The following "Atheist Manifesto" was unanimously adopted by the conventioneers of the First American Atheist Convention held in Austin, Texas, in April of 1970.
We, the Texas Convention of American Atheists, affirming reason as our supreme authority and seeking to enhance the quality of life, do declare that we:
- ask to be accepted as individuals; deplore the economic, social, and physical reprisals to which we are subject when we identify ourselves as Atheists;
- seek fair and impartial media coverage and equal time;
- seek historical recognition for Atheists who have contributed to the American way of life;
- affirm a strict adherence to the Constitutional principle of separation of state and church;
- affirm our intention to pursue our goals only within the legal routes open to us;
- are, and will be, establishing Atheist Chapters in our community;
- affirm that the moral man does not need to be a traditionally religious man;
- seek an education for all children that will allow them to pursue to the fullest their intellectual capabilities;
- affirm that all life is sacred and that the ecological balance of our planet must be conserved;
- affirm that women have an equal right to self-fullfillment;
- accept all human beings as individuals;