American atheists

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The American Atheists (German: American Atheists ) are an American organization that campaigns for the rights of atheists and advocates a complete separation of church and state . It has become known, among other things, through a series of legal proceedings in which public institutions have been accused of violating the principle of the separation of religion and state through religious practices, for example through prayers in schools or the phrase " In God We Trust " in dollars Bills and coins.

founding

American Atheists was founded in 1963 by Madalyn Murray O'Hair . After she was assassinated in 1995, Ellen Johnson assumed the presidency. On April 29, 2008, Ellen Johnson was removed from office as president in a conference call by the board and affiliated cooperatives for reasons that were not specified. American Atheists has approximately 2,200 members and is based in Cranford, New Jersey .

Torcaso versus Watkins

As early as 1961, later members of the AA had achieved legal success. The United States Supreme Court had ruled Maryland's Torcaso v. Watkins repealed. Accordingly, the legal requirement that whoever wants to hold public office must believe in God would be declared unconstitutional. According to the Supreme Court, this would violate the first amendment to the constitution. This decision is also used in favor of the effectiveness of non-religious oaths. Even today, several states require in their constitutions ( Arkansas , Article 19, Section 1; Maryland , Article 37; Mississippi , Article 14, Section 265; South Carolina , Article 17, Section 4; Tennessee , Article 9, Section 2; Texas , Article 1, Section 4) that belief in God is a prerequisite for holding a public office, but these laws no longer exist.

Legal proceedings initiated by the AA (selection)

Even before the founding of the AA, Madalyn Murray O'Hair had started a legal battle in 1960, in which she was ultimately right - her son Bill should not have to attend Bible readings at school. The case went to the Supreme Court and was later named Abington School District v. Schempp known.

  • Murray v. Curlett (1963): Protesting Bible Study in Maryland Public Schools .
  • Murray v. United States (1964): Attempt to get the Federal Communications Commission to give atheist programs the same airtime as religious programs on the radio.
  • Murray v. Nixon (1970): Protest against weekly church services in the White House .
  • O'Hair v. Paine (1971): Protest against NASA astronauts reading Bible verses during a live broadcast.
  • O'Hair v. Cooke (1977): Protest against prayers being held at the opening of the Austin, Texas city council meeting.
  • O'Hair v. Blumenthal (1978): Protest against the use of "In God We Trust" on state currency.
  • O'Hair v. Hill (1978): Protest against the Texas Constitution making belief in God a requirement for employment for civil servants.
  • O'Hair v. Andrus (1979): Protest against the provision of facilities of a national park for a papal mass in Washington, DC
  • O'Hair v. Clements (1980): Protest against the Nativity Play on display at the Austin , Texas Capitol .

Atheist monument

In May 2013, the American Atheists reached an agreement with Bradford County, Florida , to erect an atheist monument, the first of its kind, on public land in addition to a monument containing the Ten Commandments. The monument is made of a heavy block of granite on which quotations from Thomas Jefferson , Madalyn Murray O'Hair , Benjamin Franklin and John Adams are engraved. John Adams' quote "The United States is in no sense founded on the Christian religion" ( The United States is based in any way on the Christian religion ) that from the Treaty of Tripoli comes, is scratched, as well as points from the Bible describing crimes worthy of death.

President of the American Atheists

Surname Term of office
David Silverman 2010 – today
Ed Buckner 2008-2010
Frank Zindler 2008 ( interim )
Ellen Johnson 1995-2008
Jon Garth Murray 1986–1995 ( de jure )
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
 1963–1986 ( de jure )
1986–1995 ( de facto )

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ellis M. West: Religious Tests of Office Holding . In: Finkelman, Paul (Ed.): Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties . CRC Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-415-94342-0 , pp. 1314-5.
  2. ^ Davison M. Douglas: Belief-Action Distinction in Free Exercise Clause History . In: Finkelman, Paul (Ed.): Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties . CRC Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-415-94342-0 , p. 119.
  3. ↑ Michal R. Belknap: The Supreme Court Under Earl Warren, 1953-1969 . Univ. of South Carolina Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-57003-563-0 .
  4. ^ Dan Friedman: The Maryland State Constitution: A Reference Guide . Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, ISBN 978-0-313-32044-6 , p. 44.
  5. ↑ Constitution of Arkansas'
  6. ↑ Texas Constitution '
  7. ^ Constitution of Maryland
  8. ↑ / Constitution of South Carolina
  9. ^ Constitution of Tennessee
  10. ↑ Mississippi constitution ( Memento of October 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Press Release: Atheists to Unveil Florida Courthouse Monument . In: American Atheists . May 29, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
  12. ↑ Gryboski, Michael: Fla. Courthouse to Have First in the Nation Atheist Monument . In: Christian Post . May 30, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  13. ↑ Report from the site atheists.com (Engl.)

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