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Christian Dancers Win Religious Liberty Suit Against Calif. City Officials

skinsfan51

By skinsfan51
in The Tailgate

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skinsfan51

skinsfan51

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Christian Dancers Win Religious Liberty Suit Against Calif. City Officials

(AgapePress)

The City of Chula Vista, California, will provide annual "First Amendment training" to police officers and all other employees as part of a lawsuit settlement. The suit was filed after the city prohibited a Christian dance performance in public.

The city will also pay damages and attorney's fees, to six young girls and their dance instructor who were prevented by a recreation supervisor from performing a dance routine at a holiday festival in December because of the Christian message on their tee shirts and their Christian-themed music.

The American Family Association Center for Law and Policy, which filed suit on the dancers' behalf, reached the out-of-court settlement with Chula Vista. Senior Trial Attorney Brian Fahling said the agreement was a good outcome that shows municipalities that there are constitutional rights to religious expression, even in public forums.

"Oftentimes," Fahling notes, public officials "act like it's going to be a violation of the establishment clause if they let Christians perform in a community function." But in fact, he says, "they are required under the Constitution to allow Christians to participate just like they would anybody else."

The consent decree in the case states that the city violated the dance group's rights under the establishment, free exercise, free speech, and equal protection clauses of the Constitution of the United States. Fahling notes that the City of Chula Vista was cooperative early on in correcting their mistake; however, he says the consent decree is important to make sure the terms of the settlement are carried out.

"In the absence of judicial supervision, it's very easy to kind of slip back into the old habits again," the AFA Law Center attorney observes. "So we wanted to ensure that that didn’t happen," he explains, "because administrations change, and people come and go. It was important from our perspective to ensure that we had something memorialized."

Violating the constitutional rights of the Christian dance troupe will cost the City of Chula Vista $31,000 in damages and attorney fees. The consent order entered in a San Diego federal court requires the payment and the annual First Amendment training for all city workers.

Fahling is pleased with the settlement, not only for his client's sake but because of the message it sends to government officials and to people of faith whose free expression is being threatened or censored in the public square. When Christians stand up for their constitutional rights, the pro-family lawyer notes, everyone benefits.

http://www.thechurchreport.com/news_article.php?nid=1593&ndate=02/11/2006

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Zguy28

Zguy28

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What exactly are the damages paying for?
I would imagine mostly attorney's fees. It might even include court costs and their own attorney. Or perhaps rented equipment fees that were lost when they were denied their performance? I'm speculating.
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CrabR

CrabR

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''pre-teen Christian dance troupe called Jesus Christ Dancers''

guess they were not Baptist

I have no problem with any group performing in public on public property as long as the government dose not sanction it or pay for it

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skinsfan51

skinsfan51

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''pre-teen Christian dance troupe called Jesus Christ Dancers''

guess they were not Baptist

You just love taking shots even when you don't have any, don't you, Crab? Your actions fit your name. But your bitterness towards God and the Bible will only destroy you in the end. Someone said that bitterness is defined as the poison one drinks in an attempt to get rid of his enemy. I agree.

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@DCGoldPants

@DCGoldPants

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If you were truly confident in what you're saying....over and over and over again. Then you wouldn't need to whine about it. You'd know in your heart that what you believe is true, and wouldn't feel the need to prove yourself to a bunch of Redskins (and other) fans that you don't even know. But, you're here all the time. Trying to prove that there is some conspiracy against Christians, and nobody else. I'm waiting for you to say that the United States need to recognize itself in a religious way officially....but only if its exactly what you believe in. If its not, then nevermind.

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skinsfan51

skinsfan51

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If you were truly confident in what you're saying....over and over and over again. Then you wouldn't need to whine about it. You'd know in your heart that what you believe is true, and wouldn't feel the need to prove yourself to a bunch of Redskins (and other) fans that you don't even know. But, you're here all the time. Trying to prove that there is some conspiracy against Christians, and nobody else. I'm waiting for you to say that the United States need to recognize itself in a religious way officially....but only if its exactly what you believe in. If its not, then nevermind.

No, I'm simply posting news. In this case, news relevant to Christians. I don't need to prove some conspiracy to Christians. It's a fact, and the news I post proves it. Although, I'm not sure I'd call it a conspiracy. It's more of a disdain, IMO. Why am I accused of being insecure because I post news items? Strange logic.

The United States was founded upon Christian principles and the Christian religion. That is a fact which cannot be disputed. Is it still that way? Only in name mostly. You'll never hear me support what the First Amendment was written to protect against: a national DENOMINATION (i.e. Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, etc.).

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@DCGoldPants

@DCGoldPants

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No, I'm simply posting news. In this case, news relevant to Christians. I don't need to prove some conspiracy to Christians. It's a fact, and the news I post proves it. Although, I'm not sure I'd call it a conspiracy. It's more of a disdain, IMO. Why am I accused of being insecure because I post news items? Strange logic.

The United States was founded upon Christian principles and the Christian religion. That is a fact which cannot be disputed. Is it still that way? Only in name mostly. You'll never hear me support what the First Amendment was written to protect against: a national DENOMINATION (i.e. Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran, etc.).

I still say you're trying to prove something, and your postings are MY proof of that.

Good luck either way, hopefully you have the confidence in this and Home Schooling to not search for approval from a football off-topic board.

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skinsfan51

skinsfan51

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I still say you're trying to prove something, and your postings are MY proof of that.

Good luck either way, hopefully you have the confidence in this and Home Schooling to not search for approval from a football off-topic board.

Truthfully, the only approval I seek is God's. I'm not saying that I don't want to be accepted in the sight of others like everyone does. But I honestly don't post these things to try and prove there is something brewing other than what is actually written in the articles. I live what I believe because it's what I believe is right and true.

If you go back and look at the last several that I've posted you'll see the the issue is interesting and relevant, as each of them has had a lot of replies and most of them aren't from me. Just posting the news sparks comment and discussion from other Redskin fans, and that is what the Tailgate is for.

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rincewind

rincewind

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If you were truly confident in what you're saying....over and over and over again. Then you wouldn't need to whine about it. You'd know in your heart that what you believe is true, and wouldn't feel the need to prove yourself to a bunch of Redskins (and other) fans that you don't even know. But, you're here all the time. Trying to prove that there is some conspiracy against Christians, and nobody else. I'm waiting for you to say that the United States need to recognize itself in a religious way officially....but only if its exactly what you believe in. If its not, then nevermind.

:nono:

:shhh:

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