UNDENIABLE The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America 2014 Edition Editorial Team Kelly Shackelford Chairman Jeffrey Mateer Executive Editor Justin Butterfield Editor-in-chief Michael Andrews Assistant Editor Past Contributors Bryan Clegg An Open Letter to the American PEople UNDENIABLE To our fellow citizens: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America Hostility to religion and religious freedom in America—institutional, pervasive, damaging hostility—can no longer reasonably be denied. And 2014 Edition yet there remain deniers. Because denial of these attacks is a mortal threat to the survival and health of Kelly Shackelford, chairman our republic, Liberty Institute and Family Research Council collaborated in 2012 to publish a survey documenting the frequency and severity of incidents Jeffrey Mateer, executive editor of hostility. In the 2013 survey entitled Undeniable, the research team led by Justin Butterfield, editor-in-chief a Harvard-trained constitutional attorney found almost twice the number of incidents in the previous twelve months than all the incidents found from Michael Andrews, assistant editor several years’ past. The rate of hostility was increasing at an alarming rate. This year in Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion 2014, the team Copyright © 2013–2014 Liberty Institute. of researchers again documented an alarming increase in the number of All rights reserved. hostile incidents toward religion from the year before. The rate of hostility is continuing to climb. We offer Undeniable 2014 to you, the American people, as an alarm bell This publication is not to be used for legal advice. Because the law is ringing in the night. We believe the many public opinion surveys showing constantly changing and each factual situation is unique, Liberty Institute that you, the people, are still a religious people. We believe that although and its attorneys do not warrant, either expressly or impliedly, that religious affiliation in America may have dipped, people of faith are still a the law, cases, statutes, and rules discussed or cited in this publica- powerful majority. We believe abundant research shows that religion remains tion have not been subject to change, amendment, reversal, or revi- a cornerstone of morality, order, charity, and freedom. If you allow the forces sion. If you have a legal question or need legal advice, please contact of intolerance to steal religious freedom, you will forfeit all these benefits an attorney. Liberty Institute’s attorneys may be contacted by going to for yourself, your children, and future generations. www.libertyinstitute.org, selecting the “Contact” menu option at the top of the page, and then selecting “Request Legal Help.” Therefore, we hope you hear the alarm bell, awaken, and put out the arsonists’ fire of hostility to religion set by an intolerant but powerful minority. You can see who they are in the pages that follow. Ironically, Liberty Institute elements of this religion-hostile contingent are the very ones who pretend 2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 1600 to be pro-freedom and deny the reality of their own attacks. Plano, Texas 75075 (972) 941–4444 iii Stand up for your religious freedoms. Stand up for the religious freedoms About Kelly Shackelford of others, even if you disagree with their viewpoint. The vast majority of the hostility to religion you will read in this survey is unlawful. It succeeds only because of its own bluff and the passivity of its victims. Hostility to Kelly Shackelford has been president and religion can be defeated—but only if challenged by Americans like you. CEO of Liberty Institute since 1997. When you stand up, our organizations and countless involved fellow Mr. Shackelford is a constitutional scholar Americans will be standing with you offering legal assistance, research, who has argued before the United States and decisive help. Supreme Court, has testified before the U.S. House and Senate on constitutional issues, Kelly Shackelford, Esq. Tony Perkins and has won three state landmark First President and CEO President Amendment and religious liberty cases in Liberty Institute Family Research Council the past few years alone. He was recently names one of the 25 greatest Texas lawyers of the past quarter-century by Texas Lawyer, and is a recipient of the prestigious William Bentley Ball Award for Life and Religious Freedom Defense for his leadership and pioneering work protecting religious freedom. Mr. Shackelford is a highly sought after speaker and frequent guest on national television news and talk show programs, including The O’Reilly Factor, Fox and Friends, Hannity, Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, CNN, and MSNBC. He has also been featured in the National Law Journal, the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other newspapers. Mr. Shackelford is on the Board of Trustees of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society and is a graduate of Baylor University. iv v About Tony Perkins Tony Perkins is President of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council. He is a former member of the Louisiana legislature where he served for eight years, and he is recognized as a legislative pioneer for authoring measures like the nation’s first Covenant Marriage law. Although he had no opposition for re-election, he kept his pledge to serve only two terms and left office at the completion of his term in 2004. He was a Republican candidate for the United States Senate in 2002. Since joining FRC in the fall of 2003 he has launched new initiatives to affirm and defend the Judeo-Christian values that this nation is founded upon. Tony Perkins and FRC have led the way in defending religious freedom in the public square, protecting the unborn and their mothers, defending and strengthening one man/one woman marriage and promoting pro-family public policy. Tony hosts a daily national radio program, “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins,” and broadcasts a daily commentary heard on over 300 stations nationwide. His daily email, Washington Update, is sent to tens of thousands of grassroots activists. An effective communicator, he frequently appears on national broadcast and cable news programs. Tony’s first book, Personal Faith, Public Policy, co-authored with Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr., was released in March 2008. In addition, he has been a keynote speaker for organizations across the country. Tony has a tremendous burden to reclaim the culture for Christ and believes that this revival will begin in the churches across America, reach across denominations and racial and economic lines, and build on shared values of family and freedom. Under his leadership FRC has established a thriving Church Ministries program that is rapidly expanding and engaging Christians in civic affairs as never before. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, and a former police officer and vi vii television news reporter, Tony brings a unique blend of experience and table of contents leadership to the pro-family movement. He received his undergraduate degree from Liberty University and a Master’s Degree from Louisiana State University in Public Administration. In May 2006 he received An Open Letter to the American People . iii an honorary doctorate in theology from Liberty University. Tony and About Kelly Shackelford. .v Lawana, married in 1986, have five children. About Tony Perkins . vii Executive Summary . 1 . Section I: Attacks in the Public Arena . 13 Section II: Attacks in the Schoolhouse. .135 Section III: Attacks Against Churches and Ministries . 279 Section IV: Attacks in the Military . .347 About Family Research Council . 365 About Liberty Institute . .367 viii ix Executive Summary Hostility to religion in America is still growing. Because religion is so vi- tal to a free and well-ordered society, our goal is to expose and document this growing hostility to help Americans confront and reverse it. The hostility is growing in the “Public Arena” of public places, government, and the workplace. It is growing in the “Schoolhouse” of education, from K-12 through higher academia. It is growing in the sector of “Churches and Ministries” where one might expect it to be safest. And it is grow- ing in the areas of society that encompass the “Military,” which includes our veterans. The growth of hostility is undeniable and it is dangerous. This 2014 edition ofUndeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America once again establishes the danger for all to see. When the first annual Survey of Religious Hostility in America was released in 2012, it was met with a wide range of responses: from thankfulness that the sur- vey shined a light on a growing problem to shock at how much religious persecution occurs in the United States to skepticism and outright denial of the included incidents, though each incident includes a citation to a court case, a news article, or a report from an organization involved in the incident. Last year, we renamed the survey Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America. This title exemplifies the purpose of the survey: to bring to light the increasing acts of hostility to religion in such a way that even the most uninformed and skeptical person cannot deny that we in America are facing an unprecedented assault on our First Freedom. Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America, unfortunately, continues to grow rapidly. This year’s edition has increased in size by approximately twenty-five percent from the 2013 edition. Here is a summary of the more detailed documentation of hostility that you will find in this volume—categorized by the four key sectors of society: x 1 Undeniable: The Survey of Hostility to Religion in America Executive Summary I. Attacks on Religious Liberty in the Public Arena Attacks on Ten Commandments Displays Attacks on religious liberty in the public arena are perhaps the most • Van Orden v.