A Good Time At The Ohio Secular Summit 4.0

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On February 10th I attended Secular Summit 4.0 at the Ohio State House in Columbus. It was hosted by CFI NE Ohio. It was the second lobby day I attended and this time I tried to as prepared as I could be to speak to my representatives. As luck would have it, I got to speak to my state Senator and he seemed positive toward the secular issues I presented to him. Seculars need to do more in person lobbying of our elected officials in addition to phone calls and written messages.

The Secular Summit is a chance for secular people around Ohio to get together for a morning meeting then in the afternoon we have appointments with our state representatives and senators. 

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Ohio GOP Rigs Vote To Pass Heartbeat Bill Out Of Committee

clipart showing a prohibited line through a coat hanger

In what seemed like deja vu, Republicans in the Ohio legislature rigged a committee vote on the anti-abortion law known as the Heartbeat Bill (House Bill 248). The GOP pulled a similar stunt back in 2011 in the Ohio Senate to pass out of committee Senate Bill 5 that attempted to strip collective bargaining from public employee unions.

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Candidates For Ohio Governor Have Different Ideas On The Place Of Religion In Public Policy

Image of Ohio Governor John Kasich and his Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald
Ohio Governor John Kasich and his Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald

It’s common knowledge that Governor John Kasich wears his religious beliefs like a suit and inserts them into his speeches and remarks when he can. Democrat challenger Ed FitzGerald rarely talks about his faith because he feels religion is a private matter. Contrary to the ‘no religious test’ words in the US Constitution, the Columbus Dispatch ran an article about the public religiousness of each man.

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Elected Officials Need To Stop Being Preachers On Day Of Prayer

Thursday May 1st was the National Day of Reason (and for theists it was the National Day of Prayer). Since the majority of people observe the Day of Prayer, our local newspaper had a story about the God pep rally held on the west plaza of the Ohio Statehouse. A building meant to govern all people was turned into a church and the minister was Ohio State Auditor David Yost. The photo with the article made me ill. Elected officials shouldn’t be preaching their religion when acting in their official capacity and government buildings shouldn’t be used as churches.

Here is a screenshot of the front page of the Columbus Dispatch on its website:

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Blue Jackets Making Central Ohio Proud

CBJ logo on a blue colored state of ohio

I’ve been a fan of the Columbus Blue Jackets since they were created in 2000 so I am thrilled about their appearance in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are making all of us in Central Ohio proud. I’m just glad it hasn’t been a sweep like in 2009 against Detroit.

I have gotten a chuckle out of the people, and local TV media, who jumped on the bandwagon for the playoffs.

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