Saturday, August 4, 2012

Join Us in Visiting Our Congressional Representatives This Election Season!

Americans United - Greater Los Angeles is organizing constituent visits to Congressional representatives from our area, and we want YOU to come.

Over the next 8 weeks, Americans United / GLA will be organizing office visits with several of the Congressional House members from the 25th to the 40th California Congressional District that represent the Greater Los Angeles area. If you are interested in joining a delegation to meet with YOUR Congressman about the importance of church-state separation, please drop us a note at AU-LosAngeles@gmail.com with your Congressional district, and we will be in touch with you about visit details.

Several of the congressional district numbers and boundaries have shifted for this election, so if you are not sure which Congressional district you are in, you can look it up by your address or ZIP code here. Be sure to click on the '2012 Districts' box to check the districts for THIS election.

Our representatives need to be reminded that we CARE about the First Amendment, and they should, too. Let's let them know this election season!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

David Niose: Nonbeliever Nation, Aug. 9 & 10

ATTORNEY & AUTHOR DAVID NIOSE TO SPEAK ON THE RISE OF SECULAR AMERICANS IN US

David Niose, attorney, author of the popular Psychology Today blog, "Our Humanity, Naturally." and president of the American Humanist Association, will be speaking in Pasadena on Thursday, August 9 and in Santa Monica on Friday, August 10 on his new book, Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans.
The number of Americans which identify as secular, atheist, agnostic, or simply non-religious has steadily risen over the past two decades from less than 5% in 1990 to 19% in 2012, representing the fastest-growing religious demographic in the US and the second-largest religious demographic after Catholics.  David argues that much of that growth has been fueled as a response to the rising power of the religious Christian right in this country.

In his presentation, David will discuss the various secular groups now forming across America in opposition to that force, including their political goals, lobbying efforts, legal strategies, and outreach through advertising and education, and what they are intending to do to make the secular voice a gamechanger in American politics.

David will be speaking Thursday, August 9 at the Neighborhood Unitarian-Universalist Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Ave., in Pasadena; and Friday, August 10 at 7pm at the Yahoo Center Community Room (Colorado Center), 2500 Broadway, in Santa Monica.

The events are co-sponsored with the Humanist Association of Los Angeles.  Both events are free.

David has appeared widely in national international media advocating for secularism and humanism, including Fox News, BBC, NPR, and many others. Niose also serves as vice president of the Secular Coalition for America, a Washington-based lobbying group.