Marquee events such as annual conferences and national rallies have been dominating our schedule recently at the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Our 2025 convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C., took place over the past weekend as a vibrant reminder of why we exist. The gathering brought together more than 500 secular activists, scholars and performers. It was great to see those of you who were there! Read more about the get-together here.
USA Today gives us a shoutout
We didn’t let the fact that there was an overlap between the convention and the “No Kings” rallies prevent us from being a part of the nationwide mobilization. Our role got a wonderful shoutout in a publication you’ve probably heard of.
“Indivisible is among the groups supporting more than 2,500 rallies around the country,” said USA Today in its report on the protests. “Others include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign and Planned Parenthood. “
Newsweek notices our joy
We have been making the news otherwise, too. None other than Newsweek magazine noticed our happiness at the resignation of Ryan Walters, the theocratic Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction, and the reversal of his policies by his successor.
“The groups that challenged Walters’ mandate in the courts, including Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union Oklahoma, Freedom From Religion Foundation and Oklahoma Appleseed, welcomed Lindel Fields’ announcement,” said a piece in the publication. “‘The attempts to promote religion in the classroom and the abuses of power that the Oklahoma State Department of Education engaged in under Walters’ tenure should never happen in Oklahoma or anywhere in the United States again,’ they said in a joint statement.”
An Oklahoma business publication paid heed to the joint statement, too.
California media cover our legal victory
Media outlets have taken note of our legal victory, again, over the Chino Valley (Calif.) school board.
“Patrick Elliott, legal director of Freedom From Religion Foundation, the group that filed the original lawsuit on behalf of 22 parents, district employees, and a few students, said the organization will file a motion in November seeking payment for the time spent responding to the motion from the school board,” states a piece in the local paper. “’We do not yet know the total additional fees and costs that will be requested,’ he told the Champion on Wednesday. Mr. Elliott said he hopes families in the school district ‘will feel welcome at meetings because the board is not bringing back this divisive prayer practice.’”
Our op-ed reaches millions across the country
FFRF Regional Government Affairs Manager Mickey Dollens’ recent op-ed opposing religious entanglement in college sports programs has reached millions of readers across the country. “As a former Division I football player and Team USA bobsledder who has gone on to become a state lawmaker in Oklahoma, I’ve seen it myself — coaches imposing their religious beliefs on players,” he writes in a piece prepared for Progressive Perspectives and nationally distributed by the Tribune News Service. This column is part of our initiative to engage with pertinent national and state issues and spread the messages of freethought and nontheism to a broader audience – and our latest success encourages us to continue.
Lexington paper features our success
Our regular interventions on behalf of the Constitution are also making a splash.
“A Central Kentucky school district says administrators will not give bibles to students after a parent complained last spring to a national watchdog that aims to protect the separation of church and state,” says a piece in the Lexington paper. “Rebecca G. McCoy, a lawyer for the Clark County School District, told the Freedom From Religion Foundation the district is ‘committed to ensuring school faculty will not be distributing bibles and other religious literature to students,’ according to a press release.”
Florida media outlet gives us space
Our objection to Florida’s first public school pastor gathered plenty of attention as well.
“The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking the district to backtrack and not only take away Jack Martin’s permission to serve as a chaplain but to eliminate the entire program, which is voluntary for students,” says an article in the Florida Phoenix, a prominent entity covering the Sunshine State. “‘Rev. Martin has openly promoted Christian nationalism and disparaged public education itself. His stated views are incompatible with the religious neutrality required of public schools and threaten to undermine the trust and inclusivity essential to serving Hernando County’s diverse student body,’ the Foundation wrote in its letter to Hernando officials.”
Our intervention stopped a church’s imposition
We made certain that a local church will not be able to continue imposing itself on student-athletes in the Sanford, Fla., Seminole County Public Schools system. Our letter, thankfully, saw the district take corrective action.
Colorado district needs to stop funding a Christian school
We are asking a Colorado school district to immediately halt its unconstitutional funding of an explicitly Christian school masquerading as a public institution. In a letter sent to Superintendent Peter Hilts, FFRF attorneys Samantha Lawrence and Charlotte Gude explain that the School District 49 is unlawfully providing public funds to Riverstone Academy — a self-described “public Christian school.”
“The Colorado Constitution could not be clearer,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “No sectarian tenets shall ever be taught in public school — yet that’s exactly what is happening here.”
A disappointing legislative turn
We are deeply disappointed by Washington state’s decision to exempt clergy from reporting child abuse or neglect learned during religious confession. The FFRF Action Fund, our lobbying arm, was instrumental in advocating for the passage of SB 5375, which closed a longstanding and dangerous loophole that allowed clergy to withhold information about child abuse disclosed in confessional or pastoral settings. A recent modification to the law undermines vital protections for children in favor of religious privilege.
“This is an alarming step backward for child safety, and yet another instance where religious privileging is put ahead of human rights,” says Annie Laurie. “Children’s welfare must always come before protecting abusers and their ‘secrets.’ No religious ritual should serve as a shield for those who criminally harm children.”
Our student scholarships
With the financial backing of individual donors, we collaborated with the Secular Student Alliance to select, announce and distribute major secular student activism awards for 2025. We have a variety of scholarships available to give directly to students for exceptional activism. If you know of any student who is actively helping to uphold state/church separation or fighting for the rights of nonbelievers, please use the form at ffrf.us/nominate.
Profound conversations on our radio show
We have had a rich variety of media offerings lately.
First, journalist William J. Kole talked on the Freethought Radio episode last week with co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor about his book, “In Guns We Trust: The Unholy Trinity of White Evangelicals, Politics, and Firearms.” Then, they spoke with historian and poet Jennifer Michael Hecht, author of “The Wonder Paradox: Embracing the Weirdness of Existence and the Poetry of Our Lives.” This week, they discussed with Mother Jones national correspondent Kiera Butler her incisive article, “God’s ‘Blank Check’: Christian Zionists Are Pouring Billions of Dollars Into Israeli Extremism.”
A lesson on how the Ten Commandments have been kept out
The latest episode of the “We Dissent” podcast takes a look at the long history of how Ten Commandments displays have been kept out of public schools. FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell and Americans United Legal Director Rebecca Markert break down the strong history of courts rejecting government attempts to display the Ten Commandments in schools. Listen to the erudite discussion here.
New Oklahoma superintendent is ‘Secularist of the Week’
Our legislative arm has also been vigilant. The FFRF Action Fund named newly appointed Oklahoma Superintendent Lindel Fields as its most recent “Secularist of the Week” for reversing his predecessor’s theocratic policies. Fields is a much-valued departure from the Christian nationalism that was widespread during Ryan Walters’ administration.
Senate majority whip is ‘Theocrat’
The Action Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” is Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., for deriding the recent “No Kings” protests as an “I Hate America Rally” and singling out the participation of nonreligious groups. Under our secular and godless Constitution, U.S. citizens may have any religion or none at all — and it should not be socially acceptable to treat nonreligious Americans like second-class citizens.
Our Maine chapter president writes a great column
An op-ed in a prominent Maine publication about the theocratic bent of the Trump administration caught our eye — especially since the president of our Maine chapter wrote it!
Whether it is you coming to our conventions or getting the word out, we rely on our membership for everything that is good under the sun.
