Secular Coalition For America To Meet With White House Officials On National Policy (The Secular Coalition For America; Feb 25)

Marking the first time in history a presidential administration has met for a policy briefing with the American nontheist community, on February 26 the Secular Coalition for America will engage with White House officials on issues of great concern to the secular movement.

“We cannot accept religious interference in government – whether it’s loopholes in child abuse laws for ‘faith healing,’ or preaching to enlisted members of the military,” said U.S. Rep. Pete Stark. “I commend the Secular Coalition for briefing the Obama Administration about these matters of religious freedom.”

President Obama was the first U.S. president to acknowledge nonbelievers in an inaugural address, an event which began a constructive and meaningful relationship between the administration and American nontheists. When administration officials meet with the country’s national nontheist advocacy organization for this briefing – joined by a group of other nontheists from every corner of the nation and all walks of life – it will be the latest indication that the secular movement is gaining significant momentum, and that secular Americans, numbering in the tens of millions, are a constituency that must be included.

“We are very pleased that the Obama administration is affording us this opportunity to present our positions on issues of high importance, issues of freedom and fairness that affect every American, regardless of belief,” said Secular Coalition for America Executive Director Sean Faircloth. “Our Founders knew that there was no place in American government for the privileging of religion, or of one belief over another, and that will be a central theme in our interaction with the White House.”

Daniel Dennett, celebrated philosopher, author of the influential book Breaking the Spell, and member of the SCA Advisory Board, highlighted the significance of the meeting, noting, “The category ‘no religion’ is the fastest growing category in America, and it is high time political leaders begin to take us seriously as a voting group whose approval they should hope to deserve.”

Issues that the Secular Coalition for America plans to address in their meeting with administration officials include:

Protecting Children from Neglect and Abuse: Liz Heywood will describe her harrowing childhood struggle as she was refused medical attention when stricken with painful, debilitating illness. While there are federal standards to protect children from medical neglect, there continues to exist an exemption to these minimum standards when religion becomes the motivation behind the neglect. Parents whose children are physically endangered by so called “faith-healing” and “Faith-healing treatment providers” must be held responsible by law for participating in the denial of proper medical treatment. Similarly, religious child care centers, for the sake of the children for whom they are responsible, must be subject to the same health and safety laws as secular child care centers that receive federal funding.

Ending Military Proselytizing: Ensuring that the rights for which our men and women in uniform fight – among them freedom of conscience – are respected at all levels of the U.S. military, so that no service-member is ever coerced into religious participation, subject to proselytizing, or discriminated against because of their beliefs or lack thereof. Kathleen Johnson, Vice President of American Atheists, and Jason Torpy, President of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers will recount their own experiences with religious discrimination in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Fixing Faith-Based Initiatives: Taking all necessary steps to make certain that religious organizations receiving federal funding for social welfare programs cannot discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion, that program beneficiaries are never subject to proselytizing, and that secular options are made equally available to those in need.

“There has been a movement toward theocracy in America that is too often overlooked,” said Faircloth. “As a result, good Americans, including children, have been harmed, and men and women in uniform denied their rights. This strikes at the very core of American values. The Secular Coalition for America seeks justice for every citizen, regardless of creed.”

Atheists Meet With White House Officials (Cathy Lynn Grossman & Betty Klinck/Faith & Reason/USA Today; Feb 26)

The White House has been known to confer with religious leaders on important political and social issues — for instance, a meeting on torture with several religious denominations in June or Obama’s meeting with Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama just last week. On Friday, however, White House officials met with 60 members of atheist advocacy group the Secular Coalition for America, to discuss problems that they believe are fueled by religion.

The coalition’s press release notes that this is the first time an administration has met with a non-theist community.

The main discussion points were, according to Margaret Talev’s McClatchy article:

—– “child medical neglect” — Many religious child care centers are exempted from the health and safety regulations under which secular health centers are run.

—– “military proselytizing” — The coalition asserts that the increasing number of evangelical Christians in the military is causing religious discrimination and that these Christians believe they must promote Christianity as part of their military duty.

—– “faith-based initiatives” — The coalition says the Bush administration created programs like the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to unconstitutionally funnel money to religious institutions.

The coalition represents atheist non-profit groups such as American Atheists, the American Humanist Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers.

When asked, “What is your religion, if any?” 15% of Americans answer “None,” according to the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey of 54,000 people.

Says coalition executive director Sean Faircloth: “Despite what we hear from Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin, we’re in a stage in history where millions upon millions of Americans share a secular perspective on American public policy. We think the real ’silent majority,’ if you will, is the Americans who say, ‘Enough of this religious and even theocratic nature to American policy.’”

Faircloth told ABC that the White House Officials present at the meeting included:

—– Tina Tchen, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement

—– Paul Monteiro, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs

—– Bryan Samuels, commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families in the Department of Health and Human Services

—– Mazen Basrawi, counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice

Some Christians, however, are outraged over this meeting like In God We Trust chairman Bishop Council Nedd, who told Christian Newswire: “It is one thing for the Administration to meet with groups of varying viewpoints, but it is quite another for a senior official to sit down with activists representing some of the most hate-filled, anti-religious groups in the nation.”