Bill Text: CA SCR79 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: California Freethought Day.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-09-06 - In Assembly. Held at Desk. [SCR79 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SCR79-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Senate
August 31, 2017 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Senate Concurrent Resolution | No. 79 |
| Introduced by Senator Pan |
August 21, 2017 |
Relative to California Freethought Day.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 79, as amended, Pan.
California Freethought Day.
This measure would proclaim October 15, 2017, as the 16th annual celebration of California Freethought Day in Sacramento, California, congratulate past and current volunteers and planning committees of California Freethought Day, support the goals of California Freethought Day, invite Californians of all religious views to join in the celebration of free thought, science, and the separation of religion and government, and urge other public officials to become more educated about the secular community.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee: NOBill Text
WHEREAS, California Freethought Day commemorates establishing the policy in 1692 that evidence of guilt or innocence in the colonial American judicial system had to rely upon facts and reason as opposed to supernatural phenomena; and
WHEREAS, The first California Freethought Day was held on October 12, 2002, at the Sacramento County Courthouse Plaza and started a tradition that united local atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, and those who are otherwise nonreligious, to an event that celebrated free thought; and
WHEREAS, In its 14 years of celebration, activists such as Thomas Paine, James Madison, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Clarence Darrow, Jane Addams, Frederick Douglass, George Orwell, Frank Zappa, and Bayard Rustin have been inducted into the event’s Free Thought Gallery; and
WHEREAS, With each successive year, California Freethought Day has grown from 30 attendees to over 300, added displays such as the “Freethinker’s Bookshelf,” worked with local organizations like WEAVE, incorporated family-friendly activities through a partnership with Camp Quest West, celebrated regional artists, and added auxiliary events including Secular Leadership Day and Secular Advocacy Day; and
WHEREAS, The event has provided a platform for local, regional, and national activists to be heard by thousands, including Cleo Kocol, Jerry Sloan, Michael Newdow, Matt LaClair, Jessica Ahlquist, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Greta Christina, Heina Dadabhoy, Jason Torpy, and Mandisa Thomas; and
WHEREAS, California Freethought Day recognizes our state’s constitutional commitment to the freedoms of speech and religion, the validation of our state’s secular community, and the importance of scientific literacy and discovery; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims October 15, 2017, as the 16th annual celebration of California Freethought Day in Sacramento, California; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature congratulates the past and current volunteers and planning committees of California Freethought Day; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature supports the goals of California Freethought Day; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature invites Californians of all religious views to join in the celebration of free thought, science, and the separation of religion and government; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature urges other public officials to become more educated about the secular community and the values for which they stand; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
