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26 KiB
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521 lines
26 KiB
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9 page printout.
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Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
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**** ****
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WISDOM REVEALED
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The value of this 360K disk is $7.00. This disk, its printout,
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or copies of either are to be copied and given away, but NOT sold.
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Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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**** ****
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ATHEISM
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An Affirmative View
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by Emmett F. Fields
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1980
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What is Atheism that it survives?
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Every religion, from earliest times, has hated and condemned
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those who could not believe whatever it was that those old
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religions happened to believe. Throughout the ages there have been
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the 'intellectual outlaws' who have questioned the
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"unquestionable," and doubted even the very existence of the gods.
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And those individual thinkers have been hated, hunted, persecuted,
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and murdered by the religious believers. Yet the Atheists and
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doubters are very much with us today, but those old religions, and
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the gods they created, have long since ceased to trouble the
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thoughts of mankind.
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If Atheism is considered to be a religion, then it is easily
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the oldest living religion in the world. Properly stated, Atheism
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is truly "that old time religion" that the Baptists keep singing
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about.
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Atheism is a difficult subject only because of the slander and
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misrepresentations preached and published against it. Even the
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information that is available in our most trusted and respected
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reference books is the distorted and prejudiced view presented by
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religion. Just as in Communist countries, where the articles on
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Capitalism, democracy, politics, etc., are always written by
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Communists and from the Communist point of view, so in Christian
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dominated societies, such as the United States, all articles on
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Atheism, Rationalism, Freethought, etc., that are to be found in
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encyclopedias and other reference books, are written by
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theologians, and from the Christian point of view.
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The article on Atheism in the current edition of the
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Encyclopedia Britannica was written by a Roman Catholic Jesuit
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Priest, Rev. Cornello Fabro, Professor of theoretical Philosophy,
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University of Perugia, Italy. In the Encyclopedia Americana the
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article on Atheism was written by Roger L. Shinn, a professor at
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Union Theological Seminary. It seems that religion, like Communism,
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can survive only when it can control the information about
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conflicting beliefs.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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1
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ATHEISM;
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An Affirmative View
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This system of writing the most trusted and basic reference
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and information books from the point of view of the dominant
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ideology in every society has the dangerous effect of further
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polarizing and isolating the peoples of the world within their own
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narrow beliefs, and of creating contempt and distrust for all
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others.
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America was not established to have any dominant ideology, The
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United States was meant to be 'a free marketplace of ideas,' where
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every opinion could be heard and considered. Today we must consider
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the various ideas and opinions as they are presented in great
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newspapers and reference books.
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And so it is of the utmost importance that these ideas and
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opinions be presented honestly, by the people who accept them,
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believe in them, and are convinced they are the best answers to the
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problems under consideration. Then, and only then, will people have
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any real opportunity to make an intelligent decision about the
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beliefs they are investigating. The American people have a right to
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know that in Atheism there is a moral, sensible, and scientific
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alternative to religion.
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There can be no doubt but that the people of this nation must
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be among the most deceived and brainwashed in the world, at least,
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at very least, in the area of religion. As an Atheist I have a very
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special reverence for truth, real truth, truth with fact and proof
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behind it. And it is infuriating to me when I go into a public
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library and read the lies and misrepresentations that are being fed
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to the eager, active, and searching young minds that use our
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libraries in their quest for truth and understanding.
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The first step, then, in understanding Atheism is to disregard
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all the lies and propaganda that religion has spread against it.
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Atheism is more than just the knowledge that gods do not exist, and
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that religion is either a mistake or a fraud. Atheism is an
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attitude, a frame of mind that looks at the world objectively,
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fearlessly, always trying to understand all things as a part of
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nature. It could be said that Atheism has a doctrine to question
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and a dogma to doubt. It is the human mind in its natural
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environment, nothing is too holy to be investigated, nor too sacred
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to be questioned. The Atheist Bible, it could be said, has but one
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word: "THINK." Atheism is the complete emancipation of the human
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mind from the chains and fears of superstition.
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There is absolutely nothing negative about Atheism; truth can
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never be negative. The Atheist demands proof, or at least
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reasonable evidence, and simply rejects whatever does not meet the
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basic requirements of common sense. Throughout history all progress
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in society has come from doubting and rejecting old ideas, old
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customs, and old beliefs. The tree of human knowledge dies as it
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grows, with new growth growing out of the dead and dying parts, and
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replacing it with better and truer beliefs. The Theologian is an
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owl, sitting on an old dead branch in the tree of human knowledge,
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and hooting the same old hoots that have been hooted for hundreds
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and thousands of years, but he has never given a hoot for progress.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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2
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ATHEISM;
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An Affirmative View
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Morally speaking, Atheism has a great advantage over religion.
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The great failure of religious morality comes from their illusion
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of a morality above right and wrong. The religious mind has always
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known it is wrong to murder and torture, wrong to persecute and
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hate, wrong to force its beliefs upon others. Religion has always
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known these things are wrong, but the religious mind suffers from
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the illusion of a "higher morality," and because of that illusion
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all history runs deep with innocent blood. In the name of their
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"god" and a "higher morality," Christians have waged holy wars of
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extermination, have plundered, tortured and murdered those who
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could not agree with their religion, or who had never even heard of
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it. In the name of this "higher morality" Christians have hated,
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hunted, persecuted, and burned alive the "heretic," the "infidel"
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and the "atheist."
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And today, as always, when the religious person does a thing
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that even he recognizes as being wrong and immoral, his illusion of
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a "higher power" and a "greater morality" allows him to perform
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some ritual, confession, or prayer, and presto, miraculously, "all
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his sins are taken away", and he is free again from all pains of
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conscience and regret.
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Such foolish illusions do not comfort the Atheist mind. The
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Atheist knows there is no morality above right and wrong, and no
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escape from the pains of conscience and remorse. Murder is murder,
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and robbery, hate and persecution are all crimes against humanity.
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Morally speaking, it is better to be murdered than to be the
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murderer; better to be robbed than to be the robber, and better to
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be hated and persecuted than to be among those who hate and
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persecute. Morally speaking, then, history tells us it is better to
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be an Atheist than to be a Christian.
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Religion claims that immorality always springs from a lack of
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religion, but the facts prove just the opposite. Christianity has
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never been stronger than it is today, Christians have churches in
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every community, they monopolize radio and television time with
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religious propaganda, they have forced their religion into our
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government, our laws, and into our schools. They have done these
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things against the Constitution of the United States, and against
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the most basic and sacred rights of all other Americans. Like a
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sinking ship, with water rushing in and filling every compartment
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where it was not supposed to be, so religion has attacked our
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nation, rushed in where it was not supposed to be, where it has no
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business to be, silencing all opposition, all opposing views,
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poisoning the wells of our knowledge, and endangering the very
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roots of our nation.
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Christianity is that strong today, and yet we have not
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achieved any respectable amount of morality in this country.
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Nowhere is the failure of Christian morality more evident than in
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America. During the same time that Christianity has been growing
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ever stronger and ever richer, over the past thirty years or so,
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the use of harmful drugs has became a national scandal, the crime
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rate has been climbing ever higher and ever faster, the divorce
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rate has skyrocketed, and during that time our nation has been
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embroiled in more wars and international conflicts than in any
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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3
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ATHEISM;
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An Affirmative View
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other similar time period in its history. During that time, our
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nation was also getting its 5000 or so weird religious cults, a
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byproduct of Christian indoctrination. Right to-day we have the
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highest narcotics abuse rate, the highest crime rate, the highest
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divorce rate, and the highest 'religion rate' that we have ever had
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in the history of this nation. What does Christianity say about
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these facts and how to cure them? They tell us we need more
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religion and they are determined to force it upon us. Christianity
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feels so strong today that it is moving into politics to try to
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force its failing morality upon every American through a Christian
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Dictatorship and a new Dark Age.
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Once Atheism is achieved, and the mind has escaped entirely
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from the religious fears and beliefs that are put upon us from
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earliest childhood; and once we can look at religion objectively
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and impartially, it becomes entirely obvious that religion has all
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the characteristics of a form of insanity. To one degree or another
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the religious mind must accept, and believe in, another world; a
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supernatural or unnatural world, a world filled with all sorts of
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imaginary beings called gods, devils, angels, saints, demons, etc.
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These imaginary creatures are talked to, asked for favors,
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guidance, "signs," or miracles, and then blamed or thanked for
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natural events that follow. Except for the cloak of religion, such
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beliefs and actions would otherwise cause an individual to be
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judged insane, and committed to an institution for treatment.
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The study of history will further justify the theory that
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religion is a form of insanity. No sane and healthy minds could
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have waged the bloody religious wars and crusades where the
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conquered were slaughtered, men, women, and children, even infants,
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all were put to the sword simply because they were "infidels" or
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"heretics." The dungeons and torture chambers of the Holy
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Inquisition could not have been run by sane and healthy minds. And
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it had to be the insane mind, the religious mind, that would tie a
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woman to a stake, pile wood and fagots around her and burn her
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alive for the impossible crime of being a witch. No sane person
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could read of the horrors, rape and slaughter in a savage book and
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call that book "the word of God." And the Jesus myth, about a god
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who must become a man and be murdered before he can forgive
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mankind, is the most insane of all.
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Today, Christianity chooses to ignore, or to hide and deny,
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its own bloody history and to claim that it is the very foundation
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of our morals, and even of our civilization. Religion also claims
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to be our only hope and guide for the future. In view of Christian
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history these claims are, in themselves, sheer insanity.
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But Christianity is not the only form of organized insanity in
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the world today. The Atheist, being an individual who stands
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outside all belief systems, is well aware that there are other
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religions and beliefs that are equally insane and dangerous.
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Christianity is simply most dangerous to the United States; to our
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government, our freedom and our future, because it is here, it is
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powerful, it is wealthy, and it is entirely unscrupulous. In
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addition to its illusion of a morality above right and wrong, I
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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4
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ATHEISM;
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An Affirmative View
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must add, and emphasize, that it also has an illusion of a "higher
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allegiance" to something above truth, above justice, and above
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America and national patriotism. It does not require that a person
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be an Atheist to be aware that Christian Fundamentalism is today
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the greatest threat to our nation and its freedom.
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Communism is by far the worst thing that has happened to the
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world in the last two hundred years, but it is also the best thing
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that has happened to Christianity since the plagues. During the
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plagues the churches received great wealth from people who gave
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their possessions and land to the church in the hope that God would
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spare their lives, and the lives of their loved ones. And so today
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religion is again growing rich and powerful from our modern-day
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plague; Communism.
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Christians are constantly using Communism as a club to beat
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down all opposition to their religion, their power and their
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schemes. Anyone who disagrees with them, Atheist or not, is
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denounced as being a "Communist." Religion implies that there is an
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inseparable connection between the political-economic dictatorship
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called Communism, and the freedom from religion called Atheism.
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Religion chooses to ignore the fact that Atheism is older than
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Communism and Christianity put together.
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Even the fear and hate that religion is preaching against
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Communism is not aimed at the political-economic ideology that is
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the cause of our trouble, but at the "atheistic" aspect that is not
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the problem.
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Let us consider very carefully what the connection is between
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Atheism and Communism in Russia. There can be no doubt but that
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Atheism is the reason for the success of Communism. Atheism is the
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force that brought the Russian nation up from being one of the most
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backward, primitive and religious nations in Europe in 1917, to the
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point of being one of the most advanced, scientific and
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technological, nations in the world today, Whether we like it or
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not, we must admit that Communist Russia is a powerful modern
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force, and a very dangerous potential enemy. Communism is an
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external threat to our nation, and to our very world, that is of
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great concern to all Americans, Atheists and Christians alike.
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It must be admitted that Atheism is the engine and the thrust
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behind Communism that has allowed it to move forward into the
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modern world in such a short time. Atheism is the engine and the
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thrust, but it is not the steering wheel. The dominant, controlling
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ideology in Russia is the economic-political dictatorship known as
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Communism. Even the Christians, if they could be taught to hate a
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little less, and think a little more, would have to admit that.
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Atheism is, has been, and will continue to be, the force for
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progress throughout the Communist world, it is the powerful engine
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that powers an evil ideology. Today we are in a desperate race for
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our very survival. America and the free world cannot win that race
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if we continue to allow a primitive, medieval superstition to
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hinder our progress. Because of that superstition we have lost our
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lead, and because of that superstition we may lose the race.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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5
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ATHEISM;
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An Affirmative View
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What is the difference between our own Christian dominated
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society, and the Atheist-oriented society in Russia? What is it
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that will make such a great difference in the future progress of
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these two societies? According to a special report in 'Science 80'
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Magazine concerning the Communist threat, reads: "This challenge is
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expressed not only in growing military strength but in a bid to
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outpace the United States and other Western nations through an
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educational "mobilization" program designed to prepare all Soviet
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youth to participate fully in an advanced technological society."
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The article goes on to say "The Soviets have put massive resources
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behind their assumption that a decisive advantage is to be gained
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by raising the level of scientific literacy and numeracy of their
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population."
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And what are we doing in the United States to keep up with the
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Communist efforts to advance even further their scientific and math
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education systems, systems that are so very important to any modern
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technological, military society? At present we have a great push by
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Christianity to have their primitive "creation" myth hidden under
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the guise of "Scientific-Creationism," taught in our public schools
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on an equal basis with the well established and accepted modern
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theory of organic evolution. This is the same battle that was
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fought in the courtroom during the Scopes "monkey trial" in 1925,
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a trial which made this country the laughing stock of the modern
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world. It is the same war that has been raging between Christianity
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and the modern world since 1859 when Charles Darwin's 'The Origin
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of Species' was first published. For over one hundred and twenty
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years Christianity has tried to prevent us from making any progress
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in this basic science. The truth is, of course, that Christianity
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has always fought every fact of science and modern knowledge that
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did not conform to its primitive Bible, written and copied, as it
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were, by ignorant, half-civilized nomads some four thousand years
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ago.
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How can we hope to survive as a nation, keep our freedom and
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remain a force in the modern world unless we cast aside the
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superstitions of primitive times, and adopt the scientific,
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technological, "Atheistic" if you will, society that reason and
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common sense demands? It is time, and long past the time, for
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Atheists in America to come out of their libraries and defend our
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modern world and our nation against religion and Communism.
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Today we live in a world divided and tuned for war; tuned for
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a war so unlike any previous war that wisdom can only shudder at
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the thought of it. This is a world always fearful that the other
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side may strike first, and thus gain some decisive advantage. It is
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fearful also to strike first itself, lest it fail to devastate the
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enemy completely, and leave him able to retaliate with devastation.
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Thoughtful people all over the world realize that the situation is
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more dangerous than the enemy. That each side has a tiger by the
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tail, and both sides are afraid to let go, or even to lessen its
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grip, lest that side be utterly destroyed. Intelligent people all
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over the world are working for an easing of tensions, a lessening
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of armaments, and are searching for a common ground upon which both
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sides might find some point from which to begin establishing a
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working relationship. A relationship that would lead to a
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progressive lessening of the threat of a nuclear holocaust, and the
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eventual establishment of a peaceful and lasting coexistence.
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Bank of Wisdom
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||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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6
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ATHEISM;
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An Affirmative View
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Intelligent people all over the world are working for these
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things, but Christian fundamentalists are not. Christians are
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shouting "No coexistence with Godless Communism" and "Atheistic
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Communism must be destroyed." This is indeed the final proof that
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religion is a form of insanity. We must judge Christianity by what
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it has done throughout its history, and it has never been a force
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for peace. We must judge what Christianity is doing today in
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preaching hate against that part of our world that has outgrown and
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rejected Christianity. And we must judge what chance we have for
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survival if our part of the world continues to be held back by
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religion. Atheism has brought the Russian nation great progress in
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scientific and technological advances, and has made Communism a
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powerful force in the world. But Atheism could have been doing
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great things for us also, if we had allowed our society to lay
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aside, through education, the foolish old beliefs that are
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hindering our progress, our defense, and our very survival.
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Where do we begin our long journey back to reality, back to
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sanity? I would start with an 'International Encyclopedia of
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Information,' written by those who believe the ideas and from their
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point of view. Imagine an American going to a library and learning
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what Atheism is, instead of what it is not. Imagine a Russian going
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to his library and learning what Capitalism is instead of what it
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is not. Imagine people all over the world going to their libraries
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and reading the same histories, truthful histories, histories that
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will not need to be changed when ever there is a political or
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religious power change. Let Communism write what it believes, let
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Capitalism write what it believes. Let both work together to write
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a universal history, and if they can't agree about the facts of
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history, let them both write their view of history and let them be
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published side by side, and let the reader be the judge. The
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purpose of a history or an encyclopedia is education, not
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propaganda.
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After all, it was the Encyclopedia, the French encyclopedia of
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Diderot and others, that was so instrumental in bringing Europe out
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of the Christian Dark Ages during the Renaissance. There is every
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reason to believe that a universal source of basic information
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would be a great step toward ending much of the distrust and
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confusion that is at the very root of our trouble in the world
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today.
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There is no part of the world where the people are all bad,
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and another part where the people are all good. When nations go to
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war, people go out and kill people. People who, under different
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circumstances, might well be their honored and trusted friends.
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Christianity has never prevented a war, but has been responsible
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for many wars because of its prejudice against all other religions,
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and especially against Atheism.
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Some time ago I prepared "An Atheist's Message to America." I
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have read it at other talks and meetings. It reads:
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"The overabundance of religious propaganda in this country
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would lead us to believe that the primary purpose of this nation is
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||
the preservation and expansion of the Christian religion. But that
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is not true.
|
||
|
||
Bank of Wisdom
|
||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
||
7
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|
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ATHEISM;
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||
An Affirmative View
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||
Our nation is not, and must not become, the battleship of the
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||
Christian religion. Our struggle in the world is in defense of
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||
LIBERTY. To preserve our own, and, if possible, to help others gain
|
||
and keep theirs.
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||
|
||
This nation is not fighting "Godless Atheism" nor "Atheistic
|
||
Communism," nor any other group or nation that has had Christian
|
||
hate terms applied to them.
|
||
|
||
We, as a nation, are opposed to Communism because Communism,
|
||
like Christianity, is an ideological force that is destructive to
|
||
human rights and freedom. It is, in fact, none of our business
|
||
whether another nation, or another individual, believes in a god or
|
||
not. Our only concern is that every individual must have the
|
||
liberty to decide just what he, or she, can and will believe. And
|
||
have the freedom to express, publish and pursue those beliefs in
|
||
perfect safety.
|
||
|
||
In short, our only concern in the world is exactly those
|
||
ideals that this great nation of ours was originally founded upon."
|
||
|
||
And so after all this, let us look again at our original
|
||
question: "What is Atheism that it survives?"
|
||
|
||
Atheism is the world of reality, it is reason, it is freedom,
|
||
Atheism is human concern, and intellectual honesty to a degree that
|
||
the religious mind cannot begin to understand. And yet it is more
|
||
than this. Atheism is not an old religion, it is not a new and
|
||
coming religion, in fact it is not, and never has been, a religion
|
||
at all. The definition of Atheism is magnificent in its simplicity:
|
||
Atheism is merely the bed-rock of sanity in a world of madness.
|
||
|
||
END.
|
||
**** ****
|
||
July 20, 1990
|
||
|
||
The above talk was delivered at the Thomas Jefferson Unitarian
|
||
Church in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday, October 19, 1980, and was
|
||
published in the July-August 1981 'American Rationalist' magazine
|
||
(P.O. Box 994, St Louis, MO. 63188.) and has been sold as a
|
||
pamphlet by them ever since.
|
||
|
||
There has been a great change in the world situation during
|
||
the past year and a half. The dangerous situation discussed in the
|
||
above lecture has, at last, been broken. But it was not done by
|
||
Christian love or by any believer in a god. It was an Atheist, Mr.
|
||
Mikhail Gorbachev, who had the intelligence, courage and leadership
|
||
to move his country, the Soviet Union, in a direction of peace and
|
||
understanding. By Mr. Gorbachev's wisdom and action, and his alone,
|
||
the tensions have been greatly reduced. But already Christians are
|
||
claiming that the achievement was the work of their god, and, I am
|
||
sure, in future issues of our Encyclopedias the credit will,
|
||
somehow, (as always) be given to Christianity and its god.
|
||
|
||
Nothing changes history like the Christian Historian.
|
||
|
||
Emmett F. Fields
|
||
|
||
Bank of Wisdom
|
||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
||
8
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||
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