american atheist magazine winter 2003-2004
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Jesus And Moses
WereInvented
Jesus and )\'loses
Were In ented
by Christopher M. Drew
Alate American Atheist scholar
shows that Jesus and Moses
never existed as historical
figures.
124 pp. Paperback.
Stock #5592
ISBN 1-57884-912-8
$8.00
an ATHEIST An Atheist Primer
PRIMER
by Madalyn O'Hair.
This children's book explains what
religion and what Atheism are all
about. It is a great introduction to
Atheism for readers of any age.
Grades 2-4. Illustrated. 30 pp.
Stapled.
ISBN 0-911826-10-9
$6.00
CD-ROM from Bank of
Wisdom
FREETHOUGHT AND
THE BIBLE
25 volumes on a single CD
With AdobeAcrobat= PDF
format, it works on both IBM
Macintosh computers.
Includes: The Bible
Comically Illustrated (2 vols.), The Bible, by John
Remsburg, The Jefferson Bible, Bible Myths and their
Parallels in Other Religions, by T.W.Doane, and
much more
Stock #4504 $30.00
To order, please include check (payable to American
Atheists) or credit card payment for the price of the
books plus shipping and handling ($2.50 for the first
title plus $1.00 for each additional title.
Send order to:
American Atheist Press
P.O. Box 5733
Parsippany, NJ 07054-6733
Credit card orders may be faxed to:
(908) 276-7402
Living In The Light
Freeing Your Child From The
Dark Ages
by Anne R. Stone
LIVING
IN THE LICHT
Rearing children as Atheists isn't easy,
. but this manual will be invaluable for
parents who want their children to grow
up with reality-testing skills intact and
L'==========-JJ strong immunity to the wiles of super-
naturalism.
157 pages, paperback
Stock #5588
ISBN 1-57884-908-X
$12.00
THE ATHEIST'S
HANDBOOK
to Modern Materialism
by Philip A. Stahl
Materialism is minimalist by defini-
tion. Focusing on manifestations of
matter, fields, and energy, it
excludes distracting and unverified
entities such as spirits and souls.
Professional Press. xxiv + 250 pp.
Paperback.
ISBN 1-57087-539-1
Stock #7001
$15.00
The
Altar Boy Chronicles
by Tony Pasquarello
The hilarious romp of a logical mind try-
ing to grow up Catholic in Philadelphia s
Little Italy during
World War II.
214 pp. Paperback
Stock #5583 16.00
The Great Infidels
By Robert G. Ingersoll, with fore-
word by Jon G. Murray
Newly reprinted and reformatted,
Ingersoll's sketches of the lives of
great Freethinkers is one of his most
inspiring works. Includes his amusing
discussion of the fallacy of informal
logic known as the appeal to the
cemetery.
-
T H E G R E A T
S
N F I D E r
76 pages, paperback ISBN 0-910309-08-6
Stock #5197 $7.00
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American Atheist
A Journal of Atheist News and Thought
Cover Art:
Keith McCaffety's poly-
chrome realization of
Pannemaker's engraving of
Gustave Dore's The Deluge, one
ofmany illustrations for the 1866
The Holy Bible with Illustrations by
Gustave Dare.
EDITOR SDESK
A Second Noah s Flood
Frank R. Zindler
Disinforming the Faithful 4
Frank R. Zindler
The truths of science and objective
scholarship are being swamped in a sea
of religious disinformation. Can reality
survive?
LUTHERBURBANK:INFIDEL
GENIUS
Introduction
Frank R. Zindler
Luther Burbank 13
E. Haldeman-Julius
The Plant Wizard as described in E.
Haldeman-Julius'Little
Blue Book
No.
1020.
Volume 42, No.1
Parsippany, New Jersey
Why I am an Infidel 14
Luther Burbank
The genius who developed the
Burbank Plum, the Shasta Daisy, and
800 other varieties of fruits, vegetables,
and flowers comes out of the closet.
Burbank Answers Some
Questions 16
George E. Macdonald
The author of
Fifty Years of Free-
thought
publishes Burbank's answers
to the religious questionnaire that
unleashed a storm of abuse from
Christians all over the world.
Luther Burbank, Infidel 18
Edgar Waite
Aweather report on the storm that
broke out on 22 January 1926 when
Burbank's infidel views became public
knowledge.
3
Luther Burbank
Speaks Out 23
Joseph McCabe
Afamous Atheist journalist and
author gives his account of the hurri-
cane that swirled around the Plant
Wizard of Santa Rosa.
13
Burbank the Infidel 26
Joseph Lewis
Agreat Atheist author delivers a
eulogy in New York's Central Park at
the 1927 tree-planting memorial exer-
cises conducted by the Freethinkers of
America in honor of Luther Burbank.
Winter 2003-2004
Winter 2003-2004
Atheism and Natheism,
Part II 30
Tony Pasquarello
The author of
The Altar Boy
Chronicles continues his argument on
how to define Atheism.
Tony Pasquarello s Atheism a nd
Natheism, a Response 35
George Ricker
Aretired newspaper editor offers his
opinion on how to define
Atheism.
Agnosticism: The Basis for
Atheism, Not an Alternative
to It 37
David Eller
The author of the forthcoming book
Natural Atheism
argues that
Agnosticism is a method, not a philo-
sophical or religious position.
The Word Is Freedom 41
David M. Fitzpatrick
A short story set in our religious
future. Don't let Ashcroft see this - he
might get ideas
Christmas Eve In Heaven 48
G.W.Foote
St. Paul wasn't the only one who
could be snatched up into the seventh
heaven. Evan an Atheist could do it -
and just as reliably.
OnAvoiding That last Visit 50
Tony Pasquarello
Areprint of an article about the
funerary fate ofAtheists that made a
deep impression on American Atheists'
founder Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
The Deja-Viewing 53
Tony Pasquarello
After seeing another goodAtheist
suffer the indignity of 'a good Christian
funeral,' Tony reminds us that he
warned us about this back in 1982.
A Physicist s Critique of
the Existence of a God 54
Alfred Bahr
A German physicist has a new way to
prove that gods are impossible.
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American
Atheist
Volume 42 Number 1
EDITOR/ MANAGING EDITOR
Frank R. Zindler
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Ann E. Zindler
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Conrad F. Goeringer
BUSINESS MANAGER
Ellen Johnson
The American Atheist is published by
American Atheist Press four times a
year, in December, March, June, and
September.
Printed in the USA, © 2004 byAmerican
theist Press. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without
written permission is prohibited.
ISSN: 0332-4310.
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Winter 2003-2004
American Atheist
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Editor s Desk
A
merican civilization is awash
in a flood of disinformation -
a flood that, like the biblical
flood of Noah, threatens to engulf
most of the world. Some of the disin-
formation is political. In this category
we might place the disinformation
that led many to expect that the Iraqis
would welcome American troops as
liberators; the daily dispatches that
portray Israel as always on the good
side in 'the war on terrorism,' and the
arguments employed to perpetuate
the economic and social isolation of
Cuba. Most political disinformation,
however, does not threaten to engulf
the rest of the world. Mainly Ameri-
cans are being deceived, although
infection does sometimes spread to
our closest allies. Political disinforma-
tion tends to be local, with each nation
having its own - to be used for its
own purposes. Rarely does it threaten
to become pandemic.
There is another form of disinfor-
mation, however, that is much more
pernicious and has the potential to go
global, even though at the moment it
is largely limited to the United States
and the Muslim world. This is the
type of disinformation that is created
for religious purposes and to advance
the political ambitions of major
investors in the superstition market.
Religious disinformation is more dan-
gerous than ordinary political disin-
formation due to the fact that it
becomes the energizing catalyst for
political reactions of above-ordinary
scope and power. For example, the
political and military repercussions of
the Islamic disinformation cranked
out by the Ayatollah Khomeini have
only grown louder and more forceful
as they have flowed into other nations
and continents.
Frank R. Zindler
Parsippany, New Jersey
The gravity of our situation can
easily be gauged by a simple measure-
ment. Take up a copy of the Yellow
Pages
for your area. Count the num-
ber of churches, synagogues, mosques,
and other entities that have religious
tax exemptions. Then count the num-
ber of schools and colleges, subtracting
from the total all that are obviously
religious in purpose. Consider the
remainder to be the number of places
where objective scholarship and learn-
ing may be possible. Add the number
of religious schools to the number of
churches to find the number of places
that exist for the purpose of impeding
or annihilating the learning that
might take place in the secular
schools. These are the fountains of
the deep (to extend the biblical
image) from which the surging flood of
falsehood emanates in your neighbor-
hood.
If you still own a radio, turn it on
and completely scan the AM and FM
bands, counting the number of sta-
tions that are completely religious,
partially religious, or nominally secu-
lar. Caution Even if you don't live in
the Deep South, this exercise may
unleash a seizure of deep depression if
you are at all bipolar. If you are not
yet catatonic, consult your local edi-
tion of
TV Guide.
Tally the percentage
of programming time devoted to reli-
gious vs. secular programs. This is
actually much harder to do than the
radio survey, because religious disin-
formation permeates the supposedly
secular channels and programs to an
astonishing extent. The Discovery
Channel and History Channel may be
giving serious consideration to Noah's
Flood, the resurrection of Jesus, or the
Shroud of Turin. CNN Headline News
may be devoting three days to report-
ing how the Catholic Church deter-
mines which miracles are genuine.
The religious broadcast media are the
Winter 2003-2004
windows of heaven from which a
downpour of disinformation threatens
to snuff out the last lamps from which
the light of learning yet shines.
In the western world, it is only
America which staggers due to the
dementia caused by religious disinfor-
mation - for the moment. Even
before America's recent surge in impe-
rial ambitions, however, we had been
exporting our delusions to markets in
other parts of the world. After the
breakup of the Soviet Union, a plague
of creationists and other missionaries
flooded into its remnant republics,
and creationists captured the educa-
tional system of Turkey. We soon shall
be expanding our 'Faith-Based
Programs' to include international
affairs. Will the presently sane citi-
zens of our client or captive nations be
able to withstand the fantastic force of
the fantasies with which we shall
envelop them? Believing is much easi-
er than thinking - hence believers
have always and everywhere greatly
outnumbered thinkers. Will anyone
still be willing to study geology and
genetics if they are told that reading
just the first eight chapters of Genesis
is more efficacious?
The hard-won truths of science
and historical research are being
swallowed up and lost in a surging sea
of superstition and revisionist propa-
ganda. Atheists, Humanists, and
rationalists of all denominations must
stem this rising tide. We must pre-
serve the legacy of learning we have
inherited from the illustrious thinkers
of the past - many of them infidels
who suffered privation or even death
for the cause of truth. How this is to
be done is not clear, but we dare not
reject the challenge. The first Dark
Age lasted nearly a thousand years.
The darkness that is about to fall
could last even longer.
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D I S I N F O R M I N G
T H E F IT H F U L
By Frank R. Zindler
dis.in.for-ma.rion
n.
deliberately false
information leaked by a government, as
to confuse another nation's intelligence
operations
-Webster's New World Dictionary of
American English
Third College Edition
T
hroughout the course of the twen-
tieth century, human knowledge
increased at an astounding, explo-
sive pace. Newtonian physics gave way
to relativity and quantum mechanics.
The very concept of causality itself had
to be rethought in the face of
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and
Kurt Godel shook the foundations of
mathematics and logic.AsDarwin's the-
ory of natural selection found confirma-
tion in the blossoming of the science of
genetics, a veritable flood of fossil dis-
coveries filled in most of the gaps in the
evolutionary history of tetrapods, birds,
whales, humans, and many other types
of organisms. The sequencing of genes
and genomes made it possible to refine
our understanding of the evolutionary
interrelations of microbes as well as
those of the plants and animals of ordi-
nary human experience. Chimpanzees
were found to be 98.5%human. The con-
clusion that we live in an unplanned,
insentient universe became ineluctable.
Formerly a professor of biology
and geology in the State
University of New York system,
for many years Frank R. Zindler
has worked as a linguist and ana-
lyst of chemical literature for a sci-
entific society in Ohio. Since the
1995 murder of Robin Murray-
O'Hair, he has served as editor of
American Atheist Press.
Page 4
Discoveries in biochemistry, physi-
ology,and medicine transformed biology
from a collector's hobby into a scientific
discipline that by the end of the century
came incredibly close to understanding
the nature of life itself. They changed
medicine from a mysterious profession
that couldbe seriously challenged bythe
mumbo-jumbo of Christian Science
practitioners into a branch of science
that understands the biological basis of
infectious diseases, the biochemical and
genetic bases of cancer, and the neuro-
physiological underpinnings of mental
illness. The human mind began to
explain itself to itself.
During the same century, human
achievements became more and more
impressive as the knowledge gained
from pure research found practical
applications. Our species went bodily
from Kitty Hawk to the moon and vicar-
iously journeyed to other planets -
even sending a probe outside the bound-
aries of the solar system into interstel-
lar space. The discovery of antibiotics
and improvedvaccines, the development
of sophisticated imaging and diagnostic
systems, and the refinement of surgical
equipment and techniques transformed
medicine into a life-saving science with-
out equal in the history of humanity.
The average life expectancy of
Americans after 1900increased bymore
than thirty years, climbing to 77.2 years
in 2001. The increase is nearly the
entire life span of the composer Franz
Schubert, who died at the age of 31
Gods have ruled only the unknown
ever since the evolution of language cre-
ated names for them. Gods have never
been needed in spheres of human acti-
vity where knowledge was sufficient to
make accurate predictions of the future
state of the system in question. Of
course, at the dawn of civilization igno-
Winter 2003·2004
ranee was the norm and gods and
goddesses of all kinds never had to look
forwork. They had to heat the sun, send
the rain, hurl lightning bolts, sprout
seeds, ripen fruit, and form each fetus in
the womb.
Steadily but surely, however, the
advance of science and other fields of
human knowledge shrank the domain of
the unknown to ever smaller dimen-
sions. As answers were found for more
and more questions towhich the answer
formerly had been God, the gods of
Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other
religions were sent into the ranks of the
unemployed. Today, there is nothing
worth mentioning left for gods to do.
Even church steeples are protected by
Benjamin Franklin, and storm gods are
out ofwork because of meteorology.
A Paradox Arises
During the second half of the twen-
tieth century, as knowledge of reality
was growing, a paradox was developing
in America. As mainline religions were
shrinking and relinquishing ground to
science, the most ignorant and primitive
forms of religion not only were surviv-
ing, they were actually thriving.
Disinformed fundamentalisms of every
type were gaining in power and threat-
ening to inaugurate a new Dark Age.
Snake handlers, Pentecostalists,
Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, Mor-
mons, Latinate Catholics,
Scientologists, and faith-healing fakirs
in alligator-skin boots were taking con-
trol of the superstition industry - the
biggest business in the history of civi-
lization. The paradox was stunning: the
technology of the twentieth century
CE
was being used to propagate the scien-
tific misunderstanding of the twentieth
century
BCE.
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Children will learn that reality
includes magic and make-believe,
as well as physics and physiology.
and more. ($14.99) The colorful pic-
tures on the box are calculated to be
irresistible to children and Christian
parents alike. But don't forget the Jonah
songs on CD: Jonah, Jonah's
Overboard Sing-Along, and Pirates
Boat Load of Fun. Of course, these are
also available on cassette, and we are
titillated by the promise that a new
Jonah movie will be available on
video and DVDin March
A complete biblical 'educa-
tion' is available to the child
whose parents purchase The
Beginners Bible Series and save
$69 by buying the entire set of
videos. The best-selling
Beginners Bible comes to your TV
screen Now your whole family
can share the timeless truths of God's
Word, because these videos combine
charming animation and memorable
songs to bring the Bible to life for all
ages. A delightful way to nurture your
kids' faith Among the 14 half-hour
videos that make up the set are ''The
Story of Creation, The Story of Noah's
Ark, The Story of Joshua and the
Battle of Jericho, The Story of David
and Goliath, The Story of the
Nativity, The Story of Jesus and His
Miracles, and The Story of Easter.
(Normally retailing for $168.87, the
entire set is yours for just $99.99.)
Children will learn that reality includes
magic and make-believe, as well as
physics and physiology.
Nochild's brain could be considered
completely washed and properly laun-
dered, however, without exposure to
Bibleman videos, DVDs, and action fig-
ures. An absurd caricature of Star Wars,
the featured Bibleman video is Jesus,
Our Savior. Finally, Luxor Spawndroth
is vanquished once and for all But just
when the good citizens ofAndersonville
think it's safe to go out, a new, even
more sinister villain takes his place -
Primordius Drool. Bibleman's super-
powers are put to the test when he must
convince the townspeople that nobody
can ultimately save them , except God
himself] Probably of more utility for
parents who want to stunt the intellec-
tual and personal growth of their chil-
dren, however, would be Bibleman
videos such as Breaking the Bonds of
Disobedience, Defeating the Shadow of
Doubt, and Shattering the Prince of
Pride.
There are so many books in the
CBD catalog aimed at propagating the
faith by imprinting it upon the imma-
Page 6
ture minds of children that it is hard to
decide what else to note at this point.
Shepherding a Child's Heart,
by Tedd
Tripp, however, seems sinister enough
to describe. Many parenting books are
based on hit-or-miss theories steeped in
secular thinking. This one draws from
Pastor Tripp's seasoned experience as a
father-and from God's holy Word
Grounded in the Bible's divine plan for
parenting, this guide defines your goals
as a parent and provides the scriptural
methods for accomplishing them. Covers
infancy through the teen years. One
wonders if Pastor Trippwill advise us to
stone to death our unruly sons as com-
manded in Deut. 21:18-21.
One last title in this genre: Every
Young Man's Battle, by Stephen
Arterburn and Fred Stoeker. From the
authors of Every Man's Battle comes a
survival guide for male teens and young
adults engaged in a high-stakes struggle
with sexual temptation. Learn how to
help these young men implement a prac-
tical, realistic 'battle plan'-exchanging
their shame and confusionfora positive,
thriving relationship with Christ.
Aaaachhh
If a Christian 'education' has been
successful, its graduates will remain
childlike and undiscerning forever after
and will provide a market for 'adult edu-
cation' products such as
A Life God
Rewards - Video Curriculum.
Just
$69.99, the catalog asserts that Some
questions never seem to goaway- such
as what will life be like when we step
into eternity? In this 8-part series,
Bruce Wilkinson offers a fresh, biblical
view of heaven and shows why it's vital
to serve Godwholeheartedly now soyou
can enjoy the hereafter. I'll bet you can
serve God today by sending your faith
dollars to the followingaddress ...
Apologetics
In the culture towhich the CBDcat-
alog panders, few things are more
important than defending the faith. Of
course, the more irrational the faith, the
greater the defense required. Defending
faith against the facts of the real world
Winter 2003-2004
has never been easy, and help in the
form ofbooks on apologetics has always
been in demand for believers who are
short in the fantasy department and
have to fight a proclivity to think ration-
ally. Successful apologetics books are
written so well that otherwise sane and
rational believers are completely taken
in by what passes for reasoning and,
after some amount of practice,
will proceed to try out their
arguments on hapless friends,
neighbors, school board mem-
bers, and even well-educated
members of society.
In the CBDcatalog before
me, pride of place is given to
The Case For Christ, written
by the apologist Lee Strobel. If you
were a journalist, how would you inves-
tigate the hottest news story in history?
Join award-winning reporter Strobel as
he probes the life of Jesus Christ.
Interviewing 13 of the country's top
Christian scholars, he ferrets out incon-
testable historical, scientific, and psy-
chiatric evidence to support the claims
ofJesus. Aunique approach to apologet-
ics In this book you can examine the
mockeryStrobel makes of myown argu-
ment that Nazareth was uninhabited at
the turn of the era and you can specu-
late about how uniformed a fool I must
be to write the stuff I write.
It is perhaps to be expected that
this catalog does
not
carry Earl
Doherty's Challenging the Verdict: A
Cross-Examination of Lee Strobel's 'The
Case for Christ'. You'llhave to goto ama-
zon.comto order this meticulous, point-
by-point refutation of Strobel's apolo-
gies. Further to be expected, the catalog
does
carry Strobel's
The Case for Faith:
''Why does God permit evil? Why do
some prayers go unanswered? Why has
God allowed the church to engage in
brutality and hypocrisy? Tough ques-
'tions demand convincing answers. Join
award-winning journalist Strobel as he
once again journeys across the country,
challenging philosophers, theologians,
and ordinary believers to defend their
faith. The evidence he uncovers may
surprise you Indeed they will.
As upsetting as these books may be
to those who are objectively engaged in
the quest for truth, it is downright repel-
lent to learn that the two Strobel books
are available in Student Editions. An
arsenal of truth for your teens on the
frontlines of faith Biblically sound rea-
soning and convincing evidence equip
American Atheist
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Defending faith against the facts of the real world
has never been easy,and help in the form of books
on apologetics has always been in demand for
believers who are short in the fantasy department
and have to fight a proclivi ty to think rationally.
them to defend their faith and answer
challenging skeptics' questions - all in
contemporary language. Just $12.99for
the two-volume set. It is hard to overes-
timate the damage that will be done by
the disinformation crammed into this
apologetic effort.
For many years, one of America's
most visible and vocal apologists for bib-
lical inerrancy and evangelical dogmas
has been Josh McDowell. CBD carries
his three-volume ApologeticsLibrary,
consisting of Handbook of Today's
Religione.; The New Evidence That
Demands a Verdict,
and
A Ready
Defense - all for $43.99 ($79.97 list
price). More than ever, Christians
must be prepared to defend their faith.
Equip yourself with well-reasoned argu-
ments, conclusive evidence, and accu-
rate information about creation, the vir-
gin birth, the resurrection of Jesus, the
reliability of the Bible, the nature of
truth, postmodernism, cults, the occult,
non-Christian religions, and much
more. Ideal for curious skeptics and on-
guard believers.
Extremely clever volumes all, they
are calculated to cause discomfort
among unbelievers and misbelievers of
all educational levels. Many arguments
require careful and detailed research to
find the fallacies A good example is his
defense of the historicity of Jesus. He
asks, Is absence ofevidence evidence of
absence? To be sure, this is an old
chestnut, but it requires considerable
philosophical sophistication to show
that it misrepresents the problem and
fundamentally misunderstands the
methods of science.
If there could be such a thing as
academic respectability for apologetics
and apologists, Norman L. Geisler and
his productions would be the most likely
tobe accorded it. Geisler can be thought
of as a philosophically sophisticated
Josh McDowell.He can argue about the
meaning of meaning, the foundations of
scientific knowledge, and the nature of
truth. A formidable opponent in debate,
he is perhaps the single most important
apologist for Atheists and skeptics to
understand and refute.
Parsippany, New Jersey
The CBDcatalog features the
Baker
Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics.
At last, a handy one-volume reference
that covers every issue, person, and con-
cept related to the defense of
Christianity - and gives you responses
to arguments against the faith. Geisler's
comprehensive work covers a variety of
topics, including the relationship
between science and Christianity, philo-
sophical systems, contemporary con-
cerns, and more. Other Geisler titles
available are The Battle for God,
Christian Apologetics, Christian Ethics,
From God to Us, Introduction to
Philosophy: A Christian Perspective,
Unshakable Foundation, and Why I Am
a Christian.
Geisler has also co-authored with
Ron Brooks the perennial best-seller
When Skeptics Ask: A Handbook on
Christian Evidences. When skeptics
ask questions, believers need tobeready
with evidences for their faith. This
handbook helps you do that. Geisler ...
and Brooks give understandable expla-
nations why belief in Christ and the
Bible is reasonable. Their question-and-
answer format makes it easy to find
what you need, and a glossary of terms
helps with unfamiliar words. When
skeptics ask ... you need this book
In the post-9-1-1world, Islam is on
everyone's mind. Evangelical Christians
are up to the challenge, however, and
the CBD catalog has a number of
polemic works aimed at defusing the
Islamic bomb. Although they do not
name Geisler's co-author (AbdulSaleeb)
for Answering Islam, Second Edition,
The Crescent in Light of the Cross, they
will send it to you for $12.99 plus ship-
ping. ''Understand the most formidable
religious challenge to Christianity
today Written by a lifelong Christian
and a former Muslim, this theological
critique clearly presents the basic doc-
trines of Islam, offers a Christian
response to Muslim beliefs, and argues
in support of Christian claims. New
preface written in light of 9/11.
It will be recalled that waters for
the biblical flood came from opened
windows of heaven and broken-up
Winter 2003-2004
fountains of the deep. If disinforma-
tion were water, the contributions of
Geisler and McDowel to the disinforma-
tion flood which has engulfed our civi-
lization would probably be equivalent to
the effusions from the fountains of the
deep.
Creationism
Creationists never tire to tell us
that their work is scientific and not reli-
gious. The developers of 'Scientific
Creationism' and more recently
'Intelligent Design' eschew religious lan-
guage as much as possible and sport a
veneer of scientific language and.
appearance. The cat is out of the bag,
however, thanks to the CBDcatalog. On
the page headed Defending the Faith
and More on Apologetics we find cre-
ationism under all disguises correctly
located and identified for what it really
is: religious apologetics.
The politically important Focus on
the Family Creation Videos are both
available for $15.99 each or for $29.99
together. Titled Unlocking the Mystery
of Life: The Case for Intelligent Design
and Icons of Evolution: Dismantling the
Myths, these revisionist views of evolu-
tionary science claim to have the real
facts. How did life originate? Was it
from an undirected evolutionary
process, or was something - or Some-
one - else at work? No questions are
more important, and these thought-pro-
voking videos offer revolutionary
answers. State-of-the-art computer ani-
mation and insights from leading scien-
tists provide an in-depth look at
Darwin's theory and the powerful new
evidence in favor of intelligent design.
Apart from professional biologists, it is
not likely that very many people will be
able to detect the distortions of these
disinformative examples of religion in
the clothing of science.
Intelligent Design 'theory' is repre-
sented prominently in the apologetics
section of the CBD catalog, and all the
usual suspects have been placed in the
lineup. Starting with the lawyer Philip
E. Johnson's Defeating Darwinism by
Opening Minds, we are asked ''What's
the best way to defeat the misleading
claims of Darwinism? The answer
according to the CBD catalog, is B;
developing solid critical-thinking
skills... [Johnson's] non-technical dis-
cussion of evolutionary naturalism
offers sound advice on spotting decep-
tive arguments, grasping scientific
issues, understanding the impact of the
Scopes trial, and more. Ideal for teens,
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teachers, pastors, or anybody concerned
about the creation/evolutiondebate. As
with earlier creationists, Johnson's lob-
byists make an appeal for fairness and
open-mindedness - equal time for ID
and evolution. Unfortunately, many
school board members can't tell the dif-
ference between a mind that is 'open'
and a mind that is gaping. Other offer-
ings fromJohnson are
Darwin on Trial,
The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning
Public Debate, The Triumph of Design
and the Demise of Darwin
(video), and
The Wedge of Truth: Splitting the
Foundations ofNaturalism. It is hard to
tell just how many school boards have
been taken in by this creationist apolo-
gist, but he is a serious threat to science
education in the public schools.
Michael J. Behe, the biochemist
(really ) who almost single-handedly
started the intelligent-design (lD) revo-
lution in creationist politics, has for sale
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical
Challenge to Evolution, a book that
brings the nineteenth-century argu-
ments about 'design' in nature down to
the sub-cellular level. Whereas back
then creationists argued that such
things ashalfa wing or half an eye could
not even be imagined as adaptive (and
thus selectable by natural selection),
convincingexplanations of organ evolu-
tion have forcedBehe to retreat down to
the cytologicaland biochemical levels to
find yet-unexplained conundrums.
Bloodclotting systems and the flagellar
motorsofbacteria are nowclaimed to be
irreducibly complex, and thus evi-
dence of an intelligent designer. Since
Behe can't see how these systems could
have evolved from other pre-existing
systems, his conceit leads him to assert
that no one else will ever understand
these systems either.
It is not surprising that we do not
yet know how these systems evolved,
even though we are closing in fast on
such understanding. These systems are
still being mapped at the molecular level
and we don't have a full picture ofwhat
exactly we have to explain. (For per-
spective, consider the fact that I myself
am older than the science of biochem-
istry as a separate academic discipline )
We are disputing at the leading edge of
science, the boundary line where every-
thing on the other side is unknown and
where every newly discovered fact rais-
es new questions ofmechanisms and ori-
gins. Without a doubt, however, all these
discoveries are informed by Darwinian
insights and are, one after the other,
being explained in evolutionary terms.
PageS
Evolutionary theory has great
heuristic value; that is, it makes useful
predictions and leads to discovery. By
contrast, Behe's god is the quintessen-
tial 'god of the gaps.' It leads to no dis-
coveries, and as each gap in knowledge
is narrowed, the god shrinks proportion-
ally.As each gap is filled, Behe will have
to goback to the vanguard of discovery
to find a new unanswered question
raised by evolutionary scientists. Then,
for a time, he will be able to proclaim,
This system is irreducibly complex and
can't be explained in evolutionary
terms. But Behe will probably still be
alive when that problem is solved, and
he will have to recyclehis claim with yet
another newly uncovered conundrum.
As a matter of fact, the prestigious
journal Nature has just published a dis-
covery that undermines Behe's con-
tention that cilia and flagella are irre-
ducibly complex entities. It has just
been discovered that the intraflagellar
transport proteins that are needed for
growth and maintenance of flagella in
the single-celled alga Chlamydomonas,
are also needed for normal development
of the brain and spinal chord in mice.*
While these particular proteins are
essential for the functioning of cilia and
flagella, they don't need these motor
structures to bebiologically employed. It
can beexpected that other flagellar com-
ponents soon will be found to have a
variety of other functions as well. Cilia
and flagella will be seen to be jerry-built
organelles resulting from the same sort
of evolutionary tinkering that is seen
everywhere as the hallmark of the blind,
undesigning process of natural selec-
tion.
One of the theoreticians behind
Behe is William A. Dembski, whose
Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between
Science
&
Theology
is on sale for just
$11.99. With great affectation of erudi-
tion, Dembski claims that there are sci-
entific ways to detect design in objects
and systems. Well, so did Archdeacon
Paley at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, when he first used the now-
cliched example of watches pointing to
the existence of watchmakers. The
Blind Watchmaker, by Richard
Dawkins, quite thoroughly has laid this
question to rest. Another ID title avail-
able is Designer Universe: Intelligent
Huangfu, Danwei, Almin Liu, Andrew S.
Rakeman, Noel S. Murcia, Lee Niswander,
&
Kathryn V . Anderson, Hedgehog signalling
in the mouse requires intraflagellar trans-
port proteins,
Nature,
Vol.
426, 6
Nov.
2003,
pp.83-87.
Winter 2003-2004
Design and the Existence of God, by
Harry L. Poe Jimmy H. Davis - just
in case anyone were in doubt as to
where ID 'theory'is intended to lead the
public school system.
Creationists of all stripes and spots
are available in this catalog. There is
Kurt Wise's
Faith, Form, and TIme:
What the Bible Teaches & Science
Confirms About Creation
&
the Age of
the Universe.
Kurt was a doctoral stu-
dent under Steve Gould at Harvard,
would you believe? Despite his funda-
mental misunderstanding of science, he
passed all his exams (with flying colors,
I'm told) and Harvard had no choicebut
to grant him a Ph.D.
Hugh Ross, an old debate opponent
of mine, is represented by The Creator
and the Cosmos,
as well as
Lights in the
Sky and Little Green Men: A Rational
Christian Look at UFOs and Extra-
terrestrials (with co-authors K. Samples
and M. Clark). The founder of modern
'creation science,' Henry Morris, has a
catalog entry for his
The Biblical Basis
for Modern Science, Revised and
Expanded.
Morris, it should be noted,
has always refused to debate me, send-
ing his son John to argue Noah's Flood
with me in his stead. (Since I have no
Ph.D., you see, he has not wanted todig-
nify my position by bringing it up to his
level. A transcript of the debate can be
found on the American Atheists Web-
site under the
BonePit button.)
Spiritual Warfare
It may be that the editors of the
CBD catalog are a bit embarrassed to
include books about 'spiritual warfare'
in their inventory. Nowhere do they
explain exactly what spiritual warfare
is, nor do they have even one explana-
tory blurb pushing the twenty-one titles
listed under the heading Spiritual
Warfare. Fortunately, I am something
of an authority on this subject - due to
the fact that last year I debated a
Christian college professor whose doc-
toral dissertation devoted hundreds of
pages to the subject. Naturally, I had to
read the whole verschluggene treatise
before debating the fellow. Like many
true Christians, he believes in what may
be dubbed 'jinni-geography.' Every par-
ticular region of the world, it seems, is
being plagued by a specific demon or
devil whose job is to stymie the efforts of
Christ's salvation army. These all can be
defeated, first, by 'discerning the powers'
- i.e.,
learning the name and antisocial
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lia and flagella will be seen to be jerry-built
lles resulting from the same sort of evolu-
onary tinkering that is seen everywhere as the
lmark of the blind, undesigningprocess of natu-
l selection.
curity number of each demon in
arge of each region. Then, once the
is have been identified, their names
n be used magically in prayers and
orcisms. In the darkest days of the
k Ages, no superstition surpassed
is one for silliness, fatuousness, or
plain ignorance.
Among the titles offered to legions
clueless Christian soldiers are How to
st Out Demons, by Doris M. Wagner;
hat the Bible Says About Spiritual
byC. Peter Wagner;
Strategy of
by Warren E. Wiersbe;
Warfare
by C. Peter Wagner; The
ndbook for Spiritual Warfare
evised and Updated), by Dr. Ed
Spiritual Warfare, by A. Scott
; Deliverance from Evil Spirits,
Francis MacNutt [howappropriate a
me for this
authorl};
Unmasking the
zebel Spirit, by John Paul Jackson;
ngdom Warfare: Prayer, Spiritual
, and the Ministry of Angels, by
ck Hayford; and Preparing for Battle:
Spiritual Warfare Workbook, by Mark
Bubeck.
These theorists and some of the
ders in George W. Bush's military
ve been busy of late 'discerning the
wers' in Iraq and are believed by
any to be doing a far more important
than that done by our troops on the
. More important even than our
r force, these mentally hapless
plites constitute the spiritual
e
that our president is counting
to turn the tide in the Near East.
ow that Saddam Hussein has been
ptured, it will be possible for these
iritual intelligence experts to deter-
ne for certain which evil spirits have
en possession of the demonized ex-
er. While rationalists must perforce
nsider all this tobe absurd and ridicu-
us, they must at the same time realize
e grave importance of the fact that
any of their disinformed elected offi-
als and military leaders take all this
seriously as body-counts.
rsippany, New Jersey
Prophecy
When Ronald Reagan was yet gov-
ernor of California, he expressed his
belief in the BookofRevelation publicly,
indicating that he believed he was living
in the 'end times' foretold in that apoca-
lyptic book. When he became president,
I lived in constant fear that he might at
any minute decide that it was necessary
to catalyze the advent ofArmageddon. If
Godwants the world to end in our time
howcould any God-fearing president act
contrary to the divine will? Would that
red telephone be in his officeif the Good
and the Middle East Crisis-Revised.
Armageddon is closer than we think,
believes noted Bible scholar Walvoord
Explaining how biblical prophecies are
nowbeing fulfilled in such events as the
ArablIsraeli conflict, Walvoord prepares
you for the final drama leading to the
second coming of Christ. Are you ready?
Walvoord offers a plan of salvation so
you can be sure. While rationalists
must be amusedly skeptical of a
prophetic book that has had to be
revised, legions of true believers at all
levels of our society have taken this
book quite seriously and are trying to
figure out exactly where they fit into '
this divinely designed scenario.
No prophecy section of a truly
Christian catalog would be complete
without the works of Tim LaHaye,
including Charting the End Times: A
Visual Guide to Understanding Bible
Prophecy. Does apocalyptic literature
leave you bleary-eyed? Gain a clear pic-
More important even than our air force, these
mentally hapless hoplites constitute the spiri tual
uftwaffe
that our president is counting on to turn
the tide in the Near East.
Lord hadn't planned it? Would
Armageddon become a self-fulfilling
prophecy? If any Bible-believing
Christian is sitting in the Oval Office,
will Armageddon become a self-fulfilling
prophecy?
Reagan was the darling of reac-
tionary Christians everywhere, and his
belief in the importance of biblical
prophecy greatly amplified an already
loud clamor emanating from true believ-
ers who claimed that everything hap-
pening in our world was predicted by
the ancient authors of their sacred
books. This prophetic chorus has contin-
ued to grow in volume up to the present
day, and it is now the opinion of a con-
siderable number ofvery high officials in
Washington. In the case of the president
himself, it is hazardous to try to sepa-
rate public pretense from private profes-
sion. He does appear genuinely to
believe that he has been chosen by the
god of his Bible to invade Iraq and
depose its demonic leader. Where might
he (or the spiritual powers behind his
throne) have gotten such ideas?
Possible answers can be found in the
CBD catalog. Consider Dr. John
Walvoord'sbest-selling
Armageddon, Oil
Winter 2003-2004
ture of Bible prophecy with this aston-
ishing visual guide Features stimulat-
ing text; over 50 dynamic color charts;
timelines to clarify end-times chronolo-
gy; and a 6-panel foldout panoramic
view of God's plan for the ages. The
result of decades of research and study
by two prophecy experts. Also available
are LaHaye's Are We Living in the End
Times?; The Complete Bible Prophecy
Chart; The Merciful God of Prophecy;
The Rapture: Who Will Face the
Tribulation?; and Understanding Bible
Prophecy for Yourself Keys to Unlocking
the End Times.
Once again, rationalists may laugh
at the whole concept of prophecy, with
its fundamental assumption that
Yahweh or Jesus wasn't really speaking
to the people the Bible says he was
addressing but rather was talking to
people who would live thousands of
years later in lands yet unimagined. It is
no laughing matter, however, to consider
the danger inherent in a world whose
leaders and lobbyists not only actually
believe such nonsense but think, more-
over, that the future is not going to be
the logical result of actions we have
taken in the past and present, but
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rather was all planned out by a presci-
entific society that wouldn't have had
the faintest idea ofwhat to dowith a 6-
panel foldout panoramic view of God's
plan for the ages. Belief that the future
of human society not only has been
determined by causes outside human
control but is unalterable by human
actions is noxious. It
canonlyfoster societal
paralysis. No true
believer can be expect-
ed to do the slightest
thing toprevent a real-
world Armageddon -
hence my alarm years
agoduring the Reagan
regime. Of all the dis-
information leaked to
credulous American governmental
'intelligence' personnel by all the vari-
us insurgent theocracies now contend-
ing for control of this land of ours, none
s as pernicious as the notion that the
Biblecan foretell the future without the
need ofscience or rational actions of any
ind.
Obesity is rampant in America, as I
am painfully aware from my own sol-
diering in the 'Battle of the Bulge.'
Practically everyone today is overweight
- or thinks so. Is this a challenge for
Bible Man's accountant or what? Who
can forget that Moseswrote that Allthe
fat is the LORD's Lev3:16]?Any enter-
scientific writings of men who would be
implacable enemies of science if they
were alive today. I suspect Dr. Colbert
has reaped a healthy harvest from the
sale of these best-selling books. His
investment in Christian credulity and
ignorance must be returning tidy earn-
ings for him.
It would appear
that Dr. Colbert is a
mere novice compared
to Carole Lewis in the
art of cashing in on
Christian credulity and
gullibility. She has cre-
ated an astonishing
money-making scheme
the equal to which will
be hard to find - even
in the CBD catalog. She is selling not
just a book; she is selling a
plan: First
Place: The Original Bible-Based Weight
Loss Plan.
Here's a weight-loss pro-
gram that's about gaining ... a life-
changing relationship with God
Participants in the 13-weekprogram fol-
low a fitness and Bible study plan that
includes regular meetings, prayer,
Scripture reading and memorization,
healthy eating, accountability, fellow-
ship, and exercise. Learn to be victori-
ous over old eating habits and commit
your spirit, heart, mind,
and
body to
God.
The catalog cheerfully assures its
readers Here's everything you need to
start a First Place group: Group Starter
Kit $149.99 [$119.99 for CBD cus-
tomers], Member Kit $79.99 [$63.99].
Everything, apparently, is more
than just the Group Starter Kit and the
Member Kit. You're not going to get on
this diet for just $183.98. Oh, no: there
are the Books in the series that you
will need:
Elmer Gantry can show you that Lev 3:16
does not just apply to the fat of sacrificial ani-
mals. Jehovah wants
your
fat as well, and you
really shouldn t ignore his kinky desires.
Dieting and Health,
With
Key
to the Scriptures
For many decades, American
theists has been arguing before state
legislatures and in its various periodi-
cals that religion can be dangerous to
one's health. Wehave focused, ofcourse,
on the most dangerous cults such as
Christian Science, the Faith Assembly,
and other groups that eschew scientific
medicine in favor of treatment by
prayer alone. Our polemic has been
directed mostly at the religious 'healing'
of children, many of whom have died of
prayer over-dose during the last thirty
years. Alas, this horrific form of child
abuse continues to be legal in most
states of the union, thanks to the lobby-
ing expertise of the Christian Science
Church.
It must be admitted that killing
kids with prayer is not a widespread
practice in mainstream American
Christianity, but I remain cynical as to
the reasons for this apparent benignity.
Perhaps it is due to the simple fact that
there's little money to be made from
dead children. (As far as I am aware,
only Christian Science Practitioners can
collect from Blue Cross and other
sources for prayer 'treatment' even
when it has killed the patient.) On the
other hand, there are other markets
where religions and religious authors
can invest their time and energy.
Page 10
prising Elmer Gantry can showyou that
that verse does not just apply to the fat
of sacrificial animals. Jehovah wants
your
fat as well, and you really shouldn't
ignore his kinky desires. Besides, Jesus
agrees with his dad completely on this
issue, as you can find out by reading a
popular book by Don Colbert, M.D.
For just $16.99 you can own What
Would Jesus Eat? The Ultimate
Program for Eating Well, Feeling Great,
and Living Longer.
Does Scripture
teach us how to live and eat? Based on
medical and' historical research, this
health specialist say yes Dr. Colbert
shows youwhy those foodsJesus ate are
ideal for 21st-century living-and why
those he avoided continue to posehealth
risks. Discover a comprehensive nutri-
tion plan that incorporates Bible-based
eating. For just $15.99 more you can
get Colbert's The What Would Jesus Eat
Cookbook.
Another $14.99 (unless you
want it on audiocassette or CD) will get
you Colbert's
Toxic Relief.
Dr. Colbert's
proven 30-day fasting and detoxification
program will help cleanse your system,
restore your vitality, shed toxic fat, and
reclaim your health.
Of course, it cannot be assumed
that everything in these books will be
silly or ill-advised. I have not had the
time to obtain these books, and I am
willing to grant that they may be rea-
sonable rehashes of common medical
wisdom on the subject of health and
nutrition. My gripe is that where these
books may be giving good advice it will
be for the wrong reasons. Instead of
credit accruing to the lineage of infidel
scientists whohave slowly and painfully
accumulated knowledge of the function-
ing of
the human machine, credit - and credi-
bility - will be conferred upon the pre-
Winter 2003·2004
Eating Healthy, Eating Right: A
Complete 16-week Meal Planner to Help
You Lose Weight, Scott Wilson, E.E.E.,
A.A.C.
Jody Wilkinson, M.D., M.S.
$18.99 [$13.99]. [For some reason, the
meal planner is for 16 weeks even
though the program is only 13weeks.]
First Place: The Original Bible-Based
Weight Loss Plan,
Carole Lewis with
Terry Whalin, $18.99 [$13.99].
First Place Bible Study, $19.99
[$13.99].
First Place Leader's Guide, $19.99
[$15.99].
Health 4 Life: 52 Simple Ideas for
Living Healthy in Every Area,
Jody
Wilkinson, M.D., M.S., $14.99 [$11.99].
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[Normally 29¢ each, you can get each
simple idea forjust 23¢ a piece in lots of
52or more ]
Today Is the First Day: Daily
Encouragement on the Journey to Weight
Loss and a Balanced Life, Carole Lewis,
19.99 [ 14.99].
Even though you must have real-
ized that the
actual foods to be
eaten are not
included in the
prices listed
above, you should
not suppose that
it will only cost
you the discount
price of $268.92
plus postage and
handling. I have
not told you yet
that you alsoneed
Bible studies
with Scripture memory CDs to do this
diet. In addition, you need to buy:
biblical weight-loss scheme, publish it
under a pseudonym, and launder it
through a high-volume Christian dis-
tributor such as CBD. If only he were
alive today to see how even his fantasy
has been surpassed by the Christians
themselves.
Bible, Bible Studies, and Bible
Reference Works.
It must be said at the outset that
there is almost nothing of any scientific
value in those pages. That is, there is
very little representing objective and
impartial scholarship in them. A great
deal has been discovered about the ori-
gins and evolution
of the various bibli-
cal texts, but you
won't find much of it
for sale here. Tothe
contrary, you will
find only books and
reference works
that toe the evan-
gelical line and
eschew 'Modernism'
and other secular or
scientific heresies.
There are endless
series ofbible-study
guides and courses, not one of which is
worth naming in this essay. Not one of
them will give any insight into the
nature of the biblical texts or let the stu-
dent know what real scholars have fig-
ured out, say, about the forgery known
as the Book of Daniel. Not one of them
will alert the student to the fact that the
authors of Matthew and Luke plagia-
rized the Greek text ofMark, fitting it to
their theopolitical circumstances. Not
one will derive the creation myths in
Genesis from Canaanite and
Mesopotamian mythologies. Only
benighted ignorance is for sale in the
bible-studies pages of the CBDcatalog.
There is so much more to tell you
about the books and paraphernalia
being sold to the child-like, believing
population that has helped an ultracon-
servative 'Neocon' oligarchy to seize con-
trol of our country, but I fear I have run
out of antacids and cannot turn another
page in this catalog without suffering
ulceration of my splenic mucosa. I have
already discharged all the bile I can pro-
duce for a single review and shall have
to let the hundreds of remaining catalog
items go unclassified as well as
unnamed - unscored and unscourged.
Instead of credit accruing to the lineage of infidel
scientists who have slowly and painfully accumulat-
ed knowledge of the functioning of the human
machine, credit - and credibi li ty - will be conferred
upon the prescientific writings of men who would
be implacable enemies of science if they were alive
today.
Everyday Victory for Everyday People,
19.99 [ 15.99J.
Giving Christ First Place, $19.99
[ 15.99J.
Living the Legacy,
19.99 [ 15.99].
Pathway to Success,
19.99 [ 15.99].
Pressing On to the Prize, $19.99
[ 15.99J.
Seeking God's Best, 19.99 [ 15.99].
In short, the fatted faithful should
bewilling to sacrifice $364.86 in order to
begin
letting Jehovah lap up the lard
that rightfully belongs to him. Some
truly true-believing dieters might worry,
however, that the LORD may look
askance at their discount sacrifice - he
might think they aren't sufficiently sup-
pliant by not presenting Him an offering
at full sticker price. True Christians
such as they might well want to avoid
this discount catalog and buy everything
straight from the manufacturer at
Suggested Retail Price, so the LORDwill
know they are sincere.
It is hard to imagine an easier way
tomake money from
Homo boobus,
as H.
L. Mencken once christened the believ-
ing American multitude the
'booboisie.' I am reminded of Jon
Murray, when he became president of
American Atheists indulging in some
fantasizing about how to get Christians
to pay for Atheism to make up for the
ages through whichAtheists have had to
pay for Christianity. He had just seen a
bumper-sticker inscribed with Lev 3:16
- The Fat is the Lord's - along with
something suggesting Christian dieting.
He thought it would be fun to cook up a
Parsippany, New Jersey
Bible Study
I have to confess that I get the CBD
catalog for more reasons than just keep-
ing abreast of what the Fundies are up
to. As a scientific student of the bibles of
Judaism and Christianity, I possess a
very large library of scholarly resources
for studying those bibles: Aramaic,
Greek, and Hebrew dictionaries in great
number, bibles in Greek, Hebrew, and
other languages, journals, symposia,
concordances, commentaries, atlases,
collected works of early church fathers,
and photocopies of scholarly treatises in
German, French, and other languages
published as far back as 1793. As the
reader may suppose, such things don't
usually come cheap and they make up a
significant part of my annual budget (as
if I were well enough organized to have
a budgetl). Naturally, I try to buy such
things at the lowest-possible prices.
Once in a great while, I can find some-
thing I need in the CBDcatalog. Great
Most often, however, there is noth-
ing I can use in the catalog. Although it
does carry standard grammars and dic-
tionaries for the biblical languages, I've
owned them all for over thirty years now
and they are of no interest to me.
Certainly, however, they will be ofuse to
young scholars beginning their investi-
gation of the bibles of Judeochris-
tendom, although most of them are not
discounted all that greatly. Unfortu-
nately, young scholars will be impeded
in their inquest into the nature of the
biblical texts by all the nonsense that
blights the pages under the headings
Biblical Studies, How to Study the
Winter 2003-2004
What Does It All Mean?
The CBDcatalog conceals an impor-
tant message, one that can be extracted
from every page: America is on the verge
ofplunging back down into the depths of
the Dark Ages of Faith. The most
abysmal superstitions of a prescientific
world are selling faster than Freedom
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Luther
Burbank:
Infidel
Genius
Introduction
by Frank R. Zindler
a
rowing up on my grandfather's
small farm in Michigan, I
learned early-on that someofthe
ost beautiful flowers and the most
elicious and productive varieties of
its and vegetables had been 'pro-
ced'by a man named Burbank. After I
arned how to read real books, not just
he primers and readers taught in the
o-room school I attended, one of the
irst books of any kind I was to read all
he way through was a children's bio-
raphy of the Plant Wizard Luther
. The bookgavenohint that the
an who had been named after the
under ofmy family's religion held het-
rodox views in the sphere of faith.
here was not a word or phrase that
ould have suggested that Luther not
nlywasn't a Lutheran, he wasn't even
a Christian or believer ofany kind at all.
uther Burbank (1849-1926) became
y first hero, and I read his biography
at least twice. I resolved to followin his
Parsippany, New Jersey
footsteps - perhaps to become a
Lutheran Luther Jr. Life
is
irony
It wasn't until years later, after I
had graduated from college - perhaps
significantly, as a biologist with a heavy
emphasis in botany - that I happened to
learn the truth about Luther Burbank.
(No, Burbank California is not named
after Luther Burbank; rather, it is
named after a Los Angeles dentist,
David Burbank.) The man whose fun-
gus-resistant potatoes had restored to
life Catholic Ireland was an 'Infidel' -
an unbeliever in any of the superstitions
afflicting this credulous world ofours.
I have longwanted topublish a trib-
ute to Burbank in this journal, but I
have never had the time to research a
completely original article. As other
projects have had to take priority over
the Burbank project, I have begun to
worry that it will never come to publica-
tion and that my childhood hero will
pass into oblivion and be forgotten even
by members of the American Atheist
community. For this reason, I have
decided to reprint the full text of the
'Little Blue Book'ofE. Haldeman-Julius
dealing with Burbank: Why I Am An
Winter 2003-2004
Infidel: Luther Burbank,
LITTLE BLUE
BOOK NO. 1020, Edited by E.
Haldeman-Julius (Girard, Kansas:
Haldeman-Julius Company, no date). In
addition, I am reprinting part of a chap-
ter from George E. Macdonald's book
Fifty Years of Freethaught (1931) that
contains the actual survey question-
naire to which Burbank replied and
touched off the wave of hostile reaction
alluded to in the Little Blue Book.
Luther
Burbank
(Apparently written by
Haldeman-Julius)
[Pages 3-4 ofE. Haldeman-Julius' Little
Blue Book No. 1020]
L
uther Burbank, naturalist, origina-
tor of new fruits, flowers, etc., was
born in Massachusetts in 1849. he was
always devoted to nature study, espe-
cially plant life, with which he early
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T
he hot debate on evolution in
1922 acquainted us incidentally
with the reason why scientific
truth makes slow headway against
religion. It was that the exponents of
truth never could depend upon the sci-
entists to rally around and battle for
the right interpretation of facts. From
the first of my Freethought reading I
had learned that science traversed
every article of faith held by the
Christian world. The light of science,
the writers of fifty years ago finely
said, had dissolved the mists of super-
stition, or were destined to do so at an
early date. And Evolution - Why, evo-
lution didn't leave religion a peg to
hang its millinery on. But they hoped
against experience. Science didn't dis-
solve the mists; the mists befogged
science.
There is that old Science of
Astronomy, with all its facts. that in
the days of Galileo and Copernicus
created a new heaven and a new earth
wholly incompatible with Bible geog-
raphy, aeronautics, and ascensions.
The Bible had residents in heaven and
on earth swapping visits and return-
ing calls; and belief in that sort of
thing - this ascension of persons from
the pages of the Bible into heaven -
has survived the clearly demonstrated
truth that there is nowhere for such
persons to go. The belief is still so com-
mon that it is only the unusual man or
woman who will openly express doubt
Page 16
Burbank
Answers
Some Questions
Excerpted from Fifty Years of Freethought: Story of The Truth Seeker
From1875,
Vol. II, by George E. Macdonald (New York: The Truth Seeker
Company, 1931), pages 548-553
that Jesus was received bodily into
heaven wearing his Sunday clothes.
There is prospect that before my book
is out, the pope, yielding to tradition
and the request of many heads of reli-
gious societies, will promulgate the
dogma - and see it accepted next day
by the newspapers - of the assump-
tion of the virgin; that is, that the
mother of Jesus was snatched alive,
with all her disabilities, into the pres-
ence of her son, seated just to the right
of his father in heaven. Copernicus
handed that foolishness a fatal blow;
yet one may now examine orthodox
faith closely and not find a dent made
in it by astronomical fact.
That other great science, Geology,
by which it is certified that the six
thousand year period since Genesis is
less than sixty seconds on the clock of
the world, disturbs the faith of no one
who really wants to be a child of God
and accept Jesus as his personal sav-
ior. This notwithstanding that no man
having such endowments of horse
sense that he knows a contradiction
when he sees one can believe in mod-
ern astronomy and geology and in
Christianity at the same time.
Still it is hard to give up the
belief, taught some of us at our moth-
ers' knees, as it were, that knowledge
shall yet dissolve the morning mists of
superstition like fog before the rising
sun.
Winter 2003·2004
In 1922 Miss Lovisa Brunzell of
San Francisco, who had been brought
into Rationalism by the 1915
Freethought Congress in that city,
thought to hang Christianity higher
than Haman by taking the depositions
of all the men of science in America
and publishing them in a book for gen-
eral circulation. Hence her famous
Questionnaire, which before she com-
pleted her part of the work had been
sent to all of the eleven thousand men
and women who were members of the
American Association for the
Advancement of Science. Luther
Burbank, the Darwinian plant wiz-
ard of Santa Rosa, California,
answered promptly and favorably on
one of the first forms distributed, and
returned the questions with the
answers here appended:
Q. Do you believe in the divinity
and miraculous conception of Christ?
B. I do not; there is no proof of it,
either natural or otherwise.
Q. Is it your opinion that prayer is
answered by an intelligent being from
without?
B. I do not believe that prayer has
been or ever will be answered by any
intelligent being from without. There
is absolutely no proof whatever of this,
though it may be very comforting to
some to believe this myth.
Q. Do you think that the sole
value of prayer consists in its effect on
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Luther
Burbank,
Infidel
[Pages 9-25 of E. Haldeman-Julius'
Little Blue Book No.
1020]
I
W
hen Luther Burbank, disci-
ple, prophet and high priest
of nature, announced him-
self as an infidel he loosed a shot in
the hierarchy of orthodox thinking
that was destined, like another shot
before it, to be heard around the
world.
On the morning of Friday,
January
22, 1926,
before Burbank's
avowal of disbelief was broadcast
through the press, California's gentle
patriarch went about his experimen-
tal labors with the serenity of one who
knows that he has harbored no evil
thoughts of his fellowman and that in
seventy-seven years of life he has
never consciously hurt a living being.
He was the revered, kindly old
gentleman of an admiring world. No
voice had ever been raised against
him. How could any voice be raised
against a man who had done only
good, who had filled the world's gar-
dens with more beautiful flowers than
they had ever known before, who in
times of hunger and war had helped
replenish the world's granaries by his
genius, and who had given mankind
meaty vegetables and gorgeous fruits
such as nature, working blindly, had
never before visioned?
At noon of that day the
San
Francisco Bulletin,
shielding its sen-
sational beat against the buccaneer-
ing plagiarisms of rival papers, rent
wide its pages to make space for my
copyright interview in which the
famous horticulturist described him-
self fearlessly as an infidel, expressed
disbelief in immortality, and of course
scornfully dismissed Henry Ford's
Page 18
by
Edgar Waite
recently pledged adherence to a fan-
tastic theory of reincarnation.
And before night Burbank, wrest-
ed violently from his calm nature-lore
in the thriving little city of Santa
Rosa, became the center of the most
exciting philosophical and theological
discussion of our era. Letters and
telegrams began pouring in, first from
nearby cities, but, as the days passed,
from an ever-widening circle that
finally took in Canada, England,
Germany and a score of ether coun-
tries. From scientists and laymen who
with Tennyson believe that there is
more faith in honest doubt than in
half the creeds, came messages of
commendation. From the orthodox
Like kernels of popcorn, livid defend-
ers of the faith, scorched by the heat of
what a great man sees as Truth,
jumped high into the air, and with
quavering voices went into convul-
sions. Sententious champions of the
gospel squared off to engage Burbank
in Quixotic jousting, and fanatics ran
amuck with anonymous threats of
every dire punishment known either
to God or the evil eye. One writer,
addressing his protest to the newspa-
per that had first interviewed
Burbank on the subject, consigned the
plant wizard to no less a tropical cli-
mate than hell itself, where it was
promised he would meet Conan Doyle
and Sir Oliver Lodge.
Like kernels of popcorn, livid defenders of the
faith , scorched bS the heat of what a great man
sees as Truth, jum ped high into the air, and w ith
quavering voic es wen t in to convu lsions.
clergy, and from cranks of all condi-
tions of mental servitude, there came
an avalanche of expostulation,
reproof, and sibilant recrimination for
the man who had the temerity to tell
what he thought In the face of estab-
lished doctrine.
Ministers in Luther Burbank's
own town, whose churches he had
attended at times and for whose con-
gregations he had more than once
spoken on scientific subjects, winced,
looked first askance, then scandal-
ized. With wry faces religious leaders
pecked at his words, outraged orators
enveloped him in the gases of wither-
ing, trenchant criticism, and fanatics
lashed him with biblical platitudes.
Winter 2003-2004
And for many days thereafter, the
furore, drawing fuel into the vortex
with tentacles that encircled the
earth, continued unabated. Rather
was it marked with increased intensi-
ty, for many things were happening
after that first interview was pub-
lished.
But through all the fury and the
flailing of a fetid atmosphere Burbank
himself remained unperturbed. The
Women's Christian Temperance
Union in Santa Rosa, of which he was
an honorary life member, held a meet-
ing of prayer (which only ten women
attended ) for the misguided scientist
- a meeting that became not so much
a time of prayer as an indignation
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council - yet Burbank refused either
to have his soul saved or to recant.
They could pillory him for the leering
stares of a morbid public. They could
burn him, figuratively, at the stake.
They could unroll eternal thunder to
peal out threats of everlasting damna-
tion, but Burbank remained inflexible
on his original platform.
From the outset the storm that
blew so suddenly to rattle the holy
Eucharist became a battle of the dic-
tionary.
ness of the Christian Church.
2.One who does not believe (in
something understood or implied).
Thus the harried, lovable old
man, met his well-wishers with
unflinching eye, and was able to say:
I am an infidel. I know what an infi-
del is, and that's what I am.
I heard these words with keen rel-
ish, for doubtless it would have gone
hard with me had Burbank squirmed
out of an unpleasant situation by
From the outset the storm that blew so
suddenly to rattle the holy Eucharist
became a battle of the dictionary.
Burbank had said he was an infi-
del. Self-constituted apologists, as
represented by the newspapers that
had missed the story and by zealous
ecclesiastics, insisted at once that
Burbank had been misunderstood,
that he had meant agnostic or some-
thing else less offensively noxious
than
infidel,
Churchmen and newspa-
permen invaded Burbank's home
grounds in hordes, all apparently bent
on the determination to substitute a
less inflammatory word.
But Burbank evidently had con-
sulted the dictionary before employing
the word infidel in the first place, or
in any event he peeked into its confid-
ing pages after the first storm clouds
began to break.
He had found that an agnostic is
one who professes ignorance as to the
beginning of things and the power
behind them. He had found that an
atheist is one who denies the exis-
tence of God. And he had found, in
Webster's New International
Dictionary
that an infidel is:
1.In respect to a given religion, one
who is an unbeliever; a disbeliever;
especially a non-Christian or one
opposing the truth or authoritative-
declaring what so many wanted him
to declare - that he had been mis-
quoted, that his sentiments had been
garbled and distorted as the words
and deeds of Christ himself.
II
I had been sent to Santa Rosa to
quiz Burbank as to his theories on
immortality and reincarnation.
Burbank had that day been quoted in
a brief dispatch as disputing the theory
of his old friend, Henry Ford, that we
return to earth after death to live
again in some other form - perhaps a
maple tree or a fox terrier.
All right, said the managing edi-
tor, Burbank has told us what he
doesn't believe. Now it's your job to
have him tell us what he does
believe.
Burbank answered the question
first by an epigram, and he asked that
the Interview begin with the thought
it contained.
Most people's religion, he said,
is what they would like to believe, not
what they do believe. And very few of
them stop to examine its foundations.
Then, going on to tell why he does
not believe in a resurrection: The
universe is not big enough to contain
perpetually all the human souls and
the other living beings that have been
here for their short spans. A theory of
personal resurrection or reincarnation
of the individual is untenable when
we but pause to consider the magni-
tude of the idea. On the contrary, I
must believe that rather than the sur-
vival of all, we must look for survival
only in the spirit of the good we have
done in passing through. This is as
feasible and credible as Henry Ford's
own practice of discarding the old
models of his automobile. When obso-
lete, an automobile is thrown in the
scrap heap. Once here and gone, the
human life has likewise served Its
purpose. If it has been a good life, it
has been sufficient. There is no need
for another.
The scientist, who thus took
exception to theories of a man whom
he had but recently described as one
of the living geniuses who can truly
typify our age, then went on to his
adopted principle, true in his plant
world as in human life, that there is
no repetition in nature.
The theory of reincarnation, he
said, comes, like all other religious
theories, from the best qualities in
human nature, even ifin this as in the
others its adherents sometimes fail to
carry out the tenets in their lives.
Religion grows with the intelli-
gence of man, but all religions of the
past and probably all of the future will
sooner or later become petrified forms
instead of living helps to mankind.
Until that time comes, however, ifreli-
gion of any name or nature makes
man more happy, comfortable, and
able to live peaceably with his broth-
ers, it is good.
But as a scientist I cannot help
feeling that all religions are on a tot-
tering foundation. None is perfect or
inspired. As for their prophets, there
are as many today as ever before, only
now science refuses to let them over-
step the bounds of common sense.
~ Burbank had that day been quoted in a brief dispatch as disputing the
i
i theory of his old friend, H enry F ord, that w e return to earth after death 1
~ to live again in some other form - perhaps a maple tree or a fox terrier. ~
Parsippany, New Jersey
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Edison, Burbank, and Ford
The idea that a good God would
send people to a burning hell is utterl