We Dissent

It’s that wonderful time of year when Alison guides Rebecca and Liz through the upcoming legislative sessions in states across the country. We discuss upsetting trends in state legislation and bills we’re monitoring that affect the separation of church and state and threaten true religious liberty for everyone.

Background and Resources

• Previous episode about the legislative process
• Previous episode about Texas
• 2024 State of the Secular States report
• American Atheists State Legislation Tracker
• What you can do
• FFRF and American Atheists’ Action Alerts
• Equality Florida
• ACLU State Affiliates
• Reproductive Freedom For All

Bills Discussed

• Religion in schools
• School chaplain bills
• Texas
• Florida
• Indiana
• Nebraska
• Alabama
• Oklahoma HB 2962: Would require the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms
• Utah HB 269: Would allow teachers to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms
• Arizona SB 1151: Would allow teachers to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms
• West Virginia SB 280: Would allow teachers to each intelligent design as a theory of how the universe came to exist
• Trans bills
• The Guardian - “Missouri is ground zero for the firehose of anti-trans legislation”
• Missouri HB1674: Would make it discrimination for a business to allow trans employees to access appropriate bathrooms
• Utah HB 257: Would make using a bathroom that does not align with one’s sex assigned at birth a criminal trespass offense
• Healthcare
• Missouri HB 1519: Prohibits discrimination against health care professionals who refuse to assist in trans healthcare
• Oklahoma SB 1729: Would recognize abortion as homicide
• Idaho HJR001: Would remove the no aid clause from the Idaho constitution

Cases Discussed

• Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
• Kennedy v. Bremerton School District (2022)
• Stone v. Graham (1980)
• Van Orden v. Perry (2005)

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

The Supreme Court continues to mess up civil rights for everyone. In this episode Rebecca and Liz discuss the two opinions handed down by the Supreme Court at the end of June, Groff v. DeJoy and 303 Creative v. Elenis. They recap the case, summarize the rulings, and discuss implications of the decisions.

Background

• Groff v. DeJoy
• SCOTUS decision
• SCOTUSBlog - “Justices rule in favor of evangelical Christian postal worker”
• Vox - “The other big decision handed down by the Supreme Court today, explained”
• AA Groff v. DeJoy press release
• FFRF Groff v. DeJoy press release
• 303 Creative v. Elenis
• SCOTUS Decision
• SCOTUSBlog - “Supreme Court rules website designer can decline to create same-sex wedding websites”
• Vox - “Neil Gorsuch has a problem with telling the truth”
• FFRF 303 Creative press release
• AA 303 Creative press release

Cases

• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison (1977)

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

Alison, Liz, and Rebecca take a deep dive into Texas for a case study in theocratic government. They discuss recent Christian nationalist legislation advancing in the state, the takeover of state institutions by conservative Christian legal groups, and the many state/church battles their organizations have fought in Texas.

Background

• Texas Monthly - “How a Right-wing Law Firm Shaped the Judge Who Will Rule on the Abortion Pill”
• The Washington Post - “Texas legislature passes bill allowing chaplains in public schools”
• Religion News Service - “More than 100 chaplains urge Texans not to hire school chaplains”
• FFRF, Americans United, and the ACLU/ACLU of Texas letter to Texas school districts
• FFRF - “Thou shalt honor our secular public schools, Texas”
• Texas Tribune - “Key supporter of Texas school chaplain bill has pushed for evangelism in schools”

Resources

• FFRF Action Alert sign-up
• FFRF report a violation
• American Atheists report a violation
• American Atheists Action Alerts sign-up
• School Chaplain Law Advocacy Toolkit
• Interfaith Alliance “Say No to Chaplains in Public Schools” campaign page

Bills Discussed

• HB 4949/SB 1396 and SB 19: Would allow a period of prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious text in public schools
• SB 17: Would have created the right for a public school employee to engage in religious speech or prayer while on duty
• SB 1515: Would require the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools
• SB 763: Would allow school districts to employ chaplains to perform the duties of school counselors

Cases

• American Atheist’s Metroplex Atheists lawsuit
• FFRF’s Texas Bill of Rights display lawsuit
• FFRF’s praying judge lawsuit
• Stone v. Graham (1980)

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

Join Rebecca, Alison and Liz for a journey through the history and principles behind the U.S. exempting churches from taxation! We discuss the practice of tax exemption for charitable organizations, including churches, the major cases about the constitutionality of these ideas, and abuses of the Johnson Amendment.

Background

• History of churches and taxes
• 2024 State of the Secular States report
• FFRF FAQ on churches and tax exemption
• Churchtrac - The State of Church Giving: Trends and Statistics (2024)
• IRS requirements for church audits
• Other podcasts that talk about church taxation
• Tax Chat
• Evangelicalish

Cases

• Trinidad v. Sagrada Orden (1924)
• Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York (1970)
• FFRF’s IRS Cases
• FFRF v. Geithner (2014)
• FFRF v. Daniel Werfel (2014)
• Gaylor v. Mnuchin (2016)
• Nonbelief Relief v. Kautter (2019)
• Texas Monthly v. Bullock (1989)
• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

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Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.

Alison, Liz, and Rebecca are joined by Jenifer McKenna to talk about the billion dollar crisis pregnancy center industry and its role in the anti-abortion movement. They discuss the massive harms caused by these unregulated fake clinics, Jenifer’s work on the first multi-state CPC investigation, and a new approach to exposing their unethical tactics and fighting back.

Show Notes

• Reproductive Health & Freedom Watch
• “Designed to Deceive: A Study of the Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry in Nine States”
• Reproductive Health & Freedom Watch: Recent CPC research and analysis
• “Why is the billion-dollar unregulated pregnancy clinic industry receiving increasing taxpayer dollars?”
• “Unregulated Pregnancy Clinic Industry’s Revenue Soars to $1.7 Billion Annually”
• “Anti-Choice Leaders Are Mobilizing Thousands of Unregulated Pregnancy Clinics Against Abortion Access Ballot Initiatives”
• Jenifer McKenna’s Ms Magazine articles
• “Anti-Abortion Extremists Are Diverting Tax Dollars to Crisis Pregnancy Centers”
• “Unregulated Pregnancy Clinics Collect Health Information From Pregnant People—With No Privacy Protection”
• “Documentary ‘Preconceived’ Exposes Horrors of Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry: ‘I Came to You for Help. Why Did You Lie?’”
• Women’s Law Project
• Gender Justice
• Rewire investigation on LIFElink Carolina
• ”Preconceived” Documentary

Cases

• NIFLA v. Becerra (2018)
• Jane Doe v. Clearway Clinic (2023)
• Four Women Health Services v. Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center (2024)

Check us out on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.

Our website, we-dissent.org, has more information as well as episode transcripts.