tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post8254185038912221388..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: The Verdict Is In. . . Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-25429294553850780192017-06-30T08:13:44.102-05:002017-06-30T08:13:44.102-05:00I am not aware of any Lutheran church that utilize...I am not aware of any Lutheran church that utilizes playground scrap tire surface material in conducting either the sacrament of baptism or the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Nor am I aware of any Lutheran doctrine or rite that incorporates playground scrap tire surface material. Nor have I seen any playground scrap tire surface material paid for by a state-run solid waste management program diverted to make Lutheran vestments (e.g., alb, cassock, amice, maniple, surplice, robe, stole, cope, chasuble, cincture, mitre) or a crosier.<br /><br />But I'll be on the alert, just in case.Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-67098849552483031282017-06-30T08:03:26.350-05:002017-06-30T08:03:26.350-05:00The grant from the Playground Scrap Tire Surface M...The grant from the Playground Scrap Tire Surface Material Grant Project was for reimbursing the cost of scrap tire surface material installed on the playground of Trinity Lutheran Child Learning Center, where (especially young) members of the general public might fall down. The application for receiving such a grant required various kinds of information including a description of the need for having a playground surface covering such as scrap tire material. In the case of the State-licensed Trinity Lutheran Child Learning Center, and other daycare centers, that need is specified in the State of Missouri's Code of State Regulations, 19 CSR 30-62.082 (6)(A).<br /><br />There is nothing in the State regulation about what a child, playing on the playground of a licensed daycare center, was saying, singing, learning, or being taught before, during or after falling down on the playground's scrap tire surface material.Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-344949440129838662017-06-30T07:59:43.081-05:002017-06-30T07:59:43.081-05:00Chief Justice Roberts, in the SCOTUS majority opin...Chief Justice Roberts, in the SCOTUS majority opinion of <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-577_khlp.pdf" rel="nofollow"><i>Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer</i></a>, wrote (p. 15 of 53): <br /><br />"Trinity Lutheran is not claiming any entitlement to a subsidy. It instead asserts a right to participate in a government benefit program without having to disavow its religious character. … The express discrimination against religious exercise here is not the denial of a grant, but rather the refusal to allow the Church—solely because it is a church—to compete with secular organizations for a grant."<br /><br />Justices Thomas and Gorsuch, concurring in part, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-577_khlp.pdf" rel="nofollow">wrote</a> (p. 20 of 53): <br /><br />"The Court today reaffirms that 'denying a generally available benefit solely on account of religious identity imposes a penalty on the free exercise of religion that can be justified,' if at all, 'only by a state interest 'of the highest order.'"Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.com