American Atheists Media Alerthttp://www.atheists.org “OKLAHOMA OUTRAGE,” DISCRIMINATIONAGAINST ATHEISTS TOPIC OF ABC PROGRAM This Friday, May 11, 2007 ~ Kagin, Smalkowski Family WHAT: A special two-hour ABC Network program scheduled to air this Friday, May 11 will discuss prejudice against Atheists in America, particularly in the city of Hardesty, Oklahoma, where Nicole Smalkowski was expelled from public school on false charges when she refused to stand in a circle on the auditorium floor with the girls? basketball team and recite the ?Lord?s Prayer.” Her father Chuck Smalkowski was falsely indicted on criminal charges, all because of prejudice against their assertion of their rights as Atheists. American Atheists participated in Chuck?s criminal trial that resulted in three ?Not Guilty? verdicts by a jury. Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists, persuaded the jury to swear to believe an Atheist under oath over a Christian if the facts so warranted. Following the verdict, American Atheists and the Smalkowski family filed a lawsuit for civil rights violations by state actors, under color of state law, in the Federal Court of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Smalkowskis, Edwin Kagin, and Richard Dawkins share a nine minute segment of this program that was recorded in ABC?s studios in New York City, and on location in Hardesty and Guymon, Oklahoma. Richard Rice, a Christian, who has agreed to serve as Oklahoma local counsel in the lawsuit, was interviewed on camera in Oklahoma. The four days of filming, condensed to nine minutes, will of necessity omit many things and one or more of the persons filmed may be cut. WHO: American Atheists members Nichole Smalkowski and Chuck Smalkowski and Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists.WHEN: Friday, May 11, 2007 for two hours, starting at 9:00 pm (EDT).WHERE: 20-20 show on ABC television, thought to be titled ?Religion in America.?MORE INFO:www.atheists.org/flash.line/smalko1.htmwww.atheists.org/flash.line/smalko3.htmwww.atheists.org/legal/Smalkowski/Entry%20of%20Appearance%20Kagin%20filed%2024%20Aug%202006.pdf (AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.)
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I don’t know about everyone else, but I always get nervous when hearing about these types of shows. Too many times they make us out to be the ‘bad guy’, and usually never show us in a good light.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
I agree with Boise Jim, I’ll have to see how it’s handled–the short time given it alone hints it will be a brief and shallow piece (as so much of the so-called ‘news’ is).
But whether they make us out to be the bad guys or not, it’s guaranteed they won’t make the xtians out to be the bad guys. Pandering to the religious crowd is still par for the course.
Thanks Dave for bringing this up. Love watching these clips on major networks.
Please note they were found not guilty!
That is a Major victory in Oklahoma (where several members of the jury didn’t even know what the term “Atheist” meant).
Kudos to Kagin et al!
I think, and maybe I am being naive, that because they were wrongfully charged/expelled they probably wont be demonized as badly as atheists in the past have been on programs like these.
I can’t wait to see how the counter-suits end up.
Actually atheists are not always villified in the media and the religious are more often than not the ones who come out looking like the raving superstitious idiots that they are. Shows like “Wife Swap” and news interviews with Dawkins have been more sympathetic to atheists as of late just as I believe tonight’s ABC Nightline interview will also show. I feel a paradigm shift in the USA as people turn away from the mean spirited and often hypocritical religious right and turn towards a more reasoned worldview.
The facts of the case show what happened, it will be hard to twist this into a “bad atheist” type story. I haven’t watched 20/20 in a long time, but I think they would have trouble selling it as the atheists being bad. They will leave that to the televangelist.
I hope that most Americans will see what was done to this family as wrong. The most extreme wackos will think it was good, but they are not the bulk of Americans. Thanks to American Atheists for supporting the family.
What I’m worried about is if 20/20 focuses more on the ‘complaining’ part of the Atheists, instead of how horribly they were treated, and threatened.
It will be interesting to see which way 20/20 will go with this.
Funny, you never hear about Atheists threatening the lives of the religious.
And we’re the ones who are supposed to be ‘immoral’.
Atheists, like gays prior to the 90’s, have a terrible reputation which is founded on fear and lies. It wasn’t that long ago that most people were unaware that they knew and cared about a gay person or that most people believed all gay people were child sexual predators. Atheism is still a dirty word that people associate with satan worship and rampant immorality and anger which is exactly why every single one of you who still is in the atheist closet is guilty of enabling this ignorance.
alex:
Blame Ginsburg, who tried to forge an alliance w/NAMBLA.
Oh, & Anita Bryant, old pie-face.
alex i disagree about people turning away from RR.i still belong to methodist church and we are losing people to the RR.more and more our membership is made up of liberal christians and conservative deists,atheists,agnostics.the focus on personal piety seems to be giving way to the gospel of prosperity.
KA
why in the world would anyone want to ally with NAMBLA.those people should be in prison.
Reason,
I see a lot less support of the hateful policies of the religious right from not just moderate and liberal Americans but also from the far right’s base. It’s very slowly turning our way.
This is a curious statement…”persuaded”…? Is this a “feel good” comment to make the troops feel better about themselves?
Ah yes…once again the “real” truth is exposed…follow the money…”if” one person behaves improperly, let’s penalize the entire community…and waddle up to the teat of the public trough…and suck some tax money from the general public…
And you thought AA survived through membership dues only…
I wonder how many hungry kids or homeless people could be helped instead of financing AA’s office parties…?
SUCKERS………….
alex i hope your right.i expect though we are going to have our hands full with aging baby boomers.i can’t see them accepting the inevitable fact that all decline and die.
I read a study recently about how issues of race changed radically in the 60s and 70s not so much on account of people changing their minds but becasue those who held the most bigoted views simply died off. The same is happening with attitudes about gay people too. Polls show that there are very marked lines of homophobia along age lines and we can hope to see an almost totally gay friendly society in another 10-20 yrs as the over 60s die out. People under 40 overwhelmingly support full gay rights. Atheists could bring about the same results if more people opened their mouths about their nonbelief and demanded equality.
phreedm you have alot of anger. since we know where christian and atheist disagree why don’t we see where we agree and work together to solve some of these problems.are we suckers maybe, same goes when you join a church.so your right we should follow the money just as you and your fellow members should keep an eye on your church.
alex how do we calm fears about the death that awaits all of us.some people carry guilt for things they did or should have done.for others the thought there is nothing else after death is too scary.while i am at peace with this reality most i see around me are not.
phreedm:
What would happen if the government could violate someone’s civil rights without fear of any sort of consequences? Then they would continue to do so with impunity. That’s why lawsuits like this are actually valuable.
These shows always bother me. I have seen a couple and the athiest view is seldom championed very well. Either the speaker is totally dominated or the media moderator never allows any explanation for the athiest to be presented. Kirk Cameron, a child TV actor, is supposed to be one of the pro god guys and he was on O’Reilly tonight explaning why he believed in god and then “proving” the very existance of God. Scary stuff but I bet he is never sriously challeneged which will make our cause look foolish, again! I think it is terrible waste of time and effort. We should be out there trying harder to find people who not only are athiests but who can challenge these people intelectually. I obviously don’t see all shows like this but the ones I have seen have been very one sided and almost embarrasing in their lack of explaining WHY we beleive in what we do. No one has eaver asked one of these people why Mathew is the ONLY gospel that talks about Herod’s killing of the 2 year olds, the innocents, but that there is NO record of it ever happening in either Jewish or Roman records of the time including their beloved Josephus. Not something that the Romans would ignore nor the Jews of the time.
I saw some highlights from the debate on the Rational Responders website and the xians come off so badly that I almost felt sorry for them. That could have just been the editing so I’ll reserve my judgement until after the show which airs in ten minutes…
Anyone watching CNN right now? They have a “What is a Christian” special on right now – it’s still unfolding, but naturally one-sided. GUESS WHICH SIDE!?
I just tunrned it on. Hope I don’t get sick.
“I wonder how many hungry kids or homeless people could be helped instead of financing AA’s office parties…?”
I shall ponder this as I ride around today in the shadow of numerous million dollar churches (51 of them in Franklin PA alone). Now what was he saying about the homeless and hungry kids? I gotta get some perspective!
In regard to the civil lawsuit; being found “Not Guilty” on trumped up criminal charges does not allow for punishment of the false accusers, it merely exonerates the injured party.
The civil lawsuit will allow for punitive damages and will hopefully make people think twice before shitting on someone else because of their difference of religious (dis)belief.
All too often people forget or don’t care about the turmoil this family has had to endure because of the intolerance of jeezus freaks.
Hit them in their wallets and you get their attention pretty quick, and maybe a change in their behavior.
[Notice the troll's whining and attempt to switch victims?]
Tax religion. It taxes me to no end.
Bad Troll. Get back on those meds you were taking a week or so ago. It was the best I have ever seen you.