Tag: church and state

January 15, 2016

Using Hobby Lobby To Get US Motto Off The Currency

image of Michael Newdow
Michael Newdow

Michael Newdow has a history of lawsuits to support church and state separation. After addressing the phrase ‘Under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance, Newdow recently filed a lawsuit, in Ohio, to have the US Motto ‘In God We Trust’ removed from our currency. The difference this time is he plans on using the same argument Hobby Lobby used to get out of the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Newdow’s strategy is very interesting and looks promising.

In previous cases against the ‘Under God’ phrase and the US motto he has argued about it being a harm to non-believers to be exposed to the obviously religious phrases.

Read the postUsing Hobby Lobby To Get US Motto Off The Currency
January 3, 2016

Justice Antonin Scalia Is Consistent, He Still Doesn’t Know What Separation Of Church And State Means

December 23, 2015

Governor of Texas, A Radical Christian, Violates The 1st Amendment

image of FFRF Display that scared Texas Gov. Abbott
FFRF Display that scared Gov. Abbott

It didn’t take long for Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a radical Christian, to subjectively decide what is covered under the 1st amendment and what isn’t. He had a display from the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) removed from the capitol building after arbitrarily deciding it didn’t meet the criteria for putting up displays in the building.

Read the postGovernor of Texas, A Radical Christian, Violates The 1st Amendment
December 17, 2015

Religious Conservatives Refuse To Understand the 1st Amendment

screencap of Another Texas city endorsed Nativity scene in 2014
Another Texas city endorsed Nativity scene in 2014

Most Christmas seasons I’ve written blog posts about some religious freedom legal case involving a local or state government preference for Christianity during the holiday. Why haven’t I written many posts on it this year? I get sick of repeating myself and it seems like after each case, each year, we go back to square one somewhere else the next year. I needed a post this month so here are a couple of examples that show why some religious conservatives refuse to understand the first amendment.

Read the postReligious Conservatives Refuse To Understand the 1st Amendment
November 19, 2015

Governor Kasich Believes Government Should Be In Christian Propaganda Business

screencap Governor Kaisch Speaking at The National Press Club 11/17/2015
Governor Kaisch Speaking at The National Press Club 11/17/2015

Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is trying to run for President, gave a so-called national security strategy speech at The National Press Club on November 17th. What is Kasich’s strategy? Christian propaganda into non-Christian areas of the world. To Ohioans like me, this is classic Kasich – pandering to religious conservatives rather than offering sensible, rational, and secular policies to solve problems.

Read the postGovernor Kasich Believes Government Should Be In Christian Propaganda Business
November 2, 2015

Is Your Polling Place In A Church?

image of a Vote Here Sign

Election Day is Tuesday and many of us still travel to a polling place to cast our ballots in person. In many communities the polling place is located inside a church. It is not illegal to have voting in a church but the location still needs to meet election laws such as having no electioneering materials within a proscribed voting zone. What should you look for and what should you do to make sure a church follows the rules?

States differ in how their polling places are set up but I will use Ohio as an example.

Read the postIs Your Polling Place In A Church?