It’s been crunch time here at the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Like much of the nation, we’ve been gearing up for the change of administration. We haven’t, however, let that distract us from important local and state-level matters — and what could be more important than for us to challenge religious privilege in our hometown.
“The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and three Madison residents [two of them FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor] have filed a lawsuit over a law exempting two religious entities from paying taxes on their Madison rental properties,” says the Urban Milwaukee website. “The lawsuit challenges state rules that exempt The Pres House, which is owned by the Presbyterian Student Center Foundation, and Lumen House Apartments, which is owned by St. Raphael’s Congregation, from paying property taxes. Both apartment complexes cater to University of Wisconsin-Madison students.”
Our lawsuit has gotten other media coverage, such as on a news portal and in the Wisconsin Law Journal.
It’s an exciting development — and something we’ll definitely keep you posted about.
Our op-ed in The Oklahoman
Another thrilling piece of news: The new addition to our staff, our recently hired regional affairs manager and Oklahoma state Rep. Mickey Dollens, has an op-ed in the Oklahoma City paper promising to fight the good fight for secularism. “As an elected official and a parent of two elementary school students in Oklahoma, I am deeply concerned by a growing national trend of government overreach that undermines parents’ rights through state-sanctioned religious extremism,” his piece begins. Read the rest of it here.
Mickey joined FFRF’s Ryan Jayne and Ryan Dudley on our Facebook Live “Ask an Atheist” show to talk about why he decided to join our team and how he plans to help uphold the constitutional principle of separation between religion and government and counter Christian nationalism. We also take a brief look at the results of the 2024 election from a secular perspective.
Join us for the Scopes Centennial celebrations in July
Further exciting stuff: We are co-hosting a celebratory conference in July to mark the centenary of the Scopes trial, which will be held Friday, July 18, through Sunday, July 20, at the Chattanoogan Hotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. Attendees will hear from renowned speakers and will have the opportunity to visit the site of the famous trial (which has a statue of Clarence Darrow, created by Zenos Frudakis and installed by FFRF several years ago). The Chattanoogan ballroom capacity is limited, so please register now!
Catch our Ron Reagan ad on Joy Reid’s show
Our ad featuring Ron Reagan is running on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” with host Joy Reid, on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings through the rest of January. Catch it if you can!
A good piece of legislation
We celebrated a historic legislative victory for children’s rights in the outgoing Congress. The Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act (S 1351), which marks a significant step forward in safeguarding minors in residential facilities nationwide, became law recently. As an organization committed to protecting the separation of state and church, we will continue monitoring the implementation of this law to ensure its promises are fulfilled.
Have a secular presidential Inaugural, Mr. Trump
Certainly much of our time has been spent preparing for the incoming ruling dispensation.
We are asking Donald Trump on behalf of tens of millions of nonreligious Americans to respect the U.S. Constitution and leave religion out of the Inaugural. Since our founding, we have dutifully contacted all incoming presidents (including Trump back in 2017) to remind them to honor the Constitution’s secular instructions. “Specifically, we request that you take the secular oath of office as provided for in Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution — e.g., minus reference to a deity or swearing upon a bible — and cancel the six official prayers, an absurd number,” FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor write to the president-elect.
Trump, meanwhile, is shamelessly huckstering an “Inauguration Day Bible.” “The contrast between President-elect Trump and the late President Jimmy Carter — a modest, self-professed born again who supported separation of church and state and never used his office for personal profit — could not be more pronounced,” notes Annie Laurie.
Grim portents for climate change and reproductive and LGBTQ rights
The consequences from Jan. 20 onward may not be pleasant for issues dear to us.
Amid the unprecedented wildfire disasters in the Los Angeles area comes news that last year was the hottest year ever recorded. Our special concern is the political pressure of white Christian evangelicals, Trump’s political base, who largely deny that climate change is caused by human activity such as burning fossil fuels. “Secular Americans make up almost 30 percent of adult Americans,” reminds Annie Laurie, “and we must raise our voices to protest every step Trump takes to sabotage climate change mitigation.”
We are cautioning that the second Trump administration will endanger reproductive rights. In fact, Trump will quite possibly take action shortly after assuming presidential office to curtail the right to contraception and abortion. And as Trump administration attacks on the LGBTQ front are anticipated, we signed onto a statement from secular groups affirming commitment to LGBTQ-plus rights. “The undersigned organizations reaffirm our commitment to forcefully advocate for the rights of LGBTQ-plus Americans, create inclusive and welcoming communities, represent the interests of our diverse constituents, and act in accordance with our values,” the statement says.
Our warnings on Trump cabinet appointees
We’re raising the flag on a number of Trump cabinet appointees. Pete Hegseth’s over-the-top piety can’t camouflage his unfitness to lead the Department of Defense. His confirmation hearings confirmed this. And we predicted that Pam Bondi as the U.S. attorney general would push an extremist Christian agenda. Bondi’s nomination threatens to entangle government with religion in ways that compromise our nation’s founding principles.
A welcome to a new member of Congress
The “Secularist of the Week” choice of our legislative arm, the FFRF Action Fund, represents a breath of fresh air. Newly elected Rep. Laura Friedman has been chosen for joining the Congressional Freethought Caucus and supporting the separation of state and church. As new threats to our secular democracy emerge, we need members of Congress such as Friedman.
A theocrat off the deep end
The Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” pick is from central casting. Pastor and newly elected Knox County, Ohio, Commissioner Drenda Keesee has taken to Facebook to urge other Christians to follow in her footsteps and enter public office for the Seven Mountains mandate. Seven Mountains theology calls upon its followers to establish “God’s kingdom” by taking control of culture. Yikes!
A heroic librarian on our TV show
Our television show this week spotlights one brave librarian’s fight against book bans. Amanda Jones is author of the bestselling new book, “That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America,” which describes how she became a target simply for speaking out against book banning and is taking a defamation lawsuit against her detractors. You can already watch the show on our YouTube channel. Or find out where and when to catch it on television Sunday.
From religion to reason
On our Freethought Radio show this week, FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence first describes our new local lawsuit against the unconstitutional tax exemption for religiously owned commercial rental properties. Then, Freethought Radio co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor talk with a former “church lady,” Carolyn Shadle, who was the director of religious education at a Presbyterian church before she abandoned her faith and wrote a memoir about it.
A novel issue before the U.S. legal system
FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi writes about two cases before an appeals court this week on what is a somewhat novel issue for the U.S. legal system: caste anti-discrimination provisions. There’s an ironic twist here for us defenders of the First Amendment, as the piece deftly delves into.
What the upcoming four years will mean
FFRF Contributing Writer Kat Grant explains what the upcoming four years will possibly mean for LGBTQ-plus rights. “November was not the end of this fight, but the beginning, and I think we have every tool we need to get through this and be better on the other side,” Kat writes optimistically.
We share Kat’s sentiment. With your backing, we are confident that we certainly will be able to get through the next four years
