US Catholic Church now playing political hardball, critics say | Raw Story

US Catholic Church now playing political hardball, critics say | Raw Story

In its efforts to influence health care reform and oppose same-sex marriage, the Catholic Church is wading more deeply into politics than it has in recent memory, observers say.

The church's role in politics came into sharp relief this week when the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Washington, D.C., diocese threatened to cease its charitable activities if the D.C. city council went ahead with a plan to allow same-sex marriages.

The church's social services arm provides support to 68,000 people in the District of Columbia, among them the homeless and those in need of health care. It has received $8.2 million in funding from the D.C. government in the past three years, according to the city council.

Peter Rosenstein of the Campaign for All D.C. Families described the church's move as an attempt to "blackmail the city.

"The issue here is they are using public funds, and to allow people to discriminate with public money is unacceptable," Rosenstein told the Post. ...

UN investigator accuses US of shameful neglect of homeless | World news | guardian.co.uk

UN investigator accuses US of shameful neglect of homeless | World news | guardian.co.uk

A United Nations special investigator who was blocked from visiting the US by the Bush administration has accused the American government of pouring billions of dollars into rescuing banks and big business while treating as "invisible" a deepening homeless crisis.

Raquel Rolnik, the UN special rapporteur for the right to adequate housing, who has just completed a seven-city tour of America, said it was shameful that a country as wealthy as the US was not spending more money on lifting its citizens out of homelessness and substandard, overcrowded housing.

"The housing crisis is invisible for many in the US," she said. "I learned through this visit that real affordable housing and poverty is something that hasn't been dealt with as an issue. Even if we talk about the financial crisis and government stepping in in order to promote economic recovery, there is no such help for the homeless."

She added: "I think those who are suffering the most in this whole situation are the very poor, the low-income population. The burden is disproportionately on them and it's of course disproportionately on African-Americans, on Latinos and immigrant communities, and on Native Americans."

Rolnik toured Chicago, New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Wilkes-Barre, a Pennsylvania town where this year the first four sheriff sales – public auctions of seized property – in the county included 598 foreclosed properties. She also visited a Native American reservation.

The US government does not tally the numbers but interested organisations say that more than 3 million people were homeless at some point over the past year. The fastest growing segment of the homeless population is families with children, often single parents. On any given night in Los Angeles, about 17,000 parents and children are homeless. Most will be found a place in a shelter but many single men and women are forced to sleep on the streets. ...

Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum on same-sex marriage issue - washingtonpost.com

Catholic Church gives D.C. ultimatum on same-sex marriage issue - washingtonpost.com

By Tim Craig and Michelle Boorstein

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.

Fearful that they could be forced, among other things, to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, church officials said they would have no choice but to abandon their contracts with the city.

"If the city requires this, we can't do it," Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said Wednesday. "The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem."

Several D.C. Council members said the Catholic Church is trying to erode the city's long-standing laws protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination. ...

Madfloridian's Journal - Religious right demands government stay out of health care, demands it intrude into our bedrooms.

Madfloridian's Journal - Religious right demands government stay out of health care, demands it intrude into our bedrooms.
Sun Oct 18th 2009, 01:26 AM

... and into the doctors' office when women need reproductive care. And into the pharmacies when women need contraception and emergency treatment to prevent pregnancy.

Just think about those stances. They are out yelling to keep the government out of Medicare (a government program)...they are yelling that government play no role, saying it is socialist.

Yet they want government right in the middle of the sex life of women, looking out for their reproductive rights, forbidding them to have abortions.

They are right in the middle of sexual preference, instead of staying out of peoples' private business.

It does not occur to them how foolish it all sounds.

There's an interesting post at RH Reality Check called When Church becomes State

She makes some interesting points, but there is one that stands out. It again shows the utter hypocrisy of many on the religious right.

When you’re in the Peace Corps, you expect culture shock. But it’s generally not supposed to come from your countrymen. Among many foreign experiences I had in Honduras a decade ago, interpreting for a brigade of fundamentalist Christian doctors was perhaps the most disturbing. ...

US dollar has lost about 60% of its value against the euro; oil quitupled;

Paul Craig Roberts: War Abroad, Poverty at Home May 23, 2008
...
As the US is broke and deep in debt, every one of the $165 billion dollars will have to be borrowed. American consumers are also broke and deep in debt. Their zero saving rate means every one of the $165 billion dollars will have to be borrowed from foreigners.

The “world’s only superpower” is so broke it can’t even finance its own wars.

Each additional dollar that the irresponsible Bush Regime has to solicit from foreigners puts more downward pressure on the dollar’s value. During the eight wasted and extravagant years of the Bush Regime, the once mighty US dollar has lost about 60% of its value against the euro.

The dollar has lost even more of its value against gold and oil.

Before Bush began his wars of aggression, oil was $25 a barrel. Today it is $130 a barrel. Some of this rise may result from run-away speculation in the futures market. However, the main cause is the eroding value of the dollar. Oil is real, and unlike paper dollars is limited in supply. With US massive trade and budget deficits, the outpouring of dollar obligations mounts, thus driving down the value of the dollar.

Each time the dollar price of oil rises, the US trade deficit rises, requiring more foreign financing of US energy use. Bush has managed to drive the US oil import bill up from $106 billion in 2006 to approximately $500 billion 18 months later--every dollar of which has to be financed by foreigners.

Without foreign money, the US “superpower” cannot finance its imports or its government’s operation.

When the oil price rises, Americans, who are increasingly poor, cannot pay their winter heating bills. Thus, the Senate’s military spending bill contains more heating subsidies for America’s growing legion of poor people.

The rising price of energy drives up the price of producing and transporting all goods, but American incomes are not rising except for the extremely rich.
...
The Republican Party is willing to fund war, but sees everything else as an extravagance. The neoconized war party is destroying the economic prospects of American citizens. Is “war abroad and poverty at home” the Republican campaign slogan for the November election?
...
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. ...

John Hagee's Christians United For Israel routinely sing [about] Israel's coming, expected invasion and devastation.

John Hagee's Church Sings For The Invasion and Devastation of Israel | By Bruce Wilson | Wed May 21, 2008

Two days ago I discovered that, according to John Hagee's own written words in Hagee's "Prophecy Study Bible", members of John Hagee's Christians United For Israel routinely sing, at their "Night To Honor Israel" events, a joyful-sounding song which, in scriptural terms, refers to Israel's coming, expected invasion and devastation. Building on my last discovery, of a John Hagee sermon in which John Hagee claims God sent Hitler and the Nazis, to chase Europe's Jews towards Palestine, and that Jews have dead (or non-living, inert) souls (see YouTube video towards the end of this post), this new finding helps solidify my case that Pastor John Hagee, who also has given a sermon espousing a crypto anti-Semitic conspiracy theory - of "international financial power brokers based in Europe", is an anti-Semite of the first magnitude. ...

McCain Pastor:"America was founded with the intention of seeing this false religion [Islam] destroyed,"

McCain Pastor: Islam Is a 'Conspiracy of Spiritual Evil' | McCain Called Pastor 'One of the Truly Great Leaders in America' | By BRIAN ROSS, AVNI PATEL and REHAB EL-BURI

May 22, 2008— Despite his call for the U.S. to win the "hearts and minds of the Islamic world," Sen. John McCain recruited the support of an evangelical minister who describes Islam as "anti-Christ" and Mohammed as "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil."

McCain sought the support of Pastor Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio at a critical time in his campaign in February, when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was continuing to draw substantial support from the Christian right.

At a campaign appearance in Cincinnati, McCain introduced Parsley as "one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide."

Campaign aides positioned Parsley right behind McCain for photographers, apparently unconcerned about Parsley's well-established denunciations of the Islamic faith in a book "Silent No More" and on DVDs of sermons about Islam.

"Islam is an anti-Christ religion that intends through violence to conquer the world," Parsley says on the DVDs reviewed by ABC News.

"America was founded with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed," Parsley says, "and I believe Sept. 11, 2001 was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore."

Parsley's views and his connection to the McCain campaign are now beginning to show up on Arab Web sites and newspapers.

McCain Finally Rejects Hagee's Support ... [after ignoring slight to Catholics, comments about Jews go too far for McCain. ed.]

McCain Finally Rejects Hagee's Support -- And Makes It All About Obama And Wright | By Eric Kleefeld - May 22, 2008, 3:57PM

The controversy surrounding John Hagee's endorsement has finally gotten to John McCain. In the wake of new quotes being circulated by the Huffington Post in which Hagee called Hitler an instrument of God's will, McCain has now rejected Hagee's support.

"Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them," McCain told CNN in a statement. "I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well." ...

McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will (AUDIO) - Politics on The Huffington Post

McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will (AUDIO) - Politics on The Huffington PostMay 21, 2008

John Hagee, the controversial evangelical leader and endorser of Sen. John McCain, argued in a late 1990s sermon that the Nazis had operated on God's behalf to chase the Jews from Europe and shepherd them to Palestine. According to the Reverend, Adolph Hitler was a "hunter," sent by God, who was tasked with expediting God's will of having the Jews re-establish a state of Israel.
...
As Wilson notes, in his 2006 book "Jerusalem Countdown", Hagee proposed the theory that "anti-Semitism, and thus the Holocaust, was the fault of Jews themselves -- the result of an age old divine curse incurred by the ancient Hebrews through worshiping idols and passed, down the ages, to all Jews now alive." He also wrote that "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews."

Hagee is considered, in many political circles, to be one of the most passionate and strident supporters of Israel. He has spoken at AIPAC conferences and leads the evangelical group Christians United for Israel. But his views of the country, while possibly shared by others in the evangelical community, can be, at times, startling. Holding to the belief that Armageddon will come to earth following the reestablishment of the Kingdom of Israel, Hagee has advocated an aggressive war against Iran and has opposed any Israeli military withdrawal from the West Bank.

McCain, at least in the public record, has sought to thread the needle with the Hagee association: distancing himself from the controversial comment while reaping the political benefits of the Reverend's endorsement. Appearing on ABC's "'This Week" in late April 2008, McCain criticized Hagee's past remarks on the Catholic Church, but said that, "I admire and appreciate his advocacy for the state of Israel, the independence of the state of Israel." ...

Pregnant, unmarried Catholic school teacher forced to quit ... [yet school is covered by US employment law?]

Pregnant, unmarried Catholic school teacher forced to quit | David Edwards and Mike Sheehan | Published: Wednesday February 13, 2008

An unmarried teacher alleges that she was forced to resign from a Minnesota Catholic school after informing the principal she was pregnant.

The teacher, "Emily," who asks that her last name not be used, says she is coming forward in order to help other women who may be in a similar situation.

"I just don't want it to happen to anybody else," says the former 5th-grade teacher at St. Felix School in Wabasha. "I feel it was an unjust act and I don't feel that ... anybody deserves to be treated in the way I was." ...

“I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”

Watch Out for those Terrible Atheists | by Lee Salisbury / February 12th, 2008

A recent study conducted by the University of Minnesota shows that atheists are more distrusted and despised than any other minority and that an atheist is the last person for whom Americans would vote in a presidential election. “Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians” all ranked higher than atheists in public acceptability. Furthermore, Americans are “least willing to allow their children to marry” atheists.

State laws instill and perpetuate this attitude. Article IX, Sec. 2, of the Tennessee constitution states: “No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments shall hold any office in the civil department of this state.” Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas have similar laws.

George H. W. Bush while campaigning for President in 1987 exhibited this same attitude, “I don’t know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.”

Florida: Only 22 percent want public schools to teach an evolution-only curriculum

Schools | Public: Faith trumps science | Proposed teaching standards are at odds with what most Floridians believe. | By Ron Matus and Donna Winchester, Times Staff Writers | Published February 15, 2008

Florida parents don't have much faith in evolution.

Only 22 percent want public schools to teach an evolution-only curriculum, while 50 percent want only faith-based theories such as creationism or intelligent design, according to a new St. Petersburg Times survey.

"I have a very firm religious background," said Betty Lininger of Lecanto, who is raising her 15-year-old niece and thinks public schools should teach intelligent design but not evolution. "I can't just shove it out the door."

The survey findings stand in stark contrast to the state's proposed new science standards, which describe evolution as the pillar of modern biology and do not include alternative theories.
...
Twenty-nine percent said evolution is one of several valid theories. Another 16 percent said evolution is not backed up by enough evidence. And 19 percent said evolution is not valid because it is at odds with the Bible. ...

"Every time I hear the word “conservative,” it makes me sick to my stomach, because they’re really just fake Christians, "

Charles Barkley on The Situation Room: GOP full of “fake Christians” | By: Nicole Belle on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 7:00 PM - PST

Charles Barkley appeared on The Situation Room to promote Barack Obama’s candidacy. As you may remember, Barkley was a very vocal Republican not that many years ago. Well, no more. Barkley’s disgust with the Republican Party was so palpable that Wolf Blitzer could only flounder to try to make it a little less vitriolic.

BARKLEY: Hey, I live in Arizona. I have got great respect for Senator McCain. Great respect. But I don’t like the way the Republicans are taking this country. Every time I hear the word “conservative,” it makes me sick to my stomach, because they’re really just fake Christians, as I call them. That’s all they are. But I just — I’m going to vote Democratic no matter what. [..]

BLITZER: All right. One quick point before I let you go. You used the phrase “fake Christians” for conservatives. Explain what you’re talking about.

BARKLEY: Well, I think they — they want to be judge and jury. Like, I’m for gay marriage. It’s none of my business if gay people want to get married. I’m pro-choice. And I think these Christians — first of all, they’re supposed to be — they’re not supposed to judge other people. But they’re the most hypocritical judge of people we have in this country. And it bugs the hell out of me. They act like their Christians. And they’re not forgiving at all.

BLITZER: So you’re going to get a lot of feedback on this one, Charles.

BARKLEY: They can’t do anything to me. I don’t work for them.

religious right has long coveted control of the Texas State Board of Education ... [drive "intelligent design" into schools?]

Texas School Board Showdown | By Frederick Clarkson | Mon Feb 25, 2008

The religious right has long coveted control of the Texas State Board of Education. There are many reasons, but one of them is the disproportionate influence of Texas in purchasing textbooks. For decades, Texas-based religious right activists have wielded national influence in because of the sheer purchasing power of the Texas schools. The state board has say over what books will be approved for use in the state's public schools, and the religious right has been a powerful lobby. Now, however, the religious right is within striking distance of outright control of the 15 member board.

At stake is control over billions of dollars of the state education budget and trust fund, and how such subjects as history, science, and religion are taught in Texas, and possibly, around the country. In the wake of this year's elections, the state science curriculum is up for review, and there is legitimate concern that creationism and or its kissin' cousin, "intelligent design" will be shoe-horned into the curriculum. ...
...
Meanwhile, the Ft. Worth Star Telegrram reports

AUSTIN -- Although little noticed by the public, the race for a local seat on the State Board of Education could lead to a dramatic ideological shift on the panel and -- by extension -- in Texas school policy.

That's the word from several board observers, who say a March 4 primary victory by challenger Barney Maddox over incumbent Pat Hardy for the Fort Worth-area District 11 seat would give social conservatives their first majority on the board. ...

alleges a "pernicious pattern and practice" of infringement of religious liberties in the military

US military accused of harboring fundamentalism | by Roland Lloyd Parry | Thu Feb 14, 9:04 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Since his last combat deployment in Iraq, Jeremy Hall has had a rough time, getting shoved and threatened by his fellow soldiers. The trouble started there when he would not pray in the mess hall.

"A senior ranking staff sergeant told me to leave and sit somewhere else because I refused to pray," Hall, a 23-year-old US army specialist, told AFP.

Later, Hall was confronted by a major for holding an authorized meeting of "atheists and freethinkers" on his base. The officer threatened to discipline him and block his re-enlistment.

"He said: 'You guys are being a problem and problems can be removed,'" Hall said. "He was yelling at us and stuff and at the very end he says, 'I really love you guys, I want you to see the light.'"

Now Hall is suing the major and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, accusing them of breaching his constitutional rights. A campaign group, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, is waiting for the Pentagon to respond to a lawsuit filed in a Kansas federal court on Hall's behalf.

It alleges a "pernicious pattern and practice" of infringement of religious liberties in the military. ...

accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior appears [seems to be as important] the vigorous physical and mental exercises the troops must endure

Military Evangelism Deeper, Wider Than First Thought | By Jason Leopold | t r u t h o u t | Report | Friday 21 December 2007

For US Army soldiers entering basic training at Fort Jackson Army base in Columbia, South Carolina, accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior appears to be as much a part of the nine-week regimen as the vigorous physical and mental exercises the troops must endure.

That's the message directed at Fort Jackson soldiers, some of whom appear in photographs in government issued fatigues, holding rifles in one hand, and Bibles in their other hand.

Frank Bussey, director of Military Ministry at Fort Jackson, has been telling soldiers at Fort Jackson that "government authorities, police and the military = God's Ministers,"

Bussey's teachings from the "God's Basic Training" Bible study guide he authored says US troops have "two primary responsibilities": "to praise those who do right" and "to punish those who do evil - "God's servant, an angel of wrath." Bussey's teachings directed at Fort Jackson soldiers were housed on the Military Ministry at Fort Jackson web site. Late Wednesday, the web site was taken down without explanation. Bussey did not return calls for comment. The web site text, however, can still be viewed in an archived format. ...

The "Founding Fathers" on Religion, and Crackpots - Part one: Franklin

The "Founding Fathers" on Religion, and Crackpots - Part one: Franklin | by Bob Higgins | January 16, 2008

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies."
[Benjamin Franklin, in _Toward The Mystery_]

"My parents had early given me religious impressions, and brought me through my childhood piously in the dissenting [puritan]way. But I was scarce fifteen, when, after doubting by turns of several points, as I found them disputed in the different books I read, I began to doubt of Revelation itself. Some books against Deism fell into my hands; they were said to be the substance of sermons preached at Boyle's lectures. [Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was a British physicist who endowed the Boyle Lectures for defense of Christianity.]It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough deist"
[Benjamin Franklin, "Autobiography,"p.66 as published in The American Tradition in Literature, seventh edition (short), McGraw-Hill,p.180]

The White House's Super Christian Christmas Card | Huffington Post | Danny Shea | December 13, 2007 11:07 AM

This morning on "The View," Barbara Walters displayed the Christmas card she recently received from the White House. She said it was the most religious White House Christmas card in her memory. The card included explicit religious references beyond just a bible verse.

The super-Christian card features a verse from Nehemiah (Old Testament, it should be noted):

You alone are the LORD.
You made the heavens, even the highest heavens,
and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them.
You give life to everything,
and the multitudes of heaven worship you.
NEHEMIAH 9:6 (NIV)

But whereas in previous years the President and the First Lady opted for messages of happiness, goodwill, and peace, this year featured the following closer:

May the joy of all creation fill your heart this blessed season 2007.

It is then signed by both George and Laura Bush.

Texas ousts State director of science ... for forwarding an e-mail message about a talk by a distinguished professor who debunks “intelligent design”

Evolution and Texas | Published: December 4, 2007

Is Texas about to become the next state to undermine the teaching of evolution? That is the scary implication of the abrupt ousting of Christine Comer, the state’s top expert on science education. Her transgression: forwarding an e-mail message about a talk by a distinguished professor who debunks “intelligent design” and creationism as legitimate alternatives to evolution in the science curriculum.
...
In most states, we hope, the state department of education would take the lead in ensuring that students receive a sound scientific education. But it was the Texas Education Agency that pushed out Ms. Comer after 27 years as a science teacher and 9 years as the agency’s director of science.

As Ralph Blumenthal reported in The Times yesterday, Ms. Comer forwarded to a local online community an e-mail message from a pro-evolution group announcing a talk by Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University. Professor Forrest testified as an expert witness in a 2005 Dover, Pa., case that found intelligent design supernatural and theological and definitely not part of a scientific education.

An hour later, Ms. Comer was called in by superiors, pressured to send out a retraction and ultimately forced to resign. ...

Judge: tax funding of an evangelical Christian rehabilitation program at an Iowa state prison violates the separation of church and state and must end

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Public Funding Of Evangelical Prison Program In Iowa | Monday, December 3, 2007

Americans United Praises Court Ruling That Upholds Separation Of Church And State

A federal appeals court today ruled that tax funding of an evangelical Christian rehabilitation program at an Iowa state prison violates the separation of church and state and must end.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that government support for the InnerChange Freedom Initiative at Newton Correctional Facility -- a program operated by Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship Ministries -- advances religious indoctrination at state expense. Americans United brought the litigation against InnerChange on behalf of inmates, their families and taxpayers.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, hailed the ruling.

"This is an extremely important decision," said Lynn. "Government officials have no business paying for religious indoctrination and awarding special treatment and benefits to those willing to embrace one religious perspective.

"Government should not single out a particular religion for special treatment," Lynn continued. "You simply cannot give government funds to a religious group for its evangelism program." ...

[Audits] checking into whether the religious groups are illegally using this federal funding to promote their faiths, are weak or nonexistent.

Faith-Based Spending Goes Relatively Unchecked | By Thomas D. Williams | t r u t h o u t | Report | Friday 23 November 2007

For the past six years, President George W. Bush's administration has spent billions of dollars to largely aid Christian faith-based groups, in assisting prison inmates as well as the poor and less-fortunate persons here and worldwide. Yet many experts and investigators nationwide agree government controls auditing this spending, or checking into whether the religious groups are illegally using this federal funding to promote their faiths, are weak or nonexistent.

Federal funding of a host of non-faith-based social programs can be critical in child or adult health, housing and other subsistence aid to the poor or disadvantaged. However, with tight or even regular federal budgets, waste in one program can adversely impact others.

Several inquiries and complaints dug up a host of systemic dangers and violations of the rules and law resulting in questionable or wasted spending.

In just one instance, a 2006 US Government Accountability Office inquiry discovered: "Four of the 13 faith-based organizations that offered voluntary religious activities - such as prayer or worship - did not appear to understand the requirement to separate these activities in time or location from their program services funded with federal (dollars)." And, the GAO concluded: independent audits apply only to religious organizations spending $500,000 or more. As well, federal administration is costly. "Since fiscal year 2002, the five federal agency centers handling the funds estimated that they had cumulatively expended more than $24 million on administrative activities," the GAO concluded.. ...

Huge fine for anti-gay US church ... extended pickets to funerals of soldiers, ... being punished by God because of America's tolerance of homosexuals

Huge fine for anti-gay US church | Thursday, 1 November 2007,

A church whose members cheered a soldier's death as "punishment" for US tolerance of homosexuality has been told to pay $10.9m (£5.2m) in damages.

The Westboro Baptist Church was taken to court by the father of Lance Cpl Matthew Snyder, a marine who died serving in Iraq in March 2006.

The church cited its constitutional right to free speech in its defence.

But Albert Snyder's lawyer urged the jury to ensure the damages were high enough to stop the church campaigning.

Members of the church - based in Topeka, Kansas - have denounced homosexuality for years, initially targeting the funerals of Aids victims.

But they later extended their pickets to the funerals of soldiers, who they say are being punished by God because of America's tolerance of homosexuality. ...

Lavish televangelist lifestyles raise eyebrows ... all "prosperity theology adherents who preach that wealth is a sign of God's favor."

Lavish televangelist lifestyles raise eyebrows at Senate Finance Committee | Jason Rhyne | Published: Tuesday November 6, 2007

The reportedly extravagant lifestyles of six television evangelists are raising some eyebrows at the Senate Finance Committee, which wants to know if the popular preachers are paying their fair share in taxes.

Sen. Charles Grassley, the committee's ranking Republican, has written letters to the evangelists, asking that they "disclose their assets, spending practices, compensation plans and business arrangements," according the Wall Street Journal's Suzanne Sataline. "The letters aren't formal subpoenas, and the six aren't required to reply."
...
Evangelists receiving letters from Grassley were Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Benny Hinn, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer and Paula White. Spokespersons for Dollar, Hinn and Meyer all denied any wrongdoing in statements to CBS News.
...
According to the Wall Street Journal, the ministers under scrutiny are all "prosperity theology adherents who preach that wealth is a sign of God's favor."

"Ministers who espouse prosperity theology promote themselves as conduits for God's blessings, saying that believers will reap benefits as long as they give generously to the ministries," continued the Journal."Most evangelical ministers urge believers to donate, but don't link donations to earthly wealth."

Oral Roberts University: asked a professor in 2005 to use his students to aid in political race ...

Scandal Brewing at Oral Roberts U. | Oct 5, 4:35 PM (ET) | By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS
...
Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.

Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.

She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."
...
Richard Roberts, according to the suit, asked a professor in 2005 to use his students and university resources to aid a county commissioner's bid for Tulsa mayor. Such involvement would violate state and federal law because of the university's nonprofit status. Up to 50 students are alleged to have worked on the campaign.

The professors also said their dismissals came after they turned over to the board of regents a copy of a report documenting moral and ethical lapses on the part of Roberts and his family. The internal document was prepared by Stephanie Cantese, Richard Roberts' sister-in-law, according to the lawsuit.

An ORU student repairing Cantese's laptop discovered the document and later provided a copy to one of the professors.

It details dozens of alleged instances of misconduct. Among them:

- A longtime maintenance employee was fired so that an underage male friend of Mrs. Roberts could have his position.

- Mrs. Roberts - who is a member of the board of regents and is referred to as ORU's "first lady" on the university's Web site - frequently had cell-phone bills of more than $800 per month, with hundreds of text messages sent between 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. to "underage males who had been provided phones at university expense."

- The university jet was used to take one daughter and several friends on a senior trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Bahamas. The $29,411 trip was billed to the ministry as an "evangelistic function of the president."

- Mrs. Roberts spent more than $39,000 at one Chico's clothing store alone in less than a year, and had other accounts in Texas and California. She also repeatedly said, "As long as I wear it once on TV, we can charge it off." The document cites inconsistencies in clothing purchases and actual usage on TV.

- Mrs. Roberts was given a white Lexus SUV and a red Mercedes convertible by ministry donors. ....

[Prostitute hypocit] Sen. David Vitter [R] has secured $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to fund an anti-evolution effort spearheaded by a religious group

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.
...
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."