January 1997

Freethought. It's a happy-sounding word. "Free" and "thought." Two terrific concepts. Freethought. Rolls off the tongue nicely.

By sheer chance there are many applicable adjectives that also begin with the letter "F." For example, the world of freethought could certainly be described as frantic, frenzied, feisty, funny, fanatical, fierce and focused. Unfortunately, it could also be described as fractured and friction-filled. But I don't think it can be characterized as friendly.

I spent the first three of my scant four years in the freethought community living under a flat rock. I wrote my columns for Freethought Today, month after month, not even aware that so many other freethought groups existed. I received scores of kind "fan" letters from all over the country, and the plaintive common cry was always, "I feel so alone and isolated! Are there any groups in my area?" I personally knew of none, and had to say so. Looking back, I realize that this is one of freethought's weakest points. There are literally hundreds of freethought groups, all over the country, but we are scattered out like chicken seed and have very little communication with one another. We seem to want to carve out our own little niches, and then jealously defend them from any possible intruders. A friend put it best—it's like trying to herd a group of cats. It ain't gonna happen.

This same friend, sadly, is a victim of burnout. He's had it. He still believes passionately in freethought, and his atheism has not wavered, but he has had it. He is one of those hi-energy, get-things-done people, and his devotion to freethought has intruded mightily in his life. But his reward so far has been to be allowed to shoulder most of the burden of his local group without so much as a thank-you, let alone, "May I help you?" Burnout.

Burnout can happen in any field, obviously, but when you see it in freethought it is particularly poignant. People know as they enter the realm of freethought that it will be an uphill battle and a low-reward job; but when the job would have to improve dramatically to fit even that description, we're talking about major disillusionment. We're also losing the best and the brightest in the meantime. My friend is struggling within the suffocating confines of the Bible Belt, but that's not really the problem. His own supposed comrades-in-arms, so to speak, are the ones letting him down. Let George do it? No. Let him do it.

I know freethinkers are by their very natures independent—like cats. We are not "joiners" as a rule, like the flocks of Christian sheep. But the disturbing tendency of our big-time leaders to bristle at the slightest challenge to their authority, and to view other freethought groups as adversaries, rather that colleagues in a common cause, is more than baffling. It is self-defeating, and it will be our undoing. It also offers little hope for people like my friend, who struggle valiantly, but get no support in their struggles.

If ever a group of people needed to close ranks and present a unified front, it is the community of freethinkers in the 1990s, an era that sees America hell-bent on becoming a theocracy. The Religious Right, unlike freethinkers, has already seen the wisdom of the unification strategy, which is why you see Roman Catholics and Baptists shoulder to shoulder, picket signs touching, outside abortion clinics. While their united voices rail against women's rights, and are quoted in The New York Times, what are we doing? We are fighting among ourselves about jealously guarded mailing lists (why don't we share those? money?) and we're squabbling over the precise definition of humanism. We're fiddling while America burns. The Religious Right has no need to try to destroy the freethought movement. We are doing a terrific job of it ourselves.

Are we all nuts?

When I asked a seasoned freethought veteran how long this in-fighting had been going on, she said, "Always." In offering her opinion as to why this should be, she said, "It's simple. Ego reigns supreme in freethought groups." She's probably right, but it's depressing as hell.

Because of my own troubles, I have become some sort of touchstone or lightning rod. People have sought me out like bloodhounds. Unfortunately, they are seeking me out with their own sad stories of hard work rewarded by a slap in the face. I had no idea (under my flat rock) that there was so much dissension in the ranks and that we freethinkers seem to enjoy fighting with each other more than fighting the looming theocracy. Some of us appear to enjoy the adrenaline surge apparently associated with internecine warfare. It leaves me only saddened and fatigued.

We just can't seem to get along. Show me one freethought group, and I'll show you two probable splinter groups. Three, if the original is big enough. There is a Monty Python movie, "The Life of Brian." It is hilarious. In it the many groups protesting Roman rule are The People's Front of Judea, The Popular People's Front of Judea, The Judean People's Front, The Popular Front of Judea, The Judean Popular People's Front and on and on. One "splinter" group consisted of a single individual. Absolutely hysterical. However, does it ring any bells here?

My soon-to be-departed freethought friend told me the last straw for him was when he sent a most disgruntled letter to a colleague. They were having differences. Nothing wrong there, since we all have differences. The unbelievable part was that his colleague (now ardent ex-friend) made copies of that letter and distributed them widely in order to try to convince others that my friend was a jack-ass. This sort of fifth-grade behavior is inexcusable, and I don't blame my friend for wanting to get out.

Still, when I tried to dissuade him, and told him how much the freethought community needed his talents, he answered in a steady voice, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

© 1997 by Judith Hayes

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