Make February 29 a Holiday

The buzz seems to be gaining some steam. Wags on Reddit have been hashing it out since this morning.

In the English folk tradition, Leap Day was the only day when it was acceptable for women to propose to men.

Happy February 29!

Press Release: ACLU Files Civil Action to Defend ULC Marriages in PA

The ACLU filed three civil actions in Philadelphia County Court today on behalf of three couples whose marriages are jeopardized by a separate ruling in York County, PA last September.

The saga began last September after Universal Life Church minister Adam Johnston's ordination was declared invalid by Judge Maria Musti Cook. Johnston contacted the ULC who enlisted the support of the ACLU of PA and responded to Judge Cook's unconstitutional ruling with a press release. In addition to assisting the ACLU in research and putting them in contact with its ministers, the ULC retained the counsel of Davis Wright Tremaine to explore its own options and legal recourse for their PA ministers.

The actions filed by the ACLU and the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath on behalf of three couples, two married by Universal Life Church ministers and one by a Jesuit priest, seek to declare "...that their marriage is valid under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania", effectively overturning Judge Cook's ruling.

“What we want is to fix a problem that never should have existed in the first place,” said Mary Catherine Roper, staff attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “The state has no business invalidating marriages just because it doesn’t like the kind of minister who officiated them.”

Chaplain Freeman at the Universal Life Church Monastery stated that "...any decision affecting a minister's right to perform marriage rituals, as well as funerals and baptisms would be in violation of existing case law established under the only Federal decision to date in Universal Life Church v. The State of Utah."

The Martyrdom of St. Rowan

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury has been taking heat lately for comments he made recommending that parts of Sharia law be incorporated into the British legal system. Martin Rowson editorializes above.

Hitchens was not sparing in his derision of the Archbishop, writing:

"...just look at how casually this sheep-faced English cleric throws away the work of centuries of civilization."

While we here at the Universal Life Church respect each religion and strongly advocate freedom of practice, we are equally strongly opposed to religions meddling with the state and vice-versa. The domestic abuse and misogyny that Sharia sanctions and codifies aside, there are so many different interpretations and implementing one strain would disenfranchise Muslims from different sects, not to mention secularists and other non-Muslims.

Anonymous Protests Scientology

Sunday, February 10 was an international day of protest against the Church of Scientology organized by a group calling itself Anonymous. Anonymous staged protests in major cities around the world to draw attention to what members describe as suppression of free speech and religious profiteering by the Church of Scientology.

The most recent furor began several weeks ago after Gawker posted a leaked video of an interview with Tom Cruise where the actor extols the virtues of his kooky cult with maniacal intensity. Youtube withdrew the video purportedly due to pressure and threat of litigation.

Enter Anonymous, an-you guessed it-anonymous group of tech-savvy activists who seek to undermine the Church of Scientology through subversive means by way of the internet. The group takes its ethos from the movie V For Vendetta and its masked, anti-establishment hero. In addition to its visible protests, the group has mounted denial of service attacks against the CoS, successfully shutting down their site on a number of occasions.




Your correspondent took the weekend off from the ULC and happened to be driving by Seattle's Scientology HQ and observe about fifty people dressed mostly in black and wearing Guy Fawkes masks while shouting and holding signs. King 5 has the story here.