Madelyn Murray O’Hair, who was recently on the TC campus, is once again up to her old tricks, this time in her hometown of Austin, Texas.
O’Hair claims that the city has forced her adopted daughter out of the Austin public school system. Therefore, the atheist has waged war upon the citizens of the city of Austin and the state of Texas.
In recent weeks, O’Hair has made her presence regrettably known by storming church bingo parties, destroying playing materials, and attempting to make a citizen’s arrest of those involved in the activities.
O’Hair was arrested in another one of her wild fiascos involving a meeting of the Austin City Council in which she repeatedly interrupted the invocation, arguing that the prayer was unconstitutional, and it was her duty as an attorney to stop it. She was taken to jail but refused to undergo fingerprinting procedures until a district judge ordered her to do so.
O’Hair, who often rips apart the Bible on her speaking tours, has not only received degradation for such actions from the American public, but has also received conflict from her family. Her own son publicly denounced her and has more recently brought suit against her in defense of a woman the atheist attorney has accused of stealing from her American Atheist Center.
O’Hair has now asked to be on the agenda for the next seven Austin City Council meetings to protest items she says involves separation of church and state.
O’Hair is perhaps best known for her surprising victory in the Supreme Court decision to ban prayer in public schools. She says her next nation-wide campaign is to have “In God We Trust” removed from the national currency.
It is Madelyn Murray O’Hair’s right to believe as she sees fit; but to violate the freedom of others to believe and worship as they see fit is not her right. Her constant interruptions in church services, social gatherings, and public meetings is destructive, not productive, and there is an obvious difference. America was settled in hopes of religious freedom to worship as one chooses. It is true that in earlier times one was forced by law to at least publicly believe in God. However, in modern times man may choose his beliefs for himself. Actions such as Madelyn Murray O’Hair’s are an attempt to violate that freedom. Hopefully, she will not succeed in her violation of others’ rights.