AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2000

http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org

               SUPREME COURT RULING ON FOOTBALL PRAYER AFFIRMS
                      SEPARATION SAY AMERICAN ATHEISTS
  Majority-Rule Religion, endorsed by George W. Bush, violates Constitution

    American Atheists praised the 6-3 ruling today from the U.S. Supreme
Court which declared "student-led prayer" at high school athletic events to
be unconstitutional.  The decision in SANTA FE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
v. DOE examined a policy which called upon students to elect a "speaker" who
delivered an invocation over the school public address system.
    Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, opined that the
policy conveyed an impression of government endorsement of religion.
    "This is a vindication of the decisions like MURRAY v. CURLETT  from the
early 1960's which ended government prayer bullying in the classrooms,"
declared a happy Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists.  "Supporters
of school prayer tried to make an end run around the First Amendment by
sneaking sectarian religion into school-sponsored activities like football
games. The court saw through that ruse!"
    Ms. Johnson noted that the court majority rejected arguments of Pat
Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice, that the prayer was,
somehow, an expression of "free speech."
    "It's clear that the only speech the prayer advocates wanted was
religious speech," said Ms. Johnson.  She noted that Justice John Paul
Stevens', who authored the majority opinion, observed that "the only type of
message" that was permitted was an "invocation -- a term that primarily
describes an appeal for divine assistance."
    "No matter how the ACLJ and other prayer boosters argue their case, it's
obvious that these 'invocations' and 'messages' they wanted students to
deliver were just shabby excuses for majority-rule religion," said Ron
Barrier, National Media Spokesperson for American Atheists.  "The Texas
policy, endorsed by Gov. George W. Bush, was just an excuse to move
Christianity into a position of public dominance, and compel everyone to
listen to and participate, even unwillingly, in Christian rituals," he
added.
    Ms. Johnson said that today's decision "is another step forward in
protecting the rights  of American children to be free of harassment,
intimidation, as well as  'excommunication' from their communities by not
having to participate in public prayer."
    "Christian groups, as well as other religious groups, should not be
using public facilities and events to coerce citizens, especially children,
to acknowledge a particular deity or participate in a specific religious
requirement."

For more information, please contact:
Ellen Johnson, President        (973) 334-5110
Ron Barrier, Spokesperson       (718) 967-6453

American Atheists, Inc.
P.O. Box 5733
Parsippany, NJ 07054-6733
Tel: (908) 276-7300
Fax: (908) 276-7402