The weekly report on US and World Public Policy

by Edwina Rogers

President Obama’s Budget: On Monday, February 2nd, the President sent his budget for fiscal year 2015-2016 to Congress. On Wednesday, February 4th the House held a hearing on the budget. Item of note this week: Climate Change Plan: the budget provides $239 million to support EPA’s efforts on climate change, including, $25 million to help states develop plans to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG). In addition, the Obama Administration wants to create the “Clean Power State Incentive Fund,” a $4 billion pile of taxpayer dollars that the federal government will give to states to reduce GHGs below EPA’s threshold. In total, the Budget requests $452 million more in EPA spending over the 3015 enacted figure.

US Senate: After the successful passage of Keystone last week the Senate is receiving feedback from regulatory agencies on its possible impact. This week the Senate is focused on the Department of Homeland Security’s appropriation bill as the funding expires near the end of February. The lawmakers are taking issue with the President’s immigration proposal and are looking ways to bring bring the administration to the negotiating table. SPI staff met with Senators McConnell and Sullivan’s staff on Wednesday and there is a meeting on Friday at 3 pm with Senator Cornyn to discuss a range of issues of interest to SPI.

US House: Is focused on social networking this week to stay in touch with its constituents. The members have been participating in listening sessions back in their states on different topics through Google Hangouts. There was a full member listening session on boarder security. The focus this week is to educate House Members.

SPI staff met with Pam Stevens who runs Outreach and Media Affairs for the Republican House Conference to secure Republicans for the SPI’s World Future Forum. A number of Democrats have already been asked to participate. Additionally, the SPI staff visited the offices of Sessenbrenner and Cox.

In the hearing on Wednesday the budget hawks pointed out that in the President’s budget for the next 10 years that spending increases 65%, taxes increase by 2.1 trillion; interest payments will be 800 billion annually by the 10th year from 220 billion today. The interest payments will be higher than social security payments at that time. The budget never balances even in the 10th year.

Additionally this week the House is focused on a bill to cut unfounded mandates and regulations on small businesses.

Looking Ahead To Next Week:

Chinese Lunar New Year: SPI CEO Edwina Rogers has been invited by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year on Thursday 12 at the Meridian International Center. Ms. Rogers met with Representatives Cox’s staff regarding the hearing they are planning in the House regarding a possible press freedom bill targeting China.

Darwin Day International – The Darwin Day Celebration will be celebrated around the world next Thursday, February 12, 2015. Secular Policy Institute will participate by sending a Darwin Day message to all US Members of Congress and their staff. The day is meant to celebrate the accomplishments of Darwin, science and humanity. Register and promote your own Celebration at www.DarwinDay.org.

There are two different ways that humans think when they are attempting to answer questions. Scientific Thinking requires empirical evidence and results in verifiable knowledge. Mythological Thinking relies on claims made by revealed knowledge, without the foundation of empirical evidence required by science. SPI’s mission is to promote scientific thinking.

With the recent news story that an Egyptian student got 3 years in jail for his atheism, this recent Pew Report is timely. The study of countries around the world shows where nonbelief is restricted, outlawed, or even punishable by death. The majority of harsh laws are in the Middle East and Africa, but can you guess which two US states still have anti-blasphemy laws on their books? (Which could never be enforced, of course.)

The new Prime Minister of Greece is the country’s first openly atheist political leader, but in the United States, nonbelief is still in the shadows as the 2016 presidential election nears. According to this post in The News Hub, atheist bashing is popular amongst leading politicians, with Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee making startling comments that fuel discrimination.

The weekly update on SPI Fellows, by Madeline Schussel and Johnny Monsarrat

The Secular Policy Institute is pleased to announce a major new addition! New SPI Fellow Ron Lindsay is the President and CEO of the Center for Inquiry (CFI), one of the world’s most prominent secular groups. The CFI promotes inquiry, research, education, and advocacy, with regional offices and programs around the globe. Lindsay holds a Ph.D. in philosophy and bioethics from Georgetown University, and a law degree from the University of Virginia. In his new book, The Necessity of Secularism: Why God Can’t Tell Us What to Do, he presents a framework for how religious and nonreligous people should work together on public policy issues. (Hint: it involves more secularism.) Previously, he wrote Future Bioethics: Overcoming, Taboos, Myths, and Dogmas, which explores the morality of genetically modified foods, physician-assisted suicide, stem cell research, and other biological and medical issues.

Last month, SPI Fellow Phil Zuckerman published an opinion piece in the LA Times, How Secular Family Values Stack Up, citing Pew Research, as well as a study by Duke University. The article inspired a commentary piece at Jezebel.com, which lauds Zuckerman and notes that ÔÇ£the countries with the lowest crime and highest reports of well-being… are also the nations with the lowest religious engagementÔÇØ.

SPI Fellow Mark Juergensmeyer was mentioned this week in the Florida Times online, as part of an Op-Ed exonerating Islam for blame in acts of terror. Juergensmeyer, a professor at UC Santa Barbara, was cited as having attributed the Oklahoma City bombing and the 2011 Norway attacks to Christian terrorists within Christendom, but not to the Bible as an authoritative source. Both wereself-enlisted soldiers in an imagined cosmic war, the professor has said. In a stance opposed to SPI Fellow Taslima Nasrin who wrote on this last month. The Florida Times author uses the quotation to illustrate his point that the Quran, on the whole, teaches peace. He argues that violent-seeming passages have been taken out of context. Hopefully, Juergensmeyers own words have not been.

SPI Fellow Taslima Nasrin is out of danger, according to the English-language Indian daily newspaper, The Hindu. She tweeted a comment in 2013 on a meeting between Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal and senior Barelvi cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan which allegedly hurt religious sentiments, an infraction under Section 66(A) of the Information Technology Act of 2000. According to the article, the legality of the act was challenged and the police filed to close Nasrin’s case without penalty.

by Greg Paul

This month Pew released their survey of the religious composition of Congress. What was not surprising is that much of it was the same old, same old. The religious, Christians especially, appear to be over represented, while nontheists look like they are seriously under served by their representatives ÔÇô if we take the Pew
numbers at face value.

According to the survey, about nine in ten Representatives and Senators are Christian. That is far higher than the three quarters of the general population often observed in surveys. Meanwhile, only one congressperson out of the nearly five hundred admits not being affiliated with religion. Just how many Americans are nonreligious depends on what one means by the term, and how the survey is
conducted. The value ranges from one in five to one half the population.

Two things are probably going on here. One is that nonbelievers are being discriminated against. It is well documented that Americans are reluctant to vote for open atheists and the like. The other factor is that it is actually unlikely that there are not a number of
nontheists in such a large institution, the nonbelievers are probably hiding themselves to avoid the political and personal pitfalls of being an open atheist. It is likely that seculars are not as under represented as it seems, but it is not possible to better assess the situation with the data on hand.

It is not secret that Republicans ÔÇô all but one of whom are avowed Christians — are more religious than Democrats.

The other notable item of the survey is that it found that, despite the Republican 2014 victory, the changes barely budged the religious nature of Congress.

With the new congress now sworn in, it is interesting to note the religious preferences this group of legislators┬áidentifies with, and a recent Pew survey has all the numbers. Although both chambers are now controlled by Republicans, there is actually little change from the previous congress’s religious beliefs.

The overwhelming majority of lawmakers identify as Christian – more than 9 out of 10 to be exact. Of these, the majority are Protestant (57%).

How do the numbers compare to those of the American public? There are more Protestants, Catholics, and Jewish members of congress, percentage-wise, than in the country’s population. Most other religions are slightly under-represented in the legislature.

For the full breakdown, see pewforum.org

A conservative Member of Parliament,┬áJames Arbuthnot, has recently ‘come out’ publicly as atheist, a move he says would not be possible if he were still seeking reelection. According to Arbuthnot, a Tory, he had felt considerable pressure about concealing his religion, but recently spoke out as a bill to allow prayers at council meetings made the rounds.

ÔÇ£It may be true that the pressure on a Conservative politician particularly of keeping quiet about not being religious is very similar to the pressure that there has been about keeping quiet about being gay,ÔÇØ Arbuthnot┬ásaid, before emphasizing that he was not gay.

Read more at independent.co.uk

A plot that visually charts the sociopolitical positions of differing religions and irreligion in the US is available here.

The data is from a Pew Religious Landscape Survey.   Also indicated is the relative size of religions by the dimensions of their circles. Those are not entirely accurate because, as the SPI Demographic Guide will detail, the most technically sound polls find that America is a lot more atheistic than most realize.

The illustration┬ámeasures differing levels of support for smaller versus larger government, and┬áless versus more involvement in protecting ÔÇ£morality.ÔÇØ The latter is┬átechnically and socially problematic in that it would be more accurately┬ácharacterized as protecting conservative social mores, the morality of which are┬áquestionable. That said, the biggest single church in the nation, the Catholics,┬áare right in the middle. That is interesting in that the CC seems to be┬áconservative in terms of patriarchy and reproductive rights, while progressive in┬áeconomics, although Rome opposes outright socialism, the hybrid Euro Model┬ábeing their preferred system.

The most conservative sects socially, politically and economically are of course evangelical, creationist, and often fundamentalist Protestant sects including southern Baptists. Also there are the Mormons who, far from being fundamentalists, can be considered Christian
inspired rather than true Christians that believe in the classic divine Holy Trinity.

The plot does not include religions that are as liberal as the┬áconservatives are conservative. This is suspicious, and it is possible that the Pew┬ásurveys are not producing entirely reliable results. Economically liberal┬áwhile morally conservative are some evangelicals, Baptists and Muslims.┬áEconomically conservative while morally liberal are Methodists, Lutherans,┬áAnglicans. This too does not raise confidence in the results in that these entities┬áare not as economically right wing as fundamentalists et al. It is not┬ásurprising that Jews are socially very liberal, the chart has them as┬áeconomically moderate. Atheists are of course liberal socially, and moderate┬áprogressive ÔÇô this reflects a combination of a progressive majority and a substantial┬álibertarian minority. ÔÇ£Agnostics,ÔÇØ that are really marginal atheists, are┬ásimilarly culturally liberal but much more right in economic terms on the┬áchart.

White House

President Obama will submit his federal budget to Congress on Monday February 2, 2015.  Expect a hearing on the budget in the House on February 4th.

President Obama and his wife attended the funeral of King Abdullah who died last week in an effort ot maintain the strong relations between Saudi Arabia and the USA.

President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, Jan. 26, 2015.  On Wednesday President Obama hosted a farewell event for Defense Secretary Hagel.

US Congress

The House passed 13 anti-human sex trafficking bills on Tuesday.  The Speaker attended the school choice rally on Tuesday also.  The LNG Export bill is coming to the floor soon. Expect a hearing on the HHS budget soon in the House.

In the Senate on Wednesday there were 18 votes on the Keystone Bill alone.   The Senate has been on this bill for three weeks now.  There have been more amendment votes already this year in the Senate than all of last year.  Senators voted last week that Climate Change is real and is contributed to by humans.

House and Senate Republicans just held a retreat at Hersey Resort in Pennsylvania to discuss ways the two chambers can work together.  A retreat that includes both chambers has not happened in a decades.  They had specific policy discussions.

Democratic House Members are currently at the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel in Philadelphia to map out their legislative agenda for the 114th Congress. The annual retreat gives party leaders the chance to hear from members during a series of closed-door meetings.  Vice President Biden will close the meeting on Friday.  Democratic Senators held their meeting in Baltimore earlier in January.

United Nations

The United Nations human rights office recently confirmed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has established unlawful, so-called ÔÇÿshariÔÇÖa courtsÔÇÖ in the territory under its control that have been carrying out cruel and inhuman punishments against men, women and children.

Those who are punished are accused of ÔÇÿviolating the groupÔÇÖs extremist interpretations of Islamic shariÔÇÖa law or for suspected disloyalty,ÔÇÖ said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at a Geneva┬ábriefing┬áon January 20, 2015.

US State Department

Ambassador-at-large Rabbi David Saperstein for International Religious Freedom recently met with the US Comission on International Religious Freedom to discuss priorities for 2015.  Ambassador Saperstein is the first non-Christian in this post and was confirmed by the Senate just last month.  SPI staff are seeking a meeting with the Ambassador to brief him on the demographics of the secular Americans and will give him the soon to be released Secular Demographic Guide.

Fellow Tasrima NasrinÔÇöaward-winning writer, physician, secular humanist, and human rights activistÔÇöblogged last week about having been invited to Charlie HebdoÔÇÖs office in Paris a few years ago. She shared with her readers that, even at that time, the cartoonists were accustomed to death threats, and they knew that their company name appeared on Al QaedaÔÇÖs most-wanted list. Still, they carried on with their work and their message: to reject all forms of religious fundamentalism, violence, and terror, at all costs.

ÔÇ£Those were intelligent works of art,ÔÇØ Nasrin writes. ÔÇ£Some people complain they were provocative. But they have all the right to be provocative, and no one should have the right to kill them for being provocative.ÔÇØ She goes on to explain that the Quran contains many parables that glorify violence against the un-Islamic (such as the ProphetÔÇÖs killing of 800 Jewish men of the Banu Qurayza tribe), as well as several ÔÇ£express commandments to Muslims to kill non-Muslims.ÔÇØ

Nasrin argues that teaching a ÔÇ£scientific outlookÔÇØ is the only way to counteract the indoctrination of children with fanatical faiths, helping them to know the difference between right and wrong in a broader societal context. Religious reform, she offers, is both the surest and least-likely answer to the problem of terroristic violence.

Meanwhile, Fellow Marty Klein called out CNN for what he deems ÔÇ£cowardiceÔÇØ in the networkÔÇÖs reporting of Charlie HebdoÔÇÖs first post-assassination release. In spite of the issueÔÇÖs success, printing and selling 3 million copies, Klein notes that the popular news network failed to show an image of its coverÔÇönot for reasons of respect, he argues, but out of fear.

ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs because they donÔÇÖt want to get assassinated,ÔÇØ Klein comments. ÔÇ£They donÔÇÖt want to pay tens of millions of dollars in additional security to protect their people around the world.ÔÇØ He worries that ÔÇ£people who are willing to kill those by whom they are offended now have the ultimate hecklerÔÇÖs vetoÔÇØÔÇöa win for the intimidation tactics of terrorism. Worse, Klein laments, CNN missed an opportunity to bravely express fear of a violent group, hiding behind political correctness.

Incidentally, it wasnÔÇÖt politics as usual on the Hill last week, as Fellow Michael Shermer closed out eight successful meetings with congressional staff. He discussed his book, The Moral Arc, and the state of secular issues in the House. A few of the offices requested that Shermer return for private briefings on science policy in the near future.