State/Church Bulletin

Judge: No Gideons In Schools

A federal judge in September ordered a Missouri school to halt a policy to give bibles to students, saying it improperly endorses Christianity. U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Perry, of St. Louis, scolded school officials in Annapolis, Mo., a town of 300, for continuing the program despite warnings.

South Iron Elementary officials have allowed Gideons International to hand out bibles to fifth-graders for years, including last year, over objections by school attorneys and its insurance company. On behalf of two sets of parents, the ACLU sued in February.

Vouchers Opposed By Most

Sixty percent of Americans polled recently by Gallup and Phi Delta Kappa International oppose the concept of vouchers--sending children to private (mostly religious) schools at taxpayer expense.

In 2002, a poll found nearly 1 in 2 Americans supported vouchers.

Lawsuit: Religious Marriage Program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was sued by Americans United for Separation of Church and State in September, for funding Northwest Marriage Institute. The challenge of the federal initiative to bolster marriage targets a marriage education program in Vancouver, Wash., for improperly using federal money to promote Christianity.

AU contends the Institute's programs are "saturated with a fundamentalist view of Christianity." The group has received two grants from the federal government totaling nearly $100,000. One was a direct grant from the HHS Compassion Capital Fund. The other grant was through the Institute for Youth Development, an intermediary receiving federal funds from HHS.

The Institute has purchased computers with federal funds and other equipment used for both secular and religious purposes. AU charges the group also improperly uses money for "capacity building," to expand its ability to compete for more grants.

Congress approved $500 million in marriage improvement programs over the next five years as part of the Healthy Marriage Initiative under the Bush Administration. About $135 million is slated to be awarded to seven federal grant programs to push marriage this fall.

Secular Scorecard Rates Congress

The Secular Coalition of America, of which the Freedom From Religion Foundation is a member organization, released a scorecard in September on ten key votes by members of Congress.

Scoring was based on specific votes on: funding faith-based groups; science, marriage and military matters; confirmations of judicial appointees who don't ascribe to "the myth of separation of church and state," and limiting the jurisdiction of federal courts over religious freedom.

In the House, only seven members (less than 2%) of Congress earned a perfect score of 100%: Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.; Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Jim McDermott, D-Wash.; Pete Stark, D-Calif.; and Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif.

A whopping 163 members of the House (38%) failed to cast even a single correct vote.

Senators who received perfect secular scores were: Richard Durban, D-Ohio; Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.; Paul Sarbanes, D-Md.; Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Mark Dayton, D-Minn.; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Patrick Leahy, D-Ver.; Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis.

Overall, 36% of senators received a 0% secular rating while only 17% received a 100% secular rating.

For more details, see:

http://www.secular.org/scorecard/2006/

San Diego Cross Case Update

Two separate cases challenging the constitutionality of a huge cross on government land atop Mount Soledad in San Diego were consolidated by a federal judge in September. The original lawsuit, brought 17 years ago by Philip Paulson, an atheist and Vietnam War veteran, now joined by co-plaintiff Steve Trunk, has been consolidated with a case from this summer. The ACLU is representing a Jewish veterans group and several San Diego citizens. The decision was expected and welcomed by Paulson.

Texas Bible Classes Sectarian

A year-long investigation by the Texas Freedom Network has found that a majority of bible courses offered as electives in the state's public schools are not academic, but devotional and sectarian in nature.

"With a few notable exceptions, the public school courses currently taught in Texas often fail to meet minimal academic standards for teacher qualifications, curriculum and academic rigor; promote one faith perspective over all others; and push an ideological agenda that is hostile to religious freedom, science and public education," states the study, made public on Sept. 13.

The report was a joint effort by TFN and Mark Chauncey, a biblical studies professor at Southern Methodist University. TFN surveyed 1,000-plus school districts in Texas. Chauncey analyzed the course work, going back five years, from 25 districts (roughly 3% of those offering bible elections).

He found the bible is typically presented as divinely inspired; biblical stories are treated as literal history. Most teachers have no academic training in biblical, religious or theolgical studies, or familiarity with the idea of separation between church and state. Some districts allow clergy to teach courses funded with private money. Only three school districts were found to have a more even-handed treatment, including San Antonio's North East Independent School District.

To read the 76-page report, "Reading, Writing and Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools," go to:

http://www.tfn.org/religiousfreedom/biblecurriculum/texascourses/