September 2015 Citizens Project News

HOME \ ABOUT \ CONTACT

Creating a community valuing diversity, equality, and religious freedom.

September 2015

Diversity. Religious Freedom.

Equality. Civic Engagement.

Freedom to marry vs. freedom of religion

by Ken Burrows

In the 7/11/15 edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette, the chair of the El Paso County Commission, Amy Lathen, argued that the legalization of gay marriage represents an assault on religious freedom, going so far as to speculate whether a Christian pastor who refuses to perform a gay marriage based on his church's stand against it will be hauled off to jail, or if religious leaders will be silenced by government for preaching in favor of traditional marriage.

This paranoiac mood has been joined in by other critics of the recent Supreme Court's legalization of gay marriage, such as GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee saying the ruling "criminalizes Christianity" and Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association calling it a "spiritual 9/11" that could bring God's wrath down on the country.

Lathen (and, it would seem, many others) apparently did not read, or chose to ignore, that part of the Supreme Court's majority opinion in Obergefell vs. Hodges, in which Justice Anthony Kennedy specifically stated "the First Amendment ensures that religions, those who adhere to religious doctrines, and others have protection as they seek to teach the principles that are so fulfilling and so central to their lives and faiths."

"Over"

Citizens Project launches provocative campaign

You might have already seen our brightly colored billboards all over town! Citizens Project recently launched the 2015 awareness campaign, "Over." In thought provoking and visually appealing messages, Citizens Project challenges the individuals in the Pikes Peak region to consider what values they hold most dear.

So, what do YOU believe in?

We are grateful for the generosity of Lunchbucket Creative, Lamar Outdoor Advertising, and the Colorado Springs Independent for making this possible.

See all of the images here.

Staffing Update

Joy Garscadden joined Citizens Project a year ago as an amazing volunteer, helping with a variety of administrative and operational tasks. She has been a tremendous asset to the organization during the past year as we've been in staffing transition. We are pleased to announce that Joy has accepted the position of Operations Manager! She brings a keen sense of wit to this position in addition to her gift for systems, organization, and data management.

Learn more about Joy here.

What's happening!

Sometimes we get so busy out in the community doing the good work of advocating, watch-dogging, and educating around Citizens Project values, we forget to report back to YOU, our faithful supporters. Our work takes so many forms- meeting with elected officials, working with the different coalitions that we are a part of, planning events, and sometimes doing the administrative work that it takes to run an organizations. We are committed to reporting back! Thus, we are creating a director's blog, intended to keep you apprised of all of the ways we are doing our work. In future months, this section will link to information that will help our supporters understand what we're spending our time doing and how it is impacting our community.