Kellye Crocker

Because I don’t want to live in The Handmaid’s Tale

Funny thing about religious freedom—it isn’t just about religion. At its heart, it’s the right to think for ourselves. It’s the wellspring for every other freedom.

I’m voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because they’ve vowed to combat hate and protect the separation of church and state. This bedrock value ensures that all of us are equal under the law. The concept is so basic to US life, it’s easy to take for granted. We shouldn’t.

The separation of church and state is under attack. The other guys hope to replace our multicultural representative democracy with a Christian nationalist theocracy, where only radical, conservative Christians are regarded as “true Americans.” Consider Trump’s God Bless the USA Bible. It’s a regular Bible with flag-waving extras like the US Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance.

But before the First Amendment became law in 1791, the Constitution mentioned religion only once. It said that “no religious Test shall ever be required” for someone to hold office. People of any religion—and no religion—can lead. The Pledge of Allegiance didn’t mention “under God” when it first appeared in a kids’ magazine in 1892. Congress added the phrase in 1954, amid the Red Scare that anti-religious communists would take over.

Christian nationalists trumpet the lie that the US was established as a Christian nation, but the founders created an explicitly secular government—the first ever. They believed this would ensure peace in our already religiously diverse nation and draw immigrants of all faiths to help the country grow.

To be clear, most Christians oppose extremism. Many lead the fight against it. But this battle needs us all. Red-state lawmakers are already hurting people by blocking access to critical health care, trashing LGBTQ+ and racial equity programs, attacking public schools, and so much more—in the name of religion. Theirs.

But religious freedom isn’t just for a chosen few. Harris and Walz believe each of us has the right to live as our full selves.

Kellye Crocker, a longtime journalist, is the author of Dad’s Girlfriend and Other Anxieties.