Margaret Downey (born August 16, 1950) is a

nontheist Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in the existence of god or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject o ...

activist who is a former President of

Atheist Alliance International Atheist Alliance International (AAI) is a non-profit advocacy organization committed to raising awareness and educating the public about atheism. It does this by supporting atheist and freethought organizations around the world through promotin ...

and founder and president of the Freethought Society (formerly Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia). She also founded the Anti-Discrimination Support Network, which reports and helps deal with

discrimination against atheists Discrimination against atheists, both at present and historically, includes persecution of and discrimination against people who are identified as atheists. Discrimination against atheists may also comprise negative attitudes, prejudice, hostil ...

Early life

Downey grew up with a Puerto Rican mother and an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

father. When her father left, she adopted a family friend "Uncle Floyd" as a father-figure who encouraged Downey into atheism.

Activism

Downey has been active in a variety of causes including

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and anti-smoking campaigns before becoming a public representative of atheism. Margaret Downey is known for her activities in this area. Her first major involvement as a publicly active nontheist was when her son Matthew was not allowed to renew his membership in the Boy Scouts of America since he was raised in a nontheist household. This led to ''Margaret Downey v. Boy Scouts of America'', which did not go far in the courts before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

's 2000 decision in '' Boy Scouts of America v. Dale'' that the Boy Scouts constituted a private organization and could thus choose their own membership criteria, thus preventing Downey from taking her case further. Since then Downey has been a prominent public representative of atheism in the United States as well as representing atheists and other non-theists at

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

conferences. Her work has been incorporated into United Nations reports on religious discrimination. Downey is also affiliated with a variety of other organizations that promote atheism and the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

such as

Freedom From Religion Foundation The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization, which advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many ...

of which she is a board member and the American Humanist Association of which she is a past board member. In 2003 she was one of the signers of the

Humanist Manifesto ''Humanist Manifesto'' is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview. They are the original '' Humanist Manifesto'' (1933, often referred to as Humanist Manifesto I), the ''Humanist Manifesto II'' (1973), and ''Humanism and I ...

References

External links

Freethought Society
official website * with Brian Sapient and Kelly O'Connor of the

Rational Response Squad The Rational Response Squad, or RRS, is an atheist activist group that confronts what it considers to be irrational claims made by theists, particularly Christians. The most visible member of RRS is co-founder Brian Sapient. The Rational Respons ...

Dogma Free America podcast interview with Margaret Downey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Margaret American atheism activists Living people Atheist feminists Political activists from Pennsylvania Activists from Philadelphia People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1950 births American people of Irish descent American people of Puerto Rican descent American feminists 20th-century atheists 21st-century atheists

Early life

Activism

See also

References

External links