Shore-Leave 45 (belated!) Report: Day 4 (final)
I didn’t take any notes or have any schedule on the final day of Shore-Leave 45, but did attend a memorial for Peter David that was tear inducing and made it apparent that I would have really liked to have talked to him as a Trek author. There was also a “Bob and Howie Show” but with a missing Howie. It was interesting enough, but Robert Greenberger was the only person on the main stage and he looked super lonely up there. From what I remember these were the only things that I did at the event itself. As is tradition though, I spent the rest of the day visiting local comic shops, one of which was in an exceptionally odd location, but ended up being a great little shop that just happened to be under the bathrooms of the local Subway. Every time someone flushed you could hear it going through the pipes! The second store of the trip was Comic Shop West where I found a glorious treasure trove of Trek back issues. My wife was with me on this visit and she bought a single pack of Disney Lorcana and managed to pull an enchanted card, she was completely chuffed. With that satisfying end to the day, we had dinner and called it a night. We made it home the next day without much issue, but definitely needed some extended naps.
This was a good trip and the improvements that I saw in the show from last year give me high hopes for next year. I won’t be going next year though, I’m going to be a little busy on a different project:
Posts in this series:
Texas AG Paxton recommends public school students recite Lord’s Prayer ‘as taught by Jesus Christ’
The Christian Post
By Ian M. Giatti
The post Texas AG Paxton recommends public school students recite Lord’s Prayer ‘as taught by Jesus Christ’ appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Douglas County sheriff defies Freedom From Religion Foundation after it targeted Grandparents4Kids story hour
Rocky Mountain Voice (Durango, CO)
By Steve McKenna
The post Douglas County sheriff defies Freedom From Religion Foundation after it targeted Grandparents4Kids story hour appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Judge temporarily blocks Texas’ Ten Commandments requirement in 11 school districts
KXXV ABC 25 (Waco, TX)
By Jaden Edison, Eleanor Klibanoff and Alejandro Serrano
The post Judge temporarily blocks Texas’ Ten Commandments requirement in 11 school districts appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Atheists Demand Football Coaches Stop Praying
Todd Starnes
By Todd Starnes
The post Atheists Demand Football Coaches Stop Praying appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: The Making of the Classic Film” Review by Treknews.net
Treknews.net has added a new review for John Tenuto and Maria Jose Tenuto‘s “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: The Making of the Classic Film”:
In the world of filmmaking, some stories are just as compelling behind the camera as they are on screen. The new book, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – The Making of the Classic Film, makes that abundantly clear, inviting readers on a vivid journey into the heart of one of the most pivotal, if not universally beloved, films in the Star Trek franchise. This publication isn’t just a collection of facts; it’s a beautifully illustrated love letter to the creative process, filled with colorful pictures from all around the process that brought this film to life, and it makes you feel like you’re standing right there with the creative cast and crew of this movie.
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“Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #1” Review by Thecomicbookspot.com
Thecomicbookspot.com has added a new review for Susan Bridges and Tilly Bridges‘s “Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #1”:
In this review of Star Trek: Voyager – Homecoming #1, after seven long years, the U.S.S. Voyager is finally back in the Alpha Quadrant, but what should be a joyous occasion rapidly devolves into a nightmare as the crew is once again propelled into a dangerous region of space as prisoners of an old enemy.
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Shore-Leave 45 (belated!) Report: Day 3
Saturday 9:00 AM Writing Military SF Cornwall
Saturday 10:00 AM Star Trek Comic Books Cornwall
Saturday 2:00 PM So You Want To Build A Puppet Ballroom A
Saturday 3:00 PM Starship Trooper Cast – Sat Lincoln Theater
Saturday 5:00 PM Star Trek Books Gab Session Ballroom A
Saturday 6:00 PM Trek Memorial Wheatland
Saturday 8:00 PM Masquerade Lincoln Theater
Saturday was a whirlwind of panels and vendor room visits, I had the opportunity to buy a pretty beat up Gold Key #1 for only $200, and while I’m happy I didn’t spend that money, I still have regrets. It’s just so much money to spend on one book! But it was a book I’ve never see in person before, so…. as I said. Regrets.
Posts in this series:
FFRF urges global action for Moroccan activist given 30 months for ‘blasphemous’ T-shirt
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is sounding the alarm after a Moroccan feminist and human rights activist was outrageously sentenced to 30 months in prison for wearing a T-shirt.
Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar, an atheist psychologist and co-founder of the Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles (MALI), was arrested for posting a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt reading “Allah is lesbian.” She was put on trial for “insulting Islam.”
The sentence is especially alarming given Lachgar’s fragile health. She is battling cancer and requires urgent surgery in September. Prison conditions in Morocco are notoriously harsh, and her supporters fear she could die behind bars.
“This could be a death sentence for a courageous activist I have known for many years and who has spent her life bravely defending the rights of women, LGBTQ-plus people and nonbelievers in Morocco,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Betty’s only so-called crime is to express dissent — peacefully challenging religious dogma in a theocratic monarchy where blasphemy laws are used as weapons of repression.”
FFRF, which last week asked the State Department to intervene, is calling on its allies in the United States and international community to help Betty by:
- Publicly demanding her immediate release.
- Pressing Morocco to immediately release her and to drop blasphemy charges against her.
- Condemning Morocco’s criminalization of apostasy, blasphemy and same-sex relationships as violations of fundamental freedoms.
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, which has led a “Free Betty” protest at the Moroccan Embassy in London, has resources, including a #Free Betty campaign with social media and petitions
FFRF notes that Morocco is violating the international human rights treaties it has signed guaranteeing freedom of conscience and expression. In 2020, Congress passed a resolution with overwhelming bipartisan support calling on the State Department to prioritize the repeal of blasphemy, heresy and apostasy laws worldwide.
“True religious liberty must include the right to reject religion, the right to criticize it and the right to live openly, whether as an atheist or advocate for LGBTQ rights, without fear of prosecution or prison,” adds FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “Blasphemy is a victimless crime — but blasphemy laws create many innocent victims.”
FFRF warns that Lachgar’s health and life now hang in the balance unless the international community acts.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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Freethought Radio – September 4, 2025
We report on state/church victories and challenges in Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas, Morocco, Minnesota and Florida. Then, we hear Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ed Larson (Summer for the Gods) tell us the story of the 1925 Scopes Trial, the “Trial of the Century,” pitting science against religion in Dayton, Tenn., 100 years ago.
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FFRF denounces Trump’s climate change science denial
The Trump administration has released a report whitewashing science that is being properly blasted by 85 scientists.
The science group’s 439-page, peer-reviewed rebuttal, submitted at the conclusion of the government’s official comment period, is three times longer than the Energy Department’s report on climate change. Many of the scientists are especially indignant because their work is being cited in the misleading Energy Department report, written by five individuals who Energy Secretary Chris Wright handpicked. The official report, which was not peer-reviewed, essentially states that climate change is “less damaging economically than commonly believed.”
The rebuttal’s principal author, Texas A&M Atmospheric Sciences Professor Andrew Dessler, points out that the government report employs the strategy of using a “kernel of truth” taken out of context. Case Western Reserve Physics Professor Cyrus C. Taylor cites “graphical sleight of hand” and other scientists reveal that the Energy Department report cites a paper that doesn’t even exist.
Bizarrely, Secretary Wright told the New York Times that climate change is “a scientific, economic issue and people treat it too often as a religious issue.” Come again? The fact is that the Trump administration’s war on our environment and work to sabotage and undo climate mitigation efforts is blessed by Christian nationalism. The White House is taking a page from historic autocrats, repressive church leaders and despots. Evangelicals are most apt to deny climate change while “Nones” are most likely to accept it and want to combat it.
Notable among the Christian nationalist drive against climate change science is the Heritage Foundation Project 2025, which, according to an analysis by of Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, calls for:
• Dismantling the administrative state, especially the EPA.
• De-emphasizing efforts to address climate change.
• Freeing private activities from regulatory constraints.
• Promoting American energy and science dominance (and fossil fuels).
• And grabbing the reins of government.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is already using the Energy Department’s analysis to promote the repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding, which declared climate change a danger to human health. That finding has till now permitted regulations of greenhouse gas emissions, such as from cars.
The doctored Energy Department report is but a small part of Trump’s war on science. The assaults include an executive order (“Restoring Gold Standard Science”) condemned by Nobel laureates, as well as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s war on medical science, the elimination or downsizing of multiple scientific advisory panels, and the massive drop in federal support for basic science research.
A recent New York Times lengthy analysis, “Historians see autocratic playbook in Trump’s attacks on science,” reminds us of the prominent role of religion in the war with science: “The war on science began four centuries ago when the Roman Catholic Church outlawed books that reimagined the heavens. Subsequent regimes shot or jailed thousands of scientists. Today, in such places as China and Hungary, a less fearsome type of strongman relies on budget cuts, intimidation and high-tech surveillance to cow scientists into submission.”
Paul R. Josephson, emeritus professor of history at Colby College and author of a book on totalitarian science, is quoted in the article, noting: “Despots want science that has practical results. They’re afraid that basic knowledge will expose their false claims. Trump once said he wanted the generals that Hitler had. He’s certainly working on getting the science that Hitler and Stalin had.”
Comments FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor, “Authoritarian regimes, which often tout religion to buttress their authority, need to sow distrust of contrary authorities, such as scientists. But the truth matters. We salute the 85 scientists speaking out and providing a true report on climate change, because not only our democracy but our planet’s future is at stake.”
FFRF urges its members and the public to continue to demand truth, not disinformation, from the federal government.
Pictured: A statue dedicated to monk Giordano Bruno, placed by freethinkers in 1889 at the Campo Dei Fiori in Rome. Bruno was burned at the stake in the year 1600 for the crime of defending the Copernican theory of heliocentrism. (Photo by Annie Laurie Gaylor)
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
The post FFRF denounces Trump’s climate change science denial appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation #1” Review by Getyourcomicon.co.uk
Getyourcomicon.co.uk has added a new review for Robbie Thompson‘s “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation #1”:
The beauty of bringing Star Trek to comic books is that the opportunities are endless. Cross over with Doctor Who, doable. Integrating characters from series past and present. Done. But there’s also the opportunity to take a story which has no room in live-action and allowing it to span the pages of an elegantly written and charmingly rendered book. Today IDW Publishing begins a voyage which does just that with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation.
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“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum” Review by Selimpensfiction.com
Selimpensfiction.com has added a new review for Una McCormack‘s “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum”:
As an aside, I’m glad they gave Number One a name—really, they had to, didn’t they?—and I think they picked a perfect name, but after decades of knowing her as Number One, referring to her as Una is, well, a process.
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DTI Comic Book Investigation for the week of September 4, 2025
Here are all the comics printed this week in years past.
FFRF tells Texas AG Paxton: Stop pushing Christianity in public schools
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling out Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for inappropriately using his secular office to promote Christianity in public schools.
In a letter sent today, FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line urged Paxton to retract a press statement in which he pressured Texas schools to set aside time for prayer and bible reading and even said students should recite the Lord’s Prayer, found in the New Testament. Paxton’s injunctions come under the color of the newly enacted Senate Bill 11, which allows school boards to adopt policies setting aside time for voluntary prayer and the reading of the bible or other religious texts. However, school boards must still vote on whether to do so.
“Texas public schools exist to educate, not indoctrinate,” writes Line. “When you use your official position to instruct children to pray ‘as taught by Jesus Christ,’ you send a message to Texas students and families that the state favors Christianity over all other religions and over nonreligion. This is precisely what the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment forbids.”
Paxton’s statement, released Sept. 2, declared that he wants “the Word of God opened, the Ten Commandments displayed, and prayers lifted up” in classrooms. He further claimed that the nation was “founded on the rock of Biblical Truth” and denounced critics of his Christian nationalist efforts as “twisted, radical liberals.”
FFRF points out that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down government-sponsored prayer in schools, in decisions going back more than 60 years.
“Children are already free to pray on their own or read the bible privately,” Line notes. “But government officials may not pressure or coerce schoolchildren to participate in prayer, or promote one religion’s practices above all others.”
FFRF warns that Paxton’s rhetoric crosses a constitutional line and could embolden school boards to adopt coercive practices that marginalize nonChristian and nonreligious students.
“Ken Paxton is trying to turn Texas classrooms into Sunday schools,” comments FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Children deserve an education free from religious coercion. The Constitution, not the bible, is the foundation of our democracy — and it protects the freedom of conscience of every student.”
FFRF vows to monitor the implementation of SB 11 and support Texas families if their rights are violated.
“The solid foundation of our country is not biblical truth, but rather our secular Constitution that protects the rights of all Americans — Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, the nonreligious, and everyone else — to believe as they choose without government interference or favoritism,” the letter concludes.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 1,800 members and a chapter 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 FFRF tells Texas AG Paxton: Stop pushing Christianity in public schools appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Charlotte Gude
Charlotte graduated from the University of Iowa in 2020 with a B.S. in Political Science, a B.A. in Social Justice, and a minor in American Sign Language. She then worked as a legal assistant for a small law firm before transitioning on to the University of Wisconsin Law School where she received her Juris Doctor in 2025. In her free time, Charlotte enjoys scrapbooking, watching hilariously bad movies, and getting outside.
The post Charlotte Gude appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
FFRF awards $19,150 to 2025 BIPOC student essay contest winners
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proudly disbursing $19,150 in prize money in the 2025 essay contest for Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color students.
Entrants in the 2025 David Hudak Memorial Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color (BIPOC) Student Essay Competition were asked to write on the topic of “How white Christian nationalism endangers my rights.” They were directed to select a specific attack on civil liberties by white Christian nationalists and describe how it poses a threat and how that impacts them or others in the BIPOC community.
The three top winners and 10 honorable mentions of the contest, along with their ages, the colleges or universities they are attending and the award amounts, are listed below. (FFRF seeks to distribute essay scholarship monies to a higher number of students, so ties — such as sixth place in this contest — are not regarded in the typical tie fashion, where, in this instance, seventh place would be skipped.)
FIRST PLACE
Mekah’E LeClair, 20, DigiPen Institute of Technology, $3,500.
SECOND PLACE
Naveyah Boykin, 20, Lincoln University, $3,000.
THIRD PLACE
Gabrielle Williams, 20, Howard University, $2,500.
FOURTH PLACE
Henry Olango, 21, Penn State University, $2,000.
FIFTH PLACE
Jaianah Hightower, 20, Morgan State University, $1,500.
SIXTH PLACE (tie)
JoJo Huntley, 20, Temple University, $1,000.
Arianna Sukhdeo, 18, Johns Hopkins University, $1,000.
SEVENTH PLACE
Aryan Singla, 18, University of Connecticut, $750.
EIGHTH PLACE
Chris Previlon, 19, University of Central Florida, $500.
NINTH PLACE (tie)
Alayna Champ, 19, University of South Carolina, $400.
Lauren Nsele, 21, Boston University, $400.
TENTH PLACE (tie)
Gabrielle Telsaint, 18, Florida International University, $300.
Layla Vaughan, 19, University of North Carolina, $300.
HONORABLE MENTION ($200 each)
Blake Battle, 19, Georgia Southern University.
Akrit Burroughs, 18, Kennesaw State University.
Jendayi Guamerah-Oliver, 18, Xavier University.
Natalya Hagee, 18, Temple University.
Ava Heims, 19, Syracuse University.
Fiolajesurera Orelaja, 18, American University.
Bri’Kayla Person, 19, University of Central Oklahoma.
Jaydon Santiago, 18, UCLA.
Laiya Thorpe, 20, North Carolina A&T State University.
Donovan Tyler, 19, University of Virginia.
Miriam Zepeda Perez, 18, Northern Arizona University.
FFRF thanks Lisa Treu for managing the details of this and FFRF’s other essay competitions. FFRF would also like to thank our volunteer and staff readers and judges, including Dan Barker, David Chivers, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Susan Gould, Jeffrey La Vicka, Sammi Lawrence, Michael Luther, Katya Maes, David Malcolm, Jason Mosebach, Chris O’Connell, Andrea Osburne, Joanna Papich, Sue Schuetz, PJ Slinger, Kimberly Waldron and Karen Lee Weidig
This contest is named for the late David Hudak, an FFRF member who left a bequest to generously fund a student essay contest. FFRF has offered essay competitions to students of color since 2016. It has also offered essay contests open to all college students since 1979, high school students since 1994, grad students since 2010 and one for law students since 2019. FFRF’s four other essay contests for students are open to all eligible students. The Hudak competition was created to recognize and provide encouragement to a minority within a minority and also to showcase their unique freethinking perspectives and challenges.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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“Star Trek: The Next Generation: Collateral Damage” Review by Lessaccurategrandmother.blogspot.com
Lessaccurategrandmother.blogspot.com has added a new review for David Mack‘s “Star Trek: The Next Generation: Collateral Damage”:
Being a consumer of tie-in fiction is weird, to be honest. If you are a “normal” reader, you read books that interest you… and well, you don’t read ones that don’t interest you. Why would you? Why would anyone spend time and effort reading and reviewing something you don’t think you’ll like? Yet you do! I consume Big Finish audio dramas, and I used to review them for Unreality SF. I often knew going into a release written by (for example) Matt Fitton or Nicholas Briggs knowing I wouldn’t like it. I had learned I usually wouldn’t like these writers’ work, yet I would slog through it anyway.
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‘Ten Commandments for thee but not for me’: GOP senator mocks Texas’ MAGA attorney general
AlterNet
By Ailia Zehra
The post ‘Ten Commandments for thee but not for me’: GOP senator mocks Texas’ MAGA attorney general appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
A South Carolina lawmaker urged high schoolers to convert to Christianity
Friendly Atheist
By Hemant Mehta
The post A South Carolina lawmaker urged high schoolers to convert to Christianity appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Out Today: “Star Trek: Red Shirts #2”
Out today: “Star Trek: Red Shirts #2“, by Christopher Cantwell.
After weathering the deaths of their crewmates, the Red Shirts who survived hurtling to Arkonia 89 in torpedo casings have rendezvoused with Lieutenant Cromarty in his underground base. Their mission: to bed down and wait for enemy spies to take the bait they’ve laid in a data disk at the base of a subspace antenna. But little do the Federation officers know, they aren’t the only ones looking for unsuspecting prey…
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Out Today: “Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #1”
Out today: “Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #1“, by Susan Bridges and Tilly Bridges.
Captain Kathryn Janeway and her crew are back for one last adventure in celebration of Voyager’s 30th-anniversary! 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.
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Star Trek Book Deals For September 2025
This month’s ebook deals have landed with 33 books on sale for $1.99 each, books that have never been on sale are in bold:
This may be the largest sale I’ve ever seen!
Star Trek: 49 The Pandora Principle
Star Trek: Cast No Shadow
Star Trek: Destiny Book 2: Mere Mortals
Star Trek: Discovery: Desperate Hours
Star Trek: Discovery: Die Standing
Star Trek: Discovery: Die Standing
Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures
Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures
Star Trek: Discovery: Drastic Measures
Star Trek: Discovery: Fear Itself
Star Trek: Discovery: Somewhere to Belong
Star Trek: Discovery: The Enterprise War
Star Trek: Discovery: The Way To The Stars
Star Trek: Enterprise: Daedalus
Star Trek: Myriad Universes: Shattered Light
Star Trek: Picard: Firewall
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The High Country
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Day Of Honor 1: Ancient Blood
Star Trek: Titan: Fortune of War
Star Trek: Vanguard: Declassified
Star Trek: Vanguard: Harbinger
Star Trek: Vanguard: In Tempest’s Wake
Star Trek: Vanguard: Open Secrets
Star Trek: Vanguard: Precipice
Star Trek: Vanguard: Reap the Whirlwind
Star Trek: Vanguard: Storming Heaven
Star Trek: Vanguard: Summon The Thunder
Star Trek: Vanguard: What Judgments Come
Star Trek: Voyager: 19 Dark Matters 1/3 – Cloak And Dagger
Star Trek: Voyager: Day of Honor 3: Her Klingon Soul
Star Trek: Voyager: The Farther Shore
FFRF: Kennedy, a menace to public health, must go
When pharmacists are afraid of losing their jobs for doing their jobs, our public health is in deep trouble.
“Health” Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently posted on X that the FDA’s new Covid policy, greatly curtailing who can get Covid shots, delivers “science, safety and common sense.” However, his policy is clearly neither based on science nor common sense, and it will not make people safer. It’s causing even more chaos and confusion. (If Kennedy’s handpicked vaccine advisory members approve the recommendations, only those 65 and older, or younger people with at least one underlying condition, will be readily eligible to be vaccinated against Covid.)
On Labor Day, President Trump was happy to sow further confusion by calling on pharmaceutical companies to “justify the success” of their Covid vaccines. Yet Trump had previously bragged about “Operation Warp Speed,” which, thanks to mRNA research, led to Covid vaccines that saved millions of lives.
“I’m hearing from pharmacists who are fearful they might be in legal jeopardy for providing vaccines,” Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist, told the New York Times.
The recommendations were barely out before the White House fired Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Monarez was sworn in just a couple months ago and was fired, after bravely refusing to resign, for not being “aligned with” Trump’s and RFK’s agenda. At least four other CDC leaders also resigned as a result, including the agency’s deputy director and chief medical officer. This leaves the vital CDC rudderless and awaiting the appointment of a MAHA sycophant.
Kennedy laments the “malaise at the agency,” a malaise of his own making, of course. He has undermined medical science, ended support for global vaccination programs protecting millions of children, supported legislation that will cause millions of Americans to lose Medicaid, overseen mass firings gutting the CDC and canceled vitally important research on mRNA technology.
Even more sinister threats to the ability to develop and obtain vaccinations are afoot. Kennedy has his eyes on the government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which settles claims on bona fide injuries. Kennedy wants the program to pay out for immunizations linked to autism, even though such claims have been thoroughly debunked. The result? The compensation program could become bankrupt, and pharmaceuticals, to avoid expensive litigation, could stop producing vaccines altogether. Our nation’s public health is being imperiled by quacks, conspiracy theorists, Christian nationalists and anti-science advocates.
It’s gotten so bad that a bipartisan group of nine former directors or acting directors of the CDC have written a guest essay for the New York Times titled, “We ran the CDC: Kennedy is endangering every American’s health.”
Over the weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders called for Kennedy to resign, a demand that every responsible American and organization that cares about public health and evidence-based science must second. The Freedom From Religion Foundation concurs: Kennedy is a menace to public health and must go.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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John Tenuto on Trekmovie.com discussing “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – The Making of the Classic Film”
(no image available)
John Tenuto was recently featured on Trekmovie.com to discuss Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – The Making of the Classic Film:
The academic award-winning sociology professor duo of John Tenuto and Maria Jose Tenuto have been sharing their love of pop culture (and especially Star Trek) for years in articles, podcasts, on TV (including in The History Channel’s The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek docuseries), and even here as past contributors to TrekMovie.com. The pair spoke to TrekMovie via email about why the felt the story of Star Trek III needed to be told:
Check out the John Tenuto author page to view other sightings and a full list of books!
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Shore-Leave 45 (belated!) Report: Day 2
Day 2 arrived with me attending wall to wall panels with my wife for the entire day. Seriously, I sat through some really good discussions on the state of science fiction, tie in media, and the future of Trek in written form. I came armed with STBC stickers and business cards and left with a book full of notes and suggestions to myself.
Behold, my schedule:
Friday 2:00 PM My Tie-in White Whale Cornwall
Friday 5:00 PM “There are no small parts…” Cornwall
Friday 6:00 PM Streaming TV: Blessing or Curse? Cornwall
Friday 7:00 PM Superhero Fatigue or Poor Execution? Cornwall
Friday 8:00 PM 50 Years of Earth Observations Hopewell
Friday 9:00 PM Strange New Worlds: The Best Trek Now! Ballroom A
Friday 10:00 PM Meet The Pros Wheatland
Here’s some of the books I was able to pick up during the “Meet The Pros” session, just about all of them are autographed, which is a neat addition. After I was done with this meeting it was about 11pm, so I called it a night.
Posts in this series:
Out Today: “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: The Making of the Classic Film”
Out today: “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: The Making of the Classic Film“, by John Tenuto and Maria Jose Tenuto.
Over 40 years ago, in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Admiral Kirk and his crew embarked on a perilous mission to retrieve Spock’s body and reunite his soul with his physical form, defying Starfleet orders and facing off against Klingon enemies to save their friend.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – The Making of the Classic Film delves into the untold stories behind the making of one of the most pivotal films in the Star Trek saga. From the pressures of continuing the iconic story after The Wrath of Khan to Leonard Nimoy stepping into the director’s chair, this book explores the creative challenges, technical innovations, and behind-the-scenes drama that shaped the film. Featuring interviews with cast, crew, and production staff, it uncovers the intricate world-building, the special effects that brought Klingon battles and the Genesis Planet to life, and the emotional weight of Spock’s resurrection.
Featuring a foreword from Robin Curtis, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – The Making of the Classic Film is a must-read for Trek fans and film enthusiasts alike, celebrating the legacy of a film that solidified the franchise’s place in pop culture history.
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Out Today: “Klingon Next Door: Off Duty the Warrior’s Way”
Out today: “Klingon Next Door: Off Duty the Warrior’s Way“, by Joey Spiotto.
Quirky and humorous takes celebrating everything Klingon in an out-of-place existence
What does a Klingon warrior get up to in his downtime?
What song would he choose at a karaoke bar? How does a trip to the barber work out for him?
From sports to shopping, hobbies to holidays, pets to personal grooming, discover how an honorable warrior takes on the challenges of day-to-day life, and learns how to relax, in this very funny collection of cartoons.
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DTI Treklit Investigation for the week of September 2, 2025
Here’s a look at the books printed this week in the past.
Preview of “Star Trek: Red Shirts #2”
Here’s a preview of Star Trek: Red Shirts #2 by Christopher Cantwell which is due to be released this Wednesday on September 3, 2025 at your local comic shop and digital retailers:
Preview of “Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #1”
Here’s a preview of Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming #1 by Susan Bridges and Tilly Bridges which is due to be released this Wednesday on September 3, 2025 at your local comic shop and digital retailers:
Happy 2025 Birthday to Scott Pearson!
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Happy birthday to Scott Pearson!
Scott Michael Pearson is a writer and an editor. He was first published in 1987 with “The Mailbox,” a short story about an elderly farming couple. In the years since, he has published a smattering of humor, poetry, short stories, and novellas. He contributed stories to the three ReDeus shared-world anthologies edited by Robert Greenberger and Aaron Rosenberg. His Lovecraft pastiche “The Squid that Came to Phil’s Basement” appeared in Space and Time Magazine. Scott has edited such books as Tales from a Tin Can: The USS Dale from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay, which received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, and Will to Murder: The True Story Behind the Crimes & Trials Surrounding the Glensheen Killings, which was featured on Dominick Dunne’s Power, Privilege, and Justice series on CourtTV.
As a freelancer, he has copyedited several Star Trek novels. He cohosts the Generations Geek podcast with his daughter, covering geeky movies, books, TV, and just about anything else that comes to mind. Guests have included Kevin Dilmore, Kevin Lauderdale, and Una McCormack. Scott lives near the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, fabled in story and song, in personable St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife, Sandra, and daughter, Ella.
Check out the Scott Pearson credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!
Find Scott Pearson’s work on Amazon.com
Happy 2025 Birthday to Allyn Gibson!
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Happy birthday to Allyn Gibson!
Allyn Gibson: Writer of various and sundry things. Baltimore resident. Chicago Cubs fan. Amateur historian. Political junkie
Check out the Allyn Gibson credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!
Find Allyn Gibson’s work on Amazon.com
“Star Trek: Klingon” Review by Deepspacespines.com
Deepspacespines.com has added a new review for Dean Wesley Smith and Hilary Bader and Kristine Kathryn Rusch‘s “Star Trek: Klingon”:
In today’s episode, Chancellor Gowron leads a conference to figure out how to give the galaxy a crash course in Klingons. But when the official talks start to melt like an unattended jumja stick, his stories at the lunch table might provide another path to victory. Can you even get a salad from a star system with no planets? How good an ace up your sleeve is the video game for Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? And what one thing will secure its place in blessed Trek memory? All this and more in Star Trek: Klingon, the book that can get you two of some things.
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“Inspired Enterprise” Review by Ufplanets.com
Ufplanets.com has added a new review for Glen E. Swanson‘s “Inspired Enterprise”:
To begin, before even reading the book, I will say that Inspired Enterprise has a beautiful cover design, and removing the book sleeve also reveals a charming looking book. The presentation throughout is brilliant, the chapter headings, and page numbers look very LCARS inspired, and the included pictures dispersed throughout the book really bring life to everything. The hardest part about reviewing this book is a great fear of ruining its beauty.
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Donald Trump didn’t start this quiet war on woke
The Times
By Justin Webb
The post Donald Trump didn’t start this quiet war on woke appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Thou shall not? Schools in Texas and Arkansas caught between rulings
Baptist News Global
By Mark Wingfield
The post Thou shall not? Schools in Texas and Arkansas caught between rulings appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Judge orders Central Arkansas district to remove Ten Commandments displays
News From the States
By Antoinette Grajeda
The post Judge orders Central Arkansas district to remove Ten Commandments displays appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Judge orders Conway, Ark., schools to remove 10 Commandments after FFRF lawsuit
Less than 24 hours after the Conway School District was added to a federal lawsuit challenging Arkansas’s unconstitutional law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments, a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order requiring the district to take down all Ten Commandments displays from its classrooms and libraries by the end of the day.
The order follows the court’s directive on Aug. 27 permitting the plaintiffs to add Conway families and the Conway School District to the suit. In the temporary restraining order, Judge Timothy Brooks explained: “The court ruled that Act 573, if put into effect, was likely to violate the First Amendment rights of all Arkansas public-school parents and their children — not just those attending public school in Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, and Siloam Springs. . . . The court assumed that the state would advise the other 233 school districts of the court’s ruling and caution them to refrain from displaying the Ten Commandments posters they received until a dispositive ruling was entered or these matters were resolved. Clearly, that did not happen.”
In issuing the temporary restraining order ordering removal by 5 p.m. today, the court pointed to its Aug. 4 ruling in Stinson v. Fayetteville School District No. 1 that Act 573 is “obviously unconstitutional.” On Aug. 5, the plaintiffs’ attorneys sent letters to every school superintendent in Arkansas, notifying them of the federal court’s ruling and warning districts not to implement Act 573.
Despite the court’s ruling and the letter from the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Conway School District hung Act 573 displays in all classrooms before the first day of school on August 18, prompting swift legal action from families represented by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State,and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.
“Imposing biblical edicts upon children in every public school classroom is antithetical to America’s Bill of Rights and respect for true freedom of religion, which necessarily guarantees freedom from religion imposed by the government,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “It’s quite simple: Our public schools must honor freedom of conscience and may not indoctrinate in religion or prescribe which religious dogmas to observe. That’s up to parents and churches.”
A copy of the order can be found online here.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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FFRF awards $17,950 in prize money to 2025 high school essay winners
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the disbursal of $17,950 in scholarship money to the winners of the 2025 William Schulz High School Essay Contest.
College-bound high school seniors were asked to write a personal persuasive essay based on this prompt: “To do good is my religion. Write a first-person essay that asserts why ‘doing good’ is not dependent on religious belief.”
FFRF awarded 11 top prizes and 10 honorable mentions. (FFRF seeks to distribute essay scholarship monies to a higher number of students, so ties — such as eighth place in this contest — are not regarded in the typical tie fashion, where, in this instance, ninth place would be skipped.)
Winners are listed below, including the college or university they are currently attending and the award amount.
FIRST PLACE
Shaurya Bhartia, UC-Berkeley, $3,500.
SECOND PLACE
Benjamin Meerson, UC-Berkeley, $3,000.
THIRD PLACE
Ian Klimox, Yale, $2,500
FOURTH PLACE
Patrick Le Febvre, University of Connecticut, $2,000.
FIFTH PLACE
Alice Giambalvo, Texas A&M, $1,500.
SIXTH PLACE
Noelle Kim, California Institute of Technology, $1,000.
SEVENTH PLACE
Dong En Wu, Marquette University, $750.
EIGHTH PLACE (tie)
Kiera Robinson, Nova Southeastern University, $500.
Kennedy Cordle, North Carolina A&T State University, $500.
NINTH PLACE
Callum Wilford, University of Florida, $400.
TENTH PLACE
Chauntel Berry, Rochester Institute of Technology, $300.
HONORABLE MENTIONS ($200 each)
Isabella Cassells, Coastal Carolina University.
Ariana Delgado, University of Texas-El Paso.
Jayden Fernandez-Morales, University of California-Riverside.
Caleb Forehand, East Carolina University.
Anna Izquierdo, Colby College.
Jocelynn Malone, Heidelberg University (Ohio).
Eden Sterk, University of Florida.
Aliani Timmons, Carnegie Mellon University.
Sophia Wang, University of Florida.
Josiah Wiegrefe, Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
The high school contest is named for the late William J. Schulz, a Wisconsin member and lifelong learner who died at 57, leaving a generous bequest to FFRF.
FFRF warmly thanks FFRF’s Lisa Treu for managing the minute details of this and FFRF’s other annual student competitions. And we couldn’t judge these contests without the help of our volunteer and staff readers and judges.
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.
Read the essays in the August issue of Freethought Today.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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Freethought Radio – August 28, 2025
We are not backing down in our lawsuit challenging the Ten Commandments in Texas public schools, in spite of the Texas Attorney General’s warning that he won’t back down from posting them. After covering state/church news in Texas, Arkansas, Minnesota and Colorado, we hear Rachel Maddow’s warning about authoritarianism. Then, we speak with April Ajoy, author of the book Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding A True Faith.
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FFRF urges Calif. school district to stop coaches from leading students in prayer
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has taken issue with football coaches in the Monrovia Unified School District unconstitutionally pushing their religion onto student-athletes.
A district parent reported that two Monrovia High School football coaches have regularly led student-athletes in prayers on the field before football games. The parent states that the practice has potentially taken place for at least several years. Additionally, FFRF learned that the coach-led prayers made the complainant’s child “uncomfortable,” but that they do not dissent or sit the prayers out for fear of retaliation from the coaches.
“Public school coaches cannot constitutionally lead their teams in prayer or promote their personal religious beliefs to student-athletes,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence has written to the district.
It is unconstitutional for public school employees to direct students to partake in religious activities or to participate in the religious activities of their students, FFRF emphasizes. Here, both coaches allegedly have a pattern and practice of leading student-athletes in prayer before football games while acting in their official capacities as coaches.
Student-athletes are especially susceptible to coercion. When coaches lead the team in prayer, students, such as our complainant’s child, will no doubt feel that participating in that prayer is essential to pleasing the coaches and being viewed as a team player. Putting student-athletes in that position is not only unfair but also violates their First Amendment rights.
Needlessly inserting religion into the school’s football program marginalizes student-athletes who are nonreligious or members of minority religions, as well as those who simply do not believe in public prayer. Nearly half of Generation Z members (those born after 1996) are nonreligious, so this likely represents a number of students on the Monrovia High School football team.
To protect the First Amendment rights of students, FFRF is urging Monrovia USD to investigate the matter and ensure that the coaches are no longer allowed to lead student-athletes in prayer or push their personal religious beliefs onto students.
“Public school districts cannot require students to pray to play,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said. “The Constitution gives students the right to be free from religious indoctrination while at school. The district must respect that by stopping these coaches from forcing their athletes to pray.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 5,400 members and two chapters in California. 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.
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FFRF urges State Department to intervene in Moroccan blasphemy case
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling on the State Department to take urgent action in the case of a Moroccan feminist and human rights activist who faces up to five years in prison.
In a letter sent Wednesday, Aug. 27, to the U.S. Office of International Religious Freedom Director Daniel Nadel, FFRF urged the State Department entity to press Morocco to immediately release Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar, drop blasphemy charges against her, and repeal its repressive blasphemy and apostasy laws. Lachgar, who is battling cancer and is scheduled to undergo urgent surgery in September, is currently being held in harsh prison conditions that endanger her health, with her trial scheduled for next week. Her lawyers are requesting her temporary release.
Lachgar, an atheist who works as a psychologist, was arrested after posting a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt that reads “Allah is lesbian.” She is accused of “insulting Islam,” while those who have threatened her with rape and death online remain free.
“This stark double standard highlights the systemic discrimination, persecution and violence faced by dissidents in Morocco under the guise of ‘protecting religion,’” FFRF Co-President Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor have written to the State Department.
“We’ve known Betty for at least a decade,” Gaylor adds. “She is utterly courageous in her campaign to secularize Morocco, and it is frightening to see her endangered simply for speculating harmlessly about the love life of deities.”
FFRF stressed that blasphemy laws are relics of the Dark Ages that violate basic human rights of free speech and freedom of conscience. Morocco is a signatory to international human rights treaties that guarantee these freedoms. FFRF reminds the Office of International Freedom that a resolution calling on the State Department to prioritize the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy and apostasy laws passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2020.
“True religious freedom by definition must include the right to dissent,” the letter notes. “No one should ever face government-imposed penalties for speaking for or against a religion, a sect, dogma or religious imagery.”
The letter calls on the Office of International Religious Freedom to:
- Publicly call for the immediate release of Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar.
- Press the Moroccan government to drop all blasphemy charges against her.
- Condemn Morocco’s criminalization of apostasy, blasphemy and same-sex relationships under its penal code as violations of fundamental freedoms.
- Place Morocco under greater scrutiny until it repeals laws that punish individuals for exercising freedom of conscience and expression.
“As FFRF has long pointed out, blasphemy is a victimless crime — but blasphemy laws create many innocent victims,” FFRF’s letter states.
Lachgar is a co-founder of the Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles (MALI) and has long campaigned for women, LGBTQ+ people, youth and nonbelievers in Morocco. Her trial is scheduled to continue next week.
“By taking a strong and public stand, your office can help save the life and liberty of a courageous activist while reaffirming the United States’ commitment to religious freedom for all,” FFRF concludes.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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Happy 2025 Birthday to Barbara Hambly!
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Happy birthday to Barbara Hambly!
Barbara Hambly is a fantasy author, drawn to the genre after reading The Wizard of Oz at an early age. She has written for Star Trek, Star Wars, and Beauty and the Beast, as well as her own original stories. She lives in California with her dogs, cats, and lizards.
Born in San Diego, California, she earned a masters in Medieval History at the University of California in 1975 and studying in Bordeaux, France. She works in various other genres including mystery/detective fiction and horror. She was married to the late George Alec Effinger, a science fiction writer.
Check out the Barbara Hambly credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!
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DTI Comic Book Investigation for the week of August 28, 2025
Here are all the comics printed this week in years past.
Chiles v. Salazar (2025)
On August 26, 2025, FFRF filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in a case challenging a Colorado state law that banned conversion therapy for minors. This case arose after licensed therapist Kaley Chiles sued state officials in September 2022, alleging the conversion ban violated her First Amendment rights. Chiles identified as a Christian who wanted to provide counseling services and alleged the ban violated her free speech rights and asked to block enforcement of the law. However, Chiles did not claim to practice minor conversion therapy and made it clear in her own arguments that she has no desire to do so.
FFRF’s brief argued in part that Chiles had no legal standing to sue. She argued that she may be wrongly perceived as having violated the law if a minor client were later to “change” their sexual orientation or gender identity. This kind of speculation and conjecture is insufficient to establish legal standing. The brief also argued that this case is yet another where religious parties have been permitted to concoct fake controversies that seek to make the law reflect their personal beliefs. The brief documented how religious litigants have developed a pattern of fabricating legal controversies where none exists. It also underscores that the Supreme Court has not hesitated to deny standing to FFRF or other secular litigants who seek judicial relief that might negatively impact religious interests, but that religious plaintiffs conspicuously have not faced similar limitations.
This brief was drafted by Staff Attorney Nancy Noet.
The post Chiles v. Salazar (2025) appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
FFRF effectively protests state rep’s religious letter to S.C. schools
(Click photo to enlarge)
The Freedom From Religion Foundation effectively reacted to protect South Carolina students’ First Amendment rights after a state representative touted Christianity in a letter included in a school district’s graduation materials.
A concerned Spartanburg School District One parent reported that on May 20, students graduating from Landrum High School received a senior packet assembled by the school, which contained a letter from South Carolina state Rep. Josiah Magnuson. This letter featured evangelistic statements, such as “Be mindful to acknowledge and honor the omnipotent Person who our Founders sacredly named in the Declaration of Independence as Nature’s God, the Creator, the Supreme Judge of the World, and divine Providence,” and “By building your faith in Christ you can stand firm to meet the unknown and overcome every obstacle.” This letter also quotes Proverbs 9:10 (“The Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding”) before saying, “I urge you to read and meditate on His Word.”
FFRF emphasized the disrespect toward students coming from an elected official via this overtly religious letter.
“Public schools may not show favoritism toward or coerce belief or participation in religion,” FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg wrote to the district. “By distributing a religious letter from a state representative to all graduating students, the district displays blatant favoritism for religion over nonreligion, and Christianity above all other faiths.”
High school graduation is a once-in-a-lifetime event that students spend over a decade working toward and distributing a proselytizing letter to graduating students marginalizes those students and families who are not religious, FFRF pointed out. As much as 37 percent of the American population is non-Christian, with 30 percent of those nonreligious. Additionally, at least a third of Generation Z members (those born after 1996) have no religion, with a recent survey revealing almost half of them qualify as religiously unaffiliated “Nones.”
Thankfully, FFRF’s words of reason connected with the district.
After FFRF’s letter, Superintendent Mark Smith confirmed via email that he had taken action regarding the issue: “I have already had a phone conference with a concerned parent about this situation and I explained to this parent our new processes that we will implement this school year to make sure all graduation materials that are distributed to students have been properly vetted and approved by school administration.”
FFRF is pleased to learn that the district will work from now on to prevent students’ rights of conscience from being trampled on.
“The inclusion of a proselytizing letter is already an egregious violation, but the fact that it came from a public official just adds insult to injury,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “The district has a responsibility to keep students safe from outside figures wishing to indoctrinate them into religion. We sincerely hope the district will know better than to allow such a lapse of judgment in the future.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members nationwide, including more than 300 members in South Carolina. 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.
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Federal judge strikes down Minnesota’s sensible “faith statement” ban for PSEO schools
Friendly Atheist
By Hemant Mehta
The post Federal judge strikes down Minnesota’s sensible “faith statement” ban for PSEO schools appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Texas AG Demands Schools Display Ten Commandments Even After Judge’s Injunction
Common Dreams
By Brad Reed
The post Texas AG Demands Schools Display Ten Commandments Even After Judge’s Injunction appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Out Today: “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation #1”
Out today: “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation #1“, by Robbie Thompson.
Here comes a Lovecraftian horror the likes of which the crew of the Enterprise has never seen before! Christine Chapel is itching for a real adventure. So, when an opportunity to reunite with her old scientist friend Jinare for research on the planet Poilant crops up, Chapel is excited to finally do what Starfleet does best: explore strange new worlds. However, when the Enterprise arrives in Poilant’s space, the crew cannot make contact with Jinare or any of her researchers. Chapel, Una, Spock, La’An, and Scotty beam down, and they are greeted by… nothing… no one… and no signs of what caused their disappearance, only a robot named D6 who urges them to descend into the planet’s depths in search of his friends. But there’s more than scientists lurking in the watery abyss. Ancient life-forms and behemoths await-and they might mean more adventure than even Chapel can handle.
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Sept. 6, 2025 – FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliot to Speak on Threats to Church/State Separation (Minneapolis, MN)
Faith-based groups are ramping up efforts to gain power and influence by undermining the First Amendment, warns the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). To shed light on these developments, Patrick Elliott, FFRF’s Legal Director, will present an upcoming talk to the HumanistsMN, examining the growing threats to the separation of state and church at the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, MN on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 3 p.m.
Elliott will outline how religious organizations are pursuing lawsuits and lobbying for legislation aimed at injecting religion into public schools and public life. His presentation will highlight what he calls a “power grab” by Christian nationalist movements, as well as recent high-profile cases that illustrate the risks to constitutional freedoms.
The event will also spotlight the legal and advocacy work that FFRF is doing nationwide to defend secular government and protect individual rights. This is a free event open to the public.
To see the event page, and to learn more about HumanistsMN, visit their website.
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FFRF learned that a minister from a local Church spoke at an Elementary School FCA meeting. (September 2025)
Kentucky —
FFRF learned that a minister from Cleaton Baptist Church spoke at the March 13 meeting of the South Muhlenberg Elementary School FCA meeting. Photos of the event showing the minister speaking with children were posted to the South Muhlenberg Elementary School official Facebook page with the message, “We’d love to see even more kids join us next time!” Additionally, the page posted photos from the April 24 meeting of the South Hulhenberg Elementary FCA which show a different adult speaking about “the story of Zacchaeus,” and reminding students that “Jesus knows us, sees us, and loves us just as we are.”
“Absent the Equal Access Act, which does not apply to elementary schools, the Establishment Clause prohibits religious clubs, because elementary students are too young to truly run a club entirely on their own initiative with no involvement from school staff or outside adults, and school employees may not organize a religious club for students,” FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg wrote to the district. In response to FFRF’s letter, Hulenberg County Public Schools Superintendent Contessa Orr emailed FFRF, writing, “I can confirm that there are currently no FCA clubs utilizing elementary school property.” Orr also confirmed that the situation FFRF wrote about initially had been dealt with in an appropriate manner.
The post FFRF learned that a minister from a local Church spoke at an Elementary School FCA meeting. (September 2025) appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
FFRF reminded a Kentucky school system that student athletes must not be coerced into religious “team building” exercises. (September 2025)
Kentucky —
FFRF reminded the Logan County Schools system in Russellville, Ky., that student athletes must not be coerced into religious “team building” exercises.
FFRF learned that the Logan County High School’s boys baseball program was permitting a Fellowship of Christian Athletes “character coach” to deliver religious talks to the baseball team every Wednesday during official team activities. While the FCA claims that character coaches teach “values” and not religion, the values the character coaches preach are based in evangelical Christianity, and FCA is an explicitly religious organization. The official Logan County Cougar Baseball Facebook account additionally posted a screenshot depicting the FCA representative presenting to the baseball team on what appeared to be school property.
“Any claims that students aren’t pressured to participate in the character coach talks are naive at best, and the FCA’s own website states coaches can require student-athletes to participate in character coach activities,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district.
After receiving FFRF’s letter, the district sought legal counsel from English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley LLP to review the situation. Attorney Michael A. Owsley reported that the character coach was present to facilitate player-initiated and player-led discussions and team building exercises, but failure to be present and participate in the pre-practice team-building exercises did not result in punitive measures against players. However, due to FFRF’s concern, Owsley reminded the district’s baseball coach and athletic director that these pre-practice team building and character coaching sessions must remain entirely secular and voluntary for baseball players to attend. “It is never the intention of anyone in the district to promote one religion over the other,” Owsley wrote. “The district encourages and wishes all of its students feel valued and free to express his or her own beliefs, and to reach those beliefs on their own.”
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High School soccer, basketball, baseball and softball programs in Tennessee, were permitting FCA “character coaches” to deliver religious talks to the teams. (September 2025)
Tennessee —
FFRF received a report that the Richland High School softball program and the Giles County High School soccer, basketball, baseball and softball programs in Pulaski, Tenn., were permitting FCA “character coaches” and other adult FCA leaders to regularly attend sports practices to deliver religious talks to the teams. The FCA organization involved in Giles County, Southwest Middle TN FCA, has direct statements of their Christian faith on their website homepage.
Several social media posts demonstrated the involvement of FCA character coaches with various athletics programs within the district, such as posts naming specific character coaches for specific teams that discussed “sharing the hope and love of Jesus.” Posts stretched back as far as 2020, indicating that the district had a years-long pattern and practice of routinely permitting FCA character coaches to enter school property and proselytize to captive audiences of young student athletes, regardless of whether the students were all voluntary FCA members or not.
“Here, it is clear that both Richland and Giles County high schools have crossed the constitutional line by allowing these FCA ‘character coaches’ to entangle the schools’ athletic programs with Christianity,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district. “These individuals are inappropriately leading entire teams in prayer and delivering religious talks to them.”
After FFRF sent the district a letter, School Board Attorney Timothy P. Underwood responded on behalf of the district. Underwood confirmed that the district director of schools met with Underwood to discuss the contents of FFRF’s letter as well as the social media posts proving FCA representatives interacted with district student athletes.
“It is our goal, before the commencement of any athletic events during the upcoming school year, to meet with our coaches directly and confirm they understand the legal requirements and their duties as coaches,” Underwood wrote. “Based on that discussion, my client will continue to monitor all extracurricular activities to confirm that no religious belief, or non-belief, is being promoted by the school system.” Underwood additionally invited FFRF to reach out if any further concerns were to arise regarding the district.
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FFRF notified the Smith County School System that Fellowship of Christian Athletes clubs cannot genuinely be run by elementary school students. (September 2025)
Tennessee —
FFRF notified the Smith County School System that Fellowship of Christian Athletes clubs cannot genuinely be run by elementary school students.
FFRF learned that Gordonsville Elementary School and Defeated Elementary School are opening a chapter of the FCA. On March 13, Gordonsville Elementary School’s official Facebook account posted a reminder that there was an FCA meeting that morning in the school library. On March 14, Defeated Elementary School posted photos on its official Facebook from that morning’s meeting of the school’s FCA. Another post from Defeated Elementary School on May 2 contained photos of another FCA meeting and thanked a representative for speaking with the group.
“Religious clubs for students at elementary schools cannot genuinely be student-initiated and student-run, and as such are unconstitutional,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district.
After FFRF’s letter, the district took action, as FFRF learned from Attorney Robin C. Moore, who assured FFRF that the district was taking the complaint seriously, and would be monitoring policies and procedures to maintain compliance with the law. “The district is currently reviewing the matters raised in your letter to ensure that all school activities and practices align with constitutional and statutory requirements,” Moore wrote. “Smith County School System remains committed to upholding its obligations under the law while supporting a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students and families.”
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FFRF Supreme Court brief asks to dismiss Colo. suit alleging free speech harm
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against a Colorado therapist in her challenge to a state law banning conversion therapy for minors.
Licensed therapist Kaley Chiles sued state officials in September 2022, alleging the conversion ban violates her First Amendment rights. Chiles identifies as a Christian who wants to provide counseling services to adult and minor clients who may question and wish to explore their sexual orientation and gender identity. Although Chiles does not claim to practice minor conversion therapy and makes it clear in her own arguments that she has no desire to do so, she alleges the ban violates her free speech rights and asks to block enforcement of the law against her.
The district court denied the motion, a ruling that the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed and that Chiles has appealed to the nation’s high court. In FFRF’s friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court, the state/church watchdog maintains that Chiles has no legal standing (right to sue).
“A plaintiff must have a sufficient ‘personal stake’ in a dispute to establish legal standing,” FFRF’s brief asserts. FFRF maintains that Chiles does not have standing to challenge Colorado’s minor conversion therapy law “because she has not violated and does not intend to violate the law. Simply put, she has no ‘personal stake’ in the constitutionality and enforcement of a law that does not impact her.”
Plaintiffs do not have legal standing to contest a law when they have only an “imaginary or speculative” fear that a law will be enforced against them, FFRF contends. A legally sufficient injury must be real, not abstract. Chiles’ allegations in this case fall well short of the mark for a legally viable injury. Her allegations show she’s just worried that someone might get the wrong impression that she violated the law if and when a future minor client happens to experience a spontaneous “change” in their sexual orientation or gender identity. This kind of speculation and conjecture is insufficient to establish legal standing.
FFRF’s second central argument is that this case is yet another where religious parties have been permitted to concoct fake cases that seek to make the law reflect their personal beliefs. This problem has become especially troubling in cases in which religiously affiliated claimants attempt to strike down laws and policies that protect the LGBTQIA+ community. “Our courts must stop being complicit in these efforts and must, instead, bar the door to parties who sue to further only their religious faith, not legal rights,” the brief states.
The brief thoroughly documents how religious litigants have developed a pattern of fabricating phony legal controversies where none exist — and are getting away with it at the high court. Although the Supreme Court has not hesitated to deny standing to FFRF or other secular litigants who seek judicial relief that might negatively impact religious interests, religious plaintiffs conspicuously have not faced similar limitations. If the court continues to permit them to do so, religious litigants will continue to construct hypothetical and even insincere legal injuries in support of lawsuits designed to strike down laws and policies that they disagree with — while injuring the rights of others.
“Let’s call it what it is — religious privileging,” comments Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “The courthouse door is being slammed shut in the face of those seeking to uphold the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, while religious entities and plaintiffs seeking to deny religious freedom to others are allowed entry. We urge the high court to ensure equal justice under the law.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the largest national association of freethinkers, representing atheists, agnostics, and others who form their opinions about religion based on reason, rather than faith, tradition, or authority. Founded nationally in 1978 as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, FFRF has more than 42,000 members, including members in every state and the District of Columbia. FFRF believes that religious ideology threatens access to properly regulated mental health care for LGBTQIA+ minors and places them at risk of grave harm.
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FFRF’s piece published on S.C. news site criticizes state blasphemy law
FFRF State Policy Manager Ryan Dudley has had an op-ed published on a leading South Carolina news site asking for the repeal of a little-known state-level anti-blasphemy law.
“It might surprise many South Carolinians to learn that blasphemy is still punishable by jail time in their state — an absurdity that needs to be remedied,” Dudley begins his column in the South Carolina Daily Gazette. “Under South Carolina code section 16-17-520, it’s a misdemeanor to use ‘blasphemous, profane, or obscene language’ at or near a house of worship.”
Dudley continues the piece by laying out how six states still have anti-blasphemy laws on the books — and the dangers that can arise from their very existence:
You might assume laws like this aren’t enforced anymore. But in Pennsylvania, it happened as recently as 2010. George Kalman attempted to register a film production company named I Choose Hell Productions. State officials rejected his application because state statute says corporation names were not allowed to be “blasphemous.”
Thankfully, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania stepped in. The court ruled that the state’s enforcement of its blasphemy statute violated the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and religion. And yet, that unconstitutional law remains on the statute books, just like South Carolina’s law remains today.
Why? Not because anyone is defending it. Not because it’s needed. But because no one has taken the time to repeal it.
Leaving laws like this in place sends the wrong message. It tells South Carolinians that your rights are conditional, that religious speech is protected, but religious dissent can still be punished.
And it leaves open the possibility that someone could misuse the law again, especially since the U.S. Supreme Court has shown a willingness to rewrite constitutional law in favor of religious litigants.
The piece concludes with a call to action, urging South Carolina to fight back against viewpoint censorship: “For South Carolina, the solution is clear. Repeal the state’s blasphemy law and bring its statutes in line with established Supreme Court precedent.”
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 over 42,000 members nationwide, including more than 300 members in South Carolina. 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.
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Happy 2025 Birthday to Geoffrey Mandel!
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Happy birthday to Geoffrey Mandel!
Geoffrey T. Mandel is a production artist and designer who was the scenic artist for Star Trek: Insurrection, the sixth and seventh seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, and the first season of Star Trek: Enterprise. Prior to this, however, he was a production assistant in the art department of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1994 and was also involved in the production of Star Trek Generations. More recently he was a graphic designer on 2009’s Star Trek.
Check out the Geoffrey Mandel credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!
Find Geoffrey Mandel’s work on Amazon.com
Columbus County Schools answers religion complaint
The News Reporter (Whiteville, NC)
By Diana Matthews
The post Columbus County Schools answers religion complaint appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Mandisa Thomas on Secular Leadership, Black Nonbelievers, and the Fight for Church-State Separation
The Good Men Project
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen
The post Mandisa Thomas on Secular Leadership, Black Nonbelievers, and the Fight for Church-State Separation appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
DTI Treklit Investigation for the week of August 26, 2025
Here’s a look at the books printed this week in the past.
Last Chance! Star Trek Book Deals For August 2025
Here’s your final chance to grab this month’s ebook deals, there’s 18 books on sale for $1.99 each. Books that have never been on sale are in bold:
Oh, while I have you here, there’s a new subscription service on the site, so if you want to get an email about these sales posts, just find the subscribe button in the sidebar over there –>
Star Trek
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek: 101
Star Trek: 11 Yesterday’s Son
Star Trek: 38 The Idic Epidemic
Star Trek: Dark Victory
Star Trek: Day Of Honor 4: Treaty’s Law
Star Trek: Destiny Book 1: Gods Of Night
Star Trek: Destiny Book 3: Lost Souls
Star Trek: Errand of Fury Book 3: Sacrifices Of War
Star Trek: New Frontier: No Limits (Anthology)
Star Trek: Picard: The Dark Veil
Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope
Star Trek: Spock’s World
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Death in Winter
Star Trek: The Original Series: No Time Like the Past
Star Trek: Titan: Sword of Damocles
Star Trek: VI The Undiscovered Country
‘We Dissent’ dissects health care sharing ministries
The new episode of “We Dissent” tackles the concerning rise of deceptive religious “health care” organizations.
On episode 45, FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell and Americans United Legal Director Rebecca Markert are joined by special guest Founder and Principal of Secular Strategies Sarah Levin. Levin talks about health care sharing ministries, a billion-dollar religious industry. The trio discusses what these entities are and are not, and pushes for these organizations to have more transparency.
“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!
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Federal court ruling undermines Minnesota’s ability to protect students from discrimination
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is disappointed with a federal court ruling striking down Minnesota’s attempt to ensure equal access for high school students in a publicly funded college-credit program.
On Friday, Aug. 22, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel blocked a 2023 law that prohibited religious colleges participating in Minnesota’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program from requiring students to sign discriminatory faith statements. That law was passed to protect students, particularly LGBTQ+ and non-Christian students, from being forced to pledge adherence to religious dogma in order to take otherwise secular courses.
Two conservative Christian colleges, Crown College and University of Northwestern–St. Paul, sued to overturn the provision, with the backing of the Christian legal group Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The institutions require students to sign statements opposing same-sex relationships and other personal freedoms, such as non-Christian beliefs, as a condition of participation in campus life. Students even had to acknowledge that they “can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Brasel’s ruling highlights that both schools have received sizable reimbursements from the state through the Minnesota program. Since the 2017–2018 school year, Northwestern and Crown have received $33,248,093.18 and $5,751,053.65, respectively, in state funds for providing the Postsecondary Enrollment Options courses — taxpayer money funneled to institutions that openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ and non-Christian students.
FFRF filed an amicus brief in the case urging the court to uphold Minnesota’s protections for students.
“This law is neutral and generally applicable,” explains FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott. “It simply requires that all colleges receiving taxpayer funds treat students equally, regardless of religion, gender, or sexual orientation. No school should get a license to discriminate on the public dime.”
FFRF’s brief argued that Minnesota has a compelling interest in ensuring public funds are not used to subsidize religious discrimination. High schoolers seeking to earn college credit often select institutions based on factors such as location, course offerings or faculty, not religious identity. Forcing students into religious conformity in order to access publicly funded credits violates fundamental principles of equality and church-state separation.
In her ruling, Brasel reasoned that the Faith Statement Ban singled out religious requirements for exclusion. While colleges could still require students to make nonreligious commitments, such as agreeing to abide by an honor code, they could not require students to attest to specific religious beliefs. She concluded that the ban restricted Postsecondary Enrollment Options admissions practices “because of their religious motivation,” citing Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah.
“The court’s ruling dangerously expands the special privileges of religious institutions while undercutting the rights of students,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Minnesota’s law was a common-sense safeguard ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not used to exclude or stigmatize young people. This decision sends the wrong message — that religious schools can impose discriminatory litmus tests while benefiting from public money.”
The state of Minnesota may appeal the ruling. FFRF will continue to support efforts to protect equal access and plans to file a brief with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals if the decision is appealed.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including 900 members and a chapter in Minnesota. 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.
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Families ask court to add Conway School District to Ark. 10 Commandments lawsuit
The plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against a new Arkansas law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools have filed a motion to amend their complaint seeking to add the Conway School District as a defendant.
The motion follows Judge Timothy Brooks’ ruling in Stinson v. Fayetteville School District No. 1 earlier this month that Act 573 is “obviously unconstitutional” and the discovery by two families with children in Conway schools that the district had posted scriptural displays in every classroom. As explained in the proposed amended complaint, the plaintiffs’ attorneys sent a letter to every school superintendent in Arkansas on Aug. 5 informing them of the court’s ruling. The letter warned districts against implementation of Act 573 and advised them that even though they were not technically bound by the judicial order prohibiting the religious displays, all districts have an independent legal obligation to respect their students’ constitutional rights. Conway School District nevertheless pressed forward with posting the Ten Commandments in every classroom, infringing the constitutional rights of students and parents. If the motion to amend is granted, the plaintiffs will ask the court to order that the Conway School District remove these unconstitutional Ten Commandments displays.
“Conway School District’s decision to post the Ten Commandments in every classroom, despite a federal court’s ruling that the law is unconstitutional, demonstrates a chilling disregard for the law,” says John Williams, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas. “We are monitoring all school districts and will not allow them to get away with trampling families’ First Amendment rights.”
In addition to naming Conway School District No. 1 as a defendant in the case, Friday’s motion to amend the complaint also asks the court to approve two new plaintiff families whose children attend schools in the district and are currently subjected to the unavoidable displays in every classroom.
Signed into law in April of this year, Act 573 requires the Ten Commandments to be “prominently” displayed in a “conspicuous place” in each classroom and library at all public elementary and secondary schools across the state. The scriptural displays must be a minimum of 16 by 20 inches in size and the text of the Ten Commandments must be printed “in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the room.” The law also mandates that a specific version of the Ten Commandments, associated with Protestant faiths and selected by lawmakers, be used for every display.
On Aug. 4, Judge Brooks ruled that Act 573’s public-school provisions violate both the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment and issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the school district defendants from posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms. His decision also sounded the alarm against growing state efforts to “experiment” with government establishments of religion: “Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law? Most likely because the state is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms.”
The plaintiffs in Stinson are represented by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, with Simpson Thacher Bartlett LLP serving as pro bono counsel.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
The post Families ask court to add Conway School District to Ark. 10 Commandments lawsuit appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Happy 2025 Birthday to Chris Roberson!
(Photo by Gage Skidmore)
Happy birthday to Chris Roberson!
Chris Roberson is a novelist and comic book writer from Texas, USA. He is also a publisher, owning and operating MonkeyBrain Books, which publishes non-fiction about speculative fiction.
He began publishing prose works in the late 1990s with the “Clockwork Storybook” group and that led to novels through the 2000s.
Comics titles he wrote include iZombie, Elric: The Balance Lost, Superman, Starborn, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and Memorial.
He wrote the “Brave New World” novella in the Echoes and Refractions collection under the Myriad Universes banner. More recently, he was the writer of the Star Trek – Legion of Super-Heroes comic series from IDW Publishing.
He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up near Dallas, Texas. He attended the University of Texas, Austin. He is married, and has a daughter, and lives in Portland, Oregon.
Check out the Chris Roberson credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!
Find Chris Roberson’s work on Amazon.com
Preview of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation #1”
Here’s a preview of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation #1 by Robbie Thompson which is due to be released this Wednesday on August 27, 2025 at your local comic shop and digital retailers:
Texas Judge Blocks Law Requiring Schools To Display Ten Commandments Inside Classrooms
Latin Post
By Danielle Ong
The post Texas Judge Blocks Law Requiring Schools To Display Ten Commandments Inside Classrooms appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Federal judge blocks Texas law mandating Ten Commandments in classrooms
Catholic Vote
By Hannah Hiester
The post Federal judge blocks Texas law mandating Ten Commandments in classrooms appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Texas court halts Ten Commandments mandate for schools
Israel National News
By Staff
The post Texas court halts Ten Commandments mandate for schools appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
After striking deal with Trump, this BigLaw firm worked with liberal groups to secure pro bono wins in 2 cases
ABA Journal
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The post After striking deal with Trump, this BigLaw firm worked with liberal groups to secure pro bono wins in 2 cases appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
FFRF and others warn Texas schools about 10 Commandments law after court ruling
Four organizations including the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter today to public school superintendents across Texas warning them not to implement SB 10, an unconstitutional state law that purports to require public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every elementary- and secondary-school classroom. The letter also advises districts that have already posted the Ten Commandments due to SB 10 to immediately remove the displays.
The letter from FFRF, the ACLU of Texas, the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State notifies superintendents of this week’s federal court decision in Rabbi Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District, which ruled that SB 10 is “plainly unconstitutional” and prohibited the school district defendants from implementing or enforcing it while the lawsuit continues. The letter explains: “Even though your district is not a party to the ongoing lawsuit, all school districts have an independent obligation to respect students’ and families’ constitutional rights. Because the U.S. Constitution supersedes state law, public-school officials may not comply with SB 10.”
Last month, a group of 16 multifaith and nonreligious families with children in Texas’ public schools filed suit in Nathan, asserting that SB 10 violates the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitutions. The four organizations that sent today’s letter also represent the plaintiffs in Nathan and issued the following statement regarding the letter: “Texas school districts must not comply with SB 10. A Texas federal court has already ruled that the statute is ‘plainly unconstitutional.’ Public-school officials are legally required to protect and uphold the constitutional rights of students and families, including their right to religious freedom under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. Implementing SB 10 would violate this obligation and could result in litigation being filed against school districts that do so. Districts that have already posted displays of the Ten Commandments must immediately remove them.”
Read the full letter to superintendents here.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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And finally… thou shalt not indoctrinate
Irish Legal News
By Staff
The post And finally… thou shalt not indoctrinate appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
It’s time for SC to repeal its blasphemy law
South Carolina Daily Gazette
By Ryan Dudley
The post It’s time for SC to repeal its blasphemy law appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
FFRF calls out Homeland Security for using the bible to sanctify deportations
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is demanding that the Department of Homeland Security stop using religion to portray its immigration enforcement activities as divinely ordained.
FFRF has written to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem after the agency posted multiple promotional videos on its official social media accounts in July featuring bible quotes, militarized footage and artwork glorifying “manifest destiny.”
One July 7 video showed helicopters taking off as a narrator quoted Isaiah 6:8: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? … Here am I. Send me.” The video then played a cover of Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” Another DHS video on July 28 showed Border Patrol agents in tactical gear preparing for an operation as the verse Proverbs 28:1 faded onscreen: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Other DHS materials have invoked “manifest destiny,” posting artwork that celebrates westward colonization and displacement of Native Americans.
FFRF warns that DHS use of scripture in official communications not only violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, but also dangerously suggests that immigration enforcement is morally sanctified.
“Quoting Christian texts to frame immigrants and asylum seekers as ‘wicked’ dehumanizes families who have worked, paid taxes and contributed to our communities,” FFRF legal counsel Chris Line writes to Noem. “If anything is wicked, it is the use of religious propaganda to vilify people who are among the most vulnerable.”
FFRF emphasizes that the bible can be twisted to justify virtually any policy, from compassion to cruelty. Indeed, many verses directly contradict DHS’ messaging, including:
- “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong … you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33–34)
- “You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native.” (Leviticus 24:22)
- “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)
- “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Matthew 25:35)
“The only purpose of invoking the bible in these propaganda videos is to claim a higher authority than our Constitution,” the letter charges. “The implicit message is: ‘God is on our side.’ That is the age-old rallying cry of holy wars, not democratic governance. In truth, there is no greater authority in our nation than our secular Constitution.”
America’s strength lies in its secular Constitution, FFRF reminds Noem. True religious freedom requires that the government remain free from religious corruption. Keeping religion out of the government is a fundamental American ideal, essential for true religious freedom, and has been a tremendous asset to our society.
Almost 37 percent of Americans are non-Christians, and this includes the nearly one in three Americans who are religiously unaffiliated. DHS is charged with serving all Americans, not just Christians, and must not promote Christian nationalism under the guise of policy.
FFRF is urging DHS to immediately remove all religious content from its communications and training materials, and to affirm its duty to remain neutral on matters of religion.
FFRF has also filed a Freedom of Information Act request to determine how much federal time and taxpayer money went into producing these sectarian propaganda videos. The public has a right to know whether government resources are being used to promote religion rather than to carry out DHS’ secular mission.
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 more than 42,000 members, FFRF advocates for freethinkers’ rights across the globe. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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Freethought Radio – August 21, 2025
After we cover state/church news around the country, FFRF Senior Litigation Counsel Sam Grover recounts FFRF’s recent victory stopping the Ten Commandments from being posted in Texas public schools. Then, journalist Mary Annette Pember, a citizen of the Red Cliff Band of Wisconsin Ojibwe, describes her new book Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools.
The post Freethought Radio – August 21, 2025 appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Texas School Districts Blocking Ten Commandments; Houston Area Tops List
KSST Radio (Sulphur Springs, TX)
By Staff
The post Texas School Districts Blocking Ten Commandments; Houston Area Tops List appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Judge blocks Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms
Courthouse News Service
By Christina Van Waasbergen
The post Judge blocks Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in classrooms appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
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