NASA is going to take some heat for this one, that much can be guaranteed. Just recently, NASA lawyers censored the word “Jesus” in an e-mail meeting announcement of a Johnson Space Center Christian club. The club then immediately sent a letter to the company, and they warned them that they would file a lawsuit against them. To be honest, there is absolutely no reason why NASA should have done this. How is the word “Jesus” offensive, considering he is the savior in every Christian’s eyes. Anyway, the lawyer’s representing the club, the Liberty Institute and the Fish and Richardson law firm, gave some reasons on why they would sue NASA.
FIRST REASON: VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT
The First Amendment of the United States prohibits any law impeding the free exercise of religion. The lawyers for the club brought this amendment up, and it is hard to argue that it violates it. This is the most prominent argument that they have, and they should win just on the First Amendment. The amendment explains more than this, but this really wraps it up. Considering that the word “Jesus” is not at all offensive, NASA had no right to blur it out.
SECOND REASON: RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION
The Senior Counsel of the Liberty Institute, Jeremy Dys, gave another valid complaint outside of violating the First Amendment. As he says it, the fact that they censored a religious club’s announcement of the word “Jesus” is blatant religious discrimination. So, this is no different than when people complain about racial discrimination. Racial slurs are obviously not acceptable anymore, and this should be no different when it comes to blurring religious terms. There is no doubt that this Johnson Space Center Christian club has the right to be upset over this situation. Let’s just hope that NASA learns from this, and they immediately get rid of the censoring of the word “Jesus”.
