Pope Benedict to become first pontiff in 600 years to resign | Fox News

Pope Benedict to become first pontiff in 600 years to resign | Fox News:

"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry."

This is not exactly unprecedented, but it's been a long time since a Pope has resigned.  I am not a Catholic and I have no opinion about who should be elected.  I do commend Benedict XVI for his courage in stepping aside.

'via Blog this'

Judge Rules Against Teacher in Creationism Case | NBC Bay Area

Judge Rules Against Teacher in Creationism Case | NBC Bay Area:

"A federal judge has ruled that a history teacher at a Southern California public high school violated the First Amendment when he called creationism 'superstitious nonsense' during a classroom lecture. ..."

Without going into the merits of the creationism issue, this ruling is significant because it recognizes that there are actually two religion clauses incorporated into the First Amendment to the US Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
(emphasis added)

The establishment clause (which most people associate with the separation of Church and State) is followed immediately by the free exercise clause, which was the issue in this ruling.

It has never made sense to me that ridiculing religion could be a form of protected speech if promoting it were not protected. Perhaps this is a trend toward even-handed treatment of religion in the public sector.

Caesar's Sectarians | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Caesar's Sectarians | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction:

"The state of Colorado wants to encourage religious people to get an education and participate fully in democracy. For example, it provides scholarships even to residents who want to attend a private religious college in the state. You can use them at the Jesuits' Regis University or the Methodists' University of Denver.

Then again, you can't use them at the Buddhists' Naropa University or at Colorado Christian University (CCU), a nondenominational evangelical school."
...
"In short, as Judge Michael McConnell wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel, "the Colorado exclusion expressly discriminates among religions, allowing aid to 'sectarian' but not 'pervasively sectarian' institutions, and it does so on the basis of criteria that entail intrusive governmental judgments regarding matters of religious belief and practice." ..."

Hmmm. It sounds like the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals is looking at not only the First Amendment Establishment Clause, but the Free Exercise Clause as well:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The Colorado Legislature, reacting to a Supreme Court ruling, and set up six tests from distinguishing "sectarian" from "pervasively sectarian", and it was these tests that seemed to encroach on belief and practice.

I can think of at least one Presbyterian College in central Kansas that would have been denied scholarship money on the basis of this overturned law, and another Presbyterian College in central Missouri that would have been OK.
According to this Christianity Today editorial, the state of Colorado is not going to appeal.

Judge Rejects Attempt to Close Huntingtown Church Pantry, Center - washingtonpost.com

Judge Rejects Attempt to Close Huntingtown Church Pantry, Center - washingtonpost.com:

"In a test of wills, church vs. state, the church wins the first round.

Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown, a congregation of about 275 members, has been locked in a heated, three-year battle with Calvert County over zoning violations that has progressed to state and federal courts.

Last week, Circuit Court Judge Marjorie L. Clagett ruled that the church's counseling center and food pantry can stay open pending the federal litigation, marking the first blow to the county's case.

Calvert County's request for a preliminary injunction to shutter the Chesapeake Counseling Center and Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry for failing to obtain the proper permits and site plans since the center opened in 2005 was denied by Clagett because closing the ministry would cause more harm to county residents, the decision said. ..."

The story in the Washington Post does not clarify all that is going on here, but it does seem that the county is treating the food pantry like a business, requiring it to have a site plan and operating permit. The sticking point is the driveway that goes to the food pantry, which is located in a house on the church property. Apparently this driveway opens onto a busy street, and represents a danger. The church has a driveway that opens onto the same busy street. If the county has its way, then the clients of the food pantry and counseling center will drive through the church parking lot, and then follow a dirt road to the house in which the two ministries are located.