Religion & Spirituality
Are Global Warming Denialists the New Creationists?
Tue, 03/09/2010 - 16:52 — Dave Culver
- Claiming to oppose ‘scientific dogma’ climate change foes seek to ‘teach the controversy’ in schools.
- Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets
Are Lauri Lebo, Religion Dispatches<>
Last week (Feb 28-Mar 6), the New York Times called attention to an apparent new strategy in the creationism intelligent design movement.
Since Judge John E. Jones ruled the concept of intelligent design as revamped creationism in 2005’s Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, pro-ID organizations like the Discovery Institute have been lobbying state lawmakers to pass legislation advocating a “teach the controversy” approach to science education. In the past couple years, they have gotten legislators to introduce bills in states such as Missouri, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Louisiana advocating for academic freedom to teach “the controversy” regarding scientific issues like evolutionary theory. (Note: In the scientific community, there is no controversy over the reality of evolutionary processes.) So far, only Louisiana has taken the bait and passed an academic freedom law.
Related:
Catholic Charities Screws Over Its Employees Just to Stick It to Gays
Thu, 03/04/2010 - 08:41 — Dave Culver
- Just to spite gay folks, Catholic Charities throws its straight employees under the bus.
- For decades, the church has been at the forefront of worker benefits, so this move cuts against their understanding of social justice and health benefits to all possible.
- Same-sex marriage leads Catholic Charities to adjust benefits
Devona Walker, AlterNet
Submitted by Evergreene Digest Contributing Editor Ken Mitchell
Photo Credit: Sakurai Midori
The day before same-sex marriage was to become legal in the District of Columbia (Wednesday, March 3), Catholic Charities modified its personnel policies refusing to pay for the health benefits of any newly married couple it employs.
The memo, signed by the charity’s president, doesn’t explicitly mention gay marriage. Instead, he references the need to change policy due to a “change in law.”
“We sincerely regret that we have to make this change…but it is necessary to allow Catholic Charities to continue to provide essential services to the clients we serve in partnership with the District of Columbia while remaining consistent with the tenets of our religious faith,” read the memo.
Phoenix at odds with church that feeds needy
Wed, 03/03/2010 - 11:07 — Dave Culver- The pastor says it's the Lord's work. Neighbors say it should be done elsewhere.
- NIMBY
Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press
AP Photo/Matt York
On Saturday mornings, crowds of homeless gather with other needy people at picnic tables outside a church in an upscale Phoenix neighborhood, listen to sermons and settle in for sausage, pancakes and scrambled eggs.
The pastor says it's the Lord's work. Neighbors say it should be done elsewhere.
Residents say the homeless create blight and pose a danger to them, pointing to the case of a homeless felon caught with child pornography in the neighborhood. A complaint prompted city officials to order the year-old breakfast halted, saying it violated zoning laws.
Now, the dispute is in federal court in Phoenix, with the church saying the city is violating its First Amendment rights and a federal law that protects religious groups from city zoning rules.