AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
                P.O. Box 140195  Austin, TX 78714-0195
                           (512) 458-1244

For Immediate Release                               http://www.atheists.org
May 12, 1997               PRESS RELEASE

              GINGRICH "FAITH-BASED SOCIETY" IS THREAT
                   TO FIRST AMENDMENT LIBERTY

    American Atheists today charged that House Speaker Newt Gingrich's call
for a "faith-based society" and government aid to religious groups is a
threat to state-church separation and First Amendment civil liberties.
    In a speech last week to the National Religious Broadcasters, Mr. Gingrich
called the vision of a secular society a "hopeless, empty desert of despair."
American Atheists National Media Coordinator Ron Barrier retorted, "The only
'empty desert of despair' is Mr. Gingrich himself  A man who is in trouble
with the House Ethics Committee over improper use of funds is in no position
to pontificate on ethics to anyone."  Mr. Gingrich also announced his support
for the latest Religious Freedom Amendment which would unleash prayer and
other religious entertainment in school classrooms and other government
venues.  He also called for government-funded "chastity programs," and the
death penalty for drug users.
    "Speaker Gingrich has put the First Amendment and state-church separation
at risk with these proposals," charged Mr. Barrier.  "Here's a political
conservative who ostensibly believes in getting government off our backs, but
instead he wants to put the church and the state into our bedrooms, classrooms
and neighborhoods."
    American Atheists President Ellen Johnson took Mr. Gingrich to task for
another program he announced at the Broadcaster's annual prayer breakfast;
the Speaker said that his staff was putting together a "Tour Guide for the
Faith of the Founders."
    "Any 'tour guide' concerned with the faith of our founding fathers written
by the religious right will be a misrepresentation and a re-writing to suit
their sectarian agenda.  We suggest Mr. Gingrich contact American Atheists
for the actual history," offered Ms. Johnson.
    "Newt Gingrich is not only endangering civil liberties," said Mr. Barrier,
"he's ignoring the 10% of the American population who are Atheists, agnostics,
or religious skeptics of some kind.  Most of these 26,000,000 citizens play
by the rules, pay taxes, own businesses and hold down jobs.  They raise
families and contribute to their community.  But when Gingrich says we need
to 'reassert the centrality of faith,' he's insulting a huge segment of the
American people."

For more information please contact:
Ms. Ellen Johnson, President   (201)334-4033    Email: ej@atheists.org
Mr. Ronald Barrier, NMC        (718)356-8658    Email:rbarrier@atheists.org