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theocracy watch; or, galiel's canaries are choking already
Via Kip and Majickthise (see also Steve Gilliard, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and George McEvoy in the Palm Beach Post): there are currently several bills in the House and Senate that need to be beaten into quivering blobs of American Taliban mush. Let's take a look at them. Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 (S. 2323/H. R. 3799=S.2082) Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit the U.S. Supreme Court and the Federal district courts from exercising jurisdiction over any matter in which relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State, or local government or an officer or agent of such government by reason of that entity's, officer's, or agent's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.Safeguarding Our Religious Liberties Act (H.R.3190) Title: To safeguard our religious liberties. Summary: Declares that among those powers reserved to the States and their political subdivisions are the powers to display the Ten Commandments, to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and to recite the national motto on or within property owned or administered by them.Ten Commandments Defense Act of 2003 (H.R.2045) Title: To defend the Ten Commandments. Summary: Declares the following : (1) that the power to display the Ten Commandments on or within property owned or administered by the several States or their political subdivisions is among the powers reserved to the States respectively (under the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution); (2) that the expression of religious faith by individual persons on or within property owned or administered by the several States or their political subdivisions is among the rights secured (under the First Amendment) against laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of religion made or enforced by the Federal Government; and (3) that the expression of religious faith by individual persons on or within property owned or administered by the several States or their political subdivisions is among the liberties of which no State shall deprive any person without due process of law made in pursuance of powers reserved to the States respectively.Marriage Protection Act of 2004 (H.R.3313) Title: To amend title 28, United States Code, to limit Federal court jurisdiction over questions under the Defense of Marriage Act. Summary: Amends the Federal judicial code to deny Federal courts jurisdiction to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of: (1) the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act that provides that no State shall be required to give effect to any marriage between persons of the same sex under the laws of any other State; or (2) this Act. These are the six bills you can oppose at a stroke by using AU's one-stop emailer to contact your representatives. In addition, consider the following: Pledge Protection Act of 2004 (H.R. 2028) Amends the Federal judicial code to deny jurisdiction to any Federal court, and appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court, to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of the Pledge of Allegiance or its validity under the Constitution. Makes this limitation inapplicable to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia or the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.Oppose this via AU here. Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act (H.R. 235) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to state that churches and other houses of worship shall not lose such designation because of the content, preparation, or presentation of any homily, sermon, teaching, dialectic, or other presentation made during religious services or gatherings.Oppose this via AU here. Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2003 (S. 893) Amends the the Civil Rights Act of 1964 regarding religious observance in the workplace to declare that for an employer's accommodation of an employee's religious observance or practice to be considered reasonable, it must remove the conflict between employment requirements and the employee's religious observance or practice.Oppose this via AU here. More to come on this, but not in a hurry as I'm swamped with work. Comments Ain't they something? Yeesh. (The trackback seems to have worked now, but I didn't do anything. I have, of course, no idea what's going on with that.) Post a comment |
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Nice collection. Tried to trackback, but perhaps it's still not working. But it's here, if it matters.