Atheism: Utah Atheists

JULIA RIVERS

Director,
Salt Lake Valley Atheists

MIKE RIVERS
Hello, I’m Mike Rivers and am very proud to be a part of this organization. My wife Julia and I live in South Salt Lake City, Utah. We recently moved here from Simi Valley, California, due to an interdivision transfer within my company. I am a Staff Engineer for a communications company and have been doing research and developing laser communication systems for 15 years. (Chris Allen works for the same company and we meet frequently for lunch.)

I have been an Atheist for nearly 30 years and only recently joined American Atheists. While living in Simi Valley my wife and I formed an Atheist group called the Simi Valley Free Thinkers, which was affiliated with American Atheists. I was transferred to Simi Valley from San Diego a little over two years ago. On arriving in Simi Valley it became very apparent that my quiet days of being an Atheist would be a thing of the past. A realization and a sense of urgency over the loss of our First Amendment rights pushed Julia and me into activism. We invited many prominent Atheists to speak at our meetings, we had an information booth at an annual Gay and Lesbian Pride festival, and we participated in writing letters to local newspapers, and to
local, state and federal representatives. Our aim was to show Atheism in a positive light that reflects the healthy perspective it is, and to educate the public about who we really are – not whom our detractors would have people believe.

My experience prior to this includes serving five years on a school board budget committee, five years on a home association board serving as president for three years, and participation in a number of community related committees reporting to the City Council. I addressed the City Council frequently on a number of issues. I also worked on numerous community service projects.

My goals are to continue with the rich traditions already in place here in Utah. Chris Allen and Richard Andrews have done and are continuing to do a tremendous job here. Young people need to know they have a place with American Atheists. We need to develop an outreach program designed to attract them and draw on their talents. In Utah, religion is continually encroaching on every aspect of peoples' lives, and dominating all bodies of government and the public schools. Publicity, education and even the possibility of litigation are our only defenses on state and church issues. We need to find a local broadcast company to air "Atheist Viewpoint." We need to step up our challenge to prayer in government meetings, to Ten Commandment monuments in government venues, and to religious instruction in the public schools. And finally,
Atheism needs to be portrayed in a positive and professional manner in all our encounters.

It is an honor to work with such a dedicated group of individuals. I would like people to feel free to contact me at anytime.

UTAH STATE DIRECTOR
Michael D. Rivers
P.O. Box 651471
Salt Lake City, UT 84165-1471
E-mail: mrivers@atheists.org
Web-site: www.atheists.org/ut/

ELLEN JOHNSON
Serves as President of American Atheists. A "soccer mom," she has been active in American Atheists and other social cause groups for many years. She has been a guest on programs such as Bill Maher's "Politically Incorrect," and testified before the National Commission on Civil Rights about the problem of discrimination faced by atheists in schools and other social institutions.

RICHARD ANDREWS
Founded the Utah Chapter of American Atheists in 1979, and now serves as Utah State Co-Director. In 1979-1980, he successfully led a campaign to defeat a ballot measure that would have radically broadened state religious tax exemptions. In 1986, Rich also helped to stop an attempt by religious hospitals to gain constitutional exemption from property taxes.

Mr. Andrews was principal plaintiff in a lawsuit by Society of Separationists against the Salt Lake City Council challenging its practice of opening meetings with a prayer. He won that case in March, 1992, but the decision was overturned by the Utah Supreme Court in November of 1993. He will speak on the life of Atheist author and historian Vardis Fisher.

CHRIS ALLEN
Director of the Utah Chapter of American Atheists from 1982 to 1993; from 1994 to 2001 leader of Utah Atheists.
Has been a member of American Atheists since 1973 and a board member since 1991. He served as director of the Utah Chapter of American Atheists for 13 years, and currently hosts monthly meetings for the Utah Atheists.
As an activist, Chris campaigned, with Richard Andrews, against tax exemption for church-affiliated "nonprofit" hospitals to protest their diversion of funds to churches. As chapter director, he filed four law suits in Utah challenging graduation and city council prayer.
Chris has written articles for the American Atheist magazine and newsletter and for several newspapers in Utah. He is also the voice of Dial-an-Atheist in Utah.

RELIGION War Won, No. 1 Atheist Bids Adieu to Utah
Allen led the battle for church-state separation
BY BOB MIMS
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

   For 19 years, Chris Allen has been the lightning rod for Utah's atheist
community, the bane of what he perceives as a Mormon theocracy -- one he
regularly battled with vitriolic wit.
   During those nearly two decades, Allen has never had a paucity of arenas
in which to air his views. He battled prayer in schools, at graduation
ceremonies and during city council meetings; challenged Ten Commandments
monuments on public property; and attacked the presence of LDS missionaries
in classrooms -- a move that led the church to ban missionary tutoring in
public schools in 1998.
   Most of his battles ended in defeat, Allen admits. Still, as he steps
down as Utah's chief disciple of disbelief, the 55-year-old, soon-to-retire
computer programmer insists he won his protracted philosophical war.
   "We did a good deal of educating the people about separation of state and
church, and I believe the majority in Utah have come to accept that concept,"
said Allen, who plans to return to his native Texas this fall. "So, I feel
justified, that there is something of a victory."
   Civil libertarian colleagues, and even an ardent foe, agree Allen was an
effective, persistent voice for often unpopular causes in a state where seven
out of 10 Utahns are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
   "Chris is a zealot for his cause. He might not like the religious
comparison of his fervor, but I think it is accurate," said Salt Lake City
civil rights attorney Brian Barnard. "[He is] a strong advocate of keeping
government out of the business of religion . . . even against a sea of
opposition."
   Carol Gnade, executive director of the Utah chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union, said Allen deserved praise for "educating people on
church-state separation issues in a culture which is quite unaccepting of
other points of view."
   Then there is Gayle Ruzicka. The president of the ultra-conservative
Eagle Forum said she has come to like Allen, despite their frequent clashes
over the years on political and public religious expression issues.
   "Chris has always been willing to offer his side and been articulate in
doing that," she said. "He is a very nice man and polite -- he's just wrong."
   Ruzicka's characterization elicits a smile from Allen, who chooses not to
respond, at least directly. Instead, he launches into a lecture on the evils
of religion in general, and the downside of the influence of Mormonism in
Utah in particular.
   "Religion is bad. It is mental slavery," said Allen, raised a Houston
Episcopalian before doubts about the existence of God stirred during his
years at Rice University and blossomed into full-blown atheism during a
1969-72 stint in the Navy.
   He moved to Salt Lake City in 1975, taking over for Utah Atheists founder
Richard Andrews in 1982. By then, Allen and his 100-member organization had
the LDS Church on their radar, blaming its support of large families for many
of Utah's social ills -- among them an inequitable tax structure that favors
multiple dependents, which he says leads to anemic school funding and the
poor quality of education that comes with it.
   "I won't miss that," he said. "I will miss the good skiing, lovely
weather, beautiful mountains and my friends."
   Michael Rivers, an engineer who recently transferred to Utah from Los
Angeles, said he and his wife, Julia, share both directorship duties and the
determination to maintain a strong voice for the state's nonreligious
minority.
   "We continue to try to explain ourselves; why we believe what we do,"
Rivers said. "I don't like to attack groups, per se. But I am a very firm
believer on separation issues, that no one's beliefs should be forced on
anyone else."