Hey hey, Secular FAM. Somehow, 2026 is right around the corner, and I feel like I’ve been in a whirlwind for most of 2025. I am oversensitive and numb at the same time, and it is a constant struggle to maintain a healthy flow of information. 

This year, Secular AZ celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. Fifteen years ago, a bunch of agnostics, atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and secularists in Arizona recognized what was happening in evangelical extremist circles throughout the United States, and formed the Secular Coalition for Arizona. Our founders realized that after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, white Christian nationalists did not raise the white flag. They regrouped, recruited, and rebranded. 

People like Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and Paul Weyrich founded conservative organizations like Focus on the Family and The Heritage Foundation, all laser-focused on ushering in a Christo-fascist regime. 

Growing up, I would sometimes catch these hate preachers on TV on a lazy Sunday, and I never really got it. I never understood how people could believe anything that came out of their mouths. Maybe it was my dad’s disdain for their endless pleas for money, or the way their tears and mannerisms just felt fake. Maybe it’s that I couldn’t see any discernable difference between the Sunday morning televangelists and the Saturday night ones.  

There was one preacher on TV I adored and actually listened to, but I didn’t even know that he was a religious man until I was an adult. 

These days, I’ve been looking to Ol’ Fred a lot, and looking at his many quotes to find strength and inspiration. Not because he was a Christian, but because he was a good person. Even though Fred Rogers was my first exposure to Christianity, I just thought he was a righteous dude. 

My early explicit exposure to Christianity consisted mostly of fire and brimstone, blind obedience, and a Palantir, pervy skydaddy who watched my every move and doled out arbitrary punishments and rewards based on his mood. 

I’ve never been in an abusive relationship with any gods before, but I’ve been in an abusive relationship with a human. During that time, I lived in constant fear. When a loved one’s mood is volatile and unpredictable, you end up walking on eggshells. My nerve endings always felt exposed, and my own moods became volatile and unpredictable. 

As I reflect over the last decade working in political spaces, I can see how manufactured rage and a neverending narrative of the enemy from within now motivates an entire group of Americans to advocate for a fascist dictatorship, including some of my own family members. 

When one is blindly obedient to a deity, they’ll be blindly obedient to anyone. 

And again, I go back to Fred Rogers. He was a quiet Christian. As a child, I never knew he was religious at all, and probably, if someone had asked me, I would have said he worshiped Kindness. 

“Kindness” is NOT the first thing I think of when I think of Christian nationalists or the leaders they worship. Their ideology demands that they remain obedient followers who worship fear and rage. Traits like kindness and empathy are now seen as signs of weakness by their leaders.

As Secular AZ enters into a new year, we aim to make empathy the centerpiece of our work. 

In my personal life, that has meant getting rid of certain social media and streaming platforms. It has meant changing my spending habits and putting more money into local businesses. It has meant reaching out to my neighbors and donating my time to mutual aid networks in my area. 

For our organization, it has meant moving away from problematic platforms like Xitter and Substack. We moved to Bluesky and Beehiiv because we felt as an organization that it’s important that our business practices match our values. It has meant adjusting our financial practices to ensure we do the least harm possible to our fellow humans. 

Now that we’ve had a chance to acclimate to our new normal of absolute fucking chaos every day, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and pin all of our bleeding hearts to them. It’s time to check our privilege and get outside of our comfort zones and get to know our neighbors.

ALL of them. 

So join us, Secular FAM, as we gear up for 2026. Prioritize kindness. Create joy. Provide hope to others who feel hopeless. Rather than being fearful and enraged by our neighbors, let’s all channel our inner Mr. Rogers and embrace our shared humanity.