Last week about a dozen other bloggers and myself attended Americans United For Separation Of Church And State's national meeting and 60th anniversary reception in Washington, DC. In addition to getting to meet and discuss issues with a large number of enthusiastic, committed activists, chapter leaders and bloggers there were sessions designed to hone our organizing, fund-raising and lobbying skills. Personally, it's sometimes disheartening observing the casual abuse and disregard of our first freedom in this time when religious extremism holds such sway. However the opportunity to join together with both believers and non-believers alike was a great reminder that very many people do take separation of church and state seriously and went a long way toward giving me renewed hope that this freedom that so many take for granted won't be thrown aside because AU will be there fighting for as long as it takes.

So when Beth Corbin, AU's National Field Director and proprietrix of Yikes! volunteered to host this edition of Carnival of the Liberals it was only natural to make church-state separation the theme and dedicate it to AU. Beth's edition is up now. Go read and enjoy.read more »

tng's blog | 1 comment

I've had a great time this weekend in Washington, DC at Americans United For Separation Of Church And State's national meeting. And while the programming and training sessions have been stimulating and informative the best part has been meeting and networking with a great bunch of people who have collectively been defending the wall of separation for 60 years! Oh, and I can't help but mention how much fun it's been hanging with PZ Myers, Phil Plait, Blue Gal, and many other fine bloggers. The only downside has been the crappy WiFi in the hotel (this is Washington-frigging-DC! you'd think they'd at least have decent WiFi!) and Amtrak losing my luggage. Ah well, a small price to pay for an amazing few days. I'll most likely have a lot more to say later. 

tng's blog | 6 comments

Blue Steel over at Pollyticks.com has your bi-weekly fix of the all that's good in the liberal blogosphere. As always it's great to see some new faces amidst all our old friends.

I also wanted to mention that I'll be headed to DC this weekend. Americans United for Separation of Church and State has invited myself and several other bloggers down to participate in organizing, fund raising and lobbying training, not to mention help AU celebrate it's 60th anniversary. I'm not sure who all is coming but I'm told that among those attending will be Blue Gal, DCup, Phil Plait, and PZ Myers. Wonder if I can finally convince DCup and Phil to host Carnival of the Liberals? In any event it'll be great to meet so many of my bloggy friends in real life.read more »

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