How the Freedom from Religion Foundation's Eagerness to Block Religion Set a New First Amendment Precedent

A rallying cry amongst some of the more hard line atheists states that "freedom of religion," as guaranteed in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, is "freedom from religion." This has led them to attempt to ban prayers in schools, remove crosses from public view, and take other actions on the grounds that all of these violate the promised separation of church and state. One of the most vocal groups, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRN), bit off a little more than it could chew when it tried to undo an executive order that allotted money for faith-based initiatives.

The center of dispute was George W. Bush's White Houe Offices of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, created by executive order in 2009. It was considered an outreach of what the president described as "compassionate conservatism," and aimed to assist faith-based organizations so that they could in turn help their local communities. The problem? It used taxpayer dollars for funding.

The ACLU and FFRN took on the atheist cause with a fury, arguing vehemently that the distribution of tax dollars to support anything faith based clearly violated the Establishment Clause. Morever, despite not being a tax paying entity, the FFRN argued that on the basis of the Flast v Cohen case, they should be allowed to challenge the use of taxpayer money, particulaly when it is granted to religious initiatives.

This created an interesting dilemma for the courts. Did it, in fact, violate the Constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state? At first glance, many thought so, however the first denting of the argument was found when the district court ruled in favor of the White House Office. Of particular note, it ruled that the First Amendment clearly stipulates not that government shall not be involved in religion, but that it specifically pertains to congressional funding and respect based legislation. As the First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."