ATHEIST MILESTONES FOR JULY An Atheist Calendar Compiled by Gipson Arnold, President, Athe

ATHEIST MILESTONES FOR JULY An Atheist Calendar Compiled by Gipson Arnold, President, Atheist Network. Jul. 1, 1876 - Mikhail Bakunin died - Bakunin was a Russian Atheist, anarchist, and revolutionary. "If God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him." (God and the State, 1871) Jul. 4, 1776 - Independence day - This was when the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the American Revolution began. Jul. 6, 1839 - B.F. Underwood was born - Mr. Underwood was an Atheist journalist, lecturer, and Union soldier. He wrote for several mainstream newspapers as well as Freethought publications, such as the Truth Seeker, the Index, and Open Court. "(Infidels) have been among the most indefatigable workers in every reform." (Freethought, Judged by its Fruits, 1876). Jul. 8, 1899 - Charles Chilton Moore arrives home from prison. C.C. Moore, Atheist writer from Kentucky, and publisher of the Blue Grass Blade was imprisoned for sending Atheist writings through the mail, and recieved a hero's welcome on his return home. Jul. 8, 1939 - H. Havelock Ellis died - Ellis was a pioneer sexologist, sociologist, and Freethinker who wrote his views concerning religion in his books Affirmations (1897) and My Life (1940). Jul. 9, 1868 - The 14th Amendment was ratified. Jul. 11, 1955 - The U.S. Congress passed a law stating that "In God We Trust" would be placed on all United States Currency. Jul. 18, 1872 - Benito Pablo Juarez died. see Mar. 21, 1806. Jul. 21, 1899 - Robt. Ingersoll died. see Aug. 11, 1833. Jul. 21, 1925 - John Scopes was found guilty of violating Tennessee law by teaching evolution in a public school classroom. Jul. 23, 1885 - Ulysses S. Grant died - Grant was the 18th U.S. President, and a supporter of state/church separation. (see Apr. 27, 1822). Jul. 30, 1956 - The U.S. Congress passed a law making "In God We Trust" the national motto. From: Usenet To: All Msg #171, Sep-14-93 07:49PM Subject: ATHEIST MILESTONES FOR AUGUST Organization: More Coffee Please From: "Robert Knowles" Message-ID: <2957143731.0.p00261@psilink.com> Newsgroups: alt.atheism ATHEIST MILESTONES FOR AUGUST An Atheist Calendar Compiled by Gipson Arnold, President, Atheist Network. Aug. 2, 1820 - John Tyndall was born - Tyndall was a Freethinker and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. "If I wanted a loving father, a faithful husband, an honorable neighbor, and a just citizen, I would seek him among the band of Atheists." (from a speech in 1874). Aug. 2, 1871 - William Floyd was born - Floyd was a Freethought writer. His books include The Mistakes of Jesus, and Christianity Cross-Examined. "The Bible has done more harm than any other book in the world." (Christianity Cross-Examined). Aug. 3, 1900 - John Scopes was born - Scopes was a Tennessee school teacher who was convicted and fined for teaching evolution in a public classroom. Aug. 4, 1792 - Percy Bysshe Shelley was born - Shelley was a famous English Atheist writer and poet. He wrote a pamphlet titled The Necessity of Atheism in 1811. "War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, the lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade.", "Let priest-led slaves cease to proclaim that a man inherits vice and misery, when force and falsehood hang even o'er the cradled babe, stifling with rudest grasp all natural good.", "Religion! but for thee, prolific fiend, who peopleth earth with demons, hell with men, and heaven with slaves!" (Queen Mab, 1813). Aug. 4, 1892 - Ernestine Rose died. see Jan. 13, 1810. Aug. 11, 1833 - Robert Ingersoll was born - Ingersoll was an American lawyer, politician, philanthropist, and Freethought lecturer. "The clergy know that I know that they know that they do not know." (Orthodoxy). "Belief is not a voluntary thing. A man believes or disbelieves in spite of himself. They tell us that to believe is the safe way; but I say, the safe way is to be honest." (Some Reasons Why I Am a Freethinker). Aug. 13, 1884 - Llewelyn Powys was born - Powys was a Welsh poet, essayist, and Atheist. "Belief in immortality is definately subversive to man's well-being. By it his efficiency is impaired for regulating his affairs on this planet." (Damnable Opinions). "The world is in need of less religion and more common sense." (Celsus and Origin). Aug. 13, 1913 - August Bebel died - Bebel was a German Atheist and socialist politician. He was very popular with German workers, but recieved several prison sentences for his political opinions. "Christ came, and Christianity arose . . . But originating in Judaism, which knew women only as a being bereft of all rights, and biased by the biblical conception which saw in her the source of all evil, Christianity preached contempt for women." (Woman and Socialism, 1893). Aug. 13, 1946 - H.G. Wells died. see Sep. 21, 1866. Aug. 25, 1796 - James Lick was born - James Lick was an American businessman, philanthropist, and Atheist. He helped to fund many freethought organizations, such as the Paine Memorial Association and the Liberal League. His most famous work of philanthropy is the Lick Observatory near San Jose, California. Aug. 25, 1900 - Friederich Nietzche died. see Oct. 15, 1844. Aug. 27, 1884 - Abner Kneeland died - Kneeland was an American publisher and lecturer on rationalism. He published the Boston Investigator, a Freethought periodical, and was arrested for blasphemy in 1833. Aug. 29, 1632 - John Locke was born - Locke was an English writer and philosopher, most famous for advocating freedom and tolerance. His writings include An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, A Letter Concerning Toleration, and Two Treatises of Government. He anonymously wrote The Reasonableness of Christianity, which represented a significant developement toward skepticism. "I find every sect, as far as reason will help them, make use of it gladly; and where it fails them, they cry out, It's a matter of faith, and above reason." (An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690). Aug. 29, 1809 - Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. was born. Aug. 31, 1948 - A special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives investigated the F.C.C.'s decision involving Robert Harold Scott's attempt to get fair treatment for Atheists on the radio. The F.C.C. had rejected Scott's request to revoke the licenses of radio stations that refused to allow him airtime for responding to religious attacks against Atheism. But the decision stated that "freedom of religious belief necessarily carries with it freedom to disbelieve". Broadcasters complained that the decision suggested that Atheism should get equal time; an implication the F.C.C. quickly denied. From: Usenet To: All Msg #172, Sep-14-93 07:49PM Subject: ATHEIST MILESTONES FOR SEPTEMBER Organization: More Coffee Please From: "Robert Knowles" Message-ID: <2957143759.1.p00261@psilink.com> Newsgroups: alt.atheism ATHEIST MILESTONES FOR SEPTEMBER An Atheist Calendar Compiled by Gipson Arnold, President, Atheist Network. Sep. 5, 1857 - Auguste Comte died. see Jan. 19, 1798. Sep. 6, 1795 - Frances Wright was born - Ms. Wright was an American writer, lecturer, and women's rights activist. She established a colony where slaves could earn money to buy their freedom. She also worked with Robert Dale Owen to establish a progressive community at New Harmony. "Who speaks of liberty while the human mind is in chains?" (from a speech delivered in Cincinnati, 1828). Sep. 8, 1966 - Margaret Sanger died. see Sep. 14, 1883. Sep. 9, 1939 - Sigmund Freud died - see May 6, 1856. Sep. 12, 1880 - H.L. Mencken was born - Mencken was an American writer and journalist. He wrote extensively, and often criticized religion. He did most of his writing in the 1920's and 1940's. "We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart." (Minority Report, 1956). "The most curious social convention of the great age in which we live is the one to the effect that religious opinions should be respected". (A Mencken Chrestomathy, 1916). Sep. 12, 1960 - U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave a speech to religious leaders in Houston Texas, where he expressed his views supporting religious freedom and separation of state and church. Sep. 14, 1883 - Margaret Sanger was born - Ms. Sanger was a women's rights activist and proponent of birth control, who openly aknowledged the role religion played in the denial of women's rights. "A woman, either married or unmarried, could hold no office of trust or power. She was not a person. She was not recognized as a citizen. She was not a factor in the human family. She was not a unit, but a zero, in the sum of civilization. . ." (History of Women's Suffrage, vol. III). Sep. 17, 1787 - The U.S. Constitution was ratified. Sep. 19, 1950 - Joseph Wheless died - American Freethought leader, writer, and attorney. He worked with Joseph Lewis to file numerous lawsuits involving state/church entanglement violations. His most noted books include Is it God's World? and Forgery in Christianity. Sep. 21, 1866 - H.G. Wells was born - Sep. 23, 1856 - William Archer was born - Mr. Archer was a Freethought writer whose books uncluded Dean Inge's Apology for Christianity and Surrendering to Catholicism. "To me it seems that mankind can never achieve its highest potentialities till it has thrown off the incubus of historic (and prehistoric) religion . . ." (Is the Battle Won?). Sep. 26, 1833 - Charles Bradlaugh was born - Bradlaugh was an English Atheist writer, organizer, and politician who was a member of Parliament. He was editor of the Investigator and the National Reformer Freethought newspapers. He also founded the National Secular Society. "Atheists would teach men to be moral now, not because God offers as an inducement reward by and by, but because in the virtuous act itself immediate good is insured to the doer and the circle surrounding him." (A Plea for Atheism, 1864). "If it stood alone it would be almost sufficient to plead as justification for heresy the approach towards equality and liberty for the utterance of all opinions achieved because of growing unbelief." (Humanity's Gain from UnBelief, 1889). Sep. 27, 1913 - Albert Ellis was born - American psychotherapist, and founder of a psychological method called "Rational Emotive Therapy" (RET). His method seeks to teach subjecs to stop saying irrational things to themselves. By replacing the irrational ideas they "emote" with more rational ideas, the subject is encouraged to function more effectively in the real world. He is author of A New Guide to Rational Living.