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Eligion Is Faith a Blip in the Brain? Is Religion in DNA? Does Culture Cause Belief? GEORGE CARLIN God, Life, and Avocado-Colored Kitchen Appliances

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Eligion Is Faith a Blip in the Brain? Is Religion in DNA? Does Culture Cause Belief? GEORGE CARLIN God, Life, and Avocado-Colored Kitchen Appliances SUMMER 1999 VOL. 19 No. 3 Corporate Mystique' GOV. JESSE VENTURA free inquiry Gefe6ral ny Reason anol.~umaniY 1 The Science of I'eligion Is Faith a Blip in the Brain? Is Religion in DNA? Does Culture Cause Belief? GEORGE CARLIN God, Life, and Avocado-Colored Kitchen Appliances ALAN DERSHOWITZ Taking Disbelief Out of the Closet 92> 7 5274 74957 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE free inquiry THE AIM OF FREE INQUIRY IS TO PROMOTE AND NURTURE THE GOOD MI,— LIFE GUIDED BY REASON AND SCIENCE, FREED FROM THE DOGMAS OF GOD AND STATE, INSPIRED BY COMPASSION FOR FELLOW HUMANS, AND DRIVEN BY THE IDEALS OF HUMAN FREEDOM, HAPPINESS, AND UNDERSTANDING. FREE INQUIRY IS DEDICATED TO SEEING THAT ONE DAY ALL MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY I IRIVE BY EMBRACING BASIC HUMANIST PRINCIPLES. These include: Our best guile Io truth is free and rational inquiry; we should therefore not be bound by the dictates of arbitran authority, comfortable superstition, stifling tradition, or suffocating orthodoxy. We should defer to no dogma—neither religious nor secular—and never be afraid to ask "How do you know?" We should be concerned with the here and now, with solving human problems with the I)est resources of human minds and hearts. If there is to be meaning in our lives, we must supply it ourselves, relying on our own powers, observation, and compassion. It is irrational and ultimately harmful to hang our hopes on gods, the supernatural, and the hidden, which arise out of imagination and wishful thinking. It is pointless—and often dangerous—to push aside human intelligence to reach for some flimsy veil of alleged truths. We must. be com- mitted to moral principles, which are derived from critical intelligence and human experience, and we must pursue positive ideals. We should therefore observe the common moral decencies: integrity, humanitarianism, truthfulness, trustworthiness, fairness, and responsibility. 'lu is means caring for one another, being tolerant of differences, and striving to overcome divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity. nationality, sexual orientation, creed, or class. Constitutional democracy is the best known nleans for protecting the rights of all people to form worldviews and live out their commitments in a free and mutually respectful way. Governments should promote open societies, ensure universal human rights, and be secular, having no bias against any religious or nonreligious group. We should strive to bring about a genuine world community and nourish an appreciation for global ethics and our planetary interdependence. Secular humanism aims lo bring out the best in people so that all can achieve fullness in life. Thus we must strive to realize personal potential, maximize creative talents and artistic expres- sion, and choose joy and hope over despair, guilt, and sin. [Reason anol. ree Jn9uiry are file only effecival ayenis ay-aim/ error. UJ omas Jefferson free inquiry S NT CONTE JEN HUNT SUMMER 1999 VOL. 19, NO. 3 IssN 0272-0701 EDITORIAL FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 5 Confronting the THE SCIENC 18 Frontlines `Corporate Mystiqu OF RELIGIO 21 Letters Paul Kurtz 22 Introduction: 47 Great Minds OP-ED The Roots of R+ li i. Salvation and Its Destin Langston Hughes 6 Taking Disbelief Out of Tom Flynn 49 Church-State Update the Closet Christian Coalition Sins 23 Why Do People Reliev Alan M. Dershowitz Against IRS or Disbelieve?' Tom Flynn 8 Clinton, Starr, and Paul Kurtz Media Dreck 52 God on Trial 28 The Past of an 'um Richard Kostelanetz e, Revisiting Arguments to Lionel Tiger Ç Design 10 A Serb's View of N 30 The Biologica Antony Flew Bombs " oo s Religion Svetozar Stojanovi 66 Humanism at Large Morton Hu 12 Faith vs. Afri 34 Social-Psych Americans REVIEWS Causes of Faith Saab Lofton Bruce Hunsberger 61 Looking for Jesus 14 The Future of by Robert M. Price 38 What Americans Really" Betty Frieda Believe 64 Holy Pornography 16 Why Gore Is the Onl ..Bi by Amanda Chesworth Hope for Church-State 43 God, Life, and 65 Noah's Little God Separation Avocado-Colored by James Underwood Edward Tabash Kitchen Appliances 65 New Age Odyssey Interview with by Tom Flynn George Carlin 65 Defining Terms 45 The Night I Saw Jesus by Thomas O'Brien Richard Taylor 46 Father's Day Phillip Zeppetello 01 summer 1999 Editorial Board Chairman Timothy J. Madigan FREE INQUIRY Robert Alley, Professor of Humanities Reader Services Emeritus, Univ. of Richmond, Virginia Hector Avalos, Associate Professor of TO SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW Religious Studies, Iowa State University •Call TOLL FREE 1-800-458-1366 (have Joe E. Barnhart, Professor of Philosophy, credit card handy). North Texas State University •Fax credit-card order to 1-716-636-1733. H. James Birx, Professor of • E-mail: [email protected] free inquiry Anthropology, Canisius College • Internet: secularhumanism.org •Mail: FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Editor-in-Chief Paul Kurtz George Bishop, Professor of Political Science, University of Cincinnati Amherst, NY 14226-0664 Editor Lewis Vaughn Subscription rates: $28.50 for one year, Rob Boston, author, Americans United for • Managing Editor Andrea Szalanski Separation of Church and State $47.50 for two years, $64.50 for three years. Deputy Editor Matt Cherry Barbara Forrest, Associate Professor of Senior Editors Vern L. 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