CARROLL COUNTY-PRAYER
Md. county board not yet resuming Christian prayer
WESTMINSTER, Md. (AP) — Maryland’s Carroll County Commissioners aren’t yet resuming Christian prayer at their public meetings despite a Supreme Court decision that apparently allows it.
Board President Dave Roush opened Tuesday’s meeting with a generic prayer to the “God of us all.” Roush said the five commissioners will discuss the matter during their public meeting Thursday.
The board voted in April to suspend its practice of rotating opening prayers among the five commissioners, some of whom preferred prayers invoking Jesus Christ. The board’s decision complied with a court order in a federal lawsuit filed by the American Humanist Association.
The judge lifted the preliminary injunction Monday after the Supreme Court approved Christian prayers said by clergy at public meetings in the town of Greece, New York.
Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed)
222-a-07-(Carroll County Board President Dave Roush, at commissioners meeting Tuesday)-“forbearance and forgiveness”-Carroll County Board President Dave Roush opens Tuesday’s board meeting with prayer. (6 May 2014)
< 223-a-08-(Carroll County Board President Dave Roush, at commissioners meeting Tuesday)-“of this community”-Carroll County Board President Dave Roush opens Tuesday’s commissioners meeting with a generic prayer to the ‘God of us all.’ (6 May 2014) < 224-a-14-(Carroll County Board President Dave Roush, at commissioners meeting Tuesday)-“future, uh, practices”-Carroll County Board President Dave Roush says the commissioners will consider how the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on invocations applies to them. (6 May 2014) < TOWN BOARD-PRAYER Town prayer case challengers: The debate matters GREECE, N.Y. (AP) — The upstate New York residents who challenged their town board’s prayer practice before the nation’s highest court say their disappointment in losing is softened by the dialogue the case has inspired. A day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s narrow decision upholding Christian prayers at the start of Greece Town Board meetings, Linda Stephens and Susan Galloway say they’ll continue to push the board to be more inclusive as it schedules people to deliver the prayers. Both say they are happy to see the debate their case has generated around the country, where it’s been a top news story and has generated thousands of online comments. PRAYER DECISION-RAPID CITY Rapid City officials consider prayer dispute over RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — The mayor of Rapid City, S.D., says a U.S. Supreme Court decision on prayer should end the dispute over the City Council’s practice of beginning meetings with an invocation. The justices say prayers that open town council meetings don’t violate the Constitution even if they routinely stress Christianity. The ruling was a victory for Greece, New York. It’s also been an issue in Rapid City. The Freedom from Religion Foundation last year asked the city to stop beginning council meetings with a prayer. City Attorney Joel Landeen tells the Rapid City Journal that the Supreme Court ruling means it would be foolish for the foundation to pursue the matter. Foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says she’s dismayed by the ruling, but the group won’t stop its battle against public prayer. HICKEY REMARKS-HOMOSEXUALITY SD lawmaker discusses post on homosexuality SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota state lawmaker who called gay sex a moral and a health issue says he regrets the wording of his recent Facebook post but not the sentiment of his controversial comments. Republican Steve Hickey, who also is a Sioux Falls pastor, has received both praise and backlash for his remarks. He believes people are tired of hearing the religious argument against homosexuality and wants medical professionals to come forward to explain the health risks of homosexual activity. The South Dakota Democratic Party has called the remarks “reprehensible.” Hickey told the Argus Leader he “could have spent more time to be more precise.” But he also said he believes homosexuality is a “deviation” from “biology and nature.” Hickey says if people object to his views they can, in his words — “vote me out.” Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed) 307-a-08-(State Rep. Steve Hickey, R-S.D. and Sioux Falls pastor, in interview)-“deviation from that”-State Rep. Steve Hickey, R-S.D. and Sioux Falls pastor, says gay sex isn’t normal. COURTESY: The Argus Leader ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (6 May 2014) < 308-a-13-(State Rep. Steve Hickey, R-S.D. and Sioux Falls pastor, in interview)-“on my knees”-State Rep. Steve Hickey, R-S.D. and Sioux Falls pastor, says God loves sinners but hates sin. COURTESY: The Argus Leader ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (6 May 2014) < 309-a-05-(State Rep. Steve Hickey, R-S.D. and Sioux Falls pastor, in interview)-“a different way”-State Rep. Steve Hickey, R-S.D. and Sioux Falls pastor, says he regrets the wording of his recent Facebook post seeking doctors’ input on the health risks of gay sex. COURTESY: The Argus Leader ((Mandatory on-air credit)) (6 May 2014) < EDITOR FIRED-BLOG Newton newspaper fires editor over anti-gay blog DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The editor of an Iowa newspaper has been fired a week after he posted in a personal blog a message that said gay organizations are trying to reword the Bible “to make their sinful nature ‘right with God.’ He also referred to gay groups as “Gaystapo” and “the enemy.” Bob Eschliman had worked at the Newton Daily News since June 2012. The 4,000-circulation newspaper announced in a news story and an editorial in Tuesday’s edition that Eschliman was no longer its editor. The paper is owned by Shaw Media. Company President John Rung says in the editorial that Eschliman’s opinion does not reflect the opinion of the newspaper or the company. He says Eschliman’s public airing of his opinion compromised the publication’s reputation. VATICAN-UN-ABUSE Vatican defrocks 848 priests in 10 years for abuse GENEVA (AP) — The Vatican has released comprehensive statistics for the first time on how it has disciplined priests accused of raping and molesting children: It says 848 priests have been defrocked and another 2,572 given lesser sanctions over the past decade. The Vatican’s U.N. ambassador to Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, revealed the figures during a second day of grilling Tuesday by a U.N. committee monitoring implementation of the U.N. treaty against torture. Tomasi insisted the convention applied only inside the tiny Vatican City State. He nevertheless released statistics about how the Holy See has adjudicated abuse cases globally — and acknowledged that sexual abuse involving children “can be considered torture.” Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed) 219-v-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–The Vatican has released comprehensive statistics for the first time on how it has disciplined priests accused of molesting children. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (6 May 2014) < 220-c-13-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)-“some lesser sanction”-AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports that the Vatican has told a U.N. committee how many priests have been disciplined for molesting children. (6 May 2014) < 221-c-17-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)-“be considered torture”-AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports that the Vatican is a signatory to a U.N. treaty against torture. (6 May 2014) < ISRAEL-KING DAVID Israeli says he has found King David’s citadel JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli archaeologist says he has found the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to identifying ancient ruins. The claim by Eli Shukron joins a string of announcements by Israeli archaeologists saying they have unearthed palaces of the legendary biblical king. David is revered in Jewish religious tradition for establishing Jerusalem as its holy city, but has long eluded historians looking for clear-cut evidence of his existence and reign. The fortification Shukron discovered was built 800 years before King David would have captured it from its Jebusite rulers. In the Bible’s second Book of Samuel, David orders the capture of the walled city by entering it through the water shaft. Shukron’s excavation uncovered a narrow shaft where spring water flowed into a carved pool and another shaft where excess water would have flowed out of the walled city. Shukron’s dig, which began in 1995, was made accessible to tourists last month. Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed) 306-w-58-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Doron Spielman, vice president, City of David Foundation)–A Closer Look: An Israeli archaeologist says he’s found the citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (6 May 2014) < 181-a-11-(Eli Shukron (SHOOK’-rahn), Israeli archaeologist, in AP interview)-“before 3,000 years”-Archaeologist Eli Shukron says he’s found the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem by using the Bible as a field guide to ancient ruins. (6 May 2014) < 182-a-11-(Doron (doh-RAHN’) Spielman, vice president, City of David Foundation, in AP interview)-“in its place”-Doron Spielman of the City of David Foundation says the new find shows that archaeology and the Bible intersect at the City of David archaeological site, which has recently been turned into a tourist attraction. (6 May 2014) < 183-a-13-(Yonathan Mizrachi (mihz-RAH’-khee), founder, Emek Shaveh, an organization of archaeologists focused on role that excavations have on Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in AP interview)-“in this village”-Yonathan Mizrachi leads a group of archaeologists concerned that excavations here could heighten the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He says the City of David site and its funding mechanisms hurt Palestinians and help Jewish settlers. (6 May 2014) < JEWISH SITE SHOOTINGS FBI finds synagogue directions in suspect’s home KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Evidence recovered from the home of a Missouri man accused of killing three people outside two Kansas Jewish facilities last month indicates he researched directions to synagogues and kosher places to eat. Avowed white supremacist Frazier Glenn Cross is charged with shootings in April outside the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas, and at Village Shalom senior care facility nearby. Killed were 69-year-old William Corporon, his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, and 53-year-old Terri LaManno. Returns from an FBI search warrant served on the 73-year-old’s rural Aurora, Missouri, home on the day of the shootings list items that were seized, including a copy of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” three boxes of ammunition and a T-shirt with a swastika symbol.
