The FFRF Action Fund is naming Tennessee congressional candidate and secular content creator Kristi Burke its “Secularist of the Week” for her laudable journey out of evangelical Christianity.
Burke, better known online as “Jezebel Vibes,” recently won the Democratic nomination for Tennessee’s 1st Congressional District and will face incumbent Rep. Diana Harshbarger, who once asked for God to get rid of everyone in politics who doesn’t share her faith, in the Nov. 3 general election.
Long before becoming a candidate for Congress, Burke built an online community around something deeply familiar to many nonreligious Americans: questioning the beliefs she had been taught and finding a way forward after leaving them behind. She has used this to engage in highly compelling advocacy for critical thinking, secular government and resistance to Christian nationalism.
Burke, who describes herself as an “ex-Christian/agnostic atheist,” began questioning her evangelical faith at 19. As “Jezebel Vibes,” she has created videos aimed at supporting people questioning or deconstructing Christianity, approaching religious claims with critical thinking, empathy and, as she puts it, “a little snark.” But as Christian nationalism has become increasingly intertwined with American politics, Burke’s focus has expanded beyond deconstruction.
“Authoritarianism isn’t just a church problem, it’s a political one,” she writes. “We’re watching authoritarianism rise, democracy weaken, and fundamentalist ideology shape our laws.”
Her response has been to encourage her audience not simply to recognize those forces, but to get involved in resisting them.
In 2025, Burke attended a town hall held by Harshbarger intending to ask the congresswoman about Medicaid cuts. Security removed Burke from the event as she attempted to question the member of Congress. Friends and neighbors subsequently encouraged Burke to run herself.
“I said no, I was not interested — I would rally behind anyone who ran,” Burke later recalled. “The deadline got closer and closer, and finally I said let’s do it. I jumped right into it. It was a very last minute decision.”
Burke has framed the decision as an extension of the same questions that have animated her secular activism: Who holds power, how is that power used and what can ordinary people do when institutions fail to represent them?
“The system was designed so your pissed-off neighbor could go into Congress and write legislation,” Burke has said. “It was not designed on corporate checks or special interests.”
Burke’s candidacy is particularly noteworthy for the secular community because openly atheist and agnostic Americans remain dramatically underrepresented in elected office. Burke is running in a heavily Republican region. Still, regardless of the election outcome, her candidacy adds a nonreligious voice to a political system in which such perspectives have historically been scarce.
Burke’s evolution from “Jezebel Vibes” to congressional candidate illustrates why secularism matters far beyond debates about theology. Deconstruction begins with permission to ask questions. Secular democracy depends on the same principle. “Let’s ask the hard questions,” Burke says, “and fight for something better — together.”
For building a community that empowers people to question religious dogma, speaking frankly about her own journey out of evangelical Christianity, confronting the political threat posed by Christian nationalism and bringing a freethinking worldview into the race for Congress, the FFRF Action Fund names Kristi Burke, aka Jezebel Vibes, its “Secularist of the Week.”
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.