View this email in your browser ([link removed])
At this point I think everything has been said about the debate, but not everyone has had a chance to say it. This is my chance, but I’m just going to go with my three favorite quotes from and about the evening:
* On whether after nine years of promising a better health care plan than Obamacare, does Donald Trump have a better plan? “I have concepts of a plan,” he said. I’m trying that out at work.
* CNN’s Abby Phillip on ABC’s fact-checking Donald Trump more than Vice President Harris: “Just fyi: when there is asymmetrical lying, there will be asymmetrical fact checking,”
* And, because kids still have a language of their own, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) posted, “My kid just said ‘Kamala is eating’ which I presume is good.”

There won’t be enough new polls out until next week to know how much the debate changed things, but my bold prediction is that the election will still look very close. Most people have already made up their minds and see what they want to see in a debate like that. The Electoral College will be decided on the margins, so vote and if you can, vote early.

That brings me to another reminder that we have information for people who need to register to vote, find their polling place, or get an absentee ballot. Feel free to send our Secular America Votes ([link removed]) page around; we don’t mind. New data from Pew Research ([link removed]) shows that Protestants favor Trump 61-37 (thanks to the evangelicals), Catholics favor Trump 52-47, but the “religiously unaffiliated” favor Harris 68-28. Let’s get out the vote.

Last time here when I covered the Democratic Convention I should have mentioned that the Center for Freethought Equality had a booth there and they spread the word about electing secular Americans to office. CFE is an arm of our coalition partner the American Humanist Association, which happens to be holdingtheir annual conference online ([link removed]) this weekend! I’m pretty sure they would still let you register. It’s online so it’s not a lot.
___________________________
Speaking of secular elected officials, Britain’s new Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, is an atheist. His Labour Party won a decisive victory in July ending 14 years of Conservative rule. You can read Britain Has Elected the Most Godless Parliament in History here ([link removed]) , which says 40 percent of Members of Parliament chose a secular declaration over a religious oath when being sworn in. This is right in line with the 38 percent of the British population that identifies as nonreligious. There’s just far less stigma attached to it over there when they go to vote.

Over here we have to contend with senators like Josh Hawley of Missouri who wrote yet another pro-Christian nationalism screed. This is dangerous. A new study ([link removed]) finds that in states where representatives publicly support Christian nationalism there is more violence against religious minorities. Hawley's The Christian Nationalism We Need ([link removed]) tries to make the case for Republicans being more family friendly instead of business friendly, but also we need to inscribe In God We Trust on every public building. He writes off “the Left” with "The crisis of our time springs from the left’s determination to destroy the loves that unite us, to replace God, home, and work with the religion of the trans flag.”

Hawley got 58 percent of the Missouri vote in 2018. He seems likely to run for President someday. The Secular Coalition is sending him a letter, which I’ll post next time, telling him why he’s embarrassing himself and endangering others.


**
------------------------------------------------------------

Scott MacConomy, Director of Policy ad Government Affairs at the Secular Coalition for America, wears a blue suit and stands with his arms crossed over his chest in front of the United States Capitol Building.

Your advocate,

Scott MacConomy
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America
Did someone forward this to you? You can sign up at secular.org ([link removed]) with your email and zip code.

The Secular Coalition for America works every day to defend the separation of religion and government and to fight anti-democratic ideologies like Christian nationalism. Your support for this work is vital.

Donate to protect equal rights for nonreligious Americans! ([link removed])

P.S. Please consider leaving a legacy gift to the Secular Coalition for America ([link removed]) . The protection of our secular values requires eternal vigilance.

============================================================

** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])

Copyright © 2024 Secular Coalition for America, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you requested to receive updates from the Secular Coalition for America.

Our mailing address is:
Secular Coalition for America
1012 14th St, NW
Suite 205
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.

If you have any thoughts about this week's Heretic on the Hill you can email ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])