For Immediate Release
Contact: Jasmine Banks, jbanks@americanhumanist.org, 202-238-9088
(Washington, DC, January 20, 2023) –The American Humanist Association today denounced the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event that torches the line between church and state by bringing together Evangelical leaders with the President and Members of Congress.
The National Prayer Breakfast, taking place on the first Thursday in February, is organized by the Fellowship (sometimes referred to as ‘the Family’), a secretive special interest group with a fierce anti-LGBTQ track record and ties to dictators from around the world. As a result, the Breakfast has served as a hotbed for the proliferation of bigotry and a reminder of the infiltrating influence Christian nationalism has at the highest levels of our government. This event has come under fire for being infiltrated by a spy for Russian interests, exploited to advance faith-based discrimination, and capitalized on to further right-wing extremism.
Nadya Dutchin, AHA Executive Director, stated, “As humanists we support a pluralistic approach to society. This private special interest event is not benign. It legitimizes a far-right religious group’s influence and entrenchment of our elected public servants into an opaque and highly unaccountable ‘tradition’, which is, quite frankly, undemocratic. Elected officials who care to be accountable to their constituents, especially those who aren’t Christian Nationalists, should reject any invitations to attend.”
This event is not about putting differences aside and celebrating faith, and when the President and members of Congress attend, they send the message that they endorse the secretive and homophobic values of a Christian supremacist religious organization. The National Prayer Breakfast shows a blatant disregard for the separation of religion and government – elected officials should know better, and kick it to the curb.
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The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.