Nov 26th, 2008
Posted by Vic Walczak, ACLU of Pennsylvania at 6:24pm	Free Speech, Religion & Belief

Just for Jesus

When people toss out the accusation that the ACLU is anti-religious or, specifically, anti-Christian, I react somewhere between being bemused and annoyed, depending on the day's stress level. Bemused because they'd flunk Constitutional Law 101; and annoyed because it's so not true. If it were, why do we regularly help Christians when the government intrudes on their activities? You can read more about some of these cases at /defendingreligion.

As the ACLU's Legal Director for Pennsylvania, I've been responsible for many cases helping religious believers exercise their constitutional rights. Last week the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit on behalf of the "Just for Jesus Challenge Homeless Outreach," a ministry of the First Apostles' Doctrine Church in Brookville, Pennsylvania, which was founded a few years ago to bring shelter and Jesus Christ to homeless people in this rural area, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The ministry aids pretty much anyone in need. When I last visited, the group included disabled military veterans, teenagers forced from their homes, senior citizens who couldn't afford their personal care homes, recently released low-level offenders, people referred by county mental health agencies, and people evicted from their homes and apartments.

Exterior of the Just for Jesus church.

This past summer Brookville shut down the ministry, falsely charging that the ministry had violated local zoning codes. Then on September 4, Brookville zoning officials and police officers, thinking they would catch people sleeping in the church, forced their way inside by climbing through a window, without a warrant or consent. The minister sought help from "Christian" public-interest groups, but was turned down. As so often happens in these situations, when rights are violated and no one else will help, the ACLU rides to the rescue.

Sort of like the Just for Jesus ministry, the ACLU helps pretty much anyone — why else do you think we do cases for the KKK, sex offenders, death row inmates and anyone who may not be popular with other Americans. Believe me, it's not because we necessarily agree with their messages or beliefs. As I tell my new student interns every semester, screening complaints is easy. The ACLU doesn't care what the person looks like, i.e., race, gender, ethnicity, disability, etc., how much money they have, for whom they vote, whom they love, or to whom they pray. The only thing that matters is whether the person's rights are being violated. There is no big sign in the office saying "Only ____ need apply."

Just for Jesus's clothes drive for the homeless in Pittsburgh.

The Pennsylvania ACLU handles — and always has handled — lots of religious-liberty cases. The cases that attract people's attention are the ones where we challenge government sponsorship of religion — freedom from government-promoted religion. We're well-known for the school prayer case in the 60's (Abington v. Schempp), the courthouse crèche case in the late 80's (Allegheny County v. ACLU), and the Dover Intelligent Design case in this decade (Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District). There's a whole lot more. People who understand the First Amendment's twin pillars of protection for religious liberty — freedom from government-promoted religion and freedom of religion to be free from governmental restraints — know that preventing government from sponsoring or promoting religion actually enhances religious liberty.

But we do an almost equal number of cases on behalf of religious people or groups fighting against government interference — the freedom of religion stuff. And we do a lot of cases for Christians, especially considering there are so many public-interest groups that do cases only for Christians (think of the ACLJ, Alliance Defense Fund, Christian Legal Society, Thomas More Law Center, etc.). While those groups favor only these cases, ACLU still represents Christians and everyone else, and we are always happy to help.

The case for the Just for Jesus homeless ministry is part of a steady flow of cases we handle for churches and Christians. In the past 18 months, we went to court to reopen a soup kitchen in a McKeesport Church and a shelter for mental-health court referrals and homeless at Cleft of the Rock Church in Munhall. We negotiated a variance to allow a predominantly African-American church to open in Turtle Creek. We helped the Warren County Amish with government utilities regulations, and helped non-denominational Christians get self-uniting marriage licenses that Allegheny County had restricted to Bahai's and Quakers. And we successfully defended a Pennsylvania branch of Pax Christi from a defamation suit over an important report they issued on lousy medical care at the Lackawanna County (Scranton) Prison. These freedom-of-religion cases are a regular part of our docket, but as with the most recent case, our one-sided attackers — for reasons only their conscience knows — ignore them.

Interior of the Just for Jesus church during the Sunday Prayer Service.

Within two days of filing suit for the "Just for Jesus Challenge Homeless Outreach," we got a court order allowing our Christian clients to resume operations. This was a particularly gratifying win. The Reverend Jack Wisor, the church's founder and bishop, is serving a huge and, unfortunately, growing need. Sitting in his small church two weeks ago, listening to him preach the gospel to the guests, hearing their mostly sad stories about how life had taken a nasty turn and how the church was helping them regain their bearing, I was impressed and inspired. Glad we could help. All part of the ACLU's rights-defending mission. Rights of everyone, that is. No exceptions.

To learn more about this case, go to http://www.aclupa.org/legal/legaldocket/justforjesuschallengehomel.

Permalink |	Free Speech, Religion & Belief

1. Liberal hater Says:
   Nov 27th, 2008 at 12:57am

   This is a complete lie. The ACLU has spent 0ver 70 years undermining one and only one religion--CHRISTIANITY.

   So what. You can provide a couple, and I mean only a couple of times that the ACLU supported a Christian organization. But there are hundreds if not thousand of times the ACLU has tried to wipe Christianity off the face of the Earth. I think if you put it on a scale we know which way it would come out.

   When public schools in California made children dress up like muslims, read from the Koran, discuss Islamic law while being taught and instructed by some Islamic teacher in the class rooms, well the ACLU had nothing to say about it. I sure as hell know for a fact that if it had been a preacher with a Bible reading Sunday School lessons to public school children that the ACLU would have sued them for every nickle they owned.

   That's called being dishonest and two-faced, not to mention cowardly!

2. PStryder Says:
   Nov 29th, 2008 at 12:25pm

   Posting under the name Liberal Hater makes it very unlikely that any one who doesn't already agree with you is going to listen to you.

   And you're wrong, besides. (Not to mention bigoted and intolerant.)

3. Robert Says:
   Nov 29th, 2008 at 12:37pm

   First let me say that this is a good article with good examples to back up its claims.

   As for this: "When public schools in California made children dress up like muslims, read from the Koran, discuss Islamic law while being taught and instructed by some Islamic teacher in the class rooms, well the ACLU had nothing to say about it. I sure as hell know for a fact that if it had been a preacher with a Bible reading Sunday School lessons to public school children that the ACLU would have sued them for every nickle they owned."

   The purpose of teaching about Islam in classrooms is to inform. It's perfectly acceptable to teach the facts about a religion in a public school setting, as long as they are not endorsing a certain religion as the truth there's nothing wrong. Freedom of Religion in our schools doesn't mean denying its existence. And who better to teach about Islam than, as you put it, "some Islamic teacher?"

4. Reality Lover Says:
   Nov 29th, 2008 at 12:52pm

   Liberal Hater:

   I just went to the actual WEBPAGE provided for you so graciously, and counted. The ACLU defended the rights of religious worshippers from government persecution 125 times, and "tried to wipe Christianity off the face of the Earth" a whopping 13 times. So it looks like you've got your numbers reversed, there.

   Next time you should try some fact-checking before robotically repeating what Bill O'Reilly has told you.

5. Otto Katz Says:
   Nov 29th, 2008 at 4:58pm

   Hey, Liberal Hater, got any citations to back up your stories? Didn't think so. The ACLU is there to defend everyone, regardless of their creed, or lack thereof. You obviously don't know a darn thing about them.

6. Michael D. Adams Says:
   Nov 29th, 2008 at 6:03pm

   Hey Hating Christian, why wait for the rapture? Get the hell off this planet now so the rest of us can get on with trying to save it from the destruction of your "dominion".
   Ever So Sincerely,
   Michael D. Adams
   Atlanta

7. A poster Says:
   Nov 29th, 2008 at 7:50pm

   I agree that conservative complaints about the ACLU on religious grounds are not well-founded.

   On the other hand, complaints about the ACLU's official stance on the Second Amendment -- which is to weaken it and clashes with the ACLU's normally-expansive views of Constitutional rights -- are quite legitimate. Anyone who would like to donate to the ACLU to promote, say, free-speech rights is also stuck in a position of providing support to an organization that wants to severely cut into the Second Amendment.

8. Sean S. Says:
   Nov 30th, 2008 at 12:53am

   Considering that Christianity is the majority religion in America, and that majorities are usually the ones whom overstep their boundaries in enforcing their world view, its no surprise that the ACLU has generally fought attempts to mix Christianity and the state together. As one Supreme Court justice said, though the persons name escapes me, majorities don't often need the protection of the courts. Minorities do in the face of majority tyranny.

   But it doesn't surprise me that someone would play the victim card; in an age of "Reverse discrimination", where marginalized groups are painted as a politically correct gestapo, its clear that nothing but acquiescence will satisfy the once reigning king's of American polity.

9. S.o.G. Says:
   Nov 30th, 2008 at 7:53am

   It's pretty clear from the article that you've only defended christian soup kitchens and churches for homeless people and so forth.

   That's like european style christianity, and has nothing to do with the fact that you are prejudiced against proper American christianity.

10. Pat Says:
    Nov 30th, 2008 at 11:23am

    Liberal Hater. I haven't heard anything about the situation you've discussed. Based on the track record of people like you, I doubt that it actually happened.

    You don't believe that the ACLU defends everyone? I'm guessing that you are a fan of Rush Limbaugh? The ACLU defended him against the government in his drug case.

    BTW, you should get over your hate. It's not healthy to hate.

11. SaulPaul Says:
    Nov 30th, 2008 at 1:22pm

    Corporate Churches. Well put, and yet, how could you"follow the money"? Who gets the money going to this church, or
    any church? Who is looking at the books?
    What churches get the government funding for charitable work, and who does not? Who does the accounting, what are
    the activities, who is being served, and
    what are the outcomes. Who is asking these questions? Can the ACLU?

12. SaulPaul Says:
    Nov 30th, 2008 at 1:49pm

    Moderator: I meant the article is well stated, and was not referring to the
    comments of the above Liberal Hater.

13. Jeff Says:
    Dec 1st, 2008 at 4:21pm

    We know what the ACLU is really trying to do in this country. Making a town in Ohio put a cover on their Cross, and stating that it should not be lit up because it's "too seen" is rediculous. This country was founded on Christian moral principles and values. It's Christmas for Christs Sake! You can fool some people some of the time but not all people all the time. If you don't like it you can go to someone elses country and try to change their culture and get the bleep out of ours!

14. kyle Says:
    Dec 1st, 2008 at 9:53pm

    I don't believe that the ACLU is doing exactly the right thing. Trying to get "In God we Trust" off of our currency. Now that is low. Our country was founded on Christian principles, and with God in that. I am very religious, so hearing that just because one GROUP wants to take "In God we Trust" off of our currency is heart breaking. Our Great country was founded on Christian principles, and we should be able to pray in School, and in the Pledge of Allegiance, say "UNDER GOD".

    I have a magnet on the back of my car that says "Keep Christ in Christmas" because that is way we need. Keeping Christ in Christmas is what we need in America. This is America, so there is no reason to take God out of anything.

    If it wasn't for the believe in God, America wouldn't be here today.

    I don't understand why people want to do this..

    IN GOD WE TRUST
    UNDER GOD
    KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS

15. D.C. LaRocca Says:
    Dec 2nd, 2008 at 8:23am

    Jeff, America is not a religious fundamentalist country. If you don't like it you can stay here anyway. Diversity strengthens.

    Peace.

    And please don't say "bleep." Naughty language isn't Christian.

16. Chuck Says:
    Dec 2nd, 2008 at 11:34am

    What is bothersone is that I agree with a lot of what ACLU does, but at the same time I am very put off by other things they do.

    I am grateful for their struggles regarding things like free speech, demanding answers to military deployment on US soil, and pushing to end government sponsored torture.

    I'm by no means a religious individual, nor does my family practice any organized religion. What I do admire is the moral conduct encouraged by the Ten Commandments in conjuntion with the Golden Rule. That's what I try to instill in my children : It's wrong to kill, steal, covet, etc and do onto others as you would have them do onto you. One of the things that gets under my skin about ACLU is how they attack Christmas every year.

    Sure, even though we are not religious, we still celebrate Christmas. The traditional American Christmas, short of those who attend church on that day, barely has anything to do with Christ. Really, the only indication Christ has anything to do with Christmas starts and ends with the name of the holiday.

    Santa, elves, reindeer, toys, family feasts, trees - the most celebrated elements of Christmas are PAGAN in origin! Yes, the largest commercialized world-wide holiday, while bearing Christ in name is more widely celebrated through pagan traditions. The next time you have issues with a person, business, or government using the term Christmas tree - it's pointless to insist they call it a Holiday tree. Really do you think there were evergreen trees present at the birth of Christ? Or was Santa really one of the 3 wise men?

    The obsession to sanitize Christmas of Christian ties is not only ignorant but also a waste of time because it's already been done - well before ACLU was formed. There are not as many Americans that acknowledge Christ as do Santa all during the Christmas season. So for the sake of showing some sensibility, ACLU could put to rest it's war against Christmas.

17. Drew Says:
    Dec 2nd, 2008 at 3:32pm

    "S.o.G. Says:
    November 30th, 2008 at 7:53 am

    It’s pretty clear from the article that you’ve only defended christian soup kitchens and churches for homeless people and so forth.

    That’s like european style christianity, and has nothing to do with the fact that you are prejudiced against proper American christianity."

    I hope this is sarcasm. What exactly is "proper American christianity"? I'm paraphrasing, but Rev. Jim Wallis said something like, "If Jesus were here today, his first priorities would not be war with Iraq and cutting the capital gains tax."

18. The Bill Of Rights Says:
    Dec 2nd, 2008 at 3:53pm

    That's good that the ACLU supports the first amendment. Now if they would equally support the second amendment, maybe I would consider donating money to them again.

19. Pam, a Christian ACLU Supporter Says:
    Dec 3rd, 2008 at 11:07am

    I had exactly the same reaction as Drew to the earlier comment about "proper American Christianity." Huh? Soup kitchens and homeless shelters are not proper American Christianity?

    This is exactly the sort of mission work my church is doing. We regularly make food distributions to underprivileged families in our area, and on a regular basis, we open our doors to provide "overflow" overnight housing for the local homeless shelter.

    By the way, we are a church of about 225 people in a small midwestern community, in case you were mistakenly assuming we were located in a metropolitan area or something.

    I am an active Christian and a strong supporter of the ACLU. I do not think the ACLU is "anti-Christian", they simply believe that religion and goverment should be separated so that our wonderful country can never become like some other countries, where religion is either not allowed by the government, or a single religion is the only one allowed by the government, or something like that.

    Our founding fathers wanted us to have religious freedom, and the ACLU is doing its best to protect that freedom. You may not agree with how they go about it, but that it what they are doing, and I for one, heartily approve. God bless them!

20. Dissilusioned Aussie Says:
    Dec 9th, 2008 at 3:42am

    @Pam, a Christian ACLU Supporter

    I Completely agree. You have sumed up pretty much how i feel on these matters.

    Its a shame that Australia & Sri Lanka (both countries whose citizenship i hold) do not have a real and viable version of ACLU.

    I was shock to find out recently on the news that as a Australian citizen i was not guaranteed the freedom of speech under commonwealth law (only the implied freedom of speech, whatever that means??!!)

    Americans should be grateful and proud that their founders saw fit to ensure their rights from the onset and that people today, like the ACLU are willing to fight to maintain them.

21. No Says:
    Dec 10th, 2008 at 7:43pm

    How can you support a group of people that allow child pornography? Or support pedophiles? Kids are more important than the junk they support.

22. Rosie Says:
    Dec 12th, 2008 at 11:01pm

    It's very enlightening reading the varying responses to this blog entry; I don't think there is any better way to learn about diversity than to speak up about what we believe in. As Mill said, "He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that." In other words, how can we learn to defend our beliefs if they are not challenged? I applaud those who disagree with this article and commend those that agree. This kind of discourse can only strengthen the diversity in our society.

    Personally, I find the ACLU to be an important organization which fights to protect the rights afforded to us in the Constitution. Liberal Hater, Jeff, S.o.G. and others - you should feel blessed to live in a country where you are not persecuted for your spiritual and/or religious beliefs...not everyone is so lucky. The ACLU does not wish to take Christ out of Christmas because it fights everyday for you to keep Christ there; however, it also fights to protect the other belief systems from government intrustion as well.

    Finally, our country was not founded on Christian values; in fact, our country was founded on the principle that people should be able to choose the religion they wish to practice and be free from government involvement. With that being said, I urge you to continue thinking deeply about your beliefs and challenge yourself to think outside the box. When you come across someone who disagrees with you -- talk about it! You will both learn something new!

23. Nancy Says:
    Jan 26th, 2009 at 9:34pm

    It's just sooo right wing to talk about "faith-based" agencies helping people, but to then step in and stop them if busy-ness stands to lose a buck!

    I've been agitated for years that with all the talking about free markets and competion, it justnever sems to reach into the most basic area: HOUSING

    Rents are always incredibly uniform, and obviously controlled by bigger organized busy-ness interests. NO competition here. Housing is very often left standing vacant, rotting away and being vandalized, rather than giving common people a break- the thought of not be able to force everyone to constantly be on the daily freeway grind or busting butt for forty hours or more a week seems anathema to the powers that be. I call them "motor-vapors" these days. They picture themselves as the movers and shakers, out to kick everyone's tail into gear. Except that any old scam or rip-off fits that bill, as long as there's a paycheck and tax return. And we're now in a crisis of efficiency and economy.

    By the way, don't call them "conservatives" because they are not- they always seem to be pushing the rowdy gas guzzling lifestyle, don't they? Fun Fun Fun while others suffer and are accused as being the problem, or not working hard enough. Why not take some of that "personal responsibility" they are always touting?
    They are more likely to be making the decisions- certainly not the rag tag people the police don't want to let sleep in this church.

    People who do get a roof over their heads haven't the time or money to keep a place up- this hurts everyone. We are now in a different era of home improvemnet- materials, tools and know-how are flourishing- but people need time and experience- I've been renovating a house- it's been exhausting, but all rather simple- and I've learned a lot. Busy-ness seems now to have a strategy to drive a lot of people into apartments, where they'll likely pay more than for a mortgage with equity and homeownership attached. (And still high utilities!)They won't learn any home improvement skills there, and don't have a stake in maintenance. Always movin on.

    This kind of story disgusts me- the people trying to end what's already a very sad situation have lost touch with survival issues themselves.

    To many media arguments spinning around in that head, and not enough reality. Why don't you turn off that arument for awhile and help out Habitat for Humanity or something?

24. Concerned Parent Says:
    Oct 9th, 2009 at 8:46pm

    It's a shame that the ACLU defended this organization without knowing the true facts. Did you know that instead of housing recently released "low-level offenders," Just for Jesus is currently housing three registered sex-offenders? And one of them is a sexually violent offender? And these are not local people from our rural area as you may have been led to believe. These people are being shipped in to our rural community, which is quickly gaining a reputation as a haven for sex offenders. As a mother of three young girls, I find it very unnerving that our children are being put in danger supposedly in the name of Christ.

25. izzy Says:
    Nov 27th, 2009 at 1:30pm

    Ok, I am an athiest. I think that In God We Trust on our money, Christ in Christmas, and Under God in the pledge of allegience is part of our nations proud history, are forefathers put that stuff there, I personally am here in iraq seeing the freedoms they have vs us and yes, i would still keep it and would prefer if that be left in. It is our history. Not only that as long as the kids know it is being said because of history and you dont have to believe in god to repeat or read something about god or other religions. It is kind of a good thing, so children may be interested in learning about other religions and cultures. Broadening their horizon. So please leave it in, stop tearing people apart and just leave it. There was so much less fuss about this before it got a rise out of religious difference. There is a difference between changing something because it NEEDs to be changed for the good of the country. And tearing the country apart because of a couple words. If it such a big issue to take them out, leave them in. Just stop it. No one wants to deal with this while dealing with other issues so much bigger. Thank you for your time.

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