The Woman that Hated God

Her Gruesome End

Madalyn Murray O'Hair

I remember as a young boy in the early 1960’s while attending grade school
the early morning start to our school day. We would say a short prayer and the
teacher would select a student to read a small portion of the Bible to the class of
their choosing (I always chose Psalms). Then we would stand and while facing the
American flag and holding our right hand over our heart recite the pledge of
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Within a couple of years as I
recall this customary tradition ceased.

I vaguely remember asking a teacher why we stopped reading from the Bible
and saying a daily prayer and was told,”Because the government said we can’t any
more.” I was just a child and didn’t understand the whys and reason behind this
change. I just accepted it. I guess to a child if grownups make this decision for us it
must be correct. I didn’t understand that there was a progressive movement abreast
that wanted to destroy the framework of long standing American culture.

Today students in our “educational” system don’t even have to say the
pledge of allegiance if they don’t want to. High School football coaches are fired
from their jobs if they dare to lead their team in a team prayer before a game.

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Students today are taught to respect the cultures and religions of foreigners but not
our own Judeo-Christian heritage. Why even witchcraft and pagan ritualistic
religions are held in high esteem for their “contributions” to mankind.

Behind this progressive movement to eradicate God and moralistic virtues

from our culture is the joint effort to destroy the building block of any great society,
- the family unit. They teach that a child belongs to “the village” concept and the
abrogation of parenthood as an authority in the child’s life. And the coup de grace
to end the American family unit is the open teaching of sex in any manner or act
that pleases the parties involved. Homosexuality, underage sexual activity,
pornography,-whatever one wishes to indulge in is acceptable and is not to be
judged as immoral by others. I remember just a few years ago my 6th grade eleven
year old daughter bringing a permission slip home from her school health class
asking if it was OK to teach her about oral sex! What happened to dodge ball and
proper eating habits with diet being taught may I ask?

Why has this happened to America? Most assume that our Constitution
provides separation of church and state. That’s not what it says at all! It states that
the government will not make any laws to establish a state religion and that it would
not interfere in the free exercise of anyone’s religious faith. America was founded by
those that fled Europe that had state religions to come to the shores of America
where they could practice their own faith free of government intrusion.

Our founding fathers,-the majority of them,-were God fearing Bible

believers. Though they may have differed from one another on interpretation of
their particular tenets they all held the Bible to be the Word of God and the
framework for our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This new nation conceived in
liberty and based upon the Laws of God was to be a model for the world! And now
our leaders go to other nations and apologize for our being this America.

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 In the early 1960’s our leaders and we as a people were afraid and ashamed
to stand up for what our forefathers knew to be correct. We allowed a woman that
believed in sexual perversion and fornication to get rid of our moralistic values. Her
foaming at the mouth anti-God propaganda ushered in the sexual revolution that
has undermined parenthood and the fabric of American society. Most atheists
cannot allow a God because then they would not have free rein to practice free sex!
That may be simplistic reasoning to put that forth as the impetus behind the
progressive movement but it is the TRUTH!

Two generations have passed since this anti-God change in American society.
What are the fruits? Divorcé, single parenthood, and family break up. Politically
correct, openly “gay” activities. Teenagers in open rebellion against authority, street
gangs, alcoholism and drugs, perverted TV “shows” and movies. Violent and
perverted video “games”. Politicians and our leaders involved in adultery and
homosexual acts. Big cities alluring “customers” with gambling and prostitution.
And the murdering of our children in our educational institutions by fellow students.

We as a people threw God out of our schools and then ask “Why did God
allow this mass killing of children?” Yes why does He allow it? Examine our history
and you will know the answer. God is not mocked.

And the woman that laid the groundwork for our present corruption? Her
name was Madalyn Murray O’Hair. She with her family worked feverishly to get
God out of America. The rest of this writing is an excerpt from Wikipedia the free
Encyclopedia. You may read of her life and her “work” and her outcome. I conclude
by stating,-“That God is not mocked”!

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Early life
Madalyn Mays was born in the Beechview neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,[4]
on April 13, 1919, to Lena Christina Scholle and John Irwin "Irv" Mays.[5] As an infant,
she was baptized into the Presbyterian faith.[6] In 1937, she graduated from Rossford High
School in Rossford, Ohio.

In 1941, she married John Henry Roths. They separated when they both enlisted for
World War II service, he in the United States Marine Corps, she in the Women's Army
Corps. In April 1945, while posted to a cryptography position in Italy, she began an affair
with an officer, William J. Murray, Jr. Murray was a married Roman Catholic, and he
refused to divorce his wife. Mays divorced Roths and began calling herself Madalyn
Murray, and gave birth to a boy she named William J. Murray and nicknamed "Bill."

In 1949, Murray completed a bachelor's degree from Ashland University.[7] In 1952, she
completed a law degree from South Texas College of Law, however she failed the bar
exam and never practiced law.[4] In later writing for American Atheists, she referred to
herself as "Dr. O'Hair," likely with regard to her law degree (a juris doctorate), although
it is not standard practice for individuals in the United States with law degrees to do so.
On November 16, 1954 she gave birth to her second son Jon Garth Murray, fathered by
her boyfriend Michael Fiorillo.[3]

She and her two children traveled via ship to Europe with the intention of defecting to the
Soviet embassy in Paris and residing in the Soviet Union. The Soviets denied them entry.
[4]
Murray and her sons returned to Baltimore, Maryland in 1960.[8]

Murray stated that she worked for seventeen years as a psychiatric social worker, and that
in 1960 she was a supervisor at the Baltimore city public welfare department.[7]

[edit] Atheistic activism

Main article: Abington School District v. Schempp

In 1960, Murray filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore City Public School System, in
which she asserted that it was unconstitutional for her son William to be required to
participate in Bible readings at Baltimore public schools. In this litigation, she stated that
her son's refusal to partake in the Bible readings had resulted in bullying being directed
against him by classmates, and that administrators condoned this.[7] After consolidation
with Abington School District v. Schempp, the lawsuit reached the Supreme Court of the
United States in 1963. The Court voted 8-1 in Murray's favor, which effectively banned
coercive prayer and Bible verse recitation at public schools in the United States.
Thereafter, she declared herself to have been the leader of the movement to remove
prayer from public schools. However, her son William later noted that there were several
similar cases before the Supreme Court at the same time, and her case simply happened
to be decided first.

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[edit] Clashes with the law

Murray left Maryland in 1963 after she allegedly assaulted five Baltimore police officers
who came to her home to retrieve a runaway girl, Bill's girlfriend.[9] In 1965, she married
U.S. Marine Richard O'Hair.[7][10] Although the marriage resulted in separation, she
remained married to him until his death in 1978.[10]

O'Hair filed a lawsuit with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in regards
to the Apollo 8 Genesis reading.[11] O'Hair wished the courts to ban US astronauts—who
were all Government employees—from public prayer in outer space.[11] The case was
rejected by the US Supreme Court for lack of jurisdiction.[12]

[edit] Murray O'Hair as provocateur

O'Hair constantly challenged and publicly debated religious leaders and public figures on
a variety of issues. She described herself as a "sexual libertarian" and stated that children
in sixth grade should be given sex education and "be allowed to go at it without
supervision or restriction -- in their parents' bedroom, on the grass in a park", and so
forth.[7] She felt that relationships between people, emotional or sexual, were not open to
any kind of supervision by other people and especially not by the U.S. government.[6]

[edit] American Atheists

Main article: American Atheists
This article appears to contradict the article American Atheists. Please see
discussion on the linked talk page. Please do not remove this message until the
contradictions are resolved. (September 2009)

Following her arrival in Austin, Texas, O'Hair founded American Atheists, "a nationwide
movement which defends the civil rights of non-believers, works for the separation of
church and state and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy." She acted as
the group's first chief executive officer.

O'Hair was the voice and face of atheism in the United States during the 1960s and
1970s, therefore making her a highly controversial figure. Her son, William, described
her as, "profane and vulgar," and said his mother had several grotesque statues of mating
animals displayed in her home.[13] In a 1965 interview with Playboy Magazine, she
claimed religion was "a crutch" and an "irrational reliance on superstitions and
supernatural nonsense."[7]

In the same Playboy interview, O'Hair gave a lengthy list of alleged incidents of
harassment, intimidation and even death threats against her and her family for her views.
She read several profane letters she received in the mail, with content including one that
said, "May Jesus, who you so vigorously deny, change you into a Paul." In response,
O'Hair told the interviewer, "Isn't that lovely? Christine Jorgensen had to go to Sweden

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for an operation, but me they'll fix with faith – painlessly and for nothing." She stated that
she left Baltimore not from fear of prosecution for assaulting police officers, but instead
because of persecution from Baltimore residents, including receipt of mail containing
photos smeared with feces, the strangulation of her son Bill's pet kitten, and the stoning
of her home by neighborhood residents, which she claimed caused her father's fatal heart
attack.[7]

She filed several lawsuits on issues over which she felt there was a collusion of church
and state in violation of the United States Constitution, including a lawsuit against the
city of Baltimore demanding they assess and collect taxes on property owned by the
Catholic Church.[7]

O'Hair founded an atheist radio program in which she criticized religion and theism, and
a television show she hosted, American Atheist Forum, was carried on more than 140
cable television systems.[2][14]

O'Hair was the very first guest on The Phil Donahue Show, when it debuted as a local
program in Dayton, Ohio on November 6, 1967; [15][16] she would make several
appearances on the program during its run. Host Phil Donahue would later call her
message of atheism "very important." [17]

O'Hair remained a polarizing figure into the 1980s. She served as "chief speechwriter" for
Larry Flynt's 1984 presidential campaign, and continued to be a regular talk show guest.[2]
Jon Murray succeeded her as leader of the American Atheists; he was not liked by many
in the organization, and various chapters seceded from the main group. In 1991, the
remaining local/state chapters were dissolved.[2]

In the 1990s, American Atheists amounted to O'Hair, her son Jon Murray, her
granddaughter Robin Murray O'Hair, and a handful of support personnel. (Robin, the
daughter of William Murray, was adopted by Madalyn. William had not seen nor spoken
to any of them in many years.) The trio lived together in O'Hair's large home, they went
to the office together, they vacationed together, and they returned home together.[2]

[edit] Disappearance
On August 27, 1995, O'Hair, Jon, and Robin suddenly disappeared.[2] The door to the
office of American Atheists was locked with a typewritten note attached (apparently with
Jon's signature), stating "The Murray O'Hair family has been called out of town on an
emergency basis. We do not know how long we will be gone at the time of the writing of
this memo." When O'Hair's home was entered, breakfast dishes were sitting on the table,
[2]
her diabetes medication was on the kitchen counter, and her beloved dogs had been left
behind without a caregiver.[9]

In phone calls a few days later, the trio claimed they were on "business" in San Antonio,
Texas.[2] A few days later, Jon ordered US$600,000 worth of gold coins from a San
Antonio jeweler but took delivery of only $500,000.[18]

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Until September 27, American Atheist employees and friends received several phone
calls from Robin and Jon, but neither would explain why they left or when they would
return; while they said nothing was amiss, their voices sounded strained and disturbed.[2]
After September 28, no further communication came from any of the O'Hairs.

[edit] Public speculation

Speculation abounded on the cause and meaning of O'Hair's disappearance.[19] Some
hypothesized that the O'Hairs had abandoned American Atheists and fled with the
money. One investigator working for Vanity Fair, after looking at evidence presented to
him by former employee David Roland Waters, concluded they had escaped to New
Zealand.[9]

Exactly one year after the disappearance, William Murray filed a missing persons report.
[2]
He had previously stated he would not file such a report due to the inevitable media
attention it would bring. He also noted the lack of evidence of foul play, stating, "I don't
want to search for people who don't want to be found."[20] The O'Hairs were declared
legally dead, and many of their assets were sold to clear their debts.[21]

[edit] The murder revealed

Ultimately, a murder investigation focused on David Roland Waters, who had worked as
a typesetter for American Atheists. Not only did Waters have previous convictions for
violent crimes, there were several suspicious burglaries during his tenure, and he pleaded
guilty earlier in 1995 to stealing $54,000 from American Atheists.[22]

Shortly after his theft of the $54,000 was discovered, O'Hair had written a scathing article
in the 'Members Only' section of the American Atheists newsletter exposing Waters, the
theft and Waters' previous crimes,[9] including a 1977 incident in which Waters allegedly
beat and urinated upon his mother.[22] Waters' girlfriend later testified that he was enraged
by O'Hair's article, and that he fantasized about torturing her in gruesome ways.[22]

Police concluded that Waters and his accomplices had kidnapped all three O'Hairs, forced
them to withdraw the missing funds, went on several huge shopping sprees with the
O'Hairs' money and credit cards, and then murdered all three people. Danny Fry, an
accomplice, was murdered a few days after the O'Hairs; his body was found on a riverbed
with its head and hands severed and missing, but his remains were unidentified for three
and a half years. Waters eventually pleaded guilty to reduced charges.

In January 2001, Waters informed the police that the O'Hairs were buried on a Texas
ranch, and he subsequently led them to the bodies.[9][18] When the police excavated there,
they discovered that the O'Hairs' bodies had been cut into
dozens of pieces with a saw. The remains exhibited such
extensive mutilation and successive decomposition that

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identification had to be made through dental records, by DNA
testing and, in Madalyn O'Hair's case, by the serial number of
her prosthetic hip.[23]. The head and hands of Fry were also
found at the site.
The gold coins extorted from the O'Hairs were put in a storage locker rented by Waters'
girlfriend.[9] Waters had taken out $80,000 and partied with his girlfriend for a few days,
but upon his return he discovered that the remaining $420,000 had been stolen. A group
of thieves operating in that area had a master key to the type of lock which Waters used
to secure the locker. In the course of their activities, they came across the locker, used the
master key to open it, and found a suitcase full of gold coins. They eventually spent all
but one, which the police recovered.[9]

Waters was found guilty of kidnapping, robbery, and murder in the O'Hair case, and was
sentenced to 20 years in prison.[24] In addition, he was also ordered to pay back a total of
$543,665 to the United Secularists of America and the estates of Madalyn Murray O'Hair,
Jon Garth Murray, and Robin Murray-O'Hair. It is unlikely that any of these debts were
paid, as Waters had no ability to earn money while in prison. Waters died at the Federal
Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina of lung cancer on January 27, 2003.[9]

There was some criticism of the Austin Police Department's apparent apathy about the
disappearance. Austin reporter Robert Bryce wrote:

"Despite pleas from O'Hair's son, William J. Murray, several briefings from federal agents, and
solid leads developed by members of the press, the Austin Police Department (APD) sat on the
sidelines of the O'Hair investigation...Meanwhile, investigators from the Internal Revenue
Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the
Dallas County Sheriff's Office are working together on the case....a federal agent was asked to
discuss APD's actions in the O'Hair case. His only response was to roll his eyes in amazement."[22]

[edit] Legacy
Madalyn Murray's lawsuit which resulted in the removal of compulsory prayer from the
public schools of the United States has had lasting and significant effects. Until the
lawsuit, it was commonplace for students to participate in many types of religious
activities while at school, including religious instruction itself. Nonreligious students
were compelled to participate in such activities and were not usually given any ability to
opt out. Up to that time, the notion of freedom of religion had been presumed to mean the
freedom to choose a religion, not to choose freedom from religion, and not the freedom to
choose no religion at all. With the success of the lawsuit, the intent of The Constitution
with regard to the relationship between church and state again came under critical
scrutiny and has remained there to this day. While students do pray in public schools to
this day, even in organized groups (such as "See You at the Pole"), the lawsuit disallowed
schools to include prayer as a compulsory activity required by every student. The success

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of O'Hair's lawsuit led to subsequent lawsuits by Mormon and Catholic families in Texas
in 2000 to limit compulsory prayer at school-sponsored football games.

In 1980, William Murray was baptised at a Baptist church in Dallas, where he took up
work as a preacher. This led to a permanent estrangement between mother and son. As
she put it, "One could call this a postnatal abortion on the part of a mother, I guess; I
repudiate him entirely and completely for now and all times...he is beyond human
forgiveness."[25]

Murray spoke critically and regretfully of his mother after her disappearance:

"My mother was an evil person... Not for removing prayer from America's schools... No, she was
just evil. She stole huge amounts of money. She misused the trust of people. She cheated children
out of their parents' inheritance. She cheated on her taxes and even stole from her own
organizations. She once printed up phony stock certificates on her own printing press to try to
take over another atheist publishing company....Regardless of how evil and lawless my mother
was she did not deserve to die in the manner she did."[13]

Murray claimed his mother had illegally stashed "tens of millions" away.[2] He attempted
to gain "guardianship" over his missing mother and brother's assets, declaring they had
stolen money, and said, "My brother had a tendency to fall for con games and con
artists".[2]

In an episode of City Confidential that covered O'Hair, a former employee of American

Atheists stated that another former employee had told him of a foreign bank account
where O'Hair had deposited $18 million of American Atheists money. He noted that he
had heard the story from someone and, therefore, that it was technically hearsay. He then
said that he himself had seen a New Zealand bank statement showing a balance of $1.2
million of American Atheists money in New Zealand currency, which then translated to
between $800,000 and $900,000 in American currency.

[edit] Petition 2493

O'Hair's notoriety lives on through a decades-old urban legend. In one version, an e-mail
claimed "Madeline Murray O'Hare [sic] is attempting to get TV programs such as Touched
by an Angel and all TV programs that mention God taken off the air" (the e-mail
invariably misspelled O'Hair's name). It cited petition RM-2493 to the FCC which had
nothing to do with O'Hair, and which was denied in 1975, concerning the prevention of
educational radio channels being used for religious broadcasting.[26] A variant
acknowledging her death was circulating in 2003, still warning about a threat to Touched
by An Angel months after the program's last episode had been aired. In 2007, similar e-
mails were still being reported, twelve years after O'Hair's disappearance and long after
her confirmed death.[27][28]

A 2009 variation of Petition 2493 (without the RM- prefix) on the Fox News blog[29]
claims O'Hair's organization wants the "Removal of Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Charles
Stanley, David Jeremiah and other pastors from the air waves," and Dr. James Dobson

9
asks petitioners[30] to send responses and donations to "Lisa Norman".[31] Dr. Dobson
denies any involvement.[32]

[edit] Stage comedy

Between the time of O'Hair's disappearance and the discovery of the corpses, a comedic
play called The Last Days of Madalyn Murray O'Hair in Exile was written by Dave
Foley.

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