New episode of ‘We Dissent’ podcast discusses government attack on nonprofits

A guest from a leading public policy institute joins the hosts of “We Dissent” to tackle a scary topic: the recent assault of the U.S. government on nonprofit organizations.

On Episode 54, Brennan Center for Justice’s Rachel Levinson-Waldman speaks with FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell, Americans United for Separation of Church and State Legal Director Rebecca Markert and National Women’s Law Center Director of Nominations & Democracy Alison Gill about the Trump administration and Congress’ weaponization of the government to attack nonprofits and punish speech and viewpoints they don’t like. Then, the speakers explore how executive orders and anti-terrorism statutes are being abused to investigate, defund and intimidate civil society — and how this strategy is essential to the broader project of transforming the United States from a democracy to an autocracy.

“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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Freethought Radio – June 18, 2026

Neurosurgeon Dr. Vivekanand Palavali joins us to examine how science unravels near-death and out-of-body experiences. Then, we hear from members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus who are pushing back against Christian nationalism and the false claim that America was founded as a Christian nation.

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September 20, 2026 – Freethinkers Weekend Gathering (Albany, NY)

Make it a Weekend Getaway: Autumn in New York

Capitalize on beautiful autumn in Upstate New York! Late September is prime travel season in the historic Hudson Valley region, offering the perfect, scenic backdrop for this premier national gathering. Because this is a high-demand season for regional tourism and weddings, attendees are strongly encouraged to secure their lodging immediately:

• Optional Saturday Welcome Dinner (Sept. 19): Arrive a day early to mingle and network! Join a large group of fellow attendees for a casual kickoff dinner at 5:30 PM at the Charter Restaurant inside the Hilton Albany (at participant’s expense).
• Discounted Hotel Block: Stay right in the heart of downtown Albany at the Hilton Albany (40 Lodge Street, Albany, NY 12207) for a special rate of $149/night. Rooms must be booked by August 28, 2026. Reserve your room online at unyft.org/hotel or call 1-800-445-8667 using group code 4UNYFT.  

Please remember to also obtain your Sunday tickets at unyft.org/go

Event Description

Open to the general public and FFRF members nationwide, hosted by Upstate New York Freethinkers–a chapter of FFRF, this special gathering combines deep American freethought expertise with top-tier cultural history.

The morning kicks off with an immersive musical welcome featuring secular compositions by FFRF Co-President Dan Barker, followed by an urgent mid-term election year dispatch from FFRF Washington D.C. Governmental Affairs Director Mark Dann on grassroots activism and combating Christian nationalism. Acclaimed author Kate Cohen (We of Little Faith) will introduce the day’s featured keynotes, including David Hoffman, PhD, author of American Freethought, and Jeff Ingersoll, presenting an exclusive spotlight on the historic Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum.

Registration & Tickets

Your registration features a hot buffet luncheon, coffee/tea service, and full afternoon access to the magnificent collections of the Albany Institute of History & Art—providing the perfect backdrop for open mingling, and collaborating on national secular developments.

Tickets are $85 and limited by venue capacity. Secure your spot, view the full lunch menu, and preview the weekend agenda today at unyft.org/go

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Latest episode of ‘Secular Spotlight’ focuses on religious social media influencers

FFRF’s “Secular Spotlight” welcomes back YouTuber Taylor Leigh (The Antibot) for a new episode tracking the rising trend of religious influencers — and how they enrich themselves.

Can Christian influencers run ministries, monetize YouTube channels, sell products and still claim nonprofit, tax-exempt status? FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell and FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence join The Antibot to unpack the legal questions surrounding the rise of faith-based influencer businesses.

“The temptation is great for these self-employed missionary types to just say, ‘Hey, I’m a religious entity, I can just not pay taxes and take my chances,’” Cavell begins. “That risk calculus has gotten, I think, a lot friendlier to the exploiters because we have an administration and IRS that’s signaling they’re not interested in enforcing a lot of requirements against religious organizations.”

You can catch this episode of “Secular Spotlight” on FFRF’s YouTube channel, as well as by watching on your smart TV after downloading FFRF’s free app, Freethought TV, which also highlights FFRF’s other video programming. Our recent episodes include a guest appearance by YouTube content creator Tim Whitaker to examine the religious and political rally “Rededicate 250”, and three FFRF staff members discussing their work to counter a religious organization that is devouring public school students’ education hours. Make sure you’re subscribed to FFRF’s YouTube channel for all the latest updates!

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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The 11 CRAZIEST Things Mormons Are Taught

FFRF blasts Education Department’s weakening of civil rights office

The Freedom From Religion Foundation assails the Trump administration’s latest assault on public education.

In an attempt to further dismantle our educational system, the Trump administration has announced plans to transfer oversight of special education and the Office for Civil Rights out of the Department of Education. This is not an inconsequential reorganization, but a deliberate dismantling of the civil rights infrastructure designed to protect every student in America’s public schools.

For decades, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has acted as a check on discrimination in education. It is tasked with enforcing vital laws such as Title VI, Title IX and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. These laws exist precisely because Congress recognized that vulnerable students get ostracized and left behind without federal oversight. The Trump administration had vowed to cut 90 percent of the office’s staff, but a federal court struck down that plan and required the reinstatement of all previously fired Department of Education employees. As a result, the administration has shifted its focus to impeding agencies within the department, leaving them without power to protect students.

This dismantling is not happening in a vacuum. It coincides perfectly with an aggressive push to undermine public education and reroute funding to private, often religious schools. One way the Trump administration seeks to accomplish that goal is through promoting private school voucher schemes. In peddling vouchers as “school choice,” the Trump administration has rebranded the defunding of public education as parental empowerment.

The dire consequences of voucher programs cannot be overstated. In addition to siphoning funds dedicated to public schools, private schools are permitted to discriminate on the basis of religion, exclude students with disabilities, and reject families who don’t share their faith. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has traditionally enforced the anti-discrimination laws that private schools must follow.

The Trump Administration has vowed to “return education to the states.” However, states do not enforce federal civil rights law; this is the federal government’s job. Stripping the Office for Civil Rights of its enforcement authority does not empower local communities; it abandons the students those laws were written to protect, including students of color, students with disabilities and students whose religious identity makes them targets in schools that receive public money but answer to no public authority.

FFRF has long warned that the systematic defunding of public education and the simultaneous expansion of taxpayer-funded religious schooling represent twin threats to public, secular education. Vouchers are at the forefront of eroding the wall of separation between state and church. By methodically dismantling the Department of Education, the Trump administration is accelerating that erosion.

“The latest effort by the Trump administration to dismantle our nation’s public education system is simply abhorrent,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Stripping civil rights protections from millions of students while calling for public dollars to be funneled to religious schools is nothing more than the systematic dismantling of constitutional protections.”

Public schools are secular, open and accountable to all. FFRF will not stand by while that is broken.

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 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 questions Auburn University coach-led prayers and ‘Jesus’ uniforms

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is demanding that Auburn University stop suffusing its men’s baseball program with religion. 

A concerned Auburn University family member has informed the state/church watchdog that the Auburn men’s baseball team has Latin crosses on the backs of their new uniforms and “Jesus Won” written on the front. Additionally, both the Auburn baseball team Facebook page and the official Auburn Tigers fan group have posted a video and a photo, respectively, of the Auburn men’s baseball team being led in prayer by what appears to be the coach.

The family member who brought the situation to FFRF’s attention expressed concerns about the coercive pressure the players may be under to participate in team prayers and wear religious uniforms. They observed that non-Christian students would likely feel out of place and unable to refuse the coach’s expectations for players to kneel and pray or wear team gear with the cross and “Jesus” written on it. 

Notably, this is not FFRF’s first time contacting Auburn University over unconstitutional entanglement of religion and sports, and this is not the first time Auburn University has prioritized religious practice over students’ rights. In 2015, FFRF published its “Pray to Play” report, which heavily features abuses at Auburn. The report details how universities like Auburn have allowed their football coaches to impose their personal religious beliefs on players via the hiring of Christian chaplains. FFRF wrote to Auburn again in 2018 regarding football Chaplain Chette Williams, a university-employed chaplain who has proselytized and prayed with the football team. Finally, in 2023, FFRF wrote to the university after learning that multiple coaches had promoted a religious event where the head football coach had baptized a player. 

FFRF is once again asking that Auburn University respect students’ First Amendment rights — by ceasing the usage of religious symbols and messaging on uniforms, and by the baseball team coach refraining from leading players in prayer.

These actions amount to official university favoritism toward religion over nonreligion, and Christianity over all other faiths. The religious uniforms and coach-led prayer also risk unconstitutionally coercing players into wearing religious symbols and participating in prayer. Men’s baseball team players who wish to maintain their standing on the team and continue to have access to scholarships and other benefits of playing college sports will no doubt feel that going along with what the coaching staff wants is essential to being viewed favorably by their coaches and team. Players will not feel free to refuse to wear religious uniforms or to refuse to participate in prayer, for fear of retaliation or of losing their place on the team.

University employees are free to pray privately or to worship on their own time in their own way. Entangling the university’s sports teams with Christianity needlessly marginalizes students and players part of the nearly one in three Americans who now identify as religiously unaffiliated. In addition, more than half of Generation Z (those born after 1996) are not Christian, with a recent survey revealing that almost half of Gen Z identify as religiously unaffiliated.

“Auburn University continues an upsetting and concerning trend of allowing athletics coaches to proselytize student-athletes with seemingly no real consequences,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “There are undoubtedly students who are too afraid to speak up about representing a religion that they are actually not a part of. They are owed an explanation as to why their rights are consistently being sidelined.”

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

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The 11 CRAZIEST Things Mormons Are Taught

Christian adoption giant reverses course, shutting out prospective LGBTQ parents

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In 2021, Bethany Christian Services, the largest Protestant adoption and foster care agency in the country, announced that it would start working with LGBTQ couples.

While it was a private organization allowed to set its own rules, Bethany relied on federal funds to support its work across 32 states (at the time) and they were facing lawsuits over their refusal to work with openly gay couples. (They had won a Supreme Court case in 2018 in which they were involved, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, but they clearly didn’t want to spend all their time battling lawsuits.)

It wasn’t hard to justify the decision, though. They wanted to make sure kids were in good homes, and that mission prevailed over faith-based bigotry, right? The group’s leader said at the time, “we are not claiming a position on the various doctrinal issues about which Christians may disagree.” The organization even commissioned a survey that found a majority of Christians believed it was better for kids to be adopted by decent parents, even if they were LGBTQ, than remain in foster care. They even reassured their donors at the time that “three past executive directors and CEOs… agreed with the new inclusion policy.”

One pastor celebrated the decision at the time:

When same-sex couples are not excluded, more children get placed into stable, loving homes with dedicated parents. Research overwhelmingly shows that children with two moms or two dads thrive just as well as their classmates who have parents of different genders. Commitment, nurturance, patience and everyday things like changing diapers, making lunches, keeping tabs on screen time and bedtime prayers are what make a family.

…

Many Christians believe this too: If Bethany Christian Services’ new policy of nondiscrimination sticks and spreads, the compassionate face of the church will shine brighter. It’s a sign that brighter days are ahead for the church and the country.

Those brighter days are now gone. Because knowing full well that the Trump administration, with the backing of white evangelicals, are never going to make them do the right thing, Bethany has now chosen the path of bigotry.

Last week, they announced that they would rather see kids not have any parents at all than place them with qualified same-sex parents. Or, as they put it, Bethany was now working to “clarify and reinforce the Christian faith commitments and beliefs.”

At the heart of this effort, Bethany is expanding and reaffirming its Statement of Faith and Belief, which will include both the Apostles’ Creed and longstanding Biblical principles previously affirmed by the organization. All staff and board members will be asked to personally agree and adhere to this statement. Additionally, Bethany will continue its longstanding partnership with the church to find foster families whose beliefs and practices align with our organization’s faith and Christian mission.   

The announcement didn’t include any mention of LGBTQ people because, true to form, they would prefer to just erase those families from existence.

It’s truly incredible to have a bare minimum Statement of Faith and Belief that references the “authority of scripture,” a mandate to “care for the vulnerable,” and “No homo.” (Okay, that last one is paraphrased.) It comes after the previous CEO was replaced by a new guy, Keith Cureton, who told the Christian Post he needed to make the change because “we were really struggling with our identity.”

So when they’re struggling with their identity, it must be accommodated… in order to make life worse for children who may be struggling with theirs. Incredible irony.

In practice, this means children in need of safe, loving, welcoming homes will have fewer options to choose from because a large Christian group with the power to help them has needlessly chosen to double down on exclusion.

And according to Bethany, this wasn’t because of donor pressure or a fear of losing funding under the Trump administration. They just felt like it.

When asked if these changes were due to concerns about funding or based on input from donors, a spokesperson said the decisions were not due to external pressure but “reflect a decision to reinforce our Christian identity by our Board and Executive Leadership following prayer and discernment.”

They always cite prayer and discernment when the real answer is “We’re just bigots”…

What about children who are LGBTQ? Bethany says it’ll continue to help them and place them in homes, but the implication is that those vulnerable children will now be placed in homes where their new parents could send them to “conversion therapy” or deny their very identity. That’s not hypothetical. It’s now part of the contract. (“We further believe God creates human beings in His image as male and female, as determined by biological sex.”)

In case you’re wondering how secular adoption/foster care agencies—which don’t discriminate—deal with these situations, here’s what one state-run agency requires of prospective foster parents:

Respect, accept and support the race, ethnicity, cultural identities, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disabilities, spiritual beliefs, and socioeconomic status, of a child or young adult in the care or custody of the Department, and provide opportunities to enhance the positive self-concept and understanding of the child or young adult’s heritage; and

Assure that all members of the household, excluding a child or young adult in the care or custody of the Department… Do not pose a risk to the safety, health, and well-being needs of a child or young adult in the care or custody of the Department…

That’s what it looks like when an agency puts a child’s needs above parents’ faith-based hate. They’ll proudly work with any qualified adults who want to adopt or take in foster children, including religious ones, but not at the risk of making life worse for the children in their care.

Not so with Bethany, which apparently believes children in need of parents need fewer options. Cureton told the Christian Post that his group would work with families who weren’t sufficiently Christian to “transition” them “to another child placement agency, with a goal of minimizing disruptions for children, because that’s our number-one focus.” But there simply aren’t enough agencies out there to do this work. What’s the point of being one of the largest Christian adoption/foster care groups in the country if you can’t help qualified people who want to work with you for no reason other than they’re in same-sex relationships (or merely affirm them)?

It’s not that Bethany needs to do this because they’re overwhelmed with clients. In fact, the rule change suggests that Bethany would work with these prospective parents if they were straight, just not if they’re gay. It’s a choice.

Making matters worse, there have been plenty of horror stories about children who were placed in abusive Christian homes. Even if we exclude people who were obvious red flags, the emotional trauma that comes from being an LGBTQ kid in a conservative Christian home cannot be stressed enough:

Adoptees have a lot stacked against them even if they don’t have to wrestle with their sexual identity in a family that might be anti-gay. “A sense of rejection is already present for the adopted foster child. Being rejected for a fundamental part of ‘self’ cuts even deeper,” explained Kelly Crenshaw, a reverend based in Maryland who advocates for LGBTQ youth. “It’s another piece of baggage to carry through life that just makes things more complicated: Are people going to accept me? Will I be allowed to date? Do I have to hide my real self? What if my family doesn’t want me anymore?”

The likelihood of those situations arising with people Bethany works with will now go up.

It’s not like they’re making this change because horrible things happened starting in 2021 when they opened their doors to same-sex parents. If anything, five years ago, the organization effectively acknowledged what research and real-life have said: LGBTQ parents are just as capable of providing safe, loving, stable homes as anyone else. That hasn’t changed. There’s no new research showing otherwise. No crisis forced Bethany’s hand. All that happened is, under a Republican administration, they were given permission to be the worst versions of themselves and they took it. They believe excluding loving families is more important than helping as many children as possible.

It’s such a morally bankrupt decision. Bethany wants credit for caring about vulnerable children while intentionally shrinking the pool of people willing to care for them. Every qualified couple turned away because they’re gay is one less potential home for a child who needs one. This is no longer about finding the best possible placement for children; it’s about promoting one harmful brand of Christianity above all else.

For a group that spends so much time talking about compassion, this is a remarkable failure of it. Bethany could have modeled what genuine Christian care looks like when you put the vulnerable first. Instead, as critics could have predicted, they chose discrimination as soon as they felt they could get away with it.

Episode 54 – The War on Nonprofits