| Topic: |
Sociology > Education |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
26 Apr 2006 05:28:38 AM |
| Object: |
Stop the ACLU - New Cumberland,PA,USA |
The state of church vs. state
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060424-9999-1m24letter.html
San Diego Union Tribune - United States
[excerpt]
Last we left it, the church-state separation advocates were suing to keep
the California mission advocates from spending taxpayer money on historic
buildings that sometimes hold church services.
Now that the lawsuit has been dropped, we could be in the same spot we were
in four years ago, when Sen. Barbara Boxer of California first proposed
investing millions of Interior Department dollars into repairing the Golden
State's 21 missions. Many of them are in such disrepair that pieces of the
buildings have tumbled unexpectedly to the ground. At least one mission was
threatened with condemnation.
To rewind just a bit: In fall 2004 – after a few years of prodding by the
Democratic senator – Congress passed a bill authorizing the Interior
Department to give $10 million to the California Missions Foundation. The
foundation oversees the missions, which are the state's most visited
historical landmarks. They need at least $50 million in repairs and visitor
improvements, not to mention money to conserve Spanish colonial-era
paintings, furniture, garments and documents.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State viewed the $10 million
as yet another example of Washington's practice of sending federal money to
historic structures that also are used as houses of worship – as Congress
has done for Boston's Old North Church and Rhode Island's Touro Synagogue.
OFF TO COURT
Shortly after President Bush signed Boxer's bill, the advocacy group sued
to block the expenditure, noting that the Catholic Church owns 19 of the
missions that stretch from San Diego to north of Sonoma, and that Masses
are regularly celebrated at most of them.
The First Amendment, the group argued, requires houses of worship to
provide money for their own upkeep and maintenance. The U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia froze the missions funding as the suit
progressed.
In January, the organization dropped its suit, noting that Congress never
voted to actually cut the $10 million check – which in Washington parlance
is known as an “appropriation.”
Which brings us up to date, and to a question: What happens now?
Be certain that Boxer, who has made missions funding a signature cause, is
not giving up. She plans, said a spokeswoman, to “continue to pursue
funding . . . under our bill and through other mechanisms.”
[end excerpt]
***************************************************************
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 US and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . 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)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
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