not most. more. you named two people. you use a comparative, not a superlative, when there are only two elements to the comparison. meanwhile, do you mean positive influence as in making individuals who followed them happy, or positive influence as in helping people become better people? and why those two outdated names, come to think of it?

g

As a atheist my self I was intrigued by her and started following every thing she had to say when she first hit the scene. Although I had no problem with her thinking I thought she was a NO CLASS BROAD whose message would fall on deaf ears.

Being a minority is stressful. Self identifying as an atheist in a time when it was almost unheard of probably created quiet a bit of isolation and angst. Did O'Hair's organization help assuage the stress for lot of people by giving them a community to come out into? Or did the people who embraced atheism publically during the1960s and 70s just get more stressed than when they were hiding in the back of the church? Hard to know. But without doubt, in my mind, the rise of atheism in america is the more positive influence on society. I'll take reason, intellectual honesty and the scientific method over superstition, fraud and bigotry anyday of the week, and twice on the sabbath. Unfortunately somewhere along the way we screwed up and let those evangelicals weasel their way back into government (right about the time G W took office - and 911 didn't help). Might take another 25 years to undo that damage. An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.

Madalyn

Madeline

Madalyn..DUH!