Freethought-Now

We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation sometimes wish we had the time to savor the victories and media coverage regularly coming our way.

When we won a case as part of a coalition against the imposition of the Ten Commandments in Arkansas public schools, it made a splash everywhere from USA Today to the progressive news portal Truthout.

“A federal judge has permanently blocked several Arkansas school districts from implementing a state law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments,” USA Today reported. “Several civil liberties groups — Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, the ACLU, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation — and the New York-based law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP are representing the plaintiffs, a group of multifaith families with children in Arkansas public schools.”

“A federal judge has placed a permanent injunction on a law in Arkansas that requires the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom and library, ruling that the statute violates Supreme Court precedent and the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause,” stated a piece on Truthout. “‘We are delighted that reason and our secular Constitution have prevailed, and that children will be spared this unconstitutional proselytizing,’ said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.”

Newsweek spotlights our response to congressional bigotry
The venerable Newsweek (no less) featured our reaction to a member of Congress’ prejudiced social media messages: “The Freedom From Religion Foundation defended pluralism after Representative Andy Ogles’ post: ‘Rep. Ogles should resign immediately. The First Amendment protects the right of every person to practice their faith or none at all. America isn’t a theocracy and it never has been and never will be. Pluralism isn’t a lie. It’s the foundation of a free society.’”

Our objection to Erika Kirk gets media play
The Intercept, a remarkably “with-it” news and commentary site, ran our response to Erika Kirk (Charlie Kirk’s widow) being picked for a prominent Pentagon position. “The appointment of Erika Kirk to the U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors goes hand in hand with Christian nationalist incursions into our armed forces, such as Pete Hegseth’s actions and statements promoting his fervent brand of evangelical Christianity at the Pentagon,” it quoted FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor as saying.

Our op-ed was published in Kansas City Star

FFRF State Policy Manager Ryan Dudley had an op-ed in the Kansas City Star detailing legislation called the Student Secular Bill of Rights — a bill our legislative arm, the FFRF Action Fund, played a prominent role in drafting.

“U.S. Supreme Court rulings have protected public school students from religious coercion for more than 60 years,” he wrote. “But as the repeal of Roe v. Wade shows, what’s established today could be reversed tomorrow.”

Colorado paper details our victory
Our constitutional triumph in a Colorado public charter school received prominent play in the local paper.

“James Irwin Charter Middle School has removed a portion of its science curriculum featuring creationism after receiving a letter from the national nonprofit the Freedom From Religion Foundation,” said a story in the Colorado Springs Gazette. “The foundation, whose work centers on the constitutional principle of separation of church and state and nontheism, wrote a letter to the charter school on March 5 after receiving a complaint from a parent over religious instruction at the school.”

The article cited FFRF attorney Sammi Lawrence’s letter at length.

AP covers our activities
The Associated Press did a piece on a recent intervention of ours in Florida.

“Two national church-state advocacy groups are warning the Duval County School Board to end its practice of opening board meetings with prayer,” says the article. “Both groups — the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which sent the board its letter on Friday, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which sent a similar letter in November — say that to start school-sponsored events like board meetings with prayer is a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.”

College publication does story on student’s FFRF essay competition win
The publication of one of the country’s oldest colleges highlighted the impressive achievements of its students in a recent essay competition of ours.

“Sam Foer, a member of the Law Class of 2027, won first place in the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s Law School Essay Contest,” stated a piece in Washington and Lee University’s campus newspaper. “Foer took home a top prize of $4,000 for his scholarship submission.”

Our three Southern wins

We celebrated three recent victories protecting the constitutional separation of church and state in Florida and Georgia public schools. It delighted us to have halted three serious constitutional violations affecting a captive audience of young students — and we will continue to fight to remove any and all religious intrusion in public schools, no matter its form.

Trump’s ‘Religious Liberty Commission’ again amplifies Christian nationalism
We expressed concern after another deeply troubling meeting of the Trump administration’s “Religious Liberty Commission.” It featured explicit Christian nationalist rhetoric and showcased testimony almost exclusively from partisan individuals and organizations seeking exemptions from laws that protect patients, LGBTQ+ individuals and basic public health standards.

Speaker Johnson’s erroneous remarks

We criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for his recent misrepresentation of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state — and for lending the prestige of his office to yet another partisan religious event (the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast).

“Speaker Johnson is entitled to his personal religious beliefs,” says Annie Laurie. “But he tarnishes and violates his oath of office by misusing his position to promote Christian nationalist myths and disinformation.”

Mayor Mamdani must stop promoting religion
We again cautioned New York City’s mayor that the Constitution prohibits government officials from using the machinery of public office for promoting religion. Despite a previous warning, we learned that Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office held a “City Workers Iftar” on March 12. “Public employees should not be placed in a position where they may feel compelled to attend a religious event or appear supportive of a particular faith tradition to maintain favor with their employer,” our letter stated.

Our co-sponsorship of No Kings III

Just as a reminder: We are co-sponsoring the next “No Kings” National Day of Action taking place on Saturday, March 28. No Kings III is expected to be the largest nonviolent protest in U.S. history. There are thousands of No Kings Day events planned in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and a dozen other countries. Please visit this site to find the closest event. Hope to see you there!

Kentucky Gov. Beshear needs to be complimented
The FFRF Action Fund, FFRF’s legislative arm, commended Gov. Andy Beshear for vetoing a legislative measure designed to force Kentucky into a federal private school voucher program. The statement, which was released before the state’s legislative supermajority overrode the veto, recognized the inevitable. Even so, the advocacy group applauds Beshear for defending Kentucky’s Constitution, its public schools and the fundamental principle that taxpayers should not be compelled to fund religious education.

A terrible Alabama prayer bill
The Action Fund denounced a recently approved Alabama House bill injecting organized prayer into the public school day. The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Reed Ingram, now heads to the Alabama Senate.

‘Theocrat’ is Alabama bill sponsor

Ingram is the Action Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week.” If his prayer-in-school bill passes the Senate, state voters will decide the issue through a constitutional amendment. The action fund in that case will work to ensure that voters reject Ingram’s theocratic attempts to install prayer in public schools.

Okla. AG is ‘secularist’

The Action Fund’s “Secularist of the Week” is Oklahoma’s attorney general for his pushback against a state board’s manipulation of an application to establish the nation’s first religious charter school. Once the religious charter school files a federal lawsuit, the school would have an easier time winning a legal challenge because the board “manipulated the record” and omitted many deficiencies, AG Gentner Drummond argues. The Action Fund thanks him.

Freethought Radio highlights recent work

Our Freethought Radio episode this week focused on our recent activities. FFRF attorney Chris Line explained our critique of the “Religious Liberty Commission” and FFRF attorney Nancy Noet expounded on the welcome and eloquent decision by an Arkansas federal court against Ten Commandments in schools. You can also watch the video podcast of Nancy’s interview here.

New secular-minded leadership in Nepal
I interviewed from Kathmandu for Madison community radio station’s global affairs show Stephen Mikesell, an anthropologist and long-time resident of Nepal, on the recent elections in the country that have swept out the old order (including proponents of the restoration of the Hindu monarchy) and ushered in a new secular-minded leadership.

The hypocrisy of the religious right

FFRF attorney Chris Line writes a telling blog on the religious right’s hypocrisy on Sharia law.

“Of course ‘Sharia law’ is unacceptable to religious right activists because it represents someone else’s religion,” he concludes. “But when it’s their own beliefs shaping law, policy and public life? That’s not a threat. That’s the goal. And it’s exactly why the Freedom From Religion Foundation exists — to defend the Constitution and ensure that no religion, including the majority’s, is allowed to rule over everyone else.”

We are “hell-bent” on defending this principle with your unfailing support.

The post Weekly Wrap: Major court victory plus Erika Kirk, Mike Johnson, Zohran Mamdani and ‘Sharia law’ appeared first on Freethought Now.