This week was a legally significant one for us at the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
We announced that we will be filing a lawsuit against a soon-to-be law in Texas that will require all public school classrooms to prominently display the Ten Commandments. Our announcement got play in several Texas media outlets too numerous to list plus nationally on Univision.
“The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and other advocacy groups are planning to sue Texas over legislation that recently made its way to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk that would require public schools across the state to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms,” said a piece in the Houston Chronicle, to name just one. “The group looking to challenge Senate Bill 10, which Abbott has said he is poised to sign into law, includes the ACLU of Texas, the ACLU, American United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.”
Another Texas newspaper delighted us by quoting us in an editorial lauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision not to give the go-ahead to a public Catholic charter school. An editorial in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram included this perspective from us:
A publicly funded religious charter school would have obliterated the wall of separation between state and church, Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, said in a statement. “We’re relieved that, at least for now, the First Amendment still means what it says.
Our Massachusetts lawsuit to stop religious statues
A lawsuit we filed as part of a coalition in another part of the country also created media ripples.
“A multifaith group of Quincy, Mass., residents and taxpayers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Norfolk Superior Court to stop the planned installation of two large religious statues at the entrance of the city’s new public safety building, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced,” stated a Massachusetts TV station piece. “The residents are represented by the ACLU Massachusetts, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.”
Again, this was just one of many media stories.
An FFRF op-ed in Wisconsin’s capital newspaper
FFRF Senior Policy Counsel Ryan Jayne had a memorable op-ed on Memorial Day in our hometown newspaper dissecting school voucher programs.
“As Congress considers a federal voucher scheme as part of its budget reconciliation package, we should carefully reflect on whether Wisconsin’s sweeping voucher programs have benefited students,” the column in the Madison, Wis., Capital Times began. “And the simple, honest answer is that they have not.”
You can read the rest of the op-ed here.
Oregon ends child marriage
Our legislative arm, the FFRF Action Fund, promptly responded to legislative developments.
It rejoiced due to a significant victory for children’s rights and secular values in Oregon after the state officially ended child marriage. “This is a tremendous win for the children of Oregon, who deserve protection from coercive and often religiously motivated abuse disguised as marriage,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF Action Fund president. The Fund thanks its members and allies in Oregon who mobilized to support SB 548.
Delaware’s aid-in-dying program
The Fund also celebrated a major triumph for the rights of terminally ill patients to avoid prolonged suffering. Delaware has become the 11th forward-thinking state to mandate a medical aid-in-dying program. HB 140 establishes a comprehensive program that allows terminally ill patients to choose a peaceful death instead of being forced through months of painful treatments or hospice care. The law will go into effect next New Year’s Day at the latest.
Pete Hegseth’s theocratic shenanigans
The Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a fervent Christian nationalist, for holding monthly prayer services in the Pentagon. Hegseth is using his position in Trump’s cabinet to promote his radical and dangerous form of Christianity. The Fund will continue to closely monitor Hegseth’s Christian nationalist efforts.
A Texas state rep mounts a strong secular challenge
The Fund’s “Secularist of the Week” is a star (a four-time winner) for his fight against a Texas bill that would mandate every public school classroom to prominently display the Ten Commandments. Texas state Rep. James Talarico, representing the 52nd District, spoke out against the legislation over the weekend.
A major change to our broadcasting programs
After seven seasons, last Sunday’s show was the final “Freethought Matters” in a format intended for broadcast TV. We usually go into a summer hiatus with the program, but this summer FFRF will be at work producing new programming. Stay tuned for more details! We’ll certainly keep you informed. Meanwhile, you can always watch the archive of shows, including our recent interviews of Mary L. Trump and Jamelle Bouie, on the “Freethought Matters” playlist at FFRF’s YouTube channel.
Killings of Indian rationalists
On our Freethought Radio show this week, we first announced our new lawsuits. Then, co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor (along with me) interviewed Pulitzer Prize finalist Rollo Romig, author of the book “I Am on the Hit List: A Journalist’s Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India.”
The sickening Trump administration
Annie Laurie has a new blog on how the Trump administration is sickening us — literally.
“These attacks are personal: whether you’re someone depending on Medicaid, or are pregnant, or suffer from diabetes, or are a parent with a child needing inoculation, or simply are someone who someday might have benefited from what used to be America’s cutting-edge medical research,” the column concludes. “So do your part to truly ‘make America healthy again’ by fighting MAHA and MAGA and protesting this sickening authoritarian grip on our nation’s science achievements and liberties. Participating in the ‘No Kings Day of Action’ rallies around the country on Saturday, June 14, is a healthy way to start.”
It’s only with your active participation that we can strive to prevent this country from sliding toward theocracy.
