Date: April 17, 2015
Contact: Jackie Krentzman, Communications Director
Phone: 510-524-7499
Email: press@openlysecular.org
Starring on CBS Sunday Morning April 19th: The Openly Secular Campaign
Washington D.C. − The CBS Sunday Morning television news magazine program will feature a segment on Openly Secular this Sunday, April 19.
Hosted by Mo Rocca, the segment focuses on Todd Stiefel, the chair of Openly Secular, Neil Carter, a teacher in Jackson, Mississippi who blogs as “Godless in Dixie;” Mandisa Thomas, the founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, and Rev. Dr. Luke Powery, the Dean of Duke University Chapel.
The focal point of the segment is the Openly Secular campaign and its quest to eliminate discrimination against and increase acceptance of atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers and nonbelievers. Openly Secular is a coalition supported by more than 20 secular organizations.
“We are thrilled that CBS Sunday Morning is shining a spotlight on the false stereotypes and challenges secular Americans face in many parts of the country,”says Openly Secular Chair Todd Stiefel. “There is a social cost in our country in identifying as secular. Many Americans still hold a prejudicial stereotype that one must be religious to be moral. This program will help dispel myths and build awareness that secular Americans should be treated fairly like anyone else.”
The airing of the segment is timely, as Thursday April 23 is the first annual Openly Secular Day, to be celebrated at more than a dozen locations (as well as online) across the United States. The aim of Openly Secular Day is to provide a safe place for people to gather and celebrate their secular worldviews.
“For many Americans, revealing to their family and friends that they are secular can be very scary,” says Stiefel. “So participating in a nationwide event in which many, many others are also celebrating their secular worldview, can be incredibly freeing and even exhilarating.”
CBS Sunday Morning is hosted by Charles Osgood, and reaches more than 6 million viewers a week. It is the top-rated Sunday morning news program for the 25 to 54 age demographic.
Catch CBS Sunday Morning from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. EST and PST; 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in other time zones.
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About Openly Secular
Openly Secular is a coalition and campaign to raise awareness and eliminate discrimination against secular people – including atheists, freethinkers, agnostics, and humanists. The organization is comprised of more than two dozen nonreligious organizations, led by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, Secular Coalition for America, Secular Student Alliance, and Stiefel Freethought Foundation. www.openlysecular.org