Which is funny, because he might have just Godwined his own tax return.

Americans United is calling for an IRS investigation of the Peoria Catholic Diocese after Biship Jenky gave a homily in mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in which he said:

Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care. In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro-abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.

Well, it’s nice to know a) Hitler and Stalin had better moments (I did not know that) and b) American United attends churches looking out for this sort of violation.

The AU complaint states:

“Bishop Jenky compared Obama to Hitler and Stalin and accused him of pursuing policies that will close Catholic institutions. Moments later, he exhorted members of his flock not to vote for candidates who fail to uphold Catholic values. It is impossible to interpret this as anything but a command to vote against Obama.”

The full press release from American United is here.

Carroll County commissioners have asked county employees to attend a seminar on the Maryland Constitution led by a conservative Christian minister, sparking accusations that local officials are overstepping the boundary between church and state.

The minister in question is David Whitney, who is one of those guys who thinks he can reconcile American Law with the Bible, by making American Law like the Bible.

“We will be looking at the language of our founding fathers who wrote they were ‘grateful to Almighty God for civil and religious liberties’ front and center on this document. The Bible is the source of the authority that they looked to.”

The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United are annoyed with the $800 of government money funding the operation. Rob Boston, of Americans United asks, “Do these commissioners realize what a mess they have stepped into? This is a toxic stew, and employees should not be forced to dine there.”

Indeed.

No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.

would become

No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.

There is a summary at Americans United

District officials, administrators, teachers, staff and other employees are no longer allowed to initiate or solicit prayers or join in with students during such activities, or to encourage others to engage in such religious activities.

“This settlement brings an end to several practices we believed were unconstitutional and that violated students’ rights,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “I’m glad we were able to resolve this matter out of court.”

Also under the settlement:

* School district personnel will not display crosses, religious images, religious quotations, Bibles or religious texts, or other religious icons or artifacts on the walls, hallways, and other areas at the school.

* The district will not invite speakers, including government officials or community leaders, whom it has reason to believe will proselytize or promote religion during their remarks.

* The Medina Valley High School student handbook will contain a section on students’ rights to religious freedom, including the importance of respect for and tolerance of students from all backgrounds and the specific procedures for registering a complaint with district personnel about violations.

* The district will provide annual training to all district personnel who interact with students or parents or who supervise those who interact with students or parents. The training will cover a variety of topics related to students’ rights and church-state separation.

AU Senior Litigation Counsel Gregory M. Lipper, who served as lead plaintiffs’ counsel, praised the Schultz family for coming forward and challenging the school district’s promotion of religion.

“The Schultz family displayed great courage in standing up for religious liberty and church-state separation in the face of intense community opposition,” Lipper said. “The significant changes in the Medina Valley School District could not and would not have happened without their courageous efforts.”

From the AU

And now, a word from the next president of the United States:

I want my Canadian Passport now, just in case.

Here it is:

Key:
Candidate’s remarks and/or actions have been:
A: Consistently positive.
B: Neutral or occasionally positive.
C: Mixed, with positive and negative responses.
F: Consistently hostile or negative.
N/A: At the time of publication, the Secular Coalition for America was unable to verify the candidate’s position or did not have enough information to rate the candidate.

The secular coalition notes:

Of the three leading Republican candidates, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and U.S. Representative Ron Paul received mostly negative scores, while former U.S. Representative and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich received a grade of “F” in almost every category. U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann, Texas Governor Rick Perry, and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum also received almost exclusively negative grades in most categories. Former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman and President Barack Obama received mixed positives.

Details and more information here.

Seven demonstrators, including Councilman Fernando Cabrera, were charged with trespass Thursday. Police say they refused to move from the entrance to the city’s Law Department in Manhattan.

The city has told about 60 churches they must stop holding worship services in public schools after Feb. 12. It argues separation of church and state and cites a court decision.

The New York Housing Authority, which is a federally funded agency administered by the city, is also renewing it’s church-in-the-public-buildings policy.

source

Beside a Christmas tree and creche sits a large banner with a nativity scene in which baby Jesus has been replaced by a plate of spaghetti with googly eyes. A crowd that includes pirates and gnomes surrounds Jesus. At the bottom its message reads “Touched by an Angelhair.” The scene is the work of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monsters.

Near the courthouse fence is another display whose sign reads ”Greetings From Your Friendly Local Atheists.” It’s message is about celebrating the Constitution and honoring the separation of church and state.

Elsewhere on the lawn, a skeleton in a Santa suit hangs on a cross.

abc

They killed Santa?

A local politician who was just elected (but not yet installed) as County Supervisor, Kenneith Reid is apoplectic.

Reid, who happens to be Jewish, claims that the Atheists have totally ruined Christmas, and that by putting their “beliefes” out in the open instead of just keeping their dirty godless mouths shut, they are forcing these “beliefs” on everyone else.

“Nobody is out there preaching like these guys. They’re out there in a blatant attempt to try to stamp out religion and ruin people’s Christmas,” Reid said. “The atheist groups over the past two years have used it as an opportunity to try to ban everything. It’s no longer sufficient to be an atheist, they have to go out there and proactively try to deny and make sure other people don’t believe in God.”

The atheists have a different take on this:

“The whole thing is a separation of church and state issue. We’ve been accused of trying to destroy Christmas, and that could not be further from the truth,” Rick Wingrove, the Virginia state director for American Atheists, told ABCNews.com. “There’s no war on Christmas. If there were a war on Christmas, I would have gotten a memo.”

No War on Christmas indeed!!!

Alex Luchenitser, associate legal director for Separation of Church and State, said Monday afternoon the group planned no action against the play, at least not this year.

“Nobody’s planning it at this time,” Luchenitser said. “We had a short time frame to address this, so we only had time to send a letter that we hoped would educate school officials about separation of church and state. We hope in the future they don’t do this again.”

Luchenitser said his group received a local complaint about the song. He said they have a policy against disclosing details about the complaint or revealing the identity of the complainant.

source

People had commented that this did not seem like such a big deal, and really, it isn’t compared to other things, but for those of you with kids in school, you may know that religious celebration around this time of year tends to be foisted on the kids, of a decidedly Christian nature and sometimes extremely so depending on the individuals involved, there is a widespread assumption that all members of a school’s community are either Christian or don’t mind pretending they are for a few weeks, and that all of this is especailly overwhelming in the are of music, where even the day to day songs often sung are religious; Much classical music, all gospel music, and a fair amount of folk and other music, all of which figure big in school singing programs, make reference to religious themes or are out and out prayer.

The school officials are both firm in their position and clueless. Janice Jackson, the principle of the school (G.W. Trenholm school), stated that “The faculty and staff of G.W. Trenholm Primary School have been working hard raising money to fund a music program for the children of Trenholm. This production is a culmination of the different genres of music the children have learned … Also, it is a way to say thanks to our community for all their efforts and support in providing us with the necessary means to make our music program a reality. We in no way intended to offend anyone and the children are not required to perform. ‘Silent Night,’ a historical Christmas carol, is just one of the many songs the children will perform Monday and (tonight).” The district superintendent, Joe Walter stated: “The Christmas program includes a variety of well-known Christmas songs that advance the students’ knowledge of our cultural and religious heritage. We have been advised by our attorney, James D. Hughston, that the use of traditional Christmas music, including carols such as ‘Silent Night,’ in the context of a school Christmas program has been permitted and ruled not to be in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Accordingly, we intend to allow our students to proceed with the Christmas program they have prepared to perform. We are confident the program will be enjoyed by all of our students and their families.”

And, of course, there was the usual attempt to label non-Christian individuals as potentially dangerous, as a show was made of the local Police Chief attending the events, just in case things got out of hand. Chief Logan stated, “I plan on being there because it’s such a large crowd and we provide security for any large event, and in the event someone tries to disrupt the program.”

The AU representative, Alex Luchenitser, notes as you might expect that telling kids they can opt out has little effect especailly with younger students, and that they still feel pressure. “Kids are under a tremendous amount of peer pressure. Other kids are going to look at that child and think that child’s not a Christian. You shouldn’t place children in that situation.”

See the Times Daily for coverage.

Any single one of these stooges running for the republicans, including and maybe especially, New Gingrich, could be the next president of the United States if a) enough liberal stay home and b) enough liberals and progressives vote for a third party or do some other stupid thing, ensuring that Obama is not re-elected.

Gingrich has stated that he would use the Federal Marshall Service to arrest judges who make decisions that he does not agree with. Consider the following interview:

SCHIEFFER: One of the things you say is that if you don’t like what a court has done, that Congress should subpoena the judge and bring him before Congress and hold a Congressional hearing… how would you enforce that? Would you send the Capitol Police down to arrest him?

GINGRICH: Sure. If you had to. Or you’d instruct the Justice Department to send a U.S. Marshal.

From Think Progress.

So, get all passive aggressive at Obama, maybe you get Gingrich.