6 Big Things to Know About the Future of Abortion Rights in Arizona

Posted on by Sami Al-Asady0 Comments

Today, June 24th, 2022, the United States Supreme Court has overruled nearly five decades of precedent, striking down the landmark Roe v. Wade which established the constitutional right to abortion. The horrifying decision comes in the wake of a Trump-installed court that is decidedly right-wing, underpinned by conservative political ideologies unrepresentative of the politics f the American majority. The consequences of this case are immense, including the future of the court and its legitimacy in the public eye, the legality of abortion in states, and future rulings on issues from gun restrictions to same-sex marriage.

On a webinar, Secular AZ Legal Director Dianne Post shared insights into what the overturn of Roe v. Wade means for the state of Arizona. Continue reading →

Let the Flags of Intolerance Fly

Posted on by Dianne Post, Legal Director Secular AZ0 Comments

Secular AZ Legal Director Dianne PostShurtleff v. City of Boston is the flag case recently decided by the “Supreme Court” (I put it in parenthesis because it’s no longer supreme or an impartial body as a court is required to be). The city has three poles: one for the American flag, one for the flag of Massachusetts, and one for the city flag. Often, the city pole was used by groups having events in the City Plaza, a “public forum.” The city had no rules about the flags and had never rejected an application for a group to fly its flag before — including a Pride flag and a cooperative bank – until a Christian group asked to fly a Christian flag. Continue reading →

We Are Not in Revolutionary America: Take Down the Damn Pine Tree Flag

Posted on by Sami Al-Asady0 Comments

During the first week of the legislative session, Secular AZ learned that a Christian nationalist Appeal to Heaven flag is being hanged in a public area of the State House building. The Pine Tree Flag dates back to the American Revolution. Colonists disobeyed orders disallowing the cultivation of pine trees, which Britain wanted for the construction of their navy fleet. The tensions exploded into what is known as the Pine Tree Riot, in which 20 men tortured a British official and maimed his horse. The flag became a symbol of independence.

Continue reading →

New Year Remarks from Secular AZ’s Executive Director

Posted on by Jeanne Casteen, Secular AZ Executive Director0 Comments

As the year comes to an end, I have found myself feeling a mix of despair and optimism. A new year brings new beginnings, but also uncertainty. I remember last New Year’s Eve thinking “thank goodness 2020 is over!” and then, less than a week later watched as Christian nationalists violently staged an insurrection at our country’s Capitol. Continue reading →

SB8 is a Gambit to Circumvent the Constitution

Posted on by Dianne Post, Legal Director Secular AZ0 Comments

Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote about a culture in which women who want to escape men’s violence flee into the country for women-only communes.  When they attempt to escape, they are chased by helicopters dropping nets from the sky and then men on the ground round them up like wild animals. Nothing Margaret Atwood wrote in The Handmaid’s Tale was fiction then or now. From the Taliban in Afghanistan to the Taliban in Texas, women’s freedom remains under severe attack. Continue reading →