For Immediate Release
Contact: Lori Lipman Brown, (202) 299-1091
Sam Harris Joins Lobbying Coalition
Author Advances Atheist Advocacy
Washington, DC - July 2, 2007 - The Secular Coalition for America, the nation's Congressional lobbying organization representing the interests of nontheistic Americans, today announced the addition of renowned author Sam Harris to its board of advisors. The advisory board is comprised of noted luminaries from the fields of science, medicine, literature, law, business, and entertainment, including author, journalist and literary critic Christopher Hitchens, actress Julia Sweeney, and evolutionary biologist and popular science writer Richard Dawkins, D.Sc., FRS.
Perhaps best known for his New York Times bestsellers, Letter to a Christian Nation and The End of Faith, for which he won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction, Mr. Harris is also a regular on television and radio programs talking about the danger that religion poses to modern societies. A champion of free thought, his provocative essays have appeared in Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Times of London, The Boston Globe, and elsewhere.
"Nontheists represent the most highly educated, scientifically literate, and fastest growing denomination in the United States. We are also the least empowered politically. I consider the work of the Secular Coalition for America to be indispensable in addressing what is, at a glance, the most depressing feature of our political discourse: it is impossible to get elected to high office in this country without professing a god-belief," said Mr. Harris.
"We are pleased to welcome Sam Harris to our board of advisors. We now have an extremely diverse representation reflecting the coming together of nontheistic Americans across a wide spectrum of political and philosophical voices," said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America.
For a complete listing of advisory board members, see http://www.secular.org/adv_board.
About Secular Coalition for America
The Secular Coalition for America is a coalition of eight national organizations. Its mission is to increase the visibility and respectability of nontheistic viewpoints in the United States, and to protect and strengthen the secular character of our government as the best guarantee of freedom for all. Media resources are available at http://www.secular.org/press.
###