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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 1. 1966.

Atheist query: free for what?

page 2

Atheist query: free for what?

From "Lots Wife"

Consider the case of American atheist Madalyn Murry, who has suffered terrible retribution at the hands of Christians for demanding her rights, as laid down in the American Constitution.

The trouble started when her eldest son Bill (then 14) complained of the daily prayers he was forced to recite each morning at school.

For the next three years she fought a losing battle to stop prayers being read in public schools.

She received hundreds of letters weekly containing the most unbelievable obscenities, and threatening her life.

Her son Bill was beaten up, by gangs of Catholic adolescents, well over 100 times in three years. Her younger son, aged 9, is having nightmares because of frequent assaults. While he was being interviewed by a reporter, a school bus went by, and every child stuck his head out of the window and shouted "Commie! Commie! Commie!"

Modern Inquisition

Madalyn was also unfortunate enough to live in Baltimore.

As one reporter stated, "Imagine Spain, in the days of the Inquisition, transferred within our borders. Maryland is named for the Virgin Mary; it was founded by Catholics; it is predominantly Catholic: 17 per cent of all property in the State belongs to the Catholic Church, which pays no taxes on it. Maryland is the only State in the Union that demands a religious qualification for judges, a religious qualification for jurors and a religious qualification for witnesses. Madalyn Murry literally could not testify in her own behalf in any trial there.

In Our Form of western democracy, the constitutions or bills of rights, usually guarantee an individual freedom of religion.

But what of the other side? Should not an individual also be guaranteed freedom from religion?

Is one allowed to be as rabidly anti-Christian, as many Christians are fanatically anti-atheist?

Can an atheist or even agnostic protect himself from the self-righteous Christian, who associates atheism with Communism, sexual perversion and complete lack of morals?

Madalyn finally won her case in the Supreme Court, and prayers were abandoned in all public schools.

After winning her case. Madalyn then filed suit to tax the churches. In Baltimore alone, the Catholic Church stands to lose millions of dollars if she wins, and the nation-wide tally would be astronomical.

Most lawyers expect her to win finally, though it will take years and it will be the greatest blow to organised religion ever suffered in America.

Maryland and especially Baltimore are a part of the South. It has been said a man could be lynched in two minutes if the right demagogues aroused a crowd. A celebrated lynching in Baltimore not long ago ended with the man's ears and toes being hacked off.

Hate mail

After winning her court case the letters postmarked Baltimore became progressively uglier: "You had better read this carefully! It may be the last one you read. Somebody is going to put a bullet through your fat ass, you scum, you masculine lesbian bitch."

"You will be killed before too long. Or maybe your pretty little baby boy. The queer looking bastard. You are a bitch and your son is a bastard."

"Slut! Slut! Slut! Bitch slut from the devil."

There are thousands much worse than these, and most have sexual overtones.

Her mail was tampered with at the Baltimore post office, and at one stage they sent it to Communist Party Headquarters. Her garbage cans were overturned before they were collected, her son received parking tickets every time he went out driving, and a piece of wood was rammed down her dog's throat. She found city officials going through her correspondence but no judge would issue a warrant for trespassing.

Her lawyer went to see the grand jury, and had no sooner knocked on the door than he was arrested for contempt of court. The lawyer finally broke, and is now working against her.

Police brutality

The next act in the drama was when her son fell in love with a girl who came to live with them after continual beatings from her father.

Her parents charged the Murrys with "inducing her to abandon her faith." The girl was placed in the custody of her aunt but fled and secretly married Madalyn's son Bill. They returned to the Murry household several weeks later, and were recognised by a neighbour.

Within minutes a fleet of squad cars was at the house. The police had no warrant so they broke the door down The Murrys then claim they were brutally beaten by the police.

The police say Madalyn Murry single-handed assaulted eight policemen. Her 73-year-old mother is accused of assaulting another.

Mrs. Mays (her mother) admits touching a policeman because he was sitting on her grandson clubbing him with a baton. She was promptly knocked unconscious by another guardian of the law with a club.

Madalyn was taken to University Hospital for injuries, her mother was taken to Union Memorial Hospital, and Bill was taken to jail, where he claims police beat him all night long, while reading the Bible to him.

When presented with a tape-recording of the scuffle, the State Attorney claimed that police did not need to have a warrant in their possession if they believed one had been issued.

Realising she would be convicted of assault charges in Baltimore, the Murrys took a plane to Hawaii. Her associates left behind were threatened, the insurance on her house was cancelled, and the bank began to foreclose on it, even though payments were up to date.

Her son is nearly a mental case, after years of beatings, and now hates his mother whom he blames for everything. He is under the care of a psychiatrist.

Legal moves

Back in Baltimore the authorities created a new law with a minimum of 20 years for each count of assault against a policeman, so she faces 160 years' imprisonment if she returns.

The sale of some of her property in Baltimore has been declared illegal. In this matter the person she sold the property to claimed the judge had said of Madalyn. "The atheist doesn't have any rights in this State."