Madalyn O’Hair Resigning as Head of Atheist Group

The founder of the nation’s leading atheist group said Saturday she is stepping down as its president because she is confident Americans no longer equate atheism with communism.

“I have headed this thing for 26 years and I feel I’ve established my purpose, a viable American institution that is going to remain,” Madalyn O’Hair, 67, said of American Atheists, which is holding its annual convention here.

“Anybody in the United States can say they’re an atheist today without people calling you a communist,” she said.

School Prayer Figure

O’Hair, who played a key role in the campaign that led to two Supreme Court decisions in the early 1960s outlawing prayer in public schools, said her 32-year-old son from a previous marriage, Jon Murray, is taking her place.

The group, based in Austin, Tex., claims 30,000 member families.

The author of 11 books, O’Hair said she would devote herself almost exclusively to research and writing but would continue to preside over American Atheists’ board of directors.

‘In God We Trust’

In 1980, O’Hair launched an unsuccessful battle, which reached the Supreme Court, to stop the government from putting “In God We Trust” on its currency.

American Atheists has chapters in 30 states, a 30-minute weekly cable television program airing in 85 major cities and 1,000 college and university libraries subscribing to its magazine, she said.