State demands pastor turn over sermons, notes

[rangerrebew]

State demands pastor turn over sermons, notes
'This is an excessive display of the government overreaching its authority'
Published: 23 hours ago


The state of Georgia is demanding copies of the sermons and related notes of a lay pastor who was fired by the Department of Public Health after it investigated what he said in his church.

But Dr. Eric Walsh is resisting, issuing a statement via his legal team that he will not comply with the demand from state lawyers.

The state’s demand is in response to a lawsuit filed by Walsh against the Department of Health charging discrimination based on his religion and other civil rights violations.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/10/state-that-fired-pastor-demands-his-sermons-notes/#txudQTFoma4HJ3lg.99

[geronl]

The state has no business doing that, just like the city of Houston didn't

[ABX]

What's the appropriate way for a pastor to say "piss off"?

[Free Vulcan]

If he worked for a govt agency, and it's in the context of a lawsuit, I'm not sure his beef here. Even sermons will be fair game in that context.

[GtHawk]

What's the appropriate way for a pastor to say "piss off"?

Go Trump yourself?

[ABX]

If he worked for a govt agency, and it's in the context of a lawsuit, I'm not sure his beef here. Even sermons will be fair game in that context.

The sermons were not made as part of his government agency job, they are part of his personal belief and that of his church.

[Free Vulcan]

The sermons were not made as part of his government agency job, they are part of his personal belief and that of his church.

True, but I'm thinking more in terms of filing a lawsuit, which opens him to discovery. The judge may quash it as irrelevant, but he shouldn't be surprised by it. It's gonna happen.

[ABX]

True, but I'm thinking more in terms of filing a lawsuit, which opens him to discovery. The judge may quash it as irrelevant, but he shouldn't be surprised by it. It's gonna happen.

Disovery is never as broad as people imagine. It is not an 'open book' on someone's life or business. It only applies to information that is directly relevant to the case AND will be used by the prosecution or defense in the case. Disovery basically prevents hiding of evidence that will be used in the trial.

For example, if the pastor is suing the government employer for personal descrimination, and he has no intention of using his sermons as part of his accusations, then the defense (government agency) has no right to ask for that information as it isn't relevant to the case.

If anything, asking for this type of information can be considered intimidation.

[r9etb]

True, but I'm thinking more in terms of filing a lawsuit, which opens him to discovery. The judge may quash it as irrelevant, but he shouldn't be surprised by it. It's gonna happen.

This sort of thing is precisely why the Founders included the "free exercise" clause in the First Amendment.

[rangerrebew]

What's the appropriate way for a pastor to say "piss off"?

"Kiss my ass!"

[GrouchoTex]

The mayor tried that nonsense in Houston, and it didn't happen.
It was when she tried her "gender neutral" law.
Preachers spoke out against it and she asked them to turn over their sermons. They rose up and did not do so.
A Mayor doing this is bad news.
A state doing it is worse.

[rodamala]

The [clamlicker] mayor tried that nonsense in Houston, and it didn't happen.
It was when she tried her "gender neutral" law.
Preachers spoke out against it and she asked them to turn over their sermons. They rose up and did not do so.
A Mayor doing this is bad news.
A state doing it is worse.

Fixed it.

[GrouchoTex]

Fixed it.

 

Well, yeah, there's that.....

[HonestJohn]

Uh...no.  If you cannot discriminate due to religious belief  then there is nothing in a sermon that could matter.  The fact that they are demanding to see them proves discrimination.  What are they looking for?  Unacceptable beliefs?  Banned speech?

The state of Georgia is demanding copies of the sermons and related notes of a lay pastor who was fired by the Department of Public Health after it investigated what he said in his church.

This does not say he was fired *FOR* what he said as pastor, just that he was fired *AFTER* Georgia conducted an investigation.  Whirled Nut Daily has a habit of leading readers to false conclusions to generate faux outrage.

[r9etb]

Whirled Nut Daily has a habit of leading readers to false conclusions to generate faux outrage.

Aw, crap.  I didn't see that this story was from them.  Never mind.

[mountaineer]

From The Aquila Report:

Georgia Demands Pastor’s Sermons In Discrimination Fight
Georgia has demanded sermon notes and transcripts from a part-time pastor and public health expert who sued for discrimination after losing his job with the state Department of Public Health
Written by Bonnie Pritchett | Sunday, October 30, 2016

“We have never seen an instance as egregious as this—of the state government intruding upon the sanctity of the pulpit. That is a gross violation of the First Amendment,” Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, told reporters. Dys said state officials acted illegally on two counts: First, when they requested Walsh’s sermons after hiring him and second, when state lawyers subpoenaed his sermons after he sued them.

 (WNS)–The state of Georgia has demanded sermon notes and transcripts from a part-time pastor and public health expert who sued for discrimination after losing his job with the state Department of Public Health (DPH). Eric Walsh contends the state revoked his job offer because of his religious beliefs, and he’s refused to turn over religiously related materials.

“I really don’t want that precedent set in this country,” Walsh told reporters during an Oct. 26 press conference at the Georgia Capitol. “I do this for the purpose of, hopefully, protecting someone who comes after me.”

According to the Sept. 27 subpoena, Attorney General Samuel Olens called for Walsh’s sermons and “all documents relating to your service as a pastor.” Walsh believes those sermons cost him his appointment as district health director of Northwest Georgia in May 2014. His attorney said the sermon subpoena was the second of two illegal inquiries by the state of Georgia into an employee’s private speech and public faith.

“We have never seen an instance as egregious as this—of the state government intruding upon the sanctity of the pulpit. That is a gross violation of the First Amendment,” Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, told reporters.

Dys said state officials acted illegally on two counts: First, when they requested Walsh’s sermons after hiring him and second, when state lawyers subpoenaed his sermons after he sued them.

“Employers shouldn’t be inspecting their employee’s religious beliefs—including a pastor’s sermons—for employment purposes,” Dys told me.

In announcing his hiring two years ago, DPH officials lauded Walsh’s experience as a public health physician whose work emphasized meeting the medical needs of patients diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. But two days after Walsh accepted the job offer, DPH officials requested his sermons. After reviewing them, a DPH official rescinded the job offer in a voice mail message, offering no explanation.

Walsh, a medical doctor and associate pastor for a Seventh Day Adventist congregation, filed a complaint with the state’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In February, the commission gave him the green light to file a complaint against DPH.

In preparing its defense, the state cast a broad discovery net and subpoenaed Walsh for any document, including “without limitation, any writing, communication, or other matter, printed, recorded, taped, or electronically transmitted or stored, of whatever nature or whatever form, including all non-identical copies and drafts thereof and all copies bearing notations or marks not found on the original.”

Item number 18 in the list stated, “Please produce a copy of your sermon notes and/or transcripts.”

The former mayor of Houston, Annise Parker, tried and failed to use the same tactic in her defense of a pro-LGBT city ordinance. City attorneys subpoenaed the sermons of five pastors outspoken in opposition to the ordinance. Parker defended the request until national outcry and the advice of gay-affirming pastors prompted her to withdraw the subpoena.

“Any threat against any pulpit by the state is a threat to every pulpit in every place at all times,” Dave Welch, one of the Houston pastors who fought Parker and is supporting Walsh, said at today’s press conference. “We will not allow our pulpits to be silenced or censored by the tyranny of state political correctness.”

In March, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed the Pastor Protection Act, a bill that would have protected pastors like Walsh from government intrusion into religious affairs, Dys told me. Deal called the bill “state-sanctioned discrimination” and said Georgia had no need for the protections it outlined.

“If the governor is looking for a religious liberty problem, looking for an issue that needs redressing through legislation, here it is,” said Travis Weber, director of the Family Research Council Center for Religious Liberty.

During the press conference, a reporter asked Walsh if his sermons represented his personal views, his passion.

“Well, first and foremost it’s theological,” Walsh replied. “When you go to prepare a sermon, the first thing you ask for is the presence of the Holy Spirit. That transcends things. It changes the dimensions of what is being expressed.”

When the government tries to intervene, Walsh said, “You are trying to disrupt my very connection to my God.”

[thackney]

What's the appropriate way for a pastor to say "piss off"?

Well, Bless your heart...

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bless%20your%20heart