A Clean Sweep for Religious Groups

SUPREME COURT

Before its summer recess, the U.S. Supreme Court handed victories to religious groups in two closely watched church-state cases. In one, the Court ruled that federal funding of religious groups who counsel teenagers against premarital sex does not necessarily violate the Constitution. In the other, it suspended fines against two Catholic groups embroiled in a legal dispute related to the tax-exempt status of the Catholic church. These cases represented the first opportunity for the newest member of the high court, Anthony Kennedy, to indicate where he stands on church-state matters.

Chastity Wins Out

In a ruling related to Kendrick v. Bowen, the high court upheld by a 5-to-4 vote the 1981 Adolescent Family Life Act—known also as the “Chastity Act.” According to this act, private, including religious, groups may receive federal money for teen-pregnancy prevention programs that promote alternatives to abortion, such as sexual abstinence and adoption. Programs promoting abortion or family-planning services may not receive federal funds.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was among the groups to oppose the law. It claims the law violates separation of church and state by giving religious groups government money to advance beliefs, such as chastity, that in the ACLU’S view are inherently religious.

The Supreme Court ruling reversed a lower court decision that the law is unconstitutional. In his majority opinion, Chief Justice William Rehnquist said the law “has a valid secular purpose, does not have the primary effect of advancing religion, and does not create an excessive entanglement of church and state.” The Court sent the case back to a lower court to determine whether some recipients of federal funds have violated guidelines of the program by advancing religion.

University of Chicago law professor Michael McConnell, who argued in favor of the law before the Court, called the ruling “the most important Supreme Court decision in the church-state arena in a decade.” Said McConnell: “It is solid reaffirmation of the principle that religious organizations have an equal right to participate on neutral terms in government programs.”

Many religious groups feared that, had the Court struck down this law, it would have paved the way for other religious programs receiving federal funds—such as soup kitchens, services for the homeless, immigration counseling, and drug abuse programs—to be considered unconstitutional.

Justice Kennedy sided with the majority. Most observers agree that had the case come up prior to the retirement of Justice Lewis Powell, whom Kennedy replaced, it probably would have gone the other way. McConnell said Kennedy’s vote “bodes very well for the religious community.”

Not all religious groups, however, are pleased. Oliver Thomas, general counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee, called the decision a “sad day for religion.” Thomas said his group opposed the law because religious groups will “pay the price in the long run” by having to “secularize [religious issues] in order to get a few tax dollars.” Thomas said the decision demonstrates a “significant erosion” of the separation of church and state.

Judicial Power Is Limited

The high court also ruled 8 to 1 to suspend $50,000-a-day fines against two Catholic church groups that refused to supply church documents in a legal case challenging the Catholic church’s tax-exempt status.

The complicated case, U.S. Catholic Conference v. Abortion Rights Mobilization (ARM), began when various prochoice groups and individuals, led by ARM, sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for not revoking the Catholic church’s tax-exempt status because of its prolife activities. According to ARM, the tax exemption gave the Catholic church an unfair subsidy for “partisan political activity.”

At ARM’S request, the Court subpoenaed some 20,000 internal documents, including sermons, pastoral plans, newsletters, budgets, and other sensitive information, from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. Catholic Conference. The groups refused to comply, and the trial court imposed the hefty fines, alleging contempt.

The two Catholic organizations then took action against ARM, claiming it did not have the legal standing to sue the IRS. The high court determined that the Catholic groups had the right to challenge ARM’S legal standing. It noted that, given the unresolved question of the trial court’s jurisdiction, that court had no authority to compel the church groups to turn over internal documents.

Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy said that “in a free society … courts have finite bounds of authority, some of constitutional origin, which exist to protect citizens from the very wrong asserted here, the excessive use of judicial power.”

Forest Montgomery, general counsel for the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), called Kennedy’s words “music to our ears.” Several groups, including the NAE, the National Council of Churches, and the Bapist Joint Committee, had urged the Court to rule in favor of the Catholic groups. They feared a negative ruling could make confidential church documents fair game in any case, even if the church was not a direct party in the lawsuit.

The case now goes back to the lower court, where the next issue at hand will be whether ARM has the legal standing to continue with its challenge against the IRS.

In other decisions, the high court:

• Ruled that prolife picketers in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, suburb may be prevented from protesting in front of the home of a doctor who performs abortions;

• Rejected the appeal of a self-proclaimed “secular humanist” who wanted to deliver “nonreligious” opening remarks to Congress during the time reserved for the chaplains’ prayers;

• Ruled that a homosexual man has the right to sue the Central Intelligence Agency for firing him.

By Kim A. Lawton.

North American Scene

DENOMINATIONAL

Heresy Case Miffs Geisler

For more than a decade, well-known evangelical scholar Norman Geisler has accused Trinity Evangelical Divinity School professor Murray J. Harris of heresy. When Geisler’s denomination, the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), with which Trinity is affiliated, studied the accusations and pronounced Harris orthodox, Geisler left the EFCA.

The denomination reported at its national convention that Harris’s positions are “in accord with the EFCA statement of faith.” Geisler, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, charged that Harris had denied the inerrancy of the Bible by claiming the apostle Paul had “changed his mind” about the physical nature of Jesus’ resurrection. After delegates to the convention cleared Harris, Geisler accused the denomination of “making personal threats” and “engaging in verbal abuse” against him. But Thomas McDill, president of the denomination, said Geisler “must have a personal agenda here that goes far beyond theological questions.”

MISCONDUCT

Prominent Pastors Resign

Acknowledging questionable relationships with women, two popular pastors recently resigned from ministry.

Marvin Rickard, senior pastor of the San Francisco Bay-area Los Gatos Christian Church for 29 years, resigned after admitting to a relationship he characterized as “a friendship that became an infatuation that lasted 11 months and that shouldn’t have happened.” The incident occurred seven years ago and was initially confessed to a church elder. Church directors issued a statement calling Rickard’s indiscretion “a sin of adultery.” According to a church official, Rickard will not return as pastor of the 6,000-member fundamentalist church.

And in Detroit, Truman Dollar, pastor of the 9,000-member Temple Baptist Church and columnist for the Fundamentalist Journal, stepped down after being confronted by church officials with a morally questionable incident. According to church officials, Dollar resigned at the request of the board of deacons “for verbal indiscretions with a woman who is not connected with this church.”

TRENDS

More Ministries Head West

The International Bible Society and the Christian and Missionary Alliance have both selected Colorado Springs as their new headquarters. They join Navigators, Young Life, Compassion International, and the Christian Booksellers Association at the more-than-mile-high city at the base of Pikes Peak.

“Colorado Springs was the most affordable,” said Alliance President David Rambo. His organization, which will move next year, had considered sites in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Colorado Springs officials are pleased with their new corporate citizens. “This kind of development is part of our ongoing effort to attract association headquarters to our city,” said Alice Neddo, acting director of the Economic Development Council of Colorado Springs.

CONTROVERSY

A Change Of Philosophy

For 23 years, the preschool operated by the First Presbyterian Church of Sherman Oaks, California, has offered an ecumenical environment to its students. This year, nearly half the student population and 5 of its 14 teachers are Jewish.

But when church elders decided to bar non-Christians from teaching there, all but one teacher resigned. One Sunday more than 50 demonstrators marched in front of the church to protest the action.

According to a memo from church official Joe Kelly, a special committee studied the school program and found it was moving from its original philosophy of education. He said the nursery school will return to providing a more active witness to the lordship of Christ.

Copastors John and Pamela Powell have borne the brunt of criticism for the church’s actions, but received support from Rabbi Harvey J. Fields of the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles. “I regret that this action … has been misconstrued by some as an action of anti-Semitism,” Fields told the Los Angeles Times. And the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agreed that the church is exempt from a federal law banning discrimination on grounds of religion because of its right to practice religion freely under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Briefly Noted

Named: As head of Prison Fellowship/USA, Alan K. Chambers. According to Charles W. Colson, chairman of Prison Fellowship Ministries, the promotion of Chambers from chief of staff to executive vice-president makes him one of the highest-placed black ex-offenders in American business.

Elected: As general secretary of the American Baptist Churches, Daniel E. Weiss. Weiss has served as president of the American Baptist-related Eastern College and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and most recently served as executive director of the American Baptist Board of Educational Ministries.

Changed: The name of Marion College in Marion, Indiana, to Indiana Wesleyan University. Officials say the name change more clearly describes the school as an undergraduate and graduate institution of higher learning sponsored by the Wesleyan Church.

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