In a trend that seems to be sweeping courts across the nation- activist judges are trying their best to ban God from everything public...they're trying to destroy the limited religious freedoms we still have left. The story below is just one example of this.
One note- Barry Lynn...you are an idiot. You are a fake christian who is so anti-christian, it scares me. you're an embarassment to the pulpit by even calling yourself a reverend.
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Falwell Confidential
Date: March 5, 2004
From: Jerry Falwell
DIVERSITY IN EDUCATION . FOR ALL BUT THOSE IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES
We are constantly advised by education officials that diversity is the key
to 21st Century schooling. But when it comes to religious Americans,
diversity suddenly becomes a nebulous term. A recent court case illustrates
how religious Americans are often forced to play on an uneven playing field
solely because they desire to follow the calling of their faith.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that college scholarship programs
can be denied to students majoring in theological studies. This ruling
could have a dramatic effect on a wide range of religious freedom issues.
The Court, in a 7-2 decision, said that the Constitution's guarantee of free
exercise of religion does not mean that students in ministry-related college
studies are entitled to state scholarship funds. The case surrounded
Washington state student Joshua Davey who saw his state Promise Scholarship
revoked after administrators learned that he was a pastoral ministries
major.
This is certainly not the environment our Founders intended for people of
faith. Our history is alive with examples where funds were utilized to
promote Christianity.
Consider that the U.S. Congress actually provided funding for three Bible
societies during James Madison's presidency. Do you think that the Founders
would have been concerned if a few dollars had gone to college students
enrolled in religious studies?
Certainly not.
But modern-day civil libertarians have, in many ways, gained the momentum in
the effort to purge religion from the public square. Students like Josh
Davey are paying the price.
Had these stringent secularists been running things during our nation's
founding, I doubt that Jacob Duche would have been afforded the opportunity
to offer the first prayer in Congress on September 7, 1774, in Philadelphia'
s Carpenters Hall. Nor would we have ever had any national days of public
prayer, or had "In God We Trust" as a national motto.
Our Founders clearly intended people of faith to be included in all areas of
society and government - not to be treated as pariahs.
Revolutionary leader Thomas Paine, in 1797, criticized the secularism of
education, saying, "Man cannot make, or invent, or contrive principles. He
can only discover them; and he ought to look through the discovery to the
Author."
However, in last week's majority opinion for the High Court, Chief Justice
William H. Rehnquist said that states should have the ability to restrict
scholarships to those majoring in theological studies - yes, students
looking through the discovery to the Author.
"Training someone to lead a congregation is an essentially religious
endeavor," the chief justice wrote. "That a state would deal differently
with religious education for the ministry than with education for other
callings" is not evidence of "hostility toward religion."
He noted the scholarship program "goes a long way toward including religion
in its benefits," because it allows students to use scholarship money to
attend accredited religious schools.
Yes, but only insofar as those students are not majoring in theological
studies.
I respect Chief Justice Rehnquist, but I believe he took a strangely myopic
view of those studying for the ministry. In fact, the student who brought
suit against the state of Washington in this case actually had a double
major that included pastoral ministries and business management. But the
ministry, like any other profession, is a varied pursuit that has many
secular applications.
Writing the dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia, along with Justice Clarence
Thomas, charged that the scholarship program "discriminates against
religion."
Indeed, I believe the Court has sanctioned the disconnection between
religious people and everyone else. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the
American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) agreed that the ruling "clearly
sanctions religious discrimination."
Mr. Sekulow, who presented oral arguments before the High Court in the case,
said, "It is troubling that the decision is irreconcilable with more than a
half century of Supreme Court precedent regarding the free exercise of
religion. In this case, Josh Davey simply wanted to be treated equally on
the same terms and conditions as other scholarship recipients. The decision
does not prohibit states from structuring scholarship programs to permit the
pursuit of a degree in devotional theology. The Supreme Court, however,
missed an important opportunity to protect the constitutional rights of all
students."
The Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for the Separation of Church and
State - a man who is so secular-minded that he believes our currency should
not bear the slogan "In God We Trust" - said, "This is a huge defeat for
those who want to force taxpayers to pay for religious schooling and other
ministries. This maintains an important barrier to efforts to fund school
vouchers and other faith-based programs. Americans clearly have a right to
practice their religion, but they can't demand that the government pay for
it."
There you have it - this case will be utilized to accelerate the effort to
further purge the semblances of religion from the public square.
Dave Silverman, communications director for American Atheists, went even
further, saying the government should never assist the pursuits of people of
faith.
"If you can't use public money to train religious leaders," he reasoned,
"you cannot be raiding the public treasury to fund social programs that
incorporate religious teaching, or provide subsidies for students to attend
religious schools."
You can see that these guys won't rest until America adopts an exclusively
secular society where people of faith are fully disdained, rejected and
penalized.
It behooves Christians in this nation to heed the words of our nation's
first U.S. Chief Justice John Jay, who said, "Providence has given to our
people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the
privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer
Christians for their rulers."