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The Nullifidian Volume 2 Number 12
From ai815@freenet.carleton.caFri Dec 15 10:04:28 1995
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 05:52:39 -0500
From: Greg Erwin <ai815@freenet.carleton.ca>
To: apabel@prairienet.org, ap818@freenet.buffalo.edu, paracom@cyberstore.ca
Subject: December 1995 Nullifidian
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*The*E-Zine*of*Atheistic*Secular*Humanism*and*Freethought**
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###### Volume II, Number 12 ***A Collector's Item!***#####
################### ISSN 1201-0111 #######################
####################### DEC 1995 ###########################
nullifidian, n. & a. (Person) having no religious faith or
belief. [f. med. L _nullifidius_ f. L _nullus_ none +
_fides_ faith; see -IAN] Concise Oxford Dictionary
The purpose of this magazine is to provide a source of
articles dealing with many aspects of humanism.
We are ATHEISTIC as we do not believe in the actual
existence of any supernatural beings or any transcendental
reality.
We are SECULAR because the evidence of history and the daily
horrors in the news show the pernicious and destructive
consequences of allowing religions to be involved with
politics or government.
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.
NEW: visit my Home Page at http://infoweb.magi.com/~godfree/
Re: navigation.
Search for BEG to find the beginning of the next article.
Search for the first few words of the title as given in the
table of contents to find a specific article. I try to
remember to copy the title from the text and then paste it
into the ToC, so it should be exact. Search for "crass
commercialism:" to see what's for sale. Subscription
information, etc is at the end of the magazine, search for
END OF TEXTS.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Predictions for 1995 Amateur prophecy
2. The Pearly Gates, a Sketch by the Frantics
3. BUDDHISM by: tmwe@maths.nott.ac.uk Tim Eyre
4. Jokes compiled by Jim Dew
5. That holiday
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Predictions for 1995 Amateur prophecy
These were the predictions made in November and December of
last year. We said:
<<Predictions for 1995!! Definitely by unpsychic, dull,
ordinary type people with no help from any ghosts or other
supernatural entities. Will we do better, or worse, than
than the pundits, jeezers and crazies? Check back in
December 1995!>>
Here are the results:
>From the illustrious editor & publisher:
>>I predict that the Bosnian war will still be sputtering
along much as it is now. However, it may be that they will
claim that it has ended. It will not spread to Macedonia in
1995.
Wrong! It seems to have nearly ended. A correct prediction
would have had to specify the Muslim offensives, Serb losses
in Croatia, and the peace talks.
A "never wrong" defence would say that there is still some
fighting going on, and that it did indeed sputter during
most of the year, so I was right.
That last was written about a month ago. Now in December, it
seems to have completely stopped.
>>There will be a severe famine in Africa.
Nothing that got in the news, but the situation in the Sudan
is still pretty bad. I think an honest hit would have
required something like the Ethiopia thing. Dishonestly,
there is chronic famine in parts of Africa.
>>No cure for or vaccine against AIDS will be found.
Right! If I had predicted a cure, I would have claimed that
the recently announced day after drug for monkeys fit the
bill, or that the most recently released palliative drug is
the cure, or I would say that they cure has been discovered
but we don't know it for sure yet.
>>More than one pair of pommy royals will finally break up.
Queen E will still be around.
Well, the Chuck & Di break looks pretty final. Queen E is
still here. Two hits!
[the best reason for Canada, New Zealand or Australia to
become a republic: imagine Chuckie's face and EARS on your
money!]#
>>#Long term: Canada and Australia will be republics before
the year 2001.
Looks bad for Canada, the PM just announced NO intention of
abandoning the monarchy. Looks good for Australia, where
support for republic status is high.
>>The economy of North America and Europe will be about the
same as now. No big inflation, no real recovery. Employment
will increase slightly, mainly in the low-paid service
sector. The reason for this is that all the causes of
inflation have now been well-hidden among the sectors of the
economy which are not measured in the various indices.
Right. Pretty vague prediction, but I think it is accurate
enough.
>>The new states of the former Soviet Union will stumble
along, none will join with the Iranians in taking up Shi'a
fanaticism. Nasty little fights on the order of Armenia vs
Azerbaijan will continue without resolution. There will be
a rise in "nationalist" antiSemitic, Nazi-style fascist,
irrational political movements. Some of these Nazis will be
elected in local governments.
Right. Seeing as I didn't specify any particular states, or
get very specific, the general tone of the prediction is
pretty well confirmed. There is still fighting in Armenia
and Azerbaijan and Georgia. Nationalists have taken over
many of the Central Asian Republics An impressive
prediction would have been the fight in Chechnya.
>>In Europe, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary and
Poland will do OK, the rest of Eastern Europe will struggle.
The European Union will increase in membership. Turkey will
not be allowed to join in 1995.
Well, at least Turkey didn't get in. The Czech Republic is
doing well, I'm not really sure about Slovenia, Hungary and
Poland, though nothing really awful has happened in any of
them. I think I based the membership increase on a known
set of admissions already scheduled.
>>Castro will die.
Wrong. [Uh, I meant "Castro" in a symbolic way. What
really died was CastoISM, this is "proven" by the free
market reforms in the Cuban economy.]
>>South Africa will do well. The fanatical whites will
continue to be a minor irritation without significant
impact. The rest of sub-Saharan Africa will continue to do
poorly with at least one and probably two, countries
suffering severe famine. An incident in the war in Sudan
will shock and horrify the world.
South Africa continues to amaze me. The African population
of South Africa should bottle and market whatever it is that
they have. The rest of sub Saharan Africa is doing poorly,
no shining spots of contradiction here. No new severe
famine, No incident in Sudan. [Of course, there were many
incidents that occurred in the Sudan, which will be revealed
later, and when they are they will shock and horrify the
world, then.]
>>A famous child star will confess/admit to having been
molested by Michael Jackson.
I heard some things through the tabloids, but not
unequivocally.
/*****************************************************/
[From Carol Roberts, indexer and copy editor,
e-mail: Carol.Roberts@mixcom.com]
Here are my predictions for 1995:
>>Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley will split up.
Unofficially, it could be argued "yes," officially, that is,
a legal separation or divorce, "no".
>>The Pope will die.
Wrong. I guess it was just wishful thinking.
>>The Second Coming (or first, depending on how you count)
will not occur.
Right, pretty safe bet.
>>Elvis will be sighted in a mall in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Possibly, I didn't hear about it.
>>A woman seeking an abortion will be shot by anti-
abortionists.
I don't recall such an event. Only the doctors.
>>The number of reports of child molesting by Catholic
priests will rise by 50%.
As far as I can see, my only source of such reports
(Freethought Today) looks about the same.
/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\/=\
from Michael Haggerty
[who is about as psychic as a fencepost]
{that is HIS statement} gae
I made the following predictions a few months back in a post
on CompuServe and I'm still standing behind them.
=-=-=-=
>>There will be more sex scandals in the halls of the US
congress.
Well, that fellow (Mr Tongue) was forced out of office.
Good one!
>>Another war will break out in Africa before the end of
this century. Many thousands of innocents will die senselessly.
Nigeria's a good candidate. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan
are currently fighting, and were at the time of the
prediction, so they don't count. I don't think a new war
occurred during 1995.
>>A new, as yet unknown disease will be discovered and many
people will suffer its effects before a cure is found.
I think this may have been the case. I recently saw a
mention of an unknown hemorrhagic fever case on TV. Maybe
it was later identified. New horse virus killed a bunch of
horses and at least two people in Australia. Easily argued that
the new disease is around but not in the news yet.
>>The radical factions of the white minority in South Africa
will create problems for the new government there. There
will be a campaign of terror and violence that will not end
before their leader is killed or jailed.
As this conflicts with my prediction, it is obviously wrong.
Although they did create problems, these have so far been
fairly minor. No newsworthy campaign of terror and
violence, as yet. No dead leader.
>>A new cuisine will be introduced to the popular culture in
America and it will become a common part of the diets of
many Americans.
I don't recall any new one. The last big new wave of
cuisine was SE Asian, mainly Thai.
The number of smokers in this country will decline over the
next 20 years.
Pretty safe, so far, on track.
>>Ronald Reagan will be one of the next two former
presidents to die. (It won't be my fault, by the way.)
Pretty safe, but not yet. Unless you count brain death.
>>Clinton will suffer even more scandals before the '96
elections.
Pretty safe, I guess there have been a few.
>>A new, unsuspected environmental health hazard will be
discovered and many Americans will be affected.
Don't think so.
[these go a little beyond the 1995 limit]
[they are from Michael Haggerty]
>>I predict that a famous world leader will have to step
down from power before their time in the next 20 years.
Italy, due to scandals; Poland: it could be said this was
before Walesa's time. This one is a certainty. Famous
world leaders step down all the time.
>>There will be a great earthquake in Southern California
that will be one of the worst disasters on record. Relief will
arrive from all over the world. This will happen before the
end of the 21st century.
Still waiting, very likely to happen as is known by standard
scientific methods.
Some absolutely safe predictions:
>>A natural disaster will kill thousands.
Hurricanes and typhoons.
>>Many governments will change hands.
State and local elections. Many national elections around
the world, another certainty.
=========================================================
The point of the predictions was to illustrate the entire
dishonest prophecy business. If this were a sleazy tabloid,
I would simply never have mentioned the incorrect
predictions. I would have dug up the ones that were
correct, and headlined them. When making the predictions I
would intersperse (as we did) the specific with the vague.
I would also use as many specific sounding ones, the kind
that predict things that happen every year, as possible.
The "change of governments," "many die in natural
disasters," are great because such things happen every year
without fail.
Then I would drop all of the specific ones that didn't
happen. For the specific ones that actually got lucky, I
would really emphasize them, (both the Pope and Castro are
old, they could easily have died) claiming that this is
proof of clairvoyance. Hey, either one could keel over in
the next two weeks and make us right. Even if either dies
in 1996, I can claim I was close. Failing that, if heavily
challenged, I claim that the Pope was supposed to die, but
the prayers of the faithful averted destiny. The ones that
sound specific, but aren't, (you predict 'natural disaster
will kill many') are transformed into specific predictions:
'devastation of Typhoon Angela predicted by psychic.' The
actual prediction is buried inside the rag, if it is
mentioned at all.
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"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as
erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin."
[Cardinal Bellarmine 1615, during the trial of Galileo]
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The Pearly Gates, a Sketch by the Frantics
St Peter: Next! Welcome to the Pearly Gates.
Tom Hatton: Saint Peter!
St Peter: Name?
Tom Hatton: Tom. Tom Hatton.
St Peter: Tom Hatton, the butcher?
Tom Hatton: Yes.
St Peter: Well, according to the celestial registry
you've been a good man. You may enter the
Kingdom of Heaven and live for eternity at
God's side.
Tom Hatton: Thank you. Thank God!
St Peter: Enter and join your fellow Presbyterians.
Tom Hatton: No, I'm Catholic.
St Peter: Oh...well, then; go to Hell. Next!?
Tom Hatton: But, you just said I could to to heaven.
St Peter: Well, heaven is reserved for those who follow
the one true path.
Tom Hatton: Presbyterians?
St Peter: Presbyterians.
Tom Hatton: What about everybody else who lived
faithfully by the tenants of their religion?
St Peter: Tenets. And they blew it. Next?!
Tom Hatton: No, wait a minute. I went to mass! I went
to communion! I went to confession!
St Peter: Waste of time! You might as well have stayed
home Sunday mornings and watched Red Fisher.
He's a good Presbyterian.
Tom Hatton: The Jews claimed they were God's chosen
People.
St Peter: The Jews. That was years ago! God's fickle.
Tom Hatton: Fickle?
St Peter: Well, it was the Jews for a few thousand
years, then it was the Muslims, 'cause he
liked their hats. Then it was the Aztecs,
then it was...oh, who are they? the men wear
little skirts and poke dead animals with
sticks, and wear carrots in their hair...
Tom Hatton: Methodists!
St Peter: Methodists!
Tom Hatton: What about us Catholics.
St Peter: Oh, God never liked Catholics.
Tom Hatton: Oh
St Peter: No no, as close as he got to Catholics was
Anglicans. He thought they were a laugh and
a half.
Tom Hatton: Why?
St Peter: Can you imagine? A religion breaks off from
the Catholic Church...takes all the worst
parts?
Tom Hatton: So, anyone who isn't Presbyterian goes
straight to hell?
St Peter: Oh, no no no. Baptists go to purgatory.
Tom Hatton: God likes Baptists.
St Peter: No, he just likes getting their hopes up.
Then when they figure they're in...whsshht,
Yaaaaah! Every Friday at 3, it's a riot!
Tom Hatton: That's awful.
St Peter: That's God.
Tom Hatton: So, I'm going to go to hell.
St Peter: Don't worry, you can always get legal
counsel, and appeal.
Tom Hatton: There's lawyers in hell?
St Peter: Where else would they be?
Tom Hatton: Which way is it?
St Peter: Out the same way you came. First door on the
right. Next!? Name?
Murray
Weinbaum: Murray Weinbaum.
St Peter: Religion?
Murray: Presbyterian.
St Peter: Enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Murray: Shalom!
St Peter: Shalom! Wait a minute...wait a minute.
The End.
This is no doubt copyright material, and performing or
otherwise reproducing this for profit would likely be
illegal.
It could be fun at your next atheistic humanist conspiracy
meeting. It's short, only needs three people, and the only
prop necessary is some suggestion of the Pearly Gates for
Pete to stand in front of.
=========================================================
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"John Wesley said that if you give up the witchcraft, you
must give up the Bible. He is right. The choice is easy
for me." [Rupert Hughes]
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BUDDHISM
by: tmwe@maths.nott.ac.uk Tim Eyre
Buddhism was invented in the 6th century BC by
Siddhartha Gautama in India. He was brought up in
luxury which he abandoned to seek enlightenment.
During his search he was confronted by the signs
of old age, sickness and death. He was desperate
to find a means of enlightenment that would
escape from these three weaknesses.
Buddha is supposed to have achieved
enlightenment while in deep meditation. He took
the name "Buddha" which means "enlightened one".
His 'realization' was that all life is suffering.
No one can escape from sickness, death, old age
or separation from those they love. He decided
that all such suffering is caused by the physical
desires of the body. To overcome this is to reach
Nirvana, the complete freedom from the desires
that cause suffering. Nirvana is supposed to be
reached by following an `eightfold path' which
involves 'realising' what the situation is,
cultivating a mind free from negative emotions,
being kind and engaging in meditation.
The better one manages these steps, the higher
up one is reincarnated. If one does it really
well, one attains Nirvana. If one does it badly,
one is reincarnated as a lower creature.
So, there you have it, an outline of Buddhism.
Some Buddhists are in fact atheists; the
Theravada school of Bhuddism has no deity. They
consider the attainment of Nirvana to be an
individual pursuit, practised by monks and nuns.
The other main school of Buddhism, the Mahayana
school, deifies Buddha.
What, then, is wrong with Buddhism? The
Christian, Jewish and Islamic faiths all have
large amounts of violence, immorality and general
bad behavior to answer for. As far as I am
aware, no holy wars have been fought for Buddha,
nor have major Buddhist inquisitions taken place.
It is worth noting, however, that Ghengis Khan's
Mongol hoards converted to Buddhism as they moved
through Asia. So it cannot be said that Buddhism
has a universal pacifying effect.
It seems that the most significant criticism of
Buddhism is that it is FALSE. Buddhism is
definitely a proselytising religion. It is
therefore guilty of filing peoples' heads with
nonsense. Why is it nonsense? For the sake of
being explicit I will mention just a few problems
that arise with the doctrine of reincarnation.
1. Why are there so many people around
nowadays? The world population is increasing
explosively. This would imply that animals are
behaving themselves and being reincarnated as
humans while fewer humans are being 'relegated'
to animal status. In the light of the atrocities
committed in the 20th Century, this seems
unlikely.
2. Particularly bad souls are supposed to be
reincarnated as lower animals. Is there a cut off
point in how low a soul can go? Are there animals
without souls? If amoebas are reincarnations, how
are they meant to make a conscious effort to do
better next time?
3. Where does evolution fit into this scheme?
The doctrine of 'reincarnation by merit' is so
blatantly incompatible with this somewhat
established scientific theory that any discussion
of the matter is superfluous.
4. Who administers the reincarnation scheme?
Who knows what who has done and what subsequent
status should be assigned? If it is
automatic, by what mechanism does it operate?
5. By what mechanism does a soul move from one
body to another? Does the soul take residence in
the fertilized egg? The zygote? The newborn
child? What evidence is there for the
existence of an actual 'soul' anyway?
6. In what sense is the soul that moved from
body A to body B the 'same' soul? Presumably it
has no physical presence, nor does it have any
recollection of the life in body A. Why, then, is
it the same soul?
It seems as if Heaven and Hell are quite
plausible constructs compared to reincarnation!
We are told that 'all life is suffering' is a
fundamental principle of Buddhism. Such a bleak
outlook! Plenty of people enjoy life; if life
was that bad, suicide rates would be
astronomical. Why not take a positive approach
and enjoy life?
Buddhism is not a violent religion. It does,
however, encourage and even require that its
adherents engage in meditation. It cannot be
denied that meditation in moderation is a
beneficial activity. However, if spending the
better part of one's waking hours staring at the
end of one's nose and chanting the same phrase
over and over again is not a pointless waste of
human life, I don't know what is. Even Mormons,
Hassidic Jews or Syrian terrorists can put their
lives to some useful purpose, real or imagined.
Buddhists are as guilty as any other religion
of hypocrisy. Consider the rank materialism of
the Thai people, the opulence of the Buddhist
temples of Borobudur on Java, Ankor Wat in
Cambodia or the still very active Kek Lok Si
temple in Malaysia. So much for transcending
materialism.
The idea that entertaining bodily desires
leads to sickness, old age and death is catchy,
but where is the causal connection? Perhaps the
rewards for abstinence only exist in Nirvana.
A final point is that the typical atheist
believes that some kind of 'Nirvana' will be
attained on dying anyway. Oblivion is certainly
a complete freedom from suffering and bodily
desires.
In conclusion, Buddhism may not cause as much
trouble as more dogmatic religions. It does,
however, waste lives, preach false propositions
and divert creative energies that could be better
spent elsewhere. No doubt a more thorough
investigation of Buddhist teachings would yield
still more absurdities and lies.
*******************************************************
Brief editorial comment.
When it counted, Buddhist monarchs were quite able to
reconcile their religion with their need to wage war and
maintain political control. Asoka reigned over large
portions of India in medieval times as a Buddhist,
conquering monarch.
On a global scale, the world changed from local religions
that had a social function in the community to monarchical
religions with a distant sky god and all rewards put off
until another life or another world.
This contrasts drastically with the pagan religions and
early Hinduism (as opposed to later Brahmanism), the early
religions distributed the results of a sacrifice to the
community, everybody got a share of the feast, the rich
donor received prestige and praise, the poor recipient got
an occasional chance at a decent meal.
Under christianity the redistributive feast is a shadow of
its former self, with the recipient receiving a mere cracker
and in some cases the priests drinking the wine themselves.
Buddhism also ended the redistributive sacrifice,
substituting only non-material blessings.
=========================================================
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=========================================================
They were allowed to stay there on one condition, and that
is that they didn't eat of the tree of knowledge. That has
been the condition of the Christian church from then until
now. They haven't eaten as yet, as a rule they do not. --
Clarence Darrow
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Jokes compiled by Jim Dew
Here's a fun thing I've done that you freethinkers might
try: Go into a religious book store and ask them if they
have any books on how to tell real faith healers from fake
ones. You'll need to get them to agree that there are some
fake ones however. Then, you might ask them for their
personal advice. They'll probably tell you to pray about
it. Then you can ask them how they can know if it's god,
the devil, or themselves talking! Do the voices differ?
********************************
What's wrong with the logic in this Bible verse from Titus
(1:12): "...even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians
are alway liars..."?
********************************
Many years ago, in his final sermon to the
congregation of the Wyoming Presbyterian Church in
Cincinnati, Ohio, Reverend Charlie Fredricks said "God is
like the square-root of negative two." In other words, God
is similar to this mathematical expression occasionally used
in engineering. What Reverend Fredricks didn't tell his
congregation is that mathematicians consider the square-root
of negative two to be "an irrational, imaginary number"!
Perhaps the analogy was more appropriate than intended!
********************************
"In Holy Writ there is no record of Jehovah ever having
laughed, although he certainly played many a grim joke on
his devotees. We are told that 'Jesus wept', but never that
he smiled." - Rationalist Society of St. Louis (1958)
********************************
Recently, the Democrats have suggested that a new
Congressional chaplain be hired because, they argue, we
don't need someone praying for the House and Senate, but
someone to start praying for the welfare of our country!
********************************
When a dead cowboy recently arrived at his eternal
home, he said to the angel at the gates, "Gee, I didn't know
Heaven would be so much like Texas." To which the angel
replied, "Heaven?!!"
********************************
You may be interested in the following "James Madison
quote" published twice in the Wisconsin State Journal (1/93
and 3/95), widely circulated in Christian fundamentalist
literature, and even cited in a book by Rush Limbaugh:
"We have staked the future of all our political
institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to
govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of
God."
I tried for two years to track down its origin, from the
persons who cited it, from their sources, and by spending
weeks looking in the writings and speeches of Madison.
Although Madison was a devout Christian, he never made this
quote!
On March 28, 1995 I received a letter from Mark J.
Haynes of "WallBuilders, Inc." (P.O. Box 397, Aledo TX
76008) that produced the video "America's Godly Heritage"
which cites this quote. Haynes writes, "The truth is the
quote does not exist. We are in the process of eliminating
it from our materials." He suggests that "Someone, perhaps
a preacher, probably elaborated..." on the following
statement from the Federalist Papers: "...[we] rest all our
political experiments on the capacity of [hu]mankind for
self-government."
********************************
A fundamentalist wanting to buy a Parrot asked the pet
store owner for a bird that didn't talk dirty. The owner
said, "Have I got the bird for you. This parrot, as you can
see, has a string tied to each leg. Pull the string on his
right leg and he recites the Ten Commandments. Pull the
string on his left leg and he recites the Lord's Prayer."
"What happens if I pull both strings?" asked the
fundamentalist. To which the parrot replied, "I'd fall on
my ass, you damn fool!"
********************************
While rushing to the Cathedral, a young woman, late
for church, slipped on the stairs and fell back onto the
pavement. A woman coming out of the church, ran down to
help her to her feet.
"Oh!", replied late comer, "Is Mass out?!"
"No," replied the kind woman, "but the back is torn a bit."
********************************
A gay atheist decided to attend a Christian retreat
designed to change one's sexual orientation through prayer.
While there, participants were asked to say why they thought
they were gay. One avid fellow stood and said, "My mother
made me a homosexual."
Immediately the atheist jumped up and said, "Hey! Can she
make me one?!"
********************************
When the doctor informed me that for $350.00 he would
circumcise my son, I looked him straight in the eye and
said, "Hell! Let 'em wear it off like his old man had to!"
*****************************
Recently, Sally Jesse Raphael stated in an interview
to the National Enquirer that she does not believe in God.
True story! Thanks, Sally! (Like anyone's going to believe
her!) Well, at least it's a start to making atheists more
visible.
I also heard that at a recent fund raiser, Sally sat
between a celebrated Bishop and a distinguished Rabbi. She
told them, "I feel as if I were a leaf between the Old and
New Testaments."
The rabbi replied, "That page is usually blank!"
*****************************
Recently, after preaching that there are 726 different
sins, James Kennedy was flooded by requests for the list
from people thinking they were missing out on something.
*****************************
God was getting concerned about the decline of
humankind, so he called in Jesus and said, "My Son, I would
like you to return to earth and help those poor sinners."
Jesus replied, "Are you kidding, Father, last time they
hung me on a cross! Why don't you go?"
God said, "Well, I'll just loose my temper and end up
wiping them all out." So God called in the Holy Ghost and
said, "Neither Jesus nor I are able to go to earth to help
the poor sinners, we would like you to go."
To which the Holy Ghost replied, "Are you kidding?
They haven't stopped talking about the last time I fucked
around down there!"
=========================================================
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=========================================================
The Santa myth is one of the most effective means ever
devised for intimidating children, eroding their self-
esteem, twisting their behavior, warping their values, and
slowing their development of critical thinking skills.
--Tom Flynn, _The Trouble with Christmas_
===========================================================
|| BEGINNING OF ARTICLE ||
===========================================================
That holiday
Isn't it nice to receive the December issue of a magazine
that has no mention of that holiday in it?
Happy Saturnalia, Joyous LastWeek, see you next year
=========================================================
|| END OF ARTICLE ||
=========================================================
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered.
Religion is answers that may never be questioned.
==========================================================
|| END OF TEXTS ||
==========================================================
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.
ATHEISM: An Affirmative View, by Emmett F. Fields
(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)
The person in charge of our complain department is Helen
Teller. If you have a complaint go to Helen Teller.
(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)
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|| Begging portion of the Zine ||
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There is no charge for receiving this, and there is no
charge for distributing copies to any electronic medium.
Nor is there a restriction on printing a copy for use in
discussion. You may not charge to do so, and you may not do
so without attributing it to the proper author and source.
If you would like to support our efforts, and help us
acquire better equipment to bring you more and better
articles, you may send money to Greg Erwin at: 100,
Terrasse Eardley / Aylmer, Qc / J9H 6B5 / CANADA. Or buy
our atheist quote address labels, and other fine products,
see "Shameless advertising and crass commercialism" below.
=><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><=
|| End of Begging portion of the Zine ||
=><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><====><=
Articles will be welcomed and very likely used IF:
(
they are emailed to:
((ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA; or,
godfree@magi.com), or
sent on diskette to me at the above Aylmer address in
any format that an IBM copy of WordPerfect can read;
) and
they don't require huge amounts of editing; and
I like them.
I will gladly reprint articles from your magazine, local
group's newsletter, or original material. There are
currently about 140 subscribers, plus each issue is posted
in some newsgroups and is archived as noted elsewhere.
If you wish to receive a subscription, email a simple
request to either address, with a clear request
for a subscription. It will be assumed that the "Reply
to:" address is where it is to be sent.
We will automate this process as soon as we know how.
Yes, please DO make copies! (*)
Please DO send copies of The Nullifidian to anyone who might
be interested.
The only limitations are:
At least clearly indicate the source, and how to subscribe.
You do NOT have permission to copy this document for
commercial purposes.
The contents of this document are copyright (c) 1995, Greg
Erwin (insofar as possible) and are on deposit at the
National Library of Canada
You may find back issues in any place that archives
alt.atheism. Currently, all back issues are posted at
the Humanist Association of Ottawa's area on the National
Capital Freenet. telnet to 134.117.1.22, and enter <go
humanism> at the "Your choice==>" prompt.
ARCHIVES
Arrangements have been made with etext at umich. ftp to
etext.umich.edu directory Nullifidian or lucifers-echo.
For America On-Line subscribers:
To access the Freethought Forum on America Online enter
keyword "Capital", scroll down until you find Freethought
Forum, double click and you're there. Double click "Files &
Truth Seeker Articles" and scroll until you find Nullifidian
files. Double click the file name and a window will open
giving you the opportunity to display a description of the
file or download the file.
And thanks to the people at the _Truth Seeker_, who edited,
formatted and uploaded the articles to the aol area.
/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\
Shameless advertising and crass commercialism:
\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/
Atheistic self-stick Avery(tm) address labels. Consisting
of 210 different quotes, 30 per page, each label 2 5/8" x
1". This leaves three 49 character lines available for your
own address, phone number, email, fax or whatever. Each
sheet is US$2, the entire set of 7 for US$13; 2 sets for
US$20. Indicate quantity desired. Print address clearly,
exactly as desired. Order from address in examples below.
Laser printed, 8 pt Arial, with occasional flourishes.
[NOT ACTUAL SIZE]
<-------------------2 5/8"---------------------->
_________________________________________________
|"Reality is that which, when you stop believing |/\
|in it, doesn't go away." [Philip K. Dick] | |
|Greg Erwin 100 Terrasse Eardley | 1"
|Aylmer, Qc J9H 6B5 Canada | |
| email: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA | |
|________________________________________________|\/
_________________________________________________
|"...and when you tell me that your deity made |
|you in his own image, I reply that he must be |
|very ugly." [Victor Hugo, writing to clergy] |
|Greg Erwin 100 Terrasse Eardley |
|Aylmer, Qc J9H 6B5 Canada Ph: (613) 954-6128 |
| email: ai815@FreeNet.Carleton.CA |
|________________________________________________|
Other quotes in between the articles are usually part of the
label quote file. Occasionally I throw in one that is too
long for a label, but which should be shared.
Other stuff for sale:
Certificate of Baptism Removal and Renunciation of Religion.
Have your baptism removed, renounce religion, and have a
neat 8" x 11" fancy certificate, on luxury paper, suitable
for framing, to commemorate the event! Instant eligibility
for excommunication! For the already baptism-free:
Certificate of Freedom from Religion. An official atheistic
secular humanist stamp of approval for only $10! Pamphlet on
"how to get excommunicated" included FREE with purchase.
Poster 8x11: WARNING! This is a religion free zone!
All religious vows, codes, and commitments are null & void
herein. Please refrain from contaminating the ideosphere
with harmful memes through prayer, reverence, holy books,
proselytizing, prophesying, faith, speaking in tongues or
spirituality. Fight the menace of second-hand faith!
Humanity sincerely thanks you!
Tastefully arranged in large point Stencil on luxury paper.
Order from the same address as above.
/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\_/=\/=\
============================================================
Neat books available from H.H. Waldo, Bookseller! Books by
Ingersoll! Heston's 19th Century Freethought Cartoons!
Holy Horrors, An Illustrated History of Religious Murder and
Madness, by James A. Haught..........................$21.95
Christian Science, by Mark Twain.....................$15.95
(reprint of original attack)
Deadly Doctrine, by Wendell W. Watters, MD...........$27.50
(Psychological damage caused by Christianity)
Leaving the Fold, Testimonies of Former
Fundamentalists, by Edward Babinski..................$32.50
and many, many more. Ever changing inventory. Friendly
letters and news from Robb Marks, Proprietor.
add $2 postage/handling for first book & 0.50 for each
additional book. (All prices US$)
Send 2 first class stamps for H.H. Waldo's current catalog.
(Use international reply coupon, or get hold of US Stamps)
TO:
H.H Waldo, Bookseller
P.O. Box 350
Rockton, IL 61072
or phone 1-800-66WALDO !!!
tell 'im: "that nullifidian guy sent me!"
Once again: ISSN: 1201-0111 The Nullifidian Volume Two,
Number 8: AUGUST 1995.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The problem with religions that have all the answers is that
they don't let you ask the questions.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Last of all, you can now find me at:
http://infoweb.magi.com/~godfree/
(*) There is no footnote, and certainly not an endnote.
--
|\ ( ) ) /- / godfree | ai815
| \ | / / . _/_ . __ / . __ __ @magi.com | @Freenet.
| \ | / / / / ) / ) / / ) __ ) / ) Greg | Carleton.
) \| (__(__(___(__(__(___(__(__(__(__(__(__/ (__ Erwin | ca
