Church & State articles from December 2008

Church & State archives from December 2008

Supreme Court hears Utah commandments debate.(IN THE CAPITAL)(Summum)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A small Utah religious sect has told the U.S. Supreme Court that it should be allowed to erect a monument to its core beliefs alongside an existing Ten Commandments monument in a city park. According to the Religion News Service, Pamela...

Bush administration supports 'faith-based' job bias.(IN THE CAPITAL)(George W. Bush)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... "Faith-based" social service agencies can collect government funds and still discriminate in hiring on religious grounds even in a program where Congress has specifically banned such bias, according to a recently publicized memo by the Office...

Okla. town drops funding of religious statue.(AROUND THE STATES)
December 1, 2008... An Oklahoma town has cancelled a plan to spend $3,900 in taxpayer dollars to help purchase a statue of Jesus for placement in front of a Catholic gift shop. The Edmond Visual Arts Commission approved funding for a depiction of Jesus...

Calif. school board rejects 'under God' display.(AROUND THE STATES)(California)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Trustees of a California school district have voted against placing the Pledge of Allegiance's phrase, "one nation under God," on their boardroom wall. Board President Jim Lott told the Contra Costa Times that school officials should not...

Lone star wars: Texas faces a major battle over evolution instruction in the public schools.(Cover story)
December 1, 2008... After teaching in Texas public schools for 10 years and serving as a director of science curriculum for the Texas Education Agency for nearly 10 years, Chris Castillo Corner's career as an educator took a turn she never expected, simply with a...

Election 2008: the faith factor: religious right leaders are 'grieving' over election outcome while gearing up for next round of 'culture war' battles.
December 1, 2008... Two days after the historic Nov. 4 election, Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson took to the airwaves to explain that his heart was heavy. "I want to admit that I am in the midst of a grieving process at this time," Dobson said,...

Election 2008: a look at some key races.
December 1, 2008... Prior to the election, Americans United compiled a list of House and Senate races considered important by the Religious Right, as well as state ballot referenda. A roundup of those results follows: U.S. Senate Colorado: Religious Right...

Checkmating church politicking: Americans United battles a bishop and religious right pawns over pulpit partisanship.(Arthur J. Serratelli)
December 1, 2008... Three weeks before the election, Roman Catholic Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J, published a column in the diocesan newspaper and on its Web site criticizing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. In the essay, titled...

Marriage law and Mormons: the California vote and creeping theocracy.(Editorial)
December 1, 2008... Religious Right groups don't have a lot to crow about from last month's elections. They failed to put John McCain in office, and several of their House and Senate allies were defeated. Their enthusiastic support of McCain running mate Sarah...

Liberty University students may be preparing to dominate Lynchburg politics.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Lynchburg, Virginia)
December 1, 2008... Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. had ambitious plans for the November elections: register enough voters at the school to ensure that Virginia remained a "red state." In the end, it didn't work out. For the first time since...

Religious Right groups reignite lucrative war on 'Happy Holidays'.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
December 1, 2008... In keeping with their holiday custom, several Religious Right groups began complaining about an alleged "War on Christmas" before Halloween had even arrived. The Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association announced in mid October...

Georgia county may open meetings with sectarian prayer, says appeals court.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Cobb County, Georgia)
December 1, 2008... A Georgia county's practice of opening its meetings with sectarian prayer does not violate the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court has held. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Oct. 28 that governmental bodies in Cobb...

Football coaches push N.J. school prayer case at U.S. Supreme Court.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
December 1, 2008... A national association of football coaches has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a legal controversy from New Jersey dealing with a coach who has a long history of praying with students. The American Football Coaches Association...

Louisiana governor takes state helicopter on visits to church services.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Bobby Jindal)
December 1, 2008... Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has spent nearly $200,000 in taxpayer funds traveling to churches and other destinations by state police helicopter, a newspaper has reported. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jindal, a staunch ally of the Religious...

Bush court appointees worry advocates of church-state separation.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(George W. Bush)
December 1, 2008... President George W. Bush will leave office next month, but he'll leave behind what may turn out to be his most enduring legacy: a federal court system that has been pushed sharply to the right. The New York Times reported recently that...

Notre Dame may keep funds for training teachers, appeals court rules.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A federal appeals court has ruled that Notre Dame University cannot be forced to repay public funds it spent training Catholic school teachers, fallout from a Supreme Court ruling last year that curtailed the right of taxpayers to sue. The...

Proselytizing post office violates constitution, says AU in legal brief.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)
December 1, 2008... A post office in Manchester, Conn., run by a church must stop proselytizing and displaying religious material, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has told a federal appeals court. The U.S. Postal Service permits private...

Nebraska state senator pushes lawsuit against God.(AROUND THE STATES)(Ernie Chambers)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A Nebraska state senator plans to appeal a court decision to throw out his lawsuit against God. Nebraska State Sen. Ernie Chambers, an atheist, filed suit against God, asking for a permanent injunction to stop "fearsome floods, egregious...

Las Cruces' crosses survive church-state litigation.(AROUND THE STATES)(Las Cruces, New Mexico)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Two men who sued the city of Las Cruces, N.M., and its school district for displaying three crosses on official government logos have decided to give up their battle. Paul Weinbaum and Martin Boyd brought litigation charging that the logo...

Arizona Supreme Court to rule on school vouchers.(AROUND THE STATES)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The Arizona Supreme Court has decided to rule on whether the state's school voucher programs are unconstitutional. An Arizona Court of Appeals has already held that the voucher programs--one for developmentally disabled children and another...

Kyrgyzstan passes new law restricting religion.(AROUND THE WORLD)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The parliament of Kyrgyzstan has passed new legislation that curtails religious liberty and undermines international human fights standards. The measure, passed unanimously Nov. 6, cracks down on proselytism in the Muslim country and...

A reflection on the election: some thoughts on where we go from here.(PERSPECTIVE)(Essay)
December 1, 2008... I admit that I'm something of a political junkie. I can't help it; I suppose I've lived in Washington too long. In the weeks leading up to the November election, I couldn't stop looking at the polls. CNN and other sites featured a "poll of...