Although it’s been a challenging year for religious freedom advocates, we at Americans United have much to be thankful for. Not only do we have dedicated members and supporters, but there are so many brave people who’ve been willing to stand up to power when government officials have trampled their rights.

Yes, Moses was one of history’s most famous law-givers. But the code he delivered to humankind, the Ten Commandments, did not form the basis of our government. The Ten Commandments were designed to regulate the religious and moral behavior of ancient peoples. They’re not a blueprint for government.

Happy Thanksgiving! It’s that time of year when we consider the things for which we are thankful. I know I speak for the entire staff when I say how grateful I am for our supporters’ continued commitment to our critical mission.

Religious Right groups did everything they could to help the Republican Party this year: They flooded churches with biased 'voter guides' that backed GOP candidates and pursued a 'data-driven strategy.' The Faith & Freedom Coalition, a group founded and run by former Christian Coalition operative Ralph Reed, boasted that it would spend $18 million to target 125 million 'social conservative voters' in 19 states.

Even children learning about agriculture aren’t safe from the Trump-Pence administration’s pandering to the Religious Right and their agenda to use religion as the means to roll back social progress, especially for LGBTQ people. A new report exposes how USDA officials helped to scuttle a more inclusive LGBTQ policy proposed by 4-H.

We’ve yet to devour our Thanksgiving turkeys, but our friends in the Religious Right are already itching to gin up this year’s claims of a “war on Christmas." Liberty Counsel, a group of fundamentalist Christian attorneys, published its annual “Naughty and Nice Retail List” to punish retailers who fail to appropriately recognize Christmas.

Although RFRA is still sometimes used for good – like protecting Sikh soldiers barred by Army regulations from serving their country while wearing their articles of faith – it is now too often exploited to justify discrimination and other harms to others.

AU demanded that the Department of Justice (DOJ) divulge records that reveal the circumstances and the people involved in the creation of the so-called Religious Liberty Task Force – a murky unit within DOJ that was launched by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in July.