Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Court Dismisses Challenge To Pastor's Use of Church Funds
Primary Ads Urge Voters To Probe Candidates On Church-State Issues
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Pennsylvania Insists On Licenses for Tranist Vehicles Serving Amish
Three Cases Involve Employee Requests For Religious Time Off
In Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority v. Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, (MA Sup. Jud. Ct., Jan. 4, 2008), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the MBTA had violated the state's prohibition on religious discrimination in employment when it refused to to hire a Seventh Day Adventist as a part-time bus driver because he needed Saturdays off to observe his Sabbath. The court held that the MBTA should have facilitated a voluntary swap of hours by employees. Because the MBTA did nothing to accommodate the applicant, the court said it did not need to decide whether requiring an employer to incur more than de minimis cost to accommodate an employee violates the establishment clause. Today's Boston Globe reported on the decision.
Finally, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports on a religious discrimination lawsuit by a Clarksville, Indiana man against a Value City retail store. The employee left his job after the store refused to assure him that he could always have Wednesday nights and Sundays off to attend church services.
Court Upholds Texas Mandatory Moment of Silence Law
Friday, January 04, 2008
Teaching of Evolution, Rejection of Creationism Pressed By US Advisory Groups
At the same time, according to Science Daily, a coalition of 17 scientific organizations is urging scientists to become more involved in promoting science education, including evolution. An article in the January 2008 FASEB Journal says that introducing creationism and intelligent design in the science classroom undermines the fundamentals of science education.Recent advances in science and medicine, along with an abundance of observations and experiments over the past 150 years, have reinforced evolution's role as the central organizing principle of modern biology....
Despite the overwhelming evidence supporting evolution, opponents have repeatedly tried to introduce nonscientific views into public school science classes through the teaching of various forms of creationism or intelligent design.... NAS and IOM strongly maintain that only scientifically based explanations and evidence for the diversity of life should be included in public school science courses. "Teaching creationist ideas in science class confuses students about what constitutes science and what does not," the committee stated."
As SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM makes clear, the evidence for evolution can be fully compatible with religious faith. Science and religion are different ways of understanding the world. Needlessly placing them in opposition reduces the potential of each to contribute to a better future," the book says.
Evangelicals Crucial To Huckabee's Win In Iowa
Women Appointed For First Time To Singapore's Sharia Appeal Board
Suit Challenges Ban On Fortune Telling As Anti-Pagan
Malaysian Court Delays Funeral After Dispute On Conversion
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Free Exercise Claim As To DNA Testing Rejected On Procedural Grounds
Utah Governor Held 1996 Meetings On LDS Doctrine and Modern Government
Court Holds That "Choose Life" Is Not Religious Speech
It may very well be true that those who participate in the abortion debate on the pro-life side are members of religious organizations whose religious beliefs form the basis for their views. However, that does not transform the pro-life stance into one that is religious in nature, nor does it transform the phrase, "Choose Life" into religious speech. Nothing in constitutional jurisprudence supports the conclusion that political speech which is derived from one's ethical or religious beliefs or background transforms it into religious speech. Many religious persons and organizations may be opposed to capital punishment, or perhaps in favor of gun control. Those political issues are not therefore automatically transformed into religious issues simply by virtue of the religious beliefs of their supporters. The same is true for the abortion debate.