America In Decline...Jesus is un-Constitutional ~ "We are in decline because 350,000 people did not stand up to Judge Harvie Wilkinson." Wake up people!

While the United States is among the “most declined” nations, Mexico ranks among the “most improved.” The United States was once the bastion of economic and personal freedom for its citizens, making it the wealthiest economy and the highest standard of living in the world. Today, it has chosen to abandon that model of freedom, instead seeking economic security through government programs and controls. ~ A Nation in Decline Canada Free Press ~ Tom Deweese Wednesday, January 27, 2010

And so it goes...we are not in decline because we the people are not seeking economic security; we the people relish it!  It is the politic elite that push us into decline and that includes the people identified with D's or R's after their name.  These people, no matter what they preach in order to get elected, are no longer God fearing people, a phrase once cherished on most any one's resume and now condemned by the separation of church and state and anti-religion groups. We are in decline when politicians convince the electorate that its a good idea to send jobs overseas while they preach American jobs are the number one priority...c'mon now, do I have to explain NAFTA all over again!  But setting aside the economic issues that pushes America into decline... its probably the most important area of decline right up there next to our moral decline and that is the decline in the belief of God and the Judeo Christian principles that got us here in the first place.  We are in decline because the 350,000 people in the story below did not stand up to Judge Harvie Wilkinson  and the two protesters...the decision, "that prayers unconstitutionally advance Christianity if references to Jesus are more than isolated, or if the content is otherwise too Christian for the court’s taste." is an insult to our Founding Fathers no less the American people.  When we have a guy sitting in the White House literally bending over to advance Islam a collection of beliefs that wholeheartedly wants to destroy western civilization.  Let me tell ya, "The content coming from the White House is too Islamic for the advancement of America; it is the ultimate decline of America! ~ Norman E. Hooben

Federal appeals court: Saying “Jesus” during public prayer is unconstitutional
By:Ken Klukowski   From: The Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential

As in most counties in America, the Board of Commissioners of Forsyth County, North Carolina, begins its public meetings with an invocation. These prayers are given by local religious leaders on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Given that 95 percent of local religious houses identify as Christian, it’s not surprising that many of the invocations include specifically Christian language, often closing the prayer in the name of “Jesus Christ” or “Jesus.”

Two non-Christians from the community with a population of approximately 350,000 sued, arguing that an invocation mentioning Jesus Christ during a public prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.

Even though the pair acknowledged that the Supreme Court held public prayers—called “legislative prayers”—are constitutional in the 1983 case Marsh v. Chambers, the federal district court in North Carolina sided with the protestors.

In a stunning decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit affirmed that judgment in a 2-to-1 decision, holding in the case Joyner v. Forsyth County that prayers unconstitutionally advance Christianity if references to Jesus are more than isolated, or if the content is otherwise too Christian for the court’s taste.

Writing for the majority, Judge Harvie Wilkinson - a respected appellate judge who was appointed by President Reagan - wrote that public prayers are for the purpose of welcoming and including the community to be involved in government. (That’s odd. I always thought it was to ask for God’s blessing.)

The predominance of Christian prayers violated Judge Wilkinson’s novel understanding, and so, joined by Barbara Keenan, who was appointed by President Obama, the court struck down the county’s longstanding practice, calling it “sectarian.”

Judge Paul Victor Niemeyer, a judicial conservative regarded as one of the smartest judges on the federal bench, wrote in a strong dissent: “Thus … the majority has dared to step in and regulate the language of prayer—the sacred dialogue between humankind and God. Such a decision treats prayer agnostically; reduces it to a civil nicety; … Most frightfully, it will require secular [authorities] to evaluate and parse particular religious prayers…”

This is yet another instance of a “heckler’s veto,” where one hypersensitive person in a crowd is offended, and makes the whole group conform to the heckler’s demands.

As I explain in my law review article, “In Whose Name We Pray,” published by Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, not only does Marsh v. Chambers allow “sectarian” prayers (i.e. mentioning Jesus), it would violate the Establishment Clause for any government official—including any federal judge—to censor the content of anyone’s prayers.

Under our Constitution, every American can pray in accordance with the dictates of his conscience, and government never has a right to interfere with religious beliefs.

This is the latest in a string of disappointing lower court decisions on public prayer. It’s time for the Supreme Court to revisit this issue.

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"We are in decline because 350,000 people did not stand up to Judge Harvie Wilkinson." Wake up people! ~ Storm'n Norm'n