Congressman Jared Huffman has released a new book titled “No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism,” in which he argues that a Christian nationalist movement represents the country’s most dangerous political force. Huffman contends that the movement poses greater threats to science, education, and freedom than widely recognized, and he describes the United States as having a “Bible-sized blind spot” regarding this issue. He points to the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack as a significant moment when religious elements of the event were largely overlooked by many lawmakers and the media.
Huffman is the only sitting member of Congress who has publicly stated that he does not believe in God. He was raised in Missouri as a member of the Community of Christ, an offshoot of Mormonism, and was ordained into its priesthood. His faith began to shift during his college years following his father’s death, and he eventually adopted the label of humanist, describing humanism as an affirmative expression of leading moral and ethical lives based on science, facts, and reason rather than religious belief.
For many years, Huffman kept his secular worldview private, including during his initial swearing-in to Congress in 2013. The turning point came in 2017 following his mother’s death and the election of Donald Trump. Despite warnings from his wife, brother, staff, and advisers that revealing his non-belief would be politically damaging—citing polling showing that atheism is the worst label for candidates—Huffman decided to go public. He received support from several colleagues, including House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and congressman Jamie Raskin, with whom he co-founded the Congressional Freethought Caucus.
Since making his views public, Huffman has encountered criticism and has been the target of harsh judgments, including from some Democratic colleagues who are devout Christians. He describes what he terms “Christian privilege” as a cultural taboo that protects domestic religious radicalism from scrutiny that would be applied to minority or foreign faiths. He argues that this privilege was evident in how the religious dimensions of the January 6 attack received little attention and were omitted from the House January 6 select committee’s final report.
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