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

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[Reason anol. ree Jn9uiry are file only effecival ayenis ay-aim/ error. UJ omas Jefferson free inquiry SUMMER 1999 16 WhyGoreIstheOnl 14 TheFutureof 12 Faithvs.Afri 10 ASerb'sViewofN 6 TakingDisbeliefOutof 5 Confrontingthe 8 Clinton,Starr,and the Closet Alan M.Dershowitz Saab Lofton Svetozar Stojanovi Paul Kurtz `Corporate Mystiqu Richard Kostelanetz Bombs Americans Media Separation Hope forChurch-State Betty Frieda Edward Tabash CONTENTS EDITORIAL Dreck OP-ED

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19, NO.3IssN0272-0701 43 God,Life,and 22 Introduction: 23 WhyDoPeopleReliev 28 ThePastofan'um 30 TheBiologica 34 Social-Psych 38 WhatAmericansReally 45 TheNightISawJesus 46 Father'sDay Lionel Tiger The RootsofR+li Tom Flynn and Its or Disbelieve?' Causes ofFaith Religion Believe Paul Kurtz Morton Hu Bruce Hunsberger Avocado-Colored Interview with George Carlin Kitchen Appliances Richard Taylor Phillip Zeppetello THE SCIENC OF RELIGIO FEATURES .. Bi Destin Ç e, " oos i . " 66 HumanismatLarge 18 Frontlines 47 GreatMinds 49 Church-StateUpdate 21 Letters 52 GodonTrial 64 HolyPornography 61 LookingforJesus 65 Noah'sLittleGod 65 NewAgeOdyssey 65 DefiningTerms Salvation Christian CoalitionSins Tom Flynn Against IRS Langston Hughes Antony Flew Revisiting Arguments Design by RobertM.Price by AmandaChesworth by JamesUnderwood by TomFlynn by ThomasO'Brien DEPARTMENTS REVIEWS 01 summer 1999 JEN HUNT to Editorial Board Chairman Timothy J. 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free inquiry a Confronting the

EDITORIAL `Corporate Mystique' PAUL KURTZ

n the Fall 1998 issue of FREE INQUIRY, and in subsequent editorials, I recommended that we form a neohumanist coalition. I suggested that the secular humanist movement take a new turn, that it crystallize a neohumanist point of I view in politics and make its views known to the broader public.' These editorials elicited a great number of letters from our readers, many warmly supportive of this position, some indig- nantly against it. It is clear that one can be a secular humanist and not accept the social-political agenda that I propose below. It is apparent that from belief in God, one can be a monar- chist, slaveholder, authoritarian, totalitarian, libertarian, conservative, liberal, or social democrat. Theists have espoused all of the above positions and more historically. Similarly, one can be an agnostic or atheist and vote Republican or Democrat, Libertarian or Socialist, Green Party, left-wing or right-wing. There is no necessary connection between being a theist or nontheist and supporting a specific political party. The same thing is not necessarily true, however, of modern secular humanism; for although secular humanists are skeptical about theism, humanism involves a distinct set of ethical principles that put it into opposition to certain political ideologies. Humanists have held that each individual has inherent dignity and value—or at least ought to be so treated. Humanist ethics concentrates on the individual, and the actualization of his or her highest values, but it is also concerned with the social good, and this implies that it is essential to develop just societies that will maximize both individual happiness and social well-being under conditions of fairness and equity. As a consequence, contemporary humanists generally have maintained that the best way to realize happiness is by means of free, open, and democratic societies (I have in mind here John Dewey, Karl Popper, Sidney Hook, Bertrand Russell, etc.); and they have been foes of repressive institutions, whether political, ecclesiastical, or economic. Humanists thus have fought for human rights as essential safeguards of democracy. They have defended freedom on many fronts—free thought and free A new battle for freedom is emerging, i.e., the battle to be liberated from 'the corporate mystique.'

inquiry and some degree of moral and sexual freedom. And they have defended also the democratic principle of equality; for example, equality before the law, equal opportunity, etc. Some humanists have argued that humanism also entails some measure of economic freedom—though the degree of regulation of free markets is open to serious debate. The humanist battle historically was against the Church and its repressive institutions, and also against authoritarian governments and totalitarian states. Today, I submit, a new battle for freedom is emerging, i.e., the battle to be liberated from "the corporate mystique" that now dominates the United States and other economies of the free world.' I realize that to say this is akin to a sacrilege, for the (Continued on page 54)

® summer 1999 OP-ED

that they have been saved, that they have been reborn, and that they have Taking Disbelief Out accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. This puts additional pressure on other politicians to match and of the Closet exceed their rivals in public devotion to God. Some lobbying groups rank candidates by the fervor of their reli- Alan M. Dershowitz gious commitments. One reason why so many disbelievers are unwilling to acknowledge their he most insidious genre of cen- Numerous heads of gov- views with intellectual sorial political correctness in ernment have made no honesty is that the reli- T America today involves belief in secret of their disbelief. gious establishment has God. Few people in public life are pre- Despite—perhaps because managed to persuade large pared to disclose that they are atheists, of—the fact that most segments of the American agnostics, skeptics, or humanists. For a European nations have public that there is some politician, such a declaration would be established churches, there correlation between belief death as evidenced by a recent contro- is more actual freedom of in a supernatural God and versy in Canada when a young rising disbelief in Europe than human ethics and morals. star in Parliament introduced a resolu- there is in the United Disbelievers are deemed tion seeking to remove a phrase from States, whose Constitution immoral. Consider the Canada's Charter of Rights and guarantees freedom of and from reli- response of Canadian Parliamentarian Freedoms that declared "the suprema- gion. Established churches have a way Randy White to the Parliamentarian cy of God." He was immediately pun- of encouraging free thinking among who tried to remove God from the ished by parliamentary leaders and those who don't want to be told what Charter: "What do we stand for in this forced to apologize. Although there are they may believe or disbelieve. country? What are the values? What are many closet disbelievers in politics The time has come for atheists, the morals? Every time you turn today, few have the courage to agnostics, skeptics, and humanists to around, you see government slipping acknowledge their skepticism in the come out of the closet and to openly lower and lower into the gutters of this face of religious hegemony. confront the religious hegemony in country" But history has shown that if Even academics, whose tenure guar- America that has created a political there is any correlation between belief antees them the right to speak freely correctness so powerful that even the in God and personal morality—which I without consequence, rarely publicize most courageous are afraid to violate personally reject—it is as likely to be a their disbelief for fear of alienating stu- it openly. Unless such a challenge is negative as a positive one. Surely as dents, alumni, and the administration. mounted, the situation will simply much immorality has been committed Being an atheist or agnostic in America grow more dangerous. Already the in the name of religion as any other is relatively cost free, so long as you Democratic Party, which traditionally cause. The millions murdered by cyni- remain in the closet. Most public insti- was more secular than the cal, godless tyrants such as Hitler-and tutions have a "Don't ask, don't tell" Republican, has begun to run on Stalin are dwarfed by those killed in the policy when it comes to disbelief. God's coattails. It started with Jimmy names of Jesus, Muhammad, and The situation is very different Carter. It got worse with Bill Clinton. Jehovah throughout history. In any throughout Europe, where atheism and And it promises to get even worse event, Stalin and Hitler do not represent agnosticism are openly acknowledged. with Al Gore, who is explicitly pan- the morality of disbelievers any more dering to what he calls "faith-based than Torquemada represents the views Commentator Alan M. Dershowitz is organizations." More and more of believers. Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at American politicians are publicly The most moral people in the world Harvard Law School. advertising their religious beliefs— are those who act selflessly without

free inquiry a promise of reward or threat of punish- prayers. I am comfortable with these in Jesus and then for not believing in ment in the hereafter. Pascal's wager— apparent contradictions. I am part of a Jesus, for accepting Catholicism and that it is better to bet on the existence of long tradition that links to my heritage for rejecting Catholicism, and for many God even if He doesn't exist, than to through the words and melodies of other religious disagreements. Today, risk the punishment of disbelieving—is prayer. Indeed, it is while praying that thankfully, Americans are not killed for nothing more than a crude cost-benefit I experience my greatest doubts about their religious beliefs or disbeliefs. But calculus having little to do with moral- God, and it is while looking at the they are condemned as immoral and ity. I am aware of no empirical data showing that believers are less likely to commit crimes, cheat on their wives, or Disbelief in God must become as abuse their children than nonbelievers. Our prisons are full of people who pro- legitimate as belief in God in every fess religious beliefs, and the most beneficent human beings include many forum of American life. who are disbelievers. I suspect that tens of millions of stars that I make the leap of faith. But unfit for public office if they publicly Americans are skeptics or nonbelievers it is not faith in the empirical truths of declare their skepticism. The world but are afraid to speak out. We must religious stories or in the authority of must be made safe and secure for dis- make it safe for such people to express hierarchical religious organizations. If believers. America was founded on their views openly. Disbelief in God there is a governing force, He (or She religious dissent and skepticism. We must become as legitimate as belief in or It) is certainly not in touch with must not accept religious hegemony or God in every forum of American life. those who purport to be speaking on preference for religion in public life. We must confront religious authoritari- His behalf. Atheists and agnostics are every bit as anism in the marketplace of ideas, with The important point is that everyone American, every bit as moral and every respect but with vigor. must have the right to question faith bit as qualified to hold public office Having called for more openness in and to decide these eternal issues by as people who believe in an interven- the expression of views regarding the their own lights, without being con- ing God. Disbelievers should not existence of God, let me follow my demned if they disagree with today's accept second-class status in a nation own example. I am a skeptic about religious consensus. Remember that whose traditions and laws forbid tests everything, including God and athe- religious views change over the millen- of faith as a condition of citizenship or ism. I am not certain about issues of nium. People were killed for believing office holding. fi cosmology. Sometimes I believe that our universe is the result of random forces. Other times I believe that there must be some order or 60D-COLoFEI purpose, though I do not begin to 6LAShf4 understand what or who it could be. I do not expect that these cosmic q 1 doubts will ever be resolved in my Ilk y mind. I am more certain that the miraculous stories that form the basis of most religious beliefs are myths. Yet I respect the Bible and enjoy reading and teaching it. \ 'I• • Indeed, I find it even more fascinat- 4. ing as a human creation than as a divine revelation. I consider myself a committed Jew, but I do not believe that being a Jew requires 1 belief in the supernatural. When I attend synagogue, as I often do, or conduct Sabbath, Passover, or Chanukah services at home, I recite 017

u ® summer 1999 OP-ED

much.) Now if so much beneficence from no less than book publishers isn't Clinton, Starr, and a measure of cultural decline, then nothing is. If moolah falls, then Kenneth Starr, otherwise a beginner, Media Dreck would become more successful than Lucienne Goldberg, purportedly a vet- eran book agent, in getting a lush Richard Kostelanetz publishing contract for a de facto client/accomplice. How many New Yorkers does it take licly denying such sub rosa encounters Consider this latest media balloon to to change a lightbulb? or, say, pain from hemorrhoids. Neither echo Joseph R. McCarthy's discovery deception is as ominous, say, as the nearly a half century ago that modern Noneofyourbusiness. premeditated invasion of a foreign news outlets feast upon incomplete —Anon country or any of the other more conse- information—unsubstantiated charges, "leaks," and politicians' prattle— Best of all was to say—nothing. But quential matters about which a presi- it was better to tell a flat lie than an dent can dissemble. Clinton's errors whose implicit function is generating a ambiguity such as Don't have school aren't a fraction as serious as Richard need for additional information that is today, because this led to more ques- Nixon's persistent lying about the similarly incomplete. When history tions. You must plan a conversation Watergate break-in in an election year. repeats itself, Karl Marx once said, the like a game of checkers with the second time becomes more a farce. The object that the other person should Anyone who thinks otherwise should have no next move. reexamine his or her values. To censure truer story of Joe McCarthy was neces- or, worse, impeach a public official for sarily told in books, which are intrinsi- —Paul Goodman, persiflage about personal matters is an cally more definitive than deadline- The Empire City (1959) insult characteristic of the politically conscious newspapers and television correct mentality, typically making a shows, in part because book publishers n my forthcoming Political Essays is whale of a sin out of a guppy mistake. sell products rather than, like newspa- a chapter "`Tailgate' and the America As an anarchist libertarian, I can't pers and television networks, attract IHaters:' in which I speak of the condone any state employing its agents greater audiences for advertisers. (Why Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr affair (CLS) as to investigate anyone's sex life, even don't critics of the media find more sig- exemplifying "the cultural decline of under the guise of looking into some- nificance in this fundamental economic America, the sheer trashiness." Nothing thing else, in this case a failed land deal difference?) Late in 1998 I heard that since has led me to revise that opinion. called Whitewater. In this respect, the most populous advocates of Not unlike other mature adults, I can't Kenneth Starr and his associates are no Clinton's resignation, per capita, were get upset about the president or anyone better than J. Edgar Hoover's flunkies, not ministers or policemen but newspa- else having wholesome consensual oral who didn't need to flaunt lame excuses. per publishers, no doubt taking their sex with someone old enough to vote— What does upset me—what makes own stories too seriously. someone not a virgin who had probably me angry, what exemplifies trashi- To repeat what I said in Political practiced this craft on someone else. To ness—is all the attention that has been Essays, the popular image of Clinton recall a percipient slogan from the paid to CLS. Writing this complaint is as a rapacious seducer might include a 1960s, I'd rather have my president (and not a pleasure. good deal of myth. Consider, quite even my generals) make love than war. The hallmark of libertarian criticism simply, given the number of reporters To expect politicians to eschew seduc- is to identify who benefits economical- and partisan investigators looking for tion (passive as well as active), whether ly from activities of the state, or in this past girl friends, coupled with for votes or sex, is to deny their nature. case officers of the state. The obvious Clinton's notorious penchant for Nor can I get upset about answer in this case is the commercial promises that cannot be kept, why anyone fibbing, when pressed, in pub- media, whether they be newspapers, haven't more warm, loquacious bodies television networks, or book publish- turned up? Perhaps there aren't (m)any Richard Kostelanetz's Political Essays ers. It is not for nothing that some of others. Kathleen Willey was scarcely will come later this year from the last group are reportedly calculating violated. (My own sense is that she Autonomedia, which published his the largest advance ever for Lewinsky's was a double agent—a Clinton sup- Crimes of Culture. He has written memoir. (Ten million bucks I heard, porter who volunteered to tell a story many other books about contemporary which means that whoever hooks this that could be swiftly discredited, there- art and literature. author expects to earn at least twice as by undermining the reputation and

free inquiry o OP-ED •

investigative confidence of television's much trash in the house already, while based not on consensual bribery, which "60 Minutes.") One theme of Seymour mental hygiene is more important to me prompted Spiro Agnew's departure, but Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot than second-rate prurient pleasures. I on consensual sex? (1997) is that even an unhealthy presi- wish in retrospect that others had forgot- Having learned as a libertarian how dent-on-the-make can score many ten earlier about CLS, much as everyone the state can be used to "redistribute" more women than the handful alleged- should forget about the fake "War on natural social inequities, I see this ly violated by Bill Clinton. (Kennedy Drugs," which I guarantee will be no Starr-Clinton combat as government- also evidently had the forethought to more successful than any protracted War leveraged revenge of the have-nots favor women who could not kiss and on Marital Infidelity, or even a War against those thought to have. Have tell, mostly because they were already against Lying about Marital Infidelity. what? I can hear you asking. Admiring married or had other good reasons for keeping his advances secret.) Who benefits culturally from all this Another fault typical of the mass media is keeping an old lead story brouhaha about nothing, or about what alive until a new one arrives to replace it on the front page of a tabloid or at much of the world considers the beginning of a newscast. In this inconsequential? respect, while Clinton should be com- mended for not initiating a military This isn't Afghanistan, yet. You needn't young people voluntarily offering sexu- action when the purported scandal first buy newspapers or watch television's al services gratis, let's be frank. You broke in January 1998, it is clear in ret- "newsmagazines" that download junk. don't need to call yourself a Freudian rospect that the later gratuitous If the news media benefit economi- to imagine this motive operative here. American bombing in the Sudan and cally, another question not to be (When was the last time you were so Afghanistan was not enough to turn neglected is who benefits culturally fortunate?) To my mind, government- media attention elsewhere. Can I be from all this brouhaha about nothing, or leveraged "redistribution" is no more alone in thinking it should not be the about what much of the world considers acceptable in rectifying sexual griev- business of the government or its inconsequential. Obviously, America's ances than in redressing other inequi- employees to provide free fodder for enemies, whether they be conservatives ties. Who will object when a state commercial media? out to discredit American liberalism or requires that all black basketball Not for another minute, I vowed in lefties who feast on any pretext to deni- players put five pounds of lead in fall 1998, will I listen to any more grate America. Somewhere among the their shoes? "news" about CLS. I didn't read the Starr enthusiasts for keeping this scandal hot When will it end—this mistaken use Report, because I prefer real pornogra- are people who vehemently hate of state powers and this limitless flow phy to any government-issued surrogate America. What would we gain from of dreck? When will we wise up? "No produced by bureaucrats with previously becoming the first purportedly Western mas," the boxer Roberto Duran once thwarted literary ambitions. There is too country to lose its leader to a scandal dramatically proclaimed. No mas. fi

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mently denies it and claims that they have been trying to escape the bomb- A Serb's View of ing. That is why I would suggest the creation of a "Truth Commission" of the most prominent independent per- NATO's Bombs sons to examine the accusations and counteraccusations and inform the At presstime, NATO and the Yugoslav authorities had negotiated a peace settle- world about their findings. And again, ment, and NATO bombing has subsided for now—EDs. I believe, President Mandela would be an almost ideal person to appoint such a commission. Be that as it may, I Svetozar Stojanovic would like to point out most forcefully that all the refugees are entitled to y wife and I came back to and leader with more impeccable return to their homes. moral, political, and intellectual cre- Belgrade in mid-December Albanian terrorist-separatists (KLA) 1998 from the Center for dentials than yours to appeal to to M undertake this peace mediation. No have been practically destroyed as a Inquiry International, in Amherst, New doubt, the whole world would greet viable fighting force by the Yugoslav York, where I was a guest Fellow for it. We are willing and ready to pro- military and police. Serbs, Mon- the second consecutive fall. In spite of vide you with our independent infor- tenegrins, and other nationalities (we mation and assessments if you need our anticipation of the North Atlantic have 20-odd national minorities, of them and even to travel to visit you. Treaty Organization (NATO) attack we (Sent April 6, 1999, and signed by which the second largest is Hungarian) decided to stay in Belgrade with our myself, president of the Council for have also been suffering very much. relatives, colleagues, and friends. Both Democratic Transformation of Ser- The whole world is shocked by the our sons live permanently in the United bia; Dr. Zoran Ivosevic, president of plight of ethnic Albanian refugees, but the Council for the Cooperation of States and have been worrying and call- at the same time overlooks tens of thou- Nongovernmental Organizations; ing us every day since the "war" began. and Dr. Slavenko Grgurevic, presi- sand of Serbs and other minorities flee- I put "war" in quotation marks because dent of the League for the Pro- ing from Kosovo to other parts of of the absolute disproportion of forces tection of Private Property and Serbia and to Montenegro. Further- of the two sides. Serbs see themselves Human Rights.) more, completely forgotten are three as David resisting Goliath's attempt to quarters of a million Serbs who were devastate and destroy them. President Mandela later publicly "ethnically cleansed" from Croatia and A letter of mine to Nelson Mandela, criticized the NATO attack as "an irre- Bosnia-Herzegovina and who have president of South Africa, can perhaps sponsible act" and urged U.S. President been living ever since under very diffi- illustrate the actions I have undertaken Bill Clinton and Russian President cult conditions in Serbia and in the six weeks (March 24—May 8) Boris Yeltsin to meet in order to find a Montenegro. In addition, we have since the attack began: solution to that problem. I am assuming experienced enormous destruction of that our appeal to President Mandela the infrastructure (roads, railways, As independent intellectuals and has been only one among many. bridges, waterways); information and leaders of several no less autono- mous nongovernmental organiza- The NATO bombing has directly or communications systems (among them tions in the Federal Republic of indirectly caused considerable casual- post offices, telephone services, televi- Yugoslavia, we appeal to you to ties—dead and wounded—among sion and radio stations); and chemical, undertake a peace mission to stop the Albanians, Serbs, Montenegrins, and petrochemical, manufacturing plants, senseless killing, destruction, and the others. Hundreds of thousands of etc. In many respects we have been stream of refugees (not only from Kosovo) in our country. We cannot Albanians have fled or have been pushed back several decades. What is think of any other world statesman forced out of the province of Kosovo left "intact" is mainly agriculture and since March 24. Those who are sup- agricultural processing industries, but Svetozar Stojanovic is Professor of Phi- posed to be defended by NATO have even those cannot function properly losophy at the Institute for Philosophy ironically become main victims ("col- because of the lack of tractors, diesel, at the University of Belgrade and a lateral damage" of sorts!) of its bomb- fertilizers, etc. The outlook is very Humanist Laureate of the International ing campaign. NATO claims that bleak indeed. We shall have to start Academy of Humanism. He is author of almost all of them have been the vic- rebuilding practically from scratch in the book The Fall of Yugoslavia: Why tims of our government's "systematic many sectors. Communism Failed (Prometheus ethnic cleansing that began well before One of the first moral and political Books). March 24" Our government vehe- casualties of the bombing campaign is

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the democratic opposition to Mr. journalists and managers but rather cal: a great number of Serbs are accus- Milosevic's regime in which I have "small" employees who had to work tomed to suffering enormously to pre- been participating since he came to the late night shift because of the legal serve national independence, freedom, power years ago. Namely, the NATO state of war. Isn't the deliberate killing dignity, and pride. They are raised to be attack has inadvertently caused almost of civilians a war crime? ashamed of showing fear and resigned the entire population to rally around American administration officials to their existential role and even "fate" him. Under such conditions prac- made at least two essential miscalcula- in history. It is only when huge human tically nobody wants to criticize Mr. tions before they decided to start bomb- sacrifices and casualties ensue that Milosevic for anything. For example, ing. They believed Mr. Milosevic could pragmatists and utilitarians among when the first bombs fell, some of the most prominent opposition print media decided not to sell but destroy their pre- The whole world is shocked by the pared issues and published new ones in plight of ethnic Albanian refugees but at line with common goals of the defense of the country. Protopluralist-political the same time overlooks tens of competition has been immediately replaced (we hope temporarily) by thousand of Serbs and other minorities patriotic and even existential monism. fleeing from Kosovo to other parts of One of the nightmares of our democratic opposition is that NATO is going to Serbia and to Montenegro. make another deal with Mr. Milosevic at our expense. be quickly forced to accept the Serbs gain decisive influence. It is not a We don't see any practical proof of Rambouillet ultimatum. However, he secret, however, that the West has no NATO's repeated proclamation that was not motivated to do so because the stomach to decimate the Serbs and in they are not attacking the Serbian peo- U S administration wanted at the same turn to bear great human losses on its ple but only the ruling regime. Western time to remove him from power by own part. After all, it is very well mass media has made a crucial contri- introducing ground troops into Kosovo known that the United States today bution to NATO's collective demoniza- and indirectly into the whole of Serbia. wants to be a sole global power but tion of the Serbian nation. Here is an True, in all previous cases Mr. without being ready to accept any illustration from a recent op-ed text of Milosevic was accepted as the main human losses on its part. Thomas L. Friedman in the New York negotiating partner of the U.S. adminis- The alleged credibility of NATO has Times (April 23, 1999): "Like it or not, tration and guarantor of the agreements- suffered. It has degenerated into a self- we are at war with the Serbian nation concessions made with them and to producing and self-intensifying vicious [the Serbs certainly think so] and the them. However, in exchange the Clinton spiral requesting ever more force to stakes have to be very clear: Every administration objectively helped him prove itself. Is NATO, which primarily week you ravage Kosovo is another stay in power and consequently made means the United States, prepared to decade we will set your country back the domestic opposition to him impo- send large numbers of ground troops to by pulverizing you. You want 1950? tent. But suppose Mr. Milosevic was invade Kosovo and the Federal We can do 1950. You want 1389? We personally motivated to practically give Republic of Yugoslavia as a whole? Let can do 1389 too. If we can frame the up Kosovo in return for saying in them not delude themselves: a lot of the issue that way, Mr. Milosevic will power? However, literally nobody here invaders would be killed because Serbs, blink, and we may have seen his first would dare simply write off Kosovo. unlike Americans, are at their best in flutter yesterday." Such a person would be immediately non-high-tech wars. After all, there is a It is against this background that I considered a traitor and probably assas- special, intimate bond between the peo- want to mention and condemn in the sinated. Kosovo is the national, reli- ple and the armed forces in Yugoslavia. strongest possible terms the bombing gious, cultural, and state cradle of the These forces to a large extent are not of the ruling regime's television build- Serbian nation and its identity. Its status professional soldiers but consist of ing in Belgrade. NATO argues that it has mythic proportions. temporary civilian recruits. Three was "a legitimate military target as an President Clinton and his team obvi- young researchers from my Institute for important component of the regime's ously don't understand Serbian tradi- Philosophy and Social Theory, to men- propaganda war machine." However, tion, ethos, or mentality (how about tion but one example, have been mobi- why didn't NATO warn those inside the some "politics of identity" among lized as reservists and have been at the station to get out? NATO had to know them!). Perhaps its main component is front since the very beginning of the that those were not important regime philosophically speaking deontologi- NATO attack. fi

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it any wonder why I went from being a Jesse Jackson Baptist to an atheist Faith vs. African (especially after having spent a year on the streets myself)? But as cleansing as it was, purging my mind of supersti- Americans tions, pointing out glaring contradictions, and pursuing blasphemous avenues of thought (via questioning Saab Lofton divine authority), the period in which I was an atheist (1992 to 1997) became here's a scene in an episode of ly used it as Hamlet used his satirical boring. Whether life is random or the "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" play against Claudius either escaped or product of grand design, it must at least T where Will Smith's character's died trying to, whereas the others be interesting. And while atheism was aunt asks him why did "blacks" (earth- remained imprisoned by a religion that cleansing, it was ultimately about as lings of direct—as opposed to indi- was not their own even if they did never boring as most cleansers are too. rect—African decent) sing biblical leave the plantation. I mean, once you know how the spirituals during the holocaust known Africans had various tribal mytholo- world works, once you know how you as slavery. Will replies with much gies or Islam before being forcibly got here (only a fool would debate the aplomb that blacks sang them because introduced to Moses and Jesus and the existence of evolution at this point in they needed to feel as though there was like, and unfortunately, all too many scientific history), then one begs the something greater than themselves in black nationalists out there are under question, Why are you here? Evolution order to get through the day. the impression that, if blacks were to is the obvious explanation insofar as the The aunt then corrects him by stat- simply return to what was once wor- how, but divinely guided evolution (à la ing the spirituals were actually embed- shiped, then "everything'11 be alright." current Catholicism—in case you hadn't ded with code so that slaves could bet- Well, it ain't that simple. Be it Islam or heard, the pope recently came around) is ter facilitate escape. In other words, a Christianity, being a part of the reli- but one theory as to the big why. lyric such as "down by the river" had gious Right is being a part of the reli- There are many others. Louis less to do with the river Jordan than it gious Right. A right-winger is a right- Farrakhan teaches his Nation of Islam did the notion that "the river" in ques- winger no matter how you slice it, and that the black man came from outer tion was probably a means by which it's always been (and always will be) space to colonize what is now known as one could evade the slavemaster's dogs my feeling that if you're going to be Mecca several thousand years ago. The since they usually couldn't smell what religious, be a part of the religious Left Norse believed one should wage war in was immersed in water. as Gandhi or Martin Luther King order to enter Valhalla by attracting the It's been my feeling for quite some Junior or Pastors for Peace or those attentions of a Valkyrie while in the heat time that both were the case. The bom- nuns who keep getting raped and mas- of battle. The point is that what we com- bardment of images of a pale-skinned, sacred by graduates of our taxpayer- monly call faith is nothing more than a auburn-haired Jesus (when in fact the funded School of the Americas. theory. And theories have their valued man—assuming He did exist—looked In a single day of walking the streets place (Einstein's theories, for exam- more like the artist formerly known as of Seattle, Washington, in 1998 I saw ple—one of which being the notion that Prince when he had long hair on the two things—one right after the other: a "energy never dies"), so long as they cover of his second, self-titled album) dark-skinned, flat-featured, kinky- don't hurt anyone unnecessarily. was but one way blacks were kept in haired, heavy-set Earth male (usually Unfortunately, human history is all check. Therefore, you probably did the last image our dominant culture too replete with examples of elites have quite a few slaves who were bro- will depict as a sex symbol or even steering the ignorant into using those ken into believing in the Father, the respectable and the first we'll see dead theories to hurt everyone—unnecessari- Son, the Holy Ghost, and the whole or dying in some subtle way) sitting on ly. Witch burnings, book burnings, cross nine yards. Those slaves who didn't a street corner begging for substinence; burnings, gay bashings, etc., etc., etc. take the Bible that seriously and mere- and a man who looked as though he It's more than enough to make you want was separated from birth from the to write off faith/theory altogether. Saab Lofton is the author of A.D. and aforementioned, except I saw him dri- It was for moi, for a while, anyway. Battle Never-ending, two works of sci- ving a black BMW with a vanity Until I got bored. Scully from "The X- ence fiction. He is originally from license plate that read "GD LVS U" Files" is the quintessential atheist; she's South Central Los Angeles, and cur- (God loves you). clinical, neutral, logical, practical—and rently lives in Bremerton, Washington. With such a sheer contrast as that, is practically dead. Mulder (the show's

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Don Quixote) is an agnostic who chases ing that big stick to the moneychang- into Heaven as a big-ass camel does vampires and flying saucers. The series ers' temple (which would make money- trying to get through the eye of a nee- is perpetually ambiguous, you never changer Ronald Wilson Reagan the dle (in a haystack, no less). know whose worldview is actually the Antichrist since there are six letters in As I've said, faith/theory is O.K., if factually correct one, and I like it that each of his three names). it doesn't hurt someone. But if blacks way. I like life that way. I need mystery Black folks make such a big deal in positions of power continue to in my life, and whereas atheism solves nowadays about how Jesus was brown- obsessively fixate on superficial mysteries, agnosticism explores them, skinned, and that kind of benign (or nationalisms such as the skin color of and I am an explorer by nature. banal) nationalism is good for cleans- the biblical cast of characters instead We know the religious Right is full ing one of any historical revisionism on of actually emulating their Left lean- of it. Always has been, always will be, the part of the dominant culture. What ings (Moses was a liberator, not a but that's not at issue here. What's at you don't hear a lot of on Black "bluppie"), then said faith/theory will issue is allowing oneself the option to Entertainment Television and VIBE continue to hurt. And if saying all this explore the possibility that maybe (just and Oprah and what have you is how sends me to Hell, so it goes. I would- maybe) God is a left-winger after all. Jesus healed the sick for free, fed the n't break if the Corporate Imperial After all, the-most-famous-pacifist-of- hungry for free, and said that a rich man Army tortured me, so why would I all-time's one violent act involved tak- has about as much chance of getting bow down to a fascist God? fi

Join us in Amherst for the Center for Inquiry Institute Summer Session Wednesday, July 7 - Sunday July 11, 1999

Psychology of Belief Communication and Leadership Critical Inquiry as an Academic (Core Course: 3 credits toward the Science and the Skills in Critical Inquiry Discipline and Worldview Paranormal certificate) (Workshop: 2 credits toward Humanist Studies or (Cornerstone Course: credit toward Humanist Studies Discusses how human beliefs and belief systems are Science and the Paranormal certificate) or Science and the Paranormal certificate) developed and changed, and why people can strong- Provides an introduction to business and technical An introductory overview of the academic discipline of ly believe claims that are irrational and unsupported writing, oral presentations, computer communica- Critical Inquiry, its bases in rational and scientific the- by credible evidence. Describes the role psychology tions, and techniques fur dealing with the media. ories and methods, and how such a worldview plays in various aspects of belief, such as credulity, Focuses on applying personal and communication empowers one to better understand issues from the gullibility, the power of suggestion, hypnosis, skepti- skills to organizing and operating local skeptical great mysteries of human existence to the necessities cism, humanism, and rationality. and/or humanistic groups, including planning meet- of successful day-to-day living. Instructor: Richard Wiseman, Professor of ings, publicity, finance, and other management skills. Instructors: Theodore Schick, Professor of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire; head of the Instructors: Center for Inquiry staff Philosophy, Muhlenberg College; Reid Johnson, Perrot Warrick Research Unit into the Paranormal Acting Dean of the Center for Inquiry Institute

YES! Enter my registration for the session and course(s) I've checked below! Costs do not include course materials or hotel accommodations. A variety of accommodations are available near The Center for Inquiry International. For lodging information contact Tom Flynn at (716) 636-7571 or e-mail [email protected]. Required reading list will be mailed to you upon processing of your registration. Auditors need not complete a paper or exam. The Center for Inquiry Institute awards proprietary, nonaccredited course credits. Accredited undergraduate credit is available through the State University of New York's Empire State College for an additional fee. Write for details. Number of persons (S95/credit) [ ] The Psychology of Belief (3 credits) $285 S Name(s) [ ] Audit only (no credit) 5255 S Address Daytime Phone [ ] Communication and Leadership (2 credits) $190 S City State Zip [ ] Audit only (no credit) 5170 S [ ] Check or Money Order payable to Center for Inquiry Institute [ ] Critical Inquiry (1 credit) 595 $ [ ] Audit only (no credit) 585 S [ ] Charge my [ ] MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] Take all three courses for credit. Exp. Sig. Take a 10% discount $513 5 [ l Banquet Saturday evening S20 5 Mail to Center for Inquiry Institute, P.O. Box 664, [ 14 Daily Luncheons $10 each at Center S Total S Amherst NY 14226. Or Fax to (716) 636-1733.

El Í® summer 1999 OP-ED

at work and the already changing roles of women and men at home. The Future of It's 17 years now since I originally proclaimed the need for a "second stage" if women, men, and children Feminism were to be able to live the equality that we fought for. I believed then, and believe with even more conviction now, Betty Friedan that the organization of the family—or rather the whole diversity of families ere is no doubt that the women's place and in the home it is an equality that now exists—is the new feminist movement has transformed that is lived with great difficulty, unnec- frontier. We must still transform institu- American society, opening life in essary guilt, a constant and some times tions, physically and culturally, from the many ways for women and men alike. desperate improvisation within outdat- office to the home, and change the pat- There may be nostalgic yearnings for ed but unchanged structures: the male terns of career advancement beyond the the feminine mystique, but women are model of work and the female model of current models that tacitly assume that no longer defined solely in terms of family. When starting out in their the worker always has a wife at home to their relation—sexual, maternal, or careers, women now earn roughly 90% handle life for him. In the 17 years since domestic—to men. They are defining of what men earn—still not equal, but I made that call in The Second Stage to their lives themselves by their actions in close. It is having children that lowers restructure home and work, the real society. But though the women's move- women's earning power to a mere 70% lives of women and men, living on new ment has begun to achieve equality for of men's. More than ever, we now have terms of equality, have changed in mar- women on many economic and political to think about moving to the second velous, messy, diverse, and still not yet measures, the victory remains incom- stage: the way to live the equality that completely chartered ways. Feminist plete. To take two of the simplest and we fought for in a world of diverse new theory, still preoccupied with the sexual most obvious indicators: women still family combinations of women, men, politics and mired in stance of victim- earn more than 72 cents for every dollar and children. hood, has not caught up to this reality. It that men earn, and we are nowhere near The second stage is where we must is time that we contemplate—and act equality in numbers at the very top of move, women and men together. We on—the true dimensions of women's decision making in business, govern- need a new and politically active con- own empowerment as a new majority. ment, or the professions. sciousness-raising to get us beyond the With us as allies are all those men who In the simple goal of women's equal polarized and destructive male model now carry babies in backpacks, and who participation with men in the main- of work and decision making and the have been supported by the strength- stream of society, we may be coming undervalued women's model of life— ened by (or have at least gotten used to) deceptively close to equality. But the the model that takes it as inevitable that women carrying half the burden, as they remaining gap, especially the gap at the having children is a woman's free indi- now do in over 50% of American fami- top, is never going to be closed by vidual choice to short-circuit perma- lies. The greatest political need for putting the problem in terms of women nently her earning power and her pro- women and men now is to make the vs. men—the terms that defined our fessional future. Women have far more restructuring of the work-home relation- first stage of advance. I am both amused political power than they may realize. ship a part of the American political and and frustrated by the chatter from some To take one strikingly important exam- economic agenda. young feminist writers now about a ple, women elected the president of the Just as women must not allow our- "Third Stage" of feminism, when the United States in 1996 by a 17-point selves to be sucked into the classic fact is, we still haven't reached the sec- gender gap. The issues by which male power games in the workplace, ond stage. We have won some general President Clinton was reelected were we must not allow ourselves to be cultural consensus on women's equality those that matter most to women, diverted by the emotion-ridden issues with men (except for the far reaches of health care, social security, social wel- of sexual politics. The abortion hysteria the religious Right). Still, in the work- fare, protection of the environment, and is the desperate last gasp of those who education. The power that women are threatened by women's autonomy, Betty Friedan is a founder and first indubitably have, voting as they do in but do not dare attack it head on; they president of the National Organization increasingly higher proportions than try to keep us concentrating on the for Women and the National Abortion men, and becoming an ever-larger pro- issue of abortion—fighting that battle Rights League. She is the author of The portion of the labor force, must be used over and over again. I fear that femi- Feminine Mystique. to restructure the terms and conditions nists fall into a trap when they allow

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abortion to be seen as the feminist made, in PTA conference schedules or have the power, if they would choose to issue. Every social survey that is done office hours, whole industries of use it, to demand a national system of indicates that though there is ambiva- changes have arisen to recognize the childcare as a political priority. We now lence and disagreement about some new needs. Take the undramatic but finally have unpaid parental leave: why questions—for instance, abortion for important example of take-out food and don't we have paid parental leave or the minors—a national consensus exists on the wonderful proliferation of afford- option of taking unpaid leave for a year the right of women to choose. We must able ethnic restaurants, offering some- or more without losing our jobs? Why of course defend a woman's right to thing beyond the mass-produced fran- are women becoming desperate worka- choose when and whether to have a chise fare, which can free mothers from holics trying to fit themselves into that child, because that is basic to the per- the burden of cooking dinner at the end male model of work, while still taking sonhood of women. Abortion is now a of their own long work days. A family most of the responsibility for the home necessary recourse to exercise that that eats together, but eats out together, and family? The attempt to do what is right when birth control fails, but abor- is part of a new flexibility that families nearly impossible only contributes to a tion itself I hope and believe will soon are acquiring. backlash against working mothers jug- be obsolete. Abortion is not a value in The great majority of women who gling family and work, as the majority itself and neither it nor other aspects of are now working in jobs outside the do today. sexual life are the most significant home are doing this with varying The media backlash blames the par- issues for women's empowerment. degrees of comfort, pressure, guilt, des- ents, really meaning the mother, for What is most important is participating peration, and pleasure, but all are greed in choosing a dual-earner life, on equal terms in economic and politi- required to accept the old male model rather than cutting back on expenses so cal decision making. of work. Women, who make up half the that one parent (guess who?) could stay Just as it is now of urgent impor- workforce today and are getting 40% of home full time with the children. The tance to move to the second stage, the professional degrees, do not have fact is that at least a third of all working transforming life as it can be lived with wives at home to do the grocery shop- parents today are making choices in men on a basis of equality both at home ping—but now neither do the men. favor of more family time, splitting par- and at work, it is time to grow up and Slowly, slowly, individual families are enting more and more evenly, leading move beyond our obsession with hav- finding ways to share the responsibili- to a 7% annual growth in home-based ing babies or preserving the beauty of ties of home and childcare, with vary- self-employment and new movements our youth, to recognize the new chal- ing degrees of difficulty and probably a focusing on "voluntary simplicity" and lenges of the 80-year life span that is lot of unnecessary guilt. The need to on fatherhood. In polls a majority of women's lot today. We may be amused restructure the institutions themselves men and women indicate that they or shocked (or both) by reports of a 63- has not yet been faced adequately in would prefer more time for family and year-old woman's having a baby. terms of public policy. personal concerns to a wage increase. Although I can sympathize with the What women and men today need is But these cannot remain merely small- attraction of using new technology to not the right to have babies at 63, but scale individual adaptations to a funda- obtain one's heart's desire, such belated real choices about having children in mentally rigid system. If we are to live parenthood strikes me as somehow a their twenties, thirties, or even in their a second stage we must move women symptom of our inability to grasp the forties, without paying an inordinate and men onto issues such as a shorter totality of the life now open to women price or facing impossible dilemmas in work week and shorter working hours and to men. This is not just women's their careers. We need to restructure and a real priority for childcare. blindness, of course: obviously men hours and conditions of work. The So we must now find ways to live who choose to start families at 50 or 60 technology of work today (not to men- personal lives to the fullest and accept or 70 with younger women—a much tion the traffic jams of our cities) urge the new political challenges as they more common phenomenon than preg- us to flextime, with staggered hours of occur. We can all feel joy over the won- nancy in a 60-year-old—are clutching starting and leaving work, and variable derful way the women's movement has an illusion of youth. Although millions schedules during the work week. transformed the very possibilities of of dollars are made selling women cos- The second stage is something that life for women and men, and has metics and face lifts, women on the the women's movement itself has been opened our society to the new frontiers whole are moving to the pragmatic slow to embrace, to the ultimate detri- of a second stage. I only hope I live challenges of their longer life span and ment of women. Why does the United long enough to see how we get there. fi of each phase within it. States, the richest of all nations, not We are now doing our best to live have a superb national program of This article is reprinted with permission from in the second stage. Although too few childcare combining public and private The Second Stage (Harvard University Press, institutional adjustments have been funds with a sliding-fee scale? Women 1998).

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opinion by Justice Scalia that interpreted the First Amendment as allowing Why Gore Is the Only government "accommodation, ac- knowledgment, and support for religion...." In arguing against the major- Hope for Church- ity opinion, which said that nonbelievers should not be forced to give a false appearance of participating in gradua- State Separation tion prayers in which they do not believe, the three dissenters said that "government's interest in fostering Edward Tabash respect for religion, generally, trumps" the nonbeliever's interest in not being ike many nonbelievers, I am con- bodies favoring belief over nonbelief, made to appear to be joining in with the cerned about Vice President our entire focus must be on a specific government-sponsored prayer. T Gore's recent endorsement of a point of law, which still prevails on the Unquestionably, if Rehnquist, Scalia, policy that would entangle government Supreme Court: "The First Amendment and Thomas get two more votes on the in a partnership with religious institu- mandates government neutrality Court, nonbelievers will be formally rel- tions in distributing social welfare ser- between religion and religion and egated to second-class citizenship. vices to the general public. But as a between religion and nonreligion" As president, Bill Clinton criticized rationalist and a pragmatist, I must look (Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97, this graduation prayer case as going too beyond this temporary setback for 103-104; 89 S.Ct. 266, 270 (1968)). A far in excluding prayer from public cer- church-state separation ... to the next further formulation of this principle is: emonies. But, Clinton's two Supreme presidential election. "We repeat and again reaffirm that nei- Court appointees firmly hold the view Since the only real choice is between ther a State nor the Federal Govern- that such graduation prayers are uncon- Al Gore and George Bush, Jr., I must ment can constitutionally pass laws or stitutional. A president's publicly stated still vigorously support Gore, notwith- impose requirements which aid all reli- views on these issues are technically standing my misgivings about Gore's gions as against non-believers ... irrelevant. The views of that president's pronouncements. The main reason is (Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 495; Supreme Court appointees are what that every issue pertaining to equal 81 S.Ct. 1680, 1683 (1961)). decides what the law of the land rights for nonbelievers and to the sepa- For the nonbeliever, all other con- shall actually be. ration of church and state is ultimately siderations of public policy pale in Thus, nonbelievers must choose determined not by the president of the comparison to the centrality of preserv- their presidential candidate on really United States, or by any one person, but ing this precise doctrine of contempo- only one overriding issue: what kind of by a minimum five-vote majority on the rary jurisprudence: that government Justices will that person, if elected, put U. S. Supreme Court. bodies in the United States cannot pass on the Supreme Court. The reality is Given the precarious balance on the laws that favor religion over nonbelief. that if Gore's proposal for intermesh- Court today, the president who fills the Right now, three Justices on the Court ing government and religious institu- next two vacancies will determine favor overturning this long-standing tions in the distribution of social ser- whether or not our nation will embark on principle of equality before the law for vices is to ever be held unconstitution- a long era of religious-based oppression. nonbelief. They favor openly allowing al, we need Al Gore, and not George For those of us who believe in the government bodies to favor religious Bush, Jr., to fill the next two vacancies separation of church and state defined belief, generally, over nonbelief. If these on the Court. as the prohibition against government three Justices acquire just two more Not only does Bush, Jr,. support the allies, they then have the five-vote major- same type of proposal for entangling Edward Tabash is a lawyer in Beverly ity needed to scuttle the mandate of gov- government with religious institutions, Hills, California, and a member of ernment neutrality on which the free- he goes much further in also favoring FI's Editorial Board and Chairman of doms of nonbelievers depend. organized prayers in public schools and the Outreach Committee of the Center When the Supreme Court declared the diversion of tax dollars for the sup- for Inquiry West (Los Angeles). The government-sponsored prayers at pub- port of private parochial schools, both views expressed in this article are his lic high school graduations to be of which Gore firmly opposes. During own and do not reflect those of any unconstitutional, these three Justices his speech in Atlanta at the Salvation nonprofit organization with which he dissented. Chief Justice Rehnquist and Army drug rehabilitation center, in is affiliated. Justice Thomas joined a dissenting which he outlined his proposal, Gore

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also repeated his support for the sepa- explicitly stated that the measure was to openly endorse prayer. ration of church and state three times. unconstitutional because it did not equal- At least with Gore, as with Clinton, Gore may come dangerously close to ly protect atheists. we know that we will get mainstream breaching the wall of separation of The next most likely retirement from civil libertarians nominated to the church and state with his entanglement the Court will be Justice O'Connor, Court. Nonbelievers have true protec- idea. But he still would try to make sure who has had serious health problems. tors in Justices Ginsberg and Breyer. that no government funds would be used Though a Reagan appointee in 1981, Bush, Jr., on the other hand, is the for proselytizing or promoting any arti- and at first perceived to be an ally of the candidate who fully embraces the cle of religious faith. Bush, on the other religious Right, she soon emerged as a totality of the religious Right agenda, hand, openly favors allowing govern- solid vote for the principle that govern- from official government-sponsored ment to throw its authority behind the ment bodies may not favor belief over prayer in school, to taxpayer-funded active promotion of religious belief. nonbelief. If, in addition to replacing vouchers for private religious schools, Gore also stated that secular alternatives Stevens, Bush, Jr., also replaces to a total ban on abortion. He is the son would be made available for those who O'Connor, then the majority of the of the man who put Clarence Thomas did not want to receive social services Court most probably would shift 5 to 4 on the Supreme Court. In 1998, before from religious institutions. Again, much in support of or permitting government leaving for a trip to Israel, Bush, Jr., of this is irrelevant as it is a president's bodies to officially favor belief over made the comment that Jews cannot appointments to the Supreme Court, as nonbelief, thus overturning the myriad get to heaven because they don't opposed to campaign promises, that precedents going all the way back to believe in Jesus. really determine the course of church- 1947, when the Court first clearly artic- Quite frankly, when Clinton or Gore state separation. ulated the principle that no branch of make a strategic verbal attempt to Some might say that we can stand government can be anything other than appease those who would blur some of to risk a Bush, Jr., presidency because neutral in relating to believers and non- the lines between church and state that his father gave us pro church-state believers. we wish to keep sharp and distinct, separationist Justice Souter. Remem- The most chilling example of how both of them do so with a wink direct- ber, though, that when a religious our First Amendment jurisprudence ed toward civil libertarians. What Right sympathizing Republican presi- could be butchered by the addition of counts is not what they say but who dent appoints someone to the Court just two more religious Right sympa- they put on the Supreme Court. who turns out to be on the separa- thizers to the Court comes from Chief There is no question that Gore's pro- tionist's side, it is always by mistake. Justice Rehnquist's dissent in the 1985 posals leap into a realm of entangle- Bush, Sr., more than made up to the case that declared unconstitutional ment between government and reli- religious Right for this inadvertent Alabama's moment of silence legisla- gious institutions that creates too great placement in 1990 by putting a reli- tion, which was enacted with the intent a risk of deploying government gious Right zealot, Clarence Thomas, of encouraging prayer. In his dissent, resources for the actual promotion of on the Court in 1991. Rehnquist expressed the view that the religion. However, though disconcert- The next Justice most likely to First Amendment should not be read to ing, Gore's would-be dents in the wall resign from the Court will be one of the require government to be neutral of separation of church and state still separationist's staunchest allies, John between religion and nonbelief and that do not approximate the gaping holes in Paul Stevens, who turns 80 in 2000. government bodies should be permitted that wall that Bush, Jr., would create. fi Even if he were to leave now, Clinton would not be permitted to replace him. Please remember FREE INQUIRY (the Council for Secular Humanism) when Orrin Hatch, the arch religious Right LEAVE A planning your estate. Your bequest will help to maintain the vitality and wing senator from Utah, who chairs the LEGACY TO financial security of humanism in a society often hostile toward it. Senate Judiciary Committee, is already Depending on your circumstances, a charitable bequest to FREE INQUIRY successfully blocking most of Clinton's HUMANISM may have little impact on the net size of your estate—or may even result in a greater amount being available to your beneficiaries. nominees to the lower federal courts. For more infor- We would be happy to work with you and your attorney in the Hatch would hold up any Clinton nom- mation contact development of a will or estate plan that meets your wishes. A variety inee to the Supreme Court until after Anthony of arrangements are possible, including gifts of a fixed amount or a the next president takes office. It will Battaglia. All percentage of your estate; living trusts or gift annuities, which provide then be Clinton's successor who inquiries will you with lifetime income; a contingent bequest that provides for FREE INQUIRY only if your primary beneficiaries do not survive you. replaces Stevens. be held in the strictest confidence. Write to: P.O. Box In concurring in the Supreme Court's COUNCIL 664, Amherst, NY 14226. FOR decision to strike down the Religious © I- SECULAR Or call 716-636-7571. HUMANISM Freedom Restoration Act, Stevens free inquiry

m ® summer 1999 FRONTEINES

STATES PONDER RELIGIOUS Defining College LIBERTY BILLS `Marketplace of Ideas'

State "religious Over the past decade, the nation's liberty" bills that public universities have seen lawsuit unduly privilege after First Amendment lawsuit over religion are being mandatory student fees, which are considered In ten distributed to student activities state legisla- groups on a nondiscriminatory basis. tures. But similar measures have died in Many of these cases have been subsi- four others. An emerging dized by conservative legal groups, pattern suggests these ini- such as the Arizona-based Alliance tially popular bills may Defense Fund, which has distributed face a bleak future. "Defunding the Left" action packs to The state measures go students nationwide. by various names, but The Supreme Court recently they're called "mini- agreed to hear Board of Regents v. RFRAs" because they z Southworth, a case pitting the duplicate provisions of D University of Wisconsin-Madison z the federal Religious Lu against a group of conservative Freedom Restoration Act Christian students. The students (RFRA). RFRA, passed in 1993, obliged government to show that it had a "compelling allege that the university's mandatory interest" and had used the "least restrictive means" whenever laws or regulations inci- fees violate their freedom of con- dentally burdened religious free exercise. Advocates, including some religious liberty science by forcing them to fund stu- and civil liberties organizations, believed RFRA protected religious minorities. Critics, including the Council for Secular Humanism, observed that RFRA improperly favored dent groups whose political activities religious over secular activities. In 1997 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down RFRA as they find objectionable. Groups cited unconstitutional and overbroad. Ever since, supporters have tried to enact similar legis- include the Campus Women's Center, lation in the states. the UW Greens, and several organi- As this is written, mini-RFRAs are pending in California, Connecticut, Hawaii (state zations supporting gay rights. senate only), Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, and Texas. The student won their suit both in In Florida, legislators ponder a proposed state constitutional amendment that would the Federal District Court in have a similar effect. Madison and in the United States In four state legislatures, however, mini-RFRAs have failed or been withdrawn. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Arizona's bill died in a state senate committee. Hawaii's state house denied a hearing Circuit, in Chicago. But according to a mini-RFRA, though a similar measure remains before its lower house. Last year, to Campus Freethought Alliance concerns that mini-RFRAs would spark frivolous suits by prisoners loomed as a seri- President Derek Araujo, a Harvard ous obstacle. This year, some mini-RFRAs were amended to exempt prisoners from senior, higher education will suffer their protection. But that turned out to alienate other key supporters; in Maryland and if the Supreme Court fails to reverse Virginia powerful Catholic groups and the American Civil Liberties Union stunned the 7th Circuit decision. sponsors by announcing that they now opposed the amended bills. "If the Court rules in favor of these Is this a strategy for beating mini-RFRAs in the future? When proposed, such bills tend to attract support from across the political spectrum. As debate continues, sup- conservative Christian students," said porters' incompatible visions come into conflict. Exploiting that weakness may be the Araujo, "a student activities funding best way for RFRA critics to keep these troublesome laws off the books in many states. system that had ensured widespread debate and diversity on college cam- — Tom Flynn puses will be overthrown."

free inquiry D FRONTLINES

teacher makes the distinction between SIDE LINES To Pledge or Not mindless recitation and an understand- to Pledge ing of meaning. Another student warns that regardless of the option to Farrakhan Becoming sit out during the recitation, students Immortal The status of the Pledge of Allegiance will feel pressured to conform and the Due to fears brought about by reports in public schools is now a hot topic of diversity in any give public school will of Louis Farrakhan's poor health, it is debate among elementary school stu- go unrecognized. highly probable that the Nation of dents, teachers, and political officials. In 1891, on the four-hundredth Islam is preparing the minister for House Bill 2384, which passed the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's immortality. Old NOI leaders never House in February and the Senate in discovery of America, the American die. They just fade away—to the Mother Plane. According to Farra- March, will require that schools pro- flag was introduced to the public khan, the Mother Plane is "a wheel vide time for students to recite the school. The following year, the Pledge that you call a UFO," similar to pledge at least once per week in school. of Allegiance was created for the year- Ezekiel's wheel in the Bible. The Opinions are mixed as to whether such ly celebration: "I pledge allegiance to Mother Plane houses several "baby a bill is necessary or, more important, the flag and to the Republic for which planes:' each one loaded with explo- compatible with the Constitution of the it stands—one nation indivisible—with sives to be dropped upon America when God gives the word. (Farrakhan United States of America. liberty and justice for all." has shrewdly-and correctly—pointed A student in Oregon who inspired The right-hand salute that accompa- out that, if religionists do not scoff at the legislation believes all students nied the recitation of the pledge was the story of Ezekiel's wheel, they can- should celebrate their heritage by recit- discontinued during World War II. The not scoff at the Mother Planet tale.) ing the pledge and calls herself "a phrase, "Under God" was added by In 1934, after the group's founder, proud American." A student in Cali- Congress and President Dwight Eisen- Fard Muhammad, mysteriously disap- peared, the NOI deified him. In 1975, fornia, in contrast, has successfully hower in 1954. the Honorable Elijah Muhammad died. fought for her right as a religious unbe- According to Farrakhan, however, liever to refuse to recite the pledge. A —Amanda Chesworth Muhammad never died. He is now aboard the Mother Plane, preparing for the future. Farrakhan has invited non- W UAT W ou L.t7St ls NoT Do ? believers to dig up Muhammad's gravesite, to find that his remains are not there. Though Farrakhan originally ad- HibazAss siWGtE Noms vised people to stop referring to him as "the Honorable Louis Farrakhan," he BEET t1OMt S eventually changed his mind. He is now merely "Honorable," and Elijah Muhammad is now known as the Fi ckET 1TlEitzFLN RAL. "Most Honorable" Elijah Muhammad. On September 16, 1995, Farrakhan told a shocked crowd at a Washington, D.C., Baptist church that the Million 7oiN A MitjTi4 F% KuNJ c iJtTwb~ci~ i Man March was inspired by an other- 1 worldly vision he had in 1985. A UFO delivered him to a spacecraft where Elijah Muhammad informed him that then-President Reagan was plotting to 11A uis >✓>JEMt bomb Libya. An American attack was thwarted when baby planes were ATTAckTUETboR SíDE Wi1u -1t4E Ricw 1 I released to chase away two U.S. jets. Farrakhan was beamed back to earth R.T Ui . NAHF_Tpt lhlEizci.a..1DisE . shortly thereafter. He told the shocked audience, "I really don't care if you think I'm a nut" It is likely that, after his death, Farrakhan will join the immortal pan- theon of former NOI leaders.

HERNANDEZ —Norm Allen PH RAL

Eri 111 summer 1999 FRONTLINES

from these types of sites, but filtering SIDE Schlessinger software has not been successful. There Attacks ALA are many examples of sites that are blocked with the filtering software that Thus Sayeth God's children should be able to see, including Billboards Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the radio per- toy sites, and some that should be Highway billboards purporting to sonality, has attacked the American blocked but get through anyway. offer messages from God himself Library Association because of the Consequently, the ALA wants parents are all the rage now in parts of the ALA's stance on Internet filtering. She themselves to monitor their children's U.S. They feature brief, text-only began her crusade by attacking a health access. It is surprising that Schlessinger, admonitions or warnings without information Web site maintained by an advocate for having parents actually fine print or information on spon- Columbia University called "Go Ask parent their own children, is trying to soring organizations. Some of Alice," which the ALA recommended force someone else to watch them. It is these "God Speaks" dispatches on their Teen Hoopla Web page. also interesting to note that, because of include: According to Schlessinger, the ALA some of the materials posted on wants children to be able to access Schlessinger's site as examples from Let's meet at my ho,;se befe 'e the pornography. Internet filtering advo- the "Go Ask Alice" site, filtering soft- game.—God cates joined her, and her Web site has Keep using my name in vain, I'Il ware should block her site too. make rush hour longer.—God become an Internet filtering lobby site. Don't make me come down there!— The ALA wants to protect children —Timothy Binga God What part of "Thou Shalt Not .. didn't you understand?—God That "Love Thy Neighbor" thing ... I Anti-Abortion Protests Sputter in Buffalo meant it.—God These actual billboard mes- Abortion opponents from around the protests across the street from clinic sages, however, don't begin to nation gathered in Buffalo, New York, doors. Federal authorities took extraor- cover the possibilities. How about: during April. But the promised reprise dinary precautions, including x-raying That thing about women being sub- of 1992's "Spring of Life" turned out all of FREE INQUIRY'S incoming mail servient to men ... I meant it.— smaller than anticipated. over a two-week period. Finally, pro- God "Operation Save America" (OSA) choice activists trained hundreds of Keep thinking that way and I'll cause was organized by the Reverend Flip clinic defenders. another 100,000 highway acci- Benham of Operation Rescue-National Actual demonstrations between dents.—God and the Reverend Robert L. Behn of April 18 and 25 proved far smaller than I took time out from managing every Buffalo's Last Call Ministries. predicted. Fewer than 200 anti-abortion detail of a vast universe to write on a billboard.—God Announced just after the October assas- protestors participated, standing out- sination of Buffalo-area abortion side abortion clinics, public schools, provider Dr. Barnett Slepian, OSA was and a Barnes & Noble bookstore dis- controversial even among abortion playing grisly retouched images of dis- Yes, There Is opponents. The Reverend Rob Schenk membered fetuses. Often they were a Hell and other Spring of Life leaders outnumbered by law-enforcement per- Agnostic Matt Groening, creator announced they would not participate. sonnel. Planned protests against Paul and producer of the hit TV animat- OSA's agenda was broader than Kurtz and at gay/lesbian sites never abortion alone, including protests of materialized. Often, pro-choice ed series The Simpsons, finally set bookstores said to sell pornography, counter-protestors found themselves the record straight in the New York gay and lesbian sites, public schools, with little to do. Times magazine (12-27-98): and even FREE INQUIRY Editor-in-Chief Pro-choice and pro-life leaders "I was very disturbed when Jesus Paul Kurtz. Officials treated the event agree that the era of mass blockades of found a demon in a guy and he put very cautiously out of concern that pro- abortion clinics may have passed. And the demon into a herd of pigs, then life extremists might attempt further Operation Rescue-National has sent them off a cliff. What did the pigs do? I could never figure that violence. (At the time, no suspect had claimed success in Buffalo, so much so out. It just seemed very been named in the slaying of Dr. that it announced it will change its unChristian. Technically, I'm an Slepian.) Federal judge Richard Arcara name to Operation Save America. agnostic, but I definitely believe in ordered a 60-foot buffer zone around hell—especially after watching the area clinics, which essentially forced —Tom Flynn fall TV schedule."

free inquiry 20 LETTERS

you owe them your respect. This made our nation a global leader in No Day of Prayer foundational principle of religious freedom of thought. Sometimes pluralism ensures that our citizens doing the right thing is not always for Ventura can be Jewish, Muslim, Christian, popular. As you know, I have no Hindu, Buddhist, or even nonreli- objections as to whether people pray Last May 6, most U.S. states formally gious, while still being patriotic and or not, but I do not think it is the role celebrated the "National Day of loyal to the values of democracy and of the state to take sides on this high- freedom. ly personal issue. Prayer," an event decreed by Congress We applaud your dedication Thank you for taking the time to in 1952. However, despite criticism toward achieving this noble let me know you are on my side. from the Minnesota Family Council American ideal. and other conservative organizations, Sincerely, Minnesota Governor Jesse "The Body" Sincerely, Governor Jesse Ventura Ventura refused to sign a proclamation The 1999-2000 Campus officially recognizing the day of prayer. Freethought Alliance Executive Explaining his position, Ventura told Council reporters, "I believe in the separation of church and state. We all have our President, Daniel Farkas Yale University own religious beliefs. There are people Vice-President, Gabriel Carlson out there who are atheists, who don't University of Minnesota believe at all. They are all citizens of Secretary/Treasurer, Paula Minnesota and I have to respect that." Duckhorn—College of Lake To thank Governor Ventura for his County Membership Committee Chair, Brie courageous defense of the First Amend- Waters—Illinois State University ment and the separation of church and Intercampus Affairs Committee state, the Executive Council of the Chair, August Brunsman Campus Freethought Alliance sent him Ohio State University the following letter of appreciation: Internet Committee Chair, D.J. Groethe—Washington Univ. Public Relations Director, Marcia The Honorable Governor Ventura, Baczynski—Univ. of Georgia Political Affairs Director, Population Time By refusing to sign a traditional Christopher Kirchhoff—Harvard proclamation mandating a govern- University Bomb ment-sanctioned, state-sponsored Publications Committee Chair, day of prayer in Minnesota, and by Katherine Martin—College of In his editorial in FREE INQUIRY (Spring acknowledging that Americans Charleston 1999) Paul Kurtz warns us of the dangers embrace a wide variety of religious Young Freethinkers Alliance of the population bomb and describes the and nonreligious worldviews, you Liaison, Fred Peters—Long work of humanists in India. Indian have upheld the Founding Fathers' Beach State University vision of church-state separation. humanists have always been in the fore- front of the population issue. Ellen Roy, As members of the Campus The Campus Freethought Alliance Freethought Alliance, a national a Radical Humanist leader, started a fam- received the following response from organization of student-leaders ily planning campaign along with M.N. devoted to religious and civil liber- Governor Ventura: Roy, though it was never widely wel- ties for people of all faiths and creeds —even those of nonbelief—we Dear Executive Council, comed. Human-ists like Ravindranath strongly support your stance of end- Alapati who tried to promote an aware- ing this symbolic endorsement of I appreciate your support in regard to ness of the subject through appropriate religion by the state. my position on the separation of gov- sex education were charged with obscen- As students who value liberty, we ernment and religion, and my refusal ity even in the 1940s. share your policy that since there to proclaim a day of prayer in "are people out there who ... don't Minnesota. Despite the objections of When Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime believe at all," and since some of many of my constituents, I felt I had them are "citizens of Minnesota," to stick to the principles that have (Continued on page 56)

En summer 1999 THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

The Roots of Religion INTRODUCTION and Its Destiny TOM FLYNN

n December 1998, scientists and scholars gathered at the prestigious New York Academy of Science for an unprecedented symposium organized by FREE INQUIRY. Titled "The Science of Religion," the conference contemplated the same question that animated FREE INQUIRY'S May 1999 conference in Chicago: Why does religion persist? IAs presenter Bruce Hunsberger noted, many nineteenth-century observers thought it "only a matter of time until science `explained' religion, which would then wither away. Yet, as we all know, religion has not `withered away."' Despite universal education (in the developed world), despite historical and archaeological discoveries that debunk traditional beliefs, despite ready proof that modern-day religions like Mormonism emerged out of fraud and human error, religion abides. If anything, its influence is growing, at least in the United States. If science can shed light on the history and phenomena of religious belief, it must also account for religion's staying power. Can religion be overcome? Can humans outgrow their need for myth? Are these worthwhile goals? If so, is the freethinker's cognitive strategy—presenting counter-evidence in hopes of undermining religious certainty—constructive? If not, how can we account for the small but persistent minority who have thought their way free from religious beliefs, a minority that includes many present-day secular humanists? Presented here are the thoughts of five

A faith that cannot survive collision with participants in the New York conference. the truth is not worth many regrets. Paul Kurtz, editor-in-chief of FREE INQUIRY, asks "Why Do People Believe or —Arthur C. Clarke Disbelieve?" He argues that religion can and should be studied scientifically, and sketches a strategy for exploring religion's persistence. Kurtz urges scientists to search the human mind and the human genome for answers about religion, but also to explore the persistent minority phenomenon of unbelief. In "The Past of an Illusion," Lionel Tiger considers religion as a biological phenomenon. He argues that like optimism, the religious impulse probably springs from biology, shaped alike by evolution and organic need. Perhaps to the disappointment of freethinkers, Tiger argues that biology offers a new and essentially respectful account of religion. Indeed, he suggests religion would benefit if its leaders could "redefine themselves as participants in the biological system." Morton Hunt probes "The Biological Roots of Religion," focusing on the sociobiological processes by which proclivities toward faith may have made their mark on the developing brain. If religion is an inherent part of our human heritage, Hunt suggests, then we need a deeper understanding of unbelief. What does it mean for secular humanists to lack—or to reject—an inclination as deeply rooted as the impulse toward faith appears to be? Bruce Hunsberger surveys contemporary research in social psychology, in which religion is associated with themes such as socialization, social support, meaning in life, external reward, joy, and authority. He draws particular attention to recent studies that suggest a powerful link between religious fundamentalism and authoritarianism, suggesting a direct connection between fundamentalist religiosity and prejudice. Finally, George Bishop challenges one of the assumptions most of his colleagues share. Casting a critical eye toward contemporary survey data, Bishop suggests that current notions of religion as an almost universal phenomenon may be skewed by the idiosyncratic prominence Christian fundamentalism currently enjoys in the United States. He argues that in other countries the decline of popular religion seems in fact to be occurring much as nineteenth century rationalists expected it to. This under- cuts the idea that religion is a human universal for which a biological explanations is required. To Bishop, religion may better be considered as a sociocultural, not a sociobiological, phenomenon. fi

Tom Flynn is FI Senior Editor and Special Projects Director of the Center for Inquiry.

free inquiry THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

Why Do People LETTING SCIENCE ANSWER THE QUESTION Believe or Disbelieve? Paul Kurtz

RELIGION'S POWER

Three dramatic religious events illustrate the perennial power of religious faith in human culture. The first is the huge annual hat is the relationship between science and assembly of Islamic pilgrims drawn to Mecca every year. religion? The advocates of theistic religion Photographs of an estimated three million devotees who were in often maintain that religion expresses a mode Mecca in recent pilgrimages show that they have come from all of truth that is independent of scientific knowledge, and that reli- walks of life and from all classes. The second impressive annual gious experience presents a form of intuition or knowing that reason event are the millions of Hindus in India who congregate at the cannot comprehend. They claim that there is no conflict between Ganges River in accordance with ancient religious rituals. At the these two domains and that they complement each other. most recent event, an estimated ten million people appeared at the Can science explain religious behavior in naturalistic terms? Can Kumbha Mela festival in the small city of Hardiwar for prayer and there be a science of religion? Scientists attempt to account for var- purification. And the third is the re-exhibition at a cathedral in ious forms of human behavior: economic, political, biological, psy- Turin of the shroud that Jesus was allegedly wrapped in and chological. If we can talk about political science, or economic sci- buried. A huge throng of visitors have come from all over the ence, can we also talk about the science of religion? world to view the Shroud of Turin. The answers to this question, I submit, are in the affirmative, at Skeptical doubts can surely be raised about the claim that a pil- least in principle. Indeed, a great deal of scientific energy has grimage to Mecca will guarantee Muslim believers entrance to already been expended to account for behavior that is described as heaven or that bathing in the Ganges River will bestow special spir- "religious" Historians attempt to describe the historical past of itual benefits. There is no evidence that the performance of ritualis- religious institutions; sociologists seek to explain their social tic acts of spiritual contrition, either by visiting the Kaaba in Mecca structures and functions; anthropologists deal with religions in and encircling it three times, or by bathing in the water of the primitive cultures; psychologists of religion seek to account for Ganges, will achieve a blessed state of Paradise for Muslims or "religious experience," the role of prayer and ritual, in human Atman for Hindus. To point out to the devout disciples of these two behavior, etc. There are any number of scholarly and scientific ancient religions that the recommended rites are contradictory or fields that deal with the historical and archaeological contexts in have no basis in fact generally fall on deaf ears. which the sacred texts were written or engage in philological and Similarly for the Shroud of Turin, which, according to the best comparative analyses. The premise of all these studies is that we available scientific evidence, was a forgery made in Lirey, France, should treat the varieties of religious behavior as we would any in the fourteenth century. Interestingly, it was condemned as such at other forms of human behavior; that is, approach them objectively that time by the bishop in the area, for it was used to deceive thou- and dispassionately, attempting to understand what is going on sands of pilgrims seeking cures for their illnesses. Walter McCrone, without an a priori evaluative bias. the noted microscopist, has shown that the red color on the shroud I wish in this article to focus on only one basic question: Why do was not human blood, but red ochre and vermilion tempera paint. people believe in religious doctrines, i.e., why do they accept the Joe Nickell of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of tenets of a religion and participate in its practices and rituals? Claims of the Paranormal has even demonstrated that it is possible Conversely, we may ask, Why do some people disbelieve in the te- to produce a similar image on cloth by a rubbing technique, using nets of religion or reject its practices? This has been the topic of an the vermilion and ochre pigments that were available at that time in ongoing research project that the Center for Inquiry has undertaken France. Moreover, portions of the shroud were carbon-14 dated by over the years. FREE INQUIRY was founded two decades ago to open three independent laboratories, all of whom reported that it was not religion to careful critical examination, at a time when it was con- 1,900 years old, but probably fabricated approximately 700 years sidered by many to be impolite, perhaps even illegitimate or per- ago. These reports were published in the scientific literature and verse, to undertake such studies. received widespread attention in the press; and skeptical scientists applauded the forensic evidence, which clearly stated that the image on the shroud was not due to a miracle, but could be given a natu- Paul Kurtz is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, State University of ralistic causal explanation. New York at Buffalo, and Editor-in-Chief of FREE INQUIRY. Yet, much to the surprise of skeptics, who thought that they had

® summer 1999 decisively refuted the proponents of the faith, the shroud industry prophecies, prescribing rituals, prayers, and rites of passage; a has returned with full force and vigor and is proclaiming that skep- priestly class that seeks to enforce religious law; great temples, ca- tics were in error. Believers maintain that there were alleged flaws thedrals, and mosques where the Lord is present in the mysteries of in the carbon-14 process—all rationalizations in the view of skep- the sacraments. These ancient religions have persisted in part tics—and that the shroud was the burial garment of Jesus Christ. because they have ostracized or condemned heretics and disbelievers. They have gained adherents over time by policies of selective breeding: marriage could only be by members of the same clan or THE HISTORY OF RELIGION tribe or church, and those who married outside of the faith were dis- owned. They sought to inculcate and transmit the tenets of the faith Why do people believe in the above religious claims? Is it because to the young, so as to ensure the continuity of the tradition. The they have not been exposed to criticisms? Most of the classical reli- entire artistic, moral, philosophical, economic, social, and legal gious beliefs emerged in a pre-scientific era before the application structure of ancient societies were rooted in religious institutions. of the methods of science. Unfortunately, the origins of the venerat- Many liberal theists would accept the above critique of the his- ed ancient religions are often buried by the sands of historical toric religions by the "higher criticism," especially since the German time—though biblical critics have endeavored to reconstruct the theologian Rudolf Bultmann attempted to demythologize the New foundations of these religions by using the best scholarly and scien- Testament. Yet they maintain that the alleged historical events are to tific methods of inquiry. It is often difficult to engage in impartial be read symbolically or metaphorically and if they are accepted it is scholarly or scientific inquiry into the origins of religious doctrines, because they give meaning and purpose to life. particularly when those critically examining the foundations of the Interestingly, we now have data from recent religious sects that revered truths are often placed in jeopardy by their societies. emerged in the nineteenth century and are not shrouded in historical Biblical criticism in the Western world has only relatively recently mystery. And we are close enough to the events to lay bare the fac- been freed from prohibiting censorship and/or the power of institu- tors at work: the historical records of persuasion and conversion on tional sanctions brought to bear on freethinkers. Koranic criticism is the part of the founders of these new religions, and the willing virtually absent in Islamic lands, or if it is done it is only with great acceptance of the faith by receptive believers. Thus we may exam- fear of retribution; for questioning the divine authority of ine the origins of Mormonism, Seventh-Day Adventism, Christian Muhammad is considered by the Koran itself to be a form of blas- Science, or the Jehovah's Witness movement to discern if there are phemy punishable by a fatwah. similar psycho-bio-sociological patterns at work. Invariably it is dif- The ancient religions of prophecies and revelations—Judaism, ficult to certify their authenticity once the claims to divine revelation Christianity, and Islam—all claim that God intervened at one time are examined by careful historical investigators. in history, spoke to Moses and the prophets, resurrected Jesus, or In many new religions the historical records are abundant. In all communicated through Gabriel to Muhammad. Skeptics maintain of these religions, critics have pointed out the role of deception or that the key claims have never been adequately corroborated by reli- self-deception, such as Joseph Smith's writing of the Book of able independent eyewitnesses. The so-called sacred books no Mormon and his accounts of the golden plates delivered by the doubt incorporate the best theological and metaphysical yearnings angel Moroni, which were subsequently lost by him. Similarly for of ancient nomadic and agricultural societies, and they often express the claims of plagiarism made against Mary Ellen White, founder eloquent moral insights by the people of that time; yet they hardly of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, or the questionable claims can withstand the sustained critical examination by objective inquir- of miraculous health cures by Mary Baker Eddy and other ers. The narratives of alleged supernatural intervention that appear Christian Scientist practitioners. Similarly for the origins of the in the Bible and the Koran were at first transmitted by oral traditions Jehovah's Witnesses. after the alleged facts occurred. They were written down by second- Closer still, twentieth-century skeptics have been able to wit- or third-hand sources, many years and even decades later. They most ness firsthand the spinning out of New Age paranormal religions. A likely weave into their parables dramatic renditions bordering on good illustration of this is the power of suggestion exercised by fiction, and written by passionate propagandists for new faiths. psychics and mediums, often through the use of deception or self- These sacred books promise believers another world beyond this deception, and the receptiveness of so many believers, all too will- vale of tears. Their messages of salvation were attractive to count- ing to accept claims of supernormal powers by abandoning rigor- less generations of poor and struggling souls endeavoring to over- ous standards of corroboration. These processes are even found come the blows of existential reality. Believers ever since have among sophisticated scientists (as well as ordinary folks), who are accepted them as gospel truth; after centuries they became deeply specialists in their fields, but perhaps not in the art of deception. An ingrained in the entire fabric of society. Indeed, the great monothe- entire industry claiming to prove another reality transcending this istic religions were eventually intertwined with the dominant politi- world is flourishing: belief in reincarnation (based on "past-life cal, military, and economic institutions and were enforced by both regressions") and near-death experiences are often appealed to in priestly and secular authorities. order to reinforce belief in the separable existence and immortality The religion of the ancient Jews, allegedly inspired by Moses of the human soul. and the Old Testament prophets, came to express the ideological The spawning of space-age religions in the latter half of the yearnings of the Hebrew nation. Christianity was eventually twentieth century is especially instructive for the psychobiology of declared to be the state religion by Constantine. Islam, from its belief. Scientology was invented by L. Ron Hubbard, who began as inception, was reinforced by the sword of Muhammad. All these a writer of science fiction but then went on to consciously create a faiths, though shrouded in mystery, claim divine sanctification. new religion. Dianetics and all that it proposes are questionable on There are certain common features that each of these religions man- empirical grounds, yet countless thousands of people, including ifests—historic claims of revelation by charismatic prophets famous celebrities, have been persuaded to accept its tenets. UFO promising eternal salvation; sacred books detailing their miraculous mythology is especially fascinating. Space Age prophets have

free inquiry emerged, rivaling the classical religious prophets, and likewise of nature and ourselves. claiming deliverance to another realm. The deluded believers in We all know that we need to use practical reason to deal with Heaven's Gate and the Order of the Solar Temple, who committed empirical questions, such as: "Is it snowing outside?" or "How do I suicide in order to be transported to a higher realm, are illustrative cope with my toothache?" And we also apply such methods within of the power that these new religions can have on their devotees. Ex- the sciences, to deal with issues such as the following: "The traterrestrial visitations from on high have the similar contours of dinosaurs were most likely extinguished by an asteroid impact some alleged early visitations by divine beings and their revelations on sixty-five million years ago." Or, "We are unable to cure people by Mount Sinai, or in the caves of Hijra outside of Mecca, or on the therapeutic touch." Each of these beliefs may be tested by the exper- road to Damascus, or by the Olympian gods of Greek mythology. imental evidence or by theories accepted as probable or improbable Thus the question is raised anew, How do we explain the will- on the basis of these considerations. In addition, an open-minded ingness of so many people—no doubt a majority of humankind—to inquirer may be led to accept or reject any number of propositions, outstrip the evidence and to weave out fantasies in which their deep- which he or she previously asserted, such as, "There is no evidence est psychological longings are expressed and their national mythol- that a great flood engulfed the entire globe as related in the Bible." ogies fulfilled? How explain the willingness to believe even the There is a class of overbeliefs, however, for which no amount most bizarre tales? of evidence seems to suffice, at least for some people. These gen- I have had close contact over the years with a wide range of lat- erally may be classified as "transcendental beliefs." It is here that ter-day religious gurus and mystics—from Reverend Moon to faith or the will to believe intervenes. By the "transcendental," I Ernest Angley and Peter Popoff—and paranormal psychics and mean that which is over and beyond normal observations or ratio- seers—from Uri Geller to Jeane Dixon and Ramtha. Skeptics have nal coherence, and is enhanced by mystery and magic. This sure- been challenged to account for the apparent extraordinary feats of ly is what the great mystics have referred to as the "ineffable" their proponents. After detailed investigation their weird claims depths of Being. Scientific inquiry is naturalistic; that is, it have been debunked; yet in spite of this otherwise sensible people attempts to uncover the natural causes at work. Granted that these have persisted in beliefs that are patently false. Indeed, there seems are often hidden causes, unseen by unaided observation, such as to be a bizarre kind of logic at work: belief systems for which there microbes or atoms; yet such causes can be confirmed by some is entirely scanty evidence or no evidence, or indeed abundant evi- measure of verification; they fit into a conceptual framework; and dence to the contrary are fervently accepted; indeed, people will their explanatory value can be corroborated by a community of devote their entire lives to a groundless creed. This has been her- independent inquirers. Transcendental explanations are, by defini- alded in the past as faith in things unseen or things hoped for. The tion, nonnatural; they cannot be confirmed experimentally; they will to believe in spite of negative evidence has been acclaimed as cannot be corroborated objectively. morally praiseworthy. David Hume thought it a "miracle" that peo- We may ask, "Why do many people accept unverified occult ple who believe in miracles are willing to subvert all of the evi- explanations when they are clothed in religious or paranormal dence of the senses and the processes of rationality in order to guise?" The answer, I think, in part at least, is because such accept their beliefs. accounts arouse awe and entice the passionate imagination. In an earlier book I have labeled this "the transcendental temptation,"' the temptation to believe in things unseen, because they satisfy felt EXPLAINING BELIEF needs and desires. The transcendental temptation has various dimensions. It was resorted to by primitive men and women, unable There are at least two possible explanations that I wish to focus on. to cope with the intractable in nature, unmitigated disasters, (There are no doubt others, such as the need for identity, ethnicity, unbearable pain or sorrow. It is drawn upon by humans in order to the quest for community, the role of indoctrination, the power of tra- assuage the dread of death—by postulating another dimension to dition, etc.) existence, the hope for an afterlife in which the evils and injustices In answer to the question, "Why do people believe?," the first of this world are overcome. The lure of the transcendental tempta- explanation is that believers have not been exposed to the factual cri- tion appeals to the frail and forlorn. There may not be any evidence tiques of their faith. These critiques apply to the cognitive basis of for a transcendental realm; but the emotive and intellectual desire their belief. There are alternative naturalistic explanations of the to submit to it can provide a source of comfort and consolation. To alleged phenomena, cognitivists maintain, and if criticisms of the believe that we will meet in another life those whom we have loved claims were made available to them, they would abandon their irra- in this life can be immensely satisfying, or at least it can provide tional beliefs. This is no doubt true of some people, who are com- some saving grace. It may enable a person to get through the griev- mitted to inquiry, but not of all, for processes of rationalization ous losses that he or she suffers in this life. If I can't be with those intervene to rescue the faith. I cherish today, I can at least do so in my dreams and fantasies, and Accordingly, a second explanation for this is that noncognitive if I submit to and propitiate the unseen powers that govern the uni- tendencies and impulses are at work, tempting believers to accept the verse this will miraculously right the wrongs that I have endured in "unbelievable" This disposition to believe in spite of insufficient or this vale of tears. Thus the transcendental temptation is tempting contrary evidence has deep roots in our biological and social nature. because it enables human beings to survive the often cruel trials In the first instance, cognition performs a powerful role in and tribulations that are our constant companion, and it enables us human life, liberating us from false ideas. In the form of common to endure this life in anticipation of the next. It is the mystery and sense, it is essential, at least up to a point, if we are to live and func- magic of religion, its incantations and rituals, that fan the passions tion in the real world. Critical thinking is the preeminent instrument of overbelief, and nourish illusion and unreality. There is a real and of human action; it is the most effective means that we have to ful- dangerous world out there that primitive and modern humans need fill our purposes and solve the problems of living. From it philoso- to cope with—wild animals and marauding tribes, droughts and phy and science have emerged, contributing to our understanding famine, lightning and forest fires, calamities and deprivation, acci-

® summer 1999 dents and contingencies. Surely, there is pleasure and satisfaction, to be 50%. E. O. Wilson also maintains that there is some biologi- achievement, and realization in life, but also tragedy and failure, cal basis for religiosity; although one cannot locate this in a specif- defeat, and bitterness. Our world is a complex tapestry of joy and ic gene, there are a multiplicity of genetic factors and epigenetic suffering. The transcendental temptation thus can provide a power- rules.' He argues that theological overbeliefs offer consolation in ful palliative enabling humans to cope with the unbearable, over- the face of adversity, and that these religious overbeliefs—whether come mortality, and finitude; and it does so by creating fanciful true or false—provide a functional means of adaptation. Those systems of religious overbelief in which priests and prophets pro- tribes or clans that possessed a safety net of such beliefs and prac- pitiate the unseen sources of power and thus shield us from the tices may have been better able to cope with the fear of death, and vicissitudes of fortune. they were also able to pass along to future generations the tenden- It is only in recent human history that the species has gradually cy to be religious. This proclivity may have had some survival been able to overcome mythological explanations. Philosophy and value and thus it was transmitted to future generations. E. O. metaphysics emerged, attempting to account for the world of change Wilson maintains that "there is a hereditary selective advantage to and flux in terms of rational explanations; modern science succeed- members in a powerful group united by devout belief and pur- ed where pure speculation failed, by using powerful cognitive meth- pose.... Much if not all religious behavior could have arisen from ods of experimental verification and mathematical inference. Dis- evolution by natural selection."' eases did not have satanic origins, but natural explanations and There is a growing body of scientific research that supports this cures. The weather could be interpreted, not as a product of divine sociobiological explanation: this includes two components: (1) psy- wrath or favor, but in meteorological terms. Astrology's heavenly cho-biological, which has some genetic basis, and (2) sociological, omens and signs were replaced by the regularities discernible by which has roots in cultural memes and habits. This would involve a physics and astronomy. Science abandoned occult for material caus- coeval gene-meme hypothesis. Evolution is a function of both our es. It is the foe of magical thinking, and it is able to proceed by genes on the one hand and memes transmitted by culture and incul- refusing to submit to the transcendental temptation, at least in deal- cated in the young on the other.' Thus, both hereditary and environ- ing with the empirical world. mental factors have an influence on the behavior of individuals. Yet there still remained a residue of unanswered questions, and Though there may be a predisposition toward belief in the transcen- it is here in the swamp of the unknowable that the transcendental dental, how it is expressed and the content of the beliefs depends on temptation festers. This beguiling temptation reaches beyond the the culture. natural world by sheer force of habit and passion, and it resists all efforts to contain it. Rather than suspend judgments about those questions for which there is no evidence either way, it leaps in to fill THE REASONS FOR DISBELIEF the void and comfort the aching soul. It is the most frequent salve used to calm existential fear and trembling. Why is this so? Because We need also to ask, Why do some humans disbelieve? — for there I think that the temptation has its roots in a tendency, and this in a is a minority of people who remain unbelievers, agnostics, or athe- disposition. In other words, there is most likely within the human ists.' There are a number of important research projects that I think species a genetic component, which is stronger than temptation and should be undertaken. To ascertain if there is a genetic tendency — weaker than instinct. The hypothesis that I wish to offer is that the or lack of it — we should study the family trees of both believers belief in the efficacy of prayer and the submission to divine power and unbelievers. Much the same as we can trace the physical char- persists because it has had some survival value in the infancy of the acteristics, such as eye or hair color, short or tall stature, and even race; powerful psycho-sociobiological factors are thus at work, pre- genetic diseases in some family stocks, so we should be able to disposing humans to submit to the temptation. trace the religiosity factor, especially in twins and/or siblings who The cognitive explanation for its persistence is that there is cog- are reared apart. If we can measure musical talent (MQ) or intelli- nitive dissonance or misinformation that is the root cause for the fix- gence (IQ), then perhaps we can also measure the religious quo- ation on the transcendental and that this can be overcome by ratio- tient (RQ). Similarly, we need to trace the family trees of unbe- nal inquiry. Socrates thought that faith persisted only because of lievers and ask, Is the genetic factor absent and if so to what extent ignorance, and that knowledge would disabuse us of religious and why? myths. This surely continues to play a powerful role in regard to the I have met a great number of unbelievers over the years who content of our beliefs. Yet I submit that there is another factor pre- tell me that they have been atheists for as long as they could sent, which explains the persistence of religiosity, and this is an evo- rememb r, that they never could accept the dominant religious lutionary explanation; that is, belief in the transcendental had adap- creed, eve though many were indoctrinated into it from the ear- tive value, and those tribes or clans that believed in unseen myths liest. Clearly, a need to go beyond anecdotal autobiographical and forces to whom they propitiated by ritual and prayer had a ten- accounts to systematic studies of how and why people become dency to survive and to pass on this genetic predisposition to their disbelievers. Many atheists, on the other hand, have related that offspring. Thus religiosity is a "heritable" factor within the naked their unbelief was a result of a slow cognitive process of critical human ape.' reflection. What are some of the data in support of a transcendental pre- Bruce Hunsberger and Bob Altemeyer, in an important study,' disposition? There are the University of Minnesota studies of iden- have attempted to outline the processes of conversion and decon- tical twins,' which showed that a significant number of infants who version in students that they studied in universities in Canada. were separated at birth and reared apart under different environ- Edward Babinsky9 has published autobiographical accounts of peo- mental conditions, nonetheless exhibited similar tastes and prefer- ple who abandoned their religiosity. We need to study the process- ences, and in this case exhibited a tendency to be religious. This es of deconversion for possible explanations: Why do people who predisposition is not necessarily deterministic in a strict sense, and were religiously indoctrinated reject their beliefs, how rapidly did it is absent in a number of cases. The heritable factor is estimated they do so, and for what reasons or causes? Conversely, what

free inquiry D processes are involved in moving from a state of unbelief to reli- WHAT CAN WE Do? gious conviction? Hunsberger and Altemeyer have suggested in their study of students that the process of deconversion was pre- If science confirms the hypothesis that there are deep sociobiological dominantly a slow, cognitive process; and that of conversion a forces responsible, at least in part, for religiosity in the species, then rather rapid emotional transformation. we need to ask, What can we do about it, if anything? Cognitivists We need to examine the sociocultural contexts in which reli- will say that we still should constantly strive to engage in criticism of gious ideas appear and disappear. We have an excellent data pool outrageous doctrines. At the very least this will help to restrain and today in Russia and Eastern Europe where atheism was the official temper religious fanaticism, protect the rights of unbelievers, and doctrine of the state. Here enormous efforts were expended for 50 to 75 years to pursue ide- The lure of the transcendental ological policies of indoctrination and propaganda, designed to discourage religious belief temptation appeals to the frail and and encourage atheism. We may ask, What has happened in these countries since the collapse forlorn. There may not be any of communism? Is the past political-social evidence for a transcendental realm; influence of atheism enduring, leaving a permanent residue, or is it dissipating? but the emotive and intellectual Similarly, many Western European countries have seen a rather rapid decline in traditional desire to submit to it can provide religion since World War II, especially under the influence of liberalism and humanism. For a source of comfort and consolation. example, in The Netherlands before the war, approximately half of the population identified with Roman perhaps develop an ethic of tolerance. If religiosity will most likely Catholicism and half with Protestantism, with a small percentage of be with us in one form or another in the foreseeable future, can we Jews and other minorities. This has changed since World War II, develop secular and naturalistic substitutes or moral equivalents for and there is now a higher percentage of humanists than either the passionate longing for meaning? Can we serve up sufficient balm Protestants or Catholics. Similar processes have been observed in to soothe existential weltschmerz? Can we develop new symbols to Norway, England, France, and elsewhere. inspire meaning and hope? Can we engender the courage to be and Curiously, only 6% to 8% of the American population may be to become? In other words, can secular humanism offer a message as classified as unbelievers.10 Can we give an account of why this is potent as theistic mythology? These are the kinds of questions that so and why American society seems to be anomalous, at least in we hope the science of religion will help us to solve. fi comparison with Western Europe? Interestingly, some 60% of American scientists, and 93% of so-called elite scientists accord- Notes ing to a recent poll, are classified as unbelievers. Why does this happen? Are there cognitive factors primarily at work? Or are dis- L Paul Kurtz, The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the believers anomalous — lacking the genetic disposition? Or, on the Paranormal (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1986). 2. If it is the case that there is a genetic predisposition for religiosity, then we need contrary, do they represent an advanced form of the evolution of an operational criterion of it. I would define (theistic) `religiosity" behavioristically: the species? "the expression of piety, the veneration of the mysterious beyond ordinary experience, A key factor in the growth of religion or atheism undoubtedly is the cherishing of overbeliefs about the transcendental, symbolic acts of submission to a a function of the sociocultural influences that prevail. Historically, divine figure(s) in expectation of receiving salvation, the engaging in propitiatory prayer and ritual." the orthodox religions have sought to punish heresy or blasphemy as 3. N. G. Waller, B. A. Kojetin, Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., David T. Lykken, high crimes. Infidels have often been excommunicated or burned at Matthew McGue, and Auke Tellegen. "Genetics and Environmental Influences on the stake. It is only in recent times that democratic societies have Religious Interests, Attitudes, and Values: A Study of Twins Reared Apart and recognized, let alone permitted or encouraged religious dissenters to Together," Psychological Science (1990), pp. 138-42; Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., David flourish. One might ask, If conditions of tolerance, indeed encour- T. Lykken, Matthew McGue, Nancy L. Segal, Auke Tellegen, "Sources of Human Psychological Differences: The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart," Science 250, agement, were to prevail, to what extent would religious beliefs no. 4978 (October 12, 1990), pp. 223-28. wane or be altered? What are the environmental conditions by which 4. E. O. Wilson, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (New York: Alfred A. atheism can be induced? What kind of educational curricula would Knopf, 1998). See also John C. Avise, The Genetic Gods: Evolution and Belief in Hu- most likely stimulate unbelief? man Affairs (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998). 5. E. O. Wilson, Consilience, p. 258. A key issue that can be raised concerns the difference between 6. Certain religious ideas (memes) are akin to viruses of the mind spreading by imi- the content of the core beliefs and practices of a religion and the tation throughout a culture. Richard Dawkins is responsible for introducing this meme function of the beliefs and practices. The content may change over hypothesis. See his The Selfish Gene (Cambridge: Oxford University Press, 1976, 1989, time, and there may be an erosion of traditional beliefs, and their and Susan Blackmore, The Meme Machine (Oxford University Press, 1999). modification may be due to cognitive criticisms; but alternative 7. The readers of FREE INQUIRY and the Skeptical Inquirer magazines provide a large pool of unbelievers, a good source for research. A poll of FREE INQUIRY readers in- creed-practices may emerge, satisfying similar psychological-bio- dicate that 91% are either atheists, agnostics, or secular humanists, and of Skeptical logical-sociological needs and functions. In this regard, I reiterate, Inquirer, 77% are atheists, agnostics, or secular humanists. we are not dealing with the kind of religion that persists or the sta- 8. Bob Altemeyer and Bruce Hunsberger, Amazing Conversions: Why Some Turn tus of its truth claims—which may be irrelevant for many believ- to Faith and Others Abandon Religion (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1997). 9. Edward T. Babinsky, Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists ers—but with the power of religious symbols and institutions to pro- (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1994). vide structure and order, and to give purpose in an otherwise mean- 10. "Religious Belief in America: A New Poll," FREE INQUIRY 16, no. 3 (Summer ingless and perhaps terrifying universe. 1996): 34-40.

® summer 1999 Optimism: The BiologyofHope International, 1999). the authorof Love. accept thepossibilitythatthereare children. Whatismoredifficulttounderstandwhyhumanbeings could beacceptedasrealwhentheyproducemalignresults—when Lionel TigerisProfessorofAnthropology atRutgersUniversityand them. Mypersonalassumptionaboutmyownlifeandcommu- they causedisease,floods,death,heartbreak,war,thesuffering of this wereso.Ithinkitiseasytounderstandwhysucharcaneforces neither suchpleasingnorgruesome forces.Thechallengeistofind nity's, andalsomyworkingassumptioninthisbook,isthatthereare behalf which,likesomeslim,strongwindataregatta,willpropel embrace oratleastdonotrejectthestrongpossibilitythatother forces thanobviousonesaffecttheirlives.Mostpeoplebehaveas if Only strongandexcellentpersonalactionobedi- place innature.Itislikelythatnearlyallhumanbeingsonearth geoned bytheintricatepowerofceaselessmortality. divinity andmindenoughtorecalltheepisodeofcre- ence tothememoryoflostdivinitywillenhanceaperson'saccess to heaven. age andloveatthesametimeaswehavebeenblud- ation andourpartinit.Foreverafter,fromtheFall, one majormistaketoomany,Godabandonedhuman of explanationwouldthencontinue:havingmadethis we havestruggledwiththememoryofGod'spatron- was abandonedasaltogethertooperilous.Thisstyle takes seriouslythewisdomandcompassionfrequentlyassociated to representHimselftherebywithdignity,theproject us withskillenoughtosensethespiceandincenseof beings totheirowndevices.ButHecruellyendowed conflicted formtorepresenttheessenceofHisdivinity.Itisalso inefficient, andelitistdecision. with Godisthathavingcreatedmanandfailed would havefocusedononespecies.IfHedid,itwasanungodly, have tobejudgedparochialandinept.NoGodwithathoughtful plan couldhaveorshouldpermittedsuchaparadoxicaland unlikely thataGodwithdesiretoconnectgenerouslyEarth F free inquiry Of coursemanypeoplebelieveinsuchadescriptionofman's The onlypossibleexplanationofadivineoriginmanwhich This excerptisreprintedwithpermission fromLionelTiger, Men inGroups,ThePursuitofPleasure, The PastofanIllusion that caseHismanagementofhumancreationwould attended tothedevelopmentof or amomentletusassumeGodexistsandthatHe How OPTIMISMBRINGSUSTOGOD benign (New York:Kodansha THE SCIENCEOFRELIGION forces actingontheir Homo sapiens. and Lionel Tiger Modern In exploration issuperior tonature,notimmersedin itsforces. ertheless clungto theirtraditionalclaimthattherealm oftheological ations gainimportanceandpower fromassociationwithnature.Did ticular religiousbeliefwasself-evidently thetrueonethatineffect be seenaspowerfullyimplicitin theideaofGod.Theologiansnev- nature, buttosuperviseitandform itscentralprinciple.Naturecould not countlesstheologiansintuitthis whentheyclaimedthattheirpar- reflected nature?Thefunctionof Godwasnottodefyorcontradict gious/biological acrimonycamefromthereligiouscamp,whosepro- for suchaviewofreligion.Ontheotherhand,matterbecomes their exemptionfromgenerallawsofnature.Butsurelydivineoper- trivial ormanageable. they allofferindividualpeopleopportunitiestoorganizetheirfears Perhaps itwillseemironicthatthescienceparticularlyfearedby about theirfutures.Asaresulttheycanactasifthesefearswere ponents insistedthattheefficacyofreligiousschemesdepended on protectors ofreligiousorthodoxy,biology,shouldcontainthebasis less strangewhenonerecognizesthattheprincipalsourceofreli- they alldothesameworkinsupportingcommunalsocialbondsand religion thatisbothhumaneandrespectfulofreligion'sfunction. details. Ethologypredictsthatritualswilllastaslongtherace.."Z understanding ofthenatureandfunctioncultureatlarge that wewillhavefivefingersoneachhandandeyeballsrotate out whypeoplethinkthereare. hence thesurvivalofourspecies" written, "... which iswhyitkeepscroppingup.Thisnotanewperception,and In thisview,religionisaspredictableandnormalamonghumans ter rangingfromFreudtoJamesWestonLaBarre.AsLaBarrehas think religionisabiologicalphenomenon,rootedinhumangenes, malized behaviorpersist,changingsemanticcontentandbehavioral it hasbeenreportedinvariousformsbymanystudentsofthemat- Kehoe hassaid,"...phylogeneticallyancientmechanismsoffor- non; sincereligionisdeeplyintertwinedwithoptimism,clearlyI A perspectiverootedinthebiologicalsciencesyieldsaviewof I havealreadyclaimedthatoptimismisabiologicalphenome-

JOYC E RAVID and timetoparticularcommunitiesofsustainingtheir ogy andliturgicaldisputationbecomesnotasearch gious laymenandfunctionaries.Thecostinmoney systems. Somemaybemoreelaborate,colorful, for assertingtheequivalentvalidityofallreligious for truthorfalsehoodbutratheranhistoricalethno- may begreatdifferencesintherelativepowerofreli- there isacommonbiologicalstimulusorrootfor to someextent.Giventhiscontext,theworkoftheol- vengeful, militant,oregalitarianthanothers.There religious apparatusmayvaryconsiderably.However, religious behaviorthenthisprovidesthelogicalbasis graphic studyofthevarietiesbio-religiousform.If the understandingofreligionmaybekeytoan (italics inoriginal.).'Or,asAlice However difficult it may be for religious authorities to redefine We assume from the record that their once confident scorn of skep- themselves as participants in the biological system, empirical evi- ticism lent their case energy, not weakness. Why, then, is this appar- dence about the function and nature of religion may persuade them ently no longer true? fi to do so. Perhaps the apparent decline of religious belief reflects primarily not profound social change but the diminished effect of the- ologians themselves, who as a group have failed to identify, and tap, Notes the true source of their potential power. 1.Weston LaBarre, The Ghost Dance: The Origins of Religion (New York: I am not advocating that they should exploit this power, merely Dell Books, 1972), p. 40. stating that someone can and usually does, and that it is likely that 2. Alice B. Kehoe "The Metorymic Pale and Social Roles," Journal of religious protagonists will enjoy an advantage in "winning souls." Anthropological Research 27 (1973): 13.

Berman, L. Conyers, P. D. Harvey; Post-Marxism CATCH UP ON WHAT and Humanism, S. Stojanovic, L. Yong-Sheng. Spring 1996, Vol. 16, no. 2-Do We Need God to Be Moral? J. M. Frame, P. Kurtz; Religion in YOU'VE MISSED IN the Public Schools, A. Szalanski, V. L. Bullough, E. Tabash, J. B. Massen, J. Barnhart, M. J. Rockier; The DARWIN Incredible Flimflams of Margaret Rowen, Part 1, M. RE-CRUCIFIEM4 Gardner; Strange Bedfellows: Mormon Polygamy BACK and Baptist History, G. D. Smith; The Lost Encyclical against Penicillin, C. Durang; Beat the Odds, D. ISSUES Olincy; Paul Edwards on Nietzsche, Freud, and free inquiry Reich, W A. Smith; Humanism and Human Malleability, T. J. Madigan. Winter 1995/96, Vol. 16, no. 1- • 20% discount on orders of 10 or more • $6.95 each Humanism and Tolerance, T J. Madigan, R. Muller, J. Pecker, P. Kurtz, M. Roan, M. Downey, M. Spring 1999, Vol. 19, no. 2-World Popu- Soyinka. Cherry, P. Stevens, Jr.; The Challenge from the lation, P Kurtz, R. W. Brown, L. R. Brown, D. Summer 1997, Vol. 17, no. 3-Cloning Religious Right, N. R. Allen, Jr., R. Bellant, A. E. Brown, C. Wahren, C. Lasher, F Kissling; a Chat Humans, T J. Madigan, R. Dawkins, R. A. Lindsay, Lyngzeidetson, S. Porteous, J. A. Naught; with Arthur C. Clarke; Science and Sensibility, Part R. T. Hull; Exposing the Religious Right's 'Secret' American Naturalism, P. H. Hare, R. Rorty, P. 2, R. Dawkins; Why Post-Modernism Is Not Pro- Weapon, G. Alexander-Moegerle; Can Science Romanell; Secularization in Turkey, I. Kuçuradi; gressive, B. Epstein. Prove that Prayer Works? H. Avalos; Morality Marking Life's Milestones: New Directions for Winter 1998/99, Vol. 19, no. 1-The Requires God Or Does It? T. Schick, Jr.; CODESH, J. W. Willson, M. Cherry. McCarthyites of Virtue, P Kurtz; Family Values, Interview with Albert Ellis; When Humanists Fall 1995, Vol. 15, no. 4-Consciousness M. Cherry, V. L. Bullough, R. Boston, M. Matsu- Embrace the Arts, J. Herrick; What's Wrong with Revisited, D. Dennett, P. S. Churchland, J. Delgado, mura; Profile in Courage: Taslima Nasrin, Relativism, L. Vaughn; Secularists, Rise Up and N. W. Smith, A. Carley; Bertrand Russell M. Cherry, Members of the Academy of Humanism, Celebrate! R. Greeley. Remembered, T. J. Madigan, M. J. Rockier, J. M. S. Rushdie, FI Interview; Science and Sensibility, Spring 1997, Vol. 17, no. 2-Tampa Bay's Novak, G. G. Leithauser, J. Shosky, M. Kohl, A. Part 1, R. Dawkins; God and the Philosophers, Part 'Virgin Mary Apparition,' G. Posner; Those Tearful Ryan, N. Griffin; Humanism and Medical Ethics, R. 3, P. Edwards; Trying to Prove the Bible Is Pro- Icons, J. Nickell; The Honest Agnostic, J. A. Taylor and R. Goss. Woman, L. Ksarjian. Naught; The Freedom to Inquire, G. D. Smith, D. Summer 1995, Vol. 15, no. 3-Remem- Fall 1998, Vol. 18, no. 4- Postmodernism, Berman, L. Hickman, S. Porteous, R. Riehemann, bering World War II, P. Kurtz, P. A. Pfalzner, G. and M. Cherry, E. O. Wilson, J. Bricmont, V L. M. Bunge; W. K. Clifford's Continuing Relevance, E. Klein, V. Freud, K. Baier; The Wandering Jew Bullough, X. Li, T. Schick, Jr., H. Siegel; Interview T. J. Madigan; The Goldhagen Controversy, E. D. and the Second Coming, M. Gardner; Is There a with John Searle on Artificial Intelligence; God and Cohen; On Witchcraft, H. Sebald, P. Stevens, Jr., Need for Fantasy? T. J. Madigan, M. Matsumura, the Philosophers, Part 2, P Edwards; Bill of Rights The Incredible Flimflams of Margaret Rowen, Part C. W. Faulkner, D. Berman, K. Marsalek, B. Kosko, for Unbelievers. 3, M. Gardner. R. Handy, B. Zamulinski, E. McGovern. Summer 1998, Vol. 18, no. 3-Re-Discover- Winter 1996/97, Vol. 17, no. 1-Eutha- Spring 1995, Vol. 15, no. 2-The Many ing Happiness, M. Matsumura, P. Kurtz, M. Csiks- nasia Policy at the Crossroads, R. A. Lindsay, P A. Faces of Feminism, T. J. Madigan, C. Paglia, S. zentmihalyi, J. F. Schumaker, T. J. Madigan, D. B. Admiraal; Catholic Primate Clings to Evolution, Jordan, R. Shea ffer, J. Sherven, J. Sniechowski, J. Ardell; God and the Philosophers, Part 1, P. H. J. Birx; The Pope, Evolution, and the Soul, K. Taylor, E. Smeal, R. Braidotti, B. Smith, E. R. Edwards; Clergy and the Sin of Silence, G. A. M. Bunge; Humanist World Meets in Mexico City, Klein, C. Gray; Secularism and Enlightenment in Larue; Notorious Notary, H. Silverman. M. Cherry; Humanism in Eastern Europe, T. J. Islamic Countries, P. Kurtz, I. Kuçuradi, V. L. Spring 1998, Vol. 18, no. 2-Science vs. Madigan, A. Flis; Student Freethought Group, Bullough; Poland Today: A Challenge for Secular Religion, M. Cherry, P. Kurtz, R. Dawkins, E. C. D. Araujo; Universal Declaration of Humanist Humanism, M. Hillar, J. Wolenski, B. Stanosz; A Scott, R. P. Feynman, B. Ehrenreich and J. McIntosh, Values, A. Solomon; Camp Quest 96, V. Uchtman; Bicentennial Glance at the Age of Reason, E. Smith. P Atkins, M. Ruse, H. Bondi, Q. Smith, M. The Infomedia Revolution, P. Kurtz; Dr. Persinger's Winter 1994/95, Vol. 15, no. 1-Opus Dei Matsumura; Interview with Conor Cruise O'Brien on God Machine, 1. Cotton. and Secret Societies, T. J. Madigan, M. Mendez- Thomas Jefferson; Free Will, L. Vaughn and Fall 1996, Vol. 16, no. 4-Defining Acosta, J. Puertas Fuertes, K. Steigleder, T T. Schick, Jr.; The Shroud of Turin, J. Nickell. Humanism: The Battle Continues, P. Kurtz, D. A. DiNicola, R. Arnold, P. McWilliams, S. Presley, J. A. Winter 1997/98, Vol. 18, no. 1-The Noebel, M. Matsumura, S. Porteous, M. Olds, T. W Naught; The Challenge of Exoevolution, H. J. Birx; Humanist Hope, T. J. Madigan, P. Kurtz, M. Cherry Flynn, J. E. Smith, T J. Madigan, R. Firth, H. A. Harold Camping and the Stillborn Apocalypse, E. M. Matsumura, M. Gorbachev, Members of the Tonne, L. Mondale; The Enlightened Cynicism of D. Cohen; The Humanist Movement in Romania, E. Academy of Humanism; Mother Teresa's House of Ambrose Bierce, G. Odden; The Incredible Dragut; Religion and Secular Humanism in the Illusions, S. Shields; A Scientist and a 'Saint,' J. Flimflams of Margaret Rowen, Part 2, M. Gardner; Slovak Republic, J. Celko; Concern for Human Hayes; Farewell to God, C. Templeton; Can a Robot Gordon Stein-In Memoriam, J. Nickell, P. Kurtz; Rights in Europe: The Balkanic Context, J. Pecker; Have Moral Rights? T. Schick, Jr.; Dumping Limbo, India, M. Cherry, L. Fragell, C. Hitchens. Reason and Rationality, S. M. D'Agostino. "Voltaire"; An Interview with Barbara Ehrenreich. Summer 1996, Vol. 16, no. 3-The To order, or for a complete listing of Fall 1997, Vol. 17, no. 4-Sexual Freedom, Unlimited Cosmos-A Personal Odyssey, A. Hale; our back issues T. J. Madigan, W. McElroy, L. Sloan, R. A. Tielman, New Age Physics, V. J. Stenger; In Honor of Bonnie V L. Bullough, J. A. Naught; Islam and Women's Bullough, G. A. Larne, P Kurtz; Abortion, V L. CALL Rights, N. R. Allen, Jr., I. Warraq, S. J. al-Azm, Bullough, H. 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ECI ® summer 1999 THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

The Biological Roots IS FAITH IN OUR GENES? of Religion Morton Hunt

BELIEF WITHOUT EVIDENCE What makes this so strange is that we human beings have survived, multiplied, and come to dominate the earth by virtue of our innate by are atheists so different from the over- tendency to solve problems by taking note of cause-and-effect rela- whelming majority of humankind? Why don't tionships and making use of them—by observing and using empiri- they need to believe in a god of any traditional cal data ranging from the superior flight of an arrow when feathered sort—and most of them not even in a primary force who merely lit to the extraordinary expansion of our cognitive powers achieved the fuse of the Big Bang and then let everything take its own course? with computers. Are they simply more intelligent than almost everybody else? Yet while this indicates that the human mind is basically prag- I'm willing to believe they're smarter and more knowledgeable matic, nearly every human being during recorded history (and to about reality than club-wielding hunter-gatherers, or the members of judge from archeological evidence much of prehistory) has held the Christian Coalition. But can I suppose they're more intelligent religious beliefs based on no empirical evidence whatever. To be than such profoundly religious believers as Plato, Augustine, sure, our ancestors of the Homeric and Pentateuchal era often Aquinas, Descartes, Newton, William James, or even Einstein? Or, thought they heard the gods talking to them in their minds and for that matter, the majority of today's American scientists, who, sometimes thought they saw them, and even today some mentally ill according to surveys, profess some kind of religious belief?' people, and others who are technically sane but exceedingly pietis- But the obverse of my puzzlement is far more mystifying: Why tic, think they hear God speaking to them or see some fleeting have nearly all human beings in every known culture believed in divine apparition. But the great majority of believers nei- God or gods and accepted the customs, dogmas, and institutional ther hear nor see such things. While apparatus of an immense array of different religions? many sometimes

Morton Hunt is the author of The Story of Psychology (1994) and The New Know-Nothings: The Political Foes of the Scientific Study of Human Nature (1998).

free inquiry 30 experience a surge of feeling in touch with the divine, the world's in which God plays no part .° believers see not their gods but idols, symbols, and documents rep- Why, to repeat my central question, do people need resenting or telling about their gods. religion? What other evidence might there be? Many kinds, all highly dubious; real-world events interpreted as God's GOD AND SOCIOBIOLOGY handiwork can almost always be explained in commonsense or scientific terms. Moreover, the occurrences of miraculous events are An answer I find persuasive, congruous with historical and social- almost never weighed against the occurrences of comparable non- scientific evidence, and parsimonious is given by sociobiology, the events. We often read in the news of some adorable child dying of new branch of human behavioral science popularized in 1975 by inoperable cancer who was marvelously cured when the whole town Edward O. Wilson of Harvard University and now offered in many prayed—but never of the cases in which equally fervent praying did universities. (In what follows, I draw primarily on three of Wilson's not save the lives of equally adorable children. Nobody remembers books and on a recent sociobiological study of religion by Professor them, because human beings have a tendency toward "confirmation Walter Burkert of the University of Zurich.5) bias," as psychologists call it—we remember events that confirm Sociobiology holds that in considerable part human behavior is our beliefs but forget those that do not, which is probably why 69% based on our biology—specifically, by gene-directed tendencies of adults in a recent poll said they believe in miracles.' developed in us by evolution. We eat, sleep, build shelters, make Although realistic knowledge of cause-and-effect relationships love, fight, and rear our young in a wide variety of human fashions has been accumulating over the three centuries of the era of science, because, sociobiologists say, through the process of natural selection it has not eliminated religion. Some believers modify their beliefs to interacting with social influences we developed genetic predisposi- accommodate that evidence, while others reinterpret it most extra- tions to behave in ways that ensured our survival as a species. ordinarily (the fundamentalists say that the geological and fossil Complex interactions among numerous genes give us the capacity traces of earth's history and of evolution were made by God and and inclination to develop into people who are either more or less planted in the ground during the six days of Creation). violent, more or less altruistic, monogamous or polygamous, Muslim Religion has survived the vast expansion of scientific knowledge or Catholic, or whatever—depending on how our upbringing, expe- by adaptation; except for fundamentalism, it has minimized explain- riences, and the myriad influences on us of the culture we are ing in supernatural terms whatever can be better explained in natur- immersed in elicit the potentialities within those congeries of genes. al ones and focused instead on phenomena that cannot be tested or That's how the individual develops. But how did we come to disproved, such as God's mercy, the existence of soul, and the after- have a genome that incorporates such developmental possibilities? life. Accordingly, more than 90% of American adults still believe in That's where Wilson's theory comes in. His latest version of his the- God or some form of Higher Being, a large minority have experi- ory centers on what he calls "gene-culture coevolution." He propos- enced the feeling of being born again,' and only es that certain physiologically based preferences channel the devel- 10% hold a view opment of culture (an example might be the development in every of evolution society of some form of family life in response to the infant's and mother's need for continuing sustenance and protection). On the other hand, certain cultural influences reciprocally favor the selection and evolution of particular genetic NT HU EN J

m 131 summer 1999 tendencies (an example might be society's inhibition of uncon- posed source of good things? trolled aggression and its favoring of people with built-in respon- Religion thus met the newly evolving human need to understand siveness to social control of aggression). and control life. Religion serves the same purposes as science and To see how interaction works, consider the case of language. the arts—"the extraction of order from the mysteries of the materi- (This is my example, not Wilson's.) No other animal has anything al world," as Wilson puts it'—but in the prescientific era there was remotely like our language capacity. That's because only the human no other source of order except for philosophy, which was compre- brain has two specialized zones, Broca's Area and Wernicke's Area, hensible only to a favored few and in any case was nowhere nearly both on the left side, in which the neurons are so connected as to as emotionally satisfying as religion. form a mechanism that recognizes the relationships among the Still another major function of religion was to act as a binding words in sentences. No actual language is prewired in those areas; and cementing social force. I quote Wilson again: "Religion is .. no child, raised apart from the sound of language, has ever sponta- empowered mightily by its principal ally, tribalism. The shamans neously spoken. But our brains evolved in such a way that every and priests implore us in somber cadence, Trust in the sacred ritu- normal toddler can spontaneously figure out what people around als, become part of the immortal force, you are one of us."' him or her are saying, no matter what words and grammar they are Religious propitiation and sacrifice—near-universals of religious using. The evidence of prehistoric skull sizes and shapes, ancient practice—are acts of submission to a dominant being and domi- artifacts, and the customs of primitive peoples indicates that the nance hierarchy. immense advantages of linguistic communication favored individu- Religion thus helped meet the need of human beings to live als with greater neurological capacity for verbal communication, together. That need is biologically based: We require social life to and that culture and genetics coevolved to produce the modern thrive emotionally—and, in fact, physically. Recent evidence shows human brain and the resultant thousands of human languages. that people who live alone have less immune resistance to disease This is a paradigm for the development of religion. As Professor than people who live with spouses or partners. But social living Burkert puts it: "We may view religion, parallel to language ... , as requires some system of hierarchical leadership in order to avoid a long-lived hybrid between cultural and the biological traditions."6 endless fighting over food, sex, and other benefits. You've seen all He maintains that we have biological tendencies and capacities that this on television documentaries of life among troops of chim- cause us to need, learn, value, and practice religion—not any spe- panzees and baboons. The human creation of various systems of cific religion, of course, but any one of the thousands of religions social control is a response to biological urges we inherit from our that, despite the vast differences among them, all tend to fulfill sim- prehuman ancestors. ilar needed functions for individuals and, just as important, for the But early peoples were aware that certain inexplicable and society they live in. mighty forces—earthquakes, drought, epidemics—that affected The primary needs met by religion, sociobiologists say, were the their lives were beyond the control of their leaders. It was only nat- allaying of fear and the explanation of the world's many mystifying ural that they should suppose that these forces were the work of phenomena. With the development of the brain's capacity for lan- unseen things analogous to their leaders but far more powerful, and guage, humans beings were able to develop concepts and have expe- whom they regarded with fear, awe, and respect. From early times riences that had been unavailable to prehumans, among them the to the present, in nearly every religion, God or the gods are the consciousness of risk and of death, of time, the past, and the future; "lords" of creation, rulers whom all humans, including emperors of reward and punishment; puzzlement about natural phenomena; and presidents, must obey and revere. So in addition to whatever the satisfactions of problem-solving; and aesthetic pleasure, wonder, form of social governance and leadership human beings developed, and awe. they also sought the leadership and help of shamans, medicine men, But verbal and conceptual ability also had rich rewards. priests, or other special people who could mediate between them Primitive humans developed a sense of awe at the wonders they and the spirits or gods, and adopted acts of submission ritual to pla- could now think about: birth, the return of life in spring, the rain- cate and please those deities. But of course these religious beliefs bow—and with that sense of awe came a need to explain those won- and practices relieved the leaders of society of the blame when ders. Human beings' new cognitive powers yielded the joys of rec- things went wrong; religion thus bolstered social governance. ognizing health returning after sickness, hardships survived, crops For all these reasons, says Wilson, "Acceptance of the supernat- harvested, problems solved, wrongs righted, and the aesthetic plea- ural conveyed a great advantage throughout prehistory, when the sure yielded by the many beauties of the world around them. brain was evolving." The human mind evolved to believe in the gods Early humans, and most humans to this day, make sense of all even as religious institutions became built-ins of society.' these mystifying negative and positive experiences by means of religion. INFERENTIAL EVIDENCE If there is evil in the world, it is, in some religions, the work of an evil deity—Ahriman, Satan, Asmodeus, Loki—but in other religions, Although biologists have been able to pinpoint a few genes respon- it is the product of evil desires in human beings. Against the uncer- sible for certain specific disorders, the genetic basis of any specific tainties and dangers of the future, people pray, asking the deity to form of human behavior is almost certainly due not to a single gene make all turn out well. Against the misery of losing a loved one or but the intricate interplay of numerous genes. Which ones, however, the fear of one's own death, people seek reassurance that they will is still largely undetermined, although it seems certain that in time live after death in some other realm. Against injustice, inequality, the the details will be spelled out. desperate unfairness of life, what better consolation than to expect a The evidence sociobiologists offer is inferential—a set of reason- just and generous reward in heaven by a loving Father? And con- able and persuasive deductions from what we know about human evo- versely, when things go well, when the world is beautiful, when peo- lution, human mental abilities, and early religions, including such pre- ple are surrounded by those they love and enjoy the rewards of their literate evidence as the ceremonial burial objects and wall drawings of work, what is more natural than to give heartfelt thanks to the sup- Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. Sociobiologists say that all this evi-

free inquiry dence strongly supports their theory of religion, for since no other liv- the existence of nonobvious entities or even principles"12 ing species exhibits any such behavior, religion must have been a product of evolving human biological traits. But Burkert says that biological roots of religion are even deep- THE UNBELIEVER PUZZLE er than, and predate, language, though gaining power and richness I return to the first of my puzzlements—Why are unbelievers differ- when language arrives. One is the device used by many animals of ent from the great majority of their fellow human beings? They are sacrificing a part of themselves in order to escape from danger. not, however, unique, for throughout civilized history a small minor- Some spiders' legs break off easily and continue to twitch for a ity have not needed supernatural religious explanations of their own while to distract a predator while the spider escapes. Lizards' tails thoughts or of the mysteries, tragedies, and glories of everyday life. snap off easily, remaining in the grip of the attacker while the lizard I refer not just to out-and-out atheists but to that larger minority who makes a getaway and grows a new tail. Some birds, under attack, have held or hold a deistic concept of God or who regard the inher- suddenly shed a mass of feathers, leaving the attacker with a mouth- ently consistent laws of nature, governing the behavior of galaxies, ful of fluff while the expected meal disappears. genes, and quarks, with the awe and respect that others accord to a Human analogs of this behavior exist as religious rituals—sacri- more traditional God. fices of desirable possessions to the gods in order to escape ill for- The best example of such a person actually predates modern sci- tune, such as pouring wine on the ground, slaughtering and burning ence. It is Spinoza, for whom God was coterminous with the actual a valuable animal, giving money to help build a temple. And there universe, neither outside it nor above it but identical with it and with are many examples of far more serious sacrifices performed to pla- all natural laws. For him, God was nothing more nor less than the cate God, such as the self-castrations performed by certain devout total corpus of those laws. early Christians and by the Skoptsi, seventeenth-century Russian Perhaps current unbelievers are all contemporary Spinozists, religious fanatics. And giving up sexual activity altogether, along sensitive to and in tune with the god who pervades the universe— with parenthood and family life, as priests and nuns have done for who is the universe—who is identical with reality. Perhaps unbe- centuries, is surely as extreme a sacrifice of the part for the whole as lievers do not so much reject the religious needs and impulses of the physical mutilation. human race as adapt to them in realistic and humanistic terms, Thus, biology is the basis of the many ritualistic submission acts replacing the fairy tales of conventional religions with the more in human religions. The most general such act, relatively innocuous, intellectually demanding tales, provided by modern science, of nat- is to bend or to bow.'° Muslims prostrate themselves on the floor; ural laws and of the demonstrable, replicable evidence of cause-and- Catholics and some Protestants kneel in prayer; people of nearly all effect relationships. denominations bow their heads submissively in prayer or medita- Perhaps unbelievers meet the basic human need for order and tion. Some worshipers beat their chests, weep and cry out, tear their social integration within the subsociety of science itself and its clothes and throw ashes on themselves, crawl for miles on their hierarchical structure. Perhaps for unbelievers scientific human- hands and knees, lash their naked bodies with chains. Even these ism offers deeply satisfying answers to all those profound and observances are small potatoes compared to the nauseating acts of troubling mysteries that religion purports to answer, and unbeliev- devotion of many medieval saints. ers are comfortable with those answers although they are incom- A more tasteful genre of biologically based religious behaviors plete and, no matter how our knowledge increases, will remain so, concern cleanliness. Keeping the body clean is a basic necessity for with new discoveries always raising new and more complex ques- all higher animals, some of whom bathe, others preen, still others tions about reality. groom each other, for the benefit of their bodily functions." We Finally, perhaps unbelievers differ from the great majority of human beings, too, have always taken care of our persons, bathing, human beings in one other way: possibly unbelievers are psycho- cutting out hair, shaving, and so on. logically adult, needing no invisible parent-figure, able to face the But being human, we conceive of another and far worse kind of reality of human life and death without fear (or at least live with that dirt that pollutes us: the impurity of wrongdoing. Our ancient ances- fear), and too sensible to believe in anything that has no proof, any tors cleansed themselves of wrongdoing through rituals such as explanation of the world that is either impossibile or absurdum. burnt offerings, prayer, and self-imposed hardships and humilia- But that's only a guess; perhaps I flatter unbelievers unreason- tions. The Christians improved greatly on all this: They transformed ably; perhaps they're not that special and wonderful. But I hope simple guilt for wrongdoing into sin inherited, willy-nilly, from they are. fi Adam and Eve. This created a whole new religious industry made up of confession, penance, absolution, communion, and the striving for a cleansed and perfect state, all of which was self-sustaining, Notes since the cleansed person, if normal, was bound to become morally 1.A 1996 survey quoted in E. O. Wilson, Consilience (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, dirty again in a little while. 1998), ca. p. 245. And so, to sum up the sociobiological theory of the roots of 2. Time, April 10, 1995, p. 65. religion: genetically built into early human beings was a set of 3. Edward O. Wilson, On Human Nature (New York: Bantam, 1979), pp. 176-77. mental, emotional, and social needs that caused culture to develop 4. Freethought Events and Planning Guide," November 29, 1998. 5. Walter Burkert, Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early Religions in certain ways—including the development of various religions— (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). and caused culture, reciprocally, to favor and select for evolution 6. Burkert, Creation of the Sacred, p. 20. those human traits that provided sociocultural advantages to the 7. Wilson, Consilience, p. 257. individuals possessing them. "Religion," says Burkert, "follows in 8. Ibid. 9. the tracks of biology ... [and] the aboriginal invention of lan- Ibid., p. 262. 10. Burkert, p. 84-87. guage ... yield[ing] coherence, stability, and control within this 11. Burkert, p. 123. world. This is what the individual is groping for, gladly accepting 12. Burkert, p. 177.

® summer 1999 THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

Social-Psychological NEW FINDINGS OFFER COMPELLING CLUES Causes of Faith Bruce Hunsberger

out in Manitoba and Ontario, we found that 97% of students who said they were Catholic were raised in Catholicism.' Similarly, 97% of Jews had grown up in Judaism, and 96% of the Protestants had been brought up as Protestants, usually in their present denomination. We by is religion not only still with us, but why is have also found, time and time again, that the extent to which religion it seemingly so pervasive and powerful in many is emphasized in the childhood home is the best predictor of whether people's lives? I will consider this question or not children grow up accepting parental religious teachings. from a social psychological perspective. There does seem to be general agreement in the social scientific My own background is what might be termed empirical social literature that parents are the most important factors in the religious psychology. Many of the findings and conclusions in this article development of their children. They tend to be especially successful were derived from studies that involved surveying or interviewing with their religious training when they strongly emphasize religion groups of people as systematically and objectively as possible. in the home, when they model the kind of religious person they That is, much of what I will say comes from people's self-report- would like their children to become, when both parents agree about ed perceptions of the forces that affect their lives. Certainly there religion, and when they offer a warm, nurturing family environment are shortcomings to this for religious development. approach—people might not However, one interesting understand themselves, they sideline of this literature has might misrepresent them- been that there seem to be selves to "look good," or decreases in religiosity from they might have inaccurate one generation to the next, at memories of past events. least in the last half century. And there are methodologi- We have found, for example, cal and statistical issues that that parents typically say that must be addressed. But I am they received stronger reli- convinced that this approach gious training from their par- can make important contri- ents (i.e., the grandparents) butions to our understanding than their children report of religion. receiving from them. Looking In some cases, I rely heav- at it another way, parents ily on my own research; in claim to pass on religion to other cases, I draw on the W their children only about 70% investigations of my psycho- as much as their parents had logical and sociological colleagues. I should also add that my own passed religion along to them. This might help to explain trends, research, and that of my friend and colleague, Bob Altemeyer, has over the past 50 years or so, in many countries toward decreased mostly been carried out in Canada. Many of our investigations church attendance and the like.' But it also raises the important involve college students, but other studies have included parents of question of how religion can continue to have the support of such such students, senior citizens, or high school students. What have large portions of contemporary Western societies if there is a ten- we found? dency for each generation to emphasize religion less and less. Let us 1. Socialization processes. The vast majority of people in this turn to a consideration of the variety of potential "rewards" that reli- world end up accepting the religion of their parents. For example, in gious affiliation and belief might offer to people. recent studies of university students that Bob Altemeyer and I carried 2. Social support and coping with problems. Religious people typically report that they have greater "social support in their lives" Bruce Hunsberger is Professor of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier than do people with no religious affiliation. That is, belonging to a University in Waterloo, Canada, and coauthor of Amazing church seems to make people feel that they have a broader network Conversions: Why Some Turn to Faith and Others Abandon of others to help them in times of need, to rely on for comfort and Religion (Prometheus 1997). advice, and indeed a larger pool of people with whom to socialize.

free inquiry This, research has suggested, may contribute to decreased feelings Believers" and "Amazing Apostates." Amazing Believers are people of loneliness and "disconnectedness." who grew up in essentially nonreligious backgrounds, but then Further, psychologist Ken Pargament suggests that this is one became strongly believing Christians by adolescence or adulthood. way in which religion aids people in coping with life's problems.' Amazing Apostates are people who grew up in very strong religious Greater social support means more potential resources to help one backgrounds, but who subsequently abandoned their religious deal with stress, illness, death of loved ones, and so on. In addition upbringing. We found that these rare groups differed in important to the benefits of personal intimacy and friendship with others, reli- ways, other than the religious beliefs themselves. For example, gious affiliation itself can reportedly be a source of concrete help, Amazing Believers apparently turned to religion for emotional and comfort, and personal growth. Pargament's and others' research has psychological reasons. Many of them reported very difficult pasts, suggested that some of religion's benefit in this regard might come including substance abuse, psychological problems, death of loved because it acts as a sort of buffer against stress. ones, dysfunctional families, criminal behavior, and so on. Religion No doubt there are other potential sources of social support in offered them comfort, security, friends, sympathy, a helping hand— life, as well as potential buffers against stress. But the point here is things that they sorely needed in their lives. that many people perceive that religion offers warmth, security, and On the other hand, the Amazing Apostates left their religious comfort that might help counteract the effects of life's stressors. And backgrounds for very different—primarily intellectual—reasons. the research bears out the fact that this does occur to some extent. They had apparently taken apart the religious infrastructure in their 3. Meaning in life. Various authors have pointed out that human lives "brick by brick," thinking their way through religious teaching beings seem to have a need to understand their world, and that in this after religious teaching. In the end, they simply could not believe the context religion can supply the "meaning" that people apparently religion they had been taught, and many turned instead to science crave. It is essentially irrelevant whether the meaning is "correct" or and logic as their guides to life. "incorrect" in the sense that many people believe that religion offers We wondered if we might find similar differences between reli- explanations and understanding of the world and the universe. gious and nonreligious people more generally, not just among peo- 4. Extrinsic rewards such as status, prestige, acceptance. ple who had made dramatic religious changes in their lives. Bob Gordon Allport was a social psychologist well respected for his Altemeyer therefore developed a "Happiness, Joy, and Comfort" work on issues such as personality and prejudice who was also quite scale that he administered to over 500 parents of university students interested in religion. During the 1950s and 1960s he developed a a couple of years ago. He asked them to what extent traditional reli- conceptualization of religiousness that distinguished between what gious beliefs brought them happiness, joy, and comfort in the fol- he believed to be a "mature" religion and an "immature" religion .° lowing ways: He used the term intrinsic to refer to a religious orientation that flowed throughout the individual's life, a religion that was at the 1. They tell me the purpose of life. core of the person's being. Religion was an end in itself. Thus, an 2. They help me deal with personal pain and suffering. intrinsically religious person was supposedly an individual with a 3. They take away the fear of dying. mature religious orientation. On the other hand, he believed that some people were religious because religion served as a means to an And so on. There were 16 such statements in all. These same end in their lives. These extrinsic persons were religious because it people were then asked to respond to exactly the same items, but in resulted in more friends, because it could give one that important terms of how much logic and science brought them happiness, joy, contact for a business deal, because it made one "feel good" to and comfort. attend church. These extrinsic people were considered to have an Overall, the parents indicated that religion brought them sub- immature religious orientation.' stantially and significantly more happiness, joy, and comfort than The psychology of religion literature is filled with studies that did logic and science. Only one of the 16 logic and science items used this "intrinsic-extrinsic" dichotomy as the basis of the research. managed to get even halfway up the scale. That one was, "They This was easy to do because Allport developed a scale that purport- bring me the joy of discovery." All items were above the midpoint edly measured these two religious orientations. Psychologists now for religion. Even more damaging to the philosopher's and scien- seem agreed that Allport's measures are rife with problems, not the tist's egos, logic and science were not perceived to "provide (more) least of which is that they do not do a very good job of actually mea- satisfying answers to all the questions in life" or to "explain the suring his conceptualization of mature and immature religion. Also, mysteries of life" better than religion did. And this was a rather a fact that is often overlooked in the relevant research is that Allport well-educated sample. Apparently, in a general sense, religion is himself concluded that most religious people were of the extrinsic perceived to have much more to offer people than logic and science, (immature) type. Most people, if you simply ask them, will tell you when it comes to happiness, joy, and comfort in life. Religion seems that they are "intrinsically religious" even though the literature sug- to satisfy some important human needs about knowing who we are; gests that many of them are wrong. why we are here; what will happen to us after we die; how to feel I mention Allport's work on intrinsic-extrinsic religious orienta- safety, love, and fellowship; and so on. These things logic and sci- tion partly out of respect for the important role it has played in the ence do not do, at least not nearly as well as religion. historical development of research on the psychology of religion. But in addition to all of this, Bob also discovered that those who But I mention it also because it makes an important point: there are found the greatest joy in religion tended to score highly in many rewards to be had from being religious, beyond the social sup- "Religious Fundamentalism" and "Right-Wing Authoritarianism." port and possible implications for coping mentioned previously. These two measures are important in the last point I want to make 5. "Joy and comfort." In a study that Bob Altemeyer and I car- with respect to our "Why religion?" question. ried out several years ago, and subsequently published in our 1997 6. Authoritarian needs. In 1954 Gordon Allport observed that book Amazing Conversions: Why Some Turn to Faith and Others "The role of religion is paradoxical. It makes prejudice and it Abandon Religion, we investigated what we called "Amazing unmakes prejudice."6 He was referring to the fact that most religions

® summer 1999 teach that prejudice is wrong, and yet study after study has shown and read scriptures. People who score lowest on the RWA scale tend that more religious persons tend to be more prejudiced than less reli- to score quite low on the RF scale. Indeed, these (low Right-Wing gious or nonreligious persons? How can this be? Authoritarian) people most often belong to no religion at all. And they Bob Altemeyer and I and our students have carried out a series also tend to be the least prejudiced persons in our studies. of projects to investigate this issue. We have discovered that a par- Of course, not all devout persons are Right-Wing ticular religious orientation, which we have called "Religious Authoritarians—there are exceptions to the rule. But study after Fundamentalism" (RF), is positively related to a variety of preju- study has found that high Right-Wing Authoritarians are concen- dices, including racial prejudice, hostility towards homosexuals, and trated in the ranks of the orthodox in different religions. An impor- sexist attitudes towards women. These relationships tend to be fair- tant question of course is, Why? ly robust and consistent across different samples. Our RF scale taps We have suggested that, to some extent, being an authoritarian people's confidence that they believe in the one true set of religious person helps to produce religiousness. High Right-Wing teachings, that they must vigorously fight forces of evil that oppose Authoritarians are very submissive to the authorities in their lives. If this fundamental truth, and that people who believe and follow these the authorities teach a certain ideology, they will tend to embrace it, fundamental teachings have a special relationship with the deity. and in Western society, governmental and other authorities often Our scale is constructed so that it should assess a general religious publicly espouse religious affiliation and beliefs. But to varying fundamentalism (i.e., it is not restricted to Christian fundamental- degrees religions also promote authoritarian following, teaching ism). This concept is also related to the personality construct of their members to submit to religious and even civic authority. So, in authoritarianism. general, RWA and religiousness go together because, within limits, Although the psychological concept of authoritarianism has been the two reinforce each other. with us for 50 years or more, Altemeyer has focused its conceptual- To summarize, we have found in about half a dozen studies so far ization by concentrating on "Right-Wing Authoritarianism" (RWA), that people who report believing most strongly that they have access which can be defined as the covariation of three characteristics: to absolute religious truth, that they have a special relationship with authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, and convention- the deity, etc., also tend to score highly on a measure of RWA. These alism.' That is, Right-Wing Authoritarians tend to submit to per- same people (high Religious Fundamentalists and high Right-Wing ceived legitimate authorities in their lives. They also show some ten- Authoritarians) also tend to be the least tolerant of different minor- dency to be aggressive against vulnerable groups and individuals, ity groups. We found that these relationships hold up for Christians, especially if this aggression is perceived to be sanctioned by legiti- Jews, Muslims, and Hindus in Canada.'° We have also essentially mate authorities. Third, they also prefer to live in a world that does replicated our findings among Christians and Muslims in the not deviate markedly from their own norms and expectations (i.e., African country of Ghana." they prefer to live in a "conventional" world). Bob has developed a These relationships, while simple and straightforward on the sur- 30-item RWA scale that is presented to respondents as an opinion face, become more complicated when one considers possible expla- poll on a variety of social issues. This scale has become the measure nations for what is going on. That is, the finding that RWA and RF and of choice in assessing right-wing authoritarianism. prejudice are intertwined is a strong and consistent finding. However, RWA has been linked repeatedly with what might be called it is not entirely clear what is causing what. We have speculated that "deplorable attitudes and behavior." For example, persons scoring it is religion's link with authoritarianism that at least partially explains high on the RWA scale in North America tend to be accepting of the religion-prejudice link. For example, in several studies, we have unjust and illegal acts committed by government officials. High found that, when one statistically removes the effects of RWA, the Right-Wing Authoritarians are amazingly susceptible to arguments strength of the relationships between religion and prejudice fall off that democracy gives people "too much freedom," and so are more substantially (but do not always entirely disappear). Therefore, we are likely to agree that the Bill of Rights ought to be repealed. Similarly, inclined to suggest at this point that authoritarianism is the most like- if you ask people whether they would be willing to help locate and ly "explanation" for the religion-prejudice link.12 arrest homosexuals, or communists, or members of "religious cults," Which brings me back to the issue at hand. Let me emphasize and have them tortured and even executed, most people say "absolute- that I am not talking about "religion in general" here, but rather reli- ly not." But high Right-Wing Authoritarians answer much more gion that is fundamentalist in nature, as we have defined it, religion equivocally. They also tend to believe in using "good old-fashioned that is seen as absolute truth that must be followed scrupulously if physical punishment" in child-rearing. They tend to prefer longer jail one is to have a special relationship with the deity. Religion that sentences for people convicted of a wide range of crimes, compared must be defended against evil forces. All of this is further supported to low Right-Wing Authoritarians. They would punish a gay person by Bob Altemeyer's finding that authoritarian people tend to reduce who committed a crime significantly more than they would punish an their guilt over their misdeeds almost completely through religion." antigay individual who did the same thing. And so on. Thus it seems plausible that some people "need" religion because of Pertinent to our concerns here is the fact that Right-Wing their authoritarianism, in the sense that their religion can help to jus- Authoritarians tend to be relatively prejudiced towards a broad spec- tify and reinforce their authoritarianism and also provide a kind of trum of minority groups. At the same time, these people have a high justification for some of their "deplorable attitudes and behavior" regard for the "in-group," believing, for example, that people simi- that I referred to earlier. lar to them are superior to "out-group" members. Important findings have emerged from studies involving RWA, PSYCHOLOGY AND THE NONRELIGIOUS religion, and prejudice. For example, these three variables are fairly strongly intertwined, such that religious fundamentalists tend to score I have suggested that, from a social psychological perspective, at relatively highly on the RWA scale and also tend to be relatively prej- least six factors contribute to continued acceptance of religious udiced against minority groups.' They also tend to be the people who teachings. (1) socialization factors; (2) increased social support in attend church most faithfully and the ones who most frequently pray one's life, and possible concomitant benefits in coping ability; (3)

free inquiry D greater meaning in life (explanations for the mysteries of the world individuals' lives. Therefore it might be argued that nonreligious and the universe); (4) various extrinsic rewards such as status, pres- persons "give up" some joy and comfort in their lives, based on their tige, acceptance; (5) "joy and comfort"; and (6) authoritarian needs. nonacceptance of traditional religious beliefs. These factors apparently operate independently of the truth or falsi- 6. Authoritarian needs. Nonreligious persons tend to score rel- ty of the religious beliefs themselves. That is, these factors could atively low on measures of authoritarianism and therefore do not theoretically perpetuate religion even if religious teachings were seem to have the same need for religion to justify thoughts and themselves completely false. actions. This is probably related to the tendency of nonreligious per- Also, these factors are certainly not the only ones psychologists sons to be relatively unprejudiced towards minority groups. might suggest as contributing to acceptance of religious teachings. But, combined, they suggest that powerful psychological forces might incline people to be religiously affiliated and to accept reli- CONCLUSION gious teachings. However, this is but one side of the ledger. Let me To recap, in terms of socialization factors, parents tend to raise chil- briefly review the "score sheet" for these same factors, as they might dren like themselves when it comes to religion. However, in North apply to nonacceptance of religious teachings. Do these same rea- America (and indeed in most parts of the world), religious parents sons apply to the nonreligious? far outnumber nonreligious parents, and this alone contributes to the 1. Socialization. Socialization factors certainly do apply with continuance of religion far into the future. In addition, when one respect to nonreligious people. That is, just as parental modeling and adds up the costs and benefits of being religious, compared to being encouragement of religion apparently contributes to their children's nonreligious, the balance seems clearly to favor religion. By being acceptance of religious teachings, so does parental modeling and religious one may gain various benefits and rewards (religion appar- encouragement of nonreligion contribute to subsequent nonreligiosi- ently adds social support, aids in coping, gives meaning to life, pos- ty. For example, we have found that in homes that are nonreligious, or sibly it offers status and acceptance by others, as well as joy and even those that emphasize religion very weakly, the children rarely comfort). By being nonreligious, one must be willing, to some turn to religion, at least not by the time they reach young adulthood.14 extent, to live without these same benefits. In fact, it might be 2. Social support and coping. Nonreligious people typically do argued that it would take a fairly strong and independent person to not have access to a social support system comparable to that com- live with the costs associated with nonreligiousness and without the monly found in religious groups. Therefore, by being nonreligious various "benefits" available for those who choose religious affilia- it would seem that for many people it is necessary to "give up" tion and religious belief systems. fi something they would have if only they were affiliated with a religious group. Further, any benefits that might accrue from increased Notes social support, such as improved coping skills, might then not be as readily available to nonreligious persons. 1.B. Altemeyer and B. Hunsberger, Amazing Conversions: Why Some Turn to Faith and Others Abandon Religion (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1997). 3. Meaning in life. As much as people might believe that science 2. R. Bibby, Unknown Gods: The Ongoing Story of Religion in Canada (Toronto: and logic can supply meaning in life, our research suggests that Stoddart, 1993). logic and science simply do not come close to religion in supplying 3. K. I. Pargament, The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, and satisfying explanations of the unknown and giving meaning to one's Practice (New York: Guilford, 1997). life. More research is needed on this issue, however. 4. G. W. Allport and J. M. Ross, "Personal Religious Orientation and Prejudice." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 5(1967): 432-43. 4. Extrinsic rewards. Nonreligious persons have the satisfaction 5. Ibid. of having worked out their own personal belief system and supply- 6. G. W. Allport, The Nature of Prejudice (Cambridge, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, ing their own direction in their lives. But prestige, status, and the 1954), p. 444. like? Our society does not seem inclined to reinforce rejection of 7. R. W. Hood, Jr., B. Spilka, B. Hunsberger, R.W. Gorsuch, The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach, 2nd ed. (New York: Guilford, 1995). religion as it does acceptance of religion. Indeed, in a recent study 8. B. Altemeyer, Right-Wing Authoritarianism (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba of college students that Lynne Jackson and I carried out, more reli- Press, 1981); B. Altemeyer, Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right-Wing gious persons indicated that in general they felt quite favorably Authoritarianism (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988); B. Altemeyer, The Authoritarian towards other religious persons and people who believe in God." Specter (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1996). 9. B. Hunsberger, "Religion and Prejudice: The Role of Religious Fundamentalism, However, they reported that they felt somewhat negative towards Quest, and Right-Wing Authoritarianism"Journal of Social Issues 51(1995): 113-29. nonreligious persons and people who did not believe in God. The 10. B. Hunsberger, "Religious Fundamentalism, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and difference between their preference for similar others (religious per- Hostility Toward Homosexuals in non-Christian Religious Groups." International sons) and their dislike of dissimilar others (nonreligious persons) Journal for the Psychology of Religion 6(1996): 39-49. 1 I. B. Hunsberger, V. Owusu, and R. Duck, "Religion and Prejudice in Ghana and was substantial and highly significant. But nonreligious people and Canada: Religious Fundamentalism, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and Attitudes very weakly religious individuals showed a very different trend. Toward Homosexuals and Women" International Journal for the Psychology of They were moderately positive towards all groups, whether reli- Religion, in press. gious or nonreligious, whether they were believers in God or not. 12.R. Duck and B. Hunsberger, "Religious Orientation and Prejudice: The Role of For our purposes here, it seems that, other things being equal, if one Religious Proscription, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, and Social Desirability." International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, in press; Hunsberger, "Religion is a religious person, this will likely evoke an accepting and indeed and Prejudice: The Role of Religious Fundamentalism, Quest, and Right-Wing favorable response from others, including both religious and nonre- Authoritarianism." ligious persons. But nonreligious people must live in a world where 13. Altemeyer, Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right-Wing Authoritarianism, apparently the religious majority is not as accepting of nonreli- pp. 188-90. 14. Altemeyer and Hunsberger, Amazing Conversions: Why Some Turn to Faith and giousness, and at least initially react unfavorably towards nonreli- Others Abandon Religion; Hood, et al., The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical gious persons. Approach. 5. Joy and comfort. As mentioned earlier, religion apparently 15. L. M. Jackson and B. Hunsberger, "An Intergroup Perspective on Religion and far outperforms science in giving joy, comfort, and happiness to Prejudice." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, in press.

EEI ® summer 1999 THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

What Americans AND WHY FAITH ISN'T AS UNIVERSAL AS THEY THINK Really Believe George Bishop

The figures in tables 1-7 from the 1991 ISSP survey provide a pretty good indication of just how variable religious beliefs can be when viewed with a crossnational lens. The certainty of belief in God, for example, varied substantially across nations. Americans, ublic opinion polls in the United States have repeat- who appear to be among the most religious people in the sample— edly demonstrated that Americans are a highly reli- along with the Irish, the Polish, and the Filipinos—were twice as gious people. One of the most widely cited indica- likely as Austrians, three times as likely as Norwegians, and nearly tors of this religiosity is the extremely high percentage of Americans seven times as likely as East Germans to claim "I know God exists who say they believe in God, as measured by the standard Gallup and I have no doubts about it" (Table 1). Though a majority of Poll question, "Do you believe in God, or a universal spirit?" Americans (62.8%) felt certain of the existence of God, they According to the Gallup organization's most recent reading expressed a greater degree and variety of agnostic beliefs (and non- (December 1994), 96% of U.S. adults said they believed in God.' beliefs) with this NORC version of the question than has been cap- Furthermore, this figure appears to be exactly the same as it was 50 tured by the standard Gallup question.' So, while the great majority years earlier, when the question was first asked November 1944. of Americans say they believe in God, regardless of how the ques- The lowest level of belief in God, as documented by Gallup, tion is worded, there is some doubt about the validity of the fre- occurred in 1947 and 1978, when it dipped to 94%; the highest in quently cited Gallup figure (95%) that is often taken as the empiri- 1953-54, when it reached an almost perfect 99%.2 Thus the impres- cal gospel on what Americans believe. sion has grown of Americans' uniform and unwavering belief in Much the same pattern is evident when we look at beliefs about God, since these figures and others (such as Gallup's data showing life after death (Table 2). On this score Americans were more certain 75% of Americans believing in life after death) have been reported of a hereafter than anyone else (55%): twice as sure as people from time and again in academic journals, professional publications, and The Netherlands or Great Britain, five times as confident as the in the mass media.' Hungarians, and nine times as convinced of it as the East Germans. So pervasive has the impression of this religiosity in our society But once again, too, Americans expressed more uncertainty about the become that various scholars and folk psychologists have theorized afterlife with this ISSP version of the question than with the standard there may be an evolutionary biological basis for religious belief' Gallup question—"Do you believe there is a life after death?"—to and that religion must therefore satisfy a universal human need for which about 75% of Americans generally say "Yes." This should be hope, comfort, and a sense of purpose in facing the inevitability of still another reminder, if one is needed, that the wording of survey our mortality.' Such is the power of the religious impulse in questions about even such core beliefs as the existence of God and American thought. the afterlife can make a significant difference in the conclusions a pollster would draw about the nature and distribution of religious belief systems. Is FAITH UNIVERSAL? The data in Table 3 tell a similar tale: Americans were among the most likely of peoples to believe that "The Bible is the actual word This impression of the universality of religious belief, however, of God and it is to be taken literally word for word"—three times becomes much less solid when we look at survey data from other more likely than the Norwegians and nearly five times more likely developed nations, comparing findings on religious beliefs from two than the British. They were also the least likely of any people sur- crossnational surveys conducted in 1991 and 1993 for the veyed to believe that "The Bible is an ancient book of fables, leg- International Social Survey Program (ISSP), which is currently ends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man" (14.6%)—a based at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), University belief that was much more common in other nations, such as Israel, of Chicago.' The data from these surveys shows that the degree of Hungary, Russia, and Great Britain. These beliefs, particularly bib- religious belief is not nearly as widespread, persistent, and universal lical literalism, as we will see, turn out to be among the most useful as it appears from the perspective of the American culture, suggest- predictors of the persistence of a "pre-scientific" worldview in ing theoretical explanations other than a simple biological one. American society. We are also among what some would call the most superstitious George Bishop is Professor of Political Science at the University of people in the developed world, if the figures in Table 4 are any indi- Cincinnati. cation. Americans were more likely than any other people to say

free inquiry ELI they definitely believed in "the devil" (45.4 %): more than twice as Table 1.. Percentage Saying "I know God exists and I have no doubts likely as the Italians, three times as likely as the Poles, about five about it" by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey times as likely as the West Germans, and more than ten times as Percent likely as the Hungarians. Rank And on and on the story goes for our beliefs in "hell" (Table 5), Philippines 86.2 1 "heaven" (Table 6), and "religious miracles" (Table 7). We are either Poland 66.3 2 first in the faith, or a very close second-with Ireland and Northern United States 62.8 3 Ireland (especially the latter) being the nations most like ours.' Northern Ireland 61.4 4 Indeed, when we average across the rankings in tables 1-7, the Ireland 58.7 5 United States turns out to be the most religious nation (average rank- Italy 51.4 6 Israel 43.0 7 ing = 1.71), followed by Northern Ireland (2.43), the Philippines Hungary 30.1 8 (3.29), Ireland (4.14), Poland (5.21), Italy (5.86), New Zealand Austria 29.4 9 (8.0), Israel (8.29), Austria (10.57), Norway (11.0), Great Britain New Zealand 29.3 10 (11.57), The Netherlands (11.86), West Germany (12.07), Russia West Germany 27.3 11 (12.71), Slovenia (13.86), Hungary (14.13), and East Germany Netherlands 24.7 12 (16.29), respectively. Notice too that the other nations ranked Great Britain 23.8 13 21.9 14 toward the top have substantial Catholic populations, and those Slovenia Norway 20.1 15 toward the bottom are all former Soviet bloc countries. But even Russia 12.4 16 European nations such as West Germany, The Netherlands, Great East Germany 9.2 17 Britain, and Norway are rather different in their religious beliefs from the United States, though they might seem quite similar as Table 2. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Life after developed countries in other ways (e.g., standard of living). This Death," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey ranking of developed nations might best be thought of, then, as defining an underlying dimension of religious cultural fundamen- Percent Rank talism vs. modern secularism. United States 55.0 1 Northern Ireland 53.5 2 Ireland 45.9 3 Poland 37.8 4 Win'? New Zealand 35.5 5 Philippines 35.2 6 It should be more than obvious from these crossnational compar- Italy 34.8 7 isons that religious beliefs of the type measured in the ISSP vary Norway 31.6 8 considerably among developed nations and that there is probably no Netherlands 26.7 9 biological propensity per se to hold such beliefs. While there may Great Britain 26.5 10 24.8 11 well be an evolutionary psychological disposition of Homo sapiens Austria West Germany 24.4 12 toward anthropomorphic interpretations of the world,' as well as Israel 21.9 13 other cognitive biases, such dispositions must necessarily interact Russia 16.8 14 with the availability of religious (and nonreligious) interpretations Slovenia 11.6 15 of the world provided by various cultures. For religion, as E.O. Hungary 10.6 16 Wilson reminds us, is essentially a form of tribalism, whether it East Germany 6.1 17 takes the form of Christianity, Buddhism, Marxism, or other kinds of "isms."' So the content and prevalence of religious beliefs in Table 3. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe "The Bible is the America may say more about our national history and culture than actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word," by any human universals, thus making sociocultural explanations all Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey the more plausible, most of which have been developed by sociologists of religion. Percent Rank Andrew Greeley," among other sociologists of religion, has Philippines 53.7 1 argued that the persistence of the belief in life after death and other Poland 37.4 2 religious beliefs and practices over time in the United States are the United States 33.5 3 result of a greater "supply" of religious services in the competitive Northern Ireland 32.7 4 American "marketplace" which, unlike most European nations, has Italy 27.0 5 not had a history of an established church.12 While he offers some Israel 26.7 6 suggestive, indirect evidence to support his supply side hypothesis Ireland 24.9 7 Slovenia 22.3 8 from a cohort analysis of belief in an afterlife among various reli- Hungary 19.2 9 gious and ethnic groups in the United States, he does not indicate Austria 12.7 10 any way of directly measuring the variability in the "supply of reli- West Germany 12.5 11 gious services" across nations or over historical periods. So it is a Norway 11.2 12 rather difficult proposition to test, however plausible it might seem Russia 9.9 13 and however compelling it might be as compared to the standard New Zealand 9.4 14 "secularization" and "modernization" models." Such models would Netherlands 8.4 15 East Germany 7.5 16 predict an inevitable decline in religious beliefs over time in the Great Britain 7.0 17 United States-one that has yet to materialize in any noticeable way,

m 1511 summer 1999 with the possible exception of a decline in literal acceptance of the Table 4. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "The Devil," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey Bible among older birth cohorts" and a recent drop in church attendance (see below). Percent It is also difficult to see how the supply side model can explain, Rank for example, the similarity of religious beliefs in Northern Ireland, United States 45.4 1 Northern Ireland 43.1 2 the Philippines, Ireland, and Poland to that of the United States (or to Philippines 28.3 3 each other), none of which are anywhere near as religiously hetero- Ireland 24.8 4 geneous and as "competitive" for customers as the United States. New Zealand 21.4 5 Ireland and Poland, for example, are nations characterized essential- Italy 20.4 6 ly by noncompetitive, religious monopolies. The larger explanation, Poland 15.4 7 then, must lie in the national history and culture, which generate the Netherlands 13.3 8 Norway 13.1 9 huge variances we find in these crossnational tables, variances that Great Britain 12.7 10 swamp by comparison any of the usual differences we typically Israel 12.6 11 observe between demographic subgroups (age, race, sex, education, Russia 12.5 12 etc.) within nations such as ours. And it is a tall theoretical order, Austria 11.1 13 indeed, to think of the relevant dimensions along which the various West Germany 9.5 14 nations in tables l-7 differ that might help explain the variance in Slovenia 6.9 15 Hungary 4.2 16 their religiosity. Penetration of what Freud called the scientific East Germany 3.6 17 "Weltanschauung," however, is one such theoretical candidate." A plausible explanation of these crossnational differences lies in the influence of education on religious beliefs, particularly the Table 5. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Hell," by Nation effects of scientific literacy in a society. The data from a recent sur- in the 1991 International Social Survey vey of American scientists by Larson and Witham indicates that Percent there is a substantial split between scientists and the general public Rank on beliefs about human evolution when they have been asked the United States 49.6 1 same Gallup Organization question.16 Only 5% of American natural Northern Ireland 47.9 2 and physical scientists, for example, believed in the biblical cre- Philippines 29.6 3 ationist view, as compared to the typical 45-50% of the U.S. pub- Ireland 25.9 4 lic."A majority of the scientists (55%) endorsed the Darwinian, nat- Israel 22.5 5 Italy 21.7 6 uralist position versus just 10% of the American adult population, Poland 21.4 7 though a surprising number of them (40%) took the theistic evolu- New Zealand 18.7 8 tionist perspective-about the same percentage as in the U.S. pub- Russia 13.0 9 lic. Thus it seems plausible that much of the difference between Great Britain 12.8 10 American scientists and the general public results from the effects Norway 11.4 11 of scientific knowledge about human evolution, in particular, and Netherlands 11.1 12 Austria 10.0 13 socialization more generally into the scientific worldview.1 e West Germany 9.3 14 Differences in public knowledge of evolution should also be a Slovenia 8.3 15 fairly good predictor of differences in the religious worldview Hungary 5.8 16 across nations. The 1991 ISSP did not include any measures of pub- East Germany 2.6 17 lic scientific knowledge. The 1993 ISSP, however, did ask a number of questions about environmental and scientific knowledge in 21 nations around the world, including 16 of the same nations that had Table 6. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Heaven," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey participated in the 1991 survey on religion. One of the 12 knowledge items that was asked (in a four-point scale: Definitely true, Probably Percent true, Probably not true, Definitely not true) dealt directly with the Rank subject of human evolution: "In your opinion, how true is Northern Ireland 63.7 1 United States 63.1 2 this? ... Human beings developed from earlier species of animals." Ireland 51.8 3 Table 8" shows that Americans were ranked last: the least knowl- Philippines 41.9 4 edgeable of any of the 21 nationalities surveyed about this basic sci- Poland 38.6 5 entific "fact" (note again the similarity of Northern Ireland and Poland New Zealand 32.2 6 to the United States), though there is admittedly a fine line here Italy 27.9 7 between belief and knowledge. Furthermore, as might be expected, Great Britain 24.6 8 Israel 24.0 9 when we correlate the ranking of nations by correct responses to this Norway 23.0 10 item (using the 16 nations common to the 1991 and 1993 ISSPs) with Netherlands 21.1 11 the corresponding rankings for the various religious belief items in Austria 20.1 12 tables 1-7, we find a sizable, inverse relationship between knowing West Germany 18.2 13 the scientific fact of human evolution and beliefs in God. Russia 14.7 14 Responses to the question about evolution can therefore be East Germany 10.2 15 regarded as a rough indicator of the extent to which the scientific Slovenia 9.5 16 Hungary 9.4 17 worldview has penetrated a given society and given causal impetus to a decline in the religious worldview. Tom Smith has also argued

free inquiry 40 in his analysis of the evolution question that much of the difference Table 7. Percentage Saying They Definitely Believe in "Religious in knowledge of human evolution between Americans and Miracles," by Nation in the 1991 International Social Survey Europeans stems from the strength in recent years of the fundamentalist movement in our society, such that even the normally benefi- Percent Rank cial effects of higher education on evolutionary knowledge are sig- United States 45.6 1 nificantly diluted among those identifying themselves with funda- Northern Ireland 44.2 2 mentalist religious denominations.20 Differences in the religious Ireland 36.9 3 environments in America and Europe, he argues, thus produce dif- Italy 32.9 4 ferences in knowledge of the simple fact of human evolution. As one Philippines 27.7 5 of the leaders of the "scientific creationists," Henry M. Morris, has Austria 27.4 6 26.4 7 described the struggle in America: "There are only two possible Israel New Zealand 23.1 8 world views-evolutionism or creationism:'21 So the strength of the Poland 22.7 9.5 fundamentalist movement (and the new religious Right) may West Germany 22.7 9.5 explain not only the stability of American beliefs about human evo- Russia 18.7 11 lution observed in the Gallup Poll over the past couple decades,22 but Norway 17.8 12 also the apparent persistence of the religious worldview in American Great Britain 15.3 13 society more generally, thus offsetting the rising percentage of col- Slovenia 13.4 14 East Germany 11.8 15 lege-educated adults in the American population. Netherlands 10.2 16 Greeley has also furnished evidence on the growth of fundamen- Hungary 8.2 17 talist denominations and the decline of mainline Protestants in the United States throughout this period.23 But devising a direct test of CONCLUSION this influence-of-fundamentalism hypothesis is more easily said than done as all the appropriate measures of relevant variables are often Not surprisingly perhaps, the religious worldview appears to be not contained in the same surveys that have been conducted over the nearly universal in the United States, so much so that it has become past several decades. Furthermore, Inglehart has made a persuasive, theoretically plausible to some that there is an evolutionary bio- contrary case that fundamentalism has actually declined in advanced logical basis for religious belief. The data from other developed industrial societies such as ours and that it represents a counter-reac- nations in the ISSP27 (1991 and 1993) presented here, however, tell tion by religious minorities whose values and way of life are threatened by the secular Public opinion polls in the United States trends in modern cultures. Among other evidence, he points to the decline in church have repeatedly demonstrated that attendance and a decrease in the percentages Americans are a highly religious people. saying that "God is important in their lives," from 1981 to 1990, in the United States and in other developed us that the degree of religious belief is nowhere near as universal nations. The most recent data from George Gallup's Princeton as it seems to be from the perspective of the American culture. The Religious Research Center (March 1997) would to seem to confirm similarity of the United States to nations such as Ireland, Northern Inglehart's predictions, showing that weekly church attendance in Ireland, the Philippines, and Poland and its striking dissimilarity to the United States (as of 1996) has dropped to the lowest point in nearly six decades: 38% (the all-time highs were in 1955 and 1958 Table 8. Ranking of 21 Nations on Knowledge Question about Human when it reached 49%). So we may, if Inglehart is on the right theo- Evolution, 1993 International Social Survey retical track, just now be witnessing the incipient decline of the reli- Nation Rank Mean* gious worldview in America, one that will become more and more %Correct* evident in the surveys conducted in the coming decade of the new East Germany 1 1.86 81.6 century. Japan 2 1.89 81.0 To explain the persistence of the religious worldview in America Czech Republic 3 2.04 77.6 we also need to consider the possibility that much of its public West Germany 4 2.08 72.7 expression, with survey interviews being one such social situation, Great Britain 5 2.18 76.7 is driven by what Noelle-Neumann argues is the individual's fear of Bulgaria 6 2.28 60.9 isolation that sets in motion a "spiral of silence." As a people we Norway 7 2.43 65.0 are frequently reminded in the mass media and elsewhere that we Canada 8.5 2.45 67.5 Spain 8.5 2.45 64.2 are a "nation under God,"" that the vast majority of us (95% or so) Hungary 10 2.50 62.8 believe in God-as Gallup tells us periodically-and that we are Italy 11.5 2.51 65.2 one of the most religious societies in the developed world. So it Slovenia 11.5 2.51 60.7 should seem quite plausible that many Americans may be reluctant New Zealand 13 2.54 66.3 to publicly express agnostic or atheistic beliefs for fear of giving Israel 14 2.66 56.9 offense to someone who may well be a member of that (purported) Netherlands 15 2.67 58.6 "vast majority" in our society, thereby incurring his or her disap- Ireland 16 2.70 60.1 proval. And this fear of interpersonal or social isolation should have Philippines 17 2.75 60.9 the effect of maintaining the conformity of public beliefs so fre- Russia 18 2.80 41.4 quently observed in our public opinion polls as well as in many Northern Ireland 19 2.99 51.5 Poland 20 3.06 35.4 other social situations in life.

m ® summer 1999 countries like The Netherlands, West Germany, Great Britain, and Schuster, 1990). Norway-not to mention the antithetical, former Soviet bloc 4. See Stewart Guthrie, "Why Religion? A Cognitive and Evolutionary Approach." nations-suggest that any biological propensity toward animistic Paper presented at the New York Academy of Sciences Meeting on "The Science of Religion" December 4-6, 1998; see E. O. Wilson's sociobiological perspective in or anthropomorphic interpretations, for example, must necessarily On Human Nature (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978) and Consilience interact with the cultural availability of such explanations, reli- (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998); "The God Module," Skeptic News in gious and otherwise (e.g., "New Age" spiritualism). As E. O. Skeptic Magazine 5(1997):31. Wilson might put it, it is this gene-culture co-evolution that may 5. For a sociological assertion of this assumption see Greeley, 1997a, op cit. account for the widespread persistence of supernatural and other 6. The data used in this chapter from the International Social Surveys in 1991 and 1993 were based on multistage, stratified probability samples in each nation (with some transcendental worldviews.28 But such worldviews are not sampling variations by country). The data were provided through the Inter-University inevitable, and are probably best thought of as incidental, cultural Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan, by-products of more basic evolved psychological mechanisms that which should be consulted for any further documentation of the survey designs, sam- have some adaptive function. An imitation mechanism producing pling, and data collection procedures used in each country. 7. See Bishop 1998a, op cit. Unlike the standard Gallup question, the NORC ques- conformity of religious (and other) beliefs and behavior within tion on the belief in God includes multiple response alternatives that allow survey one's societal group, for example, would bestow both survival and respondents to express various forms and degrees of agnosticism or nonbelief, such as, reproductive benefits to their carriers.29 "I find myself believing in God some of the time, but not at others," or "I don't believe Socioculturally speaking, the persistence of the religious in a personal God, but I do believe in a higher power of some kind." In this paper we worldview in America may be due in significant measure, as some focus on just those who are certain of God's existence. Similarly, we focus on just those who are certain of life after death, and other religious beliefs reported in tables 1-8 scholars have argued, to the strength of the cultural fundamental- below, excluding those who express various degrees of uncertainty or disbelief. For the ist movement in our society in recent years that has succeeded in exact wording of all these questions, see the codebook for the 1991 ISSP archived at the getting its message and agenda into the public schools, the mass ICPSR at the University of Michigan. media, and other social institutions. One powerful indicator of the 8. See Ronald Inglehart's two-dimensional model of cultural and religious influ- success of this movement is the low level of scientific literacy ences, which also shows the remarkable similarity of Ireland and Northern Ireland to the United States, in Modernization and Postmodernization (Princeton: Princeton about human evolution in American society as compared to other University Press, 1997), pp. 98-100; see also Andrew M. Greeley's report on the simi- developed nations. But this movement may represent, as Inglehart larities and differences in religious beliefs and practices among the peoples of Britain, and others have argued, the throes of a religious minority whose Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United States in "Religion in Britain, Ireland, and the traditional values and way of life are deeply threatened by the USA." In British Social Attitudes: The Ninth Report, eds. Roger Jowell, et al. relentless secularization of our culture and the steady growth of (Aldershot, England: Gower, 1992). 9. Guthrie, "Why Religion? A Cognitive and Evolutionary Approach." the scientific worldview. The persistence of the religious world- 10.Wilson, Consilience. view in America may be, moreover, the result of a "spiral of 11.Greeley, "Pie in the Sky While You're Alive." silence" that surrounds the expression of agnosticism, atheism, 12. Rodney Stark and Laurence R. lannaccone, "A Supply-Side Reinterpretation of and alternative "spiritual" beliefs-particularly as we say, in polite the 'Secularization' of Europe." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 33(1994): 230-52. company. 13. Inglehart, Modernization and Postmodernization. It was Sigmund Freud who probably best argued that the scien- 14. Andrew M. Greeley, "A Sketch of Religion in 20th Century America." Paper tific worldview would eventually replace the "religious stage" of prepared for the ASA meetings, first draft 1997b. NORC, University of Chicago. superstitious (and other unscientific modes of) thinking in the evo- 15.Sigmund Freud, "The Question of a Weltanschaung." In New Introductory Lectures lution of human civilization.30 In Austria, where he spent much of on Psychoanalysis, ed. James Srachey (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1933, 1965). 16. Edward J. Larson and Larry Witham, "Scientists Are Still Keeping the Faith," his career, in the land of Darwin and Huxley, where he spent his Nature 386(1997): 435; Larry Witham, "Many Scientists See God's Hand in Evolution," final years, and in much of the modern world, the religious world- Washington Times, April 11, 1997, p. A8. view seems to have declined significantly, as he would have pre- 17. George F. Bishop, "The Religious Worldview and American Beliefs About dicted. But the decline has yet to materialize in America where the Human Origins," The Public Perspective 9(1998b): 39-44. scientific worldview has still, as Stephen Jay Gould puts it, to 18.Louis Harris and Associates and American Museum of Natural History, Science and Nature Survey, 1994. "Complete Darwin's Revolution:"' fi 19.Tom Smith, "Environmental and Scientific Knowledge Around the World." GSS Cross-National Report No. 16, January 1996. NORC, University of Chicago. 20. Tom Smith, "Some Aspects of Measuring Education." Social Science Research Notes 24(1995): 215-42. 1. George Gallup, Jr., "Religion in America: Will the Vitality of Churches Be the 21. Alice B. Kehoe, "Scientific Creationism: World View, Not Science." In Cult Surprise of the Next Century?" The Public Perspective 6(1995): 1-8; "Weekly Church Archaeology & Creationism, eds. Francis B. Harrold and Raymond A. Eve (Iowa City: Attendance Dips to Lowest Level in Six Decades," Emerging Trends, vol. 19 March Iowa University of Iowa Press, 1995). 1997, Princeton Religious Research Center. The author would like to thank Maura 22. Bishop, "The Religious Worldview and American Beliefs about Human Origins." Strausberg of the Gallup Organization for her help in locating these Gallup Poll data on 23. Greeley, "A Sketch of Religion in 20th Century America." trends in Americans' belief in God. 24. Inglehart, op cit., chapter 9. 2. For a more skeptical view of the wording of the Gallup question, see George E 25. Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, The Spiral of Silence (Chicago: University of Bishop, "What Americans Believe About Evolution and Religion." Paper presented at Chicago Press, 1993). the annual meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, St. Louis, 26. Kosmin and Lachman, op cit. and Wills, op cit. May 1998a. 27. International Social Survey Program, 1991 and 1993. Inter-University 3. See: George Gallup, Jr., and Jim Castelli, The Peoples Religion: American Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan. Faith in the 90s (New York: Macmillan, 1989); Andrew M. Greeley, "Pie in the Sky 28. Wilson, Consilience. While You're Alive: Life After Death and Supply Side Religion." Paper presented at 29. For an overview of an evolutionary social-psychological theory of human the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Toronto 1997a; Brian behavior, see David M. Buss and Douglas T. Kenrick, "Evolutionary Social Harley and Glenn Firebaugh, "Americans' Belief in an Afterlife: Trends Over the Past Psychology." In Daniel T. Gilbert, Susan T. Fiske, and Gardner Lindzey, eds., The Two Decades." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 32(1993): 269-78; Barry Handbook of Social Psychology, vol. 2, 4th ed. (Boston: McGraw-Hill Co., 1998). S. Kosmin and Seymour P. Lachman, One Nation Under God: Religion in 30. Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion, trans. W.D. Robson-Scott (New Contemporary American Society (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1993); Russell York: Doubleday & Co., 1927); Freud, 1933 op cit. Shorto, "Belief by the Numbers." New York Times Magazine, December 7, 1997; 31. Stephen Jay Gould, "Can We Complete Darwin's Revolution?" In Dinosaur in Garry Wills, Under God: Religion and American Politics (New York: Simon and a Haystack (New York: Crown Publishing Co., 1995).

free inquiry THE FI INTERVIEW

God, Life, and Avocado- A CHAT WITH GEORGE CARLIN Colored Kitchen Appliances

World-renowned comedian George Carlin, a lapsed Irish Catholic, ago than it is today, in terms of being able to control people. The has been ridiculing religion for three decades. But in his 1999 Home political power of especially the Catholic Church in Europe and later Box Office show, "You Are All Diseased," he hits his high-water around the world is rather impressive, and it had a lot to do with polit- mark for slandering the sacred and dissing deities. He says: "When ical decisions and geopolitical plans and strategies and things that it comes to bullshit—big-time, major-league bullshit—you have to were done. So there is certainly some fraudulent manipulation in it. stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exag- I think that at the bottom of all this is a yearning—a yearning on gerated claims: religion." the part of individual humans to connect with something bigger, At the end of his stand-up hilarity, Carlin says that the notion of something more primordial, something original and "out there" that God is "the greatest bullshit story ever told.... Religion has actu- is indefinable. I think that this is a natural urge. And I think religion ally convinced people that there's an invisible man, living in the sky, manipulates that urge in humans. who watches everything you do." The invisible man, he says, "has a FI: Does the skepticism that you express in your shows ever cause special list of 10 things he does not want you to do—and if you do you any kind of backlash, such as picketing, or walkouts, or hate mail? any of these 10 things, he has a special place full of CARLIN: Rarely. I get mail from Christians saying fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish they're going to pray for me. In fact, I got, not a Bible, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and but part of a New Testament in a bound copy last night choke and scream and cry forever and ever till the end from someone who saw my show two nights ago here of time. But he loves you." in Las Vegas. Now what that person was doing in the Carlin says he "really tried to believe in God," but audience with a New Testament in a gambling town, I couldn't. So rather than be "just another mindless don't know. Occasionally, I get a letter where every sin- religious robot," he decided to worship the sun. "I can gle square inch of the page has been used up, and the see the sun—unlike some other gods I could mention." writing is kind of odd, and I wonder about the mental The sun never tells him he's unworthy, he points out, state of the person. But I actually don't attract much and doesn't burn people at the stake. attention because of my skepticism, and this lack of As for the Bible, Carlin compares it to The Three attention used to bother me. But it's a busy culture, it's Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Humpty-Dumpty. "There is a noisy culture, and I'm just one of a million people screaming out no Humpty-Dumpty and there is no God. None. Not one. No God. every now and then for attention. Never was." FI: No other major entertainer that I know of has come out as As a follow-up to the show, Carlin was interviewed by FREE you have with such a head-on, direct confrontation with religion. Do INQUIRY Senior Editor James A. Haught. you know if any other comedians have the same doubts that you have but are just very careful not to express them for fear of losing their audience? CARLIN: I don't know that, and it's because I don't mingle much with other comedians. But I would guess that there's a fair sprinkling of comedians who share my misgivings about religion. In fact, two - 1REE INQUIRY: Do you really think all the magical comedians—one of them in New York and the other in Los Angeles— F- claims of religion are a fraud? have said almost the same thing to me after seeing my recent shows: "Man, any show that ends with `There is no God' is my kind of show." GEORGE CARLIN: Well, first of all, just to give a little context, They were sort of praising me for having the guts to do this. the thing I do is rhetoric. What I'm doing is painting with a very I don't really think of it, though, as something that requires broad brush. I stand by everything, obviously, that I say. But I think courage. You have to remember that I purposely try to find where the it's fair to note that in order to make some points rhetorically, one line of taboo is drawn on any given issue, and then I try to step takes great liberties and speaks in absolutes when perhaps absolutes across it if I can. In doing so, I work to ensure that at first the audi- aren't supportable by argument. ence is uncomfortable and squirming a little. But then after I've So I don't know that the claims are an outright fraud in every case. crossed the line, I attempt either through my logic or my humor to I think religion is used to manipulate people and, ultimately, to con- make them feel safe over there with me. I keep it in a friendly control them. And I think it was probably more important a few centuries text that allows them across without fear or uneasiness.

m ® summer 1999 FI: In the HBO show, I noticed that when you got to the "no environment in the home, for me to go ahead and make that break God" pitch, the crowd, which seemed to be young people mostly, without thinking the wrath of God or the wrath of my parents was cheered and whooped. Do you think that implies that a lot of today's going to come down on me. I was free to act out my hunches, where- young people have doubts about religion? as I would imagine there have been a lot of those fish Catholic kids CARLIN: Among my audience, I'm sure it's true. But we always who had some skeptical impulses but the social pressure was too have to remember the context. One tends to draw followers and peo- great. When they stop going to mass, they have to explain that to ple who like you already. So it's a skewed audience in that respect their mother and to their wife and to the priest and to all the others and not very indicative of a larger population. who still go to mass. I think there's a great deal of social pressure to I would guess, though, that there's a good deal of searching for conform and go through the motions. answers among people in general. I mean, that's what part of this FI: Do you think religion makes people better? I mean, Pat religious resurgence is about and what New Age mysticism is about. Robertson and Jerry Falwell and the pope and the Ayatollah People are dissatisfied and they go searching—but they end up in Khomeini—are they better people than us heretics? the wrong place. The two things that lead us astray are consumer CARLIN: I would doubt that. Certainly the potential for them to materialism and this blind belief in a judgmental God. I think both be better is no greater. There are scoundrels at every level in all of those things are crippling and harmful to the human spirit. fields. I don't think religion necessarily makes people better, but it I think that a lot of people, young and otherwise (but especially can make them comfortable. It's very comforting to say, "Well, it's those from, say, the mid-teens to mid-30s) become disillusioned when out of my hands; I really don't have much to do with this; it's God's they get the sneakers with the lights in them, and they have the new will." That takes an awful lot of responsibility off you, and can— avocado-colored Salad-Shooter, and they have the jacket with Michael oddly enough—give you kind of permission to be very charitable Jordan's picture on the back, and they realize that it's not enough. toward people. I think religion takes good instincts in us and can in People wonder: What the hell? What's wrong here? What's missing? some cases foster them, and some people do become better people And I think what's missing is their connection to the universe. and treat others better. And at the same time, it also works the other I solved this for myself, by the way, by acknowledging my con- way, making people worse. nection to the universe. I have often said to myself that I am truly a FI: Since you come from a Catholic background, I have to ask: star child. I read somewhere that every atom in us—because we're What do you think of the Vatican? all made mostly of heavier elements—came from the inside of a CARLIN: The Vatican is up to its ass in political troublemaking star. Had to be. Couldn't come from any other place. So we're all and deal-making. We know a lot about the Vatican's sins in past cen- star children, and we're all identical in that sense. We have identical turies. But there's plenty to be concerned about in this century—the atoms. And they're just rearranged differently. You're the same thing Vatican's involvement in international security organizations, and as a Coke machine down the hall in your office, and a cigarette butt drug money, and P-2, and bribery, and all sorts of international chi- in the Buffalo airport. They're all the same atoms, rearranged. So canery. P-2 is an organization within the Catholic Church. And Opus when I read that, and contemplated that for a while, I accepted my Dei is another semisecret organization. Both organizations are like connection to the rest of the universe—the one thing that maybe we the Church's central intelligence agency—they do certain things the all feel is missing somehow in us. church can't be associated with officially, things for which the And the other thing I said to myself about belonging to the uni- Church needs deniability. verse is that I'm both larger and smaller than the universe—and I'm FI: What do you think about the religious Right's campaign for equal to it. I'm smaller than it because that's evident; I'm just this "family values"? size; the universe is vast. I'm bigger than it because I can contain it CARLIN: Well, it's awfully self-righteous. And it is unfortunate in my mind in a thought. I can encompass it in a single instant. And that people use something as natural as family feelings for political I'm equal to it because all my atoms are the same as the atoms gain. And I don't just mean political in the field of politics. I mean around me. So if I'm all of those things, what the hell's the problem? political in the sense of any kind of powerful influence over people. The way I said it in a catch phrase was: It's only me out there. What The religious Right, however, is not the only faction that uses the can go wrong? It's only me out there. Which took away a lot of the words family and children to gain advantage. People use the image fear I think all of us have lurking in the corner, the fear that we don't of innocent children to promote censorship and to promote the really have much control. crackdown on drugs, which is really not a crackdown on drugs so FI: In a lot of your earlier routines, you did spoofs of much as it is a diminution of our rights. There are all sorts of things Catholicism—the Irish Catholic doctrines that were drummed into that happen to the Bill of Rights in the name of fighting terrorism you when you were a boy. Do you now see them as absurd? and drugs. CARLIN: Yeah—but with a touch of nostalgia. That's the odd The whole debate about "family values" is also often based on a part. There's a little fondness attached to the old dogmas. simplistic, unrealistic view of families. The presumption is that any- FI: I wonder why you broke away and left the church when mil- thing family is good. But—guess what—some families are toxic. lions of other Irish Catholics don't. You're something like seven times more likely to be killed by a fam- CARLIN: My guess is that it has to do with what I call our genet- ily member than by a stranger. Families are actually very, very poi- ic tool kits. You know, when we're born, we get a certain genetic tool sonous for many people, who can't get away from their families fast kit. Some guys can play the violin and run 100 miles, and other peo- enough. When you talk to people casually in a kidding way about ple can't do any of that, but they can out-think other people, and family, they'll often say, "Aw, geezus, you oughta meet my family. they can really work an argument around in their mind and write a My father was this and that." Well, of course, underneath it, they great treatise. I just think that part of my tool kit was to be very inde- may still have some love and loyalty and respect for those people. pendent of thought because my childhood reinforced that, leading But it is not automatically the most healthful thing for some people me to create my own life, in a way, and invent myself. And I think to be in a "family unit." This is why I say that the family values push that I had this perfect set of circumstances, both my tool kit and my is both misleading and manipulative. fi

free inquiry 0 The Night A FAMOUS PHILOSOPHER FINALLY SEES THE LIGHT Saw Jesus Richard Taylor

piece of toilet paper, and the ear and nose turned out to be leaves in the carpet. Still, I have no doubt that God made that face appear to me, in order to strengthen my faith. How else could anyone explain it? saw Jesus the other night. His face was staring right up It still puzzles me, however, why it appeared where it did. at me from the little floral carpet in the bathroom. I I still think God could have cast it on the side of my barn, went back to bed and whispered to my astonished wife during the tourist season, as this would have spread news of that I had just seen Jesus, and would explain in the morning. I the miracle to the four corners of the land. It would also have looked forward to showing her the face. enabled me, doing God's work, to send my children to a But the next time I went to the bathroom the face was gone. good Christian college, further fulfilling God's will. fi All this got me thinking. Why did Jesus appear to me from an ugly carpet in the bathroom? Why not, instead, from the side of my barn? I live on a highway over which hundreds of tourists travel every summer. Such a vision would certainly have attracted throngs, and news of it would have spread across the land, confirming the faith of believers everywhere. And I could have set up a souvenir stand and perhaps made enough money to put my children through college. How can one measure the boundless worth of spreading the word of Jesus? This, though, got me thinking even more, and wondering. Was this the face of Jesus? Actually, it looked more like my son's basketball coach. What did Jesus look like? The Bible nowhere tells us. Portraits used to represent Jesus as a tall, handsome, youthful man with long hair, gazing heavenward, but, when the hippies in the sixties began to look like that, the portraits began to represent Jesus as neatly groomed, sometimes even with a crew cut. One picture I saw represented Him as, unmistakably, African. I recalled the ancient satirist Xenophenes, who noted that the Thracians picture their gods as fair and blond, while the Ethiopians picture theirs as dark with flat noses. He said that, if lions and elephants could paint, then their gods would resemble lions and elephants. Well, maybe Jesus was short, even fat. Maybe instead of having long, flowing hair, he was bald—again, no clues from the Bible. Indeed, I don't know whether he could read and write. There is no record of that, either. The next afternoon I saw the face again, but this time I realized that what I had taken to be Jesus's eye was a tiny

Y Renowned philosopher Richard Taylor is Professor Emeritus Q at the University of Rochester, author of Love Affairs and other influential texts, and Contributing Editor of FREE INQUIRY. CL

m ® summer 1999 Father's Day A SONS GIFT: DYING WITH DIGNITY Philip Zeppetello

and an ancient, pencilled self-portrait from a more innocent time. All of the Air Corps mementos and faded press clip- pings from his salad days as a union organizer, with socialist leanings, were lost or discarded over the last bitter, lone- V y father met his death the way a Viking ly years. He didn't enjoy an easy or happy life; love and ful- ascends to Valhalla. It was his last stand, fillment had eluded him and he turned inward long ago. .i his finest hour, and his most precious gift. What he did bequeath to me is beyond measure: a life lack- When we arrived he was napping peacefully on the couch, ing the fear and foolishness of blind belief in the supernat- secure in the bonds of forgiveness and compassion offered by ural or religion, a fondness for polemics and debate, a habit his family. He awoke and greeted us, almost impatiently, for of introspection and thought, an insatiable curiosity and keeping him waiting. Now, as he calmly climbed the stairs to desire to understand the world, a deep distrust of authority, my bedroom with eager, determined steps, he sang the well- and a skeptical regard for just about everything and every- remembered brave battle song of the Army Air Corps, "Off body. we go into the wild blue yonder, climbing high into the sun!" As I sat at the bedside, occasionally wiping his face, I held The days of discussion and worry were over, all his goodbyes my fingers on his pulse and cried. Warm and firm, those had been spoken. Nothing remained unsaid, except for a last hands that had brought me so much pain were still. The fierce "I love you" or two. He was asking no quarter from death— face I had feared as a child, now softened and drawn, was nor was he granting any! He had come home to die at the time relaxed and composed. All those unhappy childhood memo- and design of his choosing. ries faded in the light of the final gift we were giving each He downed the sleeping potion—a mix of vodka, other. So glad we'd made our peace. We knew his mistreat- orange juice, and pills—almost gratefully. Licking his lips ment of me had always been directed at himself. In recent and draining the glass, "I like it!" he said, and we all years he often expressed his regret for those wasted years and laughed together one more time. The hemlock that would what might have been. stop his heart was quickly swallowed before unconscious- In less than two hours it was over and done. I kissed his ness overtook him and brought the relief he so wanted. A already cooling brow, said my last goodbye, and had my last long, painful, undignified death would be thwarted. There look. I was happy I had no angry God to hold me to account, would be no "assisted living" with its diapers, pills, pabu- no eternal judgement or damnation to bear, no guilt to lum, and sad loss of self. We eased him down and took out assuage. We had spoken of this moment many times before in his teeth as his eyelids became heavy with lasting, untrou- the certainty that death is just like before you were born: no bled sleep. There was no turning back. He looked at us regrets, no pain, no sadness, no jubilation. Nothing but noth- with a fading twinkle in his eye and slurred out a last good- ing! The abstract had now become reality and we all played bye and thank you. Then he was lost to us, alone with his our parts the only way we could. dreams and memories. Several months later I read a biography of Hannibal, the The surreal silence of the room was broken by the reas- Carthaginian warrior of history and legend. After harassing suring rise and fall of my father's labored breathing and the and evading the Roman army for many years, he found him- sounds of our whispers and tears. Funny what you remember: self an old man, surrounded by Roman troops, with no possi- geese honking loudly over the pond, the high-noon whistle ble means of escape. A brutal and humiliating death awaited. mournfully marking the hour. His heart, made strong by As the trap closed around him, he cheerfully drank the poi- years of bike riding, beat resolutely, as if to foil our mission. son kept for just such an eventuality, and died on his own He would take his time to die. terms, by his own hand, in the company of comrades and He didn't leave much in the way of material possessions: loved ones. He took death rather than be taken! Some deaths a few old clothes, some rusted tools, a razor, a wristwatch, are better than others. I hope I display my father's courage Philip Zeppetello lives in Syracuse, New York, and wisdom when death comes for me. fi

free inquiry m G R EAT MINDS CLASSIC VOICES OF FREETHOUGH

church, and getting late now. Finally

tos Westley said to me in a whisper: "God damn! I'm tired o' sitting here. Let's Salvation Pho m

nu get up and be saved." So he got up and Famed poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was regarded was saved. Mag as black America's poet laureate. His poems dealt with Then I was left all alone on the the themes of racism, imperialism, religious hypocrisy, mourners' bench. My aunt came and Bresson, - and other forms of social injustice. But much of his work r ie

t knelt at my knees and cried, while also reflected a deep love of and appreciation for black prayers and songs swirled all around i Car life and culture. me in the little church. The whole con- Henr Hughes wrote plays, essays, articles, short stories, gregation prayed for me alone, in a and radio and television scripts and produced work in several other areas. In the mighty wail of moans and voices. And 1920s he was a major contributor to the Harlem Renaissance, one of the most influ- I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, wait- ential arts movements in African American history. He was one of the few black ing, waiting—but he didn't come. I writers of the early part of the twentieth century who could support himself through wanted to see him, but nothing hap- earnings from his writings alone. pened to me. Nothing! I wanted some- His work did not romanticize black life, culture, and history. He never forgot thing to happen to me, but nothing that blacks are human beings with good and bad traits. He did, however, argue for happened. a balanced representation of the black experience in art, history, and entertain- I heard the songs and the minister ment. Following are some of his humanistic writings. saying: "Why don't you come? My dear child, why don't you come to Jesus? Langston Hughes Jesus is waiting for you. He wants you. Why don't you come? Sister Reed, what is this child's name?" was saved from sin when I was The preacher preached a wonderful "Langston," my aunt sobbed. going on thirteen. But not really rhythmical sermon, all moans and "Langston, why don't you come? T saved. It happened like this. There shouts and lonely cries and dire pic- Why don't you come and be saved? Oh, was a big revival at my Auntie Reed's tures of hell, and then he sang a song Lamb of God! Why don't you come?" church. Every night for weeks there about the ninety and nine safe in the Now it was really getting late. I had been much preaching, singing, fold, but one little lamb was left out in began' to be ashamed of myself, holding praying, and shouting, and some very the cold. Then he said: "Won't you everything up so long. I began to won- hardened sinners had been brought to come? Won't you come to Jesus? der what God thought about Westley, Christ, and the membership of the Young lambs, won't you come?" And who certainly hadn't seen Jesus either, church had grown by leaps and he held out his arms to all us young sin- but who was now sitting proudly on the bounds. Then just before the revival ners there on the mourners' bench. And platform, swinging his knickerbock- ended, they held a special meeting for the little girls cried. And some of them ered legs and grinning down at me, sur- children, "to bring the young lambs to jumped up and went to Jesus right rounded by deacons and old women on the fold." My aunt spoke of it for days away. But most of us just sat there. their knees praying. God had not struck ahead. That night I was escorted to A great many old people came and Westley dead for taking his name in the front row and placed on the knelt around us and prayed, old vain or for lying in the temple. So I mourners' bench with all the other women with jet-black faces and braid- decided that maybe to save further trou- young sinners, who had not yet been ed hair, old men with work-gnarled ble, I'd better lie, too, and say that Jesus brought to Jesus. hands. And the church sang a song had come, and get up and be saved. My aunt told me that when you were about the lower lights are burning, So I got up. saved you saw a light, and something some poor sinners to be saved. And Suddenly the whole room broke happened to you inside! And Jesus the whole building rocked with prayer into a sea of shouting, as they saw me came into your life! And God was with and song. rise. Waves of rejoicing swept the you from then on! She said you could Still I kept waiting to see Jesus. place. Women leaped in the air. My see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul. Finally all the young people had aunt threw her arms around me. The I believed her. I had heard a great many gone to the altar and were saved, but minister shook my hand and led me to old people say the same thing and it one boy and me. He was a rounder's the platform. seemed to me they ought to know. So I son named Westley. Westley and I When things quieted down, in a sat there calmly in the hot, crowded were surrounded by sisters and dea- hushed silence, punctuated by a few church, waiting for Jesus to come to me. cons praying. It was very hot in the ecstatic "Amens," all the new young

1511 summer 1999 lambs were blessed in the name of God. heard me. She woke up and told my I hadn't seen Jesus, and that now I did- Then joyous singing filled the room. uncle I was crying because the Holy n't believe there was a Jesus any more, That night, for the last time in my Ghost had come into my life, and since he didn't come to help me. fi life but one—for I was a big boy because I had seen Jesus. But I was twelve years old—I cried. I cried, in really crying because I couldn't bear Reprinted with permission in African-American Humanism: An Anthology, edited by Norm R. bed alone, and couldn't stop. I buried to tell her that I had lied, that I had Allen, Jr. (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, my head under the quilts, but my aunt deceived everybody in the church, that 1991), pp. 119-21.

Christ in Alabama

Christ is a Nigger, God's His Father— Beaten and black— White Master above, O, bare your back. Grant us your love.

Mary is His Mother— Most holy bastard Mammy of the south, Of the bleeding mouth: Silence your mouth. Nigger Christ On the cross of the South.

Goodbye Christ

Listen, Christ, Make way for a new guy with no religion at all— You did alright in your day, 1 reckon— A real guy named But that day's gone now. Marx Communist Lenin Peasant Stalin Worker ME— They ghosted you up a swell story, too, Called it Bible— 1 said ME! But it's dead now. The popes and the preachers've Go ahead on now, Made too much money from it. You're getting in the way of things, Lord. They've sold you to too many And please take Saint Gandhi with you when you go, And Saint Pope Pius, Kings, generals, robbers, and killers— And Saint Aimee McPherson, Even to the Tzar and the Cossacks, And big black Saint Becton Even to Rockefeller's Church, Of the Consecrated Dime. Even to THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. And step on the gas, Christ! You ain't no good no more. Move! They've pawned you Don't be so slow about movin'! Till you've done wore out. The world is mine from now on— And nobody's gonna sell ME Goodbye, To a king, or a general, Christ Jesus Lord God Jehova, Or a millionaire. Beat it on away from here now. —Langston Hughes

From Contempo: A Review of Books and Personalities, December 1931, reprinted in The Life of Langston Hughes, Volume 1: 1902-1941, 1, Too Sing America, by Arnold Pompersad (New York: 0xford University Press, 1986), p. 224.

free inquiry 48 CHURCH-STATE UPDATE

reduce rates for service to churches, heighten penalties for property dam- Christian Coalition age and "criminal mischief' involving a house of worship, and exempt children under 14 from wearing bicy- Sins Against IRS cle helmets in place of religious head- wear. A mini-RFRA (see related item in Frontlines) is pending in the state's Tom Flynn lower house, the Assembly. And, not to be outdone by Senator Serphin, Assembly members offered two bills protecting churches that don't shovel hurch-State Update tracks con- V Housing Discrimination O.K.'d. their sidewalks. Stay tuned. tinuing developments in impor- Landlords can refuse on religious Ctant federal, state, and local grounds to rent to unmarried couples, a A 10 Commandments Down. Heed- church-state issues. Each item is pre- three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. ing warnings from a church-state ceded by an up arrow (A) or a down Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 watchdog group and the American arrow (V), based on the story's impli- decision. The surprising verdict over- Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lump- cations for separation of church and turned part of an Alaska housing-dis- kin County, Georgia, will remove a state and the rights of the nonreligious. crimination law. The dissenting judge Ten Commandments display from its warned that the ruling might lead to courthouse. This move comes in wel- AIRS Denies Christian Coalition's pious landlords denying housing to come contrast to the continuing scan- Tax Exemption. Pat Robertson's divorced people, interracial couples, dal in Etowall County, Alabama, where Christian Coalition was denied tax- and domestic abuse victims. The attor- Judge Roy Moore continues to defend exempt status by the Internal Revenue neys general of Alaska, California, his courtroom decalogue—and his Service (IRS). Founded in 1990 after Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Mon- practice of opening court sessions with Robertson's failed presidential bid, tana, and Hawaii have joined in asking prayer. the Coalition operated as a provision- the entire Ninth Circuit to review the ally tax-exempt organization while case en banc and overturn the three A Third Time No Charm. For the the IRS reviewed its status. Critics judges' decision. third time a New York court has struck including Americans United for down state laws establishing a special Separation of Church and State New York Regresses. Remember school district for an ultra-Conserva- charged that the Coalition engaged in liberal New York, the state that legal- tive Jewish community 45 miles partisan political activity, forbidden to ized abortion three years before Roe northwest of New York City. Kiryas tax-exempt groups. This spring, the v. Wade? It's a different place today. Joel is inhabited almost entirely by IRS made public its 1998 decision to This year, state solons introduced members of the Satmar Hasidic sect. deny the Coalition's application for more than two dozen "religion- Disabled Satmar children could only tax exemption. Donors may no longer friendly" bills, perhaps the nation's obtain state-funded special education claim tax deductions for gifts to broadest slate of such constitutionally in neighboring school districts where Christian Coalition. The group owes dubious legislation. Most startling, a they must mix with gentile and non- IRS some $300,000 to $400,000 in bill introduced by Republican state Satmar Jewish children. Compliant back taxes. And its political activities senator Serphin Maltese would make state legislators have tried three times will be spun off into a new, non-tax it a misdemeanor to publicly "hold to carve out a special Kiryas Joel exempt organization structured like a ... up the deity or the religious school district so disabled children political action committee. The Coali- beliefs of any religious class of peo- could be educated at state expense tion will remain "a force in American ple to ridicule." As if a blasphemy law without leaving their enclave. A 1989 politics," Pat Robertson declared after isn't extreme enough, the Maltese law was overturned by the U.S. the decision was announced. But it proposal would also exempt churches Supreme Court in 1994. A second law, will have to play by the same rules as from local prosecution if they fail to crafted to satisfy the high court ruling, other political organizations. clear their sidewalks after a snow- was thrown out by New York's Court Tom Flynn is coordinator of the storm. Other bills would allow reli- of Appeals in 1997. In April, State Council for Secular Humanism's First gious groups to deny their employees Supreme Court Justice Joseph C. Amendment Task Force and senior edi- workers' compensation coverage, Teresi struck down the legislature's tor of FI. compel telephone companies to third attempt.

m In summer 1999 COUNCIL FOR SECULAR HUMANISM

at the

The Executive Council of the new Campus Freethought Alliance at the Center for Inquiry International for the First Annual Conference. Ten-Year Plan and the $20 Million Challenge FUNS The Council for Secular Humanism has developed a Ten- Year Plan to promote humanist principles, develop public FORFu THE support and participation, develop the Center for Inquiry International as an education and research center, and expand the Council's resources. To fund its implementa- tion, we've launched the Fund for the Future: a ten-year, RE $20 million drive to add capital to the Center for Inquiry International's endowments.* Endowment income will Author/entertainer Steve Allen co-chairs the Fund An Unprecedented fund bold new and expanded projects including: for the Future campaign. Drive for a • rapid media response • outreach to the young Humanistic Future • adult education • expanding library resources The Center for Inquiry • and more. International is hub to an To learn more about the Ten-Year Plan and the Fund for the Future, expanding network of send for your FREE copy of our campaign video! humanist and skeptical centers worldwide. Secular humanists across the coun- How Can I Help? try and the world now FREE INQUIRY receives no government grants and little foundation benefit from its libraries, money. We depend on the generosity of individual readers, donors, and friends. The Fund for the Future seeks gifts of cash, appreciated conference and seminar securities, and other liquid assets. A three-year pledge can make more facilities, online and audio- substantial gifts surprisingly affordable. Bequests, trust funds, and other planned giving arrangements are also welcome. The Council visual capabilities. Still, we can assist prospective donors in determining the planned giving must do more. Promoting arrangement best suited to the donor's wishes, tax situation, and exist- secular humanism in the ing financial plans. All requests will be held in strictest confidence. next century will demand To learn more, complete and return the postpaid reply card! In addi- new methods of outreach tion to the information you request, you'll receive a FREE VHS copy that magazine revenues of our Fund for the Future campaign video. alone cannot support. We invite you to make your Fund for the Future commitment today!

'Combined endowment goal of the Council for Secular Humanism and the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), both tax- exempt nonprofit educational organizations. ' Tax Breaks for Private School League for Religious and Civil Rights, Republican presidential hopeful Donors O.K. A controversial Arizona the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, George W. Bush begged the court to law extending tax breaks to donors and the Christian Coalition. In Febru- reconsider the part of its decision that who help fund private-school scholar- ary Ganulin filed a 60-page memoran- barred prayer at high school football ships survived review by the state's dum detailing his arguments for con- games. "Maybe football is sacred in Supreme Court. The 3-2 decision sidering the holiday exclusively Texas," quipped ACLU lawyer denied that the tax credit violates the emblematic of Christianity. Even the Anthony Griffin. Arizona constitution's strict curbs usually conservative Cincinnati against public support of religious Enquirer admitted that the document V Voucher Forays. Following Wis- education. One of the dissenting jus- was "encyclopedic ... a crash course consin's eight-year-old voucher pro- tices disagreed sharply, calling the tax on issues and legal precedents." gram, voucher and charter-school credits "uncontrolled, government- proposals are flying. In New York reimbursed grants to private, primarily A Prayer Nixed at Cleveland Board City, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani pro- religious institutions." One lawmaker of Ed. The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of posed an experimental voucher pro- called it "the closest thing you can get Appeals overturned a 1996 decision that gram in a single city school district. to a full-blown vouchers program," allowed the Cleveland, Ohio, Board of Such a pilot program would not be which conservative legislators had Education to open its meetings with a subject to state review. been repeatedly unable to pass. prayer. The 2-1 ruling said the prayer constituted an apparent government A Police Reject Official Religious V U.S. Jews Leaving Public Schools. endorsement of religion. As this is writ- Observance. The Buffalo, New York, Conservative and Reform Jews, long ten the Board of Education had not police department banned all types of staunch defenders of public education, announced a decision to appeal. religious observance in department may be opting out of public schools as buildings. Officers had begun gathering never before. The number of Jewish A Graduation Prayers. Last May the for prayer before duty following an offi- day schools has grown by about one- Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cer's shooting death in April 1997. On third in the last decade. Observers cred- upheld the policy of a predominantly Easter Sunday of that year a full-blown it the phenomenon to high rates of Mormon school district in Idaho that let Catholic Mass was celebrated in one intermarriage—causing interfaith par- top students in each senior class decide precinct's community room; an officer ents to seek methods other than syna- whether or not to add prayers to their recently filed for injured on-duty status gogue attendance by which their chil- graduation ceremonies. In March the claiming psychological distress related dren can acquire a sense of Jewish same court withdrew its decision and to the improper religious activity. identity—but also to growing dissatis- referred the case to an 11 judge review faction with public schools' education- panel. No reason was given for the ' More on Pat Robertson. Virginia al performance. withdrawal. Two non-Mormon students Governor James Gilmore appointed had brought an ACLU-aided suit Robertson to a state business develop- A Wiccan Victory. Another win for because they felt "like outcasts" at ment board even though his own attor- Wicca: A federal judge in Detroit graduation exercises larded with ney general is examining allegations ordered Lincoln Park, Michigan, Mormon prayers. that Robertson's tax-exempt charity schools to amend their "gang colors" In a 2-1 decision the U.S. Circuit Operation Blessing had misused its air- policy to permit self-proclaimed Court of Appeals upheld the Houston, planes to aid Robertson-controlled dia- witches to display pentagrams and Texas, area Santa Fe Independent mond mining operations in Zaire. other symbols of their religion. The School District's policy of allowing Americans United for Separation of ACLU filed suit on behalf of Crystal graduation prayer if seniors voted for it Church and State (AU) called for Siefert, 17, after the school told the by secret ballot. But it struck down a Governor Gilmore to retract the senior to conceal her pentagram neck- companion policy that permitted invo- appointment. Why would Gilmore lace or face suspension. cations and benedictions at sporting make such a controversial selection? events. The court called graduation AU has one idea, noting that in recent A Feds' Observance of Christmas "the sober type of annual event that can years Robertson contributed more than Challenged. Richard Ganulin's suit to be appropriately solemnized with $100,000 to Gilmore's campaigns for end the federal government's recogni- prayer. "Sporting events hardly meet attorney general and the governorship. tion of Christmas as a civic holiday that standard. The decision followed Meanwhile Robertson's Christian continues. Ganulin, an assistant city recent precedents that treat public Coalition plans to raise $21 million in solicitor for the city of Cincinnati, filed prayer more as a "glorified gavel" than 21 months to influence the year 2000 the suit on his own time last year. as a religious act. Nonetheless, critics elections. Among the projects: distribut- Predictably, it sparked countermea- of the decision weren't angry because it ing a record number of the Coalition's sures by groups including the Catholic trivialized prayer. Governor and controversial voter guides. fi

m ® summer 1999 GOD ON TRIAL

of Dorset as decisive evidence of prehistoric, intentional human activity just Revisiting Arguments because the ground plan of these earthworks is so extremely simple. Therefore, even before Darwin, a straightforward, supposedly empirical Design argument to design ought not to have to appeared well founded. We need to remember that such Antony Flew arguments were originally presented, as they still are, as arguments of natural theology. They were, therefore, sup- n his recent and characteristically the ground, and it should posed to be addressed to forceful article arguing "The be inquired how the natural reason, unenlight- IImprobability of God" (FREE watch happened to be in ened by any prior revela- that place, I should hardly INQUIRY, Summer 1998) Richard tion of actual divine exis- answer that for anything I tence and activity. Yet, of Dawkins allows that the argument from knew, the watch might design as presented most famously by always have been there. all the sorts of objects William Paley must "for most of histo- The watch must have had known to us, absent any ry" have "seemed utterly convincing, a maker who compre- such prior supernatural self-evidently true." I suggest that hended its construction revelation, by far and away and designed its use. Dawkins was being too generous. For it the most complicated and Every indication of con- sophisticated are in facts is high time and overtime to take a trivance, every manifestation of not sorts of products of human design fresh, open-minded, skeptical look at design which existed in the watch, arguments to design. exists in nature, with the difference and human industry but instead mem- It really ought to be to and not from, on the side of nature of being bers of our own species. So far as we because such arguments—which have greater or more, and that in a degree know they are—we are—the only which exceeds all computation. been and remain the most widely objects of the universe capable of pro- employed and effectively persuasive of ducing such products. all arguments for the existence and If, while walking in the Scottish Some lines from Harriet Beecher activities of a creator God—are sup- highlands I were to spot a watch lying Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin are more posed to be arguments from experience. in the heather, then I should certainly revealing here than perhaps the author For, given agreement that something is recognize it as an artifact; just as herself recognized. For unlike the in truth an artifact, then the inference to Robinson Crusoe, if he had found a Yankee Miss Ophelia, poor Topsy had a designer or Designer becomes imme- watch lying on the beach of his island, never been theoretically indoctrinated diate and altogether compelling. So it is would also have recognized that as an by either parent or preacher. Yet she had precisely and only insofar as there is artifact. But we could both have also had abundant opportunity to learn from some dispute as to whether objects of recognized as artifacts objects requiring rural observation what in my young day some kind are indeed artifacts that there far less skill and knowledge for their urban fathers used to reveal to school- is need for argument to settle the ques- manufacture than watches. Archeolo- bound sons as "the facts of life." So it is tion; and, in particular, for argument gists, for instance, are doing it all the Topsy who answers for unprejudiced from experience. time. For what makes an artifact an arti- common sense and common experience. Consider, for example, the classic fact is the fact that it was made. It is not statement from William Paley's that it is something of mind-boggling "Do you know who made you?" "Nobody, as I knows on," said the Natural Theology; a treatise that complexity, but that it is something that does not grow on trees and is not to be child with a short laugh. The idea Charles Darwin read during his student appeared to amuse her considerably; days at Cambridge: found in untrodden territories. for her eyes twinkled and she added: The crucially relevant contrast here "I s'pect I grow'd. Don't think Suppose I had found a watch upon is, therefore, not that between the sim- nobody never made me."' ple and the complex but that between Philosopher Antony Flew is Professor the artificial and the natural. No one, Paley's argument to design thus Emeritus of Philosophy at Reading for instance, refuses to accept the mas- appears to proceed as if this was a University and a member of the Inter- sive yet extremely simple earthworks movement warranted by all our experi- national Academy of Humanism. of Maiden Castle in the English county ence of nature: from the observation

free inquiry that organisms, and in particular human would be prudent to point, less compre- only that nothing can possibly come beings, which so far as we know are the hensively and hence less controversially, about without some kind of cause, but most complex sort of objects in the uni- to the familiar teleological phenomena also that those causes necessarily have verse, appear not to have been made but studied by biology; to make it not "all to be somehow proportionate and ade- to have developed naturally; to the con- bodies," without exception, but only all quate to their effects?" clusion that these objects, and indeed living things. Aquinas, however, pro- Descartes himself spoke of perfec- ultimately all other sorts of objects ceeds from his own unqualified major tion, rather than of adequacy or propor- also, must nevertheless have been premise to his minor: "Nothing that tion. But our contemporaries are more made—must have been, that is to say, lacks awareness tends to a goal, except inclined to urge that consciousness, self- created supernaturally. under the direction of someone with consciousness, the capacity for reasoning A less popular, more technical, but awareness, and with understanding; the discourse, and various other characteris- equally unsound variation upon the arrow for example, requires an archer." tics, most of which so far as we know are same theme was developed centuries Certainly an arrow requires an archer the prerogatives of human beings, simply earlier by Thomas Aquinas. For the fifth if it is to be shot. But what about all could not have emerged as the unplanned of his supposed five ways of providing those other teleological phenomena that and unintended by-products of interac- the existence of God takes off from: can be observed in the progress of tions between entities that could not organisms through their life cycles? At themselves be properly described as pos- . . . the guidedness of nature. An any rate to all appearance, as Topsy sessing any such characteristics. Such orderedness of actions to an end is would have insisted, living things just characteristics, it is sometimes added, observed in all bodies obeying natur- grow. Certainly there are in these cases cannot conceivably characterize any- al law, even when they lack awareness ... Nothing however that lacks no observable archer-substitutes. So to thing purely and simply material. awareness tends to a goal, except conclude from the two premises pre- But now remember Hume's funda- under the direction of someone with sented by Aquinas that "Everything in mental insight: that we do not and cannot awareness and with understanding; nature ... is directed to its goal by know a priori that any particular thing or the arrow, for example, requires an someone with understanding, and this sort of thing either must be or cannot be archer. Everything in nature, therefore, is directed to its goal by some- we call God" is to conclude, on the the cause of any other particular thing or one with understanding and this we basis of evidence largely if not exclu- sort of thing. For anyone maintaining call "God."' sively contrary, that always and either that these characteristics cannot absolutely everywhere, even where result from interactions between entities I shudder to imagine Topsy's reac- there seems to be no human or other not themselves possessed of them, or tion had anyone drawn her attention to natural direction, all development is that they cannot correctly be attributed to this argument. For Aquinas is confident- nevertheless always completely subor- anything through and through material, ly offering all those apparently teleolog- dinate to and dependent upon supernat- the crucial question—as always absent ical phenomena that to all appearance ural control. This argument constitutes special revelation—is how this is sup- proceed without "the direction of some- a most gigantic begging of the question, posed to be known. For our only natural one with awareness and with under- and a begging of it in defiance of the knowledge of such characteristics is standing" as premises from which to evidence actually offered in support of obtained because, and in as much as, derive the contradictory conclusion that the conclusion thus illicitly attained. they are characteristics possessed by our- "Everything in nature ... is directed to Such a performance by the goy Aquinas selves and by other members of that very its goal by someone with understand- demands a Yiddish-type response: "And special class of creatures of too, too solid ing." He too is taking as premises for his that you call an argument?" flesh to which all of us belong. fi argument to (supernatural) design what Presumably it is in part by equivo- ought instead to be seen—absent reve- cating in the employment of such terms Notes lation to the contrary—as conclusions as teleological and goal directed that about what naturally occurs, and hence Aquinas and others have continued to 1. P. 206 in the undated edition from Basic Books of New York. No doubt the politically cor- what is naturally possible without reach the conclusion desired. In one rect of today will denounce and despise this work. supernatural contrivance. understanding these terms entail con- They ought to recognize that it actually gave a Aquinas, following Aristotle, main- scious direction, and in another they do huge impetus to the Abolitionist cause. It was his recognition of this fact which led Abraham tained that, "An orderedness of actions not. Those outside a Thomist tradition Lincoln to describe Harriet Beecher Stowe as "the to an end is observed in all bodies obey- are perhaps more likely to reach the little lady who started the Civil War." ing natural laws, even when they lack same conclusion—that all such teleo- 2. Summa Theologica, Part I, Question 2. 3. These principles appear—as Axioms III awareness" This form of orderedness logical phenomena must be the prod- and IV, respectively—in a very characteristic towards an end that we call teleological ucts of conscious direction—in another exercise included in Descartes' replies to the sec- is something that scientists today dis- way. For too many people it has ond set of 0bjections to his Meditations on First Philosophy: "Reasons which prove the existence cern primarily if not exclusively in the seemed and still seems, as it did to of God and the distinction between the mind and development of living things. So it Descartes, self-evidently necessary: not the human body, arranged as geometry"

® summer 1999 (Confronting the `Corporate Mystique,' Cont'd. from p. 5) corporate mystique is almost never households are now invested in equi- more global in reach, they find it questioned. Indeed, the corporate mys- ties, either directly or through retire- cheaper to produce goods abroad—in tique assumes the characteristics of a ment plans and mutual funds, and they Asia and Latin America. Thus, jobs are sacred religion. Powerful corporations applaud the great corporations that suc- exported, and American wage rates now dominate our culture; they are ceed. These companies are judged by must compete with those of underde- largely unchallenged and are given free their bottom lines, earnings, dividends, veloped countries. The working person rein to do what they want. Any effort to and potential growth. The president of faces the threat of job insecurity due to restrain corporate power is today virtu- General Motors, Charles Wilson, many downsizing and outsourcing. Tem- ally nonexistent. At the beginning of years ago said that "What was good for porary and contingent workers replace the twentieth century there was a popu- our country was good for General permanent personnel, with a decline of lar outcry against the excessive power Motors, and vice versa." Most benefits, seniority, and security—there of trusts and monopolies, and the Americans are impressed by what cor- are still no health or retirement provi- Sherman Anti-Trust Act was enacted. porations like IBM, AT&T, Exxon, GE, sions for 40 million citizens. This effort has largely been muted in Coca-Cola, and Intel are able to deliv- Third, merger mania continues. In the United States, where merger mania er. America has become the world's 1998 the total number of merger deals reigns supreme. Interestingly, mergers only superpower. Its standard of living announced rose 76% to $1.6 trillion, and acquisitions have flourished under is rising; cheaper prices and better ser- the highest on record ($2.41 trillion both Democratic and Republican vices are available—and this is a result, worldwide). These include the Exxon/ administrations. The Microsoft and we are told, of the corporate culture in Mobil merger, Citicorp/Travelers, Intel cases are exceptions, for very few which we live. The budget has been AT&T/TCI. Some believe that every corporate conglomerates in recent balanced, and there is even a surplus. industry will end up with two or three years have been challenged by the gov- Hallelujah to the free market! the cho- oligopolies dominating the market. ernment. Corporate-merger mania now ruses chant. Many people uncritically applaud is also rampant in Europe and other Now, perhaps it is a sacrilege to these tendencies. The sheer growth in parts of the world, though not on the find chinks in the armor of the corpo- size in corporations is astounding. same scale as in the United States. rate mystique; but I think that a more Several global corporations are more We are all familiar with the Marxist balanced appraisal would be helpful. powerful than most of the countries in challenge that confronted capitalism The current economic boom (How which they do business. One has to ask for almost a century. Nationalization of long will it last?) is due to many fac- the question: What will this enormous major industries in so-called socialist tors, including scientific research and concentration of economic power do countries was offered as a panacea. technological innovation. Industry is to democracy? This has been discredited. Communism able to invest in new companies and Fourth, the corporate mystique is could neither deliver the goods nor feed bring new products to the marketplace; such that many people believe that all its people. Moreover, it denied them but institutions of higher education, in areas of social life should be privatized. democracy and cultural freedom. As a training the scientific-technological We have seen this happen in the phar- result, the free-market ideology now elite and encouraging basic research, maceuticals industry, hospitals and reigns supreme. The libertarian view is have played a key role here. Moreover, healthcare, and it is beginning in that free markets should be left unregu- the labor movement and the democra- schools and prisons. Are we willing to lated; for these are the best engines for tization of our institution have also allow all of our institutions to be economic growth. The free-market lib- contributed to our prosperity. judged by considerations of profit ertarian believes that this will in the alone? Business is more efficient than long run maximize the happiness of et if we take a closer look at government, it is said. Why not? society. Even China has been able to YAmerican prosperity, disturbing Because there are, I submit, other val- grow by unleashing the power of the trends appear. ues in society besides profit that need free market. Milton Friedman argued First, many members of our society to be encouraged. "that the only social responsibility of have not shared in the affluence. Fifth, I have previously written in business is to increase profits:" We Indeed, the disparity in income FREE INQUIRY about the takeover of the may ask, Does business have any between rich and poor is greater than it media by conglomerates. Media responsibilities for the commonweal has ever been. The top 1% of the popu- moguls and merchants—Rupert beyond that? lation own $4 trillion in assets, the bot- Murdoch's News Corporation, Disney, America is enjoying unparalleled tom 80% only 6% of total assets. Bill Time-Warner, etc.—now dominate prosperity. The stock market seems to Gates's $70 billion is equal to the net what Americans see, read, and hear. be experiencing a never-ending specu- worth of 40% of Americans. Included in this equation are foreign lative boom. Forty percent of American Second, as corporations become companies—such as the German cor-

free inquiry poration Bertelsmann, now the largest the workforce in 1954 to 15% today. (It free-market economy has increased trade publisher in the United States, is 80% in Sweden, 35% in Germany.) the wealth of nations enormously. It and the British company Pearson PLC, With corporations becoming interna- has led to more efficient industries, the dominant educational publisher. If tional, how can labor play a role when lower prices, and increased consumer American democracy presupposes a it is at the mercy of threats of interna- goods. Economies of scale that reduce free market of ideas, what guarantees tional conglomerates to export jobs to prices are important. Similarly, it has do we have that the global conglomer- Thailand or Mexico, India or China? contributed to the economic develop- ates will allow diversity and not 2. Since the Reagan revolution, the ment and prosperity of the Third squeeze out dissent? This is already countervailing role of the government World by investing in new industries. happening at a rapid rate, as indepen- has been diminished. The Reaganites But, I ask, at what price? Enormous dent publishers, newspapers, maga- considered government to be a major centers of power, such as zines, radio and television companies problem, and they ignored the Exxon/Mobil on a global scale, have are being gobbled up. increased power of corporations at the emerged with no regulation or I believe that the media must be same time that they sought to emascu- restraint, except from the bottom line open to diversity, and there are certain late labor unions. Clinton has moved and the demand for earnings increases practical remedies that I would recom- his administration to the center of the by Wall Street investors. I ask, Will mend, such as the repeal of the infa- political spectrum. Embroiled in con- this mean a corruption of the political mous Telecommunications Act of stant combat against efforts to throw system, even the castration of democ- 1996. The 1996 act allowed major him out of office, his domestic policies racy? If one believes in individual lib- media companies to expand their radio are impotent; he has been unable to erty and a free society—as liberals, and television market share, with disas- achieve many of his programs. The conservatives, libertarians, and social trous consequences. There is, I submit, anti-trust division is weak. Moreover, democrats do—and if one opposes a need to limit ownership in a market corporations have spent $2 billion (in totalitarian control, then one must by media companies. I submit that the 1996) in financing campaigns, which worry about what the enormous con- Fairness Doctrine, which was repealed tend to subvert the political process and centration of wealth and power do to during the Reagan administration, prevent anti-trust action from being our democratic institutions. Perhaps it needs to be restored, for it would effectively applied. is time for neohumanists to raise ques- require stations to give an opportunity 3. Countervailing forces, we are tions about the corporate mystique. In for diverse opinions to be heard in a told, are often other corporations, that the past the predominant motto was community. I also think that anti-trust can compete in financial markets. pro ecclesia et patria, for church and laws should be enforced, especially Often this is based on new technolo- state. The motto today, at least in the when oligopolies intrude on the realm gies that emerge to challenge older United States, is pro ecclesia et com- of ideas. I think that there is an urgent companies. There is some truth to this, mercia (for church and corporation). need to create a second nonprofit tele- but I have two caveats. First, in some Interestingly, Europe is now con- vision and radio corporation with com- industries there are only three, two, or trolled by socialist or social-democra- plete integrity and independence. This even one player—witness Boeing in tic parties in all but two of the fifteen might be financed by either a tax on the United States, which competes pri- countries. These governments are commercial broadcasters and/or the marily with Airbus on the internation- willing to regulate these corporations creation of an endowment fund. al scale, or cable companies, which for the common good; although they dominate regional markets and raise believe in free markets, they also he American Constitution is based prices with impunity. Second, increas- believe that there are other social pur- Tupon a system of checks and bal- ingly these corporations have worked poses that society needs to fulfill. ances between the three branches of out partnership arrangements (as in the I think that there are remedies with- government. This system has prevented airline and telecommunication indus- in the free-market democratic system to the emergence of one branch of gov- tries), which weaken competition and restrain and limit corporate control. ernment with overweening power. I leads to the development of de facto Such remedies would not be antagonis- submit that we need some checks and monopolies. tic to our economic system, but may balances on the emergence of excessive 4. We need a new countervailing help to strengthen it by leading to a corporate power. This had been held in force, namely voluntary nonprofit genuine capitalism with a human face. check in the past by the existence of movements to influence public opin- I can only touch briefly on some of countervailing centers of power— ion, such as the American Civil these. (1) We can continue to extend which are being seriously weakened Liberties Union, the Sierra Club, the employee ownership of the stock in the today: National Organization of Women, the corporations in which they work. (2) 1. The labor movement in the 1930s universities, and new political Moreover, employee representatives played a key role. But the influence of alliances such as the neohumanist could sit on the boards of directors of labor has been reduced from 34% of coalition. Many people agree. The corporations—as they do in Germany

® summer 1999 and other European countries. (3) democratic process. No doubt there Trade Agreement and other regional Shareholders' rights should be encour- are many other remedies beyond the and global trade treaties. Eisenhower aged and protected, and the elections above that can be suggested. warned years ago of the military- of officers and the voting on important industrial complex; this has today policy issues should be submitted to ow I readily grant that many become the "corporate conglomerate shareholders' approval. (In order to be Nhumanists—who will accept other complex." most effective, perhaps this should aspects of the humanist agenda—will In any case, I reiterate that we need apply only to those stockholders who demur at what I have said. At the very to begin a national debate on the role of have owned their shares for a year or least, I submit, we need an open dis- the corporation in democratic societies. more.) Another problem here is that so cussion in America about the enor- We need, I submit, a new grass-roots many shares are held by powerful mous concentration of corporate power citizens' movement to deal with "the mutual funds. (4) Before a company and possible ways of dealing with it. corporate mystique." fi can arbitrarily move out of a city or Unfortunately, because of corporate state, adequate notice and consultation control of the media this is now diffi- Notes with representatives in the area should cult to do. There are too few voices of be mandated; perhaps even their dissent. Only Ralph Nader in the 1996 1. I argued that if the Christian Coalition and approval and/or exit fees should be Vatican supporters in the United States could presidential campaign sought to raise advocate a social-political agenda, why not required. (5) On the international level this issue, and George Gerbner of the humanists? (See "Humanist Politics: The Need additional rules and regulations should University of Pennsylvania and the for a New Coalition?' Face INQUIRY, Fall 1998.) be enacted and enforced by the World Cultural Environment Movement have 2. For a responsible discussion of this, see the book by Charles Derber, Corporation Nation: Court and other international agen- focused on corporate domination of How Corporations Are Taking Over Our Lives cies. (6) Of vital importance would be the media. Pat Buchanan from the and What We Can Do About It (New York: St. the prohibition of corporate lobbies Martin's Press, 1998), pp. x, 374. For a discus- other end of the political spectrum has sion on corporate control of the media, see Ben contributing to campaigns—this may expressed populist misgivings about H. Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly (Boston: do more than anything else to limit the impact on American industry and Beacon Press, 1997). undue corporate influence on the 3. The New York Times Magazine, September workers of the North American Free 13, 1970.

(Letters cont'd. from p. 21) asm in a social context where tradition- tion "problem." Indeed, if current Minister, India adopted a policy of pop- al prejudices about gender roles persist trends continue, we may well be the ulation control, and national targets led to the current situation. first species to go extinct for failure to were set for controlling population Innaiah Narisetti, Ph.D. breed. You owe it to your readers (intel- growth, but a Catholic minister was in Vice President, Rationalist Association ligent skeptics, after all) to present both charge of the program. In 1975, when of India sides of such controversial issues. Indira Gandhi declared a State of Silver Spring, Md. There are, in particular, a number of Political Emergency and curtailed civil "boomsters" (e.g. the late Julian liberties, her son, Sanjay Gandhi, in an Simon, Kahn, et al.) who believe that extra-constitutional role, attempted to There are a couple of things that dis- the future will be ever brighter. The rea- implement family planning schemes by turbed me about the recent FI. Of great- soning is simple and instructive: rising force. Poor people were herded into est importance is the large space devot- population and income result in greater trucks, led to family welfare clinics and ed to the "population problem." The demands for environmental quality and vasectomy operations were conducted "doomsters" (Lester Brown, Paul more minds to solve problems as they forcibly, leading to widespread resent- Ehrlich, et al.) have never been correct arise. The doomster view (more income ment toward the state interference in on any substantive prediction. The and population resulting in greater such matters. This resentment contin- developed world is currently not throughput, hence either polluting our- ues, which is why governments, even replacing itself, and birthrates are drop- selves to death or running out of scarce today, are cautious about promoting ping dramatically in the developing resources) has been a far poorer predic- family planning schemes. At the same world. Continued enhancement of tor of the future than the boomster time religious fundamentalists like female status, along with growing view—this should be noted, perhaps Mother Teresa and Muslim mullahs access to birth control to eliminate the beginning with the Simon-Ehrlich bet grabbed the opportunity and attacked estimated 20-30% unwanted/un- of 1980. the family planning schemes. planned births along with the urbaniza- Second, the narrow concern about A combination of several policy tion that results from rising income will religion in the context of the voucher misadventures and misplaced enthusi- eliminate the perception of a popula- experiments (I'm, of course, an athe-

free inquiry ist), has caused you to fail to realize plague mankind would suddenly shud- some areas, based on today's standards that virtually any alternative approach der in the face of increasing numbers of water generation and consumption. is preferable to our current educational of human beings. The human race has What we need to realize is that if our system. Sure, there will be some reli- accomplished more in the last 100 technology remains the same and we gious indoctrination in certain schools, years than we had in the 1,000 before are unable to increase our ability to but there is also likely to be (in any that. Human knowledge builds on itself come up with new ideas we will surely large city, at any rate) specialty atheist and grows exponentially. We have be in a bind come 2025. How many of schools! The main point is that vouch- made great strides in food production, us truly believe that we will be no bet- ers give parents choice, hence nurture agricultural engineering, and food ter in terms of technology 25 years involvement in the education of their preservation. In college I had the from now that we are today? I believe a children. The primary beneficiaries are opportunity to study food preservation reality check is in order. Twenty-five likely to be inner-city poor who are cur- as well as population control. What I years from now the world will be a very rently the most harmed by our public found was that a majority of the different place than it is today. school system. Milton Friedman, a world's food spoils before getting to Mr. Brown touches on the one thing friend, was incidentally misserved by those who need it. Irradiation, the that will help solve some if not most being lumped with "a spectrum of reli- process of exposing food and instru- of the problems facing human beings gious Right organizations." ments to small amounts of gamma around the world, education. A better Philip E. Graves radiation in order to rid them of bacte- educated populace has less children. A Department of Economics ria and contaminants that lead to early better educated population will slowly University of Colorado spoilage as well as provides for steril- but surely cast off the chains of Boulder, Colo. ization, has been proven safe and oppressive religious thought. A better effective for decades. Irradiation educated population will give rise to allows food to spoil at a much lower those breakthroughs that will catapult The article "Reproductive Medicine rate than if had not gone through the humanity in areas of science as yet and Ethics" by Richard Taylor (FI, process. This method has yet to see undreamed. It is in this direction that Spring 1999) reminded me of a news- widespread usage due to the public's our energies must focus. paper report that Nkem Chukwu and ignorance surrounding how the process There have been a number of argu- lyke Louis Udobi, parents of the seven works and its safety. ments made against the population surviving octuplets, received a six-bed- Scientist have been able to produce disaster proposition. One of these room, 5,384-square-foot home valued fruits and vegetables many times their arguments calls into question the at $274,000 from the Federal National natural size as well as animals that pro- racial motivation of those who would Home Mortgage Association. duce more milk and other foods. Why have us believe that "certain" regions Since the multiple birth was a result then are we so scared of a population of the world have gotten too crowded. of fertility measures and the mother's much larger than the one we have now? Some may look upon Mr. Brown and refusal to reduce the number of fetuses Why does FI insist on putting forth others who do not believe in a god on religious grounds, I can only con- doomsday literature that ignores the and question their motivation in wish- clude that this was a highly profitable human ability to innovate and produce ing to impose "family planning" on pregnancy—by design. what is needed for its own survival? regions of the world that are deeply It is beyond my comprehension In college I interned at an invest- ingrained with religious fervor. I do why Fannie Mae would choose to ment bank that charged me with not know what would lead men and salute a multiple birth at a time when researching the water industry in hopes women of science to view the world we are well aware of the dangers of of finding new investment opportuni- through such a pessimistic lens, but I overpopulation. ties. What I found was that Mr. Brown do know that we cannot hope to lead Lucy S. Smith is correct when he says the world is others down the path of free thought Dinwiddie, Va. heading for a fresh water shortage in and reason by forsaking science and

In his article detailing why he felt Now Available! Thomas Malthus to be correct in his Audio Tapes from CSH's international conference dire warnings of explosive population "Why Does Religion Persist?" growth Lester Brown fails to mention anything about the proven ability of featuring Richard Dawkins and Wendy Kammer man to innovate in the face of necessi- held May 13 through May 16, 1999, in Chicago ty. It is amazing to me that those of us Eight 90-Minute audio cassettes for $129 who proclaim the greatness of science Use MasterCard or Visa to order and call TOLL-FREE 1-800-458-1366 in order to solve the problems that

in summer 1999 rational thinking. nology will actually increase the size of oping countries are all of one mind in Kurt N. McFarlane the earth and economist's traditional asking the industrialized world for help Bethesda, Md. remedy of replacement cannot apply to in solving this problem. Rather than those resources like soil and water that imposing family planning on them, by are basic to life. It used to be said that our negligence we are in fact withhold- Roy Brown, guest editor of the Spring for every new mouth God provided a ing it from them. 1999 FI Special Section, replies: pair of hands. But he doesn't provide Population growth and the lack of more fresh, clean water or another acre reproductive health provision are by no Mr. McFarlane makes a number of of arable land. means the only problems of developing points in his letter and some of them Certainly, computer power has countries, but they affect most of the are well founded: everyone would been doubling every 18 months for the other problems they have to face. agree, for example, that education is past 3O years. But computers handle Furthermore, we are talking here about important. Educated families live the intangible. It is a poor analogy to a simple, existing, and relatively cheap healthier lives and are better able to apply material items. Cars, for exam- technology that is known to work. It "cast off the chains of religious ple, have not doubled in speed every makes no sense to set our faces against thought." (Not that in practice many 18 months—if they had we would all this particular solution when others seem to). It is also self-evident that be zipping around at 55 million miles either do not yet exist or may prove too progress, at least in the material sense, an hour. expensive to implement. has seen explosive growth this century Mr. McFarlane also seems to McFarlane accuses the writers of as knowledge has built on knowledge. assume that technology alone will be pessimism. Not so. As Carl Wahren and His main argument, however, is mis- sufficient to solve our problems. Food others pointed out, and unlike the prob- placed. He believes we are wrong to be irradiation is a good example. Since lem of increasing the availability of concerned about population growth spoilage is such a problem why has finite resources such as fresh water, because human ingenuity, expressed irradiation not been widely applied in population growth is a soluble prob- through science and technology, has developing countries? The answer, of lem. All that is required is the political always solved our problems and there- course, is cost. Why are none of the will and a willingness to spend a dollar fore always will. He cites "man's available treatments for HIV being today to avoid having to spend $1OO proven ability to innovate in the face of applied in Africa where AIDS is run- tomorrow. By campaigning for and necessity." He gives the doubling in ning out of control? Why are millions in supporting increased spending on pop- speed of computer chips as an example Asia and Africa still dying from curable ulation assistance, humanists can get a of what can be achieved and wonders infectious diseases such as malaria? warm glow of satisfaction from the how we can possibly doubt that human Again, cost. knowledge that not only are they there- ingenuity will solve the problem of pop- McFarlane argues that "finding by helping the cause of women's auton- ulation growth as well. new ways for nations with fresh water omy, but also helping the earth towards The first point to make is that this shortages to gain access to fresh water a sustainable future. view is not shared by the world's scien- will not be a problem ten years from When looking at the risks we are tists—the very people we would need to now." There may be enough fresh taking today with our finite planet, look to for solutions. In a statement water flowing down the Amazon or blind faith that some future technology issued by 57 of the world's scientific locked up in the Antarctic ice-cap to will solve our problems is as irrespon- academies, meeting in Delhi in 1993, provide all the water India needs. But sible as relying on God to do so. We they warned: "It is our collective who will pay to transport it there? The need the courage to look the facts in the judgement that continuing population Indian government can't afford it and I face and to act on them now growth poses a great risk to humanity. can't see the U.S. or European govern- Furthermore, it is not prudent to rely ments coming up with the immense on science and technology alone to cost either. Humanism and solve problems created by rapid popu- Another point, and one that is of lation growth." They concluded ".. . crucial importance in understanding Politics humanity's ability to deal successfully the population issue: No one is trying with its social, economic, and environ- to impose family planning on anyone Humanism is a belief system that can mental problems will require the else. As was pointed out in more than not be inflicted on anyone anymore achievement of zero population growth one article, all that is necessary to than Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. within the lifetime of our children." The reduce population growth to manage- Although our belief system is based on key problem is that the earth's able levels is to give women the means reason—not dogma—it is still a belief resources are limited; even renewable and the right to choose how many chil- system. If we are to maintain the sepa- resources have a limited rate of renew- dren they will have. The women, the ration of church and state we must not al, fixed by nature. No amount of tech- families and the governments of devel- engage in the same nonsense they do.

free inquiry If there is a political party that is my religious heritage. weekly mass, we have religious televi- both sensitive to humanist values and That anger has abated, but I want to sion channels. We intoxicate children international in scope it is the find camaraderie with others in a mean- from a very early age by involving Libertarian Party. The party of princi- ingful understanding of life. Contrary them in spiritual matters that are only ple. The third largest party (and fastest to the church's warnings of the evil of fully understood by adults. growing) in America. The only secular humanism, I actually find the People in Europe do not take reli- Humanist Affirmation that might be tenants of this life view to match my gion seriously. Religion belongs to the held against Libertarianism is "We own. I almost feel "born again" with an past and it is perceived as a private mat- believe in support the disadvantaged understanding that intellect and free ter. Churches are historic monuments, and handicapped so that they will be thought are indeed "O.K." priests are starving, and parishioners able to help themselves." While Michael Guilford hardly give a penny to their pastor. We Libertarians strongly believe in charity [email protected] have witnessed too much bloodshed we do not believe in the welfare state. because of religious wars throughout Indeed, Libertarian Party members sign our history. We cannot believe in tribal an affirmation stating: "We do not I spent most of my life in Normandy beliefs anymore because we are enter- believe in or advocate the initiation of where I was born and Paris where my ing a néw world with educated people force for political or social gain" Live husband and I were working. We then who will not be told what they have to ... Let live! If this is not humanism, moved to Barcelona, Spain, and final- do, what they have to say, and what then I don't know what is. ly to America. We now live in they have to think. Scott A. Wilson Scottsdale, Arizona. FREE INQUIRY, National Geo- Concord, Calif. I was discovering little by little graphic, and Natural History maga- something that I had never suspected zines have taught me that we can all when I had visited America as a build a better world. It is time to cele- Like Minds tourist. I realized that American people brate reason and humanity, as you were obsessed with religion and tradi- say. Moreover, scientists need our I'm 43 years old and have struggled tions. First I noticed on the dollar bills, support and understanding. Let us throughout my life with the questions "In God We Trust." Then I read on the talk with them and help them to raised by religion. Raised in a funda- insurance policy papers, "the Acts of improve society. mentalist church, I grew up with a pic- God." What are they? Then President Marie Anne Valente ture of a "loving" God ready to zap me Clinton always mentions God in his Scottsdale, Ariz. for my "sins"; that communism, god- public speeches: "God bless you"; lessness, anarchy, and science were all "address our prayers," etc. My neigh- evil bedmates; and that I "thought too bors go to a "Bible Study Seminar" for True Crime much for my own good." a weekend vacation escape. We got I continued my family religious tra- invited to a traditional Thanksgiving Ralph E. Brown (FI, Spring 1999, dition at a Christian college. I married a dinner and the "patriarch" was asked to Letters to the Editor) resuscitates the wonderful Christian woman. All the bless the meal with a prayer while we "rule of law" argument that we all while I knew, as did my wife, that I was held hands. My children were given a heard from Henry Hyde ad nauseam "plagued by the evil spirit of homosex- Bible outside the school by volunteers "Let's look at Bunker Hill, Concord, uality." Being a sincere person, howev- before catching the bus. At the hospi- Lexington, and Arlington for men who er, I did all I could to defeat this demon. tal, you are asked on the admission gave their lives for the rule of law," he Ultimately, I "failed." Once ousted by papers, "What is your religion?" My said at the impeachment hearings. my furious wife, I was "excommunicat- neighbor's daughter, who is 13 years This is pure garbage: they gave their ed" from church and separated from old, could not understand why some lives in the cause of liberty, liberty my children. I have kept a good rapport people live without a religion. She said from the laws under which King with the kids throughout their tender it is impossible. George had oppressed them. There are years and even now as they enter into The whole American society good laws and bad laws, even oppres- college. I spent two years reading book revolves around religion. I see it as a sive and inhuman laws. To pretend after book trying to reconcile my sexu- new nation that living its modern cru- that obedience to all laws at all times ality with my spirituality; but this sade. What we went through a 1,000 is a virtue is at best stupid and certain- ended in frustration and emptiness. years ago in Europe is happening here ly hypocritical. To follow the dictum Counseling helped me discover some in a different way. We do not persecute can actually be life-threatening, as truths about myself that had always scientists, writers, and burn witches at was the case in Nazi-occupied Europe. been painted black by those around me. the stake. But we kill doctors at abor- Lawyers and prosecutors always find I ended up very hurt (and therefore tion clinics, we commit suicide (Waco ways to twist the laws to their advan- angry) with those who subjected me to and others), we brainwash people at the tage, which makes lawyers rich and

® summer 1999 launches prosecutors in their political study reported in an unnamed publica- species, since there is no divine plan, careers. tion, so we cannot read it ourselves and we alone are responsible for gen- Lost in the congressional debate which purportedly showed that 14% of erations yet unborn. Richard Dawkins, was the fact that United States has not Americans under the age of 30 were in The Selfish Gene, has made us real- one but two founding documents: they "not too happy" in the 1970s, whereas ize that we are merely systems for are the Declaration of Independence, 10% felt that way in the 1990s. To Mr. replicating our DNA, so we should do which came first, and the Constitution Cherry's delight, the "biggest jump in everything possible to optimize the of the United States. Adoption of the happiness came among unmarried usefulness of the DNA we transmit. Constitution did not invalidate the people." We must therefore consider that count- Declaration of Independence, and that Leaving aside the possibility that less studies have shown that the happi- is where the original "high crimes and the difference is not even statistically est and most productive members of misdemeanors" that King George com- significant (we aren't told anything society come from families with two mitted are enumerated. The Founders about the nature of the same or its married parents living in the same all knew what they were, having been size), this mood elevation among the home. In the study cited by Mr. there "at the beginning," and consid- unmarried need not be the result of Cherry, there may have been some ered it redundant to put them in the "society's recently increased tolerance happy unmarrieds under 30, but they Constitution as well. To avoid redun- of those living outside marriage." are not likely to have been the children dancy they even took out the words There are, in fact, other possibilities. of unmarried parents under 30! The "against the United States" in the final First, the national angst about the promiscuity he extols has already draft of the impeachment clause. Mr. Vietnam War, with its associated draft shown how destructive it is to the chil- Brown should read the "facts submit- anxieties and evasion, the death of dren it produces out of wedlock. ted to a candid world" in the family members and friends, and the Perhaps Mr. Cherry is delighted that Declaration of Independence and moral conflicts that divided the nation, this country is virtually overrun with refresh his knowledge of American faded drastically between the 1970s promiscuous children who are bearing history. After he has done that, let him and the 1990s, and young people were children? Even though, as Paul Kurtz compare them to what is in the Starr most affected by this change. Those has put it, sex can be enjoyed for recre- report and tell us honestly if that under 30 in the 1970s were draft bait ation, not just for procreation, there should ever have been made the basis in the mid 1960s, and those under 30 are many of life's pleasures that of the articles of impeachment. The in the 1990s are an entirely different require some restraint, and the list is fact is that the Starr report equates the generation who do not know the not just confined to eating ice-cream criminality of lying about your sex life Vietnam War personally. or French fries. The social costs of under oath with criminality of not There may be other unrecognized unrestrained sex are real, and this gen- allowing trials by jury or of inciting sociological factors, but there is one eration of under 30s shows no sign of domestic insurrections. These are just big one: "It's the economy, stupid!" needing further encouragement to two of the 27 high crimes enumerated The current strength of the economy enjoy recreative sex. Oh yes, I know, in the Declaration of Independence. eliminates the historically most all we need is better birth control and On the Senate floor Henry Hyde char- important cause of unhappiness. unrestricted access to abortion, but acterized an intellectual as "someone Single people, anxious about support- that sexual utopia will not come to educated beyond his IQ. " Anyone who ing themselves after schooling ends, pass, and would bring with it other has read the Declaration of and free of the expenses of child-rear- problems. I hesitate to introduce the Independence and still thinks that ing, benefit the most from this concept of morality, since that would lying about your sex life is an unprecedent prosperity. That older require another entire letter. impeachable offense has to be none Americans are not sharing this eupho- Matt Cherry's outlook is sadly and other than a Henry Hyde intellectual. ria equally is hard to interpret, if the disturbingly inconsistent with the Amo Arrak finding is actually true (it is inconsis- Council for Secular Humanism's recent Dix Hills, N.Y. tent with every political poll) since the attempt to focus on family matters and "older" Americans today were the on college campus activities. Those "under 30" generation in the 1970s. efforts now seem hypocritical. How Sex and Family Perhaps they've never overcome their many parents, even secular humanist youthful pessimism. parents (and there are are precious few Matt Cherry's enthusiastic support of And from the moral side, why is of them, since most parents are other- premarital sex and cohabitation in the Mr. Cherry clicking his heels about wise), would not be uneasy if their Winter 1997 FI Frontlines would be this tolerance for promiscuity? Those child brought home the Fall 1997 issue amusing if it were not so flawed, for of us who live godless lives have even of FI? reasons of both logic and morality. He more reason than the religious to be Lawrence I. Bonchek adduces as support for his position a concerned about the future of our Lancaster, Pa.

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determine that Jesus was not a liberal, LOOKING FOR JESUS nondogmatic preacher of morality and generalized humanitarianism, but rather a prophet heralding the soon- Schweitzer got it right coming end of the age. Schweitzer claimed to have explod- Robert M. Price ed the hitherto-regnant "modern" Jesus of liberal Protestantism, a proponent of The Quest of the Historical Jesus: From Reimarus to Wrede, by Albert the fatherhood of God and the brother- Schweitzer (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998, ISBN hood of man. This Jesus was a figment 0801859344) 322 pp., cloth $18.95. of the modernist imagination and a fig-

The Jesus Legend, by G. A. Wells (Peru, Ill.: Open Court Publishing urehead of liberalism against orthodox Mr SI \\ c11kIS Company, 1994, ISBN 08126-9336-5) xxxii + 287 pp., $21.95. Protestantism and Catholicism. But Schweitzer by no means proposed to The Jesus Myth, by G. A. Wells (Open Court Publishing Company, 1999, return to the dogmatic myth-man of the ISBN 0-8126-9392-2) xxi + 329 pp., $21.95. Creeds. He still wanted the historical

The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus, by Charlotte Jesus. It was just that the liberal Allen (New York: The Free Press, 1999, ISBN 0-684-82725-5) xi + 383 Protestant questers hadn't found him. pp., $26.00. Schweitzer thought he had. Building on the work of Johannes Weiss (Jesus' Proclamation of the n the twenty-fourth chapter of the set that chronicle in the context of Kingdom of God, 1892), he was fully Book of Joshua, after the promised intellectual history. Tracing trends in prepared to discover a Jesus who would Iland has been conquered, Joshua the research and carefully indicating turn out to be an embarrassment to leads his people in a ceremony of the dogmatic and antidogmatic agen- modern Christianity of all stripes. He covenant renewal before God. To com- das motivating many of the lives of did not insist on a Jesus who would be memorate the occasion he erects a Jesus he discussed, Schweitzer charted his own mirror-image. And a strange "stone of witness." Its purpose is to out, as Bultmann might say, both the Jesus is what he found. It was a Jesus serve both as a monument of great vic- Historie and the Geschichte of the who spearheaded a movement of tories won and a rebuke should the peo- Jesus quest. That is, he reviewed the repentance aimed at forcing God into ple fall away from faithfulness to the facts and set forth their larger signifi- granting the messianic age of redemp- God who gave them these victories. It cance. Schweitzer showed how gradu- tion to Jewry. When this failed, he strikes me that Albert Schweitzer's ally the critical study of the Gospels decided it was God's will that he him- great book The Quest of the Historical had forced the delineation of three self die to bear the full brunt of the end- Jesus (originally published in German great alternatives. First, are the Gospel time tribulation in his own person, so in 1906) is much like the witness stone traditions to be taken as historical or everyone else might escape it. of Joshua. It is an irreplaceable monu- supernatural? Second, should a life of Afterward, he expected, he would rise ment capsulizing, and critiquing, a Jesus be based on the Gospel of John as the apocalyptic redeemer and judge great era of scholarly enterprise, that of or the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and the earth. So, unlike liberal Protestants, the original quest for the Jesus of histo- Luke)? Third, should Jesus' mission the historical Jesus was much interest- ry. It did that job matchlessly well. And and message be understood as primar- ed in dogma, only it wasn't particularly it acts as a silent reproof to much cur- ily moralistic or eschatological? It was orthodox or Christian dogma. rent scholarship, which has hastened to a great gain, Schweitzer said, for Schweitzer's Jesus was indeed an forget the lessons Schweitzer taught. scholars to come to grips with the per- embarrassment to both the liberals and Thus its recent reprinting is an impor- vasive presence of legendary material the orthodox. Schweitzer was still so tant event. in the Gospels (though Schweitzer captivated by what he described as the Schweitzer's tome not only summa- himself still felt he could discern a current of spiritual force streaming rized the major (and often the minor) goodly amount of authentic sayings, from the shadowy figure of the noble scholarly works on the subject; it also enough to build on). It was just as but delusional Jesus that he was willing important to decide, that to whatever to leave everything behind and become Robert M. Price is Professor of degree the Synoptics might be histori- a medical missionary in French Mythology and Religion at Montclair cal, John certainly was not, since it Equatorial Africa. Schweitzer, then, State University and is a member of contradicts the others so grossly. And, was hardly trying to debunk a Jesus he FI 's Editorial Board. most important of all, it was vital to didn't want to take seriously, the

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motive conservatives always ascribe to Jesus continued to be written, now Christian apologists always declare critical scholars like the Jesus Seminar. mostly by neo-orthodox scholars who them to be refreshingly objective when Albert Schweitzer's The Quest of seized on Schweitzer's demonstration they urge conservative positions, but the Historical Jesus is often said to that the historical Jesus after all held rank amateurs and cranks when they do have put an end to the original quest. robust dogmatic beliefs but used this not. Wells has suffered much abuse, And such was his intention, by suc- discovery as a trick to sneak traditional falling into the latter category, but he ceeding where his predecessors had reformed Protestant doctrine back into always answers as a gentleman, as in failed. And in general, scholarship fol- the mouth of Jesus. The end of the age his two latest books. lowed him in seeing Jesus as an escha- he predicted must have been the end of All of Wells's books (well, almost tological (i.e., end-times) preacher. In the Jewish dispensation, that's all. all—see below) have in common their any case, Schweitzer had declared the Schweitzer had been hijacked by the advocacy of the Christ-myth theory old liberal quest dead as a dinosaur. He apologists for orthodoxy, who used his once argued powerfully by Arthur revealed its bankruptcy by showing book as a club to strike back at liberals Drews, Bruno Bauer, James Robertson, how unhistorical and theologically self- who had used their own historical B.W. Smith, and others. The theory came under severe criticism, and Schweitzer by no means proposed to scarcely anyone today will take it seriously. Even the supposed arch-skeptic return to the dogmatic myth-man of the Rudolf Bultmann once said that no one in his right mind doubts that Jesus creeds. He still wanted the historical existed. In the face of this universal dis- Jesus. It was just that the liberal dain, it has taken Wells a good deal of courage to rehabilitate the theory for Protestant questers hadn't found him. our day. And it is important to recognize that Wells has significantly modi- serving it had always been. The jig was Jesuses to attack orthodoxy. This trend fied the Christ-myth theory. First, he is up. In future, he thought, it would have continues unabated today, especially in more modest in his claims than his pre- to be Schweitzer's way or no way. As the writings of evangelical apologists decessors. He maintains only that the he framed the alternatives, it was a N.T. Wright and Ben Witherington, III. notion that Jesus is pure legend is at choice between "thorough-going On the other hand, the passage of time least as plausible a reading of the evi- eschatology" and "thorough-going has produced a backlash to dence as any of the critical theories skepticism." The major advocate of the Schweitzer's eschatological Jesus as that, while demythologizing Jesus, latter was Wilhelm Wrede, author of well. Many scholars, including Richard assume that he did exist as a historical another pivotal book of New Testament Horsley, John Dominic Crossan, entity. He does not try to rule out com- scholarship, The Messianic Secret Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, James peting views as absurd or incredible. (1901). Wrede was much more skepti- Breech, Bernard Brandon Scott, and Second, Wells appeals for the mythic cal than Schweitzer about the historical Robert W. Funk of the Jesus Seminar prototype for Jesus not to the value of Matthew and Mark. have resurrected the old liberal Jesus, Hellenistic Mystery Religions with Schweitzer had thought both Gospels albeit in somewhat new dress, new their dying-and-rising gods, but rather basically reliable, but Wrede saw that idioms, and he is decidedly nonapoca- to Hellenistic Jewish speculation on the even Mark, the earliest Gospel, was lyptic. And he is again suspiciously figure of personified Wisdom. In texts essentially fictive (a conclusion strong- reminiscent of each scholar who paints like Proverbs chapter 8, Sirach chapter ly reinforced in recent years by Werner his "historical" portrait. 1, and Wisdom of Solomon chapter 7, Kelber, et. al., The Passion in Mark, But one scholar, while not embrac- Wisdom was said to have first assisted Frans Neirynck, Duality in Mark, and ing Schweitzer's own sketch of the his- God in creating the world, then to have Robert M. Fowler, Let the Reader torical Jesus, has at least taken descended into it to summon foolish Understand: Reader-Response Criti- Schweitzer's ultimatum seriously. G.A. mortals to repent and learn from her, to cism and the Gospel of Mark). Wrede Wells, in a series of erudite studies, has have been rejected, and to have admitted that little if anything could be embraced something like Wrede's returned to heaven. Wells thinks that, reliably ascertained about the historical alternative: thoroughgoing skepticism. just as Philo thought the Word of God Jesus. And Schweitzer raised the spec- Wells, emeritus professor of German had been personified in the Old tre of Wrede as if to scare the reader language and literature at the Testament patriarchs, so was Jesus a into accepting his own alternative. University of London, approaches kind of historicized version of Wisdom. Very little changed after Schweitzer, Gospel scholarship as an outsider. Odd Paul, on Wells's reading, believed that for all the lip-service paid him. Lives of thing about outsiders in this field: Jesus, Wisdom incarnate, had in some

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vaguely conceived past time, come to we see him changing his mind! In The iarize themselves with the ever-expand- earth and been crucified by hostile Jesus Myth, Wells retreats from the ing body of literature on the subject. supernatural forces (1 Corinthians 2:8), pure Christ-myth position, granting Allen has absorbed a lot of it, and some but of a Galilean prophet and teacher, that Burton L. Mack (The Lost Gospel: of her chapters are quite helpful in of a miracle worker born of a virgin and The Book of Q and Christian Origins) bringing Schweitzer's classic up to executed by Pontius Pilate, Paul has has established a credible portrait of date. She shows justified skepticism nothing at all to say. For Paul, Jesus Jesus as a Cyniclike sage whose say- over many of the most recent historical was barely a historical figure, little ings are contained in the earliest stra- Jesuses, and one can only cheer her on more than Asclepius or Hercules, tum of the Q document. Wells is still in these cases. But there is something whom legend also made figures of the quite adamant that the full-blown fig- amiss here. Just as Luke apparently (vague) historical past. It was only sub- ure of the Jesus Christ of the Gospels is sought to supplant Mark and Q (Luke sequent to Paul that the legend of the a myth. The case is similar to that of 1:1-4), so does Charlotte Allen seem to (recent) Galilean Jesus began to grow. King Arthur: there may well have been want to supersede Schweitzer, whom Sayings became ascribed to him that some Romanized British war chief she faults for being a pedantic stringer- Paul would certainly have quoted as back in the sixth century, who in some together of endless book reviews. This germane to many subjects he dis- measure gave rise to the figure of King assessment makes a strength into a cussed, had they been coined already in Arthur, but that hardly means that weakness as far as I am concerned, his day. Only a scarce few later New Mallory's Arthur is a historical figure. since Schweitzer's book is an invalu- Testament writings, mainly the spuri- Still, we must not minimize the impor- able repository of information about a ous 2 Timothy, make any reference to tance of what may seem a subtle shift. whole raft of fascinating tomes long Gospel-like sayings or episodes. What Wells now says is not essentially unobtainable. She also underestimates Wells's case is so shocking to the different from the estimate of the synthetic dimension of his study conventionally religious that many of Bultmann and other Christian radical and gives no hint of the ubiquitous wit them seem unable to entertain his views critics who have long admitted that and gift for brilliant and striking long enough to understand them before only a largely unknown, minimally his- metaphor Schweitzer displayed. firing off polemical broadsides. And a torical Jesus lies somewhere behind the Where she does supplement major reason Wells has continued to myth-screen of the church's dogma. Schweitzer, covering much of the same produce books on the same topic is to With The Jesus Myth, Wells has come ground, is to substitute gossipy back- keep responding to his critics, lest his much closer to the mainstream. ground information (itself quite inter- theory become buried in misrepresenta- Should we conclude that the latest esting!) about the scholars both dis- tion. Each new defense brings some new Wells has refuted the earlier Wells? I cuss. But Allen also makes much of the facet of the matter to light. The result is do not. For it seems to me that Burton supposedly serious neglect by that, while each of Wells's books stands Mack's arguments establishing the Schweitzer of a handful of English on its own, anyone who has read one or Cynic color of the Q sayings actually dilettantes and pamphleteers whose (by more of his previous books will still find undermines their value as evidence for her account) amateurish and sopho- every new one, including The Jesus an historical Jesus. The discernible moric attacks on the traditional Jesus of Legend, illuminating. The book spends consistency, as well as the distinctive Christian faith preceded the work of the minimal time setting forth the case for "tang" of the sayings, are now seen to German Hermann Samuel Reimarus, the Christ-myth theory and goes on to stem not from one gifted imagination with whose writings Schweitzer's sur- consider a fascinating array of allied (that of an historical Jesus) but rather vey begins. One wonders why, if these topics, such as whether the ethics attrib- from the collective style of the Cynic Englishmen were such inconsequential uted to Jesus are as noble as even many movement. And the sheer number of hacks as Allen makes them, she would unbelievers say they are, and whether sayings imply we are dealing with a think it so significant for Schweitzer to the Gospels are anti-Semitic. He also collection of sayings from various have omitted them? The answer, I provides case studies on the work of par- originally unnamed sources, later com- think, is that Allen dismisses virtually ticular apologists like Protestant John piled under one name proverbial for all the scholars she discusses as being Warwick Montgomery and Catholic wisdom, like the collections of on the same level! Throughout her John P. Meier. proverbs ascribed to Solomon in the book, Allen, a confessed Roman But there is even more reason for the Old Testament. Catholic, seems possessed of a notion long-time Wells reader to look into his Charlotte Allen, like Wells, is a that any theory, any viewpoint, is an latest book, The Jesus Myth, because well-read outsider, and her book The arbitrary dogma, an unscientific myth here Wells proves once and for all he is Human Christ is written for outsiders (except hers, of course), that one picks no crank riding a hobby-horse. For in who are interested in the historical them up by osmosis or by hypnosis if that most rare of scholarly spectacles, Jesus debate but lack the time to famil- one is not careful, and that such theo-

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ries completely bias the outcome of superior work. Loisy she accuses flat Old Testament) womb. one's research from the outset. Such out of embracing Gospel criticism just Some of Allen's gloating is prema- research, by the likes of David because he "wanted to be thought for- ture. She delights that Robert Eisen- Friedrich Strauss, Alfred Loisy, F.C. ward-looking." A single glance at any man's first-century C.E. dating of the Baur, or Rudolf Bultmann, can be page of Loisy's still arresting books Dead Sea Scrolls was refuted by the smugly dismissed once their supposed- will show the absurdity of this libel. carbon dating he himself urged be per- ly defining viewpoint is revealed. Allen Allen is in the final analysis an apol- formed, but she seems unaware of more pays virtually no attention to the data ogist of the same stripe as Luke recent tests that have vindicated him. and the specific arguments these schol- Timothy Johnson, whose blurb, not sur- She appeals to John A.T. Robinson's ars offered for their views. It is enough prisingly, appears on the dust jacket. The Priority of John, as many apolo- for her to know that Baur was a She employs the standard moves of this gists do, to vindicate the historical reli- Hegelian, Bultmann was an existential- school of anticritical retrenchers. For ability of that Gospel, but she ought to ist. They must have whittled down instance, she gloats that Baur's theories, have read Maurice Casey's scathing Jesus to size to fit their predilections. In as well as his dating of the New 1996 rebuttal, Is John's Gospel True?, fact, Baur's particular schema of early Testament books, were disproved and which handily reveals Robinson's last Christian history was established in its are just plain wrong, though, mysteri- book as the embarrassment it is. essentials before he ever read Hegel, ously, many scholars still seem to be Books like this one try to smuggle and its validity or lack of it has nothing influenced by them. This is just a spin- by the reader the outrageous assump- to do with any special dogma of Hegel. doctoring way of saying that, although tion that everyone has something to Similarly, Bultmann did adopt some have criticized Baur's views, oth- prove except Christian apologists. For Heidegger's existentialist framework to ers do not believe Baur has been refuted Allen, it is the height of philosophical demythologize the New Testament, but at all and thus continue to hold to his eccentricity to find miracle stories his- was it an arbitrary choice? Hardly: opinions. Like James Charlesworth of torically implausible; it is ridiculous Heidegger had himself been a Catholic Princeton and the late Raymond E. and reductionist, downright supersti- seminarian and got his ideas from Brown (who nonetheless was still a lit- tious in fact, to make the Gospels myth demythologizing Christianity himself tle too left-wing for her tastes), she and legend. There is something in the first place! And to charge that rejoices that we can now ignore the Orwellian here. The Human Christ is Bultmann derived his scientific model massive scholarship of the History of one more attempt, with the empty of the universe as a closed system from Religions School that interpreted the urbanity of a G.K. Chesterton or a his doctoral studies of ancient Gospel of John and the Epistles of Paul William E Buckley, to assure the trou- Epicureanism—! She makes it sound as in Gnostic categories. No matter how bled reader that all is well, he can if Strauss's Life of Jesus Critically compelling the Gnostic and Mystery return to his dogmatic slumber. I think Examined, no doubt the most detailed Religion analogies to the New of another such pearl of smug wisdom and meticulous book ever written on Testament are, the mere fact that there from Anglican pundit Dean Inge. the Gospels even today, were simply a exist some Jewish parallels (in the Dead Making sport, as Allen does, of much function of left-wing Hegelianism and Sea Scrolls), no matter how remote or recent bandwagon theology, Inge German imperialism. Pity the poor incidental, automatically entitles these wrote: "He who marries himself to the reader who has read Charlotte Allen apologists to leave early Christian ori- spirit of the age will often find himself and is discouraged by her from reading gins right where they belong (according a widower." Maybe so, but we have to Strauss's (or Schweitzer's) infinitely to Christian theology), in the Jewish (= ask, is necrophilia a better option?

HOLY PORNOGRAPHY tern with which to guide one's life, but full regalia. Lot, besides having a block instead ... sex! He first provided this of salt for a wife, practices incest with The X-Rated Sible: An irreverent Survey of reason back in 1985 when The X-Rated his daughters. Jehovah has an anal Sex in the Scriptures, by Ben Edward Bible was published by American fetish. Women who masturbate lose Akerley (Venice, California: Feral House, 1998, ISBN 0-922915-55-5) 245 pp., paper Atheist Press. The book, now enlarged, their hands. Homosexuals are com- S14.95. revised, and tastefully illustrated, has monplace, animals are a source of inti- been reprinted by Feral House. In a macy, and virgins are deflowered at the Ben Akerley has provided a valid rea- series of fascinating chapters, biblical drop of a foreskin. Ah, the good old son for people to read the Bible: not to stories and characters not often referred days! "Noah Gets Drunk and Exposes discover truth nor find an ethical sys- to in a Sunday sermon are exposed in Himself," "Moses and The Flying

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Foreskin:' and "Abraham and Isaac, NEW AGE ODYSSEY must accept that the First Amendment Two Double-Dealing Pimps" are chap- requires the government to "remain ters not to be missed. Burning Words, by Ursula and Terry Loucks agnostic or secular." (Jacksonville, Fla: Infonovels USA, ISBN 0- The thrust since the addition of the Akerley, with a light sprinkle of 965929-3-0) 266 pp. paper $14.95. speculation, uncovers a Bible that Bill of Rights was added to the deserves a place in the erotica section This apparently self-published novel is Constitution has been the gradual but of all bookstores. Move over Anais being promoted in the freethought ineluctable expansion of meaning of NM! The same reason that motivates community for reasons that become "religion" to include "conscience." many to peek on the high shelves of less clear after reading it. Christina Freedom of conscience, Hammond magazine racks now provides the impe- Sheridan is a young, Catholic archae- argues, allows government application tus to visit the local motel to peruse the ologist. Her oil-rich uncle died while of the "free exercise" clause to such complimentary Bible usually found, seeking an ancient document that nonreligious issues as abortion, appropriately, next to the bed. could rock Christianity to its core: euthanasia, and homosexuality. Quelle, lost source for the Gospels of Those who argue that secularism is —Amanda Chesworth Mark, Luke, and Matthew. pushing religion out of discussions of Part murder mystery, part adven- public matters such as Richard John NOAH'S LITTLE GOD ture, and part romance, the fictional Neuhaus, or that there is a culture of dis- component of Burning Words proceeds belief when it comes to social issues, as On May 2, and 3, 1999, NBC aired its readably enough. But the authors' real claimed by Stephen Carter, are rejecting made-for-television extravaganza "Noah's the claims of conscience if they are not Ark" during prime time. purpose is to teach readers about the murky origins of the New Testament expressed in traditional religious terms. and to propose a new post-Christian But "conscience," as opposed to "Noah's Ark," of course, is the biblical "religion," is a broader and more inclu- story about a 600-year-old alcoholic philosophy of life. Christina learns about early Christianity, the Dead Sea sive rendering of the First Amendment, who hears God tell him to build a according to Hammond. When Roy gigantic boat to house two of every Scrolls, and the Nag Hammadi codices. Her discoveries undermine Torcaso was denied a notary public's living creature on earth. These crea- license in Maryland because he was an tures somehow make it across distant her faith and she eventually constructs a new life stance. atheist, his free exercise of his atheism oceans for a ride on what must be was only indirectly denied. More Readers unfamiliar with origins a dark, awful-smelling, starvation- important, Hammond argues, as was the scholarship will find Burning Words an ridden ark. It rains for 40 days and improper "establishment" of theism "at accessible introduction. But secular nights, and every human on earth the expense of Torcaso's conscience." humanists will find little satisfaction in including infants (except Noah and his Hammond divides the debate the life stance Christina embraces: a family) drowns horribly for being between "accommodationists" and New Age mix of quantum mysticism, wicked in the eyes of God. Rats, cock- "separationists." The accommodation- the anthropic principle, and Eastern roaches, tapeworms, and smallpox, ists want religion to have a privileged spirituality. The poor editing and myr- however, all get spots on the ark. place in public as well as in private. iad typos endemic to self-published Somehow every animal eats—tigers Separationists claim that the word reli- fiction make Burning Words needlessly and gazelles alike—and the critters gion had a common meaning when the difficult to read. with short life-expectancies probably Constitution was written; now it does procreate against Noah's wishes. not, writes Hammond. If the framers —Tom Flynn NBC's God has his faults. He were writing the first amendment admits he "can be wrong." He uses today, they would declare unconstitu- DEFINING TERMS poor grammar ("It's me.") And he tional any law prohibiting the free changes his mind twice about saving With Liberty for All: Freedom of Religion in exercise of conscience. mankind. That's pretty sloppy for the the United States, by Phillip E. Hammond Hammond gives us an interesting dis- omnipotent, omniscient, and perfect (Louisville, Kentucky: West Minster John cussion of the differences between the creator of the universe. Knox Press, 1998, ISBN 0-664-25768-2) 128 pp., paper. "free exercise" clause and the "establish- The ark's passengers land on a ment" clause. Included for those who mountain, and live happily ever after— For Phillip Hammond, freedom of reli- want to go to the sources, he provides in Noah's case to the ripe old age of gion is not just a live-and-let-live court citations for 45 of the most impor- 950. His three sons now have over 5 proposition. He does not argue that tant First Amendment court cases. billion descendants. Americans must give up their faith "in —James Underwood the ultimacy of their religion," but they —Thomas O'Brien

m ® summer 1999 HUMANISM AT LARGE

outside Chicago, Illinois. The gather- Young ing included 42 speakers and 15 differ- Walter Hoops Freethinkers ent sessions on a wide range of topics. (1902-1999) Saturday's plenary dealt with reli- Meet gion and the media. Social critic The death of freethought icon Wendy Kaminer spoke on religion, pop Walter Hoops truly marks the end The Campus Freethought Alliance psychology, and the media. Paul Kurtz of an era. Born in Hanover, (CFA) kicked off its annual conference decried corporate oligopoly control of Germany, Hoops belonged to the on Thursday, May 13, 1999, in media outlets. German freidenker (freethinker) Chicago, where the Council for At Saturday's banquet, Richard movement before its suppression Secular Humanism was holding its Dawkins received the Morris D. by the Nazis. (He loved to tell sto- international gathering. Attending stu- Forkosch Award for his book ries of youthful back-alley con- dents represented campus groups from Unweaving the Rainbow. Other frontations between the free- South Carolina, Georgia, Connecticut, awardees included Lionel Tiger thinkers and Brown Shirts.) In Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, (Laureate, International Academy of 1932 he moved to St. Louis, where California, Oregon, Ohio, Missouri, Humanism); Wendy Kaminer (Distin- he found work as an export man- Kentucky, Alabama, Kansas, and guished Humanist Award); population ager and began six decades of ser- Florida. They held annual elections, activists Roy and Diana Brown vice to the rationalist, freethought, formed a new Executive Council, and (Distinguished Humanist Award); and humanist movements. launched a raft of campus projects for Anthony Pinn (African American He served as editor, then as the coming months. Humanist Award); and Levi Fragell contributing editor, of the Derek Araujo, recent graduate in (World Humanist Award). American Rationalist magazine, physics from Harvard University and Most conference proceedings were running its bookselling program CFA founder and president from 1996 audiotaped. For information on order- from his St. Louis basement until to 1999, was honored for his outstand- ing see pg. 57. just a few years ago. In 1968 he ing contributions to the freethought Buoyed by the success of this con- published Our Rationalist Heri- movement. He will be working this ference, the Council for Secular tage, an anthology of rationalism, summer for CFA at the Center for Humanism immediately announced its freethought, and humanism. In Inquiry International in Amherst, New next conference, to be held in Los 1981, he became assistant leader York, alongside Amanda Chesworth Angeles, California, on May 4-7, 2000. of the Ethical Society of St. Louis. and Chris Mooney. Always, Hoops remained an The Young Freethinkers Alliance —Tom Flynn indefatigable presence at meetings (YFA) was also established, with high of the Rationalist Society of St. school students Cori Bazydlo and Louis, Center for Inquiry Midwest, Micah White leading the proceedings. Debuting the Center and FREE INQUIRY seminars in the Fred Peters, former president of the first for Inquiry Libraries region. He freely offered his person- high school atheist club in the country al recollections of freethought histo- and now a college student in California, Patrons and friends will celebrate the ry in prewar Germany and in the was elected as the YFA Liaison on the grand opening of the Center for Inquiry American heartland. In 1991, he CFA Executive Council. Together, the Libraries in Amherst, New York, on received a Lifetime Achievement three students produced a Statement of July 9, 1999. The event follows a rapid Award at Frs national conference in Conviction to initiate the new alliance. expansion in the number of catalogued Kansas City. The YFA has already received member- volumes under the leadership of Walter died at 97. At his request ship from 25 high school and middle Director of Libraries Timothy Binga. there was no memorial service. school students across the continent The Libraries—now at more than and in Australia. 30,000 books and hundreds of periodi- His remains were donated for cals, microfilm, and archival materi- medical research. Record Audience als—comprise the world's largest sin- One of Walter's long-running gle collection of freethought and secu- columns in American Rationalist Attends Chicago was titled "We Honor ...". Now is Conference lar humanist literature and the largest single archive of skeptical and paranor- a time appropriate to honor the More than 350 attended FREE mal materials. People from all over the memory of Walter Hoops. INQUIRY'S conference, "Why Does world can view the library holdings at Religion Persist?" held May 13-16 http:////lepacl.brodart.com/search/yr. — Tom Flynn

free inquiry (407) 262-1915 Londonderry, NH 03053 (603) 434-4195 Freethinker Society of Sarasota Bay NEW JERSEY - Hudson Humanists, P.O. Box 111, 5230 Lake Village Dr., Sarasota, FL 34235 113 Pavonia Ave. East, Jersey City, NJ 07310 (941) 379-5137 (201) 792-9434 Humanist Society of Gainesville, 1708 N.W. 10th New Jersey Humanist Network, P.O. Box 51, Ave., Gainesville, FL 32605 (352) 336-6343 Washington, NJ 07882 (908) 689-2813 ASHS Humanist Association: St. Petersburg P.O. Box 8099, Madeira Beach, FL 33738-8099 NEW YORK - Capital District Humanist Society (727) 391-7571 P.O. Box 2148, Scotia, NY 12302 (518) 381-6239 Humanist Association of West Central Florida Long Island Secular Humanists, P.O. Box 119, P.O. Box 6675, Lakeland, FL 33807 Greenlawn, NY 11740 (516) 742-1662 il/ f1 (941) 701-7407 Secular Humanist Society of New York Humanists of the Nature Coast, 6134 W. Pinedale P.O. Box 7661, New York, NY 10150 Circle, Crystal River, FL 34429 (352) 563-2857 (212) 861-6003 AWANCE OF SECULAR Humanists of The Palm Beaches Western New York Secular Humanists HUMANIST SOCIETIES 860 Lakeside Drive, North Palm Beach, FL 33408 P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226 (716) 636-7571 Humanists of Volusia/Flagler County OHIO - Free Inquirers of Northeastern Ohio The Alliance of Secular Humanist Societies is a net- 356 Seminole Dr., Ormond Beach, FL 32174 P.O. Box 2379, Akron, OH 44309 (330) 869-2025 work created for mutual support among local and (904) 676-2954 Free Inquiry Group, Inc., P.O. Box 8128 regional societies of secular humanists. Most local Secular Humanists of South Florida Cincinnati, OH 45208 (513) 557-3836 groups have web sites on the Internet. You can find 4341 NW 16 St. Apt #208, Fort Lauderdale, FL Humanist Association of 0hio, 2637 Home Acre Dr., them and E-mail addresses on the ASHS homepage 33313 (954) 717-0477 Columbus, OH 43231-1602 (614) 890-0653 at http://www.secularhumanism.org/ashs/ . If GEORGIA - Atlanta Freethought Society OREGON - Corvallis Secular Society you are interested in starting a group in your area, P.O. Box 813392, Smyrna, GA 30081-3392 126 NW 21st Street, Corvallis, OR 97330-5531 please contact: Jo Ann Mooney, P.O. Box 664, (770) 641-2903 (541) 754-2557 Amherst, NY 14226-0664, (716) 636-7571 ext. HAWAII - Humanists Hawaii, 1515 Nuuanu Queen Humanist Association of Salem Tower #48, Honolulu, HI 96817 330, Fax (716) 636-1733 or E-mail: P.O. Box 4153, Salem, OR 97302 (503) 371-1255 (808) 524-3872 [email protected]. PENNSYLVANIA - Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian IDAHO - Humanists of Idaho, P.O. Box 44913, Secular Humanists, P.O. Box 2141, Philadelphia, ARIZONA - Arizona Secular Humanists, P.O. Box Boixe, ID 83711-0913 (208) 429-1866 PA 19103 (215) 893-0376 3738, Scottsdale, AZ 85271 (602) 230-5328 ILLINOIS - Peoria Secular Humanists Pittsburgh Secular Humanists, 5003 Impala Drive, Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix P.O. Box 994, Normal, IL 6176 10540 E. Firewheel Dr., Scottsdale, AZ 85249-8709 Murrysville, PA 15668 (412) 476-5694 Secular Humanist Society of Chicago (480) 515-1553 SOUTH CAROLINA - Secular Humanists of the Low 1023 West Vernon Park, Suite H, Chicago, IL 60607 ARKANSAS - Arkansas Society of Freethinkers Country, P.O. Box 32256, Charleston, SC 29417 (312) 226-0420 1700 W. Dixon Road #12, Little Rock, AR 72206 (843) 577-0637 Free Inquiry Network, P.O. Box 2668, Glen Ellyn, IL (501) 888-9333 Secular Humanists of the South Carolina Midlands 60138-2668 (630) 469-1111 CALIFORNIA - Center for Inquiry West P.O. Box 5123, Columbia, SC 29250 KENTUCKY - Louisville Association of Secular 5519 Grosevnor Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90066 (803) 731-9378 Humanists, RO. Box 91453, Louisville, KY 40291 (310) 306-2847; Fax (310) 821-2610; website: Skeptical Humanists at the Grand Strand (502) 491-6693 www.cfiwest.org 1414 Twelve Oaks Drive, Pawleys Island, SC 29585 LOUISIANA - New Orleans Secular Humanism Atheists and Other Freethinkers, P.O. Box 15182, (843) 237-7262 Association, Sacramento, CA 95851-0182 (916) 920-7834 2905 Bryant St., Metairie, LA 70003 Upstate South Carolina Secular Humanists (504) 456-6550 Atheists of San Francisco Region Suite 168, Box 3000, Taylors, SC 29687 Shreveport Humanists P.O. Box 31523, San Francisco, CA 94131-1523 (864) 233-0905 9476 Boxwood Drive, Shreveport, LA 71118-4003 (415) 648-1201 TENNESSEE - Rationalists of East Tennessee (318) 687-8175 Freethinkers of Ventura County, P.O. Box 346, Somisc, 2123 Stonybrook Rd., Louisville, TN 37777 MARYLAND - Baltimore Secular Humanists CA 93066 (805) 386-4232 (423) 982-8687 P.O. Box 24115, Baltimore, MD 21227-0615 Humanist Association of San Diego, P.O. Box 86446, TEXAS - Freethinkers Association of Central Texas (410) 744-5739 San Diego, CA 92138-6646 (619) 280-8595 P.O. Box 160881, San Antonio, TX 78280 Frederick Secular Humanists (FRESH) Humanist Community of San Francisco (210) 491-6829 123 W 2nd Street, Frederick, MD 21701 P.O. Box 31172, San Francisco, CA 94131 Houstonians for Secular Humanism (650) 342-0910 (301) 631-5982 Maryland - DC Chapter (MDC) Of WASH PO. Box 925872, Houston, TX 77292-5872 Rational Inquirers of Orange County, 1931 E. Meats P.O. Box 15319, Washington, DC 20003 (713) 864-0363 #115, Orange, CA 92865 (949) 425-0425 (202) 546-7430 VIRGINIA - Central Virginia Secular Humanists Santa Barbara Humanist Society, P.O. Box 30804, (CVSH), P.O. Box 184, Ivy, VA 22945 Santa Barbara, CA 93105 (805) 687-8619 MICHIGAN - Freethought Association of West (804) 979-2508 Secular Humanists of the East Bay, P.O. Box 830, Michigan, P.O. Box 9873, Wyoming, MI 49509-0873 Berkeley, CA 94701 (510) 486-0553 Great Lakes Humanist Society Northern Virginia Secular Humanists 6400 Lyric Lane, Falls Church, VA 22044 Secular Humanists of Los Angeles P.O. Box 1183, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804 (703) 256-4192 P.O. Box 10517, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 Secular Humanists of Detroit, 220 Bagley, Room 908, Richmond Area Free Thinkers, P.O. Box 3916 (310) 305-8135 Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 962-1777 Richmond, VA 23235 (804) 560-0055 COLORADO - Atheist of Northern Colorado MINNESOTA - Humanist Association of Minnesota, P.O. Box 2555, Loveland, CO 80539-2555 4418 Joseph Lane, Robbinsdale, MN 55422-1328 WASHINGTON, D.C. - Washington Area Secular (970) 577-0015 (612) 321-9050 Humanists (WASH), P.O. Box 15319, Washington, DC 20003 (202) 298-0921 CONNECTICUT - Northeast Atheist Association Minnesota Atheists, P.O. Box 6261, Minneapolis, MN P.O. Box 63, Simsbury, CT 06070 (203) 596-0545 55406-0261 (612) 588-1597 WISCONSIN - Atheists and Agnostics of Wisconsin Humanist Association of Central Connecticut MISSOURI - Kansas City Eupraxophy Center P.O. Box 290, Madison, WI 53701-0290 27 Thornton St., Hamden, CT 06517-1321 6301 Rockhill Road, Suite 412, Kansas City, (608) 233-7239 (203) 281-6232 MO 64131 (816) 822-9840 Freethought Society of Wisconsin FLORIDA - Atheists of Florida, Inc. Family Freethought Alliance, RO. Box 260067 8816 W. Greenfield Ave., West Allis, Milwaukee, WI P.O. Box 3893, Ft. Pierce, FL 34948 (305) 936-0210 St. Louis, MO 63126 (314) 825-6422 53214 (414) 771-0743 Rationalist Society of St. Louis First Coast Freethought Society, P.O. Box 558, Ponte North East Wisconsin Humanists, P.O. Box 8114, P.O. Box 29315t. Louis, MO 63130 (314) 664-4424 Yedra Beach, FL 32004 (904) 285-1205 Green Bay, WI 54308-8114 (920) 866-9707 Free Inquiry Society of Central Florida NEW HAMPSHIRE - Secular Humanist Friendship Secular Humanists of Madison, WI, 5322 Fairway P.O. Box 4365, Winter Park, FL 32793-4365 Group of Merrimack Valley, P.O. Box 368, Drive, Madison, WI 53711 (608) 274-2152 CENTER FOR INQUIRY International P.O. Box 664 • Amherst, New York 14226 • (716) 636-7571

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CENTER FOR INQUIRY Midwest COUNCIL Mission Statement FOR United Labor Building of the SECULAR 6301 Rockhill Rd., Suite 412 HUMANISM Kansas City, MO 64131 The Council for Secular Humanism cultivates rational inquiry, ethical values, and human development through the advancement of secular humanism. To Tel.: (816) 822-9840 carry out its mission the Council for Secular Humanism sponsors publications, programs, and organizes meetings and other group activities. The Council's specific objectives are: CENTER FOR INQUIRY West To promote secular humanist principles to the public, media, and pol- 5519 Grosvenor Blvd., icy-makers Los Angeles, CA 90066 To provide secular humanist activities and communities to serve the needs of nonreligious people and foster human enrichment Tel.: (310) 306-2847 • Fax: (310) 821-2610 To demonstrate the viability of the secular humanist eupraxophy as an Website: www.cfiwest.org alternative naturalistic life-stance To engage in research relating to the critical examination of religious and supernatural claims and the humanist outlook CENTER FOR INQUIRY Moscow To conduct educational programs for all age levels Professor Valerii A. Kuvakin The Council for Secular Humanism is a nonprofit educational organization. FREE INQUIRY is its official journal. 117421 Russia, Moscow, Novatorov 18-2-2 Cefe6raliny 3?eason ano(7fumanify