Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Court Rejects Mother's Demand For Christian Therapist In Custody Case
Turkmenistan Sentences Conscientious Objector To Jail
Cub Scout Working To Develop Native American Emblem
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Louisiana College Plans To Open a "Biblical Worldview" Law School
[Thanks to Melissa Rogers for the lead.][College president, Joe] Aguillard said the law school will "unashamedly embrace" the nation’s "biblical roots" but still prepare graduates to pass the bar exam and practice law in Louisiana or nationwide. "We teach our students to have a passion to change the world in the name of Christ," he said.
Some anti-Christian courts have improperly interpreted the U.S. Constitution on issues involving religious liberties and family values, Aguillard said....Louisiana College requires all of its faculty to "accept Jesus Christ" and was the scene of protests over an alleged lack of academic freedom as the college became more fundamentalist and conservative in recent years....
Military Stops Group from Sending Apocalyptic Video Game To US Troops
Christian Groups Proposing Code of Conduct For Seeking Converts
Group Urges IRS To Investigate California Church For Political Endorsement
Issues of Secularism Remain In Turkey's New Presidential Election
Woman Arrested After Disturbing Neighbors With Wicca Ritual
Agreement Furthers Proper Burials For Jewish Military In Russia
Indiana State Agency Ends Controversial Chaplaincy Program
Canadian Company Settles Complaint On Muslim Cabbies and Guide Dogs
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Texas State School Board Offers Narrow Policy On Student Religious Speech
Vermont Policy On Religious Vanity Plates Upheld Again
Report On White House Faith-Based Conference In Minneapolis
Despite those concerns, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty began his remarks by reading from the Bible.Inside the conference, the official message was that government partnering with faith-based services can make America a better place. Unofficially, the message was apologetic and sometimes persecutive. Faith-based groups have been discriminated against in receiving grant money, many argued. The initiative is a way to "level the playing field."
Many presenters pointed to 'Minnesota Nice' as the ideal of the initiative, and the recent bridge collapse became a narrative for how faith-based groups and government can work together, particularly in Minnesota....Perhaps the most important part of the conference was teaching the attendees, as well as state officials, the legal responsibilities that faith-based groups face in accepting government funds.
Canadian University To Install Footbaths Without Controversy
Role of Non-Profits In Election Campaigns Debated
Here is Egger's provocative challenge:
If most people have a choice between feeding a poor kid and fighting the reason the kids are poor, they’re going to opt, right now, historically, for the organization that feeds the kid. It's like the old line – and I forget which activist said it: When I fed the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked why they were poor, they called me a communist. That's to a certain extent what’s going on here. And I think that we have to challenge this. And I do want to be able to say, vote for Joe, or vote for Jane, openly.Eisenberg however thinks that there is plenty for non-profits to do without endorsing political candidates:
There are so many issues on which nonprofits ought to be speaking out and putting their muscle into that they're not doing. For example, how many nonprofits have had the guts to challenge foundations, corporate donors, and United Ways throughout the country on the pattern of their giving, which has in fact neglected poor people, has refused to find advocacy, and has supported primarily established organizations. You can almost count the number of nonprofits on the fingers of both hands.... How many nonprofits have attacked the excesses of corporate America? .... They should focus on those issues and not try to get involved in politics, which at the same time would endanger their tax status.
Czech Official Suggests State Funding of Catholic Church End
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tax Fraud Indictment Against Evangelist Dismissed For Prosecutorial Misconduct
this case illustrates the specter of a federal tax prosecution that faces every clergyman, minister, rabbi, and cleric who receives money after delivering a sermon. Such tax cases must be considered by government prosecutors with great care lest the Government trench on rights afforded by the Free Exercise Clause and convert that which is a guaranteed liberty into a federal crime. In this case, the prosecutor did not exercise that necessary care before the grand jury. Consequently, the grand jury was misled on the law, was unable to correctly adjudge the evidence, and no longer operated as an independent body and buffer between the Government and the Defendant.Today's San Diego Union-Tribune reports on the decision.