Tag: 1st amendment - Page 8

June 5, 2015

Coach Led Prayer At University Of Toledo Draws Response

Last week I posted about a letter the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent to the President of the University of Toledo complaining about the head football coach Matt Campbell being seen, in a video, leading a prayer before a game in 2012. The Toledo Blade published an editorial, on May 29th, supporting Coach Campbell and I had a letter to the editor published responding to their wrong conclusion.

The Blade editorial seemed to say the only thing wrong was that the prayers were made public when the University posted the video on YouTube.

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May 27, 2015

University Of Toledo Football Coach Caught Leading Prayers

screencap of Coach Matt Campbell leading prayer at University of Toledo 2012

Coach Matt Campbell leads prayer before a game at the University of Toledo in 2012

Last week, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter to the University of Toledo to advise them that their head football coach Matt Campbell violated the 1st amendment by leading his team in prayer before a game in 2012. Coaches, just like any other teacher, should NOT be leading prayers at a public school since the students don’t have a real choice to participate and the coach is making a big assumption that all the players believe the same way he does.

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May 18, 2015

Cleveland Plain Dealer Attacks Separation Of Church And State

It’s not very often when news media inserts itself in a contentious local issue, but the Cleveland Plain Dealer decided that the separation of church and state was a bridge too far. It took a side in a resolved issue over a public school musical performance of an opera with religious concepts.

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March 9, 2015

Missouri House of Worship Protection Act Unconstitutional

It was reported today (March 9th), that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that due to speech content restrictions the Missouri House of Worship Protection Act (2012) was unconstiutional.

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February 16, 2015

Alabama Judge Roy Moore Hates Same Sex Marriage Enough To Violate His Oath Of Office

file photo of Judge Roy Moore with his 10 Commandments monument

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore in happier times when he thought he could force his religion on others

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is no stranger to violating his oath of office when it comes to his religious views. This time the line he’s drawn is same-sex marriage. He hates it. In an interview he tried to equate same-sex marriage with slavery to describe how wrong it is. This is why we need separation of church and state. Religious views shouldn’t trump civil rights or federal court decisions.

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December 25, 2014

Using Zoning Laws To Protect Religious Privilege

I’m sure there are plenty of believers in a strip club

One tool local governments use to protect religious privilege are zoning laws. They are regulations that spell out what people can and can’t do with their property. Many zoning regulations specifically spell out protections for religious property like churches while other zoning laws are used more subtly like getting a Zombie Nativity removed.

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