Earlier today, my fellow network contributor Justin Vacula chose to step down from his leadership position with Secular Coalition for America, only a few days after various bloggers started writing letters and campaigning furiously to have him removed from his position for various affronts. I support Justin’s decision to leave when and how he did, because he is in a unique position to know the most salient facts, such as:
- Specific expectations and duties given to him when he accepted,
- Quantity and quality of reputational and relational damages sustained,
- How those specific expectations and duties may well be thwarted by those damages.
The commentariat may well disagree with his decision (as many already have) but most probably they don’t have the background information necessary for a fully informed decision. By resigning, Justin minimizes the damage done to him and the SCA, at least for now. Given that I do not have nearly as must information as he does, I am inclined to trust his judgment in this matter.
All that said, there will most likely unfortunate knock-on effects from this sequence of events. I have no doubt that the SCA will have to pay the opportunity cost of foregoing competent and experienced church-state activists who would consider themselves likely to suffer a similar storm of disapproval on account of online or real-world associations.
I myself will have to forego volunteering to work for the SCA, because of my longtime friendship with Abbie Smith and because I have, on occasion, criticized the actions of those who so fervently lead the charge against Justin. This saddens me, but happily, I know plenty of other avid secularists who are not nearly so tainted, and I encourage them to step up.
