Subject: [Atheist] AANEWS for July 19 1996 (Special Edition, Part One)
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 1996 18:04:20 -0700
From: AMERICAN.ATHEISTS@listserv.direct.net
Reply-To: aanews@listserv.atheists.org, AMERICAN.ATHEISTS@listserv.direct.net
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In This Special Issue...
THE RELIGIOUS EQUALITY AMENDMENT: AN ATHEIST RESPONSE
(Editor's Note: This Tuesday, July 23, The Consitution Subcommittee of the
House Judiciary Committee will be conducting a hearing on the so-called "Hyde
version" of a proposed Religious Equality Amendment. This legislation has
been a centerpiece in the Christian Coalition's "Contract With the American
Family." The current versions would legitimize "student led" or "student
initiated" prayer in public schools, and open the door for a range of
religious exercises (including the teaching of pseudoscientific creationism)
in public educational establishments.
One of the legal battles which helped to end mandatory prayer and
bible-verse recitation in schools was Murray vs. Curlett. It was initiated
by Madalyn Murray (later Madalyn Murray O'Hair), who founded the organization
American Atheists, and her son, William J. Murray. Since that case over
thirty years ago, Bill Murray has become an evangelist and an exponent of
so-called "voluntary prayer" as a panacea for the ills of the country. One
unique feature of this case was that unlike other legal efforts to restrict
mandatory prayer, this suit was filed by an Atheist, and argued from an
Atheist perspective. In fact, the introductory brief in the Murray vs.
Curlett case began with the salutation to the court, "Your Petitioners Are
Atheists..."
Madalyn Murray O'Hair, her son Jon Garth Murray, and her granddaughter
Robin Murray O'Hair disappeared in early September, 1975. Immediately prior
to that time, they were involved in an effort to defeat the Religious
Equality Amendment. The House Judiciary Committee held a series of public
meetings throughout the country on this controversial subject.
American Atheists is attempting to have the new President of the
organization, Ellen Johnson, called before The Constitution Subcommittee this
coming Tuesday to present an Atheist perspective. Unfortunately, those
representatives bold enough to oppose school prayer are still timid when it
comes to Atheism, and permitting Atheists to have "equal time." Most of the
"church-state separation" groups like to drag in select clergy and other
religious types, who often oppose prayer for fear that it might "offend
minority religious people." Atheists -- especially any who would dare employ
the dreaded "A-word" -- are often not included in the witness testimony list.
It is estimated by some surveys that about 10% of the population of the
U.S. is either Atheist, or some form of "non-believer." That's 25,000,000
Americans, a figure larger than most of the "minority" and even mainstream
religious cults like the Episcopalians, Jews, Muslims, Scientologists,
Hindus, Seventh-day Adventists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Unitarians. It
is a travesty to NOT call for input from Atheists on this important issue.
Privately, we have been informed that there is "no way" that an Atheist
will be permitted to address The Constitution Subcommittee, although we have
launched an aggressive fax, e-mail and letter writing campaign to members of
this body asking to be heard.
For Atheists, this is not a "religious liberty" issue; after all, pick up
a typical, metropolitan area phone book and check under the heading of
"Churches." You'll see that there are plenty of venues, including chapels,
churches, mosques, synaogogues, cathedrals, temples and other places where
religious people may chant, sing, pray, kneel, burn incense, gyrate,
speak-in-tongues, hallucinate, mumble, dance, clap hands and do anything else
they believe in to appease the god or gods of their creed.
This IS a state-church separation issue. And it is also an issue of civil
rights for Atheists and non-believers.
What follows is a transcript of a letter sent last July 25, 1995 by the
founder of American Atheists, Madalyn Murray O'Hair. It was sent to the
counsel for the Subcommittee, Mr. Robert Rabin. We reproduce it here, as
it is one of the finest statements concerning Atheism and its relationship to
a proposed Religious Equality Amendment.)
************************
Mr. Rabin:
1
At the behest of the Christian Coalition, the United States Congress,
under the auspices of the Constitutional Subcommittee of the House Judiciary
Committee, has been undertaking hearings in regard to the possibility of
returning prayers to the public schools of the nation under the guise of
"restoring" religious equality.
American Atheists GHQ, Inc. is a non-profit, non-political educational
organization which acts as a "watchdog" for governmental state/church
separation breeches which undermine the constitutionally protected right of
freedom of conscience of those Americans (10 percent of the population) who
are Atheists.
In full knowledge that such prescribed prayers are both unconstitutional,
unacceptable and unconscionable, the Congress has, in collaboration with the
Christian Coalition and certain other fundamentalist religious leaders,
advanced the return of such prayers through a proposed constitutional
amendment cleverly presented under the euphemism of a "Religious Equality
Amendment." The exercise has been propped up first with an in-Congress
Committee hearing and later with contrived "field hearings" of little
substance.
Such a prayer amendment is the first on an agenda of Ten Commandments
given by the Christian Coalition to Congress under the rubric of a "Contract
With The American Family."
II
Having carefully followed the charade, it is necessary that the American
Atheists makes the following analysis and submits it for inclusion in the
record of such hearings. Please construe this to be an educational effort on
behalf of the persons affiliated with American Atheists.
III
The basis for the Congressional desire to intrude prayer into the public
school system is, fundamentally, a hunt for votes to keep incumbents in
office. This, unfortunately, speaks both the gullibility of the voters and
their lack of sensitivity to and knowledge of religious history. The
introduction of the proposed permissive legislation into both houses of
Congress is based upon the currently accepted theoretical premise that all
public life must be infused with religion.
IV
A number of allacies gird up the proposed amendment.
The public school system in the United States is predicated on the need
for an educated work force. Children are in compulsory attendance there to
learn the skills necessary to be competitive in the business marketplace. In
order to qualify one's self as a carpenter, a bricklayer, a hamburg, chef, an
on-line factory worker, a truck driver, an insurance salesman, a private
entrepreneur, a teacher, a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer or other professional,
religion is not needed in the educational equation. In fact the divisiveness
introduced into public schools by the injection of multitudinous sect
religions therein is detrimental to the learning process. The public schools
system is not there to give a forum for individual children to express
religious opinions; it is there for teachers to advance the secular knowledge
of the students in preparing them for the free enterprise market place.
V
In response to the proposed reintroduction of prayers into the public
schools the arguments of (1) constitutional constrains and (2) the DE FACTO
presence of religion already in the schools are advanced. These, however,
are not the real issues since both are inherently supportive of religion in
the cultural base.
The more compelling argument to avoid religious practices and instructions
at all costs is that the A PRIORI doctrines upon which religions are
predicated have not been demonstrated to be valid. The four underlying
doctrines of religion have been held sacrosanct by the government of the
United States. These are:
(1) that there is a superintending force in the universe concerned with
and governing, not alone the thoughts but, the ultimate fates of individual
persons;
(2) that each individual person, or an agent (a minister, priest, rabbi,
guru, a mallah, or other babbling idiot) of such a person, can be indirect
communication with that governing authority by the use of prayer;
(3) that conformity to the wishes of that outside, ethereal invisible
power will cause the death of our material bodies to be insignificant; in
(4) that an invisible essence (the soul), housed in each person's material
body, is in reality the only existing form of life which is significant to
all.
(End of Part One of Two)
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