Tidbits of Margaret

Margaret has done a little of everything.  This book will be a compilation of Margaret Downey potpourri items that don't seem to fit perfectly anywhere else.  We may make new books out of this content later as new categories become obvious necessities.

 

As American as apple pie

www.humaniststudies.org/enews/

Taken from  IHS article titled "Goodbye to all that" Follow link to view entire story

...Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia founder Margaret Downey is right when she declares, "Atheism is as American as apple pie." People may not be Atheists, or know much about Atheism, but they are becoming accustomed to the word, and to the presence of Atheists in their communities and on the national scene.

 

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In America, Nonbelievers Find Strength in Numbers - 09/15/2007 Washington Post

In America, Nonbelievers Find Strength in Numbers

By Jacqueline L. Salmon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 15, 2007; A14

A legion of the godless is rising up against the forces of religiosity in American society.

"People who were ashamed to say there is no God now say, 'Wow, there are others out there who think like me, and it feels damned good,' " said Margaret Downey, president of the Atheist Alliance International, whose membership has almost doubled in the past year to 5,200. It has a 500-person waiting list for its convention in Crystal City later this month.

Focusing fresh attention on atheism in the United States was the publication last week of a book about Mother Teresa that lays out her secret struggle with her doubts about God. "Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light" has led some high-profile atheists to say that her spiritual wavering was actually atheism.

"She couldn't bring herself to believe in God, but she wished she could," said Christopher Hitchens, a Washington-based columnist and author of "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," the latest atheist bestseller.

In the past two years, five books touting atheism have hit the bestseller lists, outselling such religious tomes as Pope Benedict XVI's book on Jesus, and popular Christian novelist Tim LaHaye's latest book, "Kingdom Come," according to Nielsen BookScan.

Representatives of atheist and humanist groups say the books probably haven't converted many religious people. But, said Lori Lipman Brown, a lobbyist for the Secular Coalition for America, which represents eight atheist or humanist organizations, the books "tremendously increase the visibility of nontheist rights."

Nontheist is another term for atheist, or someone who does not believe in a supreme being.

A study released in June by the Barna Group, a religious polling firm, found that about 5 million adults in the United States call themselves atheists. The number rises to about 20 million -- about one in every 11 Americans -- if people who say they have no religious faith or are agnostic (they doubt the existence of a God or a supreme deity) are included.

They tend to be more educated, more affluent and more likely to be male and unmarried than those with active faith, according to the Barna study. Only 6 percent of people over 60 have no faith in God, and one in four adults ages 18 to 22 describe themselves as having no faith.

Javier Sanchez-Yoza, 21, a biology major at George Mason University, is a former born-again Christian who gave up his belief in God two years ago and is starting an atheist club at school. He turned atheist after growing skeptical of Christian friends' arguments for creationism.

"If they can be wrong about creationism, what else can they be wrong about?" Sanchez-Yoza said.

For the younger generations, charter schools based on humanist principles have opened in New York City and Florida. CampQuest, an Albany-based group, runs five overnight camps around the country for atheist kids.

The budget of the Council for Secular Humanism has climbed 40 percent in the past two years, approaching $8 million this year. The council opened a public-policy think tank in Washington last year to push leaders of both parties for policies based on the humanist principles of "science, reason and secularism" instead of religious faith, said Paul Kurtz, the council chairman.

In March, Congress had its first self-avowed atheist when Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) said he does not believe in a supreme being.

The movement formed its first political action committee in 2005, when American Atheists, which advocates for the separation of church and state, formed the Godless Americans PAC.

Despite atheists' increased vocalism and visibility, it seems that the rest of America isn't buying in.

In a nationwide poll last year by University of Minnesota researchers, Americans rated atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants and other minority groups in "sharing their vision of American society." They also associated atheists with everything from criminal behavior to rampant materialism. According to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll, more than half would not vote for an atheist for president.

Maggie Ardiente, 24, of Silver Spring faced the disapproval of her family and some friends because of her atheist beliefs. "It's hard for them even to comprehend," she said. 

 Source

Margaret at GAMPAC 2004

Margaret Downey was part of GAMPAC 2004, the following are the remarks of Ellen Johnson:

Good morning.

I want to thank all of you for coming here today.

Ellen Johnson Several years ago, I was here in Washington, DC to hear some of the testimony presented to the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. That Committee was considering a possible constitutional amendment that would have allowed organized prayer in the public schools. At panel after panel, representatives from numerous religious advocacy groups testified on behalf of this legislation. Fortunately, the proposal was defeated.

That experience drove home an important lesson to me, though.

Here, in and around Washington, DC, every conceivable interest group has representation, a presence, a "seat at the table," so to speak. That phrase, incidentally, was often used by Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition. He lamented the supposed absence of political influence fundamentalist Christians exercised "inside the beltway," and he set out to change that state of affairs. He often said that the so-called "people of faith" simply wanted "a seat at the table in the great discussion called democracy."

In fact, religious people of just about all faiths and denominations are here "inside the beltway" with lobbyists and organized political muscle, along with just about every other interest group you can think of. Gays are here, so is the National Rifle Association, the American Medical Association, major labor and industrial groups, ethnic organizations, movements claiming to speak on behalf of women - you name it. But conspicuously absent from this scene has been a segment of American which, until recently, has been largely ignored.

They are what we call "Godless Americans." We are Atheists, Freethinkers, Rationalists, and Secular Humanists.

Kaplan / Campbell
Woody Kaplan (left) and
Douglas Campbell

In 2001, a team of researchers under the sponsorship of the Graduate Center of the City of New York issued the results of a finding that sought to examine the religious landscape in the United States. It was the American Religious Identification Survey. Their efforts started with a blunt, simple question: "What is your religion, if any?"

They found that while in 1990 about 90% of the adult population identified with one or another religious group, just eleven years later that figure dropped to eighty-one percent. A seismic shift was taking place even within the religious community as well. Mainstream denominations were losing adherents; fundamentalist and evangelical groups were thriving.

Jeff Lewis
Jeff Lewis

But the most remarkable shift found by the researchers was the growth of a cohort known as "the seculars." They comprise nearly 16% of the population. And overlapping this group is another segment of Americans, those who, when asked about their religious beliefs and affiliations, listed "None - No Religion." This was chosen by 13% of the respondents. The math is simple and straightforward. If these results are applied to the population of the United States, somewhere around 30 million people have "no religion."

That figure exceeds the numbers in most Protestant denominations. The Presbyterians claim about 5.6 million adherents; the Mormons, according to ARIS, have about 2.7 million members in the United State. Seventh-day Adventists, only about 725,000. The Assemblies of God, the denomination to which Attorney General John Ashcroft belongs to, a bit over 1 million. The only religious denominations of cohorts LARGER than "the seculars" are the Roman Catholic Church with about 50 million adherents, and the Baptists, with 33 million. And remember, these figures are likely inflated. They count Baptismal and other enrollments, not regular church attendees. Even the most optimistic of the religious claim that only about 40% of Americans attend church regularly, and there are serious questions about the reliability of that figure.

But here's the real shocker. In the introduction to the ARIS survey,the researchers noted the following:

"Often lost amidst the mesmerizing tapestry of faith groups that comprise the American population is also a vast and growing population of those without faith. They adhere to no creed nor choose to affiliate with any religious community. These are the secular, the unchurched, the people who profess no faith in any religion."

And the ARIS researchers add that there is a widespread misperception that America has recently been, or is in the midst of a religious re-awakening. They note:

"In sharp contrast to that widely held perception, the present survey has detected a wide and possibly growing swath of secularism among Americans. The magnitude and role of this large secular segment of the American population is frequently ignored by scholars and politicians alike."

About a year after the release of the American Religious Identification Survey, and not too far from where we are now - right over on the Mall, in front of the Capitol Building - the "Godless Americans March on Washington" took place. There were over 3,500 of us there that day - small compared to other demonstrations, but remember, it was a first-time effort. Mobilizing a complexly diverse group of people, fiercely independent thinkers with a penchant for arguing and disagreeing, getting them to set aside labels and bucket loads of past organizational animosity and history, bringing them together in one place and making a political statement of it all - well, even I'd have to say it was close to a miracle. But we did it.

Later this month, "Godless Americans" will be over on the steps of the Supreme Court during the oral arguments in the NEWDOW case which seeks to eliminate the unconstitutional inclusion of the words "under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance. There are other cases, too, some won, some lost, many still to be fought.

Downey / Arnzen
Margaret Downey and
Christpher Arntzen

So, today, we take ANOTHER STEP by launching the Godless Americans Political Action Committee. And it is just that, a STEP. Every other group you can think of is knee deep in the American political process, endorsing or opposing candidates, lobbying for or against legislation, mobilizing a constituency. We hope to do something like that for at least a segment of those 30 million or so "Godless Americans." Our March on Washington is now our March Into The Voting Booth.

There are plenty of issues we don't and can't all agree on. Some political issues affect us as "Americans" but not "Godless Americans." But others do. We are concerned about the separation of church and state, which is to say, we are concerned about separating government from religious dogma. We think government should not promote, aid, "establish" or assist ANY one particular religious group, or ALL religious groups, or religion in general.

We don't want our tax money going to religious groups under any guise or color of law, whether it is the ill-conceived faith-based initiatives, or voucher schemes to aid religious schools.

We want a "level playing field" for private individuals, businesses and communities in respect to organized religion. We oppose the discriminatory "compelling interest/least restrictive means" test inherent in legislation like the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person's Act. We want organizations that enjoy an incestuous relationship with the government to stop discriminating against the public by employing religious or sexual litmus tests.

We intend the use the Godless Americans Political Action Committee as a mechanism for mobilizing some of those 30 million non-religious citizens. Just like gun owners are speaking out on legislation that affects them, along with gays AND blacks AND women AND every other interest group in this country, we want our fellow nonbelievers to get used to speaking out on behalf of OUR interests.

We are a young movement. We are where the "religious right" was in the 1970s. Randall Balmer, an expert on the history of American evangelicalism, noted that three or four decades ago, the evangelicals were safely sequestered in their churches and prayer circles - withdrawn from the political world most of the time, waiting for the demise of all things. Today they are a political force to be reckoned with. We will gladly borrow a page from their book, and I am not talking about the Bible!

But our strategy has to be different, too. We are a diverse lot. Madalyn O'Hair, the founder of American Atheists, often said that organizing Atheists was like trying to herd cats, or butterflies - you get the picture. But while we have far to go, we have come far, too.

I'm proud to be standing here today announcing the formation of this Political Action Committee. And I'm honored to be joined by Jeff Lewis, GAMPAC's Political Director. Some of our board of advisors are here. Woody Kaplan chairs the Civil Liberties List, a federally registered PAC. Douglas Campbell is from Michigan and ran for the governorship of Michigan, openly as an Atheist.  Margaret Downey is the founder of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia. Christopher Arntzen chairs the Gay, and Lesbian Atheists and Humanists.

 Source

Margaret Downey signs Humanist Manifeso III

From American Humanists

 

HUMANISM AND ITS ASPIRATIONS

 

Humanist Manifesto III, a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933*

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

The lifestance of Humanism—guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience—encourages us to live life well and fully. It evolved through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance.

This document is part of an ongoing effort to manifest in clear and positive terms the conceptual boundaries of Humanism, not what we must believe but a consensus of what we do believe. It is in this sense that we affirm the following:

Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. Humanists find that science is the best method for determining this knowledge as well as for solving problems and developing beneficial technologies. We also recognize the value of new departures in thought, the arts, and inner experience—each subject to analysis by critical intelligence.

Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change. Humanists recognize nature as self-existing. We accept our life as all and enough, distinguishing things as they are from things as we might wish or imagine them to be. We welcome the challenges of the future, and are drawn to and undaunted by the yet to be known.

Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. Humanists ground values in human welfare shaped by human circumstances, interests, and concerns and extended to the global ecosystem and beyond. We are committed to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity, and to making informed choices in a context of freedom consonant with responsibility.
    

Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals. We aim for our fullest possible development and animate our lives with a deep sense of purpose, finding wonder and awe in the joys and beauties of human existence, its challenges and tragedies, and even in the inevitability and finality of death. Humanists rely on the rich heritage of human culture and the lifestance of Humanism to provide comfort in times of want and encouragement in times of plenty.

Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Humanists long for and strive toward a world of mutual care and concern, free of cruelty and its consequences, where differences are resolved cooperatively without resorting to violence. The joining of individuality with interdependence enriches our lives, encourages us to enrich the lives of others, and inspires hope of attaining peace, justice, and opportunity for all.

Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness. Progressive cultures have worked to free humanity from the brutalities of mere survival and to reduce suffering, improve society, and develop global community. We seek to minimize the inequities of circumstance and ability, and we support a just distribution of nature’s resources and the fruits of human effort so that as many as possible can enjoy a good life.

Humanists are concerned for the well being of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views. We work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature’s integrity, diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.

Thus engaged in the flow of life, we aspire to this vision with the informed conviction that humanity has the ability to progress toward its highest ideals. The responsibility for our lives and the kind of world in which we live is ours and ours alone.

* Humanist Manifesto is a trademark of the American Humanist Association—© 2003 American Humanist Association

 

Margaret Downey

President, Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia

 

Margaret gets a donation

This pdf has a small mention of Margaret Downey getting a donation from the ACA.

 File

www.atheist-community.org

 

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ACA Raises $100 to fight Boy Scout Discrimination.

On Sunday January 9th, in a spur-of-the-moment collection, ACA raised $100 to send to Margaret Downey to help in her legal fight against the boy scouts. For more details, see the September/October ‘99 issue of Secular Nation. Downey is a long time activist in state/church
separation issues.

Margaret spends easter rationally

Small PDF with article mentioning how Margaret spent her easter in 2006

Link

Source

Margaret talking about the BSA

An article about Margaret and the BSA

Mayor Street: Tear Up that BSA Rent-free Agreement!
By Margaret Downey

Previously published in the May/June 2005 issue of
The Greater Philadelphia Story, the Freethought
Society of Greater Philadelphia (FSGP) bimonthly
newsletter

Question: What does an activist group do after conducting
an unsuccessful letter-writing campaign
requesting that the mayor of Philadelphia either start
charging the Boy Scouts of America rent or kick them
out of a city owned building at 22nd and Winter
Streets?

Answer: Hold a public demonstration, hand out
protest literature to passersby, and conduct media
interviews with any journalist who covers the event!
That is exactly what representatives from the
Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia (FSGP),
Scouting For All (S4A), and Delaware Valley
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
(DVAU) did on October 19, 2004. The demonstration
was held at Dilworth Plaza, located next to the
Philadelphia City Hall building.
A representative for S4A, Assistant Regional
Director Lori Martin, told journalists who attended the
demonstration that “BSA’s sweetheart deal with the
City of Philadelphia must end.”

Martin went on to say that there are many other nondiscriminatory
youth groups located in the
Philadelphia metropolitan area that better deserve the
use of a rent-free facility. Martin called for the immediate
collection of rent from the BSA or the immediate
eviction of the BSA from the city-owned building they
have occupied since 1928.

During an interview with a CNN journalist, DVAU
President Janice Rael explained the danger of using
public money to finance a private religious group such
as the BSA. Rael said, “If taxpayer funds and city wealth
are used to support any youth group, it should
not be a group whose policy is to discriminate against
minorities. The Boy Scouts of America should not
receive special benefits from any government branch
as long as it retains its biased policies.”

Margaret Downey, FSGP president, told reporters
that the City of Philadelphia’s 1982 Fair Practices
Ordinance requires that organizations that use cityowned
property must not practice discrimination of
any kind. Downey contends that the BSA should not
only begin paying full market value rent for the building
they occupy at 22nd and Winter Streets but that
the BSA should also pay back rent effective on the
date that the US Supreme Court recognized them as a
“private organization.”

That date is June 2000,” Downey stated. “The citizens
of Philadelphia have suffered mass transit fare
hikes, library hour cut-backs, cuts to city employee
benefits, and many other budgetary difficulties. It is
time for the BSA to pay their own way,” she added.
The demonstration was noticed by many passersby
and free literature was accepted by people who were
interested in knowing how they could stop the BSA
from taking advantage of taxpayer dollars—all the
while in violation of anti-discrimination laws as well
as policies and traditions firmly established in the City
of Philadelphia.

Downey followed up the demonstration by personally
visiting the office of Philadelphia City Council
President, the Honorable Anna C. Verna. The visit
proved fruitless. Verna was unconcerned and uninterested.
The next step is to make an attempt to speak about
the issue at a city council meeting. Downey is gathering
names of those who want to speak about this issue.
Please contact her as soon as possible if you are interested
in testifying in front of the Philadelphia City
Council.

File

Source