By Lilly Arthur
Throughout the past decade or so, it has become clear that the United States is growing more divided. Many forces are at play, but I believe that a big part of this divide is due to isolation, especially in progressive spaces. We see Christian Nationalists constantly attacking so many issues that impact our communities. It seems like there is no clear solution to this as it is an ever-growing problem that will not end anytime soon. The main problem I see is that those fighting Christian Nationalism are not united, while Christian Nationalists have been working together for decades to erode church-state separation. Unfortunately, these coordinated efforts have been a success for them.
A fundamental characteristic of the United States has always been individualism, which is a crucial part of American life as we know it. It is a beautiful thing that we value our wants as individuals and the lives we want to live, which is a value that Americans United fights for, and it is important to do so. However, more emphasis should be put on balancing individualism with community building. Our focus on individualism can have the potential to lead to isolation and grief, which is a challenge during these times.
A concerning characteristic of progressive communities has been the unwillingness to acknowledge or address problems unless they directly impact us. An example of this is the overturning of Roe v Wade. Women of color had seen this coming for miles. Because the stripping of their bodily autonomy is nothing new for them, they had been organized around this issue for a long time. Yet most white women didn’t educate themselves or weren’t in solidarity with women of color who have had their right to bodily autonomy affronted since the founding of this country. We see this in the horrific medical research done on Black women without their consent and the mass hysterectomies carried out by the U.S. government on many communities such as Native American women, Black women, and Puerto Rican women (again, without their consent). Human rights violations are all too familiar to these communities, but as soon as the overturning of Roe v Wade occurred it was then that many white women joined the fight – and only because it started to directly impact them – and by then, it was already too late.
This is not to say that white women’s feelings are not valid; they completely are. To see the right to your bodily autonomy not be protected at the federal level is terrifying, especially in states where the response has been to completely strip reproductive rights as a part of a Christian Nationalist agenda. However, I believe we need to collectively reject the idea that unless an issue directly impacts me or someone close to me, it’s not worth fighting for. We’ve seen that Christian Nationalists don’t pick and choose issues; they have attacked everything: reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, public education, etc. It is not enough anymore to pick and choose which issues we care about. We need to come together and collectively fight for everyone.
It is a privilege to pick which issues to care about when there are many community members affronted on all aspects of their identities: race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and more. We far outnumber the Christian Nationalist elites; now it is about coming together, building community, and having empathy for our fellow Americans. There has never been a more crucial time to come together and fight for the rights of all of us and all the issues we care about.
As someone of the next generation staring down the face of an uncertain future, my plea is that we fight for a future in which all Americans have equal rights and the opportunity to prosper, regardless of their identities.
Lilly Arthur is a development intern at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
