The Secular Coalition for America has released a simple, five-question questionnaire to aid voters in understanding candidates' positions on "church-state separation, religious privilege and the place of Secular Americans in politics and society."
You can download a PDF of the questionnaire on the questionnaire page linked above (I prefer not to link directly to PDFs because of technical problems this may cause some readers). You can then ask your local, state and national candidates to complete the questionnaire and then return it to you or publish it on their campaign website.
How do you feel about this? For reference, the questions are:
- Do you believe that America was founded specifically as a "Christian nation"?
- Do you believe that religious institutions that accept federal funding for secular social services should be allowed to discriminate based on religion?
- Religious institutions that provide educational and/or childcare services are often exempt from adhering to health, safety and gender equality standards required of their secular counterparts. Would you support legislation requiring them to meet those standards?
- Do you believe that federally-funded hospitals have an obligation to inform patients of reproductive and/or end-of-life options even if they are religious hospitals that will not themselves provide these services?
- Would you accept a campaign donation from an avowed atheist or atheist organization, and would you vote for an otherwise qualified atheist candidate for office?
Each question provides a Yes/No option, as well as a space for the candidate to write "additional comments".
CALL TO ACTION:
Download the PDF questionnaire using the link available on this page, make copies and submit to all candidates.
Send candidate response to the SCA (you can
(NOTE: The SCA will be putting up a page soon that lists the candidates that have responded, and links to their responses Check the site periodically for a link.)
Hold your candidates accountable for supporting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and for promoting positions and policies that support the principles of equality under all law, separation of religion and government, and tolerance of all people.
The SCA website has more suggestions for how voters who support secular ideals can participate in and make a difference in the electoral process.
CALL FOR DISCUSSION:
Do you agree with the notion of submitting such questionnaires to get all candidates on the record on these issues? Why, or why not?
How would you respond to the 5 questions?
Do you have other questions on the topics of "church-state separation, religious privilege and the place of Secular Americans in politics and society" that you would like candidates to answer? What are they?
ABOUT THE SECULAR COALITION FOR AMERICA:
The Secular Coalition for America is a 501(c)4 advocacy organization whose purpose is to amplify the diverse and growing voice of the nontheistic community in the United States....
Our member organizations are established 501(c)3 nonprofits who serve atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers and other nontheistic Americans. Their purpose in founding the coalition was to formalize a cooperative structure for visible, unified activism to improve the civic situation of citizens with a naturalistic worldview. A number of additional organizations have endorsed our mission statement.
While the Coalition was created expressly by and for nontheistic Americans, we also enthusiastically welcome the participation of religious individuals who share our view that freedom of conscience must extend to people of all faiths and of none. Accordingly, our staff works in cooperation with a variety of other organizations and coalitions where common ground exists on specific issues, and our e-mail Action Alert system is open to all who visit our site.
More information on the SCA About page
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS OF THE SCA
* American Atheists
* American Ethical Union
* American Humanist Association
* Atheist Alliance International
* Camp Quest
* Council for Secular Humanism
* Institute for Humanist Studies
* Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers
* Secular Student Alliance
* Society for Humanistic Judaism
The Secular Coalition for America is a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
(Note: I am a member of a member organization of the SCA, and a financial supporter of the SCA. I do not work for the SCA or any member organization in any capacity, paid or unpaid, nor do I have a personal relationship with anyone who works for the SCA or any member organization in any capacity paid or unpaid. I post this purely as a public service and to promote an idea I support).
Update [2010-8-5 17:32:47 by RandomActsOfReason]: Dr. Wynne LeGrow is the first candidate to submit his answers to the questionnaire. He answered 1-no, 2-no, 3-yes, 4-yes, 5-yes.
Dr. LeGrow is a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in Virginia's 4th District, the seat currently held by Rep. J. Randy Forbes of Chesapeake, a Republican.
His campaign site: http://www.legrowforuscongress.com/