A.C.L.U. is this a type of disease plagueing the United States and is it needed?

Question

Long standing traditions such as Christmas trees being removed from schools and government offices,one of many examples they have whined about,i could go on all day.

Answer 1

BarryC must have lived a sheltered life. We had Christmas trees in everyone of our classrooms, matter of fact, at the school I went to they still have a large tree out front and each year every class makes decorations. That said, the ACLU is just one of the cancers that is destroying the USA.

Answer 2

Christmas trees were never in any public schools I attended, and I graduated high school in the 1970s.

What long standing traditions are yo referring to, because it seems to me if they ever existed, they have been gone long enough to have been replaced by a new set of now-longstanding traditions.

I have never seen a Christmas tree in a public building either.

You might look to the logic of it if you believe we are a nation of laws.

Regardless of who instigated the relevant case laws, the reasoning is clear.

The 1st Amendment forbids the establishment of any state sponsored religion, and for 230 years, courts have interpreted that to mean, when given the chance, that public money spent on any religion at the expense of all or any others, is technically money spent on "establishment", and hence
wrong.

Well, not only wrong, but wrong in the sense of "unconstitutional".

Since it is not possible to represent and spend on all religions equally in the real world, the only recourse is to spend on none.

Luckily the same 1st Amendment says nothing about any individual or private organization's ability to create religious displays as they see fit, other then to forbid government regulation of it.

So, churches, individuals and anyone and everyone else with the sole exception of government agencies are allowed to have the displays you want to see.

That doesn't seem like much of a restriction to me, but if it does to you an/or others, the other good thing about the Constitution is that there are procedures, which have been used more then 2 dozen times successfully, to change it!

In fact, the first such successful time brought about the very minimal restrictions we are talking about, and they were made by the very Founding Fathers.

Nonetheless, if, as the oldest amendment, you can persuade people that the 1st is outdated and not needed anymore, for whatever reason, be it need for a Christmas tree in City Hall or anything else, well, go ahead and organize to get an Amendment passed to allow what you want.

Stop griping and start acting.

It is that simple, really :)

Edit: Boomrat below says his school still has a tree - then i tis certainly a private school if it is in the US, which I say is fine. But maybe anyone who can't distinguish the legal differences of private schools and public ones is the one leading a sheltered life, not me :)

Answer 3

The ACLU supports the Bill of Rights. Bizzare to hear anyone refer to the constitution as plagueing the USA.

Were they a plague when they defended Ollie North?

Answer 4

Read the ACLU vs the United States. It's a book. They started out as a Communist organization and I don't think they've changed much.

Answer 5

The ACLU defends the rights of all US citizens. It helps to keep government honest.

The ACLU is helping to dismantle long standing traditions such as discriminating against people based on sex, race and religion. They are taking down long standing traditions of government entities spending money to support specific religious observances (such as Christmas) while they refuse to pay for other religions (when was the last time you saw a winter solstice display?) This is ESTABLISHMENT and specifically prohibited by the first amendment.

Answer 6

The A.C.L.U. has been hitting us over the head here in Boston for the past 33 years intimidating politicians, lawyers, police, and judges.

In my opinion the A.C.L.U. is as bad as all the screaching liberals claimed Senator Joe McCarthy was in his committee on unAmerican activities.

We need another Senator Joe McCarthy today in the 21st century.

Answer 7

The ACLU took a case of Jerry Falwell's

Answer 8

Yes, do away with civil liberties, that does away with the ACLU.

Answer 9

what do you find objectionable about an organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of the Constitution of the United States? YES it is necessary

Answer 10

THe ACLU is the best thing to happen to democracy.