Michael Newdow’s daughter “loves the Lord,” says pastor Chuck SmithConservative online media are abuzz this week with word that the second-grade daughter of atheist Michael Newdow, who sued a California school district over the Pledge of Allegiance on her behalf, wasn’t troubled by the words “Under God” in the Pledge at all. “The little girl, over whom the suit was filed, happens to attend Calvary Chapel, in Elk Grove,” Pastor Chuck Smith told his congregation at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. “She is Christian, her mother is a Christian . …This whole suit was filed on a totally false premise.” (Audio of many of Smith’s sermons are available here, but Sunday night’s sermon hasn’t been posted yet.)
The story was apparently first reported by CPINews.net, then picked up by WorldNetDaily. It doesn’t appear to have hit the mainstream media yet, though the child’s mother, Sandra Banning, was reportedly scheduled for an appearance on CBS’s Early Show.
“[Newdow] lied to the court under oath. This is a crime,” Austin Miles says in an Assist News Service commentary. “The public must demand that The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco charge Michael Newdow with perjury and punish him to the full extent of the law.”
Perjury charges or not, legal scholars were already doubting whether Newdow had sufficient standing to file the suit. This development increases the chances the appeal will be decided on standing rather than on the merits of the case. The full 9th Circuit or the Supreme Court wouldn’t have to decide whether “Under God” violates the First Amendment’s prohibition on establishing religion. It could just say that Newdow didn’t have the right to file the suit.
More Pledge news and analysis:
- The judge the Supreme Court loves to overturn | Judge Stephen Reinhardt was notorious long before his 9th Circuit’s Pledge of Allegiance decision (The Weekly Standard, May 5, 1997)
- Allegiance to the pledge | Authority says it always has been a political football (The Baltimore Sun)
- Missouri requires Pledge of Allegiance | Must be recited at least once per week—with “under God”—in the schools (Associated Press)
- Church-state line is still blurred after rulings | Decisions on the Pledge of Allegiance and school vouchers continue a tradition of debate as old as the nation itself (Los Angeles Times)
- State will fight for Pledge | Government: Idaho officials, public rally against appeals court ruling (Idaho Press-Tribune, Nampa)
Pledge opinion:
- The founders and God | The last thing the founders of the American republic wanted was a public square scrubbed free of God (Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe)
- The pledge fireworks | For all the wrangling and strife and the culture wars, I’m most proud when we manage to define and defend our diversity as all-American (Ellen Goodman, The Boston Globe)
- No independence from God | Whether we acknowledge God’s presence in the world, God is nonetheless in our very midst, actively involved in everyday life (Timothy E. Schenck, The Baltimore Sun)
- At least apple pie still all-American and inoffensive | Are any symbols of American self-identity still without controversy? (Laura Billings, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.)
- The pledge flap: Let’s brush up our civics | Many of us need to relearn that respecting the flag means respecting the rights of others, even those with whom we deeply disagree (Charles Haynes, Freedom Forum)
- Having it their way, or no way | Burger King democrats insist that they, and they alone, have a constitutional right to have things their way (Peter Rowe, The San Diego Union-Tribune)
- God’s got nothing to do with the Pledge of Allegiance furor | Gutless politicians are stoking mob passions against a brave ruling (Robert Scheer, Los Angeles Times)
- A higher authority is what it’s all about | The pledge is both historically and philosophically accurate. It is true, and it is necessary (Ruth Ann Baker, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Intimations of America’s mortality | If one nation is ”under God,” it is only because every nation is (James Carroll, The Boston Globe)
- Editorial cartoons about the Pledge decision (Slate.com)
Vouchers:
- The school-voucher debate | Parents “want good schools in their communities” — but parents are tired of waiting for the “good” schools to come to their perhaps not-so-good neighborhood (Editorial, The Washington Times)
- Voucher split reflects generation gap | About 75 percent of blacks age 35 or younger support vouchers, while 69 percent of black elected officials oppose them (UPI)
- Forget church and state, separate school and state | It is becoming increasingly obvious that perhaps the state has too much of a role in our children’s education (Paul Crespo, The Miami Herald)
- Education reform in the abstract | The Supreme Court’s decision declaring school vouchers constitutional could ignite a more honest national debate on education. Don’t hold your breath. (E. J. Dionne Jr, The Washington Post)
- Tax credit could fund hatred, rights chief says | Calls plan educational ‘apartheid’ (The National Post, Canada)
President Bush’s God-talk on the Fourth:
- For President, a spiritual Fourth | Under tight security, bush invokes faith before thousands in W.Va. (The Washington Post)
- Bush blends patriotism, religion | Holiday: President, in Ripley, W.Va., for the 4th of July, focuses on U.S. unity amid terrorism and the nation’s debt to one deity (Los Angeles Times)
- Believe it or not, Bush celebrates 4th in Ripley | The most striking characteristic of the ceremony, an expanded version of tiny Ripley’s annual Fourth of July celebrations that began in the mid-19th century, was the steady profession of faith (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Full text of Bush’s speech (White House)
Other Church-State issues:
- Ventura’s church-state proclamation criticized | Ventura declared “Indivisible Day” on the suggestion of a group called Atheists of Minnesota for Human Rights (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.)
- President seeks to make bureaucracy friend of faith | Says he has taken preliminary actions to strip discriminatory language from the federal grants programs (The Washington Times)
- Also: Bush backs religious charity and a shaky incumbent | President Bush lent his support to Gov. Scott McCallum of Wisconsin, as he promoted a bill to give federal money to religious charities (The New York Times)
- Also: To revive agenda, Bush courts blacks | Support sought for welfare reform, ‘faith-based’ charity, homeownership (The Washington Post)
- Bush aide preaches benefits of faith-based initiatives | Jim Towey visits Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Bush wants aid for religious groups that provide social services (Fox News)
- Portland’s battle with Salvation Army carries to Catholic Charities | City asks ministry to promise it will offer health insurance to domestic partners of its unmarried employees (Portland [Maine] Press-Herald)
- Salvation Army gives up city money (Associated Press)
- Bloomberg revises 10 Commandments stance | New York mayor: No support on classroom signs (Newsday)
- Also: Mike’s 10 Commandments flip-flop (New York Daily News)
- Faith vs. patriotism | Deciding whether a flag flies in a church or synagogue often splits along lines of religious and state separation (The Ann Arbor [Mich.] News)
- Objection sustained | A board of inquiry established by the Ontario Human Rights Commission ruled in 2000 that Christians were only free within their homes and churches to live according to the tenets of their faith. Elsewhere, whenever that faith conflicted with the rights of homosexuals, Christians were “not free to … practice those beliefs” (Editorial, The National Post)
- Court-seal appeal planned | A federal judge has ruled that the Ten Commandments image on the Superior Court seal of Richmond County, Georgia, doesn’t violate the Constitution. But the legal battle will continue (The Augusta [Ga.] Chronicle)
- Religion ban: ACT Govt backs down | Religious education will continue to be taught by teachers in class time (The Canberra Times, Australia)
- Earlier: New bill limits religion in Australian Capital Territory schools | Education minister wants to end religious education during school hours, which 28 of 69 schools currently provide (The Daily Telegraph, NSW, Australia)
Politics:
- Africa grapples with Romans 13 | Admonition by the apostle Paul had caused missionaries and old-style Evangelicals to take a quietist stance (UPI)
- Atheist leader objects to post-Sept. 11 fervor | American Atheists President Ellen Johnson says unbelievers are marginalized (The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wa.)
Tony Blair and religion:
- Onward Christian Socialists | Moderate supporters of the Labor party have argued their organization owes more to Methodism than to Marx, but under Tony Blair what was once a piece of conjecture has become an empirical fact (The Scotsman)
- Bishops clash with Blair | Britain’s Prime Minister is facing his biggest confrontation with the Church of England since coming to power over the Government’s plans for reform of the House of Lords (The Daily Telegraph, London)
- Also: Bishops furious at exclusion | The bishops in the House of Lords launched a strong attack on the Labour and Liberal Democrats in anger at their exclusion from the joint parliamentary committee on the future of the Lords (The Guardian, London)
Persecution:
- Repressive religion bill sneaked through Belarus Parliament | Only a day earlier, debate had been postponed until Autumn (Keston News Service)
- Also: Restrictive religion law in Belarus | Nation moving to state religion (Novye Izvestiia)
- Also: Belorussian religion law criticized | Bill will spark religious war against Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, say detractors (Nezavisimaia Gazeta)
- Catholic priest killed in Colombia | Hilario Arango, who was critical of leftist rebels, was gunned down in front of a church where he had just performed Mass (Associated Press)
- Staines case: Witness identifies Dara Singh | Three others also identified at attack on Australian missionary and his three sons (PTI)
- Also: Mob burnt missionary and sons to death, trial told (Associated Press)
- Christ statue destroyed in India | Opposition politicians say the attack is part of a conspiracy to fuel communal tension in the state (BBC)
- Pakistan human rights group seeking repeal of blasphemy verdict | Aslam Masih, a Christian faces death (The News International, Pakistan)
- Pakistan Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy | Aslam Masih was born a Christian, but converted to Islam and then reconverted to Christianity (Ananova)
- Religious groups clash in Nigeria | At least six dead, churches and mosques set ablaze (The Scotsman)
- Signs of Christian-Muslim clashes abundant in Indonesia | Six months after Muslim and Christian community leaders signed a peace agreement at the Sulawesi resort of Malino, sectarian tensions continue to simmer (The Dallas Morning News)
- Moscow Catholics locked out of their house of worship | Building has been under state control since the Soviet era. Now the religious minority wants it back (Los Angeles Times)
Bioethics:
- Princeton bioethicist argues Christianity hurts animals | “One of the things that causes a problem for the animal movement is the strong strain of fundamentalist Christianity that makes a huge gulf between humans and animals, saying humans have souls but animals do not,” says Peter Singer (The Washington Times)
- Dutch coalition unveils reforms | Review of euthanasia law among plans (BBC)
Clergy abuse:
- From saints to sinners | Scandals are making their mark on the image of priests in movies and TV (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Some priests allegedly abused confession info | Molester priests take advantage of vulnerability during ritual (Boston Herald)
- States add clergy to sex-abuse laws | A growing number of state legislatures are ordering church officials to report allegations of sexual abuse of minors (USA Today)
- Hospital for priests not required to report all suspected abuse | In making decision, Maryland attorney general’s office contradicts statement by staff lawyer (The Washington Post)
- Church’s defense called valid—to a point | Experts agree the idea of rehabilitation once held sway, but fault transfers of molesters (Los Angeles Times)
- Bishops face obstacles to tough policy | Appeals, uncertainty hobble zero tolerance for sex abuse (The Washington Post)
- Ruling on diocese’s privacy may open flood of material | Rhode Island justice ruled that the First Amendment could not be construed as a blanket shield protecting the church from requests for information in inquiries into priestly assaults on children (The New York Times)
Crime:
- Pastor’s wife may face trial | Jacalyn L. Altman, whose husband, the former Grace Christian Ministries pastor who has been sent to prison for bilking tens of thousands of dollars from members of his congregation, has rejected a plea agreement and may be placed on trial in the fall (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- Ex-WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers goes to church | “I just want you to know you aren’t going to church with a crook,” he began (Dow Jones)
- Also: Ebbers denies committing fraud | Tells church he’s not crook (Associated Press)
- Youth group’s bus driver had drugs in system | Link to crash that killed him and four youths uncertain (The Dallas Morning News)
- Minister’s stalker jailed | Two-year sentence for breaking court order (The Scotsman)
- Also: Stalker jailed | She gets two years for harassing Rev (Daily Record, Scotland)
- Blunder over sword nut | A senior official blundered over the case of freed samurai sword maniac Eden Strang, it was revealed last night (The Sun, U.K.)
- Also: Hunt for new way to cage samurai attacker | Police are trying to find a way to have freed Samurai sword attacker Eden Strang locked up again (The Daily Record, Scotland)
- Also: Sword attacker’s release condemned (BBC)
Christianity and Islam:
- Benny Hinn finds audience for criticism of Islam | “The Muslim population is going down!” says televangelist (Fort Worth [Tex.] Star-Telegram)
- Mayans convert to Islam | 300 new Muslims in Mexico were evangelicals (Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle)
- Politicians dissent from religious speech | Pastor denounced non-Christian faiths at church-sponsored patriotic rally (Lexington [Mass.] Herald-Leader)
Sex, marriage, and parenting:
- Methodist transgender minister resigns | Rebecca A. Steen, previously Richard A. Zamostny, submitted resignation in the opening minutes Friday of a church hearing on reinstatement (The Baltimore Sun)
- Also: Transsexual Methodist minister resigns (The Washington Times)
- Lesbians’ firing fuels outrage | Alumna and parents say they are disappointed by an all-girls Catholic school’s decision to force a lesbian couple from their jobs (New Haven [Conn.] Register)
- Residents rally for, against same-sex ordinance | Cleveland suburb gives health benefits to same-sex partners of city employees (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
- For adults only | For once, loony anti-gay conservatives are making sense (Michelle Cottle, The New Republic)
- On bended knee | Pro-marriage revivalists praise matrimony as the way and the light. But are they bowing to a false god? (Heather Havrilesky, Salon.com)
- Gay-adoption ban defended | The Florida Legislature has the authority to forbid homosexuals from adopting children, lawyers for the state wrote in a brief filed in a federal court (The Orlando Sentinel)
- Study links spanking to aggression | After analyzing six decades of expert research on corporal punishment, a psychologist says parents who spank their children risk causing long-term harm that outweighs the short-term benefit of instant obedience (Associated Press)
New Westminster:
- Same-sex blessings go ahead | Bishop Michael Ingham says he’ll meet with Anglican leaders to explain, but plan will continue (Canada.com)
- Should we let tradition be damned? | When the Anglican diocese of New Westminster voted to bless same sex unions, and when Bishop Michael Ingham gave this decision his approval, the diocese ceased to be part of “one holy, catholic and apostolic church” (Ian Hunter, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
- Archbishop of Canterbury calls for restraint and reflection over Canadian decision (Press release)
- New Westminster conservatives respond to bishop
Church life:
- Greek Orthodox Church backs charter | Delegates said the move signaled a yearning for an independent church that would remain linked to the mother church, headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, but not completely controlled by it (Associated Press)
- Protestants say it’s time to stop being so white | After a steady drop in membership over the years, leaders of seven predominantly white Protestant denominations — from liberal to conservative — have joined forces to try to reverse the trend (Associated Press)
- Free money for churchgoers | A pastor in Western Australia has stunned his parishioners by handing out $100 notes during a sermon (AAP)
- Recent immigrant influx brings international flavor and challenges to metro churches | Minnesota isn’t exclusively “How Great Thou Art” country anymore (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
- Church of England synod meets | Clarifying the rules on church weddings for the divorced is one of the items on the agenda (BBC)
- Controversial hymns challenge US Methodists’ view of God | Female imagery in The Faith We Sing upsets many (Voice of America)
- Spirit moves church to offer karate | Providence Christian Reformed Church starts kicking it for Christ (Advance Newspapers, Michigan)
- Preaching everywhere, even in her dreams | Suzan Johnson Cook dares you to resist, but her charismatic oratory, formidable appearance, bracing self-confidence leave their mark (The New York Times)
Missions & ministry:
- Jim Bowers still wants an apology | More than a year has passed since a single bullet took the lives of the missionary’s wife and daughter (Associated Press)
- Cuban emissary visits Abilene church sponsor | In 1984, Juan Monroy told Castro he had tried to go to Cuba to preach, but had been denied the opportunity. Try again, said the Cuban leader. (The Abilene [Tex.] Reporter-News)
- Spiritual caregiving | Conference aims to help the clergy sustain their post-9/11 ministry (Newsday)
- New directions | Billy Graham’s mission was to bring a message of reconciling love to a city and to people longing to hear of love and in need of redemption (Editorial, The Cincinnati Post)
- Religious activists to patrol desert | The move comes after Arizona’s deadliest month on record for border crossers. But questions are being raised about the legality of the group’s intentions (Tucson [Ariz.] Citizen)
Christian broadcasters and satellite merger:
- Charge: Rupert Murdoch in unholy pact with TV preachers | Horse-trade to gain opposition to satellite merger (Media Life)
- Christians blast bird merger | EchoStar, DirecTV deny they are hostile to religious programming (Variety, subscription required)
Christian films:
- Christian films target mainstream | Movies with a moral message try to break out of the bush leagues with upcoming productions (Religion News Service)
- Apocalyptic movie taps into Christian niche | Tribulation Force goes straight to video (Religion News Service)
Art:
- Painterly sermons mix severe and sensual | The North Carolina Museum of Art is showing works depicting heaven and hell by a little-known painter who spent most of his life as an evangelical preacher (The New York Times)
- His love for Jesus more than skin deep | Timothy West spent 178 hours under the tattoo artist’s needle to have his body covered in biblical imagery (The Cincinnati Post)
Music:
- Delirious? join Bryan Adams on UK tour | Christian band will open on three dates (Ananova)
- Making a joyful noise | After years of being dismissed as bland and clumsy, Christian music is booming (The Washington Times)
Religion and sport:
- Let them pray, says FIFA | Football’s world governing body FIFA on Monday said they are “not shocked” by the Brazil delegation’s outpouring of religious fervour after they beat Germany 2-0 in the World Cup final (AFP)
- A divine carnival of victory | Brazil’s World Cup Win a Chance to Celebrate Religion of Soccer (The Washington Post)
- Goal is to sell Christianity through the other religion | Sport may be Australia’s unofficial religion, but it’s also a handy tool for religious conversion (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Pope John Paul II:
- Pope’s Toronto visit faces possible $25M shortfall | World Youth Day: Event has attracted fewer than 200,000 registrants (The National Post, Canada)
- Vatican confirms Pope trip to Poland | Ninth trip since becoming pope in 1978 (Associated Press)
Other stories of interest:
- Religion news in brief | Episcopal Church’s Kansas diocese will allow clerical blessings of homosexual couples and unwed heterosexuals, and other stories (Associated Press)
- Falwell festivities have surprise guest | John Hagee and Falwell have feuded over theology in times past (The Washington Times)
- Barre Cox case moved to new court | Minister who claims amnesia says he’s asking for the return of his estate because he “owes it to his family.” His family disagrees (The Abilene [Tex.] Reporter-News)
- Also: Minister claiming amnesia defends estate pursuit (Associated Press)
- Relic of St. Alban returns | Bone allegedly from Britain’s first Christian martyr had been in Germany since 10th century (BBC)
- Teens put expertise of Scriptures on display | About 300 teenagers from across the country converged on Seattle Pacific University last week for the National Free Methodist Bible Quiz Finals (The Seattle Times)
- Methodists lose faith in online society | The increasing use of mobile phones and the Internet is making life impersonal and undermining human relationships, according to the leader of the Methodist Church (BBC)
- Higher power helps bereaved heal | Losing someone you love is never easy, but people who have strong spiritual beliefs recover from loss faster than those who don’t (Health24, South Africa)
- Also: Spiritual beliefs may affect outcome of bereavement: prospective study (British Medical Journal)
- Christian ferment in Third World | By becoming evangelical—and chiefly Pentecostal—Protestants, residents of the developing world are undergoing a “process of individuation.” (UPI)
- The writing life | On writing about religion for the past 40 years (Garry Wills, The Washington Post)
- Faster pastor’s hearse power | Motorcycle-mad minister Paul Sinclair has built what he has hailed to be the world’s fully enclosed sidecar hearse (BBC, video also available)
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