The Jewish Defense League is taking action to insure that the First Amendment of the Constitution will remain intact and will not be subjected to those politicians who want to Christianize this country. Although Christianity is a great religion and is the faith of the vast majority of people in this land, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the establishment by the government of any religion. The Supreme Court has interpreted this amendment as specifically prohibiting any government body from establishing an official religion. It has come to JDL's attention that city council members from across Southern California -- and probably around the country -- are praying to Jesus at their meetings, usually before any business is done. JDL has been asked by many citizens to attend council meetings and speak out against this violation of church and state. No other Jewish organization has the intestinal fortitude to speak up on this issue. This is a classic, important First Amendment issue, which will define the nature of this country.

The Jewish Defense League has visited the following city councils: Rosemead, Burbank, Mareno Valley, with many more to come. Chairman Irv Rubin, with a great amount of passion, has implored these bodies to stop this violation of the Constitution. Unfortunately we have been met with stony silence from all of these officials. The most obnoxious action came from "beautiful downtown Burbank," the home of Disney Studios and NBC. Not only did they pray to Jesus during the invocation, they then brought on a group of Burbank High School students to sing the deeply religious Christmas carol "Silent Night." This was followed by "Deck the Halls." These two carols remind every Jew that Christianity considers us a second-class religion because we do not believe that Jesus was the messiah/G-d. Mayor Stacey Murphy told a local newspaper, the Burbank Leader, that the prayer wasn't meant to offend anyone, but those who were offended could simply walk out. [The full text of this article can be found here.]

Burbank's policy is exclusionary and totally contrary to everything Americans hold dear. The JDL believes that Jews have every right to attend every minute of every council meeting without having to get up and walk out. The mayor's insensitivity, according to Irv Rubin, is at the heart of the matter. The mayor, through her words, apparently believes that this is a Christian country. If not, she would use a non-denominational prayer, one that would be fine with JDL and all concerned Jews. Rubin asked the mayor and the other city council members to look directly behind them at the mural painted on the wall. It gave a message of diversity and inclusion. It depicted the story of America; three of the characters were religious Jews. Rubin told Mayor Murphy and the rest of the council that Jews, especially those shown in the painting, would not feel welcome in their city council. Simply put, Jews don't pray to Jesus.

The Jewish Defense League is advising all members and supporters to investigate whether or not their respective city councils/government bodies also violate First Amendment protections. If they do, the JDL is asking for those who agree with us to make their voices heard. Protest the intrusion and attack on that most important wall that Civil Libertarians have built separating church and state. The JDL is pleased to announce that due to the fact councils don't take our protests seriously, we have retained the service of famed attorney and Constitutional expert, Roger Jon Diamond. He will ask a U.S. Federal Court in the very near future to issue an injunction to stop these city councils from using Christianity in their meetings.

It is most ironic that an organization JDL has protested on numerous occasions, the ACLU, agrees with our position 100%. Coming from an organization that regularly defends Nazis, Klansmen and Communists, the JDL is in strange company. Of course we don't agree with the ACLU the vast amount of time. Due to practicality, should they write a friend of the court brief, common sense dictates that we must accept it. Watch for updates and future protest dates in Members Only.