Bible ads take permanent vacation
An advertisement for vacation bible school in front of the Caraway Public Library in Caraway, Ark., has been removed. The sign, an electronic, scrolling text marquee, promoted a bible program for children at a local church.
Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott wrote to Mayor Barry Riley on June 13, noting the Establishment Clause violation. “The best policy would be for the city to disallow such advertising,” Elliott suggested.
Riley responded the same day: “The message on the sign has been removed.”
FFRF thwarts school abstinence assembly
Onaway Area Community Schools in Onaway, Mich., will no longer invite speakers with a proselytizing agenda. Matt Fradd, who describes himself on his website as “a Catholic apologist and speaker,” was invited to give a presentation April 29 to Onaway High School students on the subject of abstinence.
According to Fradd’s website, his presentation “challenges audience members to open their minds and hearts and embrace the Church’s teachings on human sexuality.” Students were reportedly told, “Romantic love is impossible without chastity.”
Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert wrote Superintendent Rod Fullerton on May 20, citing constitutional concerns over the religious content, adding that regardless of the motive, inviting such a speaker “gives the appearance that Onaway Area Community School District endorses the program’s message.”
Replying on June 18, Fullerton said the school “had no intention of violating any laws with this assembly” and that it “will not be participating in this type of assembly in the future.”
Bible quote off township website
Inappropriate religious material brought to FFRF’s attention by a concerned individual has been removed from the official website of the township of Watersmeet, Mich.
The bible quote, accredited to “Mr. Jesus Christ,” which we will politely refrain from quoting again here, endorsed a belief in heaven, sin and Jesus.
Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert wrote Township Supervisor Mike Rogers on June 16 to relay the information that “Courts have continually held that townships may not display religious messages.”
Rogers agreed moments after receiving the letter electronically to remove the quote.
School to review
policy on religion
Due to FFRF’s intervention, Manierre Elementary School in Chicago relocated its kindergarten graduation from a church sanctuary to its banquet hall.
On June 10, Staff Attorney Sam Grover, acting on reports from a concerned community member that the ceremony was to be hosted in Moody Church, wrote Barbara Byrd-Bennett, chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools about the clear constitutional violation.
The next day, school attorney James Bebley replied that, “the school has arranged for the captioned ceremony to be moved to the banquet hall.” And “at our administrator training this summer, we plan to address again the prohibition on the use of religious sites for public school events.”
No more religious rituals at school
Rockwall Independent School District in Rockwall, Texas, will no longer permit prayer at any school-sponsored events. According to a local complainant, Rockwall High School’s June 10 graduation included a religious prayer led by a local police officer. The graduation was one of two scheduled that week.
Staff Attorney Sam Grover wrote to Superintendent Jeff Bailey on July 11. “Graduation should be an inclusive, unifying event designed to celebrate the accomplishments and prospects of the graduates. Including religious references does exactly the opposite, isolating non-Christian and nonreligious students, cheapening their participation by sending the message that they are outsiders at their own graduation and in their own community.”
Later that day, counsel for Rockwall ISD replied that the district “has agreed to take [the] appropriate steps to ensure that religious rituals are not part of graduation ceremonies or any school-sponsored events in the future.”
The Rockwall-Heath High School graduation, which took place after the FFRF complaint, did not include prayer.
Swan song for graduation prayer
Graduation ceremonies in Forsyth County School District in Cummings, Ga., will no longer include religious prayer.
On May 24, Forsyth Central High School’s graduation reportedly included a student-delivered invocation and benediction, both of which specifically mentioned God and Jesus.
Staff Attorney Sam Grover wrote Superintendent L.C. Evans on May 30: “School officials may not invite a student to give any type of prayer, invocation or benediction at a public high school-sponsored event.”
District counsel replied July 13: “The issues which you raise in your letter will not be a part of next year’s graduation program at Forsyth Central High School.”
Satisfied complainant: FFRF is ‘awesome’
A concerned resident reported church ads in front of Castle Rock Middle School and Castle View High School. The signs advertised Sunday morning worship at Eternal Rock Lutheran Church and Summit Church. The churches rent from the school district, but have routinely left advertising banners up for months on school property.
Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel wrote a letter of complaint to the Douglas County School District on July 8. The next day, the complainant confirmed that FFRF’s letter had a positive effect. “You guys are awesome — the signs are down now!”
FFRF intervention saves prayer addicts
Prayer will no longer be sanctioned at Piedmont High School athletic events in West Piedmont, Ala.
Previously, it was the practice for a Christian prayer to be delivered over the school’s public address system before football games. A graduate and Piedmont athletics booster reached out to FFRF, noting that he found the prayers “very offensive to those who do not share in the belief of prayer,” and that a student should not be “subjected to ridicule for not participating.”
Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert notified Superintendent Matt Akin of the unconstitutional action on March 20. Akin responded July 2 after two follow-up letters: “Beginning immediately, the Piedmont City School District will no longer allow student-led prayer at athletic events.”
Navy agrees to allow equal access
Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) and associated clinics in Bremerton, Wash., will no longer block minority religious Web pages. Their Internet filtering policy banned websites of non-monotheistic religions.
A concerned individual was distressed to learn that the online Church of Satan was “blocked for reasons of Cult and Occult,” along with other non-mainstream religions such as Scientology, Wicca and various pagan religions. He described the discriminatory practice as “an outrage,” noting that monotheistic websites, including the outrageously bigoted Westboro Baptist Church’s site, were readily available.
Staff Attorney Sam Grover wrote the NHB on May 1, explaining that the policy was discriminatory. On July 15, Lt. Cmdr. David Peck reported that the policy had been changed to allow sites such as wicca.org and churchofsatan.org.
Church graduation ceremonies moving
Graduation ceremonies for Perry Local School District, Massillon, Ohio, will no longer be held at the Faith Family Church. From now on, nonreligious students wishing to participate in one of life’s most momentous occasions will not be excluded from doing so.
Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert wrote to Superintendent Martin Bowe on Feb. 17, informing him that “It is unconstitutional for a public high school to force, compel, or coerce its graduation students, their parents, teachers, and other members of their families or friends, to violate their rights of conscience at a graduation ceremony.”
Bowe’s May 15 reply said the district has “agreed to find a different site for the 2015 graduating class.
Bible distribution stopped in school
A South Carolina school district has agreed to stop allowing the distribution of bibles on school property due to a July 3 letter from Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott to Superintendent David Havird, Anderson School District One in Anderson.
FFRF’s complainant reported that a man told students they could take a bible as a staffer stood by outside an elementary school library, with bibles on the table.
Elliott’s letter addressed illegal events that occurred in April, when the bibles were distributed to students at Powdersville Elementary School in Greenville, S.C. “It is unfortunate that some adults view public schools as ripe territory for religious recruitment,” wrote Elliott, adding that courts have held that “religious instruction is for parents to determine, not public school educators.” Elliott noted that the distribution also violated school policy.
District counsel responded July 21 that “the district will ensure that bibles are not made available to elementary school-aged students during the school day on school premises.”
‘Pervasive religious culture’ addressed
Lamar County School District staff in Purvis, Miss., will no longer be permitted to proselytize to students. A Sumrall Middle School student contacted FFRF in April about a teacher who talked about “why our country needs God” and the “war on Christmas.” Another teacher apparently held an Easter event and spoke about “the Rapture” and the anti-Christ.
Staff Attorney Sam Grover noted the violations June 20 in a letter to interim Superintendent Tess Smith, also citing faculty participation in prayer at Sumrall Elementary School and a “pervasive culture of proselytization in the district.”
Smith responded July 8 and agreed to “meet with each of the staff members mentioned, including a follow-up meeting with the school principal.” Smith said she’s organizing an in-service for principals to give them “the necessary guidance to train their staff in the future regarding constitutional issues.”
FFRF ends prayer at school banquet
There will no longer be teacher-led prayer or any prayer at the end-of-year banquet for Sarah Scott Middle School in Terre Haute, Ind.
A family member of a student contacted FFRF with information that, like ceremonies from previous years, a school-sponsored banquet May 27 celebrating the top 10 students in each grade featured teacher-led prayer.
“Everyone is expected to bow their heads while a teacher leads the prayer,” reported the complainant. “The school is fairly diverse, so I’m sure I’m not the only person that is uncomfortable with the school trying to force everyone to pray.”
Staff Attorney Sam Grover sent a letter May 30 to Superintendent Daniel Tanoos of Vigo County School Corp., declaring that, “The district should make certain that teachers in its schools are not unlawfully and inappropriately indoctrinating students in religious matters by encouraging them to engage in prayer. Schoolchildren already feel significant pressure to conform from their peers. They must not be subjected to similar pressure from their teachers, especially on religious questions.”
After a July 8 follow-up inquiry, district counsel replied July 17 that each building principal has been told that “teacher-led prayer with students present will cease, as it is prohibited by the Constitution and should not be allowed.”
Georgia Air Force base
grounds job ad bias
Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, Ga., has removed a requirement that only Catholics need apply for a position as music director.
FFRF was alerted to the July 15 job ad, which requested a “Catholic Music Director to provide worship services at Moody AFB Chapel.” The posting specified that “the contractor shall maintain a lifestyle consistent with Catholic principles” for the position, and said the applicant would “not be required to perform duties that are incompatible with the Catholic faith.”
Staff Attorney Sam Grover’s July 18 complaint letter noted that the religious test violates the equal employment provisions of the Civil Rights Act, which says military departments may not discriminate on the basis of religion.
Within 15 minutes of receiving the complaint, an Air Force representative called to apologize for impermissible language in “all of the solicitations” and said the base intends to “modify the verbiage” in all of its job postings and remove the “Catholic lifestyle” mention.
Prayer breakfast promotion stopped
Putnam County in Carmel, N.Y., will no longer use county email to promote prayer breakfasts. Last fall, the director of personnel invited county employees to attend the 22nd Annual Putnam County Leadership Prayer Breakfast. The email included a bible verse from 2 Chronicles: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive them, and heal their land.”
Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert sent three letters to the county, starting March 17. County counsel responded July 10: “The individual who sent the email in question regarding the Prayer Breakfast event has been advised not to send such notices by County email in the future.”
Baccalaureate will include disclaimer
Columbian High School in Tiffin, Ohio, will no longer be involved with a baccalaureate service for seniors. The June 7 baccalaureate at Trinity United Church of Christ was coordinated with school faculty, including the principal, his secretary and the choir director.
The religious service was listed on the school’s graduation checklist and promoted on the school calendar. Additionally, the graduation FAQ on the school’s website encouraged graduates and their families to attend.
On June 12, Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert wrote Superintendent Vicki Wheatley of Tiffin City Schools. Due to the school’s “promotion of the worship service on its school website, students will perceive the baccalaureate service as school-sponsored,” Markert wrote.
Wheatley responded June 25 that “future District publications regarding a baccalaureate service will include a disclaimer indicating the event is not school-sponsored, it is an optional event, and that the District does not endorse any message espoused.”
Wheatley said she has “reminded the appropriate District employees of the policies and limitations discussed above, and [has] clarified the District’s expectations.”
Georgia district agrees to prayer curbs
Future graduations at Bremen City High School in Bremen, Ga., will not include prayer, at FFRF’s behest. A religious photo of prayer has also been removed from the Bremen City Schools Facebook page.
The school’s May 24 graduation included opening and closing prayers. Each lasted several minutes and addressed the Christian “Heavenly Father, we thank you.”
Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel wrote the district June 6, noting other recent violations in the district, including a photo on the district website of the football team praying and an elementary school administrator leading kindergarteners in prayer.
The district responded June 17, saying that “the phrase ‘invocation’ will not be used in next year’s graduation program.” Additionally, the “superintendent has removed that photo” in question.
Prayer off football team pregame menu
Illegal pregame prayer at football team meals has been halted at Alexander High School in Douglasville, Ga. According to reports by a concerned individual, the varsity football team had been supplied pregame meals by Pray’s Mill Baptist Church. A pastor was present at the meals and at most of the practices and games.
At the end of the mandatory meals, the pastor would deliver a “pseudo-sermon” and ask those present to bow their heads and pray. The complainant said the prayer “makes several nonbeliever athletes uncomfortable as well, but because they’re students on the team, they can’t just ‘step out’ and not participate or risk banishment.”
Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel wrote Superintendent Gordon Pritz on May 27. District counsel replied June 17 that Pritz “has discussed with school administration and appropriate staff members the legal issues that you raised. . . . To the extent there existed any issue with a prayer or religious talk being given to students on the team during a team event by local clergy, there will be no such activity during next football season.”
The district was successfully sued by Doug Jager, son of a longtime FFRF member, over pregame invocations in the late 1980s. Doug was a member of the marching band. In Jager v. Douglas County District, the Supreme Court in 1989 let stand a ruling in Doug’s favor by the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Jesus vanishes from department’s Facebook
The police department in Jacksonville, Ala., has removed and will no longer display religious postings on its official Facebook page. The posts included an image with the words “Happy Birthday Jesus,” an image of a nativity, a number of bible verses, a picture promoting the “National Day of Prayer for Law Enforcement,” a picture of a man carrying a “Police Officer’s Bible” and a link to a Christian website with police officers singing a Christian song.
Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert contacted Jacksonville Chief of Police T.L. Thompson on Dec. 31. After two follow-up letters, Thompson finally replied July 2: “That post and similar ones were deleted from that account and no new posts of this nature have been posted.”
FFRF halts public school prayers
Ignacio School District in Ignacio, Colo., will no longer feature prayers at certain ceremonies held throughout the academic year.
A complainant reported to FFRF that schools included prayers before graduation, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas ceremonies. It was also reported that two prayers are offered at each of these events, one to the Christian god and another to a Ute Native American god.
FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel sent a letter Oct. 18, explaining that the district has a legal duty to remain neutral toward religion.
After receiving a follow-up letter, the district responded June 23: “We have discontinued that practice.”
The response sets a record for the most concise letter of compliance an FFRF attorney has ever received.
— Compiled by publicist Lauryn Seering and intern Noah Bunnell
FFRF ran a full-page ad in the July 3 New York Times to protest the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling that is bringing in many new members (welcome, all) and is still creating a stir.
Featuring a portrait of birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger, whose motto was “No Gods — No Masters,” the ad criticizes the “all-male, all-Roman Catholic majority” on the court for putting “religious wrongs over women’s rights.”
That caught the attention of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who facetiously thanked FFRF for showing there is still anti-Catholic bigotry. Dolan claimed the ad was a “drippingly bigoted blast in the hospitable pages of The New York Times.”
The near-apoplectic Bill Donohue, Catholic League president, of course claimed FFRF was bigoted for pointing out that six of the nine court members are Catholic, with five of them very committed and reactionary Catholics.
FFRF’s 2012 full-page ad in the Times was titled “It’s time to consider quitting the Catholic Church.” (The paper made FFRF rephrase the original headline, which was the much punchier: “It’s time to quit the Catholic Church.”)
Dolan is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which the ad criticized for openly declaring war on the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate and for placing dogma above humanity.
Online newscaster Cenk Uygur of “The Young Turks” featured an amusing analysis July 13 of the reaction to the latest ad, running clips of Fox News going after FFRF. Andrea Tantaros emceed a round table going after FFRF and the Times, showing a close-up of the “Dogma should not trump civil liberties” part of the ad.
“The ad doesn’t go after Catholics. It says we don’t want the Catholics to force their religion on us,” Uygur pointed out. “If there’s so much bigotry against Catholics, how did so many of them wind up on the Supreme Court?”
FFRF has taken the lead in calling for repeal of the 1993 Religious Freedom Resoration Act, which was the basis for the Hobby Lobby ruling.
“None of our civil rights, established after decades and decades of struggle and education, will be safe until RFRA is overturned,” commented Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. (See more about ruling on page 5.)
Lewis Public Schools in Lewis, Kansas, will no longer allow staff to facilitate distribution by the Gideons of religious materials. A complainant contacted FFRF after a fifth-grade teacher told students to cross the street unescorted to receive a bible. The teacher lined the students up, told them to cross the street to get the bibles, but did not accompany the children because she believed this made her actions legal.
When the complainant’s child refused a bible because the student’s family was not religious, the teacher asked the student, “Do you always do what your parents tell you to do?”
The complainant noted that bible distribution by Gideons at the school has been going on for 30-some years.
FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel sent a letter on May 21 to Superintendent Virgil Ritchie, pointing out why forcing students to accept religious literature is predatory and illegal. On June 10, Ritchie responded that it had been decided that “Lewis Elementary School will not allow The Gideon Society to distribute materials during the school day or on school grounds. The teacher mentioned in your letter is no longer employed by the school district.”
June 30 marked a turning point in the struggle to uphold the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, according to FFRF’s statement released on the day the Supreme Court issued its chilling abuse of “religious liberty.”
In a 5-4 split, the court held that for-profit corporations can exercise their so-called religious conscience in order to restrict employees’ access to contraceptives. The ruling in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores held that the contraceptive coverage granted by the Affordable Care Act creates a “significant burden” on a corporation’s free exercise of religion.
Once again an all-Catholic, all-male, all-ultra-conservative majority of five has voted to eviscerate fundamental rights. The law’s requirement that employers who provide health care coverage must offer preventive care, including prescriptive contraceptives, does not violate the rights of Hobby Lobby, even though it is run by a fundamentalist zealot. But the court’s ruling giving corporate veto power over women workers’ private contraceptive choices, certainly violates the rights of women.
It was all over by page 2 of the Supreme Court’s decision favoring the fundamentalist Christian owner of Hobby Lobby Stores and the Mennonite owner of Conestoga Wood Specialties. Justice Samuel Alito, joined by his Catholic brethren, wrote these jaw-dropping words:
“[W]e must decide whether the challenged HHS regulations substantially burden the exercise of religion, and we hold that they do. The owners of the businesses have religious objections to abortion, and according to their religious beliefs the four contraceptive methods at issue are abortifacients. If the owners comply with the HHS mandate, they believe they will be facilitating abortions.”
The fanatical businessmen who brought the litigation believe some forms of the birth control pill and IUD are abortifacients, despite reality. The amicus brief of the College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and 21 other medical professional groups thoroughly debunking this misrepresentation.
The ruling was not based on the Constitution, but on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a statute. This statute was adopted by Congress and must be repealed by Congress. Even Alito admits: “As we have seen, RFRA was designed to provide very broad protection for religious liberty. By enacting RFRA, Congress went far beyond what this Court has held is constitutionally required.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s amicus brief noted state-church attorney Marci A. Hamilton (joined by groups advocating for the rights of victims of religious abuse), was the only brief before the Supreme Court that argued that RFRA is unconstitutional. FFRF’s important brief points out that RFRA “accords religious believers extreme religious liberty rights that yield a political and fiscal windfall in violation of the clearest commands of the Establishment Clause.”
During oral arguments, counsel for the government, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, noted that a decision in favor of Hobby Lobby would be “the first time under the Free Exercise Clause or under RFRA in which [the Supreme Court] or any court has held that an employer . . . may be granted an exemption that extinguishes statutorily guaranteed benefits of fundamental importance.”
The ruling ignored the rights and needs of thousands of female Hobby Lobby employees, and millions of women nationwide who work at for-profit corporations. Women workers must not be at the mercy of employers who happen to be religious fanatics who want to intrude into private reproductive decisions that are none of their business. Rather than protecting women workers’ right to health care and women’s freedom of conscience, the Court has turned its back on them in the name of “religious liberty.”
This damaging decision opens the floodgates for corporations, interested only in increasing their bottom line, to claim religious objections to a variety of generally applicable laws. The Court arbitrarily claims its decision would not necessarily allow a corporation to claim a similar religious objection to blood transfusions, vaccines, or mental health services, or create a religious right to discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation or race. But very obviously, the ruling creates mischievous precedent that will haunt the next generation of litigation.
The high court has ruled that contraception — the right to plan families and avert unwanted pregnancies — is not necessary for women’s health. One in four U.S. women died due to pregnancy or childbirth in the 19th century. It is a lie for the Supreme Court to aver that birth control is not preventive medicine. The court is practicing reckless medicine without a license.
We cannot let a male, Catholic, ultra-conservative majority on the court turn the clock back a century. Join FFRF in working now for the most practical remedy for this pernicious decision — the repeal by Congress of RFRA. None of our civil and human rights, established after decades and decades of struggle and education, will be safe from the reach of religious bigots until RFRA is overturned.
This statement was written by FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor, Staff Attorneys Andrew Seidel and Sam Grover. Turn to page 12 to read FFRF’s ad against the Hobby Lobby ruling that ran in The New York Times on July 3.
Judge Kendall Sharp of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed FFRF’s free speech case against the Orange County School District as moot, since the district has agreed to let FFRF distribute all of the literature it had previously prohibited.
In 2013, FFRF and its local chapter, the Central Florida Freethought Community, sought to distribute literature in several public high schools after the district allowed an evangelical Christian group to distribute bibles.
“This is a victory. The court has acknowledged that the school district is allowing all the materials that were initially prohibited,” said FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “We disagree with how the court and the school district chose to handle this clear-cut discrimination, so we’re planning to appeal on some issues, but overall, it’s a win.”
The now-permitted materials include a pamphlet that the district had previously prohibited, claiming it “argues that Jesus did not promote equality and social justice, was not compassionate, was not reliable and was not a good example.”
Other FFRF “nontracts” that discuss what the bible says about abortion and which, according to the district, “assert that God is hateful, arrogant, sexist and cruel,” will now be allowed. As will Robert Price’s Jesus Is Dead, which the district banned earlier because “[t]he claim that Jesus was not crucified or resurrected is age-inappropriate for the maturity levels of many of the students in high school.” (An odd claim given that the district allowed the violence-filled bible.)
FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel, who worked closely on the case with litigating attorney Steven Brady, noted that the forum is now open to all comers. “Satanists can distribute their literature, Muslims can distribute the Quran and atheists can distribute books that criticize religion.”
CFFC Leader David Williamson added, “We intend to give out a lot more literature to educate students about atheism and the importance of keeping religion out of public schools. We are even designing new materials specifically for students and families in Orange County.”
From the beginning, FFRF and CFFC have maintained that Orange County should close the distribution forum. “The irony is that kids can get a bible anywhere. It’s the country’s most widely available book,” Seidel said. “But where could a Christian kid get a copy of Sam Harris’s Letter to a Christian Nation so easily? As long as the forum remains open, they can get one in Orange County Public Schools.”
FFRF thanks David Williamson for being a plaintiff and for his hard work. Other plaintiffs were FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, whose writings were among those that were censored.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a joint federal lawsuit July 23 on behalf of FFRF member Douglas Marshall, contesting the ban of a “reason station” in a city hall atrium where the city has allowed a “prayer station.”
Since 2008, the city of Warren, Mich., has allowed Tabernacle Church, a Church of God congregation, to set up the prayer station, in which volunteers distribute religious pamphlets, pray with passersby and promote their religious beliefs. The lawsuit doesn’t seek to remove the prayer station but asks the court to order the city to treat believers and nonbelievers equally.
When Marshall, a Warren resident, asked to set up a reason station in April for two days a week, he was denied a permit. According to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Marshall and other volunteers who operate the reason station would offer philosophical discussions with people who express an interest in secularism.
Upon receiving news of the lawsuit, Fouts told The Associated Press: “The city has certain values that I don’t believe are in general agreement with having an atheist station, nor in general agreement with having a Nazi station or Ku Klux Klan station.” He added that a reason station “will not contribute to community values or helping an individual out.”
In his rejection letter, Mayor James Fouts wrote: “To my way of thinking, your group is strictly an anti-religion group intending to deprive all organized religions of their constitutional freedoms or at least discourage the practice of religion. The City of Warren cannot allow this.”
“Our Warren member simply wants the same access to the atrium that has been granted to others, including those who operate the prayer station,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “Regardless of one’s viewpoint, there’s no legally justifiable reason to deny Douglas Marshall his First Amendment rights.”
Dan Korobkin, ACLU of Michigan deputy legal director, said, “Once the government opens public space for use by private groups, it cannot pick and choose who can use the space based on the content of their message or whether public officials agree with that message. The city cannot allow speech supportive of religion and reject speech supportive of atheism.”
“The city has an obligation to serve all members of the community equally, regardless of their faith or their lack of faith,” added Alex Luchenitser, Americans United associate legal director.
“The government can’t simply silence private speakers whenever it dislikes their message,” said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “Nobody should be excluded from their own city hall based on what they believe, or don’t believe.”
In addition to Korobkin, Luchenitser and Mach, Marshall is represented by Ayesha Khan of Americans United, Rebecca Markert and Patrick Elliott of FFRF and Michael Steinberg, Kary Moss and William Wertheimer of the ACLU of Michigan.
To read the legal complaint and motion for preliminary injunction:
ffrf.org/legal/challenges/ongoing-lawsuits/
The Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Internal Revenue Service are poised to resolve FFRF’s closely watched federal lawsuit challenging the IRS’s non-enforcement of anti-electioneering restrictions by tax-exempt churches. The expected settlement would be a major coup for FFRF, a state/church watchdog and the nation’s largest freethought association, now topping 21,000 members.
FFRF and the IRS filed an agreement July 17 to dismiss the lawsuit voluntarily, after communications from the IRS that it no longer has a policy of non-enforcement against churches. However, the agreement is being disputed by an obscure Milwaukee-area church, Holy Cross Anglican Church, which is intervening in the case and is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
The settlement would allow FFRF to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit “without prejudice,” meaning FFRF can renew it if the IRS reverts to its previous inaction. As of press time, District Judge Lynn Adelman of Milwaukee, hadn’t ruled on the agreement.
“We’re proud that FFRF’s litigation should ensure that the IRS will now resume enforcing the law, and go after churches which abuse their tax-exempt privilege by attempting to illegally influence the outcome of elections,” said FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “Otherwise, churches will become unaccountable PACs, congregations could turn into political wards, and donations to the collection box could be used for political purposes. FFRF’s litigation will help safeguard our democratic election process.”
FFRF sued in November 2012 based on the agency’s reported moratorium on enforcing the electioneering restrictions against churches and religious organizations. No 501(c)(3) entity, including churches, may retain tax exemption if it endorses political candidates.
Yet the IRS had no procedure in place to initiate churches examinations, after a Minnesota district court invalidated the IRS’ prior procedure in 2009. Church groups began to openly engage in politicking at annual organized events such as “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” An IRS official publicly reported in 2012 that the IRS had an ongoing moratorium on making church tax examinations.
On June 16, a year and a half after filing suit, FFRF received its first information from the IRS indicating it no longer has a policy of non-enforcement against churches. FFRF’s counsel, Richard L. Bolton, also discussed the policy with the Department of Justice, and on June 27, FFRF was apprised that the IRS has a procedure in place for “signature authority” to initiate church tax investigations or examinations.
Complicating the practical effect for now of the settlement is the global moratorium currently in place on IRS investigations of any tax-exempt entities, church or otherwise, while Congress conducts its probe on IRS tea party policies.
The intervening church filed a motion insisting: “FFRF should not be in a position to drop this lawsuit and file an identical lawsuit (and again put the Church’s interests in jeopardy) a week, a month, or a year in the future.” The Becket Fund has asked the federal court to dismiss the suit “with prejudice,” so that FFRF could not renew its challenge if the IRS reverts to taking no action on violative churches.
On July 29, FFRF filed a response making it clear it will only dismiss if “our agreement has teeth,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor, “to ensure that we can resume the suit if anti-electioneering provisions are not enforced in the future against rogue political churches.”
Alliance Defending Freedom, which has proclaimed Oct. 5 as Pulpit Freedom Sunday this year, filed a Freedom of Information Act request after learning of the July 17 agreement, insinuating that the IRS was withholding information.
Contrary to the intervenor’s contention, “there is nothing strange, collusive, or concealed here,” noted the IRS in a July 22 motion filed with the court.
What was FFRF’s lawsuit about and what happened?
FFRF sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in late 2012 to compel it to enforce its own regulations barring tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofits from engaging in partisan political activity. FFRF had reason to believe that the IRS was not enforcing these regulations against churches or other religious organizations.In fact, a theocratic legal society, the Alliance Defending Freedom, is the chief sponsor and promulgator of “Pulpit Freedom Sundays,” in which it urges churches to openly flout the law and endorse from the pulpit. Many such churches have directly “turned themselves in” to the IRS to test the law.
In July 2014, FFRF agreed to voluntary dismissal of its case because recent clarifications by the IRS have remedied its concerns. FFRF is satisfied that the IRS does not at this time have a policy specific to churches of non-enforcement of its anti-electioneering provisions.
Doesn’t this mean the IRS is targeting conservative churches?
No.There is no change in federal law or IRS regulations; rather, the tax code is being enforced evenhandedly. There will be no impact or effect on any law-abiding 501(c)(3) groups, including churches. All that the IRS intends to do now is to follow an already existing objective process for enforcing electioneering restrictions in a way that ensures no nefarious targeting of any organization occurs.
Does this settlement prevent pastors from commenting on social issues, such as same-sex marriages, abortion, contraceptive coverage, etc.?
No. FFRF specifically challenged the IRS’s purported policy of “non-enforcement of the electioneering restrictions” as to churches and religious organizations. Section 501(c)(3) of the Tax Code prohibits all nonprofits — including churches and other religious organizations, and FFRF — from intervening in political campaigns as a condition of their tax-exempt status. This means these organizations are strictly prohibited from participating or intervening, directly or indirectly, in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for elected public office.
Is FFRF targeting conservative churches because it disagrees with their political views on social issues?
No. Some news organizations and commentators have stated that FFRF is “targeting” conservative churches. This is simply untrue. Since 2006, FFRF has sent more than 50 letters to the IRS. asking for investigations into situations in which FFRF believes the tax code was violated. FFRF has acted on complaints from the public, who believe the law is being violated. FFRF letters to the IRS. about possible violations are made without regard to political affiliation or allegiance. For instance, in the 2012 election, FFRF sent a letter to the IRS regarding a pastor at a church in North Carolina who urged his congregation during worship services to vote for President Obama.
Furthermore, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, FFRF cannot take any partisan action. FFRF aligns itself with no political party.
Did FFRF withdraw the case because the IRS. agreed to “monitor” specific churches?
FFRF did not withdraw its suit pursuant to any agreement to “monitor” sermons and homilies for proscribed speech with which FFRF disagrees. As the court documents state, FFRF withdrew the case because it “is satisfied that the IRS does not have a policy at this time of non-enforcement specific to churches and religious institutions.”
Is FFRF “out to suppress free speech rights”?
No. As a defender of the First Amendment, FFRF respects the free speech rights of any individual or organization. Tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are afforded a special privilege in our country. If an organization chooses to be tax-exempt under 501(c)(3), it forfeits the right to engage in political campaign intervention. Churches and other religious organizations are free to engage in electioneering if they so choose, but they cannot abuse their tax-exempt privilege and remain tax-exempt.
Doesn’t a dismissal mean losing a case?
No. When parties settle a case, the case must be removed from the court’s docket. The dismissal is a procedure for doing so. FFRF’s case was dismissed “without prejudice” meaning FFRF can refile if the IRS fails to enforce the law.
— Written by FFRF Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt to stop his smear campaign against FFRF, the nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics.
As part of an Aug. 5 records request to the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Justice related to FFRF's recently settled suit against the IRS, Pruitt said:
"At the intersection of those two fundamental rights [free speech and free exercise] lies the right of religious organizations to encourage their members to engage in the political process in a manner consistent with the core tenets of their religions. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is unabashed in its desire to destroy that right, and the fact that this organization has now entered into an agreement with the IRS — an agreement that they call 'a victory' for their cause — is alarming."
In FFRF's Aug. 7 letter to Pruitt, Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said: "I write to correct your disparaging and unwarranted mischaracterization of our organization, which works not to 'destroy' the First Amendment but to uphold the law and the Constitution."
"FFRF agreed to voluntary dismissal of our case because recent changes by the IRS have remedied our concerns," Gaylor added. "FFRF is satisfied that the IRS does not at this time have a policy specific to churches of non-enforcement of its anti-electioneering provisions. As you are undoubtedly aware, there is an appropriate blanket ban against any and all 501(c)(3) nonprofits from engaging in political action, specifically such as endorsing political candidates."
Since agreeing to settle the suit July 17, FFRF has encountered a lot of misconceptions about the suit, the settlement and the law, which went into effect in 1954. FFRF is not "targeting" churches, Gaylor said.
"No tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit, church or otherwise, may lawfully engage in partisan, political action. Tax exemption is a privilege, not a right, granted by the government to certain categories of nonprofits in exchange for abiding by certain reasonable rules. Entities that wish to reap that major privilege must earn it, including by a ban on electioneering. Churches of course remain free to endorse any political candidate they want — but if they choose to electioneer, they choose to lose their tax-exempt privileges, just like every other partisan, politicking organization."
Pruitt also made some wildly misleading claims on the issue Aug. 5 on Fox News' "The Kelly File" with guest host Shannon Bream.
Gaylor called Pruitt's claim that FFRF “is unabashed in its desire to destroy [a First Amendment] right" unfortunate, ignorant and possibly slanderous. "Please cease and desist making untrue statements that damage our organization’s reputation and irresponsibly sensationalize and distort the simple facts of this case."
To clarify the issues, FFRF has put together an FAQ, which can be read here.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has taken action against a well-publicized violation of the Civil Rights Act by a restaurant in Winston–Salem, N.C., which is offering a 15% discount to customers “who pray over their meals.”
Mary Haglund, owner of Mary’s Gourmet Diner, has reportedly offered the “Praying in Public” discount for four years. But when a Christian radio station posted an image of a customer’s receipt on its Facebook page, the story went viral.
FFRF Staff Attorney Elizabeth Cavell promptly wrote a letter yesterday (Aug. 4), informing Haglund, daughter of a missionary, that “it is illegal for Mary’s Gourmet Diner to discriminate, or show favoritism, on the basis of religion.”
With more than 21,000 members, including over 500 in North Carolina and an active state chapter, the Triangle Freethought Society, FFRF is the largest national association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics), which acts as a state/church watchdog.
The federal Civil Rights Act accords all citizens “the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation . . . without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin.” As a place of “public accommodation,” Mary’s Gourmet Diner may not lawfully offer a discount only to customers who pray.
Even if the practice were inclusive of customers who engaged in prayer to all types of gods (e.g., Allah, Zeus, Satan), the “promotional practice favors religious customers, and denies customers who do not pray and nonbelievers the right to ‘full and equal’ enjoyment of Mary’s Gourmet Diner,” wrote Cavell.
“Any promotions must be available to all customers regardless of religious preference or practice on a non-discriminatory basis.”
To protect the First Amendment rights of all residents of Warren, Mich., regardless of religious or philosophical beliefs or non-beliefs, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a federal lawsuit this morning challenging the city’s ban on an atheist booth in a city hall atrium where the city allows a prayer station.
The atrium has been set up by city officials as a public space that can be reserved by a wide variety of groups and individuals, including civic organizations and Warren residents. But the mayor is not allowing an atheist to use space in the atrium because his belief system “is not a religion.”
Since 2009, the city has allowed a local church group to run a prayer station in which volunteers distribute religious pamphlets, offer to pray with passersby, and discuss their religious beliefs with people who approach the station. The lawsuit filed today does not seek to have the prayer station removed, but instead asks the court to order the city to treat believers and non-believers equally.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Douglas Marshall, a Warren resident whose request to install a “reason station” was rejected by the city. Marshall wishes to set up a station that is similar in size, structure and function to the prayer station – a folding table and chairs with literature on display and available to the public – except that his station will offer information and opportunities for discussion from a non-religious perspective.
“Our Warren member simply wants the same access to the atrium that has been granted to others, including those who operate the prayer station,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “There’s no legally justifiable reason to deny Mr. Marshall his First Amendment rights.”
Said Dan Korobkin, ACLU of Michigan deputy legal director: “Once the government opens public space for use by private groups, it cannot pick and choose who can use the space based on the content of their message or whether public officials agree with that message. For instance, Warren officials would not be permitted to grant access to activists supportive of the mayor and reject the applications of activists who are critical of the mayor. The same logic extends to this matter: the city cannot allow speech supportive of religion and reject speech supportive of atheism.”
“The city has an obligation to serve all members of the community equally, regardless of their faith or their lack of faith,” said Americans United Associate Legal Director Alex J. Luchenitser. “Our laws make it clear that our government can’t adopt a rule book that favors one group over another.”
In April 2014, Marshall submitted an application to city officials to reserve space in the atrium for two days a week. According to the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Marshall and other volunteers who operate the reason station would offer to have philosophical discussions with passersby who express an interest in a secular belief system.
Less than two weeks after it was submitted, Marshall’s application, although nearly identical to the application submitted by the prayer station volunteers, was rejected by Warren Mayor James Fouts. In the rejection letter, Mayor Fouts writes:
“To my way of thinking, your group is strictly an anti-religion group intending to deprive all organized religions of their constitutional freedoms or at least discourage the practice of religion. The City of Warren cannot allow this.”
"The government can't simply silence private speakers whenever it dislikes their message,” said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "Nobody should be excluded from their own city hall based on what they believe — or don’t believe.”
In addition to Korobkin, Luchenitser, and Mach, Marshall is represented by Ayesha N. Khan of Americans United; Rebecca Markert and Patrick Elliott of the Freedom from Religion Foundation; and Michael J. Steinberg, Kary Moss and William Wertheimer of the ACLU of Michigan.
To read the complaint, click here.
To read the motion for preliminary injunction that was filed along with the complaint, click here.
By Eric Jayne
There’s a lot of excitement in Minneapolis about the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star game coming to town in July, but perhaps an even better (and far more affordable) game will be played four days earlier at the other Minnesota Twin City across the river.
On Friday, July 11, the city of Saint Paul will be unofficially rebranded as “Mister Paul” as it hosts an atheist-themed minor league baseball game. The Saint Paul Saints minor league team will change its name to the secular-friendly Mister Paul Aints for the third year in a row in what is being billed as a “Night of Unbelievable Fun: The Third Strike.” It’s sponsored by the Minnesota Atheists and Freedom from Religion Foundation.
After losing the first two years, the Mr. Paul Aints will be going for their first win when they face the Kansas City T-Bones. There will be pregame tailgating, postgame fireworks, atheist-themed antics and even atheist-themed jerseys that will be worn by the home team players.
The specially designed jerseys (featuring a big red “A”) will be auctioned off during the game. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Family Place shelter, which serves area families without permanent housing. The front office staff will also cover the “S” in the Saints signage and hang banners promoting Minnesota Atheists and FFRF throughout Midway Stadium.
Some of the atheist “antics” are still being developed for this year’s game, but I know for certain that fans can expect an even louder and more skeptical “Doubting Thomas” in July. That very same character was quickly ejected last year after he demanded more evidence from the umpire after an inning-ending call.
At a time when athletes continue to publicly invoke their religious beliefs, and with the relatively recent injection of “God Bless America” replacing “buy me some peanuts and Crackerjacks” during MLB’s seventh-inning stretch, a brief introduction to this baseball team boldly choosing to partner with organized atheism might be in order.
Partly owned by comedian/actor Bill Murray, the Saints have gained national attention for their promotions and for the theatrics during the game. One of my favorite promotions was the Michael Vick dog chew toy that was given away during the NFL quarterback’s federal investigation for his involvement in a dog fighting ring.
Besides topical humor, there’s genuine tolerance and an open attitude within the Saints organization that falls directly in line with freethinking values. Mike Veeck, another part owner of the Saints, was heavily influential in the team’s signing of the first woman to play in minor league professional baseball.
In 1997, 50 years after Veeck’s father (Bill Veeck) helped bring racial integration to the American League by signing Larry Doby to the Cleveland Indians, Ila Borders made her first appearance with the Saints as a relief pitcher. Although she only played a few games with the Saints, she found success with two other teams in the league before retiring.
I refuse to make up some corny baseball metaphor about atheism, but I will say that the combo will be unbelievably fun. The tailgating will start at 4 p.m. in the stadium parking lot. The first pitch will be at 7 p.m. If you’re interested in winning the opportunity to toss out the first ceremonial pitch from the pitcher’s mound, visit MinnesotaAtheists.org/FirstPitch/.
Game tickets are available at SaintsGroups.com/. After you get through the Captcha screen you’ll need to enter the group password “Atheists” with an uppercase A. You might want to consider staying in town the next day and join other friendly heathens for a regional, one-day conference in downtown Saint Paul on Saturday, July 12.
Speakers include Susan Jacoby, Debbie Goddard, PZ Myers, Rebecca “Skepchick” Watson and others. For more details about the baseball game and conference, visit MinnesotaAtheists.org/conference/.
FFRF member Eric Jayne is president of Minnesota Atheists.
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