Church & State articles from April 2006

Church & State archives from April 2006

Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor blasts court bashers.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has drawn national and international attention for her staunch defense of an independent judiciary in a speech at Georgetown University. In her March 9 remarks, O'Connor warned that...

Few Americans know First Amendment, poll shows.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A survey released in March revealed that Americans are woefully unaware of exactly what rights are protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. The poll by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum showed that more Americans could name...

Kentucky politicians face religious inquisition.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A local official and a church youth group in Kentucky have teamed up to ask all state legislators and legislative candidates whether they have "accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior." Jeff Sharp, the county attorney for Barren...

Maryland marriage law not based on Bible, says professor.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A Maryland state proposal to prohibit same-sex marriages has sparked a sharp exchange over the role of religion in government. During a March 1 committee hearing on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages, Sen. Nancy Jacobs cited a...

Render unto Caesar ... IRS Commissioner tells tax-exempt churches: thou shalt not electioneer.(Internal Revenue Service's Mark W. Everson)(Cover story)
April 1, 2006... Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark W. Everson is well aware that some churches and other non-profits are abusing their tax-exempt status by intervening in partisan elections--and he has vowed to put a stop to it. In remarks...

Rick Santorum's Amen corner: Pennsylvania Pastors Network spotlights incumbent Republican senator while building church-based political machine.
April 1, 2006... When the topic turns to biblical heroes, the name Shamgar doesn't usually ring a lot of bells. This somewhat obscure figure is mentioned just twice in the Book of Judges. At the end of Chapter 3, readers are told that Shamgar, the son of...

Invitation to tea: unanimous Supreme Court says federal religious freedom law protects small group's use of hallucinogenic sacrament.
April 1, 2006... Even after the U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in its favor, a small American branch of a Brazilian-based church had little to say to the media. The members of O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao Do Vegetal (UDV) were clearly ready...

Partisanship and pulpits: why the IRS code is right for America.(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... The Internal Revenue Service is doing its best to educate America's religious leaders about provisions in the tax code that bar churches and other non-profits from intervening in partisan political campaigns. In late February, the IRS...

Phil Strickland: a Baptist ally in the fight for freedom.(Editorial)(Obituary)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Phil Strickland, a former member of the Americans United Board of Trustees and leading Southern Baptist official in Texas, died Feb. 11 alter a long battle with cancer. He was only 64 and will be greatly missed. Phil served nine years on...

Bush resumes push for 'faith-based' initiative at Washington gathering.
April 1, 2006... President George W. Bush returned to one of his favorite themes in March, launching yet another drive on behalf of his "faith-based" initiative. Bush renewed the push for the initiative during a March 9 speech in Washington, D.C. At the...

Americans United criticizes Alito thank-you note to James Dobson's FOF.(Samuel A. Alito)(Focus on the Family)
April 1, 2006... Newly seated Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito has wasted no time currying favor with the Religious Right leaders who helped put him on the nation's highest court. In early March, the Associated Press reported that Alito sent a cloying...

Secretive CNP weighs in on Ohio, Kansas races for State offices.(Council for National Policy)
April 1, 2006... The ultra-secretive Council for National Policy (CNP), a coalition of far-fight leaders, is apparently gearing up for the 2006 election cycle. Information about the CNP, which includes TV preachers as well as multimillionaire business...

Pat Robertson attack on 'satanic' Muslims draws wide criticism.
April 1, 2006... TV preacher Pat Robertson struck again March 13, telling viewers of his "700 Club" that Muslims are demonic and satanic and that they are trying to take over the world. The latest Robertson outburst came after the program aired a report...

Dover school board pays $1 million in legal fees to end creationism suit.
April 1, 2006... The final chapter of Americans United's legal challenge to "intelligent design" creationism in Dover, Pa., was written Feb. 22 when the school voted to pay $1 million in legal tees, thus ending the litigation. The $1-million figure was...

Maryland politicians return donations from religious groups.
April 1, 2006... Several political leaders in Maryland who accepted illegal donations from churches returned the money after an investigation by the Baltimore Sun. The Sun reported Feb. 26 that more than 100 Maryland churches "have made campaign...

Mo. legislature mulls controversial 'Christian nation' resolution.(Missouri)
April 1, 2006... A resolution that attacks the U.S. Supreme Court for its church-state rulings and declares that the Founding Fathers "recognized a Christian God and used the principles afforded to us by Him as the founding principles of our nation" has sparked...

Americans United, allies urge Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush to drop push for vouchers.
April 1, 2006... Infuriated over a state supreme court ruling striking down private school vouchers, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has vowed to use the rest of his term to find a way to re-establish the program in the state. Americans United and its allies in the...

Alabama Baptists drop request for FEMA aid after controversy erupts.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Three Baptist churches in Alabama that housed hurricane evacuees have withdrawn their requests for federal reimbursements over a disagreement about whether the proper bureaucratic procedures were followed alter the storm. Officials at the...

North Carolina county approves 'In God We Trust'.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A North Carolina county's decision to place "In God We Trust" on the outside walls of its courthouse has spurred a community debate over church-state separation. In early March, the Yadkin County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to...

California Supreme Court sinks Sea Scouts case.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A city government may deny benefits to a branch of the Boy Scouts because of the group's refusal to adhere to anti-discrimination policies, the California Supreme Court has ruled. In a March 9 unanimous ruling, the court concluded that...

Canada allows Sikh students to carry daggers.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled unanimously that a Sikh elementary school student may carry a ceremonial dagger while at school. In early March, the high court held that a Sikh boy's religious liberty was violated when Montreal school...

Atheist Scot wins Catholic school job claim.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A teacher at a Catholic school in Scotland was improperly denied a chance to interview for another job because he is an atheist, an employment tribunal has ruled. The employment tribunal ruled in early March that David McNab, a math...

Double victory in Dover.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... Judge John E. Jones' decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District ("Victory in Dover!," February Church & State) is an unassailable legal and scientific rebuttal to the concept of intelligent design (ID). The ID policy miserably...

Dover: give credit to the lawyers.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... The sub-head beneath the headline of the story ("Victory In Dover!," February Church & State) proclaims: "Federal Court Unmasks The Genesis of Intelligent Design--And The Lies That Helped Bering It Into The Pennsylvania Public Schools." Wrong....

Bible literacy crew takes cue from ID.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... Thank you for your article, "The Bible Literacy Project: Chuck Stetson's Trojan Horse?" (January Church & State). The Bible and Its Influence is like Of Pandas and People. That is, it'll serve as a wedge, a way to insert Christian proselytizing...

A funny thing happened on the way to the internet forum.(PERSPECTIVE)
April 1, 2006... I do not know if Al Gore helped invent the Internet. I do not know where the Internet is located, or even whether it exists in a spatial place (like the end table where I often "misplace" my keys). I do know that there are many curious things...