Tag Archives: First Amendment

Do Christians Regularly Violate the Separation of Church and State?

Posted on September 15, 2021 by David E Smith

Many Christians and non-Christians misunderstand the relationship between morality and religion. Many mistakenly believe that morality is the same thing as religion and, therefore, mistakenly believe that they should not advocate for policies that reflect their moral beliefs. But morals and religion are not the same, and basing our decisions on public policies, laws, or elections on beliefs that derive from religious convictions does not constitute an unconstitutional establishment of a state religion.

All laws reflect or embody someone’s morality. The moral beliefs of people who hold theistic worldviews are no less valid in the public square than the moral …

Posted in Faith, Religious Liberty | Tagged Barack Obama, D.A. Carson, Establishment Clause, First Amendment, Francis Beckwith, Free Exercise clause, Gregory Koukl, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Lynn R. Buzzard, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Perry, Richard Neuhaus, Rob Portman, Robert George, Samuel Silver, sharia, The Golden Rule, The Naked Public Square | Comments Off

Decay of CNN & NYT Irreversibly Damaging Journalism

Posted on February 26, 2021 by David E Smith

Media networks are powerful opinion setters. Still, for a reason, most people have deep distrust in newsmakers. Since their outset, press and radio were brought into play for political propaganda.

Posted in Media Watch | Tagged Anthony Scaramucci, Associated Press, Boris Muñoz, CNN, Des Moines Register, Don Alltoada, Donna Brazile, Eric Lichtblau, Fernando del Rincón, First Amendment, Frank LaRue, Gabby Giffords, Harold Lasswell, Hillary Clinton, Lex Haris, Liberty Sentinel, Marshall McLuhan, New York Times, Propaganda Technique in the World War, Roland Martin, Sarah Palin, Thomas Frank, Washington Post | Comments Off

Religious Liberty is not for Churches, says Biden’s Proposed HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra

Posted on February 15, 2021 by David E Smith

Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). But Becerra raises deep concerns among religious conservatives fighting to protect their First Amendment free speech and religious liberty rights. They are leary of Becerra because he defended the anti-free speech California law (AB 775), struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, that forced pro-life care centers to promote state-sponsored abortions.

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged California Family Council, Department of Health and Human Services, First Amendment, James Gallagher, Joe Biden, Jonathan Keller, Religious Liberty, U.S. Supreme Court, Xavier Becerra | Comments Off

In Times Of Crisis, Elected Officials Must Be Held to One Consistent Standard – The U.S. Constitution

Posted on June 13, 2020 by David E Smith

When those entrusted with power to protect the God given rights of the people do so selectively, arbitrarily picking and choosing which freedoms are worthy of protection and to what extent, then we are no longer a nation governed by the rule of law but by the whims of men.

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged Bill of Rights, Chris Cuomo, CNN, COVID–19, First Amendment, George Floyd, lockdown, Phil Murphy, Tucker Carlson | Comments Off

The Bill of Rights is Not Dead Yet

Posted on June 8, 2020 by David E Smith

Until recently, several states—including Minnesota—declared that it was unlawful to engage in the free exercise of religion in groups of ten or more. When churches dared pursue legal recourse to correct that issue, politicians, pundits and journalists offered criticism. As one of the attorneys on the receiving end of that criticism on more than one occasion, it left me perplexed. “What’s the big deal?” they might say, “Why can’t churches just worship online?!

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged Bill de Blasio, Bill of Rights, Cornovirus, COVID–19, First Amendment, freedom to worship, J.B. Pritzker, Jacob Frey, lock-down, Religious Liberty, Tim Walz | Comments Off

Religious Freedom Attacks During COVID-19 Epidemic Expose the Greatest Threat to America

Posted on May 30, 2020 by David E Smith

The most imminent danger to our republic is the overreach of government power, especially during a crisis. Our nation faces a fatal risk when government takes actions that violate our fundamental freedoms, leading us down the road of tyranny, to the erosion of our constitutional system.

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged Andy Beshear, Bible study, COVID–19, Essential Freedom, First Amendment, First Liberty, J.B. Pritzker, Jay Inslee, Joshua Freed, non-essential freedom, Religious Freedom | Comments Off

PODCAST: Christians, the Church, and the State

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Benjamin D. Smith

I’d like to offer a few words about the separation of church and state—a concept long abused by “progressives.” The religion clauses of the First Amendment were intended to protect religion from the intrusive power of the state, not the reverse. The Establishment Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.” That does not mean religious convictions are prohibited from informing political values and decisions. To expect…

Christians, the Church, and the State

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Benjamin D. Smith

Posted in Faith, Religious Liberty | Tagged Barack Obama, christian, Establishment Clause, First Amendment, Jason Collins, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Perry, Pete Buttigieg, Richard John Neuhaus, Rob Portman, Robert L. Toms | Comments Off

Letter Exposes Bigoted, Anti-Liberty and Anti-Life Attitudes of Leftists

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Benjamin D. Smith

How does opposition to human slaughter—including the slaughter of about 440,000 female humans annually—constitute "contempt and misogynistic views toward women"? And are the 36% of women who oppose abortion in "all or most cases" as revealed in a Pew Forum poll guilty of contempt for women and misogyny? Frank asked why "so many white Republican male legislators willfully rule that women carry a fetus to full term in cases of rape or incest." That's an easy-peasy question to answer...

Posted in Sanctity of Life | Tagged Abortion, Alabama, First Amendment, Human Life, JoAnn Lee Frank, Rape and incest, The Constitution | Comments Off

SCOTUS Allows Lower Court to Ban prayer from Public Square

Posted on July 3, 2018 by David E Smith

In case you thought that the potential to flip Justice Kennedy’s seat alone will bring us back to the constitutional promised land, think again. So long as the lower courts are not restrained, we will never return to the Constitution and the principles of the Declaration of Independence.

Posted in Faith, Federal, Religious Liberty | Tagged Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Daniel Horowitz, Establishment Clause, First Amendment, John Roberts, Prayer, SCOTUS, Town of Greece v. Galloway | Comments Off

The Way Back to Religious Liberty

Posted on January 27, 2018 by Benjamin D. Smith

In early January, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) overturned a longstanding policy that forbade churches from getting federal disaster relief money. The rule change by the Trump Administration affected any houses of worship that were damaged on or after August 23, just before...

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged David Barton, FEMA, First Amendment, G.K. Chesterton, Hugo Black., Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Maria, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Supreme Court, Thomas Jefferson | Comments Off

ACLU Backs Measure Restricting Religious Liberty

Posted on September 4, 2017 by David E Smith

The American Civil Liberties Union has found another way to demonstrate it is turning its back on the Constitution by insisting on the restriction of religious freedom.

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged ACLU, Bobby Scott, Chai Feldblum, Do No Harm Act, First Amendment, Joe Kennedy, Matt Barber, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Religious Liberty, RFRA | Comments Off

The ACLU’s Sterile View of the First Amendment

Posted on September 17, 2015 by David E Smith

Tie her tubes, or we’ll sue you for sex discrimination, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) told a Catholic-affiliated hospital in California.

So after first declining to do so, Mercy Medical Center in Redding has now slated a tubal ligation for a woman after her scheduled C-section to deliver a baby in late September.

The ACLU’s demand is cut from the same cloth as the Obama Administration’s order under Obamacare to the Little Sisters of the Poor to violate their beliefs and provide contraceptives and abortifacients or pay crushing fines. That case is still in litigation.

The latest manifestation of …

Posted in Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life | Tagged ACLU, Catholic, Elizabeth Gill, First Amendment, Hospitals, Little Sisters of the Poor, Mercy Medical Center, Rachel Miller, Sisters of Mercy | Comments Off

Freedom for Religion, Not From It

Posted on May 12, 2014 by David E Smith

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court once again affirmed that the so-called “wall of separation” that exists between church and state is not quite the edifice that liberals would like it to be.... The narrow vote along the usual 5-4 conservative/liberal lines is bound to incite many on the left to express fears about the court trying to turn the U.S. into a “Christian nation.”

Posted in Religious Liberty | Tagged Christian nation, church state separation, Engel v. Vitale, First Amendment, Town of Greece v. Galloway, U.S. Supreme Court | Comments Off

Dreams of an America with Only One Worldview

Posted on May 8, 2014 by David E Smith

It’s hard to think of a more dangerous threat to First Amendment freedoms than the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) scheme a few months ago to station government “researchers” in newsrooms.

It had all the makings of a 1984-style intimidation of journalists, and it was allegedly abandoned shortly after a public outcry.

I say “allegedly” because our betters never give up their quest to dictate to us what is allowable speech. They wait until they think we’re not paying attention, and try again. A couple of years ago, they floated, but abandoned, the old Fairness Doctrine, which throttled talk radio before …

Posted in Federal | Tagged Big Government, Edward J. Markey, FCC, First Amendment, Free Speech, S.2219 | Comments Off