Freethought-Now
Events keep on happening at a head-spinning pace, but we at the Freedom From Religion Foundation are keeping up and making ourselves heard.
One of the country’s most prominent publications highlighted our response to a specious Trump administration task force.
“President Donald Trump’s task force to investigate ‘anti-Christian bias’ in the federal government published a report on April 30 that criticized former President Joe Biden‘s administration for what it characterized as actions and policies that negatively impacted Christians around the country,” stated a piece in USA Today. “The Freedom From Religion Foundation said the report ‘appears to be a partisan political attack masquerading as an objective civil rights analysis’ and criticized what it described as the task force’s ‘framing of routine legal and regulatory actions as persecution.’ ‘This report chillingly signals an escalation of the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, so vital to our secular democracy,’ Annie Laurie Gaylor, the organization’s co-founder and co-president, told USA TODAY.”
Newsweek features our critique of upcoming prayer spectacle
Another publication that you may have heard of prominently featured our critique of an upcoming official prayer event.
“President Donald Trump has promoted Rededicate 250, a national day of prayer culminating on May 17 on Washington‘s National Mall as the U.S. nears its 250th birthday,” Newsweek reports. “The Freedom From Religion Foundation described Rededicate 250 as an ‘unprecedented and shocking mix of church and state.’ Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, described it as ‘an overtly sectarian, exclusionary event catering to evangelicals and other conservative Christians,’ adding that the Constitution ‘has no authority to organize religious revivals’ and should not be used to advance what she called a ‘Christian nationalist agenda.’ Her fellow co-president, Dan Barker, struck a similar tone, arguing the effort is ‘not subtle,’ and said organizers are ‘openly declaring a goal of redefining America as a Christian nation’ using the machinery of government.”
Houston Chronicle mentions us
The Houston Chronicle mentioned our lawsuit in a recent piece on the Texas AG’s misbegotten theocratic maneuvers.
“Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday his office is investigating school districts across the state to ensure compliance with Texas’ Ten Commandments display law — including Cypress-Fairbanks, Conroe, Galveston, Fort Bend and Houston ISDs,” the publication wrote. “The investigation comes after the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April that the law mandating the display of the text is constitutional after a months-long legal battle spurred by families and advocacy groups. The 5th Circuit’s ruling last month applied to one of three lawsuits against SB10 filed by a coalition that includes the ACLU of Texas, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.”
Our case in Massachusetts progresses
Another case in which we are involved moved forward in the courts. More than a dozen Quincy, Mass., residents with diverse religious beliefs asked the state’s highest court this week to uphold a ruling that blocked the mayor’s plan to install two large religious statues at the entrance of the city’s new public safety building. The Catholic iconography cost taxpayers a shocking $850,000. The plaintiffs are represented by us, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Cloherty & Steinberg LLP.
United States not based on God
We criticized the ignorant and inaccurate comments that prominent political leaders made on Thursday during the National Day of Prayer observance at the U.S. Capitol falsely portraying the United States as a nation based on “God.”
“We will continue fighting these myths in the courts, in statehouses, in Congress and in the public square,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “The United States does not belong to one religion, and no amount of Christian nationalist disinformation can change the secular foundation of our Constitution.”
Annie Laurie is almost feeling sorry this year for the National Day of Prayer Task Force — the self-appointed busybody promoter of the National Day of Prayer, since it has been overshadowed by bigger events such as the May 17 event at the mall in D.C. She has a solution in a new blog: To call the whole thing off!
Boycott Mastercard and United Airlines!
We are urging folks to boycott some of the corporate sponsors of the White House’s prayer jamboree: Mastercard and United Airlines. Find out how to here.
An impending constitutional showdown
We issued a warning about an ominous appeals court ban. The country now awaits Supreme Court action in a case that could ban telehealth abortion nationwide only four years after the Dobbs decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion. While the court did temporarily pause an appeals court ruling imposing an extraordinary restriction all across the United States on telehealth access to medication abortion, a constitutional showdown is in the offing.
FFRF May 11 concert spotlights Irving Berlin
We are continuing our unique monthly concert series, “The Great American Freethought Songbook with Dan & Darcie” (featuring Dan Barker, an accomplished jazz pianist and music history enthusiast, alongside Madison vocalist Darcie Johnston) with the second installment on Monday, May 11, at 7 p.m. Central. The one-hour concert before a live local audience in Madison, Wis., will be livestreamed on FFRF’s Facebook page, YouTube channel and Freethought TV, FFRF’s free app for smart TVs and other devices. This month’s concert celebrates the music, life and freethinking views of Irving Berlin, who, coincidentally, was born on May 11! If you miss the live concert, the video recording will be available on the above platforms. Locals, come enjoy cake, camaraderie and exquisite music in person.
Mia Farrow ‘Secularist of the Week’
The FFRF Action Fund, our legislative arm, honors renowned actress and activist Mia Farrow as its “Secularist of the Week” for her strong affirmation of the constitutional separation between state and church. Farrow took to BlueSky at the end of April to dismiss the Christian nationalist myth that the United States is a Christian nation while declaring her commitment to state/church separation. “I want to live in a country where I can choose to be Christian, or Jewish, or Hindu, or Buddhist, or atheist. Freedom. Separation of church and state,” she asserted.
‘Theocratic’ Trump task force
President Trump’s Anti-Christian Bias Task Force is the Action Fund’s “Theocrat of the Week” for its recent specious report. It works to elevate certain Christian beliefs above the law and the rights of all Americans, effectively privileging Christianity in our country.
For more on FFRF Action Fund this week, visit here.
The scourge of Buddhist nationalism
It was a busy week for me in the realm of broadcasting. I joined Freethought Radio co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor to interview journalist and author Sonia Faleiro about her book “The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism is Shaping Modern Asia.”
Trump’s impact on Africa
And on my global affairs community radio show, I interviewed Africa expert Berkeley Professor Scott Straus about recent happenings on the continent, including the impact of the Trump administration’s policies such as Christian nationalism and aid cuts.
Why the Voting Rights Act is a secular issue
FFRF Legal Fellow Charlotte Gude writes in her latest blog about how “the U.S. Supreme Court has tragically sounded the death knell for the Voting Rights Act.”
“Secular democracy depends on everyone being able to exercise their right to vote,” she concludes. “All those fighting for constitutional rights must fight back against the fallout of this ruling.”
We pledge to defend secular democracy to the utmost of our ability — with your much-needed support.
The post Weekly Wrap: Mia Farrow, Irving Berlin, Voting Rights Act and Buddhist nationalism appeared first on Freethought Now.