We're Moving From Substack to Beehiiv: The How and Why 

Recently, we announced that all Secular AZ blogs and articles would move from Substack, where we've been publishing for several years, to the Beehiiv platform. If you already subscribe to our Substack, you don't have to do anything; both free and paid subscriptions will be transferred over to Beehiiv automatically this week. (that said, if you notice that you're not receiving our posts or that your paid subscription doesn't appear to be coming out of your account, please let us know!)

If you're not a subscriber, you should become one! This is where Secular AZ Director Jeanne Casteen, Legal Director Dianne Post, and guest authors do all their blogging about the issues that impact church:state separation in Arizona (and beyond.)

That's the "how" — now for the "why." We're moving from Substack due to major concerns that the platform profits from alt-right and extremist voices. Though Substack calls this a "hands-off approach to content moderation," much like X under Musk, we view it as subsidizing hatred and bigotry. Specifically, Substack received a $100 million investment, largely from right-wing billionaires, raising concerns about free speech integrity. Second, Substack sent a push alert promoting a pro-Nazi blog; though the Substack execs apologized, they refused to change their content policy. Secular AZ decided to move to a different platform, rather than endorse this behavior.

THANK YOU for your support! We hope you enjoy reading our posts from our new Beehiiv! 

THIS WEEK'S NEWS

Yes, it's the vouchers: If you follow Secular AZ, you know we support public schools and support voucher expansion, in part because private religious schools #1 use taxpayer money into religious indoctrination, #2 lack accountability and standards (e.g. teaching accurate science and history), and #3 can discriminate at will. But Arizona's failed voucher experiment is now leading to neighborhood school closures, too. Save Our Schools Arizona published an op-ed this week that's definitely worth a read. Read more.

Civics, MAGA-style: Trump’s Department of Education (RIP) is leading a MAGA-centric makeover of U.S. civics education by partnering with right-wing groups, like the Heritage Foundation i.e. authors of Project 2025, Stephen Miller's America First Policy Institute, Christian nationalist TPUSA, and the truth-challenged PraegerU. The administration redirected $137 million toward this "patriotic education," which aims to present a "unifying and uplifting portrayal of the nation’s founding ideals." Critics call the curriculum "ahistorical propaganda." Model legislation from the effort would ban teaching "defamatory history," including the role of slavery, and federal websites are reportedly removing acknowledgments of nonwhite, women’s, and LGBTQIA+ historical figures. Read more and register your opposition. 

Legalizing harm. Last week, SCOTUS heard a case out of Colorado that will remove a ban on harmful conversion therapy for LGBTQIA+ minors, an extremely harmful practice that many describe as torture.Not surprisingly, the conservative majority appears skeptical of the law. The central legal question is whether the ban is a permissible regulation of professional conduct or an unconstitutional infringement on free speech. The therapist challenging the law, backed by the Trump administration, argues the ban is viewpoint discrimination and that no reliable studies prove harm. Colorado counters that there's a "mountain of evidence" the practice is ineffective and potentially dangerous. The decision, expected by June, will affect similar bans in over 20 states. Read more. 

BuT wE’rE PrO-LiFe: The party of "pro-life" is cancelling grants that will, literally, kill the children they claim to care so much about. The Trump administration canceled a federal grant for PediaFlow, a life-saving artificial heart pump being developed at Cornell University for babies with severe heart defects. The $6.7 million cut, part of a $10 billion punishment to universities over perceived civil rights and antisemitism issues, jeopardizes the project's future. The research team points out that kids are being treated like "collateral damage," as the device is crucial for children like a 4-year-old who is currently relying on an adult-sized heart pump while awaiting a transplant. But as we know all too well, the religious right only cares about children before they're born, so we doubt they'll care about the suffering and death that this latest attack on Americans' healthcare will cause. Read more.

Making Abusers (and Pedophiles) Great Again: In other not-shocking news that again proves that the religious right only cares about children before they're actually born, Washington State has agreed to a settlement exempting clergy from reporting child abuse learned solely through religious confession, effectively gutting the core protection of a newly passed law. The legislation, intended to make priests mandated reporters regardless of the sacramental seal, was challenged by Catholic bishops and the Trump administration’s Justice Department on First Amendment grounds. State officials conceded the exemption to protect the remainder of the law, which still designates clergy as mandatory reporters outside of confession. This settlement again sacrifices child protection to uphold a religious ritual that shields sexual predators. Read more.