AMERICAN ATHEISTS To members and Supporters of AMERICAN ATHEISTS… Dear friends, I want to take this opportunity to tell you about some of the important changes now taking place at American Atheists. Following over 13 years of outstanding service to American Atheists and the cause of State-Church Separation, Ellen Johnson is no longer President of the organization.. Her tenure in this position was marked by some of the most amazing and historic events in our movement’s history. She stepped in following the tragic disappearance of our founder, Madalyn Murray O’Hair and her family, and oversaw the relocation of the American Atheist Center and Charles E. Stevens American Atheist Library and Archives (CESAALA) to New Jersey. She organized the Godless Americans March on Washington, and brought together our nation’s diverse and sometimes fractious community of Atheists, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists and other nonbelievers. She testified twice before the National Commission on Civil Rights, and made hundreds of media appearances on prime time and cable news TV programs. Ellen also mobilized Atheists and other secularists throughout the nation to speak out on the vital First Amendment issues of our time. And with all of this, she managed to coordinate the hectic daily activities here at the American Atheist Center. In the spirit of obtaining all that she (and any other Atheist) can from one life the elegant, energetic and outspoken Ms. Johnson will now focus her passions on anew adventure. Just what that might be we do not yet know. We know, however, that it will be something splendid! Ellen, who will remain on the Board of Directors, is succeeded by long-time member Frank Zindler. There have been three presidents of American Atheists since its founding over four decades ago — Madalyn Murray O’Hair; her successor and son, Jon Garth Murray; and since 1995, Ellen Johnson. They left, as the saying goes “big shoes to fill.” We are confident that Frank is fully prepared for this new challenging role. He has a distinguished academic career as a former biology professor, linguist and bible-era historian. He has authored numerous books and articles dealing with a wide range of subjects, everything from the alleged historicity of Jesus to the on-going controversy over teaching creationism in our public schools. His tenure as an activist with American Atheists goes back over 30 years. Frank is a nationally-recognized speaker and debater, and has served as an eloquent spokesperson for our organization. Frank Zindler will serve as President Pro Temp until a suitable replacement for this office is found. The day-to-day operations at the American Atheist Center will continue — and so will our activism! Other Officers and Directors will be staying on as well. Dave Silverman, who has done an outstanding job as our Communications Director, will continue to be the “public face” of American Atheists, working closely with Frank to make sure that our message gets out to the media and others who shape public opinion. Board member Edwin Kagin will remain in his important post as National Legal Director, The American Atheist magazine and all of the other benefits of membership will continue. And so will our efforts to represent you in the important fight for state-church separation, Reason and the civil rights of Atheists. We’re hitting the ground running, folks! The baton is passed — and we’ll continue our all-important work. Thanking you in advance for your support! The Board of Directors, AMERICAN ATHEISTS
I am Gil Gaudia. My wife Jeanne and I have been editorial assistants for the past two years at American Atheists. In doing so, we have worked closely with Ellen Johnson whom we respect and admire greatly. We have also had telephone and email contact with a few of the board members, especially with regard to editing their manuscripts. We were not impressed with their interpersonal skills. I have also contributed several articles to the magazine. We have just concluded an hour long telephone conversation with Ellen.
We are extremely biased in her favor, because we found her to be hard-working, honest, courageous, competent and caring of us and appreciative of our volunteer contributions.
This board?s action, in our opinion, will almost certainly result in the end of the organization and publication as we know it. We say this because, from first-hand experience we are aware of the number of hours, the amount of coordination and the knowledge of the operation that are all required to successfully produce a monthly publication, and we have no evidence that any of the board members are willing and able to invest that degree of commitment. Indeed, we have some reason to believe that the opposite is true. To those members who propose hiring Dawkins, Hitchins, Harris and others for the presidency, first see if they?ll agree to work for 38K, or thereabouts, in addition to doing latrine duty in their spare time.
For the board of directors of the most well-known Atheist group in America to have taken such a suicidal action is incomprehensible, but whatever their reasons, unless the
members protest strongly and demand her reinstatement, (which she may not even want) it will only be a matter of time before we no longer have an organization to uphold the civil rights of Atheists.
As a contributor of many articles to this magazine, and as volunteers in editing other journal articles, spending many hours of our time in assisting Ellen in producing this publication, we are no longer interested in writing, editing or assisting in any way a magazine whose board has acted in such an irresponsible, unfair and self-destructive manner.
Gil and Jeanne R. Gaudia
Yay, Gil and Jeanne Gaudia!
I think this is a “palace revolt” by Misogynist Malcontents.
Dave, do you know if Ellen’s dismissal is rescindable? Are you familiar with AA’s bylaws?
I say, FIRE THE BOARD AND RE-INSTATE ELLEN JOHNSON.
Smart. Really? The organization that was FOUNDED by a woman and elected a second woman to be President? Misogyny? No.
Ellen was asked repeatedly to come to NY for the Pope protest. But she had just come from the Washington DC protest (which was larger and had far more press coverage) and she was too tired — so I went, with my daughter.
Do you think the Board of directors decided to fire Ellen on a whim? Do you think this group of smart, experienced, and talented activists, many of whom PLACED Ellen on as president in the first place, WANTED this?
Or maybe, just maybe, there were major problems that could only be solved this way, and because of legal, moral, and privacy reasons the board chooses to keep it quiet, so it doesn’t devolve into mudslinging? Hmm??? Which seems more logical??? Hmm???
Boards fire presidents when the so choose. They chose.
It’s permanent. It also sucks. But it is what it is and we’re moving on. At least I am.
Remember, it’s about the cause — not the person.
Dave, I appreciated and enjoyed having you and Rayanne at the NYC Pope Protest. My complaint above has nothing to do with that.
My complaint is, if Ellen’s firing is not on “a whim,” then why aren’t we apprised of the reasons? And why weren’t there more signs along the way? If there were problems during Ellen’s tenure, why weren’t they brought out into the open? Why wasn’t she given help? Why weren’t we given the opportunity to solve any problems?
AA is not free from Misogyny. We had only 7 women picketers at the Pope Picket, out of an estimated 75 picketers that day. That’s less than 10 percent women. We have had a dearth of women in atheist groups as long as I can remember. I have tried to probe into the cause and I have heard, from male members themselves, that women are not given equal weight or respect in the atheist movement by male members. There are only two women on the AA Board. And it’s the Four HorseMEN, (not a Horsewoman in sight.) Misgyny (or sexism), like most “isms” is never baldly overt.
I think your concern about “mudslinging” is interesting. Are you concerned that Ellen is going to throw mud at the Board or that the Board is going to sling mud at her? Whatever; I think it needs to be done in the open. Keeping secrets is childish and un-democratic. I think Ellen needs to have her say and at the moment, she doesn’t have a dignified platform from which to say it. Maybe she doesn’t have ANY platform if the Board has denied her access to the memberlist.
ELLEN, WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.
Dave, everyone makes some mistakes and I am willing to hear Ellen’s explanations of any mistake that the Board is accusing her of.
I’m sure Ellen’s mistakes aren’t as bad as Geo. W.Bush’s mistakes, which have resulted in the deaths of hundereds of thousands of Iraqis and more than 4,000 U.S. servicemen–yet Bush has NOT been impeached. You can’t convince me that anything Ellen has done is worse than that and requires her impeachment.
Of course it’s the “cause” as you point out, and not the person. But Causes have been wiped out and silenced by destroying an effective leader. It’s an old reactionary technique: Knock out the leader. I think Gil Guardia may be right. If saboteurs have infiltrated us, they would do well for THEIR cause to wipe out our effective leader. And make no mistake–ELLEN IS AN EFFECTIVE LEADER.
Dave, in the absence of any information from the AA Board of Directors, rumors are flying.
The latest thing I’ve heard is that Ellen was fired for trivial reasons by a bunch of jealous old men who haven’t done anything for AA in decades.
For example, a rumor I’ve heard is that one reason she was fired is because she and Edwin Kagin had disagreements on what legal cases should be prioritized for legal action. O COME ON, guys. THAT IS A SOLVABLE PROBLEM. You just get a third party. Or a mediator. Ellen isn’t going to agree with you guys all the time. She’s not a yes-woman. She, being there at home-base (while you are in Ohio or New Jersey or Kentucky), may know things you don’t know. She may have input from other authorities. You’ve got to listen to her.
I suspect that’s the main problem at AA–the board is clueless, wimpy, lazy and-here’s that word again–misogynist. Take heed, Hillary: This is what you’re going to have to go through if you win.
P.S. Dave, it has occurred to me that it is not incumbent upon Ellen Johnson to proffer any explanation for her dismissal. IT IS UP TO THE BOARD TO TELL THE REASONS. Then, Ellen may, or may not, want to respond to the charges.
I mean, let’s be logical: When an accused person is indicted, he does not relate or define the charges. The persons who made the charges announce them.
Ellen should, logically, respond to the charges or accusations only when they are on the table.
P.S. Jr.
Dave, you seem to think that Ellen’s dismissal is a done deal. Not by a long shot! Nothing here is carved in stone.
I have a friend who, with other other homeowners, was not satisfied with the decisions of her condo’s board of directors. So, what did the homeowners do? The homeowners got together and formed a dedicated committee, had meetings and put together a platform that outlined complaints. One of the complaints was that the Board did not provide full disclosure. (DOES THAT REMIND YOU OF ANY OTHER BOARD?)
My friend said, it is necessary to check into the association’s bylaws and decide: Are the bylaws good? What do the bylaws say? Do the homeowners support the bylaws? “If not, you gotta change the bylaws,” she said. “You gotta change the bylaws before you change the Board.”
In this case, the dispute was resolved in favor of the activist homeowners: The manager of the association resigned under pressure and all of the Board members “stepped aside,” which is a nice way of saying they were all forced to quit and the homeowners elected a whole new Board of Directors.
So you see, it can be done.
It ain’t over till it’s over.
I THINK ELLEN SHOULD SUE FOR WRONGFUL DISMISSAL.
Smartgal, what you have stated is all the truth…..
Bart,
This is from Gil and Jeanne Gaudia.
We want to take you up on your call for everyone to start working together in order to get American Atheists back on track. Therefore we would be willing to resume our volunteer work with Ellen (and any board members we can assist, in any way we can) in order to return to the status quo ante. If Arthur needs help or Rachael, and we can do it via email or telephone, we would be happy to offer this service, without compensation (as it has always been) in an effort to spark a resumption of business as usual.
Sincerely,
Gil and Jeanne