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Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal organization, wanted to host a presentation in a library in North Carolina. The taxpayer-supported facility turned them down.

Why? The presentation would be “religious instruction,” purportedly a violation of separation of church and state, a concept not found or even implied in the U.S. Constitution.

There is a constitutional right to free exercise of religion, but the presentation sounds more like a history lesson. An excerpt from the Christian News Network (emphasis added):

Liberty Counsel, which has offices in Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C., regularly conducts lectures throughout the country on the role of Christianity in the founding of America. In March 2013 and November 2014, the group sought to use the Cameron Village Regional Library in Wake, N.C. to present a lecture. However, it was denied both times. According to a complaint filed last week in federal court, in March 2013, while initially granting use of the library’s meeting room, representative Susan Lane Partisan responded to Liberty Counsel’s reservation application by noting that “political meetings and religious instruction, services or ceremonies are not permitted” at the library. Concerned that the library might interrupt the meeting, the organization replied by clarifying the content of the presentation.

What happened to this country? Where did it all start to go wrong?

“Cameron Village Regional Library violates its own mission by denying the citizens of Wake County the pursuit of knowledge of American history, particularly our religious foundation,” Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel Mat Staver said. “Of all places, a public library should not only understand but strive to uphold the First Amendment, rather than engaging in censorship. It is astounding that public libraries continue to have these types of unconstitutional policies.”

Photo credit: American Life League (Creative Commons) – Some Rights Reserved