The Freedom From Religion Foundation is pleased to see that it has inspired a better understanding of the constitutional separation between church and state in a Pennsylvania community.
In response to FFRF’s settlement to remove a Ten Commandments monument at Valley Junior-Senior High School in New Kensington, Penn., a local man in North Huntingdon is distributing personal Ten Commandments yards signs for citizens to display. FFRF had filed a lawsuit in 2012 against the New Kensington-Arnold School District for unconstitutionally displaying the biblical edicts on public property. The monument was finally hauled away this March, after a five-year court battle.
While religious messages may not be displayed on public property, citizens are free to express religious views on their private lawns. FFRF welcomes this example of constitutional compliance.
“It’s encouraging to see a better understanding of the First Amendment,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Citizens may absolutely display their beliefs on property they own, but the government, public property and our public schools must remain secular and free of divisive religion.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 29,000 nonreligious members and chapters across the country, including nearly 900 members in Pennsylvania and two chapters in the state. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
