Free Republic

As an American, I have always been inspired by the fact that my country welcomes those who seek refuge. And as long as our government officials maintain our borders and ensure that those coming from other countries are screened in order to protect those who legally live here, the concept of welcoming immigrants is a noble one. However, something has gone awry. Indeed, illegal immigration into the U.S. has become an immense problem and a clear and present danger. Documented illegal immigration has more than doubled in the last decade. It has grown, by conservative counts, from 3.5 million in...

This was not the mother’s first trip to her child’s classroom, where parents regularly volunteered to lead story time. Because it coincided with the holiday season, she thought the ideal story to tell would be the original Christmas story that began nearly 2,000 years ago. But she remembered the memo. Sent weeks earlier, it was a stern reminder by the school principal that children in public schools could not celebrate Christmas. The sensitive kindergarten teacher added in her own handwriting, “It’s that old ‘separation of church and state’ thing.”

California Schools Investigate Antidrug Program With Scientology Links The Associated Press Jun 18, 2004 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The state schools superintendent has ordered an investigation into an anti-drug program with ties to the Church of Scientology. Narconon Drug Prevention and Education has been used by schools nationwide for the past two decades; it's used in at least 20 school districts in California, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. Though many teachers and students have praised the program, experts say some of Narconon's medical theories are irresponsible and have no basis in fact. For example, the program teaches that drugs...

<p>RICHMOND, Va. - Free-speech advocates warned Thursday they will file a federal lawsuit if officials at a public park block a baptism planned for this weekend in the Rappahannock River.</p> <p>Kent Willis, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said he has prepared a temporary restraining order against the park if officials try to interfere with an Episcopal pastor's plans to hold a baptism there on Sunday.</p>

Public baptism sparks controversy Wednesday, June 2, 2004 Posted: 8:31 AM EDT (1231 GMT) Pastor Todd Pyle baptizes Mark Maynard in the Rappahannock River at Falmouth Beach in Virginia. RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- The Rev. Todd Pyle thought it was the perfect spot to baptize 12 new members of his church. The river was calm and shallow, and there was a shaded area offshore for people to stand. "It was a very serene place," he said. "It was special." But officials at the Falmouth Waterfront Park, a public park just outside Fredericksburg, weren't pleased. They tried to break up the...

<p>An AT&T Broadband employee who was fired after refusing to abide by company rules that he said violated his religious beliefs about homosexuality has won a federal court case.</p> <p>Judge Marcia S. Krieger of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado awarded Albert Buonanno of Denver $146,269 for lost salary, loss of 401(k) matching contributions and compensation for emotional distress in a Friday ruling released this week.</p>

Rutherford Institute Secures Victory For Religious Employee Fired By AT&T For Refusing To Sign Certificate Of Understanding About Homosexuality DENVER —In response to a lawsuit filed by Rutherford Institute attorneys, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado has ruled in favor of a Denver man who was fired from his job with AT&T Broadband after he refused to sign off on portions of the company’s employee handbook that he felt violated his sincerely held religious beliefs. The ruling awards Albert Buonanno with back pay and lost 401(k) matching contributions arising out of AT&T’s refusal to accommodate his religious...

Diversity suit loss for cable titan Judge backs AT&T Broadband worker fired for refusal to value others' beliefs By Kris Hudson Denver Post Business Writer A federal judge has awarded a Denver-area man $146,269 after AT&T Broadband fired him in 2001 for refusing on religious grounds to sign the cable company's diversity policy. Albert A. Buonanno, 47, argued that Denver-based cable giant AT&T Broadband, since bought by Comcast Corp., could not require him to "value" the behavior and beliefs of others, notably homosexuals, if doing so violated his own Christian beliefs. In addition, Buonanno said he could tolerate religions contrary...

BRAVE NEW SCHOOLSStudent suspended for Marine Corps shirtFiles lawsuit against district claiming First Amendment violation Posted: March 2, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com A high school student suspended for wearing a T-shirt with a machine gun and Marine Corps creed is suing the district over its dress-code policy. Nathan Griggs, 16, and his father, David, brought the suit in U.S. District Court against Fort Wayne Community Schools, claiming the shirt was protected by First Amendment free-speech rights, the Fort Wayne News Sentinel reported. Elmhurst High School Principal Laura Taliaferro ordered Griggs to not wear the shirt because it was "inappropriate for...

In January 2001, Buonanno, an employee of AT&T, was handed a new AT&T Broadband Employee Handbook and asked to sign an “Acknowledgment of Receipt and Certificate of Understanding.” The certificate stated, in part, “I agree to follow the policies, rules and regulations contained in the handbook and to abide by any revisions made to them in the future.” Upon reviewing the 84-page handbook, however, Buonanno — a Christian with biblically based beliefs regarding homosexuality — found several parts to which he could not in good conscience conform. On page 6, in the section titled “Diversity,” the handbook stated: “Each person...

It appears that we are witnessing a stealth enactment of the enormously unpopular "Patriot II" legislation that was first leaked several months ago. Perhaps the national outcry when a draft of the Patriot II act was leaked has led its supporters to enact it one piece at a time in secret. Whatever the case, this is outrageous and unacceptable. -- Congressman Ron Paul, R-Tex. To those who follow the workings of the American bureaucracy, one thing should be very clear: We the people have lost control of our government. Let me give you a stark example. Rarely does the President...

<p>Lower court decisions upholding a New Jersey school district's prohibition of gifts bearing religious messages is being appealed to the Supreme Court.</p> <p>The mother of a student barred from distributing to classmates pencils with the imprint "Jesus loves the little children" and religious-themed candy canes is appealing two judgments that said Daniel Walz's freedom of expression and religion were not violated.</p>

Albert A. Buonanno of Denver had worked at AT&T Broadband for two years. But in a 2001 reorganization, the company directed employees to sign a "certificate of understanding." The document said employees must "fully recognize, respect, and value the differences among all of us," including "sexual orientation." Buonanno, who attends a Baptist General Conference church, told his supervisor in a letter that he wouldn't discriminate against or harass homosexuals. But he also said he couldn't sign the statement because it contradicted the Bible. Buonanno's supervisor fired him the next day. The Rutherford Institute, a religious liberties organization based in Charlottesville,...

We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. We guarantee the freedom of worship as one chooses. - Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Zorach v. Clauson (1952) On a sunny fall day in 1621, as the story goes, Gov. William Bradford declared a day of public thanksgiving for the tiny colony of settlers at Cape Cod. After a long, desperate winter that claimed almost half of the pilgrims’ original party, the rest struggled all summer to provide for their basic needs. Aided by friendly Native Americans who spoke English and knew how to live in the...

School officials in Muskogee say they're disappointed that the district is being sued for not allowing an eleven-year-old Muslim girl to wear a religious head scarf. The Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based civil liberties group, filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the family of Nashala Hearn. The lawsuit alleges the school district violated the sixth-grader's rights to free speech and free exercise of religion. The lawsuit also asks that school officials revise their dress code to accommodate students' religious dress and to expunge the girl's two suspensions. School officials say the head covering violated their dress code that bars...

A civil liberties group says a Maryland public school system violated the rights of two students by denying them community service credit for participating in a religious program for Indian children. In its lawsuit, the Virginia-based Rutherford Institute says Montgomery County Public Schools violated the students' rights to religious freedom, free assembly and equal protection as guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Montgomery County schools require all students to complete 60 hours of community service before they graduate. Students who complete more than 200 hours receive a special award. According to the Rutherford Institute, two students - Joshua and...

A federal appeals court's ruling that a child may not give pencils bearing the inscription "Jesus [loves] the little children" to his classmates is "yet one more ludicrous example of the federal courts' attempt to help governments at every level to enforce a rigidly secular bias on our public spaces," said Southern Baptist church-state specialist Richard Land. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a federal judge's decision that a New Jersey school system acted constitutionally in prohibiting a 4-year-old student from distributing the pencils at a spring class party. A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit unanimously...

<p>Kindergartners and first-graders may not distribute to their classmates gifts that bear a religious message, according to a ruling by a federal appeals court.</p> <p>The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of a New Jersey elementary school in forbidding a boy from giving out pencils with the message "Jesus loves the little children" with a heart symbol substituted for the word love.</p>

Kindergartener's Suspension Appealed To Supreme Court Playground Gunplay Case Goes To High Court POSTED: 8:35 a.m. EDT September 19, 2003 SAYREVILLE, N.J. -- Lawyers representing the family of a boy suspended from kindergarten after a playground game involving make-believe guns have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit group focused on First Amendment and religious freedom cases, announced the appeal on Thursday. According to The Rutherford Institute, four kindergarten boys at Wilson Elementary School were playing cops and robbers during recess in March 2000, using their fingers as guns. The boy represented by...

It appears the American Civil Liberties Union has a new target in its campaign to eradicate the nation of public displays of the Ten Commandments. This time it involves a judge in Arkansas.District Court Judge David Pake has had a framed copy of the Ten Commandments in his suburban Little Rock courtroom since 1994. According to Cybercast News, the 11-by-14-inch copy of the Decalogue hangs near the judge's bench, away from the area where most court participants sit.But suddenly, after almost ten years of the display being on Pake's wall, the Arkansas chapter of the ACLU has decided the display...