NewsTrust - Church and State - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Independent)

Christian Jihad? Why We Should Worry About Right-Wing Terror Attacks Like Norway's in the US

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Frank Schaeffer - Jul. 24 (Opinion) - There is a growing movement in America that equates godliness with hatred of our government in fact hatred of our country as fallen and evil because we allow women choice, gays to marry, have a social safety net, and allow immigration from other cultures and non-white races.

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God On The Campaign Trail

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AU.org - By Brian T. Kaylor - Jun. 09 (Interview) - The issue of sincerity haunts this work since voters cannot judge the hearts and souls of candidates. Thus, the religious test for office today is a rhetorical one. That is, the candidate talking the most about religion in the general campaign won in every cycle from 1976-2008. That does not mean the most religious candidate, but the one who talked about God and quoted scriptures the most.

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Voucher Vanguard

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AU.org - Jun. 09 (Editorial) - America’s public school system and the constitutional separation of church and state are under relentless assault.

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Separation of Church and State: PBS Airs Documentary of a Mother's Story

Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Chris Benson - May. 11 (Review) - The powerful human story behind the story of the fight that led ultimately to the Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling in 1948 that provided the framework for the contemporary principle of separation of church and state. It is a story that is beautifully rendered in the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning documentary, The Lord is Not on Trial Here Today.

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AU Criticizes Appeals Court Ruling Dismissing Challenge To National Day Of Prayer

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AU.org - Apr. 14 (Press Release) - The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a legal challenge to the NDP filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, holding that the group lacks “standing” the legal right to sue. The court said that since the law creating the NDP requires the president to issue a prayer proclamation, only the president can challenge it. Americans United said the ruling establishes a dangerous precedent.

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AU Condemns Supreme Court Ruling Dismissing Challenge To State Aid To Arizona Religious Schools | Americans United

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AU.org - Apr. 04 (Press Release) - “This misguided ruling betrays the public school system by directing tax dollars to religious schools,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. “The court, with the full support of the Obama administration, has slammed the courthouse door in the face of Americans who don’t want their tax dollars to subsidize religion.”

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Don't Pass Me the Plate for Your Church's Upkeep

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Rev. Barry Lynn - Feb. 16 (Opinion) - I've noticed a disturbing trend: Churches deemed "historic" are seeking taxpayer funds for repair and upkeep. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced dozens of grants to historic structures under its "Save America's Treasures" program. Scanning the list, I was surprised to see three churches on the list.

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Obama defends "Ground Zero mosque"

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Salon - By Glenn Greenwald - Aug. 14 (Opinion) - This is one of the most impressive and commendable things Obama has done since being inaugurated: President Obama delivered a strong defense on Friday night of a proposed Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, using a White

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The Anti-Defamation League's Ground Zero Mosque Hypocrisy

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Daily Beast - By Peter Beinart - Aug. 02 (Opinion) - The other day, when the Anti-Defamation League came out against building a mosque near Ground Zero, I think I heard a sound—the sound of chickens coming home to roost.

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Why Pakistan needs the Separation of Religion and State

Sat, 29 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Informed Comment - By Juan Cole - May. 29 (Opinion) - The horrifying assault on the Ahmadi congregations underlines why Pakistan needs a separation of religion and state. The problem with using Islam as the state ideology (as the country’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah clearly foresaw) is that there is no generic Islam.

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Banning Burqas in Europe

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Miller-McCune - By Michael Scott Moore - Apr. 28 (Opinion) - How did such an un-American-sounding idea as banning someone’s religiously inspired clothing choice take root in Western countries?

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UN judge calls for prosecution of Pope Benedict

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Raw Story - By Stephen C. Webster - Apr. 11 (Opinion) - Geoffrey Robertson, a renowned human rights lawyer and United Nations jurist, wants to see Pope Benedict put on trial for allegedly protecting predator priests. In a Guardian UK piece making its rounds this week in Catholic circles, Robertson demanded the pope be "put in the dock" so that the church might "feel the full weight [...]

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Tearing Down the Church-State Wall

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Consortium News - By Rev. Howard Bess - Mar. 07 (Opinion) - the recommendation of the Chicago Council marks a much larger step into the separation issue, by raising the question: Does the First Amendment have a necessary application to foreign policy?

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Exclusive: Group Receives 'Tsunami of Vile Hate' After ABC Exposé on U.S. Military 'Jesus Rifles'

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Brad Blog - By Brad Friedman - Jan. 25 (Opinion) - And what they will never tell you on Fox "News", and probably not even on CNN or MSNBC, etc. is contained in the following three emails sent to Mikey Weinstein of the Nobel Prize-nominated Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), following an ABC News exposé last week on the bible versus ...

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Freedom vs. the Public Option

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

TruthOut - By George Lakoff - Jan. 25 (Editorial) - Which would you prefer, consumer choice or freedom? Extended coverage or freedom? Bending the cost curve or freedom? John Boehner, House minority leader, speaking of health care, said recently, "This bill is the greatest threat to freedom that I have seen in the 19 years I have been here in Washington.... It's going to lead to a government takeover of our health care system, with tens of thousands of new bureaucrats right down the street, making these decisions [choose your doctor, buy your own health insurance] for you." read more

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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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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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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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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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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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