Atheist Group Continues Saber-Rattling in Arkansas

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The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is at it again in Arkansas–this time threatening legal action over prayer at a public high school football game in Ashdown.

KTBS writes,

The “Freedom from Religion Foundation” of Madison, Wisconsin, wrote to Ashdown School District Superintendent Jason Sanders recently, with complaints about the high school band director leading students in prayer, as well as, school-sponsored prayer at the football games.

Sanders consulted the “Alliance for Defending Freedom” for advice on the situation.

He says they haven’t broken any laws.

“We feel like that the freedom of our students to express themselves will hold up in a court of law,” said Sanders.

This isn’t the first time atheist groups have tried to use the threat of legal action to intimidate public officials and others.

It’s worth noting that across the board, groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation tend to threaten lawsuits; oftentimes, if people stand their ground, no lawsuit is ever actually filed.

Photo Credit: “Gameday2” by Rmcclen at en.wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia by Ronhjones. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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Unlikely Pope Francis’ Meeting with Kim Davis was “By Chance”

Religious Freedom,

During Pope Francis’ recent visit to the U.S. the Pontiff sat down with Kim Davis–the Kentucky clerk jailed for declining to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple in violation of her deeply-held religious beliefs–and her husband.

Many are trying to downplay the significance of the Pope’s conversation with the Davises–and some have even gone so far as to call it a “chance” meeting, as if they just happened to bump into each other while strolling around the Vatican Embassy.

When he travels, the Pope’s security detail is one of the largest of any public figure on earth. As Family Research Council explains, running into Pope Francis at the embassy would be a little like bumping into President Obama by chance during a tour of the White House. It simply could not happen.

FRC writes,

Pouncing on the private nature of the meeting, everyone from Reuters to the Associated Press is casting doubt on the nature of the get-together, and whether — in fact — the Vatican actually invited the Davises to meet the Pontiff. Some reporters are now insisting it was a random encounter, which is laughable considering the amount of security involved in the Pope’s visit. In a place like the Vatican Embassy, there’s absolutely no way the two parties could have accidentally crossed paths. As Liberty Counsel explained, the Davises were actually transported to the meeting by van by the Vatican’s own men. Kim was even asked to wear her hair up so that she’d be less recognizable.

Ultimately, the Davises ended up in a private room, where “no one else [was] present.” When the Pope arrived, he stretched out his hands and encouraged Kim to “stay strong,” something that wouldn’t have made sense unless he was familiar with her case. Now, several days later, the Vatican’s communications shop seems intent on giving the media a story where there is none. Pressed by reporters, Spokesman Federico Lombardi appeared to backtrack on the significance of the meeting, suggesting that no one should construe the invitation as an endorsement of Kim.

Later on after this meeting, as he was leaving the U.S. to return to Europe, Pope Francis answered a reporter’s question regarding whether or not government officials could decline to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying of conscientious objection,

“It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. It is a human right.”

People may speculate about the nature of Pope Francis’ meeting with the Davises, but that statement to reporters seems pretty clear.

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Bruno from New York City, United States [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Pope: Conscientious Objection to Same-Sex Marriage “a Human Right”

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Before concluding his first visit to the United States, Pope Francis voiced support on Monday for people who decline to solemnize or otherwise facilitate same-sex marriages.

According to NBC News, Pope Francis was asked, “Do you … support those individuals, including government officials, who say they cannot in good conscience, their own personal conscience, abide by some laws or discharge their duties as government officials, for example when issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples?”

According to NBC, the pontiff responded, saying:

“I can say that conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a right. . . . Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right, a human right. Otherwise we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying, ‘this right that has merit, this one does not.’ . . . It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right. It is a human right.”

Given the Catholic Church’s longstanding history fighting for rights of conscience on issues ranging from military service to abortion, Pope Francis’ remarks really come as no surprise. Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock summed it up very well a few years ago, when he told a crowd gathered outside the Capitol Building, “Government must not require what conscience forbids or forbid what conscience requires.”

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Bruno from New York City, United States [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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