"A court in Arizona ruled on Tuesday that a noise ordinance banning churches in Phoenix from ringing their bells is unconstitutional. One pastor was sentenced to jail last year for violating the ordinance, which allowed an exception for ice cream trucks but not for churches.
St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish, First Christian Church, and Christ the King Liturgical Charismatic Church all challenged the ordinance in a lawsuit filed by attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) in 2009.
Christ the King Church joined the lawsuit after its pastor, Bishop Rick Painter, was sentenced for ringing his church’s bells, despite making compromises to appease the few local residents who filed complaints. He was given a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and three years of probation on June 3, 2009.
ADF reported on Tuesday that a federal judge ruled the city of Phoenix could not enforce its noise ordinance to prohibit “sound generated in the course of religious expression.”
“Churches shouldn’t be targeted and punished for ringing their bells as a public expression of faith that’s been done for centuries,” said Erik Stanley, ADF Senior Legal Counsel in response to the court decision.
“The federal court has made the right decision by declaring that the city’s noise ordinance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”
EWTN News
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
1st Amendment-U.S. Constitution
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
14th Amendment Section 1-U.S. Constitution
There are some things that just don't require a law degree from Harvard to figure out. Bell ringing at a church is clearly part of religious practice and thus cannot be prohibited by the government. The wall of separation that Jefferson wrote about in his letter to the Danbury Baptists also is clearly pertinent here because that wall is intended to keep government out of the affairs of churches.
There is a reason that something as seemingly clear and simple as the bell issue cannot be seen by some in our country, including legal scholars. The reason is that the clear intent of the founders, to allow for free expression of political thought and religious worship has been polluted by filth like the story below.
How can we have an 8-1 majority opinion, including from the likes of Scalia and Thomas, in favor of this level of perversion and hiding it under the cover of freedom of speech? If the men that wrote the Bill of Rights were alive today they would hang the freaks with the "fetishes" and then figure out a way to reestablish the original intent of their words.
America is wallowing in a cesspool of Satanic degradation. When even respected jurists refuse to call deviancy what it is but instead see fit to raise it to the level of protected speech we are nearing a judgement from above. And we deserve it.
"The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that even videos that depict wanton animal cruelty deserve free-speech protections under the First Amendment.
In an 8-1 decision that united the court's liberal and conservative wings, the justices struck down a law that was enacted in response to so-called crush videos, supposedly designed to satisfy bizarre sexual cravings. The court said the law, however well-intentioned, went too far.
"Maybe there are some categories of speech that have been historically unprotected," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, "but if so, there is no evidence that depictions of animal cruelty is among them."
Dallas News
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