The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, says the Nativity scene outside the Franklin County Courthouse is a First Amendment violation that shows the county endorses Christianity over other religions.
"Any reasonable person viewing this display would conclude that its principal effect is to advance religion," Gavin Rose, ACLU of Indiana senior staff attorney, said in a news release. "The First Amendment protects these kinds of displays by individuals and groups on private property but also makes clear that displays on public property, which is maintained by taxpayers, cannot demonstrate a preference for religion."
The ACLU of Indiana filed the lawsuit on behalf of Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization that has been sending letters to Franklin County Commissioners expressing its concerns about the Nativity display. According to the lawsuit, two Franklin County residents, Steve Kristoff and Renana Gross, are against the display being on public property. The two, along with the foundation, are plaintiffs in the suit.
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7 comments:
can we sue the ACLU for being idiots of the Devil?
Religion does not belong in government. Want to know what happens when religion IS in government? Look up Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Greece. Enjoy!
where is a sinkhole when you need one?
This is not religion in govt, 12:53. It's a nativity scene (Christmas, remember?) on a publicly-owned lawn.
BIG difference.
Here's what the first amendment to the Constitution actually says:
"CONGRESS shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech..."
No one (certainly not Congress) is making a law establishing a religion by portraying the birth of Jesus as we celebrate the holiday that celebrates His birth.
There does seem to be some abridgment of the freedom of speech of private individuals, however, as well as a prohibition of free exercise of religion, which are violations of our civil rights. The Constitution doesn't limit those freedoms to private property.
Note that "separation of church and state" doesn't appear in the quote above, nor anywhere else in the Constitution. It was a statement of OPINION made by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802 which certainly doesn't have the force of law.
He just wanted to comfort them and underscore that the government was PROHIBITED from interfering in their religious lives.
The US Constitution does not give atheists a veto over religious expression.
Besides, if God isn't real and Jesus isn't His Son, then those figures on the courthouse lawn are just some freshly-painted statues. Nobody should be offended by that.
Spot on 2:34...Truth, what a concept.
You are free to display whatever you wish on private property but not public. Would it be fair to the Christ haters to have to pay taxes on property used to honor Christ? Of course not.
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