This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Wednesday marked the fourth time that Prime Minister Netanyahu has addressed a joint session of Congress, the most of any world leader in history.
His staunchest critics have claimed that the real reason for his visit to the States was "to enlist domestic American support to keep waging the war" rather than to end the war and bring home the hostages. Others have faulted him for failing to deliver anything of substance in terms of a long-term solution, let alone making serious concessions toward the Palestinians. His supporters saw things very differently, with one headline proclaiming, "JOINT SESSION: In wartime address to Congress, Netanyahu gives 'masterclass in global diplomacy,' most powerful speech of his career – 55 standing ovations."
While the Middle East pundits parse the details, here are some of the most memorable lines from his speech. Bibi sure knows how to fire up the crowd. Indeed, the "no fewer than 55 standing ovations" marked "the most of any such speaker in Congressional history." (Note that he is more popular in America than in Israel, especially among American evangelicals.)
After his introductory greetings, these were his opening lines: "We meet today at a crossroads of history. Our world is in upheaval. In the Middle East, Iran's axis of terror confronts America, Israel, and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It's a clash between barbarism and civilization. It's a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life."
After introducing several IDF soldiers who were sitting in the audience today, including "Lieutenant Yonatan, Jonathan Ben Hamo who lost a leg in Gaza and continued to fight," he said, "My friends, these are the soldiers of Israel – unbowed, undaunted, unafraid."
On the difference between good and evil: "Defeating our brutal enemies requires both courage and clarity. Clarity begins by knowing the difference between good and evil. Yet incredibly many anti-Israel protesters, many choose to stand with evil. They stand with Hamas. They stand with rapists and murderers. They stand with people who came into the kibbutzim, into a home, the parents hid the children, the two babies, in the attic, in a secret attic. They murdered the family, the parents, they found the secret latch to the hidden attic and then they murdered the babies. These protesters stand with them. They should be ashamed of themselves.
"They refuse to make the simple distinction between those who target terrorists and those who target civilians, between the democratic State of Israel and the terrorist thugs of Hamas."
On the misguided protesters: "It's amazing, absolutely amazing. Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming 'Gays for Gaza.' They might as well hold up signs saying 'Chickens for KFC.'
"These protesters chant 'From the river to the sea.' But many don't have a clue what river and what sea they're talking about. They not only get an F in geography, they get an F in history. They call Israel a colonialist state. Don't they know that the Land of Israel is where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob prayed, where Isaiah and Jeremiah preached, and where David and Solomon ruled?
"For nearly four thousand years, the land of Israel has been the homeland of the Jewish people. It's always been our home; it will always be our home."
On the misguided "justice" of the ICC: "The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza. This is utter complete nonsense. It's a complete fabrication. Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza. That's half a million tons of food, and that's more than 3,000 calories for every man, woman, and child in Gaza. If there are Palestinians in Gaza who aren't getting enough food, it's not because Israel is blocking it, it's because Hamas is stealing it."
On the difference between Israel and Hamas: "For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, it's a strategy. They want Palestinian civilians to die so that Israel will be smeared in the international media and be pressured to end the war before it's won."
On Iran's war with Israel and the world: "In the Middle East, Iran is virtually behind all the terrorism, all the turmoil, all the chaos, all the killing. And that should come as no surprise. When he founded the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini pledged, "We will export our revolution to the entire world. We will export the Islamic revolution to the entire world." Now, ask yourself, which country ultimately stands in the way of Iran's maniacal plans to impose radical Islam on the world? And the answer is clear: It's America, the guardian of Western civilization and the world's greatest power. That's why Iran sees America as its greatest enemy.
"Last month, I heard a revealing comment, ostensibly about the war in Gaza, but about something else. It came from the foreign minister of Iran's proxy, Hezbollah, and he said this: 'This is not a war with Israel. Israel,' he said, 'is merely a tool. The main war, the real war, is with America.'"
Continuing with this theme: "That's why the mobs in Tehran chant 'Death to Israel' before they chant 'Death to America.' For Iran Israel is first, and America is next. So, when Israel fights Hamas, we're fighting Iran. When we fight Hezbollah, we're fighting Iran. When we fight the Houthis, we're fighting Iran. And when we fight Iran, we're fighting the most radical and murderous enemy of the United States of America.
"And one more thing. When Israel acts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons that could destroy Israel and threaten every American city, every city that you come from, we're not only protecting ourselves. We're protecting you.
"My friends, if you remember one thing, one thing from this speech, remember this: Our enemies are your enemies, our fight is your fight, and our victory will be your victory."
In sum, "The war in Gaza could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders disarms, and returns all the hostages. But if they don't, Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas' military capabilities and its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home.
"That's what total victory means, and we will settle for nothing less."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Graphic new footage of the immediate aftermath of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump shows the shooter lying in his own blood on the roof from which he killed a firefighter and injured two others.
The shocking footage, released by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, reveals local police standing with a Secret Service agent over the body of shooter Thomas Crooks, and appearing to confirm the 20-year-old had been identified as a suspicious person before the first shot was ever fired.
One man in a red tie and wearing sunglasses appears to be a Secret Service agent who tells a Beaver County Emergency Service Unit officer that the deceased male on the roof appeared to be the suspicious person to whom they were previously alerted.
"So this is the guy," the agent says.
The local officer explains another sniper saw and photographed Crooks from his window position in another building.
"He would be right inside that window. He's the one that physically seen this, sent the pictures and called it out."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A statement has been issued that Joe Biden is out of the race for the Democratic Party's nomination for president, which he already had won.
But he's still in control of the White House, the nation's military, and its nuclear football containing launch codes for its weaponry.
And that's a "frightening message" the Democrat party is sending the world, according to a long list of prominent commentary voices.
It is Miranda Devine, a prominent New York Post commentator, who said, "We're still stuck with Joe Biden as president for six months. He might have passed the political torch to VP Kamala Harris but he still has control of the nuclear football. Or maybe Dr. Jill and Hunter do. Either way, it's a frightening message to send to the world: The U.S. president is too cognitively impaired to run for re-election in November but he's staying on as commander in chief until January."
She pointed out that just a week ago Biden was "digging in his heels" about staying in the race, but charged there was a "deal" struck as "Nancy Pelosi and the Obamacans ratcheted up the pain."
"Of course," she wrote, "'working something out' for his benefit has always been the point with Biden, whether it's his donors providing grace and favor jobs at inflated prices for his wayward son and other family members, or President Xi Jinping blessing Hunter's lucrative business venture after he flew into Beijing with dad on Air Force Two."
She said Biden remaining in office gives him plenty of time "to orchestrate pardons for Hunter and his brother Jim and whomever else in the family is in legal trouble."
Further, "You can bet Air Force One and Camp David will be working overtime for as many dream holidays and bucket list wishes for as many extended family members as he can squeeze in. Perhaps another ancestral trip to Ireland or Rome for a last blessing from his favorite pope. It will be one long victory lap."
Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley explained that Biden is "effectively saying that, in addition to being allegedly too diminished to be prosecuted, he is too diminished to run for the office that he currently holds," the question is why he is remaining in office.
"The Democratic Party essentially created its political version of the 25th Amendment in forcing Biden off the ticket. This decision was about as voluntary as leaving a building by way of a window on the 46th floor. That is particularly the case when you are thrown out of the window by your closest friends."
This all leaves the question of why he is remaining in office.
"The Democratic establishment has two equally unappealing options. First, it could be argued that Biden was withdrawing out of recognition that he is no longer politically viable. But that makes a mockery out of the democratic process. Millions of people went through the primary elections to select him as their nominee. Now he would be set aside and replaced by a vote of the party establishment like a shift in the Russian politburo. Second, it could admit that Biden was, as stated for weeks in the media and by figures like Special Counsel Robert Hur, greatly diminished both mentally and physically."
But that, he said, could trigger a 25th Amendment fight over that provision's path to put aside a president because of incompetency.
He pointed out that Democrats, in their lawfare against President Donald Trump, already had suggested creating their panel "to force" Trump out of office.
"The question is whether Congress will now make this decision to warrant an investigation."
He said Biden's "unprecedented" decision to leave after effectively winning the nomination, should "warrant a House investigation into Biden's continuing capacity to serve in an office that he no longer believes he can run to occupy after January 2025."
Commentator Brianna Lyman at the Federalist said if Biden cannot run, he cannot remain in office.
"If Biden cannot run for office due to the severe cognitive decline displayed during the debate, then dropping out of the nomination process isn't enough. If Biden is too senile to run for president, he is too senile to remain in office," she wrote.
"If Biden is permitted to remain in office for the next six months, then the 'party of Democracy' just signaled that 14 million primary voters engaged in nothing more than perfunctory democracy. That is, one in which votes mean naught because a handful of D.C. elites have the ultimate say when their power suddenly is put on the line."
She said Democrats defended his cognitive powers, and hid the evidence otherwise, for years because Biden wasn't a political liability then.
"The debate changed that. Suddenly Democrats were forced to answer for Biden's mental acuity. But explaining away a man's inability to put together a coherent sentence, his repeated 'forgetfulness,' or even his ability to walk off a stage unassisted was a question that had one answer: Biden is incapable of carrying out the duties he sought to continue to do for another four years. But if Biden's incapacitation means he can't be a successful nominee, he certainly cannot remain in office."
Margot Cleveland, also at the Federalist, explained while the announcement came from Biden, "Left unsaid will be the fact that party insiders and Democrat mega-donors forced Biden to step down out of fear Trump would win the presidency again."
She explained, "The public spectacle of the president's cognitive impairment prompted Democrats to conclude Biden could not win reelection, and the conclusion that Biden could not win reelection led to his withdrawal from the race. But why Biden bowed out as the Democrat candidate — or why Biden or others claim he did — isn't significant."
She said what matters is "that Biden lacks a stable mental capacity. That matters because a man lacking in lucidity, even if only at times, cannot discharge the powers and duties of the office of president."
And, "Biden's withdrawal as a candidate is not enough; he must resign from the presidency, or the cabinet must invoke the 25th Amendment. Democrats and their media lapdogs may pretend otherwise, acting as if Biden merely lacks the stamina to campaign and that his frailty does not affect his ability to serve as commander-in-chief. But during the debate, Biden wasn't lacking in vigor. He was lacking in lucidity."
She cited the "numerous" instances "in which Americans saw a cognitively challenged president. Add to those facts Special Counsel Robert Hur's conclusion that Biden would 'likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.' Hur's report further detailed Biden's shocking memory lapses and recommended against charging the president for mishandling classified documents. And Attorney General Merrick Garland's refusal to release the audio recording of Hur's interviews with Biden only cements the perception that the tape is even worse than the special counsel portrayed."
She warned," Now, with the president out of the race, reporters will revert to covering for him. Americans, though, know the truth — that President Biden is mentally incapacitated. Sadly, so do our enemies."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal judge has agreed to ban the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services from enforcing its private-investigator licensing requirement against anti-spam entrepreneur Jay Fink forever.
The decision comes from U.S. District Judge Rita Lin after a fight brought by the Institute for Justice on behalf of Fink.
Eventually, the state agreed with the institute's arguments and jointly petitioned the court for a ruling to that effect.
The institute said an order from the state had intended to force Fink to get a license to run his business, but the court decided the requirement was so irrational it violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
"I'm thankful that I won't have to worry about losing my livelihood anymore," said Fink. "But the state never should have shut me down in the first place."
His work involves California's anti-spam act, which lets consumers sue spammers – if they compile evidence of the spam they have to handle.
"To do that, recipients often have to wade through thousands of emails. For more than a decade, Jay has offered a solution: he and his team will scour a client's junk folder and catalog the messages that likely violate the law," the IJ said.
"But last year the state announced that it was demanding he get a license as an investigator.
"A regulator told Jay he needed a license to read through emails that might be used as evidence in a lawsuit. And because Jay didn't have a private investigator license, the state shut him down," the institute said.
The cost of that license was huge. "Aside from paying fees and passing a test, he would have had to spend 6,000 hours training in fields completely unrelated to identifying spam, like arson investigation or investigative journalism," the report said.
That all made the demand from the state unconstitutional, the report said.
After the judge said Fink likely would win his case, the state "agreed to jointly petition the court for an order that forever prohibits it from enforcing its licensure law against Jay. That means he's immediately free to get back to work."
A lawyer for the IJ earlier explained that Fink "reads and writes at his desk," specifically what the First Amendment protects.
Dylan Moore, a litigation counsel for IJ, said, "It doesn't take 6,000 hours of training to learn how to identify spam messages and put them into a PDF. Anyone who has an internet connection and email address probably already knows how to do this, and the state isn't cracking down on them. Jay just takes the hassle and frustration out of the process. Just like reporters or authors who compile information for a living, Jay is protected by the First Amendment."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Loud explosions were heard in downtown Tel Aviv – not far from the U.S. consulate – at 3:12 a.m. local time Friday, as an explosive-laden UAV infiltrated Israeli airspace undetected and impacted an apartment building.
Emergency services immediately swarmed the area, and one man in his fifties was found dead with shrapnel wounds over his body in a separate apartment building close to the explosion's locus. Israeli media reported up to 10 other people with minor wounds were treated in emergency rooms.
Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, although an initial Israel Air Force (IAF) investigation has not determined the exact source of the projectile. While it has been assessed the UAV was likely launched from the south – which means Yemen could have been its point of origin – it has not ruled out other sites such as Iraq or Syria. The IDF revealed it tracked the UAV's flight, but human error was responsible for the failure to trigger a warning. Meanwhile, the IAF increased its patrols over the area for fear subsequent attacks could be imminent.
Tel Aviv's long-serving Mayor Ron Huldai posted on X: "The Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo is on heightened alert in light of the severe UAV incident tonight, in which one person was killed and others were injured. The war is still here, and it is hard and painful. The municipal forces arrived at the spot quickly and dealt with the incident, and we are prepared for developments, if any. I call on the public to obey gov't instructions."
The Yemeni Army declared the "occupied Yafa area [Tel Aviv] an unsafe zone," and that it would be a "primary target within our weapons range."
This event is concerning on several levels. Although it is unknown if the U.S. consulate in Tel Aviv was the intended target, the drone impacted very near to the building. Is this a sign the Houthis are challenging both Israeli and U.S. power, sensing a certain weakness and fragility, which each of the governments may have projected?
From a deterrence point of view, the fact Israel's vaunted aerial defense system did not alert Tel Aviv's residents to the incoming projectile would have been seen and noted by Iran's other proxies in the region – in particular Hezbollah. There are already deep concerns in the country that if the Shi'ite group based in Lebanon were to release thousands of missiles, it would overwhelm Israel's air defenses and lead to the loss of life of potentially tens of thousands of people. Serious analysts and commentators have frequently warned – and for some time – that a war with Hezbollah will be hugely costly in terms of damage to the civilian and military infrastructure – and human lives.
On Thursday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) acknowledged the downing of both missiles and UAVs fired from Houth-controlled areas of Yemen, which "presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region." The IAF said it had downed another drone overnight – outside of Israeli airspace – reportedly fired from an "eastern direction" thought to be Iraq.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
While the Republican National Convention was getting into high gear Monday, NBC News was broadcasting an uncut 18-minute interview with President Joe Biden, conducted by longtime network anchor Lester Holt.
In addition to frequently sniping at Holt for the questions he asked and didn't ask, Biden – for no apparent reason – chose to repeat the Trump-is-like-Hitler claim that he has repeated more often than any other throughout his presidency: namely, "the Charlottesville lie," the false claim that Trump expressed admiration for Nazis after a rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.
The claim has been continually debunked by both left and right for the past seven years – most recently by left-wing fact-check site Snopes, which declared definitively, "No, Trump Did Not Call Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists 'Very Fine People.'"
Nevertheless, Biden not only featured "the Charlottesville lie" during his ill-fated CNN debate with Donald Trump, but he dredged it up again in the middle of his interview with NBC's Holt.
Lurching from one thought to another without finishing any of them, here’s how Biden responded to Holt asking him about his “first reaction” to Saturday’s attempted assassination of Donald Trump. (Transcript courtesy of NBC News)
LESTER HOLT: “You were in – in Delaware when this happened. What was your first reaction?”
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: “My first reaction was, ‘My God. This is – look, there’s so much violence now and the way we talk about it. I mean, the whole notion that there is this – there’s – there’s no place at all for violence in politics in America. None. Zero. And – we’ve reached a point where it’s – it’s become too commonplace, not assassinations, but to talk about it.
"For example, you know, the January 6th – you know, the attack on the Capitol, the – I – I – Lester, I got in this race early on in 2020 – for the 2020 race. I wasn't gonna run again because I'd lost my son. I didn't – you know? And – until I watched what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“Those folks coming out of the woods with torches, carrying swastikas, singing the same Nazi bile that was accompanied by this Ku Klux Klan, and a young woman was killed. And – and it was a bystander. And – the president – then president was asked, ‘What do you think?’ He said, ‘The very fine people on both sides.’ Not fine people on both sides. No excuse. Zero.”
As WND recently documented comprehensively, Biden, Democrats, leftwing activists, and most of the national news media have continually, since 2016, likened Donald Trump, his policies, beliefs, and ideology to Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party, and the Third Reich.
But Biden has something of a love affair with this particular “Trump-loves-Nazis” falsehood. He featured “the Charlottesville lies” in his acceptance address when the Democrats officially made him their presidential nominee in 2020. The Washington Post even weighed in, announcing that "For Joe Biden, Charlottesville defines the Trump presidency."
Biden has often falsely claimed, as he did again during Monday’s NBC interview, that Trump’s supposed pro-Nazi post-Charlottesville comments constituted his very reason for running for president. The fact that this “very fine Nazis” claim has been utterly and debunked by every side for years exerts no impact on Biden, who many longtime political analysts have described as a pathological liar.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Shortly after a sniper shot at President Trump, injuring him Saturday, the left's absolute and irrational hatred of President Donald Trump surfaced online.
It was in a statement attributed to a staff member for U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi.
A report at the Gateway Pundit explained Thompson, who is campaigning to try to remove Secret Service protection from President Trump, should the Democrats’ lawfare against him succeed in obtaining certain convictions and penalties, offered “crocodile tears on X” after the failed assassination attempt against Trump Saturday.
His "canned statement" included "thoughts and prayers."
But the report noted his field director, Jacqueline Marsaw, unleashed a comment on what appears to be an utter hatred of Trump.
Her comment appeared to express disappointment that the attacker, now dead, did not aim well enough.
"I don't condone violence, but please get you some shooting lessons so you don't miss next time. Oops, that wasn't me talking," her statement, quickly removed from online, said.
The attacker, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old Democrat donor, was shot and killed by law enforcement. One bystander was fatally shot during the violence.
Social media users blasted Thompson, who is noted for running ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's tainted and partisan Jan. 6 committee that orchestrated witnesses, evidence, and testimony to try to make the events of that day at the Capitol appear to be Trump's fault:
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Radio host Charlamagne Tha God is sounding off on what black voters should be thinking as they consider their 2024 vote for president, and he's urging them to "unlearn" any inherent fear they have of blasting Democrats.
With reports of President Trump surging with support from black Americans, Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks asked Charlamagne point blank Monday about the "one thing" he'd like those voters to "unlearn."
"I think a lot of us know this, but we are not what propaganda has made us seem to be to the world ... I guess if we're talking about politics, I'll keep it on politics. I think that we should be able to criticize the Democratic Party, right, without people labeling us as anything else. If we are the people who vote for them at the high number that we vote for them, we should be able to criticize them and know what is in our best interest to do for the country come November," Charlamagne indicated.
"We will not get any real change, we will not get the things that we want if we don't push them and if we don't criticize them."
"So I want us to unlearn just going along to get along with the Democratic Party, or any party for that matter, because I don't feel like black people, in particular, should be beholden to any particular party. I think that we should only be voting for our interests, and we should be voting for issues that directly impact us as a community," he continued.
"So to answer the question, I want us to unlearn being afraid to criticize the Democratic Party, because if we have supported them the way that we've supported them all of these years, we should, positively, be able to criticize them and they should listen and move how we want them to move."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A Chinese Communist Party-owned news outlet claims blaming China and other "developing countries" for not bringing peace to Ukraine is "not tenable," after the Ukraine Peace Summit held over the weekend fell flat.
According to an article published by The Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, Chinese government-owned Global Times stated in a now-deleted article that China advocated for opening up dialogue, and recommended a cease-fire in the conflict.
A day before the summit began in Switzerland, China's deputy representative to the U.N. Geng Shuang stated that Russia and Ukraine needed to directly negotiate peace, according to the South China Morning Post, another CCP-owned news outlet.
"China calls on the parties to the conflict to demonstrate political will, come together and start peace talks as soon as possible to achieve a cease-fire and halt military actions," Shuang said.
However, Chinese President Xi Jinping was notably absent from the peace summit, which was attended by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, while Russian President Vladimir Putin was not invited. Chinese officials reportedly noted that any real peace deals have stalled, and that the talks were pointless without Russia’s presence.
"Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, the Kherson and the Zaporizhzhia regions," Putin said. "As soon as Kyiv declares that it is ready for such a decision, and begins the actual withdrawal of troops from these regions, as well as officially notifies that they abandon plans to join NATO – an order to cease fire and begin negotiations will immediately follow from our side."
Meanwhile, Russia is strengthening ties with North Korea and so-called BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which make up over 40% of the world’s population and one-third of the world’s GDP.
Moreover, the BRICS group’s power is likely to increase, after Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates were all invited to join earlier this year. Indonesia also looks to be on track to join.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal appeals court has affirmed the right of religious schools to hire teachers who abide by their faith doctrines. And not use those who don't.
It is Becket that announced a decision from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allows the Diocese of Charlotte to not use a former substitute teacher who sued.
That teacher had entered a same-sex union and promoted his status on social media, flaunting his disagreement with the Catholic school's standards.
The school decided then not to use his services as a substitute in the future.
Becket explained the court ruling "reaffirmed the diocese’s freedom to choose teachers who will uphold and help pass on the faith to the next generation."
The Catholic school system has operated in the region for more than 50 years, and it includes 20 schools providing "a top-notch education that also helps students grow in the Catholic faith, making the opportunity widely available to students of all backgrounds in part through generous financial aid," Becket noted.
"To ensure teachers are helping the diocese fulfill its mission, the diocese asks all of its teachers – Catholic and non-Catholic – to uphold the Catholic faith in word and deed."
The case was brought by Lonnie Billard, who previously taught English and drama at Charlotte Catholic High before retiring and offering his services as to substitute.
He had signed a contract agreeing to uphold church teachings.
But, "in knowing violation" he entered a same-sex union and wrote about it on social media.
The school stopped calling him, and he sued.
The court explained the First Amendment requires civil courts to '"stay out' of employment disputes involving ministers," and in this situation, Billard "was a minister because Charlotte Catholic required all its teachers to 'model and promote Catholic faith and morals.'"
That meant Billard's lawsuit was at an end.
"The Supreme Court has been crystal clear on this issue: Catholic schools have the freedom to choose teachers who fully support Catholic teaching," said Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, which represents the diocese in the case. "This is a victory for people of all faiths who cherish the freedom to pass on their faith to the next generation."
ADF lawyer John Bursch said, "Religious schools should be allowed to employ teachers and administrators who share the same goals, views, and values that adhere to their religion, and the 4th Circuit’s decision upholds that fundamental freedom. The court rightly recognized that the ability of religious schools to make employment decisions based on their beliefs is ‘grounded…in constitutional structure’ and that religious employers should be free to operate without fear of punishment by government officials or courts."
The ruling said, "Our court has recognized before that seemingly secular tasks like the teaching of English and drama may be so imbued with religious significance that they implicate the ministerial exception…we think the principle carries through The ministerial exception protects religious institutions in their dealings with individuals who perform tasks so central to their religious missions – even if the tasks themselves do not advertise their religious nature."