LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nebris)

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
January 11, 2006
From The New York Times

A group of parents are suing their small California school district to force it to cancel a four-week high school elective on intelligent design, creationism and evolution that it is offering as a philosophy course.

The course at Frazier Mountain High School in Lebec, which serves a rural area north of Los Angeles, was proposed by a special education teacher last month and approved by the board of trustees in an emergency meeting on New Year's Day. The 11 parents are seeking a temporary restraining order to stop the course, which is being held during the session that ends on Feb. 3. ( More sneaky Xian bullshit )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY squidflakes)

I had originally thought to post this in the comments section of the Justice Sunday III post, but I wanted to get a bit more exposure, and ask for some opinions on the topics I am brining up.

First off, the church in which this event was held has received over $1 million in government grants, and also files as a 501(c)(3). I’m sure that most of us agree that the faith-based initiatives program is about as unconstitutional as it gets, but what about the combination of FBI and 501(c)(3) exemption? Should an organization be prevented from double dipping?

Does holding the Justice Sunday event count as support of a political candidate? In my mind, yes. While the event was held to support an appointed position, there was a definite political bias. Tax exempt status should be immediately revoked from the Greater Exodus Baptist church and any church that showed this event to their congregation.

Should Senator Santorum be censured for participating as a speaker in this event? Again, I say yes. His endorsement of the event clearly shows a bias toward one specific religion in direct violation to the Constitution, which he made an oath to uphold.

What are everyone’s thoughts on this?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ns_kumiho)

Pat Robertson, the American televangelist, today appeared to withdraw a diatribe against Ariel Sharon in an attempt to salvage his $50 million plan for a biblical theme park in Galilee.

...

Mr Hartuv left the door open to continuing the project but only with evangelists who disown Mr Robertson’s statements.

"The contract is still open - just not with Mr Robertson. If there are other Christian leaders, they are most welcome to sign a contract to bring Christian tourists to the State of Israel.

"We want to see who in the group supports his (Robertson’s) statements. Those who support the statements cannot do business with us. Those that publicly support Ariel Sharon’s recovery are welcome to do business with us. We have to check this very, very carefully."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-1980422,00.html

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This article from Tom Paine talks about misleading things from "Justice Sunday III". It's very enlightening.

Religious Freedom For All
Melissa Rogers
January 11, 2006

Melissa Rogers is an attorney who currently serves as visiting professor of religion and public policy at Wake Forest University Divinity School.

“From our founding forward, Americans have celebrated liberty and honored God in ways both public and private. Now activist judges seek to end all mention of God in the public square.” So reads the flyer for the third “Justice Sunday” event sponsored by the Family Research Council (FRC) last Sunday night at a Philadelphia church.

If the goal of this effort is to cause religious people to feel fear, alienation and anger, it succeeds brilliantly. If the goal is to tell them the truth, it’s a miserable failure.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Quoting from DefCon's Blog:

Two of DefCon’s advisory board members, Kate Michelman and Erwin Chemerinsky, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Samuel Alito confirmation hearings this week. Michelman and Chemerinsky will most likely appear before the Committee on Thursday to contribute their expertise to the hearings, however the date could change depending on whether the Committee stays on schedule.

What’s equally exciting is that on Friday, January 13th, at 1pm, Michelman and Chemerinsky will join DefConAmerica.org for our first live online chat. Michelman and Chemerinsky will be discussing Judge Alito and answering your questions on the potential threat he poses to the separation of church and state.

Stay tuned for details on how to submit a question for either Kate Michelman or Erwin Chemerinsky. Our moderator will then pose your questions to Michelman and Chemerinsky and you’ll be able to tune into the chat by visiting our website, http://www.defconamerica.org.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

Apparently, Texas is slated to be an ID battleground in the near future, if Governor Perry has his way.

( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Scientists have figured out how bees fly, putting another nail into the coffin of Intelligent Design.

Proponents of intelligent design, which holds that a supreme being rather than evolution is responsible for life's complexities, have long criticized science for not being able to explain some natural phenomena, such as how bees fly.

Now scientists have put this perplexing mystery to rest.( Read more... )