The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to quit using official government communications and resources to promote religion, after receiving new complaints from USDA employees documenting an ongoing pattern of unconstitutional messaging.
“USDA employees deserve to work in a professional environment where they are not subjected to official Christian messaging,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The government has no business using taxpayer-funded communications to promote religion or organize worship. Public employees of every faith and none at all are entitled to a neutral workplace free from divisive religion and that treats everyone as equally valued.”
In a letter sent Friday to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, FFRF details several employee-reported recent incidents, including department-wide emails quoting scripture, official invitations to prayer and worship services, and repeated religious messaging by Agriculture Secretary Rollins.
The state/church watchdog first objected in April to Rollins’ department-wide Easter email proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection as “the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind.”
“Rather than being an isolated incident, subsequent complaints demonstrate an ongoing pattern of official promotion of religion within the department,” writes FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line. “USDA employees represent every faith tradition and no faith at all. They should not have to wonder whether their department expects participation in religious exercises or whether they are viewed as outsiders because they do not share the religious beliefs repeatedly promoted by agency leadership.”
Among the new complaints, USDA employees reported receiving an official Memorial Day message from Rollins that concluded not with a secular remembrance of those who died in military service, but with a quotation from the Gospel of John promising eternal life: “Yet, we can take comfort that they are safely at rest by trusting in the words of Almighty God: ‘I give unto them eternal life, that they shall never perish.’ — John 10:28.”
FFRF notes that while many Americans may find personal comfort in religion, a Cabinet secretary may not use official government communications to promote her personal theological beliefs to the department’s workforce.
Employees also complained about an official event titled “Faith and Fellowship Musical Celebration and Launch of USDA Prayer Service,” organized by the USDA Center for Faith and promoted through official departmental communications. According to the event materials, the gathering featured worship music, corporate prayer, a message from Rollins and the launch of a recurring quarterly USDA Prayer and Worship Service.
“Federal agencies exist to serve the public, not to organize worship services or encourage employees to participate in prayer,” Line writes. “Government employees remain free to pray privately or gather voluntarily on their own initiative. What the Constitution forbids is the government itself becoming the organizer and promoter of religious worship.”
Employees also reported receiving an official Independence Day message from Rollins ending with the religious blessing: “May God continue to protect the United States of America and may His favor shine over all her land.”
Taken together, FFRF argues, these communications establish “an unmistakable pattern of official governmental religious messaging” that aligns USDA with religious belief and, specifically, Christianity.
The additional complaints come even as several USDA employees have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the department’s religious messaging, further demonstrating the seriousness of the constitutional concerns.
FFRF’s letter reminds Rollins that the First Amendment requires government neutrality toward religion and nonreligion and asks USDA to end official devotional messages, stop including scriptural quotations and religious exhortations in department-wide communications and discontinue sponsoring official prayer and worship services.
“The Constitution protects every employee’s right to practice their religion — or no religion at all,” Line adds. “What it does not permit is for the federal government itself to promote religious belief or favor one faith over others.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
