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The Atheist

The Atheist. Madalyn Murray O’Hair. By: Dana Disteldorf. “The Most Hated Woman in America” . “An Atheist believes that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow, can he find the understanding that will help him to a life of fulfillment.”

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The Atheist

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  1. The Atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair By: Dana Disteldorf “The Most Hated Woman in America”

  2. “An Atheist believes that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow, can he find the understanding that will help him to a life of fulfillment.” – Murray O’Hair Why am I an Atheist What does an Atheist Believe?

  3. Madalyn & Family • Father Presbyterian ; Mother Lutheran • Baptized Presbyterian in 1923 • All of her relationships were tested by personality. • Throughout her whole life she would have strained relationship " Most of the hostility between mother and daughter, as well as father and daughter, grew out of their disapproval of her personal behavior and the public causes she advocated, and the attention she attracted as a result" (Beau, 25). “…now I hated my mothers guts…” (Murray O’Hair)

  4. Pathway to Atheism After reading the Bible at the age of 13 cover to cover, O’Hair “‘realized it was a perfectly bizarre book.’”…this was just the start of Madalyn’s unbelief. Strong Personality related to job loss Education- always seeking something, wanting more to the meaning of her life Led Madalyn Murray O’Hair to her cause in 1958 when she heard her son, William saying the Lord’s prayer at school. O’Hair justified her social violates because society was "an irrational, inhumane, repressive, and authoritarian state unduly and unconstitutionally influenced by organized religion, the result of which was truly immoral. Murray set out to undermine every aspect of that repressive system, especially religion, which she identified as the principal source of her condemnation…” (Beau, 15).

  5. The Case that… William sparked his mother to find her calling, fighting for what she believed in… Launched into trying to remove public prayer and reading of the Bible in public schools across the nation due to it violations of the Constitution. • On the grounds that…"The petition stated, among other things, that William's religious liberty was being threatened by favoring belief as against non belief." • Murray v. Curlett case was taken to the Supreme Court on December 8, 1960 and was ruled in favor of Murray on February 26, 1963, the beginning of official separation from church and state. That changed it all

  6. All for the Cause… Complete Separation of Church & State

  7. Due to its prominent representation in the U.S. Madalyn Murray O’Hair attacked Catholicism often (Beau, 217). "O'Hair argued that religion consisted of four elements that held the minds of man in captivity: "'recognizing a higher power, person or entity; supplication or propitiating that power; having that power intervene in your behalf in your life,' and believing that 'continued existence after death is assured to you on a reward or punishment basis‘” (Beau, 220) Liberating oneself from social construction relates to Sarte and Existentialism “‘If there were no gods, men would have to invent some to fill their needs’” (Beau, 220). Relates to Freud’s theory of the neurosis Perception of Religion

  8. Action vs. Inaction • Jean-Paul hardly ever acts or takes initiative in this novel. • O’Hair Associates inaction with religion • Education • Jean-Paul puts himself above everyone education wise • 1964 Life Magazine: "'Compared to most cud-chewing, small-talking, stupid American woman, I'm a brain. We might as well admit it, I'm a genius” (Beau, 29). Young Man in Chains

  9. O’Hair: Fan of Nietzsche • Quoted Nietzsche frequently…. • In his novel The Antichrist (1895) "'Neither as an ethical code nor as religion has Christianity any point of contact with things as they actually are. It is concerned with fantastic causes…and it is concern with fantastic effects'" (Beau, 221) • Nietzsche also wrote, about God "'as a deity of the sick, god as a spinner of cobwebs, god as a ghost, and one of the most corrupt ideas that has ever been generated on earth'" (Beau, 222). • O’Hair personally acknowledged that priests or ministers could do good works but the institution was faulty (Beau, 223).

  10. Madalyn Murray O’Hair along with her son, Jon and her granddaughter, Robin went missing on August 28th, 1995 when they were suppose to be protested Pope JP II’s visit to the United States. The last communication from them was receive September 28th , however their bodies were not found until years later in 2000. What Happened to the Most Well Know Atheist?

  11. Works Cited Beau, Bryan F. The Atheist: Madalyn Murray O’Hair. New York University Press. New York, 2003. Youtube.com: Madalyn Murray O’Hair- Interviews and News • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e82NiDtHFdo • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-LCTpxWnUA&feature=BF&list=PL633595CAB566C94D&index=7 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8prxN4mf00&feature=related Dec. 9, 2010

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