Atheist Group Targets Arkansas School District Over Student Prayer

Religious Freedom, ,

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has once again targeted religious expression in Arkansas. The Wisconsin-based atheist organization issued a statement last week saying it recently demanded the Highland School District to stop student-led prayer at school events.

The organization’s complaints stemmed from last September, when a student council president led prayer at a school pep rally and prayed during a Patriot Day memorial ceremony. FFRF’s staff attorney also objected to the school excusing students from class to voluntarily attend a prayer circle for a classmate in September and specifically promoting the Fellowship of Christian Students student-group.

This is just the latest example of FFRF’s ongoing campaign against religious expression in Arkansas. The organization is currently suing to remove the privately-funded Ten Commandments monument from the Arkansas Capitol lawn, and it recently joined a lawsuit to prevent public schools from displaying the Ten Commandments. In 2022, the group also celebrated the defeat of a proposed religious freedom amendment.

Arkansas families should be concerned when out-of-state groups try to intimidate local school districts into silencing student-led prayer. Students have clear constitutional rights to voluntarily pray and express their faith at school. These are fundamental freedoms protected by our constitution and our laws. There shouldn’t be anything controversial about that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Gov. Sanders Refuses to Rescind Christmas Proclamation

Religious Freedom, , , , ,
Above: The Nativity Scene the adorns Arkansas’ Capitol Lawn.

On Monday, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement refusing to comply with a Freedom From Religion Foundation letter asking her to rescind her Christmas proclamation.

The governor’s proclamation tells the Christmas Story about the birth of Christ, and it ensures State offices will be closed December 25 and 26 in observance of Christmas.

In response, the Wisconsin-based atheist organization sent Gov. Sanders a letter claiming her proclamation violated the First Amendment by sharing the story of Christ’s birth. The group demanded she rescind the proclamation.

In her response, Gov. Sanders told the Freedom From Religion Foundation it would be “impossible” to keep religion out of Christmas.

“Christmas is not simply an ‘end-of-the-year holiday’ with ‘broadly observed secular cultural aspects,'” Sanders wrote. “Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and if we are to honor Him properly, we should tell His miraculous, world-changing story properly, too.”

This is not the first time the Freedom From Religion Foundation has targeted the free exercise of religion in Arkansas.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is currently suing the State of Arkansas to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the Capitol lawn in Little Rock, and it recently joined a lawsuit to prevent public schools and buildings in Arkansas from displaying the Ten Commandments.

In 2022, the atheist group issued a statement celebrating the defeat of religious freedom amendment Issue 3, which narrowly failed at the ballot box in Arkansas.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has opposed public prayer at meetings and gatherings in Arkansas.

In 2017 the group demanded that then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson stop sharing Bible verses on his Facebook page.

In 2016 the foundation went after Washington County election officials for using churches as polling places.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has even complained about the fact that that Arkansas’ public school students can study the Bible academically — even though it is one of the oldest texts in existence and has had a profound influence on human history.

Gov. Sanders is right when she says Christmas is about Christ. There shouldn’t be anything controversial about acknowledging that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Reconsider Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

Marriage, , , ,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 10, 2025

Little Rock, Ark.— On Monday, Family Council expressed disappointment after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a case challenging its 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling on same-sex marriage. Family Council President Jerry Cox said the Court missed an important opportunity to correct what many continue to view as an overreach of judicial authority.

“Obergefell was a poorly reasoned decision from the moment it was handed down,” Cox said. “The Constitution does not give the federal government the power to redefine marriage. That authority rests with the states and with the people. By refusing to take this case, the Court has chosen to leave in place a ruling that short-circuited the democratic process.”

Cox said the Obergefell decision is about a lot more than just same-sex marriage. “The bigger question has always been about how marriage will be defined in America and who gets to write that definition. From 2004 to 2015, voters in more than three-fifths of the country democratically passed laws and amendments defining marriage in their respective states. In most cases, those measures defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Voters in three states chose to define marriage differently. The court’s Obergefell decision struck down every one of those state marriage laws.”

Cox noted that despite the Court’s refusal to hear the case, the debate over marriage is far from settled. “Millions of Americans still believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, and that belief is rooted not only in religious conviction but in thousands of years of human history. The Court may choose not to review Obergefell today, but the conversation about marriage and family will continue. We remain committed to defending the freedom of people who hold to the traditional understanding of marriage.”

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