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counterpunch, 2003-12-22
Christian fanatics and creationists infiltrate national parks in the USA, in particular the Grand Canyon in Arizona
and the Lincoln Memorial in the capital.
...
This autumn Donald Murphy, deputy director of the National Park Service, ordered three bronze plaques featuring quotes
from Psalms 68:4, 66:4 and 104:24 placed on viewing platforms on the south rim of the Canyon. The plaques were made and
donated by the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary in Phoenix, who live in a convent called Cannan in the Desert.
...
At the urging of the sisters, Murphy overturned a decision to ban the plaques by the Park's superintendent, who
contended the religious messages violated the US Constitution.
That's not all....starting this summer the Park's bookstore began offering a volume titled The Grand Canyon:
a Different View. The view is indeed different. This book of lavish photographs and essays presents the creationist
account of the origins of the great canyon of the Colorado River. The book is edited by Tom Vail, a river guide, who
offers Christian float trips through the canyon. "For years, as a Colorado River guide I told people how the
Grand Canyon was formed over the evolutionary time scale of millions of years," Vail writes in the introduction
to the book. "Then I met the Lord. Now, I have 'a different view' of the Canyon, which, according to a biblical
time scale, can't possibly be more than about a few thousand years old."
One of the contributors is creation "scientist" Dr. Gary Parker who observes: "Where did the
Grand Canyon itself come from? The Flood may have stacked the rock like a giant layer cake, but what cut the cake?
One thing is sure: the Colorado River did not do it."
Earlier this year, the Bush administration prevented park rangers from publishing a rebuttal to the book for use
by interpretive staff and seasonal employees who are often confronted during tours by creationist zealots.
In southern California, a similar battle is raging over a Latin cross erected on the Sunrise Rocks in the Mojave
National Preserve....
Meanwhile, in the nation's capital the Park Service has bowed to pressure from the religious right to rewrite the
history of protests on the national mall. Since 1995, the interpretive center at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington
has shown an 8-minute long film depicting various demonstrations and gatherings at the monument, including anti-war
protests, concerts and Martin Luther King's most famous speech. Last month, the Park Service bowed to demands from
Christian groups to edit out footage of anti-Vietnam War protests and images of gay rights and pro-choice
demonstrations. In a letter to the Park Service, the Christian groups charged that the film implied that
"Lincoln would have supported homosexual and abortion 'rights' as well as feminism."
The Park Service HQ responded that they would edit the film to present a "more balanced" version.
The new film will included footage of rallies by anti-abortion and Christian groups, such as the Promisekeepers,
and shots of a pro-Gulf War demonstration. Neither of these events took place at the Lincoln Memorial. "The
Park Service leadership now caters exclusively to conservative Christian fundamentalist groups," says Jeff
Ruch, director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. "The Bush Administration appears to be
sponsoring a program of Faith-Based Parks."
Webmaster's comment:
Further evidence that the USA is fast becoming (or already is) a Christian theocracy.
While they are being so religious, should they not erect a statue of Jupiter in front of the Capitol building which
houses the Congress of the United States? After all, the original Capitol was the temple of Jupiter in Rome.
Toronto Star — Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2003-12-17
PARIS (AP) - Overruling Muslim opposition, President Jacques Chirac said today that France must outlaw
conspicuous religious symbols in schools and regulate them in the workplace - in a battle against creeping racism,
fundamentalism and the extreme right. In a televised address to the country, the French president said Islamic head
scarves, Jewish skullcaps or outsized Christian crosses "have no place" in public schools. He called on
parliament, where his conservative government has a majority, to pass a law to ban them in time for the 2004 school
year that starts next September.
...
Chirac's proposals, part of a quickening government effort to thwart the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, also appeared
aimed at undercutting support for the extreme right National Front, led by Jean-Marie Le Pen. Le Pen, who stunned
France and Europe by placing second behind Chirac in presidential elections last year, has capitalized on fears of
immigration and concerns that France is abandoning its traditions as it seeks to respond to its immigrant communities.
Chirac paid homage to the waves of immigrants who helped "forge our country, make it stronger and more
prosperous." But he also said he will not tolerate any religious challenge to France's core values - encapsulated
in the phrase carved above the front doors of schools and town halls across the country: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.
Chirac said secularism, France's cherished separation of religion and state, remains a cornerstone of French values,
providing neutral ground for different religions to coexist in harmony. "It is not negotiable," Chirac said.
Cybercast News Service, 2003-12-16
Conservatives are fuming over the $15.5 million that billionaire financier and philanthropist George Soros has pledged
to defeat President Bush. But they're also anxious to fight back and expose what they consider to be Soros'
"immoral" beliefs and atheist leanings.
...
Conservative commentator Armstrong Williams, an authority on Christian values, said Soros wants to destroy the values on
which the United States was founded. Williams called Soros "morally bankrupt" and he wants the U.S. Justice
Department to investigate his contributions.
"He hates God and his biblical principles. He hates everything that's godly," Williams said. "He's
jumping up and down at the thought that same-sex marriages could happen in this country. It's a direct assault on the
church, the institutions that restrain and restrict our behavior and remind us of the standard of morality and moral
absolutes."
Webmaster's comment:
Another example of the ridiculous lie that says you must be evil if you do not believe in gods, messiahs and holy spooks.
The claim that morality is the exclusive domain of religion is itself immoral.
Globe and Mail — Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2003-12-11
A group of Canadian Muslims has established a judicial tribunal that will implement the use of sharia, or Islamic law,
in Ontario to resolve marital disagreements and other civil disputes, and make decisions. Under Ontario law, the courts
must uphold the agreements as long as they are voluntary and negotiated through an arbitrator. The courts will not
uphold the agreements if they violate Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
While some Muslims welcome the initiative as a less costly, private and more expedient way to address civil disputes,
others wonder how sharia, a body of law based on religious principles, will be interpreted in Ontario and whether it
is inherently biased in favour of men. For example, Islamic family law dictates that male heirs receive a greater share
of an inheritance than female heirs; that husbands, not wives, may initiate divorce proceedings; and that in divorce
cases, fathers are generally awarded custody of daughters who have reached the age of puberty.
...
Under Ontario's Arbitration Act, people enter into arbitration voluntarily, noted Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the
Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. "People can use any arbitrator they want and can use a religious framework
if it is mutually acceptable," he said. "The Charter of Rights is the supreme law of Canada and the Arbitration Act
is subject to it. If the award is not compatible with Canadian law, then the court will not enforce it. You can't
agree to violate Canadian law."
Webmaster's comment:
Creating special tribunals for specific religious communities is a dangerous precedent,
a major threat to separation of religion and state.
CNN, 2003-12-02
A major US Supreme Court case (Locke v. Davey, no. 02-1315) which threatens to divert public funds to religious education.
Supreme Court justices appeared equally divided Tuesday over the constraints governing public
funding for religious studies in a case that one justice said could potentially reshape
government spending on a vast scale. Depending on how the court rules in the case of a college
student denied scholarship money to attend divinity school, government agencies across the
country would have to be careful not to exclude religious programs in many areas, such as
government contracting and medical programs, said Justice Stephen Breyer.
"The implications of this case are breathtaking," Breyer said, noting governments
would have to walk a fine legal line to avoid discriminating against religious programs when it
came to funding for government contracting, medical training and education programs. "We
would be fighting over billions and billions of dollars."
...
White House supports student
The case, Locke v. Davey, focuses on Joshua Davey, who lost a Washington state merit scholarship
when he declared theology as his major. Davey says he wanted to use his theology major as
preparation for a possible career in the ministry. Davey's decision put him in conflict with a
Washington state law banning public money for theology studies, and the money was taken away.
The scholarships remained available to students studying other fields.
Davey's supporters say this is a case of an unfair double standard. His attorney Jay Sekulow
argued that carving out a "religious exclusion" was a clear violation of the Constitution.
The Bush administration supports Davey. U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson told the justices
the state's position was "the plainest form of religious discrimination." Five
states also support Davey, as well as a number of religious groups.
...
The Davey case is a follow-up to last year's landmark case of Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, where
the Supreme Court upheld the use of state-funded vouchers, allowing children to attend private,
parochial schools.
...
Church-state issues are expected to be a hot political topic in next year's election. The
Supreme Court next spring will hear an appeal from a California atheist, who objects to his
daughter being forced to hear the Pledge of Allegiance, because of the words "under God."
Webmaster's comment:
A further threat to church-state separation in the USA.
The Christian ideologues currently controlling the White House continue to
do their damage, eroding the American constitution.
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