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When the church doors open, only white people will be allowed inside.
That’s the message the Asatru Folk Assembly in Murdock, Minnesota, is sending after being granted a conditional use permit to open a church there and practice its pre-Christian religion that originated in northern Europe.
Murdock council members said they do not support the church but were legally obligated to approve the permit, which they did in a 3-1 decision.
“We were highly advised by our attorney to pass this permit for legal reasons to protect the First Amendment rights," Mayor Craig Kavanagh said. "We knew that if this was going to be denied, we were going to have a legal battle on our hands that could be pretty expensive.”
City Attorney Don Wilcox said it came down to free speech and freedom of religion.
“I think there’s a great deal of sentiment in the town that they don’t want that group there," he said. "You can’t just bar people from practicing whatever religion they want or saying anything they want as long as it doesn’t incite violence.”
After permit approved for whites-only church, small Minnesota town insists it isn't racist
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday December 23 2020, @01:53PM (14 children)
They had other choices.
The first was to not listen to the lawyer. Given that in any legal battle, half the lawyers lose (there's always a winner and a loser), just refuse the resining.
Then it becomes a question of whether this fringe group even has enough money to engage in a legal battle. The more likely situation is they look somewhere else.
The second is to restrict new church zoning to the most expensive area of town. Got a big shopping centre? With expensive rents? The same tactic can be used with massage parlours - instead of zoning to force them into cheap locations. It's not discriminatory if it applies to all new churches.
Third, a moratorium on building conversion to churches. Again not discrimination against churches if it applies to all churches. Works for condo conversions. Existing churches won't complete because they like the lack of new competition.
Parking restrictions. No street parking, require paved parking lots with proper connection to storm sewers (no storm sewer? Sorry, you can't dump waste water into the sanitary sewer any more - and you'll have to pay for the street storm sewer installation. Got a million dollars as a bond?)
When you change the vocation of a building, the city can require it be brought up to the latest regulations. Just make it financially impossible and they'll go away. It's what the big cities do. This must be a real hick town.
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(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday December 23 2020, @04:16PM (10 children)
Fringe groups make very popular pro-bono cases, good PR for the firm that takes them, if they win.
That can't afford the court costs like a big city can.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday December 23 2020, @05:59PM (9 children)
"Some" fringe groups make very popular pro bono cases. In other cases (see Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell in re Trump) you're better off walking away. Powell isn't being paid.
And a case like this is bound to get a lot of "friends of the court" siding with the town. So it cuts both ways.
Of course the real problem is the constitution - it's really too old for the modern world.
Look at the stalled ERA amendment.
Of course the court could just say that race isn't real, there's only the one human race, and say if you wanna limit admission, you have to do it as a private club, not a church. Pay business rates, etc. And as a private club you can't ban people on the basis of skin colour, so problem solved.
Could apply it to all churches because they are in essence business es, same as charities and not-for-profits.
Seriously, allowing churches special treatment on the basis of religion is discrimination.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday December 23 2020, @06:14PM (8 children)
What, you want the 1st amendment to be repealed? Hope not!
And not really constitutional. There is nothing in there that permits the privileges they enjoy. It only says that a practitioner's faith is protected by law, not that they don't have to pay taxes like everybody else.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Thursday December 24 2020, @02:12AM (7 children)
Why not? The first amendment is a holdover from when religion interfered in everyday life and justified things like slavery, child abuse, and rape. Religion is the problem. It doesn't need special protections and tax exempt status.
You are against slavery, right? And child abuse? And rape? And incest? And honour killings? And forced marriage?
And the IRS hasn't been able to get tax filings from the Watchtower Society or many mega churches because they refuse, citing the 1st amendment.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday December 24 2020, @05:07AM (4 children)
The 1st amendment does not provide tax exempt status. Where do you get that idea? Show me where you see this privilege. You should read it some time. And please, to repeal it would be most fascist. The freedom to speak and of faith and of thought is absolutely paramount. Nobody should ever be allowed to interfere with those who want to hear, believe or think. You really don't know what you're talking about.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday December 26 2020, @05:33AM (3 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Saturday December 26 2020, @05:59AM (2 children)
Sorry, We don't like censorship. State control of speech is fascist. "Hate speech" doesn't make me hate anybody, does it you? Direct your energy to the people who can't control their feelings instead
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday January 02 2021, @04:19AM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday January 02 2021, @04:32AM
They didn't become civilized by banning speech.
You like censorship, I don't. Just leave it at that.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @07:03AM
You must not be awake to fail to see the current religion interfering with human lives is scientism, where magical sky fairies have been replaced by TV doctors.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 02 2021, @04:00AM
Wow. Just ... wow.
The first amendment doesn't provide for slavery. Nor child abuse. Not rape, incest, honour killings nor forced marriage.
In fact, the text is pretty clear as is the precedent on the point: a church organisation or doctrine can not excuse activity that would be otherwise illegal.
All the amendment says is that there can't be an establishment of religion, which has been interpreted to include backdoor preferences for, or restrictions on any given religion.
If you like, it's the right to be officially wrong; not to ignore other law.
Of course, the first amendment was also about freedom of speech, press and right to assemble and petition - but we already know that the leftists are dead set against those, so I suppose religion is just the cherry on top, here.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by cmdrklarg on Wednesday December 23 2020, @04:55PM (2 children)
I live in MN, and I've never heard of this town before this. Looking it up, it has a grand total of 278 people living there.
This was the right move for the town. Let someone else with deeper pockets come in and sue the racists.
Answer now is don't give in; aim for a new tomorrow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @02:35PM
Hell. I think Philadelphia is a hick town. And don't even get me started on cow towns like Albany or Cleveland.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 24 2020, @07:59PM
Yeah, with only 278 total residents, not trying to "fight" this one in any way (even BH's suggestions) was the best choice for the 278 residents.
Someone else, with more funding, will swoop in eventually to fight out the court battle of the legality of this new church's rules, saving the 278 residents from bankruptcy if they had tried to fight it themselves.