Free Thought Now!
August, 2000
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CHURCH/STATE SEPARATION
Christians dodging law with "spontaneous" prayer
"Wide receiver Scott Edwards says high school football and prayer go hand-in-hand and no court can change that. The 16-year-old son of a Baptist preacher and many of his classmates at Bogue Chitto High are counting on fans in this little Mississippi community to restore prayer to the stadium legally - with individuals deciding, on their own, to join hands and recite the Lord's Prayer. "
Kentucky Plans to Appeal Monument Ruling
"The state will appeal a federal judge's ruling that said a monument to the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed on the Capitol grounds. A General Assembly resolution this year called for the 6-foot stone tablet to be erected behind the Capitol. The monument had been displayed there from 1971 to about 1988, when it was removed during renovations of a nearby building." (AP 8/18/00)
Georgia Character Education Violates Constitution
"People For the American Way Foundation and the Atlanta law firm of Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore, LLP, today urged Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker to inform the state Department of Education that teaching students to have "respect for the creator" and displaying posters laden with religious messages as part of such instruction runs afoul of the First Amendment." (Newswire 8/22/00)
Churches Make It Hard for New Bars
"In a city better known for encouraging sin rather than salvation, dozens of churches are making it tough for new bars or nightclubs to set up shop. Some say a new ordinance that bans the sale of alcohol near churches is hampering efforts to breathe new economic life into west Las Vegas -- a pocket of poverty untouched by casino glitz. The area is home to 176 churches, some set up in small storefronts." (AP 8/18/00)
Christian Welfare: SOCAS Violation
"Two civil rights groups have sued to recover state money given to a church-based job-training program and questioned state contracts that use religion-based programs to help people get off welfare. The lawsuit filed Monday in Travis County district court by the American Jewish Congress and the Texas Civil Rights Project seeks to recoup state funds given to the Jobs Partnership of Washington County. The lawsuit said the program used state money to purchase Bibles and promoted evangelical Christianity." (AP 7/28/00)
10 Commandments Gets Injunction
"A federal judge on Friday issued a temporary injunction barring the state from erecting a Ten Commandments monument on the Statehouse lawn. The Indiana Civil Liberties Union sued to block the monument, saying it violates the Constitution by representing the establishment of religion by the state." (AP 7/28/00)
Georgia 'Creator' Language Stirs Talk
"A new curriculum that encourages Georgia teachers to promote "respect for the creator" is drawing criticism that it violates the separation of church and state. "Respect for the creator" is one of 27 traits that schools must encourage as part of a character curriculum that takes effect this year. Among the other traits: courage, patriotism, citizenship, honesty, fairness, kindness, tolerance, punctuality and cleanliness." (AP 7/28/00)
American Indian Freedom of Religion?
"Leaders of the Native American Church have asked state investigators to hand over 3,500 peyote buttons seized during an investigation. Nick Stark, who says he is a medicine man in the Oklevueha Earth Walks chapter of the Native American Church, had the buttons before police confiscated them July 8." (AP 7/29/00)
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