Thomas Jefferson must be rolling over in his grave. The man who would represent the former president in Congress if he were alive today has made a rather alarming statement of religious bigotry.
In a candid letter sent to hundreds of constituents, Rep. Virgil Goode (R- Va.) reopened a nearly four-week-old debate over whether it’s right, proper or necessary for […] Read More
‘Tis the season to be jolly! No, that’s so last century.
‘Tis the season to encourage peace on Earth and goodwill towards men. No, that’s too warm and fuzzy.
‘Tis the season to line your pockets by fighting an imaginary “war on Christmas.” That’s more like it.
The Alliance Defense Fund, the American Family Association, Jerry Falwell’s […] Read More
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, a federal court ruling from Pennsylvania that was a serious blow to “intelligent design” creationism.
Much has been written about U.S. District Judge John E. Jones’ ruling in Kitzmiller. To briefly recap, the lawsuit challenged a policy promoting intelligent design approved by the school board in Dover, Pa. […] Read More
Last month, “The Wall of Separation” reported on the case of David Paszkiewicz, a public high school history teacher in Kearny, N.J., who was found to be proselytizing for his Christian fundamentalist faith.
A student, 16-year-old Matthew LeClair, blew the whistle on Paszkiewicz by secretly recording some of his in-class sermons. LeClair said he did so because he suspected school […] Read More
President George W. Bush’s “faith-based” initiative may be headed for some long overdue scrutiny from the U.S. Congress.
The Boston Globe reported recently that two leading Democrats who sit on the House of Representative’s International Relations Committee say they want to investigate the initiative to determine whether taxpayer funds are being used to reward Bush allies in the conservative […] Read More
Should government buildings feature religious symbols? Some prominent – and not so prominent – religious leaders seem to think so.
Last Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI told the Union of Italian Catholic Jurists that religious symbols should be allowed in government offices, schools, courtrooms, hospitals, prisons and other public places.
According to the Catholic News Service, the pope denounced […] Read More
The former White House lawyer who helped expose religious discrimination at the U.S. Air Force Academy, has again uncovered an effort to push evangelical Christianity in the military.
Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s Military Religious Freedom Foundation hosted a press conference Monday to air a 10-minute promotional video produced by the Christian Embassy, an evangelical group organized to bring government […] Read More
U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) last week spent a night behind bars in a high-security prison in Louisiana in a somewhat over-the-top effort to promote government funding of religious rehabilitation programs for inmates.
The senator, a staunch advocate of the Bush administration’s “faith-based” initiative, told the prisoners at the Louisiana State Penitentiary that although he believes in a separation of […] Read More
In our continuing effort to keep readers informed about developments in the “War on Christmas,” we’d like to note the emergence of some new combatants: President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.
The White House 2006 holiday card is just out – and it does not once mention the word “Christmas.”
The front of the card […] Read More
It has come to this: So desperate is the Religious Right to prop up its claims of a “War on Christmas” that it is actually trolling retailers’ Web sites and blowing the whistle on those that fail to use religiously correct terminology.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell’s legal outfit, Liberty Counsel, has actually issued a list of companies it deems “Naughty” […] Read More