Americans United for Separation of Church and State & city of Ventura
• Wearisome Bedfellows
"We ought to nail them to the cross. They deserve it."
- Councilman Jim Monahan
Tom Kisken, Ventura County Star writes of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Led by a liberal minister who revels in debates with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, Americans United draws a line in the dirt in communities across the nation to keep what it considers religious bullies from shoving faith into government.Their legal team worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to force the removal of a Ten Commandments monument guarded by Chief Justice Roy Moore at the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery. They're fighting a school in St. Albans, W.Va., on the grounds it has ignored court orders to stop graduation prayers. They're alleging a state prison in Newton, Iowa, is indirectly supporting former presidential aide Chuck Colson's ministries.
And they've helped drive a drama that has incited death threats and enraged a sizable portion of Ventura. They represent three area residents and have worked for more than two years to force the city to relinquish a hilltop cross symbolizing the community's origins as a Catholic mission.
Comments
Posted by: Bill Hohn | June 13, 2004 8:33 PM