Christ, Christians and Christmas Under Attack In The Courts

[Soldier4Christ]

Quoting Scripture banned in library community room
'What next? Will board keep patrons from reading Bible?'

Quoting from the Bible has been banned in a community room at the public library in Clermont County, Ohio, and now a couple who sought to use the facility for a financial planning seminar have brought a court case.

"What's next? Will the library board attempt to keep patrons from checking out Bibles and reading them on government property?" asked Tim Chandler, a legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is working on the case involving George and Cathy Vandergriff.

The couple asked for permission to use a public facility at the library to hold a financial planning seminar with the Institute for Principled Policy.

Under the use policy for the facility, the meetings rooms there "are available to all community groups and non-profit organizations engaged in activities that further the Library's mission to be responsive to community needs and to be an integral part of our community," according to the lawsuit.

"When the Library's meeting rooms are not being used for library-related programs, the rooms are available for non-profit use by community groups. The groups may use meeting rooms for private meetings or to present programs for the general public," it continues.

However, when Cathy Vandergriff asked in person to use a meeting room for a financial planning meeting, the conversation with the library employee took an unwelcome turn.

"When Mrs. Vandergriff indicated that the seminar would be a free ministry to the general public, the employee asked if she would be quoting the Bible in the presentation. Mrs. Vandergriff answered that she would be using the Bible, and the employee informed her that the Library's Policy would therefore not permit her to use the meeting room," the ADF said.

When she followed up with a written request for the use of the facility, an employee again warned about the ban on quoting from the Bible, and the written rejection soon followed. It carried the hand-written notation: "Contact Mr. Vandergriff will be quoting bible versus [sic] explained our meeting room policy."

The ADF's complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Ohio, requests a declaratory judgment, preliminary and permanent injunctions and damages and costs for the action.

"The … Clermont Public Library Board of Trustees … is prohibiting plaintiffs from engaging in expressive activities in a generally available public forum solely due to the religious viewpoint of those activities," the ADF said.

The library did not return a WND message requesting comment.

The complaint cites alleged violations of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution including the right to free exercise of religion, and the 14th Amendment's equal protection and due process clauses.

"The library has no compelling reason that would justify excluding plaintiffs from these generally available public facilities solely on the basis of the religious nature of plaintiffs' speech," the complaint said.

"Refusing to grant this group permission to hold a seminar at a meeting room in a public library because they planned to quote the Bible is about as blatantly un-American and unconstitutional as you can get," Chandler said. "Christian organizations shouldn't be discriminated against for their beliefs."

"The denial sends the message to the Vandergriffs and other Christians that they are not deemed a valuable part of the community. Christians have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America," the ADF's Kevin Theriot added.

"Any government policy denying equal access rights to a group simply because it intends on quoting Bible verses does not comport with the Constitution. This is a financial planning seminar, and the library has previously allowed meetings that discuss financial planning. The fact that they may quote Bible verses during the meeting does not legally matter."

The Institute for Principled Policy planned to sponsor the two two-hour seminars for 10 attendees April 18 and 19 at the library using Larry Burkett’s Crown Ministries materials.

[nChrist]

The complaint cites alleged violations of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution including the right to free exercise of religion, and the 14th Amendment's equal protection and due process clauses.

"The library has no compelling reason that would justify excluding plaintiffs from these generally available public facilities solely on the basis of the religious nature of plaintiffs' speech," the complaint said.

"Refusing to grant this group permission to hold a seminar at a meeting room in a public library because they planned to quote the Bible is about as blatantly un-American and unconstitutional as you can get," Chandler said. "Christian organizations shouldn't be discriminated against for their beliefs."

"The denial sends the message to the Vandergriffs and other Christians that they are not deemed a valuable part of the community. Christians have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America," the ADF's Kevin Theriot added.

"Any government policy denying equal access rights to a group simply because it intends on quoting Bible verses does not comport with the Constitution. This is a financial planning seminar, and the library has previously allowed meetings that discuss financial planning. The fact that they may quote Bible verses during the meeting does not legally matter."

We were and are a nation of laws by the people and UNDER GOD! Our laws and Constitutions were designed to prevent tyranny and oppression of the people. Day by day, things are getting worse - and we are becoming like slaves of a corrupt government. Slavery is the correct term when there is a master who can take whatever he wants without your permission or due process. We have been far beyond JUST LEGAL TAXATION for over 60 years.

[nChrist]

NYC school displays offensive 'art'

A prestigious New York school is displaying supposed "art" that many Christians are finding highly offensive.

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City has displayed student art with vile and obscene depictions of Christianity. [Editor's note: The depictions are too graphic to describe herein.] Frank Russo of the American Family Association of New York says it is becoming more common for Christianity to be targeted -- but enough is enough, he adds.
 
"My view is that, in a free society, they are free to do that," the activist acknowledges. "What I think we [as Christians] are free to do, and I hope we consider something like this, is to publicize the names of people who are donating to Cooper Union and ask people to contact them about this. I mean, what do they think about this? I think that's also part of a First Amendment right in a free society," Russo contends.
 
The New York family advocate believes the school would not think of displaying such items if they targeted Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or Buddhist themes. "But when it has to do with Christianity, somehow Christianity is viewed as a legitimate target of disgraceful and clearly sacrilegious actions by people," he argues.
 
Cooper Union is considered a prestigious school, especially in the field of engineering. Russo shares that he is disappointed in the school and no longer holds it in high regard.

There was a time not long ago that things like this were criminal offenses. They were covered under a variety of criminal statutes. Taking the LORD'S Name in vain was also a criminal act, and that hasn't been long ago at all. Lest we forget, we also have a history of laws requiring businesses to be closed on SUNDAY. NO - I'm not kidding at all - SUNDAY WAS RESERVED FOR THE LORD AND THIS WAS THE LAW NOT MANY YEARS AGO - BUT RECENTLY! It's sad that many of our younger people don't have a clue about our heritage and WHAT WAS for the vast majority of our existence. Nearly all public buildings and public documents had and have various references to ALMIGHTY GOD - RIGHTFULLY SO! It was and still is a common practice to have Christian symbols or references to ALMIGHTY GOD on City Seals displayed on everything the people of that City owned - including police cars, fire trucks, city stationary, and literally everything that it was practical to display the seal on.

[Soldier4Christ]

Billboard proclaims: Imagine no religion
'We want to uphold the separation of church and state'

Denver's secularists wanting freedom from religion have taken over one corner in the public square to make the point.

They've emblazoned a billboard six blocks from the state Capitol with the message, inscribed over faux stained glass, "Imagine No Religion."

More than 2,000 religions have fueled division and rancor among peoples and hindered scientific and social progress, said Michael Lee Smith, local spokesman for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The world would be better off without organized religion, he said.

The billboard, part of a national ad campaign, is scheduled to stand above West 14th Avenue and Fox Street through June and July. It will come down before the Democratic National Convention because the rate for that period was prohibitively high, Smith said.

The Fox Street billboard will cost local foundation supporters almost $3,000, Smith said.

"The religious right is not a majority, but it has a strong voice and a lot of influence," Smith said. "We want to uphold the separation of church and state."

A construction worker on the block, 37-year-old David Rodriguez, said his religion has been an important help in raising his family, yet he respects differing views.

Passer-by Joseph Sanchez, 23, said the billboard didn't upset him but that he doesn't agree with it.

"I'm not really big on organized religion, but I love religion," Sanchez said. "It's important for people to keep religion somewhere in the back of their mind but not to take it too seriously."

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the nation's largest association of agnostics, atheists and devout secularists, has been active in Denver courts for many years.

Denver lawyer Robert Tiernan and the foundation worked to halt city sponsorship of a day of prayer promoted by the mayor's office when Wellington Webb held the post.

In 1990, Tiernan and the foundation threatened a lawsuit and ended a city subsidy for the Council of Colorado Churches' annual Easter sunrise services at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

"I always support their freedom of speech," council director Jim Ryan said of the foundation. "But the foundation is failing to acknowledge all the moral values and work for the common good that has grown out of faith traditions."

The foundation also tried, unsuccessfully, to litigate removal of the Ten Commandments marker on the Capitol grounds.

"The court said it was historical, not religious," Tiernan said. "The courts are so inclined toward religion it's disgusting."

Tiernan filed a lawsuit last fall, still pending, to end what he calls Cherry Creek School District's promotion of religion. He said the district lists developmental goals for students that include weekly participation in religious services or activities.

"There's another point of view besides the religious," Tiernan said. "We live here, too. There are a lot more atheists and agnostics than people admit. They need to come out of the closet."

[Soldier4Christ]

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.
Ronald Reagan

The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America ....... Our country is in need and ready for a spiritual renewal.

Ronald Reagan 40th US

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.
Ronald Reagan

[nChrist]

WOW! - I've never heard of the "Freedom From Religion" group. It sounds like a group of out of work clowns.   

The more I think about this - the funnier it gets. Here's a group that has a strong belief in nothing, and they've formed a club to believe in nothing. Maybe they could all leave and form a country somewhere - preferably somewhere far away. All kidding aside - they sound like a sad and pathetic group.

[Soldier4Christ]

Yep, and they are willing to spend a lot of money on that nothing.

[nChrist]

Yep, and they are willing to spend a lot of money on that nothing.

      I'll be happy to sell them NOTHING - give them a 20% Discount on NOTHING - and include shipping on NOTHING free of charge.

For a limited time - if they call in the next 10 minutes - I'll double their order of NOTHING!

[Soldier4Christ]

 

I'll gladly join in with that.

[Soldier4Christ]

Library shuts out Christians -- and everybody else

An Ohio county public library has closed its meeting rooms to the public rather than allow them to be used by a Christian group.

George and Cathy Vandergriff wanted to host a Crown Financial Ministries "Financial Freedom" workshop in a public meeting room at the Clermont County, Ohio, public library. Tim Chandler, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says the couple was told that, because the class would be quoting from the Bible, they could not hold it at the library.
 
"The Supreme Court said, more than 25 years ago, that once you've opened up meeting space, you can't exclude anyone just because they're engaging in religious speech. And, here we are, we're still fighting this battle," Chandler contends.
 
ADF filed suit against the library on the Vandergriff's behalf. In the overwhelming majority of cases of this type, the government entity will back down after only a letter from attorneys threatening to sue. If not, they almost always give in when the suit is actually filed, which is why the Clermont Library's reaction shocked the ADF attorney.
 
"The library, in response to the lawsuit, has decided to close the meeting rooms and not allow anybody in the public to use them. So, this is the length that they're going to exclude Christians from being able to use their meeting space," Chandler explains.
 
ADF attorneys, according to Chandler, are examining their options before responding to the library board's decision. "This is one of the very first times that I've ever seen a government agency go through with actually shutting down a forum and making sure that taxpayers don't have access to the meeting rooms that they're funding, just to make sure that a Christian doesn't come in and quote the Bible in one of those meeting rooms," Chandler adds.
 
The board's action, Chandler says, creates a strong inference that it is willing to go to almost any lengths to discriminate against Christian speech. In a press release, the attorney describes the action as "about as blatantly un-American and unconstitutional as you can get."

[nChrist]

I hope they continue to pursue this Ohio Library case. I could be wrong, but I don't think that the actions of the City are legal. The sole reason for their action is obvious - to deny access for Christian use. The majority of the money to build that library was taxes from Christians, so this case should not be dropped. A variety of other actions should be pursued - including disciplinary actions against all city employees involved. The majority of their pay checks comes from taxes paid by Christians. This is a matter of rights and fair treatment for a majority of the public. It's long past time for all Christians to stand up and demand our rights. If we don't, those rights will disappear pretty quickly.

[Soldier4Christ]

Judge blasts state ban on distributing Bibles to students
Law unconstitutional because it 'encourages arbitrary enforcement'

A federal court has declared a Florida law banning representatives of the Gideons from handing out Bibles within 500 feet of any school in the state unconstitutional because it is vague and actually "encourages arbitrary enforcement."

The ruling in a case brought by the Alliance Defense Fund comes from U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore and addresses an incident that developed Jan. 19, 2007, at Key Largo School, run by Principal Annette Martinson.

The law actually prohibits anyone without "legitimate business" from being within 500 feet of schools in the state and specifies "each principal or designee of each public or private school in this state shall notify the appropriate law enforcement agency to prohibit any person from loitering in the school safety zone who does not have legitimate business in the school safety zone or any other authorization, or license to enter or remain in the school safety zone or does not otherwise have invitee status in the designated safety zone."

The issue arose because of team of Gideons, known for paying all of their own expenses out of pocket while raising all of their own funds and giving away Bibles, had been distributing the Scriptures at Key Largo School.

The Gideons' procedure is to notify local police departments two weeks before their distribution date, give school administrators notice and have participants stand on a public bike path or sidewalk and avoid stepping on school grounds.

But WND reported earlier when two members of the Gideons organization were charged for handing out Bibles there, and when a judge dismissed those counts.

Ernest Simpson and Anthony Mirto had been taken into custody by a sheriff's deputy and charged with trespassing after the principal of Key Largo School, Martinson, complained they were handing out Bibles.

The initial counts were dismissed at the request of the ADF shortly after the law firm got involved, but then authorities filed a second round of counts, under a different law – this state law that prohibits anyone from being within 500 feet of any school property, including on public sidewalks and streets, without having either "legitimate business" or permission.

The lawsuit at hand then was filed on behalf of Gideon Thomas Gray, who was not arrested with Simpson and Mirto but arrived when they called to report trouble with a particular deputy sheriff.

"Gray approached Officer [John] Perez and asked what the charges were. Officer Perez was highly agitated and said that Gray would know in 48 hours when he received the report," the judge said.

Gray contacted another deputy through whom he'd arranged for the distribution.

"Gray then called Deputy [Ralph] Williams and asked for his assistance … Deputy Williams indicated that he would e-mail Officer Perez … Gray told Officer Perez that he had an e-mail in his car from another officer stating that the Gideons have a right to distribute Bibles from the public bike path/sidewalk, but Officer Perez indicated that he did not care," the judge wrote.

The ADF reported the two Gideons who were arrested were "placed in a Monroe County patrol car. A police officer mocked the two men, saying they could 'pray to Jesus all the way to jail.'"

The ADF, after seeing that the charges against Simpon and Mirto were dismissed, filed the action on behalf of Gray, who said he feared arrest if he exercised his right to distribute Bibles.

The federal judge found that the state definition of a school safety zone, in the Key Largo School location, would include a public bike path and walkway abutting U.S. Highway 1, the highway itself and businesses including a pet motel, a gas station, a restaurant and a plumbing business.

"Given the wide range of non-exempt persons and the various types of areas within the school safety zone, such as sidewalks, residential houses and streets, businesses, parking lots, etc., construing 'legitimate purpose' to mean any purpose which is connected with the operation of the school would result in an application so broad that it would likely infringe of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights," the judge said.

He ordered the state never again enforce that particular law.

"Christians shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. "Arresting or threatening to arrest Christians simply because they choose to exercise their First Amendment rights in a public place is unconstitutional. The court was right in its assessment that the particular law used against these members of the Gideons does not pass constitutional muster."

In a statement at the outset of the case to WND, Becky Herrin, of the public information office in the Monroe County sheriff's office, stated as a fact that the defendants in the case did trespass. She later declined additional comment.

"A copy of our police report (see attached) … clearly states that the people in question were arrested for trespassing on school property – not on a public sidewalk… In fact, they were given the opportunity to step off school property and onto public property, and they could have continued with their activities if they had done so. They chose instead to remain, against repeated warnings, on school property so deputies were forced to arrest them," Herrin said in a statement to WND.

But the attached report forwarded to WND revealed the two were arrested while in their vehicle parked near, but not on, school property.

The Gideons, a group founded in the late 1800s, has as its "sole purpose" the goal "to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through association for service, personal testimony, and distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes and streams of everyday life."

Gideons have placed the Bible in 181 nations in 82 different languages over the years.

The organization focuses on hotels and motels, hospitals and nursing homes, schools, colleges and universities, the military and law enforcement and prisons and jails.

"The demand for Scriptures in these areas far exceeds our supplies that we are able to purchase through our donations. Much more could be done – if funds were available. However, we are placing and distributing more than one million copies of the Word of God, at no cost, every seven days in these areas…" the group said.

The organization only gives away the Bibles with the Gideon logo on the covers, but plain Bibles are available for consumers to purchase at its distribution center at P.O. Box 140800, Nashville, Tenn., 37214-0800. Information about the products is available on the group's website.

The Gideons serve as an extended missionary arm of the Christian church and are the oldest Christian business and professional men's association in the United States.

[nChrist]

Hello Pastor Roger,

These charges against the Gideons for attempting to distribute Bibles near schools is very sad. One of the things that bothered me was the obvious hatred of Christians by law enforcement officers. My department I served on for nearly 25 years was nearly ALL Christian. I might also add there are multiple levels of safe-guards in police departments to give supervision and management an opportunity to stop violations of civil and Constitutional rights. SO, multiple levels of law enforcement shared the same BLIND HATRED against Christians.

Nearly all jurisdictions have a variety of special laws that apply on or around school grounds, but their purposes involve common sense (i.e. child molesters, drug dealers, kidnapping, and many other crimes relating to children). A variety of laws like this have been in place for many years, and the penalties are more severe when any crime is associated with a school. I can assure you that the writers of these laws had NO INTENT of trying to discourage the GIDEONS from distributing Bibles. GIDEONS have never been associated with any kind of trouble that I know of. Law enforcement twisted and abused these existing laws for purposes that were never intended, and they were the ones violating the law. It could also be easily assumed that real crimes were happening around schools in this jurisdiction, but they were being neglected because officers were busy picking on and violating the rights of Christians. When one considers REAL CRIME or NOT, THIS IS SAD AND SICKENING! I must also add that this would result in DEMOTIONS FOR SUPERVISORS ON A PROFESSIONAL POLICE DEPARTMENT!

[HisDaughter]

The ADF reported the two Gideons who were arrested were "placed in a Monroe County patrol car. A police officer mocked the two men, saying they could 'pray to Jesus all the way to jail.'"

What a donkey, named Jack, s' behind!

[Soldier4Christ]

Bible citation costs
couple jobs, home
Apartment managers evicted,
fired for being 'too religious'

For eight years Daniel and Sharon Dixon, apartment managers in Lake City, Fla., displayed in the apartment complex's management office a stained glass depiction of flowers with the words "Consider the lilies … Matthew 6:28" written in the lower left corner – an act for which they were suddenly fired from their management jobs and evicted from their apartment.

Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom that is representing the Dixons, told WND that neither before nor after the incident were the Dixons charged with any wrongdoing other than protesting the removal of the artwork and loss of their jobs.

"They were suddenly terminated as a result of the religious bigotry of one supervisor," Staver said in a press release. "The Dixons lost their jobs and were booted out on the street, solely because artwork in their office made reference to the Bible."

The Dixons managed and provided maintenance for the Thornwood Terrace Apartments, a government-subsidized complex owned and operated by the Hallmark Companies and Hallmark Management. The couple was permitted to live in the complex as part of their compensation.

Last September a regional manager for Hallmark, Christina Saunders, visited the complex in anticipation of a government inspection and saw the glass artwork. According to a Liberty Counsel release, Saunders asked Sharon if the words on the artwork referenced the Bible. After Sharon confirmed they did, Saunders instructed her to take it down.

Sharon replied that she needed to consult her husband and co-manager, Daniel, and left the office to find him.

When the couple returned, Saunders had already removed the artwork, entered the Dixons' apartment without their permission and deposited the artwork there. According to the press release, she then said Sharon and Daniel were "too religious," fired them and demanded they vacate their apartment within 72 hours.

"Hallmark could have separated the Dixons' residence from their job, even with the termination," Staver told WND. "They could have stayed in their apartment, but (Hallmark) both fired and evicted them."

WND attempted to reach Hallmark Management for comment, but phone calls were not returned.

The Dixon's story moved to court today, as Liberty Counsel filed a suit in the Jacksonville federal court on the couple's behalf, claiming the Dixons were discriminated against on the basis of their religious beliefs.

According to the lawsuit, the only reasons given for the Dixons' termination were that the couple was "too religious" and that Sharon was insubordinate for not immediately removing the artwork before consulting with her husband.

The Agency for Workforce Innovation, however, which ruled in the Dixons' favor in their request for unemployment compensation, agreed that the termination was not based on job performance, finding that though the Dixons were charged with insubordination, "no information has been submitted which substantiates misconduct" and "the discharge was for reasons other than misconduct connected with the work."

The Dixons originally left their apartment in compliance with the eviction and currently reside in Jacksonville, Fla.