In this issue:
The City of Clawson recently passed a resolution to display "In God We Trust" in their library, recreation center, and city hall. Barbara Iseppi, the mayor of the city, brought the resolution before the council, and, although she did say, "This is open to discussion", she was not facing the audience at the time, and there was no indication that public discussion was welcome.
Herb, a former Methodist minister who left the meeting immediately after the decision, was disappointed. "I had a whole statement prepared," he said. "They didn't even want to discuss the issue--they just talked about where the money was going to come from." The former minister wanted to speak out against the displays, arguing that it violated First Amendment separation of state and church, adding that the meaning of "In God We Trust" became trivialized when the United States began using it as a motto. "I've always been against things like school prayer and other forms of government intrusion upon religion," he went on to say. "Religion should be a personal decision, and not dictated to us by government."
Iseppi used some of the usual arguments for having the displays: it's on money, it's out national motto, et cetera, but she also added, "Everyone has a god." This rather ignorant and discriminatory statement ignored the slightest possibility that godless people exist, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
The only voiced opposition to the displays came from a council member, Jim Horton, whose only concern was where they would get the money. He supported the idea, but did not want the city to pay for the displays, especially with all of the budget problems they have been experiencing.
In the end, the decision was unanimous, at least among council members. The public was silenced on the issue.
TopOn May 16, 2002, Representatives Murphy, McConico, Gieleghem, Phillips, Garza, Bernero, Rison, Quarles, Schauer, Williams, Waters, and Hardman introduced legislation to create the office of community-based facilitator, whose responsibilities will include analysis of current government involvement in religious, community, and nonprofit organizations, reporting of this involvement, analysis of such involvement in other states, and helping these organizations apply for state and federal grants, among other functions that encourage the cooperation of government and these organizations.
This bill echoes the efforts of George W. Bush and his faith-based funding agenda. The same objections to the Bush plan may also be made about the office of the community-based facilitator. There are no regulations built into the bill that would stop religious organizations from using federal or state money to advance religion. There is no monitoring of hiring practices, which often discriminate against Atheists, homosexuals, and others who do not meet the approval of whatever church is behind the organization.
This bill clearly violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, since it clearly provides a state-funded service that directly consults with religious organizations to advance their causes. Also, because it provides a service to religious organizations using state funds, it violates Article I, Section 4 of the Michigan's Constitution, which disallows the practice of using state funds for religious activity of any kind.
If you would like to express your concerns about this or any other legislation to your representative, please visit the Legislative Alerts page at http://www.michiganatheists.org/legislative_alerts.htm. Links to contact information may be found at the bottom of the page.
TopBring your food, children, dogs, games, and whatever else you can think of to the Michigan Atheists' Summer Solstice picnic next Sunday, June 16. We will be gathering at noon, rain or shine (we have a pavilion, just in case the weather doesn't cooperate), at Tattan Park in Westland, at pavilion #2.
And...this year, we have visitors!
Andrea Leptinsky, an intern writer for the Metro Times, will be attending the picnic, complete with camera crew, to cover a story on the Summer Solstice.
Circle of Bliss Productions, a small independent filmmaker, will be in attendance as well. They have prepared a list of questions that they will be asking for purposes of a documentary film they are producing:
For more information, contact Arlene-Marie at amarie@atheists.org, or visit http://www.michiganatheists.org/upcoming_events.htm.
TopThe Michigan Atheists State convention date has been changed to November 16. It will be held from 9:00am through 5:00pm at the Holiday Inn Livonia West, 17123 North Laurel Park Dr, Livonia. The hotel's phone number is 734-464-1300.
The list of speakers and events will be announced in the near future, so look for it in a future newsletter, or visit www.michiganatheists.org for updates. One event that we have lined up is a debate between Gary Glenn, president of the Michigan chapter of the American Family Association, and Greg Reich, editor of the Michigan Atheists Newsletter and webmaster of www.michiganatheists.org. The topic will be announced in a future update.
TopThirty-two organizations encompassing godless Americans in all their forms are currently supporting the Godless March on Washington, an event announced by Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists, at the 28th National Convention of American Atheists. Godless Americans of all backgrounds and labels, including Atheists, Agnostics, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists, and Rationalists will join in Washington to deliver a set of demands for a secular America. For details on this historic event, please visit www.michiganatheists.org.
TopThe Michigan Atheists Newsletter is an electronic publication containing news about separation of state and church, the events of Michigan Atheists, and the civil rights of Michigan's godless citizens. All content of the newsletter is the intellectual property of Greg Reich and Michigan Atheists, unless otherwise credited.
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