Tag Archives: ADF: Kevin Theriot

Kevin Theriot on the George Rice Show to discuss this: Obama admin. surrenders in abortion pill mandate case. | MP3 audio 8 mins

DFW Catholic: “Every American should be free to live and do business according to their faith,” said Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “The government shouldn’t punish people of faith for following their beliefs when making decisions for themselves or their organizations. That’s why this lawsuit should not be casually dismissed as the Obama administration would like to see happen.”

NC Register: But Kevin Theriot of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy group, told the Register that Phoenix’s expanded code “goes further than any I’ve seen. It has profound implications, especially for business people. It prohibits any speech that makes people feel unwelcome.”

LifeNews: The Obama administration should understand that it cannot force Americans to abandon their beliefs at the door of the workplace,” says Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “The Constitution simply doesn’t allow the government to involve itself in religion by deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and when and where their faith may be lived out. Confining our faith to our homes and our churches is not the job of Washington bureaucrats.” “Americans should be free to honor God and live according to their consciences whether they are at home, church, or work,” adds lead counsel Jonathan R. Whitehead, one of nearly 2,200 allied attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom. [more]

Kevin Theriot appeared on the Bott Radio Network with Dick Bott to discuss this: NY school treats blessing like cursing. | MP3 audio 26:41 mins

Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement: Sometimes offending someone is the best way to communicate with them. As I wrote several weeks ago, being “nice” often means not saying what you really mean. And that’s a problem in a country with a government that is of, for, and by the people. How can we govern ourselves if we aren’t free to say what we really think, even when others don’t like it?

The New American: Kevin Theriot of Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy group, said it appears that InterVarsity has a strong reason to file a suit against the University of Michigan for religious discrimination. Such religious discrimination, particularly against Christian groups, has increased in the wake of a 2010 Supreme Court decision,Christian Legal Society vs. Martinez, in which the High Court ruled that a public university may implement a policy effectively requiring religious groups to receive “all comers” as long as it applies the same rule to all campus groups. It’s really amazing that we have come to this place in our society where a Christian group can’t require Christian leaders,” Theriot told Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink. “It’s really kind of silly, but we are seeing more and more universities do this.”

Christian Post: The attorneys for Sioux Chief who submitted the suit include Kevin H. Theriot, Esq. of the Alliance Defending Freedom and Jonathan R. Whitehead, an “allied attorney” with the ADF. In a statement, Whitehead explained that the issue at hand with this and other similar suits is that of the American constitutional tradition of religious freedom. “Americans should be free to honor God and live according to their consciences wherever they are,” said Whitehead. “They have the God-given freedom to live and transact business according to their faith, and the First Amendment has always protected that. Forcing Americans to ignore their faith just to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.”

One News Now: “The Constitution doesn’t allow the government to decide what faith is, who the faithful are, or even where they exercise that faith,” contends ADF attorney Kevin Theriot. “It’s not the job of Washington bureaucrats to confine faith to inside homes or inside churches. Faith and religious freedom [are] God-given, not government-driven.”

Kevin Theriot appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the Julia Ward case. | MP3 audio 14:38 mins

Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement University Blog: This cancer of liberal bias in our public education system has metastasized to the point that teachers and professors have no fear of repercussion when they attempt to force students in their charge to accept their extreme values. And a more recent reportindicates a school in Tampa actually allowed a pro-Obama  organization to campaign in that high school (without equal time for a GOP group), though school officials claim they were deceived into thinking the group was from the elections office. We need some serious constitutional chemotherapy and that begins with parents and students – from elementary school to college - getting informed about their fundamental rights and responsibilities. You can start by accessing our resources atAllianceDefendingFreedom.org/Education or contacting us at 800-835-5233 if you need free legal advice on how to stand up like my new heroine Samanta Pawlucy at your school.

Kevin Theriot appeared on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 12:51 mins

Kevin Theriot appeared on KDAZ 730 AM the Morning Show with Birga and Dan to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 15:55 mins

One News Now: “A lot of students unfortunately aren’t aware that these restrictions on their sincerely-held religious beliefs are unconstitutional, if they go to a public school,” notes ADF attorney Kevin Theriot. “And even If they go to a private school, sometimes they even have rights bestowed upon them by the private schools.”

One News Now: Kevin Theriot of Alliance Defending Freedom says the government is attempting to avoid Louisiana College’s contention that Christian employers should not be forced to abandon their beliefs. “People of faith shouldn’t be discriminated against when they go into the business world,” he protests. “They certainly shouldn’t be punished for incorporating their religious convictions into their business, and that’s certainly true of a Christian college like Louisiana College.”

LifeNews: “Every American should be free to live and do business according to their faith,” said Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “The government shouldn’t punish people of faith for following their beliefs when making decisions for themselves or their organizations. That’s why this lawsuit should not be casually dismissed as the Obama administration would like to see happen.” . . . “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith. For the time being, Hercules Industries will be able to do just that,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman after the decision. Bowman added, “The cost of freedom for this family could be millions of dollars per year in fines that will cripple their business if the Obama administration ultimately has its way. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that Washington bureaucrats cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living. Americans don’t want politicians and bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”

DFWCatholic: “Every American should be free to live and do business according to their faith,” said Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “The government shouldn’t punish people of faith for following their beliefs when making decisions for themselves or their organizations. That’s why this lawsuit should not be casually dismissed as the Obama administration would like to see happen.” “This mandate leaves religious employers with no true choice: either comply and abandon your religious freedom and conscience, or resist and be punished,” said allied attorney and co-counsel Mike Johnson, dean of Louisiana College’s Pressler School of Law. “It is a shame that the Obama administration is opposing religious freedom rather than supporting it.”

Baptist Press: “If the government continues to say that we have to do this, we will not do it,” Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard told Fox News. “There’s going to be, in my opinion, a constitutional crisis. We’re not going to do it.” . . . “People of faith shouldn’t be punished by the government for following their beliefs when making decisions for themselves or their organizations,” said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom. The ADF is representing Louisiana College in its lawsuit.

One News Now: Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Kevin Theriot says students at Florida Christian College (FCC) are being denied Florida Resident Access Grants (FRAGs) . . . We’re confident that the court’s going to uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of the students at Florida Christian College to have the same access to funding for their education as [do] other types of students,” Theriot asserts. Another ADF attorney, Greg Baylor, is perplexed as to why Florida draws a distinction between Florida Christian College and other religious schools in the state.

Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The bad news is most church ministries and para-church organizations will be required to provide things like abortion-inducing drugs to their employees – even if it conflicts with the religious beliefs and teachings of the ministry. Any non-church ministry that provides services to people of other faiths (instead of just those who agree with their religious beliefs) will be subject to this requirement

Kevin Theriot appeared on Family Policy Matters with Bill Brooks on the NC Family Policy Council. | MP3 audio 14:29 mins | ADF launches new nationwide effort to change unconstitutional policies at public universities

One News Now: Theriot says the unconstitutional policies are setting a dangerous precedent. “We are teaching our kids that there are certain views or … certain religious beliefs that have fallen out of favor and they’re allowed to be restricted and it’s okay to restrict them,” he laments. “And of course, that undermines the foundational principles this country was founded upon.”

World Net Daily: America’s universities take pride in their promotion of the free exchange of ideas, but many regularly censor the speech of students, and the legal advocacy group Alliance Defense Fund is working to change that . . . “Public universities should encourage, not censor, the free exchange of ideas,” said Kevin Theriot, a senior counsel for the organization. [more]

Kevin Theriot at Townhall: In addition to pushing to redefine marriage in different states around the country, homosexual activists have spent the last year or two pushing for censorship of free speech under the guise of “anti-bullying” campaigns. There is a serious problem with the very idea of “anti-bullying” campaigns which often culminate in legislation or policies geared specifically toward protecting those who say they are homosexual from criticism or offense. These laws routinely violate the First Amendment because they not only restrict some free speech but create a double standard which allows offensive and demeaning criticism of groups that aren’t protected by the “anti-bullying” statutes or policies

Patch.com: The Alliance Defense Fund, based in Arizona, is representing the student. A spokesman told the Washington Post excluding activities widely considered “community service” in non-religious contexts is “an unconstitutional policy that needs to be remedied.”

One News Now: “Churches shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination by a city’s zoning restrictions,” contends ADF attorney Kevin Theriot, “so Port St. Lucie has done the right thing in making its zoning code constitutional. Both the U.S. Constitution and federal law prohibit government officials from banning religious uses of property when they allow similar, non-religious uses of that same property.”

LifeSiteNews: “We’re glad to hear this news, which is certainly a vindication of the position we took in the federal lawsuit, which we filed and prosecuted over the last three-and-a-half years, along with the Alliance Defense Fund and America Catholic Lawyers Association,” attorney Tom Brejcha, president of the Thomas More Society in Chicago, told LifeSiteNews.com.

WorldNetDaily: “The state is doing the right thing in agreeing to respect their constitutionally protected rights and to make sure officers fully understand these important freedoms,” said Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the ADF. “Pro-life speech cannot be censored through unwarranted arrests and illegal orders to disperse.”

One News Now: Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Kevin Theriot says this government mandate is about religious freedom in America, not about a woman’s right to contraceptives. And he views this as one of the greatest threats to Christian liberty in the nation’s history “because it’s … setting the precedent for the government to be able to impose its will on a religious organization when doing that completely violates the longstanding convictions of that religious group.” [more]

WorldNewsServices on Crosswalk: On Feb. 20, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) announced suits filed on behalf of two other schools — Louisiana College, which falls within the 5th Circuit, and Geneva College, in the 3rd Circuit. Kevin Theriot, senior counsel with the ADF, said the spread of the organization’s cases is not part of a grand strategy but acknowledged that its lawyers hope to end up with clients in every district. “If we win in the 5th Circuit, that doesn’t directly affect a school in Washington,” he said. “You can really only solve the problem for a school if you get the circuit where they are to rule in their favor.”

Liberty News Online: Kevin Theriot, senior counsel for the fund, cited the recent Hosanna-Tabor case as another example of Obama administration missteps on religious rights. In that case, attorneys for the Department of Justice and EEOC argued that “the government has a compelling interest to eliminate discrimination,” even if it means intervening in hiring and firing decisions in religious entities, like the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, Mr. Theriot said. “Of course the Supreme Court rejected that,” because of the “ministerial exception,” he said. “But it was very disturbing that the attorneys for the administration made that argument.”

LifeSiteNews: “They’re really concerned about the requirement that they would cover drugs that are abortifacients. That violates their sincerely held belief to protect life at all stages, even at the embryonic stage,” Kevin Theriot, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, told LifeSiteNews.com.

TheTownTalk.com: “People of faith shouldn’t be punished by the government for following their beliefs when making decisions for themselves or their organizations,” said Kevin Theriot, ADF senior counsel. “The Obama administration invented a fake ‘right’ to get ‘free’ abortion pills and sterilization and elevated it above real freedoms protected by the First Amendment . . . The Obama administration has purposely transformed a non-existent problem –access to contraception — into a constitutional crisis,” said ADF-allied attorney and co-counsel Mike Johnson, dean of Louisiana College’s Pressler School of Law.

Kevin Theriot at Baptist Press: So why is it that churches and other religious organizations increasingly find themselves unwelcome in communities where they used to be revered?

Christian Civic League: Pastors are invited to discuss tax and religious liberty issues with Kevin Theriot, head of the Church Division for the Alliance Defense Fund, at Aldersgate Methodist Church of Rockland on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 9 am.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Blog: The appeals court (and the Associated Press) failed to recognize something even Christians sometimes forget – our biblical worldview and Christian principles affect all aspects of our lives. That certainly includes how we teach our children all subjects – even those that don’t appear to be “religious” – such as music and social studies.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot on KFUO with Roland Lettner Show to discuss the case. | MP3 audio 24:40 mins

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on the Paul Edwards Show to discuss the ruling. | MP3 audio 11:35 mins

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The Supreme Court just handed down a fantastic ruling affirming the right of churches to employ only those individuals that share their beliefs and live their lives according to the teaching of the church.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss yesterday’s ruling. | MP3 audio 8:33 mins

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot regarding today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission:

“The Supreme Court was right to conclude that the government cannot contradict a church’s determination of who can act as its ministers. This clearly goes to the heart of the original intent of the religion clauses of the First Amendment. ADF has been pleased to represent this church and school in the trial court since the 6th Circuit handed down its opinion, and we commend The Becket Fund for its excellent work representing them before the Supreme Court.”

www.adfmedia.org

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Churc Blog: Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Redmond, Washington, reportedly took a stand against the Washington governor’s recent efforts to legalize same-sex “marriage,” stating: ”As long as the Bible says it’s wrong, I’m going to fight against it . . .

Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement: The more fundamental question, however, is what does the Bronx Household of Faith case tell us about the state of religious freedom in America? At minimum, we now know that some government officials and federal judges believe religious worship gets less constitutional protection than virtually any other type of expression – including political speeches, scientific lectures, global warming conferences, homosexual “rights” rallies, and even anti-religious teaching.

Washington Examiner: A coalition of groups have challenged the HHS rule in federal court. Kevin Theriot and Matthew S. Bowman of ADF argue in their suit that “no federal rule has defined being ‘religious’ as narrowly and discriminatorily as the [HHS] mandate appears to do, and no regulation has ever so directly proposed to violate plain statutory and constitutional religious freedoms.” | The article incorrectly mentions a lawsuit.  ADF submitted this letter to HHS on behalf of several organizations and colleges.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at The Speak Up Movement Church Blog: On December 12, Judge Silver, a federal judge in Arizona, threw out a claim that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer violated the Establishment Clause by issuing day of prayer proclamations in observance of the National Day of Prayer. The court cited the Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in FFRF v. Obama, saying “hurt feelings” don’t give someone standing to bring a federal case.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: So if Secretary of State Clinton is willing to acknowledge that rights aren’t simply something we’ve made up ourselves as we bump along evolutionary path to self actualization, why didn’t she say they emanate from God? The simple answer is she probably knows God not only gave us rights, He’s given responsibilities. The whole point of her speech is she believes the freedom to engage in homosexual behavior is a basic human right that even trumps religious freedom.

Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: For many years, U.S. Senate Finance Committee member Charles Grassley (R-IA), has been looking into the financial practices of large media-based Christian ministries

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The long standing tax provision that permits churches to provide pastors with a non-taxable housing allowance was recently challenged in the case Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Geitner in a California federal court. The radical group that filed the lawsuit voluntarily dismissed it after the Supreme Court handed down its decision in ACSTO v. Winn – an ADF case that severely restricts the ability of anti-religious organizations to challenge government programs that acknowledge the autonomy of religious organizations and the benefits they provide our communities.

But the atheist organization filed another lawsuit challenging the housing allowance in the federal court in Wisconsin on September 17, 2011

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: A recent column in USAToday titled “5 rules for faith and politics 2012” proposes rules the authors say would avoid both theocracy and hostility toward religion. But all they succeed in doing is marginalizing people of faith who have the audacity to think their most cherished beliefs about God and morality should affect all aspects of their lives – including how they vote

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: An Egyptian court is reported to have sentenced a man to three years in jail and hard labor because he ”intentionally insulted the dignity of the Islamic religion and attacked it with insults and ridicule on Facebook.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: In an open letter to his fellow bishops, Bishop Dolan, President of the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops lists numerous examples of government laws, policies, and regulations that have been propounded without any regard for the religious liberty upon which they are trampling.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at Religion Clause Blog (10/21): This is just one more example of how efforts to censor speech because it is critical of other religions is a danger to freedom.

Patrick J. Reilley at Washington Times: Writing on their behalf, attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) argued that “federal law simply prohibits the federal government from violating the religious and moral beliefs” of any individual or institution. “No federal rule has defined being ‘religious’ as narrowly and discriminatorily as the [HHS] mandate appears to do, and no regulation has ever so directly proposed to violate plain statutory and constitutional religious freedoms,” wrote ADF’s Kevin Theriot and Matthew S. Bowman.

LifeNews.com: The appeal was organized by The Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education, a division of The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), and authored by attorneys Kevin Theriot and Matthew Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund. Joining the Center and 18 colleges in the letter were the Society of Catholic Social Scientists and Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Bishop Curry, who signed in his individual capacity, is chairman of the Committee for Catholic Education at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Christian Newswire: The appeal was organized by The Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education, a division of The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), and authored by attorneys Kevin Theriot and Matthew Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund.

Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Increased animosity toward churches because of their Biblically based moral teaching sometimes results in actual disruption of church services.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot appeared on KFLC Good Morning Ozarks with Charlie Ingram and Keith O’Neal to discuss Pulpit Freedom Sunday. | MP3 audio 19:15 min

OneNewsNow.com: Alliance Defense Fund attorney Kevin Theriot says that since the nation’s founding, public meetings have been opened with prayer — and there is no legal reason, he explains, why a town should be denied this right. “This practice has always been lawful in America, and the district court rightly affirmed its constitutionality in this case last year,” says Theriot

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The great news is the Fourth Circuit issued an order on September 14, 2011 which affirms that St. Catherine and other ministries have the right to employ only those who agree with their religious teachings and apply them to their daily lives.

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: There’s an increasing willingness in the U.S. to categorize any speech critical of a particular religious belief as “hate speech” that is some how not worthy of First Amendment protection.

ADF attorney available to media after hearing, challenging state officials’ claim that outreach facilities ‘not integral’ part of ministry

LifeSiteNews.com: nyone opposed to the acceptance of homosexual behavior as a healthy, normal, moral equivalent to heterosexuality is often accused of homophobia – an irrational fear of those engaged in homosexual behavior. This same label is applied to any church that teaches biblical morality on the issue.

Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Recently, Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, had to defend his church’s loving and biblical morality teachings against an attack from a homosexual activist who persuaded the head of Starbucks to breach his contract to speak at the church’s leadership summit.

Kevin Theriot with Roland Lettner on KFUO to dicuss: Good News! Americans United for Separation of Church and State admits the phrase “separation of church and state” not in Constitution | MP3 audio 24:55 mins

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot on the Word of Truth Radio Program with Pastor Brad Brandon to discuss Kevin’s article: UK Riots and Church Attendance | MP3 audio 15:03 mins

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: It’s tragic and dangerous that most people don’t see churches as providing a moral compass for communities. Churches and pastors must boldly step into that roll. Otherwise, someone or something else will. We all can see it’s already happening.

Three churches sue Port St. Lucie, claim zoning laws discriminate: “The law is very clear that when you allow similar uses that include assembly of people, you have to allow churches,” said the attorney for the churches Kevin Theriot. He is with the Christian nonprofit Alliance Defense Fund based in Kansas City. Theriot said the city claims the churches have to leave because they’re not allowed in areas zoned “neighborhood convenience commercial.” [more]

TCPalm: Kevin Theriot, the attorney representing the churches and senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund in Kansas City, Mo., said churches have operated in the Southport Shopping Center for at least the past nine years. He said the city began enforcing the zoning code only when it received a complaint against the churches. “Generally speaking, non-profits are allowed to locate without obtaining licensing similar to for-profit commercial enterprises, so there really hasn’t been any problems with them,” Theriot said. “Essentially, what the city told me is until somebody complains they usually don’t do anything. They are pretty much a complaint-based system. There are some definite problems with the code as a whole.”

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: If passed, ENDA would add “sexual orientation” to the list of characteristics upon which an employer cannot discriminate. This is unlikely to have much direct effect on churches . . . But it could affect them indirectly if they have separate ministries such as schools or day care facilities that are not expressly religious and all employees are not required to subscribe to church doctrine . . .

Top Legal Issues That Concern Churches – Issue #4 Church Autonomy
Top Legal Issues that Concern Churches – Issue #3 Other Taxes
Top Legal Issues That Concern Churches – Issue #2 Property Taxes
Top Legal Issues That Concern Churches – Issue #1 Land Use

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot at Baptist Press: Last year, a church school in Redford, Mich., was dealt a blow to its independence from government control by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Hosanna-Tabor is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and operates a church and school . . . The good news is that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the Sixth Circuit’s decision this year.

ADF attorney Kevin Theriot on the Mary Reichard Show at 1340AM The Ozark’s Big Talker. | MP3 audio 21 mins

The Jeffersonian view of separation is one wherein the First Amendment shackles the government but keeps the Church free, as is clearly seen in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists; the kind of separation leftist radicals embrace is one wherein the government is often used to silence public display of faith—a concept that the Founders never embraced or fostered.

Kevin Theriot at Speak Up Movement Church Blog: But property isn’t the only thing they’re trying to tax. Cash strapped municipalities are also starting to assess churches with “fees” that are really just taxes in disguise.

NCRegister.com: The problem is that the NLRB’s attempts to force Catholic colleges to comply with federal labor laws are part of a larger trend, described by Kevin Theriot of the Alliance Defense Fund in a recent analysis for the Center for the Advancement of Catholic Higher Education. “Federal and state laws are increasingly being used to coerce religious institutions into actions and commitments that violate deeply held religious convictions and moral principles,” Theriot writes . . . “But an educational institution that veers from a religious founding will probably not be able to demonstrate that it is a religious organization,” Theriot warns. Authentically Catholic colleges have an “advantage” over other religious colleges because they have been given clear standards to follow in the 1990 apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae.