I've heard the ACLU spoken of negatively...why? What could be negative about American Civil Liberties?

Answer 1

because they do anything but protect them

Answer 2

Nothing is negative about American Civil Liberties. The ACLU is seen as a negative, more out of a perception that they pick and chose who they will champion and who they will not, based on a particular political agenda than on the objective Constitutional merits of a situation.
Have you ever heard of them going to bat to uphold the rights of any Christian, pro-life, or 2nd Amendment group or individual?
The concept of the ACLU is admirable, but how it is administered in practice is discriminatory, which is the exact opposite of their misson.
I am personnally conservative (small "C") by nature but should and do support the Constitutional rights of those who do not think like me. The ACLU should do the same.

Answer 3

Without even glancing at the answers you've already gotten, I can anticipate there are going to be people who say that the ACLU is anti-Christian or is pro-communist.

Neither of these are true statements.

There is this pervasive "either you're 100% with us, or you're the enemy" thinking that pervades modern conservatism, whether religious or political.

The ACLU has defended the rights to free religious expression of Christians over and over again against abrogation of that right by the government. Here are some examples (there are more, but this should suffice):


http://www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding...

http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/2...

http://www.riaclu.org/20060111.html...

http://www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/255...

http://www.aclu.org/religion/govtfunding...

http://www.aclu.org/religion/gen/19918pr...

http://www.kvbc.com/global/story.asp?s=3...

http://www.aclu-sc.org/news/releases/200...

http://www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/162...

http://www.aclu.org/religion/frb/16347pr...


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The "anti-Christian" thing comes form the fact that the ACLU has defended people of faiths other than Christianity against government encroachment on *their* religious liberties. Sometimes that has meant that government-funded displays of Christian symbols have had to be removed, and apparently, that's just not OK with some people; the people who seem to think that civil liberties only ought to be granted to *them*.

As for the communism angle, Baldwin, the founder of the ACLU had, at one time, embraced communism. But he became disenchanted with this political philosophy in it's application in the Soviet Union: after this he refused to allow any communists to serve on the ACLU. Baldwin became, in fact, bitterly and vitriolically anti-communist.

http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/baldwin.html


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Another thing that most anti-ACLU people won't mention is that the ACLU represents *citizens* against the government; suits are VERY rarely filed by the ACLU in any court unless a *citizen* complains about an abrogation of that citizen's civil liberties (as defined by the Constitution and Bill of Rights).

so, what does THAT mean? From the above cited cases, it means that a whole lot of Christians have asked the ACLU to defend their religious liberties, and that the ACLU has successful represented them and won their case. So I guess not ALL Christians think the ACLU is against them.

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When you hear people bad-mouth the ACLU, you need to simply consider the source. Most of those sources will be either utterly ignorant of how the ACLU works, who they have defended, how they get involved in suits, and so on, or else they are being deliberately misleading (a nice way to say that they are liars).

The ACLU has NEVER taken a citzen to court to prevent that citizen's free religious expression. Anyone who says that they have, had best come up with the facts about such a case. The ACLU exists to protect citizens from having their civil liberties abrogated by the government.

Answer 4

The negativity is either from people who have "heard people say things about the ACLU" or Government agencies who have been sued by someone represented by the ACLU.

Most of the people who talk smack about the ACLU don't know diddly squat about them and base their opinion on what someone told them. Kind of like most ignorant people do with most things they don't know anything about.

For those who speak negatively about the ACLU, lets have a little Habius Corpus, show us the proof. Not an opinion piece, case number, court decisions, some thing real.

Answer 5

ACLU has campaigned for example against having the words "Merry Christmas" appear anywhere on government property because that would violate the seperation of Church and State. Round about that time, they sort of fail the patently ridiculous test with some people and seem to be focusing more on pursuing a leftist agenda than any real freedom.

Answer 6

Many people find the ACLU to be a liberal organization. Some also consider there views to be controversial. It's all a matter of viewpoint and what you believe in. I would recommend the article regarding the ACLU at Wikipedia to learn more.

Answer 7

They protect the constitution. This is in conflict with the christian rights goal of making Christianity a state religion. They hate the ACLU because there efforts make it obvious that the christian right cares nothing for civil liberties.
What is even scarier is that Osama Bib laden wants to make a state religion too. They already have no freedom in the middle east.The Christian right wants the same exact thing, run in the same exact way, the only difference is they want it a christian theocracy not a Muslim one.

Answer 8

Want to give the ACLU a Christmas present?
Send them a Christmas Card! It is time to get out your CHRISTMAS cards list! As the ACLU are working so very hard to get rid of the CHRISTMAS part of this holiday, we should all send them a nice CHRISTIAN card to brighten up their dark, sad, little world. Make sure it says "Merry CHRISTMAS" on the inside only. Here's the address; just don't be rude or crude. (It's not the Christian way, you know!) ACLU 125 Broad Street 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 Two tons of CHRISTMAS cards would freeze their operations because they wouldn't know if any were regular mail containing contributions. So spend 39 cents and tell the ACLU to leave CHRISTMAS alone. Also tell them that there is no such thing as a "Holiday Tree". . . . It's a CHRISTMAS Tree! Pass this on to your e-mail buddies.

Answer 9

The ACLU is spoken of negatively because they stand in the way of the Christians turning our democracy into a theocracy.

I am treated as evil by Christians because Christians are not allowed to force me to follow their belief system or kill me outright.

Answer 10

The ACLU is spoken badly by people who are usually of the conservative bend and very religious in nature. The organization can be very militant in its agenda, extreme, and very liberal in its politics. So, if you read something uncharitable about it, check the writer's background and/or sources, if possible. Usually he/she will be coming from the political right.

Answer 11

The ACLU was founded in the 1920s by Roger Baldwin and Crystal Eastman, described as a "progressive" and "the perfect feminist." Earl Browder was general secretary of the Communist Party of the United States from 1930 through its dissolution in 1944. When the party was reconstituted as the Communist Political Association later that year, Browder was chosen as its president. Browder proudly proclaimed that the ACLU functioned as "a transmission belt" for the party. To deny the ACLU's founding was attached at the hip to communist organizations is to deny what can easily be proven as truth.
For the past few decades, the ACLU has been on a major crusade to destroy Christianity in America, promote filth under "freedom of speech and expression," and of course, vigorously defend the homosexual culture of death. On Jan. 10, 1963, Congressman Albert S. Herlong Jr., D-Fla., read a list of 45 communist goals into the Congressional Record. Here are a few:
Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions, by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all form of artistic expression. An American communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings," substituting shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.

Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.