Tag Archives: First Amendment

High court ruling favors prayer at council meeting

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MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press

council-prayerWASHINGTON (AP) — A narrowly divided Supreme Court upheld decidedly Christian prayers at the start of local council meetings on Monday, declaring them in line with long national traditions though the country has grown more religiously diverse.

The content of the prayers is not significant as long as they do not denigrate non-Christians or try to win converts, the court said in a 5-4 decision backed by its conservative majority.

Though the decision split the court along ideological lines, the Obama administration backed the winning side, the town of Greece, N.Y., outside of Rochester.

The outcome relied heavily on a 1983 decision in which the court upheld an opening prayer in the Nebraska Legislature and said prayer is part of the nation’s fabric, not a violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of religion.

Read more at WTOP 103.5 FM, Washington

Congress and the Justice Dept’s Dangerous Attempts to Define “Journalist” Threaten to Exclude Bloggers

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Lawmakers in Washington are again weighing in on who should and should not qualify as a journalist—and the outcome looks pretty grim for bloggers, freelancers, and other non-salaried journalists.

On July 12, the Justice Department released its new guidelines on investigations involving the news media in the wake of the fallout from the leak scandals involving the monitoring of AP and Fox News reporters. While the guidelines certainly provide much-needed protections for establishment journalists, as independent journalist Marcy Wheeler explained, the DOJ’s interpretation of who is a “member[] of the news media” is dramatically narrower than the definition provided in the Privacy Protection Act and effectively excludes bloggers and freelancers from protection. This limiting definition is causing alarm among bloggers like Glenn Reynolds on the right as well.

While the DOJ’s effort to limit the scope of who can be recognized as a journalist is problematic, it doesn’t have teeth. Guidelines are, well, guidelines. But the report is part of a broader legislative effort in Washington to simultaneously offer protection for the press while narrowing the scope of who is afforded it. Importantly, Congress introduced federal shield bills in May—both ironically named the “Free Flow of Information Act of 2013”—that arguably would exclude bloggers, freelancers, and other non-salaried journalists from protection because they are not included within the bills’ narrow definition of who qualifies as a journalist.

If these bills—support for which the White House reaffirmed in its DOJ report—pass without change, Congress effectively will create two tiers of journalists: the institutional press licensed by the government, and everyone else. That’s a pretty flimsy shield if what we are really trying to protect is the free flow of information.

Read more at the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Daughters of American Revolution responds to report by FOX

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Merry Ann T. Wright; President General DAR.

Merry Ann T. Wright; President General DAR.

FOX News reported on January 2nd that the patriotic Daughters of the American Revolution was essentially removing God from their material. A commenter to this blog responded, “The FOX News report wasn’t entirely accurate. Not all references have been removed–some references. I’m not happy with these changes but am not happy with the reporting on them either. I’ve heard some ugly things said about the DAR today.”

The changes to the Ritual and Missual were made in April of 2012 and that is when the questions rose. Apparently some members were upset over the new changes.

The FOX report claimed that they sought a statement from the office of the President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution and they did not respond. FOX repeated the claim in their updated report. It is not known whether or not Todd Starnes of FOX sought information from the official web sites of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The response from the Daughters of the American Revolution headquarters came the day the FOX report went viral.

In an email response, DAR Public Relations officer Bren Landon stated, “I personally received a voice message and email from FOX on the afternoon of Jan. 2 but I was flying back to DC after the holidays and was unable to access my messages. I do believe that they should have received my out of office voice mail and email messages alerting them that I was out of the office and unable to get back to them until I was back in the office. There has been no indication that, in my absence, FOX News tried to reach the President General or anyone else at the organization by calling the main DAR headquarters phone number or the President General’s Office.”

With the attack on Christianity in this country and the recent vote of the Democratic party to remove God from it’s material, it is not hard to presume yet another assault on Christianity without hearing the other side. [For example]

In an official press release of January 3rd, the NSDAR stated, “NSDAR is disappointed to learn that false and incorrect information has recently been circulated regarding the 2011 edition of the DAR Ritual and Missal and the use of the name Jesus Christ in prayers and other ceremonial events of the National Society. The purpose of this message is to clarify NSDAR’s position on the matter for anyone who has not previously viewed the blogs written by President General Merry Ann T. Wright.”

“First, the question was posed by a national media group that if the motto of DAR is God, Home and Country, then ‘…why is DAR taking out references to God…’ in its printed material,” the statement said. ” Nothing could be further from the truth.” The 113 page Ritual and Missual contains over 300 references to God.

President General Merry Ann T. Wright points out in an April 2012 entry on her blog, “Our DAR Motto was originally: ‘Home and Country’ and it wasn’t until 1978 that it was revised to be ‘God, Home and Country’.”

The official statement said, “Second, the allegation has been leveled that Chaplains and others have been told not to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Again, this is an absolute falsehood. Each Chaplain and other officers are strongly encouraged to create their own prayers into which they may insert the name of Jesus Christ as deemed appropriate for the occasion and the audience.”

President General Wright stated emphatically, “We have in no way mandated that one must or must not use the name of Jesus Christ in the prayers. In our DAR rituals, prayers are included. Most of the prayers begin with ‘Our Father’ or ‘Almighty God’ and end ‘in Your Holy Name.’ Christ’s prayer, known as The Lord’s Prayer, the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, Easter and Passover prayers and prayers for other religious observances are included.”

In a May 2012 update on the blog of the President General, Merry Wright commented, “Freedom of religion and expression are at the heart of the founding of our Nation and are ingrained in the hearts of all members as we strive to honor and remember our Patriots who secured our liberty with their blood, their fortunes and their lives. Nowhere is that more clear than in the First Amendment to our Constitution where the framers said: ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . .’ The Patriots who wrote that amendment started their meetings with a prayer, as did the Congress which incorporated NSDAR in 1896 and every session of the U.S. House and Senate since then.”

That very statement, of course, is the reason Christians question why they are excluded from government venues and schools.

She also added some comments from members of the Daughters of the American Revolution:

“Each person has a right to their religious preferences and that is just what our forefathers did when they signed the Constitution. . . that is why we honor these ancestors . . . because they fought for the right of religious freedoms.”

“I am so proud of your statement . . . . ‘Tradition is a guide and not a jailer’ -W. Somerset Maugham”

“I fully support your efforts to make the NSDAR Ritual inclusive and hope others will pray about there [sic] opposition to the new handbook.”

Some of the most recent comments on the FOX update:

I am a DAR member who is very upset about this! NAME the “few” that have changed the missal and Ritual book. Let’s put the heat on them to face the 170,000 members. They don’t speak for me. If the ones who are taking Christ out of DAR then the Christians need to leave…. how many do you think will still be there? Lee Reith, North Carolina Chapter.—Wilma Lee Hostetter Reith

Rewriting history, yet again! I’m seeing a double standard here ~ intolerance, but not from Christians!—Kathy Stuart Wilson

I don’t understand why people who don’t like an organizations beliefs feel they have to change it rather than create their own organization reflecting their own beliefs. On second thought, it seems to be an anti-christian strategy, infiltrate “Christian” organizations and change them from the inside. “Wolves in sheep’s clothing.” is how the Apostle Paul put it. The Boy Scouts of America is another example of the same thing happening.—Erica Gautreaux Babin

Some of these may not be from DAR members.

The NSDAR has provided copies of the Ritual and Missals from 1903 to today in PDF online.

Daughters of the American Revolution kicking God out of country

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(See full interview)

Todd Starnes of FOX radio is reporting the the oldest women’s patriotic organization is removing God from all of their literature and their prayers.

The Daughters of the American Revolution president general has apparently ordered the removal of God as a sign of religious freedom and tolerance. To be a member of the group you must be a direct descendant of someone involved in the American Revolution.

Todd Starnes writes:

“The dispute has been brewing for more than a year when DAR members learned that the newly revised Ritual and Missal books – the primary guide for chaplains – were altered. They noticed that the name of Jesus Christ had been omitted.

“The DAR president general [Merry Ann T. Wright] did not return calls seeking comment for this story.”

According to the report, a state chaplain notified members in a newsletter:

“The newly updated Missal and Ritual was written to reflect the desire to be considerate of other belief systems,” the statement read. “The Chaplain General uses scripture from both the Old and New Testaments and prays in the name of God without reference Christ. Chapter and district chaplains need to follow the example set by the National Society.”

The statement also reminded members to “appreciate the differences in members’ religious beliefs and to adapt our rituals and prayers to respect these differences.”

In the aftermath of the War for Independence, the First Amendment was added to the Bill of Right to prevent requiring people to worship God of the Holy Bible according to a State run religion such as the Anglican Church in England. One of the historic reasons colonist left England was to gain freedom to worship God according to their conscience. The First Amendment also was to give freedom of speech, but some outraged members spoke to Starnes anonymously for fear of being kicked out of the organization.

One member said:

“It’s horrible, I mean how dare they. They’re supposed to be doing it out of inclusion and to me it is exclusion. If they are saying well it’s because of religious freedom and tolerance then my question is if someone is so incensed over the name of Jesus and words like ‘white crosses’ that reference soldiers who died for America, is it not they who are intolerant?”

The DAR was founded in 1890 as a non-profit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization. Membership is open to any woman who can prove they are a lineal descendant of a patriot from the American Revolution. The organization has 170,000 members in 3,000 members.