Freethought-Now

A regular week often showcases the range of issues we tackle at the Freedom From Religion Foundation to advance secular goals.

Sometimes in the process, we receive significant media coverage. Indiana’s most hallowed publication took notice of our recent successful intervention.

“An Indianapolis-area school has taken action after a national advocacy group argued a teacher-led Bible study program violated students’ First Amendment rights,” says a recent story in the Indianapolis Star. “The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national nonprofit promoting the separation of church and state, claims an apparently teacher-led club at Mooresville High School was a violation of the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act.”

We got The Gideons banned
Elsewhere, we were also able to claim victory. We guided a Louisiana school district into barring The Gideons from handing out bibles to its elementary-school-aged students. “Please be advised that the staff at Herndon Magnet School has been advised to not allow the Gideons to distribute bibles during the school day at school,” the general counsel for the Caddo Parish School Board recently informed us. FFRF is pleased that its appeal to follow the Constitution and protect a captive audience fell on receptive ears.

A troubling homage to Charlie Kirk

We are sounding the alarm on a federal bill that would inject ideological censorship into federally supported history and civics education programs. Public schools have a constitutional obligation to serve all students, including religious minorities, LGBTQ+ students and the growing number of students from nonreligious families. Yet the CHARLIE Act (named for Charlie Kirk) uses vague and ideologically loaded language to discourage educators from discussing the lived experiences of marginalized Americans or the continuing effects of discrimination.

A welcome court decision
We welcomed a federal appeals court decision calling the Trump administration’s ban on transgender troops illegal for targeting service members based on their gender identity. “The government should not be in the business of declaring that transgender Americans are unfit to serve because they offend the religious or political sensibilities of Christian nationalists,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker.

An unwelcome Pentagon directive

We condemned a sweeping Pentagon directive that eliminates recognition for approximately 180 religious and nonreligious belief systems, including “atheist.” Those purged include atheists, humanists, pagans, Wiccans, Druids and Unitarians. “It is unacceptable to think that many members of the armed services will not be permitted to properly identify as atheists,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

No Ten Commandments outside City Hall!

We strenuously objected to a new Ten Commandments monument outside Amarillo City Hall — the second such display in Texas that we have recently confronted. Annie Laurie notes, “These biblical edicts are not part of U.S. history, our Declaration of Independence, much less our godless Constitution, whose only references to religion are exclusionary.” We’re asking Amarillo officials to remove the monument and respect the rights of conscience of all city residents.

A ‘prayer box’ needs to be removed

We are demanding that a middle school in Georgia remove a box, set up on behalf of a local church, asking for students’ prayer requests.. “The district has a constitutional duty to remain neutral toward religion,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence has written to the Walton County School District. We will be closely monitoring the situation to ensure that students’ privacy and  First Amendment rights are not further violated.

Revival of Reason

We have a delectable smorgasbord of media offerings for you this week.

Founder and President of Black Nonbelievers Mandisa Thomas tells Freethought Radio co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor about the June 12–14 “Revival of Reason” in Atlanta, celebrating the lives and views of Black Americans who live without religion. The conversation explores the growing visibility of Black atheists and humanists, the challenges nonreligious Black Americans face, and why building secular community remains more important than ever. You can watch the video podcast of the discussion here.

Religion and AI

We have not one but two episodes of our “Secular Spotlight” web series for you. One of them dives into the rapidly expanding world of AI-generated religious content. FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line and IT Director Scott Knickelbine welcome Taylor Leigh, known on YouTube as “The Antibot,” to discuss how — from AI Jesus chatbots to fake Christian influencers and political propaganda — artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to spread religious messaging and attract followers online.

How to counter religious released time programs

And the second program describes how to counter a religious group’s devouring of precious public school time. FFRF’s Ryan Jayne, Sammi Lawrence and Mickey Dollens explore a new toolkit that gives parents and community members the resources they need to push back against LifeWise Academy, which takes public school students out of class for religious instruction, then sends them back to school to recruit others. Special guest FFRF Kentucky Chapter President John Sutton joins the discussion to explain how grassroots activists successfully stopped LifeWise from entering his community — and how others can follow their example.

The Trumpian base spoils everything
I interviewed for my global affairs radio show UW-Madison Ph.D. journalism student Carlos Davalos on recent events concerning his native country of Mexico, including how the Trumpian ecosystem is vitiating U.S.-Mexico relations.

A livestreamed tribute to the Gershwins on Monday (June 8) evening
We are spotlighting George and Ira Gershwin in the third installment of our unique monthly concert series, “The Great American Freethought Songbook with Dan & Darcie,” on Monday, June 8, at 7 p.m. The concert series features FFRF Co-President Dan Barker, an accomplished jazz pianist, and Madison vocalist Darcie Johnston. The series explores not only timeless standards but also the often-overlooked freethinking perspectives of many classic American songwriters. This month’s concert celebrates the music, life and freethinking views of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, the legendary songwriting brothers behind many classics. You can watch the livestream here.

‘Theocrat’ Indiana Lt. Gov. spews hate speech

Our legislative affiliate, the FFRF Action Fund, names Christian nationalist Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith as its “Theocrat of the Week.” Beckwith professed that Americans should be given “permission to hate again” and called Islam a “demonic death cult.” Beckwith has now earned his third stint as “Theocrat.” The Action Fund upbraids him for his use of hateful rhetoric as a tool to prop up his extreme religious beliefs.

USDA employees deserve ‘Secularist’ moniker

The FFRF Action Fund salutes the U.S. Department of Agriculture employees who are suing the agency for unlawful proselytization and bestows on them its “Secularists of the Week” award. It thanks the plaintiffs for taking the Trump administration’s zealous proselytization rooted in Christian nationalism to court. The personal beliefs of federal officials, and all religious messaging, have no place in the workplace, as per the U.S. Constitution.

No forced outing

The farewell column by FFRF Contributing Writer Kat Grant for us addresses the dangers of forced outing.

“It is the time of the year for growth, change and development. Birds are singing, plants are growing, and for those of us here in the Midwest, we have emerged from our winter hibernation,” Kat begins. “Unfortunately, not everything developing in the world is as cheerful as the flowers in your local park.”

Pride Month salute and importance

For Pride Month, we have a double-header for you. We salute many distinguished LGBTQ+ individuals, past and present, who have made known their dissent from religion. Take a look; you’ll learn a lot!

And FFRF Marketing & PR Director Sara Tetzloff has written a column on what Pride Month reminds us about state-church separation.

“Pride and religious freedom are not opposites,” Sara opens the piece. “They’re partners.”

We wouldn’t be able to address such an astonishing array of topics if not for your assured support.

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