Church & State articles from February 2003

Church & State archives from February 2003

`Faith-based' forces seek quick action in Congress. (In The Capital).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and other Republican leaders in Congress have placed the Bush administration's "faith-based" initiative near the top of their agenda. Frist told reporters Jan. 8 that the plan to give churches tax...

Rep. Jones again pushes church electioneering bill. (In The Capital).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Electioneering by houses of worship is headed for debate in Congress again. A North Carolina congressman has introduced another bill that would permit churches and other religious bodies to campaign for politicians without losing their...

Appeals court upholds federal religious liberty law. (In The Capital).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A federal law intended to protect religious liberty rights has been upheld by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a unanimous Dec. 27 ruling, a three-judge panel approved the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act...

Tennessee county to sell Ten Commandments plaques. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A Tennessee county commission that waged a costly, but unsuccessful, court battle to display Ten Commandments plaques in public buildings is seeking to pay its legal bills by auctioning the plaques. On Jan. 8, the Chattanooga County...

Voucher revival: thanks to a misguided Supreme Court decision and wealthy right-wing foundations, the school voucher movement is under way again.
February 1, 2003... A few years ago the school voucher movement appeared to be heading toward demise. With rare exceptions, the courts looked unfavorably on government plans that paid for tuition at religious and other private schools. The few programs that...

My big fat GOP wedding: Bush administration marriage grants seek to wed church and state in unholy matrimony.
February 1, 2003... Gov. Jeb Bush is worried that too many couples in Florida are getting divorced. He sees religious leaders as crucial players in reversing that trend and would like to help them tackle the problem--with a generous helping of taxpayer funds. ...

On faith and freedom: Ashcroft's omission. (Editorials).
February 1, 2003... In a Jan. 13 address in Denver, Attorney General John Ashcroft rolled out the usual arguments on behalf of the Bush administration's "faith-based" initiative. Churches and other religious groups, he said, have offered medical care,...

Separation and faith: a good combination. (Editorials).
February 1, 2003... If you listen to TV preachers like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, you'd conclude that most Americans have turned their backs on religion and that hostility toward faith runs rampant in American society. But as is often the case,...

White House official promotes faith-based plan at Moon event. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... The White House is wooing a new ally in the drive for its "faith-based" initiative: controversial Korean evangelist Sun Myung Moon. James Towey, director of the White House Office on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, spoke at a...

Pat Robertson partner Charles Taylor funded al-Qaeda, report says. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... Liberian President Charles Taylor, a business partner of TV preacher Pat Robertson, helped fund al-Qaeda terrorists by giving them safe harbor in his country during a diamond-buying spree, investigators in Europe have charged. ...

`Amoeba'-like split by Religious Right haunts Michigan GOP. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... A heavily Republican county in Michigan is still reeling from TV preacher Pat Robertson's presidential campaign in 1988, with warring GOP factions battling for control of the party. Oakland County, just northwest of Detroit, is one of the...

Falwell fibs about alleged Calif. public school Christmas ban. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... In mid December, TV preacher Jerry Falwell sent out an e-mail alert asserting that public schools in Sacramento, Calif., had issued an order to teachers informing them that they were not to utter the word "Christmas" in class. "Imagine...

Vatican may seek full membership in United Nations. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Roman Catholic Church may soon seek full membership in the United Nations, a top church official has indicated. Currently, the Vatican has permanent observer status at the UN, a status it has held since 1964. In late November, Cardinal...

Church-state rulings have gone too far, Scalia tells Va. crowd. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... The Supreme Court has gone too far with its rulings upholding the separation of church and state, Justice Antonin Scalia told a small crowd in Fredericksburg, Va., Jan. 12. Scalia, speaking at a "Religious Freedom Day" sponsored by the...

Pa. School District considers adding `intelligent design'. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... Members of the Phoenixville, Pa., School Board have added a sentence to the school's mission statement that one board member hopes might open the door to the teaching of "intelligent design" and creationism. David M. Langdon, an...

Iranian students debate need for separation of religion, government. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... Iranian students studying to be Islamic clerics are beginning to debate a question that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago: Is it time to separate religion and state? The debates are taking place among students in Qom, a...

Religious Right reps. gear up for big push in Mo. legislature. (People & Events).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A band of newly elected Religious Right legislators--many affiliated with conservative Baptist churches--is gearing up to push a social-issues agenda in the Missouri legislature. Seven conservative Baptists were elected to the Missouri...

N.J. Appeals Court OKs barring overtly religious from juries. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... Prosecutors in New Jersey can bar people who appear to be overtly religious from serving on a jury, a state appeals court has ruled. The court, ruling 2-1 on Dec. 31, rejected a challenge brought by Lloyd Fuller, a 22-year-old Newark man...

Vatican tells Catholic politicians to uphold church teaching. (People & Events).
February 1, 2003... The Vatican has told Roman Catholic politicians that they have "the fight and the duty" to uphold church teachings on bioethics, reproductive choice, the family and other issues governed by moral law. With the approval of Pope John Paul...

Our father, which art in Washington: the gospel according to the book of GTFBACOOPWTFG. (Viewpoint).
February 1, 2003... Has your church ever been tempted to become a government contractor? Thanks to a mighty stroke from President Bush's pen in December, now it can. Millions of dollars in federal funds are now available to churches (hereafter known as faith-based...

Georgia County tempers evolution changes in classrooms. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Cobb County School District issued guidelines to its teachers in early January advising them to adhere to state standards on teaching science in their classroom. The new guidelines advise teachers "to promote a sense of scientific...

Catholic bishops fight N.Y. law on birth control. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Several Catholic bishops in New York have challenged a recently enacted law mandating employers to provide health coverage that pays for birth control and other women's health services. In late December, the bishops filed the lawsuit,...

Americans United protests Maine town's `Bible Week'. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A Maine town's proclamation of "Bible Week" has sparked a protest from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In mid November, the Biddeford mayor and city council issued a proclamation naming the last week in November as...

Canadian court bars religion-based censorship in schools. (Around The World).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that public school officials may not ban books from the classroom on religious grounds. In a decision handed down in late December, Canada's high court concluded that a British Columbia school board...

Marriage mandate: are church and state headed for a shotgun wedding? (Perspective).
February 1, 2003... I am an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and I occasionally perform wedding ceremonies. In the summer of 2001, I had the privilege of doing one for two former employees of Americans United. That event was held in Denver, Colo.,...