Golden Rule ‘Out’ in Little League
Sunday, June 14
If you attended the Falls Church (Virginia) Kiwanis Little League’s Fun Fair this past weekend, you most likely would have seen one parent’s effort to bring religious neutrality to the game.
“The Golden Rule – treating others as you would like them to treat you – doesn’t seem to be a part of the Little League rule book,” said Bob Ritter, a parent of a Little Leaguer and an assistant coach.
“Little League officials don't have any business coercing our kids to say ‘I trust in God’,” said Ritter. “It’s not really voluntary when we teach our kids to respect authority, then a League official tells the players over a public announcement system to stand up and recite the Little League Pledge.”
As seen above, Ritter and his son Vinh were collecting signatures in support of a resolution to eliminate all religious practices by the FCKLL. Ritter said that he intends to present the resolution at the local Little League’s annual membership meeting in September. If the resolution is adopted, Little Leaguers would cease reciting the Little League Pledge until the first line with “I trust in God” is removed, prayers by ministers would no longer be part of opening day ceremonies and teams would not be allowed to lead or promote prayers before games.
“This is all about respect for minority rights,” according to Ritter. “Baseball is not a religious activity, so play ball without it so that all can enjoy the game.”
Click here to read the resolution.
Challenge to Religion in Presidential Inaugural Goes Forward
A notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appleals for the D.C. Circuit has been filed on behalf of over 250 plaintiffs challening
the infusition of religion into presidential inaugural ceremonies. The lawsuit challenges
the oath administrator from appending "so help me God" to the constitutionally prescribed oath of office and prayers to a monotheistic
god in the invocation and benediction. JM Center Founder and President Bob Ritter is serving as co-counsel with Mike Newdow.
Desert Cross Before Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has accept Salazar v. Buono for oral argument during the Court's next term. The 9th Circuit upheld
an injunction ordering the removal of a Christian cross atop Sunrise Rock in the Mojave Naitonal Preserve in California. JM Center Founder and President Bob Ritter is currently working on a friend of the court brief to be submitted on behalf of the American Humanist Association and other nonprofits. The brief will argue that the cross is an inherently religious symbol and its display on public property violates the Establishment Clause.
Supreme Scandal
by Robert V. Ritter [1]
[Working Draft] May 29, 2009
This is a true story about Judge E.J.Ruegemer, [2] who developed a program within the Fraternal Order of Eagles to put tombstones to Jesus in citiy parks and muncipal lawns across the United States, and the Supreme Court which turned a blind eye to the Constitution in Van Orden v. Perry (2005). It is my hope that this essay and a future challenge to an Eagles tombstone will restore the Court’s respect for the principle of separation of church and state enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Freedom of religion is greatest when there is a complete separation of church and state and, conversely, religious freedom is least when government is tangled with religion. Robert V. Ritter, January 31, 2009
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - The Legal Compass: The Establishment Clause and Separation of Church & State [Under Development]
Chapter 3 - The Ruegemer Fable [Draft]
Chapter 4 - The Eagles Charade
Chapter 5 - Eagles Tombstones Are Religions and Aggressive [Draft]
Chapter 6 - Moses and the Supreme Court’s South Wall Frieze [Draft]
Chapter 7 - Ten Commandments on Government Property: Fact or Fiction? [Draft]
Chapter 8 - Pre-Van Orden Litigation [Draft]
Chapter 9 - Van Orden v. Perry [Draft]
Chapter 10 - Post-Van Orden Litigation [Draft]
Chapter 11 - Pleasant Grove City v. Summum [Coming Soon]
Chapter 12 - Christian Right Legal Centers Turn Their Backs To A Commandment [Draft]
Chapter 13 - Which Version of the Ten Commandments? [Draft]
Chapter 14 - The Indictment [Coming Soon]
Chapter 15 - Conclusion: Eagles Tombstones on Public Property Violate the Establishment Clause [Draft]
Appendix 1-A - Location, Stories and Photographs of Eagles Tombstones [Draft]
Appendix 1-B - Location of Eagles Tombstones by State [Draft]
Appendix 2 - List of Cases [Draft]
Appendix 3 - List of Documents [Draft]
Appendix 4 - Front of Eagles Ten Commandments Poster
Appendix 5 - Back of Eagles Ten Commandments Poster (including a statement by Judge E. J. Ruegemer)
Appendix 6 - Judge E. J. Ruegemer’s Affidavit in Freedom From Religion Foundation v. State of Colorado (see pages 10-12)
Appendix 7 - Judge E. J. Ruegemer’s Affidavit in Books v. City of Elkhart
Appendix 8 - Judge E. J. Ruegemer’s Declaration in Card v. City of Everett, Washington
Appendix 9 - Friend of the Court Brief of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Van Orden v. Perry (2005)
Appendix 10 - F.O.E. Comic Book "On Eagles Wings"
Appendix 11 - Pleasant Grove City v. Summum Friend of the Court Brief of the American Humanist Association, et al.
Appendix 11 - Transcript of Oral Arguments in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum
ENDNOTES:
- Robert V. Ritter is an attorney practicing in the area of church-state law for a secular nonprofit located in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar and is counsel of record of a friend of the court brief in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum. He is also co-counsel in Newdow v. Roberts (D-DC) which challenges the infusion of religion into the 2009 presidential inaugural ceremony.
This Essay is being written as a working draft with the first edition of the Ten Commandments Schandal scheduled to be completed in mid-2009.
- Judge E.J. Ruegemer passed away at the age of 102 on January 12, 2005 — six months before the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Van Orden v. Perry. His last significant involvement in the Ten Commandments Scandal came in 2004 when a “Declaration” he signed on September 19, 2003 was filed in Card v. City of Everett, Wash. He is included in this Essay because it was thru his efforts that the Eagles Ten Commandments Program was established and his deceitful testimony was crucial to city and state defendants in thwarting challenges to the placement of tombstones on public property.
For over six decades, the Fraternal Order of Eagles have pushed religion upon America while denying their religious character. See Chapter 4 - The Eagles Charade.
This Essay on the Supreme Court’s loss of legal compass speaks for itself.
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