{"id":1563,"date":"2012-09-27T15:56:13","date_gmt":"2012-09-27T19:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skepticblogs.com\/justinvacula\/?p=1563"},"modified":"2012-09-27T15:56:13","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T19:56:13","slug":"introducing-the-co-chair-of-the-pa-state-chapter-of-the-secular-coalition-for-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/2012\/09\/27\/introducing-the-co-chair-of-the-pa-state-chapter-of-the-secular-coalition-for-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing the co-chair of the Secular Coalition for America’s state chapter…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I will be working with the Secular Coalition for America as the co-chair of the Pennsylvania state chapter alongside Brian Fields – President of the group Pennsylvania Nonbelievers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My efforts to defend the constitutional principle of separation of religion and government in the United States will now be expanding from lone activism or that on behalf of the local community group — the NEPA Freethought Society<\/a> — of which I am the co-organizer and spokesperson. I look forward to advocating on behalf of secular Pennsylvanians and those throughout the United States in my new position with the Secular Coalition for America.<\/p>\n

Below is a copy of the press release from the Secular Coalition for America’s website<\/a>. Find the link here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thu, 09\/27\/2012 – 14:42<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Washington, D.C\u2014The Secular Coalition for America is excited to announce the official launch of the Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania, expected to officially launch on Sunday. The Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania is the third chapter to launch as part of the SCA\u2019s greater effort to establish 50 new state chapters throughout the country this year.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Secular Coalition for America is a lobbying organization representing nontheistic Americans and advocating protecting and strengthening the secular character of our government. The Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania will lobby state lawmakers in favor of a strong separation of religion and government.<\/em><\/p>\n

Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania<\/a>\u00a0Executive Board Co-Chairs, Justin Vacula, 24 of Scranton and Brian Fields, 35 of Newville are expected to sign the \u201cMemo of Understanding\u201d that marks the official launch of the chapter, on Sunday at the\u00a0PA State Atheist\/Humanist Conference<\/a>:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Date:<\/strong>\u00a0Sunday, September 30, 2012\u00a0<\/em>
\nTime:<\/strong>\u00a03:45 and 4:30pm<\/em>
\nLocation:<\/strong>\u00a0PA State Atheist\/Humanist Conference, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Harrisburg, PA\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWith legislation like the \u2018Year of the Bible\u2019 in Pennsylvania, it’s clear now, more than ever, that we need a secular voice speaking to our state government,\u201d said Fields. \u201cWhat sets the Secular Coalition for America apart is their dedication to directly supporting the separation of church and state, by speaking directly to those legislators that are responsible for protecting it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A recent Pew Forum\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0indicated that 28 percent of Pennsylvania residents do not express an absolute belief in God, and 46 percent disagreed that \u201creligion is very important to their lives.\u201d Another\u00a0Pew study<\/a>\u00a0found that nationally 54% of Americans feel that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters, and 38% says that there has been too much expression of religious faith and prayer from political leaders \u2013 a number that has grown to its highest point since the Pew Research Center began asking the question more than a decade ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

Vacula said he sees the role of the Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania as protecting that separation of religion and government\u2014to the benefit of all Pennsylvanians.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPennsylvania is notorious for recklessly breaching the walls of church\/state separation,\u201d said Vacula. \u201cSecularists in Pennsylvania need a voice to counter pious politicians and inform lawmakers that infusing religion with government is unacceptable.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Since June, the SCA successfully held initial organizing calls for new chapters in\u00a038 states<\/a>. The remaining 12 states will hold initial organizing calls in October. The Secular Coalition plans to have all chapters up and running in every state, D.C. and Puerto Rico, by the end of the year. A Secular Coalition affiliate is already functional in Arizona and the first chapter, in Colorado, was announced earlier this summer. The Secular Coalition for South Carolina is also launching today.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Edwina Rogers, Secular Coalition for America Executive Director said she is excited to see the Pennsylvania chapter launch. The state chapters play an integral role at the state level, as well as the national level, she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIn our current U.S. Congress, 38 percent of Representatives held local office first,\u201d said Rogers. \u201cWhen we get to law makers at the local level, not only are we going to help curb some of the most egregious legislation we\u2019re seeing, but we are also building relationships and working to educate legislators on our issues, before they even get to Washington.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The Secular Coalition, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, represents\u00a011 nontheistic member organization<\/a>s and has as traditionally focused advocacy efforts on federal legislation. The SCA will continue to lobby at the federal level, while state chapters will lobby at the state level. Participation in the Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania is open to all Pennsylvanians that support a strong separation of religion and government, regardless of their personal religious beliefs.<\/em><\/p>\n

For chapter co-chair bios and additional chapter information, please visit:http:\/\/secular.org\/states\/chapters\/pennsylvania<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

CONTACT: Lauren Anderson Youngblood, Communications Manager<\/em>
\nO:\u00a0\u00a0202-299-1091\u00a0ext. 205\u00a0<\/em>
\nC:\u00a0\u00a0202-630-9725<\/em>
\nE:\u00a0lauren@secular.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Contact the Secular Coalition for Pennsylvania via email at:\u00a0secularcoalitionofPennsylvania@gmail.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>
\nReach Chapter Co-Chair, Justin Vacula at\u00a0\u00a0570-855-3085<\/em>
\nReach Chapter Co-Chair, Brian Fields at\u00a0\u00a0717-585-0779<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I will be working with the Secular Coalition for America as the co-chair of the Pennsylvania state chapter alongside Brian Fields – President of the group Pennsylvania Nonbelievers. My efforts to defend the constitutional principle of separation of religion and government in the United States will now be expanding from lone activism or that on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-separation-of-church-and-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/justinvacula\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}