Speaker Johnson worrisomely says Christian legal ministry guides House leadership
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is expressing concern after House Speaker Mike Johnson declared at a highly influential Christian legal organization’s annual summit that it shapes his governance.
Johnson, speaking recently to hundreds of Alliance Defending Freedom supporters in San Diego, repeatedly described the group as “home,” praised its mission of advancing conservative Christianity through the legal system, and credited his years working there with molding his leadership as speaker.
“ADF really is like home to us,” Johnson told attendees. “You’re like family.” He added that his years at the organization were “formative to us,” explaining that “so much of what we do, we learned on the front lines of the culture war, keeping the door open for the spread of the gospel, and it informs still how we do our job today.”
Such statements are extremely concerning to FFRF.
“Speaker Johnson has made explicit what many Americans have long suspected: He does not view himself simply as an elected official who happens to be religious,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “He views his leadership of the House as an extension of the mission of Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization dedicated to advancing conservative Christian ideology through the courts and government.”
Founded in 1994 by leaders in the Christian right, Alliance Defending Freedom has become one of the country’s most powerful Christian nationalist legal organizations. The group has played a central role in many Supreme Court cases that have expanded religious exemptions while restricting reproductive rights and LGBTQ equality, including Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the entity as an anti-LGBTQ hate group because of its long record of attacking LGBTQ rights, a move that has prompted members of Congress to ironically go after the renowned civil rights organization.
At the Alliance Defending Freedom gathering, Johnson continued his longstanding effort to recast America’s founding in explicitly Christian terms. Discussing the Declaration of Independence, he argued that the rights of Americans “don’t come from the government” but “come from the King of Kings,” replacing the Declaration’s more inclusive reference to a “Creator” with a specifically Christian theological claim.
Johnson also warned that rejecting belief in God inevitably leads to “Marxism, socialism [and] communism,” telling the audience that denying God means people lose their inherent dignity and ultimately their freedom. He described universities as places where students have been “indoctrinated” to reject America’s Christian foundations.
“Speaker Johnson is using his constitutional office to promote an explicitly sectarian worldview,” remarks Gaylor. “The House speaker represents Americans of every religion and of none. He should not be telling the country that our rights come from Christianity or suggesting that secular Americans are on the road to tyranny.”
Johnson repeatedly framed political engagement at the summit as a religious struggle, describing Alliance Defending Freedom supporters as “fellow warriors” and praising the organization for standing on the “front lines” and the “tip of the spear” defending “God’s truth.” He urged supporters to pledge themselves to the cause just as the Founders supposedly had and predicted that the group’s next chapter would be “the greatest season of this ministry since its inception.”
The gathering underscored the Alliance Defending Freedom’s extraordinary access to Republican leadership. Johnson was introduced not merely as the House speaker but as “one of us,” with organizers highlighting his years as an attorney with the group and its spokesman before entering politics.
The event also featured Trump administration Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir, who argued that transgender health care contradicts “the deeper moral order that is woven into creation itself,” citing Genesis 1:27 and asserting that “male and female” reflect God’s design. He encouraged pastors, rather than medical professionals, to play a central role in caring for youth experiencing gender dysphoria.
Alliance Defending Freedom President Kristen Waggoner, who has defended conversion therapy and has repeatedly misgendered transgender people, also interviewed West Virginia and Idaho’s Republican attorneys general, reinforcing the organization’s close ties to elected officials shaping national legal policy on one end of the political spectrum.
“The American people elected a speaker of the House, not a missionary-in-chief,” Gaylor adds. “Mike Johnson is free to practice his religion, but he is not free to govern as though Congress exists to carry out the mission of Alliance Defending Freedom or any other religious organization. His oath is to the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion by keeping religion and government separate.”
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 41,000 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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FFRF urges Ky. school district to end pastor access to middle school students
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is demanding that the Fayette County Public Schools system immediately stop allowing pastors from a local church to proselytize middle school students through school-sponsored activities.
A concerned community member has informed the state/church watchdog that pastors from the Southern Heights Baptist Church have been proselytizing students at Jessie Clark Middle School by allegedly allowing two pastors from the church to lead the school Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. An official post from the Southern Heights Baptist Church Facebook page shared that on April 16, the pastors led an FCA meeting for students at the middle school and that “three students gave their lives to Christ.” Additionally, the middle school named one of the pastors a “character coach” for the middle school lacrosse team, apparently to encourage “growth in character, leadership and faith as they develop as athletes and individuals.”
FFRF is urging the district to investigate these reports and, if confirmed, immediately end the unconstitutional arrangement.
“Students in secondary schools may organize religious clubs, but these must be entirely student-initiated and student-led and take place during noninstructional time,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude has written to the school district’s chief legal officer.
It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the district to allow staff members or an outside adult to lead a religious club for students, FFRF emphasizes. Public schools may not show favoritism toward, or coerce, belief in or participation in religion. Here, it appears that Fellowship for Christian Athletes meetings are led by the pastors, violating both the First Amendment and the Equal Access Act.
Student-athletes are especially susceptible to unconstitutional coercion. Students know their coaches control their playing time and positions, directly affecting opportunities for scholarships and recruitment. When coaches and the school allow an outside adult to serve as a “character coach” to the lacrosse team as part of official team activities, student-athletes will no doubt feel that going along with religious activities, interacting with the “character coach,” and at least appearing to agree with the person’s religious beliefs is essential to pleasing their coaches and being viewed as a team player. It is unrealistic and unconstitutional to put student-athletes in the position of choosing between allowing their school to violate their constitutional rights to maintain good standing in the eyes of their coach and peers, or openly dissenting at the risk of retaliation or isolation.
And by allowing this proselytization, Jessie Clark Middle School needlessly marginalizes students, families and community members who are nonreligious or who belong to minority religions that do not follow Christianity. As much as 38 percent of the American population is non-Christian, including the almost 30 percent who are nonreligious. More than half of Generation Z (those born after 1996) is non-Christian, including 43 percent who are nonreligious. The school district should strive to be welcoming and inclusive of all students, not just those who subscribe to a particular brand of Christianity.
The school district must investigate the situation and ensure that Jessie Clark Middle School ceases granting religious representatives access to students for the purpose of proselytizing them.
“Public schools are not recruiting grounds for local churches,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. “Students have the constitutional right to decide for themselves what religious beliefs, if any, they will embrace. School officials should never use their positions to give pastors privileged access to impressionable students.”
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 41,000 members and chapters across the country, including hundreds of members and a chapter in Kentucky, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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A Florida Public School had a banner on school property that advertised a local church. (August 2026)
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
Florida —
“The Seminole County (Fla.) Public School system followed up on FFRF’s concerns after being informed of an unconstitutional banner on school property that advertised a local church.
FFRF learned that around the weekend of March 28, Authentic Church had been leaving a large banner on Winter Springs High School’s property. The banner was left up even outside the hours the church was renting school property for services.
FFRF contacted the district in order to have the banner removed.
“Continuing to permit Authentic Church to leave its banners on District property outside of its designated rental hours signals favoritism toward religion over nonreligion, and Christianity over all other faiths,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote.
After receiving FFRF’s letter, Seminole County Public Schools Staff Attorney Kalae Menard reached out to confirm that positive action had been taken.
“The principal addressed the church and advised them to remove the signs on 5/19/26. I have requested for the principal to inform me once they are in fact removed from the property,” Menard wrote. Menard also confirmed that the human resources department of the district will be working with the assistant superintendents of elementary, middle schools and high schools to address engagement with religious groups, in addition to including a principal training during the districtwide HR seminar that is set to occur at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year.”
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A School District in Florida was allowing a school football coach lead students in prayer. (August 2026)
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
Florida —
FFRF made sure that the St. Johns County School District in St. Augustine, Fla., put a stop to the district’s practice of having a school football coach lead students in prayer and other Christian rituals.
A district parent reported that Alan D. Nease High School had a pattern and practice of entangling religion with the school’s athletics programs. The parent stated that organized prayer had become a regular part of the school’s athletics, particularly within the football team. FFRF learned that student football players were participating in school-sponsored prayer sessions before school, as well as at practices and games.
FFRF wrote to the district in order to put a stop to these troubling patterns.
“Even if students and parents know about the school-sponsored athletics program prayer and are able to opt-out – though the parent who contacted us does not allege that an opt-out exists – voluntariness is still no excuse for violating students’ rights,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district’s legal representative, Frank D. Upchurch, III.
After receiving the letter, Upchurch confirmed that the district investigated the FFRF’s report. As a result of this, the district noted that it did appear that the coach was leading the team in saying grace before team meals.
“The administration counseled the coach and provided appropriate guidance,” Upchurch wrote. “I am told the coach understands and will refrain from leading students in prayer in the future.” Upchurch added that if more reports came in, he and the district would look into them accordingly and respond appropriately in the future.
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