Hey gang,
Here's another example of how constitutionally protected liberties are under assault.
Texas Town Bans Prayer in Senior Center
By Stuart Shepard, correspondent
SUMMARY: You can't sing those songs and you can't pray
that prayer. That's what a town on the outskirts of Dallas
told people that frequent a senior center there.
On any given day, you might find 60 people gathering for
lunch at the senior center in Balch Springs, Texas. One of
them is Barney Clark, a retired member of the Dallas
County Sheriff's Department.
"I play in the senior band and see the enjoyment and the
people singing along with you," Clark said.
But Clark said the city attorney recently called and said
the band could no longer play gospel music. And the
seniors had to stop sharing in a daily devotion, something
they'd done for 20 years.
"We usually ask someone to stand up and say the blessing
over the food," he said. "They said we could not do that."
Clark said it all started when three seniors complained,
and the city decided that religious expression had no
place in a public building.
Now some of the seniors are fighting back. Kelly
Shackelford, who heads the Liberty Legal Institute, said
it is "completely false" that religious expression can be
banned from a public building.
"We don't lose our First Amendment rights and religious
freedoms," he said, "when we walk into a public building
or step onto a public park or public street or public
sidewalk."
Shackelford, the attorney representing some of the seniors
challenging the city's move, said he's ready to file a
suit in federal court on free-speech and
free-exercise-of-religion grounds.
"We're thankful that these seniors, a large number of
them, are standing up and saying, 'Hey look, I fought and
crawled on a beach for these freedoms, and I'm not going
to back down now.' "
Barney Clark said they're ready for a fight.
"We're just asking for equal rights," he said. "That's
all."
The city manager of Balch Springs did not respond to a
request for an interview.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: When it comes to religion, judges
and attorneys today are often making decisions that are
not only undemocratic and illegal -- they amount to
outright hostility and judicial tyranny. Focus on the
Family has created a Web page that deals with the issue,
called "Stop Judicial Tyranny."
http://www.family.org/cforum/judicial_tyranny