We at the Freedom From Religion Foundation are drawing profound lessons from the midterm election results — even as we’re still deriving pleasure from them.
We highlighted the extraordinary political influence of nonreligious Americans in these elections. New exit polling reveals that religiously unaffiliated voters played a pivotal role in determining the outcome of key races across the country. They also marked a historic breakthrough for openly nonreligious candidates, who won unprecedented representation in Congress and state legislatures. “Candidates can’t afford to overlook nonreligious Americans as a political constituency,” asserts FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor.
USA Today includes our wisdom
Our perspective on the elections received prominent mention in media outlets, including from perhaps the only truly national newspaper.
“Advocates for the separation of church and state have faced setbacks in recent years, but they say the results of the midterm elections have made them more optimistic about the road ahead,” begins a piece in USA Today. “It was a ‘huge repudiation of Trump, authoritarianism and Christian nationalism,’ said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder and co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The organization is one of many advocacy groups that have raised First Amendment concerns over efforts by President Donald Trump and his federal and state-level allies to boost their version of Christianity in the public square.”
The pleasing Texas election results
Annie Laurie wrote a blog in an ebullient mood as the president of the FFRF Action Fund (our legislative affiliate) about the Texas election outcomes.
“Maybe gloating isn’t good manners, but it’s impossible for us at the FFRF Action Fund not to revel in the results of the Texas midterm elections,” her blog began. “The defeat of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — one of the nastiest Christian nationalists we’ve dealt with — was utterly delightful. And adding to the joy was the ousting of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas theocrats.”
Pete Hegseth needs to go
The turnover in Congress come January has raised our expectations. We are asking the next Congress to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over Christian nationalist abuses. The Constitution empowers Congress to impeach and remove civil officers for high crimes and misdemeanors. FFRF believes the incoming House should investigate whether Hegseth’s pattern of constitutional abuses, together with the serious allegations already raised in congressional impeachment resolutions, meets that standard.
So does RFK Jr.
And Annie Laurie is insisting in a column that Congress in the next session take action regarding another egregious cabinet member. After three babies died last week of measles, she writes, “Americans must demand that the new Congress prioritize putting a stop to Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s and President Trump’s war against evidence-based preventive health care and research before more babies die and America’s brain drain gets worse,” she writes.
Our past warnings make a media splash
Heck, news sites are even remembering our prior admonitions about Christian nationalists in high places. “The Freedom from Religion Foundation issued a warning about him in 2023,” Baptist News Global writes in a profile of just-elected House Minority Leader Jim Jordan.
Colorado news site runs our op-ed
A leading Colorado news site has published an op-ed of ours that spotlights the attempt of religious schools in the state to discriminate while receiving tax money — and the current U.S. Supreme Court case that deals with that.
“If schools want government benefits, they have to play by the government’s rules,” concludes Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude’s op-ed for the Colorado Newsline. “Colorado says universal means all preschoolers. Colorado taxpayers voted to fund every preschooler. The Supreme Court must not reverse decades of law that has established where the line between religious liberty and illegal discrimination stands.”
Knoxville paper features us
The Knoxville paper incorporated our voice in an article on a recent ruling that is permitting a religious public charter school to open in Tennessee.
“The group of nonprofits that joined the case on behalf of the school board is evaluating the possibilities for appeals, said Sam Grover, an attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation,” states a Knoxville News Sentinel piece. “The religious freedom groups that joined the lawsuit on the side of the Knox County Board of Education are: the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
Our Veterans Day tribute to nonbelievers
It’s never been more important than on this Veterans Day to acknowledge nonreligious and non-Christian veterans — especially given the current Pentagon leadership’s Christian nationalist actions. Our monument to the proverbial “atheists in foxholes” at our office building in Madison, Wis., makes such an acknowledgment. This Veterans Day holds particular significance for us following the death of World War II veteran Joseph Cunningham (pictured in the above photograph), a longtime FFRF member and former member of its board, who died Oct. 30 at age 100.
Indiana AG has a ridiculous Ten Commandments plan
We are decrying Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s misguided effort to resurrect a Ten Commandments monument on the Statehouse lawn.
“The state of Indiana has no business telling citizens which gods to have, how many gods to have or whether to have any gods alone,” notes Annie Laurie. “The First Commandment directly contradicts our First Amendment.”
No invocations in Iowa
We are again urging a city council in Iowa to end a divisive practice after a satanic invocation was disrupted for the second month in a row. We are renewing our request that the Ottumwa City Council discontinue invocations entirely and focus on the secular business of governing.
“The council has now experienced two consecutive meetings overshadowed by religious controversy,” writes FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line in the new letter. “What should have been routine proceedings devoted to the business of governing instead became confrontations over religious beliefs.”
How to help imprisoned Moroccan freethinker
The most recent Freethought Radio episode begins with FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott explaining the alarming U.S. Supreme Court Colorado case that FFRF Legal Fellow Charlotte Gude wrote her op-ed on. Then, singer/songwriter/producer Shelley Segal tells us how we can help free Betty Lachgar, the atheist/feminist human-rights activist who is in prison for insulting Islam and whose life is in grave danger, by preordering the new song “Hurriya!” (“Freedom!” in Arabic). Please take a minute now to preorder the song (written by Motown legend Lee Garrett) for a mere 69 cents from here.
Our YouTube show discusses Supreme Court Colorado case
FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliot, Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell and Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude break down the Supreme Court Colorado case for FFRF’s “Secular Spotlight” YouTube show.
“This case actually came to the court because of a vote in Colorado in 2020 where voters affirmed that they wanted to create a universal preschool program,” Charlotte explains. “They also included a requirement that the preschool providers give children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation [and] gender identity. … Unfortunately, some religious preschools refused to agree to this requirement and sued to be let into the program despite this refusal.”
Nonbeliever with religious traditions
Guest Ixchel on the new episode of “Underzealous” (FFRF’s youth-oriented show) grew up in two worlds: one where Catholicism was the norm, and one where nobody quite knew who to pray to. Ixchel discusses these contradictions in the latest episode of the show titled, “Nonbeliever with Religious Traditions.”
‘Secularist’ John Oliver demolishes Pete Hegseth
The FFRF Action Fund names comedian and political commentator John Oliver its “Secularist of the Week” for his show’s recent episode detailing Pete Hegseth’s rampant Christian nationalism. By spotlighting Hegseth’s extremist religious beliefs for his national audience, Oliver has helped further expose the dangerous Christian nationalism and misogyny that characterize the Trump administration’s dictation of the U.S. military.
‘Theocrat’ candidate ignored her own advice
The FFRF Action names an unsuccessful candidate for the Arizona Senate its “Theocrat of the Week” for her hypocritical claims that women shouldn’t hold office. Mylie Biggs, a recently defeated GOP candidate for an Arizona Senate seat and daughter of U.S. Rep. and unsuccessful gubernatorial contender Andy Biggs, appeared on a podcast in 2024 to proclaim: “Honestly, I don’t know if I would vote for any female. I don’t know if a female should be in office.” Biggs seems to have changed her mind over the past couple of years, announcing her state Senate campaign last summer.
Spreading the secular message
FFRF Attorney Chris Line writes in a recent blog about a pleasurable aspect of his work. “One of the most rewarding parts of my job at the Freedom From Religion Foundation is to be there on behalf of our organization at events across the country,” he states.
“After a weekend surrounded by so many people committed to defending democracy, I returned home energized and more convinced than ever that FFRF has an essential role to play in that fight,” he further reflects on attending a recent CrookedCon convention. “We’re showing up. We’re making connections. And we’re making sure the voices of nonreligious Americans are heard. That’s what our members deserve — and that’s what we’ll keep doing.”
After all, everything we do is on behalf of our members. Thank you for your support.