Author lays out the non-Christian future of America
Jay Wexler’s new book, “Our Non-Christian Nation,” has a basic premise: In one sense, the wall between church and state has fallen and can never be repaired.
Thanks to several Supreme Court rulings over the past few decades, any hope for a purely secular public space is lost. Instead, Wexler follows the work of “Atheists, Satanists, Pagans, and others” as they rush to be included on equal footing with predominantly Christian incursions on governmentrun life. If Christians cannot be kept from proselytizing in schools, legislatures and parks, then the laws should also allow other groups to demand their rightful space.
“Before the 2016 election, I thought I really was going to have to struggle with this issue of whether I thought it was better to have the complete separation of church and state as opposed to this pluralistic thing we have that I’m arguing for now,” Wexler said. “As much as I hated the 2016 results, it did make it somewhat easier to write. It also kind of highlights how important it is for minorities to step up and be heard.”
The book, which was released Tuesday, is short, fun and dense. Wexler has a wry wit that is deployed strategically when mockery or a sense of adventure is called for. He’s visited with the Utah Summum cult, who worship in a pyramid, practice mummification and believe that Moses brought the Ten Commandments down after seeing humanity wasn’t ready for their true revelation, the Seven Aphorisms. They waged an ultimately unsuccessful legal battle to have a monument to the Aphorisms placed alongside the Ten
Commandments in several places.
Wexler has taught law at Boston University since 2001, and worked for two years as an attorney-adviser at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office of Legal Counsel. Before that he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
More successful is the quest of Selena Fox, who fought the U.S. government for the right to have Wiccan pentacles as a symbol available for graves in Arlington Cemetery. Like the case of the Summum, Wexler dexterously navigates the baffling and conflicting rulings that have come from the court over the years, helping us to see the legal truth among our many misconceptions about the separation of church and state.
“I think if you ask, you know, 25 people what they thought of separation of church and state, you’ll get 25 different answers,” Wexler said. “Even the way we say it isn’t self-explanatory, and it’s not in the Constitution. People can be forgiven for not following the jurisprudence, but there’s a lot of misconception about what it means.”
Center stage, though, is The Satanic Temple (not to be confused with the Church of Satan). The group has made several waves in Houston. Penny Lane’s documentary about them was protested at an Alamo Drafthouse screening. More recently, the Houston branch launched the Menstruatin’ with Satan project to gather up feminine hygiene products for the needy.
Nationally, they have been the prime shock troops against Christian supremacy in many places. They have a giant statue of Baphomet standing by to install on any public grounds where new religious monuments are erected, though typically, municipalities back off or change the rules rather than allow Satan to coexist alongside Christian symbols. After the Good News Club v. Milford Central School case in 2001 made it legal to distribute Bibles in public schools,
The Satanic Temple started ASS (After School Satan) to spread its own message. Schools, again, either comply or prohibit all religious materials completely.
“It’s grown from those that start kind of being just a pain in the ass to, I think, a genuine religious group,” said Wexler of The Satanic Temple. “I mean, the prankster part is still there. It’s the part that gets a lot of press, but it’s multidimensional. Nobody could see The Satanic Temple coming. It really does push everything to a new level. It’s one thing to have an atheist asking for benches. It’s another asking for Satan.”
“Our Non-Christian Nation” is a fascinating read, and a wonderfully hopeful one. As the country rockets more toward theocracy, Wexler makes the case that minority religions in America can fight back using the same laws that empower Christians to dominate the conversation. For anyone who feels marginalized as a pagan, nonbeliever, or just not a Christian, it’s a manifesto for effective and often hilarious resistance.