Can Anything Good Come Out Of Amsterdam?

I had forgotten about Frank Zindler, until I accidentally stumbled across him on the internet. Zindler used to live in Amsterdam back in the 80s. He was a science professor at Fulton-Montgomery Community College. He was also known as the Mohawk Valley’s most strident atheist.

Zindler promoted atheism with all the zeal of a Fundamentalist Christian preacher. Indeed, he had more in common with some Fundamentalists than he did with some fellow atheists. He was and is the true believer. He never missed a chance to speak on the radio or elsewhere, often wrote letters to the editors of local newspapers and even started in own atheist church in Amsterdam, which is no longer in business.

Zindler’s zeal paid off, at least among unbelievers. He is now Director of the American Atheist Press and Editor of the American Atheist Magazine. He is one of the most sought after atheistic speakers in the country. He is also the author of several books.

Zindler isn’t so much anti-God as he is anti-Jesus. Zindler does not believe that Jesus even existed. He has also written a book attempting to prove that the Apostle Peter never existed.

Zindler’s latest theory is that the village of Nazareth, the Biblical site where Jesus grew up, never existed.

Nazareth, according to the Gospels, was such a backwards, provincial, godforsaken place, that when people heard of the fame of this new, upstart carpenter who dared to call himself a preacher, they asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

I’ve often asked, “Can anything good come out of Amsterdam?” I guess if you are a true believer in unbelief, you can answer that question with Frank Zindler. If not, you still have Kirk Douglas.