Religion

Judge Upholds Restraining Order Banning Autistic Boy from Church

Filed under: Religion

Friday, Judge Sally Ireland Roberston of the 7th District Court upheld the restraining order she issued May 9 against the parents of an autistic boy barred from taking their son to church.

The parents of Adam Race are now concerned that the ruling has set a discriminatory precedent for people with disabilities.

"This is a green light to exclude the disabled from any public place where their existence makes people feel uncomfortable," said Carol Race in a statement released to the media Tuesday. The family has asked the ACLU to investigate the ruling, saying its broad application could interferes with the public's constitutional rights. In a statement released to the press Tuesday they wrote:

According to MN Statute 609.748, subd1,(a)3, harassment can be defined as "a pattern of attending public events after being notified that the actor’s presence is harassing to another."

Not only could this be applied to persons with disabilities, but also it could preclude others from exercising their rights to free speech and assembly in public demonstration of controversial issues.

The judge also decided Adam’s behavior constituted “unreasonable acts in the context of a church service”. This statement infers government interference in deciding what is or is not appropriate during a church service.

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Posted by Beth Walton at July 2, 2008 3:54 PM | Comments (5)

 

Conservative St. Thomas law students back dean in Planned Parenthood flap

Filed under: Religion

Yesterday, we reported that Thomas Mengler, dean of St. Thomas' law school, barred students from volunteering at Planned Parenthood for school credit. His actions prompted 80 St. Thomas law students to sign an open letter to him decrying the decision.

In response, a rival faction of students is circulating a pro-dean letter through the school's Christian Legal Society. Among other things, these students encourage their classmates to support the dean "in order to demonstrate that, even though we might respectfully disagree with his decisions from time to time, we support him nonetheless, since he knows, better than anyone else, what is in UST Law’s best interests."

Read the full letter after the jump.

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Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at April 30, 2008 10:58 AM | Comments (17)

 

God: 1, Guns: 0

Filed under: Religion

Today Rochelle Olson wrote an article for the Strib covering a decision by the state Court of Appeals that will allow churches to ban guns on their premises (something, unless I'm mistaken, they could already do). But the article goes on to say:

A three-judge ruling written by Judge David Minge also said the churches aren't required to post signs banning handguns as many other places do. The court also said the churches can ban guns in their parking lots.

The article doesn't get into legal specifics much, other than saying the Court claimed that letting churches out of the requirements didn't constitute a breach of State/Church separation, something I'm in complete agreement with, since it didn't favor any one religion over another.

But I'm interested by legal specifics (they're especially fun if you have no formal training in law, like me) and am a mild 2nd-Amendment supporter, so I thought I'd dig into the 32-page decision.

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Posted by Ward Rubrecht at February 5, 2008 1:51 PM | Comments (1)

 

Thy Neighbor's House on TV

Filed under: Religion

KSTP has picked up our story about the expansion-minded Holy Family Catholic Church in St. Louis Park. According to the TV station's report, Father Dufner said the church is looking to expand across the street from the block discussed in our article. No word, though, on what he plans to do with the two vacant houses the church owns/controls on the block.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at October 23, 2007 11:51 PM | Comments (1)

 

U of M conducts ruthless persecution of Baha'i

Filed under: Religion

The drunk-vs.-stoned softball contest--that perennial college showdown--has a new variant: the agnostics vs. the atheists. The former, according to an April Minnesota Daily survey, outnumber the latter two-to-one on the U of M Twin Cities campus. The study, which polled 799 undergrads, graduate students, staff, and faculty, found that 14.9 percent identify their "current religious or belief system" as "agnostic"; 7.5 percent 'fessed up that they're not waiting for Santa Claus (the poll calls them "atheist.")

Curiously, only 3.7 percent of U of M students and staff reported having grown up in a godless home. It would seem that the University of Minnesota is responsible for shaking the faith of almost a fifth of its campus community. No data were available on precisely which course convinced students that the universe is a cold and utterly lonely place. May we suggest statistics?

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Posted by Michael Tortorello at June 14, 2006 12:08 PM | Comments (8)

 

Random acts of kindness slated for MSP in 2007

Filed under: Religion

The Acts 1:8 Ministry, based out of Green Bay, Wisconsin, recently received a $30,000 grant to expand their work to Milwaukee, and plan to open a regional office in Minneapolis/St. Paul next year. According to their website, Acts 1:8's mission is to "create a culture for Christians to care, share, and connect people to Christ worldwide through Christian kindness." Recent acts have included 99-cent gallons of gas at the Stadium Shell on Lombardi Access for two hours one Saturday afternoon, and serving 200 kolaches at the Green Bay Farmers Market. Jeff Van Beaver, chairman of the Board of Evangelism at Pilgrim Lutheran Church states, "One image about church is that we're a lot of talk, but no action. We want to show that it is possible to get something for nothing and expect nothing in return." Speculation that Zigi Wilf has inquired about stadium giveaways is unfounded.

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 22, 2006 10:15 AM | Comments (0)