Comments on: Why Ellen Was Fired

By: Friendly Atheist » American Atheists Board Member Steps Down

Friendly Atheist » American Atheists Board Member Steps Down — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:00:49 +0000

[...] AA drama has not yet been [...]

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:17:20 +0000

They’ve been doomed for a long time now, and I think a large part of that is Ellen Johnson’s fault. When I first discovered the group, I saw that one of the items on the agenda was to create a social structure similar to Christian churches. Herding atheists is, as many have said, like herding cats. One of the things I enjoy about my disbelief is the lack of obligation on the weekends and holidays. And most recently, the video she produced urging atheists to abstain from voting because no candidate is an atheist – ridiculous. There should be no religious litmus test for public service.

Granted, between these things that I noticed there could have been many important efforts that I missed. If so, I apologize for the snap judgment. But if these two things indeed be good samples of what AA did under Ellen Johnson’s leadership, then hopefully they’ll put someone with some sense in that role in the future.

By: NYCatheist

NYCatheist — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:56:57 +0000

I can tell I’ve been out of the loop when my first thought reading the post title was “What? They fired Ellen DeGeneres?”

I like RobL’s comment: “Something about not being paid makes everyone think they are the boss.” Very true!

By: Bad

Bad — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:49:58 +0000

Honestly sounds to me a lot like what happens with most non-profits all the time. Boards and executives butt heads about the details, and sometimes one or the other side goes down for it. It’s just the nature of having many many would-be kings and only so many hills.

By: blackskeptic

blackskeptic — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:33:01 +0000

Perhaps I’m optimistic for the sake of optimism, but I’m hoping that everyone will get some things off their chest, and then start working together to get the group/team together. I’ve never really related to American Atheists, and this fiasco is actually

At first I thought Ellen should have been fired, but now after reading all those posts it seems like she shouldn’t have been. And no, I had no solid reason for wanting her to be fired except that she seemed a little too atheist for me, and I tend to like

By: SarahH

SarahH — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:09:22 +0000

That’s some major social destruction happening. *cringes*

I agree with those who’ve pointed out that this sort of thing can happen in almost any organization, especially churches and other groups where people feel very strongly about the issues involved.

The public airing doesn’t seem to be freshening things up though.

By: Mriana

Mriana — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:15:31 +0000

UNBELIEVABLE! That’s all I have to say. All those posts were driving me crazy and it did seem like a petty tit for tat ordeal to read them. I’m still not sure what to think about all of this. It still would be nice to hear from Ellen.

By: RobL

RobL — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:04:56 +0000

This board needs to get some balls and Arthur should be terminated for cause. I agree with the commenter above about this being common not just in churches but in any kind of volunteer or semi volunteer management group. Something about not being paid makes everyone think they are the boss.

By: Epistaxis

Epistaxis — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:31:37 +0000

Dirty laundry! Dirty laundry!

I don’t care who did what to whom; this doesn’t belong on an American Atheists blog any more than it belongs in their newsletter. Kudos, Hemant, for not copying and pasting it directly – in principle, they can still take it down if they want, though the damage is already done.

By: Siamang

Siamang — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:21:02 +0000

I get the impression that they are indeed doomed as an organization, the board just doesn’t know it yet.