Iowa Legislature Day 1: The Obligatory Magic Spell

It is opening day of the 2023 Iowa Legislature. It starts with a flurry of activity. Our legislators have a lot to do and only 110 days to get it all done. One of the first and most important items of business is to resolve that each daily session begins with a magic spell to appease Big Daddy Who Lives In the Sky.

If you don’t cast the magic spell, Big Daddy Who Lives in the Sky gets very, very angry and donors threaten to stop sending money.

And there it is, House Resolution 2, filed by Siegrist:

A Resolution to arrange for opening the sessions with prayer.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That a committee of one be appointed to arrange for opening the sessions with prayer.

Theocracy Is UnAmerican: A Rally for Secular Government 2023

The red wave fizzled in the midterm elections across the country — everywhere except here. In Iowa, Christian Nationalists actually gained seats, achieving a supermajority in both legislative houses. They have the numbers to pass any bills they feel like and no reason to hold back. I expect this year to be so much worse than last year, and 2022 was a bad year for secular-minded Iowans.

Yeah, I know, I’ve said that every year since 2017. Unfortunately,  I’ve been proven right every single year. But there are some things atheists and humanists can do to push back against the theocratic agenda; to make our voices heard at the Capitol and express our frustration and disapproval.

One of those things is Theocracy Is UnAmerican: A Rally for Secular Government. 

Sponsored by Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers in the Capitol Rotunda, this event will take place 1:00 PM Thursday, March 23, 2023.

Our speakers will defend secular government, protect church/state separation, and push back against the Christian Nationalists who seek to tear down our democratic republic. 

I plan to give the opening remarks. Other speakers include our Press Officer Jason Bennell, Connie Ryan of Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, and FFRF constitutional attorney Ryan Jayne. As we confirm more speakers I will update the list accordingly.

Prior to the rally, Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers and other like-minded groups will host outreach tables for legislators, staff, and visitors to the Capitol (set up at 9:00 AM).

Please attend if you can. There is power in numbers.  Ask for the day off now, put it in your calendar, and come to this rally. We need a crowd so large that Legislators and the Media cannot ignore us.

Christian Nationalists control the Iowa House and Senate but a third our our legislators still support secular government and our Constitutional rights. Let’s add our voices to theirs and inspire all the other secular citizens of Iowa to join us.

IAF Condemns Violence and Hate against the LGBTQ+ Community in Colorado

By: Chris Freeman, Director At Large

The weekend of November 19, 2022, brought an all too familiar scene back into the national spotlight. A man, and confirmed member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, entered Club Q in Colorado Springs and repeatedly shot into the crowd, killing 5 people and wounding at least 19 others.

The shooting looks very much like a "bias-motivated" crime - a hate crime. Club Q was seen by the local LGBTQ+ community as one of the few places to express their identity without fear. In addition to the loss of the individual people who were murdered, that community is almost certainly grappling with the loss of something many of us take for granted - a sense of safety.

If you look through the hate crime statistics from the FBI (https://crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/hate-crime), an uncomfortable trend is unavoidable. The top five most common types of bias offenses against LGBTQ+ people is overwhelmingly violence against their person. Bias offenses against various Christian groups are overwhelmingly property crimes. In this country, and probably the world over, the dominant group does not have much to fear from any of the oppressed groups no matter what their propaganda says.

The vast majority of anti-LGBTQ+ violence is a direct result of religious radicalization. And as Martin Niemöller claims in his poem "First They Came", we are in this together. The Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers group recognizes that we have a duty to show up whenever civil rights are attacked.

We mourn the loss of Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Green Paugh, Derrick Rump, and Raymond Green Vance. We did not know them, but our lives are enriched by people just like them. They are our sons and our daughters, our friends and our neighbors. Our hearts go out to their families, who are dealing with a loss most of us never have to even imagine.

But we don't stop at "thoughts and prayers". There are many ways to provide support, directly and indirectly.

Club Q has chosen Colorado Give 365 (https://www.coloradogives.org/donate/COHealingFund) as the official donation site.

Blood donation is another effective way to ensure emergency services are properly equipped.

Call your legislators to fight against laws which remove legal and social protections for vulnerable populations.

And in your daily life, take a stand against minor injustices.