Ep. 61: Why Aren’t There More Secular Politicians? – Juhem Navarro-Rivera

In this episode, we welcome back Dr. Juhem Navarro-Rivera, the Managing Partner and Research Director at Socioanalítica Research LLC, and the author of Secular Politics, a weekly newsletter exploring the role of secular people in American political life. We talk about Juhem’s recent work exploring secular legislators in the United States, at the national and state levels: who they are, where they come from, and why secular people are so underrepresented. We discuss what atheists and the nonreligious need to do to ensure they get more representation in the halls of power. We also find out whether a “true atheist” can lie about being religious to please a family member.In the bonus section, available exclusively to supporters on Patreon we delve into the underlying systems of power, institution-building, and how the existing secular network can be expanded. We talk with Juhem about the religious politics of the Supreme Court and when he predicts the first atheist president will be elected in the US.Check out Juhem’s newsletter, Secular Politics: https://secularpolitics.substack.com/And Juhem’s latest article in Interfaith America: https://www.interfaithamerica.org/tamales-secular-candlemas/Follow Nathan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NathGAlexander Nathan’s website: https://www.nathangalexander.com/ If you find the podcast valuable and want to support it, check out our Patreon page, where you will also find bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/beyond_atheism We are grateful for every contribution.Beyond Atheism is produced and distributed by Atheists United Studios: https://www.atheistsunited.org/au-studios