‘Most Dangerous Woman in Tennessee’ comes to campus

ETSU’s Secular Humanist Alliance hosted Gayle Jordan on March 10 for her talk, “Gayle Jordan: The Most Dangerous Woman in Tennessee.” 

Jordan ran for the District 14 seat of the Tennessee Senate in 2016 and 2018, and was the first open atheist to run for the office. Jordan came to campus to relate her fight for office and to meet the members of the SHA.

A Rutherford county resident, Jordan grew up in a religious home and considered herself deeply religious in her early life. As her children grew and began asking questions, however, Jordan said she became less able to find satisfying answers “inside the bubble” of her religious community. 

In a Q&A session after the lecture, Jordan described the pain she felt remaining inside the church.

“I stayed in probably a year longer than I should have, teaching Sunday school, drinking a lot, because I had such cognitive dissonance, because I didn’t know what to do,” Jordan said.

Once her children had left for college, Jordan found it difficult to maintain her connection to the church. Jordan’ s husband remained in the faith, and upon her “deconversion,” they divorced. 

“When I finally made the decision, I didn’t feel like I had a choice anymore,” said Jordan. “And I sang like a canary.”

In 2018, Jordan ran in the special election for the District 14 Senate seat after its occupant was appointed to the Trump administration. The election offered a rare opportunity for Democratic candidates, as Jordan said voter turnout differs, sometimes in favor of minority opponents. The Tennessee Republican supermajority offered a significant challenge, especially after first amendment violations were committed by the opposition after they requested church intervention against Jordan. Campaign finances were difficult as well.

“The GOP has the money,” said Jordan. “The Democrats have the people.”

Jordan chose a campaign focused on voter participation rather than persuading new voters to join the cause. After the significant mobilization of the church, Jordan lost with 36% of the vote. 

Jordan currently runs Recovering from Religion, an international nonprofit dedicated to providing information to those inside and outside of faith. Services offered include 24 hour text chats, phone calls and secular therapist lists. 

For more information regarding Jordan and Recovering from Religion, visit recoveringfromreligion.org or call 184-IDOUBTIT.