After NASA lawyers began pressuring a group of employees at the Johnson Space Center to remove the name of Jesus from their club announcements, members are now poised to sue the agency.
The Daily Caller is reporting on the incident which concerns members of a private worship group at the Space Center known as the JSC Praise and Worship Club, who get together during lunch hours to pray. An announcement made by the club last summer used the name of Jesus.
“Join with the praise and worship band ‘Allied with the Lord’ for a refreshing set of spring praise and worship songs on Thursday, June 4, from 11:15 a.m. to noon in Building 57, Room 106,” the message read, adding that “the theme for this session will be ‘Jesus is our life!’” and made it a point to invite “all JSC civil servants and contractors.”
A few days later, NASA lawyers contacted group leaders to say use of the name of Jesus was unacceptable, saying use of the name could cause innocent observers to come to the conclusion that the space agency endorses Christianity, which would be a violation of the Establishment Clause.
Employees were stunned.
“We are shocked that NASA would censor the name of Jesus from our Praise and Worship Club’s announcement,” said Sophia Smith, a NASA employee and club member. “NASA has a long history of allowing religious speech by employees. In fact, in 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts read from the Bible while they were orbiting the moon, and it was broadcast on TV. So why would they ban ‘Jesus’ from our announcements?”
As a result, the club contacted lawyers at Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm dedicated to preserving religious freedom who say NASA lawyers are violating both the religious liberty and free speech rights of these employees. This is because the emails don’t originate from NASA but from a private group of employees.
“It is illegal for the government to censor the name of Jesus in employee emails,” said Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for Liberty Institute. “Censoring a religious club’s announcement to specifically exclude the name ‘Jesus’ is blatant religious discrimination.”
He added: “NASA administrators are not above the law. Government employers are required to respect the civil rights of its civil servants and contract employees—regardless of their religious viewpoint.”
For the time being, club organizers are complying with the request but are determined to fight the ban, even if they go to court to do so.
On February 8, Liberty Institute and volunteer attorneys from Fish & Richardson issued a demand letter to the legal team at NASA JSC informing them of the grave violation of its employees’ rights that occurred as a result of this censorship. The letter threatens a federal lawsuit should NASA fail to correct the problem.
NASA lawyer’s are being asked to respond by March 10 or legal action against them will commence.
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