AMERICAN ATHEIST

A JOURNAL OF ATHEIST NEWS AND THOUGHT

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2019

Overlooked
No More
The Rich Legacy of Black Nonbelief
William Barr’s Equal Space with The Fourteenth
Fact-Free Attack Jehovah’s Witnesses Amendment and
on Secularism at the DMV in Virginia Religious Freedom
STAND WITH
AMERICAN ATHEISTS!
Every victory you read about in this magazine was achieved
thanks to our members, donors, and volunteers.

We’ve led the fight for absolute separation of religion from

government for more than 50 years, and we work tirelessly to
eradicate the stigma associated with atheism.

Please make a tax-deductible gift today!

www.atheists.org/support
 November / December 2019
VOL. 57 – NO. 5

In This Issue
4 Pure, Unadulterated Skepticism

6 Quick Hits

12
7 Atheists Beat Jehovah’s Witnesses at
Their Own Game

8 Protecting Free Speech in Online

Public Forums

9 Indiana Officials Fail in Trying to

Exclude Atheists

10 Supreme Court Watch: Espinoza v.

Montana Department of Revenue

12 S.E.P. Field Theory: A New Paradigm of

Theist Apocalyptic Inertia

16 The Fourteenth Amendment and

Religious Freedom

20 Cover Story: The Rich Legacy of

Black Nonbelief

24 The Attorney General’s Fact-Free

Attack on Secularism

26 Little God, Big God

29 Notable Books

30 Why I Am an Atheist

16
On the cover: Author, anthropologist,
and filmmaker Zora Neale Hurston,
photographed in 1938 by Carl Van Vechten.
Biographers and history books have largely
ignored her atheism, but not anymore.

American Atheist Magazine

225 Cristiani St.
Cranford, NJ 07016
908.276.7300
magazine@atheists.org

Editor-in-Chief
Pamela Whissel

Copy Editor
Karen Reilly

Proofreaders
Gil Gaudia
Shelley Gaudia
Den Jackson

Managing Editor
Frank R. Zindler

© 2019 American Atheists, Inc. All rights reserved.

24
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission
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Sign up at atheists.org/join. Membership dues are tax-
deductible as a charitable gift. American Atheists, Inc. is a
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 EDITOR’S LETTER
Pure, Unadulterated Skepticism
T
hree years ago,
when I was in the
process of packing
up to move to New
Jersey after accept-
ing a full-time po-
sition with American Atheists, a
friend of mine invited me to join
him and his buddies for happy
hour. Over the years, he told me
great stories about this group, and
I was glad to finally meet them be-
fore I moved out of town.
The party had been going on
for a while by the time I arrived,
so everyone had already been told
that my new job would be with an
atheist organization that none of
them had ever heard of. In fact, it
was news to them that atheist orga-
nizations even existed.
So, in good fun, the first thing
they said was, “We’re all wondering,
how do you train to be an atheist?”
It was really funny because I had
never heard it put that way before.
I said there’s no training involved.
I was born an atheist, just like they
all were, and we have to be trained
to believe in God.
I have a close friend who raised
her kids with no such training.
When they were growing up, I
loved babysitting them, especially
overnight when she and her hus-
band needed a weekend getaway.
4 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org
On one of those weekends, when
her son, Jake, was about eight years
old and daughter Camille was
about six, we were eating bacon
and eggs for breakfast. Out of the
blue, Jake said, “You know, there
are some people who don’t ever
eat bacon.” Camille, who enjoyed
bacon as much as her brother did,
asked, “Why not?”
Jake said, “I dunno. They
just don’t.” The puzzled look on
Camille’s face didn’t go away, so I
explained to them that the people
who don’t eat bacon don’t eat pork
or ham either, and it’s called “keep-
ing kosher.” Unable to envision any
reason to forego delicious bacon,
Camille asked, “Why would they
do that?”
I told her that they do it because
they believe God wants them to.
Never in her life had she heard
even one word about there being
certain things God wants people to
do or not do, so with nothing in her
upbringing to blur her logic, she
then asked, “How do they know
that’s what God wants them to do?”
How do they know that’s what God
wants them to do? I was 32 years old
the first time it even occurred to me
to wonder that! I had been happily
religious my entire life, and then
one day my conscience wouldn’t al-
low me to remain a member of my
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
 It took me 32 years to question this
stuff, and here’s an eight-year-old
wondering about it off the top of
his head before he’s even finished
breakfast.

church for even one more minute. next question. Those were her her public school the following
I had no idea how much more words, but the look on her face was week asking around if anyone else
interesting the world would asking, “Who in the world would knew about this nonsense. There
become—and how much more write such a book, and what could was a good chance that many of her
productive I would become—once possibly be the point?” friends did, in fact, know about it,
I shed the obligation to do every- I told her that they believe God and that they wouldn’t appreciate
thing in accordance with God’s wrote the Bible. And just when I her calling it nonsense.
will. But, to my surprise, that’s thought the day couldn’t get any So then I told them that if they
what happened. better, Jake gilded the logic lily ever meet other kids who believe
Another delightful surprise was when he said, “But books are real this stuff, don’t make fun of them
learning that more things you can because even though it doesn’t
than a few religious touch and see, and make sense to us, they take it very
friends of mine had It opened my eyes I heard that you seriously, and it would hurt their
been skeptics their can’t touch or see feelings.
entire lives, and to just how easy God. So wouldn’t Their next question was some-
we’ve since enjoyed it is for a young an invisible person thing along the lines of wanting to
countless fantastic only be able to make go outside, so I let them, and for
conversations. brain to recognize invisible things?” the rest of the day I just marveled
But I had never absurdity when it Thirty-two years. at the breathtaking beauty of pure,
encountered such It took me 32 years unadulterated skepticism. 🅐
spontaneous skepti- hasn’t been fed a to question this
cism in a child until load of dogma. stuff, and here’s an
that morning, and eight-year-old won-
it opened my eyes dering about it off
to just how easy it is for a young the top of his head before he’s even Pamela Whissel
Editor-in-Chief
brain to recognize absurdity when finished breakfast. pwhissel@atheists.org
it hasn’t been fed a load of dogma. I then explained that there’s a bit
I explained that they believe more to it. They believe that a long
God wants them to keep kosher time ago, God talked to some other
because there’s a book called the people, and then those people
Bible, and in the Bible there’s a part wrote down what God told them.
that says it’s wrong to eat any meat Camille was having none of it.
that comes from a pig. The look on her face said, “I’ve got
Each piece of information only to find these people and ask them
made her more incredulous. “So, how they could believe something
who wrote the Bible?” was Camille’s so dumb.” I could just see her in

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 5

 QUICK HITS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW UK’s First Chick-fil-A Loses Lease After One Week
One week after opening, the United Kingdom’s first
Chick-fil-A restaurant was told its six-month lease will
not be renewed. This came after severe outcry from the
LGBTQ rights organization Reading Pride over Chick-
fil-A’s large donations to the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes, the Paul Anderson Youth Home, and the U.S.
Salvation Army.
A spokesperson for The Oracle shopping mall in
Reading, England, stated, “We have decided on this
occasion that the right thing to do is to only allow Chick-
Fil-A to trade with us for the initial six-month pilot pe-
riod.” Reading Pride called The Oracle’s decision “good
news.” According to ThinkProgress.org, the Chick-fil-A
Foundation donated more than $1.8 million in 2017 to Atheists Would Pay to Avoid
the three religious organizations, all of which are strong Thoughts and Prayers
opponents to LGBTQ rights. Following Disaster
Source: BBC.com news story (October 18, 2019)
A new study finds that the nonre-
ligious would actually pay money to
Northern Ireland Decriminalizes Abortion and avoid being prayed for. In the wake of
Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage Hurricane Florence, which hit North
Carolina in 2018, researchers from
Northern Ireland’s abortion ban was overturned and the University of Wyoming set out to
same-sex marriage became legal after lawmakers failed determine whether Christians and
in October to block laws passed in the United Kingdom. the nonreligious found thoughts and
The first same-sex weddings will take place in February prayers to be valuable or meaningless.
2020, and the government has until the end of March 2020 The researchers interviewed 400
to come up with regulation for abortion. In the meantime, North Carolina residents who received
women still must travel to England for legal abortions, a stipend for their participation plus
although the procedure has been decriminalized. The five dollars. They were then told that
Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland bemoaned lifting they could pay for a stranger to pray or
the restriction, calling it “a tragic day,” while Peter Lynas, refrain from paying on their behalf.
Northern Ireland director of the Evangelical Alliance of While religious North Carolinians
the United Kingdom complained about both changes would, on average, pay a priest $7.17 to
“fundamentally shift[ing] our culture.” pray for them and a religious stranger
Source: BBC.com news story by Chris Page (October 22, 2019) $4.36, atheists and agnostics would
spend, on average, $1.66 to avoid being
prayed for by a religious stranger and
Mormon Church Has No Problem With Torturing an average of $3.54 for a priest to re-
LGBTQ Teens frain from praying for them.
The researchers fail to draw a
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conclusion about one of the questions
has come out against a proposed ban on conversion they raised: is it wise for politicians to
therapy in Utah. This comes months after the Church publicly offer thoughts and prayers as
said it wouldn’t stand in the way of a similar measure a response to a disaster? After all, even
under consideration. In a statement, the Church said Christians may take offense at a politi-
that prohibiting Utah psychologists from engaging in cian offering thoughts and prayers for
this dangerous and discredited practice would “fail to the umpteenth time.
protect individual beliefs.” With Mormons comprising
Source: “The Value of Thoughts and Prayers,” by
two thirds of Utah residents and nearly the entire state
Linda Thunström and Shiri Noy, Proceedings of the
legislative body, this bill now appears dead on arrival. National Academy of Sciences, pnas.org,
Source: AP news story by Brady McCombs and Lindsay Whitehurst (October 1, 2019)
(October 16, 2019)

6 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019

 ADVOCACY

Atheists Beat Jehovah’s Witnesses

at Their Own Game
Virginia activists insist on equal space at the DMV.

H
aving received those who have chosen to leave Humanists, who are affiliates of
multiple calls that religion,” said Sabourin. “A American Atheists).
from members large part of Little Heathens’ “It was great to answer all of the
in Virginia who mission is to provide much needed questions on atheism and the sepa-
were alarmed community for people and families ration of religion and government,”
that Jehovah’s who have left religions like the said Barnes. “We are looking for-
Witnesses were proselytizing ou- Jehovah’s Witnesses, which com- ward to holding this event again,
tside various locations of that sta- pletely shuns anyone who leaves and at even more locations.”
te’s Department of Motor Vehicles, the church—even their own sons, “We call on all religious mi-
American Atheists deployed Virgi- daughters, and grandchildren.” nority communities—Buddhists,
nia State Director Larry Mendoza In another part of the state, Satanists, and all the rest—to
on a counter-offensive. Assistant State Directors Aiden make use of the DMV’s space,” said
“We would rather that govern- Barnes and Matthew DeGrave ta- DeGrave. “Once Virginians realize
ment property be free of religious bled at the Hampton DMV branch that all the different religious view-
speech altogether. However, to on behalf of their local group, points are claiming to be the right
ensure religious equality for every- Southeastern Virginia Atheists, one, many of them will eventually
one, including atheists, I applied Skeptics & Humanists (a chapter realize that none of them are.” 🅐
for a permit to set up a table of of the Washington Area Secular
atheist literature outside two DMV
locations,” said Mendoza, whose
request was accepted by the DMV
Commissioner in September.
Mendoza stated, “I applaud the
Commissioner’s decision to pro-
mote religious diversity. No one
group should completely take over
a public location.”
Later that month, Mendoza was
joined by Assistant State Director
Dusty Sabourin, who brought along
her local secular parenting group,
Little Heathens of Richmond,
Virginia, to the table outside a DMV
branch in that city.
“I was surprised to see Jehovah’s
Witnesses outside the DMV pro-
moting their idea of family values,
especially given how they treat

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 7


Protecting Free Speech in Online
Public Forums
Our lawsuit against State Senator Jason Rapert will move forward.
A
n Arkansas federal
judge has allowed
American Atheists’
lawsuit against Ar-
kansas State Sen-
ator Jason Rapert
to move forward. Judge Kristine G.
Baker of the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Ar-
kansas denied Jason Rapert’s mo-
tion to dismiss the lawsuit against
him.
American Atheists filed the
lawsuit on behalf of its members
in Arkansas, including four in-
dividual plaintiffs, whom Rapert
unconstitutionally blocked from
his official Facebook and Twitter
accounts after they criticized his
positions on several issues. The
complaint also alleges that Rapert
blocked the plaintiffs due to their
atheism.
“Rapert has repeatedly called
our lawsuit against him ‘frivolous.’
Today’s decision should put an
end to that ridiculous claim,” said
Geoffrey Blackwell, litigation
counsel at American Atheists.
8 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org
LEGAL
“The Arkansans whom Rapert has
blocked will get their day in court,
and we have every confidence we’ll
prevail.”
In the same order in which
she rejected Rapert’s motion to
dismiss, Judge Baker also denied
American Atheists’ motion for a
preliminary injunction, which
would have forced the Arkansas
state senator to “un-block” the in-
dividual plaintiffs while the lawsuit
moves forward.
Judge Baker determined that
American Atheists and the four
individual plaintiffs have a “fair
chance of prevailing” on their
claim that Rapert violated the
Free Speech Clause of the First
Amendment. Nonetheless, Judge
Baker concluded that imposing a
preliminary injunction would be
inappropriate in part because the
individual plaintiffs did not act
swiftly enough to challenge the
violation of their rights.
“Judge Baker’s decision un-
derscores the importance of
taking immediate action when
government officials block you on
social media,” said Blackwell. “We
hope that Senator Rapert will see
the writing on the wall and choose
to stop censoring people who dis-
agree with him. But I’m not holding
my breath.”
“Senator Rapert has an un-
canny way of crying persecution
even as he tramples on atheists’
rights,” said Nick Fish, president
of American Atheists. “He can’t
claim to care about the concerns
of his constituents while turning
the public forums he set up to hear
those concerns into his very own
‘safe space.’”
Judge Baker’s decision today
ruled out the possibility of punitive
damages against Rapert. She con-
cluded that, because the law on free
speech in the realm of social media
is developing and unsettled, Rapert
is entitled to qualified immunity
for claims of monetary damages.
Our lawsuit against Rapert was
the cover story of the September/
October 2018 issue of this maga-
zine. 🅐
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
 ACTIVISM

Indiana Officials Fail in Trying to

Exclude Atheists
Holiday display policies must not show preference to religious groups.

A
fter receiving a let- raised serious concerns that they As Moss and Dick tried to
ter in November violated the U.S. Constitution,” walk quietly out of the room after
from the Ameri- said Geoffrey Blackwell, American addressing the commissioners,
can Atheists Legal Atheists’ litigation counsel, who Biggs got out of his seat on the
Center, the Porter wrote the letter. “With their later dais, lurched toward them, and
County, Indiana, statements, several officials con- said, “Don’t come in here to cause
Board of Commissioners reversed firmed those suspicions.” trouble. Now I want you to leave.”
its decision to exclude Northern Those later statements came County attorney Scott McClure
Indiana Atheists (NIA) from the during an October 8 Board of then got out of his seat, put his arm
annual Holly Days festival in down- Commissioners meeting when around Biggs to direct him back to
town Valparaiso. Moss and NIA Vice President his chair, and gestured to Moss and
Back in August, American Daniel Dick addressed the com- Dick to have a seat in the audience.
Atheists’ Indiana State Director, missioners’ unlawful denial of “Unfortunately, government
Troy Moss, submitted the required NIA’s application. “I’m not going to officials too often treat members of
application for NIA to sponsor a sit up here and promote for you to our community like second-class
display on the courthouse lawn be there [at Holly Days] at the same citizens,” said American Atheists’
during the festival. The Board time as someone else to cause President Nick Fish. “In this case,
denied the application, saying that trouble,” said Commissioner Biggs the commissioners finally did the
it had already granted the space to as he tried to justify NIA’s exclusion right thing.”
the local organization Valparaiso from the festival. Commissioner Footage of the meeting is
Events. But the Board received Jeff Good then told Moss and Dick on Northern Indiana Atheists’
NIA’s application before Valparaiso to “go back to Michiana,” which YouTube channel. 🅐
Events submitted theirs. was meant to be an insult.
In the letter, American Atheists’
litigation counsel Geoffrey
Blackwell pointed out that denying
NIA’s application raised serious
concerns that the constitutional
rights of NIA and its members had
been violated. The following day,
the Board reversed its decision and
granted space to NIA.
“This is a victory for the equal
treatment of atheist groups,” said
Moss, who is also president of NIA.
“Government officials cannot deny
groups like ours equal access sim-
ply because they disagree with the
content of our speech.”
“The commissioners’ actions

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 9

 LEGAL

Supreme Court Watch:

Espinoza v. Montana
Department of Revenue
This case has the potential to vastly reshape laws concerning
government funding of religious activities.
by Alison Gill

T
he United States for the false proposition that fed- church, school academy, seminary,
Supreme Court eral funding opportunities cannot college, university… controlled in
is threatening to generally be denied to religious whole or in part by any church,
drive a school bus organizations. sect, or denomination.”
through the wall of In the Espinoza case, the Court Most states have No Aid Clauses
separation between has the opportunity to take this in their constitutions. They are
religion and government. concept to the next level: to ensure intended to protect the separation
I wish I could be less hyperbolic, religious neutral- of religion and
but like its intellectual progenitor, ity, states cannot government by
the 2017 Trinity Lutheran Church of deny religious Once a state has the preventing state
Columbia, Inc. v. Comer decision, the organizations authority to spend money from un-
Espinoza v. Montana Department of funding even if public funding on an constitutiona lly
Revenue case has the potential to it violates their being used for re-
vastly reshape both state and fed- constitutions and inherently religious ligious purposes.
eral law concerning government even if the fund- activity in the area Montana law-
funding of religious activities. And ing would be used makers ignored
in the hands of the Court’s current for inherently reli-
of education, what their constitution-
justices, this reshaping is likely to gious activities. is to stop it from al duty by passing
be less than ideal. This case spending money legislation to
The Trinity Lutheran case arises out of the create a school
concerned a church’s eligibility No Aid Clause on other religious voucher program
for a government grant to resur- in the Montana activities? where individuals
face a playground. The question Constitution, could donate to
seemed innocuous enough, but which directs that Montana “shall private schools (most of which are
the decision to allow the church not make any direct or indirect religious) and get a tax break.
the money has been used by the appropriation or payment… for Ultimately, the Montana
Trump Administration to stand any sectarian purpose or to aid any Supreme Court struck down this

10 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019

 program because it violates the Tyrants.” narrative is revisionist history; the
No Aid Clause by creating an indi- Similarly, Thomas Jefferson current Montana Constitution was
rect payment system to religious stated in the Virginia Statute on adopted in 1972. Overall, the argu-
schools. It is this decision that the Religious Freedom that “to compel ment claims that secular private
Supreme Court will be reviewing. a man to furnish contributions of schools are being impermissibly
If the Court money for the favored over their religious coun-
strikes down If the Court strikes propagation of terparts. To claim that the only
these important opinions which way to ensure religious neutrality
state constitu- down these important he disbelieves in Montana is to strike the No Aid
tional protec- state constitutional and abhors, Clause from the State Constitution
tions, school is sinful and
voucher advo-
protections, school tyrannical….”
is a bizarre inversion of established
constitutional principles.
cates across the voucher advocates But the Of course, how the Court will rule
country will un- across the country Espinoza case is mere speculation at this writing.
doubtedly leap at has the potential Oral arguments in Espinoza will
the opportunity will undoubtedly leap to turn that core take place in the coming months,
to divert more at the opportunity to con s t it ut ion a l and a decision will be issued next
public education
funding to reli-
divert more public principle on its
head by requir-
summer. American Atheists is
working with the Freedom From
gious schools. education funding to ing states that Religion Foundation and other na-
However, this religious schools. provide funding tional secular organizations to file
case has the for private edu- an amicus brief to articulate our
potential to deal even more signif- cation to extend that funding to re- constitutional concerns and stress
icant damage to the separation of ligious schools. Once a state has the the importance of the separation
religion and government. authority to spend public funding of religion and government as the
The Court has long recognized on an inherently religious activity bedrock of religious freedom for
that religious education is an in the area of education, what is all Americans.
inherently religious activity—it is to stop it from spending money on It is neither anti-Catholic nor
essential for the continuation of other religious activities? anti-religious to stand up for the
religious beliefs and a core activity Moreover, such an outcome separation of religion and govern-
of religions. Moreover, it has long would negatively impact the public ment. Let us hope that the Supreme
been established that, although school students in Montana, as Court heeds the wise words of
states can choose to offer school more and more of the funding for James Madison, who recognized
voucher programs, they cannot their schools is diverted to private any law requiring a person to fund
use public funding for religious religious organizations. Parents the religious education of another
education. In fact, being forced to will then be forced to make a dif- is a “dangerous abuse of power.” 🅐
pay for your neighbor’s religious ficult choice if their only options
education is exactly the harm that are to send their children to un- Alison Gill is vice president
the Founders sought to prevent derfunded public schools or to pay for legal and policy at
American Atheists.
when adopting the Establishment to send them to a religious school.
Clause of the First Amendment to Taxes will also go up in order to pay
the U.S. Constitution. for this religious education.
In his Memorial and The opposition frames things
Remonstrance Against Religious quite differently. They are improp-
Assessments, James Madison told erly characterizing the No Aid
the Virginia General Assembly in Clause in the Montana Constitution
1785 that those “who are guilty of (and by extension, No Aid Clauses in
such an encroachment, exceed any state constitution) as the result
the commission from which they of 19th-century anti-Catholic ani-
derive their authority, and are mus that continues to this day. This

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 11

 Thousands of people attended the People’s
Climate March in Washington, DC, to
call out climate change indifference on
April 29, 2017. | Photo by Nicole Glass
Photography / Shutterstock.com

COMMENTARY

S.E.P. Field Theory

A new paradigm of theist apocalyptic inertia
by Chris Malloy

S
ure, you want to help with the climate crisis. Your
problem is that you are not Greta Thurnburg, the
16-year-old Swedish superstar activist who sailed
across the Atlantic Ocean on a yacht powered by
solar panels and underwater turbines. She also
inspired the school strike for climate, where stu-
dents across the globe skipped school to protest the inaction
on climate change.

These students are the only ones who seem to be immune

from the S.E.P. fields, first proposed by Douglas Adams in A
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s a “Someone Else’s Problem”
field that renders anything invisible. It is a time-and-religion-
proven method of keeping any number of people from doing
something.

12 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019

 Greta Thurnburg and the rest of
the students in Sweden can’t do
everything. And we know prayer
doesn’t work.

You can know it is being used doesn’t work. Bowl in the U.S. because of God’s
whenever you hear the phrase A quick review of the problem need for Steinbeck novels. In
“thoughts and prayers.” Prayer can provide a bit of focus. The ancient Sumer, food ran out when
shifts the burden of effort to some- carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmo- irrigation left salt in the fields and
one who is not you. Religions have sphere traps heat. It does this in nothing would grow. There was no
long proposed to solve problems by the bottom 3.6 miles of the atmo- divine Baal out.
parading through the sphere. Higher than The theory of evolution is a
streets carrying icons that, the air is thin good example of how well religions
or just donating money Prayer shifts enough that the min- handle science. They blame the
to invisible space peo- iscule level of green- victim and ask for money. Unlike
ple who have cash flow the burden house gases allow heat scientists, clergy never get all the
problems. Then god or of effort to to freely radiate into religions in one room and say, “All
gods are responsible,
and people can go
someone who space. The atmosphere
may officially end at
right, what do we really know?”
Scientists, on the other hand, work
about their business. is not you. around 60 miles up, from a consensus of what is indis-
There is some sci- but it is the slight, thin, putable, which tends to dampen
entific support for the easily polluted fraction the worst predictions. That’s why
S.E.P. field. A recent article in The at the bottom that does the work. the headlines always read, “It is
Guardian talks about a study which This year, the concentration of CO₂ worse than we thought.” We need
“found that the brain shields us passed 415 parts per million. As a to work now, with whatever we
from existential fear by categoriz- species we have only ten years to know and however we can do it.
ing death as an unfortunate event cut our CO₂ emissions in half to So what can we do? On a person-
that only befalls other people.” avoid the effects much worse than al level, there are things you can
I suggest brain jujitsu also leads the ones we have now. do that will allow you to tell your
to the death of civilizations, the It is not descendants it was
planet, or, at the very least, our Someone Else’s not your fault. You
comfortable lives. People use an Problem. Prayer If you care about can do everything
“escape treadmill, where hard will not help. someone younger and anything that
work, pub sessions, checking mo- It was drought
bile phones, and buying more stuff that crippled the than yourself, you will reduce your
production of
meant people were simply too busy Mayan civilization can do the work that carbon dioxide.
to worry.” despite god-kings, needs to be done. Destroy your SUV.
The atheist community would human sacrifice, Get an electric
do well to shrug off their own and other sincere car, bicycle, or
brains’ S.E.P. field and get to work supplication. It wasn’t that they mis- comfortable walking shoes. Buy
saving a human-friendly ecosys- interpreted what their gods wanted homes according to how much it
tem. Greta Thurnburg and the rest or that they worshipped the wrong will reduce your CO₂. Choose a
of the students in Sweden can’t do gods altogether. Prayer didn’t stop home in a location where you don’t
everything. And we know prayer the 1930s drought-induced Dust have to drive to work or school, and

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 13

 have that home’s south-facing side
packed with windows and solar
panels. Fly as little as possible.
Ride your bike or take a bus or
the train to the American Atheist
National Convention in Phoenix
this April. Stop shopping. Go for a
year without buying anything you
can’t eat, wash with, or read.
If you do things as a city, coun-
try, or planet you might not have to
make excuses to children, Swedish
or otherwise. You can VOTE,
VOTE, VOTE. Make every election
about the climate crisis. Force
your city council to put in bike
lanes. Only elect state and federal
representatives who will commit to
taking action or who already have
done so.
Get your state utilities commis-
sion to require renewable power
generation. The International
Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated
that off-shore wind farms can pro-
duce more than enough electricity
14 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org
to power the world. The IEA tries
to provide a neutral perspective
on energy matters. For years, that
meant coal and oil. Now the IEA
says that “with concerted action” to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
demand for oil must fall by one
million barrels per day by 2025.
“We do not yet see the policies in
place…that would lead to this out-
come.” Each year the world needs to
replace three million barrels a day
lost from mature oil fields. In all
scenarios, “new investment is re-
quired…because supply at existing
fields is constantly declining.” In
other words, by opposing any more
drilling and building of pipelines,
we can allow oil field depletion to
cut fossil fuels by attrition.
You want to do more than VOTE,
VOTE, VOTE? Run for office and
use the S.E.P effect to get other
people to vote. If you care about
someone younger than yourself,
you can do the work that needs
to be done. In New Zealand, the
most recent election cycle saw
the youngest officials ever to take
office. The newly elected member
to the Kāpiti Coast District Council
is Sophie Handford. This 18-year-
old said, “If you look at what life
experience and credentials have
brought us so far, maybe it’s time
to reconsider the way we look at
governance.” At 19, Fisher Wang is
the newest member of the Roturua
Lakes Council. He also works at
McDonalds.
You may ask how the climate
crisis is an atheist issue. Well, the
world needs a realistic approach to
solving an actual extinction-level
crisis. You will need to vote for
people who accept that the future
will be expensive—if we want any
future at all. People eagerly await-
ing Armageddon and the end of the
world are not capable of preventing
their hopes from coming true.
When the water is gone and the
grain is dead, we can’t be waiting
for loaves and fishes. There won’t
be any. 🅐
Chris Malloy is a retired dentist
living in Oregon. He bought a
house in a city that has Amtrak
service, yet he has serious
plans to ride his velomobile to
the American Atheists National
Convention in Phoenix this April.
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
 A Devil’s Tale:
Of Love and
Redemption
What’s a devil to do when
the president usurps
him of his devilment and
the Church proves more
tarnished than him? Play
guitar, fall in love, and try
one last time to redeem
humanity, of course.

“Mike Bernos can write. ... The true nature of his work is revealed
at a skilled pace, and the story is an easy, entertaining read
punctuated with a little bit of Nietzsche, some well-placed
moralizing, and an ongoing series of jokes involving old pop
lyrics.” — Bob R., Amazon review

Available on Kindle

Elected officials and government agencies are supposed to be

accountable to us as voters. But too often, atheists are ignored or
are even prevented from participating in public forums created
by the government.

If official government social media accounts are blocking you

simply for disagreeing with them or because of your views, that is
unconstitutional.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

www.atheistsengage.org
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 15
 COMMENTARY

The
Fourteenth
Amendment
and Religious
Freedom
Whether it’s on the playground or in a free-
speech zone, it’s not okay to take your ball
and go home.

by Geoffrey T. Blackwell and Nicholas J. Little

16 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019

I
t is a fundamental prin- the overwhelmingly Christian country.
ciple of constitutional population that dwelt here in 1789 All evidence shows this trend
law that the Establish- (notwithstanding African slaves continuing. In 2012, the Pew
ment Clause of the First and Native Americans who had Research Center’s Religious
Amendment to the Unit- their own religious beliefs and Landscape Study found that the re-
ed States Constitution traditions), the United States now ligiously unaffiliated accounted for
“mandates government neutrality counts the religiously unaffiliated 19.6% of the people polled, a figure
between [one] religion and [anoth- as perhaps the largest—and at that had risen by nearly five per-
er] religion, and between religion least the third largest—“religious” centage points, or one third, over
and nonreligion.”1 demographic. the previous five years. The latest
Whether the government is li- In light of this seismic shift, the Pew study provides yet more con-
censing a notary public, exempting Constitution’s prohibition against firmation of this societal change.
a draftee from military service,2 advancing or preferencing any one Christians of all types comprised
or regulating who may solemnize particular reli- less than 71% of
weddings, it cannot distinguish gion, and against America in the
between religious individuals and favoring religion No longer the 2014 numbers.
atheists (including agnostics, secu- over nonreligion, overwhelmingly Once again, the
lar humanists, freethinkers, or any is that much more largest growth
of the “nones”—those who profess vital. Christian population was among the
no faith in particular).
Discrimination against atheists
In 1948, accord-
ing to polling by
that dwelt here in unaffiliated, who
rose by more than
violates the Establishment Clause, Gallup in the first 1789, the United a third to 22.8%.
which says that “Congress shall
make no law establishing religion
year such results
were recorded,
States now counts Between 2007 and
2014, the survey
or prohibiting the free exercise an extremely the religiously results show the
thereof.” small number of estimated number
Often overlooked, however, is Americans (2%)
unaffiliated as of religiously unaf-
the fact that intentional discrim- reported having perhaps the largest— filiated Americans
ination in favor of believers over no religion. As had ballooned
nonbelievers also violates the recently as 1970, and at least the third from 36.6 million
Equal Protection Clause of the this number still largest—“religious” to 55.8 million.
Fourteenth Amendment, which remained at only According to
declares that “[no] State shall… 3%. demographic. Pew, this com-
deny to any person within its juris- By 2018, the munity is larger
diction the equal protection of the proportion of self-identified than any faith-based community
laws.” nones had rocketed to 20%. By in the U.S. with the exception of
One of the most fundamental Gallup’s measure, this population, Evangelical Protestants. Similarly,
changes to our society since the barely smaller than the 22% who the 2017 American Family Survey,
founding of the U.S. has been the described themselves as Roman undertaken by Brigham Young
dramatic growth of religious diver- Catholic, is now the third largest University and the Deseret News (two
sity in the population. No longer religious demographic in the sources unlikely to overestimate

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 17

 A governmental act that, on its face, is
religiously neutral could nonetheless
constitute intentional discrimination if it
is “purposefully designed” to subject a given
religious group to different treatment.

the prevalence of non-belief) iden- Amendment’s Equal Protection achieving that interest.7
tified the proportion of atheists, Clause. A governmental act that, on its
agnostics, and “nothing in partic- Under the Free Speech Clause, face, is religiously neutral could
ular” as 34%. This survey found the government may not engage nonetheless constitute intentional
the nones to be the largest single in viewpoint discrimination when discrimination if it is “purpose-
group. Recent analysis of data granting or denying access to any fully designed” to subject a given
from the General Social Survey public forum.3 religious group to different treat-
reached a similar conclusion, It may, however, place view- ment. If the government’s purpose
finding that nones outnumber both point-neutral restrictions on the was discriminatory, and the act
Evangelicals and Catholics. topics discussed in limited public or policy “does in fact have the
As the growing atheist popu- forums. intended adverse effect,” the courts
lation has become more active in The Equal Protection Clause must subject that policy to strict
public discourse, a reactionary goes further, prohibiting scrutiny, the most stringent level of
trend has developed among some government actions undertaken judicial review.8
government agencies and officials to disadvantage an individual Because atheist groups and
to close or otherwise restrict ac- or group on the basis of race, members of religious minorities
cess to previously available forums nationality, religion, gender, or have rarely forced the issue through
for public speech, some other suspect lawsuits, the courts have rarely
now that atheists are (or quasi-suspect) applied strict scrutiny, instead
seeking to use those An individual’s classification.4 This applying Establishment Clause
forums to express
their views.
particular views is true even for acts
that would otherwise
principles that are ill-defined and,
as a result, far more malleable.
For example, and beliefs be constitutional. This should not be the case.
the City Council
of Belle Plaine,
regarding religion, policies Government
that dis-
From the moment the Supreme
Court first contemplated strict
Minnesota, elimi- like a person’s criminate based on scrutiny, it was assumed that
nated a free-speech “inherently suspect government actions “directed at
zone in 2017 when race or nationality, distinctions such particular religious . . . minorities”
The Satanic Temple will rarely, if ever, as race, religion, or would trigger such review because
successfully met all [nationality] must such classifications implicate
the requirements to be relevant to any meet the strict scru- “prejudice against discrete and
erect a monument legitimate state tiny standard.”5 This insular minorities . . ., which tends
in a city-owned park standard requires a seriously to curtail the operation
that was already interest. court to invalidate of those political processes ordi-
accommodating a a law unless it is narily to be relied upon to protect
Christian war memorial. This take- “narrowly tailored to further a [them].”9
my-ball-and-go-home strategy not compelling government interest,”6 It is well supported that govern-
only violates basic ideas of fair- (such as public health and safety) ment discrimination along reli-
ness, it also violates the Fourteenth and is the least restrictive means of gious lines should be subject to the

18 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019

 same high standard as governmen-
tal discrimination on the basis of
race and nationality. Distinctions
drawn on those lines require strict
scrutiny because these “suspect
classifications” are “so seldom
relevant to the achievement of any
legitimate state interest that laws
grounded in such considerations
are deemed to reflect prejudice and
antipathy—a view that those in the
burdened class are not as worthy or
deserving as others.”10
An individual’s particular views
and beliefs regarding religion, like
a person’s race or nationality, will
rarely, if ever, be relevant to any
legitimate state interest.
Atheists and other nones, as well
as those with minority religious
views, have long been saddled with
disabilities or “subjected to such
a history of purposeful unequal
treatment, or relegated to such a
position of political powerlessness
as to command extraordinary
protection from the majoritarian
political process[.]”11
For example, Congress had rules
in place that prohibited religious
headwear required to be worn by
Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs from
being worn in the House chamber
until last year when Nancy Pelosi
and the new Democratic leadership
instituted rules to accommodate
the growing number of representa-
tives of minority faiths.
On January 10, 2017, in response
to questioning from Sen. Sheldon
Whitehouse (D-RI) in his confir-
mation hearing to become the
Attorney General of the United
States, then-Senator Jeff Sessions
(R-AL) stated that he was “not sure”
whether “a secular person has just
as good a claim to understand-
ing the truth as a person who is
religious.”
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
And the first year that a majority
of Americans would even consider
voting for a well-qualified atheist
for president was 2012.
Until the Supreme Court hand-
ed down its decision in Torcaso v.
Watkins in 1961, states were permit-
ted to block atheists from holding
public office. Were it not for that
Supreme Court decision, the con-
stitutions of at least eight states
would, today, either ban atheists
from holding public office or, at the
very least, permit laws that prohib-
it atheists from doing so.
When faced with the possibility
of permitting atheists and religious
minorities to deliver messages they
find objectionable, government of-
ficials are becoming more inclined
to drastically curtail everyone’s ac-
cess to forums that had previously
been held open to the public.
This take-my-ball-and-go-home
attitude is rejected by children on
the playground and should fare no
better in a court of law, particularly
when it works to the disadvantage Case Citations
of a group that has historically 1  Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
been marginalized by both the law 2  Welsh v. U.S. (1970)
and society. 🅐 3  Perry Education Ass’n v. Perry Local
Educators’ Ass’n (1983)
4  U.S. v. Carolene Products Co. (1938) and Doe
Geoffrey T. Blackwell is litigation v. Lower Marion School Dist. (2011, U.S.
counsel at American Atheists. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit)
Nicholas J. Little is vice 5  Connelly v. Steel Valley School District (2013,
president and general counsel
U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit)
of the Center for Inquiry.
6  Id. Also Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004), Burson v.
Freeman (1992), Reed v. Town of Gilbert
This article was adapted from their (2015)
amicus brief filed with the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Third 7  Ashcroft v. ACLU, Burson v. Freeman, Reed v.
Circuit in Northeastern Pennsylvania Town of Gilbert
Freethought Society (NEPA) v. County 8  Hassan v. City of New York (2015, U.S. Court
of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS).
of Appeals, 3rd Circuit)
9  U.S. v. Carolene Products Co. and New
Orleans v. Dukes (1976)
10  City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center
(1985)
11  San Antonio Independent School Dist. v.
Rodriguez (1973)
AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 19
 INTERVIEW

The Rich
Legacy of Black
Nonbelief
Real scholarship on this largely ignored piece of American
heritage is long overdue. The work of author and professor
Christopher Cameron is now giving that history the
platform it deserves.

20 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019


C
ontrary to histor-
ical and popular
depictions of Af-
rican Americans
as religious by na-
ture, freethought—
which encompasses atheism,
agnosticism, deism, and pagan-
ism—has been central to black
political and intellectual life since
the 19th century. In his new book,
Black Freethinkers: A History of Af-
rican American Secularism (North-
western University Press), Christo-
pher Cameron suggests that it was
the brutality of the institution of
slavery that brought on religious
skepticism and nonbelief.
In this interview, he talks about
his research, where it’s leading
him now, and the most surprising
facts he learned while writing the
book.
How did Black Freethinkers
come about?
There were probably two key
developments. In 2012, I had been
an atheist for a couple of years
and was getting more active on
social media. I began connecting
with other black nonbelievers on
Twitter and started to run across
blog posts on historical black free-
thinkers such as Hubert Harrison.
I’d been a history professor for two
years at that point and was looking
for a new project, so these posts
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
“Secularism has been a key aspect
of African American political
and intellectual life from the 19th
century to the present.”
whetted my appetite to start learn- popular sources often portray
ing more about the history of black African Americans as naturally or
nonbelief. over-religious, Black Freethinkers
Around the same time, while argues that secularism has been a
finishing up the bibliography for key aspect of African American po-
my first book, To Plead Our Own litical and intellectual life from the
Cause, I reread Al Raboteau’s clas- nineteenth century to the present.
sic book Slave Religion. The book begins with a discussion
Most of that book deals with of freethought among slaves and
African religions and the evolution free blacks in the mid-1800s and
of a syncretistic form of black argues that the brutality of slavery
Christianity from the Colonial Era led many African Americans to
to the Antebellum period. question the idea of God. It then
Toward the end of the work, turns to the twentieth century to
however, Raboteau mentions that demonstrate that freethinkers
not all slaves “took solace in reli- were a critical part of literary
gion,” and some could not believe movements such as the Harlem
in a just and all-powerful God who
would allow his people to suffer
under slavery.
Raboteau’s discussion of athe-
ism and agnosticism occupies just
a couple pages, yet it was incredibly
intriguing to me, as I’d encountered
no other historians who explored
religious skepticism in 19th-centu-
ry slave communities.
This discovery likewise fueled
my search for examples of black
freethinkers, both in the era of
slavery and in the twentieth centu-
ry, and what I found convinced me
that black freethought was much
more prevalent and important
than scholars have realized.
What is the focus of the book?
While both historical and
AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 21
 Renaissance and the Black Arts
Movement, as well as political
movements such as socialism,
communism, and Black Power.
Describe your research process.
Following up on the discus-
sion of atheism among slaves
in Raboteau’s book, I began by
reading dozens of slave narratives.
While historians have used these
sources to document various as-
pects of slave religiosity, they are
also useful sources to document the
Portrait of author, historian, and civil
rights activist W.E.B. Dubois (1868-
1963) by painter Laura Wheeler Waring
(National Archives at College Park)
22 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org
presence of religious skepticism The focus is generally on how
in Southern slave communities. important they were to politics or
My research for later chapters in to movements such as the Harlem
the book included reading novels Renaissance. And while many
such as Quicksand and The Outsider, historians have examined the
works by poets such as Langston ties between religion and politics
Hughes and Sarah Webster Fabio, among leaders such as Mary
memoirs, and newspapers. Other Church Terrell or John Lewis, in
periodicals such as Messenger, researching this book I found that
Crisis, and The Black Panther were critiques of religion and nonbelief
key sources. I likewise found ar- were just as important in shaping
chival sources such as letters, un- black leaders’ political thought and
published memoirs, sermons, and activism.
records of liberal congregations
such as the Harlem Scholars have barely scratched
Unitarian Church to be the surface of this topic. Do
incredibly valuable in you plan to do more with it?
writing the book. I have three projects in the
works. One is an edited collection
What surprised (with Phillip Luke Sinitiere) enti-
you most during tled Race, Religion, and Black Lives
your research? Matter: Essays on a Moment and a
I was surprised at Movement. This collection is under
just how widespread contract with Vanderbilt University
freethought was among Press and contains essays on the
African American ties between religion and Black
writers, activists, and Lives Matter from scholars such as
intellectuals. Growing Joseph Winters and Carol Wayne
up and reading novels White, who respectively work
such as Zora Neale on Afro-pessimism and African
Hurston’s Their Eyes American naturalism.
Were Watching God The second project is a mono-
in high school or the graph entitled Liberal Religion
Narrative of the Life and Race in America that explores
of Frederick Douglass African Americans’ engagement
in college, you never with liberal sects such as the
really learn about the Unitarians and Universalists from
religious skepticism the Revolutionary Era to the cre-
of these individuals. ation of Black Lives of Unitarian
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
 “I’d encountered no other historians who
explored religious skepticism in 19th-century
slave communities. Some could not believe in
a just and all-powerful God who would allow
his people to suffer under slavery.”
Universalism in 2015. In my initial Hansberry, and Huey Newton. And Christopher Cameron is an associate
professor of history at the
research for this book, I am finding these were not simply intellectuals University of North Carolina at
that it intersects nicely with the and political activists who hap- Charlotte. He is the founder of
subject matter of Black Freethinkers, pened to be freethinkers, but rath- the African American Intellectual
History Society, the author of
as many African American er people whose political ideology/ To Plead Our Own Cause: African
Unitarians and Universalists re- activism and literary production Americans in Massachusetts and
jected belief in God, even as they were profoundly shaped by their the Making of the Antislavery
Movement (The Kent State University
chose to participate in liberal reli- religious skepticism. This book Press), and a coeditor, with
gious congregations. thus helps us to more fully under- Ashley D. Farmer and Keisha N.
Blain, of New Perspectives on
And the third project is a second stand the intersections between the Black Intellectual Tradition
volume on Black freethought, pick- religion and African American (Northwestern University Press).
ing up the story in 1975 where Black literary, intellectual, and political
Freethinkers ends and exploring the history, especially in the twentieth Christopher Cameron will be
growing presence of secularism century. 🅐 speaking at the 2020 American
Atheists National Convention in
in black popular culture, as well Phoenix, Arizona, April 9-12.
as the institutionalization of the
movement with the creation of
groups such as Black Skeptics of Los
Angeles and Black Nonbelievers.

Why is it important to
read this book?
Probably the most common
response I get when discussing this
book with people is “I didn’t know
that person was a freethinker.”
This is the case when discussing
lesser-known figures such as
Louise Thompson Patterson or
more well-known freethinkers
such as Richard Wright and Zora
Neale Hurston. Black Freethinkers
demonstrates that religious skep-
ticism was prevalent among some
of the most prominent voices in
African American history, includ- Abolitionist, author, newspaper founder,
ing Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du and statesman Frederick Douglass
Bois, A. Phillip Randolph, Richard (1818?-1895) with his second wife, Helen
(seated), and Helen’s sister, Eva Pitts
Wright, James Baldwin, Lorraine

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 23

 ADVOCACY

Attorney General William Barr’s

Fact-Free Attack on Secularism
by Nick Fish

Photo by Shane T. McCoy/U.S. Marshals

I
n a speech to University of Notre Dame law stu-
dents, purportedly on the subject of “religious
liberty” in America, Attorney General William
P. Barr claimed that “the growing ascendancy of
secularism” is to blame for violence, depression
and mental illness, the ongoing drug epidemic,
and “the wreckage of the family.” He portrayed religion,
and the religious, as under siege and oppressed by the
“militant secularists.” He lamented “the force, fervor, and
comprehensiveness of the assault on religion we are expe-
riencing today,” adding that the increased secularization
of the nation “is not decay; this is organized destruction.”

Barr’s factually inaccurate, conspiratorial, ahistoric, and

downright dangerous screed epitomizes his open disdain
for the rule of law and for the First Amendment. He is a
danger to our nation’s constitutional order.

24 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019

 Barr’s attack on secularism and the cloak of “religious freedom” to administration, under the guise
non-religious Americans comes as excuse their attacks on vulnerable of their twisted interpretation of
no surprise. This is the man who, people, whether they be religious religious liberty. It is, put plainly,
in 1992 during his first stint as minority groups, LGBTQ people, or an appeal to outright Christian
attorney general, called secularists women seeking access to reproduc- supremacy.
“fanatics” and blamed us for “soar- tive healthcare. Atheists and the nonreligious
ing juvenile crime, widespread Barr blames us for the “wreck- are already among the least trusted
drug addiction, skyrocketing rates age of the family.” Given his demographics in the nation, and
of venereal disease, 1.5 million typical lack of clarity, I’m forced to Barr’s words deepen that distrust.
children aborted each year.” assume he is referencing declining We are often subjected to harass-
Barr blames the rise of secular- marriage rates for young people ment at our jobs, rejected by our
ism for, among other societal ills, or perhaps the increased rates of families and loved ones, and forced
increased rates of violent crime. births outside of marriage. to endure near-constant examples
However, according to data pub- While I contest the notion that of religious privilege in our daily
lished by the FBI, the rate of violent either of these indices have any- lives.
crime has actually fallen by 49% thing to do with the “wreckage” of Attacks on our community
since 1993, when he last blamed the American family, we can only from Department of Justice lead-
our community ask what this ad- ership in this administration are
for the “moral ministration has nothing new. Barr’s predecessor,
decline” of the Barr’s speech done to combat Jeff Sessions, told Senator Sheldon
United States. wasn’t about the or even address Whitehouse at his confirmation
As the nation’s these issues. hearing that he “wasn’t sure” if
chief law enforce- facts. It wasn’t The answer is secular people have as good a
ment officer, it about convincing simple: Under this claim to understanding the truth
is stunning that ad minist rat ion, as people who are religious.
Barr seems to be the audience of the Department Barr’s attempts, and the at-
completely unin-
formed about the
law students about of other
Justice and
agencies
tempts of this administration, to
scapegoat the large and growing
facts related to the importance of have put up even portion of the American populace
crime rates in the
United States.
religious freedom. more for
roadblocks
prospective
who lack religious belief are both
factually deficient and a betrayal
But Barr’s And it certainly had parents seeking of their pledges to defend the
speech wasn’t
about the facts.
nothing to do with to adopt, thereby
preventing thou-
Constitution.
Rather than blaming the ills of
It wasn’t about protecting the First sands of young our nation on an already maligned
convincing his people from group, Barr should try actually
audience of law Amendment. finding a forever working to solve these human
students about home. They have problems by identifying human
the importance of religious free- made it easier for religious adop- solutions.
dom. And it certainly had nothing tion and foster care providers to He’s already tried “thoughts and
to do with protecting the First use our tax dollars to discriminate prayers.” So maybe now he should
Amendment. Rather, Barr’s speech against us. try the atheist approach: actually
was a reflection of his deep belief As a nation, we face a great many doing something. 🅐
that the dogma of conservative challenges that we must confront
Christianity is above the law. together. But rather than bridge Nick Fish is the president
This administration, and the the divides within our nation, of American Atheists.
Department of Justice in particu- Barr’s divisive language at Notre
lar, has repeatedly sided with re- Dame was yet another attack on
ligious extremists who seek to use religious equality from the Trump

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 25

 PERSPECTIVE

Little God, Big God

With sufficient mental gymnastics, you can have your cake and eat it too.

by Peter Kassan

E
arly humans inher- speaks of God, who created the anthropocentric (concerned
ited from their pre- universe (as it was understood at exclusively with human affairs
linguistic hominid the time). But the very next book, and behavior—especially sexual
ancestors a promis- Exodus, reveals that this creator God behavior) but also anthropomor-
cuous tendency to isn’t the only one. When he hands phic. He breathes, he has human
attribute agency down the Ten Commandments, senses of vision and hearing. He
to nearly everything—not only he enjoins the Israelites to refrain also has language (among his first
predators (whose threat to eat us from worshiping acts of creation are
was real) and prey (whose threat any of those other to name things),
to be eaten by us was real), but gods that are men- With language, emotions (primar-
also entities and forces that only tioned throughout those agents of ily jealousy and
seemed hostile or benevolent, like the Bible: national anger but also, to
the weather, the ground beneath gods, household nature either a greater extent in
us, the ocean and other bodies gods, gods of the became a god or the New Testament,
of water, the sun, the moon, and natural forces, and love), and other
everything else in the sky. With many, many others. were believed to be mental faculties
language, those agents of nature
either became a god or were be-
The biblical cre-
ation myth reflects
governed by one. Except for his mi-
such as memory.

lieved to be governed by one. the knowledge and nor superpowers

It took a while for the notion of a concerns of a particular group of omniscience and omnipotence,
single God who governs everything of people three or four thousand the biblical God is a recognizable
to materialize. The Book of Genesis years ago. Their God is not only person.

26 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019

 As long as humans saw the world as
the center of the universe and believed
its age to be only a few millennia or
even just a few centuries old, the notion
of a geocentric, anthropocentric, and
anthropomorphic God was plausible.
As long as humans saw the existed for about one or two hun-
world as the center of the universe dred thousand years on a planet
and believed its age to be only a few over four billion years old, under a
millennia or even just a few centu- sun that is only one in about 200 bil-
ries old, the notion of a geocentric, lion stars in the Milky Way, which
anthropocentric, and anthropo- is just one of at least two trillion
morphic God was plausible. After galaxies in a universe well over ten
all, our world does seem to be at billion years old. The notion that
the center, with everything else re- the Earth enjoys a special place
volving around it. And humans did in the universe and humankind a
seem to be the pinnacle of creation special status is now untenable.
as Earth’s dominant life form. The God of the Bible is like a child
The history of playing in
modern science is Disputation is the sandbox: entirely
the story of those preoccupied with
geocentric and strategy to subvert, the trivial and
anthropocentric divert, and pervert oblivious to all
views being the rest.
progressively the methods and In the light of
displaced. With
each increased
findings of science to the ill fit between
the God of the
u nd e r s t a nd i n g prove the literal truth Bible and scien-
of the age of the
Earth and the size
of the Hebrew Bible. tific knowledge,
believers in that
of the universe, God have three
humankind’s position and signifi- choices on how to accommodate
cance became further diminished this contradiction: compart-
and peripheral. By the early 20th mentalization, disputation, or
century, things were complicated reconceptualization.
enough, even with the universe Compartmentalization is a natu-
still understood to consist only of ral and automatic human tendency.
our own Milky Way galaxy and For the vast majority of believers in
the age of the Earth determined to God, no reconciliation is necessary.
be only about a hundred million The conflicts are simply overlooked
years. because science and religion reside
Today, we know humans have in separate mental realms.
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
Disputation is what organi-
zations such as the Discovery
Institute, Answers in Genesis, and
the Creation Museum employ.
It is essentially the attempt to
use science (especially biology,
geology, and cosmology—but any
science will do) against itself. The
strategy is to subvert, divert, and
pervert the methods and findings
of science to prove the literal
truth of the Hebrew Bible (via
a such pseudosciences as intelligent
design and young earth creation-
ism). Such apologetics and special
pleadings are mostly regarded as
an embarrassment by the rest of
established religion and are largely
ignored, except in regard to science
textbooks, where these issues are
continually disputed in some parts
of the country.
Reconceptualization is the most
sophisticated response. Although
similar ideas may have always co-
existed with monotheistic religion,
a major rethinking of God arose
in the 17th century and flowered
in the 18th in direct reaction to
the development of science. That
reconceptualization is known as
deism.
As with any system of thought
ungrounded by empirical evidence
and unconstrained by central au-
thority, deism has several varieties.
AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 27
 The God of the Bible is like a child
playing in a sandbox: entirely
preoccupied with the trivial and
oblivious to all the rest.
In its early forms, deism consisted of two
core tenets: God created the entire universe
and thereafter let it alone, and a “revealed”
religion must be repudiated. Contemporary
Christians consider deism to be almost
indistinguishable from atheism—which is
essentially true. Whether you hold God or
the Big Bang responsible for the origin of the
universe, everything that follows does so in
the same way: without a director.
But unlike atheism, contemporary deism
espouses a variety of other beliefs, such as
the universe being perfect and imbued with
a collective intelligence or mind or spirit or
cosmic consciousness, which requires that
we all be nice to one another. Some of these
beliefs are indistinguishable from pan-
theism or panpsychism. How such beliefs
©jesusandmo.net
28 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org
follow from the central dogmas of deism is
unclear. And, although what distinguishes
deism from other religions are the notions
that God doesn’t intervene in the affairs of the
universe and doesn’t speak to anyone, some
modern adherents claim it to be consistent
with Christianity. This is known technically
as having your cake and eating it too.
Like all religions, deism is impervious to
incursion by scientific evidence, but—by defi-
nition if not by fiat—its God is at least equal
to the task of creation, however ancient and
enormous and complex the universe proves
to be. Thus, contemporary deism reconciles
the cramped focus of the God of the Bible
with the larger universe that science has
revealed to exist.
Little God, big God. 🅐
Peter Kassan was raised in a Jewish
secular family and has never believed
in God or practiced any religion,
although, for a few years in his
twenties, he studied and practiced
Tibetan Buddhist meditation. The
author or co-author of several software
patents, he has been an observer of
the pursuit of artificial intelligence
for some time and has published
several essays on that topic and
others worthy of skeptical attention.
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
 NOTABLE BOOKS

Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and

Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church
Megan Phelps-Roper grew up in
the Westboro Baptist Church, an
enterprise consisting almost entirely
of her immediate family. By age five,
she was picketing soldiers’ funerals and
celebrating death and tragedy. But as the
church’s Twitter spokesperson, she found
herself jousting with online critics. That,
along with observing church members
mistreating each other and trying to
make sense of her own evolving beliefs
and desires, led her to question her
mission. This memoir is the tale of her
painful departure from the church and
her thoughtful reflections that expose the
dangers of black-and-white thinking.
Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro
Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper; 289 pages; Farrar,
Straus and Giroux

This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution

An evolutionary worldview is a
practical tool kit for understanding not
only genetic evolution but also the fast-
paced changes that have an impact on
our world and ourselves. In fact, the
Darwinian revolution won’t be truly
complete until it is applied to everything
associated with the words human,
culture, and policy. Using a broad series
of examples, from hen breeding to the
timing of cataract surgeries, evolutionary
biologist David Sloan Wilson argues that
if we can become wise managers of the
evolutionary process, we can solve the
problems of our age at all levels.
This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution by
David Sloan Wilson; 288 pages (including notes, citations,
and index); Pantheon Books

Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the

Taking of the White House
Mike Pence is a man with faith,
conviction, and a hunger for power that is
always cloaked in “God’s will.” Longtime
Pence reporter Tom Lobianco follows
the vice-president from his evangelical
conversion in college to his failed career
as a young lawyer to his thwarted attempts
at politics until he hitched on to far-right
extremism and became the congressional
poster boy for faith-based policy and Tea
Party rhetoric. The book also recounts
the vetting process that made Pence an
unlikely running mate for Donald Trump,
and the occasion when Trump tried to
back out of the agreement but Pence
forced his hand.
Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House
by Tom LoBianco; 371 pages (including notes and index);
Dey St./HarperCollins

The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness is

Widespread But Can’t Be Computed
When the pat answer that “God created
it this way” is off the table, hunting for
answers to the world’s biggest questions
can be downright thrilling. Take the
brain, for example. How can three
pounds of highly excitable matter—a
piece of furniture in the universe subject
to the same laws of physics as any other
piece—give rise to subjective experience?
Brain scientist Christof Koch outlines the
Integrated Information Theory, which
predicts that consciousness is more
widespread than conventionally assumed.
He argues that even a perfect software
model of the brain can never become
conscious, because consciousness is not a
clever hack. Consciousness is about being.
The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness is Widespread
But Can’t Be Computed by Christoph Koch; 257 pages (with
notes, references, and index); The MIT Press

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019 AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org | 29

 WHY I AM AN ATHEIST
Believing in Gods and Miracles Means
Foregoing the Truly Wondrous
Ross Rosenfeld
Lynbrook, New York
Ross Rosenfeld is a
freelance writer who has
written for numerous
publications, including
the Daily News, The Hill,
and Newsday. He is the
author of The Slow Death
of American Democracy.
30 | AMERICAN ATHEIST | www.atheists.org
I
s lack of belief a belief?
This gets to the heart
of what atheism really
means. There’s that “a”
dangling out there, of
course: a-theism, mean-
ing without theism, or absent a be-
lief in a god or gods.
Yet I am not simply an atheist,
but an Atheist—with a capital A,
and the distinction, though it seems
small, matters. I am not just devoid
of a belief in gods and angels and
other supernatural forces, but also
a skeptic, an advocate for reason,
and a champion of science and the
scientific method.
I am an Atheist not only because
I recognize supernatural expla-
nations for what they are: fairy
tales unsubstantiated by evidence,
but also because I challenge the
entire notion of faith and embrace
instead a more progressive way of
thinking—one which measures
arguments on their merits and
challenges conventional ideas,
even when doing so might cause
some discomfort. It means that
my morality is not derived from
fear or from the promise of grand
rewards in the afterlife, but from
conscience and compassion.
Atheism is frequently maligned,
with Atheists often portrayed as
overbearing snobs and know-it-
alls who want to tell everyone else
how stupid they are. Yet, in reality,
Atheism (or atheism, if you prefer)
expresses a vast deal more humili-
ty than religion: religions claim to
have all the answers—“Everything
you need to know can be found in
this book!”—while Atheists say, “I
don’t know. Let’s find out.”
For me, being an Atheist is tre-
mendously liberating. It opens the
door to a multitude of possibilities
because it forces me to question
things rather than blindly follow.
Believing in gods and miracles
might be a comforting thought to
some, but it means foregoing the
truly wondrous; it means never
wanting to know how the magic
trick really works because your
eyes are fixed on the wrong place.
Coming from a Jewish family,
religion was part of my identity
growing up. I wanted to believe
because believing meant belong-
ing. God was good, I thought, and
believing in him made me a better
person. Yet my desire to believe
eventually came into conflict
with my ability to reason and my
tendency to question. By the time
I entered college, it was apparent
that I could no longer maintain
the ruse. God and science were on
opposite sides. I could either be
skeptical and inquisitive or I could
have faith; it couldn’t be both. In
the end, choosing to doubt proved
to be one of the best decisions I
ever made. 🅐
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019

Investing in the Future of Our Work
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members, supporters, and donors
to continue our activism and
community-building in all fifty
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Life Members are generous
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Gayle Jordan spoke at the 2019 National
Convention about her experience running
for office in Tennessee as an atheist. You
can view her talk on our YouTube channel.

SAVE THE DATE!

Mark your calendar for the 2020 National
Convention in Arizona at the Hyatt Regency
Phoenix, April 10-12.

We look forward to seeing you there for a

weekend of community, activism, and fun in
the Valley of the Sun.

Tickets and more details will be available soon!