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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Mormons Beat ACLU, anti-Mormon Moonbats |
| 2005-10-04 |
| A federal appellate court has upheld a deal between city and church leaders that gave the Mormon church control over a downtown plaza. Judges on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said traditional public forums can be sold to private groups. The deal does "nothing to advance religion, but merely enables the LDS church to advance itself," according to the decision, which was issued Monday. The American Civil Liberties Union wanted the agreement overturned, arguing it was illegal to give the church police power in a public area. Church officials applauded the decision. "The church has always intended that the plaza be a place of peace, a quiet oasis in the midst of a bustling city where everyone can enjoy an atmosphere of serenity and reflection," church spokesman Bruce Olsen said. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bought the plaza for $8 million in 1999. Under the agreement, the city retained some public control but church leaders set speech and behavior guidelines and occasionally blocked public access on the property, a main gateway into downtown Salt Lake City. The ACLU sued and said that the church could not curtail free speech in a public area. The appellate court upheld that claim, and the city reached another deal in 2003 that traded guaranteed public access for $4.5 million in church-owned property. The ACLU sued again, saying that the city was violating constitutional guarantees that the government will not favor one religion over another. But the court said the city rightfully disengaged itself from a potential constitutional entanglement with the church over control of the plaza. The ACLU has not decided if it would appeal the court's latest ruling. Lee Siegel, one of its plaintiffs, was disappointed: "I hope they enjoy their lily white, golly gee, clean, fun plaza." They most likely will, compared to the alternative of a filthy black, decaying, filthy, crime-ridden plaza. How unfair of them. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #6 Mr John Browning, of Ogden, Utah, was a Mormon. I'm thinking they got the firearms thingy figured out pretty well, there, ya papist, lol. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-10-04 23:26 |
| #5 they be coming to us Catholics for fireaems, training against the ACLU :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-04 22:37 |
| #4 Yea,.com's right. This house I just bought and moved into last spring was purchased from an LDS member. Plenty of "pantry space".A fair dealing no BS kind of person who happened to work with my wife for 20 years before retirement. Not folks to suffer fools or bull shit. Most not all are "conservative" politically. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2005-10-04 21:51 |
| #3 "I hope they enjoy their lily white, golly gee, clean, fun plaza." Perfect: what the ACLU is really about. LDS was the last religious venue I was compelled to attend, until I left home at 16, but I harbor no ill will towards them. The Mormons, as a group, are solid decent people who promote the best aspects of Americanism: family, virtue, values, patriotism, loyalty, honor. They take care of their own and others in need. Pretty damned cool people - admirable people. I'm not really surprised that the ACLU is being ridden out of SLC on a rail - the LDS leadership is also a very intelligent and disciplined bunch. Of course had they also tarred and feathered the assholes, it would've been sweeter. This is one of the places where the Second Civil War will break out, I'd wager. And the LLL will find these people are truly formidable and prepared, every good Mormon home has at least one year's stores of food and water as well as the "means" to acquire more in the wild when society dissolves - it's a tenet of the faith. They are not soft lazy Big Blue city wimps. Fuck with them at your peril, nimrods. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-10-04 21:36 |
| #2 The ACLU sued and said that the church could not curtail free speech in a public area. That's absolutely correct. But since it's owned by the church, that makes it private, so that means they can decide what's acceptable there and what's not. ACLU delenda est. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-10-04 21:35 |
| #1 This is a state issue, not a federal issue. Good on the judge to uphold the lower court ruling. Goddamn ACLU needs destroyed. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-10-04 21:04 |