Vitter secures $100K for Louisiana anti-evolution group | Nick Juliano | Published: Monday September 24, 2007
Religous conservatives receiving funds have political ties to embattled senator
In a move ostensibly aimed at providing "better science education" in Louisiana schools, Sen. David Vitter has secured $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to fund an anti-evolution effort spearheaded by a religious group politically connected to the alleged prostitute-soliciting Republican.
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The group was founded by Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana state lawmaker who now leads the conservative Family Research Council. The Louisiana Family Forum works to "present biblical principals" on public policy issues, and until a reporter questioned them about it, the group's Web site included a "battle plan to combat evolution," which argued the theory "has no place in the classroom."
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The political ties between Vitter and the group go beyond some much-needed recent PR help and stretch to the senator's first campaign in 2004, although the Family Forum's tax exempt status prohibits it from engaging in political activity, the Times Picayune reports.
"Dan Richey, the group's grass-roots coordinator, was paid $17,250 as a consultant in Vitter's 2004 Senate race," according to the newspaper. "Records also show that Vitter's campaign employed Beryl Amedée, the education resource council chairwoman for the Louisiana Family Forum." ...
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"This is a misappropriation of public funds," Charles Kincade, a civil rights lawyer in Monroe, La., who has been involved in church-state cases told the Times Picayune. "It's a backdoor attempt to push a religious agenda in the public school system."
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
"There is a feeling that religion is being forced on an unwilling public," ... religion represented condemning gays, stem cell research, contraception
In Europe and U.S., Nonbelievers Are Increasingly Vocal | By Mary Jordan | Washington Post Foreign Service | Saturday, September 15, 2007; Page A01
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Wright, 59, said he was overwhelmed by a feeling that religion had become a negative influence in his life and the world. Although he once considered becoming an Anglican vicar, he suddenly found that religion represented nothing he believed in, from Muslim extremists blowing themselves up in God's name to Christians condemning gays, contraception and stem cell research.
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"There is a feeling that religion is being forced on an unwilling public, and now people are beginning to speak out against what they see as rising Islamic and Christian militancy," Sanderson said.
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Though the number of nonbelievers speaking their minds is rising, academics say it's impossible to calculate how many people silently share that view. Many people who do not consider themselves religious or belong to any faith group often believe, even if vaguely, in a supreme being or an afterlife. Others are not sure what they believe.
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But the church has disproportionate power and influence in Parliament, she said. For example, she said, polls show that 80 percent of Britons want the terminally ill who are in pain to have the right to a medically assisted death, yet such proposals have been effectively killed by a handful of powerful bishops.
"We can't accept that religious faiths have a monopoly on ethics, morality and spirituality," Massey said. Now, she added, humanist and secularist groups are becoming "more confident and more powerful" and recognize that they represent the wishes of huge numbers of people.
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He and others said secular groups are also gaining strength in countries where religious influence over society looms large, including India, Israel and Turkey. "Any time we see an outspoken movement against religion, it tells us that religion has power there," Zuckerman said. ...
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Wright, 59, said he was overwhelmed by a feeling that religion had become a negative influence in his life and the world. Although he once considered becoming an Anglican vicar, he suddenly found that religion represented nothing he believed in, from Muslim extremists blowing themselves up in God's name to Christians condemning gays, contraception and stem cell research.
...
"There is a feeling that religion is being forced on an unwilling public, and now people are beginning to speak out against what they see as rising Islamic and Christian militancy," Sanderson said.
...
Though the number of nonbelievers speaking their minds is rising, academics say it's impossible to calculate how many people silently share that view. Many people who do not consider themselves religious or belong to any faith group often believe, even if vaguely, in a supreme being or an afterlife. Others are not sure what they believe.
...
But the church has disproportionate power and influence in Parliament, she said. For example, she said, polls show that 80 percent of Britons want the terminally ill who are in pain to have the right to a medically assisted death, yet such proposals have been effectively killed by a handful of powerful bishops.
"We can't accept that religious faiths have a monopoly on ethics, morality and spirituality," Massey said. Now, she added, humanist and secularist groups are becoming "more confident and more powerful" and recognize that they represent the wishes of huge numbers of people.
...
He and others said secular groups are also gaining strength in countries where religious influence over society looms large, including India, Israel and Turkey. "Any time we see an outspoken movement against religion, it tells us that religion has power there," Zuckerman said. ...
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Only army religious radio: Dominionist and Apocalyptic: This tells Muslims they face a new Christian Crusade.
Armed Forces Radio Broadcasts Only One Religious Program; No Surprise that It Is Dominionist and Apocalyptic | www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/8/32210/85815
sent by emf since 1 day 3 hours 7 minutes, published about 23 hours 5 minutes
The ONLY religious service broadcast to American service men and women by the Pentagon-run Armed Forces Network Radio is the Coral Ridge Hour. This is wrong on so many levels; it is unconstitutional, unfair, unrepresentative and unsafe. The Coral Ridge Hour website is full of radio and TV clips that can be understood only as justifying the Iraq invasion and the GWOT from a fundamentalist Christian point of view. This tells Muslims they face a new Christian Crusade.
sent by emf since 1 day 3 hours 7 minutes, published about 23 hours 5 minutes
The ONLY religious service broadcast to American service men and women by the Pentagon-run Armed Forces Network Radio is the Coral Ridge Hour. This is wrong on so many levels; it is unconstitutional, unfair, unrepresentative and unsafe. The Coral Ridge Hour website is full of radio and TV clips that can be understood only as justifying the Iraq invasion and the GWOT from a fundamentalist Christian point of view. This tells Muslims they face a new Christian Crusade.
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