Margaret Downey, Wonder Woman

The editors of the Philadelphia Weekly, the city’s alternative newspaper, came out with its 2007 list of “Who We ♥.”

And topping their list was Margaret Downey, president of Atheist Alliance International!

Here’s the writeup (apparently, the PW doesn’t like paragraphs):

Who’s that woman dressed in Colonial clobber clattering around City Hall? It’s godless she-devil Margaret Downey, the woman who once sued the Boy Scouts of America for discriminating against atheists during her crusade to win rabble-rousing Philadelphian revolutionary Thomas Paine the recognition he deserves. Wait, crusade is totally the wrong word. When Downey was 4, she tore the head off her talking doll to learn how it worked. Nowadays she regularly but (alas) only metaphorically tears the head off the freedom-hating, truth-despising, woman-loathing Christian Taliban scumbags who want to turn this country into Afghanistan with strip malls. Flirtatious, saucy and never less than impeccably dressed, Downey is an atheist/feminist/antiracist/author/publisher/writer and all-around super-righteous wonder woman. Visit any culture-war battlefield, and you’ll find her on the right side of the barricades, glammed up to the nines, taking chauvinist names and kicking bigot ass. Atheist; freethinker; defender of the Constitution; free-speech activist; president of Atheists [sic] Alliance International; founder of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, the Anti-Discrimination Support Network and the Thomas Paine Memorial Committee; board member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Humanist Institute and the Thomas Paine National Historical Association; advisory board member of the Robert Green Ingersoll Museum and the Atheist Alliance. Phew. Is that enough? Are you in love with Margaret Downey as much as I am? You should be. She’s the best of us.

I am!

Hell, a picture of me with Margaret is the desktop background on my computer.

And I must say, even as a non-Philadephian, I think she’s much more deserving of the accolade than All Television News Traffic Reporters.

[tags]Philadelphia Weekly, Margaret Downey, Atheist Alliance International, Boy Scouts of America, Thomas Paine, Christian Taliban, Constitution, Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, Anti-Discrimination Support Network, Thomas Paine Memorial Committee, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Humanist Institute, Thomas Paine National Historical Association, Robert Green Ingersoll Museum[/tags]

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roger mills

margaret ; why don’t you display your goofy tree sometime in may or june when it won’t conflict with christmas . it is your right to say and to think anything you wish, but just do it when it won’t interfere with legitimate national hoilidays. you won’t because no one will care if you are not ‘stepping’ on christmas. wise up !!!!
Janice Rael

The Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia erected its holiday tree at a festival yesterday in West Chester PA.

Atheists to erect holiday display
FREETHOUGHT SOCIETY SCHEDULES CEREMONY FOR 5 P.M. SATURDAY
By JENNIFER MILLER, Staff Writer

WEST CHESTER — For the first time a regional atheist group will display a holiday tree on the Chester County Courthouse lawn during the winter holidays, potentially setting a seasonal model for other communities.

County commissioners have allowed groups to display a Christmas tree and menorah on the lawn. But last year, The Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia, an atheist group, asked the commissioners to either let any group set up a seasonal holiday display or ban the displays entirely.

This fall, the commissioners approved a policy that allows any group to put up a seasonal display if it meets design, insurance and safety requirements.

“This is a very rewarding step in our citizenry of Chester County, where we are now being recognized as an integral part of the community.
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And it makes us feel like whole citizens to be able to participate in this way,” said Margaret Downey, president of the Freethought Society.

The group’s display, “The Tree of Knowledge,” will include a 15-foot evergreen with color copies of book covers as decorations. Some of the book covers will include the Holy Bible, the Quran, “Ethics Without God,” “Why I Am Not a Christian,” and “Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism.”

Downey said she hopes the Chester County display will be a catalyst for displays across the nation. And she said her priority will be displaying a similar tree in Philadelphia next year.

“If this works here, we’re going to encourage other Freethought groups to do the same,” Downey said.

The county’s policy allows qualified applicants to set up a display from this Friday to Jan. 15. Interested groups had to apply by Nov. 15.

“The commissioners wanted to get a policy for winter holiday displays, giving all community groups an opportunity to erect a winter display,” said Commissioner Carol Aichele.

The county received four applications, and all were approved. Applicants had to pitch design ideas that would not give the impression the county was endorsing a particular religion.

In addition to “The Tree of Knowledge,” the courthouse lawn will feature a Christmas tree, a menorah and a crèche this year.

The Freethought Society will hold a tree ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday at the courthouse.
Rusty

Just saw this woman being interviewed on TV. Not only is she obnoxious, she interrupted other people constantly and never ceased with that smarmy grin/smile that liberals like to employ when they’re spewing hate.