alt.education

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:05:11 -0500, buckeye wrote:

> I've always been fascinated by the full-throated hostility many social
> conservatives, and conservative Christians in particular, bear toward
> the ACLU. Yes, the ACLU supports separation of church and state. But
> it also defends religious groups on free speech and religious liberty
> grounds.

Thank you for this list; it helps balance the picture slightly. I suppose
we should realize that there is no monolithic "ACLU" just as there is no
definitive "Christian". The ACLU is lawyers, each with personal motives,
and as you go from state to state you will find significant variety in
what that state's ACLU considers important. Sometimes it is absurd,
sometimes focused *against* one religion by supporting its opposition, as
in the case of Utah.

Rarely do I consider the ACLU interested in liberty per se and they are
inherently undemocratic -- a philosophy curiously shared by the Democratic
party (typical doublespeak, call yourself the thing you are not). I can
recognize the value of some of the things the ACLU does, even at the same
time recognizing that to do this they are the tail that wags the dog,
flying in the face of nearly universal opposition (I don't know ANYONE
that cares to remove "Ten Commandments" monuments from city parks save
only the lawyer for the ACLU in Utah, it has become his personal crusade).
Are there not more important battles? However, I have learned that the
ACLU gets *paid* public money to fight against religion under a somewhat
abused civil rights litigation cost recovery procedure.