Summary
Title: UnGodly: The Passions, Torments, and Murder of Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Author: Ted Dracos
Publisher: Free Press
ISBN: 0743228332
Pro:
• Vivid descriptions, engaging writing
• Reveals that O’Hair might have lived if it were not for incompetent police
Con:
• Numerous errors and inconsistencies
• Expresses more hatred for O’Hair than her murderers
• Unremitting in its attacks against O’Hair and her family
Description:
• Not a biography — merely a hatchet job against O’Hair
• Pretends to be a “true crime” story, but is more concerned with O’Hair’s bad character
• Written to appeal to readers who like a tawdry tale, not those seeking to learn
Book Review
An excellent example of the trend to trash O’Hair is Ted Dracos and his book UnGodly: The Passions, Torments, and Murder of Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair. Dracos’ work can’t really be called “investigative” and it can’t really be called “journalism,” unless of course one works for one of the lower-quality tabloid magazines. At best, his book can be called a smear job designed to sell through exaggerated writing.
Of course, this is not to say that O’Hair was some kind of saint or that no one could reasonably say an unkind word about her. Dracos is unquestionably correct to recount a long litany of abusive and at times unethical behavior. By most accounts O’Hair was often an unpleasant and unkind person who could be more interested in advancing her own fame and personal interests than in caring about others or even in caring about the cause of atheism.
But is that really all there was to Madalyn Murray O’Hair? If you read Dracos’ book, that’s the sort of impression you may get. Even when he admits that O’Hair was right about something, it is a painfully grudging admission that doesn’t cut her any slack. Aside from passages such as those, I don’t think I read a single kind word said about her throughout the text.
Dracos’ problem is far worse than that, however. We must allow that there may indeed be people out there about which nothing kind can be said. In each case, though, there are reasons for their atrocious behavior. Real human beings aren’t the cardboard cutout villains we see in the movies. Whatever their faults, it should be possible to identify sources for their behavior which can be examined — and, in the process, allow us to understand the nature of humanity a little better.
At no point does Dracos bother to do this — even when the path to do so is quite obvious. He recounts, for example, some of the abusive behavior Jon Garth perpetrated on people who worked at American Atheists right alongside the abusive treatment he received from Madalyn and Robin. It doesn’t take too much imagination to wonder if the treatment Jon received at home played an important role in how he treated others, but Dracos passes by this as if it didn’t matter.
Indeed, I don’t think it does matter to him — it doesn’t matter why they acted in the manner they did because that doesn’t make for an exciting “true crime” story. All that matters in such cases is coming up with the most vivid storytelling about unpleasant people acting in unpleasant ways so that readers can feel that their prejudices about others are confirmed. In the end, everyone wins — the author has a nice paycheck and readers can feel better about themselves because they aren't like “those people” they read about.
