American Atheists

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The American Atheists logo, based on the atomic model. Officially, the letter 'A' in the middle stands for the country "America" and would in theory change for expansion into other countries. The open-ended vertical orbital signifies that not all is yet known.

American Atheists is an organization in the U.S. dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating for the complete separation of church and state.

1 Origins
2 Post 1995
3 Court cases
4 Trivia
5 Presidents
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Origins

Founded in 1963 by Madalyn Murray O'Hair (born Madalyn Mays, she would later adopt her more famous surnames, Murray and O'Hair, in 1945 and 1965, respectively) as the Society of Separationists, American Atheists emerged from the cases Abington School District v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett (1959) which were later consolidated. Both Abington and Murray challenged mandatory prayer in public schools. Over the years American Atheists has filed numerous lawsuits against public institutions it considers to have breached the wall of separation between church and state. The organization, which has approximately 2,200 members, is currently headquartered in Cranford, New Jersey.

In 1959, Murray filed her case on behalf of her son, William J. Murray, who was being forced to attend bible readings in school and was being harassed by teachers and school administrators for refusing to participate.

The consolidated case, usually cited as Abington School District v. Schempp (although, arguably, Murray v. Curlett became the more famous of the two,) was argued before the United States Supreme Court on February 27 and February 28, 1963. In her opening statement, Madalyn Murray said:

"Your petitioners are atheists, and they define their lifestyle as follows:

An atheist loves himself and his fellow man instead of a god. An atheist thinks that heaven is something for which we should work for now — here on earth — for all men together to enjoy. An atheist accepts that he can get no help through prayer but that he must find in himself the inner conviction and strength to meet life, to grapple with it, subdue and enjoy it. An atheist thinks that only in knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow man can he find the understanding that will help to a life of fulfillment.

Therefore, he seeks to know himself and his fellow man rather than to 'know' a god. An atheist knows that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An atheist knows that a deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death.

He wants disease conquered, poverty vanquished, war eliminated. He wants man to understand and love man. He wants an ethical way of life. He knows that we cannot rely on a god nor channel action into prayer nor hope for an end of troubles in a hereafter. He knows that we are our brothers' keepers in that we are, first, keepers of our lives; that we are responsible persons, that the job is here and the time is now."

The justices rendered their decision on June 17, 1963. It was in favor of the petitioners, 8-1. They ruled that state-mandated prayer and unison bible readings in public schools were a violation of the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Justice Potter Stewart was the sole dissenter.

However, on Mother's Day, 1980, William Murray announced that he had been born again and become an evangelical Baptist, eventually being ordained as a minister. Madalyn, who despised "dirty Christers," as she referred to them [1], made the following statement shortly afterward: "One could call this a postnatal abortion on the part of a mother, I guess; I repudiate him entirely and completely for now and all times. He is beyond human forgiveness." [2]

In recent years, however, William Murray has contradicted his mother (and some would say himself,) by stating that there actually were no problems at school surrounding his refusal to participate in prayers and bible readings; his mother had forced him to lie to advance her own agenda and satisfy her thirst for publicity. Murray also claims that she held sway over his brother, Jon, and daughter, Robin, whom Madalyn adopted in the 1970s because of his problems with alcohol which prevented him from developing a relationship with them.

[edit] Post 1995

Ellen Johnson, a second-generation atheist, assumed control of American Atheists shortly after the disappearance of Madalyn, Jon and Robin from the organization's former Austin, Texas headquarters on August 27, 1995. The case remained unsolved amid rumors that the O'Hairs had actually absconded with organization funds and $500,000 in gold coins and fled to New Zealand, until a man named David Roland Waters, an ex-convict who had worked with the organization, revealed to authorities that they had been buried on a 50,000-acre (200 km²) Camp Ranch, Texas ranch. [3] An excavation of the site Waters named led to the recovery of what proved to be the mutilated, dismembered and decomposed bodies of the famous atheist and her son and daughter. Waters, although not convicted of murder, was convicted of several lesser related charges. Three years later Waters died of lung cancer while imprisoned.

The mutilation of the bodies, particularly that of Madalyn Murray O'Hair herself, was extensive. She was only identified by the serial number of her artificial hip implant. In keeping with her wishes, a simple funeral devoid of religious ceremony was held. The O'Hairs were buried in unmarked graves.

On November 2, 2002, at the Godless Americans March on Washington, Ellen Johnson announced the formation of the Godless Americans Political Action Committee (GAMPAC), a PAC to endorse political candidates who support the separation of church and state. The PAC was officially launched on March 9, 2004. It endorsed John Kerry, a practicing Roman Catholic, for the 2004 United States Presidential election, despite Kerry being a cosponsor of the Senate resolution which strongly disapproved of the Ninth Circuit court's decision in the Newdow case, which found the phrase under God in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional [4].

[edit] Court cases

Taken from [5]

Murray v. Curlett (1963) Challenged Bible reading and prayer recitation in Maryland public schools.

Murray v. United States (1964) To force the Federal Communications Commission to extend the Fairness Doctrine so that Atheists could have equal time with religion on radio and television.

Murray v. Nixon (1970) Challenged to weekly religious services in the White House.

O'Hair v. Paine (1971) Challenged NASA's religious use of the space program to require astronauts to read the Bible during a space flight.

O'Hair v. Cooke (1977) Challenged the opening prayer at city council meetings in Austin, Texas.

O'Hair v. Blumenthal (1978) Challenged the inclusion of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency.

O'Hair v. Hill (1978) To have removed from the Texas constitution a provision requiring a belief in god of persons holding offices of public trust.

O'Hair v. Andrus (1979) Challenged the use of National Park facilities for the pope to hold a Roman Catholic mass on the Mall in Washington, D.C..

O'Hair v. Clements (1980) This case tried to remove the nativity scene displayed in the rotunda of the capitol building in Austin, Texas.

[edit] Trivia

In August 1987 an accredited reporter for American Atheist News Journal, Robert I. Sherman, attended a campaign dinner for George H. W. Bush. (Sherman's seven year-old son was "brutalized" at school for refusing to pledge to a "nation under God.") Sherman asked Bush what he would do to appeal to the Americans who are Atheists, to which Bush, in part, replied "I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens."[6]
The American Atheists organization was the subject of the television show American Justice. It examined the August 1995 murders of Madalyn Murray O'Hair and two family members.