March 11, 2012
It's not unusual for religious-liberty law firms to get involved when people are told their Christian faith can't be expressed in public, but in a new federal lawsuit, it was none other than a religious-liberty law firm that found itself denied access to a meeting room in a public library in Oregon because its members would be discussing issues from a biblical perspective. WORLD News Service reports that Liberty Counsel was hoping to hold a biblical education seminar for employees and volunteers at the Seaside Public Library in late 2010, but was denied by the board of trustees who cited a policy against allowing "religious services or proselytizing" on its property. When Liberty Counsel tried again last December, it was told the same thing and informed there was no point in making further requests. "Of all places, a public library is supposed to welcome multiple viewpoints," said Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Mat Staver. Since Liberty Counsel wasn't trying to hold a worship service, Staver said the library's policy violated the U.S. Constitution. "They picked the wrong organization to discriminate against," he said.