U.S. Court Says Coach Can Pray With PlayersPlus: Baptist Foundation of Arizona leaders convicted ...

Opinion

Ted Olsen

Weblog

U.S. Court Says Coach Can Pray With PlayersPlus: Baptist Foundation of Arizona leaders convicted (a bit), 1000-year-old Psalter found in an Irish bog, Ralph Reed's future, and other stories from online sources around the world.

Plus: Baptist Foundation of Arizona leaders convicted (a bit), 1000-year-old Psalter found in an Irish bog, Ralph Reed's future, and other stories from online sources around the world.

Compiled by Ted Olsen with Rob Moll

[ posted 7/26/2006 9:17AM ]

Single Page

1. Coaches can "take a knee" during student-led, student-initiated prayer, federal judge rules
East Brunswick High School football coach Marcus Borden quit, then rescinded his resignation and sued instead, after the school district issued a rule that "representatives of the school district cannot participate in student-initiated prayer." Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh supported each of Borden's arguments: that the rule was too vague, too broad, and violated constitutional protections of free speech, free association, and privacy. The school says it won't appeal the ruling. The Home News Tribune rightly notes that the case has "national implications." Weblog has searched in vain for the actual decision, but the newspaper summary suggests that the broad principle is that a coach's joining in student-led, student-initiated prayer is a constitutionally protected sign of respect, not a constitutionally banned sign of endorsement.

2. Jury finds Baptist Foundation of Arizona leaders guilty of fraud, but not theft
Christianity Today has been following the Baptist Foundation of Arizona case ever since the Phoenix New Times raised questions in 1998. The story is coming to a close, but the book isn't shut yet. That's because only part of the book was thrown at former foundation president William Crotts and former legal counsel Thomas Grabinski yesterday. The two men, explains The Arizona Republic, "were accused of shifting bad assets to 'off the books' companies out of sight of the auditors to hide the foundation's considerable losses, while publishing favorable financial statements to keep the investors' money pouring in."

When it was over, more than 11,000 investors were out $570 million. Monday, a jury convicted the ...

This article is currently available to CT subscribers only.

To continue reading:

Weblog

Launched in 1999, Christianity Today’s Weblog was not just one of the first religion-oriented weblogs, but one of the first published by a media organization. (Hence its rather bland title.) Mostly compiled by then-online editor Ted Olsen, Weblog rounded up religion news and opinion pieces from publications around the world. As Christianity Today’s website grew, it launched other blogs. Olsen took on management responsibilities, and the Weblog feature as such was mothballed. But CT’s efforts to round up important news and opinion from around the web continues, especially on our Gleanings feature.

Ted Olsen

Ted Olsen is Christianity Today's managing editor for news and online journalism. He wrote the magazine's Weblog—a collection of news and opinion articles from mainstream news sources around the world—from 1999 to 2006. In 2004, the magazine launched Weblog in Print, which looks for unexpected connections and trends in articles appearing in the mainstream press. The column was later renamed "Tidings" and ran until 2007.