Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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1. 

   You get drivel about aliens, abduction etc from all sorts of people, not just Christians – there are atheists, agnostics…

2. 

   […] last time I had had occasion to write about Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, above, was three years ago…

3. 

   Whatever is presented on the BBC, and I must admit I do not watch the TV, the fact is that…

4. 

   “The curriculum had already drawn tensions among the county’s religious parents, with some worrying about appropriateness and arguing the material…

5. 

   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

TRUMP-appointed Texas District Judge Brantley Starr this week ordered three attorneys for Southwest Airlines to receive “religious-liberty” training from the ADF in the wake of a case involving a “persecuted” Christian flight attendant Charlene Carter, inset above.

CNN explained that last year a jury found that both Southwest and Transport Union Workers discriminated against Carter when it fired the flight attendant after she “expressed her pro-life beliefs to her union president.”

Following the verdict, Starr ordered Southwest to reinstate Carter and take several other corrective actions, including requiring both the airline and the union to:

Inform Southwest flight attendants that, under Title VII, they may not discriminate against Southwest flight attendants for their religious practices and beliefs, including—but not limited to—those expressed on social media and those concerning abortion.

Starr, member of the conservative Federalist Society, found that his order had been violated by the airline, as as punishment said that the attorneys—Kerrie Forbes, Kevin Minchey, and Chris Maberry—should be subjected to “at least” eight hours of brainwashing from the ADF.

Starr, a big fan of the far-right Christian extremist organisation, said:

The Alliance Defending Freedom (‘ADF’) has conducted such training in the past, and the Court deems that appropriate here.

He added:

This isn’t the first time an entity has needed religious-liberty training after it attempted to suppress speech.

He described the ADF and other outfits like them as:

Esteemed non-profit organizations that are dedicated to preserving free speech and religious freedom. And some of those entities laudably provide training free of charge for those who have struggled to respect religious liberties in the manner federal law requires,

Chris Geidner, writing for Lawdork, pointed out that the ADF:

Is not an unbiased, educational institution—nor does it pretend to be. The only relevant ‘training’ its website discusses in the training section is a ‘Legal Academy’ connecting ‘like-minded attorneys’ in an effort to show lawyers how ‘to effectively advocate for religious liberty, free speech, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family.’

He also pointed out that:

The Southern Poverty Law Center has long-designated ADF as a hate group.

In fillings submitted ahead of Monday’s order, attorneys for Southwest urged the judge not to order the trainings, saying that:

Ordering religious-liberty training would be an inappropriate remedy for the alleged civil contempt.

‘Adding insult to injury’

Starr’s order says the training must last at least eight hours and that it has to be completed by August 28. The airline must also:

Transport ADF’s representative to Dallas and be responsible for any food, accommodation, or other travel expenses for ADF’s representative.

ABC reported that, for Southwest, the ruling “adds insult to injury.”

It stems from a roughly $800,000 judgment against the airline and the flight attendant’s union. Although that was less than the jury’s $5.1 million award, Charlene Carter also got her job back.

Carter, a longtime union critic, said she was fired after she called the then union president Audrey Stone “despicable” for attending the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C. She also allegedly subjected Stone to harassment via social media.

At the event, women protested the inauguration of President Donald Trump and called for protecting abortion rights among many issues.

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