Church State

In a unanimous vote earlier this week, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a resolution declaring 2012 the "Year of the Bible."

According to H.R. 535, the Penn. House declares "2012 as the 'Year of the Bible' in Pennsylvania in recognition of both the formative influence of the Bible on our Commonwealth and nation and our national need to study and apply the teachings of the holy scriptures."

"Any year or every year would be a good choice to recognize the value of the Bible," said State Representative Jerry Stern, one of the sponsors of the resolution, in an interview with The Christian Post. more >>

The South Dakota House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution that calls for academic instruction on the Bible in public schools.

The House voted 55-13, with two excused, to pass the resolution sponsored by Republican Rep. Steve Hickey from Sioux Falls.

The non-binding resolution, HCR 1004, urges schools to support elective classes to teach the Bible, saying awareness on the role of the Bible in literature, art, culture and public discourse will benefit students. more >>

The U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of two bills on Tuesday that would allow the use of religious symbolism at war memorials.

The first bill, the War Memorial Protection Act, was introduced by Rep. Duncan Hunter as a response to a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that a 43-foot cross at California's Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial erected in 1913 was unconstitutional.

Existing laws allow for the use of religious symbolism at war memorials, but individual cases – such as the Mt. Soledad cross – are becoming targets of groups opposed to public religious expression. The House bill would engender terms that make it permanently legal for religious symbols to exist at military memorials. more >>

A nonprofit law center has taken up a petition with the Supreme Court over a controversial case involving a California math teacher who had patriotic banners with Christian messages removed from his classroom – while displays related to other faiths were allowed to remain on campus.

A 30-year policy by the Poway School District in California had allowed Bradley Johnson, a high school teacher, to place banners in the style of the American flag with phrases such as "In God We Trust," "One Nation Under God," and "God Bless America" in his classroom. He had done so without any controversy for the past 25 years, with not one student or parent complaining. 

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, which took up the Bradley Johnson v. Poway Unified School District case, shared in an interview with The Christian Post that the policy changed in 2007, when school officials told Johnson he could no longer display his banners. more >>

A Pagan mother in North Carolina is accusing her son's elementary school of hypocrisy for refusing to accept her donation of witchcraft books after officials sent her son home with a Gideon Bible, which was donated by the organization and accepted by the school.

Ginger Strivelli was angered last month when her 12-year-old son came home from North Windy Ridge Elementary school with a Bible that Strivelli claims was handed to him, instead of the student voluntarily requesting it. When Strivelli complained that the school was proselytizing, school officials said the Bibles were made available, not handed out, and that any faith group was free to donate texts.

Strivelli took the school at its word, bringing witchcraft books to the school with directions to make the texts available to students. more >>

Terri Proud, a Republican Rep. from Arizona, has sponsored a bill to create an elective high school course on the Bible and its influence on culture, assuring that it would help students gain knowledge and not seek to elicit devotion.

Rep. Proud, who is on the House Education Committee, wants the state Board of Education to design a course called "The Bible and its Influence on Western Culture" that would be religiously neutral.

"This is such an essential foundation for our kids' knowledge," The Associated Press quoted Proud as saying. "We are so engulfed in it." She said biblical references are found in everything from Michelangelo's paintings and Shakespeare's plays to modern movies and television. more >>