Detroit newspaper publishes FFRF op-ed denouncing blasphemy law
FFRF Regional Government Affairs Manager Mickey Dollens has had a piece published in the Detroit News decrying the state’s still-standing blasphemy law.
“Michigan is one of only six states that still have archaic anti-blasphemy laws, alongside Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wyoming,” Dollens writes. “These kinds of antediluvian statutes often harken back to America’s colonial era, before the U.S. Constitution, when church and state were entangled and civil rights were routinely curtailed.”
Dollens highlights the dangers that Michigan residents may face if this law is not struck down:
You might assume statutes like this are forgotten “blue laws” never enforced in modern times. But in Pennsylvania, enforcement 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 Pennsylvania statute says corporation names are not allowed to be “blasphemous.” A federal district court ruled that the enforcement of the state’s blasphemy statute violated the First Amendment. And yet, the unconstitutional law remains on the books, just like Michigan’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 citizens that legislators think their 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.
Even conservative evangelical politicians agree that blasphemy laws are wrong. In 2020, U.S. Sen. James Lankford introduced a bipartisan Senate resolution calling for the global repeal of blasphemy laws. The resolution condemned foreign governments that jail or persecute individuals for religious speech and nonbelief. It passed unanimously in the Senate and was also approved in the House by a vote of 386–3. Such rare and overwhelming support demonstrates that protecting religious expression, including the freedom to question or reject religion, is a shared American value that transcends party lines.
Faith-based religious liberty advocates agree. Groups such as the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty support repealing blasphemy laws. They understand what the Founders believed: True religious freedom requires the freedom to criticize, question, reject religion and speak freely without fear of censorship or punishment.
“Repeal the state’s blasphemy law and bring Michigan in line with constitutional principles,” the piece concludes, urging reason to prevail over a dogma-fueled law.
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 1,100 members in Michigan. 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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Freethought Radio – July 31, 2025
Incursions of Christian nationalism at the federal and state level are increasing, and we are fighting back. We report a quick legal victory removing a Ten Commandments monument from an Illinois county courthouse. Then, we remember the lives of two precious freethinkers who died this month: long-time FFRF member Dick Hewetson, an Episcopal priest turned gay/atheist activist, who died at age 95; and satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer (“Vatican Rag”), who died at age 97.
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Bill Krause on Vinividiscripsi.com discussing “Star Trek Modeling”
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Bill Krause was recently featured on Vinividiscripsi.com to discuss Star Trek Modeling:
Before we dive in, a note: today’s post shifts toward model-building and sci-fi—in particular, the ever-expanding world of Star Trek, another interest of mine. It’s a different kind of creativity, but still one that reaches for something beyond ourselves: vision, story, and beauty that stirs the imagination.
Check out the Bill Krause author page to view other sightings and a full list of books!
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Massachusetts paper publishes FFRF op-ed urging blasphemy law repeal
FFRF Regional Government Affairs Manager Mickey Dollens has been given space in the Massachusetts newspaper Telegram & Gazette to urge the repeal of an archaic anti-blasphemy law.
“Until 1697, [blasphemy] was punishable by death, and later by branding the blasphemer’s tongue with a hot iron,” Dollens writes. “To this day, you can still be fined $300 or jailed for up to a year for ‘willfully blaspheming the holy name of God.’”
Dollens details the problems that have resulted from anti-blasphemy laws — and how Massachusetts has a chance to fix it:
Massachusetts is one of just six states that still have archaic anti-blasphemy laws on the books, alongside Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wyoming. This antediluvian statute dates back to America’s Colonial era, before the U.S. Constitution, when church and state were entangled and Puritan orthodoxy was enforced by law.
You might assume statutes like this are forgotten “blue laws” never enforced in modern times. But in Pennsylvania, enforcement 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 Pennsylvania statute says corporation names are not allowed to be “blasphemous.” A federal district court ruled that the enforcement of the state’s blasphemy statute violated the First Amendment. And yet, the unconstitutional law remains on the books, just like Massachusetts’ law remains today.
Letting laws like this stay in place sends the wrong message. It tells citizens that their 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.
Thankfully, a Massachusetts lawmaker is working to fix this issue. State Sen. Rebecca Rausch has introduced SB 1251, a bill to repeal the state’s anti-blasphemy statute. The bill has successfully advanced out of its first committee and is now awaiting a vote in the Senate Rules Committee, just one step away from a full Senate vote. Massachusetts lawmakers should support and pass SB 1251 to finally bring state law in line with constitutional protections.
Dollens concludes by showing that religious liberty doesn’t need to be a partisan issue: “Faith-based religious liberty advocates agree. Groups such as the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty support repealing blasphemy laws. They understand what the Founders believed: True religious freedom requires the freedom to criticize, question, reject religion, and speak freely without fear of censorship or punishment.”
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 800 members in Massachusetts. 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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New Star Trek Book: “Star Trek: Defiant #5”
Star Trek: Defiant #5 by Christopher Cantwell has been added to the Star Trek Book Club!
Captain Worf struggles to maintain order among the Defiant’s crew with the addition of two reluctant new recruits, causing friction on board the stolen vessel. And with Klingon adrenaline still surging through Kahless’ veins, the need to find-and stop-him has never seemed so urgent.
The book is currently scheduled to be published on July 5, 2023
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New Star Trek Book: “Star Trek Adventures: Second Edition: Exploration Guide”
Star Trek Adventures: Second Edition: Exploration Guide by has been added to the Star Trek Book Club!
For nearly 60 years, Star Trek
has celebrated exploration as its central theme, using it as a vehicle for storytelling and social commentary in time-honored science fiction fashion.
This Exploration Guide is essential reading for any Star Trek Adventures crew interested in expanding their characters, missions, and campaigns into the final frontier and creating new sectors, worlds, and environments to discover and explore.
Use the wealth of advice and random tables in this book to create original galactic sectors, star systems, planets, and planetary terrains, and then explore those unique locations in your crew’s original Star Trek stories!
The 144-page full-color Star Trek Adventures Second Edition Exploration Guide features:
- New player character options, including two new career paths, 10 new career events, 21 new character talents, and five new options for awards and honors.
- Options for characters who want to possess secret values, talents, or traits that are then revealed throughout a campaign.
- Advice and random tables to create entirely new sectors of space for your player characters to discover and explore.
- Tools to populate those new space sectors with notable star systems and cosmic features, including stars, number of planets, and spatial phenomena.
- Advice and random tables to populate those new star systems with a variety of inner and outer worlds, moons, and ringed worlds for your crew to study, visit, and explore.
- Guidance on exploring planets and planet-like stellar bodies, and nine different planetary terrains: cave systems, deserts, forests, jungles, mountains and hills, plains, swamps, tundra, and water.
- Terrain-specific details and random generators for the terrain types and elements unique to that terrain.
- Random tables designed to help you generate story hooks, advantages, and complications for each terrain type.
- Includes a full-color double-sided poster depicting a 23rd century map on one side and an updated 25th century map on the reverse!
This second edition supplement is compatible with both first edition Star Trek Adventures and the Captain’s Log Solo RPG.
The book is currently scheduled to be published on October 15, 2025
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DTI Comic Book Investigation for the week of July 31, 2025
Here are all the comics printed this week in years past.
FFRF joins 1,000 nonprofits defending Johnson Amendment’s nonpartisan rules
The Freedom From Religion Foundation and its legislative arm, the FFRF Action Fund, are proud to be among some 1,000 nonprofit organizations signing onto a public letter calling on President Trump and Congress to champion nonpartisanship and public trust by defending the Johnson Amendment.
“Today, the National Council of Nonprofits, American Humanist Association, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Independent Sector, Interfaith Alliance, Public Citizen and other leading nonprofit organizations launched a national sign-on letter addressed to President Trump,” announced the press release from Public Citizen, which helped coordinate the campaign.
“Undermining the Johnson Amendment would do lasting harm to our democracy,” the press release quotes Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of FFRF and president of FFRF Action Fund. “That’s why such a broad coalition — spanning secular and religious organizations, good governance advocates and nonprofits across the political spectrum — is speaking out together.”
The letter to Trump condemns efforts to ignore or weaken the Johnson Amendment. This longstanding federal law prohibits 501(c)(3) nonprofits from using their tax-exempt resources to endorse or oppose political candidates.
“For more than 70 years,” the letter states about the Johnson Amendment, “it has ensured that all tax-exempt charitable nonprofits — including houses of worship — do not become conduits for partisan politics, protecting public trust in religious institutions and preserving the integrity of elections.” The signatories remind Trump that churches and faith leaders already have the right to speak out about political issues in their personal capacity, and even run for office, and can speak out on policy concerns in a nonpartisan manner.
The letter was sparked by a proposed legal settlement involving the Internal Revenue Service and National Religious Broadcasters, in which the IRS shocked the nation by saying that “communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services” do not violate the Johnson Amendment.
At a press conference today announcing the group letter, Guthrie Graves-Persimmons of the Interfaith Alliance cited survey after survey showing that the public, including 98 percent of evangelical leaders, do not want churches to endorse from the pulpit. He pointed out the U.S. Catholic bishops have announced that Catholic parishes will not be endorsing from the pulpit and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) has likewise eschewed politics from the pulpit.
Representing the National Council of Churches, Rev. Leslie Copeland-Tune, a Baptist, noted that worshippers consider church a “safe and sacred place” that would be sullied by partisan politicking, and that such actions would damage public trust in clergy.
Rob Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, noted how the overturning of the Johnson Amendment “threatens to be the most catastrophic degradation of campaign finance law since Citizens United.” He warned, “Expect huge amounts of dark money to flow — not just dark money but tax-deductible dark money.”
That there is such broad support, from the public, religious groups and sects of diverse persuasions, and hundreds of other nonprofits, underscores the importance of ensuring that the Trump administration is not allowed to do an end-run on the Johnson Amendment.
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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‘We Dissent’ wraps up remaining Supreme Court decisions
The latest “We Dissent” episode breaks down the last few state-church Supreme Court decisions coming down from the U.S. Supreme Court this judicial term.
On Episode 44, FFRF Deputy Legal Director Liz Cavell and Americans United Legal Director Rebecca Markert explain the final three Supreme Court rulings with huge stakes for true religious freedom. They discuss the court’s continued zeal for religious favoritism in the Catholic Charities, Mahmoud and Skrmetti rulings — the further expansion of exemptions from the law for religious employers, the granting of veto power to ultraconservative religious parents over public school curriculum, and the upholding of state bans on gender-affirming care for minors with gender dysphoria.
“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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VICTORY: Jefferson County, Ill., moves Ten Commandments monument, residents dismiss lawsuit
Following Jefferson County’s removal of a large Ten Commandments monument from the lawn of the county courthouse, the plaintiffs have withdrawn a lawsuit challenging the display. Represented by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the ACLU of Illinois and the ACLU, a group of religious and nonreligious Jefferson County, Ill., residents filed suit last month in state court, alleging that the religious monument violated Illinois’ constitutional protections for the separation of church and state.
During a meeting in late June, immediately after the lawsuit was filed, members of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners voted to remove the Ten Commandments monument from county property. Earlier this month, the monument was relocated to a more appropriate location, the West Salem Trinity Church in Mount Vernon. In yesterday’s Joint Motion to Dismiss, the county affirmed that “the monument will not return to county property.”
“We’re happy that the county eventually complied with Illinois’ church-state guarantees,” says Hirsh M. Joshi, Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow at the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “It was an honor to help my fellow Illinoisans keep their local government secular.”
“We’re delighted that after we sued, the county acted with alacrity to remove these biblical edicts from the seat of county government,” adds FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “This action shows that Jefferson County understands it has no right to tell residents which gods to worship, how many gods to worship or whether to worship any gods at all.”
Kevin Fee, legal director for the ACLU of Illinois, noted the role that local residents played in the victory: “Our clients showed great courage in coming together and challenging this illegal action by their local elected officials. It is easy to be silent and not speak up. But these brave residents stood up for constitutional values and demanded change.”
Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, applauded the county’s decision: “This is a victory for religious freedom. Although county officials had no business prominently displaying biblical scripture at the seat of local government, we’re glad that they’ve now fixed their constitutional error.”
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.
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Trump Administration Lets Federal Employees Push Religion in Workplaces
Common Dreams
By Brett Wilkins
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Dollens: Blasphemy law needs to be repealed
The Detroit News
By Mickey Dollens
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Trump team loosens restrictions on feds talking religion at work
The Washington Times
By Jeff Mordock
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Trump admin bolsters religious freedom for federal workers
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Trump administration says federal employees can encourage co-workers to “re-think” their religious beliefs
CBS News
By Joe Walsh
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With Christian Civic League support, can Susan Collins claim to be a moderate? | Opinion
The Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME)
By Ray Vensel
The post With Christian Civic League support, can Susan Collins claim to be a moderate? | Opinion appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Le Mars vows to end religious events in schools, unless student-led
Radio Iowa
By Staff
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“Star Trek: Red Shirts #1” Review by Comicsonline.com
Comicsonline.com has added a new review for Christopher Cantwell‘s “Star Trek: Red Shirts #1”:
Star Trek: Red-Shirts is a fresh addition to the world of Trek, filled with wild concepts and interesting (yet expendable) new characters. There are some clear favorite characters, but I wouldn’t get too attached as history has a habit of repeating itself…
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“Star Trek: The Next Generation: Dominion War: Book 3: Tunnel Through The Stars” Review by Deepspacespines.com
Deepspacespines.com has added a new review for John Vornholt‘s “Star Trek: The Next Generation: Dominion War: Book 3: Tunnel Through The Stars”:
In today’s episode, a rare double replicator malfunction forces Picard to bend the knee to some dollar-store Ferengi knockoffs. Meanwhile, Riker sets aside his boner to help a starbase commander with a more important matter of the heart. Is there time for hugs in the middle of war? Is Ro Laren looking for a Canuck-buddy? And is it possible to want to spend more time in a part of a book you also wanted to spend less time in? All this and more in Tunnel Through the Stars, the book that makes Jack a dull boy.
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Happy 2025 Birthday to Wil Wheaton!
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Happy birthday to Wil Wheaton!
Wil Wheaton may be one of the most unusual celebrities of our time. Born into stardom with the movie “Stand By Me”, and then growing up on television as Wesley Crusher on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, Wil was in the spotlight nearly his entire childhood. Instead of burning out as a child star, he left fame behind and became a computer specialist in what Hollywood might consider the middle of nowhere: Topeka, Kansas. Now, Wil considers himself “just a geek”, and both Dancing Barefoot and the forthcoming biography Just a Geek are about his journey in rediscovering himself and coming to terms with what it means to be famous, or, ironically, famous for being previously famous.
Check out the Wil Wheaton credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!
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Iowa district backtracks, bans faith-based groups from holding events on school grounds after complaints
The Heartlander
By Shanxi Omoniyi
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First Liberty Files Briefs Supporting Ten Commandments Displays & Churches That Care for the Homeless
First Liberty
By Jayla Ward & Jorge Gomez
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Le Mars Schools to stop allowing religious events on grounds & Siouxland National Guard may help federal immigration enforcement
Siouxland Public Media KWIT-KOJI (Sioux City, IA)
By Bret Hayworth
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Angry Atheists Pounce After Florida’s New Ed Commissioner Sends Much Needed Message About God and Kids on Day 1
The Western Journal
By C. Douglas Golden
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This Day in Liberal Judicial Activism—July 25
National Review
By Ed Whalen
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Opinion/Guest column: Relegate state’s archaic law against blasphemy to history
Worcester Telegram (Worcester, MA)
By Mickey Dollens
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DTI Treklit Investigation for the week of July 29, 2025
Here’s a look at the books printed this week in the past.
Office of Personnel Management religion-workplace changes shockingly unconstitutional
The Freedom From Religion Foundation deplores as outrageous and unconstitutional a memo the Office of Personnel Management released today that purports to protect religious expression in the federal workplace but encourages outright proselytizing.
“These shocking changes essentially permit workplace evangelizing, but worse still, allow supervisors to evangelize underlings and federal workers to proselytize the public they serve,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “This is the implementation of Christian nationalism in our federal government.”
In an appendix to the memo, this example of permissible conduct is cited: “During a break, an employee may engage another in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the nonadherent should rethink his religious beliefs.” It adds, “However, if the nonadherent requests such attempts to stop, the employee should honor the request.”
The memo continues: “Employees may also encourage their coworkers to participate in religious expressions of faith, such as prayer, to the same extent that they would be permitted to encourage coworkers participate (sic) in other personal activities.” It adds, “The constitutional rights of supervisors to engage in such conversations should not be distinguished from non-supervisory employees by the nature of their supervisory roles.”
As an example of acceptable conduct for a supervisor, the appendix states: “On a bulletin board meant for personal announcements, a supervisor may post a handwritten note inviting each of his employees to attend an Easter service at his church.”
While the memo says “unwillingness to engage in such conversations may not be the basis of workplace discipline,” FFRF contends that when a power imbalance is involved, and someone’s job security and promotions are at stake, employees will feel they must go along with the religious conversation or attend that Easter service.
Equally concerning is a section on “Expressions in Areas Accessible to the Public.” Any religious expressions in areas accessible to the public have to be treated in the same manner “as if those expressions are made in areas inaccessible to the public,” the memo states. The memo says bibles, religious artwork, crosses, crucifixes and mezuzahs are allowed for display, meaning if someone serves the public, they apparently may display religious icons in public areas.
Examples of how religious expression may be directed at members of the public include: “A park ranger leading a tour through a national park may join her tour group in prayer. A doctor at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital may pray over his patient for her recovery. A receptionist in a doctor’s office at a VA Medical Center may pray with a co-worker in the patients’ waiting area.”
The only caveat offered in the memo is that such religious expressions should “not occur during on-duty time.” Similarly, an agency may restrict all posters, but if it allows some it must allow religious posters. The memo seemingly would not accommodate atheistic beliefs, saying all beliefs are not covered under Title VII, such as “social, political or economic philosophies, and mere personal preferences.”
An earlier memo directed to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies from Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor cites the Supreme Court’s Groff v. DeJoy decision, saying the U.S. Post Office must meet an “undue hardship” standard or else provide religious accommodation. The memo goes on to elaborately detail telework, religious compensatory time off and many other accommodations.
The Hill reports that the White House Faith Office worked with the Office of Personnel Management to produce the memo. The result is, unsurprisingly, extremely problematic.
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.
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FFRF renews opposition to extremist bible study at highest levels of U.S. government
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is raising a red flag over the resurgence of a bible study group featuring senior U.S. officials, including members of President Trump’s cabinet.
Capitol Ministries, led by Christian nationalist pastor Ralph Drollinger, relaunched its cabinet-level bible study in March. The group holds weekly sessions with members of Congress, senators and high-ranking Trump administration officials, pushing a rigid theocratic worldview under the guise of spiritual guidance. Despite claiming nonpartisanship, the studies aggressively promote far-right policy positions — on immigration, abortion, environmental regulation, criminal justice and more — framed as biblical mandates. FFRF condemns these sessions, which take place inside the halls of government, as an attempt to erode the wall between state and church.
Drollinger’s teachings are clear. He believes elections are “first and foremost a spiritual battle,” that LGBTQ-plus rights are incompatible with Christianity, and that Christian leaders who support marriage equality are “Satan’s pawns.” He has even cited Scripture to justify the Trump administration’s family separation policy. Capitol Ministries exists for one purpose: to influence public policy through fundamentalist religion.
Sponsors of the revived cabinet study include U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, both of whom have used their official positions to invite fellow cabinet members to participate. Drollinger also leads separate weekly sessions for members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, respectively.
FFRF has previously uncovered documents showing that senior Trump officials used government time and resources to organize these bible studies, including a major event hosted at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. In 2023, Drollinger expanded the program to include weekly Zoom-based bible studies with sitting and former governors.
“This isn’t a private devotional group. It’s a publicly connected, politically motivated ministry trying to shape U.S. law to match Drollinger’s theocratic vision,” says FFRF Co-President Dan Barker. “When cabinet officials participate, it’s not about faith. It’s about advancing a sectarian, partisan crusade.”
The Constitution prohibits public officials from using their office to advance their personal religious beliefs. When bible studies organized and promoted by high-level officials promote specific political outcomes, they cross a bright constitutional line. FFRF warns that such programs marginalize nonbelievers, religious minorities and anyone who does not share Drollinger’s extremist ideology.
“It’s deeply troubling that someone with Drollinger’s views has unfettered access to the highest levels of government,” Barker adds. “These bible sessions directly influence policies affecting reproductive freedom, LGBTQ-plus rights, science education and environmental protections.”
FFRF urges cabinet members and elected officials to cut ties with Drollinger and disassociate from Capitol Ministries. It will continue closely monitoring these bible study meetings and take any available action to curtail this group’s improper influence on U.S. government policy.
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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August 24, 2025 – FFRF Co-Presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dan Barker and Author Kate Cohen to Attend Upstate New York Freethinkers 2nd Annual Chapter Gathering (Fayetteville, NY)
Date: Sunday, August 24, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM EDT (Doors open at 9:40 AM)
Location: The Craftsman Inn & Suites, 7300 East Genesee Street, Fayetteville, NY 13066
Join Upstate New York Freethinkers for their 2nd Annual Chapter Gathering! This exciting event is open to the public (tickets required) and features a stellar lineup of speakers from the Freedom From Religion Foundation and beyond.
Throughout the day, you’ll have opportunities to meet and chat with our distinguished speakers, including Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker!
Featured Speakers:
- Annie Laurie Gaylor: FFRF Co-President
- Dan Barker: FFRF Co-President
- Kate Cohen: Author of “We of Little Faith”
The day’s agenda includes insightful presentations, a delicious hot buffet luncheon, and tours of the historic Matilda Joslyn Gage museum (a short drive from the conference). Attendees will also have the opportunity for book signings with the featured speakers.
Optional Saturday Evening Dinner: An optional dinner is available on Saturday, August 23, 2025, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at The Craftsman Wood Grille and Tap House (at participant’s expense, ticket RSVP required).
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with fellow freethinkers and engage with leading voices in the movement! I
FT = I Love Freethought
For more details and to purchase tickets, please visit: unyft.org/go
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Happy 2025 Birthday to Adeena Mignogna!
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Happy birthday to Adeena Mignogna!
Adeena Mignogna is a dedicated STEM speaker and science fiction author. With over 25 years of experience in aerospace engineering, she has contributed significantly to satellite and space station projects, specializing in satellite command-and-control systems, software design, and systems engineering. Currently serving as a Mission Architect in the aerospace industry, Adeena is also a passionate advocate for the use of VR in engineering and a mentor to aspiring engineers.
As an author, Adeena leverages her extensive background in physics, astronomy, and computer science to craft captivating stories that blend scientific accuracy with imaginative fiction. She is the creator of the 4-book Robot Galaxy Series and the novel “Lunar Logic.” Adeena also shares her love for science fiction as a co-host on The BIG Sci-Fi Podcast.
Adeena’s multifaceted career and her dedication to inspiring others through both her professional work and her writing make her a unique and influential voice in the world of STEM and science fiction. Discover more about her work at adeenamignogna.com.
Check out the Adeena Mignogna credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!
Find Adeena Mignogna’s work on Amazon.com
New Star Trek Comic Books Announced To Preorder! July 2025 Edition
IDW August 2025 Catalog
Four graphic novels that let fans of the Paramount+ series dive deeper into the world of Star Trek: Discovery!
This omnibus collects Star Trek: Discovery—The Light of Kahless, Star Trek: Discovery—Succession, Star Trek: Discovery—Aftermath, and Star Trek: Discovery—Adventures in the 32nd Century.
In The Light of Kahless, journey back in time to a decade before Captain Kirk and the Enterprise set out on their five-year mission, when the United Federation of Planets is locked in conflict with the mysterious Klingon Empire. But just who are these formidable foes? By Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson, and Tony Shasteen.
In Succession, the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery visited the infamous Mirror Universe, and they didn’t like what they found. Now journey deeper into the alternate reality, and uncover more about the Mirror versions of Michael, Saru, Ash, Paul, and Sylvia as they learn that “Succession” can be a truly dangerous concept. By Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson, and Angel Hernandez.
In Aftermath, after the disappearance of the U.S.S. Discovery, Captain Pike and Chancellor L’Rell seek to forge a peace treaty between the Federation and the Klingons. But when a new enemy threatens to sabotage the negotiations, Spock must reclaim his place in Starfleet to save his friends and prevent the outbreak of a new war! By Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson, Tony Shasteen, and Angel Hernandez.
In Adventures of the 32nd Century, explore the far future of Star Trek in these adventures set after the U.S.S. Discovery’s jump forward in time at the end of season two! By Mike Johnson and Angel Hernandez.
Following the action of Star Trek: Day of Blood, an all-new crossover event between Star Trek and Defiant is here!
Lore War shows us a universe rebuilt in Lore’s image. The crews of the Theseus and the Defiant are scattered across the universe with no memory of who they once were—some even worship Lore as their God. Lore has won; his rule is absolute. But the Sisko remains, and there are forces who wish to remind him of his power.
From the Eisner-nominated writers of Star Trek, Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly; the critically acclaimed writer of Star Trek: Defiant, Christopher Cantwell; the Eisner-nominated writer of Shaxs’ Best Day, Ryan North; and artists Davide Tinto and Derek Charm comes the next big Star Trek event!
Includes Star Trek: Lore War #1, Star Trek issues #31–32, Star Trek: Defiant issues #26–27, Star Trek: Lore War—Shaxs’ Worst Day, and Star Trek: Omega.
The Lower Deckers and Cetacean Ops officers Kimolu and Matt continue their mission to replenish Earth’s population of humpback whales! The krill situation is getting out of control, and the songs they sing are just too good to let them die out. There’s also the pesky situation where Ronald (the last whale!) has to occasionally talk that uptight space probe (whenever it shows up) into sparing the Earth from doom and destruction. But Ronald’s getting on in age and won’t be around forever…so the crew needs to find him a love match, stat, or Earth might face its end.
Star Trek: Lower Decks, Vol. 2: Mixed Signals
In this hilarious comic book series, the Lower Deckers of the U.S.S. Cerritos face intergalactic hijinks, infighting, and even morality!
Everything is topsy-turvy on the Lower Decks. Intergalactic bungles, gambling, horrifying hijinks, and even good behavior?
Out of the blue, the now-perfect Stepford Crew takes charge and saves the ship. Freeman knows something is off and begins the hunt for the real (awful) Lower Deckers! To get her crew back, Freeman will have to travel dimensions, put on a show, and even cause a massacre!
In an equally horrible tragedy, Boimler is up for promotion to full lieutenant! The only thing standing in his way is a personality test—his greatest challenge yet. Follow everyone’s favorite chaotic Lower Decks crew as they fight deranged, inept creatures, and we’re not talking about them!
Ensigns Raad and Miller find themselves on a dark ship and face to face with…Klingons. The two red shirts are accused of being spies, and their captors brutalize and torture them for any information they can get on how the Romulans were able to access a Starfleet subspace antenna feed. Meanwhile, DeMatrio, Amiga, and Lanier engage in a tense starship battle with a Romulan Bird-of-Prey.
If all six remaining red shirts are going to make it off Arkonia 89 alive, someone is going to have to make a sacrifice—but for what? How many red shirts have died to ferret out the Romulans? There must be more to the story than Starfleet is letting on…
Star Trek: Shaxs’ Best (and Worst) Day
From the humorous world of Lower Decks comes two adventures featuring the U.S.S Cerritos’ security chief doing what he does best, fighting fascists, in these comics based on the hit series!
See the battle to stop the fascist, god-killing clone Kahless II from declaring war on non-followers across the galaxy from the eyes of the man, the myth, the legend, Lieutenant Junior Grade Shaxs! See the Bajoran’s beast-mode brawl showcasing all the behind-the-scenes Klingon-zealot butt-kicking in full animated glory!
Then, Shaxs had his best day, but now that the universe has been rewritten by the mad android Lore, he’s about to have his worst. Starfleet has been distorted into a machinery of oppression antithetical to everything it once stood for, and Shaxs has been made into the one thing he despises most in the universe: a fascist. Now free of Lore’s hold over his mind, it’s up to Shaxs to revert everyone in Starfleet back to their old selves and save the cosmos.
For the first time, get both issues by writer Ryan North and artist Derek Charm in one collection! Shaxs’ Best Day was nominated for a 2024 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue/One-Shot and a 2024 Ringo Award for Best Single Issue or Story.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Seeds of Salvation #2
Now deep under the ice-crusted surface of the planet Poilant in search of a missing team of Starfleet researchers, Una, Chapel, La’An, Spock, Scotty, and D6 discover a mysterious alien temple. It’s covered in vines and the tech on the crew’s submersible is showing the researchers are inside—but before they can investigate further, a new enigma appears…and this one’s got tentacles!
Star Trek: Voyager: Homecoming
Moments before returning to Earth, the crew of Voyager are betrayed by insurgents hidden on board! With her ship’s deflector dish broken and the ship itself out of her control, Janeway must convince the aliens that Starfleet means them no harm if she’s ever going to get her found family home. If that weren’t enough to handle, there’s a ticking clock to contend with: Tuvok’s disease has accelerated, and he must get home to mind-meld with a family member to cure himself with Fal-tor-voh…before it’s too late!
2025 Scribe Award Winners Announced
SciFi Bulletin has the full list of winners, there are two Star Trek stories that won!
Star Trek – Strange New Worlds: Asylum by Una McCormack
“Family History” by David Mack (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
2025 Scribe Award Nominees Announced
Jonathan Maberry has announced on his personal Facebook page that the 2025 Scribe Award Nominees have been announced:
Each year the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers (iamtw.org) presents the SCRIBE AWARDS to celebrate outstanding works tied to popular licenses such as novelizations
of movies and TV shows, as well as numerous original works set in the worlds of Star Wars, the
MCU, the DCU, video games, popular TV shows, and much more.
The awards will be given this Friday at San Diego Comic-Con (2-3pm, Room 32AB)
Huge congrats to all of the nominees!!!
ADAPTED NOVEL
• Blast from the Past! By Chris McGuire (The Racoons)
• Cwej: Requiem by James Hornby (Doctor Who)
• Doctor Who: 73 Yards by Scott Handcock
• Doctor Strange: Dimension War by James Lovegrove
• Terrifier 2: The Official Novelization by Tim Waggoner
AUDIO DRAMA
• Archipelagio by Tim Foley (Doctor Who)
• Cass-Cade by James Moran (Doctor Who)
• The Krillitane Flint by John Dorney (Doctor Who)
• Nowhere Never by Katherine Armitage (Doctor Who)
• Star Cops – Blood Moon by James Swallow
GRAPHIC NOVEL
• Alex Rider: Snakehead by Antony Johnston
• Dark Souls: The Willow King by George Mann (Dark Souls)
• Godzilla vs. Cthulu by Jonathan Maberry
• Infinite Darkness: The Beginning by Keith R.A. DeCandido (Resident Evil)
• Wheel of Time by Rik Hoskin
• Wrath of Beth by Jake Black (Rick and Morty)
ORIGINAL NOVEL, GENERAL
• A Bitter Taste: A Daidoji Shin Mystery by Josh Reynolds (Legend of the Five Rings)
• Murder, She Wrote Murder Backstage by Terrie Farley Moran
• Off Beat (Top Drek 1) by Marie Bilodeau (Shadowrun)
• Quantum Paradox by Justin Sloan (PlanetQuest A game by Galactic Entertainment)
ORIGINAL NOVEL, SPECULATIVE
• Arkham Horror: The Forbidden Visions of Lucius Galloway by Carrie Harris
• Batman: Resurrection by John Jackson Miller
• Firefly: Aim to Misbehave by Rosiee Thor
• Runescape: The Gift of Guthix by Erin M. Evans
• Star Trek – Strange New Worlds: Asylum by Una McCormack
SHORT STORY
• “Family History” by David Mack (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
• “Here There Be Monsters” by Tim Waggoner (The Mythago Wood novels by Robert Holdstock)
• “The Lilac and the Stone” by Catherynne Valente (World of Warcraft)
• “O’ Deadly Deathtrap” by Bobby Nash (Remo Williams, The Destroyer: The Adventures Continue)
• “The Tomorrow Ghost” by Robert Jeschonek (Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
YA/MG
• Down in the London Underground by George Ivanoff (Doctor Who)
• Life is Strange: Heatwaves by Brittney Morris
• Prince of Glass and Midnight by Linsey Miller (Disney’s Cinderella)
• The Raccoons: The One That Got Away by Iain McLaughlin
• Star Wars: The High Republic: Tears of the Nameless by George Mann
• Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft (Disney Fairies)
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward The Night” Review by Scifichick.com
Scifichick.com has added a new review for James Swallow‘s “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward The Night”:
This latest Star Trek novel is another fantastic installment in the Strange New Worlds series!
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“Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q-Squared” Review by Spreaker.com
Spreaker.com has added a new review for Peter David‘s “Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q-Squared”:
Chrissie and Thad talk about the Peter David novel Q Squared with Carl Wonders.
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“Star Trek: Omega #1” Review by Aiptcomics.com
Aiptcomics.com has added a new review for Christopher Cantwell and Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing‘s “Star Trek: Omega #1”:
A Trek story that deserves to be in the conversation with some of the best movies and series.
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Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial venue has Ten Commandments display during centennial
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling for the removal of a Ten Commandments plaque from the historic Rhea County (Tenn.) Courthouse — the site of the famed 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial.
FFRF co-hosted the Scopes Trial Centennial Conference in Chattanooga last weekend alongside the Center for Inquiry. As part of the event, attendees visited the courthouse in Dayton, where John T. Scopes was famously tried 100 years ago for teaching evolution in defiance of Tennessee’s religiously motivated ban. To their dismay, several participants noticed a Ten Commandments plaque on public display in the building, a clear violation of the constitutional principle of separation between state and church. FFRF also received a separate complaint about the display from a Rhea County resident.
“It’s outrageous that a century after the Scopes trial, Rhea County is still promoting religious dogma rather than upholding constitutional neutrality,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “The county has no business favoring religion in a public courthouse — especially not one that symbolizes the fight for secular, science-based education.”
FFRF has sent a letter to Rhea County Mayor Jim Vincent urging the removal of the Ten Commandments. FFRF points out that such displays have been repeatedly struck down by federal courts, including in a 2005 Supreme Court case involving a nearly identical display in two Kentucky courthouses. The nation’s highest court made clear that showcasing the Ten Commandments in public buildings violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by promoting religion.
FFRF explains that the religious nature of the Ten Commandments is undeniable. The text explicitly demands belief in a monotheistic god and lays out religious duties and prohibitions rooted in specific faith doctrines. “The government has no business telling citizens which god they must have, how many gods they must have, or that they must have any god at all,” FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle Steinberg writes.
“The Scopes trial was about resisting religious control over public institutions and a hundred years later, Rhea County is still getting that wrong,” adds Gaylor. “County courthouses should reflect our shared civic values, not religious dogma.”
FFRF is urging Rhea County officials to respect the history and constitutional obligations of the courthouse by removing the religious display and ensuring that public buildings remain inclusive to all citizens — regardless of their religious beliefs or lack thereof.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 500 members and a chapter in Tennessee. 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 Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial venue has Ten Commandments display during centennial appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
Freethought Radio – July 24, 2025
This week on Freethought Radio, guest hosts Ryan Jayne and Leo Costello talk about a Christian state representative in Texas who’s speaking out against a new law that would place the Ten Commandments in every public school in the state. Plus, we listen to debates featuring FFRF co-presidents Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker as they address the questions “Is religion a force for good?” and “Can religion cure the loneliness epidemic?”
The post Freethought Radio – July 24, 2025 appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“Star Trek: Red Shirts #1” Review by Getyourcomicon.co.uk
Getyourcomicon.co.uk has added a new review for Christopher Cantwell‘s “Star Trek: Red Shirts #1”:
The Star Trek franchise has a long, storied history with the idea of the Red Shirts. The idea of these throwaway characters, often dispatched without ever uttering a line has proliferated itself far beyond the franchise. I’d go as far as to say the pop culture zeitgeist is well aware of what it can mean to put on a red Starfleet Uniform if you aren’t looking over your shoulder at all times. Well as of today IDW Publishing is putting the curse of the Red Shirts in the spotlight with a new five-issue series.
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“Star Trek #32” Review by Positivelytrek.com
Positivelytrek.com has added a new review for Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing‘s “Star Trek #32”:
In this episode of Positively Trek, hosts Dan and Brandi discuss the comics Star Trek #32 (Lore War Part 5 of 5) and Star Trek: Omega, the grand finale to three years of epic Trek comic storytelling from IDW!
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Happy 2025 Birthday to Robert Greenberger!
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Happy birthday to Robert Greenberger!
A writer, editor, and project manager, Robert Greenberger has been working in publishing since 1980. A lifelong fan of comics and science fiction, he watched dreams become reality when he first joined Starlog Press in 1980. There, he created Comics Scene which he edited during its initial run. In 1984, he moved to DC Comics where he worked as an editor or administrator until 2000, earning plaudits for his work on the Star Trek comic book. After a brief sojourn to the Internet, he returned to comics in 2001, this time working as an executive at Marvel Comics. This turned out to be a stormy, frustrating year and in 2002 he returned to DC as a senior editor in their growing collected editions department. In 2006, he left DC and found himself having the time of his life as Managing Editor at Weekly World News unitl its clueless management shuttered the paper.
Since then he has been a freelance writer, working on media tie-in properties, original fiction, non-fiction for your young adults and adults, and whatever else has come his way. He has cofounded the digital Crazy 8 Press.
He currently teaches high school English and Creative Writing in Baltimore County.
He makes his home in Maryland. For more.
Check out the Robert Greenberger credit page to view more updates and a full list of credits!
Find Robert Greenberger’s work on Amazon.com
Out Today: “Outside In Can Live With It”
Out today: “Outside In Can Live With It“, by .
Put ten DS9 fans in a room, and you’ll wind up with eleven opinions, fourteen heated debates about the ethics of the Dominion War and somebody cosplaying Odo shapeshifting into Quark. That’s because DS9 fans are gloriously weird, uniquely different and sometimes entirely outlandish. And so is this book.
Celebrating over 30 years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, OUTSIDE IN CAN LIVE WITH IT is a collection of 171 brand new reviews, one for every episode of DS9. Well, we say “reviews”, but we mean that loosely: within these pages, you’ll find game reviews, lesson plans, quizzes, fashion blogs, redacted articles, gossip columns, wine labels, exit interviews, parables and even a talk show. Not to mention insightful and thoughtful articles, examining DS9 from just about every aspect imaginable… and then some!
Provocative, engrossing, hilarious and utterly gonzo. This is OUTSIDE IN.
Featuring contributions from Derek Tyler Attico, Maggie Bandur, Diana Dru Botsford, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Talia Franks, David R. George III, Janet Hetherington, Susanne Lambdin, David A. McIntee, Jill Sherwin, and 161 more!
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Out Today: “The Modern Afterlives of Old Irish Travel Narratives: From Gulliver to Star Trek”
Out today: “The Modern Afterlives of Old Irish Travel Narratives: From Gulliver to Star Trek“, by Natalia I Petrovskaia.
This book explores the reception of the medieval Irish tradition of fantastic journey tales in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Umberto Eco’s Baudolino, and the science fiction television franchises Star Trek and Stargate. In doing so, the book opens the door to a new history of literary reception, using Old Irish genre categories to analyse post-medieval texts. It aims to show that there is a family of texts produced in the post-medieval period that are heirs of the medieval Irish literary tradition of fantastic voyage narratives and that using Old Irish genre categories to analyse post-medieval works can open up new perspectives in our understanding of these works.
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DTI Comic Book Investigation for the week of July 24, 2025
Here are all the comics printed this week in years past.
“Star Trek: Omega #1” Review by Getyourcomicon.co.uk
Getyourcomicon.co.uk has added a new review for Christopher Cantwell and Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing‘s “Star Trek: Omega #1”:
Two and a half years of comics spanning 60 years of Star Trek history, a fair few awards, and more than a few universe detonations, and it’s all been coming to this… Star Trek: Omega is the denouement of the critically acclaimed Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant storylines, and the first glimpse at all that comes next. The crews of the Theseus, Defiant, and Enterprise set to work restoring the universe to what it should be after the evil android Lore’s intervention. Each hero finds their peace in preordained or unexpected ways, with individual scenes depicted by one of Star Trek’s or Defiant’s mainline artists!
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American secular groups need to oust pseudoscientific bigotry
Tone Madison (Madison, WI)
By Kavin Senapathy
The post American secular groups need to oust pseudoscientific bigotry appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“Star Trek: Omega #1” Review by Borg.com
Borg.com has added a new review for Christopher Cantwell and Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing‘s “Star Trek: Omega #1”:
It’s not every comic that does what Star Trek: Omega aims to do. It serves as a denouement and ties together IDW Publishing’s story arc with the android Lore taking control across timelines and the multiverse of Star Trek, pulling together the monthly Star Trek comic and the Star Trek: Defiant series. It’s all leading up to new titles Star Trek: Red Shirts, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Seeds of Salvation, and Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming. One of the best features of the comic book medium is the ability to undo, redo, and revisit scenes and series in movies and TV series you like or don’t like. The Lore War story arc did some of that. This story crosses over series and crews. It’s easier to count the fan-favorite Star Trek characters that don’t make it into Star Trek: Omega than those that do.
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Obituaries: Richard Walton “Dick” Hewetson
Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco, CA)
By Staff
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Sixty CEOs and Business Leaders Join Trump Luncheon
NewsBreak
By Roger Anderson
The post Sixty CEOs and Business Leaders Join Trump Luncheon appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
New Star Trek Book: “Star Trek: Discovering the TV Series: Deep Space Nine and Voyager 1993-1999”
Star Trek: Discovering the TV Series: Deep Space Nine and Voyager 1993-1999 by Tom Salinsky has been added to the Star Trek Book Club!
Join a two-year mission through Star Trek’s highs, lows, and behind-the-scenes revelations from Deep Space Nine to Voyager.
How well do you know Star Trek?
Lifelong science fiction fan, podcaster and author Tom Salinsky decided that the answer was “not well enough”, and so at the beginning of 2022, he embarked on a two-year mission to watch everything from the start of The Original Series to the end of Enterprise, at the rate of one episode per day. This book is the second part of that odyssey, covering Deep Space Nine, and the first two seasons of Voyager plus the first two Next Generation movies.
As well as having fun saluting the show’s triumphs, cringing at its lapses in taste, and admiring its willingness to swing for the fences, there’s lots of fascinating behind-the-scenes information here. Was Morn really such a chatterbox? Why was Deep Space Nine allowed to do so much serialisation? Did Star Trek need Michael Dorn more than Michael Dorn needed Star Trek? Just whatever happened to Geneviève Bujold? How is Nicholas Locarno related to Tom Paris?
But you’ll also get the benefit of a complete overview of these hugely successful and beloved spin-offs, which expanded and extended the Star Trek universe to new quadrants, new eras and new modes of storytelling. Plus there are contributions from notable fans, writers, authors and experts, giving their own perspectives on these classic episodes.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan, a casual viewer, or just someone interested in the history of television, you’ll adore coming on this daily journey though the highs and lows of one of the most significant and much-loved media properties in the world.
The book is currently scheduled to be published on May 30, 2025
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“Star Trek: Omega #1” Review by Comicsonline.com
Comicsonline.com has added a new review for Christopher Cantwell and Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing‘s “Star Trek: Omega #1”:
The Lore War is over. The universe as we knew it has been restored thanks to the heroic efforts of Starfleet’s finest. The crews of the Theseus and Defiant have had some incredible adventures over the last few years, but you know what they say about all good things…
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FFRF slams Florida education commissioner’s religious letter to parents
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is strongly criticizing an inappropriate and exclusionary letter that Florida’s education commissioner has recently dispatched statewide.
On July 14, Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas sent a message to parents across the state, ostensibly about parental rights and Florida’s efforts to prevent indoctrination in schools. But the letter itself promotes a very specific religious ideology, declaring that “God created” students and ending with “God bless.” This religious language assumes that all parents and students in Florida believe in a god and subscribe to creationism.
“This is the exact sort of religious favoritism our Constitution forbids,” says Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “Florida’s education officials can’t talk out of both sides of their mouths — claiming to protect parental rights while telling millions of families what god their children were supposedly created by.”
On July 16, Kamoutsas delivered his first speech to the State Board of Education, where he reinforced his divisive messaging by quoting the bible and promising to work with law enforcement to ensure students aren’t being “indoctrinated.” He stated, “The Book of Psalms says the children are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward from him.”
FFRF sent a formal letter to Kamoutsas on Monday, calling on the Department of Education to rescind its July 14 missive and to commit to avoiding religious references and messaging.
FFRF’s letter points out that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed public schools may not favor religion over nonreligion or promote specific religious views, particularly when they conflict with the private beliefs of families. As FFRF notes, several Florida parents reached out to the state/church watchdog expressing concern over the message coming from the Department of Education.
One parent, describing themselves as agnostic or atheist, said, “This document is obviously referring to the Christian God. As such, it is offensive to both anyone with another religion, and myself. My household is raised to be free to choose whatever religion my children want. … I do not want them exposed to this kind of language.” Another parent added, “The state should be separate from religion. Ending your email with ‘God bless’ proves that the education commissioner is biased.”
FFRF Co-Presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor remind Commissioner Kamoutsas in the letter that “all students have the right to be free from religious indoctrination in their public schools and that parents, not the government, have the right to determine which faith, if any, they teach their children to believe in.”
Florida’s public schools serve families of all backgrounds — religious and nonreligious alike. Nearly a third of Americans today, and almost half of Gen Z members, identify as nonreligious. When the state sends out blanket messages assuming belief in a god, it sends a harmful message that these families don’t belong.
FFRF is urging the Florida Department of Education to revoke the July 14 letter and ensure that all further communications are free from religious bias. “In future, the department must refrain from using religious language or making assumptions about the religious beliefs of Florida’s parents and children,” Barker and Gaylor conclude the letter.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 2,000 members and a chapter in Florida. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
The post FFRF slams Florida education commissioner’s religious letter to parents appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward The Night” Review by Warpfactortrek.com
Warpfactortrek.com has added a new review for James Swallow‘s “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward The Night”:
When it comes to expanding the Star Trek mythos, James Swallow delivers in full. This book would make an excellent two-part episode of Strange New Worlds – or even a feature film, if the powers that be dared to go there.
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“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward The Night” Review by Trek.fm
Trek.fm has added a new review for James Swallow‘s “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward The Night”:
In this episode of Literary Treks hosts Casey Pettitt and Jonathan Koan welcome author James Swallow to talk about his Star Trek: Strange New Worlds novel, Toward the Night. We discuss the genesis of the book, the focus, introductions, dynamics, La’An, the Klingons, the planet, in the future, coming soon and our final thoughts.
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Belated to Dayton Ward for being the 2025 IAMTW Faust Award Winner!
Dayton Ward was (sorta) recently awarded the 2025 International Association of Media Tie-In Writer’s Faust Award.
“Star Trek Video Games” Review by Warpfactortrek.com
Warpfactortrek.com has added a new review for Mat Bradley-Tschirgi‘s “Star Trek Video Games”:
Not only does Star Trek feature many computers, it has been played many times on computers too! A year ago, Mat Bradley-Tschirgi wrote Star Trek Video Games: An Unofficial Guide to the Final Frontier, a book about the video games of Star Trek, which he discusses in this exclusive interview.
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DTI Treklit Investigation for the week of July 22, 2025
Here’s a look at the books printed this week in the past.
Derek Tyler Attico on Trekgeeks.com discussing “The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko”
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Derek Tyler Attico was recently featured on Trekgeeks.com to discuss The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko:
Warning: This episode could make you fall in love with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine! It may also cause you to go immediately to your local bookstore or jump onto Amazon to purchase The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko! Either way, this interview with Derek Tyler Attico will inspire you to be a better human and read more! We had a blast talking with Derek about his own story, the story of Captain Benjamin Sisko, and more! The energy and excitement in this episode is tangible! You’ll be smiling the entire time you’re listening, just like we were.
Check out the Derek Tyler Attico author page to view other sightings and a full list of books!
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“Still Just a Geek: An Annotated Collection of Musings” Review by Treatyoshelfbookreviews.blogspot.com
Treatyoshelfbookreviews.blogspot.com has added a new review for Wil Wheaton‘s “Still Just a Geek: An Annotated Collection of Musings”:
Wil Wheaton is an extremely talented writer and actor. I was first introduced to him through his role on the Big Bang Theory. Over the years, I learned more about him through his blog, his web series TableTop, listening to It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton, listening to his story on PsychCentral’s podcast “Should You Cut Ties with Your Parents?, and then his book Still Just a Geek! This book explores Wil’s experience of growing up in the movie/tv industry, his traumatic childhood, his chosen family, mental health, and individual growth.
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FFRF made sure that the Blacklick Valley School District in Pennsylvania would not allow for explicitly religious assemblies to take place at school-sponsored events (August 2025)
Pennsylvania —
FFRF made sure that the Blacklick Valley School District in Pennsylvania would respect the First Amendment and not allow for explicitly religious assemblies to take place at school-sponsored events.
A Blacklick Valley Elementary parent reported that the school’s Nov. 11, 2024, Veterans Day assembly included school-sponsored prayer. FFRF learned that a pastor was invited to lead a Christian prayer, that the principal knew this would occur ahead of time, and that she elected to prevent non-Christian students from attending the assembly rather than ensure that the school-sponsored event was secular.
“Here, the district crossed the constitutional line by allegedly including a school-sponsored prayer at its Veterans Day assembly and excluding non-Christian children from the event,” FFRF Staff Attorney Madeline Ziegler wrote.
FFRF received a response from district legal representative Ronald N. Repak shortly after sending the complaint letter. “We will ensure that we adhere to the requirement to neither prohibit nor to actively engage in the participation of religion within the school setting,” Repak wrote. “In working with the administration, we will review internal procedures and ensure that there is no favoritism nor prohibition shown in relation to religion and school sponsored events.”
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FFRF brought the Wylie Independent School District in Abilene, Texas, back in line with the Constitution (August 2025)
Texas —
FFRF brought the Wylie Independent School District in Abilene, Texas, back in line with the Constitution after the district allowed multiple official expressions of religious favoritism at school sponsored events.
An employee and community member informed FFRF that the school board had been commencing monthly meetings with prayer. These invocations were scheduled at the beginning of meetings along with the roll call. For instance, an invocation was scheduled at the board’s Nov. 11, 2024, regular meeting. Despite being in public minutes, the district’s actual roll call and invocation were not livestreamed on its official YouTube page. FFRF was also informed that prayers were being delivered over the loudspeaker at district football games.
“By having prayer at official school events, the district abridges that constitutional duty and needlessly marginalizes students who are a part of the 49 percent of Generation Z who are religiously unaffiliated,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote to the district.
After receiving FFRF’s letter, the district sought legal counsel, and, at a later date, received an email response from Superintendent Joey Light, writing, “We are going to make necessary corrections. Thank you.” While the district did not specify exactly what steps were being taken, they confirmed that changes would be made in response to concerns about official prayer at board meetings and football games.
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The Archuleta School District in Pagosa Springs, Colo., learned not to include bible quotes on school sports attire, thanks to FFRF (August 2025)
Colorado —
The Archuleta School District in Pagosa Springs, Colo., learned not to include bible quotes on school sports attire, thanks to FFRF.
A district community member reported that Pagosa Springs High School approved boys and girls basketball team sweatshirts that feature a religious quote alongside the school’s official logo. FFRF learned that while sweatshirts were donated by a third party, the school’s basketball coaches still exercised some amount of control over the design and approved the addition of scripture. Reportedly, students were able to choose to have one of several bible quotes printed on the sweatshirt with the school’s logo, or the sweatshirt could be printed without a quote.
“Students know that their coaches control their playing time and positions, directly affecting students’ opportunities for college scholarships and recruitment,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district. “When coaches approve religious messages on team apparel, student-athletes will likely feel that going along with the majority and getting a biblical quote on their team sweatshirt is necessary to please their coaches and be viewed as a team player.”
After receiving FFRF’s letter, district Superintendent Rick Holt took action. “I have completed my investigation and found that these sweatshirts were created and distributed by parents without school permission,” Holt wrote in an email to FFRF. “Following the investigation, the athletic director is issuing a corrective action memo to all coaches, the involved parent group, and adding a section to the parent athletic handbook to ensure that there are no future incidents.”
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FFRF saw its hard work pay off when multiple violations in the Orange County Public School system in Orlando, Fla., were resolved (August 2025)
Florida —
FFRF saw its hard work pay off when multiple violations in the Orange County Public School system in Orlando, Fla., were resolved.
FFRF received a report that in May 2024, Sunrise Elementary School partnered with Genesis Church in order to promote student attendance at the church’s affiliated summer camp, “IGNITE Summer Camp.” While Genesis Church advertises IGNITE as a sports- and arts-focused camp, an official video from the camp showed attending students praying and participating in what appeared to be religious seminars as part of camp activities. Per its website, part of the camp’s purpose is to be a place “where coaches, trainers, artists and athletes of faith are able to share what they believe and how it has shaped them in various sports or art.”
Further issues arose when the complainant reported that starting the week of Dec. 2, 2024, Sunrise Elementary began broadcasting Christmas music over the school’s PA system during morning drop-off and after the final bell. Sunrise Elementary did not play music over the PA relating to any other winter holiday or tradition, just Christmas.
“We ask that the district take action to ensure Sunrise Elementary School ceases promoting and favoring religion, and specifically Christianity,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote.
After FFRF’s letter, district legal representative John Palmerini spoke with school staff regarding the promotion of the religious camp on the school’s Facebook page. “Under our policy KHC, any such ad like that has to have a written disclaimer stating that the materials are not sponsored or endorsed by the School Board of Orange County, Florida,” Palmerini wrote in an email to the Sunrise Elementary principal that was later forwarded to FFRF.
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The Le Mars Community School District in Iowa will no longer allow a Christian organization access to students (August 2025)
Iowa —
The Le Mars Community School District in Iowa will no longer allow a Christian organization access to students after the district partnered with a local religious group to proselytize students.
FFRF learned that on May 1, a religious organization seemingly affiliated with Side by Side Ministries, was permitted by LMCSD to enter Le Mars Community Middle and High School grounds as part of a National Day of Prayer celebration. A Facebook post from the organization on May 1 stated in part, “We had the joy of partnering with Le Mars Youth Network to kick off the National Day of Prayer at Le Mars Community Middle and High Schools. We took time to connect with students and asked them how we could be praying for them. It was a meaningful morning of ministry and encouragement. Join us as we continue to lift up the next generation in prayer.”
The post was accompanied by photos of outside adults on what appeared to be school property, reportedly proselytizing students per the organization’s own post.
“Schools cannot constitutionally allow religious organizations to treat schools as a recruiting ground for their religious mission,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district. “LMCSD’s choice to allow outside religious representatives unique access to its students demonstrates unconstitutional favoritism not only for religion over non-religion, but in this case Christianity over all other faiths.”
FFRF’s efforts were met with action from the district. FFRF received correspondence from Rachel R. Fritz, the district’s legal counsel. “As a result of your letter and the concerns raised, the district has taken appropriate steps to ensure that any prayer activities occurring on school grounds are entirely student-led or student initiated, in full compliance with applicable legal standards, including the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment,” Fritz wrote. Fritz further explained that group has been instructed not to facilitate or lead in any prayer or devotional activities involving students on district property.
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FFRF put a stop to a teacher preaching anti-LGBTQ-plus messages in Carter County Schools in Grayson, Ky. (August 2025)
Kentucky —
FFRF put a stop to a teacher preaching anti-LGBTQ-plus messages in Carter County Schools in Grayson, Ky.
A student reported that a teacher at East Carter High school preached the bible to students during class, telling students that God would never love someone if they are gay.
“By telling students that God will never love them if they are gay, [the teacher] creates a hostile classroom environment for his LGBTQ-plus students,” FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg wrote to the district.
FFRF’s letter received an emailed response from Personnel & Federal Programs Director Joshua Mabry, informing FFRF that the issue had been addressed. “The policy referenced was policy 3.13241 regarding Employee Religious Expression,” Mabry wrote. “While I cannot comment on personnel issues, I can confirm that our staff are directed to avoid promoting religion in the classroom.”
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FFRF made sure that a school district in Missouri would not be using resources to promote or recruit for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) club. (August 2025)
Missouri —
FFRF made sure that the Chaffee R-2 School District in Missouri would not be using resources in the future to promote or recruit for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) club.
FFRF learned of an FCA club seemingly sponsored by Chaffee Elementary School. On March 14, Chafee Elementary School’s official Facebook account posted photos from that morning’s meeting of the Elementary FCA club, calling it “our” club.
“The district cannot allow its schools to be used as recruiting grounds for religious organizations,” FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle Steinberg wrote to district Superintendent Shawn Nix. “It is well settled that public schools may not show favoritism toward or coerce belief or participation in religion.”
Shortly after receiving FFRF’s letter, Nix looked into the school club to verify the complaint. “The gathering was not of a recognized school club, and the gathering was led by a high school student,” he wrote. “The social media post has been removed, and no further social media posts of this nature will be made.” Nix additionally affirmed that going forward, district would not facilitate, support, sponsor or expend resources on an FCA elementary student school club, nor would it advertise, recruit for or promote such for an outside club.
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FFRF was pleased to hear that Omaha Public Libraries would not be closing on religious holidays after receiving constitutional guidance (August 2025)
Nebraska —
FFRF was pleased to hear that Omaha Public Libraries would not be closing on religious holidays after receiving constitutional guidance from the state/church watchdog.
FFRF learned that the Omaha Public Library system closed all branches on April 20 in observance of Easter.
“Easter is neither a federal holiday nor a Nebraska state holiday, nor even a city-observed holiday despite the library’s announcement declaring that it is a holiday observed by the city of Omaha,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to Executive Director Laura Marlane. “Easter is a day that holds significance only for people who practice Christianity. It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for public libraries to close in observance of a single religion’s holy day.”
Marlane acknowledged the error and confirmed that corrective action was taking place.
“You are absolutely right: Easter is not a federal, state, or city-designated holiday, and the decision to close our branches on that date was an oversight,” Marlane wrote. “The announcement identifying it as a ‘city-observed holiday’ was incorrect, and I take full responsibility for the error.” Marlane confirmed that the closure would not happen again and ensured that library closures going forward would be based solely on secular, government recognized holidays and operational needs, in full alignment with constitutional principles.
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The Belle Center Post Office in Belle Center, Ohio, is now free from religious material being displayed to patrons, thanks to FFRF’s legal advocacy (August 2025)
Ohio —
The Belle Center Post Office in Belle Center, Ohio, is now free from religious material being displayed to patrons, thanks to FFRF’s legal advocacy.
A community member informed FFRF that the Belle Center Post Office in Ohio had literature from two Baptist publications, “Call to Glory” and “Baptist Bread,” on display and available for patrons to take.
“By allowing the display and distribution of religious literature on its grounds, the Belle Center Post Office is demonstrating a preference for religion over nonreligion, Christianity over all other faiths, and Baptists over all other sects,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote.
After FFRF’s letter, Postmaster Serina A. Leistritz directed staff to immediately remove any religious items from the post office. Leistritz forwarded FFRF the email with the instructions to her staff, and then informed FFRF that the material had been removed.
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FFRF ensured that the Wagoner Public Schools (WPS) system in Oklahoma put a stop to unconstitutional promotion of religious events (August 2025)
Oklahoma —
FFRF stayed persistent to ensure that the Wagoner Public Schools (WPS) system in Oklahoma put a stop to unconstitutional promotion of religious events using school resources.
In January, a concerned WPS family member reported that WPS was allowing First Baptist Church of Wagoner to hang an advertising banner outside the WPS football stadium alongside several other banners. Additionally, the church was also permitted to display other advertising banners within the stadium that had been removed by the time of the report. The church had reportedly rented the stadium in the past, but it was unclear if the banners on display at the time of FFRF’s letter were related to an ongoing rental, or if it was instead a non-rental related advertisement for the church.
After FFRF’s initial letter went unanswered, FFRF learned of a new violation in May. The complainant wrote that an April 23 post on the official WPS Facebook page promoted and encouraged attendance of a baccalaureate ceremony held at a local church. The post read, “Join us as we celebrate our graduating seniors during a special Baccalaureate service on Sunday, April 27. This meaningful tradition honors their accomplishments and offers encouragement and blessings for the road ahead. Let’s come together as a community to support the Class of 2025 and send them off with love and inspiration!”
“Public schools must remain neutral between religions, and between religion and nonreligion,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district.
After FFRF’s second letter, Superintendent Randy Harris acknowledged both complaints, and addressed them accordingly. “The two banners in the picture were both left up after the season without any ill intent and due to sickness, staff resignation, snowy weather, etc., they weren’t taken down at the same time as all other 40-50 fence banners,” Harris wrote. He apologized for the lack of action, and reported that the banners had been taken down shortly after the issue was brought to their attention. He additionally stated that the baccalaureate post should not have been posted, and that WPS had nothing to do with the service and would not post anything similar in the future.
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FFRF ensured that inmates in the Inmate Veterans Associate (IVA) at the Snake River Correctional Institute (SRCI) would not be exposed to unwanted prayer (August 2025)
Oregon —
FFRF worked to ensure that inmates in the Inmate Veterans Associate (IVA) at the Snake River Correctional Institute (SRCI) would not be exposed to unwanted prayer by other inmates after religious chaplains attempted to intrude.
FFRF’s complainant reported that an inmate instructed another inmate to begin a recent IVA meeting with prayer, which was explicitly Christian. SRCI staff appeared to be involved, at least to some extent, in organizing and facilitating the IVA meetings. This event was noted to be a departure from the previous practice of permitting the SRCI chaplain to begin meetings with prayer. FFRF’s complainant expressed concern that IVA leadership within SCRI appeared to be looking for loopholes to begin IVA meetings with Christian prayer even if the facility’s chaplain was no longer leading them.
“While SRCI’s chaplain is no longer leading the prayers, it is still concerning that SRCI’s personnel are reportedly allowing IVA’s leaders to find new ways to insert prayer into IVA meetings, even though all IVA members are not Christians and not religious,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote.
Shanon Vincent, a representative of the Oregon Department of Justice, informed FFRF that she had learned of the prayers led by inmates at IVA due to FFRF’s work. “[The correctional facility] has issued a directive to SRCI’s IVA, instructing the group to stop including prayers at its meeting,” Vincent wrote.
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Orange Beach City Schools will not be promoting Fellowship of Christian Athletes after FFRF took issue with the constitutional violation (August 2025)
Alabama —
The Orange Beach City Schools (OBCS) will not be promoting Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at a district school after FFRF took issue with the constitutional violation at play.
FFRF learned that OBCS staff had been organizing and promoting a FCA club for students at Orange Beach Elementary School. Per a March 12 post on the official Orange Beach Elementary School Facebook page, the school was hosting and potentially organizing the FCA club meeting in the school’s gym. The promotional nature of the post and the fact that it appeared on an official OBCS school social media page suggested that OBCS staff, not students, were running the club.
“Religious clubs for students at elementary schools cannot authentically be student-run, and thus are unconstitutional,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to Superintendent Randy Wilkes.
After FFRF sent its letter, Wilkes informed FFRF via email about the correctional action the district took. “Steps have already been taken to ensure that all school-sponsored activities comply with applicable state and federal laws and Orange Beach City Schools’ policies and procedures,” Wilkes wrote. “Appropriate changes have been implemented to clarify the proper use of school communications and facilities related to non-curricular organizations.”
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New Star Trek Book: “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Omnibus”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Omnibus by has been added to the Star Trek Book Club!
Two graphic novels that let fans of the classic Star Trek series dive deeper into the world of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!
Don’t miss out on these exclusive “lost episodes” celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fan-favorite show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!
An extremely rare purebred corgi from Earth makes its way aboard Deep Space 9 when Quark cuts a deal to procure it for a high buyer. However, all plans are upended when a crew member discovers a Borg component on the pup!
After this, return to DS9 as death casts its shadow on the station in this space noir! With a murderer on the loose, the inhabitants of Deep Space 9 start to divide into factions, made even worse when the Ferengi government gets involved!
Collects the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine miniseries Too Long a Sacrifice and The Dog of War plus the short stories “Latinum Glove,” “Mother’s Walk,” “Frontier Doctor,” “Only You Can Save Yourself,” and “The First Year.”
The book is currently scheduled to be published on February 24, 2026
Buy on Amazon.com
Buy On Books-A-Million.com
