Religious Warfare

Chrenkoff:

Three Indonesian housewives face up to five years in prison for allegedly trying to lure Muslim children into Christianity at a Sunday School "Happy Week"...

The three women faced threats from a yelling mob of 150 fundamentalists during a court appearance in West Java last week. It is claimed that the women were teaching lessons in reading and writing to mixed classes of Christian and Muslim children, taking them on trips to parks and swimming pools, and rewarding them with treats such as pencils for memorising Christian prayers and Bible verses. Many of the alleged offences took place at a special Happy Week earlier this year, although the lessons began in 2003.

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About 10,000 Christians were killed in Indonesia between 1998 and 2003 and about 1,000 churches were burnt down by Muslim mobs, according to campaigners. Although religious conflict has eased in recent years campaigners say that about 100 churches have been closed down in the past five years in West Java.

The Washington Post

The Anti-Defamation League has asked the U.S. Naval Academy to stop holding prayers before midshipmen eat lunch, saying the practice is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.

The request was made in a June 17 letter from Abraham H. Foxman, the league's national director, to the academy's superintendent, Vice Adm. Rodney P. Rempt.

In the letter, Foxman says the constitutional separation of church and state is violated "when 4,000 midshipmen of many different faiths are brought together for compulsory prayer."

As precedent, the letter cites a recent ruling by a federal appeals court that organized mealtime prayers at the Virginia Military Institute were unconstitutional.

A federal judge in Chicago says the Pentagon can't fund the National Boy Scout Jamboree after this year.

U-S District Court Judge Blanche Manning recently signed an injunction that bars the Defense Department from financially supporting future jamborees, which draw thousands of Boy Scouts from across the nation every four years.

The June 22 order by U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning stems from a 1999 lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois that claimed the Defense Department's sponsorship of the Scouts violates the First Amendment because the group requires its members to swear an oath of duty to God.

The Department of Justice, which represents the Defense Department in legal matters, said Thursday the government was still considering its options and had not yet decided whether to appeal, said Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller.

The order doesn't cover this year's National Scout Jamboree, which gets under way July 25 and is expected to draw more than 40,000 people to the Army's Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia. The next jamboree, typically held every four years, won't be held until 2010 to coincide with the Scout's 100th anniversary.

Mr. Bork said the ACLU's actions show the watchdog group's lack of a "moral compass."

"This highlights more than anything else how rabid the ACLU is about the Scouts. They can't seem to let go of the Boy Scouts for anything. It's really unfortunate. They want to attack the Boy Scouts of America and the Pentagon for supporting the Boy Scouts, and they want to support kids running around naked in the woods."

Mr. Bork was referring to an ACLU lawsuit filed earlier this year in support of a proposed children's nudist camp in Virginia. A federal judge ruled in July that teens and children could not attend the camp without a parent or guardian.

"Their moral compass is turned around 180 degrees. I don't get it," Mr. Bork said.

Previous entries:

Banning Scouts from military installations:
Scout's Honor
Recognize these Medals?
The Latest

Banning Prayer from military academies:
Air Force Report Generates Widespread Confusion
Air Force Academy Update
From the Academy
God and Country
Chapel Doors Revisited
Locking the Chapel Doors
Are there Atheists in Cockpits?