Michigan Atheists Newsletter
September 5, 2006
- Legislative Alert: House Bills 5908, 5909 could allow discrimination against adoptive parents based on religious grounds
- Legislative Alert: House Bill 6251 would consider religion in foster care placement
- Legislative Alert: House Bill 6284 creates parenting class
- Legislative Alert: House Bill 1251 will make it illegal for employers to discriminate based on membership in organizations
- Legislative Alert: House Bill 5699 calls for premarital education
- Atheists Speak Up Episode #4 released; preview of upcoming Episode #5
- Michigan Atheists Autumn Equinox Celebration on September 16
- State Convention 2006, November 17-19
- About the newsletter
House Bills 5908, 5909 open the door to discrimination
House Bills 5908 and 5909, introduced by Representatives John Stahl and Scott Hummel, respectively, may open the door for discrimination against prospective adoptive parents based on a given agency's written religious or moral guideline. If passed into law, these bills could allow religious agencies to object to Atheist or other nonreligious parents adopting children from their agencies.
Under House Bill 5808, the State of Michigan cannot deny a grant, contract, or participation in a government program based on an agency's religious or moral convictions or policies. Under House Bill 5909, the state cannot deny a license to such an agency. Therefore, under both bills, tax dollars may go into the coffers of religious agencies that may discriminate against nonreligious adoptive parents.
Both bills appear to be in violation of Article I, Section 4 of Michigan's Constitution, which prohibits tax money to be appropriated for any religious institution. It further prohibits the diminishing or enlarging of a person's civil and political rights, privileges, and capacities based on religious belief.
Readers are encouraged to let their public officials know what they think about this legislation. Please visit http://www.michiganatheists.org/legislative_alerts.htm and use the links there to contact your representatives.
House Bill 6251 gives special consideration to religion in foster care
House Bill 6251, sponsored by Representative Gino Polidori, requires that special consideration be given to the religion of the immediate family of a child when placing one in foster care. Families with the same religion as the child's immediate family would be given priority over families of other religions or no religion.
A problem with this bill is that it does not take the wishes of the child into account. There is already a law in Michigan that makes it necessary for foster parents to allow children to keep their religious (or nonreligious) identity. With this bill, special consideration will be given to families belonging to the same religion as the one in which the foster child has been indoctrinated, so children whose families have a religion with less adherents or children who come from families with no religion will tend to end up with families with a religious identity different from theirs.
This bill would help prevent cases where religious foster parents have ignored the law protecting a child's religious identity, as was the case with one Christian family who indoctrinated a Muslim child into their faith. When the Muslim child was returned to the immediate family, conflict over the change in religious identity ensued.
Editorial opinion: Ideally, children should not be indoctrinated at all, and should be allowed to choose for themselves whether or not they want to adhere to a religion, when they are old enough to make the decision. The problem with this law for Atheists is that we do not represent a religion, but, rather, the antithesis of it, and therefore, children of Atheists, when placed into foster care, may not be given consideration at all, in spite of the religious identity preservation law already on the books. On the other hand, given that nonreligious people make up around 14.1% of the population, the law may work in our favor, decreasing the chances of children of nonreligious parents ending up in religious homes, where indoctrination is often required by the religious tenets themselves. In relation to this bill, the following questions come to mind:
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Will the religion question for prospective foster parents be a fill-in-the-blank answer, or a choice? It it is a choice, will Atheists be relegated, as they have historically been in the military, for example, to "other"?
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Why aren't the wishes of the child taken into account? What about children who reject the faith of their parents?
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Won't huge religious sects, such as Catholicism, have an indoctrination advantage over much smaller sects?
Let your representatives know what you think:
http://www.michiganatheists.org/legislative_alerts.htm
House Bill 6284 creates parenting class elective in Michigan high schools
House Bill 6284, sponsored by Representative Tom Meyer, would require local school districts to offer a parenting class as an elective in all Michigan high schools. If passed, it could potentially open the door for religion to enter public school classrooms by stealth. Plenty of parenting books based on biblical principles, rather than careful research, exist, and leaving the formation of the class up to local school districts invites such material into the classroom.
While the idea of giving teens entering adulthood the skills they need to become successful parents might sound good, the potential for indoctrination into religious parenting methods should make nonreligious people cautious. Keeping a careful eye on the new parenting classes, and even taking part in their formation, may be advisable, if this bill passes into law.
House Bill 1251 protects employee involvement in organizations
House Bill 1251, sponsored by Representative Raymond Basham, will give legal protection to employees who are part of organizations. The organizations must exist for lawful purposes, must not conflict with the core mission of an employer's business, and cannot conflict with an existing "conflict of interest" policy held by the employer. For Atheists who have in the past been concerned--sometimes rightfully so--that their involvement in activism regarding separation of state and church and Atheist civil rights, it means that they have legal recourse if their employers reprimand or terminate them for such involvement. The bill also provides for monetary compensation for legal fees, as well as injunctive relief and damages, for an employee who files suit under the act, if passed.
Bill requiring premarital education unfair to nonreligious people
House Bill 5699, sponsored by Representative Jerry O'Kooiman, will require premarital education for couples wanting to obtain a Michigan marriage license. The issue for nonreligious people arises from the list of qualified administrators of such education. Included on the list are religious clergy, who could potentially offer services for free. Nonreligious people have no option but to pay for such a service, unless someone offers a free secular alternative, if this bill passes. This bill would also affect the 38% of the population who only consider themselves "somewhat" religious, who do not attend church services on a regular basis. Given the options of the free services offered by churches or expensive services offered by the professionals listed in this bill, these people will likely opt for the church services, especially if they are less affluent.
Another problem with this bill is that there are no standards for qualification, rendering it meaningless. There exists in the bill a catch-all of "an individual who provides a premarital education program". The merits of going to one of the professional services listed as opposed to clergy or some individual under the catch-all clause are not taken into consideration at all. What measurable benefit can be obtained from such a bill? Would it not be more desirable to research premarital education programs to see which ones tend to result in longer, more stable marriages?
Let your representatives know what you think about this bill:
http://www.michiganatheists.org/legislative_alerts.htm
Atheists Speak Up releases fourth episode, begins production on fifth
Atheists Speak Up, Michigan's first and only cable television show produced by Atheists, has released its fourth episode, which will air on community access stations throughout southeast and central Michigan. The show features an interview with Norm Cohen of NOCIRC of Michigan, Dee Crowe's speech from the Michigan Atheists State Convention of 2005, and Lee Helm's presentation on evolution versus intelligent design.
The three previous episodes included:
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Frank Zindler's speech at the 2005 convention on the historicity of Jesus
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Greg Reich's speech on David Barton's book on prayer in schools, as well as an interview with Leonard Zanger of Camp-Quest
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California State Director Dave Kong's speech at the 2005 convention
Episode 5 will feature long-time, dedicated activist Spike Tyson, a two-time Purple Heart recipient (along with other medals) from his military service in Vietnam.
Atheists Speak Up relies on local sponsorship to gain airtime on the community access stations. If you would like to become a local sponsor, please contact the executive producer, Marty Maier, at teammarty@iserv.net. For a list of communities in which the show currently airs, visit:
http://www.michiganatheists.org/upcoming_events.htm.
Michigan Atheists Autumn Equinox Celebration
The annual Michigan Atheists Autumn Equinox dinner will take place at the China Star Palace in Westland on Sunday, September 17th from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
China Star is located at 270 S. Wayne Rd, between Palmer and Cherry Hill. The restaurant phone number is 734-525-5640.
The dinner buffet costs $13 and will be ready at 4:00 p.m.
Reservations are appreciated. Please contact Greg Reich at gregtreich@comcast.net, or call 248-436-1256.
Michigan Atheists State Convention 2006
The annual Michigan Atheists State Convention will be held beginning on November 17th at Holiday Inn Livonia West in Livonia, Michigan. This year, the convention will be a three day event, with a speakers' reception on November 17th, the convention on November 18th, and a group trip on November 19th.
On November 17th, a reception will be held for the convention speakers at 7:00 p.m. at Shanahan's, the restaurant inside of Holiday Inn. Please join in welcoming:
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Dr. Michael Newdow, Atheist activist, medical doctor, lawyer, and entertainer
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Dr. Gregory Forbes, Professor of Biological Sciences
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Rick Wingrove, American Atheists Capitol Hill representative
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Ellen Birch, documented relative of Thomas Jefferson and Atheist activist
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Arlene-Marie, American Atheists State Director for Michigan
On November 18th, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., the convention will be held in a Holiday Inn ballroom (follow the signs to the correct room). For registrations received prior to November 6th, the rate is $42.50 for the convention at the noon luncheon, or $25 for the convention only. Registrations received after November 6th or at the door will cost $47.50 for the convention and the luncheon, or $30 for the convention only.
On November 19th, there will be a group trip to The Henry Ford to see the excellent "Liberty And Justice For All" exhibit. Michigan Atheists will be visiting from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
If you would like to stay at the Holiday Inn during the convention, please call the hotel at 734-464-1300 or register online at http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/dttln;jsessionid=Q2NAN1GRVHXUCCTGWANCHPQKM0YBWIY4?_requestid=279108. Register before October 18th to take advantage of the convention rate, which is $89 plus tax per night.
The registration form may be found at http://www.michiganatheists.org. Alternatively, you may send your check or money order to: Michigan Atheists, P.O. Box 0025, Allen Park, MI, 48101. Please make your check or money order out to George Shiffer, Treasurer (do not make the check out to Michigan Atheists or American Atheists). Include the following information:
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Names of those who will be attending the reception, the convention, the luncheon, and the group trip
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Your address, phone number, and email address, if you would like to be on the Michigan Atheists mailing list
For more information, please contact Greg Reich at gregtreich@comcast.net, or call 248-436-1256.
The 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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