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Washington Post

Requiring families to raise their own funds to send their children to private religious schools is not punishing students, contrary to what The Post suggested in the June 24 editorial "A Choice for D.C. Children." Continuing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) using federal tax dollars is, however, punishing Americans who agree with the Founders of our nation that we should not be forced to support any individual's church. [Letter to the editor from Coalition director Lori Lipman Brown]

Washington Post

Pointing to a 2006 poll, which estimates that between 14 and 18 percent of Americans consider themselves atheists, agnostics, humanists or not religious, humanists see a big demand for their own education programs. In May, the American Humanist Association announced the launch of the Kochhar Humanist Education Center in Northwest D.C. to develop a curriculum for the humanist equivalent of Sunday school. [Webmaster's note: The American Humanist Association is a Secular Coalition for America member organization.]

Freethought Today

The Secular Coalition for America, of which the Freedom From Religion Foundation is a member organization, has completed a review of the 24 Congressional Appropriations Committee reports for the fiscal year 2008 appropriations process, finding at least 140 earmarks deemed "constitutionally suspect." Those earmarks total almost $30 million in public funds, which have now been appropriated.

Roll Call

The Secular Coalition for America, a lobbying organization for the nonreligious, must have done some evangelizing of late. It has hired its second lobbyist, Sasha Bartolf, formerly of Congressional Quarterly. In addition, the American Ethical Union voted to join the coalition, becoming its ninth member.

PublicEye.org (Political Research Associates)

There are two main usages of the word "secular." One has to do with the relationship between government and public life. A secular government or a secular policy of government is neutral in relationship to religion; not just in the sense of not preferring one religion over another, but also in relation to non-religious persons and groups ... The second definition makes "secular" synonymous with non-belief, or more particularly, non-theism. A good example of this contemporary usage comes from the Secular Coalition for America, a Washington D.C.-based "national lobby for atheists, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheistic Americans." The Secular Coalition's mission statement further explains: "While the coalition was created expressly by and for nontheistic Americans, we also enthusiastically welcome the participation of religious individuals who share our view that freedom of conscience must extend to people of all faiths and of none." And then, the group employs the other main usage of secular: "...our full-time lobbyist and support staff engage public policy makers and the media to increase the visibility and respectability of nontheistic viewpoints and to protect and strengthen the secular character of our government as the best guarantee of freedom for all."

American Association for Justice

"The intention of WRFA [the Workplace Religious Freedom Act] is lovely," said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents nontheistic Americans. "But some denominations require their members to evangelize 24/7, and if you limit that, you're 'taking God away from them.' They believe that 'free exercise' means they get to tell their coworkers that they are sinners and are going to hell. And indeed, for us it's a very big issue because the people most likely to be harangued are nonbelievers. This is going to have a huge impact on the day-to-day workplace," she predicted.

GWHatchet.com

Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition of America, was the only atheist panelist present and said faith and politics should be kept wholly separate.

Washington Jewish Week

In 2005, Brown moved to Washington, D.C., for what she calls her "dream job," as director of the Secular Coalition for America, a nonprofit organization that advocates on church-state issues and, according to its mission statement, works to "increase the visibility and respectability of nontheistic viewpoints in the United States."

New York Times

The atheist lobby, in the blond, pregnant person of Jennifer Lange, waited with diminishing patience for the elevator in the Legislative Office Building. [Webmaster's note: This article features the public policy activities of the Institute for Humanist Studies (IHS), a founding member of the Secular Coalition for America. IHS lobbies the New York state legislature in Albany; the Secular Coalition lobbies the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. Both organizations focus on legislation affecting the rights and interests of atheists, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheistic Americans.]

The Minnesota Monitor, Minnesota

Minnesota's U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., is one of 31 co-sponsors of [H. Res. 888]. The Secular Coalition for America took aim at the resolution last week saying it "promotes a false and distorted Christian nation reinterpretation of our history." The group says it doesn't take positions on resolutions, but the bill was so "outrageous" that the group felt compelled to speak out.

CommonDreams.org

The Secular Coalition for America responds to H.Res. 888 (republication of our press release).

St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

Each Sunday morning, as Twin Cities Christians prepare for church, a handful of people will gather at an Eden Prairie radio station to spread their gospel: There is no God. They're the voice of Minnesota Atheists, a Minneapolis-based group that touts itself as the state's oldest and largest atheist organization. The program, which debuted this weekend, will air Sundays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on KTNF-AM 950 Air America. So far, major sponsors come from like-minded organizations such as the American Humanist Association and Humanists of Minnesota. Others are EvolveFish.com -- which sells those Darwin fish symbols with the little feet -- Secular Coalition for America, and the secular-humanist Camp Quest of Minnesota.

Religion News Service

The Secular Coalition for America has been accepted as a new member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the coalition announced. "This decision says as much about the LCCR and its willingness to acknowledge and include nontheists as it does about the Secular Coalition and its recognition of our theistic allies who support our rights," said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Washington-based coalition. Her group is one of eight that joined the conference in 2007, and aims to work with it on issues of equal justice, mutual respect and equal opportunity. Brown said the move marks the first time the civil rights organization has included a nontheist advocacy group whose members include atheists, humanists or others who do not believe in God. Several religious groups have already been aligned with the Washington-based conference, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Washington Post

When Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, which lobbies to keep religion out of government, and her husband were asked to be godparents of her nephews they accepted, seeing it as more of a caretaking responsibility than a religious obligation.

Manchester Evening News

A 2004 poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 72 per cent of US citizens agreed with the statement "The president should have strong religious beliefs". Earlier this year the Secular Coalition [for] America offered $1,000 to the person able to identify the "nontheist" holding the highest public office in the country.

The Independent

Earlier this year, the Secular Coalition [for] America ... sought to unearth the highest ranking non-believer holding elective office in the US. The best it could come up with was a 75-year old San Francisco congressman called Pete Stark, a loose cannon on the Democratic far left.

Philadelphia Weekly

Last March Congressman Pete Stark from California came out as ... the first open atheist member of Congress. The Secular Coalition for America estimates there are at least 50 other congresspeople still in the closet.

AFP.Google.com

"We're very saddened that people walk into the voting booth and do bring their prejudices, in terms of only voting for people who believe in God," said Lori Lipman Brown, head of the Secular Coalition for America, a Washington-based group campaigning for separation of church and state.
[Webmaster's note: Michael Shermer is quoted in this article as saying Ron Paul might be an acceptable candidate for an atheist voter. Since the writing of the article, Secular Coalition for America Lori Lipman Brown and others have spoken to Mr. Shermer regarding Ron Paul's position against separation of church and state. Mr. Shermer had not been aware of Paul's writings when he made the comment in this article.]

The Economist Magazine

...And yet those with no religious beliefs are shut out from political power. Earlier this year, a secularist group offered $1,000 to the highest-ranking politician in the land who would publicly proclaim no belief in God. [Webmaster's note: We responded with a letter clarifying that we did not pay Congressman Pete Stark to come out as the highest elected atheist official.]

JTNews.net

Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, spoke at the University Unitarian Church in Seattle on Saturday, Dec. 1 at an event co-sponsored by the Secular Jewish Circle of Puget Sound.

BostonHerald.com

The Secular Coaltion for America, a lobbying organization for atheists and others concerned about preserving the separation of church and state, is taking aim at Mitt Romney on the eve of his Big Speech to address his Mormonism and to promote religion in general...

Salt Lake City Weekly (Utah)

"I thought it was going to be hard raising a kid without religion, because religion was what taught me about morality," [Julia] Sweeney said. "[But] being in a community is a completely effective way of teaching people how to behave. ...Now I think it must be hard to teach a kid with religion." Such sentiments are the sort that can turn public figures into targets of wrath by religious groups. Yet despite serving on the advisory board of the Secular Coalition for America and having a portion of Letting Go of God performed on National Public Radio's This American Life, she has remained largely, in her own words, "under the wire" as a spokesperson for humanist nonbelief.

RichardDawkins.net

In 2007, Richard Dawkins' scarlet "A" campaign is making coming out as a nontheist easier for so many people than it had been just a few years ago. I like to hope that the existence of the Secular Coalition for America has also helped...

The Nevada Sagebrush

Nontheists are the only minority in the United States still looked down upon in society, said Lori Lipman Brown, the director of the Secular Coalition for America.

MSNBC.com

Lori Lipman Brown, the director of the Secular Coalition [for] America, believes it's a good idea to keep religion out of the workplace. "If someone applies for a job and the busiest time for the company is on the weekend but you have to take the Sabbath off, maybe you’ve applied for the wrong job," she says.

Boston Globe

A recent Gallup poll found fewer than half of respondents saying they would vote for a well-qualified atheist for office. More people were willing to support a woman, homosexual, Mormon, or a 72-year-old. Such findings are the reason that the Secular Coalition for America -- whose survey of politicians first revealed Stark's beliefs, and whose president flew from his home in South Carolina to attend the talk -- honored the requests of atheist politicians who wanted to keep their views private.

The Eloquent Atheist

Marilyn Westfall interviews Lori Lipman Brown for this new e-zine whose mission is "to expose people to the positive aspects of Atheism and Humanism through various types of the written arts, and at the same time give exposure via the Web to non-religious writers who may have a hard time finding an audience elsewhere."

Boston Globe

Five years ago, to try to change the low opinion many Americans have of atheists (a national Gallup poll this year found more than half of those surveyed would not vote for an atheist for president), a group of four organizations started the Secular Coalition for America. Now, the coalition employs a full-time lobbyist in Washington, regularly issues press releases about everything from stem cell research to religious language used by politicians, and represents eight national organizations with more than 25,000 members ...

WashingtonPost.com

Representatives of atheist and humanist groups say the [five atheist-themed books to hit bestseller lists in the past two years] probably haven't converted many religious people. But, said Lori Lipman Brown, a lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for America, which represents eight atheist or humanist organizations, the books "tremendously increase the visibility of nontheist rights."

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News

For the first time in its 66-year history, the American Humanist Association has joined forces with a lobbying group — the Secular Coalition for America ...

Las Vegas Review-Journal

"I think, generally, we're having an easier time," said Lori Lipman Brown who, as director of the Secular Coalition for America, lobbies in Washington, D.C., on behalf of atheists, humanists and other nontheists. "People at least are acknowledging we deserve to have a place in society and can live beside us peacefully and with some degree of respect."

Las Vegas Review-Journal

[E]arlier this year, [Pete] Stark added another, slightly unusual, line to his resume: He's the only openly nontheistic member of Congress. In March, Stark, who represents California's 13th Congressional District, acknowledged his nontheistic beliefs in response to a query from the Secular Coalition for America, which lobbies on behalf of atheists, humanists and other nontheists.

Sydney Morning Herald

Pete Stark found himself in a unique and slightly uncomfortable position earlier this year. The longtime Democrat congressman for the Oakland district near San Francisco had responded to a survey from the Secular Coalition for America which offered a $1000 prize to the person who could identify the "highest-level atheist, agnostic, humanist or any other kind of 'nontheist' currently holding elected public office in the United States". To his surprise, that was him. Stark was the only one of 535 federal politicians prepared to admit he had no religion.

Weekly Surge

The Secular Coalition for America has even hired the first lobbyist in Washington to look out for the rights of non-theists. We hope the publicity will help change the culture - atheists and humanists may not get elected to high office today, but women and blacks wouldn't have gotten elected to high office 50 years ago. Herb Silverman, President, Secular Coalition for America

New York Times

Until Americans start voting based on issues rather than theologies of candidates, they will not elect representatives who truly share both their values and policy goals. Lori Lipman Brown, Director, Secular Coalition for America

BBC World Service

Do you have to be religious to get elected in the U.S.? Matthew Wells interviews Secular Coalition for America director Lori Lipman Brown about the influence of religion in the presidential election. (Audio file online.)

Chicago Tribune

A Harris Interactive survey in 2003 found that 9 percent of Americans don't believe in God, while another 12 percent are uncertain about the issue. Even if their numbers are lower, the Secular Coalition for America calculates that the ranks of non-believers are larger than the combined number of religious Jews, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Presbyterians, Hindus, Muslims and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Nevada Today

As director of the Secular Coalition for America, former Las Vegan Lori Lipman Brown would like you to know that, actually, there are atheists in foxholes.

Telegraph.co.uk

[Atheists] got a boost with the admission in March by the Californian Democrat congressman, Pete Stark, that he "does not believe in a supreme being", 127 years after Charles Bradlaugh became Britain's first openly atheist MP. America's first atheist congressman was flushed out by the Secular Coalition for America, the first godless group with a full-time Washington lobbyist.

Church & State / Americans United

The Secular Coalition, a lobbying office for non-religious Americans, sponsored a contest to find the highest-ranking public official who would identify as a non-theist. A Coalition press statement noted that only Stark and a few local officials would agree to do so.

Times Herald-Record Online

"Attempts to impose religious doctrine into civil law -- attacks on the character of our Constitution -- occur at all levels of government," said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America.

Chicago Reader

Today [Hemant Mehta] represents the Secular Student Alliance in the lobbying group Secular Coalition for America, which was behind the recent survey that helped California congressman Fortney “Pete” Stark come out as the nation’s highest “nontheistic” elected official.

Associated Press

Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition of America, sees a growing public acceptance of people who don't believe in God, pointing to California U.S. Rep. Pete Stark's statement this month that he doesn't believe in a supreme being. Stark is the first congressman to acknowledge being an atheist.

News & Record - Greensboro, NC

A group called the Secular Coalition for America set out to name the "highest-level atheist, agnostic, humanist or any other kind of non-theist currently holding elected public office in the United States," and they were delighted to find Stark; he may not be the highest elected official with such a worldview, but seems to be the highest to admit it.

Cincinnati Post

As a society we need to have conversations about right and wrong. But in this increasingly pluralistic country we also need to uphold the idea that morals are not the exclusive property of any one religion. More controversially, we need to welcome the idea that values are not the exclusive property of religion itself.

Campus Progress/Center for American Progress

[T]he fact that only one member of Congress openly represents the nation’s humanists, agnostics, and atheists, is a sad reminder of America’s prejudice towards non-believers.

SFGate/SFChronicle

Since the survey results were released, Stark has been bombarded by letters, phone calls and e-mails, and almost all thanked him for making his position public. The response astounded the 75-year-old Stark, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal who's received plenty of nasty mail over the years. "The attention is amazing" he said. "I don't know what the guys who put out the press release did, but I'd like to hire their PR person to run my next campaign. I have been inundated (with responses) from literally all over the world."

InsideBayArea.com

My congregation is open to many different philosophies, so on Sunday morning I preach to theists, pantheists, atheists and agnositics. I have discovered that there is much more that unites them than divides them. What could unite theists and atheists? Values. The commitment to make the world a better place.

Oroville Mercury-Register

The 18-term Fremont Democrat's beliefs became public after the Secular Coalition for America offered a $1,000 prize to the person who nominated the highest-ranking public official who does not believe in God. Of the 47 nominees, Stark was one of four to acknowledge that he was a nontheist � a grouping that includes atheists, agnostics and other types of secular humanists.

SFGate/SFChronicle

Rep. Pete Stark of Fremont might have crossed what some are calling "one of the last frontiers" in politics when he delighted atheists this week by acknowledging that he does not believe in a supreme being.

Los Angeles Times

"I look forward to working with the Secular Coalition to stop the promotion of narrow religious beliefs in science, marriage contracts, the military and the provision of social services." - Rep. Pete Stark in an e-mail to The Los Angeles Times

Crosswalk

"It is unfortunate in a society that is going down the path of godlessness and making right wrong and wrong right, that we continue down this path by celebrating one member of Congress who denies that God exists altogether," Concerned Women for America Director of Legislative Relations Mike Mears told Cybercast News Service.

Washington Post

The Secular Coalition for America, an association of eight atheist and humanist groups, held a contest in December to identify the highest elected "non-theist" in the land. Yesterday, it announced the winner: Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.).

New York Sun

"When the Secular Coalition asked me to complete a survey on my religious beliefs, I indicated I am a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being." - Rep. Pete Stark in an e-mail to The New York Sun

San Jose Mercury-News

Stark's beliefs garnered attention after the Secular Coalition for America offered a $1,000 prize to the person who could identify the "highest level atheist, agnostic, humanist or any other kind of nontheist currently holding elected public office in the United States."

Daily Kos

It is a long overdue move.

Friendly Atheist

I spoke with [Secular Coalition for America] lobbyist Lori Lipman Brown about how all the pieces came into place to make this event possible.

Pharyngula

So today we learn that Rep. Pete Stark admits to being godless.

RichardDawkins.net

[Reposting of our press release by Secular Coalition advisory board member Richard Dawkins]

Shakespeare's Sister

Last week, I mentioned that the Secular Coalition for America would be announcing the first open 'non-theist' member of Congress in history today. And so they have: Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) is first Congressmember in history to acknowledge his nontheism.

Wonkette

[I]t's great to learn that Congress has exactly one representative with the 'nads to say he's an atheist.

The New Humanist.com

Resulting from an unusual contest sponsored by the Secular Coalition of America, Representative Stark's announcement is literally unprecedented: His public statement makes him the only openly declared unbeliever ever to occupy a seat in the House or Senate.

Irregular Times

In a bit of surprising news, the Secular Coalition for America has revealed that in just one week, it will unveil the name of the first open "non-theist" member of Congress in history.

NoGodBlog.com

"On Monday, March 12, the Secular Coalition for America, a national lobbying group representing Americans who do not hold a god-belief, will make history by announcing the name of the first open nontheist member of Congress. Folks this is HUGE -- I have no idea who this is (well, I have an IDEA), but s/he is a hero to me, and is going change the future."

The Labour Humanist

Speaking from [the British] side of the Atlantic it would also help if some Democrats demonstrated a bit more back bone and "outed" themselves as non-religious instead of pandering to anti-atheist prejudice. The Secular Coalition for America is about to announce the results in a contest to find the highest elected atheist/humanist/freethinker in the US.

Crosswalk.com

Humanists and atheists gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court Wednesday, charging the Bush administration with overstepping its bounds by promoting grants to "faith-based" organizations ... The [Freedom From Religion Foundation], a partner of the Secular Coalition for America, claims that many of the [White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiative]'s activities propagated religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Outreach

Curious and open to Christianity, Hemant Mehta became the "eBay atheist" when he posted his soul on eBay and began accepting bids to visit churches and then share his thoughts ... [As Chair of the Secular Student Alliance h]e is a voting member of Secular Coalition for America, a Washington, D.C., organization lobbying for the rights of atheists and non-religious people. [Webmaster's note: Read to the end for a link to Outreach's Web exclusive of Chapter 1 from Hemant Mehta's new book, I Sold My Soul on e-Bay. Also see Friendly Atheist, Hemant's blog.]

Mother Jones

[Jonathan Stein:] "I guess I was so agog over the chutzpah [Republican presidential hopeful Chuck] Hagel has displayed in loudly and continuosly objecting to the war and the Bush Administration that I neglected to closely examine the man's record. Hagel's Planned Parenthood rating: 0%. Secular Coalition for America rating: 0%. Darfur Scoreboard grade: C. League of Conservation Voters rating: 14%. Human Rights Campaign (gay rights) rating: 0."

Charleston City Paper

Atheism is more popular today than it has been in many years, making the covers of major magazines and appearing on bestseller lists ... Herb Silverman, South Carolina's most outspoken atheist, organized a national organization, the Secular Coalition for America, [which] recently hired a Washington lobbyist to work on church-and-state and other issues of concern to secularists. [Webmaster's note: Also featured in this article are Coalition advisory board members Richard Dawkins and Wendy Kaminer.]

ScientificAmerican.com

Lori Lipman Brown of the Secular Coalition for America spoke about political efforts to defend the rights of atheists, as well as the religious, in the U.S. (Lots of atheists were in the crowd, as you might imagine.)

Cybercast News Service

Lori Lipman Brown, director of the humanist lobbying group Secular Coalition for America, said she hoped pro-life lawmakers would not go so far as to want to protect what she described as "a cell."

Christian Science Monitor

[S]even organizations of nontheists - including atheists, freethinkers, humanists, and agnostics - began the Secular Coalition for America (SCA), a lobby seeking to increase the visibility and respectability of nontheistic viewpoints in the United States.

IslamOnline.net

Muslim Affairs sponsored a debate between Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, and Dr. David Holt, director of the Cairo-based Middle East Studies Program, sponsored by the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C. on whether a religious America can preserve its secularism.

Silver Chips Online

According to Lori Lipman Brown, director of the Secular Coalition for America, religious clubs can exist in schools as long as they receive the same treatment as non-religious clubs.

LA Daily News

"Before, we didn't think the religious-right agenda made that much of a difference on our lives, but suddenly the agenda was being followed by the people in power," said Lori Lipman Brown, the Secular Coalition for America's first lobbyist.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

As the chief lobbyist for atheists in the nation's capital, former state Sen. Lori Lipman Brown is keeping a close eye on the Nov. 7 midterm elections. [Note: References to political parties in this article were added by the reporter; the SCA does not endorse candidates or parties. We are hopeful that, whatever the makeup of the 110th Congress, the agenda of its leaders will no longer mirror that of the religious right.]

The Sun Herald

The Secular Coalition for America is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can identify the highest-ranking elected nonbeliever currently serving in the U.S. government.

The Ithaca Journal

This evening, Kol Haverim is hosting a visit by Lori Lipman Brown, the director of the Secular Coalition for America. Brown, a lawyer and former Nevada state senator, has spent the past year on Capitol Hill, lobbying Congress to stop attempts to establish social policy based on selective dogmatic religious views.

The Castro Valley Forum

Last weekend, during the FFRF 29th Annual Convention in San Francisco, close to 600 non-believing "loners" gathered to listen to speeches, participate in the open mic, buy the latest books of well-known authors, and see "Letting Go of God," a performance of Julia Sweeney, actress and comedian, receiver of "Emperor Has No Clothes" award. Lori Lipman Brown, Director of Secular Coalition for America, a national media spokesperson, and a recipient of multiple awards, was present at the convention.

Ithaca Times

Kol Haverim, a humanistic Jewish congregation in Ithaca, will be hosting a discussion on increasing the scope and improving the decorum of non-theistic viewpoints in this country ... The presenter will be Lori Lipman Brown, a lawyer and former Nevada state senator [who] lobbies U.S. Congressional representatives on such issues, and is the new director for the Secular Coalition of America ...

Las Vegas City Life

Lori Lipman Brown's first year as a lobbyist representing atheists was anything but boring. She received vicious hate mail. She heard congressional testimony that compared the American Civil Liberties Union to the Taliban. And she even made a few appearances on Fox News as the sacrificial liberal lamb.

FindLaw

[F]ormer Nevada State Senator and law professor Lori Lipman Brown and the Secular Coalition for America have responded to the current power grab by conservative Christians with the web-based Secular Scorecard for the Senate and Secular Scorecard for the House. To those who would claim that this is a "Christian country," the Secular Coalition points out that "Freedom of Conscience, including religious freedom, is a fundamental American value as evidenced by the fact that this is the first freedom protected in the Bill of Rights."

Lawrence Journal-World

How secular is the Kansas congressional delegation? Not very, according to one organization. The Secular Coalition for America has released its analysis of the religious leanings of both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.

Dakota Voice

A scorecard of Godly and Godless congressional members is now available. Compiled by the Secular Coalition for America, the scorecards were based on ten key votes...

The Hill

For House staffers who continuously gripe about the Senate’s lack of good faith, it’s official. The Senate is in fact more “godless” than the House when it comes to upholding the separation of church and state. The folks at the Secular Coalition for America awarded 18 members of the Senate (and only seven in the House) a "perfect score" for "commitment to the separation of church and state, and their willingness to protect the interests of the non-theistic community."

The New Standard

The House of Representatives is advancing a bill that critics say would hinder people from defending the separation of church and state in the nation’s courtrooms ... Critics of the bill, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the advocacy group Secular Coalition for America, say the bill would further empower government institutions to inject religion into the public sphere.

The Oregonian

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., were among the 25 members of Congress to receive perfect ratings from the Secular Coalition for America for votes they cast in the current congressional session.

Pharyngula

The Secular Coalition for America has put together a Secular Scorecard for our representatives in both houses of congress, evaluating them for how they voted on issues of importance (separation of church and state, science, funding religious organizations, that sort of thing) in the past year. It's interesting in a sad way in how it's split along party lines: the lesson is that the godless should never, ever vote Republican, but that Democrats are only mostly safe.

Daily Record (Morristown, NJ)

Lobbyist Lori Lipman Brown told members of the New Jersey Humanist Network on Sunday that she learned how much her role was needed during the first 24 hours she served as a voice for the Secular Coalition for America. "I started getting phone calls from people near tears saying, 'I am so glad you're there. I don't know anyone else out here who's a humanist, or an atheist'."

Christianity Today

An Air Force decision to create an official flag folding script with no religious references has gone largely unnoticed since its introduction last July. The script replaces a popular but unofficial script that contained biblical references that was removed from the Air Force website because of complaints from atheists. Army Sgt. Chris Anderson, a member of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF), was one of the individuals who argued that the government was endorsing religion by posting the unofficial script. [Note from Secular Coalition for America Director Lori Lipman Brown: Congratulations to our honorary member organization, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, for helping to restore the flag folding ceremony to its historical significance, and for convincing the military that having a religious ceremony in its unofficial script is both inappropriate and unconstitutional.]

TheInfidels.org

"I'm more comfortable working for change than prognosticating change. I don’t think of us as non-believers. We believe in a lot of things. We just don’t believe in any gods... I think we can become more influential if we promote a positive evidence-based agenda."

Wall Street Journal

A few weeks ago, Hemant Mehta posted an unusual item for sale on eBay: a chance to save his soul. [Webmaster's note: Secular Coalition for America board member, Hemant Mehta, raised over $500 for the Secular Student Alliance by auctioning off his time to attend church. As an atheist, Hemant wanted to offer religious believers the opportunity to share their beliefs and practices with him. His unique e-Bay offering was featured in the front page Wall Street Journal article reprinted on the site linked above. Hemant has been extremely successful in presenting a positive image of atheists to the mainstream media. Check out the details on Hemant's blog at www.friendlyatheist.com.]

San Francisco Chronicle

Gathered around the plastic red-and-white tablecloths in the back room of a San Francisco hofbrau, 30 of the Bay Area's "out" atheists were recasting themselves as the protagonists of America's newest civil rights struggle.

Mother Jones

Atheists finally have their own lobbying group.

Arizona Daily Sun

Weary of feeling silenced by a culture dominated by organized faith, nonbelievers in southern Arizona -- and across the country -- are coming out.

Secular Web

Lori Lipman Brown Brown goes to Washington as the first Director/Lobbyist of the Secular Coalition for America, of which Internet Infidels is a founding member.

CBS News

It's quite possibly the last special interest group to establish a voice in Washington. The Secular Coalition for America has hired Lori Lipman Brown as its congressional lobbyist and national voice.

Kansas State Collegian

Godless heathens of America, rejoice! Wait, can heathens rejoice? Regardless, non-Christians just won two important national victories in the past few weeks. Just days after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared that requiring public school children to recite the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance violated the First Amendment, Capitol Hill said hello to Lori Lipman Brown -- our first atheist lobbyist.

Las Vegas Sun

The career of the first lobbyist to represent atheists on Capitol Hill -- Las Vegan Lori Lipman Brown -- was forged in the political fires of Nevada.

Daily Kos

Lori Lipman Brown, the Director and Lobbyist of the Secular Coalition for America (SCA) is going to be on Bill O'Reilly's TV show on Wednesday, September 28th. It should be an interesting showdown. [Webmaster's note: The reporter assumed, because of Brown's work for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality, and because Brown refers to her husband as her "partner," that Brown is a lesbian. Brown is hopeful that the error will point out that allies are welcome in every civil rights struggle, and that our members welcome the assistance of Theists in our fight to be included in our secular government and in society in general.]

Washington Times

Atheists finally have a lobbyist of their own.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Former Nevada state senator Lori Lipman Brown began work Monday as a lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for America, a group of humanists and atheists formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to keep religion out of government.

USA Today

Americans who don't believe in God have decided it's time they had a lobbyist in the nation's capital. Their new advocate describes herself as a "soft, fuzzy atheist." [Letter to editor: Non-believers' voice]

Forward Newspaper Online

The nonbelievers are fighting back. The Secular Coalition for America -- which sees itself as the voice of America's agnostics, humanists and nontheists -- has just hired its first full-time Washington lobbyist: former Nevada state senator Lori Lipman Brown, a longtime civil rights activist.

Las Vegas City Life

Lori Lipman Brown just accepted one of the toughest jobs on the planet: Taking atheism to Washington D.C.

Humanist Network News

A coalition of non-religious organizations has hired the first lobbyist in Washington D.C. to represent the rights of humanists, atheists and other freethinkers.

U.S. News and World Report

In the midst of a brouhaha in Buffalo last month over a gay men's choral performance at a church, Jeff Ingersoll opened up the Buffalo News. A statement from a religious protester caught his eye: "You've got to stop the abortionists, the homosexuals, the pornographers, the secular humanists," the protester said.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

President George W. Bush's re-election in November was a galvanizing event for many groups in American politics. Republicans, of course. Conservatives, certainly. Americans who consider religious faith a valid consideration in public policy, perhaps. But Bush's re-election also was a galvanizing event for another group: People who don't necessarily believe in a Supreme Being and who would prefer that, if there is one, he or she stay out of American politics.

San Diego Union-Tribune

Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, said he considers Newdow to be an "outstanding representative" of the nation's secularists.

Beliefnet

Bracing for what's to come from a Republican-controlled White House and Congress, people who don't believe in God are joining forces as never before to make sure their rights don't get trampled in what they perceive as a stampede of religious zeal.

Irregular Times

When we first arranged to interview Herb Silverman, the spokesperson for the Secular Coalition for America, we had no idea that George W. Bush would be able to obtain another four years in the White House, and we could not have imagined that the United States Congress would turn so strongly towards the right.