American Atheists, Inc. President, Dave Silverman and Managing Director, Amanda Knief were refused service yesterday by an assistant manager at TD Bank in Cranford, New Jersey.
In a statement released on the American Atheists Facebook page, Knief said, “I was just refused service — because I am an atheist. It was embarrassing, humiliating, and pissed me off.”
According to Knief:
A notary at a local bank, where I have gone more than a dozen times to have work documents signed, asked me to explain what we were having notarized. The documents were charitable organizations registrations for American Atheists in several states. So I told her what AA is about.
After learning the nature of the organization and the documents requiring notarization the bank manager refused to witness the signatures on the documents. She interrupted another employee’s lunch to come do the authentications.
Knief says:
I have been called names, threatened, hated on and all manner of ridiculed because of my atheist activism, but I think sitting in a bank and having another professional refuse to do business with me because I am an atheist was the worst slight I have ever received.
In New Jersey, notaries are not required to abide by any code of conduct or ethics that prevents them from refusing service to people based on "personal reasons." Even though we had a valid, legal document and valid, legal identification--she was legally able to refuse me service.
As in most states, a notary public in New Jersey is deemed to be “a public servant.” Commissioned by the Secretary of State she is required by law to serve as an impartial witness to the signing of documents and to the acknowledgement of signatures on documents with a duty imposed upon her to provide notary services to the public.
Additionally, according to the American Association of Notaries:
A notary public is not responsible for the content of the document. The duties and responsibilities of a notary public are restricted only to the execution of proper notarial procedures.
And the National Notary Association’s handbook, The Notary Public code of Professional responsibility specifically notes in Section I-A-3:
The Notary shall not refuse to perform a lawful and proper notarial act because of the signer’s race, nationality, ethnicity, citizenship, religion, politics, lifestyle, age, disability, gender or sexual orientation, or because of disagreement with the statements or purpose of a lawful document.we have seen the decades old refusal to serve in food establishments than Gay's refused service for anything now notary's we are definitely on the road to hell in that proverbial hand basket. this is do to the insistence of the so called religious right demanding to be allowed to discriminate because they were being discriminated against for their hate, racist and bigoted rhetoric and actions.
we have let this go to far republican candidates are making this more than it should be by catering and propping up the idiocy of their being religiously suppressed to suppress everyone else just to get their votes.
it's using faith to manipulate and dividing the country even more. but they don't have as many voters as we do alienating all the other voting blocks even Asians makes this drive to divide a showcase for their un American agenda of deception to win. recognize
so given their record of retreading the old next stop lunch counters again????????
