c. 2007 Religion News Service

Court Says Girl Can Distribute Religious Flier in School

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (RNS) A federal judge has ruled that a New York school district violated a fourth-grader’s free speech rights in 2004 when the girl was not allowed to distribute a “Jesus Saves” flier to classmates.

U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue, in a 46-page decision, also said the school policy governing the distribution of student literature on school property was unconstitutional.

“We were skeptical. We said a lot of prayers and they’ve been answered,” said Nicole Bloodgood, whose daughter, Michaela, was at the center of the 21/2-year court challenge.

Michaela, now a sixth-grader, won’t be handing out literature at school this year because she is being home-schooled. Her parents have not decided whether she will return to Liverpool public schools next year.

No decision has been made whether to appeal the judge’s ruling, Superintendent Jan Matousek said. The district’s policy for distributing materials, which regulates all fliers ranging from Michaela’s statement to announcements from a recreation program, will remain in place, she said.

Matousek said the decision means administrators will either have to allow or prohibit all types of fliers.

“It is our obligation to provide our students with a religiously neutral environment,” Matousek said.

The ruling also makes it possible for other students to hand out literature of all sorts. The literature just can’t incite violence or interfere with student education, said Mathew Staver, a lawyer and executive director of Liberty Counsel, the Orlando, Fla., legal group that represented the Bloodgoods.

“The school wouldn’t think of doing what it did for valentine cards, birthday cards or notes. They do it selectively when the content of the speech is something they don’t want to permit, and in this case, that’s what happened,” Staver said.

The court awarded no money to the Bloodgoods.

“We’re just really thankful. This is setting a precedent. Now children will be able to express their religious beliefs to other children without being hindered,” Nicole Bloodgood said.

_ John Doherty

Gay Cleric Says Crucifixion Beliefs Are `Insane’

LONDON (RNS) One of Britain’s most controversial clerics has triggered more uproar by suggesting that the standard teachings about the Crucifixion are “repulsive” and “insane” and make God appear to be a “psychopath.”

The Very Rev. Jeffrey John, whose homosexuality cost him the chance to become an Anglican bishop four years ago, has targeted the Christian theory of “penal substitution,” which says God sent Jesus Christ into the world to be punished for the sins of mankind.

John became dean of St. Albans Cathedral after it was disclosed that he was gay, although he was no longer sexually active. The disclosure forced him to stand down as a candidate to become bishop of Reading in 2003.

The cleric stirred his latest round of controversy during a Lenten talk on BBC radio on Wednesday (April 4), when he said he had long thought the concept of penal substitution was “pretty repulsive as well as nonsensical.”

“What sort of God was this, getting so angry with the world and the people he created, and then to calm himself down, demanding the blood of his own son?” John asked. “And anyway,” he said, “why should God forgive us through punishing somebody else?“

“It was worse than illogical, it was insane,” he added. “It made God sound like a psychopath. If any human behaved like this, we would say they were a monster.”

The cleric insisted that “that explanation of the cross just doesn’t work, but sadly, it’s one that’s still all too often preached.

John’s comments immediately drew fire from Anglican leaders, including Willesden Bishop Peter Broadbent, who said that “to ignore the entirety of the language about atonement and sacrifice and the cross is to nullify the message of what Good Friday and Jesus dying for us is all about.”

“You cannot read the Old Testament and New Testament and blank out an entirety of language and concept and understanding that means that we are guilty sinners, we need our sins to be paid for, and we need Jesus Christ to die for us,” Broadbent said.

_ Al Webb

Poll Suggests Media, Not Bishops, Influence Catholics

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (RNS) The news media may be more effective than religious leaders in shaping the attitudes of Roman Catholics, suggests a Le Moyne College/Zogby International poll released Wednesday (April 4).

“Clearly, it looks as if Catholics are looking to the national news for their cues. They aren’t going out of their way to see what the bishops are saying,” said Matthew Loveland, a sociologist of religion who works with the Le Moyne/Zogby poll.

Seventy-six percent of respondents in the national poll said they pay “a good deal” or “a lot” of attention to national news. But 52 percent of respondents said they pay “a little” or “no attention” to news about the pope. Seventy-five percent said they pay “a little” or “no attention” to news about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The survey did not define the format or source of news.

A majority of respondents agree with the U.S. bishops’ position supporting immigration reform, the survey found. But Loveland said that’s more likely because the issue reflects Catholic social teaching and has been prominently covered by the media than because of anything the bishops have said.

“This is an issue that resonates with social Catholic teaching, and it’s in the media every night,” he said.

The survey did not ask about the immigration status of respondents.

Loveland suggested, however, that bishops can still teach their flocks.

“The way the bishop can influence laity is through priests,” he said, noting the survey found an 86 percent approval rate for local pastors.

Le Moyne and Zogby, a Utica-based polling organization, have worked together on the Contemporary Catholic Trends project since the fall of 2001. Zogby conducted telephone interviews March 14-16 of 1,522 self-identified Roman Catholics. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points, Zogby said.

_ Renee K. Gadoua

Quote of the Day: Mormon Political Scientist David Campbell

(RNS) “When Mormons get mobilized, they’re like dry kindling. You drop a match and get impressive results quickly.”

_ University of Notre Dame political scientist David Campbell, who is Mormon, speaking about how Mormons will back Mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

KRE/LF END RNS