Lawmakers form Legislative Secular Government Caucus

In response to the rise in Christian Nationalism, where some people and politicians feel they have a license to impose their personal religious beliefs upon others, a group of Minnesota Legislators are creating a new Secular Government Caucus, a coalition of nonbelievers and religious people to uphold our constitutional separation of church and state.  

Caucus members include members of various faith communities as well as non-believers, agnostics, and humanists. All of them are committed to preserving the freedom of conscience that is guaranteed in the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  

“We are troubled by the efforts from some politicians to push a Christian Nationalist agenda, where right-wing Christian politicians are attempting to break down the wall of separation between church and state in order to push their beliefs on others,” according to the caucus co-chairs. 

They point to actions of the Legislative Prayer Caucus’ that pushed a Christian Nationalist agenda in Minnesota, such as a legislative proposal to post “In God We Trust” posters in public schools, and even an attempt to defund the Minnesota Historical Society because the MHS invited a respected historian to speak at a Historical Society event about how the nation’s founders were not interested in creating a Christian government.  

The Secular Government Caucus will offer legislators a place to stay informed about challenges to religious liberty and to work together to protect the secular character of our government by adhering to the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state, and to oppose discrimination against religious and nonreligious people.  

The caucus has been organized and is being co-chaired by: 

Senator John Marty  

Senator Jen McEwen 

Representative Mike Freiberg  

Representative Athena Hollins