From: Cgastbook Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 14:49:33 EST Subject: [Atheist] AANEWS for November 4, 1997 Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com) Sender: owner-aanews@listserv.atheists.org Reply-To: cg@atheists.org from: AMERICAN ATHEISTS subject: AANEWS for November 4, 1997 A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S ~~ A A N E W S ~~ #348 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 11/4/97 http://www.atheists.org ftp.atheists.org/pub/ http://www.AmericanAtheist.org In This Issue... * Culture War, Pocketbook Issues Compete At Voting Booth * Confession Chic -- Bill McCartney Hits Bottom, Top * What's An Atheist To Give? * Resources * About This List... THROUGH THE VOTING BOOTH DARKLY Voters In Today's Elections May Be Lining Up Behind Pocketbook, Not "Culture War Issues"... With polls now open across the country, voters will be casting ballots in a handful of state and local races, and deciding the fate of propositions covering everything from bond appropriations to the fate of a Christian religious cross in San Francisco. Pundits are already trying to divine the meaning of these races in anticipation of the 1998 contest, when control of the U.S. Congress and 36 state governorships will be up for grabs. So far, though, the task of reading this year's political slugfests has proved to be daunting; if anything, voters seems to be less interested in "culture war" hot button issues and more concerned about the bottom line, their pocketbooks. Indeed, issues like abortion rights, gambling and even prayer in schools --while still popular with some key constituencies such as the nation's highly organized and vocal Christian fundamentalist community -- are overshadowed. More than ever, in 1997, "it's the economy, stupid." If two states -- Virginia and New Jersey -- are political bellwethers of what's ahead in 1998 and even 2000, religious right groups such as the Christian Coalition may have to hitch their political fortunes to the bread-and-butter issues most Americans seem to be worried about such as taxes, licenses, insurance rates and the cost of getting by. The Virginia race has been particularly nasty; Republican Jim Gilmore, the recipient of considerable backing from Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson and friends, is taking on Democrat Don Beyer. The contest was a close one until recently, when Gilmore began pulling ahead with a lead which polls now put at somewhere between 8 and 12 points. But it wasn't any of Robertson's "culture war' agenda that energized Gilmore's campaign; and revelations of a study by People for the American Way that traced the elaborate web of financial backing from the popular televangelist and persons associated with him, was hardly a bump in the road as Gilmore leap-frogged ahead with a hefty lead. In a mid-October debate, Democrat Beyer hammered away at Gilmore's statement that he would give "serious consideration" to a law requiring women to notify their husbands before receiving an abortion, but to no avail. The Republican campaign issue that crystallized for Gilmore turned out to be Virginia's widely-despised annual tax on cars and trucks; GOP admeisters quickly went to work, with 30-second spots of everyday folk simply saying, "I hate the car tax!" airing on media across the state and finding a receptive audience. A last minute barnstorming tour through the state by President Clinton, who denounced the anti- tax movement of "selfishness", seems to have fallen on deaf ears. In New Jersey, where the only other gubernatorial seat is up for grabs, incumbent Christie Whitman faces a strong challenge from Democrat Jim McGreevey and a strong Libertarian Party candidate who may be a ballot-box spoiler. Whitman is under attack from the GOPs extreme religious right faction, which opposes her pro-choice stand on abortion. But in the Jersey race, voters seem to be selecting their choices not on issues like abortion rights, but on candidate's positions on the state's outrageous car insurance rates. New Jersey auto rates are $400 above the national average. Whitman did cut property tax, but her program to bring down the soaring auto rates -- a proposal which would have traded consumers right to sue in the event of an accident for a lower premium -- angered drivers as a being an ill-conceived, industry back scheme. The anti-abortion camp has pulled out of the Whitman effort, determined to make sure that the New Jersey governor doesn't emerge as a moderating force at the GOP's next national presidential nominating convention. Their votes are crossing over to Libertarian Murray Sabrin, who has demonstrated surprising strength. But as with other candidate's, the bulk of his backing is coming from frustrated voters fed up with new auto-emission proposals. New Jersey's race is too close to call. A Handful of "Culture War" Skirmishes But today's balloting isn't exclusively all about taxes and paychecks. In Oregon, voters will be asked to decide whether to repeal a 1994 referendum that allows patients with six months or less to live to choose doctor-assisted suicide. Anti-abortion groups and the Roman Catholic Church have weighed in heavily on this issue. A gay rights initiative is on the ballot in Washington state. In San Francisco, city residents will be asked to approve the transfer of the city's historic Mt. Davidson cross and 0.38 acres of surrounding real estate to an Armenian cultural organization. City officials, religious and preservationist groups are asking voters to approve the measure; but earlier this week, American Atheists filed suit to block the transfer, charging that the bogus "sale" violates state-church separation, and is designed to keep the giant Christian religious icon standing in the middle of a 60-acre public park. The referendum, even if passed, may go down in the AA legal appeal. Looking Ahead... Expect things to heat up next year, when contests begin over all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 34 of 100 Senate positions. Along with 36 governorships, control of thousands of state legislative seats will also be decided. Strategists in both major parties may see today's results as an indication that with a fairly healthy economy, resurgent stock markets and low inflation, voters are relatively apathetic when it comes to the more philosophical "culture war" issues that have been a staple of the religious right, and can be energized over "irritation" issues like auto and property taxes. That could change, though, and the importance of the 1998 elections cannot be understated. Republicans now hold a 227-205 majority in the House of Representatives, and a 10-seat margin in the U.S. Senate. To hold on to their seats, Republicans may have to move away from the party's religious right faction and put abortion, school prayer and other morals and values issues on the back burner. That could make it more difficult for the Christian Coalition, which has tied the fate of its social agenda to keeping the GOP firmly ensconced on Capitol Hill. Even top party strategists are wary, though, of reading today's election results. "These are very unpredictable times," Republican National Committee strategist Clifford May told USA TODAY newspaper yesterday. "I don't think anyone can take anything for granted." ** AGONY, REDEMPTION: PK FOUNDER BARES JUST ABOUT ALL... Is There Any Sin Promise Keepers Founder Bill McCartney Isn't Pleading "Guilty" To? With marches and rallies, Americans seem increasingly drawn to the tear-wrenching forum of the public confessional, a venue which often has strong religious or quasi-religious overtones. "Confession is good for the soul," tells only part of the tale. The full quote, based on an old Scottish proverb according to the Dictionary of Quotations (Evans, 1963) admonishes us that, "Public confession is good for the soul." So, it's out of the hushed environment of the church confessional box and into the stadium or TV studio to bare one's soul and display transgressions to the types of audiences that like to watch Jenny Jones, or buy black velvet paintings of Elvis or poorly executed commemorative stamps of Princess Diana. Think of public confession and who comes to mind? Jimmy Swaggart crying hysterically after revelations that he was only a one-man band with a hooker in some cheap hotel room? Jim Bakker, from whom few orifices and bank accounts were safe? Let's be a bit more contemporary. Susan Powter, that pushy and obnoxious, type-A power coach and fitness guru is back in the news, telling us that behind the facade of diets, pumped-up muscle and washboard abs, she was REALLY a boozer who has again serendipitously stumbled back on the True Path, and found a cure for alcoholism which happens to have eluded the National Institutes of Health and a bevy of scientists all these years. Consider that a form of secular salvationism. But in a more religious vein, there is a coach of a different sort, football's Bill McCartney who traded in a career on the college gridiron to found the men's ministry that has mushroomed into the Promise Keepers movement. Just last month, the PK's million man march on the Capital Mall in Washington one-upped Louis Farrakhan's Day of Atonement, and tapped into most of the same cultural currents that still run deep in the American psyche. Men wept, prayed, knelt, and even prostrated themselves in supplication for hours on end as hard- shell evangelicals and charismatics pounded away with verbal salvos at their reptilian brain stems. Then came "Coach" Bill, with his call for "prayer intercessors" and "prayer networks." What would the aliens of Carl Sagan's "Contact" have thought of all of this, had they tuned into CNN that day? McCartney is now back in the news, dragging his wife, family and his own past through the mud of public confession, admitting that he was a philandering cheater two decades ago when his marriage was in tailspin mode. This latest revelation broke early last week, just as McCartney's much-hyped autobiography is due out for release on bookstore and library shelves. Coincidentally, the book doesn't touch on the adulterous affair of nearly a quarter century ago, but Promise Keepers headquarters confirmed that McCartney had admitted his wandering ways to his wife in 1993. We wonder how the crowd that delights in dragging Bill Clinton to the metaphorical public stockade each day on talk radio for his alleged dalliances with Jennifer Flowers or, perhaps, Paula Jones will react to this latest revelation. Incredibly, in the case of "Coach" McCartney, who has made a business and altar calling of religious self-abasement, the 57-year-old salvation hustler may have turned another lemon into lemonade. The story broke in the New York Times, when Rev. James Ryle -- a Christian Charismatic who many see as the greatest influence on McCartney's bizarre, apocalyptic theological beliefs -- admitted that his friend's wife, Lyndi, suffered an emotional breakdown when she heard the bad news. But, assures Promise Keepers spindoctor and spokesman Mark DeMoss, the coupled reconciled their marriage. "This is what the Promise Keepers are all about, making a renewed commitment to the family... It just shows that Bill has been down that road of hardships," said DeMoss. There's plenty of good 'ol American sleaziness apparently coming our way from McCartney's autobiography, though much of it has already been unearthed in articles about the Promise Keepers movement and its founder. McCartney's only daughter, Kristyn, became pregnant twice thanks to romps with football players on the coach's University of Colorado team. That kicked off a romp with another interesting American past time, bulemia. Lyndi McCartney contributes to the autobiography, saying that she and her husband, "both turned away from our marriage... Bill turned to the Lord, and I turned toward the children.." We may question whether McCartney's life and marriage really are much improved since he traded in a 16-hours-a-day lifestyle of coaching linebackers and quarterbacks, for a different sort of all- consuming game whipping up men into emotional frenzies and blathering away like some kind of possessed fiend about "prayer networks" and "crossing the line" for Jesus. Incredibly, the pundits who watch Promise Keepers say that publication of McCartney's book, "Sold Out: Becoming Man Enough to Make a Difference," may even help his public credibility and stature. They're probably right. Ironically, the kind of religious self righteousness and self- inflated puffery about "becoming a godly man" or "taking back responsibility as head of the household" seems to depend on the underbelly of American culture for its very survival. To be redeemed, one must first fail; and that failure must now be held up high for public scrutiny and confession before one is "worthy." In this respect, McCartney -- the guy who built a $90 million-a-year evangelical road show -- isn't much different from those people who grab 15 minutes of fame and a few hundred bucks for a stint on the afternoon talk shows as "guests" where they allow themselves to be subjected to the hoots and snotty catcalls of indignant studio audiences and the prying questions of hosts. "How did you feel about cheating on your wife while you were sleeping with her sister, molesting her children, and serving as high priest in a satanic cult?" It now seems to be a requirement that before one is perceived as a good and decent sort of fellow, one must first sin, transgress and cast off the mantle of public grace and then make orations of repentance and "atonement" on the public confessional stage. For the religious power brokers behind the Promise Keepers movement, it is a stroke of genius. The American cultural stampede is toward this public confessional. We grovel in scandal and risque revelation, which accounts for the rise of the "tabloidization" of our news media, and our giddy fascination with the peccadillos of celebrities, sports heroes and government leaders. Bill McCartney is just the latest proof that flirtation with vice, coupled with self- exoneratation and public confession is a sure ticket on the road to success, redemption, and becoming a "godly man." ** YOU HAVE 55 SHOPPING DAYS LEFT UNTIL "CHRISTMAS" And What Is Some Godless Gift Giver Like You To Do? An estimated 10% of Americans define themselves as atheists, freethinkers, agnostics or skeptics of some kind; that's over 25 million Americans. And not all of us know what to do when "grace" is said at the table, or when "Christmas" rolls around. Many atheists like to celebrate the coming weeks as the season of the Winter Solstice -- a "natural holiday" commemorating the time of the year when in our hemisphere, the sun reaches its lowest point in its annual journey across the sky. It's as good an excuse as any to party, make merry, put on pounds and give or receive presents. But what to give? For starters, check out the American Atheist Press catalogue of books, videos and other products, which starting today comes with a special Winter Solstice gift supplement. You'll find our famous Solstice Season cards to send to relatives, friends and everyone else; some are serious, others downright hilarious, and others... well, you decide. The catalogue is free. Just send e-mail to catalogue@atheists.org and include your name and snail mail address. Or, why not give yourself -- or someone else -- a subscription to American Atheist Magazine, a premier Journal of Atheist Thought and Commentary? Give the magazine as a gift and we will send a complimentary card to your recipient. Check it out on our magazine website, http://www.AmericanAtheist.org which includes a new on-line ordering feature. ** RESOURCES FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS * For information about American Atheists, send mail to info@atheists.org. Please include your name and postal mailing address. * For a free catalogue of American Atheist Press books, videos and other products, send mail to catalogue@atheists.org. Kindly include your mailing address. * The American Atheist Magazine is now on the web! Check out select articles from the current and back issues. Visit us at http://www.AmericanAtheist.org. * If you are a member of American Atheists, why not sign up for our e-mail discussion group, aachat? We already have over 100 participants who discuss topics such as atheism, religion, First Amendment issues, and plenty of other issues. Contact Margie Wait, the Moderator through aachat@atheists.org. ** About This List... AANEWS is a free service from American Atheists, a nationwide movement founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hair for the advancement of atheism, and the total, absolute separation of government and religion. For subscribe/unsubscribe information, send mail to aanews- request@listserv.atheists.org and put "info aanews" (minus the quotation marks, please) in the message body. You may forward, post or quote from this dispatch, provided that appropriate credit is given to aanews and American Atheists. Edited and written by C. Goeringer, The LISTMASTER (cg@atheists.org). Internet Representative for American Atheists is Margie Wait, irep@atheists.org.