When I heard about the religious right complaint over a public school teaching yoga to students it kind of made me yawn because it is so typical. The religious right want their brand of religion to be promoted in public schools but complain about anything that they think isn’t their brand of religion. Some liberal religious people I know don’t think this hypocrisy happens so this post is for them as further proof.
Here is the basic story:
Tag: California
On Monday, a federal judge ruled against a group of Christian churches who had sued the City of Santa Monica California to reopen a park for Christmas displays. The 60 year old tradition was ended after a fight between atheists and Christians over displays last Christmas. The city took the action it thought necessary but the churches argued the city was violating its free speech rights. Like usual, the churches don’t know what freedom of speech really means.
The court decision that overturned California Proposition 8 supports the American foundation of equal legal protection and could also be applied to future questions about freedom of religion and freedom FROM religion.
Last week the US Supreme Court ruled that a transfer of land, holding a cross erected in the Mojave National Preserve in California then sold to a private group after a lower court ruled that the cross violated the 1st amendment, needed to be reassessed in light of their holding that a Latin cross is a generic symbol of war dead. The ruling opens a can of worms that neither believers or non-believers might enjoy.
Well, imagine that. After 17 years of legal fighting and losing, religious conservatives and their vassals within the US Congress finally “won”. President Bush signed a law that allows the Federal government to acquire the Mt. Soledad cross.