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Atheists of Florida


Atheists of Florida (AOF) is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization. The goal of AOF is to work to keep state and church separate.

Atheists of Florida, like many other atheist groups affiliated with the Atheist Alliance, had its beginning as a chapter of American Atheists.

During the 1980s, American Atheists (AA) operated a chapter program intended to increase membership through the activities of these chapters. To indemnify the organization from being financially depleted through a lawsuit, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, founder of AA, formed six organizations in addition to the anchor corporation, Society of Separationists, Inc. A board of directors was established for each corporation consisting of O’Hair, her son, Jon Murray, president for life of American Atheists, and her adopted granddaughter, Robin Murray O’Hair, and two other members of AA. This way, the O’Hair family retained complete control of all corporations.

O’Hair structured the business to provide for the future of her family. Any funds inherited by the organization became the private property of the O’Hair family, never accounted for within the organization. Christos Tzanetakos, Director of the Miami Chapter of AA and a member of one of the corporate boards, expressed concerns about how AA was being run. He asserted it should be run according to laws governing 501 (c) (3) organizations whereby the membership would elect the officers, similar to the operating practices of the National Academy of Sciences. AA, he contended, was in violation of non-profit organization laws. Tzanetakos complained to the IRS suggesting AA was operating in violation of the law. O’Hair responded by closing all but one of the chapters (the surviving chapter was involved in litigation at the time). Tzanetakos had accumulated over $6,000 in donations he intended to use to instigate a scholarship fund sponsored by the Miami chapter. Chapter bank accounts had been opened using the AA 501 (c) (3) charter documents in each state, which subsequently gave the O’Hairs access to all bank accounts. The O’Hairs closed the chapter.

Tzanetakos, with the backing of his membership, decided to incorporate Atheists of Florida (A of F), which was don January 22, 1992.

A second AA chapter had been operating in the Tampa Bay Area. When closed with all the others, it continued to hold casual meetings that accomplished little more than camaraderie among the members.

Upon formation of A of F, Tzanetakos contacted the Tampa chapter informing them of his actions and explaining that if a minimum of ten members from a common geographic area joined A of F, they could form a chapter. The local chapter consented to become members of A of F.


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