The Freedom From Religion Foundation has successfully stopped a Kentucky public elementary school from sponsoring a devotional event.

The swift resolution came just two days after FFRF contacted Pike County Schools to object to a religious “prayer walk” that Mullins Elementary School held..

A concerned district community member reported that Mullins Elementary organized, promoted and encouraged attendance at a religious “prayer walk” event on Aug. 2. A post on Mullins Elementary’s official Facebook page invited the community to the event: “Join the Mullins School community to pray for every area of our school.” It also quoted a New Testament verse, Philippians 4:6, saying “Do not worry. Instead, pray and ask God for what you need with a thankful heart.”

FFRF requested that Pike County Schools cease organizing, promoting or encouraging attendance at religious events and ensure that future school-sponsored events are secular.

“Here, the district is displaying blatant favoritism towards religion over nonreligion by asking the school community to participate in a Christian prayer event,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude wrote to the district.

The district serves a diverse population that consists of not only religious students, families, and employees, but also non-Christians including atheists, agnostics and those who are simply religiously unaffiliated. An invitation from the district to “join the school community to pray” sends an official message that unconstitutionally promotes religion, excluding all nonreligious district students and community members. Up to 38 percent of the American population is non-Christian, including the almost 30 percent that is nonreligious.

Just two days after receiving FFRF’s complaint letter, the district responded with a renewed commitment to students’ rights.

The general counsel of Pike County Schools informed FFRF that he had directly talked with the then-Mullins Elementary principal and instructed him “to speak with his staff about this issue and to refrain from organizing, promoting and encouraging attendance at religious events, and ensure that all future school-sponsored events are entirely secular.” The district’s counsel additionally pledged: “I will make every effort to ensure that our employees are not unlawfully or inappropriately indoctrinating students in religious matters.”

FFRF commends Pike County Schools for its prompt and unequivocal response.

“Public schools exist to educate, not to indoctrinate. Parents and schoolchildren should never be inveighed by their public schools to pray,”  says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Taxpayers of all religions and no religion support our public schools, so all should be welcome — and nothing is more divisive than religion in our public schools.”

FFRF is pleased that, thanks to a concerned community member who spoke up, Pike County Schools has taken concrete steps to make Mullins Elementary welcoming of all families — regardless of their religious or nonreligious beliefs.

“We thank our complainant for bringing this violation to our attention and Pike County Schools for quickly addressing it,” Gaylor adds.

As a woman, what do I even do in heaven exactly? It's all vague aside from there's no suffering and you'll experience joy 24/7. Am I not allowed to play silksong because the game makes me suffer but like that type of suffering is necessary to feel the joy of accomplishing? Is joy in heaven like being on fent 24/7 LOL

Meanwhile in hell, you'll get super specific punishments for the sins you did to being boiled alive or bitten by snakes

If you're supposed to have faith that heaven is a paradise despite it being vague then do you need super detailed details about hell when you can have faith that hell is bad

The FFRF Action Fund is highlighting new polling underscoring the growing political importance of secular voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

A new Pew Research Center survey reveals that 92 percent of atheists and 87 percent of agnostics disapprove of President Trump’s job performance, compared to just 8 percent and 12 percent, respectively, who approve. Overall, a whopping 82 percent of religiously unaffiliated Americans disapprove of the president’s performance.

The findings also reveal overwhelming support for Democratic candidates among secular voters. More than eight in 10 atheists (81 percent) and three-quarters of agnostics (75 percent) intend to vote Democratic in the upcoming midterms, compared to only 9 percent and 13 percent, respectively, who plan to support Republican candidates. Overall, 61 percent of religiously unaffiliated voters favor Democrats, while only 17 percent favor Republicans.

“These numbers send an unmistakable message: Secular Americans overwhelmingly reject the direction this administration is taking our country,” says FFRF Action Fund President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Our voices and votes must counter the white Christian nationalists who have taken over our federal government and many state governments. Nonreligious Americans, who want a government that represents everyone, not one that imposes the religious beliefs of a favored few, are among the strongest advocates of secular democracy.”

The poll also reveals a striking erosion of Trump’s support among religious Americans, including groups that helped propel him into office.

White evangelical Protestants remain the only religious subgroup surveyed in which a majority approves of Trump’s job performance, but even that support has declined dramatically. Just 58 percent now approve of the president, down from 78 percent in early 2025.

Among white Catholics, Trump’s approval has fallen from 59 percent to 39 percent over the same period. Overall, Catholics disapprove of his performance by more than a two-to-one margin, with 67 percent disapproving and just 30 percent approving.

Black Protestants are among Trump’s strongest religious opponents, with 90 percent disapproving of his job performance. Hispanic Catholics similarly express overwhelming disapproval, at 78 percent. The results suggest that the administration’s political challenges extend well beyond secular Americans. Even among traditionally Republican-leaning religious constituencies, support for the president has weakened considerably.

The Action Fund says the findings emphasize the need for political leaders to recognize secular Americans, who at nearly a third of the adult population, outnumber any single Christian sect, including Christian nationalist-favoring evangelicals, as an increasingly consequential voting constituency.

The FFRF Action Fund will continue working to ensure secular voters are informed, engaged and represented, and that candidates are held accountable for their positions on religious freedom, state/church separation and the growing threat of Christian nationalism.

Give me your Commandments you would write as guidelines for humanity for all eternity.

We don't need 10, we can have as many as we like.

Here are a few of mine off the top of my head, forgive me if I'm too vague or if my wording could be better:

1) Men and women are equals and must be treated as such in all ways. Make no law inhibiting the freedom of a person based on their sex.

2) Do not abuse a child physically, emotionally, sexually or otherwise.

3) All sexual relationships between consenting adults are equal regardless of the sex of the participants.

4) Do not, under any circumstance, own a person as property. Slavery must never be done.

What are your Commandments?

Hot take: Can religious accommodation unintentionally become religious discrimination?

Something interesting I recently learned about Denmark - Since 2011, practically all of the chickens slaughtered in Denmark were processed at facilities using halal slaughter methods. Not because the Danish government required halal meat, but largely because of economics and demand.

Muslims who strictly follow halal dietary laws generally only eat halal meat. Non-Muslims, on the other hand, can typically eat either halal or non-halal meat.

So from a business perspective, some manufacturers just make everything halal. You can serve both markets with one product.

But here’s where it gets controversial - Halal certification standards require the person performing the slaughter to be Muslim. I believe they have to severe the animal's throat / blood vessels and invoke a prayer to Allah.

So if nearly an entire industry adopts halal slaughter, doesn’t that effectively mean certain jobs become restricted to Muslims, regardless of how qualified a non-Muslim applicant might be? As such... Lead to indirect religious discrimination. Would people have to prefer non halal food in order to balance the demand?

for a minute let's assume satan is real, now why did god create him knowing exactly what all he'd do?? the theological response is free will ik so let's break this down

even if satan is real, can we actually blame satan? because logically he did what god created him to do, since god is all knowing, before the creation of anything, god knew he'd create satan and he'd want and make satan disobey him, everything is said to be god's will and it's written by him, so god wrote satan's entire fate, including his disobedience, ending or whatever he'll do, it's all a part of god's plan, so how is this logically satan's fault? he's doing what he's programmed to do.

the usual defense that they have to this contradiction is, free will as we know, they claim god gave creatures free will, so to them satan chose to rebel out of pride and humans choose to sin on their own

but.... if god creates entity X knowing with 100% certainty that entity X will choose path Y, then god chose path Y for them at the moment of creation to claim satan or a human had a "choice" implies there was a point where the outcome was uncertain, but to an omniscient creator, the outcome was NEVER uncertain..

so blaming the creation for being what the creator explicitly designed it to become is a very logical contradiction, he could've prevented this btw.

also a baby didn't use free will to contract bone cancer, a child hit by a tsunami didn't make a bad moral choice.. if god is all powerful, he could eliminate bone cancer without violating anyone's free will. if he doesn't, he is either not all powerful (which means he wants to stop it, but can't) or he's not all loving (which means he can stop it, but chooses not to)

Hi fellow atheists, I have been an atheist ever since I could remember and day by day I am getting more and more restless with all these religious motherfuckers around me, I mean I can't even respect them as humans anymore. You may call me crazy but I always imagined a society where we were all together in the pursuit of truth and we were all curious but these idiots are not asking the important questions and instead believing in some utter motherfucking nonsense written by some delusional bozo three thousand years ago. Now I didn't mean to vent but I just wanted to know if anyone else is feeling the same and do you think will there ever be an end to this nonsense?

I've been an atheist for decades now and on the rare occasion I am confronted or questioned about the existence of a god I usually say these are the possibilities:

1. God doesn't exist

2. God does exist yet has no powers of any kind, does nothing and therefore doesn't deserve your worship

3. God exists and he/she/it are a sadistic psychopath who enjoys watching humans suffer while only rewarding the most vile & evil people on our planet

Obviously I believe the first option, but it's interesting to get people with these child like mentalities to think about it

Hey everyone!

I'm someone who's genuinely trying to figure out whether God exists.

I'm curious about different perspectives and want to understand the reasoning behind what people believe.

So, to the atheists here, what made you an atheist? I'm not talking about bad experiences with religious people or being forced into a religion growing up. I'm more interested in the strong philosophical arguments that convinced you God probably doesn't exist.

Was it the problem of evil? The lack of evidence? Something about the universe that made the idea of a creator seem unnecessary? Or did you come across an argument that completely changed how you looked at the question?

For example, if God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good, how do we explain the amount of suffering in the world? If the universe needs a creator, then why does that creator necessarily have to be God? And even if we establish that some kind of first cause exists, how do we get from there to the God described by religions?

I'm also interested in whether you think there's a difference between disproving a particular religion and disproving the existence of God altogether.

I don't want to believe or disbelieve something just because it feels right or because other people believe it. I want to understand the arguments, question them, and see where the reasoning takes me.

So, what is the strongest philosophical argument for atheism, in your opinion, and why?

I'd love to hear different perspectives, including arguments for God's existence that you considered seriously but ultimately found unconvincing.

If there's a book, philosopher or debate that helped you make sense of all this, please recommend it!

Genuinely curious. I'm here to learn, not to argue. :)

Edit 1:
Thank you so much for all the response
Just wanted to Clarify on few things. When I asked what made you an Atheist, I meant what made you leave the religion and finally come to the conclusion that its BS.
I saw many replies saying, we're all born Atheist. I do agree. Also if you are born into a Atheist/ Non believer family, makes sense. I am curious to know what turned you from believing there was a God to not anymore
Maybe I should have framed the question another way.

To preface, I specifically mean religious people who separate policy and faith, don't force their faith on others, and don't disrespect me or other atheists/agnostics/theists of other faiths in any way. I have zero tolerance for religious people who do any of those things.

I don't want to continue feeling this way because it feels like I'm sinking to the same level as fundamentalist religious people. I feel like it really shouldn't concern me what someone else believes in, so long as they don't try to force it on me, but it does. A lot.

I'm outwardly respectful to those who respect me, but internally, I find myself looking down on them. I don't know why it bothers me so much. I can't help but feel the need to grab them by the shoulders and shake some sense into them.

It's gotten to the point now that it's affecting my relationships with people. If I find out that someone is religious, I immediately lose some level of respect for them, no matter how kind they are to me. It's difficult for me to even be friends with religious people. Whenever anything even remotely related to religion comes up, I have to fight the urge to argue their faith into the ground.

I feel like a bigot and I don't know how to rewire my brain to stop doing this.

Edit to clarify: the people I’m referring to don’t believe in the Abrahamic god

I feel like over the last 6 years, theres a rise in people who act like one of those suburban moms during the satanic panic. And I dont remember there being so much of these types of people back in the 2010s. I grew up in the church and there wasnt even that many of them. Yeah, they didn't like horror or intense media but it was for content reasons. not "I think the real life devil is in this movie" Like so many people seem to think right now.

like real life people acting like medieval peasants. Youll see a slideshow of uncanny pictures and people comment "i claim no negative enegry".

I genuinely don't understand why there's an uptick in this mentality. Yes, lockdown gave a lot of people mental disorders and mental health struggles. But it shouldnt be this bad.

i feel like were able to head into a New Satanic Panic. It seems like the percentage of religious nutcases have jumped when these people were pretty far and view between back in 2019 or earlier.

Like do we know why this is happening? Is it just regular people getting more engrossed in the internet and bc theyre not able to parse through crazy people and bs nonsense they just believe everything? Im so baffled as to why this is happening

I have already walked him through a thousand contradictions. In every case, the facts were on my side. Yet each issue gets an apologetic excuse, answers I cannot question without being accused of bias:

• Genesis contradicts science despite the church teaching it as absolute truth? -> Moses wouldn't explain an expanding, super-hot sphere to ancient Israelites; he just said "there was light" so they could grasp it.
• God condones genocide and slavery in scripture? -> God was guiding humanity gradually out of a brutal ancient reality; you have to reform people incrementally.
• Luke’s census timeline contradicts Roman history? -> At first he insisted an outright historical error would be indefensible. Once shown the contradiction, he hunted down an obscure apologetics article about a damaged inscription mentioning an unnamed ruler, claiming it must be Quirinius. Because I stick with mainstream historical consensus over a fringe apologetic theory, I am the one being "biased."
• 4th-century martyr stories originated centuries later? -> "Where did you find this? Online? In a Jesuit book? Why trust that over Church tradition?" I pointed to the 21 Libyan martyrs from barely a decade ago, where viral retellings already claim ISIS saw Jesus, felt earthquakes during prayers, and saw winged horsemen with swords. If myths form in ten years on recorded video, imagine 1700 years. He said "One embellished story doesn't mean everything is fake; that's bad logic."

Every argument ends the exact same way:

"If someone told me everything I learned as a child was wrong, I wouldn't celebrate thinking I ruined an entire religion. Every claim you brought has an answer; if you want to stay biased, that's your choice. I know where this road leads. You think all your ancestors were wrong and you are the only smart one? Many people thought like you, and they repented in the end." followed by exaggerated tales about people who ruined their lives claiming atheism was the cause.

Bruh every single time my family even mentions “god” I cringe. When they say we should pray for someone I genuinely just look into space and smile and nod. But ugh it’s so awkward when I’m required to pray with them because I’m 16 and can’t really express my true beliefs or lack thereof 💀 without facing repercussions. I’ve never been good at praying, but a new thing I’ve come up with is just finding the humor in it all and just saying a bunch of buzzwords in prayer while in my head laughing 😭. I don’t know I wanna laugh tonight so can you guys share your similar experiences?

I just read this article that talks about how well American respondents in a survey trust different professions. Scientists and medical professionals were some of the most trustworthy, based on results. I'm glad.

Here's where it gets interesting: Members of the clergy were in the negative trust group. That means the people answering overall consider priests/ministers/etc less trustworthy. Sure sounds accurate for me.

My friend is an Ismaili Muslim, who firmly believes the whole "people are the problem, not religion" thing. This conversation came up because his cousin (also an Ismaili Muslim) is dating a Hindu girl whose family recently found out about their relationship, and is forcing her to end things with him. My friend said he doesn't understand why some people are so blindly hateful. I replied that religion, at its core, shapes a lot of the conflict that we see in the world.

He argued that isn't what religion teaches, and that people are bastardizing it to justify their hatred for others. I agreed that it isn't what religion itself teaches (for the most part), but that the vast majority of the world's issues, including the one that sparked this conversation, wouldn't exist if it weren't for religion. He said that isn't true because his Imam allows interfaith couples/families, and they even have a designated area in their place of worship for those who don't practice.

I didn't really know how to respond to that to be honest. I'm not entirely familiar with his sect or its teachings, besides that their Imam (in my friend's words, not mine) translates the teachings of the Quran so that they're applicable in modern times. Based on how he describes his faith, it sounds pretty progressive, but I don't think that negates anything I said.

I've tried explaining that just because his specific sect of his specific religion is accepting of other faiths that doesn't mean that religion as a whole is not divisive, but he just goes back to saying that people are the problem, not religion.

This argument has come up between us a few times (always in good faith), and I keep struggling to make a rebuttal to his final point. How would you guys respond? I'm also wondering if there even is a rebuttal to be made, so if there isn't then that's fine too. I'd just like to stop wasting time with this argument if that's the case.

My husband and I live together with his family - it's a multi generational house with three separate units. We live in one, his sister and her husband live in the second one and his mom lives in the third one, each on different floor. We share the patio and terrace. We live in Europe in one of the most atheistic countries in the world.

We really like to decorate for Halloween and every year we add to our collection. This year we added a tablecloth for the patio, with Ouija board printed on it. Everything was fine for a few days until I talked to my MIL and she told me how SIL is concerned and freaked out because for the tablecloth. She couldn't even come to us to tell her herself, she went to her mom to complain. She says we shouldn't be playing with these things and that it brings "bad aura" - whatever it is, to the whole house. It's literally a piece of fabric with letters printed on it. We obviously never used it as an actual Ouija board as we don't believe in ghosts but sure, bad aura. We had to remove it. Sigh. I feel like I'm going crazy.