House measure would create religious minorities envoy

[rug]

January 16, 2013

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives calling for the creation of a special envoy in the U.S. State Department for religious minorities in the Middle East and South Central Asia.

U.S. Reps. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) and Anna Eshool (D-Calif.) introduced the legislation on Jan. 15.

A similar bipartisan bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives during the last session of Congress by a vote of 402-20 but was blocked in the Senate.

“We have a strategic and moral imperative to protect and preserve these ancient faith communities, which this administration has failed to do,” Wolf said in a statement. He called on America to be “a voice for the voiceless.”

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/01/16/3116986/congressmen-introduce-legislation-to-create-religious-minorities-envoy

[cbayer]

1. I see no mention of non-believers here and would be disappointed if

they were not included as a group this envoy would also represent.

[rug]

2. The text of the bill is not online yet.

A previous version, HR 440, pssed the last House but died in the Senate.

I was curious why Rep. Eshoo cosponsored it.

Human rights

Eshoo is a strong supporter of the gay rights movement. In 1992 when a gay bashing mailer was directed at Supervisor Tom Nolan (the first openly gay supervisor in San Mateo and her opponent for her congressional seat) Eshoo stood fast in defending him, his record and years of service. She opposed the Marriage Protection Amendment and the Marriage Protection Act. Her website says the bill is "discriminatory, singling out for the first time a minority to prevent their interests from being considered by the highest courts in the land."[14]

As one of just two Assyrian members of Congress, Eshoo has worked hard to protect indigenous Assyrian Christians in Iraq from continuing religious persecution and political exclusion. She authored an amendment to H.R. 2601, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, requesting that "special attention should be paid to the welfare of Chaldo-Assyrians and other indigenous Christians in Iraq."[15]

- snip -

Rep. Eshoo has fought strongly against certain provisions of the Patriot Act, particularly Section 215 (Access to Business Records), which gives federal investigators the right to obtain any tangible business record without obtaining a subpoena.[citation needed]

- snip -

As an Assyrian and Armenian American, Rep. Eshoo is co-chair and co-founder of the Religious Minorities in the Middle East Caucus. She also serves on the Board of Advisors of THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public Policy, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated freedom of religion organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Eshoo

I can't imagine this bill would not apply to nonbelievers, if it ever passes.

[cbayer]

4. She sounds like my kind of woman.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. I can't imagine this bill would not apply to nonbelievers, if it ever passes.

Because Congress buries its head when nonbelievers are discriminated in THIS country, that's why, tacitly approving thereof.

[cbayer]

8. How has Congress buried it's head in terms of discrimination against non-believers?

[no_hypocrisy]

9. By not enacting statutes that strengthen the Establishment Clause.

For example, you have situations where public schools can now promote Christianity by way of clubs, handing out Bibles, studying the New Testament as history, creationism as science, etc., not to mention "under God" in the daily Pledge of Allegiance.

[cbayer]

10. Actually, I don't think we need more laws, but better enforcement of the laws in place.

FWIW, there are more cases being brought and the judicial system is blocking a lot of the things you describe. That's not happening everywhere, but it does seem to be a growing trend (pendulum swinging back and all).

The "under god" and "in god we trust" issues need to be more stridently challenged, and while it won't be easy or fast, I predict they will fall at some point in the future.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. I hope you're right.

[longship]

3. Agreed, my friend.

Non-believers are an increasingly larger demographic in the world. Some place it as high as 20-25%. This is especially since professing non-belief is culturally considered a negative.

That is why, when asked, I state unequivocally that I am an atheist. I can defend my beliefs, but that isn't why I do this. Rather, it is to bring some light into what many would say are dark corners. They are neither dark, nor will non-believers need to be relegated to the corners. They only need to speak out.

I do not care what others believe. But I am
loud and proud. I am an atheist.

[cbayer]

5. And they are being jailed, persecuted and even killed just like other *religious*

minorities.

It is people like you that change the culture. You can state affirmatively who you are in a way that many others can hear. And you go out of your way to listen.

[longship]

6. Thank you.

As an atheist, I can be devoted to a philosophy -- in my case, methodological naturalism -- without being an asshole about it.

For those lurkers, that means that I believe that religious explanations tend to be unfalsifiable; there is no empirical evidence to support such beliefs. This is not to say that I know with certitude that there are no gods. However, the prior plausibility is extremely minute, especially given religious claims. Considering the evidence, the only rational conclusion is that gods do not exist. If there were evidence to support such gods I would have to reevaluate my position. But that does not make me an agnostic.

I call myself an atheist because I consider there is near zero chance that gods exist, from the lack of evidence. Also, using atheist often gets me into very interesting discussions, especially with theists with whom I revel in disabusing them of their biases against the label.

As always,
Your pal.