SUMMER 1998 VOL. 18 No. 3

The Improbability of God BY RICHARD DAWKINS Anortion as Treason BY MARILYN FRENCH free inquiry Jeleórallny Reason an( _71amanh/

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7 252 74 7495 7 7 THE AFFIRMATIONS OF HUMANISM: A STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES free inquiry

We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems. We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation. We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities. We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual under- standing. We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves. We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual ori- entation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity. We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suf- fering on other species. We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest. We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence. We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual pref- erences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity. We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences. We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion. We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences. We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos. We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking. We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others. We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfish- ness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality. We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.

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RE-DISCOVERING HAPPINESS

SUMMER 1998 VOL. 18, NO. 3 ISSN 0272-0701

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENTS

5 Secular Humanists vs. the 18 Frontlines Global Mediacracy 21 Letters Paul Kurtz 47 Great Minds OP-ED Achieving the Happy Life Epicurus 6 The Improbability of God Richard Dawkins 49 Applied Ethics Misleading the Patient for 10 Treason, Abortion, and a Fun and Profit Woman's Rights Lewis Vaughn Marilyn French 52 Reason & Liberty 11 How Psychic Hotlines How Religion and Big Exploit African Americans Money Censor the Media Norm R. Allen, Jr. Brandon M. Stickney 14 Making Peace in Northern 54 Science & Religion Ireland a Reality Searching for God in the Matt Cherry Machine David C. Noelle 15 A Journal Like No Other Keith Parsons 66 Humanism at Large Matt Cherry 17 Poem: Five Easy Prayers for Pagans 36 God and the Philosophers, BOOK REVIEWS Philip Appleman Part 1 62 Checks and Balances on Paul Edwards Religious Freedom by Rob Boston 41 When Clergy Commit the 63 What God Has Joined Sin of Silence by Vern L. Bullough Gerald A. Larue 64 Focusing on Humanism 45 The Notorious Notary by John A. Xanthopoulos Herb Silverman 65 Debunking Theism by H. James Birx 65 Examining Evolution by H. James Birx 65 Myth and History by Bill Cooke

summer 1998

Editor-in-Chief Paul Kurtz

Timothy J. Madigan f \ .'utive Editor • Lewis Vaughn M • r Andrea Szalanski Deputy Editor f Matt Cherry Senior Editors free inquiry Vern L. Bullough, Richard Dawkins, Thomas W. Flynn, Martin Gardner, James A. Haught, NEXT ISSUE Gerald A. Lame, Taslima Nasrin Associate Editor Molleen Matsumura Debunking Contributing Editors Postmodernism Robert S. Alley, Joe E. Barnhart, David Berman, Jo Ann Boydston, Paul Edwards, Albert Ellis, • Unmasking Intellectual Frauds Roy P. Fairfield, Charles Faulkner, Antony Flew, FREE INQUIRY (ISSN 0272-0701) is pub- Levi Fragell, Adolf Grünbaum, Marvin Kohl, lished quarterly by the Council for Secular • The Problem with Thelma Lavine, Ronald A. Lindsay, Tibor Humanism, a nonprofit educational corpora- Moral Relativism Machan, Michael Martin, Wendy McElroy, Delos tion, 1310 Sweet Home Road, Amherst, NY B. McKown, Joe Nickell, Lee Nisbet, John 14228. Phone (716) 636-7571. Fax (716) 636- • The Attack on Universal Novak, Skipp Porteous, Lois Porter, Howard 1733. Copyright ©1998 by the Council for Human Rights Radest, Robert Rimmer, Michael Rockier, J. J. Secular Humanism. Periodicals postage paid C. Smart, Svetozar Stojanovie, Thomas Szasz, at Buffalo, N.Y., and at additional mailing • Why Science Isn't Obsolete Edward Tabash, Richard Taylor offices. National distribution by International Book Review Editor God and the Philosophers, Part 2 Periodicals Distributors, Solana Beach, H. James Birx California. FREE INQUIRY is available from Teaching Science Through the Editorial Associates University Microfilms and is indexed in Mass Media Roger Greeley, James Martin-Diaz, Philosophers' Index. Printed in the United Warren Allen Smith States. The Mind of a Fundamentalist Cartoonist Don Addis Subscription rates: $28.50 for one year, Council for Secular Humanism $47.50 for two years, $64.50 for three years. Chairman Paul Kurtz $6.95 for single issues. Payment in U.S. funds drawn on U.S. bank must accompany PLUS Board of Directors Vern Bullough, Jan Loeb Eisler, Jonathan Kurtz, Joseph Levee, Kenneth Canadian and foreign subscription orders. Marsalek, Jean Millholland, Robert Worsfold Please add U.S. $7.00 per year (surface mail) or U.S. $12.00 per year (air mail). Canadian Op-Ed Chief Operating Officer Timothy J. Madigan and foreign customers are encouraged to use Frontlines Executive Director Matt Cherry Visa or MasterCard. Single issues add $1.56 Director of Humanist Community Development Sidelines (1-3 issues) or $3.00 (4-6 issues) surface Jo Ann Mooney mail and $3.00 (1-3 issues) or $7.20 (4-6 Letters Chief Development Officer James Kimberly issues) air mail. Address subscription orders, Associate Director of Development changes of address, and advertising to FREE Media Scan Anthony Battaglia INQUIRY, P.0. Box 664, Amherst, NY Reason and Liberty Public Relations Director Norm R. Allen, Jr. 14226-0664. Applied Ethics Director of Libraries Timothy Binga Postmaster: Send address changes to FREE Chief Data Officer Richard Seymour INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY Great Minds 14226-0664. Fulfillment Manager Michael Cione Science & Religion Design Chris Kolasny Manuscripts, letters, and editorial inquiries should be addressed to Timothy J. Madigan, Production Paul E. Loynes, Sr. Book Reviews Editor, FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Director of Illustration Elka Kazmierczak Humanism at Large Amherst, NY 14226-0664. Editorial submis- Audio Technician Vance Vigrass sions. and more Web Page Designer David Noelle Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect Staff Kevin Dean, Linda Heller, Georgeia the views of the editors or publisher. No one Locurcio, Stephen Macoff, Ben Milleville, speaks on behalf of the Council for Secular Anthony Nigro, Ranjit Sandhu, David Schummer Humanism unless expressly stated. Executive Director Emeritus Jean Millholland Cover illustration: Stephen Wilton Visit FREE INQUIRY on the World Wide Web at HTTP://WWW.SECULARHUMANISM.ORG

free inquiry 4 Secular Humanists vs.

EDITORIAL the Global Mediacracy PAUL KURTZ

he emergence of a global mediacracy today poses a special threat to the scientific-rationalist outlook that has had such a powerful effect on civ- ilization since the Enlightenment. This development is accelerated by two factors: First, the emergence of the information age: new tech- nologies have made it possible to leapfrog national frontiers and to Ttransmit by means of satellites and computers information worldwide. Second, free inquiry these technologies are owned and controlled by huge media conglomerates—the new global mediacracy is not based on monopolistic ownership but on oligopolis- tic control. These conglomerates produce and sell programs worldwide. They usu- ally appeal to the lowest common denominator and blot out dissenting points of view. In the process the secular humanist point of view is invariably neglected, even rejected. The concentration of wealth and power in fewer and fewer hands within the media industry has an insidious effect upon secular humanism.The global mediacracy is an integral part of the transnational corporations that now vir- tually dominate the world.

AN INSIDER'S VIEW I have been closely involved in my entire professional life with the magazine and the book publishing industry and radio and television programming. I founded Prometheus Books in 1969, because at that time very few if any pub- lishers issued books expressing a secular humanist and skeptical viewpoint; I thought that there should be such a press. Prometheus is now the largest inde- pendent, rationalist book publisher in the United States and indeed worldwide. We are still virtually the only publisher that publishes works that are critical of the New Age and paranormal and religious claims, and that consistently pub- lishes a rationalist, scientific, and secular humanist point of view. We are, of course, very modest in comparison with the media conglomerates. I also helped found the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal in 1976 in an effort to provide skeptical and scientific critiques of paranormal claims. In 1980 the Council for Secular Humanism and FREE INQUIRY were brought into being. During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, there was a massive assault on secular humanism by right-wing fundamentalists, who virtually took over the Republican Party. Its agenda was to turn America into a libertarian free-market economy and to impose a repressive social and moral agenda. The religious right maintained that secular humanism was the most dangerous force in America and that we were undermining "traditional values." The Council for Secular Humanism is now the largest such organization in America and the world. In 1995 we built the first Center for Inquiry in Amherst, New York, and we are establishing Centers in Los Angeles, Kansas City, and elsewhere. Our goal is to extend the methods of science, reason, and freedom of inquiry to all human endeavors. We wish to convey to the public an appreciation for the methods of scientific inquiry and reason. And we do this by encouraging scientific and scholarly cri- tiques of paranormal and religious claims. For example, we have sponsored scien-

(Continued on p. 57)

summer 1998 OP-ED

this is true of a comparatively simple watch, how much the more so is it true 'the Improbability of the eye, ear, kidney, elbow joint, brain? These beautiful, complex, intri- cate, and obviously purpose-built struc- of God tures must have had their own designer, their own watchmaker—God. So ran Paley's argument, and it is an Richard Dawkins argument that nearly all thoughtful and sensitive people discover for them- selves at some stage in their childhood. uch of what people do is done most people the answer is still some Throughout most of history it must in the name of God. Irishmen version of the ancient Argument from have seemed utterly convincing, self- blow each other up in his Design. We look about us at the beauty evidently true. And yet, as the result of name. Arabs blow themselves up in his and intricacy of the world—at the aero- one of the most astonishing intellectual name. Imams and ayatollahs oppress dynamic sweep of a swallow's wing, at revolutions in history, we now know women in his name. Celibate popes and the delicacy of flowers and of the but- that it is wrong, or at least superfluous. priests mess up people's sex terflies that fertilize them, We now know that the order and appar- lives in his name. Jewish through a microscope at ent purposefulness of the living world shohets cut live animals' the teeming life in every has come about through an entirely throats in his name. The drop of pond water, different process, a process that works achievements of religion in through a telescope at the without the need for any designer and past history—bloody cru- crown of a giant redwood one that is a consequence of basically sades, torturing inquisi- tree. We reflect on the very simple laws of physics. This is the tions, mass-murdering con- electronic complexity and process of evolution by natural selec- quistadors, culture-destroy- optical perfection of our tion, discovered by Charles Darwin ing missionaries, legally own eyes that do the look- and, independently, by Alfred Russel enforced resistance to each new piece ing. If we have any imagination, these Wallace. of scientific truth until the last possible things drive us to a sense of awe and What do all objects that look as if moment—are even more impressive. reverence. Moreover, we cannot fail to they must have had a designer have in And what has it all been in aid of? I be struck by the obvious resemblance common? The answer is statistical believe it is becoming increasingly of living organs to the carefully improbability. If we find a transparent clear that the answer is absolutely noth- planned designs of human engineers. pebble washed into the shape of a ing at all. There is no reason for believ- The argument was most famously crude lens by the sea, we do not con- ing that any sort of gods exist and quite expressed in the watchmaker analogy clude that it must have been designed good reason for believing that they do of the eighteenth-century priest by an optician: the unaided laws of not exist and never have. It has all been William Paley. Even if you didn't know physics are capable of achieving this a gigantic waste of time and a waste of what a watch was, the obviously result; it is not too improbable to have life. It would be a joke of cosmic pro- designed character of its cogs and just "happened." But if we find an portions if it weren't so tragic. springs and of how they mesh together elaborate compound lens, carefully Why do people believe in God? For for a purpose would force you to con- corrected against spherical and chro- clude "that the watch must have had a matic aberration, coated against glare, Richard Dawkins is Oxford's Professor maker: that there must have existed, at and with "Carl Zeiss" engraved on the of Public Understanding of Science. He some time, and at some place or other, rim, we know that it could not have is the author of The Blind Watchmaker an artificer or artificers, who formed it just happened by chance. If you take (on which this article is partly based) for the purpose which we find it actu- all the atoms of such a compound lens and Climbing Mount Improbable. He is ally to answer; who comprehended its and throw them together at random a Senior Editor of FREE INQUIRY. construction, and designed its use:' If under the jostling influence of the ordi-

O nary laws of physics in nature, it is ber of distinct species alive today—but, being, in a single lucky step, from theoretically possible that, by sheer however many ways there may be of nothing: from bare skin, let's say. It is luck, the atoms would just happen to being alive, it is certain that there are theoretically possible in the sense that fall into the pattern of a Zeiss com- vastly more ways of being dead! a recipe could be written out in the pound lens, and even that the atoms We can safely conclude that living form of a large number of mutations. If round the rim should happen to fall in bodies are billions of times too com- all these mutations happened simulta- such a way that the name Carl Zeiss is plicated—too statistically improba- neously, a complete eye could, indeed, etched out. But the number of other ble—to have come into being by sheer spring from nothing. But although it is ways in which the atoms could, with chance. How, then, did they come into theoretically possible, it is in practice equal likelihood, have fallen, is so being? The answer is that chance inconceivable. The quantity of luck hugely, vastly, immeasurably greater enters into the story, but not a single, involved is much too large. The "cor- that we can completely discount the monolithic act of chance. Instead, a rect" recipe involves changes in a huge chance hypothesis. Chance is out of whole series of tiny chance steps, each number of genes simultaneously. The the question as an explanation. one small enough to be a believable correct recipe is one particular combi- This is not a circular argument, by product of its predecessor, occurred nation of changes out of trillions of the way. It might seem to be circular one after the other in sequence. These equally probable combinations of because, it could be said, any particu- small steps of chance are caused by chances. We can certainly rule out such lar arrangement of atoms is, with hind- genetic mutations, random changes— a miraculous coincidence. But it is per- sight, very improbable. As has been mistakes really—in the genetic mater- fectly plausible that the modern eye said before, when a ball lands on a par- ial. They give rise to changes in the could have sprung from something ticular blade of grass on the golf course, it would be foolish to exclaim: There is no reason for believing that any sort "Out of all the billions of blades of grass that it could have fallen on, the of gods exist and quite good reason for ball actually fell on this one. How believing that they do not exist amazingly, miraculously improbable!" The fallacy here, of course, is that the and never have. ball had to land somewhere. We can only stand amazed at the improbability existing bodily structure. Most of these almost the same as the modern eye but of the actual event if we specify it a changes are deleterious and lead to not quite: a very slightly less elaborate priori: for example, if a blindfolded death. A minority of them turn out to eye. By the same argument, this man spins himself round on the tee, be slight improvements, leading to slightly less elaborate eye sprang from hits the ball at random, and achieves a increased survival and reproduction. a slightly less elaborate eye still, and hole in one. That would be truly amaz- By this process of natural selection, so on. If you assume a sufficiently ing, because the target destination of those random changes the ball is specified in advance. that turn out to be ben- Of all the trillions of different ways eficial eventually of putting together the atoms of a tele- spread through the AREN'T You A LITTLE scope, only a minority would actually species and become the OLD To HAVE AN work in some useful way. Only a tiny norm. The stage is now ►MAGINARY FRIF,ND? minority would have Carl Zeiss set for the next small engraved on them, or, indeed, any rec- change in the evolu- ognizable words of any human lan- tionary process. After, guage. The same goes for the parts of a say, a thousand of these watch: of all the billions of possible small changes in series, ways of putting them together, only a each change providing tiny minority will tell the time or do the basis for the next, anything useful. And of course the same the end result has goes, a fortiori, for the parts of a living become, by a process body. Of all the trillions of trillions of of accumulation, far ways of putting together the parts of a too complex to have body, only an infinitesimal minority come about in a single would live, seek food, eat, and repro- act of chance. duce. True, there are many different For instance, it is ways of being alive—at least ten mil- theoretically possible lion different ways if we count the num- for an eye to spring into

0 summer 1998 large number of sufficiently small dif- selves that every one of the intermedi- from a tree of that height, your life ferences between each evolutionary ates on the evolutionary route, say would have been saved by just a little stage and its predecessor, you are from bare skin to a modern eye, would bit more surface area. Then, when your bound to be able to derive a full, com- have been favored by natural selection; descendants have evolved that extra plex, working eye from bare skin. How would have been an improvement over surface area, their lives would be saved many intermediate stages are we its predecessor in the sequence or at by just a bit more still if they fell from allowed to postulate? That depends on least would have survived. It is no trees of a slightly greater height. And how much time we have to play with. good proving to ourselves that there is so on by insensibly graded steps until, Has there been enough time for eyes to theoretically a chain of almost percep- hundreds of generations later, we evolve by little steps from nothing? tibly different intermediates leading to arrive at full wings. The fossils tell us that life has been an eye if many of those intermediates Eyes and wings cannot spring into evolving on Earth for more than 3,000 would have died. It is sometimes existence in a single step. That would million years. It is almost impossible argued that the parts of an eye have to be like having the almost infinite luck for the human mind to grasp such an be all there together or the eye won't to hit upon the combination number immensity of time. We, naturally and work at all. Half an eye, the argument that opens a large bank vault. But if mercifully, tend to see our own runs, is no better than no eye at all. You you spun the dials of the lock at ran- expected lifetime as a fairly long time, can't fly with half a wing; you can't dom, and every time you got a little bit but we can't expect to live even one hear with half an ear. Therefore there closer to the lucky number the vault century. It is 2,000 years since Jesus can't have been a series of step-by-step door creaked open another chink, you would soon have the door open! Essentially, that is the secret of how Is there any evidence that evolution actually evolution by natural selection achieves happened? The answer is yes; the evidence what once seemed impossible. Things that cannot plausibly be derived from is overwhelming. very different predecessors can plausi- bly be derived from only slightly dif- lived, a time span long enough to blur intermediates leading up to a modern ferent predecessors. Provided only that the distinction between history and eye, wing, or ear. there is a sufficiently long series of myth. Can you imagine a million such This type of argument is so naive such slightly different predecessors, periods laid end to end? Suppose we that one can only wonder at the subcon- you can derive anything from anything wanted to write the whole history on a scious motives for wanting to believe it. else. single long scroll. If we crammed all of It is obviously not true that half an eye Evolution, then, is theoretically Common Era history into one metre of is useless. Cataract sufferers who have capable of doing the job that, once scroll, how long would the pre- had their lenses surgically removed can- upon a time, seemed to be the preroga- Common Era part of the scroll, back to not see very well without glasses, but tive of God. But is there any evidence the start of evolution, be? The answer they are still much better off than peo- that evolution actually has happened? is that the pre-Common Era part of the ple with no eyes at all. Without a lens The answer is yes; the evidence is scroll would stretch from Milan to you can't focus a detailed image, but overwhelming. Millions of fossils are Moscow. Think of the implications of you can avoid bumping into obstacles found in exactly the places and at this for the quantity of evolutionary and you could detect the looming exactly the depths that we should change that can be accommodated. All shadow of a predator. expect if evolution had happened. Not the domestic breeds of dogs— As for the argument that you can't a single fossil has ever been found in Pekingeses, poodles, spaniels, Saint fly with only half a wing, it is dis- any place where the evolution theory Bernards, and Chihuahuas—have proved by large numbers of very suc- would not have expected it, although come from wolves in a time span mea- cessful gliding animals, including this could very easily have happened: a sured in hundreds or at the most thou- mammals of many different kinds, fossil mammal in rocks so old that sands of years: no more than two lizards, frogs, snakes, and squids. fishes have not yet arrived, for meters along the road from Milan to Many different kinds of tree-dwelling instance, would be enough to disprove Moscow. Think of the quantity of animals have flaps of skin between the evolution theory. change involved in going from a wolf their joints that really are fractional The patterns of distribution of liv- to a Pekingese; now multiply that wings. If you fall out of a tree, any skin ing animals and plants on the conti- quantity of change by a million. When flap or flattening of the body that nents and islands of the world is you look at it like that, it becomes easy increases your surface area can save exactly what would be expected if they to believe that an eye could have your life. And, however small or large had evolved from common ancestors evolved from no eye by small degrees. your flaps may be, there must always by slow, gradual degrees. The patterns It remains necessary to satisfy our- be a critical height such that, if you fall of resemblance among animals and

free inquiry o plants is exactly what we should medium in which a primitive form of who strove to do as little as possible in expect if some were close cousins, and cumulative natural selection could get order to initiate everything. Atkins others more distant cousins to each started. DNA was a later product of this explains how each step in the history of other. The fact that the genetic code is earlier cumulative selection. Before the universe followed, by simple phys- the same in all living creatures over- this original kind of natural selection, ical law, from its predecessor. He thus whelmingly suggests that all are there was a period when complex pares down the amount of work that the descended from one single ancestor. chemical compounds were built up lazy creator would need to do and even- The evidence for evolution is so com- from simpler ones and before that a tually concludes that he would in fact pelling that the only way to save the creation theory is to assume that God The Argument from Design, then, has been deliberately planted enormous quanti- ties of evidence to make it look as if destroyed as a reason for believing in a God. evolution had happened. In other words, the fossils, the geographical distribution of animals, and so on, are period when the chemical elements have needed to do nothing at all! all one gigantic confidence trick. Does were built up from simpler elements, The details of the early phase of the anybody want to worship a God capa- following the well-understood laws of universe belong to the realm of physics, ble of such trickery? It is surely far physics. Before that, everything was whereas I am a biologist, more con- more reverent, as well as more scien- ultimately built up from pure hydrogen cerned with the later phases of the evo- tifically sensible, to take the evidence in the immediate aftermath of the big lution of complexity. For me, the impor- at face value. All living creatures are bang, which initiated the universe. tant point is that, even if the physicist cousins of one another, descended There is a temptation to argue that, needs to postulate an irreducible mini- from one remote ancestor that lived although God may not be needed to mum that had to be present in the begin- more than 3,000 million years ago. explain the evolution of complex order ning, in order for the universe to get The Argument from Design, then, once the universe, with its fundamental started, that irreducible minimum is cer- has been destroyed as a reason for laws of physics, had begun, we do need tainly extremely simple. By definition, believing in a God. Are there any other a God to explain the origin of all things. explanations that build on simple arguments? Some people believe in This idea doesn't leave God with very premises are more plausible and more God because of what appears to them much to do: just set off the big bang, satisfying than explanations that have to to be an inner revelation. Such revela- then sit back and wait for everything to postulate complex and statistically tions are not always edifying but they happen. The physical chemist Peter improbable beginnings. And you can't undoubtedly feel real to the individual Atkins, in his beautifully written book get much more complex than an concerned. Many inhabitants of lunatic The Creation, postulates a lazy God Almighty God! fi asylums have an unshakable inner faith that they are Napoleon or, indeed, God There is only one philosophy journal that himself. There is no doubting the HII9 power of such convictions for those critically examines religious claims. Its name is 1P that have them, but this is no reason for It gathers some of the best minds in the world to provide rigorous critiques of religious ideas and doctrines the rest of us to believe them. Indeed, and to examine issues in humanistic and naturalistic ethics. Prominent philosophers offer penetrating assess- since such beliefs are mutually contra- ments of arguments for and against the existence of God, traditional church dogma, naturalistic vs. theistic dictory, we can't believe them all. explanations, atheism, naturalism, and humanistic values. The Editor is Keith Parsons, author of God and the Burden of Proof, and contributors include Adolf Grünbaum, Richard Gale, Michael There is a little more that needs to Martin, Ted Honderich, Kurt Baier, Daniel C. Dennett, W. V. Quine, Antony Flew, be said. Evolution by natural selection Quentin Smith, Kai Nielsen, Theodore Schick, Jr., Paul Kurtz, and more. explains a lot, but it couldn't start from Philo is the official journal of the Society of Humanist Philosophers and is published by the Council for nothing. It couldn't have started until Secular Humanism. Two issues per year, 80+ pages per issue. there was some kind of rudimentary Subscribe now. Fill out the form below and mail to Philo, Council for Secular Humanism, Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664. Or call 1-800-458-1366. (Please have your credit card reproduction and heredity. Modern ready.) Or FAX your credit card order to 716-636-1733. heredity is based on the DNA code, Check one: ❑ One-year subscription (for individuals), $35 ❑ One-year subscription (for institutions), $60 which is itself too complicated to have Name sprung spontaneously into being by a single act of chance. This seems to Address Daytime Phone mean that there must have been some City State Zip earlier hereditary system, now disap- I enclose my _check or _money order, made payable to the Council for Secular Humanism peared, which was simple enough to have arisen by chance and the laws of Please charge my _ MasterCard _ Visa # Exp. chemistry and which provided the Signature

o summer 1998

OP-ED

United States, has continuously been attacked by patriarchal institutions, Treason, Abortion, and even though many men welcome abor- tion for their own reasons and many are unconcerned with children once a Woman's Rights they are born. Unable to overthrow the law allowing abortion, patriarchists are trying to break it down into fragments and make the fragments illegal. But Marilyn French even one such victory would give them a lever to declare the entire law invalid, n ancient states like Assyria, fathers guilty of murder but of treason and was immoral. had the right to decide whether a impaled or crucified. Thus for women Without abortion, American women Inewborn infant would live, be (but not men) the marital relationship in the late twentieth century would not killed, or (in some cultures) exposed. is patently paralleled with the relation- be helpless: they have won other, However, if women performed abor- ship of state and subject. somewhat less-contested rights to edu- tions on themselves or others, they To place abortion in its historical cation, decently paid work, the right to were subjected to the context illuminates its own property, and to be free from severest punishment in the underlying meaning to physical abuse. Although men do not Middle Assyrian laws: patriarchal thinkers. Abor- always respect these rights, women they were impaled and tion is not condemned can seek recourse through law. But denied burial. This punish- because it involves ques- without the right to abortion, women ment was otherwise tions of life or death. Many do not possess the right to physical reserved for crimes against states have permitted infan- integrity. Since some men are willing the state—high treason or ticide, many still sanction to take and use women's bodies and assault on the king. execution, and all are will- sexual capacities by force, to rape Institutions—the state, the church, ing to see people kill and be killed in them within marriage or outside it, or a corporation—are usually gov- wars. If destruction of a living being and, since many women are unable to erned by a small group of men, whose does not deter states or sects from war, fight off such male assaults, women primary demand from underlings is why should destruction of an embryo must have the power and right to undo obedience, deference to their supreme be a serious matter? Moreover, groups what men do—the right, not just to authority. Regardless of the character opposed to legal abortion are generally birth control, but to abortion. Unless a of the state, whether it be a tyranny or unwilling to provide living children woman has both rights—to birth con- a democracy, crimes "against the state" with the means to stay alive. trol and abortion—she cannot be sure were and are considered extremely Patriarchal thinkers and institutions of maintaining her own bodily serious infractions. In all past and pre- condemn abortion because it involves integrity. sent states, treason is the worst iniq- a woman using her own judgment and Men often claim that women are uity, deserving of the death penalty. treating her body as if it were her own, bound by their own bodies, their own But in many past states, women were and not the property of her husband. "nature": it is women, after all, who considered treasonous for acts against For a woman to assert the right to use get pregnant. But it is not women's, their husbands: in Babylon, if a wife her own reason and to possession of but men's bodies that oppress women. caused her husband's death in order to her own body, is, in this thinking, trea- Until the twentieth century, when marry another man, she was not found son. It denies the supremacy of the women won access to reliable birth male, which is the first principle of control and legal abortion, they were Marilyn French is an author, a femi- patriarchy. bodily bound to men, their victims and nist, and a literary critic. Her books Patriarchal institutions are founded pawns. If abortion were illegal, men include The War Against Women on the subjection of women. This is would in principle regain the legal (1992) and, her latest, a memoir of why women's bodies are such impor- right to force women into mother- being ill, A Season in Hell (Knopf tant markers in the struggle for human hood. This would set back the contin- 1998). This essay has been reprinted freedom and why the struggle for the uing struggle for human rights by a with her permission. right to abortion, once won in the century. fl

free inquiry 10 OP-ED

• Basketball superstar Shaquille O'Neal will retire. How Psychic Hotlines • A massive electrical power outage will affect one-third of the earth and last three days. Exploit African • Acts of terrorism will occur in California, Connecticut, and Delaware. Many people will be killed or injured. Although predictions such as these Americans could "cause international panic," Challenger readers were inclined to accept them uncritically. Norm R. Allen, Jr. Popular black talk-show hosts such as Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams, or years, many highly influential as a group are near the bottom of and Bev Smith of BET's "Our Voices" black leaders, thinkers, and America's economic ladder, some often feature so-called psychics on F intellectuals have bemoaned tar- African Americans are willing to pay their programs without even bothering geting black consumers in advertising $3.99 per minute for psychics' advice. to feign skepticism. such unhealthy products as pork, Many factors account for blacks' But even some African American tobacco, and malt liquor, or heavy patronage of the hot- scholars promote a belief in psychic high-risk opportunities such lines. Blacks on average phenomena. For example, some as lotteries. But only a few tend to be less educated Afrocentrists have promoted the idea have given attention to the than whites. Moreover, that melanin pigment endows certain hawking of such dubious many blacks have been so blacks with psi powers. Some have services as faith healing or pathologically dependent argued that the ancient Egyptians were psychic hotlines. upon religion for so long able to move huge stones for the con- Psychic hotlines, which that it would be surprising struction of pyramids via telekinesis. include the Psychic Readers if they were not also One Afrocentrist, Washington, Network, the Psychic Believers Net- attracted to other irrational beliefs, D.C., psychiatrist Dr. Frances Cress work, and the Psychic Encounters such as psychic phenomena. Welsing, even believes that melanin Network, are wildly popular among The black media—much of which helps blacks scientifically. On page large numbers of blacks. Black celebri- is highly dependent upon religious 233 of her collection of essays titled ties promoting the hotlines are featured programming and advertising—often The Isis Papers, she writes: in commercials on programs viewed take an uncritical view of psychic phe- by large numbers of blacks, and in nomena. Many black newspapers such In 1987, at the first Melanin Conference I discussed The Cress black media such as Black as the now defunct City Sun of Theory on the George Washington Entertainment Television (BET). Some Brooklyn, New York, the Capital Carver Phenomenon, suggesting that hotlines are also hosted by blacks Spotlight of Washington, D.C., and the the skin melanocytes of this very although one, Dionne Warwick's Challenger of Buffalo, New York, have Black-skinned scientist (high level Psychic Friends Network, has filed for featured uncritical stories on psychic concentration of melanin skin pig- ment) enabled him to communicate Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. phenomena. For example, in the with the energy frequencies emanat- The hotlines are big business. January 7, 1998, issue of the ing from plants. Thus he was able to Financial analysts predict the psychic Challenger, it was reported that the learn their secrets and purposes. phone networks to earn up to $2 billion Reverend Hazel Cassell, "a metaphysi- by the end of 1999. Yet their success is cian based in Dale City, VA," made Welsing also believes in "the Geller due to support from those who can ill numerous alarming predictions for Effect," or the idea that the self-pro- afford it. Although African Americans 1998, including the following: claimed psychic Uri Geller has extra- • Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will ordinary psychic power due to the con- Norm R. Allen, Jr., is Executive cause international panic by setting off centrations of melanin in his dark hair Director of African Americans for toxic weapons before he is perma- and eyes. (In 1986, Uri Geller co- Humanism. nently disarmed. authored a book with Guy Lyon titled

w f j summer 1998 The Geller Effect, in which he dis- Inquirer, and in numerous books pub- Psychics also use a technique cussed his supposed psychic abilities. lished by Prometheus Books, members known as retro-fitting, in which vague But he never claimed a link between of CSICOP have closely examined psy- statements or predictions can be inter- his alleged powers and melanin.) chic claims. The most popular tech- preted after an occurrence to look as if Geller's most impressive feats have nique used by self-proclaimed psychics the psychic has amazing power. For been performed repeatedly by numer- to demonstrate that they can obtain example, a psychic might make a pre- ous magicians, and he has yet to pro- knowledge through paranormal means diction in which the number 5 is sig- vide irrefutable evidence that he has is cold reading. The "reader" starts with nificant. The person who visits the paranormal powers. prepared remarks that can apply to psychic might later say that he found What happens when psychic claims practically anyone, touching on issues $5.00, or that he met a special woman do not stand up to critical examination, of universal interest, such as love, sex, on Fifth Avenue, or that something or prophecies fail to come true? The money, health, and employment. special happened on the fifth of the black media become curiously silent. In face-to-face meetings, the cold month, or that he lost five pounds, etc. Prior to the outbreak of the war in the reader can learn a great deal from a These tricks can impress even the Persian Gulf between Iraq and Kuwait, person's appearance, clothing, jewelry, most difficult-to-persuade people. the Capital Spotlight reported in a hairstyle, automobile, etc. (clues about Indeed, Paul Kurtz, Ray Hyman, and front-page story that Minister Louis age, social and economic class, marital many other CSICOP members have Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam status, and level of education). Over managed to impress long-time skeptics (NOI) claimed that Armageddon had the phone, a cold reader can get infor- with their cold-reading abilities. A good begun, and that the United States and mation about their subjects by the cold reader is often told by incredulous its allies would inevitably lose to sounds of their voices and their geo- believers, "You couldn't have possibly valiant Muslims. And prior to the 1992 graphical locations. known that! You must be psychic!" presidential election, talk-show host The cold reader cleverly makes Not all psychics are conscious Tony Brown—a syndicated columnist vague remarks and asks leading ques- frauds. Some honestly believe they and astrology buff—made numerous tions to cull information from the have paranormal powers. But strength failed predictions, including his belief advice-seeker. For example, the cold of conviction should not be confused that Ross Perot would become the next reader might say that someone close to with the truth. Until there is extraordi- U.S. president. But the black media in the person being read is ill. If the cold nary evidence presented to support which these outrageous claims were reader has determined that the person paranormal claims, it makes good made never reported the failures. Such being read is middle-aged or older, sense to be skeptical. silence does nothing to encourage this is a very safe guess, considering badly needed skepticism of psychic the greatly increased likelihood of ill- claims or to discourage the exploita- ness among older people and their par- BIBLICAL PROPHECY tion of African Americans by those ents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and A belief in Bible prophecy is also who run psychic hotlines. siblings. strong among many African Americans Most people who use psychic hot- lines seem to be searching for happi- ness. And they are often looking for easy, magical solutions to complex problems. But happiness and solutions to complex problems are most likely to ON MY 140NoR I WILL Po My B.sT To TA9atimwATE AGAINaT be found when people face life realisti- GAYS MD ATHEIETS cally, and think critically and opti- 114 TIE, Now oF GoLYS LAW; mistically. Far from solving problems, To HATE PEOPLE WHo ARE PIFFIRENT people who use psychic hotlines often AT ALL TIMES; go deeper into debt trying to pay the To KFFP M1 I.F PHYsir4l I Y SEMATE, MEN'D4I.LY WEAK, MD high phone bills they have accrued as a SENIALLY STRAIGI4T. result of their dependence upon an alleged psychic's advice. Is there any evidence for the exis- tence of psychic phenomena? Members of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) have yet to dis- cover incontrovertible evidence. Indeed, in their journal the Skeptical

free inquiry and might contribute to the tendency of inspired prognostication to predict A NEED FOR LEADERSHIP many blacks to seek the advice of psy- their eventual downfall. Furthermore, chics. But alleged biblical prophecies no exact dates or circumstances were In his book Beating the Odds, also fail to stand up to critical examina- prophesied. Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of tion. Many were not inserted into bibli- Fundamentalists maintain that bib- the University of Maryland, says that cal writings until long after the events lical prophecies are vastly superior to fewer than 2% of scientists produced they describe had occurred. These all others because all biblical prophe- every year are African Americans. prophecies are usually vague, sweeping cies either will or have come true. But This deficiency certainly will not be generalizations, and the technique of there have been numerous failed bibli- eliminated if so many African retro-fitting is often used to force the cal prophecies. For example, in Isaiah Americans continue to misplace their desired interpretations. 17:1 the imminent demise of trust in pseudoscientific practices and For example, for nearly two thou- Damascus was foretold: "Behold, belief systems. sand years many Christians have used Damascus is about to be removed from Where are the black leaders and the following biblical passage attrib- being a city. And it will become a thinkers who will take an uncompro- uted to Jesus to argue that "the end is near": Where are the black leaders and thinkers For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will who will take an uncompromising stand mislead many. And you will be hear- ing of wars and rumors of wars... . against bad science, pseudoscience, For nation will rise against nation, irrationality, religious fraud, and misology? and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. fallen ruin." But Damascus, the capital mising stand against bad science, pseu- of Syria, still stands. And even if it is doscience, irrationality, religious Even before Christianity many destroyed in the future, the prediction fraud, and misology? Leaders at all claimed to be the Messiah. It was only made it clear that it was to have fallen levels and in all fields must become reasonable to conclude that such an during Isaiah's lifetime. more actively involved in promoting extraordinary claim would continue to And what about the greatest biblical critical thinking in all areas of life, and be made. This passage has been used prophecy of all—the prediction that in finding rational and workable solu- by the Nation of Islam to predict "the Christ would return during the life- tions to the world's problems. And in coming destruction of America" since times of his original followers? (Matt. the process, Americans can save bil- the 1930s and by the Jehovah's 16:27-28, 24:29-34, Luke 9:26-27, lions of dollars that otherwise would Witnesses to predict the end of the 21:25-32, Mark 9:1, 1 Peter 4:7, etc.). be wasted on such highly questionable world since World War I. Further- This is a colossal failure! services as psychic hotlines. ti more, nations have always warred against one another, and famines and earthquakes have always occurred. How could one possibly go wrong by making such a "prophecy?" (And OPEN SOMEONE'S MIND .. . still, Christ has not returned as Give a Gift Subscription for the Magazine promised!) that Celebrates Reason and Humanity Even biblical prophecies that have free inquiry apparently been fulfilled turn out to 1.$22.95 for first one-year subscription (SAVE 20%) be unimpressive upon close examina- tion. For example, in chapters 26-28 2.$20.95 for second one-year subscription (SAVE 25%) of Ezekiel, the prophet supposedly 3.$19.95 for third one-year subscription (sAvE 30%) predicted the destruction of the city of Mail orders with your name, address, and Tyre, as Isaiah had supposedly pre- For quickest service, use your Visa or MasterCard and dicted the fall of Babylon (Isaiah, ch. payment method along with the name and call TOLL-FREE 24 hours/50 states and Canada. 47, 1-3.) But though Tyre and address of the person(s) receiving gift subscription to: Babylon were eventually destroyed 1-800-458-1366 centuries later, this is not surprising. FREE INQUIRY You may also fax Visa and MasterCard orders to: Tyre and Babylon were constantly at P. 0. Box 664 war and had numerous enemies, and it 1-716-636-1733 therefore required no divinely Amherst, New York 14226-0664

fi summer 1998 OP-ED

Protestant majority). Ireland, in its own referendum on May 22, voted Making Peace in 94% in favor of revising its constitu- tion's claim to Northern Ireland. There will be a North-South Council, Northern Ireland a giving the two national governments joint responsibility for cross-border concerns, including tourism, trans- Reality port, and environmental issues. Matt Cherry RELIGIOUS APARTHEID The peace settlement is the greatest stride forward in Northern Ireland's his- never thought it unusual that dominantly Unionists, pledged to tory. Yet many obstacles remain in the London train stations had no lock- keeping the province of Northern path to a permanent peace. Although Iers or trash cans. Only when I went Ireland part of the United Kingdom. 71.12 percent of voters supported the abroad did I notice the difference The Catholics are predominantly peace accord, it is estimated that nearly between the United Kingdom and Republicans, wanting unification half the Protestants voted "no." Some countries that do not design public between Northern Ireland and the paramilitary and political groups will areas around the threat of terrorist Republic of Ireland. Extremists on continue to oppose the accord. Support bombs. Like everyone else who grew both sides resort to terrorism. for these groups may grow if communal up in the U.K. after 1969, I had lived The resounding referendum victory tensions are not resolved. my whole life under the shadow of ter- on May 22 for the Northern Ireland Lasting peace will come only if the rorism. The terrorist campaign was peace accord may finally end three political compromise reached on constant and without hope of resolu- decades of bloodshed and terror. The paper is matched by a cultural trans- formation in Northern Irish society. The wall of separation between Lasting peace will come only if political Protestant and Catholic communities compromise is matched by cultural must be broken down. Religious apartheid starts when a transformation. child is born into a Catholic or Protestant maternity ward. Catholic tion. It was terrible. It was routine. accord will introduce a structure for children go to Catholic kindergartens, Since 1969, thousands of people sharing power between Protestants and Catholic state schools, Catholic com- have been murdered and tens of thou- Catholics, Unionists and Republicans, munity centers, and play on Catholic sands have been injured and maimed in British and Irish. Under the agreement, sports teams. Protestant children go to what the Northern Irish call "The the people of Northern Ireland will the equivalent Protestant institutions. Troubles." Among Northern Ireland's democratically elect a new government Children are taught the religion, culture, population of just one-and-a-half mil- for the province. The legislature's con- and history of only their community. lion, few families were unaffected by stitution will prevent the Protestants They rarely meet people from the other the violence. from using their majority to discrimi- community or learn their point of view. The conflict in Northern Ireland has nate against the Catholics. Neighborhoods are divided between its origins in the division between the The peace settlement also requires Catholics and Protestants—often with Protestants, who make up over 50% of changes by the governments of curb-sides painted to show allegiance the population, and the Catholic Britain and Ireland. The British gov- to the Irish or British flags. Cultural minority. Politics is split down com- ernment has agreed that Northern life—from political meetings to char- munity lines. The Protestants are pre- Ireland will be free to unite with the ity events—takes place in Protestant or Irish Republic if the majority of the Catholic church buildings. Matt Cherry is Executive Director of Northern Irish vote for it (which is The fundamental division between the Council for Secular Humanism. very unlikely while there is still a the two religious communities in

14 OP-ED

Northern Ireland has fueled centuries government should integrate all state Edict of Nantes. The Edict granted civil of hatred, discrimination, and warfare. schools. The schools must foster toler- rights to French Protestants, thereby There was peace in Northern Ireland ance and understanding between ending religious warfare in France for from the 1920s to the 1960s, but sec- Protestants and Catholics. Secular several generations. Yet conflict tarian grievances ultimately led to community centers must be built. between Catholics and Protestants in renewed violence. A similar fate could Integrated youth programs must be Europe did not completely subside befall the current peace accord. The expanded. Equal housing programs until secularization undermined the Catholic population is growing and and equal employment laws must be power of religious sectarianism. may be the majority within a few strengthened. Northern Ireland is the last exception. decades. If new warfare is not to break The people of Northern Ireland If Northern Ireland is to join the out as the balance of power shifts, it is must reach across the barriers between mainstream of European society it essential that the communal tribalism the two communities. They must sup- must heal its divided society. Its gov- be overcome. port integrated organizations, and ernment must build secular institutions. abandon the most divisive sectarian Its people must unite around the goal of traditions. Only then will the religious peace and integration. The people of HEALING THE DIVIDE divide lose its stranglehold on politics Great Britain, Ireland, and Northern The referendum's success must be fol- and society. Ireland must commit themselves to lowed by a sustained program to inte- The week of the peace agreement making sure that future generations can grate Northern Ireland society. The also saw the 400th anniversary of the never think of terrorism as routine. fi

have produced a number of very signif- icant works in the philosophy of reli- A Journal Lilco gion. Some of these works employ con- ceptual tools developed in science, the philosophy of science, and formal logic No Other to give new life to old arguments. For instance, Richard Swinburne's The Existence of God applies Bayesian con- Keith M. Parsons firmation theory to the traditional cos- mological and teleological arguments for the existence of God. He thereby n the staid and sober world of acad- Humanist Philosophers. With consid- produces powerful new inductive ver- emic journals, something exciting erable diffidence, I agreed to edit the sions of those arguments, which, he Ihas just happened. A new, peer- new journal, but only because I was claims, are not vulnerable to the stan- reviewed philosophy journal has just assured of the support of Lewis dard refutations. In a similar vein, been launched to do something Vaughn as my Executive Editor. His William Lane Craig has employed unheard of—offer rigorous critiques of expertise makes the project possible. highly technical points from current theistic and religious claims. My inspiration for selecting the physical cosmology to refurbish cos- The journal's name is Philo. It name Philo, which was the name of mological arguments. Other philoso- began when I proposed the idea to Hume's skeptic in his Dialogues phers defend sophisticated modal ver- FREE INQUIRY Editor Timothy J. Concerning Natural Religion, was a sions of the ontological argument. Madigan. He raised the issue with Paul remark made by Richard Gale in his Philosophers such as Alvin Kurtz, who enthusiastically supported outstanding book The Nature and Plantinga and William Alston have the project and agreed to make Philo a Existence of God. In his Introduction developed defenses of theism that publication of the Council for Secular to the work, Gale comments that he depart from the old-fashioned natural- Humanism. Philo is sponsored by, and wrote the book because, given recent, theology project. Plantinga develops is the official journal of, the Society of sophisticated work by theistic philoso- an anti-foundationalist position he phers, he felt that it was time for a calls Calvinist (or Reformed) Keith Parsons is Assistant Professor of return of Hume's Philo. This is also the Epistemology. This position permits Philosophy at the University of justification for the existence of this belief in God as a properly basic belief, Houston, Clear Lake, the author of God journal. i.e., a belief that is rational though and the Burden of Proof (Prometheus Over the past two decades, a number based on no evidence or argument. Books, 1989), and the Editor of Philo. of outstanding theistic philosophers Alston argues the intriguing view that the Christian's claims to perceive God phers. In this sense we aim to make our vide a forum for such continuing dis- need be no less rational than our every- journal the counterpart of Faith and cussion. The third section will be a day perceptual claims. R.M. Adams Philosophy. lengthy section of book reviews. also provides novel treatments of old Philo aims to be a professional jour- Works in the philosophy of religion issues, such as the problem of evil. nal of the highest quality and will there- appear quite frequently, and we shall A new development has been the fore inevitably contain highly technical aim to have the more important of resurgence of anti-evolutionism and the materials of interest chiefly to profes- these works reviewed by the appropri- emergence of so-called intelligent design sional philosophers. However, I think ate experts. Most reviews will be theory. Led by activists such as Philip that philosophers should not feel it short, but works considered particu- Johnson, this movement has attracted beneath their dignity to occasionally larly significant will be reviewed at endorsements from several leading address semi-popular apologetic works. length in "review essays." We are particularly lucky to have an outstanding group of articles in the first I think that all who take a serious interest issue. Contributions come from Kai in the rational evaluation of religious claims Nielsen, Adolf Grünbaum, Richard Gale, Quentin Smith, Paul Kurtz, will find much that is useful and compelling Michael Martin, Theodore Drange, in Philo. Theodore Schick, Jr., and H. James Birx. One could hardly have asked for a more distinguished group of philoso- philosophers. More sophisticated than These works are often quite influential, phers to grace our first issue. (See page the crude propaganda of "scientific cre- and, unless philosophers examine them, 9 for subscription details.) Other very ationists," the new anti-evolutionism is they often go without significant critical distinguished philosophers have agreed also an attack on scientific naturalism. I evaluation. This means that educated to serve on our editorial board. These intend that an entire issue of Philo will nonprofessionals should also find things include W. V. Quine, Kurt Baier, Mario soon address "intelligent design" and its of interest in Philo. Bunge, Daniel C. Dennett, Paul philosophical defenders. Each issue of Philo will consist of Edwards, Ted Honderich, Philip Finally, the Fellowship of Christian three parts. The first section will con- Kitcher, and Antony Flew. We expect Philosophers has flourished and pro- tain peer-reviewed articles. The sec- their writings to appear in the journal duces an outstanding journal, Faith and ond section will consist of responses in the future. Philosophy. Various other lesser- to earlier articles and replies by the I think that all who take a serious known journals are devoted to the ratio- original authors. I expect that the arti- interest in the rational evaluation of nal defense of theism in general and cles in Philo will provoke a number of religious claims will find much that is Christianity in particular. lively debates, and we intend to pro- useful and compelling in Philo. fi While these various apologetic enter- prises have multiplied, with some notable exceptions, the response of non- EAV, LEGA Y TO .. HUMANISM theist philosophers has been muted. Only a handful of book-length responses Please remember FREE INQUIRY (the Council for have appeared. Several critical pieces Secular Humanism) when planning your estate. have appeared in the journals, but are Your bequest will help to maintain the vitality generally swamped by the volume of and financial security of humanism in a society often hostile toward it. Depending on your cir- pro-theist pieces. cumstances, a charitable bequest to FREE The purpose of Philo is, quite simply, INQUIRY may have little impact on the net size to provide a single source for the best of your estate—or may even result in a greater articles by nontheist philosophers on amount being available to your beneficiaries. topics relating to the philosophy of reli- We would be happy to work with you and your attorney in the develop- gion and religious apologetics. We shall ment of a will or estate plan that meets your wishes. A variety of arrangements also publish articles on naturalistic or are possible, including gifts of a fixed amount or a percentage of your estate; humanistic ethics. This does not mean living trusts or gift annuities, which provide you with lifetime income; a con- that editorial policy will exclude articles tingent bequest that provides for FREE INQUIRY only if your primary benefi- by theists; our policy is to publish the ciaries do not survive you. best articles we receive. However, we For more information contact Anthony Battaglia. All inquiries will be held aim to become recognized as the source in the strictest confidence. Write to: for the highest quality writings by the P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226, or call 716-636-7571. most distinguished nontheist philoso-

free inquiry Five Easy Prayers for Pagans

1 3 O flaky Goddess of Fortune, we beseech Thee: O Venus, Cupid, Astarte, in the random thrust of Thy fluky favor, vector teach us Thy horsepower lingam, Thy firecracker the luminous lasers of Thy shifty eyes yoni, down upon these, Thy needy & oh-so-deserving show us Thy hundreds of sacred & tingling petitioners. Bend down to us the sexy positions, curve of Thine indifferent ear, and hear each orifice panting for every groping tumescence. our passionate invocation: let Thy lovely, O lead us into the back rooms of silky temptation lying lips murmur to us the news and deliver us over to midnights of trembling desire. of all our true-false guesses A-OK, But before all the nectar & honey leak out of this our firm & final offers come up rainbows, planet, our hangnails & hangups & hangovers suddenly give us our passion in marble, commitment in granite. zapped, reverends & rabbis & born-agains all on the 4 run — O Shiva, relentless Spirit of Outrage: and then, O Goddess, give us your slippery word. in this vale of tearful True Believers, that the faithless Lady Luck will hang around teach us to repeat again and again: in our faithful love, friendships less fickle than youth, No, Your Reverences, we will not serve and a steady view of our world in its barefoot truth. your Gross National Voodoo, your Church 2 Militant— we will not flatter the double faces of those who pray in the Temple of the Holy O Mammon, Thou who art daily dissed Assault Rifle. by everyone, yet boast more true disciples Gentle Preserver, preserve the pure irreverence than all other gods together; of our stubborn minds. Thou whose eerie sheen O target the priests, Implacable Destroyer, gleameth from Corporate Headquarters and hire a lawyer. and Vatican Treasury alike, Thou whose glittering eye impales us 5 in the X-ray vision of plastic surgeons, O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie, the golden leer of televangeists, gimme a break before I die: the star-spangled gloat of politicos — grant me wisdom, will, & wit, O Mammon, come down to us in the form purity, probity, pluck, & grit. of Treasuries, Annuities, & High-Grade Bonds; Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, yield unto us those Benedict Arnold Funds, gimme great abs & a steel-trap mind, those Quicksand Convertible Securities, even the and forgive, Ye Gods, some humble advice — wet these little blessings would suffice Judas Kiss of Futures Contracts — for to beget an earthly paradise: unto the least of these Thy supplicants make the bad people good — art Thou welcome in all Thy many forms. and the good people nice; ...But and before our world goes over the brink, when Thou comest to say we're finally in the teach the believers how to think. gentry — use the service entry. —Philip Appleman

Philip Appleman's latest book is New and Selected Poems 1956-1996 (University of Arkansas Press, 1996). m :fl summer 1998 FRONTEINES

MEXICAN RED CROSS OPPOSES Florida Bible Class CONDOM USE Fails Legal Test

An inhumane Red Cross? It seems like a contradiction in terms. Yet the head of the Mexican Red Cross has announced his opposition to On February 25, 1998, seven plaintiffs the use of condoms for birth control and AIDS prevention and has halted the represented by the American Civil agency's fight against the disease, which is now threatening epidemic proportions Liberties Union of Florida and the in Mexico. This move is, of course, a radical departure from the policies of the People for the American Way International Red Cross. Foundation reached a settlement with At a recent press conference, Jose Barroso Chavez, director of the Mexican Red the Lee County, Florida, Board of Cross for 12 years, explained his views and said that condoms have "a failure rate of Education on a "Bible as History" up to 40% [in preventing disease], and the proof of this is the fact that every day there course in the county's public high are more people infected." But in offering this figure, he misconstrued a study con- schools. Andrew H. Kayton, ACLU ducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Florida Legal Director, called the set- Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. The study was tlement an important success for the done to determine the effectiveness of improp- ACLU, one that "could set an impor- erly used condoms. Actually, the CDC says tant precedent on the constitutional use that a great deal of research shows that prop- of the Bible in U.S. public schools." erly used condoms have an effectiveness rate The controversy over teaching the of 94% to 100% in preventing transmission of Bible—as literature or as history, the HIV/AIDS. The study that Barroso refers to Old and/or the New Testaments— actually concludes that there is a need for bet- began early in 1996 when a local vol- ter education on how to correctly use condoms unteer for the North Carolina Council and that latex condoms were superior to other for Bible Curriculum suggested the types in disease prevention. "Bible as History" course to the Board Ironically, a Mexican Federal law, the Norma Oficial published November 22, of Education. At a six-hour meeting in 1993, states that condoms are approved for use in protecting against both fertiliza- March, dozens of speakers, including tion and the transmission of sexual diseases and that ten international health orga- ministers, rabbis, and imams for local nizations say that condom effectiveness is between 85% and 97%. churches, synagogues, and mosques, Some have found Barroso's rationale for his views disturbing. "We have many objected strenuously to having the dis- needs," he said, "and if ten thousand people die of AIDS but there are a million that trict offer such a course. The Board suffer respiratory or digestive ailments, I believe it's more important to help the approved it, however, by a 4-1 margin. million than just the ten thousand" He noted that "There is a great pressure from Specifics of the curriculum were to be international organizations, especially from the United Nations, to promote birth worked out by a 15-person committee control and avoid the demographic explosion." He stated that this is a contradic- appointed primarily by the Board and, tion because "Mexico is one of the most under-populated countries of the world." therefore, heavily weighted with What's really behind Barroso's opposition to condoms? There is little doubt Religious Right members. about that, observers say: It's his strong Catholicism. It's not surprising then that Meetings of the curriculum commit- attending the press conference was Jorge Plaencia, Commissioner of Health of the tee—composed of clergy, parents, Archdiocese of Mexico. Regarding condoms, Plaencia added that it's necessary to political activists, and Bible literalists promote "other values, such as protecting life through fidelity and continence." and dominated by Bible supporters— Many have questioned both Barroso's actions and motives. "There is a need to were lengthy and acrimonious, produc- separate religious beliefs from facts," says Patricia Lopez Zaragoza, President of ing personal attacks and ethnic slurs, the Mexican Ethical Rationalist Association (AMER), an organization dedicated to such as the statement that those who the diffusion of reliable information concerning science and society. "People opposed the course were "Jews and should know that he [Barroso] is a member of a right-wing secret society of the others who you wondered if they had Catholic church known as the Knights of Malta." —Stephen Macoff any religion at all."

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FRONTLINES

In the summer of 1997, after having planned—both Old and New met frequently for a year, the commit- Testament segments—was unconstitu- 117"r LINES tee decided to adopt the course origi- tional because it was religious and not by Matt Cherry nally suggested, one developed by secular in nature, as defined by the Elizabeth Ridenour, a former real- 1963 Supreme Court ruling. The Board Satanic Titanic estate agent, and her Greensboro, of Education was represented by Pat North Carolina-based group, the Robertson's American Center for Law Titanic has won 11 Oscars and is National Council on Bible Curriculum and Justice. already the highest grossing movie in Public Schools. U.S. District Judge Elizabeth of all time. It tells an inspiring tale Once the curriculum had been Kovachevich then ordered the Lee of love, courage, and selflessness in adopted, Board Chairman Douglas County School District not to imple- the face of hypocrisy and tragedy. Santini, who strongly supported the ment the New Testament course based Here are some Christian comments Bible class, accused Lee County Super- on the North Carolina curriculum, and, on the world's most popular movie: intendent of Schools Bobbie D'Ales- while agreeing to let the Old Testament • "Titanic reminds me of the dis- sandro of dragging her feet in starting course be taught, ordered that it be tinctions between people of faith the course. Many citizens in the com- monitored by videotaping. The Old and secularists.... The heroes of munity rallied to D'Alessandro's sup- Testament "Bible as History" class this modern Titanic fit into this latter port, but she finally acknowledged that began on January 22, 1998. category.... [Titanic is] fundamen- the harassment and intimidation by On February 25, 1998, the plaintiffs tally immoral" (Elizabeth Farah, Board members made it too stressful and the Board of Education finally conservative commentator). for her to continue; the Board bought reached a formal settlement on the • "For millions the Titanic is now out her contract in February 1997. Bible course. The Board agreed to pay a triumphant story of how one Meanwhile, the Lee County School the plaintiffs' attorneys $95,000 and to upper-crust girl found salvation— District attorney also resigned under redesign the class, developing course body and soul—through sweaty sex, pressure in January, after pointing out content based on the college-level text- modern art, self-esteem lingo and that the planned Bible course "plainly book entitled Introduction to the Bible. social rebellion. Titanic is a passion contravenes the Constitution." His Rather than using the Bible as a "text- play celebrating the moral values of stand was vindicated when the Board's book," the Introduction to the Bible the 1960s as sacraments. Rose sums new attorneys advised them that the leaves interpretation to scholars; the it up by saying that she could aban- Old Testament course could result in a book deals with the formation of the don her old life and family because successful legal challenge. Bible, biblical criticisms, and sources her forbidden lover [Jack] `saved me In December 1997, the ACLU filed of information concerning such issues in every way that a person can be suit in U.S. District Court on behalf of as the life and teachings of Jesus. Judge saved"' (Terry Mattingly, syndi- seven Lee County parents and other Kovachevich asked to retain jurisdic- cated columnist). taxpayers, claiming the course as tion in case problems arise in actual • "The line that set me off I believe also to have been the defin- ing line of the film: the assertion Fallout from a Bible Course that the sort of saving that Jack did was, ultimately, the only kind of In Florida, the Lee County School religious anti-choice group calling saving possible. If that was the the- Board's approval of a Bible indoc- itself "Freedom to Learn" has sis statement of the film, then I start trination course provided the fer- announced it wants to teach looking for the cloven hoof and tile ground for the introduction of about the "damages, the bleed- sniffing for brimstone" (Father other radical religious initiatives in ing, etc.," of abortion in history, Patrick Henry Reardon, a philoso- Lee County schools. Members of sociology, and biology, and "an phy professor and Orthodox priest, the Lee County School Curriculum assortment of classes," in South- writing in the ecumenical journal Advisory Committee, dominated west Florida public schools. It Touchstone). by appointees of the Christian announced its intention to form Titanic's director James extremist members of the School "Teachers for Life" chapters in Cameron seemed to confirm his crit- Board, have proposed that public schools to teach and dis- ics view of the film as promoting Creationism be given the same tribute material and books about secularism when he said of the level of scientific acceptance as abortion. ship's tragic voyage: "I think I dis- evolution in science classes. covered the truth of its lesson— In a related development, a —Don Boydston which is all you have is today."

ED fi summer 1998 FRONTLINES

implementation of the settlement. out any takers). Videotaping continued until March Mark Ehman, a parent and plaintiff SIDE LINES 11, when Judge Kovachevich signed in the suit against the Board of the final settlement and ordered subse- Education, as well as a member of the quent classes audiotaped up to the end committee to develop the new course, Ours Is Not to of the present course. The plaintiffs believes the class will now use a proper Reason Why and their lawyers are reviewing the approach. Ehman said of the settle- Secular humanists stand accused. tapes of the Old Testament classes in ment, about which he clearly has We are charged with the offense of order to ensure that the approach in the mixed feelings, "We proposed the set- making people think. The April 17 course was secular rather than reli- tlement and it's a compromise. I think issue of the Chronicle of Higher gious. The Board of Education also that basically, though, the course is Education published a two-page announced that students who take the now on sound academic ground and feature about the Campus Free- new course must also take either world sound constitutional ground." thought Alliance. Along with the history (already required) or a compar- eloquent comments of freethinking ative religion class (long offered with- —Jo Ann Boydston students, the article included a memorable condemnation of the Marshall University group Ration- Paying the Piper Science on the alists United for Secular Humanism Offensive (RUSH). Bobby Williamson, a Baptist studying at Marshall in West Fifteen years of scare tactics against Virginia, declared, "Students are abortion clinics and their patients have looking to the human mind for added up to $85,000 in damages that No longer content to have schools answers, and RUSH provides that. It Operation Rescue and the Pro-Life refrain from teaching creationism, sci- disturbs me, because they are lead- Action League must pay to their victims. entists are calling for educators to ing people in the wrong direction." Several abortion clinics sued the make sure their students understand RUSH ought to be ashamed. militant groups in federal court in evolution. Imagine, they actually encourage Chicago under the Racketeer- The National Academy of Sciences young people to use their minds! Influenced and Corrupt Organizations says evolution should be taught in pub- And at a university of all places. law (RICO). They charged that fear lic schools as "the most important con- and violence were being used to try to cept in modem biology." It elaborates shut down clinics. its stance and gives teachers tips on The groups' leaders were named in presenting the concept in a new guide Waiting for God Oh! the suit, although Operation Rescue's entitled Teaching About Evolution and Cheng Hengming, leader of the Randall Terry settled by agreeing not the Nature of Science. Taiwanese sect God's Salvation to engage in criminal activities against "There is no debate within the sci- Church, prophesied that God would abortion clinics or belong to any orga- entific community over whether evolu- appear on Channel 18 across the nization that does. He already owes tion has occurred, and there is no evi- USA on the night of March 25. $169,000 as the result of similar law- dence that evolution has not occurred," Imagine my horror when I turned suits and will pay $15,000 and be rein- says the NAS. Still, many students on Channel 18 that evening and saw stated as a defendant if he reneges. receive "little exposure" to evolution. ... me! Did this mean I was God? —Andrea Szalanski The guide points out that evolution is If so, would I, an atheist, lose all vital to understanding such Doug NUMBER TWO belief in myself? Then I realized the processes as how bacteria show was a repeat of a local cable become resistant to antibiotics. program I filmed a few weeks The guide tells teachers to before. Still, I breathed a sigh of grade their students on their relief the next day when Cheng understanding of evolution, not Hengming admitted that his their acceptance. It helps them prophecies had been "nonsense." dispel misconceptions about evolution, such as humans are Send interesting news items and tidbits not descended from apes but that to Sidelines, FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box they share an ancestor. 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664, or e- —Andrea Szalanski mail to: [email protected].

free inquiry 20 LETTERS

entist say `There is no supernatural philosophical materialist, for exam- Science vs. Religion interference in nature."' What? If real ple.) In science, we make a kind of found the Spring 1998 issue of FREE science rejects miracle mongering, it Pascal's wager: if as theists claim, IINQUIRY most informative, with its follows that all natural processes have there are omnipotent beings, we can- cover story on "Darwin Recrucified." natural explanations. Therefore, all not control their activities, so the best Previously, I had been under the supernatural "interference" can be we can do is methodological material- impression that Darwin died at an rejected for all natural processes. So ism. If there are no omnipotent beings advanced age of natural causes, and yes, the real scientist (and the real (as I believe), then of course, method- was buried with full honors in logician) can say there is no supernat- ological materialism is the best way to Westminster Abbey. The cover illustra- ural interference in nature. To inject understand the natural world. Either tion has provided great amusement for the supernatural into nature is to way, it's methodological materialism my lecture audiences, and I thank you reject both natural science and logic. all the way down. This is why "real for it. Deleting the words unsupervised and science rejects miracle mongering," It must be gratifying to you that impersonal from the National not because it is impossible that mira- "free inquiry" results in a magazine Association of Biology Teachers 1997 cles exist. full of articles that so consistently rein- statement on teaching evolution can- Natural processes have natural force the prejudices of your readers. not be defended on either scientific or causes: both theists and nontheists Philip E. Johnson logical grounds. To justify their agree. (I have yet to meet a theist who Professor of Law removal on logical grounds, as Scott insists that God arranges the chromo- University of California tries to do, would require that the somes for every cell division.) But Berkeley, Calif. word natural be removed as well. why would this logically mean there Paul Kurtz, in his article preceding are only natural causes? That super- Scott's, correctly identified the reason natural causes are ruled out? Many The Editors respond: the offending worlds were removed theists believe in both natural as well from the NABT statement—political as (ultimate and meaningful) super- Like many fundamentalists, Philip pressures. natural cause. The assumption that Johnson takes as literal what is only a Ron Good there are only natural causes (which metaphor. Darwin's "recrucifixion" Professor of Science Education Ron and I share) is a philosophical consists of renewed attacks on evolu- and Physics statement, outside of what science as tionary theory, primarily by non-scien- Louisiana State University a methodology for understanding the tists like Johnson, who are pouring old Baton Rouge, La. natural world can tell us. To imply, as wine into new bottles. did the original NABT statement, that Since there are virtually no biolo- some statement of ultimate causation, gists who disagree with evolution, we Eugenie Scott replies: direction, or supervision is within the did not feel it necessary to publish a province of science is simply wrong. creationist piece in the issue. Instead I must disagree with Ron Good. There of "reinforcing prejudices," as John- is a difference between science and a son would have it, we did publish var- philosophy drawn from science: post- Richard Dawkins's "When Religion ious interpretations of a naturalistic modernists say that science is evil Steps on Science's Turf' (Fl, Spring approach. As can be seen from the fol- because racists, Nazis, sexists, despoil- 1998) is right on the money, Especially lowing two letters, our readers do not ers of the environment, and others have cogent is his assertion that even most all think alike, as we imagine many of done evil things in its name. Most of us Christians do not base their morality Johnson's supporters do. would say this is confusing science as on biblical scripture (woe is we if they a methodology with ideologies that did!) but rather on a moral compass may spring from it. Similarly, method- based on ". . . principles of basic In "Two Kinds of Materialism" (FI, ological materialism and philosophi- decency and justice?' Spring 1998), Eugenie C. Scott says cal materialism are logically and Also, he points out the obvious "Real science rejects miracle monger- demonstrably separate. (One can be a ing," and later "... I cannot as a sci- methodological materialist and not a (Continued on p. 60)

summer 1998 RE-DISCOVERING HAPPINESS

Happiness Now INTRODUCTION Molleen Matsumura

obert G. Ingersoll once compared the task of criticizing religious beliefs to that of clearing the weeds from a garden. Winning acceptance for the basic notion that we are responsible for ourselves, unsupervised by cosmic parents or karmic laws, is just a beginning. We do Rneed to answer the question, "If you don't believe the teachings of that old-time religion, what do you believe?" In particular, we must rediscover what "happiness" means, and how to achieve it, in a natural world where each of us gets only one chance. This task, in turn, requires us to reexamine deep-seated assumptions about human "nature." The place to be happy is here. The Scientific findings about time to be happy is now. The way to human psychology—both those aspects that are uniquely human be happy is to make others so. and those that we share with other animals—are an indis- -Robert Green Ingersoll pensable tool. Science has been unfairly criticized for failing to settle questions of meaning and value. It cannot be expected to do so, any more than a shovel can decide where to dig, but it can provide us with relevant knowledge, and help us avoid age-old mistakes. One such mistake is to substitute one dualism for another: it is just as damaging to exalt reason over emotion as it is to insist that we honor "the spirit" and despise "the flesh." Not all the details are settled, but we do understand now that thinking and feeling (not to be confused with "faith" or "just knowing"!) are insep- arable and mutually supportive. Another dangerous dualism—the belief that individual happiness necessarily conflicts with social good—may be dissolved when we accept all the implications of the discovery that we are social animals. Doing so is difficult in a world where authoritarian belief systems still contribute to the oppression of mil- lions. Still, democracy doesn't free us from our practical and emotional needs for cooperation and friend- ship, and defining "the good life" includes discussing a good society where, ideally, compassion dis- places coercion. Possibly the best way to affirm the Value of happiness is to approach the task of defining it seriously, but not solemnly. Nobility and ambition are part of the answer, but if we don't find ourselves shaking our heads in amused wonder at some people's definitions, and pausing to laugh at ourselves, we've surely taken a wrong turn. As Irving Singer remarks in The Pursuit of Love, " [N]o philosophy can provide a final solution to problems about meaning and value." Instead, the scholars and philosophers who have contributed to this special section of FREE INQUIRY offer knowledge and perspectives that can help with the inevitable task of devising our own answers. fi Molleen Matsumura is Associate Editor of FREE INQUIRY.

free inquiry RE-DISCOVERING HAPPINESS

Where Is the Good Life? MAKING THE HUMANIST CHOICE Paul Kurtz

There is no cosmic force or deity to give it meaning or sig- nificance. There is no ultimate destiny for humankind. Such belief is an illusion of its infancy. The meaning of life is what we choose to give it. Meaning grows out of human purposes hat is the good life, and is it achievable? alone. Nature provides us with an infinite range of opportu- People- have sought for happiness, and nities, but it is only our vision and our action that select and they have explored the ends of the earth realize those that we desire. NVfor its realization, but in different ways: the quest for the Holy Thus the good life is achieved, invented, fashioned in an Grail; a life of service; the delights of pleasure and sensual active life of enterprise and endeavor. But whether or not an consummation; or of quiet withdrawal. individual chooses to enter into the arena Happiness is, no doubt, available in depends upon him or her alone. Those who many forms; different individuals and cul- do can find it energizing, exhilarating, full of tures have endowed diverse objects with triumph and satisfaction. In spite of failures, value. Perhaps not everyone will wish to setbacks, suffering, and pain, life can be fun. be engagé, fully involved, creatively exer- To achieve the good life is an accom- cised; they may wish, instead, repose and plishment. It involves the development of quiet, peace and security, a life of leisure skills, the proper attitude, and intelligence. and retreat. Yet, without overemphasizing • The first humanist virtue is the develop- the point, the very essence of life—human • ment of one's own sense of power—of the life—is creative achievement. belief that we can do something, that we We are defined as persons by the plans can succeed, that our own preparations and and projects that we initiate and fulfill in efforts will pay off. The courage to excel—the courage to the world. The humanist saint is Prometheus, not Christ; the become what we want, to realize what we will—is essential. activist, not the passivist; the skeptic, not the believer; the It is in the process of attainment that we thrive: Sisyphus is creator, not the conniver. not to be condemned; there are always new mountains to As I see it, creative achievement is the very heart of the climb, new stones to heave; and they are never the same. human enterprise. It typifies the human species as it has However, in order to have a sense of our own self-power, evolved, particularly over the past forty to fifty thousand it is necessary to be able to live in an ambiguous world of years: leaving the life of the hunter and the nomad, develop- indeterminacy and contingency. Nature is not fixed, nor is ing agriculture and rural society, inventing industry and tech- our destiny preplanned. We can build new monuments and nology, building urban societies and a world community, discover new theorems; there are new worlds to be con- breaking out of the earth's gravitational field, exploring the quered and created. We must not let ourselves be mastered solar system and beyond. The destiny of humankind, of all by events, but we must master them—as far as we can— people and of each person, is that they are condemned to without fear or recrimination. invent what they will be—condemned if they are fearful but If cowardice and fear are our nemesis, so are gullibility blessed if they welcome the great adventure. We are respon- and nincompoopery, which must be controlled by the use of sible in the last analysis, not simply for what we are, but for reason. To use reason is to demand evidence for our beliefs, what we will become; and that is a source of either high and to suspend belief wherever we do not have adequate excitement or distress. grounds for it; it requires that we not be deluded by the pur- The tasks that emerge in human civilization are for each veyors of false wares, but that we base our desires, as far as individual and each society to forge his or her, or its, own possible, upon the reasonable grounds of practiced reflec- destiny. Human life has no meaning independent of itself. tion. There is a constant tendency to fly from reason to a par- Paul Kurtz is Editor-in-Chief of FREE INQUIRY and Chairman adise of perfection or quietude. There is no easy salvation for of the Council for Secular Humanism. Among his many humans, and it is a delusion to think that we can find it. Life books is Exuberance, from which this article is adapted. is restless and outgoing. It can never be content with what is;

summer 1998 it is always in the process of becoming. It is the new that we intrudes in our domain of interests. We should develop a worship, not because it is better, but because it is a product wider moral concern for those beyond our immediate contact, of our own creative energy. for the community, the nation, and the world at large. A per- son's creative work can and should involve others, and a sense of our moral obligations and responsibilities should TRUE JOYS develop that enlarges our horizons and enhances our universe. Our actions are mere random impulses until they are orga- A beloved cause can give meaning and content to one's life. nized in creative work. It is the unity of effort and energy that Though one works hard for progress, one should have no illu- gives vent to our dreams. Thus the good life uniquely sion about the possibilities of utopia; a willingness to tolerate involves creativity. This is the great source of joy and of exu- ambiguity, even imperfection, is the mark of maturity. berance. It is in our work that we best reveal ourselves, not Finally, each person must face death: life has meaning only in idle play, or leisure—as important as these things are—but if we realize that it will end. It is in viewing one's life as a com- in the mood of seriousness. Yet creative work is a form of plete whole that one sees it for what it is: what I accomplished play and, if coterminous with it, can be among the highest and did well; whether I fulfilled some of my dreams and plans; forms of aesthetic satisfaction: planning a project, teaching a whether I enjoyed life, made friends, fell in love, worked for a class, constructing a road, and performing a symphony are beloved cause, and so forth. I should have no false hopes about all forms of creative endeavor. Those who do not work lack death, but I should do what I can to ward it off. Indeed, health is a first condition if one is to live well. We The key to a full life is to open up to life—not must not be deluded by a belief in immor- tality but should face death realistically. A suppress it or flee from it, but to give vent to free person worships the creative life as the our creative endeavors. ultimate good. But when death comes, he or she will accept it with equanimity, if with the key ingredient of happiness. The "sinners" are the lazy sorrow; and he or she will realize that in the face of death the ones who cannot, or do not, have the creative impulse. only thing that really counts is what has been the quality of life, Though the joys of creativity are legion, pleasure needs to and what has been given to or left for others. be experienced and enjoyed in itself and for itself. The hedo- nic-phobics cannot let themselves go. They are imprisoned in a cell of psychic repression. One needs to open the doors ATTAINING SUCCESS to the delights of pleasure, to the many wondrous things to Thus we may ask, Can we achieve the exuberant life? Yes, to do and enjoy: food and drink, art and poetry, music and phi- some extent, but not by following the path that most philoso- losophy, science and travel. But merely to seek pleasure phers and theologians have advised. The key to a full life is to without any serious lifework is banal. And to focus only on open up to life—not suppress it or flee from it, but to give vent physical pleasures—important as they are—is limiting. One to our creative endeavors, to allow our imagination and cre- needs an expansive view of life, to enjoy many things, to cul- ativity to have free play. We need to have confidence in our own tivate one's tastes for the variety of life's goods. Robust power and to live audaciously. We need to be critical and skep- hedonism is a form of activism; the world we live in and tical of premature claims of truth or virtue, to use our common have created offers splendid opportunities for our enjoyment. sense based upon reason and experience. We should not be Among the finest pleasures of life are the joys of sexual afraid to enjoy pleasure or sexuality. Yet, at the same time, we passion and eroticism. Celibates have committed a sin need to develop love and friendship with others and a genuine against themselves, for they have repressed the most exquis- moral concern for a better world. These are some of the ingre- ite pleasure of all: the full and varied sexual life that is so dients that I have discovered contribute to the richness of life. essential to happiness. We must, therefore, be open to the Each day, each moment, can be an adventure, pregnant multiplicities of sexuality. We ought to act out and fulfill our with opportunity. With so many good things to do and enjoy, fantasies, as long as they are not self-destructive or destruc- life can be interesting, exciting, and energizing. The full life tive of others; and we ought to be free to enjoy the full range is the goal. Though one has cherished memories, one need of pansexual pleasures. not look back; nor should one remain fixated on the present, Important as individual audacity, courage, intelligence, indecisive and afraid to act. We need always to look ahead to self-power, and the fulfillment of one's personal dreams and the future: life is open-ended possibilities. We are not only projects are, the good life cannot be experienced alone, in what we are now, but also what we will choose to become. isolation. The richest of human plans and joys are shared That is the faith and the optimism that has inspired me. with others. Love in its truest sense is nonpossessive, a coop- Whether others will also find joy in the strenuous life of erative participation; and friendship is the noblest expression challenge is, of course, up to them. It is there simply await- of a moral relationship. We need to develop love and friend- ing one's action. The point is that it does not depend simply ship for their own sakes, as goods in themselves. upon nature or society, destiny or God, but on what each per- But we cannot focus on inward ends alone, for the world son chooses. fi

free inquiry 24 RE-DISCOVERING HAPPINESS

How to Find Flow

AN INTERVIEW WITH MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI

Thirty years of analyzing responses from thousands of peo- begin to concentrate very highly. As a result they forget the ple have led research psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi problems of everyday life, and they seem to step into a kind to the theory of "flow"—a state of consciousness in which of alternative reality. That consolidation of characteristics is concentration on activity is so intense that complete absorp- what I call the "flow experience." tion is achieved. In the following FI: What connection do you see between flow and happi- interview with FI Editor Timothy J. ness? Are they one and the same, or is there a difference? Madigan, he talks about his studies CSIKSZENTMIIIALYI: What people ordinarily call happi- of people who have found happi- ness is very similar to flow. But the interesting thing is that ness in everyday experiences and when people are in these flow conditions they are not neces- the guidelines he has formulated to sarily happy because their attention is too taken up by what help others do the same. has to be done. They cannot reflect on how they feel. It's Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced really after the experience, in looking back, that they say that "Chick-sent-me-high-ee "—a it was the happiest moment of their lives. If you are climbing Hungarian name that means "of St. a rock or composing or playing a musical piece you cannot Michael of Csik," a Transylvanian think if you are happy, you are just so involved in what you province) has written or coauthored many books on finding are doing that to be happy would be a distraction that would meaning in daily existence, including Beyond Boredom and make you fail at what you're doing. Anxiety, The Evolving Self, Creativity, and the seminal FI: So it's focusing on the moment? Flow: The Psychology of Everyday Experience (1991) and CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: Definitely. When you reconstruct Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with that experience in memory you attribute happiness to it, Everyday Life (1997). He is Professor of Education and which is I think how people actually operate. Psychology at the University of Chicago and a member of the FI: How do you study flow scientifically? National Academy of Education and the National Academy of Leisure Sciences. By being reflective and in touch with your

REE INQUIRY: Could you define feelings you can begin to choose more wisely F what you mean by "flow"? what the quality of your life should be. CSIKSZENTMIIIALYI: I became interested in this over 30 CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: Initially, I was simply using inter- years ago when I was doing a study of creativity by observ- views. Then we developed questionnaires. The system that ing artists at work. I was very impressed at how they could we are using now relies on a much more sophisticated get lost in what they were doing without concern for any- methodology where we ask people to carry for a week a thing else except the activity. I tried to find out, first of all, booklet and a watch that is programmed to go off every two why artists' work was so rewarding. Then I became inter- hours, between 7 and 11 at night usually. When the watch ested in corresponding experiences in other activities. And so starts beeping you take out the booklet and write down what I started looking at people who seem to be doing things for you're doing. Over time we found this to be a very reliable the sheer sake of the experience. They were rock climbers, and valid snapshot of the quality of a person's life at that dancers, chess players, musicians, etc. All of them used, moment. And when you aggregate these over a week's more or less, the same words to describe how it felt to per- period you get a fairly accurate snapshot of a person's life as form their activity that was so satisfying. a whole. That became the theory of flow. It essentially says that FI: Have you also done cross-cultural studies of flow? people who seem to feel most positive about their lives pos- CSIKSZENTMIIIALYI: We have obtained data from col- sess a set of common characteristics, such as knowing leagues who have been working in different cultures. One of clearly what they have to do, getting feedback on what they the surprises is how similarly people in Japan or India or are doing, and being able to match their abilities with the Korea describe their optimal experiences. opportunities for action so that skills and challenges are in FI: It is encouraging that people of different traditions can balance. When those characteristics are present, people nonetheless express this attitude in their own terms. It

m EMITITZEIZI reminded me very much of Aristotle's concept of eudaimonia. religious tradition, usually because they found that there was CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: I was vaguely aware that there may no room for growth or that their questions were not being taken be a connection, but I didn't really think about it or follow it seriously. On the other hand, as you point out in Flow, for peo- up until afterwards. I think the neat thing is that somehow ple in your studies who live by themselves and do not attend every generation or two you have to rediscover what people church, Sunday mornings are the lowest part of the week. knew in the past or restate it in some new way that is more CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: What all of the studies slowly consonant with a new general understanding. The substance revealed was that it's really quite difficult for individuals to may be very similar; it's just the way you express it. The be able to keep their minds in any sort of orderly state unless structural framework changes. they have a goal they're pursuing and that they know how to FI: What you've added is the scientific data. If Aristotle reach, or that they have other human beings around them had had computers who knows what he might have done. with whom they interact. Or they have some artifact like a What connection do you see between flow and organized book or a computer they can work on. But that's really a sub- religion? set of having a goal. If you don't feel that you have a goal CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: It's kind of a love-hate relationship and you don't have anyone to relate to, then typically peo- in some ways, because I think that religions have preserved ple's minds begin either to turn to the negative problems that some of the important understandings about what life has everybody has that are upsetting or they begin to lose control to be like to make sense. On the other hand, they have then over the flow of thought and it becomes chaotic. We are gen- put that understanding into a rigid framework that often erally unable to control the stream of consciousness. A militates against being able to live Chinese curse says, may all your goals that way. I am concerned when reli- be fulfilled. It is a very good insight gious people are convinced they pos- because I think that, if you don't sess the ultimate truth. Religions have a goal to organize your atten- represent great steps forward in get- tion, then randomness starts to pre- ting a sense of what the universe may vail unless one has self-discipline. be like and what our place in it is. Some people have discipline. They But it is only a step. We have to can meditate, they can do some- honor what religion has accom- thing in their head like adding up plished but I think we need to take numbers, writing poetry, or playing further steps because that's certainly with ideas, but that's rare. Most not the end point. people really require an external FI: You point out that there are two structure to keep their minds ship- extremes that could lead to a loss of shape. flow. One occurs when you join an FI: I like your comment that, organization such as a fundamentalist while that it's true that swamies can religion or a mass movement of some be in a state of flow, so can plumbers. sort that really is not concerned with 5 CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: I really do the individual. On the other hand U think so. We have so many exam- there is the extreme of complete indi- ples of people in what seems to be viduality and solitude. You point out that there is actually a boring or repetitive jobs who really enjoy them. disintegration of self when that occurs. Do you see the flow FI: In that regard, flow is not an elitist concept. You don't notion working best in institutions that still allow for indi- have to join some esoteric religion or movement in order to vidual growth and exploration? learn how to achieve it. CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: Definitely. The social context has to CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: That's exactly right. Last winter, exist. You can have flow while reading in solitude or doing Good Morning America wanted to do an episode on flow, so something else alone, but essentially, in the long run, there the producer asked me to put her in touch with some of the has to be a context in which you can confirm your existence, great flow people that I know. I said no. I thought they should together with others. One of the challenges we have is to find them themselves. She asked how to go about it. I said, discover new forms of sociability that will allow that, go out in the street and start talking to people, and I guaran- because it is kind of scary, when you look not only in the tee that in two hours you'll have some really interesting United States but even more in some of the other advanced examples. countries like Scandinavia, how fragmented people are get- The show turned out to be great. One guest had been slic- ting, how many people live alone and have really no con- ing salmon in a delicatessen for the past 20 years. He talked nection with anyone. about his job like a poet. He talked about how each fish was FI: I see a great deal of relevance to this for the humanist different and how he got a feeling for its anatomy by work- movement. On the one hand most people, myself included, ing on a marble cutting slab. who become humanists tend to have broken away from some Another was a pediatrician who loved to see children

free inquiry 26 every day. There was a woman who enjoyed doing laundry. ple into thinking that they have to do things that they don't She serviced a family of eight people, and she just loved to really like to and that are not really good for them or for any- fold the laundry, smell it, and touch it. body else in the long run. Of course, there is the need for sex. FI: Can you give our readers a few tips on how they may We have been selected to want to procreate soon and quickly. try to find flow in their own lives? But what's the meaning of this program when you live two CSIKSZENTMmALYI: I have two suggestions. One would to three times longer than our early ancestors and each indi- be to think back on all the things that you wanted to do when vidual's having offspring is no longer a necessity for the you were 10 or 15 or 17 but that you put aside and forgot race? The same is true of greed. If you are in a subsistence about. Create time for them now. Cut out all the stuff that existence you want to get as many calories and as much of you don't really need to do, that is neither absolutely neces- scarce resources as possible. But after awhile, that activity sary nor enjoyable. again, becomes self-defeating. The other suggestion would be to keep track of what So in many ways those three beasts that Dante con- you're doing for a week or so, almost like doing your own fronted in the dark forest are really the beasts that we all experience sampling method. Instead of using watches and carry inside ourselves. They had a very good reason for beepers, just keep track in a diary of what you really enjoy being there at one point and they're still somewhat useful. doing and what you wished you were doing. After a week But we can't let them dictate where we are going and what or two begin to review what you've written. See how you we are doing. That is something that executives could relate could inject a little bit more of what you would really like to, because many of them have been working very hard to do. Then observe how you feel when you do these things, towards goals that in mid-life don't seem as important or as and, if they really work, do more of them until you feel meaningful. comfortable. FI: You also mention that, although Dante is considered By being reflective and in touch with your feelings you almost the epitome of orthodox Catholic thinking, he actu- can begin to choose more wisely what the quality of your life ally was quite unorthodox and had a very eclectic approach. should be. Like you're doing now, he was making connections. He drew FI: At the end of Flow you describe how you sometimes connections with the pagan world of Virgil, and the Islamic teach classes for tired businessmen who feel burned out. You as well as the Christian world. discuss Dante with them. What can they learn from Dante? CSIKSZENTMIIIALYI: It's so important to realize that we all CSIKSZENTMIHALYI: Dante is probably the first person, at have parts of the puzzle and no one has the solution. We have least in the West, who described what we now call a mid-life to put these pieces together, whether they come from China crisis. The first verses of The Divine Comedy are on being in or Syria or India or whatever. Ninety-nine percent of the the middle of his life and having lost his way in a dark for- pieces are not even on the table yet, you know. They will be est. He reviews the internal dangers of that forest—lust and coming next generation or the generation after that. You have greed for money and power. These have always seduced peo- to stay humble, but you have to be optimistic. fi

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summer 1998 RE-DISCOVERING HAPPINESS

Can Religion Make A PSYCHOLOGIST CONSIDERS WHETHER FAITH IS REALLY NECESSARY FOR THE GOOD LIFE You Happy? John F. Schumaker

Allen Parducci stresses the relativity of happiness in his book Happiness, Pleasure, and Judgment where he writes have always been skeptical of the notion of happi- that "the happy life is one in which the best of whatever is ness. It is nearly impossible to define precisely, and it experienced comes often, regardless of how good that best often means entirely different things to different peo- might be."' Once people have their most basic needs met, it ple. The factors are so many that relate to "happiness" that its seems they can extract somewhat similar amounts of "happi- study becomes an almost futile exercise. I recently ran across ness" from whatever exists in their lives. one study, for example, that referred to 180 sources of hap- The fact that most of us end up on some common middle piness. Undoubtedly there are hundreds more. Still, the word ground in terms of happiness may also relate to certain fea- tures of the human makeup. We are creatures that very quickly Once people have their most basic needs met, it get used to things. Someone seems they can extract somewhat similar amounts once said, "God save us from what we can get used to." We of "happiness" from whatever exists in their lives. soon get accustomed to both the good and the bad, and again gravitate toward a state of rather neutral background emo- happiness makes crude generic sense to most of us, and I tion. The brain itself operates to keep emotion in a pretty nar- will use the term in that way. row range. Experts on emotion regulation tell us that the What I find most fascinating about happiness is that most brain will intervene to dampen emotion if a person is high people seem to be at roughly the same level of happiness for too long, and conversely to engage emotion lifters if low regardless of who they are, where they are, what they do, or for too long. what is going on in their lives. We see much smaller than Finally, we sometimes lose sight of the fundamental wis- expected differences between people who have every reason dom that life delivers to us approximately equal amounts of to be happy and those who have almost none. pleasure and pain. We also forget that pleasure and pain are Happiness remains quite stable despite large variations in interdependent. The experience of satisfaction is often owing wealth, physical attractiveness, vocational success, and so to a certain degree of deprivation. Allen Parducci quotes his forth. Likewise, cross-cultural differences tend to be very father, who reassured his family following serious financial small. It does not matter if one is studying peasants in rural losses in the Great Depression. He said, "Pleasure and pain India, suburbanites in Ohio, or students in Swaziland. Their are strictly relative. No matter what you have or what happens happiness ratings bear remarkable resemblance. My cross- to you, your pleasures and pains must balance each other out. cultural research on life satisfaction also reveals only small In the long run, no one is happier than anyone else." variations from one cultural setting to another. This suggests I would stop short of saying that no one is at all happier that evaluations of happiness are highly relative and confined than anyone else, or even that every historical period has largely to the local contexts of people's lives. been associated with the same degree of happiness. When I John Schumaker is a clinical psschologist in New Zealand ask people "Do you think we live in a happy age?" they and teaches part-tune in the Psychology Department of the almost always reply negatively. This is most curious given University of Canterbury. He has authored many books, that the vast majority of individuals report that they are including The Corruption of Reality (Prometheus Books, "happy." In a typical study wherein participants are asked to 1995) and Wings of Illusion (Prometheus Books, 1990). rate their happiness from 1 ("very unhappy") to 7 ("very

free inquiry Ei

happy"), upwards of 90% will indicate either 5, 6, or 7. Is it Ulster) who administered to 154 undergraduates the possible that, due to the relativity of happiness, we continue Depression-Happiness Scale, a measure of religiosity, and to perceive ourselves as happy even when collective happi- the Satisfaction with Life Scale.' They found no relationship ness is declining? Like most people, I tend not to see the between religion and happiness, and no relationship between modern age as a very "happy" one, and quite a bit of evi- religion and life satisfaction. However, another recent study dence seems to support such a view. by Mandy Robbins and Leslie Francis found a positive rela- For example, several large-scale longitudinal studies tionship between scores on a measure of religiosity and show that the rate of depression has increased tenfold in the scores on the Oxford Happiness Scale in 360 undergradu- past 50 years' If happiness and depression are viewed as ates.' The other five studies were less sophisticated and did opposite ends of the same continuum as is sometimes done, not use a standardized measure of happiness. But all found a we might logically conclude that happiness is waning a bit. positive relationship between religion and a self-reported Research from various spheres points to a general mental level of happiness (e.g., "very happy," "moderately happy," health crisis that is affecting the Western world. We hear "less happy"). staggering statistics about youth suicide, substance abuse, It is generally agreed that life satisfaction and psychologi- eating disorders, violent crime by ever younger children, cal well-being are components of "happiness." I know of 20 family and marital breakdown, and so on. We read about new quantitative studies examining these variables in relation to types of psychopathology known as "consumption disor- religiosity. They represent various age groups (except pread- ders" (e.g. compulsive shopping, compulsive spending, olescence) and different races. Of those 20 studies, 15 addictive gambling, compulsive sexuality). reported a significant positive relationship between life satis- Mental health workers also speak of a collective psychic faction (or well-being) and various aspects of religious belief, disorientation that underlies a rapidly growing number of existential disorders. To love and feel passionately about something Recent studies on this subject reveal that between 30% and 45% of people seeking is a great gift that lets one fend off potential psychotherapy today are suffering from sources of unhappiness. vague existential problems that do not appear in our official diagnostic manuals. Taken together, one begins to understand why Erich Fromm commitment, experience, and participation. Two reported a described us as "a society of notoriously unhappy people— very weak or partial positive relationship, two found no rela- lonely, anxious, depressed, destructive and dependent peo- tionship at all, and one found a positive relationship in adults ple who are glad when we have killed the time we are try- but no relationship among university students. None of these ing to save."' studies found that religion was inversely related to happiness. Andrew Greeley's research report, titled "The Declining The general thrust of these findings is consistent with several Morale of Women," traces the history of female happiness literature reviews in this area, all of which have concluded over the past few decades. It points to "an alarming decline that religion is positively related to life satisfaction and well- in the percentage of American women who are prepared to being, but that this relationship is only a weak one (e.g., say that they are very happy.."° In the years from 1972 to Chamberlain and Zika, 1992)? 1987, the percentage of "very happy" women fell from 36% Quite a few criticisms have been made about the types of to 32%, while for men the decline was from 32% to 30%. research mentioned above. Many are only correlational in While the magnitude of this drop may not strike us as nature, thus preventing a causal statement about the rela- "alarming," Greeley feels that it indicates a worrying trend. tionship between religion and happiness. There is also the He isolates the changing role of women as one probable possibility that it is not religion, but some other factor indi- explanation for the declining happiness of women, but other rectly related to religion (e.g., social support, conformity, factors are probably operating that affect all people. The etc.) that accounts for differences in happiness. Future changing nature of religion may also be a factor in the appar- research will need to answer these and other criticisms. ent downward trend in happiness. It has also been argued that these findings are biased by the tendency of religious people to lie and "fake good." But I do not feel that this latter factor is sufficient for us to dis- FAITH AND HAPPINESS miss all the research. After all, religion does not have posi- Research on the relationship between religion and happiness tive associations with all mental health measures. For exam- is not entirely clear, but it tends to suggest that religion has a ple, religion seems to have no consistent beneficial effects slight positive sum effect on self-perceptions of happiness. I with regard to anxiety problems, and some studies actually am aware of seven quantitative studies dealing directly with show religious people to have greater anxiety. It makes no these two variables. Of those seven, six found a positive rela- sense that religious participants would lie in relation to some tionship between religion and happiness. The most recent measures but not others. All considered, I suspect that reli- one is by Chris Lewis and his colleagues (University of gion is one of the hundreds of potential sources from which

29 fi summer 1998 feelings of happiness and well-being can originate. "live without this or that particular variety of religious belief This should not surprise us, especially since religion offers and practice, but not without religion of any kind." I would ultimate meaning where otherwise there is none. It holds the rephrase this in saying that we cannot live without transcen- promise of full existential certainty and a "happiness" that is dence of any kind. I would also qualify it further in pointing not subject to this-world limitations. It is no wonder that reli- out that "transcendence" can be achieved in a number of gious "ecstasy" has been experienced by many in the course "this-world" ways. I know of devoted sports fanatics, for of their religious involvements. Hermann Hesse once wrote example, who seem to achieve more "transcendence" (and that "the first requisite of happiness is freedom from time." positive belief distortions) than many of today's so-called Religion, like nothing else, frees one from time. religious people.

THE NEED TO TRANSCEND FAILED TRANSCENDENCE Throughout the ages, religion has represented a culturally Religion can still afford some people a small degree of advan- constituted response to the human need for transcendence. tage in terms of happiness and well-being. But the belief sys- This need is part of what the eminent anthropologist Melford tems of mainstream Western religion are no longer convinc- Spiro calls the "deeper structure" of human nature.' The ing. Their rituals have become depleted and are no longer needs and drives comprising this "deeper structure" is usu- capable of generating the quality and degree of cognitive dis- ally manifested by cultural universals, in this case religion. It sociation that makes followers susceptible to religious sug- is no coincidence that all cultures of the world manufacture gestion. In short, modern religion is failing as a vehicle of transcendence. I fear that some of our religious To be very good at what one loves to do is energies have shifted away from mainstream religion and are being acted out in relation to the the best prescription for a satisfying life. current dominant cultural theme of materialism (in the economic sense) with consumption as the religion in one form or another. We are creatures who do not accompanying ritual. I raise this point here since it may be like an exclusive diet of literal reality, as I have argued at another reason that happiness is eroding. length in my book The Corruption of Reality.' As a surrogate religion, materialism is deleterious to hap- One of the previously mentioned studies found that "exis- piness and mental health. The research on the relationship tential certainty" had the largest effect on psychological between materialism and mental health is cause for concern, well-being. Religion, when it works, addresses existential and even more so when we keep in mind a recent large-scale concerns and offers a solution to the problematic aspects of study showing that 93% of 13-year-old American girls indi- earthly existence. Victor Frankl wrote about "the existential cate shopping as the most favored pastime.14 God, it seems, vacuum which is the mass neurosis of our times" and about is relocating to the shopping mall. the growing problem of "an inner emptiness and a sense of The research of Marsha Richins demonstrates that mate- total and ultimate meaninglessness."'" Part of the spreading rialism is increasing at a very rapid rate. For example, in existential crisis of our day, as well as the declining levels of 1975, 38% of respondents reported that, in order to be happy, happiness, may be owing to religious systems that no longer it was essential for them to have "a lot of money." When the compete effectively with literal reality. same study was out in 1988, that percentage had risen to If we have no deep-seated need for "spiritual" transcen- 62%.15 In all likelihood, this percentage has risen consider- dence, then people should forget about the whole matter as ably higher in the ten years since the last study, to the point religion declines. But, as I have demonstrated in a recent that one finds oneself in a small minority for not equating essay, our yearning for transcendence persists in the face of money and happiness. eroding institutional religion, resulting in a myriad of com- Russell Belk looked specifically at the relationship pensations." As dominant religions fade, they are supplanted between materialism and happiness in a large cross-section by numerous minority religions, spiritual movements, and of the adult population and found a strong negative correla- secular religions. Countries with the lowest rates of religious tion between these two variables. His unmistakable conclu- belief and participation are the same ones with the highest sion was "more materialistic people tend to be less happy in rates of involvement in cults and the paranormal. Research at life"16 We are reminded here of Ernest Becker's observation the level of the individual also shows that paranormal beliefs in The Denial of Death that so many people are seeking ther- function as "religious surrogates," again casting doubt on the apy to find out why they are so unhappy in materialism and whole concept of secularization. hedonism." Other studies have found materialism to be asso- Rodney Stark wrote that we must rethink entirely the ciated with lowered life satisfaction, lowered self-esteem, notion of secularization since the drive for transcendence is decreased satisfaction with interpersonal relationships, envy, an indefatigable component of our nature, and that fulfill- and decreased satisfaction with one's overall lot in life. ment will be sought even in the absence of official religious Every piece of research that I have found on this topic shows outlets.12 As W. W. Wagar writes in The Secular Mind, we can that materialism has harmful psychological consequences.

free inquiry 30 A LARGER MEANING R. E. Ingram, ed., Contemporary Approaches to Depression (New York: Plenum Press, 1990). All earthly happiness is imperfect and tainted with bitter- 3. E. Fromm, To Have or to Be (New York: Harper & Row, 1976), pp. 5-6. ness, as Aquinas wrote. Even so, imperfect happiness can 4. A. Greeley, "The Declining Morale of Women," Sociology and Social keep most of us going, and many types of this-world tan- Research 73 (1989): 53-58. scendence can help us achieve this. To love and to feel pas- 5. C. A. Lewis, C. Lanigan, S. Joseph, and J. de Fockert, "Religiosity and Happiness," Personality and Individual Differences 2l2 (1997): 119-21. sionately about something is a great gift that lets one fend off 6. M. Robbins and L. Francis, "Are Religious People Happier., in L. potential sources of unhappiness. To be very good at what Francis, K. Kay, and S. Campbell, eds., Research in Religious Education one loves to do is the best prescription for a satisfying life. (Herefordshire, U.K.: Gracewing, 1996). 7. K. Chamberlain and S. Zika, "Religion, Meaning in Life, and Martin Seligman, a leading authority on depression, Psychological Well-Being," in J. F. Schumaker, ed., Religion and Mental observed how difficult it is for young people today to take Health (New York: 0xford University Press, 1992). God seriously.' To compensate for this, he adds, they must attach themselves to something larger than themselves in In short, modern religion is failing as a vehicle order to find meaning and avoid the exis- of transcendence. tential problem of the "lonely self." We must encourage our children to develop a 8. M. E. Spiro, Culture and Human Nature (New Brunswick, N.J.: love, and to participate in something that feels larger than Transaction Publications, 1994). 9. J. F. Schumaker, The Corruption of Reality (Amherst, N.Y.: Pro- life, while simultaneously teaching them the pitfalls of mate- metheus Books, 1995). rialism. 10. V. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (Boston: Beacon Press, 1956). Recently, while strolling through a cemetery, I ran across 11. J. E Schumaker, "Religious Motivation and Culture," in D. Munro, J. Schumaker, and S. Carr, eds., Motivation and Culture (New York: a gravestone lavishly engraved with horse-riding symbols Routledge, 1997). and the words "He was a brilliant and fearless horseman." 12. R. Stark, "Europe's Receptivity to New Religious Movements," Undoubtedly, horses were his passion and his heaven on Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 32 (1993): 389-97. 13. W. W. Wagar, The Secular Mind (New York: Holmes & Meier, earth. Music, children, friends, pets, jobs, hobbies, discover- 1982), p. 4. ies, thoughts-all of these, if embraced wholeheartedly with 14. A. T. Dunning, How Much Is Enough? (New York: W. W. Norton, passion and love, can let us pass our days in relative happi- 1992), p. 132. 15. M. Richins and S. Dawson, "A Consumer Values 0rientation for ness. We do not need God to be imperfectly happy. fi Materialism and Its Measurement," Journal of Consumer Research 19 (1992): 303-16. 16. R. Belk, "Three Scales to Measure Constructs Related to Notes Materialism," in T. Kinnear, ed., Advances in Consumer Research (Provo, Utah: Association for Consumer Research, 1984), p. 294. 1. A. Parducci, Happiness, Pleasure, and Judgment (Mahwah, N.J.: 17. E. Becker, The Denial of Death (New York: Free Press, 1973). Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995). 18. M. E .P. Seligman, "Boomer Blues," Psychology Today, 0ctober 2. M. E. P. Seligman, "Why Is There So Much Depression Today?," in 1989. THE JOURNAL FOR THE CRITICAL STUDY OF RELIGION (formerly The Journal for the Critical Study of Religion, Ethics, and Society)

The Journal for the Critical Study of Religion is a scholarly developed angelology in those traditions approximates journal with a frank, secular perspective on polytheism. Nationalism and Biblical Studies: Have the study of religion and specific religious nationalist and ethnic agendas dominated the study of traditions. ancient Israel and the study of the origin of Western civi- The editor of the journal is Professor lization? Homosexuality and the Bible: The limits of Hector Avalos, assisted by a distinguished Religious SinamIN Hebrew and Greek lexicography. Islamic and Koranic editorial board. 1lo Criticism: Scholarly examination of the Koran and Islamic Submissions on the following general dcrn spiritualities theology. topics are invited: Religion and Becoming Spiritual Please send all inquiries and submissions to: Professor Science: Views of the anthropic princi- Hector Avalos, Religious Studies Program, Iowa State ple and new versions of the teleological University, 402 Catt Hall, Ames, IA 50011. Email: argument exemplified by Michael Behe's Darwin's Black Box. [email protected] Reassessing Ethnic Liberation Theologies: Have they 1998 Subscription Information: Published bi-annually • brought progress to African Americans, Latinos, and other ISSN 1087-5565. Institutions: $90.00 per year. Individuals: ethnic communities or have they caused new divisions and $35.00 per year for FI readers. Overseas individuals: add problems? Religion and Violence: To what extent is religion $10.00 per year. correlated with violence? Textual Criticism: The ideological Subscription applications and orders should be sent to: infrastructures of recent editions of the New Testament text. Journals Subscription Department, Prometheus Books, 59 Monotheism as a Suitable Categorization of Early John Glenn Drive, Amherst, NY 14228-2197, telephone 800- Judaism and Christianity: In light of critiques that the 421-0351 or (716) 691-0133.

f i summer 1998 RE-DISCOVERING HAPPINESS

Godless Happiness WHAT'S FAITH GOT TO DO WITH IT? Timothy J. Madigan

It is not enough to be happy to have an excellent life. fillment through personal excellence." For Aristotle, the The point is to be happy while doing things that stretch good life consisted of developing one's natural abilities our skills, that help us grow and fulfill our potential.' through the use of reason. A virtuous life is one where proper habits are formed that allow one to reach one's full potential. —Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Yet Aristotle felt that only a small number of people— excluding poor men, those without families, those who were unattractive, and all women—had the intellectual capacities and the strength of will to achieve eudaimonia. However, this elitist concept of happiness is not one that most human- hat is "happiness?" For many religious ists would feel comfortable espousing. believers, it is a state of perfection that Another problem with Aristotle's description is the can only be achieved in the afterlife, assumption that the pursuit of knowledge—including self- when they will receive eternal reward for their good deeds on knowledge—will necessarily be beneficial. For the truth can Earth. More down-to-earth philosophers, like the English often be painful. The desire to retreat from reality, to find utilitarian Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), felt that happiness refuge in comforting myths or consoling hopes, is also a is indistinguishable from physical pleasure: acts that we basic part of human nature. enjoy should be maximized, while those that cause harm Religions are often able to help shield people from should be minimized. He even developed a "hedonic calcu- painful realities, such as human mortality, the lack of ulti- lus" to rate activities on a scale from greater to lesser plea- mate justice, and the ravages of an indifferent natural world. It is not surprising that several recent stud- ies report that religious believers are hap- Happiness at what price? Where do pier than nonbelievers. According to hap- piness researchers David G. Myers and Ed intellectual honesty and personal excellence Diener: enter into the composition? In one Gallup Poll, highly spiritual people were twice as likely as those lowest in spiri- tual commitment to declare themselves very happy. Other sur- sure. Yet the person he most influenced, John Stuart Mill veys find that happiness and life satisfaction rise with strength (1806-1873), recognized the inadequacy of a system that or religious affiliation and frequency of worship attendance. focused primarily on physical gratifications, which are fleet- One statistical digest of research among the elderly found that ing and quite often detrimental in the long run to one's well one of the best predictors of life satisfaction is religiousness.' being. In Mill's famous words, "It is better to be Socrates unsatisfied than a fool satisfied." While ignorance may at One needs to explore in just what sense religious people times be blissful, it is nothing to be proud of. The intellectual claim to be happy. Clearly, they experience a sense of social pleasures provide longer-lasting benefits. For Mill, the high- support, as well as a sense of purpose and hope for the est good was to pursue a life of learning, and to apply what future. Within their various religious traditions, there is a was learned to the betterment of the human condition. commitment to something greater than themselves. But is In this regard, Mill was harkening back to what is still religion per se necessary for such happiness, especially if perhaps the most relevant discussion of "happiness": one sees it to be a support system based on lies, misinforma- Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. In this work, written as a tion, and indoctrination? Can one advocate the need for reli- manual for his son Nichomacheus, Aristotle discusses the gion if one is not able to find its doctrines grounded in veri- concept of eudaimonia. Usually translated from the ancient fiable facts? In his popular book from 1930, The Conquest of Greek as "happiness," a better translation would be "self-ful- Happiness (still one of the best manuals on how to get the most out of life), the humanist philosopher Bertrand Russell Timothy J. Madigan is Editor of FREE INQUIRY. discusses this dilemma:

free inquiry The men I have known who believed that the English were rituals, as well as a circle of co-believers. But this can occur the lost ten tribes were almost invariably happy, while as for at the expense of self-development. When institutions encour- those who believed that the English were only the tribes of Ephriam and Manasseh, their bliss knew no bounds. I am not age one to accept dogmatically "revealed" doctrines and suggesting that the reader should adopt this creed, since I time-honored practices, the chance to be creative is stifled. cannot advocate any happiness based upon what seem to me to be false beliefs.' THE HUMANIST PATH Happiness at what price? Where do intellectual honesty The exciting challenge facing humanists is to discover a and personal excellence enter into the composition? Should rewarding way of life without reliance upon traditional faith. contentment be the goal of human beings? The reason so many nonbelievers report being unhappy may have less to do with their lack of religious faith, and more to do with the fact that they lack both communities in which to NEW CONCEPTIONS OF HAPPINESS interact and encouragement to pursue their own visions. But It is here that the work of University of Chicago psychologist we should also focus on the happiness that comes from fac- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi proves helpful. For several decades ing the truth and living with it. Intellectual integrity is an now, he has scientifically studied individuals who claim to be important aspect of the humanistic good life. living rewarding existences—modern-day exponents of In his seminal essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" (1940), the Aristotelian self-fulfillment. He refers to such an experience French existentialist writer Albert Camus discusses the as "flow," since most people studied describe it in terms of Ancient Greek legend of the king who—in punishment for being so involved in an activity that they lose track of every- defying the gods—was sentenced to an eternity of pushing a thing else, even time. Yet, unlike Aristotle's conception of eudaimonia, We should focus on the happiness that comes flow is something that is experienced by men and women from all walks of life. from facing the truth and living with it. Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow focuses not so much on happiness as a feeling, but rather the large rock up a steep hill in Hades, only to have it fall back process of achievement. It is the matching of internal skills every time he reaches the top. It is hard to think of a more with external possibilities. "What I `discovered,"' he writes, pointless task. Yet Camus ends the essay with the words "was that happiness is not something that happens. It is not "One must imagine Sisyphus happy." the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not some- How can one possibly be happy in such a circumstance? thing that money can buy or power command. It does not Sisyphus, trudging down the mountain to once again retrieve depend on outside events, but, rather, on how we interpret his burden, nonetheless smiles in memory of the great adven- them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared tures he had had on earth (including temporarily imprisoning for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. the God of the Underworld in a doghouse). He defied the People who learn to control inner experience will be able to gods right up until the end. He earned his rock, and he determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any pushes it proudly. of us can come to being happy."4 Csikszentmihalyi is not The excellent life, then, is one of striving to be the best merely a theoretician. He is engaged in projects to help peo- person one is capable of becoming. In Mill's example, ple better understand, and utilize, the concept of flow. For Socrates is not dissatisfied because of his inadequacies, but instance, he has recently joined forces with Martin E. P. rather because of his awareness that he has still so much to Seligman, the new president of the American Psychological learn and experience in the world. His dissatisfaction spurs Association, to establish a research network to refocus the him on; it does not cause him despair. In a culture that still attention of the psychological community toward happiness, disparages independent thinking, today's humanists also rather than its usual emphasis on depression, alienation, and need to be spurred on to achieve excellent lives. And the best aberrant behavior.' He and Csikszentmihalyi feel that further way to do this is with a little help from their friends. fl dissemination of the flow concept will aid in this project. Yet flow is not synonymous with contentment. An element of dissatisfaction is a key part of it—one must keep reaching Notes for goals not yet attained. Increasing complexity is a neces- 1. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Finding Flow (New York: BasicBooks, sary component. In order to achieve this, though, people tend 1997), p. 122. to need structures in which to operate, and like-minded indi- 2. David G. Myers and Ed Diener, "The Science of Happiness," The Futurist, September-0ctober, 1997, p. 7. viduals who encourage them to reach their "personal best." (It 3. Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness (New York: Signet is not coincidental that Aristotle devotes a good part of the Books, 1951), p. 90. Nichomachean Ethics to describing the important role that 4. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (New York: Harper & Row, 1990), p. 2. friends provide in motivating one to strive for the good life.) 5. "Seeking a Focus on Joy in Field of Psychology?' Trish Hall, the New Religion can often provide such order, especially with its York Times, April 28, 1998.

summer 1998 RE-DISCOVERING HAPPINESS

The Wellness Agenda A FEW TIPS FOR THE GODLESS PURSUIT OF MEANING AND PURPOSE for Happiness Donald B. Ardell

Dr. Larch had it right in the John Irving novel Cider House Rules when he ritually admonished his orphan ellness is a bland term coined by physi- charges to "be of use," a variant of Frankl's call in Man's cian Halbert L. Dunn in the 1950s. It is Search for Meaning to be of service. Happiness follows often employed to represent life-style good works appreciated by yourself; it does not ensue from strategies for achieving levels of well-being vastly more attempts to secure it directly, we are told by advanced than the absence of illness, which is the Irving Yalom in his masterwork Existential "normal" (read "mediocre") conception of health. Psychotherapy. Watered-down versions of wellness programs are I believe that a satisfactory sense of meaning- very popular at medical institutions (witness all ful work and a purposeful life are certain prereq- the hospital-based wellness centers) and in most uisites for a continuing sense of happiness in life. corporations throughout the United States and My research (presented in The Book of Wellness: Canada. Initially quite medical in nature (e.g., A Secular Approach to Spirituality, Meaning and activities related to risk reduction, such as weight Purpose) led me to the view that the single best loss, smoking cessation, and the like), wellness way that people discover and reinvent meaning has recently evolved in a decidedly nonphysical throúghout their lives is by following their pas- direction to personal responsibility for improved sions. Hans Selye and others have observed that there is work satisfaction, critical thinking, humor, meaning and pur- nothing wrong with retirement—provided it doesn't get in pose, and even the ever-elusive quest for happiness. the way of your work! Find a way to apply your passion(s) Of all the topics addressed in wellness programming and daily or to engage in a mission you love, and you will never promotion, none in my view (based on more than 20 years work another day in your life. You will be transfixed, doing little else but promoting the wellness concept) has involved, committed, and otherwise bound to a life quest— more impact on benefiting health and enhancing life quality and your sense of meaning, purpose, and therefore "happi- and happiness than initiatives to address and encourage the ness" will be secured. seeking of added meaning and purpose. I believe this dimen- Since most wellness seekers want to pursue a more satis- sion of genuine wellness is key to advances in health status. fying and joyful path to health and consequence, happiness It's far more important than increased medical spending or is clearly an important part of the wellness agenda. Wellness the construction of more gyms, the purchase of expensive promoters would do well to encourage people to ask them- supplements, the mastery of stress management, and all the selves, "What will it take for me to be happy?" They would rest. Of course exercise is critical, what you eat matters, and do well to point out that, although many of us seem to base so on—but the bottom line for life satisfaction, good health, our lives on consumer materialism, acquisitions unrelated to and, yes, a daily sense of joy, pleasure, or "happiness" is to passions rarely fulfill. The stock market is at all-time highs, feel excited about who you are, why you're here, what you yet even the current "winners" are not likely to suggest that do, how you are viewed (especially by yourself), and related this makes their lives meaningful or gives enduring happi- matters connected to your purposes. ness. Even such elusive quests as marital bliss and fine health Donald B. Ardell publishes the Ardell Wellness Reports and status are no guarantees. hosts an internet wellness show every Wednesday evening Personally, I think religion is an obstacle to happiness (wwwyourhealth.com). He wrote the best-seller High Level whereas the wellness virtues of critical thinking, reason, and Wellness and many other books on the topic, including The bemused skepticism seem more conducive to it. Of course, Book of Wellness: A Secular Approach to Spirituality, you might expect I'd feel this way as a secular wellness pro- Meaning, and Purpose (Prometheus Books). moter who finds life itself meaningless in a cosmic sense,

free inquiry 34 save for the purposes we invent, which must be the center of • Inventory your joys, pleasures, or best moments regu- our wellness quest. In my view, a wellness life-style itself larly. Consider strategies for adding a few, even if you have seems best embraced by rational means, as opposed to unre- to change a schedule or otherwise go out of the way a bit to alistic, pie-in-the-sky, wishful-thinking approaches or in fol- make time for lightness and play. Be proactive and indepen- lowing the revelations of doctors or gurus, "New Age" or dent—why wait for others to bring about these positive otherwise. changes in your life? The bottom-line wellness concerns of meaning and pur- • Attend to the little things. Forget the lottery and the pose and happiness, among others, are most consistent, as I high profile, life-changing deux ex machina lightning see it, with the use of reason. This is hardly a quality encour- bolts. You can't count on them—they are like prayers, mir- aged by the dogmas, rituals, and myths of religion. acles, and apparitions. Besides, it's unlikely that such mat- Here are a few practical tips for achieving (discovering) increased sat- isfaction with your invented sense of I believe that a satisfactory sense of meaningful meaning and purpose that could sup- work and a purposeful life are certain port your efforts for a fulfilling life visited by ample human happiness. prerequisites for a continuing sense For starters, ask yourself a few prob- of happiness in life. ing questions, such as: • "Does your happiness, more than you would like, depend on some addition to or change in ters would bring happiness even if they did occur—you your life?" might be tempted to wonder if you should have asked for • "Is there something you have to do, or obtain, in order more! to experience sufficient happiness?" • Seek inspiration in the familiar. Don't overlook the • "Must you realize epic accomplishments or would a scenery, sounds, aromas, and multiple blessings you already few days off suffice for a bit of satisfaction and joy?" (For enjoy. Recall Gilda Radner's needlepoint message revealed example, must you win the lottery or Olympic gold, or is it in Gene Wilder's book Funny About Love: "Contentment is enough that your child does well in school, your favorite not the achieving of what you want but the realization of team has a winning season, you lose a few pounds?) It might what you already have." also help to recognize that most reason-oriented wellness • If there are situations or conditions that can't be changed, advocates favor an oblique approach to happiness, not a full change the way you perceive them. Do a mind number on frontal assault upon it. Frankl, of course, wrote volumes on yourself for the sake of your own happiness. Discover some- the topic of "engagement" and thing about the situation that service to others. Again, we find you can explore anew and support for the idea that meaning enjoy. A bit more pleasure and purpose are first cousins of might be the surest minimal happiness, if transitory like all daily nutrient or life-style sup- else. Hume, Sartre, Camus, plement for continued well- Yalom, and many others, then, being. might be considered early well- Last but not least of ness promoters! uncountable possibilities, If you arrange your thinking so make a conscious decision to that happiness can easily be take care of your body! secured, at least for a while, by Physical health is, after all, "a everyday pleasures, you will be crown on the well man's head better off. Thus, secular visible but to the sick" "wellites" interested in happiness (Egyptian proverb). as a health issue might join in a Good luck. Do it your cheer for little pleasantries! It is way—and make the most of not the great events and suc- every day. All the best. Look cesses, joys and thrills that make after yourself and be well. fi for happiness, but the little remembered, everyday delights Don Ardell can be reached at that nourish a good disposition, 345 Bayshore, # 414, Tampa, most of the time. FL 336O6, (813) 251-4567 or Additional wellness tips along e-mail at: these lines might include: [email protected].

fi summer 1998 God and the FROM ARISTOTLE TO LOCKE: PART 1 OF A THREE-PART SERIES Philosophers Paul Edwards

Discussion about the origin of the universe, whether it has a purpose, and whether it is controlled by a supernatural power have always engaged philosophers. Beginning in this issue of FREE INQUIRY, the evolution of Western thought on the subject, and how it has moved from a theistic to a naturalistic outlook, will be traced by noted philosopher Paul Edwards in a special three-part series. Edwards has published extensively in his long academic career. He is the author of Reincarnation: A Critical Examination (Prometheus Books, 1996), The Logic of Moral Discourse, and Heidegger and Death, as well as numerous articles. He is the editor of The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Voltaire, and Immortality, and has contributed to The Encyclopedia of Unbelief, The Encyclopedia of Ethics, and The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. In 1979, he won the Nicholas Murray Butler Silver Medal, awarded by Columbia University for distinguished contributions to philosophy. Edwards currently teaches at the New School for Social Research. In Part 1, Edwards summarizes the positions of the Greek and medieval philosophers and takes us into the eighteenth cen- tury. Part 2 will appear in the Fall issue.

THE TRADITIONAL POSITION ures in the Judeo-Christian tradition maintained that they are backed by decisive evidence. Plato and Aristotle believed in gods who played a far less central role in the universe than the God of the Christians and Jews. hi the Timaeus Plato introduces the Demiurge, a kind of cosmic architect or engineer who brings order into a he beliefs of most people in the West who chaotic universe. Aristotle's God is a "prime mover"—we have been brought up in the Christian or have to appeal to such a being to explain motion, but the Jewish religions can be summarized in the material universe itself is eternal and uncreated. It should be Tfollowing propositions: the natural universe has not always mentioned that, although Aquinas believed, on the basis of Scripture, that the universe was created by God out of nothing, Much of the philosophy of the last 300 years is the he did not think that any of his story of the attacks on the Judeo-Christian view "proofs" established this conclu- sion. They only established God and its replacement by a naturalistic outlook. as the sustaining cause of the universe, and this conclusion is entirely compatible with the existed, it was created out of nothing by a purely spiritual eternity of the world. being; this purely spiritual being known as God has always We now know that, aside from Ockham, quite a few existed; this being not only created the universe but has con- medieval philosophers were in varying degrees skeptical of tinued to be its ruler ever since the creation, interfering in the the official theology. However, since it was protected by course of events from time to time by working miracles; this what Voltaire called the "logic of the sword," heresies were being, furthermore, has the attributes of omnipotence, omni- infrequent. In Muslim countries, where there was far greater science, and perfect goodness. The leading Christian and freedom of thought, several of the leading philosophers, Jewish philosophers—St. Augustine, St. Anselm of most notably Averroës, openly accepted Aristotle's teaching Canterbury, St. Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, and of God as the Prime Mover and of the eternity of the world. Maimonides—supported all these propositions. Ockham did Much of the philosophy of the last 300 years is the story not think that they could be proven, but the other great fig- of the attacks on the Judeo-Christian view and its replace-

free inquiry 36 ment by a naturalistic outlook that completely dispenses with adult life he was a vigorous champion of free speech and theological explanations. Some of the great philosophers of showed great sympathy for the victims of religious persecu- the modern period, notably Descartes and Leibniz, offered tion. F. A. Lange in his History of Materialism quotes the fol- arguments for traditional theism, but several others were in lowing declaration, which is quite in the spirit of John Stuart varying degrees critical of the old scheme. Foremost among Mill's On Liberty: the critics were Spinoza, the deists, Hume, and Kant. Spinoza is usually classified as a pantheist who maintained Let all men freely speak what they think, without being ever that God and the universe are identical. Voltaire and branded or punished but for wicked practices, and leaving the speculative opinions to be confuted or approved by who- Frederick the Great regarded him as an atheist who retained ever pleases; then you are sure to hear the whole truth, and theological language, while Goethe, who was himself a pan- till then very scantily, or obscurely, if at all. theist, called Spinoza "God-intoxicated." Be this as it may be, Spinoza taught that the natural universe was uncreated, It is of some interest that Toland was a friend of the Jews. In and he was also most emphatic in his rejection of miracles. his day a number of Jews lived in England illegally. Toland favored the legalization of their status and, believing that Jews would make good citizens, he advocated Jewish immi- DEISM gration into England in a pamphlet entitled "Reasons for Deism, which began in England in the late seventeenth cen- Naturalizing the Jews in Great Britain and Ireland on the tury, was primarily a rebellion against revealed as distinct Same Foot with all Other Nations." Toland dismisses the from natural religion. The deists did not deny a creator of the notion that each nation has a "special spirit" as a vulgar prej- universe, but they were highly critical of the Bible, regarding udice. If the Jews have engaged primarily in commerce and all stories of divine intervention as superstitious and often immoral nonsense. In arguing for The deists did not deny a creator of the the existence of God they pre- universe, but they were highly critical of the Bible. ferred the teleological argument to the a priori arguments of ear- banking this is because they were barred from government lier believers. Some of them questioned the perfect goodness posts, agriculture, handicrafts, and the professions. Nobody or indeed any of the moral attributes of the Deity. In his before Toland has written so movingly about the persecution Poéme sur le désastre de Lisbonne and in Candide, Voltaire, of Jews at the hand of the Christian clergy and the rabble the most influential of the eighteenth-century deists, tried to they incited. The Jews, he wrote, always lived as `sheep show the absurdity of any cosmic optimism without, how- among wolves." ever, abandoning belief in a Designer. Collins was described by T. H. Huxley as "the Goliath of The story of deism and of religious toleration go hand in free-thinking," a title he richly deserved. He was a wealthy hand. The deists were reviled and violently attacked by the country gentleman, and some of his friends were highly orthodox in all major Western countries, but very few were placed aristocrats. Lord Egmont, who was himself a pious imprisoned and not one was put to death. Lord Herbert of Christian, remarked that "his worst enemies could not charge Cherbury (1583-1648) is usually described as the founder of him with immorality, nor his best friends acknowledge him a English deism. However, his works are of little philosophical Christian." During the last years of Locke's life he and interest. The most influential and also the most interesting Collins were close friends. We have a letter from Locke to English deists were John Toland (1670-1722) and Anthony Collins written in 1703: "Believe it, my good friend, to love Collins (1676-1729). In 1696 Toland published Christianity truth for truth's sake is the principle part of human perfection Not Mysterious, the ostensible aim of which was to purify in this world, and the seed-bed of all other virtues; and if I Christianity. In fact, it was an attack on the central doctrines mistake not, you have as much of it as I ever met with in any- of Christianity and it outraged theologians throughout the body." British Isles. The Irish House of Commons condemned the In 1713 Collins published his Discourse of Free Thinking, book to be burnt by the hangman and ordered its author which was followed in 1723 by A Discourse on the Grounds arrested and prosecuted. Toland was Irish, but he was living and Reasons of the Christian Religion. The former of these in England where he was safe. His travels on the continent caused such a commotion that Collins had to flee to Holland brought him to Hanover and later to Berlin where he engaged to avoid arrest. The book drew numerous replies from in philosophical discussions with the queen of Prussia. The defenders of the establishment, including Bishop Berkeley, Letters to Serena (1794), his most important philosophical Jonathan Swift, and Richard Bentley. Collins offended book, is based on some of these discussions. In it he defends orthodox opinion not only by his view about God, but also not only deism but also a version of materialism—thought is by being both a materialist and a determinist. He engaged in an inherent accompaniment of the material movements in the an extended controversy with Samuel Clarke, the leading nervous system. In his later years Toland became an admirer philosophical defender of Christianity, in the course of of Spinoza and appears to have embraced pantheism. All his which he argued for the "materiality" of the soul and against

fi summer 1998 its "natural" immortality. Berkeley claimed that he had heard until his death. To his great credit, Samuel Clarke interceded Collins say that he had a proof for the nonexistence of God. on Woolston's behalf, but without success. There is no way of deciding at this date how serious Collins In America, deism became fashionable among the edu- was when he made this remark, if indeed he made it. cated classes in the second half of the eighteenth century. However, in his exchanges with Clarke he endorses an argu- Benjamin Franklin, Ethan Allen, Thomas Paine, and the first ment that does appear to imply atheism. In order to prove the five presidents were deists. During the election campaign of existence of God, he writes, it is necessary that we should 1800, a group of influential New England ministers have an idea of the creation of matter ex nihilo. But we have denounced Jefferson for his "atheism and immorality." The no such idea. Several contemporary physicists maintain that charges were false, but Jefferson was certainly no Christian, at one time there was literally nothing. It is not clear that and he was of course the leading champion of the separation Collins would dispute this. His point seems to be that a of church and state. It is ironic that John Adams, who was purely spiritual being could not have produced the physical Jefferson's opponent was even more strongly opposed to tra- universe. ditional religion. "Twenty times in the course of my late In 1717 Collins published his Philosophical Inquiry reading," he wrote in a letter some years after his retirement, Concerning Human Liberty, which largely repeats ideas "I have been on the point of breaking out, 'this would be the found in Hobbes and Locke. Voltaire particularly admired best of all possible worlds if there were no religion in it."' this work, quoting from it on numerous occasions. It is a The most important event in the American story was defense of what we now call "compatibilism." Collins insists undoubtedly the publication of Thomas Paine's The Age of that "necessity" (i.e., determinism) is compatible with lib- Reason (1794). Unlike some of the English deists, Paine was an ardent believer in God, but he was an equally ardent opponent of The earlier deists had carefully refrained from revealed religion and the whole institutional apparatus of the criticizing the character of Jesus and from Christian churches. He showed in ridiculing the miracles.... Woolston knew no detail the errors, anachronisms, immoralities, and inconsistencies such restraint. of both the Old and the New Testament. The Bible, he con- erty—"the power in man to do as he wills." He also argues cluded, is a "history of the grossest vices and a collection of that the "moral necessity" that governs human behavior is the most paltry and contemptible tales." different from the necessity found in clocks, watches, and Paine was a student of astronomy and knew something such other beings, which for want of sensation and intelli- about the vastness of the stellar universe. The discoveries of gence, are subject to an absolute, physical, or mechanical astronomy rendered necessity. This surely is a valid observation, but Collins con- fuses causal necessity with the necessity of mathematical the Christian system of faith at once little and ridiculous, and propositions and, like other compatibilists, he is too easily scatters it in the mind like feathers in the air.... When we contemplate the immensity of that Being who directs and satisfied with a purely utilitarian justification of praise and governs the incomprehensible Whole, of which the utmost blame. ken of human sight can discover but a part, we ought to feel Toland and Collins escaped judicial punishment. But shame at calling such paltry stories the Word of God. Thomas Woolston (1670-1733), a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, who was greatly admired by Voltaire Paine had taken an active part in the French Revolution. His for his courage and his eloquent defense of religious free- moderation irritated Robespierre, and he barely escaped the dom, was not so lucky. Between 1727 and 1730 he published guillotine. He returned to America in 1802. His services to six Discourses on the Miracles of Our Saviour, the purpose the American Revolution were well known, and, although of which was to expose "the absurdities, improbabilities and Jefferson and Madison treated him with respect, there was incredibilities" of the miracles worked by Jesus if the New enormous hostility. Testament stories are interpreted literally. The earlier deists His last years were spent in New York City. One of his had carefully refrained from criticizing the character of Jesus few friends was Elihu Palmer (1764-1806), an ex-Baptist and from ridiculing the miracles he was supposed to have minister who organized the Deistical Society of New York performed. Woolston knew no such restraint. The reaction of and published a periodical in which several of Paine's late the Christian establishment was entirely predictable. In articles appear. Palmer was in fact more radical than Paine. 1729, at the instigation of Anglican clergymen, he was tried Paine believed in immortality for the best and most intelli- and convicted of blasphemy. He was sentenced to a year's gent human beings (of whom needless to say he was one), imprisonment and a fine of £100. Woolston was unable to but Palmer in his Principles of Nature (1801-1802) rejected pay the fine and also refused to promise to abstain from fur- any kind of survival after death. Palmer died in 1806, Paine ther writings on religion. As a result he remained in prison in 1809. Not long before his death Paine applied to the

free inquiry

Quakers for permission to be buried in their cemetery. The this "hypothesis" at all ridiculous. Lessing never declared request was denied and Paine was buried in a plot on a farm that he actually believed in reincarnation but he is frequently he owned in New Rochelle. Some of the New York Quakers cited by contemporary reincarnationists as one of the great were so outraged by the action of their leaders that they men who shared their view. formed a breakaway sect. One of the most interesting figures in the German Both in America and in Britain conservative Christians Enlightenment was the poet Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805). continued to circulate libels about Paine's character. His In a letter to Goethe he remarked that a "healthy nature" did American publishers were never prosecuted, but his English "not need either a Deity or immortality." It appears that publishers were not so lucky. In 1811 the publisher of the Schiller did believe in God but not in any kind of survival third part of the Age of Reason was condemned to 18 after death. Talbot in Die Jungfrau von Orleans (Maiden of months' imprisonment and to stand in the pillory once a Orleans) makes a powerful speech about the transitoriness of month. In 1819, Richard Carlile was sentenced to three all human striving: years' imprisonment for the same offense. As late as 1888 a bombastic imperialist by the name of Theodore Roosevelt Soon it will be over, and I will give back to the earth, and to referred to Paine as "a dirty little atheist." In the second half the eternal sun, the atoms that were joined in me to create pain and joy. And of the great Talbot, whose reputation as a of the nineteenth century Paine's good name was gradually warrior resounded throughout the world, nothing will remain restored. This was due to lectures and articles by leading but a handful of light dust.... So ends man, and the only free-thinkers like Robert Ingersoll and above all to the mag- booty that we carry away from the battle of life is insight into isterial two-volume Life of Thomas Paine (1892) by nothingness, and cordial contempt for all that seemed to us Moncure Conway. In recent years, Paine has once again been noble and desirable. celebrated as a hero of the Revolution. In 1968, after agitation by the Thomas Paine Society, of which the present writer was a Locke was one of the first philosophers to member, the United States Postal Service write in defense of religious toleration. issued a stamp with the picture and name of Thomas Paine. The Enlightenment in Germany started late and was very It is not safe to ascribe the views of a character in a play to tame when compared with France and England. Christian the author, but in this instance the evidence suggests that Wolff, the leading academic philosopher of the first half of Talbot was indeed speaking for Schiller. the eighteenth century, was a Leibnizian rationalist who fully supported traditional ideas about God and immortality. He HOBBES AND LOCKE was nevertheless denounced as godless by several of his Lutheran colleagues, who prevailed on Frederick William I Hobbes and Locke, who were contemporaries of the early to dismiss him from his position in Halle in 1823. He was deists, do not easily fit into the story of the philosophical also ordered, under pain of death, to leave Prussia within 48 emancipation from Christian theism. Hobbes was a thor- hours. Wolff was reinstated by Frederick the Great in 1740. oughgoing materialist and, like the ancient atomists, he Frederick was a deist, but he wrote only in French and had thought that God (if there was a God at all) was material. no significant impact on German intellectual life. Most theologians regard God as an "incorporeal substance," The first major deist was H.S. Reimarus (1694-1768), a but, according to Hobbes, this is a self-contradiction. In this teacher of oriental languages in Hamburg. Reimarus's connection Hobbes covered himself by adding that God is Apologie oder Schutzschrift für die vernünftigen Verehrer not an object of philosophy but of theology. In De Corpore Gottes (Apology for or Defense of the rational Worshippers he defends the eternity of the world. As previously of God) was posthumously published by the great playwright explained, this doctrine is not inconsistent with belief in God and champion of religious toleration, Gotthold Ephraim as a sustaining cause of the world but it is inconsistent with Lessing, in 1774 and 1777. Reimarus was emphatic that God God as the creator as He appears in Genesis. In discussing is needed to explain the world order, but he was equally imagination Hobbes observes that the religion of the gentiles emphatic in rejecting miracles, including those of the New (meaning here non-Christian religions) is the result of not Testament. Needless to say, Lessing was bitterly attacked for distinguishing dreams from waking life. It is clear that publishing such a godless work, and it was generally Hobbes thought the same was true of Christianity but he was believed that Lessing himself was a deist. It seems more careful not to say so. He "solves" the problem of evil by say- likely that he was a pantheist. He also favored reincarnation ing in effect that God can surely do as He pleases, and that over the immortality preached by Christians and Jews. omnipotence is its own justification. "Why," he asked, "could not each individual human being When God afflicted Job, he did object no sin unto him, but have been present more than once in this world?... Why justified his afflicting of him by telling him of his power... . should I not return as often as I have been to acquire new "Hast thou," saith God, "an arm like mine? ... where wert knowledge, new capacities?" He adds that he does not find thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? ... power irre-

39 Ii7 summer 1998 sistibly justifies all actions, really and properly, in whomso- sistent with an infinite causal series of things, each of which ever it be found." is of finite duration. Locke was one of the first philosophers to write in Hobbes was frequently accused of atheism, both by roy- defense of religious toleration. In the "Letter Concerning alists and by rebels. His writings are of course full of pro- Toleration," he maintained that it is both illegitimate and fessions of piety, but these have a hollow ring. Most com- senseless to use force in the settlement of religious disputes. mentators agree that Hobbes was an unbeliever. "One won- The mind is so made that force cannot compel it to believe. ders," writes R. S. Peters, whether "his whole treatment of "It is absurd that things should be enjoined by laws:' he 'true religion' is not a colossal piece of irony" The historian writes, "which are not in men's power to perform; and to H. R. Trevor-Roper has described Hobbes as a "complete believe this or that does not depend on our will." Locke atheist" advocates toleration not only for all Protestant sects but also Unlike Hobbes, Locke was a sincere believer in for many non-Christian religions, specifically including the Christianity. According to Maurice Cranston, the author of a Indians of North America and the Jews. He does, however, standard biography, Locke was a deeply religious man who exempt two groups, Roman Catholics and atheists. saw no conflict between reason and revelation. He had no doubt that the resurrection of Jesus really occurred. In The ... that church can have no right to be tolerated by the mag- Reasonableness of Christianity, As Delivered in the istrate which is constituted upon such a bottom, that all those Scriptures (1695), he writes: who enter into it do thereby ipso facto deliver themselves up to the protection and service of another prince. Before our Savior's time, the doctrine of a future state, though it was not clearly hidden, yet it was not clearly known in the world.... No religion taught it, and it was nowhere "Another prince" is of course the pope. On atheism Locke made an article of faith and principle of religion until Jesus sounds like Ronald Reagan or worse: Christ came, of whom it is truly said that He, at His appear- ing, "brought life and immortality to light" and that, not only Promises, covenants, and oaths, which are the bonds of in the clear revelation of it and in instances shown of men human society, can have no hold on an atheist. The taking raised from the dead, but He has given us an unquestionable away of God, though but even in thought dissolves all .. . assurance and pledge of it in His own resurrection and ascen- those that by their atheism undermine and destroy all reli- sion into Heaven. gion, can have no pretence of religion whereupon to chal- lenge the privilege of a toleration. Locke tries to prove the existence of God by a variant of the cosmological argument similar to the second of the five ways Atheists have enjoyed full civil rights in almost every of Aquinas. He claims that somebody who denies the exis- Western country for over a hundred years and "all" has not tence of an "eternal being" is committed to the view that at dissolved. Here Locke the empiricist was not very empirical. sometime there was nothing at all and that, since things can- The argument that atheism, not being a religion "can have no not come into being without a cause, the rejection of an eter- claim for religious toleration" is of course a total evasion of nal being is incompatible with the actual existence of things. the real issue. Why should toleration not extend to views on This argument is clearly invalid. For if we grant that there religious topics that do not constitute a religion? Locke also has never been nothing, this would indeed be consistent with seems to have forgotten here that "to believe this or that does the reality of an eternal being, but it would be equally con- not depend on our will " fi

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free inquiry 40 When Clergy Commit the Sin of Silence

EDUCATED PASTORS KNOW A SECRET, BUT THEY ARE NOT TELLING THEIR PARISHIONERS GERALD A. LARUE

lergy in traditional, non-charismatic, non-Pente- costal churches are usually educated in secular uni- C versities and in denOminational or interdenomina- tional seminaries. In the univer- sity, the student is introduced to science and the scientific method of establishing reliable data, to world history and literature (to meet current emphasis on diver- sity), and to courses that relate to j their university "major" and con- tribute to their chosen profession (perhaps courses in psychol- ogy, philosophy, world religions, etc.).

In the seminary, the student studies the Old Testament under the guidance of instructors who are usually proficient in

Gerald A. Larue is a Senior Editor of FREE INQUIRY and Professor Emeritus of Archaeology and Biblical Studies at the University of California at Los Angeles.

411 fj summer 1998 Semitic languages (Hebrew and often Aramaic, Syriac, and the New Testament documents. And Paul, who never knew perhaps cuneiform) as well as Greek and Latin. Literary Jesus personally (although he appears to know those who did analysis adds terms like myth and legend to their theological know Jesus) becomes an interpreter of Jesus as the messiah, vocabulary. They discover that biblical creation myths are ultimately modeling the evolving Christianity on the patterns primitive temple tales reflecting notions about the universe found in popular mystery cults.' that were current at the time of writing—beliefs that science A student who entered seminary believing in "the second has demonstrated are inaccurate.' Patriarchal accounts are coming of Christ" learns that end-of-time mythology was recognized as temple legends told to enhance the power of borrowed by some Jews from Zoroastrian religion in the pre- the temple and the state and to provide a theological, but leg- Christian era (as in the Book of Daniel) and was adopted by endary, history of the Hebrew people. They find that we the Jesus sect—reaching a climax in the apocalyptic pro- know practically nothing about the Hebrew people before nouncements of the Book of Revelation. The study of church they came to power under Saul, David, and Solomon and that history indicates that every time some Christian group fig- much biblical material relating to these monarchs is fictional. ured out the probable date for the return of Jesus, they were For example, Solomon's reputed wisdom is not reflected wrong. The student might even come to the conclusion that in Ecclesiastes, despite the claim in the opening verse, those who today are interpreting "the signs of end" will be because Ecclesiastes is a product of a teacher, Qoheleth (not proven wrong, too. a preacher as in the KJV), who probably lived in the third century B.C.E., long after Solomon was dead. Solomon may have established secular "wisdom schools" for the training DOWN FROM THE IVORY TOWER of young men seeking careers in government (a pattern prob- Finally, when the educated student graduates, is ordained, ably borrowed from Egyptian wisdom schools), but in no and becomes a clergyperson in one of the more liberal and way can Solomon be the author of the Book of Proverbs, traditional churches, questions arise. How much of the criti- despite the attribution in the opening verse (mishle cal analysis of the Bible can be shared with a lay population? sholomôh: the proverbs of Solomon). The Book of Proverbs What happens if this information is shared? What is the point is, primarily, the work of secular wisdom schools that has of acquiring this data if it can't be used? When clergy fail to share the information about the Bible and the history of the Christian Clergy silence is a deception practiced on religion that they have been taught in semi- parishioners who are taught not to question nary they commit the sin of silence .4 To cover the sin of silence, they devise ways to salve but to 'hear and obey.' their consciences while denying their congre- gations the right to be informed. How do they been overwritten by pious Jewish theologians.' David did not do this? How do they handle critical material in their teach- write the psalms attributed to him; indeed some psalms are ing and preaching? Let me cite a few examples. borrowed directly from Canaanite hymns. The utterances of A newly ordained minister in a Congregational church the ancient prophets that, at their best, are humanistic discovered that any questions he might raise about the his- protests against the priestly temple religion, have been added toricity of the biblical stories about Jesus disturbed members to by later writers. In fact, the astute student will come to a of his parish. He solved the problem by using the name conclusion that echoes that found in the refrain from Porgy "Jesus" when he referred to what he believed was the histor- and Bess, namely that "the things that you're liable to read in ical person and the term Christ when he referred to the myth- the Bible, they ain't necessarily so" ical figure. I asked, "Have you shared this approach with In New Testament studies, the embryo preacher learns your congregation?" He answered, "No, I have enough trou- (from educators proficient in Greek and Latin and possibly ble without opening that door." also Coptic) that the Gospels were not written by those who On the other hand, a newly ordained Methodist minister, knew Jesus personally and that Matthew and Luke adopted assigned to a thriving church of several hundred members in the story line provided in Mark, adding sayings culled from a town in Idaho, introduced some of the critical information some unknown source that scholars have labeled "Q" (from he learned in seminary. After the first month, he was visited the German quelle, meaning "source") plus legends from by a group of 20 parishioners who told him, "It is clear from other unknown sources (conveniently labeled "L" and "M"). your preaching that you are not going to be able to meet our Indeed, literary and critical analyses of the Gospels has spiritual needs. Your predecessor was liberal, but you are caused the so-called historical Jesus to fade back further and more so. We are withdrawing from the church to form our further into the mists of time to the extent that some scholars own independent church." believe that only a handful of sayings attributed to Jesus may This was indeed disturbing news for the young man and actually have been his, while others argue that there never his wife. But more bad news soon followed. Several weeks was an historical Jesus—but only a mythical personality. later another group came to him with a similar complaint, The "theolog" learns that Paul's letters are the earliest of and they too left the church. The minister began to wonder if

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he had chosen the wrong vocation. But then a number of been an agnostic and in the classroom you came across as an younger men and women began to attend. For them, his ser- open-minded liberal." The professor replied, "What I do in mons made sense, for they, without seminary training but the classroom is one thing; what I do as a Methodist minis- relying on common sense and their own education and read- ter is another." ing, had come to conclusions about the Bible that were sim- On another occasion, this same professor was invited to ilar to those of the young pastor. The pastor was indeed for- lecture to a human sexuality class on "The Bible and Human tunate, but, he told me, he had tobe cautious not to stress the Sexuality." All went well until the question period when stu- critical approach since many of the church's older staunch dents began to press him on the issue of homosexuality and supporters were uneasy and without their financial help the the-Bible. The usually articulate classroom preacher-teacher church would be in trouble. was at a loss for words. Should he keep the religion door A professor of New Testament studies in a very conserva- closed and respond as the "liberal-minded" professor? Or tive theological seminary was required by seminary bylaws to should he open the door to the religion compartment and let sign a statement each year to the effect that he believed that the his dogmatic beliefs guide his response, knowing full well Bible was the literal, inspired word of God. Through his that his "open-minded" reputation would be questioned. He research, he had arrived at conclusions that made it impossible stalled and waited for the bell to ring. for him to agree with the statement. But he was trapped. Selective preaching involves choosing biblical passages Although he had graduated from topflight universities, the that, when lifted out of context, undergird widely accepted major part of his life had been spent in this particular semi- moral and ethical precepts. For example, a sermon on "the nary. His children were now entering college and he was look- good Samaritan" can emphasize the importance of reaching ing forward to retirement. His associations with the funda- out to anyone in need—a very safe and humanistic theme. mentalist school had marked him, making it almost impossible to think that any liberal When clergy fail to share the information college or university would hire him. He signs the statement each year under protest. about the Bible and the history of the How do educated clergy cope with the Christian religion that they have been taught denominational need to use a source book, the Bible, that has for centuries been in seminary, they commit the sin of silence. accepted as a divinely inspired document, but which they know is, like every other book, a human pro- PEER PRESSURE duction? There are two general approaches: compartmental- izing and selective preaching. Both are devious, both commit Don't think that churches won't react when their clergy the sin of silence, and both are linked to economic survival. break rank. In another case, a university professor whose Compartmentalizing consists of placing traditional reli- position as a New Testament instructor was underwritten by gious concepts, including the theological interpretation of the his conservative denomination was reported for not adhering Bible, in a separate compartment of the mind. When one is to the fundamentalist literal interpretation of the Bible. He not preaching or participating in ceremonies that involve bib- wisely quit his post, joined a more liberal denomination, and lical concepts, these clergy respond to life as modern individ- began teaching in that denomination's seminary. To the relief uals. They support the teaching of evolution in public schools, of many, the conservative denomination was no longer per- the ordination of women, ecology, equal rights and other mitted to fund his former teaching post. social concerns, and in every way perform as liberal-minded When my involvement in exposing the deception in the citizens. However, when they are in their role as clergy, they CBS series on Noah's Ark was made public (see "Update on move into the religion compartment of their mind and recite Noah's Ark" by Gerald Larue, FI, Winter 1993/94), I traditional formulas in rituals and draw basic precepts and received several calls from clergy friends congratulating me. texts for sermons from the Bible. So long as the two com- I asked, "Why didn't you write in protest to CBS?" and partments can be kept separated, this arrangement can work. "When are you going to preach a sermon on the flood and Problems arise when religious and secular issues meet. tell your congregation that the biblical account is not science Perhaps two examples will suffice. When an ordained but fiction?" They laughed and said, "No way!" Methodist clergyman, a professor of religion in a secular uni- Educated clergy are clearly guilty of the sin of silence. As versity, taught values and ethics, he was expansive. One stu- leaders, they are failures—they miss the mark, they do not dent asked if he would perform her wedding. The professor lead their congregations away from superstition and magical agreed. The young couple presented him with their person- thinking. By their silence, they strengthen the cause of fun- ally designed marriage ceremony, which was devoid of reli- damentalists who would cram the Bible down our national gious language. The professor said, "I will never perform a throat. Even when they do speak out, the compartmentalizing marriage where the name of my lord and savior Jesus Christ tendency remains. The Baptist minister who protested the is omitted." The student was shocked. "But," she said, "my posting of the Ten Commandments in an Alabama court room fiancé comes out of a Jewish background and I have always based his protest on the separation of church and state (a most

43 fi summer 1998 worthy cause), not on the fact that some of the command- have originated with Jesus. The magic of divinity is gone; the ments are relics of the past and irrelevant in today's society. beauty of the human remains and, of course, for humanists, What can happen if the code of silence is broken and the the human has always been at the center. minister admits from the pulpit that the beliefs that sustain What will happen in Scarboro United Church and to the the faith system are little more than myth and legend? There Reverend Bill Phipps remains to be seen. Varied reactions to is clear evidence that the congregation may be divided and Phipps's preaching have come from the clergy. As expected, confused. The minister may take refuge in vagaries. Fellow the fundamentalists are outraged. Within the UCC, the more clergy may condemn or support. The press gets involved. traditional clergy are upset by the arguments and criticisms. For example, in December 1997, the Reverend Bill On the other hand, one minister told me that he "breathed a Phipps, pastor of the Scarboro United Church of Canada in sigh of relief' because Phipps was doing what he and his fel- Calgary, Alberta, and moderator of the denomination, low clergy had not had the courage to do.' informed his congregation that he did not believe that Jesus I would challenge clergy in liberal churches to help their was God or was ever resurrected. Maclean's, a national mag- congregations understand that the material found in Genesis azine, headlined its report on his preaching "Is Jesus Really and Exodus has no basis in historical fact, that the rules and God" with a secondary announcement: "Jesus is the flash regulations of the Torah, including the Ten Commandments point for a religious debate that is currently as hot as hell- are, apart from those embracing a humanistic ethic, without fire."' If the Reverend Phipps rejected the divinity and resur- merit or meaning in our present culture.' I would dare them to rection claims about Jesus, what did he believe? According preach on some of the silly, outmoded sayings of Jesus that to the article, the minister is reported to have said: hardly anyone believes—for example, the edict in Matthew 5:27 that to look at a woman lustfully is the equivalent of I believe that God is more than Jesus. God is huge, mysteri- committing adultery with her in one's heart. Or the even more ous, wholly beyond our comprehension and beyond our total understanding. Jesus, therefore does not represent or embody ridiculous teaching found later in verse 32 that whoever mar- all of God, but embodies as much of God as can be in a per- ries a divorced woman commits adultery. son. But to me that does not diminish the divine that Jesus Clergy silence implies that educated clergy accept the embodies. Bible as the inspired word of God. Clergy silence is a decep- tion practiced on practitioners who are taught not to question If the statement sounds as if the minister wants to preserve his but to "hear and obey" (even though they do neither). Clergy cake and eat it too, what could he say about the resurrection? silence is, in the language of the church, a sin of silence. fi He argued that the followers of Jesus, transformed from being a defeated people "into people willing to risk their lives" Notes

... believed with all their being that Jesus was alive and with 1. For a discussion of the ways in which Hebrew creation tales relate to them and energizing them to carry forward his ministry. the creation mythology of surrounding nations, see Gerald A. Larue, Something very real happened to those people and it has been Ancient Myth and Modern Life (Long Beach, Calif.: Centerline Press, 1988), giving power to the Christian community ever since. But the Chapter 2. body that he was crucified with—dying and coming back and 2. For information on secularism in ancient Israel and the Bible, see walking around the earth and then ascending into heaven in a Gerald A. Larue. Freethought Across the Centuries (Amherst, N.Y.: The three-story universe—that doesn't make sense.... But that Humanist Press, 1996), Chapter 7. doesn't mean I don't believe in the Resurrection. The power 3. Gerald Larue, Freethought Across the Centuries, Chapters 8 and 10. of the Resurrection is the belief and the transforming energy 4. Sin is not a term in common use among freethinkers. It is not that we don't make mistakes, commit errors, say or do the wrong thing; it is just that that calls us into the world to follow Jesus who, we say, gives we don't believe that our actions have offended some "higher power." We life over death. don't need to confess our misdeeds to a priest, repent, and do penance. Nor do we need the blood of a human sacrificial victim to wash us clean. We are Phipps rejects also the notions of heaven and hell, but far more in harmony with the Greek word hamartia (commonly translated sin in the New Testament) which is taken from the root hamartano, which believes that the human spirit continues in some sort of way means "to miss the mark." Humanists readily admit that they sometimes after death," and that "the loved ones in my life who have "miss the mark" or, more simply, "blow it!" But to shoot an arrow and miss died are safe with God." the mark does not call for the need to beg forgiveness from a deity; rather one tries to remedy the situation, apologize if we have offended someone, There can be no question that the Reverend Phipps has then try again in the effort to score a bullseye. It is in this sense of "missing taken a bold and daring step. He is seeking to be honest and the mark" or "blowing it" that I accuse the learned clergy. share with his congregation some of the results of logical 5. Sharon Doyle Driedger, "Is Jesus Really God?" Maclean's, Dec. 15, 1997, pp. 40-44. thinking and biblical scholarship. At the same time, he is 6. Randel Helms, Gospel Fictions (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, striving to "keep the faith" by indulging in the vague lan- 1988). guage of so-called spirituality. If he continues to preach in 7. Mr. Phipps is not the first liberal clergyman to embrace critical bibli- cal analysis. 0thers, like Bishop John Spong, Rescuing the Bible from this vein, what he will be left with are stripped-down first- Fundamentalism (San Francisco: Harper, 1991) have made similar state- century writings that present very mixed images of Jesus— ments. But Phipps is a parish minister who must live with his parishioners writings that Randel Helms has aptly labeled "Gospel on a day-to-day basis and preach to them every Sunday. 8. See the pamphlet "Secular Humanist Viewpoints: Are the Ten Fictions"6 and which, according to the controversial Jesus Commandments Relevant Today?" by Gerald A. Lame, published by the Seminar contain, at best, a couple of dozen sayings that might Council for Secular Humanism, Amherst, N.Y.

free inquiry 44 The Notorious Notary HOW A LONE UNBELIEVER FOUGHT RELIGIOUS TESTS FOR PUBLIC OFFICE-AND WON Herb Silverman 1991, crossing out the phrase "so help me God" on the appli- cation, and pointing out that the U.S. Constitution prohibits religious tests as a qualification for public office. My appli- cation was returned by South Carolina Secretary of State Jim n "The Candidate Without a Prayer," FREE INQUIRY, Miles on the grounds that I hadn't filled out the form prop- Fall, 1992, I wrote about my unsuccessful 1990 cam- erly. My lawyer then sent it directly to then—Governor paign for governor of South Carolina. I had no illu- Carroll Campbell, who rejected it. When we asked why, his sions that a liberal, atheist Jew and transplanted Yankee could office replied that it would be far too burdensome to give rea- capture the highest office in a region that still proudly flies the sons for every negative decision. Confederate flag atop its statehouse. I was challenging the In a deposition taken from Secretary Miles in 1994, he was unconstitutional state provision that, "No person shall be eli- forced to disclose that 33,471 notary applications were gible for the office of governor who denies the existence of approved from 1991-1993, and that mine was the only one the Supreme Being." I had my day in court when Judge David denied in that period. To my knowledge, I am the only person in Norton, recently appointed to the U.S. District Court of South the history of South Carolina to be rejected as a notary public. Carolina upon nomination by Senator Strom Thurmond, dismissed the case a month before the election on the Granting me a notary would be an admission by grounds that it was "not ripe" because I the state that religious tests could no longer had little chance of winning. In effect, he refused to rule on the constitutional be a qualification for public office. issue unless I won the election. Governor Campbell left office in January 1995 and Subsequently, in 1991, I discovered that South Carolina's claimed immunity from giving a deposition where he might constitution prohibited atheists from holding any public be compelled to state under oath the reason for denying me office. While I knew I could not win an election for dog- the notary post. But we got help from a most unlikely source. catcher in South Carolina, the unconstitutional provision Robinson argued successfully in the Circuit Court that, if could be challenged through an attempt to hold a nonelective President Bill Clinton could be deposed by the lawyers of public office, such as notary public. Granting me a notary Paula Corbin Jones, then former Governor Campbell could would be an admission by the state that religious tests could no longer avoid being deposed. no longer be a qualification for public office. A virtually Robinson took an eighty-six-page deposition from Carroll identical provision of the Maryland constitution was chal- Campbell on March 3, 1995. Among many unbelievably con- lenged by Roy Torcaso and struck down by the U.S. voluted responses, the governor argued why it might be per- Supreme Court in 1961. Edmund Robinson, my American missible to deny office on the basis of religious beliefs: "Would Civil Liberties Union attorney, expected my notary cam- it be right to have somebody running for public office that was paign to be shorter and more successful than my gubernato- avowed to overthrow and destroy the United States of America, rial campaign. Shorter it wasn't! and they didn't believe in a supreme being but they believed in a foreign government, and they call that a religion?" THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD Shortly after the deposition, my case took a rather ironic twist. Robinson quit his law practice to enter the seminary. South Carolina is normally one of the easiest states in which He didn't suddenly find God and change his evil ways, as the to become a notary, with all applications routinely approved Christian Coalition might have hoped. He had been an active by the office of the governor. I paid my $25 fee in October church member for many years and enrolled at Harvard Theological Seminary with the intent of becoming a Herb Silverman lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where, Unitarian minister. Edmund's colleague, Armand Derfner, in addition to performing his duties as a Notary Public, he is took over local support in the case and Edmund continued to Professor of Mathematics at the College of Charleston. stay involved from Harvard.

45 fi summer 1998 On August 2, 1995, the presiding judge of the Fifth cuit court's holding that the South Carolina Constitution vio- Judicial Circuit in the Court of Common Pleas said that my lated the First Amendment and the Religious Test Clause of petition to be a notary met all the legal requirements and the United States Constitution. requested the governor to act on my application within thirty Governor Beasley now had a tough call. He did not want to days. I knew the times they were a changin' when the south- be the first governor of South Carolina to grant a commission ern section of the August 9 Wall Street Journal mentioned to an acknowledged atheist. However, he was reluctant to my case and listed "Atheists" as winners! appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court for a couple of reasons. His However, I was not yet a true winner. Carroll Campbell lawyers had concentrated on the states' rights argument that had successfully resisted granting me a notary while in officials had sworn to uphold the state constitution without office. The decision now resided with Governor David regard to previous U.S. Supreme Court decisions. How could Beasley, who had been elected in 1994 with strong Christian they then ask the federal government to interfere with the unan- Coalition support. A born-again Christian, he hoped to see imous decision of the highest court in the sovereign state of creationism incorporated into the public school curriculum. South Carolina? In addition, South Carolina had recently Secretary of State Jim Miles recommended that our state squandered countless taxpayer dollars attempting to keep constitution continue to deny public office to nonbelievers, women out of the Citadel. More litigation was anticipated over saying, "I believe that language is appropriate because I'm a the posting of the Ten Commandments in Charleston County Christian." Unwilling to go quietly, even after losing a Council chambers. Conservative state officials did not want to Reconsideration appeal, Governor Beasley then appealed to be criticized for wasting even more taxpayer dollars on what the South Carolina Supreme Court. would obviously be another costly and fruitless appeal of my case. Finally, on August 8, 1997, Governor I received considerable media attention in Beasley sent me my notary commission. South Carolina, which afforded me the A HAPPY ENDING opportunity to publicize a point of view not Though I had hoped in 1990 for quick affirma- often heard in the Bible Belt. tion of an atheist's right to hold public office, the protracted engagement added undeniable A headline in the October 31, 1995, Charleston Post & benefits to the quality of my life. I received considerable media Courier read, "Gov. David Beasley wants the S.C. Supreme attention in South Carolina, which afforded me the opportunity Court to decide if office seekers should be forced to believe in to publicize a point of view not often heard in the Bible Belt. a supreme being" I responded that I understood how I could be After each such appearance, I got calls and mail from people forced to say I believe (torture would work!), but that Governor who thought they were the only ones with those beliefs. This Beasley did not clarify how I could actually be forced to encouraged me to help found the Secular Humanists of the believe. Many of my fellow South Carolinians failed to under- Lowcountry, a vibrant community of Charleston County free- stand my legal battle as a civil rights struggle. They argued that thinkers who meet monthly. blacks couldn't change their race (the more enlightened ones Best of all for me, personally, I met Sharon Fratepietro— even added that gays couldn't change their orientation), but that in church! When I was running for governor in 1990, she I could easily change my religious beliefs. I explained that I did heard me speak at the local Unitarian church. She offered to not choose to be an atheist. My reasoning abilities, based on help in my campaign, and we have been together ever since. observation, experience, discussions, and readings, had left me Despite "religious" differences (she was an agnostic), we got with no choice. I could pretend to believe in a deity or a tooth along very well. After all, in the history of the world there fairy, but I could not truly believe extraordinary claims backed has never been a (nonverbal) war between atheists and by not a scintilla of evidence any more than I can change my agnostics. Recently, Sharon became born-again. She is now skin color or sexual orientation. a full-fledged atheist. The South Carolina Supreme Court heard my case in Groucho Marx once said he wouldn't join any club that October 1996. In interviews, I couldn't resist pointing out would have him as a member. I joined a (notary) club simply that the state considered me qualified to be a professor of because I was excluded from membership. I am now open mathematics at a public institution (the College of for business with a "Notary Public" sign posted prominently Charleston), but deemed me lacking high enough ethical and in my campus office. Recently one of my students, unfamil- moral standards for the office of notary public. Perhaps that iar with my case, saw the sign and asked if I had to go to law value of religious indoctrination over reason and scientific school to become a notary. I told him it wasn't quite that sim- inquiry might help explain the dismal condition of education ple. Law school would only have taken three years. It took in South Carolina today, where Scholastic Aptitude Test longer for me to receive my notary commission than my scores are lowest in the nation. Ph.D. in mathematics! My right to become a notary should The good news came on May 27, 1997: The South not have taken seven years or happened the way it did, but it Carolina State Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the cir- was well worth the wait. fi

free inquiry 46

GREAT MINDS CLASSIC VOICES OF FREETHOUGHT

cause pain when it arrives but because anticipation of it is painful. What is no ;achieving the trouble when it arrives is an idle worry in anticipation. Death, therefore—the most dreadful of evils—is nothing to us, since while we exist, death is not present, and whenever death is present, Happy Life we do not exist. It is nothing either to the living or the dead, since it does not exist for the living, and the dead no longer are. Epicurus The majority, however, sometimes flee from death as the greatest of evils, Epicurus (341-27O B.c.E.) began his study of philosophy on Samos, the island of and other times choose it for them- his birth, with the Platonist Pamphilus. But it was in Colophon that the Epicurean selves as a respite from the evils in life. movement was born. There Epicurus learned about the atomism of Democritus and The wise man neither rejects life nor "undisturbedness" as a goal of life from Nausiphanes. His work was fully devel- fears not living. Life is not objection- oped in the Garden—the school he established in his home in Athens in 3O6. able to him, nor is not living regarded Epicurus believed that the only life is the one here on earth. We gain knowledge as an evil. Just as he assuredly chooses through our senses. The universe, including the soul of man, is physical. And not the greatest quantity of food but the human behavior should not be motivated by fear but by correct reasoning. His fol- most tasty, so does he enjoy the fruits lowers' motto was lathe biosas ("live unseen"). not of the lengthiest period of time but But Epicurus' teachings were misinterpreted by some. He gained a notoriety of the most pleasant. that persists to this day. Because the Garden accepted students of both sexes (and He who advises the youth to live slaves and free men) who practiced a life of withdrawal from society, it was well but the old man to die well is fool- accused of staging orgies. Epicurus' ethical theory, which emphasized feelings and ish, not only because of the desirability counseled the avoidance of pain, was seen as an invitation to license. of life but also because the training for Epicurus wrote more than 3OO works on papyrus rolls, including On Nature, On living well and dying well is the same. Choice and Avoidance, and On the Criteria, or the Canon, but little has survived in Much worse is he who says that it is its original form. Modern knowledge of Epicurus has come from other ancient good not to be born and "once born to philosophers who have studied his work and archeological discoveries. The fol- pass through the gates of death as lowing is excerpted from his "Letter to Menoeceus." quickly as possible." If a man says this with conviction, how can he avoid departing from life? For this road is I et no one put off studying phi- make for happiness, seeing that when open to him, if he has firmly resolved losophy when he is young, nor happiness is present, we have every- to do it. If, however, he has spoken in when old grow weary of its thing; but when it is absent, we do jest, he is considered foolish among study. For no one is too young or too everything to possess it... . men who cannot welcome his words. far past his prime to achieve the health Grow accustomed to the belief that We must keep in mind that the of his soul. The man who alleges that death is nothing to us, since every good future is neither completely ours nor he is not ready for philosophy or that and evil lie in sensation. However, not ours, so that we should not fully the time has passed him by, is like the death is the deprivation of sensation. expect it to come, nor lose hope, as if it man who says that he is either too Therefore, correct understanding that were not coming at all... . young or too old for happiness. death is nothing to us makes a mortal We must consider that of the desires Therefore, we should study philosophy life enjoyable, not by adding an end- some are natural and others idle: of the both in youth and in old age, so that less span of time but by taking away natural desires, some are necessary we, though growing old, may be young the longing for immortality. For there while others are natural only. Of the in blessings through the pleasant mem- is nothing dreadful in life for the man necessary desires, there are those that ory of what has been; and when young who has truly comprehended that there are necessary for happiness, those that we may be old as well, because we har- is nothing terrible in not living. are necessary for the body's freedom bor no fear over what lies ahead. We Therefore, foolish is the man who says from disturbance, and those that are must, therefore, pursue the things that that he fears death, not because it will necessary for life itself. A firm under-

47 summer 1998 standing of these things enables us to but few enjoyments in the genuine con- slave to the "destiny" of the physical refer every choice and avoidance to the viction that they take the sweetest plea- philosophers. The myths present the health of the body or the calm of the sure in luxury who have least need of it, hope of appeasing the gods through soul, since this is the goal of a happy and that everything easy to procure is worship, while the other is full of unap- life. Everything we do is for the sake of natural while everything difficult to peasable necessity. Understanding that this, namely, to avoid pain and fear. obtain is superfluous. Plain dishes offer chance is neither a god, as the majority Once this is achieved, all the soul's the same pleasure as a luxurious table, think (for nothing is done by a god in trouble is dispelled, as the living being when the pain that comes from want is an irregular fashion), nor an unstable does not have to go in search of some- taken away. Bread and water offer the cause of all things, the wise man does thing missing or to seek something greatest pleasure when someone in not think that either good or evil is fur- else, but which the good of the soul need partakes of them. Becoming nished by chance to humankind for the and of the body will be fulfilled. For accustomed, therefore, to simple and purpose of living a happy life, but that we have need of pleasure at that time not luxurious fare is productive of the opportunities for great good or evil when we feel pain owing to the health and makes humankind resolved are bestowed by it. He thinks that it is absence of pleasure. When we do not to perform the necessary business of preferable to remain prudent and suffer feel pain, it is because we no longer life. When we approach luxuries after ill fortune than to enjoy good luck have need of pleasure. Therefore, we long intervals, it makes us better dis- while acting foolishly. It is better in declare that pleasure is the beginning posed toward them and renders us fear- human actions that the sound decision and the goal of a happy life. For we less of fortune. fail than that the rash decision turn out well due to luck. Take thought, then, for these and Every pleasure, because of its natural kindred matters day and night, on your relationship to us, is good, but not every own or in the company of someone like yourself. You shall be disturbed pleasure is to be chosen. neither waking nor sleeping, and you shall live as a god among men. For the recognize pleasure as the first good When we say that pleasure is the man who dwells among immortal and as inborn; it is from this that we goal, we are not talking about the plea- blessings is not like a mortal being. fi begin every choice and every avoid- sure of profligates or that which lies in ance. It is to pleasure that we have sensuality, as some ignorant persons The secular humanist summer recourse, using the feeling as our stan- think, or else who do not agree with us dard for judging every good or have followed our argument badly; camp: it's beyond belief Since pleasure is the first good and rather, it is freedom from bodily pain For its third year of operation, by the Free Inquiry Group, natural to us, it is for this reason also and mental anguish. For it is not con- Inc. (FIG), Camp Quest will have a new location, and an that we do not choose every pleasure; tinuous drinking and revels ... which expanded program. instead, there are times when we pass make for a pleasant life, but sober rea- DATES: Saturday, July 18—Sunday, July 26, 1998 LOCATION: YMCA Camp Kern, near Lebanon, Ohio (Also near over many pleasures, whenever greater soning, which examines the motives King's Island and Fort Ancient). This is a superior facility. We difficulty follows from them. Also, we for every choice and avoidance, and will have horseback riding, a ropes challenge course, canoe- regard many pains as better than plea- which drives away those opinions ing, an Olympic-size pool, an acting stage, a nature center sures, since a greater pleasure will resulting in the greatest disturbance to (with live birds, snakes and such), an outdoor campout, and air-conditioned cabins with their own bathrooms. attend us after we have endured pain the soul. AGES: For boys and girls 8-13 and for Counselors in for a long time. Every pleasure, there- The beginning and the greatest Training (CITs)14-15. fore, because of its natural relationship good of all these is prudence. For this Cost: S350 for one child; S300 for each additional sibling. to us, is good, but not every pleasure is reason prudence is more valuable even $100 non-refundable deposit with application. If fees are to be chosen. Likewise, every pain is than philosophy: from it derive all the paid in full by May 31, 1998, the total fee is reduced to an evil, but not every pain is of a nature other virtues. Prudence teaches us how S325 for one child and to S275 for each additional sibling. always to be avoided. Yet it is proper to impossible it is to live pleasantly with- CONTACT INFORMATION: For additional information, for registration materials, and for applications for staff posi- judge all these things by a comparison out living wisely, virtuously, and tions, write, call, fax, or e-mail: and a consideration of both their justly, just as we cannot live wisely, advantages and disadvantages. For on virtuously, and justly without living CAMP QUEST certain occasions we treat the good as pleasantly. For the virtues arise natu- P.Q. BOX 264, UNION, KY 41091 bad and, conversely, the bad as good. rally with the pleasant life; indeed, the Phone: (606) 384-2324 We regard self-sufficiency as a great pleasant life cannot be separated from Fax: (606) 384-7324 good, not that we may always have the them.... e-mail: fampQues''')aol.com enjoyment of but a few things, but that Indeed, it would be better to accept Edwin Kagin, Camp Director if we do not have many, we may have the myths about the gods than to be a Helen Kagin, Camp Registrar

free inquiry 48 APPLIED ETHICS

enough evidence to recommend a cer- tain treatment to the public. Promoters Misleading the of unproven treatments strongly dis- agree and sometimes ridicule officials for being "overly cautious" or "too conservative." Their most plausible arguments usually involve an appeal to Patient for Fun the relative costs and benefits of a treat- ment. "What's the harm?" they may ask. "If the treatment itself is harmless, why shouldn't suffering people be and Profit given a chance to try it? There may be no strong evidence that it works, but if it does, the benefits to many people Lewis Vaughn would be substantial. The costs to peo- ple—in terms of potential physical harm—are low. So on balance, it's best to urge people to try it; the possible omance is in the air. The media, beliefs about the effectiveness of a benefits outweigh the possible costs." Rthe public, the gurus, and the treatment. Promoters may believe that this argu- 1 ~ucksters have gazed upon Fortunately, scientists—being the ment is especially strong if the treat- acupuncture, homeopathy, chelation pigheaded realists that they are—have ment has some preliminary evidence in therapy, herbal concoctions, magnetic persisted in asking question 1 and have its favor or if the monetary outlay for therapy, and any other treatments thus discovered, among other things, the treatment is low. called "alternative medicine" ... and that acupuncture is no better than But is this really a good argument? have fallen in love. So, as in any placebo, homeopathy doesn't work, Many on both sides in the debate romance, current talk about a beloved and chelation therapy can kill you. would probably agree that weighing "alternative" therapy is usually marked Question 2, however, is almost costs and benefits is a valid way to by uncritical acceptance, blind com- never asked. One version of it is partic- judge the issue. (This approach is mitment, feverish thinking, and occa- ularly rare: Is it ethical to recommend based on the fundamental ethical sional cooing. or promote an unproven treatment— insight that we ought to do what's In this atmosphere, there are two politically incorrect questions that you The question reduces to whether promoting must never utter : (1) Is this true? (Are there good grounds for believing this unproven treatments is likely to result in a claim?) and (2) Is this right? (Is it net benefit to people. morally permissible to use or promote this treatment?) We are told that to ask likely to benefit people and avoid question 1 (and the relevant accompa- one that has little or no scientific evi- doing what's likely to harm them.) So nying questions about evidence and dence supporting its efficacy? the question reduces to whether pro- reasons for believing) is to reveal an The issue is important because com- moting unproven treatments is likely annoying and pernicious bias in favor panies, advertisers, special interest to result in a net benefit to people. of Western science and rational ways groups, magazines, newspapers, televi- Does the promoter's argument show of knowing. It is to show a callous dis- sion talk-shows, health practitioners, that his promoting leads to such bene- regard for the kind of validation that and others often do promote remedies fit? can come from people's subjective and health practices that are unproven. Actually, his argument fails. It fails experiences. It is—worst of all—to This practice—for better or worse— because it's too simplistic, neglecting give offense to those who have strong can have enormous consequences for to take into account important factors all of us. in the cost-benefit equation. Lewis Vaughn is Executive Editor of Most medical scientists and health One such factor is probability. Few both FREE INQUIRY and The Scientific officials oppose the practice, some- people would judge a treatment solely Review of Alternative Medicine. times warning that there isn't yet on the magnitude of its proposed bene- fit or harm. Most would want to take dom of promoting unproven treat- tries an unproven treatment experi- into account the probability that the ments becomes suspect. Even if an ences the placebo effect and therefore proposed effects would happen. unproven treatment has considerable feels better, doesn't this mean that Someone may claim that rubbing a possible benefits, is harmless, and there is benefit to trying an unproven stone on your belly will cure cancer. costs little, it may be no bargain. In treatment after all? Doesn't the The alleged benefit is enormous—but general, given the realistic probabili- placebo effect thus change our moral the likelihood of receiving this benefit ties, the most likely prospect is that the equation? is almost nil. If someone wanted to sell treatment will be ineffective. So, in The placebo effect (which happens you such a "cancer-curing" stone for fact, the odds are excellent that people in 30% or more of cases) would ten dollars, would you buy it? who buy the treatment will waste their change the equation if it were unequiv- Probably not. The proposed benefit is time and money. The likely cost out- ocally beneficial. But it is not. First, great but not likely to happen. The weighs the unlikely benefits. the placebo effect does not happen in cost, though, is a sure thing: if you Promoting the treatment is not likely to every case. In fact, it is probable that in want the stone, you'll have to pay the result in a net benefit for people, but most cases it does not happen. Even price. So on balance, the likely cost, net harm. The possible benefit of a ten- when it does, it is often of short dura- though small, outweighs the unlikely dollar "cancer-fighting" rock may be tion. So there is no guarantee that any- benefits, though great. great, but the low probability of its one will benefit from a placebo in any But what's the probability that any working makes buying it a bad deal. particular case. Second, placebos can unproven remedy will be effective? Promoting it would be unethical. cause adverse side effects (when they do, they're called nocebos). So they're not uniformly helpful. Third, placebo Generally, promoting unproven treatments effects can encourage people to con- does more harm than good. tinue to use an ineffective treatment when more effective treatments are available. Placebo effects, after all, are The evidence relating to the remedy Clearly, the higher the cost of an not cures, but temporary feel-good can't tell us; by definition, it's too unproven treatment, the less likely that phenomena. Fourth, placebo effects weak to help us figure probabilities. promoting it will result in a net benefit. often inspire people to promote a rem- We can, however, make a reasonable But there's more to the cost of an edy to friends and relatives—even assumption. Scientists know that the unproven treatment than many promot- though the remedy may be ineffective chances of new hypotheses being cor- ers realize. The monetary cost can vary or harmful. This simply multiplies the rect are very low simply because it's tremendously and may not be low at problems that accrue to use of place- far easier to be wrong than to be right. all. (Many unconventional treatments bos. So in the promotion of unproven For the same reason, the likelihood of cost hundreds or even thousands of dol- treatments, the placebo effect is usu- new health claims turning out to be lars.) Other costs include the direct ally not a point in the promoter's favor. true is also low. Historically, most physical harm that a treatment can Our moral equation still stands—gen- health hypotheses, when adequately cause (nearly all treatments—drugs, erally against the promotion of merit- tested, have been found to be false. In surgery, herbs, vitamins, and others— less remedies. drug testing, for example, scientists cause some side effects). There's also Now, it's possible that a person may begin with thousands of sub- an indirect cost: A few people (maybe could apply the cost-benefit approach stances proposed as medicines, some many people) may take the promoter in her own life and rightly conclude with preliminary evidence in their seriously and stop, postpone, or refuse that she should try an unproven rem- favor. In the end, after assessing them a proven therapy to try the unproven edy. She could calculate that any pos- all, only a meager handful are proven one—a gamble that sometimes has sible benefit, though very unlikely, is effective in humans. Some promoters tragic consequences. Then there's the well worth the cost because no other misjudge the cost-benefit of recom- very real emotional pain that false hope treatment is possible or because she mending a treatment because they can often bring. In these ways, even a considers the cost inconsequential. either overestimate the probability of harmless therapy can cause harm. All Promoters, however, aren't privy to its effectiveness or don't consider the these costs must be factored into the such personal information about those factor at all. They seem to assume that cost-benefit equation. Usually, they just who try unproven remedies. Pro- the odds of any proposed remedy being make the promoter's argument weaker. moters can only weigh the probable effective are close to 50-50, especially But, some will say, what about the impact of their actions on other peo- if there's some preliminary evidence in placebo effect, the well-documented ple. If they do so honestly, they'll have its favor. This assumption is false. phenomenon of people tending to feel to conclude that, generally, promoting When we plug realistic probabili- better after being given a bogus or unproven treatments does more harm ties into our moral equation, the wis- inactive treatment? If someone who than good. fi

free inquiry 50 COUNCIL FOR 'ev/ SECULAR HUMANISM n at the

The Executive Council of the new Campus Freethought Alliance at the Center for Inquiry International for the First Annual Conference.

Ten-Year Plan and the $20 Million Challenge FUND The Council for Secular Humanism has developed a Ten- Year Plan to promote humanist principles, develop public support and participation, develop the Center for Inquiry FOR THE International as an education and research center, and expand the Council's resources. To fund its implementa- tion, we've launched the Fund for the Future: a ten-year, FuruRE $20 million drive to add capital to the Center for Inquiry International's endowments.* Endowment income will Author/entertainer Steve fund bold new and expanded projects including: Allen co-chairs the Fund An Unprecedented for the Future campaign. • rapid media response Drive for a • outreach to the young • adult education Humanistic Future • expanding library resources • and more. The Center for Inquiry International is hub to an To learn more about the Ten-Year Plan and the Fund for the Future, expanding network of human- send for your FREE copy of our campaign video! ist and skeptical centers world- wide. Secular humanists How Can I Help?

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fi summer 1998 REASON & LIBERTY

lades under their false names." In the 1960s, Lardner penned How Religion M*A*S*H, which won a screenwriting Academy Award and the Grand Prix at Cannes. On October 27, 1997, he was honored by the actors, writers, and and Big Money directors guilds at the Motion Picture Academy Theater in Beverly Hills. Representatives of the three guilds made formal apologies, acknowledging that Hollywood had participated fully Censor the Media in Senator Joseph McCarthy's plot to harass certain people merely because of their political beliefs. Brandon M. Stickney During his suspension from screen- writing, in 1954, Lardner wrote The Ecstasy of Owen Muir (released in e it imposed by religions, gov- munist sympathies, Lardner spent a November 1997 by Prometheus Books ernments, or corporations, cen- year in jail for contempt. He was put with a new introduction by the author). sorship is alive and well in on the infamous Hollywood blacklist, Through the humorous misadventures America. So says screenwriter and and had to make money by under- of hero Owen Muir, the novel pokes fun author Ring Lardner, Jr., @ ground writing because at religious conformity, politics, the who suffered the conse- any script or book with military, and social constraints. Lardner quences of McCarthyism in his name on it was taboo was inspired to begin the book while in the 1940s and 50s. "To me during the two decades federal prison. When first completed, the greatest censorship of political paranoia that the novel ran into the same wall of cen- threat in this country today followed. sorship that had imprisoned its author, is from the Christian He was one of the but this time there was a religious twist. Coalition and other mani- famous "Hollywood "It was in 1954, still during the festations of the Christian Ten," filmmakers who blacklist, that I tried to get an American right," says Lardner. refused to make a deal publisher for my novel. The consistent "These groups often get the Ring Lardner, Jr. with the inquisitors in pattern was that I met a favorable reac- aid of government and order to get back on the tion at the lower level of the publishing business in enforcing their will." payroll. Lardner went for 17 years house and then a rejection of the book at Lardner, 82, one of the four sons of without a screen credit. Hundreds of a higher one," Lardner reflects. "Since famed sports and short story writer people were put out of work, and many the book was later published in England Ring Lardner, knows the power of cen- left the entertainment business forever. by a highly respectable firm and sorship well. In 1942 he co-wrote the But Lardner defiantly endured. "I still received extremely laudatory reviews in Academy Award-winning script for wrote for movies and television, using that country, one could assume that Woman of the Year, which starred pseudonyms. Many blacklistees used being one of the Hollywood Ten was Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. `fronts,' who were unblacklisted part of the problem. But his screenwriting career was friends willing to pretend they were the "However, I learned that a more almost erased in the late 1940s. authors of the scripts," he says. important cause for the rejection of the Because he refused to reveal to the "For this work we were paid much book was the fact that it made fun of House Committee on UnAmerican less money than we had previously some of the dogmas of the Roman Activities that he was a communist or received, but some of us managed to Catholic Church. One editor at a well- turn in fellow writers who held com- survive on it. The main weapon against known firm pointed out to me in confi- the blacklist was a campaign of dence how large a part of his com- Brandon M. Stickney is author of All- ridicule, led by Dalton Trumbo (author pany's business its textbook depart- American Monster: The Unauthorized of Johnny Got His Gun), that was ment was, and asked me to consider Biography of Timothy McVeigh based on the fact that banished writers what it would do to their future balance (Prometheus Books, 1996). were winning Oscars and other acco- sheet if the Church were to ban the use

free inquiry of their textbooks in parochial schools strong, yet does its damage in alterna- he says. Administrative input by adver- throughout the country." tive forms. "One of the most pernicious tisers into newsrooms are a 1990s real- Still, The Ecstasy of Owen Muir forms of censorship in movies and tele- ity. "It's dangerous. The only proper stood strong. It was heralded by the vision is self-censorship. Writers, direc- policy for an independent publication Nation as a modern Candide and "the tors, and producers are so aware of the was that maintained by The New best satire to appear in years," while objections that will be raised by orga- Yorker under its original editor, Harold the New Republic declared: "For wit, nized groups, especially the religious Ross: absolute separation of the edito- originality, style, and dramatic sense of ones, that they sometimes go overboard rial and advertising departments. One plot, Mr. Lardner is second to no con- in deciding for themselves what will get does not get the impression that there temporary novelist." them into trouble. That is one of the rea- is any such situation under the present Lardner also went on to write the sons present-day American movies and management of the magazine." books All for Love and The Lardners: television programs are so devoid of Lardner believes writers must try to My Family Remembered, freelanced meaningful content" shake the feeling that censors are look- for Esquire, the New York Times, and Another source of censorship is the ing over their shoulders as they create. the Washington Post, and also penned well-publicized financial unions that "Write what you feel is right and if the screenplay for The Cincinnati Kid. have occurred between big corpora- there are attempts to censor it, join the Today, he says, censorship is quite tions and major news media agencies, fight to expose the censors." fi

against Penicillin, C. Durang; Beat the Odds, D. CATCH UP ON WHAT Olincy; Paul Edwards on Nietzsche, Freud, and Reich, W. A. Smith; Humanism and Human Malleability, T. J. Madigan. YOU'VE MISSF1) IN Winter 1995/96, Vol. 16, no. 1- Humanism and Tolerance, T. J. Madigan, R. Muller, DARVUiri RE CRUCIFI J. Pecker, P. Kurtz, M. Roan, M. Downey, M. Jr. Cherry, P Stevens, Jr.; The Challenge from the BACK Religious Right, N. R. Allen, Jr., R. Bellant, A. E. Lyngzeidetson, S. Porteous, J. A. Haught; ISSUES American Naturalism, P. H. Hare, R. Rorty, P. free inquiry Romanell; Secularization in Turkey, I. Kuçuradi; Marking Life's Milestones: New Directions for • 20% discount on orders of 10 or more • $6.95 each C0DESH, J. W. Willson, M. Cherry. Fall 1995, Vol. 15, no. 4-Consciousness Spring 1998, Vol. 18, no. 2-Science vs. Witchcraft, H. Sebald, P. Stevens, Jr., The Incredible Revisited, D. Dennett, P. S. Churchland, J. Delgado, Religion, M. Cherry, P. Kurtz, R. Dawkins, E. C. Flimflams of Margaret Rowen, Part 3, M. Gardner. N. W. Smith, A. Carley; Bertrand Russell Scott, R. P. Feynman, B. Ehrenreich and J. Winter 1996/97, Vol. 17, no. 1-Euthanasia Remembered, T. J. Madigan, M. J. Rockier, J. M. McIntosh, P. Atkins, M. Ruse, H. Bondi, Q. Smith, Policy at the Crossroads, R. A. Lindsay, P. A. Novak, G. G. Leithauser, J. Shosky, M. Kohl, A. M. Matsumura; Interview with Conor Cruise Admiraal; Catholic Primate Clings to Evolution, H. J. Ryan, N. Griffin; Humanism and Medical Ethics, R. 0'Brien on Thomas Jefferson; Free Will, L. Vaughn Birx; The Pope, Evolution, and the Soul, M. Bunge; Taylor and R. Goss. and T. Schick, Jr.; The Shroud of Turin, J. Nickell. Humanist World Meets in Mexico City, M. Cherry; Summer 1995, Vol. 15, no. 3-Remem- Winter 1997/98, Vol. 18, no. 1-The Humanism in Eastern Europe, T. J. Madigan, A. Flis; bering World War II, P. Kurtz, P A. Pfalzner, G. and Humanist Hope, T. J. Madigan, P. Kurtz, M. Cherry, Student Freethought Group, D. Araujo; Universal E. Klein, V. Freud, K. Baier; The Wandering Jew M. Matsumura, M. Gorbachev, Members of the Declaration of Humanist Values, A. Solomon; Camp and the Second Coming, M. Gardner; Is There a Academy of Humanism; Mother Teresa's House of Quest 96, V. Uchtman; The Infomedia Revolution, Need for Fantasy? T J. Madigan, M. Matsumura, Illusions, S. Shields; A Scientist and a 'Saint,' J. P. Kurtz; Dr. Persinger's God Machine, I. Cotton. C. W. Faulkner, D. Berman, K. Marsalek, B. Kasko, Hayes; Farewell to God, C. Templeton; Can a Robot Fall 1996, Vol. 16, no. 4-Defining R. Handy, B. Zamulinski, E. McGovern. Have Moral Rights? T. Schick, Jr.; Dumping Limbo, Humanism: The Battle Continues, P. Kurtz, D. A. Spring 1995, Vol. 15, no. 2-The Many "Voltaire"; An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich. Noebel, M. Matsumura, S. Porteous, M. Olds, T. W. Faces of Feminism, T J. Madigan, C. Paglia, S. Fall 1997, Vol. 17, no. 4-Sexual Freedom, T. Flynn, J. E. Smith, T. J. Madigan, R. Firth, H. A. Jordan, R. Sheaffer, J. Sherven, J. Sniechowski, J. J. Madigan, W. McElroy, L. Sloan, R. A. Tielman, V. Tonne, L. Mondale; The Enlightened Cynicism of K. Taylor, E. Smeal, R. Braidotti, B. Smith, E. R. L. Bullough, J. A. Naught; Islam and Women's Rights, Ambrose Bierce, G. Odden; The Incredible Klein, C. Gray; Secularism and Enlightenment in N. R. Allen, Jr., I Warraq, S. J. al-Azm, T. Nasrin; A Flimflams of Margaret Rowen, Part 2, M. Gardner; Islamic Countries, P. Kurtz, I. Kuçuradi, V L. Humanist Education, J. Nickell; Is Faith Gaud for Gordon Stein-In Memoriam, J. Nickell, P. Kurtz; Bullough; Poland Today: A Challenge for Secular You?, H. Avalas; Interview with Wole Soyinka. India, M. Cherry, L. Fragell, C. Hitchens. Humanism, M. Hillar, J. Wolenski, B. Stanosz; A Summer 1997, Vol. 17, no. 3-Cloning Summer 1996, Vol. 16, no. 3-The Bicentennial Glance at the Age of Reason, F. Smith. Humans, T. J. Madigan, R. Dawkins, R. A. Lindsay, R. Unlimited Cosmos-A Personal 0dyssey, A. Hale; Winter 1994/95, Vol. 15, no. 1-Opus Dei T. Hull; Exposing the Religious Right's 'Secret' New Age Physics, V. J. Stenger; In Honor of Bonnie and Secret Societies, T. J. Madigan, M. Mendez- Weapon, G. Alexander-Moegerle; Can Science Bullough, G. A. Larue, P. Kurtz; Abortion, V. L. Acosta, J. Puertas Fuertes, K. Steigleder, T. Prove that Prayer Works? H. Avalos; Morality Bullough, H. Morgentaler, S. Porteous, F. Digby, N. DiNicola, R. Arnold, P. McWilliams, S. Presley, J. A. Requires God ... Or Does It? T. Schick, Jr.; Interview Hentoff, N. W. Smith, J. K. Taylor, T. W. Flynn; Naught; The Challenge of Exoevolution, H. J. Birx; with Albert Ellis; When Humanists Embrace the Arts, Religious Belief in America, H. Tonne, G. R. Harold Camping and the Stillborn Apocalypse, E. J. Herrick; What's Wrong with Relativism, L. Vaughn; Bergman, L. Conyers, P. D. Harvey; Post-Marxism D. Cohen; The Humanist Movement in Romania, E. Secularists, Rise Up and Celebrate! R. Greeley. and Humanism, S. Stojanovic, L. Yong-Sheng. Dragut; Religion and Secular Humanism in the Spring 1997, Vol. 17, no. 2-Tampa Bay's Spring 1996, Vol. 16, no. 2-Do We Need Slovak Republic, J. Celko; Concern for Human 'Virgin Mary Apparition,' G. Posner; Those Tearful God to Be Moral? J. M. Frame, P. Kurtz; Religion in Rights in Europe: The Balkanic Context, J. Pecker; Icons, J. Nickell; The Honest Agnostic, J. A. Naught; the Public Schools, A. Szalanski, V. L. Bullough, E. Reason and Rationality, S. M. D'Agostino. The Freedom to Inquire, G. D. Smith, D. Berman, L. Tabash, J. B. Massen, J. Barnhart, M. J. Rockier; The To order, or for a complete listing of our Hickman, S. Porteous, R. Riehemann, M. Bunge; W. Incredible Flimflams of Margaret Rowen, Part 1, M. back issues K. Clifford's Continuing Relevance, T. J. Madigan; Gardner; Strange Bedfellows: Mormon Polygamy The Goldhagen Controversy, E. D. Cohen; On and Baptist History, G. D. Smith; The Lost Encyclical CALL 800-458-1366

summer 1998 SCIENCE & RELIGION

tinct religion module that is substan- tially innate. Experimental results were Searching for God "leading the scientists to suggest a por- tion of the brain is naturally attuned to ideas about a supreme being" One common way to hunt for a in the `Lachine module in the brain is to examine patients with various kinds of brain damage, hoping to find a localized David C. Noelle form of damage that correlates with changes in the behaviors of interest. In have certain, positive knowledge for the existence of god(s), some alter- this way, one may discover relation- from my own direct experience. I native explanation must be given for the ships between certain circuits in the Ican't put it any plainer than that. I religious experience. Researchers in the brain and certain behavioral functions. have seen God face to face." With fields of psychology and neuroscience This was the strategy taken by the these words, the fictional theologian have begun to uncover the biological scientists in San Diego. They decided to Palmer Joss defends his religious con- mechanisms that might give rise to feel- focus on temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) victions in Carl Sagan's 1985 novel, ings of revelation in healthy adults. I will patients, who exhibit inter-ictal behav- Contact. Joss argues for the existence briefly review and critically assess some ior syndrome (IBS). These patients are of his Christian god on the basis of per- of these scientific findings, focusing prone to excessive activity in their tem- sonal revelation. And Joss is not alone. specifically on three questions: poral lobes, causing seizures during Many religionists rest their faith on the 1. Circuitry—What brain circuits which they report powerful religious apparently solid foundation of personal are involved in religious experiences? experiences. Importantly, clinicians religious experiences. Some receive 2. Modularity—Does the brain con- have previously reported that such TLE visions. Others hear a comforting tain a special module dedicated to reli- patients are also often fanatically reli- voice. Almost all experience a "sense gious experience? gious, even during the long periods of presence" or a feeling of "unity with 3. Innateness—Is there a "religion between seizures. the universe." Such episodes typically instinct" that is genetically "hard- The question asked by Ramachan- bring catharsis, joy, and calm. wired" into our brains? dran and his colleagues was, Why do Importantly, these experiences are not such seizures often lead to enhanced reported solely by people suffering religiosity? They entertained three from brain damage or mental illness. THE 'GOD MODULE' DISCOVERY possibilities: We may, quite rightly, reject such In October 1997, a presentation boldly 1. Strange sensory experiences that subjective experiences as lacking the titled "The Neural Basis of Religious arise during seizure are rationally inter- necessary qualities of scientific evi- Experience" was given at the annual preted as signs of paranormal powers. dence, such as reproducibility and conference of the Society for 2. The strong and widespread elec- openness to consensual validation or Neuroscience by neuropsychologist Dr. trical activity that defines seizures critique. The religionist may retort, V. S. Ramachandran and his col- strengthens connections between tem- however, that his belief may not be sci- leagues. The Los Angeles Times poral lobe sensory areas and the amyg- entifically justifiable, but he knows it to reported that, "researchers at the UC- dala (a brain area associated with emo- be true, nonetheless, because of his pri- San Diego brain and perception labora- tion). This causes patients to see "deep vate religious revelation. tory determined that the parts of the cosmic significance" in everything. To completely counter this argument brain's temporal lobe—which the sci- 3. There is a system in the temporal entists quickly dubbed the 'God mod- lobe devoted to mediating emotional David Noelle is a Postdoctoral Re- ule'—may affect how intensely a per- responses of a religious nature. search Associate at the Center for the son responds to religious beliefs." The Seizures can selectively strengthen the Neural Basis of Cognition, a joint pro- story suggested that there were now at connections in this system. ject of Carnegie Mellon University and least partial scientific answers to all The researchers dismissed the first the University of Pittsburgh. He also three of our questions concerning reli- option on the grounds that other kinds maintains the Council for Secular gious experience. The circuits underly- of neurological and psychiatric disor- Humanism Web Site: ing religious experience are in the tem- ders result in strange hallucinations poral lobe of the brain; they form a dis- without causing the development of

free inquiry 54 specifically religious propensities. To similar. Dr. Michael Persinger of (associated with autobiographical distinguish between the remaining two Laurentian University has devised a memory). Excitation of these areas options, the scientists tested TLE-IBS machine that generates a particular results in the attribution of personal patients to see if they had stronger kind of magnetic field around the head, meaning to the experience. These pow- emotional responses to everything in producing "micro-seizures" in the tem- erful TLT events may naturally result the world or only to religious stimuli. poral lobes of the brain. Healthy people from a number of factors, including The degree of emotional response was who have experienced this induced increased sensitivity or lability of right measured through a physiological cor- brain activity have reported such things temporal areas, loss of oxygen to the relate, skin conductance response as a feeling of floating, deformations of brain, and changes in blood sugar. (SCR). By measuring small rapid the body, strong emotions, a "sensed These biological conditions may be changes in perspiration, the researchers presence," and specifically religious caused by crisis situations, prolonged hoped to show that TLE-IBS patients dreamlike hallucinations. anxiety, near-death contingencies, high were particularly aroused by religion. Persinger's experimental work altitudes, starvation and fasting, diurnal Indeed, that was exactly what was arose after years of research into the shifts, and other physiological stressors. found. The TLE-IBS patients showed neurological basis of religious experi- A variety of correlational studies on preferential emotional arousal when ences. Over this time, he has con- healthy adults have been conducted by presented with religious words as structed and refined a rather detailed scientists in Persinger's lab. Assuming opposed to words with sexual or vio- account of the neural processes that that people who are prone to TLT lent connotations. Unlike the patients, may underlay feelings of supernatural events will show subtle signs of a ten- age-matched healthy control subjects contact) In brief, religious experiences dency towards hemispheric mismatch responded most strongly to the sexual are seen as the result of "temporal lobe even when not experiencing a "micro- words. transients" (TLT)—short-lived rate seizure," Persinger and his colleagues While these results seem to indicate increases and instability in the firing have examined the "brain waves" of a that there is something distinctly reli- patterns of neurons in the temporal large number of healthy subjects and gious about some of the circuitry in the temporal lobes, there are some reasons to be cautious about this conclusion. The degree to which religion is a distinct or First, this study involved only three genetically determined part of our neural patients, and the preference for reli- gious words was not equally robust in architecture has yet to be determined. all three. Also, TLE-IBS patients sometimes exhibit changes in sexual- lobe. These transients are seen as have compared these results with ity, becoming obsessed with the topic miniature versions of the seizures reports of religious experiences. They or bored by it. This symptom could experienced by temporal lobe epilep- have found that a particular low-fre- have impacted the patients' responses tics, and they are thought to occasion- quency component of one's electroen- to the sexual stimuli. In short, these ally arise in healthy people. cephalogram (EEG) trace, known as results should be seen as preliminary. Persinger has speculated as to why the theta rhythm, can partially predict In the end, this experiment suggests such TLT events would produce the the likelihood of having religious only that TLE-IBS patients do, indeed, particular configuration of experiences experiences.' Across healthy subjects, display religion-specific symptoms. reported as religious revelations. He hemispheric mismatch in the theta This, in turn, suggests that the brain's sees a critical part of our "sense of component correlates with reports of temporal lobe is involved in religious self" as being maintained by systems previous "sensed presence" experi- experience. The degree to which reli- in the left hemisphere temporal cortex. ences. Furthermore, signs of specifi- gion is a distinct or genetically deter- Most of the time, there is "matched" cally subcortical (limbic) mismatch in mined part of our neural architecture activity in the analogous places in the the temporal lobes are correlated with has yet to be determined. right hemisphere. However, when activ- belief in paranormal phenomena, ity on the right gets out of sync with whereas indications of mismatch in the activity on the left, as during a TLT cortex are correlated with previous TUNING INTO THE DIVINE event, the left hemisphere interprets the "sensed presence" experiences.' In In the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, a mismatched activity as "another self" short, there is good correlational evi- large metal religious artifact called the or a "sensed presence'—the mind of dence that one's tendency to have reli- "Ark of the Covenant" is described as God. In conjunction with this experi- gious experiences involves interhemi- "a radio for speaking to God." While, to ence comes excessive stimulation of spheric circuits in the temporal lobe. date, no one has produced such a radio subcortical areas in the temporal lobe, While these results are interesting, that can tune into the divine, one neu- particularly the amygdala (associated Persinger's work involving the actual roscientist has fabricated something with emotion) and the hippocampus generation of religious experiences is

f i summer 1998 much more striking. In a typical experi- self" and, during periods of hemi- this would not necessarily mean that ment, the subject is isolated from sounds spheric mismatch, in the "sensed pres- religious experiences have been and the eyes are covered. A helmet ence." His correlational and experi- favored by natural selection. For exam- equipped with solenoids is strapped to mental data both support the notion ple, it might be the case that temporal the head. While reclining in this state of that temporal circuits are central to lobe lability contributes to imagination partial sensory deprivation, currents are religious experience. With regard to and creativity, and this lability also induced in the subject's brain through the question of modularity, Persinger's accidentally results in religious experi- the generation of patterned extremely theory specifically denies the existence ences. In short, the question of a "reli- low frequency milligauss magnetic of a distinct "God module." In his gion instinct" is far from settled by fields in the solenoids. The subject is view, the brain areas responsible for Persinger's work. asked to describe any experiences aloud, religious experience are exactly those Persinger's investigations have yet and this monologue is recorded. areas that also mediate "sense of self," to fully confirm his views on the neu- By manipulating the magnetic field, general emotional responses, and auto- rological bases of religious experience, the experimenter has some control over biographical memory. While his exper- but he has made tremendous progress. the location and pattern of induced cur- imental work does not bear on this Unlike Ramachandran's work with rent in the brain. When subcortical (lim- question, his correlational data support TLE-IBS patients, Persinger has bic) areas in the temporal lobes are tar- this distributed view. The likelihood of focused on healthy adults. He has geted, subjects often report distortions having religious experiences is system- shown that particular activity patterns in their body images, senses of forced atically related to these other proper- in the temporal lobes of healthy brains motion, and strong emotional reactions. ties of cognition. can give rise to experiences that are For example, Dr. Susan Blackmore Persinger's position on the question very similar to the spontaneous reli- entered Persinger's experimental cham- of innateness is more ambiguous. In gious experiences reported by many.

How do you know that your religious ANSWERING REVELATIONS experience is not a simple trick of your brain? Modern science is beginning to under- stand the neurological mechanisms ber and reported a sense of swaying his writings, he frequently points out that give rise to the religious experi- motion, a feeling of being yanked into that religious experiences can have ences of the believer. Given these an upright position, a sense that her leg positive effects. He sees TLT events as results, the skeptic may present the had been stretched halfway to the ceil- a remedy for extreme anxiety.6 believer with a simple question: How ing, a period of intense anger, and a The God Experience has had sur- do you know that your religious expe- flash of terror.' When temporal cortical vival value. It has allowed the rience is not a simple trick of your areas are targeted for stimulations, sub- human species to live through brain—the unfolding of a perfectly jects often report dreamlike visions famine, pestilence, and untold hor- natural temporal lobe transient? How (often with mystical or religious con- rors. When temporal lobe transients can you trust such an experience when, occurred, men and women who tent), a "sense of presence," and strong might have sunk into a schizo- through science, we can convincingly emotions. Journalist Ian Cotton, for phrenic stupor continued to build, mimic the face of God? fi example, reported highly detailed plan, and hope. visions of his childhood home, a dream- Notes like visit to the monks of a Tibetan tem- While such "survival value" facilitates ple, and an emotional "realization" that the incorporation of a feature into the 1 Michael A. Persinger. Neumpsychological Bases of God Beliefs (New York: Praeger, 1987). he too was, and always had been, a genome, the utility of a behavior is not 2. C. Munro and Michael A. Persinger. Tibetan monk.' Visions are particularly enough to ensure such fixation in "Relative Right Temporal-lobe Theta Activity sensitive to suggestion, with the content DNA. For example, the making of Correlates with Vingiano's Hemispheric Quotient and the `Sensed Presence."' Perceptual being influenced by, say, the presence bread is a skill with great survival and Motor Skills, 75(1992): 899-903. of a crucifix or the playing of distinctly value, but it is unlikely that this skill is 3. Michael A. Persinger, "Paranormal and Eastern music. genetically encoded. Still, Persinger Religious Beliefs May Be Mediated Differently by Subcortical and Cortical Phenomenological With these experimental results in seems to lean towards a largely nativist Processes of the Temporal (Limbic) Lobes" mind, our three questions might be account. Unfortunately, the data that Perceptual and Motor Skills, 76(1993): 247-51. asked of both Persinger's theory and of has emerged from Persinger's lab does 4. Susan Blackmore. `:Alien Abduction: The Inside Story." New Scientist, 19 November his data. Persinger holds that subcorti- not really address the question of (1994): pp. 29-31. cal temporal lobe systems contribute to innateness. 5. Ian Cotton, "Dr. Persinger's God paranormal experiences and paranor- Note that, even if a tendency Machine." FREE INQUIRY, 17(1)(1996/97): 47-51. mal belief. Cortical areas in the tempo- towards experiencing TLT events was 6. Persinger, Neumpsychological Bases of ral lobes participate in the "sense of found to be influenced by one's genes, God Beliefs, p. 138.

free inquiry 56 (Mediacracy, cont'd. from p. 5) though most do not consciously wish box-office sales for motion pictures, to distort it. Their main interest is in and high ratings for television and tific tests of astrology; we have care- the bottom line, namely, maximizing radio programs. Advertisers demand fully examined the claims of parapsy- profits for their financial investors. more viewers for their dollars, and chologists and UFOlogists; we are the This means that their chief concern is market-share is the key criterion of major critics of alternative medicine, with selling newspapers and maga- success. We face a crisis in the age of homeopathy, herbal and quack reme- zines, promoting books, having high media—because there is a conflict dies. In religion we are virtually the only publisher in the United States who consistently issues books and arti- Major Media Conglomerates cles on biblical and Koranic criticism TIME WARNER and attack the assumptions of funda- • Publishers: Time and Life magazines, Warner Books, Little Brown, Book-of- mentalism, orthodoxy, Islam, spiritual- the-Month Club ism, and other theistic claims. We have • Cable television: HBO, CNN, Prime Star managed to book hundreds of guests • Movies: Warner Brothers Studios, Castle Rock on radio and television programs every WALT DISNEY year, and to provide interviews with • Movies: Disney Movie Studio the major newspapers and magazines. • Television: ABC Television, A&E Television CSICOP recently established a • Entertainment: theme parks Council for Media Integrity, which BERTELSMANN AG (German) demands balance and asks that the sci- • Publishers: Bantam, Doubleday, Dell, Knopf, Random House, Book Clubs entific point of view be presented in • Television: CLT-UFA (largest European broadcaster) the mass media along with the para- • Recording: RCA, Arista Records normal. Thus, we have crystallized a • Magazines: McCalls, Family Circle, Parents, Stern, Spiegel point of view that is deeply appreci- • Music: Arista, RCA ated, at least by the scientific-scholarly VIACOM community in the United States. • Publishers: Simon and Schuster (trade), Scribner, Pocket Books, etc. But increasingly we, like Sisyphus, • Movies: Paramount Pictures • Television: MTV, Nickelodeon, SciFi, Classical, Comedy Central, UPN Network are facing an uphill battle, particularly • Video: Blockbuster against the huge mass media. We are • TV and Radio: 11 TV and 10 radio like David confronting Goliath. Today, NEWS CORPORATION (Murdoch) 90% of Americans claim to believe in • Publisher: HarperCollins God, another large percentage in para- • Television: Fox network, Star TV (Asia), Sky (Latin America), Bsky B (UK) normal claims, and there is a huge • Movies: Fox Studios amount of scientific illiteracy. We • Newspapers: London Times, The Sun, New York Post, attempt to examine carefully and • Magazines: TV Guide, The Weekly Standard, etc. responsibly as many paranormal or the- OTHERS istic claims as we can (we can't possibly ICI do them all). Thus, we have exposed so- • Cable television: Cablevision, Satellite Entertainment Co., Liberty Media called miracles as hoaxes, we defend Group, Primestar Darwin against the creationists, and we GENERAL ELECTRIC are the major critics in the United States • Television: NBC of faith healers, therapeutic touch, astro- • Cable television: MSNBC, CNBC, Westinghouse logical readings, psychic prophecies, WESTINGHOUSE and other such nostrums. We believe • Television: CBS Television, other stations that we serve a useful public service. • Radio: CBS Radio Network PEARSON PLC (British) THE KEY CRITERION: • Publishers: Penguin, Viking, Dutton, Putnam, Berkeley, Simon & Schuster THE BOTTOM LINE educational, etc. • Newspapers and Magazines: The Financial Times, Economist, etc. The large media companies, however, • Television: Thames Television, BBC Prime, BBC World, etc. have a different agenda; they are not ADVANCE PUBLICATIONS primarily interested in scientific infor- • Newspaper chain: Newark, Birmingham, Mobile, St. Louis, Syracuse mation or education per se, nor do they • Magazines: Conde Nast, Bon Appetit, New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Parade, etc. even think that they have an obligation • Cable television: Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, etc. to provide the public with the truth,

summer 1998 between entertainment and informa- spiritualist-paranormal worldview." American capital has invested tion, fiction and knowledge, and the Many of the best-selling books worldwide. But now the tables are mediacracy that we are now con- spawned by the mainstream promote a turned and foreign conglomerates are fronted with has transformed America vague spiritualism. In addition to this buying American media companies. into an entertainment society. are the New Age paranormal religions. For example, Bertelsmann is now the The entertainment industry today is There is today a great fascination with major publisher in the United States. It designed for television and films that angels, encouraged by Hollywood and owns Bantam, Doubleday, Dell, focus on images, color, and sound; they prime-time television and also best-sell- Knopf, and it just bought Random highlight sensationalism and shock, ing books about angels. Incredibly, 80% House (the largest U.S. publishing rather than cognitive or reflective of Americans claim to believe in angels. company). If the merger is approved, it thought. This now permeates all other Large numbers believe in Satanism and will publish one-third of all of the modes of expression, including the exorcism or in the reality of miracles. trade books sold in the United States. mass tabloid newspapers, the major Today, there is widespread interest in Another powerful company is the magazines and journals (such as Time the efficacy of prayer, including healing News Corporation, which is controlled and Newsweek), and indeed the evening from a distance. The UFO-Roswell by the Australian Rupert Murdoch news on national television networks. craze last year and Heaven's Gate sui- (who is now an American citizen). There is a fudging of the lines between cides are symptomatic of the new Murdoch owns HarperCollins, a large news departments and entertainment space-age religions now flourishing. Anglo-American publisher; he also programming, and it is the entertain- The return of the Shroud of Turin of late owns newspapers worldwide, and ment value that usually determines the is disturbing. Over 500 books have been satellite and television companies in content of the programs. The huge cor- published in defense of the Shroud's Britain, Asia, and the United States. porate conglomerates are not interested authenticity and only three are skepti- Interconnecting ownerships of many in ideas being presented in a didactic or cal. It is evidential that the Shroud is a different properties across the board is rational way, but in packaging them so hoax perpetrated on pilgrims in Lirey, the result. Thus, Viacom owns Paramount Studios and Simon and In the past decade mergers and acquisitions Schuster (part of which has just been sold to Pearson, PLC, the largest British have led to a handful of dominant major media conglomerate), MTV, and media companies. Blockbuster Video. Time/Warner owns Warner Books, Little Brown, Time that they are saleable. France in the fourteenth century. magazine, HBO, and cable networks. For example, a large media publisher Carbon-14 dating a decade ago clearly Disney owns ABC and theme parks. will bring out a book; this is sold to a showed that the Shroud was some 700 There are no independent television Hollywood studio which produces a years old, not 2,000 as its disciples networks left. CBS, NBC, and ABC film; it is then programmed for televi- maintain. Yet the Shroud industry has used to be independent television and sion or sold as serial rights to maga- become big business, with hardly a radio companies expressing a liberal zines; there are many re-runs; this is skeptical viewpoint heard. and pro-scientific viewpoint. Criticized tied in with the music and recording by the right wing as "too liberal" only industry; products such as clothes and five years ago, NBC-TV is now owned THE GROWTH OF THE personal items are created and sold. The by General Electric, CBS-TV is owned Disneyfication of America has taken MEDIA GIANTS by Westinghouse, and ABC by Disney. hold worldwide. Fantasyland appeals to In the past decade mergers and acquisi- The same thing is true of independent all age groups and is marketed to them tions have led to a handful of dominant radio stations, most of which have been in various forms. major media companies. These include gobbled up in the past two years by The most profitable products of the two giants: Time/Warner, which had chains. Today five companies have media conglomerates are those that dra- $24.62 billion in sales in 1997; and Walt bought up hundreds of radio stations matize violence, sports, sex, comedians, Disney, which had $22.47 billion in and now dominate radio broadcasting. musical crooners, and sensationalized sales. A German firm, Bertelsmann AG, The voice of the single individual sci- gossip. There is a tidal wave of misin- which had $14 billion in sales, is now entist or scholar or the small magazine or formation and gossip that pours forth third worldwide. These media giants, of organization is dwarfed by these Goliaths. daily and seeks to entice the public to course, know no national boundaries. When I began Prometheus Books buy a book, see a film, watch a televi- They own filin studios, television net- almost 30 years ago there were thou- sion program, and read a magazine— works, cable companies, book and mag- sands of independent stores and thou- and generate more advertising income. azine publishers, and newspaper chains. sands of publishers. Today, most of the A strong staple in the American Moreover, they co-own many properties independent stores have closed. There mass media is what I have called "the and have interlocking interests. are two major bookstore chains and two

free inquiry 58 major wholesalers that distribute books whether such media conglomerates insist that there be some criticism of reli- throughout America. Seven companies restrict or encourage competition in gious, spiritual, and paranormal claims, dominate 75% of all publishing; 38% of ideas. If we are to maintain the vitality and that the scientific-rationalist view- the best-sellers that appear on the New of democracy then we should demand point have access to television. York Times best-seller list are published that legislatures and congresses break This is a worldwide battle in which by two of these companies. Most of the up or limit the power of media con- the secular humanist and skeptical small publishers have gone out of busi- glomerates. We need to convince the movement is already heavily involved. ness or have been acquired by larger public that democracy requires diver- But we also need to work out a com- conglomerates. Most of the towns or sity—independent magazines, book mon global strategy. We should insist, cities in the United States have only one publishers, and alternative voices on in every country where the media newspaper left, and most of these are radio and television. uncritically presents a paranormal- owned by national chains. This is a worldwide phenomena. In The concentration of wealth and power in many European countries, the same process is at work, though perhaps not fewer and fewer hands within the media on the same scale. Fortunately, in many European countries there is still industry has an insidious effect upon the public television and radio. In the scientific-rational viewpoint. United States we have National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting From the secular humanist stand- spiritual viewpoint, that the scientific- Service for television. Unfortunately, point, we need to confront the wide- rationalist critique also be heard. We the funds provided these organizations spread antiscientific and pro-religious need to convince authors and editors, by Congress are threatened with being propaganda now dominating the media. producers and the general public about cut; there is thus considerable trepida- We believe in a free interchange of the need to cultivate an appreciation tion and these public outlets are often ideas; we do not want the government to for critical thinking, rationalism, and cautious about providing dissenting regulate what and how we know. On the the scientific outlook. Above all we viewpoints about the sacred cows. other hand, in the name of a free market, need to embark upon a cultural refor- oligopolies now increasingly dominate mation of contemporary society. That public opinion. The scientific and ratio- is a long and arduous process, but it is RISING TO THE CHALLENGE nalist community needs to organize a one which, I submit, is essential for the What is to be done? I have argued that public lobby in opposition. We should future of secular humanism. fi we need in the United States to orga- nize and oppose the cultural debase- Legal Recourse states, or within foreign nations, ment of ideas and values, and the con- shall be deemed guilty of a felony. stant diet of religion, violence, sex, and sensationalism. There are all too few The Sherman Antitrust Act first voices in America who have identified enacted in 1890 explicitly forbids any The Sherman Antitrust Act does this problem—Ralph Nader, who ran combinations in "restraint of trade or not forbid combinations or trusts commerce." for president and received only that limit the range of ideas or opin- 600,000 votes in the last election; Section 1. Every contract, combi- ions expressed. It says nothing Professor Noam Chomsky of the nation in the form of trust or other- about the free market of ideas and wise, or conspiracy, in restraint of the need in a democracy to preserve Massachusetts Institute of Technology; trade or commerce among the sev- diversity of opinion and to protect the eral states, or with foreign nations, and George Gerbner at the University expression of dissenting or icono- of Pennsylvania are some—but these is declared to be illegal.... Every person who shall make any con- clastic viewpoints. complaints are rarely aired by the mass tract or engage in any combination The First Amendment to the media. Those who are concerned about or conspiracy hereby declared to be Constitution states that "congress democracy in Western societies, I sub- illegal shall be deemed guilty of a shall make no law ... abridging the felony... . mit, need to join with us in mounting a freedom of speech, or of the press." One can argue that the recent trend citizens' campaign against the power It also prohibits monopolies of trade toward oligarchical control of the of the global mediacracy. In the U.S.A. or commerce: we have the Sherman Antitrust Act, media of expression and communica- which is designed to limit monopolies Section 2. Every person who shall tions severely curtails freedom of the monopolize, or attempt to monopo- press by effectively blotting out if not oligopolies, but this is rarely lize, or combine or conspire with diverse and dissenting points of view. applied. The criterion for limiting oli- any other person or persons, to garchical control of the media should monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several —Paul Kurtz not simply be price competition, but

summer 1998 (Letters, cont'd. from p. 21) pure conjecture on the part of the high surgery, a patient's brain is electrically priests of academia. stimulated. At one location, a mild cur- obfuscation and equivocation of In his book, The Big Bang Never rent produces a smile on the patient. Stephen J. Gould's claim of the non- Happened, Eric J. Lerner wrote, More current produces laughter, and conflict between religion and science. "Because today nothing comes from still more current produces vigorous Religions are more insistent on alter- nothing, the reasonable hypothesis is laughter. The patient, a 16-year-old native "existences" of happenings and that this was always true—the uni- girl, is intelligent, awake, and fully essences that directly conflict with the verse, in some form has always able to describe the experience. She results of science than they are existed." does not report her facial muscles involved in issues of morality and James Gardner Erickson moving by themselves, or something ethics. Again, we can thank the reli- Hot Springs, Mont. forcing her to laugh, or in fact anything gions for not following the logical con- strange. She says she just suddenly clusions of scriptural imperatives. found her situation funny. After one Roy E. Overmann, President Free Will or Not? stimulation she said, "You guys are so Rationalist Society of St. Louis funny—standing around" St. Louis, Mo. I have a friendly bone to pick with Hello. This experiment, if duplica- Lewis Vaughn and Theodore Schick, ble, tells us more about "free will" than Jr. ("Do We Have Free Will?" FI, all of Aristotle, Hobbes, Spinoza, and The Big Bang Spring 1998). Their article is 100% William James rolled into one and talk-philosophy. The piece doesn't cooked over-easy. Science is well- Quentin Smith has rigorously invali- begun on the process of reverse-engi- dated theist W. L. Craig's first premise neering the human brain. We know ,for ("whatever begins to exist has a cause") instance, that only about ten in "Big Bang Cosmology and Atheism" megabytes of DNA actually code for (FI, Spring 1998). I would have chosen the brain. Experiments are being to debunk the second premise ("the planned to trace out neural wiring-dia- universe began to exist"). grams in cadaver brains. If philosophy Is it not overwhelmingly probable can't break with its talk-philosophy that the universe, in one form or tradition, the entire discipline stands to another, had no beginning at all, be marginalized within a generation. merely oscillating forever between Adam L. Carley large and small sizes and various com- Windham, N.H. AK

positions and time rates (incidentally PANI

conforming to Hawkins's proposition) ZCZE

from negative infinity time to positive A S This article is a good example of recent UR infinity time? If one can believe (as LA attempts at obfuscation in regard to many theists do as they pray "world refer to a single brain experiment, con- what must otherwise be regarded as a without end") in an infinite future to tain a single diagram, equation, or even totally incoherent and meaningless our universe, what is the problem with number. All the references are to more concept—free will. The objection allowing an infinite past? talk-philosophy. raised by the authors in the article to Carl W. Schofield, Jr. Don't we humanists believe science "hard determinism" and its rejection of Gloucester, Mass. is the methodology for answering ques- free will has nothing to do with logic tions about the world? Consider, for but rather a fear that the rejection of example, the classic experiments of free will will mean the rejection of the Atheists have stuck their head in a trap Benjamin Lebet. While his subjects concept of moral responsibility. by supporting the big-bangers. The reported making completely free Instead they try to foist the libertarian first version of Big Bang cosmology choices between two alternatives, Lebet version of free will on the reader as a was put forward in 1931 by a Belgian found electrical signals from the brain solution to what they perceive to be an priest named Georges Lemaitre. He shortly before each choice that deter- insoluble dilemma. The problem is that claimed that the steady state cosmol- mined which choice would be made. the libertarian version of free will is, ogy, generally accepted at the time, The more recent experiment of Dr. like many other aspects of libertarian- didn't allow for a creator. Itziak Fried at the University of ism, inconsistent. The main prop is the red shift, but Southern California at Los Angeles "Agent causation" is just another there may also be non-Doppler causes (UCLA), which, in fairness, was pub- name for noncausality. What exactly is for this. Also, the "background radia- lished after the FI article went to press, the physics behind "agent causation"? tion" as an echo of the explosion is is even more telling. During epilepsy Are the authors trying to tell us that

free inquiry 60

human behavior is above the laws of sented a brief survey of some recent physics? If not then they must admit attempts to analyze the concept of free `Dianidolatry' that at some level those behaviors must will. Mr. LaBonte apparently believes be caused by physical events. If we that the concept of free will cannot be As a fellow Brit, I should like to offer swallow the idea that humans some- analyzed because the term free will is support to Matt Cherry in the face of how transcend physical law we might meaningless. Since he does not artic- the attacks on him for his criticism of as well go all the way and embrace the ulate or defend any particular theory the deification of Diana (Letters to the concept of the trinity and trans-sub- of meaning, however, there's no way Editor, FI, Spring 1998). There is no stantiation. to evaluate his claim. The notion of doubt that there was an amazing hys- Ed LaBonte agent causation, while novel, is not terical reaction to her death, both in Worcester, Mass. incomprehensible. It is a species of Britain and elsewhere. While I suppose what has become known as "down- that almost everyone must feel sorrow Theodore Schick replies: ward causation," first introduced by at the cutting short of a comparatively psychologist Donald Campbell and young life and sympathy for her family, Since the question of what distin- later employed by such neurophysiol- let us not lose sight of the thousands of guishes good science from bad science ogists as Janos Szentagothai and family tragedies caused every year by is not a question that can be answered Roger Sperry. (See their articles in such deaths. Although Diana's family by science, I don't think we have to Mindwaves, ed. by C. Blakemore and must suffer unique difficulties in the worry about "talk-philosophy" going S. Greenfield, Cambridge: Basil wake of her death, at least they are not away any time soon. As Einstein real- Blackwell, 1987.) Needless to say, it plunged into poverty by their loss, as ized, "Science without epistemology does not involve a violation of physi- may well happen in other cases. is—insofar as it is thinkable at all— cal laws. (But it does suggest that a The sanctification of Diana is a primitive and muddled." Mr. Carley's complete explanation of an action ridiculous over-reaction. She was a epistemology, however, is fundamen- may require an appeal to certain psy- charismatic figure who was beginning to tally flawed. Humanists believe that cho-physical laws.) use her position and her magnetism for a reason and logic—not just the scien- There appears to be a real and sig- number of good causes. Other, less tific method—are the tools we should nificant difference between my arm's charismatic members of the Royal fam- use for answering questions about the going up and my intentionally raising ily had labored hard and much longer in world. Would Mr. Carley have us my arm, for the former can obtain equally good causes without half the ignore the insights of Bertrand Russell, without the latter obtaining. Analyses attention, to say nothing of those Clarence Darrow, and Paul Kurtz of the concept of free will try to capture devoted and anonymous members of the because there are no diagrams in their this difference. Mr. Carley apparently public who put in the real spade work. works? believes that there is no difference Now that the dust has settled, Einstein understood that science between these two states of affairs. As British people are not unanimously and philosophy are partners—not evidence for this belief he cites the uncritical of Diana, so I certainly can- rivals—in the attempt to understand work of Libet and Fried. But since he not see why FREE INQUIRY should need the world. One will not replace the doesn't articulate or defend any par- to apologize to the people of the other because the objects and the ticular analysis of free will, his conclu- United Kingdom, as urged by James modality of their explanations are dif- sion doesn't follow Prescott. If Americans feel like apolo- ferent. Science tries to explain the To draw a conclusion about free gizing to the British for anything, may causal relations between events while will from an empirical finding, one I suggest that it might be for the trav- philosophy tries to explain the logical needs a theory of free will, that is, a esty of our history so freely propagated relations between concepts. Philo- theory about the logically necessary or by Hollywood and for the convention sophical problems arise when it sufficient conditions for an action's that villains should normally have a seems impossible for certain concepts being free. Mr. Carley apparently British accent. to apply to certain things. The prob- assumes that an action can be free only Diana Brown lem of free will, for example, arises if one is conscious of performing it. Entagnières, Switzerland because it seems impossible for mate- But that cannot be right. When I walk rial objects like human beings to have down the street, I don't consciously put free will. Philosophical theories try to one foot in front of the other, but I Editors' Note explain how it is possible (or why it is intentionally do so; that is, I do so of impossible) for a concept to apply to my own free will. It's important to real- "When Religion Steps on Science's something by specifying the logically ize that the conclusions one draws Turf' by Richard Dawkins, which necessary or sufficient conditions for from a scientific experiment can only appeared in the Spring 1998 issue of applying it. This is known as concep- be as good as the philosophy on which FREE INQUIRY, was originally published tual analysis. In our article, we pre- they rest. in the Quarterly Review of Biology. fi

61 summer 1998 secular government and multi-faith CHECKS AND BALANCES ON society can accommodate competing religious claims will doubtless find the RELIGIOUS FREEDOM book engaging. Evans, an associate professor of A new framework for resolving political science at Creighton Uni- INTERPRETING free exercise disputes versity in Omaha, Nebraska, calls her FREE EXERCISE view a "pluralist theory of Free OF RELIGION Rob Boston Exercise." According to her theory, CONSTITUTION religion is but one of many "sources of AND AMERICAN Interpreting the Free Exercise of Religion: The Constitution and meaning" available to Americans American Pluralism, by Bette Novit Evans (Chapel Hill, N.C.: today. The state, she argues, can func- P. IC RA L IS...... M University of North Carolina Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8078-2399-6 tion as a "source of meaning" to BETTE NOVIT EVANS cloth, ISBN 0-8078-4674-0 paper) 294 pp. Cloth $45.00, Paper Americans but may not monopolize $17.95. that function. Providing a multiplicity of sources of meaning is in the best interests of society, therefore the gov- he First Amendment's religious grant to religious groups? Under what ernment should not unnecessarily bur- freedom provisions are a two- circumstances should religious believ- den religious exercise. T pronged guarantee of liberty. ers be given exemptions from laws that Evans believes that the government One clause prohibits government from everyone else has to follow? should strive to avoid putting religious making laws "respecting an establish- Questions like this have dogged people into a position where they are ment of religion" while the other pro- courts and society since the founding forced to choose between the various tects the "free exercise" of religion. of America. In her new book, labels they may adopt—for instance, On the question of religious estab- Interpreting the Free Exercise of they should not have to choose between lishments, there is probably great una- Religion: The Constitution and their religion or their country. She ana- nimity among humanists. Few human- American Pluralism, Bette Novit lyzes the 1986 case Goldman v. ists, for example, would support a , Evans examines many of the major dis- Weinberger, in which Simcha Goldman, school prayer amendment or advocate putes over free exercise that have taken an Orthodox Jew, was told he could no longer wear a yarmulke with his Air Free exercise questions are thornier and Force uniform. Goldman argued that he more frequently divide the nontheistic had a free exercise right to wear the yarmulke, but the U.S. Supreme Court community. ruled against him. Three years later, Congress passed a law permitting mem- government funding of private reli- place since the turn of the century and bers of the military to wear certain types gious schools. suggests a new framework for looking of religious apparel with their uniforms. The free exercise questions are at these debates. A pluralist vision," Evans writes, thornier and more frequently divide the Readers seeking a mere factual "would . . . likely be exceptionally nontheistic community. Witness the summary of major free-exercise dis- sympathetic to Captain Goldman's debate over the Religious Freedom putes should look elsewhere. While it petition to wear his yarmulke with his Restoration Act of 1993, which some does discuss the major cases, Air Force uniform. The very point of humanists supported and others Interpreting the Free Exercise of Goldman's petition was to wear the opposed. Religion is not a history of the Free symbol of both identities, in effect, to How far should the free exercise of Exercise Clause. Rather, this is a schol- be an Orthodox Jew while being a U.S. religion extend? How much accommo- arly work that aims to offer Americans military officer?' dation is the government required to a new way of looking at these disputes In recent years, some Religious and suggests a different approach for Right activists have tried to use the Rob Boston is Assistant Editor of resolving them. It is heavily footnoted Free Exercise Clause to bring religion Church & State, published by and at times densely written. Never- and state closer together. They have Americans United for Separation of theless, Evans raises provocative ques- argued, for example, that the Free Church and State in Washington, D.C. tions, and those interested in how a Exercise Clause gives public school m

REVIEWS

students the right to have vocal, group these days are willing to ignore our tion would be inevitable. As new reli- prayer in classrooms or that it compels foundational document for short-term gious groups find a home in America the government to subsidize private political gain. and their followers make requests from religious education. Evans's theory In her summary chapter, Evans con- the government—some outrageous, would not grant these claimants sweep- cludes, "I have offered no bright-line some reasonable—litigation will fol- ing new rights, and thus isn't likely to win many adherents among the Religious Right. The country's com- Those interested in how a secular mitment to religious pluralism is so government and multi-faith society can great, she writes, that attempts to use the Free Exercise Clause to impose accommodate competing religious claims religion on others must be checked by will doubtless find the book engaging. the Establishment Clause. To defuse free exercise controversies, Evans recommends legislative accom- solutions to Free Exercise conflicts," low, leaving the courts to make sense modations to the largest extent possible and unfortunately she is right. She can of a constitutional guarantee that, within the constraints of the Establish- offer no such thing because it will despite its centrality to the American ment Clause. Legislative accommoda- never exist. Even under Evans's plural- experience, remains broadly worded tions of religion, she writes, "are often ist theory, conflicts over accommoda- and somewhat vague. the simplest and most humane ways of protecting religious freedom:' The problem, however, is in deter- mining when accommodations of reli- gion become so generous that they threaten to become establishment. WHAT GOD HAS JOINED Evans analyzes the 1994 case Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, in which a Vern L. Bullough group of separatist Hasidic Jews in New York demanded the creation of In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, by Todd Compton (Salt Lake City, their own public school system so their Signature Books, 1998, ISBN 1-56085-085-X xv + 788 pp. Cloth $39.95. children would not have to be educated alongside non-Hasidic pupils. The New York legislature granted the request, n spite of the image of sexual The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, Todd but the U.S. Supreme Court declared repression most of us have of what Compton, a cautious and careful the arrangement unconstitutional. is sometimes called the "age of scholar, has managed to reconstruct the Evans says the case "illustrates the Victoria," sexual drive continued to lives of Smith's 33 documented wives, frustrating but ultimately beneficial break through the surface. Prostitution most of whom had previously had been interplay of legislative and judicial was rampant, and brothels in the known only by name. He holds that the approaches to religious interests." But United States were everywhere. Many women as a group were extraordinary in her analysis of the situation is too kind Americans, upset at the hypocrisy of it many ways, and he tries to see Mormon to New York lawmakers. She asserts all, formed free-love communities such history not from the traditional view- that we should not fault the Hasidic as Oneida or sex-free groups such as point of the male church leaders, but group for seeking the separate school the Shakers. Many also turned to scrip- from the viewpoint of the wives of the or the legislature for granting it because tural examples to deal with their sexual prophet, most of whom played impor- "constitutional doctrine is not the high- drives. This was the case of the Church tant roles in the Mormon Church. est priority of either interest groups or of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or The Mormons were very much legislative bodies." Mormons, established by Joseph Smith influenced by the traditional Jewish The commands of the Constitution in 1830. Scriptures in which polygamy was a may not be the highest priority of inter- In the book In Sacred Loneliness: fact of life. But Smith added a new est groups, but they certainly ought to wrinkle—the Mormons' obligation to be for legislatures. The U.S. Vern L. Bullough is a Visiting Professor bring unborn souls awaiting an earthly Constitution, after all, is the basis for at the University of Southern California body into being, emphasized by the all U.S. law. Too many lawmakers and an FI Senior Editor. biblical injunction to be fruitful and

63 fi summer 1998 REVIEWS

multiply. He apparently became con- split from Smith over the issue of that they could also join his family in vinced of the correctness of polygamy polygamy. It was a factor in Smith's the hereafter. in 1831 after he already published the assassination. It was not until the Probably most of Smith's wives Book of Mormon and gradually Mormons reached Utah, however, that were convinced of the rightness of revealed the new revelation to his close polygamy became a matter of public multiple marriages according to what followers. knowledge. Compton uncovered in their private Smith probably took his first plural Almost all of Smith's wives married diaries or letters. Still, he argues that wife in 1833, a 16-year-old named again after the death of Joseph, and Mormon polygamy was characterized Fanny Alger. Though some Mormon many, as indicated, were already in by a tragic ambiguity. A plural wife's writers, perhaps embarrassed by the secular marriages. Thus, it was not just marriage had eternal significance in Mormon doctrine, but it lacked earthly fulfillment since the loving, comfort- The Mormons were very much influenced by ing husband was rarely around, even the traditional Jewish Scriptures in which when the wives lived in the same house. Many husbands did not even polygamy was a fact of life. live in the same community. Most of Smith's wives, reports Compton, were polygamous activities of Joseph Smith, polygamy (plural wives) the Mormons usually forced to carry on by them- have emphasized that Smith's mar- practiced but polyandry (plural hus- selves with only an occasional visit riages were only spiritual unions with- bands) as well. After Smith's death, from either the prophet or after his out sexual contact, this, as Compton many of the surviving wives were mar- death from their new polygamous hus- makes clear, was simply not the case. ried by proxy to other Mormon leaders, band stand-ins for him. Thus, although Over the next few years, Smith took who were to act as real husbands, even most came to believe they were fulfill- some 33 wives. They included a mother "raising seed" to Smith (i.e. making ing their sacred duty, they also reported and a daughter, the widow of his the women pregnant), although in the feelings of depression, despair, anxiety, brother (in a traditional Levirate ritual), next world, the celestial kingdom, helplessness, abandonment, and anger. and two sisters. Age was of little matter Joseph's sacred wives were to again They displayed psychosomatic symp- to him: eleven were between 14 and 20 become his. Children from such mar- toms and had low self-esteem in what years of age, nine were 21 to 30, eight riages were "sealed eternally" to Compton called their "sacred loneli- were in his own peer group (31 to 40), Joseph Smith in temple ceremonies so ness." two were 41 to 50, and three were 51 or over. In addition to the documented wives, there might well have been eight FOCUSING ON HUMANISM lence, trustworthiness, and tolerance. others whom Compton labels as possi- Kurtz emphasizes that the United ble wives, and eight who were "sealed" The Human Predicament, edited by Dennis Nations' Universal Declaration of to him after his murder in 1844 so that V. Raum (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, Human Rights should be the corner- they might be his wives in heaven. This 1996, ISBN 1-57392-085-1) 297 pp., cloth stone of such a new global ethic that $32.95. gives a total of 50 wives, counting will enunciate .the basic rights of all Emma, his first wife. Many of the human beings. women were married to others when In light of the growing interest in the In his article "Chaos—Periodic they became wives of Smith. future of our species and this planet, Patterns in the Achievement of Polygamy was restricted to the lead- Razis's collection of 24 thought-pro- Understanding," William J. M. Hrushe- ership group in the Mormon Church voking contributions is extremely sky sheds light on the complex interac- and was more or less kept secret from timely for secular humanists. Its intro- tions between human nature and social the other members, although rumors duction stresses the need for a new eth- behavior. Claiming that modern sci- abounded. Emma Smith, the first and ical outlook and global philosophy for ence has become isolated from the only legal wife, was violently opposed the emerging scientific and technologi- problems of humanity, he criticizes the to polygamy, and fought the prophet cal world. growth of dogmatic ideas and mean- tooth and nail on the issue. After his Of particular significance is Paul ingless information. Hrushesky calls death she denied the existence of other Kurtz's essay "Ethics for a Planetary for humanizing science for the benefit wives, although records indicate she Society," which advises us that there of the general public. was well aware of at least some of are common moral decencies that are Because of its scope and relevance, them. Emma was not alone in her hos- necessary to adhere to for the survival The Human Predicament is a valuable tility, and many of the early Mormons of our human community, e.g., benevo- book of ideas and perspectives that

free inquiry 64 REVIEWS

will be of interest to all readers con- He concludes that Christianity "is just theless, the selections in this com- cerned about the survival and fulfill- another religion with a host of grand pendium are a serious consideration of ment of our planetary and ethical promises, scary threats, and no evi- those crucial issues that still permeate species. dence" (p. 194). Engaging and evolutionary thought. Consequently, enlightening, this excellent and unique this book offers valuable information —John A. Xanthopoulos book is a must-read for all philosophy for all biologists, philosophers, and students, freethinkers, and secular evolutionists. humanists. —H. James Birx DEBUNKING THEISM

What Is Atheism? A Short Introduction, by EXAMINING EVOLUTION MYTH AND HISTORY nougl=is E. Krueger (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1998, ISBN 1-57392- Philosophy of Biology, edited by Michael 214-5) 237 pp., paper $17.95. The Christ Myth by Arthur Drews (Amherst, Ruse (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1998 ISBN 1- 1998, ISBN 1-57392-185-8) 362 pp., paper 57392-190-4) 304 pp., cloth $34.95. What Is Atheism? is a clear, concise, $18.95. and critical examination of the tradi- This book is the clearest single-volume tional conception of a personal god Edited by Michael Ruse, Philosophy statement of the turn-of-the-century that makes the crucial distinction of Biology is a comprehensive collec- mythical Jesus position. The best- between a religious belief grounded in tion of 37 important entries by known proponent of this view was renowned biologists and philosophers J. M. Robertson, but Drews, even after The major philosophical who focus on those basic questions translation, is a lot easier to read than that surround organic evolution, a fact arguments for a theistic his more ponderous mentor. These not synonymous with traditional outlook fail, while an mythicists made the invaluable contri- Darwinism. It is clear that scientific atheistic viewpoint bution to biblical scholarship of being neo-Darwinism and philosophical among the first to say aloud that the withstands the vacuous inquiry converge when one scrutinizes emperor has no clothes. By seeking to criticisms of myopic both the problems of comprehending understand the Christ phenomenon in theologians. and the possibility of manipulating the terms of Jewish history, the myth process of biological evolution scholars anticipated significant aspects blind faith and a statement of truth sup- (including the ongoing evolution of of what is now known as the third ported by evidence and logic. In our own species). quest for the historical Jesus. For their emphasizing this distinction Krueger This volume contains insightful efforts they received little more than shows that the major philosophical contributions from Francisco J. Ayala, abuse and ridicule. arguments for a theistic outlook fail, Richard Dawkins, Ernst Mayr, Mark However, the myth scholars often while an atheistic viewpoint with- Ridley, and Edward O. Wilson (among made life difficult for themselves. For stands the vacuous criticisms of others). Topics treated range from tax- instance, they failed to accept or appre- myopic theologians. onomy, molecular biology, and recom- ciate the importance of the priority of Of particular importance is the sec- binant DNA to teleology, sociobiol- the "Mark" Gospel. They insisted on a tion dealing with the cosmological ogy, and biblical creationism. Read- pre-Jesus cult of Joshua. They were and teleological arguments for the ings of special interest include Robert too quick to dismiss inconvenient pas- existence of god; the author finds Bieri's "Humanoids on Other sages as interpolations. And they relied these alleged "proofs" to be unsuc- Planets," Antony Flew's "The on late authorship for Pauline writings. cessful. Furthermore, because contra- Structure of Darwinism," and John L. Really, the mythical Jesus position dictions result, he stresses that it is Mackie's "The Law of the Jungle." In has been put so much better and more not possible for god to have all of the addition, the entries on ethics and recently by G. A. Wells that it is uncer- following characteristics: omni- cloning are particularly relevant. tain what market exists for a reprinting science, omnipotence, omnibenevo- Unfortunately, there are no discus- of Drews's work. The Christ Myth will lence, and transcendence (surpris- sions on the controversial anthropic be useful for historians of the mythical ingly, there is no discussion of divine principle in modern cosmology or the Jesus position and for scholars of lib- omnipresence). periodic mass extinction of life forms eral theism. But it would mislead peo- Along the way Krueger also inves- on planet Earth. ple reading about Jesus for the first tigates issues dealing with evil, mira- Ruse writes that "the fact of evolu- time. cles, morality, humanism, biblical tion has been established beyond a errancy, nonbelief, and Pascal's wager. reasonable doubt" (p. 6). Never- —Bill Cooke

65 fi summer 1998 HUMANISM AT LARGE

FREE INQUIRY South Carolina, where she taught psy- creativity, which enrich our lives and chology. Her impressive track record loves. The arts can enlarge and Conference as an activist includes roles as enhance our lives and help us to find President of Upstate South Carolina meaning and fulfillment." Mark the date in your calendar. The Secular Humanists and as a board The Moms Forkosch Award for Council for Secular Humanism will member of the South Carolina best humanist book published in 1997 hold a national conference in Chicago American Civil Liberties Union. was given to New Zealand philosopher from Thursday, May 13, to Sunday, If you are interested in helping start Kurt Baier for Problems of Life and May 16, 1999. All FREE INQUIRY read- a local secular humanist group in your Death: A Humanist Perspective ers are invited. area, please contact Jo Ann at the (Prometheus Books). The conference, titled "Why Does Council (see address and phone num- Religion Persist? Faith, Culture, and ber below) or by e-mail at: joann the Brain," will include a wide variety [email protected]. For a new list Campus Freethought of meetings, ranging from intellectual of existing local groups, see page 67. Surges debate with some of the world's lead- ing thinkers to practical workshops for The Campus Freethought Alliance grass-roots activists. Speakers already Humanist Awards (CFA) has now established groups on slated to address the conference more than 70 campuses. That's an include renowned psychologist Mihaly The editors of FREE INQUIRY give increase from 18 groups at the begin- Csikszentmihalyi. See future issues for annual awards for the best humanist ning of the 1997/98 academic year. the full program and registration article and the best humanist book. The Among the universities with new details. awards are named after Morris and humanist groups are Arizona State, Selma Forkosch, who established an Boston University, Florida State, Ohio endowment fund for this purpose. State, Princeton, Texas at Austin, and Local Group Boost The Selma Forkosch Award for best Yale. The Council for Secular Human- humanist article published in 1997 was ism launched the Campus Freethought The Council for Secular Humanism given to British writer Jim Herrick for Alliance in the summer of 1996. has appointed a full-time Director of "When Humanists Embrace the Arts" In addition to the university groups, Humanist Community Development. (FREE INQUIRY, Summer 1997). the CFA is now helping launch many Jo Ann Mooney will provide support Accepting the award, Herrick said, "I high-school secular humanist groups. for local humanist groups and coordi- am particularly pleased that this article In the last few months fifteen high nate other grass-roots activities. should be singled out. Critics some- school freethought groups have been Mooney joins the Council staff times talk of dry-as-dust rationalists: started. Like the university groups, from Furman University, in Greenville, but we have emotions, imaginations, these receive practical help and resources from the Council for Secular Humanism. If you are interested in sponsoring a CFA group or speaking at a CFA-affil- iated campus, please contact David Schummer at CSH, or e-mail to: [email protected].

For further information about the Council for Secular Humanism or any of the subjects mentioned above, please contact: Council for Secular Human- ism, PO Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226- O664, U.S.A.; telephone 1-716-636- Director of Humanist Community Development Jo Ann Mooney cuts the ribbon at the launch of 7571; fax 1-716-636-1733; e-mail: the new Campus Freethought Alliance office in Boston. The new office was made possible by [email protected]; Web Site: the generosity of Dennis Keller—the Council for Secular Humanism's Regional Director for Massachusetts. The office will support the development of campus freethought groups in New http://secularhumanism.org. England. —Matt Cherry

free inquiry 66 ALLIANCE OF SECULAR HUMANIST SOCIETIES (ASHS)

The Alliance of Secular Humanist Societies is a network created for mutual support among local and regional societies of secular humanists. If you are interested in starting a group in your area, please contact: Jo Ann Mooney, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664, (716) 636-7571 ext. 330, Fax (716) 636-1733 or E-mail: [email protected].

ARIZONA - Arizona Secular Humanists, P.O. Box Free Inquiry Network, P.O. Box 2668, Glen Ellyn, IL OHIO - Free Inquirers of Northeast Ohio 3738, Scottsdale, AZ 85271 (602) 230-5328 60138-2668 (630) 469-1111 P.O. Box 2379, Akron, OH 44309 [email protected] htlp://www.freeinquiryneiwork.com (330) 869-2025 http://getnet.com/-huey/ash.html [email protected] KENTUCKY - Louisville Association of Secular ARKANSAS - Arkansas Society of Freethinkers Humanists, RO. Box 91453, Louisville, KY 40291 Free Inquiry Group, Inc., P.O. Box 8128 1700 W. Dixon Road #12, Little Rock, AR 72206 (502) 491-6693 Cincinnati, OH 45208 (513) 557-3836 (501) 888-9333 - [email protected] [email protected] LOUISIANA - Shreveport Humanists, 9476 htip://www.SecularHumanism.org/ashs/groups/fig/ CALIFORNIA - Atheists and Other Freethinkers Boxwood Drive, Shreveport, LA 71118-4003 OREGON - Corvallis Secular Society P.O. Box 15182, Sacramento, CA 95851-0182 (318) 687-8175 - [email protected] 126 NW 21st Street, Corvallis, OR 97330-5531 (916) 920-7834 - [email protected] htip://www.softdisk.com/comp/shume (541) 754-2557 - [email protected] http://www.rthoughtsrfree.org/aof/aof.htm MARYLAND - Baltimore Secular Humanists http://www.peak.org/-byersr/secular Atheists of San Francisco Region P.O. Box 24115, Baltimore, MD 21227-0615 Humanist Association of Salem 88 Seventeenth Ave. #301, San Mateo, CA 94402 (410) 467-3225 (Chapter of WASH) (415) 648-1201 P.O. Box 4153, Salem, OR 97302 (503) 371-1255 Frederick Secular Humanists (FRESH) [email protected] Humanist Community of San Francisco 18 South Jefferson Street, Frederick, MD 21901 http://www.teleport.com/-Iloydk/humanist.htm P.O. Box 31172, San Francisco, CA 94131 (301) 619-3860 PENNSYLVANIA - Pittsburgh Secular Humanists (650) 342-0910 [email protected]. mil 5003 Impala Drive, Murrysville, PA 15239 Rational Inquirers of Orange Co. (Chapter of WASH) (412) 476-5694 1931 E. Meats #115, Orange, CA 92865 Maryland - DC Chapter (MDC) Of WASH (949) 425-0425 - [email protected] P.O. Box 15319, Washington, DC 20003 Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Secular Humanists (202) 298-0921 P.O. Box 2141, Philadelphia, PA 19103 Santa Barbara Humanist Society [email protected], http://members.aol.com/-pglsh/ P.O. Box 30804, Santa Barbara, CA 93105 MICHIGAN - Freethought Association of West (805) 687-8619 Michigan, P.O. Box 649, Jenison, MI 49429-0649 SOUTH CAROLINA - Humanists of the Low Country, P.O. Box 32256, Charleston, SC 29417 Secular Humanists of the East Bay http://members.aol.com/faowm (803) 577-0637 P.O. Box 830, Berkeley, CA 94701 (510) 486-0553 Secular Humanists of Detroit, 220 Bagley, Room 908, http://www.serve.com/SECHUMLO/ [email protected] Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 962-1777 Upstate South Carolina Secular Humanists Secular Humanists of Los Angeles MINNESOTA - Minnesota Atheists, P.O. Box 6261, P.O. Box 10517, Marina Del Ray, CA 90295 Suite 168, Box 3000, Taylors, SC 29687 Minneapolis, MN 55406-0261 (864) 233-0905 - [email protected] (310) 305-8135 - [email protected] (612) 588-1597 - [email protected] http://home.earthlink.net/-joannmooney/ http://www.cris.com/-shola/ hltp://www.mnatheists.org humanism.html CONNECTICUT -Northeast Atheist Association MISSOURI - Kansas City Eupraxophy Center TENNESSEE - Rationalists of East Tennessee P.O. Box 63, Simsbury, CT 06070 (860) 747-4280 6301 Rockhill Road, Suite 412, Kansas City, 2123 Stonybrook Rd, Louisville, TN 37777 [email protected] MO 64131 (816) 822-9840 (423) 982-8687 - [email protected] [email protected] FLORIDA - Atheists of Florida, Inc. http://www.korrnet.org/reality/ Family Freethought Alliance, P.O. Box 260067 P.O. Box 3893, Ft. Pierce, FL 34948 (305) 936-0210 TEXAS - Freethinkers Association of Central Texas http://www.execpc.com/-aai/florida St. Louis, MO 63126 (314) 825-6422 http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/9917/ffc/ P.O. Box 160881, San Antonio, TX 78280 Free Inquiry Society of Central Florida index.html (210) 491-6829 P.O. Box 196481, Orlando, FL 32791 [email protected] Rationalist Society of St. Louis, P.O. Box 2931 (407) 424-9076 http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8317/ St. Louis, MO 63130 (314) 772-5131 Gainesville Humanist Society http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/9917/rssíh VIRGINIA - Central Virginia Secular Humanists 4000 SW 47th St. L-12, Gainesville, FL 32608 tml (CVSH), P.O. Box 184, Ivy, VA 22945 (352) 377-4505 - http://www.afn.org/-afn59918 NEVADA - Secular Humanist Society of Las Vegas (804) 979-2508 - [email protected] Humanists of The Palm Beaches 240 North Jones Blvd, Suite 106, Las Vegas, (Chapter of WASH) 860 Lakeside Drive, West Palm Beach, FL 33408 NV 89107 (702) 594-1125 Northern Virginia Secular Humanists Humanist Association: St. Petersburg P.O. Box 725, Lorton, VA 22199 NEW HAMPSHIRE - Secular Humanists of P.O. Box 8099, Madeira Beach, FL 33738-8099 (703) 971-0971 (Chapter of WASH) (813) 391-7571 - [email protected] Merrimack Valley, P.O. Box 368, Londonderry, Richmond Area Free Thinkers, R. O. Box 4227 hitp://homel.gte.net/HASP/ NH 03053 (603) 434-4195 [email protected] Glen Allen, VA 23058 (804) 364-0633 Secular Humanists of South Florida [email protected] (Chapter of WASH) 1951 NW 98th Avenue, Sunrise, FL 33322 NEW JERSEY - New Jersey Humanist Network (954) 746-0442 - [email protected] P.O. Box 51, Washington, NJ 07882 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Washington Area Secular http://www.seflin.org/human/human2.htm (908) 689-2813 - [email protected] Humanists (WASH), P.O. Box 15319, Washington, DC 20003 (202) 298-0921 NEW YORK - Capital District Humanist Society GEORGIA - Atlanta Freethought Society http://www.wam.umd.edu/-kaugust/asatext/ P.O. Box 2148, Scotia, NY 12302 P.O. Box 813392, Smyrna, GA 30081-3392 wash.html (770) 641-2903 (518) 381-6239 hltp://www.concentric.net/-theafs http://www.globa12000.net/org/cdhs WISCONSIN - Milwaukee Freethought Society Secular Humanist Society of New York P.O. Box 13204, Milwaukee, WI 53213 HAWAII - Humanists Hawaii P.O. Box 7661, New York, NY 10150 (414) 771-0743 1515 Nuuanu Queen Tower #48, Honolulu, HI 96817 (212) 861-6003 http://www.teamworkweb.com/ftsm/ (808) 524-3872 Western New York Secular Humanists Secular Humanists of Madison, WI, 5322 Fairway ILLINOIS - Peoria Secular Humanists P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226 Drive, Madison, WI 53711 (608) 274-2152 P.O. Box 994, Normal, IL 61761, [email protected] (716) 636-7571 [email protected] P.O. Box 664 • Amherst, New York 14226 • (716) 636-7571

THE COUNCIL FOR SECULAR HUMANISM

COUNCIL Mission Statement FOR of the SECULAR CENTER FOR INQUIRY Midwest HUMANISM The Council for Secular Humanism cultivates rational inquiry, ethical United Labor Building values, and human development through the advancement of secular 6301 Rockhill Rd., Suite 412 humanism. To carry out its mission the Council for Secular Humanism Tel.: (816) 822-9840 sponsors publications, programs, and organizes meetings and other group activities. The Council's specific objectives are: CENTER FOR INQUIRY West To promote secular humanist principles to the public, media, and 5521 Grosvenor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90066 policy-makers To provide secular humanist activities and communities to serve P.O. Box 10517, Marina Del Rey, CA 90295 the needs of nonreligious people and foster human enrichment Tel.: (310) 306-2847 • Fax: (310) 821-2610 To demonstrate the viability of the secular humanist eupraxophy as an alternative naturalistic life-stance CENTER FOR INQUIRY Moscow To engage in research relating to the critical examination of reli- gious and supernatural claims and the humanist outlook Professor Valerii A. Kuvakin To conduct educational programs for all age levels 117421 Russia, Moscow, Novatorov 18-2-2 The Council for Secular Humanism is a nonprofit educa- tional organization. FREE INQUIRY is its official journal.

Ge/ebra1in9 %Ceason and ifutnanity