As you know, European colonists began migrating to America to escape religious persecution and seek religious freedom. Of course, religion was used here, too, as a cudgel to discriminate and kill “heretics” and “heathens.” The sometimes brutal conflicts between religious sects (namely but not only Protestants and Catholics) contradict Christian nationalists’ claim that this was ever a Christian nation. And it isn’t one now, either; we religious “Nones” outnumber both groups. This nation is and has always been a pluralistic one, but today, it’s in peril.
Just this week, on the eve of our country’s 248th birthday, Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation, said, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it be.”
It’s an alarming and non-empty threat when you consider The Heritage Foundation is leading Project 2025, which Roberts described in its foreword as a plan “to deconstruct the Administrative State.” The 920-page mandate is as explicit as it is thorough: What they’re revolting against is the very notion of a pluralistic democracy.
And on Monday, the Supreme Court handed them a powerful shield in its Trump v. United States ruling, which granted the presidency king-like immunity just days before we commemorated the anniversary of our legal separation from a monarch. In response, one constitutional law professor wrote: “Jurists who preach fidelity to the Constitution are making decisions that flatly contradict our founding document’s text and ideals.” Roberts called the decision “vital.”
We must not allow the Religious Right to rewrite American history. After all, it is our history. The American Revolution and our nation’s Charters of Freedom were profoundly and uniquely secular. Religious freedom is the first for a reason. It’s a well-documented fact the Founders and the People wanted “effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny.” They said it again and again in the Constitution, in the Federalist Papers, in their letters, and in the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli.
And so we nonreligious and freethinking Americans must reclaim patriotism and defy the narrative that anyone who isn’t a specific kind of Christian is un-American. Christian nationalism is un-American. Opposing it is patriotic.
Fighting to protect public schools against religious intrusion and working to oppose publicly funded religious education are American traditions that date back to James Madison and Thomas Paine. Religious liberty—not Christianity—is one of our nation’s most foundational ideals. Despite the Christian nationalists’ best efforts, 84% of Americans still believe freedom of religion is extremely important to our identity as a nation.
That enduring commitment gives me hope. I believe we, as American Atheists, have an opportunity and a duty to inform the public about the threats posed by Project 2025 and Christian nationalists. It’s your generous support that makes our work possible, so thank you.
In solidarity,
Nick Fish
President
PS: Be sure to listen to the latest episode of the Unreasonable podcast, featuring our very own Alison Gill, Vice President of Legal & Policy, talking about recent developments in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and more!
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