ACLU: Prayer at school board meetings = 9/11 Terrorism

[Abbey Normal]

ACLU Compares Praying Christians to Terrorists
Tuesday, August 16, 2005

By Sam Kastensmidt

After members of the Tangipahoa Parish (La.) School Board hosted a conference to discuss religious liberties in the public school system, an ACLU spokesman compared the board members seeking to pray at meetings to "the people who flew the airplanes into the buildings in this country."

Joe Cook, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, was interviewed by reporters from WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge. During the interview, he was questioned about the board's desire to offer prayer prior to board meetings. He responded, "They believe that they answer to a higher power, in my opinion. Which is the kind of thinking that you had with the people who flew the airplanes into the buildings in this country, and the people who did the kind of things in London."

This is not the first time that Cook has demonstrated such hostility toward religion. Cook once referred to school board invocations as "un-American" and "immoral." He also pleaded with a judge to issue arrest warrants for any teacher caught praying.

ADF Responds to ACLU Comments

Mike Johnson, southeastern regional coordinator for the Alliance Defense Fund, was not surprised by the statement. "It shows the ACLU has become more and more extreme and marginalized," he said. "So, to that extent, I like it when he talks, because he simply reveals who they are."

Johnson added, "It's clear in a number of recent cases that the ACLU of Louisiana wants to impose a radical form of secularism that the Constitution doesn't require, and frankly, that people of this state are not willing to accept."

ACLU v. Tangipahoa Track Record

This latest battle between the ACLU and Tangipahoa Parish School District began in 2003, when the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the school board for offering prayer prior to meetings. Incredibly, the judge admitted that legislative prayers are constitutional, but then ruled school board prayers could not be considered legislative prayers.

Nothing New for ACLU Extremists

This brand of extremism has become commonplace for the ACLU of Louisiana. Only weeks ago, the ACLU petitioned a federal judge, asking him to issue arrest warrants for any teacher found praying at school. In fact, the ACLU insisted that such a prayer "must result in their removal from society."

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http://www.reclaimamerica.org/PAGES/NEWS/newspage.asp?story=2874

 

[dmp]

I pity the ACLU and their supporters.

 

[no1tovote4]

I pity the foo' that supports the ACLU! :soul: (picture this with mohawk)

 

[archangel]

round up all card carrying members of the ACLU indite them on the Rico and seditition statues...then deport them to Communist China where they will be accepted...enough is enough of this ACLU BS............. :2guns:

 

[Abbey Normal]

When will the shrillness and hyperbole of the left quiet down? Must we be subjected to their whacked-out shrieking every day? Do they just need another sex offender in the White House to soothe their frayed nerves? Perhaps a ban on any public display of Christianity will do it?

I've come to the conclusion that mentally-unbalanced Cindy Sheehan is their perfect spokesperson after all.

 

[acludem]

See my post in an earlier thread. Consider the source. This article is blatantly designed to attack the ACLU. This is NOT, I repeat NOT, reputable news coverage. Read the quote, nowhere did the guy "compare the school board to 9/11 terrorists" He simply said that religious extremism is what caused the 9/11 attacks, and that this was, in his opinion, religious extremism. I agree with this gentlemen that prayers before public school board meetings are inappropriate, I differ with him that it is a form of religious extremism, assuming of course this quote wasn't also taken vastly out of context which is probably was.


Please people, consider the source, this is a right-wing website that is virulently opposed to the ACLU's fight to preserve our civil liberties.

acludem

 

[Gem]

Were they discussing the option of prayer to open the school board meeting or were they discussing the option of people getting together PRIOR to the meeting even began, to pray together if chosen?

It seems to me that if the prayer is optional, and if people who choose not to attend can still attend and participate in the meeting with equal status to those who attended the prayer session, then the only issue at hand is whether or not the school allows voluntary prayer gatherings to occur on school grounds (if that is where the school board meets).

ACLUdem, while I understand where you are coming from by stating consider the source, it is biased against the ACLU. HOWEVER, even if we forget every thing else the article states, I think you need to go back and consider the quote:

"They believe that they answer to a higher power, in my opinion. Which is the kind of thinking that you had with the people who flew the airplanes into the buildings in this country, and the people who did the kind of things in London."

The man compared the faith of a group of average people getting together to pray before serving their community by holding a school board meeting to the out-of-control fanatacism that was the driving force behind some of the most vicious acts of violence, murder, terrorism the modern world has ever seen.

This is disgusting rhetoric, and it should not be defended or endorsed by anyone. We need to be trying to draw clear distinctions between decent religious people and fanatics...a high ranking member of the ACLU saying that decent religious Americans are at the same level of fundamentalist extremism as brutal terrorists is vicious anti-Christian nonsense. He should be ashamed of himself for the comparison (and that is exactly what it is...a comparison) and you should be a bit embarrassed at yourself for defending him.

 

[Abbey Normal]

Again, Gem got it right.

ACLU man: Whether you like the source or not, one of your guys did make that disgusting ant-Christian comparison. You are trying to defend the indefensible. That's sad. And scary for our country that people think this way.

Regarding my source: There is nothing untrue in the article. Sorry, but it's old news that when the facts make libs look bad, they always try to debunk the source to deflect from those facts.

 

[William Joyce]

Read the quote, nowhere did the guy "compare the school board to 9/11 terrorists" He simply said that religious extremism is what caused the 9/11 attacks, and that this was, in his opinion, religious extremism.

I'd say that's awful darn close to a comparison, myself.