In Opposition to the Reauthorization of the D.C. School Voucher Program

In Opposition to the Reauthorization of the D.C. School Voucher Program

The 54 undersigned organizations write to voice opposition to the reauthorization of the District of Columbia private school voucher program. We oppose this and all private school voucher programs because public funds should be spent on public schools, not private schools. But the D.C. program, in particular, has proven ineffective and unaccountable to taxpayers. Not only have multiple Department of Education (USED) studies1 concluded that the program has failed to improve educational outcomes for participating students, but two U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports have also identified its repeated management and accountability failures.

In Support of Protecting and Improving Women’s Health

In Support of Protecting and Improving Women’s Health

The undersigned organizations committed to protecting and improving women’s health write to you in regards to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) birth control coverage benefit. We appreciate the Administration’s leadership in implementing the ACA, and the role it has played in ensuring that women are benefitting from this landmark law. While, thanks to the ACA, many women now have coverage of birth control without cost-sharing, some health insurance issuers are not in compliance with this law. This means that the women beneficiaries in these plans continue to face barriers when accessing the birth control they need.

Oppose Attempts to Curtail D.C. Civil Rights

The undersigned religious, interfaith, and civil liberties organizations that advocate for freedom of religion and belief write to urge you to reject any and all congressional efforts, including resolutions of disapproval, that would prevent two D.C. civil rights bills from taking effect. The D.C. Council unanimously passed both the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 (RHNDAA) and the Human Rights Amendment Act of 2014 (HRAA) to support one basic underlying principle: fairness. The bills help ensure that others are treated fairly—as we all would like to be treated. These bills do not violate religious freedom, but instead protect freedom of conscience of and ensure equal treatment for all students and employees.

We urge you to oppose H J. Res. 43, which seeks to overturn the RHNDAA. The RHNDAA strengthens the District’s existing nondiscrimination protections so that employees in D.C. and their dependents do not face employment discrimination because of their personal reproductive health care decisions.

The RHNDAA would ensure that employees and their families can make their own private health decisions, based on their own consciences and in consultation with their own physicians, without fear of losing their job. Business owners are absolutely entitled to their personal religious beliefs—but they cannot use their beliefs to justify discrimination against their employees.

Similarly, we urge you to oppose H. J. Res. 44, which would repeal the HRAA. The HRAA ensures that all educational institutions in D.C. provide access to school facilities and services for all student clubs equally. Contrary to opponents’ claims, the HRAA does not require religiously affiliated schools to provide LGBT student groups with funding or official recognition. The HRAA simply upholds students’ freedom of conscience by repealing a congressionally imposed exemption to D.C. law that allows religiously affiliated educational institutions to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

God and Sports

God and Sports

Perhaps I could be of some assistance in this regard. The Bible not only condones aggressive and combative behavior, but it is much worse than that. Freddie, how about this sexist/genocidal gem? “Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.” (Numbers 31:17-18.)

In Support of Medically Accurate Sex Education

In Support of Medically Accurate Sex Education

We, the undersigned medical and public health organizations, stand in strong opposition to the addition of any provision to legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that would interfere in the relationship between students and health care providers by limiting access to information or health care services. On February 26th, 2015, during consideration of H.R. 5, the Student Success Act, a politically motivated amendment was added to the Manager’s Amendment that would do just that.

In Support of the Healthy Families Act

In Support of the Healthy Families Act

We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to support the Healthy Families Act, a common sense bill that would allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick days a year to recover from short-term illnesses like the flu, access preventive care, care for a sick family member or seek assistance related to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. Without paid sick days, workers are forced to make impossible choices when illness strikes: stay home, lose pay and risk their jobs; or go to work sick, risk their health and spread disease to their co-workers and communities. Paid sick days keep families financially secure, workplaces and communities healthy and productive, and businesses and the economy strong.

God and the Problem of Evil

God and the Problem of Evil

It has always been absolutely clear to me that theodicy is a complete waste of time. The problem of evil simply cannot be solved. How could evil exist if a perfectly good, all-powerful, all-knowing God exists? Evil cannot come from that which is perfectly good. Therefore, God could not have created evil. (Moreover, evil could not have originated outside God, because God is everywhere. A perfectly good God would have recognized evil and destroyed it at its inception.)

On Religiously Sanctioned Bigotry

On Religiously Sanctioned Bigotry

In recent weeks there have been disturbing stories in the news about people using religion to make life miserable for others. There is the story of certain Ultra- Orthodox Jewish men on numerous flights from New York to Israel refusing to sit next to women because it is allegedly against their religion. These religious fanatics, not surprisingly, insist that everyone must respect their deeply cherished religious values.

On the Internet and Religion

On the Internet and Religion

If only most religious people would use very simple Web searches when religious questions arose, organized religion would shrink at incredible rates. In the 1990s, freethinker Farrell Till predicted that religion would wither away with the growth of the Web. Though the rise of the Web has been a factor in turning people away from organized religion, there are still large numbers of people attending houses of worship, and so forth.

Common Logical Fallacies and Cultural Criticism

Common Logical Fallacies and Cultural Criticism

Many people reject important critiques of their culture because they have problems with the sources of those critiques. Many people commit the genetic fallacy by assuming that because a critic exists outside one’s group, that critic cannot be taken seriously. Or they will go further and commit the fallacy of poisoning the well by asserting that a person’s membership or former membership in a particular group makes that person hostile and untrustworthy where criticism of another group is concerned. Others will launch ad hominem or personal attacks against their critics.