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Keynote address given by President Ellen Johnson at the 31st National Convention of American Atheists, Friday, March 25, 2005, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Article Excerpt
Good morning everyone! I am very happy to welcome you to the 31st annual convention of American Atheists. It is always so good to see so many friends and so many new faces. Welcome everyone!

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In thinking about what I was going to write for this speech I wondered about whom I would be addressing. I wondered how many 'regular attendees' would be here and how many first-timers.

Then I started to recall the first American Atheist convention I attended back in 1980 in Detroit, Michigan. It was an exhilarating experience for me. I was surrounded by people who thought like I did. I couldn't believe all the fascinating things that I was hearing from the speakers. It was an experience that changed my life, as you can see. Little did I know that, in the midst of that event, I would be part of a dinner walkout on the hotel because the wait staff refused to serve the banquet meal to us because of Atheist jokes that Bob Brooks of Michigan was telling. Aside from that, I was enthralled by the whole experience, especially by seeing and hearing Madalyn O'Hair. But I didn't meet her then because I was too shy to say hello.

I hope that newcomers to this convention can have that same kind of experience that I did and had--year after year--at conventions from then on. And I think about that when I plan these events. I mention all of this as a prelude to talking to you about the next ten years for our organization.

Newcomers here aren't listening to Madalyn O'Hair as I did. They are listening to Ellen Johnson, and some may be wondering ... Madalyn O'Hair--Ellen Johnson. How did that happen? Where did she come from, is she up to the task and where does she see American Atheists going in the next ten years?

Well where did I come from? No, my family was not religious and I was just fine with that, because I grew up with two very religious friends from my neighborhood, one of whom came from a strict Lutheran family and the other of whom grew up in a strict Catholic family. They were always going to church and getting yelled at for breaking religious rules, and I was quite happy that I didn't have to go through that.

My parents are two very loving and kind people. My mother is politically liberal and my father is not, and I grew up trying to figure out which one of them was right. So I guess that is where my interest in politics came from. I went on to get two bachelor's degrees and a master's degree in political science.

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Soon after I joined American Atheists in 1978 I became the New Jersey Chapter Director and then the Northeast Regional Director. In 1986 Madalyn O'Hair stepped down as president, and her son Jon Murray succeeded her and I was elected to the board of directors.

I was there in 1982 when we picketed the White House. I was there in the Atheist pride marches in Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. I had an Atheist Cable TV show back in 1992 with Al Ciccone called New Jersey Atheists Today. Then I began co-hosting The Atheist Viewpoint with Ron Barrier.

I testified against vouchers for private schools before a New Jersey state commission, which included former NJ Governor Thomas Kean, who recently headed up the 9/11 Commission. I begged the Murray-O'Hairs to let me host the American Atheist convention in New Jersey in 1986--and they did. I have represented American Atheists on radio and television, mostly on a program called News Talk Television which only lasted for a few years on the air.

I was frequently in the newspapers--like the time when I asked for equal access in Wyckoff, New Jersey, for a Winter Solstice display on...

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