[BES Friends] FW: Rally Around the Supreme Court Ten Commandments Cases

[peaceethics at comcast.net]

See below for details of a rally, 8:30am March 2 at the steps of the Supreme Court building, First St. between E. Capitol St. & Maryland Ave., NE in DC.
The American Ethical Union, the federation of ethical societies in the US, was signatory to the amicus brief mentioned in the article.
-------------- Forwarded Message: -------------- 
From: "Roy Speckhardt" <rspeckhardt at americanhumanist.org> 
To: "Friends" <roy at americanhumanist.org> 
Subject: Rally Around the Supreme Court Ten Commandments Cases 
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 14:16:37 +0000 

Rally Around the Supreme Court Ten Commandments Cases 

On March 2, 2005 the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on two Ten 
Commandment cases, Thomas Van Orden v. Rick Peary, et al. and McCreary 
County, Kentucky, et al. v. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, 
et al. The two cases challenge the constitutionality of Ten Commandments 
display on government property. 

Displays of the Ten Commandments on public property blatantly violate the 
First Amendment ban on government promotion of religion. It is not the duty 
of government to endorse a sectarian point of view. 

The American Humanist Association, as well as organizations participating in 
the rally, submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court. The AHA’s brief 
was signed by an array of sixteen religious and secular organizations and 
shows the perspective of those who are disenfranchised by 
government-endorsed displays of the Ten Commandments. 

As defenders of church-state separation, we call upon the Court to affirm 
church-state separation. A ruling that lowers the already vulnerable wall 
between religion and government would render religious minorities and the 
nonreligious to second-class citizenship. 

ACTION 

We urge you to join the AHA and its coalition partners of freethought and 
religious liberty groups in a rally on March 2, 2005 at the steps of the 
Supreme Court building at 8:30 AM the day the oral arguments will be heard. 

Please plan to attend the rally. Make your own poster or use one of ours. 
For more background on the Ten Commandments and these cases see the AHA’s 
Ten Commandment Resources page at http://www.americanhumanist.org/10c/ 

Our perspective must not be absent from the media firestorm that is bound to 
erupt that day. Regardless of which way the Court rules on these landmark 
cases, their decisions will have implications that are sure to reverberate 
nationwide. 

Rally to Support the Separation of Church and State! 


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