The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is infamous for trying to stop the First Amendment from being exercised. They’ll sue Christian groups, schools, programs, and the like for being unconstitutional, but our hearts should go out to them. Clearly, they’re suffering from an inability to understand the true meaning of the separation of church and state, which has resulted in a lot of futile work on their end.

The most recent example of their shenanigans comes as they’ve targeted the University of Colorado (UC) football coach, Deion Sanders, for having a team chaplain. According to FFRF, Sanders’s chaplain puts “young and impressionable student athletes” at risk. Apparently, FFRF is concerned that there may be adult college students who may not want to interact with the chaplain but are too afraid to speak up. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s their argument: “Coaches exert great influence and power over student athletes and those athletes will follow the lead of their coach. Using a coaching position to promote Christianity amounts to unconstitutional religious coercion.”

Yes, the presence of a Christian man is “unconstitutional religious coercion.” And yet, we don’t see this same concern when kids are forced to participate in drag or LGBT-related events, do we? But I digress. This isn’t the first time FFRF has come after Sanders. In addition to the chaplain, they’ve also accused the coach of “coercion” for professing his personal beliefs when he was first brought on at UC in 2023. Thankfully, Coach Sanders has had the First Liberty Institute (FLI) on his side.

FLI constitutional lawyer Keisha Russell said FFRF’s claim “is beyond inaccurate.” She referred to the instance of the high school football coach Joe Kennedy, who was fired after praying on the field after games. FFRF and Kennedy’s school sure felt they scored a win when they were able to jeopardize Kennedy’s career and reputation on the faulty grounds that he violated the Establishment Clause. However, in this instance, FLI stepped into action, and this case ultimately ruled in favor of religious freedom. And Russell sees no reason for the same precedent not to be applied for Sanders as well.

If the UC coach wants to have the option of a chaplain, Russell explained, “I think it’s pretty clear that these students are old enough to kind of differentiate for themselves what they want to do in that situation, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with their coach inviting one in for inspiration.” Not to mention, “The practice is definitely constitutional, and it’s highly likely that” it will be upheld “as proper under the First Amendment.”

Someone needs to have a chat with the Freedom From Religion Foundation and remind them that our country promotes the freedom of religion. They also seem to need a history lesson, considering the separation of church and state is not in the Constitution, and the concept is actually meant to protect the church from government intervention — not the other way around. FFRF prides itself in blocking private religious schools and faith-based programs from receiving funds, yet they don’t bat an eye at taxpayer-funded “gender-affirming care.” They consider it an accomplishment that a federal court overturned a law declaring Good Friday a state holiday while saying nothing about the 50 or so LGBT-related holidays on the calendar.

FFRF is so concerned with keeping the Bible and the Ten Commandments out of schools that they put no effort into keeping schools free of drag queens, girls’ locker rooms free of men, classrooms free of sex offenders, and children’s libraries free of pornography. They don’t want Christians to be able to pray at football games or city councils, but they’re perfectly fine with confused kids being told they were “born in the wrong body,” and that the only way to be happy is to swallow some pills and cut off healthy body parts. Of course, all this can also apply to their unwavering support of killing babies in the womb.

The point is this: FFRF is a hypocritical, waste-of-space organization that seems to be blinded to reality. They make a living out of calling good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20). It’s almost laughable that FFRF claims one of their “most important services provided … is outreach to freethinking young people” when they can hardly stand the idea of someone disagreeing with them.

But you know what? Christians of all people should be the least surprised by groups and people like FFRF. “Understand this,” Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3, “that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.” He warned that “people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

There will be many who have “the appearance of godliness,” Paul warned, while “denying its power” (v. 5). These are the people “who creep into households and capture weak women.” Consider the abortionists. They are “burdened with sins and led astray by various passions.^” Consider the slaves of LGBT ideology. They are “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” Consider the radically leftist activists. They “oppose the truth,” and they’re “corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.” What a perfect description of so many in our world! But Paul didn’t end there.

Clearly, he didn’t shy away from the brutally corrupt image of a godless society in the days before Christ’s return. However, neither did he avoid the truth of the Christian’s posture in such times. “Indeed,” he wrote, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” And so, dear Christian, you must “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed.”

The Bible warned us that persecution will happen, and that we’ll be hated for our faith in Christ. But we’ve also been instructed by Scripture on how to respond, namely, through our faith in Christ. 2 Timothy 3 concludes that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

FFRF and angry anti-religion folks sure work hard, but they’ll never work hard enough to overthrow the Lord of the universe. His Kingdom has no end, and His truth shall never die. There’s going to come a day “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). The question is, will the knees be driven to the ground in reverence and awe, or in fear and hatred?

Now’s our chance to proclaim Christ boldly. And no one is promised tomorrow, so let us pray for our enemies today.