* Churches and Eminent Domain: A Move in Congress to Once Again Make
Churches Privileged Landowners
Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20060810.html
[excerpt
On Capitol Hill, Senator Kennedy is circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter
suggesting that churches should be protected from the government's power of
eminent domain. In particular, Kennedy favors amending the Religious Land
Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) to bring eminent domain
within the definition of "land use regulations" - and thus to apply
RLUIPA's demanding standards to any use of the eminent domain power that
affects a religious landowner. (I discussed RLUIPA's standards, and how
they work in practice, in a prior column.)
As the majority of courts have held, RLUIPA - as it currently stands --
does not cover "eminent domain." Its express language goes only to "zoning
and landmarking" land use regulation, and eminent domain does not fall
within these categories. Moreover, the legislative history of the statute
did not touch on eminent domain.
[end excerpt]
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You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the US and a couple from overseas as well]
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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