secular coalition for maryland presentation for secularists

8/13/2019 Secular Coalition for Maryland presentation for secularists

1/19

We want secular

Marland government


2/19

Maryland lobbyists Marland Catholic Conference Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of

Washington Christian Science Committee on

Publication for Maryland

Baltimore Washington Conference of theUnited Methodist Church


3/19

Maryland lobbyists (cont.) General Board of Church on Society of

the United Methodist Church Maryland Right to Life Baltimore Jewish Council Maryland Interfaith Legislative

Committee (MILC) Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry

of Maryland

Etc.


4/19

Do they want seculargovernment?

They want "non-sectarian" government They equate non-sectarianism with

Christian friendly monotheism They consider polytheism and atheism to

be inferior and foreign

They claim secular government would beantagonistic to religion They prefer government establishment

of monotheism


5/19

Who lobbies for a secularMaryland government?

ACLU? Not (yet) against establishment ofmonotheism

?


6/19

Conclusions Secularists are not speaking out for

secular government and therefore are notbeing heard in Annapolis

Secularism is good, therefore our silenceis bad

Our anti-secularist competitors arelobbying and are being heard

We can, and should, make ourselvesheard in Annapolis


7/19

Secular Coalition for Maryland Keep track of ongoing legislative activity Research statutes, regulations, outcomes,

enforcement, relevant history Respond to legislative activity with press

releases

Distribute secular policy guide tolawmakers and regulators Make it easier for you to let your elected

officials know what we want


8/19

SCMD future goals Go on the offensive and lobby to change

existing laws Replace unfair non-sectarian standard

with a non-discrimination standard Amend Declaration of Rights to conform

with 1961 Supreme Court decision Dozens of revisions are needed to

secularize Maryland government


9/19

What you can do now Register to receive news from the SCMD

http://www.secular.org Join the Secular Coalition of America Ask your secularist group to support the

SCMD

The SCMD needs volunteers to contributeto the lobbying efforts


10/19

If you do not live in Maryland Every state and the District of Columbia

has its own Secular Coalitionhttp://states.secular.org


11/19

Maryland government 101 The 141 Delegates and 47 Senators are in

session from January to Early April eachyear

Bills are referred to committee after firstreading, amended by voting duringsecond reading, voted up or down afterthird reading

Original chamber votes again if secondchamber amended the bill


12/19

Maryland government (cont) If both chambers disagree then a

conference committee with 3 membersfrom each chamber negotiates commonbill which is voted in both chambers

Governor can veto bills until late May Three fifths vote in both chambers can

override veto (can occur following year)


13/19

Constitutional amendments

Amendments to the Constitution arepassed by the Maryland General Assemblyand placed on the ballot in the nextstatewide general election. If the votersapprove the constitutional amendment,the change becomes part of theConstitution


14/19

Regulations

State agencies write the regulations. Wecan lobby particular agencies forrevisions or improvements to theirpublished regulations.


15/19

SCMD needs volunteers to: Build a coalition of participating,

endorsing, and allied organizations, singleissue agreement sufficient

Grow list of individual contacts Build relationships with lawmakers

Monitor legislation and regulation Opposition and other relevant research Meet with regulatory agency staff


16/19

SCMD needs volunteers (cont.) Fundraise for SCA on behalf of SCMD Social media outreach - Facebook, blogs,

etc. Submit comments for rule makers Write letters to the editor, op-eds

Advertising on radio, internet, t.v.,newspapers, magazines, billboards, etc. Etc.


17/19

SCMD Executive Committee Vacancies: Co-Chair, Communications

Chair, Tech Chair, Legislative Chair SCMD web site has issues Wiki, research

links, events, documents, etc.http://md.secular.org


18/19

Open Discussion Are there any state issues of particular

concern that you would like to see theSecular Coalition for Maryland focus on?

Are there any local issues that we shouldknow about?


19/19

Lets be like this guy

secular coalition for maryland presentation for secularists

Documents