Happy Monday! I hope you all had a peaceful and delicious Thanksgiving.
Welcome to
Reads of Reason, a weekly compilation of news-clippings that relate to our work advocating for nontheist Americans and secularism here in Washington D.C. Please share this email with those in your network to enhance our secular outreach.
At the
Secular Coalition for America we know that being well-informed is a vital part of being an effective advocate.
News We Care About
(Good to know for protecting the Wall of Separation)
Republicans are changing state laws to try to get out of federal vaccine mandates (NPR, 11/22/21)
"New laws strengthening religious exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines could also wind up undercutting laws on the books requiring vaccinations for school-aged children..."
Report: Expansion of religious exemptions undermining law (UPI, 11/26/21)
A new report contends the right to religious exemptions from the law has expanded vastly in the past decade and is threatening the liberties of others.
Why is France so afraid of god? (The Atlantic, 11/22/21)
How the country came to view religion as a threat to national identity...
The impossible politics of church-state partnerships (Deseret News, 11/23/21)
While state partnerships with religious organizations enjoy bipartisan support, enacting legislation on those partnerships can be quite divisive.
Commentary
(Everyone has an opinion...)
"We Remember a United States That Fought the Nazis' (Religion Dispatches, 11/22/21)
A German Scholar of Fascism Weighs in on Christian Nationalism in the U.S.
Evangelical Christian groups flout the law – again (OpenDemocracy, 11/26/21)
"Christian Right groups promoting anti-LGBT practices in the US and abroad, despite bans, is nothing new: they’ve been doing it for decades"
The Conservative War on Education That Failed (The Atlantic, 11/23/21)
A full century ago, the most effective school-ban campaign in American history set the pattern: noise, fury, rancor, and fear, but not much change in what schools actually teach. The vague term that galvanized conservative angst? Evolution.
The Moral Collapse of America’s Largest Christian University (The Dispatch, 11/21/21)
"Rarely in my life have I ever seen a single significant American institution face such a staggering run of scandal and controversy as Liberty University"
Secular Americans
(Who are we? What are we up to?)
In this presentation to the Humanist Society of Santa Barbra, Debbie Allen, SCA's Executive Director, describes the nature of secular advocacy in America today and the work of the Secular Coalition for America.
"Separation of Church and State Week is observed annually during the week of Thanksgiving. It’s the secular movement’s response to National Bible Week, which kicks off with International Day of the Bible on the Sunday before Thanksgiving."
Republicans more likely than Democrats to believe in heaven, say only their faith leads there (Pew Research Center, 11/23/21)
A new study from Pew reveals interesting insights on the partisan differences of holding specific supernatural beliefs...
The views expressed in the articles included in the Reads of Reason do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Secular Coalition for America or its coalition members--varying opinions may be included in an effort to inform our readers as much as possible. Please let us know of any feedback you might have!
