Absolutely. Both of these groups have archaic views on a lot of issues, but they also believe that anyone who does not agree with them should be punished. They are both terrible agents of intolerance.
urban legend
Not.
The comment was made in Chicago, in 1987, at a press conference. It was made to reporter Robert Sherman of the monthly publication,
Atheist News Journal. It was noted at the time, published and never denied by the H.W. Bush administration.
The group
American Atheists wrote to President Bush after his election and asked him to retract the statement. In a published letter dated February 21st, 1989, C. Boyden Gray (General Counsel to the President) responded on White House letterhead stating that President Bush stood by his original comment and had no intention of backing away from it. In fact, two letters to this effect are on file at the Bush Presidential Library. The responses from the White House never deny, and in fact, affirm that President Bush made the remark.
It is, however, an urban legend that Sherman had a tape of the remark. Sherman has never claimed having a tape and, in fact and to his credit, has been steadfast in trying to debunk the rumor that he taped the conversation. As Sherman puts it, "I was a print journalist. Like most print journalists of the period, I took careful notes."
The bottom line is that George H.W. Bush, his White House Counsel and the Bush Library have patently refused to DENY that then-Vice President ever made the comment. A denial, given Sherman's lack of a tape, would be quite simple.
I'm perfectly willing to accept that Sherman fabricated it but I have seen no proof. Indeed, the proof seems to be in Sherman's favor, in the form of the White House documents from Gray.
