Ireland announced on Thursday that is was closing its embassy at the Vatican – headquarters of the Catholic Church – due to economic reasons. However some believe it was the result of strained relations between the majority Catholic Ireland and the Church over a bad report about the handling of child abuse cases involving the Church.
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A private non-profit association in Utah, the Utah Highway Patrol Association (UHPA), had been placing 12 foot tall white Latin crosses along roads and highways controlled by the state. The Utah Highway Patrol allowed the UHPA to use the trademark logo of the patrol as well. American Atheists filed suit in 2005 on 1st Amendment grounds and then on 10/31/2011 the US Supreme Court refused to hear the case leaving intact the ruling that the placement of crosses was unconstitutional. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ head exploded.
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Joshua DuBois, Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, responded to two recent citizen petitions asking that ‘In God We Trust’ be removed from the currency and ‘Under God’ be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. As I expected, DuBois makes a long reach to justify rejecting the petitions.
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In recent public statements, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who is so far right he comes back upon his own tail, made comments that shows he probably supports the evangelical Christian Quiverfull movement. That is just one more thing that should prevent Santorum from serving as an elected official – even as a dog catcher.
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Back in July I posted about a discrimination case involving a fired teacher at a church school in Redford Township, Michigan. She was fired after a long medical leave. The case was heard by the US Supreme Court on Wednesday October 5th. Instead of trying to argue under the religious clauses of the 1st amendment, the government is using an argument under the freedom of association clause. That choice seemed to shock the justices. I think it is brilliant – if it works.
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This weekend was the annual meeting of the religious right wing of the Republican party at the so-called Value Voters Summit. The name of the event is similar to other ironic names associated with cheap-labor conservatives like “Defense of Marriage Act” and “Clear Skies Act of 2003“. Being it’s election season, the current crop of GOP candidates show up to kiss the ring of the Family Research Council and they say some really stupid crap.
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Supporters of Sharia Law banIn the 2010 general election, voters in Oklahoma passed a ballot measure that attempts to ban Oklahoma courts from considering Islamic laws in the their decisions. The law was blocked when the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and ACLU sued. They claim the law violates the 1st amendment of the US Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution, and the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act. This story shows that those who support the ban have a bigoted idea of Sharia law and have little knowledge of what our civil rights actually are.
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Today is the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on US soil. The World Trade Center in New York was attacked shortly before 9 AM on a bright and sunny Tuesday in 2001. By the end of the awful day both towers were destroyed, the Pentagon had been hit, and people were killed in a fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. Five days later I wrote an essay about the attacks from my secular humanist perspective. I went through it this week and have posted it again – changed little from the day I wrote it.
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In the case Wirtz v. City of South Bend, a US District court judge ruled that the city of South Bend Indiana couldn’t give away city owned land to a catholic high school. It considered the give away a violation of the first amendment.
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In 1960 when questions about John F. Kennedy’s religion came up, he gave a speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. Although given 50 years ago, it still seems it should apply to politics today. I wish it would.
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