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State school board keeps prayers
By R o n n i e L y n n
The Salt Lake Tribune
They will be called "opening remarks" instead of "reverence," but under new
bylaws passed Friday, state school board members may still begin their monthly
meetings with prayers.
Board members also may invite patrons to give the opening remarks or choose not
to address the board when it comes their turn.
Like many public bodies in Utah, board members take turns opening their monthly
meetings with a prayer.
The bylaw change is the group's response to the Utah Atheists' complaint that
the board not use its official power to promote personal religious agendas.
Some members wanted to nix opening remarks altogether, saying they distract the
board and public from business.
"I am reluctant to have our meetings start out on an offensive note," board
member Greg Haws said. "I would prefer to eliminate [opening remarks], get on
with our business and start out on a happy note."
In the end, the board voted, 8-4, to broaden its policy by allowing members to
invite constituents to share a prayer, poem or other insightful comments.
"I don't think prayer is necessary to have an effective state school board
meeting, but at the same time, I'm concerned that we not become a nation who
does not recognize the possibility of divine intervention in what we are doing
and request it," board member John Pingree said.
Said fellow board member Bill Colbert: "Our country is founded on religious
principles. . . . I think succumbing to a minority trying to force its way to
make this society something they'd rather it be is wrong."
The new bylaws prohibit the board from previewing or editing opening remarks
made by the public.
Gary Swenson led Friday's opening remarks with reverence for three teachers who
made a difference in his life and then reading a prayer associated with American
Indians' alcohol-awareness meetings. The prayer asked the "wind" for strength
and wisdom.
"Utah Atheists recruiting medley of
prayer-givers" SYRACUSE -- Utah atheists are making good on their promise to
deliver messages during who would be in charge of facilitating an opening
exercise prayer.
more..."
http://www.standard.net/live/opinion/letterstotheeditor/125435/
Founders didn't want a national religion
Monday, February 11, 2008
Many of the founders of this nation were individuals who had abandoned European
theocracies and desired to clearly separate an individual's beliefs from a
national religion. It is clearly stated in Article VI of our Constitution that:
"... no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office
or public trust under the United States."
This does not prohibit any religious belief or lack of belief by an individual,
but it does clearly state that our nation is not to be a nation defined by any
religious belief.
George Washington and John Adams were both individuals of the Christian faith,
but the United States was not founded as a Christian nation. A portion of the
terms of the treaty with Tripoli, drafted in 1796 under George Washington and
signed by John Adams in 1797, reads: "As the Government of the United States of
America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in
itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility" (of
others).
This separation of an individual's belief and the lack of a national belief is
one of the great strengths of individual freedom within our nation.
David I. Rasmussen
Ogden
http://www.standard.net/live/opinion/letterstotheeditor/125431/
Religion, government work better separately
Monday, February 11, 2008
I write in response to the Jan. 31 letter "Founding Fathers' words evidence of
beliefs": It is a risky game to use out-of-context quotes to make a case as to
the full and true Christian beliefs of our Founding Fathers. These quotes can be
countered easily by a simple search of the library or Internet.
To illustrate my point consider the following, taken from a page I found on the
Internet: Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to William Short: "I have examined all
the known superstitions of the world and I do not find in our particular
superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature."
Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 states, "The Government of the
United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
Madison wrote, "Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the
less they are mixed together."
My bottom line is that argument by selected quotes does little to prove
anything. The fact is that it makes not one iota of difference if our Founding
Fathers were Christians or worshipped at the altar of Zeus, they were wise and
rational men who realized that a state-supported religion was incompatible with
a democracy, hence the first phrase of the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion." God and Jesus are not mentioned at all in the Constitution; is there
a significance to that?
Lee Witten
Ogden
IRS probes
pastor's Huckabee endorsement
By
G I L L I A N F L A C C U S
BUENA PARK, Calif. - A Southern Baptist preacher who endorsed GOP presidential
hopeful Mike Huckabee on church letterhead said Wednesday he was being
investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for mixing religion with politics.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rev. Wiley Drake, a prominent pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention, said he
received a 14-page letter from the IRS on Feb. 7.
Under federal tax law, church officials can legally discuss politics, but they
cannot endorse candidates or parties without risking their tax-exempt status.
Most who do so receive a warning.
On Aug. 11, Drake wrote a press release on letterhead from the First Southern
Baptist Church in Buena Park that announced his personal endorsement of Huckabee
and asked all Southern Baptists to get behind the candidate.
"After very serious prayer and consideration, I announce today that I am going
to personally endorse Mike Huckabee," the release said. "I ask all of my
Southern Baptist brothers and sister to consider getting behind Mike and helping
him all you can."
He continued: "I believe God has chosen Mike for such an hour, and I believe of
all those running Mike Huckabee will listen to God."
The letter sent to Drake by the IRS also quoted from segments of the pastor's
church-based Internet show, "The Wiley Drake Show." In the quotes, Drake
endorsed Huckabee again.
"Yes, I endorsed him personally and yes, we use the First Southern Baptist
Church. Yes, we broadcast the 'Wiley Drake Show' from the First Southern Baptist
Church. Everything we do is under the auspices of the church," Drake said on the
show...
More
at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080214/ap_on_re_us/irs_pastor_investigated_3;_ylt=AjBQeMpMgfcjjQSd6Xf.N8wE1vAI
Thai monks told to behave on networking Web
sites
Tue Mar 4, 2:02 AM ET
Thai officials urged Buddhist monks on Tuesday to avoid using social networking
Web sites to woo women after an advocacy group found some monks were doing just
that.
The request came as police in the northeast detained a monk accused of using a
Web site to lure a woman to his temple and raping her.
"I call on Hi5 users to tell the monks to leave the site if they are found using
it," junior minister Jakrapob Penkair told reporters after a Buddhist monitoring
group said some monks were flirting on the Web site popular with Thai users.
Reports of monks caught using or selling drugs or having consensual sex with
women are not uncommon in the Thai media, which reported on Tuesday a
23-year-old monk was caught raping a teenager he lured to his room through the
Web site.
A senior Culture Ministry official said monks should not be banned from the
cyberspace, but should turn this "crisis" into "opportunity" by bringing
Buddha's teaching to the young.
"Instead of using the Net to flirt with young girls, monks should find ways to
preach Dharma and lead them in the right direction," said Ladda Thangsupachai,
head of the Cultural Surveillance Centre.
(Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Michael Battye)
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080304/wr_nm/thailand_monks_dc_1&printer=1
HUMOR...
debunked:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_fell_cancer_cure.htm
Atheist soldier says Army punished him
By J O H N M I L B U R N, Associated Press Writer Mar 5
A soldier claimed Wednesday that his promotion was blocked because he had
claimed in a lawsuit that the Army was violating his right to be an atheist.
Attorneys for Spc. Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation
refiled the federal lawsuit Wednesday in Kansas City, Kan., and added a
complaint alleging that the blocked promotion was in response to the legal
action.
The suit was filed in September but dropped last month so the new allegations
could be included. Among the defendants are Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Hall alleges he was denied his constitutional right to hold a meeting to discuss
atheism while he was deployed in Iraq with his military police unit. He says in
the new complaint that his promotion was blocked after the commander of the 1st
Infantry Division and Fort Riley sent an e-mail post-wide saying Hall had sued.
Fort Riley spokeswoman Alison Kohler said the post "can't comment on ongoing
legal matters" and offered no further statement.
According to the lawsuit, Hall was counseled by his platoon sergeant after being
informed that his promotion was blocked. He says the sergeant explained that
Hall would be "unable to put aside his personal convictions and pray with his
troops" and would have trouble bonding with them if promoted to a leadership
position.
Hall responded that religion is not a requirement of leadership, even though the
sergeant wondered how he had rights if atheism wasn't a religion. Hall said
atheism is protected under the Army's chaplain's manual.
"It shouldn't matter if one is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist,"
said Pedro Irigonegaray, an attorney whose firm filed the lawsuit. "In the
military, all are equal and to be considered equal."
Maj. Freddy J. Welborn was named in the lawsuit as the officer who prevented
Hall from holding a meeting of atheists and non-Christians. It alleges that
Welborn threatened to file military charges against Hall and to block his
re-enlistment. Welborn has denied the allegations.
The lawsuit alleges that Gates permits a military culture in which officers are
encouraged to pressure soldiers to adopt and espouse fundamentalist Christian
beliefs, and in which activities by Christian organizations are sanctioned.
Hall's attorneys say Fort Riley has permitted a culture promoting Christianity
and anti-Islamic sentiment, including posters quoting conservative columnist Ann
Coulter and sale of a book, "A Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam," at the
post exchange.
The Pentagon has said that the military values and respects religious freedoms,
but that accommodating religious practices should not interfere with unit
cohesion, readiness, standards or discipline.
Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of the religious freedom foundation, said
the lawsuit would show the "almost incomprehensible national security risks to
America" posed by the military's pattern of violating the religious freedom of
those in uniform.
"It is beyond despicable, indeed wholly unlawful, that the United States Army is
actively attempting to destroy the professional career of one of its decorated
young fighting soldiers, with two completed combat tours in Iraq, simply because
he had the rare courage to stand up for his constitutional rights," Weinstein
said in a statement.
Weinstein previously sued the Air Force for acts he said illegally imposed
Christianity on its students at the academy. A federal judge threw out that
lawsuit in 2006.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080306/ap_on_re_us/military_religion_lawsuit
Supreme Court Agrees
To Hear Controversy Over Religious Symbols On Public Property
Monday, March 31, 2008
Utah Religious Group Seeks To Place Its 'Seven Aphorisms' Beside The Ten
Commandments
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a Utah dispute that
centers on the display of religious symbols on public property.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State said the case brings the
high court back into a confusing and controversial area of constitutional law.
Pleasant Grove City v. Summum deals with a religious group called Summum, which
sought to erect its “Seven Aphorisms” alongside a Ten Commandments monument in a
public park in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The group said city officials cannot
constitutionally approve the Commandment display while excluding other
monuments.
A federal appeals court agreed, holding that it violates freedom of speech for
government to allow one group’s message on public property and exclude another.
“If government creates an open forum, it can’t pick and choose among religions,”
said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “Government
officials could have avoided this controversy by refusing to put up the Ten
Commandments in the first place.”
Source:
http://www.au.org/site/News2?abbr=pr&page=NewsArticle&id=9743
Non-Muslims Deserve to Be Punished
A report posted on Islam Watch, a site run by Muslims who oppose intolerant
teachings and hatred for unbelievers, exposes a prominent Islamic cleric and
lawyer who support extreme punishment for non-Muslims — including killing and
rape.
A question-and-answer session with Imam Abdul Makin in an East London mosque
asks why Allah would tell Muslims to kill and rape innocent non-Muslims,
including their wives and daughters, according to Islam Watch.
"Because non-Muslims are never innocent, they are guilty of denying Allah and
his prophet," the Imam says, according to the report. "If you don't believe me,
here is the legal authority, the top Muslim lawyer of Britain."
The lawyer, Anjem Choudary, backs up the Imam's position, saying that all
Muslims are innocent.
Click here to watch the interview with Islamic lawyer Anjem Choudary.
"You are innocent if you are a Muslim," Choudary tells the BBC. "Then you are
innocent in the eyes of God. If you are not a Muslim, then you are guilty of not
believing in God."
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,344409,00.html
They should have seen this coming...
Row over spiritualist regulations
Mediums and spiritualists fear changes to laws regulating the industry could
leave them open to malicious civil action by sceptics.
The union representing spiritual workers is to lobby the government over changes
to the industry's regulation.
The Fraudulent Mediums Act is due to be repealed next month and replaced by new
EU consumer protection regulations.
The British Humanist Association said the change offered vulnerable people
greater protection against fraud.
Under the 1951 Fraudulent Mediums Act, prosecutors have to prove the medium or
healer had intended to be fraudulent in order to secure a conviction.
But under the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, which comes into force
in the UK on 26 May, it will be the medium's responsibility to prove they did
not mislead or coerce vulnerable consumers.
'Religion'
The Spiritual Workers' Association says making mediums subject to the
consumer-protection regulations does not recognise spiritualism is a religion.
It plans to lobby the government over the issue on Friday.
Its founder Carole McEntee-Taylor, told BBC News: "The problem is that it's
turning spiritualism the religion into a consumer product, which it is not."
She said the change in law left
mediums more vulnerable to prosecution.
She said: "The Fraudulent Mediums Act
protected the medium
|
"We
hope that the new regulations will make real changes to the current
situation, where psychic practitioners are permitted to make completely
unsubstantiated claims "
Hanne Stinson
British Humanist Association
|
because it meant person
receiving the information was taking personal responsibility.
"They would have to prove the medium was fraudulent or giving them advice which
make them make a decision which would cost them money."
The British Humanist Association's chief executive Hanne Stinson, said the
current law was not fit for purpose.
He said: "We hope that the new regulations will make real changes to the current
situation, where psychic practitioners are permitted to make completely
unsubstantiated claims and to take payment for their services, without fear of
legal action.
"It is high time that this industry is better regulated, with adequate
protections for consumers."
Susie Collings, of the College of Psychic Studies welcomed the new rules, saying
they would tighten standards, discourage "less than ethical" practitioners and
make it easier for the public to understand what to expect from a reading.
However, she said: "There is always the possibility that mediums will be
targeted by people intent on making money by suing what they see as easy targets
and that is a big concern for the individual."
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7351199.stm
By Brooke Adams and Mark Havnes
05-09-08
ST. GEORGE - Attorney General Mark
Shurtleff called a raid on a polygamous sect's ranch in Texas no surprise given
the group's resistant, secretive practices but said Thursday he would never
authorize such a move in Utah.
"I know you are worried about that. We're not going to do it," said Shurtleff,
drawing applause from a crowd at the Dixie Center packed with fundamentalist
Mormons. "We don't believe that is the answer."
It's been more than a month since Texas authorities took more than 400 children
from the ranch, home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints, because of abuse allegations.
But aftershocks of the event continue to reverberate through fundamentalist
Mormon communities thousands of miles away, as shown during the fourth annual
town hall meeting on polygamy at the Dixie Center.
At the back of the hall, a caution-yellow banner advertised the sect's Web site
and thanked the public for its support.
About 500 people packed two ballrooms to listen to and question Shurtleff,
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, Arizona lawmaker David Lujan, Safety Net
Coordinator Paul Murphy and Don Timpson, a member of the fundamentalist group
known as The Work of Jesus Christ.
Goddard called the Safety Net Committee, which brings together polygamous
communities, law enforcement and service providers, a "movement" that would
forestall a Texas-style raid.
"I think that action was in part because that fundamentalist discussion was not
taking place," he said. "The feeling was if there were children in distress
there was no way they could get their voices heard. That's not true of Arizona
any more."
Shurtleff tried to quell some fears, even as he made it clear that Utah will
continue to prosecute crimes that hurt women and children and said in particular
that the "religious principle" of incest, practiced by a couple groups that
allow close relatives to marry, was "something we will not stand for."
He said that Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has asked FLDS leaders for a list of
children and parents who are Utah residents as the first step in working to
protect their interests in the Texas action.
He also asked for a show of hands of those related to children in custody. As
many as 50 hands shot up. His office is looking into helping Utah relatives
become foster parents to the FLDS children.
As in previous years, some audience members asked the attorneys general for help
in pushing for decriminalization of polygamy, which they said would do more to
open the closed communities than any prosecutorial action.
Shurtleff's advice: "Wait until after the election" to bring up any such
proposals.
Timpson said removal of FLDS children in Texas could be tied back historically
to Utah's move in 1935 to elevate polygamy from misdemeanor to felony status.
That caused polygamists to seek isolated locales safe from scrutiny.
"My belief is that the somewhat ill-conceived bigamy statute needs to be
revised," he said. "It is outmoded [and] I doubt it would stand constitutional
scrutiny at this time."
Lujan, an Arizona lawmaker, came under fire for proposed legislation that would
bar men who married underage girls to get custody of their children in domestic
disputes.
Earlier in the day, three panels spoke about media coverage of polygamous
communities.
One panel, comprised of plural wives from all but the FLDS community, said media
tend to miss the diversity of the various groups, which collectively have about
35,000 members.
Speakers from nonprofit social ser vice groups said that many children they deal
with have little or no education and suffer emotional problems.
Michelle Benward, whose organization New Frontiers for Families began working
with FLDS teens two years ago, said many of the children she helps have been
torn by watching images of the raid on the FLDS ranch in Texas. The raid has
"broken many hearts, she said.
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
LINK:
Polygamy
LDS says: Wikileaks web site violated its policy handbook
copyrights
by Lisa Carricaburu
A Web site that publishes anonymous submissions of
difficult-to-obtain or private documents describes the LDS Church Handbook
of Instructions a source sent it as significant because "the book is strictly
confidential among the Mormon . . . bishops and stake presidents and it reveals
the procedure of handling confidential matters related to tithing payment,
excommunication, baptism and doctrine teaching [indoctrination]."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn't see anything
particularly secretive or sinister about the handbook used as a reference by
church leaders, but that doesn't mean it wants it to remain available on
Wikileaks or Web sites operated by the Wikimedia Foundation.
On Wednesday, spokesman Scott Trotter confirmed the church has sent a letter
alleging copyright infringement and requesting that material be immediately
removed from Web sites that have published it.
A church statement said it doesn't believe there's anything "particularly
newsworthy" in the handbook. "The church regularly quotes from the handbook when
giving policy positions to journalists," the statement said. "However, the
material is copyrighted. . . . In this case we have simply notified a particular
Web site that they have posted copyrighted material illegally and asked them to
remove it."
A Tuesday article on Wikinews, a Wikimedia Foundation-operated site put together
by volunteer editors, said the Wikimedia Foundation had received a copyright
infringement claim from the LDS Church after Wikinews published an April 19
article describing material in the church handbook obtained by Wikileaks, an
independent site not associated with Wikimedia.
Wikimedia spokesman Jay Walsh said Wednesday he knew of no letter from the LDS
Church, but added that Wikinews has removed from its articles all descriptions
from the handbook in qu estion.
Attempts to reach a Wikileaks representative Wednesday were unsuccessful.
However, the Tuesday Wikinews article quoted a Wikileaks spokesman as saying the
material will not be removed.
"Wikileaks will not remove the handbooks [the Church Handbook of Instructions is
a two-volume set], which are of substantial interest to current and former
Mormons," according to the article. "Wikileaks will remain a place where people
from around the world can safely reveal the truth."
It was unclear Wednesday how the LDS Church will react if Wikileaks does not
remove the handbook. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Trotter said.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9264235
Government May Not Play Favorites
Among Religions, Says AU's Lynn
Americans United for Separation of Church and State today urged the U.S. Supreme
Court to overturn a lower court decision dealing with a controversy over the
display of religious monuments in a Utah public park.
The case, Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, concerns an effort by a religious group
called Summum to have its “Seven Aphorisms” displayed in a public park in
Pleasant Grove, Utah. Summum argues that it should have the right to permanently
display its religious code in Pleasant Grove City’s Pioneer Park because the
public land already contains a Ten Commandments monument and other items.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of
Summum on free-speech grounds.
But Americans United and its allies argue that the case should really be looked
at as a church-state controversy.
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, said the case
raises an important conflict over the value of religious neutrality.
“It’s not the government’s job to display the symbols of any faith,” Lynn said.
“When government officials allow religious groups to place permanent monuments
on public land, the government is accountable for the message.
“Our government,” he continued, “should not -- and, under our Constitution, may
not -- pick-and-choose among religions. This principle stands at the very heart
of church-state separation.”
The AU brief asserts that government cannot play favorites among religions and
deny a minority religious request because of discomfort with the less-known
religious views.
“Religion plays so central a role in civic as well as personal identity in
American society that when government associates itself with, or expresses a
preference for, any denomination, it marks those of other faiths with a badge of
inferiority just as insidious as when government prefers one race to another,”
asserts the brief.
The brief was prepared by Americans United Legal Director Ayesha Khan, AU
Assistant Legal Director Richard Katskee and AU Madison Fellow Jessica Wolland,
in consultation with attorneys affiliated with allied religious and civil
liberties groups.
Joining Americans United on the brief are the American Jewish Committee, the
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, People For the American Way
Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League.
* * *
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of
church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom
New twist in tablets
case:
U.S. anti-bias group wants focus to be church-state
By E t h a n T h o m a s
June 25, 2008
The Anti-Defamation League announced
Tuesday that it has joined in a coalition brief, urging the U.S. Supreme Court
to consider the church-state aspects of the case involving a religious group's
desire to display a monument in a Pleasant Grove park.
A request by the religious group
Summum asking Pleasant Grove to display a monument depicting the group's Seven
Aphorisms was denied by the city, which has an existing Ten Commandments
monument in the park.
In April of last year, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Utah
federal judge's decision that the city must open its park to other such
monuments or remove them altogether for reasons of free speech. However, the ADL
strongly feels that the case has been presented incorrectly as a free-speech
case only.
"The case was presented in a strange way to the Supreme Court," said Steve
Freeman, ADL director of legal affairs. "It involves a religious display on
public property, which should naturally raise issues of church and state
separation, but up until now it has been framed as only a free-speech issue."
The brief was filed this week to the court, and rather than take sides on the
issue, the brief suggests that the issue is being looked at through the wrong
lens.
"We make a point in the brief that if the court looked at the issue through a
church-state lens, then the law prohibits government from discriminating against
minority religions," said Freeman. "In essence the city should not be taking
preference on certain denominations."
The ADL, which was founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization
dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism. The ADL is also a strong advocate for
church-state separation. In the coalition brief they joined with the American
Jewish Committee, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Baptist
Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and People For the American Way
Foundation.
"We hope they read it and take it into consideration; the justice system
oftentimes looks at these types of briefs to aid in the case background," said
Freeman. "We feel this is an extremely important aspect of the case, which is
why we have taken the time to tell the court about this."
Source:
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700237681,00.html
Alaska Gov. Palin
violated state-church separation
By G a r a n c e B u r
k e Associated Press October 12,
2008
WASILLA, Alaska — The camera closes
in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do
her part to implement God's will from the governor's office.
What she didn't tell worshippers
gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her
appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639
tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.
An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's
record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote
religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line
between church and state.
Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent
more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and
meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of
evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.
Palin was baptized Roman Catholic as a newborn and baptized again in a
Pentecostal Assemblies of God church when she was a teenager. She has worshipped
at a nondenominational Bible church since 2002, opposes abortion even in cases
of rape and incest, and supports classroom discussions about creationism.
Since she was named as John McCain's running mate, Palin's deep faith and
support for traditional moral values have rallied conservative voters who
initially appeared reluctant to back his campaign.
On a weekend trip from the capital in June, a minister from the Wasilla Assembly
of God blessed Palin and Lt. Gov Sean Parnell before a crowd gathered for the
"One Lord Sunday" event at the town's hockey rink. Later in the day, she
addressed the budding missionaries at her former church.
"As I'm doing my job, let's strike this deal. Your job is going to be out there,
reaching the people — (the) hurting people — throughout Alaska," she told
students graduating from the church's Masters Commission program. "We can work
together to make sure God's will be done here."
A spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, Maria Comella, said the state paid
for Palin's travel and meals on that trip, and for other meetings with Christian
groups, because she and her family were invited in their official capacity as
Alaska's first family. Parnell did not charge the state a per diem or ask to be
reimbursed for travel expenses that day.
"I understand the per diem policy is, I can claim it if I am away from my
residence for 12 hours or more. And Anchorage is where my residence is and I'm
based from. And this trip took about four hours of driving time and time at the
event, so I did not claim per diem for this one," Parnell told the AP.
Palin and her family billed the state $3,022 for the cost of attending Christian
gatherings exclusively, including visits to the Assembly of God here and to the
congregation they attend in Juneau, according to expense reports reviewed by the
AP.
Experts say those trips fall into an ethically gray area, since Democrats and
Republicans alike often visit religious venues for personal and official
reasons.
J. Brent Walker, who runs a group based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for
church-state separation, said based on a reporter's account, Palin's June
excursion raised questions.
"Politicians are entitled to freely exercise their religion while in office, but
ethically if not legally that part of her trip ought to not be charged to
taxpayers," said Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for
Religious Liberty. "It's still fundamentally a religious and spiritual
experience she is having."
The Palins billed the state an additional $10,094 in expenses for other
multi-day trips that included worship services or religiously themed events, but
also involved substantial state business, including the governor's inaugural
ball and an oil and gas conference in New Orleans.
Palin also submitted $998 in expenses for a June trip to Anchorage that included
a bill signing at Congregation Beth Shalom synagogue, the only non-Christian
house of worship she has visited since taking office, according to the McCain
campaign.
In response to an AP request, Comella provided a list showing that since January
2007 the governor had attended 25 "faith-based events," including funerals and
community meetings held at churches. Many did not appear on the governor's
schedule or her travel records.
Palin has said publicly her personal opinions don't "bleed on over into
policies."
Still, after the AP reported the governor had accepted tainted donations during
her 2006 campaign, she announced she would donate the $2,100 to three charities,
including an Anchorage nonprofit aimed at "sharing God's love" to dissuade young
women from having abortions.
An AP review of her time as mayor, from late 1996 to 2002, also reveals a
commingling of church and state.
Records of her mayoral correspondence show that Palin worked arduously to
organize a day of prayer at city hall. She said that with local ministers' help,
Wasilla — a city of 7,000 an hour's drive north of Anchorage — could become "a
light, or a refuge for others in Alaska and America."
"What a blessing that the Lord has already put into place the Christian leaders,
even though I know it's all through the grace of God," she wrote in March 2000
to her former pastor. She thanked him for the loan of a video featuring a Kenyan
preacher who later would pray for her protection from witchcraft as she sought
higher office.
In that same period, she also joined a grass-roots, faith-based movement to stop
the local hospital from performing abortions, a fight that ultimately lost
before the Alaska Supreme Court.
Palin's former church and other evangelical denominations were instrumental in
ousting members of Valley Hospital's board who supported abortion rights —
including the governor's mother-in-law, Faye Palin.
Alaska Right to Life Director Karen Lewis, who led the campaign, said Palin
wasn't a leader in the movement initially. But by 1997, after she had been
elected mayor, Palin joined a hospital board to make sure the abortion ban held
while the courts considered whether the ban was legal, Lewis said.
"We kept pro-life people like Sarah on the association board to ensure children
of the womb would be protected," Lewis said. "She's made up of this great fiber
of high morals and godly character, and yet she's fearless. She's someone you
can depend on to carry the water."
In November 2007, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that because the hospital
received more than $10 million in public funds it was "quasi-public" and
couldn't forbid legal abortions.
Comella said Palin joined the hospital's broader association in the mid-1990s.
Records show she was elected to the nonprofit's board in 2000.
Ties among those active at the time still run deep: In November, Palin was a
keynote speaker at Lewis' "Proudly Pro-Life Dinner" in Anchorage, and the
governor billed taxpayers a $60 per diem fee for her work that day.
Palin also is one of just two governors who channeled federal money to support
religious groups through a state agency, Alaska's Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives. Palin has made it a priority to unite faith communities,
local nonprofits and government to serve the needy, bringing her high marks —
and $500,000 — from the Bush administration.
In fiscal year 2008, Alaska was one of only four states to receive $500,000 in
federal grant money from the national initiative.
"The governor has a healthy appreciation for faith-based groups that serve
Alaskans in need," said Jay Hein, who until recently directed national
faith-based initiatives at the White House. "The grant speaks to their
organizational strength, and the dynamism of Alaska's operation."
Several Catholic and Christian charities received funding, including $20,000 for
a Fairbanks homeless shelter that views itself as a "stable door of evangelism
and Christian service" and $36,000 for a drop-in center at an Anchorage mall
that seeks to demonstrate "the unconditional love of Jesus to teenagers."
The state ensures all faith-based groups keep a strict separation between their
work in the community and their prayer services to ensure recipients don't feel
coerced, said Tara Horton, a special assistant to the Alaska Department of
Health and Social Services. Though staffers reached out to nonprofits and
religious groups of many faiths, mostly Christian organizations applied for
funding, she said.
In June, when Alaska legislators decided to cut $712,000 in state support for
the office, Parnell sent lawmakers an urgent letter asking them to put it back
in the budget. A small portion of state funding was later restored.
"Gov. Palin is motivated by the needs out there, and faith-based and community
initiatives are a great way to do that," Parnell said. "It matters not to state
government what religion people belong to, so long as they are serving the
public and the money they receive is used appropriately."
Still, a state worker who directs an Anchorage-based group that advocates for
church-state separation, Lloyd Eggan, said Palin's administration hasn't done
enough to assure voters that government money doesn't support ministry.
"That sort of thing is exactly what courts have said is barred by the First
Amendment," Eggan said.
source: deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705254723,00.html
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Government-Approved Prayer 
Larry Waggoner – In regard to the opening ceremony and prayer issue, Mr.
Waggoner stated hiring a City Chaplain would not work. He said the City would
still need to allow anyone that wanted to say a prayer to do so. To answer
Councilmember Fryer’s questions about nondenominational prayer, he explained a
nondenominational prayer is where you do not make reference to God as he or she
or make reference to Jesus Christ. It could be considered partially religious.
Councilmember Fryer said she didn’t know how to give a prayer like that. Mr.
Waggoner said he didn’t either. Councilmember Fryer asked if the word
“non-denominational” had to stay in the resolution or if it could be re-worded.
Mayor Waggoner said it could be reworded. Larry Waggoner said it would have to
be non-denominational because that’s the requirement. Councilmember Fryer
pointed out she was not against having a prayer. Larry Waggoner said his
suggestion right from the beginning was to not have a prayer. He further
explained the reason why prayer was discontinued from Council Meetings at the
beginning of this year was because he recommended removing prayer because by
keeping it on, it would invite trouble. He advised those people who are
religious to have their own personal prayer before coming to Council Meeting. He
expressed about holding a non-denominational prayer in the opening ceremony, it
would open up the possibility of a lawsuit or for someone to come and make a
mockery of prayer. In referring to the prayer that the West Valley City man
wanted to give (the man who brought this whole issue up), Mr. Waggoner commented
it was nothing but a big farce; however, the Supreme Court would support it more
than likely. Councilmember Anderson questioned if a moment of silence would be a
viable option after the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. Larry Waggoner
responded that would be a possibility. Mayor Waggoner stated if a moment of
silence were held, it would still be open to anyone. Councilmember Anderson
replied that anyone would have to be silent too. Larry Waggoner said just about
any type of observance opens up the potential for problems. Larry Waggoner
suggested the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance is about as far as
the City should go. He added to the Council that nevertheless, they could choose
what to do because they are the elected officials. Mr. Waggoner noted he prays
all the time but not in public. Mayor Waggoner asked the Council if they would
like to bring this matter back again to a future agenda. Councilmember Barlow
said he would like to postpone it for a while because he will be out of town for
the next Council Meeting.