“NASA JSC’s censoring of the club’s religious viewpoint is a violation of federal law and the First Amendment,” stated the demand letter. “Any assertions by NASA JSC that allowing the JSC Praise and Worship Club to use the name ‘Jesus’ in the club’s advertisements violates the Establishment Clause have been repeatedly rejected by the Supreme Court.”

NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, has been accused of censoring religious speech among its Christian employees, including banning the name Jesus.

The JSC reportedly told employees last year that the name “Jesus” could not appear in newsletters pertaining to the Praise and Worship Club that meets during the lunch hour.

“NASA has a long history of respecting the religious speech of their employees, including defending, in court, the astronauts who read the biblical account of creation while orbiting the moon. That tradition should continue here,” said Liberty Institute Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys to The Christian Post in an interview Tuesday.

Dys is alluding to the 1969 case O’Hair v. Payne, in which atheist activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair sued NASA for allowing Apollo 8 astronauts to read Genesis 1 while in orbit; NASA defeated the suit.

“We decided to get involved because we are committed to upholding the right to free religious expression for all Americans, including government employees,” he added.

The Texas-based Liberty Institute along with attorneys from the firm Fish & Richardson sent a letter to NASA JSC on Monday in response to the censorship.

“NASA JSC’s censoring of the club’s religious viewpoint is a violation of federal law and the First Amendment,” stated the demand letter. “Any assertions by NASA JSC that allowing the JSC Praise and Worship Club to use the name ‘Jesus’ in the club’s advertisements violates the Establishment Clause have been repeatedly rejected by the Supreme Court.”

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