Every mainstream article I ever read about Madalyn Murray O'Hair implied that she was a kook. Not counting my wife, none of my friends has ever heard of Paul Kurtz or Martin Gardner. Until articles that promote the value of skepticism appear in The New York Times, The Reader's Digest, and Newsweek, our views are doomed to remain ours alone. In an effort to offer some balance I wrote an op-ed article that it printed July 30, 2000. My goal was to discuss the larger issue of critical thinking, not just to promote skepticism, but perhaps my meager effort can serve as an inspiration for other articles or letters to the editor that you write.
Public opinion changes slowly, but it does change.
If you or I can make even one person stop and consider the illogic in something he or she has always just accepted, perhaps that person will in turn influence someone else. I know I reached a lot of folks with my article because of letters sent both to the newspaper and to me directly. So accept my call to action as a challenge. Write articles or letters to your own newspapers. Submit a My Turn to Newsweek.