Non-believers raising voice in capital

Yahoo ^ | 9/19/05 | Jill Lawrence

[Crackingham]

Americans who don't believe in God have decided it's time they had a lobbyist in the nation's capital. Their new advocate describes herself as a "soft, fuzzy atheist." Lori Lipman Brown starts Monday as executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. Her two goals: keep religion out of government and win respect for a stigmatized minority. The magnitude of those challenges is, well, biblical. Think Daniel entering the lion's den, or David taking on Goliath.

Christian conservatives wield enormous clout here through a network of advocacy groups and relationships with politicians from President Bush on down. Atheists, humanists and freethinkers, as Brown's constituents call themselves, are usually ignored. Is she scared? "Nah," says Brown, 47, an atheist with a Jewish background. "It feels good to be the first."

Brown likens atheists today to gays in the 1970s: people just coming out of the closet to fight for acceptance. "There's been so much rhetoric in the past decade about how important religion is to being a good person," she says, that "it's been scary" for people to say they don't believe in God. She vows to "use the A-word and not cringe."

In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 11% said they do not believe in God but do believe in a "universal spirit" or "higher power"; 3% said they do not believe in God or a spirit or power. In a separate question, 1% said they are atheists (those who believe there is no God), 2% said they are agnostics (those unsure whether there is a God), and 11% said they have no religious preference. The no-preference category includes people "who may not be ready to declare themselves atheists or agnostics," Pew Director Andrew Kohut says.

Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, counts them as non--believers - part of "a 30-million-strong constituency that is informed about the issues and votes."

Brown plans to work for non-believers in three ways:

• As part of broad coalitions fighting policies rooted in religious beliefs, such as limits on stem cell research and access to emergency contraception.

• In alliances with groups opposed to policies they believe breach the wall between church and state, such as giving taxpayer money to "faith-based" service programs.

• On causes Brown concedes are hard for politicians and the public to swallow, such as eliminating references to God from the U.S. oath of citizenship. She plans to stay out of the Pledge of Allegiance controversy for now because "the courts are on our side." Last week, a federal judge reaffirmed an earlier ruling that teacher-led recitation of the Pledge's phrase "under God" in public schools is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.

Gary Bauer, a Christian conservative and former presidential candidate who now lobbies against gay marriage and for conservative values, says atheists' timing couldn't be worse, given Hurricane Katrina. "We're right in the middle of a horrible event when people are turning to God," he says. "They're going to find it very hard to get people to vote for the sort of things they're in favor of."

Brown says she doesn't expect immediate success on tough issues but, as the only advocate for non--believers in Washington, it's her job to raise them.

"We want to get people thinking about what they do that excludes us," she says. "The things that ... perpetuate the idea that we are outsiders - that we can't be patriotic or that we can't be moral or ethical - when in reality our community is tremendously active in making the world a better place to live."

[Free Vulcan]

Atheism I believe is legally considered a religion. Though most Leftists call themselves atheists, they're really not. It's not that they don't believe in God, they just think the govt is God.

Other religions are simply competition, and unfortunately the govt is a very jealous god that Leftists want to be the sole object of people's faith.

[kcvl]

The Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry was founded in 1994 by a group of local non-theists in Charleston, South Carolina. The purpose of our non-profit, educational organization is to promote the non-theistic, human-centered viewpoint as a valid contribution to public discourse; to strive to maintain the First Amendment guarantee of separation of state and church; and to work in coalition with like-minded organizations where joint action is needed to achieve these goals.

Our members are freethinkers of many kinds. We call ourselves agnostics, atheists, skeptics, secular humanists, rationalists and scientific naturalists. We are affiliated with the Council for Secular Humanism, the Atheist Alliance, and the American Humanist Association. We welcome you and all who are interested in participating in our friendly community, either as members or observers.




Herb Silverman will be one of two members of a team arguing that "American religion undermines American values". The debate will be held on May 26th at Oxford University in England.


SHL President Herb Silverman was invited to write an opinion piece on government funds for `faith based' groups as part of a series in the Post and Courier.


SHL president Herb Silverman gave a fantastic sermon entitled Positive Atheism at the Unitarian Church's service on 6 February, 2005.


The SHL president and a Wiccan priestess from Great Falls, SC will each speak on incidents of bigotry they have experienced due to their religious beliefs The forum will take place at the College of Charleston in room 100 Maybank Hall at 4:30 on November 1, 2004


Herb Silverman and member Bill Dusenberry will appear on the Rocky D show, 3PM on Wednesday October 13. This call-in show is broadcast on WTMA, radio 1250 AM. Questions of callers are likely to focus on our new In Reason We Trust license plates.


Herb Silverman explains why you should write a letter to the FCC to help ensure that TV Evangelists are not given benefits intended for educational programming.

[kcvl]

The professor, Herb Silverman, is an atheist whose application for notary public was turned down because he had crossed out the part of an oath that read "so help me God."

"The state Supreme Court didn't hesitate to find the religious test for public office to be a violation of religious freedom," Steven Bates, Executive Director of the ACLU of South Carolina, told the State.

The ACLU had filed the original lawsuit in 1993 on behalf of Professor Silverman.

[kcvl]

National Day of Reason

By Herb Silverman



Many who value the separation of church and state have sought an appropriate response to the federally funded National Day of Prayer, an annual abuse of the U.S. Constitution. Nontheistic Americans (including freethinkers, humanists, atheists and agnostics), along with many traditionally religious allies, view such government-sanctioned sectarianism as unduly exclusionary.

A consortium of leaders from within the Community of Reason recently endorsed the idea of holding a National Day of Reason. This observance will be held in parallel with the National Day of Prayer, on the first Thursday in May (specifically, May 1, 2003). The goal of this effort is to celebrate reason—a concept all Americans can support—and to raise public awareness about the persistent threat to religious liberty posed by government intrusion into the private sphere of worship.

Many organizations are planning special events for May 1. We would like to hear your ideas for what SHL could do to commemorate this day. Once determined, our event will be posted at www.nationaldayofreason.org. If you would like to endorse the National Day of Reason, you may do so at this Web site. There is great potential this year to give voice to our shared concerns about the serious threats to the wall separating church and state.

[kcvl]

Herb Silverman Contributes to New Book

The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America, will surely cause a stir when it debuts across the nation on September 1. Written by seven freethought authors, the carefully documented narrative exposes the full spectrum of issues on the Christian fundamentalist agenda. Contributing to this expose is SHL President Herb Silverman, whose chapter, “Inerrancy Turned Political,” describes frightening attempts to subvert church-state separation by the extreme religious right. It also contains the saga of Herb’s candidacy for the office of South Carolina governor in 1990 and his State Supreme Court victory in 1997.

Another chapter in the book addresses the fundamentalist right’s oppressive treatment of women and children, as reported by Bobbie Kirkhart, visiting speaker at the SHL meeting on Feb. 16.

The book has drawn enthusiastic endorsements by advance reviewers who include British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and retired Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong. The Fundamentals of Extremism will be published by New Boston Books (www.NewBostonBooks.com) and distributed throughout the U.S. and Canada by the Independent Publishers Group. For an advance copy in paperback or hardcover, see Herb Silverman, who has a few advance copies for sale at discount prices.

******

The Sins of Scripture challenges Christians to look beyond the myths of their faith into the heart of the matter."
–Bill O'Reilly, anchor, Fox News Channel

"Spong demonstrates the prophetic vocation that prefers truth to lies, honesty to hipocracy, common sense to sick religious ideologies."
-Matthew Fox, president, University of Creation

******

John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark, NJ, for more than twenty years and is one of the leading spokespersons in the world for an open, scholarly, and progressive Christianity. Bishop Spong has taught at Harvard, and at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkely, California. He has also lectured at universities, conference centers, and churches in North America, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. He is the author of 15 books including the bestselling Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in Sin, Liberating the Gospels, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and his latest book The Sins of Scripture. History will recognize him as one of the major change agents in modern Christianity.

******

Praise For Bishop Spong:

“…Spong provides enlightened reading for people who no longer believe in the God of Sunday school and are looking for something else to give their lives meaning.”
– The San Francisco Chronicle

“…someone who loves the church deeply and has frequently been misunderstood.”
– Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“…with a courage and imagination unintimidated by conventional wisdom, Bishop Spong has chosen to fight for the reconciliation of the mind and heart of the Church in the contemporary world.”
– Peter Gomes, Harvard University

[Gondring]

They failed in their poll to state what percentage of the populace believes in God. Let this be another stone around the Democrats necks.

You might be surprised at how many FReepers are atheists.

[Gondring]

Full Disclosure: Let's see the athiests prove their creed by martyrdom, if they are so superior.

You should say "leftie atheists" there... I don't think the conservative atheists are saying they are "superior."

[Spirited]

Follow the $$$$$.

[mlc9852]

I doubt many Freepers are atheists. Actually, I don't believe in atheists. Everyone believes in a supreme being - they just deny the existence. The Bible says even the devil believes and trembles. And what have atheists ever done for America? I didn't see any atheist caravans going to hurricane-ravaged areas with food and water.

[MagnoliaB]

I agree.

I frequent another forum and all the self proclaimed atheists are mean, vindictive, evil and have a gang mentality.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Just one more child of Jewish parents rebelling against what she sees as a constraining socio-religious culture.

Allof us have to suffer for her parents perceived sins.

[KateatRFM]

Why are so many of these people Jews? As a child of a 'mixed religion' family, I have seen a lot of mixed up Jews but none of us have ever dreamed of denying the existence of God. Of course, the more money you have and the more comfortable you are, the more you are likely to believe that you did it all yourself. The real test will come when they lose it all. I wonder how many of the people sitting on the curb in New Orleans chanting "We Want Help!" are atheists or 'secular humanists' -- and how many of them refused the aid and comfort of the church people who came running the minute they knew there was need?

[GadareneDemoniac]

So what's the agenda of these people?

"We're against this, we're against that, we're against the other..."

Real inspiring bunch of folks.

[Gondring]

I doubt many Freepers are atheists.

Believe what you want. I have no problem with doubts. :-)

Everyone believes in a supreme being - they just deny the existence.

Huh?

The Bible says even the devil believes and trembles.

If the Bible isn't right about God, then there's no reason to think it's right about a devil. That's not saying it couldn't be right on both, but using the Bible as evidence to those who don't believe it...well, that's not really very effective.

And what have atheists ever done for America? I didn't see any atheist caravans going to hurricane-ravaged areas with food and water.

I suppose you were one of those people who attacked the US when our country's aid to tsunami victims was less per capita than other country's, discounting individual donations. Everything has to be through some bureaucracy, eh?

Sorry, but I think individual support is important, and I also know those who helped via larger agencies. It doesn't take United Atheists of Peoria to mean atheists are sitting idly by.

[StonyBurk]

Given the number of Catholics --and others who loudly insist that they will not live or act as Christians-but
will hide behind that divisive wall separating the mere
politician from the God that Created he/she/it. I rather
suspect her work will be quite easy among those who think singing God Bless America is religion enough after 9-11-01
but God forbid anyone dare invite a Preacher to pray in Jesus Name(as was done in 1774 -and prior to the Fall of
the United States)

[Gondring]

How about "we're in favor of freedom of religion"?

[StonyBurk]

They are not all "children of God" one must not confuse being God's Creation with being a child of God.Jesus ,Himself,taught that some are Children of darkness. That there is good seed,and bad. And from the way
they choose to live in rebellion against God I discern there are more than one who are NOT children of God.

[mlc9852]

Again, what have atheists done for America? Oh yeah, I forgot. Michael Newdow has gotten the Pledge of Allegiance declared unconstitutional and O'Hare got prayer taken out of schools and they are so much better for it - thanks.

[metmom]

Is she scared? "Nah," says Brown, 47, an atheist with a Jewish background. "It feels good to be the first."


She' not scared becaue she knows deep down inside that Christians are civil. The beliefs that she's fighting are actually the ones that are protecting her. I can't get over the number of people who hate Christians and yet know how Christians should live and don't hesitate to remind them by throwing the Bible they dispise up in the faces of the Christians they're attacking.

[NCSteve]

I wonder if she appreciates (or even realizes) the irony of comparing homosexuals to atheists.