A federal judge on Friday gave the government 30 days to start allowing American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and other Muslim inmates to hold group prayers outside their cells in a high-security prison in Indiana. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
By Steve Deace
Those arguing for “marriage equality” at the U.S. Supreme Court this week should be ashamed of themselves.
They’re just as guilty of discrimination as those dastardly conservatives still bitterly clinging to their guns and their religion. Why no argument for polygamy, polyamory, and other forms of diversity? Why are they only defending their exclusive definition of diversity?
How dare those seeking to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act signed by President Clinton, or Proposition 8 ratified by the people of California, stop at just redefining marriage to include two consenting adults of the same gender. Why do these people believe they have the authority to draw a moralistic line against any consenting adults, and thus force their moral standard upon the rest of us?
Besides, society’s views on these other progressive forms of relationship diversity are shifting; and shouldn’t we always base our concept of right and wrong off what we see on TV, just like our gender-neutral maternal units taught us? Who better to consult on moral matters than the huddled masses that paid money to see all those Saw and Hostel movies? For example, there is a popular reality show on basic cable called Sister Wives about the lost art of polygamy. Showtime is airing a trailblazing show on the multiple wedded bliss of polyamory.
Oh, sure, Showtime also features a series with a creepy old dude watching 1970s porn with Z-list celebrities as well, but who are we to judge?
Why would those seeking to redefine marriage to include homosexual monogamy play right into the hands of those Draconian religious fundamentalists who think they and their alleged “God” have the authority to narrowly define love among consenting adults? Why aren’t those arguing for “marriage equality” being inclusive by including marriage among multiple consenting adults as well? Besides, polygamy is in the Bible no less. Abraham, David, and Solomon are just some of that dusty old book’s heroes who were polygamists. No member of the American Taliban can claim their puny God destroyed a whole city over polygamy, so why not be more inclusive?
If the government has no power to discriminate against relationships involving two consenting adults of the same gender, then why does it have the power to discriminate against multiple consenting adults of any gender? Next thing you know, we’ll be back to banning interracial dating!
If we’re truly champions of diversity, it’s time to embrace polygamy, polyamory, or “multiple marriage.” What better way for children to learn about different cultures and belief systems than to grow up around them in their own families? Imagine children being born into a household where each dad has a different religion, each mom speaks a different language, and then sometimes the dads are attracted to one another as well as the moms (and vice versa). Talk about covering all your bases!
It’s time for the marriage equality movement to stop being hypocrites and cease practicing its own form of discrimination and to stop compromising with pro-marriage bigots. Take a principled stand. Either all of us get to do whatever we want with as many whomevers as …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism
A lawyer who helped American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and other Muslim inmates in his high-security federal prison unit win the right to hold daily group prayers says they should be allowed to pray together five times a day.
American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana legal director Ken Falk said Tuesday that he’ll ask a judge to find the government in contempt unless the inmates are allowed five daily group prayers, as Islam requires.
Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson on Jan. 11 blocked the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., from enforcing its ban on daily group prayer, but she noted her ruling doesn’t prohibit less restrictive security measures.
A Bureau of Federal Prisons spokesman says Muslims in Lindh’s unit have been allowed three daily group prayers since March 12.
INDIANAPOLIS— A federal prison in Indiana on Wednesday was expected to begin allowing American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and other Muslim inmates housed in his tightly controlled unit to begin holding daily ritual group prayers.
The government had until Tuesday to appeal U.S. District Judge Jane Maguns-Stinson’s Jan. 11 ruling allowing the daily group prayers, but it didn’t. Maguns-Stinson found that a prison policy preventing Lindh and the other Muslims in his unit from praying together daily when not locked in their cells violated a 1993 law banning the government from curtailing religious speech without showing a compelling interest.
She said her ruling didn’t prohibit less restrictive security measures in the Communications Management Unit, which houses terrorists and other inmates the government doesn’t want freely communicating with the outside world.
It wasn’t immediately known if the prison began allowing the daily group prayers Wednesday. Prison officials didn’t respond to a phone message seeking comment and a spokesman said U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett was traveling and unavailable to comment.
Ken Falk, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which represented Lindh in a lawsuit challenging the prison policy, said he intended to make sure the prison had begun allowing the daily prayers.
Read More at OfficialWire . By Charles Wilson.
The deadline has expired for the government to challenge a ruling allowing American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and fellow Muslim inmates at his a tightly controlled Indiana prison unit to hold daily group prayers.
The government took no action before Tuesday’s deadline expired and group prayers were supposed to begin Wednesday under the U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson’s ruling.
Neither the U.S. attorney in Indianapolis nor the American Civil Liberties Union’s Indiana chapter had immediate comment.
Magnus-Stinson ruled Jan. 11 that barring Lindh and his fellow Muslims from engaging in daily group ritual prayer at the federal prison at Terre Haute, Ind., violates a 1993 law that bans the government from curtailing religious speech without showing a compelling interest.
She said her ruling didn’t prohibit less restrictive security measures.
