Right wing slams White House for meeting with atheist �hate groups�

By Daniel Tencer
Friday, February 26th, 2010 -- 5:56 pm

Some conservative commentators are accusing the Obama administration of inviting "hate groups" into the White House by holding a meeting with a coalition of secularist and atheist groups.

Officials from the Justice and Health and Human Services departments met Friday with representatives of the Secular Coalition for America, an umbrella group that includes American Atheists and the Council for Secular Humanism. The coalition called it "the first time in history a presidential administration has met for a policy briefing with the American nontheist community."

President Barack Obama was not scheduled to make an appearance at the meeting, nor were any policy changes to be announced, McClatchy news service reported.

But that didn't stop a number of religious conservative groups from attacking the meeting as a sign the president has an anti-religious agenda.

"It is one thing for Administration to meet with groups of varying viewpoints, but it is quite another for a senior official to sit down with activists representing some of the most hate-filled, anti-religious groups in the nation," said Council Nedd, chairman of the religious advocacy group In God We Trust.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said the meeting provided a "definitive answer" about the administration's stance towards religion.

"People of faith, especially Christians, have good reason to wonder exactly where their interests lie with the Obama administration," Donohue said in a statement. "Now we have the definitive answer. In an unprecedented move, leaders of a presidential administration are hosting some of the biggest anti-religious zealots in the nation."

But Dr. Ed Buckner, head of American Atheists, praised the Obama administration for including non-believers in the political dialogue, something he said was missing from previous administrations.

"Over 13 percent of the population is considered 'non-religious,' and this includes millions of atheists, freethinkers, humanists, rationalists, and other citizens," Buckner said. "We are committed to the separation of church and state and to equality for non-believers in the political arena. Religious speakers must not continue to be given special privileges."

According to ABC News, three issues were on the agenda at the meeting: The use of "faith healing" on children, which the coalition describes as a form of "child abuse"; the "pervasive" religious atmosphere in the US military; and faith-based initiatives.

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http://rawstory.com/2010/02/obama-meeting-atheist-hate-groups/