“The (6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals) was compelled to state the self-evident: The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state. …However, the ACLU and its apologists over the decades have managed to convince a majority of Americans otherwise, according to the American Family Association of Michigan.”
(more…)

“The American Family Association (of Michigan)…urged the city (of Berkley) not to surrender to the ACLU in an e-mail to city officials that said its legal staff would defend the Christmas display — for free — in court. If Berkley accepted the offer, the AFA said it may take the issue all the way to the Supreme Court. …(AFA-Michigan) was drawn to Berkley when officials refused to accept the ultimatum from the ACLU…’Thank you for refusing to be intimidated, bullied or bluffed by the American Civil Liberties Union’s annual anti-Christmas campaign,’ Gary Glenn, AFA-Michigan president, wrote to city officials.”
(more…)

Values group hails unanimous decision Tuesday

6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals:
“The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state.”

CINCINNATI — In an astounding return to judicial interpretation of the actual text of the United States Constitution, a unanimous panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Tuesday issued an historic decision declaring that “the First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state.”

In upholding a Kentucky county’s right to display the Ten Commandments, the panel called the American Civil Liberties Union’s repeated claims to the contrary “extra-constitutional” and “tiresome.”

See Cincinnat Enquirer.

See page 13 of full Court of Appeals decision.

“Patriotic Americans should observe a day of prayer and thanksgiving for this stunning and historic reversal of half a century of misinformation and judicial distortion of the document that protects our religious freedoms,” said Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan.

“We are particularly excited that such an historic, factual, and truth-based decision is now a controlling precedent for the federal Court of Appeals that rules on all Michigan cases,” Glenn said.

6th Circuit Judge Richard Suhrheinrich wrote in the unanimous decision: “The ACLU makes repeated reference to the ’separation of church and state.’ This extra-constitutional construct has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state. Our nation’s history is replete with governmental acknowledgment and in some cases, accommodation of religion.”

The words “separation of church and state” do not appear in the U.S. Constitution, though according to polls, a majority of Americans have been misled to believe that they do, Glenn said. For background information, see: http://www.answers.com/topic/separation-of-church-and-state-in-the-united-states

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005

CONTACT: American Family Association of Michigan
Gary Glenn, President 989-835-7978
Tracey Lee, Attorney 248-535-2095

AFA-Michigan commends city officials’ rebuff of ACLU threat to Nativity scene and Star of David

Family group offers to defend Berkley Christmas display at no cost to taxpayers

BERKLEY, Mich. — A statewide traditional values organization Tuesday offered to defend in court the city of Berkley’s annual Christmas display, including its 65-year old Nativity scene and a Star of David, at no expense to city taxpayers.

The offer by the American Family Association of Michigan came in response to Monday night’s Berkley city council meeting, during which city officials rebuffed an ultimatum from a representative of the American Civil Liberties Union to immediately remove the display or be sued. (See Daily Tribune here.)

AFA-Michigan President Gary Glenn, in an e-mail message Tuesday evening to Mayor Marilyn Stephan and Berkley city council members, commended city officials for “calling (the ACLU’s) bluff” and offered to provide free legal representation for the city should the ACLU follow through on its threat.

“Through the generosity of families who volunteer their financial support specifically to address issues such as the ACLU grinches’ annual anti-Christmas campaign,” Glenn wrote, “the American Family Association of Michigan and our national legal counsel, the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, offer to provide legal counsel and representation to the city of Berkley free of charge, at no expense whatsoever to taxpayers, and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.”

The full text of Glenn’s message to Berkley city officials follows:

—————————————————————-

December 20, 2005

Dear Madame Mayor and Council Members:

Thank you for refusing to be intimidated, bullied, or bluffed by the American Civil Liberties Union’s annual anti-Christmas campaign.

We describe their threat of a lawsuit against the city of Berkley as a “bluff” because ACLU attorneys know full well that the issue they raise has been thoroughly litigated and that the U.S. Supreme has upheld the constitutional right of local governments to publicly display Nativity scenes in recognition of the origins of the secularly-recognized Christmas holiday.

The United States Constitution’s only reference to religious freedom is the following passage from the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

Obviously, the City of Berkley’s decision to publicly display a Nativity scene (and a Star of David) in its holiday display involves no making of any law by Congress, and just as obviously involves no establishment of any religion.

The grinches at ACLU headquarters hope to steal the city of Berkley’s Christmas traditions nonetheless by making threats they hoped would bluff you, out of ignorance, into surrendering your Constitutional rights and traditions. Again, we appreciate your being knowledgeable and courageous enough to call their bluff.

Now it’s put up or shut up for the ACLU grinches, and Councilman Benton is quoted in Tuesday’s Daily Tribune as expressing concern that the threatened litigation “could be a costly legal battle.”

If you will allow us the privilege, we hope to remove from your future decision-making on this issue any concern you may have for the potential cost of litigation to Berkley taxpayers.

Through the generosity of families who volunteer their financial support specifically to address issues such as the ACLU grinches’ annual anti-Christmas campaign, the American Family Association of Michigan and our national legal counsel, the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy, offer to provide legal counsel and representation to the city of Berkley free of charge, at no expense whatsoever to taxpayers, and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Should you decide to accept this offer, you can make all future decisions to protect the Christmas traditions of your community based on the principle involved, without concern for any expense to Berkley taxpayers.

Thank you for your stand and your consideration.

Merry Christmas!

Respectfully,

Gary Glenn, President
American Family Association of Michigan
# # #

GETHOLY.COM
Jackson, Michigan
December 12, 2005

“Great thinkers” prove homosexuality is not natural
by Fr. Jeffrey Robideau (fr@getholy.com)

The great scholars of the universities, much to their dismay, prove the Church’s point.

The University of Michigan is offering a course entitled, “How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation.�

Answer me this: If homosexuality is so natural, why does one need to learn “How to be Gay?�
(more…)

“Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan…said he recently shared with his 11-year-old daughter that doll-maker American Girl was financially supporting an organization that promotes abortion on demand and…promotion of the homosexual lifestyle among teenage girls. ‘With no prompting whatsoever, she…put all of her American Girl dolls and clothes into the closet,’ Glenn said. ‘I think that was the act of a pure conscience. When she heard that this corporation was using our family’s money to promote things we don’t believe in, she, in her little way, did what she thought appropriate to take a stand against that. And of course, our family will not be spending any more money with American Girl, and we’ve told them so.’”
(more…)

“The American Family Association of Michigan condemned the Tollgate Woods subdivision for ordering the Novi homeowners to remove the figures of the Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Three Wise Men from their lawn. The organization even offered to provide the Samonas free legal representation and to pay up to $100 a week in fines the neighborhood association was threatening to levy against the family until the Christian nativity scene was removed.”
(more…)

DETROIT FREE PRESS
Detroit, Michigan
December 6, 2005

Ford to pull ads from publications that cater to gays
Automaker says it didn’t cave in to conservative group

by Michael Ellis and Kortney Stringer
Free Press Business Writers

Ford Motor Co. said Monday that its Jaguar and Land Rover brands will stop advertising in magazines that cater to gay and lesbian people, but the automaker denied that it struck a secret deal with a conservative Christian group to pull its ads to avert a boycott.

Ford’s denial came only hours after 17 gay and lesbian groups said they expect to meet with Ford this week to discuss a rumored confidential agreement between Ford and the 2-million-member American Family Association to halt advertising.
(more…)

AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION OF MICHIGAN

Click here to download the petition to STOP the University of Michigan from using my tax dollars to pay for the class entitled

“HOW TO BE GAY: MALE HOMOSEXUALITY AND INITIATION�

The University of Michigan Fall 2005 Catalogue states that our tax-funded university this fall is offering students at Ann Arbor a class entitled, “How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality & Initiation.� The catalogue course description states that the class “will examine the general topic of the role that initiation plays in the formation of gay identity� and that “the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand.� We urge Gov. Granholm, the Legislature, and the University of Michigan Board of Regents to do everything possible to stop U-M officials from using our tax dollars to recruit students into a class whose stated purpose is to “experiment� in the “initiation� of teenage males into a high-risk lifestyle of homosexual behavior.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, brings back “How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality & Initiation”

Family group renews criticism of tax-funded college class “How to be Gay”

U-M catalogue calls class “an experiment in the very process of initiation it hopes to understand.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A statewide family values group Monday renewed its criticism of a controversial University of Michigan class — offered this fall for the first time since 2003 — again calling on state lawmakers to pressure university officials to drop the course altogether.

The American Family Association of Michigan, in a letter to supporters statewide, condemned U-M for again offering the class, titled “How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality & Initiation.”

“Every time U-M offers this ludicrous class, you and I cannot fail to speak out against it,” Glenn wrote. “And we must take full advantage every time of the invaluable opportunity to point to (the class) as proof of homosexual activists’ ‘political militancy,’ to expose their use of our public education system to indoctrinate young people, and to hold accountable those politically correct or timid politicians who stand silently by and do nothing to stop it.”
(more…)

“His organization ‘relies on the Thomas More Law Center as a faithful and extremely effective ally in promoting and defending the traditional family values shared by most Americans,’ said Gary Glenn, president of American Family Association of Michigan, an organization best known for fighting gay rights.”
(more…)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, Dec. 5, 2005

CONTACT: Gary Glenn 989-835-7978
Professor David Halperin 734-647-5884

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, brings back “How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality & Initiation”

U-M catalogue calls class “an experiment in the very process of initiation it hopes to understand.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A statewide family values group Monday renewed its criticism of a controversial University of Michigan class — offered this fall for the first time since 2003 — again calling on state lawmakers to pressure university officials to drop the course altogether.

The American Family Association of Michigan, in a letter to supporters statewide, condemned U-M for again offering the class, titled “How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality & Initiation.”

“Every time U-M offers this ludicrous class, you and I cannot fail to speak out against it,” Glenn wrote. “And we must take full advantage every time of the invaluable opportunity to point to (the class) as proof of homosexual activists’ ‘political militancy,’ to expose their use of our public education system to indoctrinate young people, and to hold accountable those politically correct or timid politicians who stand silently by and do nothing to stop it.”
(more…)

This commerical is perhaps the most effective mainstream marketing of the pro-life message of all time:

http://www.gemedicalsystems.com/rad/us/video/4d-100k.rm

Gary

UPDATE: Thanks to some quick work by our faithful allies at the Thomas More Law Center, the neighborhood association mentioned below has already apologized in writing to the Samonas and even sent them a “holiday” fruit basket, which the family forwarded to a local charity. Salute and Merry Christmas to this courageous family and our friends at TMLC.

Gary Glenn, President
AFA-Michigan

AFA-Michigan offers to pay fines, legal fees for Novi homeowners

Group says neighborhood Nativity ban discriminates against Christians, compares to race-based covenants

NOVI, Mich. — A Novi neighborhood association’s attempt to ban Christmas decorations that feature the Baby Jesus and other Biblical figures associated with the birth of Christ is as blatantly unlawful, unconstitutional, and discriminatory toward Christians as neighborhood covenants that once prohibited African-Americans from purchasing homes, a statewide family values group charged Wednesday.
(more…)