AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org
http://www.AtheistViewpoint.tv

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOV. 29, 2000
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Ellen Johnson, President   (973) 334-5110
Ron Barrier, Spokesperson      (718) 967-6453


              AMERICAN ATHEISTS: "DEMONS, POSSESSION, AND
              EXORCISMS ARE ALL REAL. . . . IN THE MOVIES!"
                   "Demonology is a colossal fraud"

    The Nov. 28th edition of the New York Times included a feature story on
the rise of exorcisms and exorcists in the United States.  It included
profiles of James LeBar, a Catholic priest and "chief" exorcist of the
Archdiocese of New York, and Bob Larson, an evangelical minister who
supervises "exorcism teams" around the country.
    Ron Barrier, National Spokesman for American Atheists said that "demons,
possession, and exorcism are all very real....in the movies!"
    "I agree with Rossel Hope Robbins, author of The Encyclopedia of
Witchcraft and Demonology (Crown, 1959), that the very idea of demon
possession and removal is, and always will be,  'a colossal fraud and
delusion.' And these so-called exorcists such as LeBar and Larson should be
ridiculed into obscurity."
    Mr. Barrier continued, "This scam, fueled by the Vatican's vicious
Malleus Maleficarum - The classic study of witchcraft (c.1498) has resulted
in the tragic deaths of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of innocent
people, a majority of them women.
    "The Vatican should be apologizing for these mental aberrations, not
issuing revisions to perpetuate such nonsense.
    Mr. Barrier added, "To inflict such a flim-flam on the general public is
bad enough, but to inculcate children with this horrific silliness is beyond
the pale. The very idea that they want our tax money to teach this fraud in
their schools is even more amazing!"

American Atheists, Inc.
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Tel: (908) 276-7300
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