American Atheist TV News Forum

Sorry - I just have the intro. Working on finding more. This marginalized and almost forgotten weekly series started in the late seventies or early eighties was mainly hosted by Madelyn Murray-O'Hair, who founded American Atheists and campaigned for the separation of church and state. She is best known, albeit inaccurately, as "that woman who took god out of the public schools".

The public access cable show American Atheist TV News Forum was pretty controversial. Some people become extremely enraged when viewing/listening to this kind of show: their face turns beet red and the sweat bursts out like Niagra Falls. Then comes the uncontrolled trembling, and the fist clenching and even table pounding. Even though PEG access is supposed to be free speech TV, it was difficult to keep this show on, even in the "progressive" Chicago burb Evanston.

O'Hair, her daughter Robyn and son Garth (hosting here in 1983) disappeared in 1995 and turned up dead in 2001, cut into pieces and buried on a Texas ranch. Police concluded the kidnappings and murders were part of a theft scheme. The perpetrator plead to lesser charges and only one coin was ever recovered.

New American Atheist show available as an audio and video podcast: http://atheistviewpoint.tv/nowshowing.shtml

If you send a link for other atheist podcasts I'll link them here too.

a docu about MMO starts here -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo6uYCxQlG4

about the O'Hair's at wikipedia: http://tinyurl.com/gznax

my bio: http://about-scott-sanders.blogspot.com/ blog: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• atheist
• media
• reform
• PEG
• cable
• non-belief
• religion
• freethought

[aajoeyjo]

hollyfromdallas - Yes, William J. Murray became an evangelical Christian at the beginning of the 1980s, and has been ever since. He spent decades touring churches in the USA villifying his family and all Atheists everywhere. Now he's mostly quiet, as far as I can tell.

[aajoeyjo]

hollyfromdallas - I heard he calmed down after his mother was murdered. A few years after though, there was still money to make. We don't hear much from him these days.

[hollyfromdallas]

Does anyone know whatever happened to her older son that turned jesus-shouter in the early eighties?

[kurdistaniatheist]

kurdistaniatheists. com

[aajoeyjo]

kimsy520 and all: I posted a documentary movie about Madalyn that was done in 1970. I posted it here also as a video response. I think you'd all like it. It shows her friendly, personal side, and doesn't bother with the standard anti-Madalyn approach. :o)

[aajoeyjo]

It was a good show, and now American Atheists has a new tv show called the Atheist Viewpoint.

[kimsy520]

It's so sad what happened to the Murray O'Hairs :( I wish I could have seen more of this show, though.