Last week, Secular AZ constituent Deborah Broome let us know she had a letter to the editor published in the Casa Grande Dispatch. The topic: prayer at government meetings. We’re proud to reprint below Deborah’s dissection of the issue in full below.
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As U.S. Church membership falls, pushback is growing from traditionalists across the country. Christian nationalist groups remain at the forefront of this culture war. These coalitions dump massive amounts of money into state and local governments to influence power-hungry politicians. Their desired ends are the realization of America as a Christian nation; their means are dismantling civil rights. Continue reading
Secular AZ is proud to introduce you to our new Executive Director, Jeanne Casteen! Among other things, Jeanne has been a lifelong educator and advocate, mother of four, middle and high school teacher, and school board president. We’re excited to benefit from her strength, ideas, and experience. Below, meet Jeanne in her own words.
Since its widespread adoption, conservative Christians have used the slogan “In God We Trust” to justify opposing abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and even expansions of voter rights by suggesting that they violate the principles represented by those words. Continue reading
In 2016, MergerWatch reported an alarming growth in Catholic-dictated health care. The number of hospital mergers went from 66 in 2010 to 112 in 2015 and the pace is increasing. In 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union reported that 1 in 6 hospital beds in the United States is a Catholic Hospital. In some states such as Washington, over 40% of all hospital beds were in Catholic hospitals in 2016. Continue reading
Secular AZ is proud to introduce you to three new members of our Board! We’re looking forward to more of the fresh energy and perspectives they are already bringing to our movement. Continue reading
The Supreme Court — sequestered in its shadow docket after midnight on Sept. 1st — made several things clear with Whole Women’s Health v. Austin Reeve Jackson.
First: the court has zero credibility. They no longer decide legal cases based on the Constitution, the law, precedent, science, or facts. They decide solely on politics. Continue reading
Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo.
Fulton v. Philadelphia.
Tandon v. Newsom.
Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson
Throughout the pandemic, the highest court of the land has favored religious adherents to the detriment of public health, LGBTQ+ people, and the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. I felt nauseous as I read majority opinions from the 2020-2021 term; arch-conservative Supreme Court Justices had institutionalized a complete disregard for the separation of state and church. Christian nationalism has taken hold of our democracy. Continue reading
by Beth Houck, Secular AZ Legal Committee volunteer attorney
This summer, Secular AZ’s Legal Committee has been reviewing the invocation policies and practices in every county’s board of supervisors’ meetings, and in the city council meetings of the cities that are county seats. It’s a big project, requiring many public records requests and listening to hundreds of hundreds of recordings going back to the beginning of 2020. Continue reading
Secular AZ is seeking candidates for an Executive Director position.
Since 2010, Secular AZ has been working to ensure that Arizonans have a secular state government by educating lawmakers and the public about the importance of secular issues. We advocate on behalf of all individuals, including the nontheistic community, who believe that public policy free of religious preference is the best way to ensure freedom of conscience for Arizonans of all faiths and of none. Continue reading
After each legislative session, Secular AZ publishes a Legislative Wrap-Up and Scorecard to highlight state legislators’ actions on issues of religious extremism and government. Our goal is to give you a valuable tool to analyze lawmakers’ actions ahead of election season, as well as a complete picture of where we currently stand legislatively. We also wish to illustrate our work so you may see how your support is continuing to grow the secular movement in Arizona, and how it influences what legislation gets passed. Continue reading