Piety Hill Musings

The ramblings of the Rector of St. John's Church in the city of Detroit. Piety Hill refers to the old name for our neighborhood. The neighborhood has changed a great deal in the over 165 years we have been on this corner (but not our traditional biblical theology) and it is now known for the neighboring theatres, the professional baseball and football stadiums and new hockey/basketball arena.

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Location: Detroit, Michigan, United States

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Concession by the American Atheists Inc?

From Thursday's Free Press...I won't believe it until the final check is in our hands!
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June 11, 2009
Group won’t appeal ruling on churches in Detroit cleanup
By JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
The American Atheists Inc. group said today it would not appeal a ruling against its attempt to bar Detroit from including churches in a general downtown cleanup program.
The New Jersey-based group had filed a suit in federal court after the city’s Downtown Development Authority created a façade improvement program to fix up downtown prior to Super Bowl XL in 2006. About 100 local property owners participated in the matching grant program, including three downtown churches.
The atheist organization lost most of its case on the local level, and two weeks ago, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out its appeal entirely. The court said the façade improvement grants were no different than extended fire protection or sewer lines to a church.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990611059

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