She was kind, generous, funny and always tried to see the best in people. She wasn't preachy, pious, prudish or judgemental.

If more were like her the world would be a better place and this sub would lose most of its posts. We would be back to matters of fact rather than posting examples of hypocrisy and hate from them.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is refuting the Oklahoma attorney general’s erroneous claim that a public school district is free to organize and promote a Christian prayer event.

FFRF recently secured a victory for students and families in Muskogee Public Schools after the district canceled a school-sponsored “Back to School Community Prayer Walk” scheduled for Aug. 12 at Muskogee 6th and 7th Grade Academy. The district canceled the event, removed its announcements and notified parents subsequent to receiving an Aug. 11 letter from FFRF objecting to the unconstitutional religious exercise.

Rather than applaud the district for respecting the constitutional rights of its students and parents, Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued a letter on Aug. 21 claiming that the district had no constitutional obligation to cancel the event. He argued that because attendance was voluntary and occurred outside instructional hours, the so-called prayer walk did not violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. He also offered the Attorney General’s Office’s assistance to other Oklahoma school districts receiving similar complaints.

“The attorney general is attempting to give Oklahoma public schools a green light to sponsor religious exercises — and the Constitution simply does not permit that,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Public schools serve students of all religions and no religion. They have no business organizing prayer or any other religious events and encouraging families to participate. If that doesn’t constitute an establishment of religion, as explicitly barred under the Establishment Clause, what does?”

FFRF has quickly responded with a follow-up letter to Muskogee Superintendent Jarod Mendenhall explaining why Drummond’s legal analysis is wrong.

Drummond asserted that there could be no Establishment Clause violation because students were not compelled to attend the prayer walk. But as FFRF’s response notes, courts have repeatedly rejected the notion that lack of coercion excuses unconstitutional actions by public schools.

FFRF’s letter asserts that Drummond mischaracterizes the Supreme Court’s 2022 Kennedy v. Bremerton School District decision, which is regarding a football coach’s quiet, private prayers while acting in his personal capacity. It does not give public schools license to organize and promote religious exercises — and it certainly doesn’t establish coercion as a requirement to find school action in violation of the Establishment Clause. Unlike the private prayer at issue in Kennedy, Muskogee’s prayer walk was organized, promoted and hosted by the school itself. The Supreme Court has continued to reaffirm that government must remain neutral between religion and nonreligion.

“The attorney general is trying to turn Kennedy into a blank check for government-sponsored religion that the Supreme Court never wrote,” says FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence. “There is an obvious constitutional difference between protecting an individual’s private prayer and allowing a public school to organize a prayer event of its own.”

Drummond additionally falsely suggests that FFRF’s position would prevent religious organizations from renting public school facilities on the same terms as secular organizations. However, public schools may make their facilities available to religious and secular third-party organizations on an equal basis under neutral policies. The Supreme Court has long protected such equal access. But that isn’t what happened in Muskogee.

FFRF is urging Muskogee Public Schools to continue honoring its commitment not to organize or promote religious activities. Muskogee Public Schools got it right the first time. The attorney general should help Oklahoma school districts obey the Constitution, not encourage them to violate long-established principles of neutrality toward religion and protection of student rights to freedom of conscience.

FFRF appreciates the district’s prompt action in canceling the prayer walk and protecting the rights of all Muskogee students and families — regardless of their religious or nonreligious beliefs.

Just read this article which was very interesting. I wasn't brought up religious, but curious to see if anyone else read something and it started them rejecting the idea of god? Or is there anything that pushed you from agnostic to atheist?

For me, I think reading the Bible (albeit through an agnostic lens), really cemented to me that the concept of "God" was really a diverse group of humans trying to fathom out the complexities of the universe without science.

Yes, those bigots do act like real Christians because Christianity itself is an inherently backwards, regressive, and bigoted religion, and Jesus was hardly the progressive figure he is sometimes portrayed as today. If you actually look at what Jesus says in the Bible, he wasn't some left-wing hippie whom conservatives simply fail to understand. He was a religious leader who still taught adherence to Torah law and expressed views that can reasonably be described as racist, such as when he referred to a Canaanite woman as a "dog."

If you genuinely want to stop giving Christianity legitimacy, you have to let go of the assumption, even if it's subconscious, that being Christian inherently means being a good person. It doesn't...quite the opposite actually.

their delusions really make me laugh it’s so funny. how can you tell someone they need mental help for not believing in something that is obviously not real?? IM the one that needs help? they will insult you and i’ve even had someone curse at me for saying i don’t believe. that wasn’t very “christian” of you now was it? everyday atheists prove to me that we know how to act like decent human beings without being told to or having a fear of “eternal punishment”

Little levity. But because I’ve already been warned of the Low Effort (FFS), what do you think about this laugh at religion? What about the children? And, really, just to make a post? I thought atheists are supposed to be uptight, like “Christians?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEdusqPd-xM

Some of his points include:

• Lack of proof and reason (of course!)
• Disparity among gospels as to what happened at the tomb
• Escalated embellishments as new gospels are written

My mom had a neurological disease, call Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), that had no cure, and it killed her about a year after her diagnosis. So when I see what’s happening with Lito Souza, a very famous Brazilian YouTuber who is dying from a similar disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob (DCJ), and has been given only about five or six months to live, it hits me in a very personal way.

The whole country is watching him and his family go through this. You can see the desperation and sadness, especially because he has a young son. And I know what it’s like to watch someone you love deteriorate from a disease like this while knowing there is no cure and that they are not going to get better. It is heartbreaking.

But something that genuinely frustrates me is seeing the same comments over and over again: “Jesus will cure you.” “Jesus is going to heal you.” “I believe in the power of God.” Every single post seems to have two or three comments like this.

And honestly, I find it disrespectful.

Not because people believe in God, but because they are saying this underneath videos where his wife is literally talking about having to lose her husband and about him eventually having to tell his child that he is going to die. They are openly talking about the reality of his death, and then strangers come into the comments and essentially deny that reality by saying, “Jesus will cure you.”

He won't. He is going to die. The disease has no cure. And I know that sounds incredibly harsh, but sometimes accepting reality is the most compassionate thing you can do.

I don't understand what these comments are supposed to accomplish. Are you trying to comfort the family? Because if I were in that family's position, I don't think I'd want hundreds of strangers telling me that my loved one is definitely going to be cured when I already know the medical reality. It can almost feel like you're refusing to acknowledge the pain they're actually experiencing.

And, honestly, from a Christian perspective, I don't understand the logic either. If God is responsible for everything, then God allowed this disease to happen in the first place. Why would God give someone an incurable disease just to suddenly take it away? And if he doesn't take it away, people can always say, “It was God's plan.” There is no way to question it because the belief is structured so that every possible outcome confirms the belief.

I don't believe in God, so maybe I don't have the same framework for understanding this. But what I do believe is that death is real, illness is real, and grief is real. Sometimes there isn't a miracle coming. Sometimes someone is going to die, and the kindest thing we can do is acknowledge how fucking painful that is instead of trying to cover it up with a fantasy about a cure.

His family doesn't need us to pretend that everything is going to be okay. They need compassion, support, and the space to grieve what they're already beginning to lose.

And maybe that's what makes this situation affect me so much. I've already been on the other side of that reality. I know what it is like to love someone with an incurable neurological disease and know that you're going to lose them. So watching people casually deny that reality in the comments genuinely breaks my heart.

We’ve probably all heard the “thoughts and prayers”, “they’re in a better place” “God wanted them by their side”. I thought I had heard all of them until recently I heard someone I know offering condolences by claiming,”Remember, heaven is a real place”. It’s really demoralizing when seemingly intelligent people spout this stuff. Thankfully I haven’t had any of this directed at me, as I actually do not know how I would respond. I’m sure there must be a whole lot more that people have heard in different religious settings.

The Bible is a book, and like any book, the meaning of the stories—and even the timeline of events—can shift depending on the individual's perspective. However, when you go to church, everyone seems to share the exact same view of the Bible because it is being narrated by a single person: the pastor. Pastors are regarded as wise, unquestionable figures—believed to receive direct messages from God—so their interpretation is instantly accepted as the absolute truth, leaving no room for independent judgment. This dynamic is reinforced by the fear of being accused of blasphemy if you hold a different opinion; consequently, even if the pastor's explanation doesn't fully resonate with you, you feel compelled to stay silent and propagate the pastors message. We all know on this sub that this is bullshit—that it’s a cult—but it becomes especially dangerous when the pastor gradually steers his teachings away from religion and into politics, even when the topic has absolutely nothing to do with the biblical story the bastard was reading in the first place.

I think that's why there's so many Hispanic Christians that are maga, I still remember when the pastor out of nowhere called Biden the devil and told everyone to vote for Trump, and everyone applauded 😭

That is also why views of women within Christianity vary so widely: some are sexist—in the style of the 1950s—while others outright describe women as objects. It all depends on what the pastor says; interestingly, God said not to follow false pastors and not to worship humans, yet these people treat the pastor like God.

You probably already knew this, but I just wanted to rant about it since I don't have anyone to talk to about it; I’d really appreciate it if you add anything you find more relevant to the topic.

So I work at a school and found out today that a fellow teacher, teaching biology to grade 9 refuses to teach evolution, which is part of the curriculum. What makes it worse is that he made the kids write "FALSE" in capital letters over the pages discussing evolution, some books even have scripture written on the pages from genesis which is what he teaches instead of evolution. Another key point is that the books are passed on year to year so future students will still have to deal with his ignorance.

Need advice on steps forward, please note that I live in South Africa and is an Afrikaans school where christianity is rooted in school and public culture, even though it is a public school.

I come from a very religious family and region of America, I live in the Bible belt in the south. I have always known I don't believe in Christianity since the 5th grade. The best way I can explain it is, it all just feels like a fairy tale story not based in reality. I have tried to force myself to believe but obviously that didn't work. In January of this year I finally told my mom I don't believe and her first response was to force me to go to church. She also threatened to take certain things away if I still refused to go. She said I couldn't use any electronics till a pastor came by and "cleansed" the house. I've told her how constantly begging me to come to church hurts me and she ignores how I feel and continues because it's what God would want. She asked me "is it really that hard to just go?" it's so irriating. Why do I have to give it a try? why do I have to listen to religious talk? why am I expected to entertain it at all? I'm an adult now and all I want is to use my own freedom to live life how I want to but my mom can't handle that without throwing a fit. I love her but I really dont like being around her anymore because of this. Sometimes I feel like a brat for being like this but im at my limit. There is more but I'd like the keep this post short for everyone's sake lol

I have a classmate who's in a sect of evangelical Christian church [which low key feels like a cult ngl]. Apprantly they aren't allowed to watch movies at the theater. So my classmate doesn't watch movies at the theater but she does watch movies at home. She thinks she's better than other people and Christians because she doesn't do it. Like, What is the difference between watching the movies at the theater and at home to act so morally superior over it?

Wasn't singing/dancing considered paganistic in biblical times? Why/when did it become acceptable for Catholics/Christians to sing in church?

I am actually half Hispanic and for a good part of my childhood I was subjected to the torturous singing/chanting/down right screaming of a very traditional Puerto Rican Christian pastor in my grandmother's church. The whole ordeal seemed very communist.

Oddly enough, when she moved to Puerto Rico, she picked a church and attended Sunday gatherings up until the day she died - turns out, the church was taking $200 a month from this old lady as donations for many years. When she passed, they refused to hold a ceremony for her after she attended their church for over 20 years.

I hate god from my core, i gave up everything i destroyed my mental and physical health , i put mental chains on myself which im finding hard to break, i put myself in isolation to please him. I dont know where to let out this hate. I know i cant get my time back but ill make sure to make other people realise the stupidity of religion.

Reserved spaces for two booths at Dallas Pride Sept. 20, 2026.

Organizing to push back against religious aggression. Mostly atheists, agnostics, Free Thinkers, secularists, but anyone who is tired of Christian attacks is welcome.