tts: On June 1, 2004, the LA County supervisors caved in to the ACLU’s threat that they would sue the County if it did not remove a small cross from its county seal. Now your organization, the Thomas More Law Center, has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent these Los Angeles County officials from removing the cross. What makes you think you can stop the ACLU’s legal attack on all things Christian?

Thomas More Law Center: Your question has two parts.

First, our lawsuit to stop Los Angeles County from removing the cross is based on the requirement that government not show hostility towards a particular religion. The cross as displayed on the seal does not promote or endorse any particular religious belief, but instead recognizes the historical role of Christian missionaries in Los Angeles County. By singling out the cross as a sectarian religious symbol for removal, Los Angeles County is demonstrating an impermissible hostility towards the Christian religion.

Secondly, our aim in all of these legal battles is to effectively represent the rights of Christians. The ACLU is unabashedly anti-Christian, and uses threats and lawsuits to impose their political agenda. The Thomas More Law Center is the “Christian Answer to the ACLU.” We get involved in legal matters across the country by defending individuals or municipalities, or by threatening and initiating our own lawsuits in order to protect the rights of Christians. The Thomas More Law Center is the public legal advocate for Christians.

tts: Does your reasoning also apply to the battles over holiday religious symbols in public places that have become an annual tradition in cities across the United States, such as Palm Beach and New York City?

Thomas More Law Center: There is no question that organizations like the ACLU are actively working to remove Christian religious symbols from the public square during Christmas. Public displays of the Nativity are already banned in New York City public schools, and many cities have decided to prohibit religious symbols because of confusion or fear of a lawsuit. The Thomas More Law Center is involved in several cases across the country aimed at protecting the display of Christian religious symbols during Christmas.

tts: Most people are not fully briefed on the legal issues related to the expression of religious faith in the public square. When crosses are removed from public parks and school holiday programs become ideological battlegrounds, it's tempting to shrug off the changes and accept them as inevitable. What would you say to encourage people who want to stand up to these challenges in their communities and take action to stop this secular jihad?

Thomas More Law Center: It may be tempting to dismiss the conflicts over symbols as insignificant or superficial. However, these battles are critical because they clearly “symbolize” the greater conflict in which we are engaged, namely, the battle over the future of Christianity in America. There is a growing sentiment that America should abandon its Christian heritage, that religion itself is a problem, and that freedom can be maintained without it. Groups like the ACLU have been working in the courts to impose this radical cultural shift. The TMLC exists to counter their legal efforts.

The Thomas More Law Center is committed to helping individuals, cities and towns who need legal assistance in defending and protecting the religious liberty of Christians. All of our legal work is provided without charge.

Americans interested in protecting religious liberty are encouraged to become “card-carrying members” of the Thomas More Law Center. More information can be found at www.thomasmore.org.

tts: I'm sure our readers will appreciate your kind offer.

God, Pizza, and the Public Square

Tom Monaghan is a man with a mission. Orphaned at age 4 and unable to afford higher education, he built Domino’s Pizza from one little pizza parlor into a lucrative national chain. In 1999 the scope of his mission shifted. He looked from the task of efficient pizza delivery to the project of serving the world with his fortune. He sold his interest in the company for 1 billion dollars, took a millionaires vow of poverty, and set his sights on establishing a number of Catholic institutions focusing on Catholic education.

In 1999, Tom Monaghan and Richard Thompson, the former Oakland County, Michigan prosecutor, established the Thomas More Law Center. The center seeks to transform the national culture by taking cases across the United States that are consistent with its mission to defend the religious freedom of Christians. The Center currently handles over 120 legal matters in 27 different states including the Los Angeles County Seal controversy.

Tom Monaghan describes his life as a genuine Horatio Alger story.

L.A. County's Seal and the Real Agenda of the ACLU

In America, religion and morality have been mutually reinforcing. Anyone seeking to corrupt the morals of America would want to drive religion out of the public square. George Washington once remarked, "of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." He warned about those who purport to be patriots, but who undermine "these great pillars of human happiness."

But as Washington worried about the prospect of America losing religion and morality, the ACLU delights in it. As its record shows, the ACLU will not rest until every remnant of moral faith has been jettisoned from the public square and the public mind.

Daniel C. Palm and Tom Krannawitter
The Claremont Institute

Christmas Comes Early This Year to Palm Beach Florida

“Ending a six month legal battle over Christmas displays, the Town of Palm Beach, Florida this week paid $50,000 in attorney fees to the Thomas More Law Center pursuant to a previously entered federal court Consent Judgment.

The Town also acknowledged and publicly apologized for its failure to respond to multiple offers by two of its residents, Maureen Donnell and Fern Tailer deNarvaez, to donate Christian Nativity scenes for display alongside two Town-sponsored Jewish Menorahs during the Christmas holiday season.

Donnell commented, "We won everything that we wanted. All religions will be treated equally. That's all we were fighting for. Now the Town Council must address every situation that comes up, which they did not do with us.”

“I'm so glad we were able to come to an equitable agreement through the efforts of the Thomas More Law Center," added deNarvaez. “

Mount Soledad Cross Still Standing

In spite of several losses in the courtroom the City Attorney suggests that the citizens of San Diego should get to vote on whether the cross will remain on top of Mount Soledad or not.

"Plaintiff Philip Paulson, the American Civil Liberties Union, or the Ninth Circuit should not decide the future of this historic war memorial," said City Attorney Casey Gwinn in a statement. "The voters and taxpayers of San Diego have a right to weigh in on the future of this cross.

That is why I am recommending a new public vote and then, if the vote passes, a new public sale. Whether the cross comes or goes should be decided by a private property owner, not by the City of San Diego."

The ACLU Gathers in San Francisco Seeking To Mobilize Activists

“We are mobilizing ACLU members to send a clear message to the White House and Congress: Protect our civil liberties and keep America both safe and free,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. “Once energized in San Francisco, we anticipate ACLU members will return to their hometowns and use their training to mobilize their family, friends and neighbors to stand up for freedom and fight to protect the Constitution.”

Responses to: Let Freedom Ring!

An Excellent Article! It certainly provides a better understanding of the Muslim world. Thank you for the contribution you are making to understanding.   F. A. S.

I continue to be amazed at your ability to change my way of thinking about our world and culture on a weekly basis. Your article, “Let Freedom Ring!” was another clear, concise, presentation that made me stop, back-up, and re-think my views, opinions, and yes, even feelings about terrorism. I want to thank-you for the challenge with which you confront me every week.   R. S.

I have just read The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas Barnett. He is of the opinion that our military must promote globalization by facilitating immigration, providing energy, establishing in the "have nots" of the world industries to provide jobs along with freedoms we enjoy in the Western countries. He believes this will entice young men, who are the backbone of militant Islam as suicide bombers,etc. to join the Western culture and abandon their desire to "kill the infidels."

It seems to me that the fundamentalists you describe in the above article will never be content until they establish Islamic governments in all Muslim countries. Barnett describes in detail how he believes the military defense of our country must be designed to kill the dictators in the poor Muslim nations and then establish democratic countries which are part of international globalization.  G. N.

Thank you for a most enlightening understanding of militant Islam. PEACE be with you.   R. P.

Response to Father's Day Response:

It doesn't require that a man be a biological father to bring fathering energy and wisdom to the next generation. This should be nowhere more evident than in the church, where a whole class of ordained men has been addressed as "Father," and for good reason. Biological fatherhood is a result of the meeting of sperm and egg. Ongoing, effective fatherhood requires much, much more, and delivers a wealth of result.

Gay men are good fathers. Sterile men are good fathers. Unmarried men are good fathers. Celibate men are good fathers. Grandfathers, uncles, and brothers are good fathers. I would far rather a boy be raised by a competent single man than in an abusive household of husband and wife.

Yes, we have a crisis of lack of fatherhood. But let's not look to the nuclear family of mother-father-child to be the answer. The answer lies in men, like you and me, who are willing to be coaches, mentors, foster parents, pastors, teachers, and otherwise advocates for children.   S. N.

S.N.'s advice to divorce fatherhood from reproduction and from the nuclear family, if widely followed, would only lead to further social fragmentation. S.N. ignores the critical principle of responsibility for one's actions: those who sire children are responsible to provide for, protect, and nurture their offspring. Gay men, sterile men, and others may choose to assume the role of father, but men who reproduce are obligated to do so. The family is the institution that humanity across cultures and millennia has used to best ensure that men meet this obligation. In the absence of strong societal support for marriage, I predict that there will never be enough father-surrogate volunteers -- mentors, coaches, teachers, pastors, or whatever -- to effectively fill the need for fathers. Instead, an ever-more-expansive welfare state will evolve to compensate for the lack of fathers, with all the results that come with such a state: increased taxes, decreased civil liberties, and second- or third-rate services.   J. V. K.

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