| | Hello Secular FAM, Did you know: Every Friday at noon, Arizonans come together to learn, resist, and build resilience through our virtual Secular Speaker Series! Each week, we welcome scientists, authors, healthcare professionals, lawmakers, activists, educators, journalists, and more... and with over 100 videos posted on our YouTube channel, there's always a topic to educate, inspire, and bring our secular community together. Help us keep this free space for community alive: Become a Secular AZ member or donor today so we can continue bringing you amazing, engaging speakers. Actions you can take to support our democracy: - Sept. 4, 6p: Election Protection poll monitoring training. Info here.
- Sept. 5, 5p: Back to School Finance Training: Learn to read school budgets and more. Info here.
- Sept. 5, 5p: Poll observer training. Info here.
- Sept. 6, 1p: Resistance in Action Social Justice Resource Fair. Info here.
- Sept. 8, 5:30p: Write postcards to the Governor with Desert Democracy. Info here.
- Tell elected officials why vaccine access is so important for your family (and everyone else's). Info here.
- Set up a high school voter registration drive with Civic Engagement Beyond Voting and The Civics Center. Info here.
- Tell Mesa Airlines/Gateway Airport to stop allowing ICE deportation flights. Info here.
- Tell Avelo Airlines what you think about their deportation flight contract with ICE. Info here.
- Protect students; become a Hall Monitor with Just Schools. Info here.
- Help local business owners stand up against ICE. Info here.
- Monitor or attend school board meetings in your district. Info here.
- Protect your neighbors with Tucson Community Rapid Response. Info here.
- Stand up for comprehensive sex ed and reproductive rights with an EducateUS event or training. Info here.
- Learn how to be anti-racist; attend a Showing Up for Racial Justice event or training. Info here.
- Attend a Working Families Party event or training. Info here.
- Attend a Rush Hour Resistance Rally; multiple Valley locations. Info here.
- Help voters re-register; Wednesdays and Thursdays with SOSAZ. Info here.
- Learn how to deep canvass to help public schools; Tuesdays and Thursdays with SOSAZ. Info here.
- Distribute ACLU's "Know Your Rights: Immigration and Deportation" cards. Request cards.
- Attend a Borderlands Resource Initiative and Puente trainings on how to help those targeted by ICE. More info,
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| | | |  | Lager with A Lawyer: Immigration Join us on September 10 at 5:30p for the next session of Lager with a Lawyer, a series of informal talks with legal experts to answer your concerns and questions about what is happening with immigration law and attacks on the migrant community in Arizona. Our guest panelists are: - Rekha Nair, Executive Director of the Phoenix Legal Action Network
- Martín Quezada, attorney, school board member, and former Arizona state senator
We'll meet in a central Phoenix pub; the address will be released to registered guests two days before the event. Click here to RSVP (required) |
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 | Dr. Matthew Boedy: Seven Mountains Mandate Last week, Jeanne spoke with Professor Matthew Boedy about his new book The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy. Boedy is a professor of rhetoric at the University of North Georgia who's been targeted by — and writing about — Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA since 2018, when he was placed on their "Professor Watchlist." His research on the Seven Mountains Mandate and New Apostolic Reformation, both driving forces behind Project 2025 and our current administration, is a don't miss. Watch on Secular AZ's YouTube channel |
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| | | |  | Coming Soon to a Public School Near You In June 2025, Secular AZ sponsored a seminar on banned books at the Arizona State Bar Convention. One of our main speakers was Lynn Oberlander from Ballard, Spahr in NY. She is also the lead attorney on the case of Penguin Random House et al v. Ben Gibson et al in Florida that was decided on August 13, 2025. The 50-page opinion was on summary judgment (a.k.a. I win without a trial because there are no factual issues only legal ones) in which the court granted the plaintiff’s motion and granted in part and denied in part the motions by both the State and the School Boards. For background, the court outlined the stories of several high schoolers who went to the library to check out books that had disappeared. Such books as On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Looking for Alaska by John Green, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez, and Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson were gone. These very same books are the ones targeted in Scottsdale and other schools in Arizona by “outside agitators” who are creating these lists for local groups to use to attack local libraries. This is not a homegrown action. Read Secular AZ Legal Director's analysis here |
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| | | | | | | | THIS WEEK IN SECULAR NEWS Not to beat a dead horse, but: ...you know what, let's go ahead and beat that horse. Two more selections on the harmful, vile, and violent legacy of the wretched James Dobson by Dr. Sara Moselner and Dr. Chrissy Stroop. The rules apply to thee, not me: Instead of showing up for her own $8 million lawsuit against the Tucson PD (she says she was pulled over for going 70 in a 35-mph zone because of her political views) former AZ lawmaker Justine Wadsack (R, of course) was busy tweeting from a right-wing event in Phoenix. Now, she's facing the very real possibility of contempt charges and sanctions. Her own lawyer is trying to bail, and it's easy to see why. Also, her online "legal defense" fundraiser (goal of $75,000) has thus far raised $1,445. 🤡 Read more. Sacred substances: Religious groups are increasingly advocating for the use of psychedelic drugs as a sacrament. Clergy members are now a key voice in the movement to legalize substances like psilocybin and peyote, citing therapeutic and spiritual benefits. This push is supported by a growing body of scientific research, with some states funding studies on psychedelics for treating conditions like PTSD. Everyone's favorite ex-AZ-Senator, Kyrsten Sinema, has also jumped aboard the psychedelics train. Read more. Codifying hate: In the latest attempt to erase government recognition of transgender and non-binary people, the Trump administration has ordered dozens of states to remove all references to trans and NB people from sex education materials or risk losing millions in federal funding. The move, which targets programs aimed at preventing teen pregnancy and STIs, is the latest in the administration's campaign to eliminate "gender ideology" from government-funded initiatives. Arizona is among the states given 60 days to comply. Read more. Lend a hand: East Valley coffee shops Brick Road Coffee and Empower Coffee Roasters have raised over $19k to defend Mesa teacher and founder of AZTYPO Tami Staas. It'll be used to support her defamation lawsuit against online smear campaigns that accused her of "sexual grooming." The lawsuit has become a flashpoint in Arizona's political climate, and the shops plan to help other teachers in the future. Read more and donate here. |
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| | | | Secular AZ
PO Box 47756 | Phoenix, Arizona 85068
6023804810 | info@secularaz.org |
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