Secular movement

The secular movement refers to a social and political trend in America, ^[1] beginning in the early years of the twenty-first century, that has seen atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and other nonreligious and non-theistic Americans grow in both numbers and visibility. The secular movement has occurred as America has seen a sharp increase in the number who identify as religiously unaffiliated, a number that has grown from under ten percent in the 1990s to twenty percent in 2013.^[2] The trend is especially prevalent among young people, with about one in three Americans under age 30 identifying as religiously unaffiliated, a figure that has nearly tripled since the 1990s.^[2][3]

America's secular movement has caused friction in the culture war, as its emergence has sometimes created conflict between the secular demographic and religious conservatives. This conflict is reflected in politics, law, and others aspects of American society and culture. The secular movement is generally opposed to the Christian right and advocates for liberal positions on social issues such as gay rights, reproductive rights, and church-state separation.^[4][5]

Secular groups

The secular movement has resulted in the rapid growth of national and local atheist and humanist groups, with organizations such as American Atheists, the American Humanist Association, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation seeing rising memberships and atheist groups appearing in communities around the country.^[6] This trend has been aided in part by the Internet, which has allowed atheists and other seculars to connect in ways that weren't previously possible, through popular blogs and sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Meetup.com.^[7][8] This has allowed for formation of secular groups even in deeply conservative, bible belt areas.^[9][10][11] National secular groups that once had constituencies of just a few thousand have utilized social media to attract followings in the hundreds of thousands.^[12][13] The movement has also seen rapid growth in secular student groups in colleges and even high schools.^[14] The Secular Student Alliance, a national group formed in 2001, grew from 80 campus affiliates in 2007 to almost 400 in 2013.^[15]

Secular advertising

The secular movement has seen various efforts to increase the visibility of nonbelievers in Americans society, includes advertising campaigns.^[16][17][18] With the number of local secular groups growing throughout the country, in 2009 a national group was formed to use secular advertising as a means of promoting those groups and raising their visibility. The United Coalition of Reason operates by entering a media market and working with local atheist and humanist groups to form a local "Coalition of Reason," and then purchasing local advertising, usually billboards or transit ads, to promote that local coalition. The United Coalition of Reason has executed this strategy in over 75 media markets around the country.^[19] Typical ads convey messages such as "Are you Good Without God? Millions are" and "Don't believe in God? You are not alone." Coalition ads often create controversy in communities in which they have been erected, and have even been vandalized.^[20]

Politics

The secular movement has also included efforts to participate visibly in politics. In 2002 the Secular Coalition for America was formed to lobby on behalf of secular Americans in Washington, DC. In 2007, as a result of a campaign by the Secular Coalition for America, Rep. Pete Stark of California became the first open atheist in U.S. Congress.^[21][22] In 2013, a political action committee was launched to support nonreligious political candidates and candidates sympathetic to atheist and humanist concerns.^[23] The Secular Coalition for America has claimed that over two dozen members of Congress have privately reported being atheists, but refrain from openly identifying as such.^[24] Although open atheists are still relatively rarely elected in American politics, atheists frequently challenge religious conservatives on political issues. The American Humanist Association has written letters discouraging newly elected members of Congress in 2013 and 2015 from joining the Congressional Prayer Caucus, which advocates for more prayer and religion in American government.^[25]

Lawsuits

As America's secular demographic has grown and become more visible and active, a number of high-profile lawsuits have been brought to challenge references to God and religion in government. These cases, however, have had limited success, as the courts have not been welcoming to the assertion of atheist legal claims.

In 2002 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the "under God" wording of the Pledge of Allegiance violated the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. That ruling was overturned by the United States Supreme Court in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, 542 U.S. 1 (2004), which ruled against the plaintiff not on the substantive legal issue but on a technicality, declaring that the plaintiff father who brought the case, Michael Newdow, lacked legal standing because he did not have custody of his daughter, on whose behalf he brought the suit. Newdow subsequently brought a second case, but in that case the Ninth Circuit in 2010 reversed its earlier 2002 decision and ruled that the "under God" wording did not violate the Establishment Clause.^[26]

In 2007 the Supreme Court ruled against the Freedom from Religion Foundation in the case of Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, 551 U.S. 587 (2007), a lawsuit challenging the expenditure of tax money through the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The court ruled that taxpayers do not have legal standing to challenge expenditures by the executive branch. In 2011 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to the National Day of Prayer, again on standing grounds.^[27] In 2013 a federal court rejected a challenge, brought by Newdow and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, to remove "in God We Trust" from currency.^[28]

In 2014 state courts in Massachusetts and New Jersey rejected challenges to state laws requiring daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. The lawsuits, brought by the American Humanist Association, claimed equal protection guarantees under the respective state constitutions prohibited daily recitation of the pledge, because the "under God" wording discriminates against atheists. The courts ruled that since participation in the exercise is voluntary the laws do not violate equal protection.^[29][30]

In Town of Greece v. Galloway, the Supreme Court in 2014 rejected a challenge to certain legislative prayer practices that utilized sectarian prayers.^[31] Though seen as a setback for church-state separation, the ruling also stated that municipalities cannot discriminate against minority faiths in allowing invocations, and therefore atheists and humanists subsequently utilized the ruling to assert their rights to participate in the invocation process. Just months after the Galloway ruling, an atheist gave the invocation at a regular meeting of the Town of Greece board.^[32]

The secular movement has also been active in public discourse over the definition of religious freedom. Atheist and humanist groups were leading voices opposed to the Supreme Court's 2014 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which gave corporate employers the right to opt out of the birth control mandate of the Affordable Care Act on religious freedom grounds.^[33]

Reason Rally

In March 2012 several national secular groups coordinated to sponsor a Reason Rally on the Mall in Washington, DC, with a lineup of speakers and performers that included Richard Dawkins, Tim Minchin, Bad Religion, James Randi, and many others. The stated purpose of the rally, according to its web site, was "to unify, energize, and embolden secular people nationwide."^[34] Crowd estimates range from 8000 to 30,000.^[35][36] Organizers have announced plans for a second Reason Rally, date to be determined.^[37][38]

Openly Secular

In 2014, reflecting an approach similar to the "coming out" strategy of the gay rights movement, a group called Openly Secular was formed to encourage nonreligious and non-theistic Americans to be open about their personal secularity. The group states its mission "is to eliminate discrimination and increase acceptance by getting secular people - including atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, humanists and nonreligious people - to be open about their beliefs."^[39] In one video produced for the group, comedian and television personality Bill Maher urges atheists to be open about their religious skepticism, dismissing the Bible as a book "based on ancient myths."^[40]

Connection to New Atheism

New Atheist authors Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens helped give the secular movement momentum, though many among American seculars disagree with the politics and style of the popular New Atheists.^[41][42] Dawkins has been involved in public disputes with atheist feminists who have criticized remarks he has made about sexual harassment.^[43] Although the New Atheist authors have been highly critical of Islam, connecting terrorist violence to the religious faith of the terrorists, such views have sometimes been characterized as Islamophobic.^[44] Some within the secular movement, such as the American Humanist Association, have expressed "a strong distaste for efforts to propagate a crusade mentality against Islam."^[45]

References