It’s been a busy week at American Atheists!
I’m very proud of what our Legal & Policy staff and Secular Advocacy Team volunteers have accomplished in Colorado, where the Patients’ Right To Know Act was officially implemented on Tuesday. It’s the first comprehensive health care transparency legislation of its kind in the country, requiring all Colorado hospitals to inform patients which services they do not offer for non-medical reasons.
Too often, Americans are denied care because of the personal religious beliefs of executives. In fact, just this week, it was reported that California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing a Catholic hospital on behalf of a woman who was denied life-saving reproductive health care during a medical emergency.
I said it in a statement we released on Tuesday, and I’ll say it again here: We’re going to continue advocating for transparency legislation and patients’ right to know policies across the country because Americans must be informed when hospitals are making decisions based on religious beliefs rather than patients’ medical needs.
The best way for you to support our advocacy work is to set up a recurring contribution. Even $5 or $10 a month helps us keep this momentum going, and it’s never been so important. We’re not only working to advance the social and political equality of atheist, agnostic, and nonreligious Americans but also to safeguard the rights of all Americans.
Many of those rights will be on the ballot next month. Christian Nationalists are organized, and they’re pouring millions of dollars into political campaigns and get-out-the-vote efforts. ProPublica published a story this week about the theocratic political machine two billionaire pastors are bankrolling in Texas and beyond, including a voter mobilization strategy called Project 19.
One of Project 19’s biggest supporters is New Apostolic Reformation “prophet” Lance Wallnau, who is perhaps best known for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. J.D. Vance attended an event hosted by Wallnau just days before Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, where some observers felt the Republican contender managed to present a less extreme version of his ticket’s agenda.
However, Vance’s appearance at Wallnau’s “Courage Tour” indicates a continued coziness with religious supremacists, with one extremism expert describing the event as a “Christian nationalist, conspiracy propagation machine masquerading as a Pentecostal-style Christian revival.”
A glimpse of Turning Point USA’s voter registration drive web page.
Melina Cohen, our Communications Director, wrote to you last week about the Oklahoma State Superintendent’s plan to spend $6,000,000 on bibles for public school classrooms. On Monday, the bidding process opened to potential vendors.
Then, just yesterday, journalists at The Oklahoman revealed one of the only bibles available that meets the Department of Education’s criteria is country music singer Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, which is also known as the Greenwood Bible or the Trump Bible due to the former president’s endorsement.
In exchange for that endorsement, Trump licensed his name, image, and likeness to be used in the book’s marketing. An August financial disclosure from the Office of Governmental Ethics showed Trump already received $300,000 in royalties.
Meanwhile, the campaign to Christianize public schools in Ohio faced a setback this week. After more than two hours of public comment, the Westerville school board voted 4-0 to rescind its Release Time For Religious Instruction (RTRI) policy, which allowed students to leave school grounds during school hours in order to receive religious instruction from LifeWise Academy.
LifeWise Academy, an Ohio-based Christian nonprofit, has faced a growing, parent-led opposition to its programs with many reporting their children are being bullied by LifeWise students. At the same time, LifeWise is leading a legislative effort to strip locally controlled school boards of their oversight of RTRI policies and require public schools to adopt them – not only in Ohio but also in Indiana and Oklahoma. In fact, the founder and CEO of LifeWise, Joel Penton, has said they are “actively working on this type of plan” in Alabama, Kentucky, Iowa, Arizona, and Georgia.
We, too, are actively working to stop this kind of legislation and protect Americans from religious overreach in their classrooms, doctor’s offices, and workplaces. Can we count on your continued support?
In solidarity,
Nick Fish
President
PS: There isn’t much time left to order a limited-edition “Democracy Not Theocracy” t-shirt! It’s available in multiple colors and is a great way to directly support our advocacy work in your state and all across the country.
American Atheists is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization that relies on the support of members like you. Contributions are tax-deductible. Our Federal Tax ID Number is 74-2466507 and our Combined Federal Campaign number is 52217.
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