separation of church and state

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed an appeal Thursday to strip federal funding from Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, a public child care institution that allegedly religiously indoctrinates children and discriminates against LGBT people in their hiring practices. "We strongly believe that any group taking public funds should not discriminate in hiring or proselytize," said Joe Conn, press contact for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. "Kentucky Baptist Homes takes buckets of public funds, yet they still try to indoctrinate the children in their care."

Talk about a civics lesson: A high school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is well-founded. They say American Government, by conservatives James Wilson and John Dilulio, presents a skewed view of topics from global warming to separation of church and state to gay rights. The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools. Student Matthew LaClair of Kearny, N.J., recently brought his concerns to the attention of the Center for Inquiry, an Amherst, N.Y., think tank that promotes science and which has issued a scathing report about the textbook.

It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight, you can't get legally married at Lyndale United Church of Christ. The small, liberal church in south Minneapolis was the first of several Twin Cities congregations last year to stop performing civil marriage ceremonies as long as same-sex marriage is illegal. These churches and a handful of others around the country that took the same step will still hold a religious ceremony to bless the unions of straight and gay couples -- but straight couples must go separately to a judge or justice of the peace for the marriage license.