The FFRF Action Fund awards the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County its “Secularist of the Week” plaudit for recently hosting a panel discussion on the threat of Christian nationalism.
As part of the League of Women Voters’ nationwide day of civic action on Aug. 8, in honor of the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Tarrant County League, based in Fort Worth, Texas, facilitated a panel discussion with faith leaders, election experts and free-speech advocates on Christian nationalism. The panel, billed as a discussion on “faith, freedom and democracy,” centered on issues of state and church, religious influence in our government and the rise of religious nationalism.
The panel included Perry Crenshaw, spiritual director of the NAACP’s Arlington chapter, Chris and Mendi Tackett, founders of the website See it. Name it. Fight it., which aims to help people understand Christian nationalism, and Laney Hawes, the co-director of the Texas Freedom to Read Project, which advocates against theocratic book bans in Texas. The League partnered with the NAACP’s Fort Worth and Arlington chapters, March to the Polls, the Faith and Justice Coalition of Tarrant County, Pastors for Texas Children and Texans Defending Democracy to host the event.
The League of Women Voters of Tarrant County president, Janet Mattern, told the Fort Worth Report that the League planned the event to educate locals about what it sees as an attack on democracy. Mattern said the League is concerned about “the gutting of voting rights,” the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other local government policy changes rooted in a common movement.
“That movement is the Christian nationalist movement, and they have been working towards undermining our democracy,” Mattern said. “In the League of Women Voters, we have as part of our mission to defend democracy … and so we thought it was very necessary to educate ourselves and to educate the community about what Christian nationalism is.”
Mattern shared that, at the group’s annual convention in June, members approved a measure reaffirming that the League stands for “the separation of church and state and religious freedom founded upon individual conscience, free of social or political influence by any state or religious body.”
The Tarrant County League reflected on the panel in a Facebook post, writing, “It was great to learn more about Christian nationalism, but much more importantly it was great to be with great organizations and people who put faith, community, democracy, freedom of and from religion and the power of love first.”
The League of Women Voters of Tarrant County is a nonpartisan, grassroots civic organization that encourages informed participation in government and conducts education and advocacy work for major public policy issues. Membership is open to all people 16 and older who support the League’s mission and policies.
The FFRF Action Fund sincerely thanks the League for championing sound governance and confronting the threat Christian nationalism poses to secular democracy. Through its stellar panel discussion, the group conducted much-needed grassroots education on Christian nationalism — and its effects on public policy and local government.
FFRF Action Fund is a 501(c)(4) organization that develops and advocates for legislation, regulations and government programs to preserve the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. It also advocates for the rights and views of nonbelievers, endorses candidates for political office, and publicizes the views of elected officials concerning religious liberty issues.