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Religious News & Views 2009-12 |
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Religious News & Views 2009-12 |
Religious Persecution in America
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Religious News & Views 2009-12 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Religious News & Views 2009-12 Click headline for full story
January 2012
Supreme Court ruling confuses religious workers
01-20-12 -- Aleeza Adelman teaches Jewish studies at a Jewish school, yet she considers herself a teacher whose subject is religion, not a religious teacher. She's rethinking how to define her job after a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling left her wondering what could happen if she ever needed to defend her right to keep it. . . . The high court ruled last week that religious workers can't sue for job discrimination, but didn't describe what constitutes a religious employee - putting many people employed by churches, synagogues or other religious organizations in limbo over their rights.
Prayer Cases Turned Away by U.S. Supreme Court Justices
01-17-12 -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to give government bodies more freedom to open sessions with prayers, rejecting a pair of appeals that sought to loosen the restrictions some lower courts have imposed. . . . The justices today left intact a federal appeals ruling that said a North Carolina county board was violating the constitutional separation of church and state by opening most of its sessions with a Christian prayer. The high court also refused to review a separate decision that barred prayers at meetings of a Delaware school board. . . . The Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on the constitutionality of prayer at government meetings since 1983, when the justices said lawmakers could begin sessions with nonsectarian prayers offered by a state-employed chaplain. In other contexts, the court under Chief Justice John Roberts has given governmental bodies more freedom to support religion.
December 2011
Atheist display: Skeleton Santa nailed to a cross
12-06-11 -- The skeleton in a Santa suit didn't survive for long outside the Loudoun County courthouse lawn, but it generated plenty of controversy in Leesburg, Va. . . . The skeleton was nailed to a cross on Monday by a mother and son associated with an atheist group, one of the nine approved displays for the Christmas season. But the macabre Kris Kringle was not standing for long. Someone tore the skeleton down, sparking a debate about free speech. . . . It's not a new argument. In 2009, Christmas displays on the courthouse lawn were banned after the constitutionality of a Nativity scene was questioned. Last year that decision was overturned, and 10 displays were allowed on the lawn based on a first-come, first-served basis. September 2011
Court backs district on teacher's religious banners
09-14-11 -- Saying a high school teacher has no right to "use his public position as a pulpit," a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a San Diego County school district was on solid legal ground when it ordered a math instructor to remove large banners declaring "IN GOD WE TRUST" and "GOD SHED HIS GRACE ON THEE." . . . Those inscriptions and others that longtime teacher Bradley Johnson displayed on his classroom wall amounted to a statement of religious views that the Poway Unified School District was entitled to disavow, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. . . . Under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the appellate panel said, government employees, including public schoolteachers, have no constitutional right to express views in the workplace that contradict their employer's rules or policies.
Judges asks why Oklahoma's law on Sharia applies to only one religion U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals takes up Oklahoma's voter-approved Sharia law case
09-13-11 -- Judges who will decide whether Oklahoma can ban Islamic law from the state's courts raised questions Monday about the effect of the ban and why it applies to only one religion. . . . “There's no mention of any other specific law,” Judge Scott Matheson of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said during oral arguments about the ban voters approved in November by a wide margin. . . . “We just have Sharia law singled out,” Matheson said as he questioned Oklahoma Solicitor General Patrick Wyrick, who argued in defense of the ban becoming part of the state constitution. . . . “The intent here was to exclude Sharia law and international law,” Wyrick responded. . . . Oklahoma City Muslim Muneer Awad, with support from Islamic believers in other parts of the United States, claims in a court challenge that the ban violates the U.S. Constitution's protection for freedom of religion.
August 2011
Bogus Church Isn't a Lawyer, Texas Says
08-24-11 -- Texas says a woman is practicing immigration law without a license, telling suckers she can legalize them as religious workers if they join her "church" - and that at least 300 people have fallen for it. . . . The Texas attorney general sued Yolanda Salazar Perez and her "church," Nueva Uncion, or the New Anointing Biblical Institute, and three of her alleged cohorts, who are members of her family, in Harris County Court. . . . Texas claims Salazar and her church advertise, and claim to provide, legal services, including work visas, temporary residency, religious worker benefits, and legal counseling and preparation of forms, though she is not an attorney.
Teacher Can't Be Sued Over Alleged Hostility to Religion, Court Says
08-22-11 -- A California teacher is immune from a student's lawsuit claiming that the teacher's classroom comments were hostile to religion, a federal appeals court has ruled. . . . A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, declined to decide whether any of the teacher's comments were actually hostile to religion to the point of violating the student's First Amendment right to be free from government establishment of religion. . . . Instead, the panel held unanimously that it was not clearly established that a teacher could violate the establishment clause by appearing hostile to religion during class lectures. Thus, the teacher in this case was entitled to qualified immunity from the student's lawsuit. . . . The Aug. 19 decision in C.F. v. Capistrano Unified School District involves a suit brought on behalf of a student who was a sophomore at Capistrano Valley High School in 2007 when he began the Advanced Placement European History course taught by James Corbett.
Catholic Charities loses ruling on foster care Judge rules state is not obligated to renew agencies' contracts
08-19-11 -- A Sangamon County judge ruled Thursday that the state can decline to renew its contracts with Catholic Charities in Illinois to provide publicly funded foster care and adoption services, meaning the process of transferring children to other social service agencies can proceed. . . . In a packed courtroom just one day earlier, lawyers for Catholic Charities urged Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Schmidt to prevent the state from suddenly severing a partnership that has funded foster care and adoption services in Illinois for four decades. . . . But Schmidt wrote in his ruling released Thursday that the longevity of the relationship between the state and Catholic Charities in Joliet, Peoria, Springfield and Belleville did not entitle them to automatic renewal of their contracts. . . . "No citizen has a recognized legal right to a contract with the government," Schmidt wrote. . . . Since March, state officials have been investigating whether religious agencies that receive public funds to license foster care parents are breaking anti-discrimination laws if they turn away openly gay parents.
Judge Crushes Inmate's Dreams Of Daily Matzoh, Weekly Juice
08-12-11 -- Prisoners do not have a constitutional right to daily matzoh and weekly grape juice, a federal judge has ruled. Even if they ask really nicely! The decision from U.S. Southern District Judge Shira Scheindlin came in response to a suit brought forth by a man named Christopher Henry, who is serving time on Rikers for first-degree sodomy. . . . Henry claims that he has suffered "permanent trauma" and malnourishment due to what he called a violation of his First Amendment rights. And he was really hoping the government would pony up $9,999,000,000 in damages. Henry felt that he was entitled to matzoh daily (not just during Passover) and that he should get grape juice on Friday nights in addition to the Kosher meals he already receives.
Judge rules Little Rock bus line wrong to deny atheist ads
08-11-11 -- A federal judge ruled on Thursday that the free speech of a coalition of atheists had been violated when Little Rock's public bus line denied them the right to place $5,000 worth of ads on city buses. . . . Judge Susan Webber Wright ruled that the Central Arkansas Transit Authority and its advertising agency should not have denied the group the right to place the ads on 18 publicly-funded city buses during Memorial Day weekend. . . . Washington-based United Coalition of Reason filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Arkansas group in June after the transit authority and its advertising agency rejected an ad that would have read, "Are you good without God? Millions are." . . . "This was a victory for all of us whether you believe in God or not, because it's a victory of free speech," United Coalition of Reason's attorney J.G. Schultz told Reuters.
Religious clubs not entitled to funds, court says
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a state university's refusal to provide funding and other campus benefits to student groups that exclude members of other religions, rejecting arguments that the policy stifles freedom of speech. . . . The ruling, involving a Christian sorority and fraternity at San Diego State, addressed an issue that the U.S. Supreme Court had left unsettled in a San Francisco case last year: whether campus religious groups are entitled to be treated the same as secular groups whose members share a common viewpoint. July 2011
Atheist group fights steel cross at 9/11 museum
07-27-11 -- A national atheist organization has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to order the removal of the cross that is on display at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York. . . . The cross is made of steel girders that were pulled, in that shape, from the ruins of the World Trade Center days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. American Atheists Inc. insists that the cross, a religious symbol that has been blessed by a priest, violates their rights under the state and federal constitutions, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in Supreme Court in Manhattan. . . . Spokespersons for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, both defendants in the case, declined to comment. A spokesperson for the city's Law Department declined comment until they have an opportunity to review the complaint. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the museum are also named as defendants.
Town Clerk Quits, Says Bible Prohibits Gay Marriage
07-13-11 -- New York town clerk Laura Fotusky has resigned from her position, saying that she cannot sign a document supporting same-sex marriage due to personal religious convictions. . . . Fotusky has stated that she will step down on July 21, which is three days prior to when the first gay marriage licenses will be distributed in New York State. . . . In her resignation letter, which was distributed to the media by a conservative Christian non-profit group called the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, Fotusky expresses her discomfort in indulging in a practice that she feels the Bible vehemently objects. . . . Fotusky writes, “The Bible clearly teaches that God created marriage between male and female as a divine gift that preserves families and cultures. Since I love and follow Him, I cannot put my signature on something that is against God.”
Judge upholds Lancaster's policy on prayer before meetings
07-12-11 -- Lancaster officials have the right to pray to Jesus before council meetings, a U.S. district judge ruled this week. . . . According to information released by the city Tuesday, the judgment allows Lancaster to continue its invocation policy, which has been in place since August 2009. . . . Plaintiffs Shelley Rubin and Maureen I. Feller had specifically challenged the prayer that opened an April 2010 council meeting in which reference was made to Jesus Christ. But U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer sided with the city. . . . “Lancaster takes immense pride in winning this case and defending the fundamental right to pray, not only for our citizens, but indeed for all people across this nation,” Mayor R. Rex Parris said in a statement. . . . Lancaster’s invocation policy calls for randomly selecting clergy from different faiths to deliver the invocation at council meetings, without restricting the content based on their beliefs.
Judge bashes 'Bash Back' with promise of $10,000 fines Orders anarchists, homosexuals never to disrupt church 'anywhere in the U.S.'
07-12-11 -- A violent squad of anarchists and homosexuals who, under the name of Bash Back! Lansing, disrupted a church worship service by flinging condoms and propaganda around the sanctuary and draping a profane banner from a balcony are being warned they, too, will be "bashed" if they disrupt another church service in the U.S. . . . "It is … ordered that, by consent of the parties, Defendants Anton Bollen; Wendie Renae Debnar; Spencer Dilday; Amy 'Andy' Michelle Field; Melissa Kim; Samuel D. Kreuger; Ryan Levitt; Cailin Elizabeth Major; Devin Scott Merget; Kelsey Myking; Allison 'Ryan' Margaret Pennings; and Michele 'Tyler' Nicole Troutman shall pay Mount Hope total damages of $2,500 within 90 days of the court's entry of this consent order," wrote U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell in his decision yesterday. . . . "If any defendant named in this order is found to have violated this consent order, he or she shall be subject to a fine of $10,000 and reasonable attorneys fees and costs associated with enforcement of this order." . . . The court order – and another one citing " Bash Back!" and "Bash Back! Lansing," which failed to respond to court orders requiring contact information – came in a lawsuit brought by the Alliance Defense Fund against the radicals over an attack on Mount Hope Church in Michigan's Delta Township in 2009.
June 2011
Medina Valley graduates hear prayers aplenty Repeated 'amens' draw applause.
06-04-11 -- After a contentious week that involved two conflicting federal court rulings and heated rhetoric from Texas' governor and attorney general, Medina Valley High School's seniors graduated Saturday. And did so with plenty of prayer. . . . Despite a disclaimer at the beginning of the ceremony by the school district's superintendent that the students' and speakers' views were their own, the gathering at times resembled a revival as much as a small town graduation. . . . “The judge of all judges commands us to pray,” state Rep. John V. Garza, R-San Antonio, said during his remarks to the crowd, adding that his own daughter invoked God while graduating last year. “I still cringe thinking some left group would complain or file a lawsuit ... I thank God that all is well this evening and none of us will be thrown in jail.” . . . Applause erupted from the school's packed football stadium with each “amen” — more so than during speakers' frequent references to school spirit and claims of Medina Valley's superiority over other schools.
6th Circuit Reinstates Tennessee Inmate’s Religious Freedom Claim
06-03-11 -- A federal appeals court has resurrected a Tennessee inmate's claim that he should be allowed to receive hate-filled white supremacist material in prison because it is part of his religion. . . . The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) Wednesday that the inmate's claim had been improperly dismissed by a lower court judge because neither the judge nor the state of Tennessee had addressed whether barring the prisoner from receiving such material violated a federal law strengthening inmates' religious freedoms, according to the Associated Press. . . . The appeals court also said the state had not properly explained why it has a compelling interest in prohibiting this particular inmate from receiving such material while apparently allowing other inmates to have it.
New York public schools may bar after hours religion: court
06-02-11 -- A U.S. appeals court on Thursday ruled that New York public schools could legally bar religious groups from using their facilities after hours for worship services. . . . The split ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York vacated a lower court's injunction which had prevented New York City's Board of Education from enforcing its rule against religious worship in its schools. . . . A city official in 2009 estimated that approximately 60 congregations had been permitted -- under the injunction -- to use school facilities after hours. It was not immediately clear how fast the appeals court decision would take effect. . . . "The conduct of a 'religious worship service' has the effect of placing centrally, and perhaps even of establishing, the religion in the school," circuit judges Guido Calabresi and Pierre Leval said, with Judge John Walker dissenting. . . . The school board's "prohibition of 'religious worship services' does not constitute viewpoint discrimination, it is a content-based exclusion, which passes constitutional muster so long as the exclusion is reasonable in light of the purposes of the forum," the two judges said.
Appeals panel overturns Medina Valley graduation prayer ban
06-04-11 -- A federal appeals panel ruled Friday that a judge here was wrong to bar public prayers from today's graduation ceremony at Medina Valley High School. . . . All week, the furor over the issue had attracted activists and political players who criticized the decision and supported valedictorian Angela Hildenbrand, who wants to pray during her commencement speech. . . . The AGAPE Movement, a Christian group based in Wichita Falls, announced Friday it would make buses available to transport people to the school in Castroville for a “peaceful disagreement” with this week's ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of San Antonio. . . . Hildenbrand said she was pleased and “so blessed that God has provided me with the opportunity to be a part of this case, and to be able to share with all my heart tomorrow night. ... Everything can go on as planned Saturday, and I'm free to pray as I feel appropriate.” Federal Judge Prohibits Prayer at Texas Graduation Ceremony
06-02-11 -- A federal judge has ordered a Texas school district to prohibit public prayer at a high school graduation ceremony. . . . Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s order against the Medina Valley Independent School District also forbids students from using specific religious words including “prayer” and “amen.” . . . The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Christa and Danny Schultz. Their son is among those scheduled to participate in Saturday’s graduation ceremony. The judge declared that the Schultz family and their son would “suffer irreparable harm” if anyone prayed at the ceremony. . . . Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the school district is in the process of appealing the ruling, and his office has agreed to file a brief in their support. May 2011
Prayers removed from Texas public school graduation
05-31-11 -- A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that a high school graduation in a San Antonio suburb may not include an opening and closing prayer or the words "invocation" or "benediction." . . . District Judge Fred Biery ruled that using those words would make it sound like Castroville's Medina Valley High School is "sponsoring a religion." . . . "We think that the district has been flouting the law for decades," said Ayesha Kahn, an attorney for Americans United for Church and State, which filed the lawsuit. "We're glad that the court is going to put an end to it."
Judge blocks VA from barring 'Jesus Christ' from Memorial Day prayer
05-27-11 -- A federal judge in Texas has told the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs that it cannot censor a pastor's invocation at a Memorial Day ceremony. . . . The VA had ordered the Rev. Scott Rainey to remove a phrase using Jesus Christ from the prayer, arguing the line excluded other beliefs held by veterans, KHOU-TV in Houston reported. . . . On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes disagreed, writing the government cannot "gag citizens when it says it is in the interest of national security, and it cannot do it in some bureaucrat's notion of cultural homogeneity," according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. . . . The debate centered over the close of the prayer, which read: "While respecting people of every faith today, it is in the name of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, that I pray. Amen."
Ethics Complaint Accuses Florida Judge of Too Many Smoking Breaks, Religious Bias
05-12-11 -- A Florida judge has been accused in an ethics complaint of being late to court, taking too many smoking breaks, and showing religious bias. . . . Judge William "Jack" Singbush of Marion County faces formal charges filed Wednesday by the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, according to the Orlando Sentinel and Ocala.com. . . . Singbush is accused of making litigants and lawyers wait because he is “habitually late” to court and takes long and numerous smoking breaks, according to the notice of charges posted by Ocala.com. When hearings can’t be completed in the allotted time, Singbush offers to resume the proceedings at inconvenient times such as Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. or Saturday morning, the complaint alleges.
Lawyer: Judge refuses to allow man to wear religious headcovering
05-06-11 -- A DeKalb County man says not being allowed to wear his religious headcovering in a courtroom violates his Constitutional rights. . . . Troy "Tariq" Montgomery, 46, is Muslim and wore a kufi, a tight-fitting cap, on his head when he went to court Thursday morning to defend a speeding charge, his attorney Mawuli "Mel" Davis, told the AJC. . . . But for the third time, Henry County State Court Judge James Chafin refused to allow Montgomery to enter the courtroom, Davis said. He was not allowed to enter the courtroom on two previous court dates. Davis said he tried to explain to Chafin on Thursday why Montgomery wears the kufi. . . . "It is a symbol of humility," Davis said. "He also wears his pants above his ankles. This is what he wears all the time."
April 2011
Legal challenge to National Day of Prayer thrown out A federal judge last year had struck down as unconstitutional the National Day of Prayer. But on Thursday, a US appeals court ruled that the people who had brought the case lacked legal standing.
04-14-11 -- A US appeals court on Thursday overturned a decision by a federal judge in Wisconsin last year that struck down as unconstitutional the National Day of Prayer. . . . Although that ruling had been stayed pending the appeal, the appeals-court decision clears the way for President Obama to issue a new proclamation, declaring May 5 as this year’s National Day of Prayer. . . . The three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago did not examine the district judge’s legal conclusion that Mr. Obama’s proclamation of a National Day of Prayer and the statute authorizing that action violated the First Amendment’s prohibition on the establishment of a state-sponsored religion.
School Committee Lawyers Call ACLU Suit an Attempt to 'Erase History' The Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty issued a press release that blasted the ALCU suit against a prayer banner at Cranston West as a "misguided attempt to erase history." shortly after an ACLU press conference on Monday.
04-05-11 -- Lawyers for the Cranston School Committee said the lawsuit filed by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union yesterday against a prayer banner at Cranston West is a “misguided attempt to erase history.” . . . In a release issued by the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, which is giving the Cranston School Committee free legal representation, the committee said the student-designed mural “has existed in Cranston High School West's auditorium for almost 50 years” and the lawsuit is a misguided attempt to “rid public buildings of historic references to religion.” . . . School Committee member Frank Lombardi said “we don't want to erase our schools' history because one person in the history of the school objects.” . . . The banner is one of 21 different student works of art in the auditorium, the release stated. Graduating classes are given the chance to contribute art and the banner that has become tangled in a civil rights issue was contributed by Cranston High School West’s first graduating class.
March 2011
On Law and the Hajj: A Battle in Illinois Stirs Controversy
03-25-11 -- A question: How far must employers go to accommodate workers’ religious practices? . . . A recent lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice is casting the question into sharp relief. . . . The facts, according to this recent story in the Washington Post, are interesting. A Muslim middle school teacher in a small Chicago suburb had been on the job for only nine months when she requested three weeks off so she could travel to Mecca for a pilgrimage. . . . The school district, “faced with losing its only math lab instructor during the end-of-semester marking period,” denied the request. The woman, Safoorah Khan, resigned and went anyway. . . . The next chapter in the story is intriguing. After Khan filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Justice Department filed suit on her behalf, claiming that the school district’s decision amounted to discrimination. The suit alleged the district violated her civil rights. Click here for the complaint, filed back in December in Chicago federal court.
Judge Orders Use of Sharia Law in Fla. Lawsuit
03-23-11 -- A judge in Florida has announced he will use Islamic law to decide a case. . . . The case is between a Tampa Bay mosque and several men who say they were wrongfully fired as trustees of the mosque. . . . The St. Petersburg Times reported the men got an Islamic scholar to rule in their favor, and they want Florida's courts to uphold that ruling. The case could decide who controls $2.2 million the mosque received from the state after some of its land was used in a road project. . . . Hillsborough Circuit Judge Richard Nielsen has agreed to see if leaders of the Islamic Education Center of Tampa correctly followed the teachings of the Koran in their decision. Gaffney Lambastes Florida Judge as 'Unfit' for Decision to Follow Shariah
03-22-11 -- Frank J. Gaffney Jr., president of the Center for Security Policy, castigated a Florida judge as unfit to serve for his decision to follow Islamic law instead of state or federal statutes in a case against a Tampa mosque that ultimately could decide who controls $2.2 million in state money. . . . Hillsborough Circuit Judge Richard Nielsen said he will decide in a lawsuit against the Islamic Education Center of Tampa, “whether the parties in the litigation properly followed the teachings of the Koran in obtaining an arbitration decision from an Islamic scholar," according to tampabay.com. . . . "This case will proceed under Ecclesiastical Islamic Law," the judge wrote in his March 3 ruling. . . . Gaffney bristled at the ruling in a comment to Newsmax Tuesday, saying, “Any judge who would apply shariah in an American courtroom — especially against the express wishes of Muslims seeking due process under laws promulgated pursuant to the U.S. Constitution — is certainly ignorant of the true, unconstitutional character of ‘Islamic ecclesiastical law.’
Justice Department sues on behalf of Muslim teacher, triggering debate
03-22-11 -- Safoorah Khan had taught middle school math for only nine months in this tiny Chicago suburb when she made an unusual request. She wanted three weeks off for a pilgrimage to Mecca. . . . The school district, faced with losing its only math lab instructor during the critical end-of-semester marking period, said no. Khan, a devout Muslim, resigned and made the trip anyway. . . . Justice Department lawyers examined the same set of facts and reached a different conclusion: that the school district’s decision amounted to outright discrimination against Khan. They filed an unusual lawsuit, accusing the district of violating her civil rights by forcing her to choose between her job and her faith. . . . As the case moves forward in federal court in Chicago, it has triggered debate over whether the Justice Department was following a purely legal path or whether suing on Khan’s behalf was part of a broader Obama administration campaign to reach out to Muslims.
Justices claim religion no part of ruling on Christian teaching Affirm decision ordering child into public school because of 'vigorous' defense of faith
03-17-11 -- The New Hampshire Supreme Court today affirmed a decision ordering a young girl into a public school system because her "vigorous defense of her religious beliefs to [her] counselor suggests strongly that she has not had the opportunity to seriously consider any other point of view," but the justices denied their ruling had anything to do with religion. . . . "While the case has religious overtones, it is not about religion," claimed the opinion authored by Associate Justice Robert Lynn and joined by Chief Justice Linda Dalianis and Associate Justices James Duggan, Gary Hicks and Carol Conboy. . . . "We affirm the [lower court's] decision on the narrow basis that it represents a sustainable exercise of the trial court's discretion to determine the educational placement that is in daughter's best interests," the justices wrote. . . . Lawyers with the Alliance Defense Fund, who had argued in the case that the clear religious bias against Christianity expressed by a guardian ad litem and adopted by the court was reason to reverse the decision, said the justices ignored the evidence.
California sued over requiring Sikh inmate to cut beard
03-16-11 -- The U.S. Justice Department is suing the state of California and Gov. Jerry Brown because prison authorities required a Sikh prison inmate to cut his beard. . . . The lawsuit was filed Tuesday on behalf of Sukhjinder Basra, an inmate at prison in San Luis Obispo in central California. . . . It said that the requirement violated the man's right "to practice his religion" under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLIUPA). . . . In the Sikh religion, which originated in northwestern India, unshorn hair is an article of faith. Kozinski’s ‘Ornery’ Panel Dissent Carries the Day in En Banc Headscarf Ruling
03-16-11 -- A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit by a Muslim woman forced to remove her scarf in a courthouse holding cell in California. . . . The en banc 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco said the federal law protecting prisoners’ religious rights also applies to courthouse detentions, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Orange County Register and the Recorder. The ruling (PDF) allows Souhair Khatib to continue her suit, but she still could lose if the government persuades the courts it was acting in the least restrictive way to carry out a compelling security need.
Court Won't Hear Challenge to 'In God We Trust' Associated Press, Newsmax 03-07-11 -- The Supreme Court won't hesr an atheist's latest challenge to the U.S. government's references to God. . . . The court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from Michael Newdow, who says government references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs. . . . This appeal dealt with the inscription of the national motto "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins and currency. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco says the phrase is ceremonial and patriotic and "has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion." . . . The case is Newdow v. Lefevre, 10-893. February 2011
Kansas Ethics Committee Targets Pro-Life Lawyer
02-25-11 -- Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline — the only prosecutor in the U.S. who has ever brought charges against Planned Parenthood—is in the midst of a two-week hearing before the state ethics panel in Topeka. . . . Disciplinary Administrator Stanton Hazlett is looking to remove Kline’s law license, claiming he mishandled evidence against the nation’s largest abortion seller. . . . “This week’s hearing amounts to the tormenting of a man for doing his job,” columnist Kathryn Jean Lopez wrote at NationalReview.com. “And, God help him, for doing it while daring to believe that … the whole culture of death is a corrosive evil.” American Bar Association Executive Council Vows to Fight Anti-Sharia Law Measures
02-24-11 -- The executive council of the American Bar Association (ABA) is organizing an effort to actively oppose states that ban Sharia law. . . . Included in the text of the ABA’s “International Policies 2010” is a section which organizes a “task force” to review anti-Sharia legislation that has been introduced in 14 states – Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. . . . The report reads: “The goal of the task force is to have a Report and Recommendation against such legislation as well as an informal set of "talking points" that local opponents of these initiatives could use to make their case in each of these states.” . . . However, in a statement released on Wednesday, the ABA attempted to distance itself from the executive council’s statement.
Woman Who Got Weekly Calls from Work During Her FMLA Leave Can Make Her Case in Court
02-23-11 -- Employers who pressure sick employees into returning to work early may face legal trouble. . . . In Arkansas, a legal dispute between a hospital and a former staff member is clarifying the line between asking about ill employees and pestering them to return to work, the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog says. . . . A U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas opinion dismissed Howard Memorial Hospital's motion for summary judgment and concluded that a jury should be presented with the Family and Medical Leave Act interference claim made by a hospital employee who said she felt pressured to return to work during her medical leave.
Ten Commandments in school stirs fight in Va. district
02-18-11 -- Nearly 12 years ago, in the aftermath of the shootings at Columbine High School, officials quietly posted the Ten Commandments on the walls of Giles County public schools. It was a natural reaction, said residents of this rural county peppered with churches, to such an alarming moral breakdown. . . . There the commandments stayed, within nondescript frames that also featured the first page of the U.S. Constitution, stirring little controversy until December. That's when an anonymous complaint prompted the superintendent to order the removal of the displays. The decision sparked such passionate community backlash that the county school board voted to post them again in January.
City's hate of religion taken to Supreme Court Official condemnation challenged as 'hostile' to Catholic teachings
02-16-11 -- A city's official condemnation of Roman Catholic Church teachings as "discriminatory," "insulting," "callous" and "defamatory" is being taken to the U.S. Supreme Court because of the Constitution's requirement that government not be "hostile" to faith. . . . The case stems from a 2006 non-binding resolution from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors that called the Catholic Church's teachings "an insult to all San Franciscans" and accused the Vatican of being a "foreign country" that "meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great city's existing and established customs and traditions." / 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling Catholic League v. San Francisco / At the 9th Circuit, Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote, "The 'message' in the resolution, unlike, say, the message that might be inferred from some symbolic display, is explicit: a Catholic doctrine duly communicated by the part of the Catholic church in charge of clarifying doctrine is 'hateful,' 'defamatory,' 'insulting,' 'callous,' and 'discriminatory,' showing 'insensitivity and ignorance,' the Catholic church is a hateful foreign meddler in San Francisco's affairs, the Catholic church ought to 'withdraw' its religious directive, and the local archbishop should defy his superior's directive. This is indeed a 'message of ... disapproval.' And that is all it takes for it to be unconstitutional." / "The Gay Agenda: It's Dividing the Family, the Church, and a Nation" / The case is being fought by the Thomas More Law Center, which is arguing that the Supreme Court should take this opportunity "to secure and maintain uniformity of decisions on an important issue of federal law." . . . "The crux of the problem is that this court's Establishment Clause jurisprudence ... tends to be hostile toward religion," the petition to the court said. Thomas More Law Centers Petition of the U.S. Supreme Court pdf
Adding cold insult to injustice
02-14-11 -- I have never met Linda Gibbons. I’m not sure I’d want to. After all, this 63-year-old grandmother must be a very dangerous person: She has spent almost all of the last 20 years locked up in jail. . . . Linda Gibbons’ story began in 1994, when the NDP formed the Ontario government and then-attorney-general Marion Boyd obtained a Court injunction to prevent anyone from offering up a public protest within a 60-foot “bubble zone” around abortion clinics. The merchants of death must not be impeded as they make their appointed rounds. . . . Linda Gibbons considers that abortion is tantamount to murder. You do not have to share her view to recognize the moral imperative it creates. So Linda Gibbons stands on the sidewalk outside abortion clinics and prays silently. Sometimes she goes further; sometimes she goes so far as to hold up a sign that says: “Why, Mom, when I have so much love to give?” Free speech in Canada is not so robust as to withstand her conduct, so Gibbons is immediately arrested. As a result, she has become Canada’s most obdurate prisoner of conscience, spending more time behind bars than most convicted robbers or rapists. . . . Gibbons is an exceptional criminal in several ways. Often she goes to court without a lawyer. She says nothing in her own defence. She refuses to acknowledge the jurisdiction of a court to prevent her from praying. She accepts without recrimination what, by any standard of natural law, are unjust verdicts. She makes few criticisms of her treatment in jail. She seeks no early release. . . . Now I do not go so far as to suggest that she is a model prisoner. Admittedly, Gibbons was a pain when she asked to have a Bible in her cell. And she sometimes leads her cellmates in prayer. In the past, prison guards have noted how jailhouse language markedly improves in Linda’s presence. Such, I suppose, is the nefarious control that one criminal mind is capable of exerting over other inmates.
Fight Continues Over State Grant for Cross
02-09-11 -- A federal judge refused to reverse his recommendation that an atheist's lawsuit challenging a $20,000 state grant to fix up an 11-story Christian cross be thrown out. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Bernthal says the Illinois Economic Development Agency has discretion in how it awards grants. . . . Outspoken atheist Rob Sherman, who is also fighting the state's moment of silence in schools law, claimed the $20,000 grant violates the First Amendment's separation of church and state. . . . "This court agrees with defendants that the grant bestowed to Friends of the Cross was made by the executive branch, and not the legislative branch," Bernthal wrote in his original recommendation on Dec. 10. . . . "On the face of plaintiff's complaint, the Illinois General Assembly made a large appropriation for grants to the department, and the department had discretion in distributing those funds. A general appropriation that leaves discretion to the department is not an express congressional mandate or a specific congressional appropriation."
January 2011
VFW sues Obama administration over Mojave cross 'The way our government has treated veterans in this case is a disgrace'
U.S. court says Christian cross is unconstitutional Ninth Circuit ignores Supreme precedent in Mojave case
01-04-11 --- A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has decided a memorial cross on federal land on Mt. Soledad, Calif., violates the U.S. Constitution. . . . In a 3-0 ruling in the Jewish War Veterans v. City of San Diego case, the panel decided that the 29-foot concrete cross, which has stood for 57 years, constitutes a government endorsement of religion and therefore violates the First Amendment's establishment clause. . . . "The question, then, is whether the entirety of the Mount Soledad Memorial, when understood against the background of its particular history and setting, projects a government endorsement of Christianity. We conclude it does," wrote Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown, a Clinton appointee. . . . "The decision represents a judicial slap in the face to the countless military veterans honored by this memorial," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of 25 members of Congress. "This flawed decision not only strikes at the heart of honoring our military veterans, it reaches a faulty conclusion that this iconic memorial – part of the historic landscape of San Diego – is unconstitutional. We believe the appeals court got this decision wrong and we look forward to the case going to the Supreme Court where we're confident this decision will be overturned."
November 2010 Bashing religion just in time for Christmas
11-30-10 -- Aggressive atheism is rearing its anti-religious head again this pre-Christmas season. And this time it's more combative and belligerent than ever. This year we'll see the gospel of unbelief spread far and wide on billboards, in newspapers and magazines, and even on television. . . . The most expensive campaign is being launched by the American Humanist Association. Last year, the AHA was responsible for ads exhorting people to "Be Good For Goodness' Sake." This year, its advertising is much more pointed, and unapologetically negative. By its own description, the "Consider Humanism" campaign is intended to hit harder. "This year, we're going further in our attempt to challenge the intolerant view that atheist and agnostic humanists can't be good without Bible-derived morality. We're taking a hard look at what is included in religious texts,” according to the website devoted to the ad campaign. Scheduled to run in major newspapers such as USA Today, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the AHA's ads will be made up of two parts. One will be a quote from the Bible or the Quran and will be marked with the words, "What some believe." The other part, identified as "What humanists think," will contain a quote from what the AHA calls "humanist documents."
Judge slams state's anti-Shariah amendment Grants permanent injunction expecting courts to overturn voter will
11-29-10 -- Oklahoma's "Save Our State Amendment," which bans state courts from considering Islamic, or Shariah, law when deciding cases, hit a major roadblock today, when a federal judge granted a permanent injunction against the measure. . . . Chief Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma blocked the state from certifying the amendment – approved by 70 percent of Oklahoma voters through a ballot initiative known as State Question 755 – until an final determination is made on a lawsuit brought against it by the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. . . . Miles-LaGrange not only granted the injunction on grounds the lawsuit was likely to succeed, but also delivered harsh criticism of the amendment itself. . . . "Throughout the course of our country's history, the will of the 'majority' has on occasion conflicted with the constitutional rights of individuals," Miles-LaGrange writes in her decision. "Having carefully reviewed the briefs on this issue … the Court finds that [CAIR] has shown that he will suffer an injury in fact, specifically, an invasion of his First Amendment rights."
Under the U.S. Supreme Court:
11-28-10 -- The nation's 50 governors got an unexpected Christmas present this month -- Nativity scenes for each of them, sent by the Catholic League in New York, for display in each state capitol building. . . . In a letter accompanying the small creches, Catholic League President Bill Donohue said it was the group's "sincere hope that (the creche) will be displayed in the Capitol Rotunda alongside secular symbols (e.g., a Christmas tree) this coming Christmas season." . . . There was no constitutional problem, Donohue said, with the religious display on public property. . . . "We are paying for it because we believe it would be inappropriate to use public monies to pay for religious symbols," he said in the letter. "But we also believe, consistent with (U.S.) Supreme Court rulings, that there is no constitutional prohibition banning privately funded creches from being displayed alongside secular symbols."
Judge extends ban on Oklahoma's anti-Islamic law
11-22-10 -- A federal judge in Oklahoma on Monday extended a temporary ban on the state's new constitutional amendment that prohibits state courts from recognizing Islamic law. . . . U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange said she would take another seven days to consider a permanent injunction blocking the constitutional amendment, which was approved by voters on Nov 2. . . . The ballot initiative, approved by 70 percent of voters, banned the use of Sharia, which Muslims generally consider sacred Islamic law, in Oklahoma courts. . . . Defenders of the law have said they want to prevent Islamic law from superceding state and federal laws. But opponents said thsupersedinge amendment is discriminatory. . . . "Hopefully she will issue something more permanent," said Muneer Awad, the executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who filed the lawsuit challenging the amendment.
Judge rules Tennessee mosque may be built
11-18-10 -- A judge ruled a Muslim group may build a mosque and Islamic center near Nashville, despite local protests Islam is not a bona fide religion. . . . "Islam is in fact a religion," Chancellor Robert Corlew III said in denying opponents an emergency injunction blocking the Murfreesboro, Tenn., project's construction. . . . Corlew said opponents of the new Islamic Center of Murfreesboro failed to prove county officials violated any laws or illegally approved the center's site plan. . . . The Muslim congregation of about 1,000 that wants the new center argued it had outgrown the 2,250-square-foot building it has occupied for nearly 30 years.
'Under God' vindicated in attack on Pledge Court: Constitution 'does not require complete separation of church and state'
11-15-10 -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has upheld the constitutionality of public school children reciting "under God" in Pledge of Allegiance, rebuffing a prominent atheist group's attempt to stop the practice. . . . The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit in 2007 on behalf of two New Hampshire parents and their three children, challenging the state's School Patriot Act, which requires that public schools authorize a time for students to voluntarily participate in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. The lawsuit alleged that the statute violates the Constitution's Establishment Clause, as well as the First Amendment's guarantee of free exercise of religion. . . . In its unanimous decision, however, the court's three-judge panel ruled, "That the phrase 'under God' has some religious content … is not determinative of the New Hampshire Act's constitutionality. This is in part because the Constitution does not 'require complete separation of church and state.'
Lawyer ordered to pay damages to Jews for Jesus Rabbi/attorney plans to appeal, denies anti-Christian bias
-13-10 -- A Florida judge has ordered lawyer Barry Silver to pay $45,273.90 in attorney's fees to the attorneys representing Jews for Jesus in a suit filed by Silver. . . . The fees are intended to compensate Jews for Jesus for legal expenses incurred after Silver repeatedly refiled virtually identical suits against the organization when the initial suit had been dismissed for lack of merit. . . . The suit accuses Jews for Jesus of placing Silver's client, Edith Rapp, in a "false light" by claiming untruthfully that Rapp had accepted the doctrinal teachings of Christianity, subjecting her to ridicule in her synagogue. Rapp's stepson, Bruce, a member of Jews for Jesus, announced his stepmother's conversion in a Jews for Jesus newsletter. . . . In his October 29 order, Palm Beach County circuit court judge Edward Fine declared that attorney Barry Silver was "engaging in bad faith litigation conduct." . . . Silver told WND he plans to appeal the penalty, on the grounds that the Florida Supreme Court has ruled that his factual allegations do have merit, and he has filed another amended version of the case before the Florida courts. The case could have profound legal implications for First Amendment freedoms of speech and religion.
Judge Blocks School From Banning Religious Flyers
11-02-10 -- An elementary school can't bar a student from handing out invitations to church events at school, a federal judge in Detroit ruled, because "such a blanket prohibition upon a student's distribution of materials on the basis of religious viewpoint is not constitutionally permissible." . . . Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen sided with second-grade student J.S. and his mother, who argued that the Holly Area School District's ban of religious materials violated their First Amendment rights. . . . J.S. brought 25 invitations to a Cornerstone Church summer camp to Patterson Elementary School and began placing them in cubbyholes for his classmates. His teacher stopped him, allegedly explaining that "anything that comes from a church cannot be distributed at all in school." . . . The student's mother, Katharine Smith, contacted school officials, who reiterated that children and adults were not allowed to distribute religious materials at school.
October 2010
Muslim Truck Driver Sues After Being Fired for Refusing to Transport Alcohol
10-25-10 -- I thought we'd jump right into the week with an interesting Constitutional discussion. . . . The discussion centers around a complaint filed 10 days ago in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by a man who says he was fired -- or, more accurately, forced to resign -- from his job as a truck driver for refusing to transport alcohol, in this case, Miller Lite. The plaintiff, Vasant Reddy, is a Muslim, and says that delivering cigarettes and booze violates his religious convictions. . . . The complaint is pretty bare bones, and the Philadelphia Inquirer captures the essence of it here. As does Eugene Volokh, at the Volokh Conspiracy, where, as usual, the debate is ramping up in the comments. Volokh runs through the 2 prongs of the "religious accommodation" test under Title VII and grants Reddy the benefit of the doubt as to the fact that his refusal was based on a "sincerely held religious belief." The remaining question: whether accommodating that belief imposes an undue hardship on the employer. September 2010
Inland veterans want say in Mojave Cross case
09-21-10 -- Lawyers for a California veterans group filed a motion Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court seeking to include them in the long-running dispute over a cross in San Bernardino County's High Desert that has stood for decades as a war memorial. . . . The Mojave Cross has been the subject of a national debate over whether the religious symbol should be allowed on public land. It was originally erected in 1934 in the Mojave National Preserve near Baker. . . . The American Civil Liberties Union is heading up the case against the cross, saying it violates the constitutional provision barring the government from endorsing any religion. Proponents of the cross say the memorial is meant not as a religious symbol, but was erected by a group of veterans who wanted to honor their fallen brethren.
Dropped: Ban on 'gang-related' rosary But lawsuit continues after officials 'retaliated' against student 09-03-10 -- A policy at Oneida Middle School in Schenectady, N.Y., that banned a student's rosary under the category of "gang-related beads" has been dropped, but the civil rights lawsuit filed over the ban is continuing because school officials allegedly retaliated against the student for raising the complaint. . . . According to the American Center for Law and Justice, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of student Raymond Hosier, the school district has eliminated its discriminatory policy. . . . "This policy change represents a critical victory for religious freedom as well as our client and all students in the school district," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ. "It's clear that our lawsuit resulted in an important change of school policy. It's our view that this discriminatory policy violated our client's constitutionally protected rights of free speech and free exercise of religion." August 2010 NEW YORK Judge OKs Prayers by N.Y. Town Council
08-09-10 -- A federal judge has ruled that a town board in upstate New York isn't doing anything unconstitutional by opening its meetings with a brief prayer. . . . The judge signed an order Thursday tossing out a lawsuit filed by two residents of the town of Greece who had complained that prayers held at the start of town council meetings favored Christians and violated the separation of church and state.
Advocates of Anti-Shariah Measures Alarmed by Judge's Ruling
08-05-10 -- A New Jersey family court judge's decision not to grant a restraining order to a woman who was sexually abused by her Moroccan husband and forced repeatedly to have sex with him is sounding the alarm for advocates of laws designed to ban Shariah in America. . . . Judge Joseph Charles, in denying the restraining order to the woman after her divorce, ruled that her ex-husband felt he had behaved according to his Muslim beliefs -- and that he did not have "criminal desire to or intent to sexually assault" his wife. . . . According to the court record, the man's wife -- a Moroccan woman who had recently immigrated to the U.S. at the time of the attacks -- alleged: . . . "Defendant forced plaintiff to have sex with him while she cried. Plaintiff testified that defendant always told her "this is according to our religion. You are my wife, I c[an] do anything to you. The woman, she should submit and do anything I ask her to do." July 2010
Court Upholds Expulsion of Counseling Student Who Opposes Homosexuality
07-28-10 -- A federal judge has ruled in favor of a public university that removed a Christian student from its graduate program in school counseling over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong. Monday's ruling, according to Julea Ward's attorneys, could result in Christian students across the country being expelled from public university for similar views. . . . “It’s a very dangerous precedent,” Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, told FOX News Radio. “The ruling doesn’t say that explicitly, but that’s what is going to happen.” . . . U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh dismissed Ward’s lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University. She was removed from the school’s counseling program last year because she refused to counsel homosexual clients. . . . The university contended she violated school policy and the American Counseling Association code of ethics.
Lawsuit Claims College Ordered Student to Alter Religious Views on Homosexuality, Or Be Dismissed
07-27-10 -- A graduate student in Georgia is suing her university after she was told she must undergo a remediation program due to her beliefs on homosexuality and transgendered persons. . . . The student, Jennifer Keeton, 24, has been pursuing a master's degree in school counseling at Augusta State University since 2009, but school officials have informed her that she'll be dismissed from the program unless she alters her "central religious beliefs on human nature and conduct," according to a civil complaint filed last week. . . . "[Augusta State University] faculty have promised to expel Miss Keeton from the graduate Counselor Education Program not because of poor academic showing or demonstrated deficiencies in clinical performance, but simply because she has communicated both inside and outside the classroom that she holds to Christian ethical convictions on matters of human sexuality and gender identity," the 43-page lawsuit reads.
07-08-10 -- Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law, a religious liberties legal organization in Montgomery, Alabama, filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit today defending the federal statute creating the National Day of Prayer, 36 U.S.C. § 119. The Foundation argued that the Wisconsin federal district court that struck down the statute, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation that brought this lawsuit, are wrong in considering the National Day of Prayer to be a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which requires that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Such days of national prayer are not an establishment of religion, they have been officially declared since the time of our first congresses and presidents, and they represent an American philosophy of government that depends on the blessings of Almighty God.
Read the Foundation's brief in
Appeals court rules against Plano principals in candy cane case
07-02-10 -- Two Plano school principals violated students' constitutional rights if they confiscated Christian-themed materials, including candy cane pens, that students planned to hand out at school, an appeals court has said. . . . The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Wednesday that the principals could be held liable for taking away the items. The principals had argued that the First Amendment doesn't extend to students distributing noncurricular items at school. . . . "They are wrong," the judges wrote. . . . The principals "had fair warning that the suppression of student-to-student distribution of literature on the basis of religious viewpoint is unlawful under the First Amendment," three judges concluded in a sometimes strongly worded decision. . . . Josh Skinner, the principals' attorney, said he was disappointed by the ruling and might appeal it. June 2010 Shocking Setback for Religious Freedom in Supreme Court
06-30-10 -- On June 28, the Supreme Court handed down a deeply-disturbing decision in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez that sets back religious freedom in this country. This case was nothing more than the Court expressing outright hostility to a group because of its orthodox Christian beliefs. . . . Christian Legal Society (CLS) is an association of Christian lawyers and law students. In 2004 it was denied recognition as a student group at Hastings College of the Law (part of the University of California), making CLS the only group ever denied recognition by the school. . . . It was denied recognition because of Hastings’ nondiscrimination policy. That policy forbids discrimination on the basis of a number of factors such as race and gender, and includes sexual orientation. . . . CLS policy requires all its voting members to sign its statement of faith, covering core areas of orthodox Christian belief such as accepting the divine nature of Jesus Christ and that the Bible is the Word of God. Based on biblical teachings on sexuality, CLS also believes that sexual conduct is reserved for marital relationships, with marriage being the union of one man and one woman. . . . CLS believes that sex outside of marriage is sinful, and persistent, ongoing, unapologetic extramarital sex makes someone ineligible to be a voting member or a leader in CLS. Although CLS welcomes all people to attend its Bible studies and hear its messages, those living in such a way—including sexually-active gays—are ineligible to lead those Bible studies or have voting power to set policy or elect CLS officers. . . . For that reason, Hastings informed CLS that they could not be a student organization, with access to all the resources and forums that student organizations receive. Hastings has over 60 active organizations, and CLS is the only one to ever be denied recognition. Eventually, CLS sued. . . . This case made it to the Supreme Court, where in a shocking decision the Court held 5-4 that there’s nothing wrong with Hastings’ decision.
Supreme Court Upholds Law School Policy Requiring Student Groups to Admit ‘All Comers’
06-28-10 -- The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a law school’s policy requiring all comers to be admitted to officially recognized student groups. . . . Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion (PDF), SCOTUSblog reports. She was joined by four other justices. . . . The Christian Legal Society had contended its First Amendment rights of free association were violated when the University of California's Hastings College of the Law refused to recognize the group. The case had pitted the law school’s right to enforce its nondiscrimination policy against the right of a Christian legal group to exclude gays and nonbelievers.
The case of the rosary in school
06-04-10 -- A rosary is a rosary is ... a gang-related symbol? . . . Thirteen-year-old Raymond Hosier was suspended for a week from Oneida Middle School in Schenectady recently for refusing to take off the rosary that he and his mother said he wears in memory of his brother and uncle. . . . On Tuesday, Syracuse lawyer Raymond Dague sued on behalf of the conservative Christian American Center for Law and Justice, contending that the suspension violated Hosier’s First Amendment rights to free speech and religious expression. Within hours, a federal judge in Albany ordered Hosier reinstated pending a hearing. . . . The issue here is not so much one of constitutional rights as it is common sense. School children in New York state and throughout the country are subject to dress codes that legitimately limit “free speech” and “religious expression” — including sexually provocative clothing, T-shirts emblazoned with slogans, and yes, gang-related symbols. Schools that require uniforms go even further.
Federal judge dismisses Summum suit against Pleasant Grove
06-04-10 -- The Seven Aphorisms of Summum will not join the Ten Commandments on display in a Pleasant Grove park. . . . A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the city that claimed it violated the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution by allowing a Ten Commandments monument but rejecting one showing the Salt Lake-based religious sect's beliefs. The clause in the First Amendment prohibits government from adopting a national religion. . . . Pleasant Grove built the monument in Pioneer Park 39 years ago for historical, not religious, reasons, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball wrote. "Moreover, there is no evidence that anyone in Pleasant Grove government had any idea what Summum's religious beliefs were, and thus it cannot be said that the Pleasant Grove government demonstrated a preference for one religion over another." . . . The decision effectively ends for now a prolonged legal battle, part of which was fought in the U.S. Supreme Court. Kimball dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning Summum could file a claim in state court.
Christians, Jews Outraged Over Comedy Central Jesus Parody
06-03-10 -- Jewish, Christian, and conservative leaders are lambasting JC, the new Comedy Central parody about Jesus Christ, as a "vile and offensive" example of anti-Christian bigotry. . . . The Citizens Against Religious Bigotry organization announced Thursday it has sent letters of protest to over 250 leading television advertisers, imploring them not to sponsor the JC show. The letter describes the program as "blasphemous." . . . "We are urging you to hold back your advertising dollars from such an abomination purported to be entertainment," the letter states. . . . L. Brent Bozell III, the founder and president of the Media Research Council conservative watchdog organization, said on a media conference call Thursday: "Anyone who advertises on this show will be a sponsor of anti-Christian bigotry in our view." . . . He said the program "is designed to mock, and designed to ridicule, and designed to be offensive to Christians. At this point, we say enough is enough." . . . According to a recent column by Bozell, the program depicts "Jesus trying to live a normal life in New York City to escape his 'powerful but apathetic father.' God is preoccupied with playing video games while Christ is the 'ultimate fish out of water.'" . . . Social conservatives say the program seeks to ridicule Christian beliefs by poking fun at Christ. . . . The Citizens Against Religious Bigotry organization is circulating a petition imploring Comedy Central to cancel the program, which is now in script-development stage.
Judge Denies Church Graduation Ceremonies
06-01-10 -- A federal judge has ruled that graduation ceremonies for Enfield High School in Connecticut cannot be held at a local church. US District Judge Janet Hall, who toured the church—First Cathedral in Bloomfield—ruled that even if the church covered all of the overt religious symbols, holding the secular ceremony in the church would violate the Constitution: . . . “A reasonable observer attending the 2010 Enfield graduations would perceive the message that Enfield endorsed the readily perceptible religious views of First Cathedral based upon the character of that forum,” Hall wrote. . . . Proponents of holding the graduation at the non-denominational church still contend that they can make the Cathedral religiously neutral, but USA Today points out that “de-Jesusing” the building would be tough, pointing to large crosses on the building’s roof and over the main entrance. The building itself is one large religious symbol that cannot be disguised as anything but. . . . This is a huge, dove-shaped building with a lobby fountain shaped like Jesus’ tomb, with multi-story cross-emblazoned stained glass window. . . . The school has held its graduation ceremonies at the church the past two years without incident. The school board voted this year to hold the ceremony at the school but was dissuaded from their decision by the right wing religious group the Family Institute of Connecticut who “assured the board that the American Center for Law and Justice would fund any legal defense.”
May 2010
Illinois Cross Draws Tourists, Ire From Atheist
Thieves Steal Mojave Desert Memorial Cross in Nighttime Heist
05-11-10 -- The 7-foot-tall metal cross in a 75-year-old war memorial that withstood the heat of the Mojave Desert and a blazing battle in the Supreme Court over its legality was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to federal officials. . . . The 7-foot-tall metal cross in a 75-year-old war memorial that withstood the heat of the Mojave Desert and a blazing battle in the Supreme Court over its legality was ripped down and stolen Sunday night, according to federal officials. . . . "This is an outrage, akin to desecrating people's graves," said Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute, which represents the caretakers of the Mojave Desert War Memorial. "It's a disgraceful attack on the selfless sacrifice of our veterans. We will not rest until this memorial is re-installed." . . . The National Park Service says someone cut the metal bolts holding the metal-pipe cross to the top of the memorial's Sunrise Rock and made off with it Sunday night or before dawn on Monday. April 2010
Supreme Court Rules Against Offended Park Ranger in Mojave Cross Case
04-28-10 -- In a fractured decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned an injunction that prevented the government from transferring parkland containing a cross to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. . . . . The court found park service employee Frank Buono had standing to sue, but said a federal court was wrong to bar transfer of the land now in the Mojave National Preserve. Buono had asserted he was offended by the cross and had contended the land deal was aimed at bypassing the establishment clause. . . . . Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the plurality decision, saying the district court did not examine the relevant issues before issuing an injunction. He said the district court should conduct a "proper inquiry" on remand. Two of the five justices who agreed the lower court erred, however, based their decision on another reason: Their view was that Buono had no standing to sue. . . . There were four dissenters who would have supported the injunction, the Associated Press reports. SCOTUSblog had an early summary of the holding. . . . Kennedy said the district court that issued the injunction did not acknowledge the significance of the cross. It was erected to honor servicemen who died in World War I, rather than to promote a Christian message, he said in a portion of the plurality opinion (PDF) that was joined by two concurring justices.
Obama will appeal Day of Prayer ruling
04-23-10 -- The Obama administration said yesterday it will appeal a court decision that found the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. . . . US District Judge Barbara Crabb in Madison ruled last week the National Day of Prayer that Congress established 58 years ago amounts to a call for religious action. . . . The Justice Department said it will challenge the decision in the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. The notice came after about two dozen members of Congress condemned the ruling and pressed for an appeal. . . . The case was brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison-based group of atheists and agnostics who argue the National Day of Prayer violates the separation of church and state. Its co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor said she was disappointed in the decision to appeal. . . . “I would have expected something better from a legal scholar,’’ she said, referring to President Obama’s background as a law professor. Martyred: 176,000 Christians in 1 year New partnership presenting Web seminar to draw attention to the persecuted
04-20-10 -- A new ministry partnership has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the fact that an estimated 176,000 Christians around the world were martyred – killed for their faith – in a one-year period from the middle of 2008 to the middle of 2009. . . . That's 482 deaths per day, one every three minutes. . . . Martyrdom didn't go away with the Middle Ages, according to reports from Open Doors USA, which now has combined efforts with actor Kirk Cameron of "The Way of the Master" ministry as well as evangelist Ray Comfort of Living Waters ministry to focus on those who are being persecuted for their faith. . . . The groups have announced a webinar on Thursday, an interactive Internet-based seminar, featuring Cameron, Comfort and Carl Moeller, the president of Open Doors USA. . . . Registration is open to the public and free of charge. . . . Emeal Zwayne, executive vice president of Living Waters, said that few Christians in the U.S. are even aware "that an estimated 176,000 Christians were martyred from mid-2008 to mid-2009.
Court blasts city's ban on sound of church bells Ordinance violates 1st, 14th Amendments to Constitution
04-20-10 -- A federal judge in Arizona has struck down a Phoenix noise ordinance against sounds generated by religious worship – settling one part of a dispute that erupted when city officials convicted a bishop and sentenced him to a suspended jail sentence and several years of probation because someone complained about the ringing of his church bells. . . . "Churches shouldn't be targeted and punished for ringing their bells as a public expression of faith that's been done for centuries," said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which worked on the case. . . . "The federal court has made the right decision by declaring that the city's noise ordinance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments," he said. . . . The federal judge, Susan R. Bolton, ruled that the city's ordinance was being used to prohibit "sound generated in the course of religious expression," even while it contained an exemption for ice cream trucks to blare their promotions.
National Day of Prayer ruled unconstitutional Federal judge strikes down law signed by President Truman
04-15-10 -- A federal district court in Wisconsin today ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. . . . U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb issued the decision in a case filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based atheist and agnostic group that challenged the constitutionality of a 1988 federal law. . . . The law gives the president the authority to designate the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer. . . . Crabb, appointed to the court in 1979 by President Carter, determined the statute violates the First Amendment's establishment clause, which says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." . . . In her opinion, Crabb wrote that in her view of case law, "government involvement in prayer may be consistent with the establishment clause when the government's conduct serves a significant secular purpose and is not a 'call for religious action on the part of citizens,'" citing a high-profile Ten Commandments case, McCreary County, Kentucky v. ACLU. . . . "Unfortunately," she wrote, the National Day of Prayer law "cannot meet that test."
Judge allows man in interfaith divorce to take daughter to church Estranged couple allowed to have girl on Christian and Jewish holidays
04-14-10 -- A Cook County judge has ruled that a father can take his 3-year-old daughter to Mass at a Roman Catholic church, even though her mother is raising her in the Jewish faith. . . . Judge Renee Goldfarb said Tuesday that Joseph Reyes can take his daughter to "church services during his visitation time if he so chooses." The judge also ordered that Joseph have visitation with his daughter every year on Christmas and Easter. . . . Likewise, the order stipulated that Rebecca Reyes always have their daughter on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover. . . . "I have to be very, very happy that I got additional time with my daughter and got to expose (her) to all of who I am," Joseph Reyes said. . . . Goldfarb declined to keep Reyes from taking his daughter to church as long as no evidence exists that doing so would harm the child. Though Rebecca Reyes testified that contrary religious teachings could confuse the preschooler, Goldfarb avoided doctrinal questions, saying it was not the court's place "to focus on or attempt to interpret or judge official religious doctrines." . . . "She is 3 years old and, according to Joseph, while at church, she waves at the other children, looks around and giggles," Goldfarb wrote. "This court found that testimony credible."
Law Prof Is Member of Opus Dei, Says Whipping Only ‘Stings a Bit’
04-12-10 -- The Da Vinci Code was a public relations disaster for the Catholic organization Opus Dei, with its portrayal of a fictional, murdering monk. . . . A lay member of the organization, Seton Hall law professor John Coverdale, told the Washington Post that a goal of Opus Dei is to offer Christians a path to a holier life without being a priest or a nun. A tax professor, Coverdale has published a book on the growth of Opus Dei and co-hosted a series for the Eternal Word Television Network about the group’s founder, according to the Seton Hall website. . . . Members of Opus Dei go to daily Mass, and sometimes fast or give up a treat or pleasure, the Post says. And yes, there is “corporal mortification,” the story says, but not the way it’s depicted in The Da Vinci Code.
School principals appeal ruling in lengthy Plano free speech case
04-08-10 -- The court case over candy canes continued Wednesday as the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals listened to arguments on the liability of two Plano principals named in the lawsuit. . . . Three judges heard appeals in a packed courtroom at Southern Methodist University, where the court is based this week. The candy cane case arose in 2003, when administrators at Plano's Thomas Elementary School stopped an 8-year-old boy from distributing candy cane pens with religious messages on them. A year later, with assistance from the Plano-based Liberty Institute, the boy's family and three other families sued the district on free speech grounds. . . . Plano ISD later revised its policies to allow students to pass out religious materials at designated times and locations. Last December, the appeals court ruled that the district's new policy was constitutional. But it allowed a district court to determine the liability of the principals. That court ruled against them. Wednesday's session was their appeal.
Conservatives wonder how N.J. Attorney General Paula Dow sided against the Christians
04-01-10 -- Imagine you were some naïve, trusting, pro-faith, pro-family type who voted for Chris Christie last year on the assumption he shared your views. . . . And imagine you watched as he appointed a Democrat from Essex County to the single most important post in his new administration. . . . And imagine some cynical soul had said to you, “Don’t hold your breath waiting to find out she’s a loony left-winger.” . . . How long would you have had to go without oxygen? . . . Not all that long, it turns out. Just 20 days. Paula Dow took the oath of office on Feb. 23. On March 15, she filed a brief adopting the position of some of the looniest left-wingers on both coasts against a group of conservative Christians. . . . The case is called Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. It arises out of a controversy in San Francisco, that beautiful-but-batty city by the sea. . . . The case began when the authorities at Hastings Law School, which is part of the publicly funded University of California, denied recognition to a group of law students professing Christian beliefs on the grounds that the group discriminates on the basis of religion. This seemed to make no sense. The school had granted recognition to other religious-based student groups, such as the Hastings Association of Muslim Law Students and the Hastings Jewish Law Students Association. Also recognized were associations based on race and ethnicity, such as La Raza Law Students Association; the Chinese Law & Culture Society; the Black Law Students and so on. . . . The society sued and the case worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. At this point you’re probably asking yourself the same question I’m asking myself: What the heck does this have to do with New Jersey? . . . Dow’s office didn’t return my call. So I can’t tell you. But I did read the friend-of-the-court brief in which she came out on the same side of the case as Martha Coakley. Yes, that Martha Coakley, the attorney general who proved herself to be too left-wing for even the people of Massachusetts in that recent U.S. Senate race won by Scott Brown.
March 2010 Five Years Later, Pro-Life Leaders Remember Terri Schiavo's Murder
On the fifth anniversary of the court-ordered death by starvation and dehydration of Terri Schindler Schiavo, Terri’s family, pro-life leaders and anti-euthanasia advocates have united to call attention to the silent abuse of people with disabilities, and the new dangers posed by the recently-passed federal health care reform legislation. . . . The Christian Defense Coalition, Faith and Action and Generation Life announced they will pray and leave a single rose on the public sidewalk in front of the Pennsylvania Ave. NW side of the White House to commemorate Terri's death. The groups also reminded Americans that President Obama later called it a "mistake" that, as a U.S. Senator, he had supported Congress' decision to try to save Terri from death. . . . "End of life issues are a deep concern in this new health care legislation," said Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition and one of the leaders who worked to save Terri's life in Florida, in a press release Tuesday. . . . "Simply put, how can the American public trust the President and his Administration to deal compassionately with end of life issues when he considered it a 'mistake' to have intervened in attempting to keep a young woman from being starved and dehydrated?"
Judge says seizing 'Million Dollar Bill' tracts illegal Tactics against Ray Comfort message brought 'disrepute' to law enforcement
A federal judge has ruled the seizure of thousands of Gospel tracts from a Texas ministry by U.S. Secret Service agents not only was illegal, it violated Fourth Amendment protections against an overbearing and intrusive government. . . . The decision yesterday by Judge Jorge Solis of the Northern District of Texas came in the long-running dispute over a tract deliberately made to look like a $1 million bill. . . . The Million Dollar Bill tract was created by evangelist Ray Comfort, who also is author of "Nothing Created Everything: The Scientific Impossibility of Atheistic Evolution," and "You Can Lead An Atheist to Evidence, but You Can't Make Him Think." . . . "The Million Dollar Bill, taken as a whole, poses no reasonable risk of deceiving an honest, sensible, and unsuspecting person," the judge wrote. "First and foremost is the fact that the Million Dollar Bill purports to be worth a million dollars. There is no genuine currency in this amount. . . . "More importantly, the amount the bill purports to be worth would lead any unsuspecting, honest, and reasonable person to become suspicious of the [bill's] genuineness. Though many people would readily accept a one-hundred dollar bill without thinking there was a need to even give the bill a cursory examination, a reasonable and honest person would suspect that a bill purporting to be worth a million dollars is not genuine." . . . Further, the judge ruled that the agents who confiscated 83 packets of the Gospel tracts from the Denton, Texas, offices of the Great News Network violated the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Order to Remove Religious Materials From Manchester Post Office Counter
03-04-10 -- The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand an appellate ruling last summer that settled a dispute in Manchester involving government and religion. . . . The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals had ordered a small, church-operated post office in Manchester to clear its postal counter of religious materials such as prayer cards and a collection box supporting an outreach mission among the poor. . . . The ruling was limited to the small, storefront post office on Main Street operated, under contract with the United States Postal Service, by the Full Gospel Interdenominational Church. . . . In 2003, Bertram Cooper, a postal patron and Manchester resident who is Jewish, sued the postal service, saying that the display of religious materials offended him and violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government from giving preference to one religion over another.
Ten Commandments monument to come down soon This follows news that the U.S. Supreme Court won't hear the case.
03-02-10 -- A Ten Commandments monument erected on Haskell County courthouse grounds in 2004 could be removed within the week, an attorney representing the county said. . . . The news comes after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a dispute over the religious marker. . . . The justices let stand a lower court decision that the monument must go. A federal appeals court ruled last year that it amounts to an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by the county commission. . . . U.S. District Judge Ronald White of the Eastern District of Oklahoma had ordered the monument removed from the property in a document dated in August. White originally had ruled the monument constitutional, but his ruling was overturned by the appeals court. . . . "Obviously, it's got to come down," said Kevin Theriot of the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the Haskell County commissioners. "The commissioners have already taken steps to comply with that."
Teacher wins major victory for God in school Judge scolds district for trying to scrub America's Christian heritage
03-01-10 -- A federal judge in California has handed down a scathing ruling against a school that required one of its teachers to remove signs celebrating the role of God in American history from his classroom walls. . . . As WND reported, math teacher Bradley Johnson had banners hanging in his classroom at Westview High School in San Diego, Calif., for more than 17 years with phrases like "In God We Trust" and "All Men Are Created Equal, They Are Endowed by Their Creator," only to have the principal order them torn down during the 2007 school year. . . . But Johnson filed a lawsuit alleging the order a violation of his constitutional rights, and the teacher has now been rewarded with a court victory and a powerfully-worded ruling. . . . "May a school district censor a high school teacher's expression because it refers to Judeo-Christian views, while allowing other teachers to express views on a number of controversial subjects, including religion and anti-religion?" posited U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez in his judgment. "On undisputed evidence, this court holds that it may not." . . . He continued, "That God places prominently in our nation's history does not create an Establishment Clause violation requiring curettage and disinfectant for Johnson's public high school classroom walls. It is a matter of historical fact that our institutions and government actors have in past and present times given place to a supreme God." . . . The judge further reprimanded the school, stating that while teachers at the district "encourage students to celebrate diversity and value thinking for one's self, [they] apparently fear their students are incapable of dealing with diverse viewpoints that include God's place in American history and culture."
February 2010
Judge: DE School Can Allow Moment of Silence
02-24-10 --
A federal judge has ruled that the Indian River School Board in
Wilmington, Del. can continue to open its meetings with a prayer or
moment of silence. . . . U.S. District Judge Joseph J. Farnan, Jr.
declared that it is constitutional for the board to open meetings
with prayer and threw out a lawsuit over the issue. . . . "Although
reasonable people can differ as to whether the board's policy is
wise, could be more inclusive, or is actually necessary to solemnize
board meetings, 'too much judicial fine-tuning of legislative prayer
policies risks unwarranted interference in (a legislative
Ash Wednesday observance subject of objection
02-18-10 -- The age-old question of separation of church and state played itself out in a Marshall County courtroom Wednesday. . . . After a lunch recess while prosecuting a trial for attempted murder, Assistant County Attorney Paul Crawford returned from lunch with ash on his forehead. He is Catholic and celebrating Ash Wednesday is something millions of people all around the world do. . . . Before the jury was brought back into the courtroom, Aaron Hawbaker, the attorney for the defense, objected to the ash being on Crawford's forehead. . . . "He is representing the state of Iowa," Hawbaker said. . . . Hawbaker said he was not objecting for any personal or religious reasons, but feared the jury could be influenced either for or against the prosecution's case by the display. . . . "I tend to agree with that, Mr. Crawford," said Judge Michael Moon. "I tend to think it should be removed." . . . The issue is one that has a great deal of uncertainty and gray area, according to Rob Boston, a spokesperson for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. . . . "The judge would have the power to ask the prosecutor to remove the ash, but whether the prosecutor would be compelled to do so is another question," Boston said.
January 2010 What were 2009's worst attacks on Christianity? Anti-defamation group catalogs top 10 list of bigotry, discrimination
01-04-10 -- A nonprofit organization devoted to advancing religious liberty for Christians has scoured the news, sought the opinion of its e-mail subscribers and selected a list of "the top 10 incidents of anti-Christian defamation, bigotry and discrimination in the U.S. from last year." . . . "It is arguable that anti-Christian hatred has spilled over into material forms of persecution in 2009," said Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. "Christians were killed and bullied for their witness, ministers and churches threatened with violence and vandalized for standing for marriage and Christians were fired for not compromising their faith. If these are not bona fide examples of persecution, than I wonder what more it might take?" . . . CADC subscribers chose from a list of 20 stories – both those that made headlines and those that were conspicuously absent from wide media coverage – to pick their top 10. . . . The winners included a wide array of events deemed to insult, injure or marginalize Christianity. They included acts of violence, laws and judgments, actions by schools against students and decisions by the Obama administration to promote causes and leaders at odds with Christian teaching. December 2009 Obama's Christmas tree graced by Chairman Mao, transvestite White House décor also includes president on Mount Rushmore By Bob Unruh, © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12-22-09 -- The face of China's Mao Zedong, blamed for the deaths of 50 to 80 million of his countrymen, graces an ornament on the White House Christmas tree for President Obama's first holiday season in residence. . . . According to BigGovernment.com, the tree also features an ornament adding Obama to Mount Rushmore. . . . The images, such as the "transvestite" character "Hedda Lettuce," are attributed to the work of Simon Doonan, creative director of Barney's New York, whose previous projects have included Margaret Thatcher as a dominatrix and Dan Quayle as a ventriloquist's dummy, according to the New York Times. . . . "Why let a holiday season come between the White House and making some political statements," Big Government's report asked. "These photos of ornaments on the White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room were taken just days ago. Of course, Mao has his place in the White House."
Judges reviewing legality of name-calling by city San Francisco board's formal 'hostility' Catholics challenged
12-18-09 -- Judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals now are deciding whether a formal government document condemning Catholics as "hateful," "insulting" and "defamatory" and urging members to defy church beliefs is permissible under the U.S. Constitution's ban on government hostility toward religion. . . . The city of San Francisco formally adopted a resolution that condemned the Catholic church specifically for its moral teachings. The resolution was challenged by the Thomas More Law Center, a national Christian legal advocacy group based in Ann Arbor, Mich. . . . Oral arguments were presented to the 11 judges of the circuit appeals court yesterday in a case expected to "flush out what the U.S. Supreme Court means when it proclaims that the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution does not permit hostility toward religion." . . . The formal statement from the San Francisco Board of Supervisers attacked the church's belief because it prohibits the adoption of children by homosexual duos.
Judge: N.C. Law Barring Sex Offenders from Church Unconstitutional
12-18-09 -- A year-old state law in North Carolina was found by a Superior Court judge to be unconstitutional because it prevents certain registered sex offenders from going to church, according to a ruling Thursday. . . . While Judge Allen Baddour acknowledged the need to protect children, he said "there are less drastic means for achieving the same purpose." . . . Presently, state law prohibits certain sex offenders from being within 300 feet of "any place where minors gather for regularly scheduled educational, recreational or social programs," including areas that are part of a larger facility, though the law doesn't specify whether that 300-foot radius ends at the borders of the larger facility. . . . It also doesn’t specify whether children actually have to be present for an offender to be in violation, making it unconstitutionally vague, according to Baddour. . . . “There are a host of protected religious activities abridged by this statute," the judge wrote in Thursday's ruling. . . . Thursday’s decision comes after registered sex offenders James Nichols and Frank DeMaio challenged the state law, saying it was too broad and denied them their right to attend the church of their choice.
Tab for refusing to photograph lesbians: $6,600 Company to appeal judge's order to violate owner's Christian beliefs
12-17-09 -- A district judge in New Mexico has affirmed a state Civil Rights Commission order that a small photography company pay $6,600 for refusing to violate the owners' Christian beliefs by photographing a lesbian "ceremony," even though same-sex marriage isn't legal in the state. . . . Word of the decision by District Judge Alan M. Malott comes from the Alliance Defense Fund, which promised an immediate appeal of the decision against the Christian photographer and her husband. . . . "Christians in the marketplace should not be subject to predatory legal attacks for simply abiding by their beliefs," said ADF senior counsel Jordan Lorence. "The Constitution prohibits the state from forcing unwilling artists to promote a message they disagree with and thereby violate their conscience. . . . "Should the government force a videographer who is an animal rights activist to create a video promoting hunting and taxidermy? American small business owners do not surrender their constitutional rights at the marketplace gate, nor can the government make people choose between their faith and their livelihood," he said. . . . The commission had ruled that a small photography company, Elane Photography, run by a young Christian husband and wife, was guilty of "sexual orientation" discrimination under state antidiscrimination laws for declining to photograph a same-sex "commitment ceremony."
Faith-based prison rehab case reversed
12-16-09 -- Advocates for the separation of church and state scored a victory Tuesday when the 1st District Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal of their claim that state-funded, "faith-based" rehabilitation of ex-prisoners is unconstitutional. . . . The Council for Secular Humanism, a New York-based organization with membership in Florida, had appealed a Leon County Circuit Court judge's 2008 dismissal of the group's complaint that the state's contract with Prisoners of Christ and Lamb of God Ministries is unconstitutional. . . . Specifically, the appellant complained that the contracts violate the "no-aid" provision of the Florida Constitution, which bars the state from spending taxpayer money "directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution." . . . Lamb of God Ministries is located in Okeechobee and has facilities in Pompano Beach; Prisoners of Christ is based in Jacksonville. Their state contracts derive from a law passed in 2001 authorizing the Department of Corrections to hire faith-based service providers to operate substance abuse transitional housing programs for people recently released from state prison. You can access the ruling at this link.
Judge: Parents bigots for opposing 'gay' lessons Families grilled about religious beliefs, church sermons against homosexuality
12-4-09 -- A judge has attacked parents, suggesting they are bigots for seeking to opt-out their elementary-age children from a mandatory controversial pro-homosexual curriculum, according to a non-profit law firm. . . . The parents were represented in California's Alameda Superior Court by Pacific Justice Institute. On Dec. 1, Judge Frank Roesch denied a motion to allow them to have their children excused from the lessons. . . . According to the group, Roesch blasted the parents for seeking enforcement of a provision of the California Education Code that gives parents a right to opt their kids out of health education. . . . Education Code Section 51240 allows a parent to have a student excused from instruction, "If any part of a school's instruction in health conflicts with the religious training and beliefs of a parent or guardian of a pupil." . . . However, Pacific Justice Institute said Roesch repeatedly insinuated that the parents are bigots and insisted there can be no homosexual indoctrination because, he purportedly argued, people are born that way. November 2009
Out with Jesus, in with 'Frosty the Snowman' Federal court upholds school district's ban on tunes about Christ
No further! Christians draw battle line in culture war Declaration warns of civil disobedience over life, marriage, religious liberty
11-23-09 -- Over 150 Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical Christian leaders have signed the Manhattan Declaration, a pledge in defense of life, religious liberty and traditional marriage, a line in the sand of the culture war warning that Christians will resort to civil disobedience if necessary rather than retreat from these three moral principles. . . . "The Manhattan Declaration is a wake-up call – a call to conscience – for the church," writes Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries and co-author of the declaration. "It is also crystal-clear message to civil authorities that we will not, under any circumstances, stand idly by as our religious freedom comes under assault." According to ManhattanDeclaration.org, over 47,000 others in the last few days have added their signatures to the list of 152 Christian leaders who have committed to the pledge. . . . The website states that the declaration calls upon all fellow citizens to join in defending "fundamental truths about justice and the common good," namely: The sanctity of human life The dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife The rights of conscience and religious liberty. "Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the wellbeing of society, they are inviolable and nonnegotiable," the website states. "Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them."
Fight Over Jewish Symbol Heads to Trial
11-20-09 -- The case of the missing mezuzah will go to trial. . . . Last week the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago, ruled that a case may go forward involving a family’s fight to affix a small box containing Hebrew religious texts, known as a mezuzah, to the doorposts of their condominium units. The mezuzah has deep importance for many Jews as a sign of faith, but for the family of Lynne Bloch, it is also a symbol of battle. . . . The Blochs have lived in the Shoreline Towers condominium in Chicago for three decades. In May 2004, the condo association began a hallway renovation and asked residents to remove everything from their doors, including mezuzot (the plural of mezuzah). The Blochs took the mezuzot down from their three apartments, then replaced them when the renovations were complete. But the condo management removed them, and did so repeatedly so when the Blochs put them up again — even on the day of the funeral of the family patriarch, Marvin Bloch. The family sued the condo association in 2005. U.S. lawmakers defend 'In God We Trust' 44 legislators move to protect engraving of national motto on Capitol Visitor Center
11-16-09 -- Forty-four U.S. legislators have signed on to defend the national motto, "In God We Trust," and the Pledge of Allegiance – which contains the word "God" – from an attempt by an atheist group to have the words erased from the face of the newly built Capitol Visitor Center. . . . Together with the American Center for Law and Justice, three U.S. senators and 41 representatives filed a friend-of-the-court amicus brief in a case brought in July by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation that challenges the words as unconstitutional. . . . The atheist and agnostic organization filed suit in U.S. District Court versus Stephen Ayers, acting architect of the Capitol, alleging the words now engraved on the visitors center violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The FFRF claims that the use of tax dollars to add the engravings lacks a secular purpose and has the primary effect of endorsing a religious viewpoint. October 2009 MICHIGAN
1st Battle of the 2009 Christmas Season over Nativity;
10-26-09 -- For 63 years, a privately maintained nativity scene has been displayed during the Christmas season on a public median in Warren, Michigan. That 63 year-old tradition was abruptly ended by the Macomb County Road Commission, which controls private displays on public medians in the county, after it received a threatening letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist organization that has as its aim nremoval of all religious symbols from the public square. Rather than stand up to the atheists, the Road Commission ordered the removal of the private nativity scene, in violation of the Constitution...Read More The Freedom From Religion’s threatening letter claimed the presence of the nativity display on the public median violated the “constitutional principle of separation of church and state.” [link to letter]
Courthouse Bible plaintiff now targets Houston council prayer
10-26-09 -- The woman who successfully sued to have a Bible removed from a Harris County courthouse display is now suing to stop city council from opening meetings with prayers that she believes are too Christian. . . . Kay Staley, a real estate agent and lawyer, argues religion and prayer are private matters that don't belong in government. She sued the city and Councilmember Anne Clutterbuck, saying the council's prayers are so overly Christian they violate the First Amendment separation of church and state. Clutterbuck was singled out for saying the Lord's Prayer. . . . “I've been aggravated about it for some time watching City Council on access television,” said Staley, who doesn't share her personal spiritual beliefs except to say she's a free thinker. “I'm offended. I don't like people telling me when and how to pray.” 1st Amendment in the Age of Obama
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. -- ~ John Adams 10-24-09 -- The opening five words of the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law," represents the central tenets of what the Bill of Rights stands for: limits on government power to limit or compel religious beliefs, the right to hold political opinions and express them, protections for a free press, the right to assemble peaceably, and the right to petition the government, through protest or the ballot, for a redress of political grievances. . . . . Let's take a look at how the First Amendment is viciously and relentlessly attacked in the Age of Obama: . . . Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; . . . George Washington, perhaps the greatest figure of American history, once said, "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." John Adams, our second president said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." Religion to the framers of the Constitution, not just any religion, but religion out of the Judeo-Christian traditions of intellectual thought, was indispensable to the success of America as well as to the continuing survival of our republic. . . . . If Christianity is so important, why did Congress allow the Supreme Court, in the 1947 case of "Everson v. Board of Education," to unilaterally remove funding to parochial schools through the judge-created doctrine "separation of church and state"? Such judicial tyranny as Everson over the past 62 years has denigrated American society and culture more than anything else.
Mark and Sara Neill were deeply offended when a debt collector contacted them last fall over an unpaid $88 chiropractor’s bill. . . . But the affront had nothing to do with the debt or the collector’s tactics and everything to do with the debt collector’s letterhead. . . . In the upper-right-hand corner of the Bullseye Collection Agency’s stationery were the letters WWJD. The Neills, who are from Becker, Minn., said they found the initialism—commonly understood to mean “What would Jesus do?”—both abusive and threatening. . . . The Neills claimed to have felt so abused and threatened that they filed a class action suit against Bullseye, a small family-owned collection agency in Monticello, Minn., on behalf of themselves and everyone else in the state who had received such a letter from the collection agency during the previous year. . . . The suit, filed last October in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, alleged that the only possible purpose for using the WWJD was to make recipients think there would be religious consequences for failing to pay an alleged debt. “This is equivalent to a shame tactic and is an attempt to guilt an alleged debtor to pay the debt by portraying the debtor as a sinner who is going to go to hell,” the Neills’ lawyer, Thomas J. Lyons Jr., said in papers filed in connection with the suit. . . . But in this court battle, the Neills also have found themselves accused of not playing by the Golden Rule.
Maine fines group for criticizing Islam Christian organization files lawsuit to challenge censorship
10-1-09 --A Christian organization in Maine has filed a lawsuit to challenge a bureaucratic decision to impose a $4,000 fine for its "criticism" of Islam, expressed in a mailing to supporters. . . . The action was taken on behalf of the Christian Action Network by Liberty Counsel, where founder Mathew Staver said the state is out of line. . . . "The chief purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent the government from licensing the press," Staver said. "Citizens do not need permission to petition government officials or to protest government policies." . . . The issue developed following a Christian Action Network fundraising letter several months ago. The letter exposed "how some public schools were promoting Islalm by providing instruction on the Five Pillars of Islam and the Quran," according to the complaint against the state. . . . "The letter pointed out that some schools have provided a 'prayer room' for Muslims and one textbook that told seventh grade students they 'will become Muslim.' The letter listed Gov. John Baldacci as a person who is over the public schools and someone to whom the recipients of the letter should voice their opinion," the complaint said. "Religion in a Family is at once its brightest Ornament & its best Security." --Samuel Adams, letter to Thomas e Wells, 1780 September 2009 A new push to define 'person,' and to outlaw abortion in the process Some abortion foes think the rationale for Roe vs. Wade is vulnerable. They're trying to amend state constitutions -- including California's -- to define personhood from conception.
9-28-09 -- It is one of the enduring questions of religion and science, and lately of American politics: When does a fertilized egg become a person? . . . . Abortion foes, tired of a profusion of laws that limit but do not abolish abortion, are trying to answer the question in a way that they hope could put an end to legalized abortion. . . . .Across the country, they have revived efforts to amend state constitutions to declare that personhood -- and all rights accorded human beings -- begins at conception. . . . . From Florida to California, abortion foes are gathering signatures, pressing state legislators and raising money to put personhood measures on ballots next year. In Louisiana, a class at a Catholic high school is lobbying state legislators as part of a civics exercise. . . . . "We have big and small efforts going on in 30 states right now," said Keith Mason, co-founder of Colorado-based Personhood USA. "Our goal is to activate the population."
Principal cleared of criminal
count over meal blessing
9-18-09 -- A judge today cleared the principal of Pace High School in Florida of a criminal contempt charge after the American Civil Liberties Union complained that Frank Lay and Athletic Director Robert Freeman violated a court order. . . . Freeman also had faced the same criminal contempt charge, but also was cleared. . . . Judge M. Case Rodgers decided that the meal blessing – requested by Lay and delivered by Freedom – was on church property and was spontaneous, therefore lacking an intent to violate the order. . . . The men were represented by Liberty Counsel. The day-long hearing in a Pensacola, Fla., federal courtroom stemmed from an off-campus event at which donors to a school athletic field house project were honored.
9-5-09 -- Most people have now heard that President Obama is going to address America’s school children on September 8. He’ll be speaking to them directly, without their parents there to serve as a filter. . . . Taken with an outrageous situation unfolding in New Hampshire, where a home-schooling mother has been ordered to put her daughter in public school because the daughter is too outspoken in her Christian beliefs, a terrifying truth emerges: If you can force a child into government schools, you can control that child’s mind. . . . On Tuesday, around the nation, millions of children will be in a setting where they’re expected to accept what adults tell them, and where they are required to obey. . . . Many teachers will carry out White House instructions (now officially modified) to give writing topics to their students. The original theme: How can I help President Obama? Children are also encouraged to read books about Obama, and even kindergarteners will be asked, “Why is it important that we listen to the president?”
Government confiscation of Gospel tracts in court Hearings under way for warrantless seizure of private property
9-2-09 -- Court hearings have gotten under way in a lawsuit by a Christian ministry against the U.S. government over its warrantless seizure of private property from the ministry offices. . . . The property that was taken was a stack – more than 8,000 – Gospel tracts that are made up to look like a $1,000,000 bill and invite the recipient to answer the question: "The million-dollar question: Will you go to Heaven?" . . . The case was brought on behalf theGreatNews.org, which was distributing the tracts, and it is being argued in court by lawyers with Liberty Counsel. The case isn't expected to conclude for another day or two, at least. . . . Founder Mathew D. Staver told WND that the government has conceded there are dozens of play money products in stores and on the Internet that look more like real U.S. currency but no attempt is being made to attack those. . . . The tracts, however, are another story, even though they clearly state they are not legal tender and have the Gospel message, instead of any government information, on them. August 2009
Judge: Kentucky can't depend, legally, on God for homeland security
8-31-09 -- A state judge has ruled that Kentucky cannot legally depend on God to keep its citizens safe. . . . Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ruled Aug. 26 a 2006 amendment to a law establishing the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security that declared "the safety and security of the commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God" an unconstitutional establishment of religion. . . . Attorneys for the Commonwealth of Kentucky argued that all three branches of government have acknowledged the role of religion in public life for more than 200 years and that removing them would create "a wholly secular society completely divorced from religion." . . . Wingate said both the federal and Kentucky constitutions "permit a passing reference to Almighty God nestled in the middle" of legal statutes but the law in question "is more than an ephemeral general reference to God." Rather, he said, the statute "places an affirmative duty to rely on Almighty God for the protection of the Commonwealth." . . . That, the judge ruled, made the Kentucky law "exceptional among thousands of others" and transgressed the First Amendment's requirement that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
Michigan courts given leeway to force veil removal
8-25-09 -- Michigan's Supreme Court issued an order Tuesday allowing lower state courts to "exercise reasonable control" over the appearance of witnesses and parties, a rule change proposed after a Muslim woman refused to remove an Islamic garment in a small claims court. . . . The order allows courts "reasonable control over the appearance of parties and witnesses" so as to "ensure that the demeanor of such persons may be observed and assessed by the fact-finder and ensure the accurate identification of such person." . . . The order, which amends a rule of the Michigan Rules of Evidence, is effective September 1. . . . The amendment was prompted by a 2006 small claims case in Michigan filed by Ginnah Muhammad, who wore a niqab -- a garment that covers the entire face and head, except for the eyes -- to court, the order said. . . . According to the Detroit Free Press, Muhammad was contesting a $2,750 repair bill from a car rental company because she said thieves broke into the vehicle she was using.
Christian Law Firm Fights 'Ridiculous' Criminal Charges Against School Officials
8-18-09 -- Florida school officials Frank Lay and Robert Freeman recently received letters informing them that they could lose their retirement benefits because of a prayer said at a luncheon. . . . The Pace High School principal and athletic director are accused of violating a consent decree – which prohibits all district school officials from promoting, endorsing, or causing religious prayers during school-sponsored events – and face criminal contempt charges. . . . Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, said on Fox News on Monday that the two administrators stand to lose, collectively, 70 years of their life investment into the school district. . . . When Principal Lay asked Freeman to bless a meal during a luncheon in January, "they never thought that this would be a violation of any order," Staver, who is representing the two men, said. . . . "They certainly never thought they would be defending themselves under a criminal contempt charge and face up to $5,000 in fines and up to six months in prison, and they never thought that they would jeopardize their collective 70 years of employment (retirement benefits)." . . . The notorious American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint about the prayer to U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers. The ACLU had previously filed a lawsuit against the high school on behalf of two unnamed students who alleged that school officials regularly promoted religion and led prayers at school events. The lawsuit was settled with a consent decree, approved by both parties, early this year.
School officials face jail time for meal-time prayers
8-11-09 --A principal and an athletic director are facing criminal charges for a lunch-time prayer. . . . Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Pace High School in Santa Rosa County, Florida. The ACLU claimed some teachers and administrators were endorsing religion, but the school chose to give in to the ACLU's demands rather than fight them in court. . . . According to the settlement, all school employees are banned from engaging in prayer or religious activities before, during, or after school hours. Now two school officials are facing criminal charges for offering meal-time prayers at an appreciation dinner for adults who had helped with a school field house project. Principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman are scheduled to go on trial next month on criminal contempt charges. If convicted, both are subject to fines and imprisonment. July 2009
Groups demand that jail stop censoring religion
7-11-09 -- Civil and religious rights organizations are demanding that a Virginia jail stop removing Bible passages and other religious material from letters written to inmates. . . . Anna Williams, whose son was detained at the Rappahannock County Regional Jail, says officials cut out entire sections of letters she sent to her son that contained Bible verses or religious material. She says the jail cited prohibitions on Internet material and religious material sent from home. . . . John Whitehead, founder of The Rutherford Institute, represents Williams. His organization is challenging censorship of the mail. . . . "She's a devout Christian, and her son's in jail there and she's been trying to send him letters with Bible passages and whatever -- and the jail has actually been going through snipping out portions of letters," the attorney explains. "[S]ome of the letters are full of Bible verses, so what her son is getting is absolutely at the end of the letter where she says goodbye, I love you, and those kinds of things." . . . According to Whitehead, the situation is not an isolated case. June 2009 Tells chat group for relatives of U.S. sailors to change name
6-26-09 -- The U.S. Navy has ordered a chat group gathered on a special website the military set up for families of service members to drop the word "Christian" from its title. . . . It also has changed the website's rules to ban all "religious discussions" because such speech "contradicts our purpose by creating unnecessary divisions among site members." . . . The issue was exposed by officials with Liberty Counsel, a public interest law firm that has written to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus demanding that the censorship on the NavyforMoms.com website be reversed. . . . "The prohibition of religious groups and religious speech on Navy for Moms by the United States Navy is unconstitutional," said the letter dispatched also to the private company engaged by the Navy to operate the site. . . . "The government simply may not create a forum and then proclaim religious views are not welcome as that is blatant viewpoint discrimination, absolutely prohibited by the First Amendment. Even if the restrictions were evaluated as content restrictions, the United Sates Navy could not withstand the strict scrutiny required by the Supreme Court for analyzing the restrictions," the letter, signed by attorney David Corry on behalf of Liberty Counsel, said. Christians, here come the lions
6-13-09 -- WARNING: This column is written for, and addressed to, America's Christians only. Well, maybe devout Jews as well, but no one else. People of other faiths, or no particular faith at all, probably won't comprehend the looming danger or see anything to be concerned about. . . . But this is a three alarm, red alert wake-up call for people who are serious about their Judeo-Christian religion. The end of our religious freedom in America could be at hand. . . . Can you believe it? In "the land of the free, the home of the brave," the one country in human history whose original purpose was to create and preserve absolute religious freedom for all? The nation whose foundational documents, its Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and its subsequent Bill of Rights, specifically guaranteed that government would absolutely keep its grubby hands off its citizens' freedom to exercise their faith however, whenever and wherever they choose? . . . I've always been awed by the incredible courage of the early Christians (many of whom were Jews). Human beings just like us, bound up in their cultures as we are in ours, who became willing to sacrifice everything – everything including their very lives – rather than repudiate or abandon their faith in God. They were tortured and persecuted in so many ways, but I think the most terrifying trials came in the Colosseum in Rome when Christian men and women were herded out into the arena, sometimes tied to posts, and left to be torn to pieces and devoured by ravenous lions.
Appeals court rules Ten Commandments monument violates Constitution
6-8-09 -- An appeals court ruled Monday that a Ten Commandments monument at the county courthouse in Stigler violates the Constitution because its primary effect is to endorse a religion. . . . The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in a challenge to the monument brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and by a county resident. . . . "We hold that the [Haskell County commissioners'] actions in authorizing and maintaining the monument . . . had the impermissible principal or primary effect of endorsing religion in violation of the Establishment Clause" of the Constitution, the judges wrote in a 52-page decision. . . . Haskell County Commissioner Mitch Worsham said he didn't have a comment at this time about the decision. . . . A message left for Commissioner Kenneth Short Jr., has not been returned and Commissioner Paul Storie could not be reached for comment. . . . On May 18, Gov. Brad Henry signed a measure to place a privately funded monument of the Ten Commandments at the Capitol.
Court to government: OK to diss Catholics San Francisco officials say calling church 'hateful,' 'callous' serves 'secular' purpose
6-5-09 -- Authorities in San Francisco who called the beliefs of the Catholic Church "hateful," "callous," and an "insult," – and urged members to disobey them – have been given the go-ahead by a panel of judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to express such hate because it serves a "secular" purpose. . . . "It is not a stretch to compare the San Francisco Board's actions to that of the Nazi Germany policy of 'Gleichschaltung:' vilifying Jews as an auxiliary to and laying the groundwork for more repressive policies, including the final solution of extermination," said Richard Thompson, the president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, which represented the Catholic League and several individuals in the church in their complaint against the city. . . . "The policy of San Francisco is one of totalitarian intolerance of Christians of all denominations who oppose homosexual conduct," Thompson continued. "My concern is that if this ruling is allowed to stand, it will further embolden anti-Christian attacks."
San Diego withdraws Bible study warning 'The weekly activity is within the scope of the residential use'
6-4-09 -- San Diego County has withdrawn a warning letter and cease and desist order it had issued against a pastor against a weekly Bible study held in his home, and the chief administrative officer for the governmental body has added his own personal apology to the pastor over the accusations. . . . "I want to offer my apology to you, your wife and your congregation for the unfortunate events of the past several weeks," said the letter from Walter F. Ekard, chief officer of the county. "My review of the situation shows that no administrative citation warning should have been issued and that a major use permit is not required for the Bible study you have in your home." . . . WND first broke the news of Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary, who was confronted by a San Diego County official, grilled over what is said at the couple's Tuesday night Bible studies and then later issued a citation barring the couple from hosting further studies until they obtain a major use permit, the costs of which can escalate into the thousands. Mrs. Jones further reported the county official warned her that hosting the study – deemed a "religious assembly" subject to county codes – without the permit could result in fines escalating from $100 to $1,000.
State moves to restrict Catholics in politics
6-1-09 -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut has filed a federal lawsuit following assertions by a state official that rallying church members at the Capitol in Hartford constitutes a violation of lobbying law. . . . Six weeks after 4,000 Catholics in Connecticut rallied in opposition to a proposed state law known as Bill 1098, which dictated local parishes reorganize their governing structures to substitute lay leaders for priests in oversight of finances , the Diocese of Bridgeport received a letter from Connecticut's Office of State Ethics informing it that an investigation was underway to ascertain if the diocese had violated state law by failing to register as a lobbyist organization. . . . "Following the surprise introduction of Bill 1098," said Diocese Bishop William E. Lori in a statement, "a proposal that singled out Catholic parishes and would have forced them to reorganize contrary to church law and the First Amendment, our diocese responded in the most natural, spontaneous, and frankly, American, of ways: we alerted our membership – in person and through our website; we encouraged them to exercise their free speech by contacting their elected representatives; and we organized a rally at the State Capitol. How can this possibly be called lobbying?" Got your permit to study the Bible?
6-1-09 -- Recently, a California pastor and his wife were required by San Diego County officials to obtain a permit to hold a Bible study in their home. . . . "What?! Is this a joke?" I wondered as I heard the news for the first time. It was no joke. Rather it's a First Amendment nightmare and possibly a precedent of what's to come. . . . Are you prepared for a future in which you might someday hear the question, "Got your permit to study the Bible?" . . . On April 10 (Good Friday), a county code enforcement officer visited the home of David and Mary Jones after receiving a complaint about their Christian gatherings. The Jones' attorney Dean Broyles, president of The Western Center for Law & Policy, conveyed in disbelief, "The county asked [Mrs. Jones], 'Do you have a regular meeting in your home?' She said, 'Yes.' 'Do you say amen?' 'Yes.' 'Do you pray?' 'Yes.' 'Do you say praise the Lord?' 'Yes.'" . . . The officer then warned the family to "cease and desist" the "religious assemblies" or they would face fines up to $1,000 weekly (or more). Two days later, the county delivered a citation claiming that the Joneses were guilty of "unlawful use of land," mandating them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit." May 2009
Religious freedom at court's door Dispute over right to hang mezuzah gets rare full hearing
5-12-09 -- Perhaps because it originated in a conflict between the Book of Deuteronomy and the rules of the Shoreline Towers condominium, a federal appeals court will give a lawsuit over a mezuzah a rare full-court hearing, Wednesday. . . . A mezuzah is a scroll-like container with biblical passages that Jews nail to their doorposts. The one on Lynne Bloch's door in the North Sheridan Road building was removed by the condo association five years ago. Since then, it has been restored and removed several times. It is now in place, but that hasn't deterred the legal squabbling. . . . When the case came before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit last year, the justices were divided on what should be their guiding principle: Is it the right to freedom of religion or of freedom from religion? . . . Writing for the majority, Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook ruled: "An entitlement of one group to display its symbols may cause unease for other faiths that abhor all icons."
High school teacher's anti-Creationism comment violated law Mission Viejo history teacher James Corbett violated the First Amendment, a federal court rules.
5-1-09 -- A Mission Viejo high school history teacher violated the First Amendment by disparaging Christians during a classroom lecture, a federal judge ruled today. . . . James Corbett, a 20-year teacher at Capistrano Valley High School, referred to Creationism as “religious, superstitious nonsense” during a 2007 classroom lecture, denigrating his former Advanced Placement European history student, Chad Farnan. . . . The decision is the culmination of a 16-month legal battle between Corbett and Farnan – a conflict the judge said should remind teachers of their legal “boundaries” as public school employees. . . . "Corbett states an unequivocal belief that Creationism is 'superstitious nonsense,'" U.S. District Court Judge James Selna said in a 37-page ruling released from his Santa Ana courtroom. "The court cannot discern a legitimate secular purpose in this statement, even when considered in context." Calif. Supreme Court Lets Stand School's 'Christian Conduct' Ban on Homosexuality
5-1-09 -- Private religious schools may have won a big victory Wednesday when the California Supreme Court declined to decide whether a so-called "Christian Conduct" rule prohibiting homosexuality violated the state's premier civil rights law. . . . The high court's decision not to review a case out of Riverside County lets stand a lower court's ruling that the California Lutheran High School is not a business enterprise and, therefore, not subject to the state's 50-year-old Unruh Civil Rights Act. . . . In a depublication request filed with the Supreme Court in March, the San Francisco-based American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California called the January ruling by Riverside's Fourth District Court of Appeal an "ill-considered opinion" -- even though the court itself called the ruling "narrow." April 2009
Hate Crimes Bill Infringes First Amendment Rights
4-27-09 -- The new Federal Hate Crimes bill, which is about to pass the House, intrudes on First Amendment freedoms of speech and religion. It’s another great leap forward on the “gay rights” agenda. . . . We’ve been sliding down this slope for too long. . . . When I joined the American Bar Association, I understood it was about making better laws and lawyers. It wasn’t supposed to have a social agenda, left or right. For example, the ABA offered model codes regarding appropriate objectivity and fairness from judges and lawyers that the attorneys in each state were to consider as the most appropriate rules for governing their professional actions. . . . In the 1980's lawyers with a social agenda began filling the ranks of the ABA. It began to show itself in the resolutions being made and passed. By 1988, the Association adopted a policy urging its members not to hold business or professional functions at clubs that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. In 1989, the ABA adopted a policy of urging the federal government, state governments and local governments to enact legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment and housing. I recall seeing in the ABA Journal that states should be encouraged to send more homosexual delegates to the convention around that same time. Also, the ABA passed a controversial resolution in support of keeping abortion legal. Even some members who were pro-choice felt that the ABA was not the place to be pushing social issues. But the bar association had become the place to get social engineering done. Judiciary Committee greenlights 'hate crimes' Members refuse to protect Christian pastors from charges
4-23-09 -- Members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee today rejected an opportunity to protect Christian pastors who preach the biblical condemnation of homosexuality and approved on a 15-12 vote a "hate crimes" bill that supporters admit could be used to bring charges against religious leaders. . . . The bill, H.R. 1913, now will be considered by the full House of Representatives. . . . The committee rejected a number of amendments offered by several members seeking to protect religious liberty, to protect the unborn, to protect against violence by illegal aliens, and to clarify the bill's meanings of "gender identity" and "sexual orientation." . . . One of the rejected proposals was offered by Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, who sought to ensure ministers could not be prosecuted for abetting a "hate crime" simply because they preach from the Bible or another religious book.
Court: State must pay Jehovah's Witness benefits
4-22-09 -- The widow of a man who died after he refused a blood transfusion for religious reasons is entitled to workers compensation death benefits, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. . . . The Wyoming Workers' Safety and Compensation Division denied benefits to Sharon Williams on grounds that her husband, Howard W. Williams, refused reasonable and necessary medical treatment. Howard Williams died following a work-related car accident. . . . The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc. intervened in the case. . . . On Feb. 9, 2006, Williams, a maintenance technician for Capital City Maintenance Inc., was riding in an automobile on the interstate to a job site in Laramie. The driver, Sharon Williams, lost control of the vehicle, which rolled several times. . . . Howard Williams, 67, severely injured, was taken by ambulance to United Medical Center in Cheyenne. . . . The treating physician, Dr. M. Whitney Parnell, determined Williams had a ruptured spleen with abdominal bleeding, said the Supreme Court majority opinion, written by Justice Michael Golden. . . . The couple told the physician they were Jehovah's Witnesses and did not want any blood products used in Williams' treatment. They wanted to wait until their son arrived at the hospital to confirm they could use "Cell Saver," a process of taking the patient's own blood, cleaning it, processing it, and then transfusing it back into the patient.
4-13-09 -- A Texas congressman who is a former judge warns that the "hate crimes" legislation reintroduced in the U.S. House could potentially lead to the arrest of Christian pastors who speak out against sexual immorality. . . . Representatives John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) are sponsoring the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1913), also known as the "Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act." The bill would add sexual orientation to the list of categories covered under federal hate crime law. When Democrats passed the bill in 2007, they were divided over whether to add "gender identity and expression" to the list. . . . Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) says under the legislation, pastors, rabbis, or imams could be charged with encouraging or inducing a "hate crime" if they preach against homosexuality. Faith Groups Increasingly Lose Gay Rights Fights
4-10-09 -- Faith organizations and individuals who view homosexuality as sinful and refuse to provide services to gay people are losing a growing number of legal battles that they say are costing them their religious freedom. . . . The lawsuits have resulted from states and communities that have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Those laws have created a clash between the right to be free from discrimination and the right to freedom of religion, religious groups said, with faith losing. They point to what they say are ominous recent examples: . . . -- A Christian photographer was forced by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission to pay $6,637 in attorney's costs after she refused to photograph a gay couple's commitment ceremony. . . . -- A psychologist in Georgia was fired after she declined for religious reasons to counsel a lesbian about her relationship.
Expulsion threatened over prayer for sick teacher Students' lawsuit against College of Alameda moves forward
4-9-09 -- Attorneys representing two students who have been threatened with expulsion by a California college because of a prayer for a sick professor say a federal judge has refused the school's efforts to have the case dismissed. . . . "It's outrageous," said Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, which is working on the case brought by students Kandy Kyriacou and Ojoma Omaga of the College of Alameda in Alameda, near Oakland. . . . "Since when does praying for a sick teacher to get well – with her consent – earn a suspension? This is not just a constitutional violation; it is a complete lack of common sense. These students were not looking for a fight, but since the school to this day insists that it can expel them if they pray again, we will have to resolve it in federal court," he said. . . . The public-interest legal group said the decision by a San Francisco federal judge means the lawsuit will move forward.
City confesses it violated pastor's rights Minister arrested for being on public sidewalk
4-7-09 -- The city of Wichita, Kan., has confessed it violated the civil rights of a pastor who was arrested for being on a public city sidewalk at the time a homosexual event was going on nearby, and the subsequent lawsuit has been dismissed as part of a consent decree. . . . The case was brought by attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Spirit One Christian Center Pastor Mark Holick. . . . It was dismissed in an order from U.S. District Judge Thomas Martin, whose ruling described the situation: . . . "Plaintiff was preparing to share his religious beliefs with others on the public sidewalk near the entrance of Heritage Park in Wichita, Kansas, where a Gay Pride event was about to take place … within 5 minutes of arriving at that location, Plaintiff was threatened with arrest if he did not leave, and then immediately arrested when he refused to leave, handcuffed, placed in a squad car in front of members from his church, including adults, youth, and children, processed at the police station by having his mug shot taken, fingers printed, and placed in a cell with others."
Illinois Judge Stops Govt from Forcing Pro-Life Pharmacists to Dispense Drugs
4-6-09 -- An Illinois judge on Friday provided pro-life pharmacists in the state with a legal victory in their case against the state government. The case centers on a 2005 executive order pro-abortion ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued that would require pharmacists to dispense the morning after pill, which sometimes causes an abortion. . . . The pharmacists who filed suit to overturn the order said to be forced to do so would violate their religious and moral beliefs. . . . Sangamon County Judge John Belz issued a temporary restraining order last week against the state government ordering officials not to enforce the Blagojevich order. . . . Francis Manion, an attorney with the pro-life American Center for Law and Justice law firm, told LifeNews.com he is pleased with the decision. March 2009 Suit claims recognition of God violates law Brief challenges plan to stop acknowledging prayer
3-21-09 -- A court should reject arguments from those who seek "relentless extirpation" of any reference to religion in public life, according to a brief submitted in opposition to a Wisconsin lawsuit that challenges the National Day of Prayer. . . . The lawsuit was filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which asserted the law that sets the first Thursday in May as "National Day of Prayer" should be declared in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. . . . The case pending in a Wisconsin court now, however, has drawn the attention of the American Center for Law and Justice, the ACLJ, which submitted a friend-of-the-court brief asking for the case to be dismissed. . . . The ACLJ's filing includes a list 60 pages long of presidential and other proclamations recognizing America's need for a "day of prayer" and said the concept was adopted even as the U.S. was being created as a nation. . . . "At the end of the years 1777, 1781 and 1782 the Continental Congress recommended that the states set apart a day for prayer and thanksgiving. At the Constitutional Convention itself, Benjamin Franklin urged that 'prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business," the ACLJ argued. . . . It was George Washington who offered the first presidential proclamation urging a "day of public thanksgiving and prayer." He said "it is in an especial manner our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience," the filing argued.
Public school 'silence' ruled constitutional 3-17-09 -- A federal appeals court has upheld the observance of one minute of silence following the Pledge of Allegiance for students in public schools in Texas, affirming that the practice is not an unconstitutional endorsement either of religious or non-religious activities. . . . "The statute is facially neutral between religious and non-religious activities that students can choose to engage in during the moment of silence," said the ruling from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "As Justice O'Connor stated in her 'Wallace' concurrence: 'It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful school children.'" . . . The 5th Circuit ruling came in a case in which the non-profit Alliance Defense Fund filed a friend-of-the-court brief.
Are crosses religious symbols? Court to hear case
3-8-09 -- A Denver federal appellate court will hear arguments today on the religiousness of 12-foot-high crosses used to honor deceased Utah troopers along state highways. . . . A federal judge in Salt Lake City in 2007 ruled that the crosses are not an illegal public endorsement of religion and are used to communicate a secular message — that a patrolman died or was mortally wounded at a particular location. . . . Texas-based American Atheists in their appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reject arguments that the cross "now falls into the category of the no-longer-religious Christmas tree." . . . The group has suggested a tombstone or American flag to honor fallen troopers. The judge said the U.S. military uses crosses in cemeteries to represent death and also noted that Utah's majority religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, does not use a cross as an icon.
Bible club bullied for faith
statement 3-3-09 -- A university in Ohio has threatened the future of a campus Bible organization for requiring voting members and office holders be Christian. . . . According to Campus Bible Fellowship representative Gary Holtz, his group had been a registered student organization at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, for more than 30 years. Upon seeking re-registration for 2009, however, the university denied the Bible group's access to facilities, student club fairs, advertising venues and recruiting opportunities – essentially blacklisting the club – because of CBF's requirement that voting members adhere to a doctrinal statement and "accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior." . . . In response, the CBF chapter sought the help of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, an organization that states its mission is to defend "freedom of speech, legal equality, due process, religious liberty and sanctity of conscience" at America's colleges and universities.
Elementary blots out 'In God We Trust'
3-3-09 -- An elementary school in Tennessee, after successfully rebuffing an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit over religious expression on campus, has nonetheless ordered the words "God Bless the USA" and "In God We Trust" covered up on student-made posters in the hallway. . . . Administrators at Lakeview Elementary School in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., told parents that the posters, promoting the See You at the Pole student prayer event, mentioned "God" and are therefore precluded by school board policy and prohibited in the hallways as inappropriate. . . . Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance defending religious liberty, filed a lawsuit today on behalf of 10 parents and their children, seeking an injunction against banning private religious expression on student-made posters. . . . "Christian students shouldn't be censored for expressing their beliefs," said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum in a statement. "It's ridiculous as well as unconstitutional to cover up these references to God and prayer – one of which is the national motto itself – on posters announcing a student-led activity."
February 2009
9th Circuit Backs Church on Disclosure of Donors to Campaign Against Gay Marriage
2-26-09 -- Attorneys trying to shield the names of donors to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign say a 9th Circuit ruling breathes new life into their so-far unsuccessful efforts. . . . A three-judge panel in Seattle on Wednesday held that the state of Montana went too far in requiring an East Helena church to publicly disclose its financial involvement in a 2004 initiative campaign to ban same-sex marriage. . . . The church's in-kind contributions were so small -- initiative petitions were placed in the church foyer; petition copies were made on a church machine -- that forcing its leaders to file campaign disclosure forms amounted to an unfair abridgement of the assembly's First Amendment rights, Judge William Canby Jr. wrote in Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church of East Helena Inc. v. Unsworth, 09 C.D.O.S. 2287. St. Obama candle lights Catholic protest
Priest calls for boycott of shop selling haloed president
2-16-09 -- A priest in California is outraged at a novelty store's large display window of "Saint Obama" candles displaying an image he says "depicts our beloved saints in a not so saintly way." . . . The candles feature President Obama's head atop the body of St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian-born Dominican friar, who became one of the first black saints in the Americas upon his canonization in 1962. . . . Rev. Tony La Torre of St. Philip the Apostle Church in San Francisco says the candles, sold by the Just for Fun store for $15, "mock and ridicule the Catholic/Christian faith." . . . "I am appalled," La Torre wrote in a recent parish newsletter, "that in such a family-oriented neighborhood, any retailer would be so bigoted and so hateful (as) to carry such merchandise just to 'make a buck.'" . . . Just for Fun owners Robert Ramsey and David Eiland, however, say they've done more than "make a buck" – they've made thousands.
Root of nation's economic crisis is moral crisis
2-15-09 -- A travesty of justice has occurred in Oakland, California. But realities surrounding this local issue point to how the economic crisis in our nation is symptomatic of and flows from a deeper fundamental moral crisis. . . . A black pastor awaits sentencing, which could amount to two years in prison and $4,000 in fines, for standing outside an inner city abortion clinic holding a sign saying "Jesus Loves You & Your Baby, Let Us Help You," and offering pro-life literature. . . . Walter Hoye, founder and chairman of the Issues4Life Foundation, was found guilty of "unlawful approach" under the "Access to Reproductive Health Care Facilities Ordinance" enacted in Oakland in 2008. . . . Under the ordinance, it is prohibited, within 100 feet of the entrance to a "reproductive health facility," to approach within eight feet of a client "for the purpose of counseling, harassing, or interfering" with that person. . . . "Harassing" means holding up a sign, passing out literature or offering counseling. . . . The "reproductive health care facility" in question is Family Planning Specialists in Oakland. Looking over their Web site, it's clear that there is only one kind of reproductive health care they provide. Abortions.
Prof calls Christian student 'fascist b------' Lawsuit filed after speech met with: 'Ask God what your grade is'
2-13-09 -- A student at Los Angeles City College has filed a lawsuit against the institution after a professor called him a "fascist b------" and told him to "Ask God what your grade is" following the student's speech about morality. . . . The case has been filed by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of Jonathan Lopez after his encounter with Professor John Matteson in a speech class. . . . The lawsuit alleges Lopez was participating in a class assignment to give a speech on "any topic" from six to eight minutes. . . . "During the November, 24, 2008 class, Mr. Lopez delivered an informative speech on God and the ways in which Mr. Lopez has seen God act both in his life and in the lives of others through miracles. In the middle of the speech, he addressed the issues of God and morality; thus, he referred to the dictionary definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman and also read a passage from the Bible discussing marriage," the ADF explained. . . . At that point, the professor interrupted him and refused to allow him to finish his speech, ADF said. Matteson then called Lopez a 'fascist b------" and dismissed the class. . . . Later, the professor left an evaluation form on Lopez's backpack without a grade, instructing him to "Ask God what your grade is." . . . The professor also warned on the evaluation form, "proselytizing is inappropriate in public school." . . . Yet several weeks earlier, Matteson has announced to the class, in connection to the California vote Nov. 4 in support of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman only, that, "if you voted yes on Proposition 8, you are a fascist b------."
January 2009
Judge: Moment-of-silence law unconstitutional
1-21-09 -- A federal judge in Chicago ruled today that a state law mandating a moment of silence in Illinois public schools is unconstitutional. . . . The judge, Robert W. Gettleman of the U.S. District Court, had put the Illinois law on hold last May while he considered the case filed by an atheist on behalf of his daughter. . . . Critics of the law, including the American Civil Liberties Union, contended the law amounted to a government endorsement of religion.
1-21-09 -- Barack Obama, who campaigned on "Change We Can Believe In," was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States yesterday, Jan. 20, in the most expensive inauguration in the history of our country. Despite a bleak economy and a rising unemployment rate, Obama and we the taxpayers are estimated to have spent over $150 million. That is a lot of "change," to be sure. . . . While many in the country were welcoming the Obamas, the incoming president was busy putting out the welcome mat for the homosexual agenda. At the "We are One" gathering at the Lincoln Memorial on the Sunday before the Inauguration, Obama invited Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly "gay" bishop ordained in the Episcopal Church, to give the opening prayer. It seems rather strange that an event to celebrate "unity" would begin with prayer by an individual whose homosexual conduct is responsible for one of the deepest divisions in the Episcopal Church in its history, as various dioceses have severed ties with the Episcopal Church to join the more conservative international Anglican community. . . . But even more shocking is the fact that Bishop Robinson was asked to pray at all. When questioned about the upcoming event by the Associated Press, Robinson assured them that he would "be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer," and – not surprisingly – that he would not use a Bible. If that is the accepted view of our new president and those attending the event, then we are indeed in for a "change," but one actually contrary to our beliefs and very destructive of our national morality. Historically, there has never been a time when Christianity has been so openly shunned and homosexuality so expressly promoted. . . . Our first president would have been appalled at such "change." George Washington began a long tradition of adding "so help me God" to the constitutionally required presidential oath while resting his hand on the Holy Bible. The records of the National Archives show that, after repeating the oath, Washington leaned over and reverently kissed the Bible. Unlike Robinson, Washington was careful to publicly emphasize his faith in God and His Word, not run from it. Court: Christian mom's child must visit lesbian State threatens to take daughter by force, if necessary
1-19-09 -- A Christian mother has been told by a Virginia court that her 6-year-old daughter must now visit the mother's former lesbian partner in Vermont, and if she refuses, the law will remove the girl by force, if necessary. . . . As WND has reported, Lisa Miller left the homosexual lifestyle and became a Christian when her daughter, Isabella, was 17 months old. But Janet Jenkins, Lisa's same-sex partner when Lisa gave birth to Isabella, is seeking full custody of the girl, claiming she was a parent even though she is not biologically related to Isabella and never sought to adopt her. . . . The case has been further tangled by the courts, as Jenkins and Miller were joined in civil union in Vermont, but Miller and her daughter now live in Virginia, where the laws forbid recognition of civil unions. . . . Earlier this month, however, Judge William Sharp of the Shenandoah County Domestic Relations District Court in Virginia, ordered Miller to allow Jenkins a three-day unsupervised visit with Isabella. . . . Miller told LifeSiteNews that Sharp also ruled that Vermont's civil union laws must be upheld in Virginia. D.C. cops ban pro-life messages 'Is this the future of free speech and political dissent under President Obama'
1-16-09 -- The Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department has forbidden a pro-life gathering and chalk display during Inauguration Week – and now the group is fighting back with a lawsuit against the department. . . . Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, said the department is banning the event because of its message. . . . "For over 16 years, law enforcement officials have given permission to the Christian Defense Coalition to use public 'sidewalk chalking' as a part of their demonstrations and vigils in the nation's capitol. The City of Washington, D.C., has also allowed numerous public 'chalk art displays' throughout the city," he said in a statement. "It is therefore most troubling that for the first time the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department is banning this practice when it involves a pro-life display in front of the White House." . . . Thursday, Jan. 22, marks the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Since 9714, pro-life activists have gathered in Washington, D.C., each year to protest the decision and call attention to millions of lives lost. Like it or not, you pay for faith in evolution 'This is classic example of what Founding Fathers did not want'
1-9-09 -- Whether a public university can use taxpayer funds from the federal government for a website that overtly endorses the beliefs of some religious groups regarding evolution and creation – but not others – is the focus of a case that's being prepared for submission to the U.S. Supreme Court. . . . "This is a classic example of what the Founding Fathers did not want," Brad Dacus, of the Pacific Justice Institute, told WND. . . . His organization is working on the case that revolves around a University of California-Berkeley website that advocates for a single perspective in the arguments over evolution – and highlights a list of religious groups whose beliefs agree with that perspective. . . . The site, funded by a federal grant and aimed at influencing teachers to promote evolution, excludes and ridicules perspectives – and religious groups that hold those perspectives – that fail to align with its stated beliefs. . . . "Some religious beliefs explicitly contradict science (e.g., the belief that the world and all life on it was created in six literal days); however, most religious groups have no conflict with the theory of evolution or other scientific findings," states the website. . . . "This [website] injures religious freedom in this country," Dacus said. "The government is playing a role that is overtly hostile to some religious groups and denominations while favoring and giving greater recognition towards others." . . . He continued, "This case involves the ability of the state to use taxpayer money to overtly endorse and encourage support of one set of religious denominations over others."
Traditional family defenders now in 'gay' agenda bull's-eye Licensing proposal could require lawyers to endorse homosexuality
1-1-09 -- One of the top lawyers in the nation in the battle to protect traditional marriage, historically Christian lifestyle choices, parental rights and the key freedoms provided by the U.S. Constitution is warning that there eventually could be no lawyers left to take up those disputes. . . . That's because of a recommendation before the State Bar of Arizona – the organization that licenses attorneys – to require all new lawyers to swear they won't let their personal religious perspective on homosexuality affect their representation of any client. Mathew Staver, chief of Liberty Counsel, warns that the proposal is just the "tip of the iceberg." . . . According to reports in Arizona, the state bar is considering a major change to its existing oath that requires lawyers to affirm they won't "permit considerations of gender, race, age, nationality, disability or social standing to influence my duty of care" to clients. . . . The proposal in Arizona is to add "sexual orientation" to that list. An Historic Example Of Judicial Activism: The Cantwell Case |
"It
is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the
Constitution] a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so
frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of
the revolution."
"[T]he importance of piety and religion; of industry and frugality; of prudence, economy, regularity and an even government; all ... are essential to the well-being of a family." --Samuel Adams, letter to Thomas Wells, 1780 |
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“In politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making
proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by
persecution.”
"In such a performance
you may lay the foundation of national happiness only in religion, not
by leaving it doubtful " whether morals can exist without it, " but by
asserting that without religion morals are the effects of causes as
purely physical as pleasant breezes and fruitful seasons." |
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Inaugurated on January 17, 2009
Updated: 01/29/2012
