Yesterday I wrote about a controversy that has erupted over the revelation that a Michigan-based company has engraved references to biblical passages on rifle scopes that were ordered by the U.S. military.
A reporter with the Detroit News saw that post and called me near the end of the day to get some of my thoughts about the matter. […] Read More
The situation regarding the role of religion in the U.S. military just got a whole lot stranger.
ABC News is reporting that a major manufacturer of rifle scopes has been engraving citations from the New Testament on the sights. The company, Trijicon, freely admits what it has done and defends its action.
“One of the citations on the gun sights, […] Read More
Note: Today is the federal observance of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. This blog post is a re-publication on an item that originally appeared on Jan. 13, 2006.
Today marks the federal observance of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday. Since his tragic assassination on April 4, 1968, King’s memory has been pressed into service in highly unusual ways that King […] Read More
TV preacher Pat Robertson’s recent callous comments about Haiti have attracted quite a bit of attention.
Once again, Robertson has stuck his foot firmly into his mouth. Americans United and many other groups have issued statements denouncing him. Progressive commentators like Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann have blasted him. I expect the editorial cartoonists will have a field day. […] Read More
Today, the Texas State Board of Education will debate and discuss what to do about the future of the state’s social studies curriculum, before taking the first of two votes on the issue tomorrow.
The Board’s discussion will likely incorporate the advice members heard in testimony yesterday from citizens who signed up to speak, all conveying thoughts on what […] Read More
Religiously tinged oaths are a pretty common feature of American life. Anyone who has watched a courtroom drama on television has probably seen witnesses being sworn in on a Bible, vowing to tell the truth “so help me, God.”
Elected officials are often sworn in with similar oaths. Interestingly, nothing in the Constitution requires this. Article II, Sect. 1 of […] Read More
If you need a reminder of how important church-state separation is, read Joel McDurmon’s chilling essay “A Perfect Hatred.”
McDurmon is director of research for American Vision (AV), a Georgia-based Religious Right outfit that seeks to replace our constitutional democracy with a government built around an ultra-fundamentalist reading of the Bible. These “Christian Reconstructionists” often say publicly what […] Read More
The showdown in Texas over religion in the classroom continues this week.
The Texas State Board of Education is holding hearings on the social studies curriculum. And, as we have reported before, what should be a simple discussion based on recommendations from historians has turned into a debate fueled by the Religious Right to push “Christian nation” propaganda.
Leading the […] Read More
Some people in Alabama seem to have their priorities mixed up.
There’s a Republican gubernatorial primary currently underway in the state, and you would think that citizens would be focused on the candidates’ positions on issues such as education, health care and the economy. What has some people reeling, though, is a candidate’s views on the Bible!
Back in November, […] Read More
Told ya so!
Back in April, when Religious Right bigwig James Dobson announced his “retirement” from Focus on the Family, Americans United was skeptical. We pointed out that while Dobson was giving up some managerial duties, he still planned to broadcast over the radio, issue monthly letters to supporters and hand out political endorsements. It didn’t look like much was […] Read More