■ 25 August 2010 | 5:25 PM
Church-state separation group blasts Cuccinelli opinion on religious displays
A legal opinion by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that a local government can permit religious holiday displays on public property as long as the forum allows expression from a multitude of viewpoints received a thumbs up from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.
However, his conclusion wasn't universally hailed.
Officials with the Americans United for Separation of Church and State group Wednesday criticized Cuccinelli's legal reasoning as "deeply misguided."
“This opinion reads more like an op-ed than a legal advisory" said Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "Cuccinelli is encouraging local governments to wade into a deeply controversial arena of the law without adequate guidance."
“This is almost certain to lead to bitter community divisiveness,” he added. “It is a green light to religious right activists to cajole local officials into erecting sectarian displays on public property. Unless local officials are extremely careful, this is likely to lead to lawsuits.”
Lynn also accused the attorney general of "turning Christmas, a holiday sacred to many, into another front in the culture war" and seeking to co-mingle religion and government.
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For those of us who can read...
I would welcome a property of Norfolk to be set aside to celebrate the ooming holiday season with displays of the various religios symbolisms. It is a time of national celebration that does not violate the First Amendment because the Congress is not creating a national/state sponsored religion.
The "REVEREND" is a lawyer in actuality and he is paid to lobby against any form of people reaching for the God of their understanding.
For the previous comments put upon these pages - besides espousing hatred and the inability to logical prove your point...if this were a newspaper and I had a birdcage...
The Great Set UP!
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli is at it again. This time a little planning to set up the big story.Playing around with religion and politics to make a big name for himself. It is obvious that Ken imagines himself to be some form of "Purist" on a crusade to cast out the homosexuals,the scientist,and all the religions of the world except of course his.Now he is playing a little game. A game that will lead into a big fat mess.Father Cuccinelli has a big imagination. He seems to believe that he can go back in time to 1689 and transform Virginia into the town of Salem.Was Ken elected to the office of AG? Or has he become some kind of Ordained Minister with the law on his side to Purify Virginia into his little Narrow minded and constipated world? Get ready for the big show Virginian's, buckle your seat belts because you are in for a very bumpy and ugly road ahead.
The Far Side
Anyone who may have been following the mad antics of Ken Cuccinelli know very well that any thing he does will be controversial,politically one sided and always based on his own personally beliefs no matter how wacky they may be. One will also know that a week will not past without his Picture in the news. He may be the "Attorney General" but a "Attorney General" that has no respect for the Law. The sacred office is nothing now but a tool, to be used or abused at his discretion, or whim to further the agendas of Ken Cuccinelli, whatever the heck they are. Ken Cuccinelli, is a loose cannon. Someday the cannon ball will fire into one big mess for the Governor, the State of Virginia, the Republican Party, and most importantly the citizens of Virginia.
Blasted = to disagree
Part of todays problems is the misleading headlines. A while back there was a game where someone would read an "National Enquirer" headline and and the others tried to guess what the story was about. Now that game could be played with almost any newspaper or news sow. Try it.e