Heretic on the Hill: From Washington to the Real World and Back
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: September 1, 2014
Publisher Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Publication: Freethought Newswire
Original Link: https://secular.org/2024/08/heretic-on-the-hill-from-washington-to-the-real-world-and-back/
Publication Date: August 5, 2024
Organization: Secular Coalition for America
Organization Description: The Secular Coalition for America advocates for religious freedom, as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and works to defend the equal rights of nonreligious Americans. Representing 20 national secular organizations, hundreds of local secular communities, and working with our allies in the faith community, we combine the power of grassroots activism with professional lobbying to make an impact on the laws and policies that govern separation of religion and government — or the improper encroachment of either on the other.
A quick Project 2025 update: The director of the project, Paul Dans, announced he was stepping down from the Heritage Foundation. This marks the end of the “policy operations” phase according to news reports. Which makes sense; 920 pages of conservative policy recommendations really seems like enough. Dans’ resignation is something of a response to the ongoing criticism of Project 2025 and of the Heritage Foundation by the Trump campaign because even though the campaign isn’t officially affiliated with Project 2025, campaign officials are repeatedly being asked for comments about the policy recommendations.
It’s important to note that the other part of Project 2025, the gathering and vetting of thousands of resumes from conservatives who want to implement the policy proposals in the federal agencies, will apparently continue. So we’re not declaring victory. Dans was the chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management, the government’s HR department, so he was a natural for this effort.
The Project 2025 website is still up and the policy proposals are still out there threatening sweeping changes in the relationship between the federal government and the people it is supposed to serve. There’s no reason not to keep talking about it. Take a look at our Top Ten Project 2025 Attacks on Church State Separation.
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It’s easy here to get too focused on things like Project 2025 and what’s happening on Capitol Hill and who’s running for president now and what the polls say, and not be as focused on people outside of Washington who already have some real-world problems as opposed to the ones that could boil up after the election. People with problems we might be able to help with now.
But this week I got a call from a guy out West who is in a court-ordered drug rehab program that includes a faith-based component in which he as an atheist should not be forced to participate. And I got a call from a guy in the Midwest where a religious group is growing in size in his area, bringing in people from the East Coast, starting unaccredited schools, and growing in political strength. Last week there was someone in Louisiana who doesn’t want the Ten Commandments posted in her kid’s school. These were reminders that there is already plenty of work to be done for nonreligious Americans with real-world problems.
Fortunately the Secular Coalition is a coalition, and if I don’t know the answer or if someone may need help from an attorney, for example, I can reach out to our coalition members and find someone with experience in solving problems like these. That’s one benefit of working with the other 20 groups. The range of experience is always surprising.
President Biden has at long last reversed his position on Supreme Court reforms and come out in favor of an enforceable code of ethics, 18-year term limits, and for a constitutional amendment stating that “the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as president.” Apparently the Court’s presidential immunity decision was the last straw.
The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and is ready for a vote in the Senate. You can still tell your Senators to support that bill with our Action Alert. Most states have enforceable codes of conduct. It’s just good policy. So are term limits. Forty-six states have term limits for state supreme court judges and three have a mandatory retirement age. (What’s up with Rhode Island?) We need Congress to agree.
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