Since I was in an upsetting kerfuffle with the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF, and I call the squabble “The KerFFRFle”), over which I resigned from its Honorary Board along with Steve Pinker and Richard Dawkins, I haven’t paid much attention to the organization. I do get their alerts, for they’re still doing good work in upholding the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, reinforcing the wall between church and state. Their condemnations, like the one I highlight here, don’t usually accomplish much, but their lawsuits or amicus briefs have been effective, and the FFRF does raise awareness about Constitutional violations. Yes, they are overly woke, which is why I resigned (see the first link), but that doesn’t mean that their overall effect is bad. It isn’t!
I noticed the other day that they’ve gone after New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who I see as both an antisemite and an Islamist. And by “Islamist” I mean a Muslim who is active in trying to make countries adopt Islam as part of their system of governance. In this case, Mamdani is mixing Islamic religious celebrations with city business: a violation of the First Amendment. I have little doubt that he would like the U.S. to become the Islamic Republic of America.
Click the screenshot below to read:
An excerpt:
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is again warning New York City’s mayor that the Constitution prohibits government officials from using the machinery of public office.
FFRF has sent its second letter in a couple of months to Mayor Zohran Mamdani after receiving a complaint from a New York City employee regarding a recent religious event organized through official city channels. The national state/church watchdog previously contacted Mamdani in February after he posted on the official New York City Mayor’s X account about participating in a suhoor meal and praying with Department of Sanitation workers during Ramadan. [JAC: he appears to have deleted the tweet, and if that’s the FFRF’s doing, good for them],
Despite that warning, FFRF has now learned that the mayor’s office held a “City Workers Iftar” on March 12 to “celebrate workers who keep New York City running while fasting.” The event notice was emailed to city employees by Interim Commissioner Melissa Hester and it noted that the event included a call to prayer.
A city employee who contacted FFRF observed that it is “completely inappropriate for a government agency to have a religious celebration.” The employee expressed concern that events like this may create the perception that the mayor’s office favors one religion and that employees attending city-sponsored events may be expected to participate in religious activities.
“While you are entitled to observe your faith in your personal capacity, the Constitution prohibits government officials from organizing, promoting or participating in religious exercises in their official roles,” FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line writes to Mamdani. “Hosting a religious observance for city employees of one religion and facilitating a call to prayer through official government communications and personnel crosses the line between private religious expression and government-sponsored religious worship.”
FFRF emphasizes that city employees work under the authority of elected leadership, creating a dynamic where even “voluntary” religious events can carry implicit pressure. “Public employees should not be placed in a position where they may feel compelled to attend a religious event or appear supportive of a particular faith tradition to maintain favor with their employer,” the letter states.
I oppose Mamdani not only because of his Islamism and apparent antisemitism, but because he’s a faux Democrat, promising much but likely to deliver little. (See his latest gaffe on St. Patrick’s day!) And I worry that because the Democrats are so befuddled and besotted by “oppressor/victim” ideology (Mamdani, being a Muslim, is seen as “oppressed”), he will have a future in politics beyond being mayor. He could become a Congressman, though fortunately not President, as he wasn’t born in the U.S.
Anyway, be aware of what’s going on in NYC, and kudos to the FFRF.
Yes, I see glimpses of spellbreaking Common Sense sometimes from the FFRF.
Dear FFRF :
MOAR
Thank you.
Were I a few miles away from here, in Brooklyn, my reading of your post might have been interrupted by the Azzam morning prayer call echoing throughout the neighborhood.
I feel this the above is a bigger problem that the yes, problematic sitting – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini circa 1978, France – style for the Ramadan iftar ….in the City Hall I paid for.
I’ve written about this Zohran shaped disaster to hit my city, re-posted herein:
https://democracychronicles.org/forgetabaht-it/
D.A.
NYC
“The Freedom From Religion Foundation is again warning New York City’s mayor that the Constitution prohibits government officials from using the machinery of public office.”
Er, what?? Doesn’t this need a bit more specificity? As in “…in furtherance of a religious agenda” or something similar?
As long as (but only as long as) the same rigid scruples are applied to all religious agendas, including those more traditionally “American” (Christian, Jewish, Indigenous), I’m in full agreement.
Aren’t you familiar with the FFRF? They spend NEARLY ALL OF THEIR TIME going after other Abrahamic religions that are illegally mixed with the government–most notably Christianity. And they give examples; did you read the link?
Is Zohran Mamdani the Muslim reincarnation of Karl Lueger? Lueger was elected mayor of Vienna in 1897 by presenting himself as a champion of the “common people” against elites. Despite his wealth and education, he built support through populist messaging, promises of social reform, and attacks on the establishment.
As mayor, he normalized antisemitic rhetoric. He didn’t pass official anti-Jewish laws, but he promoted discrimination in practice: favoring “Christian” appointments, excluding Jews from positions of influence, and tolerating antisemitic demonstrations.
He also maintained relationships with “court Jews”, Jews who received his protection as long as they served his political or symbolic purposes. One of his infamous statements was, “I decide who is a Jew,” showing how selectively he applied his rhetoric.
Lueger’s approach was highly influential in shaping the thinking of Adolf Hitler, as it demonstrated how bigotry can cloak itself in moral language and appear ‘enlightened,’ ‘social,’ or ‘progressive’, and how, when public officials adopt and amplify it, they give it an official seal of approval and remove barriers to violence. https://ww1.habsburger.net/en/chapters/i-decide-who-jew
Yes! I’ve been calling NYC “Luegerville” since election day.
The public schools are next. I really, really hope I’m wrong about this, but Muslim prayer and even religious teachings (including creationism) will start to creep into NYC public schools with a high concentration of Muslims.
When it does, organizations like FFRF (who at least seem to be on the correct side of this) will point out how it clearly violates separation of Church and state. And when they do, they will be accused of “Islamophobia.”
So then we will see who are the true liberals, the children of the Enlightenment, who understand and will fight for the bedrock principle of freedom from religion in public institutions.
On the other side will be the confused or weak Democrats.
Confused, as in they never really absorbed the bedrock principle and will get wrapped around the axle of whether to criticize an “oppressed group”.
Or weak, as in they DO understand the bedrock principle, but don’t dare invoke the wrath of Islam and its allies.
In 1962, when the New York Regents’ Prayer was ruled unconstitutional (thanks, Steven Engel!) my HS newspaper asked my classmates and me if we were sorry that the morning prayer was dropped. My reply was “Hell, no!” But because it was 1962, the newspaper printed “No!” The good ol’ days, eh?
After “The KerFFRFle” I immediately cancelled my decades long membership with the FFRF and called / emailed them to make the reason very clear. I was pleasantly surprised they broke from their overly woke mindset and “oppressor/victim” ideology to condemn the actions of the Mamdani administration. It pained me to stop supporting them but they still have a long way to go before regaining my support.