AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org
http://www.atheists.org/action/lieberman.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCT. 27, 2000

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


         IN WAKE OF LIEBERMAN "FAITH" TALK AT NOTRE DAME, ATHEISTS
                    STEP UP CAMPAIGN TO CONTACT JOE
  "There Are Over 26,000,000 Secular Americans," Says Atheist President,
         "and Sen. Joseph Lieberman Needs To Hear From Them..."

    A new effort is underway to flood Sen. Joseph Lieberman's Washington,
D.C. office with phone calls, faxes, e-mails and letters after his talk
Tuesday at Notre Dame University.  In a campaign address, Lieberman again
told Americans that they do not enjoy "freedom from religion," and suggested
that the United States is a nation founded upon Judeo-Christian principles.
    "Mr. Lieberman has his facts wrong," said Ellen Johnson, President of
American Atheists.  "He is also insulting the ten percent of Americans who
profess no religious belief; he is calling for a confrontation between
ecumenical religion and secularism, and the First Amendment is very much at
risk."
    Ms. Johnson's group, American Atheists, has launched a new "Contact Joe
Lieberman" campaign and asks that Atheists -- and anyone else who supports
the separation of church and state in America -- write, fax or call the
Senator's office to express their concerns.  Members of the organization are
being sent a special letter to mail to Lieberman, and there is also an
on-line e-mail anyone can sign at the group's website:

http://www.atheists.org/action/lieberman.html

    "We find it offensive that major political candidates are continually
preaching at us, telling us to worship, and then suggesting that Americans
don't enjoy freedom from religion," said Ms. Johnson.  "Many of the founders
of this country rejected orthodox Christianity and other religions.  They
also based many of the founding principles of this nation on the
Enlightenment, which valued secularism, Reason and freedom -- and not
religious superstitions."
    Ron Barrier, National Spokesperson, said that if any political candidate
should be sensitive to the need for separation of church and state, it should
be Joseph Lieberman, who wears his Orthodox Judaism on his sleeve.
    "Anti-Semitism is rooted in Christianity," said Barrier, "and no single
group has been persecuted, excluded and stereotyped in such a despicable
fashion over such a long period of time.  Lieberman should be doing all he
can to defend the separation of church and state, and not be inviting
sectarian groups to have more control over the lives of the American people,
and quench their financial appetite at the public trough."

                                 **

American Atheists is a nationwide organization dedicated to protecting the
civil rights of nonbelievers, First Amendment public policy concerns, and the
separation of church and state.

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