RELIGIOUS OPPRESSION AROUND THE WORLD
Minnesota Legislator Attacks Buddhism
May 7, 2001Minnesota Rep. Arlon Lindner has drawn criticism for recent comments regarding a planned appearance by the Dalai Lama before the state legislature. ``As a Christian, I am offended that we would have the Dalai Lama come and speak,'' said Lindner in an e-mail to colleagues.
In the correspondence, Lindner said that Buddhism is considered a "cult" and that he would not attend the joint session planned for May 9. The e-mail immediately drew harsh criticism. ``His comments are appalling,'' said Rep. Geri Evans, a member of the Twin Cities planning committee for the Dalai Lama's visit.
The Dalai Lama, who arrives in Minnesota on Monday, is the religious and political leader of the Tibetan government in exile based in India. He also is meeting with Gov. Jesse Ventura, as well as conducting several public events May 8 and 9.
--Used by permission of Religion Today
Kentucky School Removes Scripture, Reopens 'Quiet Room'
May 1, 2001A public school chapel that was locked after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) questioned its constitutionality was reopened April 23 following the removal of a framed Bible verse from Isaiah.
Edward Clem, principal of Cumberland High (Kentucky) said that board attorney Johnnie Turner, on whose advice the room was closed, had given his blessing to reopen the room, minus the scripture.
Turner explained he was able to resolve other objections to the room's contents by calling them by different names. Outside of church, a pew becomes a bench, and an altar becomes a podium; and what might appear to be a cross on the end of a pew, could be a letter "T."
The project was the brainchild of Don Disney, a retired minister, and his wife, Judy, who decorated the unused third-floor janitor closet to resemble a chapel. All furnishings had been donated. Both the Disneys and school officials adamantly describe the nine-by-twelve room as a "quiet room for anyone, including the ACLU, needing a break from stress," Disney remarked. The same county school district is already involved in a federal suit over posting of the Ten Commandments, according to the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader.
--Used by permission of Religion Today
Seattle Fines Churches for Sheltering Homeless
April 23, 2001When a group of homeless people recently asked to camp out at Pastor Rich Lang's Trinity United Methodist Church in Seattle for six weeks, the congregation's 60 elderly members asked themselves, "What would Jesus do?" But Jesus never reckoned with Seattle's zoning-code enforcers, who are fining the tiny congregation $75 a day for refusing to evict the 75 homeless people from its parking lot.
Pastor Lang said, "Churches are supposed to provide sanctuary. If these people weren't in Tent Village, they'd be out on the streets." Trinity is fighting back with a novel argument: Freedom of religion means freedom to put a homeless village on a church parking lot.
Bob Laird, the city's code compliance manager, said this is the first time the "roving" encampment has been at a church long enough for them to follow through with complaints. The village formed a year ago to protest the city's closing of its winter homeless shelters, as it does on March 31 each year. The city is now fining two other churches for allowing stays last year.
--Used by permission of Religion Today
School Bible Clubs Contested in Arizona
April 19, 2001The closing of a student-run Bible Club in the Deer Valley Unified School District in Arizona has ignited an intensifying debate.
Police were called to monitor a crowd of more than 200 at a recent school board meeting. Of the nine people who addressed the board, most spoke in favor of the Bible clubs, and were critical of the district.
District lawyer Susan Segal said the law doesn't allow student-led Bible clubs at elementary and middle schools because of the constitutional separation of church and state. "As long as it posts a liability bond and pays a $5 fee, the club can meet on campus as 'a community group.'" A student told the board that "community groups" do not have access to the school's bulletin boards or public address system to advertise meetings.
The debate has reached even to Arizona's state legislature. Bills have been introduced to permit such clubs as well as allow other clubs that do not relate to the curriculum, such as for atheists, according to The Arizona Republic.
--Used by permission of Religion Today
Compromise Urged in Kentucky Ten Commandments Case
April 4, 2001Displaying the Ten Commandments in schools and public buildings (a highly emotional issue in Kentucky's southeastern Bible Belt) will be allowed for another 30 days while opposing sides strive for a compromise, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Juanita Coffman decided on March 30 not to hold local officials in contempt for allegedly defying her order last year to remove the religious display from the walls of schools and county courthouses in three southeastern Kentucky counties. Instead, she gave opposing sides 30 days to try to work out a mutually agreeable solution that would obviate the need for further court action.
Supporters of the displays maintained that they had met any constitutional restrictions by including the Ten Commandments in a general display, along with the Declaration of Independence and the Magna Carta.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) countered that the display still violated the constitutional principle of separation of church and state, even if the Ten Commandments was not mounted apart from other documents.
--Used by permission of Religion Today
Mississippi Legislature Mandates Religious Motto in Classrooms
March 30, 2001The Mississippi state legislature has passed a new law, without opposition, requiring a sign reading, "In God We Trust" to be posted in every school classroom, cafeteria and auditorium, and Gov. Ronnie Musgrove signed it. However, Mississippi American Civil Liberties Union board member Jane Hicks contends the law violates the U.S. Constitution. "In God We Trust" is clearly "an endorsement of religion - and the First Amendment forbids that," she said. "It particularly violates the principle that government cannot favor or sponsor religion."
"The signs will come at no expense to the schools. The Christian-based American Family Association is making 32,000 copies available, and local groups will be providing them to the schools," explained the group's president, the Rev. Donald Wildmon. He added that putting up such plaques "has never been declared illegal ... The ACLU has threatened to sue, and our law center will defend it if the state wants us to ... We're in bad shape when you can't post the official motto of the United States," Wildmon said.
--Used by permission of Religion Today
U.S. Court Upholds Ohio State Motto
March 22, 2001Ohio's state motto - "With God all things are possible" - was upheld as constitutional in a 9-4 ruling issued March 16 by the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling, by the rarely empanelled full court, reversed a 2-1 decision handed down by a three-judge panel of the court last year that found Ohio's motto promoted Christianity and violated the separation of church and state. The full court agreed with a lower court's 1998 decision that Ohio's motto is constitutionally acceptable since the state does not attribute the words to their biblical source.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had challenged the motto as state endorsement of Christianity. ACLU lawyers will ponder whether the U.S. Supreme Court might accept the case as having sufficiently broad application nationwide to be worth argument, said Chris Link, executive director of the Ohio ACLU chapter.
Ohio Gov. Bob Taft called the ruling "a victory for the people of our state and the traditions that bind us together." Ohio's lawyers argued that if it is OK to use the words "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency, the state motto should also be acceptable and did not constitute an endorsement of Christianity.
--Used by permission of Religion Today
King County, Washington, Bans Church Construction
March 2, 2001Facing a temporary ban on the construction of new schools and churches in the rural areas of King County, Wash., one county councilman has gone on the offensive. "As far as I'm concerned, this is war," said Kent Pullen, a Republican who represents southeastern King County (which includes Seattle) and who opposes a recent council- approved moratorium on construction, as part of slow- growth revisions to the county's comprehensive plan. He called the ban a constitutional violation of religious expression.
County Executive Ron Sims' staff said the temporary ban attempts to limit "large footprint" items that presage traffic and development. Other big developments, such as shopping centers, already are permanently banned in rural areas. Tim Ceis, Sims' chief of staff, said he is troubled by attempts to cast the dispute as church vs. state. "It is about development in the rural area ... nothing more."
"I think there is going to be quite a backlash, and I don't think Sims expected this," said Jamie Durkan, a lobbyist for Seattle's Catholic Archdiocese.
Bill Gallant, spokesman for Archbishop Alex Brunett, said, "Our position is that we don't build to encourage growth - but where there already is demand ... Churches don't have a negative impact on the environment. In fact, they can enhance it."
--Used by permission of Religion Today
'Ten Commandments' Judge Sworn in as Chief Justice
Tuesday, January 16, 2001According to a story from the Associated Press, Roy Moore, the judge famous for displaying the Ten Commandments in his courtroom, was sworn in as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court on Monday. Moore reportedly supports prayer in public schools and opposes abortion and homosexuality for religious reasons. He refers to the United States as a "moral slum" because God is not acknowledged in public forums. He promised to acknowledge "God's law" in the courtroom and "to restore and preserve the moral foundation of our law."
Churches in U.S. Warned to Prepare for Violence
Friday, January 5, 2001Ushers should be trained and ready to stop violence in church, says a former pastor who runs a security organization. Jeff Hanna, executive director of the GuideOne Center for Risk Management in Des Moines, Iowa, told Religion Today that churches should put together a "safety team" led by trained ushers.
"A lot of churches are doing security piecemeal" but they need an overall plan for everything that happens in the church, said Hanna, a criminal justice graduate, former security official, and a United Methodist pastor for 14 years. Churches need security without scaring worshipers, he said. "They want to do the right thing without being obtrusive." Hanna's company runs seminars to train church personnel in security issues, and he has written a book on the subject. The group insures 45,000 churches nationwide.
Recent bloodshed in a church in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia and an attempted attack by a mentally ill man against the archbishop of New York in St. Patrick's Cathedral have underlined the need for churches to be safe, Hanna said.
Those incidents are an anomaly, he said. Violence in churches is not necessarily increasing rapidly, but the recent incidents do "raise the whole issue of security," including whether a church has a plan to get its children out of the building in case of fire.--Used by permission of Religion Today
Home Prayer Meetings Stopped in Connecticut
Wednesday, December 6, 2000A couple is suing after being ordered to stop holding prayer meetings at their home. Robert and Mary Murphy sued the town of New Milford, Conn., in federal court, saying the town is violating their rights to freedom of religion and assembly, The Associated Press reported. The Murphys have invited family members and friends to their home weekly on Sundays since 1995 for fellowship, Bible study, and prayer. The gatherings typically do not exceed 25 people.
Neighbors complained, and the New Milford zoning commission ruled that such regular meeting that use the back yard as a parking lot violated regulations. A zoning commission member said the town is not picking on the Murphys because they host a religious group. "It could be a model plane club, stamp collectors, seekers of Elvis," George Doring told the AP.
Prohibiting a family from using its own home for prayer is "a direct assault on our client's constitutional rights," said the Murphys' lawyer, Vincent McCarthy of the American Center for Law and Justice.--Used by permission of Religion Today
Teaching Religion Discriminates Against Some
Monday, November 27, 2000The teaching about religion in public schools lacks "much seriousness or depth," according to a national study of curricula by two groups, including the Council on Islamic Education. The study of religion has been written into curriculum standards, but mostly for students in elementary school, the report found.
Religion taught in social studies, history, geography, and economics classes deals mostly with holidays and customs, and tends to focus on Judaism and Christianity rather than Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism, the study found. The report, "Teaching About Religion," was funded by the Freedom Forum at Vanderbilt University.
Teaching about the history, beliefs, and customs of world faiths is legal in the public schools, while promoting one religion over another in the classroom is not. A number of religious and educational groups have proposed guidelines to teach about the religions without promoting a particular faith.--Used by permission of Religion Today
Satan Worshipper Burns Churches
Thursday, November 16, 2000A woman who allowed herself to be led by a Satan worshiper into burning churches has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. Angela Wood, 25, an exotic dancer from Athens, Ga., helped Jay Scott Ballinger set fire to at least 30 churches in 20 states, the Indianapolis Star reported. Wood acted as a lookout at most of the crimes, but admitted to setting fire to two of the churches herself, the paper reported.
"I was too lazy to think for myself, and I let someone else influence me. I can't blame anyone for that," Wood told U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker at her sentencing. Ballinger controlled her by beating her and threatening to take away their son, Wood told the court. Barker said that was no excuse for her actions, the paper reported. Wood could have received more than 21 years but got a lesser sentence because she cooperated with authorities.
Ballinger is serving a 42½ year sentence for burning 26 churches in eight states, and also is awaiting trial on federal charges of burning several churches in Georgia. He could receive a life sentence because one of the fires led to the death of a volunteer firefighter.--Used by permission of Religion Today
Man Sentenced in Church-Burning Rampage
Wednesday, November 15, 2000A drifter who calls himself a missionary of the Devil has been sentenced to 42 ½ years in prison for a church-burning rampage. Jay Scott Ballinger was sentenced Nov. 14 in Indianapolis for burning 26 churches in the 1990s, according to The Associated Press.
He was ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution, and still faces federal charges in Georgia for five church arsons, including one that killed a firefighter. He pleaded guilty in July to more fires than any other defendant since the formation a federal task force in response to a string of fires, mostly in the South.
Ballinger, 38, traveled around the country practicing his religion, Luciferian, and signing gullible people he met to contracts with the devil, court documents said. He started the fires late at night, breaking a window at the church and pouring gasoline into the building. His traveling companion and lookout was Angela Wood, 25, who worked as a nightclub dancer to pay their living expenses, the Justice Department said. She pleaded guilty a year ago to several arson-related charges and is awaiting sentencing.
Ballinger hates Christianity. He "frequently expressed his hostility toward organized Christianity" and termed himself a "missionary of Lucifer," the plea agreement said. Ballinger, of Yorktown, Ind., who is white, admitted burning black as well as white churches in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama, South Carolina, and California. He is a high school dropout who has been mostly unemployed and lived with his parents before the rampage.--Used by permission of Religion Today
Alabama Judge Posts Ten Commandments in Court Room
Thursday, November 9, 2000Judge Roy Moore, known for refusing to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom, won election as chief justice of Alabama.
Moore has said he believes that man's law is deeply rooted in the Scriptures. "Remember the One responsible for it all, and that's God," Moore, a Republican Etowah County Circuit judge, told supporters. "This campaign is about morality. It's about the loss of morality in our state and nation," he said, according to the Birmingham News.
Moore, a former West Point cadet and military policeman in Vietnam, displayed the self-carved wooden tablets on a wall behind his bench despite a lawsuit and an order by another judge to take them down. He became a hero to thousands of Alabamans who held rallies in his defense, and then-Gov. Fob James Jr. threatened to call out the National Guard to defend the Ten Commandments against court-ordered removal.--Used by permission of Religion Today
Monument With Religious Symbol to be Removed
Thursday, November 2, 2000The National Park Service will remove a monument to World War I veterans in Mojave National Preserve because it contains a cross. The action is being taken after the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California sued on behalf of a former park employee to have the eight-foot cross removed, The Associated Press reported.
Veterans placed the cross and a plaque at the site 85 miles northeast of Barstow, Calif., to commemorate the lives of American soldiers who died in the war. It has become a gathering place for local ranchers to celebrate Easter Sunday services, hold barbecues, and have neighborhood meetings, according to AP.
The ACLU doesn't understand the cross' significance to the community, resident Rob Blair said. "Why should they care? This isn't their home."--Used by permission of Religion Today
Halloween Production May Violate Church-State Separation
Friday, October 20, 2000A Baptist Halloween production in a city park has West Virginia witches frightened for their First Amendment rights, The Associated Press reported. Wiccans Dave McCormick and Elise Adkins claim the First Baptist Church of Dunbar's "Haunted Hollow" at Wine Cellar Park violates the Constitution and have asked the American Civil Liberties Union to help stop the holiday display. They say it validates the establishment of a particular religion, the AP reported. The ACLU said it planned to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Charleston this week.
The 45-minute Haunted Hollow tour shows the perils of sin, said First Baptist's associate minister, Mark Jarrell. Vignettes include a laughing, taunting Satan in hell, a drunken teen regaining consciousness at the scene of a car crash he caused, and a youth overdosing at a party, he said. The church, which has staged the event at the park for two years, changed the presentation slightly this year, dropping a negative portrayal of homosexuality that had angered some citizens, Jarrell said. Admission to this year's Haunted Hollow is $5 and a can of food.
"They're using government property as a vehicle to propagate for their religion and against mine,'' said McCormick, a high priest in his four-member Wicca group. "When you go to the Haunted Hollow, you expect to have fun. You don't expect to have religion propagated at you," the AP reported him as saying. In addition, Dunbar police provided security at taxpayer expense when the park was kept open past normal hours for a weekend's production, and police violated federal law by preventing a protest of the production, the ACLU said. First Baptist Church leaders say they will continue to sponsor the Haunted Hollow throughout the Halloween season.--Used by permission of Religion Today
Unions Accused of Discrimination
Monday, October 16, 2000A teachers union has been accused of discriminating against religious conservatives. The Ohio affiliate of the National Education Association was criticized by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for "unnecessary delay" in its responses to members who applied for "religious objector" status during the last school year, Education Week reported. The religious members want part of their annual state dues, about $400 apiece, to be dedicated to charities of their choice rather than used to support the union's political agenda, which they say backs abortion and homosexuality. Federal law allows union members to donate their fees to charity if supporting the union violates their religious beliefs.
Forty-six of 97 applications for religious objector classification were denied last school year, said Christopher A. Lopez, the general counsel for the Ohio union. He said the time frame of six to nine months to determine eligibility status was not unreasonable.
The union is trying to intimidate religious conservatives, a rights groups says. The delays are "designed to harass and humiliate teachers of faith," Randy Wanke of the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation told Education Week. The Springfield, Va.-based nonprofit group is representing the complaining union members.--Used by permission of Religion Today
Supreme Court to Decide Religious Use of School Property
Wednesday, October 11, 2000The U.S. Supreme Court will decide an important church-state case. It agreed to rule on whether a Christian club for children that uses Bible stories, Scripture, music, and prayer must be allowed to meet on public school property after normal school hours.
The case involves the nonsectarian Good News Club. Members claim that the school in Milford, N.Y., violated their free-speech rights by refusing to let them use the school building even though the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and 4-H are allowed to meet there. The Good News Club is led by Steve Fournier, the pastor of a local Bible church, and his wife Darleen, and is affiliated with Child Evangelism Fellowship, a Christian group that supports chapters of the club throughout the country. Club members range from kindergarten through sixth grade.
The school district's policy bars the use of the facilities for religious purposes but says residents may use the school for "social, civic, and recreational meetings and entertainment events and other uses." School officials said the club's intended use would force the school to "endorse Christianity," according to news reports. Club officials say they are teaching children moral values and are being discriminated against because those values come from a religious perspective. A federal trial judge and the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled in favor of the school's policy and against the club. Arguments in the Supreme Court are scheduled for this winter with a decision due by June.--Used by permission of Religion Today
© 2001 by Eyler Robert Coates, Sr.
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