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Trial for accused church vandal to begin Tuesday in Texas

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mug shot
Thomas Britton (Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office )

Prosecutors in Texas say a man on trial this week is the criminal who vandalized, then tried to burn down a church building in Fort Worth.

The main building of St. Stephen Presbyterian Church received heavy damage in January.  Multiple windows, walls, art, educational supplies, toys, books and more were destroyed, according to a Go Fund Me page set up to help the congregation. Surveillance video of the arsonist was released through local media.  A citizen recognized Thomas Britton, 55, a homeless man, as the man in the video.   The Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper reports Britton had a black, tarry substance on his face and hands.  He claimed it was because he had been wildcatting on an oil rig. He was charged and indicted for criminal mischief over $300,000.

A motive for the criminal act has not been announced by authorities.

Testimony in Britton’s trial is set to begin Tuesday.

According to jail records, Britton has been held in the Tarrant county jail without bond since his arrest.

Atheist group appeals ruling that its ads have same restrictions as religious organizations

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A Pennsylvania atheist organization is appealing a judge’s ruling that the Lackawanna County transit system did not violate the group’s First Amendment right to free speech when it declined ads that, “promote the existence or non-existence of a supreme deity, deities, being or beings,” on buses.”

U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion in July found the County of Lackawanna Transit System, COLTS,  has a legitimate reason to reject ads submitted by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Freethought Society.  The judge’s ruling says COLTS’ treatment of the organization follows COLTS’ advertising policy and is no different than any other group seeking to buy advertisement.

The American Civil Liberties Union represents the society in the case.  The ACLU filed the appeal with the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. A news release issued by the ACLU says, “The trial court’s ruling in this case does not diminish our belief that COLTS is suppressing our clients’ right to free speech. As a government agency, COLTS is significantly limited in its ability to censor speech. It can’t censor speech in order to keep people from debating important public issues, which is exactly what COLTS has tried to do here.”

China continues church crackdown

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This video is a link to YouTube.  It is not the property of TexasGospel.org.

A Catholic church in Jinan province, China, has been demolished by government agents, the latest in a series of church demolitions in China, according to a report from the Catholic News Agency.  Earlier this year Bibles were pulled from Chinese bookstores as part of the country’s policy it says will protect religious freedom.

 

Foundation defends military cross memorial from atheist legal attack

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MONTGOMERY – The Foundation for Moral Law, an Alabama nonprofit corporation dedicated to the defense of religious liberty and the right to publicly acknowledge God, filed an amicus brief Thursday supporting the Bladensburg Cross, a memorial to military personnel in Bladensburg, Maryland.

The American Legion erected the cross in 1925 to honor local soldiers who gave their lives in World War I. The American Humanist Association challenged the monument as an establishment of religion in violation of the First Amendment. A federal district court dismissed the lawsuit, but the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the monument was unconstitutional. The case is now up for review before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Foundation has a filed a brief supporting the petition for review.

Foundation President Kayla Moore said concerning the case: “This nation was founded on the ‘laws of nature and of nature’s God,’ to use the words of the Declaration of Independence. The First Amendment was enacted to prevent the establishment of an official state church, but our Founders never intended to prevent the public acknowledgement of God.”

Foundation Senior Counsel John Eidsmoe added: “Like Count Dracula, the plaintiffs seem to recoil at the sight of the cross. But the cross has always had a special meaning for the military. Crosses abound in military cemeteries, and except for the Medal of Honor the highest awards given in the military are the Distinguished Service Cross (Army) and the Air Force Cross, Navy Cross (Navy and Marines), and Coast Guard Cross. As General MacArthur said in his Farewell Address at West Point: “The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training — sacrifice.” It is entirely fitting that this sacrifice should be recognized with the Bladensburg Cross