SETTING THE RECORD
STRAIGHT
From President Ellen Johnson
STRAIGHT
From President Ellen Johnson
February 1997
Here is the latest news on the Murray-O'Hairs. Unfortunately, by the time you read this it will be old news.
As you may have already heard, Bill Murray, the estranged son of Dr. O'Hair, filed an application in court to become the legal guardian for her and his brother Jon and Dr. O'Hair's daughter Robin.
An attorney ad litem, named Stephen Jody Helman, was appointed by the probate court to represent the best interests of the Murray-O'Hairs. The attorney ad litem is independent from the guardian, because the best interests of the Murray-O'Hairs are not necessarily the same as their legal interests. One of his jobs is to make recommendations to the court on who the guardian should be. He had serious problems with allowing Bill Murray to become the guardian.
Bill subsequently withdrew his application for guardianship because of his concerns over continuing costs to him and because, as the applicant, he would have had to incur the costs of a private investigator requested by Mr. Helman, to determine whether or not the Murray-O'Hairs are in fact missing. Some of you have expressed concerns that Bill could somehow, if he became guardian, get control of the American Atheists organization. The answer is no, he couldn't, because the personal property of the Murray-O'Hairs is in no way connected to the American Atheists organization.
We are quite pleased that Mr. Helman was not inclined to approve of Bill Murray as guardian - considering his background. Bill is a Christian (well maybe, maybe not) who ignores the fifth commandment to "honor thy mother and father." As a matter of fact, he makes money defaming his family in his books and church-basement appearances. Yet his ethical Atheist family has always had the decency not to reply in kind.
There is a tendency these days for people to blame their failings in life on everyone but themselves. They portray themselves as "victims" of everything from alcohol abuse, bad childhoods, and even "the devil" himself. Bill is one such person. He claims that he's not responsible for his problems in life - but his mother and Atheism are. His whining attitude is becoming quite tiresome. It takes a big man to accept responsibility for his actions. Atheists do.
The media still remain focused almost exclusively on the missing Murray-O'Hairs. We keep plodding away with the work of American Atheists, as the media ignore our press releases. As of this writing we have issued six press releases on various state-church separation issues this year alone. Have you heard or read anything about them? Probably not.
This is why we refuse to discuss the family with the media most of the time. If we talk about the family they won't report on our work. If they will report on our work, and we see or hear it, then we will talk about the O'Hairs with them. A little quid pro quo here. Our state directors are knee-deep in issues in Utah, Hawaii, Texas, Nebraska, and Rhode Island, and they are not getting the media coverage they deserve. You all know that in America the Atheist point of view is not welcome. But we will not be mired down in the media's fascination with gossip. So we implore all of you who think the issues of Atheism and state-church separation are important not to talk about the O'Hairs if asked by the media. Insist that they cover the constitutional problems we expose. Help our state directors and volunteers to get the coverage they deserve. Give the media a copy of this newsletter and ask them to pick any one of the issues in it and report our involvement.
It amazes me that our members and members of other freethought groups think so little about the cause that they would rather talk about anything but the problems we address in America. If the media give us what we want and deserve, that is, fair and adequate coverage of the issues we address, then and only then will be happy to talk about the family.
Recently, Time magazine did an article on the missing family. As has been the case with so many other articles on the subject, Time gave a platform for Bill Murray's fantastic and distorted views of things. It trumpeted Bill's incredible assertion that someone is still cashing his mother's Social Security and Veterans Administration checks, and that someone is placing charges of about $1,000 a month on Robin's American Express Gold Card. Time appears not to have asked him for any proof of these claims. Worse yet, it seems not to have asked him how he could have been in a position to obtain such information. Instead of saying "Where's the proof?" Time and the rest of the media seem only interested in printing what they hope will be a marketable story.
While there are many annoying points in the article that I forbear to dignify with a reply, there is one major misrepresentation that I must address here. We find there is an attempt at historical revisionism by people who want to deny the contribution of Dr. O'Hair in removing forced prayer from the public schools. Time reports that the case of Murray v Curlett was merely "attached" to another case titled Schempp v the School District of Abington Township and others. But the case of Murray v Curlett was heard first before the United States Supreme Court (Docket number 119) and it came from petitioners who openly identified themselves as Atheists and who objected to both mandatory bible reading and prayer recitation in the Maryland public schools. Next (Docket number 142) came the case of Schempp v the School District of Abington Township and others. It was brought by petitioners who were Unitarians and objected only to the mandatory reading of the Bible. The decision that came from the Supreme Court on June 17, 1963, combined both cases and decided against both organized prayers and mandatory Bible reading. The win should have been referred to by the title of the earlier case; but, because the petitioners were Atheists, the Schempp case got the win attached to its name. The rest is history.
The whole story behind Murray v Curlett is told in An Atheist Epic: Bill Murray, The Bible And The Baltimore Board Of Education. It was written by Madalyn Murray and published in 1970. Reissued with the subtitle The Complete Unexpurgated Story of How Bible and Prayers Were Removed From the Public Schools of the United States, it is still available from American Atheist Press.
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