Happy Atheist Forum

General => Politics => Topic started by: AlP on November 07, 2009, 06:05:33 PM

Title: ACLU survey
Post by: AlP on November 07, 2009, 06:05:33 PM
I'm not a member of the ACLU (http://www.aclu.org/key-issues) but I somehow got on their mailing list. They just sent me a survey to fill out and post back to them. While I find myself siding with the ACLU on most issues, their survey is laden with rhetoric. The first two questions:

Quote"I believe that the separation of church and state is crucial to the health of our democracy and that government should stay out of Americans' personal religious beliefs and practices."

Do not believe / believe / somewhat believe / strongly believe

"I believe that attempts to limit the rights of people to marry and/or adopt children based upon their sexual orientation not only hurts families but violates the most fundamental precepts of American freedom and must be resisted."

Do not believe / believe / somewhat believe / strongly believe

So the results of the survey will be meaningless. Not only that but they state outright that they're going to be selective about which responses make it into their results:

QuoteYour individual responses will be treated confidentially. But the tabulated results of completed surveys from you and other freedom-loving Americans will be shared with elected officials and opinion leaders across the country.

What's going on at ACLU? =(
Title: Re: ACLU survey
Post by: Whitney on November 07, 2009, 06:25:16 PM
Hmm.....so they sent out a poll to ppl who already like the ACLU and then are giong to show it to elected officials as if it reflects the general population....sounds like something out of the right wing playbook.   :crazy:
Title: Re: ACLU survey
Post by: AlP on November 07, 2009, 06:43:39 PM
That's a good point. This might be post hoc but I think they got my address from the American Humanist Association; I started to receive mail from them when I joined AHA. That also makes me sad =(.

I'm considering dissecting the rhetoric in the survey questions and also complaining about the selectivity of the survey but I'm not sure if its worth my time. Will it make any difference?
Title: Re: ACLU survey
Post by: Renegnicat on November 07, 2009, 10:05:33 PM
Business as usual.
Title: Re: ACLU survey
Post by: SSY on November 08, 2009, 01:00:21 AM
Quote from: "Whitney"Hmm.....so they sent out a poll to ppl who already like the ACLU and then are giong to show it to elected officials as if it reflects the general population....sounds like something out of the right wing playbook.   :crazy:

Come now, this is used by every special interest group, or at least members of these groups, no need to single out our beloved right wing friends.
Title: Re: ACLU survey
Post by: AlP on November 08, 2009, 04:52:44 AM
I returned the survey. In answer to "I believe that the separation of church and state is crucial to the health of our democracy and that government should stay out of Americans' personal religious beliefs and practices" I said "do not believe". Had they asked "I value the separation of church and state" I would have said "strongly agree" if it was an option. Silly ACLU.