Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Madalyn Murray O'Hair (April 13 1919 - 1995) was an American atheist, founder of American Atheists and campaigned for the separation of church and state, and murder victim (at age 76).

An American atheist

In 1960 Murray filed a lawsuit (Murray v. Curtlett) against the Baltimore, Maryland School District in which she claimed it was unconstitutional for her son William to participate in Bible readings at Baltimore public schools. She further went on to claim that her son's atheism had made him the victim of violence from other classmates, violence which she claimed was overlooked by administrators who didn't care if injury were to befall an atheist. In 1963 this suit (amalgamated with the similar Abington School District v. Schempp) reached the United States Supreme Court which voted 8-1 in her favor, effectively banning 'coercive' public prayer and Bible-reading at public schools in the United States. Public opinion was such that in 1964 Life magazine referred to Madalyn Murray as the most hated woman in America.

Related Topics:
1960 - Murray v. Curtlett - Baltimore, Maryland - Bible - 1963 - United States Supreme Court - United States - 1964 - Life magazine

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Following the Supreme Court decision Madalyn founded American Atheists, "a nationwide movement which defends the civil rights of nonbelievers, works for the separation of church and state, and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy." She acted as its first CEO before later handing the office on to her son Jon Garth.

Related Topics:
American Atheists - Civil rights - First Amendment - CEO

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In 1965 Murray married Richard O'Hair. Throughout the 1970s she publicly debated religious leaders on a variety of issues and also produced an atheist radio program in which she criticized religion and theism. She filed lawsuits on many issues over which she felt there was a collusion of church and state in violation of the Constitution.

Related Topics:
1965 - 1970s - Atheist - Radio - Religion - Theism - Constitution

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In 1980, her son William converted to Christianity and was "born again" at a Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, where he took up work as a preacher. In sermons, he accused his mother of using him as a tool in her crusade, claiming that she had lied about her reasons for filing the lawsuit against Maryland. He claimed to have never been the victim of any kind of violence at the hands of his Christian classmates, and said that the true reason for his mother filing the suit was that she possessed a deep personal hatred for followers of Christianity. William further said that her zeal against Christianity was so great that it had taken over her life and rendered her incapable of seeing other people--himself included-- as anything but either enemies or people who agreed with her every ideal. Murray called her son's conversion "unforgivable," and spoke of symbolically murdering him for what she viewed as a transgression against her: "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."

Related Topics:
1980 - Christianity - Born again - Baptist - Dallas, Texas - Preacher

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Madalyn Murray O'Hair clashed not only with religious believers but with many atheists. She expelled members of American Atheists who did not conform to her ideas of how atheists should behave. In a 1982 address she criticized a wide variety of atheists as being unacceptable, seemingly all except those whom the psychologist Abraham Maslow might have characterized as engaged in self-actualization.

Related Topics:
1982 - Psychologist - Abraham Maslow - Self-actualization

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