Rare photos of celebrated atheist conservative Jillian Becker
I have become very interested in the background of atheist conservative Jillian Becker (born June 2, 1932), who has stated she had never been contacted by an atheist organization before Republican Atheists contacted her in early 2017. She currently manages the blog The Atheist Conservative. Jillian Becker is a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, and a widely acknowledged authority on terrorism.
Few photos were available of Becker on the web. I personally inquired if she would be willing to share more photos of her with the public. The photos below are what she has shared with me, and gave permission to publish.
These photos were taken when she was a resident of Britain. She has now been living in the United States for many years. She noted more content is available in an archive of an organization she co-launched in the 1980s, known as the Institute for the Study of Terrorism, that was purchased by the University of Leicester in England in the 1990s. I am currently trying to connect with the university to learn about the status of the archive.
You are welcome to learn more about the background of these photos by reading Becker’s Wikipedia page.
On a final note, Becker has been supportive of Republican Atheists since we first launched in early 2017.
-Lauren Ell, President, Republican Atheists
These photos were collected by Republican Atheists’ President Lauren Ell from Jillian Becker.
Jillian Becker with Home Secretary Douglas Hurd (1988)
“This was taken at the opening of a four day international Conference on Terrorism (mostly involving British and American speakers), which my Institute held in conjunction with the Faculty of Laws of London University in 1988. It was held at Ditchley Park, where the US-British conferences were customarily held. The Home Secretary opened the event.” – Jillian Becker
Jillian Becker with Lord Chalfont (1984)
“This was taken at the offices of the Institute for the Study of Terrorism the day we opened in 1984. We are both co-founders of the Institute. Lord Chalfont was a Conservative Defence Minister.” – Jillian Becker
Jillian Becker when she knew poet Sylvia Plath (1962)
Sylvia Plath stayed with Becker the last weekend of her life. Becker wrote a short memoir about Plath’s death, known as Giving Up: the last days of Sylvia Plath.
Jillian Becker self portrait (early 1970s)
Jillian Becker with a South African Defence Force soldier (left) and a Chilean Air Force captain (right)
“I was with the South African Defence Force (SADF) on the Caprivi Strip – between South West Africa (now Namibia) and Angola – where the SADF was fighting the Angolan rebel army (then Soviet-backed terrorists heavily reinforced by Cubans, now the government of Angola). I am standing between an SADF soldier and a Chilean Air Force captain who had been flown with me in an army plane from Pretoria to South West Africa, and then by helicopter to the battleground.” – Jillian Becker
Jillian Becker at the Angola war front
“Goofing on the Angola war front.” – Jillian Becker
Jillian Becker firing mortars at the Angola war front
“I have just fired my first one, and a soldier is trying to get me to block my ears – the noise is terrific. The SADF taught the Chilean and me how to fire mortars, and I was practicing doing so, firing them into Angola until it suddenly struck me that a British citizen should not be firing on Angolans. To this day I have no idea whether I did any damage or hurt or even killed anyone. I can only hope I did not!” – Jillian Becker
Silhouette of Jillian Becker holding a gun
“Also on the Caprivi Strip. The SADF lent me an armful of guns – including Kalashnikovs – to ‘take to bed’ with me. I only looked down them. Didn’t fire any. Wish I had them now.” – Jillian Becker
Jillian Becker in a tank at the Angola war front
Jillian Becker self portrait (1977)
Jillian Becker self portrait
“Der Spiegel, a German weekly news magazine, used this picture when their main story of the week was about me, as well as my book on the German terrorists.” – Jillian Becker
Jillian Becker sitting in her kitchen in London with Father Mansour Labaky, a priest from Lebanon
“Father Mansour Labaky was the priest of St. Elias Church in the town of Damour on the Lebanese coast. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) sacked it. The remaining shell of the church was turned into a repair garage for PLO vehicles and a range for shooting practice with targets painted on the eastern wall of the nave. Damour itself became one of the main PLO centers for the promotion of international terrorism.
Father Labaky showed me round the ruins. Once a thriving Christian town, it held not a single Christian resident when I went there. The ‘Palestinians’ destroyed Lebanon!
I told the story of Damour to a huge French audience at a protest in Paris in or about 1985. They were highly sympathetic, many of them recalling how French towns had been sacked and emptied by the Germans in the Second World War.” – Jillian Becker
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