Skepticamp May 17
Our friends at the Skeptical Society of St. Louis are having a free, all-day conference at the Frontenac Hilton on May 17. It looks like an exciting program. It is open to the public. Here is the link.
2025 Annual Meeting on April 24 in Clayton
Wow! This was a really great meeting at The Center of Clayton, featuring Missouri State Senator Tracy McCreery and House member Brian Mackey, who filled us in on the Jefferson City circus and what they are trying to do about it. especially with respect to critical church/state bills. It was lively discussion with a group of about thirty members and friends. We elected some new Board members, and it was announced that Rob Boston, editor of AU’s Magazine, “Church and State” will be the speaker at our annual picnic. You shoulda been there!
Summit For Religious Freedom 2025
The 2025 Summit for Religious Freedom was in Washington DC, April 5-7. Four members of our Board attended, enjoying and learning from presentations, videos, and discussions with fellow AUers and political figures in Washington. The last day of the event was largely consumed by visits by with our Senators and Congresspersons, informing them our views on church/state issues. April 4 also coincidentally overlapped with a protest march at the Washington Monument, in which many of our conference attendees participated. The photo above was taken before the crowd of over 45,000 had really assembled.
Missouri Legislature 2025
Click on the underscored bill number to see the details and status. Contact your legislator or the bill sponsor to register your opposition or support. Full texts are available from the links. General Assembly adjourns 5/16.
SB594 (HB34 Billington) Jamie Burger [R] Ten Commandments. Requires posting of the Ten Commandments in every public or charter school classroom in Missouri. Hearing held 3/25, S Education Committee. Opposition to this bill, featuring comments by our Board member Rev. Bart Tichenor and other opposition speakers that were organized by Bart and Board member Rev. Brian Kaylor was featured on the front-page story in the March 26 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Email the Senate Education Committee and the President Pro Tem. Executive session on 4/2 postponed.
SB681 Jill Carter [R] Pregnancy Center Diversion. Allows taxpayers to satisfy 100% of their income tax obligation up to $50K per year by donations to “pregnancy resource centers”, organizations that oppose abortion. Referred to S Economic and Workforce Development Committee.
HB75 (SB739 Schnelting) Cathy Loy [R] The “Missouri Religious Freedom Protection Act”. Exempts religious meetings from closure due to pandemics, for example. Voted “Do Pass” 10-4 in the HCS Committee. Hearing held 3/4. Sent to General Laws Committee.
HB77 Cathy Loy ]R] “The Missouri Parental Choice Tax Credit”. This another voucher proposal, which would allow parents to take a tax credit for expenses involved in the education of a student in private schools. HCS reported Do Pass (H) – AYES: 10 NOES: 5
HJR54 Melanie Stinnett [R] Negates the constitutional right to abortion, except for rape or incest, and has 12-week limit. Referred to House Children and Families Committee. This may be the vehicle under which the repeal would be enacted, combining and subsuming HJR’s 9, 14, 30, 31, 47, 59,63, 73, and 97, HBs 163, 194, 195, 429, 581, 919, 1119, 1246, 1304, 1367, 1474, 1581, and SJRs 5, 8, 9, 17, 23, 25, 29, 33, 41, 52, and 55.
SJR5 Rick Brattin [R] This is a proposed constitutional amendment that would supersede the “right to abortion” amendment that was passed in 2024. Referred to Senate Family, Seniors, and Health Committee. No action since February 6.
HB195 Brian Seitz [R] and HB119 Holly Jones [R] “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act”. Referred to House Rules – Legislative Committee. Reported “Do Pass”, Vote 6-3. Senate second read and referred to S Families, Seniors, and Health. House roll callin list for third reading: Y 109, N 32, NV 9, Abs 12
SB119 Mike Moon [R] Outlaws “chemical abortion” by making possession of relevant chemicals illegal and their use a felony. Referred Family, Seniors, and Health Committee. No action since 1/23.
SB118 Mike Moon [R] combined with SB49 Rusty Black [R] Authorizes “volunteer” chaplains in public schools. We testified against these bills in the Senate Education Committee hearing. Bill Combined w/(SCS SBs 49 & 118). Moribund lately. No House bill filed.
SB195 Rick Brattin [R] and SB 53 Richard West [R]Authorizes 100% deduction for expenses in educating a student in a nonpublic school. SCS Voted Do Pass (w/ SCS/SBs 195 & 53) Education Committee. Substantial impact on the state budget is noted, and 28-3 witnesses in opposition at House Emerging Issues hearing. This is dangerous and potentially budget-breaking bill.
SJR8 Mike Moon [R] Confers personhood on fetuses, from conception. This would become a constitutional amendment. Referred to Families, Seniors, and Health Committee. Voted “Do Pass” 3/5
SB77 Adam Schnelting [R] The title of this bill implies that it is about “concealed carry” of firearms on public transit, but includes ambiguous language about the situation in churches. Reported “Do Pass” by House Rules-Administrative Committee. Still on Informal Bills for Perfection. HB328 Tim Taylor [R] is the House version of this proposal, and could be the vehicle that crosses the finish line. It also had the provision about guns in churches. Fortunately, we heard at the annual meeting that the part about guns in churches has been stripped out, so that it deals with guns on public transit only.
Abortion The voter-approved constitutional amendment that passed in November 2024 is the target for about a dozen Republican bills that would repeal it; three of them are linked above. The House bill to be voted (4/14-18) would allow abortion in medical emergencies and when fetal anomalies are detected, as well as in rape or incest cases in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. It would also clear the way for the prohibition of other abortions through court action. After the expected House action, it would have to be approved by the GOP-controlled Senate in order for the proposal to appear as a constitutional amendment on the ballot later this year or next.
More to come.
Contacts for Missouri legislators can be found at Missouri.gov.
The AU Picnic Date is Set!
The picnic will be on September 28, in Deer Creek Park (same place as 2024). Plan to come – details will be forthcoming.
On A Mission From God
Inside the movement to redirect billions of taxpayer dollars to private religious schools.
This is investigative reporting by Alec MacGillis in the New Yorker Magazine of January 20, 2025. Focusing on Ohio, but as a template for similar efforts in other states, this article should be read by every person concerned about the diversion of public funds to private religious education. The article appears beginning on page 40 0f the January 20, 2025 issue. The online version is behind a pay wall, but you may be able to read it from the co-publisher, ProPublica.
Annual Picnic September 29 -Featured Tony Messenger!!
Our Annual Picnic
held September 29 featured our guest, Pulitzer Prize-winning Tony Messenger, columnist of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the popular singer, Laka, with her band! We had over 60 people in attendance, and everybody had a wonderful time.
Mr. Messenger, author of “Profit and Punishment: How America Criminalizes the Poor in the Name of Justice”, spoke about how the far-right uses laws intended to further religious freedom to impose the narrow religious interpretations of a small minority on the rest of society.
Our Suit Was Lost, But Repeal of the Abortion Ban Has Not!
We strongly supported the petition effort to repeal the current no-exceptions ban on abortions in Missouri, which we learned on 9/11/2024 will be on the November ballot!
A link to a comprehensive description of the ruling can be found on the KWMU Web site. Our national office issued a statement on Friday, June 14, expressing our respectful disagreement. Of course, the initiative petition that would, if passed, revoke Missouri’s draconian law against virtually all abortions will be on the ballot in November. However, the effect would not be as clear an affirmation of Missouri’s constitutional statement that church and state are and should be separate as a ruling in our favor would have been. We are disappointed by not surprised.
New Book: “Baptizing America”
Our Board Member (also AU national treasurer), Brian Kaylor, is coauthor with Beau Underwood of a new book about religious freedom in America. The full title is “Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism”. It provides the AU perspective on the alarming growth of Christian Nationalism. Its thesis is that Christian Nationalism is not just a recent aberrant creation of the right wing, but a consequence of years and decades of encroachment on religious freedom by organizations that are often viewed as benign, the “apple pie” denominations such as the Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and others. The narrative is very up-to-date, but also provides the history of the foundational events that have led to our current uncomfortable situation. The book is published by Chalice Press and is available everywhere.
Annual Meeting – Held April 27
The meeting that was to be at The Heights, was postponed to Saturday evening April 27, 7:00-9:00 pm. It featured an update on our lawsuit against the state of Missouri by Denise Lieberman, AU’s local attorney for the case, and comments by some of the plaintiffs. We had a report on the status of bills in the Missouri legislature that impinge on church/state separation.
The business meeting included an update on our finances, plans for the annual picnic and other activities, and the election of new Board members.