Ron Reagan’s iconic advertisement for the Freedom From Religion Foundation as an “unabashed atheist, not afraid of burning in hell” will continue to run periodically over the next several weeks on MSNBC.
Reagan’s commercial will be broadcast on the “Rachel Maddow Show” (9 p.m. and midnight Eastern Monday and Wednesday, Feb. 17-March 6) and “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” (10 p.m. Eastern Tuesday-Wednesday, Feb. 18-March 5).
Additionally, the commercial is airing on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” mid-February (11:35 p.m. Eastern Tuesday-Wednesday.) It will also air on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central on Mondays and Tuesdays from mid-March to the beginning of next month, including episodes Jon Stewart hosts on Mondays (11 p.m. Eastern). The ad played during “The Reidout with Joy Reid” on MSNBC last month.
In the 30-second commercial, Reagan, who is the outspoken son of President Ronald and Nancy Reagan, says:
Hi, I’m Ron Reagan, an unabashed atheist, and I’m alarmed, as you may be, by the intrusion of religion into our secular government. That’s why I’m asking you to join 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 Founders intended. Please join the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Ron Reagan, lifelong atheist, not afraid of burning in hell.
FFRF’s “Freethought Matters” TV show has conducted a memorable interview with the ever-quotable Reagan. He has received FFRF’s Emperor Has No Clothes Award for his lifelong identification as an atheist and his advocacy of the separation between religion and government. Reagan addressed FFRF’s national convention in Madison several years ago and again its most recent convention in Denver.
“We thank Ron Reagan for his incomparable endorsement of FFRF and our work to promote nontheism and get religion out of government,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “The ad is often thought of as controversial but accounts for nearly 50 percent of new members — so it’s clearly effective!”
Additionally, you can hear the audio version of the Ron Reagan ad through mid-February on SiriusXM channels, including POTUS, Bloomberg, MSNBC, Howard Stern, CNN, Comedy Central, Pure Comedy and more. Long-time radio hosts Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller and John Fugelsang have also been voicing spots for their SiriusXM shows, as is Sarah Silverman for her podcast.
The broadcasting of these ads is only possible thanks to generous FFRF members who donate to FFRF’s Advertising Fund.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 40,000 members and several chapters across the country. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
