New campaign to raise awareness of secularism

[Kuya]

http://time.com/3404633/richard-dawk...nce=2f5a61734e

To secular Americans, requiring an oath to God is like asking a Jewish airman to swear, “So help me Jesus” or a Christian to say, “So help me Allah.”

The objection to forcing the oath on nonbelievers should be obvious. It’s not.

But a new campaign is hoping to change all that. Openly Secular launching today, is a new coalition of more than two dozen secular groups—one of the largest of its kind—coming together with the goal of raising awareness of the numbers of nonreligious people in the country. We include not only atheists and agnostics, but our allied organizations include religious people of many denominations who cherish the Founding Fathers’ ideal of church-state separation.

Link to the campaign:

http://www.openlysecular.org/

The mission of Openly Secular is to eliminate discrimination and increase acceptance by getting secular people - including atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, humanists and nonreligious people - to be open about their beliefs.

[Tarage]

Further proof that someone will get a stick up their ass about everything.

[Kuya]

Why is coming out as secular important?

http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/03/13/...l-to-morality/

Many people around the world think it is necessary to believe in God to be a moral person, according to surveys in 39 countries by the Pew Research Center. However, this view is more common in poorer countries than in wealthier ones.

In North America and Europe, more people agree that it is possible to be non-religious and still be an upright person. At least half in nearly every country surveyed take this view, including roughly eight-in-ten or more in France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Britain. In these two regions, Americans are unique – 53% say belief in God is necessary to be moral.

The U.S., however, stands out as a clear exception to this pattern. Americans are much more likely than their economic counterparts to say belief in God is essential to morality.

http://www.people-press.org/2014/05/...arm-than-good/

On the other side of the ledger, not believing in God and never having held elected office before are the most negatively viewed traits of those tested. Just over half (53%) say they would be less likely to vote for someone who does not believe in God, while only 5% say this would make them more likely to support a candidate.

[Kuya]

[Ksandra]

I can totally get behind this but:

Christian to say, “So help me Allah.”

made me

[Kuya]

Well, obviously some christians, particularly the most conservative kind would be livid. In any case, being asked to engage in a religious belief you don't share isn't a problem. It is a problem however, when it's forced upon you.

[Ksandra]

Well, obviously some christians, particularly the most conservative kind would be livid. In any case, being asked to engage in a religious belief you don't share isn't a problem. It is a problem however, when it's forced upon you.

nah I totally get that. Just whenever I see/hear statements like that it makes me feel like the speaker/writer is a little ignorant. And ya, any christian upset would also be ignorant.

But, again, it's just admittedly nitpicking. I have no problem with the movement overall.

[Dotsudoku]

Support the campaign, but I think there should be a little more tact in their delivery. Listing humanism and freethinking in their mission statement alongside religious(or nonreligious) categorization just seems unnecessarily provocative