First Baptist Church of Dallas

Metroplex Atheists will be rallying outside First Baptist Church in Dallas on Sunday, June 24, from 10-11 a.m. in protest of the pastor’s upcoming sermon series, “America is a Christian Nation.”

Metroplex Atheists President Courtney Stewart said her organization planned the protests because “The claim that America is a Christian nation is a lie,” and “Propagating this exclusionary, divisive and false message only serves to divide our nation even further.”

Jeffress has a record of inflammatory and bigoted statements about other religions. In 2010, he called Catholic Church an instrument of Satan, calling it “a cult-like, pagan religion” that had been corrupted. In 2011, he told reporters that Mormonism is a “cult” and that voting for Mitt Romney would “give credibility to a cult.”

Jeffress has also said that Jews, Muslims and Hindus are going to hell.

Stewart said, “Jeffress is the worst kind of authority with a platform because he does not respect that it should require accuracy. By claiming to value religious freedom, he misleads the public while actually propagating his own privilege in this nation.

“The United States is a secular nation founded with a secular constitution,” Stewart added. “That means that it protects the rights of all Americans, not just those who adhere to his narrow definition of ‘Christianity.’ No matter how many times Jeffress repeats the lie that America is a Christian nation, it will never be true.”

Metroplex Atheists, founded in 1991 and an American Atheists local partner, is an “educational and advocacy group that protects the separation of religion from government and the rights of atheists.” It is based in the DFW Metroplex and has more than 1,400 members.

— Tammye Nash