By Lauren Green
Published July 23, 2010 | FoxNews.com
Arizona school children are told they can't pray in front of the Supreme Court building ... Two University of Texas Arlington employees are fired for praying over a co-worker's cubicle after work hours ... In Cranston, R.I., a high school banner causes controversy when a parent complains it contains a prayer and demands that it be removed.
There are more legal challenges to prayer in the United States than ever before, says Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist organization whose business is booming as Americans increasingly tackle church vs. state issues.
"We've never had more complaints about government prayer," Gaylor says. "We have just hired a second staff attorney in July. It's turned into a cottage industry for our attorneys."
The foundation has had a huge volume of complaints about prayer in the public sector, including numerous issues involving civic and government meetings where sessions have traditionally begun with a prayer or moment of silence.
In Augusta, Ga., the city's law department just issued a legal opinion defending the city's practice of a pre-meeting prayer, saying it does not violate federal law. The statement was in response to the Freedom From Religion Foundation's letter to the mayor's office urging him to stop the invocations at the start of meetings. The foundation sent similar letters to three cities in South Carolina.
"These are flagrant violations of the laws," Gaylor says.
Not so, says Nate Kellum, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the Arizona school children and their teacher, Maureen Rigo, who say they were told they couldn't pray on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.
"Religious liberties are under attack across the country," Kellum says. "My sense is that there's some type of knee-jerk reaction, almost an allergic reaction, if someone sees the expression of religion," he says.
And the bulk of the complaints are directed at Christians, he says.
"There's an overreaching presumption that there's something wrong," he says.
But Gaylor says there's no country in the world where religion flourishes as much as in the United States, and she says conflicts over public expression are going to increase.
"Fifteen percent of the people are not religious," she says. "There's an increasing plurality of faiths. It's inevitable there's going to be this clash with more people being offended."
Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Institute, represents the two University of Texas employees who were fired for praying over a co-worker's desk after hours. The co-worker was not there at the time and didn't know until months later why the employees were fired.
The university, in legal documents, said it the employee's prayer had been deemed harassment. Judge Terry Means of the U.S. Federal District Court in Ft. Worth rejected that argument.
"One of the women just said 'amen' while the other prayed," Shackelford said. "So she was fired for just saying 'amen.'"
"It's just so crazy!" he said. "There's a hostility, and there are folks who want to change this country and want to engage in some kind of religious cleansing."
Shackelford is also part of the legal team that filed a brief on Thursday defending the National Day of Prayer, which a federal judge ruled unconstitutional in April. Though the Justice Department announced one week later that it planned to appeal the judge's ruling, and despite President Obama's proclamation of National Prayer Day the next month, the Liberty Institute along with the Family Research Council took legal action because of what they claim is "the Obama Administration's weak defense of the NDP."
The council's president, Tony Perkins, issued a statement saying, "The President's attorneys failed to cite any of the key cases that would require immediate dismissal of this lawsuit because the plaintiffs lack standing to bring it. FRC plans to mount a robust defense of this important national event that a liberal judge has attempted to scrub from the public square."
Shackelford says, "The thing that makes [America] unique is that we believe our freedoms don't come from government, they come from God."
But it's exactly beliefs about God that form the core of the legal conflicts, and will continue to do so -- because whether people believe in God is something no court can have jurisdiction over.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Is it just a coincidence?
The largest earthquake ever recorded near the capital rattled Washington, D.C., early Friday, waking many residents but causing no reported damage.
Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist with the USGS, said the quake was the largest recorded within about 45 miles of Germantown since a database was created to track such activity in 1974. The largest earthquake before Friday morning's was a 2.7 tremor in 1993, Vaughan said. There was a 2.6 magnitude tremor in 1990 and quakes measuring 2.5 in 1997, 1993 and 1974.
"It’s not something that’s completely out of the ordinary," Vaughan said, “but at the same time, quakes measuring above 3 are extremely rare in this area.” Vaughan said the number of people reporting the quake to the USGS highlighted how unusual it seemed to residents of the mid-Atlantic states.
During this same time, U.S. envoy George Mitchell was in Israel, shuttling between Ramallah and Jerusalem for separate rounds of talks with Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell has been moderating the proximity talks between the two sides for the last two months.
Hizballah advances 20,000 troops to Israeli border.
Countering the new US energy sanctions against Iran, Russian and Iranian ministers Wednesday, July 14 signed energy-related agreements, including sales to Iran of Russian petroleum products and petrochemicals.
Is all of this just a coincidence? I don’t believe so!
We are seeing Bible prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes
This indeed, would be “a good day to fly!”
Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist with the USGS, said the quake was the largest recorded within about 45 miles of Germantown since a database was created to track such activity in 1974. The largest earthquake before Friday morning's was a 2.7 tremor in 1993, Vaughan said. There was a 2.6 magnitude tremor in 1990 and quakes measuring 2.5 in 1997, 1993 and 1974.
"It’s not something that’s completely out of the ordinary," Vaughan said, “but at the same time, quakes measuring above 3 are extremely rare in this area.” Vaughan said the number of people reporting the quake to the USGS highlighted how unusual it seemed to residents of the mid-Atlantic states.
During this same time, U.S. envoy George Mitchell was in Israel, shuttling between Ramallah and Jerusalem for separate rounds of talks with Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell has been moderating the proximity talks between the two sides for the last two months.
Hizballah advances 20,000 troops to Israeli border.
Countering the new US energy sanctions against Iran, Russian and Iranian ministers Wednesday, July 14 signed energy-related agreements, including sales to Iran of Russian petroleum products and petrochemicals.
Is all of this just a coincidence? I don’t believe so!
We are seeing Bible prophecy being fulfilled right before our eyes
This indeed, would be “a good day to fly!”
Monday, July 5, 2010
Heat wave of historic proportions?
I am just wondering?
A heat wave of historic proportions could strike some Northeastern states as forecasters warn of prolonged triple-digit temperatures that could trigger "a dangerous situation," the National Weather Service advised Monday.
The Weather Service has issued an excessive heat advisory for several Northeastern cities to take effect Monday afternoon as humidity levels gradually increase, producing heat index values to persist and surpass 100 degrees.
Excessive heat advisories have been issued for the Philadelphia metropolitan area until Wednesday evening, and in New York City, a heat advisory is in effect from to 2 p.m. Monday until 6 p.m. Tuesday as high humidity levels and high temperatures linger for two consecutive days, the Weather Service reported.
As Israel's prime minister prepares for his fifth official meeting with President Obama this week, the White House has declined to publicly affirm commitments made by President Bush to Israel in 2004 on the final borders of the Jewish state.
The interpretation of a 2004 letter from Mr. Bush to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been a source of tension between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Obama.
Mr. Netanyahu is expected in the meeting on Tuesday to discuss both the prospects for direct talks with the Palestinians and whether he will renew a 10-month freeze of new settlement construction on the West Bank. Both leaders are also looking to improve the negative atmosphere of the U.S.-Israeli relationship in the past year.
I am wondering if these two situations are connected? It sure is looking like a “a good day to fly!”
A heat wave of historic proportions could strike some Northeastern states as forecasters warn of prolonged triple-digit temperatures that could trigger "a dangerous situation," the National Weather Service advised Monday.
The Weather Service has issued an excessive heat advisory for several Northeastern cities to take effect Monday afternoon as humidity levels gradually increase, producing heat index values to persist and surpass 100 degrees.
Excessive heat advisories have been issued for the Philadelphia metropolitan area until Wednesday evening, and in New York City, a heat advisory is in effect from to 2 p.m. Monday until 6 p.m. Tuesday as high humidity levels and high temperatures linger for two consecutive days, the Weather Service reported.
As Israel's prime minister prepares for his fifth official meeting with President Obama this week, the White House has declined to publicly affirm commitments made by President Bush to Israel in 2004 on the final borders of the Jewish state.
The interpretation of a 2004 letter from Mr. Bush to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been a source of tension between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Obama.
Mr. Netanyahu is expected in the meeting on Tuesday to discuss both the prospects for direct talks with the Palestinians and whether he will renew a 10-month freeze of new settlement construction on the West Bank. Both leaders are also looking to improve the negative atmosphere of the U.S.-Israeli relationship in the past year.
I am wondering if these two situations are connected? It sure is looking like a “a good day to fly!”
Thursday, July 1, 2010
If Israel goes down, we all go down!
Zechariah 12:1-3 (KJV)
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
For some reason, we tend to forget what God says about Israel concerning those who bless and those who curse them.
We have seen it in the Presbyterians and their stand against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and now the news of the Methodists in the UK. The Methodist Church of Britain voted on Wednesday to boycott Israeli-produced goods and services from the West Bank because of Israel’s “illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.” “A majority of governments recognize the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as illegitimate under international law,” the church body said at its annual conference in Portsmouth. The church body will now encourage Methodists across the UK to follow suit. The motion stated that the boycott of goods “from illegal Israeli settlements” was in response to a call by the World Council of Churches – which advocates divestment from Israel – and by Palestinian civil society and “a growing number of Jewish organizations in Israel and worldwide.”
In a powerful article in the Times of London, Jose Maria Aznar, the President of Spain from 1996-2004) provides a rousing and eloquent defense of the State of Israel. Aznar also uses this opportunity to announce the launch of his new organization "Friends of Israel" composed primarily on non-Jewish Europeans and Americans. President Aznar is to be applauded for standing up for Israel, standing up for what is right.
The entire article can be read here:
If Israel goes down, we all go down. Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the West's best ally in a turbulent region
For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel. In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion.
Uniquely in the West, it is the only democracy whose very existence has been questioned since its inception. In the first instance, it was attacked by its neighbors using the conventional weapons of war. Then it faced terrorism culminating in wave after wave of suicide attacks. Now, at the behest of radical Islamists and their sympathizers, it faces a campaign of delegitimisation through international law and diplomacy.
Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival. Read Entire Article
Israel is standing alone, as we might see it, although God is still in control and knows exactly what is happening.
And, as we watch the news, something is definitely happening.
Warships from the Russian Pacific Fleet started on Thursday a series of anti-submarine warfare drills in the Sea of Japan as part of the Vostok-2010 strategic exercises in Russia's Far East.
"Ships and aircraft from the Pacific Fleet are practicing anti-submarine search-and-destroy missions to ensure favorable operational conditions in the Primorye joint task force's zone of control," said Capt. 1st Rank Roman Martov, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet.
The Russian Armed Forces started on Tuesday large-scale Vostok-2010 military exercises in Siberia and the country's Far East. The drills, which involve at least 20,000 troops, up to 70 warplanes and 30 warships, will continue through July 8.
The news about our warships last week is quieted this week so far, but it is making for “a good day to fly!”
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
For some reason, we tend to forget what God says about Israel concerning those who bless and those who curse them.
We have seen it in the Presbyterians and their stand against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and now the news of the Methodists in the UK. The Methodist Church of Britain voted on Wednesday to boycott Israeli-produced goods and services from the West Bank because of Israel’s “illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.” “A majority of governments recognize the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories as illegitimate under international law,” the church body said at its annual conference in Portsmouth. The church body will now encourage Methodists across the UK to follow suit. The motion stated that the boycott of goods “from illegal Israeli settlements” was in response to a call by the World Council of Churches – which advocates divestment from Israel – and by Palestinian civil society and “a growing number of Jewish organizations in Israel and worldwide.”
In a powerful article in the Times of London, Jose Maria Aznar, the President of Spain from 1996-2004) provides a rousing and eloquent defense of the State of Israel. Aznar also uses this opportunity to announce the launch of his new organization "Friends of Israel" composed primarily on non-Jewish Europeans and Americans. President Aznar is to be applauded for standing up for Israel, standing up for what is right.
The entire article can be read here:
If Israel goes down, we all go down. Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the West's best ally in a turbulent region
For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel. In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion.
Uniquely in the West, it is the only democracy whose very existence has been questioned since its inception. In the first instance, it was attacked by its neighbors using the conventional weapons of war. Then it faced terrorism culminating in wave after wave of suicide attacks. Now, at the behest of radical Islamists and their sympathizers, it faces a campaign of delegitimisation through international law and diplomacy.
Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival. Read Entire Article
Israel is standing alone, as we might see it, although God is still in control and knows exactly what is happening.
And, as we watch the news, something is definitely happening.
Warships from the Russian Pacific Fleet started on Thursday a series of anti-submarine warfare drills in the Sea of Japan as part of the Vostok-2010 strategic exercises in Russia's Far East.
"Ships and aircraft from the Pacific Fleet are practicing anti-submarine search-and-destroy missions to ensure favorable operational conditions in the Primorye joint task force's zone of control," said Capt. 1st Rank Roman Martov, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet.
The Russian Armed Forces started on Tuesday large-scale Vostok-2010 military exercises in Siberia and the country's Far East. The drills, which involve at least 20,000 troops, up to 70 warplanes and 30 warships, will continue through July 8.
The news about our warships last week is quieted this week so far, but it is making for “a good day to fly!”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)