"On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case during its next term ( Town of Greece, NY v. Galloway ) about whether a town that opened its public meetings with Christian prayer violated the Constitution. ( Read more below )
Minister Matt Speck hopes to raise funds to continue Pittsylvania prayer battle
http://www.newsadvance.com/go_dan_river/news/pittsylvania_county/article_de8eb4c8-a87e-11e2-b417-001a4bcf6878.html
“It’s to encourage the board to continue this fight, to give them every opportunity to fight this as far as they need to go. That would include the Supreme Court, if necessary.” - Matt Speck
Update from Matt Speck:
Update from Matt Speck:
First, let me thank the Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors for their stand against the opposition of praying in Jesus name at their regularly scheduled meeting. I wanted to let you know that a group of concerned citizens are still working on establishing a 501 c 3, non-profit organization to raise money as a defense fund for use in this situation. I do wish this was a faster process than what it has been. Currently we are waiting for the IRS to grant us an ‘Employers Identification Number’ to be able to proceed in the process. A website is currently under construction to be able to update other concern citizens and to receive donations for this fund.
I have received many calls, letters and e-mails concerning this issue. I have an article below that was sent to me by one of my personal “Prayer Warriors”. We must be praying for these situations also. My prayer is that the Supreme Court will rule in a way that will overturn the Federal Courts decision against us.
Please do not hesitate to call me with any questions.
Still praying in Jesus Name,
Matt Speck
Pastor Matt
Piney Grove Baptist Church
2261 Piney Grove Rd.
Gretna, VA. 24557
Religious Liberty: Supreme Court to hear public prayer case
May 20, 2013
For over a decade, the town of Greece, N.Y., has opened its public meetings with prayer, almost always from Christian clergy. The town has said leaders from any faith may offer prayer at the meetings, but until recently leaders from other faiths had not participated. Most houses of faith within the town borders are Christian churches. Two non-Christian women sued, saying the prayers violated the Constitution's Establishment Clause.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the women, ruling the prayers unconstitutional and saying that the town should have sought more religious diversity in those who offered the opening prayers. ( Read the ruling.) That decision potentially conflicts with a previous Supreme Court ruling, which may be why the court decided to hear the case.
In 1983, the Supreme Court said that prayer at public meetings was constitutional, in general.
Since then, courts in different parts of the country have ruled on specific guidelines for what prayers are constitutional—some states are allowed to use the word “God” in prayers before public meetings, but not the word “Jesus.” The high court may try to resolve some of the conflicting guidelines across the country.
The case is Town of Greece v. Galloway.
--
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." - Thomas Jefferson Virginia Tea Party Patriots www.virginiateapartypatriots.com Danville Patriots http://danvillepatriots.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqTlje8RxQ"
No comments:
Post a Comment