Isaac Asimov: a one-man renaissance.

When Isaac Asimov died on April 6, 1992, the national media poured forth a flood of praise in celebration of his indisputable genius. He was called a "twentieth-century Renaissance man" and the "Great Explainer." While not the most prolific writer of the century - a writer of eminently forgettable romance fiction has him beat in sheer weight of words and pages - Asimov clearly deserved the appellation "Renaissance man." One dictionary defines this as "a present,day man who has acquired profound knowledge or proficiency in more than one field." Asimov's books ranged over nearly every field of science, literature, history, humor, commentary, mathematics, and more. While he will be remembered best for his prodigious works of science fiction - a genre for which he set the standards dividing the good from the bad, the gold from the dross - his 466 books qualify him to be called a "one-man Renaissance."

It is remarkable, then, that in all the encomiums, all the tributes and praise, not one mention was made of Isaac Asimov's presidency of the American Humanist Association. Even his humanism went largely unmentioned, and none referred to his atheism on matters theological - and yet, he was outspoken on his "unbelief." He also referred frequently to his position as president of the AHA, and he acted on these commitments in significant ways. It is time to set the record straight, for even one humanist magazine neglected to credit his eight years as AHA president after he died in that office at the age of 72.

In what may be his last book, Asimov Laughs Again, he answers a rhetorical question on why, as an atheist, he so enjoys telling jokes about God and religion:

You must not get me wrong. I am the president of the American Humanist Association, a thoroughgoing materialist and rationalist organization. If anyone asks me, I will admit to being an atheist. However, in the world of jokedom, God, Satan, angels, demons, Adam and Eve, and all the paraphernalia of mythology exist, and I accept them gladly. Anything for a laugh.

Asimov became president of the AHA in the spring of 1985, following his election to its board of directors late in 1984. Earlier in 1984, he had received the association's highest annual honor - the Humanist of the Year Award - in ceremonies held in the nation's capital. Lyle Simpson, a former AHA president, offered Asimov a deal he was pleased to accept: lend us your name as president, and we'll do all the work, provided only that you write an occasional article for The Humanist and serve as national spokesperson for the AHA. In turn, the AHA board accepted the fact that Asimov would not travel much beyond a few hundred miles from his home (and never by plane).

However, Asimov's earliest involvement with the AHA dates almost a decade earlier, when in 1976 he joined with such noted scientists as Hudson Hoagland, George Gaylord Simpson, Chauncey Leake, and Linus Pauling in sponsoring a national education campaign promoted by the AHA. A Statement Affirming Evolution As a Principle of Science, adapted from an earlier text written by Hermann J. Muller, Nobelist and former AHA president, was sent to every major school district in the United States. The text included the signatures of hundreds of leading scientists, educators, and civic and religious leaders and called upon school boards and educators to oppose the demands - then significantly on the rise - to include creationism in science texts and classroom discussions. Creationists argued (then as now) that fairness itself dictated that all "scientific theories" should be given "equal time and emphasis" in biology classes. Thanks to widespread scientific illiteracy (then as now), even educators tended to fall for this argument. At the time, numerous state legislatures had bills pending to mandate the teaching of creationism if evolution were also taught - which, needless to say, the creationists preferred it not be. In an unusually brief comment in The Roving Mind, Asimov later summarized his views: "Ah, but it is not equal time the creationists want. That little slogan is merely the smile of the crocodile. "

It was also in 1976 that Asimov lent his support to the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, which was founded that year by the AHA and is now incorporated independently, with its flagship magazine, the Skeptical Inquirer. Asimov faithfully endorsed CSICOP's mission to blow the whistle on all claims pretending to scientific proofs - such as astrology, psychic phenomena, UFO sightings and abductions, astral projection, near-death experiences, and the whole tide of flummery glutting the nation's newspapers, books, magazines, and television. Yet, in a tribute to him last year, even the Skeptical Inquirer failed to note his work with the AHA.

Upon assuming the presidency of the AHA in 1985, Asimov began work as narrator of the AHKS promotional film, Humanism: Maung Bigger Circles, which remains available today in both film and video format. Also in 1985, Asimov joined with the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (headed by Corliss Lamont, the AHA president emeritus) in a lawsuit against the federal government over a rider which had been appended to the funding bill for "magnet schools." The rider, added by such right, wing worthies as Orrin Hatch, prohibited the use of any federal funds under terms of the bill which might be used to promote "secular humanism." Leading education groups joined in voicing opposition, but the issue was rendered moot when, in the next session, the offending rider quietly disappeared.

There soon followed a volley of suits seeking to proscribe humanism - notably a case in Tennessee in 1986 in which a gaggle of fundamentalist parents sought the removal from public-school libraries of virtually every classic of literature, ancient and modern, as well as texts dealing with evolution. Called "Scopes II" by some because of its anti-evolution component, the case - beginning as Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools - slowly worked its way through the courts. Eventually, the plaintiffs lost, thanks to the united efforts of the civil liberties and educational communities aided in expert testimony by humanist leaders. Both Asimov and Lamont were invited by Tom Brokaw of "NBC Nightly News" to speak about the case on prime-time television.

In 1988, Asimov was interviewed by Bill Moyers for the PBS series "World of Ideas." His humanism in general, and his presidency of the AHA in particular, were both clearly noted on the show. Asimov expressed his firm belief that only the power of human reason and the application of the scientific method could ever save us from ultimate disaster. And he spoke out vigorously against blind faith and mysticism:

What is really, to my way of thinking, disgraceful to have a set of beliefs that you think is absolute and has been so from the start and can't change.... That, to my way of thinking, is much more dangerous than a system of knowledge which is tentative and uncertain.

Also in 1988, Asimov, as president of the AHA, joined other plaintiffs in a suit sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union, seeking an end to federal funding for religious schools and hospitals overseas. It came to light that, since as early as 1971, US. taxpayers have been funding such enterprises in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The case is still in the courts.

Almost to the end of his life, Asimov was a popular speaker at gatherings of humanists and freethinkers within a few hundred miles of his home. One of his last appearances was in May 1990, when he hosted a luncheon at Sardi's restaurant in Manhattan, featuring Corliss Lamont speaking on civil liberties and sponsored by Jesse Gordon of the Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York.

Asimov's personal views on a variety of important topics can be traced through his writings, and he is always at his best in his own words. Here then is but a tiny sample of Isaac Asimov's wit and wisdom.

On censorship and its handmaiden, creationism:

All historical precedents show that the ability to censor

and to enforce orthodoxy is a delight that knows

no limits. Today "equal time," tomorrow the world.

Today it is your views on science, tomorrow the way

you dress and speak and behave.

On pseudoscience and claims of the paranormal:

When a view denounced by scientists as false is,

nevertheless, popular with the general public, the

mere fact of that popularity is strong evidence for its

worthlessness.

On orthodoxy among scientists:

I hope scientific orthodoxies never remain unchallenged.

Science is in far greater danger from an absence

of challenge than from the coming of any

number of even absurd challenges. Science, unchallenged,

can become arthritic and senile, whereas the

most absurd challenge may help to stir the blood and

tone the muscles of the body of science.

On women's rights as a cure for overpopulation:

A high-birth-rate world means women's subservience.

Without women's subservience we can't have a high-birth-rate

world.

Well, then, what about a low-birth-rate world?

In such a world, will women be set free?

Yes, they will. It is not even a matter of choice.

They must be set free. Consider - . . .

A low-birth-rate world requires women's equality.

Without a women's equality world, we can't have a

low-birth-rate world.

And since it is quite clear that a low-birth-rate

world is the price of the survival of our civilization,

it follows that the acceptance of the ideals of women's

equality is also the price of survival.

... If we try for a low-birth-rate first and feminine

equality second, we will get neither; while if we try

for feminine equality first and get it, we will automatically

get a low-birth-rate as well.

... Since we don't have much time, the price of

survival is feminine equality as quickly as possible - even

now.

Following his death, the editors of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine gathered tributes to Asimov from famous fellow writers around the world. From his home in Sri Lanka, Arthur C. Clarke wrote:

He stood for knowledge against superstition, tolerance against bigotry, kindness against cruelty - above all, peace against war. His was one of the most effective voices against the "New Age" nitwits and fundamentalist fanatics who may now be a greater menace than the paper bear of communism ever was.

Bette Chambers is president emeritus of the American Humanist Association, editor of Free Mind (the AHA membership magazine), AHA director of planned giving, and chair of the Division of Humanist Counseling. Chambers served as assistant to the president during Asimov's tenure as president of the association.