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