THE INTERNATIONAL SECULAR HUMANIST MAGAZINE

Spring 1996 Vol.16, No.2

DO WE NEED GOD TO BE MORAL? PAUL KURTZ debates JOHN FRAME

MARTIN GARDNER Adventist Flimflams

CHRISTOPHER DURANG The Lost Encyclical

DEFENDING THE WALL BETWEEN CHURCH & STATE SPRING 1996, VOL. 16, NO. 2 ISSN 0272-0701 Contents !ree

3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Editor: Paul Kurtz Executive Editor: Timothy J. Madigan 4 DO WE NEED GOD TO BE MORAL? Managing Editor: Andrea Szalanski Senior Editors: Vern Bullough, Thomas W. Flynn, 4 Without a Supreme Being, Everything Is Permitted John M. Frame R. Joseph Hoffmann, Gerald Larue, Gordon Stein 6 Rebuttal Paul Kurtz Contributing Editors: 5 The Common Moral Decencies Don't Depend on Faith Paul Kurtz Robert S. Alley, Joe E. Barnhart, David Berman, H. James Birx, Jo Ann Boydston, Bonnie Bullough, 7 Rebuttal John M. Frame Paul Edwards, Albert Ellis, Roy P. Fairfield, Charles W. Faulkner, Antony Flew, Levi Fragell, Adolf 8 RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS Grünbaum, Marvin Kohl, Jean Kotkin, Thelma Lavine, Tibor Machan, Ronald A. Lindsay, Michael 8 Introduction Andrea Szalanski Martin, Delos B. McKown, Lee Nisbet, John Novak, 9 Church and State: A Humanist View Vern L. Bullough Skipp Porteous, Howard Radest, Robert Rimmer, Michael Rockier, Svetozar Stojanovic, Thomas Szasz, V. M. Tarkunde, Richard Taylor, Rob Tielman POINT Associate Editors: 12 The Case for Affirmative Secularism Thomas W. Flynn Molleen Matsumura, Lois Porter COUNTERPOINT Editorial Associates: Doris Doyle, Thomas Franczyk, Roger Greeley, 20 Religious and Philosophical Freedom for Everybody: James Martin-Diaz, Steven L. Mitchell, Warren A Reply to Tom Flynn Rob Boston Allen Smith Cartoonist: Don Addis

21 Church-State Separation: The 1996 Elections CODESH. Inc.: and Beyond Edward Tabash Chairman: Paul Kurtz Chief Operating Officer: Timothy J. Madigan 23 Thinking `About' Religion: The Need for Freethought Executive Director: Matt Cherry in the Curriculum John B. Massen Chief Development Officer: James Kimberly Public Relations Director: Norm R. Allen, Jr. President, Academy of Humanism: Paul Kurtz POINT Executive Director, Secular Organizations for 24 The Libertarian Curriculum for Public Education Joe Barnhart Sobriety: James Christopher COUNTERPOINT Chief Data Officer: Richard Seymour Fulfillment Manager: Michael Cione 26 The Privatization of Education: Typesetting: Paul E. Loynes, Sr. Can Public Education Survive? Michael J. Rockler Graphic Designer: Jacqueline Cooke Audio Technician: Vance Vigrass 30 VIEWPOINTS Staff. 30 Irish Democracy Continues Its Advance, Dick Spicer / Notes from the Editor, Georgeia Locurcio, Anthony Nigro, Etienne Ríos, Ranjit Sandhu Paul Kurtz I Missionaries Invade Public Schools, Skipp Porteous Executive Director Emeritus: Jean Millholland 36 The Incredible Flimflams of Margaret Rowen, Part 1: FREE INQUIRY (ISSN 0272-0701) is published quarterly by the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism Seventh-day Adventist and the Second Coming Martin Gardner (CODESH, Inc.), a nonprofit corporation, 3965 Rensch 41 Strange Bedfellows: Mormon Polygamy and Road, Amherst, NY 14228-2713. Phone (716) 636-7571. Fax (716) 636-1733. Copyright ©1996 by CODESH, Inc. Baptist History George D. Smith Second-class postage paid at Amherst, N.Y., and at addi- tional mailing offices. National distribution by 46 The Lost Encyclical against Penicillin Christopher Durang International Periodicals Distributors, Solana Beach, California. FREE INQUIRY is available from University 47 Beat the Odds Dan Olincy Microfilms and is indexed in Philosophers' Index. 50 Paul Edwards on Nietzsche, Freud, and Reich Warren Allen Smith Printed in the United States. 51 Humanism and Human Malleability Timothy J. Madigan Subscription rates: $28.50 for one year, $47.50 for two years, $64.50 for three years. $6.95 for single issues. Address subscription orders, changes of address, and 52 NEWS AND VIEWS advertising to FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664. 53 REVIEWS Manuscripts, letters, and editorial inquiries should be Shepherds Are for Sheep, Nada Mangialetti / Poking Fun at New addressed to The Editor, FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664. Editorial submissions must Testament Absurdities, Farrell Till / Sex and Sensibility, Wendy McElroy l be on disk (PC: 3-1/2" or 5-1/4"; Mac: 3-1/2" only) and Snake Handling, Joe Nickell / Physics and Consciousness, H. James Birx l accompanied by a double-spaced hardcopy and a What a Tangled Web We Weave, John Schumaker stamped, self-addressed envelope. Acceptable file for- mats include any PC or Mac word processor, RTF, and ASCII. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the 65 IN THE NAME OF GOD views of the editors or publisher. Postmaster: Send address changes to FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Cover art by Bruce Adams Amherst, NY 14226-0664. ignore that streetwise saying that "Candy's dandy but liquor's quicker," Letters to the Editor which is itself a form of scoffing at the "refined" people's approach to solving a human-relations problem, which would often take millennia to solve in the usual Humanism and Tolerance understanding. Albert Lyngzeidetson academic fashion. Mark Twain would not ("The Threat to the Atheists' Good Life," have scoffed at scoffing, nor would Robert The primary problem with George H. FI, Winter 1995/96) urges us to cease Ingersoll have done so. Shriver's ("New Fundamentalist Intoler- being timid and defensive. I am pulled ance and the Southern Baptist Conven- both ways. Can we combine these views Charles M. Selby tion," FI, Winter 1995/96) well-inten- constructively? Christmas Valley, Ore. tioned exposé of what he calls the I take strong exception to one of "neo-Fundamentalists" in the Southern Lyngzeidetson's views. The Christian Baptist Convention is that he couches his Right is by no means un-Christian or Further Comments criticism in intellectual arguments. Funda- unbiblical. Quite the contrary. In bigotry on Consciousness mentalists are by their very nature univer- and certainty it stands four-square in the sally and all-inclusively anti-intellectual tradition of historic Christianity. The his- Adam Carley ("Consciousness, Math, and, therefore, immune to such criticism. tory, as distinguished from Sunday School and Aristotle") and Daniel Dennett As an employee of the Southern Baptist apologetics, is a history of active hatred of ("Interview: A Conversation with Daniel Convention for seventeen years during the heretics, dissenters, Jews and heathens, a Dennett," FI, Fall 1995) believe con- 1960s and 1970s, I had an up-close and pervasive subordination of women, and a sciousness is an illusion. The definition personal look at the development of fun- lust for congenial relations with the polit- of illusion presupposes that you can cor- damentalism in the SBC. The experience ically and economically powerful. rectly perceive reality but sometimes was very much like watching the slow, misinterpret sensory evidence. How can inexorable growth of a melanoma as it Laurence G. Wolf they know consciousness is an illusion burrowed deeper and deeper into the body Cincinnati, Ohio unless they first know what the true real- politic. I can tell you from personal expe- ity is and that consciousness doesn't rience that these fundamentalists— match it? By what means did they come whether they be "neo" is arguable—are The statement by Phillips Stevens, Jr. that to this conclusion? Certainly not by and always have been an incurable cancer. "Such ideas ... [religion] are not going to using their own conscious minds which No amount of reason, rhetoric, or threat be changed by scoffing at them" seems to are illusions. will have the slightest effect on their fly in the face of another universal human Reductionists say that the conscious determination to re-fashion traditional belief—that ridicule and scoffing are quite mind equals nothing but the brain. But the pluralistic Christianity into a Borg-like effective instruments for bringing about non-conscious parts of the mind also equal bloc comprised of mindless, intolerant, changes in human behavior! In addition, nothing but the brain. So conscious mind and dispiteous individuals. The fact is, his opinion that "religious beliefs answer equals non-conscious mind, a denial that they feed on and draw strength from argu- some questions that science cannot answer there's a difference. But the whole purpose ment and criticism. The only logical ..." is a distortion of the meaning of the of researching the mind is to explain what human action to take, the instant one real- word answer: a lie is not the same as an that difference is, not deny it. izes that one has encountered a black hole answer. His statement about magic not Reductionism will succeed when it can of hatred and intolerance otherwise being irrational is a distortion of the mean- describe the difference between the con- known as a fundamentalist Christian, is to ing of the word, also, because magic rests scious and the non-conscious in terms of turn around and walk as far away as one upon fallacious assumptions. I doubt neurons. Reductionism fails when it elim- can get, watching your back every step of whether people's "sensory perception sys- inates and denies the difference. Roger the way. tems have been modified by the expecta- Bissell puts it this way: tions generated by such cultural knowledge John C. Stevens of the mechanisms of the world... "That Mental processes are not merely noth- seems Lamarckian to me. At most, such ing but physical brain processes, but Fort Worth, Tex. rather physical brain processes of a cer- people's interpretations of what they per- tain kind, distinguished from all other ceive may be modified, and their misinter- physical brain processes by virtue of Unanimity eludes us and that is probably pretations can later be corrected by appro- their introspectable, mental aspect. as it should be. Phillips Stevens, Jr., priate re-education, including "scoffing." Since this mental aspect is a real aspect Thus, it seems to me that, although re- of those brain processes, it provides a ("Dealing with Religious Beliefs: Some valid basis for making the distinction, a Suggestions from Anthropology," FI, education based strictly upon the presen- basis derived from reality. Winter 1995/96) urges to us to deal with tation of factual knowledge and logic is religious believers with patience and the preferred method, one ought not to (Continued on p. 63) Spring 1996 3 YES Do We Need God Without a To Be Moral? Everything John M. Frame A Debate f God goes not exist, says Dostoyevsky's IIvan Karamazov, "everything is permit- ted." Which is one way of saying that notions of good and evil lose their force A "culture war" is brewing in America, and basic to when people cease to acknowledge God. The course of our society suggests he's the controversy is disagreement over the role of reli- right: we've grown noticeably more secu- gion in public life. Religionists insist that belief in lar over the past thirty years, banning God from public education and the marketplace God is essential for morality. Secular humanists of ideas, and our culture's moral tone has deny this claim and argue that there is an alternative declined. Is this merely historical coinci- dence, or is there a profound relationship foundation for ethical conduct. between ethics and belief in God? Moral values are rather strange. We can- not see them, hear them, or feel them, but we cannot doubt they exist. A witness to a crime sees the criminal and the victim, but what is perhaps most important remains invisible—the moral evil of the act. Paul Kurtz is professor emeritus of Yet evil is unquestionably there, just as moral good is unquestionably present philosophy at the State University of when a traveler stops to help the stranded New York at Buffalo and editor motorist on a dangerous stretch of high- of FREE INQUIRY. way. Good and bad are unseen but real, much as God is said to be. Does that sug- gest a close tie between two mysteries, moral values and God? Before answering that question, let me make a few clarifications: The highest moral and ethical values are absolute. Anyone who thinks it suffi- cient to have merely relative standards, based on what individuals or groups feel is right, won't see a connection between John M. Frame is professor of Christian God and morality. apologetics and systematic theology at Of course, some rules are relative to Westminster Theological Seminary in situations. In some countries we drive on Escondido, California. the right, in others on the left. But relative standards alone simply won't do. Fundamental moral principles—don't murder, don't steal, and so on—must be objective, binding on all, regardless of pri- vate opinions or emotions. The following debate was first published in the Dallas Morning News and is reprinted here with permission. If someone robs you, your outrage is

4 FREE INQUIRY NO Supreme Being The Common Moral Decencies Is Permitted Don't Depend on Faith

Paul Kurtz not merely a feeling, like feeling hot or an one lead a meaningful life, be a Crusades, the Inquisition, religious- feeling sad. Nor is it merely an opinion Cloving parent and a responsible citi- inspired terrorism in Palestine, the carnage generally accepted within your society, as zen without being religious? Many disci- going on among three religious ethnicities if a society of thieves could legitimately ples of the Christian Coalition admonish in the former Yugoslavia—that it is diffi- have a different opinion. Rather, you rec- us that anyone who does not believe in the cult to blithely maintain that belief in God ognize that the thief has done something Bible is immoral. Yet tens of millions of guarantees morality. It is thus the height of objectively wrong: something that no one Americans are unchurched and millions intolerance to insist that only those who should ever do, regardless of how he feels are secular humanists, agnostics, even accept religious dogma are moral, and that or society thinks. atheists, and they behave responsibly. those who do not are wicked. A second clarification: If I say that Indeed, many heroes and heroines of The truth is that, from the fatherhood ethics requires God, I do not mean that American history have rejected biblical of God, religionists have derived contra- atheists and agnostics never recognize morality and led ethical lives, such as Tom dictory moral commandments. Muslims, moral standards. Even the Bible recog- Paine, Robert Ingersoll, Mark Twain, for example, maintain that polygamy is nizes that they do (Romans 1:32). Indeed Clarence Darrow, Elizabeth Cady divinely inspired; Catholics believe in some say they believe in absolute princi- Stanton, Margaret Sanger, and Isaac monogamy and reject divorce; most ples, though that, of course, is rare. I con- Asimov. Humanistics ethics has deep Protestants and Jews accept divorce under tend, rather, that an atheist or agnostic is roots in Western civilization, from classi- certain conditions. God's name has been not able to give an adequate reason for cal Greece and Rome, through the invoked for and against slavery, capital believing in absolute moral principles. Renaissance to the development of mod- punishment, even war. The German and And when people accept moral principles ern democratic societies. French armies sang praises to the same without good reason, they hold to them The history of philosophy demon- God as they marched off to slaughter each somewhat more loosely than others who strates the efforts of great thinkers—from other in the world wars. accept them upon a rational basis. Aristotle to Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Perhaps one should ask, can a person Nor do I wish to suggest that people Mill, John Dewey, and Sidney Hook—to be truly ethical if he or she has not devel- who believe in God are morally perfect. develop a rational basis for ethical con- oped a caring moral conscience? It need Scripture tells us that isn't so (1 John duct. Ethics, they said, can be autonomous not be based upon the fear or love of God, 1:8-10). The demons are monotheists and needs no theological justification. nor on obedience to his commandments, (James 2:19), but belief in the one God These philosophers have emphasized the but rather on an internalized sense of right doesn't improve their morals. Something need for self-restraint and temperance in a and wrong. more is needed to become good, and that, person's desires. We live in a multicultural world with according to the Bible, is a new heart, Plato argued that the chariot of the soul various religious and secular traditions. given by God's grace in Jesus Christ (2 is led by three horses—passion, ambition, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian cultures do Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:8-10). and reason—and he thought that the ratio- not accept Western monotheism, yet per- Why then should we believe that nal person under the control of wisdom sons in those societies can be as virtuous, morality depends on God? could lead a noble life of balance and kind, and charitable as Westerners. To say God exists is to say that the moderation. The goal is to realize our cre- Every civilized community, whether world is created and controlled by a per- ative potentialities to the fullest, and this religious or secular, recognizes virtually son, one who thinks, speaks, acts ratio- includes our capacity for moral behavior. all of what I call the "common moral nally, loves and judges the world. To deny A good life is achievable by men and decencies": We ought to tell the truth, that God exists is to say that the world women without the need for divinity. It is keep promises, be honest, kind, depend- owes its ultimate origin and direction to simply untrue that if one does not believe able, and compassionate; we ought to be impersonal objects or forces, such as mat- in God, "anything goes." just and tolerant and, whenever possible, So many infamous deeds have been (Continued on p. 6) perpetrated in the name of God—the (Continued on p. 7)

Spring 1996 5 (Without a Supreme Being, cont'd. from p. 5) to deserve such respect. Only God meets "The highest moral and ethical that description. ter, motion, time, and chance. values are absolute. Anyone who What other basis for absolute moral But impersonal objects and forces can- thinks it sufficient to have merely standards can there be? It follows that if not justify ethical obligations. A study of relative standards, based on what we are to reverse our cultural decline, we matter, motion, time, and chance will tell individuals or groups feel is right, should begin to take God much more seri- you what is up to a point, but it will not tell won't see a connection between ously, in parenting, education, and public you what you ought to do. An impersonal God and morality." dialogue. We need to hear much more universe imposes no absolute obligations. about God in our public life, not less. And But if this is God's world, a personal the very nature of moral obligation. We we need leaders who know God and are universe, then we do have reason to cannot be obligated to atoms, or gravity, willing to uphold his absolute standards believe in absolute moral principles. For or evolution, or time, or chance; we can be against the fashionable substitutes of our one thing, as Immanuel Kant pointed out, obligated only to persons. Indeed, we typ- time. I am now giving advice to believers we need an omnipotent God to enforce ically learn morality from our parents, and as well as unbelievers. Lukewarm faith, a moral standards, to make sure that every- we stick to our standards at least partly religious veneer over a secular world- one is properly rewarded and punished. out of loyalty to those we love. An view, will only add to our present ills. But Moral standards without moral sanctions absolute standard, one without excep- consider the likely results of a return in don't mean much. tions, one that binds everybody, must be heart, in reality, to "one nation under More important, we should consider based on loyalty to a person great enough God." •

Rebuttal

Paul Kurtz

tatements like John M. Frame's that rational ethical inquiry in evaluating com- Ayatollah's death sentence against "we need leaders who know God and peting goods and rights. This does not Salman Rushdie for blasphemy? If not, on are willing to uphold his absolute stan- imply a breakdown of morality. what grounds? dards" scare the hell out of Americans Surely religionists and atheists have Second, it is downright false to who believe in liberty. We may ask Mr. moral principles and values in common. assume, as Mr. Frame does, that without Frame: Which absolutes? And whose Their application, however, depends upon God "everything is permitted." The God? And what would happen to our con- intelligent reflective inquiry in concrete lessons of history demonstrate that unbe- stitutional secular democracy and the cases. Reasonable persons will draw upon lievers can be good, and believers wicked. First Amendment principle of separation objective criteria: the facts of the case, a All too many absolutists are intolerant and of church and state if your views were to cost-benefit analysis, weighing the conse- mean-spirited, and have committed all too prevail? many infamies. The "road to hell" is What moral standards are "without "lt is presumptuous of paved by fanatics seeking to impose their exception"? The Bible states, "Thou shalt Mr. Frame to proclaim that moral absolutes on others. not kill"; yet believers condone killing in his values are absolute Secular humanists have a deep sense times of war ("Praise the Lord and pass and sanctified by God." of moral obligation to their fellow human the ammunition") and the death penalty. beings—without need of clergy or divine Likewise, many defend voluntary eutha- quences of alternatives, cherished moral sanctions. I would urge Mr. Frame to nasia for terminally ill patients out of principles, etc. It is especially important exercise tolerance (a key humanist moral compassion. Yes, in principle we in our pluralistic democracy, where there virtue) toward those who do not accept ought not to kill, but this is a general rule, are competing conceptions of the good his faith. It is unfair to blame the decline not an absolute. And we ought not to steal; life, that we justify our moral choices on of morality in America on secularism. yet some justify Robin Hood's actions, rational grounds. The level of church-going in America is particularly when the sheriff of Notting- It is presumptuous of Mr. Frame to higher than that in other secular Western ham is a tyrant. proclaim that his values are absolute and countries; yet we have the highest rates Many moral dilemmas that we face in sanctified by God. Would Mr. Frame of violence, crime, and people in prisons. life are not between good and evil (a sim- accept the pope's proclamation that con- What we need is not a return to the old- plistic view of morality), but between two traception and divorce are absolutely time religion, but a commitment to rea- or more conflicting goods, or the lesser of wrong? Apparently most Roman soned dialogue and the cultivation of eth- two evils. Here there is no substitute for Catholics do not. Would he accept the ical wisdom. •

6 FREE INQUIRY (Common Moral Good, cont'd from p.5) of intelligence to solve human problems. "The truth is that, from the They wish to rely on education, reason, negotiate our differences peacefully. fatherhood of God, religionists science, and democratic methods of per- In my book Forbidden Fruit: The have derived contradictory suasion to improve the human condition. Ethics of Humanism (Prometheus Books, moral commandments." What is the goal of humanist ethics? It 1988), I provide a detailed explanation of is to mitigate suffering and to increase the these common moral virtues. I compress can develop the best that is within us. sum of human happiness, both for the the argument thusly: One needs no theo- Clearly, there are moral disagree- individual and the community at large. logical grounds to justify these elementary ments; and there are new moral principles Although interested in social justice, principles. They are rooted in human expe- that have emerged historically. Often the humanists nevertheless emphasize the rience. Living and working together, we battles for them have been long and ardu- virtues of individuality. They wish to pro- test them by their consequences; each can ous, such as the struggle against slavery vide the opportunities for individuals to be judged by its consistency with other and for the recognition of women's lead the good life on their own terms, cherished principles. A morally developed rights. The need today is to extend our though with sensitivity to others' rights. person understands that he ought not to ethical concern to all members of the They believe in cultivating the conditions lie—not because God or society opposes world community and to find common for moral growth. They affirm that life is lying, but because trust is essential in ground with men and women of differing worthwhile and that it can be a source of human relations. No human community faiths and ideologies. bountiful joy. They believe in developing could endure if lying were generalized. Christians, Muslims, and Jews believe self-reliant persons, who are rational and Genuine moral awareness needs to be in the promise of eternal salvation for responsible, who can discover and appre- nourished in the young; we need to develop those who obey God's commandments. ciate truth, beauty, and goodness, and character, but also some capacities for eth- Humanists prefer to focus on this life here who are able to share these stores of wis- ical reasonings. It is by education that we and now, and they strive to develop the arts dom with others. •

to seek the greatest happiness for the Rebuttal greatest number, even if that makes a minority totally miserable (as in Hitler's Germany)? Obviously we need a princi- ple other than "the consequences" if we are to choose between one set of conse- John M. Frame quences and another. Mr. Kurtz's third answer is that we uch of Paul Kurtz's article belabors Mr. Kurtz's second answer is that we test each principle "by its consistency Mobvious truths that I stated in my should test moral principles "by their with other cherished principles." But own contribution: that atheists and consequences." But of course we know which principle should we cherish most? humanists do honor moral standards and only the short-term consequences of our Do we compromise B to maintain consis- that theists sometimes do wrong. He also tency with A, or the reverse? Equality of addresses the question I posed, namely, wealth or of opportunity? The right of a "Even if we had a crystal ball to "Why be moral?" but his response is very woman to choose or the right of a child to tell us the long-term confused. life? Or is the highest principle, after all, consequences of our decisions, He gives at least three different answers, the law of God, with which absolutely we would still need an additional which arise out of different (and conflict- every other principle must be made con- standard to evaluate those ing) philosophical viewpoints. The first is sistent? Not for Mr. Kurtz; but what prin- consequences." that ethics is based on "an internalized ciple does he cherish above all overs, and sense of right and wrong." But what moral why? He has no answer. So his "princi- standards should we internalize? Those of decisions. History is not easy to antici- pled" approach is at bottom another form Confucius? Tom Paine? Charles Manson? pate. How could Columbus have imag- of arbitrariness. As Mr. Kurtz points out, theists have had ined the consequences of his western Mr. Kurtz has done us a favor by sum- ethical disagreements; but consider the journeys? And even if we had a crystal marizing the three most common ways in amount of disagreement among those who ball to tell us the long-term consequences which people have tried to justify ethics base their ethics on "an internalized sense of our decisions, we would still need an without God. But those ways have failed. of right and wrong." Is there any horrible additional standard to evaluate those con- When you think of it, any terrible crime felon in the history of the world who has sequences. Mr. Kurtz thinks that "human can be justified by any of Mr. Kurtz's three not claimed to be motivated by an internal- happiness" is a good thing. But how do types of ethics. The conclusion stands: ized sense of right and wrong? we determine that? And would it be right Without God, anything is permitted. •

Spring 1996 7 Religion and the Public Schools Introduction Andrea Szalanski

ne is hard pressed to find anyone sat- an eye toward the realization that assign- written. Popular notions have become the Oisfied with education in the United ing accountability achieves results, have rule, and television the authority. Kids States today. Administrators, teachers, begun to decentralize, sharing the man- lack the discriminatory ability to put this and parents point fingers at one another agement decision-making with parents, in perspective. over students' failures to succeed. non-administrative staff and even stu- Still, there is at least one lesson Urban districts eye with envy the well- dents. Many more people have been American public schools seem to have funded programs of their suburban drawn into the process of education. taught rather well: students have learned neighbors. Public school parents wonder Decisions are often based on consensus, not to hate in the name of religion. The what advantages private schools are giving all parties involved good exercise same can't be said for everywhere in the bestowing on the children who attend in honing their skills in argument and per- world. them. And everyone is at a loss to suasion. In the pages that follow we present a respond when faced with the news that This atmosphere of mixing and work- variety of views on the faults of public students in many other countries are ing together has led to an unsurpassed education and the remedies that can be mastering their subjects at a much period of tolerance and respect for differ- undertaken. But all the authors agree that higher level than here. ences. Different districts approach the the biggest challenge to public education The unhappiness has been brewing for modern classroom in different ways. Some today comes from the Christian right, many years, and efforts to fix things areas mark each constituent group's spe- which would return religion to the class- abound. The focus has been on public cial occasions, or officially note none at room. schools, because that's where more than all. Vern Bullough begins by tracing the 9O percent of the nation's students are Things are also looking up academi- history of the conflict between the con- taught. Because many of the critics of cally. Last fall, the National Center for stitutional and cultural traditions on modern-day education portray its defects Education Statistics released a report religion in the United States. Thomas in terms of character issues—discipline, called "High School Students Ten Years Flynn makes his case for an "affirma- attitude toward authority, even dress and After 'A Nation at Risk."' It showed that tive secularism" that would preserve cleanliness—religion has been proposed students today are taking more demand- religious freedom by removing all the as the solution to the problems. Bring God ing coursework and scoring better on pro- trappings of all religion from all aspects to school and students will behave and ficiency tests. The dropout rate has of public life, and Rob Boston responds learn something. declined. with concerns for First Amendment Not so fast. Let's talk about what's There are obvious reasons for the Rights. right about public schools. They are still problems in public education that do exist. Edward Tabash urges us to combine the best opportunity for people of different Many parents lack the time to involve forces with secular conservatives to win backgrounds to meet and mix. The differ- themselves in school affairs or too deeply the battle for church-state separation. ences in background are increasingly eco- in the lives of their own children, as they Jack Massen outlines a course on free- nomic, not ethnic, in origin and the bene- are overwhelmed by work responsibilities thought that he is packaging for educa- fits of mixing accrue to adults as well as and personal difficulties. When they do tional use. Joe Barnhart describes his children. talk to educators, they are often at odds ideas for a libertarian approach to educa- Public schools have entered an era of and unable to trust and cooperate. tion which would give parents a choice of increasing student, parent, and teacher Television has given many youths a curricula. Finally, Michael Rockler exam- accountability. Some school systems, with taste for excitement and quick resolutions. ines the dangers for church-state separa- They have acquired a depressing and vio- tion that privatization holds for public Andrea Szalanski is managing editor of lent picture of the world, and are choosing schools. We trust that readers will be chal- FREE INQUIRY. oral and visual forms of expression over lenged by this important debate. • 8 FREE INQUIRY These practices emphasize the assump- tion of the churches accepting the separa- tion of church and state that the United Church and State: States was essentially a Christian nation; non-Christians would be tolerated provid- A Humanist View ing that they did not cause too much trou- ble. In a sense I myself have been a cow- ard. I tried to get the American Civil Liberties Union in New York to challenge Vern L. Bullough court oath-taking practices, but it was not interested since for many people the oaths here have been two conflicting tradi- had become meaningless. I did not want Ttions in the United States about the to expend the effort myself. relationship between church and state. The The general pervasiveness of Christian first is exemplified by the holiday of assumptions about morality and family Thanksgiving, which emphasizes the reli- was reinforced by the so-called Mormon gious foundation of the United States. The cases, the first of which Reynolds v. United Pilgrim fathers set out in the New World States, which reached the Supreme Court not only to worship as they wanted but to in 1878 and established monogamy as the establish God's kingdom. They had the norm, ruling that it was the basis of truth and all others were wrong; church Western (read mainstream Christian) soci- and state were one. The second tradition etal life. In a sense, this was a double- comes from the time of the writing of the edged decision because the Justices, in American Constitution, when our deistic, "Although the United States is the their effort to outlaw the Mormon practice, freethinking Founding Fathers (no moth- most religious country in terms of in effect asserted that marriage could be ers) embodied in the Constitution the prin- numbers of believers and regulated by law, guaranteeing the states ciple of separation of church and state. churchgoers among the major the right to issue licenses and to control The conflict between the two traditions nations of the world (due I think marriage independent of the church. should be obvious, and it was neatly primarily to our continued effort to Another one of the Mormon decisions finessed by our Constitution makers by retain a separation of church and marked the most far-reaching secular more or less ignoring what states did. state), the militants will not rest claims of government. The case of the Although technically the last established because things have not turned out Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints religion was eliminated in 1833 in Massa- as they believed they would, with v. United States (1890) upheld the constitu- chusetts, the lack of an established religion the establishment of a new kingdom tionality of a law adopted by Congress in did not mean real separation of church and of God in the United States." 1887 that annulled the charter of the state. States later admitted to the union had Mormon church and declared all the prop- to adopt statutes about religious freedom, was required to swear an oath on the Bible erty forfeited except a small portion used but, since most Americans nominally to tell the truth so help me God. I objected exclusively for worship. In a sense, how- came from a European Christian back- to the attorneys for whom I was testifying ever, this case represented not so much a ground, religious observances played an but they asked me not to call attention to conflict between church and state, but a important role in American history. One the issue since it could negatively affect statement of the dominant religions in current example is the delivering of a their client. I complied. In the university United States against the feared Mormons. prayer that opens up Congress, a practice at which I taught in New York, the com- The way I interpret the decision is that that FREE INQUIRY'S editor, Paul Kurtz, mencement ceremonies were opened and the Court was able to assert the supremacy attempted to stop by a lawsuit, which he closed with prayers, although there was a of state over church because it was basi- lost. real effort by the clergy doing the invoca- cally concerned with what Mormonism I was never more struck by the contra- tion and benediction to keep their remarks was doing to good Christian belief, and in dictions in our concepts of separation of general and platitudinous. Most secular this it had the almost unanimous support church and state than when I lived in so- schools in the United States have of all the other churches in the United called emancipated New York State. I Christmas and Easter breaks, although the States. In fact, as late as United States v. appeared several times in court in New Easter break is somewhat less common Macintosh (1931), the Court went so far York as an expert witness, and each time I than it was a few years ago. The most sec- as to declare that Americans were a ular school I attended was the University Christian people. The actual case dealt Vern L. Bullough has had a long and distin- of Chicago, at one time a Baptist school, with a conscientious objector who had guished career as an educator and author. which ignored religious holidays of all applied for citizenship and been denied. He is currently professor of history at kinds but did have its quarter session usu- He appealed, and the Court decided that, California State University at Northridge. ally end about December 22. unless Congress ruled otherwise, obedi-

Spring 19% 9 ence to the laws of the land was required include non-Christians or very trouble- lishment. Another humanist case was since such laws were not inconsistent with some ones. Conscientious objectors soon Torcaso v. Watkins (1961). Roy Torcaso, the will of God, i.e., as interpreted by benefitted from this interpretation when an active humanist, had been denied his mainstream Christian thinkers. the Court in essence revised its 1931 deci- commission as a notary public because he sions and said in Girouard v. United would not swear that he believed in the he real turning point, I think, in push- States (1946) that refusal to bear arms existence of God. He won. As school Ting a humanist agenda in terms of was not necessarily grounds for denial of boards and other jurisdictions lost in one separation of church and state, came in the citizenship since religiously motivated area or another, they tried to recoup their 1930s in several cases involving the pacificism came under the freedom of losses by redefining and extending in Jehovah's Witnesses. Lovell v. Griffin religion clause. another. New York, for example, tried to (1938); Schneider v. Irvington, N.J. The first major humanist case to reach dictate a non-sectarian school prayer in (1939); and Cantwell v. Connecticut the courts was McCollum v. Board of order to conform with a state law requir- (1940) dealt with the right of Jehovah's Education (1948). The courts held that the ing the use of prayer when sectarian Witnesses to distribute literature. The use of tax-supported property for religious prayer was not permitted. This attempt decisions not only emphasized that the instruction and the close cooperation was declared unconstitutional in Engel v. state should not interfere in such distribu- between school authorities and religious Vitale in 1962. Other jurisdictions tion to protect freedom of religion, but councils in promoting religious education required the reading of Bible verses. In emphasized the right of free speech as was unconstitutional. It emphasized, fol- one decision, Murray v. Curlett, a some- well. In a sense, these decisions marked a lowing an earlier decision, Everson v. time humanist but more active atheist, reversal of the trend established by the Board of Education (1947), that, although Madalyn Murray O'Hair, was involved. previous cases involving Mormonism. the state might be allowed to provide stu- The Court held that religious exercises Perhaps the most important of the dents bus transportation to parochial that are prescribed as part of the curricu- Jehovah's Witnesses decisions was the schools and supply traffic guards, this was lar activities of students who are required Minersville School District v. Gobitis done to protect children and not to support by law to attend school are a violation of (1940), which said that a school district religion. It held, as was emphasized in the the Constitution, and this included school could not force Witness children to salute McCollum case, that church and the state prayer. the flag. can best work to achieve their lofty aims if Although the Witnesses lost some of each is left free from the other. Going ne of the organizations (besides the the many cases they took to court, they somewhat further was Burstyn v. Wilson OACLU) struggling with this issue mostly won. They forced the courts and (1952), resulting from the attempt of New was Americans United for the Separation civil authorities to be more secular in their York to ban the film The Miracle on the of Church and State. At various times I interpretation of the law. The Court held grounds that it was "sacrilegious." The was a dues-paying member of the latter. that religion was important and should be Court ruled that people have a right to be This group had been started in 1949 by protected even when it does not conform sacrilegious if they wanted to. Baptists, and essentially grew out of con- to standard Christian interpretations. This cern with what was deemed the aggressive to my mind was at the heart of the decision till the United States was permeated policies of the Roman Catholic church in of the Court in United States v. Ballard with religious laws. Until well into the the United States. In fact, it was originally (1944). Guy Ballard and members of his 1960s, many states and jurisdictions, called Protestants and Other Americans family had founded a religion, the "I am" including Pennsylvania and Ohio, had Sab- United for the Separation of Church and movement based on Ballard's beliefs that bath-closing laws for commercial busi- State. The group held that there was a dis- he had talked and shaken hands with Jesus nesses, both of which I learned about tinctive Christian basis for religious toler- as well as St. Germain, George Washing- through living on the Ohio-Pennsylvania ation. In a sense many of the Protestants ton, and others. He had been sued for per- border. In Ohio, this permitted Jewish-run tended to ignore the fact that they con- petuating a fraud to collect money, but the enterprises to open on Sunday, providing trolled the public schools (one of the rea- Court held that such matters were not they closed from sundown on Friday to sons Catholics had established parochial within their jurisdiction. This was because sundown on Saturday. In Pennsylvania, schools) or that many of the basic institu- the test of religion under the Constitution restaurants, except in hotels, had to be tions of our society were overlaid with was belief, and religious belief was consti- closed on Sundays. Even baseball games Protestant interpretations. Although tutionally protected. If fraud was involved had to end at a certain time on Sunday in Americans United has changed over the it had to be separated from religious belief order to allow people to attend evening years, pushed away to some extent from and teachings. church services. Gradually these laws were its Protestant bias by the formation of Although the Jehovah Witnesses and removed, and as they were non-believers Americans for Religious Liberty by Ed the Ballard case were extending religion began agitating more forcefully for their Doerr, current president of the American further afield than the mainstream own rights. Still, it is impossible to buy Humanist Association, the ambiguity of Christianity of earlier decisions, the clear beer on Sunday in New York before noon its original commitment is emphasized by aim of the Court seemed to be to preserve and impossible to buy hard liquor all day. the changing stand of the Southern religion, even if it meant broadening it to It takes dedication to fight the estab- Baptists, once the bulwark of church-state 10 FREE INQUIRY separation. basically their attack is on secularism, to achieving. The initial group in all these The change, in my opinion, was due to which they read as humanism, and on mul- cases might well have been believers, but the shift in the United States from small- ticulturalism, which they view as un- as new generations come along, conditions town to urban-centered life. In rural Christian. The spectrum of Christian changed, belief declined, and it became southern America, where the Southern America having not only synagogues but necessary either to maintain it by forced Baptists had been dominant, there was a mosques, Buddhist and Hindu temples, is conformity, adopt compromises, or, as has sort of unconscious Christian underpin- anathema to their beliefs. happened in the past, abandon the move- ning for almost all aspects of life. Prayer Although the United States is the most ment all together, as happened in the in schools, for example, was natural, since religious country in terms of numbers of Soviet Union. it was assumed that everyone agreed believers and churchgoers among the Humanists at least have reality on their although they might be Methodists, major nations of the world (due I think pri- side. It might seem somewhat outlandish Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, or marily to our continued effort to retain a to equate the Religious Right with the Episcopalians. The village atheists and separation of church and state), the mili- founders of the Soviet Union, but their even the humanists could be tolerated in tants will not rest because things have not endpoint is very much the same, the the small town, but mostly such people turned out as they believed they would, utopian kingdom of God or man, and to were regarded as harmless eccentrics. with the establishment of a new kingdom the believer any means is justified to bring Many of those who had previously looked of God in the United States. The issue is this closer. In the present context of the upon separation of church and state as a further complicated because the militant United States it means a full-scale assault general version of Christian toleration and Christians have captured a significant sec- on separation of church and state and on denial of any established church saw a tion of the Republican Party, in part secular humanism. From their viewpoint, new danger in secularism, i.e., the state is because they have an agenda, while the we are the enemy. vigorously neutral when it comes to reli- opposition, the majority, is in disarray, gion, and they interpreted the new situa- because we ourselves have not adjusted to References tion as "godless atheism." the changes brought about by the collapse Burstyn v. Wilson, 343 U.S. 495 (1952). While giving lip service to church-state of the Soviet Union and the redefinition of Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940). separation, they put the issues in terms of the enemy. The Soviet Union represented Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v. preserving traditional morality, reinvigo- godless atheism, state control, lack of free- United States, 136 U.S. (1890). Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962). rating the family, and of overcoming sec- dom, and many other things, some of Girouard v. United States, 328 U.S. 61 (1946). ularism, which is seen as having no which had merit, but others were inimical Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U.S. 444 (1938). morality and implied the "removal of gov- to humanism. Its collapse, however, has McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203 (1948). ernment" from our lives. In a sense, this is given strength to those who saw the world Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947). turning the clock back. Although Jerry in black-and-white terms, godless atheism Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586 Falwell's Moral Majority has come and versus Christian belief. In the battle (1940). Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1878). gone, it has been replaced by other groups between church and state, the secularists Schneider v. Irvington, N.J., 308 U.S. 147 (1939). emphasizing the need to return to God: have been winning. No wonder the Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961). Pat Robertson and his Christian Coalition; Christian right is fearful and so politicized. United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944). United States v. Mcintosh, 283 U.S. 605 (1931). • Gary Bauer and the Family Research In the long run, I think the Christian Council; James Dobson's Focus on the right will be defeated, but only if human- Family; Beverly LaHaye's Concerned ists remain vigilant and build new coali- Women for America; Louis Sheldon's tions. I hope that humanists do not become Buchanan on Traditional Values Coalition; Phyllis identified with one particular party, as the Secular Humanism Schlafly's Eagle Forum; the National Christian right has been, since on many Right to Life Committee; and a host of issues we humanists disagree. But I think Presidential candidate Patrick others. These groups have become more we need to unite to preserve our vision of Buchanan was quoted as saying doctrinaire, as shown by the heresy trials the United States as expressed by James the following at a rally of sup- and seminary takeovers among the Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and others. In Southern Baptists and the Missouri Synod the long run it has been more viable. porters in Des Moines, Iowa: Lutherans. They are trying to resurrect the Theocracy, entrenched as it may be in "We see a cultural war going on Puritan version of God's kingdom in the American thought, is not based on a real for the soul of America. We see New World. Theirs is a vision of America understanding of human nature, whether it the God of the Bible expelled that has always existed and in fact only be Calvin's Geneva, Plymouth's Pilgrims, from our public schools and began to be challenged effectively in the Massachusetts' Puritans, Mormonism's last part of this century. United Order, or any other number of such replaced by all the false gods of Although they couch much of their attempts including, in my estimation, the secular humanism. Easter is campaign in Christian moral terms, i.e. secular utopia to which many communists out, but we can celebrate Earth school prayer, the voucher system, attacks subscribed and which for a time they Day. We can now worship dirt." on reproductive rights, and what have you, thought the Soviet Union was on the way Spring 1996 11 tianity—later, Judeo-Christianity—has enjoyed immense social and cultural advantages over other life-stances. Most Point of that infrastructure of unjust preference remains in place. Yet the nation is entering a new chapter in its demographic history: never before have minorities who are The Case for devoutly religious but not Judeo-Christian been so visible. In my opinion, nothing Affirmative Secularism less than a naked public square will pro- vide buffer enough between Christians, Jews, and equally committed partisans of Thomas W. Flynn other world religions. Why a long-range agenda? Because No man has a right in America to treat the short-range prospects are so bleak. any other man "tolerantly," for toler- Ten years ago it seemed that by pursuing ance is the assumption of superiority. their established secularizing agendas, —Wendell L. Willkie Jews and the unchurched would have no trouble stowing enough of America's e've all had this discussion. Speak Christian baggage to ready the nation for Wup for secular public schools, and its polycreedal future. Though the someone is sure to complain that every- Supreme Court could be maddeningly thing from public morality to the quality inconsistent, allowing crèches if flanked of wool socks has nose-dived since the by enough elves and reindeer and uphold- Supreme Court mandated "schools with- ing the unwise Equal Access Act, most of out prayer." Customarily, the secularist its relevant rulings have advanced secular- replies, "Individual, voluntary prayer in "I believe the surest precondition ization. Today's Court sends signals that it schools is not unconstitutional." I have for real religious freedom in thinks church-state separation has gone often used that line of argument. Still, private life is the removal of too far. Unfortunately, this all but guaran- each time I do, I feel disingenuous. How it religious language, symbols, and tees that needed reforms will not occur in galls me to leave off the "Not yet!" subject matter from public life." time for the emerging non-Judeo- I write as a secular humanist who is Christian minorities. If the price of this also a strong secularist. I believe the ularism that forbids public school pupils failure is a future of religiously mediated surest precondition for real religious free- to wear crucifixes, or bans miniature social unrest, there will be little secularists dom in private life is the removal of reli- Christmas trees on workers' desks at City can do about it except to say, "We told you gious language, symbols, and subject mat- Hall, goes too far. They associate such an so." But I submit that we can use the com- ter from public life. I say religious uncompromising stance not with human- ing years to craft a plan of action whose symbols have no business on public prop- ism, but with the atheism of Madalyn implementation can begin next time the erty. I don't think individual voluntary Murray O'Hair, who once sued—regret- pendulum swings our way, be that in five prayer should be encouraged in public tably, without success—to enjoin Apollo or twenty years. schools. I don't believe public schools can astronauts from reading to America from In this enterprise, I believe we have provide fair and equal treatment for stu- the Bible while in lunar orbit. less to lose through boldness than through dents of all religious backgrounds (and My purpose in this article is to outline timidity. In particular I think it is counter- none) until they question the role of all a militantly secularist long-range agenda productive to confine ourselves to advo- religious speech, not just that orchestrated on the separation of church and state, cating what is "politically practical" in the by teachers and administrators. In my especially in public schools. I will attempt short term. For one thing, there are more opinion, public schools should be reli- to justify this position in detail, explain than enough liberal Protestants and reli- gion-free zones. Someday, though almost why I think it is necessary, suggest a con- gious humanists to defend that rampart. certainly not under the current Supreme stitutional interpretation consistent with For another, as we will see, the only Court, I hope—even dare to expect—that it, and propose a market basket of reforms options that seem "short-term possible" they will be. Needless to say, in this arti- staunch secularists might pursue. today forgive too much residual Christian cle I am speaking for myself not for the Why a militantly secularist agenda? influence in public life for serious secu- organized secular humanist movement. Because despite three decades of dra- larists to accept them. Some humanists think a muscular sec- matic, if uneven, reform, American public We must set our sights on a more dis- life is still too redolent of Christianity to tant horizon. At least twice before, the Thomas W. Flynn is a senior editor of accommodate an increasingly religiously Supreme Court has reversed itself, incur- FREE INQUIRY. diverse population. Historically Chris- ring the costs of overturning substantial

12 FREE INQUIRY bodies of precedent, in order to keep pace tive secularization that seemed poised to cally expected that government would uphold the commonly agreed on with changing moral perceptions. In a dispose of religion in public life the way Protestant ethos and morality. In many very real sense, we secularists are like Abraham Lincoln had hoped to dispose of instances, they had not come to grips abolitionists after 1857, dreaming of over- slavery in the years before the Civil War: with the implications their belief in the turning Dred Scott v. Sandford. We are to "place it where the public mind shall powerlessness of government in reli- like racial equalitarians after 1896, dream- rest in the belief that it is in the course of gious matters [embodied in the First Plessy v. Ferguson. Out ultimate extinction."' Average Americans Amendment's religion clauses] held for ing of overturning a society in which the values, customs, of step with their times, visionary, the took this affirmative's advance so much and forms of Protestant Christianity abolitionists and equalitarians nonetheless for granted that they often overestimated thoroughly permeated civil and political saw their dreams come true. So can we. I its progress. Fifty-five percent of respon- life. The contradiction between their dream of a naked public square; here's dents to a 1994 poll thought it was already theory and their practice became evi- unlawful for public school students to dent to Americans only later, with the why I believe you should too. advent of a more religiously pluralistic pray privately.' Think what that means: if society.° The Trend toward Affirmative some sudden Supreme Court decision had Secularization: 1962-1995 declared private prayer in schools illegal, fewer than half of all Americans would That advent has taken on enormous begin, let's review the relevant his- even have regarded it as a change! dimensions today. In addition to the "Old 1tory. During the last three decades, Outsiders"—the 5.5 million Jews and 13 secularism won unprecedented battles in Affirmative Secularization to 20 million unbelievers who comprise the courts. A profound secularizing Prepares America for America's best-known religious minori- momentum came into being in the 1950s, Demographic Change ties—America is now home to the "New entered its stride in 1962, and is just now Outsiders," perhaps three to five million sputtering out. The stage was set with td secularization wasn't healthy for Muslims, one million Hindus, one million Everson v. Board of Education (1947); Rzmerica just because public culture Buddhists, and smaller but still significant though in one sense a loss, in that it had treated Jews and infidels so unfairly delegations from almost every other creed allowed states to reimburse parents for for so long. In one of those fortuitous on Earth.' costs of transporting children to parochial coincidences that occur all too seldom in This ongoing demographic shift con- schools, the decision included seminal a nation's history, secularization was also tinually reveals new contradictions in the judicial language on church-state separa- preparing the country for an unanticipated old assumptions of a "Christian" America. tion that informed almost all of the secular- demographic challenge. Even so, wrenching as the church-state izing decisions that followed. McCollum v. Until recently there was an underlying transformations since 1962 have been, in Board of Education (1948) and Zorach v. homogeneity in American religious life: one sense they are trifles. A century and a Clauson (1952) eliminated church-spon- Christians and Jews believed in the same half ago, America was like a music hall in sored religious instruction on school prop- god that atheists disbelieved in, and no which a Protestant bully, having seized erty. With the landmark cases Engel v. groups devoted to some other deity were the stage, kept the microphone all to him- Vitale (1962) and Abingdon School District present in numbers large enough to shape self. Today the Protestant bully has v. Schemmp (1963), the secularizing public debate. This situation enabled allowed Catholic and Jewish sidekicks to impulse was off and running. One finds its Christianity to arrogate to itself a great join him onstage—no small reform. But echoes even in cases far removed from many inappropriate privileges. When this Judeo-Christian oligopoly behaves as education, most spectacularly Roe v. Wade Jews objected, Christians could minimize disgracefully as the Protestant monopoly (1973). As recently as 1992, the Court their claims by rationalizing Judaism it succeeded, stiff-arming unbelievers, struck down high school graduation away as a kind of flawed sibling to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and whom- prayers administered by school officials Christianity. As for the non-religious, ever else might want to mount the stage (Lee v. Weisman). Even in 1995, it could let most were former Christians or Jews. In and speak a few words into that coveted stand a ruling ordering a Bloomingdale, any event, Christians could rationalize microphone. That is the context in which Michigan, public high school to take down treating atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, Christians' claims about their rights to a two-by-three-foot portrait of Jesus, and and humanists unequally precisely "free religious expression" need to be refuse to review a case in which a junior because they were unspiritual. Consti- evaluated. high school student was penalized for writ- tutional scholar Thomas J. Curry noted The hard work of secularizing America ing a term paper about Jesus against a that when the First Amendment was first is, at most, a third done. Out of step with teacher's instructions. adopted, Colonial Americans never imag- today's popular temper as it may be, peace Chief Justice Burger once wrote: "A ined the sort of radical religious diversity among the faiths in a polycreedal America certain momentum develops in constitu- that the nation displays today: is going to require nothing less than the tional theory and it can be a downhill radical de-Christianization of public life. The public square must be stripped so thrust easily set in motion but difficult to The vast majority of Americans stop."' What we had from 1962 on was assumed that theirs was a Christian, i.e. bare of religious references that Amer- not merely momentum: it was an affirma- Protestant country, and they automati- icans of all faiths can occupy it in comfort

Spring 1996 13 and with realistic expectations of equality. that colleges must give student-activity that Clinton outflanked the Religious No tradition can remain that suggests a money to religious publications if other Right, tarnished the prospects for either dominant Christian majority is simply student publications are funded similarly, school prayer amendment, and cemented showing tolerance for the benighted and that public property must be made the support of religious moderates in the adherents of other creeds. The alternative available for privately sponsored religious coming election. Perhaps that is what he is the near-certainty that America's public displays. The latter ruling severely cur- and they had in mind. There was a wide institutions will become battlegrounds tailed lawsuits against displays of coalition of liberal and secular organiza- between Christian traditionalists and New improper preference toward Christians and tions that supported this effort. Outsider militants. Jews during the 1995 holiday season .8 As Nevertheless, what Clinton actually Understandably, many American Chris- this is written, two Republican-sponsored did was decisively stem the momentum of tians abhor this idea. They accuse secular- constitutional amendments seek to turn affirmative secularization. Few secular ists of oppressing the faithful and of seeking back the clock on secularization. Repre- humanists have yet realized what a stun- to "sterilize" the culture. Their discomfort sentative Henry Hyde (R-III.) has offered a ning reversal Clinton's "Vienna Doctrine" is understandable; today's Christians did Religious Equality Amendment that would was. Clinton moved the left-most bound- not create but rather inherited a social struc- bar interpreting the Establishment Clause ary of mainstream church-state debate far ture that affords Christianity undue social in ways that impair religious groups. to the right, and established a climate in and political advantage over other life- Representative Ernest J. Istook, Jr., (R- which new secularizing initiatives will stances. Still, church-state separation attor- Okla.) promotes a more strident Religious attract little support if they are seen to "go ney Ronald A. Lindsay urges us to keep Liberties Amendment that would specifi- beyond" Vienna's narrow limits. Christians' misgivings, however sincerely cally permit school prayer. I am not alone in viewing Clinton's meant, in perspective: A growing anti-secularist tide leaves actions negatively. The day after the its marks in less formal arenas too. The speech, the New York Times expressed edi- What is going on here is whining: whin- Boys Scouts have taken up what amounts torial dismay: "Mr. Clinton's emphasis on ing by individuals and groups who have to a nationwide purge of atheists from the permissive rather than the protective been deprived of the truly privileged Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs. aspects of the First Amendment was trou- position they once enjoyed. For most of this country's history, theism, in particu- And thousands of Christians have found a bling and dangerous. . . . Mr. Clinton lar Christianity, has enjoyed favor... . new outlet for intolerance in acts of civil invites proselytizers to turn schools into The courts have put an end to some, but disobedience at public school gradua- religion-saturated environments.."'" If certainly not all, of the collaboration tions. All too often, school administrators future presidents must contend with public between church and state. In doing so, have done nothing—and suffered no pun- horror at religious violence in the schools, the courts have upset many who assumed that this was the proper way of ishment for having done nothing—when or quell unrest sparked by New Outsider doing things, the American way of students and parents defiantly recited outrage at having a Christian agenda doing things, and who did not see any- graduation prayers. imposed on their children, they will no thing coercive, let alone unconstitu- doubt think of Clinton the way contempo- tional, about such practices. Not rary historians view Neville Chamberlain. unnaturally, they have interpreted [secu- Clinton Derails Affirmative larizing] actions as an attack on reli- Secularization Like Chamberlain, Clinton strove to buy gion, when in reality they were simply peace but made conflict inevitable by mak- an attempt to put an end to the privi- rr he person most responsible in my ing the wrong concessions to the wrong leged position that religion enjoyed.' view for sapping the momentum of people at the wrong time. secularization is, perhaps surprisingly, In my book The Trouble with Christians' claims that secularization President Bill Clinton. In his July 12, Christmas, I spotlighted New York State's threatens their "rights" to free religious 1995, speech at James Madison High Williamsville Central Schools as a secu- expression are no more credible than School in Vienna, Virginia, Clinton said larization success story. It exemplifies just complaints by Jim Crow-era Southern that the First Amendment was never the sort of responsible local response to whites that integration endangered their meant to make schools religion-free religious diversity that the "Vienna rights to self-determination. zones. "Some school officials and teach- Doctrine" will make unlikely, if not ers and parents believe that the impossible, in the years ahead. Into the Dark Years? Constitution forbids any religious expres- In 1992, Williamsville, an upscale sub- sion at all in public places," Clinton pro- urb of Buffalo, unveiled an ambitious plan s the twentieth century draws to a claimed. "That is wrong." He directed to strip its public schools of long-estab- A lose," said Americans for Religious Attorney General Janet Reno and lished Christian and Jewish trappings dur- Liberty's Edd Doerr in a recent speech, Education Secretary Richard Riley to ing the holiday season. It had adopted this "all is not well. The progress we once took send an advisory to school districts plan independently, voluntarily, without for granted is now seen as in danger of spelling out what schools may or may not threat of suits or orders from some educa- rolling backwards."' This change is do with regard to religion.' Clinton's tion commissioner. Educators and parents reflected in a flurry of negative Supreme action has received many interpretations. simply responded to their own percep- Court decisions. In 1995 the Court ruled A widely held favorable reading holds tions of growing diversity. The plan was

14 FREE INQUIRY far-reaching. There were to be no Christmas trees, no holiday assem- blies, no hallway deco- rations, not even a win- Yo' > tv ter concert. Predictably, SURE HAVE BEEN conservative Christians WALKING FUNNY howled in protest and railed about "steriliza- LATELY tion." Equally pre- 411 dictably, the 1993 school board elections turned into a church- state catfight. Christian candidates struggled to unseat incumbents who had supported the plan. The Christian Coalition got into the act, flood- ing the community with voter's guides. The ),) result? Williamsville's non-Judeo-Christian professionals became politically involved, got out the vote, and returned by comfort- able margins every one of the incumbents responsible for ejecting Christmas and Chanukah from the schools. Today, though some conservative Christians remain bitter, most in Williamsville not only accept but In this new church-state environment, today's America, home to every religion endorse the district's holiday policy. Many secular humanists need to argue openly in the world, was a nation yet unborn. residents report feeling good that their that for the Constitution's promises of How should strong secularists read the community took the lead in doing what fairness and equality to be fulfilled in a First Amendment's religion clauses to was so manifestly the right thing. polycreedal society, public schools (and help the nation cope with new demo- It's hard to see how Williamsville's pol- by extension, public squares) should graphic realities? icy could take shape today if it had not become just what Clinton said they're not: We might begin by observing that the existed before the Vienna Doctrine. religion-free, value-neutral zones. religion clauses comprise a two-edged "There's no need to forbid wreaths in the sword. They were designed not only to hallways," someone would object. "The A Strong Secularist Reading protect religion against government, but president said we don't have to be a reli- of the First Amendment also to protect government against reli- gion-free zone." And that would be that. gion. "Given the extraordinary religious If, as its defenders claim, Clinton's doc- ontrary to conservatives who obsess diversity of our nation, the Establishment trine is truly the best responsible progres- Cover original intent, the Constitution Clause functions to depoliticize religion; sives can hope for, then we should begin is a living document, subject to reading— it thereby helps to defuse a potentially by admitting how much we've lost. when necessary, re-reading—in the con- explosive situation," Constitutional Clinton has created a situation under text of the times. Richard Henry Lee, a scholar Leonard Levy observes.12 which a reform that seemed daring, posi- Virginia anti-federalist, described the first In his "Detached Memoranda" James tive, forward-looking, but altogether fea- ten amendments as statements "for ages Madison warned that: "Strongly guarded sible just four years ago wouldn't stand a and nations yet unborn."" Surely at the as is the separation between Religion and chance today. time the Bill of Rights was composed, Government in the Constitution of the Spring 1996 15 United States the danger of encroachment decades to come."Designed to serve as another religious group hold unortho- by ecclesiastical Bodies" remained a clear perhaps the most powerful agency for pro- dox—and constitutionally protected— and present danger." moting cohesion among a heterogeneous views. In such situations government is Perhaps we need only quote the major- democratic people, the public school must helpless to do anything but retreat from the ity opinion in Lemon v. Kurtzman: keep scrupulously free from entanglement contended topic area. This insight has pro- "Political division along religious lines in the strife of sects," Justice Felix found implications for issues such as evo- was one of the principal evils against Frankfurter opined in 1948's McCollum lution and teaching about religion. Simply which the First Amendment was intended decision." In fact, American public put, religion is too hot for public schools to to protect?'" schools have never done very well at free- handle. Why might an institution as powerful as ing themselves from the strife of sects, Given this, the Vienna Doctrine— government need to be protected against though the Engel and Schemmp decisions which forbids teacher-sponsored prayer religion? "A Government held together by were bold steps in the right direction. but sanctions individual religious expres- the bands of reason only, requires much I advance a four-point argument to sion by students—is clearly insufficient. compromise of opinion," wrote Thomas show why the public schools should be Offense is inevitable when teachers make Jefferson.15 Democracy demands compro- religion-free zones: students join in prayer, of course; that was mise—and absolutist religious faith, zeal- 1. Government compels school atten- the thrust of the Engel decision. But reli- ously held, is the antithesis of compromise. dance. Minor children not attending rec- gious speech is no less likely to offend Staunch believers in any creed may find it ognized private schools or undergoing when initiated by other students, particu- intolerable that extra-religious considera- home schooling must attend public larly when they are encouraged to do so tions limit their freedom to act on their con- schools. This obligation is enforced by by religious partisans in the community. victions. While it is not true of all religious truancy law; presumably every public The calls for student-led prayers only sup- believers, surely religious fanatics cannot school contains students who are present port efforts by militant religionists to rein- be expected to comport themselves like only because their parents might face troduce religion in the schools! Concerns good democrats—and fanatics are in gen- legal sanctions if they were not. It follows about outside agitation aside, if a erous supply.1ó Accordingly, public order that the government must exercise extra- Christian student galls Hindu peers by demands that the government place some ordinary care in its stewardship of the proselytizing or wearing clothing that dis- of its activities beyond their reach. children attending public schools, because agreeably reminds those Hindus of their If there is broad enough religious diver- their presence is in response to threats of minority status, the school is still respon- sity within the body politic, the peaceful government coercion. sible. No, the teacher did not denigrate carrying on of public life and public 2. Public schools bring together stu- their faith. But the government estab- debate will necessarily require environ- dents of every imaginable faith, and of lished the venue in which the abuse ments from which religious divisiveness none. occurred, and compelled the Hindu stu- has been wholly removed. Religious divi- 3. Constitutional issues aside, there are dents to be there. It follows that individual siveness being, however unfortunately, now too many creeds to support them all religious expression by students is no less inseparable from religion in general, if we equally, as Christianity and Judaism were threatening to pupils of minority religion wish to protect a certain arena against reli- (improperly) supported in the past. Even than religious expression mandated by gious divisiveness, we must first cleanse it if we wanted to go back to the "good old teachers or administrators. There is sim- of religion itself. In today's supercharged days," in a polycreedal society there are ply no substantial distinction between polycreedal environment, I think we must just too many faiths. Shall we close the forcing Muslim pupils to recite the Lord's read those clauses as denying government schools for Ramadan; for Diwali, the five- Prayer and requiring them to sit in a class- the power even to offend citizens on reli- day Hindu festival of lights; on November room where Christian peers are free to gious grounds in venues that government 12, the birthday of Bahaullah, venerated flaunt the Bible. Letting the Muslim stu- controls. by Baha'is; and on April 13, the Sikh New dents flaunt the Koran doesn't solve any- Year?' If we're going that far, let's declare thing; it just sets the stage for gang war- Strong Secularism and an arbitrary holiday, say, in March, to fare. To defend individual religious the Public Schools compensate freethinkers for their bad luck expression in polycreedal schools is to that Robert Green Ingersoll was born on flirt with the danger of turning our schools t should not surprise us that some of the August 11 while school was out. No, in a into little Beiruts. Iharshest controversies over seculariza- polycreedal society the best government Church-state moderates often try to tion have erupted in the public schools. institutions can hope to provide equally to evade this logic by claiming that Sensitivities to real or imagined religious every creed is benign neglect. Establishment Clause considerations do affront are heightened when children are 4. It is impossible to reconcile the con- not apply to individual speech or action. brought together for the shaping of their tradictory doctrines that may be held liter- Indeed, Education Secretary Riley's minds by central authority. Moreover, pub- ally—and often defended with dogmatic guidelines explicitly advised that lic educators are confronting diversity intensity—by adherents of different faiths. "[b]ecause the Establishment Clause does issues today that other social and cultural There can be a broad spectrum of subjects not apply to purely private speech, stu- institutions will face only in the years or on which children who belong to one or dents enjoy the right to read their Bibles 16 FREE INQUIRY or other scriptures, say grace before into such aggressive secularizing by mis- support staff for the Hill Cumorah out- meals, pray before tests, and discuss reli- take, falling into a spiral of caution that door pageant.) Those children believe gion with other willing student listeners." led timorous publishers to bowdlerize his- with all their hearts that an angel came But this misses the point. The real issue is tory far more egregiously than the down from heaven and gave Joseph Smith what restrictions the First Amendment Constitution ever required." the plates, right there on Hill Cumorah, imposes upon government when govern- I would argue that the impulse that led and that those local stories of Joe Smith ment compels children from many back- so many textbook writers—and buyers— the dishonest fortune-teller are teachings grounds to associate under pain of truancy to give religion short shrift was a healthy of the devil. Now, how are you going to laws. The problem is not children being one, and that they responded properly in teach about the central event in Palmyra's told not to pray. The problem is that gov- producing and purchasing religion-free history? How can you be objective, neu- ernment is prohibited from operating a texts. I predict that today's movement to tral, and balanced—and at the same time venue at which attendance is compulsory restore religion to its "rightful place" in not make the Mormon students think in such a way that those attending may texts will one day be recognized as a sad you're trying to deprogram them? reasonably be expected to experience reli- retrogression. Or imagine you are any public school gious offense. The Supreme Court has consistently teacher, anywhere in the country. How can The conclusion, then, is inescapable— upheld that objective teaching about reli- you teach about the Crusades without public schools in the polycreedal era gion in public schools is permissible. But mentioning the atrocities committed by should be religion-free. Better that schools is it possible? "In the real world," says Christians? Do you mention that the require all students to hang their faiths on Edd Doerr, "[teaching about religion] is Southern Baptist Conference was created a hook at the schoolhouse door than that quite difficult. Few teachers are ade- solely to establish a denomination that they continue to function as mechanisms quately trained to do it. There are no text- would stand foursquare in defense of slav- for delivering students of minority reli- books or other materials about religion ery? While public school lessons must gions (and of none) up for oppression— sufficiently objective and balanced for use ignore religion, ignoring religion alone is whether the oppressing is done by agents in public schools." How can there be? not enough. Some believers are so sensi- of the state or by other students. How could religious absolutists, whose tive that even plain facts offend. No bones about it, this is an extreme worldviews are by definition beyond the Their creeds may demand that adher- position. It is not recognized by current reach of ordinary reality checking, come ents accept counterfactual propositions law. Then again, there was a time when to agree on issues like these? Objective about biology, geology, or history. "current law" meant the Fugitive Slave teaching about religion in public schools Yes, it is difficult if not impossible to Act. Current law can change—and if sec- may be an impossible dream. explain many historical events without ularists will not reach deep and agitate for What happens when other subject mentioning the participants' religious ori- truly radical reform, who will? areas touch on religion? Consider a entations. It is no less difficult to treat thought experiment: Pretend you are a important subjects in literature and the Religion and Public public school teacher in Palmyra, New plastic arts without making reference to School Pedagogy York, a small town near Rochester. religion. Yes, a history lesson about the Palmyra's principal distinction is that it first Thanksgiving that doesn't mention wring the 1970s, American conserva- was upon a hill outside Palmyra that the Pilgrims' religion is history badly Dtives uncovered a disturbing trend. Joseph Smith claimed to have received the taught. But nothing in the Constitution Some public school textbooks took golden plates from which he allegedly guarantees a student's right to accurate church-state separation so seriously that translated the founding documents of the instruction. Under a reading appropriate they ignored religion altogether. An infa- Mormon church. Smith's promulgation of to a polycreedal society, the Constitution mous history text managed to discuss the the Book of Mormon is far and away the does guarantee a student's right to be pro- first Thanksgiving without mentioning most important incident in local history. tected from religious offense while who the Pilgrims thought they were Objective historical sources show clearly attending a government-run school. It is thanking, much less why they hadn't just that Smith was known around Palmyra as difficult to teach about religion, and the stayed in Holland. How did educators fall a small-time con-man who frequently recent demands to do so can only exacer- into expunging even incidental mentions took people's money to divine for lost bate religious conflicts within the schools. of religion? The assumption had appar- objects using "seer stones" at the bottom If there is no criticism permitted, this will ently percolated through the educational of his upturned hat. In other words, he was only lead to charges of intolerance. So we community that church-state separation skilled in exactly the forms of chicanery are faced with a dilemma. required never discussing religion in he used to launch the Church of Jesus school. Textbook editors and professional Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Polycreedalism and Public educators sniffed the same winds, and Now, imagine that you as the teacher Schools—An Impossible Pairing? drew the same conclusion: it seemed only have some devout Mormon children in a matter of time before some Supreme your class. (There is a small Mormon pop- raditionally, secular humanists have Court decision made it official. Robert ulation, mostly families of workers at a Tbeen staunch defenders of public edu- Alley has argued that educators slipped church visitor's center and year-round cation. Yet we see that, if schools must

Spring 1996 17 shrink from any topic addressed by reli- matters" is good for both church and state. 4. Thomas J. Curry, The First Freedoms: Church gion, government's future as a provider of "Religion and Government," Madison and State in America to the Passage of the First Amendment (0xford: Oxford University Press, quality education is bleak. We must continued, "will exist in greater purity, 1986), p. 219. acknowledge that, despite educators' without [rather] than with the aid of 5. Based on estimates summarized in Thomas W. equalitarian rhetoric, public schools were Government."22 Flynn, The Trouble with Christmas (Buffalo: Pro- metheus, 1993). For the Jewish population, see p. neither conceived in, nor often operated in 160; for believers, pp. 182-183; for non-Judeo- accord with, any ideal of religious fair- Conclusion Christians, p. 202. ness. Horace Mann actually designed the 6. Ronald O. Lindsay, "Neutrality Between Religion and Irreligion: Is It Required? Is It common school to wean immigrant chil- linton's Vienna Doctrine is flawed Possible?" FREE INQUIRY, Fall 1990, p. 19. dren of their ethnicities and religions, because it takes a timid reading of the 7. Edd Doerr, "The Future of Religious Liberty." impressing a uniform Anglo-Saxon iden- legal status quo on religion in schools, dips Manuscript of a speech given August 1995. 8. Aaron Epstein, "Joy to the World: More tity and a vague liberal Protestantism in it in amber, and presents it as though it Celebrating, Less Litigating," Detroit Free Press, their place2° By 1909, New England edu- were carefully thought out, immutable- December 20, 1995. cator Elwood P. Cubberly could still the best of all possible policies. Of course, 9. Clinton's religion in schools policy owes its substance to "Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint write: "Our task is ... to assimilate and the status quo is not a policy; it's an histor- Statement of Current Law," a pamphlet published amalgamate these people [immigrants] as ical accident. It's just a snapshot of where last April by a coalition of thirty-six groups includ- a part of our American race, and to we are right now (or, given the Vienna ing liberal Protestant churches, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Church of Scien- implant in their children, as far as can be Doctrine's timid construction, where we tology, and, amazingly, Americans United for done, the Anglo-Saxon conception of were several years ago) in the course of a Separation of Church and State and the American righteousness, law and order, and popular process that was slowly expunging reli- Civil Liberties Union. Where "Religion in the Public Schools" is not openly accommodationist, it is dis- government. . . ."21 gion from our public schools. appointingly timid. The Council for Democratic and It remains to be seen whether public No doubt the process will be slowed by Secular Humanism was invited to endorse the state- schools, conceived in the unpromising short-term reverses. But in the long haul ment but declined because of its inadequacies. 10. "School Prayer Anxieties," unsigned editor- bed of deliberate religious and cultural the process of secularization should con- ial, New York Times, July 13, 1995. imposition, can rise to the demands of a tinue. Why? Because religion-free 11. Richard Henry Lee, "Letters from the polycreedal body politic. If not-and the schools-by extension, religion-free pub- Federal Fanner," in Herbert J. Storing, ed., The Complete Anti-Federalist, 7 vols. (Chicago, 1981), preceding analysis suggests that they can- lic spaces-ultimately form the only pos- 2:249. not-secularists might think more seri- sible response to breathtaking new levels 12. Leonard W. Levy, The Establishment Clause: ously about founding and operating secu- of religious diversity in American life. Religion and the First Amendment (New York: lar academies. Non-sectarian private Macmillan, 1986), p. ix. Outrageously, though we non-religious 13. Fleet, ed., "Detached Memoranda," p. 555; education has hitherto been the domain of are probably the largest American minor- Cited in Levy, p. 100. exclusive prep schools. We may need to ity group of any type, we remain second- 14. Lemon v. Kurtzman 403 U.S. 602, 622. find a way to democratize the concept, to class citizens in today's Judeo-Christian 15. Letter to E. Livingston, April 4, 1824, in Albert E. Bergh, ed., The Writings of Thomas offer the benefits of secular private educa- America. Millions of Muslims, Hindus, Jefferson (Washington, D.C.: 1907, 20 vols.), XVI, tion to children from diverse socio-eco- Buddhists, Baha'is, and members of every 25. nomic backgrounds, and to do so before 16. While my portrayal of religious believers as other religion on Earth are being denied absolutist fanatics is unfair to many-for instance, the public schools' helplessness before their full measure of rights in exactly the mainstream Protestants and liberal Jews--I believe it growing religious diversity erodes their same way. The web of Judeo-Christian is a fair portrait of some who are gradually displac- utility too much further. ing the liberal tradition from America's religious privilege that perpetuates this evil needs consciousness: conservative fundamentalists, be to be restrained; that is the insight that they Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. It is their attitudes Get a (Private) Life drives the fight for affirmative secularism. that matter when we evaluate what danger religious zeal may present to the processes of compromise on Affirmative secularism may seem coun- which democracy depends. here is more to life than public life. A terintuitive to some. And there is no imme- 17. McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. Tnaked public square is exactly that, diate prospect for its success. Nonetheless, 203, 227. and nothing more. To strip public life of an explicit, publicly articulated commit- 18. Incidentally, the State University of New York now gives students leave to celebrate religion is not to limit religious expression ment to the naked public square may be the Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and in one's home, one's church, or even one's most important contribution secular Ramadan. Yet it closes only in recognition of the civic organization (assuming it accepts no humanists can make to help America enter Christian and Jewish holidays. government funds). The private sector is 19. Robert Alley, comments during debate at the its polycreedal future more peacefully. CODESH seminar "Defending Church/State big enough to accommodate free and ful- Separation," Long Beach, California, November 4, filling religious expression for all who Notes 1995. desire it. Indeed, private-sector entities are 20. See Charles Leslie Glenn, Jr., The Myth of 1.Lemon v. Kurtzman 403 U.S. 602, 622. the Common School (Amherst, Mass.: University of better able to accommodate robust reli- 2. George McKenna, "On Abortion: A Massachusetts Press, 1988). gious practice when public entities are Lincolnian Position," Atlantic Monthly, September 21. Elwood P. Cubberly, Changing Conceptions enjoined from competing with them 1995, p. 60. of Education (Boston: Hougton-Mifflin, 1909), pp. unfairly. In Madison's words, the "perfect 3. Barry W. Lynn, "Religion and the Schools: 15-16. Time to Clarify the Law," Church & State, 22. Writings of Madison, IX, 100-103. Cited in separation between ecclesiastical and civil September 1995, 23 (191). Levy, op. cit., p. 100. 18 FREE INQUIRY FUND FOR THE FUTURE CODESH at the Center for Inquiry

With the completion of its headquarters campus, the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism is poised for an explosion of growth. We appeal for your help in assuring adequate funding—now and in the future—for the bold initiatives that will shape the outreach of secular humanism in the years to come. To carry out its objectives in the second half of this decade, CODESH has formulated specific program and project goals. 1. MORAL EDUCATION AND CRITICAL THINKING - FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN CODESH proposes to develop new materials—ranging from publications to audio and video cassettes and instructional course material—to teach moral education and foster critical thinking in areas such as religious doctrine, moral values and philosophy. 2. THE INSTITUTE FOR INQUIRY CODESH proposes to complete the development of its Institute for Inquiry adult education program. The Institute is already the nation's foremost provider of education in the subjects of secular humanism, skepticism and the scientific evaluation of religion. Our long-term goal is to establish the Institute for Inquiry as a bona fide degree-granting institution. 3. MEDIA OUTREACH/RAPID RESPONSE We propose to equip the Center for Inquiry to monitor major media on a continuing basis, and to respond to news stories in a timely fashion. This will entail additional staffing for media monitoring, establishment of an e-mail network to permit rapid for- mulation of responses by qualified experts, and development of e-mail, FAX broadcast, and other capabilities to assure instanta- neous dissemination of responses to local, national and/or world media. In addition, CODESH plans to step up its production of audio and video materials through Inquiry Media Productions. Targets include a new public education video on secular human- ism, talking books, a radio op-ed series, and a new public affairs series for public radio. 4. THE LIBRARIES The Center for Inquiry has in place a permanent repository to house and maintain the world's largest collection of freethought, humanist and skeptical literature. Expanded funding is needed to provide for: journal subscriptions, continual updating of the reference collection, acquisition of new and historic volumes in our areas of specialty, and technical library staff to catalog and maintain volumes. CODESH has many exciting projects it wishes to develop. With your help, these will become a reality. Please fill out and return the attached card for further details. All requests will be held in strictest confidence. CODESH at the Center for Inquiry Box 664, Amherst, N.Y. 14226 • (716) 636-7571 is the day we live up to the fundamental- ists' crude caricature of us as anti-religion bigots so fearful of faith that we will tram- Counterpoint ple on the Bill of Rights to stop it. Vitriolic, often vulgar attacks on reli- gion have been hallmarks of organized atheism. They are what drove many non- Religious and Philosophical believers I know to humanism, which is supposed to present a positive alternative. Freedom for Everybody: Part of that vision is supporting religious and philosophical freedom for everyone and advocating for the right of all citizens, A Reply to Tom Flynn including public school students, to pro- fess Christianity if that's what they want. Of course, we must oppose any attempt by Rob Boston government to require anyone to partici- he views expressed by Thomas Flynn pate in religion against his or her will or to in this issue of FREE INQUIRY and the force Americans to subsidize religious Winter 1995/96 issue of the Secular groups through schemes such as vouchers Humanist Bulletin do great damage to and tuition tax-credits, but we should also organized humanism by promoting a support religious freedom and advocate brand of extremism that runs counter to for the right of Americans to engage in the the spirit of the First Amendment. religious practices of their choosing, as In Flynn's view, public school students long as they do not violate the law. should be barred from participating even Perhaps Flynn went so horribly astray in private religious activity in the class- because his entire premise—that in 1962 room. In the Bulletin he wrote, "Student- the Supreme Court embarked on a course initiated prayer, extracurricular Bible of secularization that seemed likely to clubs, private religious expression among obliterate all traces of religion in class- students, even the wearing of clothing or rooms and in government—is simply accessories that incorporate religious incorrect, as any reading of the High symbols—all must go. That's been my Court's church-state rulings will attest. real agenda all along, probably yours too." Flynn accuses President Bill Clinton of Flynn is correct up to a point. "Student- killing "affirmative secularism" when, in a initiated" prayer, if done before a captive speech last summer, the president came audience, violates constitutional rights, out in favor of individual student religious and school Bible clubs formed under the expression in public schools. In reality, Equal Access Act are being increasingly there never was a trend toward affirmative being used by fundamentalist churches as "Vitriolic, often vulgar attacks on secularism. In its religion-in-public-school agents of proselytism on public school religion have been hallmarks of rulings, the High Court nearly always bent campuses, raising church-state concerns. organized atheism. They are what over backward to say that nothing in them However, I must part company with drove many non-believers I know was intended to block individual, truly Flynn when he advocates banning even to humanism, which is supposed voluntary student prayer or stamp out private expression of religious faith in to present a positive alternative." objective instruction about religion in pub- public schools and government and insists lic schools. If Flynn was expecting that that public schools cease engaging in even humanists to adopt. Flynn's desire to eventually the Supreme Court would objective instruction about religion. I'll squelch this type of private expression— declare purely private religious expression go so far as to assert that the views put to the extent that a child could not say a by students in public schools unconstitu- forth in his articles are dangerous ones for silent prayer before taking a math test and tional, he is either naïve or sadly misin- a Christian accountant working for the formed. Nothing in the High Court's opin- Rob Boston is assistant director of com- Internal Revenue Service could not put a ions even hints that the Justices would ever munications for Americans United for small cross on her desk—is, I submit, not elevate such a repressive policy to the sta- Separation of Church and State in only unconstitutional; it is also philosoph- tus of constitutional law. Washington, D.C. He is author of the new ically out of tune with the principles of In fact, just the opposite is true. The book The Most Dangerous Man in humanism and just plain morally wrong. Court struck down mandatory prayer and America: Pat Robertson and the Christian The day humanists oppose constitution- Bible-reading because it was state- Coalition (Prometheus Books). ally protected forms of religious worship sponsored religious activity foisted onto a

20 FREE INQUIRY captive audience. This is a far cry from an during the Civil War, to name just a few overstate how damaging these articles will individual student making the sign of the examples. Can it be done fairly and objec- be; thanks to Flynn, we will all be tarred cross before taking a math test or wearing tively? Of course—by demanding that with the brush of fanaticism. a "Jesus Saves" T-shirt, activities that, no teachers stick to the facts and keep their I realize that the Secular Humanist matter how you stretch them, simply do personal beliefs out of the classroom. Bulletin and FREE INQUIRY are forums for not infringe on the rights of other students. Before closing, I must note what is the exchange of ideas. I don't fault Flynn These activities—even in government-run possibly the worst feature of Flynn's arti- for opening a debate on this important institutions—are absolutely protected cles: they will be thrown in our faces by question. But now that he has expressed under the Free Exercise Clause of the First fundamentalists for the next fifty years. I his views, I hope other humanists will Amendment, and I would not want to live can hear them already: "Did you know give theirs. Quite frankly, I hope those in a country that tried to stop them. that secular humanists are against even views overwhelmingly clash with what (As a practical matter, I wonder what private prayer in public schools? They Flynn has had to say. mechanism Flynn proposes to keep public said so in their magazine! Now we know I do not claim to speak for other human- school students from voluntarily dis- what they're really up to!" Never mind ists, but I suspect that if Flynn's views are cussing religion among themselves during that this is just the opinion of one secular now or ever become CODESH's party line, their free time. Are teachers supposed to humanist. It was written by a Council for many of us will grow disenchanted and keep their ears open for banned words Democratic and Secular Humanism staff seek out or form a humanist body that such as Jesus, Muhammad, or Bible and member and appeared in CODESH publi- stands up for everyone's constitutional then swoop in and drag offenders off to cations. The die has been cast. I cannot rights—including those of Christians. • the principal's office? Are they to pounce on any student who dares bow his or her head to say grace over lunch? There's a term for that: oppression.) Church-State Separation: In his Vienna speech, Clinton took a sensible, moderate course. He pointed out that students may pray in public schools if The 1996 Elections and Beyond they like, but that nobody can make them do it. Since that speech, Clinton and Education Secretary Richard Riley have Edward Tabash expressed the administration's opposition to Religious Right-backed efforts to Why I Support President Clinton rewrite the First Amendment to do away "The time has come for those of with church-state separation entirely. To s an activist for church-state separa- us who reject religious dogma to hear Flynn tell it, Clinton's Vienna doc- Ation, I usually work with both believ- alter the generally prevailing view trine is some type of traitorous cave-in to ers and non-believers alike in trying to pre- in our nation that freethought is the Religious Right. Hardly. In fact, the serve individual freedom. In this article, I only for left-wingers." address put the Religious Right on the want to address the issue exclusively from defensive and could be the first shot in an my standpoint as a freethinker/humanist. aggressive strategy to keep television Freethinkers agree that government FREE INQUIRY does not endorse candi- preachers and their lawyers from trashing must never promote religious dogma. dates and that readers of this publication the Bill of Rights. Thus, in making my case to the readers of may strongly disagree with the president Flynn's articles note that by the 1970s FREE INQUIRY for the re-election of Bill on many other issues. textbook publishers began removing even Clinton, I do so only on the single issue of Realistically, though, at present two historical references to religion from text- church-state separation. I realize that people have the best chance of being books. I am appalled that he thinks this sworn in as president on January 20, 1997: was a good thing. Is Flynn seriously Edward Tabash is a lawyer in Beverly Bill Clinton or Bob Dole. proposing that humanists support giving Hills. He is the chair of the Outreach Bob Dole has been pathetically pan- our children an incomplete education? Committee of the Council for Democratic dering to the Religious Right. He is anti- Whether we like it or not, religion has and Secular Humanism for the Los choice on abortion. He would allow played a crucial role in world and U.S. Angeles area. He has served on the board exceptions only in the case of rape, history. Any program of education that of directors of the California Abortion incest, or endangerment of the pregnant ignores that fact is shortchanging chil- and Reproductive Rights Action League woman's life. He would not otherwise dren, period. I feel sorry for any child who since 1981. He is a trustee of Americans recognize a woman's right to choose. goes through school without learning United for Separation of Church and Recently, Newsweek reported that he about the Crusades, the theocracy of colo- State. The opinions expressed in this arti- even quit the Methodist church he had nial Massachusetts, or how North and cle do not reflect the views of the organi- been attending in order to join a church South both claimed God was on their side zations mentioned. that is more acceptable to the Religious

Spring 1996 21 Right. His wife is a self-proclaimed lives, the choice is clear. We must re-elect greater clarity than ever before, appeal to born-again Christian and has been an President Clinton. people of all political persuasions who enthusiastic guest on Pat Robertson's share only one thing in common—the "700 Club." Invite Secular Conservatives to rejection of religious dogma. If we, as a Dole has vigorously supported every Join the Freethought Movement movement, are ever going to achieve our nomination to the United States Supreme goal of rescuing society from the intellec- Court of enemies of church-state separa- he time has come for those of us who tual infancy of blind-faith religion, we tion. Given the current composition of the Treject religious dogma to alter the must become much more broad-based Court, just one appointment could make generally prevailing view in our nation and inclusive. the difference as to whether or not church- that freethought is only for left-wingers. state separation survives. Unfortunately, In many ways, the liberal-conservative Restore the Intellectual the Justice most likely to be the next to continuum is a superficial and inadequate Respectability of retire is John Paul Stevens, a firm Challenging champion of our Religious cause. If he is re- Dogma placed by Dole, anyone who can ver the long count will have to Ohaul, we free- admit that we will thinkers must retake be faced with the territory to gain danger of a new respectability in American theoc- challenging reli- racy. gious dogma. The The two Justices dominant culture is that Clinton has skewed in the way it appointed have aggrandizes blind- turned out to be - faith acceptance of staunch church- ¡lp1 supernatural myth- state separationists. VV ology and simulta- In 1987, Dole neously disdains led President Ronald Reagan's effort to basis for assessing political and social those who exercise critical reasoning in obtain Senate confirmation of Robert philosophy. The childish classification of rejecting religious fairy-tales. It should be Bork to the Supreme Court. Bork was a people as either left-wing or right-wing the other way around. Those who exer- reactionary. He openly proclaimed the serves only to trivialize the complex cise the faculty of reason in challenging rights of all branches of government to thinking that independent-minded people supernatural claims should receive soci- show favoritism to religion. In 1963, may bring to bear in formulating their ety's intellectual accolades. Logic and when the Civil Rights Act was pending in views of the world. rationality are on our side. The suspen- Congress, Bork declared that it would be The greatest tragedy for today's free- sion of critical thinking that has benefited an act of "unsurpassed ugliness" to force thought movement is that the number of religion is an aberration of the otherwise a white business owner to do business involved activists is too small in compari- natural tendency of the human mind to with a black person, against the will of son to the number of people who actually think and to explore. the white business owner. Yet, in 1965, agree with us in rejecting religious super- Only freethinkers can restore rational- when the Supreme Court declared that naturalism. There are many conservatives ism to its rightful place in society. So long the constitutional right of privacy invali- who hold right-wing views on many con- as most of the American public regard the dates any state law that would prohibit temporary political issues but who are supernatural claims of religion to be more even married couples from using contra- simultaneously completely disgusted with noble than critical reasoning, we will ception, Bork took the opposite position. the Religious Right and who reject reli- always begin every political struggle at a Thus, the totality of Bork's legal philos- gious dogma with the same fervor as do great disadvantage. ophy was that the Constitution protects a many on the left. These secular conserva- We have three goals, then: (1) return- restaurant owner's right to refuse service tives really have no place to go. The ing Bill Clinton to the White House; (2) to black people, while that same Republican Party has been overrun by reli- letting secular conservatives know that Constitution does not protect an individ- gious extremists, and freethought organiza- they are as welcome in the freethought ual's right to use birth control. tions seem inhospitable to conservatives. movement as are liberals; and (3) reestab- Considering that the Supreme Court is The answer must be the reaffirmation lishing the intellectual respectability of the final arbiter of whether religionists of the single-issue foundation of the rejecting religious dogma. Let the battle will ultimately seize control over our freethought movement. We must, with begin. •

22 FREE INQUIRY religious freedom in the U.S., but modern television and radio marketing of Thinking `About' Religion: Christian dogmas have created an appalling state of public opinion.

The Need for Freethought ecularism is the view that religious considerations should be excluded in the Curriculum from civil affairs and public education. If governments are not secular in their poli- cies and practices, the rights of everyone, Massen especially those in the freethought com- John B. munity, are at risk. Thomas Jefferson n important new book has been pub- described this value with his now famous ished entitled Freethought Across the "To maintain the wall of metaphor—"a wall of separation between Centuries. Written by Dr. Gerald A. Larue, separation, a substantial church and state." emeritus professor of Biblical History and segment of the general public For the long-term welfare of the Archaeology at the University of Southern must recognize that secularism is American people, that wall is at least as California and an Fl senior editor, the fundamental to liberty as important as the principle of separation of book provides conclusive historical evi- Americans have known it." powers, in national and state govern- dence that freethought and nonreligion ments, and federalism, in the relationship have contributed immensely to intellectual between the federal and state govern- and material progress throughout human dents a general acceptance of the concepts ments. That judgment is validated by history. Hence, freethought should be and supernatural beliefs of traditional reli- Jefferson's view that his most important added as a separate unit in any study of gions, because students have been pre- accomplishment was his having drafted religion in public schools. vented through educational censorship the Virginia Statute for Religious In 1987, the California State Board of from becoming aware of and understand- Freedom—not his being elected president Education adopted History—Social Sci- ing alternative nonreligious concepts. of the United States, or even writing the ence Framework, which ordered compre- birth certificate of this republic, the hensive improvements in the teaching of he Religious Right has launched an Declaration of Independence. history and social science. For the first Tintense and comprehensive long-term To maintain the wall of separation, a time, "teaching about religion" and campaign to destroy our public education substantial segment of the general public instruction about Judaism, Christianity, system, to Christianize all education, and must recognize that secularism is funda- Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are to destroy the First Amendment "wall of mental to liberty as Americans have required for sixth and seventh-grade stu- separation" between government and reli- known it. A substantial segment of the dents. In a sixteen-page 1990 report to the gion. Destruction of that wall will surely American public will understand how California State Board of Education, the lead to loss of other constitutional liberties. vital secularism is to its freedom only coalition for Objectivity, Accuracy, and Those who have objectively studied the when it learns the history of government- Balance in Teaching about Religion history of Christianity know well the religion collusion and the miserable (OABITAR) pointed out that both the adversity it has wrought upon humanity. tyranny that intermingling of those insti- Framework, and textbooks submitted by The establishment of Christianity, begin- tutions has wrought. publishers in 1990 for board adoption, ning a new evolution of theology, arrested showed a manifest bias for religion and development of the physical sciences for he OABITAR Program is the only against nonreligion. This is unconstitu- over fifteen hundred years. Tavailable and viable plan for intro- tional, because U.S. Supreme Court deci- In his Memorial and Remonstrance of ducing the concepts of secularism and sions interpreting the First Amendment 1784, James Madison recounts the "influ- freethought into public schools, as part of hold that our government must be neutral, ence [of] ecclesiastical establishments .. . a comprehensive effort to preserve our not merely in the middle ground between on Civil Society" in this way: public school system and the vital wall of religion and nonreligion. separation between religion and govern- The exclusion of nonreligion also repre- In some instances they have been seen ments. erecting a spiritual tyranny on the ruins When Freethought Across the Cen- sents educational censorship. The explicit of Civil authority; in many instances objective of teaching about religion thus they have been seen upholding the turies is available, OABITAR will launch achieves the result of inculcating in stu- thrones of political tyranny; in no intense promotion of the OABITAR instance have they been seen the Program. Professors and instructors of John B. Massen is founder and coordina- guardians of the liberties of the people. university and college courses in compar- tor of Objectivity, Accuracy, and Balance ative religion, and publishers of their text- in Teaching about Religion, Inc. The Our First Amendment freedoms of and books, will be urged to add units on coalition is also known as OABITAR. from religion have generated unparalleled freethought. Educators in all fifty states,

Spring 1996 23 Program into public school curricula, just as "creationists" stubbornly oppose teach- ing evolution in science classes. Both bat- tles are part of this ideological warfare. There will be a most urgent need in coming years for widespread support for the OABITAR Program, by public interest and "cause" organizations, and by the majority of citizens who want rational, secular education in their public schools. Readers of this article should actively support OABITAR when they are urged to do so by future "alerts" concerning spe- cific actions to be taken by state and local educators. The freethought community must aggressively lead the many-faceted efforts to win the cultural war, to enhance critical and publishers of their history/social sci- book. OABITAR will seek endorsements thinking, to preserve secular education in ence textbooks, will be urged to incorpo- of the OABITAR Program Statement by a dynamic and progressive public school rate the ideas of the OABITAR Program. many diverse educational, civic, and system, and to strengthen the wall of sep- OABITAR will seek widespread use of "cause" organizations, and will publicize aration and the secular character of gov- supplemental instruction materials for these endorsements appropriately. ernments. From continuing victories in particular grades, which summarize the The Religious Right will vigorously this eternal struggle will slowly emerge a detailed historical information in the oppose introduction of the OABITAR new Age of Enlightenment. •

Point The Libertarian Curriculum for Public Education Joe Barnhart "Indeed, the libertarian curriculum everal years ago, the Texas Committee this: administrators survive longer in a plan would encourage parents and Sfor the Humanities gave me a small school system that avoids controversial teachers to communicate and to grant to bring together a group of school subjects in the classroom and in the text- share information. The bottom line, principals and superintendents to explore books. In his office, one superintendent however, is that parents have the the question of the academic study of reli- explained to me that he would be quite final say regarding their own gion and biology in the public schools. I happy if the words evolution and Darwin observed among some of the participants were never used in school. After listening children but not regarding an operating principle that might be and reflecting on what he and the other children not their own." labeled the "lowest common denominator school administrators were saying, I came curriculum." Very simply, the principle is to believe that some of them regarded these positions may have originally been, controversial topics and subjects (includ- the positions themselves generate severe Joe Barnhart is professor of philosophy at ing religion) to be a threat to their job pressure to keep controversy out of the the University of North Texas. He has pre- security. classroom. Hence the trend toward the sented professional papers on such It is at least a workable hypothesis that lowest common denominator curriculum! thinkers as Hobbes, Hume, Dostoyevsky, public school administrative positions are It is pointless to heap moral blame on Darwin, and Popper. He is currently first and foremost political positions. school officials for paying more attention working on a novel on abortion. Whatever the motives of those who seek to political forces than to educational

24 FREE INQUIRY interests. Rather, it is more practical and I am writing a book in the attempt to ents do not want their children to study the useful to see that the administrative posi- spell out what I call the "libertarian cur- theory of evolution, the plan of the liber- tions themselves have become outdated at riculum." The remainder of this article tarian curriculum would not require them best. At worst, they function to prevent will present some of the high points. to take the course. Other courses can be parents from having little more then sym- First, the schools must be made safe. provided. At the same time, the libertarian bolic and marginal influence on the educa- This means dealing swiftly and sternly curriculum accommodates those parents tion of their own children. It is astounding with those who resort to violence and who do want their children to study evo- that the public school system, which pur- thievery. No compromise can be made lution. As it stands now in many of our ports to be one of the bastions of democ- regarding the safety of our children and public schools, neither evolution, cre- racy, has so effectively cut parents out of grandchildren. ationism, nor theistic evolution is taught the educational process that they have Second, many of the positive options except at a most superficial level. The scarcely little to say in what specifically that Milton Friedman's voucher plan lowest common denominator prevails. their own children will be taught. This is promises can be developed within the The libertarian curriculum is, I con- doubly astounding when we consider that public schools. The libertarian curriculum tend, the best plan for paying due regard the money to run the schools and to can simply outflank the voucher plan by to both the Free Exercise Clause and the develop the curricula comes from the par- operating on the principle of giving par- Establishment Clause of the First Amend- ents themselves and their neighbors. ents what they want for their children's ment. It strictly maintains church-state This state of affairs has developed, I education. separation while allowing maximum free- suggest, as a kind of compromise. It is a Obviously, this means recognizing that dom for parents. If a group of parents, for fact that parents have diverse values and no committee, board, or group of parents example, wish their children to study any diverse opinions about how their chil- should be given the power to dictate a cur- given religion or any cluster of religions, dren are to be educated. A compromise riculum of courses for the whole school. It they must be free to work with a teacher to developed when parents in effect surren- means further that not all students will be develop such a course. Indeed, there could dered some of their goals and desires in studying the same subjects. Those par- be a number of academic courses in reli- order to keep the peace and to maintain ents, school officials, and teachers who gion—the study of the Bible, the Quran, public education. We gave to this com- think they know what is best for all stu- the writings of the deist Thomas Paine, or promise the name "melting pot." School dents are free to try to persuade parents to the history of atheism. If some secular boards, textbook committees, state agen- agree with them. Indeed, the libertarian humanists do not wish their children to cies and school administrators have curriculum plan would encourage parents study the Bible under an evangelical become in effect the interpreters and and teachers to communicate and to share Christian or Catholic teacher, they are free shapers of this compromise. As a conse- information. The bottom line, however, is to negotiate for a different course in reli- quence, the public school system stands that parents have the final say regarding gion or whatever for their children. The today as a state-controlled, establish- their own children but not regarding chil- libertarian principle is that of (1) respect- ment education operating on the dubious dren not their own. ing parents' rights to have direct input into myth that it embodies the "will of the Consider a course in sex education. It the courses for their children, and (2) people"—as if all the parents were really is a plain fact that American parents dis- denying them the power to interfere with one melted-down will possessing one agree sharply among themselves as to the the courses that other parents want for mind and one collective opinion. I sub- content of this course and how it should their own children. mit that this whole notion of establish- be taught. The libertarian curriculum The question of religious practice (in ment education is little more than a would allow for several versions of the contrast with the academic study of reli- residue of establishment religion that sex education course to be taught. One gion) needs to be addressed. First, the pervaded Europe for centuries until it group of parents would want it taught in public schools are centers of education, erupted in religious wars. one way. Let them have it. They have paid not centers of worship or religious exer- for it. The children are theirs and not the cises. Second, secularists and others need as the time come to scratch the pub- state's. Another group of parents will to recognize that students are compelled Hlic school experiment? Are we will- desire a different version of the course. by the state to be inside the school build- ing to say that it is a noble ideal that sim- Let them have it. ing five days a week. Therefore, I suggest ply proved unworkable? I am not prepared One Texas evangelist proclaimed that that the state should provide some reason- to give up on public education. There are he wants nothing taught in the public able opportunity for students to partici- many profound advantages gained in schools that offends or goes counter to his pate in religious exercises if they elect to bringing children from all walks of life evangelical faith. The libertarian curricu- do so of their own free will. and letting them learn to live and learn lum would respect the right of the minis- This needs to be spelled out, however, together. But in order to keep the pro- ter and those of like mind to have suitable for it is essential to see to it that there is no found advantages, we must make room courses for their children. But it would religion promoted in general. Every reli- for greater diversity; that is, we must not give him and them the power to dictate gion has its own and unique doctrines and respect the freedom of parents in their what the children of other parents will or practices. The state must not be used to diversity. But how can this be done? will not study. For example, if some par- promote a general civil religion, which is

Spring 1996 25 at best an alliance of some religions at the fere with the curriculum. Students can be am aware that my brief introduction to expense of others. guided by their teachers and parents in the Ithe libertarian curriculum has raised My proposal is quite simple. First, art of talking respectfully to one another more questions than it has answered. there must be no general religious exer- regarding controversial topics. No com- What about parents who evidently do not cise or prayer for all students. Second, mittee should be given power either to care enough about their children to partic- some realistic and convenient accommo- define what is controversial or too contro- ipate in the process of choosing courses dations must be made for students to meet versial. Furthermore, the state textbook and consulting with teachers? How will together with like-minded students in committee that presumes to select text- the courses be funded and the teachers separate rooms either before class begins book options for students in the public paid? If all courses are electives, will each or at the end of the school day. Muslims schools should be abolished. Too often, it course be an introductory course? Can could meet to pray or read the Quran. reflects slick lobbying and pork-barrel there be advanced courses? Over the past Christians of various denominations politics corrupting education and denying two decades, I have raised these and could meet in another room with students parents any meaningful input as to what scores of other questions about the detail- of like-minded convictions to read the their children will be taught. ing of implementing the libertarian cur- Bible, to pray, and to give testimonies. Since parents are paying for their edu- riculum. I think they can be answered. My Atheists and agnostics of various denom- cation, the parents, with the teachers' hope is that somewhere in the country, inations could meet to read texts from counsel, have the primary input into the this reformed version of the public school Walter Kaufmann or whomever they content of the courses for their children. curriculum can be put into practice and chose and to exhort one another in their As the children grow older, however, they carefully observed for its strengths and beliefs. will, under the libertarian curriculum weaknesses. I do not argue that it is an The school is the place where contro- plan, gain a vote (along with the teacher educational utopia. Rather, I think it is versial topics and subjects should be and the parents) as to what courses they as both a significant improvement over the examined and discussed. No school students will take. This is a part of their present versions of public education and a board, textbook committee, or school maturation and a part of the process of far superior alternative to the voucher sys- administrator should be allowed to inter- learning how better to negotiate. tem and its recent variations.

Counterpoint been viewed as primarily a function of the public sector. No one in Jefferson's time, of course, could have envisioned what American The Privatization of Education: public education would become. As the nation grew, so did the commitment to ever-more years of free schooling, and the Can Public Education Survive? educational system became very large and very complex. Furthermore, the demands Michael J. Rockier on schooling have also increased. Schools are expected to provide education on homas Jefferson believed that a drugs and sex. They are asked to produce Tdemocratic society could not be sus- "Thomas Jefferson believed that a program for driver training. In the begin- tained unless free, public education was education was a necessary ning the focus of education was almost available to the citizenry at large. concomitant of democracy. exclusively academic. In the elementary Jefferson urged his contemporaries to sup- Schooling must serve to model years this meant emphasis on the three Rs. port schooling at public expense to all democratic life. Public rather The secondary curriculum prepared stu- persons who could benefit from it, advo- than private schooling is most dents for attendance at college. The con- cating free primary schooling for all chil- equipped to achieve this:' temporary American public school has dren. Jefferson also supported advanced also become a center for solving social schooling at public expense for those who problems and an institution interested in were meritorious learners. free schooling for all persons beginning personal development. America's vast public school system with kindergarten and extending through Along with the increased complexity has evolved from this beginning. The high school. The development of the pub- of teaching and learning has come an United States has traditionally provided lic community college has extended this increase in criticism of schooling. commitment to include post-secondary Demands for the reform of education have Michael J. Rockier is a contributing editor education at a minimal cost. Because the always existed; as the schools have of FREE INQUIRY and president of the survival of democracy has been perceived grown, so has the intensity of the cri- Bertrand Russell Society. as the ultimate public good, education has tiques. Furthermore, a large difference

26 FREE INQUIRY exists between the quality of education in federal educational aid directly to children Moe published Politics, Markets, and most urban centers and education for the rather than to institutions. This notion— America's Schools. Chubb and Moe more affluent in the suburbs. The per accepted by the Supreme Court—enabled attempted to create a theoretical frame- capita expenditure for pupils in suburban religious schools to use federal funds and work for what George Bush would Cook County, Illinois, is sometimes three participate in programs created by John- embrace as the "choice" segment of his times as much as is spent in Chicago. One son through the Department of Health, America 2000 plan. Under this plan, all response to the criticism of public educa- Education and Welfare (the predecessor of parents would receive vouchers, which tion and the never-ending calls for reform the current Department of Health and could be used in any school, public or pri- has been a growing movement toward the Human Services). vate. Chubb and Moe argued that educa- privatization of education in the United Throughout American educational his- tion would be more effective if it were States. tory, private schools that emphasized acad- operated under the principles of free Many questions can be raised about emic scholarship and college preparation enterprise. Schools, they maintained, have privatization. If schooling becomes pri- have also existed. Former President George become bureaucratized to the point where marily a private enterprise, will there still Bush—among other U.S. leaders, including they are no longer effective. A market be a need for colleges and universities to Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. economy does not allow for inefficiency educate teachers? Would private corpora- Kennedy—was a product of this kind of and, therefore, the creation of a free mar- tions train their own teachers, drawing on education. The elite private school—operat- ket school system would lead to effective those who have bachelor's degrees but ing essentially without public funding—has and efficient schools. lack certification? Will private entrepre- flourished for most of American history. Chubb and Moe argued for two-way neurs be interested in education in urban What is new in private education is the choice. Consumers could choose schools areas or will city schools become the only concept of government sponsorship. This using their vouchers. Schools would be remaining public schools? Will private idea can be traced to economist Milton free to reject students if they felt that the entrepreneurs be concerned about chil- Friedman and his concept of vouchers. students were not compatible with the dren with special needs or will these be Friedman, a favorite economist of mission of the school. Chubb and Moe left to the public sector? Can the separa- President Richard M. Nixon, first pro- write: tion of church and state be maintained in posed a voucher plan in 1955. Under an essentially private school system? Friedman's scheme, parents would Schools must be able to define their own receive vouchers equal to the cost of fund- missions and build their own programs in their own ways, and they cannot do The History of Privatization ing the education of a child in a public this if their student population is thrust institution. Schools were free to charge on them by outsiders. They must be free rivate education is not a new phenom- whatever tuition they desired. Parents to admit as many or as few students as enon in the United States. The latest would be allowed to use their vouchers in they want, based on whatever criteria proposals advocate government-spon- public schools or pay the additional cost they think relevant—intelligence, inter- est, motivation, behavior, special sored private schools. But private school- of private education. Friedman envisioned needs—and they must be free to exer- ing has existed from the very beginning of the creation of an educational free enter- cise their own informal judgements education in the United States. prise system, which would lead to about individual applicants. Educator Horace Mann's conception improved schooling by a means of capi- of the age-graded common elementary talistic competition. Robert Lowe, an editor of Rethinking school is considered to be one of the The idea of vouchers never achieved Schools, has argued in False Choices that major achievements of early American much popularity in the period immedi- the Chubb and Moe approach is a contin- educational history. This mid-nineteenth ately following 1955. The replacement of uation of the conservative agenda for century accomplishment occurred, in Dwight D. Eisenhower with first John deregulation applied to education. part, because Mann was willing to Kennedy and then Lyndon B. Johnson George Bush's education program, include the values of Protestant ushered in a period of unprecedented edu- America 2000, with its emphasis on Christianity in the schools. The early cational reform, which, for a time, quieted "choice," was modified by President Bill common schools used the Protestant ver- the critics as the Johnson educational pro- Clinton. He and his Secretary of Edu- sion of the Bible and taught a Protestant gram led to the improvement of schooling cation, James Riley, favor a version of interpretation of Western history. In in the United States. choice limited to public schools. While order to protect its children from In 1982 President Ronald Reagan this plan weakens the movement toward Protestant indoctrination, the Catholic revived the idea of government support privatization, it can create other problems church in the United States created a pri- for private education by advocating the for public education. In some communi- vate parochial system that quickly use of tuition tax-credits. This would have ties, choice among public schools has became a very large enterprise. Orthodox allowed parents to deduct the cost of allowed for the creation of magnet Jews also opened Jewish day-schools for tuition paid to private schools from their schools, which can only serve a limited the same reasons. income-tax payments. Reagan's plan was number of students. These schools have President Lyndon Johnson strength- ultimately defeated by Congress. drained limited resources from other ened parochial education by providing In 1990, John E. Chubb and Terry M. schools in the district.

Spring 1996 27 Private Options dents on the basis of ability or handicap, istration. If Bush's plan to provide vouch- thus increasing the likelihood of an elite, ers for use in private as well as public everal options for the privatization of restrictive school system. schools had become law, it would have education have surfaced in recent The Edison Project of entrepreneur ensured the success of Whittle's project, years. These include choice based on Christopher Whittle is still another exam- since parents could use their vouchers to vouchers, charter schools, the Edison ple of a current attempt to create a private, pay tuition in Edison Project schools. Project, and the corporate takeover of nationwide school system in the United Public funds would then have been used public schools. States. Whittle has hired former Yale pres- to support private education on a large The voucher system has been exten- ident Beno C. Schmidt to oversee this pro- scale. sively examined in the previous section. ject and to raise funds. The economic realities of education While support for it appears to have The Edison Project would be private suggest that the Edison Project will have a weakened during the administration of education on a very large scale. Whittle's hard time succeeding without public President Clinton, it continues to be a goal is to design and build a chain of cor- funds provided through tax incentives, popular idea among conservative political porately owned for-profit schools. He tuition tax-credits, or vouchers. President leaders. The death knell for "choice" believes he can provide schooling for the Clinton opposes the use of public funds between public and private schools has current average per pupil expenditure of for private education. The Edison group not yet been sounded. This will surely be approximately $5,500 and still produce a has applied for charters in those states true if school reform programs fail to sat- profit. Edison Project schools would use developing such schools. Whittle is now isfy the public. more technology in teaching than is cur- seeking to operate public schools in a way Another recent development has been rently the case in public schools. Whittle similar to the approach of Educational the charter school movement. These also intends to employ a large number of Alternatives, Inc. (EA!). schools are independent of local school paraprofessional teacher aides. Students Another approach to privatization has districts and receive charters directly from would share in the custodial duties. occurred through EAI, a for-profit organi- the state departments of education. Any Whittle has had the backing of Time- zation based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. group can receive a charter, which could Warner and Phillips Electronics. These EAI has contracted to administer public result in publicly funded schools that are corporations, in conjunction with schools in Baltimore, Maryland; Duluth, administered by religious groups. Whittle's own financial resources and the Minnesota; and Dade County, Florida. Theoretically there would be controls on fund-raising capability of Benno Schmidt, (Recently, EAI lost its Baltimore contract. the religious component of a charter have given the Edison Project a certain It had claimed an increase in basic skill school directed by a church. However the viability. scores when in fact there had been a danger of religious indoctrination under Whittle is an old friend and business decline.) The corporation receives the this circumstance is great. associate of Lamar Alexander, the last funds normally spent by each school it has Charter schools may also restrict stu- secretary of education in the Bush admin- contracted to administer. It assumes the

28 FREE INQUIRY responsibility, previously held by the racial segregation in the South. port religious schooling. In a series of ref- school board, to operate the schools, Social stratification has always existed erenda across the country (documented by employ administrators and teachers, pur- in the United States and other societies. Edd Doerr and Albert J. Menendez in Why chase materials, and account for pupil But Americans have always valued social We Still Need Public Schools, 1992, pp. progress to parents and the state depart- mobility. For much of American history, a 206-220), voters have rejected attempts to ment of education. belief existed in the culture that work and allow the use of public funds to support EAI believes it can do this more effi- diligence could enable one to rise to a religious education. The separation of ciently than the public sector and therefore higher social and economic class. church and state is a fundamental princi- make a profit. To date, EAI has operated at In recent years there has been a ten- ple of the United States that has enabled a loss. EAI employs paraprofessionals as dency for social and economic classes to religious freedom to exist. classroom aides and interns in order to keep harden into a caste system. This has been Privatization would lead to erosion of costs down. It is too early to know if EM particularly true among the urban poor. this principle. Choice based on vouchers has been effective in improving the schools The school system, instead of providing a would make it possible to use public funds for which it has taken responsibility. vehicle for change in class status, has for religious schools since parents could tended to reinforce and anchor an individ- spend their vouchers in any manner they Some Effects of Privatization ual's current class. Partly this is accom- wished. Religious organizations could plished by the inequitable funding sponsor charter schools and add a reli- rivatization could potentially produce between districts, dramatically described gious component to their curriculum. Pa number of negative effects on edu- in Jonathan's Kozol's Savage Inequalities. Edison Project schools could begin each cation. These include adverse effects on Privatization can only reinforce the day with a prayer or could offer chapel democracy, social class stratification, and process. Public education will serve the services if the Edison Project directors felt the constitutional commitment to main- poor and the handicapped. Private schools this would increase the number of cus- tain the separation of church and state. will develop a hierarchy of their own. The tomers who choose their schools. As indicated earlier in this article, wealthy will obtain the best schooling. Thomas Jefferson believed that education The middle class will have adequate Conclusion was a necessary concomitant of democ- schooling. Urban schools will be even less racy. Schooling must serve to model esteemed and less well-funded. Citizens need to be aware of the dan- democratic life. Public rather than private Privatization can increase the rigidity of gers of privatization. The process can schooling is most equipped to achieve this. social stratification even as it weakens serve to change the fundamental nature of The extension of private schooling democracy. American society by creating a less demo- will further separate children from each Still another concern of the effects of cratic, more castelike society in which other. Private schools will house the chil- privatization on schooling is its role in schools no longer provide opportunity for dren of the affluent, for the most part. weakening the separation of church and advancement but rather serve to sanction Public schools will be the locus of the state in America. The establishment the power of the privileged, perhaps poor and the handicapped, who could be clause of the First Amendment to the within a religious context. excluded from private education. Thus, Constitution reads: "Congress shall make rather than a heterogeneous school sys- no law respecting an establishment of reli- Bibliography tem, which enables all kinds of persons to gion or prohibiting the free exercise communicate with each other, privatiza- thereof...." It was clearly the intent of the Chubb, John E. and Terry M. Moe. 1990. Politics, Markets, and America's Schools. Washington, tion will result in segregation based on Founders that church and state be sepa- D.C.: The Brookings Institution. wealth and race. rated in the United States. In recent years Lowe, Robert. 1992. "The Hollow Promise of The privatization movement will be the this separation has experienced some ero- School Vouchers" in False Choices. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Rethinking Schools, Ltd. most successful in the suburbs, where par- sion. Generally, it has always been Must, Art, Jr. Ed. 1992. Why We Still Need Public ents can afford privilege for their children. assumed that the government cannot sup- Schools. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. • It will also be attractive to upper-income persons who move back to the city in gen- Foster humanist growth for years to come. Æn trified enclaves. These parents will likely Provide for FREE INQUIRY in your will. support privatization in order to provide Please remember FREE INQUIRY (CODESH, Inc.) when planning your estate. Your bequest an alternative to sending their children to will help to maintain the vitality of humanism in a society often hostile toward it. public urban schools. We would be happy to work with you and your attorney in the development of Since 1981 the United States has grad- a will or estate plan that meets your wishes. A variety of arrangements are possible, ually returned, particularly in the urban including gifts of a fixed amount or a percentage of your estate; living trusts or gift annu- North, to a more racially segregated soci- ities, which provide you with lifetime income; a contingent bequest that provides for ety. Privatization can serve to continue FREE INQUIRY only if your primary beneficiaries do not survive you. this trend even as private schools were For more information contact Paul Kurtz, Editor of FREE INQUIRY. All inquiries will be held in the strictest confidence. used in the aftermath of Brown v. The Board of Education to attempt to maintain Spring 1996 29

Viewpoints Irish Democracy Continues Its Advance Dick Spicer

en years after the last divorce referen- failure of the government to actually cam- Humanists were invited to a joint meeting Tdum, Ireland has put the seal on its paign politically left the anti-divorce lobby with humanists of Northern Ireland just a modernization, this time voting for with a clear field. It fought like a tiger on couple of weeks before the divorce refer- divorce. It has been a decade of struggle every front, using repetitive, simple, tar- endum. We used the opportunity to on church-state issues on a broad front, geted messages and hammering away at explain the changes that have taken place and, indeed, it was at the post-mortem peoples' fears of social breakdown. In the in this past decade. With the defeat of the meeting after the referendum defeat ten final weeks of the campaign, the govern- divorce referendum ten years ago, Ireland years ago that I first urged the formation ment was forced to go on the offensive, was about the only country in the democ- of a broad campaign on church-state and, mercifully, the focus on the campaign ratic world to have implemented the entire issues. It took some time to actually come shifted to church-state separation and the agenda of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority. into being, but the premise on which that democratic common good of society. The Indeed, I wrote an article for FREE initiative was launched proved correct. tide was turned. Credit must be given to INQUIRY ("A Church-State Case Study: Ireland would not make the leap beyond Fianna Fail as the main opposition party The Irish Republic," FI, Winter 1990/91) theocracy until its people were convinced that helped bring out the working-class pointing this out and appealing for help that it was unjust to impose religious atti- vote, a decisive factor in securing victory. from concerned United States citizens. In tudes on all via the laws of the state. The Even those politicians who fumbled at the Ireland divorce, homosexuality, and abor- rightness of that democratic moral posi- national level encouraged their own local tion were illegal. The use of contracep- tion finally struck home in our society. It constituents. The vote was so close that we tives was restricted, censorship of sexual- was a position for ordinary citizens, and it should be grateful at least for that. ity was the norm, sex education was was eventually articulated on the door- The Association of Irish Humanists taboo, and education and health care were steps and embraced with a passion. campaigned hard and our arguments got dominated by the religious ethos of the Humanists straddle the political divide good coverage in the media, particularly Catholic church. in Ireland as elsewhere, but one could not when the main government spokesman, Now, we have an Irish society where discuss the recent referendum without Minister Michael Noonan, publicly en- divorce and homosexuality are legal, con- drawing attention to the failings of the dorsed our view of the common good as traception is widely available, and state- government's campaign. It sat back and being superior to that articulated by Arch- supported sex education in schools is complacently watched a huge lead in the bishop Dr. Desmond Connell (senior becoming the norm, secular standards in opinion polls get whittled away to noth- spokesman for the Catholic hierarchy). health care are advancing, and state con- ing, saying it expected as much to happen, (Strangely, the Irish Times excised the trol of schools is inching forward. instead of going out and fighting for every minister's endorsement from their cover- Playboy magazine recently went on sale, vote. It placed its faith not in the political age of his speech.) Indeed, so effective having had its distribution ban lifted by process but in a slick marketing finale that was our material, it was frequently uti- the censorship board. Indeed, to quote one was scuttled by high court action, and lized by politicians without acknowledg- of our gurus of the fundamentalist lobby, hence was left with virtually no campaign. ment. The chief media handler of the anti- David Quinn of the Sunday Business Post, Refusing to consider the idea of market- divorce lobby, Jeremy Hennessey, the liberal agenda has even been imple- ing divorce like one would market a dairy contacted us to compliment us on our con- mented to the extent that we have a "little product and avoiding mixing politically tribution, which he termed the most effec- bit of abortion" and euthanasia. He was with the anti-divorce lobby was a gross tive on the liberal side. referring to the Supreme Court ruling on misjudgment and all but cost us success. the case of the "X" girl that she had a right The media rightly saw the government Ireland Now to an abortion in Ireland and the ruling as the pro side of the argument, but the that allowed withdrawal of feeding of t often helps in understanding one's patients in cases where quality of life was Dick Spicer is president of the Association Iown society to look at it from an out- nonexistent and hope of recovery nil. of Irish Humanists. sider's viewpoint or at least to explain it to The moral majority's agenda has been outsiders. We in the Association of Irish defeated or severely mauled on all fronts

30 FREE INQUIRY despite interventions by the pope and The Irish media, particularly radio slogan of "Rome rules" that it was a mere Mother Teresa. Although further progress talk-shows that discuss sensitive issues in ten years ago. Although work remains to must be sought, particularly in education, a unique and open manner, must also take be done in many areas, this is true of most Ireland has now entered the secular demo- some of the credit for the changes that societies, and we can look the rest of the cratic world. The necessity of holding refer- have occurred, although it often took democratic world in the eye at last. We endums to endorse change has educated the investigative reporting by the Northern hope the new Ireland will seem less public in a way that is unusual in a Western Irish media to start the ball rolling. threatening to resident non-Catholics and democracy where the legislature can often In short, Ireland is not the cloistered, contribute to a lasting peace on this get out of step with popular opinion. church-dominated society typified by the island. •

competition, was quoted in the Wall Street Notes from the Editor Journal (February 12, 1996), as being "concerned [whether] there are sufficient Paul Kurtz safeguards against the kinds of mergers and acquisitions that might give some The Decline of Small Business tioners, insurance agents, and accoun- small group of companies or individuals a tants. When WalMart invades a town, stranglehold" over the U.S. telecommuni- uch has been written about the many or most of the local businesses are cations market. "I'd hate to see the AT&T Meffect of downsizing on the many driven out, changing the entire character monopoly be reconstituted in some form," employees who have been squeezed out of of Main Street. he said. This trend becomes all the more middle-management positions and are This trend toward concentration no threatening as the lines between media unable to find employment or are forced doubt has always been with us. In a radi- companies—television, radio, cable, tele- to take lower-paying jobs. The negative cally changing marketplace shaped by phone, film, and publishing—become impact of this phenomenon on individual technological innovations, businesses blurred, and the means of delivering infor- careers, families, and communities is need to adapt if they are to survive. mation increasingly comes under the con- incalculable. AT&T has announced a cut- Unfortunately, small businesses often lack trol of powerful conglomerates. back of 40,000 employees throughout its the capital and market share to do so. system as computer technology improves worrisome negative fallout of the dis- productivity and renders many employees -"havehave already written (see "The ppearance of small business is its redundant. This action is repeated daily as of the End of the Age of effect on local communities. Small entre- still other companies restructure in order Books," FREE INQUIRY, Winter 1993/94) preneurs and professionals contribute to maximize profit. about this trend in the publishing industry, vitality and innovation. They practice the Not much has been written about where I think it is especially dangerous, civic virtues so essential to the health, another profoundly disturbing change because it threatens to limit the expression prosperity, and cultural enhancement of a occurring in virtually every community. I of diversity of opinion, so vital to a flour- local community. Regrettably, the trend am here referring to the increasing disap- ishing democratic society. Even maga- toward homogenization is engulfing local pearance of small business entrepreneurs zines like FREE INQUIRY and the Skeptical diversity, and absentee owners and their and professionals. Local pharmacists have Inquirer, which have attempted to present branch-office managers do not have the been forced out of business by drugstore alternative viewpoints, are threatened by same sense of devotion and responsibility chains; similarly for owners of indepen- the media giants, who have greater clout to local interests. dent gas stations, restaurants, grocery and with newsstand distributors. What will be the long-range conse- clothing stores. A friend of mine whose A bill recently enacted in Congress quences of this trend toward acquisitions family owned a thriving linoleum floor- with very little dissent and signed by the and mergers and the decline of the "bour- covering company in Newark, New president allows media companies to geoisie" in public life? It is difficult to Jersey, for seventy-two years reports that increase their nationwide market shares of say—surely lower prices in chain stores— Home Depot has opened a large store television ownership from 25 to 35 per- but also lower-paying jobs and a loss of an down the street and sells floor covering cent. It removes virtually all restrictions in entire cadre of hard-working and enter- more cheaply than he can buy it. He feels local markets on the combined ownership prising individuals who have helped build that his days are numbered. This trend is of radio, television stations, and news- American society. It is small businesses repeated in every industry nationwide. papers, enabling a very few companies to that generate new jobs in America, not the Family farms have been overpowered by dominate. megacorporations. I fear that what is huge commercial-agricultural conglomer- Judge Harold H. Green, who was emerging is a corporate society in which a ates. Individual physicians in private prac- responsible less than a decade ago for the limited number of giant firms, most of tice are replaced by health maintenance break-up of AT&T and the creation of the them global in scope, control decision- organizations; ditto for small legal practi- seven Baby Bells, all in an effort to ensure making. These criticisms are not written Spring 1996 31 from a left-wing perspective; and one can chase the products that are produced, far been acquitted of all efforts to convict make a good case for the restoration of growth will likewise be stimulated. Unfor- him. competition and the preservation of small- tunately, the disciples of the flat tax do not The Oakland County prosecutor's businesses on purely free-market and lib- say whether it will contribute to the deficit. office has scheduled two trials. The first, ertarian principles. Reaganomic tax cuts in the 1980s fueled an which began in February 1996, involves There are some possible solutions: expanded economy, but it also quadrupled the deaths of Merian Frederick and Dr. Ali lower tax rates for small business, easier the national debt. At a time when corporate Khalili, who died a month apart in 1993 access to the capital markets, the preser- profits are soaring, disparities in income by breathing carbon monoxide gas sup- vation of small family businesses for sec- are increasing, and the real wages of aver- plied by Dr. Kevorkian. He is being tried ond and third generations, better enforce- age workers are declining, to call for a flat ex post facto under a now-expired law that ment of the antitrust laws, etc. Are there tax seems to many to be unfair. banned assisted suicide. A second trial is other creative remedies? It would be inter- The underlying issue in this debate is scheduled to begin in April 1996. Dr. esting to hear from our readers on this not simply economic but ethical. Should Kevorkian is being prosecuted for the problem. It is surely time to open a the increasing trend toward concentration deaths of Marjorie Wendt and Sherry national debate. and the widening disparities in income and Miller, which occurred in 1991. Pro- wealth be allowed to continue, or should metheus Books was subpoenaed to appear The Flat Tax vs. Progressivity not some effort be made to redress gross in the first trial because it has published imbalances by encouraging some degree of Dr. Kevorkian's book, Prescription Medi- rr he more things change the more they redistribution? Surely, we need to stimulate cide: The Goodness of Planned Death remain the same. It was only a cen- growth and to reward entrepreneurial risk (hardcover 1991, paperback 1994). tury ago that the arguments in favor of a capital, and perhaps some forms of taxa- The prosecutor's office first called progressive income tax system won the tion are excessively high and hence self- Steven Mitchell, CEO of Prometheus, in day. And they made some sense: those defeating. But do we not also need to miti- late January 1996, requesting the atten- who were able to most afford it should gate the reduced income of workers and dance of a representative of the company contribute more to the revenues necessary dispossessed businessmen and profession- at the trial as a witness for the prosecution. to run the state. The disadvantaged in the als? One may ask, Why should the sons Steven Mitchell replied that Prometheus community would thus be helped, and and daughters of inherited wealth have Books did not wish to become a party to there would be some reduction in inequal- inordinate advantages in life? It makes the prosecution of one of its authors, par- ities in income and wealth. some sense in a democratic society that ticularly since it agreed with Dr. The opponents of the progressive appreciates the principle of equality of Kevorkian's general position. The income tax are now making headway, and opportunity to provide a more nearly level Michigan prosecutor then served papers they now seem to have a receptive audi- playing field on which young people, rich on Prometheus Books in an Erie County, ence. A bevy of conservative candidates and poor, can compete. Thus one can argue New York, court to show cause why a rep- complain about affluent individuals and on ethical grounds for a progressive system resentative of Prometheus should not be corporations having to pay what they con- of taxation and against the complete present at the trial. As chairman of sider to be excessive taxes. Some parti- exemption of income from interests and Prometheus, I appeared at the hearing sans even wish to exclude from taxation dividends or the abandonment of the inher- along with Mr. Mitchell. The Michigan all interest and dividend income derived itance tax. I find no contradiction in subpoena stated that a representative of from investments, and to eliminate the defending both the libertarian idea of a free Prometheus "is a material and necessary inheritance tax. Only so-called earned market where individual effort is rewarded, witness whose presence is required at said income would be taxed. This is the basic and some principles of fairness. Some con- criminal prosecution." Prometheus was thrust of the flat tax, which, beyond a min- sideration of the common good seems to required "to testify as to the proper foun- imum income threshold, rejects argu- me to be essential in a democracy. dation for admission into evidence" of Dr. ments for progressivity. Kevorkian's book. Our lawyers argued that One can debate the case for or against Jack Kevorkian on Trial we did not wish to appear. First, the flat tax on purely economic grounds. Prometheus surely did not deny that it was Will reduced taxation stimulate economic rometheus Books, the leading secular the publisher of Dr. Kevorkian's book, nor growth, and will the rising tide raise all Phumanist and freethought publisher in did Dr. Kevorkian; and the prosecution did ships, as Jack Kemp, Richard Armey, Steve the world, is no doubt familiar to most not demonstrate in any sense that Forbes, and others have claimed? Instead readers of FREE INQUIRY. Prometheus was Prometheus was a necessary "material of dividing up the same pie, they say, let's recently subpoenaed to appear at the witness." Second, and more important, we expand what we produce so that everyone Oakland County, Michigan, criminal thought that to compel a publisher at this will benefit. Surely, we need to stimulate prosecution trial of Jack Kevorkian. Dr. trial would have a chilling effect on free- economic growth; and this may be one of Kevorkian has helped twenty-seven peo- dom of the press. The First Amendment the ways of doing so. But one can also ple to die—people who were terminally ill states, "The Congress shall make no law argue that by increasing income in the and/or suffered great pain and requested abridging freedom of the press." Since hands of average consumers, who can pur- the right to commit suicide. He has thus Prometheus is perhaps the leading pub-

32 FREE INQUIRY usher of books on euthanasia in the United quence. We believe that a person who is port Dr. Kevorkian. States, we felt that this was likely to be a suffering a terminal illness, is in extreme Both sides of this important debate need form of intimidation. pain, and who voluntarily asks for assis- to be heard. The effort to compel New York Supreme Court Justice tance in terminating his or her suffering Prometheus Books is a tangential issue, but Christopher J. Burns issued such a sum- ought to have this right respected. There it does enter into the question of freedom mons on February 2, 1996, maintaining should be safeguards, of course, that this of expression, and the possible muting of that he would allow the Michigan prosecu- not be abused. For example, two doctors those who wish to defend active euthana- tors's request so long as the Michigan shall attest to the medical condition and sia, particularly in a context where pro-life Court believed that Prometheus was a the patient should be competent and not militants oppose the right to die and are material witness. Prometheus was granted undergoing depression. intent on inflaming public opinion, even a temporary stay of this decision by the The Michigan prosecution argues that though they have no direct stake in the pri- New York Chief Judge Dolores Denman of Dr. Kevorkian should not take the law into vate suffering of patients who wish tó die. the Fourth District Appeals Court shortly his own hands. Some defenders of assisted Interestingly, those who are most thereafter. Our attorney argued that the suicide may disagree with the methods that adamant about getting the government off Michigan prosecution had not specified Dr. Kevorkian has used in assisting people our backs are most persistent in intervening why the testimony of the publisher of a to end their suffering and die. For others in the private lives of individuals. One can book published five years ago was a mate- intent on changing the law, Kevorkian is a argue that active euthanasia, even if not rial witness. It is the responsibility of those moral symbol for a growing medical-social legalized, should be decriminalized, and compelling a witness to provide an expla- problem that needs addressing. Virtually left as a private matter, like abortion and nation as to why presence is necessary. To everyone knows friends or relatives who other forms of medical care. The decision compel an out-of-state witness who is have died painfully, pleading for assistance of whether or not to assist a person who accused of no wrong-doing to appear is to hasten the process. According to opinion wishes to end his or her suffering and to die drastic and burdensome—this is particu- polls, 56 percent of doctors in Michigan should be left in the hands of the patient, larly the case where the First Amendment and 60 percent of the general public sup- and his or her doctors, and family. is at stake. However, an appeals court meeting in Rochester, New York, denied our request for a further stay; and ordered a representative of Prometheus to appear pending our appeal, which would be Missionaries Invade Public Schools delayed until after the trial. Fortunately, however, as we were Skipp Porteous preparing to send a representative to the trial, the Michigan prosecutor decided to he 1990 Supreme Court decision in to evangelize ... our schools are the bat- quash our subpoena, saying that our TBoard of Education of the Westside tle ground." He explains, "The National appearance "was no longer necessary." Community Schools v. Mergens upheld Association of Christian Educators is a One can speculate as to his motives. Our the constitutionality of the 1984 Equal group of professional educators in our protests about the undermining of the First Access Act, allowing Bible clubs in pub- public schools." He claims that there are Amendment were widely covered in the lic schools. "over 500,000 born-again Christians press—in Booksellers Today, Publishers Calling it a major landmark decision working from `inside' of the system, to Weekly, and newspapers in upstate New and a tremendous victory, Pat Robertson change it, and return the Christian ethic of York and Detroit. So perhaps the prosecu- praised the Court's decision. High school morality and excellence in education." tor thought that it was the better part of students can now "meet together as Simonds is not alone. Mike Gallagher, prudence not to call us. Christians," Robertson said. "It's opened a Washington state public school the door wide for students to express their teacher—and Campus for Crusade for A s I write this viewpoint, we do not faith, to let students give out tracts, to Christ missionary—said that he sees his ow whether Dr. Kevorkian will be carry their Bibles, to read the Bible, and to high school campus as "one of the richest convicted. But it is clear that the move- talk about Jesus and faith. It's a fabulous mission fields, and I am committed to har- ment for active euthanasia has moved to decision!" vesting it." the center of public debate. Referenda per- Dr. Robert L. Simonds, president of the Youth Alive, the junior and senior high mitting active euthanasia have been intro- National Association of Christian school ministry of the Assemblies of duced in several states, notably Oregon, Educators/Citizens for Excellence in God—a Pentecostal denomination with 13 Washington, California, and Michigan. Education, also supports Christian clubs million adherents—has developed a simu- The public recognizes that with the in public schools. "Our job," he said, "is lation game for teens called "Win Your advance of scientific medicine people can Campus for Christ." The game is billed as be kept alive far beyond the time that they Skipp Porteous is national director of the "an idea that can bring a whole new excite- would normally have died, and there is Institute for First Amendment Studies. ment to your group ... the possibility of much unnecessary suffering as a conse- winning their campus to Christ." Spring 1996 33 The objective of the game is "to be the is important that your Youth Alive group Creation Research, Films for Christ, and first school to win their campus to Christ." be exposed to the students and faculty. Focus on the Family, use films and videos Players are divided into groups of This will give it credibility and show its to indoctrinate their young, unsuspecting, "Christian students and unbelieving stu- importance on the campus." Some of the captive audiences. dents." The Christians are instructed to methods suggested to accomplish this The Equal Access Act requires that seek out the non-Christian students of include: Bible clubs, or other meetings permitted their school. The rules specifically state • Set up school assemblies with special by the act, be student initiated. Nonschool that "non-Christians are not allowed to speakers. persons may not direct, conduct, control, seek out anyone." • Put articles in the school paper or regularly attend activities of student An integral part of their self-described dealing with issues from a Christian groups. In many cases, a minimal amount perspective. "plan of attack" is a study guide called • Advertise, using badges, flyers, of investigation may prove that church "First Hour Bible Studies." It consists of and posters. person may be found in frequent atten- manuals for use by student groups that • Have a Youth Alive luncheon in the dance, even though this is expressly pro- meet on junior and senior high campuses cafeteria. Invite your youth pastor. hibited by the act. before or after classes. Besides daily Bible Furthermore, the act requires the Bible studies, one manual has a section called Another such group, Youth Invasion meetings not be school-sponsored. This "5 Ways to Use Your Classroom for Ministries, sponsored by North Central includes promoting, leading, or participat- Christ." They are: Bible College in Minneapolis, offers sem- ing in a meeting. According to the act, the inars on teen evangelism. The goal of assignment of a teacher, administrator, or 1. Give a speech on: these seminars is "to raise up Holy Ghost other school employee to a meeting for a. The last thing 1 would say before I SWAT teams on every campus who will custodial purposes does not constitute died. lead the campus to God" sponsorship of the meeting. However, the b. The person 1 admire the most. One part of the program deals with c. Why I am a Christian. custodial employee of the school may be d. Where our world is headed. teenage pregnancy. While its manual present at religious meetings only in a e. Problems teenagers face. states "a teenage pregnancy forever alters nonparticipatory capacity. This means that f. Suicide: America's growing phe- a girl's life," it stresses the importance of students cannot enlist a born-again nomenon. "getting to the girl during the critical teacher who will pray with them, read or 2. Write a paper on: period when she is deciding whether or a. Proof of the resurrection. discuss the Bible, or testify about his/her b. Why I believe the Bible. not to allow the child within her to live." personal religious experience. c. Evolution vs. Creation. The objective is to prevent abortion. To combat the missionary threat, stu- d. Roots of the reformation cults. However, in post-abortion situations, the dents and faculty must be vigilant in pro- e. Human sexuality: The Biblical per- teams are instructed to help the girl tecting the separation between church and spective. "accept God's forgiveness." f. Abortion. state throughout America's 15,700 school g. Cults. Numerous other groups have their districts. Religion's place is in the homes, 3. Write a book report on one of the fol- sights set on our public schools. Some churches, synagogues, and temples—not lowing [Christian books]: ministries, such as the Institute for in our public schools. • a. Evidence That Demands a Verdict b. The Cross and the Switchblade c. Joni d. A Christian Manifesto I DotJ'T KNOW WHERE e. Pilgrim's Progress it COMES FROM, f. The Hiding Place BuT tv RE Going, To HAVE TO 4. Ask opening questions, such as: CONTROL 1H15 EXTREMIST a. Why has suicide grown to epi- demic proportions? b. Jesus once said something very profound dealing with that sub- ject.. .. c. What was the real reason for the Reformation? d. What was the real reason the Pilgrims came to America? 5. Suggest an outside speaker to your teacher: a. Pastor b. Youth Pastor c. Christian businessman d. Christian professional man

The Assemblies of God "First Hour Bible Studies" manual also states that "it 34 FREE INQUIRY

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA? !Wm! L'u~luo Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition Robert Boston Televangelist Pat Robertson has built one of the most powerful religious-political movements in American history. His Christian Coalition—with its "700 Club" broadcasting fundamentalism tinged with right-wing politics to an audience of millions, its American Center for Law and Justice legal action group attempting to impose far-right Christian ideas via the courts, and the growing number of graduates from its Regents 1111\1 University—wields a mighty sword within the Republican party in at least 25 states while GOP national leaders and presidential hopefuls coUrt its favor. Despite his power, many Americans are not aware of Robertson's extreme political views or his lidll U goals for the United States. This book examines the role Robertson plays in contemporary politics and his efforts to influence American society through his various political organizations, businesses, and PAT ROBERTSON ANO THE RISE OF THE broadcast empire. It exposes his theocratic agenda and warns that if the political movement he heads CHRISTIAN COALITION continues to grow in power, America's religious and political freedoms will be placed in grave jeopardy. Available in April 230 pages (Footnotes, Index) • ISBN 1-57392-053-3 • Paper $16.95 Reserve your copy now

REINCARNATION: A THE END OF DAYS CRITICAL EXAMINATION A Story of Tolerance, Tyranny and the REINCARNATION: Paul Edwards Expulsion of the Jews from Spain A CRITICAL Written in a lucid and witty style by an Erna Paris EXAMINATION author renowned for his Voltairean sense That Spain was, for centuries, the most of fun, this systematic and comprehensive tolerant nation in Europe, and subse- critical evaluation of reincarnation shows quently became the most intolerant, is the THE how it is incompatible with many well- heart of this book. Is there anything to ENL) established facts such as population learn from the cataclysmic upheaval of a Of A PAUL EDWARDS increases, the recency of life in the J"t distant age as the violent, tortured 20th- CAS ó~. universe, and the transformation of century draws to a close? species. In a particularly amusing chapter, Edwards shows 327 pages (Photo Insert, Bibliography, Index) that reincarnation is committed to belief in the astral body. ISBN 1-57392-017-7 • Cloth $28.95 250 pages • ISBN 1-57392-005-3 • Cloth $28.95 Also Available .. . THE UNRIDDLING OF CHRISTIAN ORIGINS THOMAS JEFFERSON'S A Secular Account FREETHOUGHT LEGACY Joel Carmichael CHRISTIAN A Saying Per Day by the Sage of Monticello Roger E. Greeley This volume provides the only factual ORIGINS account of the circumstances that 138 pages (Index) • ISBN 1-57392-008-8 • Cloth $21.95 established the Christian religion, from the secular point of view. THE UNCONSCIOUS QUANTUM 425 pp (Bibliography, Index) Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cosmology ISBN 0-87975-952-6 • Cloth $34.95 CARMICHAEL Victor J. Stenger, Ph.D. 320 pages • ISBN 1-57392-022-3 • Cloth $32.95 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL MATERIALISM ERRANCY An Affirmative History and Definition C. Dennis McKinsey Richard C. Vitzthum 553 pages (Index) • ISBN 0-87975-926-7 • Cloth $49.95 246 pages • ISBN 1-57392-027-4 • Cloth $29.95 THE CHRIST THE FUTURE OF OUR PAST A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidence of His Existence From Ancient Greece to the Global Village John E Remsburg H.J. Blackham • edited by Barbara Smoker 437 pages (Index) • ISBN 0-87975-924-0 • Cloth $29.95 408 pages • ISBN 1-57392-042-8 • $39.95 THE FINAL SUPERSTITION GULLIBLE'S TRAVELS A Critical Evaluation of the Judeo-Christian Legacy An Audiotape by Steve Allen Joseph L. Daleiden read by Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows 490 pages (Bibliography, Index) • ISBN 0-87975-896-1 • Cloth $32.95 1 tape • 60 Minutes • ISBN 1-57392-029-0 • $12.95 • Ages 8 - 15 At better bookstores, or order directly from Prometheus Books Call toll free (800) 421-0351 (24 hours) • Fax (716) 691-0137 • John Glenn Drive • Amherst, NY 14278-2197 The Incredible Flimflams of Margaret Rowen Part 1: Seventh-day Adventists and the Second Coming

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has long been plagued by bizarre offshoots that struggle to reform church doctrines. The lat- est such effort was by the Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh, whose cult came to a fiery end in Waco, Texas. No Adventist reform movement, however, has been stranger than the breakaway church led by Mrs. Margaret W. Rowen, of 1112 Gower Street, Los Angeles. It is a wild story, climaxed by Mrs. Rowen's attempt to murder one of her former disciples.

Martin Gardner

efore Ellen White, the Adventist leader and prophetess, unpublished lectures, which came to me by way of the Adventist died in 1915 she was careful not to name a successor. historian Richard Schwarz, are a major source for this article. However, as years rolled by with no sign of the Second B I stood with the angel Gabriel in the paradise home of Adam and Coming, it was perhaps inevitable that someone would emerge Eve and saw them as they came from the hand of their Creator. with claims to be the church's new living messenger. That person Majestic in stature they were, and beautiful, perfect in every way, was Margaret Rowen, a plump, forty-year-old housewife not and wearing a soft covering of light. Among the beasts of the gar- much larger than a midget. According to her mother she was four den was one more beautiful and intelligent than any of the others. feet tall and almost as wide. To this day no one can be sure This little four-footed animal stood upright, front feet were like hands being used to convey food and drink to the mouth. Its yel- whether Mrs. Rowen was a self-deluded woman who believed low and black striped body was covered with soft silky hair and what she preached or a total charlatan. Maybe she was, like shone like gold. Two large gauzy wings which sparkled with a sil- Koresh, an evil mixture of both. ver light enabled the pretty creature to fly high among the lofty Mrs. Rowen's crazy career took off on June 22, 1916, when branches of the trees. This creature, the serpent, was ever Eve's she claimed she had a vision of soon-coming events. A former pet. It was her daily habit to amuse herself with this beautiful ani- mal. Methodist, she had joined the South Side Seventh-day Adventist Were I drawing only beautiful pictures, I should omit what Church, in Los Angeles, about four years before her visions follows, but will give as clearly as possible the scenes as they began. Little is known about her husband, George W. Rowen, passed before me. Satan shows the effect of his long existence and their three children beyond the fact that they never became apart from God. His skin is almost brown and hangs in loose Adventists. The Rowens were married in 1899. They lived near folds from the lower face, while under the chin, the bagginess falls like a pointed beard of flesh. The perceptions are over-devel- Chester and Uplands, Pennsylvania, until they moved to Los oped, giving the most unnatural appearance to the eyebrows Angeles ten years later. which lift in great arches above the immense eyes, beautiful at Margaret's visionary trances were allegedly similar to those one time. There is much loose flesh above and below the eyes of Mrs. White. For periods that could last an hour or more her which sometimes bulge, sometimes sink back into the head, and eyes were said to be open and unblinking, her body rigid, and at still other times, roll uncontrollably from side to side. The brow is high, receding to the hairline. The hair is of a dirty slate there were no signs of breathing. Tears often flowed down her color, coarse and bristly. Patches of this same bristly hair appear cheeks. Below are typical descriptions of what she saw as on different parts of the body which is bent, twisted, and almost reported in her thirty-two-page pamphlet, "Stirring Messages for fleshless. The most unsightly is the mouth which lifts high at the This Time." I quote from a series of lectures on Mrs. Rowen corners, the upper lip drawing far down at the center. The fright- delivered some time between 1972 and 1974 to a General ful teeth growing far out from the gums lend much to the hideousness of the grin that he ever seems to wear. This is the Conference of Adventists in Takoma Park, Maryland. The monster that uses his influence to trouble Pilate and his company speaker was Arthur L. White, a grandson of Ellen White. His at every turn.

Martin Gardner is the author of some sixty books on science, Margaret's description of Satan is similar to what Mrs. White mathematics, philosophy, and literature. His novel The Flight of saw in a vision reported in her Spirit of Prophecy (vol. 1, page Peter Fromm, a blast against both conservative and liberal 48). Although Mrs. Rowen's visions usually harmonized with Christianity, has been reissued by Prometheus Books with an those of Mrs. White, there were occasional departures from autobiographical afterword. Adventist beliefs. For example, Mrs. White taught that Jesus and Michael were one and the same, but Margaret added the heresy

36 FREE INQUIRY that Jesus was not part of an eternal Trinity. He was an archangel The adjacent apartment was occupied by Dr. Fullmer and his created by God and later adopted as God's only son. Not until wife. Fullmer became Mrs. Rowen's publisher, and Mrs. Fullmer then did he become a member of the Trinity. Margaret also served as secretary and treasurer of what was called The preached that during the Millennium, while the saved were Seventh-day Adventist Reform Church. Members in Los Angeles enjoying heaven, Satan and his fallen angels, along with a resur- met regularly for Saturday services at Rhodes Hall, at the corner rected Pilate and all the false prophets, would be allowed to wan- of 55th Street and Moneta Avenue. For four years. Dr. Fullmer der freely over a desolated Earth. Her most peculiar revelation published Margaret's pamphlets and leaflets, and edited the was that the 144,000 redeemed, mentioned in the Apocalypse, movement's periodical, the Reform Advocate and Prayer-Band would be a subset of the saved and gathered solely from the Appeal. Copies of this journal are now exceedingly rare collec- United States. tor's items. A small number of Adventist elders became convinced that Margaret promoted her reform movement with outrageous Mrs. Rowen's visions were genuine. Arthur White singles out deceptions. She announced that she had a vision informing her three: P. W. Province, of Oregon, and two Los Angeles ministers, that Ellen White had signed a document on August 10, 1911, J. F. Blunt and F. I. Richardson. Blunt published a forty-page naming her (Mrs. Rowen) as her successor, and that this docu- booklet in 1918 titled The Rowen Pamphlet that vigorously ment was hidden in a vault at Elmshaven, an Adventist medical defended Mrs. Rowen as the church's new messenger. Two other center in St. Helena, California, where Mrs. White had spent the prominent Adventists who supported Mrs. Rowen were Elder last fifteen years of her life. Margaret confided to Dr. Fullmer Julian M. Tvedt, of Coffeyville, Kansas, and his friend Elder that she had visited Elmshaven and secretly removed from the Matthew Larson, pastor of a church in Arkansas, Kansas. files this important document which the church was concealing. Careful investigation by the Adventist church finally con- She regretted having done this. The document belonged back in cluded that although Margaret's visions were supernatural in ori- the vault. She begged Fullmer to visit Elmshaven and surrepti- gin, they came from Satan, not from God or the Holy Spirit. Mrs. tiously return the document to the files. Rowen and all the elders who followed her were disfellow- The document, typed and apparently signed by Mrs. White, shipped (excommunicated) in 1919 along with former Iowans Dr. read as follows: Bert E. Fullmer, a private physician, and his wife, Jessie. The Fullmers had become Mrs. Rowen's most devoted disciples. St. Helena, California August 10, 1911

t is impossible now to know how many Adventists joined Mrs. In the night season the spirit of the Lord came upon me and I was 1.Rowen's band of apostates. A reasonable guess is about a shown the great falling away among the remnant. Many times the thousand, most of them in California, but also scattered through- written testimony was read from the sacred desk, and the reader out the United States and abroad. Margaret was tireless in himself failed to apply it to his own heart and profit by it. Rather than shape their lives by the words from heaven, they would per- preaching here and there after her excommunication, issuing a mit that which condemned them to be wiped from the printed raft of handbills and pamphlets about her visions and prophecies. page. But I saw that God would keep his promises to Israel and She and her husband lived in a duplex apartment in Los Angeles. would have a people—a remnant unspotted from the world. To accomplish this I saw it was necessary to call for a reform in the church of God. I saw that the spirit of God moved upon a few to seek for a purification of heart. This work would rise and fall again and again; the allurements of the world seemed more than they could withstand. I then saw that just a little way in the future after my labors were finished, that God would call one to give the cry to the church of god, "Repent. Repent. Lift up the standard. Purify yourselves for the coming of your King." I then saw little companies formed to call on God for help. I saw these earnest praying ones much annoyed by their brethren, Criticized and con- demned, the messenger of God suffered much humiliation and condemnation, but she longed to see the church made white and clean, ready for the Saviour's coming. Through all of her trials she was true to her calling. In her heart was the love that the Master would have for the brethren. I saw that many were shaken out because of the straight testimony, but the little praying com- panies increased until the church of God was honeycombed with earnest, praying people. I saw that many of the leaders refused to accept the messenger. I saw that the one sent of God was one lim- ited education, small in stature, and would sign the messages Margaret W. Rowen.

Ellen Gould White. She and her husband James White founded the [Signed] Ellen G. White Seventh-day Adventist Church after the failure of William Miller's predic- tion that Jesus would return in 1844. Adventists believe Mrs. White to have been God's divinely inspired special messenger for announcing The Fullmers, completely under the spell of Mrs. Rowen, Christ's imminent Second Advent and for forming a remnant church to believed everything she said. Together they drove to St. Helena. carry the message around the world. While a secretary went out of the room to get a lamp—the vault

Spring 1996 37 was dark—Dr. Fullmer slipped the document into the files. Mary Gillette. It was nothing more than Margaret's wild cover At the urging of Mrs. Rowen, the files were searched, and the story to account for the source of her funds. True, she did make document was discovered in the vault on December 17, 1919. It a trip to Philadelphia, though not to spend with the imaginary was immediately recognized as a crude forgery, and before the Mrs. Mills. Instead, she had stayed for five weeks with her year ended Margaret and both Fullmers were excommunicated. younger sister, Mrs. Sue Henley, in Chester, south of Philadelphia. The photo of Mrs. Mills had been taken in 1917 by rs. Rowen never admitted that she had forged the docu- C. F. Havercamp, a commercial photographer in Chester. Mrs. Mment. In 1924, she produced a letter purporting to have Rowen had one picture taken of herself. Then she used make-up been sent by Ellen White's son William Clarence to Mrs. to make her look like an older Mrs. Mills for a second picture, so Rowen's follower, the former Elder Richardson. In this phony naturally there were strong facial resemblances in the two pho- letter, which she had also forged, White confessed that he had tographs. She asked Havercamp to print the two pictures side by destroyed his mother's original letter, replacing it with a spurious side on a single card. copy so easily seen to be a forgery that it would totally discredit In 1920, Adventist investigators found a telegram that Mrs. Mrs. Rowen. Margaret then produced a much better forgery of Rowen had sent to Havercamp. In it she ordered him to send her the original document, which she claimed had not been all prints and negatives, threatening him with legal action if he destroyed after all! ever revealed what he had done. This information, by the way, Shortly before he died in 1927, Dr. Fullmer made a full con- came from Sue, who had no respect for her older sister. fession about his role in slipping the first document into the files Neither had Mrs. Wright. In 1920 she signed a sworn deposi- at Elmshaven. To ease his conscience, he said, he had vowed to tion which read: himself that if anyone ever asked him about the matter he would Any statement to the effect that Mrs. Margaret W. Rowen is not tell the truth. To his amazement no one ever asked. my natural daughter, but a foundling adopted by me by any Adventist leaders had long noticed that Margaret, like so process, legal or otherwise, is unqualifiedly false, as she is bone many cult leaders, enjoyed a lavish lifestyle. She wore expensive of my bone and flesh of my flesh. clothes and drove high-priced cars. Where was the money com- ing from? Actually, it came from the tithes of her deluded fol- Similar statements were obtained from John and James lowers, which she secretly diverted to her own bank accounts. To Plummer, Margaret's two half-brothers by an earlier marriage of explain her lifestyle she fabricated the following story. Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright told investigators, "I don't know why She had always believed, she said, that she was the daughter Margaret does this. I think she is trying to get money out of it of Alfred and Mathilda Wright, then living at 339 East 36th some way. I wish she wasn't my daughter." John Plummer said Street, Los Angeles. To her astonishment, a vision revealed that he was more sure of Margaret's birth than of his own because he her true mother was one Mary Gillette. Mary had been seduced knew nothing about his own birth whereas he himself had gone by her father before he married Mathilda. In the vision she saw for the doctor when Margaret was born. He agreed with his herself as an illegitimate baby being put in a basket and carried mother that Margaret was under the control of a "hypnotic or by her father to his house where he told his wife he had found the occult power" and that her family was "disgusted and humiliated child abandoned on a wharf. The Wrights loved the child and by her claims." later adopted her. In 1920 the Adventist Church's General Conference Margaret's true mother, Mary Gillette, was now married to a Committee published a 48-page pamphlet about Mrs. Rowen wealthy Philadelphia businessman named Harold Mills. After titled "Claims Disproved." It was followed in 1923 with a sequel, learning his address from another vision, Margaret contacted "Further Statement About Claims Disproved." Mrs. Mills by mail and quickly convinced her that she was Mrs. Rowen never gave up trying to convince her followers indeed her daughter. Mrs. Rowen showed letters from Mrs. Mills that the Mills family existed and was the source of her funds. to her "precious one" in which she spoke of longing to see and More and more forged documents were produced. She even embrace her "darling" daughter. Margaret drove to Philadelphia hired an actress to impersonate Mrs. Mills, introducing her to the where she said she spent five weeks with the Mills family. She Fullmers and other followers. At another time she persuaded a produced a photograph of Mrs. Mills that showed a remarkable friend, Mrs. Helen Despat, to wear a black veil and accompany resemblance to herself. Mrs. Mills was so overjoyed to discover her to church posing as Mrs. Mills. that Margaret was her daughter that she began giving Margaret In 1920, Margaret printed a handbill telling how she had been large sums of money and a regular allowance. She promised injured while speaking in a hall in Spokane, Washington. She Margaret she would be the heiress of a huge estate. claimed that a Catholic man in the audience, angered by her Mrs. Rowen told her followers that the Mills family was com- attacks on the papacy, had pulled her off the platform and broken ing to Los Angeles to visit her on December 26, 1918. her arm. She said the Spokane police had falsely arrested her Unfortunately, Mr. Mills came down with the flu, so the trip was along with her assailant. A check with Spokane's police revealed canceled. He died, Mrs. Rowen said, on Christmas Day. His that the entire story, as the chief of police put it in a letter, was "a widow was too distressed to make the trip to Los Angeles, but fake, pure and simple." His department knew nothing about a she continued to send money. Margaret Rowen. It was discovered much later by Adventist leaders that this How can one explain Margaret's never-ending compulsion to story was pure fabrication! There never was a Mills family or a make crude forgeries and to concoct easily detected whoppers?

38 FREE INQUIRY It is difficult to believe she was told to do this while in a trance. ing—proved to be a forged certificate signed by Dr. E. C. Even her visions are suspect because the only document describ- Cavenaugh, of Spruce Street, Philadelphia. There was no physi- ing them—the open eyes, the rigid body, the absence of breath- cian by that name at the time in the Philadelphia area.

n the other hand, in 1923, Mrs. (Extra Copies of This Number 10c Each) ORowen made a mistake so stupid that one is inclined to suspect she may THE really have experienced visions and believed them. Like Baptist farmer William Miller, whose failed prophe- RELFORM ADVOCATE cies about the Second Coming were the origin of Seventh-day Adventism, Matt. 3: 1, 2. AND Zech. 8: 21. she set an exact date for the arrival of Jesus. It was to occur on February 6, 1925. Probation for the unsaved, she PRAYER - BAND APPEAL said, would close a year earlier on February 6, 1924. Handbills were VOL. 4 Los ANGELES, CAL., MARCH, 1926 No.X printed announcing the dates. The first sign of Jesus' return, yotzlztrizgriyatylyirkeirit Margaret said, would be a small black cloud that would appear in the east after midnight on February 6, followed UNVEILING THE MYST-ERY by a great search light from heaven. The black cloud came from one of INNOCENCE VINDICATED GUILT PROVEN Mrs. White's visions. In her Early APOLOGIES OFFERED Writings (page 11) she wrote: "Soon our eyes were drawn to the east, for a "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principali- small black cloud had appeared, about ties, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, as large as a man's hand, which we all against wicked spirits in heavenly places."—Eph. 6:12, Marg. knew was the sign of the Son of Man." In the vision she saw Jesus seated on the cloud. The cloud, according to Mrs. Rowen, would signify the start of Christ's HAT which appears in this article will falls far short of a conviction formed by evi- T come as a distinct surprise to all who dence and proof. seven-day journey from heaven to read it. The reactions provoked by it will If there are any who have looked upon earth, accompanied by a vast host of vary with the emotions of the individuals. the matter as a joke, they may be inclined angels. Along the way they would stop to laugh at the outcome, and enjoy the Some will hail it with thanksgiving, be- off to visit inhabited planets and tell cause of their anxities regarding the sub- point. the residents the good news. On the ject in hand. Unstinted blame may be attached to Some will receive it with relief, because some, and the motives underlying their ac- return trip, which also would take of the vindication it will prove to them. tions challenged; and these must of neces- seven days, the angels and the To some it will be as the death of their sity meet this attitude on the part of those redeemed souls from Earth would so moved. next of kin, because of the dissipation of spend a sabbath of rest on one of the On the other hand, more than one whose their fondest hopes. planets. Those saved would include Others will find themselves involved in a motives or actions, or both, have been chal- maze of perplexities, either of doubt or fear. lenged will find themselves cleared of all 144,000 from different parts of the A few will be overwhelmed with chagrin imputation of either known or suspected de- United States. They would be tele- or shame, because their actions will have ceit or wrong-doing. ported from their homes to California been shown ill-timed and un-wise. That unsuspecting persons have been in- before being lifted into space to join nocent instruments in furthering unknown The settling of the question with cer- Jesus and the angels. Terrible plagues, tainty will bring a sense of relief to those design; will also appear in several instances. earthquakes, and other disasters would who have been heart-burdened as to wheth- Lastly ,the truth of the opening text will er they were being led astray or rejecting he demonstrated, that our battle is not, and then reduce the Earth to rubble. truth. has not been, with matters of human de- Throughout the United States, the The ever-present wiseacre will appear sign ; but a conflict with a power whose Rowenites sold their homes and and affirm. "I knew it all the time," but reality and subtlety can be questioned only worldly goods to await what is now untruthfully; for a conviction or impression by challenging the truthfulness of the Bible. called the "rapture." Stories about The first page of Dr. Fullmer's periodical in which he reveals for the first time his discovery that Mrs. Rowen them appeared in newspapers through- is a false prophet and a charlatan. out the land. A San Francisco

Spring 1996 39

Chronicle report was headlined: "Faithful Await Doom of ings and travelling in a Ford car with a Mr. J. J. Hartman. They World—Wicked Promised Great Free Show." The editor of a told the clerk of a motel where they had bunked that they were Pennsylvania paper wrote: "Will all those who have not paid for missionaries from San Diego. their subscription please call at the office tonight before mid- night to save us the task of scurrying all over hell to try to collect argaret is believed to have died in the late 1940s, though past due accounts." Mwhere and when she died, and under what circumstances, Little is known about how Mrs. Rowen reacted on February 6, remains a mystery. If any reader has information about her death, 1925, when nothing happened. She surfaced later that year to say please let me know. I would also be grateful if someone in Los that it was taking Jesus longer to make the journey to Earth than Angeles would copy for me, from local papers available in she had expected, but that he would be arriving very soon and libraries, reports on the attempted murder of Dr. Fullmer, and the terrible things would happen to the world after the faithful, arrest and sentencing of Mrs. Rowen and her two partners in including herself, were raptured. She put out a report that she had crime. I will reimburse copying expenses and pay extra for labor died on May 31, 1926, only to be resurrected. and time. Of course I would also be delighted to hear from any of Mrs. Rowen's descendants. I can be reached at 3001 Chestnut n 1926, the long faithful Dr. Fullmer finally began having Road, Hendersonville, North Carolina 28792. Idoubts about Mrs. Rowen's honesty. Surely her failed pre- Only one photograph of Mrs. Rowen is known to exist. It is diction of the date of the Second Advent must have played a reproduced on page 78 of an article about her in Notes and role in his disenchantment. In his periodical, he published Papers Concerning Ellen G. White and the Spirit of Prophecy, uncontrovertible evidence that Margaret had twice forged the revised edition 1974, issued by the White Estate. The Rowenite document supposedly signed by Ellen White, as well as the let- movement is also covered briefly in the Seventh-day Adventist ter in which Elder W. C. White confessed that he himself had Encyclopedia (1966). forged the first document. Fullmer reported on his investiga- In Part 2 of this three-part study, I will tell the sad story of Dr. tions of Margaret's funds. They proved that she had been regu- Fullmer's four years of service to Mrs. Rowen as her publisher, larly stealing tithe money from her followers to pay for her with many quotations from his periodical. Part 3 will be a hilar- costly wardrobe and the five expensive cars she had bought ious account of how the Rowenites in Long Island, New York, over the years. Fullmer apologized to his readers for the role he reacted to Mrs. Rowen's prophecy of doom. • had played in duping them and expressed his belief that Mrs. Rowen was under the influence of Satan. He made plans to take her to court on a charge of stealing tens of thousands of dollars ANNOUNCING THE FIRST SUMMER SEMINAR from the faithful. OF THE EXPANDED It is hard to believe, but Mrs. Rowen, now thoroughly dis- credited and desperately in need of money, decided that the only way to stop Fullmer's attacks on her was to kill him! On Sunday, February 27, 1927, Dr. Fullmer had a midnight phone call about a sick child in Cabin 11 of a motel near Lankershim. He hurried INSTITUTE there with his little black bag. In the cabin awaiting him were Amherst, N.Y. • Tues.-Sat.,Aug. 6 - 10, 1996 two loyal aides of Mrs. Rowen: Dr. J. Franklin Balzer and Miss Wade, a nurse. Dr. Balzer's wife had recently divorced him over Compelling, academically demanding courses and workshops for his affair with Miss Wade, and was suing him for back alimony. personal development and enrichment. 0r apply for matriculation Balzer knocked Fullmer unconscious by batting him on the and work toward a three-year Certificate in Humanistic Studies or Science and the Paranormal from the Center for Inquiry Institute. head with a lead pipe. As he regained consciousness, an effort was made to inject poison into his arm, but during the scuffle the Day Course • INTRODUCTION TO CRITICAL THINKING Senior Instructor: PAUL KURTZ hypodermic needles broke, saving his life. Tenants in nearby Co-Instructors to be announced cabins phoned police. When they got there, Balzer and Wade had 3 Credit Units • $325 fled. Mrs. Rowen had been present earlier, but left before Evening Workshops or Fullmer arrived. Police found in the cabin a shovel, a rope, and a • HUMANIST CEREMONIES • INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUES blanket, to be used for burying Fullmer's body in a nearby desert. Instructors: R0GER GREELEY Instructor: J0E NICKELL Mrs. Rowen and her two accomplices were arrested. All three MATT CHERRY Co-Instructor to be announced were sentenced in 1927 to from one to ten years in San Quentin 2 Credit Units $225 2 Credit Units $225 prison, which then accepted women. The charge was assault with Sunday, August 11 • MAGICAL MYSTERY BUS TOUR a deadly weapon with intent to do great bodily injury. Visit famed spiritualist camp at Lily Dale (Casadaga, N.Y.) and the Fullmer went ahead with plans to sue Mrs. Rowen as soon as Robert Ingersoll Birthplace Museum (Dresden, N.Y.) Ask for info! she was released from prison, but, before 1927 ended, he died of For catalog, rates & accommodation information write a heart attack. His widow rejoined the Adventist church. CENTER FOR INQUIRY INSTITUTE, PO Box 664 Mrs. Rowen was freed on parole after about a year of good Amherst NY 14226. Or call TOLL FREE 1-800-458-1366. You may register by phone using your MasterCard or Visa. behavior. She at once broke parole and vanished. In 1931, she turned up in Miami, Florida, where she was holding prayer meet-

40 FREE INQUIRY

Strange Bedfellows: Mormon Polygamy and Baptist History

This article was presented at the Baptist/Humanist dialogue titled "Freedom of Conscience," held at the University of Richmond, Virginia, in September 1995.-EDS.

George D. Smith

became interested in Baptist history by way of my to emulate the practice of the Hebrew patriarchs. On July 12, research into antecedents of Mormon polygamy, which led 1843, Joseph Smith dictated a ten-page revelation that restored me to polygamous, sixteenth-century Anabaptists in the practice of "Moses, Abraham, David and Solomon having Münster, Germany, and the seventeenth-century separatists in many wives and concubines . . . a new and everlasting England who were named after them. Baptists and Mormons covenant." Smith said that, "if any man espouse a virgin .. share some common traditions, such as the idea that a church [or] ten virgins ... he cannot commit adultery, for they belong should be a voluntary association, not a state institution, and to him."' beliefs in voluntary baptism, universal salvation, and aggres- Just when Mormon polygamy began is conjectural, but it had sive missionary efforts. Each community was identified ini- clearly commenced by April 5, 1841, the date of Joseph Smith's tially by a pejorative nickname, which each eventually came to first plural marriage acknowledged by the church, two years accept. before the official revelation. In a ceremony beside the The English separatists who established the first Baptist Mississippi River, the thirty-five-year-old father of five took churches practiced adult baptism and certain other Anabaptist twenty-six-year-old Louisa Beaman as a second wife, disguised beliefs, although not the doctrine of polygamy. To disparage their in a man's hat and coat. The marriage was performed by ideas, detractors called them "Baptists," a shortened form of Louisa's brother-in-law, using words dictated by Smith. During "Anabaptists" (rebaptizers), the radical group that had fallen into the next two-and-one-half years the prophet took as many as spiritual disrepute years earlier. forty-two wives, one or two at a time. Smith also introduced I sought to discover why plural marriage came into the polygamy secretly to about thirty close associates in Nauvoo, Mormon church, and into earlier religious groups such as the Illinois, a Mormon frontier town by the Mississippi. After his Münster Anabaptists. death the practice in Illinois expanded to about 150 husbands Named for the Book of Mormon, which adherents believe to and 600 wives, and comprised about 10 percent of the popula- be an ancient narrative of Old Testament migrations from early tion before the community moved from Illinois to Utah. Plural Jerusalem to America, the Mormon church was founded in 1830 marriage was publicly acknowledged in Utah in 1852 and the by New York seer and translator Joseph Smith. Claiming to numbers increased dramatically over the next forty years.' restore the ancient kingdom of Israel, Smith and his followers Today, tens of thousands of "Fundamentalist Mormons" con- taught that Jesus was present in the Old Testament and was in tinue to practice polygamy. fact the creator in the Genesis account. Hence, Smith appealed to Though Joseph Smith's plural wives included widows and both Old and New Testaments when he established the Church of young housegirls who worked in the Smith home, most of his Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. first dozen wives were both devout and already married. Smith may have entered into polyandrous relationships to disguise the Restoration of Old Testament Polygamy advent of children outside of his legal marriage. The question of how many children came from Smith's plural marriages has ormon polygamists were not just taking extra wives to never been answered decisively, although Josephine L. Fisher Mdouble and triple their connubial bliss; they were seeking wrote that her mother, Sylvia Sessions, told her "that [Josephine] was the daughter of the Prophet Joseph Smith." George D. Smith is a founder of Signature Books, publisher of Prescindia Huntington Buell once said that "she did not know Western American history, journals, and literature. He edited An whether Mr. Buell or the Prophet was the father of her son American Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (1991); [Oliver]." Researchers have identified eight children that Joseph Religion, Feminism, and the Freedom of Conscience (1994, joint Smith may have had by his plural wives.' Emily Partridge publication with Prometheus Books); and consulted on the observed: "Spiritual wives, as we were then termed, were not award-winning film for the Public Broadcasting Service, very numerous in those days and a spiritual baby was a rarity Mormons: Missionaries to the World (1988). indeed."

Spring 1996 41 Personal Accounts of Mormon polygamy as puritanical, substantial opposition to the practice Polygamous Marriage developed. Nineteenth-century feminists tried to persuade Mormon women to free themselves of the practice that onsidering the explosive nature of what was taking place, Republicans in their 1856 platform had described as one of the CNauvoo polygamy was surprising well concealed. The prac- "twin pillars of barbarism," alongside of slavery. tice of polygamy was made known only to a few trusted mem- Within the Mormon community, resistance to plural marriage bers of the community. One of Smith's plural wives disguised culminated in the publication of an exposé in a newspaper, which her relationship to the prophet by pretending to marry another the prophet then had destroyed. Subsequently arrested by the man. In his autobiography, Joseph Corodon Kingsbury wrote: State of Illinois, Joseph Smith was killed in prison. Thus, polygamy contributed to events that resulted in the Mormon I according to Pres. Joseph Smith & Council & others agreed to prophet's death. stand by Sarah Ann Whitney as though I was supposed to be her husband and [participated in] a pretended marriage. A Larger Context of Polygamy

Three weeks after he married Sarah Ann, Smith was hiding from here did Joseph Smith get the idea to introduce polygamy arrest over the attempted murder of Missouri Governor Lilburn Wto his followers? The Mormon practice of plural marriage Boggs: He wrote to Sarah Ann's parents and invited them to was not unique. Polygamy has been found in many parts of the bring their daughter to visit him "just back of Brother Hyrums world: in India, Nepal, China, the Middle East, Africa, farm." He advised them to "come a little a head and nock [sic] at Indonesia, Australia, in early Germanic tribes, among certain the south East corner of the house at the window." He assured Indian societies of the Americas and, at times, among Eskimos them, especially Sarah Ann, that "it is the will of God that you of the Arctic. In fact, polygamy has been practiced at some time should comfort me now." Smith stressed the need for care "to within about 80 percent of 853 cultures on record.' find out when [his wife] Emma comes," but "when she is not Before the Mormons, other American groups had reexamined here, there is the most perfect safty [sic]." The prophet warned and reinvented traditional marriage customs. Discussion of them to "burn this letter as soon as you read it" and "keep all polygamy can be found in the records of early New England locked up in your breasts." In closing he admonished, "I think churches, both in sermons and within the congregations. One Emma won't come to night if she dont[,] dont fail to come to John Miner was excommunicated for advocating polygamy in night"' 1780 at the Norfolk, Connecticut, village church. Beginning in Like many other first person accounts, Sarah Whitney's story 1817, about a decade before Joseph Smith founded the Mormon survives in the rich trove of anecdotal records of Mormon church, utopian Jacob Cochran taught a "spiritual matrimony" to polygamy in the journals, letters, and affidavits of Smith's fol- communities in Maine and New Hampshire; it was lowers. One of the clearest records of how Smith persuaded mar- ried men to take additional wives comes from the pen of his pri- sanctioned by a ceremony of his own, within which any man or vate clerk. In early 1843, William Clayton had been married to woman, already married or unmarried, might enter into choosing his legal wife, Ruth, for six years and had three children. Clayton at pleasure a spiritual wife or spiritual husband. records in his diary that Smith inquired about a woman back in England whom Clayton liked and offered to pay for her voyage From the 1830s, John Humphrey Noyes and his Perfectionists across to America, saying "It is your privilege to have all the practiced another form of group marriage over a period of nearly wives you want"' Clayton eventually married ten women who a half-century. Settling in Oneida, New York, in 1847, and con- bore him forty-seven children. vinced that the Millennium had begun, more than five hundred men and women shared land, clothes, sex partners, and children. Resistance to Polygamy Support for polygamy came from unlikely sources, such as the seventeenth-century English poet John Milton. In 1823 ome wives, like Lucy Walker, who was on intimate terms Milton's Treatise on Christian Doctrine was discovered, and it Swith four of Smith's older wives, accepted plural marriage was published in 1825. In that work, Milton argued that the Bible and said they experienced "less room for jealousy when wives allowed for polygamy as an alternative to divorce. Unhappily live under the same roof." However, Victoria Jackson resented married, Milton had a personal reason to be interested in that "Some men neglected present wives with children and were polygamy. When his wife, Mary, left him in 1642, he tried to captivated by a younger face," and feminist Emeline B. Wells convince both his close friend, a Miss Davis, and civil authorities spoke of being "tortured" by her husband's inattention. Adelia that bigamy would be lawful. Milton recalled Paul's comments Kimball left her first plural marriage because her husband's legal in 1 Cor. 7:15 as rationale for plural marriage: "A person wife to be "nothing more than concubine." Jane Richards felt deserted, which is something lesse than divorc't, may lawfully "like wringing the neck of any other child than hers that should marry again." Milton also argued that polygamy was of necessity call her husband papa. a form of true marriage; otherwise, Abraham and other Old Non-Mormon speakers and writers vilified the Mormon com- Testament patriarchs with more than one wife would have been munity over polygamy. Even though explorer Richard Burton fornicators and adulterers, and their offspring, bastards (Deut. would in his 1860 visit to Salt Lake City describe Mormon 23:2). Miss Davis rejected the idea of a bigamist relationship,

42 FREE INQUIRY and Milton's wife returned.' and Protestant leaders for approval to marry Anne Boleyn. On Deemed too sensitive to publish when Milton wrote it, the September 3, 1531, Luther reasoned that although the Bible Treatise on Christian Doctrine had been suppressed for 150 opposed divorce, "it permits the king to marry a second queen, years. In 1826 in the Christian Examiner and Theological by the example of the patriarchs, who had many wives even Review (vol. 3., pp. 57-77), published in both London and before the law."1z Boston, Unitarian social critic William Ellery Channing praised Milton's biblical scholarship, as did Macaulay (the Edinburgh Münster Polygamists: Latter-day Saints Review vol. 42 [1825], pp. 304-346), though not all responses of Sixteenth-Century Germany were so positive. Since it came from the same renowned poet whose Paradise Lost had elaborated the Garden of Eden account ith an eye to the apocalyptic biblical texts of Daniel and into a detailed narrative that was preached from the pulpit in WRevelations, some radical Christians sought to reform the Europe and America, Milton's treatise was widely reviewed in Protestant reformers, whom they saw as exercising control as over fifty periodicals in Britain and New England' Milton's autocratic as the Roman church. The Anabaptists, adult "rebap- argument favoring polygamy was discussed throughout the the- tizers," advocated baptism as a freely chosen Christian covenant ological community at the same time that Joseph Smith was con- rather than an institutional ritual imposed on individuals too ceptualizing his teachings. young to exercise this rational choice. Some radical Anabaptists Joseph Smith's ideas on plural marriage may have reflected gathered in Münster, Germany, which they perceived to be the Milton's, or they may have echoed the plural marriage contro- holy city of God—the New Jerusalem that was promised from versy of a hundred years before Milton during the Protestant the apocalypse in the book of Revelations (3:8). These "latter- Reformation. Between the advent of Christianity and its refor- day saints" faced Catholic armies and civil punishment in mation, monogamy had been the norm through Europe. Under Holland, Switzerland, and Germany; their fellow Anabaptists the influence of Christianity, which emerged as the primary and other Protestants also shunned them. In Münster they pre- religion of the Roman empire in the fourth century, bigamy pared for the Millennium by adopting a strict primitivist religion, became a criminal offense. While the Gospels of the New which included a restoration of Old Testament polygamy. Testament say little of Jesus' views about sex, the letters of Saint In 1534 John Bockelson, a Dutch tailor who had come to Paul conceived that the world would soon end and urged Münster from Leyden, Holland, led the Anabaptists as they Christians to eschew earthly concerns, including sex—either awaited the apocalypse. He "purified" the town of ten thousand illicit or marital.10 of all infidels—Catholics and Lutherans—so that it might The Protestant Reformation initiated a major shift away from become the New Jerusalem. Bockelson urged faithful papal authority toward individual interpretation of the Bible. Anabaptists everywhere to come to Münster. "I do not simply tell Now, with Scripture in hand, new leaders sought to reform their you about it, but command you in the name of the Lord to obey church in light of the teachings of Christ, and the Old Testament, without delay." Some fifteen thousand pilgrims came from as well. Marriage and divorce were pertinent issues. Even though Holland and Germany; m- cy of them were intercepted and killed some Protestant reformers had removed marriage from the sacra- on their way to Münster." ments, they continued the long-standing church ban on divorce Claiming the authority of a prophet, Bockelson declared that and remarriage, condemning the practice as adultery. However, a man might take to wife as many women as he wanted. as stories of the numerous wives of Old Testament patriarchs, Bockelson's followers proclaimed him to be king, and he took such as Jacob, David, and Solomon, became more familiar, sixteen wives who were considered "queens." Fourteen-year-old polygamy emerged as a possible alternative to divorce for six- males and twelve-year-old females were deemed to be of mar- teenth-century Christians. After all, neither Christ nor influential riageable age and were ordered to marry. Unmarried women had church fathers such as Augustine and Jerome had explicitly for- to accept as husband the first man who asked them, a practice bidden plural marriage. that led to a disorderly competition for the most wives." Married In 1526, when Landgrave Philip of Hesse, the powerful ruler Anabaptist women found additional wives for their husbands, as over one of the first Lutheran German states, wanted a male heir, Sarah had done for Abraham in biblical times and Mormon wives he asked Martin Luther if he might follow the example of Old would do for their husbands in the 1800s. Similarities between Testament patriarchs and take a second wife. Luther answered on the Münster Anabaptists and nineteenth-century "Latter-day November 28, 1526, that Christians especially should not have Saints," the Mormons, have been discussed by several scholars." more than one wife, although he acknowledged that some of the In Münster, Anabaptist theologian Bernhard Rothmann justi- patriarchs like Abraham and Jacob "inherited the wives of their fied polygamy by the Lord's exhortation in Genesis (1:28) to friends under Moses' law and had had many wives." A decade Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply": He advised, if "a later, when Philip wanted to marry seventeen-year-old man is so richly blessed that he is able to fructify more than one Margaretha von der Saal, Luther and other Protestant leaders woman, he is free" to do so. Besides, if a man is sexually depen- gave their private consent. dent on one wife, she leads him about "like a bear on a rope." England's King Henry VIII had also been granted permission Rothmann argued that women "who everywhere have been get- to take a second wife. Before he was able to arrange an annul- ting the upper hand" should submit to men as man to Christ and ment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, who had borne no Christ to God. male heirs to the throne, Henry appealed for years to Catholic As with the Mormons, polygamy among the Anabaptists met

Spring 1996 43 resistance both within and outside the community. Within the in Genesis. Here again, Jesus, as creator of the Earth, is regarded community, forced cohabitation led to dissension. Bockelson as the overseer of the rite of baptism. Like earlier associations of jailed and even executed prominent members who refused to baptism with rebirth and immortality, Mormons regard the ordi- cooperate. Moreover, the surrounding German community found nance of baptism as an "answer to the likeness of the dead." The the practices of these polygamous religious rebels to be intolera- Doctrine and Covenants (D&C), a collection of revelations of ble. Late in 1535 Catholic Bishop Franz von Waldeck and his Joseph Smith, speaks of baptism "after the manner of [Jesus's] forces invaded the fortified city and put the Anabaptist leaders to burial, being buried in the water in his name," and "to be death. Surrounded by Protestant communities, Münster has immersed in the water and come forth out of the water in the remained predominantly Catholic ever since. likeness of the resurrection of the dead in coming forth out of their graves" (D&C 124: 51; 128:12). Book of Mormon figures Anabaptists and Baptists are described as being "buried in the water" out of which they arise (Mosiah 18:14). ]though plural marriage was never a Baptist doctrine, twen- Mormon doctrine extends this ritual to the dead, themselves, Atieth_century Baptists and Mormons share some important who might have died without a knowledge of the gospel: core beliefs with sixteenth-century Anabaptists. Both Baptists "[Baptism] was instituted to form a relationship with the ordi- and Mormons embrace the conviction that a meaningful nance of baptism of the dead, being in likeness of the dead. covenant to accept Christian beliefs, to follow the continuing Consequently, the baptismal font was instituted as a similitude of leadership of Jesus, and to commit to living a certain lifestyle the grave" (D&C 128:12-13). Paul wrote to the Corinthians: must be made as a conscious act of free will. Because they "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the believe that only adults can exercise this volition, Anabaptists, dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 and later Baptists, rejected infant baptism practiced by the Cor. 15:29). In one of the revelations Smith presented to his Roman Catholic church and some mainline Protestant churches. adherents, he writes: "I will give you a quotation from one of the While Catholics maintain that "revealed data of faith" force them prophets [pertaining to] baptism for the dead; for Malachi says, to conclude that infants dying without baptism still have original last chapter, verses 5 and 6. `Behold, I will send you Elijah the sin on their souls and cannot enter heaven, Baptist, Anabaptist, prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the and also Mormon traditions consider children to be innocent of Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, sin up to an "age of accountability" after which they are encour- and the heart of the children to their fathers."' The Mormon doc- aged to make a free will commitment to accept Christian trine of the perfectability of humanity depends on baptism of the covenants, which are expressed in the ritual of baptism. dead: "For we without them cannot be made perfect" (D&C: As divisive as the issue of infant baptism was during the 128:17-18). Reformation, the broader tradition of baptism links not only Mormons believe that the ordinance of baptism must be per- Anabaptists, Baptists, and Mormons, but other, more ancient, formed in this life, for the living, or by proxy for the dead. Such groups, as well. Baptist traditions in late Judaism and ordinances as marriage or baptism are performed in Mormon Christianity can be traced to ritual purification rites in Jewish temples, often by family members for their ancestors whose washing and bathing; early antecedents are found in the sacred names they have traced by extensive genealogical searches; oth- baths of Hellenistic and Persian mystery cults: Mithraic cere- erwise, temple workers perform these rituals for the dead rela- monies in which initiates were temporarily buried or symboli- tives of others. Over five million baptisms for the dead are per- cally drowned mimed death and resurrection. River baths of formed each year in forty-seven Mormon temples. Recent proxy India (River Ganges), Babylonia (Euphrates), and Egypt (Nile) baptisms of Holocaust victims in Mormon temples were angrily included rites of moral cleansing and bestowal of immortality. denounced by their Jewish relatives and the ordinances were The rabbi Jesus submitted to baptism by the Nazarite prophet annulled. John, who with his disciples formed one among several baptiz- For Baptists in the seventeenth century, the ritual of baptizing ing communes in the Judean desert that taught repentance in adult believers became both a personal religious covenant and an preparation for final judgment at the end of the world (John aspect of political expression. The political and religious estab- 1:32-34, Mark 1:9-11); although Jesus apparently did not per- lishment ridiculed the English congregationalists by naming sonally baptize, his disciples performed the rite (John 4:2). them after the outcast Anabaptists of Switzerland, Germany, and Christian baptism is the New Testament fulfillment and replace- Holland. In the 1600s some of these separatists who had come to ment of circumcision. Both signify reception into the covenant. New England were still called "Anabaptists" and were threat- Christian baptism has been called the "circumcision of Christ" ened by legislation against that creed. Roger Williams was an (Col. 2:11). Baptism became the sacramental representation of exile from Puritan Massachusetts in 1636 when he bought land the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul presented baptism as from the Indians, which he called Rhode Island in 1638. being buried with Christ (Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12). Among Williams established the first Baptist congregation in America. Baptists and Mormons, and other Christians as well, baptism As with their English experience, and in the tradition of their remains an important part of individual acceptance of the nominal ancestors, the American Baptists proved to be revolu- covenant and reception into the congregation of believers. tionaries: Baptists sided with the American patriots in their Mormons define baptismal rites as beginning "before the secession from the English establishment. English and American foundation of the world," i.e., prior to the Adam and Eve account Baptists now represent about 90 percent of all thirty million

44 FREE INQUIRY Baptists in over one hundred countries worldwide. 1915; Mary Ettie V. Smith, Fifteen Years Among the Mormons, 2nd ed., (New Baptists have always claimed independence from political York, 1859), 34; see Brodie, 301-302, 437-439, and Oliver Buell photographic likeness to Joseph Smith, 306ff.; Brodie, 345; Van Wagoner, 44, 48-49n3. and ecclesiastical control. Rejecting the territorial definition of 4. Joseph Smith to Newel K. Whitney family, August 18, 1842, photocopy, Christian belief—Italians as Catholic, Germans and Danish as George Albert Smith papers, Special Collections, Marriott Library. See HC 5: pp. Lutheran, English as Episcopalian, Scottish as Presbyterian— 67-109. 5. "William Clayton's Testimony," HR 224-226. they became part of the political revolution in the seventeenth 6. Jane Snyder Richards, "The Inner Facts of Social Life in Utah," (1880), 2, century. Baptists limited their membership to "true; people of Bancroft. God," as defined by an expression of testimony before a local 7. Delta Willis, The Hominid Gang (New York, 1989), p. 259; George P. Murdock and Douglas R. White, "Standard Cross-Cultural Sample," Ethnology 8 (not national) congregation. Members accepted the discipline of (October 1969): 329-369. that local congregation, conceived to be directly guided by Jesus. 8. Charles Sumner, trans. and ed., John Milton, De Doctrina Christiana (Cambridge, 1825) reproduced in "Two Books of Investigations into Christian This dialogue between Baptists and humanists at the Doctrine Drawn From the Sacred Scriptures Alone" (ca. 1658—ca. 1660) in University of Richmond, a Baptist school, signals the continuing Geoffrey Cumberlege, ed. Complete Prose Works of John Milton (New Haven, effort by Baptists to exercise free agency at the local level. 1973), vol. 1, p. 3; vol. 6, pp. 126-850. See also John Milton's "Doctrines of Within the university, issues of academic freedom and open Discipline of Divorce" (August 1, 1643); vol. 2, pp. 137-158, 217-356; vol. 6, pp. 762-763; Miller, p. 8. inquiry define contemporary struggles to secure ideals that both 9. See reviews of De Doctrina in Europe and America: Complete Prose Baptists and humanists historically share. Works, 1:3-10; James G. Nelson, The Sublime Puritan: Milton and the Victorians (Madison, 1963), p. 176, n. 54. 10. James A Brundage, Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe (Chicago, 1987), pp. 1-9, 37-50, 57-76. Notes 11. Dr. Martin Luthers Werke (Weimar, 1933), vol. 4, 140, letter 1056, vol. 8, 628-644, trans. Leo Miller, John Milton Among the Polygamophiles (New York, 1. Doctrine & Covenants 132:4, 61, 62. 1974), 14-15, 21-22. 2. Andrew Jenson, "Plural Marriage," The Historical Record 6 (May 1887): 12. Miller cites Dr. Ernst L. Enders, Dr. Martin Luthers Sämmtliche Werke pp. 219-240, hereafter, HR; Fawn Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life (Frankfurt, 1903) 9:80, Marburg Staatsarchiv, ms., trans. Miller, p. 21. of Joseph Smith, 2d ed. (New York, 1971), pp. 457-488; Danel W. Bachman, "A 13. James M. Stayer, Anabaptists and the Sword (Lawrence, Kansas, 1976), Study of the Mormon Practice of Plural Marriage Before the Death of Joseph p. 374. Smith" (Master's thesis, Purdue University, 1975); George D. Smith, "Nauvoo 14. George H. Williams, The Radical Reformation (Philadelphia, 1962), pp. Roots of Mormon Polygamy, 1841-1846: A Preliminary Demographic Report," 371-378, 505-517. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 27 (Spring 1994): 1-72. 15. See: Cornelius Krahn, Dutch Anabaptism (The Hague, 1968); William E. 3. Possible children of Joseph Smith by plural wives include Josephine Fisher Juhnke, "Anabaptists and Mormons," John Whitmer Historical Association (b. Feb. 8, 1844), Oliver Buell (b. 1839 or 1840), John R. Hancock (b. Apr. 19, Journal 2 (1982); David B. Davis, "The New England Origins of Mormonism," 1841), George A Lightner (b. Mar. 12, 1842), Orson W. Hyde (b. Nov. 9, 1843), New England Quarterly (June 1953); and D. Michael Quinn, "Socio-religious Frank H. Hyde (b. Jan. 23, 1845), Moroni Pratt (b. Dec. 7, 1844), and Zebulon Radicalism of the Mormon Church: A Parallel to the Anabaptists," New Views of Jacobs (b. Jan. 2, 1842). See Josephine L. Fisher to Andrew Jenson, Feb. 24, Mormon History, ed. Bitton and Beecher (Salt Lake City, 1987). •

CODESH Announces Two Workshops on DEFENDING CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. PHILADELPHIA, Pa., AREA AREA Saturday, June 29, 1996 Saturday, May 18, 1996 9:00 A.M. — 9:00 P.M. 9:00 A.M. — 9:00 P.M. RADISSON HOTEL HOLIDAY INN HOTEL PHILADELPHIA AIRPORT ROSSLYN, VA. Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the with Lemon v. Kurtzman Supreme Court Decision • Paul Kurtz, Tom Flynn, Tim Madigan, FREE INQUIRY with editors • Alton Lemon, Plaintiff • Lisa Thurau, Executive Director, Public Education and • Margaret Downey, President, Freethought Society of Religious Liberty Greater Philadelphia • Robert Alley, Professor of Humanities, University of • Norm Allen, Jr., Executive Director, African Americans Richmond for Humanism • Rob Boston, Executive Director, Americans United for • Michael Rockier, President, The Bertrand Russell Society Church-State Separation • Edmund Cohen, Author, The Mind of the Bible Believer

For details, contact Tim Madigan at 716-636-7571.

Spring 1996 45 good conscience do not think about what it might do to the bacteria, then that is The Lost Encyclical morally allowable. If you dislike the taste and are taking the herb in the hope it will against Penicillin dispel the bacteria's God-given task, then we in the magisterium must speak out in Inspired by "Humane Vitae," " with a nod to Swift's "A Modest Proposal." the strongest way to guide you back to the proper natural order created by God. 11. We cannot wait to get to the devel- Christopher Durang oping countries and stop them from using anti-biotics. Beloved children, we write to you to remember that inside the Holy Father's 12. Lest the faithful be misled, we wish • today to offer you loving guidance head, he is hearing not only his own voice, to stress that, when we make comparisons against the unnatural use of anti-biotics. but also the voice of God (vox Dei). between the ban against anti-biotics and the 2. Although a papal committee of car- 7. Jesus said "Upon this rock, I build ban against artificial birth control, we do not dinals, doctors, and laity recommended to my Church," by which He meant that the mean to imply an equality between having a us that we allow the use of anti-biotics for church should create popes to rule the child and being infected with a bacteria. public health reasons, we have—after faithful the way a king rules his kingdom. A child, if it is not properly disciplined mature reflection and assiduous prayers, Jesus further meant that the pope or is innately disordered, may make a par- and with grave contemplation of the pas- would be infallible in matters of faith and ent's life a misery and a trial for years and toral responsibility assigned to us in our dogma. In humility we do not proclaim years. While the time frame in which a role as head of the magisterium—decided our each and every utterance to be infalli- bacteria or virus creates havoc is usually to throw this entire report out. ble. And yet the faithful should take our much shorter. 3. The church, mater et magistra, must teachings with the utmost seriousness due Also, a virus cannot be raised as a not be swayed by easy choices, but always to the possibility of their being pro- Catholic, while a child can. stay true to the natural laws created by God. nounced infallible at any moment. As jus- To oversee the spiritual development of 4. God in His supreme reason created a tified by that "Upon this rock" quote. their children is the primary role of par- natural order. We must never use an artifi- 8. Now some may ask: is it not reason- ents. We do not know many children per- cial means to block this natural order. God able to have recourse to anti-biotics if, sonally, but we feel fondly toward them as created bacteria and viruses for the pur- thereby, we make an ill person well? we look down from our balcony and see pose of infecting organisms sometimes 9. To this question it is necessary to them, dirty and screaming, playing in the seriously, sometimes less seriously—and reply with clarity: the church is the first to public square. Dirt is a fecund breeding we must never presume to interfere with praise and recommend the intervention of ground for bacteria. Though the faithful the right order of God's creation. intelligence into one's life; but she affirms may not use anti-biotics, they are certainly 5. Just as all forms of artificial birth con- that this must be done with respect for the encouraged to take baths, trol go against the natural purpose of con- order established by God. 13. No number 13. An unlucky number. jugal relations—namely, procreation Respect for God's order by reason 14. Syphilis. God created syphilis to —so the use of all forms of man-made anti- teaches us that it is immoral to impede infect sexually immoral people, and cause biotics interfere with the God-given design development of a natural process. That is them suffering and eventual death. In no of bacteria and viruses and how He intends why we have so exhaustively spoken out way should a man-made anti-biotic inter- them to interact with the human body. against artificial birth control and now fere with this God-given process. Also, 6. Further, in light of this knowledge of anti-biotics. We cannot impede a process the fear of syphilis is a natural encourage- the proper moral order between bacteria that God has created. ment toward marital fidelity, which could and viruses and the human body, the No impeding, no impeding!—let that not otherwise hold its own in a free mar- church calls man back to the observance be the watchcry of our Catholic youth. ket. It is especially sinful to use anti- of the norms of the natural law, and (Impedio non!) biotics to block the natural path of teaches that each and every bacteria-body 10. Some may ask: just as the rhythm syphilis as intended by God. interaction must remain open to the trans- method of natural birth control is allowed, 15. In closing, my children, remember, mission of infection. can one not also infer the morality of the use man cannot find true happiness except by Thi3 dictum is made after much reflec- of an anti-biotic if it is natural, found in living within the natural laws created by tion, prayer, and days and nights without nature, and purchased at a health food store? God. To eschew the worldly solutions of sleep or food. The faithful are admonished Our answer must be clear: a natural birth control or anti-biotics may seem dif- anti-biotic may be used only if the pur- ficult. And yet, to anyone who reflects Christopher Durang is the author of sev- pose of ingesting the herb or root is for well, it cannot but be clear that such eral successful plays, including Sister reasons other than impeding the progress eschewing ennobles man and is benefi- Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You. of the bacteria or virus. ciary to the human community. If you like the taste of the herb and in All blessings to you, my children. 46 FREE INQUIRY the District Court said, "[alt a minimum, a church includes a body of believers or communicants that assembles regularly in Beat the Odds order to worship.' The casino patrons could be considered such a body. A church must be more than a body of Dan Olincy believers. It must also be a religious orga- nization: it must have as its primary pur- was strolling through the gaming rooms to exempt their organization as a church, pose the furtherance of some religious in Las Vegas recently, thinking about but it refused, and both the Tax Court and purpose. The Board of Tax Appeals (the the proposed Religious Equality Amend- the U.S. Circuit Court agreed, holding that predecessor of the present Tax Court) said ment (the REA, not to be confused with it was not. The Tax Court said that, "a in 1926, "religion is not confined to a sect the ERA.) Don't laugh. When I tell you church is a cohesive group of individuals or a ritual.... The restriction being not as how my thoughts turned that way, it may who join together to accomplish the reli- to the species of religion ... but as to the seem more prophetic than funny. gious purposes of mutually held beliefs."2 use of its profits and the exclusive purpose What had first struck me was the num- This returned my musings to Las Vegas of its existence"` ber of players who approached their and the REA. Although the gospel singers But a church also is more than a reli- wagers as though they were at their couldn't get their organization qualified as gious organization. It must include the prayers. I heard, echoing through the hall, a church, there might be a closer parallel "ministration of sacerdotal functions" and such cries as, "Oh Lord, let it be 29"; "Holy between the gamblers and parishioners. the "conduct of religious worship."5 In its Moses, a straight flush"; "Jesus, I hope it's What if a group organized a casino; could Internal Revenue Manual audit guidelines a seven"; and "Oh, hell, snake-eyes." that be operated as a church and avoid the the IRS has proclaimed fourteen charac- As those echoes faded, the REA came problems that prevented SOS from quali- teristics it "utilizes" in determining to mind, and I wondered, isn't there a fying? This led to a closer analysis of the whether an organization is a church.' The close connection between the fervor of SOS court opinion. Circuit Court in SOS listed these and compulsive gamblers and that of certain The Tax Court's short expression con- relied on them. A religious organization religious fanatics? Gambling can become tains four elements: a cohesive group; must have: virtually a way of life; it provides the joining together; mutually held beliefs; believer who achieves his or her goal with and religious purpose. The first three are (1) a distinct legal existence; (2) a rec- a means to salvation, and the gambler easy to comply with. The casino patrons ognized creed and form of worship; (3) a definite and distinct ecclesiastical adopts almost a worshipful attitude are a cohesive group, joining together, government; (4) a formal code of doc- toward the game. There are other paral- with mutually held beliefs (in gambling, trine and discipline; (5) a distinct reli- lels between churchgoers and the fre- with their hope of salvation by the "big gious history; (6) a membership not quenters of casinos. Some attend regu- win"). The only thing missing to meet the associated with any other church or larly, others only on special occasions. basic test is to find a "religious purpose." denomination; (7) a complete organiza- tion of ordained ministering to their Some apply the principles (whether of Might this be done, and what conse- congregations; (8) ordained ministers faith or of gambling) to their entire lives, quences might follow? selected after completing prescribed while others follow the precepts only I started my search with the language courses of study; (9) a literature of its when they are in the temple. Some of the REA. It says: own; (10) established places of worship; believe wholeheartedly, while others are (11) regular congregations; (12) regular Neither the United States nor any State religious services; (13) Sunday schools apathetic in their faith. for the religious instruction of the This thought haunted me. When I got shall abridge the freedom of any .. . group ... to engage in prayer or other young; and (14) schools for the prepara- home I turned, as any self-respecting religious expression in circumstances in tion of its ministers. lawyer would, to the law books for conso- which expression of a non-religious lation. I discovered a recent tax case character would be permitted... . Although it is apparent that many involving the Spiritual Outreach Society churches do not meet all fourteen tests, (SOS).` There, a group of gospel singers Is it so farfetched to consider a casino and the IRS has said that it will decide had organized a charitable foundation to as a "religious expression"? What makes each case separately and without giving hold frequent gospel musical programs an organization into a church? The SOS "controlling weight" to any single factor, and similar events, charging admission. case proves that it takes more than a group the Court in the SOS case found that cer- They asked the Internal Revenue Service calling itself a church to qualify. To turn tain factors are of central importance: an that around, if an organization is a church established congregation served by an Dan Olincy is a tax and estate planning in the eyes of the IRS, is that sufficient? organized ministry (#7); the provision of attorney in Los Angeles. He is a former To pursue this line of reasoning, I read regular religious services and religious chair of the California State Bar Tax what other courts have said about what education for the young (#12 and #13); Committee. qualifies as a church for tax purposes. In and the dissemination of a doctrinal code American Guidance Foundation v. U.S., (#4). If you want to organize a church you

Spring 1996 47 would do well to meet most or all of the merely incorporate the casino. show). fourteen characteristics, but you must 2. Recognized creed and form of wor- 11. Regular congregations. This also is comply with those four. ship. This is almost a given: the form of easy. To illustrate it, drop in on a small How would we organize our casino so worship is defined by the rules of the casino and listen to the conversations. it could be a church, and how would it games, and the creed is the advancement You'll see in a minute how many of the qualify under the fourteen tests? Let's of mankind through attainment of the end patrons know each other and are habitués. start with the crucial four—numbers 4, 7, of the game (a jackpot, a royal flush, etc.). 14. Schools for the preparation of its 12, and 13. Let's call it, "the Church of This is not unlike the Calvinist view that ministers. This is where the casinos teach Beat the Odds." one attains to heaven by doing well on their dealers, croupiers—and shills. 4. Formal code of doctrine and disci- earth. pline. This requirement seems easy: the 5. Distinct religious history. There is a o, it looks like our casino may meet doctrine is in the rules of the games and long history of organized gambling, with enough of the fourteen tests to sound the lore of gambling (consider the poker associated fervor. And, there is a long- like a church. Where does that lead us? games in "Maverick" as a simple exam- established connection between religion First it leads to others who have tried this ple). A more complex example of doctrine and gambling. Consider, for example, the before. There are a number of cases where is in the Tex Ritter classic song, "A Deck Roman soldiers gambling for Jesus' robe, bingo games were organized and called of Cards," in which a soldier uses a deck or church-run bingo games. churches.' In most, the exemptions were of cards to remind him of both Bible and 6. Membership not associated with any denied—generally because the organizers prayer book. The discipline is the casino other church or denomination. Meeting used this as an excuse to make money. We rules regarding conduct of patrons, etc., as this test isn't as much of an obstacle as it should therefore be careful not to pay the well as in the rules of the games them- seems. For one thing, inveterate gamblers organizers unreasonable salaries or fringe selves. probably aren't members of other benefits. We should also make the opera- 7. Complete organization of ordained churches—and, if they are, they shouldn't tion of the games the religious purpose of ministers ministering to their congrega- be, considering the expressed attitude of the organization. tions. If we consider dealers, croupiers, more conventional churches toward gam- A 1988 IRS memorandum involved an and the like as ministers, then this test is bling. The attendance of casual gamblers organization that taught a way of life met most neatly. The pit bosses and other shouldn't count; if they did, it would also (rather than a "religion"): it did not supervisory personnel could be consid- disqualify the Catholic church because require or even request its members to ered as bishops of the casino. Dealers are interested observers from other denomi- renounce other religious ties; its members the ministers—they hand out the gospel nations attend midnight Christmas mass. had a sincere and meaningful belief in the and they tend the flock. For another thing, the IRS concedes that it doctrine espoused; and that belief was 12. Regular religious services. Al- does not give controlling weight to any parallel to the belief in God of tradition- though the casino "services" are continu- one of the fourteen factors, so a failure to ally religious persons.' The IRS found that ous-24 hours a day, 365 days a year— comply literally with this one should not the organization was created and operated ' they can also be considered regular. There be fatal. for reasons other than tax avoidance and are many religions that practice their faith 8. Ordained ministers selected after therefore ruled that it was tax exempt. continually: consider monks in an abbey or completing prescribed courses of study. Can we meet the 1988 memorandum's Buddhists with their prayer wheels. The ordainment, of course, comes from tests in organizing the Church of Beat the 13. Sunday schools for the regular reli- casinos. The prescribed courses are their Odds? There are five parts to this test: gious instruction of the young. This test training by the casinos. 1. The Church of Beat the Odds can may be a problem. However, it may be of 9. A literature of its own. The literature teach a way of life, and gambling is cer- significance that each football game of gambling is endless. There is fiction tainly that to a compulsive gambler. begins with an act of gambling—the ritual (The Queen of Spades, the crap game 2. Its members can continue to main- coin flip—and that our kids challenge celebrated in Guys and Dolls, and The tain other religious ties. each other with such phrases as "Betcha Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras 3. All dedicated gamblers seem to you can't do this." Why else do so many County, to name just three); songs (e.g., believe deeply in the doctrine of beating casinos have "playgrounds" for children "The Gambler," "A Deck of Cards"); and the odds—they're waiting for "salvation" to gambol while their parents gamble? hundreds of how-to manuals. Again, there through the big win. Aren't the video games provided there is the parable of the soldiers gambling for 4. Doesn't gambling occupy a place in just a training device for the more serious Jesus' robe. the lives of compulsive gamblers parallel forms of gambling practiced by their 10. Established places of worship. This to the place that religion occupies in the elders? is easy. Although organized gambling lives of traditionally religious persons? Although the other ten tests are not as (read religion) occurs in established 5. The final test becomes the key. The important as the above four, it is just as places of worship (read casinos), there are Church of Beat the Odds must be orga- easy to organize the Church of Beat the also the casual office pools on sporting nized and operated for reasons other than Odds to comply with them. For example: events, or Guys and Dolls' permanent tax avoidance. For instance, the pay-offs 1. Distinct legal existence. A snap: floating crap game (read traveling revival to winners might be higher than those in

48 FREE INQUIRY casinos that operate for profit. The com- the goddess of success, those who pray for 4. Unity School of Christianity, 4 BTA 61, 70 pensation of the managers and founda- fortune, and the seekers of Lady Luck. Is (1926). 5. Reg. 1.511-2(a) (3) (ii). tion/church officials must be reasonable, that any different than state-run lotteries 6. And what might be a better place to "render and profits must be devoted to charitable or state-sanctioned sports betting? unto the IRS the things which are Caesar's; and purposes, whether related to gambling, or unto God the things that are God's" than in the IRS manual? mainstream. Notes 7. See, e.g., Make a Joyful Noise, Inc. v. I thought again of Las Vegas. Why Commissioner, 489,004 PH Memo TC (1989); U.S. couldn't someone incorporate the Church 1. Spiritual Outreach Society, 927 F.2d 335 (8th v. Rode, 66 AFTR 2d 90-5531 (D. Ct., S. Mich, 1990); Waco Lodge No. 166 v. Commissioner, of Beat the Odds and apply for tax exemp- Cir. 1991). 696 2. SOS, 1190,041 PH Memo TC at page 90-197. F.2d 372 (5th Cir. 1983). tion? This might bring into its fold all 3. 490 F.Supp 304; 46 AN IR 2D 80-5006, 5008; 8. TAM (Technical Advice Memorandum) those who believe in the god of chance, (D.CT., D.C., 1980). 8833001. •

RE'ISED NOTICE\SUPERCEDES PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS The International Humanist and Ethical Union and The International Academy of Humanism proudly announce North America's largest and most prestigious humanist meeting of the decade: GLOBAL HUMANISM FOR THE CYBER-AGE 1996 Humanist World Congress NOVEMBER 14-19, 1996 \ MEXICO CITY

Across the developing world, humans face the challenge of moving directly from pre-industrial to post-industrial ways of living. Congress themes include: The Information Revolution: New Renaissance or Mass Banality? I Social and Ethical Challenges of Biotechnologies Secularism and The Threat of Intolerance I Female Empowerment and Sustainable Development The Congress will be addressed by renowned thinkers and activists from around the world, including TATLIMA NASRIN humanist writer and campaigner (Bangladesh) also invited: OSCAR ARIAS'\.Nobel Peace Prize Winner and former President of Costa Rica • CARLOS FUENTES\Novelist and Diplomat JAMES LOVELOCK\Cyberneticist, Creator of the GaiaConcept•MARIO BUNGE\Philosopher, Social Critic OCTAVIO PAZVrobel Laureate for Literature • MARIO VARGAS LLOSA\ Author and Political Leader Delegates stay in the 5-star Hotel Westin Galeria Plaza for 50% off ($85 per night congress rate) ALSO FEATURING: REGISTRATION FEES FURTHER INFORMATIONS Humanists from six continents US$149 before October 15 Write AMER, Apdo, postal 19-546, Practical workshops Plus social / cultural activities, Mexico D.F. 03900, MEXICO Guided tours to Teotihuacan to be announced, at additional cost. FAX: (525) 651 65 04 Pyramids, other Aztec wonders The Congress is jointly spon- Cultural Events \ International sored by the International or CODESH Humanist Awards Banquet • Humanistand Ethical Union P.O. Box 664 CONGRESS SCHEDULE: and the InternationalAcad- Amherst NY 14226-0664 USA emy of Humanism. Joint or- FAX: (716) 636-1733 Thurs. eve., November 14 -Sun., email: [email protected] November 17: Plenary sessions and ganizers: CODESH and the Asociacion Mexicana Etico Workshops \ Mon. 18 and Tues. 19: visit our World Wide Web site: Racionalista (AMER). EDESH Guided Tours and Cultural Events IHEU HTTP://WWW. CO DE SH.ORG

Spring 1996 49 Edwards advised, particularly because of this remarkable and simple discovery of Paul Edwards on the technique for dissolving the armor. Students, he noted, have no difficulty understanding these ideas. The only peo- Nietzsche, Freud, and Reich ple who do not understand them are Freudians and philosophers! During Reich's tragic last years, Edwards had numerous contacts with the psychiatrist Warren Allen Smith who has had such an enormous influence on current therapeutic techniques. He has reat original thinkers have a ten- notion of choice becomes incoherent. no doubt that Reich was insane during Gdency to go "off the rail," advancing In the second lecture, on Freud, a these years and that much of his work at dubious and even absurd theories along sharp distinction was made between that time was without value. But, Edwards with their sound ideas. Therefore, re- Freudian therapy and Freud's various warned, if Reich's remaining followers do marked Dr. Paul Edwards in the 1995 Pro- theories. The overwhelming evidence, not admit this and review his work with an metheus Books Lecture Series, it becomes coming from many sources, Edwards open mind, the Reichian movement will the task of critical and sympathetic com- declared, is that Freudian therapy does die like Freud's. mentators to separate the true and valu- not work. Patients are often as dis- he series of lectures originally had able from the false and unfruitful. traught at the end as they were at the Tbeen planned to be given in one of the In three lectures, given in New York at beginning. The main difference, large classrooms at the New School for the New School for Social Research on Edwards noted, to his large audience's Social Research. But the room was filled November 3, 10, and 17, 1995, Edwards amusement, seems to be that they have long before the lecture started, and up to focused on Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund acquired a vocabulary with which to four times as many people arrived as Freud, and Wilhelm Reich. annoy their friends and acquaintances. could be accommodated. Fortunately, the Nietzsche's rejection of the substance Also, some of Freud's theories seem to main auditorium became available, and up self in favor of a Humean "bundle" the- be mistaken, especially his theory of to four hundred moved to the larger facil- ory, his materialism, and his "hard" deter- dream symbolism, the claim that para- ity. Repeat attendees exceeded those who minism were discussed and mostly noia is the result of repressed homosex- came for just one of the three lectures, and affirmed in the first lecture. Nietzsche, uality, and the Oedipus complex. On the audience consisted of the old and the Edwards said, was exactly right when he the other hand, Freud's theories about young, some who had been in his classes called free will a "necessary illusion." As verbal slips, transference, and the at Brooklyn College, New York Uni- for his subtle analysis of the emotions power of unconscious emotions are versity, or the New School for Social that inspire life-denying religions like quite plausible. He complimented the Research, and some who have followed Christianity, the notion of God is, as critical work of Adolf Grünbaum, his career through such of his works as his Nietzsche found, extremely harmful Frederick Crews, and some other recent editing of The Encyclopedia of Philoso- because it is employed by Christian commentators and expressed the hope phy, his introduction to Bertrand Russell's moralists to denigrate earthly happiness that the dismantling of the Freudian Why I Am Not A Christian, and the text- and other secular values. Unfortunately, empire would not result in the loss of book written with the late Arthur Pap, A however, Nietzsche's attack on Christian Freud's sound ideas. Modern Introduction to Philosophy. morality is accompanied by tirades Reich, in Edwards's third lecture, was Edwards's most recent work is Rein- against compassion and vaguely worded described as a genius who went berserk. carnation: A Critical Examination (Pro- recommendations to exterminate the Like Freud, Reich did not pay sufficient metheus Books). "bungled and the botched." This side of attention to genetic factors in mental dis- The overflow crowds appeared to be Nietzsche's work has been soft-pedaled turbances. Also, he accepted the Oedipus impressed by how well Edwards knew his by some recent writers, but it cannot be theory and other Freudian mistakes. But, subject and, equally important, his teach- denied that there is some affinity between fortunately, this did not interfere with his ing abilities. After each of the two-hour Nietzsche and the Nazis. Edwards also novel ideas about the causes and treatment lectures, he stayed on until the last ques- discussed Nietzsche's doctrine of the of neurosis. Reich's main contributions tion was addressed. eternal return. He pointed out that the include an emphasis on negative transfer- Following the third lecture, Edwards theory is not supported by physics and, ence, the substitution of treatment of neu- said he would like to have three achieve- furthermore, that in such a universe the rotic character attikudes for treatment of ments carved onto his gravestone: "He symptoms, and, above all, his discovery of demonstrated the emptiness of Hei- Warren Allen Smith is a FREE INQUIRY edi- the "muscular armor," the way in which degger's philosophy. He helped to bury torial associate and lives in New York repressed emotions are anchored in Freudian therapy without sacrificing the City's Greenwich Village. chronic muscular rigidities. whole of Freud's theories. He tried to For all his sins Reich can be forgiven, rekindle interest in Reichian psychiatry." •

50 FREE INQUIRY for an already existing disease the poten- tial benefits could outweigh the risks. In Humanism and enhancement engineering, however, the risks would be greater while the benefits would be considerably less clear."2 Not Human Malleability only might such experiments have dire unanticipated effects on those who undergo them, Anderson warns, there is also the specter of a eugenic society. Gene Timothy J. Madigan enhancement might well lead us down the slippery slope into a dystopia of planned here has been a long-standing attempt should we change human nature by human beings, tinkered with in the womb Tto give a decisive definition for the genetic engineering?" He argues that gene or in test tubes from their very conception. term human being. Legend has it that transfer, while morally permissible in Anderson is quite right that secular Plato once gathered together all the cases where death or extreme suffering humanists, as well as theologically ori- learned minds of Athens to come up with might otherwise occur, should never be ented thinkers, worry about affronts to a definite description. They mutually undertaken in an attempt to enhance or human values. But his attempt to restrict arrived at the definition of "a featherless "improve" human beings. Since Anderson access to genetic engineering does not biped," at which point Diogenes the Cynic was a member of the team that performed seem to be in accord with the position rushed into the room with a plucked the first authorized gene transfer, in taken by many humanist writers, perhaps chicken, declaring, "Here is Plato's man." September 1990, his words must be care- the most influential of whom was the late Aristotle came up with a definition that fully considered. He writes: Joseph Fletcher. Fletcher developed what has served well over the centuries: human he called "situation ethics," which beings are "rational animals." Rationality Under what circumstances would attempted to combine the too-often frac- is an essential property, timeless and human genetic engineering not be a tured aspects of normative ethics—such moral good? In the broadest sense, unchanging. Later philosophers like Kant when it detracts from rather than con- as natural law, deontology, and teleol- shifted this discussion from biological tributes to, the dignity of man. Whether ogy—and also sought to foresee potential homo sapiens. Kant speculated that there viewed from a theological perspective ethical dilemmas on the horizon. Fletcher, might be other rational creatures some- or a secular humanist one, the justifica- who began his career as an Episcopalian where in the universe, who might have a tion for drawing a line is founded on the minister, was one of the pioneers in the argument that, beyond the line, human physiology totally unlike earthly humans, values that our society considers impor- field of medical ethics. He began to write but who would nonetheless have to be tant for the dignity of man would be sig- about the issue of genetic engineering treated with respect under the ironclad nificantly threatened.' back in the 1950s, anticipating many of rules of ethics. the current debates. In his 1979 book It was Charles Darwin who overturned While raising a powerful objection to Humanhood: Essays in Biomedical Aristotle's essentialistic description of certain types of genetic engineering, Ethics, he approaches the topic of human humans. Essences themselves are subject Anderson also begs the question. If the genetic engineering with three axioms: to change. Human beings differ from other concept of "human," at least as a biologi- 1. Our highest good is survival of the species not by kind but by degree, and rea- cal entity, is malleable, how can one really human race. "It would be a weird ethic, son itself is an evolving trait. The contem- known what constitutes "the dignity of not to say an anti-ethic, which could porary debate over whether nonhuman man"? Does one respect such dignity by accept nihilism as one of its options. Our animals are members of our moral com- refusing to attempt to eradicate genetic posterity has a moral claim on us for con- munity (expressed in such works as Tom defects that, while not life-threatening, sideration, both as to its safety and as to Regan's The Case for Animal Rights) fol- might cause deep discomfort or embar- its biological improvement."' lows from this fundamental change. rassment to those who possess them? The 2. Look at how the consequences will, Another related area of concern is the strongest arguments against genetic engi- on balance, effect the total human well- new field of genetic engineering. Now neering are based on natural law and tele- being. that it is possible to actually alter the ological thinking. Regarding the former, 3. Risk of error and risk of harm are human genetic structure, a host of ethical the present pope and other natural law the- inescapable features of our finite human dilemmas has come on the scene. In his orists have argued that it is wrong to tam- condition. recent article, "Genetics and Human per with nature. Teleologists such as Basically, Fletcher argues that it would Malleability," W. French Anderson asks Anderson—who, given his area of inter- be immoral not to use our increasing the question, "Just how much can and est, would have a difficult time adhering knowledge to try not only to eradicate to the pontiff's strictures—raise instead life-threatening genetic illnesses, but also Timothy J. Madigan is executive editor of consequential dilemmas. He writes that to attempt to improve the quality of our FREE INQUIRY. "... it could be harmful to insert a gene lives. Such genetic enhancements do have into humans. In somatic cell gene therapy risks involved, which is why they must be

Spring 1996 51 CALVIN & HOBBES

1lL DEOICAIE MY CAREER TO ru. PROBABLY GO MO NOT EMILY. WNE PROPoSITlON TNAT MAN GENETIC ENGINEERING AND GOO NEVER cAN RESHAPE INE UNIVERSE CREATE NUN ln FORMS. gOTNEREO To ACCcR01NG lo N15 OWN NNIMS MINT NWS SAM'.

~~ 1•N fully discussed and agreed upon by those society has possessed. And with that but we do know that it is our responsibil- undergoing such experiments. In addition, knowledge comes a new, and tremendous, ity to both preserve and enhance the such experiments should be publicly responsibility. Ironically, one might argue species to which we belong. It is fitting debated in open forums, rather than occur- that it is "human nature" to tinker with that Fletcher and other contemporary ring in hidden laboratories. nature. But Fletcher mentions that he humanists still hold Aristotle as a fore- Fletcher, while not an essentialist, ranges himself with the philosopher runner to the humanist way of life. We are nonetheless points out what seems a Ortega y Gassett's assertion that, "Man indeed rational animals—the question rather constant characteristic of human has no nature, only a history." We have remains whether we can use our rational- beings: we are tinkerers, and the more arrived at a point in human history when ity wisely and productively. This is the knowledge we have about a given subject, we are coming to grips with the realiza- concept of human dignity most in accord the more likely we are to try to make tion that not only are human beings rather with humanism. improvements or structural changes. This malleable creatures, but we may now is true not only of "artificially" con- have to take a hand in guiding our own Notes structed things like automobiles and evolution. We have outgrown the vision 1. W. French Anderson, "Genetic and Human bridges, but also of what we find in of a benevolent deity who will save us. Malleability," in Intervention and Reflection: Basic nature. As Fletcher says, "Man is a maker Fletcher's secular humanist writings pro- Issues in Medical Ethics, Fourth Edition, edited by Ronald Munson (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth and a selector and a designer, and the vide a guideline—not, as he would be Publishing Company, 1992), p. 452. more rationally contrived and deliberate quick to point out, a set of definitive time- 2. Ibid. anything is, the more human it is."" less answers—for an ethically responsi- 3. Joseph Fletcher, "Recombining DNA," in Humanhood: Essays in Biomedical Ethics (Amherst, We now have knowledge of the human ble future. We may not know what N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1979), pp. 196-197. genetic structure that no previous human "humans" of the future will be exactly, 4. Fletcher, p. 194. •

News and Views

International Academy of torian, educator, president, Corpus 1996, to simply the Council for Secular Humanism Inductees Christi College, Oxford University Humanism. The new name change will (England); Mario Vargas Llosa, author reflect the Council's attempt to make The International Academy of Human- and journalist (Peru); Gore Vidal, author itself better known in the media. ism is pleased to announce the following and social critic (U.S.A.); and Steven new members: Shulamit Aloni, educator Weinberg, physicist, University of Texas A CODESH Cruise? at Austin (U.S.A.). We also note the pass- and politician (Israel); Arthur C. Arthur Harris of the New York Governor- Clarke, author (Sri Lanka); Umberto ing of Dame R. Nita Barrow, Secular Humanists has proposed that Eco, educator and author (Italy); General of Barbados. CODESH explore sponsoring a Jonathan Miller, theater and film direc- cruise as a way for members to get to tor, physician (England); Taslima CODESH Announces know each other better. If you are Nasrin, author, medical doctor, and Name Change interested in participating in a cruise, social critic (Bangladesh); Conor Cruise contact Tim Madigan at P.O. Box The Council for Democratic and Secular O'Brien, writer and diplomat (Ireland); 664, Amherst, New York 14226 or Humanism (CODESH, Inc.) will be Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., historian and call 1-716-636-7571. author (U.S.A.); Sir Keith Thomas, his- changing its corporate name as of June

52 FREE INQUIRY non-believers. Amazingly, even this chap- ter is written in a non-pejorative, non- accusatory manner which, no doubt, Reviews serves to lessen the tentative doubter's desire to become defensive and flee back to the fold in terror. Winell describes the reasons funda- Shepherds Are for Sheep mentalists break away. Some begin to doubt after experiencing sexism and patri- archy in their church. Some mature emo- Nada Mangialetti tionally, cognitively, and morally to the point where the childlike obedience Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former fear of "God" in children and use guilt to demanded by authoritarian churches Fundamentalists and Others Leaving manipulate them; how they over-empha- seems wrong. Many become disappointed Their Religion, by Marlene Winell, size obedience and authoritarianism; how with Christian life when it does not bring Ph.D. (Oakland, Calif.: New Harbinger they often fail to practice what they them promised fulfillment and satisfac- Publications, 1993) 297 pp., $12.95 preach; and how they refuse to listen to tion, or when their own Christian commu- paper. questions and doubts, stifle natural curios- nity becomes non-supportive or even abu- ity, denigrate feelings, and actually neglect sive. Of course, many fundamentalists Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of their children's emotional needs and indi- begin to doubt when they are exposed to Former Fundamentalists, by Edward T. vidual personalities in their effort to serve alternative viewpoints, whether this be at Babinski (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus a "higher cause." Self-reliance and inter- college or through interaction with non- Books, 1995) 462 pp., $32.95 cloth. personal and problem-solving skills are Christians. not valued. Rather, faith in "God" and Once the process of leaving the fold hen you name a new business, you patiently waiting for supernatural help are begins, a person typically goes through must check with your county gov- the only answers offered to children in predictable phases..(We psychologists love ernment to make sure that no one else has handling whatever problems beset them. to see phases in every aspect of human already used that name. Not so, appar- Winell is loathe to blame families, who behavior!) Winell's phases start with "sep- ently, in the world of publishing. Leaving "did their best" and "raised you or taught aration," when the person can no longer the Fold by former fundamentalist you in a particular way because they twist facts and new experiences to fit in Marlene Winell and Leaving the Fold by believed they were doing the right thing" with dogma and first begins to doubt and Edward T. Babinski are two entirely dif- (p. 201). She follows with, "Under- question. This phase is followed by "con- ferent books bearing the same title and on standing that and forgiving them, however, fusion," when the person has to re-think the same general topic. Winell's book is a are completely different matters" (p. 201). his or her purpose in life, explanations psychological analysis, whereas Babin- Winell goes into great detail describing about the world and past, present, and ski's book is a collection of autobiograph- the psychological needs that religion ful- future, and has to start making decisions ical sketches. fills for people, despite all the harm it does. based on his or her own feelings and think- The first part of Winell's Leaving the These include the need to be protected ing rather than on some external authority. Fold explores in a non-pejorative manner from the terror of death, from one's own The third phase, "avoidance," is when the how she and other Christian fundamental- "dangerous" self, from feeling trivial and person refuses to have anything to do with ists got that way. Although she includes insignificant. Humans also need a sense of churches or to even discuss or think about one chapter about her personal history and belonging, intimacy, personal power, and theological issues. "Feeling" characterizes refers to her own experiences when rele- safety. All these needs and others, she con- the fourth phase, when the person may vant, the book is not a collection of per- tends, are reasonable human needs. experience anger, rage, hopelessness, sonal testimonies as is Babinski's Leaving But, as she points out in her chapter on helplessness, anxiety, and depression at the Fold. Winell is a psychologist, and this "Recognizing Manipulations": "Many the realization of the damage done by reli- is a book about the psychology of reli- religious teachings take advantage of the gious upbringing and the void left at its gious indoctrination, breaking away, and needs explored in the last chapter, exploit- loss. (This is when psychological help recovery. ing them to enforce conformity to the may be sought, though most psychologists Winell does an excellent job of show- group." Winell then lucidly exposes how are neither equipped or comfortable deal- ing how fundamentalist families instill religion uses fear, guilt, apparently mysti- ing with religiously based psychological cal experiences, self-denigration, discred- problems.) Finally, the person starts the Nada Mangialetti is a clinical psycholo- iting of outsiders, group pressure, the "rebuilding" phase when he or she discov- gist, a member of Humanists of Hawaii, power of authority, thought control, and a ers self-worth, new meaning in life, and and Educational Vice President of the closed system of logic to manipulate new principles to live by. (This is when the New York Area Skeptics. believers into remaining within the fold message of secular humanism is most and to attract psychologically vulnerable likely to make its impact.)

Spring 1996 53 tnell is definitely supportive of some familiarity and a great deal of rele- Fullerton, California. Whumanism. The values and think- vance in much of the book. I must say The similarities among the writers ing she espouses throughout Leaving the though, at times I was both fascinated and within each section is as noticeable as the Fold are clearly humanistic. The Foreword shocked by some of the things fundamen- differences. The eleven fundamentalist is by noted entertainer, author, and talists are told and must struggle with. It writers who are still practicing Christians, humanist Steve Allen. The Appendix is an allowed a new empathy and compassion though of moderate evangelical, liberal, or annotated bibliography of humanistic to replace some of my former puzzlement ultra-liberal churches, were, without readings, including FREE INQUIRY, a large and criticism—a development that would exception, raised since birth in a closed number of books from Prometheus behoove many secular humanists. fundamentalist system, with all outside, Books, and a favorable description of This is a book that every secular secular (read "evil") influences carefully humanistic organizations such as the humanist should own—more to lend out eliminated. They went to fundamentalist Council for Democratic and Secular to your just-starting-to-question-religion colleges and universities. As a result of Humanism, the Institute for First friends than for yourself. Just make sure this brainwashing (for that is the only Amendment Studies, the Freedom from to put your name in it! term one can honestly call it), they barely Religion Foundation, and the Cult had a chance at growing into mature, Awareness Network. he first two chapters of Babinski's thinking adults. Given their upbringing, it Like most authors selected by New TLeaving the Fold give a basic back- is to their credit that they became as lib- Harbinger Publications, which specializes ground of the history and beliefs of fun- eral as they did (although to many readers in psychology books, Winell's writing is damentalism. The main part of the book of this review, they may not seem liberal clear, down-to-earth, and unpretentious, consists of testimonies of former funda- at all.) Indeed, their writing comes across yet profound and thorough. And yet the mentalists. These short autobiographical as childish, superficial, and full of black- ideas expressed are every bit as serious, accounts are grouped into five sections: and-white thinking. (Example: one writes deep, and far-reaching as any found in a those written by people who are still that a teenager can either be a fundamen- more esoterically written treatise. New Christians, though of a more moderate talist believer or he or she will be a drug- Harbinger Publications is known for sort; those written by people who became pushing, carousing, juvenile delinquent.) putting out books that successfully tread adherents of non-Christian spiritualities; The writers show little or no insight the line between being professional/tech- those written by fundamentalists-turned- into the psychological tactics of funda- nical and popular-non-technical. Leaving agnostics; and those written by fundamen- mentalist upbringing or of the psycholog- the Fold is no exception. New Harbinger talists-turned-atheists. A final section con- ical effects of such upbringing on them- Publications is also famous for putting out tains writings by historical figures who selves. They seem unaware of the horrors pragmatic books that give you specific played a major role in liberalizing the reli- that fundamentalism has perpetuated in things to do, rather than merely describing gion of their day (which included, among the name of religion, or of the theological problems or waxing theoretical on the pos- others, Robert Ingersoll). or philosophical problems with doctrine. sible causes. Thus, almost every chapter of In all, thirty-three writers are included. Their main objection to fundamentalism Winell's Leaving the Fold contains written Distressingly, all are men, except for one is the stifling of intellectual freedom, the or experiential exercises to assist the per- woman who wrote a chapter of her own pressure to conform, and the over-atten- son struggling with rejecting a religious and another woman who co-authored a tion to compliance with minor rules of background. These include tried-and-true chapter with her husband. Equally dis- conduct. These are people with above- cognitive-behavioral techniques for the tressing is the complete absence of any average intelligence; they are individual- more verbally oriented person and visual- chapters by people of color, which is istic types. They are leaders, not followers ization techniques for the visually oriented especially indefensible since so many ... not a good recipe for being a happy person. By becoming aware of unspoken blacks belong to fundamentalist churches. camper in a fundamentalist church. irrational beliefs and thinking errors that The quality of thinking and sheer inter- Of the two former fundamentalists lead to painful emotions, and replacing est of each chapter varies greatly, depend- who turned to non-Christian spiritualities, these with more accurate descriptions of ing on the writer. Some autobiographies one was raised in a fundamentalist church reality, the religious sufferer can relieve are terribly boring, full of names and since birth, while the other came to funda- some of the anxiety, guilt, and depression chronological minutia, with little or no mentalism as a searching college student. that occur with leaving the fold. By nur- insight into either psychological or theo- Both became mystics. The one who had turing "the child within" through visual- logical issues. Other autobiographies, not been raised in fundamentalism natu- ization, healing can take place. which focus more on the person's feelings rally struggled with leaving fundamental- Although Winell's Leaving the Fold and thoughts about his or her experience ism much less than the one who had been was written primarily with Christian fun- (rather than a simple blow-by-blow steeped in it since childhood. Both are damentalism in mind, the psychological account of events) are engaging and extremely bright people. Both seemed ideas in it apply equally to other varieties insightful. One of the more personable extremely self-focused—(not selfish, in of fundamentalism, be they Judaic, and insightful autobiographies is written the negative sense) but obsessed with their Muslim, or whatever. Even a garden-vari- by Marlene Oaks, currently a minister of own spiritual development and the foster- ety former Catholic such as myself found the First Church of Religious Science in ing of mystical experience. They are not at

54 FREE INQUIRY all concerned with dogma, obeying on both sides of the issue. Again, these become silent. Some were fighting the church rules, or discovering reality. are highly intelligent, intellectually hun- usual battle of biblical inerrancy, while Rather, they value the mystical experience gry men who actively sought out every- others were objecting to the inhuman per se. To a secular humanist, their writ- thing they could about atheism and treatment of women, the institution of ings may seem to border on gibberish at humanistic positions on various social slavery, the overemphasis on belief in times and their personalities may come issues, biblical criticism, and church his- the "right" creed to the exclusion of across as bizarre. It may be difficult to tory. Sometimes their initial intent was to doing good deeds, and the discoveries of relate to much of what they are saying, become better equipped to defend funda- science that contradicted the Bible. and it may be tempting to dismiss them as mentalism, but the result was a blossom- Especially charming is the autobio- somewhat disturbed-though-brilliant indi- ing of critical thinking and a horror at graphical account of Charles Francis viduals who live more in their own heads what they had been espousing. Some of Potter, a fundamentalist-turned-human- than in the real world. these fundamentalists-turned-atheists ist, who, curiously, still believed in the Of the writings of the eight agnostic were brought up in fundamentalist paranormal. And for clarity of thinking writers, especially interesting are the sto- churches; others came to it later or were and sheer readability, nothing beats ries told about the inner workings of the brought up in families that were more Robert Ingersoll's chapter, "Why I Am operations of Jim and Tammy Baker and religious on paper than in practice. What An Agnostic," a stream-of-conscious- Billy Graham, reported by Austin Miles they all had in common, as did the funda- ness bibliography of every great work and Charles Templeton, respectively. mentalists-turned-agnostics, was expo- he'd read that formed him into the free- Their accounts are real shockers, even if sure to other ways of thinking. thinker he became. one has read the newspaper exposés of the All in all, Babinski's Leaving the Fold Bakers. However, of more interest than rr he last section of Babinski's is worth reading, though more for curios- these accounts of fundamentalist Leaving the Fold contains excerpts ity and human interest than for deep psy- hypocrisy, nastiness among their own from the writings of four historical reli- chological, philosophical, or theological adherents, and political jockeying for gious leaders who questioned the dogma insight. It makes a good companion for power are the theological inner battles of their day. This resulted, predictably, Winell's Leaving the Fold and would fought by those who became agnostics. in their ostracism from their respective appeal more to those who have already Five had been raised in either traditional churches and communities, but, to their left the fold than to those who are just churches or had parents who, though fun- credit, did not cause them to recant or starting to entertain doubts. damentalists on paper, were not devout churchgoers or prayer-mongers. Most of these writers broke out of the closed uni- verse of fundamentalism and were Poking Fun at New exposed to other ways of thinking and liv- ing. Thus, they progressed far beyond their unfortunate peers of the first section Testament Absurdities of this book. The agnostic writers have an insatiable thirst for knowledge that led them to read Farrell Till voraciously and to learn all they could about theology, the Bible, philosophy, sci- The Bad News Bible: The New Testa- of the New Testament from beginning to ence, and just about anything else they ment, by David Voas (Amherst, N.Y.: end through the perspective of James, the could get their hands on. They are indeed Prometheus Books, 1995), 209 pp., brother of Jesus. In the New Testament, harvesters of the Tree of Knowledge. The $25.95 cloth. James became an important leader in the more knowledge they acquired, the less Jerusalem church after the crucifixion of their fundamentalist beliefs stood up. The jf I had to review David Voas's The Bad Jesus, so presumably he would have con- biblical scholar types especially found yews Bible in just one word, that word sidered the religious movement his themselves in a bind: the more they read would be funny. This book tells the story brother had begun to be rather serious and studied the Bible, the more its contra- business. Voas's James, however, is far dictions, impossibilities, failed prophe- Farrell Till is a former fundamentalist from serious. He is cynical, sarcastic, and cies, and downright inhumanity and sav- preacher and missionary. He frequently rarely misses an opportunity to spice his agery became apparent. Over and over, debates Bible inerrantists and publishes narrative with droll comments that bring these writers comment that their doubts, the Skeptical Review, a bimonthly journal out the incongruities and absurdities in questions, and criticisms were never satis- dedicated to debunking the inerrancy doc- the gospel story. The humor is often sub- factorily answered by their pastors or reli- trine. His regular column "Journey to the tle, but the result is a fractured New gious teachers. Twilight Zone" appears in the Secular Testament that only the gullible could Eight other former fundamentalists Humanist Bulletin. take seriously. became atheists after extensive reading The best moments in the book are in

Spring 1996 55 James's narration of the four Gospels. He James was even less charitable to his denounced the Jews for killing both considered nothing sacred, so not even his brother's moral teachings. Jesus said that, Jesus and their own prophets and being mother's delicate condition of being dis- on the day of judgment, men would have contrary to all men, James said, covered pregnant before she had married to give account for every idle word they "Charming. My brother dies trying to James's father escaped his sarcastic barbs. have spoken. "That's going to make it a make us better Jews, and his self- In commenting on Joseph's dream in long day, I'm afraid," James commented. appointed executor encourages a hate which an angel informed him that Mary's In Mark's Gospel, Jesus told his disciples campaign." James was merciless in his pregnancy had been induced by the Holy that amazing signs would follow those sarcasm about the male chauvinism that Spirit, James said, "I myself think it poor who believed: "In my name shall they cast Paul so dogmatically expressed in his form that neither Mary nor the Holy out devils; they shall speak with new first Epistle to the Corinthians. These Ghost told him what was happening tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if passages are too long to quote or even before it became all too clear." To this, they drink any deadly thing, it shall not summarize, but James introduced them James couldn't resist adding another wry hurt them; they shall lay hands on the with such gibes as, "Paul demonstrated quip: "A speedy marriage seems the obvi- sick, and they shall recover." To this, his uncanny knack for saying the wrong ous solution, of course, but that might James noted, "If the signs of salvation are thing," or "Sadly, the poor chap felt com- appear incompatible with a verse from the ability to exorcise, to speak strange pelled to be stupid again." Isaiah (which actually refers not to a vir- languages, to play with snakes, to drink There are too many good moments like gin but a `young woman.')" This verse in poison, and to heal with a touch, failing these in the book to comment on all of Isaiah was, of course, the famous virgin- which you go to hell, then I hope my them. Anyone who reads it will simulta- birth prophecy, which said that a virgin brother enjoys his own company." neously be reading most of the New would bring forth a son whose name The satire isn't as good in James's Testament (in the King James version). would be Emmanuel. James quoted it and ridicule of the Epistles, but still there are Along the way, the reader will be enter- then commented, "Calling him Jesus must some worthwhile moments. In 1 Thessa- tained as James pokes fun at the many have been a mistake." lonians 2:15, where the apostle Paul absurdities in "God's inspired word." •

thing may be properly writ. In the midst of Sex and Sensibility its absolute tolerance of practices between consenting adults, Sexual Attitudes clearly calls out for the protection of children and Wendy McElroy against all forms of forced sex. As the Bulloughs state ". . . we argue that the Sexual Attitudes: Myths and Responsi- owning dogs lest they use them for sexual basis of what should or should not be per- bilities, by Vern L. and Bonnie Bullough satisfaction? And how can you not be mitted is whether or not a particular sexual (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, intrigued by the role menstruation played behavior harms others or society at large." 1995) 281 pp., $29.95 cloth. in Lizzie Borden's murder trial? My main quibble with the book lies in Authors Vern and Bonnie Bullough the fact that it opens the door for "society exual Attitudes: Myths and Realities is skillfully weave such page-turning tidbits at large" to play any legal role in the Smore fun to read than such a flaw- into what could have been an academic pre- peaceful behavior of adults. It allows for lessly researched book of comparative sentation of how sexuality is as much a mat- the punishment of words and attitudes, as sexuality has any right to be. It should be ter of fashion as hemlines. In chapters with embodied in laws against sexual harass- sufficient for the book to offer a para- such titles as "Masturbation" and "Prostitu- ment. I stumble over such societal protec- noramic view of sexual attitudes and mis- tion," Sexual Attitudes shows how attitudes tions. For example, the book suggests that, conceptions that spans human history and toward specific practices vary dramatically to make prostitution less offensive to the crosses cultural lines. A reader would from culture to culture. Even within the society, "prostitutes could be encouraged have to be greedy to demand entertain- same society, attitudes evolve. For example, to be discreet, advertising their services in ment as well. in eighteenth-century America, masturba- the so-called underground press. . . ." But how else can you react to discus- tion was said to cause a list of ills, including Encouraged how? And would prostitutes sions of prostitutes who became Christian round shoulders, hysteria, shifty eyes, be legally prohibited from advertising on saints, of a U.S. Army saddle designed to epilepsy, and paralysis. Today, feminist billboards? prevent stimulation of the male penis, or bookstores sell how-to videos on the sub- In fairness, however, the book is more a Talmudic prohibitions against widows ject. In chapters with such titles as call for a re-evaluation of sexual attitudes "Unnatural Sex" and "Sex and Gender," the than it is a presentation of the authors' con- Wendy McElroy is author of the new book Bulloughs provide a philosophical and legal clusions. It is a fine scholarly work. It is XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography context for such changes. also the only academic book from which I (St. Martin's Press). The point of this book is not that human have read passages aloud to a group of sexuality is shifting sand on which any- girlfriends. •

56 FREE INQUIRY family and also resigned from the Church of God. Over the next few years he "back- Snake Handling slid" and "returned to his sinful ways," even serving four months in jail for moon- shining in 1923 (pp. 4.6-47). Joe Nickell Eventually, after working at various jobs, he returned to preaching—conduct- Taking Up Serpents: Snake Handlers of sonous snake without being bitten. Soon, ing revival and other services in tents, Eastern Kentucky, by David L. Kim- Hensley captured a large rattlesnake on small churches, even Salvation Army meet- brough (Chapel Hill: University of nearby White Oak Mountain and intro- ing halls. In 1932 Hensley moved with his North Carolina Press, 1995) 232 pp., duced it into his preaching, thereafter second wife and their children to Pineville $34.95 cloth, $14.95 paper. founding his own church, which he named in eastern Kentucky. Destitute, he worked the "Church of God with Signs Follow- in a coal mine for seventy-five cents a day. ertain ritualistic practices of ing." The name evokes a passage in Mark Later in the year, the local folk built a rus- C"Holiness" churches, common to (16:17-18) in which Jesus speaks before tic church and invited Hensley to join Appalachia, are touted as miraculous— ascending into heaven: them. Soon he was preaching on the both within the congregations themselves "signs" and handling snakes—not only at and by paranormalists like Berthold And these signs shall follow them that his church but also at the large Saturday Schwartz (1960) and D. Scott Rogo believe; in my name shall they cast out morning gospel services held at the devils; they shall speak with new (1982). As the latter explains, "Members tongues; they shall take up serpents; and Pineville courthouse yard (pp. 47-52). By of the congregation will openly handle if they drink any deadly thing, it shall this time the Pentecostal, Holiness, Church rattlesnakes without being bitten, drink not hurt them; they shall lay hands on of God and other "Holy Roller" sects had solutions of strychnine with no harmful the sick and they shall recover. taken root in the poorest areas of the moun- effects, and perform sometimes remark- tains, largely displacing the traditional able exhibitions of fire immunity." Now a Some snake handlers believe Jesus Baptist and Methodist congregations there. new book sheds needed light on these himself engaged in the various practices. The new denominations allowed the poor practices. The Gospels record his casting out devils farmers and miners to rediscover, accord- David L. Kimbrough's Taking Up and healing the sick, and the other prac- ing to Kimbrough, "the spiritual and emo- Serpents: Snake Handlers of Eastern tices—speaking in tongues, taking up ser- tional enthusiasm that had been lost among Kentucky is the work of a self-described pents, and drinking poison—may be the Baptists." He adds: "Faith healing and "transplanted Appalachian" and "indepen- inferred, snake handlers maintain: "He other accounts of miracles became wide- dent scholar" who has a Ph.D. in history wouldn't tell you to do something he did- spread where Holiness evangelists from Indiana University. Kimbrough actu- n't do himself." A further practice occa- preached" (pp. 75-77). ally participated in more than three hun- sionally observed in Holiness churches is But do the Holiness practices really dred Holiness serpent services—even that of fire handling, which involves wor- constitute miracles? Faith-healing claims handling the poisonous reptiles himself on shipers passing crude torches (usually have been carefully analyzed elsewhere a few occasions. However, while the book made by placing a wick in a bottle filled (Randi 1987) as have the other practices is a valuable addition to the scarce litera- with kerosene) along their exposed chests, (Nickell 1993) with negative results. An ture on the subject, and provides needed faces, and feet. It is supposedly sanc- investigation of fire immunity, for exam- insights into the origins, practices, and tioned by several Bible passages, includ- ple, shows that worshipers' hands were culture of snake handling, it does little to ing Isaiah 43:2: "When thou walkest actually moved through a flame, not held challenge the miraculous claims associ- through fire thou shalt not be burned; nei- there; hands, faces or feet were placed ated with the bizarre practice. ther shall the flame kindle upon thee." beside a flame, not over it. With the drink- Snake handling apparently had its ori- Kimbrough traces the spread of snake ing of poisons, usually strychnine, in most gin at an outdoor service of the Church of handling through the Appalachian moun- cases we know nothing of the strength of God Holiness near Cleveland, Tennessee, tains, largely due to the evangelical work the solution, or whether the person did about 1909 or 1910, when itinerant of George Hensley and his followers. more than pretend to sip the clear liquid, preacher George Went Hensley (ca. 1880- Since Hensley was illiterate, his wife or whether he had previously ingested a 1955) observed a man handling a poi- filled out his examination form for minis- common antidote, such as egg white. ter in the Church of God, and she also Interestingly, strychnine has actually been Joe Nickell is Senior Research Fellow of helped with his evangelical work. Or medically administered to treat certain the Committee for the Scientific rather, she did until the attentions of a physiological effects of snake bite (Nickell Investigation of Claims of the Para- neighbor who was attracted to her pro- 1993). normal. Among his many books is voked a feud that nearly resulted in the As to snake handling, a dominant prac- Looking for a Miracle (Prometheus death of her husband. Waylaid and slashed tice of the Holiness church and a few Books, 1993). with a knife that left him permanently lesser Pentecostal sects, adherents insist scarred, Hensley abandoned his wife and that it should only be done when wor-

Spring 1996 57 shipers truly feel the Holy Spirit is upon venom more quickly). While snake hand- began to replace a diamondback rat- them. While this caution may reflect more lers eschew medical treatment, it is possi- tlesnake in a lard can. The snake suddenly shrewdness than piety, in fact it seems ble that they nevertheless elevate the limb struck him squarely on the wrist. As his ineffective given that, as Kimbrough and apply ice packs to slow the spread of arm swelled and turned black, Hensley acknowledges, "Many have mistakenly the poison and thereby lessen the shock to began to vomit blood. He died the follow- believed they were under the anointing the body's system. Also, simply keeping a ing day. His death was listed as a suicide. and received lethal bites." Kimbrough wound clean and allowing it to drain After his funeral his followers met and quotes a Tampa Morning Tribune com- reduces the attendant risks of infection pledged to continue the snake-handling mentary of May 6, 1936: and gangrene (Nickell 1993). style of worship (p. 133). Further demystification of snake han- They could scarcely have known—as One over-zealous devotee of this new dling comes from looking at the work of a modern biblical scholars do—that the brand of "religion" is dead, the result of professional snake milker like George verses in Mark 16 upon which snake taking one of Hensley's rattlers to his bosom. The snake didn't appreciate the Van Horn of Reptile World Serpentarium handling is predicated are not in the most "faith" of the "evangelist" and, true to in Florida. According to a news report: trustworthy ancient manuscripts (Larue nature, bit the "worshipper" twice with 1990). They are apparently part of a later fatal effect. Hensley and the victim Because he needed a sensitive touch, he addition (verses 9-20), written in a differ- waited for the alleged Biblical charm to did not wear safety gloves when han- ent style and intended to provide that assert itself as an antidote to the rattler's dling the snakes. Van Horn had a good venom. It didn't. The "apostle" died. safety record, considering the circum- gospel with a less abrupt ending. Hensley explained: "He was not quite stances. He milked up to 90 snakes a ready for the demonstration of the day but had suffered fewer than 10 bites References power." in 23 years. In 1979, he lost half his right index Kimbrough, David L. 1995. Taking up Serpents: Snake Handlers of Eastern Kentucky. Chapel In any event, while poisonous snakes finger to a rattlesnake. A king cobra bit him in 1977 but did not inject a full load Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press. Larue, Gerald A. 1990. The Supernatural, the are indeed dangerous, the rural snake of venom. Treatment with a cobra anti- handlers bring considerable knowledge Occult, and the Bible. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus dote cured him. [Thomas 1995] Books, p. 212. and experience to the practice. For exam- Nickell, Joe. 1993. Looking for a Miracle: Weeping ple, unless snakes are hot, hungry, or Kimbrough acknowledges that at least Icons, Relics, Stigmata, Visions and Healing frightened, they are sluggish and rela- Cures. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. seventy-five snake handlers have died Randi, James. 1987. The Faith Healers. Buffalo, tively unaggressive. If they have been from snake bites. "Most snake handlers N.Y.: Prometheus Books. raised from hatchlings they can become have been bitten at some point in their Rogo, D. Scott. 1982. Miracles: A Parascientific accustomed to being handled. Also, large Inquiry into Wondrous Phenomena. New York: lives," he states. "Atrophied fingers and Dial Press, pp. 5-6. snakes grasped firmly behind the neck hands, paralyzed limbs, and a variety of Schwartz, Berthold. 1960. "Ordeals by Serpents, will be unable to bite and, according to other physical disabilities are not uncom- Fire and Strychnine." Psychiatric Quarterly experts, once they have been lifted from 34:405-29. mon among those who regularly handle Thomas, Mike. 1995. "Close Brush with Death Fails the ground they are relatively unlikely to snakes" (p. 34). to Rattle Snake-lover," The Buffalo News, strike (Nickell 1993). September 17; reprinted from the Orlando Sentinel. • Other factors are important as well. For he life of George Went Hensley pro- example, the rattlesnakes that are used in Tvides an ironic commentary on the the services are often the eastern timber practice of snake handling. Whether or MOVING? Make sure rattlers, rather than their much more com- not he was bitten, as he claimed, "four bative and more deadly cousins of the hundred times 'till I'm speckled all over FREE INQUIRY follows you! western United States. Cottonmouth moc- like a guinea-hen," Hensley did suffer casins are distinctive in that they rarely numerous snake bites, including one to Name attack people, and copperheads have a the face in the summer of 1940 that caused Subscriber # poison that is rarely of sufficient strength his head to swell grotesquely. Several to be lethal to a healthy adult. In addition, times he was believed to have been near New address snake bites vary in the amount of venom death (pp. 111-113). But such setbacks, City injected, and a glancing bite may result in as well as attacks by the media and legal only minimal pain. Moreover, venom is authorities, served only to make this igno- State Zip rarely injected directly into a blood vessel, rant and stubborn man more convinced Old address which would represent the most deadly that the torments came from the Devil and threat. that he was therefore aligned with God's City Fortunately, most snake bites occur in will. State Zip the extremities, and in the case of a strong, On July 24, 1955, while living with his healthy victim a bite need not be fatal, fourth wife in Albany, Georgia, Hensley Mail to: especially if the person's faith helps keep was concluding a service in a nearby FREE INQUIRY Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226 him calm (since panic helps spread the northern Florida community when he 58 FREE INQUIRY is neither a manifestation of nor depen- dent upon human consciousness. Never- Physics and Consciousness theless, scientific inquiry is open to the possibility that a deeper physics exists beneath quantum mechanics. Following detailed expositions of H. James Birx quantum mechanics that focus on the apparent paradoxes in the microcosm, The Unconscious Quantum: Meta- cal particles that always travel faster than e.g., the Heisenberg uncertainty principle physics in Modern Physics and Cos- the speed of light), wavicles (bodies with and Schrödinger's Cat thought-experi- mology, by Victor J. Stenger (Amherst, properties that behave like waves or parti- ment, the last three chapters of this excel- N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1995) 322 pp., cles depending on the detector used), non- lent book are of particular value to secular $32.95 cloth. locality, alternate histories, parallel uni- humanists. They deal with cosmology, verses, and subquantum hidden variables. chaos theory, and mysticism. Again, the dvancing beyond the Newtonian Throughout all this explicative treat- author stresses that scientific evidence Aworldview, modern science incorpor- ment, of special importance is the crucial does not warrant any religious or mystical ates both quantum mechanics and relativ- distinction between epistemology (human notions about material nature or the place ity physics to explain natural phenomena measurement) and ontology (objective of mental activity within it. Despite the on the microcosmic and macrocosmic lev- reality). An honest consideration of scien- "gee whiz" literature of modern meta- els of existence, respectively. This tific evidence does not support theistic physics for a gullible public, the physical dynamic universe has been expanding for metaphysics or Eastern mysticism. From universe is utterly indifferent to human at least fifteen billion years, ever since the the cosmic and evolutionary perspectives, beings. big bang, and it has been evolving, with the alleged mind-body problem is Finally, secular humanists owe a great organic history on planet Earth resulting grounded in human egoism and arrogance. debt of gratitude to Victor J. Stenger for in the emergence of human beings with Stenger himself argues that the materi- his level-headed treatment of complex consciousness. As such, our species is alist stance does justice to explaining both subjects as well as his steadfast commit- nature aware of itself at least once in this quantum phenomena and mental activity ment to science and reason. The Uncon- cosmic epoch. But what is the true rela- without resorting to a holistic cosmology, scious Quantum is a must-read for all nat- tionship between a human observer and idealistic ontology, or outmoded theology, uralists and humanists devoted to free objective reality? i.e., the existence of this physical universe inquiry. • With clarity and erudition, physicist and astronomer Victor J. Stenger explores the fascinating world of subatomic parti- cles in The Unconscious Quantum: What a Tangled Web We Weave Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cos- mology. As a naturalist humanist, he offers a comprehensive and critical analysis of John Schumaker those issues that surround various inter- pretations of quantum mechanics and The Varnished Truth: Truth Telling and overrated, and that deception and false- human consciousness. His own viewpoint Deceiving in Ordinary Life, by David hood are important components of moral- is devoid of the spiritual and mystical Nyberg (Chicago and London: The ity and ethics. He even makes the case nonsense found in most popular treat- University of Chicago Press, 1995) 244 that, in some circumstances, truth telling ments of these technical subjects. pp., $12.95 cloth, $24.95 paper. can be an act of immorality. Without dis- The reader is introduced to the key paraging the place and merits of the truth ideas or discoveries of John Bell, David onesty and truthfulness are among and truth telling, Nyberg writes convinc- Bohm, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisen- the official "common moral decen- ingly that strategic deception and the berg, Roger Penrose, Max Planck, Erwin cies" endorsed by humanists. But, in his inclination to misrepresent reality are "in Schrödinger, and Frank J. Tipler (among book The Varnished Truth, philosopher our bones" and here to stay. others). Furthermore, one reads about pre- David Nyberg challenges "moral perfec- Much of this well-written and highly sent speculations on tachyons (hypotheti- tionism" and argues that truth is morally entertaining book deals with the role of "other deception" in social interactions H. James Birx, professor of anthropology John Schumaker is a lecturer in psychol- and interpersonal communications. at Canisius College, is the author of Inter- ogy at the University of Newcastle and Nyberg does a superb job of demonstrat- preting Evolution (Prometheus Books, author of the books Wings of Illusion and ing that deception and lying are ancient, 1991) and executive director for the The Corruption of Reality (Prometheus universal, and indispensible features of Alliance of Secular Humanist Societies. Books). social intelligence. Mutual deception allows us to organize our social world and

Spring 1996 59 coordinate our relationships with others the world around us. In outlining our need After all, group-based religion is the his- who differ from us. As we seek to strike a to deceive ourselves, Nyberg quotes John torical repository of deceptions and dis- balance between truth telling and decep- Barth, who said, "self-knowledge is tortions that enable people to combat the tion, the moral character of our social always bad news." The goal is once again unsavory aspects of reality. But for some relationships stands to be improved. The to achieve balance, in this case between reason, religion is conspicuously absent deployment of deception, Nyberg main- the actual truth and a more agreeable (and from this book. We are left to wonder tains, can be a sound moral position, and "useful") truth. about the merits and morality of lying to sometimes the truth is a "curse" that Nyberg might touch a raw nerve with people about all those things that fill our yields poor social "results." For this rea- some humanists as he describes the ideal religious imaginations. Likewise, no ref- son, Nyberg concludes that truthfulness of self-actualization (i.e., the discovery of erences are made to "paranormal" misrep- should not be exercised unconditionally the "real me") as the "biggest self-decep- resentations of reality. or naively. tion of all." While self-deception is not Maybe Nyberg is being kind to poten- He elaborates with sound logic on the always necessary, according to Nyberg, he tial readers with religious or other para- pros and cons of truth telling, as well as writes that positive illusions are "one of normal learnings. But I wish that he the social etiquette of lying. There is the most beneficial pleasures of the would have been a little less kind and value, he holds, in the motto, "Be untruth- mind." allowed his book more teeth. One other ful to others as you would have others be He backs up his carefully considered shortcoming is Nyberg's excessive untruthful to you." Nyberg reveals that the position by citing a small amount of social emphasis on the "rational" mode of oper- tendency to deceive others emerges very psychological research. This includes the ation of deception. In the book's conclu- early in life, and may even have a genetic quantitative research contained in Shelly sion, he writes that a deeper knowledge of basis. Many useful examples are given, Taylor's book Positive Illusions, which our deceptive nature should let us "break demonstrating that lying and even offers experimental evidence that mental through the surface of rationality." Yet, as hypocrisy can be virtuous and prosocial health benefits derive from illusions and a whole, his book does not capture well forms of behavior. Some of these exam- other self-serving "cognitive biases." But enough the irrational and unconscious ples are obvious, such as the virtue of Nyberg could have drawn even further on pathways along which deception operates. lying to someone like Hitler, while others the rapidly growing research literature in Despite these few disappointments, are more subtle and controversial, such as psychology confirming the value of self- The Varnished Truth succeeds well at its the value of lying at times to children. In deception and illusion. stated goal of helping us find a more inge- a related way, he describes the social ben- Nyberg tackles the difficult paradox nious image of who we are. This image, as efits (e.g., enhanced civility, privacy) that posed by self-deception; that is, in order Nyberg professes with considerable come when people are "smart" or adaptive to distort the truth to ourselves, we must scholarship and flair, must include an enough to be "bad lie detectors" first see and know the truth. How is it pos- understanding of our insatiable appetite Conversely, he draws our attention to the sible, therefore, to both believe and not for deception and untruth. Such an image social catastrophe that would ensue if we believe, and both to know and not know? may intimidate, and challenge the matu- all had the capacity and motivation to rec- In explaining this paradox, he delves rity of, narrow-minded skeptics who ognize the endless falsehoods that contin- briefly into the potentially fruitful area of would like to ignore that dimension of ually bombard us. Nyberg treats the sub- cognitive splitting and multiple selves. ourselves. But this book will be much ject of other-deception with sensitivity But Nyberg's thesis that "no person is appreciated by anyone seeking to recon- and compassion, referring to this natural only one person" cries out for elaboration, cile our love of truth and fact with our human trait as "an inventive craft that and he could have helped his case by equally strong passion for untruth and helps us to do useful things." He avoids introducing a pivotal concept such as dis- falsehood. As Nyberg shows, these two cynicism, and argues skillfully that decep- sociation as the cognitive basis of the drives coexist in the human being and tion is a sophisticated inborn attribute that "split" self. Another area somewhat must be acknowledged as we strive to bet- forms the backbone of our survival as neglected by Nyberg is the massive ter comprehend ourselves. • social creatures. Beyond that, he writes, deceptions that are played out at the level the role of deception in everyday life of culture, ones that seek to address stands to reshape our knowledge and important existential concerns. He makes PROGRAM understanding of moral decency. fleeting comments to suggest that he Only one of the ten chapters of this might go on to discuss deception and real- OFFERED excellent book deals with self-deception. ity distortion in a wider context. At one If you are a college student or fac- We have, according to Nyberg, a strong point, for example, he writes that "the ulty member and would like to need not to see, not to feel, and not to whole of life is too much to take," while at arrange a debate on your campus know many things that are within our abil- another he agrees with T. S. Eliot's obser- about the existence of God between Dr. Gordon Stein and a theist, please ity to see, feel, and know. He leaves no vation that "mankind cannot bear very write to Dr. Stein at P.O. Box 972, doubt that we self-deceivers have an much reality." From that, one would Amherst, NY 14226. Dr. Stein's exquisite knack to distort, deny, avoid, expect to hear about culturally orches- expenses are paid from a grant. and modify the truth about ourselves and trated deceptions, in particular religion. 60 FREE INQUIRY r CATCH UP ON WHAT YOU'VE MISSED IN CONSCIOUSNESS i 'THE SOU ano RICHARD NM 0 ARTIFICIAL IAN ;NV Must We Tolerate INTELLIGENCE P'-4 the Intolerant?

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Winter 1995/96, VoL 16, no. 1-Baptist/Secular Satanic Scare. Dangerous Folklore of Satanism; Thomas Humanist Declaration; Humanism and Tolerance, Fall 1992, VoL 12, no. 4-Secular Humanism and Aquinas's Complete Guide to Heaven and Hell; (marking 1995 as the United Nations' Year for 'Traditional Family Values'; In Defense of Secular Moral Repression in the United States. Tolerance); Challenges from the Religious Right Humanism; Why I Am Not a Muslim; 'Star Trek': Spring 1990, Vol. 10, no. 2-Rethinking the War (Farrakhan; The Promise Keepers; Zealotry in Humanism of the Future. on Drugs; An African-American Humanist Israel), American Naturalism; Secularization in Summer 1992 Vol. 12, no. 3-Will Secularism Declaration; How Much Influence Can Humanism Turkey; Humanist Celebrations. Survive? The Israeli Law of Return; Mormon Have on Blacks? The American Judiciary as a Fall 1995, Vol. 15, No. 4-Consciousness Plural Marriage; Communicating with the Dead: Secular Priesthood; Are Humanists Optimists? Revisited: Interviews with Daniel Dennett, Patricia William James and Mrs. Piper (Part 2); Was Reflections on the Democratic Revolutions of Our Smith Churchland; Bertrand Russell Remem- Emmanuel Kant a Humanist? Time. bered; Humanism and Medical Ethics. Spring 1992, Vol. 12, no. 2-Communicating Winter 1989/90, Vol. 10 no. 1-Interviews with Summer 1995, Vol. 15, No. 3-Interview with with the Dead: William James and Mrs. Piper (Part Steve Allen and Paul MacCready; Moral Edu- Peter Ustinov; Humanism in the 21st Century; 1); The Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower cation; Eupraxophy: The Need to Build Secular Remembering World War II; Is There a Need for Society; An Interview with Sir Hermann Bondi; Humanist Centers; Religion in the Public Schools. Fantasy? The Jesus Phenomenon in Korea; Humanism in Fall 1989, Vol. 9, no. 4-In Defense of Liber- Spring 1995, Vol. 15, no. 2-The Many Faces of Nigeria; Sexual Archetypes in Transition; Mary tarianism; Humanism and Socialism; Militant Feminism; Secularism and Enlightenment in Wollstonecraft and Women's Rights. Atheism; The Pseudo-Problem of Creation in Islamic Countries; Poland Today; The Bicen- Winter 1991/92, Vol. 12, no. 1-The Hospice Physical Cosmology. tennial of The Age of Reason. Way of Dying; Crisis in the Southern Baptist Summer 1989, VoL 9, no. 3-Interview with Winter 1994/95, Vol. 15, no. 1-Opus Dei and Convention, FI Interview: Church and State in Sidney Hook on the Future of Marxism; The Case 0ther Secret Societies; Exoevolution; Harold Poland and Hungary Reopening the American of 'Ivan the Terrible'; Humanism in the Black Camping's Apocalypse; Secular Humanism in Mind: Alternatives to Relativism and Positivism. Community: The Marriage of Church and State in Romania, the Slovak Republic; Reason and Fall 1991, Vol. 11, no. 4- Medicide: The Ireland; Separation of Church and State in Western Rationality. Goodness of Planned Death (An Interview with Europe; Abortion or Adoption? Fall 1994, VoL 14, no. 4-Defending Prometheus: Dr. Jack Kevorkian); The Critical Need for Organ Spring 1989, Vol. 9, no. 2-Can We Achieve On Consciousness; Becoming Posthuman; Albert Donations; The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf Immortality? The Inseparability of Logic and Camus; Secularism in Australia; Religion as a War; Is Santa Claus Corrupting Our Children's Ethics; Glossolalia; Abortion in Historical Human Science. Morals? The Continuing Abortion Battle in Perspective. Summer 1994, Vol. 14, no. 3-Do Children Need Canada; What Does the Bible Say About Winter 1988/89, Vol. 9, no. 1-Active Voluntary Religion? Humanism in Ghana and Mexico; Was Abortion? New Directions in Sex Therapy; Cyrano Euthanasia; The Struggle for Abortion Rights in Ayn Rand a Humanist? Biblical Contradictions on de Bergerac; Secular Humanism in Turkey. Canada; AIDS In the Twenty-First Century; Tim Salvation. Summer 1991, Vol. 11, no. 3-Saint Paul's Madigan Interviews Steve Allen and Jayne Spring 1994, Vol. 14 no. 2-In Defense of Conversion: An Epileptic Hallucination? Bruno Meadows. Secularism; Symposium on Overpopulation and Galileo and the Power to Define; The Biological Fall 1988, Vol. 8, no. 4-A Declaration of Contraception; Waldorf Schools; Medjugorje: A Relationship Between Love and Sex; Should Sex Interdependence: A New Global Ethics; Belief and Critical Inquiry. Have a Different Meaning for Humanists? Love Unbelief; Worldwide Misconceptions About Winter 1993/94, Vol. 14, no. 1-Faith Healing: and Mate Selection in the 1990s; The Creationist Secular Humanism; Woody Allen Interviews the Miracle or Mirage? The End of the Age of Books; Revival; Pandas Attack Science Education; The Reverend Billy Graham. State and Church in Modem Germany; Who Was Creationist Theory of Abrupt Appearances; The Summer 1988, Vol. 8, no. 3-Humanism in the Jesus?; Tai Solarin Interview; John Demjanjuk; Case for a New American Pragmatism; Freedom Twenty-First Century. Matilda Joslyn Gage. of Thought and Religion in Bangladesh. Spring 1988, Vol. 8, no. 2-The First Easter; Is Fall 1993 VoL 13, no 4-More on the 'Incredible Spring 1991, Vol. 11, no. 2-The Unitarian Religiosity Pathological? Israel's Orthodox Jews; Discovery of Noah's Ark'; Should Secular Universalist Association; Upholding the Wall of The Alabama Textbook Case; The Resurrection Humanists Celebrate the Rites of Passage? The Separation; Scientific Humanism and Religion; Debate. Causes of Homosexuality; Jane Addams. Christianity: The Cultural Chameleon; Tolerance Winter 1987/88, Vol. 8, no. 1-Voices of Dissent Summer 1993, VoL 13, no. 3-Is Religion a Form of Homosexuality; Was Karl Marx a Social within the Catholic Church; Eupraxophy; The of Insanity? Viruses of the Mind, 'The Incredible Scientist? Why I Am Not a Mormon. Humanist Identity; God and the Holocaust; Discovery of Noah's Ark'-An Archaeological Winter 1990/91 Vol. 11, no. 1-The Bertrand Psychic Astronomy. Quest? Islamic Intolerance. Russell Case, Europe 92: Secularization and Fall 1987, Vol. 7 no. 4-Fundamentalist Christian Spring 1993, Vol. 13 no. 2-Does Humanism Religion in Conflict; The Irish Republic; The Schools; Peter Popoff' Broken Window. Encourage Human Chauvinism? On Bio- Vatican's Pact with Italy; Religion and Summer 1987, Vol. 7, no. 3-Japan and Biblical diversity-An Exclusive Interview with E. O. Secularization Under Perestroika in the USSR; Religion; Was the Universe Created? Science- Wilson; Is the U.S.A. a Christian Nation? Homo- Levi Fragell on Humanism in Norway (interview); Fantasy Religious Cults; The Relativity of Biblical sexuality: Right or Wrong? Who Was John the Why I Am Not a Fundamentalist; The Natural Ethics; The Case Against Reincarnation (Part 4); Baptist? Confucius: The First 'Teacher' of History of Altruism. Personal Paths to Humanism. Humanism? Fall 1990, Vol. 10, no. 4-Fulfilling Feminist Spring 1987, Vol. 7 no. 2-Personal Paths to Winter 1992/93, Vol. 13, no. 1-Does the Big Ideals; Freedom and Censorship Today; Neutrality Humanism; Psychology of the Bible-Believer; Bang Prove the Existence of God? Remembering Between Religion and Irreligion; Why 1 Am Not a Biblical Arguments for Slavery; The Case Against John Dewey: America's Leading Humanist Philos- Presbyterian; The Fundamentalist Absolute and Reincarnation (Part 3). opher; Toward a New Enlightenment: A Response Secularization in the Middle East. Winter 1986/87, Vol. 7, no. 1-The New to Postmodernist Critiques of Humanism; Human- Summer 1990, Vol. 10, no. 3-Dying Without Inquisition in the Schools; Naturalistic Humanism; ism's Thorn: The Case of the Bright Believers; The Religion; Why I Am Not a Methodist; The God and Morality; Anti-Abortion and Religion; A Positive Humanist Statement on Sexual Morality; ticism of the Jehovah's Witnesses; Animal Rights Astronomy and the Star of Bethlehem; The Unbelief in The Netherlands; Dutch Humanism; Re-evaluated; Elmina Slenker. Strange Case of Paul Feyerabend. Belief and Unbelief in Mexico; The Case Against Fall 1984, Vol. 4, no. 4-Humanists vs.Christians Fall 1982, Vol. 2, no. 4-An Interview with Reincarnation (Part 2). in Milledgeville; Suppression and Censorship in Sidney Hook at Eighty; The Religion and Biblical Fall 1986, Vol. 6, no. 4-New Secular Humanist the Seventh-Day Adventist Church; Keeping the Criticism Research Project; Boswell Confronts Centers; The Case Against Reincarnation (Part 1); Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls; Health Super- Hume; Humanism and Politics. Protestantism, Catholicism, and Unbelief in stition; Humanism in Africa: Paradox and Illusion. Summer 1982, Vol. 2, no. 3-A Symposium on Present-Day France; More on Faith-Healing. Summer 1984, Vol 4. no. 3-School Prayer; Science the Bible and Darwin Ethics and Religion; Summer 1986, Vol. 6, no. 3-The Shocking Truth Science vs. Religion in Future Constitutional Science and Religion. About Faith-Healing; Belief and Unbelief World- Conflicts; Armageddon and Biblical Apocalyptic; Is Spring 1982, Vol. 2, no. 2-Interview with Isaac wide. the U.S. Humanist Movement in a State of Collapse? Asimov on Science and the Bible; Humanism as Spring 1986, Vol. 6, no. 2-Faith-Healing- Spring 1984, Vol. 4, no. 2-Christian Science an American Heritage; The Nativity Legends; Miracle or Fraud? The Effect of Intelligence on Practitioners and Legal Protection for Children; Norman Podhoretz's Neo Puritanism. U.S. Religious Faith. Biblical Views of Sex; A Naturalistic Basis for Winter 1981/82 VoL 2, no. 1-The Importance of Winter 1985/86, Vol. 6, no. 1-Is Secular Morality; Humanist Self-Portraits. Critical Discussion; Freedom and Civilization; Humanism a Religion? An interview with Adolf Winter 1983/84, Vol. 4, no. 1-Interview with Humanism: The Conscience of Humanity; Secu- Grünbaum; Homer Duncan's Crusade Against B. F. Skinner; Was George Orwell a Humanist? larism in Islam; Humanism in the 1980s; The Secular Humanism; Should a Humanist Celebrate Population Control vs. Freedom in China; Effect of Education on Religious Faith. Christmas? Academic Freedom at Liberty Baptist College; Fall 1981,Vo1. 1 no. 4-Secular Humanists- Fall 1985, Vol. 5, no. 4-T wo Forms of Human- Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon; Who Threat or Menace? Financing of the Repressive istic Psychology; Philosophy of Science and Really Killed Goliath? Humanism in Norway. Right; Communism and American Intellectuals; Psychoanalysis; The Death Knell of Psycho- Fall 1983, Vol. 3, no. 4-The Future of The Future of Religion; Resurrection Fictions. analysis; New Testament Scholarship and Chris- Humanism; Humanist Self-Portraits; Interview Summer 1981, Vol. 1, no. 3-Sex Education; The tian Belief; The Winter Solstice and the Origins of with Paul MacCready; A Personal Humanist New Book-Burners; New Evidence on the Shroud Christmas. Manifesto; The Enduring Humanist Legacy of of Turin; Agnosticism; Science and Religion; Summer 1985, Vol. 5. no. 3-Finding Common Greece; On the Sesquintennial of Robert Ingersoll; Secular Humanism in Israel. Ground Between Believers and Unbelievers; Inter- The Historicity of Jesus. Spring 1981, Vol. 1, no. 2-The Secular view with Sidney Hook on China Marxism and Summer 1983, Vol. 3, no. 3-Religion in Amer- Humanist Declaration; New England Puritans and Human Freedom; Evangelical Agnosticism; The ican Politics; Bibliography for Biblical Study. the Moral Majority; On the Way to Mecca; The Legacy of Voltaire (Part 2). Spring 1983, Vol. 3, no. 2-The Founding Fathers Blasphemy Laws, Does God Exist? Prophets of Spring 1985, Vol. 5. no. 2-Update on the Shroud and Religious Liberty; The Murder of Hypatia of the Procrustean Collective; The Madrid Con- of Main; The Vatican's View of Sex; An interview Alexandria; Hannah Arendt; Was Karl Marx a ference; Natural Aristocracy. with E. 0. Wilson; Parapsychology; The Legacy of Humanist? Winter 1980/81, Vol. 1, no. 1-Secular Humanist Voltaire (Part I); The Origins of Christianity. Winter 1982/83, Vol. 3, no. 1-Academic Declaration; The Creation/Evolution Controversy; Winter 1984/85 Vol. 5. no. 1-Are American Freedom Under Assault in California; Interview Moral Education; Morality Without Religion; The Educational Reforms Doomed? The Apocalyp- with Corliss Lamont; Was Jesus a Magician? Road to Freedom. FREE INQUIRY Six-Year Index (Volumes 1-6, 1980-1986) 39 pp. $10.00 (includes postage). FREE INQUIRY Back Issues $6.95 each. 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Return to: FREE INQUIRY, Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664 Use Visa or MC and call toll-free 800-458-1366. Fax charges to: 716-636-1733. (Letters, Continued from p. 3) ness in terms of neurons. His theory is fal- The brain keeps a special diary of its sifiable because if he's given the neuron own activities, called conscious memory. Holism succeeds if it explains how states of a non-conscious action (like an Activities that make it into the diary are emergent properties like consciousness electrode stimulation) and he predicts "conscious" and activities that don't are have causal efficacy. Holism fails if its conscious action, he's proven wrong. "unconscious." Which is which is largely explanations transcend nature. When However, since it is the emergent prop- innately wired. holists say that consciousness is irre- erty of conscious action as distinguished In order for this to world the brain's ducible, they mean a complete explana- from non-conscious action that is the stan- diary has a special "quirk" that evolved tion of consciousness, and not just a dard for measuring success, a neurologist to exploit the benefits of consciousness description of it, is a relation between an claiming there is no difference, that con- without forcing evolution to solve the organism and its environment, so how can sciousness is a illusion, has to count as a conundrums of consciousness, the same it be reduced to anything intrinsic in the failure. conundrums that have given philosophers brain? Awareness is always awareness of and scientists such fits over the centuries. something. Notes The quirk is this: the computational mech- The question "How does the brain anisms that write the diary intertwine cer- 1.Roger E. Bissell, "A Dual-Aspect Approach to cause the mind?" presupposes a mind- the Mind-Body Problem," Reason Papers No. 1, Fall tain false information in with the true brain dualism. This views causality as a 1974, pp. 28-29. information recorded in the diary. The cause-effect dualism like one billiard ball 2.David Kelley, Universals and Induction audio activities of the brain are recorded in the tape, Laissez Faire Books. (representing the brain) striking an object 3.Arthur Koestler, The Ghost in the Machine, diary not as those of an information-pro- ball (representing the mind) and causing it Gateway, 1971, p. 203. cessing system, which it is, but as those of to move. If the cue ball represents the a conscious agent, a fictional entity cre- electro-chemical actions of nerve cells, Dick Carey ated by the diary-writing circuitry. It is a what's left over in the brain to be the Watertown, Mass virtual entity, not unlike the map behind a mind? TV weatherperson: very useful but not A non-dualistic view of causality really there. would be something like what David Adam Carley replies to Dick Carey: We are thus intelligent, unconscious, Kelley2 states. computers that have been tampered with The word illusion should be avoided in the by evolution to think they are conscious. The law of causality tells us that the consciousness debate. As Carey states, it And, when all is said and done, thinking same cause has the same effect. Once implies some kind of sensory error. The you are conscious is indistinguishable, we have isolated the cause of a given effect in a given case we can generalize term hallucination is better because it subjectively at least, from being con- immediately. We know that the cause implies creation (by the brain) from whole scious. will always have that effect. So the cloth. I have used "hardwired hallucina- problem is to isolate the relevant causal tion" to make it clear that this is not a factor in a particular case. computational mistake or accident. Attacking the Defense Rather it serves a particular purpose and of Pornography A non-dualist would ask the different evolved to do so. question "What is the brain doing when The conjecture that our self-image as a What I love about Vern L. Bullough's the action is conscious that is different "conscious mind" is erroneous doesn't review of Nadine Strossen's book, from when an action is non-conscious?" mean we have zero intellectual capacity, Defending Pornography (FI, Winter Arthur Koestler' gives this example: as Carey extrapolates. To the contrary, we 1995/96) is the paternal condescension now have sufficient intelligence, knowl- towards the "so-called feminist militants" When the neurosurgeon applied an elec- trode to the motor area of the patient's edge, and technology to finally reason and "silliness" of their "current passing cerebral cortex causing the opposite past our hardwired hallucination. phase." He is smoother than Rush hand to move ... and challenged him Carey is to be chided for his illogical Limbaugh and the sneer is definitely [the patient] to keep his hand from mov- play on the word equals. The fact that classier. It reminds me of the Catholic ing ... he seized it with the other hand reductionists see both conscious and priests I grew up with when I questioned and struggled to hold it still. Behind the them about burning women alive. `brain action' of one hemisphere was unconscious phenomena as activities of the patient's mind. Behind the action of the brain does not mean we see the two as I don't have to defend courageous the other hemisphere was the electrode. the same. Later he uses dualism to mean women like Andrea Dworkin and "dichotomy" (a common error) and Catharine MacKinnon who have taken on Here's a research program reduction- unfairly tars any brain theory containing the $10 billion sex industry and the Mafia. ists and holists will agree to. If some neu- two of anything with the dreaded "dual- Their books are there for any fair-minded rologist can predict whether the subject is ism" label. person to read. Since freedom of speech conscious or not given only the state of Carey's basic challenge to reduction- belongs to those who own it—and the sex the neurons of a brain, holists will agree ists is to distinguish the conscious from industry owns a lot of free speech—to he has successfully described conscious- the unconscious. Let me try again: accuse two lone women of destroying the

Spring 1996 63 First Amendment is ludicrous. them in Canada, a country that does not From the Suggestion Box But I would like to make two points. look upon freedom of speech the same First, I suggest people start thinking of the way Americans do. This is the problem I have been reading your stimulating and women in pornography as real human with censorship. If a MacKinnon or enjoyable magazine for about three years. beings. If you have trouble doing that, Dworkin could be banned, what are the I am a sixty-year-old dentist, the product imagine your mother, daughter, or wife on limits of freedom? In the 192Os, San of a strict Bible-Belt Baptist upbringing. It the pages of Hustler or Penthouse or act- Francisco authorities banned drugstore required decades of inner turmoil before I ing in those hot videos. window displays of sanitary napkins as could shake off my childhood Christian Second, the First Amendment needs to obscene. The San Francisco solution, indoctrination to become a freethinking be balanced by the Fourteenth Amend- packages wrapped in plain paper, was atheist (with several intervening philo- ment's Equal Protection Clause. No one widely adopted although direct advertis- sophical stages). Now I am poised to help can "deny to any person the equal protec- ing remained impermissible for several save the world from those who feel the tion of the laws." If Nazis have a free decades. I would certainly agree with world must be saved from religion and speech right to march through Jewish Bernard that some pornography pictures other repressive ideologies. neighborhoods and terrorize Jews under women in a degrading way. I should add While admiring the intellectual level of the First Amendment, Jews have a right fashion magazines aimed at women often FREE INQUIRY and the exciting dialogue it under the Fourteenth Amendment not to portray women in a degrading way. Such generates, my persisting impression is be terrorized. portrayals, however, are not sufficient that too much energy and space is given to Men obviously have a First Amend- reason to ban them. Once we start cen- defensive criticism, rebuttal of opposing ment right to depict the sexually explicit soring it is difficult to stop, and I would views, and attacking the enemies of subordination of women, children, and not trust Ms. Bernard to be the arbiter of freethought. I can fully appreciate the other men. Women, children, and men standards. motivation behind all this as I harbor con- have a Fourteenth Amendment right not to Finally she asks me to imagine how I siderable anger and resentment from the be portrayed as sub-human by depictions would feel if my wife or daughter years wasted pursuing misguided ideas that have real, horrifying consequences in appeared in the pages of Hustler or that only led to frustration and disappoint- the real world. Penthouse or acted in an X-rated film ment rather than promised happiness and I'm not asking the Vern L. Bulloughs since I am such a defender of "pornog- fulfillment. of the world to agree with me. I do ask raphy." My wife is much too old to As you know, there is far more power that they take us seriously and treat us appear (she is as old as I am) but if my in positive ideas, clearly presented, than with respect. daughter chose to do so, it would be up there is in negative or defensive state- to her, not to me. That is where the choice ments. Perhaps it is time for secular Gabrielle Bernard should be, and I would hate to have the humanists, FREE INQUIRY, and all of us Winsted, Conn. government regulate my conduct any who long for a better world to redefine our more than it now tries to do. That is why affirmative vision for humanity and pre- Vern L. Bullough replies: we have the Bill of Rights, and I certainly sent it more proactively in a more positive do not agree with Bernard's interpreta- and hopeful light with a clear conviction Gabrielle Bernard implies that I do not tion of it. that only in truth and reason is "salvation" take seriously the threat I believe that the to be found. writings of some militant feminists pose to I only wish to encourage reaching out Freedom of Speech. I do take them seri- Medical Ethics to a larger audience. Your message and ously and so did Nadine Strossen. I simply ideas can benefit everyone. There seems disagree with Ms. Bernard who, I believe, I'd like to add a thought to Richard J. to be a desperate need for leadership in does not take the First Amendment seri- Goss's "God and the Patent Office" (FI, redirecting people's thinking in a more ously enough. The First Amendment deals Fall 1995). The government's grant of a positive direction. There is so much disil- with free speech. Threatening behavior is patent to an individual gives that person a lusionment and despair. another thing and is not protected, some- monopoly on an invention for a limited My hope for a solution is to see rea- thing she fails to realize. Pornography period of time. Patents are not renewable. sonable people like you, with the ability to itself is constitutionally protected In exchange for that limited monopoly, disseminate knowledge, to do so as effec- although obscenity is not. The problem the inventor agrees to make a full public tively and fervently as possible. The fun- then is what is obscene. Degrading por- disclosure of the invention, presented so damentalists are doing it. Rush Limbaugh trayals are not necessarily obscene. For that anyone skilled in the particular spe- is doing it. Perhaps you should study their example, what MacKinnon and Dworkin cialty can reproduce it. Thus the social techniques and apply them to reaching the say about men seems degrading to me, but cost of the monopoly is balanced by the masses with your message of reason and I think they have a right to say it. benefit of the disclosure. moral decency and common sense. Unfortunately, the Canadian authorities have labeled some of their writings as Dan Dugan John T. Smith threatening and degrading and banned Seattle, Wash. San Anselmo, Calif. 64 FREE INQUIRY Isfahan, in July, and at the University of Tehran, in October. The attackers In the Name of God appeared to be officially sanctioned. But the attacks appear to be backfiring on the regime—as Soroush's following contin- ues to grow. Thousands of cassettes of his The Devil You Say national bishops' conference has contra- lectures now circulate among students, dicted the pope's teachings on the sub- young technocrats, and clerics angered New York Two out of three Americans ject. (AP) by the way the regime has tainted Islam. believe in the existence of Satan, with 85 (Philadelphia Inquirer) percent of the evangelical Protestants tak- ing that position, a Newsweek magazine Iranian Philosopher poll showed. More than one out of three Challenges Theocracy The Heat Is Off people polled, 37 percent, said they had been tempted by the devil, while 61 per- Tehran—1 ran is facing its most serious London—Hell exists. So says the doc- cent of the evangelical Protestants said crisis since the death of Ayatollah trine commission of the Church of they had, according to the magazine. Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, and the cri- England. But popular conceptions of Among the general population, 27 percent sis comes from within. It is symbolized by final damnation are off the mark, accord- said they did not believe in Satan, while the ruling regime's crackdown on Abdol ing to a commission report, "The only 13 percent of the evangelical Karim Soroush, Iran's leading philoso- Mystery of Salvation." The report said Protestants did not. (Reuters) pher and one of the foremost proponents views of hell have led to a decline among of reconciling Islam and democracy. In Christians in a belief in eternal punish- the world's only modern theocracy, ment because "the picture of a God who Abortion Foes to Contact Soroush has come under harsh political consigned millions to eternal torment Clinic Patients and physical attack in the past six months was far removed from the revelation of for writing about the clergy. Muslim cler- God's love in Christ." Nevertheless, the Baltimore—A militant anti-abortion ics, he argues, are equals rather than report said, there is a hell. "Hell is not group says it has obtained a list of 5OO superiors of the people. They should not eternal torment, but it is the final and women who had abortions at one clinic gain politically or socially from religion, irrevocable choosing of that which is and will contact them by mail. "We're nor should they be supported economi- opposed to God so completely and so going to remind them there's healing in cally by the state or the people. Soroush absolutely that the only end is total non- the Lord. We're going to suggest they call has twice been physically attacked and being," the report said. (Newark Star- their priest or rabbi or ministers. And injured, forcing him to flee lectures in Ledger) we're going to offer them the services of qualified counselors to get over what they've done," Don Treshman told the YO AMERICANS! DON'T WALLOW IN ElISTENTIAL. ANGST WHEN YOV CAN SHOP FOR GREATER MEANING AT THE Baltimore Sun. Treshman, director of Rescue America, told the Philadelphia SUPERMARKET OF RELIGION ~r Inquirer his group had assembled the list 1 WAS BORN METHODIST, BUT of 5OO names by combing through one AFTERLIFES ARE FOR SAPS! I WAS TiRED IVE BECOME A NIN DV... I PREFER TEE NEW TESTAMENT— EMOTION OF GUILT AND clinic's trash. (AP) SO CAN YOU'. FREE LIFESTYLE OF THE POPE FOR JVDA%SM DROTE. STANTIS,M

French Bishops Differ with Vatican

CAUTION SUBJECT To Paris-Contradicting Vatican strictures OCCASIONAL PERSECUTION against artificial birth control, the French Bishops' Conference said that the IN SOUTH AMERICA, PRIESTS ARE GUN-TOTING REVOLUTIONARIES! ONLY CATHOLICISM use of condoms is necessary to prevent OFFERS MARXIST CLERICS! AIDS from spreading. Pope John Paul II has insisted that abstinence outside of marriage and fidelity within marriage are the only legitimate weapons against (p_....,, ;•; the sexual transmission of AIDS. The : — T o D PC( F Vatican had no immediate comment on what apparently is the first time a Spring 1996 65

The International Academy of Humanism The International Academy of Humanism was established to recognize distinguished humanists and to disseminate humanistic ideals and beliefs. The members of the Academy, listed below, (1) are devoted to free inquiry in all fields of human endeavor, (2) are committed to a scientific outlook and the use of the scien- tific method in acquiring knowledge, and (3) uphold humanist ethical values and principles. The Academy's goals include furthering respect for human rights, freedom, and the dignity of the individual; tolerance of various viewpoints and willingness to compromise; commitment to social justice; a universalistic per- spective that transcends national, ethnic, religious, sexual, and racial barriers; and belief in a free and open pluralistic and democratic society. Humanist Laureates: Pieter Admiraal, medical doctor, The Netherlands; Steve Allen, author, humorist; Shulamit Aloni, Education Minister, Israel; Ruben Ardila, professor of psychology, Universidad de Colombia; Kurt Baier, professor of philosophy, Univ. of Pittsburgh; Sir Isaiah Berlin, professor of philosophy, Oxford Univ.; Sir Hermann Bondi, Fellow of the Royal Society, Past Master of Churchill College, London; Bonnie Bullough, professor of nursing, Univ. of Southern California; Yelena Bonner, human rights defender, Commonwealth of Independent States; Mario Bunge, professor of philosophy of science, McGill Univ.; Jean-Pierre Changeux, Collège de France and Institut Pasteur; Patricia Smith Churchland, professor of philosophy, Univ. of California at San Diego; Arthur C. Clarke, novelist, Sri Lanka; Bernard Crick, professor of politics, Univ. of London; Francis Crick, Nobel Laureate in Physiology, Salk Inst.; Richard Dawkins, New College Fellow, Oxford University; José Delgado, chairperson of the Dept. of Neuropsychiatry, Univ. of Madrid; Jean Dommanget, Royal Observatory, Belgium; Umberto Eco, educator and author, Italy; Paul Edwards, professor of philosophy, New School for Social Research; Luc Ferry, professor of philosophy, Sorbonne and Univ. of Caen; Sir Raymond Firth, professor emeritus of anthropology, Univ. of London; Betty Friedan, author and founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW); Yves Galifret, professor of physiology at the Sorbonne and director of l'Union Rationaliste; Johan Galtung, profes- sor of sociology, Univ. of Oslo; Stephen Jay Gould, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard; Adolf Grünbaum, professor of philosophy, Univ. of Pittsburgh; Murray Gell-Mann, Nobel Laureate in physics, California Institute of Technology; Jurgen Habermas, professor of philosophy, University of Frankfurt, Germany; Herbert Hauptman, Nobel Laureate and professor of biophysical science, SUNY at Buffalo; Donald Johanson, Inst. of Human Origins; Alberto Hidalgo lùñón, president of the Sociedad Asturiana de Filosofía, Oviedo, Spain; Sergei Kapitza, physicist, Insitute of Physics and Technology; George Klein, cancer researcher, Sweden; Gyorgy Konrad, novelist, Hungary; Thelma Lavine, Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Philosophy, George Mason Univ.; Jolé Lombardi, organizer of the New Univ. for the Third Age; Jose Leite Lopes, director, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Fisicas; Paul MacCready, Chairman, AeroVironment, Inc.; Adam Michnik, historian and writer, Poland; Jonathan Miller, author, director, United Kingdom; Taslima Nasrin, novelist, medical doc- tor, Bangladesh; Conor Cruise O'Brien, author, statesman, Ireland; Indumati Parikh, president, Radical Humanist Association of India; John Passmore, pro- fessor of philosophy, Australian National Univ.; Octavio Paz, Nobel Laureate in Literature, Mexico; Wardell Baxter Pomeroy, psychotherapist and author; W. V. Quine, professor of philosophy, Harvard; Marcel Roche, permanent delegate to UNESCO from Venezuela; Max Rood, professor of law and former Minister of Justice in Holland; Richard Rorty, professor of philosophy, University of Virginia; Carl Sagan, astronomer, Cornell; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., historian; Leopold Sedar Senghor, former president, Senegal; J. J. C. Smart, professor of philosophy, University of Adelaide, Australia; Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate in Literature, Nigeria; Svetozar Stojanovic, professor of philosophy, Univ. of Belgrade; Thomas Szasz, professor of psychiatry, SUNY Medical School; V. M. Tarkunde, chair- man, Indian Radical Humanist Association; Richard Taylor, professor of philosophy, Union College; Sir Keith Thomas, president, The British Academy; Rob Tielman, copresident, International Humanist and Ethical Union; Peter Ustinov, actor and director; Mario Vargas Llosa, novelist, Peru; Simone Veil, former pres- ident, European Parliament, France; Gore Vidal, novelist; Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., novelist; Mourad Wahba, professor of education, University of Ain Shams, Cairo; Steven Weinberg, Nobel Laureate in Physics; G. A. Wells, professor of German, Univ. of London; Edward O. Wilson, professor of entomology, Harvard. Deceased: George O. Abell, Isaac Asimov, Sir Alfred J. Ayer, Dame R Nita Barrow, Brand Blanshard, Milovan Djilas, Joseph Fletcher, Sidney Hook, Lawrence Kohlberg, Franco Lombardi, André Lwoff, Ernest Nagel, George Olincy, Chaim Perelman, Sir Karl Popper, Andrei Sakharov, Lady Barbara Wooton. Secretariat: Vern Bullough, professor of history, California State Univ., Northridge; Antony Flew, professor emeritus of philosophy, Reading Univ.; Paul Kurtz, professor emeritus of philosophy, SUNY at Buffalo editor of FREE INQUIRY; Gerald Larue, professor emeritus of archaeology and biblical studies, Univ. of Southern California at Los Angeles; Jean-Claude Pecker, professor of astrophysics, Collège de France, Académie des Sciences. President: Paul Kurtz. 3/96 Announcing the world's first summer camp for secular humanist kids age 8-12! 3/96 FREE INQUIRY GROUP, INC. of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky presents: CAMP GUEST Sunday afternoon, August 11, through Saturday morning, August 17, 1996 A week of secular fun, exploration, and companionship for 8 to 12-year-olds, CAMP QUEST takes place at the modern, fully equipped Bullitsburg Camp in Burlington, Kentucky, just 15 minutes from Cincinnati's airport. Free Inquiry Group (FIG) has recruited adult volunteers including experienced counselors, campers, Red Cross trained lifeguards, scientists, computer experts, artists, crafts- people, and magicians. During their week at CAMP QUEST, children will enjoy swimming, hiking, horseback riding, campfires, story telling, camp songs, and crafts PLUS informal classes in photography, field biology, astronomy, lake ecology, ethics, and explorations of secular human- ism. There will be a magic show to hone young skeptics, a talent night, a cookout and overnight under the stars, and more. Cost per child, per week: $255 all inclusive. Transportation will be available to the camp from Greater Cincinnati Airport. CAMP QUEST: unforgettable enrichment for the humanist child or grandchild in your life. Limited availability! Respond today to assure you will receive final info before slots fill. CAMP QUEST will be operated by Free Inquiry Group, Inc. REGISTRATION DEADLINE is June 1, 1996. For information and registration materials, call: ELIZABETH OLDIGES (606) 491-7219 or VERN UCHTMAN (513) 677-2252 or write: V. Uchtman, 6404 Pheasant Run, Loveland OH 45140 The Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry is adjacent to the State University of New York Amherst campus. It includes: Council for Democratic and Secular Inquiry Media Productions Humanism (CODESH, Inc.) Thomas Flynn, Executive Director Paul Kurtz, Chairman; Timothy J. Madigan, Chief Produces radio and television programs presenting skeptical and sec- ular humanist viewpoints on a variety of topics. Operating Officer; Matt Cherry, Executive Director The Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism ( CODESH) is a Institute for Inquiry not-for-profit, tax-exempt educational organization dedicated to fos- Vern Bullough, Dean tering the growth of the traditions of democracy and secular human- Offers courses in humanism and skepticism; sponsors an annual ism and the principles of free inquiry in contemporary society. In summer session and periodic workshops. addition to publishing FREE INQUIRY magazine, CODESH sponsors many organizations and activities. It is also open to Associate International Secretariat for Growth Membership. Members receive the Secular Humanist Bulletin. and Development The International Academy of Humanism Matt Cherry, Executive Director Paul Kurtz, President Works closely with individuals and groups in various parts of the world, especially in developing countries, and assists them in spread- The Academy of Humanism was established to recognize distin- ing the humanist point of view. guished humanists and to disseminate humanistic ideals and beliefs. Robert G. Ingersoll Memorial Committee African Americans for Humanism Roger Greeley, Honorary Chairman Norm Allen, Jr., Executive Director Dedicated to running the Robert G. Ingersoll birthplace museum in Brings the ideals of humanism to the African-American community. Dresden, N.Y., and to keeping his memory alive. Center for Inquiry Libraries James Madison Memorial Committee Gordon Stein, Director Robert Alley, Chairman Collects works on secular humanism, freethought, and philosophical Keeps alive James Madison's commitment to the First Amendment naturalism. and to liberty of thought and conscience. Committee for the Scientific Examination of Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS) Religion (CSER) James Christopher, Executive Director Gerald A. Larue, President A secular alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous with more than 1,000 local groups throughout North America. Publishes a newsletter avail- Examines the claims of Eastern and Western religions and of well- able by subscription. established and newer sects and denominations in the light of scien- tific inquiry. The committee is interdisciplinary, including specialists Secular Humanist Aid and in biblical scholarship, archaeology, linguistics, anthropology, the social sciences, and philosophy who represent differing secular and Relief Effort (SHARE) religious traditions. Assists victims of natural disasters through secular efforts. Alliance of Secular Humanist Societies (ASHS) H. James Birx, Executive Director The Alliance of Secular Humanist Societies is a network created for mutual support among local and/or regional societies of secular humanists. If you are interested in starting or joining a group in your area, please contact PO 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664, (716) 636-7571, FAX (716) 636-1733. ARIZONA: Arizona Secular Humanists PO Box 3738, Scottsdale, AZ 85271 (602) 230-5328 / CALIFORNIA: Secular Humanists of the East Bay, PO Box 5313, Berkeley, CA 947,05 (415) 486-0553; Secular Humanists of Los Angeles, PO Box 661496, Los Angeles, CA 90066 (310) 305-8135; Atheists and 0ther Freethinkers, PO Box 15182, Sacramento, CA 95851-0182 (916) 920-7834; San Diego Association of Secular Humanists, PO 927365 San Diego, CA 92122 (619) 272-7719; Humanist Community of San Francisco, P0 Box 31172 San Francisco, CA 94131 (415) 342-0910; Secular Humanists of Marin County, P0 Box 6022, San Rafael, CA 94903 (415) 892-5243; Santa Barbara Humanist Society, PO Box 30804, Santa Barbara, CA 93130 (805) 682-6606; Siskiyou Humanists, PO Box 223 Weed, CA 96091 (916) 938-2938 / CONNECTICUT: Northeast Atheist Association, PO Box 63, Simsbury, Cl' 06070 / FLORIDA: Secular Humanists of South Florida, 1951 NW 98 Ave., Sunrise, FL 33322 (305) 741-6532; Atheists of Florida, Inc., PO Box 530102, Miami, FL 33153-0102 (305) 936-0210; Humanists of The Palm Beaches, 860 Lakeside Dr., N. Palm Beach, FL 33408 (407) 626-6556; Freethinkers, Inc., PO Box 724, Winter Park, FL 32790 (407) 628-2729 / GEORGIA: Atlanta Freethought Society, PO Box 813392, Smyrna, GA 30081-3392 (707) 432-6767 / HAWAII: Hawaii Rationalists, 508 Pepeekeo Pl., Honolulu, HI 96822 (808) 235-0206 / ILLINOIS: Peoria Secular Humanists, PO Box 994, Normal, IL 61761 (309) 452-8907; Free Inquiry Network, PO Box 3696, Oak Park, IL 60303 (708) 386-9100 / KENTUCKY: Louisville Assoc. of Secular Humanists, PO Box 91453, Louisville, KY 40291 (502) 491-6693 / LOUISIANA: New Orleans Secular Humanists, 180 Willow Dr., Gretna, LA 70053 (504) 366-7498; New Orleans, LA 70122 (504) 283-2830; Shreveport Humanists, 9476 Boxwood Dr., Shreveport, LA 71118-4003 (318) 687-8175 / MARYLAND: Baltimore Secular Humanists, PO Box 24115, Baltimore, MD 21227 (410) 467-3225 / MICHIGAN: Secular Humanists of Detroit, P. O. Box 432191, Pontiac, MI 48343-2191 (313) 962-1777 / MINNESOTA: Minnesota Atheists, PO Box 6261 Minneapolis, MN 55406 (612) 484-9277; University of Minnesota Atheists and Unbelievers, 300 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612) 731-1543 / MISSOURI: Kansas City Eupraxophy Center, 6301 Rockhill Rd., Kansas City, MO 64131 (816) 822-9840; Rationalist Society of St. Louis, PO Box 2931, St. Louis, MO 63130 (314) 772-5131 / NEW HAMPSHIRE: Secular Humanists of Merrimack Valley, PO Box 368, Londonderry, NH 03053 (603) 434-4195 / NEW JERSEY: New Jersey Humanist Network, PO Box 51, Washington, NJ 07882 (908) 689-2813 / NEW YORK: Western New York Secular Humanists, PO Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226 (716) 636-7571; Capital District Humanist Society, PO Box 2148, Scotia, NY 12302 (518) 381-6239; Secular Humanist Society of New York, PO Box 7661, New York, NY 10150 (212) 861-6003 / NEVADA: Secular Humanist Society of Las Vegas, 240 N. Jones Blvd, Suite 106, Las Vegas, NV 89107 (702) 594-1125 / OHIO: Free Inquirers of Northeast Ohio, PO Box 2637, Akron, OH 44309-2137 (216) 869-2025; Free Inquiry Group, Inc., PO Box 8128 Cincinnati, OH 45208 (513) 557-3836 / OREGON: Corvallis Secular Society, 126 N.W. 21st St., Corvallis, OR 97330 (503) 754-2557 Humanist Association of Salem, PO Box 4153, Salem OR 97302 (503) 371-1255 / PENNSYLVANIA: Pittsburgh Secular Humanists, 405 Nike Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15235 (412) 823-3629 / SOUTH CAROLINA: Secular Humanists of the Low Country, PO Box 32256, Charleston, SC 29417 (803) 577-0637, Secular Humanists of Greenville, Suite 168, Box 3000, Taylors, SC 29687 (803) 244-3708 / TEXAS: Agnostic and Atheist Student Group, M.S., 4237 Philosophy, Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX 77843; Secular Humanist Association of San Antonio, PO Box 160881, San Antonio, TX 78280 (512) 696-8537 / VIRGINIA: Central Virginia Secular Humanists, P0 Box 184, Ivy, VA 22945 (804) 979-2508 / WASHINGTON, DC: Central Virginia Secular Humanists, PO Box 15319, Washington, DC 20003 (804) 979-2508; Washington Area Secular Humanists, PO Box 15319, Washington, DC 20003 (202) 298-0921 / WISCONSIN: Milwaukee Freethought Society, 10975 N. Oriole Lane, Mequon, WI 53092 (414) 242-0788. The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles • We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solv- ing 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 mutu- al understanding. • We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intol- erance. • 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 orientation, 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 need- less suffering 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 preferences, 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 selfishness, 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.

For a parchment copy of this page, suitable for framing, please send $4.95 to FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, New York 14226-0664.