Church & State articles from May 2007

Church & State archives from May 2007

Bush admin. revamps prison plan after AU protest.(IN THE CAPITAL)(George W. Bush, Americans United for Separation of Church and State)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Responding to concerns raised by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Bush administration has revamped a proposed "faith-based" plan for federal prisons. Last year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a solicitation for...

Taxpayers can't challenge pentagon aid to Scouts.(IN THE CAPITAL)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... A federal appeals court has tossed out a challenge to the U.S. military's support of the Boy Scouts. On April 4, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiffs in the ACLU-sponsored case from Illinois do not have standing...

Illinois Senate requires public school moment of silence.(AROUND THE STATES)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The Illinois State Senate has overwhelmingly approved a measure mandating a daily moment of silence in public schools. On March 21, senators approved SB 1463 on a 58-1 vote. The new law, which would take effect immediately if passed in the...

AU opposes Commandments display in Saginaw.(AROUND THE STATES)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... A Michigan county council is considering a proposal to install a Ten Commandments monument in a government building. Patrick Wurtzel, a member of the Saginaw County Board of Commissioners, wants to donate a $10,000 Commandments display to...

Faith-based flop: Bible-based Marriage Institute drops religion to keep public funding and duck out of AU lawsuit.(Northwest Marriage Institute, Americans United for Separation of Church and State)
May 1, 2007... Tony Perkins struck a cocksure tone in reaction to a federal court's dismissal of a legal action challenging government funding of a "faith-based" marriage counseling program. Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, crowed that the...

Stark exchange: a conversation with the first 'out' non-theist in Congress--U.S. Rep. Pete Stark.(Interview)
May 1, 2007... A milestone in American politics was reached March 12 when a member of the U.S. Congress agreed to publicly describe himself as non-theistic. U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) told the Secular Coalition for America that he does not hold a...

Invocation confrontation: North Carolina citizens file lawsuit challenging sectarian prayers at county commissioners' meetings.(Cover story)
May 1, 2007... Janet Joyner has deeply personal reasons for wanting to keep a healthy distance between church and state: More than 300 years ago, her Calvinist forebears faced a tough choice when word circulated that French King Louis XIV would revoke...

Civil religion uncivil strife: prayer at governmental meetings has often provoked rancorous debate about the relationship between church and state in America.(Law overview)
May 1, 2007... In the United States, separation of church and state is the law of the land. Yet it seems that every government body, from the U.S. Congress down to a municipal water and sewer authority, opens its deliberations with a prayer. How can this be?...

Constitutional literacy: why American schools don't need Bible classes.(Editorial)
May 1, 2007... The campaign to institute Bible classes in public schools is picking up steam. Boston University religion professor Stephen Prothero has thrown gasoline on the fire with the publication of his recent book Religious Literary: What Every...

House members urge Americans to pray, say Jesus is answer.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
May 1, 2007... Members of the House of Representatives often spend their days crafting legislation or deliberating proposed bills. But recently a group of about 40 members decided to branch out and take on a duty usually left to America's clergy: calling...

Pennsylvania County agrees to settle AU's jail-ministry lawsuit.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
May 1, 2007... Officials in Bradford County, Pa., have agreed to bar any public funding of religious activities as part of a settlement of a lawsuit challenging a local "faith-based" inmate ministry. Americans United brought suit against officials in...

'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' case draws interest from religious right.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
May 1, 2007... Several Religious Right legal groups found themselves in an unusual spot recently: advocating for the right of a public high school student to display a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus," The Religious Right groups have made it clear that...

Oregon teacher fired after remarks linking evolution to Nazism.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
May 1, 2007... Officials at an Oregon high school have fired a biology teacher who distributed fundamentalist Christian material in class and compared the theory of evolution to Nazism. Kris Helphinstine was hired by the Sisters School District in...

Diet-shake lawsuit shines light on Robertson's empire.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
May 1, 2007... A bodybuilder's lawsuit against TV preacher Pat Robertson over a high-protein diet drink has opened a rare window on the inner workings of the televangelist's business empire--and may expose tax abuses. The legal action by Phillip Busch...

Ex-chaplain's boss says religious right tales inaccurate.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Gordon Klingenschmitt)
May 1, 2007... Former Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, who claims he was court-martialed for praying in Jesus' name, is quickly becoming the Religious Right's latest hero--but his claims are not all they are cracked up to be, according to Klingenschmitt's...

Dobson questions faith of former senator as GOP Pres. race heats up.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Grand Old Party)(James C. Dobson )
May 1, 2007... Focus on the Family (FOF) founder James C. Dobson continues to handicap the 2008 Republican presidential aspirants, recently opining that former senator Fred Thompson is not really a Christian. "Everyone knows [Thompson's] conservative and...

'Abstinence-only' rule hurts fight against AIDS, research report asserts.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
May 1, 2007... Bush administration rules stressing abstinence are hampering efforts to halt the spread of AIDS overseas, a new report says. The report, mandated by Congress and prepared by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council,...

Former HHS official wade Horn funded group that he fathered.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(United States Department of Health and Human Services former official, Wade F. Horn)
May 1, 2007... An official in the Department of Health and Human Services who founded a national group to promote the Religious Right's view of parenting used his position to steer money to that organization. Wade F. Horn, until recently the assistant...

Utah to face vote on statewide voucher law.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
May 1, 2007... Supporters of public education in Utah have apparently collected enough signatures to put the state's new voucher law on the ballot. Legislators in Utah passed the measure earlier this year after a lobbying campaign underwritten by a...

Correction.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Correction notice)
May 1, 2007... On page 22 of the March issue of Church & State, we misspelled the web address for finding Supreme Court opinions on line. It should be: www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html

Bible classes in public schools: undermining America's secular common ground.(VIEWPOINT)(Viewpoint essay)
May 1, 2007... The Christian ethicist Reinhold Niebuhr once observed that humanity's "capacity for justice makes democracy possible," but our "inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary." He might have said the same about our capacity for tolerance...

Native American tribes win battle over sacred mountain.(AROUND THE STATES)(Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... A federal appeals court has scuttled an attempt by an Arizona ski resort to use treated sewage to create artificial snow on mountain peaks considered sacred by several Native American communities. In late March, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court...

Florida city can't post cross on water tower.(AROUND THE STATES)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... A federal court has ordered a Florida city not to erect a cross on its water tower. In his March 19 ruling, U.S. District Judge John H. Moore II concluded that a lighted, 10-foot-high cross could not be displayed on top of the City of...

German judge's use of Quran sparks debate.(AROUND THE WORLD)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... A German judge has been removed from a civil case after riling the public with a ruling in which she cited a passage from the Quran that seems to tolerate spousal abuse. The Frankfort court removed Judge Christa Datz-Winter in March from a...

Italian bishops push Parliament against gay rights.(AROUND THE WORLD)(Legislation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Italian lawmakers are coming under increased pressure from the Roman Catholic hierarchy to follow church teaching and oppose civil rights advancement for gays. In late March, the Italian bishops warned Catholic politicians that they have a...

America: not a Christian nation.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... Religious fundamentalists appear to be making quite a fuss over what they consider a fact--that America was founded as a Christian nation. In some of my readings I came across a reference to the Treaty of Tripoli, which was one of the so-called...

A question for candidates.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2007... As I begin to receive campaign literature (and requests for money!) from the many candidates running for president in 2008, I have one question for them--one I almost never hear asked in television interviews--what about the so-called...

Visiting Patrick Henry: give me liberty, give me debate.(PERSPECTIVE)(Personal account)
May 1, 2007... I do a lot of traveling for Americans United. Anyone who is on the road as much as I am is going to have some horror stories. Recent ones included a small on-board airplane fire and a 15-hour delay getting from Baltimore to Charleston, S.C. ...