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                   AN ATHEIST SPEAKS

                by Robert Harold Scott


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                     Introduction

        That which follows is a talk, about one hour long,
by Mr. Robert H. Scott, a retired court stenographer, of
San Francisco, California, and broadcast over radio
station KQW in San Francisco on November 17, 1946. It is
a classic, transcribed from four old-fashioned, fragile
12-inch records -- "platters." Such records cannot now
be reproduced. So that an historical record of one of the
first radio presentations on the subject of Atheism would
be preserved, this verbatim transcript of the speech was
made. Mr. Scott's mode of presentation was in a softly
spoken, but well modulated, voice. Despite an excessive
hissing noise produced by the needle, the entire content
of the presentation, titled "An Atheist Speaks," has been
preserved and is given to you, now, in the following
transcript.


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Ladies and gentlemen:


          On July 19 of this year the Federal Communications
Commission handed down a decision with regard to radio
broadcasting which is a new milestone on the highway of
freedom of speech. With an eye on our Constitutional Bill
of Rights, and in recognition of the fact that the
existence of a god is neither a self-evident nor a
demonstrated truth but is purely a matter of opinion, the
Commission pointed out that "freedom of religious belief
necessarily carries with it freedom to disbelieve"; and
it affirmed that "immunity from criticism is dangerous,
dangerous to the institution or belief to which the
immunity is granted as well as to the freedom of the
people generally."


          I do not throw stones at church windows. I do not
mock at people kneeling in prayer. I respect everyone's
right to have and to express the belief that a god
exists. But I require respect for the corresponding right
to express disbelief in such a being.


          On August 10, 1787, Thomas Jefferson, whose memory
every true American reveres, wrote a letter to a young
nephew, Peter Carr by name. In that letter Jefferson gave
his nephew some advice, part of which was as follows:

<<      Fix Reason firmly in her seat, and call to her
<