I was born in a small town.
Maybe that’s why, when VP Harris tapped Governor Walz to be her VP pick, I immediately liked the guy. As I stated in our last Substack, he reminds of countless older white dudes from my Midwestern small town who used to be charming, funny, loving helpful folks, but whose brains have been pulverized with hate and fear by cable “news” media and Cult 45.
I don’t know how many of you know this, but right outside of Maricopa County, there’s a little place called “Arizona.” And there are a bunch of little towns that make up that little place. In the past few years, we have seen a pretty big uptick in our legal department, with many complaints coming from rural spaces in Arizona.
[Because of this, Secular AZ has been showing up in these spaces because far too frequently, these folks feel like they’re all alone. If you feel like you’re the lone freethinker/agnostic/atheist etc in a rural space, check out our liaised groups! Maybe you’ll find your people!]
Frequently, these complaints are about local governing bodies violating the First Amendment or churches that use their pulpit to push politics.
Click here to read the rest of this post on Secular AZ’s Substack.
Jeanne Casteen, Secular AZ Executive Director
JEANNE CASTEEN has a bachelor’s degree in human communication and history from the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at ASU and a master’s in education, also from ASU. Jeanne has over 11 years of experience teaching in Maricopa County’s public schools. In 2011, Jeanne completed the Emerge Arizona program and in 2012 became a school board member of the Creighton School District. She served as Board President from 2016 through 2020. In 2020, Ms. Casteen ran for Maricopa County School Superintendent, and came within 12,000 votes of winning. She has been awarded the Arizona School Public Relations Association Award for Excellence in Advocacy and Political Contributions to Education as well as the Arizona School Board Association’s All-Arizona School Board Member Award.
