Freedom From Religion group ramps up national fight against religion in government
Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has been busy of late shoring up the wall between church and state. The group, whose mission to squelch religion in the public sphere was once prone to ridicule, is now a national force to be reckoned with.
"Business is flourishing," says Annie Laurie Gaylor, who co-founded the foundation in 1976 with her mother, Anne Nicol Gaylor. "We're busy all over the country."
Gaylor says the foundation, the nation's largest advocate for the separation of church and state as mandated in the First Amendment, is involved in an unprecedented number of cases of what Gaylor says are unconstitutional encroachments of religion into government. Funded through dues from its 19,000 members and two annual fundraising drives, the foundation has upped its staff attorneys from two to four in the past year to handle the number of complaints coming in. As of June, the foundation had received a record 1,200 complaints on its online reporting system, plus a number of letters and phone calls. The group currently has about 10 active lawsuits. In past years, she says, that number was three or four. The group also has three legal interns who sift through the complaints, prioritizing the ones that need immediate attention.
Gaylor doesn't have a clear answer as to why there has been such an increase in complaints. But she suspects that it stems from a number of factors, including push-back against tea party politics and the increasing secularization of America. But one thing's clear: The foundation is getting far more complaints than it can follow up on.
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/crime_and_courts/blog/crime-and-courts-madison-group-ramps-up-national-fight-against/article_795c5fd8-dbec-11e1-b406-001a4bcf887a.html
Their website: http://ffrf.org/
= new reply since forum marked as read
...gotcha....
