This amazingly blunt television program aired locally in South Texas on a TV station in Austin. The two debaters were well known in America at the time and if you read below, both had extraordinarily complicated and disastrous experiences during their lifetimes. Could you imagine this program running on TV today?
Madalyn Murray O'Hair was an outspoken activist supporting atheism & separation of church and state. In 1963 she founded American Atheists & called herself a "militant feminist".
O'Hair was known for a lawsuit that challenged the policy of mandatory prayers & Bible reading in Baltimore public schools. The Supreme Court ruled that officially sanctioned mandatory Bible-reading in public schools was unconstitutional. In 1964 Life magazine called her as "the most hated woman in America".
Because of hostility in Baltimore against her family Murray left Maryland with her sons settling in Austin, Texas. She founded American Atheists, a nationwide movement which defends the civil rights of non-believers, works for the separation of church and state and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy. She became the public voice and face of atheism in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s.
O'Hair continued to be a polarizing figure into the 1980s. She served as "chief speechwriter" for Larry Flynt's 1984 presidential campaign. She was regularly invited to appear on TV talk shows as a guest.
Her son William J. Murray became a Christian in 1980 and later a Baptist minister. Murray O'Hair commented, "I repudiate him entirely and completely for now and all times ... he is beyond human forgiveness."
In the 1990s, American Atheists staff consisted of O'Hair, her son & a handful of support personnel. On August 27, 1995, O'Hair, her son Jon Garth Murray, and her granddaughter Robin Murray O'Hair disappeared from their home. A typewritten note was attached to the locked office door, saying "The Murray O'Hair family has been called out of town on an emergency basis." Garth Murray ordered US$600,000 worth of gold coins from a San Antonio jeweler, but took delivery of only $400,000 worth of coins. American Atheists employees received several phone calls from Robin and Jon, but neither explained why they had left or when they would return; employees reported that their voices sounded strained and disturbed.
Ultimately an investigation focused on David Waters, a felon with a violent history who had worked for American Atheists. He pled guilty to stealing $54,000 from the organization.[ Shortly after the theft of the money was discovered, O'Hair published an article in the American Atheists newsletter in which she exposed the theft of the money. O'Hair also claimed that, at the age of 17, Waters had killed another teenager.
Federal agents concluded that Waters and his accomplices had kidnapped all three Murray/O'Hair family members, forced them to withdraw the missing funds, went on several shopping sprees with their money and credit cards, and killed and dismembered all three people. In January 2001, after Waters pled guilty to conspiracy and told the federal agents that the O'Hairs were buried on a Texas ranch. He subsequently led them to their bodies.
O’Hair’s legacy continues. Episode 10 in season 7 of Forensic Files dealt with the disappearance of Madalyn Murray O'Hair. And a 2017 Netflix original movie, The Most Hated Woman in America, is a loose dramatization of O'Hair's life. And an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent entitled "Eosphoros"[48] is loosely based on O'Hair's murder.
Dr Edward Bauman's life also took strange twists and turns. He earned a PhD in Systemic Theology from Boston University in 1954 and then taught Religion at American University. While teaching at American University he began a weekly television series that ran for 34 years. Bauman Bible Telecasts was formed & distributed his Emmy winning series to TV stations, churches and other organizations around the world. A Time Magazine article published in 1979 titled "American Preaching: A Dying Art?" named Bauman as one of "seven star preachers" in America.
In a letter to Foundry United Methodist Church some years later Bauman wrote that he had had "relationships of a sexual nature . . . with several women in the congregation." On his TV show he said that he never had sexual intercourse with the women. The contacts involved "hugging and affectionate kissing". Bauman agreed to undergo outpatient psychiatric counseling at Johns Hopkins Hospital and retired. "I know I made a serious mistake. I am sorry for the people I hurt. I am making all the restitution I know how to make, and I am going to rebuild my life having learned from this mistake."
Bauman's admission came at a time of increasing reports of sexual abuse by clergy. According to a story in the United Methodist newsletter, 13% of pastors in five Protestant denominations acknowledged having sexual intercourse with parishioners.