A?>K. 03 4» •$*>»$* * *4* v $* *j*« «$. *$# «$• *•« *j»4* *$* *$*<« *$. »»« *« *« *j* «$» »« *« *$# *« *« »*« »*« «$»$* *j» *$. *$• *j* *$. *• <$» *j Woman Memhe/i °i GowyieAA fiecomet, a G&nuesit ia GcUUolicUm OUR SUNDAY VISITOR LIBRARY HUNTINGTON, INDIANA (Not Printed At Government Expense) $»<$*«$»4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*444*4* 4* 4* 4**1*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4* 4* 4*4*4* 4* 4* 4 * »fr »$> 4* 4 * 4* 4*4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* $» 4* 4* 4* 4* «$ 4* 4* J*4*4*4*4*4*4* H Hotel Leamington, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 18 February 1946. Hon. Clare Boothe Luce, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. Dear Clare: I hear that the holy father has made an angel out of you. What mir- acles these priests can perform. If you had been an Atheist to start with, what an intellectual nose- dive it would have been, but a switch of allegiance from the King of Eng- land to the Italian big-shot requires no mental effort. Your intellectual status remains unchanged. All Christian sects follow the pattern of fowls—that is, the plumage is worn by the male of the species. However, the churches do have pin-up girls and if you have ambitions to reach the top you must not forget that the Virgin Mary has the advantage of a publicity campaign extending over the past 1900 years. Listen to these philosophers: Disraeli: “Where knowledge ends, religion begins”. Lincoln Steffens: “Why is it that the less intelligence people have, the more spiritual they are?” Carlyle: “Just in the ratio that knowledge increases, faith diminishes”. And did your father confessor tell you about I Corinthians 14:34,35? There god says for women to shut up and if they want to learn anything let them ask their husbands at home. Poor prospect you have for learning anything from here on, but I can’t visualize you keeping quiet. If you can, much good will have been accomplished. Balzac wlas right when he said, “After a woman gets too old to be attractive to man, she turns to God”. No doubt I’ll get funny too when I get old. Sincerely yours Frank C. Hughes P. S. If “getting religion” would cause all politicians to retire to private life, I should be glad to help you convert quite a bunch of them. D&addfffed Washington, D. C June 28, 1946 Dear Mr. Hughes: Your letter of February 18th has at long last come to the top of a veri- table mountain of mail which I received about my conversion, and which could not be whittled down except slowly in view of the priority which I properly had to give my official obligations. It was certainly written in no kindly spirit. I am sure that you have many friends who love you, but it cannot be for the qualities you display in your letter. So I am sure that you probably don’t mean what you said. No doubt a letter like yours should be thrown in the wastepaper basket, where you would throw a letter written to you in a spirit as rude as your own. But you don’t sound like an altogether stupid man, in spirt (sic) of the fact that it is generally stupid to be rude to people who have done you no harm. I am answering it only because I often think that in every aimless question there is a mind groping for the truth, in every conceited declar- ation, a mind desperately grasping for the dignity of which it has been robbed; in every aggressive challenge a mind steeped in the conflict be- tween this world and the next; in every angry denial a mind shrinking from the Crucifix; in every false statement a mind lost on the road through ignorance; in every feigned difficulty, a mind misled by false prophets; in every scornful laugh, a mind deprived of real joy. . . You set up to be a very wise man indeed because you say that reli- gion must only begin where knowledge leaves off, and you claim to have no need of religion. So I assume you know a great, great deal more than most men. You must know all the answers about Time and Eternity and Life and Death. From your vast knowledge (that has no need of religion) do tell me the answers to these questions which bother so many people: 1. Have you a soul? 2. Is it immortal? 3. Why Should you do right, not wrong? Why should you be kind, not cruel? 4. Why should you make sacrifices, if indeed you do, when it is so much easier to take advantage of others? 5. In the words of the ancient Psalmist, “Whtat is man, Oh, Lord, that thou art so mindful of him?” I expect that when you contemplate these questions, far from be- ing a man with the vast knowledge you pretend, you will admit that you do not know the answers to them and dare not even (having no religion) speculate on the anlswers. I expect you are an agnostic, and the Greek meaning of that word is “one he (sic) admits he knows nothing!” It is rather an amusing paradox to contemplate that all the people who claim so much knowledge are agnostics (i.e. ignorant—on the most important questions). I don’t think you are funny at all. I think you are a very sad man really. Forgive me for not keeping quiet. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” With all best wishes, Sincerely, (Signed) Clare Boothe Luce Mr. Frank C. Hughes, Hotel Leamington, Minneapolis, Minnesota Squirrel Island, Maine. 6 July 1946. Hon. Clare Boothe Luce, House Office Building, Washington, D. C. Dear Clare: Your letter of June 28th, addressed to me at Minneapolis, has just been received. It was nice of you to take the time to write to me and to remind me how rude and ignorant I am. I have often been accused of ignorance by persons filled with the holy ghost. Thousands of people, becoming of age mentally, quit the Catholic church every day. That is such a common event that it is not news; but when one who is supposed to have intelligence takes the veil, the church converts the news into a great publicity stunt. When a woman gets a per- manent or a hair-dye or joins some holy cult imported from Asia, I am not the least interested or concerned; but when a member of our Congress, and it was as a member of Congress that I addressed you, takes an oath of allegiance to a foreign dictator, it does concern me greatly, for your holy father not only was an ally of our recent enemies, Germany and Italy, but is an enemy of our public school system and our form of gov- ernment. As a good Catholic, you are supposed to do the bidding of your holy father; and I do not care to live under laws promoted by the Pope. You recently went haywire on the Case bill and I wonder if this faux pas was not due to “holy” influence. Franco and Peron are holy-water boys for your pope, and their governments give us a sample of the kind of govern- ment we would have in the United States if the holy see could control Congress. The way we are governed1 now, is bad enough. Where your church is strong, so also is illiteracy and ignorance. It has been so for centuries as the result of careful planning on the part of the hierarchy. I am sorry that you did not like the quotations from philosophers which were included in my last letter. Having received your education in a church school, you no douibt are unfamiliar with the works of the great thinkers of the world. It is too bad that these church schools do not give their pupils some work in the sciences—physics, chemistry, astronomy, anthropology, etc., so that you might have learned that the earth is not flat, that the rib story, the creation of this universe in 4004 B.C., talking snakes and she-asses, and the other fundamentals of Christianity are un- adulterated hooey, that you can’t chase out imaginary devils with holy water, and that liability insurance gives better car protection than a St. Christopher’s medal. What easy prey for priests are women who have not had an education in science. Finishing schools and boarding schools do an excellent job in teaching charm and beauty culture, but they do little or nothing for the empty space above the eyebrows. You are right in your guess that a lot of people do love me. The most recent Gallup Poll, however, does not show 100%. There are lots of funny people in the world, you know, and I am glad that you do not consider me one of them. Speaking of popularity, if my memory serves me well, I believe that you did not get all the votes cast for Congress- man in your district at the last election. Regarding Time, Eternity, Life and Death: your priests tell you that they know all about these subjects—that they are in constant com- munication with the gods, saints, angels and ghosts, and they will impart a little information to you at a time for so much per. It so happens that' I am the personal representative on earth of the Devil, and he knows much more about these matters than the imaginary heavenly crowd does. Don’t treat my Devil with contempt. He is a most important fellow. Without him the priest racket wouldnU be worth two cents. As to your former superstitious affiliation, the Church of England: if Henry VIII had only known his bible, he could have gotten rid of his wife Without breaking relations with Rome and without starting the Episcopal church. As proof I refer you to Deuteronomy 24:1 from the bible invented by the Catholic church: “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it comes to pass that she finds no favour in his eyes, be- cause he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house”. See how simple it is to get rid of a wife according to “god’s word”? You seem to think that I am unhappy. You are sadly mistaken. Do you think that I would be happier if I belonged to a church which blessed the guns Mussolini used to murder the innocent Ethiopians? a church which teaches th'aJt it is only a venial sin (the kind which can be self-forgiven without even the aid of a priest) to steal up to $40.? Do you think that I would be happier if I believed that I should take up snakes and that if I should drink any deadly thing it would do me no harm? Al- though fond of good music, I should be extremely unhappy if I knew that I would have to spend dternity playing a harp in a string orchestra, with only intellectual-nonentities to associate with when the musical fiesta is recessed for tuning-up. Do you think that I would be happier if I believed that I could commit any and all crimes, including jnurder, and then take advantage of the Catholic bankruptcy clause and call1 in a priest who would forgive everything for a fee and fit me out with wings in the hereafter? How simple-minded one must be to swallow that and the purgatory racket. Of course I know that the high-priced robes worn by the priests, the burn- ing candles, the pomp, ceremony and hocus-pocus folderol of the mass circus do appeal to some of the fairer sex, but I get more of a kick. out of watching a cage of real monkeys. You probably do not know, few women do, that the virgin-born, crucified saviour business was a thriving racket 4000 years ago. In all, there were sixteen of these Saviours promoted—all men and not one wom- an. These fellows were all born in caves or livery stables, on or about December 25th. The Jesus Myth is taken almost word for word from the stories of the Hindu Saviour Krishna, crucified in 1200 B.C. And we smile at little children who in their youthful mental development believe in Santa Claus. What Should we think of adult children who fall for the Jesus story—the greatest money-making racket ever invented and pro- moted by tricky and deceitful men? And now for your questions: 1. “Have you a soul?”. Having recently had a complete medical exam- ination and not knowing much about anatomy, I called on my Doctor today and asked him if he found a soul when he examined me. He in- formed me that I have none. My answer is therefore “No”. 2. “Is it immortal?”. A non-existent monstrosity is not immortal. 3. “Why should you do right, not wrong? Why should you be kind, not cruel?”. Now you are getting down to fundamentals. The Christian can not understand anything in this line except fear of punishment and: hope of reward. The Atheist does right and is kind because he has intelligence and character. No superstitious nonsense in our code of ethics. 4. “Why should you make sacrifices, if indeed you do, when it is so much easier to take advantage of others?”. The answer to question No. 3 goes for No. 4, too. Furthermore, prison statistics will show you that Christians are the ones who take advantage of others. The felons of this country are almost 100% Christians, while Atheists are almost unknown in the criminal world. An Atheist friend of mine was thrown into jail down in the bible belt, charged with blasphemy. There were two other prisoners m the jail—both Christians awaiting transfer to a penitentiary for robbery. They would not even speak to my friend because he was not a Christian. 5. “In the words of the ancient Psalmist, ‘What is man, Oh Lord, that thou art so mindful of him’?”. According to your bible, your god Jehovah was the lowest gangster in all history. Just one of a multitude of his crimes—he murdered, by drowning, all the innocent people of the earth, to cover up the bum job he did in creating Eve from Adam’s rib. He, mind- ful of man? and millions starving all over the world. Nonsense. I have answered your questions, and now, in sisterly Christian love, won’t you answer three for me, if you can? a. Why does your god, so mindful of man, permit wars, famine and Hotel La Salle fires? Could he stop such things if he so desired? If he could but doesn’t, he is an utter failure and worse than that. If he can’t, he is impotent and of no value whatever. Don’t you think that a worth-while god could spend his time to better advantage than in watching to see how much meat you eat on Friday and in counting the remaining hairs on my partially bald head? b. With starvation raging about the world, why does your friend Jesus just sit up there at the right hand of Jehovah and do nothing, when he could come to earth in a chariot of fire, drawn by horses of fire, and get busy with his loaves and fishes? Millions are crying and praying for re- lief and your gods do absolutely nothing. c. How much mentality does one have to have to believe the superstitious falsehoods and childish hooey of the Christian religion? There are no brain-cells 'in the heart, but I hope that out of the abundance of your mind your mouth will speak, even if you have to get help from some skymnan in answering this letter. I’ll be glad to turn the other cheek or take it on the chin. It is bad enough for one to be a weak-minded Protesltant, although in that event her body, mind ,and “soul” do not become the property of an alien dictator. It is just cause for national humiliation when a member of our Congress becomes a convert to black magic and a victim of the world’s greatest swindle. Cordially and sincerely, Frank C. Hughes. Efficacy of Prayer To the New York Herald Tribune: In your issue of July 4th the Woman’s Club of a New Jersey city asks that the United Nations meetings open with prayer. Evidently the ladies do a lot of wishful thinking. If they could only cite some instance of the beneficial effect of prayer, their plea would have some merit. Be- fore we entered the last world war, were there not millions of prayers for peace? After we got into jthe war our prayers for victory were not ans- wered until our armed forces had a superior navy and air force. Was not every session of the New Deal Congress opened by prayer? And see how our nation suffered. If prayers are effective, what need have we for an army and navy? We shall have great progress in this world when club women do half as much real thinking ais they do talking. FRANK C. HUGHES. Squirrel Island, Me., July 4, 1946. —From New York Herald Tribune of July 10, 1946 Additional copies of this pamphlet may be obtained from Truth Seeker Co., 38 Park Row, New York 8, N. Y. at 5^ for one copy; 30 cents for ten copies, Postpaid.