Do You Really Think the Same Thing Is Not in the Process of Happening Here?
The following has application to Canada -- whether you think so or not, initially.
Judge rules Scouts 'religious' group, WorldNetDaily, Aug. 6, 2003
Long-standing lease of park considered 1st Amendment violation
The city of San Diego is contemplating an appeal of a federal court decision that sided with the ACLU and a lesbian couple seeking to nullify its long-standing lease of a public park to the Boy Scouts.
A U.S. District Court judge ruled last Thursday the Boy Scouts is a religious organization, and the agreement to use Balboa Park violates the First Amendment's ban on state-sponsored religion.
In a closed session last night, the city council was scheduled to discuss whether it would advise the city attorney to file an appeal.
Judge Napoleon Jones, Jr., said in his ruling the case was brought by a lesbian and agnostic couple, Lori and Lynn Barnes-Wallace, and their "Boy Scout-aged sons."
They were supported by the American Civil Liberties Union. Jones determined the Boy Scouts are a religious organization with a "religious purpose" because adult leaders and youth members are required
to believe in a "formal deity" and to swear duty to God.
Gary Kreep, executive director of the San Diego-based United States Justice Foundation, said he is unaware of any other rulings that regard the Boy Scouts as a religious organization.
While the group promotes belief in God, it represents no particular denomination, he argued.
"If you look at the makeup of the Boy Scouts, they're supported by the [Latter Day Saints], Protestant churches, Catholics – you name it, you got it," he said. "I don't think many of those people think the Boy Scouts are religious."
[. . . .]
The judge noted the June 2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, which ruled the youth organization had a constitutionally based right to discriminate on the basis of "sexual orientation." James Dale was an Eagle Scout whose adult membership in the Boy Scouts was revoked when the organization learned that he was an avowed homosexual and homosexual-rights activist.
Eagle Scout James Dale with parents in 1988 (Photo courtesy Dale family) Jones said in his ruling, "After Dale, it is clear that the Boy Scouts of America's strongly held private, discriminatory beliefs are at odds with values requiring tolerance and inclusion in the public realm, and lawsuits like this are the predictable fallout from the Boy Scouts' victory before the Supreme Court."
The local Desert Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts has used the northwest corner of Balboa Park, near the San Diego Zoo, since 1940. It has leased the land for $1 a year since 1957, and the city council approved a 25-year lease agreement at the end of 2001.
The judge noted the lease includes a non-discrimination clause prohibiting, among other things, discrimination based on religion and sexual orientation.
However, the city points out the non-discrimination clause applies only to the Boy Scouts regulation of access to the property by non-Scouting individuals and entities.
[. . . .]
The Boy Scouts engaged in exclusive negotiations on the Balboa land, the court said, as other groups did not have the opportunity to compete. Jordan Budd, legal director for the ACLU's San Diego office, said there are only two solutions, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Either the city council must cancel its lease or the Scouts must change its policy barring homosexuals and requiring belief in God.
My Commentary:
Christians are beset from all sides! Why do you think homosexuals are so adamant that they want their two-person relationships to be called marriage? The courts have ruled against churches more than once. If you have forgotten this example, check out the court decision on Vriend -- an openly-homosexual teacher whom an Alberta Roman Catholic School Board employed, fired because of his homosexual activity, then was required by the courts to reinstate.
Soon it will be a crime to express a Christian--at least a Roman Catholic--belief that practicing homosexuality is sinful, although being homosexual is not.
To prevent the Ralph Kleins of this Canadian world from actually using the notwithstanding clause to avoid allowing gay marriage in Alberta, our cater-to-every-minority EXCEPT PRACTICING CHRISTIANS federal government has appealed to the Supreme Court for a ruling on the wording of their latest attempt at social engineering, the issue of same-sex marriage. This is so that it will be impossible for Klein to use this clause so Alberta could opt out.
Note, the federal government did not appeal to the SCOC over Quebec's language laws -- but then, Quebec is always a special case in Canada. Too many PMs from the province of Quebec! Definitely, it is time for a change. Let's elect a conservative Christian--preferably from the West--for balance next time around. Know any?
