The big news right now is that Mike Newdow is suing, along with the FFRF (but not American Atheists) to remove the “so help me god” and the “invocation” at the Obama inauguration. The Obama Team contacted me before the election several times to issue a statement on the NoGodBlog to solicit Atheist votes. I complied. Since their victory, nothing. No returned calls, no returned emails, and no place in the inauguration. Preachers get to preach their divisive “we all love god and gays can’t get married” bullcrap, but there will be no acknowledgment of secular people AT ALL at the event. Quite frankly, I’m pretty pissed.So yes, the Newdow lawsuit is righteous, and we hope he wins, but what we REALLY hope is that Prez-Elect Obama HEARS FROM YOU about our total lack of presence at his “Interfaith Table“. Preferably, send snail-mail to Presidential Inaugural Committee 2009, Washington, D.C. 20599 (yes, this is the whole address)and tell them to include the 16% of Americans that profess no faith in gods at their inauguration and at their table. We will NOT be ignored.
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Sent today, via mail.
January 2, 2009
Presidential Inaugural Committee 2009,
Washington, D.C. 20599
Dear Inaugural Committee Members,
I was contacted by D. Paul Montiero before the election to help ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃで都pread the wordﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ that Mr. Obama wanted the votes of nonreligious people. I complied, using every possible means at my disposal, to convey that message to the 50 Million non-theistic Americans.
Since your victory, weﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃや┐ve not heard from Mr. Obamaﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃや┐s team AT ALL. The Inauguration doesnﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃや┐t involve us, the ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃで的nterfaith Tableﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ specifically excludes us, and Mr. Obama is looking a lot less like an ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃで殿gent of changeﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ than the same old bunk we helped defeat.
I am writing to ask that this be corrected, that nonreligious groups be made a part of the ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃで的nterfaith Tableﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ and that we be included, or at least acknowledged, at the inauguration.
Secular people make up more of the population than Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, combined, and doubled. We deserve NOT to be ignored, and we hope to have the support of our President.
Sincerely,
Dave Silverman
National Spokesperson
American Atheists
Dave,
I’m not trying to sound like phreedm, honest, but if the following is true, what about our 501c3 status?
It seems to me you are in the same situation as a preacher that endorses from the pulpit. Please tell me I am wrong.
Isn’t it okay to encourage others to vote for specific candidates as long as you are doing it as a private citizen, and not from an official status? Wouldn’t the American Atheists have to endorse a candidate to make it illegal? After all, many non-religious people are not even members of American Atheists.
Obama seems determined and so I feel that a letter will probably be ineffectual, nevertheless, I have written one and mailed it off.
Good work. I say sue Mr. Obama himself.
It is perfectly within our rights to relay the requests of a candidate for their support. We did not endorse Mr. Obama, and I certainly would have done the same had Mr. McCain’s team done the same.
Dave,
Thanks. I guess that clears it up. I still don’t quite understand, but as many here will tell you, I can be a little slow.
Hell, even phred got this one right.
Wish in one hand, shit in the other & see wihch fills up first.
It’s business as usual in ‘Merikuh.
I have never heard those recordings or seen any transcripts. Are they available anywhere?
Carl Silverman:
Did anybody think to obtain a public pledge from Obama, before voting for him, that he would take care to keep any more theocrats off the federal courts?
I quote Dave:
“Since their victory, nothing. No returned calls, no returned emails, and no place in the inauguration. Preachers get to preach their divisive “we all love god and gays can’t get married” bullcrap, but there will be no acknowledgment of secular people AT ALL at the event. Quite frankly, I’m pretty pissed.”
Unless you lash out in anger, which is a really bad idea against a president-elect, no one feels your anger except you, and I think its probably not a pleasant sensation. For what it’s worth, I would recommend you take a step back, take a deep breath, and look rationally at what this man has on his plate. Do I need to name them for you? War on two fronts. A global economic collapse. Crisis in the Middle East. Global warming. Iranian Nukes. Genocide in Africa. Need I continue?
You feel like he owes you, and I’m sure you’re right. He owes a lot of people, because his campaign sent out tenticles everywhere because he was bent on winning. But now that he won, he owes everyone who worked with his campaign and everyone who voted for him. And I know, it must, on the surface, make it worse when he’s vacationing in Hawaii while you’re calls are ignored. But, the man has been working nonstop for two years to win this campaign, and now that he’s won he has the simple job of pulling humanity back from the brink of the Dark Ages part II. Maybe he deserves a little patience and support, instead of anger. Just something to consider.
NeoWolfe
Obama won’t be able to turn around without offending somebody.
And the honeymoon WILL end.
That we at least be acknowledged is a request that if ignored, would reflect very poorly on Obama’s supposed sense of fairness. Perhaps we’ve naively elevated Obama to one who truly fathoms American constitutional justice.
Or perhaps O is still deathly afraid of the A word or even acknowledging the secular reality. He knows the lynch mobs are salivating at the chance to call him ungodly. But does he have the wisdom and courage to step forward?
Maybe he’s pacing himself to the circumstances that best allow him a tolerant cooperation within the immediate cultural paradigm.
Maybe he’s just being patient. Maybe we should be too.
Hmmm…Duh
How many times have I asked…which is the more honest politician…
One who says they disagree with you and vote that way…
Or the one who claims to support you and then throws you under the bus?
This is only the beginning…
Fool me once shame on you…fool me twice shame on you…
Does anyone honestly believe there is going to be change? If you do I have a bridge to sell you…
phreedm
You may be right. History certainly supports your scenario and you are not alone in your skepticism regarding the integrity of politics.
But you have to admit the anomaly of Obama offers a possible break from convention.
It alreadys has for me when he picked that ignorant bigot rick warren to pray at his inaguration. Obama had better make good on some of his promises to the gay community quick if he wants our vote again in 2012.
GS:
I don’t know why you’d give him a second chance, he’s already shown where his loyalty is.
Lipstick on a pig?
I can only hope that Obama threw Rick Warren a bone that has no meat.
Stop bitching and write a letter!
I have.
At least Barky seems to be serious about overturning federal funding for stem cell research: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28474929/
After we send our letters we can sing about our struggle….
Swing low, sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Coming for to carry me home
A band of silly superstitions coming after me
Coming for to carry me home
Here’s a running list of NObama’s campaign promises…don’t hold your breath for him to deliver…
It appears the “messiah’s” approval rating is already dropping among those who allow themselves to “think freely”…
Taxes
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Give a tax break to 95% of Americans.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Restore Clinton-era tax rates on top income earners.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ “If you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime. Not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes. Nothing.”
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Give American businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every job they create in the U.S.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Eliminate capital gains taxes for small business and startup companies.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Expand the child and dependent care tax credit.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Expand the earned income tax credit.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Create a universal mortgage credit.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Create a small business health tax credit.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Provide a $500 “make work pay” tax credit to small businesses.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Provide a $1,000 emergency energy rebate to families.
Energy
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Spend $15 billion a year on renewable sources of energy.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Eliminate oil imports from the Middle East in 10 years.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Increase fuel economy standards by 4% a year.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Weatherize 1 million homes annually.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Ensure that 10% of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012.
Environment
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Create 5 million green jobs.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Implement a cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Get 1 million plug-in hybrids on the road by 2015.
Labor
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Sign a fair pay restoration act, which would overturn the Supreme Court’s pay discrimination ruling.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Sign into law an employee free choice act ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃや aka card check ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃや to make it easier for unions to organize.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Make employers offer seven paid sick days per year.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Increase the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2009.
National security
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Remove troops from Iraq by the summer of 2010.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Cut spending on unproven missile defense systems.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ No more homeless veterans.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Finish the fight against Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida terrorists.
Social Security
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Work in a “bipartisan way to preserve Social Security for future generations.”
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Impose a Social Security payroll tax on incomes above $250,000.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Match 50% of retirement savings up to $1,000 for families earning less than $75,000.
Education
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Demand higher standards and more accountability from our teachers.
Spending
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Go through the budget, line by line, ending programs we don’t need and making the ones we do need work better and cost less.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Slash earmarks.
Health care
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Lower health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Let the uninsured get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress get.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.
ﾃδ｢ﾃやぎﾃつ｢ Spend $10 billion over five years on health care information technology.
My message to Obama:
‘I am dismayed by the selection of a right-wing and bigoted “pastor” to give some sort of religious homily at the inauguration. Reaching out to others to be more inclusive is certainly admirable, but should be limited to those able to think rationally. Rick Warren is someone the current president would have willingly selected.’
phred, isn’t there a brand new pony for everybody in there too?
Gee I wonder how many campaign promises BushCo fulfilled for the Phreak? What am I saying? As long as taxes are low and we are killing foreigners he’s happy. OK there’s that little matter of destroying the US economy but weren’t the rest just bully?
Better trolls please.
freethought1
The majority of human beings are not only able to think rationally but do think rationally. They just start with different premises or propositions than you and I. The problem, as I see it, is that their premises or propositions are often nonfactual and the hypotheses they generate are often not testable and therefore useless at best and dangerous or wasteful when they guide policy.
The problem with Warren is that his life and work is a poor example (helluva understatement) of the inclusiveness that Obama has promised.
Dave said,
“Stop bitching and write a letter!
I already did. But, it wasn’t about “so help me god.” I sent him a letter about economic recovery, how to get the biggest bang for the buck, and I was ignored as well, big surprise. I didn’t take it personally. If it were written on a Harvard letterhead, they might has sent me a thank you note, and been ignored in the order it was received.
Listen, Dave, he didn’t run on an atheist, or even a purist secular platform. There is no decision he can make that will not piss of someone. He’s been working hard to put together a team of the best minds on the planet to dig us out of “Decider Bush’s god hole”. Good thing GW prayed for guidance each day, it payed off big.
He’s been trying to throw everyone a bone in order to keep them on board for what he has no choice but to try to accomplish. Dave, he was the best man for the job, and despite McCain’s commercials about parting the red sea, he’s just a man, and the more we unite and support him, the less shit he has to wade through in order to execute his plan. When civilization is pulling back from the brink of the Dark Ages II, that might be a great time to approach him with secular purification. It might be a point in time when you find him in the mindset of how the hell this happened in the first place.
He’s a busy man in the nth degree, and atheists with their feelings hurt is probably down the list, even from the plight of the homeless. Don’t take it personally, it’s a big planet.
NeoWolfe
godless said,
“And the honeymoon WILL end.
It alreadys has for me when he picked that ignorant bigot rick warren to pray at his inaguration. Obama had better make good on some of his promises to the gay community quick if he wants our vote again in 2012.”
Another well thought out comment. It was right up there with “I.hate.Israel”. Who can argue with logic like that?”
By voting for a republican candidate, you will help your cause immensely. That’ll teach him!!!!!
NeoWolfe
Here is a website that has an automated letter you can have sent to Obama in regards to Rick Warren. Not that it will make a difference, Obama is going to grant this divisive, bigot
prime speaking time in front of the nation, regardless. It might make you feel a little bit better though.
http://dumprickwarren.com
Why not invite Ted Haggard to speak as well? I think that would be quite amusing to as Haggard represents the blatant hypocrisy in modern day religion.
I voted for Obama as what other real choice does a gay, liberal atheist have in American politics? I must confess that I am nervous that he is in way over his head. This is precisely why I voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries. I think the current economic and social issues facing this country are quite monumental, quite the challenge even for the most seasoned politician to handle.
He promised so much change to so many people. Inevitably, progress for some groups will mean reverting back and losing ground for others. Yes, that would qualifty as “change” but Mr. Obama never did promise change we like, now did he?
Bill Clinton courted the gays in 1992 and made grand promises. In the end, all he pretty much accomplished was instituting an insulting “don’t ask, don’t tell policy.” I really don’t expect Obama to further advance the progress of gays, let alone the atheist cause but I really don’t expect him to stand in the way, either.
It’s a shame voting for a canidate based on what they WON’T do to you, than based on what they will.
Again, the brilliance of Phreedumb:
“Does anyone honestly believe there is going to be change? If you do I have a bridge to sell you…”
You can change the way you do business, but, you cannot change with whom you must do business. “Decider George” was sure that democracy would change the Arab culture. But, when religious fundamentalists are given a vote, who do they elect? Religious hierarchy. I guess his god wasn’t guiding him the way he thought he would.
You had better hope that “change” is coming, because everyone you love is the sites of the shit that is coming down the pike, too. I wish you luck.
The United Third World of America, who could have seen it coming? Me.
NeoWolfe
We are the same (Mc or O) place we were
before. One Supreme Court vote for losing
the 1st Amendment.
Oh, by the way…
I told you so.
The only choice is to find a 3rd party candidate
who will stand for the constitution. Nader. McKinney. Hell, even Chuck Baldwin from the Constitution Party, who surprised me while watching the 3rd party debate with the most impassioned
defence of the seperation of state and church
that I’ve heard from a politician in a long time
(maybe since a Capra movie).
But all you’ll ever get from a republicrat is bullshit and the back of his hand.
Could you imagine what would happen if there
was a sudden 15% INCREASE in 3rd party votes in
2010 that could be directly attributed to the Atheist Community. Oh, the not-so-nazi- wing of the republicrat party would lose a couple of seats
but what would that change. Osame would start kissing republican ass?? Maybee the democrats
would get their heads out of their asses and
realize that they NEED the 2/3 to 3/4 of the vote
we give them (oh, that’s right we don’t deliver the vote for them but they’re dancing in the aisles
because they got 24% of the christer-fascist evangelical vote.)
But first, we need to get our heads out of our
collective asses and value our voting power.
Or is this, too, a battle not worth fighting??
Teammarty:
The problem with 3rd party candidates is obviously money. I didn’t even know Mckinney until I looked her up after seeing your post.
As with any candidate, there’s always something that makes you shudder in their message. I did look at Nader, and the libertarian party candidate. In the end I felt I had just thrown my vote away.
teammarty said:
“But first, we need to get our heads out of our
collective asses and value our voting power.
Or is this, too, a battle not worth fighting?? “
Dude, I feel your frustration. I am an idependant. I am a fiscal conservative and a social ultraliberal. The libertarian party appeals to me, but a third party candidate hasn’t been viable since Ross Perot, who was my choice.
But, don’t lose sight of the fact that a third party president, if elected, is not god. He still has to get his ideas past congress and the supreme court.
The status quo is protectiing it’s turf and it will take a visionary with lots of monitary support and a lot of charisma to break the cycle. A “messiah”, if you will. Sad, but, inescapably true.
NeoWolfe
I support Newdow’s lawsuit. Harassing Christian theocrats can never be a waste of time.
I don’t want to criticize Obama even though I wish he would leave religion out of his inauguration. Obama sucks up to Christian fundies for political reasons, but he’s never going to let them get in the way of scientific progress.