France, during theeleventh century. Although they were Christian, Pope InnocentIII declared them to be witches, and his forces murderedanywhere from 500,000 to one million of them. When Abbot

Arnaud, a Cistercian monk and a legate of the pope, was askedhow to tell the authentic Christians from the witches, heproclaimed, “Kill them all, God will recognize his own!”12, 13

And thus we have a brief history of Christianity and how it became so “popular” over time. The edicts by Theodosius I late

in the fourth century made Christianity the only legal religionof the Empire, and for the next 1,500 years, Church laws wereenforced by oppression, genocide, forced conversions, frauds,and forgeries.

Michael B. Paulkovich is an aerospace engineer and freelancewriter who also contributes to Free Inquiry and HumanistPerspective. He is a contributing editor for The American

Rationalist and author of No Meek Messiah. His next bookBeyond the Crusades, will be published this year by AmericanAtheist Press with a foreword by Robert M. Price.

Endnotes:1. Trobisch, David. The First Edition of the New Testament

(New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) p. 62.2. Pabst, Adrian, et al. Encounter Between Eastern Orthodoxy

and Radical Orthodoxy: Transfiguring the World

through the Word (Surrey: Ashgate, 2009) p. 111.3. Martin, Thomas R., Barbara H. Rosenwein, and Bonnie G.Smith. The Making of the West, Combined Volume: Peoplesand Cultures (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012) p. 216.

4. Catholic Encyclopedia , first edition, vol. 5 (TheEncyclopedia Press, 1907-1913) p. 118-119.

5. Catholic Encyclopedia , vol. 8, p. 234.6. Guettée, Abbé. The Papacy: Its Historic Origin and

Primitive Relations (New York: Minos, 1866) p. 258-262.7. Pharr, Clyde. The Theodosian Code (Union: The

Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2001) p. 458.8. Smith, John Holland. The Death of Classical

Paganism (New York: Scribner, 1976) p. 58.9. Mackay, Charles. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the

Madness of Crowds. (New York: Harmony, 1980) p. 474.10. Gardner, Gerald Brosseau. The Meaning of Witchcraft(Boston: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2004) p. 248.

11. Catholic Encyclopedia , vol. 14, p. 283-284.12. Brenon, Anne. Les Femmes Cathares

(Paris: Perrin, 1992 & 2004) p. 76.13. Lea, Henry Charles. A History of the Inquisition of the

Middle Ages , vol. 1 (London: MacMillan, 1906) p. 154.


11/48www.atheists.org | AMERICAN ATHEIST | 112ND QUARTER 2015

Thou hast demeaned me with anthropomorphic traits, yet what is man to me?

Are ye professing I am spirt, essence, nat ure, substance or body?Have I walked amongst ye, or am I inside thy mind?

Am I apart from realit y, or do I intervene for ye to find?

Hast thou dreams proved me? Have ye a vision of me before?

Is thy bosom burning with personal “revelation ?”

What manner shall thou prefer to adore?

Be slow to words, less the prejudice of man be shown.

What trait of thee is holy? Hast thou ig norance been steadily g rown?

Ye cannot decide a mong thyself notions as basic as my form,

Yet ye base thy l ife of f my regard with words of bitter scor n.

Who hast given thee wisdom of me? Have ye ever sought to see?

Is thy text simply “holy ” because of age? How can ye be so easily deceived?

What makes thy books inspired? Do ye actually care to study the pages?

Whose word shall ye trust? Thy own, or men from ancient ages?

Even if ye don’t care if I am as man or liken to,

Ye give me morals as if I am so, as if ye know tis tr ue.

Yet what is man to me in my abode of all that is so?

Do ye hear the ants cry? Does thy heart pretend to care and know?

Does the amoeba capture thy soul? Yet thou sayest ye caress mine?

Even though thy primitive existence is a mere millisecond of time?

Where hath thy humilit y f led? What arrogance and pride ye unknowingly ensue!

What doctrine is fact? What ritual is valid? What prayer should I answer to?

Reality to man is a view of imminent sight, an utterly simplistic degree.

Ye know only of what ye observe and perceive, and what t hou has chosen to believe; While thou sermons and preaching of ethnocent rism display ye fool ish and naïve.

Am I a being of peace or war? Of lov ing g race or vengefully just?

Can ye rationally believe thy religious authorities? Hast thou proven their word to trust?

How can ye have faith among this capricious and stormy sea?

If I am omniscient and omnipotent, then thy will is useless to decree.

What ca n ye give me which I cannot have if all is mi ne to hold?

Why would I desire thy worship and reason to be ex tolled?

Am I a being of narcissism that I must have thy constant thank s and praise?

Can ye not see my being was created from thy mirror’s reflective gaze?

How can barbaric dreams and visions of ancient men remain?

Am I a disease, a volcano, a devast ating famine, or perhaps a hurr icane?

Ye pick and choose thy followings to match thy l ife today,But if my word is complete and unchanging, then thou has blasphemed thy life away.

For ye imitate thy attributes to explain my ways of wonder,

Yet dogma and theology has altered since ye claim I presented myself to thee.

Why then has thou robbed minds of indiv iduality, and the desire to be rightfully free?

Thou has altered my essence for far too long, and thy fables and power must be cast aside.

Thy books shall read, “And Man forged god in his own image, after his own likeness and pride .”

~Mordavith



Are you tired of always finding a Bible in yourhotel room bedside drawer? It’s usually the King

James Version of the Old and New Testaments,provided free to the hotel by the religiousorganization The Gideons International. Inexchange for the supply of free Bibles, the hotelagrees to have their staff place and replace themas part of their housekeeping duties. The Bibles

are mostly taken for granted, expected by many to be there, and don’t usually provoke a complaint.But routinely placing them in every room is apresumptive action by a hotel and an exampleof Christian privilege. It’s my opinion that if I,as an Atheist, ignore the Bible in the room, I’mcomplicit in the practice of religious favoritism.

So I do something about it. When I come across a Bibleor any religious bookin a hotel room, I personally take it tothe front desk. I smile, shake the hand of the person behindthe counter, and compliment them on something (the nice

room, the helpful staff, etc.). If it’s the case, I mention thatI’m a member of their loyalty program. I then ask to speak tothe manager on duty. I do all of this in a friendly way, whichestablishes a cordial setting for what I do next, which is toask, “Is this a hotel only for Christians?” or “Do you have apreference for Christians at this hotel?” or “Do you presumethat I am a Christian?” The typical reply is, “No, why do youask?”

“Well,” I say, placing the Bible on the counter, “I found thisin my room.” The usual reply is , “Yes, we put those in all of ourrooms as a matter of company policy.”

My response, always delivered politely, is to ask, “Whyis there only a Christian religious book in the room? Doesthis hotel presume that all guests are Christian? Why not a

Dealing with Unwanted Hotel Biblesby Steve Lowe

When I make a hotel reservation these days,I request a “religion-free” room—one with

“no religious materials in the room, please.”



Koran, and a Torah, and the Book of Mormon, and a book onBuddhism?”

At this point, they often apologize on beha lf of the hoteland offer to take it off my hands. I give it to them and thankthem, but I continue with the following points:

“The policy of placing only a Christian book in the rooms

gives the impression that this hotel assumes that al l guests areChristian, or worse, that it prefers Christian guests, or, even

worse, that it thinks al l guests should become Christians.I do not rant or get angry. I want them to remember me

as a reasonable guest with constructive feedbackthe type ofguest they want to come back.

Placing Biblesin every room isa presumptive

action by a hoteland an example ofChristian privilege.

In closing, I state exactly what actions I want them totake: “Thank you for listening to my feedback (keep smiling)I would like you to convey to your upper management mycomplaint and ask that they consider changing their policyand put no religious materials in the rooms. A Bible is notnecessary, it’s off-putting to many guests, and even offensiveto some. If this hotel wants to respond to the “needs” of someguests, I suggest having copies of several religious texts at the

front desk, available upon request.” I leave on a cordial note byshaking their ha nd and thanking them for their time.

If, after my stay, I receive a standard email requestingfeedback about my stay, I make these points again in writingIf I’m not asked for feedback, I go to their website and sendthe feedback myself, making sure to include any reference orconfirmation number along with the dates and location of mystay. If there is no electronic option to do this, I mail a letter tothe company headquarters.

I remember, not so long ago, when anyone who wanted anon-smoking room had to specifically request this in theirreservation. When I make a hotel reservation these days

I request a “religion-free” roomone with “no religiousmaterials in the room, please.” If I do find a Bible afterchecking in, I take it to the front desk and politely begin the

whole thing over agai n, this t ime also asking why my request wasn’t honored.

Some Atheists leave a message inside the Bible for the nexthotel guest. During our national convention in Memphis this yearat the Peabody Hotel, Dan Ellis, American Atheists’ RegionaDirector for Utah, wrote “You don’t need ancient myths to be agood person” on his business card (see the photo below).

I think our ultimate goal should be to ge

hotels to change their pol icies and not placeBibles or any other religious book in anyguest room. Sheraton Hotels has alreadyadopted this practice. This can only bedone by changing corporate policy, whichcan only be changed when enough of thesecomplaints reach the ears of the decisionmakers. We must raise the awareness othe negative business impact of this policy

And we must do it in a professiona l andconstructive manner if we want to succeed

Steve Lowe is a former Peace Corpsvolunteer and a graduate of theUniversity of Virginia. He liberatedhimself from theophilia around 2001when, after retiring, he had time toread and think about big things. Hecurrently lives in Washington, D.C., andis a member of the Board of Directors ofAmerican Atheists.

One short-term solution for dealing with hotel Bibles



AACON 2015 - MEMPHIS

East and of what Islam has w rought in modern times. She is theauthor of Infidel and Nomad: From Islam to America. Her lates

book is Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now. In 2004she gained international attention following the murder ofTheo van Gogh, who directed her short fi lm, Submission , whichexposes the oppression of women under Islam. The murdererleft a death threat for Hirsi Al i pinned to van Gogh’s chest. Sheis currently a fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at theBelfer Center for Science and International Affairs at HarvardUniversity.

Several well-known authors also spoke and signed their books at the convention. Marshall Brain is the creator andfounder of the websites WhyGodWontHealAmputees.comand HowStuff Works.com. His new book, How “God” Works uses logic, science, and critical thinking to help readers proveto themselves that god is imaginary. He spoke about the best

Atheists in Memphis2015 Convention Draws 750 Participantsby J.T. Eberhard

While Easter weekend is a religious holiday for many, it’salso the occasion of the annual American Atheists nationalconvention. This year’s host city was Memphis, and from

April 2 to 5, the Peabody Hotel was home to 750 participants.The convention opened on Thursday, April 2, with several

workshops. They included “Grieving Without Faith” with GriefBeyond Belief founder Rebecca Hensler and “How NOT toTalk to Christians,” a debate workshop I presented along withThe Atheist Experience host Matt Dillahunty and journalist and

blogger Jamila Bey. American Atheists President David Silverman kicked off

the first day of speakers with the talk “What’s in It for You,” where he spoke to the importance of everyone getting out intheir community to be “firebrand” Atheists.

Ayaan Hirsi Al i gave the keynote address, “Feminism:Refusing to be Silenced.” It captured the horrors of the Middle

Keynote Speaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali



practices for teaching people to thin k critically.Susan Blackmore’s book The Meme Machine has been

translated into sixteen languages. She blogs for The Guardianand is a visiting professor at the University of Plymouth, U.K.She talked about the clash of science, religion, and free speech.

Paul Offit, M.D., author of Bad Faith: When Religious

Belief Undermines Modern Medicine , is Chief of the Division ofInfectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine EducationCenter at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His talk,“The 1991 Philadelphia Measles Epidemic: Lessons from thePast,” reminded us that accepting things on faith can have realconsequences, not only for ourselves but for those around us.

Anthony Pinn is a professor of humanities and religiousstudies at Rice University and the author of many books. Hismost recent is Everyday Humanism. He mixed humor withserious content in his talk , “If JayZ and R ichard Dawkins WereFriends: What Atheists Can Learn From Hip-Hop Culture.”In it, he shared the story of his own upbringing to show howempathy for minorities would do great things for the Atheistmovement. Pinn said that Atheism has yet to provide a softerlanding point than that which churches already provide for

African Americans. According to Pinn, Atheism needs hip-hopculture more than it realizes.

It wouldn’t be an American Atheists convention if there weren’t protests outside the hotel. This year was no exception, but the bar was raised to a whole new level with “Memphis Exalts Jesus!” an organized, revival-l ike event at Autozone Park, theminor-league baseball stadium right across the street from thePeabody Hotel. If Memphis does, in fact, exalt Jesus, they didn’tdo it at the rally, which only drew a smattering of attendees.

The convention is also the occasion to recognizeoutstanding activists. Chuck Miller of Alabama was namedRegional Director of the Year. He has organized several ralliesin Montgomery and emceed the Ral ly for Secular Governmenat the Alabama State Capitol in May 2014. He has also spokenat Women’s Rights Rallies in the state and has been an activesupporter of LGBTQ allies, including Alabama’s Free2BeCommunity Center and Rocket City Pride. Chuck’s emailaddress is [email protected].

Twenty-one-year-old Amanda Scott, also of Alabama, wasnamed Activist of the Year. Besides co-organizing and speaking

at the Alabama Rally for Secular Government, Amandatestified before the Mobile County Commission to offer aproposal to open up Mobile Government Plaza as a publicforum and to allow Atheists, pagans, and other groups to put upplaques next to an existing plaque that includes the words “In

Atheist of the Year Vyckie Garrison

Our president, Dave Silverman

at the costume party



AACON 2015 - MEMPHIS

Cards Against Humanity is, in the words of the game’s website, “a party game for horr ible people.” The game issimple, fun, and as politically incorrect as it gets. Whenmy local affiliate of American Atheists, the Tri-StateFreethinkers, gathers for a game night there’s always around of Cards Against Humanity. So when I discoveredthat American At heists had created a limited-edition deckfor the charity tournament for Planned Parenthood GreaterMemphis Region, I immediately signed up. Each part icipantreceived a deck of American Atheists-themed cards, printedin a l imited run exclusively for the tournament.

After the tournament, which raised $1,000 for PlannedParenthood, I saw several people getting their cards signed

by the convention speakers. I thought this was a great idea

and decided to take it one step further. Besides the speakers, Ihad the staff members of American Atheists each sign a card Although I barely made it past the first round, I ended

up winning the tournament and was awarded a certificatedeclaring me The Most Horrible Person at the Convention.This was a huge honor, considering how many “horrible”people were in attendance. I can’t decide which is better: theaward or my autographed cards.

Jim Helton is American Atheists’ Regional Director forKentucky and president and founder of Tri-State Freethinkersan American Atheists affiliate in the Greater Cincinnati area.

CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY TOURNAMENT RAISES $1,000FOR PLANNED PARENTHOODby JIM HELTON

God We Trust.” She is the founder of Mobile Equality, anonprofit organization dedicated to LGBTQ rights. Her

website, Amanda LScott.com, is updated regula rly wit hdetails of all of her latest activism. Her Twitter handle is@AmandaLScott2.

Dan Arel, author of the Danthropology column in

this magazine, was given the First Amendment Awardfor his investigative journalism work uncoveringreligious discrimination in hiring at Ark Encounter, areligious theme park being built in Kentucky by Answersin Genesis, the organization that owns and operatesthe Creation Museum, also in Kentucky. Answers inGenesis had applied for a sales tax rebate offered by theCommonwealth of Kentucky to organizations which

bring a certain amount of tour ist dollars. One requirementfor the rebate is to not discriminate in hiring based onreligious preference. When Dan found out AIG wasdiscriminating , he blogged about it. This started a chainof events that resulted in the rejection of the application.

Dan blogs at Danthropology.net and is on Twitter at@DanArel. His book, Parenting Without God , waspublished last year.

Vyckie Garr ison was named Atheist of the Year forher work as a respected adversary of biblical patriarchyand the damages in inflicts on its adherents. Garrison wasonce a prominent member of the Quiverfull community,

whose most famous members are the Duggar family ofthe reality show 19 Kids and Counting . This branch ofChristian fundamentalism bans birth control, demandstotal submission of a wife to her husband, and encourageshuge “biblical families.” Her blog, No Longer Quivering,provides support to women and children who are escapingabusive religious communities. Her Twitter account is @NoQuivering.

The convention closed with comedians Trace Bealieuand Frank Conniff, best known for their roles as CrowT. Robot and TV’s Frank in the sci-fi comedy TV show

Mystery Science Theater 3000. Their live riff on the 2014Christian film God’s Not Dead was delivered with thesame religious reverence and respect that they had forthe B movies they riffed on in the TV seriesmovies like

Invasion of the Neptune Man , The Brain that Wouldn’t Die ,and Fire Maidens of Outer Space.

For a complete list of convention speakers and their

topics, go to Atheists.org/File/Program2015.pdf. Youcan watch many of the convention presentations on the American Atheists Channel on YouTube, on the AtheistChannel on ROKU, and online at Atheists.tv.

J.T. Eberhard’s blog, What Would J.T. Do?, is at Patheos.com/Blogs/WWJTD. He’s on Twitter @JTEberhard. He previouslyworked for the Secular Student Alliance, where he wastheir first high school organizer. He is the co-founder ofthe Skepticon conference and served as the event’s leadorganizer for its first three years.

The Dave Silverman card



Taking the American Atheists annual convention to the

buckle of the Bible belt is bound to draw a reaction f romlocal Christians. But that’s no reason not to go there. In fact,

it feels like there is a certain constitutional duty to deliver themessage right to the belly of the beast.

The convention was held in the historic Peabody Hotel inMemphis, Tennessee. The Peabody actively competed to hostthe convention, and the staff was very accommodating andcordial to all the attendees.

Not everyone, however, was that cool or that eager to seehundreds of Atheists converge in downtown Memphis. It was agiant insult to the Creator of the Universe. Or something likethat. When they heard we were coming, someone decided tostage a display of god’s power and presence in Tennessee to showthe world that Atheism doesn’t play in god’s country. It was theirintent to intimidate us with a massive crowd of believers whoseoverwhelming numbers would be testament to Tennesseans’commitment to the gospel of Jesus and to say that Atheists wereunwelcome and should be afraid. They dreamed of 50,000 god-fearing people showing up to scare the Atheists.

But that’s not exactly what happened. The local evangelicacommunity put out the call for every good, solid Christian inthe tri-state area to come out to the AutoZone Park, Memphis

brand-new minor league baseball field, directly across the streefrom the Peabody Hotel, on Saturday, April 4th, apparently to

scare us enough to either high-tail it outof town or start believing in Jesus.

Or something like that.So, on Saturday morning, having

been born without the gene which makeone careful in such situations, I trottedacross the street, past a single lonelydemonstrator with a sign, and into thefestivities inside AutoZone Park, just tosee how impressive and frightening thecrowd really was.

Long story short, not that impressiveor frightening. There were maybe 500people thereabout as many as we had

at our Friday night dinner in the PeabodyThe photo shows individuals and smalgroups scattered among many emptyseats in the center third of the lower level

I’m sure they were disheartenedprobably even embarrassed, but thepathetic numbers spoke to aDawning Truththat thereare vibrant, growing Atheist

communities in practically every city in America, while the ability of the most rabid Evangelicals tothrow up numbers against us, to intimidate us,even in the Bible belt, is diminishing fast enough

to be red-shifted.If this was a referendum on the constitutional

rights of Atheist versus Christian privilege, then we won this one. But, perhaps, it was just a sign ofa shrinking church-going demographic. And, havingoutlived its taste for blood and tacitly resigned fromthe fight, finds itself matched against an Atheistpresence that is becoming so normalized andubiquitous that it no longer draws the zealous awayfrom their Saturday morning trip to Home Depot.

Or something like that.

Fear and Loathing at AutoZone Park

by RICK WINGROVE

hoto by Rick Wingrove



“ “

T he life of Father Odran Yates, a Catholic priest in John Boyne’s latest novel, A History of

Loneliness , is a metaphor for Ireland’s complicity in the acts of sexual abuse that thousands ofchildren suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church. Father Yates’ recollection of his life,

which shifts back and forth bet ween the past and the present, is an illustration of how these

horrible acts were not just the fault of the priests or even a Church hierarchy that kept the problemunder wraps. These men were thoroughly enabled by parents, teachers, neighbors, and church staff.Boyne, himself a survivor of physical and sexual abuse by priests, tells a story full of harsh detailsabout a time and a place where almost no one had even a chance to escape the destructive cycle oftheir society.

Though he never molested a child himself, Father Yates was well aware that it happened around himOver the years, opportunities presented themselves to him again and againopportunities to speakout, to say anything, to get just one child out of harm’s way on just one occasion. Yet his reaction wasalways the same: do nothing.

In his interview with American Atheist , Boyne talked about his shift in perspective that came from

writing this book.

THE EVIL OF DOING NOTHINGJohn Boyne’s latest lovel, A History of Loneliness,takes an unsparing look at complicity in childabuse in Catholic Ireland.

by PAMELA WHISSEL

I wanted to challenge

myself to find good

where previouslyI’d only found evil.

My generation and people younger

than me just don’t talk about religion

or God. They don’t go to mass, and

they don’t think about it in any way.

Notable Books



“I wanted to challenge myself tofind good where previously I’d onlyfound evil. I’ve made an effort as I’vegotten older not to be embittered

by things because if you’re bitter, you’re only damaging yourself. It’s best to come to terms with things,

and, in my case as a writer, to writeabout things. I was somebody whofelt such vehement anger toward theChurch that it was important to me tounderstand that not everybody whohas given their lives to this institutionis bad. There are plenty of people whohave done it and have lived good livesand helped people.”

The book’s characters never speak up because theydidn’t want to “cause a scene” or because they’d beoutcasts if they ever criticized a priest. A lot of Atheists

in the U.S. are in the closet because they’d be outcastsin their families or with their friends or among their co-workers if they admitted their non-belief or even anydoubts about religion. What is the tolerance level forAtheism in Ireland now?

“Where I come from, it’s a subject that nobody my age talksabout at all anymore. Not because anybody’s in the closet, it’s

just that people aren’t interested. My generation and people younger than me just don’t talk about religion or God. Theydon’t go to mass, and they don’t think about it in any way. Ithink one reason for that is the damage done to so many people

in Ireland by the Church. If I was out with a friend for a drinkand somebody brought up religion or asked if I believe in God, I would be really surpr ised. It’s just not part of our lives.”

In the end, it took a convicted sex offender to get Odranto finally be honest with himself. What would it havetaken for him to shed his denial earlier on?

“This story is really the story of Ireland. It’s about complicityand silence and turning away. And it went all the way to the top,to the pope. Everybody knew what was going on and nobodydid anything. If parents said to a bishop that their child’s beenabused, the bishop would move the priest to a different diocese.Then he’d say that the priest can no longer get to the child, but,

of course, he’s put with other children. And they would thinkthis was fine.

“But the people who weren’t prieststhe parentsthemselvesalso turned because we have this h istory of being

enslaved by the Church and beingfrightened of them. The authority thatthe Church had was enormous. It’s

baff ling now, but that’s what people didI started off with the idea that Odran wasgoing to be a good man, but as the noveldeveloped, I realized just how complici

he was because he can’t be as naive as hepretends to be. When Odran recountsan event, he’ll often return to it laterand the second time around he’ll say‘Did I mention…’ So he’s unreliable inhis iteration of things because he know

what he’s done. At one point he says, ‘I’dseen things and I’d heard things and I’dsuspected things and I turned away andI did nothing.’”

When Odran observes the criminal trial of a priestsome women disrupt the proceedings and yell out

“Don’t let them break you, Father, with their filthylies!” So they’re dragged out of the courtroom sayingtheir Hail Marys and Odran wonders what could haveinspired such devotion. He says, “I wondered why theywould stand behind him even if he was guilty.” Fourpages later, someone wonders the same thing abouthim. The mother of one young victim asks him, “Do youeven care?”

“In Ireland, even now, if I’m on a radio program talkingabout this book, immediately people phone in saying, ‘Thisis just another person slamming the Church.’ And they don’t

listen. They don’t accept at all that there are enormous flawsand crimes that have taken place. They make blanket statementlike, ‘You’re just jumping on the bandwagon, criticizing theChurch, and trying to bring it down.’ And they will not engagein an intellectual discussion at all. They refuse to. Why that is ishard to know. Is it because they were brought up in such a strictform of Catholicism that they’re terrified by the idea of goingagainst the Church?”

And then there’s the other extreme.

“I interviewed a lot of priests who were more than happy totalk and tell me about their feelings about the Church todayThey were pretty honest about it. A lot of things that happen to

Odran in the contemporary parts of the booklike being afra idof wearing his collar in public because people would spit on himor call him a pedophileare the tip of the iceberg of the thingsthat I heard from priests who are genuinely good people, trying

John Boyne

We have this history of being enslaved by

the Church and being frightened of them.




As an addiction counselor, survivor of clergy abuse, and a co-founder ofSurvivors Voice Europe, I am often asked to review books that highlightthe atrocities of child abuse. Most cite statistics and give some scientificevidence; the others are usually victims’ autobiographies. M. Dolon

Hickmon’s novel, 13:24: A Story of Faith and Obsession , presents the facts about trauma,religious dogma, and child abuse in the form of a crime thriller. Hickmon blends scienceand a powerful humanist message with equally compelling entertainment. The centralcharacters, Josh, a wounded celebrity, and Chris, a teenage murder suspect, are linked

by a common tragedy. W hile a murder investigation unfolds, we learn that both haveexperienced physical, mental, and emotional abuse, albeit in slightly different forms.

Josh’s ordeals are draped in the religious twaddle of his father, a famous minister, whileChris’ abuser relies on manipulations that are anything but holy.

A CRIME THRILLER’S ATHEIST HEROSuspense Novel Highlights Facts about Religious Child Abuse

by Sue Cox

This sometimes graphic story unmasks thehypocrisy, subjugation, and humiliation that

can arise from religious indoctrination.

““Christian childrearing guides

contradict nearly everything thatmodern science has taught us about

the emotional and psychological

development of human beings.

Notable Books



As a smal l boy, Josh must reconcile experiences of profoundsuffering with inherited beliefs about a beneficent, all-powerfulgod. Initial ly, Josh blames himself for his father’s maltreatment.

As he matures, nagging existential questions lead him to searchthe Bible for the truth. But the more he searches for god, theless Josh believes, and his journey turns him into an anti-theistentertainment icon.

The other skeptics in the book are as plausible as they arediverse. Some are damaged by their childhoods and typify thetroubled lives and conflicted spirituality that ensue from suchevents. But the Atheists who support and care for them arelively, well-adjusted and morally unconflicted.

In telling this sometimes graphic story, Hickmon unmasksthe hypocrisy, subjugation, and humiliation of human beingsthat can arise from religious indoctrination. Yet, along withdespair, disaster, and human tragedy, there are also hope,compassion, recovery, and triumph.

Of the many lessons subtly woven into this story, I couldespecially relate to the compassion displayed by the Atheistcharacters toward one another. I experienced something similaron the day that I made the rallying speech at the Protest the Pope

demonstration in London on September 18, 2010. Until then, Ihad for most of my life felt like an alien in the world I so badly wanted to belong to: singled out and violated as a child, only to befurther isolated by the actions of church leaders toward abusedpeople like me. My “trust barometer” destroyed, I spent yearsdesperately trying to fit into the world. But on that day, as I lookedout at 20,000 Atheist, humanist, and secularist faces, I feltforthe first time in my lifethat I, too, belonged to the human race.

In my interview with Hickmon, we discussed the realitiesreflected in his novel, along with the growing role that secularcommunities play in preventing and healing the damage ofchild abuse.

Having been raised in a “hellfire and damnation”household, I related to so many of your novel’s characters. Arethere actual events that inspired you to write such an emotionalcritique of popular religious parenting manuals?

Like Josh, I struggled to square my childhood faith withphysical abuse I suffered on the advice of a trusted pastor. I

wondered how a loving god could ignore my prayers, spokenfervently inside of his own house. That dilemma consumed mostof my thoughts when I was in my mid-twenties, and I startedto compare the childrearing advice from the Bible with that ofChristian writers, secular parents, and child-abuse experts. Well,the Bible’s authors knew as little about human development asthey did about electricity and astronomy. I also came to realize

that there is no scriptural basis for most of the parenting advicethat is dispensed on the supposed authority of the Bible.

Take, for instance, J. Richard Fugate’s What the BibleSays about Child Training , in print since 1980. The bookrationalizes a process for delivering corporal punishmentto gain unquestioning obedience: “Parents do not owe theirchild an explanation for their instructions. He does not haveto know why you want him to do it, let alone agree with you

You are his authority and thereby have the right to direct hisactivities. W hen a child is allowed to make parents justify theirinstructions, it undermines their authority and causes them toanswer to the child instead of the child to them. Until a childlearns unquestioning obedience it is better not to justify yourinstructions in advance.”

To accomplish this, parents must be prepared to inflict wheals and bruises via the “strenuous” use of a tree limb or wooden dowel:

A willow or peach tree branch may be fine for arebellious two-year-old, but a small hickory rodor dowel rod would be more fitting for a well-muscled teenage boy … The rod should be usedon the bare back, preferably on the buttocks …

The child who has not yet learned to trust hisparent’s commitment to his obedience, or who isexceptionally willful will require more frequentand more intense whippings. Such a child is likelyto require enough strokes to receive stripes oreven welts. Some children have very sensitive skinthat will welt or even bruise quite easily. Parentsshould not be overly concerned if such minorinjuries do result from their chastisement as it isperfectly normal.

However, few of Fugate’s highly specific detailsincluding which actions do or don’t merit a whippingare ever mentioned

in the Bible. Christian childrearing guides contradict one anotherthey contradict scripture, and, most importantly, they contradictnearly everything that modern science has taught us about theemotional and psychological development of human beings.

There are some who claim that traditional parenting practices, such as faith healing, homeschooling , and corpora punishment are unfairly targeted by child welfare investigators

According to the non-profit organization Children’Healthcare is a Legal Duty, forty-eight states allow religiousexemptions from vaccinations, thirty-eight have religiousexemptions in their civil codes on child abuse or neglect, andin five states parents can use a religious defense if accused o

a serious crime against a childthese include capital murder,manslaughter, and neglect resulting in death.1

In five states parents can use areligious defense if accused of a

serious crime against a child.



Clearly, the tension between government and religion is notdue to persecution. Rather, it arises from the fact that Christ ianconservatives are staunchly opposed to the notion that childrenare human beings with rightsto live to adulthood, to learnto read, to not be afflicted with trauma-induced psychiatricillnessthat must be balanced against the religious freedomsof their parents. In his book, Fugate says, “There is no suchthing as ‘child rights’ sanctioned by the Word of God. The childhas only the God-given right to be raised by his parents withoutthe intervention of any other institution.”

As children gain legal protections, fundamentalists will oftenhide their harmful parenting practices though self-segregation.In the U.K., this was accomplished by setting up so-called “freeschools,” which can be run by religious groups, even thoughthey are funded directly by the government. Your novel pointsout a similar American trend, which is the rise of the religioushomeschooling movement. How do your characters representsome of the real-world links between homeschooling leaders and American politics?

My villain is a composite based in part on what I’veunderstood from studying public fig ures like Reverend MichaelPearl of No Greater Joy Ministries, Bil l Gothard of the Institutefor Basic Life Principles, and Michael Farris of the HomeSchool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), to name a few.

In spite of recurring child-abuse scandals, these leaders wieldconsiderable political clout.

At its most basic, HSLDA could be compared to a prepaidlegal service with thousands of dues-paying members.

According to a 2013 statement on its Facebook page, “HSLDAreceives hundreds of calls each year from parents who are underinvestigation by CPS [Child Protection Services].” That sameFacebook post art iculates the core benefit that paying membersreceive: “We help homeschool families navigate the legallandscape in the early stages of an investigation before all thefacts come to light.”2

Beyond providing peace of mind for parents who feel theyhave reason to fear a CPS investigation, HSLDA aggressively

lobbies against children’s rights and child protection on the stateand national levels. HSLDA has opposed mandatory child abusereporting,3 criminal background checks for youth volunteers4

and state-mandated medical exams for homeschooled children,5 for example. And Farris’ reach is not limited to advocating on

behalf of the homeschooling community. He chaired the draftingcommittee that wrote the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of1993, a law that eventually formed the basis for the U.S. SupremeCourt’s landmark decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby , whichaffirmed the right of closely held corporations to claim religiousexemptions from portions of federal law.6

The good news is that for the first t ime in its history, HSLDAfaces organized opposition. Homeschool Alumni ReachingOut is an organization that conducts research and developsresources to equip parents and homeschooling communities

with information about issues such as child abuse, mentahealth, self-injury, and the needs of LGBT students. TheCoalition for Responsible Home Education has also emergedas a powerful counterweight to HSLDA, offering alternativeanalysis of pending homeschool and child-abuse legislation

which focuses on the rights of children.

As the head of SMART UK, an organization which hastrained nearly 13,000 health care workers in the science ofchildhood abuse, trauma, and addiction, I appreciated thenovel’s many revelations about early trauma permanentlyaltering the body and brain. What prompted you to presensuch information?

My goal with this novel was to combine accurate, expertreviewed, technical information about trauma with theimmersive experience of reading fiction. The result is that

readers come away with the sense of having gained firsthandknowledge of what living with trauma is like for child victimsfor adult survivors, and for their spouses and families. Whenpeople have that information, then they are able to recognizethe opportunities that exist, from voting for a candidate that

supports better homeschooling laws, to supporting a friend orcolleague who is a survivor, and everything in between.

Endnotes1. ChildrensHealthCare.org/?page_id=242. Facebook.com/hslda/posts/101515600434734193. HSLDA.org/docs/news/201112150.asp4. HSLDA.org/cms/?q=bill/assembly-bill-4372-state-

mandated-annual-medical-exams-homeschoolers5. HSLDA.org/cms/?q=bill/assembly-bill-4372-state-

mandated-annual-medical-exams-homeschoolers6. DailyCaller.com/2015/03/30/indiana-religious-freedom-

law-is-nothing-new-i-helped-write-the-one-clinton-signed

Sue Cox is an addictions counsellor and teacher, a co-founderof Survivors Voice Europe, and the head of SMART-UK, anorganization that teaches professionals the neuroscience oaddiction and the science of childhood abuse. The program isused in U.K.’s National Health Service, military health systems128 U.K. prisons, and many charities dedicated to combatingsubstance abuse. She is a member of the Federation of Drugand Alcohol Professionals, Atheism UK, the British HumanistAssociation, and the National Secular Society.

The Bible’s authors knew as littleabout human development as they

did about electricity and astronomy.



AMERICAN ATHEISTS

BooksClothing

TeesJewelry

and more

Aeist.org/hop



In One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America ,Princeton University history professor Kevin M. Kruse proves the United States isindeed a Christian nation. This reality has nothing to do with America’s foundingfathers, who, contrary to conservative assertions, were deists who strongly believedin the separation of church and state. It was only in the mid 1950s that America“became” a Christian nation, as more and more citizens began flocking to church. By 1960,69% of all Americans attended a church or synagogue, a twenty-point jump since 1940

And although church attendance has returned to 1940 levels, 70% of all Americans todaycall themselves “Christian” (“America’s Changing Religious Landscape,” PewForum.org,May 12, 2015).

How America’s God Squad was Mobilized

by Mark Kolsen

The divisive nature of religion itselfcould be our best hope to maintain the separation between church and state.

Notable Books

A review of Kevin M. Kruse’s One Nation Under God: HowCorporate America Invented

Christian America



After World War II, “Christian America” emerged not simply because Americans feared the threat of Soviet communism andits evil Atheistic creed. A majority of Americans committedthemselves to “Christian libertarianism,” thanks to the effortsof President Dwight Eisenhower, religious leaders, and businessmoguls smarting from the anti-corporate thrust of the NewDeal. Convinced that Americans needed to restore their faithin god and the free enterprise system, this unholy allianceused a variety of marketing techniques which successfully“Christianized” the American public during the 1950s.

To understand this postwar phenomenon, we must recallthat for most of our history, American labor was subservient tocapital. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, capitalistsexploited labor with impunity. In many industries, the wages,hours, working conditions, and living conditions of workersduring that time would be unimaginable in today’s third-worldsweatshops.

For a judicial history of this exploitation, read Injustices:The Supreme Court’s History of Comforting the Comfortable and

Aff licting the Af flicted by Ian Millhiser, and count on becomingsick to your stomach. Millhiser shows that some states, as well

as Congress, did pass laws (e.g. minimum wage and maximum

workday hours) to shield workers. But the Supreme Court,

citing the Constitution’s “contract clause,” and often “makingup” other legal justifications, consistently declared these lawsunconstitutional while capitalists continued to exploit workersand violently crush al l resistance. When the Depression began,the Court blocked most of Roosevelt’s New Deal measures.Only after FDR’s reelection and threats to dilute the Court’spower did the justices relent. The 1937 decision in West Coast v.

Parrish finally opened the door to the New Deal, to governmentintervention in the economy, and to the welfare state as weknow it today.

But, as Kruse shows, American capitalists never accepted theNew Deal’s expansion of the rights of labor. In that same year,Republic Steel and Chicago police gunned down ten striking

workers right in front of the Republic plant. But by the time World War II was over, the American public would no longertolerate such overt tactics. So capitalists needed a new means ofcombatting “the creeping socialism” initiated by FDR.

Enter preachers like James Fitfield, the “apostle tomillionaires,” who viewed the New Deal as violating “thesacredness of individual responsibility” preached by Jesus.Fitfield condemned minimum wages, price controls, SocialSecurity, unemployment compensation, and progressivetaxation as “socialistic laws.” He “convinced industrial ists thatclergymen could be the means of regaining the upper hand

in their war with Roosevelt.” For his Spiritual Mobilizationcampaign, Fitfield successfully solicited large donations fromhundreds of corporations. The campaign recruited thousandsof ministers and distributed anti-New Deal propagandaincluding a monthly magazine. When the campaign launchedthe radio program Freedom Story in 1951, it was carried by800 stations. A Freedom Under God Week organized aroundIndependence Day made “a lasting impression on the nation.”

Other ministerssuch as Billy Graham and Abraham Veriedesuccessf ully promoted “Christian libertarianism”to Washington’s rich and powerful. At his prayer breakfasts,

Veriede was especia lly adept at recruiting importa nt politicafigures to his cause, including Supreme Court Chief JusticeFred Vinson, who declared that America “must adhere to theideals of Christianity.” Graham’s 1952 Washington crusadeteam persuaded Congress to authorize the first-ever religiousservice on the steps of the Capitol, as well as a National Day ofPrayer “on which the people of the United States may to turnto god in prayer and meditation.” But the biggest catch for bothclergy and capitalism was President Dwight Eisenhower, who

besides believing that “our form of government has no sense

unless it is founded in a deeply religious faith” a lso believed tha

he was elected “to help lead this country spiritually.”

Part II of One Nation Under God will raise the eyebrowsof Atheists who, like myself, have viewed Eisenhower as aninnocuous, golf-loving Republican and who have viewedMcCarthyism as America’s main scourge during the 1950s. UndeEisenhower’s leadership, religion spread like a virus throughoutall branches of government. Even Supreme Court Chief JusticeEarl Warrenwhose appointment Eisenhower called his“greatest mistake”flatly stated that “we are a Christian nationin an address he gave to government and business leaders in 1954at the Mayf lower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

As Kruse presents the sordid histor y of “under God” inthe pledge of allegiance, “IN GOD WE TRUST” on stampsand currency, and the proliferation of monuments to the Ten

Commandments in public buildings, Atheists may also beshocked by the tepid resistance offered by the ACLU, the

American Jewish Congress, and other groups who todayadvocate for the separation of church and state.

One consolation: contrary to the wishes of his manycorporate benefactors, Eisenhower refused to roll back theNew Deal or cut taxes on the wealthy (92% was the tax rate forthose in the highest bracket). He even increased governmentspending. Barry Goldwater dubbed his administration “adime-store New Deal.” Nevertheless, as Kruse persuasivelydemonstrates, Eisenhower’s administration “succeeded in


American religious leaders couldrarely agree when government

actually acted in favor of religion.



“Striving to Build a 1st Century Church in a 21st Century World.” That’s what the billboard in front of a local church says. Whenever I drive by it, I smile and think, “Mission impossible!”or “Why bother?” or a sarcastic “Good Luck!” To understandmy amusement, imagine a Green Giant commercial declaring,“Striving to Practice 1st Century Farming within 21st Century

Agriculture.” Or, better still, suppose that, upon entering ahospital, you noticed their slogan, “Striving to Provide 1stCentury Healthcare in a 21st Century Medical Setting.” Would

you have your surgery there? Al l major religions are inextricably tied to their time and

place of birthmore precisely, to the cosmology, the picture of

the world in the minds of their creators. For Christianity, whatsort of universe did the New Testament authors have in mind?Their universe was very, very small. With the exception of theheavens, the earth was the entire universe. That earththe

modern concept of “planet” was non-existentwas a flat discof, perhaps, a few hundred miles in diameter about the size ofOhio. The sky was a crystal dome, a mile or so above the earthThe stars were tw inkl ing, decorative lights placed by the godsor holes in the dome through which shone the heavenly raysThe sun and moongods or abodes or chariots of gods in otherprimitive creedswere large lanterns hung by a deity whothoughtfully adjusted their different luminosities for eitherhuman labor or repose.

Naturally, other demographics dovetailed with thisminiscule cosmology. People, for example, could be foundin various wandering tribes of a few thousand each, or

in similar-s ized tiny towns. The idea of “a mil lion” wasunimaginable. The nether regions, Hades, Limbo, et al., were just under the eart h’s surface, but usu al ly accessibleonly through certain caves.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!by Tony Pasquarello

Anyone planning an ascension toheaven takes off from a hilltop,

to shorten the travel time.



Support American Atheists everytime you shop Amazon.com!

At no additional cost to you, American Atheists will receive a donation from Amazon of .5% of your total purchase

when you enroll in Amazon Smile.

Go to Atheists.org/Amazon andselect American Atheists, Inc., as the

charity of your choice. Thank you!

When considered in this context, many aspects of scripture

become transparent:• They dream of ladders to the heavens and build towers to

that end because … heaven isn’t very far.

• The gods are usually encountered on hilltops because …those are just an easy step down out of heaven.

• By the same token, anyone planning an ascension to heaventakes off from a hilltop, to shorten the travel time.

• It makes sense that a few letters might convert all the Gentiles because … there aren’t that many of them.

• A worldwide flood becomes much more plausible … when your world isn’t very wide.

• All the necessary animals can handily fit in the Ark because… there just aren’t that many “kinds.” (Who knew about“species”?)

• When the distance and brightness of a star is comparable to ahelicopter’s searchlight, then, obviously, it can be “followed”and it can hover over and illuminate a particular stable.

• The supreme deity sends his son to earth because … there was nowhere else to go! (Didn’t he know about the 56 billionother planets in our galaxy alone?)

That first-century world, that primitive cosmology, that

parochial picture of the universethose are gone forever.Most of those ideas were off by factors ranging from tens totrillions. In our current cosmos, to call the earth a “speck”

would be far too respectful. (However, first-century ignoranceis certainly not blameworthy.) As I have tried to demonstrate,

virtually every part of the religion orig inating there and then isinseparably connected to that obsolete cosmology and thereforecan’t be removed from its ancient setting and given a modernhome. It isn’t like pilfering a stone from the Colosseum andusing it in your patio décor. On the contrary, it would be morelike extracting, intact, all the iv y from Harvard’s oldest buildingand expecting it to retain its shape and vitality. It can’t be done.

But can’t that evangelical, old-time religion be renovated

and modernized? Of course it can! Merely eliminate allreferences to the supernatural, including all superbeings. Cutall mention of spirits or souls. Drop all psychologically harmfulnotions like sin, inherited guilt, atonement, blind faith, etc.Remove all scientifically absurd myths and fantasies. Dispense

with magical think ing and wishful thinking, as exempli fied bymiracles, eternal life, etc.

Whatever of value is left will be commonsense, rationalprecepts like the Golden Ruleempirically based, secular,humanistic insights gleaned from observing the activities andinteractions of human beings. It is important to note that thereisn’t the slightest reason to call this remainder a religion.

A worldwide flood becomesmuch more plausible … when

your world isn’t very wide.This t ype of modernization fairly characterizes the evolution

of the mainstream Protestant denominations, and, to a largeextent, Catholicism of the last half-century. Supernaturalismand biblical literalism were downplayed, while concerts andart shows, health clinics and lunches, counseling, bingo, and

babysitt ing were emphasized. These churches became, ineffect, glorified social-service agencies. And what did they getfor their commendable efforts to modernize religion? Massivelosses in membership while fundamentalism thr ived.

Such is the strength of the nostalgic desire to re-establish asimpler eraThe Return to Simpleville. Such is the power osimple-minded appeals to simplicity coupled with the naturalhuman aversion to the terrible final ity of death. Succumbing tothe gospel huckster’s promise of eternal li fe usually signals the

departure of logic and reasonand your money.

A retired philosophy professor at The Ohio State University, TonyPasquarello is the author of The Altar Boy Chronicles, a humoroussemi-autobiographical account of an artistically gifted childgrowing up Catholic and desperately trying to stay Catholic althe way. The book is available from Amazon or at Atheists.org.

American Atheists

Shop at AmazonSmileand Amazon will make

a donation to:



When I interv iewed Paul Provenza for Amer ican Atheist (Third

Quarter 2013), I asked him how his Atheism comes into playon Set List: Stand-Up Without A Net , a live, improv stand-upshow he co-produces with fellow comic Troy Conrad. He saidthat the show is about what’s happening in the moment. “OnSet List , comics are often put into situations where they haveto deal with the tensions inherent in topics like religion, thepope, Nazis, Jews, and race. This format puts them in a place

where one of the elements we can deal wit h is the tension ofthe topic alone.”

During San Francisco Sketchfest 2015, I had the opportunityto catch two live sets of the show, with Conrad serving as themaster of ceremonies. During each one-hour set, four comics, oneat a time, grace the stage alongside a screen that projects a seriesof random and often ridiculous topics like “crucifixion surpriseparty” and “adorable jihad.” Both the comic and the audienceenter into an experience where the comic creates material exnihlio. Instead of a carefully prepared script, the comic is workingin the moment and responds intuitively from the heart.

During the Sketchfest shows, Conrad relayed what the lateRobin Williams said about performing on Set List . “This showreally k icked my ass in the best way. It’s going to get me back thereon the road again and doing this stuff.” Soon after performing onSet List , Williams went on tour. According to Conrad, Williamsneeded the adrenaline, the rush, and the feeling that he might

fail that comes from performing improv. Conrad added, “The

bigger a comic gets, often their act doesn’t feel like the realness o when they started. But, almost every single time, when a comicfinishes doing a set on Set List , they tell me this feels like they jusdid stand-up for the first time.”

While Paul Provenza has pushed the politica l correctnessenvelope in the pastthe 2005 documentary The Aristocratsimmediately comes to mindSet List throws that enveloperight out the window. Here, the elephant in the room is visible

because the words on a screen share the stage with the comic When something like “why I’m anti-female” or “why we needmore school shootings” comes up, it’s an opportunity to addressan otherwise off-limits topic.

By embracing this opportunity to cross the line and tacklethe elephant, a comic can move from their role of entertainingthe masses to functioning more as a philosopher. In thiscapacity, their Jungian commentary becomes a reflection otheir own consciousness.

american atheist magazine (second quarter 2015)

Documents