Early Freethought Literature
Presented by Frank Girard, MA, retired English teacher
About the Speaker
Frank Girard retired English teacher and FAoWM member prepared a table for us containing numerous older books, most of which dealt with religious issues from a critical standpoint.
About the Event
Announcements
We were reminded that FAoWM is funded entirely by the freewill donations of its attending membership and that donations to our 501 © 3 non- profit organization are tax deductible.
There have been some additions and changes to our calendar of events and meeting topics. The following is the updated list through the end of July:
JUNE 1; 7PM: Freethought Movie Night. Location: Jason & Deanna Pittman’s house. For more info: 616-634-2471 or e-mail to .
JUNE 11; 5:30PM: Board Meeting: Long term planning. This meeting is open to any interested members and will be held at our usual meeting location an hour and a half prior to the regular topic discussion meeting.
JUNE 11; 7PM: “Affirmative Action” is the topic that member and attorney, Marshall Grate, will present to us.
JUNE 14; 10-10:30AM – 4PM (suggested times; we have reservations for the day). ANNUAL FREETHOUGHT PICNIC. This year it will be at Linus Palmer Park; Section “C”. Open Shelter in a shady area close to play areas, Buck Creek, hiking trails and other outdoor accommodations.
It is located at 1275 52nd Street in the City of Wyoming. The boardwalk that begins the west end of the park follows Buck Creek and extends to Lamar Park.
Bring a dish to pass, beverages and table service.
Take Palmer Park Drive into the park off 52nd Street. The parking lot is right by the Open Shelter of Section “C”. Palmer Park is between 44th and 52nd (north-south) and between Burlingame and Clyde Park (east -west) and just west of the 131 Expressway. Hope to see you there!
JUNE 15; 7PM: Freethought Movie Night. See above information (June 1).
JUNE 25; 7PM: “Why the Religious Right is wrong about Separation of Church & State.” This presentation is by special guest speaker, Rob Boston of the Americans United for Separation of Church & State, a Constitutional freedoms watchdog group in Wash., D.C. He has written books on church – state entanglement issues, including one with the title of his presentation to us.
JULY 9; 7PM: “The Psychology of Fundamentalism” will be presented by Luke Galen, Assistant Prof. Of Psychology, GVSU and FAoWM member.
JULY 23; 7PM: “WWJD: Debunking Popular Myths About Jesus.” This topic will be presented by FAoWM member Jeremy Crow.
Other topics in August and September to be listed in subsequent minutes or you may check them on the website. http://www.cfimichigan.org.
Presentation
Our topic for this meeting was “Early Freethought Literature” and was presented by retired English teacher and FAoWM member, Frank Girard. Girard prepared a table for us containing numerous older books, most of which dealt with religious issues from a critical standpoint. He had note cards for each that mentioned a little something about each book, or gave page numbers to reference certain passages of note contained within.
Several of the books had been authored by Socialists or referenced Socialism and/or Communism; Communism and Christianism (which had the central theme: “Banish gods from the sky and capitalists from the Earth”), The Church: The Enemy of the Workers and How the Gods Were Made being a few examples among others. Of the last-mentioned, Girard informed us that this was written as a Marxist take on religion by a “soapboxer” Michigan man. Girard is self declared of that party and had even run as a candidate on the Socialist Labor Party ballot in years past. He noted that while there are many Freethinkers who are not Socialists, the majority of Socialists are also Freethinkers- both groups being of a more independent mind with ideas that are seen as radical relative to the mainstream. One book broke down historical conceptual perspectives into three main categories: Idealist, Theocratic, and Materialist. Another viewed classless equality in a naturalistic light; seeing this as the wave of the future for enlightened society.
A list of some of the books that he proffered for our perusal follows:
The Bible Unmasked by Joseph Lewis; Freethought Press Assoc.
The Gospel of Rationalism
Antiquity Unveiled
Catalogue of Thought Books
Communism and Christianism by Bishop Brown
Concerning the Heresy Trial, Theodore Schroeder
Convent Cruelties
Father Tom & the Pope
Heresy, Bad Bishop Brown Quarterly Lecture
History of the Conflict Between Religion & Science
How the Gods Were Made
Lies & fallacies of the Encyclopedia Britannica
Lincoln the Freethinker
My Twelve Years in a Monastery
Rome: Irreconcilable with Democracy
Rome or Reason
The Bankruptcy of Christian Supernaturalism
The Black Covenant Slave
The Church that was Founded on Lies
The Church: The Enemy of the Workers
The Fascist Communist Dictatorship
The Popes and their Church
The Psychiatric Study of Jesus
The Religious Beliefs of our Presidents
The World’s Sixteen Crucified Saviors
Thomas Paine’s Examination of the Prophesies
The Truth Seeker’s Catalogue of Freethought Works
Why I Left the Church by Joseph McCabe
Many of the books were referred to as “Thought” rather than Freethought literature by the authors or publishers, such as the Catalogue of Thought Books, etc. The Gospel of Rationalism was published by Thinkers’ Library. Also mentioned was the copious outpouring of little, inexpensive, yet thought- provoking books called as a series “Little Blue Books.” These nuggets tackling all sorts of sacred cows were churned out in great abundance and readily available to the masses.
Another point Girard made was that many of the books he had collected over the last half century were authored by autodidacts, or self- taught individuals. Many grew up with questing minds and were of an independent stripe, and not besotted by the religious dogma of the day. However, their lot in life was such that they were able to achieve little formal education; they were needed on the farmstead or had to quit school to make their way in the world of work to support themselves and/or others. Nonetheless, they steeped themselves as fully as possible in the mental life of books and ideas and were soon offering their own reasoned take on the world.
Several of the books that were displayed at this presentation had a decidedly anti-Catholic and especially anti-Irish Catholic bent to them, befitting the times in which they were written. However, it was mentioned that the same sort of fare is still available in an easily digested form for young people of a Fundamentalist Christian (Protestant) background. Some told of quite incredible almost tabloid- like escapades of the nuns, bishops and others, including the Pope at that time. This Secretary recalls a pamphlet he saw floating around when working for a Christian organization called “The Pope’s Secrets” that he assumed was a parody (albeit in poor taste), but later learned it was sincere in its role as a (simplistic) diatribe against the Pope.While these were of historical interest and may have contained some kernels of truth in specific revelations regarding certain aspects of Catholicism, they are mostly curiosities and more of the radical rather than truly freethought press. They were generally authored by those pitting their own religious views against another despised group’s rather than those who were free of religious convictions and agendas themselves.
There were other books that arrived at the same conclusions as the freethinkers regarding religious belief, but were not by skeptical writers. One example was Antiquity Unveiled, where the author’s assertions derived from the spirit world. On the other side of the coin, there were books such as the Catalogue of Thought Books that presented works by such luminaries in the freethought world as Robert G. Ingersoll.
The book on the religious views of our presidents was interesting for the larger than might be expected number of American presidents who were only peripherally religious, non-religious, or of a non-mainstream church membership that was not dogmatic in perspective. The book on Lincoln exposed his lack of religiosity and even more striking was the first draft of his Gettysburg Address that expunged any reference to God. There was pressure to alter this speech to later include the more pious references that have come down to us in the present form. We also discussed Thomas Paine’s Examination of the Prophesies and his Age of Reason.
Some books scrutinized the origins of biblical concepts and iconography, including the World’s 16 Crucified Saviors and others. As one guest speaker to our group, Tim Callahan, had explained in his presentation on the origins of the Bible, most of the Bible’s stories trace back to extra- biblical or pagan systems and traditions. There were even many examples of selected men who went up on a mountain to take down the holy, god-decreed laws on stone tablets the people were to follow, in a Moses- like fashion.
One of the books dealt with the title subject “Is it God’s Word.” This sprang from a man who had been brought up to read the Bible thoroughly in a Bible- literalist household. But his thinking was such that he could not escape noticing the many self-contradictions and fallacies of the “Good Book.” So, when he matured, he went through it-page by page-and made note of the errors and inconsistencies he found along the way.
Another (Little Blue Book) featured Cardinal Manning and Robert Green Ingersoll and their opposing views on religious issues. It was not, Girard pointed out, set up as a debate per se, so much as two individual speakers presenting their disparate thoughts in the same book.
Some books took on the widely and uncritically accepted ideas of founders and other important personages in the Christian faith, including Peter and Paul, and the impossibility of bridging locations with events that were alleged to have transpired there. There was also critical examination by one author of the incredible numbers in the biblical accounts of happenings. When one actually pauses to think about what these numbers would represent in the real, tangible world, they take on a laughable quality due to their ludicrous inflations and exaggerations. This recalled to many of us, member Ray Sadowski’s presentation on this same theme: “Numbers.”
The Psychology of Jesus examined the man from a psychological perspective, exploring whether his words and deeds emanated from a healthy or troubled mental state. This was written in an objective fashion, without deference to his putative divinity.
The author Joseph McCabe was highlighted for his copious output, keen understanding of science, critical examination of the scriptures and church doctrines and potent intellect. This former Jesuit wrote not as an outsider but as one deeply familiar with the practices and beliefs of the Church that he could no longer ally himself with. His book, A Rebel to his Last Breath, was highlighted as a must- read for a sound introduction to the man and his thoughts.
In looking at the list of books mentioned, Lies and Fallacies of the Encyclopedia Britannica appears out of place at first glance. However Girard explained that there had been fundamentalist pressure successfully applied to the series, to “correct mistakes” within its covers. In other words, concepts that were at variance with Church teachings were extirpated or altered to make them more palatable for this forceful variety of believer. The same forces were put in place- again successfully- to alter our Pledge of Allegiance to replace the solidifying term “indivisible” with a phrase that makes a mockery of our secular basis: “under God”, and that removed the marvelous American sentiment of “Out of many-one” (rendered in Latin) to insinuate the divisive, theocratic phrase “In God We Trust” on our money.
Many of the books showcased the religious practice that vehemently resists progress and critical thought until the understandings of science and reason become incontrovertible, whereupon they adopt the thinking as their own- though generally in modified form. Some books Girard showed us could be thought of as “soft porn” with their illustrated and graphic examples of rape, sodomy, incest, concubinage, etc. But, of course, these were all taken directly from the Bible, that teaching tool for children and source of moral edification. In a presentation by Joel Welty (from the Great Lakes Humanists) to our group where he portrayed Mark Twain, he quoted Twain’s remark regarding how the Bible was left out in the open in libraries where any vulnerable child might come upon it, yet his books were removed for their corrupting influence!
Our long time member and avid reader, Rob Adamczyk, contributed many volumes to the table, and to our discussion. The Gospel of Rationalism, Fact or Faith, Secularism, and Men Without Gods, Secularism; Its Principles and Duties, Self- Contradictions of the Bible, The Existence of God, Humanity’s Gain from Unbelief, The struggle Between Science and Superstition, The Tyranny of God, and Atheism and Other Addresses by Joseph Lewis were among the books on display from him.
A good discussion followed, and attendees were allowed to take selected books home to read, with the agreement of return and careful handling, since many of the books were old and rare.
Secretary: Charles LaRue
