The California Legislature is considering a bill that would punish nonprofit youth organizations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Little League, Special Olympics, American Youth Soccer Organization, Future Business Leaders of America, and many religious organizations that serve youth, because these organizations “discriminate on the basis of gender identity, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or religious affiliations.”
A three-judge panel from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous ruling yesterday against a so-called “Winter Solstice” sign the Freedom From Religion Foundation recently tried to put alongside Christmas decorations in the city of Warren, Michigan. The sign read:
“At this season of THE WINTER SOLSTICE may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world, Religion is but Myth and superstition that hardens hearts And enslaves minds.”
The Seventh Circuit Court has ruled a school who rented a church facility for a graduation violated the Establishment Clause to the Constitution.
The school’s gymnasium was deemed too uncomfortable for hosting the graduation ceremony; as a result, the school sought a different venue. They settled on renting a church facility. A group sued the school for its decision. The school won every court case up until it was appealed to the entire Seventh Circuit Court. The Seventh Circuit ruled the church’s “pervasively religious” facility and conventional religious symbols constituted a violation on the part of the school.