Houston Funeral Home BANS "God" From Military Funerals. Time To Rise Up

[tombogan03884]

Solus, Nothing in the Constitution mentions "separation of Church and State" . That is like "Freedom of expression", another socialistic misrepresentation of the last century, like "gunshow loophole" it is a myth used to undermine America's traditional values.
I believe it was Washington who told someone that America did not practice religious tolerance as that suggested a dominant religion that put up with the existence of other beliefs and in America no single type was dominant.
As for the OP, If as the article indicates, it is a VA cemetery, this little tin goddess is outside her authority and needs to be gone.

[Glockman Parker]

Check this out:

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/dayton/news/article_7e61fdfb-80ac-5170-8346-79128867c3c7.html

[Solus]

Solus, Nothing in the Constitution mentions "separation of Church and State" . That is like "Freedom of expression", another socialistic misrepresentation of the last century, like "gunshow loophole" it is a myth used to undermine America's traditional values.
I believe it was Washington who told someone that America did not practice religious tolerance as that suggested a dominant religion that put up with the existence of other beliefs and in America no single type was dominant.
As for the OP, If as the article indicates, it is a VA cemetery, this little tin goddess is outside her authority and needs to be gone.

While "separation of Church and State" do not appear in the Constitution, the phrase was coined by Jefferson to describe the restrictions placed upon government in regards to religion in the 1st Amendment.

I think the "grey" area is when we get to considering if the government should act to stop official procedures that favor one religion over others.  For example should the posting of the Ten Commandments or say, the precepts of Sharia Law in a courthouse be prohibited as officially favoring one religion over another?

Without having done any research, I've always thought "freedom of expression" was a catch all phrase for means of expression other than verbal and printed.  I guess that might even include hand written documents, non-verbal action in a movie or play, creations of sculptors or artists?

The "gun show loophole" is another matter.

As to any funeral or burial ceremony, they have to be as dictated by the deceased's religious beliefs, assuming they do not violate the rights of others.  I am thinking in extremes here, like if a religious belief required the doors of those surrounding the burial site to be splattered with chicken blood, that would be a violation of the rights of those folks splattered.  But a usual ceremony would not.  And not allowing it to proceed would be in violation on the 1st Amendment's restriction against "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" concerning religious beliefs.

[Solus]

Additionally, I think if this were a privately run cemetery, the owner could be facing legal challenges should the "rules" be changed to not allow religious expression in the burials.

One challenge could be that by making this new rule, you could prohibit someone from being buried in accordance with their religious beliefs in their family plot.

Second would be suing for the cost to move said family plot to a cemetery that does allow religious burials.  Might also include moving all the great great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. who are not in the immediate family plot since there maybe be grounds that an expectation of continued religious "atmosphere" is inherent in the choosing of a cemetery.

 

[tombogan03884]

While "separation of Church and State" do not appear in the Constitution, the phrase was coined by Jefferson to describe the restrictions placed upon government in regards to religion in the 1st Amendment.

I think the "grey" area is when we get to considering if the government should act to stop official procedures that favor one religion over others.  For example should the posting of the Ten Commandments or say, the precepts of Sharia Law in a courthouse be prohibited as officially favoring one religion over another?

Without having done any research, I've always thought "freedom of expression" was a catch all phrase for means of expression other than verbal and printed.  I guess that might even include hand written documents, non-verbal action in a movie or play, creations of sculptors or artists?

The "gun show loophole" is another matter.

As to any funeral or burial ceremony, they have to be as dictated by the deceased's religious beliefs, assuming they do not violate the rights of others.  I am thinking in extremes here, like if a religious belief required the doors of those surrounding the burial site to be splattered with chicken blood, that would be a violation of the rights of those folks splattered.  But a usual ceremony would not.  And not allowing it to proceed would be in violation on the 1st Amendment's restriction against "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" concerning religious beliefs.

First off, the 1st Amendment is pretty clear, Congress has no authority in matters of religion, technically they do not even have the power to grant "tax free" status to churches.
It is also specific in stipulating "freedom of Press", and "Freedom of speech", . Your incorrect assumption that "freedom of expression is simply lumping the 2 together was intended by the socialists who have been trying successfully to confuse people. The phrase means what it says and is from the UN statement on human Rights, it has nothing to do with the US Constitution.
"Gun show loophole", and "assault weapon" are exactly the same matter. It is an intentionally designed misleading phrase intended to confuse the less informed into supporting the undermining of traditional American values, and practices.
Rush is dead right when he says "Words have meanings", specific words have specific meanings and connotations. Simply because people use 2 words interchangeably does not mean they mean the same thing. generally it is a sign that they are not saying what they want you to think they are saying.

[Sponsor]

[Pathfinder]

All the separation of church and state apply to the government and government run/sponsored establishments.

I am a strong advocate of the this, as I have posted before, but there is no government agency involved here.

And even in some government controlled locations, it should not apply, in particular government run cemeteries like Arlington.  The funerals/memorials/monuments/markers of Veterans should be in keeping with the believes of the Veteran.  The chaplain service can be flexible enough to to provide the proper service supporting the religious belief or non-belief of all Veterans.

The government SHOULD NOT enforce any of those to conform to one particular religion, i.e. a cross as the marker for every grave.  Jewish Veterans should be given a Star of David marker, if that is what is traditional (I don't know what is), and non-believers given what ever default marker is traditional.

Separation of Church and State requires that the State favor no religion in any way, treating each religious belief and non-believers equally, it does not require the elimination of religion in any way.

And the premiss of a Republic is that the majority, no mater how large, cannot take away the rights of a minority, no matter how small.

So, if a minority, even of one person, is having their rights violated, they CAN and SHOULD so what is necessary to stop that violation. 

That is the vision of the Founding Fathers, regardless of their personal religious beliefs, and is what makes this country unique.

Separation of Church and State - Solus, there ain't no such thing. This is liberal gibberish that is not stated anywhere in the Declaration of Independence nor in the US Constitution, nor in the Bill of Rights or any other Amendment. As the libs do with guns and everything else, they take over the discussion and spin it to their way of thinking with carefully crafted words and phrases that otherwise smart people adopt - words and phrases that twist or mask what should be the real discussion.

The 1A is quoted above, go re-read it, especially the "prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" part. THAT applies to the Feds, as well as businesses. You do not have a right not to be offended, so if you are an atheist and someone is giving a prayer on public ground, get over it. People in the minority do not have the right to limit my rights either.

BTW, there are Jewish stars over the graves of Jewish Armed Forces members, but I have no clue what atheists get, nor what Buddhists, mooslims, pagans/wiccans/whatever get. And I really don't care, that is their problem. Do not prevent me, tho, from saying God or Jesus or anything else over the grave of an American soldier who was a Christian.

[Timothy]

Path and Tom beat me to it.....The 1st Amendment isn't difficult to understand.  The operative word is the second one in the Amendment...

'Congress SHALL make no law...."  you cannot interpret that any other way than it was expressed in the Amendment.

It doesn't say "Should not"....the Government cannot, under any circumstances prohibit the right of the individual to express their religious beliefs in any way, shape or ritual.....PERIOD....

Separation of Church and State is the nanny state giving in to those they hold up as of higher authority even though those authoritarians are consistently wrong!

[CJS3]

It is the Veteran's Administration Cemetary, not a private funeral home. There is a private funeral home just outside the cemetary that has allowed services to be held in their parking lot to accomadate religious and Honor Guard services. The Obama appointee who has set the new rules for the operation of Houston's National Cemetary has also prohibited VFW Honor Guards from the cemetary grounds and will not allow double parking at grave sites, making WWII veterans (some with walkers) and their spouses walk as much as a half mile to pay their last respects to their brothers in arms.

As I write this, three Houston area congressmen, Gene Green (D), Michael McCall (R), and Ted Poe (R) have vowed to have the woman removed by the VA, or face funding cuts.

[Solus]

First off, the 1st Amendment is pretty clear, Congress has no authority in matters of religion, technically they do not even have the power to grant "tax free" status to churches.
It is also specific in stipulating "freedom of Press", and "Freedom of speech", . Your incorrect assumption that "freedom of expression is simply lumping the 2 together was intended by the socialists who have been trying successfully to confuse people. The phrase means what it says and is from the UN statement on human Rights, it has nothing to do with the US Constitution.
"Gun show loophole", and "assault weapon" are exactly the same matter. It is an intentionally designed misleading phrase intended to confuse the less informed into supporting the undermining of traditional American values, and practices.
Rush is dead right when he says "Words have meanings", specific words have specific meanings and connotations. Simply because people use 2 words interchangeably does not mean they mean the same thing. generally it is a sign that they are not saying what they want you to think they are saying.

No, I didn't say they were lumping "freedom of speech" and "freedom of the press"  I was saying it was lumping those types of expression that fall outside of those two, if taken literally.  For instance hand written letters or posters or anything not printed by a printing press or by reporters, perhaps, are not protected.  The TV shows we all watch (except you) on Wed. evening could be banned by a government agency that did not want the gun culture on TV.  Or it could ban the statue of the Marines at Iwo Jima since it is neither printed or spoken.

Not sure if what we type here would be covered under "Freedom of the press" since it is neither printed on a press or created by news reporters, if that is the Press referenced.

If we were talking semantics, then yes, gun show loop hole and assault weapon would apply.

If we are talking the intent of the Founding Fathers then they are only indirectly related as they are attempts to subvert the 2A, not actually about how it is interpreted.

[twyacht]

As I write this, three Houston area congressmen, Gene Green (D), Michael McCall (R), and Ted Poe (R) have vowed to have the woman removed by the VA, or face funding cuts.

 ought to be facing the big oak tree and some nice tall branch with a chair and Kentucky Hemp. Or at least run out of town on a rail.

Thanks for the update CJ.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
John Adams

"The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God."
John F. Kennedy