In the News

Falwell Seeks Input on Angel Controversy

Revealing the religious significance of a scheme to place a "Christmas Box Angel" in a public park in Oshkosh, Wis., is the offer by Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty Counsel to defend the city of Oshkosh in any church/state court challenge.

The Liberty Counsel, tied to Falwell's Liberty University, contacted the community in late March with its offer. The Liberty Counsel is well-known for challenging gay rights and abortion rights around the country.

The city's Advisory Parks Board and Common Council voted unanimously in January to place an angel monument in the city's largest park, Menominee Park. The religious statue was proposed by Oshkosh resident Sharon Fisher and her group, The Compassionate Friends.

On behalf of Foundation Life Member Jean Gams, 86, the Foundation contacted the city with a formal objection. The Christmas Box Angel is a commercial enterprise and costs $20,000. The "angels" are starting to pop up on public land around the country, in a way that is reminiscent of the Eagles Club's Ten Commandments campaign of the 1950s and 1960s.

The Oshkosh Northwesternhas editorialized that the statue belongs at a private hospital or private land, and even phoned around and discovered several private entities in town would welcome the angel monument.

The letters section of the newspaper has been heavily divided, with a significant minority of area residents opposing the plan on legal, practical or aesthetic grounds.

The Compassionate Friends has reported that fundraising is going slowly.

"It is common for religious-right groups to offer to 'defend' cities that embark on an unconstitutional activity, but so often, taxpayers end up with the bill," warns Annie Laurie Gaylor, of the Foundation.

"It's hard to imagine any self-respecting city government being willing to ally with Jerry Falwell, the man who called 9/11 God's punishment for liberalism in the United States! Supporters of the statue keep denying that an angel is a religious figure, despite the evidence of any dictionary and 'holy book.' Nothing more clearly shows the religious nature of this statue than Falwell's offer.

"There are so many ways this controversy could be settled, the simplest being to place it on private land. But there are also, it seems, so many more practical ways to memorialize children who die untimely deaths. Raising money to aid medical research, for instance, could help save children's lives, instead of embroiling a community in a divisive legal fight," Gaylor added.

Scalise BSA Case Declined

The U.S. Supreme Court in late May declined to hear the appeal of Foundation member John Scalise, who sued his public school district in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., over its sponsorship of Boy Scouts of America.

The petition for a writ of certiorari by Mr. Scalise's attorney, Timothy J. Taylor, was excerpted in the May 06 issue.

The school district has a partnership with the Boy Scouts, which has a religious litmus test. The district permits them to recruit during the school day and meet for free in the schools. Scalise's son was recruited through the schools to join. After John Scalise was asked to become a pack leader, his application was rejected after it was learned he is not religious. His son was beaten up by one of his classmates and was repeatedly taunted by others.

If you wish to learn more about the case, you can listen to an interview with John Scalise on Freethought Radio, FFRF's broadcast over Air America in Madison, Wis. Shows are archived at www.ffrf.org/radio/. John was the second of two interviews for the May 27 program. (See back page for schedule.)

State "FBI" Blasted

The Foundation blasted Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle's surprise announcement in June that he is outfitting a state faith-based office.

Doyle appointed Julietta Henry as executive director of the Wisconsin Office of Community Faith-based Partnerships. She most recently directed the Christ the King Development Corp. Henry will earn a $75,000 a year salary for heading this so-called poverty-relief program to redirect federal funds to religious societies. The announcement was made at New Covenant Housing Corp., Milwaukee, a prominent African-American church. The White House has pressured all governors to create "faith based offices."