NewsTrust - Church and State - Most Recent Stories: Opinion

Congress Should Reject Scheme To Extend D.C. School Voucher Plan

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

AU.org - Jul. 30 (Press Release) - Congress should reject proposed legislation that would breathe new life into Washington, D.C.’s controversial private school voucher plan, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

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Ireland’s bizarre war on blasphemy

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

spiked-online.com - By Jason Walsh - Jul. 20 (Opinion) - It does seem bizarre that, in 2009, a modern European nation would seek to shield religious belief from criticism – yet that is what is happening in Ireland right now. In repealing the 1961 Defamation Act, the Irish government sought to expunge the worst excesses of Ireland’s draconian laws restricting free speech, but in the process it has ended up making offending religious belief a criminal offence

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Supreme Court Nominee Should Be Closely Questioned on Church-State Views, Says Americans United

Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Common Dreams - May. 26 (Press Release) - It appears that Sotomayor has not written widely on church-state issues, meaning the committee has an obligation to ascertain her views. "We hope Judge Sotomayor turns out to be in the mold of retiring Justice David H. Souter - a strong champion of separation of church and state," said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "The American people deserve no less."

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Is Obama Bringing Too Much Religion into the White House?

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Liliana Segura - Mar. 05 (Opinion) - "The only thing worse than having these prayers in the first place is to have them vetted, because it entangles the White House in core theological matters," Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), told Gilgoff.

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Supreme Court Should Strike Down Display of Cross on Federal Land in California, Says Americans United

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Common Dreams - Feb. 23 (Opinion) - "This cross is in the middle of a national park, and anyone looking at it would assume it was erected by the government," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "The federal parks belong to all Americans and are not the appropriate place for the display of religious symbols."

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The Obama Mandate: End Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

rhrealitycheck.org - By Jodi Jacobson - Feb. 17 (Opinion) - Let’s get rid of that wasteful Washington spending. And I have a concrete suggestion that will save over $200 million in cold hard cash right away, plus billions of dollars in future healthcare and related economic costs! Sound too good to be true? Really, it’s not a gimmick. It’s very simple: We just need to zero out funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in the next budget cycle.

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Inaugural Pastor: The Two Faces of Rick Warren

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Time - Jan. 19 (Editorial) - In short, Warren wants to be both the universally admired pastor who speaks to the nation and the influential leader who mobilizes religious conservatives for political ends. But those are two inherently conflicting roles, and he cannot be both, no matter how hard he tries.

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The misguided war on Christmas

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

OregonLive.com - By Melanie Springer Mock - Dec. 16 (Opinion) - For while O'Reilly and gang blame the Christmas war on secularists, it's important to remember that many Christians are also strong proponents of the separation of

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Nativity Scene Stealers

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Newsweek - By David Waters - Dec. 15 (Opinion) - When the state of Illinois agreed to allow private citizens to place a Nativity scene inside the capitol this Christmas season, and the ACLU decided not to challenge to decision, Christian supporters were so elated they invited other groups to join in the free holiday expressions.

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Because Religion is The Battleground of the 21st Century

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Op Ed News - By Larry Beinhart - Dec. 14 (Opinion) - Mumbai. 9/11. Chechnya. Sectarian violence in Iraq. Somalia. Afghanistan. Nigeria. The man with the most military power in the history of the world is reported to have said, "I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did, and then God would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq …' And I did." It was called a Crusade. These are the defining events of the new century. After a brief, semi-retirement of a few hundred years, religion has returned as the number one cause of violence, war and death. So the fundamental national security questions of our time have to be about faith. What is it about faith that makes people eager to commit suicide so long as it enables them to commit mass murder while they're at it?

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California gay marriage vote negates fundamental freedom

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Dallas Morning News - By Erin Goldman - Nov. 14 (Opinion) - The day after the election, I woke up invincible; Barack Obama was elected to serve as the president of the United States of America. The voting population looked past the color of the man's skin and voted for him based upon merit. However, my restored faith in humanity was short-lived. "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible," declared Obama on Nov. 4, "who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." He spoke too soon.

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Gay marriage is a question of love

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

MSNBC - By Keith Olberman - Nov. 11 (Comment) - This isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics, and this isn't really just about Prop-8. And I don't have a personal investment in this: I'm not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives.

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Steven Weber: Miss Al Qaeda America

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - Sep. 30 (Opinion) - Palin = Miss Al Qaeda America

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What's God's interest in pipeline?

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Post Intelligencer - By Hubert G. Locke - Sep. 25 (Opinion) - On Nov. 4, voters have a vested interest in ensuring that someone who is so glibly confident about knowing God's plan does not get within a heartbeat of the presidency of the United States. People who profess to know what God is thinking engage in the worst, most dangerous form of self-delusion. They should never be allowed anywhere near positions of public responsibility that put the rest of us -- and the world -- at risk.

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Sarah Palin's Creationism Will Rape the Environment

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Chip Ward - Sep. 23 (Opinion) - Evolution is largely about connection and interaction -- the linear connection of one species evolving into another (speciation), but also how species fill niches created by one another, how they interact, exchanging energy and information, how they compete as well as cooperate, and how all of them -- from microbial soils to migrating birds -- form dynamic communities that, in turn, are also woven together, web within web within web. Pull one thread of that living tapestry and you tug at so many others, which is why precaution is so wise.

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Obama up against religious prejudice

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Post Intelligencer - By Nicholas D. Kristof - Sep. 23 (Opinion) - In fact, of course, Obama took his oath on the Bible, not -- as the rumors have it -- on the Quran. He is far more active in church than McCain is. ... What is happening, I think, is this: Religious prejudice is becoming a proxy for racial prejudice. In public at least, it's not acceptable to express reservations about a candidate's skin color, so discomfort about race is sublimated into concerns about whether Obama is sufficiently Christian.

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Very Bizarre 'Holy Laughter Annointing' Theology at Sarah Palin's Juneau Church

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Bruce Wilson - Sep. 13 (Opinion) - Rose is well known as far away as Australia for his participation in the "new wave" of the Holy Spirit. Former General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Australia, Dr. Andrew Evans, has also been a supporter of the "new wave" and its manifestations which he lists as falling, shaking and drunkenness (in the Spirit),and uncontrollable weeping and laughing. (He has been a controversial figure for his belief that these manifestations would aid in church growth in his denomination in Australia although these activities have been repeatedly denounced as Deviant Behavior by the U.S. General Council.)

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At OpEdNews: SADDLEBACK CHURCH CIVIL FORUM INAPROPRIATE CAMPAIGN EVENT

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Op Ed News - By Brian Parra - Aug. 19 (Opinion) - A legitimate reason to keep the Church our of our lives.

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The Real Competition in China

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Town Hall - By Terence Jeffrey - Aug. 06 (Opinion) - Five decades ago, China's communist regime outlawed the Roman Catholic Church, builder of the shrine. Since 1957, the regime has run a rival organization called the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. This "association" does not recognize the religious authority of the pope, and its bishops are appointed by the government.

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Faith-Based Obama

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - Jul. 21 (Editorial) - The strict separation of church and state types expressed dismay that Mr. Obama promised a continuation of what they see as undue entanglement. Some religious groups were unhappy about Mr. Obama's caveat: "[I]f you get a federal grant you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them -- or against the people you hire -- on the basis of their religion."

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Proposed Bush Rule Undermines Women's Access to Health Care

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Cecile Richards - Jul. 15 (Opinion) - Picture this. While everyone's attention is focused on the upcoming presidential election, President Bush tries to slip in a new regulation that undermines women's access to health care. And before you know it, millions of women can't get the basic health care they need. Unfortunately, the New York Times reveals that the Bush administration is considering a new Health and Human Services rule that would compromise women's access to health care and information.

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Get spied on without doing anything wrong

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Post Intelligencer - By D. Parvaz - Jul. 12 (Editorial) - Those who aren't alarmed by racial profiling ought to consider what makes this country special and think about what will be left to protect in a fascistic society where the individual's basic rights -- and our ideal of equal rights -- are meaningless. Just how much of this nonsense are we supposed to suck up in the name of national security?

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Bush's 'Wonderland' Logic

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Consortium News - By Robert Parry - Jul. 01 (Opinion) - The broader point from the Parhat case is that it is further evidence that - over the past six-plus years - the Bush administration has played on the fears and biases of Americans to justify the indefinite incarceration of Muslims despite a lack of serious evidence against them.

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Obama Vows To Expand Bush's Faith-Based Programs

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jennifer Loven - Jul. 01 (Opinion) - UPDATE: An Obama campaign official told the Huffington Post that the AP's claims about Obama allowing hiring or firing based on faith are false. From a portion of Obama's speech today: "Now, make no mistake, as someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don't believe this partnership will endanger that idea - so long as we follow a few basic principles. First, if you get a federal grant, you can't use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can't discriminate against them - or against the people you hire - on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we'll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work."

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Pearls of Thunder

Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Op Ed News - By Carolina Nickel - May. 17 (Opinion) - A truth about these latter days we are living in, which could make a difference towards real change.

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