Slidell Court Jesus painting
The entirely predictable outcome of the city of Slidell – just outside of New Orleans – hanging a painting of Jesus in the court. Even though they hastily added Confucius, Hammurabi and other “historical lawgivers” who appear on the walls at SCOTUS, they lost in court, of course, and had to pay the ACLU’s court costs.
The decision provided the ACLU with $1 in damages and allowed the organization to request reimbursement for the debt the ACLU incurred when it sued the court, Judge Jim Lamz, the city of Slidell and St. Tammany Parish in July 2007.
The ACLU had asked the judge to award more than $65,000 to cover its expenses, but the judge ruled that the ACLU asked for the attorneys working the case were unreasonable.
Lemelle lowered the amount to roughly $42,700.
Honestly, is this kind of nonsense worth it? You think people who end up in court aren’t praying already, even if they don’t know to whom they pray? Do you think unsaved people (having heard of and rejected Jesus their entire lives) are suddenly going to glance at a rather shoddy piece of art and suddenly convert? Sure, the Holy Spirit can do anything, even use a painting of Jesus. In fact, the Holy Spirit can save those people without the city of Slidell effectively donating $42,000 of taxpayer funds to the ACLU.
We really oughta repeal that stupid civil rights law that gives the ACLU the right to collect attorney’s fees. And I would like to know how the hell they proved 1 million dollars in “damages” in the first place. The appeals court in Texas will probably have a say about this.
And it’s the principle of the thing we’re fighting for. If we can’t even mention God in public — which is what the ACLU wants — then no, I doubt the Holy Spirit will be saving a whole lot of people in America. I’m really not sure I buy the nonsense about persecution growing the church. If it adheres to the truth, the church will grow regardless, and it will grow faster the more people hear its message.
No, not one million in damages, one dollar in damages.
As to the Holy Spirit not saving a lot of people in America if the ACLU gets its way, He’s doing okay in China and North Korea.
lol, i’m not sure how I managed to misread that by $999,999. The nominal $1 damage definitely seems more appropriate, although I still believe that the civil rights law should be repealled. One thing that keeps lawyers from running America completely is the fact that they are expensive. People refrain from suing over stupid insults because they will have to pay the court costs and legal costs themselves. When we start requiring defendants to pay legal fees, that is when the judges really begin to control our lives.
Regarding conversions, I still believe that the Holy Spirit works his magic best in free societies. That is one reason why we founded our country on liberty. As far as I know, there are not many Christians in North Korea (a totalitarian regime), and the rising number of Christians in China derives from the relaxation of restrictions against religion in recent decades. There may be significant numbers of courageous Christians in these restrictive societies, but there would probably be far more if the societies were free.
As far as I can tell, Christians are making little headway in Islamic theocracies like Iran. The truth shines best when it is allowed to be spoken. How can unbelievers be converted if no one can openly preach the gospel?
I can’t find numbers on North Korea, but I know from statistics and from having provided secure email to missionaries in China in the past that the church there is growing by leaps and bounds. Watchman Nee, the great leader of the Chinese church, once “preached” a sermon under the direct supervision of his Communist oppressors without saying a word.
He took a glass, threw it on the floor, and stomped on the pieces. He marched angrily over the shards. End result: instead of a whole glass taking up a limited amount of space, there were pieces of glass spread out over a wide area.
Certainly the early church grew in this fashion; that fish symbol on so many cars wasn’t originally created by a marketing team. I vehemently disagree with you that the relaxation of restrictions in China accounts for the growth of the church there. It is superficial and the church was growing massively decades before that occurred anyway. I know from people in-country what they’re going through, yet the underground seminaries have waiting lists. That said, religious persecution in China is like the weather. It does vary somewhat from place to place because the PSB includes converts as well, who just provide a pro forma suppression of the local church in order to keep up a good front, and other areas where they are too busy taking bribes and less interested in putting people in the laogai.
As to missionaries in predominantly Muslim countries; teams go out all the time, but it’s not like you can really publicize the results much. This was interesting, though –
I think it’s bravery that leads to the spread of Christianity, not martyrdom. For example, the Apostle Paul spread Christianity about as much as anyone. It wasn’t because God let him get killed off early; it was because God kept him alive.
Granted, our CIA did fail to predict the original Gulf War and did believe that there were WMDs in Iraq, but here’s the CIA’s take on the issue:
China
Religions:
Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
North Korea
Religions:
traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way)
note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom
Iran
Religions:
Muslim 98% (Shi’a 89%, Sunni 9%), other (includes Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha’i) 2%
Now, America is hardly a shining beacon of light, but I do think we’re significantly better than 2%!