Posted on 10/26/2016 12:50:52 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
A lay minister who is suing the Georgia Department of Public Health for religious discrimination has been directed by the state’s attorney general to relinquish his sermons to the government, according to federal court documents.
“Please produce a copy of your sermon notes and/or transcripts,” Attorney General Samuel Olens wrote to attorneys representing Dr. Eric Walsh.
.....Walsh said he will not comply with the request.
“No government has the right to require a pastor to turn over his sermons,” Walsh said. “I cannot and will not give up my sermons unless I am forced to do so.”
Walsh, a Seventh-day Adventist lay minister had been hired in May 2014 by as a District Health Director...
A week later, a government official asked him to submit copies of his sermons for review. He complied and two days later he was fired.
His attorneys said the government was curious about sermons Dr. Walsh delivered on health, marriage, sexuality, world religions, science and creationism. He also preached on what the Bible says regarding homosexuality.
He has since filed a federal lawsuit charging state officials with engaging in religious discrimination....
I know a pastor who opens the book fans the pages and stops at where he’s going to preach from. He teachings are very good. No notes, recordings just the Word.
The fascist state is moving in for the kill. The end goal is to eliminate Christianity, by forcing Christians to choose between their religion and their jobs.
Will they do this for muzlims, seeing that muzlims in some countries kill gays for being gay?
The mind boggles...
the lawyer must go
Where might the Fifth Amendment enter into the case? Only in possible criminal proceedings?
They hired him for a state job but fired him from that once they heard his sermons. Now they are asking for more sermons to support their position.
I really don’t know. I haven’t followed this case. My comments started out as a general comment on what discovery is and that it is to be used “carefully” and considered in the charging. That’s all.
Unless this is a setup as a test case on religious hate speech and government employees. This could get very interesting.
In this regard, as the plaintiff’s lawyer, I’d DEMAND the accused present the information it used as a basis for firing him. I’d further argue that “discovery” in the case for the accused’s request is indeed a fishing expedition and a ploy to find other grounds or arguments to support a weak or nonexistent case for the firing.
IMO this should be a simple argument for the plaintiff’s lawyer. The burden should fall on the accused to demonstrate why this information is important to further justify the firing when they felt they ‘had enough’ to fire him in the first place.
It would be a shame if a hard-drive failure destroyed all his sermons and notes. A real shame.
Georgia was way out of line here. Sue big.
Paragraph III. Freedom of conscience.All this begs the question: By what legal authority can an officer of the State of Georgia demand this?
Each person has the natural and inalienable right to worship God, each according to the dictates of that person's own conscience; and no human authority should, in any case, control or interfere with such right of conscience.Paragraph IV. Religious opinions; freedom of religion.
No inhabitant of this state shall be molested in person or property or be prohibited from holding any public office or trust on account of religious opinions; but the right of freedom of religion shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.Paragraph V. Freedom of speech and of the press guaranteed.
No law shall be passed to curtail or restrain the freedom of speech or of the press. Every person may speak, write, and publish sentiments on all subjects but shall be responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
“Walsh, a Seventh-day Adventist lay minister had been hired in May 2014 by as a District Health Director with the Georgia Department of Public Health. A week later, a government official asked him to submit copies of his sermons for review. He complied and two days later he was fired.”
The companies I worked for posted Federal regulations regarding equal employment opportunities where everyone could see them, as I believe all companies must do. Those regulations forbade discrimination for a number of reasons including gender, race and religion. Firing the lay preacher for his religious principles seems a clear violation of those laws. I would just love to see the state fire a muslim imam for voicing his convictions.
Would the state office have acted this way if he had quoted the Koran?
Did you notice they asked for them before charges were filed?
Nice to see the pastor get some support here, during the primaries Seventh-Day Adventists got attacked by some as a “cult” because Ben Carson, an Adventist, was daring to run without their approval.
The people responsible for demanding this should be put in stocks in the public square for a starter.
PING!!!
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Similar thread
GA Governor Demands Pastor Hand Over His Sermons—and His Bible
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3485371/posts
tar and feather works too.
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