tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28623485276258889342024-03-14T04:24:34.492-05:00Oklahoma Chapter of Americans UnitedAmericans United For Separation of Church and State (AU) is a nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to preserving the constitutional principle of church-state separation as the only way to ensure religious freedom for all Americans. Americans United represents over 70,000 individual members and 5,000 churches and other houses of worship nationwide.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger409125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-66849483636360787252015-01-24T15:55:00.002-06:002015-01-24T15:56:05.198-06:002015 Legislative Preview in Review<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXnBq7lYq1PbOIvr0vNbJ5UNcnX-FMy9Hf7Mdrrxz40TPDyRTRtUaqSVX9oOO7edONF7t789e4Ex9gbJR0TnBcW_DtXlmcpMA98gpxbcvblgoYQf34I9PH5zx0841li-wVFK0sXbJE7s/s1600/1897813_10204900916833959_7069480606709924359_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXnBq7lYq1PbOIvr0vNbJ5UNcnX-FMy9Hf7Mdrrxz40TPDyRTRtUaqSVX9oOO7edONF7t789e4Ex9gbJR0TnBcW_DtXlmcpMA98gpxbcvblgoYQf34I9PH5zx0841li-wVFK0sXbJE7s/s1600/1897813_10204900916833959_7069480606709924359_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">State Senator Anastasia Pittman and AUOK VP Aimee Breeze</td></tr>
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The Oklahoma Chapter of Americans United met this morning to discuss the bills we will be tracking this year. Here is the current list:<br /><br />
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<li style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Bill of Rights Monument Display Act - <a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20int/SB/SB14%20int.pdf" target="_blank">SB14</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Marriage licensing bills - <a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20int/HB/HB1125%20int.pdf" target="_blank">HB1125</a>, <a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20int/HB/HB1007%20int.pdf" target="_blank">HB1007</a></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Anti-equality bills: <span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20int/HB/HB1597%20int.pdf" target="_blank">HB1597</a>, </span><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20int/HB/HB1598%20int.pdf" target="_blank">HB1598</a>, </span><a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20int/HB/HB1599%20int.pdf" target="_blank">HB1599</a></span></li>
<li style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act - <a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20int/SB/SB21%20int.pdf" target="_blank">SB21</a></span></li>
<li style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><span style="line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Oklahoma Science Education Act - <a href="http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2015-16%20int/SB/SB665%20int.pdf" target="_blank">SB665</a></span></li>
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<br />As of right now, all of these bill are in the earliest stages, but we will keep you updated as they progress through the legislative process.</div>
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Damionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14360566092148805751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-42600014923117469732014-10-06T12:04:00.002-05:002014-10-06T12:04:55.790-05:00SCOTUS Made Right Call on Same-Gender Marriageclip “Opponents of same-sex marriage have no arguments other than appeals to books they deem sacred or the pronouncements of religious authorities,” Lynn added. “That’s not good enough in a nation based on the separation of church and state.”<br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/clip%20%E2%80%9COpponents%20of%20same-sex%20marriage%20have%20no%20arguments%20other%20than%20appeals%20to%20books%20they%20deem%20sacred%20or%20the%20pronouncements%20of%20religious%20authorities,%E2%80%9D%20Lynn%20added.%20%E2%80%9CThat%E2%80%99s%20not%20good%20enough%20in%20a%20nation%20based%20on%20the%20separation%20of%20church%20and%20state.%E2%80%9D%20%20%20%20https://au.org/media/press-releases/supreme-court-made-the-right-call-on-marriage-cases-says-americans-united"> https://au.org/media/press-releases/supreme-court-made-the-right-call-on-marriage-cases-says-americans-united</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-59091309262560995542014-09-17T13:10:00.002-05:002014-10-07T17:40:43.949-05:00Jim Huff's Mustang School Bible Course Power-point SlidesBelow are the slides of Jim Huff's power-point presentation regarding the Mustang Public School's proposed bible study class developed and paid for by the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-91636377336366255272014-09-08T20:51:00.000-05:002014-09-08T20:54:11.736-05:00Listen to an interview with our annual meeting guest, Rob Boston<h3 class="episode-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 27px 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">This audio interview is but a sample. It was conducted by our AU chapter </span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.59375px;">treasurer, Damion </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.59375px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.59375px;">Reinhart, </span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"> and secretary, Chas Stewart. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">Rob will be in person to discuss the hot-button issues and </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">to </span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.59375px;">answer</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"> your questions. </span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"> Copies of his book will </span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">be available for sale and </span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.59375px;">autographing</span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Membership is not required. This is open to the public.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">The 2014 Annual Membership meeting of the Oklahoma City chapter of Americans United </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">for Separation of Church & State will be held on Wednesday, September 17, featuring </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">National Americans United Communications Director, Rob Boston.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br style="color: #141823; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;" /><span style="color: #141823; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">The event will be held at Belle Isle Library from 7 - 9 p.m.</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">5501 N. Villa Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73112. at the corner of N. Villa and NW Highway, one-half mile west of Penn Square Mall.</span></h3>
<h3 class="episode-title" itemprop="name" style="border: 0px; margin: 27px 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">In his new book, Taking L</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">iberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn’t Give You the Right to Tell Other People What to Do, Boston says, “it’s time to restore the real meaning of religious freedom: It means you get to make decisions for yourself, not anyone else.”<br /><br />Covering issues like same-sex marriage, access to contraceptives, religion in public education and censorship, Taking Liberties is a much-needed broadside against the Religious Right's reckless attempt to meddle in our personal lives.<br /><br />Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public. For more information visit <a href="http://www.robertboston.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.robertboston.com</a> or<a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.okau.org%2F&h=8AQF6N7TV&enc=AZPvHEbTIPjw3xnFmxWTfLi5UHPgrlyniQM_Vtp5RSogytYMl6EmKfDVgR99y7qYGUA&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.okau.org</a>,</span></h3>
<h3 class="episode-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; margin: 27px 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: 500; line-height: 28.796875px;"><a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/oklahoma-atheists-godcast">http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/oklahoma-atheists-godcast</a></span></span></h3>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2em;">#106 - Rob Boston</span></h3>
<h4 class="details" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 0px 0px; color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 days ago</span><span style="border: 0px; color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 10px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;">56 minutes</span></h4>
<div class="description" itemprop="about" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #777777; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.3em; margin-left: 15px; padding: 12px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
Chas and Damion in conversation with Rob Boston, author of several books about the efforts of the Religious Right to roll back religious freedom for others while writing their own doctrines into law. Rob will be visiting OKC on Sep 17th to talk about his new book, Taking Liberties. For more information visit</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-61679987913033885672014-08-23T11:34:00.000-05:002014-08-23T11:34:17.858-05:00Monument Moving...at least in Court<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDIm0Zw7uiG-VxW6nXZL3b4FrIvHgFQcwsquR6k_le6wKpFXjsdOhClIHsnWQiHuDvyXyxcbPXnv2q3E9Sv98w55EM8iQ4kud5B1BS-3UF255HV5EF77OQPCILv2wMmpOIgAYRIkZDsRz/s1600/Nimmo,+OK+Capitol,+ten-comand+monument,+8-24-2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXDIm0Zw7uiG-VxW6nXZL3b4FrIvHgFQcwsquR6k_le6wKpFXjsdOhClIHsnWQiHuDvyXyxcbPXnv2q3E9Sv98w55EM8iQ4kud5B1BS-3UF255HV5EF77OQPCILv2wMmpOIgAYRIkZDsRz/s1600/Nimmo,+OK+Capitol,+ten-comand+monument,+8-24-2013.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The author standing beside the contested monument pointing out areas of corrected spelling<br />Photo courtesy of David Glover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Dr. Bruce Prescott, along with Jim Huff, was a founding member of the Oklahoma City chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church & State (www.au.org). Both men are among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Oklahoma affiliate to challenge the placement of the alleged privately-funded Ten Commandments monument on the north side of the Capitol Building.<br />
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Here is a link posted by Bruce on his blog containing a portion of his affidavit filed this week in Oklahoma County District Court.<br />
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<a href="http://okfaith.blogspot.com/2014/08/oklahoma-ten-commandments-monument.html">http://okfaith.blogspot.com/2014/08/oklahoma-ten-commandments-monument.html</a><br />
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Though atheist myself I can sympathize with the diminution of religious belief conveyed by secular courts as outlined in paragraph 7 of the affidavit:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -24px;">7.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -24px;">Many Baptists, as well as many other people of faith -- Jewish, Christian and Muslim -- continue to affirm that the Ten Commandments are properly understood to be the terms of a religious covenant between God and people of faith. Among them some, like myself, are horrified when attempts are made to have secular courts of law rule that the terms of this sacred and holy covenant no longer have any religious significance and meaning. In the long run, I believe the effect of such rulings serves to undermine sincere faith by trivializing the value of religious covenants.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -24px;">This additional link from the ACLU of Oklahoma frames the argument being made for removing the monument from public property:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Cambria, serif;"><a href="http://acluok.org/2013/08/aclu-of-oklahoma-challenges-state-capitol-ten-commandments-monument/">http://acluok.org/2013/08/aclu-of-oklahoma-challenges-state-capitol-ten-commandments-monument/</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #4e4e4e; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">“The monument’s placement at the Capitol has created a more divisive and hostile state for many Oklahomans,” said Ryan Kiesel, ACLU of Oklahoma’s Executive Director. “When the government literally puts one faith on a pedestal, it sends a strong message to Oklahomans of other faiths that they are less than equal.”</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #4e4e4e; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span>The lawsuit, filed in Oklahoma County District Court, seeks to have the religious monument removed, citing the constitutional prohibition on using state property to support particular religions or sects.</blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify; text-indent: -24px;"><i>Author's note: All comments and excerpts are chosen by me and should be read as reflecting my views.</i></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-62425096274250701432014-08-22T19:33:00.000-05:002014-08-22T19:33:27.755-05:00AU Welcomes Obama Administration’s Fix On Birth Control Access<br />
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Americans United Welcomes Obama Administration’s Fix On Birth Control Access</h2>
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Church-State Watchdog Group Says Latest Effort At Accommodation May Not Resolve Controversy</h3>
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“At some point,” Lynn said, “we must face that fact that this debate is not about ‘religious liberty.’ It is about certain religious groups trying to impose their out-of-touch theology on unwilling American workers and students.”</blockquote>
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Aug 22, 2014</div>
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Americans United for Separation of Church and State today expressed support for new regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that are intended to ensure workers’ access to birth control.</div>
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The Obama administration issued the regulations in response to ongoing legal action by for-profit corporations and religious non-profit groups arguing that they have religiously based objections to contraceptives.</div>
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Under the new rules, groups that wish to opt-out of providing birth control to their employees must notify HHS via a letter stating their objection. The federal government will then arrange for a third-party insurer to provide birth control coverage at no cost to the employer.</div>
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The administration is also soliciting comments on how best to deal with ensuring birth control access for people who work at closely-held corporations, such as Hobby Lobby stores.</div>
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“Americans rely on access to safe and affordable forms of birth control,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “It’s unfortunate that the administration has had to jump through so many hoops to meet the demands of ultra-conservative religious groups that refuse to accept cultural realities.”</div>
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Lynn said the latest accommodation, while well-intentioned, may not resolve the matter. Some fundamentalist Christian groups and the Roman Catholic bishops, he asserted, are determined to deny access to birth control to as many Americans as possible.</div>
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“At some point,” Lynn said, “we must face that fact that this debate is not about ‘religious liberty.’ It is about certain religious groups trying to impose their out-of-touch theology on unwilling American workers and students.”</blockquote>
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Americans United is currently representing three graduate students at the University of Notre Dame whose access to birth control has been threatened because of university policies opposing contraceptives.</div>
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https://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-welcomes-obama-administration-s-fix-on-birth-control-access</div>
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Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-11241624496305407912014-08-06T12:11:00.002-05:002014-08-06T12:12:03.936-05:00Okie A-G Scott Pruit tells FOX Noise what he knows: Don't worry, it won't take long.Okie A-G Scott Pruit tells FOX Noise what he knows about the First Amendment and religious and government separation. Don't worry, it won't take long.<br />
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<a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/3715800339001/oklahoma-ag-challenges-irs-on-plan-to-investigate-churches/#sp=show-clips">http://video.foxnews.com/v/3715800339001/oklahoma-ag-challenges-irs-on-plan-to-investigate-churches/#sp=show-clips</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-43487198235742168282014-07-23T12:54:00.000-05:002014-09-15T12:06:47.244-05:00Rob Boston of National AU Will be Guest Speaker for OKC Annual Meeting<br />
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1406137722324_5490">MEDIA ADVISORY</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oklahoma City Chapter</td></tr>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1406137722324_5485">OK Chapter to feature National AU Communications Director </b></div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1406137722324_5487">Rob Boston at “Taking Liberties” Annual Meeting</b></div>
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<b>Contact:<span class="yiv8945064652Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John Loghry, President, 405-651-5605</b></div>
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<b>James Nimmo, Communications Chair, 405-843-3651 </b></div>
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<b>Rob Boston, National AU Communications Director, 202-466-3234</b></div>
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<b>What: <span class="yiv8945064652Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2014 OKAU Annual Meeting – “Taking Liberties” with keynote speaker National AU Communications Director, Rob Boston</b></div>
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<b>When:<span class="yiv8945064652Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> Wednesday, </span>September 17, 2014, 7 – 9 p.m.</b></div>
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<b>Where:<span class="yiv8945064652Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Belle Isle Library, 5501 N. Villa, Oklahoma City, OK 73112</b></div>
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<b>Who:<span class="yiv8945064652Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>OKC Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church & State </b></div>
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<b>(OKLAHOMA CITY) </b> The 2014 Annual Membership meeting of the Oklahoma City chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church & State will be held on Wednesday, September 17, featuring National Americans United Communications Director, Rob Boston.</div>
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In his new book, <b><i>Taking Liberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn’t Give You the Right to Tell Other People What to Do,</i></b> Boston says, “it’s time to restore the real meaning of religious freedom: It means you get to make decisions for yourself, not anyone else.”</div>
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Covering issues like same-sex marriage, access to contraceptives, religion in public education and censorship, Taking Liberties is a much-needed broadside against the Religious Right's reckless attempt to meddle in our personal lives.</div>
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Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public. For more information visit <a href="http://www.robertboston.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #053df5;">www.robertboston.com</span></a> or <a href="http://www.okau.org/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #053df5;">www.okau.org</span></a>,</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-85598329931822881402014-07-21T12:15:00.001-05:002014-10-07T17:40:58.994-05:00Separating Mustang from the Maverick: Religious Education or Proselyting?<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Mustanggelding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Mustanggelding.jpg" height="230" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustang_horse</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Religious Education or Proselyting?</span></h4>
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Readers,<br />
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I'm sure many of you have been following the rise of Hobby Lobby and its owners, the Green family. The recent Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to discriminate against women based on the religious viewpoints of the owners has made and will continue to make headlines for at least a generation.</div>
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In addition to its corporate actions, the Green family is also moving into the public schools with plans for bible classes to teach as they say, the history of the bible.</div>
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There are many people who see this plan as a smokescreen for advancing a particular religious viewpoint rather than teaching a generalized history of religion. </div>
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The Mustang public school system adopted a bible class developed by the Green Family Scholars into its curriculum this year.</div>
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This adoption has been approved under some doubt as to whether the school board met legally in accordance with Oklahoma's open meeting law.</div>
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Jim Huff, one of the co-founders of the OKC chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church & State (okau.org, au.org), has a well-developed radar for spotting shady deals that threaten the respect for religion in a public tax-payer supported school that must accommodate a variety of religious backgrounds.</div>
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Mr Huff will be presenting a public discussion this coming Tuesday, July 22, 6:00 pm at the Mustang Public Library that will investigate.what is legal and illegal regarding the teaching of religion in public schools. </div>
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With his life-long study of religious history from around the world Mr. Huff's presentation will answer many of the questions you might have as well as opening new threads of conversation about the always hot topic of religious observance in America.</div>
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These links will give additional information about the developing controversy in Mustang, Oklahoma.</div>
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Article in the Mustang Times newspaper:<br />
<a href="http://www.mustangpaper.com/contentitem/374165/1586/meeting-to-discuss-district" style="color: #1155cc;">http://www.mustangpaper.com/contentitem/374165/1586/meeting-to-discuss-district</a></div>
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Did the Mustang School Board meet outside the legal guidelines of the Oklahoma Open Meeting Law:</div>
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<a href="http://foioklahoma.org/2014/05/22/mustang-school-board-members-circumvented-open-meeting-act/" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, "lucida grande", tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.39px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://foioklahoma.org/2014/05/22/mustang-school-board-members-circumvented-open-meeting-act/</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Washington Post story:</span><br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/nmn2byo" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">http://tinyurl.com/nmn2byo</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">clip "...when the Mustang school board made 220 pages of the book public, church-state experts suggested that its claims and assumptions amounted to teaching the Bible from a particular religious perspective, which the Supreme Court has banned in public schools."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; line-height: 32.38px;">Directions to Mustang Public Library:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mustanglibrary.org/" style="color: #1155cc;">http://www.mustanglibrary.org </a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">map link--- </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/lan4syj" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">http://tinyurl.com/lan4syj</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-19157267595679437012014-06-10T12:58:00.002-05:002014-06-10T12:58:46.635-05:00Okie Senate candidate wants return to "biblical principles"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiyYFb6QJDCG3quqTmK8CEgVbfOTTBce1IShWD0NboWKpW29bDcYA9hPiy6EqvlNQIRrMrVeKYGiw0szYwW0tsHgHLnzcedog5YYx04KPIrjns9uWynjgZxAb7UlyT89RtR3EkY4h_oVC/s1600/Church+++State.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiyYFb6QJDCG3quqTmK8CEgVbfOTTBce1IShWD0NboWKpW29bDcYA9hPiy6EqvlNQIRrMrVeKYGiw0szYwW0tsHgHLnzcedog5YYx04KPIrjns9uWynjgZxAb7UlyT89RtR3EkY4h_oVC/s1600/Church+++State.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Playing to his audience recently in Tulsa, U.S. Senate candidate T. W. Shannon told a Christian business group that he thinks “God is raising up ... a new generation of leaders to return to biblical principles.” Modestly, he did not say explicitly that this generation includes him. Maybe God will send YOU a whisper in your ear late at night letting you know if you're in the included or excluded generation. Lay flat on our back so both ears will be available.<br />
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"Biblical principles" mean multiple wives at the SAME TIME, right? Just like Solomon. And think of all the money that will be saved on medical costs when doctors use spit and dirt to heal disease. Just like Jesus did. And who's going to work out the crop rotation in the farm bills because farmers will be required to let their fields lie fallow every seventh year. Red Lobster restaurants will have to close because all that shell fish will be forbidden. Banks will be forbidden to charge interest on loans. How's that going to work out? Tattoo parlors will be put out of business as tattoos are forbidden under "biblical principle".<br />
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The stone suppliers and wall building businesses should see a rise in sales as those items will become the capitol punishment replacement for lethal injection and firing squad. <br />
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The sabbath day will be moved from the daylight hours of Sunday to sunset Friday to sunset Saturday just like in "biblical principle" times.<br />
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How will flat-earth Okies who crave a return to "biblical principles" with the same desire they crave regularity in their digestive elimination justify any votes for T. W. Shannon since this man is of even more mixed race heritage than President Obama who is at least half-white? Shannon is some white, some black, AND some native American via the Chickasaw tribe.<br />
Shall I go on?<br />
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http://tinyurl.com/n6qfrju<br />
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http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/2014_elections/shannon-advocates-eliminating-minimum-wage/article_81693c70-d509-5b7c-8dba-636e059c870e.html?utm_content=buffer6351f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=bufferUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-71267086379681573662014-05-14T12:02:00.001-05:002014-05-14T12:03:40.350-05:00Fundamentalist Christians Are Infiltrating State and Federal Government<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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Not the ‘Illuminati’: How Fundamentalist Christians Are Infiltrating State and Federal Government</h1>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.399999618530273px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;">Rob Boston, communication director, <a href="http://www.au.org/">Americans United for Separation of </a></span><a href="http://www.au.org/"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.1875px;">Church</span><span style="font-size: 14.399999618530273px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;"> & State:</span></a></span><a href="http://www.au.org/"> </a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;">“[Members of the Alliance Defending Freedom] don’t want there to be any legal abortion because they say that violates the Bible. They don’t want gays and lesbians to have rights because they think that violates their interpretation of the Bible. … They want our public institutions, including our school system, to be saturated with their religious beliefs,” said Rob Boston, communications director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, who researched the Alliance Defending Freedom for his recently published book. “When you add all that up, that, to me, looks like a church-state union. It looks like a Middle Ages nation with modern-day technology. And that scares me.”</span></blockquote>
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by <a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/author/sofia-resnick/" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sofia Resnick</a>, Investigative Reporting Fellow, RH Reality Check</div>
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and <a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/author/sharona-coutts/" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sharona Coutts</a>, Director of Investigations and Research, RH Reality Check</div>
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May 13, 2014 - 4:48 pm</div>
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<img alt="Blackstone alumni have risen to positions of influence in state and federal courts, federal government agencies, congressional committees and offices, as well as positions at the United Nations and other intergovernmental agencies." class="attachment-medium wp-post-image" src="http://rhrealitycheck.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/bible-and-flag-375x250.jpg" height="250" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(170, 170, 170) 0px 1px 6px; box-shadow: rgb(170, 170, 170) 0px 1px 6px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: auto;" width="375" /><br />
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Blackstone alumni have risen to positions of influence in state and federal courts, federal government agencies, congressional committees and offices, as well as positions at the United Nations and other intergovernmental agencies.<span class="featured-image-attribution" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.85em; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<a class="ext-link" href="http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/436999/436999,1264035239,1/stock-photo-holy-bible-and-ensign-of-the-usa-44937583.jpg" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Bible USA via Shutterstock</a>)</span></div>
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Imagine that a little-known but increasingly powerful group of ideologues had hatched a plan to transform the United States into a Christian theocracy harkening back to the Dark Ages of Europe, a time <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">when</span>society was governed by the laws and officials of the Catholic Church.</div>
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Suppose further that this plan had a scary simple strategy: Recruit bright, young law students; put them through an intensive indoctrination program; place them in plum internships across the country; and watch as they swim upstream until they reach the top of the legal system, where they can create, enforce, and interpret laws according to a legal philosophy infused with<a class="ext-link" href="http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/About/Detail/4205" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">fundamentalist</a> Christian theology.</div>
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Welcome to the world of the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, an annual program established in 2000 by the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based nonprofit that is swiftly emerging as a major behind-the-scenes player in many of the nation’s most controversial legal cases involving reproductive rights, sexual justice, and a vast range of other moral and social disputes.</div>
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“[T]he Blackstone Fellowship inspires a distinctly Christian worldview in every area of law, and particularly in the areas of public policy and religious liberty,” states <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the Alliance’s</span> <a class="ext-link" href="http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/541/541660459/541660459_200206_990.pdf#page=25" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">public tax filing</a>. “With this ongoing program, it’s [the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s] goal to train a new generation of lawyers who will rise to positions of influence and leadership as legal scholars, litigators, judges—perhaps even Supreme Court Justices—who will work to ensure that justice is carried out in America’s courtrooms.”</div>
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While participants hail from various denominations, they all commit to using their legal careers to “reorder society” according to a “christendomic” worldview, in which there is no separation between church and state.</div>
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“The Blackstone Legal Fellowship renewed my conviction that working for cultural change is not polishing brass on a sinking ship,” wrote Alana Hake on the Blackstone <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.blackstonelegalfellowship.org/Internships/Testimonies" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">website</a>. “Victories in the area of pro-life, religious liberty, and family values not only have the potential to preserve individuals’ lives and enable them to hear of salvation, but also to glorify God as society is reordered bit by bit according to His design.”</div>
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That means no abortion rights, no marriage equality, and a view of the First Amendment so radical and expansive that merely asserting a religious objection to state or federal laws—be they health insurance laws, or anti-discrimination statutes—would permit individuals to be exempt.</div>
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Blackstone Fellows have yet to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, but based on the progress of the 1,351 alumni so far, the plan appears to be succeeding.</div>
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Blackstone alumni have risen to positions of influence in state and federal courts, federal government agencies, and congressional committees and offices, as well as positions at the United Nations and other intergovernmental agencies, a review of public documents, online profiles, and public records requests by <i>RH Reality Check</i> shows.</div>
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In Missouri, a former Blackstone Fellow, <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-corlew/15/454/760" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Kevin Corlew</a>, is running for the state’s 14th congressional district in <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">this year’s</span> elections. Another, Bradley Cowan, is the chief of the administrative law division at the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kentucky,</span> according to his <a class="ext-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/brad-cowan/7/312/165" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">profile on LinkedIn</a>. And based on our review of public records, the offices of attorneys and solicitors general in at least eight states—Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia—have hosted Blackstones as interns, jobs in which fellows help draft memos and pleadings for the most powerful lawmakers in their states and, more importantly, forge the contacts that will propel them to their own positions of power.</div>
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Advocates for the separation of church and state told <i>RH Reality Check</i> that placing Blackstones in secular positions with the power to write, enforce, and apply laws was worrisome, because “any attempt to merge church and state is dangerous because it leads us down the path to theocracy.”</div>
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“They [members of the Alliance] don’t want there to be any legal abortion because they say that violates the Bible. They don’t want gays and lesbians to have rights because they think that violates their interpretation of the Bible. … They want our public institutions, including our school system, to be saturated with their religious beliefs,” said Rob Boston, communications director for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, who researched the Alliance Defending Freedom for his <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.alternet.org/books/new-book-far-persecuted-religious-rights-take-first-amendment-offensive-and-intolerant" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">recently published book</a>. “When you add all that up, that, to me, looks like a church-state union. It looks like a Middle Ages nation with modern-day technology. And that scares me.”</div>
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<b>Not the “Illuminati”</b></div>
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<b></b>Since 1994, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the </span>Alliance Defending Freedom has been building a network of lawyers in public and private practice, “to keep the door open for the spread of the Gospel by transforming the legal system,” according to its <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/about" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">website</a>.</div>
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Today, the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance has more than $40 million in assets, according to its most recent <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/content/docs/legacy/adf/pdf/financials/2013-audited-financials.pdf" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">auditor’s report</a>, and is becoming an increasing force in the conservative legal arena.</div>
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Through legal actions and its various legal training programs, the nonprofit focuses on fighting for the criminalization of abortion; against the rights of LGBT people; for so-called religious liberty (which often comes in the form of defending clients who wish to discriminate against gay people based on their religious beliefs); and for organized Christian prayer in government or public-school settings, such as its most recent victory—last week’s Supreme Court ruling <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/town-of-greece-v-galloway/" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">upholding legislative prayer</a> in <i>Town of Greece v. Galloway</i>, in which the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance <a class="ext-link" href="http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Galloway-Cert-Reply-with-file-stamp.pdf" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">represented the plaintiffs</a>.</div>
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The <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">group</span> also runs a <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/about/legal-academy" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">legal academy</a>, which gives practicing attorneys free training in defending cases involving same-sex marriage, abortion, and church/state issues. In return, participants must provide 450 hours of “pro bono/dedicated legal work on behalf of the Body of Christ.”</div>
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While these are the public stances of the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance, as we reported, the group has also played a growing and crucial <a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/03/24/free-market-groups-invisible-hand-hobby-lobby-case/" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">behind-the-scenes role</a> in sculpting and coordinating briefs from state attorneys general in the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hobby Lobby</i> case</span> that was argued in the U.S. Supreme Court in March.</div>
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And when it comes to the Blackstone Fellowship, the group is decidedly secretive.</div>
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In answers provided to <i>RH Reality Check</i>, the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s spokesperson, Greg Scott, said that there have been 1,351 Blackstone Fellows to date, with 154 in this year’s class. He said that about a third of applicants were accepted and that the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance “hopes all students who go through Blackstone establish lifelong friendships and achieve lifetime success at every level in every area of the legal profession.”</div>
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But that is where the transparency stopped.</div>
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The <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance does not appear to publicize the relationship between the Blackstone Legal Fellowship and state attorneys general, and Scott told us that “recruiting efforts rely primarily on word-of-mouth referrals through Blackstone Fellows who have enjoyed their experience and encourage others to apply.”</div>
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Scott declined to break down the demographics of the Blackstone alumni, saying <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">only that </span>“women and men of many races and ethnicities have been accepted into Blackstone.”</div>
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“We don’t share specific names, demographic information, or detailed personal information of students and faculty without express permission,” he said.</div>
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That position appears to be in keeping with the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s secrecy surrounding the Blackstone Fellowship.</div>
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During a <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.alliancealert.org/2012/06/11/136029/" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">2012 radio interview</a>, Jordan Lorence, senior counsel at the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance, appeared to acknowledge that there are some “pretty high-level people that participate” in Blackstone, but declined to name them. He then reassured the host, Tom Brown, that there was no clandestine plot at work.</div>
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“There’s not some hidden conspiracy or something like that going on here,” Lorence said. “There’s no dark Illuminati or something like that.”</div>
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Despite the high degree of secrecy, using public records requests, LinkedIn, and other online resources, <i>RH Reality Check</i> was able to locate more than 130 Blackstone alumni, from the 2001 cohort until present. Our research indicates that many of these individuals have clerked for multiple state judges, federal judges, state attorneys general, and are in the midst of working their way upwards in the echelons of government.</div>
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While there does appear to be a fair gender balance amongst known Blackstone alumni, of the ones we were able to identify, they are overwhelmingly white and, of course, exclusively Christian.</div>
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That is in keeping with the Blackstone Legal Fellowship’s <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.blackstonelegalfellowship.org/Internships/FAQ" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">website</a>, which says that fellows are selected based on their “demonstrated Christian commitment, motivation to engage popular legal culture, leadership potential in a legal context, evidence of oral and written communication skills, and academic achievement.”</div>
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Throughout the Blackstone Legal Fellowship <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.blackstonelegalfellowship.org/" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">website</a>, in tax forms, on YouTube videos, and in radio interviews, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the</span> Alliance Defending Freedom has described the mission of the fellowship program to indoctrinate law students with a specific worldview.</div>
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“One of the greatest blessings of my life as leader in the Alliance Defense Fund ministry is the Blackstone Legal Fellowship,” said Alan Sears, the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s president, CEO, and general counsel, in a <a class="ext-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsFs9tCfeD4" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">video</a> published to YouTube on <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">January</span> 14, 2010. “This is the time when we see the brightest and best law students in America, who love Jesus, come together for nine weeks to learn how to serve Him effectively, how to integrate their faith and the law.”</div>
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Indeed, part of the nine-week program includes a <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.blackstonelegalfellowship.org/Resources/ResourceOverview" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">rigorous reading guide</a> that lists tomes by scholars widely considered to hold radical religious views—a reality openly acknowledged by the<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance, which warns that: <span style="background-color: yellow; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></b></span></div>
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Some materials may even contain assertions that may be construed (or misconstrued) to be unnecessarily sectarian, or even offensive to one’s particular theological or ecclesiastical tradition. No offense and certainly, no proselytizing, is intended. Rather, Alliance Defending Freedom seeks to recover the robust Christendomic theology of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries.</div>
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The list includes Gary DeMar, Andrew P. Sandlin, and the late Dr. D. James Kennedy and Greg L. Bahnsen, advocates and former leaders of the once-resurgent and controversial Christian Reconstructionism movement, a fundamentalist Calvinist movement that advocates for a theocratic national government combined with libertarian economic principles.</div>
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DeMar, who runs <a class="ext-link" href="http://americanvision.org/#sthash.lUQhWFTl.dpbs" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">The American Vision</a>, a “Biblical Worldview Ministry,” has a history of making extreme comments in his writings <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">and on his radio program, the <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGaryDeMarShow" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) "><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Gary DeMar Show</i></span></a></span>. After Hillary Clinton and Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) expressed their support for same-sex marriage last year (Portman’s son had <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/rob-portman-gay-marriage-stance-88903.html" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">recently come out of the closet</a>), DeMar compared being gay to being a pedophile, murderer, and slave owner, reported <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/gary-demar-calls-homosexuality-grave-evil-akin-pedophilia-murder-and-slavery" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Right Wing Watch</a>.</div>
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“Would Senator Rob Portman throw his support behind pedophilia if he had learned that his son was a pedophile?” DeMar <a class="ext-link" href="http://politicaloutcast.com/2013/03/senator-rob-portman-republican-thief/" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">blogged</a>. “Would he support adultery if his son was an adulterer? Would he support slavery if he found out that one of his relatives was a slave owner and argued persuasively that owning slaves was legitimate? Would the Senator Rob Portman support his son if he learned that he was selling drugs to children? Would he support contract killing if he learned that his son was a contract killer for the mob? Senator Rob Portman’s son has made a bad moral choice. There is no need to compound that bad moral choice by capitulating to it and softening the moral barriers for young men and women who are struggling with their sexuality and helping to pass laws that will affect millions of people.”</div>
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And, of course, there’s <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.blackstonelegalfellowship.org/About/Blackstone" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Sir William Blackstone himself</a>, an 18th century English judge and Oxford University law professor, whose <i>Commentaries on the Laws of England</i> laid the basis of the idea of “natural law”—considered to be God’s law—and who is credited with laying the foundation for university legal education in England and North America.</div>
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Greg Scott said in an email that the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alliance Defending Freedom</span>’s employees do not necessarily fit the mold of the “right-wing fundamentalist” Christian. He said that the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s staff members practice a wide range of Christian denominations—“Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Lutherans, Nazarene, and more.” He also noted that some employees oppose the death penalty and support environmental causes. However, these issues are not generally represented in the organization’s legal practice.</div>
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Rob Boston, of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, told <i>RH Reality Check</i>that he was surprised when he first came across the reference to ancient Christendomic theology on Blackstone’s website.</div>
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“It just struck me as so incredible that anyone would just say that openly, that that was their goal for a model society,” he said.</div>
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The Alliance Defending Freedom <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.blackstonelegalfellowship.org/Internships/FAQ" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">covers</a> the bulk of Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellows’ expenses, including airfare, lodging, and “most meals” for two out of the program’s three phases that take place in Phoenix, and usually students’ lodging during the internship phase. Fellows can also apply for a $6,300 scholarship.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.4;">Employees in State AG Offices Seek to “Help” Extreme Christian Agenda</b></span></div>
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<b></b>Earlier this year, <i>RH Reality Check</i> received a slate of internal emails from the West Virginia Office of the Attorney General, in response to a public records request.</div>
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One piece of correspondence that is particularly curious is a set of emails from Julie Marie Blake—who was then a law clerk with the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">s</span>olicitor <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">g</span>eneral—from the fall of 2013. The emails comprise a series of correspondence between Blake and multiple Alliance <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Defending Freedom</span> attorneys.</div>
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Blake explained that she had recently moved to West Virginia and had taken up her new post, and asked for <a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/03/24/free-market-groups-invisible-hand-hobby-lobby-case/" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">prayers from the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance</a> officials that she would pass her state bar exam.</div>
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Blake then proceeded to ask the Alliance attorneys whether the West Virginia <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">s</span>olicitor <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">g</span>eneral could “help” the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance.</div>
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“Please let me know if I can ever do anything to help your efforts – the SG [solicitor general] is always looking for new suits to bring or amicus ideas,” Blake emailed Alliance <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Defending Freedom</span> senior counsel Gregory S. Baylor on <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">September</span> 19, 2013.</div>
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In the same email, she mentioned the Blackstone Fellowship program.</div>
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“I’ve been speaking with Colene—she is going to try to place a Blackstone here with us next summer,” Blake wrote, presumably referring to Colene Lewis, Blackstone’s director of alumni.</div>
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Neither Blake nor the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance would confirm with us whether or not she previously worked or interned with<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> the Al</span>liance or whether she participated in the Blackstone Legal Fellowship. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office declined to comment. However, Blake’s familiarity with many of the directors and legal counsel at <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the A</span>lliance and Blackstone suggests that could be the case.</div>
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And that would be problematic, according to Greg Lipper, a senior litigation counsel at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which often appears on opposing sides of the same cases as the Alliance Defending Freedom.</div>
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“I think that does raise especially significant concern, both the apparent recruiting of lawyers on the basis of their religious beliefs or their religious training on the one hand and the fact that she’s so eager to have [the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance] sort of supply its increasingly retrograde ideas as a basis for government policy,” Lipper said in an interview.</div>
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In response, the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s spokesperson said he was “not aware of any <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">c</span>onstitutional principle prohibiting students from a particular ideological, philosophical, or religious background from applying for governmental internships. In fact, such a prohibition could very well violate<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">c</span>onstitutional and federal law provisions that protect against discrimination.”</div>
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Lipper and other critics emphasized that their concerns dealt not with the idea of Christian lawyers interning or working in government but that such lawyers would serve the government with a particular religious-focused agenda.</div>
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West Virginia is far from the only state that has accepted interns from the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Alliance Defending Freedom.</span></div>
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Our public records requests disclosed that Blackstone Fellows have worked in at least eight other states: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.</div>
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In early December 2012, Sumi Thomas, the director of recruitment for the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, reached out to the Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General, emailing a contact given to her by Aaron Stewart, a Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellow who had been interning with the AG’s office earlier that year. In her email Thomas explained that, at that time, Blackstone interns were also placed in attorneys general offices in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, and Virginia. <i>RH Reality Check</i>has also found that<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> the A</span>lliance’s legal interns have served in attorneys general offices in Arizona and Georgia.</div>
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In its description of the program emailed to the Oklahoma AG’s office, the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance refers to the office as an “allied organization.”</div>
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Stewart was eventually hired to work for the AG’s office full time and currently serves as an assistant attorney general, according to his <a class="ext-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=102113935&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=5O7n&locale=en_US&srchid=402645391399294523140&srchindex=4&srchtotal=7&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A402645391399294523140%2CVSRPtargetId%3A102113935%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">LinkedIn profile</a> and emails between Stewart and a Blackstone recruiter obtained by <i>RH Reality Check</i> through public records requests.</div>
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The following fall, the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s Thomas again reached out to the Oklahoma attorney general’s office about hiring Blackstone interns.</div>
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On <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">September</span> 20, 2013, Oklahoma’s <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">first assistant attorney general, Tom Bates,</span> responded positively to Thomas’ inquiry.</div>
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“We were extremely pleased with Jared and hope he will consider joining us as an AAG [assistant attorney general] upon graduation,” wrote Bates, referring to Jared Haines, a Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellow who served <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">in</span> the AG’s office in the summer of 2013. “So, we would definitely welcome another intern next summer.”</div>
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Haines’ <a class="ext-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=28445437&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=ClDZ&locale=en_US&srchid=402645391397768528363&srchindex=3&srchtotal=12&trk=vsrp_people_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A402645391397768528363%2CVSRPtargetId%3A28445437%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">LinkedIn profile</a> currently lists him as a JD candidate at the University of Chicago Law School.</div>
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In the same email thread, Bates explained the general scope of the work given to legal interns, which included assisting with cases currently in litigation.</div>
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“This interns [sic] works directly with the AG, First Assistant, Chief of Staff, and Solicitor General,” Bates said. “Work includes legal research and drafting of memos, legal documents, and opinions on issues of importance to the executive staff. This intern will also assist the First Assistant and Solicitor General with cases in litigation.”</div>
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The Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding its relationship with the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Blackstone Legal Fellowship.</div>
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Brady Henderson, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, said in an interview that Blackstone’s religious mission—for fellows to integrate their faith with the law—presents a potential conflict of interest when they’re put to work for government.</div>
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“These interns, in theory, if they’re interning for the state, they’re not supposed to be doing something with a religious purpose,” Henderson said. “In other words, they’re not there to proselytize. They’re also not there to create a certain religious outcome. And yet their fellowship or internship may have that exact purpose. So in a sense, what it creates is a conflict of interest.”</div>
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Representatives of other state attorneys general told <i>RH Reality Check</i> they accept Blackstone fellows but do not give them preferential treatment.</div>
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Indiana’s attorney general’s office has accepted five Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellows since 2012, according to public information officer Erin Reece, who noted that the state AG’s office employs 60 interns annually. The fifth Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellow is scheduled to serve Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller this summer.</div>
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In an email sent to representatives of the Indiana AG’s office in September 2013, upon thanking them for accepting three Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellows in 2013, the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s Sumi Thomas asked the AG’s solicitor general office to consider accepting a Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellow for the summer of 2014. “If the Solicitor General’s Office is willing to accept interns from the Blackstone Legal Fellowship for the summer of 2014, please let me know and I will call you to discuss details via phone,” Thomas wrote.</div>
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“All interns are hired based on their academic and legal qualifications,” Reece said in an email. “Our recruitment process includes attending diversity job fairs, conducting on-campus interviews at approximately eight law schools and receiving resumes from various clinical programs at law schools and legal fellowships such as the Blackstone and Steiger fellowships, among others. The recruitment and consideration process is similar for all schools, legal fellowships and entities with which we have a relationship.”</div>
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Reece said her office “follows the proper legal parameters of separation of church and state” in response to our question about<b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </b>Blackstone’s Christian mission, explaining that her office is prohibited from asking job or internship applicants about their religious views or affiliations. She also emphasized that interns are given “basic, entry-level legal work.”</div>
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Georgia’s attorney general’s office accepted one Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellow last summer and will possibly have another Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellow this summer, said Lauren Kane, the office’s communications director, who said the office primarily accepts applicants from law schools. “We do not have any sort of formal relationship with Blackstone by which we ‘host’ their participants, but will consider Blackstone applicants when they apply (and we do require them to go through the application process),” Kane said in an email.</div>
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Several state AG’s office<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">s</span> responding to <i>RH Reality Check</i>’s inquiry said they had never hired Blackstone interns, including offices in Idaho, Maryland, Oregon, and Rhode Island. AG offices in Connecticut and Wisconsin said they had never hired Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellows and have no plans to. Many other states failed to reply to our requests in time for deadline.</div>
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<b>“Heroes” or “Bigots”</b></div>
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In keeping with their religious and radical political views, Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellows have helped shape many of the nation’s most famous recent lawsuits.</div>
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In the summer of 2012, two Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellows—Matt Mellema and Jonathan Lee —interned for a conservative think tank and were at the time writing briefs and researching for cases involving constitutional challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s ban on same-sex marriage, respectively, both of which were heard by the Supreme Court in 2013.</div>
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The Alliance <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Defending Freedom</span>’s side would go on to lose these cases, but the two Blackstone<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellows expressed their delight at being involved in such high-stakes litigation.</div>
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“I didn’t think coming into law school that at this point I would be working on a case that everybody I know has heard of,” Mellema—currently a law student at Yale University Law School and a sometimes <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.slate.com/authors.matt_mellema.html" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">contributor</a> to <i>Slate</i>—told sometimes Blackstone lecturer Hugh Hewitt on his <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.alliancealert.org/2012/07/31/jonathan-lee-and-matthew-mellema-on-the-hugh-hewitt-show-the-blackstone-legal-fellowship/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) "><i>Hugh Hewitt</i></a> radio show in July 2012. “I’m either a hero or a bigot, depending on who you are.”</div>
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During the broadcast, Lee, then earning his law degree at <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the</span> New York University School of Law, told Hewitt it was hard to learn the “Christian point of view” of legal concepts outside of the Blackstone program.</div>
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Of course, even when Blackstones find themselves on the losing side of a case, they are nevertheless building the personal and professional networks that could help propel their careers.</div>
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And that goal appears to be working. While the Alliance declined to name any alumni, the organization claims that 356 fellows had acted as <a class="ext-link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ivTfPz7cfM%20%5C" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">clerks for state and federal judges</a> as of 2013.</div>
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Through our use of public records and publicly available information, <i>RH Reality Check</i> has been able to identify 135 Blackstone alumni, representing around 10 percent of the total alumni pool. It’s an unscientific sample, but our results give some insight into the program’s success in having its graduates fan out throughout <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">U.S.</span> government posts. (Where we have been able to find the year in which an individual participated in the Blackstone program, we have included that information in the following summary.)</div>
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Among our other findings:</div>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>RH Reality Check</i>’s research identified more than 40 individuals who have clerked for state and federal judges. Many of these people held more than one clerkship, and between them, they have filled nearly 60 of what are prestigious roles. See a full list in<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="http://data.rhrealitycheck.org/organization/alliance-defending-freedom/" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) "><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">RHRC Data</span></a></span>, our new interactive search tool.</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Blackstones have worked in at least 26 roles in the federal government, including:<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/carissamulder" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Carissa Mulder</a>, 2007, special assistant/counsel at U.S. Commission on Civil Rights;</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/brian-barnes/3/a30/a14" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Brian Barnes</a>, 2012, attorney advisor, Social Security Administration and formerly Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals;</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/s-l-whitesell/5b/174/480" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">S L Whitesell</a>, 2012, law clerk, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, staff of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) (currently, Whitesell is clerking for the Texas Office of the Attorney General);</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/claytonmcollins" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Clayton Collins</a>, 2012, legal extern on Judiciary Committee Legislation for Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ.); <span style="background-color: yellow; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></b></span></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/estherslatermcdonald" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Esther Slater McDonald</a>, counsel to the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a</span>ssociate <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a</span>ttorney <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">g</span>eneral, U.S. Department of Justice.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 3em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Blackstones have filled at least 11 roles in state agencies, including in the Sacramento Public Defender’s Office, the Government and Consumer Frauds Bureau in Nassau County, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">New York</span>; policy and program analyst at the huge teachers’ pension system, CalSTRS, in Sacramento, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">California</span>; and in other roles everywhere from Tennessee to Virginia.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 3em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">They have filled roles in the military<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">:</span><ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="https://www.libertyinstitute.org/pages/about/leadership-legal-team" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Michael Berry</a>, 2003, attorney with the U.S. Marine Corps; appellate defense attorney, 2009-2013; invited to serve as an adjunct professor of law at the United States Naval Academy; deployed to Afghanistan in 2008;</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-cairns/14/b89/b11" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Peter Cairns</a>, 2010, Defense in Support of Civilian Authorities (DSCA) Action Officer at National Guard Bureau;</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Megan Jaye, 2007, Assistant Counsel for Legislation, Fiscal and General Law at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 3em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And they have held positions at the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations:<ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-allen/55/95/297" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">David Allen</a>, 2013, House of Commons research assistant in London</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="ext-link" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisagiunta" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">Lisa Giunta</a>, 2009, judicial law clerk, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and formerly United Nations extern, International Development Law Organization, permanent observer to the UN;</li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="jp.linkedin.com:in:taniasoris" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tania Soris</a>, 2011, formerly Commonwealth Lawyers Association.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
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And one, Kevin Corlew, a former Nevada Supreme Court clerk, is now running for Congress in Missouri’s 14th district.</div>
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Corlew did not reply to <i>RH Reality Check’s</i> emails or voicemails. However, Corlew has made known his position on at least one of the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance’s hot-button issues.</div>
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“Life at all stages must be respected,” reads a statement on his <a class="ext-link" href="http://kevincorlew.com/issues" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">website</a>. “I supported the Missouri Legislature in passing the late-term, post-viability abortion ban in 2011.”</div>
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Corlew is far from the only Blackstone to have advanced both his career and his views.</div>
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G. David Mathues completed the Blackstone Fellowship in 2005, according to his <a class="ext-link" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/david-mathues/4/301/865" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">LinkedIn profile</a>. He went on to serve in other high-influence positions, including a year as judicial clerk for Chief Judge Danny J. Boggs of the Sixth Circuit.</div>
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In 2009, Mathues published an <a class="ext-link" href="https://www.fed-soc.org/doclib/20090216_MatheusEngage101.pdf" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">article</a> in <i>Engage</i> Magazine, in which he argued that courts should take a more expansive view of the U.S. Constitution’s “ministerial exception” which gives religious institutions “broad freedom in selecting their leaders.”</div>
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Mathues advocated widening the definition of who is a “minister” so that it included employees such as teachers at religious schools. And of course, in this context, “selecting” leaders is code for “firing” them due to religious issues.</div>
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Today, Mathues is an assistant state attorney in Cook County, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Illinois</span>. He did not return <i>RH Reality Check</i>’s call for comment.</div>
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Perhaps the most significant of the Blackstone <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>ellows <i>RH Reality Check</i> was able to locate was Michael Bowman, who is now senior counsel at the Alliance <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Defending Freedom</span>.</div>
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Bowman completed the Blackstone Fellowship in 2001 and “clerked for several federal judges, including The Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr., at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit,” according to his <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance <a class="ext-link" href="http://www.alliancealert.org/tag/adf-bios/" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">biography</a>.</div>
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Alito, of course, has since risen to become a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.</div>
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The potential potency of these connections was apparent earlier this month when the Supreme Court issued its decision in <i>Town of Greece v. Galloway</i>, in which, as we noted earlier, the<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance represented the winning party—the town.</div>
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Alito voted with the majority to uphold the town’s practice of saying a prayer before official meetings—a decision that has widely been interpreted as crumbling the separation between church and state.</div>
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At issue in the case was not that the town was holding prayers before town meetings, but that the prayers—delivered by mostly Christian clergy—were largely sectarian; thus it was perceived by the plaintiffs that the government was officially aligning with a particular faith: Christianity.</div>
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Alito also wrote a <a class="ext-link" href="http://www2.bloomberglaw.com/public/desktop/document/Town_of_Greece_v_Galloway_No_12696_2014_BL_124245_US_May_05_2014_#id1166359420986" rel="external" style="border: 0px; color: #336699; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="(Open in new tab) ">concurring opinion</a>—in which Justice Antonin Scalia joined him—that fleshed out his views that the U.S. Constitution’s separation of church and state does not prevent governments from incorporating religious prayer into their government meetings, and ridiculed the idea that towns could “prescreen” those prayers.</div>
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As any lawyer knows, part of the value of serving as a clerk for a judge is the formation of a relationship of trust and familiarity, so that when you appear as a lawyer in that judge’s courtroom, your arguments are more likely to be given weight.</div>
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While the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>lliance has yet to see one of its Blackstone alumni actually reach the Supreme Court, when it comes to Bowman and Alito, they have arguably achieved something very close to that.</div>
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“They’re not doing anything illegal,” said Rob Boston. “They’re training lawyers and urging them to go into court and push the law in a more conservative direction. If the American people are alarmed about that, they have to respond in ways to push back. But this is all part of a larger plan that the religious right has been building up for a long time.”</div>
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<br />
<a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/05/13/illuminati-fundamentalist-christians-infiltrating-state-federal-government/">http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/05/13/illuminati-fundamentalist-christians-infiltrating-state-federal-government/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-64131201158730120382014-05-08T12:58:00.002-05:002014-05-08T12:58:15.435-05:00I Won’t Stand For It!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglX_ZLWmDpJ6F2ngtSsbdXGQuLHvlc-c052aAPhey0fVPSMiT-niG8EkuaO9jL7Mv1DQ34HBhvvXkvxfZa-APXYHEuCho7k1iCrVwGUE2Ouz-FdEoS4W0JYHVXSUAKC1ToQ-O-OX-oXsSr/s1600/what-separation-church-state-e1327447981582.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglX_ZLWmDpJ6F2ngtSsbdXGQuLHvlc-c052aAPhey0fVPSMiT-niG8EkuaO9jL7Mv1DQ34HBhvvXkvxfZa-APXYHEuCho7k1iCrVwGUE2Ouz-FdEoS4W0JYHVXSUAKC1ToQ-O-OX-oXsSr/s1600/what-separation-church-state-e1327447981582.gif" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2 id="node-title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #a70707; font-family: ClarendonFSBold, 'Clarendon Bold', 'Georgia Bold', Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.875rem; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
I Won’t Stand For It!: A Former Judge Says He’ll Take The Greece Ruling Sitting Down</h2>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #111111; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">I will stand no longer for prayer! I will not, as the Supreme Court suggests, leave the room during the invocation. Rather, I will sit during the prayer in the meeting room in which I am constitutionally entitled to assemble. I will not be bullied nor will I be shamed into standing. After all, I’m not the one violating the constitutional separation of church and state. I cannot and will not be compelled to participate in any fashion in government-sponsored prayer.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
.....<br /><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #111111; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">To be clear, my problem is not with those who profess and practice belief in one form of religious doctrine or another. That fundamental right is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Rather, my issue is with public officials who insist on foisting their personal religious beliefs – through prayers in particular – on persons, like me and on others who do not believe, at public meetings. Stated another way, I take issue with government leaders who insist on mixing their official duties with religious prayers, pontifications, Bible readings and calls upon their god, before, during or at the end official public meetings.</span> </blockquote>
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May 8, 2014 by <a href="https://www.au.org/about/people/james-c-nelson" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0055aa; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">James C. Nelson</a> in <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0055aa; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">Wall of Separation</a> <span class="divider" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">|</span></div>
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The Supreme Court appears to take the position that this sort of church-state incest is just part of good ole’ American government – no harm, no foul. Well, the court is wrong.</div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Editor’s Note: Today 's blog post is by James C. Nelson, a retired justice of the Montana Supreme Court. Nelson was appointed to the court by</em> Gov. <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Marc Racicot in 1993 and was reelected to the position three times, serving until his retirement in 2013.</em></div>
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I am a non-believer. I became that late in my adult life because I was disgusted with the hypocrisy of some varieties of religion and with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in particular. My decision was grounded in more hours of study and contemplation than I care to estimate. I do not believe in, much less pray to, any god.</div>
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My point with that opening is that the religion clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protect my fundamental right to be a non-believer; they ensure, among other things, that my various federal, state, county and local governments cannot require me – directly or indirectly – to participate in any religious exercise. Read together these religion clauses form the wall of separation between church and state that the framers intended. They keep – or at least they are supposed to keep – religion out of government and government out of religion.</div>
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That is why I cannot accept the Supreme Court’s <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-696_4f57.pdf" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0055aa; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">May 5 decision</a> in <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Town of Greece v. Galloway.</em> In that case, the high court held that a New York town’s practice of opening its official board meetings with a Christian prayer offered by members of the clergy <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2014/0505/Supreme-Court-Constitution-allows-for-public-prayer-at-town-meetings-video" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0055aa; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;">does not violate</a> the First Amendment and does not discriminate against minority faiths or coerce participation from non-adherents. </div>
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The court’s decision is flat wrong. It respects neither the history underpinning the adoption of the religion clauses, the wall of separation, nor the reality that “We the People” are a pluralistic and diverse society encompassing all degrees of sectarian believers, agnostics and atheists. </div>
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Nonetheless, that decision is now the law of the land – created from whole cloth and judicially blessed by the right-wing Christian majority of our nation’s highest court. And, that puts me in a box. </div>
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For many years I have stood during opening prayers in public meetings of federal, state and local government. I did so out of a sense of respect for the beliefs of others and for decorum, notwithstanding my personal disbelief in the prayer and the god prayed to. But, while respect can be freely given, it cannot be compelled. And, thus, the <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Greece</em>ruling leaves me but one option.</div>
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I will stand no longer for prayer! I will not, as the Supreme Court suggests, leave the room during the invocation. Rather, I will sit during the prayer in the meeting room in which I am constitutionally entitled to assemble. I will not be bullied nor will I be shamed into standing. After all, I’m not the one violating the constitutional separation of church and state. I cannot and will not be compelled to participate in any fashion in government-sponsored prayer.</div>
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To be clear, my problem is not with those who profess and practice belief in one form of religious doctrine or another. That fundamental right is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Rather, my issue is with public officials who insist on foisting their personal religious beliefs – through prayers in particular – on persons, like me and on others who do not believe, at public meetings. Stated another way, I take issue with government leaders who insist on mixing their official duties with religious prayers, pontifications, Bible readings and calls upon their god, before, during or at the end official public meetings.</div>
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Yet, the Supreme Court in <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Greece</em> appears to take the position that this sort of church-state incest is just part of good ole’ American government – no harm, no foul. Well, the court is wrong. It is harmful to the First Amendment rights of non-believers and there is, accordingly, a foul of constitutional magnitude.</div>
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Any legal rationale that facilitates some public officials’ seemingly incessant attempts to force their religion down the unwilling throats of non-believers as part of government meetings undisputedly violates the First Amendment. If that truth offends the religious sensibilities of those doing the facilitating, then so be it. Indeed, thanks to the Roberts Five and the <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Greece </em>ruling, everyone can now be offended – officially and as a matter of law.</div>
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There are many “ocracys” that the framers of our Constitution tried to prevent. Chief among them was theocracy. For, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis, those who torment us with their religious beliefs will do so without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.</div>
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Now, sadly, they will also do so officially, with the divine sanction of the Supreme Court of the United States. </div>
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We the People may be stuck with the court’s newest dictate, but, as for me. . . . I will stand no longer for prayer.</div>
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<a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/i-won-t-stand-for-it-a-former-judge-says-he-ll-take-the-greece-ruling">https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/i-won-t-stand-for-it-a-former-judge-says-he-ll-take-the-greece-ruling </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-61264042817734545452014-05-06T22:54:00.000-05:002014-05-06T22:54:01.358-05:00Establishing Extremism: Supreme Court Justice Argues That States Should Be Permitted To Set Up Official Religions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; line-height: 20px;">clip But in a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas took things a bit further, writing that the First Amendment “probably prohibits Congress from establishing a national religion.” That word – probably –is weighted here and indicates </span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; line-height: 20px;">a general suspicion toward the way the First Amendment is currently interpreted. It also introduces a sweeping defense of the establishment of religion at the state level.<br /><br />“At least six States had established churches in 1789,” he wrote, and later added, “The import of this history is that the relationship between church and state in the fledgling Republic was far from settled at the time of ratification.”<br /><br />That unsettled relationship could arguably be interpreted as democratic growing pains. There are, after all, many rights that Americans currently enjoy that weren’t codified at the time of the Constitution’s ratification; over time, the original text has been amended to abolish slavery, prohibit voting discrimination and grant women’s suffrage.<br />But Thomas clearly views history through another lens. “That lack of consensus suggests that the First Amendment was simply agnostic on the subject of state establishments; the decision to establish or disestablish religion was reserved to the States,” he wrote.<br /><br />clip The second section of Thomas’ opinion addressed the subject of coercion. In it, he argued that the First Amendment’s religion clause does not protect individual citizens from “subtle coercive pressures,” as we argued before the court, but rather from more heavy-handed legal coercion. A town could affiliate itself with Christianity but as long as its citizens weren’t subject to legal penalties for refusing to participate in Christian prayers or worship at public meetings, there would be no First Amendment violation.<br /><br />complete at:</span><br />
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.399999618530273px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/establishing-extremism-supreme-court-justice-argues-that-states-should-be" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/establishing-extremism-supreme-court-justice-argues-that-states-should-be</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-65792734437323267582014-04-28T19:56:00.001-05:002014-04-28T19:56:53.297-05:00Americans United Urges Okla. School Board To Drop Bible Curriculum<header style="background-color: whitesmoke; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: AauxNext, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><hgroup style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-size: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.1;">Planned Elective Violates U.S. Constitution, Church-State Watchdog Says</span></h2>
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Apr 28, 2014</div>
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A Bible curriculum designed by Steve Green, owner of Hobby Lobby, is taught from a sectarian perspective and should not be implemented by the Mustang, Okla., school board, Americans United for Separation of Church and State says.</div>
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In <a href="https://au.org/files/pdf_documents/2014-04-23_MustangOK_BibleClass.pdf" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0055aa; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">a letter to the board</a> sent last week, Americans United warned Mustang education officials that the curriculum is problematic.</div>
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“A course devoted solely to Bible study presents significant risks of unconstitutional religious instruction and could expose the school district to costly, time-consuming lawsuits,” the letter notes. “Indeed, Green himself has explained that the curriculum is designed to demonstrate ‘the reliability of [the Bible],’ because he believes that ‘the evidence is overwhelming.’” <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The letter adds that Green has publicly stated that the class will teach the doctrine of Bible inerrancy, which undermines his claim that it will be taught from an objective standpoint. The class is also designed to complement his planned Museum of the Bible, and contains a chapter titled, “How Do We Know That The Bible’s Historical Narratives Are Reliable?” <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Given these facts and Green’s record of high-profile Christian evangelism, Americans United argues that the school board should remove the class or offer an alternative course on comparative religions. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“The courts have been clear: there is to be no proselytization in public schools,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “Schools are welcome to teach religion objectively, but they’re not welcome to teach any one religion as literal truth. That’s exactly what the Mustang public schools are about to do.”</div>
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<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The letter was prepared by AU Legal Director Ayesha N. Khan, Senior Litigation Counsel Gregory M. Lipper and Madison Fellow Caitlin E. O’Connell. It requests a response from the Mustang school board within 30 days.</div>
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Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.</div>
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</footer>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-76179336390962042122014-03-19T07:04:00.002-05:002014-03-19T07:04:59.782-05:00If Our Founding Fathers Were All Christians, Why Did They Say This?<div class="userContentWrapper aboveUnitContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11.199999809265137px; line-height: 11.199999809265137px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px;">
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If Our Founding Fathers Were All Christians, Why Did They Say This?</div>
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Nobody can deny the fact that Christianity has played a huge role in our history. From the first Thanksgiving to...</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-83275464549532169462014-03-05T15:33:00.003-06:002014-03-05T15:33:32.080-06:00AU & Allies Ask Federal Appeals Court To Strike Utah’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Ban Violates First Amendment Religious Liberty Protections, Coalition Says</b></h3>
March 5, 2014<br />
<br />
Americans United has joined a legal brief asking a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling that struck down Utah’s same-sex marriage ban.<br />
<br />
The brief, filed by Americans United, the Anti-Defamation League and 23 other religious and public policy groups, says the state’s ban is unconstitutional and argues that it restricts, rather than protects, religious liberty.<br />
<br />
<i>[Editor's note: the legal brief can be read by clicking on the link below.]</i><br />
<br />
“A handful of religious groups should not be allowed to define marriage for all Americans,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. “That is fundamentally at odds with what religious liberty is supposed to be about. The Constitution guarantees protection for everyone, not just a privileged few.”<br />
<br />
The brief, filed before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, argues that the government cannot adopt a definition of marriage favored by some religious groups.<br />
<br />
“A decision overturning the Marriage Ban would assure full state recognition of civil marriages, while allowing religious groups the freedom to choose how to define marriage for themselves,” the groups assert. “It is a violation of the First Amendment to deny individuals the right to marry on the grounds that such marriages would offend the tenets of a particular religious group.”<br />
<br />
<a href="https://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-and-allies-ask-federal-appeals-court-to-strike-utah-s-same-sex">https://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-and-allies-ask-federal-appeals-court-to-strike-utah-s-same-sex</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-51890707666458945342014-02-06T13:01:00.002-06:002014-02-06T13:03:25.421-06:00Science and Religion Are Not Synonyms<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNXonvR9KSCWTi2WW9FyEeGMSezgKl62GKBEpLv8YX5aME10qiGW1P6wSxTBRanW9FICmawooH11N5wgBja2Qftl38VSnfxkAT1TETid6OJ0wBHAWNp1Bsi4Hay7_Q7hGJGyOFXoaDrCb9/s1600/stop_the_intersection_of_church_and_state-360x210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNXonvR9KSCWTi2WW9FyEeGMSezgKl62GKBEpLv8YX5aME10qiGW1P6wSxTBRanW9FICmawooH11N5wgBja2Qftl38VSnfxkAT1TETid6OJ0wBHAWNp1Bsi4Hay7_Q7hGJGyOFXoaDrCb9/s1600/stop_the_intersection_of_church_and_state-360x210.jpg" height="186" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Science and Religion Are Not Synonyms</span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
I did not watch the recent Nye/Ham science v. religion "debate" nor am I likely to though I have read several articles with varying POVs, both scientific and creationist magic.<br />
<br />
Even a man with the intellect of Chris Hitchens was unable to persuade any flat-earther to admit the impossibility of a god and miracles.<br />
<br />
It was finally made clear to me how the flat-earthers are NOT interested in science since they believe their god has made all things and therefor when a phenomenon can't be explained by science it's because their god has made a miracle, no exceptions, no explanations needed.<br />
<br />
Science is an enemy to religion only so far as science will not accept myth as evidence when dealing with nature. Evidence is the lifeblood of science in the same way emotion is the lifeblood of religion. The two words are not synonyms even though the flat-earthers would like to think so.<br />
<br />
It's pointless to give the flat-earthers the opportunity, once again, to stand in public with a scientific opponent with the intent to attract undecided viewers as it is nothing but another pitch for their god.<br />
<br />
All our energy should be directed at keeping these witch doctor dogmas from being manipulated into public law. There really are religious people who want to live in a scientific world and keep their religion a private matter and don't relish the publicity given to the extreme believers. It's the only legal thing we can do in a constitutional republic.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-44451856091704433842014-01-25T07:52:00.001-06:002014-01-25T07:57:37.749-06:00Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act - Resources for CitizensThis post collates resources relevant to the Oklahoma version of the Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act, legislation originally formulated and passed in Texas.<br />
<br />
The current versions of the bill may be found on the legislature's website:
<a href="http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb1456&Session=1400" target="_blank">HB1456</a>,
<a href="http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=sb1142&Session=1400" target="_blank">SB1142</a>. We will be tracking these throughout the legislative session. You can do so yourself by reading the history of the bill, which indicates which step in the legislative process they are currently on, for example, the house bill is currently in the <a href="http://www.okhouse.gov/Committees/CommitteeMembers.aspx?CommID=187&SubCommID=0" target="_blank">rules committee</a>.<br />
<br />
Here are the <a href="http://www.oklascience.org/HB%201001%20-%20Talking%20Points.pdf" target="_blank">talking points</a> discussing why these bills are problematic, in a single page, from Americans United. Here are a few of <a href="http://www.skepticink.com/backgroundprobability/2013/02/02/loopy-laws-looming-large-hb-1456/" target="_blank">my thoughts</a> on the bill, on my blog at Skeptic Ink. Finally, for a scholarly long read packed with in-depth analysis, check out <a href="http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/42/3/religious-exercise-expression-association-in-schools/42-3_Rogers.pdf" target="_blank">this article</a> from the UC Davis Law Review.<br />
<br />
Share and enjoy!Damionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14360566092148805751noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-71264193551165386472014-01-24T11:46:00.001-06:002014-01-24T12:05:27.981-06:00Fifth Annual Legislative Preview<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oklahoma City chapter of
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Americans United for
Separation of Church & State</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.okau.org/">www.okau.org</a>,
<a href="http://www.au.org/">www.au.org</a></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fifth Annual Legislative
Preview</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Saturday, January 25, 2014</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Belle Isle Public Library,
5501 N. Villa</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
10:00am to noon</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><u><b>Crossing
the Line</b></u></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>Introduction</u></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;"><u><b>Guest speakers</b></u>--</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;">Rev. Jim Shields: brief
overview of church/state separation in Methodist history.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;">Jim Huff: brief overview of
church/state separation in Southern Baptist history.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;">Dr. Victor Hutchison: brief
look at 2014 proposed legislation affecting science education in
public schools.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><u><b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: small;">Apocalyptic
Fantasy in Government</span></span></b></u><b>
–-</b></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;">John Loghry, chapter
president, brief remarks concerning religion and government</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;"><u><b>Repointing Jefferson's
Wall</b></u>--</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;">James Nimmo: brief summary
of Bishop v. USA—Federal District Judge Terence Kern's ruling
concerning marriage equality in Oklahoma.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><b>Selected discussion of
proposed bills</b></u><b>--</b></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;">Chas
Stewart, chapter secretary: </span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">"School
employee religious liberty act", HB 2675.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
</span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Damion
Reinhardt, chapter treasurer: “<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;">Religious
Viewpoints </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;">Anti-discrimination</span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;">
Act”,</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;">HB 1456, 1040, 2422; SB 1142</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;"><u>Q & A</u>
</span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Andalus, serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 20pt;"><u>Useful
Websites and Links</u></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><u><a href="http://www.oklegislature.gov/">http://www.oklegislature.gov/</a></u></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><u>Oklahoma
Legislature</u></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><u><a href="http://www.interfaithalliance.org/equality/read">http://www.interfaithalliance.org/equality/read</a></u></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Same-Gender
Marriage and Religious Freedom </span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><u><a href="http://okpolicy.org/">http://okpolicy.org/</a></u></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Oklahoma
Policy Prostitute</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><u><a href="http://www.au.org/">www.au.org</a></u></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Americans
United for Separation of Church & State</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><a href="http://www.okau.org/">www.okau.org</a></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Oklahoma
City chapter of Americans United</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><a href="http://gaycitynews.com/us-judge-throws-oklahoma-marriage">http://gaycitynews.com/us-judge-throws-oklahoma-marriage</a><a href="http://gaycitynews.com/us-judge-throws-oklahoma-marriage-amendment-stays-ruling-pending-appeal/">
amendment-stays-ruling-pending-appeal/</a></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<colgroup><col width="256*"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border: none; padding: 0in;" valign="TOP" width="100%"><blockquote style="text-align: center;">
<b><a href="http://tinyurl.com/m852ymg">http://tinyurl.com/m852ymg</a></b></blockquote>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;">Good
analysis of Tulsa Judge Kern's marriage equality ruling</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15pt;"><a href="http://ryangrantlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/marriage-in-bible.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://ryangrantlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/</span></span></span></a><a href="http://ryangrantlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/marriage-in-bible.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffcc;">marriage</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://ryangrantlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/marriage-in-bible.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">-in-bible.html</span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chart
describing Biblical history of marriage </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">courtesy
of Ryan Long</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(click on the image for a larger view)</span></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Ujh65lR2XHfs4DGDzwCshrdQz3nit-lUSWbWoLRaLpzTRY3xcDeHfjSZ930ssxOZqyYzyTfpJd-l3nD7L_f6KlhAcXt3NssUxcmHPUxDaM6e1pasXcpo-TZiumce7qfnETFZLne03zae/s1600/marriage+chart+(1).PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Ujh65lR2XHfs4DGDzwCshrdQz3nit-lUSWbWoLRaLpzTRY3xcDeHfjSZ930ssxOZqyYzyTfpJd-l3nD7L_f6KlhAcXt3NssUxcmHPUxDaM6e1pasXcpo-TZiumce7qfnETFZLne03zae/s1600/marriage+chart+(1).PNG" height="241" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-68088213783496078072014-01-19T12:15:00.002-06:002014-01-19T12:21:32.284-06:00Debate Between a Bible Thumper and a Model Citizen<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Debate Between a Bible Thumper and a Model Citizen</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIyT44NVblZQDmcrqdBa0srD9jfgmGgqwfyLTnoWPl7lQ8xbEU2Zre82es-n8-LiHVyOpN-QRqIBR27Bn_NMngPxbP1r92YaIVsJ1AU7PU6xCM4ECvhk2PEYGQ88wYkaU4SS9eCcyv88D/s1600/Kern+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIyT44NVblZQDmcrqdBa0srD9jfgmGgqwfyLTnoWPl7lQ8xbEU2Zre82es-n8-LiHVyOpN-QRqIBR27Bn_NMngPxbP1r92YaIVsJ1AU7PU6xCM4ECvhk2PEYGQ88wYkaU4SS9eCcyv88D/s1600/Kern+(1).jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's the streaming video link to the Flashpoint debate between Scott Hamilton of Cimarron Alliance, and Sally Kern, leader of the homo-hater brigade. Watching the video is really better because then you can back it up to listen yet again to Kern make the most unbelievable calumnies against our gay-lesbian citizenship---you won't believe your ears the first time.<br />
<br />
I congratulate Scott for his use of the facts to prove Kern is using her religious prejudice to frame the civil laws of Oklahoma against us. I think dueling bible verses is not the proper defense against the Kern Kult. The issue is not whether any religion endorses marriage equality--each Christian denomination has differing dogma even about its founder. The main point should always be made that anyone's exercise of the civil right of marriage--founded in the First Amendment's right of association--is NOT based on a religious ceremony.<br />
<br />
http://kfor.com/2014/01/19/sunday-flashpoint-kevin-ogle-talks-same-sex-marriage-with-guests-sally-kern-scott-hamilton/Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-71240253540703596102014-01-12T19:55:00.001-06:002014-01-12T19:55:27.800-06:00Additional information concerning the Legislative Preview--2014<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22829">
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OKLAHOMA
CITY - The Oklahoma City Chapter of Americans United for Separation of
Church & State (OKC-AU) will hold its fifth annual Oklahoma
Legislative Preview on Saturday, January 25, 2014. The event titled,
“Crossing the Line” will be held at the Belle Isle Library, 10 a.m. to
noon, 5501 N. Villa in Oklahoma City. </div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22834" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22835" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
The
Preview will include a review of selected proposed bills that OKC-AU
feels cross the line between religious point of view and civil rights as
defined in our state and federal constitutions.</div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22836" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22837" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
A brief explanation of how proposed bills become law in Oklahoma will also be presented.</div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22838" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22839" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
Three featured speakers will outline the history of their respective religious denominations.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
Guest
speaker Dr. Victor H. Hutchison, George Lynn Cross Research Professor
Emeritus, Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, will discuss
proposed bills involving religion and science education.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22840" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
Featured
speaker Rev. Jim Shields of Oklahoma City, one of the founding members
of the Oklahoma City chapter of Americans United, will be outlining the
history of church/state separation in the Methodist tradition.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
Jim
Huff, a Deacon and Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church in
Oklahoma City, will be speaking about the Baptist history of separation
of church and state.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
This
event previews bills submitted by both Houses of the Oklahoma
Legislature that could interfere with First Amendment freedom of
religion and could encumber the rights of others. The audience is
invited to participate in a Q & A period and a civil open
discussion.</div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22841" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22842" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
James Nimmo, OKC-AU communication chair, said, “This year's theme, <i>Crossing the Line</i>,
reflects the intent that some bills introduced during this year's
legislative session violate the Constitutional separation of religious
views from civil laws. </div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22843" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
“Religious
observance is free for all to exercise in private with other
like-minded people,” Nimmo added. “However, when tax money, public
property or the legal power of the state is used to support religious
views that are not shared by others, it crosses the line of legality.”</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
The first regular session of the 55th Oklahoma Legislature officially convenes on Monday, February 3, 2014 at 12 p.m.</div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
OKAU
President John Loghry said, “Our society is meant to have many voices,
but much of this legislation seems to be aimed at keeping those that are
not evangelical from having equal footing in the conversation."</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
The
Oklahoma City Chapter, one of the most active chapters of American
United for Separation of Church and State, arranges this event so that
Oklahoma citizens can read and discuss upcoming issues and be ahead of
the inevitable curves thrown by those who might diminish a valuable
freedom not observed in much of the world.</div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
All
interested citizens are encouraged to attend and participate with
questions and comments. Light refreshments will be served. </div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22845" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
Americans
United (AU) is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving the
constitutional principle of church-state separation as the only way to
ensure religious freedom for all Americans. AU represents over 70,000
individual members and 5,000 churches and other houses of worship
nationwide.</div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22846" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389575424994_22847" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px;">
For
more information about the Legislative Preview or the Oklahoma City
Chapter of Americans for Separation of Church and State, please visit <a href="http://www.okau.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: #053df5;">www.okau.org</span></a> or contact James Nimmo at 405-843-3651. </div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-40679777920208344052014-01-08T07:04:00.001-06:002014-01-08T07:04:34.374-06:00Legislative Preview: Save the Date: Saturday, January 25, 2014,Save the Date: <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinulYKT7mk_fuo3ZtGQ0h9kQfEAzVTV7nRqhZzYE6ovcS8lUkBXdNlCKnxNv-U1HiO643nPgw0Huqwh2YnDYMGtdnG8lIJzN3vVi9-WSiRHWNeZKDL3W845Hft1f0WGz0A4dvuMot2qfgw/s1600/what-separation-church-state-e1327447981582.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinulYKT7mk_fuo3ZtGQ0h9kQfEAzVTV7nRqhZzYE6ovcS8lUkBXdNlCKnxNv-U1HiO643nPgw0Huqwh2YnDYMGtdnG8lIJzN3vVi9-WSiRHWNeZKDL3W845Hft1f0WGz0A4dvuMot2qfgw/s1600/what-separation-church-state-e1327447981582.gif" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
Saturday, January 25, 2014, 10:00am to noon, Belle Isle Library, 5501 N. Villa, OKC.<br />
<br />
OKC chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State<br />
<br />
We have invited two speakers to outline the history of their respective denominations.<br />
<br />
Then the review of selected proposed bills that we feel cross the line between religious POV and civil rights as defined in our state and federal constitutions.<br />
<br />
Q & A from audience.<br />
<br />
Free to the public.<br />
<br />
Theme: Crossing the Line in the SandUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-85471802552228121562013-12-11T07:02:00.002-06:002013-12-11T07:02:19.368-06:00Hindus want space for Lordly monument on Okie Capitol Grounds<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386722409869_38521">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hindus want space for Lordly monument on Okie Capitol Grounds</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386722409869_38522" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386722409869_35826" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">
The current 10-commandment monument might be getting some company.<br /><br />One
of the self-serving arguments the flat-earthers used to justify their
religious zeal was that the public grounds were going to be developed
into a historical park. Now they can put up or shut up. I love the
impending circus.</div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386722409869_35829">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386722409869_35832">
<a href="http://www.albanytribune.com/10122013-hindus-interested-erecting-lord-hanuman-statue-oklahoma-capitol-grounds%E2%80%8F/" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386722409869_35831" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386722409869_35830">http://www.albanytribune.com/10122013-hindus-interested-erecting-lord-hanuman-statue-oklahoma-capitol-grounds%E2%80%8F/v</span></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-38835404210095106132013-12-08T19:26:00.000-06:002013-12-08T19:26:17.961-06:00The Bible as Bludgeon<div id="yiv7066194937ygrp-text">
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386517433148_41752" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386517433148_41756">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/the-bible-as-bludgeon.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386517433148_41755" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386517433148_41754">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/the-bible-as-bludgeon.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0</span></a></div>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386517433148_41753" style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-size: 13.3333px;">
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<h1 class="yiv7066194937articleHeadline" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386517433148_41751">
The Bible as Bludgeon</h1>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
clip <span style="font-size: 10pt;">YOU can make a successful run for political office in this country
without an especially thick résumé, any exceptional talent for
expressing yourself, a noteworthy education or, for that matter, a basic
grasp of science.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">But you better have religion. You better be ready to profess your faith
in and fealty to God — the Judeo-Christian one, of course. And you
better be convincing. A dust-up last week in the 2014 race for a United
States Senate seat from Arkansas provided a sad reminder of this,
showing once again that our ballyhooed separation of church and state is
less canyon than itty-bitty crack.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">complete at: </span></div>
<div>
<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386517433148_41754" style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/the-bible-as-bludgeon.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1386517433148_41755" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/the-bible-as-bludgeon.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0</a></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-size: 10pt;">._</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-size: 10pt;">,_.___</span></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2862348527625888934.post-25473462877847412602013-12-04T12:48:00.000-06:002013-12-04T12:49:16.519-06:00AU Urges IRS To Step Up Investigations Of Church-Based Partisan Politicking<br />
<header>
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<h2 id="node-title">
</h2>
<h3>
Church-State Watchdog Says Tax Agency Must Enforce Rules Intended To Prevent Houses Of Worship From Intervening In Elections</h3>
</hgroup>
</header>
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<div class="content">
<div class="byline">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnYgcRMleR4aGTiT702fjhBtpYv_xiqIlRRRYe5sHiIByiQ3wT63dy0OTyCx4bTMkBewqJz690Wj3Fji9tIOotg9JOO6j1-9G-FsP29zbLSKrtdAP7yC1d-Pnr5SkY4PuVXqBD_qdtXk9T/s1600/what-separation-church-state-e1327447981582.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnYgcRMleR4aGTiT702fjhBtpYv_xiqIlRRRYe5sHiIByiQ3wT63dy0OTyCx4bTMkBewqJz690Wj3Fji9tIOotg9JOO6j1-9G-FsP29zbLSKrtdAP7yC1d-Pnr5SkY4PuVXqBD_qdtXk9T/s320/what-separation-church-state-e1327447981582.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
Dec 4, 2013
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<div class="prose">
It’s
time for the IRS to crack down on illegal partisan politicking by
churches, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.<br />
<br />
In <a href="https://au.org/files/pdf_documents/Werfel-IRS-letter_12.3.13.pdf">a letter sent today</a>
to IRS Acting Commissioner Daniel Werfel, Americans United noted that
the IRS recently announced proposed tightened rules governing 501(c)(4)
organizations. While this is a complex area of tax law, the question of
church-based electioneering requires a much simpler fix.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The law
says houses of worship that choose to engage in politics are risking
their tax exemption,” said Americans United Executive Director the Rev.
Barry W. Lynn. “But that law is meaningless if the IRS fails to enforce
it. Without some teeth, the regulation might as well not exist.”</blockquote>
<br />
Houses
of worship are tax exempt as 501(c)(3) organizations. Under federal
law, groups holding the (c)(3) status are strictly prohibited from
intervening in elections; they may not advise congregants or members to
vote for or against specific candidates.<br />
<br />
The IRS, however, has
done little to enforce the law. Part of the problem stems from a 2008
federal court ruling involving a Minnesota church that successfully
challenged the IRS’s procedures for investigating churches. <br />
<br />
In <em>U.S. v. Living Word Christian Center</em>,
a court said the IRS could not audit the church because it had not
designated the proper IRS official for initiating such an audit. The IRS
subsequently announced that it would issue new rules to deal with the
problem, but more than five years later, little has been done.<br />
In
2009 the IRS issued a proposal to update its church audit procedures in
accordance with the court ruling, but it never released a final set of
rules. Since then, experts believe no churches have been investigated
for improper campaign intervention despite numerous reported
violations.<br />
<br />
In today’s letter to Werfel, AU’s Lynn noted that the
tax agency is revamping rules for political activity by 501(c)(4)
“social welfare” groups, a task most observers believe will be
controversial and complicated. By contrast, clarifying audit procedures
for churches requires a simple fix of adding a few sentences to existing
IRS regulations.<br />
<br />
Lynn urged that the final rule be adopted and that enforcement begin.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“My
purpose in writing today is to request that the IRS finalize these
regulations, publicize them and begin enforcing the law,” wrote Lynn.
“As you know, our nation is approaching mid-term elections; I believe it
would be detrimental for our country and the democratic process to go
through another election cycle with the ‘no-politicking’ rule
unenforced. The more the IRS delays, the more some pastors conclude that
they do not have to abide by this law.”</blockquote>
<br />
Americans United pointed
out in its letter that it has sent 124 complaints to the IRS about
church politicking since 1992, but to AU’s knowledge just one of those
churches lost its tax-exempt status. As a result, Religious Right groups
have been encouraging pastors to dive head first into partisan politics
– with little fear of consequences.<br />
<br />
“We’ve done our part by
telling the IRS when churches defy federal law,” Lynn said. “Now it’s
time for the IRS to act on our complaints.”<br />
<br />
<em>Americans United
is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded
in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of
church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.</em><br />
<em><br /></em>
<em>https://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-urges-irs-to-step-up-investigations-of-church-based-partisan</em></div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0