In The News

Feds Back Church Subsidy

The Bush Administration is fighting Contra Costa County's refusal to allow religious services and prayer during business hours in a community room of Antioch Public Library, Calif.

Library officials refused to permit Faith Center Church Evangelical Ministries to hold a 4-hour meeting every other month free of charge.

"The United States Supreme Court has taken great pains to avoid converting public buildings into houses of worship. No court has ever held that the government is constitutionally required to open its facilities, such as library meeting rooms, to pure religious worship services, as distinct from other religious activities," wrote the county's lawyers in submitted arguments.

The county lost its court challenge, and is appealing to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Justice Department officials entered the case.

GM Didn't Discriminate

A 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in December agreed with a lower court that General Motors Corp. did not discriminate against an automaker when it refused his request to form a company-sponsored Christian group.

The automaker bars groups advocating particular religious or political views, but sponsors affinity groups for women, gays and lesbians, racial and ethnic minorities, veterans and disabled people.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Equal Employment Advisory Council, representing 325 major corporations, supported GM.

Minister Loses, Again

District Judge John Shabaz on Dec. 12 ruled constitutional a policy in Madison, Wis., selectively barring signs from highway overpasses. Rev. Ralph Ovadal, who heads the rabidly antigay Wisconsin Christians United, claimed Madison police violated his free speech rights when he was cited for disorderly conduct for draping a large banner saying "Homosexuality is a sin" over the Beltline highway in 2003.

Shabaz declared the sign a traffic hazard. Since the case started, the City of Madison adopted an ordinance banning all signs from highway overheads.

Voters Nix Redlands Cross

Nearly 60% of voters in Redlands, Calif., voted against keeping a cross on their city logo in a November referendum. Foundation member Darrell Barker, a former California resident who now lives in Arizona, was the original complainant in 1986. He told the Redlands Daily Facts:

"The defeat of Measure Q and its Christian cross is a real historic measure of Redlands' growth and maturity, common sense, tolerance and friendliness toward all its religious and nonreligious citizens alike."

In 2004, the city council voted to remove the religious symbol, which first appeared in 1963, after the ACLU threatened a lawsuit. A "save the seal" campaign resulted in the referendum, which ironically defeated the cross.

Parents Sue Over "ID"

A lawsuit challenging the teaching of "intelligent design" was filed in January by parents in Lebec, Calif., a town of 1,300 about 63 miles north of Los Angeles.

The El Tejon Unified School District approved a new course, "Philosophy of Design," on Jan. 1, claiming it differs from the course struck down in December by a Pennsylvania judge.

The course description reads: "the class will take a close look at evolution as a theory and will discuss the scientific, biological and biblical aspects that suggest why Darwin's philosophy is not rock solid. The class will discuss intelligent design as an alternative response to evolution. Physical and chemical evidence will be presented suggesting the earth is thousands of years old, not billions." A special education teacher who is married to a creationist minister is teaching the course.

Florida Vouchers Struck

The Florida Supreme Court, by a 5-2 vote on Jan. 5, shut down Gov. Jeb Bush's prize voucher program, which funneled taxpayer money to private schools for students attending "failing" public schools.

The "Opportunity Scholarship Program" currently pays for 750 students to enroll in private schools. The court ruled the state constitution, which provides for a uniform "high-quality system of free public schools," bars tax dollars to private schools.

The decision could endanger a second Florida voucher program, in which about 16,000 disabled students participate.

Millions of Florida taxes have flowed to schools which teach the biblical creation story, thanks to Florida's voucher programs, the Palm Beach Post recently revealed. Schools given money through the state's three voucher programs, 75% of which are religious, are free to teach religion. The Post estimates that many, if not most of the 1,100 participating schools are run by evangelical Christian denominations.

Faith-based Boondoggle

The head of the Orange County Sanitation District (Calif.) resigned in late October after it was revealed he spent about $400,000 on a "spiritual-based consulting firm" to improve work relations at the agency. Blake Anderson resigned as general manager with six months' severance pay.