1. As an illustration of the fear which motivates adherence to theistic faiths, it is
interesting to note some of the most common reactions to Part Two of this book.
The faithful Christian, for example, cannot refute the arguments presented here, but
he dare not accept them; so he will attempt to change the subject by the following
psychological defense mechanisms: (1) Be "unable to understand"; (It is too deep
for him, but a good preacher could explain, etc.); (2) "Forget" each argument as
soon as it is discovered to be unanswerable; (3) Attack personal character of
author; (4) Explain that author is confused (by too much learning, etc.); (5) Explain
that author is under influence of Satan, or is simply sick, etc. (See dedication page);
(6) Explain that author doesn't really believe what he says; he really believes
whatever that individual happens to believe, only author stubbornly refuses to admit
it, in an attempt to "show off"; (7) Threaten author - with Hell - or otherwise. As
George H. Smith says, "Christian faith is to free inquiry what the Mafia is to free
enterprise ... Like the Mafia, if Christianity fails to defeat its competition by
legitimate means ... it resorts to strong-arm tactics"; (8) Refuse to discuss subject
further with one so obviously "warped and prejudiced"; (9) Maintain that his "belief
is unshaken," but will not be able to explain what that belief is; (10) Neurotically
repeat the Apostles' Creed, John 3:16, or some other deeply conditioned phrases
over and over, and simply ignore the entire book; (11) Become extremely sleepy,
tired, or ill and put off further discussion until "tomorrow," which never manages to
come; (12) Remember urgent business elsewhere; (13) Any combination of the
above.
2. No attempt will be made at a definition of what is meant by the word "God" until
later in the discussion. Most persons agree that He is indefinable and yet speak
glibly of Him, feeling they are all talking about the same thing; therefore this
discussion will, for the most part, proceed on the same grounds.
3. All abbreviations are standard for the various books of the Bible. A complete
spelling of the book is listed, along with the abbreviation, at the beginning of any
English translation. The numbers following the book title indicate chapter and verse
according to the Revised Standard Version, 1952.
4. Nearly all cultures imagine that there was a "Golden Age" preceding a
consequent "Fall of Man." Encyclopedia Britannica describes such myths as
follows:
NOTATIONS FOR
LUCIFER'S HANDBOOK
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"Among the most primitive societies the myths of the high gods are relatively simple.
The Supreme Being is believed to have created the world and man, but he soon
abandoned his creations and withdrew into the sky. This rupture between heaven and
earth put an end to the paradisiac age when the gods came down and mingled with
men.... As a consequence of this cosmic alteration, man became mortal and sexed
and he was obliged to work in order to live."
Also, "Myths of cosmic cataclysms are extremely widespread among primitives.
They tell how the world was destroyed and mankind annihilated except for a few
survivors. The myths of the flood are the most numerous and are known nearly
everywhere, although extremely infrequently in Africa. In addition to flood myths,
others recount the destruction of mankind by cataclysms of cosmic proportions -
earthquakes, conflagrations, falling mountains, epidemics and so forth. Clearly, this
end of the world was not final; rather it was the end of one human race, followed by
the appearance of another."
Such religions also tell of another cataclysm yet to come.
"All in all, these myths of the end of the world - implying, as they do in clearer or
darker fashion, the re-creation of a new universe - express the same archaic and
extremely widespread idea of the progressive degradation of a cosmos,
necessitating its periodical destruction and re-creation. These myths of a final
catastrophe that will at the same time be the sign announcing the imminent re-
creation of the world have been the seed-bed for the prophetic and millenialist
movements..:" Encyclopedia Britannica, 1967; "Myth," Vol. 15, pp. 1135-1139.
But the central figure in the religion of most cultures has been a heroic demigod.
Usually, he was the son of a god and a mortal woman. Many miracles surround his
birth. A god, or a king, tries to have the infant killed, but he escapes. He grows up
and performs many miracles and wondrous deeds. Finally, because he is overly
friendly to man, the gods have him killed. But he is resurrected, and goes on helping
man as savior and intermediary. He is usually worshipped as a fertility-sun-god; so,
like the vegetation, he dies in the winter, and is resurrected in the spring; thus the
major religious festivals are logically held on the solstices and equinoxes.
Confer Encyclopedia Britannica: Adapa, Adonis, Aliyan, Anat, Apollo, Astarte,
Attis, Baal, Dionysus, Eshmun, Hercules, Hermes, Horus, Isis, Krishna, Loki,
Maia, Meitreya, Melkarth, Mithra, Orpheus, Osiris, Pelops, Perseus, Prometheus,
Quedesht, Rama, Tammuz, Tantalus and Zoroaster.
See also the following trinities: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; Horus, Isis and Osiris;
Astarte, Anat and Quedesht; Dionysus, Demeter and Poseidon; Attis, Maia and
Zeus; Astarte, Eshmun and Melkarth, etc., etc.
5. Kenneth R. Hardy, "Social Origins of American Scientists and Scholars,"
Science, Aug. 9, 1974.
6. Los Angeles Times, Jan. 14, 1973, Pt. IV, p. 6.
7. And it seems just the sort of thing one would receive in a "vision." Today we can
treat such people.
8. Confer: Kinsey Reports: Male, Female, and Sex Offenders; Religions in America,
by Leo Rosten, pp. 301-316; Statistics on Delinquents and Delinquency, by Walter
E. Lunden, 1964, p. 154; Adolescent Aggression, by Albert Bandara, 1959, p. 185;
The Sexual Criminal, by J. Paul De River, p. 28; The Sexual Offender and His
Offenses, by Benjamin Karpman, p. 97, 39; Psychology of Sex Offenders, by Ellis
& Brancale; and Journal of a Psychoanalyst-Priest by Paul Jury, 1965.
9. The serpent is also a sex symbol - worshipped in many cultures as a fertility god.
Practically all religions grew out of sex worship, and Christianity is no exception.
Christianity, however, neurotically worships sex in a negative way - as a taboo, so
that sex and knowledge are the cardinal sins. In fact, they are so closely associated
that sex is often referred to as "carnal knowledge." And in Christian tradition, Adam
and Eve were cast out of Paradise because of their evil desire for sex and
knowledge. Satan first appeared in the form of the serpent - a phallic symbol. Then
in later years, he began to be represented as the god, Pan, another sex god - half
man, half goat.
Even today, most Christian countries have severe "obscenity" laws - obscenity
being defined as anything associated with sexuality. And merely using certain taboo
words can incur severe prison sentences.
10. The validity of the above explanation has been demonstrated experimentally by
means of special glasses which drastically distorted images in certain ways. After a
time, the persons fitted with these glasses could function efficiently and declared
that everything seemed perfectly normal. When the glasses were removed,
everything seemed distorted again, and the subjects had to re-learn to walk, eat,
dress, etc.
11. Think of a blind man learning to type on a Braille keyboard. He is building up
patterns of muscular (or nervous) reactions in response to the (Braille) patterns he
detects - patterns causing patterns; but the patterns of his dancing fingers bear little
resemblance to the patterns of raised dots.
Or think of a person, blind from birth, who by an operation, is able to see. The
images he is finally able to organize are not at all as he conceived them with his
fingertips.
When we meet radio personalities, they never look as we had imagined. Places we
visit are never as they seemed in print.
All of these illustrate one kind of pattern forming a mental pattern. But the mental
pattern bears little resemblance to the original. So too, the mental patterns of shape,
color, and relation we form with our eyes have little to do with the mass of swirling
electrons which our instruments tell us actually cause the patterns we conceive.
12. This hierarchy of perception can be illustrated in reading: First we learn to
distinguish letters; then we see them as words; and words as sentences; and
sentences as paragraphs; and paragraphs as chapters; chapters as books, etc.
13. It is undeniable that different cultures have different tastes, different concepts of
right and wrong, different ideas of beauty, different kinds of family and community
life. So they must see these values differently. An illiterate Christian might interpret
a thundercloud as the work of a benevolent God; a Zulu could see it as the curse of
an enemy; a modern scientist as the work of physical forces. So we should be
justified in saying that different cultures "see" the world differently.
14. Different persons may more easily grasp different kinds of orders. For example,
one person may easily grasp the relationships of musical tones, but be colorblind
and unable to change a dollar; while a mathematical genius may be completely tone-
deaf; and a painter may be unable to make any sense whatever out of poetry or
physics.
15. To maintain such, as many supernaturalists do, is like saying that since I don't
happen to know how many grains of sand are on a particular beach, that proves
they are right about the price of eggs in China! Many persons seem to feel that if an
opponent admits to not knowing everything, then his argument could not be correct,
because the supernaturalist does know everything - all mysteries having been
revealed by his gods. Some supernaturalists have been heard to say that since
biologists cannot yet "create a man" (meaning presumably an adult made from mud)
their doctrine of the Trinity must be correct. Another says it proves his theory of
reincarnation. Another says it proves his idea about predestination; another, the
absence of predestination, etc., etc.
16. Based on curved surfaces instead of flat or "plane" surfaces.
BIBLIOGRAPHY