Frank is Frankly Hypocritical.

FFRF awards $19,450 to 2026 high school essay winners

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is proud to announce the awarding of $19,450 to students in its 2026 William Schulz High School Essay Contest.

College-bound high school seniors were asked to write a personal persuasive essay based on this prompt: “My favorite freethought/humanist hero/ine. Write a personal essay about your favorite freethinker or humanist and what they did or are doing to improve or enrich our lives.”

FFRF conferred 12 top prizes and 12 honorable mentions this year. (FFRF seeks to distribute essay scholarship monies to a higher number of students, so ties — such as fifth place in this contest — are not regarded in the typical tie fashion, where, in this instance, sixth place would be skipped.)

Winners are listed below and include the college or university they are now attending and the award amount.

FIRST PLACE
Carlie Wong, UC Berkeley, $3,500.
SECOND PLACE
Jacob McBride, Saint Joseph’s University, $3,000.
THIRD PLACE
Isabella Fitch, University of Vermont, $2,500
FOURTH PLACE
Sydney Anker, Azusa Pacific, $2,000.
FIFTH PLACE (tie)
Naija Zamora-Johnson, University of Houston, $1,500.
Noah Bouchard, Cal Poly State San Luis Obispo, $1,500.
SIXTH PLACE
Jasper Koneshwaran, UBC Okanagan, $1,000.
SEVENTH PLACE
Noah Vandeloecht, Washington University, $750.
EIGHTH PLACE (tie)
Emmett Palmer, University of Washington, $500.
Rotimi Esiso, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, $500.
NINTH PLACE
Ariadna Garcia, University of Houston, $400.
TENTH PLACE
Mason Sitts, College of the Redwoods, $300.
HONORABLE MENTIONS ($200 each)
Vanessa Apostolakos, University Of Southern Indiana
Jazlyn Brown, Clark Atlanta University
Anna Mae Corrigan, Oregon State University
Ela Ekinci, Virginia Tech
Donna Lee, USC
Maya Maizland
Rhana Shpoon, University of Central Florida
Samuel Slepack, UNLV
Aayah Vickers, Virginia Tech
Ruby Wagner, Bowling Green University

The high school contest is named for the late William J. Schulz, a Wisconsin member and lifelong learner who died at 57 and left a generous bequest to FFRF.

The state/church watchdog thanks FFRF’s Lisa Treu for managing the many details of this and other FFRF annual student competitions. And we couldn’t judge these contests without our volunteer and staff readers and judges, including:  Dan Barker, Anita Barrett, Anne Bendixen, Bri Deyo, Elizabeth Engelhardt, Wrenna Fine, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Richard Grimes, Ricki Grunberg, Susan Haines, Tracy Hoffman, Robert Holley, Sammi Lawrence, Robert Leonhard, Katya Maes, David Malcolm, Tori Mizerak, Barbara Nolta, Charles Riedesel, Roe Mary Sheldon, PJ Slinger and Michelle Smith.

FFRF has offered essay competitions to college students since 1979, high school students since 1994, grad students since 2010 and one dedicated to students of color, now called “first in the family,” since 2016. A fifth contest, open to law students, began in 2019. The winning essays will appear in the November issue of FFRF’s newspaper, Freethought Today.

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 over 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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Freethought Radio – October 8, 2026

FFRF Action Fund’s legislative team gives us a rundown on the Nov. 3 ballot initiatives around the country, both good and bad. Then, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten describes her new book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers.”

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Antivenom Interview

Adam and Eve’s Failure Says More About God Than Humanity

LIVE DEBATE [God is Imaginary] 10/7/2026 [H]

‘Jesus Unfollower’ unpacks religious satire on latest episode of ‘Secular Spotlight’

The brand new episode of the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s “Secular Spotlight” show explores online comedian Kevin Crowe’s satirical approach to calling out religious bigotry.

Crowe, also known online as “Jesus Unfollower,” discusses how religious satire and humor can expose hypocrisy, absurdity and the weaponization of religion. Crowe shares his journey from evangelical Christianity to atheism, how he uses short-form comedy to reach new audiences, and why he argues that the freedom to mock ideas is an important part of a free society.

“It’s more about the weaponization of [religion] and the whole self-righteousness and that you’re living incorrectly and treating minorities poorly because you think their whole life is sin,” Crowe explains. “Those are the people that I’m trying to go after — not the religion itself.”

You can catch this episode of “Secular Spotlight” on FFRF’s YouTube channel, or on your smart TV after downloading FFRF’s free app, Freethought TV, which also highlights FFRF’s other video programming. Previous episodes include a deep dive into still-existing blasphemy laws in America and a warning about Wisconsin’s proposed constitutional amendment that will exempt places of worship from emergency measures. Make sure you’re subscribed to FFRF’s YouTube channel for all the latest updates!

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 more than 40,000 members across the country, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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November 1, 2026 – FFRF Co-Sponsors Secular Day of the Dead Celebration (virtual)

Secular Day of the Dead

On Sunday, November 1, 2026, the Freethought Society (FS) and other secular sponsors, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, will host the annual online International Secular Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos Secular celebration of life.

The event will start at 12:00 PM Pacific Time/3:00 PM Eastern Time/2:00 PM Central Time.

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FFRF launches nationwide billboard campaign: ‘Vote like your rights depend on it — because they do’

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is taking a simple message to voters across the country this fall:

VOTE LIKE YOUR RIGHTS DEPEND ON IT — BECAUSE THEY DO

Beginning this week, FFRF is launching a national billboard campaign in 19 markets across the United States, encouraging Americans to pay attention to what is at stake in the 2026 election and make their voices heard at the ballot box.

The billboards direct viewers to ffrf.us/vote.

“Religious special interests are working aggressively to impose their beliefs through government, and the decisions voters make this fall will have very real consequences for our constitutional rights and freedoms,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Our message is simple: Pay attention to what’s at stake, make your voice heard and vote like your rights depend on it — because they do.”

The campaign connects FFRF’s work protecting the constitutional separation between state and church with the importance of civic participation.

Decisions made at the ballot box can affect issues central to FFRF’s mission — including secular government, public education, individual rights and whether public policy represents all Americans regardless of religious belief or nonbelief.

The campaign does not endorse candidates or tell voters who to support. Instead, FFRF is encouraging voters to understand the issues, evaluate candidates for themselves and participate in the democratic process.

“State/church separation is not an abstract constitutional issue — it shapes decisions about our schools, our laws and our individual freedoms,” Gaylor adds. “Voters have enormous power to determine what kind of government represents them. We want people to wield that power.”

FFRF quotes the late feminist and freethinker Gloria Steinem: “Voting isn’t the most we can do, it’s the least. … If you don’t vote, you don’t count.”

FFRF intentionally selected many communities where its chapters and supporters provide a local presence. The goal is to pair a national message with local voices, creating opportunities for community engagement and conversations about secular government.

Billboards are appearing in or near:

• Rochester, N.Y.
• Raleigh, N.C.
• Knoxville, Tenn.
• Northwest Arkansas
• Duluth, Minn.
• Cincinnati
• York County, Pa.
• Spokane, Wash.
• Madison, Wis.
• Kenosha, Wis.
• Chicago
• Colorado Springs, Colo.
• Denver
• Louisville, Ky.
• Orlando, Fla.
• Phoenix
• Sacramento, Calif.
• San Francisco Bay Area
• San Antonio

Local FFRF chapters and supporters will help amplify the campaign in many of these communities and serve as local voices for media interested in the importance of secular government and civic participation.

The campaign runs now through early November.

Learn more at ffrf.us/vote.

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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Secular groups urge Okla. board to reject religious public charter school application 

Prominent secular groups in a letter sent today are once again urging the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board to reject the nation’s first proposed religious public charter school.

The letter was written soon after the school admitted that it will not come close to meeting the student enrollment numbers predicted in its charter school application. Instead of opening with 335 to 495 enrolled K-12 students, as promised in its application, the proposed Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School has disclosed it now aims to operate as a high school with an “aspirational enrollment goal” of only 10 students during its first year. As explained in the letter, the drastically reduced enrollment plan demonstrates that the school lacks community support, that the school is financially unsustainable, and that its application is noncompliant with Oklahoma’s charter school requirements.

The school’s severely scaled back enrollment efforts were revealed in a recent email sent by Ben Gamla founder Peter Deutsch of Florida to Oklahoma Jewish leaders asking for their help in finding 10 students for the school’s first year of operation, which would begin in September 2027. Among the recipients of Deutsch’s email was Rabbi Daniel Kaiman, one of the seven Oklahoma taxpayers participating in a lawsuit to oppose Ben Gamla’s approval as a religious public charter school.

“I was surprised that Mr. Deutsch would not only ask for my help to enroll students in a public religious charter school — an endeavor I have publicly opposed because I believe in church-state separation and secular public education — but that he’d also invite me to apply to become the school’s principal,” Rabbi Kaiman says. “Mr. Deutsch’s email shows what we’ve long argued: Mr. Deutsch, who’s from Florida, and his school are completely disconnected from the Oklahoma Jewish community. It also shows how little our community wants this. Perhaps most importantly, it shows that this school is nothing but a Trojan horse for creating religious public schools. We don’t need or want this school. We want strong public schools and to keep church and state separate.”

Despite a recent federal court ruling that temporarily prohibits the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board from rejecting Ben Gamla’s application because of the school’s religious character, today’s letter reminds the board that the court’s order does not prevent it from rejecting the application on other grounds. Sent by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Education Law Center, the letter argues that the school’s erratic shift in operational plans raises serious concerns about Ben Gamla’s credibility and ability to run a functioning public charter school funded by Oklahoma taxpayers.

The organizations outlined multiple reasons why the board must reject Ben Gamla’s application, including:

• Ben Gamla lacks community support.
• Ben Gamla is not financially or operationally viable.
• Ben Gamla’s application is fatally deficient.
• Ben Gamla lacks any credibility.

Attorneys representing the intervenors include Nancy A. Noet and Samuel T. Grover of Freedom From Religion Foundation; Alex J. Luchenitser and Lauren Schoen of Americans United; Brent Rowland and Morgan Bandy of the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice; Daniel Mach and Heather L. Weaver of the ACLU; and Jessica Levin, Wendy Lecker, Patrick Cremin and Katrina Reichert of Education Law Center.

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 more than 40,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a religious freedom advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, AU educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. Learn more at www.au.org.

The Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice is a 501(c)3 public interest law firm that fights for the rights and opportunities of every Oklahoman.

Education Law Center (ELC) pursues justice and equity for public school students by enforcing their right to a high-quality education in safe, equitable, nondiscriminatory, integrated and well-funded learning environments. ELC seeks to support and improve public schools as the center of communities and the foundation of a multicultural and multiracial democratic society. Visit edlawcenter.org.

For more than 100 years, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has worked in courts, legislatures and communities to protect the constitutional rights of all people. With a nationwide network of offices and millions of members and supporters, the ACLU takes on the toughest civil liberties fights in pursuit of liberty and justice for all.

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