There's Only One Way Out

...and it is us

and

Apr 25, 2025

Hey, hey, Secular FAM! I don’t know about you, but I LOVE the smell of victory in the morning. I also enjoy it in the mid-morning, afternoon, dusk, and late in the evening. Which is good because lately, in the midst of *gestures broadly* all of this….

Captain Jean Luc Picard is standing in a red shirt next to Data who wears a yellow shirt and says "Captain, the Borg are about to attack." Picard says "How do you know, Data?" Data laughs and holds up a smart phone with a Signal chat on the screen. He says, "They added me to the group chat!"

Secular AZ has been #winning on several fronts. Recently, our Legal Director, Dianne Post, testified against the “chaplain bill” and followed up with a letter, explaining how their bill violates current case law. It’s doubtful that Governor Hobbs will sign this discriminatory bill into law.

On another front, a couple of weeks ago, several concerned citizens in the Vail Unified School District (VUSD) alerted us to an agreement between the school district and the Latter-Day Saints (LDS). The school board there approved an agreement with the church to build a seminary on taxpayer-funded public school grounds. About a dozen or so people reached out, and within the next 24 hours, Dianne again fired off a letter to the district.

The district held a meeting for community members to weigh in, and then, earlier this week, the district announced that they have scrapped their agreement with the LDS Church.

A woman in a formal dress and a luxurious gold background crosses herself and says Thank You Jesus

Isn’t it amazing how quickly it all happened? The concerned citizens of VUSD are the real heroes of this story because they could have just thrown their hands in the air, but instead they sprung into action.

A drawing of Desmond Tutu with chin in hand, looking pensive. Caption "IF you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the the oppressor"

Additionally, many of those who opposed this agreement are LDS members themselves.

There are a couple of lessons to be learned here: First, we shouldn’t make assumptions about religious folks based solely on their adherence to their faith. Quite a large portion of our membership consider themselves “religious.” Many people find this surprising, but Secular AZ is not anti-religion. We are against funding religion with public dollars. We are against indoctrinating people with religion in public spaces. We are against discriminatory policies and laws based on religion.

The founding fathers sit together, feather pens in hand. Caption: We just created separation of church and state. It's so simple, even a child can understand it, right?"

The second takeaway from this victory is that it’s up to all of us to speak up whenever someone tries to insert their faith into our public institutions. Currently, Secular AZ has several potential lawsuits that just need plaintiffs. In Yavapai County Arizona, a school district is offering a bible study elective. The school district has received our complaints, but they’ve ignored them. And without a plaintiff, they’ll continue to ignore them and offer this class.

In Peoria (PUSD), the current president, who doesn’t understand how court rulings work, asserts that she won the lawsuit that she clearly lost. During two separate board meetings this year, she resumed reading scripture while children were present. She’s claiming she’ll resume her scripture-reading again, and unless a parent, guardian, student, or staff member steps up, she’ll just keep indoctrinating everyone with her patriarchal, authoritarian belief system.

A four-panel comic. On top, a group of human figures stand before one lone figure holding a whip. In the second panel, all the figures but one kneel before the lone figure, who is raising the whip. In the third panel, a few more figures stand before the lone figure with the whip. In the final panel, all the figures stand and the figure with the whip prostrates himself before the powerful group. The caption says "IF people could realize their power, everything would be different."

Plaintiffs in Camp Verde or PUSD, haven’t stepped up…yet…but the other side has no problem finding plaintiffs.

This week, three families who stepped up to challenge their school district’s lack of an opt-out policy for families are having their case heard in the Supreme Court They contend that parents should be able to opt their children out of any curriculum they disagree with, regardless of the logistical nightmare that presents to school districts across the country. Many legal experts predict that SCOTUS will side with the families, and it will be just another blow to public schools. The ruling will be handed down sometime this summer.

For Secular AZ, it used to be easier to find plaintiffs for these cases. Now, because many of these cult members target the individuals who defend democracy and go against the cultists’ ideologies, these defenders of democracy often receive death threats and even have to go into hiding.

Social media post from Dean Obeidallah. White text on black background reads: As you read about Trump supporters threatening Republicans in Congress with violence if they oppose Trump, please note that fascist movements always use violence to achieve their political goals. Hitler had his "brownshirts" who were enforcers, Trump has his "red hats" who serve exact same purpose.

One trait common in cult members is that they’re fiercely loyal to their cult leader. I mean, have y’all watched Love Has Won? “Mother God”’s followers carried her corpse around for weeks, fully expecting her to reanimate. Ruby Franke tortured her own children within an inch of their lives to please her cult leader. Insurrectionist cult members stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, beat and murdered first responders, and took a shit on Nancy Pelosi’s desk, all to serve their cult leader.

3-panel comic from King of the Hill. First one, Hank is in a red truck saying "Y'all in the cult?" Second panel, person in jumpsuit gets on yellow bus and says "We are not in a cult, we just storm government buildings, wear maxi pads on our ears, and buy cheap merchandise from a billionaire rapist."

Throughout history, cult leaders have directed their followers to commit violence against others. A bunch of cultists committed suicide after their cult leader told them to because they thought they’d be zoomed into outerspace on the tail of a comet, and members of the Manson Family murdered on their leader’s behalf. He never had to lift a finger.

Black and white photo of Charles Manson smiling and stumming a guitar. Caption: For those of you sharing pictures of Kyle Rittenshouse cleaning graffiti, here's a picture of Charles Manson playing guitar in church.

So it’s no wonder we struggle to find plaintiffs in these cases. When the rabid followers of demagogues spew bigotry and hate, and side with a regime that arbitrarily disappears people, it’s scary to speak out.

You know what’s even scarier? Constantly living in fear because of the color of your skin, your sexual identity, gender expression, or because a United States Cabinet member wants to launch an autism registry.

When we sit on our hands and wait for “someone else” to stand up to the fascists, the fascists have already won. Also, if you’re sitting silent in your privilege, knowing that other groups are being targeted and suffering, you may as well just join the empire now and get it over with.

Black and white still shot from Schindlers List, people being loaded onto trains with their luggage and young girl crying out

[IYKYK]

If you’re reading this and know someone in the districts that are facing the biggest threat of Christofascism, share this with them, and encourage them to reach out to us.

Social media post from Jon Roy Comic from 4/25 which reads "Right wing Star Wars fans realize at some level that throwing a wrongly accused man into an offshore mega prison where no one ever leaves is literally what the Empire does in Andor, right? Below is a shot of two prisoners, hands on head, in white suits from the show Andor

This is the moment, Secular FAM. The resistance is upon us. The time to take a stand was yesterday, and we need your help.

First, remember all that cool stuff I mentioned about our Legal Director, Dianne Post? She easily does the work of three people, and she’s stepping down from her director position next fall. If you are grateful knowing that someone in Arizona is standing up for your secular values, I encourage everyone reading this to stop now and become a monthly member of our organization, so we can continue to fund this work.

Perhaps you or someone you know are an attorney, legal scholar, law school student, or paralegal, and want to fight against Christian nationalism with the only organization in Arizona advocating for the separation of religion and government. Consider volunteering with our Legal Committee.

Woman's hair blows back in the wind as she salutes dramatically before a US flag

If you want to get to know Dianne before you commit, join us for our “Lager with a Lawyer” event on May 7th, 2025.

We are also looking for potential board members and committee members who are ready to meet this moment in our state and country’s history. If you have mad skills and are itching to get involved, we’d love to hear more about you.

You know, I sneaked a peek at the latest agenda in PUSD, and looked at their Human Resources report. This is the time of year that contracts are going out and teachers are deciding whether or not they will sign them. For the April 24, 2025 meeting in PUSD, there is only one certified staff new hire and around 75 resignations and retirements.

Two children wear blindfolds and play tag in the grass. Caption: The government trying to figure out why there's a teacher shortage.

The damage already done in PUSD and countless other districts in the state may take decades to undo. That is, if our public schools survive at all.

Social media post from Jess Piper: Never forget the goal of creating chaos in schools: Privitization. They will defund your schools to create charters and private schools and funnel public tax money into private hands for profit. it's a scam.

There’s only one way out of this, Secular FAM. And it is us.

An elderly lady says "That's just love."

A guest post by

Jeanne Casteen

Jeanne Casteen is a teacher, mother, former school board president, and the Executive Director for Secular AZ. She is a public education advocate, avid camper and hiker, and mother of Moxie, the best dog in the whole world.

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