Abbreviation | FFRF |
---|---|
Formation | 1978 |
Type | Non-profit |
Legal status | 501(c)3 Educational Organization |
Purpose | Separation of church and state, nontheism, atheism, secularism |
Headquarters | Madison, Wisconsin |
Region served
|
United States |
Membership
|
25,000 members |
Key people
|
Dan Barker, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Anne Nicol Gaylor |
Website | ffrf.org |
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American non-profit organization based in Madison, Wisconsin with members from all 50 states. The largest national organization advocating for non-theists, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state and educates the public on matters relating to atheism, agnosticism, and nontheism. The FFRF publishes a newspaper, Freethought Today. Since 2006, as the Freethought Radio Network, FFRF has produced the Freethought Radio show.
The FFRF was co-founded by Anne Nicol Gaylor and her daughter, Annie Laurie Gaylor, in 1976 and was incorporated nationally in 1978. The organization is supported by over 23,500 members and operates from an 1855-era building in Madison, Wisconsin, that once served as a church rectory. According to the 2011 IRS tax Form-990, FFRF spent just over $200,000 on legal fees and services and just under $1 million on education, outreach, publishing, broadcasting, and events. The allotment for legal fees is primarily used in cases supporting the separation of church and state that involve governmental entities. FFRF also has a paid staff of twenty two, including five full-time staff attorneys and two legal fellows.
Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the FFRF, is the author of Women Without Superstition: No Gods - No Masters and the nonfiction book on clergy pedophilia scandals Betrayal of Trust: Clergy Abuse of Children (out of print) and editor of the anthology Woe to the Women. She edited the FFRF newspaper Freethought Today until July, 2008. Her husband, Dan Barker, author of Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist, Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists, The Good Atheist: Living a Purpose-Filled Life Without God, "Life Driven Purpose", "God: The Most Unpleasant Character in all Fiction" and Just Pretend: A Freethought Book for Children, is a musician and songwriter, a former Pentecostal Christian minister, and co-president of FFRF.