President Bush and the fifty governors of the states are promoting an initiative by a Christian organization to observe the National Day of Prayer every first Thursday in May * The Foundation for Freedom of Religion claims that this is a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution which seeks to separate religion and state * The claim discriminates against members of non-Judeo-Christian religions and of course atheists
During his career, President George Bush, who defined himself as a born-again Christian, harmed the development of science in the US by banning the funding of embryonic stem cell research, by supporting the study of intelligent design in science classes, and simply by nominally freezing (and actually withdrawing) the National Science Foundation's budgets ( Now it turns out that he wants to leave a more direct religious legacy for future generations - a new national holiday - the Day of Prayer.
A group of atheists and agnostics from the state of Wisconsin is suing President Bush, the state's governor and other officials in order to prevent the application of a federal law under which US residents will celebrate the National Day of Prayer.
Majority among US Christians: Angels are watching over us
The "Fund for Freedom from Religion" filed the lawsuit in a district court in Wisconsin claiming that the president's attempt to call Americans to pray violates the constitutional ban on government officials promoting religion. "Law 100-307 establishes the first Thursday in May as the National Day of Prayer. The foundation asks the court to declare that the law is against the law based on the First Amendment to the US Constitution. "The announcement regarding the President's Day of Prayer, exhorting every citizen to pray entails an unbalanced promotion of religion," the lawsuit states. The prosecutors state that the Family Focus Task Force (a conservative Christian group) "worked hand in hand with the administration to organize the National Day of Prayer."
The foundation claims that the administration has joined hands with the Christian National Day of Prayer (NDP) Task Force to organize the National Day of Prayer. The NDP Task Force designates its website as the official website of the National Day of Prayer. The task force has close ties with the organization "Mikokud Ba Faishma". Its chair, Shirley Dobson, is married to Focus on the Family founder, James Dobson, and the task force is based at Focus on the Family headquarters.
The task force proposes to use as the slogan for the announcement of the annual day a quote from the Tanakh - Psalms, chapter 15, verse XNUMX: "Jehovah, my strength and my protector - in him my heart trusts, and I am helped: and my heart rejoices; and my songs are accepted." This verse was chosen by the NDP as the official biblical reference and was cited in Bush's statement and in a supplemental statement by XNUMX governors. Other governors chose other versions of the task force's draft resolution proposal.
The claim of the Foundation for Freedom from Religion further claims that the legal premise prevents government officials and other people from teaming up and carrying out joint actions with activists from the public, in the framework of which public officials take an active part in encouraging religious activity, especially when it comes to a specific religious attitude towards others, and especially when they prefer religion over lack of religion."
A rebuke to pray in an official presidential statement does not include holding solemn deistic rituals on other occasions," he says, but for some reason it authorizes itself when it comes to promoting and encouraging religion."
The plaintiffs also comment that the call to prayer creates a link between church and state, thereby causing a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution, as happened at the prayer and official breakfast event held on May 1, 2008 by Sheriff Dean Ronald of Barnet, Wisconsin. The sheriff organized an official prayer breakfast and sent out invitations printed on official sheriff's office letterhead. His speaker at the breakfast was Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice (elect) Michael Gebelman, who said that a formal statement of support for superintendence is essential to our nation's success and well-being.
It turns out that Bush's legacy is cross-partisan because all fifty US governors have announced that they intend to fill the holiday with content, but the lawsuit was filed against the governor of Wisconsin because the group's headquarters is in Madison. The governor, Jim Doleil, used the NDP's wording, thus The state openly encouraged religion. The lawsuit states that the task force for the National Day of Prayer pressured all fifty state governors to simultaneously state and align with the Judeo-Christian principles upon which the task force is based."
According to him, the decision to choose a theme for the day of prayer from the Bible is not accidental but a result of the NDP's demand. The governor's statement seeks to make it clear to non-believers that they are expected to believe in God and sends them a message that the religious are preferred over the non-religious.
The day of prayer, which is planned to take place on the first Thursday of May every year, according to the plaintiffs, creates a hostile environment for non-believers, forcing them to feel that they are political outsiders," the lawsuit states.
"Official statements of support for prayer by the president and governors harm the ability of the Foundation for Freedom of Religion to carry out its organizational mission," said the lawsuit in which prayer is defined as a succinct religious act.
The news agencies added that the foundation has already filed a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court against President Bush's faith initiative, but it was rejected. As you know, Bush appointed a number of conservative judges to the Supreme Court and in fact today any conservative demand is automatically awarded a majority of 5 to 4.
One of the issues on which there is a debate between the candidates for the presidency of the USA is whether to meet with the leaders of Iran or not. The next president of the USA will probably no longer have a dilemma, because the USA itself will become a Christian edition of Iran.
To the announcement of the Foundation for Freedom of Religion in the USA
14 תגובות
Isaiah:
I do not accept at all that the state is allowed to restrict someone based on someone else's beliefs.
To Michael - really one last talkback from me and you get rid of me. I don't want to limit you because I'm religious. But, I accept that the state has the right to restrict me in order to take into account a certain public that you belong to and you have to accept that the state has the right to restrict you in order to take into account my public. This is how you live together in a group. This.
I forgive you for anything you said or meant and hope that if I offended you, you will forgive me. Easy fast and wish a good sign. May God forgive you, Amen.
Isaiah:
You have no right to limit me in any way because of your religion.
To Mr. Blizovsky - I hope you do not attribute missionaryism to me. I'm Jewish. It's really starting to bother me that your talkbacks attribute any connection to Christianity to me. What have I written that sounds Christian? To remove doubt, I define myself as a religious and liberal Jew. How do you define me - well, your problem.
To the point - not always every public expenditure serves the whole public. States also budget for opera, and cinema and dance - even though there are religious people who really suffer from the content that is sometimes presented in such settings. In the end, it is a power struggle within the framework of the democratic game, which determines the priorities. I draw your attention to the fact that the religious communities around the world and also in Israel have quite a bit of weight at all and sometimes the atheists are in the minority. Which requires, in my opinion, to destroy an approach that protects the rights of the minority. I would not like to think of a situation where the majority of you (God forbid!) would try to impose atheism on others (cf. the case of the Soviet dictatorship) nor the opposite situation (cf. the case of the Spanish Inquisition). What is the bottom line - you have to tolerate each other. consider, understand, respect. Religious people of my kind do not believe that there is any value in observing a mitzvah that is done under compulsion, out of rape and without intention. That's why the only way open to us is to make your companions return home willingly and with love.
I wish you to repent and receive many commandments. I believe that an intelligent person like you will one day see in the right light and will be able to enjoy the benefits of faith without giving up the achievements of science and academic freedom. From experience - it is possible.
Good signature to you and all your family members. I will pray for you on Yom Kippur.
Isaiah
To Isaiah - it's nice that you have expectations from the liberals, who are already tired of being the punching bag of every missionary (who is not just called Mechabat), who himself does not demand any tolerance for the liberal opinion, but from them, because they are liberals, demands tolerance for his nonsense.
They have no problem with prayers, as long as it is done at the expense of the private time of the meanderer and at his own expense. Declaring another day off at a cost of trillions to the economy just for such nonsense? Those who wish should pray on one of the holidays that already exist in the US, such as Halloween.
Why be angry? I think a correct liberal approach would hold that a heretic should tolerate the existence of a national day of prayer just as a God-fearing person should tolerate this website and others like it.
To Odin, it is indeed a plot by the elders of Zion to upset the religious every time with a new article, but what can you do, this is a news site and not everything goes according to order. The news was simply published on Friday in all major media outlets in the world. I came across it in a short 20 word flash on YNET and went looking for the source. I came to the foundation's website and from there I translated the press release issued by the foundation and explains what it is about. Indeed, because I am more diligent, my article is the longest. The rest of the sites were content with the summary of the news agencies.
As for the smile - the picture is taken from my son's bar mitzvah that took place a few months ago. The photographer asked us to go to the banks of the Yarkon, across the road in front of Beit Daniel.
I don't pray to anyone.
Dog = the faithful soul: is a mediator between the spirit - the soul> and the bone. (as a heart).
Hugin, who did you call a dog?
To Hogin:
The answer to your question - "To whom and for what do you pray when you are at the height of the sublime Olympus?"
She - we pray that it will never end...
my father
The dynamics of the subjects of the articles is interesting.
Your place as the head of the site is reminiscent of Zeus and his entire entourage throwing a "bone" at the dogs in the arena and watching the battles between all the hawks over the "bone of the matter" and the man burning in their flesh.
It's especially nice to see your picture smiling from the heights of Olympus when you throw an extra bone every now and then
..and smiling………………:)
Yehuda and I will continue from time to time in the dance of the galaxies from the dance of the demons and the plays. And Michael will keep us from losing our common sense. And Roy will continue to give us a daily dose of lessons and learning. And Ami will say and be silent.. and period
From time to time he would disguise himself as a different character in the fairy tale..and Higgs would go out of his mind..and there would be more, and more serious people would come in..and they would also leave..
In short: it's not boring in the land of science, let me squat...
Not boring at all - in the visions of the dry bones... and especially when your "Yehuda" adds from time to time
Once for a juicy saucer to revive him...
And you, my father (Blizovsky), tell me: to whom and for what do you pray when you are at the height of the sublime Olympus?
Here we already got it a long time ago.
We do not have a constitution that protects sanity, so there is currently not much to do on the legal level and the action should be political.
In the USA there is a religious majority and sanity still rules by virtue of the law and the constitution.
Here the secular are still a majority, but it is an oppressed majority at the mercy of religious coercion.
At least there is someone there to sue and fight
Here we would accept it and give the other cheek as well.