Madison group ramps up national fight against religion in government

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5 hours ago • STEVEN ELBOW | The Capital Times


Freedom From Religion Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor

Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has been busy of late shoring up the wall between church and state.

The group, whose mission to squelch religion in the public sphere was once prone to ridicule, is now a national force to be reckoned with.

"Business is flourishing," says Annie Laurie Gaylor, who co-founded the foundation in 1976 with her mother, Anne Nicol Gaylor. "We're busy all over the country."

Gaylor says the foundation, which advocates for the separation of church and state as mandated in the First Amendment, is involved in an unprecedented number of cases of what Gaylor says are unconstitutional encroachments of religion into government. Funded through dues from its 19,000 members and two annual fundraising drives, the foundation has upped its staff attorneys from two to four in the past year to handle the number of complaints coming in.



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