May 3, 2026 – Dan Barker to Speak at Triangle Freethought Society Program Meeting (Morrisville, NC)

Dan Barker, Co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), will be the featured speaker at the Triangle Freethought Society’s monthly program meeting on Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Morrisville, North Carolina.

Barker, a longtime secular activist and former evangelical minister, will speak as a special guest during the organization’s regular monthly gathering. The meeting will also include time for new business and community discussion.

The event will take place from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Morrisville Historic Christian Church, located at 226 Church Street, Morrisville, NC 27560. The program meeting is free and open to the public, and all are welcome to attend and participate. See more details here.

The Triangle Freethought Society, the North Carolina chapter of FFRF, hosts monthly program meetings as an opportunity for members and the broader community to connect, discuss relevant issues and hear from guest speakers. While public input is encouraged, member perspectives will guide future board discussions.

Attendees are reminded that the event is intended to create respectful dialogue. Evangelizing, harassment or discriminatory behavior will not be tolerated.

FFRF works nationwide to defend the constitutional principle of the separation between state and church and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism. See more information on The Triangle Chapter of FFRF.

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Freethought Radio – April 16, 2026

After offering a fresh perspective on President Trump masquerading as Jesus and other news of the week, we interview Johnnie Cotton, a Texas band director who resigned rather than put up a Ten Commandments poster in his classroom.

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May 11, 2026 – Second program in FFRF’s free concert series! The Great American FREETHOUGHT SONGBOOK with Dan & Darcie (Madison, Wis. & Online)

Celebrate the music, life & views of IRVING BERLIN.

Monday, May 11, 2026
Charlie Brooks Auditorium
Freethought Hall, Madison, Wis.

6:15 – 6:45 p.m.   Refreshments served: Wine, non-alcoholic beverages, cookies.

6:45 – 6:50   Please be seated. (Concert is being video-recorded and livestreamed.)

7 – 8   Enjoy the performance with Dan Barker & Darcie Johnston.

RSVP by Thursday, May 7 at RSVP@ffrf.org. Invite your family, friends and colleagues!

Watch the performance live by going to FFRF’s YouTube channel or Facebook page. It can also be viewed on Freethought TV, FFRF’s new streaming service for smart televisions and mobile devices. For installation instructions, go to freethoughttv.ffrf.org on your smart tv or cellphone.

Free street parking after 6 p.m. Close to Overture Center parking ramp, West Mifflin.

Mark your calendar for future concert dates:

Monday, June 8 — Songwriters George & Ira Gershwin.

Monday, July 13 — Lyricist Yip Harburg.

Monday, August 24 — Songwriter Cole Porter.

Monday, September 21 — Composers Richard & Mary Rodgers.

Monday, November 9 — Finale. Medley including Dorothy Fields, Jay Gorney, Burton Lane, Tom Lehrer, Frank Loesser, Thelonious Monk, Stephen Sondheim and Charles Strouse.

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‘We Dissent’ guest star explains pro-natalism movement

The newest episode of “We Dissent” welcomes a guest to dig into the recent rise of the pro-natalism movement.

On Episode 52, FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell, Americans United Legal Director Rebecca Markert and National Women’s Law Center Director of Nominations & Democracy Alison Gill welcome the center’s Chief Program Officer Emily Martin. Together, they take on the far-right pro-natalism movement. They explain the movement’s history of racism, sexism and eugenics — and the alarming support it has in the Trump administration. Finally, they discuss what truly pro-family policy would and should look like.

“We Dissent,” which first aired in May 2022, is a legal affairs show offering legal wisdom from the secular viewpoint of women lawyers. The show is a collaboration of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center.

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, on YouTube, 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 condemns bible-heavy Texas reading list

The Texas State Board of Education’s preliminary approval of a bible-heavy, mandatory reading list for Texas public schools is a brazen promotion of religious doctrine.

While removing about 100 readings that represent diversity, such as Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” and writings from Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, the overlong reading list emphasizes the bible and Christianity. (For more details on the theocratic list, which starts in kindergarten, click here.)

To put it plainly: Public schools are not Sunday schools. Texas has no business putting one religion’s text on a pedestal above all others, yet that’s exactly what this reading list does. By making bible passages required reading, Texas officials are throwing their constitutional obligation to maintain religious neutrality out the window — and in doing so, sending a clear message to nonreligious and non-Christian students and families that they don’t quite belong or should convert. All students deserve a public education free from stealth proselytizing, but with the nonreligious now making up 26 percent of Texas adults, and another 6 percent subscribing to non-Christian faiths, it’s imperative the state school board recognize its constitutional obligations. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling on the Texas State Board of Education to reverse its decision at its final vote in June.

The Dallas Morning News editorial board points out that while studying religious texts can have genuine academic value, any such instruction needs to draw from more than “a single tradition.” This list doesn’t come close to meeting that standard. It props up the Christian bible while leaving out the wide range of religious and secular perspectives that actually reflect the diversity making up Texas classrooms today.

That isn’t education. It’s indoctrination.

The First Amendment isn’t a suggestion. It forbids government institutions — including public schools — from establishing religion, which by definition means schools can’t favor religious belief. As the Supreme Court has said over and over: Schools can teach about religion in an objective, academic way, but not inculcate religious doctrine. Texas has intentionally crossed that line.

Hundreds of Texas residents recently turned out for the “Teach the Truth” rally to stand up for honest, inclusive public education and push back against this kind of political meddling. They understand that public schools are for all students, not just those who happen to share the religious beliefs of whoever is currently running the state board.

This isn’t happening in a vacuum, either. It’s part of a sustained push on the part of Texas elected officials to chip away at the separation of state and church. Past efforts to do this have included a mandate to put up Ten Commandments posters in public schools (which FFRF is challenging in court), permitting religious chaplains to act as trained school counselors (fortunately almost all school districts opted out of doing so) and requiring school districts to vote on whether to allow a period of prayer during the school day (ditto). Such legislative overreach trades academics for ideology — and that’s a bad deal for every student in Texas.

If state officials genuinely care about educating young people, they’ll listen to teachers and scrap this sectarian agenda. Students deserve inclusive, academically rigorous and constitutionally sound curricula. Anything less is a failure of duty to students — and a direct assault on the freedoms the First Amendment was written to protect.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including 1,800 members and a chapter in Texas. 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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FFRF will defend Constitution against agenda of Trump’s ‘Religious Liberty Commission’ 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is castigating the recently held final hearing of President Trump’s so-called Religious Liberty Commission.

At the seventh and (thankfully) concluding hearing held at the Museum of the Bible (a privately owned facility underwritten by Hobby Lobby) earlier this week, commissioners and witnesses repeatedly denigrated the foundational constitutional principle of state/church separation. Commission Chair and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called it “the biggest lie that’s been told in America since our founding.” Helen Alvaré, a professor at Antonin Scalia Law School, described the principle as “unfortunate, historically and culturally inaccurate” while openly advocating for greater integration of religion into public schools, government policy and civic life.

FFRF is putting the commission on notice that it will contest any unconstitutional proposals.

“This commission has once again made its agenda unmistakably clear,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “It is not about protecting religious liberty. It’s about dismantling it. But we don’t intend to let that happen.”

Patrick boasted that Texas has passed legislation requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom, a mandate FFRF is actively challenging in court with our allies. Dismissing the constitutional concerns, he remarked, “Of course we’re being sued, but that’s okay. That comes with the territory.” On that point, he’s right: When government officials flout the Constitution, legal challenges are not only expected, they are necessary. FFRF is proud to be holding Texas accountable for this clear violation of the First Amendment and the right of a captive audience of schoolchildren and their parents to be free from state interference and coercion over private religious beliefs.

Over nearly five hours, commission members and witnesses advanced a series of deeply troubling ideas rooted in Christian nationalism rather than constitutional principles. Among the most egregious to undermine the wall of separation:

• A proposal to engineer a legal challenge, by encouraging the IRS to deliberately penalize a church for political activity, to the Johnson Amendment, which bars electioneering with tax-exempt funds by churches and other nonprofits.
• Claims that religious liberty originates exclusively from Christianity and that not all faiths are equal under the law.
• Suggestions to expand government funding pipelines to religious organizations without sufficient safeguards.
• Advocacy to teach children a distorted, sectarian version of American history that would erase the nation’s commitment to secular governance.

The commission, established by executive order in 2025, is expected to deliver a final report to the president next month. Based on the rhetoric and recommendations previewed at the final hearing, FFRF warns that the report will serve as a roadmap for advancing Christian nationalist policies at the federal level.

FFRF notes that these proposals are not about religious freedom, but privileging Christianity via its elevation above all other beliefs. True religious liberty requires government neutrality — neither hostility nor favoritism. If the administration attempts to implement any of these unconstitutional recommendations, FFRF will fight them, and vigorously defend the right of Americans to believe, or not believe, without government encroachment or compulsion.

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 more than 41,000 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 ends North Chicago Police Department’s religious events

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has put a stop to the North Chicago Police Department’s practice of hosting and promoting religious events.

A concerned area resident reported that the police department was regularly hosting religious events, which it advertised on its social media. Instances include a planned “Testimony Friday” on Feb. 27, where members of the public would be allowed to visit North Chicago Police Department property to “share what God has done in [their] life” and enjoy religious “fellowship.” The police department also held a “Prayer with the Police” event on Nov. 15 last year and appeared to have held several similar events and “prayer walks” in the past, calling one such event a “powerful display of God.” 

“The NCPD’s apparent promotion and favoritism of religion poses serious constitutional concerns,” FFRF Staff Attorney Madeline Ziegler wrote. “By hosting and promoting regular religious events, the NCPD signals a clear preference for religion over nonreligion.”

FFRF pointed out that North Chicago residents interact with and rely on law enforcement officers during some of the most urgent and vulnerable times of their lives. Minority religious and nonreligious citizens should not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community because the police department invites them to participate in religious worship on government property and appears to prefer one religion over others. The North Chicago Police Department’s promotion of prayer events needlessly marginalized North Chicago residents among the 38 percent of Americans who are non-Christians, including the nearly one in three adult Americans who are religiously unaffiliated.

Thankfully, FFRF’s hard work paid off.

The police department’s legal representative, David S. Silverman, wrote back to confirm that the department took the opportunity to correct its mistakes. “Based on our review and legal counsel, on February 26, 2026, the city canceled the ‘Testimony Friday’ event that was scheduled for February 27, 2026,” Silverman wrote. Silverman also confirmed that the city would be canceling any similar programming in the future.

FFRF is pleased to have made a difference.

“When a police department elevates one specific religious perspective, minority religion and nonreligious individuals start to feel like they won’t be treated fairly,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “We at FFRF believe that no one should feel unsafe due to religion.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters across the country, including nearly 1,500 members and a chapter in Illinois. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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FFRF: Resist Trump’s move to destroy elections

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is denouncing President Trump’s reprehensible executive order that carries out his threat to seize control of the federal elections before the midterms.

As FFRF has long maintained, voting is a secular issue and a state/church issue, because a vibrant and fully enfranchised electorate is the best guarantee to protect our secular Constitution and secular government. Restrictive voting laws are a tool of Christian nationalists seeking to seize power by suppressing voting on the part of “wrong” Americans. In embracing the need to protect voting rights, FFRF is also protecting the rights of the 98 percent of its 41,000-plus FFRF members who are registered voters. With an average age of 66, FFRF members are among those Americans likely to take advantage of voting by mail — a special target of Trump. And many live in the eight states where voting by mail is the default.

As the Brennan Center charges, in laudably filing League of Women Voters v. Trump, the president is aiming to illegally rewrite rules for federal elections. However, under explicit instructions in the Constitution, only Congress and the states can set rules for elections under Article 1, Section 4 (with some minor oversight).

Trump’s order directs the Department of Homeland Security, with the Social Security Administration, to create a list of eligible voters in each state in part based on “state citizen lists.” “Various federal privacy and information security laws have prevented the creation of such lists,” the Brennan Center notes, and because of the incomplete and unreliable federal data, “anyone could potentially be disenfranchised.” The U.S. Postal Service would then be charged with determining who may vote by mail and refuse to deliver ballots to anyone not on the newly created federal mail voter lists. Criminal penalties galore would be unleashed, including on mail carriers themselves.

Several federal courts have blocked implementation of Trump’s past directives on voting, such as requiring voters to possess a passport or other citizenship documents. That’s why Trump called on Republicans in Congress not to go home for the Easter Break until they passed the misnamed SAVE Act, which would legislate draconian voter requirements. Fortunately, it is unlikely to pass in the Senate. However, Trump could still issue a more direct fiat against voting by mail, and individual states can enact more voter suppression laws.

Trump’s threat to vote-by-mail
Hours after meeting with strongman Russian President Vladimir Putin last August, Trump claimed that Putin told him, “Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting,” presumably in reference to the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost. Trump posted a long, rambling message on Truth Social that characterized voting by mail — which almost a third of voters utilized in the 2024 election — as a “scam” and a “hoax” perpetrated by Democrats. Yet voting by mail was originally embraced first by Republicans hoping to nab more rural votes, and Trump himself continues to repeatedly vote by mail, as recently as in a special election in March.

Fact-checking Trump’s many claims, “PBS News Hour” noted that Trump falsely asserts that the United States is the only nation that allows mail-in voting, since at least 34 countries or territories do so. About a dozen of these nations permit all of their voters to engage in this.

“Suppressing the vote is the hallmark of dictators, fascists and other authoritarians,” comment Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-presidents. “This threat to destroy fair elections, set up the mechanics to rig elections and deny voter access would be a direct strike against our secular democracy and all voters.”

They add, “Trump has voiced voter suppression intentions that would destroy our democratic voting process, deny many Americans the vote and voter access so many of our ancestors worked so hard to obtain.”

FFRF reminds the nation of our original motto, “E Pluribus Unum” (From many [come] one). Never has it been more important for freethinkers to band together with others to uphold basic democratic principles, including voter rights.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With more than 41,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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FFRF intervention clarifies faith-based Ohio juvenile program not approved

A recent Freedom From Religion Foundation’s investigation into a faith-based program slated for an Ohio juvenile facility revealed that it was never formally approved. It will not take place now.

FFRF wrote to the Trumbull County Juvenile Detention Center last month after receiving reports that a program called “MyTribe,” led by a Christian singer, songwriter and motivational speaker, was being introduced for detained minors. The state/church watchdog warned that implementing a religious program in a government-run correctional setting would violate the First Amendment and risk coercing vulnerable youth into religious participation.

In response to FFRF’s letter, officials clarified that the MyTribe program had not actually been approved or implemented by the detention center. The program appears to have been driven entirely and without authority by Trumbull County Family Court Judge David Engler, who publicly touted the initiative as a faith-based effort to provide guidance to detained youth. Engler’s official judicial biography explicitly states that he “credits his Christian faith in God” for his position on the bench.

Engler told a local news outlet that he was “partnering with Pastor Jason David to lead the MyTribe program.” The program was called MyTribe “because it follows the story of the 12 tribes of Israel in the Bible.” It raised serious concerns about grandstanding and the misuse of public office to advance one judge’s religious agenda.

“I know the power that can be found in finding religion, finding spirituality, finding Jesus,” said Engler in justification of the program. “For some of these young men and women, they don’t have a father figure in their life. And to get the message that there’s a father figure God that loves you unconditionally — no matter what you’ve done.”

FFRF pointed out the drawbacks of this Christianity-centered approach.

“Youth detainees are almost certain to feel coercive pressure to participate in the MyTribe program even if they are nonreligious or members of minority faiths,” wrote FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence. “When young offenders see authority figures encouraging detainee participation in this faith-based program created in part by a county judge, they will no doubt feel that participation is not just encouraged, but expected.”

The proposed program would have consisted of weekly sessions led by a pastor focusing on “character” and “personal growth,” with participation described as voluntary. However, FFRF emphasized in its letter that even voluntary religious programming in correctional settings can be inherently coercive, particularly for minors under state authority.

“This was an unconstitutional scheme to convert detainees who were not only minors, but also literally a captive audience,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “We are delighted that reason and the Constitution have prevailed, and that the program will not happen.”

FFRF will continue to advocate for constitutionally sound, secular programs that serve all youth regardless of religious belief.

“The Constitution requires neutrality, not promotion of religion,” Gaylor adds. “Public officials should focus on evidence-based, inclusive approaches to rehabilitation, not religious indoctrination.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 1,100 members and two regional chapters in Ohio. 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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Freethought Radio – April 9, 2026

Theocrats are active in our federal government and also from beyond the moon! After FFRF staff attorney Sammi Lawrence describes recent state/church victories, we honor the life, words and legacy of Ishmael Jaffree, whose 1985 Supreme Court victory removed prayer and bible reading from public schools.

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