Freethought Radio – November 5, 2026
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
After the midterm elections, we have “caught a wave, and are sittin’ on top of the world”! We report many state/church victories, then columnist Kate Cohen, author of We of Little Faith, tells us how to fight Genesis with Genesis.“
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Rebranded prayer breakfast still has no place in U.S. Capitol
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is castigating the latest attempt to cloak a Christian religious event in the prestige and authority of the federal government.
The event formerly known as the congressional National Prayer Breakfast, scheduled at the U.S. Capitol Complex on Feb. 3, 2027, has been recently rebranded the “United States Prayer Breakfast.” Despite its new name and promises of inclusivity, the prayerful event continues to promote Christianity, maintains troubling connections to the secretive religious network behind the original National Prayer Breakfast, and inappropriately unites church and state.
According to recent reporting from Jonathan Larsen on the rebranding, the event will be co-hosted by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Katie Britt, R-Ala. The newly named United States Prayer Breakfast Foundation claims the gathering will bring national leaders together across religious and political differences. Yet its own website makes clear that the event remains centered on Christianity.
The foundation invites attendees to “pray collectively for our nation and the President of the United States on a nonpartisan basis in the spirit of love and reconciliation as Jesus of Nazareth taught 2,000 years ago.” It then adds: “Persons of any faith tradition or no faith tradition are welcome.”
“Inviting atheists and other non-Christians to a government-sponsored prayer event centered on Jesus doesn’t make it inclusive,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “It simply insultingly invites nonbelievers to participate in someone else’s religion. Congress has no business lending the prestige of the U.S. Capitol to a Christian prayer service, regardless of how many times organizers change its name.”
The rebranding comes amid longstanding controversy surrounding the original National Prayer Breakfast, organized by the Fellowship Foundation, also known as The Family. The secretive Christian organization has faced scrutiny over its international political influence, connections to authoritarian leaders, and involvement in efforts opposing LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights abroad.
A congressional spinoff was established in 2023, ostensibly to distance lawmakers from the scandals and secrecy surrounding the original gathering. Yet the new foundation continues to maintain significant connections to The Fellowship.
According to Larsen’s reporting, several members of the prayer foundation’s board have histories with The Fellowship, including former Reps. J.C. Watts and Cathy McMorris Rodgers. It has also declined to disclose its financial backers, leaving unanswered questions about who is funding an event that enjoys access to one of the most prominent spaces in American government.
FFRF has long opposed the National Prayer Breakfast and its congressional offshoot, repeatedly urging presidents and members of Congress to stop participating in events that use public offices to promote religion. In 2023, FFRF joined a coalition of secular, religious and civil rights organizations urging President Biden not to participate in the National Prayer Breakfast. The coalition warned against allowing a private religious organization to exploit the presidency and Congress to advance its religious agenda. FFRF has also applauded Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., co-founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, for publicly challenging the prayer breakfast’s presence in the Capitol and its troubling entanglement of religion and government.
The latest developments are disappointing given that Kaine previously distanced himself from the original National Prayer Breakfast. His office confirmed that he will return as a co-host of the rebranded congressional gathering, arguing that the event provides an opportunity for lawmakers from both parties to pray together.
But FFRF stresses that bipartisan participation does not resolve the constitutional concerns.
“The separation of church and state is not a partisan issue,” says Gaylor. “A religious event doesn’t become appropriate for Congress to sponsor simply because politicians from both parties participate. Religious freedom means that every American is free to pray, or not pray, without our government taking sides. Members of Congress may pray at the church, mosque or synagogue of their choice. They should not turn the People’s House into a house of worship, especially in these fraught times of Christian nationalism when we need public officials to stand up for the all-American principle of state/church separation.”
FFRF rejects the premise that religious prayer is necessary or even capable of uniting the country.
Nearly three in 10 Americans are religiously unaffiliated, and millions more practice faiths other than Christianity. Americans do not share a single religious tradition, nor should they be expected to participate in one as a condition of national unity.
There is nothing preventing members of Congress from gathering privately to pray, attending religious services or practicing their faith as individuals. The constitutional concern arises when elected officials use the symbols, facilities and perceived authority of government to elevate religious observance.
The United States Prayer Breakfast Foundation claims that its event will promote unity. But nothing is more divisive than religion in government.
“Our elected officials have a responsibility to represent all Americans, not just those who share their religious beliefs,” concludes Dan Barker, FFRF co-president. “As we say around here, pious politicians should get off their knees and get to work.”
FFRF is urging members of Congress to decline participation in the rebranded breakfast, stop lending governmental prestige to sectarian religious events and show respect for the constitutional principle of separation between religion and government.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 40,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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