The Freedom From Religion Foundation commends Connecticut legislators for defending abortion access amid the anti-abortion blitzkrieg occurring in statehouses nationwide.

Lawmakers in Connecticut have passed a bill that expands the types of medical professionals who can provide abortion care, such as advanced practice registered nurses, nurse-midwives and physician assistants. House Bill 5414 also protects residents and visitors from “facing penalities under other states’ anti-abortion laws.” This includes criminal and civil penalities, such as the $10,000 and $20,000 abortion bounty-hunting bills passed in Texas and Utah. Gov. Ned Lamont has pledged to sign this bill, which would go into effect on July 1. Notably, this bill prohibits Connecticut’s governor from extraditing someone who has received, provided or aided someone with abortion to a state where it is considered criminal activity. Under this new law, people or organizations in Connecticut who are sued for receiving, performing or providing support for abortions in other states could countersue for damages and other costs.

Such legislation has never been more timely. While we await the Supreme Court decision over a 15-week ban in Mississippi that will impact the future of Roe v. Wade, anti-abortion state legislators are passing harmful bills all over the country. The Guttmacher Institute has reported that as of April 15, 33 abortion restrictions have been enacted in nine states so far this year. As Connecticut state Sen. Steve Cassano explained, “We are countering those bills by protecting residents and visitors alike from others seeking to persecute them.”

“Hip, hip, hooray for the Connecticut Legislature and governor for acting to protect abortion rights,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “The organized proponents of recriminalizing abortion care and turning back the clock are exclusively motivated by religion. This is a religious war against women and their right to reproductive self-determination.”

Abortion is an extremely safe medical procedure, and a report by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has found that complications from abortion are rare. Dr. Ned Calonge, the co-chair of the committee that wrote the study, explained that state restrictions and bans on abortion are not based in science. Furthermore, Dr. Hal Lawrence, the CEO of the American College of Obestricians and Gynecologists, an organization with nearly 60,000 members, stated that any claims about abortion restrictions protecting women’s health “have been totally debunked” and that “delaying and making people wait and go through hoops of unnecessary, extra procedures does not improve the safety — and, actually, by having them delay can actually worsen the safety.”

This is why the Freedom From Religion Foundation applauds Connecticut legislators for passing a bill that reflects science and protects reproductive health care.

A recent U.S. report highlights the prominence of anti-blasphemy laws around the globe and urges the State Department to designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recently released its 2022 report, which flags religious liberty concerns country by country. The report is extensive and addresses many aspects of religious liberty around the world. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, while noting the USCIRF’s checkered history of leadership, applauds the report’s attention to international blasphemy laws.

This year's report recommends that the State Department put Nigeria back on the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs) after that designation mysteriously disappeared last year. It discusses the case of Mubarak Bala, a young Nigerian father, husband and atheist who was recently given a lengthy prison sentence for the victimless crime of blasphemy. FFRF recently called on the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria to help free Bala. The report’s third appendix lists “religious prisoners of conscience” and includes a profile of Bala.

The report also surveys global blasphemy laws generally, noting that 84 countries around the world continue to maintain anti-blasphemy laws. It gives another example of blasphemy charges in Poland, where three LGBT activists faced charges in January for “offending religious feelings” by displaying posters depicting the Virgin Mary with a rainbow halo.

Anti-blasphemy laws violate our most essential human rights: the freedom of thought, freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

“While some American believers cry persecution because they are not allowed to impose their religious beliefs onto public school students, or to deny service to same-sex couples, the USCIRF report shows what real religious persecution looks like around the world,” notes FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The report highlights the importance of secular government. People shouldn’t be punished because they don’t share the religious beliefs of their elected representatives or other government officials.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is committed to fighting blasphemy prohibitions around the globe, standing up for true religious freedom. There cannot be freedom of religion without a government that is free from religion.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is sounding the alarm that religious extremists in control of statehouses and gubernatorial offices are decimating our reproductive liberties.

The latest such assault occurred yesterday, when the Oklahoma House approved a copycat abortion-ban-and-bounty bill modeled after a Texas law, not only banning abortions at six weeks, but also deputizing citizens to sue any physician or person who “aids or abets” in such an abortion. Given the fact that Gov. Kevin Stitt has tweeted that he will sign any piece of anti-abortion legislation, this cruel bill will undoubtedly soon be enacted and go into immediate effect.

It would not only deny abortion care to Oklahomans, but further throw into chaos Texans who have flocked to Oklahoma as a sanctuary state for legal abortion care since Texas enacted its ban last September. Oklahoma clinics have taken on an average of 600 additional patients per month.

The relentlessness of Oklahoma anti-abortionist legislators is shown by the fact that earlier this month, Stitt signed into law a bill that outlaws abortion almost entirely, with no exception for rape and incest and fines of up to $100,000 for physicians. Anti-choice legislators couldn’t even wait till August and pushed through a different immediate ban.

The newest ban in question, SB 1503, is misnamed the Oklahoma Heartbeat Act: As Dr. Ted Anderson, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, explains, such phrases “do not reflect medical accuracy or clinical understanding” and that it is not a heartbeat, but rather “induced flickering of a portion of the fetal tissue.” Most women do not even realize they are pregnant at six weeks’ gestation, which is two weeks after a missed period. Religiously rooted legislators don’t look to medical accuracy and scientific evidence to craft their legislation, unfortunately.

Beyond the ban, the Oklahoma bill deputizes private citizens to bring lawsuits and win up to $10,000 against anyone who “induces an abortion, intends to perform an abortion, or knowingly aids or abets an abortion.” Oklahoma joins Idaho as the latest state to pass a Texas-style abortion ban.

Reproductive health assistant Marie Hoffmann at Planned Parenthood in Tulsa explains the horror that abortion patients are facing: “On top of already being anxious enough about having to have an abortion, how much that’s going to cost, how she’s going to get here and just the anxiety of having an abortion ... then she has to worry about whether or not she is going to be able to keep this appointment.” The bans will create a tiered system in which only women who have the resources, money and means to travel out of state will be able to end unwanted pregnancies, as the Tulsa Planned Parenthood abortion provider Dr. Joshua Yapp observes.

“We have to stop calling them ‘anti-abortion bills’ and start calling them what they are: compulsory-birth legislation,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. Oklahoma traditionally has one of the lowest percentages of female legislators in the nation.

In these scary times, donating to abortion funds is more important than ever. Find local or state abortion funds here, such as the Women’s Medical Fund, an all-volunteer fund started by FFRF’s principal co-founder Anne Nicol Gaylor that helps an average of 900-1,000 Wisconsin residents obtain affordable abortion care each year.

We need to come together in the fact of anti-abortion fanaticism.

Click here to watch the teaser. 

The head of a Baptist group that crafted a landmark joint report on the Jan. 6 insurrection with the Freedom From Religion Foundation is the guest on FFRF’s “Freethought Matters” Sunday TV show.

Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and leader of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, gives a powerful overview of the dangers of white Christian nationalism and affirms the historic support by many Baptist denominations for strict separation between religion and government. Tyler helped oversee a blockbuster joint report (to which she contributed a chapter) that the Baptist Joint Committee and FFRF issued on Christian nationalism’s role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“We had seen examples of violent Christian nationalism even before Jan. 6, like at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015 and the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in 2018. That really urged us to put this project forward,” she tells “Freethought Matters” co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. “People who had maybe not noticed or been concerned about Christian nationalism after seeing those instances of Christian nationalism at the Capitol were looking for resources. They wanted to understand it — and we were there ready to provide those resources to help them understand Christian nationalism.”

If you don’t live in the quarter-plus viewership of the nation where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the interview on the “Freethought Matters” playlist on FFRF’s YouTube channel. New shows go up every Thursday. You can also receive notifications when we post new episodes of “Freethought Matters” by subscribing to FFRF’s YouTube channel.

“Freethought Matters” airs in:

• Chicago, WPWR-CW (Ch. 50), Sundays at 9 a.m.
• Denver, KWGN-CW (Ch. 2), Sundays at 7 a.m.
• Houston, KIAH-CW (Ch. 39), Sundays at 11 a.m.
• Los Angeles, KCOP-MY (Ch. 13), Sundays at 8:30 a.m. 
• Madison, Wis., WISC-TV (Ch. 3), Sundays at 11 p.m.
• Minneapolis, KSTC-IND (Ch. 45, Digital Channel 5.5), Sundays at 9:30 a.m. (Digital channel 5.2 has been dropped.)
• New York City, WPIX-IND (Ch. 11), Sundays at 10 a.m.
  
• Phoenix, KASW-CW (Ch. 61, or 6 or 1006 for HD), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• Portland, Ore., KRCW-CW (Ch. 32), Sundays at 9 a.m. Comcast channel 703 for High Def, or Channel 3.
• Sacramento, KQCA-MY (Ch. 58), Sundays at 8:30 a.m.
• San Francisco, KICU-IND (Ch. 36), Sundays at 10 a.m.
• Seattle, KONG-IND (Ch. 16 or Ch. 106 on Comcast). Sundays at 8 a.m.
• Washington, D.C., WDCW-CW (Ch. 50 or Ch. 23 or Ch. 3), Sundays at 8 a.m.

Upcoming shows will include interviews with U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, illustrious illustrator Edward Sorel and freethinker and sculptor Zenos Frudakis, who is creating a memorial to “Forgotten Founder” Thomas Paine. “Freethought Matters” is now in its sixth season. To watch earlier shows, including an interview with freethinker and feminist icon Gloria Steinem, visit the “Freethought Matters” playlist on FFRF’s YouTube channel. Please tune in to “Freethought Matters” . . . because freethought matters.

P.S. Please tune in or record according to the times given above regardless of what is listed in your TV guide (it may be listed simply as “paid programming” or even be misidentified). To set up an automatic weekly recording, try taping manually by time or channel. And spread the word to freethinking friends, family or colleagues about a TV show, finally, that is dedicated to providing programming for freethinkers!

Four attorneys from three major secular organizations are launching a monthly podcast — the only legal affairs show for atheists, agnostics and humanists hosted completely by female lawyers.

“We Dissent” will discuss religious liberty in federal and state courts and the work these attorneys do to keep religion and government separate. The co-hosts are Rebecca S. Markert, legal director at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Elizabeth Cavell, associate counsel at FFRF, Alison Gill, vice president for legal and policy at American Atheists, and Monica Miller, legal director and senior counsel at the American Humanist Association. A promo for the podcast was unveiled this week.

The podcast will explore religious liberty cases currently before the U.S. Supreme Court and at other federal courts across the country. The attorney hosts will also discuss other advocacy work undertaken to help atheists and other nonreligious people outside the courtroom. The first episodes tackle Supreme Court cases involving the constitutionality of public funding for religious schools, flying a Christian flag at Boston City Hall, religious liberty and the death penalty, as well as state legislative advocacy. These episodes are expected to drop in May.

The co-hosts explain how “We Dissent” is filling a void.

“We came together because we want to raise the voices of women lawyers in the secular movement,” remarks Markert. “We realized that there are a lot of podcasts on atheism and on the law, but most of them are dominated by male voices.”

“This podcast will showcase the incredibly talented women behind a lot of the work to keep religion and government separate,” says Cavell. “Most of our organizations are run by and/or were founded by women, and we want to carry on the tradition of powerful women making change in this space.”

“Nonreligious women are a growing and politically engaged population, yet they still too often face ridicule, negative stereotypes and marginalization with their families, in broader society and even within nonreligious communities,” states Gill. “Abortion and other issues that impact women are unquestionably secular issues.”

“The Supreme Court’s religious-based decisions have dire consequences for women throughout our nation, in terms of reproductive health care, LGBTQ+ rights, and basic civil liberties,” comments Miller. “As secular women lawyers, we work hard to help protect an important founding value of the United States: the separation of church and state.”

We Dissent is available wherever you get your podcasts. The podcast’s website is we-dissent.org. You can also keep up to date with We Dissent on Facebook by clicking here or follow us on Twitter @we_dissent.

Tune in next month for a podcast that offers scintillating legal insights — from a unique perspective.

The East Tennessee chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation is fed up with religion in government and wants citizens to help FFRF end such entanglements.

To this end, it has put up a new billboard in the Knoxville area. The billboard, which is on display along heavily traveled I-40/I-75 near downtown Knoxville, reads: “Offended/concerned about religion in public schools or government? Contact ffrf.us/report” The billboard went up on April 4 and will remain until May 1. The same design will be used in Dayton, Tenn., the site of the famous Scopes “monkey” trial (immortalized in Inherit the Wind), for three months this summer in time for a scheduled trial re-enactment.

The billboard is urgently required in Tennessee. The current state governorship has proven to be constitutionally transgressive from the start, with FFRF strongly objecting to Gov. Bill Lee’s religion-infused inaugural. Then, FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor published an op-ed in the Knoxville paper in 2019 chiding him for his exclusionary approach when he declared a day in October as an official day of prayer and fasting. Lee has also come under criticism for his unscientific approach in handling the pandemic, exhibiting a particular reluctance to ask state residents to don a mask.

The billboard is the latest in a series that FFRF has erected in the Volunteer State. For a number of years, it put up a multihued billboard area in the Knoxville stating: “God & Government — A Dangerous Mix: Keep State & Church Separate.” And it raised a billboard near the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville spotlighting a freethinking student at that institution — and the pride he feels at breaking free from religion.

FFRF thanks its East Tennessee chapter, including its President Aleta Ledendecker, for making all this happen.

“Tennnessee is rife with state/church violations,” says Gaylor. “In enabling citizens to be constitutional watchdogs, we’re trying to make sure that the state and local governmental entities adhere to our founding principles.”

Ledendecker echoes that sentiment from the ground.

“Here in Tennessee, many elected and school officials turn a blind eye toward the wall of separation between state and church,” she says. “We wanted to let ordinary citizens know they have a means of protesting that can make a difference.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 36,000 members and several chapters across the country, including over 400 members in Tennessee and the East Tennessee chapter. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism. Photo: (left to right) FFRF East Tennessee chapter members David Hughes, Angel Jones, Joe Mitchell, Alistair Elliot, Gregg Deneweth, Terry Ray, Shannon VanBreda, Real VanBreda (holding Bailey the dog), Aleta Ledendecker, Eliot Specht. Carl Ledendecker is the photographer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is gravely concerned that some U.S. Supreme Court justices will seek to use the case they heard today, about an ostentatiously praying coach, as an excuse to allow school staff to push religion onto students.

The lawsuit was brought by a former high school football coach whose contract was not renewed after he continued to host group prayers on the 50-yard line after games. The litigant, Joe Kennedy, claims God called him to become a coach, and that he promised God to “give you the glory after every game, win or lose.”

The justices asked expansive questions during the proceedings, indicating little agreement on the facts or how the court should handle the legal analysis in the case. However, NBC News, among other onlookers, has called it for Kennedy, noting “the conservative majority seemed prepared to rule that the coach was expressing his own private religious views and not speaking for the school district.”

Richard Katskee, the Americans United attorney arguing on behalf of the school district, said Kennedy insisted on giving audible prayers so students could join, and “created a zoo on the field.”

“This case is a poor vehicle for clearly delineating the rights of students and staff in public schools,” warns FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott. “Coaches cannot push their religion on students, and any potential ‘win’ for the coach here must come with restrictions on religious activity aimed at students.”

FFRF filed a compelling amicus brief before the Supreme Court that argued the case has become moot. After losing in the district court, Joe Kennedy sold his home in Washington and moved approximately 2,800 miles to Pensacola, Fla. FFRF explained in its brief that this move is problematic for Kennedy because a Florida resident cannot sue a Washington school district over its policies. FFRF’s brief cites ample case law establishing that when a plaintiff leaves the state under circumstances such as Kennedy’s, the case cannot continue.

Unfortunately, some justices seemed inclined to buy the narrative spun by former coach Kennedy. He had claimed that his prayers were “personal” and “private,” in spite of his clear intent to include students and other game attendees in the prayers.

However, Justice Stephen Breyer questioned Kennedy’s version of events. Breyer said, “One of my problems in this case is the parties seem to have different views of the facts,” continuing, “This may be a case about facts and not really much about law.”

Justice Elena Kagan asked about a theme highlighted in FFRF’s amicus brief. FFRF argued that the court must take into account the harm caused to students who are nonreligious when coaches instigate prayer. Kagan said that the court’s prayer cases demonstrate a concern regarding “coercion on students to participate in religious activities when they may not wish to, when their religion is different or when they have no religion.” She called this the “heart of what we care about.”

“He chose to publicize his prayer, and he got down on one knee on the 50-yard line,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Conservative justices on the court may be ready to undermine the court’s prior cases on religion in school. Justice Neil Gorsuch asked about the use of the endorsement test, which counsel for Kennedy said should be formally overruled along with the court’s longstanding Lemon test. These tests have been used by courts throughout the country for decades to ensure that governments do not advance religion or appear to endorse religion.

“Aside from the fact that this case shouldn’t have been in front of the court in the first place, because of the mootness issue, the case law has been clear — no public school employee can lead students in prayer. This case is just another instance of an ultraconservative Supreme Court looking to dismantle the wall of separation,” says FFRF Legal Director Rebecca Markert.

FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor remarks, “Whatever this court decides, we know one thing: Our cherished founding principle of separation between state and church is in jeopardy. Religious extremists will take this as a signal to redouble their efforts to unravel more than 60 years of firm Supreme Court precedent protecting the rights of students to be free from religious ritual and indoctrination in our public schools.”

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had last year ruled in favor of Washington’s Bremerton School District, which did not renew Coach Kennedy’s contract after he defied reasonable requests to stop praying with students on the 50-yard line right after games. Kennedy had been singled out for praise by then-President Trump, including in a speech from the Oval Office on Religious Freedom Day, and has been a darling of Christian nationalist organizations and extremist members of Congress.

A decision in the case is expected to be announced by the end of June. If the court dismisses the case because it became moot, it could do so sooner.

The usual tenets of ultraconservatives are being jettisoned in order to promote a Christian nationalist agenda, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ revenge against pro-LGBTQ Disney reveals.

When extremist politicians who run on campaigns promoting “big business” start going after big business entities — even icons such as Disney, Google and Coca-Cola — then clearly politics is not business as usual.

DeSantis, a fervently conservative Catholic, is on a retributive crusade against Disney. Last Friday, the governor revoked a half-century-old tax and self-governing deal with Disney because the corporation dared to criticize his “Don’t Say Gay” law and also halted political donations. The “Don’t Say Gay” law muzzles discussion of LGBTQ issues in public schools, and was passed amid odious warnings by a DeSantis spokesperson that “grooming” goes on in public schools.

Critics charge that the revocation of Disney’s privileges will leave taxpayers in central Florida responsible for making up about $163 million in missed taxes. Hikes are expected on property taxes. How does the party of big business justify this?

Earlier this month, Alabama passed a law criminalizing medical care for young transgender individuals who are transitioning and legislation similar to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. When she signed the anti-transgender measure, ultrareligious Gov. Kay Ivey invoked God, as she has in the past while signing anti-abortion legislation: “I believe very strongly that if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if he made you a girl, you are a girl. . . . Instead, let us all focus on helping them to properly develop into the adults God intended them to be.” Ivey’s motto could be: “God says it, I believe it, that settles it.”

Alabama’s sole gay lawmaker said from the Statehouse floor that his conservative colleagues had no business interfering with the decisions of parents, doctors and children: “Where’s the freedom in that? Where’s small government in that?” asked state Rep. Neil Rafferty.

The same hypocrisy exists with the rash of states that have shockingly outright banned all or most abortion care in recent months. Legislators who typically cavil the most over the so-called intrusions of “big government” into citizen lives have no problem at all demanding to make the most intimate and life-altering decisions for female constituents.

Nothing is too petty for these fanatics to dictate, whether it’s which bathroom a middle-schooler must use or if a parent may seek gender-affirming care for transgender children. A judge has temporarily blocked a portion of a law, signed by devoutly religious Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, that requires “child abuse” investigations against such parents. The law, in effect, criminalizes LGBTQ minors and supportive parents. Abbott is even urging citizens to squeal on such parents.

All of this plays out against a backdrop of divisive school board meetings, with many self-righteous parents crying “parental rights” after being on the warpath against school masking over the past two years. New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wisely points out that public schools don’t just exist for parents. As he recently wrote, public schools “exist for all of us, to reflect and inculcate democratic values and ecumenical virtues that have nothing to do with any one parent’s ideology, religion or lack thereof.”

Ominously, as Jamelle Bouie, another New York Times columnist points out, many of those who are fanning the flames against “critical race theory” and LGBTQ rights related to our public schools, are hellbent on destroying our public schools. Foremost among these is Christopher Rufo, who is deliberately using these trumped-up controversies with the overt goal of destroying our public schools.

“These are not just attacks on individual teachers and schools; they don’t stigmatize just vulnerable children and their communities; they are the foundation for an assault on the very idea of public education,” writes Bouie.

America’s secular public education system represents the best of the United States, and just like big businesses with consciences, it is under assault by extremists determined to inflict their personal religious dogmas upon all citizens. Like all bullies, the Christian nationalists are starting with the most vulnerable: Black children and LGBTQ minors and their parents. It’s a very bad business — and the answer is to keep religion out of our laws, social policies and public schools.

Photo via Shuttestock by Vival Tours.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is delighted to report that the Dane County Board of Supervisors has officially voted to remove prayer from board agendas.

Due to this action taken at its meeting earlier this week, the agenda will return to listing only “inspirational messages” by rotating board members. Although such messages may explicitly include prayer, there will no longer be an agenda item prompting prayer.

This reverts the county board to a position it originally took in the late 1970s, when FFRF co-founders Anne and Annie Laurie Gaylor took the first official action of the newly created state/church watchdog in asking the board to stop praying.

That request by the mother-daughter team was reported in the June 22, 1976, edition of The Capital Times daily newspaper, in a story headlined “‘Pray on your own time’ Gaylor urges county committee.”

As reporter Ed Bark duly recorded, “[Anne] Gaylor told the slightly bemused committee that: ‘It is not the business of governmental bodies to pray.’” When board members pray publicly: “You inflict pressure, compulsion and embarrassment on those of your members and those of your audience who do not accept or share these private religious views,” Gaylor said. She suggested the board instead open with a reading from the Constitution, “with special attention to the First Amendment.”

Annie Laurie Gaylor also urged the supervisors back in 1976 to “pray on your own time.”

While the reporter gave the Gaylors a “snowball’s chance in hell” of persuading the board, in fact, by the following year, the board had dropped prayers and replaced them with rotating “inspirational messages” left to the choice of the supervisor. The Gaylors also asked the Madison Common Council to drop prayer at the same time, and the city acceded in 1977, never to resume them.

At some point, however, the Dane County Board forgot about this vote and prayer ended back on the agenda, even though most supervisors did not pray when it was their turn to open the meetings. Thanks to the commitment and leadership of Heidi Wegleitner, an attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin who is a six-term supervisor representing District 2, the full board once again voted on Tuesday, April 19, to drop prayer. (During the debate on Tuesday, Supervisors Tim Keifer and Jeff Weigand said prayers.) Annie Laurie Gaylor and FFRF Attorney Ryan Jayne testified before the Board’s Executive Committee last month when it considered whether to approve the measure for a full vote of the Board.

Wegleitner received threats and hate mail after Fox News did an unhelpful segment about her proposal to remove both prayer and the recitation of the religious Pledge of Allegiance. She talked about the proposal and the backlash on FFRF’s “Ask an Atheist” program.

Wegleitner’s motion to stop scheduling the Pledge, which contains the words “under God” in it, failed. However, as Wegleitner noted, the motion stirred an “important conversation.”

“We have elevated the voice of dissent and are making more space for free speech,” adds Wegleitner. “All in all, a pretty good night.”

FFRF appreciates Wegleitner standing her ground in defending the Constitution.

“We’re grateful to Heidi Wegleitner for her leadership and to the others on the Dane County Board who have recognized that scheduling prayer as part of a governmental meeting turns nonbelievers into outsiders,” says Gaylor. She also thanked Dane County FFRF members who contacted the board to support Wegleitner’s measure. At least 40 percent of Dane County residents have no religious affiliation, FFRF points out.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 36,000 members and several chapters all across the country. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

Pictured is Dane County Superintendent Heidi Wegleitner.

A prominent scholar and historian has endorsed the construction of a statue of Thomas Paine in the nation’s capital — providing the project a huge spur. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., introduced legislation in February (HR 6720) to authorize the building of a much-needed memorial to Thomas Paine. 

“Despite his catalytic role in founding America and our constitutional republic, Thomas Paine remains too often on the dark outskirts of history,” Raskin said. “This memorial to Paine — amazingly already prefunded with a flood of voluntary contributions and pledges from private citizens — will be a powerful and dramatic addition to the symbolic life of Washington, D.C.” 

Now, Historical Society of Pennsylvania CEO David Brigham is enthusiastically backing the idea.

“As Philadelphia was the political center of the American Revolution, and with Thomas Paine as a leader of the movement towards independence in 1776, this recognition project is an important step towards unifying America around the common ground of the American Revolution,” says Brigham. “1776 began with Paine's Common Sense, which turned the tide towards independence and led to the Declaration of Independence and the idea of the universal rights of mankind that underlies the Declaration. 1776 ended with Paine’s Crisis I, the ‘times that tried men's souls,’ which helped turn the tide in the Revolutionary War.”
 
Co-sponsors of the Thomas Paine memorial bill include Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Mark Pocan, D-Wis., Sean Casten, D-Ill., Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., James McGovern, D-Mass., Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., and Thomas Suozzi, D-N.Y. The legislation will authorize the Thomas Paine Memorial Association to establish the commemorative work in the District of Columbia. The association is working with renowned sculptor Zenos Frudakis, and the statue will be paid for through private funds. The Thomas Paine Memorial Association is the recipient of a very generous pledge from Todd Stiefel and the Stiefel Freethought Foundation — which will ensure that the memorial will become a reality.

“A staunch abolitionist, Thomas Paine popularized the idea that justice and equality must be the basis of government, and laid down the ideals of American democracy,” adds Brigham. “A prominent statue to Paine is long overdue.”
 
Members of the Thomas Paine Memorial Association (TPMA) are delighted to receive support from such a luminary.
 
“This endorsement by a major American educator and art historian means a lot,” comments Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president and co-founder serving as the secretary of TPMA. “This endorsement will convince many minds about the necessity of the project.”

Margaret Downey, TPMA president, states, “The endorsement of the Thomas Paine statue project by David Brigham provides a great opportunity to educate the public about the importance of recognizing Thomas Paine’s accomplishments — which include advancing democracy, justice and equality in the United States of America. TPMA thanks Brigham for his support as it paves the way for more experts to join in the effort.”   

The Thomas Paine Memorial Association is confident that the project to memorialize the “Forgotten Founder” will get a substantial boost due to the approval of experts in the field — especially someone as renowned as David Brigham.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation hails a recent Supreme Court ruling and castigates a President Trump-appointed judge’s action — both related to the pandemic.

The nation’s highest court ruled that the Pentagon can discipline an Air Force officer who refused, because of religious objections, to be vaccinated against Covid-19. (The usual trio — Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas — dissented without comment Monday.) In doing so, the Supreme Court is in accord with its ruling last month that upheld the right of the Navy to refuse to deploy 35 service members with extreme religion-based objections to being vaccinated. Monday's action by the high court was an interim measure, which denies the religious officer relief while the appeal proceeds.

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar rightly asserted that being vaccinated is an “essential component of military readiness and is critical to protecting the health and safety of service members.” Prelogar pointed out, as she did in the earlier case, that the precedent for requiring military inoculations began as early as 1777, when George Washington ordered it to fight smallpox. The Defense Department has added the coronavirus vaccine to its list of nine total vaccines now required for service members. FFRF is pleased to report that 98 percent of Air Force members are vaccinated, according to the department.

“Reason and science have prevailed this week with this action by the high court,” notes Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president.

FFRF is criticizing a related development in which a Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida on Monday struck down the federal requirement mandating masks for all public transportation, including planes and buses. That ruling came from U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, who became at 33 the youngest Trump appointee to a federal bench (following his presidential election loss). The American Bar Association deemed her unqualified due to lack of experience, but she was confirmed on a party-line vote.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention imposed the mask travel mandate in February 2021 at President Biden’s request and had a few days ago extended the travel mandate till May 3. The ruling denied the right of the CDC to issue regulations preventing the interstate spread of communicable diseases, which is a serious blow. This is part and parcel of the concerning trend, often by Trump-appointed judges, to revoke the necessary rule-making authority of the federal government. Unfortunately, it comes at a time when the nation is seeing an uptick in cases of new Covid-19 variants — with possibly serious repercussions.

“We’ve gone from a time when it was an unquestioned part of being a good neighbor and citizen to be vaccinated in the midst of epidemics and pandemics, to the reality today — when partisan hacks and conspiracists belittle the science of vaccination and herd immunity measures,” Gaylor adds.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 36,000 members and several chapters all across the country. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.