. . . In This Issue.

"A Just War" by Juan Bernal, Ph.D.

"America's Involvement in Wars" by Harry Becker.

Quote of the Month - John Buchan.

"The Decline of Hell" by Dave Silva.

Another Quote - Abraham Lincoln

"With God on Our Side" by Bob Dylan.

"The Origin of Freedom and Rights" by Edd Doerr.

Letter to the Editor - Gene Barmore.

Humor - "Things Learned"

At the Nov. 17th Meeting:

Sunday 1:30 p.m.

A DISCUSSION OF THE "JUST-WAR" CONCEPT

Juan Bernal, Ph.D.

For people who are not content to accept blindly the policies of their government, the question of war policy is not only a question of prudence

(How will the policy benefit or injure our country?) but also a question of morality (Are we, as a nation, justified in going to war?)

If youre not a pacifist, who holds the absolute principle that all wars are morally unacceptable, you are likely to accept the idea that some wars are morally acceptable. And if you believe this, then you are likely to believe, explicitly or implicitly, in the idea of a just-war.

Some philosophers and theoreticians of international affairs have had some interesting things to say about the notion of a "just war" and its applicability to questions of current and recent national war policies. My discussion will be limited to bringing out some of the basic points of the just-war concepts. I will take up both the issue of 'JUS AD BELLUM' (regarding the conditions that justify a nations entry into

war) and 'JUS IN BELLO' (regarding the rules for conduct of a war). Hopefully, by this discussion we can shed some light on the very important notion of a "just-war."

[My primary source is a chapter entitled "Just-War Theory," from a book, The Conduct of a Just and Limited War, by William V. Obrien, published in 1981. This chapter was reprinted as an article in a collection of articles: The Ethics of War and Nuclear Deterrence edited by James P. Sterba (1985).]

"America's Involvement in Wars"

by Harry Becker

Also, at the November meeting Harry Becker will discuss America's social and political involvement in wars starting with World War II. What was the American public's attitude toward these wars and what should the Humanist perspective be.

Quote of the Month:

"An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support." . . . John Buchan.

"The Decline of Hell"

(Notes on the Oct. Meeting)

by Dave Silva

Dr. Clay Costner discussed some of the reasons why hell isn't as popular a concept as it once was. For practical purposes we limited most of the discussion to the Christian concept of hell since the Muslim and Jewish beliefs are very similar.

The rather transparent purpose of hell is to frighten and intimidate people into accepting the whole Christian (Muslim or Jewish) mythology despite a complete lack of any hard evidence that hell exists. Like heaven, people can only get to hell by dying; and since they stay there for eternity they never return to confirm the existence of these nebulous realms, unless you believe con-artists like Jonathan Edwards and James Van Pragh can talk with the dead.

Mike Anton and William Lobdell wrote in a recent L. A. Times article, "Hell is far from dead. A May 2001 Gallup poll of adults nationwide found that 71% believe in hell. They just don't want to hear about it."

Many preachers, like Billy Graham and the current Pope, have opted for a feel-good theology that redefines or ignores hell. "Schuller is another believer in the concept of hell as an eternal separation from God. Yet "he stopped preaching on the subject 40 years ago, moving on to a theology that stressed individual success in such books as "If Its Going To Be, It's.Up to Me!

"I dont ever want people to become Christian to escape hell" Schuller said.

His take: Why threaten people with Gods stick when dangIing a carrot is enough to close the dea1."_

From D. W. Walker's "The Decline of Hell" is the once popular Abominable Fancy.

"Finally, there if an aspect of the traditional doctrine of hell which was once a strength, since it linked it with the doctrine of eternal beatitude, but which is seldom mentioned in the 17th and 18th centuries and which by that time had become a weakness: that part of the happiness of the blessed consists in contemplating the torments of the damned. This sight gives them joy because it is a manifestation of Gods justice and hatred of sin, but chiefly because it provides a contrast which heightens their awareness of their own bliss. This is a logical development of the orthodox afterlife, since the blessed, knowing God directly, face to face, are bound to find satisfaction in all His acts It had moreover the support of the greatest Father and the greatest Doctor of the Church, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Master of Sentences, Peter of Lombardy.

It is therefore odd that this aspect of hell should become almost obsolete by the late 17th century, especially since it provided an adequate answer to one of the main objections to eternal torment, namely its uselessness after the Last Judgment. The reason for its obsolescence is, I think, a general change in the attitude to other peoples suffering, a change which was only beginning at this period and which today is still not completed....

Like all such major evolutions of basic values, this change remained in its early stages largely unconscious; Bayle writes not I think ironically;

"There is even something which shocks our reason in the hypothesis that the Saints of Paradise gain part of their happiness from knowing that other men are tormented and will be eternally." pp.29-30. Walker

Origen put forth a doctrine of Universal Salvation, which in 400A.D. was condemned by a council in Alexandria, but still appealed to many Christians. After that there was no official condemnation till Justinian's edict against Origen in 543 which spelled out the eternal punishment nature of hell and settled the question for all Catholics from that time on. Until recent times the Catholic church has used primers for young children that describe, in graphic detail, how little children, like themselves, will burn in ovens with flames coming out of their mouths and their eyes glowing like hot coals.

Torturing heretics, those accused of witchcraft or simply enforcing orthodoxy, as in the case of Galileo, was justified by the belief in hell. After all what was the agony of any torture when you were saving the accused from the eternal torment of hell? Since the Enlightenment this simply argument doesn't seem so compelling.

The nature of hell seems to be in direct conflict with the concept of a God that is all good and all loving. When you consider that 71% of Americans believe in hell in this modern information age Humanists have their work cut out for them. Rational thought is not an easy sell.

Another Quote:

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

. . . Abraham Lincoln.

With God On Our Side

By Bob Dylan

Oh my name it is nothin'

My age it means less

The country I come from

Is called the Midwest

It's taught and brought up there

The laws to abide

And that land that I live in

Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it

They tell it so well

The cavalries charged

The Indians fell

The cavalries charged

The Indians died

Oh the country was young

With God on its side.

Oh the Spanish-American

War had its day

And the Civil War too

Was soon laid away

And the names of the heroes

It's made to memorize

With guns in their hands

And God on their side.

Oh the First World War, boys

It closed out its fate

The reason for fighting

I never got straight

But I learned to accept it

Accept it with pride

For you don't count the dead

When God's on your side.

When the Second World War

Came to an end

We forgave the Germans

And we were friends

Though they murdered six million

In the ovens they fried

The Germans now too

Have God on their side.

I've learned to hate Russians

All through my whole life

If another war starts

It's them we must fight

To hate them and fear them

To run and to hide

And accept it all bravely

With God on my side.

But now we got weapons

Of the chemical dust

If fire them we're forced to

Then fire them we must

One push of the button

And a shot the world wide

And you never ask questions

When God's on your side.

In a many dark hour

I've been thinkin' about this

That Jesus Christ

Was betrayed by a kiss

But I can't think for you

You'll have to decide

Whether Judas Iscariot

Had God on his side.

So now as I'm leavin'

I'm weary as Hell

The confusion I'm feelin'

Ain't no tongue can tell

The words fill my head

And fall to the floor

If God's on our side

He'll stop the next war.

The Origin of Freedom & Rights

By Edd Doerr, President of the AHA

I have always been puzzled by the assertion that freedom and rights are granted by deity. If so, why were they withheld from humanity for so long?

If, as the Declaration of Independence states, inalienable rights are attributable to a Creator, why was this not evident before 1776, and why were they enjoyed for a long time thereafter only by white males--and even then only imperfectly?

Isn't it better to recognize that freedom and rights exist only when people define them, assert them, and develop machinery to protect and defend them? Surely people of all theological persuasions could agree on that.

Letter to the Editor:

In his thoughtful discussion of atheism last month, Robert Richert clearly explains why he favors the definition which he proposes: "Atheism

- Disbelief in the existence of a supernatural being or beings."

He thus avoids the g-word, a reasonable tactic, but in the process, he disparages those who have defined God by such terms as "Ground of Being", "Ultimate Reality", "awe toward the order, understandability and beauty of the universe". Such redefining of large concepts is not playing fast and loose with semantics. It is the very essence of language. Spinoza, Tillich and Einstein have every right to propose definitions, just as Richert has. It is fruitless to seek widespread agreement on THE correct definition of such terms. Rather, one should insist that the user of a term must tell us what he means by the term.

There is an intelligent response to the question, "Do you believe in

God?" It is, "Before I can answer your question, you must first explain what you mean by 'God'."

Gene Barmore

THINGS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.

2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.

3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.

4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.

5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.

6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.

8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.

THINGS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED

1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.

2) Wrinkles don't hurt.

3) Families are like fudge . . . mostly sweet, with a few nuts.

4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.

6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the joy.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE

1) You believe in Santa Claus.

2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.

3) You look like Santa Claus.

4) You think you are Santa Claus.