Tuesday, April 15:
Sherman named "Worst Person in the World" by
Keith Olbermann. Hey,
another journalist playing a pathetic game of Gotcha, rather than reporting
the news. What else is new.In a
desperate attempt to maintain their popularity with the non-atheist
majority, several Caucasian journalists have desperately grasped at a phony
excuse to criticize me by condemning me for referring to
Rep. Monique
Davis, who is a Negro, as being, of all things, a "Negro." The
other two journalists are Eric Zorn of the Tribune and Jonathan Jacobson of
the Daily Illini. They have demanded that I apologize to Rep. Davis
for not using a euphemism, such as Black or African-American, when referring
to her in the context of her being a member of a group that suffered past
discrimination. Rep. Davis seemed to be OK, two weeks ago, with
discrimination against my group, because her group has political clout and
my group doesn't, but she retracted those statements last week. The
White journalists have demanded that I apologize to Rep. Davis for not using
a euphemism that Caucasian journalists approve of. Meanwhile, these
journalists haven't said a word about the elements of my
campaign platform, and that's what's
really important, not grasping for an excuse to be offended. What's
more important to you in my campaign? The elements of my campaign
platform, or a one-time, temporary use of the word, Negro? It would
take much more time, thought and effort to discuss the merits of the
elements of my campaign platform, so is using that particular word the most
important thing that's happened during my campaign or the least?
I do have one confession to make. I carry
around, in my briefcase, a three-page copy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.'s I Have a Dream
speech. As you probably know by now, Dr. King was my # 1 hero when I
was growing up. In the speech, Dr. King talked about withering
injustice. He talked about the manacles of segregation and the chains
of discrimination (I'm writing this without referring back to my briefcase
copy of the speech, since I've read it so many times). He talked about
his people being in exile in their own land. He talked about
conducting the struggle on the high plane of discipline and dignity.
Later, he spoke about having six dreams. First, he had a dream, that
day, that our nation would rise up and live out the true meaning of the
creed, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men were created
equal." Second, he dreamed of the day when, in Georgia, the sons of
former slaves and the sons of former slave owners would sit down, together,
at the table of brotherhood. Next, he dreamed of the day that
Mississippi would be turned from injustice and oppression into an oasis of
freedom and justice. He then said that he dreamed of the day that his
"four little children" would someday be judged by the content of their
character rather than the color of their skin. After that, he said
that he dreamed of the day when Alabama would change from being a place that
is dripping with racism to a place where "little black boys and little black
girls would join hands with little white boys and little white girls as
sisters and brothers." His sixth and final dream had a bunch of
religious-type words that I've always had trouble remembering, but they
sounded really good. He concluded by saying, "Let freedom ring," in
eight example states. Let's see if I can remember all eight, without
looking them up: New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Colorado,
California, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi. There it is, all
eight, in order, without looking them up. You're welcome to test me on
it, any time, as well as the contents of the rest of the speech.
Dr. King also mentioned the word, "Negro,"
fifteen times in his "I Have a Dream Speech."
Here comes my apology. Get ready!
I apologize for trying to be so much like Dr.
King my whole life that, when I was fighting discrimination, I used the same word that
Dr. King repeatedly used when
he was attempting to fight discrimination. What a terrible thing it was, for
me to use the same word that Dr. King used, when fighting for the same thing
that he was fighting for. I guess that's where it came from. You
forced me to psychoanalyze myself. I guess that Dr. King's words are
so much a part of who I am that using his words is the natural thing for me
to do. If being like Dr. King gets me named "Worst Person in the
World," then I'm proud of the title, not sorry about it. At least I've
succeeded in my childhood goal of becoming just like Dr. King. In
fact, I've become so much like Dr. King that I'm being criticized for it by
White people. What else is new? Maybe it's those particular White people,
and anyone else who is grasping for an excuse to be offended so that they
can justify their anti-atheist bigotry with the flimsiest of gotcha's, who have the problem, not me. Imagine that:
There are religious fanatic suicide bombers; mass polluters; the guy who
shut down Saint Xavier College by
spraying graffiti that said everybody was going to die on April 14th; yet
for using the exact same word that Dr. King used, in exactly the same
context that he used them, I'm the Worst Person in the World. Keith
needs to start reading the newspapers to find out who really is doing bad
things in this world. There is no shortage of candidates who actually
merit the title. Keith ought to apologize to me, not the other way
around. He's just trying to play, "Gotcha." Not only that, by
having such a low threshold for what constitutes the Worst Person in the
World, it not only destroys the credibility of the award, it destroys the
credibility of Keith Olbermann as a journalist. Mr. Olbermann is a
comedian, not a journalist, and a lousy comedian at that. However, for
that, Mr. Olbermann doesn't even rate on my Worst Person in the World award
list. He has to get behind those others that I mentioned, as well as
many others who have done bad things far more significant than the truly
insignificant bad thing that Keith said or the proper thing that I said.
Rep. Davis hasn't asked me to apologize.
I haven't heard a word from Rep. Davis, or anybody else from her office,
that they think what I said was improper or offensive. So, later
today, I'm going to call Rep. Davis' office in Springfield to see what she
has to say about this stuff, and while I'm on the phone with her, I'm going
to tell her that I have a dream, today, too. My dream is for Rep.
Davis to sponsor a Resolution that proclaims August 28, 2008, which is the
45th anniversary of Dr. King's speech, and every August 28th, thereafter, "I
Have a Dream Day" in Illinois, as a constant reminder to the people of
Illinois of the values that Dr. King, Rob Sherman and Rep. Davis, too, all
subscribe to. Just the kind of thing that an evil racist would think
up, right? Maybe Keith can name both Dr. King and me as joint winners
of the Worst Person in the World award, if that one gets approved.
While I'm at it, I'm going to call the
United Negro College Fund and
ask them what they think. My guess is, if that word is good enough for
them to still be using it, it's good enough for me to still be using it, but
we'll see. I'll let you know what they say.
The best analogy, however, comes from the
story,
Mr. Atheist goes to Springfield, by Jonathan Jacobson in the
Daily Illini. Jonathan is in
the forefront of those demanding that I apologize to Rep. Davis. In
the fifth paragraph of the
second page of Jonathan's story, Jonathan mocks me for supposedly
campaigning for State Representative from a mobile home. I have never
owned a mobile home in my life, although I have a close friend who lives in
a double-wide. I do, however, own a
motor home, from which I do
some of my campaigning. There's a huge difference between a mobile
home, also known as a house trailer, which has no motor and remains
stationary in a trailer park; and a motor home, which is a
self-propelled vehicle and drives anywhere. Should I demand that
Jonathan apologize to me for that remark? Should he be named today's
Worst Person in the World by Keith? Of course, not. That's
silly. Jonathan didn't know. That doesn't make him a bad person
or even merit characterizing him as being out of touch with the world,
today. Now that he knows, I'm sure he'll use the correct term the next
time. Much more egregious is his fabricating false facts about me,
declaring in his Critical Mass blog story entitled
The Sherman-ator that "I am a bit leery of any man who Googles
his name often enough to find a column written about him at a college
newspaper 150 miles away." I have never
googled my name. Jonathan's assertion is a pure lie. I was
informed about his story by Green Party US Senate candidate Kathy Cummings,
who sent me the following e-mail at 8:19 a.m. on Thursday, April 10th:
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:19 AM
Subject: Re: Monique Davis is your opponent?
Davis' anti-atheist tirade goes
national
Chicago
Tribune, United States - 21 hours ago
Monique Davis (D. Chicago) as
Tuesday's "Worst Person in The World" for her verbal attack
last week on atheist activist Rob Sherman: Davis owes
the witness ...
|
I'm guessing you saw this new label she's gotten, "The Worst Person
in the World" and are making the most of it!
Jacobson then compounds that error by
repeating, without checking it out, Eric Zorn's private speculation to
Jacobson "that Sherman may subscribe to “Google Alerts,” which is
probably how he got wind of your column.”
No, I don't subscribe to Google Alerts. I
have never even heard of such a thing and have no interest in subscribing to
such a service if it does exist. The first rule of journalism is, "If
your mother tells it to you, check it out before you publish it."
Jonathan knows how to contact me, both by e-mail and by phone. It's
just that it's easier to fake it, publish unfounded speculation and lie,
like Jacobson does, rather than search for the truth and verify facts.
No apology has been forthcoming from
Jacobson, and he, like Rep. Davis, did plenty wrong. Rep. Davis
apologized, but she has a long reputation of being a nice and a classy lady.
Now it's Jonathan's turn. I, on the other hand, didn't do anything
wrong.
More after I talk with Rep. Davis.
Monday, April 14:
Younge to postpone consideration of Illinois
"Liturgical Dance Day" Resolution.
Assistant Majority Leader State Rep. Wyvetter Younge (D-East Saint
Louis)
personally called Rob Sherman during the 2:00 hour this afternoon to
promise that she would pull from the agenda
of tomorrow's meeting of the Illinois House of Representatives State
Government Administration Committee
the mis-named Liturgical Dance Day Resolution
for further review and to give her time to investigate Sherman's claim
that the Resolution violates Article I, Section 3
of the Illinois Constitution.
This matter was the subject of a Saturday's "Latest Update," below.
This response demonstrates the ability of Sherman, the Green Party
candidate for State Rep 53rd District
to work, successfully, with the members of the Illinois House of
Representatives, that Sherman gets results, that he gets results
promptly, and that the Illinois House of Representatives takes Sherman's
concerns very seriously.
Saturday, April 12:
Sherman to oppose Illinois "Liturgical
Dance Day" Resolution. Religious ministry organization seeks to trick the
Illinois House into becoming their "partner to ensure that the gospel of
Jesus Christ is preached throughout the world" by falsely implying that the
resolution is about dance, rather than about getting the government to
endorse Christianity.
The
Illinois House of Representatives
and their
State Government Administration Committee is at it, again. This
time, the Committee is set to consider, on Tuesday, April 15th,
HR1124 (House Resolution # 1124) that would declare September 7, 2008,
as
Liturgical Dance Day in the State of Illinois.
Rob Sherman will be there, in
Springfield, to testify at the Committee hearing again, this time to oppose
adoption of HR1124.
This Resolution
should be rejected and voted down for numerous reasons. To begin with,
the Resolution violates two of the principles enunciated in
Article I, Section 3,
of the Illinois
Constitution. First, liturgical dance is, indisputably, a mode of
worship. Article I, Section 3, which is entitled, "Religious Freedom,"
says, in pertinent part, that "No preference shall be given by law to any
mode of worship." That means that the Illinois House of Representatives is
prohibited by the Illinois Constitution from endorsing any particular mode
of worship over all other modes of worship. Abiding by this principle is
especially important at
this particular time, since a member of this same Committee proclaimed,
earlier this month, the children of this state shouldn't be allowed to
know that atheism even exists. Sure, Rep. Davis has apologized and I
accepted her apology, but Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution requires
that the Committee and the House stay out of both sides of the business of
either endorsing or condemning religious opinions and practices.
In addition, the Resolution violates another
principle enunciated in
Article I, Section 3.
The Resolution begins with, "Whereas, every Sunday morning, liturgical dance
is expressed in thousands of ministries across the State of Illinois."
Hey, what about Jews? Lots of Jewish people do liturgical dance, but
their weekly expression of faith in that manner occurs on Friday evenings
and on Saturdays, because that's when their weekly Sabbath occurs.
That same sentence of Article I, Section 3, of the Illinois Constitution, says, in pertinent part, that
"No preference shall be given by law to any religious denomination."
By limiting recognition to those who engage in liturgical dance on Sunday
mornings, the Illinois House is clearly showing a preference for
Christianity over Judaism, over all other religious denominations and over all other
theological opinions, such as atheism. Does the House really want to
go from condemning atheism to endorsing Christianity, all in the same month?
Maybe that's exactly what they want to do, but they shouldn't do it.
The Illinois Constitution prohibits it.
Next, the Resolution goes on to state,
"Whereas, liturgical dance ministers have provided valuable outreach
programs that serve inner city youth..." Hey, what about suburban and
rural youth? They do liturgical dance, too. What about them?
Why does the Resolution endorse the religious practices of inner city youth,
while disregarding the same religious practice when it is engaged in by
other kids?
The Resolution then goes on to say, in
pertinent part, "Whereas, it is only fitting the the members of the Illinois
House of Representatives recognize the dedicated men and women who share
their God-given talents..." It is not fitting at all for the Illinois
House to decide whether or not there is a god, and whether certain talents
are a gift from that particular deity. We didn't elect the Members of the
Illinois legislature for them to decide for us whether or not there is a
god. We sent them there for secular purposes.
You may wonder why the Resolution's sponsor,
State
Representative Wyvetter Younge of East Saint Louis, chose to create such
a resolution and word it that way. The answer is, she didn't. A
virtually identical resolution in Georgia was
adopted
by the Georgia House on March 28, 2007. A similar
proclamation by the Governor of South Carolina was made on April 30,
2005. The Illinois Resolution concludes with, "Resolved, that a
suitable copy of this resolution be presented to
Ms. Lakita Humber of the
International Dance Commission (IDC)," which is the secular cover
name for International Dance Ministry. This purported commission isn't
a commission at all. "Commission" is a name for an organization that
is involved in secular activity. The IDC isn't even a
non-denominational advocate of liturgical dancing by any and all faiths.
The International Dance Commission is really just the Lakita Humber
Christian Dance Ministry, and Ms. Humber wants the stamp of state government
approval on her specific Christian ministry. Shame on her for trying
to pull this scam on the Illinois House of Representatives. Obviously, this so-called
commission is engaged in a campaign to collect government endorsements from
across the country of their Christian MINISTRY. It is not the job of
the Illinois General Assembly to pick and choose which religion and which religious ministry
to endorse. The Illinois House State Government Administration
Committee should just say,
"No," to Lakita Humber.
This is a free country. Ms. Humber has
a right to affirm her religious zeal through dance and to encourage others
do the same. She does not, however, have a right to have the government
endorse her religious ministry or partner with her in proselytizing
Christianity. That is not a
proper function of government.
Finally,
the motto
of the IDC is, "Using our gifts to bring together the body of Christ."
However, the
thank you
statement on the contact page of
the IDC is the most incriminating of all in demonstrating why the
Illinois House should reject this Resolution: "We are excited that you
desire to become a partner with us to ensure the gospel of Jesus Christ is
preached throughout the world in dance and movement." That's what this
is really all about. Getting government to
intentionally or inadvertently endorse the use of dance for the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ
throughout the world. Just as Pilgrim Baptist Church wants the
taxpayers of Illinois to partner with them to ensure that the gospel of
Jesus Christ is preached on the South Side of Chicago, the International
Dance Ministry, using it's phony secular cover name International Dance
Commission, wants the Illinois House to partner with them to promote the
Christian religion.
The International Dance Commission is a scam
organization that uses a false name to imply that they are a secular group
which promotes all types of dance as a form of art and exercise. Their
real purpose, however, is Christian ministry, not the secular promotion of
dance, as their name falsely implies, and not even the non-denominational
promotion of liturgical dance. What they do has nothing to do
with promoting dance for secular purposes. Lot's of religions do liturgical dance,
but this resolution is not about endorsing liturgical dance in a
non-denominational way. This resolution is about
getting state government to partner with a Christian ministry for the
sectarian purpose of ensuring that the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached
throughout the world.
Representative Davis, redeem yourself.
Oppose this
Resolution and, during debate on this agenda item,
encourage your fellow Representatives to oppose it, too. It's possible
that Rep. Younge is a victim here, rather than a perpetrator of a
state/church separation violation. She may not have known what I was
able to find out about IDC and the reasons behind their request for the
House Resolution.
Keith Olbermann, I have a
candidate for Tuesday's
Worst Person in the World. It's
Lakita
Humber.
And, now, bloggers, it's your turn. If
you help me to turn up the heat on this one like you did on the Monique
Davis scandal, we can get this one stopped, not only in Illinois, but by
making enough noise, we can get it stopped in states across the country by
revealing the sneaky, real motivation of the IDM / IDC. Thanks, in advance,
for your assistance with this matter. I know that your fingers are
tired from all that typing the last time, but I need you one more time.
Besides, I'm not asking you for your money. You can do this one for
free, just like with the last one.
Also, a
controversy developed in the blogosphere regarding my use on this page
of the word, "Negro," earlier in the week. I still thought, today,
that Negro and Black were completely interchangeable with identical
context, just as Caucasian and White, and automobile and car are. So, I
called Jesse Jackson at his office at Rainbow/Push headquarters in
Chicago to ask him about it. He and I have had several conversations over the years at
VIP events, most recently backstage in the spin room with several of the presidential candidates after the
Democratic Presidential Candidates
Debate at Soldier Field last year. Rev. Jackson wasn't available
when I called, today, so I then called one of my many Black friends
to confirm the validity of my perspective. I've known Clint Harris for
23 years. He was my plaintiff in our successful
Zion city seal
federal
case in 1987 that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court,
and my plaintiff in September, 2002, in our successful federal case
against the City of Chicago, whose Office of Special Events was planning
a municipal church service at the Daley Center Plaza, complete with a
responsive reading prayer that was written for the city for the
occasion, to commemorate the first anniversary of 9/11. Clint told me that the only people, besides me, who still use Negro are
racists who are trying to sound polite. Now I know. There was
certainly no intent to act like a racist. I was mistaken when I
thought that the words were fully interchangeable and have
removed that word from this web site.
Thursday, April 10:
MONIQUE DAVIS APOLOGIZES. Also,
ROB SHERMAN FOR STATE REP web site is up and running.
The
Illinois Green Party has slated me to
be their candidate for State Representative for the
53rd District of Illinois. Please
visit my campaign web site for more details,
the location of the district and my
campaign platform.
Yesterday,
State
Representative Monique Davis (D-Chicago) called me from the Floor of the
Illinois House of Representatives
to apologize for what she had said to me at last Wednesday's hearing of the
House
State Government Administration Committee. Rep. Davis had said,
among other things, that atheism is dangerous to the progression of the
State of Illinois, that children should not be allowed to know that my
philosophy (atheism) exists, and that I had no right to testify to any
Illinois legislative committee because the People of Illinois believe in
God. She concluded by ordering me to "Get out of that seat!"
Some bloggers have asked what I said to
instigate Rep. Davis' comments. I was testifying about why the
Governor's proposal to donate one million tax dollars to Pilgrim Baptist
Church is unconstitutional. Specifically, I was reading, in a very
calm manner, from my laptop computer, the words in the March 4th "Latest
Update," which appear below and which explains why the proposal to give
money to the church is unconstitutional.
Rep. Davis said that she had been upset,
earlier in the day, to learn that a twenty-second and twenty-third Chicago
Public School student this school year had been shot to death that morning.
She said that it was wrong for her to take out her anger, frustrations and
emotions on me, and that she apologized to me.
I told her that her explanation was
reasonable and that I forgave her. I also suggested that if she really
was concerned about public school students dying needlessly, she should look
into helping me to get passed legislation to get lap and shoulder seat belts
on school busses that is pending
in the House and
in the Senate.
She thanked me for forgiving her and said
that she would look into those two pieces of legislation.
Rep. Davis' apology was a direct result of
the pressure put on her by the thousands of bloggers from around the globe
who commented on the various news sites and the hundreds of people from
around the world who contacted her office by telephone or e-mail. Each
and every one of you really did make a difference. Your comments
didn't just go out into thin air and get forgotten about and ignored.
By each one of you taking the time to carefully craft your intelligent
message, pressure built up on Rep. Davis. Meanwhile, more pressure
built as additional news outlets picked up the story, including the
Countdown show with
Keith Olbermann on
MSNBC, which gave Rep. Davis the
Worst
Person in the World award; the
Capitol Fax in Springfield, Illinois; and a
half-hour appearance on WTDY radio in
Madison, Wisconsin. Blogs and direct contact with the offending party
really do make a difference. They may not get read everywhere, but
they are read by people who matter, so I thank each one of you for your
efforts.
A big thank you, also, to
Eric Zorn and the Chicago
Tribune. If Eric hadn't chosen to do the story, it may never have
gotten off the ground. Eric's latest column is entitled
Davis' anti-atheist tirade goes national. Thanks, Eric.
Tuesday, April 8:
I've been booked to be a guest on
the Alan Colmes
Radio Show this evening at 11 p.m. Eastern Time, 10 p.m. Central Time,
to talk about the Monique Davis scandal.
Alan is a liberal. His
show is syndicated to radio stations across the country and can also be
heard via streaming on the internet.
Also, BREAKING NEWS from the Daily
Herald and surely many other publications via wire services:
Baby born with
two faces in north India
SAINI SUNPURA, India -- A baby with two faces
was born in a northern Indian village, where she is doing well
and is being worshipped as the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess,
her father said Tuesday.
"Lali is God's gift to us," said
Jaipal Singh, a member of the local village council.
"She has brought fame to our village."
Village chief Daulat Ram said he planned to
build a temple to Durga in the village.
"I am writing to the state
government to provide money to build the temple and help the
parents look after their daughter," Ram said.
Hey, maybe
they could name the temple Pilgrim Baptist. If the state
government in India declines to provide money, surely the
Illinois General Assembly, which is about 42 billion dollars in
the hole, would be willing to pay for it and send the bill to
us. Where's Monique Davis when we need her? How
about a little foreign aid for houses of worship in India from
the Illinois House of Representatives?
Saturday, April 5:
Hundreds of comments expressing
nearly unanimous shock and outrage regarding the Monique Davis anti-atheist
bigotry scandal
have been posted at
Digg, at
Friendly Atheist and at
Eric Zorn's blog.
Friday, April 4:
State Representative
Monique
Davis (D-Chicago) declares that Rob Sherman is a danger to the children
of Illinois and has no right to testify before an Illinois legislative
committee because he is an atheist.
On Wednesday, April 2nd (my 55th
birthday), I
testified in Springfield before the House
State Government Administration
Committee. My testimony was that Governor Blagojevich's plan to donate
one million tax dollars to Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago is
unconstitutional. For background, see the March 4th update, below.
Representative Monique Davis responded for the committee.
She accused me of hating god. She said that the state should donate
the million tax dollars to Pilgrim Baptist Church because the people of
Illinois believe that there is a god. At a time when we are in the
midst of a decades-long pervasive epidemic of Roman Catholic priests raping
America's children, Representative Davis said that I was a danger to the
children of Illinois because I tell them that there is no god. She
said that I had no right to inform children of that perspective. She
then ordered me out of the witness chair, screaming, "Get out of
that seat," because I'm an atheist. Made me feel like Rosa Parks, who
also was told, "Get out of that seat," and arrested when she didn't give up
her seat on the bus to Whitey. Eric Zorn wrote a column, yesterday, about the
exchange between Rep. Davis and myself. His column is
complete with both a printed transcript of part of the exchange between Rep.
Davis and me, as well as a link to an audio recording of most of the
exchange. Here is a link to
Eric Zorn's
column. Here is a direct link to the
audio recording, courtesy of
Eric Zorn and the Chicago
Tribune. Then e-mail me at rob at robsherman dot com and let me
know what you think.
Tuesday, April 1:
Rob Sherman for State Rep proposed
campaign platform:
http://www.robsherman.com/staterep/platform08.htm
Monday, March 31:
Rob Sherman to be slated by the
Green Party this Saturday, April 5th, to be their candidate in the November,
2008, election for State Representative for the 53rd District of Illinois.
More soon. Meanwhile, here's the
new Sherman-ator, as photographed, yesterday, by Green Party member Allynn
Kairis of South Elgin, at the Green Party annual State Convention in Peoria:
Monday, March 24:
BULLETIN
regarding the Senator Lightford controversy from last week: You can now view a video
of the entire 15-minute interview on Channel 11 between Senator Lightford
and me. The video that you are looking for is DATED MARCH 20, 2008,
and entitled, "Moment of Silence Law." Senator Lightford's statement, that the real reason for
her legislation is "to be a suggestion that our youth do it" ("say a prayer"
at the beginning of each school day), occurs from 8:33 (8 minutes, 33
seconds) to 8:53 of the video. Senator Lightford's denial that she
made that statement occurs less than four minutes later, from 12:20 to 12:35
of the video.
Now you can see for yourself whether or not
Senator Lightford made the original statement, as I claim, and whether she
was telling the truth when she went into denial and falsely accused me of
misrepresenting her position.
The video is located on the following page of the WTTW web site:
http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,1&pl=New%20Video .
Friday, March 21:
Senate sponsor of Illinois'
mandatory school prayer law admits, live on Channel 11, that the real
purpose of her "Moment of Silence" law is, and always has been, to get
public school students to pray in school at the beginning of each school day
... and then she denies saying so a few seconds later!
For most of the past year,
Illinois State Senator Kimberly Lightford, sponsor of
Senate Bill 1463, has insisted that the law she got
enacted has nothing to do with prayer in the public schools, but is merely a
completely innocent attempt to accomplish the purely secular purpose of
getting kids to pause what they are doing to get ready for school.
Yeah, right! Last night, Senator Lightford and
I, along with
Harold J. Krent, Dean
of Chicago-Kent College of Law (one of
Chicago's major, highly regarded law schools), were the guests during one
segment of Chicago Tonight
on Channel 11 to talk about the mis-named "Moment of Silence" law
litigation. (WTTW "Window to the
World" is Chicago's primary educational (PBS)
TV station.) When segment host
Eddie Arruza asked Senator
Lightford if sneaking prayer into the public school classroom was the real
reason that she sponsored legislation to change the law from optional to
mandatory, Senator Lightford said,
We do it in the
Illinois General Assembly. Before we convene, any day in the General
Assembly, we have to say a prayer with a priest, a rabbi or some sort of
clergy to start our day. And I believe it’s a huge contradiction not for it
to be a suggestion that our youth do it...
Transcript,
above,
courtesy of
Eric Zorn and the Chicago
Tribune. Eric has a full story about this in the Thursday, March
20th update of his
Eric Zorn
Blog.
That's right. Senator Lightford,
herself, said that the purpose of her legislation was "to be a suggestion"
from both the Illinois General Assembly and from our public school officials
"that our youth," meaning public school students, "do it," meaning "say a
prayer" at the beginning of each school day. Each of the four phrases
in quotes in the previous sentence are direct quotes from Senator Lightford's above statement.
Just a few minutes later during that 15-minute interview, the
following dialog took place, in which Senator Lightford denied saying that
the law is a suggestion that our youth "do it" (say a prayer at
the beginning of each school day):
SHERMAN: Senator
Lightford said right here on Channel 11 that she wants students to think
about praying ---
LIGHTFORD: I did not say that! I said that children should reflect---
SHERMAN: You said they pray in General Assembly and the children should
think about doing that.
LIGHTFORD: I did not say that. You just said that.
Transcript
again
courtesy of
Eric Zorn and the Chicago
Tribune.
Here is an
audio transcript of the exchange, also thanks
to
Eric Zorn and the
Chicago Tribune.
Representative John A. Fritchey sponsored
House Bill 4180, which would remove any references to prayer and once
again make the law voluntary. That law, which
passed the Illinois House on March 4, 2008, and was sent to the Senate for consideration, would make legal what it is already legal for
teachers to do. Teachers already can conduct a secular brief period of
silence at any time during the school day. A teacher can do it at the
beginning of the day, at the end of the day, at the middle of the day, as
often as the teacher wants, so long as it is not conducted as a religious
exercise. That, however, is not what Senator Lightford wants, nor is
it what she will accept, and she
said so, right there in front of God and everybody on Channel 11 last night. Senator Lightford
wants State Government to suggest to public school students that they pray
at the beginning of each school day, so she will insist that the law be
amended to say "meditation" and to make it mandatory.
Representative Fritchey states in
his blog
that he will never agree to that, even if the Senate does, so the Bill will
die and there will be neither a Student Prayer Act, a Student Silent
Reflection Act nor any "Moment of Silence" law at all (Great! That's
exactly what my daughter, Dawn, and I want.) if and when Judge Gettleman rules that the current law is
unconstitutional.
The next court date is this coming Friday,
March 28th, at 10:00 a.m., in Judge Gettleman's courtroom, Room 1703,
Dirksen Federal Building, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago. My
daughter, Dawn, and I request that, if
you're a student and your on spring break, show your
support for getting rid of the mandatory Student Prayer Act by coming
downtown on Friday and joining Dawn and me in the courtroom with
that nice man Judge Gettleman, along with my vast legal team of highly
skilled attorneys and the other guys' teams of attorneys. The Judge
will notice that you are there and recognize that you are there in support
of getting rid of the unconstitutional law. You need a
government issued photo ID to get in. For more info or even just for
travel directions, e-mail me or call
me during normal daytime hours at (847) 870-0700. I'll be glad to talk
to you about it. Calls from callers who block their Caller ID
information will not be answered and will be disregarded.
Here's another outstanding Tribune column by
Eric Zorn on this same subject, entitled
Lawmaker's move answers some prayers.
Thursday, March 13:
Next Rob Sherman Concerts event:
Brock and Abrams at Louie's Chop House in Shorewood, Illinois (just west of
Joliet), on Friday, June 27th, at 8 p.m. Details at
Rob Sherman Concerts.
Friday, March 7:
Hear Dawn Sherman, Buffalo Grove
High School's #1-ranked Freshman, win the battle for state-church separation
as she goes one-on-one with the Christians and hostess Libby Collins
recently during Morning Drive on WKRS Waukegan.
Click on the Dawn Sherman podcast (at press time, it's the second from the
top on the left side):
http://www.wkrspodcast.com
Tuesday, March 4:
Rob Sherman Advocacy battling to stop Illinois
Governor from donating one million tax dollars to Pilgrim Baptist Church.
Governor Blagojevich has proposed, once again, giving a million dollars to
Pilgrim Baptist, a church that burned to the ground two years ago when they
used incompetent non-union laborers to repair their roof, resulting in a
fire that destroyed their building. Just as I did two years ago, I'm
going to personally stop Rod from giving the church our tax money.
For background on this issue, see:
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=5996291 and
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=146342&src=109
The plan to spend one million tax dollars to
build or rebuild an administration center and classrooms for Pilgrim
Baptist Church, or even to spend the money on "the Pilgrim Baptist
community," is unconstitutional, for a variety of reasons stated
below. I will do whatever is necessary to stop the State from giving
Pilgrim Baptist one million tax dollars.
While the First Amendment of the United
States Constitution
makes a vague reference to state-church
separation by requiring that the government "make no law respecting the
establishment of religion" the Illinois Constitution
http://www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/conmain.htm is much clearer and
more to the point.
"No person shall be required
to ... support any ministry ... against his consent."
That means that you can't use tax dollars to
build or rebuild a church administration building, because the primary
purpose of a church administrative office is to be the place from
which a church operates its ministry. Even if other things go on in the
administration building, the main purpose of a church administration
building is to be the place from which a church conducts its ministry.
"Neither the General Assembly nor any ... other
public corporation, shall ever make any appropriation or pay from any
public fund whatever, anything in aid of any ... school ... controlled
by any church or sectarian
denomination whatever"
That means that you can't use tax dollars to
build classrooms at a church, because the primary purpose for church
classrooms is to teach little Christians how to become big Christians.
Similarly, those classrooms may be used, on occasion, for day care, but
the main reason for having classrooms at a church is to teach religion.
You can't use tax dollars for that purpose.
Article VIII, Section 1
http://www.ilga.gov/commission/lrb/con8.htm states that "Public
funds, property or credit shall be used only for public purposes."
That means that you can't use public funds for the private purpose of
creating facilities for a church to advance religion.
In addition, Article I, Section 3 states
that "No preference shall be given by law to any religious
denomination." That means that the State cannot spend a million dollars
to benefit "the Pilgrim Baptist community." You can't specify that
tax dollars with go to help the members of one particular church.
Back at Article X, Section 3, it says, "Neither
the General Assembly nor any ... other public corporation, shall
ever make any appropriation or pay from any public fund whatever,
anything in aid of any church ... nor shall any grant or donation of
land, money, or other personal property ever be made by the State, or
any such public corporation, to any church..."
I don't know how much clearer the Illinois
Constitution could possibly be that the State of Illinois can't give one
million tax dollars to Pilgrim Baptist Church.
Two years ago, when this was proposed, I was
the one who stopped it, not the ACLU. I communicated my concerns
extensively with Rod Blagojevich's staff, who referred the matter to the
lawyers in the office of Governor Blagojevich (not the lawyers in the
office of Attorney General Lisa Madigan). Rod's lawyers responded by
concurring with me. That's why Pilgrim Baptist didn't get the money the
last time. It's how the money ended up with the Loop Lab School. Rod's
lawyers agreed with me that the Constitution prohibited the church
from getting the money, so they gave it to the Loop Lab School, instead.
It is permissible for state tax money to be
spent paying for program costs, such as food and clothing, associated
with providing secular services on a non-discriminatory basis
to residents of Illinois who live in the area of Pilgrim Baptist, such
as assistance to help the needy. It is OK for Pilgrim Baptist Church,
or any other Bronzeville organization (the church is in a Chicago
neighborhood called Bronzeville), to be the service provider, acting as
the agent for the State in providing these services on a secular,
non-discriminatory basis which includes no religious test. The State
may not, however, build buildings for a church, simply because part of
the time those buildings will be used for secular welfare services. The
State may, however, build buildings for a secular organization, such as
a Bronzeville organization, which will use the buildings for social
relief that is provided on a non-discriminatory, secular basis.
Rod mentioned that the million dollars would
be dispersed to Pilgrim Baptist by the Capital Development Board
I will be making a presentation to the CDB
next Tuesday, March 11, at 10:30 a.m., at the Thompson State of Illinois
Building in downtown Chicago, Room 14-600 (Fourteenth Floor, Room
600), at their March monthly meeting, to demand that they not give
Pilgrim Baptist any money, for precisely the reasons stated above.
Saturday, March 1:
Campaign platform for proposed 2008 run for State
Rep. I've asked the Illinois Green Party
to slate me to be their candidate for State Representative for the 53rd
District in the November, 2008, General Election. Here is my
Proposed Campaign Platform that I
would run on.
Thursday, January 24:
Rob Sherman joins the Illinois Green Party.
The Illinois Green Party
is progressive and the real party of change, as demonstrated by the party's
Ten Key Values. The
Illinois Greens are everything that the two corporate political parties,
both in
Springfield and Chicagoland, should be but
aren't. I also have met with Green
Party Wheeling Township Committeeman Dave Kalbfleisch to discuss the
merits of me running this year as the Illinois Green Party candidate for
State Representative from the 53rd District,
which includes parts of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect,
Prospect Heights, Wheeling and unincorporated Horatio Gardens. Kalbfleisch,
a retired Navy Lieutenant and the party's
candidate for Congressman from the 10th
Congressional District, promised to carefully consider my
credentials when making the selection in March or April. Here is my
campaign platform from my 2006 run for
Illinois State Rep. If selected to run in 2008, the platform would
be updated with any necessary changes to reflect the current situation.
What this lawsuit is all about is restoring a proper balance
between the rights of children who wish to pray and those who do not wish to
pray. Before this law was passed, children who wished to pray could do so any
time that they wanted, including during class, and those who wished to not pray
could receive an education during instructional time paid for by the taxpayers.
The School Prayer Law preserves the rights of children to pray, but for children
who do not wish to pray, this law cancels their right to receive an education
during part of their instructional time. I am seeking to restore the rights of
children who don't pray to be educated during class time while preserving the
right of children who do pray to pray any time they want.
The trend is moving in our direction. The judge seemed to
indicate, today, that this law doesn't have a prayer...
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