Tag: church and state

March 16, 2018

Religious Mural In City Municipal Building Violates 1st Amendment

street sign showing Church and State intersection

Today we have a story from my hometown, Findlay, Ohio. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter to the city of Findlay complaining about a mural in the municipal building that included a quote from the Holy Bible. Mayor Lydia Mihalik appeared on the ‘Fox and Friends’ show to double down on the church and state violation the mural is causing and to dare FFRF to sue.

The mural is a large painting on the third floor of the Findlay municipal building that has a Bald Eagle swooping over water with the quote “Under His Wings Shall You Find Refuge Psalm 91”.

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August 28, 2017

Lucas County’s 10 Commandments Monument Needs To Go

image of 10 Commandments Moument on grounds of Lucas County Ohio Courthouse
10 Commandments Moument on grounds of Lucas County Ohio Courthouse

A stone marker has sat on the grounds of the Lucas County Courthouse in Toledo, Ohio for the past 60 years. It’s engraved with the 10 Commandments – a set of Christian religious rules. Supporters of the monument claim the commandments are part of our collective legal history so it should remain on the courthouse lawn. In 2006, a federal court agreed. A reasonable person, looking at the full background of how the monument came to be would come to a different conclusion.

The Lucas County Courthouse is located on Adams Street in downtown Toledo. There aren’t many monuments or markers on the grounds but one that caught my eye is a 10 Commandments monument that was donated by a local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1957. The Eagles placed hundreds of markers across the country starting in the late 1940s through the early 1960s. The markers were placed on courthouses, public schools, and public parks.

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June 23, 2017

Why I Question Religious Support of Donald Trump

Donald Trump shocked the world this November as he defied political analysts and achieved the required number of electoral votes to become the president of the United States. Even people with little or no political interest weighed in about the news to say how surprised they were by how things turned out. However, for some people of the Christian faith, the most surprising thing is that Trump has been able to win support from other followers of Christ.

He Talks Flippantly About Sexually Assaulting Women

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October 24, 2016

Another Great Reason Religion And Politics Shouldn’t Mix

image of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, even using causal values, is a terrible person. He has been accused of groping women, admitted to being a pervert, has been married several times, and has some nasty views about women and minorities. Why then is he still getting support from the paladins of virtue – the evangelical Christian community? It really isn’t that hard to see why.

I’m not going to detail on how terrible a human being Trump is, you can search the Internet for details on those points but he has been accused of groping women without consent, admitted to being a pervert by walking into a beauty pageant dressing room without permission, he has been married at three times having started two of those relationships while still married to another wife, and has expressed some vulgar views of women and minorities during campaign stops and on twitter. Yet some evangelicals and their leaders still support Trump.

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September 13, 2016

It’s Okay To Be Upset By Election Time Religious Pandering But What Do We Do Next?

created image saying Secular Vote

If you are in the least bit interested in a secular government that doesn’t cheerlead for any religion, that upholds the 1st amendment, and acknowledges that nonbelievers are citizens too, then you might be slightly upset that in yet another election cycle the candidates are pandering to the religious. Being upset is fine but seculars also should know we aren’t a majority yet. We can only keep demanding better from our candidates and elected officials.

The pandering of course comes from the right:

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August 21, 2016

Secular Coalition Releases 2016 Presidential Voter Guides

image of the logo for secular vote

The Secular Coalition for America (SCA) released its 2016 Presidential Voter Guides on Thursday August 18th. It consisted of eight areas of concern for the secular community and what each candidate said about those values, if available. The first two guides were for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and, as no surprise, Clinton was given an ‘A’ rating while Trump got an ‘F’.

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