Thursday, July 21, 2005

Hellewell Blasts ACLU And The Heathen Masses

Republican Senator Parley Hellewell from Utah is taking the kidd gloves off. He is calling upon the religious of Utah to get behind him and support a new bill he is planning on introducing to bypass the First Amendment rulings of the Supreme Court dating back to the 1960's that set up the separation of church and state and began the removal of religion from schools and government.
In 1962 in Engel v. Vitale, the Supreme Court sided with the New York ACLU and found "the nondenominational prayer a religious activity 'wholly inconsistent' with the First Amendment." It held that "the decision did not imply hostility to religion and that it specifically exempted from the decision references to God in government ceremonies." (In Defense of American Liberties - A History of the ACLU, Samuel Walker, p. 224, Southern Illinois University Press (2nd ed. 1999.)

The first of many rulings that the ACLU (the leader of the heathen masses in Sen. Hellewell's opinion) incurred upon the American religious. This was followed quickly by
Abington School District v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett in 1963, when the ACLU challenged the Bible reading law. The Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional and "reaffirmed its view that the government" should be "firmly committed to a position of neutrality." "The Court's decisions also encouraged more activity by the ACLU and its allies. (...) [I]n a subtle but important shift the ACLU's role increasingly became that of a watchdog fighting for implementation of civil liberties principles that were now a matter of law." (In Defense of American Liberties - A History of the ACLU, Samuel Walker, pp. 224, 226, Southern Illinois University Press (2nd ed. 1999.) "As a result, according to Richard and Susan Vigilante, they have effectively reduced 'the place of religion in American life' and have restricted religious speech 'in a way they would never allow other forms of speech to be restricted.'" (Trial and Error - The American Civil Liberties Union and its Impact on Your Family, George Grant, p.70, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc. (1st. ed. 1989)

To those add the recent rulings on the Ten Commandments in which Barrow County lost against the ACLU in its' attempt to hold on to the document that hung in a breezeway of the Courthouse complex. (Did I mention that the ACLU is being rewarded $150,000 for their efforts in that case?) And then you have the hypocritical rulings to teach Islam in the schools of California. No wonder Sen. Hellewell, " plans to introduce legislation to take back control for the majority he insists wants God in government meetings and public schools. "
Quoting from the book Original Intent, Hellewell argued that religion infused American life until the Supreme Court interpreted the First Amendment's establishment clause 40 years ago to block prayer in public schools. He held up a copy of his sister's tiny New Testament, passed out in school, and The Primer, a religiously-tinged schoolbook he said was the basis of American education for 200 years. He quoted the Founding Fathers speaking about God and religion. And Hellewell cited apocryphal stories of school administrators pulling the Bible off school library shelves, prohibiting the display of the word "Christmas" and blocking religious artwork.
"I don't think we're doing what the Founding Fathers of our country intended. The first 50 to 200 years of our country, we had a lot more religious freedom than we have now," Hellewell said. "The Supreme Court is doing what we call 'legislating from the bench.' There's one heck of a lot of prohibiting. There's a movement out there saying you can't practice your religion. We're living by the atheist religion."

Hellewel intends to write state legislation that would allow the Pledge of Allegiance, prayer at high school graduations and student blessings of their lunch, all of which are allowed under specific circumstances, but Hellewell wants more protection for such shows of devotion.

The response from the heathens was swift. "When the good legislators pass that law, they should also budget $100,000 for attorneys' fees", said civil rights attorney Brian Barnard. (Now we have an idea of the average cost of litigation when the ACLU gets involved).

Was Hellewel worried? Hellsfire no. His reply to that was, "I don't care if it starts a lawsuit," he said. "We have to defend our freedom".

Amen to that, Senator Hellewel.

Cross posted from Stop the ACLU