Weekly US and World Public Policy Report

by Edwina Rogers

Myanmar Passes Four Protection Of Race And Religion Statutes – SPI Coalition Takes Note
Since May, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar signed into law four ÔÇ£Protection of the Race and ReligionÔÇØ statutes. These laws place restrictions on marriage, religious conversion, and reproductive freedom of the people within MyanmarÔÇÖs borders. As an emerging democratic nation, these laws are injurious to secularism and democratic norms, and fuel an ongoing humanitarian crisis afflicting 1.4 million people of the Rohingya ethnic group. The Secular Policy Institute, and it’s signed coalition members, ┬ácalled on the government of Myanmar through a letter this week to President Sein and the Houses of Nationality and Representation to review the Monogamy, Interfaith Marriage, Religious Conversion, and Population Control laws and to support the cause of human rights.

The laws of ÔÇ£Protecting Race and ReligionÔÇØ include the ÔÇ£Monogamy LawÔÇØ criminalizing ┬ácohabitation with an unmarried partner that is not a recognized spouse (signed in law 31 August, 2015); the ÔÇ£Religious Conversion LawÔÇØ requiring that those wishing to change their religion seek the approval of a board for religious conversion requiring a 90-180 day approval process resulting in a ÔÇ£certificate of religious conversionÔÇØ (August 26, 2015), with penalties for ÔÇ£forced religious conversion;ÔÇØ the ÔÇ£Interfaith Marriage LawÔÇØ regulating marriage between Buddhist women to non-Buddhist men, where women under the age of 20 must obtain parental consent and those applying for marriage licenses must publicize their applications with a 14-day window┬áfor objections that are met with litigation (August 26, 2015); and the ÔÇ£Population Control LawÔÇØ that was passed in May. This final law imposes restrictions on the number of children that married couples (from ÔÇ£certain regionsÔÇØ) may have. ┬áWe have also asked for a meeting with the Myanmar Ambassador in Washington. ┬áFind the letter by following this link.

Where the Grass Is Greener: Biblical Stewardship vs. Climate Alarmism 

On October 21 in DC, lawmakers and their staff were invited to a screening of this one-hour documentary that harnesses the expertise of over 30 world-class scholars on climate science; developmental, environmental, and energy economics; and theology, ethics, and public policy to address global warming and climate policy from a Biblical Worldview perspective to protect the worldÔÇÖs poor from harmful climate and energy policies. ┬áSPI offers private briefings to Congressional members from the secular perspective.
Keeping An Eye On The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court could decide in the next few weeks to take up one or more of the religious non-profit challenges to the accommodation in the Accountable Care Act on birth control coverage requirement. Stay tuned to SPI regarding case selection.
Proposed Bill In Tennessee On World Religion Education In Schools

SPI is working on a response to the┬áproposed law by Tennessee state representative Sheila ButtÔÇÖs against religious indoctrination in schools. Candidly, this is intended to target Muslims and establish Christian privilege, yet in her paranoia, Representative ButtÔÇÖs bill seems to disestablish Christian privilege up until grade 10.

“I think that probably the teaching that is going on right now in seventh (and) eighth grade is not age appropriate,” Republican Rep. Sheila Butt, who proposed the bill, told The Tennessean. “(Students) are not able to discern a lot of times whether it’s indoctrination or whether they’re learning about what a religion teaches.”

We will emphasize the need for state neutrality while being critical of the latent prejudice. Further investigation is warranted by the secular community

Twenty-Four

The number of people that Bahrain has charged with trying to establish an Islamic State Affiliate.

Bahrain was swept by protests during the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings in which the Shi’ite majority demanded political reforms from the Sunni Muslim ruling family. Some Shi’ites faced accusations of militancy related to the unrest.

The new case was the first time Bahrain named the Sunni Islamic State in connection with alleged militancy inside the island kingdom, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet as a bulwark against Shi’ite Iran across the Gulf.

Eight of the 24 accused have been arrested and the rest remain at large, according to a statement by Public Prosecutor Ahmed al-Hammadi. Other charges included weapons possession and conducting training in the use of explosives, it said.

See the full story at Reuters.

Courting The Religious Right In Presidential Campaigns

“It’s time for us to bring God back to our country,” said Ben Carson said to a crowd of Texan evangelicals, joining fellow GOP presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, and Mike Huckabee at an event at Dallas’ Prestonwood Baptist Church, known as a Megachurch because of its size. White evangelical Protestants remain an important part of the Republican base: more than one-third (36 percent) of Republicans identify as white evangelical Protestants, making it the largest religious tradition in the party.

ÔÇ£Religious liberty is under threat as never before in this country.ÔÇØ They cheered when he vowed he would ÔÇ£not surrenderÔÇØ on gay marriage and listened intently as he recounted his legal fights over religion as Texas solicitor general. ┬áÔÇ£My goodness, you know how to fire people up,ÔÇØ remarked Jack Graham, PrestonwoodÔÇÖs influential pastor, after Cruz was finished. ÔÇ£You could be a preacher.ÔÇØ

To see the full story of this Republican revival, visit Politico

Weekly Demographic and Research Polls Report

by Deanna Cantrell

Recent controversy has surrounded the CampbellÔÇÖs Soup Company for their portrayal of same-sex parents in a new advertising campaign.┬á Many would view this as long overdue and progressive, even theists are beginning to come around.┬á According to a recent Pew study, of the 45% of Americans who identify as Catholic or who are connected to Catholicism, 43% believe it is acceptable for same-sex parents to raise a family together.

Frequency of mass attendance was shown to factor into the respondentsÔÇÖ tolerance of nontraditional families.┬á For example, among Catholics who say they attend Mass weekly, six-in-ten think that a same-sex couple raising children is either unacceptable (36%) or acceptable but┬ánot┬áas good as some other arrangements for raising children (25%); just 34% say a same-sex couple raising children is as good as any other family configuration.

Looking at the big picture, according to a Public Religion survey, roughly 6-in-10 (58%) Americans favor allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. Support has increased substantially since 1999, when 38% of Americans favored allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. The partisan divisions on attitudes toward adoption largely mirror the findings on support for same-sex marriage.

When it comes to the CampbellÔÇÖs controversy, the main agitators are a group called the One Million Moms.┬á According to their website:

OneMillionMoms.com is an online project of American Family Association, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, conservative, pro-family organization based in Tupelo, Mississippi. AFA has been in existence for over 35 years and is a well-respected member of the pro-life and pro-family community.  AFA exists to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth.

On their website, they claim that CampbellÔÇÖs is trying to ÔÇ£desensitize viewers.ÔÇØ┬á Not because of the hammy acting or the cheesy Darth Vader impression (which some people might find endearing), but because of the ÔÇ£sinÔÇØ that is two people of the same gender raising a son in a fictitious commercial.

“They should not be highlighting who is attracted to whom or who sleeps with whom,” they wrote. “There is concern about the way this ad is pushing the LGBT agenda, but an even greater concern is the way that they are attempting to redefine ‘family’ and ‘real marriage.’ÔÇÖ

For those who dare, view the war on morality being waged in the commercialÔÇÖs YouTube comments section.┬á Through reading as many as possible, before nearly losing my confidence in humanity, the number did seem to be spot on with the survey.

Weekly Fellows Report

By Deanna Cantrell

SPI Fellow John McWhorter has two new articles centered on linguistics.┬á The first, Why ÔÇ£RedskinsÔÇØ Is a Bad Word, not only delves into the controversy surrounding the football team; it also explores the origin of other ethnic slurs, other than the namesake of the team.┬á Words are powerful, some should have been left behind as society evolved, yet they still remain.┬á In his second article, McWhorter explores a curious fact about language.┬á Why ÔÇ£MomÔÇØ and ÔÇ£DadÔÇØ Sound So Similar in So Many Languages, explores this and many other curiosities behind language.┬á For example, it has been shown that humans associate the ÔÇ£eeÔÇØ sound with smallness and fleetness, for example, hummingbird.

SPI Fellow Taslima Nasrin received the Emperor Has No Clothes Award at the Freedom From Religion FoundationÔÇÖs 38^th annual convention.┬á The convention took place October 9-11 in Madison, Wisconsin.┬á This award is given to chosen public figures who ÔÇ£tell it like it is about religion.ÔÇØ┬á ┬áVideo from the conference will be available on FFRFÔÇÖs website in the near future.

Is the concept of DarwinÔÇÖs natural selection an excuse for ruthless competition?┬á SPI Fellow David Sloan Wilson replies to an article from the New York Times with this very thesis.┬á The article, Jeff Bezos got Darwinism all Wrong!┬á Ruthless competition is a prescription for disaster, is a solid rebuttal.┬á Wilson manages to take an inflammatory title and not pull any punches, instead he offers fact and reason.

 Why I Speak Out Against Islamism, an article by SPI Advocate Maryam Namazie has been gaining attention in the secular community.  In the wake of being banned from speaking at Warwick University, Namazie has also caught the attention of Islamists and their apologists.  Find out what drives her and what is going on in this article.

 

I am a life member, past president, and now Trustee of The New Zealand┬áAssociation of Rationalists and Humanists in Auckland. I am a member of The┬áMaori Women’s Welfare League. I am a Justice of the Peace.

My Iwi (tribal heritage) is Ngapuhi, Ngati Hako, and Ngati Tamatera.

I believe that there should be no ‘school prayer’ no ‘religious dogma’ or ‘creed’┬átaught in our state schools. Our state sponsored schools should be run on strictly┬ásecular, ‘separation of church and state’, non-sectarian principles.

Before the missionaries introduced Christianity into Aotearoa New Zealand, we Maori had karakia. These are customary, mostly secular, ritual chants. These traditions and customs continue to be an innate and important part of our culture. We still open and close numerous ceremonies with karakia.

There are hundreds of different karakia that are used for different occasions, but the majority of New Zealanders think there is only one.

The traditional karakia that is used to open and close ceremonies is not a Christian prayer, it is a ritual chant, a set form of words to state or make effective a ritual activity. Karakia are recited rapidly using traditional language, symbols and structures.

The early missionaries saw Maori traditions through a Biblical framework and believed that karakia was always a prayer, so they took the word and reinterpreted it to mean Christian prayer. The word karakia then became just another tool of colonization.

If the few kaumatua (elderly Maori) who articulate the karakia, are Christian, they will continue to misrepresent our customary karakia. This puts them into direct conflict with our pre-colonization customary traditions.

This is not to say that our customs and traditions cannot evolve to meet the changing times. They have and they do. We, the indigenous first nation people of Aotearoa, have a Treaty partnership with the New Zealand government. Our social customs are an important part of the cultural diversity of this country, recognised in the Treaty of Waitangi, and as such, are inviolable.

For the full article, visit Online Opinion

The Weekly Report on US and International Policy

by Edwina Rogers

Meet The Funders 

See the NYT’s interactive data on┬áthe 158 families that have funded nearly half of the 2016 presidential election, using Monopoly pieces.┬á Who are these families?┬á The NYT pulls back the political curtain and exposes just who fuels the presidential campaign.┬á In a country being reshaped by the young, women and various ethnicities; who is funding the parties for the upcoming race?

ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs a lot of families around the country who are self-made who feel like over-regulation puts these burdens on smaller companies,ÔÇØ said Doug Deason, a Dallas investor whose family put $5 million behind Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and now, after Mr. PerryÔÇÖs exit, is being courted by many of the remaining candidates. ÔÇ£TheyÔÇÖve done well. They want to see other people do well.ÔÇØ

For the full story, visit The New York Times

US Congress

The House Republican conference is in disarray over the leadership void.  It is not clear how this will effect unresolved fiscal and legislative matters.

Make no mistake: this development has intensified the ideological warfare between pro-business Republicans on K Street and tea party activists.

• No Freedom Caucus member in the House has yet demonstrated the ability to get the 218 votes needed to be speaker.
• 27 days from now,┬áon┬áNov. 5, the Treasury will exhaust its efforts to delay┬áhitting the debt limit.
• About a month later,┬áon┬áDec. 11, fiscal 2016┬ágovernment funding expires.
• Current Speaker Boehner may have to not only stay on as Speaker longer than anticipated, he may have to continue to vote with┬áDemocrats to get must-pass legislation done.
• Democratic leadership has already made it clear that they want to┬áraise spending caps by $74 billionas part of any long-term deal.

Congress has routinely found themselves legislating in the ticking minutes counting down to┬áexistential deadlines┬áÔÇö but now it appears to be adding a┬áRepublican House leadership identity crisis┬áto that dynamic.

Taliban vs The Press

A day after the Taliban declared two Afghan TV stations legitimate ÔÇ£military targets,ÔÇØ the CountryÔÇÖs journalists issued their own threat: If you come after us, weÔÇÖll stop reporting on you.

The Taliban issued the threat against the broadcasters Tolo TV┬áand 1TV on Monday, in response to what the insurgency considered unflattering coverage of the group’s recent occupation of the northern provincial capital of Kunduz.

Militants seized the city early this month and occupied it for three days. After government forces retook Kunduz, Tolo News and 1TV delivered reports of┬áatrocities┬áthat had occurred under the brief Taliban rule ÔÇö including house-to-house searches by death squads, mass killings, and gang rapes committed by Taliban fighters.

“The harrowing accounts we’ve received paint a picture of a reign of terror during the Taliban’s brutal capture of Kunduz this week,” Horia Mosadiq, Afghanistan Researcher at Amnesty International, told Tolo News. “The multiple credible reports of killings, rapes, and other horrors meted out against the city’s residents must prompt the Afghan authorities to do more now to protect civilians, in particular in areas where more fighting appears imminent.”

For the full story, visit Vice News

Climate Change In Paris

Almost winter in Paris, and soon the City of Lights will be blanketed beneath a heavy layer of foreign bureaucrats and climate change negotiators. On November 30, hundreds of unelected representatives of international powers will descend under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  The twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP) will take place from 30 November to 11 December 2015.

We hope for the best and will report any change.

Weekly Numbers Report

by Deanna Cantrell

With all of the recent threat in the U.S. Legislative branch of another government shutdown, Congress is looking for ways to bring the budget into the black.┬á Republicans are insisting that defunding Planned Parenthood is a stellar way to do this.┬á Why?┬á Planned Parenthood is against their ideology.┬á They provide birth control, testing and yesÔǪabortions for those in need of them.┬á Last year, Planned Parenthood received $528.4 million of federal money.┬á That is a lot of tax payer dollars going toward helping people that a portion of the population does not believe inÔǪ Could there be another cause that a significant number of Americans do not support taking and even greater amount of money yearly?

How about $71 billion?┬á That makes Planned ParenthoodÔÇÖs funding look like mere peanuts, yet such income is lost every year and the cost passed on to the tax payer.┬á How so? ┬áReligious organizations.┬á If religious organizations (ie. churches, synagogues, mosques, etc.) ┬áwere taxed like for-profit agencies, it was found that this could generate upwards of $71 billion per year in tax revenue.┬á Even if churches were merely held to the standards of other non-profit agencies, this could generate $16.75 billion in tax revenue per year.┬á Here comes in the notion of bias, it is arguable that no member of Congress has ever been to a Planned Parenthood clinic.┬á Though, the Hill is overwhelmingly populated with theists, with only one member unaffiliated.

The debate against Planned Parenthood isnÔÇÖt solely revolved around abortion.┬á Planned Parenthood also provides contraception, including surgical sterilization.┬á According to a Pew Forum survey, 31.7% of the House and 26% of the Senate are Catholic.┬á Catholics are an outspoken group opposed to contraception.┬á Looking at the numbers, one could draw the conclusion that conservatives pushing for the defunding of Planned Parenthood are attempting to legislate morality.

It is noted that religious organizations┬áfall into the category of ÔÇÿcharitableÔÇÖ entities. This is often a stretch. Secular Humanism published a report entitled, How Secular Humanists (and Everyone Else) Subsidize Religion in the United States. ┬áThis report will be the highlight of this article.

The researchers calculated the Mormon Church, for example, spends roughly .7% of its annual income on charity. Their study of 271 congregations found an average of 71% of revenues going to ÔÇÿoperating expenses,ÔÇÖ while help to the poor is somewhere within the remaining 29%. Compare this to the American Red Cross, which uses 92.1% of revenues for physical assistance and just 7.9% on operating expenses.┬áThe authors also note that┬áWal-Mart, for instance, gives about $1.75 billion in food aid to charities each year, or twenty-eight times all of the money allotted for charity by the United Methodist Church and almost double what the LDS Church has given in the last twenty-five years.

Which brings us to the second category of giving, or ÔÇÿspiritual charities.ÔÇÖ Unfortunately, religious organizations┬ádo not meet the requirement of a charitable organization for tax purposes. HereÔÇÖs why: a religious organization’s┬áemployees pay taxes on their salaries (although clergy get a handful of write-offs that non clergy cannot, including their physical living expenses). Therefore, when they are doing things like praying for godÔÇÖs intervention or to heal sick children, that’s not charity; thatÔÇÖs doing what they are paid to do.

ÔÇ£. . . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS or Mormon Church) . . . gave about $1 billion to charitable causes between 1985 and 2008. That may seem like a lot until you divide it by the twenty-three-year time span and realize this church is only donating about 0.7 percent of its annual income.ÔÇØ

Do religions engage in charitable work that addresses the physical needs of the poor? Many do, but that is not their primary focus. Religions are quick to advertise when they do charitable workÔÇöironically for Christians, since the Bible explicitly says not to.┬á In Matthew 6:2 it states:┬á So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. However, they donÔÇÖt do as much charitable work as a lot of people think, and they spend a relatively small percentage.

Why? Charity is the giving of something, not the exchange of something for something else. When religions give, whether it be money, clothing, labor, building materials, etc. to address the physical needs of the poor; they are giving without receiving payment in return. There is no exchange of goods or services. Yes, those giving may feel good about what theyÔÇÖve done, but that feeling is not given to them by the recipients of their charitable actions in exchange for the actions; it rather results from the charitable actions themselves.

In contrast, when a pastor preaches a sermon or a priest performs a baptism, this is done out of obligation and is what these religious functionaries are paid to do. It is no more ÔÇ£charityÔÇØ than a doctor performing a surgery to save a life or a social worker intervening in an abusive family situation. If the people you are helping are paying you to help them, itÔÇÖs not charity; itÔÇÖs labor. You may like your job and feel that it offers value beyond what you receive in compensation, but that doesnÔÇÖt change the fundamental nature of the exchange taking place. In short, if someone is paid to address spiritual concerns, it is not charity when they do so.

For those individuals who argue that religions should receive subsidies because of their charitable work, there is an easy solution for that problem. If religions want to engage in charitable work, they should separate religious activities and finances from their charitable activities and finances. The charities run by religions could be tax-exempt, but the religious organizations would be treated like civic leagues or sports clubs or any other volunteer organization that exists for entertainment or the benefit of its members. Those groups are not tax-exempt and are not subsidized by the government.  It is clear that these organizations are not as charitable as the image they project.

Weekly Coalition Report

by Deanna Cantrell

Do you know Stephenson?

With Stephenson, belief and faith are not required.┬á Eternal life could be yours! Well, not reallyÔǪbut there is big news happening with this movie-in-the-making. Not only has the movie, The Gospel According to Stephenson, has been given the green light on the crowdfunding page Seed & Spark; we would also like to welcome them as our newest SPI Coalition member!┬á There are still plenty of memorable rewards to go along with donations, and be sure to check out the teaser clips.┬á Who wants to be turned into a movie monster by a Special Effects artist?┬á You can even be an extra in the film!┬á This film is sure to put the bite back into vampire movies!

Critical Thinking in Ontario Schools

SPI Coalition member Caf├® Scientifique will be hosting SPIÔÇÖs newest Fellow, Christopher DiCarlo on October 26^th.┬á The event will take place at The Franklin House in Mississauga, Ontario.┬á The topic at hand followÔÇÖs Dr. DiCarloÔÇÖs efforts to lobby the Ministry of Education and various school boards in an effort to start a pilot project which introduces both teachers and students to the value of basic critical thinking skills.┬á For more information, and to RSVP please visit
the eventÔÇÖs meetup page.

Weekly Fellows Update

by Deanna Cantrell

SPI Welcomes Dr. Christopher DiCarlo

SPI is proud to welcome a new fellow this week!┬á Dr. Christopher DiCarlo, a philosopher, educator and author, hails from Toronto, Ontario Canada.┬á Dr. DiCarlo is on faculty at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. ┬áHe is a fellow, adviser, and board member of the Society of Ontario Free Thinkers┬áand the┬áCentre for Inquiry Canada.┬á His latest book entitled: How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass: A Critical ThinkerÔÇÖs Guide to Asking the Right Questions has achieved best seller status. He has published scholarly papers on a variety of topics, a sampling of which may be found on his personal website.

He is a past Visiting Research Scholar at Harvard University in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences: Department of Anthropology and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.  He has received a number of awards for his work.  He has also developed the first Pilot Project in Canada to introduce Standardized Critical Thinking skills into the Ontario Public High School curriculum.  Dr. DiCarlo is currently working on a new book, the working title is, Flying Without a Pilot: A Determined Look at the Future of Ethics, Law, and the Value of Human Behavior.  A warm welcome to you!

#FreeMohamedCheikh

SPI Fellow Elham Manea paints a jarring portrait of the reality of blasphemy laws in her newest article seen on The Huffington Post.┬á Mohamed Cheikh is set to be executed for writing an article that was deemed ÔÇ£critical of MohammedÔÇØ.┬á What landed Cheikh in this grim situation?

SPI Fellow Mark Juergensmeyer Follows Principle

SPI Fellow Mark Juergensmeyer has found himself in the spotlight.┬á Why?┬á For taking a stand, and withdrawing from a speaking engagement for reasons of conscience.┬á Should a private college be able to toss out students who lose their faith?┬á What about if they allow secular students?┬á Read his thoughts on the subject and view the statement on BYUÔÇÖs website.

Pope FrancisÔÇÖ recently concluded tours of Cuba and the United States have been hailed as triumphs. Hundreds of millions, from staunch Roman Catholics to skeptical outsiders, followed his every move and listened to his message.

Given FrancisÔÇÖ loving charisma and gentle demeanor, it is easy for many to view this pope as they might see any kindly, secular philosophical figure. This is how the media often portrays him ÔÇö as an unthreatening man who is cheerfully sanding down the sharp edges of his church. But herein lies FrancisÔÇÖ true subversive genius: What looks to some like a smiley-face sticker is actually an invitation to total conversion.

The central theme of FrancisÔÇÖ visit was a call for unity. He has frequently urged us ÔÇ£to dialogue together, to shorten the distance between us, to strengthen our bonds of brotherhood.ÔÇØ With respect to the church, Francis has exhorted priests to be ÔÇ£shepherds living with the smell of the sheepÔÇØ and to avoid setting themselves apart from the laity.

But the unity the pope has in mind goes far deeper. The unity that he is challenging us to embrace has no limits, natural or supernatural.

In Cuba, Francis touched on this theme while gently exposing a central error of Communism ÔÇö the conflation of unity with shallow sameness. ÔÇ£Unity is often confused with uniformity; with actions, feelings and words which are all identical,ÔÇØ he said. ÔÇ£This is not unity, it is conformity.ÔÇØ

For the full story, visit The American Enterprise Institute