For Immediate Release

Contact: Sam Mulvey, president@humanistsofwashington.org

(TACOMA, WA, Nov. 17, 2013) — The Humanists of Washington strongly condemns a last-minute amendment to the Pierce County, Washington 2014 budget that grants $7,000 to the local chapter of The Child Evangelism Fellowship.

Third District Council member Jim McCune, chief proponent of the allocation, claims the money will not go towards religious items. However, according to CEF’s website, their purpose is “to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, disciple them in the Word of God and establish them in a Bible believing church for Christian living.” Both the federal and state constitutions specifically prohibit taxpayers paying for religious establishment.

“The County has no business using tax dollars to fund a religious organization’s evangelism activities,” said Humanists of Washington President Sam Mulvey. On his local radio show Ask An Atheist, Mulvey posed the rhetorical question “Imagine if Tacoma gave me $1500 […] to take your children […] and tell them that religion poisons everything. Is that something you would like? Is that something you want in schools?” He continued, “The concept of a secular government protects the people in the minority [as well as] people the majority.”

The Child Evangelism Fellowship gained attention for its religious youth clubs that frequently meet on school grounds, blurring the line between secular public schooling and religious worship in the minds of grade schoolers.

Humanists of Washington encourages residents of Pierce County to attend the final public comment session on the 2014 budget at the City County Building in Tacoma on Tuesday, November 19 at 3 pm. Additionally, concerned citizens may email council members here to demand the allotment for CEF be removed from the final approved budget.

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The Humanists of Washington (www.humanistsofwashington.org) is a statewide freethought association dedicated to the principles of Secular Humanism, which espouses a life-affirming, secular view of the universe built on a foundation of reason, science, and democracy.