The new Speaker of the House is really the complete package: a man-made climate change denier, stridently anti-LGBTQ rights, stridently anti-abortion, and conservative on pretty much every issue of any importance. One vital qualification for winning the race for Speaker is being an election denier, and here Speaker Mike Johnson shines. He is considered a …
Heretic on the Hill: Speaking of Christian Nationalists Read More »
So, the government didn’t close down two weekends ago as predicted here. No one thought Speaker McCarthy would wake up Saturday and decide to do the right thing, even if it meant working with Democrats and losing his job. Clearly Congressman Gaetz, the instigator in removing him, didn’t have a Step Two because almost two …
Editor’s Note: The following was just a little off in predicting a government shutdown on October 1st. No one expected that Kevin McCarthy would wake up on September 30 and realize that he would never be able to satisfy the demands of the 20 or so arsonists in the ultraconservative wing of the House Republicans. Some of …
This week SCA’s executive director Steven Emmert and I attended a briefing for Members of Congress and government affairs staff from secular organizations on the issue of humanist chaplains in the military, or the lack of them. The briefing was organized by our coalition member the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) and their government affairs …
It’s Labor Day Weekend again. I’ll be at a Labor Day picnic sponsored by one of the local political parties and attended by some of the local politicians. (Protecting the rights of nonreligious Americans is somewhat easier if you aren’t blatantly a member of one party or the other.) So in observance of Labor Day …
Heretic on the Hill: Delivering Bad News for Secular Workers Read More »
I had some concerns about finding a topic this week for two reasons. First, Congress has been out of session this month so there’s not much going on. And second, I’m on vacation and didn’t want to have to knock myself out on it. I just needed someone in Congress to introduce a bill so blatantly …
Heretic on the Hill: Say Hell No! to the School Prayer Bill Read More »
It’s a sad day at the Secular Coalition for America. Our long-time supporter, adviser, board member, mentor, and friend Woody Kaplan lost his battle with cancer. He was also active with and a supporter of American Atheists, the ACLU, the American Humanist Association, and several other civil liberties groups. Woody knew many members of Congress …
Heretic on the Hill: When Therapy Doesn’t Convert, Just Stop It Read More »
At SCA’s last executive committee meeting as he shared news of his prognosis, he asked those in the meeting not to be sad, only saying, “I had a great time.” It is with the heaviest of hearts in sharing the sad news that Woody Kaplan, chair of the advisory board of the Secular Coalition for …
It’s mid-summer so Congress is focusing on defense policy for a week. The House and Senate are both considering their annual defense authorization bills which set policy on how many ships the Navy needs, what aircraft to buy, how many troops we need, and many, many smaller decisions as well. With 1.4 million active duty …
I thought this week I’d be writing about the Supreme Court because we are right at the end of the Court’s annual term and there are two big “religious freedom” decisions yet to be announced. There is the decision about the Postal Service employee who doesn’t want to work on Sundays, which could have much …
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