Hate-Filled Religious Curriculum, Coming to a School Near You

Hey there, Secular FAM. A few months ago, we discussed the push to evangelize our public schools with the founders of the Secular Education Association. They discussed the “Christian” organization, Lifewise, and how they’re attempting to bring evangelical cultist indoctrination to minors across the country.

Now, this organization is bringing its hate-fueled curriculum to the Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD), and we need you to share with the district why secular public schools are vital to our democracy.

The administrators of the DVUSD Lifewise Facebook page are promising that any rando can “sponsor” a student (at $30 a pop) and they will receive religious indoctrinationinstruction during school hours.

Arizona already allows for Release Time for Religious Instruction (RTRI), and the LDS Church has made it clear that they’re very supportive of this statute – and in some cases – overstepping their bounds. The next time you drive around the state, especially in rural and suburban areas, take a look at how many LDS temples are next door or across the street from high school campuses.

Click here to read this post on Secular AZ’s Substack.

Why Is MAGA Truth-Averse?

Welcome, Secular FAM, to the post-truth era of America. Well, to be fair, truth has never really been our strong suit, America, amirite? Especially not in the last 20 years or so.

The concept of “truthiness,” coined by Stephen Colbert in 2005, encapsulates the kind of “news” reporting done by the likes of Fox News or NewsMax. And now that half of the Fox News correspondents are in the Cult 47 cabinet, our government is now being run by, well, by a bunch of big, fat, liars (as well as drunks, domestic abusers, adulterers, and pedophile protectors – and that’s just Hegseth!).

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The Call is Coming From Inside the… Cult

Hey there, my ‘boys,’ and in some cases, my ‘gals,’ I hope you’re keeping cool this summer!

Things always kind of slow down in Arizona in the summertime. The legislative session is over, and many people in the local political scene in AZ can breathe a sigh of relief. Other governing bodies still meet over the summer months, including school boards, but typically, the agendas are light, and the meetings are short.

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Kids Don’t Pay Attention to Racism and Bigotry (and Other Lies School Board Members Tell)

Hey there, Secular FAM! I am writing this on July 2nd, 2025 – the 100th anniversary of the birth of WWII veteran and civil rights activist, Medgar Evers.

I vaguely recall hearing about Medgar Evers when I was a kid, somewhere on TV, probably in a PBS documentary. My dad has always been fond of historical documentaries, and when I was a kid, we literally only had four channels to choose from.

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Secular AZ’s Committment to Equality

As this year’s Pride month comes to an end, America finds itself sliding farther into a Christofascist oligarchy.

Those in power manufacture culture wars to distract us from the very real class war they are waging against working families and really just about anyone other than the billionaires empowered and emboldened by this fascist regime. And like with so many other fascist regimes, members of the LGBTQIA+ community have been scapegoated, marginalized, and outright targeted across America by our own weaponized government.

We want to speak plainly: The fight for LGBTQ+ rights is not optional for the secular movement. It is essential.

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MAGA Ignores Its Constituents, Pt. 8,647 (and counting)

Hidey-ho, Secular FAM-a-reen-O! How are y’all doing today, on a scale of A through I?

The Brain Worm Guy who got his little brother addicted to narcotics recently released his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report. The report was riddled with inaccuracies and included entirely manufactured scientific studies that simply don’t exist, and many folks believe that parts of it were AI-generated.

I wonder what AI would say about evangelical extremist, elected officials who completely ignore the wants and needs of their constituents?

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The Dumbing Down of American School Boards

Hey there, Secular FAM! Another day, another unbelievable headline! So far this May, the F(elon)OTUS accepted a private jet from an authoritarian dictator WITHOUT congressional approval, people who call themselves Christians HATE the new pope, ICE agents are rounding people up like it’s 1933, and *GASP* White House officials have ties to antisemitism!

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Dr. Chrissy Stroop: Can the American Secular Movement Listen to Its Better Angels?

Join us on June 27 at noon as we welcome author Chrissy Stroop, PhD, for a frank discussion of challenges faced by the American secular movement.

Click here to register for this virtual presentation.

The effectiveness of secular organizing  is more important than ever, since the US is devolving into fascist regime orchestrated by white Christian nationalists, bigotry, racism, misogyny and hatred. Join us for a discussion between author, researcher and activist Chrissy Stroop and Secular AZ’s Jeanne Casteen of the state of the secular movement, including its challenges and future.

The coeditor of Empty the Pews: Stories of Leaving the Church, Chrissy Stroop is an exvangelical writer and speaker. Stroop’s work has appeared in Foreign Policy, The Boston Globe, Playboy, and other outlets. Previously a columnist for openDemocracy, Stroop is a regular contributor to Religion Dispatches and publishes a weekly news letter at www.bugbeardispatch.com.

Stroop grew up in Indiana and Colorado Springs, spent a lot of time in a lot of different places in her 20s and 30s, and now happily resides in the Pacific Northwest with chosen family and a mischievous Pomeranian.

Visit Chrissy’s website,  subscribe to her Substack “The Bugbear Dispatch“, read her work at The FlyTrap.