Church & State articles from January 2006

Church & State archives from January 2006

Senate Committee quietly ends probe of Muslim groups.(Senate Committee on Finance)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... The Senate Finance Committee has quietly ended a two-year probe of 25 Muslim-American organizations, announcing that nothing in their tax records suggested terrorist financing. According to the Religion News Service, Muslim leaders welcomed...

Appeals Court looks at Texas Bible display.(Harris County courthouse, Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Americans United has asked a federal appeals court to rule against a religious monument in front of a county courthouse. In early December, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals heard oral arguments in Staley v....

Indiana House prayers are too sectarian, says court.(Indiana House of Representatives)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... A U.S. district court has ordered the Indiana House of Representatives to stop opening its sessions with sectarian prayers. On Nov. 30, U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton ruled in Hinrichs v. Bosma that too many of the state House...

Massachusetts church audit bill draws fire.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Religious leaders in Massachusetts are lobbying against a bill that would require the state's houses of worship to file yearly financial audits. In November, the state Senate passed a measure that would force religious groups to open their...

Alito alert: Americans United warns Senate that Bush Supreme Court nominee has bad record on church and state.(Samuel A. Alito Jr., George W. Bush)
January 1, 2006... Samuel A. Alito Jr. can hardly be described as a stealth candidate. Indeed, with a background that includes extensive work in the Reagan administration's Justice Department and 15 years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, President George...

With God On Their side: how Christian fundamentalists are controlling the Bush White House--and interfering with Americans' lives.(Esther Kaplan)(Interview)
January 1, 2006... Journalist Esther Kaplan's book With God On Their Side: George W. Bush and the Christian Right has just been released in paperback with a new forward. The book, first issued in 2004, was widely praised as the best in-depth examination of the...

Church-state collision in Congress? With elections looming and the religious right restive, Americans United's Legislative Department is gearing up for a rough ride on Capitol Hill.
January 1, 2006... Religious Right activists spent the end of 2005 surveying the political landscape in Washington, D.C.--and they didn't like what they saw. Several bills backed by Religious Right groups passed the House of Representatives and went to the...

Why the U.S. Senate should not confirm court nominee Alito.(Samuel A. Alito)
January 1, 2006... Religious Right groups often express the view that the majority should rule in matters of religion. If most people want official prayer in school every day, they should have it, opine TV preachers and their followers. These people see no...

Quotable.(EDITORIAL)
January 1, 2006... "Lately, what has been of great concern, in addition to what I've already said, is the merger of... religion and politics. Because I happen to be a Christian and I think my religion teaches me that you should render unto Caesar the things that...

Religious Right's 'War On Christmas' is bogus, says Americans United.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
January 1, 2006... Religious Right groups and their allies in the right-wing media spent much of November and December insisting that American public schools, government and culture are engaged in a wideranging "war on Christmas"--but when conservative groups...

Jewish groups gather to discuss growing power of Religious Right.
January 1, 2006... American Jewish groups are concerned about the growing political power of the Religious Right--and are organizing to counter it. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in early December hosted a private meeting in New York that included ADL staff...

Religious Right takes aim at line of popular 'American Girl' dolls.
January 1, 2006... Move over Tinky Winky and SpongeBob SquarePants! The Religious Right has a new target for its wrath: a line of dolls produced by the American Girl Company. The American Girl firm, now owned by Mattel, produces a series of dolls...

Ohio Religious Right pastor faces increasing scrutiny over practices.(Rev. Rod Parsley, World Harvest Church, Columbus )
January 1, 2006... An Ohio preacher who is trying to make a name for himself in the Religious Right faces a new round of questions about his extravagant lifestyle and fundraising practices. The Rev. Rod Parsley, pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus and...

Robertson warns Dover's anti-ID voters not to expect protection from God.(Pat Robertson, intelligent design)
January 1, 2006... Voters in Dover, Pa., went to the polls in November and tossed out school board members who promoted "intelligent design" (ID), an action that TV preacher Pat Robertson says could have dire consequences. "I'd like to say to the good...

Fundamentalist students sue seeking access to Calif. higher education.(Calvary Chapel Christian School students sue University of California)
January 1, 2006... A group of students at a California fundamentalist Christian high school is suing the University of California, alleging that the institution discriminates against them on the basis of what they are taught in class. Six students at Calvary...

'Intelligent Design' comes under fire from Conservative critics.(Charles Krauthammer, George F. Will, columnists)
January 1, 2006... It's widely assumed that "intelligent design" (ID) is a top priority of the conservative movement, but there is one problem with that scenario: Conservatives keep speaking out against it. In November, two nationally syndicated conservative...

The Bible Literacy Project: Chuck Stetson's Trojan Horse?(BOOKS & IDEAS)
January 1, 2006... Wr hen The Bible and Its Influence was unveiled at the National Press Club last September, promoters of the new textbook hailed it as a great way to introduce Bible classes into America's public schools. Chuck Stetson, chairman of the Bible...

Wisconsin legislature allows communion wine in prison.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Wisconsin state lawmakers have approved a bill that would permit prisoners to consume wine in religious observances. SB 174, passed by the Assembly in November, would permit prisoners to drink up to two ounces of wine as part of a religious...

New Jersey football coach sues school over team prayers.(Marcus Borden, East Brunswick High School )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... A high school football coach has sued a New Jersey school district after officials told him to stop praying with his players. In October, Marcus Borden, coach of the East Brunswick High School football team, resigned after the school...

Swedish pastor acquitted by court for anti-gay sermon.(Ake Green)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2006... Sweden's Supreme Court has acquitted a Pentecostal preacher who was charged with violating the country's hate-crimes law after an anti-gay sermon. The Rev. Ake Green, 64, told a congregation in Oland that gays are "a deep cancerous tumor...

The grinch who fibbed about Christmas: Falwell's holiday hokum.(Jerry Falwell)
January 1, 2006... "Why bother?" That was the reaction of a few of my friends, including a number of Americans United supporters, after seeing me on television or quoted in their local papers rebutting the idea that there is a "war on Christmas." I can...