Freethought Today

Vol. 23 No. 1 - Published by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. -
January/February 2006

View the Table of Contents for this issue

State/Church Bulletin

Missionizing the Military

A missionary group has been given unique access to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado to proselytize cadets, as revealed in a private letter to supporters leaked to press late last year.

The Academy is the subject of a lawsuit, which followed a Pentagon investigation, Congressional hearings and limp new guidelines on proselytizing of cadets.

"Praise God that we have been allowed access by the Academy into the cadet areas to minister among the cadets," wrote Darren and Gina Lindblom of the Navigators, to donors on Oct. 11. "We have recently been given an unused classroom to meet with cadets at any time during the day."

"The only group that gets 24/7 unrestricted access to cadets is this fundamentalist, born-again Christian group," plaintiff Michael L. Weinstein told The Washington Post.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved by a vote of 99-0 a measure in early November to allow "voluntary, nondenominational prayers" at some service academy functions as an amendment to the huge Defense Department spending plan.

In December, 70 House lawmakers wrote Pres. Bush, and four delivered a petition, asking him to intervene to ensure that military guidelines do not restrict "the right to mention Jesus Christ" by Christian chaplains.

In January, the Navy capitulated to a hungerstriking Navy chaplain who claimed he was not permitted to pray in the name of Jesus, although the military disputed the claim. Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt had not been recommended for retention when his contract expired in December by his commander, after he had preached about hell at a sailor's funeral and led a boycott of a church service by a gay minister. Not only was the chaplain reinstated "indefinitely," but he was permitted to wear his uniform while praying in front of the White House as he continued his hungerstrike. The Navy, which ordinarily requires chaplains to offer "nonsectarian" prayers at secular ceremonies, also said it would not "force" this chaplain to conform to its policy of inclusiveness.

AmeriCorps Religion Funds Upheld

The Supreme Court on Jan. 9 let stand a lower court ruling permitting use of federal funds to pay teachers at religious schools. The American Jewish Congress challenged AmeriCorps grants going to 28 secular and six "faith-based" programs that train teachers, who are placed in public and religious schools.

All religious groups receiving funding were Christian; most were Roman Catholic. Groups receive $400 per trainee. The teachers must engage in 1,700 hours of secular instruction to receive federal money. They may teach religious subjects and lead students in prayer at religious schools on their own time.

A federal appeals court in Washington ruled last year that the $4,725 in financial aid did not promote religion or provide incentives to teach religion.

Appeals Court OKs Decalog

A federal appeals panel for the U.S. 6th Circuit Court on Dec. 20 upheld a lower court decision permitting display of the Ten Commandments alongside nine other documents at the Mercer County courthouse in Harrodsburg, Ky.

The decision contradicts a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last summer calling displays of Ten Commandments inside courthouses unconstitutional, even if exhibited with other documents.

Shockingly, Circuit Judge Richard Suhrheinrich wrote for the panel:

"This extraconstitutional construct [of the Establishment Clause] has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state. Our nation's history is replete with governmental acknowledgment and in some cases, accommodation of religion."

Tsunami "God's Revenge" on Women

Sharia (Islamic domestic law) has been enforced since the December 2004 tsunami in the Indonesian province of Aceh, after a Sharia judge ordered punishment of women not wearing headscarves.

The Times (Dec. 22) quoted one judge blaming the "sins of the people" for the tsunami: "The Holy Koran says that if women are good, then a country is good."

A "control team" known as the Wilayatul Hisbah, has arrested women, cut their hair and paraded them through streets while broadcasting their "sins" over a megaphone.

Texas Gets Bible Fight

The school board in Odessa, Texas, on Dec. 20, voted to approve a proselytizing curriculum as its main textbook for a new elective class on the bible.

The Ector County Independent School District voted 4-2 to adopt a curriculum by the notorious National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, a fundamentalist group. David Newman, a local college professor, is planning to sue.

Open Politicking from Pews

Roman Catholic priests across Missouri launched a statewide campaign via Sunday sermons to urge churchgoers to oppose a petition drive to permit stem-cell research. Following efforts by state legislators to ban such research, supporters are seeking a constitutional amendment to protect research rights.

One priest, Rev. James Smith, St. Peter Catholic Church, recently sermonized: "The similarities of the arguments behind the distortion of life by the Nazis and the use of human embryos are scary."

The petition drive must muster about 145,000 signatures by May 9 to secure a spot on the November 2006 ballot.

Forced Polygamy Probed

U.S. and Canadian prosecutors in December agreed to cooperate in pursuing allegations of sexual exploitation by a polygamist group. Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff met with officials in British Columbia to crack down on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. FLDS teaches that men need three wives in order to enter the highest realm of heaven. The FLDS has about 10,000 members in Utah, Arizona, Texas and B.C.

U.S. investigations believe FLDS outlaw Warren Jeffs, indicted in June in Arizona for sexual misconduct with a minor, has fled to Bountiful, B.C.

Alabama Bad-Lawmakers

State Rep. Steve Hurst, D-Munford, has announced he will file a bill requiring most Alabama car tags to include the phrase "God Bless America." Rep. Jimmy Martin, D-Clanton, plans to reintroduce a bill permitting the posting of "In God We Trust" in public classrooms. Alabama's House majority leader, Ken Guin, also a Democrat, is introducing a bill requiring that The Bible and Its Influence be required use as a textbook in any Alabama public school offering a bible class. The book is published by the Bible Literacy Project.

Florida Tested "Supernatural Water"

U.S. Representative Katherine Harris, as Florida's former and controversial secretary of state, ordered a study in 2001 to test "Celestial Drops," according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Researchers worked with a rabbi and a cardiologist to test the "drops," which had been blessed according to the principles of Kabbalic mysticism, to imbue it with "supernatural healing powers." Harris ordered that the "supernatural water" be tested as a cure for citrus canker. Six months were spent establishing protocols and testing Celestial Drops.

Wayne Dixon, head of Florida's Bureau of Entomology, reported (big surprise) that the "product is a hoax."

Indiana Appealing Prayer Ban

Indiana in December appealed a federal court ruling barring sectarian prayer in the House of Representatives to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. District Judge David Hamilton ruled on Nov. 30 that prayers before the House could not advance any one faith or be used to convert listeners.

Believers Buy PBS?

Three shows based on a religious book, Walking the Bible, aired nationally on PBS in January. The Chicago Tribune (Jan. 4) revealed that the PBS programs were largely bankrolled by former TV weatherman Roger Triemstra and South Holland Mayor Don De Graff, a bank president. They "approached Christian comrades" who had "a desire to bring the bible to life," and got pledges of $3 million toward creation of the miniseries.

"We believe the bible is a living, breathing, vibrant book," said De Graff. "It's historical, cultural, archeologically proven. This kind of quality television production would make the bible come alive. . . . I believe the bible is the Word of God."

Jury Bible Reading Unlawful

Convicted killer Robert Harlan was resentenced to life in prison on Dec. 19 after his death sentence was overturned because jurors consulted the bible during deliberations. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled last March that the jury unlawfully consulted the Old Testament verse mandating "an eye for an eye." The Supreme Court in October let stand that ruling without comment.

Gutless Wonder Award Winners

Two NBC affiliates, which refused to air NBC's "Book of Daniel," a TV series about an Episcopal priest with a colorful private life, debuting in January. The affiliates were KARK in Little Rock Ark., and WTWO in Terre Haute, Ind. They capitulated to demands by the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, and even a Catholic antidefamation group (why did it care?).

Wal-Mart and Target, which both capitulated to conservative Christian pressure to ban "Happy Holidays" from November and December store greetings, as did Macy's, according to "The Committee to Save Merry Christmas." (Target, by the way, has refused to issue a national policy ensuring women can get all prescriptions filled by Target pharmacists, and Wal-Mart refuses to fill any prescriptions for the "morning-after" pill.)

Religious Right Defends Pill Denial

Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice filed a lawsuit in Springfield, Ill., in December challenging an Illinois policy requiring that pharmacists must dispense the morning-after pill and "urgency contraceptives." They filed on behalf of three pharmacists fired by Walgreen Co. for failure to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception in late November.

Religious Drug Program Sued

A Roman Catholic man in Genessee Co., Mich., given the choice between jailtime or attending a drug treatment program run by Pentecostals, is suing to overturn his conviction.

Joseph Hanas of Grand Blanc, 23, pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana in 2001. Genessee Co. Circuit Judge Robert Ransom gave him the option to enroll in the county's Drug Court program, with all charges dropped upon successful completion. Ransom, now retired, sentenced Hanas to the yearlong program at the Pentecostal-run Inner City Christian Outreach Center, which had no drug counselors.

During his seven-week stay, Hanas said he was told by a program staffer that his Catholic religion was "witchcraft," his rosary beads were confiscated and he was barred from seeing his priest.

After unsuccessfully asking the state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court to reverse his conviction, Hanas is now alleging that his constitutional rights were violated. The ACLU of Michigan is representing him: "We believe this case to be the poster child for why faith-based initiatives are bad for religious freedom," said Michael Steinberg.

California Towns Push "God"

At least 14 California communities have recently placed a plaque with the phrase "In God We Trust" in council chambers, at the behest of a statewide campaign by "In God We Trust America." The latest California burg to consider the pious request is Paso Robles.

Abstinence Funding Increasing

The Bush Administration, throwing more bones to the Religious Right, is increasing the amount of HIV money that must be used to promote abstinence internationally, while limiting funding for condoms.

The latest directive, which took effect Oct. 1, requires that two-thirds of funding promote "abstinence and fidelity." The U.S. spent $295 million in fiscal year 2005 on such programs, according to The Baltimore Sun (Dec. 10, 2005). It received a copy of the document from a federal AIDS official concerned the policy will "cost lives."

NYC Religious Rental OK'd

District Judge Loretta Preska of New York ruled in late November that New York City public schools must rent to religious groups on the same basis as other organizations.

The city plans to appeal.

Sitting Down for His Rights

Two young students pressured to stand during recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance are standing up for their rights, instead.

Florida's Cameron Frazier, 17, filed a lawsuit at the end of the year after being ridiculed and punished for refusing to stand for the pledge at Boynton Beach High School. He is suing his teacher and the Palm Beach County School Board.