Hundreds of Lobbying Atheists Prepare to 'Flood' Capitol Hill On Friday

Washington D.C. is in for an infusion of anti-religious sentiment this weekend. On Saturday, thousands of atheists and secularists are expected to converge on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to celebrate their non-belief through a massive event called the "Reason Rally."

But the day before this supposed amalgamate of non-believers descends on the nation's capitol, the Secular Coalition for America is holding the "Lobby Day for Reason" -- an event aimed at training atheists in how to interact with Congress.

(Related: Westboro Baptist Church Set to Clash With Atheists at ‘Woodstock for Non-Belief’)

The event, which will take place on Friday morning, will include free lobbying training followed by an opportunity for participating "atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and other nontheistic Americans" to meet with offices of the House and Senate. The issues they plan to discuss with lawmakers, of course, focus on the separation of church and state and their views on the intermingling of government and religion.

In a press release on Tuesday, the Secular Coalition announced that 280 "non-theistic Americans" have pre-registered to take part in this massive lobbying effort. It read, in part:

Lobby Day for Reason will encourage and support secular and nontheistic Americans to speak out to the elected officials who were put in office to serve all of their constituents regardless of religious beliefs. The Secular Coalition for America will support these taxpaying Americans as they put faces to the nontheistic and secular communities and tell their federal representatives that they are voters and are paying attention to issues.

With recent polls showing that non-religiously affiliated individuals account for 16 percent of Americans, it's not surprising to learn that this pool of citizens planning to attend the training represents 36 states and the District of Columbia. Already, the Coalition claims to have setup 50 meetings with Senate offices and more than 100 meetings with Representatives' offices -- with more to come.

"We wanted a wave of nonreligious and secular voters to flood the halls of every congressional building—and that’s just what we are going to have,” proclaimed Amanda Knief, who serves as government relations manager for the Secular Coalition.

Knief is quoted as saying in the release that these non-believing taxpayers plan to show their representatives that they are voters who care about their country. It is their plan to, thus, share their vision for a government free of theological influence.

The Blaze will be at the lobbying training and the Reason Rally, bringing you reports as both events unfold.