DeLoss - Truth Against the World

Truth Against the World: The Humanists Fight for Our Freedom

By Rob DeLoss

Dedication

The greatest teacher in my life was also the love of my life, Jeri DeLoss, my wife. She taught me by gently guiding me by her example. Jer i s love for me gave me the self-confidence to pursue my loftier dreams of becoming a writer & a teacher. Her self-discipline & organizational skills rubbed-off on me and I accomplished far more in a lot less time.

At first I could n t understand what this hard-working & multi-talented woman saw in me? She was already teaching when I met her & was nearing the completion of her Maste r s Degree in Art Therapy. Looking back, I think it was the sincerity of my feelings for her & my adventurous spirit that attracted her to me? Early in our relationship she told me that one of the things she liked about me was that I looked at the world differently. And she was right, I have always been a dreamer (some accuse me of being unrealisti c ).

And it was Jeri who helped nurture my dreams by always being there for me whether we were together, separated, or divorced. She never stopped believing in me & she always cheered me on when I was low & felt like throwing in the towel on some goal, project, or whatever. Her unwavering love and friendship is why I could never sever all ties with her as many divorced couples do.

Jeri was a Special Education teacher the entire 32 years I was honored to know her & I ve never met such a dedicated professional. The amount of paperwork, forms, meetings, etc. etc. etc. that special education teachers have to put up with is absolutely absurd. She typically put in at least 12 hours per day struggling to keep up with this killer workload & I saw it drain her of her original love i.e. art & music.

I mean that her career drained her energy to such a degree that there was n t enough energy left to create art or play the flute, etc. like she did when I first met her. It saddens me to the bottom of my soul that she did n t listen to my repeated appeals that she retire early & go live in Tuscany & paint & drink wine & dance, etc.

Jeri selflessly gave of herself to our son, to her students, family, & friends. She always put everyone else first & was content to grab some fast-food at the end of a long day & lay in bed watching Dancing with the Stars and other such programs. Her great passion was hot air balloons & she crewed on them for the last 25 years or so of her life. And perhaps a close second was yard sale & thrift store shopping where she often bought shirts, sweaters, etc. that she thought would look good on me.

And the most precious gift that Jeri gave to me after her love for me was her feedback & encouragement regarding my writing. Even with her horrific workload, she would take the time to read each of my essays that I sent her. I know many people who claim to be my friend but they protest that they do n t have the time to read my writing but Jeri always did.

Moreover, she also allowed me to sleep on her couch for long periods of time when I could n t find a job & she fed me and I used one of these periods of time to write this book---actually wrote over 2,000 pages in about a three month period of time. For all these reasons and so many more, I wish to honor my angel by dedicating this book to her.

I m still not sure whether there is a heaven or not but I like to believe there is and that Jeri has at last stopped working her fingers to the bone & is happy and at peace. I am glad that at least I got to be there with her for the last month of her life and had the privilege of taking care of her. She spent her last four days on this Earth in the hospital in Intensive Care and somewhere around the second or third day, she could n t speak anymore. A compassionate nurse told us that she could still feel our touch & hear us and when I had a private moment alone with Jeri, I leaned over her & as I hugged her, I whispered in her ear, I never stopped loving you and wish I could trade places with you for all that yo u ve done for me. I know to the marrow of my bones that I would not be the writer that I am had it not been for my sweet wife, the love of my life!

Foreword

I STARTED THIS PROJECT OVER fifteen years ago as a book on fundamentalists versus humanists, but what with my studies over the intervening years and the recent turn of events in world affairs, i.e., the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I have decided to expand my subject considerably to be more comprehensive and to attempt to connect what at first may seem like unrelated topics.

Since the atrocities of September 11, 2001, the U.S. has focused its attention on Islam as the primary force behind terrorism in the world. I submit that it isnt only Islamic fundamentalists who are responsible, but also Christian fundamentalists. I believe that fundamentalists of whatever persuasion are basically ignorant, and that government and big business, which have almost total control of the media and our educational system, share in the blame.

I will also give suggestions as to some of the reforms necessary for us to reclaim control of our lives and our government.

[2]

Part One Chapter 1: On Humanism

MY TITLE COMES FROM AMERICAN architect Frank Lloyd Wrights family motto. I interpret it to mean that one must stand up for truth against the entire world if necessary; we must constantly strive for integrity no matter how great the cost. My whole life has been a search for truth and wisdom, and it has been a lonely battle, but I wouldnt have it any other way. I have taken on a formidable task, but the greater the challenge, the greater the reward. Nothing is more elusive than the truth, but I will attempt it to the best of my abilities and am always conscious that it is only my truth in the final analysis. Nonetheless, I hope it will be useful to at least a few who read this.

There are several types of humanism, but the type that most Christian fundamentalists see as the enemy is secular humanism. According to Fred Edwords, executive director of the American Humanist Association, Secular humanism is an outgrowth of eighteenth-century enlightenment rationalism and nineteenth-century free thought. There is also a branch of humanism called religious humanism, and as Edwords states, Secular and religious humanists both share the same worldview and the same basic principles... It is only in the definition of religion and in the practice of the philosophy that religious and secular humanists effectively disagree. Edwords also lists literary, Renaissance, cultural, philosophical, Christian, and modern humanism. Ill concentrate on humanisms general tenets, as most fundamentalists make no distinctions among the various types and attack humanism as a whole.

Rationalism, according to Prof. Jay Stevenson, is the belief that the mind is capable of knowing things even without experience.

Websters New Collegiate Dictionary defines free thought as free thinking or unorthodox thought; specifically 18 th century deism, and deism as a movement or system of thought advocating natural religion based on human reason rather than revelation, emphasizing morality, and in the 18 th century denying the interference of the Creator with the laws of the universe.

Bertrand Russell sums up deism thus, paraphrasing one of its earliest proponents, Jean- Jacques Rousseau:

Natural religion... has no need of a revelation; if men had listened to what God says to the heart, there would have been only one religion in the world. If God had revealed Himself specially to certain men, this can only be known by human testimony, which is fallible. Natural religion has the advantage of being revealed directly to each individual.