American Atheist Newsletter
July 1996
FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS PRESIDENT ELLEN JOHNSONDear American Atheists Supporter:
It has been a long time since you have received a newsletter from American Atheists. It certainly has been a very strange past eleven months for all of us, and there is a lot of catching up to do. So I'll get right to it.
The Disappearance
The Murray-O'Hairs have been gone since September of 1995. Since then a number of concerned members have raised questions about that incident, as well as about the future of this organization. A review of the chronology of events is necessary here. On September 4, 1996, the members of the Murray-O'Hair family left their home in Austin, Texas. After a few days, several board members noticed that no one in the General Headquarters was answering phone calls, returning messages, or even responding to e-mail or FAXes. It soon became apparent that the Murray-O'Hairs were not at the GHQ and had not given advance notice of their departure to the employees or the board of directors.
Several days later, I did talk to the Murray-O'Hairs on their car phone and inquired as to what was happening. Jon Murray responded that "It's too complicated to explain now, but we'll have a conference call with the board members when we get back and explain everything." I spoke with all three family members several times during the month of September as we planned for the picket of the pope in New York City.
About this time, Spike Tyson, the TV Forum Coordinator at Atheist GHQ, received mailed instructions from Jon Murray to open the building and keep the TV Forum shows going. Board member Conrad Goeringer and I asked employees such as Spike if they had noticed anything unusual about the situation at the GHQ immediately prior to the disappearance of the family. We found no tangible evidence of anything which could help us in understanding what had taken place. There was no evidence of foul play in the offices or anywhere else that we knew the family had been. There was only the regular business-related paperwork on their desks. Additionally, the family left in the middle of a number of important projects they had been hard at work on, including a new issue of the American Atheist magazine (which has now been sent out), a bulk-mailing to the East Coast about the upcoming picket of Pope John Paul II, several book production contracts, and an important speaking engagement. Robin Murray-O'Hair was in the middle of a number of Internet-related projects, including the establishment of an independent site for American Atheists on the World-Wide Web. In addition, they were expecting delivery of a new computerized typesetting system for the production of books and other printed materials. Bank accounts for the organization were left untouched, with moneys intact, and we found a small pile of money orders and checks for books and other products, which we have since filled.
What Might Have Happened
and Why
and Why
Not surprisingly, this affair has attracted considerable attention from the media and from members and critics of American Atheists. I personally nave been surprised by the proclivity and skill of the "tabloid trash" segment of the media to fabricate whole stories with minimal hard evidence and copious speculation, musings, and unfounded accusations. It's too bad that we are not able to obtain comparable interest and coverage when we discuss legitimate and substantive issues such as school prayer, censorship, Atheism, and other related topics!
There has been speculation that:
• Madalyn O'Hair is seriously ill and did not want religious groups exploiting her death. While such exploitation was a very real concern for her, we have not found evidence that she had suffered any acute, serious health-related set-back. Those of us who know her well know that she would never let her health alone bring down the organization she worked half of her lifetime on. She probably would pull the plug first.
• The family was the victim of foul play. Heretofore we have not been convinced that foul play was involved in their disappearance. But eleven months later they are still gone, and now we are not so sure. We are becoming very worried about their welfare. If they were safe, we really think they would have contacted us by now. So we are beginning to fear the worst. Contemplating this possibility is as distressing to us as it is to you.
• The family left the organization suddenly for New Zealand. We don't know where they are, but it probably isn't New Zealand, since they left their current passports at home.
It is important for you to be assured that we have been diligently looking for them, having gone to considerable lengths. Since our searches are on-going, we need complete confidentiality and therefore cannot go into details at this time.
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