Browse by Year:
Browse by Month:
HUD Secretary Ben Carson goes after FFRF on his Facebook page after we filed a lawsuit in response to his dodging of FOIA records requests relating to a White House bible study. FFRF attorney Colin McNamara tells us about another FOIA lawsuit we just filed over a Kentucky jailer who is refusing to provide documents in our investigation of prayer services at a county jail. Then we talk with Camille Beredjick, author of the new book, Queer Disbelief: Why LGBTQ Equality is an Atheist Issue.
After analyzing President Donald Trump’s unctuous, divisive and erroneous remarks at a right-wing “March For Life,” we dissect Vice President Mike Pence’s biblically based address to the Israeli Kenesset where he mistook myth for historical fact while embracing the “people of the book.” FFRF attorney Sam Grover tells us about positive developments in our lawsuit challenging a Texas judge who forces people in his courtroom to pray. Then we speak with Debra Deanne Olson, granddaughter of a California governor. Her biography (with co-author Dr. Craig Wilkinson) is The Honorable Culbert Levy Olson: Governor of California 1939-1943, Humanitarian, Ex-Mormon, Atheist.
FFRF Senior Attorney Patrick Elliott tells us about the federal lawsuit we filed today demanding that HUD Secretary Ben Carson waive fees in our FOIA request for information related to White House Bible Studies. We discuss evangelical hypocrisy, Trump’s racism, FFRF’s “In Science We Trust” billboard in Atlanta and Ron Reagan’s FFRF ad running on MSNBC. Then we talk with 11-yr-old Bailey Harris and her father Doug Harris about their beautiful new book, My Name is Stardust, introducing science to children.
Dan Barker announces the publication of his new book, Free Will Explained. After hearing about FFRF in the news and complaining about a Tennessee pastor who sexually molested a high-school girl and then apologized to his church to a standing ovation, we learn the connection between the anniversary of Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay” and Dan Barker’s piano playing. Then, after hearing world-renowned classical pianist Jarred Dunn play Chopin, we speak with him (on the phone from Poland) about his freethought views, and about the views of Chopin.
The first-ever Atheist Flag, erected by FFRF member Richard Gagnon, appeared this week in Somersworth, New Hampshire. We announce the debut broadcast of FFRF’s new TV Show, “Freethought Matters,” beginning Sunday on CBS in Madison, Wisconsin. FFRF attorney Ryan Jayne tells us about stopping a $5,000 city grant to a church in Sitka, Alaska. Then we speak with former Southern Baptist minister John Compere, who is now an atheist working with The Clergy Project, helping other preachers and priests to leave the ministry.
When U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) courageously resisted Trump’s “smear against women” Tweet that she learned about during a Congressional bible study, Annie Laurie told Gillibrand: “The bible is even worse than Trump!” After hearing Iranian-born feminist and atheist activist Maryam Namazie’s acceptance speech for the Hank Zumach “Freedom From Fundamentalist Religion” award, we listen to jazz singer Susan Hofer perform the (freethinker) Frank Loesser song “What Are You Doing New Year’s?” that she sang (accompanied by Dan Barker on the piano) during FFRF’s December 20 Winter Solstice party at Freethought Hall.
FFRF’s Winter Solstice signs have been erected around the country, one of which was vandalized in Olympia, Washington. Our full-page New York Times ad ran today, during a time when more Americans consider “Christmas” to be a purely secular holiday. After FFRF Legal Fellow Colin McNamara tells us about religious instruction in Wisconsin prisons, we listen to a number of irreverent and moving songs about the Winter Solstice, including Tom Lehrer’s “Christmas Carol,” “Blah Blah Bethlehem,” Ken Lohnquist’s “Isthmus Tree,” “Merry Frickin Christmas,” and Tim Minchin’s “White Wine in the Sun.”
Many victories to report on the eve of Bill of Rights Day: IRS Clergy Housing Allowance enjoined, Texas Judge rebuffed, Trump’s theocratic judicial nominee rejected, nativity scene moved from Pennsylvania city property, Christian mentoring program stopped in South Carolina schools. After celebrating the defeat of the religious ideologue Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, we talk with Diana Sabillon, a feminist atheist in Honduras who is fighting state/church entanglement in a country drenched in religion.
FFRF’s secular Winter Solstice displays are going up around the country. FFRF attorney Chris Line tells us about the 350+ letters we mailed to high-school superintendents warning them of the proselytizing Todd Becker Foundation that preys on students. After celebrating the birthdays of actress Hermione Gingold and British comedian Kate Smurthwaite, we talk with Lubna Ahmed, who had to flee Iraq and seek asylum in the United States after receiving death threats due to her outspoken atheism and feminism.
