Remember Arizona State Rep. Juan Mendez? He’s the 28-year-old atheist Democrat who delivered a secular invocation on the floor of the House (“I would like to ask that you not bow your heads…”), so enraging some of his colleagues that one of them delivered two Christian invocations the next day.

A couple of weeks ago, Mendez spoke at the Secular Student Alliance conference in Las Vegas. Video of his talk is now online:

We’re so used to hearing representatives at all levels ignore us. Occasionally, we get paid lip service. But Mendez goes so far above and beyond all of that. It’s about why getting involved in politics is so important if we want atheists represented and treated fairly in American politics.

My favorite line comes when Mendez talks about why college activists should get politically active, too (9:05 mark): “If you can work with college kids, you guys can work with politicians” 🙂

Watch it. And please leave any notable timestamps/summaries in the comments!



