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.
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