AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.
http://www.atheists.org
http://www.americanatheist.org

For more information, please contact:
Ellen Johnson, President (908) 276-7300
Dave Silverman, Communications Director (732) 648-9333

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 31, 2006


   NPR BROADCAST SLURS ATHEISTS, REMARK THEN MISSING FROM WEB SITE
    TRANSCRIPT -- GROUP CALLS FOR APOLOGY AND EXPLANATION


A May 25, 2006 program aired on National Public Radio referenced the old
canard "There are no Atheists in foxholes" but the remark by reporter
John Burnett, however, is absent  from the transcript posted on the  NPR
web site.

An Atheist watchdog group is calling upon the network to retract the
statement, and clarify why it does not appear on the internet.

The segment from "All Things Considered" was titled "The Trucker's War:
On the Road in Iraq" and profiled the risks private contractors face
transporting supplies to U.S. military bases in the war zone.  It
included narration by Mr. Burnett and brief sound-bytes by truckers
working for KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary.  Mr. Burnett commented, "To
amend the old saying about foxholes, there are no atheists driving
trucks in Iraq."

"With hundreds of truckers risking their lives to provision our troops
in Iraq, how does Mr. Burnett know all of these drivers happen to be
religious?" asked Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists.  "When
it comes to the cliche about Atheists in foxholes -- or Atheists risking
their lives in Iraq or anywhere else -- comments like that are insulting
and simply have no basis in fact."

Johnson noted that on Veteran's Day, Atheists from across the nation
converged on Washington, DC for a "Foxhole Atheists" event.

Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists, said that
the NPR report was inappropriate, and that the network needs to
apologize to Atheists who are serving or have served the country.
"Imagine if someone said that there are no blacks or Jews or members of
some other group in foxholes.  Members of many different groups have
proudly answered the call in times of crisis and served our nation's
military or worked in life-threatening situations."

Silverman added that the NPR network also needs to explain why the
insulting remark is absent from their web site.  American Atheists is
asking members and supporters to contact National Public Radio with
their concerns.  An Action Alert with links to the NPR web site and the
audio version can be found through
http://www.atheists.org/action/alert-30-may-2006.html

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.

 American Atheists, Inc.
P. O. Box 5733
Parsippany, NJ 07054-6733
Tel.: (908) 276-7300
Fax: (908) 276-7402