1

T his was the third joint HAGSA/AOF Winter Solstice Potluck event. In spite of there being no entertainment or music planned, the turnout was excellent (something over

thirty people). The potluck dishes were as delicious as they were numerous.

P hil LaZier is a keen and extremely knowledgeable amateur as-tronomer. He did, as promised, captivate our interest, and he did

have the tools of his hobby on hand, including telescopes.

Human Interest The monthly newsletter of the

Humanist Association of the Greater Sacramento Area (HAGSA) A Membership Chapter of the American Humanist Association

2006, January

Fostering Reason, Ethics

and Civic Values

January Meetings

Mark Your Calendar!

Friday, January 6 at 19:00 (7 pm) Karl J. Mogel

Antibodies for Irrationality: Making Sense of the

Senseless

Sunday, January 22 at 15:00 (3 pm)

Concentric Circles

See page 3 for details.

Astronomy, December 2

Here, in Phil’s own words, is what we were told to expect:

Wonder, awe, fascination, imagination—and that was in the fourth grade under my very favorite teacher, Miss Galloway, whom I have visited several times over the years, and still communicate with occasionally. (She was important in my choosing elementary teaching as my final career area, and I still teach fourth grade science part time as a volunteer.) I have had telescopes since age 12, and have read Astronomy magazine for decades. I also belong to the Sacramento Valley As-tronomical Association, one of whose members is Dan Macholz, a world fa-mous comet discoverer. Astronomy is stimulating to two parts of the brain—the beauty and awe part, and also the intellectual part. If you want in-teresting theory, get into black holes, string theory and gravity waves.

Using slides, we will take a trip through the uni-verse at the speed of light. We will stop and visit planets, pulsars, nebulae, dust, colliding galaxies, globular clusters, black holes, red giants (whose diameters are almost as great as the dis-tance from the Sun to Jupiter!), white dwarfs, neutron stars (whose remnants help create life), and more. A bit on black holes and string theory will follow. If conditions permit, we may view Mars outside after the presentation.

Phil didn’t disappoint. He put people in the mood for hearing about the universe by showing a collection of slides of stars, galaxies, planets and moons. There is a certain otherworldly beauty in the images. He gave an overview of the sub-ject of astronomy, including the greater

Continued on page 2: Astronomy

Winter Solstice Potluck, December 18

Some of the participants (23 photographed by Kevin Schultz and the last one by Bill Potts) are shown here. Left to right, by row, they are Billie Menz, Mel Linn, Brian Jones, Hank Kocol, Carla Corbett, Carl Seratt, Diana Ruth, Richard Kowaleski, Joy Fisher, Bill Potts, Mike House, Margo Gunnarsen, Virginia Hansen, Walter Gunnarsen, Cleo Kocol, Ken Nahigian, David Henderson, John Thompson and Tom Fields, Shelly and Jean Ebenholz, and Fred Hansen and Margo Gunnarsen.

Page AHA News and Comment 8 Albert Einstein; Physicist, Sage 7 and Humanist Anatole Lubovich 15 Best of Sweet Reason 9 Caring Committee 2 Church/State Separation 12 Coming HAGSA Events 3 Darwin Birthday Gala 2006 13 Edd Doerr on Church/State 6 Issues: Evolution Ferris Weber 2 Functionaries 5 Interview: Dr. Mary Evelyn 10 Rivera Montalvo Letters 14 Member News 4 Notice Board 2 Other Meetings 3 President’s Message 5 Rationally Speaking: How to 4 think: A primer

Web Site: http://hagsa.org

IN THIS ISSUE

2

F erris Weber, HAGSA and UUSS member and wife of Mike Weber,

died on December 20 at the age of 91. Comments from those who knew her have not yet been provided to Human Interest. Those that arrive in January will be published in the February issue. In the meantime, here is the notice that ap-peared in the Sacramento Bee (print edi-tion only).

Weber, Ferris Jane (Green) In Sacramento on December 20, 2005, of congestive heart failure. Born in Winni-peg, Canada on Nov. 23, 1914. Her fam-ily migrated to Portland, OR in 1922. She graduated from OSU (Corvallis) in Home Economics and taught in Sherwood and Beaverton (OR). Ferris was a talented seamstress who made many lovely and practical items for home, family and friends. Ferris was a life member of Al-pha Chi Omega. Survived by her husband of 64 years, J. Martin (Mike) Weber; daughters Catherine Ferris Castanos, Ra-chel Anne Curran (Earle), Martha Jane Drummond (Dan); grandchildren Amy Curran Barker (Jack), Marte Castanos (Kristen), Benjamin Castanso, Ross Drummond and Melanie Drummond Shipley (Phillip); great grandchildren Jessica Marie Barker, Robert Earle Barker, and Alyssa Michelle Simon. Memorial service at 11:00 AM on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2006 at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento (UUSS), 2425 Sierra Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95825. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to UUSS, or to Capital Public Radio, 7055 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95826.

The memorial service to celebrate Fer-ris’s life, mentioned in the Bee notice, will be led by Ted Webb. The Caring Committee has , on HAGSA’s behalf, sent a condolence card to Mike Weber.

Caring Committee Having trouble getting to meetings, because of poor health, poor vision, or

other problems of mobility? Call a member of the Caring Committee or any Board member.

Phone numbers and email addresses are on page 5.

Humanist Manifesto III HAGSA will place copies of Humanist Manifesto III on the literature table at each meeting. If you wish to sign a copy, HAGSA will mail it to the AHA for you.

Humanist Counselor/Celebrant

HAGSA member, Phillip LaZier, is one of fourteen

Humanist Counselors and Celebrants in California.

He can be reached at 362-7224 or, via email, at phillazier@aol.com

AHA Conference 2006

T h e 6 5 t h A H A A n n u a l Conference will take place from May 11 to 14, 2006, at the Airport Marriott Hotel in Tampa, Florida. Details will be provided as the date approaches.

HAGSA is a Membership Chapter of the

American Humanist Association 1777 T Street, NW Washington, DC 20009-7125 Phone: (202) 238-9088 Toll-free: (866) HUMANISM Fax: (202) 238-9003

Website http://americanhumanist.org

Submitting Articles Do you have an article to submit to Human Interest? Send it as an email message, or attachment to a message, to:

articles@hagsa.org

Alternatively, please call me at 916 773-3865 for mailing instructions.

—Bill Potts, Editor and Publisher

HAGSA Website

The HAGSA website is at http://hagsa.org

The email address for inquiries is

contact@hagsa.org

Report technical problems to webmaster@hagsa.org

January Birthdays

Best wishes to the following members

who celebrate their birthday in Janu-

ary:

Cleo Kocol 12th

Maria daLuz Alexandrino 16th

If we’ve missed your birthday, it’s

probably because you haven’t told us

when it is. To do so, call a member of

the Caring Committee (see Functionar-

ies, page 5) or send an email message

to:

birthdays@hagsa.org

Ailing Members If you know of a HAGSA Member who is sick or undergoing suffering of any kind, please call or send an email message to one of the mem-bers of the Caring Committee. The members of that committee are listed, under Functionaries, on page 5.

understanding of the true size and age of the universe that was gained in the twen-tieth century, beginning with the work of Edwin Hubble. He spoke on galaxies, big bang theory, dark matter, novas, pul-sars, neutron stars and black holes.

—Wayne Luney, Recorder, and Bill Potts

Astronomy (Continued from page 1) Notice Board

Ferris Weber

3

Friday, January 6 at 19:00 (7 pm)

Karl J. Mogel Antibodies for Irrationality:

Making Sense of the Senseless

K arl Mogel was born and raised in Petaluma, California. He became

interested in science at an early age. After graduating high school, he studied genetics at UC Davis, earning a Bache-lor of Science degree in 2004. While studying at Davis, Karl wrote sci-ence columns for 3 years for The Cali-fornia Aggie, the UC Davis student newspaper, and now hosts a radio talk show on KDRT in Davis. In his writings and on his show, Karl advocates rational and scientific thought, with a humanistic flair. He hopes to go into a career in plant genetics, with a side interest in sci-ence journalism. Karl will be introduced by Jerry Bach-man.

Friday, January 13 at 19:00 (7 pm)

AOF/HAGSA Movie Night

T his is expected to take place, as usual, at Beverly Church’s house.

For information on the movie and con-firmation of the date, please call Beverly at 916 359-5423. If you have an Internet connection, you may want to check http://hagsa.org/meetings/upcoming from time to time, where the information will appear as soon as it is available.

Sunday, January 22 at 15:00 (3 pm)

Concentric Circles

W hat happens when the interior heat of the sun is reflected in the

brains of Humanists listening to four well informed persons agreeing and dis-agreeing with each other about arguable subjects? What if it’s politics? The economy? For-eign policy? Humanist propositions? Concerning what is important in our lives?

We’ll find out when Leon Lefson, Chuck O’Neill, Margo Gunnarsen and Terry Cantrell go at it as they sit in an Inner Circle at the next Humanist meet-ing and set the rafters ringing. The Program Committee is experiment-ing with a different agenda. We want to see if it works to involve an enlarged group responding to some of the propos-als and arguments the four discussants will make in about 25 or 30 minutes of intense analysis before bringing every-body else into verbal engagement.

Subsequent Meeting Dates (Except for February, Speakers

and/or topics are tentative) Feb 3 Dan Barker Dan and his wife, Annie Lau-

rie Gaylor (who will also be there), are co-presidents of the Freedom from Religion Foun-dation. Although we don’t yet have details of the agenda, Dan will almost certainly be singing a number of his pro-vocative songs on religious freedom.

Feb 12 Darwin Day (joint event—see page 13)

Feb 19 Dr. Laurens Gunnarsen Mar 3 Ken Helms Ken is a former Unitarian Uni-

versalist minister and is cur-rently a Humanist Counselor/Celebrant. Details of his pres-entation will be published in the February issue of Human Interest.

Mar 19 (To be announced) Apr 7 Panel Discussion: The Roots

of Violence Apr 23 Bill Jacobsen May 5 (To be announced) May 21 (To be announced) Jun 2 (To be announced) Jun 27 Summer Solstice Potluck Sep 1 (To be announced) Sep 17 (To be announced) Oct 8 Freethought Day (joint event) Oct 22 (To be announced) Nov 3 (To be announced) Nov 19 (To be announced) Dec 1 (To be announced) Dec 17 Winter Solstice Potluck

Unless otherwise stated, all HAGSA meetings are held in the Fahs room of the UUSS, 2425 Sierra Boulevard, Sacramento 95825.

Coming HAGSA Events Unitarian Universalist

Society of Sacramento 2425 Sierra Boulevard

UUSS Public Forums

Sunday, January 15 13:00 (1 pm)

Grantland Johnson What would Martin Luther King

say about War and Terror?

Sunday, January 22 13:00 (1 pm)

The Corporation, Part I

Sunday, January 29 13:00 (1 pm)

The Corporation, Part II

Atheists and Other Freethinkers

Sierra II Community Center Room 10, 2791 24th Street

Sunday, January 8 from 14:30 to 17:00

(2:30 to 5:00 pm) David Fitzpatrick

Ten thousand Christs and Jesus Disappearing?

D avid Fitzpatrick is an activist with San Francisco Atheists and other

first amendment organizations in the Bay Area. He will be speaking about the content of his forthcoming book (in pro-gress), intriguingly titled, “Ten Thou-sand Christs and the Evaporating Jesus.” It promises to be, as he says, a bit “smart-assed,” but highly informative as well as entertaining. There will be light refreshments. The public is invited and admission is free.

Other Meetings

4

N ews about members has been a mixed bag. Ferris Weber, one of

our older members, died in December (see page 2). One of our ailing members, Shirley Robertson, appears to be continuing her recovery, and there’s some prospect that we’ll see her at meetings again soon. On the other hand, Alvin and Elizabeth Bernstein continue to be dogged by bad luck. Alvin is probably facing more sur-gery to fix a clogged artery. Elizabeth’s broken ankle has become infected with osteomyelitis and she now has to get around the house with one of those IV drips on wheels, providing her with a continuous dose of a strong antibiotic. In spite of that, she maintains her sense of humor. She appreciates the kindness shown by HAGSA members, including the phone calls she has received from Margo Gunnarsen and Aida Somkuti, offering whatever help they can provide. As I mentioned last month, you can send cards or letters to the Bernsteins at PO Box 94, Paradise, CA 95967-0094.

—Bill Potts, President

is to examine as much relevant in-formation as possible, and then draw the most likely (notice: not necessarily the truthful) conclusion compatible with the available data. Darwin’s theory of evolution is a masterful example of inference to the best explanation (despite peren-nial creationist nonsense), and he famously referred to it as “one long argument.”

Good, so now we don’t have any more excuses for sloppy thinking or writing, do we?

Massimo Pigliucci’s Blog (web log) can be found at http://rationally speaking.blogspot.com. For the benefit of readers who are not web-enabled, postings from that blog, such as this one, will appear in most issues of Human In-terest.

The other fundamental kind of reasoning is induction, which is a way to come up with generalizations based on some ini-tial observations. Inductive conclusions are powerful, and represent the basis of most science and everyday thinking, but – unlike deductive ones – are not guar-anteed to yield truth, even if the prem-ises are in fact correct and the reasoning is valid (i.e., formally correct). Here are the three kinds of inductive rea-soning:

• Enumerative, when one examines a sample and draws broader conclu-sions about the characteristics of the population from which the sample was taken. This is how much statistics, and of course opin-ion polls, work. The conclusions are strong in direct proportion to the size and representativeness of the sample.

• Analogical: This is reasoning by analogy, or metaphor. It is very common in both science and phi-losophy, and it can be illuminating. However, it is only as good as the analogy is relevant. Philosophers point out that some analogical rea-soning contains what they call dis-analogies, i.e. parallels that actu-ally do not stand up to scrutiny, and therefore undermine the con-clusion. A classic example of dis-analogy, as pointed out by David Hume, is the argument from design for the existence of a supernatural god (both because the universe is not meaningfully analogous to a machine, and because proponents of the argument typically refuse to draw the additional logical impli-cations of an analogy between god and human designers, such as mor-tality, imperfection, etc.).

• Consilience: This is often referred to as “inference to the best expla-nation,” and it is essentially what scientists, as well as forensic inves-tigators, do all the time (Sherlock Holmes, the Arthur Conan Doyle character, actually engaged in con-silience, not deduction – contrary to what its author wrote). The idea

T his week I have been attending the

annual meetings of the American Philosophical Association (Eastern Di-vision) in New York, and the topic of thinking

was, well, on everyone’s mind. While browsing through the book displays, I picked up a copy of Lewis Vaughn’s Writing Philosophy, which includes a nice little summary of the fundamental types of reasoning. Readers and com-mentators of this blog might want to keep it handy. To begin with, of course, there is the fundamental distinction between deduc-tive and inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is the type that is used largely in mathematics and formal logic, though it has a place in both science and every-day discourse. Deduction is the process by which one derives conclusions from a set of premises. If the formal structure of the deductive argument is correct, and the premises are true, the conclusion is guaranteed to be true. Of course, often enough some of the premises are ques-tionable, or are derived from the other kind of logical reasoning (see below), which does not guarantee truth. There are three fundamental types of de-ductive reasoning:

• Modus ponens (affirming the ante-cedent), where one proceeds as fol-lows: (premise) if x then y; since x, (conclusion) therefore y. For exam-ple, if Socrates is a man, then he is mortal; Socrates is a man, therefore he is mortal.

• Modus tollens (denying the conse-quent): (premise) if x then y; not-y, (conclusion) therefore not-x. For example, if Socrates is a cat, then he has four legs; Socrates does not have four legs, therefore he is not a cat.

• Hypothetical syllogism: (first prem-ise) if x then y; (second premise) if y then z; (conclusion) therefore if x then z. For example: Socrates is a man; all men are mortal; therefore Socrates is mortal.

How to think: A primer By Massimo Pigliucci, PhD, Biologist and Part-Time Philosopher, State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY.

Published in the Rationally Speaking Blog on December 30, 2005.

Rationally Speaking

Member News

5

A fter the phony controversy, supported by the ravings of Jerry Fal-well and Bill O’Reilly, over the alleged theft of Christmas by the

retail Grinches and others, I was wondering if I should, rather than wishing all our readers a Happy New Year, wish them a Happy Arbi-trary Interennial Transition. Perhaps it makes no difference, though. After all, neither greeting pays any homage to Pope Gregory XIII, who gave us our current calendar. Perhaps ol’ Jerry and Bill would like to establish the new year celebration as Gregorymass. That doesn’t really

roll off the tongue, though, does it? Too many syllables perhaps.

President’s Message Board

President Bill Potts 773-3865

Vice President Beverly Church 359-5423

Treasurer David Long Henderson 987-1237

Recorder Wayne Luney 383-9393

Directors at large Sheldon Ebenholtz 434-6852 Joy Fisher 813-0396 Kevin Schultz 729-2150

Program Committee Ted Webb (Chair) 925-6034 Jerry Bachman 348-1917 Beverly Church 359-5423 Margo Gunnarsen 427-0369 Phil LaZier 362-7224 Wayne Luney 383-9393

Hospitality Diana Ruth (Coordinator) 684-1350 Margo Gunnarsen 427-0369 Elaine Potts 773-3865 Shirley Robertson 421-1942 Carl Seratt 920-7880

Caring Phil LaZier (Coordinator) 362-7224 Margo Gunnarsen 427-0369 Diana Ruth 684-1350

Membership Elaine Potts 773-3865

Publicity Ron Fegley 899-9532 Beverly Church 359-5423

Newsletter and Website Editor, Publisher and Webmaster Bill Potts 773-3865

HAGSA Phone Number for interested non-members 916 285-9367 (leave message)

Email Addresses Jerry Bachman newtradition@msn.com Beverly Church vp@hagsa.org Sheldon Ebenholtz jme-sme@msn.com Ron Fegley rwfegley@isp.com Joy Fisher jfisher979@aol.com Margo Gunnarsen jwgunnarsen@comcast.net David Long Henderson nadell@jps.net Phil LaZier phillazier@aol.com Wayne Luney wluney@comcast.net Bill Potts president@hagsa.org Elaine Potts membership@hagsa.org Diana Ruth alvinruth@frontiernet.net Kevin Schultz schultkl@ieee.org Carl Seratt seratt7411@calweb.com Ted Webb theodorewebb@sbcglobal.net

Functionaries

As most Gregorys these days are ad-dressed as Greg, perhaps Jerry and Bill could simply say “Happy Gregmass.” That would certainly distinguish it from the Jewish and Chinese new years. If ol’ Jerry and Bill are to be consistent, they’ll have to stop saying “Happy Easter.” After all, Easter (or Œstre) is an old Celtic festival, celebrating the Vernal Equinox, and not at all Christian. They can’t use Passover, which is already taken by those folks who celebrate Han-nukah. As they’re bound to find them-selves in a quandary about the whole thing, maybe the rest of us should just wish them “Happy Quandary.” It would certainly be consistent with their usual confused thinking. Of course, as everyone knows, ol’ Jer’ Falwell sees himself as God’s spokes-man—at least in this country. Perhaps the next time he and God sit down for a little chat (with the former under the latter, presumably), he can ask him what the correct godly greetings are for each occasion or season. Then he can go on CNN and pontificate to the rest of us with some authority. In the meantime, he needs to make sure he gets some addi-tional fiber in his diet. Meanwhile Bill “Falafel Man” O’Reilly is recovering from the effects of David Letterman’s comment, to O’Reilly’s face on CBS’s January 4 edition of Late Night with David Letterman, that he believes that 60% of what O’Reilly says is crap. Letterman really does have a knack for understatement, doesn’t he? (He also turned the tables by emulating O’Reilly’s own practice of talking non-stop, so the latter couldn’t get a word in.) That’s the second major blow for O’Reilly (oh really?) in a fairly short time. The first came when he discovered that the White House greeting cards for the season just past said “Happy Holi-days” and not “Merry Christmas.” Laura Bush, who was busy teaching George how to pronounce (and spell) Kwanzaa, could not be reached for comment. Moving right along …

In this issue, we’ve been very lucky to get permission to reprint Bill Cooke’s article on Albert Einstein and to print an English translation of an interview with Dr. Mary Evelyn Rivera Montalvo, the only Humanist Counselor/Celebrant in Puerto Rico. Among other things, the former is an antidote to the Christian fundamentalist position that all the fa-mous scientists of the past were Chris-tians. The latter, which is exclusive (so far) to Human Interest, is nothing if not fascinating. Edd Doerr merits our thanks for his considerable efforts in translating the interview from the original Spanish. Speaking of Christian fundamentalist attitudes, I recently receive an email message, generated by the feedback form on the HAGSA website, from a proselytizing fundamentalist. Actually, I’m surprised (and pleased) that such messages are fairly rare. In this case, I responded and continued the dialogue for several days. The writer, having been told that it was foretold that Christians would be persecuted, appeared to be putting himself in situations (e.g., prose-lytizing to his colleagues at work) where he could claim that he was being perse-cuted. Somewhat hopefully, it appears, he regarded his colleagues’ negative reactions as persecution. I shared the entire dialogue with Kevin Schultz, who found it quite interesting. I can provide a copy (preferably via email) to any HAGSA member who is interested. Finally, the electronic edition (or, rather, a link thereto) of Human Interest is now going out to over 220 people in addition to HAGSA members. About 15% or so of the recipients of the monthly email message containing the link are actually retrieving it. I’m not sure whether that is encouraging or disappointing, but I’m now listing the contents in the message, so more people will be tempted to click on the link. I also point out that Human Interest is more than just a Humanist Chapter newsletter (although, obviously, it is that too). As things develop (or not), I’ll keep you posted via this column.

—Bill Potts, President

6

Darwin 1000, Creationists 0

I t would be superfluous to add much to what the media have already reported

and commented on Federal Judge John E. Jones III’s December 20 (right be-tween Bill Potts’ and my birthdays) rul-ing against “Intelligent Design” crea-tionism into public school science classes. Jones’s hard-hitting, no non-sense 139-page decision was a stun-ningly clear victory for science, common sense, and church-state separation and a withering defeat for obscurantist theo-crats. The ruling may be found at http://www2.ncsenet.org/op. It is too bad that my friend Fran Hunter did not live to see it. Hunter, a biologist, my wife and I got to know at the Univer-sity of the Andes in Colombia years ago, was the son of F. R. Hunter, Sr., the bi-ologist who wrote the textbook that Scopes was using in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925 (a copy of which is displayed in the LBJ library in Austin). Hunter, Sr., was one of the expert wit-nesses that Clarence Darrow brought in to testify at the Scopes “monkey trial,” only to find that the judge in the case re-fused to allow scientists to take the stand. As the Hunters lived in California, F. R. Sr. and his son Fran had to take the long train ride to Tennessee. Because of all the excitement generated by the trial, a swarm of reporters took the train with them. Thirty-some years later Fran, who was just a kid at the time of the trial, told us that every time he would leave his father to go to the dining car or the bath-room, the reporters would descend on him like crows after road kill and pepper him with questions. “Hey, kid, does your old man let you go to church … read the Bible … believe in God?” Fran went on to become a biologist him-self and he and his father became co-authors of textbooks. All this reminds me of the time when, as a college student back around 1950, I had the privilege of listening to Julian Huxley lecture on evolution. The Indian-apolis Chapter of the AHA, in which I

was active, sponsored his talk. Years later I learned that at about the same age as I was when I heard Julian Huxley, H. G. Wells was listening to Huxley’s grandfather, T. H. Huxley, “Darwin’s bulldog,” explain evolution. Another piece of interesting trivia: By coincidence Darwin was born the same year as Abe Lincoln, which was the same year that Thomas Jefferson turned over the keys to the White House to James Madison, the other great architect of church-state separation, which Judge Jones invoked in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District ruling.

Darwin, Wilson, Watson

W hile we’re on the subject of Dar-win, two important new books

have just been published: “From So Simple a Beginning: The Four Great Books of Charles Darwin,” edited by Edward O. Wilson (Norton, 1706 pages, $39.95), and “Darwin: The Indelible Stamp: The Evolution of an Idea,” edited by James D. Watson (Running Press, 1260 pages, $29.95). Both merit the sort of attention that is not possible in a short column or review. It has been my good fortune to dine with Humanist of the Year Wilson and Nobel laureate Watson, not to mention Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of DNA (the latter in Sacramento, in point of fact). But that’s not all. When the Supreme Court heard the challenge to Louisiana’s creationism law (Edwards v. Aguillard), I came up with the idea of having as many Nobel laureates as possible sign an amicus curiae brief to the Court in the case. Seventy-two signed on, including Watson and Crick. Shortly thereafter the Supreme Court took up an important abortion rights case, Webster v. Repro-ductive Health Services. It occurred to me to replicate the strategy of the evolu-tion/creationism case, to get Nobel lau-reates and other scientists to sign an amicus brief to show the Court that the notion that embryos and fetuses are “persons” at conception does not com-port with the neurobiologists’ view that the functions of “personhood” are not possible until a certain level of cerebral

cortex development had been reached, some time after 28 weeks. For technical reasons, we had only ten days to get the brief written and the signers lined up, so we probably set a speed record. As the signers had to be limited to biolo-gists and physicians, we ended up with twelve laureates, including Francis Crick, and 155 other distinguished scien-tists, including E. O. Wilson. James Wat-son had to decline because, as head of the federally funded Genome Project, he might have had a conflict of interest. The bottom line: the courts have been on the side of science, common sense, and church/state separation, but fully half of the U.S. population prefers creationism to evolution and the conservative theo-crats have time, resources and resolve.

Santorum Jumps Ship

I n the wake of the December 20 ruling against “I.D. creationism” in a Penn-

sylvania school district, Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), like, uh, a rodent flee-ing a sinking ship, on December 22 re-signed from the advisory board of the Catholic fundamentalist/conservative Thomas More Law Center, the outfit that tried to defend the Dover, PA, creationist school board. Commentators noted that “Election Year Rick” is behind in his 2006 reelection bid. We might note that former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE) once opined that Santo-rum is the Latin word for a part of the human anatomy on which the sun never shines. This reminds me of a letter of mine pub-lished in the excellent National Catholic Reporter on 9 April 2004: “NCR corre-spondent John Allen reported in early 2002 that Sen. Rick Santorum, R-PA, at an Opus Dei affair in Rome, declared that he ‘regarded George W. Bush as the first Roman Catholic president of the United States.’ Silly me, I thought that honor went to John F. Kennedy. Now that John F. Kerry will be this year’s De-mocratic nominee, will Santorum regard Bush as a more ‘real’ Catholic than Kerry?” Say goodbye, Rick.

Edd Doerr on Church/State Issues: Evolution

Edd Doerr is president of Americans for Religious Liberty [http://arlinc.org] and immediate past president of the American Humanist Association.

7

T he year 2005 is the centenary of the annus mirabilis, the miraculous year, when Albert Einstein published his work on the Spe-cial Theory of Relativity, which helped transform not just science, but the world as we know it. Not surprisingly, Time Maga-

zine’s millennium issue declared Albert Einstein as the Person of the Century. Few people would dispute the choice.

But one thing that is disputed is where Einstein can be placed intellectually. Einstein is largely beyond this sort of classifying, although a couple of points are worth making. Many people are sur-prised, for instance, to be told that Albert Einstein was an Honorary Associate of the Rationalist Press Association (RPA), at the time the most significant humanist organization in the world. He accepted the title in 1934 and held it until his death in 1955. This is not to say that Ein-stein involved himself actively in the RPA. As with many RPA Honorary As-sociates, Einstein’s connection was in a strictly honorary capacity.

But this is not to say there was no coop-eration. We know that Einstein read the RPA’s journal and supported some of its publications. A 1951 work called Scien-tific Thought in the Twentieth Century received an enthusiastic letter of en-dorsement from Einstein, which—incredibly—the publishers made no use of. And a famous photograph of Ein-stein’s desk taken after his death shows the April 1955 issue of the Literary Guide, the RPA’s periodical, which fea-tured an article on “The Challenge of the Bomb.” This was when Einstein en-dorsed the Russell-Einstein Manifesto calling for global disarmament.

Einstein accepted the Honorary Associ-ate title from the RPA because he was in full agreement with the principles of hu-manism. It is worth stressing this point in the light of the many rather strained attempts by various groups to claim Ein-stein as one of their own. This has been particularly noticeable by advocates of mystical cults, or various branches of eastern philosophy. He has even been claimed by Theosophists.

All these claims collapse under scrutiny. He was not a mystic, despite the many

Albert Einstein: Physicist, Sage, and Humanist Bill Cooke

attempts to paint him in these colors. Five years after the release of Einstein’s popular work, Mein Weltbild, the RPA secured the rights to publish an English language edition, which they called The World As I See It, and was released as No. 79 of the influential Thinker’s Li-brary series. Here, Einstein made his views clear. The origin of religion, Ein-stein wrote, lay in primitive humanity’s fear of the power of nature, and to this day, most people remain locked in no-tions of an anthropomorphic god.

Einstein posited what he called cosmic religious feeling. Such feeling “knows no dogma and no God conceived in man’s image; so that there can be no Church whose central teachings are based on it.” Einstein’s conception of cosmic religious feeling revolved around the sense of wonder and loss of sense of self that scientific investigations of the workings of the universe can engender. Einstein’s notion of cosmic religious feeling was in the tradition of Spinoza’s sub specie æternitatis, or “under the as-pect of eternity.” Both thinkers were ar-guing for a cosmic perspective as a cor-rective to our tendency to see ourselves and our problems as having some sig-nificance in the larger scheme of things. Einstein and Spinoza are at one with later eminent scientists who shared that sense of wonder and awe in the face of the universe; people like Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, James Trefil and Vic-tor Stenger—atheists to a man.

In a speech he called “My Credo,” given in Berlin in 1932, Einstein spoke of the most beautiful and deep experience we can have in the sense of the mysterious:

“To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is a some-thing that our mind cannot grasp and whose beauty and sublimity reaches

us only indirectly and as a feeble re-flection, this is religiousness. In this sense I am religious. To me it suffices to wonder at these secrets and to at-tempt humbly to grasp with my mind a mere image of the lofty structure of all that there is.”

It is a mistake to suppose that humanists cannot think and feel in this way. It as-sumes that any reference to deeper ex-perience or underlying reality means that some fanciful schema of the universe has been vindicated. It also fails to ap-preciate the significance of the last sen-tence here quoted. Rather than accept as revealed truth some miscellany of catch phrases, Einstein was content that the most coherent picture of the universe he could have would be a mere image of the lofty structure of all there is. Whereas mystics usually like to use the language of cosmic modesty, they in fact claim to understand infinitely more than Einstein of the ultimate workings of the universe.

The consequence of Einstein’s cosmic religious feeling was a simple human-ism. “It is,” Einstein wrote, “the duty of every man of good will to strive stead-fastly in his own little world to make this teaching of pure humanity a living force, so far as he can.” There is so much about Albert Einstein to remember with pride and admiration in this centenary year, and his ongoing commitment to plane-tary humanism is not the least of it.

Bill Cooke is Asia-Pacific Coordinator of the Center for Inquiry—Transnational and the author of the Dictionary of Athe-ism, Skepticism and Humanism, pub-lished by Prometheus Books. This article is reprinted with the permis-sion of the author. It first appeared in Secular Humanism Online.

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“Christmas and other winter holidays should-n’t be seen as an opening for divisive politi-cal gain but as a time for putting aside differ-ences and embracing our common human-ity,” concluded Speckhardt. To learn more about HumanLight, visit http://humanlight.org.

Bush Takes Our Liberties One Step Too Far

W ashington, DC, December 16, 2005—“The Bush Administration has time

and again shown that it is willing to trade our freedoms for an illusion of security. Increas-ing government surveillance and detaining U.S. citizens indefinitely and without de-clared cause isn’t the American way,” stated Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. According to a New York Times report, since 2002, President Bush has authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without warrants. Since September 11, 2001, we’ve seen the steady decline of our fundamental individual freedoms. “We can no longer count on the right to due process, access to counsel, and habeas corpus,” said AHA president Mel Lip-man. “Now, hearing that our basic fourth amendment right to privacy has been vio-lated, it’s clear that Bush has taken our liber-ties one step too far. It’s time to put civil lib-erties and human rights first. History has shown that societies willing to relinquish their liberties have paid in needless suffering and pervasive fear-not always of the enemy, but of the government whose mandate to ex-ist has been derived from its constituents and whose duty it is to ensure the liberties of its citizens as they are put forth in the Constitu-tion.” In the American Humanist Association’s foundational document, Humanism and Its Aspirations, Humanists assert that the “responsibility for our lives and the kind of world in which we live is ours and ours alone.” Speckhardt added, “Our Humanism calls us to take responsibility, and the Senate is finally taking its responsibility seriously by leading the way toward protecting Ameri-cans’ individual freedoms.” The Senate re-jected, in a 52-47 vote, to refuse to invoke cloture, which would have been needed to reauthorize the sixteen Patriot Act provisions that are set to expire on December 31, 2005. Several senators have also called for an in-vestigation into the spying authorized by President Bush. Speckhardt continued, “The time for action is now. While the media held this story for a year at the administration’s request, these investigations shouldn’t be postponed an-other day.”

“Humanists are committed to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity-from the freedom to have private conversa-tions without government surveillance to hu-mane treatment for all,” stated Speckhardt. “We will continue to work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society.”

Humanists Applaud Victory for Science

W ashington, DC, December 20, 2005—“Today marks a resounding victory

for science education,” stated Roy Speck-hardt, executive director of the American Hu-manist Association, in response to today’s ruling against the teaching of intelligent de-sign in a Pennsylvania public school district. “Religious concepts like intelligent design and creationism have no place in taxpayer-funded public schools,” he continued. “The AHA commends U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III for upholding church-state separation,” added AHA president Mel Lip-man. “Evolution is the only scientific, nonre-ligious explanation for the existence and di-versity of living organisms.” Judge John E. Jones III heard arguments this fall during a six-week trial on whether the Dover Area School Board violated the Con-stitution when it began in October 2004 re-quiring its ninth-grade biology students to hear a statement about intelligent design be-fore lessons on evolution. The statement claims that evolution is “not a fact” and re-fers to Of Pandas and People, an intelligent design textbook, for further information. “The so-called intelligent design theory is not a scientific theory as scientists understand the term. Instead of constructing its claims on observations and evidence, it relies on an untestable supernatural deity,” clarified Speckhardt. “Teaching intelligent design would under-mine students’ understanding of science by improperly placing an unsubstantiated article of faith on the same footing as recognized science. This ruling sets the standard: public school boards across the country should avoid this kind of religious indoctrination and put students’ education first by providing science curricula based on science, not theol-ogy,” he added. “The AHA will continue to work to prevent any further attempts to remove or water-down science’s best understanding of how life on earth evolved. Intelligent design should never be taught in public schools as science, as doing so will only further weaken the science education of America’s children,” concluded Lipman.

Humanists Keep the Ho-Ho-Ho in Christmas

W ashington, DC, December 5, 2005—“As this winter holiday season ap-

proaches, accusations that Humanists are out to steal Christmas have already begun,” stated Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. Fox News anchor John Gibson recently wrote a book on the so-called war against Christmas, claiming that the conspiracy “is embedded in the secular Humanist Manifesto (in its three iterations from the American Humanist Asso-ciation).” “This and similar misrepresentations are made by Christian conservatives every year,” stated Speckhardt. “Instead of outlining a plan for the demise of Santa Claus, our Hu-manist Manifestoes describe how we under-stand the world, explain the sources of ethics, and register our aspirations toward social jus-tice, human rights, and better lives for all.” “Humanists aren’t opposed to celebrating Christmas—it has been a secular holiday since the 19th century,” continued Speck-hardt. “And even before the advent of Chris-tianity, ancient peoples around the world celebrated it as a festival of winter.” “Humanists embrace this natural human ten-dency to celebrate the change of the sea-sons,” added Fred Edwords, editor of the Hu-manist magazine. Humanists have been cele-brating the Winter Solstice for decades, rec-ognizing it as the historical common denomi-nator behind Christmas, Hanukkah, and other winter celebrations. “Humanists look for the positive potential in celebrations and eagerly explore new ways to rejoice in the together-ness and love that have long marked the win-ter holiday season,” said Edwords. In 1966 a Humanist, Dr. Maulana Karenga, founded Kwanzaa to recognize uniquely Af-rican American traditions. And in 2001 Hu-manists founded HumanLight, a uniquely Humanist, but inclusive holiday. “HumanLight is an idea that goes beyond celebration. It’s a vision of hope, reason, and compassion that can be shared with those close to us and our communities. Hu-manLight represents a positive vision of an ethical, enlightened, Humanist future,” ex-plained Edwords. “Claiming a war on Christmas has become a fraudulent way for Gibson and others to at-tack the separation of church and state, reli-gious pluralism, and Humanist values,” said Speckhardt. “Every year, some are willing to brush aside the First Amendment in their ea-gerness to place purely Christian holiday symbols on public property, but Humanists say that this holiday time isn’t the exclusive property of any religion. It belongs to every-one.”

AHA News and Comment

9

change the subject. If you’re talking with a person of the relevant sex, consider adding, “I have too much respect for women/men to act like I’m looking for a replacement, or to ask somebody to get involved with me before I’m truly ready for a relationship”; they ought to appre-ciate that! If you think someone really needs to be brought up short, tell them, “I’m not looking in church any more than I’m looking in singles’ bars. I’m just not looking.”

There are some conversations that “you have to be there” to understand or com-ment upon, and that’s true of conversa-tions that leave someone feeling as though their words have been “twisted.” I can only suggest in a general way that you change the subject when people bring up a topic you’d rather not discuss. Whether or not you choose to point out that you have been misunderstood, you can say something like, “Oh, let’s talk about [something that is important to both of you].” If you really would like to spend time with someone who’s invited you to church, maybe you can suggest another way to get together. When you say something like, “I really want to get more time with you. Let’s play golf next Saturday,” it moves the conversation away from whether or why you do or don’t go to church, to other ways of spending time together.

Treating other people with courtesy and respect will show them how you would like to be treated, and give you the right to expect good treatment. Using the links below may help you find such friends. Good luck!

Reprinted from Humanist Network News, weekly e-zine of the Institute for Humanist Studies, http://humaniststudies.org/enews.

©2005, Molleen Matsumura

Dear Sweet Reason:

I am in the Bible Belt also. I believe that beliefs are personal, but I hear a con-stant discussion about what church peo-ple are attending, and suggestions that being recently divorced I might find a good person at church, to spend the re-mainder of my life with.

Also it is very difficult not to let others know that I am a freethinker. It is kind of apparent but I usually don’t come right out and say that I think freely. I have tried to let go of my past as it was based on Christian beliefs, and I try not to push my beliefs on others but I know very few who are not religious. How can I continue to exist when others don’t feel or respect my feelings of keeping my per-sonal beliefs in the closet? It comes to be the topic of conversation a lot of the time, or a fishing for ideas I might have. I feel that my feelings are used as a way of presenting the differences I have with others and are at times twisted or made to seem twisted. How can I get along with those who believe so differently than I do?

Missouri

Dear Missouri:

I have some suggestions for getting along with the people who are troubling you, since some of them may be people you can’t easily avoid—like relatives, co-workers, or neighbors. But, first I should point out that when you can’t get along with someone, sometimes it’s best to find different people to get along with.

You can at least bring into your life some people with whom you are more comfortable. These could be fellow free-thinkers, or people who have other inter-ests in common with you, and have something to talk about besides their church activities.

I’ve added a letter from another reader describing the advantages of finding like-minded friends, and then a list of Internet links that could help you do the same. Again, in addition to finding fel-low freethinkers, you could find people who share other interests of yours. Let your imagination go! Think of such ac-tivities as ushering at musical events and plays, caring for animals at the animal shelter, “great books” or “science fic-tion” discussion groups, chess or bridge clubs; then find what you like through resources like the Internet or your news-paper’s “community” and “events” list-ings. Even the church-goers in such groups will have something else to dis-cuss, and since their relationship with you is based on a common interest, their casual mentions of what they heard or did at church need not be taken as pres-sure on you. Some people won’t even mention religion. Also, if there is a civil liberties group nearby that you would be interested in joining (such as an ACLU chapter), you will find many people committed to respecting differences of belief.

Now let’s talk about the people who are in your life: It might very well help to separate the reasons people suggest you go to church, from the idea of going to church. For example, many people un-derstand (or will if they have to think about it) that going through a divorce is a lot like bereavement; a divorcee should not be rushed into looking for a new re-lationship any more than a widow/widower should be. Divorce can make a person emotionally vulnerable, and I en-courage you to demand the considerate treatment you have every right to expect. You need only say, “I’m not trying to meet someone so soon after my divorce, let’s talk about something else,” and then

A n advice column by Molleen Matsumura, “Sweet Reason” deals with life concerns and problems involving Humanism, secular-ism and the nonreligious. The following is from the December 7, 2005 issue of Humanist Network News.

The Best of Sweet Reason

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F eminist. Atheist. Black by conviction. She’s a bold and rebellious spirit. So nothing deters her from grabbing her sword and going into battle every day out there in the jungle we call life.

She always does this with a firm step, although that often means going up against wind and wave, against social conventions. She does this because she loves life. She does it alone if necessary. She does it because she hates injustice.

Dr. Mary Evelyn Rivera Montalvo: Feminist and Bold, Always Fighting Interview by Mabel Figueroa, published in Primera Hora (First Hour) on 10 December 2005 in Puerto Rico

Mary Evelyn Rivera Montalvo is not a mere spectator when it’s time to complain about inequalities. No, she’s always out in front defending her convictions, her principles, her view of how the world ought to be. It’s not her whim but her need to do something. A psychologist by profession, Rivera fights for many causes: women’s reproductive rights, the quality of life for born children, compassion for AIDS victims, love for ani-mals, defense of the environment. Her list is long. Her energy is explosive and inexhausti-ble. “My great battle is always to be a better hu-man being,” said this 59-year-old liberator. Much is known about this activist for a women’s right to make decisions about her body. But little is known about Rivera the woman. She welcomed Primera Hora in her refuge, a house near the ocean in Loíza. This refuge is a mosaic of her tastes and her beliefs. It’s like a photograph of what she really is inside. There one can breathe soft and peaceful air. One can smell the salt of the ocean. “I am black, but a bit lighter than most here in Loíza, but I am black,” Rivera said, while she proudly showed us every detail of the black culture that adorned her home. “What do you like most about living in Loíza?” “The people, the black people.” “Why?” “Ever since I was a small child, and my mother knows this, I have been attracted to black culture and black people. In fact, when I was an undergraduate at the University of Puerto Rico I was walking and saw this group of young people … children of princes in Africa who had come to study agriculture and agronomy in Mayaguez. I immediately asked them if I could invite them to my house to eat some of our typical food.” “And what did they say?” “Yes. My mother, who always supported me, saw me appear with that tribe at the house … twelve offspring of African tribal chiefs …” “What did you prepare for them?” “Meat, rice and green beans, something really typical. I corresponded with one of them for something like 22 years.” The group of princes was from tribes in the Republic of Chad. Her friend, with whom she corresponded for more than two decades, was named M’garabkara M’Banbgson. “Have you visited your African friends?” “No, never.” “Would you like to? “I’d be delighted.” “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

“I won’t say yes and I won’t say no, because there are many things I don’t believe in, but I allow myself room to say that just because I don’t believe it doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t exist.” “If there were reincarnation, do you think you were African in another life?” “I suppose so. My mother always told me that I have had this attraction all my life.” “Do you like Santeria?” “Yes, it attracts me …” “Do you believe in Santeria?” “No, I believe in love, nothing more …” “Have you seen a Santeria priest read the conch shells?” “When my children were young I was initi-ated, but only to have the marvelous experi-ence of seeing it up close.” “What does it mean to be initiated?” “For one year I dressed in white and the conch shells …” “I mean initiated in the Yoruba religion …” [Translator’s note: The Yorubas are a tribe in southeast Nigeria and Benin. Sante-ria, or voodoo, found in the Caribbean, is blended with Christianity.] “Yes, I still have my necklaces and I let him know about my ‘Babalus,’ that I was not much of a believer, but he believed that I would be converted. Look, I have the altar there …” This altar is in her kitchen and has images of various gods, gifts that were given to her at that time. “I believe that prayer is a positive thought, so that all we call prayer or benedictions I wel-come because it is positive energy,” she in-sisted. “Why did you decide to leave the Yoruba re-ligion?” “Out of respect. As it was an experience to understand up close, I thought it would not be correct for me to advance further because I didn’t believe it.” “Do you practice any religion?” “No.” “Are you an atheist?” “Very much so. Religion is a human inven-tion that has often been used, lamentably, for some groups to control, mistreat, dominate others in the name of their gods.” “But there are dogmas …” “Look, I am spiritual, which is different from being religious. I believe in practicing love, humanity … Every day I get up and say: ‘Thanks, life,’ ‘Thanks, love,’ but I don’t be-lieve in anthropomorphic beings, in human form …”

“Doesn’t it seem ironic, then, that you live on the street named Holy Spirit of Villa Cristi-ana?” (She laughs.) “Yes, but I want to live here. I tolerate and respect it. And yes, it does seem ironic.” Rivera is free of biting criticisms and hypo-crisy. She has spent more than two decades defending the right of women to terminate unwanted pregnancies. She gives them sup-port and also presents them with options. “Does it bother you to be called an abortion-ist?” “I believe in abortion and if that makes me an abortionist, then I’m an abortionist. So what? I don’t care.” “What is life like for an abortionist?” “An endless struggle, an endless battle, an endless educating. I feel very complicated that in this struggle I have seen results …” “What is death for an abortionist?” “Death? A change, a transition. I’m not afraid of it.” “Do many point their fingers at you?” “Yes. For example, I have some aunts on my mother’s side who are superfanatics. The only thing they lack is a cassock and saying mass, and when I arrive they say: ‘Satan has arrived’ …” “They say Satan?” (Laughs.) “Yes, and I find it delightful. I find it funny. I take a Plin 500 [?] pill every day. It’s very good. I recommend it to everyone. Do you know about it?” (Smiles.) “Yes, I take it sometimes … Do you feel like Satan?” “No, there’s nothing to these negative ener-gies. No way, but it doesn’t bother me that they say that about me. ‘I don’t get ulcers, I give them’.” (Smiles.) The struggle for abortion rights began with her own experience, when she decided to ter-minate an unwanted pregnancy at a time when, although it was legal, it was done in whispers. She was 35 and divorced. Her chil-dren were little. She was eight weeks preg-nant. There was no doubt. “What case led you to get involved in this struggle?” “My own, when I had an abortion.” “At any time did you have doubts?” “Never. That’s why it bothers me when peo-ple say that abortion is the same as going crazy. It’s a lie! I know many women who, quite to the contrary, found that ending their pregnancies has been their physical, eco-nomic, and mental salvation. This business of ‘crazy’ is simply not true.” “How was that experience?”

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“Back then, during the ’80s, abortion was legal but not very common, and when I ar-rived at the clinic, in the desperation I had to terminate my pregnancy, the lights went out.” She had to return the following week for the abortion, a decision that she has never regret-ted. “What happened after you had the abortion?” “I was left with the feeling that: ‘How many women have had to live the agonizing experi-ence of an unwanted pregnancy and not know where to go to terminate it?’ That’s when I said, I’ve got to fight’.” Abortion And yes, she began this battle in the same clinic where she had the abortion. She of-fered her services two weeks after her proce-dure when she went there for a routine ex-amination and consoled a young woman who had been crying there for three days. She counseled her and calmed her down. She came in as a psychologist, but one day she ran into a case that gave her a life mis-sion: to arrange the adoption of children of unwanted pregnancies, to give them the qual-ity of life and the opportunity for love that she regarded as the right of every child. This woman was a 33-year-old health profes-sional. Seven months pregnant, though it was hardly noticeable. Because of her advanced state of pregnancy, it was not possible to have an abortion. She was desperate. “She was really upset and they referred her to me,” said Rivera, “to tell her that we couldn’t do an abortion. When she heard this she broke down, screaming, scratching herself, pounding her abdomen, throwing herself on my desk, knocking everything on the floor …” “It was the first time I had seen such a case.” “All the women were crying and told me, ‘I’ll pay whatever it takes, please,’ but I had never seen a reaction like that of this young woman, because she grabbed her cheeks and screamed ‘NOOO!’” “How did you handle the situation?” “I literally sat her down and hugged her. I told her, ‘What happened to you, my love?’ That was cathartic and she stopped crying … Casually I told her that I had a friend who had asked me if I could help her adopt a baby, so I asked her if she would like to give the baby up for adoption.” “She agreed right away?” “Yes, and when she said yes, I took her to my house. She turned out to be a really excellent person.” “Have you met the child who was adopted?” “Yes. There was a reunion with her first bio-logical son, because he and she both wanted it. So the story ended marvelously. And I was the one who was really affected emotion-ally.” “Why?” “Because it made me think of all the women who couldn’t have abortions. I remember their crying and pleading. What will become of these women and their born but unwanted children?”

Thus was born the idea of adoption as an al-ternative. The response was immediate. After a bureaucratic proceeding, license number 003 is the Centro de Encuentro de Paternal Filial [adoption center]. And the children are all recent births.” “How many adoptions have you been able to arrange?” “How many spiritual children do I have? Hundreds, and they all call me ‘Titi Mary’ [Aunt Mary].” “Do you think of them as your family?” “Yes, my spiritual family.” “What does this spiritual family mean to you?” “A great deal … Lots of love … There have been twins and even a baby with Down’s Syndrome who was placed with a family who had other biological children with Down’s Syndrome.” “Which of these cases affected you most?” “The case of a woman who was going to have a dwarf baby and I was able to find a dwarf family to adopt it.” While we were talking the lights of her eyes were running around, her little granddaugh-ters Andrea and Paola. Rivera adores her family, her two biological children Jesús and Edna Marie and her adopted daughters Angie and Rosaura. Rosaura was quiet, observing everything. She is 50, nine years less than Rivera. She says “mama” and Rivera says “daughter.” Life threw them together as social worker and 12-year-old adolescent, rebellious and with many problems. Her hands still show scars from that period. “Rosaura Barbosa is my daughter,” she said with pride. “What has Rosaura given your life?” “Oh, nobility, humility.” “But you’re about the same age.” “Yes, but she calls me ‘mama.’ I am her mother. The Curious Relationship with Carlos Sanchez Curiously, Rivera doesn’t hate her archen-emy, Carlos Sánchez, of Pro-Life. They call each other on the telephone and even worked together in an adoption case in which Sánchez asked Rivera for help. “I have a battle with Sánchez or he has an eternal battle with me. My friends tell me, ‘Ah, don’t make him your decoy.’ They bother me that way.” “Do you imagine something like that?” “Never, never!” “How would you describe Carlos Sánchez?” “OK, listen, I’ve even felt a little sorry for him, because I know that he is being used by higherups, like Jorge Raschke and Rodolfo Font, to do their dirty work.” “Do you consider him your enemy?” “No, neither a friend nor an enemy.” “Does he consider you his enemy?” “I don’t know, but Carlos and I have gone to programs together and I’ll say, ‘Come on,

Carlos, let’s go have a coffee together,’ and I invite him and he invites me. I have his cell phone number and he has my numbers. When there is something going on, I call him and say, ‘Carlos, what time is your picketing?’” “And you converse cordially?” “Yes, cordially. We embrace. Why not? We’re civilized people. I don’t feel any nega-tive energy against him.” “I’m in shock with this revelation. Tell me how the embrace with Sánchez feels?” “I feel compassion, in the sense that fanati-cism doesn’t allow him to see any farther and that he has incredible energy because he has been made an activist, unlike many of the people on my side.” “Do you admire this in Sánchez?” “Yes, definitively. That’s why I respect him.” “What do you want from Sánchez?” “That he wise up and come over to my side.” “Do you think that’s possible?” (Laughs.) “Sure, in life everything is possi-ble.” “Have you felt that your life has been in dan-ger from these anti-abortion activists?” “Yes, and I carry a gun.” “Why?” “All my life the [clinic] pickets have talked about me and this doesn’t bother me, but at one picketing they began to talk about my children, with their full names and details about their lives. That was enough. I immedi-ately applied for a gun license and they gave it to me at once.” That was in 1998. “Have you ever used it?” “I hope I’ll never have to use it.” Rivera has learned to speak five languages and that’s because she lived her life at one military base after another. Her father was a bacteriologist in the Army and, yes, she was raised with discipline. She doesn’t complain. She remembers this period fondly and, in fact, admits that built in her a strong charac-ter to confront what life brings.” “What did you want to be when you were a child?” “A ballerina, all my life. I wanted to be like a Michael Jackson … I’m an excellent balle-rina.” “So what happened?” “My parents believed that this was a profes-sion with a bad reputation and so they didn’t put me on that path.” “Are you frustrated?” “Yes, I really longed to be a ballerina.” She also loves animals, so much so that every week she takes some to a refuge. She pets and feeds those on the street. And there on her patio she has her own, dogs and cats. “Do you sleep with a clear conscience?” “As happy as a baby!”

Mary Evelyn Rivera Montalvo is a Humanist Counselor/Celebrant. English translation by Edd Doerr. Translated interview printed here with Dr. Rivera Montalvo’s permission.

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Have President Bush, First Lady And Republican National

Committee Joined ‘War On Christmas?’

AU Asks Jerry Falwell Why He Hasn’t Objected To White House’s

Holiday Greetings

W ednesday, November 30, 2005—The Rev. Jerry Falwell and his

Religious Right cohorts have been com-plaining for weeks now about govern-ment agencies and store clerks saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” but it looks like Falwell for-got to tell President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and the Republi-can National Committee about the pre-ferred religiously correct greeting.

The White House’s 2005 holiday card is just out, and it doesn’t mention the word “Christmas” once.

The card, mailed under the auspices of the Republican National Committee and signed by the president and his wife, reads, “With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness 2005.” It also includes a passage from the Old Testament Book of Psalms.

The front cover is an artist’s rendition of the White House and grounds covered with snow while the presidential pets, two dogs and a cat, frolic on the lawn. It contains no religious symbolism.

“Have President Bush and the first lady joined the so-called war on Christmas?” asked the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Where are the howls of protest from Jerry Fal-well? When will he stand up and save Christmas from this mean-spirited, anti-God attack?”

Lynn noted that Laura Bush piled on Monday during a White House cere-mony unveiling a Christmas tree remark-ing, “Well, ‘all things bright and beauti-ful’ is the theme this year. I think it will be really bright and beautiful with this

fabulous tree. But thank you all very much. Happy holidays.”

Asserted Lynn, “Laura Bush said, ‘Happy Holidays.’ This is intolerable! Where is Jerry Falwell?”

Two weeks before Halloween, Falwell attorneys called a press conference and threatened to sue public schools and government agencies that fail to ac-knowledge Christmas to Falwell’s liking. They have also been complaining about department stores and malls using “Happy Holidays” signs and greetings.

Most recently, Falwell went ballistic when the city of Boston issued a press release announcing the arrival of its “holiday tree.” Fox News Channel com-mentator Bill O’Reilly has jumped on the bandwagon, carping nearly every night about the alleged “war on Christ-mas.”

Lynn noted that Falwell and O’Reilly have yet to say one word about the presi-dent and first lady’s generic holiday greetings.

“Falwell calls his Christmas crusade ‘Friend or Foe,’” Lynn remarked. “He believes you either agree with him or you’re an enemy. When is he going to take on his latest foes the president and Mrs. Bush?”

Added Lynn, “In all seriousness, I think Falwell ought to be ashamed of himself. He’s using the season of peace and love to advance his narrow-minded political agenda, stir up community hostility and raise money. Just when I think he can go no lower, he surprises me and does.

“And for the record,” Lynn continued, “Americans United has never attacked Christmas. There is no war on Christ-mas. Americans are perfectly free to ob-serve Christmas if they choose to do so. However, we do insist that government obey the Constitution and refrain from promoting religion.”

Supreme Court Nominee Is Threat To Church-State

Separation

AU Calls On Senate To Reject Alito

F riday, December 16, 2005—Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. harbors a nar-

row view of religious liberty and would likely join the Supreme Court’s most conservative members in dismantling the wall separating religion and government, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In a 22-page report issued today, Ameri-cans United detailed Alito’s troubling legal record on church-state issues and called on the Senate to reject his nomi-nation. “Judge Alito appears to be exactly what the extreme right wants for the nation’s top court, a judge eager to seriously weaken the wall separating religion and government,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “As a federal appeals court judge, Alito has consistently sided with powerful religious groups who have sought government help in promoting their work. “The senate should not con-firm a hard-right nominee to replace Jus-tice Sandra Day O’Connor,” Lynn con-tinued. Americans United’s report reveals that as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Alito consistently chipped away at the principle of church-state separation, which has protected religious minorities from oppression. The report argues that replacing O’Con-nor with Alito “would fundamentally alter First Amendment law and immedi-ately put at risk many of the crucial pro-tections for religious minorities that the Supreme Court has recognized and con-sistently enforced over the past sixty years.” “Throughout her career on the Court, Justice O’Connor has been keenly at-tuned to the plight of religious minorities in society as a whole, and most espe-

Continued on page 13: Church/State

Church/State Separation

13

cially in the public schools,” reads the report. “But Judge Alito’s focus has been elsewhere: on religious majorities’ abil-ity to express their views through gov-ernmental instrumentalities, at govern-ment-owned facilities, and in govern-ment-organized enterprises like the pub-lic schools.” The report, available on AU’s Web site, www.au.org, examines Alito’s federal court opinions on religious liberty mat-ters. The analysis of his work shows that he has advanced a narrow view of reli-gious liberty. For example, in a 1996 case, Alito joined a dissenting opinion arguing that it is constitutional for public schools to allow students to vote on having prayer at graduation ceremonies. The U.S. Su-preme Court has ruled against officially sanctioned prayer at public school events, in part, because of the coercive nature of such policies on religious mi-norities. In another case, Child Evangelism Fel-lowship of New Jersey, Inc. v. Stafford

Church/State (Continued from page 12) Township School District, Judge Alito ruled that a group dedicated to evangel-izing children in fundamentalist Christi-anity had a legal right to compel a public elementary school to publicize its meet-ings by, among other things, having teachers distribute to their classes the group’s evangelizing religious materials. AU’s report also highlights two cases where Alito sided with government-sponsored holiday displays. AU asserts that Alito’s actions in those cases show him to be “far more amenable than either Justice O’Connor or the Supreme Court to allowing government to use holiday displays to communicate messages of religious favoritism.” Additionally, AU’s report covers Alito’s views on the free exercise of religion, where he has a mixed record. Lynn said AU’s report would be submit-ted to the Senate. “We strongly urge senators not to con-firm Judge Alito,” said Lynn. “His legal record indicates he has a deeply flawed understanding of church-state separation and serious disregard for the rights of

religious minorities against majoritarian influence.”

Religious Right’s Claims Of A ‘War On Christmas’ Thinner Than

Cheap Wrapping Paper

Examples Of Hostility Toward Christmas Melt Under Scrutiny

M onday, December 19, 2005—Religious Right groups and their

allies in the right-wing media insist that a “war on Christmas” is under way in America but a new analysis of alleged examples of bias against Christmas shows more hype than hard facts, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Americans United staff members re-searched the “war on Christmas” inci-dents cited most frequently by Religious Right leaders and found them to be based in myth, not fact. For details, read the AU report, “The Religious Right’s Phony ‘War on Christmas’: Mything In Action.”

Continued on page 15: Church/State

Church/State Separation

T his year’s Darwin Day event is taking place at the same location as last year’s celebration—the La Sierra Community Center in Carmi-chael. Once again, the celebration is on the anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, which is February 12 (a Sunday this year).

Doors to John Smith Hall will open at 2 pm, with the program beginning promptly at 2:30. The interval permits those in attendance to visit the various tables from varied supporting organizations, who will have literature and merchandise.

Darwin Birthday Gala 2006 Submitted by the Darwin Day 2006 Committee

After the program, there will be the tra-ditional birthday cake and opportunities for camaraderie with those who share a commitment to the value of scientific enterprise and support sound science education. The subject this year is “Intelligent Design,” which has been the hottest topic going as far as news of sci-ence education. As has been clearly ruled recently in the Kitzmiller et al. case in Dover, PA, the I.D. concept is indeed “disguised creationism”—just what its critics have been saying all along that it is. One prominent critic of this new form of creationism is Nicholas Matzke, our fea-tured speaker at the 2006 Educational Gala. He was point person for the Na-tional Center for Science Education in

the Pennsylvania lawsuit, even moving to that state for the duration of the trial. Nick Matzke is a Public Information Project Director at the National Center for Science Education in Oakland. Matzke has a double B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from Valparaiso University, and a Master’s degree in Geography from U.C. Santa Barbara. He has a long-standing interest in evolution in a spatial context, particularly issues surrounding dispersal and convergence. In the area of evolution and earth history education, Nick specializes in “bringing the scien-tific literature to the masses” in order to rebut antievolutionist claims about the evolution of biological complexity. Before coming to NCSE, he conducted extensive literature surveys on the origin

of carnivorous plant traps and bacterial flagella. After a one-year appointment at NCSE, he intends to enter a Ph.D. pro-gram, where he can work on the integra-tion of bioinformatics and biogeography. Matzke will be speaking on origins and evolution of the I.D. movement and an-swering audience questions. HAGSA members will receive a special mailing in January and can obtain advance tick-ets. Here is a perfect opportunity to in-vite family and friends to come hear a noted speaker and have fun, too!

HAGSA Members will receive a mailed copy of the Darwin Day Flyer, along with a return envelope for ticket pur-chase, during the second week of Janu-ary.

14

end of the 19th century; and several mainstream Christian denominations de-clined to celebrate Christmas until the 20th century. A larger percentage of Americans cele-brate Christmas today than at any time in our history.

—Louis Cable, Lufkin, TX

To National Review Blaming Bush [submitted 2005-12-16] klopez@nationalreview.com Your “holiday notes” in the Sacramento Bee of 12/16/2005 were replete with dis-tortions and misrepresentations.

1. Bush indeed lied to Congress among others and persuaded a majority in Congress to validate his conquest of Iraq.

2. No one has ever accused Bush of hat-ing blacks although we know he spares no effort to impoverish further the poor and increase their numbers! You do not respond to accusations that Bush hates women and does his best to keep them barefoot and preg-nant.

3. As for tanked economy, the down-ward curve has continued until the past month or two. Much of the im-provement may be due to lower taxes on “unearned income”. I fear that the laughable “Laffer curve” will not re-verse the trade deficit nor the con-tinuing national deficit.

4. The real question about the O’Con-nor seat is whether candidates would enforce the “right of privacy”, which while not stated, is certainly implied by our Constitution and traditions. If we don’t have such a right we are being denied the three benefits of free government: life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. No wonder they had to change the “pledge” to hold that we owe God, and not our government, for what liberty and justice we still have!

5. A feeding tube for a “brain dead” person who cannot recover is an “extraordinary measure.” Most termi-nal cases who cannot take food or water are given intravenous fluids because this moderates bedsores and similar infections. Frequently the fluid includes a sedative that may cause death. In such cases, one could say the patient did not die of starva-tion or dehydration, if that really

Continued on page 15, column 1: Letters

Church, now he is milking the weeping Virgin for everything she is worth. The way he spends and makes money suggests he would be better suited on Wall Street than Sacramento’s Diocese.

—Don Knutson, Sacramento (Don Knutson is President of AOF]

The law and President Bush [appeared 2005-12-26] We are to be a nation of laws, with three co-equal branches of a government con-structed on a system of checks and bal-ances. However, President Bush has de-termined that laws do not apply to him. The problem of domestic spying is only the latest of such illegal manipulations by this administration. Let me count a few of the most egre-gious maneuvers: Torture of prisoners; jailing “suspects” with no recourse to courts; outing of an undercover CIA op-erative in retaliation against her hus-band, who dared contradict the Bush ad-ministration. I assume Bush will turn to his attorney general, the fellow who stated that the Geneva Accords, ratified by Congress, are “quaint.” Article VI of the Constitu-tion defines treaties as “the Supreme Law of the Land.” Perhaps the AG has not read the Constitution lately.

—Hank Kocol, Roseville

To the DC Examiner ‘War on Christmas’ idea is overblown [appeared 2005-12-21] Religious fundamentalists are insisting that the ACLU and “liberal plotters” are seeking to do away with Christmas. They must be living in some imagined alternate universe. The ACLU and church-state separationists have nothing against Christmas or Christians. They seek only to keep the government’s hands off any religion’s sacred days. These critics should be reminded that colonial New England Puritans, spiritual ancestors of today’s evangelical funda-mentalists, disapproved so strongly of Christmas that they outlawed even its private celebration. Congress was officially in session on Christmas until 1856; businesses and schools remained open on Christmas un-til the late 1880s; Christmas was not a legal holiday in all states until near the

To the Bee Our privacy rights [appeared 2005-12-10] Re “About that abortion right,” com-mentary, Dec. 1: So finally George (Ill) Will, our favorite neocon curmudgeon, makes clear his objection to the right of privacy we liberals hold so dear. The as-sertion of this right, he holds, “would invalidate a great variety of statutes … even drug use.” My knowledge of history leads me to believe that politicians of the last cen-tury acknowledged the existence of a constitutional right to privacy when they used the now-repealed 18th Amendment rather than a statute to outlaw use of al-cohol. Even as late as 1934, Congress outlawed marijuana by a weird “marijuana tax” rather than by an out-right prohibition. Since World War II, our right of privacy has been consigned by our politicians to “the ash heap of history.” I’m in favor of taking our right to privacy out of that heap and changing our “drug” laws to recognize that right. What harm would be done by repealing the ineffective marijuana prohibition and taxing its le-gal production and distribution?

—Philip S. Kearney, Sacramento The bishop of Wall Street [appeared 2005-12-12] Bishop William Weigand made himself abundantly clear to the destitute of the area when he blew $34 million on the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament: Your impoverishment is your problem. And in taking no action to address the alleged mystery at the Catholic Martyr’s

Policy regarding the publication of letters in this section

L etters submitted by HAGSA members, of which a copy has been sent to Human

Interest, will appear here whether published or not. All other letters will appear here only if they have been published. For those who are not HAGSA members, it is the letter writer’s responsibility to provide either a link to or a copy of any published letter he/she has written. Other usable references (e.g., the name of the on line edition of the publication and the date of appearance) may be accept-able as long as they are provided on the day of publication and the letter can, as a result, be found. If the Editor comes across letters to the Bee by known friends of HAGSA, those will be included anyway. However, that can-not be guaranteed.

Members’ and Friends’ Letters

15

Celebration of the Life and Poetry of Anatole Taràs Lubovich

(1937–2005)

Please join us on

Sunday, January 8, 2006, at 14:00 (2:00 pm)

at

Headquarters for the Arts (HQ) 1719 25th Street, Sacramento

There will be remembrances and poetry readings by his friends and colleagues. Refreshments will be provided. For further information, please call Do Gentry at (916) 448-8301 or email her at bichette3@aol.com. Please note that the room is expected to be very cold. Dress warmly and even consider taking a lap blanket.

makes a difference. Besides, the whole episode was a diversion from the duties and responsibilities of Congress and the President.

6. Bush is isolated even in Washington, so it really doesn’t matter if he takes vacations in Wacko, TX, too fre-quently or too long! The Bee has in-cluded far too many of the most in-transigent right-wingers such as you and George Will and Paul Greenberg. You could help by not writing a col-umn for a while.

—Philip S. Kearney, Sacramento

To the San Francisco Chronicle

Tookie Williams and Capital Punishment [submitted 2005-12-13] It is sad when anyone dies; it is a dis-grace that a society kills one of its own. The United States is the only first world nation which executes people. We also have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, along with China, Iran and North Korea. We have one of the highest crime rates in the world. We also insist on allowing anyone to own weap-ons. Whether you think the above are related or not, we are certainly doing something very wrong.

—Hank Kocol, Roseville

Letters (Continued from page 14)

“This isn’t a war on Christmas; it’s not even a skirmish,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “When the facts are exposed, the Religious Right’s ‘war on Christmas’ melts faster than a snowman on an 80-degree day.” Among the incidents debunked by Americans United is a tale frequently told by Fox News Channel commentator John Gibson. In Gibson’s new book, The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought, he asserts that the public schools in Plano, Texas, have banned students from wearing green and red clothes. The story has been reported uncritically in other media outlets and hyped by Bill O’Reilly but it is appar-ently untrue. A spokeswoman for the Plano schools told Americans United that the district has no such policy and expressed frus-tration that the story continues to circu-late. The Plano schools have posted an item on its website denying the rumor. A similar claim about public schools in Saginaw Township, Mich., is also false. Another story that has surfaced in the media centers on a public school in Wis-consin that allegedly banned songs hav-ing a religious “motive or theme” from this year’s holiday program. Officials at the Glendale-River Hills School District have posted a notice on the district web-site debunking the claim. It points out that songs used this year include “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “I Saw Three Ships.” “The Religious Right is using the season of peace and goodwill to press a radical political agenda and divide the American people,” said Lynn. “Santa should leave big lumps of coal in their stockings.”

AU Hails Federal Court Ruling Against ‘Intelligent Design’ In

Public Schools Sweeping Decision Should Bring

Latest Creationist Crusade To A Halt

T uesday, December 20, 2005—Today’s federal court decision

against the teaching of “intelligent de-

Church/State (Continued from page 13) sign” in Dover, PA, is a significant blow to Religious Right-led efforts to sneak fundamentalist dogma into public schools under the guise of science, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III ruled that the Dover School Board vio-lated the separation of church and state when it voted to introduce intelligent de-sign into science classes by requiring students to listen to a disclaimer critical of evolution. “This is a tremendous victory for public schools and religious freedom,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “It means that school board members have no right to impose their personal religious beliefs on stu-dents through the school curriculum.” Americans United and the Pennsylvania ACLU brought the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District lawsuit on behalf of Dover parents who oppose the introduc-tion of religious concepts into the public school curriculum. Observed Jones in his 139-page ruling, “The disclaimer’s plain language, the legislative history, and the historical con-text in which the ID Policy arose, all in-evitably lead to the conclusion that De-fendants consciously chose to change Dover’s biology curriculum to advance religion. We have been presented with a wealth of evidence which reveals that the District’s purpose was to advance creationism, an inherently religious view, both by introducing it directly un-der the label ID and by disparaging the scientific theory of evolution, so that creationism would gain credence by de-fault as the only apparent alternative to evolution …” Lynn said that in light of this decision, it is time for ID proponents to give up try-ing to insert their personal religious viewpoints into public school science classes. “Public schools should teach science in science class, and let parents make their own decisions about religion,” said Lynn. “It’s a simple idea that the Reli-gious Right has never been able to grasp.”

Church/State Separation Anatole Lubovich