Secular Coalition National Weekly Update
For insiders only! Everything you need to know about what's going on in and around the secular movement. Don't want to receive this email? Update subscription preferences here.
National Secular Movement Update
Newsletter and Call
Call Every Thursday from 12PM - 12:30PM (ET)
Phone Number: 559-726-1300 Code 953064
May 1, 2014
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
National Day of Reason: Today is the National Day of Reason! The Secular Coalition for America is encouraging Americans of all religious backgrounds and none, to celebrate the National Day of Reason, on May 1. The National Day of Reason is a more inclusive alternative to the congressionally endorsed National Day of Prayer (also today). The Secular Coalition for California has been busy organizing a lobby day on the National Day of Reason in Sacramento. Secular Lobby Day will include lobbying training and scheduled lobbying visits with the offices of legislators at the California State Capitol. The Secular Coalition for Rhode Island was instrumental in convincing Governor Lincoln D. Chaffee to issue a proclamation declaring May 1 a “Day of Reason” in the state. Supporters are encouraged to visit the official website, NationalDayOfReason.org, to post an event in their area and learn how to encourage local governments to issue a National Day of Reason proclamation.
2014 Lobby Day: The Secular Coalition for America continues to book new and exciting speakers for our Lobby Day and Secular Summit taking place from June 12-13th. Just this week we confirmed Erin Heath, Associate Director of Government Relations at the American Association for the Advancement of Science for our panel "Supporting Science in Lawmaking." AAAS is the leading advocacy organization connecting Congress with science and scientists. Our science panel will discuss why solid scientific principles and cutting edge research progresses and betters humanity, the false arguments tossed into the public forum, and how we can support lawmaking based on sound reason and science. Check out our updated Lobby Day website and Register now! Less than a month left to reserve your discounted room rate.
Openly Secular: A coalition of four secular organizations — the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, the Secular Coalition for America, the Secular Student Alliance, and the Stiefel Freethought Foundation — are coming together to encouarge nontheists to come out of the closet and highlight cases of anti-atheist discrimination. Get more information on the coalition, called “Openly Secular” here.
International Recognition for Nonbelievers - The Secular Coalition for America signed onto a letter to the Kyrgyz Working Group of the Defense Council. The working group drafted a “Concept of Public Policy in the Sphere of Religion in the Kyrgyz Republic from 2014-2020.” The letter applauded the draft Concept’s acknowledgement that, in accordance with its Constitution, Kyrgyzstan “is a secular state in which freedom of conscience and religion is guaranteed.” The letter went on to say ensure the definition of “religion” to which protections are extended “should include reference to nontheistic religions.”
2014 Lobby Day: Register now! We've secured a stellar room rate of $159 a night! Reserve your room NOW before rooms book up with code SCA14. SCA's discounted room rate expires May 19, 2014. Also, from our Lobby Day page you can find travel information, a link to the registration page, preliminary schedule, FAQ's and more. The Secular Coalition's 2014 Lobby Day and Policy Summit to take place from June 12-14 here in Washington, DC. Register or view the preliminary schedule here.
Don't Forget:
Podcasting Feed: You can now find our calls and other SCA recordings via our podcast feed! You can find the feed on Secular News Daily, but also look for it in the iTunes store soon. You can subscribe now via iTunes or any podcasting app by adding http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/category/podcasts/feed/ as a feed.
State websites are up! Find your state site now and get plugged in to your very own network of secular activists across the country.
Update your subscription preferences to pick and choose which emails you get from the Secular Coalition.
Table of Contents:
I. White House and Congressional Update
II. Secular Events and Calendar
III. Secular Movement in the News
IV. Legislative and Regulatory Update
V. Judicial
VI. SCA State Chapters
VII. Secular Student Movement Update
VIII. Policy and Research Documents
IX. Secular Coalition Expansion
X. SCA Member and Associated Organization Announcements
I. Movement Charity Updates and Activities
XII. Secular Artist of the Month
Please join our movement today! Follow this link to the SCA sign-up page.
I. White House and Congressional Update
White House: President Obama returned from his week-long Asia trip on Tuesday, with stops in the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia.The White House is dealing with new allegations from Republicans on its handling of Beghazi this week focusing on newly surfaced emails. Vice President Joe Biden and a White House task force on campus sexual assault have launched a campaign to prevent sexual violence on U.S. college campuses. Additionally, the administration said on Wednesday a botched execution in Oklahoma fell short of a standard that the death penalty be carried out humanely. Carney said President Barack Obama believes the death penalty does little to deter crime but that some crimes are so heinous that executions are merited.
House of Representatives: The House has returned from its break and will be in session through August, when they leave for their month-long recess and transition into full campaign mode. Leaders could plan significant votes in September and will likely hold a "lame-duck" session after the election, but outside of emergency action, expectations for significant legislation after August are low. Some of the issues they look to address are tax credits critical to businesses, including the research and experimentation credit, and replenishing the multibillion-dollar Highway Trust Fund, which is within months of running out of money and then causing work stoppages on federal road projects.
Senate: A bill to increase the federal minimum wage stalled Wednesday in the Senate, in the latest setback for Democrats pushing a set of election-year economic bills. Republicans argued that the change would be too expensive for employers and would backfire by costing jobs. Fueling their argument was a Wednesday morning Commerce Department report showing the economy grew at just a 0.1 percent rate in the first quarter. The bill failed on a 54-42 test vote. It needed 60 to advance.
International: Last week, the UN NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief held a discussion with Sheikha Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani, who serves as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Qatar. At the meeting, Ambassador Al-Thani stated that her country "attaches great importance to protecting freedom of religion or belief." And, to be sure, Qatar has shown some willingness to move things forward on this issue. Most recently, it hosted a conference on the UN's implementation of measures to combat religious intolerance while protecting the rights to freedom of religion or belief. However, when asked about her country's support for blasphemy laws (see here and here), the ambassador deflected, stating that news reports have been untruthful. So, we might take Qatar's recent work with a grain of salt. Also, on Saturday, May 3, several demonstrations are set to take place, organized under the banner of “Stand for Raif Badawi on World Press Freedom Day.” Raif Badawi is the writer and human rights activist who has been jailed in Saudi Arabia for insulting Islam. Protest locations include Washington, D.C.; Ottawa, Canada; Madrid, Spain; Bern, Switzerland; Tunis, Tunisia; Paris, France; and London, UK. You should be able to find information on the Facebook page for “Stand for Raif Badawi on World Press Freedom Day.”
If you are interested in attending one of these meetings, please contact Director of Federal and State Affairs, Kelly@secular.org. For UN-related questions or remarks for these meetings can email Michael DeDora at the Center for Inquiry at mdedora@centerforinquiry.net. More information on the Committee and all its events can be found at http://unforb.wordpress.com/ (Thank you to Michael DeDora for this update, mdedora@centerforinquiry.net, 646.706.6080). Otherwise, contact Edwina Rogers, Executive Director, Edwina Rogers, at Edwina@secular.org or by phone at 202-299-101 ext. 207 or cell: 202-674-7800.
II. Secular Events and Calendar
June 12-14 - SCA Lobby Day and Secular Summit!
2014 Conferences
Start Date
End Date
Event
Location
5/1/2014
5/4/2014
American Ethical Union 99th Annual Assembly
Skokie, IL
5/2/2014
5/5/2014
FFRF N.C. Mini-Convention
Raleigh, NC
5/3/2014
CFI protest at the Saudi Arabian Embassy
Washington, DC
5/3/2014
Unholy Trinity Tour
Albuquerque, NM
5/3/2014
Orange County Freethought Alliance conference
Fullerton, Ca
5/4/2014
6th Annual Day of Reason Brunch (contact (646) 922-7389)
NY, NY
5/14/2014
5/17/2014
STEM Forum & Expo
New Orleans, LA
5/16/14
6/5/2014
5/18/14
6/8/2014
Women in Secularism III
American Humanist Asscoc. Annual Conf
Alexandria, VA
Philadelphia, PA
6/6/2014
6/8/2014
Capital Pride
Washington DC
6/6/2014
6/12/2014
6/8/2014
6/14/2014
LA Pride
SCA Lobby Day and Summit
Los Angeles, CA
Washington, DC
6/20/2014
6/22/2014
SSA 2014 Annual Conf West
Phoenix, AZ
6/25/2014
6/29/2014
Unitarian Universalists General Assembly
Providence, RI
6/27/2014
6/29/2014
WorldPride
Toronto, Canada
6/27/2014
6/29/2014
NY Pride
New York, NY
6/28/2014
6/29/2014
SF Pride
San Francisco, CA
7/10/2014
7/13/2014
The Amaz!ng Meeting
Las Vegas, NV
7/11/2014
7/14/2014
Secular Student Alliance 2014 Annual Conf East
Columbus, OH
7/18/2014
7/20/2014
Foundation Beyond Belief Conference
Chicago, IL
7/19/2014
7/22/2014
La Raza
Los Angeles, CA
7/23/2014
7/27/2014
Comic Con
San Diego, CA
8/7/2014
8/10/2014
AAA Annual Conf
Seattle, WA
8/15/2014
Colorado Secular Conference
Colorado
8/28/2014
9/1/2014
Dragon*Con
Atlanta, GA
9/1/2014
PA Atheist/Humanist
Philadelphia, PA
9/4/2014
9/6/2014
Society for Journalistic Professionalism
Nashville, TN
9/5/2014
9/6/2014
Las Vegas Pride
Las Vegas, NV
9/18/2014
9/20/2014
Religion News Writers
Atlanta, GA
9/24/2014
9/27/2014
Black Caucus Leg Conf
10/11/2014
10/12/2014
Atlanta Pride
Atlanta, GA
10/9/2014
10/12/2014
Comic Con NY
New York, NY
10/11/2014
“Freethought Day”
Sacramento, CA
10/16/2014
10/18/2014
NSTA VA Conf
Richmond, VA
10/24/2014
10/25/2014
FFRF Annual Conf
Los Angeles, CA
10/28/2014
10/31/2014
Out and Equal
11/6/2014
11/8/2014
NSTA Orlando Conf
Orlando, FL
12/1/2014
12/1/2014
LGBT Leaders Victory Institute
12/6/2014
NatAssn for Hispanic Journalists
3/4/2015
Project SEARCH at UNH
Durham, NH
Anything to add? Contact SCA Director of Communications, Lauren Anderson Youngblood at lauren@secular.org. Please let us know if you'd like to attend one of these meetings: If you are interested, please contact Director of Federal and State Affairs, Kelly Damerow at kelly@secular.org for anything legislation-related.
III. Secular Movement In the News
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and check out Secular News Daily for even more!
Secular Coalition in the News
Press Release: Secular Americans Encourage All to Celebrate National Day of Reason
New Coalition Will Highlight Anti-Atheist Discrimination in America (Friendly Atheist)
Secular and Related News
North Carolina's New Gay Marriage Lawsuit Could Turn 'Everything On Its Head' (Huffington Post)
Request to Ban ‘Two Boys Kissing’ from Virginia High School Library Denied (School Library Journal)
Affordable Care Act contraception still tied up in court (SF Gate)
Atheist ‘Sunday Assembly’ expansion continues (Raw Story)
Courts are hearing new challenges to tax exemptions for religion (ABA Journal)
Click "update subscription preferences" at the bottom of this email and select "Morning Links." You can also view the Morning Read at Secular News Daily.
Calendar Events
May 1 - National Day of Reason
May 11 - Richard Feynman Birthday (American theoretical physicist known for his work in quantum mechanics)
May 27 - Memorial Day
June 6 - Atheist Pride Day
June 14 - Flag Day
June 28 - LGBT Pride Day
July 3 - Anniversary of Allegheny County v. Greater Pittsburgh (1989)- (Bans religious displays depicting only one religion)
July 4 - Independence Day
July 21 - Anniversary of the Scopes trial The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes (1925) - a famous American legal case in 1925 in which a high school teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school
August 11 - Ingersoll Day
August 23 - Women's Equality Day
August 26 - Women's Equality Day
Sept. 17 - Constitution Day
Sept. 23 - Blasphemy Day
October 20 - John Dewey’s birthday (1859)
November 9 - Carl Sagan’s birthday (1934)
November 21 - Voltaire’s birthday (1694)
November 24 - Publication date of “The Origin of Species” (1859)
November 25 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
Are there any upcoming anniversaries, days of note, holidays or events that the movement needs to coordinate press around? Contact Communications Manager, Lauren Anderson Youngblood at lauren@secular.org.
IV. Legislative and Regulatory Update
Federal
Sex Education - Recently released CDC data showed younger teens account for 1 in 4 teen births. The Department of Health and Human Services released a report on the medically accurate sex education program PREP titled “How States are Implementing Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Through the Personal Responsibility Education Program.” It documents a new federal evidence-based initiative to address the problems of teen pregnancy and STIs. This program has been supported by the Secular Coalition. We successfully recently lobbied for the renewal of its funding.
Military - "Humanist" is now an option for Religious Preference in the Army. Soldiers choose which religion appears in their official military records, but they must choose from a list approved by the Army Chaplaincy. For years the Army resisted adding "Humanist" to that list. Secular Coalition for America member organization the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers worked with Major Ray Bradley and the ACLU to this success of adding “Humanist” to that list. Work continues with the other branches of the military. The efforts of the Secular Coalition for America and the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers to secure the first Humanist Chaplain in the military are progressing as candidate for the Navy, Jason Heap will be appearing in front of the Chaplain Accessions Board in May.
Vouchers - Our efforts on the Hill continue! Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced the “Scholarships for Kids Act” redirecting $24 billion in federal education funds to private schools, including religious schools. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), in a feat of acronym gymnastics, introduced the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Individuals and Communities through Education, or “CHOICE Act” which redirects an additional $11 billion. Sen. Scott’s bill pulls largely from funds to support students with disabilities. Private schools, which are not required to have the facilities to educate students with disabilities, will be able to accept the voucher and reject the student without having to return the money.
Contact Kelly Damerow, Director of Federal and State Affairs, with additional suggestions or information at Kelly@secular.org.
V. Judicial
Presented this week by Patrick Elliott of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Colorado Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Day of Prayer Challenge - The Colorado Supreme Court will hear oral argument today, May 1, in Gov. John Hickenlooper’s appeal of a unanimous state Court of Appeals decision ruling in favor of FFRF against a “Colorado Day of Prayer.” The Court of Appeals ruled in 2012 that gubernatorial proclamations designating a “Colorado Day of Prayer” each year violate the state Constitution. Coincidentally, the case is being argued on the first Thursday in May, which is proclaimed as a “Colorado Day of Prayer” by the governor and a “National Day of Prayer” by Congress.
Atheist Sues New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission - On April 17, Shannon Morgan filed suit against the Motor Vehicle Commission for rejecting her proposed “8THEIST” vanity plate. Morgan, who is represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, challenges the denial in federal court. The complaint says that the Commission “has a practice of denying personalized license plates that identify vehicle owners as atheist, thereby discriminating against viewpoints expressing a preference for theism over non-theism.” The suit comes after David Silverman, President of American Atheists, had his personalized atheist plate denied and subsequently approved after public outcry.
Claim of Religious Discrimination in Florida School Debunked - The Orlando Sentinel reports that school officials found no evidence to support the claims of a kindergartner who said she was told not to pray in a Seminole County elementary school lunchroom in March. The girl’s father posted a video claiming discrimination on youtube and soon was interviewed by Todd Starnes of Fox News and represented by the Texas-based Liberty Institute. After the complaint was covered by Starnes and other media, it came to light that the father of the girl was employed by a Christian publishing company that would soon be releasing a book by Starnes about “the attack on traditional values.” The school district concluded its investigation last week and determined that a staff person identified by the girl could not have been in the lunchroom at the time and that interviews with staffers and classmates did not substantiate her claims. A district spokesperson said the report was “vindicating.”
If you have any additions, questions or submissions for inclusion on the judicial section for next week, contact David Niose, at the American Humanist Association at dniose@americanhumanist.org, or Rebecca S. Markert, rmarkert@ffrf.org, with the Freedom From Religion Foundation at (608) 256-8900.
VI. State Chapters
The Secular Coalition for South Carolina will be holding its first lobby day on Friday, May 30, in Columbia, SC. To register by May 16, go here.
Upcoming State Calls: Join the call for your state chapter by dialing in: Call in number: (530) 881-1400 - Participant code: 978895.
Today: Michigan at 4 pm ET
Friday, May 2: Colorado at 11 am MT
Tuesday, May 6: Kentucky at 6 pm ET/5 pm CT
Wednesday, May 7: Minnesota at 8 am CT; Georgia at 6 pm ET; Pennsylvania at 7 pm ET
STATE LEGISLATURES
Currently, 23 out of 50 state legislatures are meeting in regular session, as well as the District of Columbia council.
Hawaii, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are in session.
Montana is accepting prefiled bills. California and Virginia is meeting in special session.
New Jersey
SCR 109 - Commemorates the 150th anniversary of the national motto In God We Trust.
Pennsylvania
SR 354 - A resolution recognizing May 1, 2014, as the "National Day of Prayer" in Pennsylvania and encouraging the celebration of religious freedom.
More Information on States
Legislation tracking is now available on the chapter pages of all officially launched Secular Coalition chapters sites!
We encourage everyone to “like” the Facebook pages of their state chapter, listed as “Secular Coalition for [State].
Get the latest updates and sign up to receive emails about the chapter forming in your state on the state chapter’s page on our website.
If you have seen any bills that concern secular issues in your state, please email <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=diana@secular.org" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);fon