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******The*E-Zine*of*Atheistic*Secular*Humanism*and*Freethought*****
===================================================================
###################################################################
########## Volume 1, Number 4 ***A Collector's Item!***##########
###################### ISSN 1198-4619 ###########################
########################## AUG 1994 ###############################
###################################################################
In the mythology and symbolism of our name, "Lucifer" is not to be
confused with ha-Satan, the mythological source of evil. Lucifer's
ancient identity was a bearer of light, the morning star, and it is
as such that this journal intends to publish.
As the religion virus depends on obscurity, obfuscation, confusion,
irrationality and darkness in order to flourish, it is natural that
it would see light as an enemy. Rational, skeptical inquiry has
ever been the enemy of all religions and is ultimately fatal to all
gods.
The purpose of this magazine is to provide a source of articles
dealing with many aspects of humanism. Humanists have been
vilified by the religious as immoral. Apparently, the most
horrible thing they can think of is an atheist.
As we find their values, such as faith in the non-existent,
obedience to the imaginary and reverence of the ridiculous,
repulsive, we adopt the name of their ancient antagonist with
pride.
We are atheistic as we do not believe in the actual existence of
any supernatural beings or any transcendental reality.
We are secular because the evidence of history and the daily
horrors in the news show the pernicious and destructive
consequences of allowing religions to be involved with politics and
nationalism.
We are humanists and we focus on what is good for humanity, in the
real world. We will not be put off with offers of pie in the sky,
bye and bye.
==><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><==
|| Begging portion of the Zine ||
==><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><==
This is a "sharezine." There is no charge for receiving this, and
there is no charge for distributing copies to any electronic
medium. Nor is there a restriction on printing a copy for use in
discussion. You may not charge to do so, and you may not do so
without attributing it to the proper author and source.
If you would like to support our efforts, and help us acquire
better equipment to bring you more and better articles, you may
send money to Greg Erwin at: 100 Terrasse Eardley Aylmer, QC / J9H
6B5 CANADA.
==><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><==
|| End of Begging portion of the Zine ||
==><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><==
Articles will be welcomed IF:
(
they are emailed to: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA; or,
sent on diskette to me at the above Aylmer address in any format
that an IBM copy of WordPerfect can read; ) and
they don't require huge amounts of editing; and
I like them.
If you wish to receive a subscription, email a simple request to
ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA, with a clear request for a subscription.
It will be assumed that the "From:" address is where it is to be
sent. We will automate this process as soon as we know how.
We are archived in the archives of the venerable mathew of alt.atheism
&
alt.atheism.moderated. If you can, obtain back issues there by ftp,
otherwise, write.
Yes, please DO make copies! (*)
Please DO send copies of Lucifer's Echo to anyone who might be
interested.
The only limitations are:
You must copy the whole document, without making any changes to it.
You do NOT have permission to copy this document for commercial
purposes.
The contents of this document are copyright (c) 1994, Greg Erwin
and are on deposit at the National Library of Canada
Foreword: Name Controversy.
Some will be sad, and some will be glad; I would say that mail (not
exactly an avalanche of messages) has been fairly evenly divided on
the issue of the name of the magazine. Those who are against it
are fairly vehement in their objections to anything "Satanic,"
explaining that the association of atheism and humanism with Satan is
bad for the image.
I have decided, however, that this image crap is just that, "crap."
There is nothing an atheist can do to get good PR from the
conservative Christian community, except by ignoring it and
empowering other atheists. The Jewish community has forced
mainstream society to pay attention to it through economic power,
through votes and through alliances. The gay community got diddly
until they insisted on their differences and the right to express
them.
[
BTW, wasn't the Pope just wonderful in his recent proclamation re:
homosexuality? You can be gay, you just can't express it? This
can serve as a model for all totalitarians: you are free to have
any opinions, you just can't let anybody else know what they are;
you can dissent from the government, but you can't vote against it;
you are free to hold demonstrations, as long as they are approved
by the people in power.
]
Let's face it, there are no such things as gods or satans or
lucifers. These are all *myths.* They are as real as Santa Claus,
and no more. God and Satan serve as metaphors and have as much
meaning as Thor and Loki, devas and asuras, or Siva, Vishnu and
Brahma. We can assign a meaning to a myth. I have made it clear
the meaning which I wish to assign to "Lucifer," which, to repeat,
is: the enemy of organized religion, i.e., the opponent of the
"faith" meme, the enemy of the anti-science, authoritarian,
misogynist, anti-human, irrational, and divisive, tribalistic,
genocidal embodiment of all that is wrong with "religion." If you
want to call that "Satan," fine with me.
/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\
Shameless advertising and crass commercialism:
\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/
Atheistic self-stick Avery(tm) address labels. Consisting of
180 different quotes, 30 per page, each label 2 5/8" x 1".
This leaves three 49 character lines available for your own
address, phone number, email, fax or whatever. Each sheet is
US$2, the entire set of 6 for US$11; 2 sets for US$20.
Indicate quantity desired. Print address clearly, exactly as
desired. Order from address in examples below. Laser
printed, 8 pt Arial, with occasional flourishes.
_________________________________________________
|"Reality is that which, when you stop believing |
|in it, doesn't go away." [Philip K. Dick] |
|Greg Erwin 100 Terrasse Eardley |
|Aylmer, Qc J9H 6B5 Canada |
| email: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA |
|________________________________________________|
_________________________________________________
|"...and when you tell me that your deity made |
|you in his own image, I reply that he must be |
|very ugly." [Victor Hugo, writing to clergy] |
|Greg Erwin 100 Terrasse Eardley |
|Aylmer, Qc J9H 6B5 Canada Ph: (613) 954-6128 |
| email: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA |
|________________________________________________|
Other stuff for sale:
Certificate of Baptism Removal and Renunciation of Religion.
Have your baptism removed, renounce religion, and have a neat
8" x 11" fancy certificate, on luxury paper, suitable for
framing, to commemorate the event! Instant eligibility for
excommunication! For the already baptism-free: Certificate
of Freedom from Religion. An official atheistic secular
humanist stamp of approval for only $10!
Poster 8x11: WARNING! This is a religion free zone!
All religious vows, codes, and commitments are null & void
herein. Please refrain from contaminating the ideosphere with
harmful memes through prayer, reverence, holy books,
proselytizing, prophesying, faith, speaking in tongues or
spirituality. Fight the menace of second-hand faith!
Humanity sincerely thanks you!
Tastefully arranged in large point Stencil on luxury paper.
Likewise $10.
4. Ingersoll poster: "When I became convinced that the
universe is natural" speech excerpt. 11"x17" See the June
1994 issue of the _Echo_ for full text. $15
Order from the same address as above.
Order now to celebrate the rebirth of the Invincible Sun!
/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-TABLE OF CONTENTS-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Part III Christianity on Trial, by Dr. Wendell Watters
2. Part II, Anti-Semitism: Its Prevalence Within the Christian
Right, by Skipp Porteous
3. How to Get Excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church, a
handy guide, by Greg Erwin.
Part III Christianity on Trial, by Dr. Wendell Watters
[Dr. Watters is Professor Emeritus of psychiatry at McMaster
University, Hamilton, Ontario. The following is a transcript of his
talk to the 1991 Hamilton conference of the Humanist Association of
Canada, which was published in the _Humanist in Canada_ quarterly
magazine as a series of six articles]
For subscriptions to Humanist in Canada send Can$15 for one year,
Can$28 for two years. Outside of Canada, US$16 for one year, (or
Can$19), US$30 for two years (Can$36). Back issues available,
write for free ten year index. Send large SASE. Address all
correspondence to: Humanist in Canada, P.O. Box 3769, Stn C,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Y 4J8
Charge 4. Christianity's emphasis on the primacy of the human-to-
god bond has made it extremely difficult for human beings to
develop the supportive human-to-human bonds required for adaptive
interpersonal and social functioning.
Two clinical vignettes illustrate this point.
Vignette # 1. A young schizophrenic girl was seen with her family
in interview and the following story emerged. At home, whenever she
would feel herself getting upset, she would go to her mother who
would tell the father. The father would then gather the family in
the living room on their knees while he prayed to God. She said she
liked this because when he way praying to God he was telling God
how much he cared about her, which he could never say to her
personally.
Vignette # 2. In another family session, the identified patient was
a boy of about 12 years. At one point in the session he started to
cry, putting his chin on his chest and crying quietly. I looked at
the father, one of the most inarticulate, emotionally uninvolved
men I have ever seen, and he was staring at the ceiling. The mother
was sitting with her eyes closed and her hands folded in her lap. I
asked her what she was doing and she said she was praying. I told
them it was not God she should be talking to but rather her son.
Millions of people in the western world still cling to the notion
that there is a loving Father up there who really has our best
interest at heart, and if we simply rely on him everything will
come out all right in the end. People who seek comfort in this myth
are unlikely to play much of a role in confronting, let alone
solving, the real human problems facing us. Their belief in the
mythical Big Daddy makes them psychologically unable to forge links
with other human beings and to put real effort into developing
effective problem-solving strategies. It has been my observation
that, when a parent or other adult is within earshot of a group of
small children, there is much more squabbling than when they are on
their own, or at least think they are on their own.
Perhaps if we adult human beings got rid of our deities, there
would be more motivation to join hands and hearts together and deal
with our existential angst in adaptive ways.
On the inter-personal family level, the person who regularly goes
to church every Sunday is bearing witness to the fact that his or
her interpersonal supports within the family are not working. In
working with couples and families, I find that those who go to
church and claim a strong belief in God are often the ones who have
very poor patterns of communication, negotiation and support within
the family. Where communication, negotiation and support skills are
fairly well developed one is not likely to find religion playing
much of a role in the family's life. People talk to God when they
can't talk to each other.
In my experience and that of many of my colleagues and students,
religious people entering therapy tend to become less religious as
they feel better about themselves and improve in their ability to
relate to others, even when religion is never discussed in the
therapy. Communication and negotiation skills can be learned and
should be learned both at home and in the school. But "alas" this
along with sex education are the most neglected areas in the school
curriculum. A lot of people are upset about the absence of the
Lord's prayer in public schools; instead of trying to promote this
one-way communication with a mythical big daddy, they should be
agitating for the schools to promote good two way communication
skills between our young people.
Christian doctrine and teachings actually discourage the de-
velopment of human to human communication. Initially, vows of
silence were big in the Church since one was supposed to "pray
without ceasing", as St. Paul urged. The phenomenon called Chris-
tian fellowship came about because the church realized that it
could not extinguish the tendency for human beings to be social
animals. But it certainly tried.
In "The Imitation of Christ", there are countless admonitions to
the faithful not to put any trust in their fellow human beings; "He
is vain that putteth his trust in man" or this; "Converse not much
with young people and with strangers. There is nothing subtle about
this one; "Desire to be familiar with God alone and his angels, and
avoid the acquaintance of men". And this warning certainly puts the
lie to Christian fellowship; "Thou oughtest to be so dead to such
affections of beloved friends, that, as much as concerns thee, thou
shoulds't wish to be without all company of men". And there are
many more where these came from. Get yourself a copy of this little
book and read it. It is still being printed and, and given its
popularity in Christian circles for centuries, it is no doubt very
much alive in the lives of many people.
Charge 5. Christianity's promotion of infantile strategies for
problem solving compromises the natural human impulse to learn
adult problem solving strategies as part of the maturing process.
Jesus is reported to have said that "Unless ye become as little
children ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. He also said;
"Suffer the little children to come unto me for of such is the
kingdom of God". Whatever he meant by that, the founding fathers of
the church took these sayings literally centuries later when they
were building an earthly home for the flock of sheep.
Existential angst is the vague feeling of apprehension human beings
are prone to get when they contemplate the universe, especially
around issues like infinity, eternity and mortality. To help
children cope with their existential angst, adults provide them
with simple answers to their questions about life; although it is
probably not the answers that comfort them as much as it is the
quality of the adult-child relationship.
One of the characteristics of being an adult is the ability to
tolerate not knowing, to live with ambiguity and complexity, to
recognize that all answers are partial answers at best and to
understand that even these partial answers come to us through the
scientific approach to life, and not through divine revelation. An
adult's ability to live with uncertainty in this way, is partly
dependent on the quality of his or her human relationships during
the formative years.
Christianity does not encourage people to become adult since it is
based on the model that we are all "children of God." We must not
aspire to deal with our existential angst in the humanistic way
described above, but rather resolve that anxiety by taking comfort
from the mythical answers it provides. The growth of education, and
particularly the growth of science has been consistently resisted
by Christianity since the Renaissance. It gives way only in the
face of overwhelming evidence and under great pressure from
outside: it also tries to control science and education by
establishing its own institutions of higher learning. It is even
capable of trying to co-opt science itself as in the oxymoron
"creationist science."
In order to understand this charge against Christianity we must
talk about something called "ambivalence". Ambivalence is the
almost universal emotional state in which one emotion exists in
human beings side by side with the opposite emotion. We usually
think of it in terms of love and hate: but ambivalence appears in
connection with other emotions, as when joy is tempered by sadness.
In fact it is probable that very few emotions exist in their pure
unalloyed state in human beings; there is usually some evidence of
other, at times, conflicting emotions existing at the same time.
The healthy adult is able to tolerate ambivalent feelings and to
make adaptive decisions about his or her behaviour in spite of
them, and without feeling too distressed. One thing that charac-
terizes all people who seek psychotherapy is their limited ability
to tolerate their ambivalent feelings; and when these feelings,
often unconscious ones, cause them enough distress, they seek help.
one of the main characteristics of individuals who have been
successfully treated in psychotherapy is the increase in their
capacity to live with ambivalence.
Children on the other hand are unable to tolerate ambivalence and
when very young they tend to split: that is, one day they are angry
at father but feel very loving towards mother; the next day they
can't stand mother but love father. As they mature, if they do so
in a family environment that allows this to happen, they come to
realize that they can love mother but be angry at her at the same
time; and they can be angry at father all the while they are fond
of him. If they live in a family environment heavily influenced by
Christian notions they may be trained to feel guilty about angry
feelings towards mother or father; in which case their maturity may
be seriously compromised.
This is so because Christianity not only does not encourage
individuals to live with ambivalent feelings as they mature, it
actively discourages it, by encouraging people to feel guilty about
every normal human affect or emotion, at least the ones it does not
approve of. The Christian universe itself is split into God and
Satan, Heaven and Hell. One is supposed to have only love towards
God and hatred towards Satan; one is meant to have only love for
one's parents because, as one of my devout Roman Catholic patients
told me recently "They are my parents". One is trained to feel
guilty about anger or hate, which are normal human emotions; and
since these feelings cannot be integrated into the developing
personality of the Christian child in a healthy way, they can only
find their way into expression in pathological, often very self--
destructive ways.
Charge 6. Christianity's reliance on the stimulation and
exploitation of existential fear and guilt as strategies for
gaining and wielding power, produces low self-esteem in those
individuals who are influenced by those strategies.
Fear has an extremely negative impact on the mental health of human
beings and on the health of human relationships. The use of fear as
a way of making people behave in certain ways will sometime produce
results as victims of blackmail and other fear victims will attest;
but the victims of behavioral control through fear remain deeply
resentful and the behavioral conformity lasts as long as the
internalized threat exists.
Christian apologists will claim that fear is no longer the force
that brings people to Christ but rather gratitude at the gift of
his sacrifice on the cross. However, some televangelists still
paint pictures of eternal damnation waiting for those of us who
decline this gift; and even in those clergy who mute this message,
the image of hells's fires is there in the scriptures in black and
white. Even if all preachers stopped these kind of threats to-
morrow, it is a legacy from Christianity's past that would not go
away in a hurry. It is quite probable that at the bottom of every
Christian's motivation for believing is the fear of what will
happen to them if they do not.
Equally as destructive as the exploitation of human fear is the
manipulation of human guilt. Christians are quick to jump in here
and claim that they have no need to feel guilty since that guilt
was washed away forever, as it were "in the blood of the lamb", by
Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. But think of it for a moment. If you
believe that someone did you this incredible favour, one you did
not ask him to do by the way, doesn't it follow that you would feel
incredible guilt? Such guilt can never be washed away, unless you
can be persuaded, as we humanists are, that it never happened.
Christian promise of guilt relief is, of course, conditional on the
believer accepting the Christian world view. Guilt, like fear, is a
destructive source of human motivation. Human behaviour motivated
by guilt is always accompanied by deep resentment and self-directed
incrimination; if intense enough it may be associated with
depressed mood and even self-destructive behaviour. And such
suicidal behaviour can be traced in part to a suicidal diathesis
inherent in the crucifixion myth. The scriptures tell us that Jesus
had a number of opportunities to save himself from death on the
cross, all of which he rejected. If someone actively chooses death
over life, that is suicide.
No doubt many you are now thinking; "But the Christian church calls
suicide a sin". What you may not know is that the condemnation of
suicide came late in the history of the Christian church. When the
church turned its attention to building an earthly institution, it
had to do something about the very common practice of voluntary
martyrdom, in emulation of Christ's death on the cross; a practice
that was thought to guarantee one a secure place in heaven. The
founding fathers came out with a number of edicts against such
suicidal behaviour, the large number of edicts being necessary
because this proved to be a difficult practice to eradicate. The
culmination of it all was an edict banning the practice entirely in
693 A.D. at the Council of Toledo. It is little wonder that
suicidal behaviour in our society has such power to induce guilt in
those closest to the "victim"; even the word "victim" implies that
someone else is responsible for his or her act of self-destruction.
The doctrine of original sin is another guilt button used by
Christianity to manipulate and control; without the doctrine of
original sin, there is no need for the crucifixion and the resur-
rection i.e., no Christianity. And even in the most fervent "born -
again" Christian the guilt is very much alive, notwithstanding the
message that Christ's death took it all away. That may be theologi-
cally neat, but psychologically impossible. And while, in the
matter of guilt induction, special condemnation was reserved for
sexual pleasures, the pleasures of the flesh, the most innocent of
human pleasures are difficult for the believing Christian.
Psychologists know that pleasure (or "fun" if you will) is one of
the main building blocks in a healthy personality. If all pleasures
are suspect, as they are in Christianity, then healthy psychologi-
cal growth is impossible. Indeed the good Thomas a Kempis makes it
plain that the Christian should seek out suffering, not pleasure,
if he or she wants to store up brownie points with the Divine Big
Daddy. Get this one: "The saints and friends of Christ served the
Lord in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in labour and
weariness, in watchings and fastings, in prayer and holy medita-
tions, in many persecutions and reproaches." And this one: "Feed
me, O Lord, with the bread of tears, and give me plenteousness of
tears to drink". And this: "Assure thyself thou canst not have two
paradises; it is impossible to enjoy delights in this world, and
after that to reign with Christ". Nothing could be more specific.
Turn your back on the real pleasures of this world if you want to
go to heaven; and if you want to be certain of going to heaven,
actively seek out suffering.
This pleasure phobia in Christianity is so intense that in many
Christians, it is almost a sin to have any human needs at all and
an even worse sin to ask that those needs be filled, lest one
appear "greedy." Indeed greed was one of the seven deadly sins. But
apparently it was and is sinful to be greedy about human, earthly
needs and pleasures but alright to be greedy about celestial, eter-
nal pleasures. For sure, nothing could be more greedy than to
expect more than one's share of biological existence. The promise
of eternal life in exchange for poverty in this world or a lousy
sex life is bound to appeal to people who are already poor or
sexually deprived. Another of the great myths promulgated by
Christianity is that moral behaviour is promoted by this belief
system. Some very intelligent people in our society feel that one
must believe in "God" if one wants to lead an ethical, moral life.
If anything, the strategies used by Christianity, the manipulation
of fear and guilt, may be instrumental in encouraging behaviour
that is anything but ethical and moral. Rage is generated in the
individual who acts out of guilt or fear. Rage or anger is one of
the seven deadly sins and cannot be experienced by the Christian
without additional guilt since Christianity makes no distinction
between the feeling itself and the behaviour that appears in re-
sponse to the feeling. The feeling of rage cannot be expressed in
an adaptive non-destructive way. Often when such rage builds up to
the point where the individual cannot defend against it any more,
it emerges in a destructive way, usually in an act society would
consider immoral. It is highly possible that the truly moral
Christian is moral in spite of, and not because of his or her
religious socialization. Anyone wishing to pursue this point in
more detail is directed to my chapter in the book of the Proceed-
ings of the Tenth World Humanist Congress in Buffalo in 1988.
It doesn't take a psychiatrist to appreciate that all of this is
likely to lead to lack of self-esteem in those who buy into it or
are affected by it. Psychiatrists and psychologists know that a
high self-esteem is necessary for sound mental and emotional health
and that low self-esteem is characteristic of all forms of mental
and emotional illness. If you haven't concluded by now that
Christian indoctrination contributes to low self-esteem, listen to
Thomas a Kempis, who makes no bones about it; "I am thy poorest,
meanest servant, and a most vile person, much poorer and contempt-
ible than I can or dare express. Yet do thou remember me, O Lord,
because I am nothing, I have nothing, I can do nothing". There are
many many more, for example: "Thou oughtest therefore to ascribe
nothing of good to thyself, nor do thou attribute virtue unto any
man; but give all unto God, without whom man hath nothing".
There can be no doubt that the teachings of Christianity contribute
in no small way to much of the suffering that ends up being dealt
with by the health care system, a system that is becoming increas-
ingly a financial burden to us all. Yet the institution that churns
out these destructive messages with impunity continues to operate
with the tax-free blessing of the same state. Go figure.
End of Part III Christianity on trial
=========================================================
===================================================================
|| END OF ARTICLE ||
===================================================================
The Freedom Writer * May 1994
Anti-Semitism: Its Prevalance Within the Religious Right
By Skipp Porteous
c. 1994 IFAS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
=- Part II -=
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ethical Culture
"The American Ethical Union, founded in 1889 in New York City, was
a federation of over thirty ethical societies that had been
initiated by Felix Adler (Jewish) more than a decade earlier. New
York became the capital of the humanist movement, which then spread
across the United States."(35)
It is common knowledge that there are more Jews in New York than in
any other city in the United States. (On extremist computer
bulletin boards, New York is often referred to as "Jew York
City.") It is well-known that many Jews who wanted to retain Jewish
ethics, without the religious observances, led the Ethical Culture
movement.
LaHaye considers the American Civil Liberties Union, headed by Ira
Glasser and Nadine Strossen (both Jewish), "The most effective
humanist organization for destroying the laws, morals, and
traditional rights of Americans." LaHaye adds, "The anti-Christian
attitude of the ACLU is not only evident in its persistent attack
on moral legislation but also in its efforts to compel our country
to become totally secular."(36)
LaHaye refers to "humanist attorney" William Kuntsler (Jewish) as
"Communist oriented." He then attacks the Humanist Manifesto II,
which like the original Humanist Manifesto, "criticizes religious
dogmatism and denies the existence of a Creator."
Dr. Tim Madigan is the editor of the humanist magazine Free
Inquiry. His publisher, Dr. Paul Kurtz, drafted the Humanist
Manifesto II, which LaHaye so despises. Madigan said that he thinks
about a third of the signers of Humanist Manifesto II were Jewish.
The Rev. Tim LaHaye's crusade against humanism parallels almost
every anti-Semitic movement in recent history. In fact, Jews do
have considerable influence in some of the arenas LaHaye writes
about. Are these similarities coincidental, or is the campaign
against humanism _ attributing society's every evil to supposed
humanists _ really a covert attack on Jews?
LaHaye is not the only conservative Christian minister whose
assault on humanism raises serious questions about anti-Semitism.
The Alleged Anti-Semitism of the Rev. Donald Wildmon
The Rev. Donald Wildmon, founder and head of the American Family
Association (formerly the National Federation for Decency) has, by
design or chance, espoused Rushdoony's idea that modern Judaism is
really humanism. With Wildmon, it is sometimes difficult to tell
what group he's attacking _ humanists or Jews. It appears that in
his mind they are one and the same.
In Wildmon's view, television network executives (a majority of
whom are Jewish, according to a Lichter-Rothman survey he often
quotes) are in a deliberate conspiracy to promote "anti-Christian"
television programming to undermine Christianity.
Wildmon made his first anti-Semitic innuendo before a convention of
the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) in 1985. And as early as
1981, Wildmon said, "Most television producers are of the Jewish
perspective."(37)
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai B'rith wrote to Wildmon
after a number of NRB attenders expressed concern about his
presentation. "Your remarks imply that Jews create and condone
anti-Christian programming," the ADL wrote on June 18, 1985. "You
seem to be saying that the fact that there are so many Jews
involved with commercial television programming is an explanation
for the anti-Christian nature, as you see it, of that programming."
Wildmon ignored the ADL's letter.
In 1985, Wildmon wrote a book called The Home Invaders, published
by Victor Books, of Wheaten, Illinois. Anti-Semitic aspersion is
carefully woven into the book.
In one section, Wildmon states, "Only a relatively small handful of
people determine what Americans can and will see on network
television. These people are overtly hostile to the Christian
faith."(38)
He doesn't say who "these people" are until the next chapter.
Wildmon's modus operandi is to quote someone else and then add his
interpretation. In this case, he made use of a remark by columnist
Pat Buchanan: "If he [playwright Christopher Durang] were as
anti-Semitic as he is anti-Christian, he would neither be
collecting awards nor staging any more plays."
Wildmon's interpretation of Buchanan's statement: "Buchanan is no
doubt referring to the fact that Hollywood and the theater world is
heavily influenced by Jewish people."39
In his NFD Journal(40), Wildmon again raised the specter of a
conspiracy among network executives (stating that 59% of them are
Jewish) to create prime time "anti-Christian" programming. Wildmon
concluded, "What we are witnessing by the networks and advertisers
is a genuine hostility towards Christians and the Christian faith.
This anti-Christian programming is intentional and by design. It
took me years to believe that, and to be willing to say so
publicly, but it is true."(41)
Time and time again, in his AFA Journal (formerly known as the NFD
Journal), Wildmon has used the same inflammatory rhetoric.
On October 27, 1987, Wildmon wrote a letter to major television
advertisers demanding that they stop advertising on shows that had
an "anti-Christian" bias. Using the Lichter-Rothman study, he again
blamed Jews for this objectionable programming.
ADL Concurs
Stuart Lewengrub, director of the ADL's southeast regional office,
in a letter42 to Robert L. Brannon, then vice president of The
Holiday Corporation, wrote: "ADL initially sought to communicate
with him [Wildmon] in a low key, non-accusatory, manner. I've
enclosed a copy of a letter ADL sent Wildmon when he first began to
employ the anti-Semitic innuendo. We were trying to give him the
benefit of the doubt, at least insofar as his singling out the
Jewish background of those `anti-Christian' media folks was
concerned. It is evident that he has little desire to alter that
approach..."
He continues, "Based on what I understand about Wildmon, he tries
to evade the `anti-Semitism' issue by noting that the study on
which he based his statistics was conducted by Jews (the Lichters
and Rothman), which is true, but irrelevant to Wildmon's use of
those statistics."
Lewengrub concluded, "One final thought_I am reminded of one of the
most poignant comments to emerge from the Nazi Holocaust. You
recall the scenes in pre-war Germany of thousands of people hurling
`unwanted' books into huge bonfires. It was said that `A NATION
THAT BURNS ITS BOOKS WILL SOON BURN ITS PEOPLE.' Prophetic, but I
doubt Wildmon would understand or care."
S. Robert Lichter, a co-author of the Lichter-Rothman report, in a
letter43 to Brannon, said that his survey "...drew no conclusions
about the nature of [TV] programming or the precise motivations of
program directors." He also said, "...we naturally abhor any
imputation of anti-Semitic inferences from our survey of television
producers and executives."
Stanley Rothman, the other co-author of the Lichter-Rothman report,
wrote(44) directly to Rev. Wildmon. Rothman strongly repudiated
Wildmon's use of the Lichter-Rothman study to prove that Jewish
producers are anti-Christian. Rothman stated: "The inferences you
draw from our data are not justified." Rothman told Wildmon that
their findings presented `NO EVIDENCE' to support any of Wildmon's
accusations, and that a new study actually proved the contrary.
Wildmon ignored Rothman's letter and continued perpetrating this
misinformation.
Harry E. Moore, Jr., regional director (Memphis), of The National
Conference of Christians and Jews, in a letter(45) to Brannon,
referred to Wildmon's alleged anti-Semitism. Moore said, "I agree
that whether he [Wildmon] intends it or not, there is a not so
subtle strain of anti-Semitism in his madness." He concluded, "I
shall keep a wary eye on Mr. Wildmon. There is no telling which way
his anti-Semitic bias will lead him."
In the fall of 1988, Robert K. Lifton, president of the American
Jewish Congress, in a letter to prospective members, wrote,
"...when Right Wing Christians launched their unsuccessful campaign
to block release by Universal Studios of "The Last Temptation of
Christ," they picked a very special target. THEY WENT AFTER THE
JEWS."
"The Reverend Donald Wildmon, Executive Director of the American
Family Association of Tupelo, Mississippi, mailed 500,000 letters
[according to Wildmon, the final total was about 4 million letters]
urging recipients to bring pressure upon "THE NON-CHRISTIANS
OFFICIALS WHO RUN UNIVERSAL." Lifton added, "To be sure, films on
such sensitive issues are bound to upset some people, and the right
to criticize them is a constitutional right that we at the AJ
Congress will defend. But, as we pointed out forcefully to these
fundamentalists leaders, the exercise of this constitutional right
`DOES NOT CREATE LICENSE TO ENGAGE IN BIGOTRY AND ANTI-SEMITISM."
Jewish Support for Wildmon
In the AFA Journal(46), Rev. Wildmon quoted a Jewish colleague,
Judith Reisman, who had come to his defense against charges of
anti-Semitism. Reisman's words amplify Rev. Wildmon's alleged
bigotry. She said, "The statements Rev. Wildmon has made which have
been misconstrued as anti-Semitic, refer instead to the role of
secular humanists and their control of mass media. Reverend Wildmon
has no quarrel with Judaism. Quite the contrary, he has a quarrel
with secular humanists and other non-Christians." Reisman adds,
"Orthodox Jewry has similar quarrels with Jewish secular humanists
and other non-Christians."(47)
Wildmon later acknowledged that his organization has given generous
financial support to Reisman's research on pornography.
The question remains: Why does Wildmon note that 59% of Hollywood's
elite come from Jewish backgrounds? He not only mentions it, he
repeats it ad nauseam.
In his book The Home Invaders, Wildmon states, "When the Jewish
organization B'nai B'rith honored [Hugh] Hefner as their man of the
year, it reflected the shallowness and sickness of those who made
the decision, not the religion which gave us the Ten Commandments
and, for most of us, our Lord Jesus Christ."48 Like many
anti-Semites, Wildmon has no quarrel with the religion of Judaism,
just with the Jewish people.
In a January 1989 AFA Journal article, "What Hollywood Believes and
Wants," Wildmon stated, "The television elite are highly secular.
Ninety-six percent had a religious upbringing, the majority (59
percent) in the Jewish faith."(49) Again, an example of his
continuing attacks on secular Jews.
In the same issue, Wildmon published an article titled
"Anti-Semitism Called A Serious Problem." The headline leads one to
believe that the article is sympathetic toward Jews. In actuality,
it creates a diversion and plays upon the prejudices of Wildmon's
audience. The gist of the article is that anti-Semitism arises out
of the black community!
The article highlights that "Jews continue to be more liberal than
other Americans..." and specifically points out that "Jews favor
homosexual rights more than other Americans." The article stresses
that "only 18 percent of the Jews" support a constitutional
amendment to allow prayer in public schools.(50)
Wildmon is aware of his conservative audience's homophobia and
approval of prayer in public schools. And, typically, Wildmon
quotes from the words and findings of others to justify his own
conclusions.
Finally, Rev. Wildmon regularly reprints articles by Don Feder, the
ultra-conservative syndicated columnist. Although Feder is Jewish,
he and Wildmon see eye-to-eye on social issues. Wildmon is quick to
point out that Feder "is a Jew." This is another device people
employ to mask anti-Semitism, much as racists say, "Some of my best
friends are black."
Some Christian Leaders Denounce Wildmon
Presented with these insights about Rev. Wildmon, several Christian
leaders expressed their concern to the Institute for First
Amendment Studies. James Lapp, executive secretary of the Mennonite
Church, wrote: "We support Mr. Wildmon in his concern for decency
and positive values. We do not support some of his tactics,
attitudes or biases against Jewish people."
John L. May, Archbishop of St. Louis, and former president of the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote, "I certainly do not
agree with the obvious anti-Semitic bias of Reverend Donald E.
Wildmon."
Stuart Lewengrub of the ADL said his group has corresponded with
Wildmon about anti-Semitism since 1985. He said the ADL has tried
in a constructive way "to lean over backward to give him the
benefit of the doubt."
He's encouraging his followers," Lewengrub said, "to believe that
Jews are responsible for the kind of programming they dislike."
If Wildmon's point is that Hollywood leaders are secular or
atheists, Lewengrub added, he can say so without alluding to their
religious background.
Nor does Wildmon need to note, as he does, that the Jewish
background of television executives "contrasts with society as a
whole, which is 2 1/2 percent Jewish."
"There is no doubt in my mind that Wildmon has engaged in
anti-Semitism," Lewengrub said. "He didn't stop. He continued doing
it."
In response to these accusations, Wildmon wrote, "As far as being
anti-Semitic, I am not. I have a Jewish brother-in-law. Also, AFA
has supported researcher Dr. Judith Reisman, who is Jewish,
generously for over two years. And my Lord was a Jew."
Wildmon and the Anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby
Interestingly enough, Wildmon and his ministry are in favor with
the The Spotlight, a virulently anti-Semitic newspaper. On March 7,
1994, Wildmon's smiling mug appeared in the back-page feature
"Spotlight on People." The caption lauded Wildmon's opposition to
gay rights, which mirror those of The Spotlight.
The Spotlight, published weekly by the Washington, DC-based Liberty
Lobby, operates a computer bulletin board service (BBS) called
LogoPlex. The anti-Semitism in The Spotlight is mild compared to
the material appearing on LogoPlex.
LogoPlex is the electronic meeting place of Christian Identity,
Aryan Nations, White Supremacists, gun owners, and Christian
Patriots. LogoPlex maintains several libraries of articles relating
to these themes. Anyone desiring a copy of the infamous and
fraudulent anti-Semitic booklet The Protocols of the Learned Elders
of Zion can download the entire volume to their computer. A popular
article available on LogoPlex, "The Synagogue of Satan," claims to
expose the Jewish people as being "false" Jews and members of the
Synagogue of Satan.
On LogoPlex members can "talk" to one-another via computer,
advertise goods for sale, or simply exchange information. LogoPlex
also lists over 125 other radical right-wing bulletin boards.
LogoPlex's family forum includes the complete text of Wildmon's
latest AFA Journal, a list of the AFA's other publications, and the
names and addresses of every state AFA director. This enables White
Supremacists and other racists to network with the American Family
Association.
If people are known by the company they keep, the surfacing of Rev.
Wildmon and his American Family Association on LogoPlex says a lot.
Anti-Semitism and Christian Identity
Christians who embrace "Christian Identity" believe that there is a
difference between "true Israel" and those who call themselves
Jews. They think that the true Israelites are today's white
Christians, descendants of white Europeans. The blessings promised
Israel in the Bible, according to Christian Identity thought, are
really for the Christian church. On the other hand, Jews descend
from the tribe of Judah, and most who today claim to be Jews are
not really Jews, but are Russian descendants of converts to Judaism
about 1,000 years ago.
Christian Identity loosely includes Aryan Nations, White
Supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, Christian Patriots, and other
related groups. Almost without exception, these groups are heavily
involved with gun ownership and "self-defense," and harbor an
assortment of bizarre conspiracy theories. This same faction was
responsible for the 1984 machine gun murder of Jewish talk show
host Alan Berg in Denver.
The rising star of the Christian Identity movement is Pastor Pete
Peters of the LaPorte (Colorado) Church of Christ. Peters
distributes The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion and is the
author of the booklets The Real Hate Group and Death Penalty for
Homosexuals is Prescribed in the Bible. Peters _ along with Ted
Pike (producer of an anti-Semitic video called "The Other Israel"),
other Christian Identity ministers, and the Rev. Donald Wildmon _
is a popular personality on LogoPlex.
Peters' The Real Hate Group depicts Jews as controlling television,
the film industry, and the news media. It describes the
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as "the most dangerous hate group in
America." Like the Bottom Feeder joke book published by Life
Dynamics, The Real Hate Group characterizes Jews as having large
noses.
Peters is significant because he has crossed the line between
Christian Identity and more mainstream conservative Christian
groups. Besides broadcasting nationally on short-wave radio, he can
be seen on the fast-growing Keystone Inspiration Network, of Red
Lion, Pennsylvania. This cable TV network is picked up in about 120
cities. Described as a "family" network, it carries Pat Robertson's
"700 Club," Jerry Falwell's "Old Time Gospel Hour," Morris Cerullo,
James Robison, Benny Hinn, and other popular evangelical Christian
programming.
Some have questioned the presence of a rabid anti-Semite on a
mainstream Christian cable network. The Rev. Clyde Campbell,
Keystone's comptroller, said, "Some people have questioned Peters'
presence on Keystone," but said the station previews his programs
for anything distasteful.
"Peters is a minister of the Gospel and he does a good job,"
Campbell said. "Pete says he loves the Jews," Campbell claimed.
"The only thing I have against Pete Peters," Campbell said, "is the
continual harping on the Old Testament. I think his attitude on
killing homosexuals and lesbians is unloving. Jesus provides a
better way."
Conclusion
It is important to note that on the few occasions conservative
Christian leaders praise Jews, the praise is usually limited to
certain ultra-conservative Jews such as Judith Reisman and Don
Feder.
In September 1993, the Christian Coalition held a "Road to Victory"
conference in Washington, DC. One of the featured speakers was
Daniel Lapin, an Orthodox Rabbi. Lapin, reared in South Africa, is
a lively and entertaining speaker. As an ultra-conservative, his
association with Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition is convenient
for both parties.
On a shuttle bus from the conference to the airport, two members of
the North Florida Christian Coalition discussed Rabbi Lapin's
presentation, and a telling remark was overheard. "He speaks better
English than any Jew I ever heard," the speaker said.
At the "Road to Victory" conference, Max Karrer, M.D., who heads
the North Florida Christian Coalition, led a workshop called "Using
Computers at the Grass Roots." He referred to a particular
political race to illustrate Christian Coalition tactics. "As an
example of how this works," he said, "we had a legislative race
where we had a female Jewish lawyer _ liberal, feminist _ endorsed
by NOW, who had knocked out three years ago a pro-life Christian."
Dr. Karrer's description of a "pro-life Christian" against a
"liberal female Jewish lawyer," while brief, smacked of bigotry.
This is typical of the kind of anti-Semitism often found in
conservative Christian circles.
Anti-Semitism will always exist, but it can do so without popular
support. Mainline Christian denominations have a moral duty to
speak out against anti-Semitism. When Christian leaders decide to
put their foot down, popular support will end.
Footnotes (for both parts)
1 Gary North, The Judeo-Christian Tradition, 1989 p. 152
2 The Sunday (Hackensack, NJ) Record, June 21, 1981
3 The New York Times, February 5, 1981
4 The Washington Star, July 3, 1980
5 The New York Times, April 22, 1981
6 Jerry Falwell, Listen America!, Sword of the Lord Publishing,
c. 1980, p. 113
7 Christian Broadcasting Network staff prayer meeting, January 1,
1980
8 Message of the Christian Jew, March/April 1994
9 Message of the Christian Jew, January/February 1994
10 Eclectic Third Reader (McGuffey), reprinted by Mott Media,
1982, p. 64
11 Ibid., p. 66
12 Ibid., p. 69
13 Ibid., p. 75
14 Ibid., p. 82
15 Eclectic Fourth Reader (McGuffey), reprinted by Mott Media,
1982, p. 67
16 Ibid., p. 205 Ibid.
17 Glen Chambers and Gene Fisher, United States History for
Christian Schools, Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press,
1982, p. 38
18 Fisher, pp. 109-110
19 Ibid., p. 112
20 William S. Pinkston, Jr., Biology for Christian Schools, Book
1, Teacher's Edition, Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University
Press, 1991, page 333
21 Newsweek, May 1, 1989, p. 32
22 Gary North, The Judeo-Christian Tradition, 1989, p. 152
23 Tim LaHaye, The Battle for the Mind, Fleming H. Revell, 1980,
p.142
24 Ibid., p. 143
25 Ibid., p. 147
26 Ibid., p. 147
27 Ibid., p. 148
28 Ibid., p. 148
29 Ibid., p. 152
30 Ibid., p. 152
31 Ibid., p. 158
32 Ibid., p. 159
33 Ibid., p. 159
34 The Truth at Last, issue number 368
35 Tim LaHaye, The Battle for the Mind, Revell, 1980, p. 163
36 Ibid., p. 166
37 People magazine, July 6, 1981
38 Donald Wildmon, The Home Invaders, Victor Books, 1986, p. 49
39 Ibid., p. 68
40 NFD Journal, September 1986
41 Ibid., p.22
42 November 5, 1987
43 January 26, 1988
44 February 22, 1988
45 May 11, 1988
46 AFA Journal, November/December 1988
47 Ibid., pp. 28, 29
48 Ibid., p. 95
49 Ibid., p. 8
50 AFA Journal, January 1989, p. 11
Published monthly by
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==============================================================
|| END OF PART II of II ||
|| ANTISEMITISM AND THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT ||
==============================================================
==============================================================
|| END OF ARTICLE ||
==============================================================
Guidelines on Excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church
(We concentrate on the Roman Catholic Church because it is one of
the worst for inflating its numbers by counting everyone who was
ever baptised without taking into account current attendance, and
because leaving membership in many fundamentalist and cultish
Christian groups is fairly easy. You can simply send a clearly
worded letter to your local Mormon bishop asking to have your name
erased from the membership records of the church, and it shall be
done.)
The Roman Catholic church apparently does not excommunicate
its members easily. They say that the reason for this is to
leave the way open for reconciliation. However, their
thinking is based on irrational belief and is motivated by
fear, and they assume that you are the same. They believe
that you will react as they do to the fear of death, and
wish to deny reality and embrace an illusion. Even more im-
portantly, by never giving up a member, the church is able to
claim millions as members, who do not accept its doctrines,
who never attend, who never contribute money or time and who
are, in fact, opposed to what it stands for. This greatly
enhances its power.
If you were ever baptised a Roman Catholic, and have not
been excommunicated, you are still counted as a member. If
you do not wish to contribute to the power of the Roman
Catholic church, you may want to get yourself
excommunicated.
WHY SHOULD I GET EXCOMMUNICATED? THREE GOOD REASONS.
The Roman Catholic church is misogynistic. Although they
may talk about 'cherishing' or 'adoring' womanhood, they
mean a master's appreciation of an obedient and docile
servant. They do not believe that women are the equals of
men. The church funds and works for anti-woman legislation
around the world. The Roman Catholics and the Mormons were
the primary sources of the funds and lobbying which helped
defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States. The
church has crippled international development, especially in
the neediest countries, by refusing to allow any form of
birth control to be discussed. Ireland and other Catholic
countries do the church's dirty work by blocking
international meetings unless all countries submit to Cath-
olic doctrine in matters of birth control. Historically,
the church has fostered wife abuse by promoting cultures
where any marriage, no matter how bad, was better for a
woman than living alone. The Pope has just issued a
statement that the Church will *never* ordain women as
priests.
*The Roman Catholic church is homophobic.* In fact, it's
worse than that, the proper description of its position is
'pro-natalist'. Any form of sexual behavior that doesn't
raise the birth rate is forbidden. Sex as an expression of
love and sexual activity for simple pleasure are prohibited
or subordinated to the production of little Catholics. Even
within marriage the loving exchange of pleasure is a sin.
The church will also refuse to marry couples if the union
cannot be fertile, which has caused untold anguish to
couples wherein one partner was handicapped or otherwise
infertile. Through the ages, of course, men have had little
trouble getting their pleasure from sex. The burden of this
policy falls on women, whose bodies and health are destroyed
by endless childbearing.
Homosexuality is completely prohibited and is condemned with
unusually intense loathing and disgust. (Although priestly
pedophilia was very lightly punished, if at all, until
recently.) The church has never objected to any
punishments, up to and including death, which a society has
wished to impose on homosexuals, quite the opposite. the
Church is lobbying against civil rights legislation for
homosexuals, and is attempting to influence its
congregations to deny homosexuals equal human rights with
other citizens.
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IS ANTIDEMOCRATIC, AUTHORITARIAN
AND INTOLERANT. Americans, Canadians and others from
secular or otherwise non-Catholic countries may refuse to
believe this. However, like every religion, the Catholic
church, when it is in a minority position, is all in favor
of tolerance and democracy. However, when it is in control,
as in Ireland or Poland, it shows its true colors. The
church is much more comfortable with authoritarian right-
wing governments and has historically allied itself with
them. If the people in 'Catholic' countries who do not
accept the homophobic, misogynistic and intolerant doctrines
of Catholicism would take the step of leaving the church,
especially in a positive direction towards humanism, the
church's power to do harm would be greatly lessened.
Historically, the church saw Mussolini and Hitler as
bulwarks against atheistic communism and actively supported
the fascist Spanish dictator Franco against the democratic
republic. Hitler, although a Catholic, never committed a
grave enough sin to merit excommunication. Such an action
on the church's part might have saved millions of lives.
**I don't accept the church's position on birth control, or
on abortion, I don't believe in the prayers, the miracles or
the theology, and I haven't been to church in ages except
for weddings and funerals. I am no longer a Roman Catholic.
I don't want to be counted as a Catholic. How do I get
excommunicated?**
As of 1983 there are nine canons under which excommunication
can take place. Five of them only apply to priests or
bishops. One of the others is physically attacking the
pope, and criminal acts can hardly be recommended. Another
is 'violation of sacred species', normally called
desecrating a consecrated host. It is hard to imagine doing
this without committing a criminal act; and it would
certainly deeply offend almost everybody. Next to last is
'procuring of abortion'. Excommunication for this is
supposed to be automatic, but it only applies to the doctor
and the woman involved. I am told the church does not seek
out such cases. In any case one would hardly choose an
abortion solely for the sake of excommunication. It may pay
to mention any active work you have done on behalf of making
access to abortion safe and legal, and any work you have
done help women procure abortions.
This leaves canon 1364, section 1 'Apostasy, heresy, or
schism'. This involves automatic excommunication, if you
can convince the church that it applies to you. The most
common usage of this canon is when a former Catholic
embraces another religion. Obviously, if you are now a
Muslim, a Mormon or a Jehovah's Witness, you are
*automatically* no longer a Catholic.
It is your task to convince the church that you, as an
atheistic secular humanist, are in the same 'non-Catholic'
category as a Muslim or Buddhist.
In your favor is a nineteenth century ruling which stated
that 'those who make a public renunciation of all religion
may be subsumed under this category [apostates].'
You will need to write a letter to your current parish. It
should include the necessary information to meet all of the
criteria for deserving to be excommunicated. You may also
present this to your birth parish, if this is convenient.
THE CHURCH'S CRITERIA FOR MERITING EXCOMMUNICATION. The
church is patronizing to atheists. They can easily
recognize another superstition, but, being unfamiliar with
rationality, they have difficulty accepting the decision to
renounce all mumbo jumbo. They have, however, officially
established these criteria for judging all cases of
excommunication:
You must ACT. Mere thought is not enough. You should be
able to cite memberships in freethought and humanist groups.
You should be able to cite actions you have taken, such as,
letters written, demonstrations attended, meetings attended,
magazine subscriptions, etc. As well as negative actions,
like not attending church, not giving them any money, time
or thought for years.
You must be PERSISTENT. This must take place over a long
period of time. If at first you don't succeed...Cite long
commitment, and keep trying and keep writing.
You must be CONTUMACIOUS. As in: I am firm, you are contu-
macious, he is pig-headed. Do not waver or indicate any
hesitation. It is not necessary to be impolite, but do not
be unclear in your condemnation of Catholicism in order to
avoid offence.
You must be AWARE that this involves excommunication. For
them, ignorance of canon law is an excuse. State in your
letter that you are aware of this, that you know what the
consequences are and that this is what you wish to happen.
You have to BE A ROMAN CATHOLIC. Obviously. In your let-
ter, make them aware of this by telling them the parish
where you were baptised and the date.
THEY HAVE A DUTY to other Roman Catholics. Your mental
state is something that no one knows except you. You are
the only expert on your own non-religious status. They have
a duty to inform other Roman Catholics about this change in
you so that they do not mishandle their dealings with you.
In terms of marriage, communion, death and so on, you should
be treated as a non-Catholic. If they fail to do this, they
are not dealing fairly with the Catholics in their charge.
So far, most cases have gone smoothly. Using the citations
in this article seems to impress them with the idea that you
are serious, you know what you are talking about, and that
this is not a "spur or the moment" whim. If, however, you
meet resistance, there is some heavier ammunition below.
Fill out the handy form below and send it in to your local
priest. This may only get things started. Be prepared to
continue for a long time. Remember: each person who does
this makes it easier for the next person.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I am an atheist. I hereby renounce all the trappings of
religion. I renounce all blessings, benefits, graces,
sanctifications, and advantages supposedly conferred on me
by any religion or by any religious act done by me or on my
behalf in the past, present or future. I condemn as
monstrous the idea of original sin, and renounce any baptism
done on my behalf to wash it away. I reject as ridiculous
the idea of an atoning sacrifice and spurn its presumed
benefits. I do not believe that any god, supernatural realm
or afterlife exists, and will not act as if they did. I do
not believe that any book, building, place, person, thing or
action is holy and will not pretend that they are. I do not
think that praying is anything more than talking to oneself
and will not make believe that it is. I do not believe
that any person is more sanctified than any other, or that
any human being should be elevated above another in any way,
due to ancestry, race, gender, occupation, belief or for any
other reason and will not feign that I do. As a principled
and rational person, it pains me that someone, somewhere may
be counting me as an adherent of an irrational superstition
which has done and is doing irreparable harm to humanity and
with which I profoundly disagree. Please remove my name
from the records of the church, and record that I am no
longer a Roman Catholic. Please send me confirmation of
this action. Please do this as soon as possible.
___________________________
Signature
Suggestions for getting in the mood (optional)
Remember:
BLASPHEMY IS A VICTIMLESS CRIME.
indulge extra during lent.
attend blasphemous plays and movies.
buy The Satanic Verses.
write a Bangladeshi embassy supporting Taslima Nasrin.
laugh at sacred things.
unsettle the faith of anyone you can.
foster reason, critical thinking and self-esteem in children.
promote the taxation of churches.
promote feminism and access to abortion and contraception.
promote separation of church and state.
fight creationism and coercive religion in public life.
Public Prayer -- Don't Stand for it!
promote human rights for all.
eliminate blasphemy from the criminal code.
avoid charities that waste money on religious indoctrination.
study real biblical criticism and actual ancient history.
study clear thinking.
Read books by Richard Dawkins, Stephen Jay Gould, Marvin
Harris, Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Robert Ingersoll, Daniel
Dennett, Paul Kurtz and many more.
Subscribe to Freethought Today, Skeptical Inquirer, Free
Inquiry, Humanist in Canada, The Humanist, Lucifer's Echo,
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Once again: ISSN: 1198-4619 Lucifer's Echo.
Volume 1, Number 4: AUG 1994.
--
nullifidian, n. & a. (Person) having no religious faith or belief. [f.
med. L nullifidius f. L nullus "none" + fides "faith";] / If this is a
humanist topic then I am President of the Humanist Association of Ottawa.
Greg Erwin. ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA
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