{"id":4268,"date":"2011-07-15T00:49:26","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T04:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=4268"},"modified":"2011-07-15T00:49:31","modified_gmt":"2011-07-15T04:49:31","slug":"attorney-atheist-lawsuit-same-as-declaring-texas-governor-cant-attend-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/07\/attorney-atheist-lawsuit-same-as-declaring-texas-governor-cant-attend-church","title":{"rendered":"Attorney: Atheist lawsuit same as declaring Texas governor can’t attend church"},"content":{"rendered":"

An atheist organization is suing Texas Governor Rick Perry, a possible presidential candidate, for initiating a private prayer event scheduled for August 6 in Houston.<\/p>\n

The Freedom from Religion Foundation is suing in federal court over Perry’s upcoming prayer event that is sponsored and promoted by the American Family Association (AFA). The press release states that the pro-family group “promotes a rabid evangelical Christian agenda that is hostile to nonbelievers, non-Christians and other protected groups, such as gays and lesbians.”<\/p>\n

“It’s amazing to me that they’ve never sued President Obama for ending any speeches with ‘God bless you’ or doing other things of a religious nature,” notes Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for Liberty Institute. “It’s as if these separationists don’t understand that even our elected officials are still citizens of this country and enjoy the vast freedoms that are provided by the Constitution.”<\/p>\n

The August 6 rally is a private event, and Sasser argues that the governor’s decision is his personal business.<\/p>\n

“This is tantamount to a lawsuit declaring Governor Perry is unable to attend church on Sundays,” he decides. “It’s the most outrageous thing I’ve ever seen.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE to read more<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An atheist organization is suing Texas Governor Rick Perry, a possible presidential candidate, for initiating a private prayer event scheduled for August 6 in Houston. The Freedom from Religion Foundation is suing in federal court over Perry’s upcoming prayer event that is sponsored and promoted by the American Family Association (AFA). The press release states…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[674,32],"tags":[2232,1111],"class_list":["post-4268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atheist","category-christian","tag-atheist","tag-governor-rick-perry"],"yoast_head":"\nAttorney: Atheist lawsuit same as declaring Texas governor can't attend church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/07\/attorney-atheist-lawsuit-same-as-declaring-texas-governor-cant-attend-church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Attorney: Atheist lawsuit same as declaring Texas governor can't attend church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An atheist organization is suing Texas Governor Rick Perry, a possible presidential candidate, for initiating a private prayer event scheduled for August 6 in Houston. 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