Missouri Rep Demands Public ID of Anyone Suing Over Separation of Church and State

[TexasTowelie]

Missouri Representative Hardy Billington (R-Poplar Bluff) is on a mission from God. Unfortunately, it's not the type of mission that requires driving to Chicago at night while wearing sunglasses, but rather one to make the separation of church and state just a bit less separate.

In a House committee hearing Tuesday, Billington presented a bill that would force plaintiffs advocating for the separation of church and state — those suing to stop the public display of crosses on government property, or seeking to block prayer in public schools — to disclose their real names. No more Jane Doe or Jane Roe. In these cases, and only these cases, Billington would require the legal system to out the person suing.

Currently, when it comes to identification, a judge can balance the interests of the public against the interests of the people filing suit. But Billington seems to believe that a new law is necessary to make sure anyone who doesn't share his religious beliefs has no shot at anonymity. "Except if the party in interest is a minor, in any action involving the separation of church and state, such action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest," his bill states.

During Billington's comments on Tuesday, the freshman representative explained that he'd been inspired to file the bill because of an incident seven years ago, when he erected a ten-foot-tall crucifix that said "Jesus Saves."

Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2019/03/01/missouri-rep-demands-public-id-of-anyone-suing-over-separation-of-church-and-state

[riversedge]

1. Billington is a busy man-being a bigot!!

....It's worth noting, though, that Billington's beliefs would be considered rank bigotry by more progressive Christians. He actively campaigned against the passage of marriage equality and once asserted that homosexuality is "killing people two to three times the rate of smoking." In 2012, he took out a newspaper ad supporting the breathtakingly dumb (and obviously unsuccessful) "Don't Say Gay" bill that sought to restrict conversations about sexual orientation in public schools.

During the hearing Tuesday, Billington repeatedly singled out the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, whose stated mission includes "challenging the entanglement of religion and government, government endorsement or promotion of religion."

The foundation has been busy in Missouri. In 2016, its complaint and threat of a lawsuit forced the Tipton school district to prohibit staff from leading prayers in school. In 2017, the nonprofit targeted a 60-foot long cross in a public park in Neosho — the city opted to sell a chunk of the park to a private entity rather than remove the enormous religious symbol.