Christian Legal Group Changes Its Name to be More ‘Christian-y’

The (Christian) Alliance Defense Fund is changing its name to be even more misleading:

The Alliance Defense Fund is changing its name to “Alliance Defending Freedom.”

“Our mission remains the same — defending religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family. Only our name has changed,” said Alliance Defending Freedom President, CEO, and General Counsel Alan Sears. “The change is to help more people easily understand the work that we do and why it matters.”

…

The new tagline is “For Faith, For Justice.” Alliance Defending Freedom and its allies work tirelessly to ensure that people everywhere can freely live a life of faith under laws that safeguard, rather than undermine, religious freedom.

Riiiiiiight. Because Christians have it *so* hard in America.

ADF acts like atheists are trying to ban churches when the truth is we just want to see separation of church and state. Christian groups have a habit of trying to push their beliefs in places they don’t belong (city council meetings, public schools, etc.) … they want taxpayer money to fund religious schools. They think the ACLU and Planned Parenthood are somehow anti-Christian (even though both groups have often helped religious people). They want to make sure women are not given a choice about what happens inside their bodies. So we have to fight back against them.

The name change is silly since they’re not actually defending freedom. They’re defending Christian privilege. They don’t give a shit if atheist groups are blocked from forming in public high schools. Their definition of freedom is the ability for local mayors to use City Hall to display a Nativity Scene.

The only thing that surprises me that their name change didn’t include the word “family.” That would’ve been the Christian-ier thing to do.

(via Religion Clause)

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godlessgirl

You know they just didn’t want to sound so “money-hungry” and needed to keep the ADF acronym. Too bad Awesome Drunk Fangirl wasn’t their first choice.
Godless_Lawyer

So as a pro-freedom organization, they’ll naturally be coming to the defence of things like the freedom to marry who you love, regardless of gender, a woman’s freedom to control her own body and health, etc.
Keith Collyer

ah ha hah ha hah
Alex

“Freedom” is a right-wing code word. You know, like “life,” “family,” “values,” and so on. This one stands for “world domination.”

“Fund,” on the other hand, not so much.
JD

to push their beliefs in places they don’t belong…

That’s true. The US Constitution says beliefs don’t belong in… oh, wait, it doesn’t say that, does it? Well, still, US law says beliefs don’t belong in…oh, wait, not there either.

Whether one “pushes” something or not is not related to whether the topic is religious beliefs. So, despite the fact religious liberty protects the right of people to have their beliefs wherever they may be, its good Hemant is out there making sure people know where and when they can have their beliefs.
HitchHikinginSvalbard

I don’t think I’ve ever heard Hemant suggest that people can’t have their beliefs. No one here is advocating that position. The issue is whether or not you can force others to participate in religious rituals, like a sectarian prayer at a public school event. You can have your beliefs, but you can’t force others to adhere to your sacred rites, whatever they may be.
AJ

Having your beliefs and forcing others to participate in your rituals are two completely different things. I wonder what your Bible has to say on the topic. Oh, here it is.

”
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6: 5-6
Dan

“JD, I’d like to introduce you to the 1st Amendment.”

“1st Amendment, this is JD!”

I hope you like the 1st Amendment JD, it’s just as good for Christians as it is for atheists
Baby_Raptor

Ever heard of “Separation of Church and State”? It means that your religious beliefs cannot be forced on other people. And guess what? It’s in the Constitution!
C Peterson

Their big-A logo is pretty misleading. Makes me think an obviously atheist organization should build a logo around a Christian cross. And can you imagine the sparks that would fly if a pro-choice or gay rights organization started using a cross in their logo?

I think it’s an interesting idea to devalue the impact of the cross by using it capriciously for obviously non-Christian purposes.
JD

Let’s see, three replies about “forcing” religious beliefs, which has nothing to do with the topic: Hemant’s post referred to beliefs being “where they [beliefs] don’t belong.” Perhaps you should read what he wrote, rather than what you thought he said.

And one reply about the First Amendment, which prevents government interference with free exercise — even at the expense of another person’s offense. Nicely done.
Baby_Raptor

If you’re forcing your beliefs on someone, they’re “where they don’t belong.” See, for example, forced prayer in schools. Or religious based discrimination.
Dan

JD, If you think Hemant was saying people don’t have a right to their private beliefs than you are the one who needs to reread his post. The Alliance Defense Fund is all about using the court system to impose their religious beliefs on everyone, where those beliefs clearly don’t belong. Maybe you don’t know about the ADF, but if not it would have been a good idea to read about them a little before posting. Their idea of freedom of religion is their “freedom” to use the government to directly impose their right-wing view of Christianty on everyone else. If you think that is allowed by the 1st Amendment than you clearly need to read it again too.
C.V. Pinson

“Friendly” atheist, huh?
Stev84

Oh, he knows about the ADF. And he fully agrees with everything they do. He also thinks that the First Amendment doesn’t mean separation of church and state. JD is a known theocratic troll.
Guest

No, it isn’t. Just google “U.S. Constitution” and try to find it.