Free Republic

A public board of education in Florida has decided to keep opening its meetings with an invocation despite a complaint from atheist group Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Brett Harvey of Alliance Defending Freedom says board members of the Clay County School Board are waiting for a U.S. Supreme Court decision. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Nov. 6 in a case after an atheist sued because she didn’t like the way people were praying to open their public meetings, Harvey tells OneNewsNow. A letter from Americans United to the school board claimed that courts...

A New Hampshire mother has been banned from praying at her kids' high school. Lizarda Urena has two children enrolled at Concord High School in Concord, N.H. She started praying on school grounds in 2011 after two bullets were found in a restroom at the school. Urena said she prayed aloud as students entered the school every morning. She was recently told by school officials that the prayers were not welcome after someone filed a complaint with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. "They told me, no, no more," the mother of two said, with tears in her eyes. "I stand...

In a special weekly address, celebrating the 4th of July, President Barack Obama said that Americans are free to “worship” as they please—which mirrors language in the Iraqi constitution, but contrasts with the First Amendment to our own constitution which denies government any power to prohibit “the free exercise” of religion. Obama’s reference to freedom of “worship” rather than “free exercise” of religion is not a new one—but it is a telling one. Obama speaks of freedom of “worship” rather than the “free exercise” of religion, because at this very moment—on this 4th of July—he is attacking the free exercise...

Miami-Dade Transit says county rules prohibit anyone to do so without permit An 82-year-old woman was forcibly removed from a Miami-Dade Metrorail train for singing during her ride. Emma Anderson was sitting in a seat on the train and singing a spiritual hymn when a private security guard approached. Quick Clicks Sun Life bill survives tough fight FOIA request filed about woman removed from Metrorail Cows found roaming golf course 3 Homestead officers to be fired Jungle Island does Harlem Shake The guard, hired by the transit system, first told the woman she was being disruptive. "I was beating my...

First Amendment: The bizarre ObamaCare decision leaves unresolved the separate issue of whether government can define what a church is and what it can do. Will the courts also redefine the "free exercise" of religion? For now, ObamaCare remains largely intact and so does its attempt to rewrite the First Amendment by prohibiting the free exercise of religion through its mandate that religious institutions provide contraceptive coverage in violation of their church teachings and religious consciences. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty says it will move forward with litigation challenging a requirement from the federal health care law that employers...

A federal appeals court ruling this week could significantly diminish public university religious groups' ability to restrict membership and leadership to students who agree with their teachings. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday (Aug. 2) that San Diego State University (SDSU)'s nondiscrimination policy for officially recognized campus groups is constitutional and does not violate the rights of two Christian groups. The policy is based on a nondiscrimination policy used at all the schools in the California State University system. The two Christian groups, sorority Alpha Delta Chi and fraternity Alpha Gamma Omega, had sued SDSU in 2005, alleging...

BALDWIN BOROUGH, Pa. -- Baldwin borough is now telling a man who put a giant illuminated cross outside his home to take the structure down or face a penalty. Carl Behr built the 24-foot cross and two other crosses on his property along Robbins Street in Baldwin. "If you have a problem with that, I think you have a problem with the Lord," said Behr. Behr said it's an act of faith, but one neighbor claims it's an act of revenge. Next-door neighbor Lisa Fera said she contacted police and the borough because she felt Behr purposely built the large...

By Burt Prelutsky Over the last several years, a time of year that was traditionally a period of goodwill and universal brotherhood, when even actual brothers somehow managed to set aside sibling rivalries for a month or so, Christmas has become an annual battleground between decent people and a relatively small number of secular leftists who insist on carrying on as if auditioning for the role of Scrooge. As many of you are no doubt aware, this year, Fort Collins got a jump start on the foolishness. The town fathers, by making every effort not to offend anyone, have, like...

Bush apologizes to Wiccan widow Published: Sept 2, 2007 at 10:16 AM WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush apologized to a Nevada Wiccan who was left out of a presidential meeting with relatives of soldiers killed in combat. Rebecca Stewart, who sued to have the Wiccan symbol placed on her husband’s grave marker in a military cemetery, told The Washington Post the president called her to apologize. She said she explained to Bush the faith she and her husband shared. Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. Stewart said she heard about the private meeting...

As I sat in the hearing room, I felt a cold chill – like the chilling effect this court-martial will have on our free speech. For this analogy to be accurate, however, I would need to be sitting in a freezer. At issue in the court-martial of Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt, chaplain for the United States Navy, is a name and the freedom to speak it. That name is Jesus. And, according to this week's ruling, the freedom to speak it depends on the context. Before I could go through the metal detectors to get to the courtroom, a Navy...

<p>Every year, the Frenchtown Elementary School in New Jersey presents an after-school talent show, open to kids from kindergarten through eighth grade. The performers can choose to play an instrument, dance, create a skit or select a song.</p> <p>This past school year, a second-grader decided to sing Awesome God. But during rehearsal, the teacher in charge, on hearing the title and lyrics, told the child that principal Joyce Brennan would have to approve that song. Brennan contacted the attorney for the school district.</p>

Gay rights vs. religious beliefs http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/15345126.htm Posted on Thu, Aug. 24, 2006 Commentary By Roger T. Severino Live and let live. A simple concept, to be sure, but can we apply it to the growing conflict between gay rights and religious beliefs? The answer increasingly seems to be no. Recently, Philadelphia ordered the local Boy Scouts of America chapter (the nation's third-largest) to renounce the national organization's ban on openly gay members or begin paying rent on its city-subsidized headquarters of 78 years. Some thought this issue was settled by the Supreme Court in 2000, when the Boy Scouts won...

University of Wisconsin ignores the law, refuses to recognize Christian student organizationshttp://alliancedefensefund.org/news/pressrelease.aspx?cid=3820 ADF attorney calls university officials to account for discriminatory actions Monday, August 07, 2006, 5:15 PM (MST) ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020 MADISON, Wis. — The director of the Alliance Defense Fund’s Center for Academic Freedom sent a letter to University of Wisconsin officials today warning them about the illegality of their continued de-recognition of Christian student groups. "Christian student groups shouldn’t be treated differently from other student organizations,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David French, who wrote the letter. “The University of Wisconsin has decided to force...

Public Expression of Religion Act moves forwardhttp://www.recordgazette.net/articles/2006/07/28/news/05news.txt http://tinyurl.com/hp9ga Rees Lloyd, Banning-based attorney and Commander of American Legion District 21 (Riverside County), has been selected to testify on behalf of The American Legion before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution in support of passage of Senate Bill 3696, Veterans Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals and Other Public Expressions of Religion Act of 2006 (“PERA). S 3696 (PERA), sponsored by Sen. Brownback (R-Kan), a companion bill to H.R. 2979 (PERA), sponsored by Rep. Hostetter (R-Ind.), would amend all relevant federal laws to eliminate the authority of judges to award taxpayer-paid attorney...

Five years ago, I wrote about threats made by the Internal Revenue Service against conservative churches for supposedly engaging in politicking. Today, the IRS is again attempting to chill free speech, sending notices to more than 15,000 non-profit organizations—including churches—regarding its new crackdown on political activity. But what exactly constitutes political activity? What if a member of the clergy urges his congregation to work toward creating a pro-life culture, when an upcoming election features a pro-life candidate? What if a minister admonishes churchgoers that homosexuality is sinful, when an initiative banning gay marriage is on an upcoming ballot? Where exactly...

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com A federal court ruled a Florida county cannot prohibit a rabbi from holding prayer and worship services in his own home. Rabbi Joseph Konikov of Orlando was faced with two land-use ordinance violations filed by Orange County. "Americans have the right to meet in their homes for prayer or to study religious materials without government interference," said Rick Nelson, head of the American Liberties Institute, a group allied with the Alliance Defense Fund. In 2001, Konikov and his family were ordered by code enforcement officers to stop holding prayer meetings in their home, near Disney World, alleging...

...We need to restore the original definitions of "law," "establishment," and "religion" in the First Amendment. A monument or display could never be a "law," the mere posting or installation of it is not an "establishment," and the recognition of God by the public display of the Ten Commandments is not "religion." After all, the original definition of the word "religion" -- the duties we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging those duties -- which was recognized by the Supreme Court years ago, acknowledged God and a higher law. ...[I]t should be clear that, as Justice Antonin...

Over the course of the past week, the Terri Schiavo case made headlines with its swift and unsuccessful journey through the federal courts. The string of court defeats might have left the impression that the case was doomed from the outset. Yet the litigation's failure may owe more to a poor tactical choice by the lawyers advising the Schindlers--Terri's parents--than to the case's underlying merits. The original Schindler complaint included a variety of federal constitutional and statutory claims. Each of them was weak at best, as was quickly reflected in federal district judge James Whittemore's ruling that the Schindlers had...

4 options on deity issue to be weighed By Roger Phelps, The Porterville Recorder A weighty decision on public prayer faces the Porterville City Council Tuesday. Wrestling with the sentiments of hundreds of demonstrators calling in recent weeks for resumption of official prayers naming Jesus Christ, the council could choose among four optional actions described in a report by the city attorney. One is to keep things the way they are, whereby Porterville invocations observe a court ruling that mentioning a specific deity in official prayer violates the establishment-of-religion clause of the U.S. Constitution. The case is Rubin v. City...

For more than two years, Rev. Jim Potter has fought Anderson County officials for the right to leave up a giant Christian cross he erected near I-75. On Monday, a judge sided with the county, ordering Rev. Potter to remove the cross. County officials argued that the cross, located on private property near exit 122, violated building and zoning regulations. But Rev. Potter said he believed that because of the significance of religious structures, his cross should be exempt from the zoning regulations. "I think it (the cross) should bring to knowledge the fact that Jesus Christ did die for...