Tag Archives: Group: Americans United for Separation of Church and State

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0Zem263sLo

news9.com: “The Americans United for Separation of Church and State is asking the IRS to investigate a Church in Edmond after the church’s pastor declared his support for a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit . . . According to Americans United the annual event is sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious right legal group founded by preachers who chose to ignore the law by opposing candidate from the pulpit.”

OneNewsNow: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State wants the Internal Revenue Service to investigate an Edmond, Oklahoma, pastor . . . According to the Alliance Defense Fund, about 100 pastors from 30 states participated in that program on September 26 — and an ADF attorney says the legal group is “looking forward to what may come” in the aftermath.”

USA Today: “The campaign was sponsored for the third straight year by the conservative Christian group Alliance Defense Fund . . . ‘Our goal always has been to empower pastors to speak freely from the pulpit without government censorship or control,’ said the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based group’s senior legal counsel, Erik Stanley.”

“Christians ‘do not and cannot recognize, with regard to the definition of marriage, the imaginary authority of the Iowa Supreme Court. . . .”

Des Moines Register: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State alleges that Cornerstone World Outreach, a Sioux City congregation, is sponsoring a church-based campaign to unseat the justices. The campaign violates a federal ban on political activity by tax-exempt groups, the group said in a statement.”

Stuart Whatley writing at the Huffington Post: “[T]he ADF is determined to provoke a lawsuit from the IRS so as to challenge the 1954 provision that prohibits political endorsements from tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, which includes most religious institutions. According to the ADF’s [Erik Stanley], ‘We believe if a federal judge looked at the constitutionality of what the IRS has done, it wouldn’t take long for the judge to strike it down as unconstitutional.’”

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “It’s ironic that a group that has ‘separation of church and state’ in its name would argue and agitate for government-controlled churches. AU wants pervasive and ongoing monitoring and surveillance of churches by the IRS. That’s not separation of church and state no matter how you look at it.”

The Christian Post: “A liberal church-state separation group filed an IRS complaint Tuesday against an Oklahoma church whose pastor voiced support for a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit . . . ‘AU claims to stand for the separation of church and state, yet by complaining to the IRS, AU is asking for government monitoring and surveillance of churches by the state,’ said ADF Senior Legal Counsel [Erik Stanley] to The Christian Post. ‘That’s not separation of church and state no matter how you look at it.’”

Religion Clause: “Reaction is now beginning to activities of churches which last Sunday participated in Alliance Defense Fund’s Pulpit Sunday challenging tax code restrictions on non-profits, including churches.”

Common Dreams: “The Internal Revenue Service should investigate an Edmond, Okla., church whose pastor endorsed a gubernatorial candidate from the pulpit, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State . . . Blair issued the endorsements as part of ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday,’ an annual event sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). The ADF, a Religious Right legal group founded by TV preachers, prods pastors to openly defy the law by endorsing or opposing candidates from the pulpit.”

ABC News: Nearly 100 pastors across the country took part in Pulpit Freedom Sunday today, an in-your-face challenge to what the government says can and cannot be said in church . . . ‘We believe that a pastor has a right to speak whatever he believes without fearing the government will somehow censor what he says or threaten to take away his tax exemption,’ ADF spokesman [Erik Stanley] said.”

Ian Talley writing at the Wall Street Journal / Washington Wire blog: “The group aims to force a legal battle over existing tax rules, said [Erik Stanley], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. Under current law, the Internal Revenue Service can revoke the tax-free status of churches, or other nonprofit groups, that use their lecterns to stump for or against politicians. ‘ADF is not trying to get politics into the pulpit; we want to get government out of the pulpit,’ Stanley said.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “The Tennessean . . . reported that seven pastors in the state will ‘bait’ the IRS by endorsing candidates from the pulpit. A provision in the Internal Revenue Code bars all 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations, which includes houses of worship, from intervening in elections. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Religious Right legal group founded and funded by TV preachers, has encouraged pastors across the country to violate the law this Sunday, a project the group refers to as ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday.’”

Rapid City Journal: “The Alliance Defense Fund will release the names Monday of 100 pastors it expects to preach politics today during Pulpit Freedom Sunday, but the Rev. H. Wayne Williams of Rapid City said his name won’t be among them.”

Daily Comet: “A Christian rally open to the public will go ahead at Fort Bragg on Saturday, leaders at the post say, despite objections from national groups who say it’s a violation of the separation between church and state.” Related: Army must cancel evangelistic event at Fort Bragg, says Americans United

WorldNetDaily: “At least 100, and perhaps as many as several hundred, Christian pastors on Sunday will speak out on biblical issues and the political candidates on the November election ballot in direct violation of Internal Revenue Service regulations . . . ‘The IRS should not be used as a political tool to advance the agenda of radical groups bent on silencing the voice of the church and inhibiting religious freedom,’ [Erik Stanley], also a senior counsel for the ADF, said. ‘It is ironic that a group with a name like “Americans United for Separation of Church and State” continues to exploit a scheme of massive government monitoring and surveillance of churches.’”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “An evangelistic rally jointly sponsored by U.S. military personnel and evangelical Christian churches and ministries violates the U.S. Constitution and must be cancelled, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a group founded and funded by TV preachers, is urging evangelical pastors to openly break federal tax law this Sunday by using the pulpit to endorse or oppose candidates. The ADF calls its stunt ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday.’”

The Colorado Springs Business Journal: “Citizens Project, a local nonprofit that champions religious freedom, will distribute information to 400 churches and religious organizations today clarifying IRS laws about electioneering . . . The distribution is meant to counter the ‘Pulpit Initiative,’ a 2008 program promoted by the Alliance Defense Fund . . .”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State and allied groups have asked a federal appellate court to reconsider a decision dealing with religious bias in hiring at publicly funded ‘faith-based’ charities. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled recently that World Vision, an evangelical Christian relief agency, had the right to fire workers who hold views that conflict with the agency’s religious viewpoint.”

C-SPAN: “Panelists talked about the Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 ruling in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. In that case the court ruled that a public university has the right to withdraw formal recognition of groups that do not adhere to anti-discrimination policies. Participants: [Gregory S. Baylor], Alliance Defense Fund; Kimberlee Wood Colby, Christian Legal Society; Frank Guliuzza, Patrick Henry College; Holly Hollman, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty; Richard B. Katskee, Assistant Legal Director, Americans United for Separation of Church and State.” (The full video has not yet aired on C-Span as of this posting)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hB8e1c74mA

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, ‘This opinion reads more like an op-ed than a legal advisory. Cuccinelli is encouraging local governments to wade into a deeply controversial arena of the law without adequate guidance . . . It is a green light to Religious Right activists to cajole local officials into erecting sectarian displays on public property. Unless local officials are extremely careful, this is likely to lead to lawsuits.’”

The Salt Lake Tribune: “[Byron Babione], the attorney representing the UHPA, said the individualized memorials ‘simply do not amount to a government establishment of religion’ . . . ‘We don’t intend to leave this disappointing ruling standing,’ said Babione, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund in Arizona. “One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by Utah Highway Patrol officers and their families. The families of the fallen should be allowed to honor their loved ones as they wish.’” | ADF News Release

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “New York Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to offer public property to relocate the so-called ‘Ground Zero mosque’ raises serious constitutional issues and could spark litigation, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”

ADF’s Weekly Update is on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqWRY3RGuvU.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “In a joint letter, Americans United and 22 other religious, educational and advocacy groups commended U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson for introducing a House resolution supporting academically sound curriculum development and criticizing the Texas State Board of Education for politicizing the state’s social studies standards.”

ADF Attorney Joel Oster writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “A federal district court rejected a lawsuit filed by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and in so doing, exposed their true anti-Christian agenda . . . [K]nowing that they couldn’t stop the prayers, they then sought to challenge prayers ‘in Jesus’ name.’ This is really what bothers them. Fortunately, the court rejected this attempt at prayer censorship. If Americans United had stayed true to their identity, they would not be asking government officials to tell local clergy how and to whom to pray. This is a matter best left to theologians, not courts of law or local governments.”

WorldNetDaily: “A federal judge in New York has rejected a demand from the Americans United for Separation of Church and State that a town board be ordered to change its invocation procedures so that the statements from volunteers on a rotating basis would be more ‘ecumenical’ and ‘inclusive’ . . . ‘America’s founders opened public meetings with prayer,’ said Senior Legal Counsel [Joel Oster] of the Alliance Defense Fund, which defended the town’s practices. ‘Opening public meetings with prayer has always been lawful in America, and the court here affirmed that it still is today,’ he said.” | ADF News Release

Democrat and Chronicle: “U.S. District Judge Charles Siragusa ruled Thursday that the prayers at the board meeting are not unconstitutional . . . In 2008 Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the town on behalf of residents who objected to the prayers at the board meeting. The town was represented by Alliance Defense Fund attorneys.”

Associated Baptist Press: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State wrote the IRS July 21 requesting an investigation about whether Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ violated tax law by hosting a rally for a Southern Baptist candidate. … Paul Blair, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla., and founder of Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, says he believes the IRS ban on charities endorsing candidates is unconstitutional. Blair was part of the Alliance Defense Fund pulpit initiative, aimed at challenging the IRS statute in hopes of prompting a lawsuit to get the law into the judicial system. ‘We heard nothing from it,’ he said.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State today asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, charging that the organization violated federal law by promoting a candidate’s campaign rally. Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ operates as a tax-exempt group and solicits tax-deductible donations on its Web site, but last month it distributed an e-mail in support of Rep. Sally Kern, a candidate seeking reelection to the state House of Representatives.”

Associated Press: “The Wichita City Council says it will continue opening meetings with a prayer after taking heat for the tradition Tuesday night.” | From yesterday’s issue of the ADF Alliance Alert: Wichita Council debates prayer before meetings. The story has been updated and retitled, “Council: Prayer will continue before meetings.”

KSN: “The City Council heard arguments today over whether prayer should be allowed before the meeting begins. … ‘There is no good reason to use public time to express private beliefs,’ said Vickie Sandell Stangl, president of the Great Plains chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “A recent AP article picked up by news outlets across the country describes how Gano Baptist Church in Georgetown, Kentucky is teaching young people about our country’s religious heritage. … Amazingly, the article quotes Americans United for Separation of Church and State as being concerned about this effort … Let’s be clear – there is absolutely no legal prohibition on churches teaching about the religion of our founders, even if pastors do so from the pulpit. ADF has put together an easy to read summary of the current law governing churches and politics called ‘Guidelines for Political Activities by Churches and Pastors.’ The only current prohibition on church political speech has to do with endorsing and opposing a candidate who is currently running for office (and ADF is doing its best to change that unconstitutional law through the Pulpit Initiative).”

AP: “Call it vacation Bible school, Glenn Beck-style. Some three dozen kids ages 10 to 15 are spending five nights this week learning what organizers — some with tea party ties — say they won’t hear in school about the Constitution, the founding fathers and the role of faith in the birth of the United States.”

Foundation for Moral Law: “The Foundation for Moral Law (FML) in Montgomery, Alabama, founded by Judge Roy Moore, sent a letter yesterday to the Hoover City Board of Education in Hoover, Alabama, encouraging the Board to bring back invocations at its meetings, despite a threatening anti-prayer letter from a liberal secularist group in Washington,D.C.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked a federal appeals court to stop a Southern California community college from proselytizing and imposing prayers at public events.” | Brief of Plaintiffs-Appellants,  Westphal v. Wagner, No. 10-55781 (9th Cir.)

Sandhya Bathija writes at the Americans United for Separation of Church and State Wall of Separation Blog: “The two briefs were filed in the Joyner v Forsyth County case, a lawsuit in which Americans United and the North Carolina ACLU are challenging the commission’s sectarian bias. For years, the Forsyth board invited local clergy to deliver Christian prayers at board meetings. Despite receiving letters from AU and the ACLU demanding that the practice stop, board members refused to do so, leading to the litigation. The district court struck down the board’s unfair and divisive policy in January. But, represented by the Religious Right legal group, the Alliance Defense Fund, the board appealed the decision to the 4th Circuit in February.”

The Daily Times: “Attorneys representing an anonymous Jewish family who sued the Indian River School District over the school board’s practice of opening its meetings with an explicitly Christian prayer — and lost — have appealed to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. … In addition to the 69-page brief on behalf of plaintiff ‘Jane Doe,’ two other groups filed “friend of the court” briefs in support of the family’s position that a sectarian prayer at a school board meeting is unconstitutional and fails to respect diversity.” | “Sectarian prayer at DE school board meetings violates church-state separation”

ADF attorney Erik Stanley appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss the IRS’ investigation of a South Dakota Baptist pastor. | MP3 17:19 mins | ADF Media: ADF agrees to represent SD church reported to IRS | IRS Should Investigate South Dakota Church That Endorsed Gubernatorial Candidate, Says Americans United | ADF Pulpit Initiative

Religion Clause: “On June 18, thirty national organizations comprising the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination, sent a letter (full text) to the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee urging it to hold hearings on the current status of the Faith-Based Initiative.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “A friend-of-the-court brief filed with the 3rd U.S. Circuit of Appeals yesterday says a federal district judge got it wrong when he ruled in favor of sectarian invocations before meetings of the Indian River School District’s board.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Many advocacy groups and interested parties have issued statements on yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. Here is a sampling . . . ” (links to press releases by numerous groups including ADF)

Religion Clause: “As hearings on the nomination of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court approach, more focus is now being given to her views on religious liberty and church-state separation.” (click for more analysis and links)

Law.com: “[T]wo separate reports issued Wednesday suggest that Kagan may part company with Stevens in cases involving religious liberty. … In one report, scholar Melissa Rogers suggests Kagan could ‘move the Court closer to reinvigorating the Free Exercise Clause and thus closer to providing additional protection for the peaceful practice of all faiths.’ … The other report issued Wednesday treats Kagan’s views on the issue with alarm. Her memo on the California case ‘raises many questions,’ according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State today urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to question Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan about her views on crucial religious liberty issues. In a letter to Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy and ranking minority member Sen. Jeff Sessions . . . ”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “As if there aren’t already enough reasons why public funds should never support religious education – here are just a few more. Reason No. 793: NBC’s Today Show recently interviewed a Florida teacher who said she was fired by a Christian school after school officials learned she became pregnant before her marriage . . . ”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys have agreed to represent a South Dakota church reported to the Internal Revenue Service by Americans United for Separation of Church and State because the church’s pastor engaged in free speech from the pulpit.

Memphis Conservative Examiner: “In a daring test of the IRS, Rev. H. Wayne Williams of Liberty Baptist Tabernacle in Rapid City, South Dakota has answered Republican candidate Gordon Howie’s challenge to the pastors of South Dakota to defy the IRS regulation that denies churches the right to endorse political candidates and maintain their tax-exempt status. . . . Several organizations, chief among them the Alliance Defense Fund, have encouraged pastors in the past to challenge the IRS in the hopes that it might bring the 1954 amendment before the Supreme Court.”

Washington Times: “The Rev. H. Wayne Williams, pastor of Liberty Baptist Tabernacle in Rapid City, last month endorsed GOP state Sen. Gordon Howie in the South Dakota governor’s race . . . in hopes of producing a landmark constitutional test case. . . . The Rapid City pastor is working with the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative-leaning group that defends religious freedom. . . . ‘This is your bread-and-butter civil rights case,’ [Erik Stanley] said.”

The Journal-Gazette: “The Christian legal group defending Allen County against a lawsuit challenging its patient-safety ordinance is one of the best-funded and most successful of its type in the country. . . . Katie Blechacz, a spokeswoman for the Alliance Defense Fund, would not say whether the group approached Allen County to offer help or whether the county asked for it. Blechacz said there has not been a case that directly mirrors the one it will take on in Allen County. But some cases have similarities, and there are many cases of the Alliance Defense Fund representing governmental bodies, she said.”

Dakota Voice: “It was recently reported that Pastor H. Wayne Williams of Liberty Baptist Tabernacle in Rapid City endorsed Gordon Howie from the pulpit . . . Barry Lynn’s anti-Christian ‘Americans United for the Separation of Church and State’ organization . . . has filed a complaint with the IRS over Pastor Williams’ endorsement of Howie. . . . Since 2008, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has had a ‘Pulpit Initiative\’ which features pastors across the country openly endorsing or speaking against politicians in an effort to take this issue to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the unconstitutional 1954 tax code provision which currently denies pastors and churches the freedom to address moral issues as they relate to candidates.”

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “The Rev. H. Wayne Williams, pastor of Liberty Baptist Tabernacle, endorsed state Sen. Gordon Howie, who was seeking the Republican nomination for governor. Williams’ May 16 endorsement from the pulpit was reported in a press release by the Howie campaign and in the Rapid City Journal . . . In a letter to the IRS today, Lynn outlined the case against Liberty Baptist.”

Hartford Courant: “Board member Donna Szewczak said she voted Tuesday night to approve the appeal — after voting against it last week — because ‘we needed to take a strong stance’ and strengthen the district’s defense against a May lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.”

Visalia Times-Delta: “The Exeter Union High School District approved a moment of silence instead of a prayer during Friday’s 2010 graduation, but that didn’t stop many in the audience from praying out loud.”

Chicago Tribune: “Barrington High School senior Daniel Santoro can’t wait to strut across the stage of Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois to accept his diploma. But the fact that he’ll be marching where pastors normally preach on Sundays irks some advocates for the separation of church and state. They say public school graduations don’t belong in a house of worship.”

Visalia Times-Delta: “Exeter Union High School seniors will have a moment of silence instead of a prayer at Friday’s graduation ceremony. High school district trustees Tuesday voted 3-0, with Joe Conley and Charlie Norman absent, to eliminate the student-led prayer. Many at the special board meeting had spoken out in favor of the 50-year tradition, and some stood and prayed as trustees met in closed session.”

Religion and Ethics Newsweekly: “It’s graduation time at the Helping Up Mission, a nondenominational Christian ministry for poor and homeless men in Baltimore. On this day, several men are being recognized for reaching new stages of success in their recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Helping Up believes that spirituality plays a key role in the recovery process, and it wants those who work there to reflect its values. The ministry relies largely on private donations, but it has received some public funding as well, and that raises a difficult question: If the mission takes government money, should it still be allowed to only hire people who share its religious beliefs?”

Minnesota Independent: “After pressure from church-state separation groups, House leaders rejected Rep. Michele Bachmann’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would’ve allowed chaplains to insert their personal religious beliefs into non-religious events.” | Related: [5.27.2010] Proposed Amendment Would Allow Military Chaplains To Close Prayers With Sectarian Language

Religion Clause Blog: “In a press release yesterday, Americans United said that it has written officials in the three states urging them to refuse to send prisoners to Corrections Concepts. The identical letters argue that state funding for prisoners in religious facilities would violate the Establishment Clause. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has already decided not to send prisoners . . . ”

OneNewsNow: “A federal judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Idaho Public Charter School Commission’s ban on the use of religious texts in its curriculum may not be the last word . . . ‘There is no legitimate educational reason to censor such amount of large religious books just because they’re religious,’ contends ADF attorney [David Cortman].”

ADF attorney David Cortman writes at the Christian Post Advancing Religious Liberty Blog: “. . . The State of Idaho has ordered that ‘no religious documents or text’ may be used in any public school in the state, period. That not only includes the religious texts mentioned above, but also many canons of Western Civilization and great literary works, such as those written by Homer, Augustine, and Luther . . . I would hope that AU itself does not support such a broad ban on an entire category of books. Does anyone really want that for the future of our public schools? . . . Like most other times AU takes a swing at constitutional analysis, all that’s left is a whiff…of censorship.”

“Think it’s just a ban on the Bible in public schools, even as a historical reference document? No. As worded, it prohibits many of the founding documents that are religious (and many, political).”

AU: “Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a Los Angeles church that used its Web site and the social networking site Twitter to urge congregants to support a candidate for public office . . .”

Durant Daily Democrat: “A private firm proposing a prison in Wakita with all born-again Christian staff and programming does not yet have the commitments for prisoners it needs to begin construction . . . The concept of an all-Christian private prison has drawn the attention of a Washington, D.C., civil liberties group. The group, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, sent a letter to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections asking it not to send prisoners to the proposed prison.”

WorldNetDaily: “There’s a bull’s-eye being hung on Christian prayer right now, and one of the attorneys who wages war for the right of Americans to express their faith publicly says on this 2010 National Day of Prayer it’s because of a national atmosphere that encourages atheists to make their demands. ‘The radical secular, militant atheists are feeling empowered right now,’ [Mike Johnson], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund told WND. The ADF is one of the premiere organizations that fights for civil and religious rights in the United States and is made up of thousands of lawyers who take on cases as they develop.”

Knox News: “A packed meeting room joined Waters and commissioners to recite the Pater Noster at the first meeting after AU wrote its threatening letter. At the next meeting, praying folk literally ringed the courthouse in Sevierville to show support for the right to pray in public . . . Perrin Anderson, communications director for Waters, told me by e-mail that Waters’ office has spoken to representatives of the Alliance Defense Fund, the Christian Law Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, organizations that provide pro bono legal services when issues of religious liberty are at stake.” | For more information see this ADF Alliance Alert compound tag: http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/state-tennessee+topic-prayer/

ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Connecticut and Americans United for Separation of Church and State today filed a lawsuit in federal court charging that the Enfield Public Schools’ decision to hold their high school graduation ceremonies at a Christian church is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion . . . A copy of the legal complaint can be read at: www.aclu.org/religion-belief/does-v-enfield-public-schools-complaint”

AU: “Nebraska religious group that holds evangelistic rallies during the school day in public schools may be held legally liable for violating the Constitution, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In a letter today, Americans United warned officials . . . ”

WLTX.com: “Rep. Chip Limehouse says the legislation is in response to a federal judge’s ruling last month that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.” | H. 4893

Associated Baptist Press: “President Obama has followed through on his promise to declare May 6 the National Day of Prayer despite a controversial April 15 ruling by a federal judge who said the government encouraging its citizens to pray violates the First Amendment . . . Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Interfaith Alliance both said the decision was well-reasoned and sensitive to the true nature of uncoerced faith. The Alliance Defense Fund and American Center for Law and Justice criticized the decision and said it would likely be overturned.”

Portland Church & State Examiner: “Conservative Christian groups are claiming a broad-spectrum victory in this case. Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel [Joseph Infranco] comments: ‘A passive monument acknowledging our nation’s religious heritage cannot be interpreted as an establishment of religion. To make that accusation, one must harbor both a hostility to the nation’s history and a deep misunderstanding of the First Amendment.’” | ADF News Release

Baptist Press: “Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), told reporters outside the court building, ‘The decision is favorable as far as it goes, but the Supreme Court didn’t go far enough. The box needs to come off that cross…. [T]he ACLU and its allies should not be allowed to eradicate and demolish religious symbols that acknowledge our religious heritage, acknowledge the sacrifice of our military heroes, based on the fact that one person is offended by what he sees there.’”

The Mountain Press: “As a Washington-based legal group prepares to launch a First Amendment lawsuit against the county, officials here have already started weighing their legal options, having talked to an organization that defends in such actions. Though there has been no agreement with the Alliance Defense Fund, County Mayor Larry Waters confirms he’s met with representatives from the agency to get a little guidance on a church and state debate that has embroiled local officials.”