The U.S. Supreme Court issued a dismaying order late Friday night overriding “the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic,” as dissenting Justice Elena Kagan put it. “In the worst public health crisis in a century,” Kagan writes, “this foray into armchair epidemiology cannot end well.”

The order prohibits California from enforcing some of its Covid-19 regulations against churches, such as prohibitions against indoor worship services in high-risk areas (identified as “Tier 1”). A brief unsigned order blocked the total ban, leaving in place a 25 percent capacity restriction and prohibitions on singing or chanting indoors in Tier 1 areas.

The injunction reinforces a recent shift from the court’s prior decisions, which had held that treating churches in a neutral manner was constitutional. As the dissent from Kagan recognizes, a majority of the court now requires special preference for churches.

“The court is sanctioning the spread of a deadly pandemic because of religion,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “It is deeply troubling that a majority of justices view churches as above the law and subject to their own rules.”

A series of fractured concurrences showed many conservative justices would have gone much further in preferring churches in pandemic health orders. Justice Samuel Alito would have issued an injunction against all of the restrictions. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored an opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Alito, that even argued against California’s indoor 25 percent capacity limitations and singing restrictions in Tier 1 areas. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, joined by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, agreed with the sweeping analysis by Gorsuch, but sought a further factual record to examine the singing restriction.

Chief Justice John Roberts concurred in issuing the injunction overturning a complete ban on indoor worship gatherings, but otherwise pointed to judicial deference to state officials: “I adhere to the view that the ‘Constitution principally entrusts the safety and the health of the people to the politically accountable officials of the States.’”

Kagan’s dissent was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor.

“Justices of this court are not scientists,” Kagan wrote. “Nor do we know much about public health policy. Yet today the court displaces the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic. The court orders California to weaken its restrictions in public gatherings by making a special exception for worship services. The majority does so, even though the state’s policies treat worship just as favorably as secular activities (including political assemblies) that, according to medical evidence, pose the same risk of Covid transmission.”

Kagan further observed: “Under the court’s injunction, the state must instead treat worship services like secular activities that pose a much lesser danger. That mandate defies our case law, exceeds our judicial role, and risks worsening the pandemic.”

The Supreme Court’s injunction will remain in place while the court awaits a formal petition from California churches seeking a ruling on the merits.

“We clearly see how the extremists on the Supreme Court are weaponing the concept of ‘the free exercise of religion’ to privilege religion, even when such privileging endangers the health and lives of many,” concludes Gaylor. “Kagan is right: This ‘cannot end well.’”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, is the nation's largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics), and has been working since 1978 to keep religion and government separate.

A leading chronicler of the rights of non-Christian Americans who is also an ardent humorist is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” TV show this Sunday.

Professor Jay Wexler of the Boston University School of Law and his newest book, Our Non-Christian Nation: How Atheists, Satanists, Pagans and Others Are Demanding Their Rightful Place in Public Life, are featured on the talk show. He embarked on a cross-country adventure (during which he stopped by at the FFRF headquarters in Madison, Wis.) that resulted in a 2009 book called Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/state Wars. Wexler clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and his work focuses on state/church issues and constitutional law. He also was the first to study laughter at the Supreme Court.

“If you just look at the data, the demographics are changing, and these days there are fewer and fewer Christians and more people who identify with minority religions or no religion at all,” Wexler explains to “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor the impetus for his latest book. “But beyond that, I think our Constitution very much makes it clear that we’re not a Christian nation, that we’re in fact, a nation where all religions can be exercised freely, but no particular religion can be supported by the state or be our official religion.”

If you don’t live in the quarter-plus of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel. You can also receive notifications when we post new episodes of Freethought Matters by subscribing to FFRF's YouTube channel.

This is the fall season’s 25th episode of “Freethought Matters,” airing in over a dozen cities on Sunday, Feb. 14.

Coming shows include interviews with Nate Phelps, the freethinking son of the notorious founder of the Westboro Baptist Church Fred Phelps, Congressional Freethought Caucus member Rep. Jerry McNerney and Indian actor/activist Sushant Singh.

“Freethought Matters” airs in:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KUBE-IND (Ch. 57), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.

Previous guests from the fall season include: pundit Eleanor Clift, whose interview you can watch here, actor and FFRF After-Life Member John de Lancie of “Star Trek” “Q” fame, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Linda Greenhouse, the country’s leading analyst of the U.S. Supreme Court, and legislative stalwart and feminist and civil rights pioneer U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton. One of the most eminent public intellectuals in the world, Professor Steven Pinker, was interviewed a few episodes ago talking about his new course on rationality. Legendary TV host, actor and singer John Davidson was the guest in early December. Recently, the show featured Ann Druyan, the co-creator of “Cosmos,” possibly the most acclaimed TV series of all time. A.C. Grayling, a prominent British philosopher and the author of about 30 books, grappled on the show with philosophy and the pandemic, and discussed how he himself dealt as a nonbeliever with a personal tragedy. And a couple of weeks ago, the show interviewed Robert P. Jones, the CEO and founder of Public Religion Research Institute who is an expert on the intersection of religious and racial extremism. 

Watch previous seasons here, including interviews with Ron Reagan, Julia Sweeney and Ed Asner, as well as U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin, co-chairs of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.

Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!

In a misbegotten attempt at bipartisanship, President Biden has continued the lamentable presidential tradition of legitimizing the sectarian annual National Prayer Breakfast.

Biden was in virtual attendance from the White House for the dubious quasi-official prayerfest today (on Thursday, Feb. 4). The president asked for unity and courage and exhorted the country to take on political extremism — all of which he could have done at a secular venue.

Unfortunately, Biden also ventured into religious clichés: “For so many in our nation, this is a dark, dark time,” Biden told those watching the event. “So where do we turn? Faith.”

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor responds by quoting Mark Twain.

“As Twain said, ‘Faith is believing what you know ain’t so,’” she remarks. “As we’ve seen in this pandemic, science is where we have turned, and faith has often gotten in the way.”

The Fellowship (also known as “The Family”), which puts together the jamboree, is the subject of an acclaimed Netflix series based on an investigative book by journalist Jeff Sharlet, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, who has spoken at FFRF’s annual convention and appeared on its TV show. His work has revealed that the annual breakfast is the outward face of a rather sinister evangelical organization.

And the U.S. government’s role in arranging the get-together has always been less than transparent. Although the National Prayer Breakfast is technically sponsored by the private Fellowship Foundation, which is dedicated to “the teachings and precepts of Jesus,” the nation’s lawmaking body plays a key role. “The U.S. Congress hosts the National Prayer Breakfast, and the Christian organization, The Fellowship Foundation, organizes the event on their behalf,” a website revealed for the 2017 event.

The gathering this year was, of course, upended due to the pandemic, with the official website completely out of date. But that didn’t stop the breakfast from virtually moving forward — and the president of a secular country validating it with their presence.

Sadly, the National Prayer Breakfast has long been bipartisan, and the tradition seems to have continued this year. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., facetiously asserted that the event is “an inclusive and positive” one that “recognizes the teachings of Jesus but is not limited to Christianity.” And the headliner was none other than the nation’s commander in chief — from a party that is supposedly more secular. In addition to marginalizing nonbelievers, FFRF contends, the (virtual) presence of the leaders of our executive branch at a shindig organized by such a cultish organization makes it appear as if the U.S. government approves of a fringe movement within one particular religion. The National Prayer Breakfast makes a mockery of our secular Constitution — and serves to undermine our political system, as well.

“Biden should have chosen to skip the event,” adds Gaylor. “Too bad they chose to endorse a constitutionally suspect occasion organized by a shady organization.”

Others are joining FFRF in criticizing the breakfast, including Norman Solomon, co-founder and national director of the progressive activist group RootsAction, who said: “We don’t need any unity with bigotry. I fear a subtext of this engagement is, ‘Can’t we all get along.’ But that’s not appropriate in this case, given the well-known right-wing and anti-gay background of the event’s sponsors.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national state/church watchdog organization with more than 33,500 nonreligious members and several chapters all over the country.

A former Muslim who has become an ardent secular online activist, podcaster and author is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s TV show this Sunday.

Armin Navabi is an Iranian ex-Muslim. In 2012, he founded Atheist Republic, an online community that now has hundreds of branches in several countries around the world and enables nonbelievers to interact with each other in places where criticism of religion is often repressed and criminalized. His book, Why There Is No God: Simple Responses to 20 Common Arguments for the Existence of God, was published in 2014. Navabi is also the co-host, with Ali Rizvi, of the podcast “Secular Jihadists for a Muslim Enlightenment.”

“Atheist Republic’s main goal is mostly for atheists to realize that they're not alone, that there’s a community for them, that they’re not isolated,” he tells “Freethought Matters” host Dan Barker. “And also for atheists to understand that not only they shouldn’t feel like they need to hide or that they’re isolated, but also that they don't have to be apologetic about their views.”

If you don’t live in the quarter-plus of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel.

This is the fall season’s 24th episode of “Freethought Matters,” airing in over a dozen cities on Sunday, Feb. 7.

Coming shows include interviews with Nate Phelps, the freethinking son of the notorious founder of the Westboro Baptist Church Fred Phelps, and Law Professor Jay Wexler, whose most recent book is Our Non-Christian Nation.

“Freethought Matters” airs in:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KUBE-IND (Ch. 57), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 10:00 a.m.
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 8 a.m.

Previous guests from the fall season include: pundit Eleanor Clift, whose interview you can watch here, actor and FFRF After-Life Member John de Lancie of “Star Trek” “Q” fame, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Linda Greenhouse, the country’s leading analyst of the U.S. Supreme Court, and legislative stalwart and feminist and civil rights pioneer U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton. One of the most eminent public intellectuals in the world, Professor Steven Pinker, was interviewed a few episodes ago talking about his new course on rationality. Legendary TV host, actor and singer John Davidson was the guest in early December. Recently, the show featured Ann Druyan, the co-creator of “Cosmos,” possibly the most acclaimed TV series of all time. A.C. Grayling, a prominent British philosopher and the author of about 30 books, grappled on the show a couple weeks ago with philosophy and the pandemic, and discussed how he himself dealt as a nonbeliever with a personal tragedy. And just last week, the show interviewed Robert P. Jones, the CEO and founder of Public Religion Research Institute who is an expert on the intersection of religious and racial extremism.

Watch previous seasons here, including interviews with Ron Reagan, Julia Sweeney and Ed Asner, as well as U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin, co-chairs of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.

Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking a Nebraska school district that has agreed to allow a religious group to preach to its students to cancel the proselytizing gathering — especially given that it’ll be taking place in the middle of a pandemic.

Even with Covid-19 raging all around us, the Todd Becker Foundation is continuing its mission to go into public schools, gather students together and preach to them about Jesus. It is currently making a concerted push into Nebraska and intends to put on an assembly for students at Mullen High School (in Mullen, Neb.) during the school day on Wednesday, March 17. The foundation is a Christian ministry that travels throughout the Midwest organizing assemblies in public schools with the explicit purpose of converting students to its brand of evangelical Christianity. This evangelical mission is laid out in no uncertain terms on its website: “The foundation’s purpose is to motivate high school students to discover their potentials and ultimately discover themselves by placing their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.”

The in-school programs that the foundation arranges use a passage from the bible to impart a strong religious message. Immediately following the in-school presentation, students are approached by foundation staff and local church representatives, who ask students about their respective religious beliefs and “share with the student the gospel of Jesus Christ and point them to the hope of a new beginning found in Christ.” Not only do they discuss their religious beliefs with students, students are “brought to a decision to surrender their life to Christ, or to walk away from Him.”

Nebraska’s public schools should never allow this sort of organization to carry out such activities, but this is an even bigger issue during a pandemic when students should not be gathering for unnecessary and unconstitutional reasons. That’s why Mullen Public Schools cannot currently allow its schools to be used as recruiting grounds for religious groups, FFRF emphasizes to the district.

“It is well settled that public schools may not advance or promote religion,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line writes to Superintendent Chris Kuncl. “It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the district to offer religious groups unique access to its students, which signals school endorsement of religion.”

Even if the school permits students to opt out of this assembly, allowing religious programming in a public school is still unconstitutional, FFRF adds. The Todd Becker Foundation has in the past provided a signed assembly agreement indicating that no one acting on behalf of the foundation would engage in religious “proselytizing” during its presentation. This type of agreement does not protect the district from the legal ramifications of any religious promotion — and the Todd Becker Foundation does engage in proselytizing. It includes a bible verse in its presentation, which focuses on where students will go when they die. Foundation members discuss Christianity and the bible with students after the formal presentation. Students are also invited to come back to the explicitly Christian evening presentation.

FFRF has contacted other districts that have been targeted by the foundation, many of which rent out their gym to the foundation but do not allow the group to have access to their students — and one of the responses shows the way school districts should be handling this evangelical group.

“I want to assure you that McCook Public Schools [Neb.] does not allow any organizations to enter our school for the purpose of proselytizing our students during the school day,” reads the emailed reply. “And while it is true that the Todd Becker Foundation is using the McCook High School gym, the single event is not a school event/function and will take place well after the students have been released for the day; also, the event will not be promoted by the school and no students or staff will be prompted, asked or directed to attend. I believe it is also important to point out that we are billing the Todd Becker Foundation for the usage of our facility and any expenses incurred just as we would any group or organization who wants to use our buildings.”

Mullen Public Schools and all other schools in Nebraska need to take their cue from a fellow Cornhusker and stop scheduling daytime assemblies for their students.

“The Todd Becker Foundation’s activities are outrageous enough in normal times,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “During a pandemic, they go way beyond the pale.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 33,000 members across the country, including over 100 members in Nebraska. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is severely criticizing an appeals court ruling handed down Feb. 2 that dubiously claims a historical framework justifies a government nativity display.

Although FFRF was not party to the lawsuit, the national state/church watchdog had sent a December 2018 letter demanding removal of the Christian nativity display erected annually on the lawn of the Jackson County Courthouse in Brownstown, Ind. The request was greeted by a “save the nativity” rally with prayers and a speech by the president of the county commissioners. The county moved some figures of Santa Claus and carolers closer to the Christian devotional scene to argue that the overall impact of the display was supposedly secular.

The Indiana ACLU then filed suit on behalf of atheist Rebecca Woodring to challenge the county display of the creche, which is owned by the Brownstown Ministerial Association. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled in Woodring’s favor last May, writing that the scene continued to convey religious endorsement. The county, represented by the ultra-Christian Right Liberty Counsel, then took the case to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Writing the decision for the three-judge panel, which ruled 2-1 in favor of the display, was U.S. Circuit Judge Amy St. Eve, a President Trump appointee: “We conclude that the county’s nativity scene is constitutional because it fits within a long national tradition of using the nativity scene in broader holiday displays to celebrate the origins of Christmas — a public holiday.”

St. Eve claimed that the district court wrongly felt itself bound by the “purpose” and “endorsement” tests based on the Lemon Test, a codification of court rulings that considers a government display constitutional if its purpose is secular and it does not appear to endorse religion. She asserted that the facts of the case must be scrutinized “under the historical approach” from a set of outlier cases dealing with governmental prayer, in which a supposed unbroken practice of congressional chaplaincies creates a justification for governmental prayer.

The appeals court decision invoked the 2019 Supreme Court ruling in AHA v. American Legion that approved a huge cross on public property in Bladensburg, Md. The 7th Circuit asserted that the American Legion decision required the court to not apply the traditional Lemon framework to nativity scene cases. Shockingly joining St. Eve was Judge Diane Wood, a President Clinton appointee considered a counterweight to the circuit’s well-known conservatism. In his vigorous dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge David Hamilton, a President Obama appointee, noted that “the religious content dominates the county’s Christmas display here” and correctly concluded, “Viewed in its entirety and in context, the display therefore sends a strong message of government endorsement of Christianity.”

The decision not only references FFRF in its recitation of the facts, but says: “. . . amicus Freedom From Religion Foundation tells us that we may not disregard binding precedent until it is overturned. But that is not entirely true. … Our prior decisions on passive holiday displays that feature nativity scenes have been ‘undermined’ by American Legion.”

FFRF’s friend-of-the-court brief supporting Woodring had urged: “Ending the annual, seasonal display of the nativity scene in front of the Jackson County Courthouse does not convey hostility to Christianity, but rather embraces neutrality, protecting the diversity of religious beliefs, and the constitutional rights, of all Jackson County residents.”

Hamilton got it right in his dissent: “It’s not as simple as counting whether there are more shepherds and angels than elves and snowmen. . . . the broad principle against government endorsement of particular religions provides a workable standard. If the display is dominated by religious symbolism, with only minor or token secular symbols and symbols of other faiths, the message of endorsement calls for court intervention.”

Comments FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor: “The court is arguing that if the constitutional separation between state and church is repeatedly entangled, this ‘history’ of repeated entanglement somehow magically erases the violation. This is an insulting sleight of hand. Winter season after season, a courthouse display endorses Christianity. Such repeated exposure obviously makes the violation cumulatively much worse.”

She called the decision a troubling sign of Trump’s lingering influence on the federal judiciary.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 33,000 members across the country, including almost 500 members in Indiana. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

An irreverent ad featuring a presidential son extolling the Freedom From Religion Foundation returns to MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” today for the next two weeks.

The commercial with Ron (“unabashed atheist . . . not afraid of burning in hell”) Reagan inviting viewers to join FFRF will air tonight through Thursday night this week, and next week from Tuesday to Thursday. The “Rachel Maddow Show” airs at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

In the 30-second spot, Reagan, the progressive son of President Ronald and Nancy Reagan, says:

Hi, I’m Ron Reagan, an unabashed atheist, and I’m alarmed by the intrusion of religion into our secular government. That’s why I'm asking you to support the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the nation’s largest and most effective association of atheists and agnostics, working to keep state and church separate, just like our Founding Fathers intended. Please support the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Ron Reagan, lifelong atheist, not afraid of burning in hell.

The ad ran in late January on late-night shows over Comedy Central and TBS, and, for the first time, on CBS, which had refused to run the commercial for almost six years. It has aired on MSNBC periodically since 2014.

“It’s a heartening sign of the times that atheists and agnostics are being allowed a voice on CBS,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “After all, believing in the concept of eternal torture and punishment should be socially unacceptable, not Ron’s gentle jibe.”

Reagan has received FFRF’s Emperor Has No Clothes Award and addressed FFRF’s national convention in Madison a few years ago. He has publicly identified himself for years as an atheist. He was interviewed recently for FFRF’s “Freethought Matters” TV show.

FFRF advertising is made possible by kind contributions from members. Donations to FFRF are deductible for income-tax purposes.

Andrew L. Seidel, FFRF’s director of strategic response, has written an op-ed for Religion Dispatches about the way Christian Nationalism is dividing our country in the wake of the Capitol insurrection. Seidel explores the division by looking at two stories from this week in a piece titled, “Blinken and Blinkered: Two Oath of Office Stories Capture a Divided America.” Seidel compares a recently unearthed video of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ranting about how oaths of office must be taken on a bible with footage of our new secretary of state, Antony Blinken, taking his oath of office on the Constitution. Seidel begins:

America continues to divide and migrate toward opposing poles, one in which democratic government is a value and the other in which it’s a barrier to power. Christian Nationalism contributes to this division. The dichotomy floated across my digital timeline recently. I saw, in quick succession, a sober image of a new cabinet official taking the oath of office on the Constitution, followed immediately by a U.S. representative ranting in a selfie-video about how oaths of office must be sworn on the bible.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken took his oath of office on a copy of the U.S. Constitution on Jan. 27, and Vice President Kamala Harris administered the oath. That’s remarkable twice over: first, because Harris’ vice presidency is historic on so many levels, and second, because most officials opt — some by default, some from personal piety — to place their hand on a bible when taking an oath of office. Those who use a different book are newsworthy; some presidents have used other books and documents, as have some senators and representatives.

Whatever one swears on is virtually meaningless relative to what that oath promises to protect. Who could forget Rep. Jamie Raskin’s immortal retort when testifying against a proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution in 2006? Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican, asked “Mr. Raskin, my bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?” To which he replied, “Senator, with all due respect, when you took your oath of office, you put your hand on the bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not put your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the bible.”

Seidel then explores the Greene video, which really captures “the essence of Christian Nationalism” and ties that to FFRF’s analysis showing that the 147 members of Congress who voted to overturn the election were not only disproportionately Christian, but largely Christian Nationalist. Read the whole article on Religion Dispatches.

The national Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent an urgent letter to all members of the Wisconsin Assembly urging them to “listen to the science” and protect the current statewide mask mandate.

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, the Wisconsin Senate, by a vote of 18-13, passed a resolution to repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate, after he wisely extended it through March 20.

The Assembly deferred its vote on the anti-masking resolution Thursday, and it is unclear when it will come up for a vote.

FFRF, based in Madison, Wis., has joined a chorus of medical, business and other organizations urging the Legislature to leave intact the statewide mandate. If the Legislature repeals it, Wisconsin would be one of only nine states without a statewide masking mandate, at a time when President Joe Biden has issued a “100 Day Mask Up Challenge” seeking to flatten the pandemic’s curve. “Listen to the science” is a phrase coined by Dr. Anthony Fauci.

FFRF had warned that citizens’ health and the state’s economy would be jeopardized, prior to Republican Speaker Robin Vos deferring the assembly vote after learning that the state could lose nearly $50 million a month in federal aid for food stamps if the resolution is passed.

The state/church watchdog, representing over 33,000 nonreligious members, including more than 1,500 throughout Wisconsin, wrote legislators: “Public policy must be based on science, reason, data, compassion and expertise, especially during a deadly pandemic.”

The Legislature’s failure to pass any Covid-19 related legislation in the past year has left Evers with no choice but to act, FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor wrote legislators. More than 5,700 Wisconsinites have died from Covid-19 and over 500,000 have tested positive.

“Importantly, the majority of Wisconsinites support requiring masks in public and over 90 percent of Wisconsin citizens have been complying with state-issued mask mandates,” they add, which has resulted in a welcome lessening of the spread in the state, a national hotspot much of last fall.

“We simply cannot accept any additional preventable deaths,” FFRF writes.

 An expert on an issue that everyone is talking about — the intersection of religious and racial extremism — is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s TV show this Sunday.

Robert P. Jones is the CEO and founder of Public Religion Research Institute. He’s a leading scholar and commentator on religion and politics who is frequently featured on national media such as CNN, NPR and The New York Times. Jones is the author of the 2016 book, The End of White Christian America, and the recently released White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity.

"If you look at the relationship between holding racist attitudes and identifying as a white evangelical, that connection is actually stronger among those who attend church more frequently rather than less,” he tells “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. Jones notes that the nonreligious register the least racism.

If you don’t live in the quarter-plus of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on FFRF’s YouTube channel.

This is the fall season’s 23rd episode of “Freethought Matters,” airing in over a dozen cities on Sunday, Jan. 31.

Shows in the coming year will include interviews with Atheist Republic founder and former Muslim Armin Navabi; Nate Phelps, the freethinking son of the notorious Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church; and Law Professor Jay Wexler, whose most recent book is Our Non-Christian Nation.

“Freethought Matters” airs in:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KUBE-IND (Ch. 57), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45), Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 8 a.m.

Previous guests from the fall season include: pundit Eleanor Clift, whose interview you can watch here, actor and FFRF After-Life Member John de Lancie of “Star Trek” “Q” fame, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Linda Greenhouse, the country’s leading analyst of the U.S. Supreme Court, and legislative stalwart and feminist and civil rights pioneer U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton. One of the most eminent public intellectuals in the world, Professor Steven Pinker, was interviewed a few episodes ago talking about his new course on rationality. Legendary TV host, actor and singer John Davidson was the guest in early December. Recently, the show featured Ann Druyan, the co-creator of “Cosmos,” possibly the most acclaimed TV series of all time. And A.C. Grayling, a prominent British philosopher and the author of about 30 books, grappled on the show a couple weeks ago with philosophy and the pandemic, and discussed how he himself dealt as a nonbeliever with a personal tragedy.

Watch previous seasons here, including interviews with Ron Reagan, Julia Sweeney and Ed Asner, as well as U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin, co-chairs of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.

Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!

A Christian Nationalist Judiciary 

Freedom From Religion Foundation’s 2020 report exposes the Christian Nationalist takeover of the federal courts and the damage this is causing to the separation of state and church.

Over the Trump administration’s four years, the federal courts have been taken over by ultraconservative judges who have radical views on religious liberty, and who are rapidly redefining the First Amendment in ways that expand Christian privilege and erode the wall of separation between state and church.

The right of every American to freely exercise any religion requires a government free from religion. But the federal judges appointed by Trump have shown increasing hostility toward the principle of separation between state and church, while jumping at every chance to exempt conservative Christians from laws that protect the rest of us.

President Trump has made three Supreme Court appointments, 54 appellate court appointments, and 174 district court appointments.

As Trump appointees continue to decide cases in the decades to come, we will continue to see courts sanction government favoritism of religion.

FFRF has outlined this alarming development in detail here. Below we continue to follow the alarming influence of these radical judges in the federal courts:

Supreme Court

Justice Gorsuch

• Voted in 2018 ruling that Colorado violated a bakery owner’s free exercise rights when state officials criticized the baker’s practice of refusing to sell wedding cakes to same-sex couples.
• Voted in 2019 to uphold an outsized Latin cross displayed on public property, and argued that citizens should not even be allowed to challenge religious displays in court.
• Voted in 2020 to expand the “ministerial exception,” which allows religious organizations to fire so-called “ministerial” employees for any reason — even because of race, sex, religion, age, national origin, etc. with legal impunity.
• Voted in 2020 to require taxpayers to fund religious schools.
• Voted in 2020 to strike down public health restrictions limiting the crowd size at gatherings including worship services, characterizing the classification of worship services as non-essential as “religious discrimination.”

Justice Kavanaugh

• Voted in 2020 to expand the “ministerial exception,” which allows religious organizations to fire so-called “ministerial” employees for any reason — even because of race, sex, religion, age, national origin, etc. with legal impunity.
• Voted in 2020 to require taxpayers to fund religious schools.
• Voted in 2019 to uphold an outsized Latin cross displayed on public property, and argued for a relaxed legal analysis under which there is not much the government could do to violate the Establishment Clause.
• Voted in 2020 to strike down public health restrictions limiting the crowd size at gatherings including worship services, characterizing the classification of worship services as non-essential as “religious discrimination.”

Justice Barrett

• Voted in 2020 to strike down public health restrictions limiting the crowd size at gatherings including worship services, characterizing the classification of worship services as non-essential as “religious discrimination.” Less than four months earlier, when Justice Ginsburg was still on the Court, it voted 5-4 the other way, upholding public health restrictions in the midst of a deadly pandemic. Justice Barrett flipped the Court on this issue.

The Circuit Courts of Appeal

Fifth Circuit

• Judge James Ho wrote a dissent arguing that religious objections could invalidate a fire department’s immunization policy, and that the free exercise clause must accommodate the devoutly religious above others. “It would be of little solace to the person of faith that a nonbeliever might be equally inconvenienced. For it is the person of faith whose faith is uniquely burdened — the non-believer, by definition, suffers no such crisis of conscience.”

Sixth Circuit

• Judge Amul Thaper during oral arguments about a professor’s lawsuit against a public university that disciplined him for intentionally misgendering a transgender student, posed the analogy of the university requiring a Jewish professor to refer to a student as “my Fuhrer” to illustrate the consequences of a ruling requiring professors to refer to trans students in class by their proper pronouns.

Eighth Circuit

• Judge David Stras ruled in 2019 that a wedding video company likelyhas a constitutional right to deny service to same-sex couples in violation of Minnesota’s anti-discrimination laws. He argued forcing videographers to provide equal services violates their free speech rights.

Ninth Circuit

• Judge Ryan Nelson dissented in December 2018 from a ruling to deny rehearing a case that struck down school-sponsored prayer at school board meetings. He argued for the court to revisit the established case law prohibiting prayer at school board meetings.

• Judge Mark Bennett joined in dissenting in December 2018 from a ruling to deny rehearing a case that struck down school-sponsored prayer at school board meetings.

Eleventh Circuit

• Judge Kevin Newsom wrote a September 2018 opinion openly urging the Supreme Court to overrule the circuit’s opinion and allow crosses on public land since there is “lots of history underlying the practice.” The Supreme Court took up his admonition the following year, eviscerating decades of federal court precedent and upholding a cross on public land.

• Judge Britt Grant ruled in November 2020 to block enforcement of an ordinance that bans conversion therapy of minors, dismissing evidence of the harm conversion therapy causes to children, stating, “People have intense moral, religious, and spiritual views about these matters — on all sides.”

• Judge Barbara Lagoa joined in the November 2020 opinion that blocked enforcement of an ordinance that bans conversion therapy of minors, dismissing evidence of the harm conversion therapy causes to children.

The District Courts

• Judge Justin Walker of the Western District of Kentucky ruled in April 2020 to allow large Christian congregations to gather for Easter services in violation of a neutral statewide pandemic public health, Walker stated: “On Holy Thursday, an American mayor criminalized the communal celebration of Easter.” Despite being rated as not qualified for judicial office by the nonpartisan American Bar Association, Walker was nominated and confirmed shortly after this opinion to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is thought of as the second most powerful court in the nation.

• Judge Daniel D. Domenico of the District of Colorado in October 2020 temporarily blocked enforcement of state public health orders against churches, writing, “And while the religious, like the irreligious or agnostic, must comply with neutral, generally applicable restrictions, the First Amendment does not allow government officials, whether in the executive or judicial branch, to treat religious worship as any less critical or essential than other human endeavors.”

• Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also in October 2020 temporarily blocked enforcement of a public health order restricting churches from holding outdoor worship services in excess of 100 congregants. He quoted scripture in his opinion, arguing, “It is for the Church, not the District or this Court, to define for itself the meaning of “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” Hebrews 10:25.”

Sampling of Christian Nationalist House members who voted not to certify

Below is a representative sampling of the Christian Nationalist views of some of the 138 House members who voted unsuccessfully to nullify the will of the electorate.

ROBERT ADERHOLT (Alabama’s 4th District), serving his 13th term, is the evangelical son of a Congregationalist lay minister. As a member of the secretive Christian Nationalist organization known as “The Family,” which organizes the annual National Prayer Breakfast, he reportedly traveled to Romania and met with a local Holocaust denier.

He sponsored a House bill, the “Ten Commandments Defense Act Amendment” in 1999, to permit the display of the Ten Commandments in schools, despite a Supreme Court decision to the contrary, and in other public buildings. He issued a press release applauding the court dismissal of a lawsuit FFRF and others had taken challenging “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency. He and 40 other members of Congress joined an amicus brief filed by the American Center for Law and Justice (run by Jay Sekulow, later serving as President Trump’s personal attorney) against the lawsuit. He also signed a letter in support of coach Joseph Kennedy, after the Bremerton School District, Wash., took action against the proselytizing coach following an FFRF complaint.

RICK ALLEN (Georgia’s 12th District), elected in 2014, is an active member of Trinity on the Hill United Methodist Church. Following the mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in 2016, he read bible verses from Romans 1:18–32 and Revelations 22:18–19, which say homosexuals are “worthy of death,” to the House Republican Conference. When called on it, he said, “Well, I’m imperfect. And I consider that we are all imperfect and we all fall short of the glory of God, which is why we need a savior, by the way.”

Allen issued a press release for National Bible Week, “God’s Word Can Heal our Nation,” recognizing “the importance of honoring God’s word.” “I made a covenant with God, and that covenant was to put Him first . . . . If we debated what the scripture says about these issues [that divide us in this chamber], we would all come to agreement that God is correct and that His way is the only way.”

Allen, like Aderholt, signed a letter in support of Joseph Kennedy, after the Bremerton School District, Wash., took action against the proselytizing coach following an FFRF complaint. Among the 47 members of Congress who signed on were Reps. Paul Gosar, Louie Gohmert, Barry Loudermilk and Tim Walberg (see their entries below).

BRIAN BABIN (Texas’ 36th District), first elected to the House in 2014, is a member of the First Baptist Church of Woodville, where he is a deacon, Sunday School teacher, choir member and member of the all-male Gideons International. “Pro-Life” is a “key issue” on his official website, where he lists that he is a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus, favors permanent defunding of Planned Parenthood, and would prevent taxpayer funding of abortion altogther. He condemned the Obergefell Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriages. He has accused the “radical Left” of “vandalizing/destroying churches.”

Babin withdrew an op-ed, “Religious freedom is at risk in a Biden administration,” after the Washington Examiner edited his references casting doubt on the outcome of the 2020 election. After nonreligious constituents complained about receiving sectarian Easter and Christmas emails from Babin, FFRF sent him complaint letters for using his official office to proselytize and endorse religion.

ANDY BIGGS (Arizona’s 5th District), elected in 2016, is Mormon. Biggs, as state representative was tied to the religious advocacy group United Families International, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an anti-gay “hate group.” Among his recent tweets: “First it was the War on Easter. Then came the War on Independence Day. The War on Thanksgiving just ended. And the War on Christmas has started. The radical left, aided by allies in the mainstream media & the bureaucracy, have used Covid-19 to try to overturn our society.”

Biggs is chair of the House Freedom Caucus, a reactionary congressional group. He “was seen by leaders of the Stop the Steal movement as an inspiration,” and spoke at a 2015 event where a member of the far-right Oath Keepers called for hanging Sen. John McCain.

At a Dec. 19 “Stop the Steal” rally at the Arizona Capitol, Biggs contributed a video in which he said: “I’m in the D.C. swamp fighting on behalf of Arizona’s residents and freedom fighters all over the country. … We are going to keep fighting, and I implore you to keep fighting, too. God bless you for being here today. And God bless this great country.”

Ali Alexander, the man who claims he came up with the idea to stage the Jan. 6 insurrection, asserts that Reps. Biggs, Brooks and Gosar (see separate entries) were co-planners. Says Alexander: "We four schemed up of putting max pressure on Congress while they were voting so that who we couldn’t lobby, we could change the hearts and the minds of Republicans who were in that body hearing our loud roar from outside." Biggs denies any involvement, but two of his brothers subsequently wrote a public letter calling for Biggs’ removal, saying he is “at least partially to blame'' for the deadly assault.

Biggs wrote the Trump administration to say that restrictions on large gatherings in churches during the pandemic violate the First Amendment, and that churches should be considered essential services. During the insurrection, when Biggs was taken to a safe location with other House members, he refused to wear a face mask in violation of House rules.

DAN BISHOP (North Carolina’s 9th District), elected in 2019, identifies as “Christian.”

As a state legislator, he reportedly threatened to sue media outlets if they broadcast an ad about his 2017 investment in Gab, a website frequented by white nationalists, after the neo-Nazi violent rally in Charlottesville. He authored HB2, the notorious 2016 “bathroom” bill that discriminates against transgender people and others. The Charlotte Observer opined that he had a decade-long “history of discrimination.” Bishop reportedly compared LGBTQ activists to the Taliban and said “I don’t fear man. I fear God.” He sought “the Lord’s help and your prayers” in passing the bathroom bill.

LAUREN BOEBERT (Colorado’s 3rd District), who just took office, says she became a born-again Christian in 2009. Boebert has had skirmishes with the law, and is primarily known as a gun-rights activist who slings a pistol on her hip, and for refusing to open her bag for Capitol police after it set off a metal detector. She promised to remind “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Squad and the rest of these left-wing lunatics” in Congress “that our belief in God, Country and Family are what built the United States of America into the greatest nation the world has ever known.”

MO BROOKS (Alabama’s 5th District), a six-term member of Congress, converted to Mormonism in 1978, but now considers himself a nondenominational Christian, citing his wife and “Jesus Christ” as his greatest influences. Brooks derided last summer’s Supreme Court case ruling that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act extends to LGBTQ citizens. 

He is facing House censure for an incendiary speech at the Jan. 6 Save America rally near the Capitol, where he said: “Today is the day that American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.”  

In defending that action, he said: “I make no apology for doing my absolute best to inspire patriotic Americans to not give up on our country and to fight back against anti-Christian socialists in the 2022 and 2024 elections. I encourage EVERY citizen to watch my entire rally speech and decide for themselves what kind of America they want: One based on freedom and liberty or one based on godless dictatorial power.” [Emphasis added.]

FFRF has written him letters, on behalf of complaining nonreligious constituents, over his promotion of religion over social media and participation in a National Day of Prayer event.

MICHAEL BURGESS (Texas’ 26th District), elected in 2002, is a Reformed Episcopalian. He infamously said in 2013 that because the hands of the male fetus sometimes appear to be gripping its genitals, abortion should be banned at least by 15 or 16 weeks.

JERRY CARL (Alabama’s 1st District) was just elected. He is a Southern Baptist whose campaign website describes him as “a devoted Christian and deacon at his church who is saved by God’s grace.” In supporting Israel, Carl said: “It has nothing to do with converting Jews to Christianity. When my Jesus comes back, he’ll come back to where he wants to come back.”

MADISON CAWTHORN (North Carolina’s 11th District), newly elected, identifies as Christian. The part-time preacher has tried to convert Jews and Muslims. In response to a question on state/church separation, he replied: “I always think of that question as just so silly.” “[Religion] is the basis of all of my experience and everything I’ve learned, everything that I believe in, how I’ve formed all of my worldview. My family is a bunch of true frickin’ believers.” Cawthorn maintains that “Life begins at conception.”

He visited “Eagle’s Nest,” Hitler’s holiday home, in 2017, where he took selfies and posted them on Instagram. He stated that Hitler’s retreat had been on his “bucket list.” Cawthorn has reportedly referred to Hitler using the honorific of “Führer,” named a company SPQR, a term popular with white nationalists, and displays an early American flag in his home that has been appropriated by far-right extremists.

After the November election, FFRF sent an educational letter to Cawthorn correcting his constitutional misconceptions. 

MICHAEL CLOUD (Texas’ 27th District), who assumed office in 2018, is a graduate of Oral Roberts University and formerly was communications director at Faith Family Church.

SCOTT DESJARLAIS (Tennessee’s 4th District), who took office in 2011, attends an Episcopal church.

The anti-abortion public official reportedly supported the decision of his first wife to have two abortions and testified that he slept with six women during his first marriage, including two patients. A taped phone call has the doctor reportedly offering to take his patient/mistress to Atlanta to have an abortion. Now remarried, DesJarlais maintains he is “a consistent supporter of pro-life values,” and that God has “forgiven me.” The Tennesssee Board of Medical Examiners fined and reprimanded him for having sex with patients.  

JEFF DUNCAN (South Carolina’s 3rd District) first assumed his House office in 2011 and is a member of the First Baptist Church of Clinton, S.C. He routinely uses social media to promote his religious views: “I’m a Christian, I believe in intelligent design,” he said in support of tapping offshore oil reserves. He gave a “Being thankful to God” speech on the floor in 2011, and stated, “My relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in my life.”

FFRF sent him a complaint letter last April over an official email he sent out to constituents that read in part: “On this Easter weekend, please take time to reflect on the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ” and promoting the use of a “public prayer line” run by Miracle Hill Ministries.

LOUIE GOHMERT (Texas’ 1st District) first took House office in 2005, and attends Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, where he has served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher for many years. “He now frequently speaks or preaches at churches throughout his district and around the country,” according to his official House bio.

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on religious liberty in 2014, Gohmert said: “Either you believe as a Christian that Jesus is the way, the truth, the life, or you don’t,” and if you don’t, you go to hell. He reportedly warned of same-sex marriage leading to bestiality marriages, and blamed the 2012 shooting rampage at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo., on “attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs” and too few guns.

He gave a House floor speech in 2013 insisting: “No country has ever fallen while it was truly honoring the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob . . . Because when a nation’s leaders honor that God, that nation is protected. It’s only when it turns away that it falls.”

PAUL GOSAR (Arizona’s 4th District), serving his fifth term in Congress, is a Roman Catholic. “As a conservative Republican, a medical provider, and a father, I strongly support the sanctity of human life. Nothing is more precious. I believe that life begins at conception,” according to his official government website. 

He uses social media to promote religion, including this tweet on June 22, 2020: “Shit is gonna get real if you mess with Jesus.” He has reportedly followed several Twitter accounts pushing racism.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (Georgia’s 14th District) was elected in 2020. Her official governmental website puts “Protecting the Unborn” as its first link, even before “About” or “Contact.” “Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s number one policy goal is to end abortion in America.” She reportedly promoted the online QAnon conspiracy theories in a 2017 video, but later backtracked. 

She has expressed racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim views, including accusing the liberal Jewish philanthropist George Soros of collaborating with the Nazis. Facebook scrubbed her post on Sept. 4, 2020, where she held a rifle next to images of Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez below the words: “We need strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart.” Twitter temporarily locked her account on Jan. 17 over continued voter fraud allegations.

Some GOP lawmakers are joining activist groups and several prominent Democrats in urging Greene to resign or be removed from office after videos have surfaced showing her claims that mass shootings have been staged, and a pattern of online activity showing approval for the notion of executing Democratic leaders and federal agents. These include Greene “liking” a Facebook post in January 2019 that said “a bullet to the head” would be a quick way to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. After a Facebook commenter referred to hanging President Obama and Hillary Clinton, Greene posted an April 2018 Facebook entry saying: “Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off.”

Another video surfaced in which Greene films herself leading a group through the halls of congressional office buildings ranting about how Reps. Tlaib and Omar are “not really official” because “they swore in on the Quran.” The group’s plan was “to let them know what our law says, that you can’t swear in on the Quran . . . it has to be the Bible” and to “go ask them to swear in on the bible.” Of course, no law requires anyone to take an oath on the bible, but this kind of disinformation is a cornerstone of Christian Nationalism.

The New Yorker reports that Greene “was baptized at an evangelical church in a suburb just north of Atlanta, in 2011, and speaks frequently about being Christian, has said that she wants to bring ‘my faith and my family values to Washington.’”

Greene commented on the House floor: 

Cancel culture is a real thing. It is very real. And when big tech companies like Twitter, you can scroll through and see where someone may have retweeted porn, this is a problem. This is a terrible, terrible thing, but yet when I say that I absolutely believe with all my heart that God's creation is he created the male and female and that should not be denied, when I am censored for saying those types of things, that is wrong. You see, here is the real situation. I decided to run for congress because I wanted to help our country. I want Americans to have our American dream, I want to protect our freedoms. This is what I ran for congress on.

I never once said during my entire campaign "Qanon." I never once said any of the things I'm being accused of today during my campaign. I never said any of these things since I have been elected for congress. These were words of the past, and these things do not represent me, they do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values. Here's what I can tell you.

I am beyond grateful for this opportunity, and I'll tell you why. I believe in God with all my heart, and I am so grateful to be humbled, to be reminded that I'm a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross to forgive me for my sins. And this is something that I absolutely rejoice in today to tell you all. And I think it's important for all of us to remember, none of us are perfect. None of us are. And none of us can even come close to earning our way into heaven just by our acts and our works. But it's only through the grace of God.

And this is why I will tell you as a member of this Congress, the 117th Congress, I'm a passionate person, I'm a competitor, I'm a fighter, I will work with you for good things for the people of this country, but the things I will not stand for is abortion. I think it's the worst thing this country has ever committed. And if we are to say "In God we trust," how do we murder God's creation in the womb? Another thing I will say to this body is I want to work for all of you for our people.

JIM JORDAN (Ohio’s 4th District), serving since 2007, is considered an unspecified Protestant.

When the Supreme Court approved marriage equality in 2015, Jordan issued a release saying: “I am also concerned that this ruling opens the door for discrimination against those who believe in traditional marriage.” His House website notes: “I am proud to stand and defend the lives of the unborn” and that he “is committed to the view that life is sacred” and “to defending the sanctity of marriage and the family.” He was the keynote speaker at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Fall Dinner and Rally in 2018 and was the subject of a Rolling Stone article: “Why Jim Jordan denies knowledge of sexual abuse at Ohio State: The Ohio Congressman and former wrestling coach is more concerned with protecting his macho image than the well-being of his former athletes.”

Jordan was one of 67 Congress members to sign an amicus brief against FFRF’s historic challenge of the National Day of Prayer. FFRF called on the IRS to investigate the American Family Association in 2018 after it sought to influence members to support Jordan to run for House speaker in violation of the group’s tax-exempt status.

On Good Friday 2020, Jordan tweeted: “The old hymn says it best: Jesus paid it all, All to him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.” 
He tweeted (on Feb. 5, 2021): “Democrats: -Closed your church -Close your businesses -Closed your kid’s school.”

When Marjorie Tylor Greene (see entry) was entering a House election runoff last year, Jordan, a founding member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, called her “exactly the kind of fighter needed in Washington to stand with me against the radical left.” At a pro-Trump rally last fall, he said, “Next to Jesus, the best thing that has happened to this planet is the United States of America.”

BARRY LOUDERMILK (Georgia’s 11th District), elected in 2017, is a Southern Baptist, who was endorsed by Christian Nationalist propagandist David Barton, whose “scholarship” has been roundly condemned. Loudermilk was part of a group of evangelical Christians who conducted a barnstorming tour of Georgia to promote “biblical citizenship” and “restoration of biblical values and constitutional principles” as part of Georgia’s runoff election for two U.S. Senate seats. “The tour is headlined by Rick Green, founder of the Christian Nationalist Patriot Academy; conservative Christian author and activist David Barton; and his son Tim, a minister who runs the activist group WallBuilders with his father,” the Washington Post reported.

Loudermilk compared the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision to the Dred Scott opinion upholding slavery. And he portrayed the racist massacre of nine black churchgoers by a white man in Charleston in 2015 as motivated by anti-Christian persecution rather than racism.

KEVIN McCARTHY (California’s 23rd District), elected in 2012, is a Baptist. After winning House Majority leadership in 2014, he told Ralph Reed’s Faith & Freedom Coalition that he’s “proud to be a Christian” and thanked “my Lord and Savior for his grace, his strength and for never leaving me.” McCarthy was accused of “personally twisting arms on the floor,” to defeat a bill to deny contracts to federal contractors who discriminate against the LGBTQ community.

TROY NEHLS (Texas’ 22nd District), just sworn in, is a graduate of Liberty University, founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell. He attends Faith United Methodist Church.

When sheriff of Fort Bend County, he suggested churches should choose some members to “pack a heater” while attending Sunday services, following a massacre in a Texas Church. “I would encourage the church congregation to pack their heaters concealed.”

BARRY MOORE (Alabama’s 2nd District), elected in 2010, is a Southern Baptist and a Sunday school teacher and deacon at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Enterprise. He campaigns as having a “true love for God and country.” He is a “strong supporter of Israel” because “The Bible is very clear — those who bless Israel will be blessed. That’s one of the things that’s fundamental to my faith.”

He posted a meme that appeared to support Kyle Rittenhouse, charged with killing two protesters of police violence against Black Americans in Kenosha, Wis. He deleted his Twitter account after attention was drawn to two comments with racial overtones.

BILL POSEY (Florida’s 8th District), serving his fifth term, is a United Methodist.

Posey released the following statement in recognition of the 2012 National Day of Prayer:

America is rooted in a Judeo-Christian faith. George Washington said, “It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible.” We are One Nation Under God — “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” The Mayflower sailed through uncharted waters to an unknown land – a land that was claimed ‘for the glory of God and the Christian faith.” — Mayflower Compact, November 11, 1620. Today America is once again on uncharted waters. We need to return to America’s roots and founding principles.

STEVE SCALISE (Louisiana’s 1st District), in office since 2008, is Roman Catholic. Scalise gave a speech at a white nationalist convention hosted by a group founded by David Duke, later apologizing. He bills himself as fighting to promote traditional marriage and the right to life.

In a speech before a prayer breakfast in 2019, Scalise credited “faith, heroes and miracles” for surviving after being shot in a 2017 attack against GOP members of Congress practicing for an annual baseball game. He said the United States is based on a “deep belief” in God. “There’s this misconception these days that there is a separation of church and state as if there should be no involvement of God in government,” he stated. “That is a horrible misconception. it goes against the principles that this country was founded on.”

TIM WALBERG (Michigan’s 7th District), elected in 2006, attended Moody Bible Institute, Taylor University, which is evangelical, and Wheaton College. He spent nearly a decade as a pastor, before being elected to the Michigan State House. He attends Element Church. He’s been an outspoken anti-abortion proponent: “And every life deserves a chance to realize their God-given potential, even the most powerless.”

A critic of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency pandemic restrictions, he tested positive for Covid-19.

LEE ZELDIN (New York’s 1st District), first elected in 2014, is Jewish. He joined a friend-of-the-court brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, one of 168 members of the House who signed on. He supports the First Amendment Defense Act, an anti-gay bill, and opposed President Obama’s transgender bathroom directive.

Return to FFRF press release: FFRF: Shame on Christian Nationalist disruptors inside Congress.

View Christian Nationalist sentiments of eight senators voting not to certify.

Christian Nationalist sentiments of eight senators voting not to certify

Although many senators with extremist views ended up voting for Biden’s certification, the eight who voted “Nay” fall squarely in the ranks of Christian Nationalists:

TED CRUZ (Texas) has served in the Senate since 2013 and attends Houston’s First Baptist Church. His father was a Catholic Cuban refugee who became a born-again Christian and a traveling preacher and pastors a Dallas church and directs Purifying Fire Ministries. Cruz attended two private evangelical high schools, and kicked off his Senate campaign at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.

As solicitor general of Texas, Cruz fought for the “constitutionality of the Ten Commandments monument at the Texas Capitol and the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance.” He told Liberty University students “our rights don’t come from man. They come from God Almighty.” “God” and “religious liberty” were primary stump speech themes for Cruz, according to Religion News Service.

Cruz announced a “national prayer team” for his presidential campaign. He has been pictured making a show of kneeling in prayer outside the White House. Cruz has called to amend the Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages. He has called for a ban of medical abortion.

After FFRF complained about public school cheerleaders routinely opening games by holding banners with bible verses for football players to run through, Cruz sided with the cheerleaders. FFRF condemned Cruz’s statement on school shootings supposedly being caused by a lack of school prayer. FFRF letters to him include one condemning his climate change denial.

JOSH HAWLEY (Missouri), who was elected in 2018, was raised Methodist, but now identifies as evangelical. He formerly clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts and worked for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He is one of the most overtly Christian Nationalist members of Congress, with his stated goal to “transform our society to reflect the gospel truth and lordship of Jesus Christ.” Journalist Katherine Stewart has thoroughly documented Hawley’s Christian Nationalist views in a recent New York Times op-ed.

At a “Pastors and Pews” event in Kansas City when he was Missouri attorney general (which he referred to as a “form of ministry”), Hawley stated:

There is only one god. That god is Jesus Christ, who is seated on the throne and is lord over all and […] as believers we are charged to take that message — that the lord reigns, that Jesus Christ reigns, that he is risen and is seated on the throne — . . . . our charge [is to] take the lordship of Christ, that message, into the public realm and to seek the obedience of the nations — of our nation… to influence our society, and even more than that, to transform our society to reflect the gospel truth and lordship of Jesus Christ.

FFRF wrote him a letter over this egregious violation. Hawley, as Missouri attorney general, joined an amicus brief against FFRF’s challenge of the IRS’ preferential housing allowance for ministers, as well as FFRF’s litigation against a cross in a Pensacola, Fla., public park.

Hawley notably participated in a “worship protest” on the Mall last October with “prayer, singing and baptisms, but virtually no social distancing or mask-wearing,” where he prayed over the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he said he would not support any SCOTUS nominee unless they had stated on the record prior to their nomination that Roe v. Wade was “wrongly decided.”

CINDY HYDE-SMITH (Mississippi), elected in 2018, is a member of the Macedonia Baptist Church, and reportedly “attended and graduated from a segregation academy that was set up so that white parents could avoid having to send their children to schools with Black students.” She was once photographed in a Confederate army cap and is anti-gay.

“Cindy believes all children, including the unborn, are guaranteed the right to life by our Creator,” her campaign website proclaims. “As senator, Cindy will fight for and vote to confirm pro-life judges who will interpret the law as written, and not legislate from the bench.”

She filed an amicus brief in October supporting a so-called “religious freedom lawsuit” filed by a church against D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser over social distancing guidelines. She signed an amicus brief in support of the Little Sisters of the Poor lawsuit challenging the right of workers to access birth control under the Obamacare contraceptive mandate. She regularly tweets bible quotes. FFRF contacted her a few months ago regarding complaints by constituents over her use of her official governmental Facebook page to promote her religious views.

CYNTHIA LUMMIS (Wyoming), a newly elected senator, is a member of the archconservative Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: “I’m a Christian, and I have seen a tremendous rise in anti-Christian activities in the United States and elsewhere.” Her Facebook post on Dec. 8, 2020, began: “Calling All Prayer Warriors!”

She has been endorsed by Concerned Women for America, among other extremist evangelical groups, her campaign website promised to “fight for religious freedom and the rights of the unborn.” As a U.S. representative, she played a key role in attacking Planned Parenthood in 2015 over phony charges that the group profits from selling fetal tissue for research. She has co-sponsored a variety of anti-LGBTQ bills. 

A Wyoming editorialist has called Lummis a “white-privilege, systemic-racism denier.”

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY (Louisiana), elected in 2016, is described by his campaign website as a founding member of his local Methodist Church. His stated priorities include “defending the unborn” because life “is a gift from God,” and advocating “conscience protections for health care providers, insurers, and business owners.” Among the legislation he has sponsored is a bill to allow a state to exclude from its Medicaid program a provider who performs abortions.

“I am a Christian and believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. That belief informs every decision I make and my commitment to serve the public. . . . It was only by God's divine providence that our founders established the Constitution and the checks and balances that now define our great nation,” Kennedy has said. The American Family Association reported he supports a Judeo-Christian framework of morality and considers religious liberty at risk in the United States.

Following President Trump’s comments that Haiti and Africa were “shithole nations,” Kennedy defended him, saying Trump is “not a racist.” FFRF sent a complaint letter to Kennedy over a religiously exclusionary Thanksgiving tweet in 2019, in which Kennedy quoted from the bible and wrote: “The people of Louisiana are hard-working, fun-loving, and God-fearing.”

ROGER MARSHALL (Kansas), who was elected to the Senate in 2020 after serving in the House since 2016, identifies as a “nondenominational Christian.” “Faith and community continue to be pillars in Dr. Marshall’s life. He taught Sunday school for over 25 years and has served as an elder, deacon and board chairman of his church,” says his Senate website.

He was endorsed by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins for standing “strong for faith, family, and freedom.” He grew up in a strict Christian household with a police chief father who believed in corporal punishment. The OB-GYN earned an A-rating from the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List. He was a major backer of Kyle Duncan, who was confirmed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, despite his anti-LGBTQ rights record.

Marshall has apparently “tried to read the bible every day since I was 10 years of age, so a lot of the wisdom I’ve been given comes from reading the bible,” he told the Kansas City Star. “Ultimately, that’s the issue . . . every decision I make: Is it consistent with my faith both in word and action.”

RICK SCOTT (Florida), elected in 2018, previously the governor of Florida, identifies his religion as “Christian.” Despite getting Covid-19, he supported a resolution saying “there is no pandemic exception to the First Amendment,” condemning governors and mayors for using emergency powers “as a sword to go after churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship.”

As governor, he signed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, spending thousands of tax dollars on a bogus investigation of the organization, and signed into law harassing anti-abortion bills. He also signed into law a so-called religious expression bill requiring public schools to allow students to lead prayers during school-sanctioned events.

FFRF had urged Scott as governor to cancel the Florida Faith Symposium and objected to his involvement in another faith-based conference.

TOMMY TUBERVILLE (Alabama) assumed his Senate seat in January. He cites the Church of Christ as his denomination. As head coach at several college football teams including Auburn University and the University of Cincinnati, Tuberville was a prominent villain in FFRF’s Pray to Play report, which exposed how public university football teams use chaplains to impose Christianity on student athletes in violation of the First Amendment. He was also embroiled in controversies and spoke against nonwhite immigrants, warning that “Shariah law has taken over.”

“A Christian conservative, I will always stand up for those who can’t do so on their own. I will fight to protect the sanctity of every human life because future generations may very well look back at the current wave of infanticide sweeping across our nation as this generation’s holocaust,” says his campaign website. 

“I do believe today that God sent Donald Trump to us,” Tuberville told Alabama Farmers Federation in a campaign speech. “We’re losing Christianity in this country. We’ve got to get it back. But it starts by teaching it. We should teach all religions in our schools. We’ve definitely got to get God back in our schools.”

Return to FFRF press release: Shame on Christian Nationalist disruptors inside Congress.

View Sampling of Christian Nationalist House members who voted not to certify.