Christians Fight Tolerance/Push Theocratic Agenda

This item in the paper today, "Christians Sue to Fight Tolerance"
Ruth Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to vocally condemn homosexuality..
She has filed a suit demanding that Georgia Institute of Technology revoke its tolerance policy which protect gays and lesbians from harrassment.
While Christo-fascists claim they are the ones being persecuted, it is they who are promoting intolerance!
Anytime their theocratic agenda is challenged, they cry that they are being persecuted!

A few items in the news:


Georgia OKs Bible Classes, Commandments
April 20, 2006 7:50 PM EDT

ATLANTA - Georgia became what is believed to be the first state to offer government-sanctioned elective classes on the Bible, with Gov. Sonny Perdue signing a bill into law Thursday.

The governor also signed a bill permitting the display of the Ten Commandments at courthouses, an issue that has raised thorny constitutional questions.

Critics say the measures blur the line between church and state. National civil rights groups said they want to see how the laws are implemented before deciding whether to challenge them in court.

The Bible is already incorporated into classes in Georgia and other states, and some local school districts have passed measures permitting classes devoted solely to the Bible. But education analysts say the law in Georgia is the first time a state government has endorsed such courses.

The new law allows elective classes on the Bible to be taught to high school students. Local school systems will decide whether to teach the courses.

The state Education Department has until February to craft curriculums. The law requires that the courses be taught "in an objective and nondevotional manner with no attempt made to indoctrinate students."

The state's new Ten Commandments law was prompted by controversy over the posting of the commandments at the Barrow County Courthouse. A federal judge ordered the display removed in July.

Backers of the law made clear they were trying to craft a statute that would survive any constitutional challenges.

In a split decision last June, the U.S. Supreme Court declared exhibits of the Ten Commandments constitutional if their main purpose was to honor the nation's legal, rather than religious, traditions, and if they didn't promote one religious sect over another.

Both bills passed the state Legislature by comfortable margins.


CLOSER TO HOME:

Hernando: Medlin favors display of Ten Commandments on county property
Posted by: will on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 - 01:01 AM
County Supervisor Jessie Medlin thinks it might do some good if the Ten Commandments were posted in the Courthouse and Administration building in Hernando.

He broached the subject at Monday’s board meeting.
“I think we ought to take a stand on it,” he said.
Putting the Ten Commandments, or any other religious words or symbols, on public property has been a lightning rod for controversy for years and has been challenged in federal court any number of times.
Supervisor Bill Russell asked board attorney Tony Nowak what he thought of the proposal.
“It is a highly litigious area,” said Nowak.
He did say that the Supreme Court ruled recently that the Ten Commandments placed on public property as part of a historical presentation was acceptable.
The Court ruled in June 2005 that a display on the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the Texas state Capitol in Austin was legal because it was “a passive historical monument and not a religious monument.”
The Commandments were on a six-foot monolith along with other material and was one of 17 historical monuments and 21 markers.
The Court ruled “the state had a valid secular purpose” in putting the marker on the Capitol’s grounds which did not promote religion.
Medlin said at Monday’s meeting that he realized placing the Ten Commandments on public property could prompt a legal challenge.
“You are going to have someone protest everything,” he said.
Medlin said Tuesday that he had been thinking about making such a proposal for some time and was feeling the board out to see how they felt about it.
“If I believe in something I take a stand,” he said.
Medlin said he feels that most of the people in the county would support him on the issue.
“A lot of people talk about things but then sit back and do nothing,” he said. “I’m tired of the majority not being able to run things.”
Medlin did not make a motion at Monday’s meeting to place the Commandments at the two sites but said he might in the future if he feels there is support on the board.

Rino Dolbi / DeSoto Times News Staff

The Theocrats are pushing “10 Commandments Day” on May 7, and the Council on Secular Humanism and the First Amendment Project are countering with 10 Amendments Day, check it out:
Ten Amendments Day