THIS WEEK IN SECULAR NEWS

Book banning in Phoenix: Following complaints from conservative activists and Christian parent's rights groups, Maricopa County libraries have moved over 50 titles (nearly 240 individual books) from children's sections. Books on puberty, gender identity, and human reproduction have been relocated to the adult non-fiction area, often placed on high shelves. This change affects 12 of the county's 14 libraries and is part of broader policy changes, including a "parental control" program allowing parents to restrict their children's access to certain books. The county also said it was considering a new rule banning kids under 12 in libraries without a guardian. THIS IS NOT OK. If you want to tell the Board how you feel about this, email them at agenda.comments@maricopa.gov.  Read more.

When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression: In February, the Trump administration announced the formation of a task force to root out the "anti-Christian bias" that was so rife in the Biden administration, which was only made up of (checks notes) 87% Christians. This week, the " Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias” report came out and, as expected, it's a collection of examples of Christians being treated just like everyone else, rather than with deference and privilege. For instance, Arizona's own Grand Canyon University was mentioned as a victim of bias because it had to pay a fine for defrauding its students. It's called accountability, not bias (of course, the Trump administration has since rescinded the penalty) and the report is filled with similar examples of non-biased treatment that the religious right interprets as discrimination.  Read more. 

Degrading the Kennedy Center. In the latest of many violations of the Establishment Clause, the Trump administration last week used the publicly funded Kennedy Center to host an evangelical Christian event. The event, featuring a documentary and a worship session, is a clean examples of the government endorsing a specific religion, blurring the line between church and state. Yet another example of the Trump administration turning a national cultural institution into a platform for religious propaganda aimed at promoting a specific faith and political agenda. Read more. 

BuT wE'rE pRo-LiFe: In this week's least surprising news, babies are suffering more harm in states with more stringent abortion restrictions. A 2025 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that states enacting new abortion restrictions after Dobbs experienced a 7.2% increase in infant deaths. This amounts to roughly 30 more deaths annually per state, with a significant increase in deaths among infants aged one month to one year. The study also found that states with so-called "health exceptions" saw a similar rise in infant deaths, suggesting these exceptions may be too vague for medical professionals to use effectively. Again and again, over and over, always and every time, facts show that religious extremists don't actually care about the life and health of babies or their parents, but rather only care about using them as political pawns to gain power. Read more. 

Does the CDC want to kill us?: If you had the "pleasure" of watching "Health" Secretary Robert Fakenews Kennedy Jr's Senate hearing this week, you may have noticed that he wasn't exactly truthful. In fact, he lied and spewed disinformation repeatedly, from claims that children must receive 69-92 doses of untested vaccines, that SSRIs are a contributing factor in school shootings, that no one knows how many Americans died of COVID, that anyone can get a COVID booster, that he's not defunding rural hospitals, that millions of people aren't losing Medicaid...and so much more. Read more. 

Making America Germy Again. And on a related note, Arizona is now experiencing its worst measles outbreak in more than 10 years. The epicenter is in fundie headquarters Colorado City, where many people refuse to vaccine their kids because of... reasons. (One school there has a 7.7% MMR vaccination rate.) Let's all give a big thanks to the religious zealots, anti-science MAGA, and, oh yeah, the U.S. Secretary of "Health," for causing so much completely unnecessary harm and suffering. Read more. 

0/5 Stars. Do not recommend. Thumbs down. Thinking of buying the new book from Krauss, Dawkins, Coyne, and (checks notes, ewwwwww gross) Jordan Peterson? Well, here's a summary: A bunch of old white dudes received (mild) pushback for openly espousing bigoted/sexist/transphobic/racist beliefs and/or groping women. They were then radicalized and wrote a whiny book on how old white dudes are the true victims. This book's self-pitying false victimhood (oH, I'vE bEeN cAnCeLlEd bY tHe WoKe LeFt, waaaaah, because the woke left is in charge of everything these days, uh huh OK guys) has NOT aged well, especially given how DOGE/Trump/MAHA/MAGA/etc. has literally decimated science over the past 6 months. Read more.