FFRF Action Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” is U.S. Rep. Mary Miller for her intolerant post about a Sikh prayer and its supposed incompatibility with what Miller calls a “Christian nation.”
Miller, representing Illinois’ 15th District, took to X last week when Giani Surinder Singh, who heads a Sikh center in New Jersey, opened the U.S. House with an invocation. After being invited by Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew to deliver an invocation, Singh called on members to prioritize sound judgment and love while working to “create a more peaceful world.” The FFRF Action Fund believes government-sponsored prayer should not occur on the House floor. However, since invocations are commonplace, Christians should not be the only ones permitted to give them.
In a now-deleted tweet, Miller wrote: “It’s deeply troubling that a Muslim was allowed to lead prayer in the House of Representatives this morning. This should have never been allowed to happen. America was founded as a Christian nation, and I believe our government should reflect that truth, not drift further from it.” Christian nationalists love to espouse the lie that the United States was founded as a Christian state. Public officials, who were elected to represent all Americans, not just the Christian ones, should not make remarks like Miller’s.
Additionally, Singh is not Muslim. Miller later deleted the post and reposted a nearly identical version, replacing “Muslim” with “Sikh.” Both posts have now been deleted, and the member of Congress has not responded to the bipartisan backlash.
Miller also introduced a deplorable resolution earlier this month to designate June as “Family Month,” which was supported by anti-LGBTQ-plus hate groups like the Family Research Council. The resolution claims that U.S. civilization depends on the “continuation of traditional marriage and family” and calls on Congress to no longer recognize Pride Month. Miller told the right-wing Daily Wire: “The American family is under relentless attack from a radical leftist agenda that seeks to erase truth, redefine marriage and confuse our children.”
“By recognizing June as Family Month, we reject the lie of ‘Pride’ and instead honor God’s timeless and perfect design. If we truly want to restore our nation, we must stand united to protect and uphold the foundation upon which it was built — the family,” continued Miller. She further claimed that declaring June as Pride Month rejected “the importance of marriage and family” and that “Americans are inundated with perverse Pride Month displays and events throughout the month of June that denigrate the nuclear family.”
Miller holds other outlandish and Christian nationalist views. In April, she said that “climate change is a sham” because “God controls the climate.” She explained: “[God] controls the sun and the sun controls the weather, primarily.”
Miller’s latest remarks are discriminatory and incompatible with our secular democracy. She has certainly earned her “Theocrat” title.
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.