Protecting our democracy is a secular issue. FFRF explained this a few weeks ago and it’s something we want our members and the wider country to understand. We paid special attention to the groups that oppose full enfranchisement and voting rights for all Americans. Earlier this week, during a hearing on H.R. 1, the For the People Act, one of the opponents of democratic reform (that’s “democratic” with a small “d”) justified racist voter suppression by citing her bible and “In God We Trust.” FFRF’s Director of Strategic Response Andrew L. Seidel has penned an op-ed for Religion Dispatches skewering Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. Seidel begins:

Christian Nationalism is like a skeleton key that can help us understand the motivations for some of the worst public policy proposals over the last few years. From anti-masking and challenging public health orders, to gun fetishists and police brutality, to anti-Semitism. And from seemingly ceremonial declarations like National Bible Week to attacking the Capitol and our democracy, Christian nationalism explains so much.

Even so, this understanding usually comes from data and scholarly study. It’s rare to hear a politician openly use Christian Nationalism to, for instance, defend voter suppression explicitly. Few have the courage to admit this tie so clearly. But yesterday, a bold senator from Mississippi, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith stood up and did just that.

At a committee hearing on H.R. 1, the For The People Act, the most important voting rights bill since the Voting Rights Act, Sen. Chuck Schumer mentioned a new Georgia voter suppression bill that targets minority voters, especially Black and Jewish voters. The bill would limit voting on Sunday, including early voting, and essentially shut down “Souls to the Polls” initiatives historically used by Black churches to get out the vote.

Hyde-Smith, the latest in a long and shameful line of senators from Mississippi — including mediocrities such as Theodore Bilbo and James Vardaman — rose to defend the measure that seeks to make it harder for people to vote if they don’t look like her. And she turned to a Christian Nationalist motto and the Bible to justify her defense of disenfranchisement.

Seidel concludes the piece by pointing out that Hyde-Smith’s rhetoric is precisely why we need to get back to the de facto original US motto. Please read the whole column on Religion Dispatches and then share it on your social media.

The Religious Right and its political allies are busy depriving citizens perceived to be Democratic — especially Black Americans — of their voting rights.

Tony Perkins, a leading evangelical and president of the Family Research Council, brags: “We’ve got 106 election-related bills that are in 28 states now. So here’s good news: There is action taking place to go back and correct what was uncovered in this last election.” This is perpetuating the Big Lie that Donald Trump won the presidential election. Michael P. Farris, president of the Christian nationalist Alliance Defending Freedom, responded to Perkins’ remarks with a hearty “Amen.” These groups mean business — and have the resources to inflict real damage. ADF, a frequent nemesis of FFRF, brought in $51.5 million in 2015-16.

The New York Times reports that another big player on the Christian nationalist scene, the Heritage Foundation, has pledged to spend millions of dollars to restrict voter access, including laws requiring identification for voters and limiting absentee ballots.

The hugely wealthy Susan B. Anthony List and the American Principles Project are other ultraright groups expanding their activities to include voter suppression.

“The Susan B. Anthony List and the American Principles Project recently announced a joint ‘election transparency’ campaign and set a fund-raising goal of $5 million,” reports the Times. “They hired a top conservative activist who is a former Trump administration official to lead it. They have organized conference calls for activists with other social conservative groups across the country, and say they have found participants to be enthusiastic about getting involved even if election law is entirely new to them.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has called for passage of the For the People Act, H.R. 1, already noting that its enemies include many enemies of secularism. The Times’ exposé on these machinations by deep-pocketed theocratic groups makes crystal clear why H.R. 1 is indeed a secular issue.

Adding to the threats to absentee voting (also a secular issue), is the grim announcement this week by the United States postmaster of a proposed huge rollback on consumer mail services. Louis DeJoy, one of “foxes in chicken coops” appointed by President Trump still remaining in D.C., brings no joy with his 10-year plan to slow down and cripple mail delivery and, thereby, also cripple the right to vote by mail.

It should be possible for the Biden administration to end DeJoy’s reign of terror at the U.S. Postal Service. But the threats to voter rights are even more daunting — and with many more players on the attack.