Per breaking news on CNN that is just now hitting the wires, a federal judge has now ruled that "intelligent design"--aka barely-disguised "Young earth" creationism--cannot legally be taught in the Dover school system in Pennsylvania:

"Intelligent design" cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial.

Dover Area School Board members violated the Constitution when they ordered that its biology curriculum must include the notion that life on Earth was produced by an unidentified intelligent cause, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III said.

Interestingly, the "heavenly deception" practiced by dominionists pushing "intelligent design" was a major factor in the ruling:

Several members repeatedly lied to cover their motives even while professing religious beliefs, he said.

EDIT:

Full court judgement here. The commentary is extremely damning in regards to "intelligent design", and the court document actually denotes how "intelligent design", much like "creation science" before it, is a thinly-veiled attempt to sneak young-earth creationism into the curriculum and how its main promoters are dominionists. We have a *very* legally solid document to use as legal precedent in fighting backdoor attempts to enter "intelligent design" into school curricula.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kynn)

A judge has ordered the city of San Jose to stop offering benefits to the same-sex partners of municipal workers who were married in areas where those unions are legal. [...]

The Christian conservative Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund filed suit on behalf of the Values Advocacy Council of San Jose and the Proposition 22 Legal Defense Fund claiming the benefits violate Proposition 22 which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

The ADF is involved in fighting same-sex marriage across the country and the Proposition 22 Legal Defense Fund is one of two groups currently collecting signatures for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in California.

The Alliance Defense Fund is the lawsuit-happy lawyer wing of the Dominionist movement.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY britzkrieg)

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- A group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson is suing to stop Illinois from requiring pharmacies to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception, saying the rule violates a druggist's right to refuse on religious and moral grounds.

The Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Illinois.

The lawsuit, mirroring some claims in state lawsuits challenging the rule, names Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the heads of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and its Division of Professional Regulation as defendants.

Full Story

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY gairid)

Nicked from meta_quotes because I thought it deserved airtime over here.


Original post here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/dimethirwen/302503.html?view=1432743#t1432743



I live in a country where I am completely free to choose my faith. I can go to church, not go to church, pick my denomination, freely express my religious convictions and beliefs, become a religious leader, officially declare myself a Christian, and not worry about officials of the state bursting through my door and putting a bullet through my head while I pray on my knees.
Christians are not persecuted in the United States. Period.
...

To say that there is a war against Christianity in the United States is not only wrong, it's insulting. It's insulting to people who fight every day to stay alive and maintain their faith, and it's an insult to those who have died for their beliefs. "Oh no, some people have said they don't like Christianity in a public forum?" How about "Oh no, Christian believers were tortured and executed in China last week?"
Honestly, people. The next time you're at church, sit and listen. Hear that? That silence? It's the sound of people not coming to decapitate you because of what you believe.

I thought it could not have been put much better.