Friend:

On this solemn 20th remembrance of the September 11, 2001, attacks, I am thinking again about how the pursuit of social change and justice is the work of generations.

Consider America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan last month. News reports included the heartbreaking detail that several of the service members killed in the attack at Kabul airport were infants when that war began. One, David Espinoza of Laredo, Texas, was a newborn. The “War on Terror,” with all its religious undertones, was a fact throughout the whole of their lives.

On a smaller scale, consider the lawsuit Pedreira v. Sunrise Children's Services in Kentucky. Waged by taxpayers objecting to the religious proselytization of children in a state-funded residential childcare facility, it marks its twenty-first anniversary this year and is Americans United’s longest running case. Only a few current AU staffers, including Senior Adviser Rob Boston, were here when it began.

How many judges, lawyers, Sunrise staff members, Kentucky governors and state officials have moved on, retired or left us in the span of that generation? Yet the case, like the war, endured. AU and our allies announced a settlement agreement with Kentucky to end the case just this week, but the childcare facility already has made clear that it plans to continue fighting the matter in court. 

It pains all of us when a leader, soldier or activist dies in the midst of a conflict, never to know how it ends. Yet we also know these struggles—for civil rights, social justice, religious freedom and reproductive choice, to name a few—endure. And it is each generation’s calling to carry them to the next incremental success. 

With this week’s announcement of AU’s 2021 Student Essay Contest winners, we introduced some of our future torch-bearers. More than 330 high school students from across the country submitted a personal written case for the Do No Harm Act, the critical legislation to stop widespread misuse of religious freedom to justify discrimination. 

All of these essays were great, but three rose to the top, all grounded in personal perspective and experience. Sarah Geist of San Diego won second place by arguing that the Do No Harm Act is worthy of support from her fellow Christians despite the flawed claims of the Religious Right. Oliver Petersen of Washington, D.C., who won third place, wrote about its importance to combating discrimination against transgender people, especially in health care and employment.

First place was earned by Michael Hallinan of Lakewood, Colorado, who shared his perspective as a gay, Christian teenager fighting for equality for all, including in foster care and adoption programs. “The Do Not Harm Act would bring about an immeasurable amount of safety, security and above all hope,” he wrote.

Hope, therefore, is where I’ll end this week, because it may be the most important and meaningful gift we have in common. Michael, Sarah, Oliver and other members of the new generation rising to leadership in our movement for true religious freedom will carry on our work and pass it on to others as they themselves move on. Like David Espinoza, they will never know how it ends. But like you and I, they can take heart in the knowledge that it will always endure.

With hope and gratitude,