Blog from the Capital

Word on the street is that Seventh-Day Baptists have voted to remain affiliated with the Baptist Joint Committee at their General Conference. That's fabulous news! Baptists everywhere are reclaiming our heritage of religious liberty for all, a cause best served through a strong commitment to the separation of church and state: that means a robust Establishment Clause and an equally healthy Free Exercise protection. In my view, simply put, there is no more effective religious voice in Washington, D.C. for that principle than Brent Walker, Holly Hollman and the Baptist Joint Committee, a Baptist institution that has been educating and advocating on Capitol Hill for more than 70 years.

Posted by Don Byrd at 03:50 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Massachusetts is seeing more and more examples of parents gaining exemption from required vaccines by claiming religious conflict.

Medical exemptions require a doctor's signature, but no evidence is needed when parents ask for a religious exemption.

"That's not American, essentially, to do a test of people's religion," said Dr. Alfred DeMaria, chief medical officer for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Pediatrician Dr. John Cohen thinks the trend is worrisome. His practice refuses to treat families who won't immunize their children. Massachusetts, he says, has one of the highest immunization rates in the U.S. "And if it quietly gets subverted by families using a quasi-religious reason to not immunize their child, it just subverts what we're trying to do for children."

Posted by Don Byrd at 01:35 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

In 2003, Rhode Island inmate Wesley Spratt and the ACLU sued under RLUIPA after being prohibited by the warden from preaching in prison. Yesterday, thanks to a settlement agreement, Spratt can preach again:

Judge William Smith issued a ruling that found inmate Wesley Spratt was preaching as a religious exercise under the meaning of a federal law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

Smith found that the Department of Corrections’ blanket prohibition against all preaching by inmates substantially “burdened” Spratt’s rights under the federal law, and that the prohibition was not the “least restrictive” means available to maintain prison security.

Posted by Don Byrd at 02:29 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Public school children are increasingly being taught meditation and "mindfulness" as strategies for concentration, despite having developed in Buddhist and Hindu religious practice. Howard Friedman points to a report originally in the LATimes explaining the effort to remove the religious significance from meditation techniques.

"What's religious about learning to follow your breath?" asks Wendi Caporicci, a devout Catholic and the principal at Oakland's Emerson Elementary. George Rutherford, the principal at Ideal Academy, takes a similar view of transcendental meditation, which he has practiced for over a decade. "I'm a Baptist, and my wife has a doctorate in Christian education," he says, adding that TM "is not a religion."

A federal district court came to a different conclusion in 1979. The court said TM couldn't be taught in publicly funded schools in New Jersey because the practice -- with its ties to a specific spiritual leader -- violated the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment.

But in the intervening years, the medical study of TM and Buddhist-derived mindfulness techniques has changed both the practices themselves and attitudes toward them. The new "medicalized" meditation and mindfulness programs seem more likely to pass constitutional muster.

Posted by Don Byrd at 12:04 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

In the Mormon faith, males are expected to take 2 years to go on a mission during their early adulthood. Universities typically defer scholarships to allow for this, according to Kim Farah, spokeswoman for the church quoted in a Salt Lake Tribune article, but because West Virginia University's scholarship board has denied David Haws' request, a lawsuit was filed in federal court by the ACLU on his behalf. (Take note, ACLU haters...)

Posted by Don Byrd at 10:05 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hindu groups are asking presidential candidates to denounce the recent shameful display of intolerance in the US Senate, when members of the gallery disrupted and tried to shout down the first ever Hindu chaplain to deliver the opening prayer. This should be an easy one, right? Criticizing that kind of uncivil behavior - which hardly anyone defends - would seem to be one of the first things they learn in politician school. But Melissa Rogers has a question that is more to the point:

[P]residential candidates should address this issue for reasons that go beyond the notion of common decency. They should address this situation because it gets at a fundamental constitutional and ethical matter -- whether we believe that the government must treat all religions equally.

If we are going to have official legislative prayers as per the Marsh v. Chambers decision, then the government cannot prefer some faiths over others in the prayer process. Do the presidential candidates support that constitutional obligation in this context? And do they support it in all others?

Posted by Don Byrd at 02:28 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

According to today's Washington Post, House members of both parties are asking for an investigation into potential religious discrimination in the spiritual ministry office of the Bethseda Center, a research hospital of the National Institute of Health.

Two chaplains filed complaints with the Equal Opportunity Commission, and a third is suing HHS, all alleging that NIH officials retaliated against them when they spoke up, inventing reasons to terminate them.

Posted by Don Byrd at 11:57 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Judge Roy Moore has figured out why officials like Scooter Libby lie under oath: not enough Ten Commandment monuments in courtrooms reminding them of eternal judgment! In a new column at World Net Daily, In a new column at World Net Daily, Moore writes:

[T]here are severe consequences for lying, but it seems Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Bill Clinton were not too worried about that when they lied under oath. We can expect more perjury by high-ranking government officials if our legal system continues to remove from its courts and its oaths the knowledge of a sovereign God who punishes evil.

I'll add just one thing about Moore's preposterous argument, which doesn't really deserve much response: Nobody is forcibly removing God from witness oaths. "So help you God" is alive and well as a standard oath in American courtrooms, though you may opt out of the religious reference if it conflicts with your own beliefs - score one for religious liberty. I wasn't there, but feel confident that Scooter's own oath invoked God as well. You would think that reference would have been enough to jar his memory on the issue of bearing false witness, if admonitions from the almighty would have helped. Certainly there's no reason to believe a 2-ton monument on his way in to the building would have fared any better.

Moore is simply making things up when he suggests that oaths under God are as endangered as unconstitutional monuments to the Ten Commandments (which themselves aren't as endangered as they should be). In fact he doesn't offer a single instance to support his oath claim. I can't find evidence of even a recent challenge to standard oaths including reference to God, let alone a challenge that's gotten anywhere. And no court order finds the current practice unconstitutional. As for his favorite villain, the ACLU, which he says is "engag(ing) in a crusade to rid the courts of solemn reminders of God", the truth is that they "praised" the revised 2003 citizenship oath, which indeed ends with "so help me God." Doesn't sound like standard oaths "under God" are much of a concern of theirs.

An ironic column in which to stretch the truth...?

Posted by Don Byrd at 05:41 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed the Tangipahoa, LA school board prayer case for lack of standing. An earlier 3-judge panel had ruled against the practice of sectarian prayers but issued 3 separate opinions that seemed to leave the door open for non-sectarian prayers. Both sides requested clarification on that issue from the entire 5th Circuit, which surprised everyone (me, anyway) by focusing on the issue of standing instead. None of the 3 original opinions contested standing. But in an 8-7 ruling issued today, the court determined the plaintiffs don't have the right to bring the case because there is no "proof in the record that Doe or his sons were exposed to, and may thus claim to have been injured by, invocations given at any Tangipahoa Parish School Board meeting."

The issue of whether plaintiffs heard the prayers in question was apparently not challenged by defendants during the trial or an appeal. Nevertheless, the slim majority said, there is no authority on which they are "allowed" to "infer" standing. You can read the opinion here.

The dissent written by Judge Benvanides replies:

The Does plainly alleged that they had attended Board meetings and that they had witnessed the invocations offered there, and the Pretrial Order reveals that the Board conceded this fact. Yet the majority sidesteps this record evidence, choosing instead to redraw the parameters of this dispute and assert that standing is now lacking.

In the context of the Establishment Clause, "we attach considerable weight to... standing... not [having] been an issue in the Supreme Court in similar cases". For example, standing existed for a claimed Establishment Clause violation that had impaired “use or enjoyment of a public facility”.
...
[S]tanding is more relaxed for Establishment Clause claims, especially concerning schools...
...
For many reasons, some more obvious than others, this is a sad day for our court.

Posted by Don Byrd at 11:46 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

New laws in Texas relating to religion may have a substantial effect on students and school administrators as the school year gets underway. In addition to new Bible elective laws, and one adding "under God" to the Texas pledge, there is another, as San Antonio's Express-News reports today.

The third new law, dubbed the Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act, has superintendents nervous as they figure out how to implement it in the coming weeks.

It requires public school districts to adopt policies specifically allowing spontaneous religious expression by students. A so-called model policy included in the law states that upperclassmen who are student leaders — such as student council officers, class officers or the captain of the football team — should be designated as speakers.

The law does not address concerns that such a selection process could wind up leaving out minority faiths.

"This mandate is going to create a collision of ideas that should really take place outside of the school," Superintendent Richard Middleton of North East Independent School District said. "Our lawyer fees are going to go up because of this."

Posted by Don Byrd at 11:43 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Associated Baptist Press reports on the success of the BJC's recent capital campaign push toward building a Religious Liberty Center in Washington, D.C., spearheaded by a matching-fund commitment from the family of John Baugh.

In little more than two weeks, donors gave or pledged a total of $688,372 in response.
...
The center is part of a capital campaign begun in conjunction with the BJC’s 70th anniversary. It will help purchase, renovate and endow a house on Capitol Hill that will become the organization’s offices. The facility will also contain working space for BJC partner organizations and visiting scholars.

Posted by Don Byrd at 09:12 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

In a new column, The Atlantic's William Schneider argues that "Religion now looms larger than economic class as a source of political division."

Many Americans see a downside to mixing religion and politics. In 2004, according to the Time poll, 49 percent of Americans said that President Bush's religious faith made him "a strong leader," as opposed to 36 percent who thought it made him "too close-minded." Those numbers have reversed. Now 50 percent say Bush's faith has made him too close-minded, while 34 percent believe it has made him a strong leader. The number of Americans who think that Bush has used religion more to divide the country than to unite it has grown from 27 percent in 2004 to 43 percent now.

Posted by Don Byrd at 11:51 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

At Religion Clause, Howard Friedman has the transcript of the portion of last night's Democratic presidential debate regarding religion and the separation of church and state.

Posted by Don Byrd at 01:37 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

In yesterday's On Religion column in USAToday, Peter Irons discusses the realities of standing up for minority faiths, telling the stories of individuals like Debbie Mason, who became a public villain in Santa Fe, Texas when she questioned prayers at public school football games. He concludes:

Debbie endured ostracism, even threats of drive-by shootings. One of her daughters, Jenni, left church in tears one Sunday morning after a school board member denounced her family from the pulpit.

"It's easy to be a majority," Debbie said. "It is so hard to be a minority — one person, or two or three people who speak out and say, 'Wait a minute, there's something wrong here.' Don't you sit there and tell me I have to be part of the majority."

I concede that majorities in most American towns and cities support such religious practices and symbols. Even so, in our ongoing dialogue over the proper place of religion in the public square, we need to ponder Debbie's words. Turning people like her into outsiders undermines the spirit of tolerance on which our fragile unity as a religiously diverse nation depends.

Posted by Don Byrd at 11:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby wrote a truly silly column on Sunday arguing that because Isaac Newton was both religious and a celebrated scientist, we should be hiring more scientists and science teachers who use religious responses (like intelligent design) to answer scientific questions.

The 21st-century prejudice that religion invariably "subverts science" is refuted by the extraordinary figure who managed to discover the composition of light, deduce the laws of motion, invent calculus, compute the speed of sound, and define universal gravitation, all while believing deeply in the "domination of an intelligent and powerful Being."

Posted by Don Byrd at 02:02 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

From the Chicago Tribune:

The evangelical community is known for its support of Israel, and many of its most outspoken leaders, such as Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell, have made incendiary comments about the Muslim world. But in recent months, an unusual rapprochement has begun between these two powerful communities, and the sons of some of those same pastors are participating.
...
"These interfaith dialogues often take a long time to produce any tangible results," said John Green, a senior fellow at The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. "The evangelicals have had similar dialogues with the Jewish community and with Roman Catholics. The impediments to cooperation between evangelicals and Muslims are much larger, but more understanding could have a much greater effect."

Posted by Don Byrd at 11:23 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The US Committee on International Religious Freedom has announced a hearing Wednesday to explore religious fredom issues in Iraq.
Iraq 's communities of antiquity—including Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, Sabaean Mandaeans, Yazidis and others—face grave violence and targeted persecution that threatens their continued existence on the territory they have inhabited for millennia. Amid the current debate over U.S. policy, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is convening a hearing to gather expert testimony from representatives of those ancient communities.

Posted by Don Byrd at 12:44 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The insurance provider for a California town has agreed to pay $1.2 million as a settlement after the city denied Elsinore Christian Center in its bid to expand into a commercial space in 2000. Lake Elsinore ran up against the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which sets a high hurdle for local governments to clear before denying churches permits on zoning grounds. Their appeal to the Supreme Court, challenging the 9th Circuit decision that ruled RLUIPA constitutional, will be dropped.

The $1.2 million payment to the church is intended to cover its permit fees, expenses from the deal's complications and the higher price it eventually paid for a building, Tyler said.
...
The settlement also calls for payments to four law firms that had taken up the case under the banner of religious freedom. Bob Tyler, an attorney with Advocates for Faith and Freedom in Murrieta, declined to say how much the firms would receive, but said the amount is intended to cover more than six years of attorneys' fees. That could easily put it in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Posted by Don Byrd at 02:19 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier, I posted about the disappointing opinion piece by Stephen Mansfield that ran as USAToday's On Religion column Monday. Baptist Joint Committee Director Brent Walker has responded to that piece. His letter could just as easily be a response to my post from earlier today:

Religious liberty has never been more robust and healthy in America than it is today. The Pentagon has agreed to add minority religious symbols to the resting places of fallen soldiers; religious groups have equal access to public meeting space thanks to a Supreme Court decision; a federal law strengthens the hand of churches in zoning skirmishes with local governments; and surely we have never seen so many politicians discussing their faith, or religious leaders discussing their politics than we see today. So, I was astonished to read Stephen Mansfield's peculiar polemic Monday in which he claims that exactly the opposite is taking place.

The institutional separation of church and state - which is the real object of his ominous warning - has served this country well for more than 200 years. It ensures religious liberty for all Americans, recognizing that if any one of us has our religious freedom denied, the freedom of all is endangered. Yes, maintaining that freedom requires that we refrain from mixing our tax dollars and official government business with the mission of the church. But that's basic golden rule stuff: If I don't want government promoting other faiths with which I disagree, I can't ask it to advance my own. And if I don't want the state inhibiting my faith, I shouldn't allow it to disable the faith of another.

The threat of dismantling the wall of separation is at least as great a hazard to our democracy as any effort, real or imagined, to scour religion from the public square. Both are wrong-headed.

Posted by Don Byrd at 03:55 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Kenneth Blackwell was formerly the Secretary of State in Ohio and recently lost a bid to become Governor. Where does one go from there? To the Family Research Council, where he penned this op-ed for the New York Sun, calling the Supreme Court's recent decision in Hein a "missed opportunity" for not completely overturning the doctrine of taxpayer standing from the Flast decision:

The Supreme Court teeters on a knife's edge regarding lawsuits against faith expression in the public square. So, conservatives better redouble their efforts to restore a court faithful to our Founders' vision, or lose all that has been gained in recent decisions after the 2008 presidential sweepstakes.
...
Flast v. Cohen, has been used to wound faith-based organizations in federal court ever since its inception. It's a weapon of choice of the Left to purge the public square of all reference to God. In the last week of its current term, the Supreme Court tried to have the Wisdom of Solomon in splitting the baby of Flast in two.
...
[T]he fact that Flast was not overturned means that all the current attacks will continue until such a time when one more conservative justice is confirmed to the Supreme Court.

"It's a positive thing that Democrats are willing to talk about faith and values," says Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council. "But they are aligned with organizations that sue to stop kids from praying and block the Ten Commandments." Only when the policies evolve, he argues, as opposed to the rhetoric, will the party have a chance to make real gains with Evangelicals.

Posted by Don Byrd at 12:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

An editorial in New Hampshire's Concord Monitor decries the recent decision in that state to establish a faith-based initiatives office. Warning of the dangers of such a move, the piece includes this paragraph:

To the extent public money replaces money that a church once raised to feed and house the poor, for example, it frees up money that can be uses for other purposes, including the pursuit of converts. That is an indirect subsidy of a religion by the state, to the detriment of both. Relying too heavily on churches to replace government as a provider of services risks, to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., makes them the servants rather than the conscience of the state.

Posted by Don Byrd at 12:26 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Monday's USAToday, normally a source of thought-provoking essays through its weekly "On Religion" feature, was this week a disappointing blend of tired old untruths about the separation of church and state. Promoting a forthcoming book, author Stephen Mansfield says the founders didn't believe in separation, that the First Amendment only really applies to states, and that our religious freedom is in a perilous state thanks to 6 decades of "confused courts" and "secularist storm troops."

This is, of course, nonsense. For starters, go read (again) Brent Walker's Top Ten Lies about Church and State. Then come back and we'll talk...

Posted by Don Byrd at 12:51 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I missed this last week, but Melissa Rogers posts about an upcomimng (July 24) meeting of the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee.

According to the release, "the Subcommittee will undertake a broad overview of Section 501(c)(3) charitable organizations." It "will review the overall state of this sector, including activities and measures for ensuring public accountability and good governance."

Posted by Don Byrd at 04:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Like many cities across America, High Point, NC is addressing growing religious diversity, and the need to keep the community's religious traditions from appearing to be an official religious endorsement. The City Council voted 9-1 yesterday to disallow sectarian prayers in opening its meetings, also defeating a plan that would have created a rotating system among the Council members.

I have to say, I find the rotating idea - which seems to get considerable support - especially disturbing. What it essentially means is that a council candidate's religion could become front-and-center. Will people run for office by touting the kinds of prayers they would say, over the kinds their opponent might say? Is that what we want?

Posted by Don Byrd at 09:47 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The world would be a better place if this happened more often. 2 fascinating stories over the weekend point to instances of empathy and support between members of different faiths over religious expression that is being disallowed by local governments.

In St. Louis, members of a Jewish Temple are assisting local Muslims currently being denied a new mosque by the County Council.

"I'm fighting the same battle as my grandfather 50 years ago," Isserman said. "It's a different community and a different place, but it's the same issue."

The dismissal, in turn, brought her to Mr. [Eric] Stern, who is now her lawyer, and to a seemingly unlikely partnership that is, on closer inspection, altogether logical. The common bond of Orthodox Jew and Pentecostal Christian is a belief in the right of a devout person to dress according to religious belief, without the risk of being fired.
...
“My natural instinct was that we should help this woman,” [Rabbi] Biser said in a recent interview. “We find these kinds of arbitrary regulations objectionable. And we thought it would be a service also to members of our communities to have a precedent. Where someone’s religious liberty is threatened, particularly in the context of their ability to earn a livelihood, we think it’s important to take a stand.”
...
In some respects...the eventual ruling is irrelevant to the larger meaning of the alliance between Mr. Stern and Ms. Jenkins. Lawyer and client, Jew and Christian, white and black, they embody a common interest in religious adherence in the workplace that often unites disparate faiths.

Posted by Don Byrd at 12:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

At GetReligion, tmatt offers a personal reflection on Kudzu cartoonist Doug Marlette, who was killed last week in a car accident. My earlier post is here. I appreciate especially his mention of the Baptist tradition in Doug's rebellious spirit.

He was one of those wild Baptist guys who loved to rattle cages and, since I was the religion writer in the newsroom, he was a natural guy with whom to talk shop.
...
Marlette believed that religion can play a pivotal role in American public life, but he also was a strong believer in the separation of church and state.

In other words, he was a Baptist’s Baptist. The man inside the head of Pastor Will B. Dunn knew what he was doing.

Posted by Don Byrd at 03:08 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Don't forget what I said Wednesday.

Posted by Don Byrd at 03:57 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday's Christian Science Monitor ran a helpful story outlining the issues involved in addressing Muslim student needs. I've posted previously about prayer schedule accommodations in San Diego, and the planned purchase of foot-washing facilities at the University of Michigan. But the must-read on this topic is Melissa Rogers' post yesterday. She's exactly right in drawing out a key quote from the National School Board Association. In all the talk of stretching our routines in the name of religious accommodation, we should remember that Christians "wrote the rules" to begin with.

[T]he NSBA attorney who is quoted in the story makes an important point that is often overlooked in cases like these:

"[M]ost Americans don't think about the fact that schools naturally accommodate Christians," says Lisa Soronen, an attorney with the National School Boards Association. "There's no school on Sunday, and we get days off for most of the major Christian holidays."

In many, if not most, of these cases, I believe it would be fair to say that Christians essentially wrote the rules. So it should come as no surprise that many of those rules were written to accommodate our faith practices. When other faiths now say that schools need to provide some special exemptions from the rules in order to accommodate them, that also should come as no surprise. Generally speaking, the rules weren't written by members of those faiths or with those faiths in mind. So it may not be the case that special accommodations for minority faiths require more accommodations for Christians -- we often were accommodated in the first place through the way the rules were originally written.

As we saw yesterday in the sad display of intolerance by some Christian activists in the US Senate gallery, our country's growing diversity will no doubt continue to challenge many of our institutions and our traditions - improving them, I believe, in the process if we take seriously the legal mandate of religious freedom and the biblical call for soul freedom. We Baptists know the sting of persecution and of minority status and would do well to remember that heritage.

Posted by Don Byrd at 10:25 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

This morning, for the first time in our nation's history, the US Senate opened with a prayer from a Hindu chaplain. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) - one of only 2 Senators present on the floor- managed to behave, but not some in the gallery:

Three Christian protestors were removed from the U.S. Senate chamber's observation gallery Thursday when they disrupted the morning prayer -- being delivered for the first time in history by a Hindu chaplain.

The three unidentified protestors began praying loudly when Rajan Zed, a Hindu chaplain from Nevada, started praying. The demonstrators prayed for forgiveness from Jesus Christ for "betraying" the Christian tradition.

Posted by Don Byrd at 10:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

If you have ever thought about supporting the Baptist Joint Committee with a donation, there is no better time to take that action than right now. As Associated Baptist Press reports, the John Baugh family - in a surprise announcement at the recent Religious Liberty Council luncheon - is offering matching funds for all donations to the BJC capital campaign through Sunday, July 15. You can donate online here, or fill out this pledge form.

Asking for donations is never easy - you have all got important things to do with your hard-earned money, for sure. I would only ask you to think about two things. One, what's more important to the health of our society than true religious freedom through the separation of church and state? As we see all around the world every day, respect for religious diversity is a leading indicator of stability and peace. Two, aren't you glad there are passionate voices in Washington speaking out on on that issue from a religious perspective? Those that recognize that the separation of church and state is good for *both*, and reflects our true heritage as Baptists? If that fires you up like it does me, give what you can before the week's over. I just got the ball rolling with $50. Who's with me? Our $50 will instantly become $100 thanks to the extreme generosity of the Baugh family. When have you made a better investment than that? Just sayin...

Posted by Don Byrd at 11:17 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Newly-appointed Christian ethics professor at Mercer University, David Gushee, previews his new book with an ABP piece outlining "17 rules for Christian Engagement in Politics." Here are the first 2:

1. Christian leaders must not officially or unofficially endorse political candidates or a political party.

2. Christian leaders must not distribute essentially partisan or single-issue voter guides that purport to be apolitical or nonpartisan.

Posted by Don Byrd at 07:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

There are lots of troubling things about what former Surgeon General Richard Carmona said yesterday about the current administration's disinterest in science. For our purposes here, I'm drawn to one specific sentence in his testimony, as reported by the Washington Post:

"Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is often ignored, marginalized or simply buried," he said.

Posted by Don Byrd at 12:48 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The creator of the cartoon strip Kudzu, which featured Will B. Dunn, a small-town Baptist minister, was killed in a car accident yesterday morning. Doug Marlette was a friend of the Baptist Joint Committee and a champion of all of our First Amendment freedoms, including religious liberty and the separation of church and state. His sense of humor and his support for all freedom-loving Baptists will be missed.

[UPDATE: Melissa Rogers has more. And Michael Westmoreland-White has blogged a nice tribute. Associated Baptist Press has a report here that includes quotes this:

The creator endowed him with such creativity that he was literally one of a kind -- and a real Baptist,” said James Dunn, former executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
...
“He could see the ironies and the contradictions [in political or religious life] so clearly and then reduce them to just a few strokes in a cartoon,” Dunn said.

Dunn and another famous progressive Baptist preacher, Will Campbell, were reportedly the inspiration for one of the lead characters in “Kudzu,” a small-town Baptist preacher named Will B. Dunn.

James Dunn said Marlette, who was raised Southern Baptist, was strongly committed to the doctrinal distinctives that moderate Baptists celebrate, especially the priesthood of all believers and the separation of church and state.

“He was intensely committed to the notion that religion is ultimately a matter between the individual and God,” Dunn said..]

Posted by Don Byrd at 09:20 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A lengthy report from CNSNews today discusses the accommodation challenges associated with Muslim student prayers. Last week, I posted about the controversy surrounding San Diego's Carver School and their decision to schedule a prayer break in the afternoon. In his piece, Fred Lucas talks about that and also the University of Michigan's decision to spend $25,000 installing foot baths.

Muslims initially were willing to raise the money to cover the cost, but the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union -- often a foe of faith in the public square -- said there was no constitutional reason why the university could not fund the project.

Kary Moss, director of the group, told the Detroit Free Press that providing the footbaths was "reasonable" and "an attempt to deal with a problem, not an attempt to make it easier for Muslims to pray."
...
A university statement calls the footbaths "a reflection of our values of respect, tolerance and safe accommodation of student needs."

Whatever the outcomes here, the essential challenge is to insure that all religions are treated equally, and that a student's faith is neither inhibited nor endorsed by official action. Our growing diversity is a reminder to me that diverse faiths not only have different needs and requirements but different *kinds* of needs and requirements. The challenge is walking a line that allows us to remain both flexible in our understanding of accommodation and vigilant in our determination not to cross the line into state endorsement, promotion or preference for religion.

Posted by Don Byrd at 03:30 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Randall Balmer's inspiring speech at the Religious Liberty Council luncheon in Washington, DC is now online. As I posted last week, in that speech he calls on Baptists to be true to our heritage in being a champion for religious freedom for all through the separation of church and state. Here are a couple of my favorite bits, but you should go read the whole thing.

Too many Baptists in America have lost their way. They have been seduced by leaders of the Religious Right into thinking that the way to advance the faith in this country is to surrender Baptist principles and seek the imprimatur of the state.
...
Most important, I ask that Baptists reclaim their heritage as watchmen on the wall of separation between church and state. That entails a stern and unstinting rebuke of those supposed Baptists who seek to undermine the First Amendment, the best friend that religion has ever had. They are not real Baptists, for no true Baptist would stand for the compromise of such a foundational Baptist principle.

And let’s remember the perils of lusting after political influence. Religion always functions best from the margins of society and not in the councils of power. That is the great lesson of American history – and, arguably, all of church history. Once religion hankers after temporal influence, the faith loses its prophetic edge. The proper place for all believers, Baptist or otherwise, is on the margins, calling the powerful to account, all the while refusing the seductions of power.

Posted by Don Byrd at 11:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Last month, I posted about the Fargo, ND commission that voted to remove a long-standing Ten Commandments monument from city hall, stating that "religion is too important for politics." Apparently the public outcry was too much to handle. Under pressure, the same commission changed its vote last week after petitions were submitted, leaving the structure in place. Today's USAToday reports:

The Red River Freethinkers, a group of about 100 people who believe the monument violates the constitutional separation of church and state, will continue to press commissioners to allow them to erect a new marker nearby. It would feature a quote from a 1797 treaty signed by the United States and Tripoli: "The United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."

Jon Lindgren, a Freethinker and a former Fargo mayor, says the group will "try to figure out a way to bring it up again. … We do not want to go to court." The Freethinkers' proposed monument, he says, "would balance the Ten Commandments, which is quite provocative from our point of view."

Posted by Don Byrd at 02:58 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

An editorial in this morning's Des Moines Register says that the state funding, now ended by the Iowa legislature, for the Prison Ministries program ruled unconstitutional a year ago was only part of the problem.

Even with state funding removed, the constitutional violations are not eliminated. According to trial testimony, the program and its Bible tenets made inmates of Jewish, Muslim and other faiths feel unwelcome. Participants received privileges nonparticipants did not, including more freedom and cells with wooden doors and separate toilets.
...
The federal courts should make it clear by ruling in this case that states have no business creating a program in a state prison where a religious sect is allowed to proselytize those who, because of their status as prison inmates, are particularly vulnerable.

Posted by Don Byrd at 07:59 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Saturday's Washington Post has this report by Religion News Service's Adelle Banks on last weekend's Baptist unity events bringing together Cooperative Baptists and American Baptists.

Baptists from a range of fellowships and denominations came together for worship, rallies and to say -- at least symbolically -- that splits and divisions from the past will not prevent them from joining hands on such issues as missions and religious freedom.

They often disagree with more conservative Southern Baptists, but they want people to know they are Baptist, too -- just a different kind.
...
"Historically, Baptists have had a hard time sticking together, and some things have not changed much," said J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.... "But one thing that does bind us . . . is a fervent dedication to defending and extending religious liberty, not just for ourselves but for everyone."

Posted by Don Byrd at 02:38 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Libertarian-leaning New Hampshire won't pass a mandatory seat-belt law, but doesn't mind the government getting involved in the business of religion. According to the Nashua Telegraph (via Religion Cl