A number of e-mails and comments have been received criticizing the Board of Directors of American Atheists for its dismissal of Ellen Johnson as President. Acting President Frank Zindler has been answering at least some of these critics as time has allowed.In reply to one person who suggested that the dismissal was rash, precipitous, or even without cause, Zindler replied:
“Thank you for writing to American Atheists concerning the dismissal of President Ellen Johnson. Please be assured that this was not an action that was taken lightly or without an immense amount of agonizing on the part of all members of the board. Two special meetings of the Boards of Directors of American Atheists, Inc., and its four affiliated American Atheists corporations were held for the purpose of allowing Ms. Johnson to discuss policies concerning which she and the boards disagreed. For reasons known only to Ms. Johnson, she did not take part in those meetings and did nothing to resolve the issues in question. Consequently, at a third special meeting of the boards, a majority of the directors felt it their fiduciary responsibility to remove Ms. Johnson from the office of President, although she has not been removed from membership on the boards themselves.”
Several critics have argued that it was unfair or even treacherous to dismiss Ms. Johnson while on her civil-rights march to Mississippi. Zindler’s reply was
“Concerning Ms. Johnson’s ‘Bill Moore March’ through Alabama and Mississippi, I must inform you that this was carried out without the sponsorship of American Atheists, Inc. For complex legal reasons, the Board of Directors had instructed her not to do that in any way that would give the impression that the action was an official activity of American Atheists, Inc.”
Several of Zindler’s letters have contained the following paragraph:
“I hope you will understand that most of the members of the boards of directors are seasoned Atheists with long experience in American Atheists, Inc., going back to an early period in the career of Madalyn Murray O’Hair. We care deeply for the organization she founded and wish to see it prosper. We honor her memory and seek by all legal means available to advance her cause — the cause of Atheist civil liberties, separation of state and church, and the liberation of the human mind. We feel now more than ever that this is the most important Atheist organization in America — not only in what it is trying to do but also in what it is in fact doing.”
One writer has even alleged that the boards dismissed Ellen for reasons of power or personal gain, to which Zindler replied:
“Your assertion that the Board dismissed Ms. Johnson ‘for seemingly no better reason that to exercise power’ is particularly troubling, as it presumes either that we acted out of whim — i.e., with no compelling reason of fiduciary responsibility — or that we somehow will enjoy personal gain from this painful action. I cannot expect you to believe that we did in fact have important reasons of fiduciary responsibility for the simple reason that I am not at liberty to tell you what those were. However, as for the second assumption — that of personal gain from exercise of power — I would have you know that all the Directors of the Board serve without salary, as do the Secretary and Treasurer. Although Ms. Johnson as President did receive a very modest salary, as Acting President I am serving without pay — as I have done for 13 years as Managing Editor of American Atheist Press (itself a full-time job). “I will be Acting President probably for only five or six months, until a new President can be selected. Nevertheless, I hope you will stay with us and help us in our fight against the forces of ignorance and superstition — not only through my brief tenure in an office I never sought, but also into the future with whomever succeeds me.”
Zindler also has expressed gratitude for Ellen’s accomplishments in many of his replies, for example “I agree with you perhaps more than you can appreciate that Ellen Johnson has been a brilliant and effective leader of the Atheist movement and has made many extremely important contributions to the cause of reason, Atheist civil liberties, and separation of state and church.”
A thank you is in order to Arthur for the long and impassioned response to bloggers questions regarding what happened to Ellen. Hopefully, Ellen will eventually respond to bloggers concerns.
I am not a member yet, but have been following this imbroglio from the back seat, because of my familial relationship with Jeanne and Gil Gaudia who have edited and written for the magazine for the past two years. I have never met Ellen in person, but have seen her on various t.v. shows albeit for a quick minute or two. Jeanne and Gil have nothing but the most positive feelings for Ellen, based on their close working relationship with her.
I have always thought that Ellen is/was the most impressive representative of Atheist ideals we’ve had in a very long time. I did wonder about the walk, however, since I thought it was a “dated” endeavor as opposed to the billboards which are going up in many cities, and which will reach a vast number of non-believers, which is, one would hope, the ultimate goal of American Atheists. It seems to me that the billboards are a better use of time and money.
From Arthur’s notes, it would appear that the Board did very little of significance and let Ellen run the show for a long time. It’s time for Ellen to speak, since she is and has been the eyes, ears, head and heart of American Atheists. Ellen, where are you?
Thank you, Mr. Brenner, for your eye-opening post. I hope you don’t have to suffer for posting it.
Although I’ve tried to make the best of it, things never did smell right, and now I have an idea why… anyway, for what it’s worth, I think I’ll follow What’s example and tie my continued membership to your fate in the organization. Good luck.
I agree that Arthur Brenner’s post was brave, and rather informative. I’ve put it up at the NYC Atheists Blog as I felt our members would appreciate it.
Also, I find Frank Zindler and the Board’s position about potential liability legitimate but somewhat weak-willed. Perhaps that’s not so much their fault as it is the fault of the litigious society in which we live.
Finally, I do also find myself questioning the significance of Ellen Johnson’s march. It was, as someone above pointed out, a dated and peripheral issue at best. Was it done for Ellen to garner some public coverage for AA? Or did she have a more personal reason? Why didn’t she organize a march against Creationism in schools? Or against honor killings? Or against parents who pray for their children in lieu of providing medical assistance? It seems there are far many more pressing issues facing atheism and secularism that could easily have taken priority.
Well, that’s always the easy route. Actually, no one should be “running the show,” as in furthering their own personal agendas or unilaterally deciding on what direction the organization is going to take, be it board members or the CEO. If it does not already have one, AA needs to have a strong mission statement so that the members are clear about what it is they are supporting. The responsibility of the board and the president should be to achieve that mission. Nothing more, nothing less. It shouldn’t be about any individual; it should be about the success of the organization.
Arthur,
Poor taste.
You claim to know so much because you’ve been a part-time employee for two years, but in reality you don’t know what happened behind closed doors. You don’t know the board members well, and you don’t really know Ellen, aside from being a paid employee.
You don’t know what went down from an objective point of view, only what a very angry Ellen has told you. And you apparently have not really heard the Board’s side.
And you don’t know how a non-profit works. The President works for the board, not vice-versa. The president is managed by the board, not vice-versa. When the board gives an answer, it is not an opinion, it’s a DIRECTIVE that the president must follow.
So if Ellen had expressly ordered you NOT to do something, and you did it anyway (as an employee), what do you think Ellen would do? How about if, in Ellen’s opinion, your actions directly endangered the organization? What would she do? She’s can your ass.
Now that you’ve blathered your ill-informed opinion on the blog, you’ve placed this Board in the position of keeping on a complaining and insulting office manager who publicly defames some of the movement’s greatest activists, or having to retrain a new office manager while finding a new president. Nice timing.
Bad form, Arthur.
Please, oh please, don’t tell me that America’s best-organized atheist group is really weakening because of petty politics or the egos of the leaders. Perhaps the hard work of organizing atheists really is like herding cats – everyone is so independent-minded that unified effort becomes impossible to acheive. Then there is the puzzle of how to speak a united message loud and clear while not being oppressive to internal dissidents. Many organizations struggle with this issue.
Yet we should be well aware that our lock-step religious-right opponents generally do not have such worries. They take their orders from the top, don’t question their leaders, tolerate little dissent, and operate with the ruthless efficiency of an army. Their dedication, efficiency and effectiveness is the key to how successfully they have taken away our rights.
Those of you who have threatened to quit AA over this political hissy fit should recognize that this must-have-it-my-way mentality is part of the problem. Liberal Christians go to conservative churches every week and refuse to quit donating. That’s why the churches are politically stronger than us.
Arthur, I can envision your gossip post being read on the radio by a gleeful Rush Limbaugh.
Finally, anyone who gets too worked up over this issue should consider whether this diversion of resources whould be a good decision if it resulted in the loss of a legal battle and you later found that your tax dollars were going to teaching religion in biology classrooms.
Dave,
I know you’d like it to be that easy. You’d like to quickly dismiss me as a “part-time employee” who doesn’t really have any inside information.
Please re-read my original post.
You parrot the board’s dogma that an “angry Ellen” is behind all criticisms of the board.
Please re-read my original post.
Your statements reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship between an employer and employee (and between a board and its president). We’re not in the military here, Dave. A good employee often respectfully disagrees with what they are initially told to do. A good employer is open to discuss the employee’s ideas. What develops is a team atmosphere where people work together to achieve a common goal.
Please re-read my original post.
It is a good thing to question authority. Anything less is very un-atheist-like.
Yes, the fact that I have “blathered” my “ill-informed opinion” on the blog puts the board in a difficult position. That was exactly my intent. By their irresponsible actions, the board has put American Atheists in a weakened position. Now, the consequences of their actions are back on their own shoulders.
I’m not forcing them to fire me. That is still their decision. They are responsible for the consequences of ALL their decisions.
Your angry response to my post reflects a very un-atheist-like devotion to this extremely dysfunctional board of directors.
Bad form, Dave.
PLEASE READ: FROM BART MELTZER
Now it’s my turn to chime in.
For those of you who don’t know, I’m the director of state and regional operations for American Atheists. That is, I appoint and manage state directors. I?ve been doing that job for over five and half years.
I also headed up a project to replace the AA membership database with a new program. This project spanned three years. I also performed various other jobs. I?m also on the board of directors.
Ellen Johnson is my significant other. We have been together for almost six years now.
I read Arthur?s post above. I can?t believe that several Atheists accepted Arthur?s post like it?s gospel. Any of you who think Arthur?s post answers questions are as much suckers as the people that followed Jimmy Jones and drank the Goofy G(r)ape. Many of you have questioned everything that Frank has said, but NO ONE has questioned ONE THING Arthur said.
So to all you people who thanked Arthur without any question, what the fuck is up with that?
Arthur DID NOT explain why the board fired Ellen. The truth is, Arthur does not know the details. He has only hearsay and second hand knowledge. Arthur lied through his teeth and he did so to generate animosity toward the board. Arthur made many accusations about board members that are just plain lies. Arthur wants a lot of people to pressure the board to reinstate Ellen, but what he is doing is just creating animosity toward the board and making everything much harder to reconcile.
Arthur has been causing animosity within American Atheists for as long as he?s been with AA. Every person that he mentioned in his post has had some type of conflict with Arthur including myself. It?s like this shit never ends. Arthur is a good part of the reason why many on the board have been so frustrated. Arthur would say he wants to work with us but when it came time to do that, he would not respond to emails or he would get an attitude. Just like in his post. In fact, Arthur?s post is a great example of how he has treated many of us on the board. Instead of trying to build bridges between the board and Ellen, Arthur has tried to make things worse. Same old story.
Arthur never expressed to the board any of the animosity he has. He didn?t say one word to anyone on the board about any of those issues he felt so strongly about. As far as the board knew, Arthur had no problems working for those who took over the running of AA. Arthur has been talking with Frank and Conrad on a regular basis and said nothing to them about any of this. I?d like to see Arthur call Conrad a weasel to Conrad?s face. Arthur?s post on this blog is the first indication to anyone on the board that he had any issues with how anything was handled. If a person has a problem with their boss, do they try to work it out with the boss or do they go public and tell everyone? Now maybe airing things out in public is appropriate sometimes, but doing that as a first recourse without even trying to work things out? And then making up lies and insulting them in public? If anyone should have been fired it was Arthur, not Ellen. Well, it looks like that will likely happen now. Several weeks ago a few of the board members had expressed optimism about working with Arthur after talking with him. I relayed to them that time will reveal differently. I was starting to think that maybe I was wrong. Guess I wasn?t.
Ellen is one of the hardest working and most dedicated persons I have ever known. She single handedly ran this organization for over thirteen years. Other people helped, but she ran it. I know of no one more dedicated than Ellen. But Ellen is not above making mistakes and she made quite a few. The biggest one is her refusal to accept the fact that the board had waken up after thirteen years of sleeping and was ready to start acting as a board. I can understand Ellen?s reluctance. Thirteen years is along time to be making all the decisions and then along comes these board members that want to take some responsibility for themselves. Myself included. If I was Ellen I would also be reluctant to share responsibility with those who are suddenly interested.
But the thing is, it?s the board?s job to make important decisions. Making important decisions is what they are supposed to be doing. So the board tried to do this for the last few months. Some board members have been trying to fulfill their duty since last year but were met with resistance. So no one person is to blame, but no one person is exempt from blame either.
Because of Ellen?s dedication and continuous hard work she would not release any responsibilities to the board. The board wanted to make changes and Ellen did not. The board saw many things wrong with the way things were going and Ellen thought everything was just fine. The details of the differences are not important. The fact that could not be resolved are.
The Bill Moore walk had little to do with Ellen?s firing. It was a small factor, but in and of itself was not that significant. What was significant was the inability of Ellen and the board to work together through several deep disagreements. The Bill Moore walk was only one of those disagreements.
For the record, I was one of the board members that voted NOT to fire Ellen. I think the board and Ellen could have eventually worked things out but I was in the minority. My position is that there?s plenty of blame to go around for everyone. Including Ellen. If the board is to blame for an unnecessary firing then Ellen is equally to blame as she refused to compromise as much as the board did. Too many people were emotionally dug in to their positions including Ellen.
And that?s the bottom line. No one would compromise during that meeting. So the majority of the board members cast their vote after a three hour meeting. That?s how long it took to realize that no progress was being made and likely would not be made in the near future. In Ellen?s own words during the meeting: ?When there is a disagreement between a board of directors and a president and it can?t be resolved, the board fires the president.? She said it, they did it. I asked everyone for more time to let things settle, but the board thought enough time had gone by already.
Now, what to do?
We want to build bridges, not burn them. To that end you can forget about that vindictive bullshit that Arthur spewed. That will go no where. If you want Ellen back as president (as I do) then we all MUST work together to reach compromises and resolve differences. I don?t know if it?s possible to bring Ellen back and I also don?t know if Ellen wants that herself but it?s the optimum situation that I foresee. Everyone made mistakes including me and now it?s time to start working to fix those mistakes. I?ll post my account of how the Bill Moore walk issue evolved and the concerns that were expressed about it.
Arthur has said several negative things about a lot of people. BUT, a lot of people can say many negative things about Arthur. Which is worse? Does it matter? Is that what we want? It?s not what I want and I hope it?s not what anyone here wants either. So if anyone on this blog wants to help then start encouraging everyone to work together and quit trying to lay blame on the board, Ellen, or anyone else.
For all the naysayers out there: American Atheists is much bigger than any one person. If anyone thinks that AA is just about Ellen Johnson or Madalyn or anyone else then they?re in the wrong organization. Go find some organization where the leader wants to be worshipped. Evangelicals come to mind. AA is a team and always will be. Even when Ellen ran the organization she could not do that without all the staff, volunteers and members who helped.
So if you want to be a part of the most active national Atheist organization in the world then you?ll have no problem getting passed this. This organization will survive just fine. It survived after the O?Hair?s disappeared (which was much more traumatic) and it will do so again. Will it include Ellen Johnson? Not if everyone keeps fighting that?s for sure. So let?s get passed all this petty bullshit and start working together.
Those who don?t want to work together and want to fight are welcome to leave. The rest of us will stay and fight for our cause.
Bart Meltzer,
Director of State and Regional Operations,
American Atheists, Inc.
Board Member,
American Atheists, Inc,
United Secularists of America
Yea! Great response Bart! Best of luck to the volunteers (Board members) and president/ex-president/temp president while they all figure out what the next steps are.
Now – for those of you who keep writing in about “not being a member yet – but going to join” what are you waiting for? It Sunday – and every church just brought in tons of cash in their colection plate – allowing them to fund many things important to them.
We – as atheists- have no gathering day to remind us that it costs money to keep the lights on and the computer server running – so please pitch in.
Wouldn’t it be nice if AA had enough $$ to fully fund a full-time President at a modern salary? To be able to pay those volunteers/board members back for some of their time? Maybe a little cashola to reimburse the Blog master.
I just checked – it is now $15 bucks for a mini-membership. $35 for a full membership. $35 is nothing these days – when a double tall mocha at Starbucks is almost $4. Or another way – $35 bucks buys you an ENTIRE year membership. It only buys 9 gallons of gas which only lasts a week. So, why don’t you take the 5 minutes it takes to join – and then the next time you comment – you can say “I’m a member and I think….”
Now, as for paid employees who aired office politics with the public – now in a semi-permanent medium – this blog – the response is a no-brainer. I can criticize my company all I want – online, in person, about directions it should take – or features that should be added to products – but once I cross the line and make public conversions of a private nature from upper exectutives or divuge sensitive info – my net access would be cut – the men in black would show up and escort me and my cardboard box of belongings to the door. A volunteer can say whatever they want – an employee cannot.
My partner was on the board of a non-profit – and changes had to be made. The board of about 5 people worked their fu**ing asses off – more than 20 hours a week. Boy – did the members scream and pitch a fit – probably about 300 people bitched – but only 15 showed up to help volunteer. Probably similar to how hard Ellen works/worked – for what I can only assume is about a third of what she should have been paid. Wouldn’t have been nice for AA to have been able to pay her more the last 13 years? OR to be able to pay the next prez more?
Or, ask Dave – how much time he spends each day on this blog? That time is time away from family – wouldn’t it be nice to at least give him a token thanks of some $$ each month? So, I know you can – reach in your pocket and donate 20 bucks to AA:
http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main
and while you are at it donate $50 buck to the Red Cross for disaster relief:
http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main
I see I made a typo – so to beat someone else to it:
Donate to AA here:
http://www.atheists.org/
click on the PayPal symbol
Donate to Red Cross here:
http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main
And then call your remaining living parental figures and tell them you love them.
Bart
I don’t think anybody is taking Authur’s post as the last word on this matter. Far from it! The board has been opaque with regards to this unruly “transition” and Arthur’s post was simply one of the first to shed even a little light on this situation. For that he should be commended. It’s a shame that this matter was not aired more openly. Such opacity tends to lead to suspicion and the sniping we are presently seeing on these pages. This is not the way to build confidence in AA’s leadership.
Here’s my suggestion. Openness.
Is it any wonder AA is falling apart…?
I guess no one gets fired from AA…
This seems like high school…
All of you…grow the fuck up.
Bart, thank you for you informative post.
Whatever direction the Board takes now, I hope they make their goals, objectives, and policies clear to the membership. That’s what I need in order to “buy in” to the future of this organization.
I hope things work out well for all involved. I also hope AA can pay a reasonable salary to any future president and staff.
I didn’t realize how much of a one-woman show that Ellen was. She deserves our respect and well wishes.
Change is now upon us and I hope the organization takes good advantage of it to promote our cause.
A lot of the problem here is the “Tony Snow” effect. (If I can invoke anything at all to do with the Bush/FoxNews administration without seeming too insulting.)
When we here what Tony Snow, or Condelessa Rice, or currently employeed top military commanders have to say when the shit is hitting the fan, you can’t really trust it. You just can’t. Honesty — even self-honesty — isn’t part of the job for them, right? Hyper attention to integrity is a good way of getting fired very quickly. You’re not going to here Tony Snow say “oh, hell no, we’re being totally unreasonable!” or Secretary Rice say, well, anything the adminstration doesn’t tell her to. And while there have been plenty of top military brass complain up and down about strategies (or lack thereof) have been employed, that’s generally AFTER they retire, yeah?
It’s the same in any management group in any company, organization, or, well, any group were some select group is expected to run a larger one. We’ve all seen it over and over again.
And we’re seeing it here. The facts aren’t relevant — support the team! All this bickering isn’t helping — support the team! Yes, but… support the team! And so on.
But blindly “supporting the team” is how bad stuff perpetuates. It’s how bad management stays bad. It’s how bad administrations stay bad.
As has been mentioned, openness is key. Even when that isn’t practical, don’t hide behind a curtain and expect eveyone to trust the Great and Powerful Oz when they reason they’re trying to peek is because their trust has been shaken.
It’s sad. It’s not that I disagree with the general sentiment of the AA cheerleaders here, but hey — we’ve got our eyes open and not eveyone is willing to shut them just to “support the team”.
Bart
One last thing. Did you show Ellen your above post before posting it?
Correction: Before Dave posted it.
Mwahahaha….I love all the fighting going on here, it’s so exciting, you never see this kind of thing in church
…. you never get that kind of thing in church groups because the people in those groups are so smooshed by religion that they are happy with mundane details. So long as the herd is happy, Pastor McTitties has a stable income and the parasitic church meme can go on indefinantly. Hmmmm, churches are like brain-drain sinks whereas atheist organizations are like freethought-originating sources.
The town idiot wrote
. No need for me to comment.
My membership in A.A. came w/ my commitment to sponsor Viewpoint on local public access TV. My only goal was to break the religious monopoly there.
Since these shows are supposed to represent ME, I have not been shy to criticise. My email correspondence w/ Ellen has been an even-handed mix of admonishment and praise.
Bottom line – I’m not happy when someone in this organization causes me embarrassment. The actions of the Board w/ respect to this unceremonious firing of our public face is the act of just such a caffone(get an Italian dictionary and look it up).
How do you think this looks to an asshole like Bill Donohue? Bill O’Reilly? Glenn Beck?
The whitewash piece by Zindler has obviously fooled no one and now, thanks to all the bullshit, WE look like idiots just for being members.
If you had problems w/ Ellen, couldn’t you have exercised some public decorum in dealing w/ her?
Tomorrow, I have to deliver the next two episodes of Viewpoint to the TV station. Thanks to the unprofessional conduct of this Board, I can no longer hold my head high for this task.
The Board was not looking at the big picture, here.
This is unfortunate. I’m not going to comment on actions I was in no position to observe, but it does seem to this member that this action came on rather suddenly.
Perhaps, it was unavoidable. When the president of any organization is at loggerheads with the majority of that organization’s board of directors, then it’s not hard to predict what the outcome will be.
Possibly board members and Ms. Johnson can reconsider their positions and achieve a reconciliation. Failing that, I hope the board will recognize Ellen’s years of service on the front line in some meaningful fashion and that she will continue to be an ally to the organization she has served so ably all these years.
Conflict of interest, much??!!
To Jeanne and Gil Gaudia, who went ballistic on the Blog when I pointed out punctuation errors in American Atheists magazine:
Your anger reveals to me that you, probably as volunteer editors, are the ones responsible for the erroneous hanging periods in the magazine.
WELL, I KNEW IT WASN’T ELLEN.
For your information: check out Page 170 of The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage.
I have not enountered any “exceptions” to this rule in my 30 years of editing publications in New York City.
In any case, the erroneous hanging periods appeared far too often in the AA magazine to be “exceptions.”
——–
Just out of curiousity, Gil and Jeanne, if my handle had been “Smartguy” instead of “Smartgal,” would your response to me have been as vicious?
I wonder.
AA needs to work on getting rid of the rampant misogyny in its ranks.
Smartgal needs to stop playing the misogyny card all the time. Until you have any evidence, it only makes it look like you have an unrelated agenda to push and it adds nothing to the discussion.
For the record, I agree with you about the editing in the magazine, it has made me cringe fairly often.
Here’s another word for the Board of Directors of AA: HEARTLESS.
I can put myself in Ellen Johnson’s shoes when I think about the Freedom Walk: First the Board said Yes. Funds for the Freedom Walk were even solicited on this Blog (I know people who sent in money for it.)
Then the Board said, Well, maybe not. Then, Well, just don’t use AA funds. And then, after being wishy washy all this time while Ellen made arrangements, the Board finally issued a No…But by that time, I think Ellen had committed herself to so many people, particularly to those old veterans who had tried to complete Bill Moore’s walk 45 years ago, and their children, and it was an emotional committment… How could she reverse herself when the vacillating Board finally said No? I can see her being torn and then finally deciding to go with her heart.
And I can also identify with Ellen’s perhaps wanting to do an Atheist kind of “memorial” for Madalyn Murray O’Hair, something that Madalyn would have appreciated, or something she would have done herself in her day. And I can identify with the sorrow that Ellen must have felt seven years ago when Madalyn’s body was found, and I can even imagine tears washing down Ellen’s face as she ran the Freedom route, and I can imagine Ellen thinking, This is for you, Madalyn, in expiation of all that the Board did not do 13 years ago.
Yes, I can identify with Ellen’s sorrow and her grief and maybe her gut need to do something.. something that Madalyn would have done herself, or would have encouraged, as Madalyn had encouraged Bill Moore on his trek.
I listen to you Board members with your pompous talk of fiduciary liability and I think, bullshit, you are heartless, unimaginative, unempathetic wimps who wouldn’t recognize a noble act if it slapped you in the face.
Yes, all the time Ellen was running in the South, I was thinking, “Run, Ellen, run.” And I was thinking of Madalyn too, and her unmarked grave somewhere in the Southwest, and I knew Madalyn would have approved.
You did good, Ellen. You acted couragely. If you were defiant, it was because the situation called for defiance. Madalyn was often defiant.
Run, Ellen, run. Run away from those who don’t understand, who don’t cry, who don’t feel the sorrow.
Here’s another word for the Board of Directors of AA: HEARTLESS.
I can put myself in Ellen Johnson’s shoes when I think about the Freedom Walk: First the Board said Yes. Funds for the Freedom Walk were even solicited on this Blog (I know people who sent in money for it.)
Then the Board said, Well, maybe not. Then, Well, just don’t use AA funds. And then, after being wishy washy all this time while Ellen made arrangements, the Board finally issued a No…But by that time, I think Ellen had committed herself to so many people, particularly to those old veterans who had tried to complete Bill Moore’s walk 45 years ago, and their children, and it was an emotional committment… How could she reverse herself when the vacillating Board finally said No? I can see her being torn and then finally deciding to go with her heart.
And I can also identify with Ellen’s perhaps wanting to do an Atheist kind of “memorial” for Madalyn Murray O’Hair, something that Madalyn would have appreciated, or something she would have done herself in her day. And I can identify with the sorrow that Ellen must have felt seven years ago when Madalyn’s body was found, and I can even imagine tears washing down Ellen’s face as she ran the Freedom route, and I can imagine Ellen thinking, This is for you, Madalyn, in expiation of all that the Board did not do 13 years ago.
Yes, I can identify with Ellen’s sorrow and her grief and maybe her gut need to do something.. something that Madalyn would have done herself, or would have encouraged, as Madalyn had encouraged Bill Moore on his trek.
I listen to you Board members with your pompous talk of fiduciary liability and I think, bullshit, you are heartless, unimaginative, unempathetic wimps who wouldn’t recognize a noble act if it slapped you in the face.
Yes, all the time Ellen was running in the South, I was thinking, “Run, Ellen, run.” And I was thinking of Madalyn too, and her unmarked grave somewhere in the Southwest, and I knew Madalyn would have approved.
You did good, Ellen. You acted couragely. If you were defiant, it was because the situation called for defiance. Madalyn was often defiant.
Run, Ellen, run. Run away from those who don’t understand, who don’t cry, who don’t feel the sorrow.
Here’s another word for the Board of Directors of AA: HEARTLESS.
I can put myself in Ellen Johnson’s shoes when I think about the Freedom Walk: First the Board said Yes. Funds for the Freedom Walk were even solicited on this Blog (I know people who sent in money for it.)
Then the Board said, Well, maybe not. Then, Well, just don’t use AA funds. And then, after being wishy washy all this time while Ellen made arrangements, the Board finally issued a No…But by that time, I think Ellen had committed herself to so many people, particularly to those old veterans who had tried to complete Bill Moore’s walk 45 years ago, and their children, and it was an emotional committment… How could she reverse herself when the vacillating Board finally said No? I can see her being torn and then finally deciding to go with her heart.
And I can also identify with Ellen’s perhaps wanting to do an Atheist kind of “memorial” for Madalyn Murray O’Hair, something that Madalyn would have appreciated, or something she would have done herself in her day. And I can identify with the sorrow that Ellen must have felt seven years ago when Madalyn’s body was found, and I can even imagine tears washing down Ellen’s face as she ran the Freedom route, and I can imagine Ellen thinking, This is for you, Madalyn, in expiation of all that the Board did not do 13 years ago.
Yes, I can identify with Ellen’s sorrow and her grief and maybe her gut need to do something.. something that Madalyn would have done herself, or would have encouraged, as Madalyn had encouraged Bill Moore on his trek.
I listen to you Board members with your pompous talk of fiduciary liability and I think, bullshit, you are heartless, unimaginative, unempathetic wimps who wouldn’t recognize a noble act if it slapped you in the face.
Yes, all the time Ellen was running in the South, I was thinking, “Run, Ellen, run.” And I was thinking of Madalyn too, and her unmarked grave somewhere in the Southwest, and I knew Madalyn would have approved.
You did good, Ellen. You acted couragely. If you were defiant, it was because the situation called for defiance. Madalyn was often defiant.
Run, Ellen, run. Run away from those who don’t understand, who don’t cry, who don’t feel the sorrow.
alatham said:
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‘Smartgal needs to stop playing the misogyny card all the time. Until you have any evidence, it only makes it look like you have an unrelated agenda to push and it’
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Smartgal replies:
You just don’t get it, do you?
I’m the woman who posted on this blog that there were ONLY 7 WOMEN at our New York Pope Picket out of a total 75 picketers–or less than 10%. WHAT MORE EVIDENCE DO YOU NEED THAT WOMEN DO NOT FEEL WELCOME IN ATHEIST GROUPS?
And of course misogyny is a “related” topic: I’m one of the people who has accused the Board of misogyny in dealing with Ellen (corroborated by Arthur and others). Pay attention, alatham, and connect the dots.
And by the way, your not seeing the connections here is probably due to (drum roll) your unconscious misogyny.