For Immediate Release
Contact: Lori Lipman Brown, (202) 299-1091
September 26, 2006
Massachusetts Delegation: Best Defender of the Secular Character of our Government
A Washington-based coalition representing the interests of atheists, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheist Americans has ranked the Massachusetts congressional delegation as the most diligent in upholding the Constitutional requirement of maintaining separation of church and state.
According to the congressional scorecard released by the Secular Coalition for America, the Bay State's two senators and ten representatives scored higher than the delegations of any other state in voting on key issues such as opposing discrimination in government funded faith-based hiring, expanding stem cell research, and opposing efforts to strip courts of jurisdiction to hear certain First Amendment challenges.
"I am very proud these members of Congress stood up to the political strength and strong-arm tactics of the religious right," said Lori Lipman Brown, Director of the Secular Coalition for America (SCA).
Congressman Barney Frank and both Massachusetts senators, Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, scored perfect 100 rankings from the SCA. Most of the remaining Bay State members of Congress scored at least 80, with Congressman Stephen Lynch's score of 70 being the lowest, but still relatively high when compared to scores around the nation.
Ms. Brown pointed out that nationwide 163 of the 435 members of the House of Representatives scored "0" on the SCA rankings, meaning they failed to cast even one vote consistent with the SCA's positions.
The SCA was formed in response to the increasing power of the religious right in American politics. Though various organizations exist for the purpose of protecting church-state separation, no political group specifically represented the interests of atheists, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheists. SCA's mission is to increase the visibility and respectability of nontheistic viewpoints in the United States and to protect and strengthen the secular character of our government as the best guarantee of freedom for all.
"We're here to show that nontheists are good citizens and good patriots," Brown said. "The public needs to know that nontheists tend to be major contributors to the public good, working on cures for cancer, leading the way in science and education." She added, "We won't be left out of the political process any longer, and we won't allow the religious right to demonize us any longer. We'll put our morals and our patriotism up against theirs any day."
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