Related
Translate
Previous entry: Matt Hale sentencing scheduled for April 6
Next entry: Scientology tests’ purpose and validity are questioned
Advertisements *
Elsewhere
Get RNB via RSS
 |
RNB's RSS feed What is this? |
Get RNB via Email
 |
 Subscribe by Email What is this? |
Follow: Twitter
Most Popular
This Week:
- Guyana’s Jonestown suicide site gets plaque
- Scientology practices ‘putting people at risk’
- Recession: Muslim schools in UK under threat of closure
- Australian senator tells Parliament of widespread criminal conduct within the Church of Scientology
- When a child dies, faith is no defense
- World’s oldest ocean-going passenger ship, ministry ship Doulos, to stop sailing
- Israel Charges Extremist With Attempted Murder Of Messianic Family
- Scientology’s feet held to the fire in Australia: Struggle between a church and the state
- 1-year prison term for man who participated in cyber attack on Church of Scientology Web sites
- Australian police take up complaints about Scientology
Court to hear Wiccan’s appeal
More articles on this topic: WitchcraftWitch was denied the chance to pray before Chesterfield board
The federal appeals court in Richmond will hear arguments this morning on whether a witch should be allowed to give the opening prayer at Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors meetings.
Cynthia Simpson, a Wiccan priestess who calls herself a witch, was denied a place on the list of religious leaders invited to pray at board meetings because the invocations “are traditionally made to a divinity that is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition,” she was told in a letter from the county.
Wicca’s beliefs are not of a deity that is separate from humanity, but that human beings and everything in and on the earth are all part of what is divine.
When Simpson sued the county in U.S. District Court, Magistrate Judge Dennis W. Dohnal ruled in her favor. He said the county policy that invocations be in the Judeo-Christian tradition excluded Simpson “because of a stated government preference for a different set of religious beliefs.” That violates the Constitution, Dohnal said.
Chesterfield County appealed the case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
County Attorney Steven L. Micas will argue for Chesterfield. Rebecca K. Glenberg of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia represents Simpson. The hearing will be the second of three this morning starting at 9 a.m. at the University of Richmond Law School.
Yesterday, Micas defended the county’s position. “We have had this policy in place for 20 years. It’s remained through five boards of supervisors. The law supports the policy,” he said.
Kent Willis, executive director of the Virginia ACLU, disagrees. “Chesterfield County has asked the 4th Circuit to stand on its head 200 years of tradition and law protecting the rights of all religions to be treated equally,” he said.
What You Can Do From Here
|
Read More Articles On These Topics
Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article
Subscribe
Read Another Article
Previous entry: Matt Hale sentencing scheduled for April 6 Next entry: Scientology tests’ purpose and validity are questioned
RNB Homepage with latest headlinesFind Related Information
Find Related Books
|
Share This Article
To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:
