John Whitehead's Commentary
Madalyn Murray O'Hair: Still A Myth After All These Years
Not long ago, there were two entities that embodied the essence of evil for many evangelical Christians--Satan and Madalyn Murray O'Hair. Known as "the most hated woman in America," O'Hair, an avowed atheist, made it her life's goal to debunk what she believed were the harmful myths of the Bible. "This religion gives you goals which are outside of reality," she proclaimed in a 1986 speech at Memphis State University. "It enriches your fantasy life with ugliness. It constricts you with fear. Christianity in its essence is nuts."
I had a personal encounter with O'Hair in 1979 in a televised debate in Miami. The issue up for grabs was Christian virtues and their involvement in public schools. O'Hair did not simply see the event as a debate but as a chance to further her crusade to rid the planet of Christianity. She was a tough opponent and ahead of her time in one respect--she understood television. Thus, she came equipped with a barrage of one-liners designed to drive her point home. And there were no human niceties with her--she didn't want to shake my hand or chat with me either before or after the show. To her, I was the enemy.
Who was this hated woman who so fiercely hated? Born in 1919, she had a law degree but never passed the bar exam. O'Hair became an avid socialist who attempted to defect to the Soviet Union in 1960. She actually flew to the Soviet Embassy in Paris, but the Soviets denied her entry.
O'Hair supported the various liberation movements of the fifties and sixties. Supposedly one of Jon Murray's earliest memories was accompanying his mother on a picket line, demanding that blacks be permitted into a local restaurant.
O'Hair first surfaced as a personality four decades ago. On June 17, 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Abington School District v. Schempp, banned mandatory prayer and Bible reading in public schools. Although she was not involved in the decision, O'Hair was a secondary litigant in a companion case, Murray v. Curlett, which the Supreme Court consolidated with Schempp. Thus, O'Hair's role in any relevant Supreme Court cases was minimal. In fact, had she never existed or had her case never come up, the outcome of Schempp would have been exactly the same.
Nevertheless, the myth was thereafter created that O'Hair was responsible for driving prayer and Bible reading from America's public schools. Nothing, however, could have been further from the truth.
But O'Hair wore her myth well. She developed a personal style of confrontational, philosophical activism that kept her before the public eye--often with the help of evangelical Christian groups that now had a bogeyman. And as irrational fear and hatred were whipped up against her, it is not surprising that O'Hair alone was blamed for eliminating Christian practices from the public schools. Keen on her celebrity, however, O'Hair did nothing to dissuade the notion.
By 1963, the time was not only ripe for change in the public schools but the nation as well. America was on the cusp of a bevy of movements that were to literally change the face of the country. The Protestant ethic that had once determined American values and ruled in public education was one of the first to crumble. Moreover, forced prayer and Bible reading clearly alienated the Jews and other minority religions. Thus, these practices were doomed in a generation of young people who were throwing off the shackles of the establishment--including the church.
One of the most bizarre elements of the O'Hair myth was the rumor that she had filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission to eliminate all religious broadcasting from the airways--both television and radio--and that she had managed to get a bill introduced in Congress to rid the airways of religious broadcasters. Groups such as the National Religious Broadcasters, the National Association of Evangelicals and others alerted their contributors and adherents that O'Hair was at it again. And by 1989, the FCC had received some 25 million letters protesting O'Hair's underhanded deed.
The truth is that a petition had been filed with the FCC in 1974 in a struggle to obtain airtime for minority groups--something O'Hair had nothing to do with. It had been discovered that religious institutions were rapidly swallowing up all the educational FM and TV channels. The FCC was asked to regulate the religious entry into the communications market so that minority groups would have a chance to obtain access.
Not to be outdone, O'Hair kept up her rhapsody of angst. Shortly after the Supreme Court's 1963 ruling on prayer and Bible reading, O'Hair fled to Mexico to escape charges of assaulting five Baltimore cops. By 1977, she had moved to Texas and was arrested for disrupting an Austin City Council meeting. Then, in 1978, O'Hair won a lawsuit against the state of Texas to abolish a requirement that public officials swear their belief in a Supreme Being--something the Supreme Court had ruled unconstitutional in 1961.
The first real hiccup in O'Hair's campaign against evangelical Christianity came in 1980 when William Murray, her oldest child, became a "born again" Christian. Even this did not deter her. By 1988, O'Hair had founded American Atheists, Inc. Based in Austin, this group published a magazine and spewed forth propaganda on behalf of a movement that, while on the fringe, had made some headway in American culture.
By the early nineties, O'Hair was an established part of the media-crazed landscape. But then she, her son Jon and her granddaughter Robin mysteriously disappeared in 1995, along with $500,000 in gold coins. Many perceived them to be dead, victims of foul play. And in January 2001, federal agents found the severed bones and charred clothing of the three missing atheists on a remote Texas ranch outside San Antonio.
Dead or alive, O'Hair was right about at least one thing--we live in a twisted, chaotic world where things simply do not seem to make sense most of the time. But is this life a dead end? "No prayer you ever said, no outcry you ever made to God has ever been heard or answered," O'Hair once told an audience. "Life is what you have--death can give you nothing." Except, as in the case of O'Hair, more press and notoriety.
I had a personal encounter with O'Hair in 1979 in a televised debate in Miami. The issue up for grabs was Christian virtues and their involvement in public schools. O'Hair did not simply see the event as a debate but as a chance to further her crusade to rid the planet of Christianity. She was a tough opponent and ahead of her time in one respect--she understood television. Thus, she came equipped with a barrage of one-liners designed to drive her point home. And there were no human niceties with her--she didn't want to shake my hand or chat with me either before or after the show. To her, I was the enemy.
Who was this hated woman who so fiercely hated? Born in 1919, she had a law degree but never passed the bar exam. O'Hair became an avid socialist who attempted to defect to the Soviet Union in 1960. She actually flew to the Soviet Embassy in Paris, but the Soviets denied her entry.
O'Hair supported the various liberation movements of the fifties and sixties. Supposedly one of Jon Murray's earliest memories was accompanying his mother on a picket line, demanding that blacks be permitted into a local restaurant.
O'Hair first surfaced as a personality four decades ago. On June 17, 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Abington School District v. Schempp, banned mandatory prayer and Bible reading in public schools. Although she was not involved in the decision, O'Hair was a secondary litigant in a companion case, Murray v. Curlett, which the Supreme Court consolidated with Schempp. Thus, O'Hair's role in any relevant Supreme Court cases was minimal. In fact, had she never existed or had her case never come up, the outcome of Schempp would have been exactly the same.
Nevertheless, the myth was thereafter created that O'Hair was responsible for driving prayer and Bible reading from America's public schools. Nothing, however, could have been further from the truth.
But O'Hair wore her myth well. She developed a personal style of confrontational, philosophical activism that kept her before the public eye--often with the help of evangelical Christian groups that now had a bogeyman. And as irrational fear and hatred were whipped up against her, it is not surprising that O'Hair alone was blamed for eliminating Christian practices from the public schools. Keen on her celebrity, however, O'Hair did nothing to dissuade the notion.
By 1963, the time was not only ripe for change in the public schools but the nation as well. America was on the cusp of a bevy of movements that were to literally change the face of the country. The Protestant ethic that had once determined American values and ruled in public education was one of the first to crumble. Moreover, forced prayer and Bible reading clearly alienated the Jews and other minority religions. Thus, these practices were doomed in a generation of young people who were throwing off the shackles of the establishment--including the church.
One of the most bizarre elements of the O'Hair myth was the rumor that she had filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission to eliminate all religious broadcasting from the airways--both television and radio--and that she had managed to get a bill introduced in Congress to rid the airways of religious broadcasters. Groups such as the National Religious Broadcasters, the National Association of Evangelicals and others alerted their contributors and adherents that O'Hair was at it again. And by 1989, the FCC had received some 25 million letters protesting O'Hair's underhanded deed.
The truth is that a petition had been filed with the FCC in 1974 in a struggle to obtain airtime for minority groups--something O'Hair had nothing to do with. It had been discovered that religious institutions were rapidly swallowing up all the educational FM and TV channels. The FCC was asked to regulate the religious entry into the communications market so that minority groups would have a chance to obtain access.
Not to be outdone, O'Hair kept up her rhapsody of angst. Shortly after the Supreme Court's 1963 ruling on prayer and Bible reading, O'Hair fled to Mexico to escape charges of assaulting five Baltimore cops. By 1977, she had moved to Texas and was arrested for disrupting an Austin City Council meeting. Then, in 1978, O'Hair won a lawsuit against the state of Texas to abolish a requirement that public officials swear their belief in a Supreme Being--something the Supreme Court had ruled unconstitutional in 1961.
The first real hiccup in O'Hair's campaign against evangelical Christianity came in 1980 when William Murray, her oldest child, became a "born again" Christian. Even this did not deter her. By 1988, O'Hair had founded American Atheists, Inc. Based in Austin, this group published a magazine and spewed forth propaganda on behalf of a movement that, while on the fringe, had made some headway in American culture.
By the early nineties, O'Hair was an established part of the media-crazed landscape. But then she, her son Jon and her granddaughter Robin mysteriously disappeared in 1995, along with $500,000 in gold coins. Many perceived them to be dead, victims of foul play. And in January 2001, federal agents found the severed bones and charred clothing of the three missing atheists on a remote Texas ranch outside San Antonio.
Dead or alive, O'Hair was right about at least one thing--we live in a twisted, chaotic world where things simply do not seem to make sense most of the time. But is this life a dead end? "No prayer you ever said, no outcry you ever made to God has ever been heard or answered," O'Hair once told an audience. "Life is what you have--death can give you nothing." Except, as in the case of O'Hair, more press and notoriety.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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