Author: Doug - Page 21 - Secular Left

September 13, 2016

It’s Okay To Be Upset By Election Time Religious Pandering But What Do We Do Next?

If you are in the least bit interested in a secular government that doesn’t cheerlead for any religion, that upholds the 1st amendment, and acknowledges that nonbelievers are citizens too, then you might be slightly upset that in yet another election cycle the candidates are pandering to the religious. Being upset is fine but seculars also should know we aren’t a majority yet. We can only keep demanding better from our candidates and elected officials.

The pandering of course comes from the right:

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August 21, 2016

Secular Coalition Releases 2016 Presidential Voter Guides

The Secular Coalition for America (SCA) released its 2016 Presidential Voter Guides on Thursday August 18th. It consisted of eight areas of concern for the secular community and what each candidate said about those values, if available. The first two guides were for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and, as no surprise, Clinton was given an ‘A’ rating while Trump got an ‘F’.

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August 2, 2016

A Presidential Candidate Panders To The Religious Using The Johnson Amendment

President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1950s as a US Senator

Every election cycle, Secular Americans have to endure slimy pandering to the religious right by candidates looking to get elected to office. Some on the right of the political spectrum want to see the Johnson Amendment repealed so that churches are free to be involved in politics as much as they want. As it stands now, promises for repealing the law is pandering because it is hardly enforced and it can’t get a repeal vote now in a Congress with a Republican majority.

The Johnson Amendment refers to a change in the US Tax code passed in 1954. It was introduced by then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson and some have said he did it to silence some opponents to his reelection to the Senate.

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June 30, 2016

Todd Starnes Knows Nothing About The Separation Of Church And State

Serial Liar Todd Starnes

Religious conservative and FOX news contributor Todd Starnes wrote on June 29th that the recently released US House Republican’s Benghazi report noted that members of President Obama’s administration bullied a Christian pastor about a film he promoted that insulted Islam. Starnes claims that breeched the church and state wall. For a ‘reporter’ with a history of ethics problems, Starnes unsurprisingly gets this so-called ‘violation’ wrong.

Starnes writes on his FOX news website column:

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June 20, 2016

Religious Conservative Member Of Ohio State Board Of Education Exposes Her Transphobia

The Ohio State Board of Education, although not as bad as some state boards like in Kansas, has had it share of religious conservatives. Most of the time these people try to push a religious agenda into the public schools like creationism. A member from North East Ohio tried to get the board involved in the issue of transgendered people using public school bathrooms. It makes me wonder how someone who distrusts the government so much would want to work for it

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June 16, 2016

Subtle Violations Of The First Amendment May Still Be Found In Public Schools

image of a young girl praying from freeimages.com

Obvious violations of the first amendment in public schools can include a sign with an obvious religious message, a teacher proselytizing, or a school promoted event sponsored by a religious group that includes a sermon or prayer. There are, however, many smaller violations going on all the time that might be harder to see or stop. It takes all of us, checking into our local schools, to police these minor violations and to educate people about the 1st amendment.

Zack Kopplin wrote in ThinkProgress about the efforts of Focus on the Family to infiltrate public schools under the radar:

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