State/Church Bulletin

Gideon Bible Distribution Halted

A federal judge in January ordered a Missouri school district to halt a three-decade state/church violation, involving distribution of bibles to grade school students.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry issued a decision ordering the South Iron School District in Annapolis, Mo., to stop allowing representatives of Gideons International to give away bibles in fifth-grade classrooms.

After eight parents sued two years ago, the district altered its policy, letting Gideons distribute bibles or other literature before or after school or during lunch break, but not in classrooms.

Perry ruled all practices illegal, saying the purpose "is the promotion of Christianity" with the school's apparent endorsement.

The Liberty Counsel lost the case for the school district. The U.S. Supreme Court in two separate actions nearly 50 years apart has previously let stand appellate decisions kicking out the Gideons. The lawbreaking group nevertheless continually seeks access to the captive audience of public schoolchildren.

Catholic Funding Tabled in N.M.

The Santa Fe County Commission in January tabled a request to fund Catholic Charity's teen-parent support program, after a commissioner objected that the program does not provide information about birth control.

A committee had recommended awarding $10,000 in tax dollars.

City Pays in Mt. Soledad Case

The city of San Diego agreed to settle $760,000 to reimburse legal fees in the cross lawsuit brought by the late Philip Paulson, the vet and Foundation "Atheist in a Foxhole" honoree. His 19-year-old case against religious symbols on public land is being continued by Steve Trunk, a Foundation board member and veteran.

Paulson's attorney, James McElroy, requested $1.4 million. Facing court-imposed fees of $962,700, the city agreed to settle for $750,000.

Although the city lost the case, the land has since been transferred to the federal government, so the 43-foot-tall cross remains on Mount Soledad as a "veterans memorial." The constitutionality of that transfer of land is still being litigated.

End Orthodox Bus Routes

Israel's high court on Jan. 22 ordered the transport ministry to investigate and solve problems on bus routes in Orthodox areas that segregate women from men, after complaints of women being verbally and physically abused.

Female passengers have reported being humiliated or even attacked for not going to the back of publicly-funded buses, or for wearing trousers or baring arms.

To compete with private firms, Israel's publicly-funded bus companies introduced supposedly voluntary separate seating on some routes through Orthodox areas.

Norway Retranslates Bible

Norwegian church leaders are proposing to remove language justifying corporal punishment of children from new translations of the bible. The Bishops Conference, while replacing the word "chastisement," insisted that the word had "acquired a meaning that differs from its original intended meaning."