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The Atheist: Madalyn Murray O'Hair
The first biography of the colorful life Madalyn Murray O'Hair―America's most famous (and despised) atheist
In 1964, Life magazine called Madalyn Murray O’Hair “the most hated woman in America.” Another critic described her as “rude, impertinent, blasphemous, a destroyer not only of beliefs but of esteemed values.”
In this first full-length biography, Bryan F. Le Beau offers a penetrating assessment of O’Hair’s beliefs and actions and a probing discussion of how she came to represent both what Americans hated in their enemies and feared in themselves. Born in 1919, O’Hair was a divorced mother of two children born out of wedlock. She launched a crusade against God, often using foul language as she became adept at shocking people and making effective use of the media in delivering her message. She first gained notoriety as one of the primary litigants in the 1963 case Murray v. Curlett which led the Supreme Court to ban school prayer. The decision stunned a nation engaged in fighting “godless Communism” and made O’Hair America’s most famous―and most despised―atheist.
O’Hair led a colorful life, facing assault charges and extradition from Mexico, as well as the defection of her son William, who as an adult denounced her. She later served as Hustler publisher Larry Flynt’s chief speech writer in his bid for President of the United States.
Drawing on original research, O’Hair’s diaries, and interviews, Le Beau traces her development from a child of the Depression to the dictatorial, abrasive woman who founded the American Atheists, wrote books denouncing religion, and challenged the words “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, “In God We Trust” on American currency, the tax exempt status of religious organizations, and other activities she saw as violating the separation of church and state.
O’Hair remained a spokesperson for atheism until 1995, when she and her son and granddaughter vanished. It was later discovered that they were murdered by O’Hair’s former office manager and an accomplice.
Fast-paced, engagingly written, and sharply relevant to ongoing debates about school prayer and other religious issues, The Atheist tells the colorful life-story of a woman who challenged America’s most deeply held beliefs.
In 1964, Life magazine called Madalyn Murray O’Hair “the most hated woman in America.” Another critic described her as “rude, impertinent, blasphemous, a destroyer not only of beliefs but of esteemed values.”
In this first full-length biography, Bryan F. Le Beau offers a penetrating assessment of O’Hair’s beliefs and actions and a probing discussion of how she came to represent both what Americans hated in their enemies and feared in themselves. Born in 1919, O’Hair was a divorced mother of two children born out of wedlock. She launched a crusade against God, often using foul language as she became adept at shocking people and making effective use of the media in delivering her message. She first gained notoriety as one of the primary litigants in the 1963 case Murray v. Curlett which led the Supreme Court to ban school prayer. The decision stunned a nation engaged in fighting “godless Communism” and made O’Hair America’s most famous―and most despised―atheist.
O’Hair led a colorful life, facing assault charges and extradition from Mexico, as well as the defection of her son William, who as an adult denounced her. She later served as Hustler publisher Larry Flynt’s chief speech writer in his bid for President of the United States.
Drawing on original research, O’Hair’s diaries, and interviews, Le Beau traces her development from a child of the Depression to the dictatorial, abrasive woman who founded the American Atheists, wrote books denouncing religion, and challenged the words “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, “In God We Trust” on American currency, the tax exempt status of religious organizations, and other activities she saw as violating the separation of church and state.
O’Hair remained a spokesperson for atheism until 1995, when she and her son and granddaughter vanished. It was later discovered that they were murdered by O’Hair’s former office manager and an accomplice.
Fast-paced, engagingly written, and sharply relevant to ongoing debates about school prayer and other religious issues, The Atheist tells the colorful life-story of a woman who challenged America’s most deeply held beliefs.
387 pages, Hardcover
First published January 15, 2003
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February 4, 2014
Not bad. A great deal of interesting information and an interesting portrait of the vehemently ugly responses O'Hair inspired on the part of "so-called" Christians. But not particularly well written over all and rather dry. And O'Hair herself was a wildly contradictory personality and certainly not the best representative of atheist thought.
June 2, 2024
AN EXCELLENT ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE AND IDEAS OF A PROMINENT ATHEIST
Author Bryan Le Beau wrote in the Introduction of this 2003 book, “On December 8, 1960, Madalyn Murray (later O’Hair) filed suit … asking the Court to rule that required Bible reading and recitation of the Lord’s prayer in the city’s public schools are unconstitutional. She claimed that her son William’s First Amendment rights were being violated, and that he was being discriminated against because he refused to participate in his school’s morning religious exercise… the [U.S. Supreme] Court … by a margin of eight to one declared that the Maryland and Pennsylvania laws violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment… much of the nation was stunned and angry… [Madalyn] took credit for having single-handedly banned Bible reading and prayer from the nation’s public schools… Americans, searching for someone to blame, were only too willing to accept her claim. When she chose to push for the further separation of church and state… she became the most visible of American atheists. Indeed, she was branded with, and welcomed, the title, ‘the most hated woman in America.’” (Pg. 1)
He continues, “her ideas on religion are interesting, but no more interesting than how these ideas related to American culture from the Cold War to the end of the century. Those themes provide the framework for this book, moving it beyond simply being a biography of Madalyn Murray O’Hair to an assessment of the beliefs behind her actions and how she came to symbolize all that postwar Americans hated and feared… Not being content to personally and quietly reject the idea of belief in God, she launched a crusade against it and brought atheism out of the study and shadows of society to the masses.” (Pg. 2)
He observes, “Madalyn Murray O’Hair was no angel. She violated some of the nation’s most sacred codes of behavior… Others shared her beliefs and engaged in the same socially unacceptable behavior, but they chose to do so quietly, out of the limelight. O’Hair seized the moment, claimed full responsibility, and challenged the believing public to contend with her. On occasion, especially early one, O’Hair played down her differences… Most of the time, however, O’Hair emphasized her differences with mainstream Christian America. ‘I am more than an Atheist. In am, in fact THE Atheist,’ wrote Madalyn Murray O’Hair in 1980… O’Hair was outspoken on many controversial subjects that even her supporters believed were a distraction for the movement and brought discredit on their efforts.” (Pg. 13-14)
He points out, “By the mid-50s… society shunned the divorced mother of two born out of wedlock to two different fathers. She was forced to take and lose jobs beneath those for which she qualified by her above-average education for a woman of the 1950s… this only served to embitter her, to make her more difficult with whom to live and work, and even to push her in a more self-destructive direction… [She] set out to undermine every aspect of that repressive system, especially religion, which she identified as the principal source of her condemnation. By toppling it, she would free herself of the burden she bore from having violated its taboos.” (Pg. 15)
He observes, “As O’Hair prepared to retire, American Atheists faced their most serious challenge since its inception. As O’Hair rose to prominence… she became increasingly dictatorial. She had no patience with those of lesser skills and energy or who challenged or even questioned her, and, as a result, she alienated many of those who might have served her organization well… as she lost that prominence… members of her own organization began to blame her for the decline of the movement and sought to remove her from power. Others simply sensed her growing weakness and moved in for the kill for their own reasons… she insisted on passing the baton to her son, Jon Garth Murray. His leadership and interpersonal skills were questionable… Combined with its mounting financial problems on the eve of the disappearance of Madalyn, Jon, and Robin Murray (Madalyn’s granddaughter) in 1995, American Atheists seemed on the verge of being torn apart, if not collapsing altogether.” (Pg. 17)
He recounts, “One night in early 1946, during a violent electrical storm… Madalyn, still pregnant and in despair, announced that she was going out into the storm to challenge God to strike her and her unborn child dead with lightning bolts. She stood in the rain waving her fist and cursing God and when nothing happened, she returned inside. ‘You see,’ she cried, ‘if god exists, he would surely have taken up my challenge. I’ve proved irrefutably that god does not exist.’” (Pg. 27)
He notes, “[Madalyn] never passed the bar exam so that she could practice law. Her son [Bill] claimed she failed the bar exam, but Madalyn said that she never took it because it required a religious oath, calling on her to affirm a belief in a Supreme Being. It is probably the case that Madalyn did not take the bar exam…” (Pg. 29)
He states, “Madalyn baptized Bill a Presbyterian and Jon a Methodist. ‘It pleased their grandparents,’ she later explained… For the next seven months, in return for the minister’s services, the family attended the Methodist church. Madalyn… said she sent Bill to church and Sunday School ‘in the interests of fairness’… she thought she should not teach him anything about atheism. She insisted that Bill knew she was an atheist…” (Pg. 34)
He observes, “By the summer of 1960, having received no response to her letter applying for Russian citizenship, Madalyn and William visited the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. … After nearly a month of frequent visits to the Soviet Embassy in Paris, Madalyn was informed that the president of the Supreme Soviet would have to rule on her request, and that would take months. In frustration, in late September the Murrays returned to Baltimore. Madalyn chose not to speak of this episode over the years, except for brief references that largely implied that it was a vacation and that they went to Paris as tourists.” (Pg. 39)
Madalyn has to go to the Junior High school to enroll Bill ‘late,’ and “as they passed through the halls… his mother was perturbed to see the students standing and pledging allegiance to the flag, and angry when she observed them bowing their head and reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Upon entering the counselor’s office, Madalyn confronted the man… asking why the students were praying… and let him know that she did not want her son taught any prayers...” (Pg. 40) Later, “William stayed at home and the school system ignored both Madalyn’s threats and her son’s absence… Madalyn took the next step; she wrote a letter to the editor of the Baltimore ‘Morning Sun.’ Madalyn … argued that the rights of atheists were being trampled on… The Sun… decided to send a reporter… to the Murrays’ home. Madalyn explained her case… [On] October 27, the face of William Murray graced page 1 of the Baltimore Morning Sun beneath the headline, ‘Boy, 14, Balks at Bible Reading.’” (Pg. 44-45)
As the case went through the courts, “Madalyn was forced to accept whatever support she was offered… She also maintained her public profile by … attending antinuclear weapons rallies, and sending out cards describing ‘the true meaning of Christmas.’ In what became an annual event for her organization, American Atheists, Madalyn offered ‘Greetings on the Winter Solstice Season’ and popularized the well-established position among atheists that Christians had taken over the ancient pagan holiday as the birthday of their ‘mythical Christ’… but that Christians had chosen the winter solstice because it was such an important celebration in the pagan religious calendar. It had already been an ‘old and wonderful joyous season’ that Christians made their own.” (Pg. 55-56)
When the case reached the Supreme Court, in the newspapers, “Madalyn, William, Jon Garth, and Madalyn’s mother were pictured standing on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court… Madalyn proclaimed herself an atheist and stepped forward to claim credit for the deed… At times, Madalyn responded to those who accused her of stopping prayer in the public schools in a reasoned, measured, civil manner… She often tried to set the record straight on majority rule in a similarly civil manner… Most of the time, however, she was caustic, sarcastic, even outrageous in blatant attempts to attract attention… ‘Freethinkers’ sought to distance themselves from Madalyn Murray because of the scandalous image she cultivated…” (Pg. 99-101)
He points out, “O’Hair has been criticized for filing lawsuits that she had little chance of winning, and that she knew she had little chance of winning. Critics have argued that such cases not only held her and her cause up to ridicule, but also that they provided opponents with a body of precedents by which to protect themselves. O’Hair, however, saw such lawsuits as symbolic and very important… As she explained… ‘I will file a suite, knowing that there is a 95% chance I’m going to lose. But I use that suit as a vehicle to go out and make speeches, appear on television and radio programs… go to high schools and colleges, be interviewed in newspapers and magazines, in order to argue for the end of that I was trying to reach in the suit.’” (Pg. 163-164)
He states, “Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s crusade peaked in the fifteen-year period from 1965 to 1980, but toward the end of that period she faced two significant setbacks---the death of her husband, Richard, and the defection of her son and Supreme Court namesake, William Murray… For the rest of Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s life, the history of atheism in America can be written as a contest between O’Hair and her son.” (Pg. 243) “As the decade of the 1980s began, American Atheists prospered. As it continued, however, [her] prominence receded, as did American Atheists. By the 1990s it might be said that, although she remained the best-known atheist in America, no one much cared anymore.” (Pg. 245)
He recounts, “William Murray’s life [after his conversion] changed. He could not save his marriage… but he gave up smoking and drinking. William stopped hating his mother and struggled to love her rather than take revenge. He began to see Madalyn as a sinner, just like him, who blamed God for her personal sins and inadequacies.” (Pg. 260) “William’s apostasy hurt Madalyn… Privately, in her diary, she wrote… ‘Bill has turned traitor to his family, his principles, his nation, and to his country. He is a traitor to the future. He has sold out for money and to strike a blow at me…’” (Pg. 263)
He notes, “In April 1986 at age sixty-seven, at the annual weekend conference of American Atheists… Madalyn resigned as president of … American Atheists. She appointed her son Jon Garth Murray her successor… By the mid-1980s American Atheists was in danger of coming apart… several chapter leaders called for Madalyn’s removal from power… but the family preferred to retain control rather than accept new leadership…” (Pg. 278, 282-283) But, “O’Hair and Jon Garth Murray readily admitted they lived well. Both drove Mercedes… At the same time, the Internal Revenue Service sought $1.5 million in back taxes and penalties…” (Pg. 300)
This is an excellent book, that goes much more into her writings and ideas, and the court cases, than Ann Rowe Seaman’s excellent biography, “America’s Most Hated Woman.” It will be “must reading” for anyone wanting to know about her, or the history of American Atheism.
Author Bryan Le Beau wrote in the Introduction of this 2003 book, “On December 8, 1960, Madalyn Murray (later O’Hair) filed suit … asking the Court to rule that required Bible reading and recitation of the Lord’s prayer in the city’s public schools are unconstitutional. She claimed that her son William’s First Amendment rights were being violated, and that he was being discriminated against because he refused to participate in his school’s morning religious exercise… the [U.S. Supreme] Court … by a margin of eight to one declared that the Maryland and Pennsylvania laws violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment… much of the nation was stunned and angry… [Madalyn] took credit for having single-handedly banned Bible reading and prayer from the nation’s public schools… Americans, searching for someone to blame, were only too willing to accept her claim. When she chose to push for the further separation of church and state… she became the most visible of American atheists. Indeed, she was branded with, and welcomed, the title, ‘the most hated woman in America.’” (Pg. 1)
He continues, “her ideas on religion are interesting, but no more interesting than how these ideas related to American culture from the Cold War to the end of the century. Those themes provide the framework for this book, moving it beyond simply being a biography of Madalyn Murray O’Hair to an assessment of the beliefs behind her actions and how she came to symbolize all that postwar Americans hated and feared… Not being content to personally and quietly reject the idea of belief in God, she launched a crusade against it and brought atheism out of the study and shadows of society to the masses.” (Pg. 2)
He observes, “Madalyn Murray O’Hair was no angel. She violated some of the nation’s most sacred codes of behavior… Others shared her beliefs and engaged in the same socially unacceptable behavior, but they chose to do so quietly, out of the limelight. O’Hair seized the moment, claimed full responsibility, and challenged the believing public to contend with her. On occasion, especially early one, O’Hair played down her differences… Most of the time, however, O’Hair emphasized her differences with mainstream Christian America. ‘I am more than an Atheist. In am, in fact THE Atheist,’ wrote Madalyn Murray O’Hair in 1980… O’Hair was outspoken on many controversial subjects that even her supporters believed were a distraction for the movement and brought discredit on their efforts.” (Pg. 13-14)
He points out, “By the mid-50s… society shunned the divorced mother of two born out of wedlock to two different fathers. She was forced to take and lose jobs beneath those for which she qualified by her above-average education for a woman of the 1950s… this only served to embitter her, to make her more difficult with whom to live and work, and even to push her in a more self-destructive direction… [She] set out to undermine every aspect of that repressive system, especially religion, which she identified as the principal source of her condemnation. By toppling it, she would free herself of the burden she bore from having violated its taboos.” (Pg. 15)
He observes, “As O’Hair prepared to retire, American Atheists faced their most serious challenge since its inception. As O’Hair rose to prominence… she became increasingly dictatorial. She had no patience with those of lesser skills and energy or who challenged or even questioned her, and, as a result, she alienated many of those who might have served her organization well… as she lost that prominence… members of her own organization began to blame her for the decline of the movement and sought to remove her from power. Others simply sensed her growing weakness and moved in for the kill for their own reasons… she insisted on passing the baton to her son, Jon Garth Murray. His leadership and interpersonal skills were questionable… Combined with its mounting financial problems on the eve of the disappearance of Madalyn, Jon, and Robin Murray (Madalyn’s granddaughter) in 1995, American Atheists seemed on the verge of being torn apart, if not collapsing altogether.” (Pg. 17)
He recounts, “One night in early 1946, during a violent electrical storm… Madalyn, still pregnant and in despair, announced that she was going out into the storm to challenge God to strike her and her unborn child dead with lightning bolts. She stood in the rain waving her fist and cursing God and when nothing happened, she returned inside. ‘You see,’ she cried, ‘if god exists, he would surely have taken up my challenge. I’ve proved irrefutably that god does not exist.’” (Pg. 27)
He notes, “[Madalyn] never passed the bar exam so that she could practice law. Her son [Bill] claimed she failed the bar exam, but Madalyn said that she never took it because it required a religious oath, calling on her to affirm a belief in a Supreme Being. It is probably the case that Madalyn did not take the bar exam…” (Pg. 29)
He states, “Madalyn baptized Bill a Presbyterian and Jon a Methodist. ‘It pleased their grandparents,’ she later explained… For the next seven months, in return for the minister’s services, the family attended the Methodist church. Madalyn… said she sent Bill to church and Sunday School ‘in the interests of fairness’… she thought she should not teach him anything about atheism. She insisted that Bill knew she was an atheist…” (Pg. 34)
He observes, “By the summer of 1960, having received no response to her letter applying for Russian citizenship, Madalyn and William visited the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C. … After nearly a month of frequent visits to the Soviet Embassy in Paris, Madalyn was informed that the president of the Supreme Soviet would have to rule on her request, and that would take months. In frustration, in late September the Murrays returned to Baltimore. Madalyn chose not to speak of this episode over the years, except for brief references that largely implied that it was a vacation and that they went to Paris as tourists.” (Pg. 39)
Madalyn has to go to the Junior High school to enroll Bill ‘late,’ and “as they passed through the halls… his mother was perturbed to see the students standing and pledging allegiance to the flag, and angry when she observed them bowing their head and reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Upon entering the counselor’s office, Madalyn confronted the man… asking why the students were praying… and let him know that she did not want her son taught any prayers...” (Pg. 40) Later, “William stayed at home and the school system ignored both Madalyn’s threats and her son’s absence… Madalyn took the next step; she wrote a letter to the editor of the Baltimore ‘Morning Sun.’ Madalyn … argued that the rights of atheists were being trampled on… The Sun… decided to send a reporter… to the Murrays’ home. Madalyn explained her case… [On] October 27, the face of William Murray graced page 1 of the Baltimore Morning Sun beneath the headline, ‘Boy, 14, Balks at Bible Reading.’” (Pg. 44-45)
As the case went through the courts, “Madalyn was forced to accept whatever support she was offered… She also maintained her public profile by … attending antinuclear weapons rallies, and sending out cards describing ‘the true meaning of Christmas.’ In what became an annual event for her organization, American Atheists, Madalyn offered ‘Greetings on the Winter Solstice Season’ and popularized the well-established position among atheists that Christians had taken over the ancient pagan holiday as the birthday of their ‘mythical Christ’… but that Christians had chosen the winter solstice because it was such an important celebration in the pagan religious calendar. It had already been an ‘old and wonderful joyous season’ that Christians made their own.” (Pg. 55-56)
When the case reached the Supreme Court, in the newspapers, “Madalyn, William, Jon Garth, and Madalyn’s mother were pictured standing on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court… Madalyn proclaimed herself an atheist and stepped forward to claim credit for the deed… At times, Madalyn responded to those who accused her of stopping prayer in the public schools in a reasoned, measured, civil manner… She often tried to set the record straight on majority rule in a similarly civil manner… Most of the time, however, she was caustic, sarcastic, even outrageous in blatant attempts to attract attention… ‘Freethinkers’ sought to distance themselves from Madalyn Murray because of the scandalous image she cultivated…” (Pg. 99-101)
He points out, “O’Hair has been criticized for filing lawsuits that she had little chance of winning, and that she knew she had little chance of winning. Critics have argued that such cases not only held her and her cause up to ridicule, but also that they provided opponents with a body of precedents by which to protect themselves. O’Hair, however, saw such lawsuits as symbolic and very important… As she explained… ‘I will file a suite, knowing that there is a 95% chance I’m going to lose. But I use that suit as a vehicle to go out and make speeches, appear on television and radio programs… go to high schools and colleges, be interviewed in newspapers and magazines, in order to argue for the end of that I was trying to reach in the suit.’” (Pg. 163-164)
He states, “Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s crusade peaked in the fifteen-year period from 1965 to 1980, but toward the end of that period she faced two significant setbacks---the death of her husband, Richard, and the defection of her son and Supreme Court namesake, William Murray… For the rest of Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s life, the history of atheism in America can be written as a contest between O’Hair and her son.” (Pg. 243) “As the decade of the 1980s began, American Atheists prospered. As it continued, however, [her] prominence receded, as did American Atheists. By the 1990s it might be said that, although she remained the best-known atheist in America, no one much cared anymore.” (Pg. 245)
He recounts, “William Murray’s life [after his conversion] changed. He could not save his marriage… but he gave up smoking and drinking. William stopped hating his mother and struggled to love her rather than take revenge. He began to see Madalyn as a sinner, just like him, who blamed God for her personal sins and inadequacies.” (Pg. 260) “William’s apostasy hurt Madalyn… Privately, in her diary, she wrote… ‘Bill has turned traitor to his family, his principles, his nation, and to his country. He is a traitor to the future. He has sold out for money and to strike a blow at me…’” (Pg. 263)
He notes, “In April 1986 at age sixty-seven, at the annual weekend conference of American Atheists… Madalyn resigned as president of … American Atheists. She appointed her son Jon Garth Murray her successor… By the mid-1980s American Atheists was in danger of coming apart… several chapter leaders called for Madalyn’s removal from power… but the family preferred to retain control rather than accept new leadership…” (Pg. 278, 282-283) But, “O’Hair and Jon Garth Murray readily admitted they lived well. Both drove Mercedes… At the same time, the Internal Revenue Service sought $1.5 million in back taxes and penalties…” (Pg. 300)
This is an excellent book, that goes much more into her writings and ideas, and the court cases, than Ann Rowe Seaman’s excellent biography, “America’s Most Hated Woman.” It will be “must reading” for anyone wanting to know about her, or the history of American Atheism.
September 16, 2011
the intro was to damn long and i lost interest, which is insulting to such a great woman, who by the way is one of my heroes (and damned proud of it)
30 page intros should not be aloud.
repeating your self 1000 times should not be aloud.
and repeating your self 1000 times in 30 pages should warrant a death sentence.
30 page intros should not be aloud.
repeating your self 1000 times should not be aloud.
and repeating your self 1000 times in 30 pages should warrant a death sentence.
August 29, 2015
A well-researched, dispassionate account of the activist who became, for better or worse, the public face and voice of American atheists for decades following 1963. Murray v. Curlett Supreme Court case.
Read
March 14, 2009Unlcear as of yet what rating. Not terribly engaging but has some useful info in it.
October 10, 2013
Very disappointing. Relies on reciting loads of Supreme Court opinions and providing largely a superficial examination of her life. Most interesting factoid was she went to my law school in Houston.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews