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

http://www.atheists.org                               For Immediate Release
PRESS RELEASE                                         June 26, 1997

            Atheists Charge Christian Coalition "Hypocrites"
                    For Stances on RFRA, and CDA
 "Big government is not big enough" when Christian agenda is involved!

    American Atheists today charged that the Christian Coalition is exercising
"selective indignation" in denouncing the Supreme Court decisions striking
down the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Communications Decency Act.
    "When religious groups are made to obey the same laws as the rest of us,
it's denounced as an attack on religious beliefs," observed Ellen Johnson,
President of American Atheists.  "But today, the Christian Coalition criticizes
the high court for striking a major blow against government intrusion into our
lives when it rendered the Communications Decency Act unconstitutional."
    Ron Barrier, National Spokesperson for American Atheists, charged that Pat
Robertson ahd his group "want to have it both ways."
    "For groups like the Christian Coalition, big government is not big enough
when their theopolitical agenda is concerned.  Unlike "people of faith,"
Atheist parents are more than capable of supervising our children on the
Internet without assistance from either the federal government or Don Hodel."
    Mr. Barrier added that the Coalition and other extremist groups are
"hypocrites" who will gladly use the government if it guarantees them "special
rights."
    "Under the excuse of 'protecting children' and 'fighting smut,' the
religious right can't have enough big government in attempting to reduce the
internet to the level of a third grade mentality and creating a legal caste
system by which religions have 'special rights' the rest of us cannot enjoy.
The Christian Coalition and other radical groups are the direct threats to
our most basic freedoms of speech, thought and inquiry, not the courts."
    "Besides," commented Mr. Barrier, "Don Hodel should study the Declaration
of Independence before misquoting it in public.  Such deception underlines
his lack of understanding of the First Amendment and exposes the Christian
Coalition's radical agenda."

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