ACLU vying to stop Naval prayer

Will the ACLU *ever* get it right?






http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=164448




ACLU vying to stop Naval prayer




Jeff Johnson - OneNewsNow - 7/4/2008 6:00:00 AM




Do Americans want a military free of all religious influence?

That is the question being posed in response to a letter from the ACLU to 
the United States Naval Academy demanding that mid****pmen not be allowed
to 
pray before their noon meal.

For decades, lunch at the U.S. Naval Academy has been preceded by a brief,

voluntary prayer. But earlier this year, the American Civil Liberties
Union 
wrote the Academy demanding that the prayers cease. The ACLU claims the 
prayers violate the so-called "separation of church and state." But Joel 
Oster, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, says the real intent

of the letter is clear.

"The ACLU wants to rid the U.S. government from anything religious. And
this 
is just another example of them trying to get involved and trying to strip

America from its religious heritage and its religious practices, and it
must 
be stopped," Oster contends.

He says the ACLU and other anti-religious groups are seemingly even more 
aggressive in their opposition to all things godly than they have been in 
the past.

"I think they're ramping up their attacks. While in the past, maybe
they've 
said, 'We're not really going after all prayer, just overtly sectarian 
prayer,'" he points out. "Now, the gloves are off and it's clear they're 
going after any and all prayers," Oster explains.

Oster says that ADF tries to avoid the distinction between sectarian and 
non-sectarian prayers because government should not be in the business of 
scrutinizing the content of anyone's prayers. He argues that the military 
should be able to determine how to best prepare its men and women for 
combat, including acknowledging that there is a spiritual dimension to 
military service. ADF has offered to defend the Naval Academy free of
charge 
if the ACLU sues.





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