From: Randall Gorman To: Subject: Slanted Washington Post Article Inaccurately Describes "Creator Church" As Atheist Group Date: Wednesday, July 14, 1999 7:53 AM AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC. PRESS RELEASE JULY 13, 1999 http://www.atheists.org http://www.americanatheist.org AMERICAN ATHEISTS; SLANTED WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE INACCURATELY DESCRIBES "CREATOR CHURCH" AS ATHEIST GROUP American Atheists was unfairly branded with the stigma of hate and violence by the Washington Post in yesterday's article describing the neo-nazi World Church of the Creator, as an "atheist group." The Church, headed by the self-described "Pontifex Maximus" Matthew Hale, has been linked to incidents involving hate crimes including the firebombing of an abortion clinic and physical violence against gays. In a letter to the Washington Post, American Atheists President Ellen Johnsoncharacterized the newspaper's article on Monday, July 12 as "an unfair and blatantly inaccurate characterization." "We find no evidence that the World Church of the Creator has labored for any of the social or political objectives which American Atheists and other Atheist organizations have worked for over the decades," she noted. Criticizing the World Church of the Creator's message of "political hate and intolerance," Johnson added, "In contrast, American Atheists have labored for the separation of church and state, defended other important civil liberties and human rights, and worked to promulgate a rational view of the universe and humanity's role in it." Ms. Johnson charged that the Washington Post's characterization of the World Church of the Creator as an "atheist group" was "a cheap shot." She noted that followers of the "church" are "doing the bidding of America's extreme religious right fundamentalists," including "carrying out raids on abortion clinics, physically attacking gays and other reprehensible actions." "This church's philosophy and actions have nothing to do with Atheism and the separation of church and state," added Ron Barrier, national spokesman for American Atheists. "The Post article by staff writer Rene Sanchez shows a callous indifference to Atheists and a total lack of knowledge about Atheism and freethought. American Atheists will demand an apology and an explanation as to why such an association was made between Atheists and Christian thugs disguised as atheists." For more information, please contact: Ellen Johnson, President (973)334-5110 Ron Barrier, Spokesperson (718)967-6453 American Atheists, Inc. P.O. Box 5733 Parsippany, NJ 07054-6733 Tel: (908)276-7300 Fax: (908)276-7402 ======================================= Randall Gorman and AMERICAN ATHEISTS Contact him at rgorman@atheists.org ======================================= Contact our Internet Representative Margie Wait at irep@atheists.org --------------------------------------- Subscribe to AANEWS: Info at http://www.atheists.org/aanews.html or send email--> aanews-help@atheists.org --------------------------------------- ** Visit us. http://www.atheists.org ** http://www.americanatheist.org