Project Blitz is a secretive state legislative project of the Christian Right. Opposition has been rising ever since I exposed it last year at Religion Dispatches/Rewire. Opposition has prominently included Americans United for Separation of Church and State and a wide variety of religious, secular and civil rights groups. Blitz Watch News is published every other week by the Blitz Watch Coalition — currently comprising, American Atheists, The Interfaith Alliance, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Political Research Associates, Freedom From Religion Foundation, PFLAG, National LGBTQ Taskforce, Secular Coalition for America, Center for Freethought Equality, and Jews for a Secular Democracy.
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In God We Trust
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Public school students and staff heading back to school in South Dakota, are facing prominent displays of the motto “In God We Trust” due to a new law signed by Gov. Kristi Noem in March that requires a plaque or other display at least 12-by-12-inches in size and easily legible. The bill is one of a dozen In God We Trust bills based on the model bill in the Project Blitz playbook that have passed in the past few years.
This and other Project Blitz related bills are seen as inherently problematic by many. But they are also evidence of a wider context that is even more broadly concerning. “With regard to the ‘In God We Trust’ laws and other bills coming out of the Project Blitz playbook,” Amanda Tyler, executive Director of the Washington, DC based Baptist Joint Committee told journalist Paul Rosenberg, writing at Salon.com, “I hope that the lesson will be that even if a measure might pass constitutional muster on its face, it doesn’t mean that it’s harmless,” she continued. “Anything that sends the message that someone must be a Christian – or any other faith tradition or religious in general – to be a true American is both harmful and against our constitutional values.”
This new law has earned widespread media coverage, yet the Associated Press and The Washington Post both failed to mention the legislation comes from the Project Blitz playbook or discussed the campaign behind it. In contrast, The Capital Journal, published in Pierre, South Dakota and The Argus Leader, based in Sioux Falls, mentioned the origin of the bill as did The Washington Times, Church & State magazine, and the Religious Freedom Center at the Freedom Forum Institute and many others.
Religion Dispatches/Rewire published a three part series by Andrew Seidel of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which discusses the origins and history of the In God We Trust motto. The first installment tells the story of the motto’s dubious origin; the second examines the legality of its role in public life; and the third discusses the Project Blitz campaign teaming up with Fox News to promote the motto. (This backfired when it happened last year.)
For its part, the National Legal Foundation (one of the three organizational backers of Project Blitz) claims that opponents are engaging in “ad hominem attacks” (although it does not cite a single example) and adds that these emanate “from activists on the Left.” And yet the NLF’s Rick Claybrook celebrates this, declaring, “Wow! We must be doing something right.”
In Texas, Metroplex Atheists, a local partner of American Atheists in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, is tackling the Project Blitz campaign to post In God We Trust displays in public buildings. The launch event was covered by The Texas Observer.
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Christians Against Christian Nationalism
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The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, (BJC) a Washington, DC headquartered coalition of 14 Baptist groups, has launched a national campaign Christians Against Christian Nationalism, which features a statement endorsed by prominent Christian leaders from a variety of traditions and signed by some 15,000 others so far. This is significant in part because denominational leaders have been generally reluctant to take on the Christian Right so directly. That they may now be finding their voice could be the beginning of a change in the direction of American Christianity generally, and in public life in particular.
The BJC’s campaign includes a ten-part podcast series on Christian nationalism that includes two segments on Project Blitz: one features an interview with Frederick Clarkson of Political Research Associates and the second features an interview with prominent Project Blitz critic, State Senator John Marty (D-MN). The BJC has also actively opposed Project Blitz and the rise of what they call “Bible-centric” curricula in the public schools.
Prominent Baptist Brian Kaylor wrote in Ethics Daily that his fight song when he testifies against the Christian nationalist bills of Project Blitz in the Missouri state legislature is Johnny Cash’s rendition of “I Won’t Back Down,” by Tom Petty.
“Twice, I was the only person to testify against the legislation. Another time it was just me and an atheist. Another time it, I was joined by several atheists and Satanists. And the other time, multiple other Baptists came with me to side with atheists, Satanists and Muslims.
“So, I showed up to offer an alternative vision. A voice crying in the political wilderness, much as Baptists have done for more than 400 years by pushing – often from the minority – for religious liberty for all. And I won’t back down.”
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Summer Action
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American Atheists and Americans United for Separation of Church and State exhibited at the National Conference of State Legislatures convention in Nashville, Tennessee in August to inform state lawmakers about Project Blitz and what they can do to oppose it.
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BlitzWatch News is compiled by Frederick Clarkson of Political Research Associates and is published bi-weekly by the BlitzWatch Coalition. Please send news, events, and tips to f.clarkson@politicalresearch.org.
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