separation of church and state

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Court Upholds 'Under God' in Pledge of Allegiance

It also says 'In God We Trust' is fine on money

(Newser) - A federal appeals court in San Francisco today upheld the use of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" on US currency. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected two legal challenges by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who claimed...

Cross Burned in Boy's Arm Sparks School Religious War

Townies support creationist teacher's 'religious rights'

(Newser) - A cross burned into the arm of an Ohio schoolboy by his creationist science teacher has sparked a three-year battle pitting neighbor against neighbor over the role of religion in public schools. An army of supporters is backing the teacher, who is still fighting his firing from the Mount Vernon...

Christian Scientists Want Health Bill to Include Prayer
Christian Scientists Want Health Bill to Include Prayer
IF IT'S NOT TOO LATE DEPT.
Dec 20, 2009 5:10 AM CST

Christian Scientists Want Health Bill to Include Prayer

Provision's been stripped from both House, Senate versions

(Newser) - With the Senate nearing a vote on health reform, one constituency is still pushing for its cause to be reinserted in the package—Christian Scientists, who want the legislation to recognize that many Americans rely on religious and spiritual healing, and to ban discrimination against those practices and their practitioners....

Tea Baggers Demand Mandatory Xmas Carols

Initiative seeks to force Calif. schools to offer festive music

(Newser) - Members of the Tea Party movement are fighting to force California schoolchildren to sing Christmas carols. Substitute teacher Merry Hyatt has partnered with churches to gain signatures for the ballot initiative, which would require children to either sing or perform Christmas songs at school. Penalties would be imposed on schools...

Clemmons Not Huckabee's 1st Freed Killer
Clemmons Not Huckabee's 1st Freed Killer
Joe Conason
Dec 1, 2009 7:28 AM CST

Clemmons Not Huckabee's 1st Freed Killer

Ex-gov said to be a sucker for cons who got religion

(Newser) - Maurice Clemmons isn’t the first killer Mike Huckabee released as governor thanks to his religious sense of mercy. Huckabee granted more commutations and pardons than any governor in the 40 years before him. Some, no doubt, were warranted by Arkansas’ draconian drug laws, but many more came courtesy of...

Obama Widens Faith-Based Initiative

Softens campaign trail stance

(Newser) - Barack Obama announced his new-look faith-based initiative at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, promising a program that won’t favor any particular religious group, or even religious groups over secular groups, the AP reports. “Far too often, we’ve seen faith wielded as a tool to divide us,...

Clerics to Defy IRS, Endorse Candidates From Pulpit

Ministers aim to test constitutionality of ban

(Newser) - Pastors from 22 states plan to purposely defy the IRS this Sunday by endorsing presidential candidates in their sermons, the LA Times reports. The so-called “pulpit initiative” aims to trigger a legal showdown, testing the constitutionality of the law forbidding such endorsements by tax-exempt groups. “There is nobody...

The Real Loser at the Pastor Rick-Quisition: America

Warrren's examination of candidates' faith was absolutely un-American

(Newser) - Discussion of whether John McCain or Barack Obama "won" Saturday’s Saddleback inquisition misses the point, Kathleen Parker writes in the Washington Post. When the presidential candidates are publicly interrogated on their beliefs by a minister, even one as exemplary as Rick Warren, the only winner is the minister—...

S. Carolina Raises a Fuss With Religious Vanity Plates

Critics say they endorse a religion

(Newser) - South Carolinians will soon be able to put Jesus on their bumper. A new law went into effect yesterday requiring the state’s Motor Vehicles Department to produce cross-adorned “I Believe” license plates, the New York Times reports. But the plates aren’t kosher with the American Jewish Congress...

A Double Standard for White Preachers?
A Double Standard
for White Preachers?
OPINION
May 2, 2008 2:11 PM CDT

A Double Standard for White Preachers?

Why do we excoriate Wright but let his right-wing counterparts slide?

(Newser) - While Jeremiah Wright is hammered from all sides for his left-wing rhetoric, Washington Post writer EJ Dionne Jr. wonders why the same degree of backlash fails to surface over extreme statements from right-wing white preachers. Among many examples: Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell famously linked feminists and gays...

Spain Gets on Divorce Express
Spain Gets on Divorce Express
Feb 28, 2008 11:06 AM CST

Spain Gets on Divorce Express

Church leaders say marriage contract is now 'trash'

(Newser) - Marriage has become a battleground in Spain, where divorce has been legal for 20 years, but a recent reform accelerating the process led to a 74% spike in the divorce rate. With 1 in every 2.3 married couples now parting, the Catholic Church is accusing the socialist government of...

Critics Blast Sarkozy's Holocaust School Plan

Prez wants each 5th grader to study a victim

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked a new controversy: The maverick leader is  now defending his plan to have every fifth grader study a French youth killed in the Holocaust. Critics, including Jewish analysts, warn the move could traumatize students. But one historian applauded Sarkozy's "courage" and said what...

Huckabee Tests Limits of Faith
Huckabee Tests Limits of Faith
Dec 31, 2007 7:05 PM CST

Huckabee Tests Limits of Faith

Preaching prompted a backlash in Arkansas; in Iowa, will Christian soldiers come out?

(Newser) - Mike Huckabee is banking on his deep Christian faith drawing voters to him in the presidential primaries, but that same passion has proven a liability in the past. As Arkansas governor, Huckabee made several religious molehills into mountains big enough for Moses, the LA Times reports in an examination of...

Still a Believer in Faith-Based Solutions

Bush's former faith czar has hopes set on Dems this time

(Newser) - The Economist catches up with John DiIulio, the Democrat who was Bush's “faith czar” for just 7 months in his first term, to re-examine the viability of what the magazine calls "compassionate centrism." With "faith-based" now unfortunately associated more with political zeal—faith-based wars, faith-based science—...

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