http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/01/11/supreme-court-delivers-knockout-punch-to-white-house/
Supreme Court delivers a knockout punch to the White House

Wednesday the United States Supreme Court delivered a knockout blow to the White House in the cause of religious liberty.

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Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a unanimous court swatted away the government’s claim that the Lutheran Church did not have the right to fire a “minister of religion” who, after six years of Lutheran religious training had been commissioned as a minister, upon election by her congregation.

The fired minister -- who also taught secular subjects -- claimed discrimination in employment. The Obama administration, always looking for opportunities to undermine the bedrock of First Amendment religious liberty, eagerly agreed.

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There was just one big problem standing in the way of the government's plan: the U.S. Constitution. For a long time American courts have recognized the existence of a "ministerial exemption" which keeps government’s hands off the employment relationship between a religious institution and its ministers or clergy.

Here, in this case, the Department of Justice had the nerve to not only challenge the exemption’s application but also its very existence.

But, Chief Justice Roberts pushed back hard, telling the government essentially to butt out:

“Requiring a church to accept or retain an unwanted minister, or punishing a church for failing to do so, intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs. By imposing an unwanted minister, the state infringes the free exercise clause, which protects a religious group’s right to shape its own faith and mission through its appointments. According the state the power to determine which individuals will minister to the faithful also violates the establishment clause, which prohibits government involvement in such ecclesiastical decisions.”

Citing well-known legal precedent dating as far back as Reconstruction, the court made it clear that it is not up to the government to contradict a faith’s determination as to who should -- and should not -- be performing religious functions.

The Supreme Court clearly announced Wednesday that the First Amendment itself gives special recognition to the rights of religious organizations and rejected the government’s view that the Religion Clauses of the Constitution don’t apply to religious organizations’ freedom to select their own ministers, priests, rabbis and imams.

The Court also took aim at Plaintiff’s Cheryl Perich’s claims for back pay finding that such relief would operate as an unconstitutional penalty against a religious institution for terminating an unwanted minister and exercising its constitutional right to make decisions about internal church governance. Unfortunately, the federal government has become expert in imposing penalties for practicing one’s faith.

As the new year rolls on, Americans face even greater issues in their desire to retain their religious freedom. The mandates of ObamaCare -- with its narrowly tailored if not measly conscience exemptions protecting some religious orders from compliance -- will mandate thousands of other religious organizations ranging from educational institutions to insurance companies to insure and/or provide procedures like free sterilization and abortifacients like Plan B known to be violative of many Christians and Jewish faiths.

...and then an unnamed Department Of "Justice" person writes that the Pretender-In-Chief, Obozo's appointments of Marxists and Bomb Throwers and La Raza Folks to his "Administration" during Congress IN Session, without consulting them, is Just Hunky Dory!!!!!

America .......is in Free-Fall, IMHO.

HandLoad wrote:America .......is in Free-Fall, IMHO.

I totally agree with that statement. We always say that its not a matter of if but when.......and the when is getting closer.

'Knockout punch'....hardly. Barely a bug on the windshield of the Ohno 18 wheeler blazing down the fascist dictator highway.

I agree with doc in fact it would not suprise me if this was a ploy. A sop to those starting to be concerned over the Govt. mauling of the Constitution. " See " they'll say " The courts won't LET 'them' destroy the Constitution. You can Trust the courts to protect you. Go back to sleep now."

The courts have already allowed the destruction of the constitution in many ways.

True, Wulfin. The courts have aided and abetted in the erosion of the Constitution but, in this case, they did the right thing. Had the decision gone the other way, how long do you think it would take before the government decided it had the authority to decide the criteria under which ministers must be evaluated? And, shortly thereafter, would that same government not also decide that it should decide who best meets their criteria, effectively taking over the pulpit?