Weekly Update

By entangling their theology with state power and military might, Christian nationalists sure resemble the religious regimes they say they oppose.

History teaches us that democracy rarely disappears overnight. It erodes more gradually, as those in power chip away at the rights that allow ordinary people to hold them accountable. That’s why casting a ballot is far more than a civic duty to me.

Repression doesn’t always begin with a dramatic coup. It advances through legislation, litigation, elections, and escalating rhetoric that treats equity as a threat and diversity as decay.

We’re investing in what works to make a real difference in the lives of nonreligious Americans: expert advocates and grassroots activists who know how to organize effectively to stop bad policies and advance positive ones.

The Trump Administration’s guidance is legally unsound, internally inconsistent, and dangerous. It misrepresents Supreme Court cases to justify broad religious exemptions and promote religious activity in public schools that the Court has never authorized and that our Constitution specifically prohibits.

The National Prayer Breakfast is not about unity. It’s not even a celebration of faith. It’s a gross corruption of religious freedom and a vehicle for a Christian nationalist agenda that seeks to impose one narrow set of beliefs on an entire nation.

A government confident in its legitimacy doesn’t fear protest, the press, or public input. Liberal democracies, like the one the U.S. founders envisioned, celebrate pluralism and protect dissent. Illiberal, authoritarian, and theocratic regimes punish them.

When governments treat vaccine rejection as a harmless expression of individual autonomy, they abdicate their responsibility to protect public health. The cost of their callous disregard for science is borne by all of us and especially the most vulnerable.

A government that privileges one faith and suppresses another is not defending secular democracy or religious freedom for all; it’s advancing sectarian supremacy that threatens us all.

At a time when most had only known monarchies, theocracies, and despots, Thomas Paine introduced to the world the very concept of democracy as a common good.

To defend the separation of religion and government in 2026 is to defend the very foundation of democratic equality for years to come. It’s not just a niche concern for us atheists alone, but a critical effort to protect and advance the freedoms of all people.