ACLU Warns College Football Players Not To Pray Before Games

Only in Barack Obama's anti-God America:

The American Civil Liberties Union instructed Tennessee superintendents to end prayer before public high school football games in order to protect “religious freedom for all your students, including your athletes, and their families who attend the games.” 

More than 130 administrators received a letter from Tennessee ACLU Executive Director Hedy M. Weinberg chiding them for sponsoring prayer at the football games:

“As you know, the First Amendment prohibits government policies and practices“respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Both the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause operate to protect the religious liberty and freedom of conscience of all Americans. It is well settled that school faculty, coaches, administrators or invited clergy may not lead students in prayer or conduct a prayer during a school event.”

The ACLU claimed the state may neither promote nor prohibit religious exercise. Instead, it must remain neutral. 

However, the government’s three-pronged Establishment Clause test, created in Lemon v. Kurtzman, seems more anti-religious than neutral. 

As stated in Lee v. Weisman, to pass the test practices must:

“(1) reflect a clearly secular purpose; (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and (3) avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.”

This four-decade-old approval system takes religion completely out of the public square.
Not to worry though, ACLU’s Weinberg is all about preserving freedom:

“Like you, we want to preserve the sanctity of everyone’s religious freedom, including their ability to choose whether and when to pray. Like you, we do not want to see taxpayers, students and parents in your school district ostracized and excluded if they do not wish to participate in unconstitutional, state-endorsed prayer at athletic events. 

Please reproduce and share this letter with your schools’ principals. I welcome any questions or comments you may have and can be reached at 615-320-7142.”

Anyone care to give Weinberg a call? 

RELATED:  Politico columnist: Thank goodness Obama is taking on the Redskins

Justice Ruth Ginsburg Officiates At "Gay Wedding"

FOXNews.com:

Two months after the Supreme Court's landmark ruling to expand federal recognition of same-sex marriages, striking down part of an anti-gay marriage law,  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg officiated at a same-sex wedding.

The officiating is believed to be a first for a member of the nation's highest court. 

Ginsburg officiated Saturday at the marriage of Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and John Roberts, a government economist.

"Michael Kaiser is a friend and someone I much admire," Ginsburg said in a written statement Friday. "That is why I am officiating at his wedding."

The private ceremony took place at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a national memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The 80-year-old Ginsburg, an opera lover, is a frequent guest at the center.

Same-sex marriage is legal in the District of Columbia and 13 states.

"I think it will be one more statement that people who love each other and want to live together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the marriage relationship," Ginsburg told The Washington Post in an interview.

"It won't be long before there will be another" performed by a justice. She has another ceremony planned for September.

Kaiser told The Associated Press that he asked Ginsburg to officiate because she is a longtime friend.

"It's very meaningful mostly to have a friend officiate, and then for someone of her stature, it's a very big honor," Kaiser said. "I think that everything that's going on that makes same-sex marriage possible and visible helps to encourage others and to make the issue seem less of an issue, to make it just more part of life."

Justices generally avoid taking stands on political issues. 

While hearing arguments in the case in March, Ginsburg argued for treating marriages equally. The rights associated with marriage are pervasive, she said, and the law had created two classes of marriage, full and "skim-milk marriage."

Before the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act, Ginsburg told The New Yorker magazine in March that she had not performed a same-sex marriage and had not been asked. Justices do officiate at other weddings, though.

"I don't think anybody's asking us, because of these cases," she told the magazine. "No one in the gay-rights movement wants to risk having any member of the court be criticized or asked to recuse. So I think that's the reason no one has asked me."

Asked whether she would perform such a wedding in the future, she said: "Why not?"

Listen, conservatives have long known that Justice Ginsburg is a far-Left minion--she was a member of the ACLU for chrissakes. But this decision, to officiate a "gay wedding", wasn't just something Ginsburg was "doing for a friend", but an in-your-face diss towards Christians, social conservatives and anyone else who believes in and stands up for traditional marriage. Of course, she should now have to recuse herself from any future case that comes before SCOTUS involving same-sex wedding (or gays in general), but she won't. Because Justice Ginsburg doesn't care what you think and for all the disrespect Justices' Thomas and Scalia get for being 'too conservative' from the far-Left media, the hypocrites in the press will find a way to protect one of their favorite daughters.

RELATED: Time for Justice Ginsburg to Step Aside to Save Her Legacy

New Mexico Supreme Court Finds Refusing to Photograph Gay Wedding Illegal

Only in the Godless country that is Barack Obama's America:

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that, by refusing to photograph a gay wedding, a photography studio violated the New Mexico Human Rights Act (NMHRA).

The court found that Elane Photography’s refusal to serve Vanessa Willock violated the act, which “prohibits a public accommodation from refusing to offer its services to a person based on that person’s sexual orientation,” according to the ruling.

Justice Richard C. Bosson, writing in concurrence, said that the case “provokes reflection on what this nation is all about, its promise of fairness, liberty, equality of opportunity, and justice.” In addition, the case “teaches that at some point in our lives all of us must compromise, if only a little, to accommodate the contrasting values of others. A multicultural, pluralistic society, one of our nation’s strengths, demands no less.”

The owners of Elane Photography, Jonathan and Elaine Huguenin, “are free to think, to say, to believe, as they wish” Bosson wrote. Nevertheless, in the “world of the marketplace, of commerce, of public accommodation, the Huguenins have to channel their conduct, not their beliefs, so as to leave space for other Americans who believe something different.”

Doing so, Bosson said, is “the price of citizenship.”

The ruling affirms a grant of summary judgment for Willock against Elane Photography by New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court and holds that Elane Photography’s free speech rights were not violated. The case was first decided by the New Mexico Human Rights Council, which ordered Elane Photography to pay Willock $6,637.94 in attorneys fees and costs. Elane Photography appealed to the Second Judicial District Court based on the court’s original and appellate jurisdiction.

RELATED:  Lawyer for New Mexico photographer: Forcing her to work at a gay wedding violates her right of free expression

ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Obama Administration Over NSA’s ‘Unconstitutional And Un-American’ Surveillance

Mediaite.com:

As many pundits have been pointing out over the last several days, the NSA leaks concerning widespread surveillance of all Americans has created some strange bedfellows. But now it has also created some unexpected enemies. The American Civil Liberties Union, often viewed as a liberal institution, has filed a lawsuit against Obama administration officials that claims the NSA’s “dragnet” data collection is illegal and should be stopped.

ACLU spokesperson Alexander Abdo announced the lawsuit on Fox News with Neil Cavuto this afternoon, saying the government “shouldn’t be indiscriminately sweeping up the communications of millions of innocent Americans.” He called the revelations last week about large-scale surveillance programs by the NSA “unconstitutional and un-American.” 

“For 200 years, our government has been able to keep us safe while staying true to” the values in the Constitution, Abdo said. “There’s no reason we need to sacrifice those values now.” When presented with the irony of his organization suing President Obama‘s administration after previously finding so much common ground with Senator Obama, Abdo said the explanation lies in the “seductive” nature of power.

“Power can be seductive and especially in the era of Big Data,” he said, “where it’s increasingly easy for the government to aggregate all sorts of information about Americans.” Abdo added, “It’s understandable that the government is trying to do this, but it’s simply not constitutional.”

RELATED:  In Defense Of Nuance: Edward Snowden Is Both A Criminal And A Laudable Whistleblower

Politiks As Usual: In The News 12/20/10

Rep. Peter King To Hold Hearings On 'Radicalization' Of American Muslims

South Korea Starts Live-Fire Military Exercises

Benedict Arnold Republicans Destroy Military And Our National Security 

It's Still The Demography, Stupid


Obama's New 'Gay' Force


SPJ Takes Up Crusade Against Term 'Illegal Immigrant'


Napolitano Says DHS To Begin Battling Climate Change As Homeland Security Issue


ACLU Targets Christians In TN Schools


Nets Tout Supporters Of "Historic' Repeal Of DADT


Sen. Jon Kyl Is "Skeptical" Of The 9/11 First Responders Bill


McConnell Faces Down Obama As START Moves To Vote This Week

Media Couple's NYTimes Wedding Announcement Stirs Controversy

Politiks As Usual: In The News 10/11/10

NY GOP Candidate Carl Paladino: Homosexuality Not 'Valid'

Desperate Obama Urges Crowd To Show Him The Energy Of '08

Karl Rove To Obama: How Dare You?

US Physics Professor: Global Warming Is The Most Successful Fraud....

NBC Flees From Lefty MSNBC Cable Network

Obama's Huge New Tax

Blogger Blames Christians For Gay Suicides

Conservatives Now Outnumber Liberals, Moderates & Republicans

Report: Democrats Planted NJ Tea Party House Candidate

George Will Exposes Paul Krugman Hypocrisy On Political Ads

Megyn Kelly Reports On Duke Sex List Story, Urges Females: "Don't Sleep Around"

Rick Santorum: ACLU Attacking Religious Hospitals

From Cronkite To Katrina: Why The MSM Keeps Getting It Wrong

Bill O'Reilly Takes On The ACLU

Again, it's what makes FOX No. 1, unafraid to take on the opposition, unlike the other networks who only have yes-men as guests.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 3/8/10

Obama Bribes, Threatens, And Rewards Congress To Pass Health Care

Infant Died While Virtual Child Cared For

CEO Under Fire For "Obama Chimp" Email

Frank Rich No Longer Feeling The Hopenchange

Study: Couples Who Live Together Before Marriage Less Likely To Stay Married

Vanity Fair: Letterman Affair Was Just Dave Being Dave

Soldiers Left Out Of Policy Change Debate

Congressman Rally Public Support To Stop Prosecution Of Navy SEALS

ACLU Tells Obama: Keep 9/11 Trial In NY

Vote For Traditional Marriage? You're On Hit List

Lib Talker Malloy Blames Glenn Beck For Pentagon Shootings

Did The 2010 Academy Awards Mark The End Of 'Liberal Hollywood?'

Politiks As Usual: In The News 2/15/10

ClimateGate: What Did Phil Jones Actually Admit? Was He Correct?

Counterterrorism Czar Brennan Draws Fire For Comments On Gitmo Recidivism

General: U.S. 'Deeply Regrets' Afghan Civilian Deaths

Is This Former Stay-at-Home Mom Our Greatest Security Threat?

The ACLU Giveth, The ACLU Taketh Away

The Re-Invention Of Mitt Romney

Actress Anne Hathaway Leaves Catholic Church To Media Cheers

Is The 'Gay' Fix In On Prop. 8?

Cheney: Biden 'Dead Wrong' On Al-Qaida Threat

Rep. Patrick Kennedy 'Taking A New Direction,' Leaving Congress

Cut From "American Idol", But Thrilled For Chance To Spread Pro-life Message

Bill O'Reilly with Ann Coulter on Christmas, Religion and the ACLU

ACLU Is Losing Funding

AP:

The American Civil Liberties Union is losing a quarter of its yearly donations now that a major donor has cut off $19 million in annual donations because of economic difficulties.

David Gelbaum said in a statement that he was indefinitely stopping the donations that had made him the New York-based group's largest anonymous donor. He's also stopping some $12 million in yearly gifts to the Sierra Club Foundation and about $50 million a year that he's been giving to an organization serving veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gelbaum says the credit crisis and his investments in alternative, clean energy companies have left him with few liquid assets.

Gelbaum made his largess working for hedge funds and says he hopes others will step forward and replace his donations.

A radically liberal machine that constantly ties up our legal system to further its anti-American views is losing money? I'm so broken hearted. Clearly global warming must be the problem.

Supreme Court Slaps Down ACLU, Refuses To Put Our Troops In Danger

NYTimes.com:

The Supreme Court on Monday vacated a lower court ruling that would have required the government to release photographs showing the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The decision was three sentences long and unsigned, and it followed the enactment of a law in October allowing the secretary of defense to block the pictures’ release. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, for further consideration in light of the new law.

The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act, which makes disclosure of information in the hands of the executive branch mandatory unless an exemption applies. The Second Circuit ordered the photos released last year, and the Justice Department initially recommended against an appeal to the Supreme Court.

But President Obama overruled his lawyers, saying his national security advisers had persuaded him that releasing the photos would inflame anti-American sentiment abroad and endanger American troops. Some of the pictures, according to a government brief, showed “soldiers pointing pistols or rifles at the heads of hooded and handcuffed detainees,” a soldier who appears to be striking a detainee with the butt of a rifle, and a soldier holding a broom “as if sticking its end” into a prisoner’s rectum.

Good. Common sense defeats liberal terrorism. This case was about nothing but the ACLU's attempt to manipulate and inflame imagery that would only serve the benefits of those on the Left who hate America, all at the despicable behest of putting our troops at risk. Robert Gates attested to that danger under a new federal law, and SCOTUS did the right thing in sending the case back to the lower court for disposal. Serves the facists right.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 10/5/09

Obama's French Lesson: Sarkozy Could Not Conceal His Astonishment At Obama's Naivete

Rain, Landslides Threaten Indonesian Quake Victims

Out Of The 'Hood--A Derrion Albert Parable

Feds Sued To Keep Out Of State's Gun Affairs

Voters Seeing Red Over ACLU Attack

'Today's' Matt Lauer Discusses Positive Aspects Of Smoking Marijuana

Studies Conflict On Effects Of Homosexual Parenting

Hispanic Caucus Calls For Ending Program That Identified 100,000 Illegal Aliens

Americans Must Fight Growing Hostility To Christianity In U.S. Schools

Harry Reid Wants Answers On Military Gay Ban

Liberals Seek To Explain Why Obama's Agenda Is Stuck In The Mud

Politiks As Usual: In The News 8/3/09

Obama Administration May Create Military-Civilian Terror Prison

Clunker Car Rebates Will Stop Unless Senate Acts

Obama Joker Poster Popping Up In Los Angeles

Dear Abby, Is There Any 'Lifestyle' You Won't Embrace?

The Real Affirmative Action Babies

Obama's Science Czar Said A Born Baby 'Will Ultimately Develop Into A Human Being'

Pro-Family Forces Submit Challenges To Maine 'Gay Marriage'

Truce Between O'Reilly And Olbermann?

Here Comes The ACLU! Bible As Textbook Ignites Firestorm

Are Western Leaders Stupid Or Malicious In Letting Iran Go Nuclear?

Utah Court Upholds Mother's Rights Over Former Lesbian Partner

Jobless Graduate Sues NYC College For Tuition Fees

Politiks As Usual: In The News 6/15/09

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Opponents Shout Protests From Rooftops

San Francisco Judge Rules That Terrorists Can Sue Former Bush Lawyers

Joe Biden Says 'Everyone Guessed Wrong' On Jobs Number

Barack Obama's Moral Slide Rule

Senior Democrat Says Obama's Czars Unconstitutional

Obama Invokes Jesus' Name More Than Bush Did

ABC: 'Potential Wave of Domestic Terror' vs. NBC: 'No Spike' In Hate Group Activity

ACLU Wants Revision Of Science Teaching Guidelines

Obama Fires Watchdog Who Barked At His Crony

Jay Leno Told Similar Joke About Palin's Daughter

Rev. Wright Blames Jews For Keeping Him From Obama

New Miss California USA Seeks To 'Calm The Waters'

Politiks As Usual: In The News 6/8/09

Saudis Pushing Obama To Force Israel Into Palestinian Deal

2 U.S. Reporters Face 12 Years In N. Korean Prison

Vermont Program Helps Students Explore 'Gender Identity'

Global Warming Alarmist Warns Of Planet Being Destroyed By Advertising

Next Frontier? Polygamists Demand Multi-Sex Marriage

Graduating Students Defy ACLU, Stand And Recite Lord's Prayer

The Civil Rights Challenge Of Our Time

Sex-Crazed Cosmo Highlights Women Who Don't Have Sex

A Swing To Conservatism In Europe?

2 Former Drug Dealers Tied To Murtha-Backed Firm

Three Senators Now Say Sotomayor Will Uphold Roe v. Wade

GOP Senator Grassley Scolds Obama On Twitter

Obama Seeking To Block Release Of Detainee Abuse Photos

YahooNews.com:

In a reversal, President Barack Obama is fighting the release of dozens of new photos showing U.S. personnel allegedly abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a White House official said Wednesday.

Obama's decision came after the top military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan told the president they feared the release of the photos could endanger their troops.

Obama decided he did not feel comfortable with the release and last week instructed his legal team to challenge it in court, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the president's decision had not yet been made public.

Obama has instructed administration lawyers to make the case that the national security implications of such a release have not been fully presented to the court, the official said.

The president informed Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, of his decision during a White House meeting on Tuesday.

Gen. David Petraeus, the senior commander for both wars, had also weighed in, as had Gen. David McKiernan, the top general in Afghanistan. Gates fired McKiernan on Monday for unrelated reasons.

Good for Barry. Instead of pandering to all the Bush-haters on the Left, who seek vengeance on the previous administration regardless of whose lives might be at risk, Obama caters to common sense. Of course these photos should not be released. Of course these photos could endanger military people in hostile territory.

Obama is learning.

Liz Cheney Suggests Obama 'Siding With Terrorists'

CNN.com:

Liz Cheney is picking up where her father left off when it comes to taking aim at the Obama administration, saying Tuesday the new commander-in-chief appears to be siding with terrorists.

In an interview on Fox News, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney sharply criticized the new administration for agreeing to release photographs depicting alleged abuses at U.S. prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush administration.

"I think it is really appalling that the administration is taking this step," she said in the interview. "Clearly what they are doing is releasing images that show American military men and woman in a very negative light."

"I have heard from families of service members from families of 9/11 victims this question about when did it become so fashionable for us to side, really, with the terrorists," she continued. "You know, President Obama has a lot of rhetoric about support for American military families, support for our men and women who are fighting for us overseas. But if he really cares about them, then he wouldn't be making such an effort to release photos that show them in a negative light."

Late last month, Pentagon officials said the hundreds of photographs released are from more than 60 criminal investigations from 2001 to 2006, and show military personnel allegedly abusing detainees. But the officials rejected allegations by the American Civil Liberties Union that the photos show a systemic pattern of abuse by the military.

Good for Liz Cheney! Finally, the daughter of a prominent GOP member that we can all be proud of.

ACLU Lawsuit Against Ten Commandments Is Defeated

If liberals weren't Godless, they wouldn't be putting up fights like these:

The founder of Liberty Counsel says the dismissal of an ACLU lawsuit against a Ten Commandments display in one Kentucky county is not a good sign for anti-American organizations.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in 1999 against Harlan County Schools over a display that included the Ten Commandments, the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Star Spangled Banner, and other historical documents and symbols. Eventually, the lawsuit was partially consolidated with two other cases involving the same display in two courthouses.

Now a federal district court has dismissed the Harlan County case. Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver says the dismissal is the latest defeat for the ACLU.

"Since 2005 the ACLU has lost one Ten Commandments case after another," he observes, "and I think it's only logical and consistent that as part of our American history we are able to display the Ten Commandments as a universal symbol of law in a court of law or other public places around America." And while he is sure "the ACLU doesn't like it," he vows that his group will continue to fight to preserve that great religious heritage.

Former ACLU Chief, Charles Rust-Tierney, Gets 7 Years For Child Porn

What Larry Craig supposedly did pales in comparison to what Charles Rust-Tierney definitely did do, but we all know whose getting all the attention in our liberal press:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A man who for 12 years served as president of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for downloading what authorities said was some of the "most abhorrent" child pornography they have ever seen.

The prison term for Charles Rust-Tierney, 52, of Arlington, is one year less than the minimum sentence suggested under federal sentencing guidelines, and more than the five-year term defense attorneys wanted.

Rust-Tierney said depression and "plummeting self-esteem" led him astray.

"I know what I have done is wrong, morally and legally," he said. "My conduct in paying the producers of this material is reprehensible. I am filled with contrition, remorse and shame."

Other's Blogging: Stop The ACLU, American Daughter, Warriors For Innocence