Posted on 08/10/2005 11:25:50 AM PDT by JZelle
RICHMOND -- Civil liberties lawyers have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a Wiccan priestess to offer prayers before a public board's meetings. Cynthia Simpson was turned down in 2002 when she asked the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors to add her name to the list of people who customarily open the board's meetings with a religious invocation. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the suburban Richmond county. In their petition, received by the court yesterday, American Civil Liberties Union lawyers accuse the federal appeals court of trying to "obscure with legal smoke and mirrors" Chesterfield's preference for mainline religions. "Although Establishment Clause jurisprudence may be beset with conflicting tests, uncertain outcomes and ongoing debate, one principle has never been compromised ... that one religious denomination cannot be officially preferred over another," ACLU attorneys wrote in their 13-page filing. County officials said they had the right to limit the prayers to Judeo-Christian beliefs and religions based on a single god.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
my arguement are based on past supreme court decisions (specifically the surf and turf religion case) where accomodation is limited.
She is free to dow what she wants, she is just not free to impose it upon others. It is not a question of unpopular, it is a question of common sense.
Wow...well I'll be. I always seek to learn something new every day - mission accomplished for the 11th of August.
Heh, check out the listings for Illinois... 79.
They are allowing preferred faiths access to the public meetings while disallowing faiths they don't like. That's counter to the First Amendment - establishment of a *type* of faith if not an outright faith.
It's as though they allowed Islamic and Jewish speakers but refused Christian speakers the same access - would you really be okay with that?
Now you are just trying to depress me...shame shame shame...lol
Actually, I know a few folks that are involved with Wiccan....nice folks actually...a little odd at times, never discussed their "faith" with them much actually..had no idea there were that many covens in IL. One wiccan I have an aquaintence with lives in rural Marshall County, Illinois....I'm not believer in the occult but there is definitely something going on with that young lady...
Well, aside from the incidentals (electricity, wages, etc., being consumed while the board is convened), this case has apparently been argued up to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Does the county have a lawyer that works for free?
"As I said before, I'm just a guy who hates hippies."
Living in the past a little?
The only Wiccan I ever knew personally was a college vice president who wore business suits and made the kind of money I wish I were making. Didn't do srugs or sacrifice animals. Showered every day. And one of the best looking babes I've ever laid eyes on.
"Living in the past a little?"
The Hatred of Hippies knows no time or place. It burns in my heart like the fires of Hell itself.
I really, really can't stand hippies.
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