Church & State articles from September 2007

Church & State archives from September 2007

Report says Pentagon erred in allowing Christian video.(IN THE CAPITAL)
September 1, 2007... High-ranking Army and Air Force personnel violated military regulations when they participated in a promotional video for a private evangelical organization, according to a report by the Pentagon's Office of Inspector General. A Pentagon...

Lawmakers urge probe into NIH chaplain complaints.(IN THE CAPITAL)(National Institutes of Health)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Several members of Congress are urging the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate an allegedly anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic chaplain at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) clinical research hospital. The Rev. O. Ray...

Voting in churches is constitutional, says Florida federal court.(AROUND THE STATES)
September 1, 2007... A federal judge has tossed out a Florida man's Lawsuit over the use of churches as polling places. In late July, U.S. District Judge Donald L. Middlebrooks ruled that Jerry Rabinowitz, a Palm Beach resident, did not have a legal right...

Grants for Detroit houses of worship upheld by federal court.(AROUND THE STATES)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... A federal judge has upheld grants that Detroit awarded to three urban churches for repairs before the 2006 Super Bowl. U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn ruled Aug. 8 that most of the $725,000 disbursed to three downtown churches did not...

Roy Moore in exile: ousted Alabama 'Commandments judge' is waging war on church-state separation--and you won't believe the far-out folks who are helping him.
September 1, 2007... Most lawyers and other Americans, says Roy Moore, don't understand the First Amendment's church-state provisions because they've "been indoctrinated in something that is not true." Speaking at a "God & Country Patriotic Celebration &...

Inquisition 2008: presidential candidates are being grilled on their prayers, their sins and their beliefs about doctrine--and some of them don't seem to mind.
September 1, 2007... Democratic presidential contender John Edwards was in a tough spot. Participating in a CNN debate on "faith and values," Edwards was confronted with a question that can best be described as the theological equivalent of "Are you still...

Bad religion: Baptist preacher prays for death of Americans United, after watchdog group's IRS complaint about his church electioneering.(Internal Revenue Service)
September 1, 2007... The press release, at first glance, looked like any one of hundreds that flood forth during presidential campaigns. "Mike Huckabee Wins," it exulted. "Join A Winner And Let's Take Back The White House." Noting Republican presidential...

Holy war on the hill: Hindu-led prayer in Senate sparks Religious Right crusade against American pluralism.
September 1, 2007... When Rajan Zed stepped to the lectern in the U.S. Senate July 12 to give the day's invocation, he wasn't expecting any trouble. "I thought that it will be a simple, roughly 90-second prayer," the Hindu chaplain told Church & State, "and it...

Invocation altercation: Religious Right zealots show their true colors.(Editorial)
September 1, 2007... An incident that took place on the floor of the U.S. Senate July 12 reaffirms the intolerance and extremism of the Religious Right. A Hindu chaplain had been invited to deliver an opening prayer. As soon as Rajan Zed began to speak, three...

Ex-surgeon general says theology, not science, drives agenda under Bush.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Richard Carmona)(George W. Bush)
September 1, 2007... Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona told a congressional panel in July that theology and ideology trumped science in the Bush White House. Carmona, testifying July 10 before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said...

Not wild about Harry: FOF's Dobson attacks popular Potter series.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Focus on the Family )(James C. Dobson )
September 1, 2007... The seventh and final "Harry Potter" book was released July 21, and Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson just couldn't help himself. He had to remind everyone again of the dangers of reading about witchcraft. Dobson was moved to pop...

Evangelical scholar calls for 'watchmen' on the church-state wall.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Randall Balmer)
September 1, 2007... An evangelical Christian scholar gave an impassioned speech recently in which he urged "true Baptists" to rediscover their roots and once again become "watchmen on the wall of separation between church and state." Randall Balmer, a...

Appeals court dismisses challenge to government prayers in Louisiana.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Doe v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... A sharply divided federal appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging sectarian prayers before local school board meetings in Louisiana, holding that the people who brought the case don't have the right to sue. The 5th U.S. Circuit...

San Diego public school cancels prayer break for Muslim students.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
September 1, 2007... A San Diego public school that became the focus of international attention after it agreed to set aside time for Muslim students to pray in class has reversed course. Officials at Carver Elementary School had agreed to schedule a short...

Hebrew charter school in Florida sparks church-state debate.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
September 1, 2007... A proposed Florida charter school that will focus on Jewish culture and teaching of the Hebrew language is drawing fire, with critics charging that it will merge religion with public education. The Ben Gamla School has received approval...

Bible class cover-up: group cuts image of naked Adam and Eve.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)
September 1, 2007... In an effort to address objections raised by fundamentalist Christians, the Bible Literacy Project (BLP) has removed from its textbook a Renaissance-era painting of Adam and Eve that showed the couple naked. Last year, the BLP published a...

Texas court dismisses confidentiality case against pastor.(AROUND THE STATES)(C.L. Westbrook )
September 1, 2007... The Texas Supreme Court has refused to entertain a parishioner's lawsuit against her pastor for revealing her extramarital affair. In late June, the state's top court ruled in Westbrook v. Penley that it did not have jurisdiction to decide...

Fla. school board rejects parent's call for banning books.(AROUND THE STATES)(Palm Beach County School Board)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... A Florida school board has turned away a mother's request that 80 books dealing with topics offensive to her religious beliefs be yanked from two high schools' libraries. In July, Laura Lopez, a mother of two teenagers, urged the Palm...

British Prime Minister says church should choose own bishops.(AROUND THE WORLD)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... New British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has relinquished his right to choose bishops in the Church of England, from the archbishop of Canterbury on down, and turned the whole business over to the church itself. Until now, when openings for...

Bible classes: yes and no.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Should Bible classes be allowed in the public schools? "Yes" and "No." ("Constitutional Literacy: Why American Schools Don't Need Bible Classes," Editorial, May Church & State) Bible-as-literature courses are allowed in many school...

Blaine and anti-Catholicism.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I wish to comment on the article "Separation Isn't Anti-Catholic, Attorney Tells Civil Rights Panel" (July/August Church & State). I would like to believe, also, that the issue was not anti-Catholic. However, the mood at that time was...

Of myths and religion.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... I'm a long-time supporter of the separation of church and state. In my judgment, however, it is important to be respectful of others' religious beliefs--even those we may find to be absurd. In one of the letters you printed in June, the...

Sacred books and 'false witness'.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2007... Superior Court Judge Paul C. Ridgeway must be congratulated for allowing witnesses to take oaths on other sacred texts besides the Bible. ("North Carolina Judge Allows Oaths Without Bible," AU Bulletin, July/August Church & State) ...

God-talk and politicians: when does honesty turn into plain old pandering?(PERSPECTIVE)
September 1, 2007... The Texas legislature recently decided that the state pledge of allegiance had, as one lawmaker put it, a "hole in it." They filled it with the phrase "one state under God" to parallel the 1954 change to the Pledge of Allegiance to the American...