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Bart's Blog

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Week of 8/17/2020

17 Aug 2020
Emily
Bart's Blog

The Black Lives Matter to AEU statement to reaffirm past resolutions for racial justice was approved by the Assembly of the American Ethical Union and is now available on the aeu.org website. The reaffirmation calls for action on a number of fronts and this week I’d like to focus on a particular action that I believe fits both the statement and this moment in time.

From the “Moving Forward within an Anti-racist Framework” section of that statement:
“It is vital that we listen to, engage with, and follow the lead of organizers who represent the most adversely affected among us as they choose avenues for repair and organize us toward effective action.”

This being a Presidential election year there is particular urgency to address the harms of voter disenfranchisement. In a number of areas in the country restrictive policies have resulted in people being unfairly removed from voter registration rolls, strict identification laws that especially affect Black people and other vulnerable populations, reductions in polling locations, and efforts to limit early voting and vote by mail. The impact of these and other measures has been greatly compounded by the coronavirus pandemic which makes voting in person a significant health risk and makes it difficult to house polling sites or staff them.

The American Ethical Union has become a national partner with the Center for Common Ground’s “Reclaim Our Vote” campaign headed up by Andrea Miller. Reclaim Our Vote (ROV) is a nonpartisan campaign that reaches out to voters of color in states that have engaged in voter suppression and encourages them to check their registration status, provides important information about voting opportunities and issues, and encourages people to make a pledge to vote and to urge others to vote as well.

In May of this year the AEU’s “Saving Our Democracy Through Voting” forum learned of the New York Society for Ethical Culture’s work with ROV to send postcards to voters who were at risk of being removed from voter registration rolls. Many Society representatives were enthusiastic about joining the campaign and sixteen Societies have postcarding volunteers. We have sent out over 37,000 postcards.

In the beginning of this month, we have begun recruiting volunteers to participate in Phone Banking with ROV and we would like to see as much or more enthusiasm for this aspect of the ROV campaign.

There are many excellent reasons for phone banking through ROV:

  • ROV is making calls to people of color in areas that have had significant voter suppression activities
  • ROV is providing helpful information rather than campaigning, and
  • ROV is providing encouragement to people who are more often presented with disincentives and discouragements.
  • A good percentage of people who are reached by phone act upon the information provided and vote.

I am a participant with the ROV Phone Banking campaign and have, along with a few other Ethical Society people, taken the phone banking training with our ROV coordinator, Laura Hembree. The training includes both instruction and hands-on activity and after a few minutes of orientation the trainees were set loose to make calls. I made 28 calls in an hour, had conversations with three voters and left about eight voicemail messages. And it was truly enjoyable.

And now that I’ve been trained, I can go back into the system and start making more calls at my own pace.

2019 – Defending the Right to Vote
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the American Ethical Union, speak to this resolution and stand up for a democracy that protects our values and our constitutional right to cast our vote;
And YOU can join the campaign, too!

Here’s how:

  • Signup for and attend a two hour training and hands-on phone banking session.
  • Make calls

It is that simple. The next training opportunity will be the week of August 23rd. To reserve a spot for the training, respond to this Doodle Poll and we will schedule the training when the largest number of volunteers are available.

Here’s the link: https://doodle.com/poll/74ewt6ingwzvxx4h

Looking forward to joining you for the training and hearing your stories about your conversations with voters!
Bart Worden

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All Society Platform Featuring Congressman Jamie Raskin

28 Mar 2021 | 11:00 am

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American Ethical Union
American Ethical Union

Congressman Jamie Raskin Salutes Long Walk for Freedom

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Congressman Jamie Raskin shared words of support for the Sindhi Foundation's Long Walk for Freedom, Nature, and Love today.

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www.mymcmedia.org/raskin-trone-urge-hogan-to-open-mass-vaccination-site-in-montgomery-county/ ... See MoreSee Less

Raskin, Trone Urge Hogan to Open Mass Vaccination Site in Montgomery County | Montgomery Community Media

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U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md. 8) and David Trone (D-Md. 6) have written a letter to Gov. Larry Hogan and Maryland’s Acting Secretary of Health Dennis Schrader urging that the state open a mass vaccination site in Montgomery County. “[D]espite Montgomery suffering the worst casualty rate in Mary...

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American Ethical Union
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In honor of Women's History Month, the AEU highlights the work of Sandra Faber!An astronomer at the University of California-Santa Cruz, Sandra Faber has made innumerable contributions to our understanding of the beginnings of our universe, the formation of galaxies, and the origins of our planet. In 2013, President Obama recognized her notable achievements with the National Medal of Science. She is also a publicly declared atheist who finds meaning not in religious doctrine or deities but in the beauty of the natural laws of science. In an interview with PBS, Faber stated that there are only two possible explanations for the origin of the universe: “One is that there is a God and that God made it that way. The only other approach…is to argue that there really is an infinite, or a very big, ensemble of universes out there and we are in one.” In the interview Faber asserted her preference for the latter materialistic explanation rather than theistic faith in a creator, adding, “I take comfort in the fact that it is a beautiful universe, and we belong here and that we fit. This is our home.”#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM #WomenInSTEM #WomenHumanists #WomensHistoryMonth2021 ... See MoreSee Less

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American Ethical Union
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On February 25 a group of U.S. House Democrats including Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), reintroduced the Do No Harm Act, a bill to ensure that religious freedom is not used as a justification for discriminating against LGBTQ people, religious minorities, and others. ... See MoreSee Less

Religious Groups Agree: Pass The Do No Harm Act

www.au.org

The Do No Harm Act will return the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to its original purpose of protecting the free exercise of religion, especially for religious minorities, while making it clear that the legislation should never be used to exempt anyone from laws that protect other people’s basi...

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In honor of Women's History Month, the AEU highlig In honor of Women's History Month, the AEU highlights the work of Sandra Faber!
An astronomer at the University of California-Santa Cruz, Sandra Faber has made innumerable contributions to our understanding of the beginnings of our universe, the formation of galaxies, and the origins of our planet. In 2013, President Obama recognized her notable achievements with the National Medal of Science. She is also a publicly declared atheist who finds meaning not in religious doctrine or deities but in the beauty of the natural laws of science. 
In an interview with PBS, Faber stated that there are only two possible explanations for the origin of the universe: “One is that there is a God and that God made it that way. The only other approach…is to argue that there really is an infinite, or a very big, ensemble of universes out there and we are in one.” In the interview Faber asserted her preference for the latter materialistic explanation rather than theistic faith in a creator, adding, “I take comfort in the fact that it is a beautiful universe, and we belong here and that we fit. This is our home.”

#WomensHistoryMonth #WHM #WomenInSTEM #WomenHumanists #WomensHistoryMonth2021
On this final day of Black History Month, we honor On this final day of Black History Month, we honor Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965), a Black playwright and journalist.

Hansberry’s partly autobiographical play “A Raisin in the Sun,” shocked Broadway audiences when a Black character declared, “God is just one idea I don’t accept. ... It’s just that I get so tired of him getting credit for all the things the human race achieves through its own stubborn effort. There simply is no God! There is only man, and it’s he who makes miracles!” She worked with W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Robeson on an African-American progressive newspaper, until her life was tragically cut short at age 34 by cancer.

#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #BlackNonBelievers #BlackHumanism
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