One of FFRF's earliest members, Clara Johnson, 92, died on March 24 in Evanston, Ill.

Johnson, a women's activist, joined FFRF in May 1978, one month after its national founding. She became a Life Member in 2005.

In her obituary article in the Chicago Tribune, Johnson's former daughter-in-law, Julia Takarada, said, "She was a dynamo. She fought injustice whenever and wherever she encountered it."

Johnson's close friend Anne Sheffield is quoted in the Tribune as saying, "Clara may have looked like somebody headed to the grocery store or about to cook dinner for her family, but she was anything but. She was one of the strongest feminists I've ever known. And, boy, was she smart!"

Johnson was born in Macoupin County in southern Illinois, one of seven children. In her 30s, she married Eugene McGrew and settled in Peoria, although they later divorced.

After getting a college degree in chemistry, she took an internship at East Alton Manufacturing Company, where she helped make explosives used during World War II. She later worked as a scientific aide with the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the Illinois Northern Regional Research Lab in Peoria and later became a chemist for the lab, working there for 40 years.

In 1974, Johnson joined the Peoria National Organization of Women (NOW) and worked for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, along with other feminist causes.

In 1976, she ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for mayor of Peoria as a feminist challenger to the all-male list of candidates.

During the 1980s, Johnson served as office manager at the Illinois NOW headquarters. In 1989, she and nine other women founded Prairie Moon, a feminist bookstore, which she helped run until its closing in 1999.

In 2004, she was included in the National Women's Hall of Fame's Book of Lives and Legacies.

Besides FFRF and NOW, she was also involved with other activists groups, including the League of Women Voters, NAACP and American Atheists.

FFRF Lifetime Member Mildred (Morris) Fischer died on Feb. 2.

She was born in New York City on Nov. 10, 1924, and attended elementary and high school in New York and the College Of The City of N.Y. She met Al Fischer at Theodore Roosevelt High School.

Mildred worked in several publishing houses in Manhattan and was the secretary to the president of Vanguard Press.

She married Al and they moved to Phoenix in 1950. Together they established a newspaper, the South Phoenix Round-up, which they operated for seven years. Mildred was the editor. For the following eight years, they operated Publishers Press.

They sold the printing operation and moved to central Phoenix, where Mildred received bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University.

She taught one semester at Central High School and then worked at the Phoenix Public Library.

After that, she taught English, creative writing and classical mythology at Glendale Community College for 30 years.

As an author, her first book was Arizona Cookbook. She also collaborated with her husband and wrote Mexico's West Coast Beaches, London Theater Today, Arizona Museums and a children's coloring book, Ms. Liberty. She and Al started Golden West Publishers, which specialized in cookbooks and Western nonfiction.

Mildred was president of the Valley Memorial Society.

She and Al traveled extensively throughout Europe, Russia and Mexico.

She is survived by her husband, Al; her sister, Dr. Irene Reiter; three children and their spouses, Linda and Dick Thomas, Lee and Shayne Fischer, Bruce and Bobbi Fischer; and three grandchildren.

For your reading enjoyment, we have culled some of the hate mail we get at FFRF. These come to you as written, unedited.

Rising Sun High School: I just wanted to contact you and make my intentions known. I see you are threating Rising Sun High School due to a play called The Children of Eden. I am currently looking into options on how we can address this. If you force the school to cancel this production done by CHILDREN, I will look into a counter suit against you to reimburse the school for money spent on this production including staff wages and time spent by the children. Also reimbursement to all the ticket holders who have prepurchased tickets for this three day showing. I am sure in this conservative county many would be interested in getting on board with this. Your message is one of hypocrisy and it is time organizations like yours are sh own for what they are. I will make it my mission. You don't want religious views forced down your throat, yet you force your anti religious views done the throat of others. Enough is enough. — Jason Howell

Your self-righteous BS: Considering that none of you can PROVE there is no "God" and that it is nearly universal that ALL human groups tend to adopt the concept of a "higher" being, you folks have NOT SCIENTIFIC BASIS for your position — in fact your argument is more of a religion than any intellectual process! You guys are just a bunch of FAKES who have not true logical basis for what you claim to be "TRUTH" and "FACT". In face, your speech is no more fact based than that of the religions you attack. — David Gillis

leave Christians alone: Tired of your organaztion "BULLYING" people into taking down crosses or face a lawsuit. The separation of church & state was to keep church from interfering with state and state from interfering with church. It doesn't give you guys the right to SHIT on everyone's religious beliefs. If I want to put a cross up in a public park, I will. Stop treading on us or you'll find yourself in the middle of a huge class lawsuit. — Dan Sanders

FFR: Your group is just as disgusting, hateful, loathsome and repulsive as the liberals who have ruined the Dumocrat Party. You are also as low as they are and that is so low they can't even pipe sunlight to you. Your who premise is based on an INCORRECT ruling by a liberal judge, who based his decision on his ideology rather than the Constitution. You are so ignorant and stupid that you haven't even read the Constitution so you could see the true intent that the Founding Fathers meant by what they wrote in the Constitution. — Wally Moses

Crosses Orange County Courthouse: Do you people have anything better to do than stick your noses into other peoples business that doesn't even concern you? You're not even in Texas & not anywhere close & yet you stick your nose into something that doesn't concern you & you're stirring up trouble. Why not mind your own business. The Crosses at the Orange County Courthouse are not bothering anyone & have been there for years. That's whats wrong with this country. It's people like YOU taking God out of things. This country needs help & i'm glad Donald Trump is doing stuff to bring back America & The United States in the Right direction. I can tell you now those Crosses won't be taken down. Stay out of Texas & leave Orange County alone. Just like the Cross in Port Neches Park you so Desperately tried to get taken down. Yeah right. If you don't like Crosses then close your eyes!! — Linda Nunez

Cosntitution: YOUR ORGANIZATION IS DESPICABLE, BUT I AM SURE YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT. WELL CHANGE IS COMING WHEN WE PUT 2 CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS ON THE SUPREME COURT. WE WILL OVERTURN ROE V WADE AND SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. IN THE FUTURE OUR CHILDREN WILL PRAY IN SCHOOLS AND CROSSES WILL BE EVERYWHERE IN SCHOOLS AND ALL GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IN JESUS NAME AMEN — Kenneth Stewart

Leave us alone: Please leave people that want ti pray alone y'all just give it a rest yiur pokimg your nose inti things thats best left alone if people want ti pray let them it dont matter where they are or when just let them do it im a nonpracticing jew and if i should chosse ti pray i will and dint care where i am at. — Ed Silverman

Taos New Mexico: This Foundation is by far the corniest and most useless foundation in the world. You have absolutely no right to try to change traditions that are deep within the New Mexico culture. If you feel offended than please stay out of my town and don't ever come back. The entire town of Taos New Mexico is against this silly request to take down the cross in Taos Plaza. The world and all of its long lasting Traditions does not have to cater to your so-called Foundation! If your foundation never shows its face in Taos New Mexico again.... good riddance! — Marcos Herrera

ISLAM in the public schools!: You are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites! All your lawsuits against Christianity, but what do you do now that the teaching of the Islamic religion has invaded the public schools and under Obama has evolved into actually indoctrinating the children into the faith?! Probably to scared to bring lawsuits against that! NO, your only concern is to destroy the actual Christian history of the United States from being learned by the children! Pathetic organization! — Ann Warwick

Prophecies!: Forget everything about what the Bible says except all the prophecies. You can't deny prophecy because by its very definition is "history told before it happens." The Bible has literally hundreds of prophecies both in the OT and NT. To date, the accuracy of these prophecies is 100%. This cannot be denied or overlooked. The prophecies alone about Jesus and his birth, Life, death and resurrection total approximately 300 prophecies. Do you know what the odds are of even a few of these coming to pass are? The prophecies alone land to be incredible way in which this amazing book was written over the centuries. If you can dispute these then I will become an atheist! Give it your best shot! — Norman Saib

Justin Scott
Iowa State House
April 5, 2017

FFRF Member Justin Scott is a member of the Cedar Valley Atheists and Eastern Iowa Atheists. Scott is the first atheist to give the opening invocation to the Iowa State House.

Instead of closing your eyes and bowing your heads today, please keep your heads up and your eyes open to be fully alert in this moment.

As you convene here in the People's House, let me implore this body to invoke the Holy Trinity of Science. Made up of reason, observation, and experience, this Trinity has allowed humanity to explore the deep reaches of space, develop life-saving medicines, and vastly improve the human experience.

This body should be able to tackle the many difficult issues facing the great people of the state of Iowa without allowing confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance, or intellectual dishonesty to blindly guide positions and votes.

The Trinity I invoke today isn't rooted in any kind of doctrine or dogma. In its pursuit of truth, it doesn't care what our feelings are or what our deeply held beliefs are on a particular issue. Truth can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it plays a large part in the ongoing evolution of our species.

There's only one catch with this kind of Trinity, though. It only works if you're willing to change your opinions on issues if it delivers an outcome that doesn't align with your deeply held beliefs.

This is especially worth remembering as all of you are entrusted to uphold and maintain the dignity and bodily autonomy of all Iowans, regardless of their worldview, sexual orientation, gender identity, or even political ideology.

Refusing to accept what the evidence says has real world implications for all Iowans. Incorporating this Trinity today, tomorrow, and every day, you do the work of the people, which will allow you to do the most good for the most Iowans.

In closing, let this Trinity guide you and protect you. May this Trinity inspire you and be honest to you. May this Trinity lift up the truth upon you and give you peace.
Thank you.

Justin was a guest on Freethought Radio (ffrf.org/news/radio) on April 6.

Iowa State House
April 5, 2017

Hotel accommodations

FFRF offers convention blocks at three hotels this year to accommodate more registrants!

Hilton Madison Monona Terrace, 9 E. Wilson Street, is the official convention hotel and closest to Monona Terrace. Rooms are $183 (single/double/triple/quad). Call 608-255-5100 to make a reservation for the "Freedom From Religion Foundation" group rate. The group rate reservation cut-off date is Aug. 16 (unless rooms sell out).

Best Western Premier Park Hotel, 22 S. Carroll Street, is right on the apitol Square, newly remodeled, and just 0.3 miles from Monona Terrace, about a 6-minute walk. Rooms are $189 (one bed for 1-2 people), $209 for 2 beds (1-4 people), or $249 for suites. Call toll-free 800-279-8811 or local 608-285-8000 to reserve rooms in the "Freedom From Religion Foundation 2017 Block." The group rate reservation cut-off is Aug. 14 (unless rooms sell out).

Sheraton Madison Hotel, 706 John Nolen Drive, is 2 miles away from Monona Terrace on a lakeside walking/biking path, with shuttle service available. Call 608-251-2300 or 866-716-8134 (toll-free) to reserve a room at $149 (single/double/triple/quad). The group rate reservation cut-off date is Aug. 15 (unless rooms sell out).

About Monona Terrace

Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center was first designed by Wisconsin native and internationally renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1938 as a cultural, governmental and recreational building. While Wright´s design was used for the building´s exterior, the interior was redesigned by Wright apprentice and Taliesin architect Tony Puttnam to house state-of-the-art exhibition, meeting and public space. The space opened its doors after nearly 60 years of debate on July 18, 1997.

Today, nearly 390,000 people say "see you at Monona Terrace" each year.

Address:
1 John Nolen Drive
Madison, WI 53703

FFRF open house

Friday, Sept. 15, 9:30 a.m. - noon

Early birds are invited to tour FFRF's beautiful, newly-expanded office, Freethought Hall, in downtown Madison, prior to the formal convention opening. Complimentary refreshments (light pastries, coffee, tea, orange juice, plus Champagne/Mimosas) will be served in the elegant Charlie Brooks Auditorium.

Reflect on a bench in front of FFRF's granite monument dedicated to Atheists in Foxholes "and other freethinkers who have served our country with valor and distinction," in the Rose Zerwick Memorial Garden & Courtyard.

Take a self-guided tour of FFRF's national headquarters (with its five-floor addition) with the help of a souvenir brochure, featuring highlights of the building and FFRF history. Socialize with staff and other FFRF members as you peek into the building.
Visit the Joel B. Landon and Wanda K. Beers Freethought Library for a photo op with "Mr. Darwin," an amazingly life-like, silicone mannequin of Charles Darwin by artist Sam Wheatley.

Take a cruise

Friday, Sept. 15, 10:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

FFRF convention attendeees are invited to take a boat cruise on Madison's Lake Monona Friday, Sept. 15, prior to the start of the convention. The Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center, home to FFRF's convention, overlooks the scenic lake.

For $50 per person, you'll be treated to a two-hour tour with a buffet, featuring clam chowder, chips and Cajun dip, vegetarian variety platter, seafood salad, chicken salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, sliced deli meats/cheeses and assorted desserts. There is a cash bar for beverages. The tour begins at 10:45 a.m. and ends at 1 p.m. We'll have bus service to take you from Freethought Hall or the Hilton to the boat launch and back to the hotel, or you can walk the route. Maps will be available. Unfortunately, the yachts are not wheelchair accessible, as the walkways are tight and there are narrow stairs to the banquet area. There are two yachts and a total limit of 86 passengers. If you are coming as part of a group, FFRF will make sure your group is aboard the same boat.
Convention Menu

Friday, Sept. 15

Bucky's Tailgate Buffet ($32)

A traditional Wisconsin tailgate party! Wisconsin Waldorf Salad, homestyle potato salad, fresh vegetable and relish tray, beer-boiled Johnsonville bratwurst with Wisconsin sauerkraut and chopped fresh onion, grilled boneless chicken breast, fresh-sliced tomato and crisp lettuce, Wisconsin calico baked beans, condiments and buns, coffee, tea or milk. Cash bar.

Saturday, Sept. 16

Non-Prayer Breakfast ($20)

Wisconsin cheese and chive scrambled eggs, apple-smoked bacon, rosemary wedge potatoes, ketchup compote, chef's assortment of petite muffins, orange juice, coffee, tea and milk. Veggie option.

Saturday 'Grab and Go' box lunch ($20)

Includes your choice of roasted chicken or grilled vegetables on Kaiser roll with tomato, lettuce with condiments on the side, chips and a can of soda.

Saturday Banquet Dinner ($40)

Chicken Wellington: Delicate puff pastry filled with a boneless chicken breast, apple smoked bacon, shallots and mushrooms, served with mushroom-brown rice pilaf, fresh seasonal vegetable blend.

Portobello Wellington: Delicate puff pastry filled with fresh portabello mushrooms, herbs, shallots and risotto and served with grilled tomato.

Both entrees served with dinner rolls and butter, house salad with champagne-mustard vinaigrette, beverage (coffee, tea, or milk) and chocolate raspberry torte.

Bar opens at 6 p.m. Dinner served at 6:30 p.m.

With the pending announcement of a new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging that this unconstitutional and inappropriate ambassadorship be discontinued.

Callista Gingrich is reportedly being picked to be the next envoy to the Holy See. The State Department website refers to the Holy See as "the universal government of the Catholic Church . . . the supreme body of government of the Catholic Church." It is neither the business nor the concern of the United States government to recognize the authority, jurisdiction, and sovereignty vested in the pope and his advisers to direct the worldwide Catholic Church.

The Reagan administration unwisely created the ambassadorship in 1984, largely to partner against the Soviet Union. Congress had even made such a relationship illegal in 1867, deciding that "no money hereby or otherwise appropriated shall be paid for the support of an American legation at Rome." This wasn't repealed until President Reagan's ill-advised move.

At the time, FFRF objected strenuously to this unprecedented entanglement between the government of the United States and the hierarchy of one religion. As it pointed out to Reagan, official diplomatic relations between our country and the Holy See inevitably prefers and favors Roman Catholicism over other religions and religion over nonreligion.

In a letter to President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson from the organization's Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF renews its objections and request that the U.S. government sever diplomatic ties with a church — not a country — that abuses the diplomatic privilege to obstruct justice and progress.

The Roman Catholic Church believes itself to be above secular law. It shields criminals, including rapists and war criminals, from secular authorities. The Vatican uses its international reach and diplomatic ties to protect them.

The Vatican has explicitly relied on this diplomatic status to thwart lawsuits by American victims of priestly abuse and assault. "The Roman Catholic Church has no desire to cooperate with investigations into its finances and crimes and our government is giving that obstinacy power and even immunity by maintaining diplomatic ties," FFRF states.

The U.S. government, in recognizing the diplomatic status of the Vatican, is aiding this criminality. The United States recognizes papal ambassadors, called "nuncios," granting immunity to these officials. The nuncios are taking advantage of that status. For instance, during the investigation of child rape and sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul in April 2014, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States, reportedly ordered evidence of child rape to be destroyed.

The Roman Catholic Church also regularly attempts to interfere with the secular laws of our nation. The Holy See has used its sovereignty to impose religious law upon the citizens of secular states, to meddle in the political affairs of actual nation-states, to maintain the subhuman status of women around the globe, to thwart consensus and progress at the United Nations, and to shield itself from having to answer for the horrific and systemic campaign of child abuse on a global scale and perpetuated for decades.

The Vatican issues absolutist doctrinal decrees, which include official opposition to many human, civil and constitutional rights, such as gay marriage, birth control, abortion, embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia. The church demands that Catholic citizens and Catholic legislators vote en masse, in strict accord with these decrees and in direct contravention of the U.S. Constitution. And, in a disgrace to our secular Constitution and our sovereignty as a genuine nation-state, the U.S. government ostensibly acquiesces in the Roman Catholic Church's usurpation of its own authority, jurisdiction and sovereignty to govern America.

This unprecedented relationship between the United States and a head of a world religion seriously politicizes the relationship between the United States and one religion. One former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See said when opposing the possibility of nominating a pro-choice Catholic to the ambassadorship: "It's imperative, it's essential that the person who represents us to the Holy See be a person who has pro-life values." There can be no office reserved for a Roman Catholic, much less for an anti-abortion Roman Catholic; doing so is an unmitigated attack on Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, which bars religious tests for public office. The primary qualification of Callista Gingrich, Trump's expected nominee, "seems to be that she is Catholic," notes FFRF.

There is simply no legitimate reason for granting Roman Catholicism a special privilege, FFRF asserts. More importantly, granting this privilege to one particular religion over others creates serious First Amendment problems. This can be seen by imagining the backlash if the United States were to grant one branch of Islam this favor. FFRF and its co-presidents therefore urge that the Vatican's unwarranted special status be terminated.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which works to protect the constitutional principle of the separation between church and state, has approximately 29,000 nonreligious members all over the United States.

Justin Scott
Iowa State House
April 5, 2017

FFRF Member Justin Scott is the Founder and Director of the Eastern Iowa Atheists. Scott is the first atheist to give the opening invocation to the Iowa State House.

Instead of closing your eyes and bowing your heads today, please keep your heads up and your eyes open to be fully alert in this moment.

As you convene here in the People's House, let me implore this body to invoke the Holy Trinity of Science. Made up of reason, observation, and experience, this Trinity has allowed humanity to explore the deep reaches of space, develop life-saving medicines, and vastly improve the human experience.

This body should be able to tackle the many difficult issues facing the great people of the state of Iowa without allowing confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance, or intellectual dishonesty to blindly guide positions and votes.

The Trinity I invoke today isn't rooted in any kind of doctrine or dogma. In its pursuit of truth, it doesn't care what our feelings are or what our deeply held beliefs are on a particular issue. Truth can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it plays a large part in the ongoing evolution of our species.

There's only one catch with this kind of Trinity, though. It only works if you're willing to change your opinions on issues if it delivers an outcome that doesn't align with your deeply held beliefs.

This is especially worth remembering as all of you are entrusted to uphold and maintain the dignity and bodily autonomy of all Iowans, regardless of their worldview, sexual orientation, gender identity, or even political ideology.

Refusing to accept what the evidence says has real world implications for all Iowans. Incorporating this Trinity today, tomorrow, and every day, you do the work of the people, which will allow you to do the most good for the most Iowans.

In closing, let this Trinity guide you and protect you. May this Trinity inspire you and be honest to you. May this Trinity lift up the truth upon you and give you peace.
Thank you.

Justin was a guest on Freethought Radio (ffrf.org/news/radio) on April 6.

Iowa State House
April 5, 2017

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is chastising a Florida city commissioner for his mishandling of the city's invocation practice.

On May 4, the National Day of Prayer, a board member of the Central Florida Freethought Community gave a secular invocation as part of the Eustis City Commission's invocation policy. Commissioner Anthony Sabatini then gave a second, religious invocation, which appears to be the first time the commission has allowed this. Sabatini instructed all present to "stand" and "bow your heads." He addressed a prayer to his "Lord," to "live in your name," and asked for the strength "to live like your son, Jesus Christ, amen." This second invocation was clearly meant to, in Sabatini's words, "answer . . . radical militant atheists."

During that meeting, Sabatini also suggested, in a clear effort to keep out future secular invocations, that invocation-givers be restricted on the basis of residency. Sabatini or his staff members reportedly have been deleting comments critical of his behavior from official government-maintained public forums, such as Sabatini's official Facebook page.

There are four distinct constitutional problems that arise from such behavior, FFRF asserts.

First, Sabatini's "corrective" prayer violated the Constitution.

"The Supreme Court recently addressed the issue of legislative prayer in Greece v. Galloway," FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel writes to Eustis Mayor Robert Morin. "The Supreme Court clearly stated that the purpose of these invocations must be inclusive. Treating an atheist or nonbeliever who wishes to give an invocation differently from a religious citizen constitutes discrimination." 

Sabatini's "answering" prayer was clear and deliberate differential treatment. It intentionally denigrated the secular invocation, flouting the central principle of Greece v. Galloway: no discrimination against minorities.

The second constitutional violation is that commissioners engaging in the act of prayer breaches the Constitution.

"The Supreme Court in Galloway only approved opening a neutral forum for others, including non-Christians and atheists, to give invocations," Seidel states. "Local government officials should not be in the business of writing and offering prayers themselves."

Third, restricting invocation opportunity on the basis of residency infringes the Constitution. Residency requirements are inherently discriminatory against minority religions.

"Courts have repeatedly held that residency requirements on First Amendment rights, such as religion and speech, are invalid under the Equal Protection Clause," writes Seidel. "In an Equal Protection case involving a fundamental right, such as free speech, the government must have a compelling government interest in burdening that right."

In 2015, FFRF filed a federal lawsuit in cooperation with the ACLU against Franklin County, Ind., over a residency requirement in the county's display policy. The county quickly amended its policy to remove the residency requirement and settled the lawsuit. The Eustis City Commission's proposal is similarly unconstitutional.

And, lastly, censorship of criticism on Commissioner Sabatini's official Facebook page is unconstitutional.

Sabatini maintains two Facebook pages, a personal page, and an official government page, listing his full name and title, alongside his official portrait and a picture of Eustis City Hall. Sabatini or his staff members have reportedly been deleting comments from this official page critical of his actions regarding the prayers.

Censoring critical comments is a textbook violation of citizens' First Amendment rights, as viewed by courts. Sabatini may either allow all comments or none. The fact that the forum is online is irrelevant, as Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has explained: "minds are not changed in streets and parks as they once were"; "the more significant interchanges of ideas and shaping of public consciousness occur in mass and electronic media." Last year, American Atheists settled a case regarding a similar issue against a county sheriff in Tennessee, costing the county $41,000.

Our nation is founded on a godless Constitution, FFRF notes. Overall, 23 percent of Americans identify as nonreligious, an eight-point increase since 2007 and 15-point jump since 1990, making the "Nones" the fastest-growing identification in America. If the Eustis City Commission wishes to hear Christian prayers, it must also be prepared to hear Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, and, yes, even atheist invocations.

FFRF urges the Eustis City Commission to drop prayers altogether. If the commission continues to insist on prayers, it has no power or authority to regulate the content of those opening remarks or to schedule multiple prayers and permit commissioners to give their own prayers. Finally, it must halt Sabatini's unconstitutional censorship in an official government forum opened for public comment.

"City commissioners need to focus on their work, not theology," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "They perhaps fail to realize how divisive and disruptive their shenanigans are."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a nationwide nonprofit organization, with more than 28,000 nonreligious members and chapters nationwide including 1,400-plus in Florida and a local chapter, the Central Florida Freethought Community.

Photos Courtesy of Nelson Commonwealth Attorney Daniel Rutherford

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is objecting to a proposal by county supervisors to display a recently unveiled overtly religious edict in a Virginia courthouse.

"Virtus — Keep God's Commandments — Veritas" was not long ago revealed on the wood structure below the balcony in the Nelson County Circuit courtroom after being covered for more than 50 years. If the wording remains visible, the statement will reportedly face the judge and jury in the courtroom.

It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the county government to display a message to "Keep God's Commandments," FFRF asserts.

"The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits government advancement and endorsement of religious messages," FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott writes to Nelson County Circuit Court Judge Michael Garrett and Nelson County Board of Supervisors. "Given the size of the 'Keep God's Commandments' lettering and its prominent placement, a reasonable observer would view it as an endorsement of religion by the county. If the county does not remove or cover this wording, it is unmistakably placing its stamp of approval on the religious message."

Nelson County lacks a secular purpose in displaying a message to "Keep God's Commandments," FFRF adds. The Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that Ten Commandments displays in two Kentucky courthouses violated the Constitution. While the original "Keep God's Commandments" lettering may date to the 19th century, that does not absolve the county from taking actions today that mitigate this violation of the Establishment Clause. Notably, it was reported that restoration work on the courthouse involved "carefully and painstakingly" removing old paint in order to uncover the lettering and that some county supervisors have expressed an interest in keeping the religious message.

Citizens are frequently compelled to come to the Nelson County Courthouse on important matters affecting their property, their freedom and their quality of life. These citizens should not be made to feel offended, excluded and like "outsiders, not full members of the political community," to quote the U.S. Supreme Court, because the local government they support with their taxes oversteps its power by prominently displaying religious statements at the seat of government. Almost one-fourth of American adults are nonreligious, including about 35 percent of Millennials.

Finally, the religious wording implicates not just the First Amendment, but also the ability of litigants to receive justice from an impartial jury and judiciary. Any court decision will have the stain of religious influence, which deprives citizens of their right to a fair trial. Any judge conducting proceedings in such an environment subjects himself or herself to violating the Canons of Judicial Conduct for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"Nelson County officials need to move into the 21st century," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "What was tolerated as a religious imposition 200 years ago is unacceptable now."

FFRF is asking Nelson County to cover or remove the religious statement from the courthouse.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 28,000 members across the country, including 600-plus in Virginia. Its purpose is to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church.

A national nontheist group and its local chapter have installed a couple of timely billboards in Colorado Springs, Colo.

"The only wall we need is between church and state," reads one, set up by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the state/church watchdog's Colorado Springs chapter. "Vouchers hurt our public schools," states the other.

The billboards can be found south of Highway 24 east of Academy Boulevard and on a board against the iconic backdrop of Pikes Peak on Interstate 225 north of Pikes Peak Raceway.

FFRF is a national group with more than 28,000 nonreligious members and chapters all over the country, including almost 800 members and two chapters in Colorado.
The organization and its chapter want to call attention to major new threats to the wall of separation.

FFRF Colorado Springs Chapter Director Gary King takes note of President Trump's promotion of federal tuition tax credits to pay for vouchers for religious schools. He points out that Coloradoans voted soundly in 1998 to eliminate tax credits for vouchers and in 1992 against vouchers. In 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a voucher program in the state's largest school district, finding it unconstitutional because it gave money to religious schools. 

"How many times does Colorado need to say no to vouchers?" King asks.

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor observes that Trump's other major state/church initiative is to "totally destroy" the Johnson Amendment's prohibition against church politicking. On May 4, the day Trump signed his so-called "religious liberty" executive order, FFRF filed a federal lawsuit to ensure even-handed enforcement of the Internal Revenue Service electioneering code.

The famed "wall of separation" phrase derives from a famous letter that President Thomas Jefferson wrote the Baptists of Danbury, Conn., on Jan. 1, 1802, explaining that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution "erects a wall of separation between church and state." Jefferson wrote the letter knowing it would become precedent, first clearing it with his attorney general. The U.S. Supreme Court has used the phrase for more than a century as a metaphor to explain the Establishment Clause.

"We hope that this billboard campaign will highlight the need to keep that 'wall of separation' impermeable to new assaults," adds Gaylor.

The Chicago Police Department should immediately halt the many ways it is violating our secular Constitution, says the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

A concerned department employee has contacted FFRF to report that many department events include invocations and benedictions, typically delivered by the police chaplain, Father Daniel Brandt. Sworn officers are issued a command to participate in these prayers by removing their hats ("Officers, un-cover!"), and then after the prayers another command is given to put their hats back on.

There have been other problematic instances of religious promotion during department events. At graduation ceremonies, graduates must recite a version of the "Law Enforcement Code of Ethics" that includes the line:

I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession, law enforcement. (emphasis added)

The program for the department's annual Police Recognition Ceremony and Luncheon also includes a "National Police Prayer" (along with a scheduled invocation and benediction). The police prayer is directed toward "Almighty God, Father of all mercies."

Including scheduled and printed prayers in department events is unconstitutional, as is requiring officers to recite or participate in prayers or oaths "before God," FFRF asserts. Department employees may not be required to participate in prayers or other religious rituals by standing and removing their hats.

"Article VI of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from requiring any kind of religious test for an 'office or public trust,' which includes the position of police officer," FFRF Legal Fellow Ryan Jayne writes to Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. "The U.S. Supreme Court held that to require a religious oath was a violation of both the First and 14th Amendments of the Constitution."

Almost one-fourth of American adults are nonreligious, including about 35 percent of Millennials. Law enforcement must avoid any appearance of bias toward some citizens or hostility toward others.

And then it appears that Father Brandt, who is listed as representing the "Chaplain's Section," openly promotes religion while acting on behalf of the department. In a video on the "Police Chaplains Ministry" website, Brandt states, "I look at my work as police chaplain as being pastor of the largest parish in the city of Chicago. I have the biggest flock, 12,000 or so, along with their families, and another 5,000 retirees." In the same video, he states that his position is "a great way to bring Christ into the lives of others." Brandt writes monthly "F.O.P. (Fraternal Order of Police) Newsletters" that promote religion and unquestionably are written by Brandt in his official capacity as a police chaplain. He also advertises weekly "police masses," leading a Catholic mass as a police chaplain. Taken together, there is an overwhelming appearance that the chaplain program, and thus the Chicago Police Department, endorses religion, and that Brandt uses this position to promote his personal religion to police officers, their families, and other members of the community.

Appointing a Catholic priest to treat the Chicago Police department as his congregation is a massive departure from the Department's obligation to remain neutral on matters of religion and violates the rights of conscience of every officer in the department, FFRF contends. Chaplains are sponsored by the department and are bound by the First Amendment like any other government representative. To avoid violating the law, police chaplains must either limit their interactions to those in the department who specifically seek out their services or, if asked to speak at a department event, walk a very fine line by providing an entirely secular address. Father Brandt appears to be unaware that such a line exists.

If police chaplains are unable, or unwilling, to fulfill their duties in an entirely secular way, then they are not fit to serve in the chaplaincy program and must be replaced. A secular counselor would be equipped to counsel 100 percent of the employees and would be actually licensed to do so. In addition, the Chicago Police Department must stop the many other violations at its events that FFRF has described.

"The Chicago Police Department is large enough not to be ignorant of basic constitutional precepts," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "It knows better than to be a law-breaker itself."

FFRF is a national nonprofit organization with more than nonreligious 28,000 members across the country, including almost 1,000 in Illinois and a Chicago-area chapter.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation will legally challenge President Trump over his “religious liberty” executive order today. The order and Trump’s repeated statements clearly communicate to churches that they can now endorse political candidates from the pulpit.

FFRF’s lawsuit was filed on May 4 in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin. FFRF and co-plaintiffs FFRF Executive Directors Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor assert that Trump has used this order to usher in a new era of church politicking to the exclusion of secular organizations.

Trump signed the executive order with great fanfare during a National Day of Prayer ceremony in the Rose Garden before a largely clerical audience. Trump said:

"This executive order directs the IRS not to unfairly target churches and religious organizations for political speech. No one should be censoring sermons or targeting pastors. [Standing ovation.]   . . . In America we do not fear people speaking freely from the pulpit, we embrace it.” 

Trump also told churches that, with his new order, they would not lose their tax exemption for violating the rule and could say whatever they wanted: “This financial threat against the faith community is over.    . . . You’re now in a position where you can say what you want to say.”

Among its several abuses, Trump’s order and statements signal to the Internal Revenue Service that it should not enforce the electioneering restrictions of the tax code against churches and religious organizations, while permitting these restrictions to be enforced against secular nonprofits. FFRF asserts the president has no constitutional authority to selectively veto a legitimate statute that Congress passed and a president signed into law more than 50 years ago.

This part of the law is known as the Johnson Amendment. Under the amendment, all organizations that are recognized as exempt from federal income tax under §501(c)(3) of the Tax Code are subject to the prohibition against political campaign intervention.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, contends that Trump is violating its equal protection rights and favoring church groups over secular groups, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Trump has directed the IRS to do something for which they both lack any enumerated or implied power: to selectively enforce a legitimate statute based solely on religion.

Even if the precise language of the executive order does not accomplish Trump’s promise to “totally destroy the Johnson Amendment,” the impression his administration is actively trying to foster among evangelical Christians is that the IRS will no longer enforce the Johnson Amendment against them.

The state/church separation watchdog sued the IRS in 2014 for its failure to enforce the electioneering restrictions and settled the suit after the IRS agreed to begin implementing these restrictions.

FFRF has public opinion on its side. According to an evangelical polling group, Lifeway Research, whose slogan is “Biblical Solutions for Life,” nearly 80 percent of Americans say it’s inappropriate for pastors to endorse a candidate in church, and 75 percent do not believe it is appropriate for churches to publicly endorse candidates.

As advertised by Trump, the executive order effectively provides preferential treatment to churches and will result in obligations on secular nonprofits, including the plaintiffs, that are not imposed on churches. This could amount to more than $100 million annually in tax-free contributions for politicking pastors.

“Trump is communicating to churches that his administration will not enforce the Johnson Amendment,” says Gaylor. “The IRS needs clear direction that it must enforce the law equally.”

FFRF’s legal complaint enumerates Trump’s many public avowals to repeal the Johnson Amendment restrictions against churches. For instance, Trump promised a closed-door group of hundreds of Christian conservatives in June 2016 that overturning the Johnson Amendment “will be my greatest contribution to Christianity, and other religions. ” At the National Prayer Breakfast in February, Trump vowed to “get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment.”

FFRF is asking the court to declare that Trump has violated the Establishment Clause and the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and acted in excess of presidential authority under Article II of the Constitution.

Gaylor notes that the pandering ceremony in the Rose Garden by the White House shows the ongoing harm of the National Day of Prayer, enacted by Congress at the behest of Rev. Billy Graham in 1952. FFRF won a resounding court ruling declaring the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional in 2010, in which the district judge noted: “The same law that prohibits the government from declaring a National Day of Prayer also prohibits it from declaring a National Day of Blasphemy.” The challenge was stalled when a court of appeals ruled against FFRF’s standing (or right to sue), not the merits, in 2011.

“As Judge Barbara Crabb noted in that ruling, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience,” Gaylor observes.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a nonprofit membership organization that advocates for the separation of church and state and educates on matters relating to nontheism. It has more than 28,000 members, residing in every state of the United States, including more than 1,400 in Wisconsin, as well as members in the District of Columbia.

FFRF is being represented by attorney Richard L. Bolton and FFRF Staff Attorneys Andrew L. Seidel and Sam Grover.