• "Appeals Court Rules Against Principals in Christian Candy Cane Case": A federal appeals court ruled against two school principals in Plano, Texas, who prohibited students from handing out candy cane pens and other materials that contained short Christian messages.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected the school officials' motion to dismiss the case and ruled that they violated the students' constitutional rights.
• "Florida School Sued for Banning Bible Distribution": A mission group on Thursday sued a Florida district school board for banning Bible distribution on public school campuses on Religious Freedom Day.
For years, the Collier County School District allowed World Changers to offer Bibles to interested students during non-school hours on Jan. 16 in honor of Religious Freedom Day. But since last year, the superintendent and the Community Request Committee have refused to grant permission to the Southern Baptist Convention-related mission group to do so. School officials claim Bibles do not provide any educational benefit to the students and thus distribution should stop.
• "ACLU Presses Gov't to Ensure Faith-Based Hospitals Provide Emergency Abortions":
The American Civil Liberties Union is pressing a federal health agency to ensure that religiously-affiliated hospitals provide emergency reproductive care as required by federal law.
"The lives and health of pregnant women seeking medical care should be of paramount importance," expressed Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, in a statement Thursday. "No woman should have to worry that she will not receive the care she needs based on the affiliation of the nearest hospital."
In a letter dated Thursday, the ACLU asked the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to investigate situations in which the lives and health of patients were jeopardized as a result of hospitals' adherence to religious doctrine, rather than medical ethics.
• "Influential Pastor Warns of Socialism, Departure from God": America currently stands in a very dangerous position, said renowned pastor and author Dr. Charles Stanley. Today more than ever, the country is turning away from God and moving closer toward socialism, he warned. And the consequences will be grave.
"We know the truth, we know the principles of God. In spite of all that, we find ourselves as a nation violating the laws of God, heading in a direction that is going to be disastrous for us, for our children and the generations that are to come unless there is a change," he said.
• "Summer Camp Caters to Kids of Atheists, Agnostics": Camp Quest is a sleep-away camp for the children of atheists, agnostics, humanists and other nonbelievers, though kids from religious families are welcome, too.
Most of the time, the kids do normal camp stuff such as hike, compete in relay races, sit around campfires.
But the overarching philosophy is that life without religion is a perfectly healthy, viable option.
Started in 1996, Camp Quest emphasizes critical thinking and the scientific method. Counselors lead philosophical discussions about topics such as the nature of happiness.
• "Kagan Dodges Question on Whether Catholic Recruiters Would Be Banned from Harvard": Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, who banned military recruiters from Harvard Law School’s career services office when she was dean of the school, declined to say whether she would have also banned the Catholic Church from recruiting on campus.
... On Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asked Kagan whether she would have applied the same policy to the Catholic Church, if it were looking to recruit and hire lawyers on Harvard’s campus.
The Catholic Church does not allow women to become priests, Graham noted. Catholic teaching, incidentally, also says that homosexuality is a moral disorder and the practice thereof cannot be condoned.
Kagan did not deny that her application of Harvard’s policy would have excluded the Catholic Church.
The headlines provide daily "entertainment", don't they? Now, where's my Maalox ...
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