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ACLU Kicks God Out of School in Ben Franklin's Backyard
Townhall.com ^ | January 12, 2016 | Robert Knight

Posted on 01/12/2016 1:29:48 PM PST by Kaslin

Glenview Elementary School in Haddon Heights, New Jersey, was already far along the safe road to political correctness.

The suburban Philadelphia-area school's annual Christmas concert, held on Dec. 23, was called the Holiday Concert, and Christmas break had become Winter Break.

Its website has a link to the 79-page, state-issued, anti-bullying guidelines. So far, so good. But the school had not bent entirely to PC fashion. After each recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, the pupils recited the words, "God bless America."

Although this was not a required action, the school had been doing it to honor fallen first responders and victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The school is less than 100 miles from lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center was leveled by jets hijacked by Islamic jihadists.

All was well for 14 years until someone tipped off the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU swooped down in late December to make sure that the schoolkids were spared the common phrase uttered routinely by most public officials and all U.S. presidents up to and including Barack Obama.

In a December 30 letter, Ed Barocas, legal director of the ACLU's New Jersey chapter, called the practice of reciting "God bless you" in a public school "unconstitutional." He did stop short of calling it "diabolical."

Fearing a costly legal battle, Principal Sam Sassano explained in a letter to parents that the school will discontinue the adult-led recitation and "explore alternative methods of honoring the victims and first responders of the 9/11 tragedy."

Children at the 265-student school will be permitted to say the phrase on their own after the Pledge, he noted. So the ACLU has not managed to enforce official atheism during every moment that the children are in school. But that's the ultimate goal - to make religion irrelevant outside homes, churches and in the public square and thus create a de facto establishment of atheism as America's official religion.

Since 1963, when Madalyn Murray O'Hair won a Supreme Court decision to bar Bible reading in government schools, millions of schoolchildren have grown up utterly ignorant of the most influential text in world history. It might help to explain why we find ourselves drowning in a surging sea of personal and institutional lawlessness that threatens the very foundations of American liberty.

Barocas's letter to the school attorney included this tutorial: "The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government not only from favoring one religion over another, but also from promoting religion over non-religion."

That would have been news to Benjamin Franklin, whose invocation of prayer turned around the stalled constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Here's an excerpt of Franklin's words, as recorded in his own handwriting and found in James Madison's journal:

"In the beginning of the Contest with G. Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend?

"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that 'except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel."

In the biblical account of the Lord's destruction of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11), the arrogant men building it were rendered confused and helpless, babbling in numerous languages. It would be nice if the ACLU learned how to babble in a language that was not relentlessly hostile to public expressions of faith.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: aclu; amcommieliarsunion

1 posted on 01/12/2016 1:29:48 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

When will people decide “enough is enough” and kick the ACLU out of our schools, courts and the public square?


2 posted on 01/12/2016 1:37:56 PM PST by Ban Draoi Marbh Draoi ( Gen. 12:3: a warning to all anti-semites.)
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To: Kaslin

What does it say about a country that hates Christianity and the God of the Bible but loves a culture of death like Islam and a phony like Karl Marx and Marxism? People who want no restraints on their free will no matter how depraved it gets will surely have calamity and destruction in their not-to-distant future. Europe is showing us the “way forward” and we are too eager to get there before them.


3 posted on 01/12/2016 1:47:35 PM PST by Lake Living
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To: Kaslin

These people get what they have voted for for years. They have allowed the liberal agenda to take over, what did they expect? They may be saying enough, but until they start voting to get these liberals out of the positions of power and judicial seats, there’ll be more of the same.


4 posted on 01/12/2016 1:50:20 PM PST by southernindymom
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To: Kaslin

God is as welcome as the believers there, and sooner or later (hopefully sooner) these believers will discover that no, they don’t need the ACLU’s permission!!

In fact, God specializes in getting around man’s silly restrictions, by way of proving that He is wiser than man. I am reading on Facebook already of kids having marvelous gospel experiences IN THE SECULAR SCHOOLS. Jesus takes the “negative thoughts” out of their head and puts in hopes of victory. This is Bible 101, folks — but silly self centered, weak, pitiful “churches” have muffed it to where all heaven was weeping over it. Enough of this, and the sad souls of the ACLU will be howling at the moon in frustration — or else converted too by the witness.


5 posted on 01/12/2016 2:06:24 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: southernindymom

YUP... but those aren’t our November votes. Those are our 24/7 votes!

Jesus was some weak thing that needed secular authority figures to keep His power up? THAT IS HOW WE ACTED, FOLKS.

If you trust in Jesus only for little victories... LITTLE VICTORIES ARE ALL YOU WILL GET.....

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX OF MANKIND FOR A CHANGE WILLYA! God must be going GRRRRRRRRRR from heaven at our stupidity....


6 posted on 01/12/2016 2:11:08 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: southernindymom

THAT WORD ABOVE ALL EARTHLY POWERS
NO THANKS TO THEM ABIDETH
THE SPIRIT AND THE GIFTS ARE OURS
THROUGH HIM WHO WITH US SIDETH!

— A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, by Martin Luther

Do we need another reformation?!? Folks you are making heaven WEEP and CRACK UP at the same time...


7 posted on 01/12/2016 2:13:39 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

"Fundamental Change, oh, and
Death to America!"


8 posted on 01/12/2016 2:21:38 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: SunkenCiv

They are pitiful.

They are a laughingstock.

Their real power is only the power the devil has to con them.

Jesus could uncork such whoop ass on the demons that drive them, that the result would look like mass conversions from Islam to Christianity... NO SWORD NEEDED except the bible “sword” of course....

Kids are NOT too young to begin the new spiritual assault and in some cases they are better positioned (they are less steeped in worldly cruft).


9 posted on 01/12/2016 2:26:04 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Kaslin; All
The information below from a related thread will hopefully help people understand why the ACLU is barking up the wrong tree with respect to G-d in schools.

Let us start this discussion by showing how FDRs activist justices misrepresented ”atheist” Thomas Jefferson and his ”wall of church and state separation” with respect to the Founding States intentions for the 1st Amendments (1A) prohibition on Congresss power to regulate religion.

In stark contrast to what FDRs activist justices evidently wanted everybody to think about Jeffersons ”wall of separation,” it turns out that the real Thomas Jefferson had explained that the states had made the 10th Amendment (10A) in part to clarify that the states had retained uniquely to themselves the power to address religious issues, regardless that the states had made 1A in part to prohibit such powers entirely to Congress.

” 3. Resolved that it is true as a general principle and is also expressly declared by one of the amendments to the constitution that -the powers not delegated to the US. by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people-: and that no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom of the press being delegated to the US. by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, all lawful powers respecting the same did of right remain, & were reserved, to the states or the people: that thus was manifested their determination to retain to themselves the right of judging how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged without lessening their useful freedom, and how far those abuses which cannot be separated from their use should be tolerated rather than the use be destroyed [emphasis added]; . . . ” - Thomas Jefferson, Kentucky Resolutions, 1798 .

Although 14A later expressly applied only the Constitutions privileges and immunities to the states, FDRs anti-state sovereignty justices argued that 14A also applied 1As prohibition on Congresss power to make religion-related laws to the states.

"The First Amendment declares that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The Fourteenth Amendment has rendered the legislatures of the states as incompetent as Congress to enact such laws [emphasis added]. The constitutional inhibition of legislation on the subject of religion has a double aspect." --Mr. Justice Roberts, Cantwell v. State of Connecticut, 1940.

But two things that FDRs activist justices wrongly ignored concerning their statement in Cantwell are as follows. First, the congressional record shows that Bingham had clarified that 14A did not take away state powers.

Based on Binghams clarification that 14A preserved state powers, the states still had the 10A-protected power, as Jefferson had indicated, to make religion-based laws regardless of 14A.

In fact, Justice Reed had noted that it was the job of judges to balance 10A-protected state powers with 14A protected rights.

"Conflicts in the exercise of rights arise and the conflicting forces seek adjustments in the courts, as do these parties, claiming on the one side the freedom of religion, speech and the press, guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, and on the other the right to employ the sovereign power explicitly reserved to the State by the Tenth Amendment to ensure orderly living without which constitutional guarantees of civil liberties would be a mockery." --Justice Reed, Jones v. City of Opelika, 1942.

But a more powerful example of evidence of wrongdoing by FDRs thug justices concerning their stifling of 10A-protected state power to legislatively address religious issues, such power evidenced by the Jefferson excerpt above, is the following. Based on the language in the Cantwell excerpt above, FDRs justices essentially used their PC interpretation of 14A as an excuse to effectively interpolate a constitutional amendment that prohibits the states from making religion-based laws, just like 1A prohibits Congress from making such laws.

Consider that such an amendment to the Constitution might read in part as follows.

"No State shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; . . ."

But here is the clincher regarding the Courts dishonest application of 1A-prohibited religious power to Congress to the states via 14A. Several years after the ratification of 14A (1868) Representative James Blaine pushed for an anti-Roman Catholic amendment to the Constitution (1875) that began with the exact wording that the ”hypothetical” wording above that FDRs thug justices seemingly based their statement in Cantwell on.

"No State shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; and no money raised by taxation in any State for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the control of any religious sect; nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations."

But what FDRs anti-Catholic justices most certainly did not want citizens to know concerning their tortured interpolation of 14A in Cantwell, claiming that it applied 1As prohibition on religious laws to Congress to the states is this. The pre-17th Amendment Senate had failed to pass Rep. Blaines proposed amendment in the Constitutions Article V amendment process, thus completely discrediting, imo, the Courts later interpolation of 14A with respect to ignoring 10A-protected state power to address religious issues in Cantwell.

So if schools would get themselves up to speed with 10A-protected state powers then the misguided ACLU would hopefully not be as much of a headache.

10 posted on 01/12/2016 2:30:14 PM PST by Amendment10
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To: Amendment10

Executive summary: Caesar hosed it.

Faith response: What kind of armies does Caesar have compared with God’s? We don’t see God’s (usually) but when people have, they are floored. ANGELS. HUMONGOUS ANGELS. Caesar’s troops look like pip squeaks now.


11 posted on 01/12/2016 2:37:54 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Amendment10

I don’t mean that results can’t eventually show on the political plane too. And they may end up getting forced once a faith dynamic is back on its feet, and may even take the general shape you have outlined, sense having returned with the demons of nonsense evicted.

But we need the horse of faith before the cart of results.


12 posted on 01/12/2016 2:41:18 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: Kaslin

Atheists (and that includes their organ, the ACLU) are the children of Marx, and the enemies of America.


13 posted on 01/12/2016 5:56:24 PM PST by GenXteacher (You have chosen dishonor to avoid war; you shall have war also.)
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