Senator defends bill on churches
http://www.masslive.com/chicopeeholyoke/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1133426968137010.xml&coll=1
http://www.masslive.com/chicopeeholyoke/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1133473340180700.xml&coll=1
The Republican - Springfield,MA,USA
Senator defends bill on churches
Thursday, December 01, 2005
By AZELL MURPHY CAVAAN
acavaan@repub.com
EAST LONGMEADOW - A bill designed to promote financial transparency in
churches is both fair and responsible, said state Sen. Marion Walsh, D-West
Roxbury, at the St. Michael's Parish Center yesterday.
"It represents a service to everyone in Massachusetts," she said. "More
transparency can only help; it cannot hurt."
Walsh is the author of the controversial bill.
She spoke to about 100 people who attended the event to learn more about
the bill. Voice of the Faithful, a lay Catholic group that supports the
legislation, sponsored the event.
The Rev. Talbert W. Swan II, pastor of Solid Rock Church of God in Christ,
opposes the bill, and questioned yesterday if the measure is not a
constitutional violation.
"There is supposed to be a separation of church and state, and this bill
goes completely against that," he said.
Walsh said she investigated this possibility early in the legislative
process, and was "amazed to learn" that there was no such violation.
"Do you want to know why religious organizations are not required to file a
(financial) report?" she said. "There is no reason."
Walsh said that protections under the separation of church and state are
limited to a church's right to seek and receive authority to solicit funds
and file for tax exemption.
Under her bill, churches would have to file a "Form PC" with the state
Attorney General's Division of Public Charities. A parish with more than
$100,000 in revenue also would have to include a certified audit with its
annual report.
The Rev. James Scahill, who attended last night's presentation, said that
parishioners have a right to be informed about their church's financial
standing.
"There are too many secrets in the church," he said. "If there are assets,
then we should know what they are and if they are deep. Then, could there
be more charitable work done?"
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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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