I have been really busy this week, and have gotten a lot of emails about ACLU related stories, so here is a round up of the more interesting ones, along with a few thoughts.

A previous recipient of ACLU assistance, the Westboro Baptist church took one on the chin at a funeral when they were chased out.  Via Stop the ACLU:

While my sympathy is with the families at the funerals, and my scorn is firmly directed toward Phelps and his people, I have to also deplore the violence aimed at them, particularly the window breaking.  They had been humiliated and chased out.  Enough.

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Also at Stop the ACLU, the case invlolving the Mt Soledad Memorial took an encouraging turn, as the California Appeals Court reversed the lower court ruling.

The court finds that 1) the appeals are not moot; 2) San Diegans for the Mount Soledad War Memorial and Mike Shelby are aggrieved parties for the purposes of the appeal; and 3) the transfer of the cross under Proposition A does not in itself violate the First Amendment establishment clause or the California Constitution…and the attorney’s fees award has been reversed!

Kiss all that money goodbye ACLU!

The fees part is a serious blow to the ACLU as part of their normal method of operation is intimidation regarding the possibiity of huge legal fees.  Many targets capitulate simply to avoid that possibility

Read the opinion here

The ADF said:

A California appeals court today reversed a lower court decision that had determined that the transfer of the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial to the federal government was unconstitutional.

“The people spoke on this issue, and now the court has upheld their right to preserve the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial, which honors those who sacrificed themselves for our freedom,” said Alliance Defense Fund Litigation Counsel Tim Chandler. “Removal of the cross at Mt. Soledad would have no purpose other than to create heartache for the veterans’ families and comrades who cherish their memory. We, like them, are pleased with the court’s ruling.”

ADF represented The American Legion Department of California and Liberty Legal Institute represented The American Legion’s national organization in the friend-of-the-court brief filed in the case.

In 2005, 76 percent of San Diegans voted to preserve the Mount Soledad Memorial by transferring it from city property to the ownership of the National Park Service. The transfer was held up in litigation, but Congress passed and President Bush signed legislation to enact the transfer.

I hope they end this and move on.  The memorial hurts no one.  If you want diversity and equality expand it to include other religous icons.  But to attempt its removal to placate a single athiest is wrong.

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Then there is this story:

Conservative Students to Display "ACLU Nativity Scene"

The Young Conservatives of Texas - University of Texas Chapter announced today that they will be displaying an “ACLU Nativity Scene” on the West Mall of the University of Texas campus on Monday and Tuesday, December 4th and 5th. The group’s intent is to raise awareness on the extremity of the ACLU, and bring to light its secular-progressive efforts to remove Christmas from the public sphere. The display, the first of its kind in the nation, will feature characters that are quite a bit different than the standard crèche.

“We’ve got Gary and Joseph instead of Mary and Joseph in order to symbolize ACLU support for homosexual marriage, and of course there isn’t a Jesus in the manger,” said Chairman Tony McDonald. “The three Wise Men are Lenin, Marx, and Stalin because the founders of the ACLU were strident supporters of Soviet style Communism. The whole scene is a tongue-in-cheek way of showing the many ways that the ACLU and the far left are out of touch with the values of mainstream America.”

The scene will also display a terrorist shepherd and an angel in the form of Nancy Pelosi.

“The ACLU and other left-wing extremist groups are working diligently to destroy American’s rights to the free expression of religion,” said Executive Director Joseph Wyly. “We’ve already seen in Chicago an attempt to censor the nativity by a city government this week. It’s just more evidence that there is a War on Christmas being waged by the far-left in this country.”

Oh I think a lot of people will claim offense, including some traditional christians who would rather their monument not be a tool, but honestly it is a great parody of the ALCU’s focus and obsession.  I applaud the students for their imagination.

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What do you make of this lawsuit?

‘Humanists’ Challenge Voting Booths in Churches

The AHA’s first legal project (lawsuit) stems from the midterm elections. The group is challenging the location of polling places in churches. While some churches cover their religious symbols on Election Day, others do not, and the AHA sees that as a major problem.

Humanists plan to argue that religious proselytizing took place at the polls. “We put out a call to our members whose polling places were churches, asking them to report what they saw,” said AHA President Mel Lipman. “The response was shocking.”

An Illinois humanist says he voted in a church that displayed a four-foot wooden crucifix right above the election judges,” said AHLC attorney James Hurley.

If they want my support, they need to show that the symbols were deliberately placed there specifically for the polling and were not permanently placed symbols that happened to be in the common areas of the churches where the polls were.

If the church however did not seed the area with icons, and did not actively preach or attempt to convert, then people need to get over it.

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The ACLU is looking for offended people (ambulance chasing basically) who are offended by a new 10 Commandment case.

Jay at STA has this to say:

Even though no one has complained yet, the ACLU are on the look out. And shouldn’t they be? These people have obviously set out to create a theocracy in Dixie. A granite monument depicting Judeo-Christian values that much of our laws are based off may seem harmless to some, but if you haven’t heard of it before there is a such thing a slippery slope. It starts out with urging people to love God and all that, the next thing you know its a [sic]

Brandon Hensler, director of communications for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said, “There are certainly values in the Ten Commandments that are enshrined in the law and should be upheld, like ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ ”

But he continued, “If there are residents of Dixie County who understand our country’s constitutional values and that it is the role of churches - not of government - to urge people to love God and keep his commandments, we would be interested in speaking with them.”

If the ACLU can’t find someone withing Dixie that is offended then they would have no standing for a lawsuit. If this is allowed to go unchallenged, the next thing you know they will be passing out free Bibles or something!

Seriously though, while my sympathies are with these people, they are either brave, stupid or both. They are practically asking for a lawsuit! Putting the ten commandments at a court house in honor of their influence upon our laws is one thing. Putting a bold statement at its base to “love God and honor them” will most likely be the reason they will lose if the ACLU finds a plaintiff to represent. They might as well have gone and thrown rocks at the local ACLU’s windows screaming “sue us”!

I agree with the last paragraph.  My position has always been that the 10 Commandments, when a part of a display of other historical documents, has relevence as one of the sources and foundations of our legal codes.  This display does push too hard, and the people who erected it are asking for it.

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Think the war on Christmas is a joke?  Read this post at STA:

About Those Christmas Cards For The ACLU

Its that time of the year again. The time when the intolerant grinches like the ACLU start trying to fill their stockings with your tax dollars in their attempts to secularize Christmas. The ACLU try their best to deny their attacks on Christmas. They call those defending Christmas the well organized extremists out to make a buck in the guise of defending Christmas. This is of course false. The Alliance Defense Fund, just like last year, are offering their services to defend Christmas completely FREE!

However, the lies continue again this year as the ACLU denies their attacks on Christmas. However, their actions speak louder than their words.

Already the ACLU have began their attacks. They have already been successful in bullying the Berkley City Council into moving their Christmas nativity scene off public property. This, despite the fact that the display also included other religious and secular elements including a Star of David, Christmas trees, a Santa Claus figure, a Santa’s Mailbox, and a “Seasons Greetings” sign.

In their latest attempt to censor Christmas they have sued the Wilson County School System outside of Nashville, TN. because their Christmas program includes “Christian themes and songs.”

The plaintiffs and the ACLU allege that several kindergarten students role-played a nativity scene of the birth of Jesus—and had the audacity to sing “Away in the Manger” and “Joy to the World.” According to the ACLU, these songs are exclusively Christian in nature because they celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and are, therefore, inappropriate.

The ACLJ is defending the school in this case.

The ADF has a long list of attacks on Christmas from the ACLU and its allies dating back from 2002 to the present.

Read the full post here: About Those Christmas Cards For The ACLU

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In brief defense of the ACLU not all of the suits they engage in are stupid or wrong.  Sometimes they come down firmly on the side of the constitution.

But all too often then seem to have an anti christian intolerance that betrays their agenda.

Cross posted to NW Bloggers

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