Longtime Atheist Activist Rob Sherman May Have Died in a Plane Crash

[rug]

December 10, 2016
by Hemant Mehta

A small plane belonging to longtime atheist activist Rob Sherman crashed last night in the city of Marengo, Illinois, killing the pilot on board. Authorities have not yet definitively identified the 63-year-old Sherman as the pilot.

For several years, peaking about a decade ago, Sherman was a media fixture in Chicago for his frequent church/state separation lawsuits. He even helped his daughter sue the state (unsuccessfully) after legislators passed a “Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act,” mandating a moment of silence in public school classrooms. At one point, his mouth got him in trouble even with liberal allies; Keith Olbermann once called him the “Worst Person in the World.”

Most famously, perhaps, Sherman alleged in 1987 that President George H. W. Bush said to him, “I don’t know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God.” There was no audio or video of that statement and it was never confirmed by anyone else. However, that quotation has been repeated in many atheist circles.

Sherman was once a national spokesperson for American Atheists. In response to news of his apparent death, President David Silverman told me, “I’ll miss him. He was a remarkable person and a great activist. Our movement has lost an asset.”

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/12/10/longtime-atheist-activist-rob-sherman-may-have-died-in-a-plane-crash/

Most recently he was the Green Party candidate for the 5th C.D. in Chicago where he received close to five percent of the vote and had already announced his candidacy in 2018.

http://www.robsherman.com/

[ret5hd]

1. May he rest in...

oh...never mind. Just rest.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. Oh my God.