Lori Lipman Brown is Director of the  Secular Coalition for America, where she serves as the first Congressional lobbyist representing atheists.  She is also a speaker on the SSA's Speaker's Bureau.  She writes a weekly blog for The Humanist; we reprint select articles with permission.

 

February 19 – No Blog, But A Quick Update

Well, the lobbying is heating up even more than last year -- and we are winning! Members of the Senate are acknowledging the serious civil rights problems with current "charitable choice" language which has been used to justify religious discrimination in hiring for federally funded programs (after much lobbying last month and this month by the Secular Coalition and many allied organizations).

And while Congress is taking a week long break for Presidents' Day, I've been speaking to 9 local and regional groups in Minnesota (including three student organizations -- a shout out to CASH).  It's always heartening to find students willing to take the baton and continue the fight -- us old folks won't be around forever; and I'm not going to see any of you in eternity (even if it DOES turn out that I will become a pirate and hang out with Pastafarians forever and ever).

Okay, so this update isn't the same as a fun and scintillating blog entry.  But the other big news is that the Secular Coalition for America is about to hire a second full time lobbyist (see the position announcement here).  So maybe in a couple of weeks, I'll have more time to be my fun creative self again.