http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ en katie.s@ffrf.org Copyright 2012 2012-05-16T17:20:41+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-calls-for-removal-of-bradford-county-ten-commandments/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-calls-for-removal-of-bradford-county-ten-commandments/#When:17:20:41Z The Freedom From Religion Foundation urges the Bradford County, Fla., Commission to remove the recently placed Ten Commandments display from outside the County Courthouse. FFRF is a national state/church watchdog with over 18,000 members nationwide, including more than 850 in Florida. The Ten Commandments were unveiled at the courthouse on May 3, to celebrate a local National Day of Prayer event. The event was chock-full of Christian prayer and many attendees wore t-shirts that said "a monumental day for Christians."  Members of a bible study who routinely meet at a local steakhouse spoke at the May 3 dedication to "endorse and support" the unveiling of the monument. James Jones reached out to the "Lord" and, ironically referenced Judge Roy Moore who, he said, lost his job "by standing up for doing exactly what we're doing right now." Ken Weaver added "First of all, it's a dedication to its author, the True and Living God." Ron Kimball followed with ". . . I pray that the words inscribed on this stone will reach out to those who walk past this place and God, by your spirit, draw them to your Word." FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott wrote to Bradford County Chairman Ross Chandler and the Board of Commissioners on May 14 asking them to remove the bible edicts from the County Courthouse lawn. Elliott pointed out that the monument violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it lacks a secular purpose and constitutes an endorsement of religion by the county.   "The first commandment alone makes it obvious why the Ten Commandments may not be posted by government bodies. The County government has no business telling citizens which god they must have, how many gods they must have, or that they must have any god at all," wrote Elliott. FFRF is familiar with this type of state/church violation. The watchdog group is serving as co-counsel in a lawsuit against the School Board of Giles County, Va., over an illegal Ten Commandments display at Narrows High School.  2012-05-16T17:20:41+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-stands-up-for-voter-rights-in-north-carolina/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-stands-up-for-voter-rights-in-north-carolina/#When:21:32:44Z The Freedom From Religion Foundation is contesting election-day abuses by North Carolina polling places. Last Tuesday, Devon Park United Methodist Church blatantly exploited its status as a polling place by erecting a special election day sign supporting Amendment One. The church advised voters: "A true marriage is male and female and God." FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor took issue with this "flagrant abuse" in a May 11 letter to New Hanover County Elections Director Marvin McFadyen. "As the governmental body charged with selecting polling places for New Hanover County, we ask that you seriously reconsider selecting area churches, particularly Devon Park United Methodist Church, for voting places. Many churches have abused their tax-exempt status by intervening in political campaigns and have clearly signaled to their congregations and the general public who they favor in a given election," Gaylor charged. Gaylor pointed out that of the 43 polling locations in New Hanover County, eleven are at churches. According to the State Election Board, fully a third of North Carolina polling places are churches. North Carolina buffer law is meant to prohibit polling places from engaging in "political advertising and soliciting votes." There is a catch: The law applies only to displays 50 feet from the entrance of the polling facility. Under the law, McFayden argues that Devon Park was within legal grounds to set up its display. "The New Hanover County Board of Elections has the great responsibility of assuring compliance with election laws and selecting voting locations accessible to the public but which will remain free from intimidation," added Gaylor. No law should permit electioneering at any polling site.  2012-05-11T21:32:44+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/gubernatorial-colorado-day-of-prayer-proclamations-unconstitutional/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/gubernatorial-colorado-day-of-prayer-proclamations-unconstitutional/#When:18:17:42Z A unanimous three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled today in favor of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s challenge, originally filed in 2008, against gubernatorial proclamations of a Colorado Day of Prayer. Judge Steve Bernard, with concurrences by Judges Alan Loeb and Nancy Lichtenstein, overturned a lower court decision, ruling in favor of FFRF’s challenge of Colorado Day of Prayer proclamations: "A reasonable observer would conclude that these proclamations send the message that those who pray are favored members of Colorado’s political community, and that those who do not pray do not enjoy that favored status.” Bernard wrote that “the six Colorado Day of Prayer proclamations [2004-09] at issue here are governmental conduct that violate the Preference Clause [of the Religious Freedom section of Colorado’s Constitution].” The content is “predominantly religious; they lack a secular context; and their effect is government endorsement of religion as preferred over nonreligion.” The proclamations “have the primary or principal effect of endorsing religious beliefs because they convey or attempt to convey a message that religion or a particular religious belief is favored or preferred.” The 74-page decision noted that the “inclusion of biblical verses and religious themes,” statements urging “that individuals will unite in prayer” and the governor’s signature, imprimatur and seal make “no doubt here that the religious message is attributed to the Governor.” “The proclamations serve an exclusively religious purpose,” and are “addressed to the public generally . . . extend[ing] beyond the walls of the legislative assembly, or the boundaries of the graduation hall, to the borders of the State.” The proclamations “reflect an official belief in a God who answers prayer. At the same time, for those who do not believe in such a God, the proclamations tend to indicate that their nonbelief is not shared by the government that rules the State. In so doing, they undermine the premise that the government serves believers and nonbelievers equally.” The decision continues, “They are not a small part of something larger that serves a secular purpose. Rather, they stand, individually and collectively, as a call to ‘actual worship or prayer’. . . . Indeed, the proclamations, by themselves, are reasonably viewed as exhortations to participate in ‘offficial prayers’ that have been composed as ‘part of a religious program carried on by the government.’ This effect is amplified by the biblical verses and religious themes." The appeals court noted that Gov. Bob Ritter even spoke at a private Colorado Day of Prayer celebration held on the steps of the Capitol in 2007. The judges prefaced their decision by pointing out that “our decision does not affect anyone’s constitutionally protected right to pray, in public or in private, alone or in groups,” but that religious liberty is “abridged when the State affirmatively sponsors the particular religious practice of prayer.” The court said the individual has the “right to refrain from accepting the creed established by the majority.” Bernard noted that “all the proclamations of the Colorado Day of Prayer were issued in response to annual requests from the National Day of Prayer Task Force,” with an overtly proselytizing and theocratic mission seeking gubernatorial support. FFRF won a federal district court ruling, FFRF v. Obama, in 2010 declaring the federal National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. FFRF demonstrated the religious origins of the 1952 and 1988 acts of Congress, with Rev. Billy Graham and other evangelists pushing for the laws. The evangelical National Day of Prayer Task Force — based at Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs — has essentially acted as an arm of the government since 1988. In 2011, the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals threw out FFRF’s standing. But the Colorado appeals court affirmed standing, without offering a legal judgment on the National Day of Prayer itself. No court has ever upheld the day of prayer on its merits under the Establishment Clause. The appeals court is remanding the case to the trial court to consider whether a permanent injunction should be entered. “We’re exulting over the fact that reason has prevailed, and constitutional rights have been affirmed,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. FFRF thanks its local plaintiffs and members Mike Smith, David Habecker, Timothy G. Bailey and Jeff Baysinger, who made possible the challenge. FFRF congratulates its litigation attorney Richard L. Bolton. Read the decision here.  2012-05-10T18:17:42+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrfs-quit-the-catholic-church-ad-in-todays-washington-post/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrfs-quit-the-catholic-church-ad-in-todays-washington-post/#When:14:15:01Z The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s full-page ad, “It’s Time to Quit the Catholic Church,” runs in today’s Washington Post (A-5 Main), urging liberal and nominal Roman Catholics to “quit” their church over its war against contraception. The provocative ad asks: “Will it be reproductive freedom, or back to the Dark Ages? Do you choose women and their rights, or Bishops and their wrongs?” The ad is similar to the full-page ad that appeared in The New York Times in March, which is still creating shockwaves among conservative religionists. The Washington Post, unlike the Times, accepted FFRF’s punchy headline, “It’s Time to Quit the Catholic Church.” Additionally, FFRF has placed the full-page ad with a splash of color on the back of the Washington Express, handed out for free to Metro riders and D.C. residents. Express distributors will be wearing the ad on their vests. “It’s a disgrace that U.S. health care reform is being held hostage to your church’s irrational opposition to medically prescribed contraception,” the ad states. “No political candidate should have to genuflect before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.” “Join those of us who put humanity above dogma,” FFRF’s ad urges. “As a member of the ‘flock’ of an avowedly antidemocratic Old Boys Club, isn’t it time you vote with your feet? Please, exit en Mass,” requests the ad, signed by FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker. The Washington Post ad features a cartoon by the late Don Addis, showing a priest under a “Family Planning” banner counseling a woman: “Plan on a family.” It also includes a new line: “Life begins at excommunication.” The House of Representatives, which has been lobbied by the religious right to take action against Obama’s contraceptive  mandate, is in session this week. The ad blasts the church’s “pernicious doctrine that birth control is a sin” and the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act” introduced into Congress to impose church dogma on employees. FFRF warns the liberal Catholic that the church is “launching a ruthless political Inquisition in your name.” Gaylor called “The war against contraception and reproductive liberty the state/church battle of our day.” “We’re telling truth to power,” Barker added, “which is very liberating, and we urge Catholics who disagree with their Church on these vital matters of health and civil liberties to liberate themselves from an anti-civil liberties institution.” To view a larger version of the Washington Post ad, click here. To view a larger version of the Washington Express ad, click here. James hands "wears" FFRF's ad at the Falls Church, Va. Metro stop.  James is one of the 108 Washington Express distributors who displayed, as well as handed out FFRF's ad today. 2012-05-08T14:15:01+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-announces-fund-to-aid-nonbelieving-clergy/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-announces-fund-to-aid-nonbelieving-clergy/#When:16:31:46Z The Freedom From Religion Foundation is announcing the creation of a special fund to help ministers and priests who want to get out of the pulpit. FFRF, along with the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, is a primary sponsor of The Clergy Project, created to help ministers, priests, rabbis and other clergy who no longer believe in the supernatural (atheists, agnostics, secular humanists) and are looking for an exit strategy to a secular life. The Clergy Project started in March 2011 with 52 members, about a dozen of whom were still in the ministry. By early May 2012, the group had grown to more than 223, of whom 56 are still in active ministry. There are currently more than 60 pending applications, indicating that there may be a huge number of secret unbelievers in the pulpits of the world. Funds donated to The Clergy Project will help meet many needs, including: Scholarships for educational retraining. It is hard for someone with a divinity degree and a history of preaching to find new employment, especially in today's economy. Without an exit strategy that allows a minister to continue to provide for their family, it is nearly impossible to consider leaving the pulpit. Temporary hardship grants. Some of the clergy in the project tell heartbreaking stories of being unceremoniously thrown out into the street (literally, in one case!) and locked out when their nonbelief became known. Others who have voluntarily "graduated" to civilian life are finding it immensely difficult to land on their feet. Maintenance of the forum. The Clergy Project forum is a secret, invitation-only online sanctuary where former and active nonbelieving clergy can talk freely, comparing stories, suggesting resources, sharing concerns, asking for help, and finding a sympathetic nonjudgmental community of others who have wrestled with this unique situation. The initial funding for The Clergy Project forum came mainly from the Dawkins Foundation and FFRF and was built and hosted by the Dawkins Foundation, along with many hours donated by clergy volunteering their time and talents (including forum facilitator Dan Barker, FFRF co-president, and other FFRF members who are former clergy). The busy administrators of the forum are "Adam," a currently active conservative minister in the southern United States, and "Chris," who started out as an active member but has recently made his escape from a pulpit in the South. Members currently come from the U.S., Ireland, Australia, South Africa, England and Canada, as well as a few non-English-speaking countries. "It is hard to think of any other profession which it is so near to impossible to leave," writes Richard Dawkins. "If a farmer tires of the outdoor life and wants to become an accountant or a teacher or a shopkeeper, he faces difficulties, to be sure. He must learn new skills, raise money, move to another area perhaps. But he doesn't risk losing all his friends, being cast out by his family, being ostracized by his whole community. Clergy who lose their faith suffer double jeopardy. It's as though they lose their job and their marriage and their children on the same day. It is an aspect of the vicious intolerance of religion that a mere change of mind can redound so cruelly on those honest enough to acknowledge it." The need for The Clergy Project arose from discussions between Richard Dawkins, Dan Barker and Tufts University philosophy professor Daniel Dennett, including: Stories of the life experiences of former and active clergy that Barker has been collecting over the years. Dan, himself a former minister, is author of Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist and Godless. A preliminary study of "Preachers Who Are Not Believers," by philosopher Daniel Dennett, best-selling author of Breaking the Spell, and researcher Linda LaScola, published in March 2010 in Evolutionary Psychology and The Washington Post. They are currently working on a broader follow-up study. Ongoing discussions between Barker and Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion, about the need to help clergy who want to leave the ministry. Teresa MacBain, whose recent dramatic "coming out" from the ministry made headline news (including positive interviews on NPR and CNN this past week) has volunteered to be acting director of The Clergy Project. "Catherine," a minister from Canada, will be acting secretary, under the acting board members Dan Barker, FFRF members and former clergy John Compere and Stephen Uhl, recent clergy "graduate" Jerry DeWitt and other former clergy who are helping to screen the many new applicants. To donate to FFRF's "Clergy Project" fund, click here and select "Clergy Project" from the drop-down list. All donations to that fund will be used exclusively to help "Save a Preacher." 2012-05-07T16:31:46+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-mayors-overstep-bounds-hosting-prayer-breakfasts/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-mayors-overstep-bounds-hosting-prayer-breakfasts/#When:20:37:52Z The Freedom From Religion Foundation is busy this week protesting all kinds of National Day of Prayer-related entanglements between government and religion, including violations occurring in two separate states involving mayoral-arranged prayer breakfasts observing the day of prayer. FFRF, which represents more than 18,000 nonreligious membership and is based in Madison, Wis., serves as a state/church watchdog. In addition to generally protesting the involvement of governors and mayors in prayer events in their official capacity, FFRF has protested several egregious entanglements in which mayoral offices are the primary sponsors and organizers of prayer breakfasts timed with the National Day of Prayer. Congress has officially deemed the first Thursday in May as the “National Day of Prayer,” and a federal law requires the president to exhort citizens to pray via an annual proclamation. An evangelical group, the self-named National Day of Prayer Taskforce housed at Focus on the Family’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, pressures governors, mayors and others to also promote prayer by governmental edict. FFRF has formally protested city-sponsored mayor prayer breakfasts, in which the mayor’s office officially sells tickets, arranges and otherwise hosts the prayer events, in: • Odessa, Texas. FFRF wrote a letter of complaint over the sponsorship of the “Mayor’s Prayer Luncheon 2012,” to Mayor Larry Melton, mayor of Odessa. FFRF Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert followed up with an open records request, which revealed that the city’s public information coordinator actively promotes the mayor’s prayer luncheon through an annual press release and schedules many interviews promoting the prayer luncheon. The city secretary, Norma Aguilar, coordinates the prayer logistics, signs the contracts, etc. This year’s keynote speaker, Rev. Don Piper, author of “90 Minutes in Heaven” and “Heaven is Real,” is charging a $2,500 honorarium plus expenses including airfare, car rental, lodging. The city actively solicits sponsorships, apparently during the business day. Sponsorship letters are mailed out on official city stationery and either signed by the mayor or his secretary. • Rogers, Ark. A “Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast” is being held tomorrow at Cross Church at Pinnacle Hills in Rogers to coincide with the National Day of Prayer, is sponsored and organized by the Mayor’s Office. Tickets are being sold at Rogers City Hall, and the event is advertised on the City’s website. Markert, in her letter to Mayor Greg Hines, noted: “The City must cease all sponsorship and organization of the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast,” disassociate itself from the event, “and refrain from hosting, organizing, or otherwise coordinating the breakfast in the future. All ticket sales from City offices must be discontinued immediately.” The city advertises the National Day of Prayer Taskforce theme and bible verse (“Blessed is the national whose god is the lord,” Psalm 33:12). Tickets are available from Rogers City Hall, Christian Book Outlet, and the Cross Church Pinnacle Hills Bookstore. Sponsors start at $300, or tickets are $12. The Mayor’s office, in publicity for the event, enjoins: “May 3rd is the National Day of Prayer . . . so join us in this inspirational event as we honor God, give thanks for our many blessings and pray for our city.” FFRF legal intern Ken Earl, who emailed the letter to the Mayor’s office, received a snarky reply from the Rogers city attorney. • Springdale, Ark. Tickets of $10 each for the May 3 Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast can be purchased directly at the Mayor’s Office. This is the Mayor’s “3rd annual prayer breakfast,” and he is the host. “Pastors and lay people from Springdale churches will participate. Former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Ken Hatfield will speak.” Markert noted that while the could attend a privately sponsored event in his personal capacity, “it is absolutely unlawful, inappropriate and unseemly, under the First Amendment for a mayor’s office itself to host such an event or work in tandem with event organizers to put on the breakfast.” Additionally, FFRF has written a mayor participating in National Day of Prayer events at his city hall. FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor chastised Mayor Steve Van Gorden, Zephyrhills, Fla., for agreeing to participate at a prayer event at city hall Thursday featuring local religious leaders and church choices. The National Day of Prayer Taskforce annually organizes numerous evangelical Christian events, often on public property with government speakers, which exclude non-evangelicals and nonChristians. “We are shocked at the bad manners of these mayors who align themselves with events advertised as ‘Christian evangelicals need only apply.’ This kind of meddling in religion and promotion of one religion over another is what one would expect in a theocracy, not in our secular republic,” said Gaylor. “FFRF expects to be fielding complaints over other violations related to the National Day of Prayer for the next month,” Gaylor commented. “This is the least popular day of the year for many of our membership, who detest being told what to believe and who to pray to by government officials,” she added. FFRF won a historic federal court decision declaring the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional in 2010.  “In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience,” wrote U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, Madison, Wis. An appeals court in 2011 threw the case out on standing (not the merits), but FFRF continues to pursue two challenges of gubernatorial prayer proclamations in Colorado and Arizona. Action Alert 2012-05-02T20:37:52+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ask-obama-to-end-national-day-of-prayer/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ask-obama-to-end-national-day-of-prayer/#When:15:16:49Z The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging President Obama to protect freedom of conscience by ending the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer. In order to get its 'We the People' petition into the hands of the president, FFRF needs to gather 25,000 electronic signatures at the White House website by May 31. 'We the People' is set up by the White House to offer the public a way to petition the President. Each year by Congressional decree, the prayer day takes place on the first Thursday of May. FFRF notes that evangelicals such as Rev. Billy Graham "hijacked the Constitution" when they lobbied to establish the National Day of Prayer in 1952, and set the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer date, by act of Congress in 1988. The petition reads:  "We petition the Obama Administration to: End the unconstitutional National Day of Prayer, which violates the 1st Amendment. God & government are a dangerous mix. Congress, in 1952, abridged freedom of conscience when, at the instigation of Rev. Billy Graham, it designated a National Day of Prayer, ordering the President to proclaim 'a National Day of Prayer, on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.' The U.S. President has neither the moral nor the constitutional authority to dictate to Americans to pray, much less to tell citizens what to pray about or set aside an entire day for prayer. Whether to pray, or believe in a god who answers prayer, is an intensely precious, personal decision protected under our First Amendment as a paramount matter of conscience. Don’t let Christian evangelicals hijack our secular Constitution." Even though FFRF boasts over 18,000 members nationwide, it needs your help for this petition to go "viral" and garner the requisite 25,000 signatures ensuring Obama will respond. FFRF asks members and avid social media users to pass this along to friends and family.  FFRF has been challenging the National Day of Prayer for years, and, in 2010, won a historic federal court ruling declaring the public law unconstitutional. In her eloquent ruling, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb stated: “The same law that prohibits the government from declaring a National Day of Prayer also prohibits it from declaring a National Day of Blasphemy." She affirmed that Congress may no more declare a National Day of Prayer than it "may encourage citizens to fast during the month of Ramadan, attend a synagogue, purify themselves in a sweat lodge or practice rune magic." Obama appealed the ruling and an appeals court threw out the case, not on its merits, but on the question of standing. FFRF has two other ongoing lawsuits challenging gubernatorial prayer proclamations. Thomas Paine advised: "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must undergo the fatigue . . . of supporting it." Please take a moment to add your name to FFRF's petition to the White House.  INSTRUCTIONS: SIGNING THE PETITION (Senior citizen freethinkers may wish to elicit the help of a grandchild and encourage him/her sign the petition too!) 1. Open your web browser and 'copy' and 'paste' either of the two links into the address bar: http://wh.gov/EUP OR https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/end-unconstitutional-national-day-prayer-which-violates-1st-amendment-god-government-are-dangerous/b0nPWrTK 2. If you don't already have a 'We the People' account at the White House website, follow the steps to create a username and password. (Note: The White House prompt on passwords specifically encourages at least six characters, a few numbers, and upper and lower case letters.) 3. Either choose 'sign in' or 'create an account' 4. Once you're logged in, click the green 'sign the petition' button 5. Click 'promote the peition' and share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.  CALL THE PRESIDENT Tell the White House that you are offended and excluded by the National Day of Prayer Presidential Proclamation and that you don't believe in a god that answers prayer, much less that government has a right to push citizens to pray.  Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 P.S. If you use Facebook, remember you can find freethought graphic choices to use as your Facebook Timeline cover photo. Several specifically are geared to be used on the National Day of Prayer (tomorrow, May 3) as a protest.  Thank you for your help!  2012-05-02T15:16:49+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/in-time-to-protest-national-day-of-prayer/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/in-time-to-protest-national-day-of-prayer/#When:20:09:08Z Fed up with the annual government-sponsored National Day of Prayer? Indignant that your president, your governor, perhaps even your mayor, county executive . . . and dogcatcher, are exhorting you to pray, to set aside an entire day for prayer? Congress has designated the first Thursday in May "as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals." Join the Freedom From Religion Foundation in a Facebook rebellion! Choose one of FFRF’s two anti-National Day of Prayer graphic banners as your cover photo this week for your Facebook timeline page (the latest version of Facebook, a large horizontal image of your choice). FFRF is providing two different graphics — its popular new “God Fixation Won’t Fix This Nation” and its red-white-and-blue admonition to pious politicians to “Get off your knees and get to work!” For those who want something timeless (or to use after May 3’s prayerful violation), FFRF is also launching its “This is what an atheist looks like” to use with your timeline cover. (Check back with Facebook for variations using your favorite freethought appellations.) Go to FFRF’s Facebook page to save the graphic and place it on your own page. Let’s have a secular Facebook revolution! FFRF won a historic federal court decision declaring the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional in 2010. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb memorably ruled in FFRF’s favor that a president does not have the right under our secular constitution to issue a day of prayer, “any more than the government may encourage citizens to fast during the month of Ramadan, attend a synagogue, purify themselves in a sweat lodge or practice rule magic.” She added: “The same law that prohibits the government from declaring a National Day of Prayer also prohibits it from declaring a National Day of Blasphemy.” “In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience. When the government associates one set of religious beliefs with the state and identifies nonadherents as outsiders, it encroaches upon the individual’s decision about whether and how to worship.” An appeals court in 2011 held that FFRF and its member plaintiffs had no standing to continue the national lawsuit. Notably, the challenge was not thrown out on its merits.  Meanwhile, FFRF is pursuing two challenges of gubernatorial prayer proclamations at the state level, in Colorado and in Arizona. Its staff attorneys are already fielding many requests for help in stopping mayors from sponsoring National Day of Prayer-related prayer breakfasts in their official capacities, and other related day of prayer violations. The National Day of Prayer continues to fuel religious divisiveness involving evangelical Christian-only events involving public officials, often on public property, which do not allow other religious adherents to participate, placing the government’s stamp of approval on the Focus on the Family-housed National Day of Prayer Taskforce, which essentially has co-opted the annual event establishing religion. FFRF sent a strong letter of complaint to the mayor of Tampa on Friday chiding him for his participation in a blatantly sectarian and exclusionary event scheduled for Thursday. FFRF, based in Madison, Wis., is the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics) with more than 18,000 members nationwide, and works as a state/church watchdog.   2012-04-30T20:09:08+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-contests-more-rhode-island-religion/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-contests-more-rhode-island-religion/#When:16:56:19Z The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter of complaint April 13 to Leo Fontaine, mayor of Woonsocket, R.I., about a Latin cross at city Fire Station No. 2 and religious postings on the Fire Department's website. The cross has been there since 1921 as part of a monument erected in memory of an American serviceman killed in France in World War I. The department's website has a rudimentary "memorial" page showing a guardian angel comforting a firefighter. The site also has a poem entitled "The FireFighters Prayer," which ends with a verse that seems woefully out of date:      And if according to my fate, I am to lose my life,      Please Bless with your protecting hand, my children      and my wife. Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Market noted in FFRF's letter that it's illegal for the city to display "patently religious symbols and messages on city property. The website impermissibly demonstrates a preference for religion over nonreligion. The Latin cross at the fire station demonstrates Woonsocket’s preference for Christianity over other religions and nonreligion. Such government endorsements of religion runs afoul of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. "We ask that you immediately remove the cross from the Fire Station parking lot and remove the prayer and angel from the Woonsocket Fire Department website. We would also appreciate a prompt response from you in writing, informing us of the steps the city will take to resolve this matter," Markert wrote. The Woonsocket Call reported April 23 that the city is exploring its options. “I have no intention of removing the cross under any circumstances,” the newspaper quoted Fontaine saying. But, Fontaine said, it may be necessary to move the monument to private property. City Council President John Ward said the city, which is in dire financial straits, can't afford a costly legal battle. “I would not vote to pay to defend it,” Ward said. The claim is also made in the news story that no local person complained and that FFRF routinely patrols the whole country looking for such violations. "That charge is absurd," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president, noting that a Woonsocket resident who regularly drives past the Christian display found it offensive. "Our small staff is besieged with requests from members of the public who are upset about state-church violations," Gaylor said. "We only wish public officials who knowingly violate the Constitution could be held personally responsible for flouting the law. Nearly 30 percent of Americans are non-Christians and 15 percent are not religious. Firefighters should be there to serve everyone, regardless of religious views." 2012-04-24T16:56:19+00:00 http://ffrf.org/news/releases/alabama-city-removes-biblical-signs/ http://ffrf.org/news/releases/alabama-city-removes-biblical-signs/#When:19:21:19Z The Freedom From Religion Foundation has convinced the town of Sylvania, Ala., to remove four biblical welcome signs along heavily traveled city routes. Sylvania officials have confirmed that the signs will come down today. FFRF is a national state/church watchdog with over 17,500 members nationwide, including Alabama members and a state chapter, the Alabama Freethought Association. The "Welcome" signs contained a biblical quotation from Ephesians 4:5: "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism." The entire message was sealed with Mayor Mitchell Dendy's stamp of approval. FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott took issue with this flagrant blending of state and church in an April 17 letter. "The Sylvania 'welcome' signs are not welcoming; they affiliate the government with one religion, Christianity, and exclude others. The endorsement of the tenets of one religion on government signs is unconstitutional. No court would uphold this blatant violation of the Constitution," wrote Elliott in a letter to Dendy. Elliott called this violation egregious. The signs directly quote the New Testament, endorsing a fundamental part of the Christian faith. Travelers and taxpayers alike should not be forced to view Christian verses each time they pass city signs. "Whether to believe or not believe in 'One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism' is a personal decision protected under our First Amendment as a paramount matter of conscience. Local governments have no place in making position statements on such matters," noted Elliott. This is not the first time FFRF has remedied state/church violations in northern Alabama. This year FFRF has filed complaints with Marshall County, Marshall County Schools and Jackson County. School prayer, school board prayer and the notorious 'Bible Man' prompted FFRF to take action in those counties.  2012-04-23T19:21:19+00:00