Freethought Radio – December 18, 2025

Celebrating with music and readings, we explain why the Winter Solstice is the true “Reason for the Season.”

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‘We Dissent’ analyzes a Supreme Court case on religion in prison

The hosts of the “We Dissent” podcast discuss on the latest episode another difficult Supreme Court case — and the potential consequences of the decision.

On Episode 49, FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell and Americans United Legal Director Rebecca Markert take a look at Landor v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court case that will decide whether a Rastafarian inmate who had grown his dreadlocks for 20 years can sue the Louisiana prison officials who handcuffed him to a chair, held him down, and forcibly shaved him in violation of the law. They dive deep on the statute at issue in the case, the legal history leading up to this litigation, and what the oral arguments signaled. Finally, the episode will also take a quick look at the Supreme Court docket. 

“We Dissent,” which first aired in May 2022, is a legal affairs show for atheists, agnostics and humanists, offering legal wisdom from the secular viewpoint of women lawyers. The show is a collaboration of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Americans United.

Find previous episodes here, which examine developments affecting the separation of church and state, particularly in the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts. Past episodes include discussions about court reform, religion behind bars and abortion, and also feature a range of expert guests.
      
Episodes are available at the “We Dissent” website, YouTube channel, Spotify or wherever your podcasts are found. Be sure to stay up to date with the “We Dissent” podcast on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Bluesky.

Tune in regularly at “We Dissent” for compelling legal discussion and insights!

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FFRF rebukes Gov. Sanders for Christian proclamation on holiday closure 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling out Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for promoting Christianity through a state proclamation announcing the closure of government offices on Friday, Dec. 26.

FFRF has sent a letter objecting to Sanders’ proclamation, which does far more than announce an administrative holiday closure. It delivers an explicitly theological account of the Christian story of Jesus’ birth, divinity, crucifixion, resurrection and anticipated return “in glory” while instructing state employees to spend the holiday “giving thanks for Christ’s birth.”

“State offices are not churches, and gubernatorial proclamations are not sermons,” writes FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line. “The governor is free to practice her religion privately, but she may not use the authority of the state to promote Christian doctrine as official government speech.”

While states may constitutionally recognize Christmas, a federal holiday, in a secular and inclusive manner, FFRF emphasizes that Sanders’ proclamation crosses a clear constitutional line. Rather than focusing on scheduling or the widely observed secular cultural aspects of the holiday season, the proclamation presents core Christian beliefs as government-endorsed truths.

By issuing the proclamation in her official capacity and distributing it to state employees, Sanders used the power and resources of the state to advance a specific religious viewpoint, in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. The Constitution requires government neutrality toward religion, neither favoring religion over nonreligion nor preferring one faith over others.

Arkansas is home to Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists and many others. A growing number of Arkansans are religiously unaffiliated or non-Christian. When a governor proclaims Christian theology as part of official state business, it sends a clear message that non-Christians are outsiders in their own state or even second-class citizens.

“Sanders further not only has misused the machinery of the state to promulgate her own personal fundamentalist Christian beliefs, but she has the chutzpah to direct citizen worship — that is ordering them to ‘give thanks to Jesus,’ an act no public official in the United States has the authority to do,” comments FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “This is an abuse of power. Despite Sanders’ best efforts, Arkansas is not a Christian theocracy.”

In fact, Gaylor adds, Article II of the Arkansas Constitution explicitly states that no one can be “compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship; … No human authority can, in any case or manner whatsoever, control or interfere with the right of conscience; and no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment, denomination or mode of worship above any others.”

FFRF wants to make clear that it does not object to state offices being closed on Dec. 26 for administrative convenience or to allow employees a four-day weekend. What it objects to is the state’s misuse of its official voice to demand religious observance or to declare Christian mythology as fact.

FFRF is urging Sanders to rescind the proclamation and refrain from issuing sectarian proclamations in the future. All official state communications, FFRF stresses, must remain neutral on matters of religion — as both the state and federal constitutions require.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including hundreds of members and a chapter in Arkansas. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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Reclaiming the Spirit

Blendr News
By Jonathan Harvey and Liam Deboer

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Grand Canyon University’s return to nonprofit status approved

Baptist News Global
By Steve Rabey

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FFRF volunteers bring back Winter Solstice display to Chicago’s Daley Plaza

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Metropolitan Chicago Chapter is providing secular cheer to the Daley Center Plaza.

The chapter has put up its annual Bill of Rights banner that reads: “Joy to the world — The Bill of Rights is Born. During this festive season, let us celebrate reason, not superstition. Happy Bill of Rights Day, and Merry Winter Solstice.” The display will be available for viewing until Dec. 26.

FFRF thanks the volunteers pictured (from left to right), Manuel Beltran, Janet Kuhn and Jeff Kramer, for their hard work, especially during subzero wind-chill temperatures throughout the process!

FFRF’s Metropolitan Chicago Chapter has also installed other displays in the Chicago area. Members proudly work every year to put up these equal-time displays to counter religious exhibits on government property and to represent the views of atheists, agnostics and religiously unaffiliated individuals, who make up nearly 30 percent of Illinois residents.

“We’re delighted to have a freethinking presence in the Chicago Daley Center and celebrate the real reason for the season — the Winter Solstice,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Religious displays can’t be allowed to monopolize the public space. As we always say, if a governmental body creates a public forum for religion, there must be room at the inn for dissenting viewpoints.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the largest national association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics) with almost 42,000 members and several chapters all over the country, including more than 1,400 members and the Chicago chapter in Illinois. The organization works to protect the constitutional separation between religion and government.

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Charlotte Gude

Charlotte graduated from the University of Iowa in 2020 with a B.S. in Political Science, a B.A. in Social Justice, and a minor in American Sign Language. She then worked as a legal assistant for a small law firm before transitioning on to the University of Wisconsin Law School where she received her Juris Doctor in 2025. In her free time, Charlotte enjoys scrapbooking, watching hilariously bad movies, and getting outside.

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FFRF requests extremist religious flag removal from Education Department office

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling for the immediate removal of an “Appeal to Heaven” flag reportedly displayed outside the office of a U.S. Department of Education official.

FFRF has sent a letter objecting to the display in front of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Murray Bessette’s office. It warns that the flag is a divisive religious symbol closely associated with Christian nationalist movements and political extremism. The “Appeal to Heaven” flag — widely flown by Jan. 6 Capitol rioters and embraced by Christian nationalist movements — does not represent all Americans. It symbolizes a radical theocratic agenda that seeks to replace constitutional governance with biblical rule.

The flag’s namesake organization is explicit in its mission: “To honor the Lord by networking elected officials who are believers in Jesus Christ, who regularly attend and display a commitment to an evangelical, Gospel-centered church and who will commit to live and govern based on biblical, constitutional and federalist principles.”

FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line writes to Bessette: “Federal offices are not personal spaces for the promotion of religious or ideological symbols, particularly when those symbols have been embraced by movements hostile to pluralism and democratic norms.” Line adds, “Public employees and members of the public should not be subjected to imagery that many reasonably view as exclusionary, intimidating or hostile.”

FFRF emphasizes that the Department of Education has a special obligation to remain neutral on matters of religion. The agency oversees billions of dollars in federal education funding and serves students, families and educators of every faith and of no faith at all.

“Against that backdrop, your decision to prominently display a symbol now closely associated with religious extremism and political violence sends an alarming message,” Line writes. “At minimum, it risks conveying government preference for a particular religious ideology, in violation of the Establishment Clause. More broadly, it undermines confidence that the department is committed to neutrality, inclusion, and following constitutional requirements.”

FFRF also warns that such displays can reasonably be viewed by employees and members of the public as exclusionary, intimidating or hostile, particularly given the flag’s association with political violence and religious extremism.

“Public servants should not subject their colleagues or the public to religious messaging from the government,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The Constitution requires government neutrality toward religion. That principle is especially critical in a federal agency charged with serving a diverse nation.”

FFRF is urging Bessette to remove the flag immediately and to reaffirm the department’s obligation to serve all Americans equally — without religious preference or favoritism.

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 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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FFRF volunteers bring Winter Solstice display back to Wa. Capitol

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is pleased to announce the return of its Bill of Rights nativity display to the Washington Capitol grounds in Olympia. 

The display is FFRF’s 6-foot-tall whimsical Bill of Rights “nativity.” The irreverent graphic by artist Jacob Fortin depicts Founders Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington kneeling in adoration before a “baby” Bill of Rights in a manger. This is the third year the nativity display has been at the Capitol grounds since 2023, after replacing the previous banner that had been put up for many years to counter a Christian nativity display.

The tongue-in-cheek nativity reads:
At this Season of the Winter Solstice
Join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on December 15, 1791, which reminds us there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent.
Keep religion and government separate!

“Our sign is a reminder of the real reason for the season: the Winter Solstice,” FFRF Co-President Dan Barker says. “If there are going to be so-called public forums for religion in December, then there has to be ‘room at the inn’ for those of us who are not religious.” 

The religiously unaffiliated today in Washington state number at least 32 percent, including 10 percent who identify as atheists or agnostics. “So-called ‘nones,’ those claiming no religious affiliation, outnumber Evangelical Christians, Catholics and mainline Protestants in Washington state,” according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

FFRF thanks volunteers (pictured from left to right) Lisa Ornstein (co-founder of Olympia Indivisible), Barbara Brown, Darrell Barker (brother of FFRF Co-President Dan Barker), Patrick Kirkbride, Lewis and Linda Foerster, Deb Tinnemore, Albert Yuen and Rod Tinnemore, as well as volunteers not pictured: in the picture, Peter Johansson, Kevin Young and Baba Ron-Rubinstein. The photo was taken by Lewis Foerster and edited by Albert Yuen. 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 1,700 members and a chapter in the state of Washington. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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Oklahoma Supreme Court strikes down social studies standards that impose Christianity on public school students

OKLAHOMA CITY – In a victory for religious freedom, church-state separation, public education, and government transparency, the Oklahoma Supreme Court today ruled that former Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters and the Oklahoma State Board of Education (OSBE) unlawfully approved new K-12 social studies standards that promote Christianity to public school students. The decision came in the lawsuit Rev. Dr. Mitch Randall v. Lindel Fields, which was filed in July by 33 Oklahoma parents, children, public school teachers and faith leaders.

Oklahoma Supreme Court: Adoption of social studies standards violated Oklahoma Open Meeting Act

The court ruled that the social studies standards were adopted in a manner that violated the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act. Walters made last-minute changes to the standards without notifying the public or providing sufficient notice to the other members of the OSBE. The court declared the social studies standards invalid, and reinstated the prior version of the standards, which were enacted in 2019 and did not promote religion. 

The plaintiffs are represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. The organizations issued the following statements:

“Today’s decision will ensure that Oklahoma families – not politicians – get to decide how and when their children engage with religion,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “These new social studies standards violated students’ and families’ religious freedom by promoting one version of Christianity and advancing Christian Nationalist disinformation. Not on our watch. Public schools are not Sunday schools.”

Brent Rowland, legal director of Oklahoma Appleseed: “This is a victory for transparency, fairness, and the constitutional rights of all Oklahomans. The authority to govern comes with accountability for making decisions in the full view of the people the government serves. Public school classrooms may not be used to endorse religious doctrine — no matter what the religion is or how many people follow it. Overturning these standards means Oklahoma students can learn history and civics in a way that respects every family’s beliefs while inspiring them to think critically, ask questions, and engage as informed members of our democracy. This decision moves us toward the open, rigorous, and inclusive public education our students deserve.”

Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision invalidates the new standards

The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision invalidates the new standards, which are replete with several dozen references to the Bible and Christianity while containing few mentions of other faiths; inaccurately present Bible stories as literal, historical facts; inaccurately proclaim the Bible’s and Christianity’s influence on the founding of America and the country’s laws; and require other inaccurate teachings, including presenting disproven contentions about the legitimacy of the 2020 election and conveying as unquestioned truth the controversial theory that the COVID-19 pandemic originated in a Chinese laboratory. 

The lawsuit explained that the approval of the standards violated the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act and other procedural requirements because Oklahoma officials gave no notice to the public – or even to members of the State Board of Education themselves – that the version of the standards submitted to the Board for a vote was substantially different from the version that had been publicly released.

The lawsuit also argued that the standards ran afoul of a statutory requirement that Oklahoma’s academic standards be accurate and age appropriate. The lawsuit further contended that the new standards violated the Oklahoma Constitution’s religious-freedom protections by promoting and favoring one religion over others and over nonreligion in public schools, including to especially impressionable first and second graders.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs include Alex Luchenitser and Luke Anderson at Americans United and Colleen McCarty and Brent Rowland at Oklahoma Appleseed.