Other Schools' Prayers Questioned After Court Rules VMI's Unconstitutional
"Church's coffee apparently spiked with arsenic, congregation likely to face discipline for baptisms, and other stories from online sources around the world"
Prayers at Naval Academy, Citadel under scrutiny after VMI decision "In establishing its supper prayer, [the Virginia Military Institute] has done precisely what the First Amendment forbids," a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday (full decision). "Put simply, VMI's supper prayer exacts an unconstitutional toll on the consciences of religious objectors. While the First Amendment does not in any way prohibit VMI's cadets from praying before, during, or after supper, the Establishment Clause prohibits VMI from sponsoring such a religious activity."
Today's Boston Globe notes that the decision is "a precedent-setting ruling against prayer at a state college" because it's the first time a court at that level has ruled "to extend to public colleges and universities a series of Supreme Court rulings against prayers at public elementary and high schools. … In other recent appellate decisions involving public colleges or universities, other courts have allowed prayers at commencement exercises—something that the Supreme Court has banned at the grade school and high school level."
The ruling was immediately felt at similar colleges. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland called on the U.S. Naval Academy to "re-examine" its sponsorship of prayer at lunchtime, and officials at the Citadel are reconsidering its practice of allowing student volunteers to lead cadets in prayer before each meal (a student chaplain led prayers at VMI).
"The Air Force, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies offer a moment of silence before meals; the U.S. Military Academy at West Point does not even offer that," notes The Baltimore Sun.
Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore says he will ask the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the panel's ruling, and might take the case to the Supreme Court. "I continue to believe that the nondenominational, nonsectarian grace before supper is the sort of thing that is appropriate in a military setting," he said earlier this week. "These prayers were part of VMI's educational program and are precisely the sort of prayers recited in the United States military, on ships at sea each night, and before lunch at the United States Naval Academy." He might not be able to make that last point for long.
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Criminal claims help from Pope | A man used false references from the Pope which he bought on the Internet in an attempt to get a lighter court sentence (BBC)
Nun robbed attending Mass | A 75-year-old nun has been robbed in what police have described as a shocking attack (BBC)
Church deacon pockets donations | For three years, Ronald Sieplinga was stealing cash from the Fifth Reformed Church. He's charged with felony embezzlement of more than $20 thousand. (WXMI, Michigan)
Post-war Iraq:
Churches reach out to Iraqis | Christians say their mission is to help with food, not convert (The Detroit News)
Iraq humanitarian update | How can aid workers be kept safe enough so they can do their work? How can they maintain their independence from the U.S. military? And should Christian aid workers try to evangelize Iraqi Muslims? (Religion & Ethics Newsweekly)
Christians' main role: Communicate God's love | A genuine evangelical's concern is never focused on persuading someone to change their membership from one religious organization to another (Larry Cox, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Resentment, not the Gospel, likely to spread | Many Muslims continue to portray the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism as an attack on Islam. Nothing would feed that image more readily than having prominent evangelical Christians who have denigrated Islam at the forefront of humanitarian relief efforts (Charles Kimball, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
If Iraqi Shiite majority wants clerics, let them | If the United States intervenes to quash the desire of the Iraqi people for an Islamic government, won't we simply be trading one form of tyranny for another? (Cathleen Falsani, Chicago Sun-Times)
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Anti-liberation theology | The clerics got it wrong on Iraq (Joseph Loconte, The Weekly Standard)
Faith in the military:
Military's religious bent mirrors nation's | The old saying "There are no atheists in foxholes" turns out to be largely correct, at least for the U.S. armed forces: About 0.1 percent of all American military personnel officially declare themselves to be atheists (UPI)
Groups file briefs opposing monument | Baptists, Jews and Arabs are among a diverse list of religious and other groups that have filed written arguments with a federal appeals court in opposition to a Ten Commandments monument in the Alabama state judicial building (The Birmingham News, Ala.)
Access to Mormon land raises First Amendment issue | A divisive dispute over public access to a piece of Mormon-owned land in the heart of Salt Lake City could go before the U.S. Supreme Court next fall (Legal Times)
Religious zealotry always politically potent | This administration has demonstrated the undeniable lure of mixing religion and public policy. It's good politics because people of zeal can be expected to show out in force (John Young, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Exactly who's the bigot here? | Rick Santorum is a devout Catholic. Like it or not, nothing he said in that interview diverges from Catholic doctrine (Rod Dreher, The Dallas Morning News)
Church and state store | Perhaps Christians shouldn't be buying booze on the Sabbath (Lynda Guydon Taylor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
The church and politics | The Church deserves to take its rightful place in the governance of every nation, and the Zambian case should be no exception (Editorial, The Post of Zambia)
Earlier: One African Nation Under God | Zambia is missionary David Livingstone's greatest legacy. But this Christian nation isn't always heaven on earth (Christianity Today, Feb. 5, 2002)
Religious school students sue to ride district's buses | Lutheran school students had been riding a bus operated by the Hot Springs School District until last December when the school board voted to end the practice (Associated Press)
Also: Congregation backs baptism | Members of a Concord church that is facing expulsion from the Baptist Association are standing by a controversial decision to baptize two homosexual men (News 14, Charlotte, N.C.)
Christian's dilemma over homosexual affairs | Realizing the complexity of homosexuality, the Church in Africa has been deliberating on how to handle the issue, which analysts term as fragile (African Church Information Service)
Gay civil unions find support in Democratic field | Almost all of the Democratic presidential candidates favor allowing gay couples to enter into civil unions, an unprecedented level of agreement on an issue that has caused moral and political discord in communities and state governments (The Boston Globe)
Archbishop in 'gay war' | The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will find himself at the heart of the Anglican Church's war over homosexuality as he begins a visit to the Episcopal Church of the United States of America (The Times, London)
Paul Martin divided on same-sex marriage issue | The front-runner in the Liberal leadership race said government should consider leaving matrimony to the churches (The Globe & Mail, Toronto)
Health and science:
Regular fasting seems to improve health | Scientists are now planning a study to see if fasting, which seems to benefit mice, will be good for people too (Associated Press)
Loss of faith hits medicine | A decline in Christianity is taking its toll on the number of people willing to donate their organs for transplantation, according to a doctor (BBC)
Religion versus science might be all in the mind | By stimulating the cerebral region presumed to control notions of self, Michael Persinger has been able to induce in hundreds of subjects a "sensed presence" only the subjects themselves are aware of (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Missions and ministries:
Luis Palau leads nation in prayer | Palau was chosen because "he's an internationally known evangelist and a lot of people know his name," said Mark Fried, media and marketing coordinator for the National Day of Prayer Task Force (The Oregonian)
There is still life in the German Christian church | Upon returning to the United States I would conclude that it is easier to find a church to attend here than it is in Germany. I would also observe that it is all too easy for us to also lose sight of what makes our faith alive. (Earl Button, The Monroe [Wisc.] Times)
Are we stingy? Only at church | The 1.2 million people in the Hartford metro area give a smaller share of their discretionary income to charity—4.7 percent—than any other large metropolitan area, according to a first-of-its kind study by The Chronicle of Philanthropy (The Hartford [Ct.] Courant)
Some Gen Xers skeptical of organized religion | Only 28 percent of Americans age 18-34 attend church, compared to 51 percent of those 55 or older, according to a poll done by the Barna Research Group (The Greenville [S.C.] News)
Secret ballot places archbishop at Anglican helm until 2013 | Peter Jensen has secured his leadership of Sydney's Anglicans for the next decade after diocesan powerbrokers voted to lift the archbishop's retirement age from 65 to 70 (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Taxman looks at church coffers | New regulations will force religious bodies to disclose their financial assets and how much their ministers are paid (Sunday Times, Johannesburg, South Africa)
The shock and awe of church as a fun mall | These generals aren't going after their target with MOABs ("Mother of All Bombs") but with MOACs ("Mall of America Churches"). (Darryl E. Owens, Orlando Sentinel)
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Ukrainian monks seize part of monastery | Ukraine's Orthodox monks are resorting to sit-ins to regain church property seized by the Soviet government and still occupied by secular organizations (Associated Press)
Services for Pascha include prayers for peace | Parishes celebrate orthodox Easter. More than 300 members of Bulgarian group holds first commemoration on weekend (The Montreal Gazette)
Catholicism:
Behind the throne: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger | A Grand Inquisitor, dedicated to crushing dissent wherever it raises its heretical head? Or a religious scholar of dazzling intelligence and uncompromising honesty? (Financial Times)
Taking Jesus as spouse, and living a life in prayer | An ancient but little-known Catholic rite allows women to be publicly recognized as living a life of prayer and devotion while living in society, rather than as nuns (The New York Times)
Cappuccino friar moves along sainthood path | Marco d'Aviano is credited with halting a Muslim invasion of Europe and in the process discovering the frothy coffee drink cappuccino (Associated Press)
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
As my doubts about his teachings grew, so did a secret fascination with Jesus.
C.S. Lewis recommended discernment over diatribes in exactly the moments we’re most eager to indulge in critique.
