Two favored bills of the religious extremists and Christian Taliban at The Family Foundation were vetoed by Governor Terry McAuliffe and those vetoes were sustained at yesterday's veto session of the Virginia General Assembly. Like most of the efforts of far right Christian extremists, the bills had been described as needed to protect the religious liberties of "persecuted" Christians. In truth, however, the bills would have allowed the Christofascists to trample on the rights of others. In the alternate universe of the Christofascists, anytime they are barred from forcing their beliefs on others, they are being "persecuted." Blue Virginia looks at the two bills that thankfully will not become law:
Gov. McAuliffe's vetoes were upheld today in the Virginia General Assembly, in particular SB 236 ("codifies right to religious viewpoint expression") and SB 555 ("Prohibits censorship by state government officials or agencies of the religious content of sermons made by chaplains of the Virginia National Guard") by right-wing extremist, Sen. Dick Black.I'm sure there will be whining and flying spittle at The Family Foundation. Hopefully, as Virginia's demographics change The Family Foundation will see more and more legislative defeats.
As the Virginia ACLU wrote about SB 555, "a military chaplain acting in his or her official role does not have the right to use official mandatory events as a platform to disseminate his or her own religious view."
And with regard to SB 236, the Virginia ACLU explained: the bill "would have compelled schools to sponsor student prayer at official school events where students and other members of the school community are a captive audience, such as graduations, assemblies, and sporting events. This bill, while touted as bill to protect religious freedom, would have had the opposite effect, by subjecting students to religious coercion."
Both were blatant violations of the separation of church and state, and richly deserved to have their vetoes sustained.
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