Hey there, Secular FAM! Have I mentioned lately how much I love public libraries? OUR public libraries? Since becoming a grandmother, I am once again a regular at OUR local libraries. No matter where you live in the Valley, a local PUBLIC library exists somewhere nearby.
Once my grandson turned one and I started watching him on a weekly basis, I knew that the library would be a part of our regular routine just like it was when his mama and uncle were little. I went to the Phoenix Public Library website, and looked for children’s programs, and they exist everywhere! We’ve been attending a local storytime hour ever since.
In the beginning, my grandson was very skeptical of the whole scene. But every week, the librarian who runs the youth programs provides a consistent routine. She shares any scheduling updates, gives mini-lessons for new parents about early childhood literacy, and even throws in some Spanish on the regular.
Over time, my grandson warmed up to our weekly storytime, and now he boldly ventures under the parachute and knows all the words and hand motions to the songs and nursery rhymes.
It’s the best day of my week.
But that’s not the only reason that libraries are so important. Libraries are hubs for information and community connections. On any given day, libraries provide a safe, cool place for anyone to utilize. I frequently see individuals who are experiencing homelessness quietly reading, resting, or using a computer. In fact, library branches offer regular “Homeless ID Project” events to help unhoused folks access important documents.
Earlier this week, I needed to make copies. Normally, I run into a FedEx/Kinko’s with my thumb drive, but I decided to look at my local library branch’s website, and sure enough, with a valid library card, I could print what I needed there in color for $0.40. The punk rock librarian with the cool Joan Jett haircut helped me navigate my first time, and BAM! A color copy ready to go.
Librarians are superheroes.
I sat at a table to finish my task of sending off some supporter thank yous, and walked towards the exit. Right there in the breezeway outside ON PUBLIC PROPERTY, two young men were trying to indoctrinate someone into their cult.
I turned on my heels and went right back to Librarian Jett and said, “that breezeway is public property, right?” and she said yes. I said “I don’t think it’s legal for them to push their religion on public property” and she immediately came from behind the desk to shoo away the Joseph Smith groupies.
They got the message, and stopped with their fairy tales, but as I left, I thought, “this kind of thing happens everywhere all the time, and unless someone like me says something, they would have likely posted up in that breezeway all day.”
You know, about four years ago, Secular AZ wanted to honor a local journalist with a Secular Star award for their in-depth coverage of the Arizona voucher/ESA grift. When I reached out, they declined, stating that they didn’t want to offend any of their religious followers. I responded that Secular AZ is not anti-religion, but pro-Constitution, but I never got a response.
And here we are.
As a society, we’ve been trained to avoid “impolite” conversations about religion, but not everyone follows that rule. Most of us were taught to keep religion out of “polite conversation” but for decades, the Religious Right has used that to their advantage to proselytize on every street corner in America and push policies and legislation that erode the Establishment Clause at every level of governance.
The young people in their white shirts and black pants riding on bikes throughout the state carry water for an organization rooted in corruption and abuse whether these young people know it or not. And most of us just look the other way when we see them or quietly let them yammer on about their golden plates.
We really need to stop doing that.
Now, elected officials are openly declaring themselves “Christian nationalists” without shame, and I cannot be more clear that this is a terrifying normalization of fascism and authoritarian government.
This column’s very inception came from Christian nationalist Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) board member Heather Rooks. Watching an elected official use her powers for evil while quoting bible scripture felt like something from a bad movie and I had to put my thoughts on paper, and now here we are, over three years later from our old Substack to the less-fashy Beehiiv.
Now, from school board to congress, elected officials proudly refer to themselves as Christian nationalists. And even though these people don’t understand the definitions of most things, the definition couldn’t be clearer.
Their adherence to cultural conservatism combined with their belief in an abusive, authoritarian god leads them to believe that their beliefs are so righteous that they must shove them down everyone’s throats. Never mind that only certain parts of scripture are referenced when pushing bigoted policies, their pedo-in-cheif and his buddy, Creep Kegsbreath will deny the validity of the faith of anyone who disagrees with them.
Christian nationalism and white supremacy go together like Trump and Epstein at a Little Miss Pink Tomato pageant, so the way that many school board members announce their racism and bigotry with their whole chest these last several years isn’t surprising. Especially when their pedo-in-chief blasts violent racist vitriol all the time.
Recently a Deer Valley (DVUSD) board member declared herself a Christian nationalist, which isn’t surprising, since she’s married to one.
In PUSD, board members have said abhorrent things about BIPOC, individuals who struggle with their mental health, Muslims, Jews, and the LGBTQ community. At the most recent meeting, Board Member Rooks placed a white queen chess piece at her spot on the dais.
For those following along, a woman who reads salacious texts from minors on her TikTok page called Rooks “Queen Rooks” a few years back and gave her a white queen chess piece. Given that just a few months earlier, Rooks was offended by the inclusion of BIPOC in a video welcoming students back to school, any person with eyes and ears knows why her buddy gave Rooks the white queen instead of the black one 👀.
Awful things have been said for so long by some of these fringe board members that I fear it’s becoming normalized. Over the years, religious activities have encroached on our public spaces more and more. Just this past legislative session, our own Governor Hobbs signed HB4117 into law.
I have a feeling that those young men outside of the library and countless others will push this new law to the limits and see how much Christian nationalism the people of Arizona will put up with in their daily lives. That’s why we’re recruiting people to volunteer in their own communities and become secular watchdogs.
After all my Pride events in rural communities last month, one thing is crystal clear: people everywhere are sick and tired of Christian nationalists, with all their violent rhetoric and desire to control everyone’s every move. Many of these Pride events were established after 2016, so that means that in the face of growing threats to people’s identities, local rural folks stood up and said “nah.”
We need volunteers to step up and speak out everywhere in Arizona. We are looking for regional team leaders who are willing to track local governance meetings in their area. Secular AZ tracks legislation at the state level, and our new Secular Scorecard and Legislative Report was just published, so you can easily track your state senators and representatives and how they vote.
But there are over 300 school boards in our state, nearly 100 city and town councils, and fifteen county Boards of Supervisors. We are a small (but mighty) organization, and we simply do not have the staff to cover it all.
This is where you come in. If you’re ready to stand up every time you see someone using their “religion” as a way to subjugate or denigrate others, let us know, and lead the charge to show up to hold your elected officials accountable. Just send an email to [email protected] and we’ll follow up and provide you with the tools you need to stand up in your community.
Consider this your Batsignal, Secular FAM.
