New TFN Insider Design Coming

We are about to implement a new design and features that better integrate TFN Insider and the Texas Freedom Network’s main website. So we apologize in advance for any technical hiccups that might happen over the next couple of days.

We hope you will like the new design. Like the one we’ve had since launching TFN Insider in July 2008, the new design is pretty streamlined and easy to navigate. In fact, it’s very similar to our current website. What’s not changing is our goal to help TFN Insider readers stay informed about the religious right in Texas and our efforts to protect religious freedom, individual liberties and public education for all.

We also want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support and for helping spread the word about TFN’s important work. You might be interested to know that TFN Insider is about to reach an important milestone for the blog of a nonprofit, state-based advocacy group: 1 million views since launch. The healthy traffic to this blog is due in large part to readers like you who contribute your own comments and share our posts on your own blogs, your Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and other social media.

Thank you!

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Join Us Tonight at Our Austin ‘Epic Evening’

Tonight the Texas Freedom Network celebrates 16 years of work promoting religious freedom, civil liberties and public education. Please join us for our Epic Evening from 7 to 10 p.m at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum (1800 Congress Ave.) in Austin.

This is TFN’s biggest celebration and fundraiser of the year. We’ll have a fabulous silent auction, tasty appetizers and great music by the Texas Tycoons. In addition, TFN will recognize state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, with a Legislative Hero award for his efforts to stop the State Board of Education from censoring our schoolchildren’s textbooks and politicizing their classrooms. He is also a strong supporter of responsible, evidence-based sex education in public schools. We will also thank Nancy Neavel and her late husband Dick for their years of selfless volunteerism and support for TFN’s work by recogizing both with our Samantha Smoot Activist award.

You can still buy tickets at the door tonight ($65). So please come out and join hundreds of fellow Texans in celebrating our 16 years of work on behalf of real mainstream values.

TFN voted “Best of Austin”!

Thanks to you, the Texas Freedom Network this week was once again named the best activist organization in the Austin Chronicle‘s “Best of Austin” readers poll!

This was our ninth “Best of” award. We’d like to think that even the far right secretly votes for us.

Here’s some of what the Chronicle had to say about us:

“In a state as blood-red as Texas, TFN proves that not only can Texan progressives speak out; they will also win a few fights if they approach them with intelligence, productive action, and purpose.”

Read what the Chronicle had to say in full here.

Thank you to all of our supporters who voted for and supported us as we continued to stand up for mainstream values in Texas.

And one more thing. Help us celebrate our latest “Best of” award by joining us at our annual Austin gala next Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. Click here for more information and tickets to TFN’s Epic Evening!

In One Month…

Where will you be in one month? We hope you’ll be with us at TFN’s Epic Evening:

Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011
7 – 10 p.m.
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
1800 N. Congress Ave.
Austin, Texas

Purchase your sponsorships or individual tickets today!

At this year’s event we will be honoring three very special individuals. State Sen. Kirk Watson will receive the 2011 Legislative Hero Award, and receiving the Samantha Smoot Activist Award will be Nancy and her late husband Dick Neavel.

All proceeds from the event benefit TFN’s hard-hitting political activism on behalf of public education, religious freedom and individual liberties at the Capitol and the State Board of Education.

For more information, contact Shana Finkelstein at 512-322-0545 or shana@tfn.org.

Happy Independence Day

Today as Americans celebrate our independence as a free nation, we believe it’s important to recall a critical part of the Constitution that is important in helping to preserve our freedoms 235 years later. The First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Those protections are especially important to the work of the Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization of citizens and community leaders who are committed to protecting religious freedom, defending individual liberties and promoting strong public schools for all. We are thankful for your support of our work.

TFN staff members wish everyone a happy and reflective Independence Day.

TFN President Receives National Award

Texas Freedom Network President Kathy Miller was honored last night at the 23rd annual Gloria Awards: A Salute to Women of Vision, which celebrates women who through their work and actions build the power to ignite social change across the nation.

The awards were presented by the Ms. Foundation last night in New York and are named after its co-founder, Gloria Steinem, a longtime activist for women’s equality.

After first serving as TFN’s deputy director from 1996 to 2000, Kathy returned to the organization as president in January 2005. During her time at TFN, she has helped the organization become a respected and influential champion of religious freedom, civil liberties and strong public schools. In addition, phenomenal growth in TFN’s membership, staff and budget since 2005 has reinforced the organization’s status as the nation’s preeminent state-based counter voice to far-right political extremism.

Congratulations, Kathy!

Click here if you would like to make a gift to TFN in Kathy’s honor.

TFN Membership Drive 2011

This week is Membership Week at the Texas Freedom Network, a time when we hope that you’ll show your appreciation for the organization’s work and its mission by becoming a member, or renewing your membership.

You can do so by clicking here.

For more than 15 years, the Texas Freedom Network has been the premiere organization dedicated to fighting the radical right in Texas. Given the political realities of our state, our work has never been more important.

As readers of this blog well know, just over the past year we’ve been successful in drawing national attention to the serious problems at the State Board of Education. And we continue to resist efforts to dumb down science in Texas classrooms.

During the current legislative session, we’ve continued to insist that the state pay attention to the growing problems associated with teen pregnancy. And even today — this very morning, in fact — we’re criss-crossing the halls of the Legislature to fight private school voucher schemes that threaten to siphon already scarce tax dollars away from our public schools.

In other words: We’re busy, and it’s not likely the far-right in Texas will let us take a vacation any time soon. But we can’t continue this fight without your help.

Please consider joining the Texas Freedom Network or renewing your membership. And help spread the word by using the sharing tools below to post this to Twitter, Facebook and other networks.

From the full TFN staff — thank you for all the ways you support our efforts to make this state a better place to live, work and go to school.

Happy New Year from TFN!

Texas Freedom Network staffers wish all our readers and supporters a 2011 filled with happiness and good health. We are very grateful for your support over the past year, and we hope you will continue to find TFN Insider a valuable resource for information on our efforts to promote public education, protect religious freedom and defend civil liberties against the far right’s increasingly radical agenda.

One way you can continue supporting our work is by donating to TFN today. Until midnight tonight, donations to TFN will be matched by a generous donor. So please consider a gift to TFN by clicking here. You can also join TFN and donate anytime here.

More resources for you:

• You can follow TFN and TFN Insider on Twitter. You can also share TFN Insider posts by clicking on the Twitter, Facebook and other links at the bottom of each full blog post.
• Please visit and bookmark TFN’s official website, where you can find valuable background information about our work, our issues and the tools you can use to take action on behalf of the mainstream values we all share.
• Please subscribe to TFN News Clips, a short daily digest of news stories on issues important to TFN and of interest to you.
• Sign up for a TFN Rapid Response Team. TFN staff will keep you updated on news related to your team and will give you the tools you need to take action at the Capitol and the State Board of Education.

Happy New Year!

To Our Readers: Help TFN Keep Fighting

Update: There’s less than a week left in TFN’s matching donor challenge. Double the impact of your year-end gift to TFN, and help our Insider blog keep a close eye on the religious right in 2011.

TFN Insider readers know that this has been a busy year for the Texas Freedom Network. We have been fighting hard to defeat efforts by right-wing extremists to rewrite history in our public schools, politicize our children’s education, threaten the separation of church and state and keep young people ignorant about how to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Our public opinion research and citizen education and training opportunities have provided important lobbying tools for activists across the state.

All of that work, frankly, costs money. So as this year comes to a close, we are asking TFN Insider readers and other supporters to consider donating to help fund our critical work in 2011.

With so much at stake, a few generous TFN donors have established a 2010 Matching Gift Challenge. That means every dollar you donate before the December 31 deadline will be matched dollar-for-dollar — up to the $50,000 limit of our matching gift.

Well-heeled donors poured millions of dollars into far-right causes and pressure groups in the months leading up to last month’s elections. And they are prepared to keep spending mountains of cash to support a divisive and destructive agenda that threatens the values we all hold dear.

The Texas Freedom Network is proud to work with a coalition of other organizations on a range of issues critical to the future of this state. But it remains true that TFN is the only organization that fights the religious and radical right in Texas on a broad front, full-time, 365 days out of the year.

We’re glad that so many people come to this site for reliable information about politics and the radical right in Texas. And we will be grateful for any support you can provide as we continue our work for a Texas that respects religious freedom, defends civil liberties for all and promotes strong public schools.

Please click here to support the work of the Texas Freedom Network.

To Our Readers: Help TFN Keep Fighting

Update: A little over one week left in TFN’s matching donor challenge. Double the impact of your year-end gift to TFN, and help our Insider blog keep a close eye on the religious right in 2011.

TFN Insider readers know that this has been a busy year for the Texas Freedom Network. We have been fighting hard to defeat efforts by right-wing extremists to rewrite history in our public schools, politicize our children’s education, threaten the separation of church and state and keep young people ignorant about how to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Our public opinion research and citizen education and training opportunities have provided important lobbying tools for activists across the state.

All of that work, frankly, costs money. So as this year comes to a close, we are asking TFN Insider readers and other supporters to consider donating to help fund our critical work in 2011.

With so much at stake, a few generous TFN donors have established a 2010 Matching Gift Challenge. That means every dollar you donate before the December 31 deadline will be matched dollar-for-dollar — up to the $50,000 limit of our matching gift.

Well-heeled donors poured millions of dollars into far-right causes and pressure groups in the months leading up to last month’s elections. And they are prepared to keep spending mountains of cash to support a divisive and destructive agenda that threatens the values we all hold dear.

The Texas Freedom Network is proud to work with a coalition of other organizations on a range of issues critical to the future of this state. But it remains true that TFN is the only organization that fights the religious and radical right in Texas on a broad front, full-time, 365 days out of the year.

We’re glad that so many people come to this site for reliable information about politics and the radical right in Texas. And we will be grateful for any support you can provide as we continue our work for a Texas that respects religious freedom, defends civil liberties for all and promotes strong public schools.

Please click here to support the work of the Texas Freedom Network.

Job Opening: Communications Deputy

Are you a skilled writer, savvy researcher and supporter of the Texas Freedom Network’s mission? TFN has an opening for deputy communications director on our growing staff. Check out the job posting here.

Help TFN Celebrate 15 Years Tonight!

Come help us celebrate at the Texas Freedom Network’s 15th anniversary gala tonight at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. We’ll have music, silent and live auctions, appetizers and a cash bar. The event is 7-10 p.m. at 1800 Congress, a few blocks north of the state Capitol. (Directions to the museum are here.) Join us for the fun and support TFN!

TFN on the Road

We wanted to let readers know about opportunities to meet Texas Freedom Network staff members and learn more about the organization in events this fall.

TFN’s annual members’ reception in Houston is set for September 21. Click here to learn more and to register to attend.

Our annual members’ reception in San Antonio is on October 19. Click here to register.

TFN’s 15th anniversary celebration is October 7 at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum in Austin. The event will include a silent auction, an awards ceremony, music and great food and drink. Click here to purchase tickets.

Check out our events calendar online for TFN speaking engagements across the state. Please contact the hosting organization for more information about each event. We will update our calendar with new events as they are confirmed.

So come on out to meet other TFN supporters and learn more about the work of the Texas Freedom Network.

An Evening with Arianna Huffington

To kick off our milestone 15th anniversary, the Texas Freedom Network is bringing Arianna Huffington — one of the most influential women in the media — to Austin for a special event at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 3. The founder of the popular and influential online news site Huffington Post will share her analysis of the current political climate as well as the far-reaching effects of the resurgence of political extremism, including the damage done by the far-right faction of the Texas State Board of Education.

We expect a large crowd for this must-see event in Austin. Click here to purchase tickets for what is sure to be an engaging evening. You can also purchase tickets over the phone at 512.322.0545.

Pointing Fingers and Shading the Truth

Texas State Board of Education members are pointing fingers at everyone but themselves for the debacle over revising social studies curriculum standards. In new interviews with the Southern Baptist TEXAN, board Chair Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, and fellow member Don McLeroy, R-College Station, are complaining that reporting about the board’s actions have been inaccurate. And they point their fingers at the Texas Freedom Network for causing the problems.

So let’s do a little fact-checking of Lowe’s and McLeroy’s comments, shall we?

Lowe tells the TEXAN:

“Nowhere in our social studies curriculum standards is America referred to as a Christian nation.”

Lowe is technically correct — even these board members know that inserting a blatant “Christian nation” standard would lead almost immediately to a court battle that they would lose. What she doesn’t say, however, is that the board’s far-right members have seeded the standards with distortions that suggest the nation’s origins and constitutional foundations lie in the (Christian) religious beliefs of the Founders.