As we head into the Martin Luther King Day weekend, our endeavors at the Freedom From Religion Foundation to protect constitutional rights are garnering a lot of attention.
Our lawsuits as a part of a coalition against Ten Commandments impositions in Texas and Louisiana received due note in a prominent legal blog.
“In addition to Simpson Thacher serving as pro bono counsel, the plaintiffs in both cases are also represented by the ACLU and its Texas and Louisiana affiliates, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation,” states a piece on Law.com.
Religious news site features our perspective
Our objection to religious charter schools was featured prominently in a sympathetic religion-based portal.
“A Florida group is raising funds for the Oklahoma school, hoping the state’s Charter School Board will approve it, as they approved St. Isidore,” says a Baptist News Global piece. “But the Freedom from Religion Foundation says it doesn’t matter whether a school is Jewish or Christian.”
The article includes a juicy quote from FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
Baptist minister notices our pushback against Trump administration
And a sympatico Baptist minister (who we’ve interviewed on our shows) praised our pushback against the U.S. Department of Labor’s blatantly Christian turn.
“Christopher Line, legal counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, noted in a letter to Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer: ‘While you are free to participate in religious events and promote your personal religious beliefs in your capacity as a citizen, you cannot use government resources or the Department of Labor to advance your personal religious beliefs. … This is not only unconstitutional, but it also alienates the growing number of religiously unaffiliated citizens,’” writes Brian Kaylor in his blog.
We stopped a Ga. principal’s proselytization
Our successful intervention in Georgia to end a principal’s proselytization obtained media coverage.
“The Jefferson City Schools district has instructed a middle school principal to stop using her position to promote religion after a national watchdog group warned the district of potential First Amendment violations,” informs a write-up in a local paper. “The Freedom From Religion Foundation said a concerned employee reported that the Jefferson Middle School principal regularly led Christian prayers during faculty meetings and had sometimes delegated that role to the assistant principal when she was absent. The principal also sent weekly emails to staff that included Bible verses, according to a FFRF statement.”
We’re creating a stir in Maryland
Our role in ending a Maryland school board’s prayers is generating buzz.
“The Wicomico County Council has announced it will no longer open meetings with the Lord’s Prayer to avoid potential legal risk or expenses,” says the CBS affiliate in the area. “The Council made the announcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, saying the issue began after a council member had read from the Bible out loud during a meeting in September, prompting threats of litigation. According to the County Council, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent three letters of demand following the meeting.”
We’re in the Oil City News
And a letter in a Wyoming publication called the Oil City News (really!) quoted us in a rumination on the state of the nation. “The current administration continues to ignore foundational values by targeting non-Christian citizens and political dissidents — Source: Freedom From Religion Foundation,” wrote Casey Winters.
Wis. City Council ends invocations years after our initial objection
We applauded the La Crosse City Council in our home state for recently voting to end the practice of opening its meetings with clergy-led religious invocations. Various media reports credited us with first raising those concerns more than 16 years ago.
We halted coercive baptisms
We successfully defended an Oklahoma detention center’s inmates from coercive baptisms. A concerned community member reported that the sheriff’s office was promoting religion and baptisms of inmates in the detention center (based in Norman, Okla.) to Christianity on its official Facebook account. We stepped in to defend prisoners’ rights to be free from coercive religious practices — and our complaint saw success!
We objected to a preferential religious visa
We are raising concerns about a new Department of Homeland Security rule that grants preferential immigration treatment to religious workers.
“Immigration policy must be neutral and secular,” says Annie Laurie. “When federal officials openly justify rule changes as a way to promote religion’s role in society, they cross a constitutional line.”
Supreme Court oral arguments don’t augur well
The U.S. Supreme Court’s oral arguments this week in two cases challenging state laws that exclude transgender students from public school sports presage decisions likely to cause real harm to children. “What we heard today underscores that these bans are not really about fairness in sports, but about enforcing a narrow religious ideology through state law,” says FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell.
A theocratic Senate hearing
We pinpointed a recent U.S. Senate hearing on the abortion pill as a textbook example of religious ideology intruding into government decision-making under the guise of public safety. The proceedings were a parade of junk science, fearmongering and overt attempts to substitute theology for medicine.
Journey to deconversion
On the latest episode of our “Secular Spotlight,” FFRF Legal Intake Assistant Daniel Dossey discusses his journey to deconversion. Daniel shares his deeply personal journey out of evangelical Christianity. Through studying theology, confronting biblical contradictions and learning about religious trauma, Daniel ultimately deconstructed his beliefs and found relief, clarity and purpose in a secular life.
The soul delusion
Freethought Radio’s episode this week first commented on timely national news and this week’s major FFRF victories and then featured an interview with David P. Barash about his provocative new book, “The Soul Delusion.” You also have the option to watch the videotaped interview portion at this link.
Join in for a Thomas Paine celebration on Jan. 29
We are proud to be co-sponsoring an online celebration of Thomas Paine’s life and legacy on Thursday, Jan. 29, the anniversary of his birth. As part of a coalition of leading secular, historical and humanist organizations, we invite you to commemorate the legacy of one of America’s most influential Founders and freethinkers. You can register for the event here.
‘Secularist’ ended City Council invocations
FFRF Action Fund, our legislative arm, honors a La Crosse, Wis., City Council member as its “Secularist of the Week” for successfully leading the removal of invocations from council meetings. Council Member Mackenzie Mindel sponsored the resolution to end the invocation policy, noting that the prayers caused discomfort for some council members and crossed the line between state and church. Kudos!
Texas AG ‘theocrat’ for ridiculous lawsuit
The Action Fund names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a staunch Christian nationalist, as its “Theocrat of the Week” for his baseless religious discrimination lawsuit against his home state’s Department of Public Safety. Paxton appears to be aiding through his suit the Trump administration’s attempt to prove that there is an “anti-Christian bias” in the United States. He has certainly earned his first-ever “Theocrat of the Week” designation.
The war against our health and First Amendment
Annie Laurie wrote a cautionary blog for the Action Fund this week about how the war against our health has escalated in the New Year. “An administration that touts itself as ‘pro-life’ (meaning of course “anti-abortion”) is setting our nation on a course that will further degrade the environment, exacerbate climate change, kill children and shorten American lives,” she begins. She also wrote a piece, “The right to protest must be sacrosanct,” referencing the current situation in Minnesota.
Religious fake abortion clinics
FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence focused her latest column on religion-based dangerous fake abortion clinics that are taking the place of shuttered Planned Parenthood facilities.
“Private organizations must educate people about crisis pregnancy centers and why they’re dangerous,” she concludes. “In the post-Roe landscape, public education is perhaps our most important tool.”
An undercover peek at a chaplain group’s mission to sneak Christianity
FFRF Regional Government Affairs Manager Mickey Dollens provides a fascinating undercover peek at a national chaplain group’s mission to sneak Christianity into public schools.
“It’s a coordinated and well-funded attack on public education designed to normalize Christian authority in taxpayer-funded neighborhood schools,” he warns. “If we don’t challenge this now, we’ll soon live in a society where constitutional protections and religious freedom for all are just a historical footnote.”
An affirmation to fill everyone with joy
We — you and us — recently received an affirmation of the sort that provides supreme happiness.
“We had a great visit with Chris Sweeny from the Ozark Chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation,” writes the Fayetteville, Ark.-based Omni Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology on its website. “They’re protectors of that separation between church and state that’s kept America a thriving place for many. He brought a very generous gift of $300 from the Foundation. Thank you Chris and everyone part of your organization!”
Compliments like these are what keep us going!
Have a restful and meaningful Martin Luther King Day weekend!
