Secular Coalition Fires Top Executive Ahead of Big D.C. Meeting

A network of atheist and nonbeliever organizations set to launch a Capitol Hill lobbying push on the separation of church and state this week has fired its executive director, reports The New York Times.

Edwina Rogers said she believes her ouster by the Secular Coalition for America in late May arose from the suspected embezzlement of nearly $79,000 in coalition funds by two of her subordinates. She said she fired the employees and notified police when the alleged fund misuse was discovered.

The alliance’s president, Amanda K. Metskas, said in an email Ms. Rogers “has never been a suspected” in the financial matter but would not comment on the reasons for her exit, saying they were “confidential personnel matters.” Coalition board members and organizers said Ms. Rogers had differed with the board over priorities and launched projects and fundraising efforts that competed with member groups.

A former Republican lobbyist from Alabama, Ms. Rogers was an unusual choice to lead the predominately left-leaning alliance of 16 organizations. Her two-year tenure saw the coalition grow from two state chapters to 50 as nonbeliever groups take a higher profile in church/state debates.