NASA Bans "Jesus"

“The name of Jesus is not welcome in the Johnson Space Center newsletter, according to a complaint filed on behalf of a group of Christians who work for NASA. The JSC Praise & Worship Club was directed by NASA attorneys to refrain from using the name ‘Jesus’ in club announcements that appeared in a Space Center newsletter. ... Liberty Institute, one of the nation’s largest religious liberty law firms, threatened to file a federal lawsuit unless NASA apologizes and stops censoring the name ‘Jesus.’ The JSC Today newsletter is distributed electronically and includes a number of Space Center events--from salsa dancing lessons to soccer camp. ... Since 2001, employees had gathered during their lunch hour to pray and sing and read the Bible. There had been no censorship issues until last year. ... The club’s leadership was told that ‘NASA would be censoring all future club announcements that featured the name Jesus.’ ... On Christmas Eve, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 read the Creation story as they orbited the moon. Astronauts Jim Lovell, Frank Borman and Bill Anders took turns reading from the Book of Genesis. ... And astronaut Buzz Aldrin received communion on the lunar surface during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.”

​Todd Starnes, “NASA bans the word ‘Jesus,’” Fox News, Feb. 8, 2016

---