Complimentary Copy Join FFRF Now! Vo1. 32 No. 1 Published by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. January-February 2015 Bola Olaniyan was the first official visitor to FFRF’s Newly expanded Freethought Hall “reborn” Freethought Hall addition. Bola, a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student, signed the first Thanks to the generosity of members, FFRF staff moved into expanded offices in downtown line of the guest book in early January. At left is Charlotte Madison, Wisconsin, in January. See pages 12–13 for more building photos. (Photo by John Hart. Stein, receptionist and assistant, who says Bola is her best Reprinted with permission of the Wisconsin State Journal.) friend. (Katie Daniel photo) FFRF eyes suit over Georgia school prayer abuses “One of Georgia’s most charming daily prayer: “God is great. Let us parents withdrew Jamie. Home school- public schools 53 years after the first cities” is how Swainsboro (pop. 7.600), thank you for our food. Thank you for ing Jamie has substantially burdened Supreme Court decision against school which is between Atlanta, Augusta our daily prayer. Thank you. Amen.” Jane Doe, who has three younger chil- prayer shows how important FFRF’s le- and Macon, bills itself. But its school The parents contacted Principal dren to supervise at home. gal work is.” district, Emanual County Schools, ap- Valorie Watkins in August 2014 to ob- Pressure on Jesse escalated in De- pears to have a most uncharming hab- ject to the prayers. Rather than stop- cember. Jesse’s science teacher encour- it: inflicting daily prayer upon its cap- ping them, the teachers told the Doe aged Jesse to “make a good decision” tive audience of children. children to leave their classrooms and regarding prayer in the classroom. Inside This Issue “Jamie Doe,” a kindergartner at sit in the hallway while the rest of the Jesse’s physical education teacher like- Swainsboro Primary School (motto: class prayed. Jesse reported that the wise encouraged Jesse to begin pray- “Where Cubs Become Tigers!”) was teacher “used her mean voice” when ing. The teacher even held Jesse back Donald C. singled out by the teacher after Jamie’s instructing Jesse to wait in the hall. The from recess to talk about Bright’s views Johanson’s parents, “Jane and John Doe,” com- teacher also unnecessarily singled Jesse of God, explaining that God loves Jesse dissent from plained about daily classroom prayer. out by telling the class that Jesse can’t and made the world. The teacher in- religion The Does pulled Jamie out of school recite the Pledge of Allegiance since dicated to Jesse that Jesse’s mother by the end of the year. it contains the words “under God,” al- was a bad person for not believing in Jamie’s first-grade sibling, “Jesse though the parents had not discussed God. Around this time Jesse gave in Doe,” was also subjected all semester the pledge with the teacher. and started participating in classroom Page 8 long to pressure to pray. Jesse’s teacher When the Does renewed their objec- prayers. said outright that Jesse’s mother was a tions a few days later, the principal said “It should not be necessary for FFRF bad person for not believing in God. other parents who didn’t want their to sue over such an obvious violation The parents are FFRF members who children to participate in prayer had of specific Supreme Court decisions contacted FFRF for legal support short- been “OK” with the “solution” of leav- barring devotions from our public ly after the 2014-15 school year started. ing the room. The Does explained that schools,” noted Dan Barker, FFRF co- Letters from FFRF and complaints by was unacceptable, but daily prayers president. “No child in our secular the parents have not ended the viola- continued. school system or their parents should tions. A lawsuit, as this goes to press, is Jamie’s teacher next announced to be subjected to prayer or stigmatized being prepared for federal court. the entire class that Jamie wasn’t al- when their parents speak up to defend The Establishment Clause violations lowed to pray to God, which resulted the Establishment Clause. But unfortu- were daily. Before lunch, Jamie’s teach- in Jamie being teased. nately, it appears a lawsuit will be the er, Cel Thompson, asked students to FFRF objected strongly in an Aug. only way to protect the freedom of con- bow their heads, fold their hands and 20 complaint letter, pointing to more science of these young children.” pray, while leading the class in a “call than 65 years of Supreme Court prec- “If anyone needs a picture drawn on and response” prayer: “God our Father, edent against religious devotions and how destructive religion is in our pub- we give thanks, for our many blessings. proselytizing in public schools. Despite lic schools, this situation is a perfect Amen.” a promising reply from the district’s at- example,” added Annie Laurie Gaylor, See more FFRF billboards In Jesse’s first-grade class, teacher torney, the school continued to orga- co-president. “The fact that such abu- in action. Page 24 Kaytrene Bright led students in this nize Christian prayers. Eventually, the sive practices are continuing in our Page 2 Freethought Today Madison, Wisconsin January-February 2015 In Memoriam nian. “And they turned Lonsdale into in the early 1980s. “They put together Freethought Hall wing to be a determined champion of limiting the a plan that relied on the ingenuity of flow of big money into political cam- Oregon and an education system that named for Lonsdale paigns.” supported that kind of innovation,” “If you want democracy, work for Frederick wrote. “In fact, they were at campaign finance reform,” Lonsdale least a decade ahead of their goals for said in a 2003 column in The Orego- the Silicon Forest.” nian. Survivors include his daughter, Kar- State Rep. Lew Frederick, D-Port- en, and his son, Harold Jr. land, credited Lonsdale for playing a FFRF is so grateful that this distin- major role in creating Oregon’s “ro- guished entrepreneur, activist and phi- bust high-tech industry” while chairing lanthropist rated FFRF and freethought Gov. Vic Atiyeh’s Science Committee high on his scale of causes. Saying goodbye to Bob resentative) of FFRF for many years, and coordinator of FFRF’s Atheist- Freethought Library for the Blind, devoting many hours of volunteer work reading books and issues of Freethought Today. When the Internet came along, Bob took to it with a nonreligious passion, sending regular emails on religious Harry Lonsdale as a candidate for U.S. Senate. (Photo: Benjamin Brink/The and freethought topics to a large list Oregonian) of subscribers. “I will miss those daily nuggets in my inbox,” says FFRF co- Harold K. Lonsdale out by a pharmaceutical firm in 1985. president Dan Barker. “He was a risk taker and entrepreneur. He was born June 17, 1932, in Neen- 1932–2014 He left a secure career in Silicon Val- ah, Wis., the only son of Swedish immi- ley and came up to Bend and started grants. He lived in the area all his life. Harry Lonsdale, 82, a prominent a four-man research company, at risk, His obituary said his only biological Oregon scientist, politician and phi- in 1975,” said colleague Rod Ray, a for- family are cousins living in Sweden. He lanthropist, died of heart failure Nov. mer Bend Research CEO. earned a B.A. in history with minors in 11, 2014, at John F. Kennedy Memo- Lonsdale ran unsuccessfully three Robert Nordlander political science, Spanish and French rial Hospital in Indio, Calif. He was an times as a Democrat for the U.S. Sen- 1932–2014 at the University of Minnesota and FFRF Lifetime Member who had given ate “[H]is candidacies had a big im- taught English, Spanish, history and $100,000 to FFRF’s building fund. pact on Oregon politics in the 1990s,” French at various schools. He also ran A wing of the new Freethought Hall reported Jeff Mapes of The Orego- The Appleton Post-Crescent, a Wis- as a Democrat for the state Assembly addition is being named the “No Hell consin daily newspaper, called Robert and on the Socialist-Labor Party ticket Below Us” Harry Lonsdale Wing. Nordlander, who died at 82 on Dec. for the U.S. Senate and lieutenant gov- “We were so very sorry to learn of 11, 2014, “likely the most prolific letter ernor. Harry’s death and had been in corre- writer in Post-Crescent history.” In fact, In a “Getting Acquainted” piece spondence to obtain his portrait for wrote Larry Gallup in a reminiscence published in Freethought Today in the wall and feature him in our ‘Meet about Nordlander, the paper inaugu- March 1984, Bob, a Korean War vet- a Member’ section in Freethought To- rated a “one letter per month” policy eran, noted he served “four inglorious day,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF in Bob’s honor. years in the United States Air Force,” co-president. “We were so impressed “With us, Nordlander’s most fre- where he wrote a history of the USAF with Harry’s achievements, reported quent topic was his atheism, which put flight Test School still in print. Bob was in numerous articles about his life ap- him at odds with many of his readers,” a great debunker of myths, including pearing in many West Coast dailies.” Gallup added. the myth that there are “no atheists in Lonsdale was born in Westfield, “We first got acquainted with Bob foxholes.” N.J., the son of a Sicilian immigrant Nordlander as a result of his freethink- He wrote that his first memory of re- mother and a Welsh father, earned a ing letters to the editor to The Capi- ligion was going to church and seeing bachelor’s degree in chemistry from tal Times in Madison in the 1970s,” “a very angry man in the pulpit who re- Rutgers University and a Ph.D.