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******The*E-Zine*of*Atheistic*Secular*Humanism*and*Freethought*****
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########## Volume I, Number 3 ***A Collector's Item!***##########
###################### ISSN 1198-4619 ###########################
########################## JULY 1994 ##############################
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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
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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.
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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-TABLE OF CONTENTS-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Christianity on Trial, part II, Dr Wendell W. Watters
2. Anti-Semitism: Its Prevalence Within the Christian Right, Part
I, by Skipp Porteous
3. How We know What Isn't So; The fallibility of human reason in
everyday life Reviewed by Greg Erwin
4. Visit the Birthplace of Robert G. Ingersoll by Fred Edwords
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Part II Christianity on Trial, by Dr Wendell W. 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]
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Charge 1. Christianity's teachings about sexuality have contributed
in a major way to human misery in this area.
Early in the history of the church, when it became evident that
Jesus would not be coming back, the leaders of the church realized
that they would have to harness the sexual and reproductive urges
of the flock in order to build an earthly church. Previously they
had not been very interested in what people did with their
genitals. Jesus, for example, is mute on the entire issue.
To achieve their demographic aims, they declared all forms of
sexual expression not leading to conception to be against the laws
of God. This included masturbation, oral sex, homosexual love,
birth control and abortion. Only unprotected heterosexual inter-
course between couples whose union was blessed by the clergy was
licit and lawful.
Many of the teachings on sexuality found their way into the secular
legislation in states dominated by Christianity, the most notable
example being to the effect that homosexuality was a crime. Many
more found their way into the sexual mythology of couples
throughout the western world and, when combined with attitudes
about gender roles derived from Christianity, they formed some very
destructive myths which still foul up sexual relationships between
men and women the world over. Some of these are the fixation on
coitus as the only legitimate outcome of all sexual encounters, the
myth of the vaginal orgasm and even the myth of the simultaneous
orgasm. This is the belief that, if women were to have a climax at
all, it should be at the same time as her husband, presumably on
the assumption that conception would be most likely to take place
at that time. This statement appeared in a book called _Sex,
Marriage and Birth Control_ by a Canadian Anglican minister writing
in the 1930's: Experienced lovers will usually contrive that the
climax shall occur for both simultaneously. This is the ideal and
it ought to be striven for. I wish I had a dollar for every sexual
relationship that has been ruined by that myth.
Let me cite a clinical vignette to illustrate the connection
between Christian teachings about sex and sexual difficulties. A
University professor and his wife had been married for 20 or so
years and sought help for sexual and marital problems. They had
both grown up in the Bible Belt of the American midwest and when
they were courting, got into heavy petting or manual stimulation of
each others genitals, fully clothed mind you, and this they both
found pleasurable. They did not have intercourse because of their
Christian upbringing. When they got married and were now able to do
it, they expected that now she would get the same or more pleasure
out of intercourse that she had got out of the heavy petting.
Expecting to experience simultaneous orgasm, they found that she
was not even having an orgasm at any time during intercourse. It
never occurred to them to incorporate the fun things they were
doing before they got married. This was kid stuff and they should
not need to do this now that their union was blessed by the deity.
She felt she was a failure as a woman, and he felt he was a failure
as a lover. Their relationship went down hill to the point where it
could not be repaired.
Returning to the myth of the vaginal orgasm, this myth is that the
woman should have her climax, if not simultaneously with her
partner, then at least sometime during the act of intercourse. In
spite of the fact that this myth has been exploded in women's
magazines, it is still very much alive. This places a tremendous
burden on both participants. The fact is that the majority of women
do not have orgasms with intercourse, requiring more direct
stimulus of the clitoris than intercourse provides. Many men whose
partners do not have orgasms after ten minutes of pelvic thrusting
think they suffer from so-called, premature ejaculation. In fact
the average length of time between penetration and ejaculation in
the male is 2 to 5 minutes. On the other hand, I have seen women
who felt they were defective because they were unable to have an
orgasm during intercourse that lasted a mere thirty seconds.
Space does not permit me to explore how Christian teachings about
sexuality contribute to rape and child sexual molestation. Anyone
interested in this can refer to an article I wrote on this in
_Humanist in Canada_, Autumn 1990. I just want to remind you that
neither rape nor child sexual molestation are specifically
prohibited in Christian teachings about sex. One was not supposed
to look at another man's wife or seduce his daughter only because
these women were his property. The crime of rape was against the
owner of the victim, whether she was a slave, a servant, or a wife.
Indeed the concept of rape within marriage was not considered
seriously by secular legislators until quite recently.
Sexual ignorance is characteristic of all sexual problems. The
level of sexual ignorance in our society moved Bertrand Russell to
state: Almost every adult in a Christian community is more or less
diseased nervously as a result of the taboo on sexual knowledge
when he or she was young. It follows that knowledge is what people
need to enable them to free themselves from the sexual prison
Christianity has created, but the acquisition of that knowledge has
been steadfastly resisted by Christian god-talkers everywhere
throughout the English-speaking world.
Charge 2. Policies of coercive pronatalism and demographic
aggression, implicit in Christianity's opposition to reproductive
regulation, have been directly responsible for sixteen centuries of
human suffering, mainly on the part of women.
The suffering of women has taken many forms;
(a) premature death in countless millions of women over the
centuries,
(b) intense suffering by untold millions of families and
individuals due to excess and unwanted births, and
(c) ecological disaster through over-population,
Christianity being numerically the largest religion in
the world.
American Demographer Stephen Mumford (5) has demonstrated
pretty conclusively something we all knew but would rather
forget, namely, that excessive population growth lies at the
root of many of the world's social and economic problems. We
are already the most numerous of all the mammals, whose
numbers are dropping, and our growth rate is much higher than
predictions of ten years ago. God must surely be satisfied,
since the biblical instructions to populate and subdue the
earth have been obeyed to a "T".
The current recession, starvation in various parts of the
world, the plight of the millions of street children
especially in Catholic South America, the world-wide refugee
problem, illegal migration across national borders; these
represent only a few of the problems posed by excess
population growth, and any discussion that refuses to confront
connections between these problems and excess population is
meaningless.
Mumford also points out that, even when excess population
growth is discussed, it is rare that the coercively
pronatalist forces operating in society are identified. Even
more rarely is the finger pointed at the main villains of the
piece, the Roman Catholic and Fundamentalist Christian
Churches. It is his view and mine, that, for example if the
Roman Catholic Church were to drop its vigorous and vicious
opposition to secular abortion laws, the so-called "pro-life"
movement would collapse. And this is an important point since
world population cannot be brought under control without ready
access to abortion services to deal with failed contraception.
Because many Catholics have ignored Humanae Vitae and use
contraception freely, and because many of them have abortions
when they are available, just like non-Catholics do, we have
been lulled into a sense of false security about the part the
Roman Catholic Church is playing now in the population crisis.
We forget that the teachings of Christianity have more impact
on people in the developing world, those who are less well
educated and those who are economically disadvantaged: so that
the church's pronatalist injunctions are still working
directly in large parts of the Christian world. But more
important is the control exerted by the Vatican over
politicians throughout the world,(except perhaps in China), in
blocking legislation aimed at placing more power to control
their fertility in the hands of sexually active men and women.
We have yet to see any world leader speak out against the
Vatican for its part in hurtling all of us towards an
ecological holocaust. Can you imagine Brian Mulroney or Joe
Clark, both Roman Catholics, chastising the Pope for his part
in setting a match to the population bomb?
In this country it is a crime to yell "fire" in a crowded
theatre; meanwhile, metaphorically, the pope and his
fundamentalist friends set fire to the theatre and everyone
ignores it. Mumford claimed in 1980, that when it finally gets
through to people, the extent to which the policies of the
Roman Catholic and fundamentalist churches are contributing to
the population problem, people will turn on the churches in a
rage and destroy them. Meanwhile it may be too late to save
the world.
If we want to avoid this Christian Armageddon, national secu-
lar governments will have to lead the way and protest the
coercive pronatalist policies of these Christian churches. And
they must do what they can to mute the impact of those
policies on the people who are not yet in a position to stand
up to their god-talking masters. This is unlikely to happen
unless we Humanists, on both a national and an international
level give this issue top priority. We must see to it that the
villains in the Vatican and elsewhere are recognized as the
inhuman power mongers they really are. Only those of us who
have managed to get the religious monkey off our backs, more
or less, are in a psychological position to call a spade a
spade in this way. Others will follow but we must lead and
work until we have the support of enough people to convince
our leaders that they must switch allegiances and confront the
Christian church rather than remain cowed by that institution.
Charge 3. Christianity's teachings about gender roles (sex
roles) are a major cause of couple relationship stress.
In the early Christian church, women may have had a totally
different role than they had after the decision was made to
build an earthly institution. Christianity may not have
invented sexism, but it certainly did everything it could to
place women in the subservient role, a role that was necessary
for converting the uterus into a Christian baby factory. The
church became a vehicle for males to assert absolute control
over females, thereby making egalitarian human relationships
between the sexes impossible.
The attitude of the church about the role of the sexes was
codified in a book all Humanists should read "The Malleus
Maleficarum" or the Witches Hammer by two medieval Dominican
priests. This was a manual for the Inquisition during the
witch hunts that ravaged Europe for three centuries. This
book, which one editor said was "among the most important,
wisest and weightiest books of the world" first appeared about
1486 and saw 14 editions between 1487 and 1520 and at least 16
editions between 1574 and 1669, and was adopted by Roman
Catholic and Protestant jurisdictions. Given that publication
track record it must be given the credit or blame for many of
our modern western attitudes about maleness and femaleness.
Listen to what this book says of women:
" There is no head above the head of a serpent and there is no
wrath above the wrath of a woman. I had rather dwell with a
lion and a dragon than to keep house with a wicked woman."
"All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman."
"What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable
punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a
desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a delectable detriment,
an evil of nature painted with fair colours.
According to the authors, women were "credulous, more nat-
urally impressionable and more ready to receive the influence
of a disembodied spirit." They were reputed to have "weak
memories," a view with which most married men will not agree,
I'm sure. It was also determined that women "have slippery
tongues and are unable to conceal from their fellow-women
those things which by evil arts they know; and since they are
weak, they find an easy and secret manner of vindicating
themselves by witchcraft." I like that: the church does
everything it can to keep women subordinate to men and then
criticizes them for being weak!
Women were "feebler in mind and body," and "intellectually
like children." And "she was formed from a bent rib, that is,
a rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in a contrary
direction to man." The authors conclude "Since through this
defect she is an imperfect animal, she always deceives." She
is "a liar by nature."
Most telling is this indictment of normal human emotions;
"Just as through the first defect in their intelligence, they
are more prone to abjure the faith: so through their second
defect of inordinate affections and passions they search for
and brood over, and inflict vengeance, either by witchcraft or
by some other means."
The good monks sum it up in these words "All witchcraft comes
from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable." It is not
much wonder that by the nineteenth century women had been so
frightened of their normal sexuality that they had repressed
it almost completely. The so-called Victorian era had nothing
to do with Victoria but was related to three centuries of this
kind of indoctrination by the Christian church.
What about men, you ask. Well Eve was the one whom the devil
managed to seduce in the Garden of Evil; Adam being too well
put together apparently to succumb. But although Adam did not
allow himself to be seduced by Satan, he could not stand up to
the blandishments of the devil's agent, Eve. The authors of
The Malleus Maleficarum put it this way: "And blessed be the
Highest Who has so far preserved the male sex from so great a
crime (witchcraft); for since He was willing to be born and to
suffer for us, therefore He has granted to men this privilege.
It always struck me that these female creatures who were so
feeble in mind and body, stupid, deceitful, and emotional,
were at the same time expected to conceive, to bear, to
nurture and to raise each new generation of Christians. That
sounds like a lot of responsibility for people who, by
definition, were so ill-equipped for the task. One wonders why
the men, who were so perfect according to this teaching, were
not required to take over the job of raising the children, as
soon as it was biologically possible, rather than leave them
to the mercy of such wretched role models.
Larry Feldman, a researcher on family functioning has reviewed
the literature on the impact of gender role on the
relationship between the sexes, and he concluded that this was
and is a major cause of family dysfunctions(6). As he put it
"Sex role conditioning exerts a variety of dysfunctional
influences on the marital and family relationships: and these
sex roles interact in a mutually reinforcing way that inhibits
the psychological development of each family member.
Feldman found that in our society, women were expected to be
home and child oriented, warm, affectionate, gentle tender,
aware of feelings of others, considerate, tactful,
compassionate, moody, high strung, temperamental, excitable,
emotional, subjective, illogical, complaining, nagging, weak,
helpless, fragile, easily hurt emotionally, submissive,
yielding, dependent.
Men, on the other hand were expected to be calm, stable,
unemotional, realistic, logical, ambitious, competitive,
enterprising, worldly, strong, tough, powerful, aggressive,
forceful, decisive, dominant, independent, self-reliant,
harsh, severe, stern, cruel, autocratic, rigid, arrogant.
I'm sure you can see many parallels between the profile of the
female painted by Feldman and the one described by the Malleus
Maleficarum. The same thing is true of the male.
We usually think of the woman as being the chief victim of the
fall-out of centuries of Christian teaching about gender
roles. Few people realize that the male, who was encouraged in
Malleus Maleficarum to suppress his normal natural emotions,
lest he appear like a woman, was, in doing so, cutting himself
off from a very important part of his humanness. This is also
encouraged in the second book I would recommend to all
humanists: "The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis, first
published about 1427(7). By 1472 the first printed edition
appeared. By the end of the nineteenth century 600 editions
had been printed in Latin, 300 in Italian, 350 in German and
"uncounted hundreds of editions of this choicest devotional
handbook," to quote one editor, had been printed in English.
It has been called "the best-loved, most widely read religious
book in the world, after the Bible." It was the book Pope John
Paul I was supposed to have been reading when he met his
untimely death in 1978.
This book reinforces the notion that the godly man denies his
emotions; "A passionate man turneth even good into evil and
easily believeth evil. My son, trust not to thy feeling, for
it will quickly be changed into something else." This is not
simply an issue of historical or scientific curiosity. One of
the main problems we find in working with couples in
couple/sex therapy is the difficulty the woman has in living
with a partner so cut off from feelings: the main difficulty
for the male is recognizing this is no longer an admirable
characteristic, but a handicap whose removal could make life a
richer experience for him.
End of Part II Christianity on trial
==============================================================
==============================================================
|| END OF ARTICLE ||
==============================================================
Anti-Semitism: Its Prevalence Within the Christian Right,
Part I, by Skipp Porteous
The Freedom Writer * May 1994
Anti-Semitism: Its Prevalance Within the Religious Right
By Skipp Porteous
c. 1994 IFAS
A study by the Institute for First Amendment Studies found a
prevalence of anti-Semitism within the Christian Right. While
some of the prejudice and hostility toward Jews is concealed,
much is blatant. Stereotyping of Jews is widespread; and
anti-Semitism in the form of aggressive missionary activity
threatens the very existence of Judaism.
Several disturbing trends indicate that _ unless sweeping
changes are made _ anti-Semitism within conservative
Christianity will not only continue as a long-term problem,
but will escalate sharply. Thousands of private Christian
schools and Christian home schools utilize anti-Semitic
textbooks. These textbooks include the "original" McGuffey's
Readers, which have enjoyed a tremendous resurgence in recent
years, and books published by Bob Jones University Press for
use in Christian schools.
Additionally, the Christian Right's anti-abortion movement has
anti-Semitic overtones. Anti-abortion groups such as Operation
Rescue and Life Dynamics list "Jewish doctors" as the leading
performers of abortion.
So-called "humanism" is under attack by the Religious Right in
schools and other institutions across the country.
Condemnation of humanism has anti-Semitic roots. Though seldom
mentioned, Christian Right leaders link humanism with Judaism,
saying "Judaism grew out of the rejection of Jesus Christ and
steadily became humanism."(1)
Other disturbing observations involve a melding of extreme
right-wing anti-Semites and their mainstream counterparts.
Pastor Pete Peters, a nationally known anti-Semitic Christian
Identity preacher, has found a home on the Keystone
Inspiration Network. This Christian "family" network is
available on cable TV in approximately 120 cities across the
country.
The Rev. Donald Wildmon, the Methodist minister who heads the
American Family Association (AFA), is no stranger to
accusations of anti-Semitism. Though he denies being
anti-Semitic, he has emerged as the darling of the
anti-Semitic Liberty Lobby. In fact, his AFA has a special
spot on Liberty Lobby's LogoPlex, an extreme-rightist computer
bulletin board service.
Ofttimes, only the most blatant anti-Semitic incidents are
reported. Much of the anti-Semitism within conservative
Christianity goes unnoticed and unreported. Some forms are so
subtle that only those familiar with the code words and
innuendo can spot it.
Stereotyping
Stereotyping is among the most common form of anti-Semitism.
This is evidenced by the words of many well-known Christian
leaders, among them the Rev. Bailey Smith. "I don't know why
God chose the Jew," Smith said. "They have such funny noses."(2)
Outward appearance, though, is not the only way some leaders
characterize Jews. The Rev. Dan C. Fore, former head of the
Moral Majority in New York, said, "I love the Jewish people
deeply. God has given them talents He has not given others.
They are His chosen people. Jews have a God-given ability to
make money...They control the media, they control this city."(3)
"A few of you don't like the Jews and I know why," said the
Rev. Jerry Falwell. "He [sic] can make more money accidently
than you can make on purpose."(4)
Missionary Activity
A second form of anti-Semitism involves missionary activity
directed at Jews. Many conservative Christian leaders hold the
view that Judaism is an invalid religion, that Jews who don't
believe in Jesus are "unsaved" or "incomplete." The
offensiveness of this type of anti-Semitism should be obvious,
but often goes unnoticed.
"It's interesting at great political rallies," preached the
Rev. Bailey Smith, "how you have a Protestant to pray, a
Catholic to pray, and then you have a Jew to pray. With all
due respect to those dear people, my friends, God Almighty
does not hear the prayer of a Jew. For how in the world can
God hear the prayer of a man who says that Jesus Christ is not
the true Messiah? That is blasphemy."(5)
The Rev. Jerry Falwell sanctioned this viewpoint in his book,
Listen, America! "The Jews are returning to their land of
unbelief. They are spiritually blind and desperately in need
of their Messiah and Savior. Yet they are God's people, and in
the world today Bible-believing Christians are the best
friends the nation Israel has."(6)
Falwell correctly points out that he and other American
Fundamentalist Christians support the nation of Israel. It
should be noted, however, that this support is for a piece of
real estate, the land of Israel, and not necessarily for the
Jewish people.
Pat Robertson, too, thinks of Jews as "spiritually deaf" and
"spiritually blind." In the end times, Robertson believes,
Jews will be brought in as "offerings to the Lord."(7) He
predicts mass conversions of Jews to Christianity, and toward
this end, Robertson built a Christian radio station in Lebanon
to beam the Gospel into the Jewish state, which
Fundamentalists believe will eventually be inherited by
Christians. For the present, Jews occupy the land as
caretakers.
Many Christian organizations presume an obligation to convert
Jews to Christianity. While Jews for Jesus may be the most
well-known of these groups, according to Mark Powers, national
director of Jews for Judaism, more than 450 missionary
organizations specifically target Jews in the United States,
Canada, and Israel. More than 350,000 American Christians now
identify themselves as former Jews; 140,000 of that total call
themselves "Hebrew Christians."
One group, The Christian Jew Foundation (CJF), publishes a
newsletter called The Message of the Christian Jew. An ugly
article by Charles Halff, the group's executive director,
titled "The Blindness of the Jew"(8) stated:
"Gentile Christians sometimes wonder why Jewish evangelism is
such difficult and discouraging work. Our missionaries are
spat on, ridiculed, threatened, maligned, and sometimes
physically abused.
"David Zauber, our CJF missionary in Georgia, is a Jewish
Christian_and weighs probably 150 pounds, soaking wet! He was
passing out Gospel tracts near the subway a few years ago,
when a Jewish man knocked him down with his fist. By the time
David caught his breath and got back to his feet, the man had
disappeared into the crowd. This is just one example of the
difficulties our missionaries face.
"We wonder, why are the sons of Israel so belligerent and
hard-hearted?"
Halff answered his rhetorical question. "As we look at Jews
today, we see that they are blinded by tradition; they are
blinded by prejudice; and they are blinded by
self-righteousness." He adds, "The majority of them live by
the Talmud, rather than by the Old Testament. Judaism is a
religion of works and tradition. One such tradition is the
practice of waving a chicken overhead and chanting, `This is
my sacrifice!' We know this is absolutely contrary to the
teaching of the New Testament, since the blood of Messiah
(Jesus) had been shed for the sins of many, and `there is no
more offering for sin' (Hebrews 10:18.)"
One entire issue of The Message of the Christian Jew(9) dealt
with anti-Semitism. While acknowledging the most overt types
of anti-Semitism, the writers failed to see how Christian
missionary activity is a threat to the very existence of
Judaism. In fact, an article by Gary Hedrick, the group's
president, utilized a strange approach.
"Let us not forget, however," Hedrick wrote, "that a more
subtle form of anti-Semitism is now sweeping our land. It's
known by a variety of names, but most notably as the
'Two-Covenant,' or `Dual-Covenant' movement. Its proponents
claim that the Jewish people have their own Sinai Covenant and
therefore have no need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
"Can you think of a more diabolical form of anti-Semitism than
the view that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for Gentiles, but
not for Jews?"
Anti-Semitism and Christian Schools
With an estimated 500,000 children being taught at home, the
home school movement is a rapidly growing phenomena.
Newsweek's Sam Allis called Christian Fundamentalism "the
backbone of the home-school movement." One series of books,
McGuffey's Eclectic Readers, popular with both Christian
schools and home schools, influence the minds of
tens-of-thousands of impressionable youngsters.
These are the same books originally published in 1836 by the
Rev. William H. McGuffey. With 19th century sales of 125
million copies, McGuffey is considered "the author of the most
popular schoolbook ever written." McGuffey's original Readers
were, according to the current publishers, "Christ-centered."
In time, though, most of the religious references were
removed.
McGuffey's original Readers, now reborn for use in Christian
homes and schools, are sexist, racist, and anti-Semitic. While
the Readers reflect the time in which they were written, their
use today indicates a giant step backward in human relations.
The sexist aspects of the Readers promote "proper" roles for
men and women. Among the racism portrayed is the constant
referral to Native Americans as "savages." The anti-Semitism
found in the McGuffey's Readers takes several forms.
A line from the Eclectic Third Reader warns students about the
perils of rejecting Christianity. "It will cost something to
be a Christian: it will cost more not to be so."(10)
In the same Reader, Christianity is championed as the only
dependable religion. "There are no principles but those of
CHRISTIANITY, to be depended upon in cases of REAL DISTRESS."
(Emphasis in original)(11)
Jewish veneration of the Scriptures is denigrated. "The Old
Testament has been preserved by the Jews in every age, with a
scrupulous jealousy, and with a veneration for its words and
letters, bordering on superstition..."(12)
McGuffey suggests that the rise of Christianity was not only
predicted in the Old Testament, but was a result of Jewish
infidelity toward God _ a common anti-Semitic theme. The
Reader mentions "...the Jews as the keepers of the Old
Testament." Then, "It was their own sacred volume, which
contained the most extraordinary predictions concerning the
infidelity of their nation, and the rise, progress, and
extensive prevalence of Christianity."(13)
In one fell swoop, McGuffey obliterates Jewish moral law, and
all other moral teachings before Jesus. "The morality taught
by Jesus Christ was purer, sounder, sublimer, and more perfect
than had ever before entered into the imagination, or
proceeded from the lips of man."(14)
In Lesson XVIII, dealing with Divine inspiration of the
Gospel, the Eclectic Fourth Reader asks, "Why is it
inconceivable that the book is fiction?" The answer, "The
Jewish authors were incapable of the diction, and strangers to
the morality, contained in the gospel..."(15)
A short story called "The Blind Preacher," recounts a blind
minister's sermon about the trial and crucifixion of Jesus.
The story reinforces the notion that Jews are responsible for
the death of Jesus. "We saw the very faces of the Jews, the
staring, frightful distortions of malice and rage."(16)
In fact, every single reference to Jews in McGuffey's Readers
is negative. No effort is made to explain Judaism, or to teach
what Jews believe.
The McGuffey Readers series is frequently advertised by the
Conservative Book Club on the back of the Rev. Donald
Wildmon's magazine, the AFA Journal, and in Pat Robertson's
Christian American. The ads proclaim: "The ORIGINAL McGuffey's
Readers were different. They were Christian." Copy in the ad
says, "...give them some of the memorable poetry and prose of
our Anglo-American inheritance..."
Two companies, Mott Media, of Milford, Michigan, and Thoburn
Press, of Tyler, Texas, publish the "original" McGuffey's
Eclectic Readers. The seven-volume set has been reprinted from
the originals.
Several organizations that provide textbooks to Christian home
schoolers promote the use of McGuffey's Readers. One,
Christian Liberty Academy Satellite Schools (CLASS), now
publishes its own Eclectic Reader. Michael McHugh, curriculum
administrator for CLASS, reported that his organization sold
between 5,000 and 6,000 of the Thoburn McGuffey's Readers to
home schools.
Since 1982, Mott Media has sold a whopping 100,000 sets of the
Readers. "Last year [1993] we started our Home School Book
Club," Joyce Bowen, Mott Media's general manager, said. "In
less than a year we sold between 4,000 and 5,000 sets to home
schools."
The widespread use of McGuffey's Readers is a good indication
of what children are being taught about Jews in many Christian
schools and home schools. With the rapid growth of these
schools, this should be of concern to caring Christian parents
and responsible Christian leaders.
In other Christian textbooks, anti-Semitism exists by
omission. The curriculum used by many Christian schools
neglects Jewish accomplishments and positive contributions to
history. This is documented by Albert J. Menendez in Visions
of Reality _ What Fundamentalist Schools Teach, a report on
the textbooks used in Christian Fundamentalist schools:
"Surprisingly, Jews and Judaism are almost invisible in these
volumes. No mention is made of any Jewish contribution to U.S.
history nor are any Jewish personalities in literature, sports
or the arts mentioned. There is no reference to justices
Frankfurter, Brandeis or Cardozo. The only Jews mentioned are
Karl Marx, who is called `an atheistic German Jew,'(17) and
Sigmund Freud. It is noted that Jews were persecuted in
Catholic countries but nothing is said about anti-Jewish
discrimination in Protestant countries. Jewish supporters of
Columbus are mentioned, as is the suggestion that Columbus may
have been seeking a refuge for Jews.
"One passage in a world history text, however, blames Jews for
the crucifixion of Jesus. `The Jewish religious leaders, whose
blindness and hypocrisy Jesus had denounced, sought to put Him
to death. They brought Christ before the Roman governor
Pontius Pilate, charging that Christ had disrupted the
state...Although Pilate found no fault in Jesus, he desired to
maintain the peace. Giving in to the Jewish demands, he
sentenced Jesus to death by crucifixion.'(18) In addition, we
are informed, `God used the destruction of Jerusalem to
separate the early church from its Jewish environment and to
scatter Christians throughout the Roman Empire.'(19)
"And one strange passage in a biology text says, `The Jews
were pruned for the Gentiles' sake, but they were also pruned
for their disbelief.'"(20)
Anti-Semitism and Anti-Abortion
There are indications that the Christian Right's anti-abortion
crusade has anti-Semitic components. In 1989, Newsweek
magazine reported that Randall Terry, founder of the
anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, said, "We have tried to
do some outreach to the black and Jewish communities," but
admitted that those efforts have failed, "...and that he is
critical of the Jewish doctors, who he believes perform a
large number of abortions."(21)
In doing research for this report, Operation Rescue National
referred us to Life Dynamics Incorporated, a Christian
anti-abortion organization based in Dallas, for specific
information on abortion. Life Dynamics is an important
research arm of the Christian Right's anti-abortion crusade.
According to Life Dynamics, 26% of all doctors who perform
abortions are Jewish (A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood
called this figure "ludicrous.") Considering that Jews
comprise only 2% of the population, this figure is
disproportionately high.
The thought is not lost in Life Dynamics' popular Bottom
Feeder "joke book." Bottom Feeder is an assortment of
hackneyed jokes aimed at doctors who perform abortions. The
jokes and cartoons are crude, scatological, and suggest that
abortionists have sex with animals. Significantly, Bottom
Feeder contains a number of references to Jews, and
consistently portrays in cartoon form doctors who perform
abortions as having exceptionally large noses, an age-old
anti-Semitic allusion to Jews.
Examples of Bottom Feeder's references to Jews include a list
of the "four shortest books in the world." One is entitled
"Famous Jewish Astronauts." One joke favors Adolf Hitler over
an abortionist. It goes, "Q. What would you do if you found
yourself in a room with Hitler, Mussolini and an abortionist,
and you had a gun with only two bullets? A. Shoot the
abortionist twice."
Aware that a high percentage of Jews are liberal and
pro-choice, the anti-abortion movement targets Jews as "baby
killers."
Additionally, a considerable number of the people involved in
groups such as Operation Rescue, Lambs of Christ, and
Missionaries to the Preborn, teach their children at home,
using McGuffey's Readers and other materials mentioned in the
section on Christian schools and home schools.
The Christian Right anti-abortion movement often refers to
abortion as "the Holocaust in America." [Newsweek, May 1,
1989] This phrase is notable only for its shock value. To even
remotely equate the two, especially in such a cavalier manner,
offends not only Jews, but everyone who is aware of the
horrors of the Nazis. Rabbi Balfour Brickner, Rabbi Emeritus
of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York, said, "The
Holocaust stands alone...There are no legitimate or acceptable
analogies."
Bait and Switch
For years, anti-Semitic innuendo has cleverly passed as simply
an attack on humanism. By employing a sort of "bait and
switch" tactic, the conservative Christian right has shifted
all the blame for the world's ills from the Jews to
"humanists" _ whom conservatives suspect are mostly Jews
anyway. The theory here is that humanism is a "secular
religion" that evolved out of modern Judaism. Instead of
saying that Jews control the financial institutions, the
media, the entertainment industry, and education, it is now
the humanists who are in control.
This is borne out in the teachings of Rousas John (R.J.)
Rushdoony, a former Presbyterian minister who is known as the
"father of Christian Reconstruction." While Rushdoony is not
well-known outside the circle of conservative Christian
leadership, his influence within the movement is substantial.
Rushdoony is a prolific author and his books approach
best-seller status, shaping contemporary Christian thought
since the 1960s. Rushdoony, a profound Christian thinker, is
never afraid to say what some other Christian leaders are
merely thinking.
According to Gary North, Rushdoony's son-in-law, "Rushdoony
identified the underlying problem a generation ago: `JUDAISM
grew out of the rejection of Jesus Christ and STEADILY BECAME
HUMANISM [emphasis added], and the Talmud is essentially the
exposition of humanism under the facade of Scripture.'"(22)
Judaism became humanism! To grasp this concept is to
understand why some notable Christian leaders exhibit
hostility toward humanists. Leaders of the radical Christian
Right know that many influential Jewish leaders are wholly
secular. That is, they embrace Jewish culture, without
observing the rituals of Judaism.
Another Christian writer is the Rev. Tim LaHaye, former leader
of the Moral Majority. LaHaye is married to Beverly LaHaye,
head of the 600,000-member Concerned Women for America
organization.
In his 1980 book, The Battle for the Mind, LaHaye unleashed a
vicious attack against humanism. Jews have traditionally been
accused of everything for which LaHaye blames humanists.
Our country is "...controlled by a small but very influential
cadre of committed humanists..."(23)
Pornography is the fault of "the humanist controllers of the
American Civil Liberties Union and their humanist partners in
moral crime_the judges who were appointed by the humanist
politicians."(24)
"When the humanists came to America, their obstacles seemed
overwhelming. But rather than waste their resources, they
concentrated on using four vehicles to penetrate the minds and
lives of our people: education, the media, organizations, and
government."(25)
"We have already seen how John Dewey and his fellow humanists
took over education..."(26) While Dewey wasn't Jewish, many of
his colleagues were.
"Space does not permit a detailed account of how newspapers
from coast to coast were gradually purchased by powerful,
monied interests. As radio came into view, it was bought up by
some of these same interests. Later, when TV licenses became
available, the humanists flooded the field. Today, it is all
humanistically controlled."(27)
"This news is carefully edited before being sent out to the
daily papers. Who does the editing? Who hired the editors, and
what are their beliefs? Anyone really familiar with humanism
can recognize its influence in the way the news is managed."
(28)
"It is obvious, by the degenerate programming that has
appeared in recent years, that the three major networks (ABC,
NBC, and CBS) are predominantly controlled by amoral
humanists."(29)
"Not all the fifty or so people who control network news are
committed humanists, but most of them are."(30)
"The humanists see TV as a vehicle, first, to indoctrinate and
second, to make money. Shortly after learning that Norman Lear
was the producer of the most amoral `comedy' series on TV
(such as the infamous Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), I had lunch
with a Christian businessman who told me how relieved he was
to have sold his cable TV stations. Guess who bought them?
Norman Lear."(31)
"There is one easy way to illustrate whose team Hollywood has
really been on during the last fifty years. They rarely make a
film that shows Communism as a world aggressor or murderer of
the people _ particularly of their own. Anti-German and
anti-Japanese films abound..."(32)
"Sixty years of Communist crime against humanity provide ample
material to draw on, but not if you're afraid to show
humanistic socialism in a bad light."(33)
Why, in LaHaye's opinion, are humanists "soft" on Communism?
It is entirely possible, if not probable, that the Rev. LaHaye
equates Socialist/Communist Jews with Humanists. In many
instances, the words are interchangeable.
In "A Special Jewish History Issue" of The Truth At Last(34),
a tabloid published by Dr. E.R. Fields in Marietta, Georgia,
the assertion is made that "the original founders of Communism
were all Jews." The author names Lenin as "a secret Jew."
Furthermore, the article states that these Communist Jews came
to America and established "the U.S. Communist Party and other
socialist groups." This echoes LaHaye's theories on
"humanists" coming to America to establish socialist groups,
armed with a plan to penetrate and control the minds of the
American people.
Oftentimes, conservative's use of "humanism," "socialism,"
"communism," and "Jews" are interchangeable. Of course,
"humanism" is a more palatable word when speaking to the
general public.
Published monthly by
Institute for First Amendment Studies
PO Box 589
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Annual subscriptions are $25.00
The magazine is ***The Freedom Writer*** and the organization
is the Institute for First Amendment Studies. Contributions
are tax deductible (in the US).
==============================================================
|| END OF PART I ||
|| ANTISEMITISM AND THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT ||
==============================================================
References (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
==============================================================
|| END OF ARTICLE (Part I) ||
==============================================================
How We know What Isn't So; The fallibility of human reason in
everyday life by Thomas Gilovich
Macmillan Inc., New York, 1992, hardcover, $27.95
216 pp. Index and Notes
ISBN:
Reviewed by Greg Erwin
Despite such section titles as "Cognitive Determinants of
Questionable Beliefs," this is a clearly written and easily
understood book; only the titles are intimidating. Thomas
Gilovich explains the many mistakes we all make in everyday
reasoning. All readers will find that some belief that they
lent credence to is overturned in this book. Gilovich also
explains why we formed the belief in the first place, why it
is wrong, and how to avoid similar errors in the future.
These errors in "practical" reasoning (rather than formal
logic or scientific method) have obvious implications for
religion. The first few chapters point out errors such as:
finding patterns in random data; drawing conclusions from
incomplete or unrepresentative information; interpreting
events with bias; accepting authority; avoiding
contradiction to be "polite."
These are things we all do. For instance, how often do you
tell someone that their pet theories are moronic? (Off the
Net, anyway?) In polite society, they conclude that
everyone agrees with them, as no one ever contradicts them.
Lastly, he gives examples of persistent questionable beliefs
from "alternative" health, (e.g., faith healing);
interpersonal strategies, (why do some guys continue to
believe in the effectiveness of their incredibly corny come-
on lines?); ESP, (astrology columns). He shows the errors
that allow people to hold these beliefs and how we can
correct these mistakes if we want to.
In the last chapter he points out the salutary role of the
social sciences in protecting against irrational beliefs.
People who have studied psychology or sociology are less
susceptible. The social sciences must deal with "messy,"
complex, human data, rather than the neat, mathematical,
precise information that forms the object of the physical
sciences, thus social scientists are more familiar with the
'tricks' data can play. I believe he has hit on the reason
that simply informing people about the scientific method
does not protect them against irrationality.
A book to help understand practical everyday reasoning with
clues as to why irrational beliefs persist.
==============================================================
|| END OF REVIEW ||
==============================================================
VISIT THE BIRTHPLACE OF ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
by Fred Edwords
After years of planning and restoration, the Robert G.
Ingersoll Birthplace Museum opened its doors to the public on
June 2, 1993. It is now regularly open to receive visitors
June through October. The hours of operation are Wednesday
through Sunday, Noon to 5:00 PM.
Located in the Village of Dresden, on the shore of Lake
Seneca, it becomes one of the many attractions of the
picturesque Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York. Of
especial interest to Humanists and Freethinkers is its
convenient proximity to the Women's Rights Hall of Fame and
restored home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton located in Seneca
Falls, the homes of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass in
Rochester, the Roycroft campus of Elbert Hubbard in East
Aurora, the Elmira home and burial place of Mark Twain, and
the natural monument to the last ice age in Watkins Glen (with
its nightly laser show on evolution). Furthermore, all of
this is in easy driving distance from the national
headquarters of both the American Humanist Association (AHA)
and the Council on Democratic and Secular Humanism (CODESH)!
During the weekend immediately following Ingersoll's birthday
on August 11, 1993, the Robert G. Ingersoll Memorial
Committee, sponsors of the birthplace museum, conducted a
special conference in nearby Geneva. The featured event was
Roger Greeley giving his best performance yet of his "An
Evening with Colonel Ingersoll." Attendees were also given the
grand tour of the Ingersoll home.
As one of the tourists myself, I was extremely pleased with
what I saw. The 1833 birthplace of America's "Great Agnostic"
has become everything I hoped it would be. The main rooms of
the house are a museum of artifacts and information
memorializing the life of Ingersoll. A short but informative
video introduces the self-guided tour, and a gift shop
offering Ingersoll tee-shirts, books, and other mementos
greets you at the end. (Proceeds support continued
restoration.) One of the rooms features objects and
information relevant to the Village of Dresden. But, the best
part of all is upstairs where, in the words of Ingersoll
himself, "my infant cry first broke the stillness of the birth
room and my wakening eyes first looked upon the wondrous
mysteries of the little world around me." It is the museum's
period bedroom, restored with furnishings appropriate to the
time.
The AHA newsletter Free Mind first reported on the Ingersoll
home back in the summer of 1987, when the building was in
danger of being torn down. In order to save it, the AHA
expressed an interest in picking up from the work of Ingersoll
enthusiast Ruth Jokenin and converting the home into a museum.
That effort staved off disaster long enough for AHA member
Phil Mass to inspire a number of Humanists and Freethinkers to
join together, under the auspices of CODESH, to establish the
Robert G. Ingersoll Memorial Committee. That committee then
raised the money and restored the building. Appropriately,
the museum video on Ingersoll is dedicated to Phil Mass, who
unfortunately did not live to see the completion of his dream.
As a lover of historic preservation, myself, I encourage
Humanists and Freethinkers everywhere to plan a trip soon
around the monuments to our philosophy that are so
conveniently clustered in upstate New York. The Ingersoll
museum can be the centerpiece of what could make for a great
vacation!
If you need more information for planning your itinerary, feel
free to write or phone the Robert G. Ingersoll Memorial
Committee, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664 -- (716)
636-7571.
--------------------------------------------------------------
--
Originally published in the Sept./Oct. 1993 issue of Free
Mind, the newsletter of the American Humanist Association.
Permission is hereby granted to republish this article in any
medium, in whole or in part. Please credit Free Mind as the
original source.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Phone the above number, or write P.O. Box 1188 Amherst, NY
14226-7188 for membership information about the American
Humanist Association.
Write CODESH at P.O. Box 664, Buffalo, NY 14226-0664 or call
(716) 636-7571 for information re: CODESH. Or write Tim
Madigan at aa506@FreeNet.Buffalo.edu.
==============================================================
|| END OF ARTICLE ||
==============================================================
==============================================================
|| END OF ISSUE ||
==============================================================
Volume I, Number 3: JULY 1994.
Once again: ISSN: 1198-4619 Lucifer's Echo.
--
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
