American Atheist Magazine Jan 1976

$1.
00
JANUARY, 1976
VOLUME 18
NO.1
IN THIS ISSUE:
Feature Articles:
ISSAC ASIMOV /The Judo Argumen
Thinking versus Believing
by Ignatz Sahula-Dycke
,
EXPOSE OF
THE PALLOTTINES
A monthly
journal
of Atheist
news and thought ...
ATHEIST
BOOK of the MONTH
GOD, CAESAR,
THE COURT
AS REFEREE
AND THE CONSTITUTION

OF CHURCH-STATE
CONFRONTATION
by Leo Pfeffer
the churches have sought to obtain from the Supreme Court a decision that exemption is constitutionally
protected.
The Court's refusal, thus
far, to make such a decision leaves the state legally
free
to
limit
and even abolish exemption.
"Churches would be wise," Pfeffer warns, "to plan
for a future in which they will no longer enjoy
unlimited exemption."
God says "thou shalt not kill" and Caesar

says you must bomb villages to save lives. The
conflict
is as old as religion and government.
In
the United States, the referee between God and
Caesar is the Supreme Court.
Leo Pfeffer has long been concerned with
church-state relations. His new book, God, Caesar,
and the Constitution,
analyzes church-state conflict and the role of the Supreme Court as its
decisions affect six institutions
of society: the
church, the family, the public school, the private
school, the military, and the community.
In God, Caesar, and the Constitution,

Pfeffer examines thoroughly
the wide range of
issues which continue to strain church-state relations and require
ultimate
arbitration
by the
Supreme Court. By exploring the contemporary
dynamics
of
church-state
competition
and
coexistence,
he analyzes just how faithful this
country has been to its original commitment to "a
state without
religion
and a church without
politics."
Pfeffer's discussions pertain to volatile contemporary issues, from abortion and contraception
to amnesty and conscientious
objection;
from
community
health and public morality to religion
in the public schools and tuition
grants to the
religious freedom of prisoners.
Leo Pfeffer has argued numerous churchstate cases before the Supreme Court. He serves
as Special Counsel to the American Jewish Congress, and was a co-founder of the Lawyers Constitutional
Defense Committee
to provide counsel
to civil rights workers.
In the debate over the uncertain future of

tax exemption for church property, for example,
he notes that many churches own property that
is becoming increasingly
more valuable. In the
face of community
pressures to secure a court
ruling against tax-exempt
status (since real estate
taxes are almost the sole source of local finances),
$15.00
(See Book Review on page 25)
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JANUARY,
VOLUME 18 NO.1
1976
The AMERICAN
ATHEISTMagazine
CREDITS
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CONTENTS
CHIEF EDITOR
Richard F. O'Hair
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
MadalynM. Q'Hair
Jon G. Murray
Avro Manhattan
John M. Sarvas
John Sontarck
FEATURE ARTICLES
The Judo Argument/Issac Asimov
5
Thinking versus Believing/Ignatz Sahula-Dycke .. 10
Krishna Venta/James Harvey
21
AMERICAN ATHEIST RADIO SERIES
W. F. Jamieson, American Atheist
14
EDITORIAL
The Religious Connection
18
BOOK REVIEW
God, Caesarand the Constitution
25
NEWS
God's Multi-Million
26
BUSINESSMANAGER
W. J. Murray
PRODUCTIONand DESIGN
V. L. Guillermo
Dollar Lottery
COVERARTIST
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CIRCULATION
Jon G. Murray
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ISSAC ASIMOV
The Judo Argument

Copyright 1975 by Mercury Press, Inc.
Reprinted by permission of the author.
In the course of the decadesduring which I
have been explaining the workings of the Universe,
without referring to God, I have naturally been
askedover and over again whether I believe in God.
This is moderately annoying, and I have tried a
number of different ways of answering the
question, hoping to give no grounds for either argument or offense. (Once, on television, when
asked "00 you believe in God?" I answered,
"Whose?" )
But "belief" doesn't matter anyway, one
way or the other. All the hundreds of millions of
people who, in their time, believed the Earth was
flat never succeededin un-rounding it by an inch.
What we want is some logical line of reasoning, preferably one that starts with observed facts,
that leads us to the inescapable conclusion that
God exists.
Perhaps that is not possible. Perhaps God's
existence is a matter that lies fundamentally
beyond the ability of man to observe, measureand
reason, and must be basedon revelation and faith
alone. This, in fact, is the attitude of almost all
the Believers in our Western culture. They wave
the Bible (or some equivalent authority) and that
endsthe argument.
There's no point in arguing with that, of
course. You cannot very well reasonwith someone
whose basic line of argument is that reasondoesn't
count.
But you know, finding refuge in authority
JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-4
is not necessarily the whole answer. There is a long

and respectable series of attempts on the part of
impeccably pious people to show that reasondoes
not conflict with faith, and that one can begin
from first principles and prove by good logic that
God exists.
Here, for instance, is a very simple argument
for the existence of God. It is called the "ontological argument" ("ontology" being the study of real
existence) and was advanced by St. Anselm in
1078. The argument is that anyone can conceive
of a perfect being which we can call God. But to be
truly perfect, such a being must also exist, for
non-existence would be a flaw in perfection. The
statement "God does not exist" is, of necessity,
a contradiction in terms, for it is another way of
saying, "The perfect is not perfect." Therefore,
God exists.
Not being a theologian, I don't know the
proper way of refuting that argument. My own
way of refuting it, undoubtedly improper, is to say
that as a science-fiction writer I daily conceive of
things that do not exist and that even to conceive
a perfect entity (such as a perfect gas or a perfect
black body) doesnot necessarily imply existence.
As far as I know, there is no rational
argument designed to prove the existence of God
that has been accepted by philosophers and
theologians generally. All the arguments remain in
dispute, and for complete safety, Believers must
fall back on faith.
There
is,
however,
a certain
class of
Examples of this argument have turned up

in my mail recently (and not unexpectedly) as a
result of my F & SF * article "Look Long Upon A
Monkey"
(September 19741. Several people
objected to my acceptance of evolution, insisting
that life could not evolve through random
processes of nature, because "it is impossible to
have order arise from disorder." The more
sophisticated of them said something more formidable:
"The concept of evolution violates the
second law of thermodynamics."
argumentfor the existence of God that particularly

interests me, and that is the argument based on
science.
After all, ever since the time of Copernicus
and Galileo, there has been a general feeling that
scienceand religion are in conflict, and, indeed,
many doctrines accepted by science have been
bitterly denounced by Believers. The most
prominent of these today is the doctrine of evolution by natural selection, with its corollary that life
beganand developed as a result of natural forces
actingin a random way.
To be sure, the second law of thermodynamics does imply that the quantity of disorder
(or "entropy"l
in the Universe is constantly increasing and that in any spontaneous event it must
increase. What's more, no scientist seriously
questions the second law of thermodynamics, and
if any scientific finding can be shown to violate
it, that finding is very likely to be thrown out
forthwith.
When Believers base an argument for the

existenceof God on scientific findings, they are
calling upon the enemy, so to speak. It is a form of
philosophicaljudo-the art of using the opponent's
own strength against him. If you don't mind, then,
I will call arguments in favor of the existence of
God that are based on scientific findings "judo
arguments."
It is further clear that the course of evolution

from
simple compounds
to complex
compounds to simple organisms to complex
organisms, represents a vast increase of order, or a
vast decrease in entropy.
The first judo argument I know of dates

back to about 1773, when the French encyclopedist, Denis Diderot, was at the court of
Catherinethe Great of Russia. Diderot was an open
atheist who expressed his views freely. Leonhard
Euler, a Swiss mathematician and one of the
greatest of all time, undertook to confound
Diderot by proving the existence of God
mathematicallyin open debate.
Combining what I have said in the previous

two paragraphs, have I not stated that evolution
violates the second law of thermodynamics and
that, therefore, God exists?
Oddly enough, I haven't. The second law of
thermodynamics applies to a "closed system,"
one that is completely isolated from the rest of the
Universe and that neither gains nor loses energy in
any form. It is possible to imagine a perfectly
closed system and work out the theoretical consequences of the second law; or to construct an
almost
closed system and observe actual
consequences that approach the theoretical ones.
Diderot accepted the challenge, and with the

Russiancourt looking on in interest, Euler said,
"Sir, (a + bnlln = x, therefore God exists. Refute
thatl"
Diderot, who knew no mathematics, had no
answer,retired in confusion and asked permission
to return to France.
Euler'sargument was, of course, nonsense. It
wasnothing but a practical joke. To this day, there
is no mathematical proof of God's existence that
anyoneof importance accepts.
Let's go on to more serious judo arguments.
o
Here is one that can be expressed as follows

Suppose something exists, but that it could
come into existence only
by defying
a
wellestablished and universally-accepted natural
law. We can then argue that the fact of its
existencetranscends natural law. Since the only
factor that has ever been admitted, in our western
culture, to transcend natural law is God, we concludethat God exists.
The only true closed system, however, is the

whole universe. If we deal with anything less than
the whole Universe, we run into the danger of involving ourselves with a system that is wide open
and to which the second law doesn't appy at all.
We must always avoid making arguments involving
the second law unless we are sure that our system
is at least reasonably closed.
For instance, by the second law, any object
which is colder than its surroundings must warm
up, while the surroundings cool down until the
*Fantasy and Science Fiction MagazineJANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-5
whole system (object plus surroundings) are at

equal temperature. Yet the interior of a refrigerator does not warm up, but remains cooler than its
surroundings for an indefinite time. In fact, heat is
pumped out of the refrigerator constantly so that
its surroundings are warmer than they would be if
the refrigerator were not there.
Does this mean that the refrigerator is
violating the second law? Since it is man-made,
does this mean that man is capable of violating
second law? Does this mean man can transcend
natural law and has Godlike power? Or does it
mean that the second law is wrong and should be
discarded?
The answer to all those questions is: No!
Notice that the interior of a refrigerator
begins to warm up at once when its motor is
turned off. Without taking the motor into consideration, the refrigerator is simply not a closed
system or anywhere near it. The motor is run by
electricity that is produced by some generating
system, and that, too, must be included in the
system. Once that is done, it becomes clear that
the entropy increase of the motor together with all
that keeps it running is far higher than the entropy
decrease of the refrigerator interior itself. If you
take a reasonably closed system of which the
refrigerator interior is part, then the second law is
not violated.
life itself is not a closed system. Simple
compounds do not spontaneously become complex
compounds, or simple organisms complex ones,
without something other than life being involved.
The compounds of the primordial sea, out
of wh ich life began, are bathed by a sea of
incoming energy originating, for the most part,
in the Sun (though, to a lesser degree, in the
Earth's internal heat, in the radioactive substances
of the Earth's crust and so on). It is the combination of compounds and energy that leads to the
formation and evolution of life, and this energy
must be included in the system, if it is to be considered as reasonably closed.
Therefore,
in considering the thermodynamic significance of evolution, we mustn't
think of life only - for to that, the second law
does not necessarily apply. We must think of the
reasonably closed system of Sun and Earth. If we
do that, then we find that the entropy increase
involved the energy impinging on Earth's surface
is far, far greater than the entropy decrease
involved in the evolutionary changes it makes
possible. In other words, the increasing order
found in evolution is at the expense of a far greater

increase in disorder developing in the Sun.
Evolution, therefore, once you consider it as
part of a closed system (as you must) does not violate the second law of thermodynamics, and this
particular judo argument does not prove the
existence of God.
I am, as a matter of fact, surprised that those
Believers who advance this argument (and reveal
their ignorance of thermodynamics) should think
the suggestion can possibly hold. Do they honestly
think that scientists are so stupid that they would
not see the conflict between evolution and second
law if it existed; or seeing it, would be so lost in
malice asto ignore it just to spite God?
A second judo argument goes as follows:
Suppose something exists, but that the
chances of its having come into existence by
random processes are so small (as determined by
the laws of statistics and probabilities) that it is
virtually impossible to suppose that it exists except
as the result of the intervention of some directing
influence. Since the only directing influences we
can imagine involve intelligence, and since the only
form of intelligence great enough to influence
major aspects of the Universe of God, we must
conclude that God exists.
This argument can be advanced in general
terms by saying something like: "If you grant the
existence of a watch, you must assume the
existence of a watch-maker since it is impossible
to believe that the delicate mechanism of a watch
came to be through the fortuitous concatenations
of atoms. How much more then, if we grant the
existence of a Universe, must we assume the
existence of a Universe-maker, who can only be
God."
A more sophisticated form of the argument
was presented by a French biophysicist, Pierre
Lecomte du Notiy in a book named Human
Destiny published in 1947, the year he died.
Lecomte du Notiy calculated the chances that the
various atoms making up a typical protein
molecule would manage to orient themselves in
just the proper fashion by chance alone. Clearly
the chance of a single protein molecule forming
by chance, even in the entire lifetime of the
Universe, is negligible. From the fact that protein
molecules nevertheless exist, in enormous numbers
and great diversity, we must conclude that God
exists.
I first learned of this argument ten years
after it was advanced and, of course, saw the flaw

in the reasoningat once. I pointed out the flaw in
an article entitled "The Unblind Workings of
Chance"which appeared in the April 1957 issue of
AstoundingScience Fiction.
Suppose, I said, we imagine not a complex
protein molecule, but a very simple water
molecule, consisting of two hydrogen atoms and
one oxygen atom in the following order; H-O-H.
Given a quantity of oxygen atoms and hydrogen
atoms, we can imagine them grouping themselves
into threes at random. They might arrange themselves in any of eight different combinations:
000, OOH, OHO, HOO,OHH,HOH,HHO,HHH.
Once they have done so, you pick out one
moleculeat random. The chance that it is HOH is
1 in 8. The chance that the first twenty molecules
you pick out at random are al/ HOH is 1 in 820 or
lessthan 1 out of a billion billion (1018). The
chancesare far far less if you also allow combinations of two atoms and four and five and so on which might also come to pass in the kind of
randomassortmentwe are postulating.
And yet, in actual fact, if you start picking
moleculesout of a container in which atoms of
oxygen have combined with atoms of hydrogen,
we find that al/ the combinations, with negligible
exceptions,are H-O-H.
What has happened to the laws of statistics?
Whathashappenedto randomness?
The answer is that Lecomte du Nollv, in his
eagerness
to prove the existence of God, based his
argumenton the assumption that atoms combine
in absolutlely random fashion, and they don't.
They combine randomly only
within
the
constraintsof the laws of physics and chernistrv.
An oxygen atom will combine with no more than
two other atoms, and with a hydrogen atom much
more easily than with another oxygen atom. A
hydrogenatom will combine with no more than
one other atom. Given those rules, the only
combination that forms in appreciable numbers is
H-O-H.
Arguing similarly, you might say that while
the various atoms making up protein molecules
would never form a protein molecule by absolute
chance- they may still do so, if they combine
first to form simple organic acids, then amino
acids,then small peptides and finally protein.
By the time I wrote my article, this had
indeed been demonstrated experimentally.
In
1955,the American chemist, Stanley Lloyd Miller,
had begun with a small quantity of a sterile

mixture of simple substances that probably existed
in Earth's primordial atmosphere. He supplied the
energy derived from an electric spark and, in a
mere week, obtained from the mixture several
organic acids and, in addition, two of the amino
acids that occur in protein molecules.
Since then, other experimenters, working in
similar fashion, have confirmed
and vastly
extended Miller's findings. Some fairly complex
compounds have been formed by purely random
techniques. Naturally, it is reasonable to start with
compounds whose formation has already been
demonstrated and use them as a new starting
point. Thus, in 1958, the American biochemist
Sidney W. Fox heated a mixture of amino acids
and obtained protein molecules (though none that
were precisely identical to any known proteins in
living tissue).
So Lecomte du NoUy is wrong (although I'm
sure his argument is earnestly quoted by Believers
to this very day). The formation of complex
compounds of the kind we associate with life is not
such a low-probability affair that we have to. call
on God to extricate us from the puzzle of our own
existence. It is, instead, a rather high-probability
and, indeed, almost inevitable event. Given Earthlike conditions, it is difficult to see how life can
avoid coming to pass.
I spoke of the inevitability of life in an
article which I entitled "The Inevitabilitv of Life"
but which appeared in the June 1974 issue of
Science Digest under the editor's title of "Chemical
Evidence for Life in Outer Space." (Fie!)
I was fascinated when, in response to that
article, a letter of dissent appeared in the October
1974 issue, one that produced a judo argument in
favor of God's existence that was better than
Lecomte du Nouy's.
The letter writer did not try to talk about
forming
complex
molecules
atom-by-atom.
Presumably he was knoyvledgeable enough about
science to know that scientists have formed pretty
complex molecules in little vats of solution over
short periods of a few days. (Imagine, then, what
could be done in a whole ocean of compounds over
a period of a hundred million years.)
The letter writer is therefore wi IIing to
assumethat the primordial ocean if full of complex
molecules "with ten percent being in the form of
amino acids." He calls this a generous percentage
and I suspect that it is. He then goes on to say:
"Let's further assume that these molecules

are combining and re-combining, making new
compounds at the fastest rate known to chemistry.
It's easy to prove, applying the science of mathematical probabilities that by chance, not one
recognized molecule of deoxyribonucleic
acid
(DNA) could be formed, even over the billions of
years normally assignedto the task."
Of course, one can't make DNA out of
amino acids; we need nucleotides for that. Let's
dismiss that, however, as a small error by someone
who is not completely at home with the matter
concerning which he is arguing. Let us suppose we
start with
"trinucleotides,"
rather complex
building blocks out of which DNA is built, and out
of which it can be built up by random processes.
A DNA molecule (or what we call a "gene"
in genetics) may be made up of some 400 trinucleotides, and each of the trinucleotides can be any of
64 different varieties. The total number of different DNA molecules that may be built up of 400
trinucleotides, each one of which can be any of 64,
is 64400, which is just about 30000000000
.
where you must write a total of 622 zeroes!
Now let us see how many different genes
are actually known and let us multiply that
number as much as we can so that we have as many
different molecules out of which to select that
"one recognized molecule" that we must try to
form by chance if we are to confound the letter
writer.
The number of different genes in a human
cell may be as many as 25,000. These are duplicated in everyone of the fifty trillion cells of the
human body, so there are only 25,000 different
genes in a whole human organism as well as in one
cell. Let us, however, ignore this, and pretend that
every cell in the human body has 25,000 genes that
are different from the genes in every other cell.
The total number of different genes in the human
body would then be 1.25 x 1018.
Let's go on to suppose that everyone of
the four billion human beings alive on Earth have a
completely different set of genes, so that no
human gene anywhere on the planet is like any
other. In that case, the total number of different
human genes on Earth would be 5 x 1027. If we
assume that the total number of non-human genes
on Earth is ten million times that of human genes
and that they are all different too, then the total
number of geneson Earth of all kinds is 5 x 1034.
If you go on to suppose that new genes are
formed every half-hour and that they are always

different, and that Earth has always been as rich in
life as it is now, then in the three billion yearsof
the history of life on Earth, the total number of
different genes that would have existed would be
2.5 x 1041. If you suppose that this has happened
not only on Earth but on each of ten different
planets of everyone of the hundred billion stars
in our Galaxy and of everyone of the stars in a
hundred billion other galaxies, then the total
number of different genes in the Universe is
2.5 x 1063.
This is also a large number but com~ared to
the total number of possible genes, 3 x 10 22, the
total number of different genes in the Universe,
even after our impossibly generous mode of computation, is so small as to be virtually zero.
If then, you take a huge mass of nucleotide
triplets and have them join at random, the chance
that they will form a single "recognized molecule
of DNA" in the billions of years that the Universe
has existed is indeed negligible, as the letter writer
states.
This is a powerful judo argument, indeed.
Can we rescue ourselves by saying that the trinucleotides can not join in any fashion at all, but only
within certain constraints that cause them to form
only the genes we know?
Alas, no! As far as we know, the trinucleotides can join in any fashion whatever.
Have we, then, finally ended with an argument that proves that God exists?
Not quite!
There is, after all, a logical flaw in the letter
writer's arguments. He makes the unspoken assumption that only the "recognized molecules"
of DNA have anything to do with life - but there
is no reason at all to suppose that.
In the course of the evolution of living
things, new genes have constantly come into being;
genes of a kind that had never existed before;
genes with trinucleotide-combinations not hitherto
encountered. These new genes were of various
types from very useful to completely useless.
There is no reason to suppose that life has
exhausted all the genes that are useful to life.
There is no reason to suppose that a gene that is
useless to one species might not be useful to
another; perhaps to one that is now extinct or one
that hasneverevolved.
It may be that a large majority of all the
incrediblenumber of genesthat can be formed, but
haveneverbeen formed, would, if they happened
to be formed by accident, prove useful and
functional in some life-situation, in one way or
another.
Wemight argue that any particular gene has
virtually zero chance of being formed in Earth's
primordial ocean, but that some gene was certain
to form. In all likelihood, it did not matter which
geneswere formed as long as some genes formed.
The actual direction life took and the actual fact
of our own existence may depend on the chance
that certaingeneswere formed and not others. The
Earthlyforms of life are, as a result, purely fortuitious and are extremely unlikely to resemble any
forms of life on any other life-bearing planets but the fact of some form of life is a virtual
certaintyand does not require the defying of the
lawsof probability.
The choice,then, is not between a few select
genesthat lead to life, and an incredibly vast
majority that does not. That is only the letter
writer's unspoken assumption. The choice is
betweenone group of genesthat leads to Iife and
another that leads to a somewhat different life
and still another - and still another - and still
another- and still another Once genes are formed that represent the
beginningsof a very primitive form of life, a new
factor enters. The genes reproduce themselves
but not alwaysexactly, so that new genesare constantly being formed, each working a little
differently.
These different genes, alone and in combination,compete with each other for existence.
rvivaland reproduction of this one, rather than
that one, may be very largely a matter of chance,

but weighting that chance ever so slightly in one
direction or the other, may be the comparative
efficiency of working of one gene as compared to
another.
Differences
inevitably lead to
work best in their
is what is meant
selection."
in efficiency or "fitness" will

the survival of those genes that
particular environment, and that
by "evolution through natural
Genes after having been orginally formed

purely by chance, are then selected by blind
environmental forces into a better and better fit,
until after three billion years, an organism as
complex and versatile as Homo sapiens exists. Very
likely, a species equally remarkable would have
been formed in the beginning by the workings of
sheer chance.
Nowhere in the entire process can I see any
point where the blind laws of nature definitely
break down and where we are left with no alternative but to call upon God.
Naturally, there is nothing in the argument
to prove that there is no God, either. Even if we
were to demonstrate that, as far as we know, God
is unnecessary, we have not disproven God's
existence. God may be necessary at some point
that we haven't properly understood, or haven't
even considered. For that matter, God may exist
even if there is no necessity for the existence.
However, it is a respected principle of argument that the burden of proof is upon the positive.
Therefore, if asked whether I believe in God,
I suppose I must reply that as soon as incontrovertible evidence for God's existence is presented
to me, I will accept it.
that hasneverevolved.
It may be that a large majority of all the
incrediblenumberof genesthat can be formed, but
haveneverbeenformed, would, if they happened
to be formed by accident, prove useful and
functional in some life-situation, in one way or
another.
Wemight argue that any particular gene has
virtually zero chance of being formed in Earth's
primordialocean, but that some gene was certain
to form. In all likelihood, it did not matter which
geneswere formed as long as some genes formed.
The actual direction life took and the actual fact
of our own existence may depend on the chance
that certaingeneswere formed and not others. The
Earthlyforms of life are, as a result, purely fortuitious and are extremely unlikely to resemble any
forms of life on any other life-bearing planets but the fact of some form of life is a virtual
certaintyand does not require the defying of the
lawsof probability.
The choice,then, is not between a few select
genesthat lead to life, and an incredibly vast
majority that does not. That is only the letter
writer's unspoken assumption. The choice is
betweenone group of genesthat leads to life and
another that leads to a somewhat different life
and still another - and still another - and still
MOther- and still another Once genesare formed that represent the
beginningsof a very primitive form of life, a new
factor enters. The genes reproduce themselves
but not alwaysexactly, so that new genesare conntly being formed, each working a little
differently.
These different genes, alone and in combination,compete with each other for existence.
rvivaland reproduction of this one, rather than
-------------.
that one, may be very largely a matter of chance,

but weighting that chance ever so slightly in one
direction or the other, may be the comparative
efficiency of working of one gene as compared to
another.
Differences
inevitably lead to
work best in their
is what is meant
selection."
in efficiency or "fitness" will

the survival of those genes that
particular environment, and that
by "evolution through natural
Genes after having been orginally formed

purely by chance, are then selected by blind
environmental forces into a better and better fit,
until after three billion years, an organism as
complex and versatile as Homo sapiens exists. Very
likely, a species equally remarkable would have
been formed in the beginning by the workings of
sheer chance.
Nowhere in the entire process can I see any
point where the blind laws of nature definitely
break down and where we are left with no alternative but to call upon God.
Naturally, there is nothing in the argument
to prove that there is no God, either. Even if we
were to demonstrate that, as far as we know, God
is unnecessary, we have not disproven God's
existence. God may be necessary at some point
that we haven't properly understood, or haven't
even considered. For that matter, God may exist
even if there is no necessity for the existence.
However, it is a respected principle of argument that the burden of proof is upon the positive.
Therefore, if asked whether I believe in God,
I suppose I must reply that as soon as incontrovertible evidence for God's existence is presented
to me, I will accept it.
awesome goings on provoke them; they only sense

them as contrary to their instincts. This happens
in the instance of half or so of Western children
suffering from indoctrination.
But does anyone bother to protest against
this savagely pernicious routine? Has anyone ever
bothered to understand it from the child's viewpoint? I'll guess not even one in a million of the
parents and the elders, for they themselves were
similarly made the victims of the system. As a
consequence, when starting the child out in life
this way, they are stupidly and smugly sure they're
doing the right thing. They're doing wrong,
however; in the light of our existing knowledge
their behavior is inexcusable. And so is any public
or private educational institution that aids in this
injuriously irrational brainwashing.
We should be making every effort to hasten
the day when every child will be protected from it
until it reaches at least its twelfth year. By then,
even were our public schools to be no better than
today's, but were to include schooling in ethics,
the child would there and at home have learned
well the benefits of doing right and the penalties
of wrong. Knowledge of the difference between
right and wrong already existed thousands of years
before the appearance of Christianity; it isn't
something religious, or new.
Parents who nowadays are bringing up their
children to understand the difference between the
effects of right and wrong-but without any fear
of the spectre of Christianity's vengeful God-this
way raising the general level of rational morality,
deserve everyone's thanks. Were such people not
to have a penchant for facts, and were they not
opposed to the worship of superstitious concepts,
the rest of humanity would forever stay in the
same rut of enslavement by dogmas and ignorance.
Even at very worst, the thinking of the rationalists
induces the others to change to another rut; the
change offering fresh possibilities for the improvement of everybody's day-to-day affairs.
The rational people attend first of all to
the needs of their time and its people; this indicating them to be at odds with any doctrine preaching
that everyone's fealty belongs first to its dogmas.
This old dogmatic viewpoint is irresponsible:
today's world needs a more effective prescription
for curing its various ills than the salve compounded of unreason and dogmas. In the recently more
amenable past we generally benefitted more from
our instinctive sense of right than from the religion which indoctrinated us to thank God for
every success; but failed to tell us whom to blame
for every honest effort that failed. This variety
of dogmatism instead of cultivating the development of responsibility, sets an example encouraging its evasion.
The religion is always making promises
which, when broken, we hear is the will of God.
Very often the believer, seeing the sham succeed,
decides to take a flyer at it himself; it can't be
much of an infraction, after all, if God's own
religion is doing it. This kind of behavior, demeaning one of the basic principles of moral
ethics, has over the years resulted in the general
moral callousness which today makes the Westerner deservingly distrusted and suspected of trickery
by the people of the rest of the globe. Opposition
to deceit is naturally instinctive, is fully rational,
and not of religious origin; but hard to marshal
by anyone who has been made morally irrational
by religious brainwashing. Right or wrong, the selfstyled Christians's deceitful behavior stemsfrom
his indecision: half of it resulting from his cynicism
toward his religion's alluring promises, and half
from his believing them.
Christianity's deceitful promise of immortality which the religion tells man he can have,
provided that he obeys clerical commands, is the
most consummate artifice of all ever devised.
Nearly everyone unthinkingly imagines he'd like
living eternally.
But the one puzzling and
discouraging thing about it is that it first of all
entails dying, which the religion is unable to prevent, but which the religion ought to get busy
doing away with because it is an unnecessarystep.
Could religion ever succeed in this, in a short time
there'd be signs reading Standing Room Only all
over the globe: a disturbing thought to dwell upon.
We've all known deceitful traders who are
regular churchgoers. As sure as the sun that will
rise tomorrow, there's something about that kind
of behavior that's wrong. Either the religion
doesn't mind the cheating done by believerslike
the trader, or, despite all the religious taboos
against cheating, the people pay little seriousattention to it. Since this is a trifle self-contradictory, let's ask a few questions enabling us to find
out of what the discrepancy consists. The
questions follow.
1. Why does the cheater keep on sayingheis
a Christian?
2. Why doesn't the cheater reform?
3. Is the religion cheating in saying its
doctrine is reformative?
4. Is it cheating if the religon lets the cheater
say he's Christian?
5. What good is belief in a doctrine unableto
prevent cheating?
6. Why does a religion not preventing cheatsayit's reformative?

7. Is a doctrine reformative if unable to
t cheating?
8. Should the unreformed cheater blame the
ionfor it?
9. Should the religion blame the cheater for
reforming?
10. Why isn't the religion effective enough
putanendto cheating?
Anyone answering these ten questions will
n to understandthat religious indoctrination is
from rational,and religion not as good a moral
tor as it was seventeencenturies ago. Moral
ts, to be effective, must fit the times.
Nicene Christianity, in all its 16n<gexperience,

hasn't learned this. It now contributes nothing to
its believers and other people that rational common sense can't do better. Were its religious
promises and dogmas not preventing independent
free thinking, in a generation or two from now the
majority of the world's peoples would be living
contentedly, even happily. If people devoted to
independent thinking the time they now waste
praying, soon everything that makes life worthwhile would come true-and with far less effort
than today.
PLAN NOW!
TO ATTEND THE 6TH ANNUAL
CONVENTION
APRI L 9th, 10th & 11th
1976
NEW YORK CITY
Sheraton Hotel
7th Avenue at 56th Street
WRITE FOR DETAILS
REGISTRATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY APRIL 1ST
SOCIETY of SEPARATIONISTS, Inc.
P. O. Box 2117, Austin, Texas 78767
~Letus endeavorso to live that when w~ come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry.~
~
-Mark Twain
THE AMERICAN ATHEIST RADIO SERIES:

Program 319 - November9, 19
KLBJ Radio -Austin, Te
w.
F. JAMIESON ~
Hello there,
This is Madalyn Mays Q'Hair,
Atheist, back to talk with you again.
I have just acquired
American
a book published
heard of either.
This book "The Clergy A Source of Danger
to the American Republic" is a survey of the efforts of the Christian community, immediately
after the civi I war, to establ ish our nation as a
Christian one. There were four related proposals.
In the preamble to the Constitution which reads,
"We the People, in order to form a more perfect
union," ... was to be asserted (sic) after the
words, "We the people" - the following:
"Humbly acknowledging Almighty God as
the source of all authority and power in civil
government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the
ruler among the nations, and his revealed
will as of supreme authority, in order to
constitute a Christian government ...
1/
would
In the Constitution
itself, the following
changes were to be made, if possible.
Article II, Section 1, clause 8, "Before he
(the President) enter on execution of his office, he
shall, with uplifted hand, take the following oath:
'/ do solemnly swear, by the living and true God,
and as / shall answer at the bar of Jesus Christ the
Judge, that I will faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States, and until constitutionally amended, preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States.' "
Article VI, Section 2, "This Constitution,

and the laws of the United States which shall be
Atheist
made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties m

or which shall be made, under the authority
the United States, in subordination to the law
God revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and
Testaments, shall be the supreme law of the land.
in
1874 written by one W. F. Jamieson and published

by the Colby & Rich, Co. of Boston. I had never
after which the balance of the preamble

follow in its usual form.
American
Article VI, Section 3, which states that'

religious test shall ever be required as a qualifi
tion to any office or public trust under the Uni
States" was to be changed to read, "The Sen
and Representatives before mentioned, and
members of the several State Legislatures, and
executive and judicial officers, both of the Uni
States and of the several States, shall be just
fearers of God and haters of covetousness,
shall be bound by oath to support this Co .
tion; but no denominational test shall be requi
further than that they shall be professors
religion in some Protestant Christian Church."
Actually the movement was organized in 1829
continued through the Civi I War to come to a c
in 1875.
To win their point, the clergy involved'
this cited two sayings of Jesus Christ: First,
admonition of Jesus Christ that "He who is not
me is against me" and secondly, "He that will
confess me before men, him will I not conf
before my father in Heaven."
Right after the Civil War these religion'
were able to have their fight endorsed by the H
William Strong, of the Supreme Court of Penn
vania, the Hon. B. Gratz Brown, the U. S. Sen
from Missouri, the Faculty of Princeton Theo
gical Seminary, Trinity Church, of New York,
the list of clergyman is staggering.
Apparently the movement began in 1
when the Constitution was ratified. At that ti
a small handful, of Scotch Presbyterians, cal
Reformed
Presbyterians,
or more common
Covenanters, objected to the Constitution beca
it did not distinctly recognize God, Christ or
ian religion. These people never voted nor

office under the Constitution; but often
in denunciationof this omission in it.
The movementat the time of the civil war
with a Christian Convention in Xenia, Ohio
ruary 3, 1863. There was another convenAlleghenyCity, Pa., in January, 1864. This
tion "appointed a committee to visit
on they called first on Dr. Chamong,
ianand Chaplain of the Senate. We do not
what happened when they met with the
t.
BesidesPrinceton, a number of other

Iecollegeswereeither involved or had faculty
idents involved and these included Lane
ical Seminary, Pennsylvania (Lutheran)
, WheatonCollege, Union College, Amherst
, College of New Jersey, Jefferson and
on College, Lafayette College and WestCollege.
Powerfulpersonsalso endorsed the idea: the
J, W. McClurg, Governor of Missouri, the
issionerof Public Schools, Rhode Island; the
endents of the Commons Schools of
Ivania,New Jersey, and New Hampshire;
etaryof the Vermont Board of Education;
NewYork City Superintendent of Schools.
The denominations which supported this
nt, usuallyin their general assemblies,were
yterians,the Methodist Episcopal Church,
testantEpiscopalChurch, the Baptists and
rvativeUniversalists.
convention was held in Orange county
Newburg)New York on December 7th,
therethe demandwas made that there be
'an educationgiven in public schools. On
25, 1871 when they met in Philadelphia,
were 200 delegates headed by the exof Pennsylvania.There, the ConstitutionChristians(sic) nominated Jesus Christ as
leramongthe Nations".
me extraordinary notions came out of
ventions.The Church Union (magazine)
"Let no one hold an office of trust or
whose life has not been .conformable
, andthe
"thereto" referred to "Christian
,
, Mr. Iredell of the South Carolina
re said,"It is never to be supposed that
Ie of America will trust their dearest
withpersonsof no religion or of a religion
materially different from their own." ~~.

Theophilus Parson, who became the Chief
Justice of the State of Massachusetts (in "The
Christian Statesman" magazine) declared "No
man can wish more ardently than I do that all our
public offices may be filled by men who fear God
and hate wickedness."
The idea of a Christian party surfaced by
1872.
In reply to all this, Francis Ellingwood
Abbot, who had organized a Free Religious
Association in Boston, mounted an attack against
the idea of "Christ in the Constituion". His blast,
sounding much like we would say today, went
something like this, mind you, over 100 years ago.
"I am no alarmist .... But I see an irrepressible conflict between the Christian Church and
the modern world wh ich has got to be fought out
here in America. The question of the life or death
of the Christian Church will yet shake this
continent to its foundations. It wi II get into
politics, - nay, is already getting into politics. The
Bible-in-schools controversy and the agitation of
the theological amendment to the Constitution are
but a hint of what is yet to come. I wish I could
feel sure that this great conflict would be settled
peacefully at the polls; but I do not feel sure of it.
The moneyed institutions of the Christian Church
are vast, its social influence is enormous, its
slumbering power for evil is beyond all estimate.
Representing nobody (in this Association) but
myself, - nay, uttering what I know seemsto most
of (them and to) you to be the wild extravagance
of theories pushed to absurd extremes, - I do
nevertheless avow my own conviction
that
American civilization and the American government have a domestic enemy in the Christian
Church .... What may lie between the present
hour and the hour of final settlement, I can but
dimly discern by the light of ideas; but sure I am,
that freedom shall yet win her crowning triumph
over the Christian Church, ... "
Abbot concluded his counter attack by trying to obtain petition signers for the following,
addressed "To the Honorable the Senate and
House of Representatives in Congress Assembled:
"We, the undersigned, citizens of the United
States, respectfully and earnestly ask your honorable bodies to preserve inviolate the great guarantees of religious liberty, now contained in the
Constitution of the United States, and to dismiss
all petitions asking you to adopt measures for
JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST -15
amending the said Constitution by incorporating

in it a recognition of 'God as the source of all
authority and power in civil government,' and of
'the Lord Jesus as the Ruler among the Nations,
and his revealed will as of supreme authority.' We
protest against such proposed amendments as an
attempt to revolutionize the government of the
United States, and to overthrow the great principles of complete religious liberty and the
complete separation of Church and State on which
it was established by its original founders."
Abbot stepped in at the height of the fight,
and he attended the national Christian Convention
in Cincinnati in 1871. His report on it was that the
hall, accommodating 700 to 800 was filled at
every session. Two hundred and fifty delegates
from ten states reported in officially. The National
Association had thirty auxiliary associations, each
with a membership ranging from 20 to 300, and
within the year two hundred public meetings had
been held. The convention decided that redoubled
energy was needed in distributing tracts, sending
out lecturers, holding meetings for public discussion, multiplying
subordinate associations and
circulating petitions to Congress.
tion of these ideas, and advocate them in a

cogent and powerful manner; and they pr
to push them with determination and zeal.
cede their premises, and it is impossible to d
they conclusions; and since these premises
axiomatic truths with the great majority of Pr
tant Christians, the effect of the vigorouscampa'
on which they are entering cannot be small
despicable. The very respect with which we
compelled to regard the only increasesour
of the evils which lie germinant (sic) in t
doctrines; and we came home with the convict;
that religious liberty in America must do ba
for its very existence hereafter. The move
in which these men are engaged has too
elements, of strength to be contemned (sic)
any far-seeing liberal. Blindness or sluggishm
today means slavery tomorrow. Radicalismm
now pass from thought to action, or it will d
the oppression that lies in wait to overwhelmit."
Abbot wrote to the U. S. Senateabout
proposed "Counter petition" and received
following letter back,
"From
the Senate Chamber, February1
1872The
Executive
Committee
reported
that
10,000 copies of the proceedings of the Philadelphia convention had been gratuitously distributed.
A General Secretary had been appointed with a
salary of $2,500 a year. Back in 1871 a salary like
that was astronomical. Remember that as late as
1900 an average working man in a factory had a
struggle with his employer to even earn a dollar
a day. The good Reverend in charge of the fight
was thus given eight times as much as anyone
could earn at the time, or more. Nearly $1,800 was
raised at the convention and it was reported that
$2,177 had been raised the year before. In our
time, one meeting would need bring in about
$40,000 to approximate this much money then.
It was voted to make 25,000 copies of the
proceedings of the convention and have them distributed.
Of the leadership of the "Christ in the
Constitution" movement, Abbot had the following
to say:
"They impressed us as able, clear-headed,
and thoroughly honest men; and we could not but
conceive a great respect for their motives and their
intentions. It is such qualities as these in the
leaders of the movement that give it its most
formidable character. They have definite and
consistent ideas; they perceive the logical connec-
Dear Sir: I shall present the petition

mention, with pleasure and sympathy.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Sumner."
Within four months there were 30,
names sent to Mr. Abbot to put on the document.
At that time the population of the United States
was 39,800,000 and this was then about 7/1
of 1%. Meanwhile, Mr. W. F. Jamieson,who
the book from which I am taking this drama
lecturing and holding meetings in Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, K
tucky and Ohio, and despairing that the peo
could not be aroused to the danger in the design.
I can't find out why the proposal to
Christ in the Constitution failed, and hopeto
research this at a later date. Everything wasontilt
side of the religionists.
I do know that Mr. Abbot, in 1876, in Phi.
delphia, organized the National Liberal Leagueand that the last vestige of that organization, which
had become openly Atheist, disappeared just
several years ago, about 1970.
But the battle with the Christian Churches,
has not disappeared and although there is noovert
ition of their dominance in the Constitution,

a covert recognition and support of them
levelsof government in tax-financing or their
s today. Ultimately, Abbot lost and the
stillahead of us.
/"
SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP?
The American Atheist is published monthly
by the Society of Separationists Inc., whose aims
and purposes appear on the inside back cover of
this issue. The Society is a non-profit, educational
institution, the goals of which are to maintain the
separation of state and church.
Thisinformational broadcast is brought to

, public service by the Society of Sepere, Inc., a non-profit, non-political,
tax
t, educationalorganization dedicated to the
and absolute separation of state and
Thisseriesof American Atheist Programs
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Membership in the Society of Separationists, Inc., is $12.00 per year and includes a monthly newsletter describing the inner workings of the
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7.
J will be with you next week, same day of

' sametime, same station. Until then, I
k you for listening and goodbye for now.
BOSTON GLOBE -
PORTLANO. M(. - CLAUDE TA,,{LOR OF ~E

"At-.k)VER CU& SCOUT ~C,K WAS EXPELLED fROM THE PAC.K
FOR BEING AN AGNOS1IC, SINCE nlEN ~E AND ~I) 8ROTtl~R
HAVE AAD IT PRETIY ROUGH: "TIlEY ttAVE BEEN SHOVED I
RIDICULED AND STRlK BY OTHER C~ILDREN AND ~AD
THEIR BIKES BROKEN" ..
1
(I
....-\1
!'WI> I1"M: E. BAKER

~CN)
MASS.
--.,
... ~E.Ll NOW. SON - '(OUR MOniER

"TaLS ME '(00' VE HP-O ANOTI-\E.R
LESSON
IN CI\RI<;TIAN FELlOWSI-\IP .
Reprinted
from YANKEE magazine; artist, Eno Nash.
The November issue (Vol. 84, No.5) of Esquire magazine, dated November, 1975, had an article
advertised on the cover, titled "Did Nixon Lie About The HessCase?" That case had some interest to meas
I had followed it from its inception and was very well informed concerning it. The article waswritten bV
Allen Weinstein who was billed as "an author" who "teaches history at Smith College". Smith Collegeisat
Northampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1871 and now co-educational; it has a fine reputation.
But, on page 76, I came upon the following paragraph:
----------------"In
fact, as
Garry Wills pointed out in Nixon Agonistes, the member from Whittier had been briefed extensively on the
charges against Hiss at least a year and a half before
the August, 1948, hearings.
"Nixon was playing with a stacked deck in the Hiss
case," Father John Cronin told me last year. Cronin,
in 1946, produced a confidential report to the Catholic
bishops on "The Problem of American Communism";
he was assisted in his research by secret files given to
him by F.B.I. agents. Cronin named a number of
actual and alleged Cominunists in the still unpublished
report, a copy of which I have seen. Shortly after
Nixon entered Congress, a friend, Representative
Charles Kersten, took him to meet Cronin, who briefed
him then and at subsequent meetings on the subject
of Soviet espionage, including the presence of "certain
Communists . . . in the State Department." Cronin
confirmed for me, as he had previously done for Wills
-and
for more friendly, earlier Nixon biographers
Ralph De Toledano and Earl Mazo-that
he did mention Alger Hiss as a reported Communist to Nixon on
several occasions. In Cronin's report to the bishops,
Hiss figures prominently:
"In the State Department, the most influential Communist has been Alger Hiss .... The writer has seen
an affidavit by an editor of a nationally knowngeneral magazine [presumably one of Chambers' F.B.L
depositions] stating that this editor was in one of tile
primary Communist cells to infiltrate the early New
Deal (A.A.A. in 1935) and that among his companiODl
were Alger Hiss, John Abt, and Lee Pressman. It fa
reliably stated that this editor plans to release such
statement if Alger Hiss becomes permanent secretarJ
of the United Nations Organization."
But Nixon never publicly acknowledged Cronin'
help in preparing him for his 1948 encounter wi
Hiss and Whittaker Chambers. Nor did he everall
to the fact that an F.B.I. agent named Ed H
(Cronin told Wills) "would call me every day [d
H.U.A.C.'s Hiss-Chambers investigation] and tell
what they had turned up; and I told Dick, who
knew just where to look for things and what he
find." Cronin said, during our meeting, that he ph
Nixon's private line frequently between August
December, 1948, supplying these F.B.I. tidbits,
Nixon never acknowledged this help in subseq
years.'
I was stunned. Here was a historian, from a reputable college, blithely relating a grossviolation
principle upon which our nation was founded: separation of state and church, and not evenrecognizi
as an infraction of the principle. The marriage of state and church in the United States is so complete
Mr. Weinstein accepted it as a fait accompli.
I immediately wrote to Clarence M. Kelley, Director of the Federal Buteau of Investigationand
manded, under the Freedom of Information Act now operant, answers to several questions:
[1 ]
Why was information classified as "secret"

given to a Roman Catholic priest researcher
by the F.B.I.? Apparently the F.B.I. knew
that the material was being used for a "Confidential Report" to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Who made the de-
cision to pass this information, under

law of the land?
[2]
Does the F.B.I. know if all the Bi

citizens of the United States? Does"
'on of the United States belong to

. 'zens as opposed to citizens? Are the
, in fact, citizens of the United
given?
[5]
Has it been the habit of persons in the

F.B.I., or the F.B.1. as an agency to furnish
Roman Catholic organizations,
or other
religious groups (Protestants,
Jews) with
classified information?
[6]
Was the information in question sought after

by the organization
(or its representative
Father Cronin) concerned, or was it proffered by the F .B.1. or its agents? In either
instance, please furnish both the rationale
and the applicable laws of the land which
would permit such a transfer.
7
ItI1ed purpose of the National Conferof Catholic Bishops is to "foster the
's mission to mankind". Does the
conclude that this mission is so
a part of the internal security of
:nation, that the F.B.1. must service it?
wrote to the Editors of Esquire as to why that publishing house did not question Mr. Weinstein
with this aspect of the story? I asked if any investigation would be made by Esquire which
be a news reporting magazine.
ile, continuing stories reach the nation, through the news media, that both the C.I.A., and
well as other security branches of our government, have used churches, church personnel, and
as spies in the United States and abroad. The feature news item in our magazine this month
the "Religious Connection" in respect to Spirow Agnew, Governor Mandel of Maryland and Ed
just a part of the lid comes off the Pallottine story. Professor Gilbert P. Richardson, formerly
nse Intelligence Agency, is now revealing the "Religious Connection" of intelligence gathering
to the war in Vietnam. Dr. Madalyn O'Hair has also now completed her book on the "Religious
, ofthat war and it will soon be available.
IS
r, one of the most frightening
aspects of these discoveries is the attitude
Senator Mark Hatfield, (Republican-Oregon)
of President Gerald
said he would introduce legislation into the U.S.

gathering operation overseas, he
bar the use of clergymen to assist the C.I.A. in information
weallow the C.I.A. or any other government agency to use our missionaries ... in foreign
esor at home to perform political and intelligence operations, we pervert the church's mission
ng discreditupon the foreign policies and credibility of the United States. "
Id said he had written C.I.A. Director William E. Colby in August and President Ford in
uesting that the practice be halted. Colby responded that clergyman "playa significant role
assistanceto the United States through the C.I.A.".
Ford's reply came in a letter which Hatfield made public.

PRESIDENT
FAVORS
C.I.A. USE OF CLERGY-
violates the First Amendment

state ," Hatfield said.
WASHINGTON
- (AP) - President
Ford favors
continued
use of American missionaries and foreign clergy
by the Central
Intelligence
Agency
in its world-wide
intelligence activities, his chief counsel said in a letter made
public on December 12th, 1975.
In a letter
to Hatfield,
Buchen wrote:
President
does not feel it would be wise at p
prohibit
the C.I.A. from having any connection
clergy.
The letter from Philip W. Buchen replied to a

proposal
by Senator
Mark Hatfield, Oregon Republican,
that involvement
of the C.I.A. with the clergy overseas be
banned.
Hatfield
said he was introducing
legislation
outlawing such involvement.
"Clergymen _ throughout
the world are
valuable
sources
of intelligence,
and many cI
motivated solely be patriotism, voluntarily and will"
the government
in providing information of in
value."
Using clergy in intelligence gathering "tarnished

image of the United States .. _ prostitutes
the church
the
and
It appears to me, as a concerned American and as an advocate of restoring the First Amend
the Constitution to functional use, that I must continue to agitate for the cessation of suchactivity,
a full disclosure of what the practice has been. If you are as concerned as I am I ask you to writeto
the following persons, demanding of them, under the aegis of the Freedom of Information Act, t
information be given to the public and that all such practices be terminated forthwith as provided
the First Amendment principle of separation of state and church.
Addresses are:
Clarence M. Kelle'{., Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
9th and Pennsylvania Av., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20535
Senator Mark O. Hatfield
463 Russell Senate Office Building
JANUARY,
1976/AMERICAN
ATHEIST -20
Will-iam E. Colby, Director

Central Intelligence Agency
Gerald Ford, President of the United States
The White House, 1600 PennsylvaniaAv., N.
KRISHNA
VENTA
BY
James
Harvey
In Southern California many strange and unusual people come and go,
but none matched the exit of a robed -and bearded self-styled Messiah
known as Krishna Venta who, on the night of December 10, 1958, went to
pieces.. _literally. This spectacular leave-taking was brought about by
an arm-load of dynamite set off in a sturdy stone building that served as
headquartersfor a religious cult called the Fountain of the World. By the
time the volunteer fireman of Ventura County arrived at Box Canyon, where
the cult was located, they found the stone building blown to dust and nine
membersof the group scattered in tiny chunks all over the area. Among
themwasthe leader of the cult, Krishna Venta.
Wandering around the scene of the disaster were the hundred or so
survivorsof the Fountain of the World. All of them dressed in different
coloredrobes. The women wore kerchiefs around their heads while the men
wore their hair in long braids and also sported long beards. None of them
wantedto answer the questions the police put to them. They all seemed to
be in shock. After all, Krishna Venta had promised he would never die
andsaidhe had already lived for 244,000 years.
The F.B.I. entered the case claiming not only that could Krishna
Venta die but that he had missed his true age by some 243,953 years. The
recentlydeparted Messiah had actually been born as Francis Pencovic in San
Franciscono further back than 1911. He also had a police record.
Francis Pencovic went under another alias besides Krishna Venta:
FrankJensen.Under his true name Pencovic was arrrested for the first time
in 1941 when he sent President Roosevelt a threatening letter. At the time
Pencovicexplained that his letter had been misunderstood. All he wanted to
do was simply show the President how to run the country. The F.B.1.
releasedhim asa harmless crank.
Under the name of Frank Jensen, the

Messiah really cut loose with an assortment of
crimes that included burglary, larceny and violation of the Mann Act. At one time he spent several
months in a state hospital for mental treatment.
he had been rejected for his lack, sheevicted

She had been willing to tolerate Pencovic's
hair and beard if they were required for an
part but she now looked upon him as
undersirable.
When the police brought this dossier to the

members of the cult none of them seemed surprised by it. The Messiah had already briefed them
on that part of his past. According to him, he arrived in the United States from Meta Verde Valley,
in the shadow of Mount Everest, via teleportation
on March 29, 1932. Since he needed some kind of
identification
he took on the name Francis
Pencovic. At the same time he gave the name of
Frank Jensen to the man whose identity he assumed. Since the original Pencovic wasn't any prize
package it was natural that he would go on getting
into trouble under a different name. The police
were stunned to find that the members of the cult
accepted this line of reasoning.
Pencovic became fond of his hairend

He found that he enjoyed the stareshegot in
street. At last he was getting some attention
recognition. His long starved ego had its first
But Pencovic had to have a haircut
shave before any company would hire him
for the most menial job. After working asa
jerk he married. His new status ashusbandrequ
him to get a better job than splitting bananas
scooping ice cream. Yet Pencovic could not fi
better job that had greater importance andsa
He began to long for the old days when
wandered about the streets being staredat.
he decided that maybe he could somehowmake
...the Messiah who went to pieces ...literally...

Frank Pencovic, at the age of eight, was sent
to live with his relations after both his parents
died. He hung around with a tough gang of kids in
San Francisco's Embarcadero section. After getting into petty troubles with the law, he started
drifting around the county when he was sixteen.
After running the gamut of such occupations
as dish washer, bus boy and laborer, he found that
he had a knack for salesmanship. His favorite job
was selling Bibles door-to-door. The ladies especially were attracted to his magnetic voice and long
eyelashes. At the same time Pencovic began to
delve into books on religion and the occult. The
story of Joe Smith, the man who founded
Mormonism, attracted him most. Here was someone like himself, a fellow with no education yet
with a great desire to be of some importance. The
more he read Smith's life, the more fascinated
he became. The seeds of a future Messiah were
sown.
Like so many others who felt they had a
mission in life, Frank Pencovic drifted to Los
Angeles, where he answered an open casting ad
for the annual nativity play at the Pilgrimage Bowl.
To assure himself that he would get the part, he let
his beard and hair grow in the proper Biblical
fashion. But he did forget one thing that was more
important in getting the part: an Actor's Equity
membership card. When his landlady heard that
beard-wearing pay. He rented a broken

house, let his hair grow and invented a reI'.
Actually his "religion" was nothing morethan
and pieces he picked out of occult books .
good dash of yoga thrown in to liven thingsup.
Pencovic wasn't exactly delugedby con
A few women did show up, but they were
interested in the new religious leaderthan in
new religion. Although Pencovic didn't mind
attention, his wife did. Soon she becamefed
with the lonely ladies who flattered her
husband and left him.
Pencovic drifted to Miami, becameinvo
with the Mann Act, a violation that covered
"transportation
of females over state lines
immoral purposes," and promptly drifted
again. In 1942 the law put the arm on him
spreading around too many rubber checksand
him to a road camp. Perhaps it was the sun
perhaps it was the hard work that Pencovic
allergic to but he got it into his now neatlycli
head that he was really Christ and that the
camp was really his Crucifixion. He wasqui
sent to the state hospital to cure him of
identity problem and he was released
months later.
Smith,
Still impressed with Mormonism and

Pencovic went to Salt Lake City,
capitol. He spent the next three years

as a timekeeper. He met a girl named
marriedher. By this time his former wife
'needivorcedhim on the grounds of noner Pencovicbecame a father by his new
realizedthat he had to find a way to make
y. Timekeeping paid about as well as
ing. He thought about going into the
sinessagain. Remembering his previous
it, Pencovicbegan to make a study of
on which to base his new faith. He beially interested in Hinduism. He felt
enCommandmentsof Christianity were
n themselves,but too negative for him.
It not" only told people what not to do.
ie thought up an 11th commandment
laythe foundation of his new religion.
-Be Positive, Creative and Constructive
think,all you say,and all you do."
947 Pencovic,for the first time calling
. na Venta, brought his family to
e he rented a store and let his hair
again.This time he added a robe to his
andestablishedthe Fountain of World
Iesbeganto gather around him and he
ivethemnew names.He called a school
a and a businessmanAsaiah. Quite
found the new Messiahto be a spellhadto be to convince intelligent adults
o earth244,000 years ago on a rocketplanethe called Neophrates. Anyone
believehim was advised to scrounge
nt Everestwhere the rocketship still
fewpeoplein Denver had the price of
ist classplane ticket to go Pencovic's
nottakenup.
long Pencovic thought he had
his oddball reiigious pretensions far
take on that real test of his ability;
lifornia.This part of the country was,
to oddball cults what political groups
ington D.C. Frank Pencovic, ex-con
I patient was now ready for the
Messiahmanagedto talk a wealthy
underwritingthe trip to Los Angeles.
backin that city that held so many
failurefor him he talked still another
givinghim enough money to set up
thecult in a desertedarea not too far
x Canyon.
Krishna Venta and his Fountain of the

World cult put up the first rude shelters in the area.
The local people nearby were aghast at the strange
collection of people with their bare feet and robes.
They had had trouble with cultists once before and
didn't want history to repeat itself. In 1929, a
group known as the Divine Order of the Royal
Arm of the Great Eleven had brought national
attention to the community after they baked one
of their wayward members to death. Such activity
was hell on property values, not to mention the
poor fellow who had been fricasseed.
The community didn't care to have another
roasting and tried to have the new cult evicted but
Krishna Venta fought and won. A tide seemed to
have turned in the Messiah's life. Perhaps, like Joe
Smith, he had found his Salt Lake City.
The Fountain of the World began to grow
despite the local opposition. The members shared
in the work and wore robes of different colors to
identify their positions. Brown signified administration, gray for responsibility, lavender for music,
green for student, blue for medicine and, for
mothers, pink. Krishna Venta wore the only yellow
robe. This, according to him, was the color of The
Light of Wisdom.
It was easy enough to join the cult. All one
had to do was enter as a probationer for three
months by signing a Declaration of Intention. At
the end of this time one could leave or continue.
To stay, one had to sign a Membership Agreement
and Declaration of Faith. And one had to hand
over all his worldly possessions to be fully
accepted. In no time at all Krishna Venta was
riding around in a bright yellow Cadillac to go with
his robe and smoking dollar cigars.
The Fountain of the World built steadily
upwards. New buildings were added, including a
dispensary. While the local people resented the
beared and yellow-robed Krishna Venta and his
show car, they began to like the members of the
cult, who often aided families in the area who
became destitute. They became well known for
their skills at forest fire fighting and they could
always be relied upon to put out a blaze. When
a town in the area was flooded the Fountain of
the Worlders were everywhere helping those who
needed it.
While his cult was doing good deeds, Krishna
Venta was living it up in a $280 a week suite in a
famous hotel in London, England. The cult
members had been so generous to him that he
could afford to become a world traveler.
JANUARY,
1976/AMERICAN
ATHEIST-23
If Krishna Venta had been stared at on the

streets of Los Angeles for simply wearing a beard
he really turned heads when he strode through
the hotel lobby wearing not only his beard, but his
flowing yellow robe, and trailing cigar smoke
behind him. He had gone to England to lecture but
the Britons just didn't warm up to him. When he
went to Sweden he made even less an impression.
Some papers came out doubting his sanity.
Krishna Venta then went to New York
where, to assure that he would receive proper attention, he handed out dollar bills on the corner of
42nd Street and Broadway. He was soon mobbed
and traffic was tied up. He claimed that he handed
out the dollar bills to prove that money was the
root of all evil. He pointed out that the New
Yorkers all but tore him apart to get their buck.
Later that year Krishna Venta's public image
improved when a plane crashed near the colony.
Thirty people died in the plane but there were
fourteen survivors who were brought down the
dangerous mountainside by Krishna and his
followers.
In 1955 Krishna Venta made the biggest
single winning at Denver's Mile High Kennel Club.
He managed to parlay two dollars into $2,957.
Even while he won this loot it didn't stop him
from soliciting funds. The police bounced him out
of town.
Grabbing the cash Krishna went to Las
Vegas where he lost all but $57 of his Denver winnings at the crap tables.
Meanwhile, back at the colony, sex was
rearing its head. In one case a Negro man married
a white woman, in another a member named
Brother Earl aged 26, married Sister Ethel,

69.
Krishna Venta was soon embroiled
personal problems. His first wife, seeingthat
ex-husband was loaded, brought him to
make him pay for the support of herselfand
two children. Krishna claimed he was broke
wound up behind bars in the city prison.
how he managed to beat the rap and he was
out upon the world again.
His next arrest was for speedinga
hairpin turns. He made the papers againwith
claim that, since he couldn't die, he hadnof_
accidents. Then, a year later, he was blownto
by dynamite.
The bombing case was broken when
found a truck parked a half mile from theco
In it was a tape recorder with two spoolsof
tape. When the police played them they I
that two male members of the group tapedco
sions. They were going to bring dynamite to
headquarter and try to force Krishna to
bedding down with several of the women in
colony. If Krishna wasn't going to admit
thing, the disciples were going to set the dyna
off and take him with them.
Previously both men had complainedto
police about Krishna's bull-like tendancies
nothing was done because there was no realpr
of the Messiah's sex mania for their wives.Obvi
Iy the men tried to scare Krishna into a confess'
Just as obviously the Messiah didn't scareeasi
Perhaps he really did believe that he wasimmo
after all. In any event another of Southern
fornia's oddballs bit the dust.
"GOD, CAESAR AND THE CONSTITUTION"

liTHE COURTS AS REFEREE OF CHURCH-STATE
CONFRONTATION"
Leo Pfeffer
This is a hard back, 5Yz" X 8", 390 page
book just issued by Beacon Press, which is the
publishing
house of the Unitarian
Church. The
name of the book indicates the order of importance of the contents. Leo Pfeffer is a religious
Jew with whom God sits highly, the nation next
and the Supreme Court last. As Special Counsel
to the American Jewish Congress he has fought
for the rights of religious Jews in the United
States for the last several years.
Pfeffer's concept of state/church separation
is run-of-the-mill,
emphasizing the rights of the
religious community
to equal shares while disdaining, ignoring or belittling the right of the nonreligious. He speaks of freedom of religion. He does
not know that there is such an idea as freedom
from religion.
In dealing with Atheists he is often hostile,
even vicious. On page 69 he misrepresents, even
lies, about the position of Dr. O'Hair in several of
the suits which she has filed. This casts grave doubt
on his scholarship.
However, within
the confines of his bias,
he attempts to give a current picture of state/
church separation in the United States. There are
eight chapters in the book:
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
The Contestants,
the Stakes, the
and the Rules
The Church
The Family
The Military
The Schools Public
The Schools Private
The Community and Its Welfare
Where Do We Go from Here?
Referee,
In the first, reviewing the nation's history,

the Deism of the founding fathers is swept under
the rug in several sentences, while the religious
communities "contributions"
are enlarged, with
Judaism coming out in a heroic role.
In reviewing the founding

of our nation,
Pfeffer Uses the word "God" which is now accepted
in the
United
States
as meaning
the
Judaic-Christian
"God"
of the Bible, when he is
talking about the Deistic idea of Nature being
"God", hence giving to our founding fathers a belief which they did not have, and even construing
the Declaration of Independence as invoking that
Judaic-Christian
God when a reading of that instrument makes it clear that this was not the intent. Ah, sophistry!
Pfeffer does, none-the-less, give a schemata
by which one can review major developments
in
the state/church
separation
fight
if one keeps
tongue in cheek while reading the quotations from
the Old Testament, and noting the constant references to Old Testament, i.e. Judaic, heroes.
Every major court test is touched and with
independent
reading following
this gross review
(the book is only 390 pages) one would have a
good working
idea of what has been going on,
where (what level of government - federal or state)
and why.
Some quite frank
more convert in earlier
power of the diverse
given. One can follow
initial religious premise
those religions must now
(new for Pfeffer - he was

works) evaluation of the
religious organizations
is
from the (il)logic of the
to the public stand which
take.
There are twelve pages of basic religious

supportive
(not scholastic) references, and seven
pages of litigation references. With just these, those
who would expand their knowledge
can do so,
and by referral to the actual cases involved obtain a comprehensive
idea of the direction of the
United
States
Supreme,
and other,
Courts'
predilections,
in the state/church
separation area.
The book is recommended.
It is new, in fact
just off the press, and as inoffensive to the Atheist
(Continued
JANUARY,
1976/AMERICAN
on page 34)
ATHEIST -25
"Help these children with your contributions. They are but a sample of thousands of
children in the Pal/ottine missions who are either
starving, sick or naked ... Our funds are sent
directly to our missionaries in the field (no middlemen). We employ no professional fund-raisers. We
have no executives to pay. We prepare our own
mailings. "
-Pallottine missionaries'
appeal letter
From a huge, unmarked warehouse in the
Camden section of Baltimore, the Pallottine missionaries last year mailed 106 million computerized
letters, greeting cards and "sweepstake" flyers to
households throughout the country, raising an
estimated $8 million to $15 million on behalf of
their overseasrelief missions.
Yet, according to their own annual report,
the Pallottines last year sent only $261,895 in cash
to their missions in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe
and South America, and $146,148 in supplies.
Postal records show that in bulk-rate postage
alone the Pallottines spent $1.9 million in 1974.
This expense was more than seven times the
amount of cash the order funneled to "the poor,
hungry and sick who depend on our dedicated
missionaries in the field."
The cost of postage-and the expense of
running a highly sophisticated direct-mail opera-
tion-appears to be significantly less than

amount of charitable dollars collected by
Pallottines, a small Catholic missionary soci
whose national mission office is at 309 N
Paca street, in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Pallottines' net worth is unknown
cause the order has refused to disclose all
financial investments or divulge how much mo
it raisesthrough direct-mail solicitation.
Becausethey are a religious organization,
Pallottine fathers are not required to file fina
information with state or federal agencies.
It is hidden behind the tax-exempt, "
profit"
and audit-free status of the Ro
Catholic Church.
This ecclesiastical empire in Baltimoreis
away from what Vincent Palloti envisioned
Rome when he founded the Society of
Catholic Apostolate, which has come to bek
as the Pallottine Fathers. However, VincentPal
also was a direct-mail fund-raiser, who even
mail, solicited alms for missions to the Un'
States. In thei r literature the Pallottines
great pains to explain the biblical originsof t
fund-raising efforts in Paul's letters to the
Christian communities and in the life styleof J
and his apostolic colleagues.
There are 2,147 Pallottine Fathers
wide, of which 1,433 are priests. The c
and lay brothers do not take formal VOWi
"Pallottine Sweepstakes" solicited contributions last spring from 15 million households

in the name of need children.
, chastityand obedience.
n the United States, the order has 130
and 5 brothers who live in Baltimore,
ee, Wyandotte
(Michigan),
North
a (NewYork) and New York City.
ed to comment about their direct-mail
the Pallottines declined. A phone rneswith the mission's answering service was
med, and George W. White, Jr., an
for the Baltimore branch, had no comite the cloak of secrecy, a picture of
numerous cash transactions emerges
ilableinformation. For example:
I officials estimate that the Pallottines
I8COI1d-largest
bulk mailer in Baltimore.
rds show that on one day the order
million pieces of fund-raising appeals,
,000 in postage.
inorderto maintain a "Iow profile," the
Iy solicitsby mail in Maryland.
Pallottines own a modern 100,000warehouseon a 4.6-acre parcel of
trial land at the corner of Russell and
streetsin CamdenIndustrial Park.
asedfor $1.4 million in 1970, the
tains the Pallottines' computerized
, automatictypewriters and high-speed
envelope stuffers. Although about half of the

building is rented to other companies, 79 per cent
of the warehouse is exempt from city property
taxes.
* According to fund-raisers involved in
direct-mail Catholic charities, the Pallottines would
receive, at the minimum, a 1% to 3 per cent return
on their mass mailing appeals.
"I think that is a good, conservative ball
park figure from my knowledge of what is happening in the field. Again, some groups may get a 30
per cent return," said George Holloway, executive
director of the National Catholic Development
Conference, a Catholic fund-raising association.
Based on an average contribution of $5 a
return-a
conservative estimate, according to
several experts-the order would have amassed $8
million to $15 million in gross income in 1974.
*The provincial superior of the Pallottines
confirmed that the mission had enough cash on
hand to invest $280,000 between March and June,
1974, in Amalgamated Modular Structures, Inc.,
a company involved in a state investigation that has
led to the indictment of Maryland's school construction chief on forgery and embezzlement
charges.
This investment was $18,105 more than the
order disbursed to its overseasmissions in 1974.
The Very
Rev. Domenick
T. Graziadio,
S.A.C., the Pallottine provincial, defended the

investment at a press conference saying, "We
Pallottines have very grave moral obligations
to our contributors, and we feel that it is our duty
to invest our funds so we can raise more to send
to our missions overseas."
*The religious order loaned another $54,000
to C. Dennis Webster, president of Amalgamated
Modular Structures and nephew of the order's
accountant, who reportedly lent the same amount
of money to Governor Mandel for his 1974 divorce
settlement.
Mr. Webster, who has been unavailable for
comment, has been the order's real estate adviser
since 1968.
In a written statement, Father Graziadio
said, "The Pallottine Mission Center categorically
denies that it ever knowingly made any loans either
directly or indirectly to Governor MandeL"
Later in the press conference, Father
Graziadio said, "I do feel that perhaps that some
trust was violated [in regard to the $54,000 loan] .
I do feel the religious community was taken advantage of."
Although the Baltimore Mission Office is
a part of the Catholic Church, it functions almost
independently of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
This mission is answerable only to the Pope,
but as the Pope's agent in Baltimore, Archbishop
William D. Borders has some authority over the
mission's local activities. Archbishop Borders was
out of town and could not be reached for comment.
At the Pallottines' worldwide headquarters
in Rome, the Very Rev. Nicholas Gorman, superior
general, told a Baltimore Sun newspaper reporter:
"Our principal concern is not as a business organization or making money. The money-making
aspect exists only for the carrying out of the
mission of the society. It is not a primary end in
itself."
Absent from the press conference was the
Very. Rev. Guido John Carcich, S.A.C., vice
provincial and the architect of the order's
direct-mail operation.
Father Carcich, the Pallottines' mission
secretary, has been unavailable for interviews since
September, 1974. Persons who have worked with
Father Carcich describe him as a "first-rate busi-
nessman" with a keen mind and confident manner.

"I've
missed his
business,"
Carcich for
been telling Carcich for yearsthat he

calling, that he should have gone into
one source who has known Father
21 years said.
Father Carcich was instrumental in involv

ing the religious order in financial and legal
dealings that centered on three men with political
connections to Governor Mandel and former Vice
President Spiro T. Agnew.
For the past three years the Pallottines'
accountant and investment adviser has been
Donald E. Webster, Governor Mandel's 1974
campaign manager and uncle of Dennis Web
ster, president of Amalgamated Modular Structures, Inc.
After
beginning a massive fund-raising
campaign in the late 1960s, the Pallottine Fathers
bought a bar, four motels, two retail stores,a
trailer park and undeveloped industrial land in
South Florida.
The newspaper estimated the value of
investments - never disclosed in annual reportJ
or other material published by the RomanCatholic
missionary order - at $3.7 million.
THE GREATEST CONCERN within the
church appears to be over a series of three 10
totaling $54,000 made by the Pallottines lasty
to a Maryland business man. The money evident
made its way to Gov. Marvin Mandel for usei
the settlement of his divorce from his wife of
years.
But the Rev. Dominick T. Graziadioad
that the order earned 10 percent interest on
loan and "we have been truly blessedto have
joyed a most reasonable return on our invest
program."
Mandel, at his press conference called
reports about the loans "unfair" and declared,,
never borrowed any money from that organizaf
for my divorce. It had absolutely nothing to
with my divorce."
THE LOAN WAS made to C. Dennis
ster, a Maryland businessman who is the nep
in-law of W. Dale Hess.
The transaction confirmed unofficially by
number of persons familiar with the case,was
latest in a series of personally embarrassing
related to a grand jury inquiry on the

Governor'sactivities.
who handles Pallottine matters, is a former U.S.

Securities Exchange Commission investigator.
r. Mandel'spress spokesman at the statein Annapolis said there would be no

t from him on the divorce settlement reer a rigid "no comment" policy adopted
Governorwhen he was formally notified
ths agothat he was a target of a Federal
investigation.
The Pallottines' chief local lawyer, George

W. White, Jr., is a former law partner of former
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew. He managed
Agnew's 1968 vice presidential campaign. Father
Carchich is listed as one of the three directors of
Mr. White's real estate firm, Residential Properties,
Inc.
wasnot immediately clear whether Mr.

knewthe source of the Pallottines' loan
whichwas reportedly channeled through
re used-car salesman. But George W.
lawyerfor the eight-member Baltimore
of the Pallottine Fathers, said in a onestatement,"1 am authorized to say that
ttinescategorically deny making any loan
Governor."He emphasized the last three
Quite some time ago, in an interview, Father

Carcich said the Pallottines had a "substantial
investment" in Mr. White's firm, which has large
land holdings in Baltimore, Harford and Talbot
counties.
eelwhether the Pallottines had made a

loanto Donald E. Webster, an accountant
servedasMr. Mandel's campaign treasurer
hasbeenidentified in published reports as
"finder," or to William May, the used-car
rted to havebeen the "pass-through" of
, the lawyer said, "1 have given you the
I amauthorizedto make."
The order's former legal counsel was George

W. McManus, Jr., Governor Mandel's 1970
campaign treasurer. A little over 5 months ago, Mr.
McManus was listed as the resident agent of
Pallottines, Inc., a corporation set up by the
mission office in 1960s.
Milwaukee,where the order founded its

.of God Province in 1946, the Rev. Lee
province'sdevelopment director, told a
t reports in the local papers about the
IvingMandel have touched off resentd the order in the form of angry phone
lettersfrom parishioners.
e just receivedone letter from someone
ndedto be taken off our mailing list,"
id. "This person said, 'We don't want
to dowith priests who support divorces."
Mr. White, reached by telephone, declined

to comment on the Pallottine investment in Residential Properties, saying it was a "private
matter."
In addition to White, the Pallottines currently retain Baltimore lawyer Donald E. Sharpe, New
York lawyer Bernard Perlman and Philadelphia
lawyer Joseph M. More. Among other attorneys
retained by the order in recent years were ex-Sen.
Joseph Tydings and George W. McManus Jr.
It was Donald Webster who advised the
order to invest in a Frederick bank, the Francis
Scott Key Bank and Trust Company. Mr. Webster was appointed last year to the bank's board
of directors to represent the Pallottines' 5,000
shares in the institution. Donald Webster was the
campaign treasurer of Governor Mandel and the
financial advisor and accountant of the Pallottines.
E CATHOLIC CHURCH is opposed to

E ANY big business, the Pallottines in
haveretained a small cadre of lawyers
lire everythingis being handled properly
specializingin labor law (regarding the
employes),lawyers specializing in the
n-profit fund-raising, lawyers to reion that might have an adverse effect
r'sdirect mailings.
suchattorney, working in former MarySen.JosephTydings' Washington firm,
These shares, the maximum allowable under

state law, represent an investment of about
$87,000.
The Frederick bank was the subject of a
1974 legislative hearing after a Frederick publisher
charged influence peddling on the part of W. Dale
Hessand Harry W. Rodgers 3d, two close friends of
Governor Mandel.
Recently Mr. Hess, Mr. Rodgers, Governor
Mandel and three other men were indicted by a
federal grand jury on mail fraud and racketeering
also reported medical and clothing shipmentswith

a wholesale value of $146,148.
charges.
Also raising clerical eyebrows is the investment portfolio of the order.
THESE CONTROVERSIAL investments included the purchase of $280,000 of debentures in
a firm now under investigation, that received a
$1.3 million state contract under the Mandel administration to build portable classrooms before
it went out of business.
Also, the Pallottine Fathers, switched their
insurance business in 1973 to the politically well
connected Tidewater Insurance Associates Inc.
The insurance change came in August 1973
after Donald E. Webster, the society's accountant,
asked the former insurer to submit a proposal
consolidating the Pallottines' numberous policies
into one package, the Baltimore Sun said.
Tidewater Insurance's executives include
two of the five men who were indicted along with
Gov. Marvin Mandel. The governor and his codefendants were charged with participating in a
scheme involving mail fraud, bribery and activities
prohibited under the federal racketeering statutes.
Once Tidewater obtained the account, it
placed the business with the Hartford Insurance
Group, for which if is an agent, the paper said.
The former agent said his 1973 insurance
package would have included:
*Fire, casualty and liability insurance on

the Pallotines' property in Baltimore, other parts
of Maryland and in other states.
*Workmen's compensation insurance for
about 60 Pallottine employees who work at the
society's Russell St. warehouse, the center of the
order's massive direct mail solicitation efforts.
The Very Rev. Domenick T. Graziadio, the

Pallottine provincial, defended the investmentat
a press conference.
He said, "We Pallottines have very grave
moral obligations to our contributors, and we feel
that it is our duty to invest our funds so that we
can raise more money to send our missions
overseas."
However, the biggest single expenditure in
this total was the $280,000 listed as havingbeen
spent on ",U.S.A. Pallottine projects." The Very
Rev. Domenick T. Graziadio, the Pallottine order's
provincial superior, said that he did not know what
those projects were.
Maryland apparently isn't the only area
where the Pallottines have had friends in politics.
In the East Harlem section of New York,
Pallottine fathers are said to have rallied their flock
around the Rev. louis Gigante's successfulDemocratic city council campaign in 1973. "The Pallottine Fathers were very, very good to me," said
Gigante, who is a priest in the New York archdiocese. "They gave me the opportunity to speakto
their people, to use their facilities to hold rallies,
and they were pro my candidacy."
GIGANTE SAID that the Pallottine Fathers
supported him in his campaign while other priests
in his district "shied away because they didn't
think one of us (a priest) should be in politics.
They felt it was too controversial."
.
The Catholic order used its system in a 1971
appeal for presidential aspirant, Senator Edmund
S. Muskie.
Federal law forbids tax-exempt organizations from taking part in political activities.
*Automobile insurance for six cars and a

truck.
The Pallottines also invested $280,000 in
Amalgamated Modular Structures Inc. in 1974.
Dennis Webster was president of the portable classroom construction firm, which surfaced in the
wake of an investigation of the state school construction agency.
The investment was $18,105 more than the
Pallottine National Mission Office reported it was
sending in cash for overseas mission. The office
JANUARY,
1976/AMERICAN
ATHEIST -30
Two former employees of the Pallottine

Fathers, lillian Goralski and Doris Simpson,were
quoted as saying the religious order supplied the
Muskie effort with manpower and equipment.
They said the Pallottine employees assembled, inserted and bundled about 4000 fund-raising
letters. Both said the Pallottines did not print the
Muskie appeal. Mrs. Goralski said the mailingtook
place in the summer of 1971 before Muskie had
formally announced his presidential candidacy.
The Sun Newspaper said it was unable to

ine whether the Pallottines had been paid
'ngthe mailing.
The Very Rev. Guido John Carcich SAC,
, I director for the order's Eastern Province,
not be reached for comment. And David
a Baltimore spokesman for the Internal
Service,refused to comment.
The Baltimore Sun reported also that the
ic order has commercial
and religious
in four states worth at least $10,000,000.
How does a religious order, which describes
a small, unprofessional group in its literaiseandexpend millions, of dollars a year?
The answer may be found at the Pallottines'
, masonry warehouse set off from Russell
by a high chain-link fence topped with
wire.
e warehouse, which
has no
listed
number, is unmarked except for a small
a rear door that reads "Pallottines,
Inc."
the door are three all-weather loading
tractor-trai lers.
. ce the building and surrounding 4.6 acres
rchaseda little over five years ago, the
have steadily escalated their directity efforts.
rding to postal records that date to
, 1973, the order has sent 272 million
mail and paid $4.9 million in postage at
class, non-profit rate of 1.8 cents a letter.
1973, the missionary order shipped 67.8
iecesof mail from its Camden warehouse.
, the annual mailings jumped 57 per cent
iIIion. Last year, through November 15,
ineshad sent another 88 million letters.
ugh the appeals appear folksy, the letproduced by computers that purposely
uts, underlines and other personaliz-
letters range from cards bearing pictures

Ithe Pallottines mailed 1.9 million let74 identified in postal records as "Pallotnary birds") to flyers offering St. Jude
s,pensand Christmas cards.
Jude'sis part of the St. John the Baptist
300 North Paca street, one of two
churchesin Baltimore. The other is St.
Leo, at 227 Exeter street.

During
1975, the Pallottines
have spent
$1,610,980
in postage to mail 88,580,287
pieces
of mail.
During the Pallottines' busy seasons, mostly
before Christmas
and Easter, the post office
stations one of its employees at the Pallottine
factory at 1100 Russell St. to supervise the loading
of letters onto postal trucks.
On a single day the volume of the Pallottines' mail may exceed five million pieces at a cost
of more than $100,000. On Nov. 20, 1973, for example, the Pallottines spent $106,436.13
to mail
5,591,512 pieces of literature.
To raise money generally, though, the order
relies chiefly on the "Free Pallottine Sweepstakes."
Patterned after the Reader's Digest sweepstakes, the Pallottine
flyers include pictures of
alluring prizes, quotes from the Bible and "candid shots" of undernourished
children.
I n the most recent sweepstakes, ma i led to
about
15 million
American
families,
recipients
were eligible for 237 prizes including two 1975
Plymouth
Fury hard-tops, 10 "Minnesota
Fats"
pool tables and 200 Gailstyn hors d'oeuvre servers.
But
recipients
also could
collect
their
prizes in cash-$4,000
for the Plymouth Fury and
$15 for the hors d'oeuvre server. The winners are
preselected by Donald Webster's accounting firm.
Although
the sweepstake letters state in a
handwritten
postscript
that no contribution
is
necessary to win a prize, the enclosed coupons say,
"Please return this coupon with your donation to
Pallottine Missions."
The sweepstake appeals, like other Pallottine
material,
point out that a $10 donation
will
"supply food for a family for one month" and $15
will
provide
"vitamins
for 25 undernourished
children for one month."
Each appeal includes a return envelope addressed to the Pallottines'
complex of row house
offices in the 300 block North Paca street.
Although the volume of return mail is not
recorded by the post office, it apparently
is substantial.
Depending on the time of vear, postal
officials report that the Pallottines receive 2 t01 0
pouches a mail a day. Each pouch contains about
1,000 letters.
According to one source familiar with the

Pallottine operation, the order employs women to
separate the checks under the supervision of the
Pallottine fathers. The source said automatic cameras scan the sorting area.
The mission office itself is protected by oneway mirrors and metal-barred doors. Reporters
who inquire at the office are kept inside the small
anteroom and are prevented from seeingthe inside
quarters.
While the Pallottines have an extensive advertising budget-including

money for an annual
eight-page special section in the New York Sunday
News, the nation's largest circulation daily newspaper-they zealously keep secret the activities at
the headquarters here.
Mr. Holloway, the executive director of the

National Catholic Development Conference, said
the cost of preparing the mass mailings-printing,
collating, inserting and bundling-probably would
cost $30 to $40 for 1,000 letters.
In letters to Maryland's attorney general,

consumer affairs offices in a dozen states have
inquired about the Pallottines' operation. As the
result of one such complaint the Pallottines signed
in November, 1972, an "assurance of voluntary
compliance" under Florida's deceptive and unfair trade practices act.
Guy E. Labalme, assistant attorney general
of Florida, said that in return for being permitted
to continue mailing "Pallottine
Sweepstakes"
tickets into Florida, the Pallottines agreed to
change the wording on the tickets to state that
"winners are selected irrespective of contribution"
to the Pallottines. Labalme said the original tickets
"were deceptive in the sense that it wasn't clear
that you didn't have to send in a contribution to
win."
Official inquiries to Maryland about the
Pallottine have been answered until recently by a
form letter from the Maryland attorney general's
office. Drafted by John N. Ruth, chief of the Office's consumer affairs section, the letter said
"There is little if any doubt that the Pallottine
Missionaries are in fact a bona fide charitable organization."
In a memo to Maryland Attorney General
Francis B. Burch on June 6, 1973, consumer affairs chief Ruth wrote, "The sad fact is that these
people spent huge amounts of money in order to
net rather small amounts. I think that it is clear
that under 50 per cent of the money donated
actually goes to the missions."
Because the Pallottines are a religious order,
they are exempt from laws requiring disclosures of
profits and other financial information from commercial firms. The Pallottines also are exempt from
taxes on the undisclosed amounts of income they
earn. The Internal Revenue Service in Philadelphia
said it has no records on the Pallottines, although
some religious groups voluntarily file I RS statements of their income.
Based on this estimate, the Pallottines might

have spent between $3 million and $4 million on
this facet of their operation in 1974.
"When you are in direct mail, it is an expensive type of fund-raising to begin With," Mr. Holloway commented.
Thus, including post fees, the Pallottines
may have spent as much as the order reported it
sent overseas in cash in 1974.
Some states-including
California, New
York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and North Carolina-limit fundraising costs for nonreligious charities. Maryland
does not.
In Pennsylvania, for example, nonreligious
charities are restricted to spending no more than
35 per cent of their contributions on fund-raising;
in New York, no more than 50 per cent.
The Pallottines may be spending as muchas
90 per cent on their direct-mail, according to the
Consumer Protection Division in the state attorney
general's office.
Mr. Holloway's estimates of the Pallottines'
gross income were supported by Raymond LaPlaca, president of Creative Mailing Consultantsof
America, a major advertising and direct-mail firm.
Mr. LaPlaca, who raises funds for several
Catholic charities, said the Pallottine operation is
"probably one of the biggest [charities] in the
United States in terms of its direct-mail volume."
Land records show that the order purchased
the Camden warehouse when it was completedin
October, 1970. The fathers made a $175,000 down
payment and took a 20-year mortgage at 10 per
cent annual interest to payoff
the balanceof
$1.25 million.
Under the terms of the mortgage, the Pallot
paythe Equitable Trust Bank, the holders of

mortgage,about $12,000 a month. Equitable
handles the Pallottines'
local check ing
unt.
The 100,OOO-square-footwarehouse is dividinto severalsections. The Pallottines directly
ntrolabout half of the warehouse and lease the
r sectionsto a wholesale grocer and P.S.A.,
,a direct-mailand data processing firm.
Accordingto a source involved in the leasing
ngements,the Pallottines rent out warehouse
at about $1.80 a square foot. This would
'119 theorder a yearly rental income of $90,000
free.
Postalrecords indicate that P.S.A. and the
Iottineshaveworked together on direct mailing.
,A.wasset up eight months before the mission
hased
the warehouse.
P.S.A.'sbooks are audited by Donald E.
er & Co., the firm that handles the Pallot, finances.
This year the warehouse and surrounding
y was assessed at $778,600, but only
17,480 washeld taxable.
According to Louis A. DiStefano, superof assessments,
79 per cent of the Pallottines'
y is considered to be used for religious
oses,Mr. DiStefano said he would check into
specificsof why most of the warehouse was
-exempt,
As a result of the disclosures and under
dingof Archbishop William Borders of Balti, the Pallottine Fathers agreed on December
1975, to an audit of their books and to make
lietheresults.
The Pallottines, generally have refused to
how much money they spend or take in.
information has been requested by attorneys
I of a dozen states, the Better Business
u,contributors to the order and reporters.
However,by December 30, 1975, they were
ingto saywho would conduct the audit, how
it would take or whether the findings would
, losedpublicly.
Shanemansaid the archbishop got the agreefor an audit from the Very Rev. Domenick
Graziado'the Pallottine's provincial superior,
the Rev. Guido J. Carcich, director of the
order's Baltimore mission center.

The meeting took place at the archdiocese's
retreat house in Marriotsville, in Howard County.
The Pallottine Fathers also invested more
than $1 million in two Baltimore county subdivisions being developed by a group of politically
influential builders, making its investments through
two partnerships, Hunt Valley Associates and
Manor Glen Limited Partnership.
'
The Pallottines are listed in Baltimore
county courthouse records as having a 50 per cent
interest in Hunt Valley Associates. In August,
1975, the partnership paid $672,000 for a 121-acre
tract.
The Pallottines provided almost all of the
$672,000. Land records show no mortgage on the
property.
The purchase came one month after
Baltimore county officials approved the building
of an 80-lot subdivision on the land, to be called
the "Highlands of Hunt Valley."
The seller of the land, Richard B. Edgar, said
that "one thing that made the whole deal work was
that the buyers came up with cash in advance. And
considering the economic times of the last two
years, that is incredible for the real estate business."
The Pallottine order also holds a secret
$325,000 investment in "Manor Glen," a projected
subdivision on 58 acres in Baltimore county.
The Manor Glen Limited Partnership purchased the property in 1974 from Edgar L. Sperl,
a developer, for $334,800.
Baltimore county records do not list the
Pallottines as investors, but Mr. Sperl and his real
estate agent, Walter F. McGuire, confirmed that
the money for the land purchase was provided
in cash, by a "Catholic order."
According to Mr. Sperl, the purchase was
handled by Randall C. White, who acted as the
agent for Charles E. Brooks, a Towson lawyer, and
an unknown investor.
George White-who was once the attorney
for former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew-is the
president of Residential Properties, Inc., a real
estate firm that lists as directors Randall White and
the Very Rev. Guido John Carcich, S.A.C., the Pallottine vice provincial,
Four lots of the "Highlands of Hunt Valley"

-planned as an "exclusive golf-oriented community" -were sold on the same day that the Pallettines financed the purchase of the land.
The buyers are:
*Mr. Hess, a vice president of the politically
influential Tidewater Insurance Associates, Inc.
*David H. deVilliers, Jr., a real estate developer and partner of Mr. Webster.
Mr. deVilliers and Mr. Webster recently purchased a $1 million motel-bar in Pompano Beach,
Fla., owned by the Pallottine Fathers since 1969.
*Donald
countant.
E. Webster, the Pallottines'
ac-
*Dennis Webster, the Pallottines' real estate

adviser.
Mr. Webster's real estate firm, Caledon
Development Company, has a 9 per cent interest in
Hunt Valley Associates. Mr. Webster personally has
a 9 per cent interest and Mr. Brooks a 5 per cent
interest.
In additon, Mr. Webster, Mr. Brooks and
John Grason Turnbull 2d all hold a 9 per cent
interest as "nominees" for investors who want to
keep their identities secret.
Mr. Turnbull, who is Mr. Brooks's law partner, is the son of a Baltimore county Circuit Court
judge, John Grason Turnbull. The Brooks & Turn-
bull law office is located next to Mr. Webster's

real estate firm in the 600 block Bosley avenue,
Towson.
The two offices are converted frame houses.
They give no indication of the extensive financial
dealings undertaken during the last three years by
Mr. Brooks and Mr. Webster.
The two men are developers of a proposed
trailer park, Abingdon Glen, in southeast Harford
county.
They are the only two listed partners in the
Pallottine-financed Manor Glen Limited Partnership. Mr. Brooks has a 55 per cent interest and Mr.
Webster is a nominee for the remaining 45 per
cent.
In addition to his own dealings, Mr. Webster
is a key figure in the financial empire of W. Dale
Hess. According to state tax records, Mr. Hess
turned over the management in 1974 of five Harford county real estate ventures to Mr. Webster.
The transfer came after federal prosecutors
told Mr. Hess in April, 1974, that he was a target
of (he federal probe into Maryland political corruption.
It is unclear whether the Pallottines made
their $1 million investments in the two developments as loans or as full participants in the
projects. But records show that the two partnerships are to continue for the next 20 years and
sources indicate that the Pallottines are fullfledged investors.
COI\IIPILED FROM NEWS REPORTS
(Continued from page 25, Book Review)
position as one could hope to find in the United

States now. It is informational and posits basic
knowledge from which one can reach out for increased specific knowledge.
There are some major gaps in reporting of
contemporary in-fighting. The E.R.A. battle which
has been bitter and protracted is brushed off in
two sentences wherein women's rights under that
hoped for Amendment are equated with the rights
of homosexuals. This reflects the typical male
chauvinists attitude of the religious Jew (as opposed to the Atheist Jew).
JANUARY,
1976/AMERICAN
ATHEIST -34
In the matter of abortion (which is the end

result of a lack of sex education or lack of distribution of information concerned with conception)
again, in both these areas, the handling of the sebject is cursory.
We recommend the book as a beginningreference book. We expect the American Atheist
reading it to form his own opinions and to
continue his own investigation of the confrontation through the references given in the book.
(See advertisement on inside front cover)
TY OF SEPARATIONISTS,
Aims
and
late and promote freedom of thought

"lIllUllllnas, tenets, rituals and practices.
INC.
Purposes
and inquiry
concerning
religious
beliefs,
and disseminate information, data, and literature on all religions and promote
gh understanding of them, their origins and histories.
labor for, and promote in all lawful ways, the complete and absolute separaand church; and the establishment and maintenance of a thoroughly secular
education available to all .
18 the development and public acceptance of a humane ethical system, stressI sympathy, understanding and interdependence
of all people
ing responsibility of each, individually, in relation to society.
and the
and propagate a social philosophy in which man is the central figure who
be the source of strength progress and ideals for the well-being and happiness
the study of the arts and sciences and of all problems

IP.-p1rt1uation and enrichment of human (and other) life.
m such social educational, legal and cultural activity
members of this Society and to society as a whole.
affecting
the main-
as will be useful and bene-
Definition
Atheism is the philosophy of persons who are free from theism.
It is predicated on Materialism.
American Atheism may be defined as the mental attitude which unIy accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a system
llosophy and ethics verifiable by experience,
independent
of all
assumptions of authority or creeds.
The Materialist philosophy declares that the cosmos is devoid of imconscious purpose; that it is governed by its own inherent, immutable
imJJ8I'SiOlnal law; that there is no supernatural interference in human life;
n finding his resources within himself, can and must create his own
; and that his potential for good and higher development
is for all
I purposes unlimited.
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FREEDOM
UNDER SIEGE
by Madalyn
about
Organized
Religion
Shocking? Perhaps. But it is only a small

part of the fascinating mountain of evidence
gathered in FREEI;)OM UNDER SIEGE byattorney Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her researchersas
part of their ongoing fight to preserve the First
Amendment guaranty of the separation of church
and state-a guaranty of not just freedom of religion but freedom from religion.
Murray O'Hair
Organized religion is working to destroy

your freedom. It strives to influence your elected
representatives and to write the laws under which
you live, to regulate your children's schools and
dictate what is taught there, to censor your entertainment and choose what you and your neighbors can see and read, and to determine for all
women the right to control their lives and their
bodies. And it is your money that makes this
tyranny possible. The churches have their billions
invested in profit-making enterprises; and their
wealth grows daily from gifts, grants, rents, interest, capital, gains and government subsidies. They
are now financial giants, no longer dependent upon
their parishioners for support. What they count on
is their freedom from taxes. The churches' billions
are accumulated at your expense.
Official government and church figures

prove that churches have as their membership only
a minority of our citizens. This book shows the
continuing pressures that this minority exerts on
the lives of the majority of Americans.
Mrs. O'Hair deals with politics, not religion;
with separation of church and state, not Atheism.
This report shows how your treasured liberties are
slowly being eroded as the churches increase their
power over every aspect of American life, limiting
your freedom of choice and even your access to
information regarding those choices.
FREEDOM UNDER SIEGE dares to focus
on the facts about this growing book-a threat that
our politicians and the press, radio, and television
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news and thought ...

BOOK of the MONTH

AND THE CONSTITUTION

God says "thou shalt not kill" and Caesar

In God, Caesar, and the Constitution,

In the debate over the uncertain future of

Clip and mail:

Inc., P. O. Box 2117, Austin,

THE AMERICAN ATHEIST is published monthly

manuscripts; all manuscripts must be typed,

Mailing Address is Post Office Box 2117, Austin,

Margaret Sanger 1883-1966

The Judo Argument

is not necessarily the whole answer. There is a long

Examples of this argument have turned up

argumentfor the existence of God that particularly

When Believers base an argument for the

It is further clear that the course of evolution

The first judo argument I know of dates

Combining what I have said in the previous

Diderot accepted the challenge, and with the

Here is one that can be expressed as follows

The only true closed system, however, is the

*Fantasy and Science Fiction MagazineJANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-5

whole system (object plus surroundings) are at

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-6

found in evolution is at the expense of a far greater

after it was advanced and, of course, saw the flaw

had begun with a small quantity of a sterile

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-7

"Let's further assume that these molecules

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-8

formed every half-hour and that they are always

that one, may be very largely a matter of chance,

in efficiency or "fitness" will

Genes after having been orginally formed

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-9

that one, may be very largely a matter of chance,

in efficiency or "fitness" will

Genes after having been orginally formed

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-9

awesome goings on provoke them; they only sense

6. Why does a religion not preventing cheatsayit's reformative?

Nicene Christianity, in all its 16n<gexperience,

TO ATTEND THE 6TH ANNUAL

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-13

THE AMERICAN ATHEIST RADIO SERIES:

Article VI, Section 2, "This Constitution,

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST-14

made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties m

1874 written by one W. F. Jamieson and published

after which the balance of the preamble

Article VI, Section 3, which states that'

ian religion. These people never voted nor

BesidesPrinceton, a number of other

materially different from their own." ~~.

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST -15

amending the said Constitution by incorporating

tion of these ideas, and advocate them in a

the Senate Chamber, February1

JANUARY, 1976/AMERICAN ATHEIST -16

Dear Sir: I shall present the petition

ition of their dominance in the Constitution,