Liberty Letters, a blog written by NewsMax authors, demonstrates how it can be done:
[T]he ACLU lawsuit ... hopes to boot the Bible in favor of the Quran in North Carolina Courts - and this flying in the face of centuries old natural law arguments that understood that God, in general, regardless of one’s faith, is sufficient to envoke a spirit of reverence and accountabiity to any person taking an oath in court, whether Heathen or Christian. [emphasis added]
It’s plainly and unequivocally false that the ACLU is trying to “boot” the Bible “in favor” of the Quran — they, along with local Muslims, simply want the Quran to be a valid option alongside the Bible. Notice also the insistence that everyone should react with “a spirit of reverence and accountability” to the author’s notion of God, regardless of what they believe themselves. The arrogance of such a position is staggering — but not at all surprising.
The petition they link to is even more explicit in its distortions:
[T]his controversy is in truth a diversionary drama disguising a tactical step toward the ultimate goal of banishing the Bible from America’s courtrooms. ... Don’t let the ACLU boot the Bible! Stand up for America’s heritage and do what’s right. America is watching, and the people are on your side. Stay the course.
It’s ironic that the petition asserts that “The God of the Bible insists on honesty and integrity” when the people involved here seem to care little about either integrity or honesty. Then again, maybe they didn’t swear on a Bible to tell the truth before launching this effort to preserve Christianity as the only acceptable religion in North Carolina courts.
Isn’t it strange that this organization, so openly dedicated to removing religious symbols from our courts, so determined to enforce separation of church and state, would want more religious texts used in courtrooms? To me, this case is proof the ACLU doesn’t object to religion, just to Christianity; not to the honoring a supreme being, just the God of the Bible.
Actually, if anything it’s evidence that the author of this petition hasn’t taken the time to think very clearly or coherently about the issues involved. The ACLU isn’t seeking “more religion” in courts, just religious equality and neutrality in courts. If the government is going to give an official place to swearing on a religious text, then it’s inappropriate for the government to declare that only one religious text is acceptable — the government doesn’t have the authority to single out one religion or religious text for special treatment like that.
It’s absolutely true that the ACLLU doesn’t object to religion. What the ACLU correctly objects to is the government giving special privileges, favors, or endorsements to any one religion. The ACLU correctly objects to efforts to establish one religion as favored above all others. Unfortuantelly, precisely that is the agenda of many on the Christian Right which means that the ACLU commonly ends up fighting them in the courts.
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