The 30-second commercial aired on the show last night (after being pre-empted by election returns Tuesday), and returns tonight. It's scheduled to run about 9:52 p.m. Eastern. FFRF will air the commercial as funds permit periodically during the election season as a reminder that candidates are running for secular office, not "pastor in chief."
The commercial depicts the famous lines delivered by presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in 1960: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute . . . where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly on the general populace."
FFRF urges viewers to "restore respect for America's secular roots." The ad makes this appeal: "Help the Freedom From Religion Foundation defend the wall of separation between state and church. Join us at FFRF.org. Freedom depends on freethinkers."
"It's dismaying to see how much ground we've lost," says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. "In 1960, when JFK made his famous remarks, a candidate had to pledge allegiance to our secular Constitution. Today, a de facto religious test for public office has been imposed."
The 30-second spot is accompanied by a piano rendition of "America the Beautiful" recorded by FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. The ad concludes with the strains of "Let freedom ring" and the image of a Lincoln penny with "In Reason We Trust" replacing "In God We Trust."
FFRF debuted the TV ad in 2012 on MSNBC and CBS.