Church & State articles from March 2004

Church & State archives from March 2004

Ga. senator attacks separation on chamber floor.(In The Capital)
March 1, 2004... In a rambling rant on the Senate floor, conservative Georgia lawmaker Zell Miller railed against pop culture, called for a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to heterosexuals and promoted a bill that would give government officials...

AU opposes sectarian prayers at S.C. council meetings.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Americans United has urged a federal appeals court to reject a South Carolina town council's policy of opening its meetings with sectarian prayers. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in...

Religious Right defends Mich. 'faith-based' ranch.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A state agency in Michigan incurred the wrath of the Religious Right after it agreed to stop placing troubled youngsters in a non-profit "faith-based" program that is accused of forcing teens to participate in religious activities. Late...

Priest can't be sued for saying deceased went to hell.(Around The States)
March 1, 2004... A New Mexico state judge ruled in late January that a Roman Catholic priest who announced during a parishioner's funeral that the man had gone to hell cannot be sued for inflicting emotional distress on the dead man's family. The family of...

Mission unconstitutional: Congress considers $10-million grant for California mission churches.
March 1, 2004... Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala is California's oldest Roman Catholic church, and as Easter approaches, it is a very busy place. The mission, founded in 1769, sits alongside U.S. Highway 101, and although it is more than 200 years...

Bush's faith-based revival: president pushes ahead with religion funding scheme as a way to 'save Americans one soul at a time'.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... Traveling aboard Air Force One with President George W. Bush Jan. 15, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan interrupted a reporters' briefing to introduce a special guest: "Faith Czar" Jim Towey had something to tell the media. Towey...

Congressional 'faith-based' panel hears from 'ex-gay' conversion ministry.(Straight Eye For The Queer Guys?)
March 1, 2004... U.S. Rep. Mark E. Souder tool no chances when he decided to schedule a field hearing on President George W. Bush's "faith-based" initiative. Souder is an Indiana Republican, but he conduct ed the Jan. 23 hearing in Colorado Springs--a city...

Bad assignment: U.S. schools chief seeks more voucher schemes.(Editorials)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... Now that Congress has passed a $14-million voucher plan for religious and other private schools in the District of Columbia, U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige is looking ahead to the future. The D.C. scheme was pitched as a five-year...

Bush to Buddhists: get right with God!(Editorials)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... In September of 2002, a group of Buddhists in Hawaii wrote to President George W. Bush to express their view about public school use of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Buddhists agreed with a federal appeals court...

Struggling Christian Coalition seeks to regain influence through 2004 elections.(People & Events)
March 1, 2004... Once the nation's most powerful Religious Right group, the Christian Coalition now finds itself struggling for influence as the 2004 elections approach. The group's membership and budget have dropped since it was cut loose by founder TV...

Moore for President?: 'Ten Commandments judge' may run.(People & Events)
March 1, 2004... Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore may have lost his position on the state high court, but he might not be giving up on elective office just yet. Recent reports say Moore is considering a run for the U.S. presidency. ...

'Save America now' group blasts separation in newspaper ads.(People & Events)
March 1, 2004... A new Religious Right group has begun running full-page newspaper advertisements attacking church-state separation and asserting that the United States is in crisis because it has abandoned Christianity. The group, Save America Now, ran the...

N.H. House narrowly rejects private school voucher plan.(People & Events)
March 1, 2004... New Hampshire's House of Representatives has defeated a multi-million dollar voucher plan by one vote. On Feb. 5, the House voted 172-171 to kill a bill that would have established a voucher experiment limited to 2,000 first- and...

Georgia schools chief erases evolution, then restores it to standards.(People & Events)
March 1, 2004... Georgia's superintendent of schools ,announced, in January that the word evolution' would be dropped from state biology standards, but quickly reversed herself after public outcry. Superintendent Kathy Cox came under fire after she released...

Marriage amendment undercuts religious liberty, AU tells Congress.(People & Events)
March 1, 2004... A proposed marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution threatens religious freedom and should be rejected, Americans United has told Congress. In a Feb. 5 letter sent to every member of Congress, Americans United warned that a Religious...

Schools may not coerce students to pledge belief in God, AU tells court.(People & Events)
March 1, 2004... Public schools may not pressure students to pledge belief in "one nation under God," Americans United for Separation of Church and State has advised the U.S. Supreme Court. Americans United and allied civil liberties groups filed a...

Religion and presidential politics: approaching the danger zone?(Viewpoint)
March 1, 2004... Maybe that French proverb is wrong. Some things that change deafly don't stay the same. Take religion and presidential politics. In 1960, many Protestant voters feared that John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic would allow his religious beliefs...

Legislative prayer sparks big furor in Arizona.(Around The States)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A state lawmaker in Arizona enraged fellow lawmakers when he recited a lengthy prayer on the House floor that condemned welfare, abortion and "alternative lifestyles." On Jan. 26, Rep. Doug Quelland (R-Phoenix) recited a prayer made...

Ten Commandments display overruled in Wisconsin.(Around The States)
March 1, 2004... A federal judge in February ordered officials in La Crosse, Wise., to remove a large Ten Commandments monument from the center of a city park. The city has been fighting since 1985 to keep the monument in Cameron Park. The Fraternal Order...

French assembly bans student religious garb.(Around The World)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The French National Assembly voted in February to ban students from wearing religious headgear and jewelry in the country's public schools. By a 494-to-36 vote, the National Assembly approved a measure that would bar religious garb, which...

No to church electioneering.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... Would you want your minister or preacher promoting individual political candidates from the pulpit? I think not! But that is what the far right is promoting in H.R. 235 ("Pulpit Politics," February Church & State). They call it the "Houses of...

Responding to Robertson.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... I was happy that the Rev. Barry W. Lynn responded when Pat Robertson said God told him Bush would be reelected ("Robertson Says God Told Him Bush Will Win Reelection In A 'Blowout,'" February Church & State). The remarks were appropriate and...

Taking the pledge seriously.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... I think that having to recite a Pledge of Allegiance to your country, droned by rote every single day before school or before every baseball game, is ridiculous ("One Nation Indivisible," December Church & State). If you ask school kids to...

A letter to President Bush.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... Dear Mr. President, Although raised in a tradition far from the pagan religions that Jim Towey felt safe in showing his scorn about, I am quite shocked reading the Nov. 26th "Ask the White House" interview ("Faith Czar's Comments About...

Persuading young people to stand up for church-state separation.(Perspective)
March 1, 2004... I am often asked by others in my AARP-qualified cohort if young people are interested in church-state separation. Well, there is good news to report from around the country. I just finished a late-winter speaking tour and had some very...