Secular AZ Blog - Page 18 of 18 - Secular Coalition for Arizona

Weekly Update from the AZ Capitol

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Eric Zak

First: we’re continuing to fight two subjective morality bills that just passed the Senate.

The CAP-written S1367 forces doctors to perform life-saving procedures on aborted and preterm births, even when it is clear resuscitation is futile and no matter the gestational age.

Our professional allies from the OB/GYN community testified that in cases of hopeless miscarriages, “comfort care” is critical: allowing the mother to cradle the dying life in its final moments alleviates intense psychological trauma. This same trauma can be exacerbated by forcing the mother to witness pointless mechanical revival attempts. Read the entire powerful testimony in the attachment, below.

This is a crucial argument we are hoping to emphasize as the bill moves to the House.

If you or anyone you know has a personal story about this and can share it with lawmakers (in private or on the floor), we need you.

Please contact Tory Roberg if you can help: tory@secularaz.org.

Meanwhile, S1439 affects the other end of the life cycle: creating legal escape hatches for health care providers who refuse end-of-life care.

This is a subversive attack on Advance Directives, fueled by religious morality. Organizations like Death With Dignity and Compassion & Choices are already in our corner, but we need your suggestions for other potential allies as well as your personal stories.

Again, please contact Tory above if you can be of any assistance.

Momentum on the ESA bills is temporarily halted as they lack the critical votes to go further. They’re not dead yet, though, so don’t let your guard down. Call your Representatives to urge them to vote no on SB1431 and HB2394.

Finally, our science education license plates bill (H2354) is in committee in the Senate next week. We support this bill because we support science. The Science Education Fund is largely expected to benefit the Arizona Science Center.

Secular AZ to Corporation Commission: All or nothing when it comes to prayer

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Eric Zak

In a January 10, 2017 press release, the Corporation Commission announced that it will start a new practice: starting meetings with a prayer. Contrary to the statements of Chairman Tom Forese, prayer in any form does not encompass all faiths and beliefs. In fact, prayer before government meetings is a divisive act that only serves to set people apart. That was immediately evident by the comment of Forese to a reporter that if the Satanists requested to do a prayer, “Satan has no place at the commission.” This is exactly the kind of discrimination that is prohibited under the First Amendment.

Read the full text of our letter to the Corporation Commission in response to their January 10, 2017 press release in the attached file.

Opening Day Rally & the Anti-Hate Pledge

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Eric Zak

On Monday, January 9, 2017, Secular Coalition for Arizona stood in unity with over 40 groups at an anti-hate rally for the opening day of the 53rd Arizona State Legislature.

Watch video of our Government Affairs Director, Tory Roberg, as she represented Secular Coalition for Arizona and our constituency.

Lawmakers were asked to sign the following pledge:

People’s State of the State Pledge

I PLEDGE on this first day of the 53^rd Session of the Arizona State Legislature, January 9, 2017, that I commit to protect the human and civil rights of all people of the State of Arizona. I believe that every individual is entitled to dignity and respect, without prejudice toward race, color, gender, identity, disability, language, religion or lack thereof, creed, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and economic status.

I will do everything in my power to discourage prejudice and hate by others at every opportunity, personally and politically. Under my leadership, I ensure that I will advocate and encourage my colleagues to advocate for legislative policies that promote dignity and respect, and discourage any type of legislative policy that institutionalizes any practice of social injustice. I will strive daily to honor this pledge, accepting responsibility for my leadership and its influence over national, state, and local policy.

– United Against Hate Coalition, January 9, 2017

AZ State Legislature – A Look Into 2017

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Brandon

The Secular Coalition for Arizona is dismayed about the results of Tuesday night’s election. We’re especially concerned about preserving secular public education, equal rights for all, safe and affordable access to women’s reproductive health services, and religious freedom for all.

While these are concerns nationally, we are especially concerned regarding the new leadership at the Arizona State Senate and Arizona House of Representatives.

Going into the election, there was hope that the Arizona Senate would turn into a 15-15 split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, offering some hope for stopping bad bills and negotiating a bipartisan budget. Unfortunately, this has not happened. The gains made by Democrats will not outweigh the losses, and are not enough to produce an even split, but the Arizona State Senate will still be our best avenue to stop bad bills.

Senator Steve Yarbrough, owner of the Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, will lead the Senate as the new Senate President. Senator Kimberly Yee, regularly known for sponsoring and pushing anti-choice and junk science legislation, will serve as Senate Majority Leader. Senator Gail Griffin, who scored a low 14% on our Secular Scorecard, will serve as Majority Whip.

Senate Democrats look brighter for Secular Government, as several of our “Secular Stars” were chosen for leadership positions. Senate Democrats chose Secular Star Senator Katie Hobbs as Minority Leader, Senator Steve Farley as Assistant Minority Leader, and Secular Star Senator Martin Quezada and Senator Lupe Contreras as Minority Whips.

In the House of Representatives, Representative JD Mesnard was chosen for the new Speaker of the House. He is accompanied by Representative John Allen as Majority Leader and Representative Kelly Townsend as Majority Whip.

Democrats chose Representative Rebecca Rios as Minority Leader, Secular Star Representative Randall Friese as Assistant Minority Leader, and Representative Charlene Fernandez as Minority Whip.

Secular AZ will fight earnestly with new leadership in both changes to preserve secular public policy and freedom for all Arizonans. We encourage you to amplify your voice in our new government by becoming a member today!

The Religiously Unaffiliated: An Important and Growing Group

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Eric Zak

Read more or click here to see the original post written by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) about their latest national survey that highlights an important and growing group: The religiously unaffiliated. This is why secular activism and political involvement is so important at all levels of government: local, state, and national.

Original post from PRRI, below:

As religion in America experiences a period of seismic shifts, a new PRRI/RNS national survey highlights an important and growing group: The religiously unaffiliated.

Exodus: Why Americans are Leaving Religion — and Why They’re Unlikely to Come Back

A new PRRI/RNS survey finds one out of every four (25 percent) Americans — and nearly four in ten (39 percent) young adults (age 18-29) — now identify as religiously unaffiliated, a group that has quadrupled in size since the early 1990s and accounts for the fastest growing major group in the American religious landscape. The survey chronicles the growth of the unaffiliated, investigates factors behind the group’s growth and resiliency, and parses out three distinct subgroups within the unaffiliated: Unattached Believers, Apatheists, and Rejectionists.

The growth of the unaffiliated: At 25 percent, the religiously unaffiliated now constitute the largest group in the national religious landscape. The growth of the unaffiliated began in the 1990s: in 1991, only six percent of Americans identified with no religion in particular. By the end of the decade, that number had climbed to 14 percent and eventually reached 20 percent in 2012.

Factors behind the growth of the religiously unaffiliated: The most common reason unaffiliated Americans cite for leaving their childhood religion is a lack of belief in religious teachings: 60 percent say they stopped believing in their childhood religion’s teachings, while 32 percent say it was because their family was not that religious growing up, and 29 percent cite negative teachings about or treatment of gay and lesbian people by religious organizations.

Why the unaffiliated are unlikely to come back to organized religion: Only seven percent of the unaffiliated report they are searching for a religion that would be right for them, compared to 93 percentwho say they are not. Religiously unaffiliated households are also on the rise. A majority (54 percent) of unaffiliated Americans who are married today report that their spouse shares the same religious background as they do.

Who are the unaffiliated?: The religiously unaffiliated are distinct from religious Americans in important ways, but there is also considerable diversity within this group. Using two separate questions that measure the personal relevance of religion and the social benefit of religion, PRRI identified three distinct groups among the unaffiliated: Rejectionists, Apatheists, and Unattached Believers.

Read the entire report, including a detailed breakdown of the three subgroups of the unaffiliated, here.

Rise of the religiously unaffiliated recent poll by Public Religious Research Institute