The Freedom From Religion Foundation has persuaded the city of Dover, Ohio, to transfer a nativity scene and a Ten Commandments monument from public to private property.

“The city has moved its downtown nativity scene and a granite monument bearing the Ten Commandments in the wake of a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation of Madison, Wis.,” reports a local paper. “Both items were moved from city property on the downtown square to property owned by Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church on the west side of Wooster Avenue.”

A concerned area resident reported to FFRF last holiday season that each year during this time, the city of Dover was displaying religious exhibits on city property, and FFRF contacted the city then to let it know of the unconstitutionality of its practice.

“It is unlawful for the city of Dover to maintain, erect or host a holiday display that consists solely of a nativity scene, thus singling out, showing preference for and endorsing one religion,” wrote FFRF Legal Fellow Chris Line in a letter to Mayor Richard Homrighausen back in January. “The Supreme Court has ruled it is impermissible to place a nativity scene as the sole focus of a display on government property.”

The city responded in April informing FFRF that Dover would no longer have such overtly Christian monuments on city property. Now, come holiday time, the media has been reporting on FFRF’s constitutional victory.

FFRF is especially gratified that Dover city officials followed Line’s advice in one particular aspect. Line wrote, “There are ample private and church grounds where religious displays may be freely placed,” and it is to a church that the city of Dover has gotten the exhibits relocated.

FFRF is appreciative that reason and our secular Constitution have prevailed.

“It’s when sectarian religious messaging is on public grounds that there’s a constitutional problem,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Churches and private entities are welcome to flaunt their religiosity.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 32,000 members and several chapters across the country, including almost 800 members and a chapter in Ohio. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its Metropolitan Chicago chapter have placed their annual secular holiday exhibits all over the greater Chicago area.

A colorful banner invoking the Founding Fathers has again been unfurled in Daley Plaza. It greets everyone with: “Happy Winter Solstice,” and pictures Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and the Statue of Liberty gazing adoringly at a “baby” Bill of Rights. Sitting atop the banner stand is a large lighted Richard Dawkins-inspired “A” (for atheism) sign. This is the sixth year of the display, intended to counter a life-size Christian creche and a massive Jewish menorah placed at the location by private organizations since the 1980s. 

FFRF has also erected a Bill of Rights cutout at Cook Memorial Park in Libertyville, the first year that a freethought exhibit has been displayed at this site. A sign next to the cutout reads, “At this season of the Winter Solstice, join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on December 15, 1791, which reminds us that there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent. Keep religion and government separate!” A life-size Christian creche and an 8-foot tall menorah have been placed in the park for several years. 

The third spot to be graced by an FFRF display is the North School Park in Arlington Heights, its seventh year here. It’s the same exhibit as the one at Cook Memorial Park. A public forum area was created at the park by the Village Park District in 2012 after a Christian organization that wanted to put a nativity scene in the park threatened a lawsuit. In addition to a Christian creche, a Jewish menorah has been set up here for the first time this year. 

All three of the FFRF secular displays will be available for public viewing until the end of December.

“With our population becoming an important part of the American landscape, we feel it important to make our message visible,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. 

FFRF Metropolitan Chicago chapter Director Tom Cara agrees.

“Chicago is one of our country’s most important cities,” he says. “That’s why we’ve gone to great effort to spread our secular narrative here.”

Cara and other volunteers with the organization’s active Chicago chapter put up the display, and FFRF helped defray the costs. FFRF wishes to thank these members.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national freethought association dedicated to keeping state and church separate, with 32,000 members and several chapters all over the country, including more than 900 members and its Metropolitan Chicago chapter in Illinois.

The Daley Plaza image: FFRFMCC members Mike Weeda, Shane Stapley and Fred Dix. 

Libertyville Photo Pictured:  FFRFMCC member Bob Hunter.  Photos by Tom Cara

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is drawing attention to an evangelical Christian group that has been permitted by Georgia school districts to evangelize public school students while dressing up as popular superheroes like Captain America, Thor and Spider-Man.

A concerned district parent informed FFRF that Bryan County Schools recently gave access to an evangelical ministry called “Heroes Overcome” to recruit district students, including elementary school students, during the school day by putting on assemblies in several schools. During these assemblies, ministry members dress up as popular superheroes to entice children to come to religious presentations at local churches. Schools also reportedly sent home flyers inviting children to attend these preaching sessions.

The mission of Heroes Overcome is explicitly laid out on the group’s website: “Our mission as heroes is to help everyone discover the hero within themselves, with the Power of the Gospel of the Ultimate Hero Jesus Christ.” The website further explains, “Jesus Christ is the only real hero! He is king and ruler of all things. His mission was to leave heaven and come to this earth, to save us from all evil (your sin, my sin), and to teach us to love one another. Jesus gave up His life for you, and He loves you very much. He believer you are created perfect, to be the hero He created you to be!”

It is inappropriate to take away instructional time from students to expose them to a Christian proselytizing group, FFRF reminds the school district.

“It is well settled that public schools may not advance or promote religion,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Chris Line writes to the school district’s legal counsel. “In Lee v. Weisman, the Supreme Court extended the prohibition of school-sponsored religious activities beyond the classroom to all school functions, holding prayers at public high school graduations an impermissible establishment of religion. Thus, recruitment for religious programming as part of a school assembly is in violation of the Establishment Clause.”

FFRF adds that elementary school-aged students are an especially vulnerable and captive audience. And official endorsement of such proselytization excludes the large portion of the student body that is nonbelieving (38 percent of Millennials are nonreligious).

Sometimes, Christian missionaries insinuate themselves into public schools by camouflaging their purposes. However, in this case, it would have taken only a cursory glance at the Heroes Overcome website to verify its religious agenda. It is difficult for FFRF to understand how this event could have been approved.

“A sectarian religious group cannot be authorized to come into a public school district and proselytize,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “Not only is this unconstitutional, it also makes students who belong to minority faiths or no faith at all feel excluded.”

FFRF is urging Bryan County Schools to ensure that no future assemblies from outside groups contain a proselytizing message or agenda.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its membership work to promote the viewpoint of freethinkers, including atheists and agnostics, and to protect the constitutional principle of separation between religion and government. FFRF has roughly 32,000 members and several chapters all over the country, including 500-plus and an Atlanta chapter in Georgia.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Winter Solstice sign is back in the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

County Executive Chris Abele graced the installation ceremony on Monday, Dec. 3. FFRF put up the display with the help of member Ted Shellhamer.

FFRF has placed the message in the courthouse alongside devotional displays to emphasize that nonreligion must be given space alongside religion in public forums. The Winter Solstice sign was originally put in the courthouse to counteract an inappropriate nativity scene plunked there in 2009. A Pew survey a few years ago revealed that one in five Milwaukee County residents is nonreligious, including one in three young persons.

“A public space in order to be truly public needs to be all-inclusive,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “People of no faith, an ever-growing share of the population, deserve to make our presence felt.”

The display contains the seasonal adage of FFRF’s principal founder, Anne Nicol Gaylor:
“At this season of the Winter Solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

The Winter Solstice, occurring this year on Dec. 21, is the shortest, darkest day of the year, signaling the rebirth of the sun and the natural new year. It’s been celebrated for millennia with festivals of light, feasts, gift exchanges and the display of evergreens, which symbolize enduring life, and, FFRF maintains, is the true “reason for the season.”

FFRF thanks Ted Shellhamer for his assistance and activism.

The national state/church watchdog, based in Madison, Wis., has approximately 32,000 members and several chapters all over the country, including almost 2,000 members and the Kenosha Racine Atheists & Freethinkers (KRAFt) chapter in Wisconsin.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is making certain for a second year in a row that a secular message is proudly on view in the heart of Cleveland.

The Northern Ohio Freethought Society, the local chapter of FFRF, has obtained a spot at the Cleveland Public Square for a FFRF Bill of Rights exhibit. The installation was set up on Dec. 1 not far away from a large Christian crèche scene that the Knights of Columbus has erected and will be on display through the month of December.

The mainstay of the exhibit is FFRF’s playful Bill of Rights “nativity.” The irreverent cutout by artist Jacob Fortin depicts Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington gazing adoringly at a “baby” Bill of Rights in a manger while the Statue of Liberty looks on. A sign beside the tongue-in-cheek nativity states: “At this season of the Winter Solstice... Join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on December 15, 1791, which reminds us there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent. Keep religion and government separate!”

Northern Ohio Freethought Society Director Marni Huebner-Tiborsky and other volunteers with the group helped put up the exhibit, and FFRF helped defray installation costs.

The display exemplifies the can-do spirit of members of the freethought organization, who often assemble such installations in their hometowns to counter religious tableaus on public land. FFRF helps out by providing the materials. 

“If there’s going to be a forum for religion on government property, there must be room at the inn for the views of nonbelievers, too,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “It’s important in this day and age, with secular folks making up an ever-larger portion of the population, that our message be visible throughout the country, including in the Buckeye State.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the largest national association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics) with 32,000 members and several chapters all over the country, including almost 800 members and the Northern Ohio chapter in Ohio. The organization works to protect the constitutional separation between religion and government.

Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert, who championed an unconstitutional Ten Commandments megalith on the Capitol grounds, is going national with his sectarian agenda.

In forming the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, Rapert is encouraging other legislators to follow his lead and abuse their public office to promote their personal religion. Rapert writes in the invitation, “Our national motto is ‘In God We Trust’ and it is time that our lawmakers start honoring the Judeo-Christian foundation of our nation.”

“‘In God We Trust’ is a johnny-come lately motto adopted by Congress during the Cold War,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor has countered. “The motto, to be accurate, would have to be worded, ‘In God Some of Us Trust,’ and that would be very silly.”

Facts and inclusivity are not Rapert’s strong suits. He’s a Christian nationalist who relies on historical revisionism and division. FFRF, along with other individuals and groups, filed suit immediately after his Ten Commandments monument was erected at the state Capitol.

Rapert is not content with unconstitutional monuments. Now, he wants to target women and LGBTQ citizens. He explains the purpose of his new club:

The goal is for lawmakers to come together in support of clear biblical principles and do our best to ensure that our nation lives up to our national motto “In God We Trust”. There are two central issues burdening our nation at this time that must be addressed by lawmakers to restore the honor of God in our country - abortion and same-sex marriage clearly violate biblical principles.

The Constitution is the “supreme law of the land,” not the bible. Rapert wants to flip that. Women have a right to choose, but Rapert thinks his bible says abortion is wrong so he wants to violate women’s rights. (Rapert should read his bible; he’ll find out that the bible says nothing about abortion, though it does approve of infanticide in several places.) 

Rapert wants to take America back to a time when religion ruled, back to the Dark Ages. But America is going in the other direction. More and more people are leaving religion behind, partly because of the nauseating anti-gay, anti-woman vitriol spewed by Rapert and his ilk. This year, the first Freethought Caucus formed in Congress, marking an important milestone and a blow to Christian nationalists.

Rapert specifically mentions FFRF in his invitation, claiming that groups like ours are targeting him. His Christian persecution complex is misplaced; we correct Rapert because he so regularly violates the Constitution. If he showed a fraction of the reverence for the true meaning and intent of the Constitution that he shows for his bible, he’d be a far better legislator.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation — with its 32,000 members all over the United States — will be keeping a close eye on Rapert’s proposed cabal of theocrats.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s annual Winter Solstice exhibit became available for public viewing at the Wisconsin Capitol today, Dec. 3, for a remarkable 23rd year running.

The display has a few components. A sign features FFRF’s traditional message by its principal founder Anne Nicol Gaylor. It was created as an equal-time challenge to combat religious dogmatism at the heart of state government and reads:

At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.


There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.


There is only our natural world.

Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.

A major part of the exhibit for the fourth year in the first floor rotunda is FFRF’s whimsical Bill of Rights “nativity.” The irreverent cutout by artist Jacob Fortin depicts founders Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington gazing in adoration at a “baby” Bill of Rights while the Statue of Liberty looks on.

A sign beside the wry nativity scene reads:

At this season of the Winter Solstice... Join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on December 15, 1791, which reminds us there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent. Keep religion and government separate!

The exhibit is permitted to be up until the end of December.

Occurring on Dec. 21 this year, the Winter Solstice marks the shortest, darkest day of the year, heralding the symbolic rebirth of the sun. It has been celebrated for millennia in the Northern Hemisphere with festivals of light, evergreens, gift exchanges and seasonal gatherings.

“Religious people are not the only ones with a reason to celebrate at this time of the year,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “Nonobservant folks have an occasion to make merry in December, too.”

The national state/church watchdog, based in Madison, Wis., has approximately 32,000 members and several chapters all over the country, including almost 1,500 and the Kenosha Racine Atheists & Freethinkers (KRAFt) chapter in Wisconsin.

Thanks to FFRF Legal Assistant Whitney Steffen, Legal Fellow Colin McNamara and Chris Line (photographer) for placing the signs.

Click to find video or audio and links to transcribed speeches.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is spotlighting several constitutional violations occurring in schools all over a West Virginia school district.

FFRF has received multiple reports that Wood County Schools has allowed teachers and outside adults to facilitate religious instruction during the school day in its elementary schools. For example, representatives of The Warehouse Church and schoolteachers have created bible clubs at Kanawha Elementary and Blennerhassett Elementary, recruiting students at lunch. The bible club, “Generation NXT,” has openly admitted that teachers and principals “have stepped up to either start or join a NXT Club in their School!!!” 9-to-11-year-olds have reportedly been targeted as participants in the bible groups.

It is unconstitutional for the district to offer religious leaders access to proselytize students during the school day on school property, FFRF reminds the school district. Seventy years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that a program that permitted religious instruction on school grounds violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The district’s behavior demonstrates an unlawful preference in this instance for evangelical Christianity over all other faiths. A school’s assistance in this practice constitutes “a utilization of the tax-established and tax-supported public school system to aid religious groups to spread their faith,” to quote the U.S. Supreme Court from the landmark 1948 McCollum case.

“Our organization has litigated cases where public school districts have allowed religious programming in elementary schools during the school day,” FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott writes to Superintendent William Hosaflook. “In Doe v. Porter (2002), we challenged the practice of allowing religious instruction by an outside group in a Tennessee public school. In affirming the unconstitutionality of the practice, the 6th Circuit found that there was no secular purpose to the program, the program communicated a message of government endorsement of religion, and the program fostered excessive entanglement between the state and religion, thus failing all three prongs of the Lemon test. We also have an ongoing lawsuit against a West Virginia school system for religious instruction offered to elementary school students.”

Coincidentally, FFRF has sued the city of Parkersburg, where the Wood County Schools system is headquartered, due to the city council’s practice of reciting the Lord’s Prayer at each meeting.

The students in question here are young, impressionable and vulnerable to social pressure, particularly pressure exerted from adults. And it makes no difference that students are not required to attend this religious program, since voluntariness does not excuse a constitutional violation.

Church representatives may try to assert that these elementary clubs are “student-led.” Yet, families within the school system report that isn’t correct. FFRF is also unaware of any case where a court has found that elementary school students have permissibly led a religious club during the school day. Additionally, it appears that Generation NXT clubs even within Wood County Schools middle schools are unconstitutional. Any school religious groups must be bona fide student clubs that are both student-initiated and student-run. Outside adults cannot regularly attend these meetings and teachers cannot participate in religious activities with students, unlike what’s happening in these middle schools.

FFRF strongly urges that Wood County Schools immediately discontinue all Generation NXT religious group gatherings within its elementary schools and disband all teacher-led clubs.

“The range of state/church violations within the school system is astonishing,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “This must be stopped at once.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 32,000 members across the country, including members in West Virginia. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.