Free Republic

The Sunshine State is now welcoming chaplains into public schools, but Satanists need not apply. On Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a bill into law allowing chaplains to volunteer to offer counseling at public and charter schools. However, the Catholic governor warned that Satanists would not be accepted into the program, as some Christian and conservative groups had feared. “Now some have said if you do a school chaplain program that somehow you’re going to have Satanists running around in all our schools,” DeSantis said in a press conference. “We’re not playing those games in Florida. That...

One group in Ellwood City has found a creative way to circumvent a potential lawsuit by displaying a nativity scene in front of the municipal building. Instead, they’re going to put it on a truck.The Beaver County Times reports that the Moose lodge is going to park a trailer carrying a nativity scene in front of the building.The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based out of Wisconsin, threatened to sue the borough if it did not remove the creche.Many locals were disappointed by the decision and vocalized opposition to the change.The new, nativity on wheels is expected to make its way...

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors’ decision to designate July American Christian Heritage Month, which sparked opposition from some residents, has now drawn protest from a national organization that promotes the separation of church and state.

One nonprofit is now demanding the practice immediately cease in an effort to "protect the constitutional rights of students and parents." The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), a national advocacy group for atheists, agnostics and non-theists, works to protect the Establishment Clause. Despite local law allowing prayer at other council meetings, FFRF argues that GUSD is subjecting itself to both "unnecessary liability" and "potential financial strain" by adopting the practice in an educational setting.

The nonprofit Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) has sent a letter to Congress and the White House urging a boycott of the National Prayer Breakfast, which is due to be held on Thursday morning this week.

A prominent atheist group has issued multiple complaints accusing an Indiana sheriff’s office of “[pushing] Christianity onto inmates” after hundreds of detainees have been baptized in recent years. An attorney for the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has fired off multiple letters to former Decatur County Sheriff David Durant accusing the Decatur County Detention Center of “multiple constitutional violations” by “promoting Christianity and coercing detainees into participating in religious exercises.” On Dec. 29, the sheriff’s office posted photos on its Facebook page of dozens of inmates being baptized. […] Durant, who left office on Jan. 1 following a four-year term...

In C. S. Lewis’s book, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," he describes a beautiful place (Narnia) under the spell of an evil character (the White Witch) – who symbolizes the Devil. Lewis writes of her that it was she who has made it "always winter, but never Christmas.""Always winter, but never Christmas" – what a great phrase to describe this world, without the loving, powerful, and positive influence of Jesus Christ.Could you imagine life in such an intolerable state where we had to endure the brutal conditions of the winter season – but never having Christmas to look...

A 78-year-old cross on public property in Florida targeted by atheist groups will remain standing after a victory in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled Wednesday that the Bayview Cross in Pensacola, which was built ahead of World War II as a place for the community to gather, does not violate the Constitution. […] The federal appeals court ruled the cross is constitutional, noting it has become “embedded in the fabric of the Pensacola community” and that removing it could “strike many as aggressively hostile to religion.” Four individuals, represented by the American Humanist Association and the...

During the Democrat debate this past week, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) ran an ad where Ron Reagan said he is a lifelong atheist and isn't afraid of burning in Hell. He's saying he objects to the over 84% of Americans who are religious injecting their beliefs into government policies. Essentially, he's calling for the institution of his faith-based belief system, atheism, as a national religion in direct contradiction to the First Amendment.

Freedom From Religion Foundation Files Complaint Against Judge Tammy Kemp For Giving Amber Guyger A Bible The organization says it protects the Constitutional principals of the separation of church and state. The Dallas County DA defended the judge's actions.

An atheist group has dropped its attempt to strip American pastors of their tax exemption for housing. The Freedom from Religion Foundation will not appeal an appeals court decision that said the federal government is allowed to exempt priests, pastors, rabbis, and other religious instructors from paying taxes on the housing they receive, ending an eight-year legal battle. The suit threatened to cost clergymen $1 billion if successful, but Chicago's Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the foundation's argument that such a tax break violated the Constitution's establishment clause. The three judge panel, citing previous Supreme Court rulings, found that,...

The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky bathed in sunset colors. | ANSWERS IN GENESISOne of the nation’s leading atheist legal groups has sent a warning to over 1,000 public school districts telling them not to take field trips to Answers in Genesis' creationist attractions in Kentucky.The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claims 31,000 members across the U.S., announced Tuesday that it contacted school districts in five states warning them that field trips to the Ark Encounter or the Creation Museum would be a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.“Public schools and public school staff may not constitutionally organize...

CHEVIOT, OH (WLWT/CNN) – A restaurant owner in Ohio is facing legal questions after offering a discount to churchgoers. "This was the furthest thing from my mind when we came up with this idea," said Justin Watson, the owner of Starters Cafe in Cheviot, OH. Watson opened the restaurant about seven weeks ago. He said all he was trying to do was stir up some business with his discount offer to churches. Instead, he stirred up a hornet's nest. "Any congregation, any religion, any area, whatever, as long as you brought me a church bulletin, I would give you 10...

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson relayed a defiant message to the atheist groups attacking him for attending a Bible study at the White House. “I will not stop being a Christian while in service to this country.” The conflict began after reports surfaced, detailing the weekly meeting of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet Secretaries for Bible study. Carson regularly attends this meeting along with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, according to CBN News. The atheist group, Freedom From Religion Foundation, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in...

Deep in the heart of Trump country, the Salvation Army’s ubiquitous red kettle is turning into a cauldron of controversy for Sen. George Logan. An Ansonia Republican, Logan’s volunteer work as a bell-ringer outside a Walmart in Naugatuck for the Salvation Army, which is a Christian charity, has drawn opposition from a secularist group. The Freedom From Religion Foundation called on Logan to keep up the separation between church and state. The group wrote to him Tuesday to voice its objections to him ringing the bell outside the big box store twice this week, including an appearance scheduled for Saturday...

A housing benefit that saves clergy $800 million a year in taxes has been deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge. Under the law, housing allowances paid as part of clergy salary can be subtracted from their taxable income. Religious freedom advocates fear the ruling could force many churches in poor areas to close.MADISON, Wisconsin - A federal judge in Wisconsin has struck down as unconstitutional a law that gives clergy tax-free housing allowances, in a ruling that could have far-reaching ramifications for religious leaders, who could be facing new taxes which will threaten their ministry. Under the federal law passed...

A federal judge has ordered a Pennsylvania county to remove the cross from its seal, saying it violated the Constitution. Lehigh Valley County, which is about 40 miles north of Philadelphia, will have to redesign its seal after U.S. District Judge Edward Smith ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an organization that promotes separation of church and state and which filed the lawsuit against the county, according to The Morning Call. Smith made it known in his ruling that he was not happy about the decision he had to make but was following the...

An Alabama school district decided to halt its decades-old practice of reciting the Lord’s Prayer over a loudspeaker before high school football games after atheists complained — but that did little to stop fans from still belting out the biblical invocation. The fascinating moment, which united players, fans and parents from both teams, came on Friday night when the announcer called for a moment of silence in place of previous student-led prayer at Smiths Station High School games, AL.com reported. The Lee County School System decided to halt the Lord’s Prayer tradition after the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist...

The Trump administration wants a judge to nix a legal challenge to a presidential order easing enforcement of an IRS rule that limited religious organizations’ political activity. The Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed in May by a Wisconsin-based atheist group. The Freedom From Religion Foundation argues President Donald Trump’s order is unconstitutional because it grants preferential treatment to religious organizations while secular groups must still abide by the law. …

Atheist groups are unhappy with President Donald Trump for allowing a weekly Bible study to take place in the White House.The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) said the Bible study might even be an illegal use of taxpayer funds, the Washington Times reported Thursday."If those officials want privacy, the solution is pretty damn simple: Study the Bible in your private capacity, not in your official capacity and at your government desk," the group said in a statement Thursday. "Do it on your time, not the taxpayers'. In short, get off your knees and get to work."The person behind the Bible...