Missouri

Tomorrow and Saturday I’ll be attending the Values Voter Summit, an annual Religious Right confab sponsored by the Family Research Council, American Family Association Action and other groups.

People sometimes ask me what the country would be like if these groups managed to achieve total political power. It isn’t necessary to speculate about that. You can see the results of it in several states right now. Read more

When members of the Republic School Board of Education in Missouri voted 4-0 to remove Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five from its curriculum, I’ll bet they had no idea the backlash they’d receive.

But it just goes to show, making a stink of things can really go a long way. Thanks to Americans United and our allies (including the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library!), the board has now agreed to reconsider its misguided decision. Read more

Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five is considered a modern classic. That doesn’t mean it’s a particularly easy read. Indeed, it deals with some fairly heady topics. When I first encountered it in high school, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. But it sure made me think, which, in my view, is what a good novel should do.

Funny thing about that thinking – some people see it as dangerous. And a few of those people sit on the school board in Republic, Mo. Read more

The people of Missouri deserve better.

Not only has the state’s legislature passed a measure that could open the door to government-promoted religion – it plans to deliberately mislead Missourians about it.

H.J.R. 2 will appear on the November 2012 ballot. It’s an amendment that will add language to the state’s constitution codifying the right of Missourians to express their religious beliefs in public places, including public schools. Read more

Come November, the people of Missouri will vote on whether they have the right to pray privately in public places – a right that all Americans already have.

Sadly, some legislators in the Show Me State don’t seem to get that. That’s why both the House and Senate just passed the Religious Freedom in Public Places Act (HJR 2), a measure that proposes a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a citizen’s right to pray and worship on public property, including public schools.

  Read more

The influx of “Tea Party” conservatives who flooded the U.S. Congress and many state legislatures earlier this year promised to focus on jobs and the economy. So why are getting a relentless barrage of bills on social issues?

Consider Missouri. The state House of Representatives there recently passed a so-called “Religious Freedom Amendment” that Religious Right groups think is wonderful. Everyone else ought to be terrified. Read more

With Darwin Day (Feb. 12) just around the corner, scientists, educators and citizens across the world are gearing up to celebrate the birth of Charles Darwin and his contributions to science.

As Bill Nye “The Science Guy” recently put it, teachers’ reluctance to teach Darwin’s theory of evolution is “horrible.” Scientific advances that benefit everyone could be at risk if students don’t learn sound science. Read more

The Missouri Senate has spoken, and for the third year in a row, it has refused to advance a constitutional amendment permitting government-sponsored religious activities.

Religious Right activists, who lobbied hard for the measure, are none too happy about losing, again –and have pinned the blame on Americans United and our allies.

We’re happy to accept this blame. AU worked hard to derail this dangerous resolution. Read more

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