News Releases
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Media Inquiries
Please phone the Freedom From Religion Foundation office at 608/256-8900 to speak directly with Foundation Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker or other staff here in Madison, Wis. We receive an especially heavy volume of e-mails and we don't want to miss an inquiry, so please phone to set up an interview, especially if you are on deadline. We would be pleased to try to answer your questions, or accommodate your request.
Current News Releases
FFRF hails decision affirming secular education in Maine
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is applauding a circuit court judgment that upholds the secular nature of the Maine public education system in a case in which the state/church watchdog filed an amicus brief. “A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the state of Maine's…More »
FFRF awards $28,150 to 2020 Students of Color essay contest winners
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the awarding of a record total of $28,150 in prize money to the winners of its 2020 students of color essay contest. Entrants were asked to write a personal persuasive essay for the 2020 David Hudak…More »
Irreverent entertainer Roy Zimmerman on FFRF’s TV show this week
A freethinkingly entertaining singer-songwriter is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Freethought Matters” show this week. If you don’t live in the 27 percent of the country’s markets where the show broadcasts on Sunday, you can already catch the episode on FFRF’s YouTube…More »
End constitutional infringements, FFRF warns Ala. district
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is spotlighting multiple constitutional violations occurring in an Alabama school district that a concerned parent has brought to its attention. Dothan Preparatory Academy (in the Dothan City Schools system) has been using its Remind App to send out prayer requests…More »
FFRF puts a stop to Missouri coaching staff prayers
A Missouri school district has listened to the Freedom From Religion Foundation and ended its football coaching staff’s practice of praying with the student-athletes. Joey Ballard, head coach for Jasper High School’s boys football team, regularly led team prayer, a concerned parent of a player…More »
FFRF condemns Senate confirmation of zealot Amy Barrett to SCOTUS
As the Senate voted (52-48) to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, despite an ongoing election in which more than 63 million Americans have already voted, know this: It’s not over. Now we fight, not for one seat, but for the entire…More »
Stop proselytizers from meeting student-athletes, FFRF insists to Fla. district
Halt the access you’re providing a Christian group to your athletes, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking a Florida school district. The Osceola School District is apparently permitting several outside adults to act as “character coaches” for various athletic teams throughout the district.…More »
Steve Pinker guest on FFRF’s TV show this week
One of the most eminent public intellectuals in the world is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s TV show this week, talking about his new course on rationality. If you don’t live in the 27 percent of the country’s markets where “Freethought Matters”…More »
How you can protest Judiciary Committee vote to approve zealot Amy Barrett
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court means her approval by the full Senate is now a foregone conclusion. And that’s all the more reason to keep fighting. We are grateful to you and other FFRF…More »
Preview of Secular Day of the Dead on ‘Ask an Atheist’ — sign up now!
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is excited to be co-sponsoring and co-hosting an upcoming global Secular Day of the Dead event, which is previewed on FFRF’s live “Ask an Atheist” program on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at noon Central. (If you miss the live show, the…More »
Halt coach-student praying, FFRF tells Tenn. district
Stop football coaches from praying with their students, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is insisting to a Tennessee school district. The football coaching staff at Stone Memorial High School, in the Cumberland County School District, joined a public prayer with students after a football game…More »
SBA expands outrageous church exemption
Through an “interim final rule,” the Small Business Administration has just announced that recipients of $50,000 or less in taxpayer-funded forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program can have their loans forgiven even if they’ve violated rules prohibiting them from firing employees or reducing wages.…More »
RBG and the 116th Congress: Dispatches from Mark Dann, FFRF’s rep on Capitol Hill
If there’s a common thread in my thoughts from Capitol Hill this year, it’s the combination of dark and light moments: pessimism and fear coupled with tangible examples of victories and reasons for optimism. Like many of you, I’m living this emotional conflict. On one…More »
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton guest on FFRF’s TV show Sunday
Legislative stalwart and civil rights and feminist pioneer U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton is the guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s TV show this week. If you don’t live in the 27 percent of the country’s markets where “Freethought Matters” broadcasts on Sunday,…More »
Remove Jesus image, FFRF asks La. police dept.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is requesting that the Shreveport, La., police department take down a painting depicting Jesus. A concerned community member has contacted the state/church watchdog to report that a portrait of Christianity’s messiah is prominently displayed in a police department hallway where…More »
FFRF to Algerian government: “Inciting atheism” is not a crime
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is condemning the persecution of Yacine Mebarki, reportedly prosecuted by the government of Algeria for “inciting atheism” and sentenced on Oct. 8 to 10 years imprisonment. Mebarki was also fined and found guilty of “offending Islam.” The sentence, which was…More »
Greedy clergy want taxpayers to pay church security bills
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is condemning an appeal by an assortment of church groups to Congress urging a drastic increase in the amount of taxpayer funds for church security costs. Currently, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides $90 million to various nonprofit organizations, the…More »
Mo. football coaches should stop organized prayer, FFRF insists
Missouri high school’s coaching staff is repeatedly violating the Constitution by organizing regular prayers with the athletes, asserts the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Joey Ballard, head coach for Jasper High School’s boys football team, regularly leads team prayer, a concerned parent of a player has…More »
FFRF gets N.C. district to halt access to Christian group
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has persuaded a North Carolina school district to stop the unconstitutional access that it was granting a Christian organization to its athletes. The Duplin County Schools system permitted Fellowship of Christian Athletes Area Director Ken Lovell repeated access to its…More »
Refuting magical thinking, miracles and ‘gifts from God’
Could there be a clearer refutation of the Trump administration’s ban on federal funding of newly created human embryonic stem cell lines than the fact that the treatment President Trump boasts of “curing” him of COVID-19 derives from such a stem cell? While the efficacy…More »
Catholicism’s spiritual blackmail, ‘vote life’ injunctions endanger public health, rights
Catholics are obligated to attend Mass, says the Madison diocese spokesperson: “As of right now, we are not inclined to reinstate a diocesan-wide dispensation.” He was careful not to sound as draconian as Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki, who recently instructed Catholics that if they deliberately…More »
FFRF advises end to Pa. district-Christian camp collaboration
An unconstitutional partnership between a Pennsylvania school district and a Christian camp needs to be dissolved, stresses the Freedom From Religion Foundation. To cope with the pandemic, the Williamsport Area School District has implemented a hybrid schedule in which students are required to attend school…More »
FFRF applauds S.C. ruling halting $32 million funding to private schools
Photo by Nolichuckyjake / Shutterstock The Freedom From Religion Foundation applauds a unanimous decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court that public money cannot be spent on the state’s private schools. The 5-0 judgment was called “a high-profile defeat for Gov. Henry McMaster” by…More »
Supreme Court expert on FFRF’s TV show this Sunday
This week’s episode of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s TV show, “Freethought Matters,” has as its guest the country’s foremost expert on an institution that’s been on everyone’s mind: the U.S. Supreme Court. If you don’t live in the 22 percent of the country’s markets…More »
FFRF, Puerto Rican Humanists award $16,500 in student scholarships
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is delighted to announce that it is awarding, in partnership with Humanistas Seculares De Puerto Rico (Humanists of Puerto Rico), more than $16,000 in cash scholarships to Puerto Rican students, including 10 major winners and four honorable mentions. Students were…More »
Stop favoring churches, FFRF admonishes California DA
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is chiding the DA of a prominent California county for bestowing special status on houses of worship by exempting them from pandemic control measures. Multiple concerned San Luis Obispo residents have reported to the national state/church watchdog that District Attorney…More »
FFRF billboard reminds Tennesseans about U.S. Constitution
Undeterred by COVID-19, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has placed a new billboard in the Knoxville area reminding people of the importance of the separation of state and church. With the aid of its local chapter, FFRF has put up on Route 62 at Jim…More »
FFRF releases major secular voter poll: ‘We are the real values voters’
What do nonreligious American voters want? The Freedom From Religion Foundation has just released a major new secular poll of more than 12,000 registered voters who are atheists or agnostics, providing a fascinating profile of American nonbelievers and their views on the major social issues…More »
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, is the nation's largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics), and has been working since 1978 to keep religion and government separate.
