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Court Denies Church Public Funds
May 30, 2015 at 1:24 pm
In an e-mail from Americans United for Separation of Church and State:
Quote:Court Was Correct To Rule Against Lutheran Preschool, Church-State Watchdog Asserts
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today applauded a ruling that prohibits a church-owned preschool in Missouri from receiving a state grant to refurbish its playground.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Trinity Church of Columbia does not have a constitutional right to public funds. The church, which is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, operates a Christian preschool on its grounds. It filed suit after the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) rejected its application for a grant under a program that gives qualifying organizations tax money to purchase recycled tires for resurfacing playgrounds.
The DNR informed Trinity Church that the Missouri Constitution expressly forbids churches and other religious organizations from receiving any form of state aid. It also bans the state from providing assistance to religious schools. Trinity Church argued that these constitutional provisions amounted to discrimination on the basis of religion, but the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri rejected those arguments.
Today’s appeals court ruling upholds this earlier finding. Its decision notes that “[I]t is apparent that Trinity Church seeks an unprecedented ruling -- that a state constitution violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause if it bars the grant of public funds to a church.”
The wall of separation still has a few bricks in it. For now.
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."--Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Court Denies Church Public Funds
May 30, 2015 at 2:01 pm
Expect to hear the xtian fuckheads shrieking about "activist judges" in 5....4.....3.....2.....1........
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RE: Court Denies Church Public Funds
May 30, 2015 at 3:13 pm
(This post was last modified: May 30, 2015 at 3:13 pm by vorlon13.)
Hell, there was a religious war fought in the state of Missouri. S'pose that inconvenient rule might have been inspired by sectarian violence ?
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
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RE: Court Denies Church Public Funds
May 30, 2015 at 3:50 pm
I've been a member of AU. Excellent organization. They're pretty tireless which is a good thing because the assault on church-state separation is relentless.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein
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RE: Court Denies Church Public Funds
May 30, 2015 at 4:03 pm
Bravo Missouri! The church does not want to pay into the system, but expects the system to pay into them? Fuck 'em!
You make people miserable and there's nothing they can do about it, just like god.
-- Homer Simpson
God has no place within these walls, just as facts have no place within organized religion.
-- Superintendent Chalmers
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. There are some things we don't want to know. Important things.
-- Ned Flanders
Once something's been approved by the government, it's no longer immoral.
-- The Rev Lovejoy
