Category: Groups

June 29, 2015

Finally, The ACLU Turns Against The RFRA

logo for the ACLU

During the recent firestorm over state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA) like those passed by Indiana and the use of them to discriminate against LGBT people, one of my conservative friends pointed out many liberals and the ACLU supported the federal RFRA passed in 1993. He implied they were being hypocrites. Late last week the ACLU formally repudiated its support of the RFRA.

The ACLU provided some of the same reasons to remove their support of the RFRA that has been mentioned in previous posts about this issue:

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June 15, 2015

Southern Baptists Write A Book On How To Subvert The Law

May 18, 2015

Cleveland Plain Dealer Attacks Separation Of Church And State

Cleveland Plain Dealer logo

It’s not very often when news media inserts itself in a contentious local issue, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer decided that the separation of church and state was a bridge too far. It took a side in a resolved issue over a public school musical performance of an opera with religious concepts.

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May 3, 2015

Religious School Appeals Zoning Denial To U.S. Court Of Appeals

logo for Tree of Life schools

A Christian ministry that wanted to open a school in an office complex they owned, had their appeal heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit last week. They are suing the city of Upper Arlington, Ohio, under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act – which is a cousin to the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The RLUIPA is used by religious groups to force cities to change zoning laws that conflict with the group’s religious agenda.

Last year, about this time, I posted about a Christian ministry, Tree of Life, who purchased the largest office complex in Upper Arlington. They wanted to run a private school on the site and the city denied their zoning change request several times. Tree of Life sued in federal court.

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January 27, 2015

Mormons Will Stop Fighting LGBT Rights As Long As They Get A Free Pass On Their Bigotry

October 4, 2014

Look Out! Pulpit Freedom Sunday Is Nigh!

logo for Pulpit Freedom Sunday event

This Sunday, October 5th, Alliance Defending Freedom’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday will take place. They claim it’s about religious freedom when in fact it’s about creating a lawsuit they can use to try and get tax regulations against electioneering by churches tossed out as unconstitutional. Finally, this year they might get their lawsuit.

Read the postLook Out! Pulpit Freedom Sunday Is Nigh!