We’ve had a fair amount of rain recently in the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s hometown of Madison, Wis., but nothing compared with the deluge of media coverage we have received.
CNN published a story on a preliminary injunction motion that we filed as part of a coalition in a lawsuit against the mandating of the display of the Ten Commandments in Louisiana public school classrooms. “The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, on behalf of nine ‘multifaith families’ with students enrolled in Louisiana public schools,” the news channel reported.
Our opposition to Okla. supt. catches media fire
We are sounding the alarm about the theocratic aims of Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters after he ordered the bible and the Ten Commandments to be part of the public school curriculum.
“We can’t allow Walters to continue this,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line told a TV station in the state. “It seems as if he almost wants to be a theocratic leader in Oklahoma. He is trying to push Christianity in any way that he can. This being the most extreme thing we have seen this far.”
The national media is noticing our opposition, too. U.S. News & World Report mentioned us, interestingly, in the introduction to an interview with Walters: “Walters’ move … may be met with a legal challenge: The Freedom From Religion Foundation, for example – a nonprofit that aims to promote ‘the constitutional principle of separation between state and church’ – vowed ‘to take action to stop’ the new rule in Oklahoma, which ranks No. 49 in the education category of U.S. News most recent Best States analysis.”
Our tweet vowing to fight Walters got mentioned on MSN News.
Newsweek likes our tweet
And another tweet blasting a recent Christian nationalist speech by Sen. Josh Hawley made it to Newsweek.
The Guardian and Florida public radio deem us newsworthy
Our criticism of a new volunteer chaplain program in Florida public schools — and our defense of the right of The Satanic Temple to participate — is being featured in media all the way from global to state-level. The London Guardian (no less!) quoted our statement on the unintended consequences of the Florida scheme.
And public radio in Florida took our perspective extensively into account in a story on the issue. Read FFRF Staff Attorney Ryan Jayne’s intriguing comments.
Tenn. media loves our press release
Our endeavors elsewhere are also getting media play. A Tennessee newspaper published verbatim our press release about how our intervention stopped graduation prayer at a middle school. (For the record: We are completely OK with that.)
The Nashville Tennessean didn’t quite do what the smaller Tennessee paper did but quoted extensively from our press release.
North Carolina and Mississippi outlets give us space
The Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina reported on our recent victory in getting the school board there to stop beginning its meetings with a prayer.
Even the Mississippi media is noticing us, with a paper there spotlighting a recent win we had in the state.
“An elementary school class in South Mississippi did not receive a planned class activity featuring religious content after a national organization warned the Covington County School District that it could violate the separation of church and state,” reports the Mississippi Free Press. “‘Using a religious holiday, Easter, as a pretext to teach religious lessons in a public school is unconstitutional, Freedom From Religion Foundation Staff Attorney Madeline Ziegler wrote in a March 27 letter to Covington County School District Superintendent Babette Duty.”
Madeline (Maddy) Ziegler is actually quoted extensively in the piece.
Christian nationalist puts a digestion curse on us
Christian nationalist Todd Starnes chronicled, not too happily, our recent success in getting a massive bible verse removed from a Virginia elementary school cafeteria wall. He wished atheists “bad indigestion.” Bon appetit, Todd!
Radio show provides background on our endeavors
On this week’s Freethought Radio episode, FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott provided helpful background information to co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor about our efforts in Louisiana and Oklahoma. There’s some good explanatory discussion happening, so tune in.
Our victory in Iowa
Of course, we do our work regardless of the media spotlight. We achieved a constitutional victory in Iowa by ensuring that officials in a school district there will no longer continue to take part in an overtly religious club for student athletes. “Students should not feel as though coaches — much less their superintendent — are lending school support to students of one particular religion,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
Stop promoting baccalaureate services
We have received reports from community members in Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky and Indiana that various school districts publicized baccalaureate services for graduating seniors. We’re asking these four districts to respect their constitutional duty to remain secular and not to promote and host religious baccalaureate ceremonies in the future.
The IRS should not give theocratic outfits a free pass
We commended two members of Congress, Reps. Jared Huffman and Suzan DelBene, for reissuing their call to the IRS to review the tax-exempt status of organizations that claim to be churches while engaging in political advocacy. This renewed appeal is particularly significant in light of reports about the Family Research Council, a Christian nationalist group, obtaining church status while continuing its extensive political activities.
No religion inside a state Capitol!
And we chastised a Missouri state senator for having worship service in his office. Observing a strict separation of church and state honors not only the First Amendment, but also the rights of conscience of all Missouri citizens, we reminded state Sen. Rick Brattin.
Project 2025 — and its opposition
Our lobbying arm, the FFRF Action Fund, has so many theocrats to choose from that its pick this week wasn’t Brattin but the person who is spearheading a blueprint for an extremist theological takeover of the government. Kevin Roberts, has served as the president of the Heritage Foundation, the think tank behind Project 2025, which wants to restructure the U.S. government whenever the next conservative president takes power. Oklahoma state Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, representing the 46th District, is the Action Fund’s “Secularist of the Week” for standing up against Christian nationalism and Project 2025. (By the way, Rosecrants welcomed the Fund’s seal of approval.)
New threats to health care
On our “Ask an Atheist” feature this week, FFRF Equal Justice Works Fellow Kat Grant and Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell discuss the latest attempts to revoke crucial health care for those in the LGBTQ-plus community, including an upcoming decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that could change the future for transgender youth. You can catch the important conversation here.
We help achieve secular success in Ireland
Our commitment to the secular cause extends internationally. FFRF Attorney Sam Grover was recently approached by someone from Ireland incensed that the Dublin airport authorities were allowing a Catholic priest special privilege to “bless” planes. The complaint that the Irish citizen lodged, in good part based on Sam’s advice, resulted in Dublin officials not only agreeing to have non-Catholic and nonreligious representatives be present at such events but moving these “ceremonies” to off the main airfield.
This is what we do with your support — advance freethinking ideals at home and all around the world, in or out of the media glare.
3 Responses
I wish you could set up in Canada as well.. we need your abilities here to.
It would be fair to say that our, Ancient Ancestors were wiser and smarter than, say the past 2,500 thousand years ago in that, They, all known early cultures around the globe didn’t know of or thought of some Imaginary Friend who ruled over them. They simply went about, surviving< each and every day with rudimentary tools and basic knowledge throughout the 10, Billion years of our evolution, stating with the first, Nakalipithecus generation and well into, Hominini species and eventually Homo Sapien cultures..
You would think that with all that evolution experience that we humans would have learned something. Just think,, in last 2500 years of our evolution has been dumbing down,, US??
It would be fair to say that our, >Ancient AncestorsTheyImaginary FriendSurvivingBillionNakalipithecusHominini speciesHomo Sapien cultures..
You would think that with all that evolution experience that we humans would have learned something. Just think,, in last 2500 years of our evolution has been dumbing down,, >US<??