Articles Tagged ‘Religious Freedom’

Micah McCoy, Communications Specialist

Most people know the American Civil Liberties Union as one of the oldest and fiercest defenders of religious liberty in the nation. However, Steve Smothermon, the pastor of Legacy Church in Albuquerque, was recently quoted in the Journal accusing the ACLU of attacking his religious beliefs. If Smothermon examined the situation more closely, he’d see that the ACLU’s concerns have nothing to do with his faith, but with defending the freedom of all people to practice their faith – or no faith at all – without governmental interference.

On October 22, the ACLU of New Mexico premiered it’s new video, When Freedom Can’t Defend Itself, at the 49th Annual Bill of Rights Celebration. The video follows the stories of four New Mexicans, a Sikh paramedic, a National Guardsman, a Border Patrol agent and a high school student who all turned to the ACLU of New Mexico when their civil liberties were violated.

On Tuesday, September 27,  Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Wiener told the ACLU to “go to hell.”

No joke. You can watch the video clip for yourself:

I spoke on behalf of the ACLU at the commission meeting on Tuesday in support of a resolution that would prohibit county ceremonies from being held in places of worship. I told the commission that when a government agency holds official ceremonies in places of worship, it sends a message to the community that a certain religious group or set of beliefs is preferred—and that’s just not right.

Unfortunately, I was outnumbered 30 to 1 at the meeting and things got a little ugly. Then Wiener told us to go to hell. Then the commission voted down the resolution 3-2. It was kind of a rough day.

But that’s what the ACLU does, we take principled stands—often in the face of fierce opposition—to insure that our freedoms are not trampled by the tyranny of the majority. Today, I’d like to invite you to stand with the ACLU of New Mexico by letting your commissioners (especially Wiener!) know that the separation of church and state matters to you.

This resolution didn’t come out of the blue. Earlier this month Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston chose his own church as the venue for the graduation ceremony for new deputies. Some of the new deputies were upset that, on their special day, they would be forced to attend a ceremony in a place of worship when plenty of secular, county-owned venues were available.

We want our supporters to speak up on this issue because it is important to show that what happened at that commission meeting was unacceptable. The majority of Americans value the separation of church and state because they know that both government and religion are at their best when they are not entangled with one another.

Sincerely,

Peter Simonson

Executive Director

No one should have to feel uncomfortable or out of place because the government chooses to hold a public function in a place of worship. That’s what happened recently when the Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Office decided to hold their new deputys’ graduation ceremony at Legacy Church in Albuquerque.

In response, the Bernalillo County Commission has introduced a resolution requiring that all public ceremonies involving county employees be held in public facilities. This is a great resolution for several reasons:

1. When a government agency holds a public function at a place of religious worship, they implicitly give their endorsement to that particular religious sect. The government should not be in the business of deciding which beliefs are right, wrong or preferred.
2. There are plenty of government owned, non-religious community centers, public gathering areas and multipurpose stages that can serve as venues for public ceremonies at no additional cost to the tax-payer. These venues are far more appropriate places to hold public ceremonies involving people who hold a diverse, wide range of religious beliefs.
3. Holding public ceremonies in places of worship makes the government vulnerable to legal challenges. Using tax-payer money defending against a First Amendment lawsuit when appropriate non-religious alternatives exist is a waste. We can’t afford to spend the County’s limited resources in this way.

Please take the time to write your county commissioners to ask they vote YES on the resolution requiring that all public ceremonies involving county employees be held in public facilities. If you don’t know which commissioner represents your district, you can consult the maps below:

Maggie Hart Stebbins, Chair (District 3): wobrien@bernco.gov (Dist. 3 map)

Art De La Cruz, Vice Chair (District 2): dherrera@bernco.gov (Dist 2 map)

Michelle Lujan Grisham (District 1): BCCDistrict1@bernco.gov (Dist. 1 map)

Michael C. Wiener (District 4): ddady@bernco.gov (Dist 4 Map)

Wayne A. Johnson (District 5): kbrown@bernco.gov (Dist. 5 map)

Albuquerque, NM—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico sent a letter today to Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston protesting plans to hold the only graduation ceremony for new County deputies at Legacy Church in Albuquerque.  The ceremony will take place at 1:30 PM this Friday, August 26 at the church located on Central Avenue NW.  According to biographical information posted on the County’s website, Houston worked as Legacy Church’s director of security “for several years” before becoming County Sheriff.  Like Houston, BCSO Captain Scott Baird also is a member of the Legacy Church.

“Government officials should not use their official positions to promote their personal religious beliefs,” said ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “Sheriff Houston evidently has a close relationship with Legacy Church.  If he wants to encourage people to follow his faith, he should do it outside of the work context and should not use the authority of his position to require new deputies to attend the only official graduation ceremony in his place of worship.”

The ACLU’s letter cites multiple legal cases in which courts held that no government entity “can force [or] influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will.”  The letter ends with the request that Sheriff Houston identify a new, non-religious location for the August 26^th graduation ceremony.

Simonson said, “It is hard to believe that there were no non-religious sites available to hold this event.  Why put the County in the position of discriminating among different faiths?  Inevitably the Sheriff is going to alienate some deputies and their families who do not subscribe to his particular religious beliefs and cause them to fear retaliation if they voice their concerns to their new bosses.”

CONTACT: Peter Simonson, Executive Director,             (505) 266-5915       Ext. 1002, psimonson@aclu-nm.org