Atheist Internet Outreach Newsletter
FALL 1998 NEWSLETTER
NEWSWEEK
Newsweek magazine's July 20, 1998 cover story by Sharon Begley is entitled "Science Finds God". The article features the "growing number of scientists" for whom recent discoveries, they say, offer support for spirituality and "hints of the very nature of God". These four are among those Newsweek mentions:
Astronomer Allan Sandage describes himself as "almost a practicing atheist as a boy", and says he wanted the answers to mysteries not found "in the glittering panoply of supernovas". Asking why there is something rather than nothing, and despairing of finding the answer through reason alone, he willed himself to accept God at the age of 50.
"It was my science that drove me to the conclusion that the world is much more complicated than can be explained by science," he says. "It is only through the supernatural that I can understand the mystery of existence."
S. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the astronomer who discovered the spinning stars called pulsars, is active in the Religious Society of Friends. She wills herself to accept Christian theology because the absence of belief is too lonely and frightening a prospect.
But her astronomy research at England's Open University is kept separate from her beliefs. "Would I do science differently if I weren't a Quaker?" she asks. "I don't think so."
William Stoeger, Astronomer and Jesuit priest, now teaches at the University of Arizona and is a member of the Vatican Observatory.
"I did have one conflict between science and religion, in sixth or seventh grade." he says. "I got a book on paleontology from my uncle Don, so I read it at night when no one else was around. This conflict (between evolution and Genesis) was wonderfully resolved in high school," Stoeger says, when a priest showed him that the Bible could be read metaphorically.
John Polkinghorne, physicist and Anglican priest, explains that the fundamental component of belief in god "is that there is a mind and a purpose behind the universe". He says he sees hints of that divine presence in the way that abstract mathematics can penetrate the universe's secrets, which suggests that a rational mind created the world. As for purpose, he sees it in how nature is fine-tuned to allow life and consciousness to emerge.
But, in the midst of this willingness by rational scientists to accept the irrational, reporter Begley writes:
Some of its greatest minds dismissed God as an unnecessary hypothesis, one they didn't need to explain how galaxies came to shine or how life grew so complex. Since the birth of the universe could now be explained by the laws of physics alone, the late astronomer and atheist Carl Sagan concluded there was "nothing for a Creator to do," and every thinking person was therefore forced to admit "the absence of God".
Today the scientific community so scorns faith, says Allan Sandage, that "there is a reluctance to reveal yourself as a believer, the opprobrium is so severe."
Which leads us to ask: if Sandage is right, and religious scientists are held in such contempt by their peers that they are afraid to reveal their beliefs, what is Newsweek's agenda when it boldly trumpets "SCIENCE FINDS GOD"?
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ON THE OTHER HAND...
Results of a survey taken by E. J. Larson, University of Georgia, and L. Witham, of Baltimore, Maryland were published in a letter in the July 23, 1998 issue of the science journal Nature. The survey of members of the elite National Academy of Sciences showed seventy-two percent are atheists and twenty-one percent agnostic. Seven percent said they believed in a "personal God". Figures from similar surveys taken in 1914 and 1933 show a steady decline in religious belief.
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SKEPTICAL QUOTES:
And to think of this great country in danger of being dominated by people ignorant enough to take a few ancient Babylonian legends as the canons of modern culture. Our scientific men are paying for their failure to speak out earlier. There is no use now talking evolution to these people. Their ears are stuffed with Genesis.
--Luther Burbank, The Harvest of the Years
It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money, so long as you have got it.
--Carl Sagan, Demon Haunted World
What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite.
--Bertrand Russell, Skeptical Essays
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
--Aldous Huxley
It is easier to suppose that the universe has existed for all eternity than to conceive a being beyond its limits capable of creating it.
--Percy Bysshe Shelley
It was, of course, a lie that you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.
--Albert Einstein
If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
--Anatole France
Religion owned the past. Science owns the future.
--Anon. from the Internet.
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ATHEIST ALLIANCE NEWS:
On January 7, 1998, Marie Castle, President of Atheist Alliance, Inc., issued a news advisory:
CART Wheels Turn: Atheist/Humanist Coalition Formed To Promote New Age of Reason
A new kind of coalition, CART (the Coalition for the Advancement of Rational Thinking) holds promise of uniting the atheists and humanists of the United States in an effort to counter attempts by religious institutions to use the resources of government to promote and even legislatively mandate sectarian agendas regarding school prayer, school vouchers, creationism, sex education, reproductive freedom and sexual orientation..
The Coalition for the Advancement of Rational Thinking (CART) provides a way for groups of unbelievers to collaborate while preserving each organization's autonomy and opportunity for leadership. Coalition projects can be initiated and implemented by any organization and supported on an ad hoc basis by any number of other willing organizations. There are no coalition rules or dues. The only requirement is that projects support the civil rights of unbelievers and oppose religious incursions into public, tax-supported venues.
In the first such initiative, the Atheist Alliance (a national umbrella organization of independent atheist member socities) proposed a joint letter of protest to eight medical schools (Brown Univ. School of Medicine, Georgetown Univ. Medical Center, Loyola Univ. of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences Univ. School of Medicine, Pritzker School of Medicine, Univ. of Kentucky School of Medicine, and Univ. of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry) for their acceptance of a John Templeton Foundation grant for courses "that explore the connection between spirituality and health and religious issues in patient care."
CART's concern is that the whole thrust of faith/medicine in medical care appears to be an attempt to validate religious superstition and supernaturalism. This approach can only worsen the situation for unbelievers, who already endure unwanted visits from clerics and members of religious groups while they are sick in a hospital and their ability to resist or object to such proselytization is compromised.
Two national groups signed on with the Atheist Alliance to this initial effort: American Atheists (founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hair), and the Rationalist Association (now celebrating its 50th anniversary). A number of local groups also signed on. For the future, the National American Humanist Association and additional local groups have expressed enthusiasm for the CART idea and a willingness to collaborate.
CART is on the way to becoming a strong voice for a revival of rational thinking in public life and the rights of this country's last oppressed minority - the 10 percent or so who are religion-free and want to stay that way.
For more information, contact mac@mtn.org. Online, visit http://www.AtheistAlliance.org/ and http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/4518/
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Spotlight On Aai Member Societies: MINNESOTA ATHEISTS
Minnesota Atheists is one of the largest and most active of the eighteen autonomous member societies within the Atheist Alliance. The primary goal of this tax-exempt group is the promotion of atheism as a positive contributing factor to society. They incorporated in September 1991 with 30 members and a desire to continue the cable TV production project they had earlier begun. Today they have over 300 members and supporters.
Under the able leadership of co-chairs Marie Castle and Steve Petersen, this group has been involved in many different pursuits, including the lending of support to court cases seeking to protect state-church separation. One ongoing struggle was brought about by the needless death of a diabetic 11-year-old boy whose Christian Science parents prayed over him rather than providing medical treatment, and were not held accountable because a Minnesota statute exempts faith healers from prosecution for medical neglect of children. The involvement of Minnesota Atheist leaders and other concerned organizations led to a state bill requiring child protection services be notified in such cases. Finally, the groups interested in removing Christian Science from the category of legitimate health care had cause for celebration when in January1998, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno announced to Congress that her office no longer supported Medicare/Medicaid payments for Christian Science nursing homes. Unfortunately, defenders of Christian Science in the U.S. Senate eventually prevailed.
There have been other victories for state/church separation along the way: persuading the Minnesota Democratic party to stop religious invocations at political events, aiding in favorable resolution against a local police department's Chaplain Corps program, successfully arguing against a plan in St. Paul to give prime lakeshore property to a religious organization, and convincing state officials to remove religious displays from the State Capitol grounds.
Marie Castle has also been involved in debates over school prayer and taxing church property, and protested a public school distribution of invitations to a "sports clinic", the purpose of which was the proselytization of students. She also wrote a guest newspaper column on the topic of morality after Carl Sagan's death in December 1996 generated criticism of the brilliant scientist's lack of religious belief.
In cooperation with Freedom From Religion Foundation, Steve Petersen initiated dialogue about discrimination against nonbelievers with local Boy Scouts of America chapters, leading to their willingness to see the issue raised with national leaders. Unfortunately, protests from the Atheist Anti-Discrimination Support Network to over 100 national BSA leaders was met with negative reaction and anti-atheist bigotry.
Taking an interesting tack against the religious right, member/librarian Gene Kasmar in 1992 responded to their attempts to censor books by attempting to have the Bible removed as obscene from school libraries. This provided the group with opportunities through the media to show the irrationality of religion and the evils of censorship.
And justice was finally achieved through the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union for young Michael Bristor, who was verbally persecuted and denied his honor roll status by his first grade teacher and school principal in a Minneapolis public school "because he did not believe in god". Three years late, Michael unceremoniously received his honor roll certificate.
It's hard to believe that picketing the Promise Keepers at the Metrodome, rallying in downtown Minneapolis to show support for the cause of death-with-dignity and Dr. Kevorkian, marching in a May Day parade celebrating diversity, and discussing issues on their monthly cable TV show would leave this busy group with time for anything else, but they have never lost sight that their primary function is to provide socialization and support for fellow nonbelievers. They have several meetings and activities monthly, enjoying breakfast socials, happy hour get-togethers, monthly discussion groups and a special event each solstice of the year. And the members' concern for the atheist community has resulted in a self-help group for the religion-free, a support group for atheist parents, and a speaker's bureau for outreach to high school students and other groups.
If you live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and would like to know more about this group... and believe it or not, there's still more to tell... contact:
Minnesota Atheists
P.O. Box 6261
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Steve Petersen (co-chair), St. Paul, sp175@aol.com
Marie Castle (co-chair), Minneapolis, mac@mtn.org
http://www.mnatheists.org
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CELEBRITY OPINIONS:
It has become somewhat fashionable for celebrities to proclaim their moral values and/or religious belief, but an interview in the August 16, 1998 Sunday Parade magazine with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (of Seinfeld) was a refreshing change: "There was also a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong (in my family). It didn't come from a church. Although my mother took me to a Unitarian church on occasion, my values came from my family."
"I've begun worshiping the sun for a number of reasons. First of all, unlike some other gods I could mention, I can see the sun. It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food, a lovely day. There's no mystery, no one asks for money, I don't have to dress up, and there's no boring pageantry. And interestingly enough, I have found that the prayers I offer to the sun and the prayers I formerly offered "God" are all answered at about the same 50-percent rate."
--George Carlin, from his book Brain Droppings
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TAKE ACTION:
The Campus Freethought Alliance has created a Bill of Rights for Unbelievers to put into words the rights, as we see it, of individuals who are not religious. We have scheduled a press conference at the national press office in Washington DC on September 17 to officially unveil the document. We expect this to be a large event.
What we would really like by then is to get as many signatures on the Bill of Rights as we can. I have attached them to the end of this email. If you agree with them and would like to sign on, you may do so electronically by filling out the form at http://www.secularhumanism.org/cfa/pr/bill_of_rights.html.
Please encourage others to sign this document as well.
Thanks for your time,
Adam Butler Campus Freethought Alliance
http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~abutler
THE BILL OF RIGHTS FOR UNBELIEVERS
The freedoms of thought and expression count among our most fundamental and cherished rights, and promote both individual welfare and the common good in a democratic state. Historically, however, unbelievers such as secular humanists, atheists, agnostics, rationalists, and freethinkers have faced prejudice, intolerance, and discrimination for their opinions and discoveries.
In the firm conviction that the principle of Church-State separation guarantees the equal rights of the religious and non-religious, we the Campus Freethought Alliance, on this 12th Day of July, 1998, hereby present the following Bill of Rights for Unbelievers.
Unbelievers shall have the right to:
- Think freely and autonomously, express their views forthrightly, and debate or criticize any and all ideas without fear of censure, recrimination, or public ostracism.
- Be free from discrimination and persecution in the workplace, business transactions, and public accommodations.
- Exercise freedom of conscience in any situation where the same right would be extended to believers on religious grounds alone.
- Hold any public office, in accordance with the constitutional principle that there shall be no religious test for such office.
- Abstain from religious oaths and pledges, including pledges of allegiance, oaths of office, and oaths administered in a court of law, until such time as these are secularized or replaced by non-discriminatory affirmations.
- Empower members of their community to perform legally-binding ceremonies, such as marriage.
- Raise and nurture their children in a secular environment, and not be disadvantaged in adoption or custody proceedings because of their unbelief.
- Conduct business and commerce on any day of their choosing, without interference from laws or regulations recognizing religious days of prayer, rest, or celebration.
- Enjoy freedom from taxation supporting the government employment of clergy, and access to secular counseling equivalent to that provided by chaplains.
- Declare conscientious objection to serving in the armed forces under any circumstance in which the religious may do so.
- Live as citizens of a democracy free from religious language and imagery in currency, public schools and buildings, and government documents and business.
Sign the Bill of Rights for Unbelievers!
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A Letter from the President of Atheist Outreach
Welcome to the first newsletter of Atheist Outreach. We are an organization dedicated to bringing together Atheists and helping new Atheist groups form all over the world. This has been an exciting year for us. We have helped many Atheists contact local groups in their areas, and have provided assistance to various new groups in getting started and with other organizational issues.
Atheist Outreach is a member of Atheist Alliance. Some of the services which Atheist Alliance provides include a magazine called Secular Nation (see http://www.atheistalliance.org/secular/ for information) and a TV program shown in many cities in the U.S. Another service provided, courtesy of Midwest Book Review, is a listing of books which would be of interest to Atheists with a discount purchase program for many of these books (see http://www.atheistalliance.org/books/).
For those of you who are interested in starting a group, please let me know. We have information and can provide assistance. We are currently helping a group in Nashville, TN get organized and a group in Knoxville, TN get incorporated.
Many Atheists have asked how they can meet others of like mind. Other than starting a group or joining an existing one, Atheist Alliance has an annual convention on Easter weekend (due to the availability of great rates for conventions and rooms at that particular time). Our April 1999 convention will be in Austin, TX. Watch for more information on the Atheist Alliance web site in early 1999.
If you have questions about starting a new organization, or about Atheist Alliance, Atheist Outreach, ideas concerning activities for AO, or other similar topics, please e-mail AtheistOutreach@atheistalliance.org.
Joe Zemel
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ABOUT THE ATHEIST OUTREACH NEWSLETTER:
Atheist Outreach Newsletter is an online publication of Atheist Outreach, a member organization of Atheist Alliance, Inc. We are an organization of volunteers whose goals are to promote freethought issues such as the separation of state and church, provide a means for atheists around the world to communicate with each other, and to support the aims and purposes of the Atheist Alliance and its member organizations.
Membership in Atheist Outreach is free. Simply send your name and email address to AtheistOutreach@atheistalliance.org. You are also invited to submit letters, articles or comments for inclusion in our online publication. Should you prefer not to receive future issues, please send an "unsubscribe" message to AtheistOutreach@atheistalliance.org.
All newsletter subscribers have permission to utilize the articles on thematically-appropriate internet discussion groups, websites, and organizational newsletters. Please give credit to Atheist Outreach when doing so.
Sandy Feroe, Editor-in-Chief
AtheistOutreach@atheistalliance.org
http://www.atheistalliance.org
"A free mind in a free society can still make mistakes, but those errors will never be canonized."
- Jim Cox, Contributing Editor
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