WINTER 1999/00 VOL. 20 No. 1 ARE THE MEDIA KILLING DEMOCRACY? Robert McChesney WHITES, BLACKS, & THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT f Cynthia Tucker free inquiry BISHOP SPONG & CHRISTIANITY’S LAST GASP Celebrating Reason and Humanity Robert M. Price KATHAKATHA POLLITTPOLLITT WeirdingWeirding OutOut onon CreationismCreationism DANIELDANIEL C.C. DENNETTDENNETT TrashingTrashing ObjectiveObjective TruthTruth PAULPAUL KURTZKURTZ TheThe PromisePromise ofof ManifestoManifesto 20002000 PLUS: Reactions to the Manifesto from E.O. WILSON •• RichardRichard DAWKINS •• ColinColin BLAKEMORE Bar Code Sir Raymond FIRTH •• ArthurArthur C.C. CLARKE •• PaulPaul D.D. BOYER JensJens C.C. SKOU •• JackJack STEINBERGER •• SirSir H.W.H.W. KROTO Thelma Z. LAVINE andand manymany othersothers STATEMENT OF PURPOSE The aim of Free Inquiry is to promote and nurture the good life—life guided by reason and science, freed from the dogmas of god and state, inspired by compassion for fellow humans, and driven by the ideals of human freedom, happiness, and understanding. Free Inquiry is dedicated to seeing that one day all members of the human family thrive by embracing basic humanist principles. These include: Our best guide to truth is free and rational inquiry; we should therefore not be bound by the dictates of arbitrary authority, comfortable superstition, stifling tradition, or suffocating ortho- doxy. We should defer to no dogma—neither religious nor secular—and never be afraid to ask “How do you know?” We should be concerned with the here and now, with solving human problems with the best resources of human minds and hearts. If there is to be meaning in our lives, we must supply it ourselves, relying on our own powers, observation, and compassion. It is irrational and ultimately harmful to hang our hopes on gods, the supernatural, and the hidden, which arise out of imagination and wishful thinking. It is pointless—and often dangerous—to push aside human intelligence to reach for some flimsy veil of alleged truths. We must be committed to moral prin- ciples, which are derived from critical intelligence and human experience, and we must pursue positive ideals. We should therefore observe the common moral decencies: integrity, humani- tarianism, truthfulness, trustworthiness, fairness, and responsibility. This means caring for one another, being tolerant of differences, and striving to overcome divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, creed, or class. Constitutional democracy is the best known means for protecting the rights of all people to form worldviews and live out their commitments in a free and mutually respectful way. Governments should promote open societies, ensure universal human rights, and be secular, having no bias against any religious or nonreligious group. We should strive to bring about a genuine world community and nourish an appreciation for global ethics and our planetary interdependence. Secular humanism aims to bring out the best in people so that all can achieve fullness in life. Thus we must strive to realize personal potential, maximize creative talents and artistic expression, and choose joy and hope over despair, guilt, and sin. Reason and Free Inquiry are the only effectu- al agents against error. — Thomas Jefferson free inquiry BestDon’t FI Issue MissNEXT Yet! The see p. 65 EDITORIAL 5 The Promise of Manifesto 2000 FEATURES Paul Kurtz 7 Commendations WINTER 1999/00 VOL. 20, NO. 1 MYTH & MEN and Comments ISSN 0272-0701 23 Introduction: Are the Religious OP-ED Founders Unfounded? Lewis Vaughn 10 Weirding Out on 24 Unmasking Holy Men Creationism Robert M. Price Katha Pollitt 37 Was Joseph Smith 11 A Wiser View of for Real? Abortion Mark D. Thomas Diana Brown 40 Why Getting It Right 13 Outlawing Unbelief Matters Tom Flynn Daniel C. Dennett 44 Are the Media 15 The Daybreak of Killing Democracy? Secular Humanism Robert W. McChesney in Africa Alfred T. Kisubi 48 God, Guns, and the Religious Right 17 Living by the Bells Interview with Sally Cole Mooney Cynthia Tucker 51 Beyond All Reason Robert B. Tapp DEPARTMENTS REVIEWS 18 Frontlines 63 Noah’s Flood: The New Scientific 21 Letters Discoveries about 57 Church-State the Event That Update Changed History School Vouchers Move to by William Ryan and Front Burner Walter Pitman Tom Flynn Hector Avalos 59 Applied Ethics 64 On the Contrary: Critical Essays, 1987–1997 Jean-Paul Sartre: by Paul M. Churchland and Patricia S. Churchland Philosopher for the David C. Noelle 20th Century 64 Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand Jeannette Lowen eds. Mimi Reisel Gladstein and Chris Matthew Sciabarra 61 Great Minds Bryan Register Voltaire vs. Intolerance Wendy McElroy 65 The ‘God’ Part of the Brain: A Scientific Interpretation of Human Spirituality and God 66 Humanism at Large by Matthew Alper David C. Noelle FI Editorial Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Paul Kurtz Chairman Editor Lewis Vaughn Timothy J. Madigan Managing Editor Andrea Szalanski Deputy Editor Robert Alley Matt Cherry Professor of Humanities Emeritus, Senior Editors Vern L. Bullough, Richard Dawkins, Thomas W. Flynn, Martin Gardner, Univ. of Richmond, Virginia Hector Avalos James A. Haught, Gerald A. Larue, Taslima Nasrin Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Associate Editors Molleen Matsumura, Wendy McElroy, Norm R. Allen, Jr. Iowa State University Frontlines Editor Joe E. Barnhart Chris Mooney Professor of Philosophy, Contributing Editors Jo Ann Boydston, Paul Edwards, Albert Ellis, Roy P. Fairfield, North Texas State University H. James Birx Charles Faulkner, Antony Flew, Levi Fragell, Adolf Grünbaum, Marvin Kohl, Professor of Anthropology, Thelma Lavine, Joe Nickell, Lee Nisbet, J. J. C. Smart, Svetozar Stojanovic,Stojanovic´, Canisius College Thomas Szasz, Richard Taylor George Bishop Professor of Political Science, Assistant Editors Erika Hedberg, ErinAustin Vaughn, Dacey Austin Dacey-Groth University of Cincinnati Rob Boston Book Review Editor Timothy Binga Author, Americans United for Separation of Church and State Editorial Associates Warren Allen Smith, Lois Porter Barbara Forrest Production Paul E. Loynes, Sr., Lisa A. Hutter, Janine Wythe Associate Professor of Philosophy, Southeastern Louisiana Univ. Cartoonist Don Addis Stewart Guthrie Director of Illustration Elka Kazmierczak Professor of Anthropology, Fordham University Webmaster David Noelle William Harwood Author, Mythology’s Last Gods Cover Design Lisa A. Hutter Stuart Jordan Senior Staff Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Alfred Kisubi Council for Secular Humanism Philosopher, Poet, University of Wisconsin Chairman Paul Kurtz Lena Ksarjian Board of Directors Vern Bullough, Jan Loeb Eisler, Jonathan Kurtz, Joseph Levee, Committee on the History of Culture, University of Chicago Kenneth Marsalek, Jean Millholland, Robert Worsfold Ronald A. Lindsay Executive Director Matt Cherry Lawyer, Philosopher Michael Martin Chief Operating Officer Thomas W. Flynn Professor of Philosophy, Coordinator, Campus Freethought Boston University Alliance Amanda Chesworth John Novak Professor of Education, Brock University Director, African Americans Jean Claude Pecker for Humanism Norm R. 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Manekin Inquiry West FREE INQUIRY (ISSN 0272-0701) is published quarterly by the Council for Secular Humanism, a nonprofit educational corporation, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226. Phone (716) 636-7571. Fax (716) 636-1733. Copyright ©l999 by the Council for Secular Humanism. Periodicals postage paid at Buffalo, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices. National distribution by International Periodicals Distributors, Solana Beach, California. FREE INQUIRY is available from University Microfilms and is indexed in Philosophers’ Index. Printed in the United States. Postmaster: Send address changes to FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or publisher. No one speaks on behalf of the Council for Secular Humanism unless expressly stated. free inquiry 4 The Promise of Manifesto 2000 EDITORIAL PAUL KURTZ umanist Manifesto 2000: A Call for a New Planetary Humanism, published in Free Inquiry (Fall 1999), is unique in that it advocates a new global ethic based on scientific naturalism, not on ancient religious Hpieties. Humanist Manifesto 2000 emphasizes that we are responsible for our own destiny, and that we can best solve our problems by rational inquiry. It provides a strong defense of human rights. Of special significance is the “Planetary Bill of Rights and Responsibilities”: we have a responsibility to humanity as a whole,