Tarot card controversy sparks heated debate at public hearing | Politics | swvatoday.com

Some said they feared for their family’s safety if the town permitted the practice to go on inside the store. Others argued the practice would open up “demonic realms” which young children would be subjected to. Others said they feared a failure to prevent the change would go against them on judgment day.  

“I don’t really want my children thinking that’s OK if they go in there and they get confused and don’t know what something is,” one woman said, adding, “If we open that up in this area and we’re letting people go into this, will their blood be required of our hands?”

Mullins pointed out at the start of the meeting that he currently legally read tarot cards on the sidewalk in front of his store and could legally perform a reading inside. The only thing he is prohibited from doing, he said, is voicing his interpretation.

“I can do it on the streets and it can be a sideshow, or I can do it inside the building where no one can see,” he said.
Members of the pagan community attempted to quell fears that the shop might corrupt the community.

Tarot card controversy sparks heated debate at public hearing | Politics | swvatoday.com

Kentucky senate approves separate marriage licenses for gay couples – LGBTQ Nation

Kentucky‘s state Senate approved a bill Thursday that creates different marriage license forms for gay and straight couples, with one Republican senator saying any form that does not include the words “bride” and “groom” is disrespectful to traditional families.

The primary purpose of the legislation was to remove the names of county clerks from marriage licenses, a response to the controversy surrounding Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

But the Republican controlled Senate amended the bill as a way to show their support for traditional marriage. Former Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear changed the marriage license form last summer once same-sex marriages became legal, removing “bride” and “groom” and replacing it with “first party” and “second party.”
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Republican Sen. Stephen West, the sponsor of the bill and whose district includes Rowan County, said gay couples could choose to use the “bride” and “groom” form if they wished.

Kentucky senate approves separate marriage licenses for gay couples – LGBTQ Nation

ADDENDUM::Kim Davis is obeying her orders, and issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples – LGBTQ Nation

 Kentucky clerk Kim Davis has obeyed orders to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in the months since she spent five nights in jail for refusing to do so, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

United States District Judge David Bunning denied the American Civil Liberties Union’s request to order Davis to reissue licenses she had altered to remove her name and title or face the possibility of further punishment. He found that Davis has allowed her deputies to issue licenses to anyone eligible since September and that the altered licenses are likely valid under Kentucky law.
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On Tuesday, Bunning found that Davis has been complying with his order and that “there is every reason to believe that any altered licenses … would be recognized under Kentucky law,” rendering the ACLU’s request “moot.”

Kim Davis is obeying her orders, and issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples – LGBTQ Nation

January 3, 2016::End of the day round-up

3 Keys to Progress the Secular Community Needs in 2016

This involves removing yourself from your comfort zones. Displace yourself within circles you don’t normally frequent. Read and intermingle with queer, disabled, black and brown voices who share their thoughts, observations, experiences, and their grasp on the cultural context of their social relegation and erasure.

Books like God Is Not Great, The End of Faith, and The God Delusion are well-known, widely read, and often cited among nonbelievers. But how many have perused Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels, Why I Am Not a Muslim, The Ebony Exodus Project, or Writing God’s Obituary? What about books not geared towards atheism like What Does It Mean To Be White?, Sister Outsider, Critical Race Theory, or Between The World and Me? How many frequent the blogs or social media of transmen or transwomen who openly discuss their lived experiences or ex-Muslims not associated with “the establishment” that tenaciously tackle many manifestations of social inequalities like Kiran Opal, Sadaf Ali, and Heina Dadabhoy?

Watch This Short Irish Film About a Young Atheist Challenging Religious Authorities

Creationism evangelist: God put contradictions in the Bible to ‘weed out’ the atheists

 
Large Group Of Armed Militia Members Take Over Federal Building

Pakistan Censors International New York Times Article About Atheist Bloggers in Bangladesh

Sarah Palin found something else to quit — and it isn’t her asking for money

You May Be Fined in NYC for Calling Someone the “Wrong” Pronoun

America has lost any semblance of biblical thinking, and this is clearly showing up in the laws and regulations that are being established. Sinful behaviors are being applauded and protected in the courts, and those who choose to disagree with sinful lifestyles are being punished for refusing to condone or accommodate these choices. As our culture continues to reject God’s Word and do what’s right in its own eyes, we can only expect things like this to increase.

As Christians, we need to stand firmly and lovingly on God’s Word. In a culture that has utterly rejected our Creator’s words, it’s more important than ever that we stand boldly on God’s unchanging Word and speak truth,,,

What Leaving Religion Has Done for Me

As I approached adulthood, and began to meet people from different backgrounds, with different beliefs, faith faded and gave way to doubt. I’d always been a curious person, but my youthful shyness and anxiety, combined with my insular upbringing, kept me mostly isolated from the world beyond family and church. It wasn’t until I entered the workforce, and then attended junior college, that I discovered the wider world, one of dazzling variety, and found it suited my personality to a T.
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Many religions, including the brand of fundamentalist Catholicism in which I was raised, lead many adherents to restrict the education of their children to a cherry-picked, often distorted or flat-out-wrong, circumscribed array of ideas, scientific theories, and historical accounts that accord with the doctrines of their faith. Many of these children remain ignorant of the wider world of human thought and history until something in their experience or personality compels them to look beyond the teachings of their youth. For example, my own dear grandmother, out of love but misguided by her piety, did a disservice to the education of her grandchildren by attempting, and in some cases succeeding, to restrict our education in this way. Her religious beliefs led to her conviction that a broad, liberal education offered too many temptations to disbelief, so she felt compelled keep us from learning anything other than that which would accord with her fundamentalist Catholic faith. As I later discovered, she was right, not for the reasons she thought. Truth, in my opinion, holds fast in the face of challenges; it does not give way as easily as error does. Each new thing I learned, then, was not a temptation: it was a window of opportunity for growing in understanding, and for replacing bad ideas with better ones. Fortunately, I inherited, and was inspired by, her adventurous side, her love of people. Over time, I encountered and fell in love with the wider world of ideas, through the people I came to meet and the broader education I eventually received.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Publication Explains How to Shun Family Members

Hospital Refuses Pregnancy-Related Care Again Because of Religious Directives

The refusal of hospitals to allow doctors to perform basic health procedures based solely on religious doctrine presents a real threat to a woman’s ability to access health care. Patients seeking medical care from public institutions should not have to worry that religious doctrine rather than medical judgment will dictate what care they receive.

This image is an excellent way to refute the common "Hitler/Stalin/Mao killed because they were atheists" fallacy

The chart breaks down every death in the 20th century, including those caused by ideology.

Communism, fascism, democracy, Ba'athism and even Catholicism all make the ideology breakdown but atheism does not. That's because Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were not motivated by atheism.

If there is an omnipotent god, one that can end disease and cancer, he's got a lot to answer for. Also, this is just a really cool chart. Yes, I am a nerd.

[Source: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/20th-century-death/]

ACLU: Why we can no longer support the federal ‘religious freedom’ law - The Washington Post

I have previously shared this article (via Twitter) concerning the ACLU's decision to no longer support the federal RFRA but felt it is important enough to warrant it's own post.  In discussing Hobby Lobby, the mRFRAs by various states and the meddling of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Melling explains why the ACLU has taken this stance.

The RFRA was passed in 1993 after two Native Americans were fired from their jobs and denied unemployment benefits because they used peyote, an illegal drug, in their religious ceremonies. The Supreme Court rejected a claim they had brought under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, but Congress disagreed with the justices and enacted the RFRA with near-unanimous support.

The ACLU supported the RFRA’s passage at the time because it didn’t believe the Constitution, as newly interpreted by the Supreme Court, would protect people such as Iknoor Singh, whose religious expression does not harm anyone else. But we can no longer support the law in its current form. For more than 15 years, we have been concerned about how the RFRA could be used to discriminate against others. As the events of the past couple of years amply illustrate, our fears were well-founded. While the RFRA may serve as a shield to protect Singh, it is now often used as a sword to discriminate against women, gay and transgender people and others. Efforts of this nature will likely only increase should the Supreme Court rule — as is expected — that same-sex couples have the freedom to marry.
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Yes, religious freedom needs protection. But religious liberty doesn’t mean the right to discriminate or to impose one’s views on others. The RFRA wasn’t meant to force employees to pay a price for their employer’s faith, or to allow businesses to refuse to serve gay and transgender people, or to sanction government-funded discrimination,,,. It’s time for Congress to amend the RFRA so that it cannot be used as a defense for discrimination. Religious freedom will be undermined only if we continue to tolerate and enable abuses in its name.

ACLU: Why we can no longer support the federal ‘religious freedom’ law - The Washington Post

California County Commends Christian Pregnancy Center Despite ACLU Threats | Christian News Network

A county board of supervisors in California has voted to uphold a resolution commending a local Christian pregnancy center despite threats from a prominent church-state separation group to file a lawsuit over the matter.

The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors originally approved the measure applauding the ministry Doors of Hope in May, but the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) asserted that the resolution violated the Constitution because it endorsed Christianity. Doors of hope provides free assistance to women facing an unplanned pregnancy.

“Door of Hope seeks to enlighten and strengthen the lives of women and young women in Calaveras County by inviting them to test and see for themselves the many blessings that can come from living the teachings of Christ,” the resolution read.

“Calaveras Door of Hope endeavors to save the lives of unborn children by partnering with community members who volunteer their time, financial resources and prayers supporting their clients with kindness and compassion while listening without judgment,” it

According to the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a Christian legal organization in Sacramento, the ACLU threatened to sue the county over the matter, declaring that it was “crossing a fine line between church and state.” In response, PJI offered to represent the county at no charge should legal action ensue.

[,,,]
“But a county’s resolution binds no one to a legal code and does not spend one penny from the local treasury. It is highly unlikely that such a threatening letter would have been sent by the ACLU if the Board of Supervisors had recognized a Humanist organization promoting euthanasia,” he said.

One thing I have discovered when following stories from the http://christiannews.net/ Christian News Network is that they always leave a key piece of information out of their stories.  And as per usual, to endorse the talking point of "Christian" persecution, this story is no different.

From the Calaveras Enterprise:

The agenda report for the resolution noted that it was being presented in conjunction with “40 Days for Life,” an annual event leading up to Easter in which so-called “pro-life” groups voice their opposition to abortion.

That political connection caught the attention of some community members who consider themselves “pro-choice” and so favor keeping abortion legal.

Muriel Zeller of Valley Springs appeared at the April 8 meeting to tell the board that by approving the resolution it was supporting a “religious crusade” and taking a position that “elevates Christianity over all other religions in Calaveras County.”

Zeller is one of 28 Calaveras County residents listed on the ACLU letter as supporters of the organization’s request.

Now at first glance this may appear innocuous, but in the eyes of the ACLU, citing the California Constitution, Fox v. City of Los Angeles (1978), and Paulson v. Abdelnor (2006):

"Government must commit to 'a position of neutrality' whenever 'the relationship between man and religion is affected.'  'In determining whether government action is neutral, a secular purpose must be shown.  The secular purpose stated must be genuine, not a sham, and it may not merely be secondary to what is primarily a religious objective.'"

Continuing by citing Feminist Women's Health Ctr., Inc  v.  Philibosian (1984), the ACLU points out, "While it is permissible for the Board to recognize the charitable work of local religious groups, the Board must do this without endorsing the group's sectarian tenants."  In other words no "''improper political entanglement' by creating '[t]he appearance of support' of the Claveras Door of Hope's position on abortion."

So what is at issue is not that Door of Hope is a Christian based charity organization but that the Board, in honoring Door of Hope attached to the Resolution "for 'advocacy and education' that 'seeks to enlighten and strengthen the lives of women and young women in Calaveras County by inviting them to test and see for themselves the many blessings that can come from living the teachings of Christ.'”  The Board in that statement is endorsing a particular religious viewpoint.

The endorsement is, on its own, bad enough but the Board further endangered their cause by then attaching the Resolution to the "agenda" ladened  "40 Days for Life" which is sectarian in nature and promotes a specific religious  worldview.

The travesty in all this, despite that I do not agree with Door of Hope's worldview, it appears as if they are helping the community in which they minister to and they should be honored minus the religious gobbledegook.  But according to Spellman, with goading from Pacific Justice Institute, that isn't going to happen. The Calaveras Board is going to find themselves in a legal battle, Door of Hope isn't go to be honored in the manner they should, and the taxpayers are going to paying for all of it.

A written county response denied any wrongdoing. But county staff put the matter on the agenda for reconsideration and offered a suggested alternative resolution that praised Door of Hope for its good work but omitted religious references.

Supervisor Darren Spell-man, the author of the original resolution, said at the beginning of Tuesday’s discussion that the staff-proposed resolution that removed religious references was “a page-and-a-half apology to the ACLU and their clients.”

California County Commends Christian Pregnancy Center Despite ACLU Threats | Christian News Network

UPDATED: After Hobby Lobby, Seven Top LGBT And Civil Rights Orgs Drop Support For ENDA - The New Civil Rights Movement

This is huge,,,

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Lambda Legal, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Transgender Law Center and Pride at Work are some of the biggest civil rights groups if not the biggest that help the LGBTI community. For them to discard ENDA, something big is up.
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After 40 years, the LGBT community in part has decided that not only is ENDA not good enough, it's potentially dangerous because the legislation contains strong carve outs for religious organizations. In the wake of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling, ENDA could become a license to discriminate rather than the legal protection it was designed to be.

In a dramatic move today, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force announced it was dropping support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Hours later, a coalition of five LGBT legal and civil rights groups -- the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and the Transgender Law Center -- made a similar announcement. (Pride at Work announced they are dropping support after this article was published -- see below.)

The coalition of five groups calls their request "a simple one."

"Do not give religiously affiliated employers a license to discriminate against LGBT people when they have no such right to discriminate based on race, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information," the group say in a joint statement just released. "Religiously affiliated organizations are allowed to make hiring decisions based on their religion, but nothing in federal law authorizes discrimination by those organizations based on any other protected characteristic, and the rule should be the same for sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Religious organizations are free to choose their ministers or faith leaders, and adding protections for sexual orientation and gender identity or expression will not change that."

UPDATED: After Hobby Lobby, Seven Top LGBT And Civil Rights Orgs Drop Support For ENDA - The New Civil Rights Movement

Judge Eviscerates North Carolina Legislature’s New Protest Rules | The New Civil Rights Movement

A Superior Court Judge in North Carolina has struck down most of the new rules the state legislature passed in order to thwart those vexing Moral Monday protests that just won’t go quietly away. Judge Carl Fox said the lawmakers can’t ban noise, like singing and clapping, nor can they confiscate protest signs because it has a messages that disturb the sensibilities of a lawmaker.

thom tillisThe rules were meant to be the coup de grâce from Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis, (left) who was the prime mover of the unpopular right-wing agenda North Carolina has been pursuing. Speaker Tillis is currently running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Kay Hagan.

Under Tillis, Republicans gave business a tax cut paid for by eliminating the earned income credit for the working poor. They calculatingly targeted liberal voting blocs with a new voter suppression law. They tacked abortion restrictions onto a motorcycle safety bill. They turned down the federal Medicaid expansion money that would have meant healthcare for thousands, and ticked off teachers by passing a law to end teacher tenure that just last month was found unconstitutional.

Rep. Tillis’ relentless prosecution of his right-wing agenda spawned the ongoing Moral Mondays Movement – the largest protests in the South since the Civil Rights era. Each and every Monday, crowds of people converge on the capitol with signs and banners, expressing their displeasure or advocating for their cause. Rather than peter out after a few weeks, Moral Monday protests have grown in size and spread to other southern cities. If the legislature is in session, the Moral Monday protesters will be outside their door, so if nothing else, they will at least have to look their victims in the face.

But last month, just days before the summer session began, Speaker Tillis found a way to thwart the protesters’ ability to gather. He ordered the eight Republicans and two Democrats on the House Legislative Services Committee, which had not met since 1999, to revisit the rules and penalties for protesters – and boy did they!

Judge Eviscerates North Carolina Legislature’s New Protest Rules | The New Civil Rights Movement

How US Private Prisons Are Making Millions by Jailing Migrants in Deplorable Conditions | Alternet

CARs thus act as a middle-arena that wouldn’t exist if the federal government simply conducted immigrant enforcement through the civil system, which is what used to happen. But in 2005, the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice jointly instituted a program called “Operation Streamline” that mandated migrants be prosecuted by the US government in addition to being processed for deportation. There’s little reason to criminally prosecute migrants in addition to processing them for deportation except to send a message.

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As states move for the first time in decades to address swollen prisoner populations, federal immigration detention centers are the new front in private prison corporations’ business strategy, and undocumented migrants their easy cash cows.

Around the country there are 13 Criminal Alien Requirement (CAR) prisons, which are managed by private companies contracted by the federal Bureau of Prisons to house a total of 25,000 prisoners convicted of living in the United States without proper documentation. In the pursuit of profits, private prison corporations have created utterly fetid and psychologically frying conditions within these CARs, making even the most squalid prisons for citizens look better by comparison. The vulnerability of an inmate population without recognized citizenship, combined with aggressive immigration policy and legal statutes allowing for-profit detention centers to operate with lax oversight, have created conditions under which carceral corporations can operate legal gulags with an endless supply of incoming prisoners.

Over the last four years, the American Civil Liberties Union investigated five CARs in Texas that together house a total of 14,000 inmates, and on Tuesday released its findings in the report Warehoused and Forgotten: Immigrants Trapped Our Shadow Private Prison System. Shockingly, they found that all of five CARs were serviced with contracts from the Bureau of Federal Prisons that include provisions requiring the CARs have a 10% “isolation cell” quota, which is double the rate at publicly federal managed prisons. With perverse incentives to send prisoners to solitary confinement—a measure the UN has condemned as torture—inmates have reportedly been thrown into isolated cells for complaining about food and medical care or pursuing legal grievances. The profit motive has rendered the CARs nearly absent all drug and medical treatment, along with opportunities for inmates’ self-development. In one facility in Raymondville, Texas, near the Mexican border, the center is so overcrowded that inmates live in cramped, vermin-infested Kevlar tents.

How US Private Prisons Are Making Millions by Jailing Migrants in Deplorable Conditions | Alternet

UPDATE::Buddhist Student, Religious Liberty Prevail In Louisiana | American Civil Liberties Union

As you may remember, back in January, the atrocious actions of Negreet High School and the Sabine Parish Superintendent Sara Ebarb made headlines for denigrating the Buddhist faith of a young student.

When his parents complained, they were told that “this is the Bible belt,” so they should expect to find the Christian God in the classroom. Ebarb advised them that if they wanted an ungodly classroom, they should transfer C.C. to a school where “there are more Asians.”

Enter the ACLU and the ACLU of Louisiana. As reported on 3/14/2014, ",,,C.C. and his family won. A federal district court entered an order requiring the school district to refrain from unconstitutionally promoting or denigrating religion. The court’s order also mandates in-service training for school staff regarding their obligations under the First Amendment."

The victory has not been without grief for the family, ",,,not everyone has reacted to the lawsuit with the same measured consideration as the school board. While C.C. and his family have received much support from the community (including from some local congregations) and from across the country, they also have been harassed via crank calls to their house and work. And last month, C.C.’s mother Sharon was accosted while doing yard work: Three people wearing KKK-type white hoods drove by her and shouted, “You fucking nigger Asian-loving bitch.”

Two important points to highlight from Judge Elizabeth Foote. First in regards to teacher Rita Roark’s behavior and the school’s decision to defend it, Foote found their actions to be a clear violation of “the Free Exercise and Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”

Second, to the specific behavior of Roark, Judge Foot wrote “[t]he District and School Board are permanently enjoined from permitting School Officials at any school within the School District to promote their personal religious beliefs to students in class or during or in conjunction with a School Event.” Furthermore, “School Officials shall not denigrate any particular faith, or lack thereof, or single out any student for disfavor or criticism because of his or her particular faith or religious belief, or lack thereof.”

Buddhist Student, Religious Liberty Prevail In Louisiana | American Civil Liberties Union

Murder is Murder | American Civil Liberties Union

"Roeder is asking the court to conclude that 'vigilantism is okay if you really mean it.'"

Four years ago today, the ACLU and the National Abortion Federation (NAF) filed a friend-of-the-court brief to ask the court not to support Roeder's plea for voluntary manslaughter. We filed another in today's proceedings, joined by the Center for Reproductive Rights. Holding Roeder accountable for his violent action is not only imperative to ensuring that all abortion providers enjoy the full protection of the law; finding Roeder to be less culpable of murder simply because he sincerely believed abortion should not be legal, puts all of us, anyone who has ever exercised a constitutional right, at risk. As the Kansas Supreme Court previously held in a similar case, "[i]f every person were to act upon his or her personal beliefs in this manner, and we were to sanction the act, the result would be utter chaos."

Murder is Murder | American Civil Liberties Union

Lane v. Sabine Parish School Board | American Civil Liberties Union

This is so egregious, I have no clue where to begin,,,

The fact that this is only now being made public makes me cringe. How long has this district been "uneducating" their students? How many other students are there like C.C.? I'm not even sure what I am more upset about, the stupidity of the teacher and school district or the harm caused to C.C. and his family

Roark also regularly features religious questions on her tests such as "ISN'T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____________ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" When C.C. did not write in Roark's expected answer, "LORD," she belittled him in front of the rest of the class. While studying other religions, Roark has told students that Buddhism is "stupid."

When Plaintiffs objected, Sabine Parish Superintendent, Sara Ebarb, told them that "this is the Bible belt." She suggested that C.C. should "change" his faith or transfer to another district school 25 miles away where, in her words, "there are more Asians." Ultimately, C.L.'s parents did transfer him to another school to protect him, but school officials at that school also unconstitutionally promote religion.

Beyond Roark's classroom, the school also regularly incorporates official Christian prayer into class and school events. School officials display religious iconography through hallways and classrooms, including a large portrait of Jesus Christ, and an electronic marquee in front of the school scrolls Bible verses as students enter the building.

Lane v. Sabine Parish School Board | American Civil Liberties Union  

See Also:
If You Want To Fit In At This Public School Just Become Christian - The father's explanation as to why the lawsuit

The complaint as filed by the parents

Why Beliebers Should Care About Immigration Reform | American Civil Liberties Union

I found this story a bit odd. I stand firm in my belief the justice always prevails, it may not always be to our liking and it may not always be by the courts. As clunky and slow as our system is and the inherent faults it contains I would rather take my chances here than anywhere else in the world. But this event has me scratching my head, I was unaware of the difference between criminal court and immigration court proceedings,,,

As you may have heard, Justin Bieber is being investigated for egging his neighbor's home in Los Angeles. If the damage is found to be $400 or more, Bieber could be charged with felony vandalism under California law. A wrinkle that makes this different than the average pop star-in-peril situation is that because Bieber isn't a United States citizen, if he is convicted of a felony he could potentially be deported back to his native Canada. This potential loss to America is because under U.S. law, an aggravated felony or crimes of "moral turpitude" by non-citizens leads to mandatory detention and ineligibility for almost all relief.

While we at the ACLU aren't hardcore Beliebers (We're more Team Macklemore), we are watching with interest to see issues Bieber's situation will shine on the United States' dysfunctional immigration enforcement system, which doesn't offer due process to those caught up in its web.

Why Beliebers Should Care About Immigration Reform | American Civil Liberties Union