Dr. Herb Silverman is the Founder of the Secular Coalition for America, the Founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, and the Founder of the Atheist/Humanist Alliance student group at the College of Charleston. He authored Complex variables (1975), Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt (2012) and An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land: Selected Writings from the Bible Belt (2017). He co-authored The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (2003) with Kimberley Blaker and Edward S. Buckner, Complex Variables with Applications (2007) with Saminathan Ponnusamy, and Short Reflections on Secularism (2019).

Here we talk about the founders and beliefs.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: As you noted the anti-Catholic nature of some of the framers of the American Constitution, you provided some insight into the ways in which the nature of the deism of the brightest American minds of the time represented something more akin to non-religion or a nearly modern notion of secularism in America with the base separation of church and state. 

My suspicion: if in an alternate universe in which Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species (by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) in the era of the framers of the American Constitution, then the established-as-deists would have identified and affirmed an atheist viewpoint of the world because biological, organic life must have seemed utterly incomprehensibly complicated and functional without the modern and fundamental theoretical basis for all life sciences. 

You and I live as modern secular and freethought people with due credit to the deists and pantheists of the previous generations. I decline any sentiment or argument as anti-Catholics or anti-religious-people – to individual religious believers, hierarchs, intellectuals, scientists, theologians, or similars, but affirm anti-Catholicism and anti-religion – to abuses of power, belief structures, beliefs, ideological stances, institutional orthodoxy, institutions, purported authority and inspiration of holy texts, supernatural and magic powers, and the like – and also affirm non-religion as in secularism within a more modern interpretation.  

When did anti-Catholicism and anti-religion wane amongst the framers or their descendants leading more into non-religion if there was any distinct set of moments or period in time? How were the seeds of modern atheist and non-religion movements set at the founding of America? How did the massive influx of religious immigrants change the landscape of America – its demographics? What amendments to the American Constitution have been important to the establishment equality of freethought and secular American citizens?

Dr. Herb Silverman: I agree with you that many eighteenth-century Deists might have been atheists had they been familiar with the work of Charles Darwin. However, Darwin’s theory of natural selection only explains that we have a variety of species, including human animals, because they adapted to their environment. Evolution says nothing about how life began. Many Deists would probably still have believed in a Creator who started the process, and then let nature take its course.

Later scientific discoveries would probably have turned these Deists into atheists. We now know that our universe did not begin with a Creator, but with a “Big Bang” approximately 13.8 billion years ago. We still don’t know how life began, although abiogenesis is a reasonable hypothesis. This is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. It’s interesting that Bible believers refuse to believe this hypothesis about life arising from non-life, though they believe that the first human was made from dirt and the second human from the rib of the first. Did God run out of dirt?

Since we don’t know for sure how life began, I understand why some people attribute life to a Creator. I can’t prove they are wrong, but I can prove that those who regard the Bible as a scientific book are wrong. I’m an atheist because I see no evidence for the existence of any gods, not because I can prove there are no gods.

You mention that you affirm non-religion. I do, too, but I would rather say that I affirm nontheism, meaning no gods. There are religions without gods or supernaturalism. As an atheist, some people assume I must be anti-religion. Not so. By one measure, I might be the most religious person in America. You see, I have not one, not two, but three different religions: I’m a member of the American Ethical Union, with Ethical Culture Societies; I’m a member of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, with atheist rabbis; and I’m a member of the Unitarian Universalist Humanists. All three religions are nontheistic and are active participants in the Secular Coalition for America.

When our nation was founded, not just anti-Catholicism flourished. There were 150 attacks against Baptists in Virginia between 1760 and 1778, many by leaders of local Anglican churches. In the seventeenth century, Massachusetts hanged people for being Quakers. The first “War on Christmas” was initiated by Puritans because the Bible did not sanction the holiday, and they believed Christmas was invented by Catholics and pagans, who engaged in too much merriment and drinking. The Puritans promoted Protestantism, the religion invented to protest Catholicism.

At America’s founding, 98 percent in the colonies were Protestant, but the divisions among Protestant sects and between Protestants and Catholics were intense. Some people were Protestant in name only, while others were fervent believers in their sect. Only 17 percent in 1776 attended church, so not many were passionate about their religion. Such indifference might indicate a large number of freethinkers in the colonies, including Deists and maybe even atheists.

Some of our framers, including James Madison, wanted the “no religious test” clause in the United States Constitution to apply to all states. That failed to pass. Initially, eleven of the thirteen states had religious tests, stipulating that only Christians, or in some cases only Protestants, could hold public office. A notable exception was Pennsylvania, founded by the Quaker William Penn. He decreed that Pennsylvania would be a “Holy Experiment” in toleration. All sects, including freethinkers, were welcome. Penn also founded Philadelphia, my birthplace, which is known as the city of brotherly love. Philadelphia is Greek for “brotherly love.” Philadelphia had the only Catholic church in the colonies that was protected by the authorities.

The influx of immigrants throughout its history has made America more religiously diverse. For that reason, there has always been an anti-immigrant constituency who feared the religion of the immigrants, and how that could change the values of the country. Initially the opposition was to Catholics, and today it is to Muslims. We have an opportunity now to show the world how people of different faiths and none can coexist and thrive. Founder James Madison argued that the best way to promote religion was to leave it alone. Previously, those who wanted to encourage religion had enlisted the government’s help. Without government support, America now has 360,000 houses of diverse worship.

Today Protestants, Catholics, and other Christians put aside some of their theological differences to work together on important political issues, and grab media attention. I disagreed with everything the Christian Coalition, founded in 1989 by Pat Robertson, stood for (preventing women from having access to reproductive health care, promoting that evolution is just a myth, contending that our country was founded as a Christian nation, opposing LGBT rights, demonizing atheists and secular humanists). Nevertheless, they helped change the culture, and made politicians take notice. The Secular Coalition for America is a counter to the Christian Coalition and its successors, and SCA member organizations are working together to keep the country secular, not theocratic.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, the right to practice any faith or none. Some people, including politicians, wrongly say that we have freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. This is, of course, nonsense. You can’t have “of” without “from.” Giving people the right to believe also guarantees the right not to believe.

Finally, the 14^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been important to secular Americans. It says that constitutional rights guaranteed by the federal government must apply to all states, regardless of state laws. The amendment passed in 1868, after the Civil War, and granted citizenship and equal rights to slaves who had been emancipated. This amendment was also the basis of my winning court case when I learned that the South Carolina Constitution prohibited atheists from holding public office, a clear violation of the 14^th Amendment because the U.S. Constitution prohibits religious tests for public office.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Dr. Silverman.

Photo by LAUREN GRAY on Unsplash

In today’s polarized climate of discourse in the public square, a consistent target of attack has emerged: enlightenment values of free speech, reason, scientific inquiry, and the separation of church and state. Government-backed suppression and execution of non-believers — particularly in Muslim-majority countries — is at the nexus of attention by human rights organizations around the world. Meanwhile, hardliners from both the regressive left and alt-right political extremes have pursued aggressive stances, advocating violence, bigotry and censorship. Beyond voicing outrage about this overall situation, what can be done?

Armin Navabi is author of Why There Is No God, a secular Muslim from Iran and the founder of Atheist Republic, the world’s largest atheist network — a non-profit organization with over 200 consulates worldwide. Atheist Republic is dedicated to offering a safe community for atheists around the world to share their ideas and meet like-minded individuals.

For event information:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/enlightenment-under-attack-defending-secular-values-against-religious-and-political-extremism-tickets-69588746815

The Humanist Association of Ottawa and Atheist Republic Ottawa Consulate are organizing the talk at Sala San Marco, 215 Preston Street. Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for non-members on eventbrite.com, http://tiny.cc/navabi, or at the door.

Date And Time

Sun, September 22, 2019

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT

Location

Sala San Marco Event & Conference Centre

215 Preston Street

Ottawa, ON K1R 7R1

Media Contact

Scott Jacobsen

Press Agent, Atheist Republic

Scott.D.Jacobsen@Gmail.Com

Robert Hamilton

robert.hamilton3@gmail.com

613-325-2400

E.J. Montini in the Arizona Republic reported on the Arizona Supreme Court move to attempt to use religion as a basis for “bigotry and discrimination.” Within the state Court of Appeals, the notion got rejected. However, the Supreme Court could turn either way at the time. Governor Doug Ducey stacked the Arizona Supreme Court with judges more in line with the individuals who prefer his ideology and temperament.

Jessica Boehm, from the Arizona Republic, stated that artists who make cakes do not have to make cakes for LGBTI+ couples because these could convey a message against the cake-makers’ deepest convictions, i.e., Christian beliefs stand against messages for equality in marriage of the LGBTI+ community.

Apparently, there was an ordinance for the city of Phoenix, Arizona, in which discrimination in the “providing [of] goods or services at places of public accommodation based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability” is expressly illegal.

Brush & Nib in Phoenix designs custom wedding invitations. On the case, Montini provided a concise and astute observation, “It’s a shame this is even a issue. We can hold any beliefs we want. But discrimination is discrimination. “Heterosexuals only” is the same as ‘whites only.’ Every other argument is smoke and mirrors. The state’s highest court fell for the phony argument in a way that lower courts had not. Brush & Nib is like any other public accommodation. A gas station. A grocery store. A barber shop. A restaurant.”

If the denial of service to African-Americans on the basis of Christian beliefs with the same argument, based on the argument as to what message this will send to the public, and based on their deep religious convictions, we come to the, rather obvious, conclusion of the discrimination against the African-American population in wedding cake services. Similarly, one need merely apply the same argument form with different, LGBTI+, content to make the point more explicitly.

Montini concluded, “The owners and employees of such businesses are free to hold whatever beliefs they wish, and they are free to express them. Denying service is another thing, however. It’s a sad day when the state Supreme Court doesn’t recognize that. Because if it’s okay to discriminate against same-sex couples by claiming some devout religious beliefs then anyone can make similar claims to justify discriminating against … anyone.”

Photo by Diana Akhmetianova on Unsplash

Dr. Herb Silverman is the Founder of the Secular Coalition for America, the Founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, and the Founder of the Atheist/Humanist Alliance student group at the College of Charleston. He authored Complex variables (1975), Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt (2012) and An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land: Selected Writings from the Bible Belt (2017). He co-authored The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (2003) with Kimberley Blaker and Edward S. Buckner, Complex Variables with Applications (2007) with Saminathan Ponnusamy, and Short Reflections on Secularism (2019).

Here we talk about the drafts of the American Constitution and personal beliefs behind it.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: During the writing of the American Constitution in its first drafts, and after its completion after the Declaration of Independence, when considering the histories of the framers, what statements in these documents contradicted the personal beliefs or the individual biographies of the framers? 

Dr. Herb Silverman: The religious faith of our founders is irrelevant because they erected a wall of separation between religion and the government they created in our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. However, since you ask, and since there is curiosity about the personal beliefs of our founders, here are some interesting tidbits.

Many of our founders were anti-Catholic. John Adams called Catholicism “nonsense, a delusion, and dangerous in society.” Thomas Jefferson called Catholicism “a retrograde step from lightness to darkness.” (I agree with these founders and would add, as Thomas Paine did, all the other religions.) John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, drafted language for the New York Constitution proposing tolerance for everyone except Catholics who refuse to renounce papal authority. At the time of the American revolution only about 1.6 percent of the population in the colonies were Catholic. It wasn’t until the immigration waves of the nineteenth century that Catholics began arriving in America in large numbers. This led to the aptly named “Know Nothing” party, formally called the American Party, an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant party formed in 1850. I was raised in Philadelphia, home of the 1844 “Bible riots” where both Catholics and Protestants were clubbed to death over which version of the Lord’s Prayer should be recited in public school. Protestants won the political battle, and Catholics responded by forming Catholic schools nationwide by 1860.

In a letter to John Adams in 1823, Thomas Jefferson said: “And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” He told his nephew in 1787 to “question with boldness even the existence of God.” Jefferson considered reason and science, not superstition and supernaturalism, to be his guides. He wrote his own version of the Christian Bible, leaving out miracle stories and including only what made sense to him. Jefferson referred to what remained as “Diamonds in a dunghill.”

Deism was a rational challenge to orthodox Christianity. Deists believed that the world was the work of a non-intervening Creator. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and other founders expressed religious views that were strongly deistic. Many founders reflected Deist language in their writings. Thomas Paine, in The Age of Reason, argued that Deism should replace all revelation-based religion. Most of our Founding Fathers were religiously liberal for their time, and thought of the new country as an experiment in secular democracy. Producing a God-free Constitution showed their disdain for intermingling religion and government. George Washington refused to take communion (even though his wife did), reflecting his Deistic tendency to avoid supernatural ritual. He did make some religious gestures to conform to the religious expectations of the times, though he refused to have a priest or religious rituals at his deathbed.

Christian Deism stressed morality and rejected the orthodox Christian view of the divinity of Christ, often viewing him as a sublime, but entirely human, teacher of morality. Instead of accepting the entire Bible as divinely inspired, many believed that reason was the ultimate standard for determining which parts of the Bible were legitimate revelations from God. 

The Declaration of Independence was a call for rebellion against the British Crown. It does mention a higher power four times, as in Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God, Supreme Judge of the world, Creator, and divine Providence. In each case it is an appeal to human dignity. It emphasizes people having inalienable rights. No appeal is made in this document to a god that has authority of any kind. No powers are given to religion in the affairs of man. The founders never cited biblical principles during the Constitutional Convention and ratifications. Both the Declaration and the Constitution source the legitimacy of political rule exclusively in the consent of the governed. Benjamin Franklin, a co-author of the Declaration of Independence with Thomas Jefferson, decried Christian church services for promoting church memberships instead of “trying to make us good citizens.”

Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, believed that the Christian religion should be preferred to all others, and that every family in the United States should be furnished, at public expense, with a copy of the Bible. The founders rejected this idea. Orthodox Christians among the Founders include the Calvinistic Samuel Adams, John Jay (who served as president of the American Bible Society), Elias Boudinot (who wrote a book on the imminent second coming of Jesus), and Patrick Henry (who believed in Evangelical Christianity and distributed religious tracts while riding circuit as a lawyer).

As a member of the Constitutional Convention, George Mason strenuously opposed the compromise permitting the continuation of the slave trade. Although he was a Southerner, he called the slave trade disgraceful to mankind. “God” stayed out of the Constitution, but slavery remained in order to keep the Southern colonies as part of this new nation.

The forces opposed to adoption of the Constitution argued that the “no religious test clause” would lead to Catholics, Jews, Mahometans (Muslims), and pagans obtaining office. That is the point of including the clause.

The phrase a “hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world” was first used by Baptist theologian Roger Williams, founder of the colony of Rhode Island. It was later employed by Jefferson as a commentary on the First Amendment and its restriction on the legislative branch of the federal government. Thomas Jefferson refused to issue Proclamations of Thanksgiving sent to him by Congress during his presidency. After retiring from the presidency, James Madison argued for a stronger separation of church and state, opposing the very presidential issuing of religious proclamations he himself had done, and also opposing the appointment of chaplains to Congress. James Madison said, “Religion and government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together.”

The absence of an establishment of religion did not necessarily imply that all men were free to hold office. Most colonies had a Test Act. Charles Carrol from Maryland, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration, guaranteed full rights to Protestants and Catholics, but not to Jews, Freethinkers, or Deists. He said, “When I signed the Declaration of Independence I had in mind not only our independence of England, but the tolerations of all sects professing the Christian religion, and communicating to them all equal rights.” Several states had these religious tests for a short time. In my state of South Carolina, Protestantism was recognized as the state-established religion. This stood in contrast to the Federal Constitution, which explicitly prohibits the employment of any religious test for federal office, and which, through the Fourteenth Amendment, later extended this prohibition to the States.

There were many attempts by state ratifying conventions to amend the Constitution and subvert the intent of the preamble by declaring that governmental power was derived from God or Jesus Christ, but the proposed religious amendments were defeated.

Though there was some debate about possibly including “God” in the congressional oath, the nation’s first lawmakers instead decided on strictly secular language. It was signed into law by George Washington on June 1, 1789, making it the first law passed by the new United States government.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Dr. Silverman.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash