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Quote by Madalyn Murray O'Hair

“We were just floored by the kindness of the people here. The minister of the Unitarian Church in Honolulu invited my family over to his office the day we arrived and told us to make it our headquarters while we looked for a permanent residence. When we couldn't find a place for about a week, he let us live in the church; that's ironic, isn't it? But it points up the vastly different intellectual atmosphere that prevails here in Hawaii.”

Quote by Madalyn Murray O'Hair

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Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Madalyn Murray O'Hair was an American activist and lawyer, known for her pivotal role in the Supreme Court case Murray v. Curlett (1963), which resulted in the elimination of Bible reading and prayer from public schools. She founded American Atheists and was a significant figure in the secular movement in the United States. more

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“I was overwhelmed by the number of calls we got from people offering to rent us houses, to take us out to dinner, to drive us around house hunting. Everyone was just indescribably kind in Havaii. Finally we moved into a house offered to us for an incredible $125 a month by a man who feels that the separation of church and state is a valid constitutional issue which should be fought for.”

“Once involved in the school-prayer fight, I rapidly became aware of, and appalled by, the political and economic power of the Church in America -all based on the violation of one of our nation's canon laws: the separation of church and state.”

States School America Law Political Fighting Nations Church Prayer Economic Involved Separation Violation Church And State Separation Of Church And State Canon Economic Power

Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair

“The churches rose to power on the income from tax-free property. What earthly -or heavenly- right have they got to enjoy a privilege denied to everyone else, even including nonprofit organizations? None! My contention is that with the churches exempted from property taxation, you and I have to pay that much more in taxes to make up for what they're not contributing.”

Enjoy Church Pay Taxes Organization Property Rose Including Privilege Income Heavenly Denied Taxation Contributing Contention Nonprofits

Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair

“If this taxation exemptions for Church were rescinded, our property taxes would be substantially lowered, and those who rent houses and apartments would consequently be able to pass along this savings in the form of lowered rents. It could have a profoundly salubrious effect on the entire economy.”

Ifs Would Be Able Form House Church Economy Effects Taxes Property Saving Apartment Taxation Savings Exemption Property Taxes

Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair

“I decided that if nobody else was going to do anything to rectify this colossal inequity in taxation, I'd have to do it myself. So I instituted a suit against the city of Baltimore demanding that the city assessor be specifically ordered to assess the Church for its vast property holdings in the city, and that the city tax collector then be instructed to collect the taxes once the assessment has been made.”

Ifs Has Beens Made Church Cities Taxes Decided Property Suits Taxation Collectors Assessment Baltimore Colossal Rectify

Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair

“On a nationwide basis, I would guess that the various churches would have to pay annually an amount at least equal to the national debt. But it's impossible for me to make an exact estimate, because the churches hide their wealth in every way they can - deliberate falsification as to the value of property, registering it under phony names in order to obscure the fact that the Church owns the property.”

Way Facts Values Order Names Church Wealth Pay Impossible Amount Equal Bases Property Various Debt Obscure Deliberate Phony National Debt Falsification

Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair

“I'd make an educated guess that 20 to 25 percent of the taxable property in the U.S. is Church-owned.In a recent book, Church Wealth and Business Income, it was estimated that this property -all of it tax-exempt -is worth upwards of 80 billion dollars. I know that's a fantastic, unbelievable figure, but there's every reason to believe that it's on the conservative side; and this amount is increasing yearly at a geometric rate.”

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Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair

“Church wealth are moving into everything-gas stations, banks, television stations, supermarket chains, hotels, steel mills, resort areas, farms, wine factories, warehouses, bottling works, printing plants, schools, theaters-everything you could conceivably think of that has nothing to do with religion, they are moving into big. They're even coming in as stockholders in the big oil companies, and the Bank of America is almost entirely owned by the Catholic Church.”

“Even though I am fantastic looking, I am still quite intelligent.”

Stills Intelligent Fantastic

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“Quite apart from the Church's financial self-interest in getting me out of the way, Baltimore is an overwhelmingly Catholic city and like most good Christians, they felt we ought to be punished for our unorthodox views.”

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Author:Madalyn Murray O'Hair