GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments Today in Church-State Separation Case

Today the United States Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments in an important case involving the separation of church and state. The case is The American Legion v. American Humanist Association and involves a 93-year-old World War 1 memorial called the Bladensburg Peace Cross erected on public lands and maintained using public funds in Bladensburg, Maryland.

The questions before the Court are:

(1) Whether a 93-year-old memorial to the fallen of World War I is unconstitutional merely because it is shaped like a cross; (2) whether the constitutionality of a passive display incorporating religious symbolism should be assessed under the tests articulated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, Van Orden v. Perry, Town of Greece v. Galloway or some other test; and (3) whether, if the test from Lemon v. Kurtzman applies, the expenditure of funds for the routine upkeep and maintenance of a cross-shaped war memorial, without more, amounts to an excessive entanglement with religion in violation of the First Amendment.

NPR's Nina Totenberg claims that the Court is expected to reverse the 4th Circuit's holding that the monument has the "primary effect of endorsing religion and excessively entangles the government in religion." The real question is how far will the Court's conservative majority go in dismantling the wall between church and state in this case?

Hat/tip to SCOTUSblog

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Most Americans Believe In Church-State Separation

A new poll from the Pew Research Center re-affirms the notion that most Americans believe that religion and government policy should be separated. This idea is usually described as a "wall between church and state." More than twice as many support church-state separation than those that think the two should be intertwined.

When it comes to religion’s role in government policy, most Americans think the two should be kept separate from one another. About two-thirds (65%) say religion should be kept separate from government policies, compared with 32% who say government policies should support religious values and beliefs. 

A narrow majority of Republicans and Republican leaners (54%) say religion should be kept separate from government policies. However, conservative Republicans are evenly split; 49% say government policies should support religious values and beliefs, while 48% think religion should be kept separate from policy. By roughly two-to-one (67% to 31%), moderate and liberal Republicans say religion should be kept separate from government policy. 

Among Democrats and Democratic leaners, 76% think religion should be kept separate from government policies. A wide 86% majority of liberal Democrats say this; a somewhat smaller majority of conservative and moderate Democrats (69%) take this view. 

White evangelical Protestants are one group where a narrow majority says government policies should support religion: 54% say this, while 43% say religion should be kept separate from policy. In comparison, majorities of both black Protestants (55%) and white mainline Protestants (70%) think religion should be separate from government policy.

In fact the only sub-group that supports the idea that government should support religion are white Evangelical protestants. And, coincidentally, members of this group voted overwhelmingly for the Trump-Pence 2016 ticket and the Trump administration has multiple members of this group in the Cabinet (Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, III and Vice-President Mike Pence). What impact this will have on public policy is extremely worrying to godless people like yours truly.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Is This Cross A "Secular Monument"?

There is a federal lawsuit ongoing around the cross shown in the image at the top of this post. A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that this large christian cross in Bayview Park in Pensacola, Florida must be removed within 30 days.

The attorneys-general of 14 states have filed an amicus brief saying that this cross is a "secular monument." Here are some excerpts:

"The mere fact that these monuments consist of crosses and other religious symbols does not negate their secular purpose or their historical and cultural significance."  

and 

"Ultimately, if it were accepted by this Court, the district court’s reasoning would threaten countless monuments across the Circuit. As detailed in the City’s appendix, state and local parks, squares, and government buildings boast veterans’ memorials that contain religious imagery, including crosses, citations to scripture, and the like."

That is exactly the point! There are so many government buildings which include religious imagery that are claimed to have "historical" and "societal" significance when the religious message is clear to others. The question is who will the federal judiciary agree with?

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Hateful San Antonio Mayor Loses Re-election

Today's Godless Wednesday is about bad things happening to people who attack godless people. Ivy Taylor was the mayor of San Antonio, Texas (which is the 7th most populous city in the United States) when she said that one cause of poverty is a failure to believe in God. This was pretty shocking, but happily Ms. Taylor received her comeuppance soon afterwards, when she lost her bid for re-election to Ron Nirenberg. The Friendly Atheist comments:

The mayor’s remarks about poverty reflect an astonishing and willful ignorance. Perhaps more important, there is something deliberately cruel and profoundly vicious in Taylor’s attempt to claim the root cause of poverty is people who don’t share her religious superstition, and that those individuals who do not share her religious superstition are somehow “broken people.”

 [...] 

Bottom line: Mayor Taylor is an intolerant conservative Christian with no respect for poor people or atheists. Her remarks indicate a callous and insensitive disregard for both. As such, she has no business serving as Mayor of San Antonio.

Hear, hear!

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: British Atheists Test Irish Blasphemy Law

British atheists Richard Dawkins and Stephen Fry are testing Ireland's blasphemy law . Dawkins posted the following letter to the editor which has an excerpt from his best-selling book, The God Delusion:

Sir, – As a gesture of solidarity with Stephen Fry, I quote a sentence from my book, The God Delusion: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
Every one of these adjectives is amply documented, with full biblical citations, in Dan Barker’s book, God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction. 

I shall be giving a public lecture in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, on June 12th, and I shall therefore be available for arrest on a charge of blasphemy. – Yours, etc, 

RICHARD DAWKINS,
New College,
Oxford.

It will be interesting to see what  happens (if anything) to Fry or Dawkins as they challenge the idea that blasphemy laws should exist in a 21st century democracy.

Apparently the fine under the Irish blasphemy law is €25,000 (roughly $27,000). The text of the statute, according to the Independent, makes it illegal to use words that are:

"grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred to any religion,  thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion."

Wild!

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Montana House Candidate Believes In Creationsm

There has been a lot of talk in political circles over the special election in Georgia's 6th congressional district, but not much about another special election that is upcoming for Montana's at-large congressional seat which was vacated when Ryan Zinke became Secretary of the Interior.

The most prominent Republican candidate in the special election to replace Zinke is Greg Gianforte, who is a tech millionaire who has used money from his family foundation to support the belief that the earth is 6,000 years old, Huffington Post reports.

Just in time for today's Godless Wednesday, The Friendly Atheist has published an excerpt of an interview with a reporter where Gianforte "doubles down" on his creationist views:

MAUK: Your position on evolution has come up in past campaigns because of your support, primarily, of the Glendive museum. Do you personally believe in evolution?
GIANFORTE: I personally believe, as many Montanans do, that God created the Earth.
MAUK: But do you believe, personally, in evolution?
GIANFORTE: I believe that God created the Earth. I wasn’t there, I don’t know how long it took. I don’t know how he did it exactly. But I look around me at the grandeur in this state and I believe that God created the Earth.
MAUK: And so evolution is not something that you believe in?
GIANFORTE: Um, I think I’ve answered your question.

I believe everyone running for public office should be asked, "Do you believe the Earth is less than 4 billion years old?" and if they give some weasly answer like "I wasn't there" or "I don't know" or "I am not a scientist" they should be asked "What other undisputed scientific facts do you not know or personally believe in? Do you believe the Earth is round? Do you believe the Earth revolves around the Sun? Do you believe in the germ theory of disease? Do you believe in antibiotic resistance?"

FYI, the March for Science is happening this Saturday April 22 in Washington, DC  and around the country and the world.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: FFRF Full Page NYT Ad On First Amendment

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has a full page ad in tomorrow's New York Times (in honor of Bill of Rights day) with the provocative(?) headline "Don't Let The Religious Right Trump The First Amendment" with a picture of Indiana Governor (and Vice-President Elect) Mike Pence and a portrait of Founding Father (former President) James Madison. The advertisement also includes the statement "The framers of our secular constitution knew the only wall we need is between church and state." MadProfessah is a proud member of FFRF so I am happy to publicize this effort of promoting "free-thinking."

hat/tip to Friendly Atheist

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Mormons Trying To Influence Ballot Measures in Western States (AZ,CO,CA,NV)

The Mormon Church notoriously (and somewhat disastrously) got involved with a California ballot measure in 2008 called Proposition 8 that purported to amend the United States California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage that was eventually struck down in a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision on June 26, 2013. has decided that it didn't learn its lesson 8 years ago and is getting involved in opposing a series of ballot measures involving social issues in various West Coast states.

The Deseret News reports:

The LDS Church's First Presidency is asking the faith's members in four western states to oppose bills that would legalize doctor-assisted suicide and recreational marijuana use.
Church President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors sent a letter Wednesday to Mormons in Colorado, where Proposition 106 would legalize physician-assisted suicide. 

"We urge church members to let their voices be heard in opposition to measures that would legalize physician-assisted suicide," said the letter signed by President Monson, President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who make up the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

They sent a similar letter Wednesday to Mormons in Arizona, California and Nevada about marijuana legislation.
"We urge church members to let their voices be heard in opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana use," the letter said.

The Mormon Church does not get involved in political issues very often (which is one reason their involvement in the Proposition 8 fight over same-sex marriage was so striking) so it is noteworthy that they are urging their adherents in California, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada to follow the Church's leadership instead of voting their conscience in these particular matters. It's also interesting that the LDS Church did not weigh in on Proposition 62 (abolish death penalty) and Proposition 66 (maintain death penalty) in California.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Americans Moving Away From Religion

NPR reported on a poll by the Pew Research Center which demonstrates that the United States is becoming less religious.  The findings can be summarized as:

• The share of Americans who say they are "absolutely certain" that God exists has dropped 8 percentage points, from 71 percent to 63 percent, since 2007, when the last comparable study was made.

• The percentage of adults who describe themselves as "religiously affiliated" has shrunk 6 points since 2007, from 83 percent to 77 percent.

• The shares of the U.S. adult population who consider religion "very important" to them, pray daily and attend services at least once a month have declined between 3 and 4 percentage points over the past eight years.

The key statistics to know is that the percentage of Americans who describe their religion as "nothing in particular" are now 23% of the population, up from 16%.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Oklahoma Has (Finally!) Removed 10 Commandments Monument

Good news! The state of Oklahoma is no longer violating its own constitution by promoting religion (Christianity) on the state Capitol grounds. About two weeks ago, workers quietly removed the large two-ton stone monument to the Ten Commandments which has been in the news several times over the last year (October 2014, July 2015).

Slate reports:

A Ten Commandments monument planted on the grounds of the Oklahoma Capitol was quietly removed on Monday night, after years of quarreling over the 6-foot, 4,800-pound granite slab’s presence at the statehouse. The court-ordered relocation puts to rest the divisive issue, but perhaps only temporarily—conservative lawmakers are considering a (state) Constitutional amendment to bring the monument back. 

“Originally authorized by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2009, the privately funded monument has been a lightning rod for controversy since it was erected in 2012, prompting a lawsuit from Bruce Prescott, a Baptist minister from Norman who complained it violated the state constitution,” the Associated Press reports. “The [move] comes after the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision in June that the display violates a state constitutional prohibition on the use of public property to support ‘any sect, church, denomination or system of religion.’" 

“Oklahoma is the latest in a string of states, cities and school districts to grapple with whether government display of the Ten Commandments violates the First Amendment’s prohibition on any ‘law respecting an establishment of religion,' or similar provisions in state constitutions,” according to the New York Times. “Courts have prohibited displays for religious purposes, while allowing those for broader cultural reasons, leading to mixed results in legal challenges.”

Here at MadProfessah.com we will keep you posted on the developments! For all of your godless heathens in Oklahoma, you can breathe easier knowing that your state government is no longer officially declaring the non-religious to be second class citizens by violating the separation of church and state.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Ben Carson Believes In A Religious Test For Public Office

Ben Carson is a retired neuroscientist running for the Republican nomination for President. He has made headlines in the last week for saying things that demonstrate his extreme religious beliefs and his dubious understanding of the U.S. constitution.

"I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that."

Somehow, I don't think Dr. Carson understands (or maybe he disagrees with?) Article VI, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz both responded informing Dr. Carson of the existence of the constitutional prohibition on religious tests for elected office in the United States. Cruz said "The Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test for public office, and I'm a constitutionalist." While Mrs. Clinton tweeted her response.

You know you might want to consider your position if both Senator Cruz and Secretary Clinton are both opposing you AND citing the U.S. constitution in support of their (op)position.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Rogue Kentucky County Clerk Demonstrating Necessity Of Church-State Separation

In case one needed more evidence of why the separation of church-state is so important, the ongoing saga of  Kim Davis (the rogue Rowan County, Kentucky clerk) who has been refusing to issue marriage licenses despite exhausting all her possible legal avenues. (The United States Supreme Court denied her request for a stay on an order from a federal district court judge to issues marriage licenses on Monday night.)

On Tuesday, Davis responded to a question asking what authority she was using to continue denying marriage licenses to duly qualified married couples by saying "God's authority."

Davis and her Deputy Clerks have been ordered to appear in court on Thursday to explain to federal judge David Bunning why she should not be sanctioned (held on contempt of court) for not following his court order. Maybe this saga will be over soon and the proper relationship between church and state will be restored.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Oklahoma Refuses To Remove Religious Monument From Capitol Grounds

The saga of the status of the religious monument on the grounds of the capitol in Tulsa, Oklahoma keeps on going and going despite the fact that the state supreme court ruled it was unconstitutional.

The latest news is that the Governor has said the monument will stay in place during appeals and legislators are trying to amend the state constitution to remove the provision that the state court used to base their ruling.

Gov. Mary Fallin says the monument will remain at the Capitol while appeals and constitutional changes are considered. 

“Oklahoma is a state where we respect the rule of law, and we will not ignore the state courts or their decisions. However, we are also a state with three co-equal branches of government. At this time, Attorney General Scott Pruitt, with my support, has filed a petition requesting a rehearing of the Ten Commandments case. Additionally, our Legislature has signaled its support for pursuing changes to our state Constitution that will make it clear the Ten Commandments monument is legally permissible. If legislative efforts are successful, the people of Oklahoma will get to vote on the issue.”

Hmm, watch this space. It will be interesting to see how the Court deals with the request for rehearing. Maybe next time they will base their ruling on the U.S. constitution not the state constitution.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Oklahoma's Ten Commandments Monument Violates State Constitution

The Oklahoma State Supreme Court has finally ruled that the Ten Commandments Monument at the state capitol that was previously demolished by a crazy person and then rebuilt violates the state's constitutional separation of church and state.

Friendly Atheist analyzed the decision:

The ruling is very clear about what the law says and how obviously this monument violates it:
The text of Article 2, Section 5 [of the State Constitution]…:

“No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.”
The plain intent of Article 2, Section 5 is to ban State Government, its officials, and its subdivisions from using public money or property for the benefit of any religious purpose. Use of the words “no,” “ever,” and “any” reflects the broad and expansive reach of the ban.…
As concerns the “historic purpose” justification, the Ten Commandments are obviously religious in nature and are an integral part of the Jewish and Christian faiths.

In other words, what the hell were you all thinking putting this monument up in the first place?! 

The Justices made clear that, unlike a previous Supreme Court case, this wasn’t about whether Oklahoma’s monument violated the First Amendment. It violated the state’s Constitution, and that’s all that matters.

Amusingly, both Satanists and Hindus were petitioning to have monuments also appear at the State Capitol grounds but now the Oklahoma Supreme Court has correctly ruled that religious displays on state property are unconstitutional.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Where Are The Godless? See The Map!

Gallup has published data on how the states compare on weekly church attendance, which I am taking as a proxy for "godlessness" (i.e. the less likely you attend church weekly the more godless you are.) The most "godly" states are the usual suspects of Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. I'm sure Texas must be very upset that it's tied for tenth place with 39% of respondents saying they attend services weekly. It should be noted that even in Utah a bare majority say they go to church once a week.

Joe Jervis prints this map indicating the various geographical distributions of the rates of church-attendance around the country:

California is surprisingly high, no?

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Religious Theme Park Suing Kentucky For State Funds

Ark Encounter is a "Biblical" theme park being built by Answers in Genesis, the people who brought you the Creation Museum which features humans and dinosaurs frolicking together. AIG has decided to sue the state of Kentucky in federal court for denying previously announced tax rebates to the Ark Encounter theme park because AIG refuses to follow state and federal laws against discriminating on the basis of religious belief. In order to be able to work at Ark Encounter you must attest to the "biblical truth" that the great flood happened and that humanity continued only because there were humans in an Ark. Godless or believers in other religion need not apply for employment there. Needless to say, Kentucky realized it could not use state funds to support such a project. But AIG is suing anyway:

Answers in Genesis (AiG), developer of the Ark Encounter theme park in Northern Kentucky, confirmed today it is filing a federal lawsuit against state officials for denying the park participation in the state’s tax rebate incentive program. Although the program is available to all qualifying tourist attractions seeking to build in the state, AiG’s application was rejected solely because of the religious identity and message of AiG. The lawsuit explains how this action by Kentucky officials, including Gov. Steve Beshear, violates federal and state law and amounts to unlawful viewpoint discrimination.
[...]
After Kentucky granted preliminary approval in 2014 for AiG to receive a rebate of some of the new state sales taxes the Ark will generate after it opens in 2016, secularist organizations exerted tremendous pressure on state officials to rescind the approval. Anti-Christian groups objected to AiG’s statutory right to limit its hiring to people of the Christian faith, and to the content of the messages that will be presented at the Bible-themed park. Bowing to this pressure, state officials (including Gov. Beshear) announced a reversal on December 10, 2014. Included as defendants in the lawsuit are Gov. Beshear and Robert Stewart, Kentucky’s Secretary of the Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet.

Hat/tip to Joe Jervis

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Mississippi Heritage Amendment Proposed To Declare Christianity "Principal Religion"

Whoa! Mississippi may be considering a state constitutional amendment in 2016 that would, among other things, declare "Christianity" the "principal" religion of the state, and insert the words "Holy Bible" into the founding document of the Magnolia State. The Magnolia State Heritage Amendment reads, in part:

The State of Mississippi hereby acknowledges the fact of her identity as a principally Christian and quintessentially Southern state, in terms of the majority of her population, character, culture, history, and heritage, from 1817 to the present; accordingly, the Holy Bible is acknowledged as a foremost source of her founding principles, inspiration, and virtues; and, accordingly, prayer is acknowledged as a respected, meaningful, and valuable custom of her citizens. The acknowledgments hereby secured shall not be construed to transgress either the national or the state Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

In case you think  I am making this up, here is the official summary of the amendment from the Mississippi Secretary of State's office:

Initiative #46 would amend the Constitution to restrict or define Mississippi’s heritage in the following areas: religion, official language, state flag, nickname, song, motto and state university mascots. Further, the initiative would prevent the consolidation of Alcorn State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi University for Women, and Mississippi Valley State University, designate the month of April “Confederate Heritage Month,” and reinstate Mississippi’s Constitutional boundaries.

I guess Mississippi does not have the legal requirement that ballot measures restrict themselves to dealing with one topic! Oh, and it also insists that the state government can not offer government services in any other language than English. Is "y'all" English? I guess well find out if the measure qualifies for the ballot and voters get to see the measure in November 2016.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Federal Judge Declares Secular Humanism A Religion

This is interesting news that seems perfect for Godless Wednesday. Think Progress reports that a federal judge has ruled that secular humanism must be considered a religion, and that its adherents must be granted the same special rights that the state offers to religious people.

On Thursday, October 30, Senior District Judge Ancer Haggerty issued a ruling on American Humanist Association v. United States, a case that was brought by the American Humanist Association (AHA) and Jason Holden, a federal prisoner. Holden pushed for the lawsuit because he wanted Humanism — which the AHA defines as “an ethical and life-affirming philosophy free of belief in any gods and other supernatural forces” — recognized as a religion so that his prison would allow for the creation of a Humanist study group. Haggerty sided with the plaintiffs in his decision, citing existing legal precedent and arguing that denying Humanists the same rights as groups such as Christianity would be highly suspect under the Establishment Clause in the U.S. Constitution, which declares that Congress “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” 

“The court finds that Secular Humanism is a religion for Establishment Clause purposes,” the ruling read.

This is an excellent deelopment. Although I do not support the privileged position religion is granted in our society, if that is the situation we have to deal with right now then I support other belief systems like Pastafarianism, secular humanism or even agnosticism be treated like religion as well, if it means that their adherents will receive the same special treatment other religions like Christianity currently receive.

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Oklahoma's Ten Commandments Monument Destroyed By Vandal

This news story about the destruction of a monument of the Ten Commandments at the Oklahoma State Capitol caught my eye. There are multiple interesting aspects of the story, in my opinion. The very first was: Oklahoma has a monument to the Ten Commandments on state property? How is that legal? The second one was, "Good for you, vandal, for ending this violation of church-state separation, although I do not approve of your methods." Third was, I wonder who did it?"

It turns out the person who did it is not a godless heathen, but a different kind of crazy person. According to KFOR:

OKLAHOMA CITY – A man has been taken in for mental evaluation after allegedly vandalizing the Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma State Capitol. 

U.S. Secret Service Agents say it all started after a man walked into the Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City Friday morning making strange threats against the President and Federal Government.
Agents say he then admitted to them that he crashed his car into the Ten Commandments monument at the Capitol, then left his damaged car and walked to the Federal Building.
The Secret Service says the man told them that Satan made him crash his car into the statue.
He also told agents that Satan told him to urinate on the statue.
According to investigators, the man says he is bipolar and had been off his medication for quite some time.

Interestingly the ACLU and the Satanists both condemned the man's actions, with the ACLU saying it was "outraged at this apparent act of vandalism" while the Satanic Temple says it still wants a monument next to the Ten Commandments one,"we want it to compliment and contrast the Ten Commandments, with both standing unmolested as a testament to American religious freedom and tolerance."

Wouldn't it just be easier if we followed the law and legal principle that the state shall not endorse or promote any religion by refusing to enact monuments with clear religious meanings on state property maintained by taxpayer funds? I'm jus' saying...

GODLESS WEDNESDAY: Trooper Accused Of Proselytizing During Traffic Stop

What kind of hubris does it take for a cop to think that it is acceptable to ask a stopped motorist whether they have a "home church"? Well, Indiana State Police Trooper Brian Hamilton apparently thought so, and now he is getting sued by the ACLU.

The Indianapolis Star reports:

[Ellen] Bogan and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana have filed a lawsuit in federal court against Hamilton. The lawsuit alleges he violated Bogan's First and Fourth Amendment rights when he probed into her religious background and handed her a church pamphlet that asks the reader "to acknowledge that she is a sinner."
[...]
Bogan, who lives in Huntington, said Hamilton asked her about her faith multiple times during the traffic stop. Because he was a trooper and his police car was still parked behind hers, she said she felt she could not leave or refuse questioning.  

"The whole time, his lights were on," Bogan said. "I had no reason to believe I could just pull away at that point, even though I had my warning." Bogan's complaint also claims that Hamilton asked if he could give her something and that he went to his car to retrieve a pamphlet from First Baptist Church in Cambridge City.

This is such an astonishing (and infuriating) story! It is just amazing to me how many times it is just assumed that everyone believes in God and religion should permeate all aspects of life. Asked about your religion at a traffic stop??!!