HumanistsMN denounces the U.S. Supreme Court decision this week in favor of a high school football coach who led Christian prayers on the playing field surrounded by public high school students. We echo our parent organization, the American Humanist Association: the 6-3 decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District basically moots the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits establishment of a state religion, by promoting religious privilege in public schools.
This follows last week’s decisions to require taxpayers in Maine to fund religious schools (Carson v. Makin) and to overturn the constitutional right to abortion (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization). With these, the majority on the Supreme Court have signified that they have no respect for religious freedom, bodily autonomy, and healthcare privacy in our country.
Separation of religion and government is a cornerstone of our democracy and this foundational principle is quickly being eroded by a religiously conservative judiciary, the highest court in the land.
HumanistsMN believes in a world where everyone has the same opportunities to thrive regardless of religious belief or a lack thereof. Secular Americans are a growing demographic. A 2021 Pew Research Study revealed that 29 percent of Americans now identify as “nones,” people with no religious affiliation. That percentage is up 6 percentage points from five years ago.
We cannot sit idly by while Christian Nationalists and religious conservatives ignore precedent and our own founding documents to favor one religious group over those who believe differently or not at all. Contact your state and federal elected officials and let them know we are out here and we vote.
If able, please consider donating time and/or money to secular rights’ organizations (some ideas here and here) and abortion funds.
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