It seems certain that not-so-reverend (or revered) Rick Warren is no intellectual match for ex-reverend Dan Barker.

Christian pastor Warren's best-seller, Purpose Driven Life, starts with a single-sentence paragraph: "It's not about you." God planned your life, he claims, before you were born. "You don't get to choose your purpose."

Former minister Barker, now FFRF co-president, turns Warren's sad worldview right-side up in his new book, Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning (April 2015, Pitchstone). "It is about you," his book starts. "When it comes to purpose, it is about you and no one else."

Life Driven Purpose, with an eloquent foreword by philosopher Daniel C. Dennett (author of Breaking the Spell and an honorary FFRF director) is the first book by an atheist aimed at the "inspirational/motivational" bookshelves. "We atheists are truly IN-spired," Dan says, "while believers are OUT-spired. They desperately seek their marching orders from somewhere outside themselves — a king, commander, lord or slave master — while we nonbelievers find and create purpose and meaning within ourselves."

Inner-directed purpose is the only true purpose, Dan writes. "Asking, 'If there is no God, what is the purpose of life?' is like asking, 'If there is no master, whose slave will I be?' "

Chapter 1, "The Good News," softly mimics the "inspirational" style of "psycho-faith" authors like Rick Warren and Joel Osteen, but comes to a novel conclusion: The truly good news is that there is no purpose of life. There is purpose in life. Nonbelievers have lived, and are living, immensely meaningful lives as they work to solve problems and meet the challenges that confront us in the real world.

The rest of the book returns to Dan's familiar writing style. Chapter 2, "Mere Morality," replaces C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity with a superior, naturalistic moral philosophy. Chapter 3, "Religious Color Blindness," creatively probes the polarized mind of a fundamentalist believer. (You'll have to read it to discover how Annie Laurie Gaylor's misplaced hat sheds light on religious belief.) Chapter 4, "Much Ado About," is Dan's thoughtful answer to the question "Can something come from nothing?"

Summing it all up, the final chapter "Life Is Life" circles back to "meaning" by recounting personal stories from Dan's family. Thus does it replace the elusive "meaning of life" with the very real "meaning in life."

Life Driven Purpose flips so many religious precepts on their heads. You can see the real world much better, Dan says, by looking through the right end of the telescope. "A supernatural additive pollutes what is pure and precious in our species. We atheists simply refuse to be cheated of the good life."
Richard Dawkins, who helped with editing, calls Life Driven Purpose "a lovely book!"

Ordering from FFRF benefits the Foundation because Dan is contributing his royalties. You can order the book for $20 postpaid by U.S. mail from FFRF Shop, P.O. Box 750, Madison, WI 53701, or online at ffrf.org/shop, where prices vary slightly due to custom shipping. (Please indicate if you'd like it autographed.)

A Freedom From Religion Foundation "In Reason We Trust" sign was stolen March 28 from the first-floor Capitol rotunda in Madison, Wis. The sign features Thomas Jefferson with his thought-provoking quote, "Question with boldness even the existence of a god. . ."

FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover and Legal Intern Ryan Jayne (pictured) filed the permit application March 9. The sign was put up in the Capitol to counter Easter religious displays.

After contacting authorities, FFRF was given access to the security footage. On Saturday, March 28, at 1:13 p.m., three suspects were recorded removing the 20x30-inch sign and the easel it was propped on.

The suspects are two males and a female, all Caucasian. Footage showed a male struggling to remove the tape holding the sign to the easel. The other suspects joined shortly after and posed for multiple "selfies" on a cellphone camera. One male left through the Wisconsin Avenue exit and the other suspects left via the West Washington exit.

The stolen easel was a rental from the Capitol Police Department.

The theft is a Class A misdemeanor, with a fine up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to 9 months. FFRF is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s).

The city council in Madison, Wis., adopted on March 31 what's believed to be the nation's first city ordinance making "nonreligion" a protected class. The historic action extends the same protections to nonreligion as it does to religion.

Madison's equal opportunity ordinance now bans discrimination based on "sex, race, religion or nonreligion, color, national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, age, handicap/disability, marital status, source of income, arrest record or conviction record, less than honorable discharge, physical appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic identity, political beliefs, familial status, student, domestic partner, or receipt of rental assistance."

The ordinance change, which initially met a rocky reception, was proposed by outgoing Alder Anita Weier. Testimony of FFRF Staff Attorneys Patrick Elliott and Andrew Seidel appeared to convince a subcommittee to recommend approval to the council. Eventually, 14 members of the 20-member council agreed to sponsor it, and it passed by voice vote without dissent.

The Wall Street Journal reported it April 2 with the headline "In Madison, nonbelievers have religious rights too."

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor hailed the proposal for its symbolic signficance. However, it also carries penalties of $100 to $500, and means the city's Equal Opportunities Commission can investigate complaints of discrimination by nonbelievers, Weier pointed out.

Weier, who describes herself as "not religious," told the Wall Street Journal: "Since religion is protected in our equal opportunities ordinance, in all its variations, I thought that nonreligion should be, too. I just think there is a general stigma about it. I don't think people should be afraid to say what they they think."
Elliott and Seidel testified with concrete examples of discrimination. Elliott noted ethnic festivals in Wisconsin give free entry to church-goers (successfully contested by FFRF) and told how a plaintiff in one of FFRF's lawsuits lost her job when her atheism became known. "Having worked to protect the civil rights of nonreligious persons, I can tell you that discrimination against atheists is widespread and an ongoing concern. It permeates into employment, public schools and even in discounts offered by places of public accommodation," Elliott testified.

Seidel noted that nonbelievers have been rejected as volunteers at soup kitchens and that several state constitutions forbid atheists to hold public office. "We see discounts to religious people, which effectively charge atheists a higher price for the same goods. Here in Madison, one store gave out free gallons of milk to Christians, while forcing atheists to pay full price. Schools block atheist groups from forming and filter out atheist and freethought websites," he said.

Seidel told the council: "If any group in this country needs protection, it's the one that is least liked and most distrusted. When it comes to voting for an otherwise qualified candidate, atheists rank below Jewish, Mormon, LGBT and Muslims. We fall 14 percentage points below a gay or lesbian candidate, simply because of our irreligion."

Chris Calvey, former director of Atheists, Humanists and Agnostics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, noted that even though AHA is one of the most successful secular campus groups in the country, many of its student leaders are afraid to list their volunteer work on their résumés.

FFRF Lifetime Member T. Kozlovsky referred to surveys and polls routinely showing that atheists and nonbelievers are the most distrusted.

Gaylor noted that secularists usually are on the defensive when going before local governmental bodies, such as protesting prayer.

Back in the 1970s, a very different kind of public servant, Anita Bryant, went before a government board in Dade County, Fla., seeking not to extend rights and protections, as Anita Weier is doing, but to take them away, Gaylor noted.

"Bryant's ordinance unfortunately led to a national movement to take away rights from gays. It's my hope that the adoption of this historic ordinance will seed other such ordinances to protect rights — nonreligious rights — around the country."

Name: Neysa Marie Dickey.

Where I live: As of 2014, Green Valley, Ariz., roughly from November-April; Bozeman, Mont., May-October. (I bought a condo last summer up there.)

Where and when I was born: Neenah, Wis., (then headquarters for Kimberly-Clark), Oct. 26, 1949; raised in Appleton, Wis.

Family: In Appleton, a brother, Pete; niece, Dawn; great-nephew, Dominic; former sister-in-law (love her as a sister), Emma. My husband, Skip Baese, died in 2010, so my only immediate (living with me) family is my 13-year-old cat, Boo. I've had her since she was 8. She's known variously as Boo, Boo-kitty, Boo-Boo, Ba-Boo-shka, Kitten-ca-Boo-dle, Bam-Boo-zler and the Boo-Meister.

Education: From the above, apparently not enough! B.A. in 1974 from Adams State College (now University) in Alamosa, Colo., in biology and environmental science, one of the first two graduates with that double major; endless training during 30 years with the National Park Service.

Occupation: Retired supervisory park ranger (Interpretation) for the NPS. Now I'm "occupied" with volunteering at an elementary school (Reading Seed program) once a week, theatrical productions, community chorus, reading, walking, hiking, traveling, weekly game night with "the gals," book club and other fun things.
Military service: None, but my brother was a conscientious objector back in the Vietnam days and finished his two years of service in Illinois children's homes. His action had such an influence on me, that, had I been drafted, I would've done the same.

How I got where I am today: This could take a while — as I understand it, it began billions of years ago. More seriously, it's too big a question, but it might be easier if I limit my answer to how I got where I am in my atheistic thinking.

That began in the First Congregational Church (before it merged and became the United Church of Christ) in Appleton, in confirmation class. To an emotional, hormonal, bright, questioning teen, so much of the bible made no sense, was contradictory and seemed like fairy tales. I witnessed a great deal of hypocrisy in the church. Luckily, we had a liberal, open-minded associate minister at the time, Bill Charland.

When I told Bill I felt I couldn't write the last assignment (a personal credo), he said I could write what I didn't believe. After that, I was probably more of an agnostic than an atheist for a few years, but since nothing intervened to "prove" the existence of a god or gods, I realized I was clearly an atheist.
Where I'm headed: Bozeman, in late April or early May. Arizona summers do me in. I love having three or four seasons in Montana and returning to Arizona for the mild winters.

Person in history I admire: Since [the guidelines don't let me] pick my father, Ed Dickey, I will go with two: Charley Scribner, my high school biology teacher, and Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. Charley was a longtime summer ("seasonal") naturalist in Glacier National Park. It's hard to say, but I suspect (at least subliminally) he influenced my choice of college majors and my life's career. Dawkins? Read the book. And Charles Darwin fits well with my other two choices, don't you think?

A quotation I like: "It is good to tell one's heart." (Native American proverb on a refrigerator magnet I bought in an airport.)

These are a few of my favorite things: The northern Rocky Mountains, waterfalls, New Zealand, writing, acting, singing, hiking, Boo, wolves, owls, open-minded humans, laughter, languages, accents, limericks, UpWords, playing UpWords with BFF Susan, family and friends.

These are not: Mixing of church and state (surprise!); poor grammar and spelling, especially in letters filled with typographical or other errors from supposed professionals (education administrators, bankers, etc.); rotten and/or aggressive drivers; people who mispronounce my first name (rhymes with Lisa) after they've been told the correct pronunciation several times.

My doubts about religion started: See above. Somewhere along the line, I came across a copy of Freethought Today. I thought the atheist equivalent of "I'd died and gone to heaven." Here were like-thinkers, mentors, role models, activists, folks who understood my struggle. I felt as though I could breathe. That's not when my doubts started, but when they solidified.

Before I die: I'd like to feel joy and contentment with my everyday life and feel hope for the planet.

Ways I promote freethought: Mostly with my words and actions, having long ago come out of any closet I might have been in regarding my atheist status. I write letters to newspaper editors and other entities reminding them of the need to follow the U.S. Constitution and to be open and accepting of all people, regardless of religion or lack thereof. Every year I send out a winter solstice poem summarizing my year.

I wish you'd have asked me: What national park areas I worked in. They were (current names) Great Sand Dunes, Colorado; Timpanogos Cave, Utah; Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota; Rocky Mountain regional office, Denver; Dinosaur National Monument, Utah-Colorado (where I met my husband); Pacific Northwest regional office, Seattle (now merged with the San Francisco office); Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Montana (a lesser-known treasure); Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming-Montana-Idaho (we lived in the park at Canyon).

You also could have asked how did you get your name? My parents were looking in a book of baby names when my mother was pregnant with me. Neysa is the Slavic form of her name Agnes. We weren't Slavic, but my parents liked the name, so she was Agnes Marie and I am Neysa Marie. Also at the time, there was an illustrator for McCall's and other magazines, Neysa McMein, who was a member of the Algonquin Round Table, and Mother liked the name from her, too. Ironically perhaps, she died about five months before I was born.

A 30-second TV spot recorded by Ron Reagan for the Freedom From Religion Foundation has now been banned by the three major networks: ABC, NBC and CBS.
However, FFRF has run the ad on CNN in late March and early April to great success, welcoming hundreds of new members and hearing from thousands of interested viewers. The ad says:

Hi, I'm Ron Reagan, an unabashed atheist, and I'm alarmed by the intrusion of religion into our secular government. That's why I'm asking you to support the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the nation's largest and most effective association of atheists and agnostics, working to keep state and church separate, just like our Founding Fathers intended. Please support the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Ron Reagan, lifelong atheist, not afraid of burning in hell.
FFRF is also airing the spot on day-after rebroadcasts of "The Daily Show" through the spring.

The ad debuted on May 22, 2014, on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show." FFRF next tried to place the spot on CBS' "60 Minutes." Last fall, after months of delays, CBS rejected that placement and banned the ad from any national CBS show. Recently, ABC and NBC also rejected it.
NBC first offered to accept it if "not afraid of burning in hell" was deleted, then even decided against that.

"We'd never agree to censor Ron's punch line," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. "Imagine these national networks being so afraid of a little irreverence."

FFRF also ran the ad in select metropolitan cities on the finale of "Cosmos" last year after Fox refused to air it nationally, citing a policy against "advocacy" ads. Even major metropolitan CBS stations have refused it.

Although the networks may be panning the ad, CNN viewers gave it rave reviews:

"Where have you been all my life?" (Andrew, Johns Creek, Ga.); "That is literally the best commercial I've ever seen!" (J.T., Akron, Ohio); "This is the best thing that has happened to atheism since Richard Dawkins!" (Jane, New York City); "That's an extremely superior and wonderful ad. Wow!" (C.D., Vancouver, B.C.); "Best ad I've ever seen." (J.S., Fallbrook, Calif.); "I'm excited about what you do!" (Mike, Cleveland, Tenn.); "I'm a 95-year-old lifelong atheist. That's a long time!" (Gainesville, Fla.); "I thought I was the only atheist in America!" (E.Z., Elmhurst, N.Y.); "Brilliant!" (Ron, Nevada).

"The censorship of this ad and of Ron Reagan's 'unabashed views' by so many major networks really shows the heavy hand of religion upon this country and its power to suppress freethought and even the mildest criticism of religion," said FFRF Co-President Dan Barker.

FFRF encourages freethinkers to speak up on social media with the #NotAfraidofBurninginHell hashtag.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation just posted a timely message, "V(ouch)ers hurt our public schools," on a billboard at the corner of 405 S. Park St. and West Washington Avenue in Madison, Wis.

Although the message is "punny," what's at stake is no laughing matter. FFRF seeks to draw taxpayer and Joint Committee on Finance attention to the dangers of Gov. Scott Walker's unprecedented proposal to remove the cap on statewide voucher enrollment.

"Unfortunately, Wisconsin is ground zero in the assault upon our public schools," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president.

Under Walker's budget proposal, more than half of Madison public school students and more than 40 percent of students statewide, would be encouraged to leave public schools to attend private, mostly parochial schools, plundering thousands of dollars per student from public schools.

Walker's previously expanded statewide voucher system has resulted in a situation in which 100 percent of voucher schools are Christian and 73 percent of students attend Catholic schools.

The billboard, which went up late yesterday and will stay up for a month, follows a two-week blitz of television advertising by the Madison-based national state/church watchdog. Two 30-second spots have been alternating on the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news on WISC-TV (CBS), warning: "Walker wants to take money from our public schools and use it to support someone else's religion. Your tax dollars shouldn't fund religiously segregated schools." FFRF's April TV campaign ends with a spot during the airing of "CBS Sunday Morning."

The issue-oriented advertising is groundbreaking for FFRF. "We're sounding the alarm," Gaylor said. "The numerous other cuts and proposals in Walker's budget are distracting everyone and dominating the headlines. Nobody seems to be paying attention to the gravest threat in the budget — a voucher scheme that if enacted would ultimately destroy our public, secular school system."

FFRF has created a web page, ffrf.org/stopvouchers, to inform the Wisconsin public on the dangers of expanding vouchers. In May, FFRF will take its "ouch!" warning to a billboard at 1201 Regent St. near the Charter Street intersection.

FFRF has 22,000 nonreligious members nationwide, including more than 1,300 in Wisconsin.

Green Bay citizens are being urged to take alarm and vigorously oppose Governor Scott Walker's proposal to open the floodgates on religious school vouchers.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has been airing two 30-second TV commercials on WFRV-TV (CBS) on the six and ten o'clock news broadcasts this week, continuing through Friday. It's also placing an anti-voucher ad on next Sunday's local airing of CBS Sunday Morning.

"We have a sense of urgency to inform the public about the disastrous consequences, if Walker's voucher expansion is adopted," said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

In the Green Bay Area Public School District, 57.8% of its currently enrolled public school students (12,083) would, if Walker's scheme passed, be eligible for vouchers, removing thousands of dollars per student in aid from public schools. Most private schools are religiously-segregated.

"Walker's reckless scheme would defund and ultimately destroy our public schools," Gaylor added. "We should end Wisconsin's failed voucher experiment, not expand it." 

FFRF notes that Walker's recently expanded statewide voucher system has resulted in a system where 100% of the state-funded schools are Christian, and 73% of students attend Roman Catholic schools.

One spot explains:

Our public schools are under attack by Governor Walker. He wants to take money from our public schools and use it to support someone else's religion. Your tax dollars shouldn't fund religiously-segregated schools. Nearly half of our state's students would be eligible for vouchers under Walker's scheme. Vouchers are bad for children and bad for education. Help us stop Walker's brazen attack on our public schools.

A second, more dramatic ad, says:

There is no such source and cause of strife, quarrel, fights, malignant opposition, persecution, and war, and all evil in the state, as religion. Let it once enter our civil affairs, our government would soon be destroyed. Let it once enter our common schools, they would be destroyed. [quoting a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision] Stop Governor Walker's disastrous proposal to expand vouchers for religiously-segregated schools.

The TV commercials also began airing in Madison April 6 for two weeks on the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news broadcasts on WISC-TV 3000, the Madison-area CBS affiliate. A few also aired in La Crosse-Eau Claire.

The ad takes viewers to a splash page, ffrf.org/stopvouchers, which encourages them to contact legislators, and provides background and anti-voucher FAQs. Read Wisconsin FAQ. Read "Dispelling the myth of 'school choice,'" FAQ. 

FFRF, a national state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., has 22,000 nonreligious members nationwide, including more than 1,300 in Wisconsin and many in the Green Bay area.

From vouchers to tax credit scholarships programs, "school choice" schemes are a means to divert public money to private, mostly religious schools.

The Alabama Senate passed Senate Bill 277, the so-called "Religious Display Freedom Act," on Tuesday, April 7. The bill purports to allow municipalities to place nativity scenes and other religious displays on government property. Protections against government-endorsed religious messages are codified in the U.S. Constitution, which the Alabama legislature cannot unilaterally ignore. This ill-conceived bill is now before the Alabama House Committee on Judiciary for further review. Shockingly, the bill passed the Senate unanimously (with only one member absent).

Seemingly by design, this bill misleads cities and other local bodies by portraying nativity scenes or other government-sponsored holiday displays as constitutional. The law, however, is far from straightforward. Most of the bill is devoted to laying out a black-and-white interpretation of the Supreme Court's Lynch v. Donnelly decision of 1984. But SB 277 misrepresents and overstates the Lynch decision at every turn. This is why the U.S. Constitution leaves legal interpretation to the judiciary, not the legislature. 

The city-owned holiday display found permissible in Lynch was located in a park owned by a nonprofit organization and included, "among other things, a Santa Claus house, reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh, candy-striped poles, a Christmas tree, carolers, cutout figures representing such characters as a clown, an elephant, and a teddy bear, hundreds of colored lights, a large banner that reads 'SEASONS GREETINGS' . . . ." The nativity scene was not featured prominently; it was one small element of a much larger display. But this nuance is lost in SB 277, which decrees that a nativity scene is permissible if the display includes "at least one secular scene or symbol."

That misleading interpretation of Lynch flies in the face of other Supreme Court precedent. Five years after Lynch, the high court ruled in County of Allegheny v. ACLU that a crèche display on the steps of the county courthouse was unconstitutional. The court held that the crèche, located at the seat of county government, endorsed an indisputably Christian message, while a Christmas tree and menorah could remain, as they signaled diversity.

SB 277's biased, incomplete review of case law sets up municipalities to recreate the mistakes of the past, with legal costs inevitably raiding taxpayers' pockets.

So what pressing need does the bill's sponsor, Senator Phil Williams, cite as the reason for drafting SB 277? Williams claims, "Like many Alabamians, I was outraged when the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Wisconsin threatened the cities of Rainbow City, Piedmont, and Glencoe with lawsuits, all for having a manger scene in front of their city halls during Christmas."

What Williams fails to mention is that the Rainbow City and Glencoe nativity scenes stood alone without any other holiday decorations, in clear violation of Allegheny and not in conformance with Lynch. (FFRF's letter to Peidmont was about a Christmas parade, which isn't addressed by SB 277). The Glencoe nativity even included banners reading "KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS" and "Wise men still seek Him," clear endorsements of Christianity above all minority religions and religion over nonreligion. SB 277 can't make these displays constitutional. All it serves to do is embolden municipalities to further violate the Constitution.

While none of FFRF's letters threatened a lawsuit as Williams claimed, SB 277 increases the likelihood that a lawsuit will be necessary, by needlessly encouraging municipalities to test the limits of the law, rather than having them conform to established Supreme Court guidelines.
Alabamians interested in true religious liberty should contact their state representatives and urge them to kill this bill.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation and The Center for Inquiry have teamed up to create a unique competition for current and aspiring television writers and directors, the No God But Funny Contest. The contest will award $15,000 to those crafting the winning sitcom script and $25,000 to producers of the winning webisode that takes the "ass" out of atheists.

James Underdown, executive director of the Center for Inquiry Los Angeles notes "of the few atheist characters on TV, virtually all are unlikeable. You know TV would be in big trouble if any other group were so unfavorably portrayed. We happen to know lots of godless folks who are great fun to be around. So we are challenging writers to develop funny, fun and well-adjusted atheist characters."

The contest, that is taking entries until May 15, accepts 20-25 page teleplays with outlines for the remaining 11 episodes of the season, or an original and never broadcast anywhere digital episode for broadcast on the web of between 3-15 minutes in length, also with outlines for the remaining 11 episodes of the season.

The contest judges are a group of experienced Hollywood writers and comedians who have worked extensively in television including veteran stand-up comedian and actor Paul Provenza, who was the host of Showtime's The Green Room; game show super producer Jonathan Goodson; noted magician Max Maven; Comedy Central/Adult Swim/Funny or Die regular Rich Fulcher; thinking man's comic Steve Hill; and longtime comedy agent, television development executive and live comedy event producer Barbara Romen.

Dan Barker, a co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation notes that entries must "reflect a positive view of atheism, and we expect that at least one story line per episode/webisode out of the typical 3 story lines will be about the atheist character's life. All sitcoms deal with friends, family and work. Submissions can touch on topics like what to say when someone sneezes, atheist writers who hate the idea of submitting something called a 'bible' for the TV show, how to respond when someone wishes you a 'blessed' day, how to handle 'the holidays' – the malls, the inescapable holiday music, fake trees, the workplace, gifts, parties, family traditions, greeting cards, the 'war,' new traditions like 'festivus' with its airing of grievances and feats of strength, etc. Also, what happens when you get sworn in for jury duty or in court as a witness, 'prayers' in legal complaints, AA or other 12 step programs referring to a 'higher power,' events like weddings, funerals, baptisms, etc., filling out applications that ask about religion, etc."

Writers and producers do not have to be atheists to enter. All the characters in the script or webisode do not need to be atheist. For further info about the contest, including contest rules, and to enter please visit http://www.nogodbutfunny.com/.

Center for Inquiry:

The mission of the Center for Inquiry is to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. To oppose and supplant the mythological narratives of the past, and the dogmas of the present, the world needs an institution devoted to promoting science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. The Center for Inquiry is that institution.

About the Freedom from Religion Foundation:

The Foundation works as an umbrella for those who are free from religion and are committed to the cherished principle of separation of state and church. The purposes of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc., as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

For press information please contact Susan von Seggern at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 213-840-0077.

1. What is RFRA?

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act is a law that allows religious people, businesses, and/or corporations to violate generally applicable laws by claiming that the laws conflict with their religious beliefs. The federal version is written: "Government may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person— (1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest." Many states have RFRAs too, but those three concepts—burden, compelling governmental interest, and least restrictive means—appear in every single RFRA.

 

The nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics and its Chicago chapter are placing a patriotic red-white-and-blue secular display to counter a large Catholic Easter display at Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago for the second Easter in a row.

Two colorful 8-foot banners on a 12-foot structure promoting the secular views of founding fathers will be placed by Saturday in Daley Plaza by the Madison, Wis.-based Freedom From Religion Foundation and its FFRF Metropolitan Chicago chapter.

One banner reads: "In Reason We Trust," and pictures Thomas Jefferson, displaying his famous advice to a nephew, "Question with boldness even the existence of a god." The other side proclaims, "Keep State & Religion Separate," and pictures President John Adams, who signed the Treaty of Tripoli, which assured ". . . the government of the United States is not in any sense, founded on the Christian religion. . ."

The FFRF display is designed to counter what is believed to be days of round-the-clock prayer and evangelism in Daley Plaza by the Thomas More Society, a Catholic group, which has evangelized in the plaza every Easter since 2011. The group's aim, through its "Divine Mercy Project," is to seek the "conversion of Chicago, America and the Whole World."

The Catholic society is expected to place a 10-foot-tall painting of Jesus, which it claims was miraculously inspired, with the statement "Jesus, I trust in you." The painting is accompanied by a 14-foot cross on the public plaza. In past years, Catholic supporters have also held 24-hour prayer vigils, distributed thousands of prayer cards and hosted anti-abortion rallies in front of the Jesus painting.

Rather than place such displays on church grounds, the Thomas More Society explicitly seeks to take over public property for its purposes, claiming that at Daley Plaza it encounters "militants, feminists, Satanists, radical Muslims, just about everybody."

FFRF additionally has two smaller posters affixed to each side of its display, explaining its purpose, written by Tom Cara, Chicago chapter director: "Not looking to convert? Neither are we," protesting use of government property to endorse the beliefs of a specific religious group. Another poster questions the "divine mercy" of the bible upon which Catholicism is predicated.

FFRF thanks FFRF Staff Attorneys Patrick Elliott, Andrew Seidel and Sam Grover for fashioning the display, and Tom Cara and other volunteers with its active Chicago chapter.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a leading opponent of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, is taking its "Repeal RFRA" campaign to the readers of The New York Times. Its quarter-page advocacy ad, headlined "No hate in any state — or in these United States" is expected to appear in Sunday's Times in the front news section.

The ad points out, "The problem isn't just in Indiana," referring to the national furor erupting over Indiana's RFRA. FFRF points out twenty-some states have passed RFRA, as well as Congress in 1993. View high resolution ad here. 

"The Religious Freedom Restoration Act grants religionists an uncivil right — the liberty to break laws, including civil rights protections, they claim offend their religious faith," FFRF's ad asserts.

FFRF notes, "The federal RFRA brought us the Supreme Court's infamous Hobby Lobby ruling last year, setting women's contraceptive rights back half a century." The state/church watchdog, with more than 22,000 members nationwide, warns: "There will be more uncivil rulings like this until RFRA is repealed."

FFRF placed a full-page ad protesting the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling last year, which upheld employee discrimination against women based on the federal RFRA. FFRF's ad urged that it is time to repeal RFRA, and castigated the "all-male, all-Roman Catholic" Supreme Court majority for placing "religious wrongs over women's rights." 

"Don't be fooled that Indiana and Arkansas changes to their RFRA laws, to more closely model the federal RFRA, alleviate the problem. The problem is the federal RFRA. The time is ripe. Secularists and those who treasure true religious liberty must now urge Congress, and other RFRA states, to repeal this dangerous law privileging faith over civil rights," said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

The ad takes readers to a webpage informing citizens of ways to lobby against RFRA, and background material.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has produced two 30-second TV commercials to air in Madison, Eau Claire-La Crosse and a few other Wisconsin markets, raising the alarm on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's unprecedented bid to expand vouchers to send children to religious schools at public expense.

"We have a sense of urgency to inform the public about the disastrous consequences, if Walker's voucher expansion is adopted," said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "His reckless scheme would defund and ultimately destroy our public schools."

Walker's budget bill would, if enacted, permit half of the students in Madison to move to private, mostly religious schools at taxpayer expense.

"We must end Wisconsin's failed voucher experiment, not expand it," Gaylor said, pointing to major abuses. 

The first spot explains:

Our public schools are under attack by Governor Walker. He wants to take money from our public schools and use it to support someone else's religion. Your tax dollars shouldn't fund religiously-segregated schools. Nearly half of our state's students would be eligible for vouchers under Walker's scheme. Vouchers are bad for children and bad for education. Help us stop Walker's brazen attack on our public schools.

A second, more dramatic ad, says:

There is no such source and cause of strife, quarrel, fights, malignant opposition, persecution, and war, and all evil in the state, as religion. Let it once enter our civil affairs, our government would soon be destroyed. Let it once enter our common schools, they would be destroyed. [quoting a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision]

Stop Governor Walker's disastrous proposal to expand vouchers for religiously-segregated schools.

The TV commercials begin airing next Monday, April 6 and will run on the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news broadcasts for two weeks on WISC-TV 3000, the Madison-area CBS affiliate. They'll also air in La Crosse-Eau Claire and some other Wisconsin markets. FFRF is also airing the ads locally during CBS Sunday Morning and a few other news programs over the next two weeks.

The ad takes viewers to a splash page, ffrf.org/stopvouchers, which not only encourages them to contact legislators, but provides background and anti-voucher FAQs. FFRF notes that Walker's recently expanded statewide voucher system has resulted in a system where 100% of the state-funded schools are Christian, and 73% of students attend Roman Catholic schools.

FFRF, a national state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., has 22,000 nonreligious members nationwide, including more than 1,300 in Wisconsin.

FFRF will post the billboard message below in a Madison downtown location in mid-April. 

Read WISC-TV Madison ad schedule here. Read Eau Claire WKBT-TV schedule here.