Our workplace at the Freedom From Religion Foundation has been a hotbed of activity notwithstanding the frigid temperatures outside.

Our legal coalition-building generated a good amount of heat.

“Knox County taxpayers are asking a judge to allow them to join a lawsuit to oppose a Christian nonprofit that wants to open a religious charter school within Knox County Schools,” says the Knoxville News Sentinel. “The group supporting Knox County Schools comprises the Rev. Richard Coble, Amanda Collins, Kerry Dooley, Elizabeth Porter and the Rev. Katina Sharp. They are backed by prominent religious freedom organizations: the Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.”

We made a lot of noise in the hometown of the court.

“The Ten Commandments law returned to court last week where the plaintiffs argued that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” reports the Tulane Hullabaloo. “Louisiana passed the law in May 2024 requiring the Ten Commandments — a list of biblical laws — to be displayed in every public K-12 and university classroom by Jan. 1, 2025. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law on June 19, 2024. The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Church and State and Freedom From Religion Foundation later filed a lawsuit on behalf of parents, alleging First Amendment violations.”

We embarrassed an Okla. sheriff 
And we’ve been creating a kerfuffle in states to the south of us.

“An Oklahoma sher­iff ’s office was accused of coer­cing deten­tion cen­ter inmates into con­vert­ing to Chris­tian­ity, but the sher­iff in charge of the jail said there is no truth to the claims,” says a news story. “The Free­dom From Reli­gion Found­a­tion said it fol­lowed up on a com­plaint that the Clev­e­land County Sher­iff ’s Office was pro­mot­ing the con­ver­sion of Clev­e­land County jail inmates to Chris­tian­ity.”

We’re focused on the Sooner State
Oklahoma has disproportionately occupied our attention. We warned a school district there about the constitutional risks of off-campus religious instruction for students that a Christian ministry called LifeWise operates. “To protect students’ First Amendment rights, the district must remain vigilant and ensure that its schools do not cross the constitutional line if LifeWise is operating in the district,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the school district.

Christian nationalist authoritarianism shapes White House policy

We were horrified by the senseless, brutal slaying of ICU nurse Alex Pretti and warned that the tragic deaths of Pretti and Renee Nicole Good are the result of a federal regime increasingly shaped by Christian nationalist authoritarianism. President Trump made that worldview explicit during a recent White House press briefing in which he boasted that God approves of his presidency and his immigration policies.

The disturbing arrest of Don Lemon

We condemned the arrest of journalist Don Lemon and three others in connection with covering a protest against a pastor who is also an ICE official that took place in a Twin Cities church. This represents a dangerous escalation of government overreach, a misuse of federal law, and an unconstitutional prioritization of religious institutions over the civil liberties of citizens.

A warped notion of religious freedom
We excoriated President Trump’s recent Religious Freedom Day proclamation as a sweeping distortion of American history and a direct attack on the constitutional separation between religion and government. Trump’s proclamation repeatedly invokes “God-given rights,” declares the United States a “Nation under God,” and pledges to “restore America as a Nation of prayer” — language that flatly contradicts the secular principles on which the country was founded.

We halted religious activity at an elementary school

We stopped religious activity in a Tennessee elementary school after the district posted a biblical photo op. We learned that Gadsden Elementary School (in Gadsden, Tenn.) permitted Gideons International to distribute bibles to students on school grounds due to a post on the district’s official Facebook page. We spoke up on behalf of the students — and their right to be free from religious coercion. Thanks to us, the district is now on the right course.

A Utah city councilmember doesn’t know his Constitution
We admonished a city councilmember in Utah for telling residents during a meeting that they “actually don’t have any First Amendment rights” — only “God-given rights.” We have written to the councilmember objecting to the comments and warning that he violates the constitutional requirement that government officials remain neutral toward religion.

A theocratic legal firm is reshaping public policy
The theocratic legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom and its political arm, ADF Action, are openly escalating a nationwide legislative strategy to impose a narrow religious ideology on public policy. “Alliance Defending Freedom is a dyed-in-the-wool extremist Christian nationalist outfit whose stated mission to ‘keep the doors open for the Gospel’ is counter to U.S. pluralism and our secular Constitution,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

School choice is misnamed

The almost unrestrained expansion of so-called school choice programs, celebrated during National School Choice Week (observed Jan. 25–31), continues to overwhelmingly divert public education dollars into private, mostly religious, schools while undermining our public school system. Despite slick marketing and heavy political spending, these programs are neither about “choice” nor about improving education outcomes.

How a Peruvian journalist brought down a Catholic cult

Peruvian journalist Paola Ugaz told Freethought Radio co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor the powerful story of how her investigation (with colleague Pedro Salinas) led to the downfall of the Sodalitium, a Catholic cult that was sexually, physically and psychologically abusing young people. Listen in here. Or you can watch the video podcast at this link.

The anti-abortion movement’s religious underpinnings
On what should have been the 53rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Jesus-touting anti-abortion radicals held a rally in Washington, D.C., with President Trump and other GOP officials openly portraying the movement as a religious crusade. Although Trump did not appear in person, he boasted via video that he was the first president to attend the so-called “March for Life” six years ago. Talk about pandering to fundamentalists.

Congress should boycott the National Prayer Breakfast
A coalition of national organizations, faith leaders, civil rights advocates and elected officials released a sign-on letter urging members of Congress not to participate in the 2026 National Prayer Breakfast (to be held on Thursday, Feb. 5), warning that the event has become a platform for MAGA Christianity and sectarian political organizing. The letter cites President Trump’s remarks at last year’s breakfast, where he promoted the idea that the United States must bring religion back much stronger, and framed governance as a religious mission — underscoring how the breakfast now functions as a staging ground for religious identity being used to justify political power.

JD Vance and Speaker Johnson are theocrats

Our legislative arm, the FFRF Action Fund, picks as this week’s theocrats Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson for their zealous religious rhetoric at this year’s March for Life in justification of the Trump administration’s aggressive anti-abortion efforts. Both of their speeches contained blatant religious appeals, using Christianity to energize the anti-abortion movement.

New N.J. governor is secularist

The Action Fund salutes newly sworn-in New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill as its “Secularist of the Week” for taking her oath of office on the Constitution rather than a religious text — thereby honoring the wall between her office and religion. Sherrill used during her inauguration ceremony a copy of the state Constitution owned by New Jersey’s first governor, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Kudos to her!

Our legal director writes about attending a Minneapolis protest

FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott, who lives in the Twin Cities area, wrote an energizing blog about attending the protests there.

“As an attorney, I usually address civil rights violations in court,” he began. “For 16 years, I have worked on cases for the Freedom From Religion Foundation to protect constitutional and civil rights. I have participated in demonstrations on just a few occasions. This past Sunday was one of those times.”

Bidding farewell to a fearless feminist

Annie Laurie wrote a moving column bidding farewell to a fearless voice for feminism and freethought. FFRF Lifetime Member Barbara G. Walker — a prominent feminist and freethinker — died at the age of 95 late last month. “The freethought and feminist worlds have lost a major player, but Barbara has created an important legacy,” Annie Laurie concluded.

Much of the country may be under a cold spell but with your backing and encouragement, we have the heat generated by our work to keep us warm.