Today I’m continuing to list some of my picks for the top “Wall of Separation” blog posts from 2025. Three of the posts below were penned by youth activists. I hope you enjoy this short stroll down memory lane (you can read the first part of this series here).
Sometimes, you have to go back to the basics. This post reminded readers that, despite what Christian Nationalists claim, the government of the United States is not based on the Bible. The post marshaled several pieces of evidence, primarily citing our secular Constitution, noting that nowhere in that foundational document does it state that America was founded on Christianity. In fact, our Constitution does not contain the words “Christian,” “Christianity,” “Jesus Christ” or “God.”
The country marked the 100th anniversary of the “Scopes monkey trial” this year. The famous event in Dayton, Tenn., put the issue of fundamentalist opposition to the teaching of evolution on the national stage. Alas, the “trial of the century” failed to put the issue to rest, and it’s still with us today. In this post, A.J. Schumann, a member of the 2024-25 cohort of AU’s Youth Organizing Fellowship, summarized the 100-year-old legal battle and examined how it continues to resonate in America’s public school classrooms.
Book-banning efforts, which are almost always led by Christian Nationalist groups and their political allies, have become a problem all over America. In this blog post, Katharine Turcke, another member of AU’s Youth Organizing Fellowship, offered a personal reflection on the transformative power of the written word. Turcke also offered a call to action, beseeching Americans to stop those who would curtail our access to knowledge.
President Donald Trump created a “Religious Liberty Commission” composed of hand-picked sycophants who are elevating Christian Nationalist claims of persecution and taking other offensive actions. Several AU staff members attended the Commission’s inaugural meeting in Washington, D.C. How bad was it? To find out, read this first-hand report by Alessandro Terenzoni, AU’s vice president of public policy.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled in favor of religious groups that sought broad exemptions from certain classroom materials. AU warned that this decision will lead to more demands for religious control of the curriculum. Parth Joshi, another AU Youth Organizing Fellow, offered a powerful personal reflection on what it’s like not to feel included and represented in public school classroom materials.
Join us tomorrow for the final installment!
