James Talarico Is A Unicorn For Secular Voters With Wil Jeudy

[0:04] We talked to Will Jeudy, a secular activist from Texas who formed Secular Houston and Secular Texas PAC to encourage and support political candidates that secular voters can trust.

[0:17] Secular Houston has endorsed Democrat James Talarico for the United States Senate, and Jeudy believes he is a person of faith who secular voters can trust to protect our religious freedom. I’m still nervous. This is Secular Left with Doug Berger. An independent, religion-free, progressive viewpoint on topics of the day.

[1:00] All right. Our guest today is Will Jeudy. He’s an urgent care physician by day and a secular activist the rest of the time. He’s currently the state director for American Atheists for the state of Texas. He also founded Secular Houston and a new group that just started up called Secular Texas PAC, and the Secular Houston group endorsed James Talarico, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Texas. Thank you for joining us today, Will. Thanks for having me, man. Well, we all like a good origin story. So how did Will Jeudy come to be secular and a strong supporter of church and state separation?

[1:46] Yeah, that is a long story. So I grew up a good Christian kid. I kind of was indoctrinated in a private school in South, South Texas and non-denominational Christian school. But once I left that and went to a normal high school, college, kind of learned about a bigger world, and I didn’t have the daily indoctrination, I just slowly flittered away from religion and from belief. It’s a very long process. There was no trauma. There was no sudden break or really an angry face. So it just made less of a sense as I went on in the world. And uh in 2016 i wasn’t looking for a community but i just kind of stumbled into a free thought group called houston oasis down here and i immediately was hooked it was uh the like-minded people uh the conversations and yeah i didn’t know i needed a secular community but uh there i was and uh that’s that’s when it all started yeah and i did notice when i was uh checking things out and preparing for this interview, that there are a lot of secular groups in the Houston area. How did you bring them all together under Secular Houston?

[2:59] Secular, so… Yeah, when I joined in 2016, when I kind of came into the world, secular world here in Houston, yeah, there were three dominant groups, Houston Oasis, Houston Atheists, and Humanists of Houston.

[3:15] And there was kind of some beef between some of the groups when I joined. And for good reason, there was some stuff that happened, again, before I kind of came in. But fast forward a year and a half or so, and I found myself on the board of Houston Oasis. So I sent out Sasquatch said beef and quickly found some other people in leadership and the other groups that were just as interested to move forward. And we did it. And so fast forward a little bit of time, Humanists of Houston has dissolved. So it’s a Houston Atheist and Houston Oasis. I started to get more of an activist flavor in me. I was realizing that more and more. And these groups are 501c3s. They’re not activist groups. So I couldn’t scratch my activist itch in those groups. So I formed a whole other group called Secular Houston in late 2021.

[4:10] And the activism I chose was more in this local secular political activism.

[4:16] But Secular Houston, again, does the activism, but it also is informational. I guess a clearinghouse is what it’s called. People that are wondering, what is secularism? What are the groups here in Houston? They can go to the website and they’ll see what the local groups are, the state groups. the national groups, definitions, what is atheism, what is humanism, that kind of thing. So that’s what secular Houston is about. Yeah, and we do have nationally a secular coalition that is made up of many of the different national groups here in the United States. And I know that there’s some other coalitions, like I think Florida had a coalition for a time, and I think in Colorado they have a coalition as well. So it helps to kind of bring these disparate groups together to have a similar coalition. Uh, take a similar path, but they have different ways of doing it. So. Absolutely. And we’re going to get into that a little bit later, I’m sure.

[5:18] But, uh, when you mentioned about, uh, beefs, yeah, that’s another, another aspect of some of these groups too, is that they tend to have a little bit of turf war sometimes at times. Yeah, it happens. Um, again, it was for a good reason, but, um, that was, uh, we now, when we went forward from that, because it was new leadership, it was new, new people. people. And, um, so now it’s all kumbaya. We’re all locked in arms. All the leadership is in cahoots. Like we’re, we’re all friends. It’s, it’s an amazing time here in Houston.

[5:48] So what then led you to starting the Secular Texas PAC? Yeah, that’s just a recent thing. So when Secular Houston became a thing, um, again, that was my baby in late 2021.

[6:01] We, what I wanted to do was endorse candidates based on church-state separation through that prism and here locally. So I kind of wanted to be a baby version of the Center for Freethought Equality, and I wanted to be a baby version of Ron Millar. The guy’s amazing. So yeah, I used that template. I got his advice as well as a bunch of other people’s advice. So Secular Houston, again, we send out questionnaires. We’re officially nonpartisan, but we send out questionnaires to everybody running here locally, and the people that return our questionnaires will, we have an endorsement committee, we’ll review the questionnaires, review the answers and see who is worth us endorsing. We’ll come out with an endorsement list. And then everybody in our orbit that will listen, we say, Hey, we did the work. These people align with our values, fucking get them elected, do everything you can to get these people in office, because they’re going to advocate for the things we want. And church-sake separation is the biggest, um.

[6:58] The biggest issue that we endorse on, but it’s also some other progressive issues that we endorse, that we hold dear. So every election, we’ve had more and more inertia. Our endorsement list gets more robust. Candidates reach out to us saying, hey, what’s your endorsement process? You guys are great. So we are a thing here in the Houston area. And early on, I kind of had the wisdom to realize, yeah, I don’t want to deal with money because there’s just not enough people helping me with this. And so we were never a C3 or C4, never registered with the state. We’re just a group. But eventually we had had enough success where I thought, you know what? It’s time to start dealing with money because it will supercharge our presence. It’ll give our endorsement more weight here. And the whole concept of money in politics, I hate it. I’ve hated it. I’ve always hated it, but listen, it’s the game that, that’s the way the system is. And so I realized, yeah, it’s time to do it. So it took a while to do it, but yeah, I finally formed a Secular Texas PAC. So it’s a state PAC.

[8:15] And so we have Secular Houston as an affiliate, and our vision is to have Secular Dallas, Secular San Antonio, Secular Austin. They’re going to have their own endorsement lists, and we get to send donations to those candidates, basically saying, hey, you were endorsed by Secular San Antonio. Here’s some dough. Yay. And now our endorsement, our voice has more weight. Right. And it also encourages those candidates to return those questionnaires and to reach out to you if they know they’re going to get something to add to their campaign coffers. Absolutely. And I guess our name out there, and listen, candidates are very visible, endorsed by Secular Houston. Our logo is on their website, and people will start, we’re being more and more visible in the political realm, and that can only bring good things down the line. It already has.

[9:13] Now, when you say that you have them fill out a form, a questionnaire, and then you determine if they align with your values that you’re looking for. Do you weight more on church and state, or is it other progressive issues that you add weight to? I mean, how do you balance that out? Because I’m sure it’s not just a one issue thing, right?

[9:42] That’s right. It’s a bunch of progressive issues. The main one is church-state separation.

[9:48] But in, One question doesn’t have more weight than the others. A lot of the questionnaires that we are returned, they’re all pretty good. And just the questions alone may not tease out who we’re going to endorse. That’s where the kind of the essay part at the end comes from. If people are, they kind of explain themselves or say more about why they would care about church state separation, that’s kind of what will separate one candidate from another. So how many Republicans have filled out forms? In the early days or maybe one every election, that’s the first year. Since then, it would be zero. Yeah, unfortunately. I mean, yeah, I mean, you’re nonpartisan. You send them out. People fill them out. You’ll accept them. But, yeah, a lot of times those more extreme political people, they don’t want to see it. They don’t want to be associated with it. Yep. And we’re in Texas, so there’s no room for secularism in the Texas GOP. That’s Will talking, that’s not Secular Houston talking. I want to hold on to that nonpartisan label as long as I can. Yeah, it is. It’s helpful. And it’s like you can’t force them to come to you or all you have to do is offer the opportunity.

[11:12] You know, you say you’re nonpartisan, you accept information from everybody, but you can’t force them to come to you and participate. Absolutely. And yeah, just be visible. Let everyone know that what church-state separation really is. And we’re not anti-theist. We’re trying to protect the separation of church and state in government, not in your home, not in your church. And it should be a nonpartisan issue, as all your listeners and we know. And I noticed, too, and the reason why I wanted to talk to you anyway was that your group endorsed James Talarico for U.S. Senate.

[11:51] And he is a Presbyterian seminarian. He got his Master’s of Divinity, I think it was, or something like that. And he’s a former teacher. And he and I looked at his uh uh resume in the state house and he’s been very good getting bills passed and things like that um.

[12:15] The thing that I have problems with being an atheist is I get nervous when religious people start spewing the God talk, you know, even if they do align with my political values. How is Talarico different? Yeah, great question. And this is a question that’s been coming up ever since he won the primary a couple of weeks ago. So yeah, he is now the Democratic nominee for the Texas Senate, which is a huge deal. And this guy, Talarico, I think he’s a unicorn. He popped up on my radar about three years ago when he was in the Texas legislature. And with that seat, representing the Austin area, in that seat, he forcefully and unapologetically pushed back on the Ten Commandments bill, the first iteration of it, which was three years ago. So, on the dais, from the committee, and in full, under all the spotlights, what he was saying to push back on Christian nationalism was chef’s kiss perfect. And that’s when I first noticed this guy. I was like, who is this guy? And then I realized, hey, he’s in seminary, and this and that. So, yeah, the skepticism is real, because he wears that stuff on his sleeve. He wears his faith on his sleeve, and he’s very proud of it. But…

[13:41] I’ve been following him for, again, about three years or so. And there’s a conversation recently about, hey, is James Talarico Christian nationalism on the left, the liberal Christian nationalist? I absolutely not. I don’t know him, but I’ve been following him for a while. And he’s very good. He’s a very, very good politician. He’s very well-spoken, very smart. And with the scripted stuff, he’s amazing. And i was forced i i was at a fundraiser here in the houston area about a month ago, and um there were no cameras uh it was just him and a room full of people about 50 60 people in the room and it was a it was his stump speech great but then there was a q a afterwards i’m like oh here we go let’s let’s see how he does with uh with q a because that’s kind of So that’s all improvised. There was nothing scripted about this. Questions came in. He answered. It was terrific. I was about to ask a question about stir-sext separation. He knows who I am. He knows me by sight. I’ve been to enough of his events, and he knows who I represent. So it’s amazing. So…

[14:56] And he saw me on the way in. He saw me, kind of nodded his head like, hey, at the end, I was going to ask, but then we ran out of time. So I was like, oh, man. So then Chalorico, at the end of this fundraiser, he says, you know what? We’re at the end of time, but I want to say one more thing. I am the champion of church-state separation. And he went off on his thing. Unprompted. There was no questions. He did not have to say that. There were no cameras. Again, what he said was chef’s kiss amazing.

[15:21] So that’s when I was really like, yeah, this guy is a real deal. And yeah, our group, Secular Houston, again, we sent out the questionnaires to everybody running for office, including Jasmine Crockett. He was the only one that sent our questionnaire back, and his answers again were chef’s kiss. So yeah, we’re officially endorsing him. And skepticism is still there. We’re skeptics. Could he, once he wins, gets in that seat, could he change? Yeah, it’s possible. I don’t think that’ll happen. It seems like a pretty genuine cat. But as it stands now here was it March 2026 yeah we’re all behind him.

[15:59] Yeah, I’ve been following him as well, you know, since that committee hearing that went viral, the video from it, from the first iteration of that bill. And I always enjoy somebody who knows the Bible and spits it back out at these Christian nationalists. Right. Because the Christian nationalists obviously don’t know the Bible, or they would know what he was talking about. And so I know that he talks their language, and they are scared of him because they’re trying to smear him already. And the Trump administration has even gone after him already.

[16:47] And so that’s the thing. I guess probably my question to you would be that we get this every election cycle, that Democrats have to get back to recognizing faith. I don’t think Democrats have ever not recognized. Been part of the faith, uh, me, Lou, or whatever you call it, the, the thing. Cause you know, you’ve gotten plenty of people like Reverend Jeffrey, Jesse Jackson just recently died and, uh, uh, Warnock and Georgia and things like that. And I don’t think, and, and they go to the black churches and, and campaign. I don’t think Democrats have a faith problem. They have a Christian nationalist problem, like we all do. And, and so I really appreciate when somebody like Talarico, you know, verse and chapter, here’s what the Bible really says about all this stuff. And that’s what I look forward to. I look forward to that, but it still, still makes me nervous, but. Absolutely. Look, the Republicans, at least let’s just say in Texas, that’s what I’m used to, and nationwide, but they have taken religion as their own.

[18:05] That narrative has worked for at least, I’m going to say a generation. Yeah, leaving the Democrats as godless or lost or spinning, we just kind of lost that faith narrative. Now, we could say that’s a good thing.

[18:22] It’s a good thing if…

[18:24] Faith is being used to oppress people a la Christian nationalism. But just because you are a person of faith doesn’t mean you’re a Christian nationalist or a religious nationalist. And that’s, I think, what the Democrats have been struggling with for many years. This guy, Talarico, yeah, he is fixing that problem. I’m using air quotes. He is allowing the Democrats That’s to take back faith and in a way that I find palatable, I find, for lack of a better term, useful because I am now in coalition with people like Talarico and groups like Interfaith Alliance and Christians Against Christian Nationalism. We’re at the table with them, and I’m so proud to be in coalition with them to push back against Christian nationalism, which is what Talarico does. Now, the minute—I don’t think he’ll ever do this, but the minute Chalurico starts a prayer in office, yeah, I’ll send an email. Yeah, that’s going to be a line. But yeah, he’s never even come close to that. Well, you know, if he’s a student, as much of a student of the Bible as we know he seems to be, he’ll know to keep the prayer behind closed doors. Absolutely. Keep it private. I love that, as John Fuglesang wrote a whole book on it, that the difference between Christ followers and Christians, it is a nuance that we know intimately, like we can spot that right away.

[19:54] James Talarico is now a spotlight shining on the Christ followers, and he’s attracting a lot of them, and I’m all for this. For more information on the topics in this episode and the links used, visit secularleft.us.

[20:32] Now, there were a couple of glitches in the campaign, the recent campaign.

[20:41] The first thing was that I had heard that Talarico was going to run for governor and leave the Senate race to Representative Crockett. But for some reason, I heard that I guess some consultant or somebody got involved and got him to change his mind. Right. And do you have like any information about that? Or do you think Democrats should battle each other for a spot on the ballot? So, yeah, I don’t know the ends of this. I read the same story you did that I think the Democratic Party in general is learning from past mistakes. And before this election, I was hoping that all the big stars and all the people in the know got together behind the scenes. This is not public. And say, OK, what are we going to do? You’re going to run for this. You’re going to have like a slate, a strong slate that works together. And yeah, the story is there was a slate with Tyler Rico running for governor, other people doing this and this. Somebody came along, whispered in his ear, and then he said, you know what, guys, I’m going to run for Senate, and just messed it all up. That’s the story. I can’t substantiate it. I have to be careful because I like the guy. This is my bias. I’m checking in like, oh, that’s not true. But you know what? If it’s true and he’s the asshole and just kind of messed a lot of stuff up, I don’t like it. It gives me heartburn.

[22:08] But the fact is he won the primary. The fact is we are endorsing him. The fact is if and when he wins, we’re going to have a sitting senator, a U.S. Senator that knows we exist. I think that’s a big thing. But yeah, is there any truth to that scenario, that story? I don’t know. I, I, I, some credible people have said that happened, but it’s, uh, if it did happen, I get some heartburn from it. Yeah. Cause I do, I really like Jasmine Crockett. I really like how she gives them a what to and a how for, and I think she would have done an excellent job in the Senate. And, and, uh, it just, it’s one of the reasons why I don’t like party politics. I don’t like the, the, the hierarchy part of it. You know, we have that happen in Ohio all the time. And the Democrats haven’t won a statewide race for, I don’t know, 10 years, 15 years now, because it’s, they get into these hierarchy things where, well, it’s my turn now. And then they, they don’t support the people that could get elected. You know, they worry about electability when they shouldn’t, they should just go, just do it and support the people that want to run that are enthusiastic about running and not just because they’ve been a party official for 12 years or whatever. Right.

[23:30] And the Republicans do it, too. I mean, they both do it. It’s just that’s one of the things. And so when I heard that there was a conflict and it could have been Talarico for governor and Crockett for Senate, I was disappointed. And I know a lot of Crockett supporters were very disappointed. Right. Same. Again, I don’t know if that’s true. If it is true, I’m with you on that. But let’s see where everything shakes out. Texas is the same. We haven’t had a Democrat win statewide office in almost 30 years. There’s, I’m really optimistic about, um, this, this November though. Yeah. I’m old enough to remember Ann Richards. Oh, there you go. Yeah.

[24:09] She was fun. I really, I really enjoyed her speeches. I really did.

[24:14] Um, the other thing too, I wanted to ask about is, uh, when they were doing the, um, you know, why did we lose the election type, uh, look, look at the, the past, the 2024 election, uh, they were coming across saying that Democrats need to avoid identity politics. And do you think that’s why Harris might’ve lost in 2024? Or do you have any speculation about that? Or I think it was just plain, uh, shenanigans. I think, I think that they, the, the Trump team, sliced enough votes off just enough votes to win and because people i talked to they fell in line with what harris was was about and you know she had almost a billion dollars in campaign financing and it’s like how could she lose but do you think that’s what it was was identity politics that people were against that or, I don’t have my finger on the pulse of national politics so much.

[25:21] It nauseates me. I focus more on the local and some state stuff. I just know that in Texas, I’m from South, South Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, and it was a big swing toward the Republicans for 2024, and I believe two years before that as well. And that’s a number of factors. It’s not just one thing, but it’s a concerted effort by the Republicans, again, just pounding on this narrative as clownish, as silly as it sounds. Eventually, it kind of punches through. Sometimes I have issues with interfaith groups and even more liberal religions like Unitarians who don’t like the fact that I’ll point out the failings of religious beliefs in people. And I get accused of bashing religion. What would you suggest that we do to form a coalition between divergent forms of secularism and those who believe in religion? And is it possible to do that?

[26:25] Not only is it possible, but I think it’s vital in our pushback, in our struggle against Christian nationalism to avoid atheocracy.

[26:36] And if there is, I’ll use that word again, beef between interfaith groups and secular groups, it might just be a regional thing or some issue with the leadership. I think in general… It’s a coalition that should work. In my experience here in Houston, and some statewide as well, it works.

[26:58] We understand our lanes. And at least as far as I’m concerned, whenever I kind of approached interfaith groups, UU churches, yeah, they were like, where have you been? Yeah, please come to the table. This is terrific. So I’ve had nothing but good experiences here in the Houston area. And I’m proud of the coalitions that we have with faith groups, individuals. In our pushback against Christian nationalism. It would be cool to say that we could do it on our own, the secular groups. We cannot. We just don’t have the numbers. We don’t have the power. So we have to be in coalition with interfaith groups. Now, yeah, the whole—I’m right there with you that—let’s just say Christianity. Within Christianity, within that Bible, there’s a lot of great things, but there’s a lot of horrible things in there too. So the conversation of, Okay, Christian nationalism resides within this Bible. You can’t have Christian nationalism and oppression without Christianity. That points to a problem with Christianity, and that is not our problem to solve.

[28:10] The liberal Christians that I know, they get it. They agree. They understand this problem. I guess in the way of their advocacy for LGBTQ groups and the immigrant groups. All that. They want to help it. They understand the shortcomings of that Bible. So I’ll just tell them, y’all fix it. We’re doing this great work over here. I don’t speak on their shortcomings. I don’t think it’s my place. But if it’s just me and someone in the bar, Christian in the bar, yeah, I’ll tell them my two cents. Yeah, I mean, it’s like, you know, I’m, yeah, I’m not a theologian. I don’t study it or I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but it’s like, if you really believe in a God, an all-knowing, impotent God, they’re not going to punish you for helping people, you would think, right? That’s right. You know, if you help your fellow person or, or support the LGBT community, you’re not going to hell. I would thank.

[29:19] Me too, brother. Me too. That’s the way I feel. And I think if you’re following a religion that believes that way, then maybe you need to find a different religion to believe in. Because it’s better to do right with people than to hurt them. That’s the way I work with my humanism. Yeah, you sound like a humanist.

[29:44] Let’s do two more questions. Uh, the first one is what, what is your speculation? How do you think that the, uh, November election is going to turn out for, for you, for you down there in Texas? Yeah, this coming election, I’m excited about it. And I haven’t had this much excitement and optimism in a while. I’m a secular activist in Texas. I’m used to failure. I’m used to disappointment. This year, it just feels different. On the national level, again, there are swings away from the gross stuff happening up there. and better people are getting elected. Same for Texas. Last year, there were some school board elections in different towns, in different cities in Texas. And there was almost universal rejection of Christian nationalists on school boards. Because as we know, they have infiltrated school boards over the last two years, 10 years. It’s been a long-term plan of theirs.

[30:53] People are sick of it. And enough where during these elections, there were swings on school boards. There was a side fair ISD, which here is a suburb of the Houston area. It was six to one crazies on their school board. There were three seats up for elections in last year, late last year. And all three of our endorsed candidates won. So it went from six to one crazy to four to three sane. And immediately, within a month, they reinstituted some chapters that were banned in books, in school books. So real-world consequences to the hard work that we do to get better people elected on school boards. And this happened, again, here in Houston and in Texas. So there are amazing signs that we’re going to have some things to be proud of come November, including at least one statewide seat that will flip Democratic. I’m not going to guarantee it, but I’m super optimistic.

[31:56] Yeah. And I, I, I believe that too, with the, with the, um, excitement and the optimism and I have to talk people away from the ledge quite often and explain to them that all, not very many people actually believe some of this stuff that they just happen to be in charge right now. That’s right. It’s not, it’s not, you know, to people like the school boards are the easiest ones to miss because most people don’t pay attention to a school board until something happens. Like they’re banning books or, or trying to stop trans kids from using the bathrooms. Or 10 commandments are going up in the, in the classrooms. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like, it’s like once people see that and then they get sick of it. And we had this, uh, I follow the state, uh, politics here in Ohio and they had a committee hearing about some other bill that was attacking trans kids. And one of the democratic, uh, uh, legislators just said, she said, I’m just exhausted with all these, these attacks. And, and it’s like, there’s a lot of people that are just exhausted. You know, they got things that they worry about, like affordability and housing and gas prices and inflation and, you know.

[33:17] People, trans people or LGBT people or atheists or whatever, if they’re just living their lives, you know, leave them alone. That’s the way I feel about it. That’s right. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about Christians and religious people, except when they start on me or trying to force their views on me. That’s the only time I ever think about them. I don’t know why other people don’t do that as well with other people.

[33:48] Yeah, you’re right on. You’re right on. And people here are tired as well. I’m very proud of the people here again, though, because voter turnout was crazy high on the Democratic side down here for these primaries. And that, I think people are exhausted, they’re tired, but they still summon the energy to get out there and vote. So that was also a very, very good sign.

[34:13] Yeah did they ever figure out that what was that dallas county where they had the uh court thing and it got overturned or something shenanigans it’s nothing but shenanigans up and this was them just kind of pissing on on stuff and just throwing wrenches they they know they’re going to lose in november so this is i think they were just trying things out and they just want to, disenfranchise people oh see i’m in line all this time and it doesn’t my vote doesn’t count and then And they just go home and are now just remove themselves from the political process. And that’s, oh, no, that’s also, yeah, I think what came of it was shenanigans. It’s, it’s, they kind of said, oh, shouldn’t have done it, but the votes won’t count. Yeah, that’s the, that’s the bad part about it. So what, what do you see? What do you see is the, the future of, uh, secular Houston and, and secular Texas PAC? What, where do you want to see it, um, evolved to or in the future? I want to be just like Ron Millar. I want to be Center for Freethought Equality, but in Texas.

[35:17] So yes, the Secular Texas PAC is a state PAC. And under that umbrella, my vision or our vision as a board is to have Secular Houston, Secular Dallas, Secular Austin. And so now we replicate this in the big cities across Texas. And instead of having one or two lights in Texas, which is otherwise crappy, now we have five, six, seven lights. And these lights are shining the fact that there are people that care about church-state separation. There’s a constituency that cares about it enough where we are donating money to the PAC, and the PAC is donating money to candidates that align with our values. And it’s not only that, but it’s also getting involved in the state legislative process. So pushing back on bad bills, advocating for good ones, being visible at that level, And this is me being a dreamer, but I kind of want to have something like a free thought caucus in the Texas House.

[36:22] So if that happens, that would be amazing So that would be kind of like the congressional free thought caucus at the national level But have a state version of that.

[36:32] Yeah, that would be very good to see, especially in some place like Texas. It’s been so down in the dumps for so long that you wonder if free thought can even exist anymore down there. There’s an appetite for it. And that’s, again, I’m being as visible as I can to let people know that they can help. And I need that. I need those blades of grass for this grassroots movement. Yeah, I think that’s important. I think people need to pay attention. I know people hate it. They hate politics. They don’t like talking about it. But it’s like you got to pay attention because when you don’t pay attention, other people do. Right. And then they then you get screwed over. So God damn it. These are the people that get in the government and they make decisions for a big bunch of people. So this is a very effective use of energy to get the right people elected. And now you wash out the bullshit and things are better. I’m not going to say they’re perfect. I never thought I’d be this much into politics. But it’s an efficient way of effecting change, the change that we want to see. Yeah, I was just telling somebody the other day that had Harris won the presidency, we wouldn’t be anywhere near what we’ve been talking about. We’d be probably debating some dinner or something where she slighted somebody. And that would be like the biggest scandal in history.

[37:54] Not eat eggs at the same Jesus name. And oh, my God. None of that stuff. Oh, and that also reminds me, too, Pete Hegseth, and they were talking about that commander that said, hey, this war is for God.

[38:13] And Hemet Meta came out with an article saying, well, don’t be, because it’s only one person, da-da-da-da-da. And now it actually came true, and now they’re investigating it. Yikes. So there was some truth to it, even if it wasn’t like 50 people saying it. It was, there was some, something to it. All right. Uh, well, I really appreciate you joining us today and telling us all about Texas and about the secular Houston and secular Texas PAC and, and, uh, we wish you, uh, good luck in your future endeavors. Thank you so much, Doug. I’ll have an update for you, uh, later this year.

[39:03] Secular Left is hosted, written, and produced by Doug Berger, and he is solely responsible for the content. Our theme music is Dank and Nasty, composed using the Amplify Studio. For more information on the topics in this episode and the links used, visit secularleft.us. If you want to support the show, share it with your friends or visit our merch store at secularleft.us.shop. See you next time.