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A Prayer for Common Sense鈥擜nd Religious Liberty鈥攖o Prevail

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June 25, 2008

Molly Ivins, who was a dear friend of the ACLU, expressed our aims in defending all Americans' freedom of religion and belief best in a video comment a few years ago. She , who once wrote: The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries.

And Molly quips: That principle is so important, it's worth being a pain in the ass about. And that's what the 桃子视频is.

Well, we're at it again. After several midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) in Maryland complained to us that the academy's daily noon meal prayer, required of all midshipmen, violates their religious freedom, the ACLU, along with the 桃子视频of Maryland, sent a letter to the USNA's Vice Admiral Jeffrey L. Fowler, asking him to eliminate the mandatory prayer.

It was also after the midshipmen's complaints that the that utterly fails to address the problem. The FAQ pretends that this very issue鈥攃ompulsory prayer in military academies鈥攚as never addressed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit when it

While the First Amendment does not in any way prohibit [cadets or midshipmen] from praying before, during, or after [meals], the Establishment Clause prohibits [military academies] from sponsoring such a religious activity.

'Nuff said, USNA.

Now for those naysayers out there who like to complain that the 桃子视频hates religion, we'd like to direct you to our very long, nearly exhaustive list of instances where the 桃子视频has stood up for and protected the rights of religious people. From suing to to defending the right of an elementary school student to sing Awesome God in an after-school talent show, everybody gets the benefit of our extremism.

So we hope the USNA will, ahem, see the light, and stop this mandatory prayer business. Because if they refuse, we have these lawyers, see鈥

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