In a standing-room-only event, leading lawmakers, advocates and a nationally known comedian gathered for the second annual Congressional Reason Reception — a celebration of reason, science, wit, humor and the constitutional principle of separation between state and church.
Hosted by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, American Humanist Association, and Secular Coalition for America, the reception served as the freethought community’s counterweight to the National Prayer Breakfast. Co-chairs of the Congressional Freethought Caucus — Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin — honored individuals who have advanced First Amendment freedoms and held the line against Christian nationalism. The evening’s highlights included former Rep. Susan Wild’s keynote speech, in which she publicly identified as a secular humanist.
“I am the granddaughter of a Methodist preacher, and I have Quaker lineage going back many generations on my maternal side of the family,” Wild said. “And, I eventually converted to secular Judaism and ultimately embraced secular humanism.”
“Far too many leaders, even in the Democratic Party, are willing to make appeals to organized religion while refusing to provide any semblance of recognition or representation to their agnostic, atheist or nonpracticing constituents,” Wild added. “I was asked to stand in for God, who wanted to be here tonight — but he’s far too busy keeping our world peaceful and just.”
Rep. Huffman joked, “[The Reason Reception is our] boozy counterweight to the Congressional Prayer Breakfast.” And he remarked that “when Republicans talk about religious liberty, you have to read the fine print. Stuff like ‘terms and conditions apply’ or ‘offer valid only for certain denominations.’”
Rep. Raskin reflected on the growth of the caucus: “It used to be just Jared and me sitting together on the House floor. I would tell him jokes, and he would get up to object whenever anything religious happened from the rostrum. Now we’ve got 26 people who can be embarrassed together.”
Comedian Leighann Lord, who emceed the evening, brought humor to the often weighty topic of religion and politics: “As a stand-up comedian, it’s very hard to make jokes about religion because everybody believes different things. I have a friend who believes in aliens. He says, ‘Leighann, we don’t really know who built the pyramids, so aliens must have done it.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t know who put the shingles on my house — it doesn’t mean the Klingons did it.’”
News anchor Joy Reid accepted in absentia the 2025 Common Sense Award and praised the caucus for its courage and clarity: “I love that there is a Congressional Freethought Caucus. How great is it to get an award for something so fundamental, so basic and so important as common sense in this era that we are living in.”
Rep. Laura Friedman commented in her remarks, “I have for a long time believed that we do not need to have established religion or religion at all to be moral people.”
The “Uncommon Nonsense Award” — recognizing the most laughable attempt to undermine church-state separation — came back this year. It was given to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters.
Also present at the gathering were Reps. Sean Casten, Judy Chu (the newest member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus), Bill Foster and Bobby Scott.
“This event reminds us that defending reason and secular values can be joyful, powerful and unifying,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “The growing number of secular voices in Congress gives us hope that reason and our constitutional separation between state and church will ultimately prevail.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
