Washington Area Secular Humanists

Hegseth Ripped for 'Racist Rant' Against Migrants at D-Day Event | Common Dreams US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparks outrage with racist remarks on migrants during D-Day anniversary speech in France.

CNN reports RFK Jr. is putting together a big fishing expedition—and the “guest list” could include just about everyone.

"U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pursuing federal government access to most Americans’ medical records, in a quest to research a link between vaccines and autism — a connection the medical establishment studied for decades and flatly rejects."

"In private meetings, some public health leaders have objected to giving Kennedy’s team access to such data, raising doubts that it’s legal or that the information would even be useful … HHS has offered no insight into how it will protect or handle the personal health information it obtains."

RFK Jr. seeks to peek at Americans’ medical records for clues on autism and vaccines | CNN U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pursuing federal government access to most Americans’ medical records, in a quest to research a link between vaccines and autism — a connection the medical establishment studied for decades and flatly rejects.

News broke earlier this week that the Department of Defense has “Officially Drop[ped] 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List.” Religion News Service notes that the truncated recognition list “reportedly exclud[es] atheists, pagans, humanists and New Age faiths.”

"The reduction of recognized faith groups represents the first time the military has revised the list since 2017, when it vastly expanded the list of recognized faith groups to about 211. The new list includes 31 recognized faiths, as first reported by Military.com on Thursday (June 4)."

Defense Department to drop atheists, pagans, 175 others from list of military faiths (RNS) — The new list includes 31 recognized faiths, most of them Christian denominations.

"The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons."

Washington archbishop removes priest as exorcist after comments on UFOs and demons The Catholic archbishop of Washington has removed a well-known priest who said UFO sightings were the work of demons.

From a new report in JAMA Network Open:

"Between January and March 2025, America’s Poison Centers reported a 38.7% increase in vitamin A exposures. This trend may have been influenced by public figures who have increasingly promoted vitamin A to treat measles."

Internet Searches for Vitamin A During the 2025 US Measles Outbreak This cross-sectional study examines changes in US internet search trends for alternative treatments for measles following the 2025 outbreak.

There’s been a lot of discussion around Pope Leo’s recent encyclical on artificial intelligence. But Free Inquiry editor Ronald Lindsay argues the more fundamental issue is “Why Listen to the Pope, Speaking as the Pope, on AI?”

"OK, I understand he is the leader of an institution that claims over a billion followers. But if Xi Jinping issued an official policy statement on AI, would the coverage be as fawning and uncritical?"

"The development of AI will present us with significant moral and political issues, to which we need to give serious consideration. But any attempt to develop a coherent, morally justifiable approach to these issues by relying on religious authorities is a deeply misguided project."

Why Listen to the Pope, Speaking as the Pope, on AI? | Free Inquiry A little over a week ago, Pope Leo XIV issued an encyclical addressing various aspects of artificial intelligence (AI). The issuance of the encyclical recei ...

Department of Defense Removes "Atheist" Designation from Recognized Faith and Belief Systems | American Atheists The exclusion of millions of Americans and countless members of our military make it crystal clear that this is about sending a signal about who counts as a “real” American to Hegseth and the extremists aligned with him.

Thinking Outside of the Clipboard: Creative Approaches to Voter Engagement
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 | 2:00 PM EDT

Hosted by Nonprofit VOTE, this webinar explores creative approaches to voter engagement that go beyond traditional outreach methods. Hear from Americans for the Arts and Warm Cookies of the Revolution as they share innovative ways to use art, culture, games, and community events to inspire participation in democracy and civic life.

Thinking Outside of the Box: Creative Approaches to Voter Engagement