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FROM AMERICANATHEISTS.ORG
On August 5, 1998, James Traficant (D-OH) read a statement for entry into the Congressional Record which denounced studies measuring rates of belief in god among members of the scientific community. As reported in the record for the House, Page H6885:
MR. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, a new report says only 7 percent of scientists believe in God. That is right. And the reason they gave was that the scientists are "super smart." Unbelievable. Most of these absent-minded professors cannot find the toilet.
Mr. Speaker, I have one question for these wise guys to constipate over: How can some thing (sic) come from no thing (sic)?
And while they digest that, Mr. Speaker, let me tell it like it is. Put these super-cerebral master debaters in some foxholes with bombs bursting all around them, and I guarantee they will not be praying to Frankenstein. Beam me up here. My colleagues, all the education in the world is worthless without God and a little bit of common sense. And I yield back whatever we have left.
(end of remarks by Mr. Traficant.)
Alas, readers should know that Mr. Traficant is a member of the House Science Committee and the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics.
Traficant was responding to reports of a new study in the prestigious journal Science which announced that members of the scientific community were "more likely than ever to reject God and immortality."
Those findings confirm similar results found over eighty years ago in research by Dr. James Leuba. Then, only about 40% of scientists surveyed expressed belief in a supreme deity of any kind. The new results reported in Science were based on a survey of 517 members of the National Academy of Sciences. When queried about belief in a "personal god," only 7% responded in the affirmative.
CLAIMS OF PERSECUTION AND INTOLERANCE,
REAL PERSECUTION AND INTOLERANCE
Remarks by The Diva
LONG BEACH (coup2k.com) March 9, 2001 -- While Christians claim persecution and intolerance by the federal government, the truth is, there is only one group whose beliefs regarding religion are still subject to overt attack with impunity for the attacker.
Imagine the following remarks being made on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. Imagine the following remarks going largely unreported, and inspiring no outrage. And then ask yourself, "Why have I never heard this story?"
MR. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, a new report says only 7 percent of scientists reject the existence of god. That is right. And the reason they gave was that the scientists are "super smart." Unbelievable. Most of these absent-minded professors cannot find the toilet.
Mr. Speaker, I have one question for these wise guys to constipate over: How can they believe in talking serpents and virgin births?
And while they digest that, Mr. Speaker, let me tell it like it is. Put these super-cerebral religious nuts in some foxholes with bombs bursting all around them, and I guarantee they will not be celebrating their impending trip to heaven. Beam me up here. My colleagues, all the education in the world is worthless without reason and a little bit of common sense. And I yield back whatever we have left.
(end of remarks by Mr. Traficant.)
The truth is, the public outcry and media outrage over such statements would have been immediate and fierce. Why? Because in America, religious belief, any religious belief, is better than no belief at all. Because in America, politicians can get away with attacking non-believers.
WHO IS PERSECUTING WHOM?
"Being an atheist, unlike most of these other characteristics, is still not widely acceptable to the American public. The latest poll shows only 49% of Americans would vote for an atheist for president, making this the most discriminated-against characteristic of the eight tested in the research." -- The Gallup Organization, March 29, 1999
On the next page is an e-mail exchange regarding a speech made by Attorney General John Ashcroft. Note the topic of the tape, and ask yourself, "Would the Attorney General of the United States be able to appear on a videotape titled, Modern Myths: Morality with Religion, without a public outcry over his intolerance?" Who is persecuting whom?
NEXT: RECLAIMING AMERICA FOR CHRIST
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