A short first-of-its-kind feature spot, “Spotlight on Freethought and the First Amendment,” produced in conjunction with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, begins airing on select national public television affiliates Saturday, Aug. 18.

The spot is guaranteed to air 500 times in the next three months and reach three million people. There are two versions, one four minutes, and the other 5:30 minutes, which will run interchangeably. When and where the short program, used as filler, will run cannot be announced beforehand. Public TV affiliates decide which fillers are needed the day they run. If you catch one of the spots on your local public TV affiliate, please be sure to contact the affiliate promptly to thank it for airing the program, and encourage it to rebroadcast “Spotlight on Freethought and the First Amendment.”

Larry Cohen is senior producer of “Spotlight On,” which airs short informational documentaries as filler on public television affiliates. This is believed to be the first such segment featuring discussion of freethought, atheism and focus on the specific dangers of mixing state and church.

The show description sent to affiliates reads:

“America has more diversity, faiths, religions, and cultures than any other country in the world. And yet we all seem to get along pretty well. Only in a country where we can be free of religion in our government can we then be free to practice our own or choose not to follow any faith.

“This segment focuses on our freedom to practice our faith, or no faith — exactly as we want.”

“More wars have been waged, more people killed, in the name of religion than by any other institutional force in human history,” says the narrator. “So with such wildly contrasting beliefs in this country, why aren’t we at each other’s throats? Here’s why. It’s our Constitution and its very core of freedom from religion. Our country was founded in part by refugees seeking freedom, seeking to escape centuries of religious persecutions, holy inquisitions, witch hunts.”

The four-minute version talks about the benefits of the United States’ secular form of government, defines “freethought” and includes brief interviews with FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker, author of Godless and Losing Faith in Faith, and Annie Laurie Gaylor, editor of Women Without Superstition.

Gaylor, a co-founder of FFRF, says on-camera:

“The United States of America was the first nation where our founders did not claim a pipeline to a divinity. It was a revolutionary act that they created a secular and entirely godless Constitution whose only references to religion are exclusionary, that there shall be no religious test for public office. The founders were aware of the inquisitions and the pogroms and the religious wars and the terrors in Europe, and the persecutions in many of the individual colonies — and they wanted no part of that. And so they erected what Thomas Jefferson called the ‘wall of separation between church and state,’ and that protects all of us. It has prevented the bloodshed and warfare that we see in so many parts of the world where religion is involved in government.”

Adds Barker: “There are some believers that don’t see the difference between neutrality and hostility. They think efforts of groups like ours to keep the government neutral are also a hostile act against their faith, when we’re not asking for the government to be pro-atheistic either. If the government stays neutral, the government stays secular, then everybody’s an insider, nobody’s an outsider.”

The longer spot features a bonus: an interview with Pitzer College professor Phil Zuckerman, a leading expert on “secularity” and how secular societies measure up favorably to religious nations. Zuckerman is an FFRF member and author of many books, including Society Without God.

As a bonus, a version that is over seven minutes, including additional interview footage about freethought, morality and purpose in life has been posted at FFRF’s website and can be viewed now on FFRF’s homepage: ffrf.org/.

Watch for little “cameos,” including appearances by Darwin, Einstein and Susan B. Anthony, shots of some mementos at FFRF’s office, Freethought Hall, a powerful quote by Mark Twain about the witch hunts, and photographs by Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel of the Reason Rally crowd, and of FFRF Staffer Katie Daniel giving those Westboro Baptists the thumbs down when they picketed an FFRF event.

“We warmly thank FFRF members who contributed to FFRF’s PR Campaign Fund as part of the spring membership appeal, whose generosity made possible the filming and airing of this first-of-its-kind segment,” said Gaylor.

Only the first three months of airing are monitored by Neilsen Ratings, but “Spotlight On” segments often run far longer. The program is not offered as any part of any PBS national program service.

FFRF has been venturing into television this year with nationally airing ads, including one featuring JFK endorsing the separation between church and state, and one by actress Julia Sweeney defending contraception from attack by Catholic bishops. 

(Pictured from left to right: Richard Dawkins, Sara Paretsky, Julia Sweeney and Jessica Ahlquist)

Statistics show about one-fourth of Oregon adults (more than 700,000 people) are nonreligious, so wouldn't it be a good place to hold a convention for religious skeptics?

Yes, says the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is holding its first national conference in Oregon in mid-October, when FFRF members and supporters gather in Portland. The impressive roster of speakers includes evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion.

FFRF, formed in 1978, holds its annual convention every third year in its home base of Madison, Wis., and in varying cities the other two years. The state-church watchdog has almost 19,000 members nationwide and is the largest organization of atheists, agnostics and freethinkers in the U.S. It's the 35th such gathering for FFRF. Events begin Friday, Oct. 12, and conclude Sunday, Oct. 14, at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower, 921 SW Sixth Ave. Over 400 people have already registered, so a full house is expected.

Freethought luminaries at the podium besides Dawkins will include mystery novelist Sara Paretsky, actress/ playwright Julia Sweeney, journalist Katherine Stewart (author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children), Clergy Project “graduates” Teresa MacBain, Jerry DeWitt and annalise fonza, as well as student activists Jessica Ahlquist and Max Nielson.

DeWitt, director of Recovering from Religion, openly parted with the Pentecostal ministry last year. MacBain left the Methodist ministry in March with much media attention. fonza is a former United Methodist pastor who joined the Clergy Project in July.

Ahlquist was a plaintiff in a successful ACLU federal lawsuit challenging a prayer banner at her high school in Cranston, R.I. The case caused a months-long firestorm of protest, including death threats to the diminutive 17-year-old student, who at times had to be put under police protection. Nielson is a student plaintiff in FFRF’s ongoing South Carolina lawsuit over a district policy that sanctions graduation prayer.

FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker will emcee. Barker, a "recovered" evangelist himself, will perform at the piano as “The Singing Friendly Neighborhood Atheist." Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert will discuss FFRF's legal activism. Andrew Seidel, FFRF's newest staff attorney, will debunk the "Christian Nation" myth.

It's the first appearance at an FFRF convention for Dawkins. He was scheduled to come to Madison in 2001 but canceled in the wake of 9/11. He'll receive FFRF's Emperor Has No Clothes Award for "telling it like it is" about religion.

Paretsky, who is best known for her mystery novels featuring Chicago private investigator V.I. Warshawski will receive the Freethought Heroine Award. Ahlquist will receive the Freethinker of the Year Award. Nielson will be honored as a student activist. FFRF has honored six student activists with scholarships so far this year.

Attendees can also sign up for a pre-convention tour of the gorgeous Multnomah Falls/Columbia River Gorge for $45. 

A Saturday special event is the "Nonprayer Breakfast," which substitutes a blasphemous "moment of bedlam" for the traditional moment of silence. (Not a single head is bowed.) Saturday evening activities include a drawing for "clean," pre-In God We Trust currency.

Other Hotels

Paramount: Courtesy rooms for $149 are being held for FFRF’ers at the Paramount Hotel, 808 SW Taylor St., which is across the street from the Hilton. Call 1-800-663-1144 (make sure to mention your FFRF connection). 

Marriott Portland City Center: Courtesy rooms for $143 are available to FFRF’ers at the Marriott, which is a block or two away from the Hilton. Call 1-888-236-2427 (ask for Portland Marriott City Center, 520 Southwest Broadway, Portland, Ore.) or phone 1-503-226-6300 (mentioning FFRF).

Other options include using expedia.com, hotel.com and other websites to find less expensive rooms in downtown Portland’s many hotels.

Convention registration is $60 per member, $65 for nonmember companion accompanying member, $110 per nonmember (join for $40 and save $10) and $25 for students. "Sign up now and secure a room to avoid disappointment," said Gaylor.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Breen approved a settlement yesterday between the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Town of Whiteville, Tenn. The Agreed Judgment ends a lawsuit brought by FFRF against the town and its mayor, James Bellar, over several crosses on town property.

The judgment enjoins Whiteville from installing crosses on city hall property in the future. It further provides that the mayor and town agree not to replace an arm on the remaining structure atop the town’s water tower. After FFRF threatened a lawsuit last fall over the cross on Whiteville's water tower, the town paid over $4,000 to remove an arm of the cross.

FFRF did not file suit until Bellar inflamed the situation by placing crosses on city property in front of city hall in December, which he later adorned with wreaths. Bellar had told WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tenn., "somebody has to stand up to these atheist sons of bitches."

In the settlement, the mayor also agreed not to place crosses on the public portion of the sidewalk in front of his insurance business. The town will pay $20,000 toward FFRF’s attorney’s fees. FFRF had about $10,000 in additional expenses.

“The result underlines the clear and solid law that government bodies may not place Latin crosses on public property. We are not a Christian theocracy, but a secular republic,” said Dan Barker, FFRF co-president.

Bellar and the Whiteville Board of Alderpersons approved the terms of the settlement on August 6. Judge Breen’s issuance of an agreed judgment concludes the case.

The case was handled by Alvin Harris, a Nashville attorney.

"We thank our local complainant who has remained steadfast in the face of local hostility," said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. FFRF had not revealed the complainant's name. 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging the Willow Springs Water Park in Little Rock, Ark., to discontinue a church discount next season.

Willow Springs Water Park owner David Ratliff offered a special Monday promotion to church groups for five dollars per person.

Leifel Jackson, executive director of the charitable Reaching Our Children and Neighborhoods (ROCAN), asked the water park if the discount would extend to his non-profit. Jackson was told that ROCAN could not receive the discount because it is not a church group.

ROCAN Director Jeff Poleet — a new FFRF Lifetime Member — explained to Ratliff that ROCAN is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, just like a church and should not be denied the promotion.

Arkansas Matters reported that without the discount, Jackson said he couldn't afford the admission and ROCAN's planned trip was canceled, crushing some kids' hopes.

As a result of his conversation with Poleet, Ratliff chose to discontinue all discounts for the remainder of this season.

FFRF Staff Attorney Stephanie Schmitt, concerned the church discount may be reinstated in the future, pointed out in an August 2 letter to Ratliff that the discount violated both federal and Arkansas law.

Arkansas citizens are guaranteed "the right to the full enjoyment of any of the accomodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges of any place of public resort, accommodation, assemblage or amusement."

Ratliff told a reporter that the discount was "not a moneymaker." He said every time he has a church group they have people who are "very well behaved, they expect the most of each other, they are supervised, organized, and it's less expensive to bring them."

"Willow Springs Water Park's restrictive promotional practice favors religious customers, and denies both customers who do not attend church as well as nonbelievers the right to 'full and equal' enjoyment of Willow Springs Water Park. Any promotions should be available to all customers regardless of religious preference or practice on a non-discriminatory basis," wrote Schmitt.

FFRF said it would have been far nicer and shown good will had Ratliff extended the Monday discount to all 501(c)(3) groups, particularly those serving children. However, FFRF said dropping the promotion, thereby ensuring that secular groups are not charged more, at least conforms to the Civil Rights Act. 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has sent multiple letters to Shenendehowa Central Schools (Clifton Park, N.Y.) urging it to follow court precedent and personal conscience by removing prayerful songs from its music classes.

FFRF is a national state-church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., with over 18,500 members nationwide, including more than 1,100 in the state of New York.

A concerned parent told FFRF that the complainant's child came home singing the prayer, “Thank You For the World So Sweet,”  which ends with “Thank you God for everything.” The class was  also taught to sing “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep,” which includes the line, “I pray the Lord my soul to keep,” and other devotional Christian songs.

“Words do not lose their meaning just because they are set to music,” noted FFRF Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert in her third letter of complaint on August 6.

FFRF sent its first letter to Shenendehowa Central Schools (SCS) Superintendent L. Oliver Robinson on June 13, 2012, asking the district to instruct the music teacher to stop leading children in prayer. “Teaching these very young and impressionable students pervasively Christian music in a public school violates the First Amendment,” wrote Markert. “There is no dearth of secular, age-appropriate melodies for elementary school students to learn. Parents — not the school district or a public school music teacher — have the authority and the right to decide whether to expose their child to religious concepts and devotional music.”

SCS General Counsel Kathryn McCary responded on June 26 claiming that “[n]one of the songs was taught, or used, as a prayer” and stating that school needed to know the identity of the parent complainant to continue the discussion. FFRF sent a rebuttal letter on July 24, to which McCary only responded to say that since the school’s position had been laid out in her earlier letter, “the matter has been resolved, and no further action is necessary.”

FFRF refused to back down, and sent a third letter on August 6. Markert pointed out in that letter that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over New York, had specifically dealt with “Thank You For the World So Sweet” in a school prayer case, ruling that it was a prayer and that school officials were correct to ban teachers from leading their students in reciting it.

FFRF is willing to take formal legal action against SCS if it refuses to halt its policy of indoctrinating young children via its inappropriate music curricula. 

Maia Disbrow, a 12-year-old from Hixson, Tenn., has received $1,000 as a student activist from the Freedom From Religion Foundation this month, for speaking before the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners to ask them to drop government prayer.

She becomes the fifth and youngest student to receive a student activist award from FFRF in 2012, and the third student awardee from Tennessee this year. Krystal Myers, 18, of Lenoir City, Tenn., received a $1,000 award from FFRF this spring after her column, “No Rights: The Life of an Atheist,” was banned from her high school newspaper. Jeff Shott, 17, of Spring Hill, Tenn., also received $1,000 after dressing up as Jesus Christ for Fictional Character Day and protesting state-church entanglements at his high school.

Maia got involved when she accompanied her father to a board meeting where he spoke up against government prayers, and witnessed the board giving a special award to the preacher. Maia decided on her own that she wanted to speak against prayers at the July 18 meeting.

“I realized that there were some things I'd like to say to them. It took me a while to decide because even though I go to a middle school for the arts that is supposed to accept everyone, I was worried. During elementary school, I was bullied about my beliefs and whenever the subject of my religion, or lack thereof, came up, my social status dropped for a few days. When I realized that the county commissioners were actually behaving like a bunch of fifth-grade bullies, I sat down and started writing my address to them.”

Maia testified:

Good morning. My name is Maia Disbrow, and I am twelve years old. I am a perfectly normal young adult, although some of my friends would beg to differ.

I was present at the meeting at which my dad spoke. The prayer was very rude to me and some of my closest friends, not to mention parts of my family.

My dad did not put me up to this. I came because I care about this and things like it. All through elementary school, I was teased and ridiculed by people who I thought were my friends. Whenever the subject of me being a freethinker came up, I was singled out. By my friends. You are doing the same thing that they did to me at every meeting you have. Singling me out. Singling out every single person in Hamilton County who is not Christian.

It is not fair for you to pray openly to your God without praying to all the others as well. I believe a moment of silence would accommodate all beliefs, not just one. And after speaking today, I hope I have some friends left at school next year.

Good day.

Maia will be entering seventh grade at the Center for Creative Arts. She loves to read, having taught herself to read at 18 months, will be appearing in a local production of “Medea,” has a dog and two guinea pigs, and a younger brother, Logan.

Contentious prayers before the board are the subject of a federal lawsuit filed July 3 by Hamilton County residents Tommy Coleman, a secular humanist, and Brandon Jones, who identifies as an atheist.

FFRF has three formally endowed annual student activist awards of $1,000 each: The Thomas Jefferson Youth Activist Award endowed by a West Coast FFRF couple, the Catherine Fahringer Memorial Student Activist Award, partly from a bequest by Catherine supplemented by smaller contributions by many FFRF members, and the new Paul J. Gaylor Memorial Student Activist Award, created by FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

This year, victorious Rhode Island school prayer litigant Jessica Ahlquist received the Thomas Jefferson Youth Activist Award, doubled as a one-time bonus to $2,000 after her state legislator called her “an evil little thing,” and her victory set off a new wave of harassment.

In June, Matthew “Max” Nielson received the Catherine Fahringer Memorial Student Activist Award of $1,000 as principal plaintiff in FFRF’s new lawsuit challenging illegal graduation prayers at his high school in Columbia, S.C.

Last year, FFRF awarded six student activist awards, five to high school students and one to a middle school student. 

Maia is tied with another 12-year-old for being FFRF’s youngest honoree. In 1996, FFRF gave a Freethinker of the Year Award, Jr. to Michael Bristor, age 12, from Minnesota. His name had been dropped from the honor roll when he was six, after his family had protested illegal classroom prayer and the school board did nothing about daily harassment. Michael’s battle, with the help of the ACLU and Minnesota Atheists, ended when he receive his honor roll certificate six years late.

“We are so impressed with activism by high schoolers and even middle schoolers in areas of the country that are hotbeds of intolerance, and are standing up not just for their rights but for the Constitution,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation commends the city of Augusta for agreeing to discontinue its involvement in organizing, coordinating and promoting the monthly "Mayor's Prayer Breakfasts."

FFRF Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert received a two-page response from the Augusta Law Department on August 2. General counsel Andrew Mackenzie wrote, "Mayor Copenhaver will continue to attend the monthly Prayer Breakfasts, but he has volunteered to allow the organization, coordination and promotion of such breakfasts to be done exclusively by private sponsors."

The city of August and FFRF have been going back and forth since Markert wrote her first letter of complaint in June. She sent two letters to the city, calling for the mayor's office to "cease all organization" of the prayer breakfasts.

The open records request revealed that Karyn Nixon, executive assistant to the mayor, was primarily responsible for coordinating the event, which included selecting the churches and sending out all the invitations for this traditionally sectarian event.

Mackenize noted that the mayor and his staff still plan to attend the event, and may do so as long as it's voluntary and on their own time. The event will no longer be advertised on the city's website with the misleading title, "Mayor's Prayer Breakfast." It will be replaced with "Community Prayer Breakfast" to "avoid the appearance of city endorsement."

"Not only is this a victory for FFRF, it can be counted as a success for the Augusta taxpayer. City officials will now be compelled to pray on their own time and dime," Gaylor added.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has cautioned the City of Steubenville, Ohio, to place the Constitution and taxpayers’ pockets over risky offers by religious right groups to fight FFRF to keep a cross on its city logo.

FFRF had sent a letter to the city on behalf of a local complainant calling attention to the constitutional problems with the city’s new logo. Part of the silhouette prominently depicts Christ the King Chapel of Franciscan University with a cross atop it. The logo was commissioned by the city from Nelson Fine Art and Gifts, which claims it is the largest-volume American manufacturer of Catholic art and gifts.

A week ago the city sent word that it would be removing the chapel and cross from the city logo. Read FFRF's earlier press release. 

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a conservative Catholic-oriented legal group, plus several religious right groups which have not been publicly named, subsequently apparently contacted the city offering “free” help to defend the Christian logo.

“Do not be duped by offers from religious right legal groups. They may volunteer their time pro bono but they never pick up the plaintiffs’ tab,” wrote FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott in a letter sent yesterday.

Elliott warned the city “about accepting such offers, which will put city taxpayers at risk.” Elliott cited several high profile state-church cases in which Christian legal groups that represented government bodies ended up costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars when the cases were lost. 

The Becket Fund defended the city of Cranston, R.I., from Jessica Ahlquist's challenge to the unconstitutional prayer mural in her school. After the Becket Fund lost the case earlier this year, the school and City of Cranston officials agreed to pay $150,000 to reimburse the ACLU of Rhode Island for part of its legal fees.

By the logo designer’s admission, the chapel and cross are a symbol of “faith.” The depiction of the cross and chapel on the city logo is a “near copy of the Franciscan University logo, which further blurs the line between church and state,” Elliott added.

“Crosses do not belong on the logos of American cities. We are not a ‘Christian nation’ or a theocracy, but were first among nations to adopt a secular constitution wisely separating religion from government,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.

Two things the world doesn’t need any more of: fast-food chains, and the Christian-right entrepreneurs who profit from them. 

Chick-fil-A owner Dan Cathy is in hot water, and deservedly so, for telling Baptist Press he operates his chain “on biblical principles” and has an established policy against marriage equality.

It all started when Cathy was asked about the company’s “support of the traditional family” by the Biblical Recorder, a radio show, and responded: “Well, guilty as charged. We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.” 

On June 16, he told “The Ken Coleman Show,” “As it relates to society in general, I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than You as to what constitutes a marriage.’ I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we would have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is all about.”

According to Baptist Press, the company issued a statement on July 19 telling customers that "going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena" and that its tradition is "to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender." Somehow, the statement seemed less than propitiatory when it added that the chain has applied "biblically-based principles" to business management and will continue to do so (including closing on Sundays).

These masters of emotional boycotts — the far Religious Right — are shocked! shocked! that Chick-fil-A has ruffled feathers and is facing consumer reprisal and boycotts. Yes, Christian-right CEOs have a right to make antigay statements, and consumers have a right to boycott their restaurants. Get this. Focus on the Family’s Glenn T. Stanton (who?) called the restaurant’s critics “close-minded fundamentalists!” One wonders whether the dig by the Human Rights Campaign went over the heads of the real fundamentalists. NRC posted a Chick-fil-A logo on its website with a phony tagline: “We Didn’t Invent Discrimination. We Just Support It.”

Ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who says he’s been “incensed at the vitriolic assaults,” in a sense has dug the hole deeper for Cathy by calling a “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” for tomorrow to “affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse.”

Chick-fil-A is a four billion dollar a year enterprise with more than 1600 restaurants, including 262 restaurants in Texas and strongholds in other southern states. The Atlanta college football bowl game is now named after Chick-fil-A instead of being called the Peach Bowl. It is “the only bowl that has an invocation,” Cathy boasted in an interview to Baptist Press. “It’s in our agreement that if Chick-fil-A is associated in this, there’s going to be an invocation. Also, we don’t have our bowl on Sunday, either.”

Where is H.L. Mencken when we need him? Mencken, that arch-cynic, famously wrote: "No one in this world, so far as I know . . . has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people." Mencken could have added, “or by underestimating their taste(bud)s.”

Left Photo: William Dusenberry. Right Photo: William van Druten.  

Two atheists active with their FFRF chapters who are former Boy Scouts have had it with Boy Scouts of America. They are encouraging other former Boy Scouts to speak out, return medals to BSA or otherwise protest BSA bigotry.

William Dusenberry, a retired professor who helped found FFRF’s Tulsa chapter, is sending his BSA shirt and three merit badges, “none for bigotry,” to Jimmy Carter, a member of the BSA Advisory Council. He sent a letter asking Carter to publicly resign. He encourages all former Boy Scouts who are nontheists or who are disgusted by BSA’s most recent repudiation of gay members, to do likewise.

Dusenberry says he’s “miraculously” kept the BSA paraphernalia with him through moves in seven states. He was “the only non-Roman Catholic in my troop. I had to stand quietly while the opening ‘Holy Mary’s’ were recited,” he recalls.

William van Druten, M.D., who founded Lake Superior Freethinkers, a chapter of FFRF in Duluth, Minn., was part of Troop 88, San Francisco. He sent a photo of himself to BSA pictured with his Eagle Scout medal and the words “ashamed.” Van Druten called BSA’s stance against nonbelieving members and its recent decision to reaffirm its stance against gay membership “a gross disgrace.” For van Druten, it will not be “once an Eagle, always an Eagle” after BSA ‘s reaffirmation to ban openly gay members. The discrimination against nontheists is apparently so entrenched BSA didn’t even bother to reaffirm it.

Van Druten recalled being “proud” when he earned his badge. “Nobody bothered us with what superstition we had or did not have, whether we were straight, gay, black, white, yellow or grey. We learned lashing, tenting, knotting, truth telling. We hiked the Califonria coastal mountains, learned the trees, shrubs and birds. We backpacked the High Sierra. Yet now I discover that my youth’s delight is captured by bigots. So I am now ashamed of my badges and of my eagle award, too.”

Van Druten’s daughter, a high school teacher, wrote BSA that she will no longer be writing “recommendations for young men who are pursuing an Eagle Scout Badge. I will be telling them that there is nothing wrong with being gay, there is nothing wrong with being an atheist, and there is nothing wrong with being black. Yes, I equate them all. It is a hateful policy, and I refuse to help you perpetuate it.”

Dusenberry said he was inspired by Tulsa World’s Mike Jones’ June 22 column, “It’s not the Scouts I remember.” Wrote Jones:

“All of my fond memories are somehow tainted by the decision of the BSA to exclude a part of our society that has suffered enough discrimination over the decades.

“The Scouts had the chance to live up to their code. To set a good example for the youth of this country. Instead it chose the wrong path. It ought to turn in its hiking merit badge.”

FFRF is creating a “Badge of Shame on BSA” webpage to house photographs of FFRF members with their rejected BSA paraphernalia, etc.

Seven myth-dispelling billboards featuring Spokane-area nonbelievers and families are appearing this week for a month-long campaign, as part of an “Out of the Closet” project by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and its Spokane chapter, the Inland Northwest Freethought Society.

The billboards feature the friendly faces of local atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers along with their personal freethought “testimonials.”

Joshua and Chandra Alto, a family in Spokane, are featured with their children, incuding a baby, and the slogan: “Atheist family: Good without a god.”

Click on photos to enlarge. 

Participants include nearby Idaho FFRF members who are active with the Spokane chapter, such as Harlan and Kay Hayes of Coeur d’Alene, who self identify as “great grandparents . . . nontheists.” The couple chose as their slogan: “Evidence and science trump myth — reason wins.”

“Truth is real; God is imaginary,” states Sharon Mease, from Spirit Lake, Idaho, who is retired and identifies as an atheist.

David Roeder, president of the chapter, appears with his statement, “On bended knee? Not for me.” Roeder calls himself an “inquisitive atheist.”

Stacey and Amanda Schafer of Spokane, a married couple who are atheists, share a board reading: “Our morality comes from reality.”

Former minister Ray Ideus, now an atheist living in Nine Mile Falls, says on his billboard: “Now preaching reason, not religion.”

“Freedom from religion lives,” proclaims Spokane salesman Frank Bender’s billboard.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., is the nation’s largest association of atheists and agnostics with more than 18,500 members, including about 1,000 members in Washington. Spokane is FFRF’s seventh stop in its campaign to introduce its members and “friendly neighborhood atheists” to their neighbors. FFRF debuted the “Out of the Closet” campaign in Madison, Wis., in 2010, and has since it visited Columbus, Tulsa, Raleigh, Phoenix and Nashville (one billboard) with the unique campaign.

“The nonreligious are at least a quarter, 25% of the Washington adult population — claiming conservatively 1.2 million state citizens, yet there are many Americans who have never knowingly met an atheist or unbeliever, much less someone who is proud to advertise their nonbelief,” said Dan Barker, FFRF co-president. Barker, author of Godless, was formerly an evangelical minister who “just lost faith in faith.” He works with Ron Ideus on the new Clergy Project, a support group for clergy who have lost faith and are trying to leave the ministry.

“We are your neighbor, your classmate, your colleague, the person who opens the door for you at the grocery store, the parent you meet at the playground,” he said.

“Our members are FFRF’s greatest asset, our best advertisement for freethought,” adds Annie Laurie Gaylor, who co-directs FFRF. “It’s time to welcome atheists and agnostics into the American mainstream. Freethinkers are respectable and have much to offer our nation.”

FFRF warmly thanks the Inland Northwest Freethought Society chapter, director David Roeder for all the legwork, and participating individuals and families.

Because FFRF can’t put all of its members on a billboard, FFRF offers an interactive web application allowing any nonbeliever to place a “virtual billboard" at FFRF’s website. 

If you are interested in helping to subsidize a billboard or coordinate a campaign in your area, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Map/Addresses

Click on map to enlarge. 

1. 1800 W. 3rd Avenue Spokane, WA 99201
2. 1217 N. Washington Street Spokane, WA 99201
3. 1708 W. Northwest Boulevard Spokane, WA 99205
4. 6010 N. Market Street Spokane, WA 99208
5. 8016 E. Trent Avenue Spokane, WA 99212
6. 7326 E. Sprague Avenue Spokane, WA 99212
7. 4105 N. Sullivan Road Spokane, WA 99216

Left: This logo is being retired. Right: This older logo is the temporary replacement. 

A complaint by the Freedom From Religion Foundation over inclusion of a chapel with a cross atop it on the new seal for Steubenville, Ohio, has resulted in a victory.

The city of Steubenville law director emailed FFRF this morning to report, “the city council has agreed to change the logo as per your request.” For now they are reverting to their previous city logo, until a new design is completed.

The disputed silhouette depicted the chapel of Franciscan University, which even Franciscan University spokesperson Tom Sofio told media is “instantly recognizable worldwide.” A different, nonreligious image of a different building from the University will be substituted.

FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott wrote Mayor Domenick Mucci on May 22, pointing out the city logo containing a Latin cross violates the Constitution. FFRF, with nearly 19,000 members nationwide, wrote on behalf of a Steubenville complainant. FFRF has members in Steubenville and nearly 500 in Ohio.

Elliott’s letter included a long list of federal court decisions consistently ruling it is unconstitutional for crosses and religious symbols to appear on municipal seals and logos:

“Any claims of historical or cultural significance to the Latin cross on the Steubenville City logo do not relieve the City of its constitutional obligations. The City of Steubenville must not endorse ‘faith’ and church. While we understand that Franciscan University is a part of the City, the City may not depict the University chapel and cross because to do so places the City’s imprimatur behind Christianity. This excludes nonChristians and violates the Constitution.”

“We’re pleased with the expeditious response,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. 

“It’s so clear why a city cannot and should not send a message that it is has a Christian orientation, thereby making Christian residents favored insiders, and nonChristians, including nonbelievers, outsiders. Government cannot pick sides on religion. All citizens — whether Christian, Jewish, atheist or agnostic, Muslim, etc. — must be welcomed as full participants, and the only way to do that is to keep religion out of government.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to stick to science and leave religion out of drought policy.

At a July 18 White House press conference, Vilsack said, “I get on my knees every day, and I’m saying an extra prayer now,” and “If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it.”

FFRF takes issue with Vilsack’s suggestion that prayer is an appropriate governmental response to crisis, quoting Mark Twain’s aphorism: “It is best to read the weather forecast before praying for rain.”

While lauding Vilsack’s more concrete suggestions, such as aid packages, FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie caution in a letter sent today to Vilsack: “A superpower which looks to the supernatural — which engages in primitive thinking instead of critical thinking — is not going to remain a superpower.”

“Faith that the environment and rainfall are controlled by a supernatural deity who listens to our pleas is one of the stumbling blocks that prevents our country from addressing challenges underlying environmental disasters, like global climate change,” FFRF noted. The letter references remarks by two members of Congress offering “God’s will” and prayerful supplication as the only human responses to climate change.

“Superstitious thinking will not help us surmount the obstacles our country faces. This kind of thinking is a betrayal of our historic confidence in American ingenuity,” FFRF asserts. “Had NASA adopted Senator Inhofe’s attitude, we never would have reached the moon.”

America’s “Nones” — the nonreligious — are at an all-time high, now comprising nearly one in five Americans (19%), according to a new study by the Pew Center for the People and the Press. The 19% count is based on aggregated surveys of 19,377 people conducted by the Pew Research Center throughout 2011 and reported by USA Today. 

“This means great news for progress, for reasoned debate, for the status of nonbelievers in our nation,” said FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “The freethought movement and FFRF are growing rapidly. There is an explosion of local and campus freethought groups, activities and conferences.”

“Nones” were already the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, according to the definitive American Religious Identification Survey, whose 2008 study showed adult Nones up to 15% from 6% in 1990. ARIS, released in 2009, actually estimated “Nones” at 20% if responses to broader questions about religious practices were included.

Freethinkers have been highly marginalized, in part for being perceived as making up a small segment of the U.S. population. Actually, there have always been many more nonreligious than Jews, Muslims, Mormons or Eastern religions' adherents, currently respectively at 1.2%, 0.6%, 1.4% and 0.9% of the U.S. population, according to ARIS. “Most minority religions, however tiny in numbers, are treated with respect, inclusion and sometimes deference. It’s time public officials and the American public wake up to the changing demographics and stop treating atheists and agnostics as outsiders,” added Annie Laurie Gaylor, who co-directs FFRF with Barker.

“With nonbelievers at about 20% of the population, there is no longer any excuse for leaving us out of the equation. Public officials cannot continue to assume ‘all Americans’ believe in a deity, or continue to offend 20% of the population by imposing prayer at governmental meetings or government-hosted events. These surveys now show that ‘In God We Trust’ is a provenly inaccurate motto. Nonbelievers should not be treated as political pariahs,” Gaylor said.

“ ‘Nones’ in fact were at the time of the last ARIS survey, the second-largest ‘denomination’ in the nation,” Barker said, “following Catholics at 25% and tied with Baptists at 15%. According to the new PEW study, nonbelievers now outrank Baptists.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, with the help of area secularists, has placed an election-year caveat, “God and government are a dangerous mix,” on a red-white-and-blue billboard at the intersection of South Mission Street and Ferry, facing south, in Wenatchee, Wash. An identical billboard will be going up soon in Okanogan, on Highway 97 just north of milepost 282, two miles north of the turn-off for Malott and five miles south of the southern-most exit to Okanogan.

FFRF, with 18,500 members nationwide, including almost 1,000 in Washington, is the nation’s largest atheist/agnostic association, also working as a state/church watchdog. It placed the messages in tandem with its members and individuals connected with NCW Freethinkers of Wenatchee, a local meetup group organized in 2010. FFRF thanks them for donating toward the costs and arranging the rentals.

“Our efforts this year are to once again remind the public that ‘We, the people’ need to preserve our Founding Fathers' goal to give this country's citizens a secular government without dangerous religious entanglements,” said Kurt Wyant, a member of FFRF and spokesperson for NWC Freethinkers of Wenatchee.

“Some issues on our next state ballot deserve reflection in regard to secular government. One of these is Referendum 74, asking whether we support our state legislature's decision to give gay couples the right to marriage. A citizen does not need to be a secular person to support a secular government. We should have a government that is fair to all citizens, regardless of individual religion or philosophy, and support the separation between church and state.”

FFRF and area freethinkers originally placed this message in Wenatchee in 2011.

“Last year we placed a single billboard in the city of Wenatchee, which received lots of attention. This year we placed the billboard message at another busy location in Wenatchee, and along a popular highway to the north of Wenatchee,” Wyant added.

“Although the U.S. Constitution forbids a religious test for public office, in election years there is great pressure on candidates to genuflect before the various religious powerbrokers and to wear religion on their sleeves,” said FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.