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Student turns down ACLU's scholarship
St. Petersburg Times ^ | July 31, 2005 | DONNA WINCHESTER

Posted on 08/03/2005 12:05:50 PM PDT by Jay777

As a child, Helena Aldridge developed a passion for defending the rights of others.

Now on the brink of adulthood, the 18-year-old finds herself in disagreement with a group that ardently defends individual rights: the American Civil Liberties Union.

Aldridge, who lives in Largo, graduated in May from East Lake High School. Faced with the prospect of paying for a five-year stint in the pharmacy program at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, she gratefully accepted a $450 scholarship from the Elks Lodge and two $500 scholarships from the NAACP.

She was thrilled this summer when she learned she was one of three Florida teens to receive a $1,000 Norman Elliot Kent Youth Activist Scholarship from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

The group, based in Miami, offers the awards to graduating seniors who have demonstrated a strong commitment to civil liberties and civil rights through student activism.

Then Aldridge read up on the organization.

While she found much to applaud - the ACLU has been protecting rights guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights since 1920 - she was dismayed at what she perceived as the group's abortion rights stance on abortion and its opposition to prayer in public schools.

Aldridge, who is a member of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Clearwater, is opposed to abortion. She supports prayer in schools.

"They want you to be able to choose whether you can get an abortion," Aldridge said. "I don't think it's the right thing to do. And if someone in the classroom decides they want the class to pray, I think they should be able to do that."

She called the ACLU last week and left a message saying she had decided to decline the scholarship.

(Excerpt) Read more at sptimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: aclu; christianstudents; scholarship
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1 posted on 08/03/2005 12:05:51 PM PDT by Jay777
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To: Jay777
As a child, Helena Aldridge developed a passion for defending the rights of others.

Really, how many children in the 21st century really develop a meaningful passion and track record for defending the rights of others? Haha!

2 posted on 08/03/2005 12:07:16 PM PDT by HitmanLV
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To: RepCath; Liz; IronJack; Grampa Dave; MeekOneGOP; Iris7; wkdaysoff; EdReform; Nick Danger; ...
PING!
3 posted on 08/03/2005 12:07:20 PM PDT by Jay777 (My personal blog: www.stoptheaclu.com)
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To: Jay777
the ACLU has been protecting rights guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights since 1920

What a freakin' joke. Good for her.

4 posted on 08/03/2005 12:08:14 PM PDT by stevio (Red-Blooded American Male (NRA))
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To: Jay777

Good for her, I would think that there would be some scholarship minded Freepers that could stand in the gap, and then some for her!


5 posted on 08/03/2005 12:08:24 PM PDT by justche (No one can go back and make a brand new start, any one can start now and make a brand new ending)
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To: HitmanNY

Well not my child...he's just all about the whole "me" 'me", and more "me".


6 posted on 08/03/2005 12:08:39 PM PDT by Jay777 (My personal blog: www.stoptheaclu.com)
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To: justche

I was hoping for the same thing.


7 posted on 08/03/2005 12:09:20 PM PDT by Jay777 (My personal blog: www.stoptheaclu.com)
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To: Jay777

"A group that ardently defends individual rights: the American Civil Liberties Union."

Not really...


8 posted on 08/03/2005 12:09:30 PM PDT by marsh_of_mists
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To: All
You can join the fight against the ACLU and their ilk by becoming involved with and supporting the following organizations:

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) - http://www.alliancedefensefund.org

Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) - http://www.thomasmore.org

American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) - http://www.aclj.org

The Rutherford Institute - http://www.rutherford.org/

Stop the ACLU Coalition (GREATLY ORGANIZED ACTIVIST SITE..PLEASE JOIN) - http://www.stoptheaclu.org


Here are a few examples of how two of those organizations are fighting back:

ADF Contacts Over 3,600 School Districts Over Attempts To Censor Christmas

ADF: 700 lawyers ready to fight ACLU lawsuits

ADF: Pentagons' Warning About Boyscouts Is Absurd

Thomas More Law Center: Town of Palm Beach Pays $50,000 In Attorney Fees Apologizes To Women In Nativity Lawsuit


Additional information:

The ACLU must be destroyed: Joseph Farah supports Boy Scouts, urges Americans to fight back

Citizens mobilized to stop ACLU (seeks to consign group to 'ash heap of history')

ACLU fulfilling communist agenda

Revealing FACTS on the ACLU from its own writings

See how YOUR Senator or Representative ranks with the ACLU

This yahoo group just started on December 3, 2004 and is looking for new members

Anti-ACLU Page

The Center For Reclaiming America (petitions to congress)

The Becket Fund

Christian Legal Society

Pacific Justice Institute

Landmark Legal Foundation

American Family Assn. Center for Law and Policy

The Liberty Council

ACLU-Watch

ACLU (Know Thine Enemy)

My personal Anti-ACLU Blog


"I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control of those who produced the wealth: communism is the goal." - Roger Baldwin, ACLU founder, Harvard Reunion Book, 1935


"The establishment of an American Soviet government will involve the confiscation of large landed estates in town and country, and also, the whole body to forests, mineral deposits, lakes, rivers and so on." - William Z. Foster, ACLU co-founder and former chairman, Communist Party USA.


Let me know if you would like to join my ACLU ping list


9 posted on 08/03/2005 12:10:05 PM PDT by Jay777 (My personal blog: www.stoptheaclu.com)
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To: Jay777
"It's a misunderstanding that a lot of people have," she said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. We have a long history of standing up for religious liberty."

BAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

10 posted on 08/03/2005 12:11:10 PM PDT by konaice
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To: justche

Great idea. If somebody organizes it, I'm in for $50. 19 more $50 donors and we're done.


11 posted on 08/03/2005 12:11:36 PM PDT by Uncledave
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To: Jay777

She displays a lot of maturity.


12 posted on 08/03/2005 12:11:42 PM PDT by lilylangtree
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To: marsh_of_mists
Help Me Out Freepers...trying to get votes for the best anti-ACLU post this month at my site
13 posted on 08/03/2005 12:11:53 PM PDT by Jay777 (My personal blog: www.stoptheaclu.com)
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To: konaice

I thought the exact same thing...bwahahahah! exactly.


14 posted on 08/03/2005 12:12:26 PM PDT by Jay777 (My personal blog: www.stoptheaclu.com)
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To: HitmanNY

That's not what the piece says, though: "a passion for defending the rights of others"--I read that as saying she developed a passion for what she hoped to do in the future. Sorta like little kids develop a passion for flight, so they want to pilot fighter jets and such.


15 posted on 08/03/2005 12:12:57 PM PDT by Darkwolf377 ("The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they'll be when you kill them."-Wm. Clayton)
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To: Jay777
Good for her! It's nice to see kids of character.

Now, from the Department of Redundancy Department...

the group's abortion rights stance on abortion

16 posted on 08/03/2005 12:13:28 PM PDT by bootless (Never Forget - And Never Again)
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To: Uncledave

If I could find her address...I have a paypal donation button on my site that I would gladly collect the money and pass it on. However, I'm thinking people are gonna want something more trustworthy? I would love to learn how to properly organize something like this. If anyone takes the lead on this, I would like to be a part.


17 posted on 08/03/2005 12:14:08 PM PDT by Jay777 (My personal blog: www.stoptheaclu.com)
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To: Jay777

wait until she discovers the ACLU's soviet roots and ongoing socialist agenda.
If she believes private property rights are essential and natural rights, she will soon LOATHE the ACLU


18 posted on 08/03/2005 12:14:08 PM PDT by King Prout (and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
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To: Darkwolf377

I didn't read it that way at all. Oh well...


19 posted on 08/03/2005 12:14:41 PM PDT by HitmanLV
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To: Jay777

ah... you beat me to it.


20 posted on 08/03/2005 12:15:06 PM PDT by King Prout (and the Clinton Legacy continues: like Herpes, it is a gift that keeps on giving.)
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