The Jesse Ventura Flap
Positive Atheism Forum
The Jesse Ventura Flap
From: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
To: "Positive Atheism List"
Subject: Jesse Ventura Meets Atheophobia
Date: Sunday, October 03, 1999 8:05 PM
Positive Atheism has teamed up with American Atheists in an effort to encourage each atheist to send Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura a letter of support for the atheophobic flack he has received for saying that organized religion is "a sham and a crutch" and that it encourages people to "stick their noses in other people's business."
The reaction to Ventura's interview is classic atheophobia, a term we have coined to describe the fear of atheists and the fear of criticism of religion.
Ventura is a refreshing change in American politics, considering that the pro-theocracy forces are meeting in Washington this week to woo the support of politicians including Presidential hopefuls George W. Bush, Elizabeth Dole, and Steve Forbes. Bush has called for state funding of religious "charity" projects, and both he and Forbes favor teaching creationism in the public schools.
Meanwhile, last summer, Ventura refused to abuse his office to endorse or acknowledge a "day of prayer." No less than President Thomas Jefferson committed this very same "crime" against the organized religion in 1808.
What we at Positive Atheism want from you are some suggestions for "Talking Points" so people can write to their local press on this issue: How can we point out what we see as dangerous and what we see as fraudulent without being seen as a "hate group" or as "bigots"? My hope is to encourage those who care about atheist dignity to write careful letters to the press. I do not think sending "canned" or preformatted letters to the press is effective; it must be you and it must be real. The commercial journals almost always rewrite your letter to make the grammar and phrasing more readable. I have always had good luck writing to the papers where I live.
We encourage you to check out the Jesse Ventura flap and to send an e-mail to Governor Ventura supporting him for taking a much-needed stand.
Ed Gauci, Conrad Goeringer, and myself spent much of last night and today working out a sample text that you may use, or you may want to write your own letter. You can also send a Fax or even a letter through the mail. The addresses and Fax numbers are listed on the American Atheists form.
Meanwhile, I wrote on the topic of atheist groups seen as hate groups in my December, 1996 column titled "How Do Others See Us?"
I also covered this topic extensively in my 1999 coverage of the World Church of the Creator in an article for American Atheists titled "Our Identity As Atheist Organizations":
While this latter article generated quite a response, the questions I had hoped to raise, namely, are we bigots for being atheists, was not addressed like I had hoped it would be.
Cliff Walker
"Positive Atheism" Magazine
From: "ART HAYKIN"
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Subject: Re: The Jesse Ventura Flap: How you can help.
Date: Saturday, October 02, 1999 4:47 PM
Jay Leno had a field day with old JV. While seeming to agree with him, as I do, on his point about religion appealing only to the weak and stupid, Leno did point out, however, that professional wrestling wasn't exactly the fare for most intellectuals. Poor Jesse, he's between a rock and a hard place.
Leno further pointed out that the various ministers had to admit of reading Playboy to bring the interview to light from the pulpit. Playboy has announced a dramatic increase in sales for that issue. I wonder who's buying them all?
Thee Art
From:
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Subject: PA-via_Positive_Atheism_Index
Date: Sunday, October 03, 1999 7:38 PM
Start a write-in-ballot movement for Jesse "The Body" Ventura!!!!! Let him know that the presidency is a good idea!!!!!
Kevin
From: "Temy R. Beal"
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Subject: Jesse Ventura
Date: Sunday, October 03, 1999 9:28 PM
Hi Cliff,
The sample email to Jesse at the American Atheists site states that Jesse has referred to himself as an atheist. Is this true? I just read somewhere else that he responded to a Sam Donaldson question that he has accepted Jesus Christ as his person savior. Who's right? I certainly understand atheists' desire to "embrace him as one of our own" but this could backfire big time if it is not correct. Does anyone know whether he does or does not consider himself to be an atheist?
I'm adding my little magazine, SOAR, to supporting Jesse for his apparently forthright expression of his personal opinions, and for defending the notion that atheists are citizens and have rights. But I would surely like to know whether he's atheist or not. If you have a quote or evidence of this either way please share it.
Temy R. Beal,
Publisher/Editor
of SOAR
From: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
To: "Temy R. Beal"
Cc: "Conrad Goeringer"; "Ed Gauci"
Subject: Re: Jesse Ventura
Date: Sunday, October 03, 1999 9:37 PM
The sample email to Jesse at the American Atheists site states that Jesse has referred to himself as an atheist. Is this true? I just read somewhere else that he responded to a Sam Donaldson question that he has accepted Jesus Christ as his person savior.
I'll ask Conrad and Ed where they got their information.
The Christians are famous for claiming people as their own: Thomas Paine and Charles Darwin are falsely said to have undergone deathbed conversions. Calvary Chapel Pastor Mike McIntosh claimed that he had led John Lennon to Christ days before he was gunned down by a fundamentalist nut.
Cliff Walker
"Positive Atheism" Magazine
From: Andrew Lancashire
To: AAEditor
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 12:36 PM
Subject: Governor Jesse Ventura
The media flap over Gov Ventura's comments on religion is great. It states that 75 percent of the people polled do not agree with what he said. The inverse of that is that 25 percent of the people polled agree with him. To tell it like the press does, one quarter of the population thinks that religion is for the weak-minded!
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