We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation are staying busy this Easter week, as you would expect. We’ve filed lawsuits, earned victories and filed complaints, and issued Action Alerts—crucifying fundamentalism and bigotry along the way. This is our weekly newsletter compiled by our new director of communications, Amit Pal.
Employees win over religious employers
We wrote a brief supporting a lawsuit where ex-employees of a religious nonprofit triumphed against their employer for shortchanging them. The plan was not covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because churches are exempt. The Court of Appeals agreed that religiously affiliated groups do not qualify as churches. We welcome the workers’ win.
Keep the library open!
In another triumph closer to our home, we persuaded the Madison Public Library (Wis.) to keep its central downtown branch open on Easter Sunday. After we pointed out to the staff that the day was neither a federal nor a state holiday, they decided to serve patrons that day.
We’ve also been taking to task recalcitrant cities and school boards and drawing attention to outrages around the country.
Suing an obstinate city
FFRF and its member Jerome Bloom are suing the city of Shelton in Connecticut after it refused to allow a display to counter the American Legion’s annual exhibit of heralding angels. FFRF tried to reason with the city a number of times, but to no avail. And so, off to court we go.
Allow freethought literature or else
In spite of repeated FFRF requests, Colorado’s Delta County School District has refused to stop the Gideons from putting bibles in the local public schools. So FFRF and allied organizations will soon be circulating freethought materials in all Delta County middle and high schools. These include brochures and booklets such as “An X-Rated Book: Sex and Obscenity in the Bible,” “Why Women Need Freedom From Religion” and “What Does the Bible Say About Abortion.” The district is still welcome to change its access policy. But it has to be all or nothing.
Keeping busy
We were also hard at work focusing on wrongdoing and bringing attention to outrages all over the country.
A South Carolina football coach was hired perhaps because of his Christian faith. Text messages exchanged between Seneca High School Principal Cliff Roberts and recently hired coach Hal Capps indicate that their shared religiosity was a significant factor in Capps’ appointment. We’ve asked the district to investigate.
We also called on a New Jersey borough to get rid of its unmistakably religious seal and motto. The official seal of the borough of Clayton depicts a church and a Latin cross, with the accompanying motto reading: “A Great Place to Live and Play, Work and Pray.” Can you get more religious than that?
Lots of outrages
Statehouses around the country seem to be engaged in a weird competition to outdo each other. Three bad bills especially caught our eye this week:
- Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has a chance to veto a bill seeking to blatantly legalize discrimination in his state. Maybe he will, since pretty much the entire business community in Georgia is against it.
- A Kentucky bill along similar lines is actually even worse. LGBT individuals, single mothers, and interracial and interfaith couples could be all at risk of being at the receiving end of bigotry if it becomes law.
- But the worst of all was a North Carolina anti-LGBT bill passed Wednesday. It was so egregious that we put out a national press statement on the bill and how it demonstrates the need for an expansion of the Civil Rights Act.
We’ll have our hands full next week with another kind of occasion: the Wisconsin primaries. We’re launching a billboard and press campaign in preparation for our state’s big political event on April 5. We’ll fill you in on that next Friday.
Have a wonderful and nonreligious Easter weekend!
Cordially,
Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor
Co-Presidents
Freedom From Religion Foundation
