Saturday, May 6, 2023
9:30am-10:20am
White Christian Nationalism is a phenomenon that has gained increasing attention in recent years, particularly in the United States. This ideology combines white supremacist beliefs with a Christian identity, and it is often associated with far-right politics. The Supreme Court and one of the two major political parties have been captured by members of the White Christian Nationalist movement. The separation of church and state, secular government, and our pluralist democracy are under attack—and we are losing this fight. The humanist and atheist community, whose numbers have increased rapidly in the last two decades, has the potential to counter the dangerous and anti-democratic White Christian Nationalist movement. This session will explore ways humanists can provide a strong and unified voice to counter rising White Christian Nationalism. Learn about efforts to politically organize and empower the humanist and atheist community.
Lily M. Bolourian (she/her) is the Legal and Policy Director for AHA. Lily graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Master of Arts in Health Law and Policy from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Politics from George Mason University.
Lily is a seasoned strategist, policy wonk, and advocate with 15 years of experience working and winning on issues related to abortion access, reproductive justice, immigration, police violence, and environmental justice. She is the daughter of Iranian asylees and refuses to allow the country her parents migrated to to escape theocracy be condemned to the same fate.
Prior to working with the AHA, Lily was the first woman of color in over 30 years to hold the title of Executive Director of Pro-Choice Maryland and was the lead on issues related to divesting from police and investing in community as Senior Legislative Aide to Montgomery County, MD Councilmember Will Jawando.
Sarah Levin is the founder of Secular Strategies, a consulting firm that is pioneering the mobilization of secularist voters and empowering policymakers, lawmakers, and change-makers to be effective champions of secularism in the United States.
Ron Millar is the Political and PAC Coordinator at the Center for Freethought Equality. He researches and interviews political candidates and elected officials for possible endorsement by the Freethought Equality Fund, whose goal is to increase the number of open atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers in public office. Ron has spent more than thirty years in the Washington DC area working for nonprofit education and advocacy groups, including serving as the associate director of the Secular Coalition for America from 2005 to 2009. Earning a PhD from Virginia Tech, his dissertation explored organizational learning among groups litigating church-state cases before the Supreme Court.
