"Christians Don't Do That Anymore" says AZ State Lawmaker

("That" = following the Golden Rule)

Happy New Year, Secular Fam! Hopefully everyone survived the ENDLESS fireworks in your respective neighborhoods. Thankfully, my dog Moxie (look at how cute she is! LOOK AT HER!)

is the scrappy kind of pupper that chases after fireworks, but most people I know have dogs that end up cowering for hours on their owners’ laps or under beds and tables. There’s a reason why the fireworks seemed to be so much more extra this year, and that’s because they were.

They were so prevalent that it resulted in some of the worst air quality we’ve seen here in the Valley since 2010. Not only do fireworks traumatize many dogs (and probably other animals), they can be traumatizing to veterans or people who’ve experienced gun violence. The air quality was so bad, many of my asthmatic friends were experiencing symptoms and had to avoid going outside.

To me, this seems like a reflection of where we are as a country. There’s a whole bunch of people here who seem to lack empathy for their neighbors, and keep blasting figurative fireworks in all of our faces. 

Remember in 2020 when people were OUTRAGED about wearing masks, sometimes even going out of their way to harass people wearing masks? These folks couldn’t be bothered to care about their fellow humans enough to simply cover their faces in public places.

In many cases, these are the same people who seem unbothered when pregnant people are forced to carry a nonviable fetus even if doing so may put their lives at risk. Frequently, these are the same people who go out of their way to bully some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. 

I wonder what it must be like to only think about myself and my needs without any regard for the needs or feelings of others. But really, I already know, because I track these selfish deplorables on the regular, and of course, most of them have “Christian warrior” or “Man/Woman of God” on their social media profiles.

But remember, these folks don’t follow the teachings of Christ as presented in the New Testament. 

A couple of years ago, I scheduled appointments with as many legislators as I could. And every one of them that broadcast their Christian “faith” online used their meetings with me to try to ridicule me and my lack of faith.

When one state representative asked me why I wasn’t a Christian, I told her that while I like the teachings of Jesus, I’m not a fan of his modern-day followers since they do not try to model themselves after Christ. She responded by saying, “Oh, Christians don’t do that anymore.”

As I was picking my jaw up off the floor, she went on to say, “Yeah, it’s too much of a burden to model ourselves after God, so we don’t try to act like Christ anymore.” 

Real Christians who are reading this: IS THIS TRUE?? Just kidding, I already know the answer.

I’m not a Christian (OBVI) but my parents raised me to basically just be decent to others. If there was some kind of credo I adhere to, I guess the golden rule would be it. Or simplified for today’s modern times: DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE.

The legislative session is days away, and I’m here to tell you right now that if you pay attention this session, you’re going to see a lot of “Men/Women of Christ” acting like complete assholes at the Capitol in 2024.

Remember, these aren’t real Christians, but Christian nationalists. These are the folks who treat the Bible like a buffet. They take what they want when it serves their agenda, and then leave the rest. Essentially, it seems they never finished their favorite book and stopped reading it about halfway through. 

Many of these elected Christian nationalists have already responded to Governor Katie Hobbs’ proposal to rein in the Educational Savings Account (ESA) program by having temper tantrums over common sense accountability and safety measures. 

Secular Fam, some of these proposals include things like mandating background checks and fingerprint clearance cards for private school staff. Private schools would have to make public things like curriculum, graduation rates, and attendance records. Purchases over $500 would have to be approved, and private schools wouldn’t be allowed to increase their tuition at a rate greater than inflation.

Like, these are things that public schools have to do already, so why wouldn’t evangelical extremists want to be fully transparent about this program they have so much faith in? It’s almost like they’re completely hypocritical when it comes to educational transparency and accountability, and they only demand those things from public schools.

But we’re stuck with these knuckleheads for the 2024 session, so get your waders on. The level of bullshit coming from the Capitol this year will be waist deep. 

Also starting next week is everyone’s favorite - SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS! WHEEEEEE!

Thankfully, January is the month where school boards reorganize, so we’ll likely see some changes in some of the most dysfunctional school boards. I predict that Paradise Valley (PVUSD), Deer Valley (DVUSD), and Peoria (PUSD) will have new leadership in their President/Chair and Vice President/Vice Chair positions.

I truly hope that whoever gets voted into these positions will have a strong gavel hand and limit the amount of hate speech, mis/disinformation, and off-topic discussions. I hope they focus on issues that really affect our students, families, and staff instead of culture war BS.

I’m not holding my breath, so I’ll keep showing up to expose their wasteful, misinformed, and deeply unserious policies, and I encourage all of you to do the same.

As I said in my last Substack, 2024 is going to suck.

But imagine if each and every one of us committed to attending or even just emailing two times a month. Your attendance and input make a huge difference.

Remember how the people showed up in DVUSD after they didn’t approve the ELA curriculum? That happened because folks showed up, and some of those folks were YOU, Secular Fam! 

You want to hear something really inspiring? This past year, more people who are actual Christians have joined our movement. So many faithful people have reached out to us to say that they’re fed up with all these faux Christians speaking for them and bastardizing their faith. 

We’ve also gotten feedback with statements like this: 

“While I used to be very anti-religion and pro atheist (secular?) things have changed the more I learn and awake from the Matrix's trance. I used to fear and despise Christians and the like thinking they were the ones out to get myself. But surprise! It's the NSA, FBI and Illuminati... not the Baptists or Christians. So I'm still atheist but I feel that the Christians wouldn't harm me or mind control me like the NSA, FBI or Illuminati do [emphasis added].”

And this: “We believe that all children and all Arizona schools should be saying the Pledge of Allegiance and should all be having school prayer before the start of each day. We also believe that all legislators in the state, county and federal government should be praying to God to overturn the crap that is going on in this country, led by an incompetent president. We wait anxiously for Donald Trump to resume his rightful position as president as God’s chosen candidate [emphasis added]. You really need Christian counseling for your mental illness.”

So they’re still out there - showering everyone with their Christian love - and they vote. They may even show up to school board meetings or canvass for evangelical extremist candidates.

So you know the drill, Secular Fam! There are 304 days until Election Day, and there is PLENTY to do.

Support the work we do here and donate, volunteer, become a member, or upgrade to a paid Substack subscription.