Church & State articles from May 2002

Church & State archives from May 2002

Christian Coalition challenges campaign finance law. (In The Capital).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The campaign finance reform legislation recently passed by Congress is facing legal challenges from a host of opponents, including two Religious Right heavyweights founded by TV preacher Pat Robertson. The Christian Coalition of America and...

Tennessee A.G. opposes commandments displays. (Around The States).(attorney general )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Critics of government-sponsored religion were bolstered by an announcement from Tennessee's attorney general that Ten Commandments displays on public property are unconstitutional. On April 3, state Attorney General Paul Summers (D) issued...

Jerry Falwell tries to shut down Internet critic. (Around The States).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... An Internet website parodying TV preacher Jerry Falwell has led the controversial evangelist to try to permanently shut down the site. Web designer Gary Cohn, of Highland Park, Ill., created www.jerryfalwell.com to chronicle and mock...

Florida lawmaker's theocratic agenda challenged. (Around The States).(church and state debate concerning gay adoption)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A Florida legislator's claim that American law should conform to his interpretation of the Bible has drawn a rebuke from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. In March, Rep. Randy Ball (R-Titusville) issued a public letter...

All in the family: top Bush administration leaders, religious right lieutenants plot strategy in culture `War'.(George W. Bush)
May 1, 2002... White House political strategist Karl Rove sounded like a general addressing his troops. "We need to find ways to win the war," Rove said. "This is a gigantic war with a whole series of battles that need to be fought. And what you all do every...

Insidious design: disguising Dogma as Science, Religious Right activists have created a new scheme to wedge religion into public schools.
May 1, 2002... Dr. Lawrence Krauss, a physics professor at Case Western Reserve University, found it hard to believe the fight was hitting so close to home. "I never thought it would be happening in Ohio," Krauss told Church & State. "I never thought I'd...

`Intelligent design' and public schools: covert evangelism? (Editorials).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... In recent years, creationists and their arguments have evolved. Criticizing science for being unbiblical is out; promoting "competing ideas" about human origins is in. Asking schools to teach the Book of Genesis is passe; encouraging school...

`Faith-based' fact: Uncle Sam's dollars, Uncle Sam's rules. (Editorials).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... When the Rev. Kenneth Reed of the Evangelical Church of God in Christ in Syracuse, N.Y, received $70,000 in government money to help local officials keep tabs of welfare recipients, he soon learned there was a catch: No proselytizing would be...

Bush promotes support for `all religions under the Almighty God': (People and Events).(President George W. Bush)(financing faith-based charities)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... President George W. Bush continued to lobby on behalf of his controversial "faith-based" initiative in April, urging the Senate to pass legislation dealing with the issue by Memorial Day. At a White House event April 11, Bush said he...

No proof `faith-based' services are better, new report indicates. (People and Events).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Backers of "faith-based" initiatives frequently assert that religious groups provide social services more effectively and at a lower cost than public agencies. But a newly released report casts doubts on those claims. Researchers at the...

Most Americans oppose church electioneering, opinion poll finds. (People and Events).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe churches should not endorse candidates for public office, results that could slow down congressional efforts to allow church-based electioneering. The survey, released...

Bush backs embattled Catholic hierarchy as pedophilia crisis grows. (People and Events).(President George W. Bush)
May 1, 2002... Officials of the Roman Catholic Church are under fire for covering up a child sexual-abuse scandal, but don't look for President George W. Bush to add to the criticism. Asked about the matter during a March 13 press conference at the White...

Public housing must be open to `faith-based' groups, HUD chief says. (People & Events).(Department of Housing and Urban Development )(Secretary Mel Martinez )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has notified 3,200 public housing authorities nationwide that they must have an "open door policy" toward "faith-based" organizations that provide social services to residents. HUD...

Calif. school district accused of improperly teaching about Islam. (People & Events).(California)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Officials at a public school district in California are being accused of going too far in lessons designed to teach about Islam and possibly lapsing into promotion of that faith. Controversy arose at the Byron Union School District in...

N.C. church fund-raiser for candidate sparks AU complaint to IRS. (People & Events).(North Carolina)(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A Raleigh, N.C., church held a fundraiser for an incumbent sheriff seeking reelection March 24, leading Americans United to send an official complaint to the Internal Revenue Service. Mount Peace Baptist Church announced the event in a...

AU warns Pa. school to halt Bible handouts. (People & Events).(Americans United for Separation of Church and State)(Pennsylvania)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Americans United has warned a public school district in central Pennsylvania to stop allowing Gideons to distribute Bibles to students. Jay Nixon, a public school guidance counselor, contacted the organization in late March after his son...

`Faith-based' legislation advances in Georgia. (AU Bulletin).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Georgia's legislature is poised to follow President George W. Bush's lead and expand public aid to religious groups to provide social services. In March, the Georgia House voted to support a bill to allow faith-based charities to apply for...

Child abuse scandal may Scuttle N.Y. clergy exemption. (AU Bulletin).(New York)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Legislators in New York are considering amending state law to require clergy to report cases of suspected child abuse. The move comes in the wake of several high-profile reports of child molestation involving priests that have rocked the...

Nigerian woman escapes stoning verdict. (Around The World).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A Nigerian woman sentenced to death for having sex and giving birth out of wedlock was acquitted in March by an appeals court. Safiya Hussaini, a mother of four, gave birth to another child a year after getting divorced. While Hussaini...

The Danbury letter and common sense. (Letters).
May 1, 2002... As I read the article on the Danbury letter, ("Priority Mail," January Church & State), I kept thinking how odd that the central issue was what Thomas Jefferson's opinion "really was," rather than what common sense really dictates. Jefferson...

Roy Moore and the constitution. (Letters).
May 1, 2002... I am a proud native of Alabama, but I fear I am far from proud of Roy Moore, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of my home state. In fact, I find it totally incredible that any jurist in this country could be so ignorant of the supreme law...

Vouchers and the Supreme Court.
May 1, 2002... The U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Ohio school voucher case could open the floodgates to similar laws in other states. This would have a fundamental and long lasting effect on our society and begin the breakdown of the separation of church...

Questions about `In God We Trust'. (Letters).
May 1, 2002... Concerning state and local decisions and proposals requiring the posting of "In God We Trust" in public schools, reported in the March issue of Church & State ("People & Events"): Proponents who consider such postings constitutional as merely...

Justice in Joes: how we fought a Colorado creationism battle. (Perspective).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... I like to take side trips. During my recent visit to Australia, I could not pass up a "nature museum," housed in a giant reproduction of a worm, advertised as the only place to view a species of six-foot long earthworms. So, on a recent...