Atheism

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

An issue bound to come up in a bull session of skeptical-minded types, and fandom is a continuous bull session. Muchly debated in the letter columns of Eofandom, it arose in the fanzine world with Wollheim's last Phantaflexicon column, which, discussing Science Fiction and Religion, remarked that the majority of ISA members he knew were atheists. Shroyer added comment on the observed correlation between atheism and the liking for SF. Argument on the main questions, such as there was, was hot, but no changes of opinion are known to have resulted, and the Michelists showed a disposition to relinquish the point to gain support for their faction. In the Second Transition the IPO found the proportion of 9:14 against church adherence, with several of the churchgoers indicating that they didn't really believe in it. How many of the nays are honest-to-Roscoe atheists and how many agnostics, pantheists, and other exotic creedists, cannot be accurately determined. At any rate, it is pretty well established that fans generally hold to a mechanistic philosophy which precludes the existence of a personalized god like the gaseous vertebrate of Judeo-Christian-Islamic mythology. Len Moffatt's chief fame is as the only outspoken Christianfan, tho there are a number of others, not forgetting Palmer. Some mystically inclined stfnists hold that the Unknown Source of the Universe is what they mean by "god", not realizing that they are defining a demiurge rather'n a deity. And all good fans occasionally spurn and kick at the Fundamentalists.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944

An issue bound to come up in a bull session of skeptical-minded youths, and fandom is a continuous bull session. Muchly debated in the letter sections of Them Was The Days, it arose in fandom with Wollheim's last Phantiflexion column, which discussed Science Fiction and Religion, remarking that the majority of ISAers he knew were atheistic. Some months later appeared Shroyer's "Anent Atheism and Stf". These debated not the validity of atheism, but the reason for the observed correlation between it and the liking for s-f. Argument on the main question, such as there was, was hot, but no changes of opinion are known to have resulted, and the Michelists showed a disposition to relinquish the point to gain support for Michelism, at the same time that the Communist Party was making gestures toward the Catholic Church. The IPO in the Second Transition found the proportion of 9 to 14 against church adherence, with several of the churchgoers indicating that they really didn't believe in it. How many of the nays are honest-to-Foo atheists, and how many agnostics, pantheists, or the like, cannot be accurately estimated. At any rate, it is now assumed that fans generally hold to a mechanistic philosophy which precludes the existence of God. Leonard Moffatt's chief fame is as the only outspoken Christianfan, tho there are a number of others, not forgetting Palmer. Young-minded fen get some fun out of snarling at the corpse of Fundamentalism.

See also: Up To Now: The Atheism Issue, Fantheology, Ghods, Christianfen, Jews.

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