The FFRF Action Fund honors a group of Rhode Island legislators who sponsored a resolution to recognize May 6 as the Rhode Island Day of Reason as its “Secularists of the Week.”
Rhode Island recently celebrated a Day of Reason at its Statehouse Library after the Legislature approved a resolution officially recognizing May 6 as a Day of Reason and “affirming the central importance of reason in the betterment of humanity.” Rhode Island state Sen. Bridget Valverde and state Rep. Jennifer Stewart, along with 18 other primary sponsors, led the resolution. The legislators follow the steps of U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who annually introduces a resolution in Congress to designate May 4 as the National Day of Reason, serving as the secular foil to the National Day of Prayer.
The Rhode Island resolution asserts that the “application of reason has been the essential precondition for humanity’s extraordinary scientific, medical, technological, and social progress since before the founding of our country,” and that “reason provides vital hope today for confronting the environmental and social challenges of our time.” “America’s founders insisted upon the primacy of reason and knowledge in public life, drafting the Constitution to prevent official establishment of religion to protect freedom of thought, speech, and inquiry in civil society,” the resolution reads.
The Day of Reason “encourages all citizens, residents, and visitors to join in the observance of this day and to focus on the central importance of reason, critical thought, the scientific method, and free inquiry in resolving social problems and promoting the welfare of humankind.”
After the resolution was read on the Senate floor last week, Valverde said, “I am proud to introduce this resolution today, just as Congressman Jamie Raskin does each year to celebrate a National Day of Reason. The National Day of Reason was established not in opposition to belief or religious observance, but in defense of fairness and secularism.”
“I think it’s especially fitting to be celebrating this day in the same week as Rhode Island’s Independence Day, since the Day of Reason is not just a celebration of knowledge, reason and freethinking, it is a reaffirmation of some of the founding values of our state and our democracy: freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, separation of church and state, individualism and equality, the idea that governance should be guided by evidence, exchange of ideas and the collective pursuit of truth,” Valverde asserted.
She concluded: “In a time where misinformation often spreads faster than facts, and public trust is shaken by chaos and division, a recommitment to reason and thinking could not be more urgent or more patriotic.”
Alongside Valverde, the resolution was sponsored by state Sens. Valarie Lawson, Dawn Euer, Leonidas Raptakis, John Burke, Andrew Dimitri, Pamela Lauria, Victoria Gu, Lori Urso and Walter Felag. In the House, Stewart was joined by state Reps. Joshua Giraldo, Brandon Potter, David Morales, Karen Alzate, Cherie Cruz, Susan Donovan, Katherine Kazarian, Rebecca Kislak and Leonela Felix.
The FFRF Action Fund warmly thanks Valverde, Stewart and the rest of the “Secularist” legislators leading Rhode Island’s Day of Reason for honoring the foundational separation of state and church. As Christian nationalists work across the country to erase the American history of state/church separation, efforts like these are crucial to preserving secular governance rooted in reason.
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.