Bring It On!

Christmas Wars - Return of the Red-i

November 29th, 2006 | by Jersey McJones |

Well, it’s Christmas time again. Time for joy and peace and love and WAR, BABY, WAR!!!

Wilson County, just east of Nashville, Tennessee, is the scene of the latest act in the Christmas war - and they’ve just been beggin’ for it. This is the county that brought us the “Bible Class” but can’t quite figure out how to teach it. But that’s not what this particular battle is about… yet. No, this is about Christmas festivities and proselyzation on school grounds, and the ACLU is sure to get demonized over this one!

From the ACLU:

ACLU of Tennessee Fights for Religious Freedom in Wilson County Public School (9/27/2006)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org

NASHVILLE — Acting on behalf of a Wilson County family, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee today asked a federal court to end practices by teachers and other officials that put pressure on students to engage in religious activities at Lakeview Elementary School.

The ACLU said it is bringing the lawsuit after repeated attempts by the family to end the school-sponsored religious activities, which they believe interfere with their right to religious freedom.

…School administrators repeatedly disregarded the family’s requests and continued to promote and sponsor activities like “Prayer at the Flag Pole” and “Praying Parents,” whose members enter classrooms and tell students that they have prayed for them. Rather than taking the family’s requests seriously, the school administrators encouraged the family to withdraw their child from the school.

In the lawsuit, the ACLU of Tennessee argues that the pattern and practice of promoting and endorsing religious activities by the Wilson County public school system is unconstitutional. In addition to “Praying Parents” and “Prayer at the Flag Pole,” the Wilson County school system promotes a range of religious activities, including a National Day of Prayer event and teacher-led classroom prayers, according to the lawsuit.

…The ACLU filed today’s lawsuit, John Doe and Jane Doe v. Wilson County School System, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The family wishes to remain anonymous because they fear for their child’s safety. The ACLU said the fact that the family does not want to be identified for fear of reprisals further demonstrates the divisions created in a community when the government takes sides on religious issues. …

Just as a side-note, what the hell is “Prayer at the Flagpole”? For people who claim to love the Bible so much, it’s funny that they missed the Commandment about idolatry, huh? And that’s not all they missed as the plaintiff family have since pulled their child from the school to home-school him. He would have been in the first grade. I wonder what would have happened to the little guy had he remained in class with all those loving Christians.

The ADF, Alliance Defense Fund, an extreme Religious Right legal advocacy group whose main goal is to shove Jesus up our collective ass, will be representing the school district. Meanwhile, the ACLJ, the American Center for Law and Justice, another extreme Religious Right legal advocacy group whose main goal is to shove Jesus up our collective ass, has decided to step into the fray…

STOP the ACLU … before they STOP Christmas

The ACLU might be at it again … but so are we. And with your help, the ACLJ will be in federal court this week protecting Christmas and, once again, taking a strong stand for the freedom of speech in America.

Because protecting freedom of speech is the real issue at play. And if the ACLU wins here, they will not stop with this case. They will march across this nation, loosening the threads of our religious heritage and chipping away at the foundation of our freedom.

But in response, I am launching a nationwide campaign, “KEEP HIM IN CHRISTMAS.” I will fight for freedom of speech this Christmas … standing ready to protect YOUR children’s and grandchildren’s school systems, YOUR dedicated teachers and principals, and YOUR town from this type of blatant, religious censorship. …

These guys have had some success with the SCOTUS of late, too. Their main focus seems to be abusing women outside of abortion clinics, but fighting to get Jesus into the classroom ranks right up there for them as well.

Bob Corker, the GOP’er who was just elected to fill the Senate seat vacated by Bill Frist after that close, racially charged race with Harold Ford Jr, stepped into all this back in October. He must’ve thought the issue was a winner (like the ‘issue’ of having scantily clad white women winking at black men), though he only won the seat by three percentage points in a state that puts the “Red” in both Redneck and Red State.

Corker Takes on ACLU in Wilson County School Prayer Controversy
Press Release
10/30/2006 3:29:15 PM

Old Hickory, TN – U.S. Senate candidate Bob Corker today said the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is woefully wrong to have filed what he called a “frivolous liberal lawsuit” against the Wilson County School District alleging a morning prayer endorsed by Lakeview Elementary School officials is a constitutional violation of church-state separation. “When the President declared September 14, 2001 — just two days after the attacks of 9-11 — a National Day of Prayer, no one sued him for crossing some arbitrary line between church and state,” said Corker. “We just bowed our heads and prayed. When a school in Wilson County or anywhere in our country allows children to do the same on the National Day of Prayer, or at a gathering at the flagpole, the courts ought to stay out of the way.”

…”Like many parents across our state, I pray for my family everyday,” Corker stated. “We should never force anyone to believe a certain faith or pray a certain way,” Corker continued, “but if a school decides to set aside some time to allow children who wish to pray to do so, we ought to support that school and community. That is precisely what it means to protect our freedom of religious expression — and I will fight to do just that in the U.S. Senate if elected.”

Well, he got elected, but it looks like he won’t be doing much fruitful fighting now that he’s in the minority! (hehehe)

The US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, MDT, consists of a majority of Democrat President appointments and has a progressive recent history, so this will be an interesting case to watch.

JMJ