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Tuesday, 01 September 2009 |
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Court denies protection under RLUIPA and First
Amendment
Trying to establish a new church property in San Leandro,
California, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
battled high costs and community opposition.
The best solution was to use space in an industrially zoned
part of town. But because the city would lose tax revenue as a
result, it refused to rezone.
Because of these types of denials, in the 1990s, Congress
pushed for the RLUIPA law to protect churches’ First Amendment
rights to expand or build.
But a California federal
district court rejected the claim that the city violated the
church’s rights under RLUIPA, the First Amendent, due process
and equal protection.
In fact the court stated, “The fact that there may be no
other properties available to which the Church can expand its
operations in the specific way it wants does not mean that the
City’s zoning code imposes a substantial burden on the
Church.”
Pray that this blow to religious liberty be overturned,
RLUIPA will be strengthened and the church will be able to
build in San Leandro. |
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Tuesday, 01 September 2009 |
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God and country moving further apart?
New American solders used to receive free Bibles from the
Gideons.
But the ACLU threatened a lawsuit and the military
agreed—no more Bible distributions. |
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Saturday, 01 August 2009 |
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Anti-abortion activist on trial
Rev. Walter Hoye regularly stands outside of an Oakland
abortion clinic handing out literature and carrying a sign
that says “Jesus loves you and your baby. Let us help.” In May
of last year, the Oakland City Council passed an ordinance
designed to stop pro-life groups.
To silence the pastor, the Alameda County District Attorney
demanded that Rev. Hoye plead guilty to one misdemeanor count
and agree to stay away from a local abortion clinic in
exchange for dismissing three other false criminal charges
against him.
Rev. Hoye refused. The jury trial began Monday, January 5,
and is expected to wrap up within the next few days. Pray for
a positive outcome. |
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Saturday, 01 August 2009 |
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Religious freedom under fire
A few months ago, we wrote about the outrageous move by the
County of San Diego to shut down Guatay Christian Fellowship.
The county stopped the church’s services (click here to see our previous
article).
United States District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller issued a
preliminary injunction against the county for shutting down
the church. He wrote, “To effectively deprive a group of
individuals from practicing their religious beliefs at a site
in continuous use for over 20 years, presents extraordinary
circumstances.” The court then held that the public interest
“overwhelmingly favors” the church. |
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Saturday, 01 August 2009 |
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Free speech wins!
I’m glad to let you know the City of Los Angeles has agreed
to settle a lawsuit involving Jews for Jesus.
Back in 2006, Cyril Gordon was passing out Jews for Jesus
literature at an Israeli Independence Day event, as he had for
the previous 5 years. But this time the police stopped
him.
This settlement is a great First Amendment
victory. |
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Radical Religious Left 
