The Reason Rally is a free gathering and celebration of secular activists on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. this Saturday, March 24. Why is this important to women? Because these activists have been on the front lines defending the First Amendment against the onslaught of the religious right and their war on human, and especially women's, rights. I wrote a diary about my own experiences with the war on women when John McCain used air quotes when talking about the health of the mother in term of abortion rights - see "Health of the Mother?" and I think we need these dedicated activists as partners in our fight against the encroachment of Dominionists (like Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachmann) on our liberty and health and privacy. Follow me over the orange football for more...
Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, wrote the following in the Washington Post this week:
Some presidential candidates use their religious beliefs like weapons—waving their own values as swords, vowing to make everyone in this country follow the same religious dictates as what they believe. That is not what this country stands for, that is not the ideal for which this country was founded.
America means I get to be free to be an atheist, a Catholic, a Jew, a Muslim, and a Mormon— without fear of reprisal from my government. I should feel safe knowing that my government will not force a particular brand of religious ideology on me through laws and regulations because it is practiced by the current president or because it is the most popular religious ideology in Congress.
Santorum and many state legislatures are pushing anti-women theocratic policies, which mandate women to a secondary, inferior role in all things. This is exactly what secularists are fighting. Silverman continues:
The Reason Rally is not about eradicating religion. There is a difference between wanting a secular government and a nontheistic government. A secular government is one that gives no preference to any religion or to non-religion. This allows the government to remain neutral and to protect all religious belief. America’s great religious diversity is best protected when the federal government to stays neutral about matters of religion and ends special privileges for religion in law.
The First Amendment is our firewall against creeping theocracy. Please welcome these activists to the fight for our rights! Besides, the Rally will be fun - on stage will be
Tim Minchin, Eddie Izzard, Adam Savage, Paul Provenza, James Randi, and Bad Religion!
Women activists who will be speaking include Taslima Nasrin, Jessica Ahlquist, Jamila Bey, Greta Christina, Dr. Elisabeth Cornwell, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Cristina Rad, Indra Zuno, and more. Check out their bios on the Reason Rally web page, link above. These are most of the top women activists in the movement.
Please come, or if you can't, please support the fight for the First Amendment and our rights.