Americans United staff members and activists have remained busy speaking at events to promote separation of church and state. Here is a roundup of recent events:
In the wake of the election, Americans United hosted two events to dissect the results. On Nov. 12, AU hosted a webinar titled “Election Day: One Week Later.” The event took place under the auspices of the Summit for Religious Freedom. Speakers were Nik Nartowicz, AU’s lead policy counsel; Pooja Chaudhuri, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Eric Ward, Race Forward; and Anita Grabowski, Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
On Nov. 21, AU President and CEO Rachel Laser and Vice President of Strategic Communications Andrew L. Seidel traveled to Los Angeles for an event titled, “Religion, Democracy and the 2024 Elections.” The event consisted of two panels. Seidel joined Arlene Sanchez Walsh, author of Pentecostals in America and Julie Ingersoll, author of Building God’s Kingdom, on the first panel. Laser was on the second panel, along with Khyati Joshi, author of White Christian Privilege and Bradley Onishi, co-host of the “Straight White American Jesus” podcast and author of Preparing for War. The event was moderated by Dan Miller, co-host of “Straight White American Jesus.”
On Dec. 4, a new episode of the “We Dissent” podcast was made available. The podcast features AU Legal Director Rebecca Markert; Elizabeth Cavell, staff attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation; and Alison Gill, vice president for legal and policy at American Atheists. To learn more or listen to episodes, visit we-dissent.org/.
AU’s Orange County, Calif. Chapter hosted a screening of the documentary “Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy,” Oct. 19. The Unitarian Society of Hartford, Conn., hosted a screening of the documentary Oct. 20, and on Oct. 22, Americans United hosted a screening of the film in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Rob Boston, AU’s senior adviser and blogger, met with a delegation of scholars and religious leaders from Pakistan Dec. 3, many of whom represented minority religious communities in that majority Muslim nation. Boston offered an overview of the history of church-state separation in America and the work of Americans United and answered questions.
On Dec. 4, Alicia Johnson, AU’s national organizer and student network manager, joined other members of the Americans United staff and supporters in the Washington, D.C. area at a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court prior to oral arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti, an important case dealing with transgender rights.