Secular Coalition for America facts for kids
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| Formation | 2002 |
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| Type | Non-profit organization |
| Purpose | To support the nontheistic community in the United States and promote secularism. |
| Location | |
The Secular Coalition for America is an advocacy group in Washington D.C. An advocacy group is a team that works to influence important decisions made by leaders. The Coalition's goal is to "protect the equal rights of nonreligious Americans." This means they work for people who do not have religious beliefs.
The group has chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. These chapters have lobbyists, who are people trained to talk to government officials about important issues. The Coalition also holds a yearly conference, gives grades to politicians on how they vote, and creates guides for voters.
Contents
What is the Coalition's Mission?
The main goal of the Secular Coalition for America is to fight for the equal rights of Americans who are not religious. They also work to keep government and religion separate.
The group believes in the separation of church and state. This idea is in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. They feel that freedom of conscience, which includes the freedom to have any belief or no belief, is a very important right. They also think that government decisions should be based on reason and science.
History of the Coalition
The Secular Coalition for America was started in 2002 by four American secular organizations. A secular group is one that is not connected to religion. Over the years, many other groups joined them.
One of the main founders was Herb Silverman. He believed that if nonreligious people worked together, they could earn more respect from politicians and the public.
Today, the Coalition is made up of many member groups, including:
- American Atheists
- American Ethical Union
- American Humanist Association
- Atheist Alliance of America
- Association of Secular Elected Officials
- Black Nonbelievers, Inc.
- Camp Quest
- Center for Inquiry
- The Clergy Project
- Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations
- Ex-Muslims of North America
- Freedom From Religion Foundation
- Freethought Society
- Hispanic American Freethinkers
- Institute for Humanist Studies
- Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers
- Recovering From Religion
- Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
- Secular Student Alliance
- Secular Woman
- Society for Humanistic Judaism
- Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association
What Issues Does the Coalition Focus On?
The Secular Coalition for America focuses on laws and government policies. They get involved when they feel religion is being unfairly mixed with government.
Some of their key issues include:
- Government Funding: They believe government money should not be used to support religious groups.
- Education: They support science-based health education in schools and are against using public money for religious schools.
- Science and Research: They support scientific research, such as embryonic stem cell research.
- Discrimination: The Coalition challenges what it sees as unfair treatment of nonreligious people by groups like the Boy Scouts of America.
- Military: They work to make sure that military chaplains (religious leaders in the army) do not pressure service members into religion.
The Coalition often works with religious groups that also believe in keeping government and religion separate. They support tolerance for people of all religions and those with no religion.
Finding an "Out" Elected Official
In 2007, the Coalition held a contest. They offered a $1,000 reward to find the highest-ranking elected official who was openly nonreligious.
The winner was Representative Pete Stark from California. He had been in the United States Congress since 1973. He was the first member of Congress to publicly say he was part of the nonreligious community.
Meeting with the White House
On February 26, 2010, members of the Secular Coalition for America met with officials from the Obama administration. This was the first official meeting of its kind for nonreligious Americans.
They discussed several topics, including religious pressure in the military and making sure laws about child safety apply to everyone, including religious groups.
Grading Members of Congress
The Secular Coalition for America created an online scorecard. This scorecard rates U.S. Representatives and Senators. The grades are based on how they vote on laws and which laws they support. This helps people see which politicians support the separation of government and religion.
See also
In Spanish: Secular Coalition for America para niños
