Freedom From Religion Foundation
Atheist coalition wants you to know they are ‘Openly Secular’
By Kimberly Winston — September 24, 2014
DECATUR, Ga. (RNS) A coalition of nearly 30 atheists, humanists and other nonreligious groups is taking a page from the gay rights movement to encourage people to admit they are “openly secular.”
Arkansas State removing cross decal from football helmets
By Dan Wolken — September 11, 2014
(RNS) The decals had been added as a way to memorialize a former player and an equipment manager who died this year, the university's athletic director says.
The Bibles are back: Navy lodges scuttle removal plan
By Cathy Lynn Grossman — August 15, 2014
(RNS) An atheist group prompted the ouster but public outcry led the brass to reverse course Friday (Aug. 15).
Prayer discount no longer on the menu at North Carolina diner
By Heather Adams — August 7, 2014
(RNS) Mary's Gourmet Diner has stopped offering 15 percent discounts for praying customers after the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote to the owner to stop, calling it a violation of the Civil Rights Act.
IRS agrees to monitor churches for electioneering
By Kimberly Winston — July 21, 2014
(RNS) - Freedom From Religion Foundation has reached a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service over electioneering in churches, a violation of their tax-exempt status.
COMMENTARY: Critics of Supreme Court should focus on politics, not religion
By Tom Deignan — July 16, 2014
(RNS) Even to the most secular of liberals, six Catholics on the Supreme Court would not be a problem, so long as they were six Catholics like Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
After Edwina Rogers’ ouster, secular community regroups
By Kimberly Winston — June 10, 2014
(RNS) The departure of a high-ranking lobbyist after an embezzlement scandal has the secular community in disarray before its biggest event of the year.
COMMENTARY: Is the Hobby Lobby Bible elective objective?
By Stephen Prothero — May 13, 2014
(RNS) I do not doubt that Steve Green wants to produce a non-sectarian Bible textbook. I am skeptical, however, that the scholars that Green has assembled for this job are capable of producing a textbook beholden to facts rather than faith.
Student reverses course on secular club, citing threats
By Kimberly Winston — February 28, 2014
(RNS) A North Carolina high school student who sought to establish a school club for nonbelievers has reversed course after what she and her family have described as harassment and threats.
Federal judge: Clergy tax-free housing allowance is unconstitutional
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey — November 24, 2013
(RNS) A federal judge has ruled that clergy's exemption from paying taxes on housing is not constitutional.
Atheist group can sue IRS over enforcement of pulpit politicking
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey — August 23, 2013
(RNS) U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman ruled that the Freedom from Religion Foundation “has standing to seek an order requiring the IRS to treat religious organizations no more favorably than it treats the Foundation.”
Feds offer atheists a clergy tax break that they don’t want
By Bob Smietana — August 21, 2013
(RNS) "We are not a church," atheists say. Government lawyers disagree, saying atheist leaders can be considered ministers.
N.C. minorities remain worried after religion bill is pulled
By Amanda Greene — April 9, 2013
WILMINGTON, N.C. (RNS) A resolution aiming to give North Carolina the freedom to defy the Constitution and establish its own religion won’t get a vote in the N.C. General Assembly, but religious minorities say it's a dangerous sign for a majority-Christian state with a growing minority population.
American Atheists wrestles with its cherished ‘grumpy’ image
By Kimberly Winston — March 29, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) The annual Easter weekend convention of American Atheists is a delicate balancing act between the group’s image as the angry bulldog of secular organizations and its need to attract younger and less strident nonbelievers.
Newest front in the Christmas wars: billboards
By Kimberly Winston — December 18, 2012
(RNS) A billboard bearing a positive message about atheism has been vandalized — again. A billboard posted in Chico, Calif., that originally read “Don’t believe in God? Join the club” was defaced on Dec. 12, less than a week after it appeared, with vandals removing the word “don’t.” The billboard was one of 12 purchased […]
