The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent cautionary letters to nine Wisconsin public school districts in the greater Milwaukee area being targeted by a Christian evangelical club this coming school year.

The Good News Club — sponsored by Child Evangelism Fellowship, whose aim is to indoctrinate 5-12 year old children — annually chooses one major city to invade. FFRF warned the school districts that the club has chosen to descend on Milwaukee to convert students.

FFRF sent letters to Milwaukee Public Schools, Kenosha Unified School District, West Allist-West Milwaukee School District, Racine Unified School District, School District of New Berlin, School District of Waukesha, School District of Brown Deer, Port Washington-Saukville School District and Mayville School District. The Good News Club has already announced which schools it plans to set up shop in.

The Good News Club strategically meets in public elementary schools, muddying the distinction between church and state, and has been criticized for masking its mission to proselytize children. It describes itself as "a Bible-centered organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish (disciple) them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living."

The club lures students with snacks, games and prizes, then imposes fundamentalist Christian dogma that focuses on children as sinners who need to be "saved." The club encourages children to proselytize classmates who are nonreligious or follow a different religion. FFRF warns that such behavior breeds intolerance leading to divisiveness, peer pressure and bullying.

"Religion in schools builds walls between children and calls attention to differences that children would otherwise be unaware of," write FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker.

Courts have ruled time and again that public schools may not advance or promote religion. FFRF reminds the districts that they can not legally offer the Good News Club unique access to students, endorse the club through advertisements or assist in the distribution of religious literature.

FFRF's letter outlines ways that the school districts could ensure that they do not become ensnared by the religious group's agenda.

FFRF advised public schools to:

• Ensure that school staff members are not endorsing, serving as teachers or recruiting for the Good News Club
• Place limitations on how outside groups may occupy public school buildings to ensure that proselytizing adults cannot be allowed access to students while classes are in session or as students are exiting classrooms
• Schedule rental times for the group to use the property beginning only after students have safely left for the day
• Prohibit the Good News Club from advertising its program on school property outside of the time it has rented from the property
• Only allow school-sponsored materials to be distributed to students
• Ensure school districts are charging and collecting reasonable compensation for rental of classrooms, as required under the Wisconsin State Constitution.

Such policies protect school districts from allowing outside religionists from turning their educational buildings into religious battlegrounds.

"Public schools have a constitutional obligation to remain neutral toward religion and to protect the rights of conscience of young and impressionable students," write Barker and Gaylor. "Parents, not the school district or an evangelical Christian club, are responsible for determining the religious or nonreligious upbringing of their children."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a Wisconsin-based national state/church watchdog with more than 29,000 members across the country, including more than 1,200 members in Wisconsin and a chapter, the Kenosha Racine Atheists & Freethinkers (KRAFt). Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

CHERYL KOLBE (Director) retired from Portland Community College in 2004 as Student Systems Support Manager where she was responsible for implementing the software for Enrollment Services. She is passionate about the mission of FFRF and in 2013 she started a local chapter in Portland, Oregon and continues as chapter President.  She is a volunteer naturalist for Nature Conservancy and takes advantage of frequent opportunities to usher for performances in Portland. In her free time, she is an avid hiker, cross-country skier, and kayaker. Her two daughters and two granddaughters are a constant source of pleasure.

An overtly religious proclamation in a Virginia county courthouse has been covered up following a Freedom From Religion Foundation communiqué.

"Virtus — Keep God's Commandments — Veritas" was recently revealed on the wood structure below the balcony in the Nelson County Circuit Courtroom after being concealed for more than 50 years. The statement would have faced the judge and jury in the courtroom.

It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the county government to display a message to "Keep God's Commandments," FFRF asserted in a letter to local officials a few months ago.

"The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits government advancement and endorsement of religious messages," wrote FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott. "Given the size of the 'Keep God's Commandments' lettering and its prominent placement, a reasonable observer would view it as an endorsement of religion by the county." 

The Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that Ten Commandments displays in two Kentucky courthouses violated the U.S. Constitution, FFRF added. While the original "Keep God's Commandments" lettering may date to the early days of the courthouse, that would not absolve the county from taking actions today that violate the Establishment Clause. FFRF noted that the religious wording would also implicate the ability of litigants to receive justice from an impartial jury and judiciary.

Citizens are frequently compelled to come to the Nelson County Courthouse on important matters, FFRF reminded the county. These citizens should not be made to feel offended and excluded because the local government they support with their taxes oversteps its power by prominently displaying religious statements at the seat of government. Almost one-fourth of American adults are nonreligious, including about 35 percent of Millennials.

County officials acted in response to FFRF's missive.

"Months after it first was uncovered as part of a renovation project, the Nelson County Board of Supervisors decided publicly Tuesday to cover temporarily historic lettering with religious connotations inside the Nelson County Circuit Courtroom," reports the local newspaper. 

FFRF appreciates the county board proceeding in the right direction.

"It is a good interim solution to what was clearly an unconstitutional situation," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "Next, the supervisors should go ahead and make their move permanent."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 29,000 members across the country, including 600-plus in Virginia. Its purpose is to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation wants a Florida county to terminate its unconstitutional funding of a church that has already cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

A concerned local taxpayer informed FFRF that the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners has repeatedly provided funds to renovate and repair St. Paul Lutheran Church Tampa, and this year will likely disburse $59,000 based on a recommendation from the county's Historic Preservation Challenge Grant Review Committee. The county granted the church $50,000 in fiscal year 2014 and $18,250 in fiscal year 2015.

The grants from the county to support the church's house of worship violate both the U.S. and Florida Constitutions.

"The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits any 'sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement of the sovereign in religious activity,'" to quote the U.S. Supreme Court, FFRF Legal Fellow Ryan Jayne writes to Hillsborough County Attorney Chip Fletcher. "Specifically, the government may not fund projects for religious worship." 

The Florida Constitution prohibits funding of religious spaces by the government. Article I, § 3 specifically states: "No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution."

The purpose of the Hillsborough County's Historic Preservation Challenge Grant Review Committee is admirable: "to promote historic preservation, heritage tourism, and related economic development within Hillsborough County." However, it cannot do so by funding renovations or repairs for a house of worship. If St. Paul Lutheran Church is failing to maintain its historic building, the county should either require the church to turn over complete and full ownership to the county or the county should take the property by eminent domain.

The message the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners is communicating to its citizens is that churches will be rewarded if they neglect their duties as landowners and fail to maintain their historic buildings. And it's possible that supporting one church will lead to calls from other religious organizations for funding in the future. The obvious solution is to decline all grants for projects that will advance religion, as is constitutionally required.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is fighting a case in the New Jersey Supreme Court regarding unconstitutional funding of churches there that similarly violates the Garden State's Constitution. 

"With state constitutions specifically prohibiting church funding, it's baffling as to why counties in Florida or New Jersey think this to be permissible," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

FFRF is asking Hillsborough County to refuse all future requests for taxpayer funds to renovate or repair churches.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 29,000 members across the country, including 1,400-plus in Florida and a state chapter. FFRF's purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

Baseball fans in the Midwest can look forward to a unbelievably good time this weekend.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and Minnesota Atheists are co-sponsoring "atheist night" at St. Paul's CHS Field starting 7 p.m. this Saturday, Aug. 12, in which the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball team will play the Sioux Falls Canaries. It's the sixth consecutive year of "atheist night" with the St. Paul Saints, and the third one co-sponsored by the two freethinking organizations together.

"FFRF and Minnesota Atheists have partnered together on several projects," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor, "but this is one of the most remarkable endeavors we have coordinated."

This night at the ballpark is billed as "Food For Thought" because fans are being asked to bring nonperishable food items to benefit The Food Group food bank, which works toward improving people's lives in this world — here and now. Here's some food for thought: Since the beginning of 2016, volunteers from Minnesota Atheists have helped sort and repackage 54,237 pounds of food to fight hunger in our community. This amount represents more than 45,000 meals. This is enough food to feed 1,255 families of four for a three-day period.

"There are three types of families in this world," says Eric Jayne, who serves on the Minnesota Atheists board of directors. "Those who pray before dinner, those who don't pray before dinner, and those who have no dinner at all. Human nature compels us to serve the last category of families because dreams of a sanitized afterlife cannot feed hungry children."

So far, the baseball gods have been kind to atheist-sponsored professional baseball. None of our sponsored games has been rained out or delayed by rain. The team has won three games and lost two at these unbelievable games since 2012.

Pre-game tailgating begins around 3 p.m. on Saturday at the parking lot under the Highway 52/Lafayette Bridge on Prince Street. It's two blocks southeast of CHS Field, and five short blocks from the Union Depot station on the Green Line.

Tickets in our group portal section are available now at SaintsGroups.com (password: foodforthought). It's $21 for the Infield ("Infidel") section and $11 in the General Admission section by left field. Both tickets come with a brand new 2017 hat. Seats are limited, and we sold out before the game last year. So don't wait too long! Those in attendance can expect to be entertained with atheist-themed antics between innings and can bid on the atheist-themed jerseys players wear during the game. Limited edition atheist-themed baseball T-shirts are available online for only $10. 

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is the nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics, with more than 29,500 members nationwide and about 600 in Minnesota. It publishes a newspaper, broadcasts a radio show and video podcasts, and has a busy legal department.

Minnesota Atheists, the largest and oldest atheist organization in the state of Minnesota, seeks to promote positive atheism in action by participating in a variety of community events, monthly volunteer projects, public affairs, and educational programming. 

FFRF condemns one of the nation's most well-known community radio stations for cancelling a talk by legendary scientist and freethinker Richard Dawkins.

Dawkins was scheduled to give a talk and a book presentation on Aug. 9 sponsored by KPFA in Berkeley, Calif. Then, the station abruptly changed course. According to its explanatory statement, KPFA "booked this event based entirely on his excellent new book on science when we didn't know he had offended and hurt — in his tweets and other comments on Islam, so many people. KPFA does not endorse hurtful speech. While KPFA emphatically supports serious free speech, we do not support abusive speech."

There is a significant difference between criticizing Islam and casting aspersions on all Muslims. Our media — including community radio — should embrace and promote that distinction, not blur the lines between ideas and people.

The true test of an idea or belief is not how sincerely it is believed, but the facts upon which it rests. Ideas are not immune from criticism simply because some people believe in them truly and deeply. Beliefs matter far less than the evidence for those beliefs.

People deserve protection, ideas do not. This maxim, which should be a guiding principle for every nation and society that wishes to flourish, is being turned on its head. Congress, with its misguided Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Supreme Court, with its Hobby Lobby decision, have exacerbated the problem.

As Dawkins pointed out in his response to KPFA, "I am known as a frequent critic of Christianity and have never been deplatformed for that. Why do you give Islam a free pass? Why is it fine to criticize Christianity but not Islam?"

Tied up in this is this disinvitation is a fear of appearing racist or worse, being labeled a racist. But race and religion are very different, one being an unalterable characteristic of birth while the other, though often an accident of birth, can be altered simply by changing one's mind. And that makes open, honest, and incisive criticism all the more important. Especially when, as the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg observed of religion, "With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

No idea is above criticism, certainly not an idea as bad as religion.

Every year, FFRF co-presidents and attorneys speak at hundreds of events around the country, discussing the First Amendment and often criticizing religion and its tendency toward theocracy. We could easily be next. Indeed, we've felt the sting of being banned in the past from venues and billboards. KPFA broke no law when it deplatformed Dawkins, but kowtowing to a pious heckler's veto is no less stunning or craven.

A prominent media institution should practice unfettered discourse instead of silencing controversial voices.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) today released a new ad, "You're Sued!" challenging President Trump's executive order to legalize church politicking, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

"President Trump wants to convert churches into the next political super PACs, but he better check the Establishment Clause of the Constitution first," said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "FFRF filed our lawsuit and launched this ad campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of church politicking."

The ads will run on Facebook, Google and Instagram targeting secular Americans nationwide this month.

Trump signed his "Religious Liberty" executive order in early May with great fanfare during a National Day of Prayer ceremony in the Rose Garden. FFRF filed suit shortly after in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin.

FFRF's suit argues that Trump has used his order to usher in a new era of church politicking, greenlighting endorsements from the pulpit and opening the door for dark money political spending. Meanwhile, the order discriminates against secular organizations such as FFRF, which must follow strict guidelines to maintain their 501(c)(3) tax status.

For more information, read FFRF's press release, and legal complaint about the suit.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is requesting a Michigan city to cancel plans to allow organized Christian worship at a city-sponsored event this coming weekend.

A concerned local resident informed FFRF that Menominee's 35th Annual Waterfront Festival schedule includes an "Outdoor Church Service" at 10 a.m. this Sunday, Aug. 6. The event website says the annual festival is "sponsored by the city of Menominee" and lists the contact as "Menominee City Hall." The festival is also advertised on the city's website with a link to the event page. 

FFRF reminds Menominee of its constitutional responsibilities.

"It is a fundamental principle of Establishment Clause jurisprudence that the government cannot in any way promote, advance, or otherwise endorse religion," FFRF Managing Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert writes to Menominee City Attorney Robert J. Jamo. "The Supreme Court has said time and again that the First Amendment 'mandates governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.'" 

The city of Menominee has a constitutional obligation to remain neutral toward religion, FFRF informs the city attorney. By explicitly sponsoring the Annual Waterfront Festival, the city implicitly sponsors each event that occurs at the festival, including the church service. Such sponsorship alienates Menominee residents whose religious beliefs are inconsistent with the message being promoted by the church service, including the 23 percent of American adults — and 35 percent of Millennials — who are nonreligious.

"What about the non-Christian residents of Menominee at the festival?" asks FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "It'll be more than a tad exclusionary for those folks to endure a Christian ceremony that they won't be a part of at a city-sponsored gala."

FFRF wants the city of Menominee to refrain from scheduling, advertising or otherwise sponsoring a church service at this year's festival and in the future.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 29,000 members and chapters across the country, including almost 700 and a chapter in Michigan. Its purpose is to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is grateful for the backing of kindred organizations in a New Jersey case it is fighting against the unconstitutional funding of churches.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union recently submitted an amicus brief in support of a suit that FFRF and member David Steketee filed in state court in late 2015 against Morris County, N.J., challenging major grants of tax dollars to repair or maintain churches. FFRF is specifically objecting to $1.04 million in allotments to Presbyterian Church in Morristown.

FFRF contends the grants clearly violate Article I, Paragraph 3 of the N.J. Constitution that guarantees: "nor shall any person be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right." The amicus brief agrees with that contention.

"State constitutional history shows that the Religious Aid Clause was intended to prohibit public funding of religion, and that preventing tax support of buildings used for religious worship was one of its principal aims," the brief says. "History also teaches that the funding at issue here could result in the evils that the Religious Aid Clause was meant to guard against: violation of taxpayers' freedom of conscience; public funding of religion on an extensive scale; weakening of religious institutions through increased dependence on governmental support; governmental interference with churches; and division between religious groups."

The case is currently before the New Jersey Supreme Court, which has accepted a direct appeal of a trial-level decision allowing Morris County to disburse millions in taxpayer funds for church repair, despite the state Constitution provision barring such use. 

FFRF is hopeful that the New Jersey Supreme Court will confirm that Morris County cannot compel taxpayers to support or repair churches by upholding the plain language of the state Constitution. With strong national groups rallying to its side, its confidence has received a boost.

"We truly appreciate the support of Americans United and the ACLU," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "The compelling secular arguments we all are making will resonate even more deeply with the New Jersey Supreme Court."

FFRF's lawsuit is being handled by attorney Paul S. Grosswald. FFRF Staff Attorney Andrew L. Seidel and Elaine and Eric Stone Legal Fellow Ryan Jayne are co-counsel. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a nationwide nonprofit organization dedicated to the constitutional separation of state and church, with more than 29,000 nonreligious members across the country, including 500-plus in New Jersey.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is commending a Wisconsin school district for turning off a Christian broadcasting station on a school bus.

Early in spring, FFRF sent a letter to the Stevens Point Area Public School District due to concerns over a bus driver who was incessantly playing devotional Christian music on a bus taking students to P.J. Jacobs Junior High School.

"The Stevens Point Area Public School District must ensure that religious broadcasts are not being played to students utilizing district transportation," wrote FFRF Legal Fellow Ryan D. Jayne. "Public school bus drivers are agents of the school district and are subject to the same constitutional restrictions as other district staff, including the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment."

This means that religious messages — such as Christian music — may not be promoted by district employees because it equates to an impermissible school sponsorship of a specific religion. Moreover, this kind of broadcasting alienates non-Christian students and families. Nearly 30 percent of Americans are non-Christians, either practicing a minority religion or no religion at all, including almost 45 percent of Millennials.

After highlighting this constitutional misstep, Jayne requested that the district inform its bus drivers that religious programming may not be played while students are present. The school district responded earlier this week with a brief, but laudable, response: "The practice has ceased."

"A captive audience of public school children should never be forcibly exposed to programming of an evangelizing nature," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "The school district was right to end this disturbing practice."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a Wisconsin-based national nonprofit organization with more than 29,000 members and chapters across the country, including more than 1,400 members in Wisconsin and the Kenosha Racine Atheists & Freethinkers chapter. It's purpose is to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church.

Photo by Stuart Monk via Shutterstock

President Trump's latest appointee is as dreadful as his earlier ones.

Trump has nominated Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback as an ambassador-at-large for religious freedom. Trump has chosen several other religious zealots for contradictory and preposterous posts, like asking foxes to guard the henhouse, as FFRF has observed on other occasions. Brownback's views are similarly antithetical to the office for which he will be nominated. 

Brownback has a distorted view of religious freedom — more akin to religious privilege. He has used his power as governor to weaponize religious freedom, changing it from a hallowed protection of the rights of individual conscience into a tool to impose religious beliefs.

FFRF has a long history of opposing the Kansas governor. His views on religious freedom, which he'll be responsible for in his new post, are truly troubling.

Under the guise of "religious freedom," Brownback legitimized discrimination by signing SB 175, "the Campus Religious Freedom Bill," which prevents state universities from taking any action against student groups that discriminate against minorities if their religion declares it necessary. This runs up against settled Supreme Court precedent. 

As a senator in 2010, Brownback joined a brief against FFRF's lawsuit that, for a time, struck down the National Day of Prayer. When the 9th Circuit declared that "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional, Brownback took to the floor of the Senate to excoriate the appeals court: "Can we declare the Constitution unconstitutional?" Apparently, he forgot that the Constitution, like the original pledge, is godless.

Brownback stood by Texas Gov. Rick Perry's side when Perry used his position in 2011 to organize and promote a massive prayer rally in an effort to solve the worst statewide drought ever. Brownback was the only other governor to attend the prayer rally. And after all of Perry and Brownback's prayers, the drought worsened.

One of the worst breaches by Brownback came in 2012 when he proclaimed Dec. 8 as the "Day of Restoration in Kansas." In his official capacity as Kansas governor, he appeared in a commercial for a private religious group, ReignDown USA. He beseeched people to ask for "humility to be used as salt and light in a difficult season for the United States and for our state." The reference to salt and light invokes Matthew 5:13-16, a passage, like ReignDown's mission, that is about converting people to Christianity.

In 2015, FFRF hammered Brownback for an executive order issued in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling on marriage equality, seeking to "preserve and protect" religion. The third part said that the state government "shall not take any discriminatory action against a religious organization that provides social services or charitable services, which acts or intends to act upon sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction." This was directed at religious adoption agencies and similar organizations. Also in the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment, Brownback removed discrimination protections for LGBT state employees with an executive order. 

Just a few months ago, FFRF took Brownback to task for his sermonizing state of the state address. He concluded by saying that Kansas "is the place our destiny lies. A place sung of in countless churches, synagogues, and places of worship across our vast prairie. ... Let us never forget the God of our forefathers who blessed it and us. And let our eyes never lose sight of the glow from that heavenly place where peace reigns forevermore! May God continue to bless the people of our home — Kansas."

Kansas will get rid of an awful governor if Brownback is confirmed as ambassador, but the State Department will receive the unwelcome gift of an unfit diplomat.
(FFRF intends to give the information in this statement and sample questions to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will handle Brownback's confirmation.)

Photo under CC 2.0 by Gage Skidmore

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is deeply troubled about elementary school bible classes being taught in a Kentucky school district.

A concerned local parent informed FFRF that the Knox County Public Schools system teaches elementary students bible classes. The district reportedly sends letters to parents at the start of each school year promoting the Bible Based Character Education classes and a permission form for parents to opt out of the classes. These classes are given in place of physical education or library time two days a month. Students who do not participate sit in the library.

The class constitutes illegal religious instruction and is geared towards the district's youngest, most impressionable students, FFRF contends. FFRF has never heard of, and seriously doubts there could be, a class objectively teaching about the bible to elementary school students. The classes appear to be nothing more than a Sunday School course.

These classes are flagrantly unconstitutional, FFRF warns the school district. FFRF filed suit earlier this year challenging similar bible instruction in elementary schools in West Virginia. 

"In the seminal Supreme Court case on this issue, McCollum v. Bd. of Educ. (1948), the court held that bible classes in public school were unconstitutional," FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott writes to Knox County Public Schools Superintendent Kelly Sprinkles. "The court did not find it relevant that parents had to opt their children in to the religious instruction, because the classes themselves still constituted an illegal use of the school system for a religious purpose. The facts here could hardly be more similar." Other federal courts have ruled that similar courses are unconstitutional. For instance, in FFRF's successful lawsuit against religious instruction in Rhea County, Tenn., some years ago, the court said, "This is not a close case. Since 1948, it has been very clear that the First Amendment does not permit the state to use its public school system to 'aid any or all religious faiths or sects in the dissemination of their doctrines.'"

And suggesting that children who do not wish to be subjected to religious activity at their school should be segregated from their classmates is reprehensible. It shames students into either outing themselves as different or showing deference to a religion they do not believe in and to which their parents do not want them subjected.

These classes are also a usurpation of parental authority — parents have the right to direct the religious, or nonreligious, upbringing of their children, not public schools. These bible classes alienate those students, parents, teachers and members of the public whose religious beliefs are inconsistent with the religious messages being promoted by the school, even other Christians whose beliefs do not endorse the biblical interpretation that the school teaches.

Parents and taxpayers expect and desire a secular education. It makes no difference if some parents would like the school system to teach the bible as fact to its students. The law is clear: The teaching of religious doctrine is prohibited in public schools under the Constitution. Not only is this constitutionally required, it reflects the increasingly pluralistic world we live in.

FFRF insists that Knox County Public Schools put an immediate moratorium on elementary school bible classes and investigate its bible classes at all grade levels.

"We're talking about children here," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "It's unconscionable to subject them to religious indoctrination."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 29,000 members and chapters across the country, including members and a chapter in Kentucky. FFRF's purpose is to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

Photo via Shutterstock by Christin Lola