| | Hello Secular FAM, Welcome to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... that's right, it's War on Christmas ™ month! Get ready for some performative nonsense as the professional victim squad does what they do best — get all riled up over pretend slights. In contrast, rather than getting all worked up into a frothy fit because someone says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" or hands you a coffee cup with a saying that doesn't specifically promote your religion of choice, we recommend taking action to solve real problems such as discrimination, privileging of religion, and other issues that affect us all when the wall between church and state is breached. Here are ways to step up and stand up this week: - Make your dollars talk (and say we ain't buying it): Home Depot assisting ICE. Amazon supporting the Trump admin's cruel policies. Target cancelling DEI programming. Why spend your hard-earned dollars at corporations that are actively harming our neighbors? Boycott them and spend locally instead. We Ain't Buying It Resources.
- 12/1, 5:45p: Rally to get ICE out of Mesa. Info here.
- 12/3, 4p: Weekly No Kings Rally in Rio Rico. Info here.
- 12/4, 6:30p: CEBV Virtual Training: Letters to the Editor. Info here.
- 12/5, 6p: ACLU: Storytelling for Advocacy. Info here.
- 12/6, 9a: Phoenix ICE out of Home Depot rally. Info here.
- 12/6, 9a: NE Phoenix Community Food Drive. Info here.
- Oppose Superintendent Tom Horne's attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, which he's using as an excuse to gut Arizona teaching standards and bilingual education standards. Info on how to speak up here.
- The Secular Student Alliance at Glendale Community College is raising funds to support an in-person presentation by Dr. Ryan Burge on religious nones in the U.S. Contribute to the fundraiser here.
- Tell your representatives that you oppose Trump's MAGA-driven, religious-dogma-heavy "patriotic" education plan. Info here.
- Vouchers harm public schools and funnel taxpayer dollars to private/religious schools that can discriminate without consequences. Tell Governor Hobbs to say no to the federal school voucher program. Info here.
- Demand oversight of ICE, now the largest federal law enforcement agency in the U.S. with the fewest checks on its power. Info here.
- Tell Congress to oppose the "Free Speech Fairness Act," which would (further) gut the Johnson Amendment and allow religious organization and other 501(c)3s to proselytize. Info here.
- Every year, Secular AZ distributes banned books at the Tucson Festival of Books. You can help by donating books to our library from our wish list; all books are sold locally through Changing Hands Bookstore.
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Monitor or attend school board meetings in your district. Info here. -
Set up a high school voter registration drive with CEBV and The Civics Center. Info here. -
Protect students; become a Hall Monitor with Just Schools. Info here. |
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| | | | | | | | | | #Facts About Vaccines Join us Friday, December 5, at 12p (MST) for special guest Ashley Chambers, Executive Director of Arizona Families for Vaccines. Arizona Families for Vaccines works at the grassroots level to promote pro-vaccine policy that is based on science. Arizona Families for Vaccines vehemently opposes any vaccine policy that is based on misinformation or that puts Arizona’s most vulnerable at risk. Details and RSVP Here |
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Build Community, Eat Pie! Please join us on December 27 at the Humanist Center of Greater Phoenix for the 2nd annual Festival of Pies. Bring a pie to be auctioned, bid on a pie, and enjoy pie.... all while building community and supporting Secular AZ. Why? Because "a little slice keeps our secular democracy nice!" RSVP here |
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| |  Hey hey, Secular FAM! 2025 is almost in the rearview mirror, and I for one cannot wait to let the figurative door hit it in its ass. I’ve been bidding an aggressive adieu to every single year since 2016, but this year of our lordT, 2025, can really go f*ck itself. 2025 started with a bunch of twenty-something douchelords, one named “Big Balls,” being granted access to absolutely all of our private information and seems to be ending with the president of the United States calling veterans in Congress “traitors” who should be executed and going to war with checks notes Venezuela. Good thing the Nobel Committee didn’t give in to his tantrum earlier this year, amirite? Pete Hagueseth is leading the entire country to war and governing through Xitter posts because of unsubstantiated drug trafficking claims, while our feeble Pedo-in-Chief pardons one of the worst checks notes drug traffickers in history. Read the rest of Jeanne Casteen's article here |
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| |  Save the Date(s) On December 27 at 5:30pm, please join us for a celebration of our secular community at the annual Festival of Pies. We'll meet at the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix for conversation and community-building, to raise funds for Secular AZ, and (of course) to enjoy delicious pastry treats. Bring a pie to share and to raffle! RSVP required. Then we'll meet again at the Humanist Society on January 10 for the annual Secular Summit. This year, our focus is on mutual aid, because we are our own saviors. But wait, there's more! Secular Day at the Capitol takes place on February 17. We hope you'll join secular supporters from around Arizona for a day of fellowship and activism. More info coming soon, so mark your calendars now. |
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| | | | THIS WEEK'S NEWS Setting a fine example for the youth: The followers of Jesus' teachings at Turning Point USA have certainly been busy lately. Last week, Former Arizona state representative and Turning Point Action leader, Austin Smith, pled guilty to attempted election fraud (he forged signatures on his nomination petitions for his 2024 reelection campaign. This week, the news got even more... interesting. A lawsuit accuses Avondale City Council member and TPUSA staffer Jeannette Garcia of kidnapping the 14-year-old daughter of a subordinate coworker in 2024. The suit alleges that Garcia, after the man rebuffed her sexual advances at an election party, falsely suggested he was intoxicated and might be violent. Garcia and other staffersallegedly took the teen and held her until the following day. Garcia denies all claims and is threatening a counter-lawsuit. This all leaves us with one burning question: are certain Peoria Unified Board Members pushing to bring this scandal-ridden organization into PUSD schools? The answer is yes. Read more. The real victims: Samantha Fulnecky, a University of Oklahoma student, is publicly battling a failing grade on a reflection essay because she apparently mistook a social science course for Sunday school. The junior submitted a 650-word sermon citing biblical teachings on gender roles instead of using, like, actual psychology or empirical evidence. Needless to say, her lengthy, Bible-heavy sermon failed to "grapple" with the required article on gender roles and mental health. The grad assistant grader gave Samantha a zero on the paper for relying on "personal ideology" and being "offensive," and also explained that the failing grade was due to the essay’s lack of empirical evidence, contradictions, and failure to meet the academic rubric—not her religious views. Fulnecky cried "religious discrimination" and "free speech," conveniently forgetting that an academic setting is allowed to prioritize critical thinking and rigor over the uncritical recitation of personal beliefs. Following her public complaints to state officials and right-wing groups, the University placed the instructor on administrative leave pending an investigation. Read more. Gender affirming care saves lives, says science: "What if I told you there was a simple, safe, & effective treatment to vastly reduce the risk of suicidal ideation among one of the most vulnerable group of children & teens? You'd be pretty stoked, I would think." Well, a new study published in the Journal of Pediatrics does just that, finding that gender-affirming hormone therapy (HT) significantly reduces suicidal behavior in transgender youth and young adults. The research examined 432 patients aged 12 to 20 over a period up to five years, finding that suicidality scores dropped by over 67% after patients started HT. This evidence, which supports the mental health benefits of timely care, comes as 27 U.S. states have banned or restricted gender-affirming treatments. The AZGOP tries to pass harmful bills targeting trans and LGBTQIA+ individuals every year based on unfounded fears and misinformation, and ignoring consistent scientific findings that such care is vital and life-saving. Read more. Do your own research: A new paper by Peter Hotez warns that American scientific medicine faces a profound threat from a resurgence of "sectarian medicine," as represented by the Make America Healthy Again movement and in contrast to science-based "secular medicine." This sectarian movement, rooted in the ̶w̶o̶o̶ ̶w̶o̶o̶ ̶g̶r̶i̶f̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶n̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶o̶i̶l̶"wellness" industry, is eroding public trust in scientific institutions and decimating the National Institutes of Health. So who should you take more seriously on matters related to health, Hotez or MAHA leader RFK Jr? Let's just quickly compare their resumes. Hotez = M.D., Ph.D., D. Sc (hon), F.A.A.P., F.A.S.T.M.H., Baker Institute senior fellow in disease and humanity, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and University Professor of Biology at Baylor University. RFK Jr = International Law degree from Pace University School of Law, author of children's book on Saint Francis of Assisi, host of brain worm, co-founder of Children's Health Defense (a prominent source of vaccine misinformation), and prolific sexter of Olivia Nuzzi. Hm, hard decision. Read more. |
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