Church & State articles from April 2002

Church & State archives from April 2002

Ed. Department must protect rights, says Americans United. (In The Capital).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The U.S. Education Department should explicitly prohibit religious discrimination in after-school programs, according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State and its allies. To implement the "No Child Left Behind" Act, which...

Oklahoma School Chaplaincy Program sparks AU protest. (Around The States).(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... An Oklahoma's public school district's policy of allowing ministers to serve as "school chaplains" has generated a complaint from Americans United. Earlier this year, Jim Haynes, superintendent of schools in Commerce, Okla., endorsed a...

Private school vouchers get little support in new poll. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A new poll reflects widespread disapproval for private school vouchers across ethnic and racial lines. The survey, conducted by the Teachers' Insurance Plan and released to the public March 14, shows that nearly two-thirds of respondents...

Massachusetts attorney general wants to help pick priests. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly has asked Boston's Roman Catholic Archdiocese for unprecedented influence over the way the church selects priests. The beleaguered Boston Archdiocese, led by Cardinal Bernard F. Law, has been...

Ten Commandments fever: decalogue advocates turn up the heat with legislation in congress, state legislatures.
April 1, 2002... When most Americans read the First Amendment, they see a wall of separation between church and state that has protected both institutions for over two centuries. When Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) sees the Constitution's guarantee of religious...

Why the Ten Commandments shouldn't be posted in government buildings.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Opponents of church-state separation are increasingly using the Ten Commandments as a tool to promote government-sponsored religion. From city councils to Congress, Religious Right activists and allied public officials are pushing the display...

Politicizing the pulpit: North Carolina congressman, Religious Right push bill to allow church electioneering.(Rep Walter B. Jones)
April 1, 2002... Make County, N.C., Sheriff John H. Baker Jr. is a fixture in local politics who for 24 years has repeatedly turned back challengers who covet his job. It helps that the 6-foot, 7-inch former pro football player is a considerable physical...

Church politicking and Congress: why the Jones bill is wrong.(Rep Walter B. Jones)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Rep. Walter Jones' "Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act" (H.R. 2357), would remove provisions in the Internal Revenue Code that prohibit houses of worship from supporting candidates for public office. Here are some reasons why...

Bush calls for passage of new `faith-based' compromise plan. (People & Events).(Pres G. W. Bush)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A dramatically watered-down version of President George W. Bush's "faith-based" initiative is picking up steam in the Senate and may pass this spring. Discussing welfare reform at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., Feb. 26,...

Graham warned Nixon about `Jewish control' of media, tape reveals. (People & Events).(evangelist Billy Graham, Richard Nixon)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Popular Christian evangelist Billy Graham told President Richard M. Nixon in 1972 that Jews have a "stranglehold" on the U.S. media and urged him to put a stop to it if he were reelected later that year. The conversation, taped without...

Alabama's Moore is judge, not Ayatollah, insist groups at rally. (People & Events).(Justice Roy Moore)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Americans United joined several religious and civil rights groups at a rally outside the Alabama Supreme Court in Montgomery Feb. 22 to protest a religiously based ruling issued by Chief Justice Roy Moore in a legal dispute over child custody....

`600-pound gorillas' prevail in NRB dispute, critics apologize. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) is continuing to deal with fallout over a controversy about the proper role politics should play in the organization. The dispute began in January when Wayne Pederson, the recently appointed...

Falwell launches new cable TV channel. (People & Events).(Jerry Falwell)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Move over Tinky Winky! TV preacher Jerry Falwell has announced the launch of a new, 24-hour cable channel that he says will provide programming "especially designed for evangelical conservatives." Falwell's Liberty Channel is a...

Education Secretary calls for `school choice,' while right-wing cries `amen!' (Poeple & Events).(Rod Paige)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige has strongly endorsed education "choice," much to the delight of sectarian school lobbyists and Religious Right leaders, who say the move is long overdue. Paige, speaking at a conference of the Black...

Pizza magnate seeks to erect 250-foot crucifix in Mich. Town. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Pizza magnate Thomas Monaghan's plan to erect a 250-foot tall crucifix -- complete with a 40-foot Jesus -- has sparked controversy in Ann Arbor Township, Mich. Monaghan, who founded the Domino's Pizza chain but later sold it, has been busy...

Liberian dictator says country under rule of Jesus Christ. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Brutal Liberian dictator Charles Taylor has declared his nation under the rule of Jesus Christ, a move that has been applauded by TV preacher Pat Robertson. Taylor, an international pariah and former warlord, appeared at a recent "Liberia...

Penna. School drops creationist program after AU complaint. (People & Events).(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A rural school district in western Pennsylvania has cancelled a planned presentation by a creationist after a warning from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The West Greene School Board in Greene County had voted 6-2 in...

End church-state ties, top English bishop tells church leaders. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A leading bishop in the Church of England has called for his denomination to sever its official ties to the state. Bishop Mark Santer of Birmingham made the proposal during a March 9 address to his diocesan synod. Santer, who is retiring in...

Catholic Charities should not be exempt from contraception law, AU says. (People & Events).(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Catholic Charities of Sacramento should not be exempt from a California law that requires employers to provide contraceptive coverage to employees, Americans United has argued in a brief filed with the California Supreme Court. Catholic...

Powell comments on condoms spark attacks from Religious Right. (People & Events).(Colin Powell)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Secretary of State Colin Powell came under blistering attack from Religious Right groups after he told a national television audience that sexually active young people ought to use condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS and other sexually...

Colorado legislative prayer causes controversy. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Colorado State Senate's tradition of inviting guest chaplains to deliver morning invocations turned divisive in March, when a Pentecostal minister used his time at the dais to pray for a ban on abortions. The Rev. David Meek, pastor of...

`Jesus Is Lord' signs proliferate in Louisiana. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The debate over whether a Louisiana town can honor Christianity on government-posted signs may be over, but the religious push has shifted from public to private property. In July, officials in Franklinton, La., posted four road signs...

Irish voters reject anti-abortion amendment. (Around The World).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Voters in Ireland have rejected an anti-abortion referendum by the narrowest of margins. On March 7, a proposed constitutional amendment tightening the ban on abortion was voted down, 50.42 percent to 49.58 percent, a total difference of...

Hindu, Muslim conflict erupts in India. (Around The World).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Indian Muslims attacked a train carrying Hindus in March, killing 58 and touching off several days of intense interfaith violence. In 1992, a mosque was razed in Ayodhya, touching off the most violent religious riots since India's creation...

Anglican leader seeks help from British government. (Around The World).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Because the cost of maintaining its historic churches is becoming burdensome, the Church of England is seeking more funding from the government. In March, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey appealed to the British government to relieve...

An open letter to Senator Lieberman. (Letters).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... I am disappointed to read ("Faith-Based Fracas," March Church & State) that a fellow Jew has accepted a compromise with the Bush administration on its campaign to ignore the Constitution's provisions establishing separation of church and state....

D. James Kennedy's creed: do as I say, not as I do? (Letters).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Television evangelist D. James Kennedy is promoting a summer cruise to Alaska for the benefit of Alabama's Ten Commandments judge, Roy Moore. The irony of Kennedy's effort to foster Moore's ambitions is his own disregard for one of the most...

Vouchers for Islamic schools. (Letters).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... After reading about the controversy over Islamic charter schools in the February issue of Church & State ("Islamic Charter School May Have Violated California Regulations," People & Events), this thought occurred to me: How will Religious Right...

Church, state and the land down under: back from the outback. (Perspective).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... I've been on vacation in Australia. On our first day in Sydney, I read a sign for the month's activities at the beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens. One morning, the Gardens were hosting a "magical mystery tour" where children were encouraged to...