Vol. 14 No. 9 - Published by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. - November, 1997
The U.S. Army removed a 35-ton, 37-foot-tall white steel cross from Schofield Barrack's Kolekole Pass on Oahu in late October, after a lawsuit was filed by Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of Church and State on September 11.
The cross, erected in 1962, was built with $4,413 in taxpayers' money. Maj. Gen. James T. Hill, 25th Infantry Division and U.S. Army Hawaii commander, said he ordered the cross removed because of the cost in maintaining it and the cost and impracticality of fighting the lawsuit. Needed repairs to the rusty cross would have cost at least $60,000.
In 1988, a 65-foot cross at Camp Smith was removed following a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and the Jewish War Veterans. A federal court ruled that it was an impermissible establishment of religion, and it was replaced with a flag and flagpole.
Shortly after World War II, a 25-foot wooden cross was erected at Kolekole Pass, but the military replaced it with the steel version in 1962.
One of the plaintiffs in the 1997 lawsuit was Michael Last, who is a Foundation member.
U.S. District Judge Ira DeMent issued guidelines on October 30 to be implemented in public schools in DeKalb County, Alabama, to enforce his ruling earlier this spring prohibiting vocal prayers or bible devotionals on school property.
The plaintiff in that case is assistant principal Michael Chandler, who will be named 1997 "Freethinker of the Year" at the Foundation's annual convention in December.
DeMent struck down Alabama's 1993 school prayer law and rejected Gov. Gob James' latest unusual claim that the First Amendment does not apply to the states.
Implicit in DeMent's ruling is the possibility that renegade state/school officials could be held in contempt if they violate his order.
DeMent also ordered training sessions for teachers and administrators in DeKalb County schools and announced he will appoint a monitor to ensure his orders are followed.
DeMent barred Alabama public schools from allowing "school organized or officially sanctioned religious activity," including vocal prayer, bible devotionals, distribution of religious materials and discussions, or use of the public address system for devotional messages or bible readings.
But DeMent said he would permit: use of religious texts in an academic context, the display of religious symbols or clothing with religious messages, with applicable "time, place and manner restrictions," and "a brief personal expression by a student which contains religious references" during graduation. However, DeMent barred prayers, invocations or devotional messages at commencements.
Carole Wells, a Foundation member and Idaho State University (ISU) student, has been given standing to sue the university for "teaching Sunday school for credit."
In an order issued on September 30, 1997, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge of Pocatello set a trial date of March 17, 1998 to try Wells' claim against religious studies classes offered by ISU.
However, Judge Lodge denied standing to Wells and other plaintiffs in a related claim against a land deal between the ISU and the Mormon church. Land from an old Latter Day Saints (LDS) Institute was swapped in exchange for university land to permit the Mormon Church to build a new LDS Institute right in the university. The lawsuit charged that the land swap was not at fair market value, with Mormons receiving a block of bare land in the "heart of campus," in exchange for the university receiving the old ISU Institute on the outskirts of the university district for classrooms. The deal involved eliminating certain streets and getting zoning variances to accommodate placement of the new LDS Institute.
The continuing lawsuit challenges an entanglement between Idaho State University and Mormon religion classes, which are offered for college credit at the Mormon institute and are not taught by ISU faculty. Students may enroll through the public university for the religion classes, which are listed officially in the class bulletin.
Carole Wells enrolled last winter in a two-credit "Courtship and Marriage" class, and discovered classes start with a prayer, include hymns, and end with the statement "This is my testimony through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen." The text for her course was Achieving a Celestial Marriage. An example of instruction: a warning that "the spirit leaves you for a couple of days" if you masturbate. Students were expected to conduct "family devotionals" four times a week, including prayer, hymn-singing and bible-reading.
Wells was "disenrolled" from a fall semester IDS Institute course on the New Testament on September 15. "I've never been disruptive. I just take notes."
In an interesting twist, the new IDS Institute went up in flames in June, when it was struck by lighting, destroying the roof. It is now expected to open by January.
Sixty-five percent of ISU students are Mormon. More than 2,000 students take Mormon classes each term, about 300 for college credit.
The ISU is the only public college to grant credit for the Mormon classes, although LDS Institutes opportunistically dot public campuses all across the West.
The Catholic Church in Australia has drafted guidelines barring Catholic priests from being left alone with children, including a recommendation to install glass confessionals in every church in the country.
An official report out of New South Wales stated there is substantial incidence of sexual abuse in Australian churches, which is treated as "moral failure" instead of a crime.
All of Australia's major churches have admitted that their clergy for decades have abused hundreds of children in orphanages, churches and schools.
"Spiritualising the problem is dangerous because it involves the assumption that once confessed. . . the problem has been resolved," the church report concluded.
The report acknowledged that many clergy interpret the vow of celibacy as applying only to heterosexual relations and not extending to indecent acts with boys or adolescents.
A Vatican conference on the Christian roots of anti-Semitism in October, involving 60 scholars, included no Jewish participants.
The leader of Italy's Jewish community expressed its disappointment.
Also drawing ire: a Vatican dress code, with plainclothes police turning away tourists from Vatican City who are wearing shorts, skirts above the knee or bare shoulders. The steps in front of St. Peter's are zealously patrolled for infractions. Up until a decade ago, women were also required to wear long sleeves.
The Orange County Council of Boy Scouts of America asked the California State Supreme Court in late September to delay the application of two atheist boys to become Eagle Scouts until the court rules on their case.
More than five years ago the Boy Scouts sought to exclude 10-year-old atheist twins Michael and William Randall from a Cub Scout pack in Anaheim Hills. A Superior Court judge ordered their retention in 1992. The decision was upheld by a state appellate court, which ruled that the BSA was covered by a state law banning religious discrimination by businesses.
The State Supreme Court in 1994 agreed to review the case, along with another case about the Scouts excluding homosexuals. They also agreed this August to review a suit over the Boy Scouts' ban on girls. No hearing has been scheduled in any of the cases.
All three suits involve the issue of whether the Boy Scouts are a business under the law, and if so, whether they have a constitutional right to discriminate in order to preserve their essential character.
According to a Washington Post poll, a majority of the men at the Promise Keepers rally in Washington, D.C., in early October, were (not surprisingly) white, conservative, Republican, born-again, Evangelical or charismatic Christians, who believe it is better if the man works and the wife stays home with the children.
Despite claims he receives only health benefits and expense money, Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney averages $4,000 per speech at rallies staged by the men's ministry. Tax records show the former University of Colorado football coach received $61,833 in "compensation" plus other benefits from Promise Keepers over the past two years.
At a gathering of leading Argentine women on Oct. 16, First Lady Hillary Clinton delivered a discourse on feminism, telling her audience that "access to quality health care--especially family planning and reproductive health services--is crucial to advancing the progress of women." Her speech clearly struck a chord in a nation that is more than 90% Roman Catholic, with more restrictive abortion laws than the U.S. or Western Europe.
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights and 28 other religious groups, such as Focus on the Family, have launched a boycott of sponsors of ABC's series "Nothing Sacred."
By early October, 15 sponsors had buckled to the pressure of the boycott and withdrew ads from the program.
Ex-sponsors include: Kmart; Darden Restaurants Inc. (owns Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains); DuPont-owned Corian, manufacturers of paper plates; American Isuzu Motors Inc.; Weight Watchers, owned by H.J. Heinz Co.; Benckiser Consumer Products Inc., makers of Calgon bath products; Chrysler-Plymouth and American Honda Motors.
The wife of the leader of the nation's largest black church admitted she ransacked and set fire to a $700,000 house in St. Petersburg last July which her husband owned with another woman.
Deborah Lyons, wife of Rev. Henry Lyons, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, pleaded guilty to first-degree arson Oct. 20 and was sentenced to five years of probation.
The fire and discovery of the home led to allegations that Rev. Lyons, 55, has misused church funds, bought expensive cars, clothes and jewelry for other women and cheated on his wife.
Lyons survived a campaign in September to remove him from his post. Prosecutors have been investigating banking transactions and how Lyons handled convention funds.
When residents of Shentena El-Hagar, Egypt, said the Virgin Mary appeared atop the small village's church steeple, thousands of pilgrims packed the village to witness the holy encounter.
In a testament to the centuries of tense relations between Egypt's majority Muslims and minority Coptic Christians, a riot erupted in mid-September and angry Muslims attacked Christian homes and shops.
Although Muslims revere the Virgin Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ, their religion prohibits them from worshipping images.
A Georgia woman who claims to have had visions of the Virgin Mary since 1990, told gatherers in October that next year's message would be the last.
Nancy Fowler, of Conyers, who maintains that the Virgin Mother asks her to deliver messages to the public, announced on Oct. 13 that Mary told her next year's message will thankfully be the last.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on Oct. 14 to back legislation that will solidify Orthodox control over religious affairs in Israel and block recognition of Reform and conservative Judaism.
Since Israel was founded, the Orthodox have had a monopoly over official religious affairs. Orthodox lawmakers said if Netanyahu goes back on his word, as he has done before, they would topple his government before the end of the year.
The proposed legislation would alienate American Jews. More than 90 percent of U.S. Jews belong to non-Orthodox branches of Judaism, compared to less than one percent of Jews in Israel.
The Taliban religious army in Afghanistan ordered all pictures of people and animals destroyed in early October, declaring them offensive to Islam.
According to a government statement, it is now illegal to display pictures of either people or animals. It was not reported what the punishment would be, but minor offenses usually carry a beating.
Twenty-two Milwaukee-area clergy have signed a letter pleading with parents, coaches and youth organizers for Sunday-free soccer.
Mark Botterill, executive director of the Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club, said the complaint from the clergy ignores other religions and doesn't reflect most parents' views. In fact, he said, there have been few complaints from parents about the new Sunday morning game schedule.
Legislation that would expand the tax deduction for charitable contributions to all taxpayers was introduced to Congress in late September.
Under the Charitable Giving Relief Act, nonitemizers would be allowed to deduct 50 percent of their annual contributions over $500 each year.
A Virginia conservative organization agreed in early October to raise funds to cover the costs of attorney's fees for Paula Jones' sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton.
The Rutherford Institute, a self-described nonprofit legal and educational organization specializing "in the defense of religious liberty and human rights," will raise money to pay for Jones' legal representation.
The Rutherford Institute fought the Foundation's lawsuit against a creche in a public park in Wisconsin.
A Catholic priest praised Mexico's most infamous drug kingpins during Mass at the national Basilica of Guadalupe in late September, lauding the traffickers as generous benefactors of the Catholic Chuch and charities who should be emulated by Mexicans.
Mexico's drug traffickers supply an estimated 70% of the cocaine illegally consumed in the United States.
Rev. Raul Soto Vasquez said the purpose of his sermon was to show that "sinners also do good things."
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