The Future of the Freethought Caucus (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio podcast)

FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence reports about a high school softball team in Missouri that had religion pushed on it, and how FFRF was able to put a stop to this. Then, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman reviews this year’s National Prayer Breakfast in D.C. and provides some insight into future plans for the Congressional Freethought Caucus.

Interview: 

https://ffrf.org/news/freethought-radio/freethought-today-february-12-2026/

Day of Reason (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio podcast)

We have some good state/church news to report out of Oklahoma and Arizona. 

Then, in response to Trump’s remarks at the May 1 “National Day of Prayer,” we celebrate the May 4 “National Day of Reason” by hearing impassioned and humorous remarks at the Second Annual “Reason Reception” in D.C., sponsored by FFRF, American Humanist Association and the Secular Coalition for America, for the Congressional Freethought Caucus. 

The “Very Funny Lady” comedian Leighann Lord kicked off the event, followed by U.S. Reps. Jared Huffman, Calif., Jamie Raskin, Md., Laura Friedman, Calif., and a poignant keynote by former Rep. Susan Wild, Pa.

Interview: 

https://ffrf.org/news/freethought-radio/freethought-today-may-8-2025/

Remarks from Rep. Jamie Raskin and Rep. Jared Huffman - TheHumanist.com

"…And a very important reason we have the Establishment Clause is to keep one religious church, or sect or cult from seizing state power and then violating everybody else's religious freedom. And so many of the cases we've seen in American history, like Engel v. Vitale or Stone v. Graham, about the Ten Commandments resolutions, or about prayer in the schools, they're about one group seizing governmental power and then imposing religious orthodoxy on everybody else. 

That's why we say the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause stand best when they stand together. They stand for the same principle, which is the right of each person, every man, every woman, every child, to make their own decisions and not to be imposed upon and coerced by an establishment church. 

The value of religious freedom is one that's critical to the First Amendment and a free society. In this free society, the American founders were rebelling against millennia of established churches, religious warfare between the Catholics and the Protestants, Holy Crusades, inquisitions, witchcraft trials, you name it. They wanted to break from the nightmare of theocratic rule and the imposition of religious orthodoxy and doctrine on free citizens…"

https://thehumanist.com/magazine//features/we-look-forward-to-continuing-our-work-we-have-a-lot-more-work-to-do/

Congressperson Jared Huffman on Christian Nationalism and the Threat to Our Democracy (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

Brad is joined by Congressperson Jared Huffman, who represents California’s 2nd District. Rep. Huffman is the only member of the House who is not affiliated with a religious tradition. He started the Freethought Caucus in 2018 to highlight the concerns and needs of Americans who are humanists, freethinkers, agnostics, and otherwise invested in freethinking in politics and the public square. Perhaps most importantly for SWAJ in March 2022 Rep. Huffman held a hearing on White Christian nationalism that reviewed a report on J6 by the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Baptist Joint Committee. He has called out Christian nationalism on the House floor and said that it is infecting our government.

Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/congressperson-jared-huffman-on-christian-nationalism-and-the-threat-to-our-democracy/

Rep. Jared Huffman: ‘Continue to make your voices heard’ - Freethought Today

"For me, being a humanist is not a political liability, it's somewhere between irrelevant and actually positive. I'm doing my part to bring Congress closer to the secular institution that founders like Paine, Jefferson and Madison envisioned, and that the Constitution is supposed to require."

https://www.freethoughttoday.com/free/rep-jared-huffman-continue-to-make-your-voices-heard/

Rep. Jared Huffman on the Health Share Transparency Act (Opening Arguments podcast OA615)

You may remember the ripoff scam that is Christian Health Share Ministries from such episodes as OA497: Christian Health Sharing Is a Scam and OA530: Andrew Testifies to Congress on Christian Healthshare Ministries! Well, as a direct result of Andrew’s House testimony, Rep. Jared Huffman has sponsored and introduced a new bill to fight back against this scam! It’s H.R.8324 – Health Share Transparency Act of 2022. Rep. Huffman is also a co-founder of the Congressional Freethought Caucus! He joins us today to explain the bill.

Before that, I grill Andrew on the Secret Service deleted texts, with such questions as “what the f?” and “how the h?” There’s a lot we can’t know yet, but Andrew explains what we do know. Finally, we go through the first gun control legislation passed in two decades. It’s good!

Interview:

https://openargs.com/oa615-rep-jared-huffman-on-the-health-share-transparency-act/

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) Introduces 2018 “National Day of Reason” Resolution – Friendly Atheist

Beginning in 2015, Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced a formal resolution in support of the National Day of Reason. His defeat in 2016, despite coming at the hands of another Democrat, put future versions of that legislation in peril. But fellow Californian Rep. Ted Lieu picked up where Honda left off, introducing similar legislation last year.....

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/04/27/rep-jared-huffman-d-ca-introduces-2018-national-day-of-reason-resolution/

Congressman Jared Huffman comes out as a non-believer -- and rips Trump’s phony religious pandering --- Raw Story

A Democratic congressman from California says there's "too much religion" in U.S. politics and that too many politicians -- Republicans in particular -- use religion as a cudgel, including President Donald Trump. ...
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/congressman-jared-huffman-comes-out-as-a-non-believer-and-rips-trumps-phony-religious-pandering/