FFRF asks Labor Dept. to cancel upcoming ‘Secretary’s Prayer Service’

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is raising constitutional concerns after the Department of Labor’s invitation to all employees to attend an official “Secretary’s Prayer Service” scheduled for Dec. 10.

In a letter sent to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, FFRF has warned that hosting a government-sponsored prayer event crosses clear constitutional lines and improperly mixes official authority with personal religious promotion.

“While Secretary Chavez-DeRemer is free to pray and attend religious services in her personal capacity, she cannot use the machinery of the federal government to organize or promote sectarian religious events,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Government employees have a right to a secular workplace. No one should feel pressured to participate in religious activity — or feel like an outsider for opting out.”

FFRF notes that the email invitation, reportedly sent to the entire Department of Labor workforce, raises immediate concerns about government preference for religion and implicit pressure on employees. Hosting an official “Secretary’s Prayer Service” in a federal building, under the title and authority of the agency’s leadership, violates longstanding Supreme Court precedent mandating government neutrality toward religion.

The Supreme Court historically has emphasized that “no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.” FFRF in its letter highlights subsequent rulings making clear that government-organized prayer is unconstitutional because of its inherently coercive nature.

FFRF points out that federally organized religious events send a message that some employees are insiders and favored, while others — nonreligious employees and those of minority faiths — are outsiders. Nearly one-third of U.S. adults today are religiously unaffiliated.

FFRF is requesting clarification from Chavez-DeRemer’s office, including whether the meetings are mandatory or optional, what government resources are being used, and who is organizing and attending. FFRF has filed a formal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking all documentation, communications and legal reviews related to these meetings.

FFRF is urging the Department of Labor to immediately clarify whether government resources are being used to support this event and to reaffirm its commitment to protecting the religious liberty rights of all employees — which includes the right to be free from religious coercion in the workplace.

“The Department of Labor has a responsibility to the Constitution and to every employee, regardless of belief,” Gaylor adds. “Federal agencies must remain secular. Our government cannot host prayer meetings.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

The post FFRF asks Labor Dept. to cancel upcoming ‘Secretary’s Prayer Service’ appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Freethought Radio – December 4, 2025

Pamela Nickel Williams, author of the memoir Clearly Lies Are True, tells us what it was like growing up in Scientology, and how she escaped that abusive cult.

The post Freethought Radio – December 4, 2025 appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Students and faculty speak out at Ten Commandments teach-in

The Arkansas Traveler (Fayetteville, AR)
By Miceala Morano

The post Students and faculty speak out at Ten Commandments teach-in appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Richardson ISD named in lawsuit over display of Ten Commandments

Lake Highland Advocate (Dallas, TX)
By Austin Wood

The post Richardson ISD named in lawsuit over display of Ten Commandments appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

As appeals court is poised to consider Texas’ Ten Commandments law, other legal challenges mount

Houston Public Media (Houston, TX)
By Jaden Edison, Eleanor Klibanoff, Alejandro Serrano

The post As appeals court is poised to consider Texas’ Ten Commandments law, other legal challenges mount appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

More Houston-Area School Districts Named in Ten Commandments Lawsuit

Houston Press (Houston, TX)
By April Towery

The post More Houston-Area School Districts Named in Ten Commandments Lawsuit appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF calls for reinstatement of OU TA in phony religious discrimination charge

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling on the University of Oklahoma at Norman to immediately reinstate a graduate teaching assistant placed on administrative leave after being falsely accused of religious discrimination.

FFRF, a national state/church watchdog, has sent a formal letter to University President Joseph Harroz expressing deep concern over the institution’s response to a baseless allegation of religious discrimination made by a junior, who received a failing grade for turning in what amounted to a religious sermon instead of the required academic reflection paper.

The TA had correctly awarded the student zero points for the psychology assignment, in which the student described transgender people as “demonic” and asserted that gender roles are “biblically ordained.”

“The student was not persecuted for her faith. She was penalized for not properly completing the assignment,” says FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line. “Academic standards aren’t anti-Christian.”

The assignment required students to discuss “how people are perceived based on societal expectations of gender” after reading an article about the topic. Instead, Samantha Fulnecky wrote an essay based purely on her own personal religious beliefs.

Fulnecky’s essay devolves into a full-on Christian sermon: “Overall, reading articles such as this one encourage me to one day raise my children knowing that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them and cherishes them deeply and that having their identity firmly rooted in who He is will give them the satisfaction and acceptance that the world can never provide for them. My prayer for the world and specifically for American society and youth is that they would not believe the lies being spread from Satan that make them believe they are better off as another gender than what God made them. I pray that they feel God’s love and acceptance as who He originally created them to be.”

The assignment required students to demonstrate that they had read the article, grappled with its content and offered a critical response grounded in empirical reasoning — the basic expectations of any university-level psychology course. Both the graduate instructor and the course’s supervising professor independently explained that the paper did not meet basic standards of clear academic writing. Despite this, the university placed the TA on leave after Fulnecky claimed she was graded unfairly because of her religious beliefs — an accusation directly contradicted by the written feedback she received from the instructor.

As FFRF’s letter explains, the University of Oklahoma, as a public institution, may not privilege religious viewpoints. The First Amendment protects a student’s right to hold personal beliefs, but it does not exempt students from academic expectations or entitle them to replace scholarly analysis with sectarian declarations.

“This response from the university sends a chilling message: that academic standards may be suspended when a student invokes personal religious belief, and that instructors may face punishment for applying those standards even-handedly when it results in a bad grade for a religious person,” the letter states. Such a precedent would mean any student could claim discrimination whenever they receive a low grade for failing to follow instructions, so long as they mention religion. This result would undermine the very purpose of higher education.

The instructor in question, graduate teaching assistant Mel Curth, has already faced online harassment and attacks from political activists. FFRF warns that the university’s decision to remove the TA from the classroom not only harms their professional standing but also emboldens those seeking to weaponize false religious discrimination claims to undermine educators.

FFRF urges the University of Oklahoma to reinstate the graduate instructor without delay, acknowledging that the instructor acted appropriately and professionally, affirm publicly that academic standards will not be overridden by religious or political pressure and clarify to students, faculty and the public that religious belief does not exempt anyone from meeting course requirements. “Classrooms must remain places of genuine learning, not arenas for political gamesmanship or religious privilege,” Line concludes the letter.

The escalation surrounding this incident has been amplified by the student’s mother, Kristi Fulnecky, who has framed her daughter’s failing grade as part of a religious struggle. In media interviews, she has said that she is “confident God is using Samantha for a purpose,” adding that “God’s protecting us” and that her daughter was “meant to stand for” this moment. Kristi Fulnecky was elected to the Springfield City Council in 2015, where she unsuccessfully pushed to display the motto “In God We Trust” in the council chambers. As an attorney, she has represented clients charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and has described her legal work as grounded in her Christian convictions.

FFRF will continue to monitor this situation and stands ready to support faculty and students facing inappropriate religious pressure or unconstitutional favoritism at public institutions.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members nationwide, including hundreds of members in Oklahoma. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post FFRF calls for reinstatement of OU TA in phony religious discrimination charge appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Christopher Cantwell on Flickeringmyth.com discussing “Star Trek: Red Shirts”

(no image available)

Christopher Cantwell was recently featured on Flickeringmyth.com to discuss Star Trek: Red Shirts:

Villordsutch chats with Christopher Cantwell and Megan Levens, the creative team behind Star Trek: Red Shirts…

Check out the Christopher Cantwell author page to view other sightings and a full list of books!

Buy on Amazon.com
Find on E-Bay

DTI Comic Book Investigation for the week of December 4, 2025

Here are all the comics printed this week in years past.

Winter Solstice Bill of Rights ‘nativity’ display returns for 8th year to New Hampshire Capitol

The newly formed New Hampshire Chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation has returned a display honoring the Winter Solstice and the Bill of Rights for the eighth year in a row to the state Capitol grounds.

The whimsical 6-foot-tall display is set up outside the Capitol building in Concord. The irreverent depicts Founders Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington kneeling adoringly before a “baby” Bill of Rights in a manger.

The tongue-in-cheek nativity reads:

At this Season of the Winter Solstice
Join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on December 15, 1791, which reminds us there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent.
Keep religion and government separate!

“All Americans can revere our Bill of Rights and feel united by its pluralistic and secular principles,” comments FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “This sign also acknowledges the Winter Solstice, celebrated for millennia in the Northern hemisphere with gift-giving, feasts, gift exchange and festivals of light long before Christians crashed the party.”

Barker points out that the religiously unaffiliated, including 19 percent who are atheist or agnostic, make up 48 percent of New Hampshire adults, outnumbering Christians at 45 percent.

The display went up on November 30 and will remain up through December. FFRF thanks the New Hampshire chapter, including Chapter President Ed Killam and other chapter members (pictured above).

FFRF is a national nonprofit organization with more than 41,000 members across the country, including hundreds of members in New Hampshire. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post Winter Solstice Bill of Rights ‘nativity’ display returns for 8th year to New Hampshire Capitol appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF stops religious field trips in Arkansas school district

The Freedom From Religion Foundation reminded the Ouachita River School District in Mena, Ark., that school field trips cannot be used to indoctrinate students.

A district parent reported that the Acorn High School Music Department took students on a field trip to Eureka Springs on Oct. 3–5. The field trip included the students singing at a chapel, a two-hour Holy Land tour, and participation in shows with religious content, such as a “Passion Play.” The parent stated that they kept their child home from the field trip because of the blatant school-sponsored religious indoctrination that was going to occur on the trip.

FFRF wrote to the district to ensure that it will stop sending students on religious field trips. Additionally, the state/church watchdog, on behalf of the local complainant, addressed a school-sponsored Christmas concert relying primarily on sectarian songs.

“Students have the First Amendment right to be free from religious indoctrination in their public schools, including when attending school-sponsored field trips and events,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote.

By organizing, facilitating and taking public school students on a school-sponsored field trip to perform in houses of worship and participate in a “Passion Play,” the Acorn High School Music Department, and thus the district, violated students’ First Amendment rights. Further, the field trip, along with the Christmas concert’s clear Christian lean, signals government favoritism toward religion over nonreligion and Christianity over all other faiths. Even if attendance on the field trip was voluntary, FFRF noted, voluntariness is not a safeguard against violating students’ rights. By hosting this religious field trip, the district further marginalizes and proselytizes a significant number of students in the district who may belong to the nearly half of Gen Z who are nonreligious.

FFRF’s advocacy paid off, as the district acknowledged it will correct the state/church problems.

A school district legal representative confirmed that the district investigated the situation. “As a result, the district administration is clarifying for the music staff that any school music class, and/or music program, should not be taking any field trip that could be perceived to be a religious field trip,” the attorney wrote.

FFRF is pleased with the response and the district’s understanding that student rights to a public education free from religious coercion are not revoked during field trips.

“A field trip should be an educational experience for students to learn in a new environment — not a proselytizing event,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor wrote. “Religious instruction must be left to parents. Our public schools exist to educate, not to indoctrinate.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 200 members in Arkansas. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post FFRF stops religious field trips in Arkansas school district appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF opposes proposed Wis. resolution to declare Dec. 25 ‘the birth of Our Lord’

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is strongly opposing an unconstitutional Wisconsin resolution that would formally recognize Dec. 25 as “the celebration of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” a move that would elevate Christian doctrine as the official position of the state.

The proposed resolution (LRB-5522/2 and LRB-5630/1) goes far beyond acknowledging a federal holiday. It retells the biblical nativity narrative and refers to Jesus as “our Lord,” “our Savior” and the “Son of God.” It refers to “His gift of salvation and love,” and states that “it is incumbent upon the legislature” to honor Dec. 25 as a religious observance. It concludes by directing the Wisconsin state Legislature to officially recognize Dec. 25 as a day to honor the birth of Jesus Christ.

“The government must remain neutral on religious belief,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “These resolutions ask the Legislature to adopt Christian theology as its own. Public officials are free to hold personal beliefs, but they cannot use state authority to promote religious doctrine. That protects everyone, including more than one-third of Wisconsinites who are religiously unaffiliated and four percent who belong to other faiths. The Wisconsin state Legislature has no authority to declare Jesus the ‘Lord’ over Wisconsin.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment mandates government neutrality between religions, and between religion and nonreligion. By adopting a resolution that declares Jesus as “our Lord,” the legislature very obviously would be violating this core constitutional principle and marginalizing residents whose beliefs differ. It would also violate the Wisconsin state Constitution, which states that there should be no preference by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship.

December is a month of rich cultural and spiritual traditions, including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, HumanLight, and other celebrations that honor family, community, reflection, generosity and the changing of the seasons. Many Wisconsinites celebrate in secular ways, and others choose not to observe any holiday at all. A state resolution promoting a single theological viewpoint ignores this diversity and sends a message that only some residents belong.

FFRF points out that the Winter Solstice — the natural turning point of the year known as “the first day of winter” — is the real reason for the season. It signals the rebirth of the sun and the natural new year. For millennia, our ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere have greeted this seasonal event with festivals of light, gift exchanges and feasts.

FFRF is urging Wisconsin lawmakers to reject the resolution and uphold Wisconsin’s longstanding commitment to the constitutional separation of state and church.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members nationwide, including 1,800 members in Wisconsin. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post FFRF opposes proposed Wis. resolution to declare Dec. 25 ‘the birth of Our Lord’ appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Out Today: “Star Trek: Red Shirts #5”

Out today: “Star Trek: Red Shirts #5“, by Christopher Cantwell.

Only two red shirts remain. The other ten crewmembers on Mission Squawkbox have plummeted hundreds of feet to the ground, been eaten alive by giant alien insects, or been exploded into a million tiny bits by falling torpedoes. Each death has dealt a blow to Ensigns Raad’s and Miller’s morale… Is Starfleet really the paragon of cooperation it claims to be? Or is it willing to expend its members’ lives for the sake of peace? With both Klingons and Romulans breathing down their necks, Raad’s and Miller’s loyalty will be tested. Are they for Starfleet? Or themselves?

Buy From Things From Another World
Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com

Out Today: “Star Trek: The Original Series: Identity Theft”

Out today: “Star Trek: The Original Series: Identity Theft“, by Greg Cox.

This all-new Star Trek novel celebrates the 60th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series—continuing the legacy of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise.

2269: The prospect of peace had seemed unattainable until the assistance of the Federation. Finally, countless ancient enemies have stopped their conflicts simply by listening to one another. On the planet Voyzr, Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aided the planet to realize peace.

2289: Invited to celebrate twenty years of peace, the crew of the USS Enterprise-A is returning to Voyzr as honored guests. Security Chief Pavel Chekov remembers his visit to the planet as a green ensign. He has always believed the negotiations were too easy, and he wondered if there are people on the planet who still long for war—and have been waiting for just the right moment to upend the peace. Unfortunately, Chekov discovers he is right when he finds himself in the middle of a dangerous ploy.

Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com

FFRF condemns Florida attorney general’s baseless claims of anti-Christian discrimination

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is strongly criticizing Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier for a series of misleading and unconstitutional actions in which he falsely accused private and public institutions of “anti-Christian discrimination.” His recent threats against Microsoft, the American Bar Association and the city of Pensacola represent a troubling misuse of government power and a fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment.

In the span of one week, Uthmeier issued three separate letters accusing these entities of anti-Christian bias. Each claim collapses under basic constitutional scrutiny.

“Florida is not a Christian state and the United States is not a Christian nation. We are all free to believe as we choose, but no one may use public office to enforce religious dogma or punish perceived ideological opponents,” FFRF attorney Chris Line told a reporter for USA Today. “These actions are completely inappropriate. They show the attorney general is willing to use government authority to advance a narrow form of Christianity.”

Uthmeier’s first letter attacked Microsoft for declining to offer nonprofit discounts to so-called “crisis pregnancy centers,” many of which exist solely to promote a religious agenda under the guise of health services. As a private company, Microsoft is free to set its own discount criteria. Government officials cannot force corporations to subsidize religious groups or grant special treatment for particular faiths.

Next, Uthmeier accused the American Bar Association of discrimination for enforcing its longstanding accreditation and equal opportunity standards. Uthmeier contends that by deeming St. Thomas University College of Law noncompliant with its standards, it is showing “animus toward religiously affiliated schools.” Yet the ABA currently approves dozens of religiously affiliated law schools. The ABA’s responsibility is to ensure law schools meet professional and ethical requirements, not to bend accreditation rules to suit the preferences of state politicians.

Finally, Uthmeier threatened the city of Pensacola for allowing a drag performance in a city-owned theater near Christmas. He claimed permitting the show “may amount to religious discrimination” because some performers joke about Christian themes. This position is legally indefensible. The First Amendment protects artistic expression, satire and performances that some individuals may find offensive. A city cannot censor speech simply because it touches on religion or conflicts with an official’s personal beliefs.

These threats echo a broader national push by the Trump administration and allied Christian nationalist groups to frame Christians as a persecuted minority despite holding overwhelming cultural and political power. Christians make up 62 percent of the population, but nearly 90 percent of Congress and are disproportionately represented at every level of government. Claims that Christians are the primary victims of discrimination distort the reality of religious liberty in America.

“Religious freedom requires government neutrality about religion, which protects everyone’s rights,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The attorney general’s actions turn that principle on its head. This is a shocking attempt to weaponize governmental power to privilege one religion over all others and over non-religion. His actions must be condemned by everyone who supports the First Amendment and true religious freedom.”

FFRF warns that these escalating efforts to label ordinary regulations and protected speech as “anti-Christian discrimination” are part of a deliberate attempt to dismantle the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. Americans should be deeply concerned when top officials use public office to impose sectarian preferences or shield religious institutions from accountability.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members nationwide, including more than 2,000  members in Florida. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post FFRF condemns Florida attorney general’s baseless claims of anti-Christian discrimination appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Texas families file new class action lawsuit to stop public school districts throughout Texas from displaying the Ten Commandments

A group of 18 multifaith and nonreligious Texas families filed a class action lawsuit today to stop all Texas public school districts that are not already involved in active litigation or subject to an injunction from displaying the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Even though two federal judges in Texas have ruled that Senate Bill 10 is unconstitutional, school districts across the state continue to display the Ten Commandments. With more than 1,000 school districts in Texas, a class action lawsuit is the most effective way to protect the religious freedom of all Texas public school children and their families.

Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District is the first class action lawsuit and the third lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 10 filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel. In all three cases, the organizations represent Texas families who don’t want their children to be forced to observe and venerate a state-mandated version of the Ten Commandments each school day, in violation of their religious freedom.

The new Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD case is necessary because — even with two federal court injunctions preventing more than two dozen Texas school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments — public school districts continue to violate the constitutional rights of students and their families. The class action lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would stop any public school district not already involved in litigation from displaying the Ten Commandments.

The plaintiff families, which represent a range of faiths and nonreligious backgrounds, attend 16 school districts not named in the previous two cases. The school districts named as defendants include: Argyle, Birdville, Carroll, Clear Creek, Deer Park, Fort Sam Houston, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Katy, Liberty Hill, Magnolia, Medina Valley, Pearland, Prosper, Richardson, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City, and Wylie ISDs. These districts span the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio metropolitan areas.

Quotes from the plaintiffs

“As a Jewish, Christian and Chinese American family, we teach our children to draw strength from many traditions — not to see one as supreme,” said plaintiff Mari Gottlieb (she/her), whose children attend schools in Carroll ISD. “Forcing the Ten Commandments on my kids is indoctrination, undermines my right to guide their beliefs and perpetuates the feelings of exclusion that our ancestors knew all too well.”

“As Unitarian Universalists, our faith is led by equity, compassion and acceptance of all people,” said plaintiff Caitlyn Besser (she/her), whose children attend school in Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD. “The Ten Commandments posters required by S.B. 10 impose a specific religious doctrine on my children, which directly violates our family’s faith.”

“The posters convey to my children, who are already told they are ‘not real Christians’ because they are Mormon, that they are outsiders in their school community,” said plaintiff Briana Pascual-Clement (she/her), whose children attend schools in Prosper ISD. “I never want my kids or anyone else’s kids to be attacked for what they do or do not believe.”

“I send my child to public school because I do not want the government to push religious beliefs and doctrine on my child,” said plaintiff Kasey Malone (she/her), whose child attends school in Katy ISD. “Yet the government is doing just that by elevating Christianity over my child’s nonreligious beliefs.”

Quotes from the legal team

“It’s imperative to protect a captive audience of public school students, including impressionable children as young as kindergartners, from this zealous crusade to turn schools into places of religious indoctrination,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor (she/her), co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “The diversity reflected by the number of religious and nonreligious plaintiffs reveals what a distressing violation of conscience this unconstitutional law is.”

“The courts are clear that forcing displays of the Ten Commandments on Texas students is unconstitutional,” said Chloe Kempf (she/her), attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Yet Texas school districts won’t stop. Enough is enough. With this class action lawsuit, Texans are coming together to say: Students and families — not the government — should decide how or whether they practice their faith.”

“Politicians in Texas should know by now that public schools aren’t Sunday schools,” said Daniel Mach (he/him), director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “Religious liberty belongs to all public school students and families, not just those who embrace some government officials’ preferred scripture.”

“Politicians are abusing their power to advance a religious extremist agenda and impose one narrow set of religious beliefs on Texas school children. Not on our watch,” said Rachel Laser (she/her), president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Our Constitution’s guarantee of church-state separation means that families – not politicians – get to decide if, when and how their children engage with religion.”

“This case is critical to reaffirm a bedrock constitutional principle: public schools cannot be used to advance or endorse any faith,” said Jon Youngwood, Global Co-Chair of the Litigation Department at Simpson Thacher. “Families—not the government—must have the freedom to decide how and when their children engage with religion.”

Ashby v. Schertz-Cibolo-Universal ISD is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Litigation history

The organizations filed their first lawsuit, Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, challenging Senate Bill 10 in July 2025 on behalf of 16 multifaith and nonreligious Texas families. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery issued a preliminary injunction in August preventing the 11 defendant school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments.

Despite the court’s ruling that the displays would be “plainly unconstitutional,” some Texas school districts that weren’t defendants in the Nathan case began to display or announced their intention to begin displaying Ten Commandments posters. In response, the organizations filed a second lawsuit, Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District, on behalf of a new group of 15 multi-faith and nonreligious Texas families who attend 14 of these districts. U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia on Nov. 18, 2025, issued a preliminary injunction requiring those districts to remove the displays by Dec. 1, 2025, and prohibiting them from posting new displays. Throughout this ongoing litigation, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued statements instructing school districts to comply with Senate Bill 10 unless a court has ordered them not to do so, and Paxton has sued three school districts to enforce the law.

The defendants in the Nathan case have appealed that decision and the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has agreed to hear the case (along with a case challenging a similar law in Louisiana) en banc on Jan. 20, 2026. The court injunctions blocking the schools from displaying the Ten Commandments remain in place while the appeal is pending.

Media Contacts:

• ACLU of Texas: Kristi Gross, media@aclutx.org
• ACLU: Ella Wiley, media@aclu.org
• Americans United: Moisés Serrano, media@au.org
• Freedom From Religion Foundation: Sara Tetzloff, tetzloffs@ffrg.org
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP: Caroline Fatchett, mediainquiries@stblaw.com

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members nationwide, including more than 1,800 members in Texas. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post Texas families file new class action lawsuit to stop public school districts throughout Texas from displaying the Ten Commandments appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF solstice display marks 30th year at Wis. state Capitol

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s annual Winter Solstice display, first erected in 1995, is back up in the Wisconsin state Capitol rotunda in Madison for the 30th year in a row.

The freethought display first went up in the legislative seat of the state/church watchdog’s home state in 1995, after a fight with then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, who tore down FFRF’s permitted sign advocating the separation of church and state.

Composed in protest by the group’s principal founder, Anne Nicol Gaylor, the gilt sign reads:

“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.” 

On the back is a tongue-in-cheek admonition, “Thou shalt not steal,” as well as a short poem by 19th century Wisconsin freethinking poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox (of “Laugh and the whole world laughs with you/ Weep and you weep alone” fame), reading:

The World’s Need
So many Gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
When just the art of being kind
Is all this sad world needs

After a Christian nationalist advocacy group began placing a Christian nativity scene at the Capitol, FFRF added a second seasonal display — its own “nativity” — celebrating the birth of the Bill of Rights. The irreverent cutout by artist Jacob Fortin depicts Founders Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington gazing in adoration at a “baby” Bill of Rights while the Statue of Liberty looks on.

A sign reads:

“At this Season of the Winter Solstice, join us in honoring the Bill of Rights, adopted on Dec. 15, 1791, which reminds us that there can be no religious freedom without the freedom to dissent. Keep religion and government separate!”

The exhibits will be up through the end of the month to counter various religious activities and displays in the Capitol.

FFRF reminds Wisconsinites that the Winter Solstice, occurring on Dec. 21, marks the shortest, darkest day of the year, heralding the symbolic rebirth of the sun. It has been celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere for millennia long before Christianity existed, with festivals of lights, evergreens, gift exchanges and seasonal gatherings.

“The Winter Solstice season is for everyone, because it celebrates a natural holiday,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “At this time of the year, there has to be ‘room at the inn’ for the views of the one-third of our population today that is nonreligious or religiously unaffiliated.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national state/church watchdog based in Madison, Wis., has over 41,000 nonreligious members and several chapters all over the country, including more than 1,600 members and a chapter in Wisconsin. Photo by Chris Line. Thanks to FFRF Human Resources Specialist Bella Benoy, Events & Outreach Manager Sadie Pattinson, Legal Intake Assistant Daniel Dossey, along with Attorney Chris Line (photographer).

The post FFRF solstice display marks 30th year at Wis. state Capitol appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

“Star Trek: Early Voyages #1” Review by Latestartrek.substack.com

Latestartrek.substack.com has added a new review for Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton‘s “Star Trek: Early Voyages #1”:

I fell short of my arbitrarily self-imposed weekly publication schedule this week, as I was attending the American Academy of Religion — which produced reflections more suitable for my other blog. I actually considered bringing materials for today’s post with me on the trip, in case any downtime would allow me to share my urgently necessary assessment of Marvel’s Star Trek: Early Voyages (1997-1998). In the end, I decided that lugging a comic omnibus around with me on the off chance I’d have time to blog was… inappropriate. But anyway!

Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com
Buy On Book Depository.com
Find on E-Bay

Thank you for helping FFRF guard ‘the Wall’

Despite the tumultuous political year, we are delighted to report that the Freedom From Religion Foundation is thriving, thanks to you and our community of about 42,000 committed members.

We are attaching our impressive report on FFRF’s accomplishments of our 48th year to date. But please take note: It already needs an update! Just last week, FFRF filed its eleventh lawsuit in the past 12 months, and we’ve won not just three but four cases.

Last week, FFRF filed a significant class action lawsuit to stop the crusade to force the Ten Commandments into every Texas classroom. Even though two federal judges have ruled that the Texas law ordering the displays is unconstitutional, Attorney General Ken Paxton is threatening to sue school districts that are abiding by the Constitution by not posting the biblical edicts. We’ve already sued a number of school districts, but since Texas has 1,200 school districts, a class action lawsuit is an effective way to challenge Paxton. We’re proud to represent 18 nonreligious and multifaith families in our newest lawsuit.

Also last week, FFRF successfully ended a lawsuit challenging a scheme to spend six million tax dollars to put Christian bibles into Oklahoma schools! A judge just threw out that case as moot — because Ryan Walters, the notorious former superintendent, has resigned, and the new superintendent has agreed not to pursue this outrageously unconstitutional action.

Giving an end-of-the-year gift to FFRF is one way you can fight back against the unprecedented assaults against our First Amendment’s principle of separation between state and church. You can be assured that your donation to FFRF, which has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, will go to work to effectively guard the embattled wall of separation between government and religion. Without that wall, all rights and our democracy itself are in jeopardy.

Freedom depends on you — and other freethinkers. To make a donation, deductible for income tax purposes, click here. If you are not currently a member, please join here.

Gratefully,
Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor
Co-Presidents
Freedom from Religion Foundation

Read our Year in Review here!

Read our fundraising letter here!

The post Thank you for helping FFRF guard ‘the Wall’ appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

2026 student essay contests

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has announced its 2026 essay competition for freethinking law students.

Each of these four contests has 10 top prizes: First place $3,500; second place $3,000; third place $2,500; fourth place $2,000; fifth place $1,500; sixth place $1,000; seventh place $750; eighth place $500; ninth place $400; and 10th place $300. FFRF also offers optional honorable mentions of $200.

The contests cater to students in various age and class ranges.

Students may only enter one FFRF contest annually and may not enter a contest if they have previously won an award in that particular contest.

Requirements: Winners may be asked to send verification of student enrollment. Students will be disqualified if they do not follow instructions, including the word limit and the deadline. Students must submit their essays via the online application and carefully review all contest rules. FFRF monitors for plagiarism. Include links or footnotes for quotes, studies cited, or significant facts relied upon. Entrants must verify that the essay is their original work and that AI was not used in the writing of the text (beyond grammar and spellcheck).

• • David Hudak Memorial black, indigenous and persons of color student essay competition – watch for announcement in 2026
  • William Schulz high school essay contest – watch for announcement in 2026
  • Kenneth L. Proulx Memorial essay contest for ongoing college students – watch for announcement in 2026
  • Cornelius Vander Broek graduate/older student essay competition – watch for announcement in 2026
  • Diane and Stephen Uhl Memorial essay competition for law students – Now open. Deadline: January 30, 2026

Diane and Stephen Uhl Memorial Essay Competition for Law Students

2026 First Amendment Scholars – Law Student Essay Competition Generously Donated by Diane and Stephen Uhl

This Year’s Topic: Analyze how the principle of “parental rights” has changed.

Prompt: In 2025 the Supreme Court extended Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), citing it repeatedly in Mahmoud v. Taylor, where the Court sided with religious parents who objected on religious grounds to public school instruction that included books with LGBTQ themes or characters.

In 1,500 words or fewer, analyze how the principle of “parental rights” changes from Yoder to Mahmoud. What other constitutional or societal interests might conflict with this expanded understanding of parental rights in the First Amendment context? Discuss how the Court could or should balance these competing interests in future cases.

DEADLINE: January 30, 2026

The full rules can be found here. Please reach out to FFRF with any questions.

top

All eligible entrants will receive a digital year-long student membership in FFRF.

FFRF appreciates its members who make the effort to contact local high schools, colleges and universities to help publicize its competitions.

FFRF has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979, high school students since 1994, grad students since 2010 and one dedicated to students of color since 2016. A fifth contest, open to law students, began in 2019.

“FFRF is happy to see another generation of freethinkers raising their voices in protest against the continuing threat of Christian nationalism,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The next generation promises to have the greatest population of freethinkers yet, and FFRF is proud to lend its support to keep student advocacy alive and thriving.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With over 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe.

The post 2026 student essay contests appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Happy 2025 Birthday to Andy Mangels!

(no image available)

Happy birthday to Andy Mangels!

Andy Mangels is a writer of many Star Trek novels, in collaboration with Michael A. Martin. Although some of his novels feature the recurring homosexual character of Ranul Keru (ex-lover of Star Trek: First Contact’s Lt. Hawk), contrary to some claims, he is not the first Trek writer to place a homosexual character in a novel (see The Best and the Brightest by Susan Wright for a minor character, and the Star Trek: SCE series of eBooks). Keru is the first significantly-featured homosexual character in paper novels, however, and Mangels (an openly gay man) and Martin have consistently featured characters of a diverse sexuality, as well as diverse ethnicities, religious backgrounds, and physical abilities, in all of their works.

Check out the Andy Mangels credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!

Find Andy Mangels’s work on Amazon.com

Charlie Kirk Law To Change Education In Ohio

Newsweek
By Alia Shoaib

The post Charlie Kirk Law To Change Education In Ohio appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Ohio Bill Aims to Teach Positive Role of Christianity in U.S. History

World Today News
By Emma Walker

The post Ohio Bill Aims to Teach Positive Role of Christianity in U.S. History appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Ohio’s Charlie Kirk education bill has a great preamble. It goes downhill after that.

Religion News Service
By Mark Silk

The post Ohio’s Charlie Kirk education bill has a great preamble. It goes downhill after that. appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Religion, history, and classrooms: Ohio launches Charlie Kirk Act, promoting positive lessons on Christianity in schools

Times of India
By Staff

The post Religion, history, and classrooms: Ohio launches Charlie Kirk Act, promoting positive lessons on Christianity in schools appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

School board faces scrutiny from Freedom From Religion Foundation

Shelby Star (Shelby, NC)
By Rebecca Sitzes

The post School board faces scrutiny from Freedom From Religion Foundation appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

LifeWise’s big red bus is driving thorny questions about church and state

Ohio Capital Journal (Columbus, OH)
By Linda Jacobson

The post LifeWise’s big red bus is driving thorny questions about church and state appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

School Bans Youth Pastors From Talking About Jesus

Todd Starnes
By Todd Starnes

The post School Bans Youth Pastors From Talking About Jesus appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

DTI Treklit Investigation for the week of December 2, 2025

Here’s a look at the books printed this week in the past.

Star Trek Book Deals For December 2025

 
This month’s ebook deals have landed with 26 books on sale for $1.99 each, books that have never been on sale are in bold:
 
 

Star Trek 17: Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
Star Trek: 13 The Wounded Sky
Star Trek: 23 Ishmael
Star Trek: 25 Dwellers In The Crucible
Star Trek: 39 The Yesterday Saga Book 2: Time For Yesterday
Star Trek: 80 The Joy Machine
Star Trek: Academy: Collision Course
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Ascendance
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Day Of Honor 2: Armageddon Sky
Star Trek: Destiny Book 3: Lost Souls
Star Trek: Enterprise: Daedalus’s Children
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Star Trek: Myriad Universes: Echoes and Refractions
Star Trek: Section 31: Control
Star Trek: Spock’s World
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward The Night
Star Trek: Strangers From The Sky
Star Trek: The Next Generation: 13 The Eyes Of The Beholders
Star Trek: The Next Generation: 36 Into The Nebula
Star Trek: The Next Generation: 39 Rogue Saucer
Star Trek: The Next Generation: 7 Masks
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Vendetta
Star Trek: The Original Series: No Time Like the Past
Star Trek: The Original Series: Savage Trade
Star Trek: Titan: Orion’s Hounds
Star Trek: Titan: The Red King

FFRF’s new video interview podcast begins with convention recap special! Two ways to watch!

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is pleased to announce that, starting with its Thanksgiving 2025 episode (available now), Freethought Radio podcast interviews will be available not just in audio format but also via video as “Freethought Radio: In Studio.” The first “In Studio” show is a timeless recap featuring video highlights from major FFRF 2025 convention speeches.

Many of you have contacted FFRF to tell us you miss our TV interview program, “Freethought Matters,” which aired in several cities and on YouTube for seven years. Freethought Radio, which has been broadcast and podcast weekly since 2006, already includes a 20-minute major interview segment. Going forward, interviews with authors, activists and newsmakers by FFRF Co-Presidents and co-hosts Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor will be recorded and available on FFRF’s YouTube channel and on its new app, Freethought TV.

You can access all of FFRF’s extensive video content — including major convention speeches over the years, “Freethought Matters” TV interviews, classic “Ask an Atheist” episodes and brand new episodes of  “Secular Spotlight” — via the app on your smart TV or other devices. It’s easy to install and completely free. Freethought TV is already available via Roku and Amazon Fire TV; other platforms, such as Samsung, LG and Apple TV, will be available soon. Visit freethoughttv.ffrf.org for more information.

In this Thanksgiving episode, as a special treat, the co-hosts selected highlights of the riveting and entertaining speeches (and music) from the 48th annual national convention of the Freedom From Religion Foundation in October. The show features video excerpts from the prominent convention speakers and awardees, including leading pro-democracy, anti-Christian nationalist authors, nationally significant abortion rights advocates, a roster of appealing student essayists and activists, plus New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, satirist Roy Zimmerman, comedian and actor John Fogelsang and Emperor Has No Award honoree Mary L. Trump.

Now, you’ll be able to watch — not just listen — to interviews of all of Freethought Radio’s forthcoming guests, which play on the second half of the program.

And of course, those who prefer just to continue listening to the entire Freethought Radio show, including the Thanksgiving special, can still do so at ffrf.org/radio or wherever you get your podcasts. The show has had almost 2 million total downloads since it began, averaging 25,000 a month. (The first two news segments, when Dan and Annie Laurie usually recount FFRF news of the week and comment on other news developments, will typically remain audio-only.) The podcast also plays on about 13 radio stations. To find out if one is in your area, visit ffrf.org/radio.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

The post FFRF’s new video interview podcast begins with convention recap special! Two ways to watch! appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

“Star Trek: Red Shirts #4” Review by Positivelytrek.com

Positivelytrek.com has added a new review for Christopher Cantwell‘s “Star Trek: Red Shirts #4”:

It was a busy month for Star Trek comics, but we are up to this monumental task! In this episode of Positively Trek, hosts Dan and Brandi discuss Red Shirts #4, Lower Decks #13, Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation #3, The Last Starship #2, and Voyager: Homecoming #3.

Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com
Buy On Book Depository.com
Find on E-Bay

New Star Trek Book: “Star Trek: Deviations: Threads of Destiny #1”

Star Trek: Deviations: Threads of Destiny #1 by Stephanie Williams has been added to the Star Trek Book Club!

This special one-shot features Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. In the 23rd century, she explores far-flung star systems with her crew on the Enterprise as part of her mission to communicate and build bridges with life found across the Galaxy. But in the 20th century, humankind was working to build understanding among themselves, with African Americans on Earth championing the Civil Rights Movement and using their voices and acts of protest to end racial segregation and discrimination.

Now, by way of the Guardian of Forever, Uhura is yanked back through time to 1963. There, she’ll join all those fighting for equality and justice and reconnect to why her work as a communications officer is perhaps the most important work of all.

The book is currently scheduled to be published on February 25, 2026

Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com

“Star Trek: Lower Decks, Vol. 1: Second Contact” Review by Unseenlibrary.com

Unseenlibrary.com has added a new review for Derek Charm and Ryan North‘s “Star Trek: Lower Decks, Vol. 1: Second Contact”:

I’ve been a little slack with my comic book reading in 2025, but one of the things I was unable to turn down was the first volume of a comic series provide new adventures for one of my favourite Star Trek television series, the comedic Lower Decks animated series. Second Contact is the first volume of the 2024 IDW Lower Decks ongoing comic series, which follows on from the previously released miniseries. Written by veteran comic author Ryan North and featuring art from Derek Charm and Jack Lawrence, Second Contact features issues #1-6 of this new series and contains three fantastic and awesome adventures of the chaotic crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos.

Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com
Buy On Book Depository.com
Find on E-Bay

New Star Trek Comic Books Announced To Preorder! November 2025 Edition

IDW Catalog 2025-12

IDW December 2025 Catalog

 

Star Trek: Deviations: Threads of Destiny #1

This special one-shot features Lieutenant Nyota Uhura. In the 23rd century, she explores far-flung star systems with her crew on the Enterprise as part of her mission to communicate and build bridges with life found across the Galaxy. But in the 20th century, humankind was working to build understanding among themselves, with African Americans on Earth championing the Civil Rights Movement and using their voices and acts of protest to end racial segregation and discrimination.

Now, by way of the Guardian of Forever, Uhura is yanked back through time to 1963. There, she’ll join all those fighting for equality and justice and reconnect to why her work as a communications officer is perhaps the most important work of all.

Star Trek: Lower Decks #16

Just as the case of the missing Laapeerians was about to come together, the Cerritos was heavily damaged in a dogfight against an unidentified vessel and forced to return to Federation space…without the away team.

Repairs on the Cerritos are bound to take weeks, but Captain Freeman and Mariner aren’t about to sit around and wait when they have an abandoned away team to rescue—especially one under Boimler’s command.

Together, they formulate a heist to steal a decommissioned starship and mount a daring rescue before their unknown assailants blast Laapoonia, and their crew members, away.

Star Trek: The Last Starship #5

The Federation’s delegates have gathered. The Babel conference is on. Together, they aim to save Starfleet and bring peace to all quadrants. But while Captain Sato and the crew of the U.S.S. Omega have only experienced the passage of time as four months within their transwarp bubble, for the rest of the galaxy, it’s been 23 years.

For 23 years, the delegates have been left to their own devices, to stew in their own machinations and to make new allegiances…and while the U.S.S. Omega may have brought them all together, the Burn has forced them apart. Not all want to broker peace, and someone who was once closest to Starfleet may become its greatest adversary…

Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #5

The conclusion we’ve all been waiting for! One last epic, soaring moment with the crew of the Voyager awaits…

Captain Janeway and her crew are prisoners of Species 8472 on their organic, ever-changing ship, and the Voyager is similarly snared in its clutches. But not all is lost. Imprisoned with them are the rebel Species 8472 who once posed as Starfleet members Boothby and Archer—and they hold the secret to their escape.

All that stands between them and their homecoming now is Species 8472’s revenge-bent captain…and the issue of how to open up a singularity into Earth’s space.

Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming TPB

Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew are back for one last adventure in celebration of Voyager’s 30th anniversary, giving fans of the series the finale they’ve always wanted!

Picking up where the series finale left off, Voyager has just returned to Earth. Everyone is looking forward to reuniting with their friends and family after the crucibles they’ve faced—but there is a deadly secret in store, one that takes the crew far from home. Voyager delves back into the breach, all those aboard determined to make it back to their loved ones no matter what, even if there’s hell to pay.

Star Trek: Prodigy consultants Tilly and Susan Bridges have teamed up with Sons of Star Trek artist Angel Hernandez to spin a heart-pounding tale that pays homage to all that came before and delivers the ending fans have waited decades for.

Preview of “Star Trek: Red Shirts #5”

Here’s a preview of Star Trek: Red Shirts #5 by Christopher Cantwell which is due to be released this Wednesday on December 3, 2025 at your local comic shop and digital retailers:

Only two red shirts remain. The other ten crewmembers on Mission Squawkbox have plummeted hundreds of feet to the ground, been eaten alive by giant alien insects, or been exploded into a million tiny bits by falling torpedoes. Each death has dealt a blow to Ensigns Raad’s and Miller’s morale… Is Starfleet really the paragon of cooperation it claims to be? Or is it willing to expend its members’ lives for the sake of peace? With both Klingons and Romulans breathing down their necks, Raad’s and Miller’s loyalty will be tested. Are they for Starfleet? Or themselves?

Happy 2025 Birthday to Melinda Snodgrass!

(no image available)

Happy birthday to Melinda Snodgrass!

Melinda M. Snodgrass is a writer who worked on several stories and teleplays for Star Trek: The Next Generation. She was also a story editor for The Next Generation during the second season and an executive script consultant on the third season. Her script for “The Measure Of A Man” was unsolicited, the first such script to be produced for The Next Generation. It was also one of the first scripts that she ever wrote. (Peter Lauritson, TNG Season 2 DVD special feature “Departmental Briefing Year Two: Memorable Mission – The Measure Of A Man”)

Check out the Melinda Snodgrass credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!

Find Melinda Snodgrass’s work on Amazon.com

DTI Comic Book Investigation for the week of November 27, 2025

Here are all the comics printed this week in years past.

Freethought Radio – November 27, 2025

We are thankful for the many speakers and performers at FFRF’s 48th annual convention. We listen to 20 clips from that entertaining and enlightening event.

The post Freethought Radio – November 27, 2025 appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF launches new secular streaming entertainment service

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proudly launching Freethought TV, a free and innovative streaming service delivering bold, thought-provoking secular content to your living room — completely free of charge.

Designed for smart TVs, streaming sticks and mobile devices, Freethought TV provides on-demand access to the latest FFRF programming, alongside an expansive archive of hundreds of classic episodes produced in-house over the years. The platform offers a dynamic mix of informative, inspiring and entertaining content aimed at freethinkers, skeptics and anyone curious about secular perspectives.

“Freethought TV is more than a streaming service — it’s a hub for reason, critical inquiry and celebration of the First Amendment,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “We’re giving the public direct access to a rich library of secular programming, empowering viewers to explore and engage with a wide spectrum of freethought voices.”

Freethought TV will feature new FFRF content like “Secular Spotlight” and “Freethought Radio” video interviews, as well as complete seasons of classic shows like “Freethought Matters” and “Ask An Atheist.” In addition, the channel features speeches by major figures, authors and activists from FFRF national conventions, as well as musical and seasonal specials. There’s also a section called “Greatest Hits,” which features the most popular FFRF videos of all time.

The app is available on Roku, Google TV, Fire TV and Android smartphones. Versions of Freethought TV for Samsung, LG, AppleTV and iPhones will be announced soon. 

With a built-in search function and an optional free personal account, users can instantly find and bookmark their favorite episodes. Freethought TV is simple to install — just search for “Freethought TV” in your device’s app store and follow the easy prompts to start streaming immediately.

Barker notes that Freethought TV is the only streaming app on any major platform exclusively dedicated to the concerns of atheists, agnostics and other freethinkers. 

“There are scores of streaming channels out there run by megachurches and religious broadcasters,” Barker, a former minister-turned-atheist, notes.“Right now, Freethought TV is a lone voice for reason in a sea of religious propaganda.”

“We like to call it ‘free content for free minds,’” he adds.

For more information about Freethought TV, and specific instructions for installing the app on your device, visit us at freethoughttv.ffrf.org/.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With about 42,000 dues-paying members, FFRF is the largest freethought association in North America.  For more information, visit ffrf.org.

The post FFRF launches new secular streaming entertainment service appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

At U. Arkansas teach-in, speakers denounce Ten Commandments posters as ‘clearly unconstitutional’

The College Fix
By Marcy Brookhouser

The post At U. Arkansas teach-in, speakers denounce Ten Commandments posters as ‘clearly unconstitutional’ appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Oklahoma court tosses lawsuit over Bibles in the classroom after state refuses to enforce mandate

The Independent
By Katie Hawkinson

The post Oklahoma court tosses lawsuit over Bibles in the classroom after state refuses to enforce mandate appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Oklahoma Supreme Court tosses Bible mandate suit

Oklahoma City Free Press (Oklahoma City, OK)
By Janelle Stecklein

The post Oklahoma Supreme Court tosses Bible mandate suit appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

A Call for a New Media Strategy

The Humanist
Transcript of speech by Hemant Mehta

The post A Call for a New Media Strategy appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Death penalty has no place: Freethinkers destroyed it

Freethinkers International
By Jan Bryxí

The post Death penalty has no place: Freethinkers destroyed it appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Out Today: “Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #3”

Out today: “Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #3“, by Susan Bridges and Tilly Bridges.

To save the Federation—and the entire Alpha Quadrant—Captain Janeway made the ultimate sacrifice: deleting Species 8472’s data on opening a singularity into normal space. Now, Voyager is stranded in fluidic space…and 8472 wants them dead.

Hunted by a relentless alien fleet, Janeway and her crew go on the run, weaving through planets and asteroid fields in a desperate bid to survive. But just as hope begins to fade, Voyager’s sensors detect something unexpected: the wreckage of a Borg cube.

Is it a lifeline back to the galaxy they call home…or the beginning of an even greater threat?

Buy From Things From Another World
Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com

La. school district upholds student freedom of conscience after FFRF complaint

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

After the Freedom From Religion Foundation contacted the Benton, La.-based Bossier Parish Schools system to complain about a local church soliciting students to join a youth group, a thorough district-led investigation has put a stop to any unconstitutional activity.

A concerned parent reported that Benton Middle School allowed Cypress Baptist Church members to come into the school during lunch to encourage students to attend the church’s Wednesday night youth group. Cypress Baptist Church’s website explicitly states that it “strives to love God and love people by evangelizing students.” 

FFRF wrote to the district to let it know that church representatives should not be given special access to proselytize students.

“The District cannot allow its schools to be used as recruiting grounds for churches and certainly not during the school day, including the lunch period when students are still under the care and control of the school,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude wrote.

The district serves a diverse population that consists not only of Christian students, families and employees but also of atheists, agnostics, members of minority faiths and those who are simply religiously unaffiliated. Providing a Christian group preferential access during the school day sends an official message that excludes all nonreligious district students and community members, and those religious students who don’t follow the Christian religion. More than half of Generation Z (those born after 1996) is non-Christian, including 43 percent who are religiously unaffiliated.

Not only did the district respond to FFRF, but it also proved willing to stand up for students’ freedom of conscience. 

FFRF received a letter from Neal L. Johnson, Jr., who serves as the school district’s legal representative, detailing the steps the district took after receiving FFRF’s letter, including an in-depth investigation.

“First, the safety, welfare, and constitutional rights of students are of paramount importance to the Bossier Parish School Board,” Johnson wrote. “The school board takes every allegation seriously and strives to investigate all complaints, anonymous or otherwise.” 

The school board representative who led the investigation spoke with both the principal of Benton Middle School and the pastor at Cypress Baptist Church. During the investigation, the principal affirmed the policy that no religious organization is to be given special access to the campus. When any representative from a religious organization requests to visit the campus, that person must first meet with the principal to discuss the reason. The principal said they make it abundantly clear that these representatives cannot promote their religious viewpoints or invite students to attend a service for their religious organization.

As an additional measure in the investigation, the principal was granted the authority by a parent of a student to speak with the student regarding comments from Cypress Point youth pastors that troubled the student. The investigation revealed that the youth pastors confirmed they had invited students to a dodgeball tournament at the church in August, and on another occasion, confirmed to students they would be smashing a car at the church that evening. 

“The principal reminded the pastors that they are to refrain from any church invitations, recruitment or religious references,” Johnson wrote.

The district representative also spoke with the church’s pastor, who confirmed that he was aware that when youth pastors go to campus, any communication with students must be secular in nature, and the youth pastors were also aware of this. Regardless, the point was reinforced to all members of the church.

Finally, the complaint was brought before the school board’s Religious Monitoring Committee, which reviewed the complaint and investigation. The committee instructed Johnson to explain the detailed investigation, and to inform FFRF that the committee “stand[s] ready to investigate and resolve this and any future complaint that may come to their attention.” 

FFRF is pleased that the district took the complaint seriously and put in the legwork to ensure that students’ rights will no longer be violated.

“It is encouraging to see a district work so thoroughly to protect the First Amendment after a violation occurred,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “Students deserve a space to be free from religious coercion, and knowing that the Bossier Parish School was willing to defend that space is encouraging.” 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members across the country, including more than 100 members in Louisiana. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post La. school district upholds student freedom of conscience after FFRF complaint appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF warns of alarming attempt to gut Johnson Amendment through Trump-era IRS settlement

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is warning that a fringe Christian nationalist effort, bolstered by Donald Trump’s IRS, is attempting to dismantle the Johnson Amendment. This federal law bars tax-exempt nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates.

Today, a federal court will consider a proposed settlement between the IRS and two churches represented by Christian nationalist activist Michael Farris, the former CEO and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, another Christian nationalist outfit. The proposal represents a stunning decision to openly abandon enforcement of the Johnson Amendment for churches, which could effectively turn them into unregulated political action committees subsidized by taxpayers.
“This is a blatant end-run designed to turn churches into political machines fueled by dark,  tax-deductible money,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The IRS has no authority to overturn a law passed by Congress, and the court shouldn’t let it try.”

The Johnson Amendment has overwhelmingly popular support: Nonprofits can speak on issues but cannot engage in partisan politicking while receiving special tax privileges. In 2022, Pew Research found that “about three-quarters of U.S. adults (77 percent) say that churches and other houses of worship should not endorse candidates for political offices. Two-thirds (67 percent) say that religious institutions should keep out of political matters rather than expressing their views on day-to-day social or political questions.”

FFRF sued Trump and the IRS in 2017 after Trump signed an executive order that falsely claimed to “get rid of the Johnson Amendment.” FFRF’s attorneys successfully persuaded the Trump administration to acknowledge in court that the president lacked the authority to revoke a congressional statute by executive fiat. The IRS’ current action similarly cannot invalidate a constitutional law passed by Congress. FFRF also successfully sued the IRS in 2012 to compel it to enforce its own regulations barring tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofits from engaging in partisan political activity.

Thirteen members of Congress, led by Reps. Jared Huffman and Jamie Raskin, have demanded that the IRS withdraw the settlement, calling it “a transparent end-run around Congress.”

Their letter states:“This reinterpretation is not permissible under the statute as enacted and sustained by Congress; presents serious constitutional concerns as a potential violation of the Equal Protection Clause; fails to disclose any fiscal effects of reinterpreting the law; and sidelines the principled and compelling opposition expressed by thousands of nonprofits, houses of worship and faith-based organizations that would be harmed by adopting this proposal.”

Adds Gaylor, “The court must not rubber-stamp this scheme.

“Our elections and very democracy are at stake.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

The post FFRF warns of alarming attempt to gut Johnson Amendment through Trump-era IRS settlement appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Freedom From Religion Foundation announces 2026 law student essay contest

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is excited to announce the 2026 First Amendment Scholars Diane and Stephen Uhl Memorial Essay Competition for Law School Students, with a top prize of $4,000!

Law school students are being asked to respond to the 2025 Supreme Court decision of Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which the court sided with religious parents who objected on religious grounds to public school instruction that included books with LGBTQ-plus themes or characters. Students are also asked to analyze how the principle of “parental rights” has changed from the previous decision, Wisconsin v. Yoder, and to discuss how the court could or should balance competing interests between the expanded understanding of parental rights in the context of the First Amendment in future cases.

FFRF will award cash prizes to the top three essayists ($4,000, $3,000, $2,000) and optional honorable mentions ($500). All eligible entrants will also receive a one-year complimentary student membership to FFRF, which includes a digital version of 10 issues of its newspaper Freethought Today.

Essays will be blinded to avoid unintentional bias. A selection of FFRF attorneys will be on the review panel. 

The contest is open to all current law students attending a North American law school. Students will remain eligible to enter even if they are to graduate from law school by the spring or summer of 2026. They are not eligible to enter if they will just be starting law school for the first time in the fall of 2026. They may not re-enter if FFRF has already awarded them for a law student essay.

Any entries must be the original work of the entrant and not the result of AI (ChatGPT or other large language models), plagiarism or ghostwriting.

Essay must be no longer than 1,500 words (not including footnotes), double-spaced, with standard margins and with font size of 11 to 14 point. Include page numbers and the title of your essay on each page. Choose your own title. Indicate word length at the end of the essay. To apply, go to: surveymonkey.com/r/lawstudentessay

The deadline for entry is Jan. 30, 2026. For complete rules and eligibility requirements, or to enter the contest, click here.

“Young Gen Z attorneys will pave the way,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “With a rogue court going unchecked, the future of law needs students willing to stand up for true religious liberty and the separation of state and church.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation strongly encourages law students to enter the contest. The state/church association offers five other essay contests for other grade levels, which are announced in March. FFRF has bestowed more than $130,000 in 2025 to winning student essayists and student activists. 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With about 42,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

The post Freedom From Religion Foundation announces 2026 law student essay contest appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Susan and Tilly Bridges talk Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming! #startrek #idwcomics

Happy 2025 Birthday to Tony Daniel!

(no image available)

Happy birthday to Tony Daniel!

Tony Daniel is the author of the Pocket TOS novels Devil’s Bargain and Savage Trade.

Daniel was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and currently lives in Raleigh North Carolina. He has a wife and two children. His first novel was the 1991 Candle, republished in 1993 as Warpath, which is about the settlement of other star systems by Native Americans.

An editor at Baen Books, he has authored a number of non-Trek novels and short stories. He has been nominated for a Hugo Award for his short story Life on the Moon in 1996.

Check out the Tony Daniel credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!

Find Tony Daniel’s work on Amazon.com

Ten Commandments Have a December 1 Deadline for Some Texas School Districts

KSST Radio (Sulphur Springs, TX)
By Staff

The post Ten Commandments Have a December 1 Deadline for Some Texas School Districts appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The government services one Wyoming lawmaker thinks churches can take a lead on

Wyoming Public Media (Laramie, WY)
By Chris Clements

The post The government services one Wyoming lawmaker thinks churches can take a lead on appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Critics say DHS ‘For God & Country’ video crosses a dangerous line

Straight Arrow News
By Krystal Nurse

The post Critics say DHS ‘For God & Country’ video crosses a dangerous line appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

DTI Treklit Investigation for the week of November 25, 2025

Here’s a look at the books printed this week in the past.

Heather Antos on Cryptidcreatorcorner.com discussing “Star Trek”

(no image available)

Heather Antos was recently featured on Cryptidcreatorcorner.com to discuss Star Trek:

This is an incredible episode today as Jimmy welcomes Heather Antos on the podcast. Heather’s name has been mentioned more than a few times on the podcast over the years as an editor on some of our favorite comics. Heather talks about how she got into comics, her work at Marvel, her role at IDW, Star Trek comics, the new IDW Dark line, her editing of creator-owned comics like the fantastic Bug Wars, and a whole lot more!

Check out the Heather Antos author page to view other sightings and a full list of books!

Buy on Amazon.com
Find on E-Bay

Preview of “Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #3”

Here’s a preview of Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #3 by Susan Bridges and Tilly Bridges which is due to be released this Wednesday on November 26, 2025 at your local comic shop and digital retailers:

To save the Federation—and the entire Alpha Quadrant—Captain Janeway made the ultimate sacrifice: deleting Species 8472’s data on opening a singularity into normal space. Now, Voyager is stranded in fluidic space…and 8472 wants them dead.

Hunted by a relentless alien fleet, Janeway and her crew go on the run, weaving through planets and asteroid fields in a desperate bid to survive. But just as hope begins to fade, Voyager’s sensors detect something unexpected: the wreckage of a Borg cube.

Is it a lifeline back to the galaxy they call home…or the beginning of an even greater threat?

 

[Trailer] The Illustrator: The Art of Steve Erwin

Last Chance: Star Trek Book Deals For November 2025

Here’s your last chance to grab this month’s deal, there’s over 20 books for just $1.99!

Watch the prices on these, they’re being advertised as being on sale, but a couple of them are a pretty extreme $14.99, with only three books at the “normal” $1.99. Maybe the prices will drop?

Star Trek 7: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek: 15 Corona
Star Trek: 2 The Entropy Effect
Star Trek: 20 The Vulcan Academy Murders
Star Trek: 38 The Idic Epidemic
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Section 31: Abyss
Star Trek: Enterprise: Shockwave
Star Trek: Errand of Fury Book 1: Seeds Of Rage – $1.99
Star Trek: Mirror Universe: Rise Like Lions
Star Trek: Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows – $1.99
Star Trek: Picard: Rogue Elements
Star Trek: Section 31: Cloak
Star Trek: Section 31: Disavowed
Star Trek: The Next Generation: 47 The Q Continuum 1: Q-Space – $1.99
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31: Rogue
Star Trek: The Original Series: Seasons of Light and Darkness
Star Trek: Titan: Over a Torrent Sea
Star Trek: Titan: Taking Wing
Star Trek: To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh
Star Trek: VI The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: Voyager: Section 31: Shadow

Happy 2025 Birthday to Dave Stern!

(no image available)

Happy birthday to Dave Stern!

Dave Stern is a Star Trek author and editor living in Massachusetts.

Writer of a number of stories in the universe, his first contribution was for DC Comics co-writing the eighteenth issue of their second TNG volume, “Forbidden Fruit”. Not long after, he wrote the audio adventure Transformations for George Takei.

Stern was also an editor on the Pocket Books Star Trek line, and worked heavily on the Enterprise series of novels, writing five of the tie-in books.

Most recently, he wrote the Original Series novel, The Children of Kings, and was hired on by Stardock to oversee creative storytelling and lore implementation for their Elemental: War of Magic game.

Check out the Dave Stern credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!

Find Dave Stern’s work on Amazon.com

FFRF ends coach-led prayer in Ohio school district

The Freedom From Religion Foundation stood up for the First Amendment rights of student athletes in Lake Local Schools, after a cross country coach in the Uniontown, Ohio, school district led students in prayer before meets.

A concerned district parent reported that a cross country coach at Lake Middle High School told the team, “Let’s continue to pray before every meet like last year.” FFRF also was informed that coach-led prayer was common across sports teams in the district. 

FFRF’s parent-complainant and student complainant reported feeling helpless, awkward and embarrassed that the child was forced either to pray against their own conscience or risk ostracization by not participating in the unconstitutional prayer.

FFRF stepped in to remind the district of their obligation to remain secular. 

“It is unrealistic and unconstitutional to put student athletes to the choice of allowing their constitutional rights to be violated in order to maintain good standing in the eyes of their coach and peers or openly dissenting at the risk of retaliation from their coach and teammates,” FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg wrote. 

Student athletes have the First Amendment right to be free from religious indoctrination when participating in their public school’s athletics program. Here, the coach clearly crossed the constitutional line by pressuring students, while acting in her official capacity as a district employee, to engage in prayer. The coach’s actions are particularly troubling for those parents and students who are not Christians or do not subscribe to any religion. Nearly half of Gen Z (those born after 1996) are nonreligious, so this likely represents a significant number of students in the district.

FFRF’s efforts proved successful, and the district superintendent confirmed that student rights would be respected going forward. 

“While employees maintain their individual right to pray, no district employees will lead student athletes in prayer,” Superintendent Brett Yeagley wrote via email. “The district met with all head coaches on Friday, September 12th, as part of our previously scheduled professional development day to ensure this important matter is addressed and expectations are clearly communicated.”

FFRF is glad to see the district put a stop to coercive prayer practices.

“No student should be forced to pray to play, ” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said. “Students deserve a space where they can be free from religious influence while honing their skills — both on and off the field. It’s not only FFRF that believes that —  state/church separation is a foundational principle in our Constitution.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 1,100 members and two chapters in Ohio. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post FFRF ends coach-led prayer in Ohio school district appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF alarmed after Fla. adoption of Heritage Foundation’s anti-education framework

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is sounding the alarm about the Florida Board of Education’s recent adoption of the Heritage Foundation’s “Phoenix Declaration.”

This document is a vague but ideologically loaded framework that threatens the integrity of public education and opens the door to religiously motivated political interference in Florida’s schools. On Nov. 13, the Florida Board of Education unanimously voted to ratify and adopt the “Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.” The declaration was authored by the Heritage Foundation, the group behind Project 2025, which aims to dismantle civil rights protections, weaken the federal government and promote religious favoritism. Several of the declaration’s principles echo Project 2025’s proposals to expand school vouchers, promote religious instruction with public funds, and curtail diversity and civil rights efforts.

“On its surface, the Phoenix Declaration wraps itself in pleasant language about truth, virtue and goodness,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Underneath, it is a Trojan horse for Christian nationalist ideology and a blueprint for undermining public education in favor of conservative religious priorities.”

The declaration includes several statements that appear benign on their face but reveal a deeper ideological agenda when read in context.

On “objective truth” and morality, the document states: “Students should learn that there is objective truth and that it is knowable. Science courses must be grounded in reality, not ideological fads. Students should learn that good and evil exist, and that human beings have the capacity and duty to choose good.”

Language like this has been routinely used by Christian nationalist groups to cast evidence-based teaching about gender, sexuality and modern science as “ideological fads,” while elevating religious beliefs about morality as neutral “truth.”

On cultural transmission, the declaration asserts: “True progress comes only by building on what has been learned and achieved in the past. Students should therefore learn about America’s founding principles and roots in the broader Western and Judeo-Christian traditions.”

This explicitly frames public education through a sectarian lens. The United States is not founded on “Judeo-Christian traditions” as a governing principle, and public schools cannot privilege one religious heritage over the nation’s actual pluralistic history.

On civics and patriotism, it promotes the “revival” of rituals such as the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem, stating: “Our shared civic rituals, such as the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem, should be respected and revived.”

Public schools already teach civics and many include patriotic observances while also respecting students’ constitutional right not to participate. Positioning these rituals as in need of a revival echoes the Heritage Foundation’s broader narrative that public schools have abandoned patriotism, a claim unsupported by evidence and used to justify its proposed ideological interventions.

Multiple citizens attended the Florida Board of Education’s meeting to object, calling the Phoenix Declaration “white Christian nationalist ideology.”

“It’s clear that the Phoenix Declaration is not an educational framework. It is a political document shrouded in inspirational language,” says Gaylor. “Public schools exist to educate, not to indoctrinate students into the Heritage Foundation’s preferred religious or political ideology.”

Several drafting committee members and signatories of the declaration represent organizations openly committed to religious education, Christian nationalism or the dismantling of secular public institutions. Their involvement reveals the project’s true intention: reshaping public schools to reflect conservative religious priorities and undermining the constitutional precept that the government must remain neutral on matters of religion.

“Every child in Florida deserves a high-quality, fully funded, secular public education,” adds Gaylor. “They deserve science grounded in evidence, history grounded in facts and civics grounded in constitutional principles, not a religiously infused political program that uses schools as a battleground for culture war agendas.”

FFRF urges Floridians to report any constitutional violations that arise as the Phoenix Declaration begins to influence curriculum, policy and teacher training in Florida. FFRF will continue to monitor implementation and stand up for the rights of Florida’s students and families to receive an education free from religious coercion and manipulation.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 2,000 members and a chapter in Florida. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post FFRF alarmed after Fla. adoption of Heritage Foundation’s anti-education framework appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Ten Commandments displays blocked again by court order

Baptist News Global
By Jeff Brumley

The post Ten Commandments displays blocked again by court order appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Ohio GOP advance public school religion bills; Democrats call it overreach

Cleveland.com (Cleveland, OH)
By Laura Hancock

The post Ohio GOP advance public school religion bills; Democrats call it overreach appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Exposed: Federal overreach hits Texas classrooms AGAIN

Glenn Beck News
By Staff

The post Exposed: Federal overreach hits Texas classrooms AGAIN appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Texas Judge Orders Schools to Remove Ten Commandments Displays

Catholics for Catholics
By Staff

The post Texas Judge Orders Schools to Remove Ten Commandments Displays appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

North Texas districts must remove Ten Commandments posters after federal judge’s ruling

Texas Metro News
By Staff

The post North Texas districts must remove Ten Commandments posters after federal judge’s ruling appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The Team Behind ‘The Last Starship’ Break Down Their Audacious New ‘Star Trek’ Comic

Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Heather Antos sit down with io9 to talk about bringing Captain Kirk back from the grave, and more, in ‘The Last Starship’.

Happy 2025 Birthday to Christie Golden!

(no image available)

Happy birthday to Christie Golden!

Award-winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Among her many projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels and several original fantasy novels. An avid player of World of Warcraft, she has written two manga short stories and several novels in that world (Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King) with a trilogy in the works. She has also written the StarCraft Dark Templar Trilogy, Firstborn, Shadow Hunters, and Twilight. Golden is currently writing three books in the major nine-book Star Wars series Fate of the Jedi, in collaboration with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Her first book in the series, Omen, is slated for publication in July of 2009. Golden lives in Colorado with her husband and two cats.

Check out the Christie Golden credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!

Find Christie Golden’s work on Amazon.com

‘We Dissent’ tackles the Supreme Court case on “conversion therapy”

The newest episode of “We Dissent” takes on a difficult topic — the potential overturn of a ban on “conversion therapy” for minors.

On Episode 48, FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell and Americans United Legal Director Rebecca Markert cover Chiles v. Salazar, the case before the Supreme Court seeking to strike down a Colorado law banning mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy on children. They explain the details of the case and discuss the hypocrisy of a ruling striking down the ban. The duo also recounts the Oct. 7 oral arguments, where the majority of justices signaled support for a ruling that will nullify state laws in half the country protecting LGBTQ-plus youth from these discredited and harmful practices.

“We Dissent,” which first aired in May 2022, is a legal affairs show for atheists, agnostics and humanists, offering legal wisdom from the secular viewpoint of women lawyers. The show is a collaboration of the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Americans United.

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, YouTube channel, 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!

The post ‘We Dissent’ tackles the Supreme Court case on “conversion therapy” appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Freethought Radio – November 20, 2025

Herb Silverman tells us how he fought the state of South Carolina to allow atheists to run for public office, and Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, describes the state of abortion rights across the country.

The post Freethought Radio – November 20, 2025 appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Liberals rejoice after Clinton judge blocks Texas law requiring 10 Commandments in schools

Blaze Media
By Joseph Mackinnon

The post Liberals rejoice after Clinton judge blocks Texas law requiring 10 Commandments in schools appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Texas Judge Orders Removal of Ten Commandments Displays in Schools

El-Balad
By Bassyonni

The post Texas Judge Orders Removal of Ten Commandments Displays in Schools appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Federal judge orders schools from 14 Texas districts to remove Ten Commandments displays, citing First Amendment

Click 2 Houston (Houston, TX)
By Isa Gonzalez-Montilla

The post Federal judge orders schools from 14 Texas districts to remove Ten Commandments displays, citing First Amendment appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Judge orders Texas schools to remove Ten Commandments displays

The Christian Post
By Ian M. Giatti

The post Judge orders Texas schools to remove Ten Commandments displays appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

More Texas school districts ordered to take down Ten Commandments displays

K-12 Dive
By Anna Merod

The post More Texas school districts ordered to take down Ten Commandments displays appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Parents’ rights groups, backed by conservative funders, bring the fight to Maine school boards

Central Maine
By Emily Duggan

The post Parents’ rights groups, backed by conservative funders, bring the fight to Maine school boards appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

DTI Comic Book Investigation for the week of November 20, 2025

Here are all the comics printed this week in years past.

FFRF’s ‘Secular Spotlight’ explores biblical misconceptions with a bible scholar

FFRF Co-President Dan Barker and IT Director Scott Knickelbine are joined on the latest episode of Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Secular Spotlight” by bible scholar and media personality Dan McClellan. 

The trio discuss McClellan’s critiques of common religious dogmas like biblical inerrancy, divine inspiration and the belief that the bible speaks with one unified voice. McClellan explains how these ideas aren’t supported by evidence and are often used to reinforce power structures such as Christian nationalism. He also shows how certain believers selectively reinterpret or ignore conflicting passages to fit their ideology. 

In the interview, McClellan offers this insight: “[The bible] has no inherent meeting; we’re the ones generating meaning. And that also means that pretty much every interpretation is debatable and we can come up with all kinds of ways to overrule or sidestep the most likely reading if we find it problematic for whatever reason.”

You can catch “Secular Spotlight” on YouTube. Previous episodes include an interview with Genetically Modified Skeptic Drew McCoy, and an episode with highlights from FFRF’s 48th Annual Convention. See our full playlist for more videos!

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members nationwide. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post FFRF’s ‘Secular Spotlight’ explores biblical misconceptions with a bible scholar appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

FFRF op-ed featured in Dayton, Ohio, newspaper

Ohio’s Dayton Daily News has published an op-ed written by a Freedom From Religion Foundation staffer warning against passage of a particularly troubling piece of legislation.

“Benjamin Franklin died in 1790. Yet Ohio House Bill 486, the ‘Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act,’ urges teachers to tell students that Franklin urged Thomas Paine to burn ‘The Age of Reason,’ a book Paine didn’t begin writing until 1793,” FFRF Regional Government Affairs Manager Mickey Dollens begins his column.

Dollens’ op-ed digs into the problematic bill by detailing the myriad historical inaccuracies it uses in an attempt to instill Christian nationalist teachings on Ohio public school students:

The bill’s sponsors claim teachers need extra permission to discuss religion’s positive role in history. However, Ohio’s current learning standards already require comprehensive instruction on religious influences throughout American history, from the “Pilgrims” in Grade 5 to the “Impact of Religion in Society” in high school. As Lucas George, Ohio’s 2022 History Teacher of the Year, confirmed: “We teach these topics because Ohio’s Learning Standards already require it.”

So why introduce legislation solving a nonexistent problem? The answer lies in what the bill actually does: It provides political cover for teaching a whitewashed, factually incorrect version of American religious history.

Beyond the Franklin impossibility, it claims that his prayer motion at the Constitutional Convention led to the hiring of chaplains. In reality, the convention rejected prayer. As Franklin himself wrote, “Everyone except for three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary.” No chaplains were hired. The convention proceeded without prayer.

The bill references the “Black Robe Regiment,” which Ryan Jayne of the Freedom From Religion Foundation has pointed out is “a myth propagated by disgraced pseudo-historian David Barton.” No Revolutionary-era source uses this term. It’s modern fiction presented as historical fact.

These fabrications matter because they’re part of a larger pattern of distortion. The bill encourages teaching about the Puritans’ religious faith while ignoring the fact that they banished Roger Williams for promoting religious tolerance and fined anyone celebrating Christmas. As Lutheran Deacon Nick Bates testified in criticism of the bill, “presenting the Pilgrims as champions of religious freedom when they imposed a 5 shilling fine on people who celebrated Christmas” is historically dishonest.

The bill celebrates religious influences on civil rights without acknowledging what Bates revealed: “The majority of the church lined up against the Civil Rights Movement.” It’s particularly troubling that legislation named after someone who called the Civil Rights Act “a mistake” and an “anti-white weapon” claims to honor Martin Luther King’s legacy.

It has long been documented that key figures among the Founders, besides Paine, such as Thomas Jefferson, Franklin and James Madison, were deists who rejected revealed religions. The Declaration’s few references to “Nature’s God” were deliberately non-Christian, while our Constitution (the actual governing document) contains zero references to deities or Christianity. 

The piece ends with a message regarding the true purpose of public education: “Students need critical thinking skills to understand how religion has both inspired and oppressed, how our secular Constitution protects everyone’s freedom of conscience, and how historical truth is often more complex than politically convenient narratives. When students are taught fairy tales instead of facts, they are robbed of the tools they need to navigate an increasingly complex world. Ohio lawmakers should reject House Bill 486 and let teachers continue teaching actual history, not politically motivated fiction.”

You can read the full op-ed here.

This column is part of FFRF’s initiative to engage with pertinent national and state issues and spread the messages of freethought and nontheism to a broader audience.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including over 1,100 members and two chapters in Ohio. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post FFRF op-ed featured in Dayton, Ohio, newspaper appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

San Antonio federal judge shuts down plan for Comal ISD, other districts to install Ten Commandments

San Antonio Current (San Antonio, TX)
By Sanford Nowlin

The post San Antonio federal judge shuts down plan for Comal ISD, other districts to install Ten Commandments appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Christian band faces pushback over public school concerts

Mission Network News
By Katey Hearth

The post Christian band faces pushback over public school concerts appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Federal judge orders some Texas schools not to display Ten Commandments

Express News
By Liz Teitz and Barry L. Harrell

The post Federal judge orders some Texas schools not to display Ten Commandments appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Federal judge blocks Ten Commandments display at Texas school districts like Conroe ISD

Houston Chronicle (Houston, TX)
By Haajrah Gilani

The post Federal judge blocks Ten Commandments display at Texas school districts like Conroe ISD appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Federal judge orders removal of Ten Commandments from some North Texas schools

Fox 4 KDFW (Dallas—Fort Worth, TX)
By Peyton Yager and Mack Shaw

The post Federal judge orders removal of Ten Commandments from some North Texas schools appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Texas Judge Blocks Law on Displaying Ten Commandments in School

Bloomberg Law
By Mallory Culhane and Ryan Autullo

The post Texas Judge Blocks Law on Displaying Ten Commandments in School appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Judge orders Texas school districts to remove Ten Commandments displays from classrooms

KHOU 11 (Houston, TX)
By Ben Sawyers

The post Judge orders Texas school districts to remove Ten Commandments displays from classrooms appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Florida attorney general sparks debate on religious discrimination

The Palm Beach Post (Palm Beach, FL)
By Stephany Matat

The post Florida attorney general sparks debate on religious discrimination appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Happy 2025 Birthday to Jim Johnson!

()

Happy birthday to Jim Johnson!

Jim Johnson is the author of the Pistols and Pyramids weird Western series, the Potomac Shadows urban fantasy trilogy, and is the project manager and line editor for the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game published by Modiphius Entertainment. When he’s not wrangling words or managing writers, Jim plays board games, card games, the occasional video game and reads as much as possible. He lives in historic Alexandria VA with his family and two marmalade cats. For more information, check out www.scribeineti.com. It might actually be updated by the time you visit.

Check out the Jim Johnson credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!

Find Jim Johnson’s work on Amazon.com

Judge orders Texas school districts to remove Ten Commandments displays 

A federal judge today issued a preliminary injunction requiring certain public school districts in Texas to remove Ten Commandments displays by Dec. 1 and prohibiting them from posting new displays.

The order, a win for religious freedom and church-state separation, is in response to a new lawsuit filed Sept. 22 by a group of 15 multifaith and nonreligious families with children attending schools in the districts. In his order, U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia wrote that “displaying the Ten Commandments on the wall of a public-school classroom as set forth in SB 10 violates the Establishment Clause.” He added, “It is impractical, if not impossible, to prevent plaintiffs from being subjected to unwelcome religious displays without enjoining defendants from enforcing SB 10 across their districts.”

The order came in the case Cribbs Ringer v. Comal Independent School District, which was filed after the defendant school districts installed or were about to install Ten Commandments posters. The districts were proceeding with the displays despite Judge Fred Biery’s Aug. 20 order in a separate lawsuit, Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights ISD, in which he called the Texas law requiring the displays “plainly unconstitutional.” After that order was issued, the organizations representing families in both lawsuits sent letters to all Texas school districts urging them not to implement the law.

While today’s preliminary injunction directly applies to the defendant school districts named in the Cribbs Ringer lawsuit, the organizations behind the lawsuit are urging all Texas school districts not to implement SB 10. All school districts, even those that are not parties in either ongoing lawsuit, have an independent obligation to respect students’ and families’ rights under the U.S. Constitution, which supersedes state law.

The plaintiffs in both cases are represented by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel.

“I am relieved that as a result of today’s ruling, my children, who are among a small number of Jewish children at their schools, will no longer be continually subjected to religious displays,” says plaintiff Lenee Bien-Willner (she/her). “The government has no business interfering with parental decisions about matters of faith.”

“We’re extremely happy to have secured this victory for the plaintiff families we represent,” says Sam Grover (he/him), senior counsel, Freedom From Religion Foundation. “But Texas never should have put parents and students in this position in the first place. The law is quite clear that pushing religion on students in public school is unconstitutional.”

“Today’s ruling is yet another affirmation of what Texans already know: The First Amendment guarantees families and faith communities — not the government — the right to instill religious beliefs in our children,” says Chloe Kempf (she/her), staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas. “Our schools are for education, not evangelization. This ruling protects thousands of Texas students from ostracization, bullying, and state-mandated religious coercion. Every school district in Texas is now on notice that implementing S.B. 10 violates their students’ constitutional rights.”

“Once again, a federal court has recognized that the Constitution bars public schools from forcing religious scripture on students,” says Daniel Mach (he/him), director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “This decision is a victory for religious liberty and a reminder that government officials shouldn’t pay favorites with faith.”

“All Texas public school districts should heed the court’s clear warning: It’s plainly unconstitutional to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms,” says Rachel Laser (she/her), president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Families throughout Texas and across the country get to decide how and when their children engage with religion — not politicians or public-school officials.”

“We are grateful to the court for its swift and decisive action,” says Jon Youngwood (he/him), global co-chair of Simpson Thacher’s Litigation Department. “This ruling reaffirms a foundational principle: families — not public schools — have the right to determine how and when their children engage with matters of faith. The Constitution protects that choice, and schools should not be impeding it.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters of nontheism. With 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

The post Judge orders Texas school districts to remove Ten Commandments displays  appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

“Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman’s Trek” Review by Deepspacespines.com

Deepspacespines.com has added a new review for Nana Visitor‘s “Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman’s Trek”:

Occasionally, on Deep Space Spines and in meatspace, I have been accused of expressing certain ideas in a way that makes it clear that I have no interest whatsoever in discussion or debate. The specific word that gets used in most such cases tends to be strident. I’ve dialed the attitude back some as the years have passed, but I still let it poke unassumingly out of its burrow from time to time. Except for today, when I’m grabbing it with both hands, dragging it fully out, and holding it aloft like Rafiki in The Lion King to say this:

Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com
Buy On Book Depository.com
Find on E-Bay

What’s the BEST Technical Manual for Star Trek Fans in 2025

Happy 2025 Birthday to Alan Dean Foster!

(Image Credit: Elf)

Happy birthday to Alan Dean Foster!

Alan Dean Foster is a prolific science fiction and fantasy author. He is credited with writing the story for what became Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Born in New York City, Foster went to the University of California, Los Angeles. He currently lives in Prescott, Arizona with his wife.

As a novelist, Foster wrote Ballantine Books’ line of Star Trek: The Animated Series novelizations, titled the Star Trek Logs, and a new, serialized essay on the writing of those Logs, which was included with the five 2006 trade paperback reprint omnibuses. He also wrote a number of the Star Trek stories released by Peter Pan Records. In 2009, Foster wrote the novelization for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. Foster also wrote an original novel based on the movie, Refugees, which is currently “on hold” following executive decisions at Pocket. He also wrote the novelization of the sequel Star Trek Into Darkness. Foster had the chance to watch the films before writing their novelizations, which according to Greg Cox is unheard of in the industry.

Foster’s best known works are his series of science fiction novels set in the Humanx Commonwealth, an interstellar union of species similar to the United Federation of Planets. He is also known for his novels featuring his two most popular characters, a young empath named Flinx and his companion, Pip. Foster’s most popular fantasy books are those of the Spellsinger series.

In addition, Foster is known for writing novelizations of many feature film screenplays. Among these is the novelization for the 2007 film Transformers and the sequel Revenge of the Fallen, which, like Star Trek, were based on screenplays by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Other film scripts he has novelized include Star Wars: Episodes IV – A New Hope and VII – The Force Awakens, the first three Alien films, John Carpenter’s The Thing, The Last Starfighter, Alien Nation, The Chronicles of Riddick, and Terminator: Salvation.

Check out the Alan Dean Foster credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!

Find Alan Dean Foster’s work on Amazon.com

Preview of “Star Trek: The Last Starship #2”

Here’s a preview of Star Trek: The Last Starship #2 by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing which is due to be released this Wednesday on November 19, 2025 at your local comic shop and digital retailers:

In the wake of the cataclysm known as the Burn, the dream of a united Federation stands on the brink of extinction. The only thing holding the Galaxy back from chaos is Captain Sato and the crew of the Borg-enhanced Omega—a ship fueled by transwarp technology and fraught with distrust.
No one on board trusts the Borg…and Captain Sato trusts their mysterious new passenger, bearing the face and name of James T. Kirk, even less. This so-called Kirk speaks of a dark future, but Sato refuses to be guided by fear or prophecy.

When a distress call from the Klingon Empire pierces the silence—urgent, cryptic, and unexpected—Sato doesn’t hesitate. Whatever the risk, he will answer. Because if Starfleet’s legacy is to survive, it won’t be through retreat. It’ll be through action.

DTI Treklit Investigation for the week of November 18, 2025

Here’s a look at the books printed this week in the past.

Supreme Court protects students’ rights in rejecting loudspeaker prayer push 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to leave in place a sound victory for the rights of students and families to be free from state-conveyed religious coercion.

The court’s denial of certiorari — issued with no noted dissents — in Cambridge Christian School v. Florida High School Athletic Association lets stand both its landmark 2000 ruling in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, barring school-sponsored prayer at football games, and a strong 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision finding that pregame messages over the public-address system at state championship games constitute government speech. The Supreme Court’s quiet refusal to take the case is a loud affirmation that public school events cannot be transformed into religious revivals.

“This is an important win for the constitutional rights of students and their families,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The Supreme Court’s refusal to revisit Santa Fe makes clear that public school athletic events are not opportunities for government-sponsored prayer.”

The Tampa-based Cambridge Christian School has spent nearly a decade attempting to force the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) to broadcast its prayer over the stadium loudspeaker before a 2015 championship football game. The school argued that denying it access to the PA system violated its free speech and free exercise rights. But as both the district court and the 11th Circuit held — and as the Supreme Court left untouched — the PA system at a state-sponsored, neutral-site championship is government-controlled and used solely for government speech.

FFRF filed an amicus brief with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022 urging the court to reject Cambridge Christian’s demand for special treatment: “A private religious school does not have a constitutional right to commandeer the PA system at a state-sponsored athletic competition. The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment only protects private speech, it does not implicate government speech.”

“This whole case was an example of Christian privilege run amok,” says FFRF Senior Litigation Counsel Sam Grover, who drafted FFRF’s amicus brief. “If the Florida High School Athletic Association had opened its loudspeaker for private messages, Cambridge Christian could have claimed a right to equal access. But that wasn’t the situation. The loudspeaker was for government use only. The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case demonstrates how utterly wrong Cambridge Christian was on the law.”

The Supreme Court’s denial ensures that the constitutional guardrails around public school events remain intact. Students and families at state-organized athletic contests are entitled to enjoy the game without being subjected to religious proselytizing by a government-controlled PA system.

“This case was a blatant attempt to force a captive audience into Christian worship at a public event,” Gaylor adds. “The First Amendment protects us all — Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, and everyone else — from exactly that kind of state-sponsored religious coercion.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 2,000 members and a chapter in Florida. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

The post Supreme Court protects students’ rights in rejecting loudspeaker prayer push  appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

“Star Trek: 86 My Brother’s Keeper Book 2: Constitution” Review by Deepspacespines.com

Deepspacespines.com has added a new review for Michael Jan Friedman‘s “Star Trek: 86 My Brother’s Keeper Book 2: Constitution”:

In today’s episode, when Kirk lets everyone know he’ll be alone in his bunk, he means it. But when the line of succession leaves him in the hot seat on the bridge, he has to learn on the fly who to sacrifice and when. Do Jim and Gary still have the romantic chemistry they had at the Academy? What’s up with all the cover-ups? And is there a satisfying secret option for Kirk to take this time? All this and more in Constitution, the book that wants to know if you would like to know (what’s) more.

Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com
Buy On Book Depository.com
Find on E-Bay

Podcast: All Access Explores Ceti Alpha V With The Writers And Director Of ‘Star Trek: Khan’

Anthony and Laurie hold the news for one more week to make room for their interview with the creatives behind Star Trek: Khan the audio drama podcast: writers Kirsten Beyer and David Mack, and director Fred Greenhalgh. They talk about the whole process, starting with Nicholas Meyer’s original scripts, working with Nick as Khan changed from a TV miniseries to a podcast, and working with the actors and sound designers to make it into a full-fledged audio drama. They talk about story choices as well as the reception from both fans and the higher-ups at Paramount.

Religious freedom fight grows in Massachusetts community over statues honoring police and firefighters

Fox News
By Sarah Rumpf-Whitten

The post Religious freedom fight grows in Massachusetts community over statues honoring police and firefighters appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ring of Fire” Review by Positivelytrek.com

Positivelytrek.com has added a new review for David Mack‘s “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ring of Fire”:

In this episode of Positively Trek, hosts Dan Gunther and the returning Bruce Gibson welcome special guest David Mack back to the show! He’s here to discuss his latest novel: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ring of Fire!

Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com
Buy On Book Depository.com
Find on E-Bay