ACLU defends Separation of Church and State
AP News release:
ACLU Targets Arlington National Cemetary
Washington D.C.: According to a news release received from the Washington D.C. chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and endorsed by the several "Separation of Church and State" organizations, a lawsuit was filed Friday demanding that the cemetary prove that each individual person buried under a religious symbol chose this symbol in writing. The ACLU apparently has appropriated the language of the Terry Schiavo case to apply "living Wills" to after death symbology.
The case is brought in the name of Corporal James Danforth Totten, killed while fighting in Fallujah, Iraq, in October 2004. Totten left a will asking to be buried in Arlington Cemetary, but requesting that a symbol acknowledging his religion mark his grave. The Park Service at Arlington National Cemetary balked at placing a "Wizard's Hat" on the grave, arguing that it would violate the space and tranquility of the cemetary. They offered the Totten Estate a choice between a cross, star of David, and a crescent.
The ACLU suit is intended to see if this procedure has been used to prevent other wiccans, wizards, and nutjobs from getting the symbols that they most believed in incorporated into the cemetary to mark their "personal religious preference." For relief, the ACLU has asked that all religious markers be removed from the cemetary.
posted by Jrudkis @ 12:15 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
you know, I love the ACLU. They have a way of sending you guys into a near-coronary whenever they do anything.
Why shouldn't Wiccans be able to put their own religious symbols on their graves? What is wrong with that?
Again, you guys prove that these issues are not in any way about religious freedom. They are about the Christian community staking a claim on U.S. public institutions.
The Relief they are seeking is to eliminate all symbols, not add wiccans.
as I read the article, they are seeking to do so only because it is obvious that not all religious symbols are represented; equally for everybody or nobody, man. pretty simple.
You don't think it is reasonable for a national park/cemetary have some sort of standards for the presentation to the public? They didn't say he couldn't be buried there if he wasn't Christian, just that he couldn't have a wizard's hat. I can just imagine how many odes to Iron Maiden would be there if it was open to anything an 18 year old can think of.
you would essentially restrict the cemetary to only Christians, Jews and Muslims. What Hindu would agree to have their symbols on his/her grave? That's ridiculous.
Why not have an agreed-upon design for each faith that could potentially be represented? I think it would be a very powerful testament of how diverse our nation is, and how these diverse people are united under a common willingness to die for their country.
That's not unreasonable.
"Nutjob?"
Way to show respect to a member of the armed services who paid the ulitimate price for his country.
They should honor his request, irregardless of his religion.
Yeah, I was surprised by the language too. And I think the Wizards Hat could fit in well at Arlington if done tastefully.
I knew Jimmy Totten, and he was one of the most dedicated students of the Natural Arts I have ever known. He deserves that wizard's hat as well as our respect and gratitude for his sacrifice.
The stupid ACLU the(Anti-Christ's liberal Union) needs to be disbanned. All they do is make a bunch of rigor morole out of nothing. I agree, that a person should have a right to post any symbol they choose on thier grave stone, however, leave the dead lie. They really dont care anymore. Eliminating symbols would be a form of violation against freedom of speech. They need to look at the fact that not all religions were around 1000 years ago, also. I see nothing wrong with an ode to this "Iron Maiden" if that is what the individual wants; then by their god let them have it. Thier really is no use of the ACLU, they blow things way out of proportion, for the "common mans rights" when they don't even understand those rights,they use false doctrines like that the so-called "Separation of Church and state." That isn't even in our US Constitution. What we need to do is take all these nutjob left wingers, the ACLU the NAACP, and most of the democrats and send them to live in a country where they can learn what real freedom is. So they can understand, that FREEDOM is FREEDOM, but FREEDOM is not ANARCHY. EFTUAH.
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