After we notified Greg Auman that because of his rudeness and dishonesty his correspondence is not welcome here, he logged on to a different e-mail address, changed the spelling of his name, and sent us The Jesus-Chalk Hoax that follows. When we demonstrated to him that this tale is a hoax, he responded by denying that it is a hoax and called us "bias" for saying that it is a hoax. Mr. Auman continued to insist that the story is true as recently as September 10, 1999 in a letter he sent us.

The Jesus-Chalk Hoax has been floating around the Internet since about the Autumn of 1998, but the lie itself dates back to the 1930s. The sad part about hoaxes of this nature is that it discredits the institution of learning by portraying a professor as acting in a dispicable manner. None of the professors I have known (or teachers, for that matter) would resort to this behavior -- nor would they need to. Most realize that raising questions is the best way to instill philosophical learning. This particular hoax is on a par with Jack T. Chick's little comics and tracts. The Jesus-Chalk Hoax and Chick's comic "Big Daddy?" may have a common source. Perhaps the Apostle Paul, the grandfather of Christian huxterism, was on to something when he asked, "For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?" (Romans 3:7) Some might say that Thomas Paine summed up this and similar situations when he said, "A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad men" (The American Crisis, January 13, 1777).

The truth is, though, many (if not most) modern Christians would be astonished that such a hoax, particularly with its false and vicious demonization of professors, would be so widely broadcast in the name of Jesus. One such man is Regan Lowrey who, several months ago, gave us permission to use his material exposing and denouncing this hoax. Lowrey is the first to publicly denounce the hoax; he focuses on the dishonesty of the people who wrote it. Only later did USC itself publicly denounce it, centering, naturally, more upon its anti-intellectual message than upon the fact that it is deliberate falsehood camouflaged as an attempt to authenticate Christianity. At the time we requested permission from Mr. Lowrey, we explained to him that we honor honesty whatever its source, and that we respect anyone's effort to find truth and follow it wherever it may lead. Read Regan Lowrey's research below. Read also our mirror of the USC Newspaper's Daily Trojan coverage of this hoax. Mr. Auman's shenannigans seem to be an appropriate excuse for presenting the truth behind the Jesus-Chalk Hoax. Finally read about the Jesus-Chalk-Hoax Virus Hoax from vMyths.com.

After we demonstrated to Mr. Auman that the Jesus-Chalk tale is a hoax, showing him the material below, he sent us this reply:

No verification of the story made it through our e-mail filters (which merely moves targeted files to a special "abuse" folder for periodic monitoring). In August, 1999, after falling victim to an e-mail harassment campaign, we turned off our filters and discovered that Mr. Auman himself was involved in the harassment campaign.

After (unsuccessfully) asking Mr. Auman to stop writing us, we finally sent a complaint to Hotmail.com and CCed a copy to him. In his reply (after our most recent request that he stop!), he insisted (as an aside) that the Jesus-Chalk Hoax is a true story, and that he did not use a different name to make it past our e-mail filters. (In other words, he did not use "Greg Auman" in his previous letters and "Gregory Auman" in this current batch. There must be a bug in the e-mail system somewheres that transposes the letters. That pesky Microsoft must be at it again.

Note also Mr. Auman's justification that writing to us again is "fair game" if he hits the "'reply all' button." What he fails to mention, here, is that Abraham Smith gathered e-mail addresses from our website for the purpose of spamming the people who wrote to us and attempting to discredit us in those spams. Mr. Auman was very involved in this project. It is the people on their illicitly gathered list that Mr. Auman here calls my "followers."

Positive Atheism sees Auman's and Smith's e-mail harassment as yet another example of what Americans can expect if they come out of the closet and announce or even defend their atheism.

BOGUS (as usual) Internet E-mail Story

The bogus story below has been sent around the internet via email.
I was suspicious so I emailed USC to ask. Read their response here.
 

It Takes Guts to Say "Jesus"

This is a true story of something that happened just a
few years ago at USC.  There was a professor of
philosophy there who was a deeply  committed atheist.
His primary goal for one required class was to spend
the entire semester attempting to prove that God couldn't
exist.  His students were always afraid to argue with him
because of his impeccable logic.  For twenty years, he had
taught this class and no one had ever had the courage to
go against him.  Sure, some had argued in class at times,
but no one had ever 'really gone against him' (you'll see
what I mean later).

Nobody would go against him because he had a reputation.
At the end of every semester, on the last day, he would say
to his class of 300 students, "If there is anyone here who
still believes in Jesus, stand up!"  In twenty years, no one
had ever stood up.  They knew what he was going to do
next.  He would say, "because anyone who does believe in
God is a fool.  If God existed, he could stop this piece of
chalk from hitting the ground and breaking.  Such a simple
task to prove that he is God, and yet he can't do it."
And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the
tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into
a hundred pieces.  All of the students could do nothing
but stop and stare.

Most of the students were convinced that God couldn't
exist.  Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped
through, but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to
stand up.  Well, a few years ago, there was a freshman
who happened to get enrolled in the class.  He was a
Christian, and had heard the stories about this professor.
He had to take the class because it was one of the
required classes for his major and he was afraid.

But for 3 months that semester, he prayed every morning
that he would have the courage to stand up no matter
what the professor said or what the class thought.
Nothing they said or did could ever shatter his faith, he hoped.
 
Finally the day came.  The professor said, "If there is anyone here
who still believes in God, stand up!"  The professor and the class of
300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back
of the classroom.  The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!  If God existed,
he could keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the
ground!"

He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his
fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleats of his pants, down his
leg, and off his shoe.  As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away,
unbroken.
 
The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up
at the young man and then ran out of the lecture hall.  The young
man who had stood up proceeded to walk to the front of the
room and share his faith in Jesus for the next half hour.  300
students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them and
of his power through Jesus.

"Yet to all who received HIM, to those who believed in HIS name,
HE gave the right to become children of God -- children born
not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will,
but born of GOD."  John 1:12

"But HE knows the way that I take; when HE has tested me,
will come forth as gold."   Job 23:10
 
You have one of 2 choices...

1) delete this and never look at it again or
2) pass this along to your Christian friends and let
them have encouragement we all need every day.
 
 

If you want to email me you'll have to type in my address manually. I don't want to let the spammer robots index my page and get the email address.

mailbox  = regan
host     = nuclearwinter
domain   = com

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 10:18:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Philosphy Department <philos"at"rcf.usc.edu>
To: regan lowrey <regan"at"nuclearwinter.com>
Subject: Re: confirmation please
In-Reply-To: <3.0.6.32.19981118131626.00a05760"at"indy.bidland.com >
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.02.9811191015500.9184-100000"at"mizar.usc.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Status: OR

Dear Regan Lowrey,

Thank you for your inquiry about the 'chalk story.'  Our official response
is as follows:

The School of Philosophy at USC has received a large number of inquiries
over the last few months concerning a story circulating on the Internet
about an alleged incident in a philosophy class at USC.  (The story, as it
has been forwarded to us, is appended at the end of this message.  It is
appended so as to make it more convenient for the reader to assess the
facts; obviously, I do not imply agreement with anything said in this
(false) story.) 


I can say that in the fourteen years I have been here nothing remotely
like this has happened at USC; and Professor Dallas Willard, who has been
here for thirty-two years, affirms that nothing like this happened during
the time he was here.

Let's look first at some of the 'facts' reported in the story.  The
incident is supposed to have occurred in a 'required' class; at least
within the last fifteen years, no philosophy class is required for
graduation from USC (although some philosophy classes meet General
Education requirements, along with courses from other subjects).  As for
our major, the only single course required of all philosophy majors during
that period is our symbolic logic course.  The incident is supposed to
have taken place in a course enrolling 300 students; the only philosophy
course to approach that size is our Contemporary Moral and Social Issues
course, in which the question of God's existence is not discussed, except
as this may bear on the stance taken by individuals on substantive moral
issues.  The course in which this incident is supposed to have taken place
was allegedly taught by the same professor for twenty years; only one
course in our curriculum comes close to this description (while not
fitting it exactly), and that is our survey course of the History of
Ancient Philosophy, in which the question of God's existence is not
discussed at all.  More importantly, there has never been a class given
in the School of Philosophy at USC which had as its primary goal to prove
that God couldn't exist, nor any that had this as any kind of goal,
however ancillary.  There has never been a professor in this department
who would treat his or her students so disrespectfully, or who would have
so little regard for the stated goals of whatever course he or she was
teaching.  (The content of our courses is clearly set out in the USC
catalogue of courses.)

So the question is, where did this story come from?  The answer is
surprisingly straightforward:  it is a transformation of a story (itself
perhaps apocryphal) published in the book _70 Years of Miracles_ by
Richard H. Harvey (Beaverlodge, Alberta Canada:  Horizon House, 1977).
The story is set out in chapter 11, 'The Flask Story,' pp. 63-66.  In the
first paragraph of the chapter Harvey says that he has been telling the
story 'for more than forty years,' which would date its occurrence
(supposing it did occur) to the mid-thirties at the latest.  It is
interesting to note that Harvey does not relate a personal experience,
but at best is passing along hearsay; he does not give the source of the 
story, and the only corroboration he offers is the report of a woman he
met 'a few years ago'--hence long after the incident allegedly
occurred--that she had taken this class from the same professor and
'heard him make the same challenge' (in other words she does not claim
to have witnessed the incident.)  In Harvey's story, it is a professor of
chemistry teaching a chemistry class in which the incident occurs; the
professor's challenge to the students is not to prove God's existence, but
to prove the efficacy of prayer.  The challenge is to prevent a glass
flask (rather than a piece of chalk) from breaking when dropped onto the
cement floor merely by offering a prayer that it should not break.  As in
the story currently circulating, a student steps forward and accepts the
challenge; the professor drops the flask, it hits the toe of the
professor's shoe, and rolls onto the floor, unbroken.
(I wish to thank Dale Simmons, of Bethel College, who drew this book to my
attention and supplied me with a copy of the chapter in question.)

What we have here is clearly an 'urban legend' which has come to be
attached to our department.  It invites reflection on why the legend came
into being, and why it is circulated so widely.  I don't believe there to
be any malice in it, or any vendetta against USC or our department;  I
think we just happened to be a handy choice for the recasting of the
story.  What is its appeal?  Some people I have talked to see it as a
relic of a strand of anti-intellectualism which was characteristic of some
parts of the evangelical movement in past years; others see it as a
reaction to the perception that there is an active hostility to religious
belief in the secular academy.  This is a serious question, on which there
can be legitimate differences of opinion (I personally do not believe
there is any special hostility in academia to religious belief); but if it
is to be productively addressed, it must be addressed on the basis of
arguments based on fact, not legend.

Thank you for your attention, and careful consideration, of this issue.



Edwin McCann
Director, School of Philosophy, USC


The story as it came to us:
> 
> This is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago
> at USC. There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply
> committed atheist. His primary goal for one required class was to
> spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God couldn't exist.
> His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his
> impeccable logic. For twenty years, he had taught this class and no one
> had ever had  the courage to go against him. Sure, some had argued in
> class at times, but no one had ever really "gone against him". Nobody
> would go against him because he had a reputation.
> 
> At the end of every semester, on the last day,  he would say to
> his class of 300 students, "If there is anyone here who still believes
> in Jesus, stand up!" In twenty years, no one has ever stood up. They
> knew what he was going to do next. He would say, "because anyone
> who does believe in God is a fool. If God existed, he could stop this
> piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking. Such a simple task 
> to prove that he is God, and yet he can't do it." and every year, he
> would drop the chalk onto the tile floor and it would shatter into a hundred
> pieces.  All the students could do nothing but stop and stare. Most of
> the students were convinced that God couldn't exist. Certainly, a number
> of Christians had slipped through but for twenty years, they had been
> too afraid to stand up.
> 
> Well, a few years ago, there was a freshman who happened to get
> enrolled in the class. He was a Christian, and had heard the stories
> about this professor. He had to take the class because it was one of
> the required classes for his major, and he was afraid. But for 3 months
> that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage
> to stand up no matter what the professor said or what the class thought.
> Nothing they said or did could ever shatter his faith, he hoped. Finally
> the day came. The professor said, "If there is anyone here who still
> believes in God, stand up!!!" The professor and the class of 300 people
> looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom.
> The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!!!! If God existed, he could keep
> this piece of chalk from breaking when it hits the ground!"  He proceeded
> to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his
> shirt cuff, onto the pleats of his pants, down his leg, and off his
> shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away, unbroken.  The
> professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the
> young man and then ran out of the lecture hall.
> The young man who had stood up proceeded to walk to the front of the room
> and share his faith in Jesus for the next half hour. 300 students stayed and
> listened as he told of God's love for them and of his power through Jesus.



On Wed, 18 Nov 1998, regan lowrey wrote:

> dear distinguished faculty,
> 
> i received this story today about a professor in your department. i suspect
> it is just an urban legend but have not been able to find any evidence of
> this suspicion by searching the web.
> 
> could you confirm please that the story is true or not?
> 
> thank you,
> 
> regan lowrey
> PhD candidate
> ASU
> Phoenix AZ
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >> >                     IT TAKES GUTS TO SAY "JESUS!"
> >> >
> >> >This is a true story of something that happened just  a few years 
> >> >ago at USC.
> >> >There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply 
> >> >committed atheist.  His primary goal for one required class was 
> >> >to spend the entire semester attempting to prove that God
> >> >couldn't  exist.  His students were always afraid to argue with him
> >> >because of his impeccable logic.  For twenty years, he had taught this
> >> >class and no one had ever had the courage to go against him.
> >> >Sure, some had argued in  class at times, but no one had ever 
> >> >really gone against him' (you'll see what this means later).   
> >> >Nobody would go against him because he had a  reputation.  At
> >> >the end of every semester, on the last day, he would say to his class 
> >> of 
> >> >300 students, "If there anyone here who still believes in Jesus,
> >> >stand up!"
> >> >In twenty years, no one had ever stood up.  They knew what  he 
> >> >was going to do next. He would say, "because anyone who does 
> >> >believe in God is a fool.  If God existed, he could stop this piece of 
> >> >chalk from hitting the ground and breaking.  Such a simple task to
> >> >prove that he is  God, and yet he can't do it."  And every year, he
> >> >would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would 
> >> >shatter into a hundred pieces.
> >> >All of the students could do nothing but stop and stare. Most of 
> >> >the students were convinced that God couldn't exist.
> >> >Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through,  but for 
> >> >20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up.
> >> >Well, a few years ago, there was a freshman who happened  to get
> >> >enrolled in the class.  He was a Christian, and had heard the 
> >> >stories about this professor.  He had to take the class because it  was  
> >> >one of the required classes for his major. and he was afraid.  But
> >> >for 3 months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have 
> >> >the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said or what
> >> >the class thought.
> >> >Nothing they said or did could ever shatter his faith, he hoped.
> >> >Finally the day came.  The professor said, "If there is anyone
> >> >here who still believes in God, stand up!"  The professor and the 
> >> >class of 300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at
> >> >the back of the classroom. 
> >> >The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!  If God existed,  he 
> >> >could keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the  
> >> >ground!"  He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it
> >> >slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleats of his 
> >> >pants, down his leg, and off his shoe.  As it hit the ground, it simply 
> >> >rolled away, unbroken.
> >> >The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk.  He
> >> > looked up at the young man and then ran out of the lecture hall.
> >> >The young man who had stood up proceeded to walk to the front of 
> >> >the room and share his faith in Jesus for the next half hour.  
> >> >300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them
> >> >and of his power through Jesus.

Philosophy professor e-mail story is false

Is the "chalk story" about the philosophy professor true?

An e-mail that has been received by many USC students has recently caught the attention of the School of Philosophy, which reports that the tale is not true. The e-mail alleges that a USC professor was a "deeply committed atheist" whose main goal in his class was to prove that God didn't exist.

The first inquiries began a few months ago and have been steadily coming ever since, said philosophy professor Edwin McCann.

The e-mail's story is one that was written to reaffirm faith in miracles and in God, but includes USC in the telling of the story.

The e-mail claims that at the end of every semester for the past 20 years, the professor is said to have asked his class of about 300 students to stand up if they believed in God, and no one ever stood.

Then he would "prove" God did not exist by dropping a piece of chalk on the floor and saying, "If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and breaking."

The e-mail says that one year, a young Christian man stood up and said he "still believed in God" when the professor posed the question to his class. The professor dropped another piece of chalk, and this time it did not break. Then the professor fled the lecture hall, the e-mail says.

In response to the e-mail, Mccann began to investigate its legitimacy.

"Professor Dallas Willard, who has been here for 32 years, affirms that nothing like this has happened during the time he was here," McCann said. "Besides verbal denouncement of the e-mail, there are facts that prove that the e-mail couldn't be true."

The only philosophy classes that have 300 students or have been around for 20 years do not discuss God's existence.

McCann and a colleague found great similarities between the "chalk story" and a story titled "70 Years of Miracles" by Richard Harvey. In this story, there was no philosophy teacher but a chemistry teacher, and instead of a piece of chalk, there was a flask.

Chrysta Wilson / Staff Writer

Copyright 1999 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 136, No. 04 (Thursday, January 21, 1999), on page 2.

It takes guts to say 'Jesus' virus

A typical alert which devolved from the original Good Times hoax virus alert. This one claims your computer will die if you read an email with "It takes guts to say 'Jesus' " in the subject line. Naturally, the alert claims no antivirus software can protect you from this anti-Christ email.

A hoaxster probably launched this alert to curtail a popular chain letter with the same subject line.

Some people think an atheist did it out of spite -- but Vmyths.com believes the culprit is more probably a lax Christian who grew tired of receiving copies of the chain letter.

This alert is currently making the rounds in its second life-cycle. Antivirus experts won't admit it openly, but they quietly say the hoax has been "resurrected" for its second coming.

--09/23/00