There’s got to be a better way to grow the membership of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. But after last night’s election, we hope that many will be joining us in the battle not only for state and church separation, but also for the secular “soul” of our democracy. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is prepared and ready to lead the Secular Resistance on your behalf and with your help.
Here’s a quick rundown of the threats and why FFRF needs your support more than ever.
Declaring that “people tell me that God spared my life for a reason,” President-elect Trump announced: “That reason was to save our country.” Trump added, “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. I will govern by a simple motto: promises made, promises kept.”
What are those promises? And what do they mean for the work of the Freedom From Religion Foundation? Whether Trump favors the lesser-known playbook of the America First Policy Institute, “poised to be more influential than Project 2025,” according to the New York Times, or the 900-plus page playbook created by the Heritage Foundation & Co., we know Trump will be working with extremists and Christian nationalists ready to undermine America’s democratic principles — including the constitutional principle of separation between state and church.
Below is a quick review of Trump’s “promises” and how they affect our work:
- “Make America pray again.” Trump has promised that one of his first acts as president will be to set up a task force to root out “anti-Christian bias” and protect “pro-God context and content.”
- “We don’t worship government, we worship God.” Trump’s remarks, previously as president and then as candidate, have repeatedly undermined the constitutional principle of separation between state and church.
- Ten Commandments and bibles in public schools. Trump has endorsed posting the Ten Commandments in public schools, something FFRF is in court fighting in Louisiana. FFRF is also suing with a coalition in Oklahoma over Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ bid to spend $6 million buying Trump bibles to distribute to all classrooms there.
- A universal voucher system. As a candidate Trump has not only promised to eliminate the Department of Education, but has also proposed up to $10,000 a year per child in taxpayer money on private education or homeschooling. He also supports Education Savings Accounts, or ESAs, allowing families to divert a designated amount of per-student spending to pay for religious schooling or homeschooling. “If Trump wins, count on continued culture wars, school vouchers and a fixation on ending the federal Department of Education,” warns education scholar Josh Cowen, who recently addressed FFRF’s national convention.
- Trump may target nonbelievers. He announced last year: “Together, we’re warriors in a righteous crusade to stop the arsonists, the atheists, globalists and the Marxists — and that’s what they are — and we will restore our republic as one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.” We already know he has promised to restore bans on Muslims traveling here, which FFRF opposed in amicus briefs after he imposed this unconstitutional religious test during his first presidency.
- Attacking the Johnson Amendment. Trump will resume his promulgation of “alternative facts” against the Johnson Amendment, which bars tax-exempt donations from being used for partisan electioneering by churches and other nonprofits. We expect him to continue signing executive orders, such as his prior “Religious Liberty Executive Order” and many other mandates intended to dismantle the Establishment Clause’s prohibitions on uniting religion and government, particularly mandates allowing religious exemptions against discrimination.
- Christian nationalist cabinet and judicial appointments. FFRF’s legislative team is prepared to vet and oppose Trump’s expected cabinet appointments of “foxes” to guard the chicken coop as well as extremist judicial appointments, as he did in his past presidency.
- Abolishing abortion. Trump’s prevarications on abortion notwithstanding, FFRF is expecting his Christian nationalist handlers to push hard to abolish abortion nationally. As this is written, we await word on whether Democrats will lose the House and if Trump will control Congress, where his supporters seek to ban medication abortion nationally and enforce the zombie Comstock Act of 1873 to close abortion clinics. We know one of Trump’s opening acts, as it was in his first presidency, will be to reimpose the Gag Rule barring foreign entities receiving U.S. funds from using their own funds to provide information on abortion care.
- Erasing trans individuals. Trump campaigned on promises on day one to “revoke” existing policies supporting health care for transgender people, including signing an executive order instructing federal agencies to stop all programs promoting the concept of sex and gender transition at any age. He would terminate federal funding for any hospitals and medical personnel providing health care to transgender youth. He also vowed to pass a bill establishing that the United States only recognizes “male and female” as assigned at birth, thereby erasing transgender and nonbinary people out of existence. He told believers at the Faith & Freedom 2024 convention: “I will take historic action to defeat the poison of left-wing gender ideology and restore the timeless truth that God created two genders, male and female.”
Extremist playbooks. Among the almost 300 executive orders the America First Policy Institute has already drafted for Trump’s signature are orders defunding Planned Parenthood, requiring mandatory ultrasounds before abortions — including medication abortions, and establishing legally that there are only two genders.
If the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 prevails, we already know its proposals would unite church and state by:
- Infusing “the pursuit of Blessedness” into every level of government. (Page 13)
- Dismantling nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ-plus Americans. (Pages 333, 375 and 548)
- Mandating a “biblically based” definition of marriage and family. (Pages 477–482)
- Dismantling civil rights protections in the name of “religious liberty,” providing a license to discriminate. (Page 494)
- Allowing religious employers to discriminate against employees based on beliefs. (Page 586)
- Turning the Department of Health and Human Services into the “Department of Life.” (Page 489)
- Gutting overtime laws while establishing Sunday as “the Sabbath” and forcing employers to pay overtime on Sunday. Because “God ordained the Sabbath as a day of rest.” (Page 589)
FFRF, with 40,000 paid members, is well positioned to lead in defending our First Amendment’s first freedom. Our team of attorneys and legislative experts are preparing for this heightened “battle of church and state” on your behalf. Please help us in our mission.
