Jesus

Mar 27 2013

Was not used as an attack or promotion

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A federal appeals panel ruled that an informal citizen-led invocation referring to Jesus that opened Lancaster City Council meetings for years did not endorse Christianity, according to a decision obtained today.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded Tuesday that a local bishop’s single reference to Jesus in an invocation in April 2010 was not unconstitutional because it was not used as an attack or promotion of any one religion or government with a particular faith.

Nov 19 2012

Infringed on free speech rights

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A federal judge in Los Angeles today denied a bid by a group of Christian churches to force Santa Monica to allow Christmas Nativity scenes in a city park.

The Nativity Scenes Committee sued the city of Santa Monica in federal court last month, seeking to restore the nearly 60-year-old religious display to Palisades Park.

George E. Curry | NNPA  |   OW Guest Contributor
Aug 9 2012

Changing Times

In an attempt to drum up more business, Chick-fil-A has ads and billboards featuring black-and-white spotted cows—acting in what the company calls its “enlightened self-interest”—urging people to “Eat Mor Chikin.”

But that’s not what gay rights advocates want in the aftermath of the president of Chick-fil-A expressing his opposition to same-sex marriage. They don’t want the public to eat more chicken at Chick-fil-A—they don’t want consumers to eat any chicken served by the Atlanta-based chain.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Dec 22 2011

Between the Lines

The madness we now call “holidays” takes on a different meaning in times like these, when you have people without homes and homes without people.

Instead of society focusing on what it should be focused on—rectifying greed run amuck, or putting a stop to the gamesmanship of a dysfunctional Congress—we instead preoccupy ourselves with another holiday that becomes more absurd than the last.

Sep 15 2011

Its Southern tradition doesn’t resonate with youth, Latinos

The Black churches of Los Angeles appear to be losing the struggle to stay vital, which could have grave consequences for an institution that cultivated one of the most important social movements in American history, according to a new report authored by Daniel E. Walker, a research associate with the USC Dornsife College’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.