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Freedom From Religion Foundation
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The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American atheist organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. Its purposes, as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the separation of church and state, the removal of religion from public life, and to educate the public on matters relating to atheism, agnosticism, and nontheism. The FFRF publishes Freethought Today, the only atheist newspaper in North America. The organization pursues public interest lawsuits and engages in public debates to further their goals. Since 2006, the Foundation has produced the Freethought Radio show, currently the only national nontheistic radio broadcast in the United States.
History
The FFRF was co-founded by Anne Nicol Gaylor and her daughter Annie Laurie Gaylor in 1976 and was incorporated nationally in 1978.2 It is now supported by over 12,000 members.1 It is run out of an 1855 building at the corner of West Washington Avenue and North Henry Street in Madison, Wisconsin, which once was a church rectory. The organization has a minimum annual membership fee of $40. According to the 2007 IRS tax Form-990 found on Guidestar.org, the foundation has a fund balance of over $5.5 million (US) and received over $581,000 (US) in membership dues. The foundation uses this money primarily to pay legal fees in cases supporting the separation of church and state that involve governmental entities, but it also has a paid staff of four, distributes advertisements and sends out news publications to members.2
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, is the author of Women Without Superstition : No Gods - No Masters (ISBN 1-877733-09-1) and edits the FFRF newspaper Freethought Today. Her husband, Dan Barker, author of Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist (ISBN 1-877733-07-5) is a musician and songwriter, a former Pentecostal Christian minister, and co-president of the FFRF.
On October 12, 2007, the Freedom From Religion Foundation began its three-day annual conference. Speakers included Christopher Hitchens, Katha Pollitt, Julia Sweeney, Ellery Schempp, and Matthew LaClair. The event, held in Madison, Wisconsin, marked the foundation's 30th annual conference and was attended by over 650 members.
Litigation
Wins
- FFRF v. Indiana Family & Social Services - May 2, 2007 challenge of the creation of a chaplaincy for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA). The FSSA hired Pastor Michael L. Latham, a Baptist minister, in 2006, at a salary of $60,000 a year. In September 2007, in response to FFRF's suit, Indiana ended the program.3
- Overturning a state Good Friday holiday - plaintiffs included Foundation staff and state employees
- Winning a lawsuit barring direct taxpayer subsidy of religious schools
- Removing Ten Commandments monuments and crosses from public land
- Ending the U.S. Post Office's issuing of religious postage cancellations
- Ending certain types of Bible instruction in public schools45 (objective historical analysis of the Biblical texts is legal, but it is illegal to present religious beliefs as viable or true).
Losses
- Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation - A case before the Supreme Court over taxpayer standing to challenge White House faith-based programs. (defeated in a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling)
- Challenged a Congressional proclamation calling 1983 "The Year of the Bible" (dismissed as moot)
- Challenged a Ten Commandments monument in a public park in La Crosse, Wisconsin (dismissed)
- Filed a federal lawsuit to stop the building of a chapel at the Illinois statehouse (lost in appeals court)
- Went to Colorado state court to remove a Ten Commandments monument on Capitol grounds in Denver (lost in State Supreme Court)
- Challenged "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency in Colorado (lost in 10th Circuit Court)
- Tried to block the state of Wisconsin from granting $100,000 to assist building a center at St. Norbert Catholic College, DePere, Wisconsin (lost in appeals court)
- Challenged a lighted nativity scene in a public park in Waunakee, Wisconsin (lost in Wisconsin Supreme Court)
- Sued over the removal of its banner, "State/Church: Keep Them Separate," from the rotunda of the Wisconsin State Capitol (lost in federal court)
- Went to federal court in Missouri to sue over the phrase "So help me, God" on tax forms (case was dismissed, then was lost after refiling). 6
Pending litigation
- FFRF v. Gonzales - May 5, 2006 challenge of faith-based prison programs at the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
- FFRF v Department of Veterans Affairs - April 19, 2006 challenge of the pervasive integration of "spirituality" into health care by the Department of Veteran Affairs.
- FFRF et al. v. Gov. Richardson - Nov. 7, 2005 challenge of the state-funded Christian prison ministry program in a women's prison in Grants, New Mexico.
- FFRF v. President George W. Bush, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Shirley Dobson, chair, National Day of Prayer Task Force, and White House Press Secretary Dana Perino - Oct. 3, 2008 Madison, Wisconsin federal court challenge of the federal law designating a National Day of Prayer, held each year on the first Thursday of May78
State Capitol sign
The FFRF maintains a sign in the Wisconsin State Capitol during the winter holiday season, which reads:9
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At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail.
There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.
There is only our natural world.
Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.
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Freethought Radio
Called the "only weekly Freethought radio broadcast anywhere", Freethought Radio on The Mic 92.1 FM is live every Saturday from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. CDT in Madison, Wisconsin. It also appears on Air America. It is hosted by the co-presidents of FFRF, Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor. A podcast archive is also available at the FFRF website. Regular features include "Theocracy Alert" and "Freethinkers Almanac". The latter highlights historic freethinkers, many of whom are also songwriters. The show's intro and outro makes use of John Lennon's "Imagine", which is notable for its antireligious theme.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. - Front page". Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-08-26.
- ^ a b "The Atheists' Calling", Wisconsin State Journal (2007-02-25). Retrieved on 27 September 2007.
- ^ Indiana, Faced With Suit, Takes Chaplain Off Payroll - New York Times
- ^ Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc
- ^ Legal Complaing, Doe v. Porter, 1:01-CV-115, Tennessee, April 26, 2001
- ^ Legal Accomplishments
- ^ ap.google.com, Atheist group sues Bush over national prayer day
- ^ wtte28.com, Atheist group sues Bush over national prayer day
- ^ Wisconsin State Capital Sign, http://ffrf.org/news/images/Signfront.jpg
External links
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