Release: Controversy Ignited by Atheist Students and Leaders' Participation in White House Briefing

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jesse Galef (614) 441-9588 - Jesse [at] secularstudents [dot] org

March, 1 2010

Columbus, Ohio - In the first meeting of its kind, representatives from the Secular Student Alliance and atheist leaders from around the country met in Washington, DC for the Secular Coalition for America's Briefing with the Obama Administration. Over 60 people, sent as delegates of national and local nontheistic organizations from around the country, congregated in the nation's capital to engage with administration officials on issues concerning the nontheistic community.

Attendants raised national policy issues including protecting children from religious-based neglect, ending the coercive religious climate in the military and fixing faith-based initiatives. The administration sent representatives from the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, and Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Justice.

The meeting's announcement elicited harsh condemnation from religious right spokesmen including Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, and Chairman Bishop Council Nedd of the advocacy group In God We Trust. Donohue criticized Obama administration leaders for "hosting some of the biggest anti-religious zealots in the nation." Nedd "ripped the Obama administration" for allowing officials to even "sit down with activists representing some of the most hate-filled, anti-religious groups in the nation."

"It's a shame that our community's mere inclusion in the political discussion offends some people," said August Brunsman, Executive Director of the Secular Student Alliance. "Our efforts to end discrimination and protect children from abuse shouldn't be controversial. It is unfortunate that some religious leaders would want to keep our voices silent."

The Secular Coalition for America, comprised of ten national nontheistic organizations including the Secular Student Alliance, coordinated the event. The coalition, which performs secular lobbying and advocacy, has experience engaging with politicians. It attracted media attention in 2007 when it identified the only nontheistic member of Congress, Pete Stark of California. This policy briefing marks a new level of interaction for the coalition and signals a constructive and growing relationship between the White House and American nontheists.

"We are very pleased that the Obama administration afforded us this opportunity to present our positions on issues of high importance, issues of freedom and fairness that affect every American, regardless of belief," said Secular Coalition for America Executive Director Sean Faircloth. "Our Founders knew that there was no place in American government for the privileging of religion, or of one belief over another, and that was a central theme in our interaction with the White House."

###

The Secular Student Alliance, based in Columbus OH, supports a network of over 200 campus groups for atheist, agnostic and humanist students. The Secular Student Alliance envisions a future in which nontheistic students are respected voices in public discourse and vital partners in the secular movement's charge against irrationality and dogma. www.secularstudents.org