House doors closed again
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/11/23/house_doors_closed_again/
Boston Globe - United States
[excerpts]
What happens when the Outsiders become the Insiders on Beacon Hill?
That's the question after Representative Byron Rushing of Boston maneuvered
behind the scenes last week to derail a vote on a bill that would require
all churches in Massachusetts to open their books to the public.
Religious organizations from the Massachusetts Council of Churches to the
Black Ministerial Alliance of Boston have joined the Catholic Church in
opposing the bill, arguing that any law requiring that churches be treated
the same as any other charity would be a violation of the separation of
church and state.
Churches became exempt only in 1954 from the reporting requirements that
govern tax-exempt, charitable organizations in the state. The sex abuse
scandal illuminated the folly of such secrecy. Critics are being
disingenuous when they argue that disclosure would be an infringement on
religious freedom. This is not about theology; it is about money.
[end of excerpts]
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Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]
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.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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