The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on public prayer has atheist organizations regrouping to strategize their next assault on the Christian backbone of the United States, as abject fear abounds among liberals that a moral majority, powered by prayer, might handcuff the political correctness police.
For background, read about this Supreme Court case concerning prayer at civic meetings in Town of Greece, N.Y.
Also read Public Prayer: Vast Majority of Americans Want it
UPDATE 6/21/14: South Carolina School Board Rejected Jesus, now Reconsiders
UPDATE 7/1/14: Atheists, Liberals Lament Recent Supreme Court Religious Liberty Rulings
To read how the atheists, armed with lawyers, attack Christian America, CLICK HERE to read about a recent battle along with links to myriad more examples.
-- From "Governing bodies take notice of Supreme Court ruling on prayer at public meetings" by Elizabeth Heffner, Staff Writer, Lincoln Times-News (North Carolina) 5/12/14
The majority in the 5-4 ruling stated that opening local government meetings with sectarian prayers does not violate the establishment clause as long as no religion is advanced or disparaged and participants are not coerced. However, the ruling is confined to the specific circumstances, offering little suggestion as to how other communities should offer civic prayers without violating the Constitution.
At their meeting on May 5, county commissioner Carroll Mitchem brought the ruling to the board’s attention.
“There was a ruling today by the Supreme Court, if I understand this correctly, that now any government can pray to the Lord, to Jesus — however you want to pray, you can pray,” Mitchem said.
“I hope in the future that we, as commissioners, go back to our original way of having prayers and saying what we want to say. Now, if somebody don’t like it, they get up, walk out and leave so we can pray the way we want to pray. If they don’t like it, they can leave and then come back in afterwards. I hope to continue that as long as I have a mind and body…at the next commissioner meeting, I expect us to pray the way we want to pray.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Supreme Court Prayer Ruling Shows Shift in Church-State Barriers" by Jess Bravin, Wall Street Journal 5/9/14
. . . The shift has helped embolden religious groups and their advocates to seek greater deference from government. And in several instances they are winning, extending religious exceptions in tax and regulation cases and expanding the role faith can play in public discourse.
Rutgers law professor Perry Dane said the [recent] ruling is the latest religion case where, "across a whole range of issues, the court seems to be stepping back from the high wall of separation that was the guiding metaphor a few decades ago" for the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, which bans a government "establishment of religion."
Accommodations to religion that were "highly controversial 20 years ago—and maybe even unconstitutional by the lights of the majority—now are common ground," said a lawyer for the Milwaukee district, Michael McConnell, who also heads the Stanford Constitutional Law Center. "There certainly have been a number of religion-friendly decisions of late, a number of them unanimous, and this case reflects a pretty narrow disagreement."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Americans United To Launch 'Operation Inclusion' After SCOTUS Prayer Decision" by Sarah Posner, Religion Dispatches 5/11/14
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State will announce tomorrow that it is launching "Operation Inclusion" . . . AU's executive director the Rev. Barry Lynn said [this Supreme Court decision] could subject millions of Americans to sectarian prayer imposed "at the behest of religious right zealots who believe that America is a 'Christian nation.'"
AU also announced it intends to help citizens identify a diverse range of speakers able to deliver invocations at meetings that are "welcoming and inclusive." The American Humanist Association has already announced an initiative to identify secular and atheist speakers.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
