Action Alert Archive
Tell your senators: Public money shouldn’t fund private (mostly religious) schools
The Trump administration is once again exploiting the current global crisis, using the next COVID-19 relief bill, to expand its school voucher agenda and subsidize religious schools.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has announced plans to divert taxpayer money to private (almostly exclusively religious) schools if public schools are not able to safely open for in-person education.
Congress must intervene to stop the Trump administration from taking advantage of the pandemic to defund our public education system at a time when public schools face huge expenditures to improve safety and access.
Please contact your senators TODAY and urge them to demand that the next COVID-19 relief package includes provisions to bar public money from going to private schools.
DeVos’ assault on public education, which she once referred to as a “dead end,” is rooted in her personal interest in promoting religious schools. This betrayal of the secular public school system was thoroughly aired during her confirmation hearing, but she was nevertheless confirmed by the same senators who are now considering giving her this sweeping power to undermine public school funding. Please help sound the alarm on this attempt to force American taxpayers to bankroll religious education.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION
1. Click on the red “Take Action” link below to use our automated system to contact your senators today. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are always the most impactful!
2. Contact your senators on social media and share your opposition to Trump and DeVos’ latest attempt to use the next COVID-19 relief bill to divert public funds to religious schools.
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Urge Rehoboth Beach officials to stand their ground against Knights of Columbus
In 2018, the city of Rehoboth Beach, Del., made the commendable decision to avoid the appearance of exclusionary religious preference by no longer allowing St. Edmond’s Church to place a Nativity scene prominently on public property.
The Knights of Columbus, a self-proclaimed “Catholic fraternal organization,” is now suing the city, alleging that it has the constitutional right to force the city to display and endorse its religious message. The city is under no obligation to allow private groups to erect unattended displays on public property, and it shouldn’t be compelled to by special interest religious groups.
Please take a few minutes to contact Rehoboth Beach Mayor Paul Kuhns and urge the city to continue to stand firm and protect the rights of all citizens. Rehoboth Beach is home to citizens with a wide variety of religious and nonreligious backgrounds. All of these residents should feel welcome in their community.
Contact Information for Mayor Paul Kuhns:
Mailing Address
Mayor Paul Kuhns
City of Rehoboth Beach
229 Rehoboth Avenue
P.O. Box 1163
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
Phone Number
(302) 227-6181
Email Address
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Talking Points
As an area resident, I want to thank the city of Rehoboth Beach for its decision to stop allowing the display of a Nativity scene on public property. As a secular community member, it is essential to me that the government does not privilege religious groups and maintains a welcoming environment for all, regardless of religious beliefs. The city’s decision to not include a Nativity scene in its holiday display ensures that no group is privileged or excluded. I urge you to continue to stand in favor of inclusion and acceptance for all residents. Thank you for your time.
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URGENT! Ask TN gov to veto nation’s most restrictive abortion ban
In the middle of the night yesterday, the Tennessee Legislature passed one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country, effectively outlawing the procedure in your state. Please contact Gov. Bill Lee and demand that he veto this unconstitutional bill.
S.B. 2196/H.B. 2263 criminalizes doctors who perform abortions after six weeks and restricts the reasons patients can seek an abortion. This bill also includes insidious language to restrict access at multiple points during the pregnancy, even when the courts inevitably find this six-week ban unconstitutional.
After weeks of ensuring constituents this abortion ban was not on the table for discussion this term, conservative lawmakers introduced and passed this 60-page bill in the midnight hours of Thursday night, in a closed Capitol, without any input from constituents. This anti-democratic act cannot go unprotested.
Six-week abortion bans, also commonly misrepresented as “heartbeat bills,” are a favorite of the anti-choice Religious Right, intended to outlaw abortion after an embryonic pulse (not heartbeat) can be detected (as early as five weeks). Most women do not even know they are pregnant that early, which is, of course, the point.
The bill codifies into law beliefs not based on science or morality, but on religion and so-called holy books. The Christian Right has been and remains the primary opponent to women’s reproductive rights. Indeed the “architect” of the “fetal heartbeat” bill runs an organization called “Faith2Action” which seeks to impose one religious viewpoint on all citizens.
Please take a moment and demand that Lee veto this bill. Regardless of the outcome, it is critical that he hears opposition to this measure from secular voices. Political offices keep a record of calls and emails received in support or opposition of each bill. Even when the Religious Right has a grip on political offices, it is critical that we don’t let them falsely claim a mandate on issues like this.
More »Tell Gov. Reeves to veto IGWT bill
Please tell Gov. Tate Reeves that “In God We Trust” has no place on an official state seal.
In March, we asked you to oppose S.B. 2131, a bill that would put “In God We Trust” on the Mississippi secretary of state’s official seal. Yesterday, the Legislature passed this bill and it’s headed to Reeves’ desk to be signed into law. Ask him to veto S.B. 2131.
This bill and others like it are thinly veiled attempts to peddle religiosity and equate patriotism with piety. They are about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, dismantling the wall between religion and government. The motto “In God We Trust” is inaccurate, exclusionary and aimed at brainwashing Americans into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
Please use our simple, automated system to urge Reeves to veto S.B. 2131. Click on the red “Take Action” link and follow the prompt provided. Regardless of the outcome, it is critical that Reeves hears opposition to this measure from secular voices. Political offices keep a record of calls and emails received in support or opposition of each bill. Even when the Religious Right has a grip on political offices, it is critical that we don’t let them falsely claim a mandate on issues like this.
More »Tell Gov. Polis to approve bill removing religious favoritism in school vaccine law
Gov. Jared Polis will soon consider S.B. 20-163, a bill that aims to protect Colorado communities by making it more difficult to receive vaccine exemptions based on religious beliefs.
This bill has passed both chambers of the Colorado Legislature, and will be on Polis’ desk soon, so please take a moment today to speak in favor of requiring religious parents to follow the same vaccine rules as nonreligious parents. You can use or adapt our talking points below, or create your own.
MORE INFO
This bill would:
1) Require that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment develop a standardized form and submission process for those seeking a non-medical exemption to school vaccination requirements on the basis of religious or personal belief. This would oblige any person seeking a non-medical exemption to submit either a certificate of completion of an online education module, or a certificate of non-medical exemption that has been signed by an appropriate medical professional.
2) Require that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment annually evaluate, and if necessary update, the state’s immunization practices, including examining the best practices and guidelines recommended by the advisory committee on immunization practices.
3) Create a vaccinated-children standard where each school would have a student population vaccination goal of 95 percent. Additionally, this standard would require that schools annually publish and distribute to parents, legal guardians and students information on their vaccination and exemption rates.
4) Require medical professionals authorized to administer vaccinations to submit data on their immunization, medical exemption and non-medical exemption rates to the state’s immunization tracking system.
More »URGENT: Tell Gov. Reynolds to veto anti-abortion bill
In the final hours of the just-concluded legislative session, Iowa lawmakers passed an unnecessary and burdensome bill that will further inhibit abortion access in the state.
In the middle of the night on Saturday, the Iowa House added a waiting period provision onto an existing bill, and the Senate worked overnight to pass it into law just after 5 a.m. Sunday.
This so-called “waiting period” law will require patients seeking abortion services to visit a clinic for an unnecessary appointment 24 hours prior to their procedure. This means patients, many of whom must travel long distances to access services, must spend more time and money to access this constitutionally protected procedure. Additionally, adding this waiting period can delay abortion care, intensifying the risks associated with the procedure and drastically increasing its cost.
Laws intended to curb access to abortion of course clash with Supreme Court decisions that have recognized a woman’s right to choose, but they also restrict the personal decisions of all, based on the religious beliefs of the few. This is an abhorrent violation of our rights of conscience.
This last-minute maneuver to undermine reproductive freedom for Iowans cannot go unanswered. Please contact Gov. Kim Reynolds and urge her to veto this bill. Click on the red “Take Action” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Tell Gov. Wolf to veto $7 million headed for Baptist coffers
Gov. Tom Wolf will soon consider a state budget that includes a huge handout to two churches. Fortunately, Wolf has the power to veto this misappropriation of taxpayer funds without vetoing the entire budget. We need lots of voices to make sure the governor sees this problem and fixes it.
Wolf could sign this budget momentarily, so please take a moment to help us protect your rights and those of other Pennsylvania taxpayers by contacting the governor today. You can use our suggested talking points below, or create your own.
MORE INFO
The Pennsylvania budget includes a $2 million allocation to Grace Baptist Church of Germantown, and another $5 million to Bible Way Baptist Church in West Philadelphia.
Although the $2 million in taxpayer funds for Grace Baptist Church are for a harmless-sounding “Community Center,” the church actually describes that “Christian center” as a “ministry” that regularly hosts bible studies among other programming. Public money will fund a ministry within a ministry.
Bible Way Church’s overtly religious “vision” is to use the church to “transfor[m] the Carroll and Cathedral Park Communities of West Philadelphia into Christian Communities.” Bible Way’s “purpose” is to “prepar[e] disciples to make an impact for the Kingdom of God everywhere! Matthew 28:19–20.”
The Pennsylvania Constitution guarantees that no one can “be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent.”
With customary wit, Benjamin Franklin explained that government support of religion reflects poorly on the churches: “When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are obliged to call for the help of the Civil Power, ’tis a Sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.”
Let the faithful voluntarily support their churches if they so choose. To involve the state in such personal decisions violates the religious liberty of all. Please help FFRF defend this bedrock American principle.
More »Tenn: Oppose four bad bills! And support one great bill!
The Tennessee Legislature is set to act on four awful bills, and one excellent one. We need your help to stop the Christian Nationalist legislative agenda and promote laws based on science and reason.
4 bad bills
The bad bills would:
1. Make the bible Tennessee’s official state book (SB2696/HB778).
2. Burden schools with unnecessary rules and require mandatory release time for religious classes. (SB2473/HB2542)
3. Punish gender transition as child abuse (SB2215/HB2576).
4. Ban transgender student athletes from sports (HB1572/SB2077).
All of these bills are rooted in conservative religious ideology and intended to elevate Christians to a favored status. FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor published an op-ed condemning the bible-as-the-state-book bill that contains many talking points and should be linked or sent to your legislators. The then-governor, Bill Haslam, vetoed a similar bill in 2016.
The mandatory release time bill is unnecessary and burdensome. It’s meant to encourage and promote the idea of release time — letting children leave class to get religious instruction. This always leads to bullying, division, peer pressure and other problems. This would also force schools to bus kids to and from the instruction (though the parents would have to reimburse the school for the cost).
The two anti-trans bills are bigotry rooted in religion — attempts to other-ize children and punish people who don’t fit into categories foisted on us by an ancient book of fairy tales.
1 good bill
The good bill that we want you to support is a comprehensive sex education bill (SB2583/HB2434) that would “provide students with medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education that teaches students about abstinence, contraception, consent and how to develop healthy relationships and communication skills.” Amen to that.
Please take a moment to contact your state lawmakers and make known your positions on this slate of bills. Click on the red “Take action” link below and follow the prompt provided. Feel free to use or adapt our talking points.
More »Oppose confirmation of unqualified ideologue to appeals court
Please take a moment to oppose the confirmation of an unqualified political ideologue, Cory Wilson, to a lifetime seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate hearing was Wednesday, May 20, and your senators are expected to vote on this nomination soon.
Wilson is a Mississippi state court judge, a position he has held for barely a year. He previously served in the Mississippi Statehouse, where his Christian Nationalist views and push to weaponize religious freedom brought him to the Trump administration’s attention. He approves giving broad religious-based exemptions to discriminate against others.
The 5th Circuit is one step below the Supreme Court and Wilson lacks the experience and temperament for such an important position.
For more details, read FFRF’s statement opposing Wilson.
Please use our fast and easy automated system to contact your senators and urge them to vote “NO” on Wilson’s confirmation. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are always most effective.
More »Tell Congress: Stop bailing out churches
We need to ensure that public funding in a congressional COVID-19 relief bill goes to those suffering the severe impacts of the pandemic, instead of underwriting religious activity.
The House of Representatives is slated to pass the HEROES Act this week. The federal government needs to make certain that the constitutional rights of all Americans not to be taxed to support religion is not suspended during a national emergency. Tell your member of Congress to stop bailing out churches with COVID funds.
We know that thousands of unaccountable churches, whose supporters get a tax deduction and which themselves don’t have to publicly disclose their finances, have received COVID funds for explicitly religious purposes. America should not abandon our core values and permit the public funding of religion during the COVID emergency. We fear that allowing the direct funding of churches now will lead to the permanent public funding of religion in the future.
Tell your member of Congress to stop bailing out churches with COVID funds and say no to public funding for explicitly religious purposes.
Click on the red “Take Action” link below and follow the prompt provided. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are the most effective means of attracting the attention of your lawmakers! Don’t delay, the House of Representatives will take a vote on the HEROES Act THIS FRIDAY, May 15.
More »Tell your rep: We need a National Day of Reason, not Prayer
We urge you to join us in calling for a National Day of Reason as an alternative to the congressionally mandated National Day of Prayer.
Introduced by four members of the Freethought Caucus, H.R. 947 would designate May 7 a “National Day of Reason” and recognize the “central importance of reason in the betterment of humanity.”
Please take a moment to ask your representative to support House Resolution 947 establishing a National Day of Reason.
The resolution reads, in part:
Whereas irrationality, magical thinking, and superstition have undermined the national effort to combat the COVID–19 pandemic, and reason is fundamental to creating an effective coordinated response to beat the virus involving the federal government, the states, and the scientific and medical communities;
Whereas America’s Founders insisted upon the primacy of reason and knowledge in public life, and drafted the Constitution to prevent official establishment of religion and to protect freedom of thought, speech, and inquiry in civil society; …
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need to invest in reason, science-driven public policy. Many politicians at all levels of government have invoked religion and prayer as a response to this public health crisis in lieu of real action. We need more reason and less prayer in the country; a National Day of Reason, not a National Day of Prayer.
Please use this opportunity to remind your lawmakers that reason and fact-based public policy form our only tenable path forward. Urge them to support H.R. 947. Click on the red “Take Action” link below and follow the prompt provided. Personalized messages are always the most effective!
More »Oppose confirmation of unqualified ideologue to D.C. Circuit Court
Please take a moment to oppose the confirmation of an unqualified political ideologue, Justin R. Walker, to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Senate hearing is this Wednesday, May 6. It is unfortunate that the Trump administration continues to prioritize packing the federal courts even in these difficult times.
Walker currently sits on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. During his confirmation late last year, he was rated “unqualified” by the nonpartisan American Bar Association, which noted that Walker “lacked any significant trial experience.” Prior to his recent nomination to the circuit court, he had issued only five judicial opinions.
Last month, Walker issued an outrageously sectarian decision granting an emergency restraining order to allow large Christian church gatherings in the Louisville, Ky., area for Easter church services — despite the demonstrated risks of such gatherings spreading COVID-19. His 20-page order was rife with inflammatory language, bible quotes and false history, including the claim that the mayor of Louisville “criminalized the communal celebration of Easter” by including churches in social distancing restrictions on large crowds.
It is unconscionable that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling Congress back into session during this public health crisis not to provide relief for those impacted by COVID-19, but to confirm another hyperpartisan judge to carry out this administration’s anti-religious liberty agenda.
Please use our fast and easy automated system to contact your senators and urge them to vote no on Walker’s confirmation. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are always most effective.
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Take action: Secular public education is at risk in Missouri
The Missouri Legislature is considering two problematic bills that threaten secular public education. Your lawmakers need to hear your opposition.
H.B. 2065, the “Show Me a Brighter Future Scholarship Program,” will give families a tax credit to send their children to private schools. This neo-voucher scheme diverts money away from the already underfunded public education system and puts the most vulnerable students at risk. Private schools, very often religious, are able to deny admission to students for any reason and skirt state-mandated civil rights protections for students. This bill would let them do so on the taxpayers’ dime with no government oversight.
H.B. 1345 allows school districts to offer elective social studies courses on the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. While politicians often claim that these laws are intended to teach the bible in the context of U.S. history, we know their true agenda is to abuse their access to young and impressionable children and indoctrinate them with religious orthodoxy. Besides the obvious inherent bias in requiring classes only on a specific set of religious texts, public school bible classes across the country have invariably ended up unconstitutionally promoting religion.
Both of these bills have passed out of committee and are headed to the full House for a vote. Please urge your Missouri representative to vote no on H.B. 2065 and H.B. 1345 and to reject these theocratic efforts to undermine secular public education.
More »UTAH: Tell lawmakers to reject school voucher-like provision
The Utah Legislature has called a special session to approve a COVID-19 relief package that includes a troubling school neo-voucher provision undermining public education.
Please contact your lawmakers and ask that they not abuse the pandemic response to undercut public education and protections for students with disabilities.
This bill, H.B. 4003, dubiously titled the “Special Needs Opportunity Scholarship Program,” will give families a tax credit to send their children to private schools. This neo-voucher scheme diverts money away from the already underfunded public education system and puts the most vulnerable students at risk. Private schools, very often religious, are able to deny admission to students for any reason and skirt state-mandated protections for special needs students. This bill would let them do so on the taxpayers’ dime with no government oversight.
According to the Utah Education Association, 95 percent of Utah families choose public schools. Taxpayer dollars must continue to fund the schools that benefit the vast majority of Utah schools and are held to accountability and oversight standards.
Utah voters rejected vouchers by a wide margin (63 to 37) in 2007, and now the Legislature is trying to defy the will of We the People.
Please urge your lawmakers to vote no on H.B. 4003. Click on the red “Take Action” link below. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are always the most impactful!
More »Ask your reps: How are you defending state/church separation during COVID-19?
Atheists are the most politically engaged demographic in the country. Your members of Congress are listening to you and other freethinkers. Right now, members of Congress are holding regular virtual town halls via social media or the telephone. The town halls are an excellent way for secular Americans to directly engage with your senators and representative.
Can you join their next town hall and engage your member of Congress?
Here’s what to do:
1. Sign up for your representative's email list, Twitter, or Facebook.
2. Monitor their communications and find out when their next town hall is (or check their office website for upcoming events).
3. Join the Town Hall and ask a question. For example:
I am a member of the Freedom from Religion Foundation and I want to ensure the separation of state and church. What are you doing to make sure that coronavirus funds are not being used for religious activities?
Let us know about your experience by reporting your experiences here.
Many of you are already engaging with your elected officials. The virtual town halls are a new opportunity where you can make sure your issues aren’t being brushed aside.
Please join your elected official’s next town hall and ask this question:
I am a member of the Freedom from Religion Foundation and I want to ensure the separation of state and church. What are you doing to make sure that coronavirus funds are not being used for religious activities?
More »Pressure your lawmakers to ensure accessibility of vote by mail
American secular voters are becoming a force. Secular voters sharply increased their share of the U.S. electorate to 17 percent by 2018: a massive 55 percent increase. The Freedom From Religion Foundation supports universal voting by mail because we want to see those numbers continue to climb. And that’s why we’re asking you to support it, too. After all, the nonreligious are 26 percent of the U.S. population, so we have secular muscle to flex.
Please contact your members of Congress and ask them to demand universal vote by mail in the next round of COVID stimulus funding. Doing so will save American lives. But vote by mail is also a secular issue for two basic reasons: It’s reasonable and it will help secular voters.
First, it is based on evidence, science, reason and compassion. These should be the basis for public policy. This will allow more people to vote, and to vote safely, even if this pandemic is still ongoing.
Second, we owe this to the next generation of freethinkers. Studies suggest that this will help younger voters cast ballots. Younger voters are largely secular. Nationally, 38 percent of younger Americans are nonreligious. This includes about 21 percent of younger Americans who are either atheist or agnostic.
The risks of universal vote by mail are not insurmountable, nor can they be compared to the risks of in-person voting during a deadly pandemic. Universal vote by mail will help secular voters. FFRF supports it. Please contact your members of Congress and ask them to support it too.
More »TAKE ACTION: Oppose HUD proposal to weaponize “religious liberty”
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering changes to the rules governing how it works with religious organizations. Under the guise of protecting “religious liberty,” this proposal would allow faith-based groups to receive federal funding for various housing programs without complying with nondiscrimination laws.
If this rule is implemented, it will mandate taxpayer-funded discrimination in the name of religious belief. For example, faith-based organizations receiving taxpayer funds through HUD would be allowed to turn away people in need because of a group’s religious objection to a person’s sexual orientation or single parenthood. By funding discrimination in the name of God, the government will be funding religion. The proposed rule also removes protections for HUD beneficiaries who are among society’s most vulnerable: the homeless, the disabled, the low-income elderly. Currently, those who participate in HUD programs can count on their government-funded provider to alert them of any religious affiliation and, if someone objects to receiving a government benefit from a religious organization, this organization must help to find an alternative provider. HUD is trying to remove both of these protections without even attempting to give a justification.
FFRF submitted its own comment opposing this rule today, which you can review here.
If this all sounds familiar, it’s because eight other federal agencies are in the process of implementing similar rules. In February, we asked you to oppose that rush of proposed regulations. Ben Carson’s HUD was late to the discrimination party, so now we are asking you to oppose this rule, as well.
Please take a few minutes to submit a comment on this proposed rule change. Unfortunately, due to the process by which the federal government accepts these public comments, this is not a process we can automate. But if you follow the steps below, we hope to simplify it as much as possible. And your comments count, and could be useful in future litigation as well!
STEPS TO COMMENT:
Click on the red "Take action" link below, which goes to the official comment page.
You can also view the rule’s page here.
Fill out the corresponding comment form. We have provided suggested talking points below. Feel free to copy and paste the suggested message. Personalized comments are most influential.
Make sure your comment includes this RIN Number: 2501-AD91.
All comments are due by Monday, April 13! The Trump administration released a rush of these rules at one time hoping to overwhelm us into inaction. It doesn't want you to comment in opposition, but we do. We must heed every opportunity to hold this theocratic administration accountable for degrading state/church separation.
Suggested talking points:
I strongly oppose HUD’s proposed rule because it unfairly favors taxpayer-funded religious organizations over the people that government programs are intended to help. Individuals shouldn’t be forced to sacrifice their religious freedom or civil rights in order to qualify for basic government-funded services.
The proposed rule will undermine access to critical services for some of society’s most vulnerable citizens, including housing for the elderly and people with disabilities. It removes beneficiary protections for no reason and allows faith-based providers to use their religious beliefs as an excuse to discriminate against recipients and their own employees, while receiving taxpayer funds.
This proposed rule is discriminatory and dangerous. In America, no one’s ability to get vital services should depend on whether they share the religious beliefs of government-funded organizations. Please withdraw this harmful rule in its entirety.
More »Tell DeSantis to rescind church exemption in gathering ban
Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a decision that will cause Floridians to die, because he wants to show how much he loves religion. We at FFRF are outraged — and you should be, too.
Please take a moment to tell DeSantis that churches cannot be exempt from bans on large gatherings.
Read FFRF’s letter to DeSantis here.
Even after the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent letters to the governors of all 50 states explaining that the U.S. Constitution requires that they include religious congregations in any ban on large gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis belatedly issued a prohibitory order that includes an exemption for churches. The church exemption even specifically overrides (or “pre-empts”) local rules to the contrary, meaning that your local officials cannot protect you even if they want to.
According to several news reports, DeSantis has exempted churches from the orders to pacify a few loud Christian Nationalists lamenting the lawful arrest of Rodney Howard-Browne, who had violated local rules prohibiting big crowds.
Allowing large church gatherings is not just a danger to congregants and their families. As we saw in South Korea, and are beginning to see all over the United States, one sizable group can lead to an explosion of infections throughout the entire community. The state of Florida has the ability — and an obligation — to prohibit all non-essential large gatherings. Exempting church services is unconstitutional, immoral and deadly.
Please use our automated system to contact DeSantis’ office to urge him to rescind this exemption. You can use our suggested talking points, but concise personalized messages are more effective.
More »URGENT! Tell Small Business Administration not to bail out churches
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is alarmed that the Small Business Administration will use the pandemic as an excuse to give a massive chunk of taxpayer funds to churches and other houses of worship.
As part of the federal government’s stimulus efforts to fight the coronavirus scourge and to protect American businesses, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is about to enact emergency regulations to determine which organizations will receive federal aid. Please tell the head of the SBA that you expect the constitutional separation between church and state to be followed, even in times of national emergencies, and that you do not want your tax dollars to be used, unconstitutionally, to aid churches or religion.
FFRF and other secular organizations have sent a letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza, expressing our concerns. We’ve asked SBA to follow its ordinary procedures by prohibiting any grants that would go to churches or houses of worship. Read this letter here. LINK
Please take a moment to file a formal comment about SBA’s emergency regulations. You can use the suggested talking points below, or write your own. Personalized, concise messages are the most effective.
You can email the SBA Administrator at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or send a letter to:
U.S. Small Business Administration
409 3rd St. SW
Washington, D.C. 20416
TALKING POINTS
As a concerned taxpayer, I insist that my tax dollars be used only to fund secular businesses. In creating emergency regulations pursuant to the CARES Act, or any other form of relief during this time of crisis, please include provisions guaranteeing that funds will not be given to churches or houses of worship, or for any purposes that will advance religion.
We live in a secular democracy, founded on principles of religious liberty that require a healthy separation between state and church. This means that government funds must not be used to advance religion, even during a national emergency. Please respect this provision and only fund secular businesses. Thank you.
More »Tell Gov. Reeves to stop his religious proselytizing
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has repeatedly led prayers and bible studies on his social media page as a supposed means of addressing the coronavirus pandemic. Please take a few moments to tell the governor to stop exploiting our current public health crisis to promote religion from his elected office.
Reeves, in his official capacity, posted some days ago a highly religious message on his Facebook page that contained eight separate prayer requests to Mississippians. The next day, Reeves recorded a Facebook Live video asking Mississippians to pray to cope with the pandemic — and then led them in prayer. The Facebook Live video featured Reeves in front of the American and the Mississippian flags offering two prayers and conducting three readings from the bible. As the video concluded, he exhorted his constituents to “please continue to pray.”
FFRF promptly wrote a letter of complaint to Reeves, calling on him to cease his government proselytizing. He has since continued to post such videos.
While the governor is using taxpayer time to lead bible studies, he is also wielding his power to attempt to close the last remaining abortion clinic in the state.
As one FFRF complainant so eloquently stated:
In The Handmaid's Tale, Gilead was brought about under the cover of catastrophe. Between the continued bible readings by the governor and the threatened clinic closing, Gilead feels close. Mississippi was pretty much a theocracy before this, but he is using it to go all out.
As FFRF pointed out to the governor, he needs to remain cognizant that as the governor of Mississippi, he has taken an oath to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution — an entirely godless and secular document — and is charged with great responsibility over citizens, including those citizens who may not share his personal religious viewpoints. Endorsing religious messages on behalf of the governor’s office excludes these Mississippians, creating needless division along religious lines.
Please use our simple, automated system to ask Reeves to cease these videos and other unnecessary and exclusionary proselytizing. Adhering to a strict separation of church and state offends no one and honors the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Click on the red “Take Action” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. It is always a good idea to personalize your message if possible.
More »Tell Gov. McMaster to end official government prayers
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has repeatedly organized prayers before official coronavirus-related press conferences. Please take a few moments to tell the governor to stop exploiting our current public health crisis to promote religion from his elected office.
On March 15, McMaster invited Chaplain Greg Brown to begin a news conference about the COVID-19 pandemic with a Christian prayer. Just a fews days later, he invited Chaplain John Denny to offer a Christian prayer prior to a coronavirus press conference on March 19.
FFRF promptly wrote a letter of complaint to McMaster, calling on him to cease these official prayers. He has since continued to organize these religious invocations at official press events.
As FFRF pointed out to the governor, he represents a diverse population that consists not only of religious individuals but also of atheists and agnostics who do not believe in a deity, much less the power of prayer.
Please use our simple, automated system to ask McMaster to remain cognizant that as the governor of South Carolina, he has taken an oath to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution — an entirely godless and secular document. Adhering to a strict separation of church and state offends no one and honors the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Click on the red “Take Action” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. It is always a good idea to personalize your message if possible.
More »Tell your governor to prohibit church gatherings to slow pandemic spread
Governors across the country are heeding the advice of public health officials and implementing limitations on large gatherings in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. However, some states are exempting churches from these policies, endangering their communities in the process.
Please ask your governor to ensure that in the interest of protecting public health, churches and religious gatherings are included in the curbs on big congregations. FFRF has sent a letter to all 50 governors urging just this.
Some churches have argued that they have a constitutional right to hold large in-person worship services despite the pandemic, but they are wrong. The rights the First Amendment guarantees, such as free assembly and the free exercise of religion, are limited. In fact, the government already regularly limits worship gatherings if they jeopardize public health. Preventing large gatherings due to a pandemic is even more crucial.
Churches that hold services right now are demonstrating a complete lack of respect for widespread efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 and for the lives of community members, not just worshippers. Like the rest of us, religious communities all over the world are adapting to social distancing rules by worshipping alone, in small groups or in large online communities. Now is no time for favoritism toward churches.
Please take a few moments to ask your governor to treat churches the same as all other organizations and restrict them from holding large gatherings. Click on the red “Take Action” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Calling your governor is the most powerful way to make your position heard, and personalizing your talking points is always a great strategy.
More »URGENT: Tell Gov. Little to VETO anti-trans bills
The Idaho Legislature has passed two religiously motivated anti-trans bills that are now on the governor’s desk awaiting signature. We need you to contact Gov. Brad Little and urge him to veto these two bills.
The first, H. 500, dubiously titled “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” is intended to prevent trans women from participating in women’s sports. There is a long legacy of this troubling sex discrimination in athletics. Myths, such as the idea that physical exertion would harm women’s reproductive systems or that women were inherently inferior athletes, were historically used to “protect” women by barring their participation in entire fields, including marathon racing and contact sports. These myths are, of course, closely tied to the long history of religion treating women as inherently inferior to men.
The second, H. 509, disallows trans people from legally changing the sex listed on their birth certificate. The bill says that Idaho birth certificates must include the “immutable” sex, which can only be amended within a year of issuance.
This is yet another example of the infiltration of entrenched religious dogma into our secular law. These bills are currently on Little’s desk. If the governor takes no action, the bills will pass automatically. Please take a few moments to use our simple, automated system and ask Little to VETO these dogmatic bills. Click on the red “Take Action” link below and follow the prompt. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Can you spare a few minutes to speak out against Gov. Justice’s “day of prayer”?
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has designated today, March 25, as a statewide “day of prayer” in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Can you take some time to write a letter to the editor to your local paper condemning this religious pandering?
Justice called on families, businesses and religious leaders to join him in this day of prayer and assured citizens that if they continue to “consult your God above,” all West Virginians would make it through. “If there’s any time, now’s the time we need to be looking to God above for assistance in any and every way we possibly can,” he pleaded.
As states across the country adopt measures to address the ongoing public health crisis presented by coronavirus, we need to ensure that our lawmakers are not exploiting this opportunity to promote their personal religion. FFRF has sent a letter of complaint to the governor’s office urging him to keep religion out of policy.
Letters to the editor are a powerful advocacy tool. Elected officials often monitor local letters to the editor and these allow you to bring a secular perspective to a large audience.
How to write a letter to the editor:
Writing a letter to the editor is easier than you think. Check your local paper’s word limit for letters (usually between 100 and 250 words). Keep your letter short and to the point. Tell a story about your personal connection to this issue as a secular community member, and make sure to tell them if you are a local resident and that you read the paper you’re writing to.
Click here for a list of the top ten West Virginia papers.
Most newspapers will accept submissions online and require you to provide personal information to confirm you are a local citizen.
As freethinkers, it is important that we utilize a variety of advocacy tools to call our legislators for promoting religion. Thanks for taking action to ensure that the perspective of secular West Virginians is heard!
More »Please oppose Pa. resolution calling for “day of prayer”
A Pennsylvania state representative has introduced a plainly nonsensical resolution calling for “A State Day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer” in response to COVID-19, which she has called “God’s punishment for our sins.”
Rep. Stephanie Borowicz has filed H.R. 835, which would designate March 30 as the day to combat an international public health crisis by praying and not eating. We need you to tell your Pennsylvania lawmakers that this outrageous pandering is a dangerous and irresponsible move.
The resolution reads, in part:
WHEREAS, During the pandemic of 2020 and the ensuing uncertainty and anxiety of this time, Pennsylvanians may be comforted by turning to a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer as well as the wise words of our great President Abraham Lincoln; and
WHEREAS, The House of Representatives devoutly recognizes the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and of nations; and
WHEREAS, It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow...
This resolution will soon be voted on by the House State Government Committee. Please use our simple, automated system to contact the members of this committee and urge them to VOTE NO on this nonsensical resolution. Click on the red “Take Action” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points below.
More »Resist “IGWT” on Miss. secretary of state official seal
Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson is promoting a bill that would put “In God We Trust” on the official seal of his state office. Watson has advocated for this change because it “signals Mississippi’s allegiance to God as well as our country.”
We need you to tell your lawmakers that “In God We Trust” has no place on any official state seal.
This bill, S.B. 2131, and others like it are thinly veiled attempts to peddle religiosity and equate patriotism with piety. They are about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, dismantling the wall between religion and government. The motto "In God We Trust" is inaccurate, exclusionary and aimed at brainwashing Americans into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
This bill has already passed the state Senate and is headed to the House of Representatives for a vote. Please use our simple, automated system to contact your state representative and urge them to vote no on S.B. 2131. Click on the red “Take Action” link and follow the prompt provided. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Tell your senators: Don’t use crisis to attack public education
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has introduced a stimulus bill that would grant Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos — who once referred to public education as a “dead end” — broad authority to disregard existing protections for vulnerable students.
We need your help to ensure that lawmakers do not exploit our current international crisis to expand their dangerous agenda.
If passed, this “Phase 3” coronavirus stimulus package would give DeVos sweeping power to absolve public schools of their legal obligation to provide education for students with disabilities. Specifically, she would be able to abandon crucial requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Higher Education Act (HEA) and the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.
DeVos’ assault on public education, including her disdain for federal protections for students with disabilities, is rooted in her personal interest in promoting private, religious schools. This betrayal of the secular public school system was thoroughly aired during her confirmation hearing, but she was nevertheless confirmed by the same senators who are now considering giving her this sweeping power to undermine public school laws. We cannot allow this public health crisis to serve as an inroad into privatizing our public education system.
Please take a few moments to contact your U.S. senators and remind them that any final compromise on the coronavirus stimulus bill must not sacrifice our public education system. Click on the red “Take Action” link below and follow the prompt provided.
More »Tell Florida state senators to reject school prayer proposal
The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill with a troubling section that would permit prayer over the loudspeaker at state-run high school athletic competitions. The prayer provision is tucked in a broader education bill, H.B. 7103.
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is a state entity that sponsors championship series games for high-schoolers across the state. In 2015, the association declined a request that it turn over the public address system and broadcast a prayer from a Christian school for all attendees to hear. It correctly understood that to do so would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The school then sued the association in federal court.
While the case is not yet resolved, prayer proponents have sought to change the law to require the athletic association to provide an opportunity for prayer. The bill says that the association would be required to adopt rules that allow each participating school “30 seconds for opening remarks over the public-address system.” The bill says, “The FHSAA may not prohibit prayer or otherwise control, monitor, or review the content of the opening remarks, if any.”
While the bill does not mandate that the athletic association recite prayers to open all games, its intended effect is to impose communal prayers on young participants and attendees.
Tell your state senator to reject this provision of H.B. 7103.
More »URGENT: Tell lawmakers to reject Trump’s Muslim ban
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote this Thursday, March 12, on the NO BAN Act. Please join us in urging your representative to vote yes on this bill.
The NO BAN Act repeals President Trump’s existing executive order blocking travel from majority Muslim countries and prevents another baseless, discriminatory travel ban from being implemented again. The bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, including against those with no religion, and restores the separation of powers by limiting overly broad executive authority to issue future travel bans.
While this dangerous travel ban is on the top of your legislators’ minds, please ask your legislators to support the NO BAN Act.
The NO BAN Act is particularly important to FFRF, which has helped several atheists flee death sentences from Muslim-majority countries targeted by the ban. Just as the Constitution bars a religious test for public office, we believe it also bars a religious test for immigration or citizenship. We know that the ban precedent will ultimately be used against nonbelievers. Please use this opportunity to encourage your representative to support the NO BAN Act.
Click on the red “Take Action!” link below and follow the prompt. Please feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Reject Tenn. public school religious release time bill
The Tennessee Legislature is considering a bill that would require public schools to establish a program allowing children to be released from instructional time to attend “a course in religious and moral instruction.”
This bill, H.B. 2542, specifies that public schools would be required to excuse students for a religious course even if the district has not adopted a policy to address other release time programs, clearly favoring religion at the expense of a secular education.
This bill has already passed the state Senate and will next be heard by the House Education Committee TOMORROW, Wednesday, March 11. Please use our automated system to contact the members of this committee and urge them not to pass H.B. 2542. Click on the red “Take Action!” button below and follow the prompt. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. If you are able to attend tomorrow’s hearing, please consider showing up and opposing this bill in person.
Hearing Information:
House Education Committee
Date: March 11, 2020
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Hearing Room 1
Click here for more information.
Please oppose New Hampshire anti-trans bill
The New Hampshire Legislature is considering a harmful anti-trans bill — and we need your help to stop it.
Tomorrow, the N.H. Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development will review S.B. 480, which would bar trans girls from participating on their school’s women athletic teams.
The marginalization of trans athletes is rooted in archaic gender stereotypes based on false understanding of strength, biology, and the proper gender roles for two binary genders. There is a long legacy of this troubling sex discrimination in athletics. Myths, such as the idea that physical exertion would harm women’s reproductive systems or that women were inherently inferior athletes, were historically used to “protect” women out of participation in entire fields, including marathon racing and contact sports. These myths, of course, are closely tied to the long history of religion treating women as inherently inferior to men.
This is yet another example of the infiltration of entrenched religious dogma into our secular law. Please urge the members of the Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development to vote no on this discriminatory policy. If you are able, please attend the committee hearing and speak in opposition to this bill.
Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development Information
Date: March 10, 2020
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: LOB, Room 103
More information here.
Speak out against Maryland “license to discriminate” bill
The Maryland Legislature is considering a so-called “FORUM” — Forming Open and Robust University Minds — bill that would give student groups at public universities the license to discriminate based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
In order to ensure that campus groups are welcoming of all students, the majority of U.S. public colleges and universities have nondiscrimination policies that prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation etc. This bill, H.B. 796, aims to exempt religious student groups from these nondiscrimination policies, in order to allow particular groups to exclude unwanted members. For example, some religious students seek to exclude LGBTQ people or to restrict leadership only to those with particular religious views.
Similar laws have popped up in states across the country under the guise of protecting the religious convictions of college students. The true intent and impact of these bills, however, is to allow groups to exclude based on religion, while those students still reap the taxpayer-funded benefits of being endorsed and subsidized by their public institution.
This bill will be considered by the Maryland House Appropriations Committee TOMORROW, Tuesday, March 10. The members of this committee need to hear your opposition to this bill. Click on the red “Take Action!” below and feel free to use or adapt the talking point provided. If you are able to attend the hearing next week, please consider sharing your opposition in person.
House Appropriations Committee
Date: March 10, 2020
Time: 1 P.M.
Location: House Office Building, Room 120
More information here.
Tell your lawmakers: Do not fund religious discrimination
Over the past three years, the Trump administration has introduced an onslaught of regulatory proposals that allow federally funded agencies to discriminate based on their religion. As a result, citizens who do not conform to their narrow set of religious beliefs can be denied public services.
One critical way we can hold this administration accountable for its reckless weaponization of religious liberty is by ensuring that Congress uses the appropriations process to block these harmful entities and regulations, and to support strong nondiscrimination measures.
FFRF recently scored a huge lobbying victory on this front. Because of our efforts, Congressional Freethought Caucus Chairs, Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin, have introduced what’s called a “Dear Colleague” letter urging other lawmakers to help restrict taxpayer money from funding discrimination in the name of religion.
A “Dear Colleague” letter is a key part of the federal budgeting or appropriations process. It’s an internal letter sent among members of Congress to show support for a particular appropriations item. At least one member is the sponsor, and other members are encouraged to sign on showing their support. The more support a letter has, the better the chances are that the appropriations request will be adopted by the committee. That’s why we need your help to convince more members of Congress to sign onto this letter.
Please join us in ensuring that Congress can use all legislative means possible to hold the Trump administration accountable for its disregard of our founding values by encouraging your member to sign onto Huffman and Raskin’s “Dear Colleague” letter: Support Anti-Discrimination Measures and Preserve Separation of State and Church in FY 2021.
Click on the red “Take Action!” link below to contact your U.S. representatives. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are the most impactful means of persuading your lawmakers.
More »Oppose bible classes in W.Va. public schools
The West Virginia Legislature is considering a bill that would allow state-funded public schools to indoctrinate students with bible classes. We need your help to stop this bill in its tracks.
This bill, H.B. 4780, is part of Project Blitz, the Christian fundamentalists’ nationwide legislative push to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious bills. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we most cherish about our democracy and must tirelessly defend.
While politicians often claim that these laws are intended to teach the bible in the context of U.S. history, we know their true agenda is to abuse their access to young and impressionable children and indoctrinate them with religious orthodoxy. Public school bible classes have been tried across the country and have invariably ended up unconstitutionally promoting religion.
H.B. 4780 has passed the West Virginia House and is now headed to the state Senate for consideration. Please click on the red “Take Action!” link below and follow the prompt provided to tell your state senators to oppose this bill. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
Connecticut: Please urge elimination of religious exemption from vaccines
The Connecticut Legislature is considering a good bill that would eliminate religious exemptions from vaccine requirements for public school students.
Many states, including Connecticut, have allowed parents to claim a religious exemption from regulations that require they vaccinate their children. When parents choose not to vaccinate, it not only compromises the health of their own children, but also jeopardizes the “herd immunity” for those who cannot receive vaccinations for health reasons.
This bill, Connecticut H.B. 5044, would improve the state’s ability to combat infectious diseases by removing the possibility of religious exemption from mandatory vaccines for children in public schools and day cares.
It is critical that we counter the influence of anti-science religious zealots, whose dangerous rhetoric has caused very serious and preventable infectious disease outbreaks in numerous states across the country. For example, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the reported individual cases of measles in the first four months of 2019 surpassed the total cases per year since 2000. The states that see the highest incidences of the disease are those with the most relaxed exemption laws.
Please stand up for this common sense bill that will protect Connecticut residents from the dangerous implications of others people’s religious dogma. Please use our simple, automated system to ask your representative to support H.B. 5044 and feel free to use or adapt the provided talking points.
More »TAKE ACTION: Oppose ‘IGWT’ in Oklahoma public buildings
The Oklahoma Legislature is considering a bill that would require all state buildings to install giant “In God We Trust” displays. We need your help to ensure that Oklahoma residents are not subjected to government-sponsored Christian proselytizing.
This bill, H.B. 3817, is part of the nationwide legislative push, Project Blitz. Project Blitz seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious bills, imposing the theocratic version of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we cherish most about our democracy, and now must tirelessly defend.
While politicians claim that these laws are intended to showcase the national motto or inspire patriotism, it is clear that their true purpose is to peddle religiosity to a captive audience. These laws are about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, dismantling the wall of separation between religion and government.
The original text of this bill excluded public school districts, but that language has since been removed. This opens the door to young, impressionable students being exposed to this discriminatory, inaccurate and exclusionary phrase aimed at brainwashing American schoolchildren into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
Most shockingly, the bill specifies that the “placement of the display shall be in keeping with the placement and size of the display of the national motto in the United State Capitol Visitor Center,” which is a colossal 4 feet by 70 feet.
Tell Missouri lawmakers: Reject bible classes in public schools
The Missouri Legislature is considering a bill that would allow state-funded public schools to indoctrinate students with bible classes. We need your help to stop this bill in its tracks.
This bill, H.B. 1345, is part of Project Blitz, the Christian fundamentalists’ nationwide legislative push to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious bills. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we most cherish about our democracy and must tirelessly defend.
While politicians often claim that these laws are intended to teach the bible in the context of U.S. history, we know their true agenda is to abuse their access to young and impressionable children and indoctrinate them with religious orthodoxy. Public school bible classes have been tried across the country and have invariably ended up unconstitutionally promoting religion.
H.B. 1345 has passed its House committee, and is now headed to the full state House of Representatives for a vote. Please click on the red “Take Action!” link below and follow the prompt provided to tell your representative in the House to oppose this bill. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
Urge Idaho governor to veto “Choose Life” license plate bill
A dangerous bill is headed to Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s desk next Monday, March 2, to be signed into law. This bill, S. 1249, authorizes an official “Choose Life” license plate in the state of Idaho.
If passed, a portion of the purchase price for each plate will go to Choose Life Idaho, an anti-choice religious group that is instructed to use the funds to support so-called “life-affirming” crisis pregnancy centers.
Crisis pregnancy centers are anti-science clinics that disseminate erroneous and misleading information about abortions to dissuade women from accessing one. Some women are led to believe that they are seeing a licensed medical provider when they are, in fact, being peddled anti-abortion propaganda by religious charlatans.
Please contact Little and urge him not to sign this bill. Taxpayer money has no business funding this religious mission through an official relationship with a state agency. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Reject Iowa bill that would establish sexual identity registry
The Iowa Legislature is considering a shockingly abhorrent bill that would require Iowans to register their sexual orientation with the state — and face punishment if they deviated from their official status.
This bill, Iowa S.F. 2130, proposes that applicants for a marriage license in the state specify whether they identify as bisexual, heterosexual, homosexual, questioning or “unsure.” If an applicant gives the “wrong” answer for any reason, this mistake could be used against them in future divorce and custody proceedings. They would be held automatically liable for the dissolution of the marriage on the basis of “fraudulent concealment of sexual orientation.”
This proposal is both an obvious overstepping of government power and a shocking attempt to use the power of the state to impose Christian marital values on all Iowans.
As writer Val Wilde recently pointed out in a piece about this bill, “There’s something deeply dystopian about what will ultimately amount to a government list of Iowans’ sexual orientations.”
This bill is currently in front of the Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee. Please use our automated system to contact the members of this committee and let them know that this absurd proposal is not in line with Iowa values. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Please support Virginia equal protection bill
The Virginia Legislature is considering a good bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under state civil rights law.
This bill, H.B. 1663, is a positive step toward ensuring true equal protection for LGBTQ people. The federal Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination against particular classes of people, including bigotry based on religion, race and sex, but currently does not prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Until this serious shortcoming of federal civil rights law is addressed, states must expand this protection individually.
As FFRF often points out, religion has, for far too long, imposed its Bronze Age immorality on public accommodations and civil rights laws. It’s time to protect all Americans, whatever smear the bible may contain about them.
This bill has passed the Virginia House of Delegates and will be heard next by the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology. Please use our automated system to contact the members of this committee and urge them to support H.B. 1663. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Resist W. Va. bill promoting prayer in public schools
The West Virginia Legislature is considering a bill dubbed the “West Virginia Student Religious Liberties Act,” which would require public schools to allow prayers to be broadcast at many school-sponsored events.
This bill, H.B. 4069, obligates schools to create a limited public forum any time a student speaks at a school event. This proposal is an obvious maneuver intended to promote prayers at graduations and other official school events. This bill would take away school administrators' ability to control messaging at their events and to ensure that those events don’t include religious proselytizing.
This bill has passed the West Virginia House of Representatives and will be heard next by the Senate Education Committee. Please urge the members of this committee to vote no on H.B. 4069 and protect the ability of public schools to keep official school events free of religious coercion. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Please tell Kentucky to pass FGM ban
The Kentucky Legislature is considering a bill that prohibits Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and creates strict penalties for those who perform or aid in the performance of the procedure.
In addition to the traumatic and often lifelong physical and emotional pain this procedure inflicts on women, girls and women who have it are at risk for dangerous infections and cysts. Infants born to women who have had it have a higher risk of dying. The practice has no medical benefit and is based solely on barbaric religious traditions that have no place in modern American society. After a federal ban on Female Genital Mutilation was declared unconstitutional recently, many states are banning the practice, and you can take action today to make sure Kentucky is next on the list.
This bill, S.B. 72, passed the Kentucky Senate and is now headed to be the House Judiciary Committee. Please use our automated system to contact the members of this committee and urge them to pass this important measure.
More »
Resist “In God We Trust” in public buildings
The Idaho Legislature is considering a bill that places “In God We Trust” in legislative chambers above the chairs of the presiding officers.
This bill, H.C.R. 32, is part of a nationwide legislative push: Project Blitz. Project Blitz seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious bills, imposing the theocratic version of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we cherish most about our democracy, and now must tirelessly defend.
While politicians claim that these laws are intended to showcase the national motto or inspire patriotism, it is clear that their true purpose is to peddle religiosity to a captive audience. These laws are about advancing the Big Lie that the United States was “founded on God” or Christianity, dismantling the wall of separation between religion and government. The motto “In God We Trust” is inaccurate, exclusionary and aimed at brainwashing American schoolchildren into believing that our nation is a theocracy.
This bill recently passed the Idaho House of Representatives and will next be heard by the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee. Please use our automated system to contact members of this committee and ask that they stop this bill in its tracks.
More »Advance bill to protect children by repealing faith-based exemptions
Last month, we asked you to contact your legislators and urge them to support a good bill that would repeal faith-based healing protections for parents who choose not to seek medical attention for their children based on their religious beliefs. That bill recently passed the Washington Senate and is one step closer to becoming law.
This bill will next be heard this Friday by the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary. Please keep the pressure on legislators to pass this important measure and protect children by repealing faith-based exemptions.
Currently, Washington has a law that protects these parents from legal charges even if their children die as a result of this negligence. S.B. 5749 aims to remove this exemption as it relates to “criminal mistreatment of children and vulnerable adults.”
The law currently states: “It is the intent of the Legislature that a person who, in good faith, is furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner in lieu of medical care is not considered deprived of medically necessary health care or abandoned.”
If this bill passes, this language will be removed and children will no longer be at risk of death because of the state sanctioning their parents’ dangerous religious beliefs. Please use our automated system to urge the members of this committee to vote yes on S.B. 5749.
If you are able, please attend the committee meeting on Friday, Feb. 21, and make your support of this bill known in person. More details can be found here.
More »Urge the Virginia House of Delegates to cease legislative prayer
Please take a moment to urge your delegate to discontinue the practice of legislative prayer.
The Virginia House of Delegates recently opened a meeting on the House floor with a six-minute-long divisive prayer that condemned marriage equality and reproductive rights, and threatened legislators with the wrath of God.
Robert Grant Jr. a pastor at the Father’s Way Church in Warrenton, Va., said, in part, during his invocation:
“God is also judgment. Please do not provoke his anger and bring wrath upon this state by what you create as law. Biblical history is very clear, His wrath upon the earth is documented. We are not exempt. If he does not grant us mercy for the atrocities that are being done, we will eventually encounter the judgment of the Almighty God and may the Lord have mercy upon us all.”
When he went on to extol “traditional marriage,” the gavel dropped and delegates reciting the Pledge of Allegiance drowned out what was left of the prayer. Some members even walked out.
Watch a video of this prayer here.
This dangerous and belligerent speech has no place commencing our secular lawmaking process. FFRF has submitted a formal letter to House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn advising the body to end religious prayers at government meetings. Now, we need you to contact your legislator and ask that they discontinue this unnecessary and discriminatory practice. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Georgia: Oppose discriminatory adoption policy
The Georgia Legislature is considering a bill that would allow taxpayer-funded child-placing agencies to discriminate based on religion — and we need your help to stop it.
Georgia S.B. 368, currently in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, would prohibit the state from taking any action against a child-placing agency that declines to facilitate adoptions conflicting with the agency’s “religious or moral convictions.” If passed, the law would allow these agencies the right to refuse services to, among many other groups, LGBTQ families and children.
This bill is part of Project Blitz, a Christian fundamentalist nationwide push that seeks to inject state legislatures with a whole host of religious template bills, imposing the theocratic vision of a powerful few on We The People. It is an unvarnished attack on American secularism and civil liberties — those things we most cherish about our democracy, and now must tirelessly defend.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, there were more than 440,000 children in foster care in the United States in 2017. Some 50,000 of these children will be adopted every year through the child welfare system, while another 20,000 will “age out” of the system before being adopted. Allowing agencies to turn away parents looking to adopt, on the basis of their religion, is both morally reprehensible and puts further financial burden on an already strained child-welfare system.
The health and care of a child should be the only factor that an agency and its employees consider when looking to place a child in a foster care or adoptive family — not advancing the bigoted agendas of those promoting discrimination at the expense of children in need.
Please use our simple, automated system to ask the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee to reject this harmful bill. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below, follow the prompt provided, and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Ask your U.S. legislators to support Darwin Day resolutions!
In the age of “fake news” and “alternative facts,” we need you to stand up for reason and critical thinking in government by supporting Darwin Day resolutions in Congress.
Two resolutions, House Resolution 847 and Senate Resolution 495, have been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate. The resolutions designate today, Feb. 12, as Darwin Day in order to promote scientific research of global warming and climate change, and the integrity of science education in our public school systems.
Please use our automated system to contact your legislators and ask them to support the Darwin Day resolutions. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Support ratification of the ERA today
Last month, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, outlawing discrimination on the basis of gender.
The ERA now meets the three-fourths threshold the Constitution requires for amendments. But new questions have arisen about the validity of a decades-old deadline set for states to adopt the amendment. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote this Thursday, Feb. 13, on whether to remove this deadline for adoption of the ERA, which will allow this amendment to move forward.
Religious extremists have unsurprisingly attempted to undermine the ERA’s recent traction, peddling the dubious claim that it is meant to legalize state-sponsored abortion. In a recent statement, the League of Catholic Bishops stated that “the ERA hurts women and the unborn.”
On the contrary, the ERA is a long overdue measure to achieve gender equality under the law. This amendment is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans — 94 percent according to a recent survey — and your representative needs to hear your support of the resolution to remove the deadline for adoption.
The Equal Rights Amendment has always been opposed by the Religious Right and Christian Nationalists. The Roman Catholic Church, Protestant fundamentalists and the Mormon Church tirelessly lobbied against this mandate for equality. Our public and social policy must not be dictated by religion and ultraconservative Christian denominations. Please urge your U.S. representative to support H.J. Res. 79 before its upcoming hearing on Thursday, Feb. 13. Click on the red “Take Action!” link below and feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
More »Thank the Clark County Board for removing prayer from meetings
Please show your appreciation of the Clark County School District for its adherence to the Constitution.
The district recently discontinued the practice of beginning school board meetings with prayer after receiving a complaint from FFRF. According to local reports, 30 pastors are planning to speak at the school board meeting this Thursday, Feb. 13, in protest of FFRF’s victory. It’s important that secular Clark County residents attend this meeting and speak up in support of this decision.
The school board, FFRF wrote in a letter to the district, cannot lend its power and prestige to religion, amounting to a governmental endorsement of religion that excludes the 24 percent of Americans who are nonreligious, including 38 percent of Americans born after 1987. FFRF successfully litigated the most recent case striking down a school board prayer practice, in which Chino Valley (Calif.) School District’s board paid out more than $280,000 in fees and costs.
The Clark County School District informed FFRF last month that the board will no longer begin meetings with an invocation. This is a victory for all families in the district. Keeping school board meetings free of religious proselytizing makes the community inclusive, regardless of religious beliefs. It also avoids opening the district up to a costly legal battle with hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on the line.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:
- Contact the Clark County School District Board of Trustees and thank it for keeping school board meetings free of religious proselytizing. Click on the red “TAKE ACTION!” link below to be directed to the board’s comment page. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are the most effective.
- Attend the board’s meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 5 p.m. and share your support for this decision in person. Details can be found here.
TALKING POINTS
I want to thank the board for choosing to discontinue the practice of beginning each meeting with a prayer. This is a positive step toward making the district inclusive of all students and families, regardless of religious beliefs. It will ensure Clark County is not at risk of spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in a costly legal battle over settled law. Religious prayer at school board meetings is unnecessary, exclusionary and illegal. This board made the wise and responsible decision by deciding to forego prayer at meetings.
Speak out against slate of anti-LGBTQ bills in Colorado
Colorado legislators have introduced a dangerous package of anti-LGBTQ bills, and your lawmakers need to hear your opposition. These six religiously based bills, largely targeting LGBTQ rights in Colorado, are a coordinated attack on secular law:
- HB20-1272 is a patently unconstitutional bill that restricts marriage to “one man and one woman, regardless of judicial decisions to the contrary.”
- HB20-1033, the “Live and Let Live Act,” is a Project Blitz bill that would allow people to discriminate against LGBTQ Coloradans based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
- HB20-1114 criminalizes doctors for adhering to prevailing medical standards by providing trans youth with gender-affirming care.
- HB20-1273 prohibits trans girls and women from participating in exclusively “female” sports.
- HB20-1144 would, among other things, allow parents to exempt their children from state-mandated vaccination requirements.
- HB20-1063 is a far-reaching bill which establishes strict scrutiny (a very high legal standard) for any state imposition on parental rights. When paired with the above mentioned bill, this drastically limits the government’s ability to provide education and protection to Colorado children.
This is a clear and coordinated attack on LGBTQ citizens presented under the guise of preserving religious liberty. These bills have a hearing in the House State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee this Thursday, Feb. 13. Please let the members of this committee know these bills do not align with your values as a Colorado voter.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:
- Click the red “Take Action!” link below to email or call your legislators and share your opposition to this coordinated host of anti-LGBTQ bills. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided.
- Attend the hearing on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 1:30 p.m. and speak in opposition to these bills in person. More information can be found here.
- Speak out against these bills on social media.
