Church and State Relations

Mexican mayor turns over city to God, stirring debate

2013-06-11 12:01:00

MEXICO CITY -- She rose to the podium and cast her eyes skyward. The mayor of Monterrey then entrusted her Mexican city to God and Jesus Christ as the crowd around her cheered. “I open the doors of this city to God as the maximum authority,”...

Letters: Easily offended atheists

2013-05-28 00:00:00

Re "Prayers in public offices," Editorial, May 21 Here we go again: A few people are offended by official meetings in Greece, N.Y., beginning with a prayer. Just how do such occurrences actually constitute a "law respecting an establishment of religion"...

Supreme Court to revisit church-state separation

2013-05-20 20:42:00

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has agreed to revisit the issue of church-state separation and decide whether a town council can begin most of its monthly meetings with a prayer from a Christian pastor. Thirty years ago, the court upheld a state...

Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

2013-05-11 22:04:00

WASHINGTON — Can a public high school hold its graduation ceremony in a local church? The Supreme Court has been pondering that question in its private conference for six weeks, discussing whether to take up a Wisconsin case that could reset the...

Catholic 'Sharia' in Pittsburgh

2013-05-10 15:07:00

In the post-9/11 culture wars over Islamic fundamentalism, American conservatives — properly — have condemned attempts in Muslim countries to punish blasphemy or insults to the prophet Muhammad. It will be interesting to see if they are...

Global Voices: Ahmadis' mission of peace in an age of terror

2013-05-09 05:00:00

Just weeks after the terrorist bombings at the Boston Marathon, the global leader of the world’s 10-million-plus Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has brought his religion’s message of peace, public service and uplift to the faithful of Southern...

Supreme Court to hear prayer case

2013-05-20 07:20:00

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will revisit the issue of church-state separation and decide whether a town council can begin its monthly meetings with a prayer from a Christian pastor. Thirty years ago, the court upheld a state legislature’s...

Why North Carolina can't have its own official church

2013-04-05 13:22:00

In recent days my Facebook feed has been littered with links to stories about a bill in the North Carolina Legislature that would allow the state to establish its own religion.� Here was another example, my outraged friends said, of Bible Belt...

Letters: Pros and cons of public prayer

2013-03-30 00:00:00

Re "Lancaster's prayer problem," Editorial, March 28 What a logical editorial on the prayers at Lancaster City Council meetings. People don't seem to understand why we separate church and state until there is mention of a religion other than their own....

Lancaster's prayer problem

2013-03-28 00:00:00

Once again Lancaster has been vindicated — or "blessed," as the city's press release put it — by a court ruling upholding its practice of opening City Council meetings with a prayer. On Tuesday, a federal appellate court affirmed a district...

Transcript: Rand Paul's filibuster of John Brennan's CIA nomination

2013-03-07 11:21:00

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) delivered a nearly 13-hour filibuster Wednesday of John Brennan’s nomination to lead the CIA. Paul used his time on the floor to question the legality of the White House's policies on drone use, beginning at 11:47 a.m. EST and...

Turkey at the crossroads

2013-03-06 16:21:00

Turkey is rising. In the last decade, the country's economy has nearly trebled in size. Just 10 years ago, the average Turk had one-fifth the income of the average European. Today, Turks are only 30% less wealthy than European Union citizens. Given...

The biggest hot-button issue of the 2011 General Assembly session is back. Legislators are likely disinclined to take up the measure in 2013 or 2014 because a voter referendum on the issue would be on the ballot at the same time they're up for re-election, so this is the year.

2012-01-06 12:06:21

the first woman named to a national slate by a major political party we go wild. Jumping around, hugging each other, we take to the fire stairs and burst out onto the roof of the apartment building.

2011-12-30 17:40:03

In February, St. Joseph's High School announced they hoped to raise $35 million to build a new high school on the land where the old St. Joseph's Hospital once stood. The common council voted to buy the Family Dollar store land that sits near the property. The City paid $1.

2011-12-30 13:04:43