American Atheist Magazine Second Quarter 2014

American Atheists
AMERICaN ATHEIST
A JOURNAL OF ATHEIST NEWS AND THOUGHT
New York City filmmaker Michael Dorian and The Godless Revival
Americas First Atheist Variety Show
Also in this issue:
What Charity Could Be, If It Werent for Faith Etiquette for Atheists Darwin Matters More Than Ever Ghanas Camps for Alleged Witches
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SECOND QUARTER 2014
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2ND QUARTER 2014
AMERICAN ATHEIST
A Journal of Atheist News and Thought 2nd Quarter 2014
Vol. 52, No. 2
ISSN 0516-9623 (Print) ISSN 1935-8369 (Online)
Pamela Whissel mageditor@atheists.org LAYOUT and GRAPHICS EDITOR Rick Wingrove rwingrove@atheists.org COPY EDITOR Karen Reilly PROOFREADERS Gil and Jeanne Gaudia Shelley Gaudia AMERICAN ATHEIST PRESS MANAGING EDITOR Frank R. Zindler editor@atheists.org Published by American Atheists, Inc. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 158 Cranford NJ 07016 Phone: 908.276.7300 FAX: 908.276.7402 www.atheists.org 2014 American Atheists Inc.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. American Atheist is indexed in the Alternative Press Index. American Atheist magazine is given free of cost to members of American Atheists as an incident of their membership. Annual Individual Membership with subscription for one year of American Atheist print magazine: $35. Online version only: $20. Couple/Family Membership with optional print magazine: $35. Sign up at www. atheists.org/aam. Discounts available for multiple year subscriptions: 10% for two years, 20% for three or more years. Additional postage fees for foreign addresses: Canada and Mexico: add $10/year. All other countries: add $30/year. Discounts for libraries and institutions: 50% on all magazine subscriptions and book purchases. 2ND QUARTER 2014
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Proud members Eric and Amanda Novotny. To join American Atheists, go to Atheists.org/Membership or call 908-276-7300 or mail us the form on page 45. Cover photo by Laura Moore.
In This Issue
5 6 8 10 12 14 20 23 24 30 46
Coming Out by Stepping Off the Stage | Michael Harris What Charity Could Be, If It Werent for Faith | J.T. Eberhard Athe-quette: Etiquette for Atheists | Dale DeBakcsy Teaching the Controversy Hurts Education | Dan Arel Ignorance Isnt Bliss | David Orenstein Atheism Schism and The Godless Revival | Michael Dorian The Science of Faith, Part Two | Ce Atkins Blasphemy: Medieval Concept, Modern Consequences | John M. Suarez, M.D. All of the Good, None of the God: Ghana | Conor Robinson Dogma Watch: Interview with the Gospellers | Michael Paulkovich Why I Am an Atheist | Steve Beai
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Many Political Conservatives Favor Church/State Separation
he Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is an annual gathering that no self-respecting Tea Party patriot would miss. This years keynote speaker was Sarah Palin. During her address, she pulled out a Dr. Seuss book and recited anti-anything-Obama quips in iambic tetrameter. This was the event that produced the recent news photo of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky holding up a riflein a stance not terribly unlike that of the Statue of Libertys. This was the place to get a bumper sticker with the words The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly above pictures of an elephant, a donkey, and Hillary Clinton, respectively. And this year, it was the place where American Atheists President David Silverman met quite a few closeted non-believers. Months ago, American Atheists successfully registered to sponsor an information booth at the conference in order to increase the visibility of Atheist conservatives. In announcing the venture, Dave said, Conservative isnt a synonym for religious. A fifth of conservatives say that religion is not important in their lives. If conservatism doesnt embrace religious neutrality, its influence will wither and die. Atheists are a growing constituencyan increasingly united constituencyand conservative legislators ignore our vote and our voice at their own peril. We demand equality and fairnessnothing morethe very foundation of American values. Imposing religious dogma on its citizens should not be the role of the small government advocated by conservatives.
Imposing religious dogma on its citizens should not be the role of the small government advocated by conservatives.
A story from CNN quoted Dave as saying, I am not worried about making the Christian right angry. The Christian right should be angry that we are going to enlighten conservatives. The Christian right should be threatened by us. As soon as that story came out, Dave received a phone call from Dan Schneider, Executive Director of the American Conservative Union (ACU), the group behind CPAC. Dave was told that the tone of his statement that the Christian right should be threatened by us was inappropriate for the conference. And for that reason, American Atheists was uninvited from the same event that spotlights Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Sarah Palin. So Dave went to CPAC anyway, as an attendee. Wearing a Firebrand Atheist shirt, he walked around and distributed pamphlets with poll data showing that 50 percent of Atheists lean toward smaller government and that 20 percent of conservatives say they seldom or never pray. To his surprise, he was welcomed almost immediately. People took the flyers, some going out of their way to do so. Though most were closeted, around 50 attendees told him they were Atheists, too. Most of them were young; all were happy to see him. Most of the Christians he met said that while they do not agree with his point of view, they fervently support American Atheists presence at the conference. He also had a chance to talk with Morton Blackwell, a member of the ACU Board of Directors. Blackwell was adamant about religion being a pillar of conservatism and had no intention of allowing an information booth next yearalthough anyone is welcome to purchase tickets to attend. (Yes, Dave is going back. Youre welcome to join him.) Dave learned that its quite a joke among the attendees of how out of touch the CPAC organizers are with the general conservative population. Many people told him that the vast majority of younger conservatives want the movement to be under a much bigger tent, one that includes Atheists. If their tent does eventually expand, it would mean that the Christian right wont be able to dominate public policy. Nothing could be better for the believers, nonbelievers, and all those in between who understand that the separation of church and state is the best thing for everyone.
Pamela Whissel Editor-in-Chief MagEditor@Atheists.org
Correction
In our previous print issue, a photo of young American Atheists Grover and Kelly Helton incorrectly identified them. Grover is on the left, and Kelly is on the right. We apologize for the confusion, and we look forward to hearing more about their activism.
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Coming Out by Stepping Off the Stage

by Michael Harris
The kid flipped open his butterfly knife and almost stabbed me!
My pre-pubescent voice pierced the darkness of the worship auditorium. I was a teenage evangelical fundamentalist; important moments in my life always took place on or near a stage. The crowd of 200 students was mesmerized. Then the guy said, Why the eff would you come over here and start preaching to us about religion here in the effin lunch room? Fifteen-year-old me, microphone in hand, looked out over my youth group, recalling a true story from just that week. I told him it wasnt about religion, guys, but about a relationship. Amens. Whoops. Hollers. I told him Jesus loved him and died for his sins. More shouts of agreement. And I told him we all deserved hell without Gods grace but that if he prayed right there he could have a relationship with Jesus and spend eternity in heaven with Him. I let the moment hang in the air. And to God alone be the glory, everybody! He received Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior! The crowd erupted. I handed my youth pastor the mic. He hugged me, and I hopped off the stage. My peers cheered and shook my hand as I made my way back to my seat. This was not an unusual occurrence. During high school, I led over a hundred students to Jesus. Even better, I got to share those stories from the stage. About a year later, I was prayingagain, on stageat New Life Church in Colorado Springs. I stood amidst fog, flashing lights, and a screaming crowd of almost 1,200 students. I shouted a Bible verse into the microphone and proclaimed, For we are not ashamed of your gospel, Lord! For it is the power to salvation for everyone who believes! My words echoed off the walls. As I ended my prayer and climbed down the stairs and into the
Since I didnt have my own audience to confirm the validity of my thoughts, doubts began to trickle through the cracks of the concrete wall that housed my mind.
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worship mosh pit, I locked eyes with a girl. I believed dating in high school was wrong, but she glowed in the crowd like forbidden fruit. We would date for five years. For one of those years, we would learn to hide everything and prove to skeptical eyes that we had it together. For two of those years, our physical relationship would solely consist of making out, though even for this we felt mired in guilt. For three of those years, I would verbally abuse her. For all of those years, I would pray for God to heal our relationship so that I could love her just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25). And when we worshipped at the foot of the stage, Gods healing came. Problem was, our relationship was not always on a stage. This divine intervention was like spilled water on a hardwood floor: it was only visible in the right light. For me, and for us, that light was the spotlight. In November of 2006, I stared at the New Life stage yet again, this time in disbelief. The auditorium was packed with more than 8,000 people. A Southern minister named Larry Stockstill read a letter from my hero and pastor, Ted Haggard. In it, Pastor Ted confessed he was guilty of sexual immorality with a gay prostitute. He wrote, There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that Ive been warring against it my entire adult life. I was hurt, but I remained strong. The next time I saw the Reverend Stockstill was exactly two years later in a chapel service at Oral Roberts University. My girlfriend (of three years at this point) and I gazed up at the stage as Stockstill preached with passion. We were new to ORU. We hadnt yet made our way onto the stage. It wouldve taken me a few more months at the most to subtly, strategically showcase my potential and rise in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 34
If It Werent for Faith

by J.T. Eberhard
WHAT CHARITY COULD BE
Any time a hungry child is handed a Bible instead of food, religions corroded charity.
t is often asserted by the faithful, with the same degree of certainty with which they claim a person rose from the dead, that faith in god makes people more charitable. They point to religious hospitals and soup kitchens to make their case, and, because holidays are a perfect time for them to really harp on it, they do. A few things should be said. First, you dont see Atheist-built hospitals because people dont tend to organize around what they dont believe. You dont see hospitals built by a-unicornists, but you dont hear anyone calling a-unicornists uncharitable either. Another thing to be said is that the way religious people often conduct their charitable efforts reveals just what a detriment faith can be to doing good. Take, for example, the Upstate Atheists in Spartanburg, South Carolina. They tried to sign up to volunteer to serve Thanksgiving dinner at their local soup kitchen last year. But the kitchens director, Lou Landrum, would not allow them to help because her soup kitchen is a place of God. Even when the group promised not to wear Atheist apparel or attempt to deconvert anyone (as if they were
The people who denied the Atheist volunteers should be ashamed, and probably would be if their faith wasnt calling them to be so damn prideful.
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going to in the first place), the answer was still no.1 To an Atheist, a soup kitchen is a place to feed the hungry. Period. Hemant Mehta said on his blog, Ive never heard of a charity/soup kitchen that was so overrun with volunteers that they can turn them away without a loss of ability to feed the poor, and the kitchen in Spartanburg is no different.2 Landrum, executive director of the Soup Kitchen, told the Herald-Journal she would resign from her job before she let Atheists volunteer and be a disservice to this community. This is a ministry to serve God, she said. We stand on the principles of God. Do they (Atheists) think that our guests are so ignorant that they dont know what an Atheist is? Why are they targeting us? They dont give any money. I wouldnt want their money. When Christians feed the poor its a service to the community. When Atheists do it, its suddenly a disservice? That logic makes about as much sense as, well, Christianity. If you think that feeding the poor can ever be a disservice, then youve just disqualified yourself from being able to run a soup kitchen in any sane world.
To an Atheist, a soup kitchen is a place to feed the hungry. Period.

Landrum turned away resources and volunteers, ensuring that the kitchen would be less able to feed the poor, and somehow its the people who wanted to help who are doing the disservice? Frankly, thats stupid as hell. Its also immoralare you there to feed the poor or to discriminate? This particular soup kitchen feeds the poor to the greatest extent possible, unless it can trade some of its capacity to do so for the opportunity to discriminate. Thats despicable. You have to really be committed to the myth that Atheists arent charitable in order to stifle evidence to the contrary by turning away an offer to help alleviate suffering in your own town. In order to maintain her set of beliefs, Landrum ignored the facts and then acted morally outraged whilst in the throes of immorality herself. People like her are why hypocrisy is often associated with Christianity. If this is how charity is operated under the principles of god, then I can only hope, for the sake of the mortals on Earth, that other Christian charities operate as un-Christian-like as possible. This scenario surfaced again in Kansas City. For the last few years, the Kansas City Atheist Coalition (KCAC) has brought the largest contingent of Thanksgiving Day volunteers to the Kansas City Rescue Mission (KCRM), which provides meals to needy families. When I volunteered in 2012, it was wonderful to see religious people and Atheists working side by side in our shared cause of a better world. Some Atheists even stayed late last year when the demand exceeded the volunteer base. But 2013 was different. For a month, the KCAC leadership tried to reach someoneanyoneat the KCRM to coordinate the details of the volunteer effort for that year. No one ever returned their calls. Eventually, they received what can only be called a rejection letter. As KCAC explains on their website, Kansas City Rescue Mission has decided to use the meals they deliver as a chance to proselytize to its recipients by inserting religious literature into the meals. They informed us that we would not be a good fit (emphasis theirs) for volunteering with them, and declined to respond to any further inquiries.3 The situation is simple. They have decided to be less efficient at feeding the poor so they can better proselytize to the people they can still manage to reach without the help of their largest contingent of volunteers. Including messages of gods love with a meal to the poor is opportunistic in the extreme. If god cared about them as much as the KCAC volunteers do, there would be no need for soup kitchens. God would already be taking care of the needy. But hes left it to people to take up the slack and do what he cant be bothered to do himself despite how much easier it would be for him, being god and all. The real message is that god (if he exists) created need and suffering and doesnt think its a mistake. Otherwise, hed fix it. But people? People do care, and people do love, but sometimes their care and love can be diminished in the servitude of an uncaring gods image. This highlights another difference between god and me: if I can do something to help the needy, I do it. It also highlights a difference between Atheists and Christians: our primary goal is to help as many people as possible. Often, their primary goal is to spread their faith, and alleviating suffering comes in somewhere behind that. The people who denied the Atheist volunteers (after leaving them hanging in silence for a whole month) should be ashamed, and probably would be if their faith wasnt calling them to be so damn prideful. In these cases, and in all the similar cases that go unreported, Christianity does not make people more charitable. Instead, it reduces the amount of good an otherwise charitable person would do because it corrupts their priorities. Any time a hungry child is handed a Bible instead of food, religion corrodes charity. This is one more item on a long list of reasons why religion must die in order for humans to reach their full potential as compassionate beings. Do you want to know what real altruism looks like? My fiance, Michaelyn, studies cognitive neuroscience and puts her skills to use as a suicide hotline volunteer. The hotline is slammed during the holidays, which are very depressing times for some. The number of suicides are especially high on Christmas and Valentines Day. On Thanksgiving, Michaelyn spent part of her holiday helping people who might not have lived to see another day if it werent for her presence. She did not try to exploit their moment of weakness and attempt to convince them that there is no god. She just helped. Thats all. No strings, just care. If more religious people understood this lone, simple concept, Id be out of a job. Endnotes 1. http://TinyURL.com/UnbelievableBeliever 2. http://TinyURL.com/MehtaSoupKitchenBlog 3. KCAtheists.org/Whats-Up-For-The-2013-Holidays
J.T.s blog, What Would J.T. Do?, is at Patheos.com/Blogs/WWJTD. He previously worked for the Secular Student Alliance, where he was their first high school organizer. He is the co-founder of the Skepticon conference and served as the events lead organizer for its first three years.
If god cared about them as much as the volunteers do, there would be no need to give food to the needy. God would already be taking care of it.
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Athe-quette
by Dale DeBakcsy
You Dont Need to Give Up Impeccable Manners When Youre the Only Atheist in the Room
ule of etiquette the first which hundreds of others merely paraphrase or explain or elaborate is: Never do anything that is unpleasant to others. Emily Post, Etiquette
reputation for coarse disregard, as we consciously cultivate a punk sneer.) Im supremely glad that we have people who are cut from that provocative cloth, because I believe they are absolutely necessary. But I admit to never being comfortable in that role. So, Ive set about, with the great minds of historical etiquette to lean on, trying to craft an Atheism that is able to express itself while still obeying Emilys First Law. My basic principle is this: Never initiate a religiously contentious moment. If somebody else should drag you into one, you deserve to assert your existence as an Atheist, but only in proper proportion to the intimacy you have with that party. Lets see how this would play out:
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Few things seem, on the surface, more at cross-purposes than public Atheism and etiquette. If Emily is rightand I think she isabout good manners consisting primarily in doing everything you can to make life more pleasant for those around you, then merely being an Atheist in the first place is a shocking breach of decorum. What could make life more immediately unpleasant for your neighbor than steadfastly refusing to acknowledge the possibility of their theological whims? Is the choice, then, between being well-mannered but silent or uncouth but true-to-self ? Put more bluntly, must Atheists always appear as clumsy, ill-bred bullies? Of course not. (Though some of us do delight in our
During the grace, the same rule holds as for any religious ceremony you find yourself attending: You need not participate, but you must not interfere.
Situation 1: The Clerk You are at a store, and the clerk wishes you Merry Christmas as he hands you the receipt. This is the most trifling of religious assumptions, and most of us are entirely fine with letting it pass. But lets say you cant. You just cant. Youve been wished Merry Christmas 99 times that day, and you are done with the bombardment of Jesus in the manger. Keep in mind that this person is an complete stranger to you, and your response should therefore be of minimum complexity and zero tendentiousness. Happy Holidays is fine, but it doesnt really assert much of anything. My stand-by is, Ah, and a happy season to you! The Ah expresses a recognition that they have gone out of their way to wish you well, and that you appreciate it. The remainder of the message expresses returned good will, but with the slightest whiff of secular suggestion. Its distinctive but not accusatory. If the clerk is particularly perceptive, youve done something toward making them realize that there are entirely decent, understated people out there who arent Christian. And if theyre not? Well, you did what you could within the realm of pleasantness, and thats all that can be asked. Situation 2: The Door-to-Door Proselytizer Be they Jehovahs Witnesses, Mormons, or something else utterly, there is no doubt that they have come asking to start a religious conversation. You will not change their minds with a virtuosic display of logic or a burst of vitriolic indignation, but you may give them pause with some honest pleasantness. Im terribly sorry, but I am an Atheist, you see, so I dont think we have much common ground as to religious discussion. But would you like to come in for a bit and have some tea (if its cold out) or ice water (if its hot) before moving on to the rest of the neighborhood? usually works rather well. The offer is generally rejected, but the unexpected civility noted. With those who actually take me up, given the understanding that we wont talk about pesky religious things, I chat about everyday life, learn something of their troubles and hopes, and they some of mine, and we part quite cordially, never to meet again. From a tactical standpoint, Ive demonstrated that one can be an Atheist and also quite considerate and generally well-adjusted, and that always works out well for us. Situation 3: The Internet Most of the existing etiquette guides for large dinner gatherings work pretty well here. In the face of unpleasantness, a good host understands that an unpleasant response, while personally gratifying, would make a guest uncomfortable, and, as such, would be a failure of hosting. The fact is that, for every person who eggs you on to turn a discussion inelegant, there are 50 others quietly hoping that youll find your better instincts. A proper response to unjust and insulting online criticism is silence. Politeness will be deliberately misconstrued as hauteur, and anything less is beneath the dignity of a responsible person. If the criticism has a nugget of merit, however coarsely stated, it deserves a response. If their point is one you want to acknowledge, dont accuse them of ignorance. Instead, request an elaboration, such as, I have to admit to finding this step rather worrisome. Could you perhaps flesh it out a bit for us? If the point isnt one you want terribly much to go into, a subtle diversion is in order. I like books, so thats usually where I go: I notice you mention X. What are your favorite reads on the subject? expresses the appropriate amount of recognition and good intent, while at the same time effectively ending the discussion before it gets tedious. Situation 4: Well-Intended Praise You are volunteering, and somebody you just helped fulsomely praises you with, Bless you for your time or Its been a real blessing to have you or, more embarrassingly still, May God bless you for what youve done here. Their eyes beam with genuine warmth and human regard, and you are truly moved. You have to choose whether to thank them in return and move on, or find a gentle way of expressing your own perspective. You probably have some acquaintance with these people, so your response can be rather more elaborate than in Situation 1, which assumes no future contact. Again, there is nothing wrong with taking the praise and letting it be. Although most of us actually do this, there is no reason why you cant be both honest and gracious: Well, thank you very much, and as a grizzled old Atheist, I can tell you, I dont get blessed nearly enough, so I certainly appreciate it! There is a bit of selfdeprecation, a sliver of a joke, and never the slightest suggestion that you dont deeply appreciate their sentiment. Ive never liked, Thank you, although to tell the truth, Im an Atheist, which is touted as a good stock response. It ends too abruptly, and doesnt offer a path back to normal conversation that all awkward but necessary comments must have. Also, the words but and
I dont care how ridiculous or disgusting the event is. If you have been invited to it, your behavior reflects upon your host, so you should keep your grimaces, eye-rolls, and mutterings to yourself.
Danthropology
A Column by Dan Arel
Why Teaching the Controversy Hurts Science Education
Creationists want you to believe there is controversy because this is their last holding ground.
hanks to many court battles throughout the U.S., teaching creationism and intelligent design in public school classrooms is illegal. This, however, has not slowed down the religious right from finding any and every loophole possible to sneak their creation myth into students minds. This is often done through charter schools or using voucher programs, both of which fund private schools with public money, thus making it easier to grow these religious institutions and reach more students. While teaching creation in private schools has been out of the hands of the U.S. government and science advocates
The amount of testable evidence for creationism that has been given scientific treatment and survived is
Tiktaalik roseae lived 375 million years ago and had characteristics of both fish and tetrapods.
alike, the fight to keep it out of public schools is ongoing. The main argument from the religious right is that students should be taught both evolution and creation so they can make up their own minds. Their everyday mantra is teach the controversy. But the scientific and academic communities have no controversy with creationism because creationism is a myth. It cannot stand up to scientific testing or peer-reviewed research. The amount of testable evidence for creationism that has been given scientific treatment and survived is zero. Plenty of real controversies do exist in science. Questions about sexual selection's role in natural selection, or kin versus group selection, or the point when humans broke away from another
ZERO.
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Even if todays understanding of evolution were tossed on its head tomorrow, it would do nothing to bring creationism any closer to being true.
species are just a few of the controversial topics in science today. Creationists want you to believe there is controversy because this is their last holding ground. They no longer have a leg to stand on except for making the general public believe there is a debate to be had. If they can offer up the illusion that evolution is in competition with their theistic worldview, they may stand a chance to sway public opinion enough to put their myth back into public schools. The religious right has won some small battles here and there, and in some cases has managed to get evolution removed from a public school systems curriculum. In other cases, they have managed to require that science textbooks include a sticker inside, stating evolution is just one of many scientific theories that explains the diversity of life. Despite these setbacks, creation has still been kept out of the classroom, much to the religious rights dismay. After creationism was kicked out of the classroom, the religious right came up with the term intelligent design, which is merely creationism dressed up in fancy new language to make it sound at least somewhat scientific. When that failed them, they went for the controversy angle, arguing that since the scientific community cannot agree on the explanation for life's diversity on earth, the scientific method should not be taught in our schools uncontested. Their plan keeps failing, yet the religious right keeps fighting. A recent event in the spotlight was the public debate between TV personality and science advocate Bill Nye and Ken Ham, CEO of the Creation Museum and founder of Answers in Genesis. Most scientists will not debate the likes of Ham because these debates are nothing but PR campaigns from creationists to keep their ideas alive in the general public. Richard Dawkins was once quoted as refusing to debate creationists by saying, That would look great on your CV, not so good on mine. When a scientist like Nye accepts such a debate, he is making the statement that there is something worth debating. But how can you debate something that has no scientific consensus and cannot stand up to scientific testing? The match between Nye and Ham pitted scientific evidence against theistic philosophy; every time Nye gave an example of evidence for evolution, Ham rebutted with Bible verses. When Nye asked Ham for a list of scientific hypotheses that can be made from the Biblea pretty simple requestHam was unable to answer. Nye was also willing to say, I dont know. This is something Ham refused to do. He would instead answer the unknown with, The Bible says, thus demonstrating how very differently the minds of scientists and creationists work. Allowing creationists a forum in which to publicly make their case harms scientific advancement because treating this as if it actually were a controversy gives the appearance of validating an invalid idea. Once we accept that we should teach the controversy, where does this end? Do we then make room for the Flat Earth Society? Do we squeeze geocentricism and pretend maybe the earth is the center of the solar system? What about alchemy? Shouldnt we teach that controversy in chemistry classes? Of course not. Science consistently advances our understanding of the world so that we are able to discard obsolete ideas, both theistic and scientific. Nothing is immune to evidence. Once a paradigm is disproven, a new one always takes over, no matter how many people still hold the disprovable one dear. You can wish, and even believe, all you want that the sun revolves around the earth, but that will never make it true. You can also believe with all your heart that humans were created in the likeness of your deity of choice, but because of the abundant evidence to the contrary, this will never be true either. Our understanding of life on this planet is constantly changing. But even if todays understanding of evolution were tossed on its head tomorrow, it would do nothing to bring creationism any closer to being true. Creationists seem to believe that once they find the right wrench to throw into our modern understanding of natural selection, they will take the throne. That is simply not the case. An explanation more compelling than natural selection may some day further our understanding of evolution, but natural selection is a factan observable, testable, repeatable fact. Right now, it is the best we have to explain how life on this planet got to this point and why it is so diverse.
Dan Arel is a freelance writer who also contributes The Huffington Post and The Richard Dawkins Foundation at RichardDawkins.net. For more about Danthropology, visit Danthropology.net. To learn more about Dan, visit DanArel.com.
Creationists no longer have a leg to stand on except for making the general public believe there is a debate to be had.
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Ignorance Isnt Bliss

Darwin Matters More Than Ever
by David Orenstein
Samuel Wilberforce Pope John Paul II Marco Rubio (reaching for water) Pope Pius IX
Williams Jennings Bryan Ken Ham
Paul Broun
doubt that the February 4 debate between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Ken Ham of the Creation Museum did much to move the dial for those who believe the world is 6,000 years old and who use the Bible as a science book. But this religion-based ignorance is nothing new. Ever since Darwins On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection was first published in 1859, the faithful have used bias to ignore, obfuscate, or totally discount natural selection as a biological process without a designer. Choosing to accept the fixity of species is, in itself, intellectually dangerous because it ignores the truth for the sake of theology.
Heres a game. Take a look at these quotes disparaging Darwin and guess the years in which they were uttered. Answers are at the end of the article. 1. Is it on your grandmothers or grandfathers side that you are descended from an ape? 2. Evolutionary Darwinists need to understand we are taking the dinosaurs back. This is a battle cry to recognize the science in the revealed truth of God. 3. Im not a scientist man... I dont know how old the Earth is... its one of the great mysteries. 4. The parents have a right to say that no teacher paid by their money shall rob their children of faith in God and send them back to their homes skeptical, or infidels, or agnostics, or Atheists. 5. Hence all faithful Christians are forbidden to defend as the legitimate conclusions of science those opinions which are known to be contrary to the doctrine of faith, particularly if they have been condemned by the Church; and, furthermore, they are absolutely bound to hold them to be errors which wear the deceptive appearance of truth. 6. In freely willing to create and conserve the universe, God wills to activate and to sustain in act all those secondary causes whose activity contributes to the unfolding of the natural order which he intends to produce. Through the activity of natural causes, God causes to arise those conditions required for the emergence and support of living organisms, and, furthermore, for their reproduction and differentiation. 7. Evolution, the big bang theory, and embryology are all lies straight from the pit of hell.
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Choosing to accept the fixity of species is, in itself, intellectually dangerous because it ignores the truth for the sake of theology.
The late Ukrainian geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky said, Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. But Darwin, unfortunately, for all his brilliance, was a recluse who feared confrontation so much that his health suffered terribly. He was consumed with guilt and fear, not over his work, but from what his work meant to his deeply religious wife, his aristocratic social circle, and 19th-century English society. All three were steeped in faith and all three wanted church doctrine to remain the pinnacle of intellectual and social thought that dictated morality, ethics, and social policy. Evolution confronted and challenged not only the idea of European supremacy, but also the idea of a first cause for the very existence of life itself. Because The Origin of Species was so explosive and because Darwin couldnt adequately defend himself or his theory in front of critics, other scientists had to take up the cause to ensure that the study of natural selection itself did not become extinct. His lifes work was preserved for future generations, thanks to the advocacy of men like T.H. Huxley, also known as Darwins Bulldog; Alfred Russell Wallace, a colleague of Darwins and to some the co-discoverer of natural selection; John Draper, the historian of science who saw religion as a corrupting influence; Joseph Hooker, a staunch debater and good friend of Darwin; and Asa Gray, the American botanist who helped secure the U.S. copyright for The Origin of Species. Today, those who doubt natural selection disavow its influence on science and would rather return us all to the bad ol days of disease and ignorance. The discovery of natural selection has impacted more than the field of biology. It has changed, enhanced, and created entire areas of research and study in chemistry, medicine, geology, astronomy, geography, physics, anthropology, genetics, paleontology, mathematics, pharmacology, animal husbandry, farming, and food production. Its at the core of the search for our human origins through the study of speciation, gene drift, gene flow, breeding isolates, and much more. It is the key to answering questions related to DNA, antibiotics, fossils, deep space, plate tectonics, cultural geography, the ontological nature of the study of the philosophy of science, the environmental study of ecologies, trends in extinction of flora and fauna, and the value of leading an evidenced-based life according to reason. Until something better is discovered, the simplicity and elegance of natural selection stands as our best way to know how life is made, how it evolves, and how it may become extinct. Time magazines most recent Top 100 People in History ranks Darwin at number 12. If you remove the religious leaders, fascists and conquerors from the top of the list, Darwin moves up to number 6, beating Einstein (19), Newton (21), da Vinci (29), and Galileo (49). Still, only about 37% of Americans accept natural selection as true. The number of Americans who believe that Darwins theory is correct but god still started it all stands at 60%. To be sure, Atheists who are humanists and secularists and who serve as non-theist activists are making strides, pushing the United States towards a more secular, rather than a religious fundamentalist, view of nature. But make no mistakeit is a long road ahead. We still see legal battles in states that want to teach intelligent design as part of their science curriculum. Charter schools receive public money to teach the controversy in an attempt to foster doubt about evolution. It is easy for a religious fundamentalist to gain political office and nearly impossible for a non-believer. The non-believers we do have in Congress remain in the closet because they fear losing their next election. But I am still optimistic for the secular humanist and Atheist movements as they stand today for our right to live free of religion. The work being done in the U.S. and internationally shows that we can be good without god. Religion has claimed for thousands of years to be the answer for humanity, but instead it has, in most ways, bankrupted our ability as a species to come together and live in peace. Answers: 1. 1860, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce at the Oxford evolution debate 2. 2005, Ken Ham, The Washington Post, September 25 3. 2012, Florida Republican Congressman Marco Rubio in an interview with GQ magazine 4. 1925, Williams Jennings Bryan, attorney for the prosecution in The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, the Skopes Monkey Trial 5. 1870, Pope Pius IX during the First Vatican Council 6. 2004, Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God, published by the Vatican 7. 2012, Georgia Republican Congressman Paul Broun, M.D. (Yes, physician.)
David Orenstein, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor of anthropology and Department Chair at Medgar Evers College. A lifelong Atheist, he is an international speaker on humanist issues. He blogs at PaleoLibrarian.info.
Darwin was consumed with guilt and fear over what his work meant to his deeply religious wife.
Atheism Schism:
by Michael Dorian
How Refusing to Compromise Convictions Led to the Godless Revival
Don Albert, left, and Michael Dorian Photos by Laura Moore
he previous issue of American Atheist featured an interview with British comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans, creators of the Sunday Assembly, a godless congregation that celebrates life through the motto Live Better, Help Often, Wonder More. A great success in England, Sunday Assemblies are now also sprouting up in Ireland, Australia, and the U.S. Michael Dorian, a New York City filmmaker and American Atheists Regional Director for New York State, was instrumental in bringing the Sunday Assembly to the Big Apple. This is Dorians account of the efforts to create a sustainable congregation by fine-tuning Sunday Assembly NYC to be relevant to a local audience. His story is also about committing to the godless part of godless congregation. So when the founders of this self-described Atheist church got cold feet regarding the A-word, Dorian packed up his courage and moved across town to start The Godless Revival.
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Several of us believed that a fun, engaging show with a little non-believing bite was the right approach for New York.
The first time I heard about the idea of an Atheist church a couple that day and saying to myself, Boy, am I glad thats over. And it was. of years ago, I thought the notion was a bit hokey, in that it uses the I now view these words merely as the ironically clever trappings of oppositions blueprint to wage our own battles. But then in early 2013, tongue-in-cheek appropriation after centuries of widespread religious I traveled through more than 25 states with my co-director, Marc influence and oppression and violence and chicanery and control. But Levine, making the documentary Refusing My Religion. Through cheeky mockery was not Sandersons intention. His co-opting of these profiles of preachers whove shed their faith to become Atheist terms was more a thinly veiled reverence. activists, the film shows how this sharply reflects a rapidly shifting Sanderson had always maintained that he wanted to take the American religious landscape. One thing we kept hearing from people best bits of church, without God, so it sounded like he might be onto we interviewed whod left religion was that they all missed the sense of something that could expand secularism via a lively medium, which community church had provided. So when I got a phone call last April was where my own sights were set. about helping British comedian Sanderson Jones launch Americas first In an interview for our documentary, Daniel Dennett said, This pilot Sunday Assembly, in New York City, I jumped in head first. really is a tipping point for religion. In the wake of 9/11 and the early As New York Regional Director for American Atheists The Godless Revival crowd and host of affiliate New York City Atheists monthly forum, I saw a great opportunity to grow the secular movement. When I first spoke by phone with the effervescent Sanderson (I could hear his personality fizzing on the other end of the line), I told him how significant this could be to help expand Atheisms ranks. Presumably, we both got off the phone imbued with the excitement of being part of something with terrific potential. From the outset, Sanderson was very clear about not wanting to lampoon religion or insult the faithful. His church was for everyone. With comedian Pippa Evans as his co-founder, Sanderson had started the Sunday Assembly in England as part Atheist church, part foot-stomping show, and 100% celebration of life. Live rock music and engaging speakers highlight articulators of the Atheist movements purposes and strategies, the tide these gatherings. Members of the congregation share what theyre slowly rose and the Four Horsemen (Christopher Hitchens, Richard doing to improve their lives or the world, and a sermon is given by the Dawkins, Sam Harris, and he) had just been hanging ten on the wave host of the show, which also includes a moment of silent reflection. of the zeitgeist. Well, I had been paddling long and hard to catch that The language is rather churchy, but as someone who was raised very same wave, so I saw Sunday Assembly as a chance to get in the barrel loosely Catholic, I dont have much invested in these terms. My family and ride it out as best I could. and I just went through the motions of religion until I was confirmed I went to the first Sunday Assembly NYC organizers meeting at age 13. I remember looking up at the steeple of St. Pius X Church last May, where four of us began our planning, with varying degrees
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The New York Daily News picked up the story with the headline Atheist Church in a Bikini Bar.
of input and help from the eventually dozen or so other organizers. SA-NYC first and foremost needed music, so I instantly marshaled the forces. I went to my ex-Jehovahs Witness friend, Don Albert, who jumped on board to form a band. The organizers met a few more times to plan that first event, which Sanderson would host. We had about five weeks to find a venue, secure at least one speaker, create a Facebook page and social media accounts, write a press release, and create any and all other publicity. The first Sunday Assembly in America took place on June 30, 2013, in a Times Square bikini bar (the bartenders wear skimpy beach attire), which we booked mostly out of desperation as many venues were too pricey and the clock was ticking. The New York Daily News picked up to come back, he agreed to let us try to keep it going without him. Thats when the trouble started in Paradise. We elected a seven-member interim board, of which I was a member, and planned a July show, which I would host. I wrote and distributed the press release, promoted the pants off the event on various Facebook pages, and invited practically everyone I know in New York. We drew 140 people and it was, by almost all accounts, a fun and successful show. The speakers were American Atheists Managing Director Amanda Knief; Matthew Chapman, a screenwriter/director and the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin; and A-News reporter and podcast host Lee Moore, who spoke about the Pathfinders Project. But between the first SA-NYC and the second, Sanderson immediately began to pull back the reins. He made it clear again that we were not to bash religion, and most of us were fine with that, to varying degrees of resistance. In my sermon for the July show, I performed a comedic piece called If I Were Gods Brother, in which I poked a bit of fun at the Christian Rights worldview especially as it pertains to social-justice issues, opposition to science, and their attempts to shape public policy all in about thirty seconds of a fourminute bit that did not otherwise mock religion. I deliberately injected the barb at religious thinking to test the waters, figuring that the tone had to be set for a New York crowd, and that the Sunday Assembly that Sanderson wanted us to present might not fly here. Lee Moore at The Godless Revival We understood that his vision did not include the disparagement of religion, but several of us on the the story with the headline Atheist Church in a Bikini Bar. interim board believed that a fun, engaging show with a little nonI took the opportunity that day to ask audience members if theyd believing bite was the right approach for New York. He did not agree. like to come back next month for another Sunday Assembly, and the And it just kept getting worse for those of us who wanted some question was met with enthusiastic response. Its interesting to note creative autonomy. We still agreed to be respectful of religion, basically here that Sanderson hadnt really wanted us to do another SA so soon. as a show of accord with the co-founders wishes. But slowly and His plan was to keep it all on hold while he readied America for his steadily, some of us thought we could effect change from within. I return on what would be their 40 Dates/40 Nights road show in continued to angle to keep religion on the chopping block, while November 2013. But I knew it would be unwise to let this momentum Sanderson and Pippa fundamentally modified SAs inchoate mission go to waste, not to mention all the effort that went into planning that from their London headquarters. They revised the charter to be less first Sunday Assembly. So once Sanderson saw that people were ready
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Why make it a dry event? Even the Catholic mass includes wine.
flexible regarding appropriate content for their proposed Sunday By early fall, we were instructed not to use the word Atheist at Assemblies Everywhere (there were other pilot SAs in Edinburgh, allnot only in our promotions, but on stage as well. To make a fat Bristol, and Brisbane). story thin, when two of our seven board members abruptly resigned in Then an accreditation process popped up, complete with training October after clandestinely communicating with Sanderson, it became videos on how to MC an SA. The title of host was to be reserved clear that SA-NYC was eventually not going to be accredited. for those deemed worthy by Sanderson and Pippa, and no one could When we learned that the Chicago stop on the 40 Dates/40 host for two consecutive months. Apparently, they were concerned Nights tour was scheduled to take place in a wine bar inside a liquor that SA not become associated with any one individual except, of store, I could only scratch my head. What happened to avoiding bars at course, for Sanderson, who had hosted every Sunday Assembly in all costs? But thats when I understood that all our efforts had not been London since its January 2013 inception. Again we sallied forth, joking in vain. Sunday Assembly was indeed morphing to meet the desires of that we hoped we didnt have to throw tea into the harbor in rebellion their U.S. audience. Like most cultures, America enjoys the pleasures to the rules and conditions coming from an absent authority on the of alcohol and its ability to facilitate social interaction among adults. other side of the old pond. Why make it a dry event? Even the Catholic mass includes wine. Little by little, between July and October, Sanderson continued to move the goal posts. Jehovahs Favorite Choir, The Godless Revival house band When he realized that I was in charge of booking speakers for SA-NYC, he strongly suggested that we not invite Atheist activists. When most of us resisted, he acquiesced and said Atheist speakers were acceptable as long as they didnt discuss their day jobs (read: Atheism or religion). That seemed unfair, but we hoped to be able to continue to include these people. Shortly thereafter, Sanderson told us to completely avoid any topics that broached Atheism or religion, even church-state separation. Again, the majority of us resisted. We put it to a vote and had nearly unanimous consent to address religion-related topics. We assured Sanderson that they would be presented without any God bashing. We thought we had at least carved out some wiggle room to be a bit bolder in New York. But when Sanderson learned that the majority of our audience for those first two shows was comprised of self-identifying Atheists and other strains of nonbeliever, he recommended that we reach out to casual believers and the Nones, whom he now considered to be the target demographic. We tried, but its a lot harder to track them down. These ongoing conflicts led me to ask Sanderson to clarify the Next, we were told to avoid holding SA-NYC in a bar at all costs. goals and guidelines. And he admitted that he wanted to avoid the This was problematic because bars can provide drums, amps, and word Atheist in the promotional tools and on stage during shows. a PA system for the musicians who then dont have to lug their own But then, in the ReligionDispatches.com interview that appeared in gear to gigs they were playing for free. Granted, we did our first three the previous issue of this magazine, he was quoted as saying, Atheism shows in a bikini bar, which the press and much of our crowd loved, but is boring. I want to make this as un-Atheistic as possible. That ditty even when we moved to a more upscale bar for the fourth show, it still was sort of revelatory, once the whole break-up had taken place. (Read wasnt enough to make Sanderson and a couple of our interim-board the full interview at http://TinyUrl.com/GarrisonInterview.) members happy. Part of the problem for us in New York was that SA had been
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SA had been presenting itself as an Atheist church, and then later clearly disavowed Atheism as a fundamental underpinning of its mission.
presenting itself as an Atheist church, and then later clearly disavowed Atheism as a fundamental underpinning of its mission, to the point even of banning the dreaded A-word. While this was happening , I was being asked by SA organizers in Los Angeles and Portland to share my experiences. Thus, I wrote an email to several potential SA planners around the country describing our experiences in New York. In it, I said, If you feel too confined by SAs approach, then I Boston Atheists Zachary Bos stated, Weve been using the phrase godless congregation in our marketing, and that seems to satisfy all involved. When Im wearing my American Atheists [Regional] Director hat, I work to address certain issues with a certain emphasis in view of the public and the media. My message and mission is different when Im helping put together a Sunday Assembly meeting I dont see the different labels of Atheist and Humanist and Secular and Skeptic as competing at all. Were all rowing in the same direction, after all. Sunday Assembly Los Angeles organizer Ian Dodd noted, We say Atheist all the time. Our speakers say Atheist. Our promotional materials say Atheist. Weve had long, fascinating conversations with Jones and Evans about Atheism. Were sensitive to the fact that not everyone in our community selfidentifies that way, particularly those currently transitioning out of religion. But we never shy away from claiming the word Atheist for ourselves because we are not ashamed or afraid of it! These replies came weeks after our skirmish in New York over this exact issue. Apparently, Sanderson thought better of trying to fight it. I had also pushed back hard on the issues of inviting Atheist-activist speakers and that of addressing Atheism- or religion-related topics, so I broached this as well with other potential SA planners. SA Nashville planner David Lyle had this take on the matter: Living in the buckle of the Bible Belt, Im always okay with avoiding religion-related issues. That sort of thing permeates everyday life in Nashville and I see no need to address it in Sunday Assembly. Ian Dodd also offered this perspective: Fighting the good fight in the public square is something well leave to organizations far more capable, like American Atheists. In offering something a little different, its our hope that Sunday Assembly will be relevant to a different subset of the non-theist community. Eventually, Sanderson acquiesced to us in NYC that Sunday Assemblies in America could indeed invite Atheist-activist speakers as long as they were balanced with speakers from other realms. This was another small ex post facto battle won. But it ultimately got us ousted in the process. It was all of this dissent that culminated in that surreptitious plot among three of the seven interim-board members, where two of them unceremoniously resigned from their posts in a fait accompli after
suggest you try to get Sanderson to loosen the reins. Im not saying you need to bash religion in the process (which is like shooting fish in a barrel anyway), but I would counsel that you openly embrace Atheism, both in word and deed, in order to make it more acceptable and better integrated into our social fabric. I hope the input offered provides some help in this sticky matter Your desires and your efforts here will set the tone for what happens with Sunday Assemblies in the rest of the country. In the email, I asked several other organizers if they would be comfortable avoiding the word Atheist at their Sunday Assemblies.
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theyd been in touch with Sanderson about the maneuver. They wanted to Don Albert make sure that they could leave the extant group but legally maintain the Sunday Assembly brand and be granted the ever-looming accreditation. They wanted to be bona fide while ensuring that we were not. So, on a Friday evening in November, the conspiring members called for an emergency board meeting conference call to announce their departures. Those of us being given the boot by phone that night were frankly shocked. But it ultimately came down to an irreconcilable difference of vision. Although I think SAs message to Live better, help often, and wonder more is nebulous and insubstantial, I believed that it had potential in the U.S., but only if Sanderson had altered his vision to suit at least what I understand the climate to be in New York. And to a certain extent, he did somewhat alter that vision. Sunday Assembly could still be a real boon to Atheism, but Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans want a happyfest that never pokes at anything even remotely prickly. That didnt carry much appeal for some of us, so three board membersDon Albert, Lee Moore, and Idecided straightaway to start The Godless Revival and we havent looked back since. For me, being free of the restrictions of the Sunday Assembly is, in an odd way, like being free of religion. We feel liberated to finally get to do the kind of show weve wanted to do all along. It was a fortuitous mutiny of sorts, and were happy now to be afloat in our own boat where we can gleefully, irreverently row like the unabashed nonbelievers we are. Although I think that we served as some sort of guinea pig in SAs experiment in the colonies, Im glad we were part of the initial charge to help pave the way. In the end, Sunday Assembly has been at least partially influenced by our dogged insistence that Atheism not be completely uninvited from the party it started. Every church in history has embraced a certain philosophy or ideology. Why, then, would an Atheist church or a godless congregation neuter itself by never promotingor even discussingits own raison dtre? I bear Sanderson and Pippa no animosity or resentment. I understand that they were trying to protect their vision. But several of us in New York and elsewhere have warned them about the cultural differences between the U.K. and the U.S. We have that trifling constitutional matter of church-state separation, and yet America is still the most religious country in the developed world. Any Atheist who thinks critically will maintain a moral compass based on reason and evidence, void of religions influence, and many people want to address the religion-based problems that continue to plague our society. Well gladly wear that yoke via The Godless Revival, albeit with a wry eye and pointed jab in the ribs of religion, whenever and
wherever we see fit. Our new creation is not a church at all. The Godless Revival is the first Atheist variety show in the U.S., maybe even the world. Were keeping the live music but not the sing-alongs or the sermons. And well include everyone from scientists and storytellers to jugglers and magicians. Its a party with a brain. To their credit, I think Sanderson and Pippa are doing something they believe in. And I do believe theyre on the right side of the god issue. But as long as people continue to hide or downplay their Atheism, its going to be a lot harder and take much longer to achieve a post-religious world. If all the nonbelievers in this country stood up and proudly revealed their Atheism, it would be an un-ignorable call. Atheists can and should be represented as positive, helpful, competent, and caring. But that wont happen as long as were not all embracing the word Atheism, and the deeds that can and should be done in its name. Editors note: Michael Dorian emailed Sanderson Jones with questions for this piece. Jones reply email said that he was busy but he would get back to him. We have yet to receive a reply, but we will publish any response to this article. Michael Dorian produced and directed the feature-length documentary Pizza! The Movie, which appeared on The Documentary Channel in 2009. His script for the Alva, a documentary about Thomas Edison, won the Tribeca Film Institutes 2008 screenwriting competition. Besides Refusing My Religion, he is also working on A Cross to Bear, a documentary about American Atheists lawsuit over the placement of the 9/11 miracle cross in the National September 11 Museum.
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SCIENCE INTERVIEW SERIES
The Science of Faith Part Two

by Ce Atkins
Introduction
Religion is one of the main barriers, if not the main barrier, to a global, civil society.
In the previous issue of American Atheist, J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D., explained how religion is a by-product of our innate biological mechanisms. In Part Two, we conclude with more discussion from his book, Why We Believe in God(s): A Concise Guide to the Science of Faith.
In your book, you talk about the neurobiology of ritual. What, exactly, is that?
Religious rituals are a kind of biotechnology that catalyze the neurotransmitters that activate trust, attachment, bonding, and memory in our brains. Some of the most well-known neurotransmitters are also the most important: serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. The last two are better known as adrenaline and nor-adrenaline. In addition, theres oxytocinthe trust hormoneand endorphins. Endorphins are associated with controlling pain, but they also regulate social trust. They get us thinking about others rather than just ourselves. Our ancestors came up with mechanisms to boost the neurotransmitters that enhance group affiliation and trust. Those mechanisms include synchronous physical activity, vigorous physical activity, music, song, dance, and trance. Nicholas Wades book, The Faith Instinct, is about the first religions and the centrality of intense ritual with these components. He traces the origins of religion to three populations: the !Kung San of Africa, the Aborigines of Australia, and the inhabitants of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean, who were virtually untouched by outside populations until the twentieth century. They are the closest to our ancestors who left Africa 70,000 years ago.
J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D.
These populations have almost identical religions. Wade argues that they are a window to our original religion: song, dance, and trance. All contemporary religions contain vestiges of that original religion because those rituals are crucial to boosting the neurotransmitters that cause bonding, trust, and group cohesion. In my book, I extended Wades observation by incorporating the neurobiology. Its possible to observe these components of religious ritual music, vigorous physical activity, touch, synchronous movement engaging certain neurotransmitters, and they all come together to create a powerful biotechnology of trust. It helps solve a lot of the problems of group living. Religious rituals are also the original square dance. If community bonding is caused by innate biological mechanisms, then how can we foster that bonding without invoking a deity and without being manipulative? Advertising is just as manipulative as religious authority because it taps into those same neurotransmitters. Thats one of the tasks in front of the secular community, and its a tough one. I dont have a quick and easy answer. Advertisements exploit our evolved tastes, certainly. They present a supernormal stimulus. Religions claim authority and knowledge of right from wrong. A useful corrective is H. L. Menckens superb delineation of the distinction between religious morality and regular morality. He defined regular morality as doing what is right regardless of what youre told and religious morality as doing what youre told regardless of whether its right. You also say its not possible to argue someone out of their god belief. We must continue to debate believers, but we should never expect our arguments to lead to any sudden changes in others. I think our arguments should be directed toward looking at the evidence, encouraging believers to use their own minds, to think for themselves, to see what their own analysis and reflection bring. There are several reasons for this. Some excellent neuro-imaging studies have been done by Sam Harris, the neuroscientist and author of several books, including The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, and one of the best on moral inferential systems, The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values. His neuroimaging studies reveal that religious belief is located in the same part of the brain as our sense of self, our identity. If Im a Muslim or a Christian or a Jew, thats very much tied to my identity, which no one gives up overnight. If Im a Christian, my relatives are likely to be Christians as well, so my beliefs are also involved in my family attachments. Giving up faith means giving up ones identity, and it may put relationships at risk. Charles Darwin faced that in his life. Giving up his religious belief was not an easy business for him because his wife, Emma, was a devout believer. This caused him great pain and stress. Emma wrote some poignant letters to him on this issue. You ache when you read them.
Its highly unlikely that youll present your arguments to someone and have them say, Youre right. From this moment forward, Im an Atheist. What I tell people is, Look, Im not going to argue you out of your faith. I wouldnt want to. I dont want anyone to change because of coercion. But I would like to persuade you to look at the evidence outside your own beliefs and use your own critical judgment. See what you come to. If you argue forcefully, people dig in their heels. But all is hardly lost. Keep in mind your audience. Christopher Hitchens likely failed to change the minds of his debate opponents, yet Ill wager that Hitchens swayed some young men and women whove either attended or seen videos of his debates. How do people respond to your arguments? Well, they become uncomfortable, which is all you want to accomplish. You want them to see your point, but you want to avoid hammering them over the head. I wrote my book because there is an enormous amount of elegant psychological science that gives us a comprehensive understanding of religious belief. I want it more widely
Mencken defined regular morality as doing what is right, regardless of what youre told and religious morality as doing what youre told regardless of whether its right.
Opposing stem-cell research is like opposing the polio vaccine or clean drinking water.
known. Its also important to look at the mechanisms involved in shedding religious belief. We ought to support that research. Where do you draw the line between persuasion and coercion? I see the logic of not forcing the horse to drink but, emotionally, Im impatient. I want it done now. You mentioned in one of your talks that religion is a huge barrier to a world community. Thats from Sam Harris. Religion is one of the main barriers, if not the main barrier, to a global, civil society. Thats partly why its so important to research how and why people give up belief. I think well find multiple mechanisms involved in the ways that people give up their beliefs. The more we understand that, the more we can tailor our arguments to try to engage those mechanisms. But Im like you. I want it over yesterday. How many more September 11th terrorist attacks do we need? Religion fuels some of the most destructive attitudes and policies, like climate-change denial and stem-cell-research bans. The limitless possibilities of stem-cell research to cure some of our most devastating illnesses are well-known. I am a physician. Opposing stem-cell research makes my blood boil. It is like opposing the polio vaccine or clean drinking water. Its outrageous to kowtow to religious sensibilities over global safety and health. Its outrageous that these oppositions are even listened to, let alone given as much sway as they are. But, again, were born believers. Religion pirates the mechanisms I spoke of earlier. Cognitively, its more work not to believe than to believe. Are you familiar with Robert Trivers and The Folly of Fools? Yes, Ive admired him for years. One of the nicest things that happened in publishing my book was sending a copy to him. In response, he sent a marvelous email. He read the book, liked it, and wished hed had it when he was writing The Folly of Fools. To say it made my day is an understatement. I love what he says about religious diversity: Regarding the evidence, there can be little doubt. Across the entire globe, religious and linguistic diversity map directly on parasite load, as does ethnic diversitythe higher the parasite pressure, the more religions, languages, and ethnic groups per unit area. I am familiar with that. Trivers is citing the work of Randy Thornhill and C. L. Fincher. Their brilliant research shows that religiosity is a function of parasite load and non-zoonotic infectious disease burden. Non-zoonotic infectious diseases are those transferred from human to human. Places with a high disease burden of human-to-human infectious agents have more religions. Thornhill and Fincher also mapped it onto political groupings. There are a number of social and cultural practices that map onto infectious disease burden. Theirs is utterly brilliant research and a nice illustration of the unexpected and beautiful nature of science. Fifty years ago no one would have believed this. Fifty years ago? When Randy Thornhill was telling me this four or five years ago, I was dubious. Then when he explained it, it made absolute sense. Robert Sapolsky has also done some important research. His book Monkey Luv contains a chapter about the ecology of religion. He looks at rainforest religions versus desert religions, and he concludes that polytheistic religions come out of rainforests, and monotheistic religions come out of harsh desert environments. What has been the response to your book? In the secular community, theres been a lot of appreciation and enthusiasm, and Im deeply grateful. I havent presented the work to academics who study the psychology of religious belief. That will be interesting because my view is not universally accepted by any means. Theres a split between people like Pascal Boyer, Scott Atran, and Steven Pinker, who think that religion is a cultural by-product, and people like Nicholas Wade, Jonathan Haidt, and David Sloan Wilson, who think that religion is a groupselection phenomenon. Interestingly enough, I was invited to give a talk at a Southern Baptist Sunday school class in a university town, and they heard me out. Ive only had a few people get angry and stomp out of my talks. But I read that as success because, on some level, theyre unsettled. They wouldnt react so strongly unless I had touched a nerve.
J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D., is a psychiatrist in private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is also a staff psychiatrist at the University of Virginia. His book has been translated into Polish and German. Spanish, Russian, Italian, Hebrew, and Turkish editions are forthcoming. An edition in Urdu (the language of Pakistan and Muslim India) is available for free at www.JAndersonThomson.com. Ce Atkins is the creator and editor of PostGenetic.com. He proposes new cultural coding mechanisms for interfacing with exponentially accelerating complexity at the societal level.
Cognitively, its more work not to believe than to believe.
Its outrageous to kowtow to religious sensibilities over global safety and health.
Blasphemy
A Medieval Concept with Modern Consequences
All court challenges in this country to the constitutional protections against blasphemy have been unsuccessful.
John Suarez with a distant cousin. (John is on the right.) in the West paid little attention to the trend. Then came September 11, 2011, and the subsequent wave of criticism of, and ridicule against, both the religion of Islam and the Muslim theocracies of the world. These governments, though sympathetic to the U.S. in the wake of the attacks, demanded nonetheless that Western states suppress and punish those within their borders who dared to insult Islam. Backed by the Saudi-based Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the process of exporting a rebirth of the opposition to blasphemy and the concomitant suppression of free speech was well on its way. The OIC (renamed the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 2011) was established in 1969 by Saudi Arabia, and today includes 57 member states whose collective population exceeds 1.5 billion. Next to the United Nations, it is the largest world organization and has permanent representation in the UN. It claims to be the collective voice of the Muslim world (www.OICUN.org/2/23). Whereas the West views religious freedom from the vantage point of the right of the individual, the OIC puts the focus on respecting and protecting religion itself. At a 1990 meeting in Cairo, the OIC took issue with the UNs 1948 Declaration of Human Rights because of its Western bias. A glimmer of hope came in 2008 when the OIC revised its charter, which now supports the Declaration and international laws. These developments, however, have not trickled down to constitutional and legislative changes within its member nations. The expectations of those calling for the internationalization of legal bans on blasphemy can be readily surmised from an analysis of the restrictions already in place in their contemporary societies. Not only are freedom of religion and speech in jeopardy, but the suppression extends to political, social, and academic freedoms. Viewing the process from the vantage point of what happened to Christianity after the Protestant Reformation, we Westerners can readily see that stifling independent
by John M. Suarez, M.D.
he word blasphemy was coined into the English language in the 13th century as a refinement to the broader word heresy. Although the core definition includes showing contempt and/or lack of reverence for god, in practice it has been stretched in many directions to encompass socio-political contexts as well. Today, the term is in the lexicon of every major modern language. The concept of blasphemy has since overlapped with other words like heresy, apostasy, idolatry, sacrilege, nonconformity, sedition, treason, profanity, and obscenity, typically with devastating results. As Leonard W. Levy points out in his 1993 book Blasphemy: Verbal Offense Against the Sacred, from Moses to Salman Rushdie, Over the centuries, the sanctions against blasphemy have inhibited not only religious, but artistic, political, scientific and literary expression. With the Age of Reason came a significant dampening of these sanctions. The radical First Amendment of the US Constitution rendered the issue largely moot in this country, although a handful of states still have blasphemy laws in their books. Even so, all court challenges in this country to the constitutional protections against blasphemy have been unsuccessful. In 1989, U.S. news outlets gave quite a bit of attention to the issue of blasphemy when Irans Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie (then living in England) in reaction to his novel The Satanic Verses. Though Rushdie survived, many others associated with the novels publication did not fare so well. The Japanese translator was stabbed to death and the Italian and Norwegian translators were both violently attacked. More recently overseas, violence and murder have been motivated by the mere existence of films like Submission, Fitna, and Innocence of Muslims. Such repercussions threaten to reverse the fragile gains achieved by the First Amendment in the U.S., and even though severe curbs on religious freedom and speech have been blossoming in Muslimmajority countries over the past several years, the mainstream media
Mortgaging our core values for the sake of appeasing those who do not share them is an arrangement that will render us neither safer nor freer.
All of the Good, None of the God Part Three:

by Conor Robinson
Aminetu Iddrissu (left) with her daughter and grandson
Safety in Squalor:Northern Ghanas Camps for Alleged Witches
athfinders Project is a year-long international service trip sponsored by the Foundation Beyond Belief, a non-profit organization with the mission to focus, encourage, and demonstrate the generosity and compassion of secular humanists. Through the project, four young Atheist leaders are completing clean water, education, human rights, and environmental conservation projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These projects will give the volunteers an opportunity to engage in dialogue across religious, cultural, and ethnic boundaries, as well as to evaluate countries and partner organizations with the ultimate goal of selecting one site for launching the Humanist Service Corps. American Atheist is following them as they do good for the world, not for god. In this installment, Conor talks about their time spent last December at Kukuo, one of six permanent refugee camps for women accused of witchcraft in the Northern Region of Ghana.
The alleged witches participate in one of the only effective forms of democracy in rural Ghana.
Belief in witchcraft is widespread in Ghana. A 2009 Gallup poll women in polygamous marriages. These round huts are attached to the found that 77 percent of Ghanaians believe witches exist. Its in the rectangular hut to form a compound. Northern Region that the situation is the worst, with allegations of The circular, unattached huts in Kukuo are the exception. The witchcraft resulting in brutal beatings, exile, and sometimes even women at Kukuo usually have no male relatives at the camp and are execution. For the women who are exiled, it means life in one of six too old to marry, so they are left to tend to their own properties and camps for alleged witches, commonly called witch camps. keep their own homes. Ironically, the consequence of these customs is For the government of Ghana and concerned advocacy that the accused witches have become some of the only women in the organizations, the camps pose an ethical dilemma. Without them, country who own their own homes. more Ghanaian women would be killed by their communities instead of merely being banished. Because the government doesnt have the Visiting Kukuo resources or manpower to police the rural communities, the only justice The first order of business when we arrived was to speak with the system is the lynch mob. Priests are believed to have the power to sense magic in others and can incite communities to violence by pointing a finger at members within their midst. A person need not even be a priest to accuse another of witchcraft, because the appearance of another person in a dream is enough to condemn them and then beat them all the way to the border of one of the camps for alleged witches. Thus, these camps seem to save the lives of alleged witches, but conditions are squalid. The inadequate food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare constitute numerous human rights violations. Many residents come from families that have no means of support for these women other than to send daughters and granddaughters to live with them. These helpers, therefore, are also exiled from their communities and damned to live in these The hut of an alleged witch inhumane conditions. Kukuo is unique, in that it is the only camp that integrates its residents into the local community. The people there chief. The outside of his palace was indistinguishable from the other believe that the land is protected by small gods who do not allow a mens huts. The inside was bare except for an elevated throne area with person to think bad thoughts towards someone else. Witches, therefore, a large leather pillow and animal furs. are stripped of their powers. When we entered, four male elders were assembled in front of the In Kukuo, the huts of the accused are easily identified, but not chief, who welcomed us with a gift of cola nuts. Guests receive cola nuts because the inhabitants are purposefully segregated on account of when they first meet their hosts and they are supposed to reciprocate their alleged crimes. In rural Ghana, custom dictates that men live in with their own offering of cola nuts, but the ceremony has evolved to rectangular houses and women, if they have their own quarters, live in allow visitors to offer cedis, the Ghanaian currency, instead. It may even circular huts. A woman spends most of her life in a rectangular house be preferred, so despite having a bag of cola nuts in our truck, we gave first her fathers, then her husbands, and if her husband dies, she lives the chief 20 cedis. with a close male relative if she doesnt remarry. The circular huts are for As we received the nuts from the chief and the elders, we
No one questions the fact that the vast majority of people accused of witchcraft are women who do not conform to gender stereotypes.
The plight of the alleged witches fosters, of all things, tourism.

responded to their greetings with the word naa, the only reply to a greeting in the Dagbani language. The intonation of naa is interesting. Its the same tone a person uses to respond to praise obvious pleasure but a mix of obligatory embarrassment and denial. Several seconds of this monosyllable passed back and forth between the chief, the elders, and our guide as the cola nuts were removed, one by one, from a brass pot. This interaction, the exchange of cola, heightens one of the more uncomfortable aspects of visiting Kukuo. The plight of the alleged witches fosters, of all things, tourism. The presence of outsiders and the cola or cedis they bring bestow honor upon the chief and the elders. Without the camps, there would be no motivation to travel to this area. residents other than the alleged witches and their family members. Purification Because the shrine at Kukuo is only open on Mondays and Fridays, the women stay under the protection of the chief for two or three days after they arrive. In that time, they must find two chickens for the shrine ritual, which costs 40 cedis for a woman already accused, but fewer than 20 for a preemptive purification. The ritual begins at 4:00 a.m. The priest tells the woman, who has been fasting, what incantations to make to the oracles. He then slaughters the first chicken, which will determine if the woman has been falsely accused. Conveniently, neither the priest nor the woman can reveal the results, or they will be struck dead by the oracles. She is then given a cup of water, which contains a source of purifying powera magic stone introduced by the great-grandfather of the current priest. Before she drinks the water, the woman must confess. If she denies her powers, she will contract diarrhea and die in three months. She is then asked if she wishes to remain in Kukuo. Whether or not she does, the second chicken is slaughtered to secure a blessing from the oracles for the womans wish. When a priest dies, the successor is chosen by two inanimate objects: his talisman and his staff. They magically relocate from the home of the deceased priest to the home of the new priest, who always ends up being the nearest patrilineal descendant. The morning after the talisman and the staff select the new priest, the community celebrates. No one questions the fact that the power of the priesthood manages to stay in one family even though they believe the talisman and the staff can select anyone in the community. Similarly, no one questions the fact that the vast majority of people accused of witchcraft are women who do not conform to gender stereotypes, are not considered a threat in any way other than their alleged witchcraft, or who arent seen as useful. In Kukuo, more than 70% of the 136 alleged witches were accused as elderly widows. Others were accused after it became clear they could not bear children. Many were accused after becoming successful in business and helping their neighbors with loans.
Kukuos elders and chief

However, the chief and one of the elders, a fetish priest, believe that helping these women comes at a cost to them and provides no benefits. As evidence of this, the chief asked us to notice the state of his palace compared to those of other chiefs. To be fair, he really did seem to be moved by the abuses these women face, and he realizes that without his hospitality, they would be dead. But this does not change the fact that the Kukuo community exists entirely because of the violent expulsion of women from their communities. With the exception of the royal family, Kukuo has no
Priests are believed to have the power to sense magic in others and can incite communities to violence by pointing a finger at members within their midst.
Of all the people we met in Ghana, there was only one person who did not believe in the existence of witchcraft, and he was not a Ghanaian. The lone doubter was an agnostic named Samir from the University of Oxford. He was a volunteer with the Alliance for African Women Initiative (AFAWI) at the same time we were. We all worked under Philip Agyei, a co-founder and the coordinator of volunteers for the organization, which promotes equitable access for women to education, health care, and business opportunities. If anyone were in a position to recognize the use of witchcraft accusations to strip women of their rights, it would be Philip. In almost every way, Philip is a radically progressive Ghanaian. He has spent his entire adult life working to empower women. Despite being deeply religious, he takes a sensible approach to sex education because he has a real understanding of the factors affecting rates of HIV transmission. And in contrast to the residents of the Northern Region, where accusations of witchcraft double during malaria season, Philip goes to the hospital for blood tests when he recognizes the signs of malaria. Indeed, when the symptoms of malaria worsened in my fellow Pathfinder volunteer Ben Blanchard, it was Philip who was most insistent that Ben (whos doing much better now) see a doctor. And yet, Philip believes in witchcraft. He explained to us that in Ghana, witches appear as flames or balls of light, which he has himself seen above the rooftops of houses. Progress The extent that Ghanaians are beginning to question the witchcraft accusations is due in large part to the efforts of Leo Igwe, a Nigerian humanist who has brought to light the human rights abuses against women accused of witchcraft throughout West Africa. Leo was our first point of contact with the camps, and it was through him that we connected with Action Aid, an international organization committed to finding sustainable solutions to poverty and injustice in over 40 countries. Action Aid put us in touch with Songtaba, a program that organizes a coalition of representatives of all six camps in the Northern Region, thus giving the residents a purpose beyond mere survival: a growing voice. Songtaba has been able to register all of these women with the national health care system and has secured what food they can from the national food program. Songtaba empowers the alleged witches to educate the public about the abuses against them through radio campaigns and street marches. In addition to the coalition of camp representatives, there are executive councils within each camp. The members are elected democratically and their function is to communicate with the chief and elders regarding the needs of the camp residents. When food and supplies are donated to Kukuo, the executive council decides how to distribute them. The executives pay regular home visits to all 136 alleged witches and arrange for assistance for those unable to fetch their own water and firewood. Although the male members of the royal family are the only ones allowed to have a role in camp governance, they do listen to what the executives say. It probably helps that a nephew of the chief is an Action Aid employee, but there does seem to be genuine compassion for these women. So in addition to being the only women in the country to own and run their own homes, the alleged witches also participate in one of
The Women of Kukuo

Senetu Kojo When we met Senetu Kojo, she was lying down inside her hut. Her cheeks and forehead were covered with an herbal remedy for her swollen face. The women in the camp are enrolled in the national health insurance program, so Senetu was able to go to a clinic for an illness she had been suffering. But because the drugs they gave her caused her face to swell, and she never understood how the drugs were supposed to work, she abandoned them for an herbal remedy to treat the inflammation but not the illness that sent her to the clinic in the first place. Senetus early adulthood was happy, even though there was some hardship. She had two children with one husband before he died. She then had five more with another husband, but only four survived. When he died, she went to live with her brothers. Things were peaceful for a time until one of the brothers started to compete with another man for the attention of a female neighbor. When the other man and the woman got sick, they blamed Senetu. Rather than exiling her violently, they tricked her into leaving the community by telling her that her mother was sick.
Senetu Kojo
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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
Conor with Kukuo children
The fact that her mother was in Kukuo likely had something to do with the accusation. She went to Kukuo and found her mother well, but her brothers community would not allow her to return at first, until an uncle who was a military officer was able to sort out the situation. But when her brothers rival died of the illness Senetu was accused of causing, she was attacked and sent back to Kukuo. By that time, her uncle had also died and could no longer help her. Senetus granddaughter lives with her to help, but she has a disabled leg and is unable to fetch their water, so they sell firewood to pay someone to bring water to them. Their primary means of food are the stray ears of corn overlooked by harvesters that her granddaughter finds in the fields. Because they cant afford new thatch for their leaky roof and they cant repair it themselves, they must stay awake on the nights that it rains so they can mop up the water. It wasnt until after her departure that each of her primary accusers, as well as her brother, died. Senetu points to this as evidence of her innocence. Nonetheless, she believes that witchcraft is real. Shenka Kwame On the day we met Shenka Kwame, this frail woman had spent the morning hours collecting firewood in the bush. She is not strong enough to carry a jerrican from the well and she has no children or grandchildren at Kukuo to help her, so she sells kindling and relies on alms for food and water. When we asked her age, she first told us with a wry smile that she didnt know how to answer. After a few moments, she explained that she was 20 years old when her first child was born in 1957. She bore her husband five children, but two of the boys died. Had they lived, things might have been different. Her husband took a second wife, who eventually convinced him to drive Shenka away. Still strong, she married another man and bore him two daughters. When he died, she continued to live with her children in their own home, where they were managing to survive. One evening, she decided to entertain herself by attending a local dance. At the event, the festivities were paused for an announcement: There were witches in the community disturbing the peace. Seven names were read out loud, and Shenka was relieved that hers wasnt among them. But then her name was also called, along with two others. In all, nine women and one man were implicated, with the man being named the ringleader. Soon after, a priest performed a ritual to determine who was truly a witch. Each of the accused provided a chicken to be slaughtered. A noisy death indicated innocence, a silent death guilt. Shenka was the first to be tested and her chickens distress vindicated her. Another womens
the only effective forms of democracy in rural Ghana. In 2011, when the government of Ghana proposed shutting down every camp by 2012, both the advocacy organizations and the executive councils objected vociferously. Without these places of refuge, where witches are believed to lose their powers, the women would be beaten and killed. These inhumane ghettos are the only existing safe havens. The executives in Kukuo told us that our visit was like being asleep and then having a spirit tap you so that you know you have to get up. We were able to show them that their advocacy work was noticed not only in Ghana but in other parts of the world as well. They vowed to redouble their efforts, and now we must focus ours. It is not enough to condemn the superstition behind the accusations of witchcraft in Northern Ghana. The same beliefs exist elsewhere in Ghana, but thanks to increased development and education in those areas, those beliefs are not needed as an explanation for tragedy. Thus, instead of merely condemning the superstition itself, we must also condemn the conditions that leave room for such superstition to serve as an explanation for tragedy in the first place.
In the next issue of American Atheist, Conor talks about the lessons the Pathfinders learned in The Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Ecuador. Want to keep up with the Pathfinders day by day? Follow their blogs at PathfindersProject.com and visit their Facebook page at Facebook. com/PathfindersProject.
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chicken also died noisily, but their neighbors threatened to kill the two women if they stayed. When she appealed to the chief, he supported the community. He banished her immediately, forbidding her to take any belongings except the clothes she was wearing. Her children were too young to help her make the journey, and she was brutally beaten several times on her way to Kukuo. Somehow, she survived. That was eleven years ago. Now she wants God to shorten her life so that the suffering ends. She has no thoughts for the future because the future should end today. She does not forgive her accusers. She told us that women in Northern Ghana are accused of witchcraft out of hatred and fear of what will happen if hardworking women are allowed to grow. God will pay back the accusers, Shenka says. God will pay them back. Despite all this, and even despite her innocence, Shenka is like every other resident of Kukuo we interviewed. She continues to believe witchcraft is real. Aminetu Iddrissu When we met Aminetu Iddrissu, a Muslim in her seventies who hardly speaks any of the local language, she was Kukuos newest arrival. She is there with her 30-year-old daughter, Nafisa Iddrissu, who translated for us. While we were there, Nasifas two naked boys, four-year-old Ibrahim Gafaru and six-year-old Abdulrahaman Sayibu, bounced around the hut grinning at us. The bulk of Aminetus life passed normally and peacefully. While raising five boys and three girls, she ran a successful second-hand clothing business after her husband died. She was in a position to help other women and young people with loans, and she did so freely. When one of the women she had supported died during childbirth, Aminetu was blamed. So after coming to Kukuo for purification, she relocated to a different community and lived there with a couple she knew. When that woman also died during childbirth, Aminetu was again blamed, despite the fact that the purification should have taken away all of her powers. Even though Aminetu was a friend to these women, even though she was not their midwife, and even though dying in childbirth is common in Ghana, the coincidence was too much for her neighbors. Aminetu was again sent to Kukuo. Nasifa supports her mother and her two sons by working as a seamstress on a hand-crank sewing machine. While we were there, her younger boy nearly trampled all over the fabrics laid out for cutting. Toward the end of our conversation, some women arrived to pick up dresses Nasifa made for them. What they paid her was next to nothing. Nasifa is at Kukuo out of necessity. After Aminetus second banishment, Nasifas husband divorced her because he refused to be married to a witchs daughter. Nasifa will soon look to remarry, but for now she is doing what she can.
Shenka Kwame
Aminetu Iddrissu
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DOGMA WATCH
Religion has had an enormous impact on the world. In this series, Michael B. Paulkovich examines dogmas, myths, and religious notions past and present.
Interview with the Gospellers

by Michael Paulkovich Luke
For this installment of Dogma Watch, I was fortunate to catch up with two original Gospel writers. What follows is a transcript of my Skype interview.
Dogma Watch: Luke, lets start with you Luke: Thats Saint Luke, Mr. Atheist. I think Ive earned it. DW: Apologies... Saint Luke. But let us leave that to the readers to judge, shall we? Luke: Hey, its your eternal soul, buddy. Judge ye not, lest DW: Right you are. Lets get down to it. Exodus 21:7 offers advice on how to sell your daughter into slavery. It says, And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall Matthew: Thats the Old Testament, man Luke: Thats the Old Testament, Sir. Jesus changed everything. Or did you miss the New Testament? DW: No, I didnt miss anything. Jesus never admonished slave-owners, and he also advised us regarding the degree to which we should beat our slaves. You recorded it yourself, Luke, in Chapter 12, Verses 46 and 47: And that servant, which knew his lords will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. Luke: I know what I recorded, Sir. This does not refer to slaves, but a way of life, a way for people to pay off their debts to friends at their discretion. Like borrowing $50 from your next-door neighbor today, and offering to cut his lawn instead of paying back the money.
Michael Paulkovich
DW: Hold on. When a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant clearly its slavery, not a moral way of life, as you called it. And, you would whip your neighbor savagely if he were temporarily indentured to mow your lawn? Luke: Well, hes a friend, a neighbor. Hes the one who borrowed the 50 bucks, not me. And hes not a strangerso, yes. Anything commanded by Jesus is, by definition, moral. Where do you get your moral lessons, Mr. AtheistWalmart? Mine come from Jesus the Christ! Jesus loves you. Matthew: Yeah, Jesus loves you, man.
Jesus never admonished slave-owners, and he also advised us regarding the degree to which we should beat our slaves.
You would whip your neighbor savagely if he were temporarily indentured to mow your lawn?
DW: But according to the Bible, slaves cant be your neighbors because they must come from other heathen or Gentile nations. It says right here in Leviticus 25:44, Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. Luke: Didnt I just tell you? Thats god of the Old Testament. We are under the grace of Jesus. He is all about love. DW: But isnt Jesus also god? Luke: Yes. Your point? DW: Well, if Jesus is indeed god, and its gods word in the Old Testament, then the Old Testament Luke: Again, Sir, what is your point? DW: Lets move on. You recorded the following wisdom in Chapter 14, Verse 26, from Jesus: If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Did he really mean hate? Luke: No, no, thats a bad translation. You have to understand Greek. The word I used, miseo (), means to love less. Not hate. DW: Jesus spoke Aramaic, right? Luke: Right. DW: And you translated his words to Greek? Luke: Right. DW: Almost a century after Jesus supposed birth? Luke: What do you mean, supposed birth? DW: Apologies. Back to the word hate, or miseo in Greek. Lets look at the English words misogynist and misology. They derive from Greek miseo, and they both signify hatred: in the first example, hatred of women, gynia, and the second, hatred of reasoning, logos. Here are your very words: , , that is, if anyone comes to me and does not hate (, miseo) his father Luke: Well, youre taking it out of context. See, Jesus was talking about brotherhood and love there. Matthew, here, my brother in Christ DW: By the way, Matthew, did you know Luke personally back in the day? Matthew: Well no, hes like my brother in Christ. Huh, Luke? Luke is really smart Luke: Shut up, Matt. Matthew: Sorrystill a little drunk from this mornings communion. Heaven rocks. We drink the blood of Jesus and its like 60 proof. The crackers suck, though. Luke: To answer your question, Mr. Atheist, I wrote my Gospel in the year 88. Matthew wrote his around ten years earlier. We were not acquaintances on Earth. We did finally meet in heaven. DW: Heaven? Luke: Heaven. Where do you think were calling from? Valhalla? Narnia? Whoville? DW: I do apologize. Did you say the year 88? Luke: Yes. DW: And Jesus was killed... around the year 28?1 Luke: Thats right. Your point? DW: Well... Luke: You have no point as usual, fool. DW: I thought calling someone a fool was worse than blasphemy. Look at Matthew 5:22: But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Luke: Yeah, but Im already in heaven, fool! Didnt think of that, did you? DW: Jesus himself calls people fools in Matthew 23:17 and Luke 11:40, so I guess there arent any rules where you are. Luke: No rules, just love. Matthew captured the essence of Jesus love perhaps better than I. Take Matthew 10:1, for example: And when he
I wrote my Gospel in my native Greek, and subsequently I learned English in heaven, as a matter of necessity.
had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. If that isnt love I dont know what is. DW: To heal spirits? Luke: To clean spirits. Because Jesus loves you. DW: Lets forget for a moment that Jesus actually believed unclean spirits are the cause of disease, rather than infection, metabolic causes, nutrition, etc. Did he Luke: Thats in the Greekspirits unclean, Sir. Not unclean spirits. You are using a bad translation. Matthew: Yeah, spirits unclean, like Luke saidhuh, Luke? Luke: Shut up, Matt. DW: And Jesus cured blindness with his spit, according to Mark 8:23. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. Luke: Thats right. DW: Spit? Luke: Spit. DW: In the eyes? Luke: In the eyes. DW: Okay. In Matthew 10:6, Jesus says, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I hate to be rude, but was Jesus a racist? Luke: Bite your heathen tongue! Samaritans were not of the house of Israel, Sir, like we are. They were scum and worshipped false gods, just like the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites DW: Jebusites? Luke: I am getting impatient with you, Sir. See Deuteronomy 20.2 DW:I thought you said to forget about the Old Testament because Luke: You will bow down to the LORD, thy GOD, or be damned! DW: You mean like in Mark 16:16, where Jesus said, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned? Luke: You damned well better believe it, too. Jesus loves you. DW: Yes, and I better love Jesus, or else. Luke: Smartass. DW: What about Matthew 10:7, which says, And as ye go, preach,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus seemed to think the world was ready to succumb to its ultimate terminus any day, did he not, Matthew? Matthew: Huh? What was that? Luke: Terminus? Im sorry, is that Latin? I do not speak Latin. I wrote my Gospel in my native Greek, and subsequently I learned English in heaven, as a matter of necessity. DW: Terminus means end in English. And Latin. Luke: Youre taking Matthew out of context. DW: Out of context? Luke: Its a metaphor. DW: Metaphor? Luke: Or simile. I forget which is which. I speak Greek. DW: And Jesus spoke...? Luke: Hebrew. Jesus spoke Hebrew. DW: Yet you recorded his words in Greek. Luke: Thats right. DW: I thought you said Jesus spoke Aramaic. Luke: My god, are you ever annoying. DW: Apologies. Luke: Accepted. Jesus loves you. DW: Indeed. Thank you, Luke. Matthew: Areare you going to ask me any questions? Luke: Shut up, Matt. DW: Amen. Luke: Amen. Endnotes 1. The original Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. 8, pp. 377-78) claims the crucifixion was sometime between 25 and 29 C.E. 2. Deuteronomy 20:16-17 says, But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.
Michael B. Paulkovich is a NASA engineer, inventor, and freelance writer who also contributes to Free Inquiry, Humanist Perspectives, and other journals. He is a Contributing Editor at The American Rationalist, and his book, No Meek Messiah, is available on Amazon.com.
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ATHE-QUETTE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 although should simply never be used in an expression of thanks, no matter what the situation. Situation 5: Grace Before Meals and Other Unavoidable Religious Ceremonies You have been asked to lead grace at a family event, perhaps by a family member who doesnt yet know that youre an Atheist or by one who does and likes watching you squirm uncomfortably. I can think of no condition, short of it being your dying grandmothers last wish, under which acceptance is the right course of action. Decline politely and indicate somebody who would do better in your stead. Thank you all terribly much. I think grace would mean a lot much more coming from somebody slightly religious. Plus, youll all agree that we havent heard nearly enough from Ted this evening. Go on, Ted! During the grace, the same rule holds as for any religious ceremony you find yourself attending: You need not participate, but you must not interfere. I dont care how ridiculous or disgusting the event is. If you have been invited to it, your behavior reflects upon your host, so you should keep your grimaces, eye-rolls, and mutterings to yourself. If you have invited yourself to the event, then you are your own host, and as so, should be doubly courteous. At the same time, you should feel no compulsion to join the rituals. A gracious host wouldnt include you in the first place if participation were mandatory, because that would reflect badly on them. And no good friend would expect you to betray your principles to make up for their own lack of invitational foresight. And while were on the subject, a word about hats in church. I wear BLASPHEMY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23 and innovative thinking perpetuates ideological conformity. This is hardly a revelation, as all suppressive laws have as their ultimate purpose the maintenance of power and the preservation of the status quo. In their 2011 book, Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide, Paul Marshall and Nina Shea say, In other words, blasphemy laws suppress the very voices that seek to reconcile the Muslim world with modern pluralism. The Quran and Hadith do not mention blasphemy. The offense evolved from Sharia law. Long-existing restrictions became more prominent and commonplace throughout the Muslim world as fundamentalists gained power. Patterns have emerged with negative implications for basic human rights, political and religious freedoms, and even social stability. Those in power, claiming to rule in the name of Islam, are direct beneficiaries of the suppressive legislation, which is often vague and widely applicable. A detailed review of each Muslim-majority country is not feasible in this short essay. Suffice it to say that blasphemers, qualifying by a wide range of definitions, do not fare well in places like Saudi Arabia and Iran. In fact, instances of religious restrictions to neutralize religious and political reformers can be readily found in each Muslim-majority country. The government is often exempt from carrying out the punishment, as zealots and vigilantes are given free rein to act as judges, juries, and executioners. Over the past quarter century, the UN has seen efforts attempted at adjusting international human rights standards to blasphemy and apostasy restrictions. These became bans on longstanding and legitimate subjects of inquiry and debate, as elaborated by Marshall and Sheaissues like Muslim practices affecting women and nonMuslims, and different forms of violence and retribution. These newly minted Western restrictions spare authoritarian regimes from criticism
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hats more or less everywhere, and only feel compelled to remove them at funerals, at events where their bulk blocks the view of people behind me, and during the national anthems of countries I like. As such, I regularly wear them in churches and occasionally get scolded for it. I usually respond with some variation of, Mistrust all organizations that attempt to remove you from your headwear, especially when it is the only thing interesting about you. Its usually interpreted as a benign statement of foppishness rather than an act of irreligious contempt, and the bomb is defused. If you need to err, err on the side that makes you look a little vain and silly rather than one of righteous pride, and you cant go wrong. Im sure this all sounds incredibly wishy-washy to many Atheists. Those who relish debate with hapless but cocky rubes might think Im criticizing their approach to life as an Atheist, but Im not. I aim to find a livable compromise for the rest of us less-meteoric types. We want to be recognized for what we are without making our existence a standing accusation against the world. This can be done when you are willing to be understated instead of indignant, and self-effacing when you could be caustic. After millennia of persecution, we have rightfully earned caustic indignation as our hard-won due. But sometimes a prize rejected brings rewards greater still, and reducing the overall animosity toward each other certainly counts as one such.
Dale DeBakcsy is a regular contributor to American Atheist as well as The Freethinker and The New Humanist. He is also the author and artist of the biographical series Women In Science at MadArtLab.com.
from abroad and reinforce their domestic suppression. Resolutions banning defamation of religions aim to legitimize the notion that critical speech is a human-rights violation, instead of being the protected exercise of a human right. The UN Human Rights Council refrained from adopting such a resolution for the first time since 1999, when the OIC stopped promoting such resolutions in 2011. Nevertheless, the focus has shifted to outlawing religious hate speech, which, in effect, oppresses religious freedom itself. The wording varies widely from country to country throughout Europe, but most have acceded to pressure and have adopted such bans. By contrast, the United States has remained committed to the freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. Generally, hate speech per se, including blasphemy, remains constitutionally protected. The International Religious Freedom Report, issued by the U.S. State Department on May 20, 2012, affirms religious freedom, including the right to not believe, while condemning blasphemy and apostasy laws. Those of us who have come to marvel at and depend on all the elements of the First Amendment should welcome the United States resistance, at least thus far, to pressures to enact laws that diminish our freedoms of speech and religion. Mortgaging our core values for the sake of appeasing those who do not share them is an arrangement that will render us neither safer nor freer. I am at least wise enough to allow George Bernard Shaw to be the closer: All great truths begin as blasphemies.
John M. Suarez, M.D., is a retired UCLA Professor of Psychiatry, freethinker, and lifelong social activist. He is a member of the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Education Committee of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
COMING OUT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
I want to do my best to demonstrate that if the information changes, so will my opinions. This is less like evangelism and more like living.
ranks. But for the time being, the spotlight wasnt on me. And thats how I began to learn, albeit subconsciously, that there was a me, even if no spotlight was there to confirm it to others. This would consciously manifest itself in random personal-growth spurts over the next few years, like when I learned I could paint something, never show anybody, and still love it. Or when I first sat in silence by a stream in the Rocky Mountains and felt a peace not linked to affirmation. This door to self-knowledge would creak open for the first time just after that chapel service, when I broke the seal of secular writing (previously forbidden fruit) and read Descartes famous words, I think, therefore I am. The students around me yelled in tongues and danced wildly, and the man on the stage seemed to orchestrate it all. But since I didnt have my own audience to confirm the validity of my thoughts, doubts began to trickle through the cracks of the concrete wall that housed my mind. This time, I was sitting in a chair in the audience like everybody else. And since no one was looking to me for answers, I did something new. Right there, in an ORU chapel service, I took a swing at that concrete wall. I asked the question, God, why are you invisible? Questions are not popular on a stage. Your ascended state is one people look to for answers. They want declarations, not doubt. This, I now realize, is not limited to religion. My first question led to many more. Those questions led to books. Books led to discussions. Discussions led to disenchantment. Friendships withered, parents hearts were broken, and my girlfriend prayed intensely that the man of God she once knew would have a revival of faith. I was questioning everythingfrom the young age of the earth to the immorality of homosexuality. Eventually, this led to the conclusion that it was lunacy to base ones life on a culturally contrived, ultra-specific version of an ultra-specific ethical system based on an unknowable and self-serving concept: an invisible, personal, loving, and all-powerful being named God. Thats when I realized I no longer had a stage. Its been a few years, now. My first love is married, though not to me. My childhood friends rarely talk to me. My youth leaders of yesteryear no longer label me Most Likely to Succeed. Yet I have hope, both for me and for the community I come from. When I came out to friends and family, I did it aggressively. One might even say evangelistically. Now, I try to listen more than I talk. I want to learn from those around me. I focus on living well and living fully. I have realized this process is time-consuming, and that abandoning my religious beliefs was only the first step. Im still in the process of de-converting from the most insidious thing I learned growing up in religion: polarization, the life-blood of a people who live to be on stage. This us versus them mentality did not go away when my belief in the gifts of the spirit did. To demonize the other is to place yourself in a position where you cant learn from them. I ask a lot more questions now. For example, do I consider a philosophy of life that hinges on a belief in an invisible being ridiculous? Yes. But do I think announcing this to religious people will increase their awareness or help make the world a better place? Probably not. These days, I look to bridge gaps wherever I can. I want to do my best to demonstrate that if the information changes, so will my opinions. This is less like evangelism and more like living. Id say Atheism, religion, and society as a whole could benefit from that. Heres to continually breaking down our stages.
Michael Harris is an undergraduate at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he is finishing a degree in film studies. He hopes to pursue graduate education in philosophy. He is also completing his first book (still untitled), a memoir of his upbringing in the Christian megachurch culture. He blogs at TheMichaelHarris.com.
Query
God loves us all, says Pastor Hill, But heres what I cant see: If God loves those who wish me ill, Then how can God love me?
Felicia Niume Ackerman
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From the author of the Dogma Watch series in this magazine
Religion, especially Christianity, has enjoyed unwarranted respect for far too long. Jesus did say a few nice things, but he was no humble or wise prophet. How do we know?
Its in the Bible.
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2ND QUARTER 2014
American Atheists PO Box 158, Cranford, NJ 07016 atheists.org

Why I Am An Atheist
by Steve Beai
am an Atheist because of my sincere search for god. One day, when I was around 15 years old, I stood in front of the mirror in my middle-class suburban bedroom and put a loaded gun to my head. I was not conflicted or depressed, molested or the product of a broken home. I was curious about what I would see looking down on my funeral. How much had I mattered? Who would mourn me? How would I feel in an afterlife of either heaven or hell? Then, as I stood there an instant from death, those thoughts suddenly struck me as stupid and unreal, and I realized the only way to find out the answers to my questions was to stay alive. Though my parents and grandparents considered themselves Christians, we rarely attended church, so I embarked upon a singularly personal journey in search of god. After reading and studying the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, and a number of other so-called holy books, after attending adult-education classes on religion in numerous denominations, and after observing religious friends and relatives through the years, this is what I discovered. Rather than teaching morality, rather than championing right from wrong, every religionthink of the Ten Commandmentsdemands, first and foremost, an allegiance to a god. But which one? There are gods-a-plenty on Earth. I have seen putting god first manifest itself in parents refusing to encourage or support their children, in their denying the accomplishments of adult children, and even in outright disowning their children because of nothing more than a differing religious opinion. I have adult friends who, despite their successes, have no self-confidence whatsoever, thanks to an ingrained dogmatic stance foisted on them during childhood. That people need a savior even before they are born strikes me as particularly onerous. Children are told they are born of sin, that they will never measure up, and, yet, at the same time, Jesus is supposed to have been sent by god, his father, to die horribly in order to wash away all sins, past, present, and future. Since their sins have long-since been forgiven by a magical savior, it is the Christian, rather than the Atheist, who is most at risk of feeling no true responsibility for their actions. No need to answer to this world. The reward waits in the next. Conveniently, god has told them so. I became an Atheist because I realized that my successes and failures, my mistakes and triumphs alike, are of my doing alone. Recognizing beauty in nature, feeling the sheer wonder of being alive, and being overwhelmed by love for my children and my wife all come from the perceptions and experiences that belong only to me. Knowing that I will lose everything I love and treasure once I cease to live makes me rightfully sad. But, at the same time, I have hope for a future that will extend far beyond me because I believe that what I have done and will continue to do with my life matters for those who will
Believers, no matter what age they live in, should not be allowed to pick and choose which claims of gods law to follow.
remain after Im long gone. As for believing in what god or Jesusor any of the hundreds of other stories of saviors born of a virgin that most Christians know nothing aboutsays about right and wrong, there are so many contradictions its beyond laughable. The best example is the claim that homosexuality is wrong because it is forbidden by god. The passage of the Bible that says homosexuality is punishable by death is the same passage that says wearing garments of wool and cotton is also an offense punishable by death. The Bible is either the word of god or it is not. Believers, no matter what age they live in, should not be allowed to pick and choose which claims of gods law to follow. If the biblical god demanded centuries ago that disobedient children should be put to death, then why, if this is the word of god, shouldnt the same be required today? It seems that any thinking person could clearly see this for what it is: superstition irrelevant to todays world. Many who believe in a magical being who controls the human animal seem more concerned with vilifying others than making an active and sincere search into their own beliefs. These believers seem to take great pleasure in wishful thinking for eternal torture of those who disagree with them, when they should instead be asking themselves: Can this actually be real or could I be wrong? True compassion is lost on these people. Rather than being moral, compassion is despicable when it is demonstrated only because of a promised reward in an afterlife. When I think of the miracles of Jesus, I wonder why he didnt make indoor plumbing instantly available. It would have saved millions from the scourge of sepsis during his time. Surely, the son of god would be aware of something as important as indoor plumbing. Instead, the Bible chronicles unverifiable miracles occurring at the same time as countless people dying from a lack of basic sanitation. So much for prophecy. Yet believers claim evidence for god where there is none. Worse, they are afraid to undertake a sincere search. I am now 50 years old, a professional author, a father, a husband, a son, and a friend. I am a long distance from that first contemplation in front of my mirror. I have asked many questions along the way and have learned much. I am an Atheist because it is simply an embarrassment, given what is clearly known today, to believe in such fairy tales.
Steve Beai is the author of the novel Widows Walk and the nonfiction book Censoring the Censors. He has written over 150 short stories and articles which have appeared in publications including Imagination Fully Dilated, Eldritch Tales, The Years Best Fantasy and Horror, and more. He can be reached at Beai@att.net.
When I think of the miracles of Jesus, I wonder why he didnt make indoor plumbing instantly available.
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2ND QUARTER 2014
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American Atheists

Americas First Atheist Variety Show

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American Atheists TV Show is All New

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Always playing on Atheists.org.

Does Atheist Viewpoint air on your local cable access channel?

Bring Atheist TV to your community today!

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Pamela Whissel Editor-in-Chief MagEditor@Atheists.org

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Coming Out by Stepping Off the Stage

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If It Werent for Faith

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To an Atheist, a soup kitchen is a place to feed the hungry. Period.

A Column by Dan Arel

Why Teaching the Controversy Hurts Science Education

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Ignorance Isnt Bliss

Williams Jennings Bryan Ken Ham

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How Refusing to Compromise Convictions Led to the Godless Revival

Don Albert, left, and Michael Dorian Photos by Laura Moore

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SCIENCE INTERVIEW SERIES

The Science of Faith Part Two

J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D.

Cognitively, its more work not to believe than to believe.

by John M. Suarez, M.D.

All of the Good, None of the God Part Three:

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The plight of the alleged witches fosters, of all things, tourism.

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The Women of Kukuo

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Conor with Kukuo children

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Interview with the Gospellers

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