The Freedom From Religion Foundation is running a patriotic full-page ad in three Oregon dailies celebrating “our Godless Constitution” on Saturday, the Fourth of July.
The national state/church watchdog’s ads are being featured in Portland’s daily, The Oregonian (pictured), the Eugene Register-Guard and the Salem Statesman Journal.
The ad is a response to a series of July Fourth advertisements sponsored annually since 2008 by the archconservative Hobby Lobby corporation shamelessly promoting the myth that the United States was founded on God and Christianity.
FFRF’s ad quotes U.S. Founders and Framers on their strong views against religion in government — and often critical views on religion in general. It features two revolutionaries and Deists, Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin, and the first four presidents: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Not only is the U.S. Constitution godless, but there was no prayer during the long, acrimonious Constitutional Convention. The Constitution’s primary architect, Madison, came to oppose government days of prayer, congressional chaplaincies and even “three pence” of tax money used in support of religion.
“We should be proud on Independence Day to celebrate America’s independence from theocracy — and the fact that the United States was first among nations to separate religion from government,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
FFRF thanks its Portland chapter, directed by Cheryl Kolbe, for generously underwriting the patriotic ad campaign.
“Our chapter board and membership are pleased to be able to fund full-page ads in three major Oregon newspapers this July Fourth to celebrate our Godless Constitution,” says Kolbe. “It is so important in our current times to trust in reason and science. We hope the ads will inspire people to support FFRF in its very important mission to promote the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the nation’s largest association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics) with more than 32,000 members nationwide, including close to 1,000 members in Oregon. It works to buttress the constitutional separation between state and church.
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