The Freedom From Religion Foundation and Faithful America are joining forces to co-sponsor a provocative protest this Sunday, May 17, over the entanglement of government and Christian nationalism on the National Mall that day.
President Trump has proclaimed “Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving” in the capital’s central space on Sunday. In response, the two groups will be erecting a 15-foot-tall balloon of a golden calf with a Trump-like visage, which Faithful America first debuted on the National Mall in October 2024 next to signs such as “False prophet.” The balloon will go up on green space on 3rd Street between Jefferson and Madison near the Mall and Capitol.
FFRF, a national state/church watchdog whose 41,000 members are largely nonreligious, is pleased to be working with Faithful America, a network of progressive Christians confronting white Christian nationalism.
“We want to ensure there is a presence in support of separation between religion in government during this spectacle of Christian nationalism hosted by the federal government,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “And we can’t think of a better image than this tongue-in-cheek golden calf.”
A new poll that Pew Research Center has released in the shadow of the White House’s “large-scale revival” finds that a majority of adult Americans (52 percent) think “conservative Christians have gone too far in trying to push their religious values in the government and public schools.” A majority (54 percent) of Americans also say that the government should enforce the separation of state and church while 13 percent say it should stop such enforcement. Only 10 percent of U.S. adults have a favorable view of Christian nationalism.
Trump announced the all-day prayer fest during remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast in February. The full-day spectacle of prayer, testimony, scripture and worship calls on Americans to gather “to rededicate our country as One Nation to God.” FFRF has lambasted the prayer rally, noting that speakers at the overtly sectarian gathering include major Christian nationalist figures alongside cabinet members, and Christian bands playing along with military bands. FFRF has also criticized the numerous cabinet officials who’ve released slick endorsements via videos and social media.
“This government-sponsored prayer fest is the epitome of exactly what our secular Constitution forbids our government from doing: putting on church, placing its imprimatur on religion and conferring governmental blessings to a particular faith that can only be called MAGA Christianity,” Gaylor says. “It is a fusion not only of church and state, but also of our federal government with Christian nationalism.”
FFRF’s Freedom of Information Act request seeking information on public funding is on appeal, so financial details are murky. “One nation under God” is the theme of the prayer fest’s sponsor, Freedom 250, an initiative President Trump announced in December that a group of senators is investigating for possibly siphoning off up to $100 million in taxpayer dollars intended for America 250, a campaign created by Congress to celebrate America’s birthday with inclusive civics events, not religious revivals.
Gaylor points out that almost a third of U.S. adults today have no religious affiliation and an additional 7 percent belong to non-Christian faiths, and concludes, “We are part of ‘We the People.’”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With more than 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
