History of the ACLU

We’ve all heard about the crazy, hypocritical things the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has done over the years. My own mayor, Los Angeles MayorAntonio Villaraigosa is a former board member and president of the ACLU Southern California affiliate.
And most recently, the ACLU has bullied a high school with a 70-year tradition of holding commencement ceremonies in a Methodist-owned building. They have forced the school to take down a large cross out front and also they must replace any signs or banners inside that have anything to do with Christianity.
According to Fox News, “Instead of the sign, ‘Holiness to the Lord,’ a banner will be posted over it saying, ‘Neptune Township School District … A Community of Learners.’ In addition, a banner with the words ‘So Be Ye Holy’ will be covered with another banner saying, ‘Neptune High School: A School of Excellence and No Excuses.’”
At first the school rejected the ACLU demands, but ultimately they caved.
So as with my reports about Socialism and Eric Holder, I personally wanted to find out more about this organization: where it began, who founded it—and more importantly, why they only seem to target Christians and victims instead of the ‘bad guys’ of the world.
EARLY HISTORY: Roger Nash Baldwin
As expected, the ACLU was founded in 1920 by an anarchist/Socialist/Communist-leaning man named Roger Nash Baldwin.
Roger was born in Massachusetts in 1884. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree at Harvard University and soon after moved to St. Louis Missouri where he taught sociology at Washington University. He later became a social worker.
While in St. Louis, Baldwin became obsessed by the radical anarchist Emma Goldman (founder of anarchist journal Mother Earth) and he joined theIndustrial Workers of the World.
By now, Baldwin was a full-on radical. He was a member of the American Union Against Militarism (AUAM), which opposed American involvement in World War I, and spent a year in jail as a conscientious objector as a draft dodger.
In order to protect other radicals like him, Baldwin and the AUAM created the Civil Liberties Bureau(CLB) in 1917, which later branched off to be the National Civil Liberties Bureau.
Finally in 1920, NCLB was renamed the American Civil Liberties Union with Baldwin continuing as the ACLU’s first executive director.
In 1927, Baldwin took an inspirational trip to the Soviet Union and later wrote a book called Liberty Under the Soviets.
Baldwin claims his original intent for the ACLU was flat-out Communism:
My chief aversion is the system of greed, private profit, privilege and violence which makes up the control of the world today, and which has brought it to the tragic crisis of unprecedented hunger and unemployment…Therefore, I am for Socialism, disarmament and ultimately, for the abolishing of the State itself…I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.
However, when both Baldwin and the American public became more aware of Stalin and the Soviet Union, he later condemned Communism and referred to it as “A New Slavery”.
As testament to his newfound anti-Communistic stance, in the 1940’s Baldwin tried to ban Communists from being in the ACLU. (Baldwin’s anti-Communist ban was lifted in 1967 when the ACLU allowed Communist Party members to rejoin their group.)
The ACLU first gained public notoriety in 1925 (under Baldwin’s directorship) when the state of Tennessee banned the teaching of evolution. The ACLU worked with biology teacher John T. Scopes to challenge the law by having him continue teaching the banned subject. Scopes was arrested and was then represented by attorney Clarence Darrow (with the help of the ACLU, of course).
The famous “Scopes Trial” ultimately found Scopes guilty (although the verdict later overturned because of a sentencing error). But the publicity that ensued helped launch ACLU as a major force in America.
One of the good things the ACLU did in their early years was to abolish President Franklin Roosevelt’s Japanese Americans ‘war relocation camps after World War II.
In 1947 and 1948, General Douglas MacArthur invited Baldwin to help set up similar Civil Liberties Unions in Japan, Germany and Austria.
Baldwin retired from the ACLU in 1950 but he continued to be active in politics and co-founded theInternational League for Human Rights.
President Jimmy Carter (of course) awarded Baldwin the Medal of Freedom in 1981. Seven months later, Baldwin died of a heart attack in New Jersey.
ACLU: After Baldwin Through 2011
One of the better things the ACLU has done is that they were instrumental in challenging racial segregation in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education. This important move ended the era of ‘separate but equal’.
But things started going South in the 1970’s, beginning with the ACLU’s much-publicized involvement in the abortion fight Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.
And in 1978 the ACLU “defended a Nazi group that wanted to march through the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois where many Holocaust survivors lived.” The ACLU fought for the Nazi’s 1st Amendment rights “to march and express their views.”
Regarding their defense of the Nazi’s, the ACLU website proudly says, “Many now consider this one of the ACLU’s finest hours.”
Although the ACLU has done a few good things for America, the bad far outweighs the good—and all under the misleading guise of “Freedom”. From the 1970’s through 2011, the ACLU has been notorious for defending extremists (such as Nazis and atheists) while trying to remove all traces of Christianity in America by forcing churches and cemeteries to take down crosses, eliminating the word “Christmas” from almost every walk of life and much more.
I thought I’d end with an excerpt from an article called “Top Ten Reasons to Stop the ACLU”. They summarized everything very nicely.
10. The ACLU was founded by Communist, with communist ideals, communist goals, and they continue to impose a Communist like agenda on America daily.
9. The ACLU does not believe in the Second Amendment.
ACLU POLICY “The ACLU agrees with the Supreme Court’s long-standing interpretation of the Second Amendment [as set forth in the 1939 case, U.S. v. Miller] that the individual’s right to bear arms applies only to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia. Except for lawful police and military purposes, the possession of weapons by individuals is not constitutionally protected. Therefore, there is no constitutional impediment to the regulation of firearms.”ACLU Policy #47
8. Their outright hatred of the Boy Scouts. They are currently doing everything in their power to hurt this organization. They attacked their free speech right to exclude gays, and are threatening schools, and fighting in court to get their charters shut down. They oppose the military supporting them, and will sue the pants off any school that attempts to charter them.
7. The ACLU is pro-death. Not only is the ACLU Pro-abortion, it’s the ACLU’s top priority. It most definitely takes a backseat to free speech for the ACLU. As a matter of fact, the ACLU has fought against the free speech rights of those that oppose it. If its abortion or euthanasia, as long as its pro-death you can count on the ACLU to support it. The only exception to the ACLU’s pro-death stance, is if it is a convicted criminal; in this case they are against death.
6. The ACLU advocate open borders. Not only have the ACLU opposed the Minute Men, a group who are simply exercising their freedom of speech, protesting and stepping up where the government is failing, but they have helped illegals cross the border.
5. The ACLU is anti-Christian. The list is endless on this one. Under the guise of “separation of Church and State”, the ACLU has made a name for themselves on being rabidly anti-Christian. This is one area where they are most hypocritical. They oppose tax exemptions for all churches, but fight for them for Wiccans. They are against Christianity in school, but oddly remain silent as our children are taught to be Muslims. Whether its baby Jesus, ten commandments, or tiny crosses on county seals, the ACLU will be there to secularize America, and rewrite our history.
4. The ACLU Opposes National Security. The ACLU has opposed almost every effort in the arena of national security. From the bird flu to bag searches, the ACLU has been against it. No matter what kind of search someone tries to do to protect people, the ACLU has proved they are against them across the board. It’s kind of ironic that they don’t practice the principles they preach. (Take a walk into the NYCLU’s Manhattan headquarters – which it shares with other organizations – and you’ll find a sign warning visitors that all bags are subject to search.)
3. The ACLU Defends the enemy. They have a long history of this one. They defended the P.L.O. in 1985. They defended Quadafi in the 1980’s. And they continue today. They have told Gitmo detainees they have the right to remain silent, as in not talking to interrogators. One issue that really disturbs me is theirrefusal of funds from organizations such as the United Way that were concerned the money would be used to support terrorism.
In October of 2004, the ACLU turned down $1.15 million in funding from two of its most generous and loyal contributors, the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, saying new anti-terrorism restrictions demanded by the institutions make it unable to accept their funds.
‘The Ford Foundation now bars recipients of its funds from engaging in any activity that “promotes violence, terrorism, bigotry, or the destruction of any state.’ The Rockefeller Foundation’s provisions state that recipients of its funds may not “directly or indirectly engage in, promote, or support other organizations or individuals who engage in or promote terrorist activity.
2. The ACLU supports child porn distribution and child molesters like NAMBLA.
As legislative counsel for the ACLU in 1985, Barry Lynn told the U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography (of which Focus on the Family President Dr. James C. Dobson was a member) that child pornography was protected by the First Amendment. While production of child porn could be prevented by law, he argued, its distribution could not be. There is no doubt the ACLU is perverting the Constitution.
1. The ACLU fulfills its agenda using my tax money. What more can I say on this one? There are many very active groups working to combat the domination and influence the ACLU has held on the United States.
I urge you to support and donate to the following groups that are the TRUE victim’s advocates in America today. Unlike the ACLU–who consider people saying the words “Merry Christmas” a hate crime–these groups are working to ensure we will truly be able to hang on to our Constitutional rights, according to our Founder’s beliefs.
ACLJ
Alliance Defense Fund
Thomas More Law Center
Join the Stop The ACLU Coalition; Help us write Churches to get involved.
Tell your Congress to support the Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005. This legislation seeks to limit attorney’s fees in Establishment Clause cases to injunctive relief only.