There was an interesting story on CNN on Wednesday. It seems that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) wants his fellow Democrats to court the votes of Christian Evangelicals – who seem to be in the pocket of Republicans more often than not. Such talk causes me to pause because I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. What exactly does Obama mean when he said “Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation. Context matters…”
Category: Positive
A judge in Iowa ruled that a program for inmates in the Newton Correctional Facility was a Bible-based prison program that violated the First Amendment’s freedom of religion clause by using state funds to promote Christianity to inmates.
Prison Fellowship Ministries was sued in 2003 by Americans United for Separation of Church and State led by Rev. Barry Lynn.
The judge ruled that the Iowa program advanced evangelical Christianity at the expense of other religions and the non-religious with special perks for inmate participants and it used state tax money to do it.
My friend Dan Birtcher, who organized a protest of the so-called National Day of Prayer, reports that the protest went well and no one was arrested. Read a note he sent out about the event and I included a link to some photos.
Press release from The Secular Coalition for America announces the addition of Dr. Michael Newdow and Julia Sweeney to its advisory board.