Madalyn Murray O'Hair

[wiseguy182]

The last couple of weeks have been particularly rich in terms of watching Madalyn Murray O'Hair. She's turned up on American Justice, City Confidential, Disappeared and Murder By The Book. That may seem a bit excessive, however the polarizing figure always makes for great television. Her battles with "The Christers" are legendary.

[karenjanee]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

The last couple of weeks have been particularly rich in terms of watching Madalyn Murray O'Hair. She's turned up on American Justice, City Confidential, Disappeared and Murder By The Book. That may seem a bit excessive, however the polarizing figure always makes for great television. Her battles with "The Christers" are legendary.

LOL, this weekend I saw the Law & Order:CI episode where they based a case on the O'Hair family disappearance.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

The last couple of weeks have been particularly rich in terms of watching Madalyn Murray O'Hair. She's turned up on American Justice, City Confidential, Disappeared and Murder By The Book. That may seem a bit excessive, however the polarizing figure always makes for great television. Her battles with "The Christers" are legendary.

I've also noticed she's been on a lot of true crime TV very recently. I share almost none of her views, but I still think she was an absolutely fascinating woman. She certainly didn't deserve what happened to her and her family.

[wiseguy182]

LOL! Phil Donahue called her the most fascinating guest he's ever had. She was always his first guest whenever he started a new show, and he wanted to end "Donahue" with her.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

LOL! Phil Donahue called her the most fascinating guest he's ever had. She was always his first guest whenever he started a new show, and he wanted to end "Donahue" with her.

I read that she actually used to give him a really hard time backstage for being Catholic, and that she was incredibly abrasive to both him and his staff. I suppose it says something about them both that he was willing to put up with that multiple times in order to have her on.

I personally became very interested in her because the church I grew up in so utterly loathed her (it stopped just short of claiming she deserved her fate, which was one of many factors in my abandoning it). I've since converted to Catholicism (coincidentally), and I still think, like Donahue, what she had to say is very important.

[unsolved88]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

I've also noticed she's been on a lot of true crime TV very recently. I share almost none of her views, but I still think she was an absolutely fascinating woman. She certainly didn't deserve what happened to her and her family.

I feel the same way. I don't agree with most of what she said, but I always had to give her credit for at least calling herself an atheist openly when so few people, even today, have the confidence to do so.

I heard an old speech she made in the early seventies in which she chided many atheist groups for not truthfully identifying themselves as such. I'm not even sure many of these organizations still exists today, but among the ones she mentioned were The Ethical Culture Society, The Friendship Liberal League, United Secularists of America, Realists, Rationalists, Freethinkers and Unitarians. "But tonight," she said. "I'm calling them ALL out as atheists because, fundamentally, that's just what they are."

I also remember hearing and reading that in spite of the fact that she claimed to speak on behalf of all atheists in America, O'Hair herself didn't really like other atheists and considered most of them to be (in her words) "a*sholes and nitwits" compared to her.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm actually pretty sure most of those groups don't exist any more. (Or they changed their names)

I always felt sorry for what happened to her, as nobody deserves such a disturbing fate. I may not share her beliefs in the slightest, but she was definitely an interesting person.