ACLU Tries to Sabotage Religious Freedom Group

A memo from an American Civil Liberties Union official reveals that the organization attempted to steal the thunder from the Liberty Counsel's success in aiding an artist whose art was banned as "too religious."

As NewsMax revealed in early February, paintings by artist Lloyd Marcus were banned from being exhibited during a Black History Month display in Deltona, Fla., because some of his works contain "Christian symbols."

The paintings reflect the artist's memories of his childhood at his dad's storefront church.

One painting depicts three black people: a minister, a woman and another man wearing a baseball cap that reads "I Love Jesus."

Two others contain the partial image of a Bible.

"I would hardly call these paintings 'in your face religious,'" Marcus told NewsMax.

The artist was informed that the works he submitted could not be displayed due to the concern that they violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause regarding the separation of church and state.

Marcus contacted the Liberty Counsel, an Orlando-based litigation and education group that specializes in cases involving religious freedom and pro-family issues.

The legal group sent a letter to a Deltona official advising him that the paintings did not violate the First Amendment.

When the city still refused to display the paintings, the Liberty Counsel filed suit asking a court to order Deltona to display Marcus' works.

Mat Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, said city officials then reversed their position and allowed Marcus' paintings in the exhibit.

But the ACLU tried to take the wind out of Liberty Counsel's sails after they filed the suit.

In a memo sent to Deltona Mayor Dennis Mulder, George Griffin, chairman of the ACLU's Volusia-Flagler chapter, suggested "a possible solution" to the controversy over the paintings.

He proposed that city officials could issue a statement saying they sought another legal opinion about whether the paintings would violate the separation of church and state, according to a source who obtained the memo.

Specifically, Griffin suggested that officials say they had spoken to Randall Marshall, the legal director for the ACLU of Florida, and that Marshall had assured them the display of the paintings would not violate the First Amendment.

Then Griffin revealed his real motive, saying that such a move would diffuse the lawsuit "but without capitulating to the Liberty Counsel. Sure, they would probably crow 'victory,' but it would irritate the hell out of them if your decision was NOT based on their threats, but rather on legal advice from the ACLU."

The ploy didn't work - the Liberty Counsel went on to claim victory despite the ACLU action.

When city officials were "facing the prospect that they were going to court and that this would cost them a significant amount of money," Staver said, "they reversed their position reluctantly."