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Lord, let justice prevail in this situation. Let Christians arise to their defense and may these teachers be restored to their positions without any further discipline. May freedom of speech and religion not be hindered in this school as a result of these allegations. We ask that Schandra Rodriguez would come to know You as her Lord and Savior and be used to turn athiests to You.
Some local ministers in Florida are coming to the defense of two teachers who have been removed from their classrooms and are under investigation for allegations they offended an atheist colleague.
Rev. O’Neal Dozier, pastor of the Worldwide Christian Center Church in Pompano Beach, hosted a meeting on Monday with local clergy to discuss the accusations against two Christian teachers at Blanche Ely High School. Leslie Rainer and Djuna Robinson are accused of sprinkling “holy water” on fellow teacher Schandra Rodriguez, an avowed atheist, who was expressing her lack of belief in God with students. (More details)
Dozier tells OneNewsNow that the March 11 incident was blown out of proportion. “This was no more than a friendly, joking discussion that was taken to a higher level,” he states.
The pastor says one of the Christian teachers did take out a perfume bottle from her purse. “And she held it up and she said ‘I think you need to be sprinkled with holy water,’” he acknowledges. “Now she didn’t sprinkle her; she sprinkled no one.”
Rodriguez filed a complaint with the Broward County School District, which resulted in the two teachers being escorted from their classrooms — in the presence of students; and prompted an investigation — to the displeasure of Rev. Dozier.
“The mishandling of this particular case has prompted a violation of these two teachers’ first amendment constitutional rights — namely freedom of speech and freedom of religion,” he argues.
In the meantime, the two Christian teachers have been reassigned to administrative jobs within the school district. According to the South Florida Times, Rodriguez has been allowed to remain in the classroom.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=1027662
Lord, please stop these attacks on Your church. May this stir in people of faith a righteous anger that does not cause us to sin – but leads us to action. May Your people never be intimidated or fearful, instead may we rise up in the boldness, power, and authority of Christ and take back this land.
The past week produced more evidence that attacks against churches are on the rise–at least three churches suffered property destruction or threatened disruption. As usual, they were conservative churches that take a stand on moral issues that were abused.
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a group called “Bash Back” broke into an Evangelical church and spray painted “666” and other messages on a church van and garage door, poured oil over books and other items, and stole valuable construction equipment. (“Bash Back” is the same group that ADF is currently suing on behalf of Mount Hope Church in Michigan, after they disrupted a Sunday service and blocked traffic because of the church’s stand in support of marriage and against abortion).
In Maywood, California a Catholic parish was broken into and ransacked, “666” was written on the walls, a cross was turned upside down and burned, and a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary had a knife stuck through it.
In Chicago, a group that advocates homosexual behavior called the “Rainbow Sash Coalition” threatened to disrupt Mass on Pentecost Sunday at the Cathedral and other churches around the country. The group said that it was motivated to disrupt services because of the Catholic Church’s teaching that homosexual conduct is sinful and that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Thankfully, it appears that this protest was largely thwarted before any damage was done.
Federal law has strong protections for churches that suffer intimidation and vandalism. If your church has been attacked or vandalized, please let us know immediately. Taking action quickly can protect your church and other churches from future attacks. And remember that it’s important for every church to have a security plan. Check out our security checklist here
http://blog.speakupmovement.org/church/uncategorized/churches-vandalized-ransacked-and-threatened-with-disruption/
n Army veteran in Wisconsin will be allowed to display an American flag until Memorial Day, but the symbol honoring his service in Iraq and Kosovo must come down next Tuesday, his wife told FoxNews.com. 
Dawn Price, 27, of Oshkosh, Wis., said she received a call from officials at Midwest Realty Management early Wednesday indicating that she and her husband, Charlie, would be allowed to continue flying the American flag they’ve had in their window for months through the holiday weekend. The couple had previously been told they had to remove the flag by Saturday or face eviction due to a company policy that bans the display of flags, banners and political or religious materials.
“It’s basically an extension so we can fly the flag on Memorial Day,” Price told FoxNews.com. “It does need to come down after that.”
Charlie Price, 28, served tours of duty as a combat engineer in Iraq and Kosovo, his wife said. To honor his eight years of service, she began decorating their apartment during Veterans Day in November. An American flag topped off the display, she said.
“I knew it made Charlie really proud to see that,” she said. “And this isn’t something new. This has been up for quite some time now.”
Veterans’ groups were furious at the realtors’ refusal to allow the flag to fly.
“As a veteran, it sickens me that the Dawn and Charlie Price’s building management company would imply that the American flag could be construed as offensive by their residents,” said Ryan Gallucci, a spokesman for AmVets.
“We’re talking about our most revered national symbol. This is insulting to anyone who has defended our flag honorably, like Charlie Price.”
Dawn Price said she now works to amend the federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, which states no “condominium association, cooperative association, or residential real estate management association” may stop someone from flying the American flag. The law, however, does not apply to renters.
“This has been eating at us since Friday,” she said. ‘The best way to fight this isn’t getting an eviction and going after these people in court. That’s just going to cost us a lot of time, energy and money.”
Instead, Dawn Price said she either intends to place a curtain between the flag and the apartment window to block it from onlookers or will move it to a rear balcony come next week.
“We don’t want to fight the eviction,” she said. “We know we’d lose.”
Officials at Midwest Realty Management, which manages Brookside Apartments, where the Prices live, did not return several messages seeking comment. In a statement to the Oshkosh Northwestern, company officials said the policy was established to provide a consistent living environment for all residents.
“This policy was developed to insure that we are fair to everyone as we have many residents from diverse backgrounds,” the statement read. “By having a blanket policy of neutrality we have found that we are less likely to offend anyone and the aesthetic qualities of our apartment communities are maintained.”
Despite the brief reprieve, Dawn Price said her husband is disappointed by the flag flap.
“He actually sees it as a slap in the face to his service,” she said. “He’s pretty upset about it, especially right around Memorial Day.”
Lord, stir the hearts of Your people to engage in these issues – may our freedom to pray and worship You be protected in every way.
The Rutherford Institute is urging the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm legislative prayers in Forsyth County, North Carolina, as constitutional.
The Board of Commissioners in Forsyth County has a practice of opening its twice-monthly meetings with prayers from various local clergy, but John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, tells OneNewsNow the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit to prohibit the prayers.
“We’re arguing that, especially since this [policy] is so broad — allowing basically anybody to pray — this is clearly constitutional,” he explains. “It’s very much a historic practice. The people who wrote the First Amendment, who put in the Establishment Clause — the clause that’s been interpreted as the so-called ‘separation of church and state’ clause — they allowed chaplains to pray. These are Christian chaplains.”
The ACLU’s complaint is that the majority of prayers are Christian, although that is reflective of the county’s population. But Whitehead argues that “as long as it’s open to other religious viewpoints, and anybody can participate in terms of their religion, it’s so broad that I think this is one case that should be constitutional.”
Even though a lower court ruled the county’s policy unconstitutional, the Rutherford Institute founder hopes the Supreme Court will hear this case and “finally put…to rest” the doctrine that says individuals cannot pray before a city council meeting.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Printer.aspx?id=1022404
The ACLU is asking the state Board of Regents, which oversees the Montana University System, to look into the matter and apologize for violating the First Amendment rights of people attending the graduation ceremony.
The ACLU charges that MSU-Northern asked a local pastor — Tim Zerger of Community Alliance Church — to give the invocation and benediction, and that he was clearly “proselytizing” by invoking the image of Jesus Christ during the ceremonies, which the ACLU said violates the separation of church and state.g
Several members of the faculty contacted the ACLU after the May 10 graduation ceremonies to voice their concerns over the requirement that they attend a graduation ceremony where evangelical Christian prayers were recited.
“Separation of church and state is a cornerstone of the U.S. and Montana constitutions. The ability to practice any faith or no faith at all goes to the essence of what it means to be a free person,” state ACLU of Legal Director Betsy Griffing said. “MSU-Northern showed poor judgment and a lack of respect for its students, faculty and staff by overtly endorsing one specific religion at its graduation.”
Leslie Taylor, chief legal counsel for MSU in Bozeman, said campus administrators received the letter from the ACLU Tuesday and they are looking into the matter. She said it’s a bit confusing to tell exactly what the ACLU is looking for based on the letter. At one point, the ACLU asks that administrators look into the matter and that they apologize.
“To me, that’s getting the cart before the horse,” she said. “Maybe there’s nothing to apologize for.”
Invocations and benedictions are not banned from university campuses.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20100526/NEWS01/5260309/ACLU-files-complaint-over-proselytizing-at-graduation
A 7th grade student who was suspended by school officials for wearing a Rosary to school. ACLJ will represent Chantell Hosier, and her 13-year-old son, Raymond, who attends Oneida Middle School in Schenectady. He was supended for two-days last week after school officials ordered him to remove the Rosary. Raymond did not take off the Rosary. He says it brings him comfort and honors the memory of his deceased older brother and uncle.
School officials defended the disciplinary action by saying that wearing the Rosary violated school policy. A school district spokesperson told a local newspaper that the rosary beads “could be an identifier of gangs” and needed to be removed “for safety reasons.” First of all, to equate a Rosary to a gang symbol is not only wrong, but deeply offensive. The action taken by this school district – suspending the student for wearing a religious artifact – is insulting and inappropriate. The Supreme Court has been very clear that students do not surrender their constitutional rights to religious expression when they go to school. When Raymond returned to school this morning, wearing the Rosary, he was suspended again. ACLJ has instructed a legal team to prepare a federal lawsuit to protect the constitutional rights of our client. They have sent a Demand Letter to the school district letting them know that the disciplinary action they took against Raymond violates his First Amendment rights. You can read the Demand Letter here. The fact is that Raymond has been wearing that Rosary since 2009 without incident until last week when school officials told him to remove it because it violated the dress code. What’s clear to us is that the school in this instance is arbitrarily using the vague dress code to silence Raymond’s religious message. That’s unacceptable. http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?ID=955 |
SPRINGFIELD — County officials said Tuesday, May 25, that the support for the return of the Ten Commandments stone monument has been “amazing.”
The Ten Commandments stone monument will be put back in front of the Clark County Common Pleas Court.
The monument, which was broken in two pieces during a hit-and-skip on Halloween night last year, should be back by July 1, county facilities director Jackie Ashworth told county commissioners at Tuesday’s regular meeting.
The slab is at a quarry in Georgia, Ashworth said. Only four quarries nationwide have the ability to fix the stone, which contributed to the delay in getting in fixed, she said.
“That slab weighs almost a ton,” she added, describing the difficulty of getting the monument shipped.
Drake Monument in Springfield will set the monument back in place, with the county having to repair the foundation.
“The pins it sits on was destroyed when the monument was ripped from its base (during the accident),” she explained.
Ashworth said fixing the stone costs $10,250 — about twice as much than replacing it — with insurance covering $7,750.
However, officials opted to repair the monument rather than replace it to protect the county from potential lawsuits regarding the separation of church and state.
A national organization, the Alliance Defense Fund, has volunteered to cover any litigation that may occur from putting the monument back.
Authorities were not able to locate the vehicle that hit the stone.
Commissioners were pleased that the monument will be put back in place.
“The public sentiment on that has been amazing,” said Commissioner Roger Tackett. “We appreciate the public support.”
Commissioners John Detrick and David Hartley said they both received several calls about the issue.
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-news/ten-commandments-monument-to-return-to-front-of-courthouse-726905.html?cxtype=rss_local-news
In two party-line 9 to 5 votes yesterday, the Republican majority on the Texas State Board of 
Education adopted controversial changes to the state’s social study guidelines that reflect a more socially conservative viewpoint. AP reports that over 200 amendments were offered this week to draft standards that had been prepared over the last 18 months by groups of teachers and university faculty. Today’s Dallas Morning News quotes board member Don McLeroy who said the changes are an attempt to balance a curriculum that has been slanted toward liberal viewpoints. One of the curriculum changes involves students’ approach to religious liberty and church-state separation. According to a release from the Texas Education Agency, the following will be added to the Government curriculum standards:
Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America and guaranteed its free exercise by saying that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and compare and contrast this to the phrase “separation of church and state.”
Responding to criticism of earlier changes (see prior posting), the Board restored Thomas Jefferson to the list of political philosophers that students will study in world history. He was already included in the U.S. History and the Government curricula.
http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2010/05/texas-board-of-education-adopts-Texmore.html
Blog from Speak Up Movement:
I had the distinct pleasure to recently hear Dr. Ajai Lall from Central India Christian Mission speak. Dr. Lall started CICM many years ago as a church-planting and evangelistic outreach to India and the surrounding countries. His mission has been to spread the Gospel of Christ throughout India and, through God’s blessings, CICM has been wildly successful.
Dr. Lall told the story of one of the pastors that CICM had trained who was ministering in a village in India. The pastor’s name was Emmanuel and Dr. Lall showed a picture of Emmanuel, his wife and two beautiful sons. Emmanuel boldly shared his faith in a climate of radical Hinduism. Some time after he had been there, a group of radical Hindus kidnapped Emmanuel and his wife. They presented him with an option – sign a document renouncing Christ and agree to leave the area and we will let you go. Emmanuel and his wife courageously refused and, for their refusal, both were tortured repeatedly and beaten. Finally, the radicals tied Emmanuel to a tree and told him that if he did not sign the paper, they would rape his wife in front of him. Emmanuel and his wife once again refused to deny Christ. As the radicals were making good on their threats, some passersby heard Emmanuel’s screams and brought help. Emmanuel and his wife were rescued.
Courageously, Emmanuel and his wife refused to leave the village and continued to proclaim Christ. Several times in their ministry in the village, they ran into the people who tortured them and each time they did, they told these people, “God bless you.” Finally, some of the men who tortured them had enough and asked, “Why do you always ask God to bless us after what we did to you?” Emmanuel and his wife invited the men into their home for tea and shared Christ’s love with them. Two of the men have since become Christians.
Emmanuel’s amazing story reminded me of how many times I take freedom of religion in America for granted. I drive to church every week, I worship God freely, and I hear from God’s word – all without any threat or thought that someone will come in and attempt to kill me or my family or destroy my church. And I have done that for my entire life. I have never had to worry that, in America, I will be killed or tortured for what I believe.
Now don’t get me wrong – the church in America has its share of censorship and I have devoted my life to fighting the threats against the church in America. But let’s take just a moment to think of Emmanuel’s story and be grateful for the religious freedom we enjoy in this country. We still have the right and the ability to worship and share our faith freely. And let’s also give thanks for those brave Americans who gave their lives to defend our ability to worship and share our faith freely.
Let Emmanuel’s story stand not just as an amazing page in church history, but let it stand as a witness to all Americans not to take religious freedom for granted. Let us exercise the religious freedom we do have and thank God that we live in a country where we don’t have to fear death or physical harm for holding and sharing our faith. God has blessed America with an amazing level of freedom and we must use that freedom to share our faith with an increasingly secular culture that has turned its back on God. Our society needs to hear the life-changing message of the Gospel from the Church in America. That’s why ADF started the Church Project and why we have devoted ourselves to keeping the doors open for the spread of the Gospel. Freedom was not free for the men and women who died in the fight for freedom and it is a luxury that many in the world do not have.
And let us pray for our brothers and sisters across the world who do not enjoy the same religious freedom. They, like Emmanuel and his wife, face dangers every day simply for believing in Christ and sharing His life-changing message with those around them.
http://blog.speakupmovement.org/church/religious-freedom/freedom-of-religion-dont-ever-take-it-for-granted/
PHOENIX (AP) – The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Thursday it has filed a federal age and religious discrimination lawsuit in Arizona against the Orkin Pest Control company.
The lawsuit accuses Orkin of discriminatory hiring practices in denying jobs to older workers and favoring Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints applicants.
The EEOC lawsuit arose out of a charge of discrimination filed by 51-year-old Thomas Kokezas, who claimed that Orkin’s agent asked his age, then cut a job interview short.
The lawsuit also alleges Orkin advertised for a recruiter “to assist in hiring LDS missionaries for seasonal employment.”
According to the EEOC, such advertising was illegal because it shows a preference for a particular religion.
Rollins Inc., the parent company of Orkin, issued a statement Thursday.
Company spokeswoman Martha Craft in Atlanta said Orkin values its 8,000 hardworking co-workers and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9FQQM180
