By Robert Cook
It’s that time of year again. The second session of Iowa’s 90th General Assembly gaveled in on January 8, 2024. I’m busy reading bills, unravelling the details, declaring for or against them, and passing on that critical information to my fellow heathen freethinkers.
But this year, it’s not just me. IAF President Jason Bennell and IAF. Secretary Jillian Stark have also registered as lobbyists with the Iowa Legislature and will be helping me monitor bills and events at the Capitol Building. I appreciate their assistance. Keeping track of the legislature during session is a huge job for three people, let alone just me.
I have created a spreadsheet of all the bills that I have responded to — for, against, and undecided. I check the Legislative website every day and we will do our best to keep this list up to date. Feel free to check out the bill and share the link far and wide.
There are three criteria that I use to decide which bills to respond to on behalf of IAF. These three categories often overlap.
1) Secular government and separation of church and state. These bill are the easy ones. that deal with the core issues of IAFs activism.
2) Christian Nationalism. IAF opposes Christian Nationalism. It is related to, but not the sam as #1. Christian Nationalists love their culture war hot button issues, I see many Christian Nationalist bills that have nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus or Christianity in general. But if groups like the Family Leader or Iowa Baptists for Biblical Values weighs in on a bill to virtue signal their base or persuade legislators to vote for religious privilege, then that makes it IAF business.
3) IAF is a community of atheists and freethinkers. We are also a community of humanists. That humanism broadens our activist interest beyond strict just church/state separation. We support human rights for everyone. We also support the LGBTQ community, reproductive healthcare, public education, science, voting rights, and democratic principles. We will examine any bills that touch on these issues (and probably others that I didn't think of just now).
Please check out the spreadsheet and let me know if you have any comments, concerns, or if I missed any bills that you think IAF should respond to.