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AMERICA'S CHRISTIAN HERITAGE

Rehnquist's Dissent in Wallace v. Jaffree (1985) -- United States not founded on absolute church-state separation

Jaffree v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County (1983) -- discusses the 14th Amendment in relation to church and state

Justice Joseph Story on Church and State and the Federal Bill of Rights (1833)

Justice Joseph Story on Common Law Origins of the United States Constitution (1833)

Justice Joseph Story on the Rules of Constitutional Interpretation (1833)

Samuel Cooke, The True Principles of Civil Government (1770) -- evidence of the authenticity of America's Christian heritage

Samuel Langdon, Government Corrupted by Vice (1775) -- evidence of the authenticity of America's Christian heritage

Samuel Langdon, The Republic of the Israelites an Example to the American States (1788)

John Joachim Zubly, The Law of Liberty (1775) -- evidence of the authenticity of America's Christian heritage

Samuel West, [Natural Law: The True Principles of Government] (1776)

Samuel Stillman, The Duty of Magistrates (1779)

Ezra Stiles, The United States Elevated to Glory and Honor (1783) -- evidence of the authenticity of America's Christian heritage

Timothy Dwight, The True Means of Establishing Public Happiness (1795)

Elias Boudinot, The Age of Revelation (1801) -- evidence of the authenticity of America's Christian heritage

America's Christian Heritage: The Law of God as the Basis for Colonial Laws (Samuel Willard, The Character of a Good Ruler (1694))

America Was Founded on God's Law and Christianity: About Puritan Founders of America (Thomas Prince, The People of New England (1730))


ACKNOWLEDGING THE ALMIGHTY

Ten Commandments:

Van Orden v. Perry (U.S. 2005) (Rehnquist, C.J., joined by Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, JJ.)

Van Orden v. Perry (U.S. 2005) (Thomas, J., concurring)

Van Orden v. Perry (5th Cir. 2003)

McCreary County, Kentucky v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (U.S. 2005) (Scalia, J., dissenting)

Dissent from Denial of Rehearing En Banc in American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky v. McCreary County, Kentucky (6th Cir. 2004)

American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky v. McCreary County, Kentucky (6th Cir. 2003) (Ryan, J., dissenting)

Books v. Elkhart County, Indiana (7th Cir. 2005)

American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation, Inc. v. Ashbrook (6th Cir. 2004) (Batchelder, J., dissenting)

American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky v. Mercer County, Kentucky (6th Cir. 2005)

American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky v. Mercer County, Kentucky (E.D. Ky. 2002) 

Anderson v. Salt Lake City Corporation (10th Cir. 1973)

Adland v. Russ (E.D. Ky. 2000)

Adland v. Russ (6th Cir. 2002) (Batchelder, J., dissenting)

Reflections on the Ten Commandments (includes Justice Rehnquist's dissent in Stone v. Graham (1980))

Ten Commandments Issue Unresolved (includes Judge Coffey's dissenting opinion in Indiana Civil Liberties Union v. O'Bannon (7th Cir. 2001))

"In God We Trust":

Lambeth v. Board of Commissioners of Davidson County, North Carolina (4th Cir. May 13, 2005)

"Under God" in Pledge of Allegiance:

Myers v. Loudoun County Public Schools (4th Cir. 2005) -- upholds the constitutionality of a statute calling for voluntary recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance

Sherman v. Community Consolidated School District 21 of Wheeling Township (7th Cir. 1992) -- upholds the constitutionality of the phrase "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance

Excerpts from the District Court Decision: Sherman v. Community Consolidated School District 21 of Wheeling Township (N.D. Ill. 1991) -- upholds the constitutionality of public school recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in 1991

Smith v. Denny (E.D. Ca. 1968) -- United States District Court within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance recited in public schools

Newdow v. Rio Linda Union School District (9th Cir. 2010) (excerpts) -- upholds the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance which contains the words "one Nation under God"


CHRISTIAN DISPLAYS AND HOLIDAYS

Nativity Scenes:

Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) -- United States Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of nativity scene

American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey Ex Rel. Lander v. Schundler (3rd Cir. 1999) -- Circuit Judge Samuel Alito (writing for the majority) upholds the constitutionality of a nativity scene

The Secularization of Christmas:

Florey v. Sioux Falls School District 49-5 (8th Cir. 1980)

Clever v. Cherry Hill Township Board of Education (D. N.J. 1993)

Sechler v. State College Area School District (M.D. Pa. 2000)

Walz v. Egg Harbor Township Board of Education (3rd Cir. 2003)


PUBLIC PRAYERS

Marsh v. Chambers (1983) -- United States Supreme Court upholds opening state legislative sessions with prayer


CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW V. SECULAR WORLDVIEW

Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County (1987) -- United States District Court for Southern District of Alabama discusses definition and characteristics of secular humanism and concludes that secular humanism is a religion and the establishment of secular humanism runs contrary to First Amendment Establishment Clause

Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) (Scalia, J., dissenting) -- discusses equal time for teaching creation science in public schools

Tangipahoa Parish Board of Education v. Freiler (2000) (Scalia, J., dissenting) -- discusses public school disclaimer of the endorsement of evolution


FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND RELIGION PLUS SPEECH

Equal Access to Christian Content/Viewpoint:

Grace Bible Fellowship, Inc. v. Maine School Administrative District #5 (1991) -- United States Court of Appeals (First Circuit) rules that public high school cannot exclude Christian group from using school cafeteria for the purpose of giving a Christmas community dinner on a weekend evening, at which pastor speaks about the true meaning of Christmas.  

Rosenberger v. Rector and Visitors of University of Virginia (1995) -- United States Supreme Court rules that state university student activities fund cannot discriminate against supporting a student publication expressing Christian viewpoint when other viewpoints are supported.

Church on the Rock v. City of Albuquerque (1996) -- (U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit) Viewpoint discrimination against the Christian viewpoint is constitutionally prohibited; forum analysis as applied to showing Christian film on Jesus in city-owned centers for senior citizens.

C.H. Ex Rel. Z.H. v. Oliva (3rd Cir. 2000) (Alito, J., dissenting) -- Circuit Judge Samuel Alito opines in a dissenting opinion that not allowing a child's Thanksgiving poster expressing thanks for Jesus to be displayed on a school wall with other Thanksgiving posters would constitute unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

Amandola v. Town of Babylon (2001) -- United States Court of Appeals (Second Circuit) rules that excluding Christian church services from town facility when other religious activities are permitted in that facility is unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001) -- United States Supreme Court rules that public school cannot exclude Bible club from meeting after hours at the school's limited public forum, because such exclusion is unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

 Justice Scalia's Concurring Opinion in Good News Club v. Milford Central School

Culbertson v. Oakridge School District No. 76 (2001) -- United States Court of Appeals (Ninth Circuit) rules that school district must give equal access to Good News Club to use school facilities; the school's exclusion of Good News Club constitutes viewpoint discrimination.

Related Free Speech Issues -- Forum Analysis and Viewpoint Discrimination:

Kincaid v. Gibson (2001) -- U.S. Court of Appeals (Sixth Circuit) holds that university violated students' first amendment rights when it banned distribution of college yearbook having a purple cover instead of the school colors green and gold.


ARTICLES/COMMENTARY

Stand Up For Christian Freedom: Keep B.C. and A.D.

Ten Commandments Issue Unresolved (includes Judge Coffey's dissenting opinion in Indiana Civil Liberties Union v. O'Bannon (7th Cir. 2001))

Signs of Good Cheer (about Christian signs and Christmas displays)

Good Cheer Signs for All Times (about "under God", "In God We Trust", and similar phrases)

Commandments, Wants, and Wishes

Reflections on the Ten Commandments (includes Justice Rehnquist's dissent in Stone v. Graham (1980))

Prayer or Patriotism (about "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance)

Pretexts and Commandments (about the Ten Commandments)

Don't Hide God in a Closet: Religious Secularism and Public Acknowledgment of God in the 21st Century

True Heroism and the Rule of Law

The Secularization of Christmas

Programming the Judicial Machines

Programming the Judicial Machines -- Part 2: The Cloak of Science

Acknowledging the Almighty

Jesus Is the Reason for the Season:  Excerpts from Calvary Chapel Church v. Broward County, Florida (2003)

The Reconstruction of Public Values

Moral Law in the Form of Equity

Christians Make the Best Judges

The Lemon Test Adversely Affects Religious Freedom

True Transnationalism:  Getting Right Back to Where America Started From

God Demands Impartiality in Judging

Conscience and the Law of Life


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