Jerry Fawell and the ACLU on the same side ?

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http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty...ID=10147&c=142
In Win for Rev. Falwell (and the ACLU), Judge Rules VA Must Allow Churches to Incorporate

April 17, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RICHMOND, VA--A federal judge has struck down a provision of the Virginia Constitution that bans religious organizations from incorporating, in a challenge filed by the Rev. Jerry Falwell and joined by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, the group announced today.

"The judge applied well established constitutional principles to reach the conclusion that Virginia's archaic ban on church incorporation cannot pass constitutional muster," said Rebecca Glenberg, Legal Director of the ACLU of Virginia.

The ACLU joined the lawsuit as a "friend of the court" last fall, challenging the ban on the grounds that it violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of free exercise of religion.

Judge Norman K. Moon agreed, and yesterday ordered the State Corporation Commission to grant Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church a corporate charter.

Virginia is the only state in the nation that bans incorporation by religious institutions (other than West Virginia, which was still part of Virginia at the time the provisions were adopted). Virginia churches are governed by trustees appointed by Circuit Court judges. Virginia does not prohibit incorporation by charitable non-profit organizations that are not religious in nature.

Virginia law also places restrictions on the amount of land a church may own. Falwell has challenged these provisions in court as well, and the ACLU hopes to be able to argue in court that Virginia's land restrictions are also unconstitutional.

"Virginia's 18th-century lawmakers had good intentions when they decided not to allow churches to incorporate," said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis. "At that time only the General Assembly had the power to grant corporate status, and the framers of the Constitution did not want a political body deciding which religious institutions would be allowed to incorporate and which ones would not. That would hardly be a good start for the still novel idea of religious freedom."

"But that was long before the modern concept of incorporation, which is an administrative rather than political process," added Willis. "The old law, placed in the modern context, discriminates against religious institutions by denying them the same opportunity to incorporate as other similar institutions."

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http://www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty...ID=15897&c=141
ollowing Threat of ACLU of Virginia Lawsuit, Officials to Agree Not to Ban Baptisms in Public Parks

June 3, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RICHMOND, VA -- Under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, Falmouth Waterside Park Manager Brian Robinson has agreed not to prohibit baptisms in Stafford County, the ACLU announced today.

Robinson also told the ACLU that the Fredericksburg-Stafford Park Authority, which controls access to the public park, expects to issue written policies making it clear that religious groups have the same right to use the park as all other groups.

“This kind of confusion over religious expression in public places is not uncommon,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis. “Government officials often seem not to understand that private religious expression is protected in public forums. Afraid of violating separation of church and state by permitting religious activities, they end up obstructing freedom of religion.”

The controversy over baptisms in the park surfaced on Sunday, May 23, when Robinson told Rev. Todd Pyle of the Cornerstone Baptist Church that religious activities were not allowed in the park. Pyle was in the park at the time and had just performed a series of baptisms in the Rappahannock River, which borders the park.

The ACLU of Virginia immediately informed Pyle that he had a constitutional right to conduct baptisms in the park and threatened to challenge in federal court the Park Authority’s ban on religious activities. The ACLU also discovered that the Park Authority does not have written rules governing use of the park.

Pyle decided not to contest the ban, but earlier this week Rev. John H. Reid of the New Generation Evangelical Episcopal Church announced plans to defy park officials by performing a baptism in the park this Sunday. The ACLU again acted, offering assistance to Reid and informing park officials that they must allow the baptisms to proceed.

“The rules are really very simple,” Willis said. “Government officials merely need to make sure that religious activities have the same rights as any other activities in a public park. If swimming is allowed, then baptisms must be allowed. If groups can gather for sports or cultural activities, then groups can gather for religious ceremonies.”

“The key to avoiding these kinds of problems is to have reasonable written rules regarding the use of the park and to apply those rules equally to all users, whether their activities are secular or religious,” he added. “We have offered to help park officials write those rules.”

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This thread was spurred on by another called why hate for ACLU .......

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. it would appear that the Christian Right , use the ACLU , but dont want to admit it .... If I didnt know any better I would think the ACLU wasa hired gun for the Right wing ....