I made my point several times over in thread I referred to. It seemed to cause little concern then. I guess that so long as it isn't my rights being trampled we just don't care.
The ACLU sues schools that allow freedom of speech if it is religious speech involved. They have a long and on going history of doing this. If you will clearly state that you think this isn't true then I will go to the trouble of proving it. If you don't really care and will just sweep it aside like Midnight Target did with his statement about if they did then it was to protect freedom of religion, then why should I bother?
I want to hear specifics.
Here's one lawsuit:
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a case seeking to uphold an elementary school student's right to religious expression.
The Frenchtown Elementary School student, whose initials are O.T., wanted to sing the song "Awesome God" in a voluntary, after-school talent show. School officials refused to allow the student to sing her song, saying it would give the impression that the school favored religion. “O.T.” remains anonymous to protect her privacy.
"There is a distinction between religious expression initiated or endorsed by school personnel, and speech initiated by individual students," said ACLU of New Jersey cooperating attorney Jennifer Klear of Drinker, Biddle & Reath in New York. "The Constitution protects a student's individual right to express herself, including religious expression."
In its brief, the ACLU argued that no reasonable observer would have believed that the school endorsed the religious message behind the student's song, and that the school therefore had no right to deny her choice of song.
The talent show was open for anyone from the 1st through 8th grades who wished to play a solo instrument, dance, perform a skit or sing karaoke. Students were permitted to select their own songs or skits.
"We are dedicated to protecting the right of individual religious expression," said ACLU of New Jersey Legal Director Ed Barocas. "O.T. has our full support in defense of her right to sing a religious song in the talent show."
The ACLU of New Jersey has participated in other cases involving the right of individual religious expression, including recently helping to ensure that jurors are not removed from jury pools for wearing religious clothing and that prisoners are able to obtain religious literature.
The case, O.T. v. Frenchtown Elementary School, was filed in federal court in Trenton.
And here's another one:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky announced today that U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley, Jr. has issued a temporary restraining order to prevent Russell County High School from including prayer during its graduation ceremony tonight.
“This case is not about whether people can or should pray; it’s about families and individuals deciding for themselves whether, when, and how to pray,” said Lili S. Lutgens, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Kentucky. “Our founders intended that these religious decisions be made by individuals and families, not the government.”
The ACLU of Kentucky sought the order Tuesday on behalf of a Russell County senior who believes that the planned prayers would have been an unconstitutional endorsement of religion and of specific religious views by the school.
Students who want to pray are free to organize a private, religious baccalaureate service before or after graduation, Lutgens said, but including prayers in the official graduation ceremony is a violation of the First Amendment’s prohibition against government-sponsored religion.
The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the inclusion of clergy-led prayer at public school graduations and student-led prayer at school sporting events. “The Constitution forbids the state to exact religious conformity from a student as the price of attending her own high school graduation,” the Court wrote in its 1992 Lee v. Weisman decision.
I agree fully with both positions. I bet if the prayer in the second case involved Satanism of Islamic Jihad then it wouldn't be such an OUTRAGE to many people who dislike the ACLU's meddling with their ability to overtly, or by implication, proselytize the "one true religion" at government funded events. See, you get the real strong impression where such outrage is concerned that it's not religion in general at the core, but resistance to the open acknowledgment that there is one true religion in America under Christ.
like this suit:
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked a court to order the removal of a large portrait of Jesus prominently displayed outside the principal's office at Bridgeport High School, saying that the display is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
"The Constitution's ban on government endorsement of religion is good for both government and religion. It keeps religion free and allows government to represent us all," said Andrew Schneider, Executive Director of the ACLU of West Virginia. "In violating that ban, Bridgeport High School is interfering with the right of all students to freely express their religious beliefs."
The current debate dates to a March meeting of the Harrison County Board of Education, when a local resident, Harold Sklar, submitted a formal request that the portrait be taken down. However, this is not the first time the display has been questioned. Sklar had asked for the portrait's removal several times over a 10 year period, but his requests were ignored.
Schneider noted that even if the portrait reflected the beliefs of a majority of individuals, the United States Supreme Court ruled unequivocally in 1943 in a landmark West Virginia case that the purpose of the Bill of Rights was to ensure that fundamental liberties like freedom of religion are not subject to the whims of a majority.
"School officials are flouting the First Amendment principle of church-state separation and in the process providing students a shoddy civics lesson," said Richard Katskee, Assistant Legal Director of Americans United.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, seeks to remove the portrait and obtain damages as well as reasonable attorneys' fees.
I somehow don't think that portrait, outside the principal's office, is meant as a private expression of his faith. Seems more like a "get with the program" kind of thing to me. But again, substitute a pentagram for the Jesus portrait and the outrage over the suit vanishes, I imagine.
