About half (53%) of Americans said they would be less likely to support an atheist as a presidential candidate.

FFRF seeks interns year round to assist its staff in daily operations. Positions are based in Madison, Wisconsin, where FFRF is headquartered. All available internships are writing intensive internships. Thus, excellent writing, communication and research skills are required.

Law Student Internships

An FFRF law student intern has the opportunity to research caselaw, draft letters of complaint to state agencies and officials, and learn about First Amendment law in practice. Interns start the summer by attending informational sessions where they learn the ins and outs of religion and the First Amendment. Each intern is then paired up with a litigation and intake attorney to closely work with throughout the summer. By the end of the summer, FFRF interns will have a writing sample, hands-on experience, and a deeper understanding of church/state separation.

This internship has an opportunity for funding. 

FFRF considers diversity an asset and encourages students of all race, gender, ethnicity, religious background, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, and ability to apply. 

Qualifications: 

• A strong interest in legal research and writing
• Ability to work independently and reliably
• The initiative to see projects through to completion
• Open minded and willing to work with all types of people
• Currently enrolled in law school

Requirements:

Interns are expected to work at FFRF’s headquarters in Madison, WI. Summer internships start at the end of May and run until mid August. A full-time commitment of 40 hours per week is required. This is a hybrid position with both remote and in-person days.

How to Apply:

Email a cover letter, resume, copy of law school transcripts (unofficial is fine) and writing sample (no longer than 10 pages) to Intern Coordinator Greta Martens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Interviews are also done in February through the Wisconsin Public Interest Interview Program and the National Public Law School Alliance interview program.

Deadlines:

Summer: Applications closed for 2024. Applications for 2025 will be considered starting in January 2025.

Fall and Spring: Open until filled. Spots open for Fall 2024.

Externships:

Law students may also seek an externship position with FFRF. Contact Intern Coordinator Greta Martens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information on that opportunity.

Undergraduate Internships - Legal

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is looking for undergraduate students who are interested in legal work and state/church separation. This internship is designed to give current or recently graduated college students the opportunity to learn more about constitutional law and state/church separation issues. Students will experience most aspects of our legal department and work closely with attorneys and legal assistants. 

FFRF considers diversity an asset and encourages students of all races, genders, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, gender identities, sexual orientations, age, and abilities to apply. 

Qualifications: 

• Strong reading and writing skills
  
• Ability to work independently and reliably
  
• An interest in legal issues
  
• Open minded and willing to work with all types of people
  

Interns are expected to work at FFRF’s headquarters in Madison, WI. Summer hour requirements are somewhat flexible, however, a consistent schedule should be set and maintained. This is a hybrid position with options for both remote and in-person days.

How to Apply:

Please email a cover letter, resume, and writing sample (no longer than 10 pages) to Intern Coordinator Greta Martens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Subject line: LEGAL INTERNSHIP)

Deadlines:

Summer: No longer accepting applications for Summer 2024. Summer 2025 applications will be considered starting in January 2025.

Fall and Spring: Open until filled. Spots open for Fall 2024.

Undergraduate Internships - Editorial

Undergraduate editorial interns assist our Communications Department. Potential projects include assisting the Editor of FFRF's newspaper, Freethought Today, with drafting and editing; compiling research for and drafting Freethought of the Day quotes; assisting with publicizing FFRF's nonlitigation victories; and other administrative tasks as necessary.

How to Apply:
Please email a cover letter, resume, and writing sample (no longer than 10 pages) to Director of Operations Lisa Strand This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. (Subject line: COMMUNICATIONS INTERNSHIP)

Deadlines:
Summer: Apply by February 28th
Preference for summer intern positions is given to Sarah Lawrence College students; others please inquire before applying.
Fall and Spring: Occasional openings; email for information

FFRF Maine is a local chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Its purposes, as stated in the bylaws, are to promote the constitutional principle of separation of religion and government and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

FFRF Maine recognizes the United States was the first nation to write an entirely godless, secular Constitution whose only references to religion are exclusionary. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees all citizens the right to support the religion of their choice, or no religion at all, by guaranteeing its citizens the freedom "of" religion AND the freedom “from” religion.

First Amendment and Establishment Clause violations are accelerating rapidly. The religious right is successfully working to advance religion in every area of society by: Demanding that Christianity, and no other religion, be taught in our secular public schools; Attempting to limit secular Liberals participation in the political process; Advancing payers in public schools; Promoting government funding of pervasively sectarian institutions and the ongoing campaign against civil rights for women, gays and lesbians. This is especially true when these religious right agendas are advanced by politicians who take action on their behalf, especially those with national impact such as the US Supreme Court, which clearly violates the separation of religion and government.

Now it is more important than ever to be vigilant about opposing the religious right who are attempting to advance their vision of the United States as a Christian Nation. FFRF Maine was organized as a non-profit corporation under the laws of the State of Maine to support the purposes of the Foundation by opposing the religious right in their efforts to destroy our secular government. Our primary goal is to oppose the Good News Club in their efforts to convert our elementary school children to their fundamentalist version of Christianity.

Our members are composed of people who do not believe in any gods regardless of which personal label they ascribe to. Those who are looking for a social community with the opportunity to effect real change in our sectarian society are welcome. The common thread we all share is the right to choose what to believe, uphold the constitutional principle of separation of government and religion and support the philosophical concepts of humanism.

We encourage all non-believers to be open about their non-belief and to help educate the general public on matters of non-belief through writing letter-to-the-editors, by working with other like minded organizations and taking legally appropriate action to preserve our rights when necessary. These actions will help to provide a balance to the religious right agenda. We are also in the process of supporting the Foundations “Out of the closet" campaign.

Maine is the third least religious state in the Union and has at least three other freethinking organizations that provide many social activities for their members along with opportunities to engage with the public on matters of the separation of religion and government. FFRF Maine works with these groups and encourages members to also join these other freethinking groups in the area.

If you are a freethinker who supports the separation of religion and government, please feel free to email the FFRF Maine president at ffrfmaine @ gmail.com. with any questions you have. You are also welcome to attend one of our monthly meetings held the second Saturday of the month at the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine from 10 AM to Noon. Our meetings are primarily social and have short business meeting if needed. Social / business time is flexible depending on chapter priorities at the time.

To join FFRF Maine, go to ffrfmaine.org, click on “Register”, read the registration procedures and fill out the online application. To be a full, voting member of FFRF Maine, you must be a current, paid member of the Foundation. We require proof of your Foundation membership before approval of your FFRF Maine membership can become effective. This can be your membership / renewal receipt or a current issue of “Freethought Today” with attached mailing label showing your name and address.

Please click on photos to view high resolution images.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its chapter, the FFRF Metropolitan Chicago Chapter, this week are placing their third set of friendly but thought-provoking billboards in Chicago, which feature the diverse faces and "testimonials" of local atheists, agnostics and freethinkers.

Eleven "out of the closet" billboards went up in December. View here. Three additional billboards featuring groups of freethinkers, including Chicago Black Skeptics, went up in the new year. View here. 

A final batch of seven new billboards is going up this week, most in various neighborhoods on the north side. They include a billboard featuring a smiling former minister, Rich Pope, of Northfield, proclaiming, "No magic. No miracles. No imaginary friends."

Three of the billboards represent couples. Jenn and Ben Zalisko note, "We found love in an atheist community!" Ray Belmonte and Rick Scuch, who are both physicians and atheists, have a plainspoken message: "Religion is a collection of man-made fairy tales." Their dog, Rufus, is also pictured. 

Cheryl Purnell, a graphic designer from Chicago, who identifies as a freethinker, says "Freethought and adventure are my allies!"

Youth is represented by student Viven Castillo, of Chicago, who declares: "This happy heathen is good without God."

"No gods. Just human goodness" is the gentle message of retired veterinarian Allen Cosnow, of Glencoe.

FFRF, the nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics, has more than 21,500 members, including nearly 900 members in Illinois. FFRF also works as a prominent state/church watchdog.

"Although nearly 20% of the population today is nonreligious in the United States, many Americans have never knowingly met an atheist or agnostic," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. "We're proud to introduce our Chicago-area members and their viewpoints to their community. Freethinkers have an important message to contribute to society — that reason, not dogma, should prevail, and that freedom depends on keeping religion out of government."

Since debuting the "Out of the Closet" campaign in Madison in 2010, FFRF has taken the personalized campaign to Columbus, Tulsa, Raleigh, Phoenix, Nashville, Portland, Spokane, Sacramento, Cleveland and Akron. Make your own "virtual billboard" or upload a short freethought video statement.

LOCATION OF BILLBOARDS

The Freedom From Religion Foundation announces its 2015 high school, college and graduate/mature student essay scholarship competitions, which offer more than $23,000 in total cash prizes.

FFRF, an educational state/church watchdog with more than 21,500 members nationwide, offered its first student competition in 1979. FFRF added a separate contest for college-bound high school seniors in 1994 and one geared to graduate/"older" students (ages 25-30) in 2010.

The awards are: $3,000 first place, $2,000 second place, $1,000 third place, $750 fourth place, $500 fifth place and $400 for sixth place. Several $200 "honorable mentions" may be awarded at judges' discretion.

A bonus of $50 from FFRF members Dean and Dorea Schramm will be given to any winner who is also a member of a secular student club (or who joins Secular Student Alliance online, which is free).

Thousands of scholarship programs reward students for blind faith and orthodoxy, but hardly any reward students for using reason. Please publicize FFRF's important outreach to the next generation at your local high schools, colleges and universities, and to the students in your life.

William J. Schulz High School Senior Essay Competition

"Why I'm Good Without God: Challenges of being a young nonbeliever" or "Young, bold and nonbelieving: Challenges of being a nonbeliever of color"

Choose one of topics below:

Atheist/nonbeliever of color prompt: Write from personal perspective about experiences or challenges you face, as a nonbeliever in a religious family or community, and minority within the freethought community. Are there obstacles discouraging diversity within the movement? What do you think could be done to make freethought and nonbelief more attractive to America's nonwhite communities? Include at least one paragraph about why you are a nonbeliever.

Why I'm good without God prompt: Write from personal perspective about your experiences or challenges in the face of persistent stereotypes that atheists and other nonbelievers are not moral. Explain how you're "good without God," why religion is not necessary for morality and may even be counterproductive. What can be done by you or others to counter negative stereotypes about nonbelievers? Include at least one paragraph about why you are a nonbeliever.

Eligibility: North American high school senior who graduates in Spring 2015, going on to college in Fall 2015.

Word length: 500 to 700 words.

Deadline: Postmarked no later than June 1, 2015. Winners announced in August.

Submission rules: Essays must be both mailed and emailed. Email your essay to be postmarked no later than June 1, 2015 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with subject heading "Essay [and Your Full Name]," e.g., Essay (Your Name Here). Follow other requirements listed at end of this article. Click here to view a printable PDF.

This competition is endowed by William J. Schultz, a member of FFRF who died at 57, was a farm boy who became a chemical engineer and built paper-producing mills around the world, and cared deeply about FFRF's purposes.

Michael Hakeem Memorial College Essay Competition

"Proud to be an atheist: Challenging stigmas against nonbelievers"

Topic prompt: Atheists are one of the most despised minorities, yet statistically are among the most moral segments in the U.S. population. Write a persuasive essay about why nonbelievers should be respected, not stigmatized. Include personal perspective or experiences with religious family, schoolmates or community. Provide supporting arguments (e.g., recent studies, philosophical or historic perspectives) about how freethinkers contribute to society despite widespread vilification. Include at least one paragraph about why you are a nonbeliever.

Word length: 700 to 900 words

Eligibility: Currently enrolled undergraduate college student through age 24, including but not limited to college seniors graduating in Spring or Summer 2015, attending North American college or university.

Deadline: Postmarked no later than June 15, 2015. Winners announced by September.

Submission rules: Essays must be both mailed and emailed. Email your essay to be postmarked no later than June 15, 2015 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with subject heading "Essay [and Your Full Name]," e.g., Essay (Your Name Here). Follow other requirements listed at the end of article. Click here to view a printable PDF.

The late Michael Hakeem, a sociology professor, was an FFRF officer and active atheist known by generations of University of Wisconsin-Madison students for fine-tuning their reasoning abilities.

Brian Bolton Graduate/ "Older" Student Essay Competition

"Religion and violence: What is to blame for religious terrorism?"

Topic prompt: Write a persuasive analysis dissecting the common claim that religion cannot be held responsible for violence in its name. For example, President Obama has said of the Islamic State: "They are not religious leaders, they are terrorists. No religion is responsible for terrorism. People are responsible for violence and terrorism." He also said "no god condones the killing of innocents." Analyze the claim that it's only a handful of extremists who are "perverting" religion who are to blame for the violence, and not religion itself. Provide supporting arguments to back up your position (religious pronouncements such as biblical or Quranic verses, historic or contemporary violence, underlying factors, etc.). Are there solutions to religious terrorism?

Eligibility: Currently enrolled graduate student including up to age 30, or undergrads ages 25-30, attending North American college or university, including but not limited to someone graduating or earning degree in Spring or Summer 2015.

Word Limit: 750 to 950 word essay.

Deadline: Postmarked no later than July 1, 2015. Winners announced by late September.

Submission rules: Essays must be both mailed and emailed. Email your essay to be postmarked no later than July 1, 2015 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with subject heading "Essay [and Your Full Name]," e.g., Essay (Your Name Here). Follow other requirements listed at the end. Click here to view a printable PDF.

The competition is generously endowed by Brian Bolton, an FFRF Lifetime Member who is a retired psychologist, humanist minister and university professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas.

RULES APPLYING TO ALL COMPETITIONS

Submit essay both by mail and email by postmark deadline. No faxes. Essay must be typed, double-spaced, standard margins and stapled. Include word count. Place name and essay title on each page. Choose town title. Attach one-paragraph biography on separate page at end of essay including name, age and birth date, hometown, university or college, year in school, major or intended major, degree being earned and interests. (High school students should include high school's name, city, state and date of graduation as well as intended college.) Do not include a résumé.

For chance at additional $50 bonus, indicate the name of the secular school or college club you belong to or join Secular Student Alliance (free at www.secularstudents.org/studentmember and mention it in bio). Provide both summer and fall 2015 addresses (campus and home), phone numbers and email addresses for notification. Winners may be asked to send verification of student enrollment.

Students will be disqualified if they do not follow instructions. FFRF monitors for plagiarism. Do not write under or over word minimums and maximums. By entering, students agree to permit winning essays to be printed in full or in part in Freethought Today, FFRF's newspaper, and posted online at FFRF's website. Winners agree to promptly provide a photograph suitable for reproduction with their essay and will not receive their prize until they do so. Winners will receive a school-year subscription to Freethought Today. All eligible entrants will be offered a subscription to Freethought Today or a freethought book or product.

Email essay as indicated above; also mail by required deadline to:

FFRF
______ (fill in) Essay Contest
PO Box 750
Madison WI 53701

Why I’m Good Without God: Challenges of being a young nonbeliever or Young, bold and nonbelieving: Challenges of being a nonbeliever of color

For College-Bound High School Seniors

First place: William J. Schultz Memorial Award: $3,000
Second place: $2,000
Third place: $1,000
Fourth place: $750
Fifth place:— $500
Sixth place - $400
Optional honorable mention(s): $200

Eligibility: North American high school seniors who graduate in spring 2015, going to college in fall 2015.

Choose one of the topics below:

• Atheist/nonbeliever of color prompt: Write from personal perspective about experiences or challenges you face, as a nonbeliever in a religious family or community, and minority within the freethought community. Are there obstacles discouraging diversity within the movement? What do you think could be done to make freethought and nonbelief more attractive to America's nonwhite communities? Include at least one paragraph about why you are a nonbeliever.
• Why I'm good without God prompt: Write from personal perspective about your experiences or challenges in the face of persistent stereotypes that atheists and other nonbelievers are not moral. Explain how you're "good without God," why religion is not necessary for morality and may even be counterproductive. What can you or others do to counter negative stereotypes about nonbelievers? Include at least one paragraph about why you are a nonbeliever.

Length: 500 to 700 words.

Other requirements: Essays must be submitted both by mail and email by postmark deadline. No faxes. Type, double-spaced essays with standard margins and staple. Include word count. Place name and essay title on each page. Choose own title and include a one-paragraph biography on separate page at end of essay. Include name, age and birth date, hometown, university or college, year in school, intended major and interests, name, city and state of high school and date of graduation as well as intended college. Don't attach a résumé.

Provide both summer and fall 2015 addresses (campus and home), phone numbers and email addresses for notification. Winners may be asked to send verification of student enrollment. FFRF monitors for plagiarism. Do not write under or over word minimums and maximums. For chance to win $50 bonus, indicate the name of the secular school or college club you belong to or join the Secular Student Alliance (free at www.secularstudents.org/studentmember) and mention it. The bonus is provided by a kind couple. Click here to view a printable PDF.

Deadline: Postmarked no later than June 1, 2015. Winners announced in August.

Submission rules: Essays must be both mailed (postmarked) and emailed no later than June 1, 2015 to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with subject heading "Essay [and Your Full Name]," e.g., Essay Voltaire, and send to:

High School Essay Contest
FFRF
PO Box 750
Madison WI 53701

About William J. Schultz: This competition is endowed by William J. Schultz, a member of FFRF who died at 57, was a farm boy who became a chemical engineer and built paper-producing mills around the world. He cared deeply about FFRF's work.

Please check back soon for our 2015 Michael Hakeem Memorial College Essay and Brian Bolton Graduate/Older Student Essay prompts.

In a victory for religious freedom, a federal judge today approved a settlement requiring the City of Warren to allow an atheist to set up a "reason station" inside city hall after the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the ACLU, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued in response to city officials' efforts to allow only a "prayer station" to operate inside the public building. In the settlement, city officials reversed course and agreed to provide the "reason station" with full, equal access to the building.

"This settlement serves as a reminder that government officials have no business deciding which religious messages can and cannot be allowed into our public spaces," said Dan Korobkin, deputy legal director of the ACLU of Michigan and lead counsel in the lawsuit filed on behalf of Warren resident Douglas Marshall. "The First Amendment guarantees us all the right to speak freely about our beliefs—or lack thereof. Mr. Marshall should be lauded for resisting the mayor's attempt to silence him by favoring religious groups over non-religious groups."

The settlement approved today by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Hluchaniuk requires Warren city officials to treat non-believers and believers equally by permitting Marshall to establish a secular alternative to the "prayer station" that the city has allowed a church group to run in the atrium of city hall since 2009.

"We're delighted to see equality and reason prevail in Warren," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. "We admire Douglas Marshall for his gumption in pursuing this, are grateful for the wonderful representation by the ACLU of Michigan and look forward to working with Douglas and other area members in erecting a reason station in the city hall atrium."

For six years, the city has permitted volunteers at the "prayer station" to distribute religious pamphlets, offer to pray with passersby and discuss their religious beliefs with those who approach the station. Marshall, a member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, submitted an application to city officials last April to reserve atrium space for two days a week. He planned to offer philosophical discussions with passersby who express an interest in a secular belief system.

But less than two weeks after it was submitted, Marshall's application—although nearly identical to the application submitted by the church sponsoring the prayer station—was rejected by Warren Mayor James Fouts. In his rejection letter, Fouts accused Marshall of "intending to deprive all organized religions of their constitutional freedoms or at least discourage the practice of religion."

Noting that the atrium was established as a public space to be reserved by a wide variety of groups and individuals, the ACLU of Michigan and the national ACLU worked with Americans United and the Freedom From Religion Foundation to file the lawsuit in U.S. District Court last July.

"This settlement protects the rights of freethinkers and non-theists," said Alex J. Luchenitser, associate legal director of Americans United. "And it's also an important reminder to government bodies that they must play fair when it comes to freedom of speech. They don't have the right to favor religious viewpoints over others."

"This result is a complete win for our side and for the First Amendment," said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "It makes clear that city hall should be open to everyone – not just those who share government officials' religious beliefs."

In addition to Korobkin, Marshall is represented by Luchenitser and Ayesha N. Khan of Americans United; Rebecca Markert and Patrick Elliott of the Freedom From Religion Foundation; Michael J. Steinberg and Marc Allen of the ACLU of Michigan; ACLU of Michigan cooperating attorney William Wertheimer; and Mach of the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

Name: James Downard.

Where I live: Spokane, Wash.

Where and when I was born: Spokane, Sept. 22, 1952.

Family: Two sisters and a brother still living, plenty of nieces and nephews far and wide.
Education: B.A. in history, Eastern Washington University.

Occupation: Former inventory/supply worker, now retired (on extremely inadequate Social Security).

How I got where I am today: Muddling along one day at a time as best I can, trying to enjoy myself but not making a nuisance.

Where I'm headed: In my TIP (Troubles in Paradise) anti-creationism project, I hope to help limit anti-evolutionist popularity. The initial PDFs and links are online at www.tortucan.com, a very much no-frills page so far.

The TIP project is a methods-based ("follow the sources") approach that bypasses the usual and often distracting "religion vs. science" fistfight in order to to pull the rug out from under the anti-evolutionists. Sound documenting of sources is something they can't do at all, let alone well enough to win, so it seems a good idea for us to play those cards right off the bat.

Person in history I admire: Stephen Jay Gould, as prickly a "paying attention to details" guy as ever there was, and whose ideas (from spandrels to NOMA) have sparked my and others' thinking. For example, my pocket definition of religion ("a neotenous spandrel sustained as a Scorched Earth defense") owes a lot to Gould's concepts and terminology.
A quotation I like: William James, sent a questionnaire in 1904 about religious beliefs of prominent persons and their dependence on "the authority of the bible," replied succinctly: "No. No. No. It is so human a book that I don't see how belief in its divine authorship can survive the reading of it."

These are a few of my favorite things: Music (classical and otherwise), movies (and their music), studying science and history in many forms, designing an amusement park (my grand and obviously unbuilt "Nat Park" plan that had as brief blip of "fame" in our local KSPS public TV's 1990s documentary "Memories of Natatorium Park.") They still air it around the Fourth of July.

These are not: People who seriously think things like anti-evolutionism are good science and the people who (knowingly or not) elect them to boards of education or state legislatures or Congress. I devised the "Tortucan" concept to account for how people can so easily do those sorts of things (search on youtube.com for "tortucan" videos).

My doubts about religion started: I was raised in a family of very much ex-Mormons, where there was no religious upbringing or discussion of religious matters whatsoever. My mother (very politically conservative but also very nonreligious) went ballistic when she found out that our first-grade class was marched once a week to religious instruction at a Spokane church. She thought public school was where you were supposed to get educated, not indoctrinated, and pulled me out immediately. I spent the time reading on my own at school while the class dithered away the hour at the church. But she did send us all to Sunday school, just so we'd be exposed to it and could make up our own minds (none of us became converts from the experience).

We were living in California by the time I was dispatched to Methodist Sunday school in the early 1960s, which didn't last long. I was summarily asked to leave (much like Carl Sagan's fictional Ellie Arroway in Contact) for asking too many questions about the biblical flood (my dinosaur collecting and encyclopedia reading having had its baneful influence on me already).

The big mistake they made at Sunday school, though, was giving me a nice Revised Standard Version of the bible, complete with a plethora of bottom-of-the-page cross references. That's how I first spotted that the Davidic genealogy of Joseph listed in Matthew didn't match the one given in Luke. I notice that not all bibles make the mistake of putting cross references right there for people like me to follow up more easily!

Before I die: I would like to enjoy at least a bit of whatever posthumous fame I may have earned.

Ways I promote freethought: Over the years, I've become active in the Spokane Secular Society and the Inland Northwest Freethought Society, the latter now an FFRF chapter. I've helped organize and staff the annual Darwin Day display at the downtown RiverPark Mall. I'm also the atheist blogger on the award-winning Spokane Faith & Values website (www.spokanefavs.com) where my "Ask an Atheist" button gets plenty of traffic.

The big thing on my plate is the online anti-creationism project, which has expanded to cover over 35,000 sources (including over 13,000 technical science works aimed at "flattening" over 6,000 anti-evolution sources). Nothing on this scale has existed before. Those who want to help the TIP baby grow and thrive can find a link at www.tortucan.com/ because I can't quite do it alone (it takes a secular village sort of thing).

I'm also on Facebook and Twitter, where I've been usefully applying TIP methods to short-circuit anti-evolutionists.

A Religious Right scheme to "plant a church in every school" was one of the topics covered in a Jan. 31 segment of MSNBC-TV's "Melissa Harris-Perry Show," featuring FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor and Katherine Harris, author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children.

FFRF's complaint over such an entanglement at Apopka High School in Orlando, Fla., was reported by Harris in her Jan. 14 article in The Nation headlined "The movement to put a church in every school in growing."

The Venue Church, which operates inside three public schools in Orange County, Fla., has as its goal "To plant a congregation in every Central Florida school zone in the next 10 years." FFRF, which has an ongoing federal lawsuit over bible distribution in Orange County Public Schools, has repeatedly complained to the district about a number of problems.

The church vows it will never own its own building. Its motto is "Partnering with schools and communities to serve students and families to gain the privilege of sharing the love of Jesus for eternal impact."

FFRF complained, among other things, about Todd Lamphere, Venue's co-founder and pastor, being designated as the school football team's "chaplain" (as well as chaplain of its bowling team!). The district subsequently renamed him "life coach" and continues to justify Lamphere's active school presence, which includes organizing "mission trips" for students.

Harris and Gaylor debated the topic with a Methodist evangelist.

By Jennifer Wilson

My parents raised me with a profound respect for science but not with religion. My physicist taught me that there are certain laws of nature that the universe abides by, and even though we cannot understand everything, these laws exist and allow us to survive.
My respect for science has never led me to belittle religion or those who believe. It simply allows me to justify a world in which the answer to "What is the meaning of life?" is just as easily nothing, as it is God, nirvana or the number 42.

I had a Catholic friend in junior high who tried to pique my curiosity. She talked about religion a lot. I only mentioned my nonbelief when I was asked what church I went to. When we were 14, out of the blue, she told me that I could come to Mass with her anytime and said, "I pray for you a lot because I'm worried that you're going to go to hell."
The sentiment came from her heart, a place full of compassion for others, but I was taken aback. In my head I told her she should save her prayers for people who actually want them, but aloud I just said, "Thank you, that's very thoughtful."

Whether it was by telling me about Jesus Christ in the middle of an abortion debate or trying to debunk decades of scientific inquiry while discussing creationism, my classmates found ways to poke the atheist within me.

The vast majority of students at my small Lutheran college in Minnesota are Christians. I was hesitant to attend because of that, but I felt at home on the campus, the academics were rigorous and the financial aid they offered was stellar.

Three problems faced me: biblical studies, theological studies and ethical studies requirements. One day in my first-semester class called "Bible in Film," the professor did the unthinkable: He asked those of us who believed in God to raise our hands. I was the only one who didn't. He then asked me to justify my nonbelief.

Two weeks into college, in a room full of strangers (and my roommate), I froze up, unable to justify myself or even ask the simplest of questions as a rebuttal: "Why do you believe in God, professor?" For the rest of the semester, my peers met my opinions with glares of disdain and immediate counterattacks.

That first semester was rough, but I've become more confident in expressing my opinions. I've used my nonbelief to instigate discussion rather than argument.

I've always been an atheist, and I always will be, no matter how many of my peers poke at the atheist within me, trying to stamp it out.

Jennifer Wilson, 21, was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and lived in France the first eight years of her life but considers Lawrence, Kan., her hometown. She's a senior majoring in English and mathematics at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. She wa awarded $200 for this essay.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled against Pacific Lutheran University’s claim that it’s exempt as a religious institution from NLRB jurisdiction. The decision allows contingent faculty (non-tenure track) to unionize at the school in Tacoma, Wash., reported the Chronicle of Higher Education in December.

A 1980 U.S. Supreme Court case, National Labor Relations Board v. Yeshiva University essentially barred full-time faculty at private colleges from forming unions. But the board ruled it had jurisdiction because the university “does not hold its petitioned-for faculty members out as performing any religious function” and that it had failed to prove that full-time contingent faculty members exercised managerial authority.

FFRF and its Metropolitan Chicago chapter put up 14 freethought billboards in Chicagoland in December and January, with six more scheduled to be placed in March. Eleven went up in December and three in January. (All are shown here, along with Evan Kane's on this issue's front page. Billboards featuring "Friendly Atheist" Hemant Mehta and Tom Cara, chapter director, were featured in December's Freethought Today.)

Bob Elmore, photographer and chapter board member, commented: "As Tom Cara might attest, there isn't much I wouldn't do for the cause of FFRF, and providing some decent photos of the billboards was a true pleasure. We're all really proud of Tom's commitment to furthering the message here in the Chicago area and look forward to recruiting more new members who might respond to our efforts and aren't afraid to show their true colors."
One billboard was somehow deemed "offensive" by a landowner whom Clear Channel was leasing space from and had to be moved to a different location. It featured Alan Wagner and his message, "I put my faith in science."

"It's hard to believe someone would be that offended by a slogan that says that," commented Cara.

FFRF, which has more than 800 Illinois members, debuted the "Out of the Closet" billboard campaign in 2010 in Madison, Wis. Chicago is the 12th city for the campaign.