Governor Chafee’s declaration of May 1 as Reason Day is really very cool.
Governor Chafee has proclaimed May 1 as “A Day of Reason’’ in Rhode Island.
His proclamation begins: “Whereas, the application of reason, more than any other means, has proven to offer hope for human survival upon Earth by cultivating intelligent, moral and ethical interactions among people and their among people and their environments….’’
“I, Lincoln D. Chafee, governor of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2014 as Day of Reason in Rhode Island and encourage all state residents to join me [in] recognizing the importance of this day.’’
Well yay. How nice to hear that.
The Humanists of RI and The Secular Coalition for RI say Chafee signed the proclamation at their request to help “raise awareness throughout the State of Rhode Island of the importance of Reason as a guiding principle of our secular democracy.’’ Chafee spokeswoman Faye Zuckerman did not dispute this characterization on Monday.
Timed to coincide with the “National Day of Prayer” on the first Thursday in May each year, the two groups say the goal of their own effort “is to celebrate reason—a concept all citizens can support—and to raise public awareness about the persistent threat to religious liberty posed by government intrusion into the private sphere of worship.’’
All right. I’m impressed.
For the record: Chafee also signed a proclamation declaring May 1 as a “Day of Prayer.”
Baby steps.