Reverse Worship

Is anti-religion a religion? Agnosticism is surely not; it is a shrug, a raised eyebrow. Atheism is more like its antithesis; the late Robert Ingersoll adored his Nothing as fiercely as St. Paul his Christ. Contemporary atheists preach their Nothing, write about it, argue it. Freethinker Joseph Lewis is fervently proud to be called "Enemy of God." But in New York State atheists may preach as they like and still their atheism is no religion. The New York Court of Appeals so decided last week in Albany.

Like any soap-boxer, President Charles Lee Smith of the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism sparred with God last October at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. A city ordinance requires that pavement preachers obtain a permit to orate. Soap-Boxer Smith was arrested for having no permit. Two courts convicted him of violating the ordinance. The Court of Appeals reversed the decision last week, unanimously agreeing that:

"Instead of gathering an assembly for public worship ... he was doing just the reverse. He was denouncing worship in any form and calling upon his hearers to desert such a practice. The ordinance did not apply to him. . . . The section relating to public worship upon the streets had reference to religious services of some kind and did not include the attempt of the defendant to show that for centuries the majority of us have been wrong. . . . Worship means any form of religious service, showing reverence for the Divine Being."

The American Civil Liberties Union was delighted with this "vindication of positive common sense."

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