FFRF Action Fund, the lobbying arm of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, is calling out, for distorting history, Christian nationalist Michigan state Rep. Joseph Fox as its “Theocrat of the Week” while applauding Connecticut state Sen. Saud Anwar as its “Secularist of the Week” for acknowledging it.
Anwar, a physician, led his state Senate’s approval of a resolution absolving 34 accused of witchcraft in Connecticut in the 1600s. Anwar eloquently pointed out the importance of acknowledging those who had been wronged:
We cannot go back in time and prevent the banishment, tarnishing or execution of the innocent women and men who were accused of witchcraft, but we can acknowledge the wronghoods they faced and the pain they felt, pain still recognized by their survivors today. Today, the Senate took an important step to own our state’s history and provide relief to the memories of the deceased and their descendants who still struggle with their ancestors’ wrongful treatment.
Anwar added, “Recognizing that in today’s society, it is accepted that these women and men were innocent of such charges, the resolution seeks to bring relief to the descendants of those who were maligned and acknowledge that they were treated wrongly.”
FFRF Action Fund fully concurs over the importance of acknowledging reality and this great injustice committed in the name of religion.
Meanwhile, Joseph Fox, a first-term Michigan state legislator who was a Christian teacher and administrator for 25 years, is doing the opposite. Fox has introduced legislation to compel public schools to falsely instruct all pupils in “the Christian foundations of the United States.” It may not be surprising that such ignorant nonsense comes from someone whose campaign website bio begins: “I am a representative of Jesus.”
“In fact, Fox is a state representative whose duty is to serve all his constituents by upholding the secular federal and state constitutions,” says FFRF Action Fund President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The godless U.S. Constitution was adopted at a constitutional convention where delegates did not hold prayer and who purposefully created a document leaving religion entirely out of our government. Fox ought to be ashamed of himself.”
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.
