In this thread about a Muslim civil rights case in a prison, a couple of posters have offered up a couple of snarky comments about the ACLU and implied that it is in some way anti-Christian or in some other way unsavory.
I’ve often heard conservatives bashing the ACLU, but I’ve never heard a clear explanation as to what is supposed to be so terrible about them. So enlighten me, righties. What do you have against an organization which fights for YOUR civil rights? Does anybody want to defend the meme that they’re anti-Christian?
I suspect that no one will be able to articulate any convincing argument for why the ACLU should be viewed in a negative light. Prove me wrong.
not really snarky but you have to expect that when something you value is challenged and taken away, and at times it seems as though you’re losing your complete right of freedom of religion, well, of course you’re going to question the group that tries to take your rights away.
I could give you many examples of where christians felt their religious rights were being violated, but it could fill a book. I kid you not. All you have to do is a simple google search to see what I’m referring to…
I don’t care how “many Christians feel.” I know that many of them have a perception that the ACLU is out to get them. What I’m trying to find is a single shred of evidence that their perceptions are justified.
sure a lot of of the perception is probably based on hysteria after a lawsuit challenging the freedom of practicing christianity is filed, and I’ll try to find exact examples that would have slayed the christian right into feeling this way.
Mt. Soledad Cross
The Seal of the City of Los Angeles
The Boy Scouts of America using military land for campouts
The Sea Scouts getting a cheap lease for slip for their boats.
Each of these situations shows the ACLU going after a religious organization or symbol. The ACLU has a point (that has been supported in court) that each of these is the government supporting a religious organization.
However - these actions certainly make the perception justified.
The Chuck Norris column at the World Nut Daily site offers only whines about the ACLU going after the misuse of state property for religious displays. If those same public buildings were used for Muslim or Wiccan displays, fundies like Chuck Norris would have embolisms.
As Roger Baldwin (a co-founder of the ACLU) said of the goals of the ACLU:
"I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately, for abolishing the state itself… I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the properties class, and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal. I don’t regret being part of the communist tactic. I knew what I was doing. I was not an innocent liberal. I wanted what the communists wanted, and I traveled the United Front road to get it.
So when you have a co-founder pushing communism, you automatically think christianity is threatened.
