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Freethought-Now If there was any doubt about where the state/church battle is headed, this week helped clarify it. A federal appeals court greenlit government-mandated Ten Commandments displays in Texas public school classrooms — a ruling that doesn’t just test the limits of the First Amendment, but actively erodes them. And it didn’t happen in a…
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Weekly Wrap: A departed freethinker, a theocratic ag sec, Trump’s personal lawyer and AI ‘blasphemy’
Freethought-Now It is startling how much we here at the Freedom From Religion Foundation are able to take on — and get credit for — in a typical week. The New York Times graciously acknowledged our role in bringing to its attention the death of a leading freethinker (and an awardee of ours). “Wallace v. Jaffree ……
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Freethought-Now Christian nationalists insist that the separation of church and state is a “lie,” a “misunderstanding” or even an attack on religion itself. They’ve pushed Ten Commandments displays in public schools, have fought for school-sponsored prayer and have worked tirelessly to erode the Johnson Amendment so that churches can engage in partisan politics. But suddenly,…
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Freethought-Now Blasphemy! That was the sound of Christian religious leaders when President Trump posted an AI image on April 12 of himself as Jesus, allegedly healing a bed-ridden man. Well, blasphemy, as we all know, is a victimless “crime.” When someone yells “blasphemy!” I hear, “How dare you say anything bad about my imaginary god!”…
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Freethought-Now At the Freedom From Religion Foundation, we’re used to court cases taking years to wend their way through the court system before we can (hopefully) declare final victory. Once a case is closed, it usually stays that way — but not always. In the fall of 2014, FFRF and nearly 20 parents and students…
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Freethought-Now The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s secular message is getting featured all over. CNN noticed our work around the Ag Sec’s blatantly religious Easter missive. “A ‘Christ is Risen’ Easter message sent by the secretary of agriculture has sparked backlash inside the department, angering some of its nearly 100,000 employees and prompting a formal complaint against…
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Freethought-Now Photo by Joshua Woods Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in favor of a street preacher, leading to some questions from our membership about whether this was yet another court ruling privileging religion. My answer would be no — with one caveat. The concern from members was understandable given that…
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Freethought-Now Photo by Paul Gaylor In 1985, Ishmael Jaffree earned FFRF’s first Freethinker of the Year award, which he accepted at FFRF’s annual convention in Minneapolis. I was so sorry to learn recently that FFRF’s first “Freethinker of the Year” died two years ago. His death was only locally reported. But Ishmael Jaffree was a…
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Freethought-Now Photo of Pope Leo by Edgar Beltrán It’s hard not to cheer when anyone, even indirectly, takes to task Christian nationalist and “War Secretary” Pete Hegseth over his call to Americans to pray “every day on bended knee … in the name of Jesus Christ” to support President Trump’s reckless war of choice against Iran.…
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Freethought-Now We obtained a long-awaited court ruling in our favor to eject a Ten Commandments monolith from the Arkansas Capitol. Congratulations to FFRF Litigation Attorney Sam Grover who did the oral arguments two years ago before the federal district court. “A U.S. district judge ruled Tuesday that a Ten Commandments display on the Arkansas state Capitol grounds…