Missouri Archives - American Atheists

Stop the Missouri Church Superspreader Bill

American Atheists — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 15:13:48 +0000

Across the country, we are seeing a wave of bills to create special rights for churches to ignore public health restrictions and hold in-person gatherings. In Missouri, lawmakers are considering SB 12, which prevents religious organizations from being subject to any public health restrictions during emergencies if they conflict with their religious beliefs. This sweeping exemption would give churches free rein to ignore critical rules that apply to every other business and organization. These special privileges for religious organizations endanger the lives and health of every Missourian. Please ask your Missouri senator to reject this harmful bill! Public health experts believe that church gatherings may be especially likely to spread COVID-19, and there is ample evidence to support this conclusion. And yet, Missouri lawmakers are considering giving churches the right to meet even if similar secular organizations are closed. This doesn’t merely affect church congregations and religious schools. These in-person gatherings can be a vector to spread COVID-19 throughout a community. Please contact your senator today. Ask them to put the lives of Missourians before the special interests of churches.

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Missouri Residents: Oppose Bible Classes in Public Schools!

American Atheists — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 22:06:06 +0000

The Missouri House of Representatives is about to vote on a dangerous bill that threatens the religious freedom of Missouri students. HB 1345 would encourage public schools to provide elective Bible classes. Christian nationalists are once again attempting to insert religious ideology into Missouri’s public education system. Please contact your Missouri state representative and ask them to stop this bill! More often than not, these classes end up resembling Sunday school rather than public school because schools fail to meet the constitutional requirement to teach them in a secular way. We need your help to oppose this bill: Tell your state representative to vote NO on HB 1345! This legislation bears all the hallmarks of Project Blitz, a multistate campaign by Christian nationalists to attack the separation of religion and government, LGBTQ equality, and access to reproductive services. HB 1345 provides no way to ensure that students are free from religious proselytizing. Additionally, the bill states learning the Christian Bible and Hebrew Scriptures are “prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture,” marginalizing the values and experiences of students who are atheists or religious minorities. Please act now. Urge your state representative to vote NO on HB 1345 encouraging Bible courses in public schools!

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Stop Project Blitz from Pushing Bible Classes on Missouri Public Schools

American Atheists — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 21:11:49 +0000

The Missouri House recently passed HB 267, a bill that would encourage public schools to provide elective Christian Bible classes.Tomorrow, the Senate Education Committee will hold a hearing on this legislation. This is our chance to stop this bill. Please take action now to tell lawmakers that HB 267 is not acceptable! Say –NO to inserting religious ideology into schools! –NO to indoctrinating our children! –NO to the Christian nationalist agenda of Project Blitz! More often than not, these Bible classes end up resembling Sunday school rather than public school because schools fail to meet the constitutional requirement to teach them in a secular way. We need your help to oppose these efforts: Tell the Senate Education Committee to vote NO on HB 267! This legislation bears all the hallmarks of Project Blitz, a multistate campaign by Christian nationalists to attack the separation of religion and government, LGBTQ equality, and access to reproductive services. HB 267 provides no way to ensure that students are free from religious proselytization. In addition, the bill states that understanding the Christian Bible and Hebrew Scriptures are “prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture,” marginalizing the values and experiences of students who are atheists or religious minorities. Please act now. Urge the Senate Education Committee to vote NO on HB 267 encouraging Bible courses in public schools!

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American Atheists Testifies Against Anti-Atheist Missouri Bill

American Atheists — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:27:54 +0000

Jefferson City, MO—Today, Missouri Assistant State Director Eric Wells testified against HB 728. This bill would prevent plaintiffs who stand up for their freedom of religion from bringing cases anonymously, endangering their lives. HB 728 would treat state/church separation plaintiffs differently from other litigants, who may bring cases under a pseudonym if the lawsuit would put them as risk. “Everyone should be able to go to court to protect their religious freedom, and no one should be subject to public harassment and death threats for doing so,” stated Wells. Wells went on to list multiple instances in which supporters of the separation of church and state received threats. Joanne Bell and Lucille McCord in our neighboring state of Oklahoma filed suit to block unconstitutional religious meetings and distribution of Gideons Bibles at their children’s schools in 2008. Their children were branded as “devil worshipers.” The Bells received threats that eventually culminated in their home being burned down. In 2010, Rhode Island high school student Jessica Ahlquist faced severe harassment at school and numerous death threats because she stood up against an unconstitutional religious mural at her school. Two families (one Catholic and one Mormon) in Santa Fe challenged unconstitutional religious coercion by their school district in 2000, including chastising children who held minority religious beliefs, proselytizing during school, permitting the distribution of Bibles at school, and conducting prayer at graduation and football games. Because the families feared that asserting their constitutional rights would put them in danger, the court allowed them to proceed anonymously, as “Doe” plaintiffs. The speculation about their identities was so intense that before the trial, the district court judge issued an unusual order specifically instructing the school district’s representatives not to reveal the families’ identities to anyone for any reason and threatening anyone who violated the order with contempt. In 2011, a Texas family that challenged the unconstitutional practice of prayers at a high school graduation, as well as the judge who heard the challenge, received unrelenting harassment and death threats throughout the case. US Marshals were required to provide a continuous security detail to in order to protect the plaintiff and judge. Lisa Herdahl received death threats after challenging prayer at her children’s public school in Mississippi. Other parents even threatened their own children with beatings for playing with or talking to the Herdahl children. The Dobrich family challenged their public school’s practice of permitting teachers to proselytize and distribute Bibles to non-Christian students, they were driven to move to another county due to anti-Semitic taunts and threats. Louisiana high school student Damon Fowler asked school officials to reconsider having a prayer at his 2011 Bastrop High School graduation ceremony. His name was then leaked to the public. Students threatened to kill him, teachers publicly demeaned him, and his own family disowned him and kicked him out of the house. “This misguided legislation would effectively weaponize public harassment and embolden those threatening the lives and well-being of Missouri citizens in order to prevent people from standing up in defense of their constitutionally rights. Actively promoting this harassing behavior is not only shameful, it is unconstitutional, […]

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Action Alert: Protect Atheist Litigants from Public Harassment and Death Threats

American Atheists — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 19:46:41 +0000

Missouri lawmakers are currently considering HB 728, a bill specifically aimed at undermining the separation of religion and government. This misguided bill would put plaintiffs who stand up for the separation of religion and government at risk by preventing them from bringing cases anonymously. HB 728 would treat these plaintiffs differently from other litigants, who may bring cases under a pseudonym if the lawsuit would put them at risk. We need your help to tell lawmakers that this is not acceptable! The unfortunate fact is that all too often, people who stand up for their religious equality face public harassment and death threats. This bill seeks to weaponize public harassment in order to prevent people from enforcing their rights. That is unconstitutional, and it is un-American. Please tell Missouri lawmakers that you oppose HB 728! We have never before seen such a brazen attempt to undermine the separation of religion and government, and we need your help to oppose it! The entire purpose of this bill is to make it more difficult for organizations like American Atheists to enforce the Establishment Clause and protect our constitutional rights. Please act now! Protect religious equality for all Missourians by asking the Judiciary Committee members to vote against HB 728. P.S. – There will be a hearing on this dangerous legislation on Tuesday, February 26th at 5:00 PM CST. We encourage you to attend and show your support for the separation of religion and government! This House Judiciary Committee hearing will be held at 201 W Capitol Ave, Jefferson City, in House Hearing Room 5.

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ACTION ALERT: Oppose Bible Classes in Missouri Public High Schools

American Atheists — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 15:00:06 +0000

Christian nationalists throughout the country are trying to insert religious ideology into the public education system. And they have their eyes locked on Missouri! At this very moment, the MO State House is considering HB 267, a bill that would encourage public schools to provide elective Christian Bible courses. But their real goal is to indoctrinate children. More often than not, these classes end up resembling Sunday school rather than public school because schools fail to meet the constitutional requirement to teach them in a secular way. We need your help to oppose these bills: Tell your State Representative to vote NO on HB 267! This legislation bears all the hallmarks of Project Blitz, a multi-state campaign by Christian nationalists to attack the separation of religion and government, LGBTQ equality, and access to reproductive services. HB 267 provides no way to ensure that students are free from religious proselytization. In addition, the bill states that understanding the Christian Bible and Hebrew Scriptures are “prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture,” marginalizing the values and experiences of students who are atheists or religious minorities. Please act now. Urge your State Representative to vote NO on HB 267 to allow Bible courses in public schools!

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