2 of 6

• Former lawmaker will be on ballot | Thomas Harens, who served in the House of Representatives as a Democrat-Farmer-Laborite representing St. Paul in 1981-82 and who ran for mayor of St. Paul under the Reform Party banner in 1997, said he will be on the presidential ballot only in Minnesota. He said he is using the race to try to form a new political party, which he called the "Christian Freedom Party.'' (Pioneer Press, Minnesota)
• WSU alumnus — and presidential candidate — visits Winona | Though Minnesota is a critical "swing state" in the 2004 presidential election, it's not every day that a presidential candidate visits Winona. And it's not every presidential election that has a Winona State University graduate on the ballot, either. But Thomas Harens, a WSU alumnus, will be on the Minnesota presidential ballot in November and is running as the candidate for the Progressive Christian Freedom Party, a party that he founded. (Winona Daily News, MN)
• Christianity isn't guiding our response to enemies | Republicans are now the party of most American evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. Didn't Jesus have something profound to say about how to deal with one's enemies? (Gerald Plessner, Pasadena Star-News)

Church & state:

• Faith issues private, not governmental | A new poll of Alabamians underscores the importance of a constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion that remains just that, without ever allowing government to become an advocate of one faith over another. It's not always an easy line for government to walk, given the realities of public perception and political pressures, but it is crucial for government to maintain that role. (Editorial, Montgomery Advertiser)
• Should Congress scrap a law that prevents churches from engaging in political activities? No. | In keeping with their fundamentalist doctrines, they want to teach their religion in public schools, use tax dollars to subsidize religious schools, ban reproductive choice, deny legal equality to gays and restrict medical advances through stem-cell research. By forging a church-based political machine, they hope to control the government. They must not succeed. (Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Provo Daily Herald, UT)
• Proposed L.A. County seal lacks cross | A proposed new seal for Los Angeles County was unveiled Wednesday - minus a controversial gold cross, oil derricks and a goddess. County supervisors voted in June to remove a tiny cross, which has been part of the seal since 1957, after the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California threatened to sue on grounds that the symbol was a government endorsement of Christianity. (Associated Press)
• New seal, sans cross, offers other changes | County unveils altered design, which also replaces the goddess Pomona, after ACLU threatens to sue (Los Angeles Times)

French headscarf ban:

• Angry Sikhs to sue French govt | In a scaling-up of the row between Frances tiny Sikh minority and its controversial new law to ban the turban, hijab and yarmulke and protect the secular state, the community is to sue President Chirac government. (Times of India)

next page... |  2 of 6

share this page

September (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48