Secular Coalition National Weekly Update
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National Secular Movement Update
Newsletter and Call
Call Every Thursday from 12PM - 12:30PM (ET)
Phone Number: 559-726-1300 Code 953064
September 26, 2013
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Science Education Capitol Hill Briefings - This Monday (9/30) the Secular Coalition for America will host Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker in two Science Education Capitol Hill Briefings. Attendees will receive copies of Dawkins' and Pinkers' newest books--along with a chance to have them signed by the authors. Refreshments will be served. The House briefing will take place from 10:30am-12pm Eastern in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Congressional Meeting Room North (Entrance at First and East Capitol St. NE, Across from the Supreme Court), and the Senate briefing will take place from 1pm-2:30pm Eastern, room TBA.
Supreme Court Case on Prayer - On Monday, the Secular Coalition signed a friend-of-the-court brief in Town of Greece v. Galloway, Case No. 12-696. In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of official prayers in local government settings, such as invocations at city council or school board meetings. If the Court issues a broad ruling, this decision could have significant implications on church-state controversies other than legislative prayer. Download the brief here, filed on by the Center for Inquiry. In a disappointing turn, The solicitor general of the United States, Donald B. Verrilli Jr., plans to weigh in during upcoming arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court over prayers offered before town board meetings in Greece, N.Y. The government's request to participate in the oral arguments was filed Thursday, according to the Supreme Court docket. The solicitor general represents the federal government before the Supreme Court. In August, Verrilli, on behalf of the Obama administration, filed an amicus brief in support of the town's position that its prayer practice does not violate the Constitution.
New Jersey Scorecards: The Secular Coalition yesterday released its 2013 New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidate Scorecard and 2013 New Jersey Senate Candidate Scorecard. The scorecards grade the Republican and Democratic candidates vying for the U.S. Senate seat on October 16, and the state's top spot on November 5. On the Gubernatorial Scorecard, Democrat, Barbara Buono, received an "A" and Republican, Chris Christie, received an "F". On the Senatorial Candidate Scorecard, Democrat, Cory Booker, received an "A" and Republican, Steve Lonegan, received an "F." The candidates were scored on their public answers to four topics relating to separation of church and state issues. Last month the SCA released its 2013 Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Scorecard. We will be working on a scorecard for the Congressional seat vacated by Rep. Edward Markey in Massachusetts--look for it in the coming weeks, prior to the primary election in October.
Inside the Beltway- Lawmakers in DC are largely focused on attempting to halt a possible government shut down, if a continuing resolution is not passed by Sept. 30. Republican Texas Senator, Ted Cruz, "fillbustered" this week against the Affordable Care Act. He claimed to be fillibustering the continuing resolution put forth by the Congress, despite that if passed, the bill would defund the Affordable Care Act. However, Cruz's speech was not technically a filibuster, as it he was merely speaking during a permitted time slot.Cruz's Senate talkathon ended after 21 hours and 19 minutes, shortly before noon on Wednesday. During his time hogging the floor, Cruz resorted to opining on a variety of topics to fill the time, including reciting Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham," quoting popular phrases from A&E's "Duck Dynasty" reality show, reading the lyrics to Toby Keith's infamous patriotic ballad "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," and even doing a Darth Vader impression — that was quickly mocked on social media. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the floor after Cruz yielded the podium, calling the Texan's antics "a big waste of time," though he admitted it was "interesting to watch." The government does not necessarily have to shut down at the end of the day on September 30 if a deal has not been struck, despite that at midnight, funding officially runs out for most programs. But if lawmakers are close to a deal, the president can order agencies to keep running for a few hours or perhaps even a day or two for Congress to pass the legislation.
SCA News:
State Chapter Calls: There is a call for every state chapter in September. Mark your calendar now and join the call.
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.
Don't Forget:
State websites are up! Find your state site now and get plugged in to your very own network of secular activists across the country.
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Hill Briefing: House & Senate, Science Education briefings with Richard Dawkins on Monday September 30th.
Hill Briefing: House & Senate, Sex Education briefings with Marty Klein on Monday October 21st.
THIS WEEKEND: If you're in the Omaha, NE area, come meet the SCA at Apostacon!
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
XII. Movement Charity Updates and Activities
XIII. 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 called on the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution ensuring that Syria's chemical weapons stockpile is destroyed in accordance with an international ban, but is insisting that any such diplomatic agreement be backed by "consequences" if Syrian President Bashar Assad does not comply. He also directed Secretary of State John Kerry to go after a nuclear deal with Iran. The President sent numerous judicial nominations to the Senate on Wednesday in further attempts to alleviate the backlog of un-appointed judges.
House of Representatives: An attempt by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to delay Senate consideration of the bill could leave Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Republicans little time to respond without forcing a government shutdown after Sept. 30. With five days left before the health care law’s insurance exchanges open, House Energy and Commerce Republicans stepped up an inquiry into whether a $67 million grant program to inform people about the marketplaces and help them enroll is vulnerable to fraud and abuse.
Senate: Democrats are hoping to win a vote today on H J Res 59 to limit debate on proceeding to a House-passed CR that sets an annualized funding level of $986 billion for government programs. They will then push toward passing an amended version by Sunday to avoid a shutdown. Some Senators are floating proposals to exempt the military from shutdown. The Global Strategy Group poll shows 74 percent are concerned that their own personal financial situation will worsen as a result of a shutdown, with 49 percent being "very" concerned.
International: President Obama was in New York City Monday and Tuesday for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. On Monday, Obama spoke at a White House-organized side event, the Civil Society Roundtable, during which he was critical of countries working to restrict the basic rights and freedoms of human rights and advocacy organizations, and urged member states to do more to protect the rights of these groups and their supporters. On Tuesday, Obama delivered remarks to the General Assembly, which focused mostly on Syria, Egypt, Iran, and countries facing revolution and upheaval. Obama said the U.S.'s main goal is to help these countries secure democracies that protect "minority rights, the rule of law, freedom of speech and assembly, and a strong civil society." The General Assembly will meet for the next several weeks and freedom of religion, belief, and expression are expected to be discussed. On that note, earlier this week, Robert P. George -- noted religious conservative and recently named chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom -- penned an op-ed calling for the U.S. and other countries to pressure countries with blasphemy laws to repeal them and conform with international human rights standards. We shall see if they pay any attention.
Upcoming Hill Events
September 30 - Science Education Hill Briefing featuring Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker (House Briefing 10:30am-12pm Eastern, Senate Briefing 1pm-2:30pm Eastern)
October 21 - Medically Accurate Sex Education Hill Briefing featuring Marty Klein
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
Sept. 27-28 - Freedom From Religion Foundation 36th Annual Convention (Madison, WI)
Sept. 27-29 - 2013 Texas Tribune Festival, (Austin, TX)
Sept. 29 - Richard Dawkins at George Washington University (Washington, DC)
Sept. 30 - House Capitol Hill Briefings on Science Education with Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins, 10:30am - 12pm Eastern (Room TBA)
Sept. 30 - Senate Capitol Hill Briefings on Science Education with Steven Pinker and Richard DawkinsRichard Dawkins, 1:00pm - 2:30pm Eastern (Room TBA)
Sept. 30 - Richard Dawkins at National Press Club (Washington, DC)
Oct. 1 - Ellery Schempp Struggle to End School Prayer (Des Moines, IA)
Oct. 3 - Richard Dawkins at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
Oct. 4-6 - 2013 Carolinas Secular Conference, (Charlotte, NC)
Oct. 6 - Richard Dawkins at Stanford University (Stanford, CA)
Oct. 9 -Richard Dawkins at Santa Clara (Commonwealth Club)
Oct. 11 -Richard Dawkins at Portland State University (with Peter Boghossian) (Portland, OR)
Oct. 12- Sacramento Freethought Day, (Sacramento, CA)
Oct. 18 -Richard Dawkins at University of Southern California (with DJ Grothe) (Los Angeles, CA)
Oct.19 - Secular Assembly for the North East, (West Haven, CT)
Oct. 20 - Richard Dawkins at Cal Tech (with Michael Shermer) (Pasadena, CA)
Oct. 21 - House & Senate Hill Briefings on Sex Education with Marty Klein
Oct. 24-27: CFI Summit (Tacoma, WA)
Oct. 26 - Kentucky Freethought Convention, (Louisville, KY)
Oct. 26-27 - Reason in the Rock, (Little Rock, AK)
Anything to add? Contact Communications Manager, 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: Atheists Grade NJ Gubernatorial and Senatorial Candidates
Real Clear Politics, September 23, 2013 - Facing Stigma, Atheists Seek Political Clout
Huffington Post,September 20, 2013 - Atheists In Parliament And Congress Highlight Disparate Political Cultures Across Atlantic (VIDEO)
Center for Inquiry, September 19, 2013 - Edwina Rogers on Secularism’s Big Year in Washington and the Tough Road Ahead
Washington Free Beacon, September 19, 2013 - Atheists of America Unite
Washington Post, September 18, 2013 - Atheists and humanists launch Freethought Equality Fund PAC
Pope Francis divides atheists (Herb Silverman for Washington Post)
Secular and Related News
Everything You Need to Know About Town of Greece v. Galloway, the Supreme Court Case About Government Prayer (Friendly Atheist)
Several Atheist Groups File Joint Amicus Brief for Supreme Court Prayer Case (Friendly Atheist)
AJC Calls on Virginia LT. Gov. Candidate to Clarify Jesus Remarks (Sacramento Bee)
Stephen Hawking: Brains Could Be Copied To Computers To Allow Life After Death (Huffington Post)
New Federal Rules for Recognizing Marriages (VIDEO) (Huffington Post)
Emeritus Pope Benedict emerges from silence as he joins Francis in campaign to engage non-believers (National Post)
Jon Stewart’s Extended Interview with Richard Dawkins (Friendly Atheist)
Infographic: Megachurches = Megabusinesses? (Economy Watch)
‘Creepy’ Uncle Sam asks young adults to opt out of Obamacare (Washington Post)
Cambrian Explosion: Evolutionary Big Bang Was Sparked By Multiple Events, Scientists Say (Huffington Post)
Atheism Starts a Megachurch (Salon)
Beyond Germany's elections -- celebrating Luther (NPR)
President Carter Penning New Book - Believes Atheist Countries Treat Women Better (Videos) (Daily Kos)
Pope Francis: Catholic Church must focus beyond "small-minded rules" (CBS)
Bill O'Reilly's 'Killing Jesus' Already a Bestseller? (Christian Post)
Stephen Colbert Can't Believe 'Jihawg' Anti-Muslim Bacon Bullets Are A Real Thing (Huffington Post)
Want daily updates? 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
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)
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
Marriage and Religious Freedom Act
Sponsored by Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), a bill entitled the “Marriage and Religious Freedom Act” was introduced in the House of Representatives on Friday. This bill would explicitly authorize discrimination against married same-sex couples by recipients of taxpayer-funded grants and contracts, and, through the threat of costly lawsuits, would tie the hands of the government in remedying discrimination.
National Defense Authorization and Appropriations
Senate consideration of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill has been bumped off the legislative agenda until late October. We are working towards the introduction of an amendment to support allowing Humanist chaplains in the military and blocking amendments which intend shield servicemembers from ordinary repercussions for discriminatory actions if they are religiously motivated.
The SCA is working with multiple national level lobbying organizations to fight a number of amendments which purport to expand religious freedom, but actually use it as a justification for discrimination.
Secular Tax Reform
Tax Reform Tour- Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.)are taking their tax reform inquiries to the people on a Tax Reform Tour. They visited Pennsylvania and California so far. We'll keep you updated as dates are released. We highly encourage our supporters to attend these events and speak up about unfair religious privileging in the tax code!
Taxreform.gov was launched to receive public input on comprehensive tax reform through a joint effort by the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.). Visit secular.org/taxreform for more information.
Employment Non Discrimination Act
The SCA joined a working group with prominent LGBT coalitions working to support ENDA with the most limited religious exemptions possible. We successfully stopped an expansion of the exemption. The bill is expected to come up for a vote in the fall.
We are working with a coalition of organizations on a national ENDA campaign and Action Alert on October 3. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Contact Kelly Damerow, Director of Federal and State Affairs, with additional suggestions or information at Kelly@secular.org.
V. Judicial
Presented this week by Bill Burgess of the American Humanist Association.
Cert Petitions Filed In Contraceptive Coverage Mandate Cases. Petitions for certiorari have been filed in two cases challenging the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate seeking review by the U.S. Supreme Court were. One petition seeks review of the Third Circuit’s decision in Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, which held that “for-profit, secular corporations cannot engage in religious exercise,” and the free exercise rights of the owners of a corporation do not pass through to the corporation. The second petition seeks review of Tenth Circuit’s contrary decision in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which held that that corporations have free exercise rights and that the contraceptive coverage mandate substantially burdens those rights without a compelling governmental interest.
Judge Reverses Magistrate, Says Child Can Be Named “Messiah.” A Tennessee judge has reversed a widely publicized decision handed down last month by a magistrate who ruled that parents could not name their child “Messiah” because “[t]he word Messiah is a title and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ.” The judge ruled that the magistrate violated the Establishment Clause.
SCA files amicus brief in Town of Greece legislative prayer case. SCA has joined, along with AHA and other secular groups an amicus brief, urging the Supreme Court to uphold a Second Circuit decision finding a violation of the Establishment Clause by a city that regularly opened its town council meetings with Christian prayers. The court will hear oral arguments in the appeal in November.
If you have any additions, questions or submissions for inclusion on the judicial section for next week, contact Bill Burgess, BBurgess@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9088 or Rebecca S. Markert, rmarkert@ffrf.org, with the Freedom From Religion Foundation at (608) 256-8900.
VI. SCA State Chapters
Employment Nondiscrimination
Americans for Workplace Equality will be hosting volunteer events in the following states over the next month to lobby for workplace nondiscrimination: Arkansas, Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. If you would like more information on how you can get involved, please email diana@secular.org.
Upcoming State Calls: Join the call for your state chapter by dialing in: Call in number: (530) 881-1400 - Participant code: 978895.
Today: Arkansas at 12 pm CT; Utah at 1 pm MT; and D.C. at 6 pm ET
Friday, September 27: Alabama at 1 pm CT; and Indiana at 2 pm CT
Wednesday, October 2: Kentucky at 3 pm ET/2 pm CT; and Michigan at 4 pm ET
STATE LEGISLATURES
Currently, 6 out of 50 state legislatures are meeting in regular session, as well as the District of Columbia council.
Michigan, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are in session.
Montana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida are accepting prefiled bills.
Pennsylvania
HB 1692 - No person may impose content-based censorship of an American or Pennsylvania historical document, writing or record based on any religious references contained in such document, writing or record. This bill was referred to the education committee on Sept. 23.
South Carolina
SB 279 - Authorizing an income tax deduction for tuition paid by a parent or legal guardian for their child or ward to attend an independent school, including religious schools, or a public school out side the child or ward's residential district. A hearing has been scheduled today at 1 pm to discuss this bill.
State Events
2013 Texas Tribune Festival, September 27-29 (Austin, TX)
2013 Carolinas Secular Conference, October 4-6 (Charlotte, NC)
Sacramento Freethought Day, October 12 (Sacramento, CA)
Secular Assembly for the North East, October 19 (West Haven, CT)
Reason in the Rock, October 26-27 (Little Rock, AK)
Kentucky Freethought Convention, October 26 (Louisville, KY)
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 Diana Castillo, Lobby Assistant for the Secular Coalition for America at diana@secular.org with the state and bill number in the subject line.
VII. Secular Student Movement Update
Jesse Galef, SSA's communications director, is currently flying to Austin, Texas to attend the Religion Newswriters' Association conference. The conference gathers the top religion journalists in the country, and this year it includes a special panel titled "Meet the Freethinkers" for secular organizations to introduce themselves.
Representatives from the Secular Student Alliance were invited to attend the national gathering for the President's Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge earlier this week, and were included in a special planning session on how to involve students from all worldviews. They met with Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships head Melissa Rogers, and got a picture with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
The Secular Student Alliance met Sam Harris' $30,000 matching challenge in just 11 days, raising almost twice that amount in a third of the time allowed.
Sent from my phone, please excuse any lapses in spelling, punctuation, or reasoning.
For more information, questions, comments or additions to student-led efforts in the secular movement, Contact Jesse Galef, communications manager with the Secular Student Alliance at jesse@secularstudents.org.
VIII. Policy and Research Documents
Muslim Publics Share Concerns about Extremist Groups (Pew) - In many of the countries surveyed, clear majorities of Muslims oppose violence in the name of Islam. Indeed, about three-quarters or more in Pakistan (89%), Indonesia (81%), Nigeria (78%) and Tunisia (77%), say suicide bombings or other acts of violence that target civilians are never justified. And although substantial percentages in some countries do think suicide bombing is often or sometimes justified – including a 62%-majority of Palestinian Muslims, overall support for violence in the name of Islam has declined among Muslim publics during the past decade.
Reminder: The Open Access on-line Research Library at the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture, Trinity College, Hartford, CT is available to everyone in the movement. Go to www.secularisminstitute.org. This is the academic website for ISSSC. From there you can access (top right) all the reports and materials on the American Religious Identification Survey series since 1990.
Contact Barry Kosmin (barry.kosmin@trincoll.edu) Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society or Jenny Kalmanson (jenny_kalmanson@hotmail.com), who sits on the Board of the American Humanist Association, with any additions or suggestions for this list. Powerpoints, brochures, scorecards, and other resources are now available on the website. These speeches will be free and available to everyone in the movement. The Secular Coalition is looking for helpful research papers, to link to from our website and to determine where additional research needs to be done. If you are aware of any, please send information to kelly@secular.org
IX. Secular Coalition Expansion
Coalition expansion drive underway! We are looking to add Endorsing and Allied organizations through additional website sign up opportunities and meetings. Please recommend any non-movement groups we should meet with to discuss common ground.
We had 34 endorsing organizations in May of 2012; we now have 143.
Forward Equality (Iowa)
Camden County Humanists (NJ)
Southeast Wi FreeThinkers (SWiFT)
Hastings Area Hellbound Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics (NE)
X. SCA Member and Associated Organization Announcements
Tuesday, a joint brief was filed by a number of groups, including the Center for Inquiry, Americans for Religi