As a Secular Humanist, it was exciting news to me that several secular organizations had teamed up to create a lobbying group to fight against efforts to make America a theocracy. That lobbying effort has just kicked off.
The Secular Coalition for America (SCA) has sent out an update about their first two days of lobbying and media activities.
Follow me across the jump to see how the initial days have gone. (CP at DKos, BT, & MLW).
It’s official: since yesterday, the first-ever secular lobbyist on Capitol Hill – Lori Lipman Brown – has been representing the rights and interests of non-religious citizens just like you in the halls of U.S. government. And what a two days it’s been! The level of media interest accompanying this historic development has been both gratifying and challenging. We’re working long and hard to respond to the many requests for interviews, personal messages from supporters, and more. The Secular Coalition is inside the beltway working for you, and we’re being noticed!
In the weeks to come we’ll try to send regular updates about Lori’s lobbying activities and media coverage. Meanwhile, check our site frequently for new information. Late tonight, for instance, you can catch Lori on the MSNBC TV show “Situations,” and Thursday she’s scheduled for the “O’Reilly Factor” (Fox). Soon, we expect to see print interviews with the Congressional Quarterly and Mother Jones.
On Monday, the USA Today story Non-believers raising voice in capital (also syndicated on Yahoo) brought thousands of dollars in donations and many new e-mail subscribers to our Coalition. Links to this story and others can be found on our site. Welcome to all our new friends!
We close today’s e-mail by sharing a note (below) we received today from one of those new supporters. It helped us laugh about some of the weirder hate messages we got after Lori first appeared on Fox — we hope you like it, too.
“I was glumly scrolling through my Yahoo headlines when I found the one about a lobbyist for ME!!!! You have no idea what a difference it has made in my outlook. I am a retired teacher, so don’t have a lot of money to spare, but I sent $50.00 to the Secular Coalition and signed up for the e-mails. I’ve also sent the article I saw in Yahoo along with your web site URL to friends of like mind. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for being brave and strong for all of us non-believers who are daily smothered in redneck rightwing purgatory.”
