Indiana Archives - American Atheists

Indiana City Discriminates Against Local Atheists, Violates Constitution

American Atheists — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 20:53:13 +0000

Connersville, IN—Today, the religious equality watchdog organization American Atheists denounced Connersville’s new invocation policy as unconstitutional and anti-atheist, calling for it to be amended. On Monday, the Connersville City Council adopted an unconstitutional policy that excludes atheists from delivering invocations at the start of meetings but allows any religious groups to do so. The discriminatory policy was enacted after American Atheists’ Indiana Assistant Director Jama Sullivan requested in January to deliver an invocation. “Just like religious leaders who have delivered invocations, I am an active leader for the secular community in Connersville,” said Sullivan, founder and executive director of Whitewater Freethought, a group of more than 80 atheist, agnostic, and Christian members committed to community service. “Instead of accepting me with open arms, my local government went to great lengths to exclude me, and others who do good without god, from the invocation process.” “Precisely because Connersville’s new invocation policy is discriminatory, it is also unconstitutional,” explained Geoffrey Blackwell, American Atheists’ litigation counsel. “The Supreme Court has been clear.” In Town of Greece v. Galloway (2014), the Supreme Court ruled that volunteer chaplains could open each legislative session in Greece, NY, with a prayer because “the town at no point excluded or denied an opportunity to a would-be prayer giver. Its leaders maintained that a minister or layperson of any persuasion, including an atheist, could give the invocation.” “I know from my own fundamentalist past that some people are driven by ignorance and fear of nonreligious people—and the idea that our very presence is an attack on their religious beliefs. It isn’t,” said Sullivan. “By just participating in the invocation process, I can change hearts and minds about atheists. However, the Connersville government keeps proving it’s more interested in discrimination than inclusivity. It’s unfortunate.” “We call upon the Connersville City Council to amend this discriminatory policy. No city that claims to care about religious freedom should exclude atheists for our beliefs,” added Sullivan.

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Indiana Residents: Oppose Religious Coercion in Public Schools!

American Atheists — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 16:17:31 +0000

Indiana lawmakers are starting off the year on the wrong foot. They wasted no time in introducing a Christian Nationalist bill (SB 131) to require that every public school classroom and library prominently display “In God We Trust” posters. Mandating these posters unfairly excludes atheists and religious minority students and teachers. Religious coercion has no place in our public schools. Lawmakers are rushing to pass this measure — they have already scheduled a hearing on the bill on Wednesday the 8th before the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development. We need your help. Please tell this Committee to oppose this bad bill! They think they can sneak this bill through without controversy. Your emails could make all the difference. SB 131 will result in bullying and harassment of students with minority beliefs. According to a study on religion in America by the Pew Research Center, 26% of Indiana residents are religiously unaffiliated. Younger Americans are even more likely to be nonreligious. Indiana lawmakers should not stigmatize these students by promoting religious messages in school! National motto display bills like SB 131 are being pushed by special interests as part of Project Blitz, an effort by Christian Nationalists to rewrite American history so that it favors their agenda. These bills aim to undermine the separation of religion and government and spread a false narrative that America was founded as a Christian nation. We cannot allow special interests to use our children to achieve their political goals. Please take a moment and ask the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development to oppose this bill.

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Indiana Officials Reverse Unconstitutional Decision to Exclude Atheist Group from Holiday Festival, Following Demand Letter

American Atheists — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 22:26:59 +0000

Valparaiso, IN—On Tuesday, Northern Indiana Atheists (NIA), an affiliate of American Atheists, received approval to participate in the community Holly Days celebration after an initial request was rejected. This reversal comes after American Atheists sent Porter County Commissioners a letter on Monday, November 4, demanding NIA’s inclusion and threatening legal action for violating NIA’s constitutional rights. “This is a victory for the equal treatment of atheist groups,” said Troy Moss, Northern Indiana Atheists’ President and American Atheists’ Indiana State Director, who asked to set up an information table and display signs on the courthouse. “Government officials cannot deny groups likes ours equal access simply because they disagree with the content of our speech. It’s un-American, and it flies in the face of religious freedom.” On August 8, Moss submitted his group’s request but was told that it was too late to appear on the agenda for the August 13 meeting. However, another organization submitted its request on August 12 yet received a spot on the agenda. “The commissioners’ discriminatory treatment of Northern Indiana Atheists raises serious concerns that they violated the U.S. Constitution,” said Geoffrey Blackwell, American Atheists’ litigation counsel, who wrote the letter. “With their later anti-atheist statements, several officials confirmed those suspicions.” Indeed, during an October 8 commissioners meeting, Commissioner Biggs tried to justify the atheist group’s exclusion from Holly Days: “I’m not going to sit up here and promote for you to be there at the same time as someone else to cause trouble.” Then, Commissioner Good told Moss and Northern Indiana Atheists’ Vice President Daniel Dick to “go back to Michiana.” As Moss walked past Biggs to return to the audience, Biggs lurched toward him and said, “Don’t come in here to cause trouble. Now I want you to leave.” “The statements of Commissioners Good and Biggs are unequivocal evidence of animus toward Northern Indiana Atheists and their members because of their beliefs regarding religion,” said Blackwell. “That kind of bigotry is not permissible.” “Unfortunately, government officials too often treat members of our community like second-class citizens,” said American Atheists’ President Nick Fish. “In this case, the commissioners finally did the right thing. Had they once again denied Northern Indiana Atheists’ request, we would have explored every avenue to help our affiliate enforce their rights.”

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Prevent Religious Coercion in Indiana Schools

American Atheists — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 17:32:40 +0000

Indiana lawmakers are pushing forward legislation designed to favor Christian students by giving them school credit for attending religious education. SB 373 would create a culture of favoritism in Indiana’s schools where students of particular religions are able to attend special classes, and atheist and religious minority students would be forced to take extra classes to make up the difference. This is religiously coercive for students, and it unquestionably violates the separation of religion and government. We need your help to oppose SB 373! Please contact your state representative now! The US Supreme Court has made clear that schools may not provide credit for religious education, yet that is exactly what Indiana lawmakers are trying to achieve through SB 373. By doing so, this legislation would create liability for any school district that chooses to implement this unconstitutional bill. Public education dollars should be spent on public education, not wasted on unnecessary lawsuits. Indiana does not need a law that would compromise the public school system in order to give special privileges to students of certain religions. Please take action now to tell Indiana lawmakers that this is not acceptable!

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Atheists: Indiana’s Public Schools Should Not Coerce Students into Religious Instruction

American Atheists — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 16:55:07 +0000

Indianapolis, IN—Today, American Atheists, on behalf of its constituents in Indiana, submitted testimony opposing SB 373 to the Indiana House Education Committee. This bill would undermine the freedom of religion of Indiana’s public school students by coercively encouraging religious education. Specifically, SB 373 would allow students to receive academic credits for religious education, an opportunity that is not accessible to nonreligious students. In so doing, this bill would favor religion over nonreligion. The Supreme Court has made it clear that the First Amendment mandates neutrality not only between religions, but between religion and nonreligion. Moreover, this bill is unconstitutional because it would create a system that is religiously coercive for students. First, peers or teachers may directly pressure atheist students to participate in religious programs. Second, this pressure could be indirect if religious programs are (or are perceived to be easier) or less burdensome than other available classes. Third, nonreligous students and those of minority religions would have fewer options to receive academic credit than students of faiths with qualifying religious education programs. Such students may be required to take burdensome, difficult, or otherwise undesirable classes to make up the credit difference. In addition, SB 373 fosters excessive entanglement between religion and government. The bill would require school districts review course syllabuses and other materials to determine if the religious education qualifies for academic credit. However, this type of entanglement is prohibited by the First Amendment. As a result, SB 373 puts school districts at risk of lawsuits from students, accepted programs, and programs that are not accepted. “Indiana’s students, school districts, and taxpayers deserve better than this. We strongly urge you to reject this ill-conceived legislation,” Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy, told the Indiana House Education Committee.

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American Atheists Warns States about “In God We Trust” Posters as Religious Propaganda

American Atheists — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 19:53:36 +0000

Cranford, NJ—Today, American Atheists submitted testimony opposing two “In God We Trust” display bills. Kentucky’s HB 46 and Indiana’s SB 373 would trample religious liberty by forcing public schools to display this Judeo-Christian language. Kentucky’s “In God We Trust” Display Bill Specifically, Kentucky’s HB 46 would require schools to display “In God We Trust” in a prominent location in schools. Not only would this bill force non-believing students to view this religious message daily, it would further stigmatize children of no faith or minority faiths. As a result, bullying and harassment would likely increase. Just as bad, Kentucky taxpayer dollars would be wasted on defending this unnecessary and divisive law. KY’s education dollars should go toward educating students, not supporting religious messages by special interests. Indiana’s “In God We Trust” Display and Creationism Bill Indiana’s SB 373 is even worse than HB 46. SB 373 would force public schools to display “In God We Trust” in each and every classroom. SB 373 goes further than HB 46 in three additional and disturbing ways: School districts could teach creation science or other so-called “theories concerning the origin of life” instead of legitimate science. Courts have repeatedly made clear that teaching creation science is religious indoctrination, and therefore such a curriculum is inherently unconstitutional. Schools would encourage students to attend religious instruction and receive educational credit. This is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Schools could not infringe “parental rights” on what is taught. This concept is so vague and the legal protections so uncertain that it would result in an unworkable educational system and a host of unintended consequences. “This bill is shockingly unconstitutional. We hope that lawmakers in Indiana are wise enough to halt this roiling mess of poorly conceived ideas, religious coercion, and unintended consequences before it becomes law,” wrote Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy. Christian Nationalism and Project Blitz Both bills are part of Project Blitz, a multi-state campaign by Christian nationalists to promote the false narrative that America was founded as a Christian nation. American Atheists is leading the charge against Project Blitz with its BlitzWatch campaign.

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