Category: Separation of Church & State
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Freethought-Now We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation have recently been in overdrive mode — and many are noticing. We filed an appellate friend-of-the-court brief earlier this week in a case that involves an IRS provision forbidding nonprofit politicking; the brief in support of the Johnson Amendment’s prohibition has gotten cited in a number of…
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Weekly Wrap: A Trumpian list, Pete Hegseth, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins and a global warming tragedy
Freethought-Now We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation have been utilizing our legal system to preserve our secular rights. “A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments Sept. 22 in a lawsuit filed to block Arkansas from implementing its law mandating Ten Commandments displays in public school classrooms,” says a piece from a few days…
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Freethought-Now There’s a lot to report about Freedom From Religion Foundation actions this week to further our mission — and how these efforts are getting well-deserved recognition. The foremost news service covering belief and nonbelief quoted our advocacy affiliate’s critique of an extremely problematic religion scion who the Trump administration has just appointed as an…
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Freethought-Now Photo by Margaret Giatras Antonin Scalia (yes, that Antonin Scalia) issued a warning that deserves much more attention right now than it’s getting. The Supreme Court warned in 1990 that allowing religious beliefs to exempt individuals from otherwise valid laws would elevate “the professed doctrines of religious belief” above “the law of the land,”…
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Freethought-Now In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, below are highlights of the many distinguished Hispanic and Latinx individuals, past and present, who have made known their dissent from religion. For more information, see FFRF’s Freethought of the Day series. Jessica Alba Actress Jessica Alba, whose California-born paternal grandparents were both children of Mexican immigrants, was…
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Freethought-Now The end of summer has been marked with good tidings for us here at the Freedom From Religion Foundation. A ruling the day after Labor Day allowed our hometown case against unconstitutional church property tax exemptions to move forward. We’re emphasizing in our lawsuit that the exemption harms all property taxpayers in Madison, including plaintiffs…
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Freethought-Now istockphoto An investigation of a near-death experience I participated in a panel at the annual conference of the Society of Biblical Literature (jointly with the American Academy of Religion) in Boston in November, 2025. Sponsored by the Evangelical Philosophical Society, the event included readings from Debating God’s Existence: Believers and Skeptics in Friendly…
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Freethought-Now Photo credit: Brent Nicastro. Pictured from left to right: Annie Laurie Gaylor, Robin Morgan When I heard the news that Gloria Steinem had died, my thoughts immediately turned to Robin Morgan, Steinem’s sister rabble-rouser, wondering how Robin was taking the loss. Then yesterday I opened my New York Times only to sadly learn that…
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Freethought-Now Photo by Gage Skidmore Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) has recently brought us defunding of medical science research, persecution of Dr. Fauci and Covid researchers … and a bumper crop of measles. Praise must be heaped, though, on the leading medical groups that have banded together to issue the basic kind of vaccine guidelines…
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Freethought-Now We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation have recently been in the spotlight. A House subcommittee heard testimony earlier this week (available to view here at about 1:01:40) from FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor in support of a bill (HR 9600) to finally erect a memorial to Thomas Paine in Washington, D.C. Annie Laurie spoke in…