FFRF Attorney Liz Cavell will be speaking at FREEFLO, a biennial conference for atheists, agnostics, freethinkers and skeptics, on March 10-12, 2023 in Orlando, FL. This conference is run solely by volunteers, and all profits received will go to scholarships for high-school and college students who are activists in the state of Florida. Topics such as abortion rights, science education, and legal issues for state and church separation for the state of Florida will be discussed. For further information, and to register for the event, click here.
FFRF Co-President Dan Barker will be speaking on the topic "Is the Separation of Church and State Coming to an End?" at The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, New Jersey on Sunday, February 219 at 11 a.m. More details will follow.
FFRF co-president Dan Barker will perform a freethought concert on Saturday, February 18 at 8PM EST at the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, New Jersey. For further details, and to purchase tickets for this event, click here.
FFRF co-president Dan Barker will debate Dr. Andrew Knight of Apologetics Now on the topic "Is God to Blame for Suffering?" at 7:00 pm Friday, February 17, 2023 at the Live Oak Cultural Center (1050 Live Oak St.) in Smyrna Beach, Florida. There is an entry fee of $10 per person. Click here to register.
FFRF Attorney Liz Cavell will be speaking for the Association of Secular Elected Officials on February 16, 2023. Cavell willl be discussing the rules surrounding school prayer after the Supreme Court's ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. This will be an open webinar and listeners will get a chance to learn what school board members need to know to ensure that school system employees respect the rights of students and follow the law. For further information, and to register for this free event, click here.
FFRF co-president Dan Barker will be hosting the Center for Inquiry's "When Religious Leaders Become Atheists" event on January 28, 2023 in Vancouver, CA. This event will feature a panel discussion with former Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religious leaders talking about their experiences of losing their beliefs.
This hybrid event, co-sponsored by FFRF, is presented in person at at UBC Robson Square, and streamed live on Zoom across Canada and around the world at 2 p.m. PST.
Registration is now open to attend in-person, or live online via Zoom. Admission is by donation to CFIC.
Sometimes we might forget that protections for religious freedom include protection of non-religion. The First Amendment protects your right to hold and express your own beliefs, or lack thereof, as well as the right to not be pressured or coerced into participating in religious activities. Additionally, you have the right to be free from discrimination based on your secular identity. In this webinar, Liz Cavell, from Freedom From Religion Foundation, will lay out your rights as a secular student and what to do when your school or community don't respect them. For more information, and to RSVP, click here.
FFRF Associate Counsel Liz Cavell will be speaking at the Secular Student Alliance Spring Semester Speaker Series on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at 6 p.m. She will be speaking on student rights & FFRF's Know Your Rights resources. This is a public event and a virtual presentation. More details to follow.
FFRF co-president Dan Barker and FFRF Director of Communications Amit Pal will be at Gora’s 120th and Saraswathi Gora's 110th Birth Centenary Conference on ‘Secular Thought and Social Action’, at Atheist Centre India (Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh) on January 7 and 8, 2023. Details to follow . . .
Hear ye, Hear Ye! Join us to celebrate the birthdate of Thomas Paine!
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of The Freedom From Religion Foundation, will be speaking at the virtual Thomas Paine Birthday Proclamation Celebration held on Sunday, January 29. Actor Ian Ruskin will be reading a New Rochelle, New York proclamation. Author, comedian, and monologist Julia Sweeney will be reading a City of Philadelphia proclamation signed by former Mayor Edward G. Rendell. Another City of Philadelphia proclamation, signed by former mayor Michael A. Nutter, will be read by author and educator Christopher Cameron. Actor John de Lancie and his wife Marnie Mosiman de Lancie will be reading proclamations from the cities of Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania. A special message from Congressman Jamie Raskin will also be included. Please click here for further information, and to register for the event.
After an intense year of changes to our legal landscape, state legislatures across the country are preparing for their upcoming 2023 legislative sessions. FFRF's legislative team has also been busy gearing up for these sessions to empower advocates like you to help stand up for our secular government.
We hope you can join us for an interactive webinar as we prepare to advocate for secular legislation in each of these states. On Thursday, Dec. 22, at noon Central (1 p.m. Eastern), we will break down trends that we expect to see across the states, talk about why state-level policies are important, and show how you can use your voice to influence those policies.
Click here to RSVP for the webinar. We hope to see you there as we prepare for critical fights in state legislatures to uphold the separation of state and church!!
Freedom From Religion Foundation Communications Director Amit Pal will be taking part in a global online event this Thursday, Nov. 17, dedicated to charting the worldwide rise of the far right.
The discussion, “Proto-Fascisms: The Far Right’s Threat to Humanity and the Environment,” headlined by intellectual luminary Noam Chomsky and including speakers and performers from all over the planet, will take place from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Eastern this Thursday. Pal will be speaking at 9:45 a.m. Eastern with a focus on the rise of religious nationalisms in the United States and India. You can watch the event live here. People can take a look at the program and check and choose which speakers and musicians they wish to see here.
Dan Barker will speak about "Losing Faith in Faith" in Knoxville, Tennessee, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 18, at Pellissippi State Community College. Please note that since this is an indoor event, masks will be required. Contact chapter leader Aleta Ledendecker at [email protected] for further details.
The Greater Sacramento Chapter of FFRF will be hosting FFRF's Co-President Dan Barker who will be speaking about his new book "The End of Worship," on Sunday, Sept. 11 in Roseville, CA. Doors will open to the public at 1:30 p.m. for a social with snacks. The program will begin at 2 p.m. with a Q&A and book signing to follow. No RSVP is needed. Please click here to contact The Greater Sacramento Chapter of FFRF for location and details.
FFRF Co-President Dan Barker will be speaking at the San Francisco Bay Chapter's inaugural event in San Francisco, Calif. on Sept. 10. Barker will discuss the "Battle of Church and State;" a timely topic as we adjust to a post-Roe world. The meeting will be held at the San Francisco Public library. Space is limited, and you can sign up by clicking here. For further information, email Bay Area Chapter Leader Walt Bilofsky by clicking here.
Join FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker at Kentucky Freethought Convention in Louisville, Kentucky on September 4, 2022. Learn more here.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation will be co-sponsoring an event with FFRF member Chris Sweeny to celebrate Constitution Day, in Bentonville, Arkansas. FFRF members are invited to explore the Crystal Bridges Museum to witness an exhibition titled “We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy.” Members will meet at the Eleven Restaurant in the Crystal Bridges Museum at 11 a.m. and, after viewing the exhibit, will join in marching to Bentonville Square. The event is free, and attendees are encouraged to wear clothes that support FFRF’s mission. If you are interested in this event, or in joining the soon to be affiliated FFRF Members of the Ozarks Chapter, please click here to contact chapter leader Chris Sweeny.
We invite everyone to join us at our inaugural conference – BAHACON. Bluewater Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics (BAHA) is a Non-Profit Organization dedicated to improving the image of Freethinkers and Atheists and to give back to our communities. All profits from our conference are returned back to the communities. We come from an area known as Bluewater Country with members from both sides of the river separating Michigan and Ontario.
With a great lineup of well known speakers, including FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, this is an event you won’t want to miss.
The Supreme Court dealt several blows to the separation of church and state this summer. What exactly did they decide, and how will these decisions impact the nation? To break it all down for you, OnlySky is hosting an all-female virtual panel of secular attorneys from the new We Dissent podcast, including FFRF Legal Director, Rebecca Markert and FFRF Staff Attorney, Elizabeth Cavell. The online event will be held July 18, at 6 p.m.
Freedom From Religion Foundation's Senior Counsel Patrick Elliot will be speaking at the Lake Superior Freethinkers meeting, located at the College of St. Scholastica on Sunday, June 5th.
FFRF Co-President Dan Barker will be speaking at the Religious Trauma Conference on April 29 - May 1, 2022. CORT speakers this year represent a variety of fundamentalist religious backgrounds including Amish, Evangelical, Mormon, Muslim, and Hasidic Orthodox Judaism. They will be covering a vast array of topics from cultural genocide to coercive control, fear of Hell to post-religious sexuality, and religious schooling to racism. In addition to presentations by psychologists, social workers, authors, and former clergy, survivors of religious fundamentalism are eager to share their own personal stories of trauma, recovery, and hope with you.
Join FFRF co-president Dan Barker along with hundreds of humanists, atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and scientific skeptics at FreeFlo 2022, March 4th through 6th, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. This three day event at the Marriott Orlando Airport Lakeside hotel features informative presentations, networking opportunities, exhibitors, and entertainment from start to finish.
Proceeds support the Florida Humanist Association Scholarship Fund in coordination with the Secular Student Alliance. Register here.
Secular government is under attack in the Iowa legislature. Christian nationalists control both the Iowa Senate and House and Governor Reynolds. They are busy filing bills threatening religious freedom, voting rights, LGBTQ lives, reproductive healthcare, teachers, public education, and science. Help us defend Jefferson's wall of separation between religion and government.
Please join us on March 3rd from 2:00-4:00 PM at the rotunda of the Capitol Building in Des Moines. Help us preserve our great experiment in secular government.
Our speakers include: Robert Cook, Activism Chair, Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. Jason Bennell, Secretary and Press Officer with IAF. Thomas Harvey, long-time member of IAF. Ryan Jayne, Constitutional Lawyer with the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Visit the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers website here.
A major report (crafted by an unlikely pair) on Christian nationalism’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol assault will be made public at a virtual event next Wednesday — to which you’re duly invited.
On Feb. 9, 2022 at 12:00 PM Easter Time, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) and the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) will be releasing the hard-hitting exposé, “Christian Nationalism at the January 6, 2021, Insurrection.” This report will be the most complete accounting to date of how Christian nationalism permeated and intensified the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Feb. 9 release event — which will start at noon Eastern and last for an hour — will have analysis and commentary from the contributors.
The extensive 100-page document begins with a sociological explanation of Christian nationalism in America and the demographics that underlie this ideology. The report provides a brief history of Christian nationalism in the United States, which is followed by a thorough unmasking of the networks of power and money that prop up the ideology. The bulk of the report exposes the role this ideology played in fomenting the insurrection. The confirmed speakers (many of them contributors to the report) at the release event include:
During the live event, there will be time for members of the media to ask questions. When you register, be sure to list your media outlet. You will have a chance to submit a question in the Q&A feature during the live event. Members of the media will receive a copy of the report via email that morning if they list their media outlet when they register.
FFRF Co-President Dan Barker will be speaking to the Bay Area Humanists on February 5, 2022 at 3:00 PM PST.
Humanism is a philosophy which is based on a naturalistic understanding of reality. Many Humanists were raised in religious homes and may have been religious themselves but found naturalism to be more sensible and life affirming. Each of us who made this journey have a story to tell about how we came to be nontheists. Dan Barker will tell us about his journey in this presentation based in his book, Godless.
Dan became a teenage evangelist at age 15. He received a degree in Religion and was ordained to the ministry. He served as associate pastor in three California churches and was a missionary in Mexico for a total of two years. Dan preached for 19 years and maintained an ongoing touring musical ministry, including eight years of full-time, cross-country evangelism.
Following five years of reading, Dan gradually outgrew his religious beliefs. “If I had limited myself to Christian authors, I’d still be a Christian today,” Dan says. “I just lost faith in faith.” He announced his atheism publicly in January, 1984.
Dan is currently a co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) along with Annie Laurie Gaylor. The purposes of the FFRF are to promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism. Dan regularly travels the country and the world giving lectures, performing concerts, and participating in debates with theists, many at college and university campuses.
On Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, between 6 AM and noon CST, FFRF's Director of Communications Amit Pal will be a guest on the virtual event: "A Global Scream Against Growing Anti-Muslim Violence in India: A Genocide Warning." The speakers comprise a range of intellectuals and activists from around the world.
Thomas Paine Memorial Association First International Zoom Celebration of Thomas Paine's Birthday
Features: U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, actress and comedian Julia Sweeney, "Cosmos" creator and bestselling author Ann Druyan, Stiefel Freethought Foundation director Todd Stiefel, actor and director John de Lancie and actress Marnie Mosiman de Lancie, actor and playwright Ian Ruskin, Thomas Paine Memorial Association President Margaret Downey, FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor, CFI CEO Robyn Blumner, professor and author Christopher Cameron, Paine expert Gary Berton, sculptor Zenos Frudakis and recording artist James Klueh.
FFRF Co-President Dan Barker was interviewed by Patrick Voss. You can watch that interview on January 21st at 5 PM Central time here.
Title: 2021 HumanLight Virtual Celebration & 20th Anniversary
Date: Saturday, December 18, 4-6:30pm ET
Register Here: Zoom
HumanLight celebrates humanism’s positive secular vision of reason, compassion, and hope. It's a time of reflection on the year ending and preparing for the year ahead.
Join us for online December 18th for candle lighting, music, magic, beautiful decorations, and more. After our program, we'll open Breakout Rooms for socializing, discussions, and games. The event is free and welcome to all. The program part will be recorded.
Public Facebook Event
HumanLight Facebook Group
Sponsors include:
Hosted by the Metro Denver Chapter of FFRF, Barbara Alvarez, FFRF's Anne Nicol Gaylor Reproductive Rights Intern, will speak on Saturday November 6th, 3pm at the Secular Hub in Denver, Colorado. This hybrid presentation, titled The Religious Right’s Attack on Abortion Rights, details the religious right's vicious assault on reproductive rights, and provides insight on how the Freedom From Religion Foundation plans to fight back. Barbara is the Freedom From Religion’s first Anne Nicol Gaylor Reproductive Rights intern, a program set up to memorialize FFRF’s principal founder, who was an early abortion rights activist and author of the book Abortion is a Blessing. Barbara was a major winner in FFRF’s essay competition for graduate students, writing about the bible’s role in the abortion battle. She was also a 2019 Wadsworth-Sheng Scholar with the Center for Inquiry.
FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor appeared on Critical Faculty with Hanney Seylim on Saturday, November 6, 2021 to discuss the Abrahamic religions and women. This event is archived on YouTube.
Don't miss the 2021 Secular Day of the Dead/Día de los Muertos Secular celebration beginning at 6:45 p.m. (EDT) Tuesday, November 2, 2021 via ZOOM!
FFRF co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor will join leading secular voices to welcome participants during this bilingual event to be followed by the Honoring Ceremony featuring dedications from distinguished guests and participants. Participants are encouraged to share a photograph or portraits of a deceased loved one during the Honoring Ceremony portion of the event. Prizes will be awarded and mailed to participants whom the cosponsors determine to have the best Secular Day of the Dead themed clothing, Zoom setting, face painting, face mask, and hair adornment.
Both an English and a Spanish speaker's Zoom breakout room will be available after the keynote speech by Jon Huertas. View the archived video recording here.
This panel will facilitate a discussion centered around the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and the threats it currently faces. The American Constitution Society chapter at Mitchell Hamline is proud to feature four litigators who dedicate their work to safeguarding secular government and religious equality:
Nick Little is Legal Director for the Center For Inquiry, handling the organization's internal and external legal matters. CFI looks to focus its legal efforts on the intersection of science and secularism, and fights both for the advancement of science rather than religion in public policy, as well as the defense of consumers and the public from pseudoscience in all its forms.
Rebecca Markert is the Legal Director for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. She handles a First Amendment caseload that includes matters involving religion in the public schools, religious symbols on public property, and electioneering by churches. She has served as co-counsel in federal lawsuits across the country and routinely assists FFRF’s cooperating attorneys in litigation, and has drafted amicus briefs filed in many federal appellate courts including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Monica Miller is the Legal Director and Senior Counsel at the American Humanist Association and Executive Director of the Humanist Legal Society. Monica has served as lead counsel in over 25 federal cases, including before the U.S. Supreme Court in American Legion v. American Humanist Association in 2020.
Alison Gill manages American Atheists’ federal and state advocacy for religious equality and litigation activities to protect the separation of religion and government. Alison is a nationally recognized expert on civil rights law and state advocacy.
This Zoom event is free and open to the public. Register here.
FFRF co-president Dan Barker will appear on Critical Faculty with Hanney Seylim on Friday, October 15, at 9:00 a.m. CST. Dan and Hanney will discuss "God of the Gaps Part 4: What are the sources of our moral intuitions?" This event will be live on YouTube and is free and open to the public.
Peter Dixon of Freethinkers International will interview FFRF co-president Dan Barker on Thursday, Oct 7. 9:30pm CST on YouTube. Freethinkers International is a platform to present Interviews with freethinkers & influencers in the freethinking community with a desire to simply add information and inspiration.
FFRF Co-President Dan Barker and FFRF Staff Attorney Ryan Jayne, in partnership with FFRF Metropolitan Chicago Area Chapter are hosting a virtual event for Illinois residents on Saturday, October 2 at 11:00 AM CDT via Zoom.
The presentation will focus specifically on Illinois Statute (720 ILCS 570/407), related to the inclusion of places of worship to the list of "drug-free zones" in Illinois. Dan and Ryan will discuss the importance of keeping state and religion separate, and how non-believers can get involved to help repeal a church-centered Illinois state law that is contributing to mass incarcerations in Chicago and throughout the state. View the archived presentation here.
Hosted by the Jefferson Humanists, FFRF's Anne Nicol Gaylor Reproductive Rights Intern, Barbara Alvarez, will share her presentation, "Dealing with Disinformation: Standing up for Facts in the Face of Fake News". She will discuss historical and contemporary concepts of disinformation, misinformation, and fake news, as well as how information access and creation have changed. Her talk will be live, Sunday, September 26 at 5:00 p.m. CDT via Zoom. RSVP on MeetUp, attendance is limited.
FFRF co-president Dan Barker will debate Rabbi Barry Silver on the question of "Does religion still serve a useful purpose in the modern world" on Wednesday, August 18 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.
This event is hosted by Congregation L'Dor Va-Dor, a congregation promoting an all-inclusive, universal, and rational approach to Judaism that honors tradition, respects science, and celebrates spirituality. Rabbi Barry Silver is a respected attorney who served from 1996 to 1998 in the Florida House of Representatives where he was named “Most Effective Environmental Legislator” by the Sierra Club and “Consumer Champion” by Florida’s largest consumer group. Dan and Barry intend to have a lively, collegial debate focused around the utility of belief to a rational, progressive populace.
Attendees can login to Zoom here, with Meeting ID: 867 6104 1462 and Passcode: 308365. This virtual debate will include time for audience Q&A and comments, and is free and open to the public.
FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor will join Fred Edwords, a leading lecturer on humanism, founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, Inc. Mandisa Thomas, and John Leeker, Director of Library and Archives at Meadville-Lombard Theological Seminary and Treasurer of the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association to discuss the historical background of modern humanism and the progress of the American Humanist Association since its founding 80 years ago. This virtual discussion will take place on July 22 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. CST and is part of the AHA's 80th Annual Conference. Schedule and registration information can be found here.
Please join FFRF’s Dan Barker and Andrew Seidel along with a host of secular activists to celebrate the 2021 Thomas Paine Day via Zoom on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, beginning at 3:45 PM PST/6:45 PM EST. The life and work of Thomas Paine will be honored with a variety of presentations and musical interludes, and attendees will get a sneak peek at the progress of sculptor Zenos Frudakis’ Thomas Paine statue. Watch the archived video here.
FFRF Legal Director Rebecca Markert will appear at the Cultural and Secular Jewish Organization's annual conference on Sunday, May 30th, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. EST. The theme of the 2021 virtual conference is "Interconnections: Networking, Supporting and Growing Together" which will be hosted on the Go-To-Meeting platform. Rebecca's talk will focus on recent developments in religious liberty cases and the impact on secular issues and communities. Register for the conference here.
Hosted by the Lake Superior Freethinkers chapter of FFRF, Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel will speak on Sunday, June 6th at 10:00 a.m. CST. Andrew will discuss Christian Nationalism, its role in the January 6 insurrection, and his acclaimed book, The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American. Andrew will make himself available for a Q&A session following his presentation. This free virtual event will be hosted on Zoom.
FFRF co-president Dan Barker will appear on Critical Faculty with Hanney Seylim on Friday, May 21, at 9:30 a.m. CST. Dan will discuss whether YHWH, Yeshua, and Allah are one and the same god. This event will be live on YouTube and is free and open to the public.
FFRF Legal Director Rebecca Markert and Associate Counsel Elizabeth Cavell will present a timely discussion titled, " 'On the Basis of Sex:' Civil Rights after Bostock v. Clayton County" On Sunday, May 16 at 10:30 a.m. (PDT) at the virtual Secular Student Alliance Conference. The presentation will cover the legal background of the case, what it means for religious liberty, namely religious exemptions to the Civil Rights Act, and how that impacts civil rights moving forward particularly for transgender rights, and, of course, crucial to any discussion of civil rights progress moving forward is the issue of the make-up of the federal courts.
The 2021 SSA conference is a multi-day virtual conference with live-streaming and on-demand video for students and the larger secular community. The conference runs May 15-16, 2021, and consists of excellent speakers, grassroots organizing workshops, and leadership training. Please register for free today and invite a friend to join you!
Hosted by the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix (HSGP), FFRF's Director of Strategic Response, Andrew Seidel will discuss Christian Nationalism, its role in the January 6 insurrection, and his acclaimed book, The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American via Zoom on Sunday, May 16 at 10:00 a.m. (MST) . Andrew will delve into the threat Christian nationalism poses to our secular nation, something he's been warning and writing about for many years, and focus on how to defeat the Christian nationalist identity. This event is free and open to the public. Zoom link and more information are available on the HSGP Facebook event page.
FFRF co-presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker will appear at the inaugural Conference on Religious Trauma on Wednesday, May 12, from 3:00 to 3:45 p.m. CST. The Conference on Religious Trauma is intended to educate therapists and lay persons about religious trauma syndrome and connecting survivors of religious trauma with qualified therapists and resources to aid in recovery. Dan, a co-founder of The Clergy Project which provides support for religious leaders who "lose faith in faith" will discuss his personal journey from evangelical preacher to atheist activist, along with his many books. Annie Laurie, who co-founded the Freedom From Religion Foundation along with her mother, Anne Nicol Gaylor, will discuss her book Betrayal of Trust: Clergy Abuse of Children, which was the first book documenting widespread sexual abuse by clergy. Tickets and registration for the conference are available here. Email [email protected] for more information.
Don't miss Coffee & Conversation with FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover and Legal Fellow Joseph McDonald on Tuesday, May 11, at 10 a.m. CT!
Brew a cup of your favorite coffee or tea and join us on Tuesday, May 11, at 10 a.m. Central time to participate in FFRF's new virtual event, "Coffee & Conversation." FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover and Legal Fellow Joseph McDonald will discuss the many intersections between freethought and public health. They will answer a variety of questions, including: How will the Catholic takeover of America's hospitals affect access to care? How should a freethinker plan for end-of-life decision-making? How do you keep the hospital chaplain out of your room? Q&A will follow. This event is exclusively for FFRF members and will be recorded. Look for your emailed invitation sent on May 4, 2021.