Church & State articles from January 2007

Church & State archives from January 2007

Supreme Court agrees to review 'Faith-Based' case.(IN THE CAPITAL)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether taxpayers may bring a legal challenge against the White House's "faith-based" agenda. On Dec. 1, the justices announced that they will hear oral arguments in February over a lower court...

Brownback anti-separation maneuver fails in senate.(IN THE CAPITAL)(Public Expression of Religion Act, Sam Brownback )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback has failed in a behind-the-scenes effort to railroad a measure through the Senate that hampers church-state lawsuits. Brownback (R-Kan.), a staunch Religious Right proponent, attempted to attach the so-called Public...

N.J. preacher/teacher crossed line, says student.(New Jersey, David Paszkiewicz )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... A New Jersey high school student recorded a teacher telling students that those who do not accept Jesus deserve eternal damnation. In mid-November, the Jersey Journal reported that Matthew LaClair, a 16-year-old junior at Kearny High...

City-funded shelter in Idaho can't push religion, says court.(Community House to the Boise Rescue Mission )
January 1, 2007... An evangelical Christian group's operation of a homeless shelter for the Boise, Idaho, city government violates church-state separation, a federal appeals court has ruled. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held...

Everson at 60: six decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the most important church-state decision you never heard of--and kicked off the culture wars that reverberate today.(Everson v. Board of Education)(Cover story)
January 1, 2007... Television preacher Pat Robertson can barely contain his anger when he talks about a 1947 Supreme Court decision called Everson v. Board of Education. Robertson attacked the ruling on his "700 Club" several times last year. Everson came...

Marriage mistake: constitution prohibits taxpayer funding of 'faith-based' marriage counseling, says Americans United lawsuit.(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)
January 1, 2007... Nancy McCarter found it more than a little odd to read in her local newspaper about federal funding for a marriage-counseling program created by a fundamentalist Christian preacher. McCarter, a retired government inspector and Clark County,...

Everson and Liberty: after 60 years, its words still ring true.(Everson v. Board of Education )
January 1, 2007... Certain Supreme Court decisions are burned into the public consciousness: Roe v. Wade, Brown v. Board of Education and the Miranda decision, to name a few. A less familiar case called Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township...

Wiccan widow gets memorial plaque for war-hero husband.(Roberta Stewart)
January 1, 2007... A Nevada woman whose husband was killed in combat in Afghanistan has received a memorial plaque for him bearing the pentacle, a symbol of the Wiccan faith. Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, attended a ceremony unveiling the...

FOF's Dobson disses church-state wall on 'Larry King Live'.(James Dobson, Focus on the Family )
January 1, 2007... Focus on the Family founder James Dobson attacked the wall of separation between church and state during a Nov. 22 appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live," telling King that the concept is not in the Constitution. The topic came up after...

Christian Coalition cans new president after only two months on the job.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Dr. Joel C. Hunter appointed )
January 1, 2007... A sense of turmoil continues to plague the Christian Coalition (CC). In the latest sign of instability, the once-powerful Religious Right group dismissed its new president after only two months on the job. Christian Coalition Chairman...

Religious right groups object to Muslim taking oath on Koran.
January 1, 2007... The Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association (AFA) is so worked up over newly elected U.S. House member Keith Ellison's plan to take the oath of office on the Koran it has proposed a federal law requiting members of Congress to swear...

Louisiana school district approves policy critiquing evolution.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
January 1, 2007... A preview of the next wave of attacks on teaching evolution in public schools may be under way in a Louisiana parish, where education officials have just approved a new policy dealing with scientific subjects that generate "controversy." ...

Conservative Christians should reconsider politics, columnist says.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
January 1, 2007... Conservative columnist Cal Thomas says the Religious Right should use the November election results to reconsider its attachment to the Republican Party. Thomas began his mid-November column with a provocative question: "If God is on the...

TV Preacher Falwell and allies hope to find 'next Ronald Reagan'.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Jerry Falwell )
January 1, 2007... TV preacher and Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell is working with allied pastors in an effort to screen potential Republican Party presidential hopefuls, seeking to ensure a candidate to their liking gets the nomination in 2008. ...

Catholics, Orthodox Jews seek tax subsidies for religious education.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Rabbinical Council of America, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America)
January 1, 2007... The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has joined forces with two Orthodox Jewish groups to demand taxpayer support of private religious education. The bishops teamed up with the Rabbinical Council of America and the Orthodox Union on the...

New York Times series chronicles massive breaks for religion.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
January 1, 2007... Religious Right leaders constantly complain that religion in America is under attack or even subjected to persecution, thanks to a rigorous application of the separation of church and state. A series of articles that ran recently in The New...

Correction.(Correction notice)
January 1, 2007... The December issue of Church & State incorrectly characterized a Missouri ballot referendum. The measure prevents legislators from banning stem-cell research but did not deal with tax funding of it.

The marriage of religion and politics: breaking up is the right thing to do.(VIEW POINT)
January 1, 2007... In the wake of the midterm elections, here's one American who's ready for a divorce. Not for myself, but for the modem-day alliance between politics and religion. As with a couple who never belonged together in the first place, it's past time...

Unwed mother challenges N.Y. parochial school firing.(AROUND THE STATE)(Michelle McCusker v. St. Rose of Lima Catholic School )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... A Catholic diocese in New York is fighting an unwed teacher's complaint that she was discriminated against because of being pregnant. Represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), former pre-K teacher Michelle McCusker filed a...

Norwegian church leaders favor church-state split.(AROUND THE WORLD)(Church of Norway )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... In a radical revision of its relationship with the Norwegian government, the (Lutheran) Church of Norway has voted to abolish its status as the nation's official church. According to the Religion News Service, the mid-November vote at the...

China defies Vatican, names new bishop.(AROUND THE WORLD)(Wang Renlei appointed)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... After angering the Vatican last spring by ordaining two bishops, China has again installed another bishop without the Catholic hierarchy's approval. In late November, China elevated Wang Renlei, the vicar general of the Xuzhou Diocese in...

Pre-Game Prayers in Hawaii: some questions and answers.(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I read Gary Christenot's Viewpoint in the October 2006 Church & State ("Why I'm Against Pre-Game Prayers: An Evangelical Christian's Story"). Did you know that the essay is inaccurate about the name of the high school in Wahiawa? (The...

Americans United at 60: the wall of separation depends on you.(PERSPECTIVE)(Viewpoint essay)
January 1, 2007... I spent several days in November and December traveling around the country giving speeches to promote my book Piety and Politics: The Right-Wing Assault on Religious Freedom. I expect to be doing more of those appearances this year. It's...