Comment

Comment by Brian Magee on December 12, 2011 at 12:06pm

You can use this link to quickly let your senators know that you support the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

Comment by Brian Magee on December 8, 2011 at 10:26am

There is a new AHA website supporting Humanist Chaplaincies at U.S. universities. There are currently four universities with chaplaincies in place.

A story about the effort can be found on Humanist Network News.

Comment by Brian Magee on December 7, 2011 at 3:47pm

There is a White House petition anyone can sign asking that the U.S. military accept humanist chaplains.

Comment by Brian Magee on December 7, 2011 at 2:30pm

One of the AHA's many friends has provided a nice holiday message.

Comment by Brian Magee on December 6, 2011 at 11:28am

Do you vote in a church? Tell the AHA's Appignani Humanist Legal Center about it

By Bill Burgess

The AHA’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center is investigating the use of churches and other houses of worship as polling places.

Americans vote in a wide variety of buildings in their local neighborhoods. Schools, libraries, fire stations and other municipal buildings are spread throughout communities, allowing us to vote near where we live. Sometimes, churches are designated as polling places as well. When this is the case, it raises significant concerns about the venue for the exercise of one of our most important democratic rights and the effect it has on those who are not religious. Recent studies have shown that the nature of the polling place affects the psychology of voters, influencing the way the vote on relevant issues.

If your local polling place is a church, the legal center would like to hear from you. In particular, we’d like to know the following about your polling place:

1. Is there an available secular alternative location in your neighborhood that could serve as a polling place?

2. Is there any evidence of politicking by the church directed at voters at the polling place, such as signs expressing opinions on social issues? Are church members on premises on Election Day speaking to voters or handing out literature?

3. Is the part of the church which voters access neutral in appearance or does it contain significant religious elements which have not been covered up? Are there any pictures of how the church looks on Election Day?

4. Have you registered a complaint with the local government about their choice of the church as a polling place? If so, what was their response?

5. How widespread is the use of churches as polling places in your community? Are they overrepresented, given the availability of secular alternatives? Do they represent the religious diversity of your community, or is any one religion or denomination overrepresented?

6. Have local politicians or government workers made any comments on the choice of churches as polling places? If not, has anyone asked them about their motives?

7. If a voter objects to voting in church, is he or she permitted to vote at an alternate secular location?

8. Is the church complying with your state’s election laws?

In exercising our fundamental right to vote, we deserve the chance to vote in a neutral setting that is welcoming to the entire community, not just those who follow the religion of the majority. If you feel that your polling place does not meet this standard, we would like to hear from you.

To contact the legal center about this (or any other matter), please send me an email at legal@americanhumanist.org. To keep up with the legal center’s ongoing activities, please visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/humanist.legal

Bill Burgess is the Legal Coordinator of the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center, http://www.humanistlegalcenter.org

Comment by Brian Magee on December 6, 2011 at 11:01am

There is a new White House petition asking the U.S. military to accept humanist chaplains.

Comment by Brian Magee on December 5, 2011 at 1:23pm

Billboard in Rochester Hills, MI. (Details on the ad campaign here.)

Comment by Brian Magee on December 2, 2011 at 2:33pm

The latest Humanist Hour podcast is now available for listening or download.

In this month’s podcast, Jes Constantine and Todd Stiefel interview Rabbi Binyamin Biber about his services to the community as a Humanist Celebrant and Humanist Chaplain at American University. Also, we highlight the AHA’s recent “Naughty” Awareness Campaign, aimed to raise awareness of discrimination against nonbelievers in America.

Comment by Brian Magee on December 1, 2011 at 4:48pm

We're going to be paying attention to this group from this point forward with regular updates and we invite everyone to join us!

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