Religion Roundup: Guns in church, funeral protest, church vandalism

GULF OIL SPILL-CHARITIES
Charity reports lack of donations for Gulf oil spill victims

WASHINGTON (AP) - The president of Catholic Charities USA says
humanitarian needs resulting from the Gulf oil spill are far
outstripping donations from the public.
Father Larry Snyder speculates that could be because Americans
blame BP and expect it to pay for all the damage. He said a
nationwide appeal by Catholic Charities raised only $37,000.
Snyder told a congressional hearing that BP gave $1 million to
Catholic Charities of New Orleans, but all of that money has been
disbursed. He said needy families continue to line up before dawn,
and many have to be turned away.
Snyder contrasted the lack of private donations with the
outpouring of support following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and said
demands on charities will continue long after the leak is stopped.

GUNS IN CHURCH
La. bishops: No guns in Catholic churches

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Concealed handguns won't be allowed in
Roman Catholic churches in Louisiana, despite a new state law
allowing them.
Danny Loar, executive director of the Louisiana Conference of
Catholic Bishops, says they've decided to let pastors know that
"this would not be permissible."
The law allows concealed handguns in churches, synagogues or
mosques for those with a valid permit and training. But it also
says those with authority over a church have the final say in their
church.
The lawmaker who sponsored the legislation in the Louisiana
House says it offers church leaders a new option if security
concerns warrant it.

ARMED PARISHIONER-CHARGES
No charges for woman who wore gun to Wis. church

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) - Prosecutors have decided not to charge a
woman who wore a gun to church.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that a letter from
Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel announced the
decision on Tuesday.
The 41-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested July 11 after
wearing the gun to services at the Unitarian Universalist Church
West in Brookfield that morning.
She kept the gun in its holster and didn't threaten anyone, but
afterward some church staff called police for clarification of the
law. The gun was in a zippered case in her car when she was
arrested.
Schimel's letter says the woman had no bad intent and the law
she may have violated was passed before the state constitution was
amended to specify residents' rights to keep guns for various
purposes.

CHURCH VANDALIZED
Vandals desecrate Ky. church, cemetery

SCIENCE HILL, Ky. (AP) - A pastor says vandals flattened a
cemetery, then threw a broken piece of tombstone through the window
of his small eastern Kentucky church.
Pastor Gary Evans of Bethlehem Baptist Church told WKYT-TV that
the inside of the church was covered with spray from fire
extinguishers and Bibles were tossed onto the floor.
He estimates that the destruction will cost $2,000 to $3,000 to
repair.
The 40-member congregation in Science Hill had been planning to
replace the church roof, but will have to use the money to pay the
insurance deductible.
Evans said nothing was stolen, but the vandalism "hurts."
The Pulaski County Sheriff's Department is investigating.

JEWS-EVANGELISM
Jewish head of Christian group unfazed by evangelism

WASHINGTON (AP) - The executive director of Christians United
for Israel says he doesn't believe that Jesus was the Jewish
Messiah.
But David Brog, who's Jewish, says he isn't offended when
Christians try to convert him, because he knows "they only mean
well" and are sharing something that's precious to them.
Brog says he considers Jesus a great rabbi who preached "very
Jewish ideas."
He adds, however, that many Jews are offended by Christian
evangelism -- viewing it as an effort to discriminate against them
and delegitimize Judaism.
Brog says he tells Jews that Christians mean no harm when they
share their faith, and he advises Christians to be sensitive to
Jewish concerns.

GOVERNOR'S RACE-MOSQUE
Lazio: Cuomo 'incompetent' for inaction on mosque

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Republican candidate for governor of New
York Rick Lazio says his Democratic opponent, Andrew Cuomo, is an
incompetent attorney general playing to his liberal voter base by
refusing to inquire into a plan to build a mosque near ground zero.
Lazio says, "Cuomo's view is don't ask questions, just wrap
your arms around this and support this."
Cuomo dismissed the call for a probe two weeks ago, citing
freedom of religion. On Tuesday, Cuomo's spokesman said, "Anyone
who has evidence of wrongdoing should send it to us and we will
review it."
The mosque is a project of the American Society for Muslim
Advancement and the Cordoba Institute. Cordoba's director, Imam
Faisel Abdul Rauf, once suggested in a television interview that
U.S. policies contributed to the 9/11 attacks. He has refused to
disclose the sources of funding for the mosque.

FUNERAL PROTEST-LAWSUIT
Neb. officials agree flag law unconstitutional

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning has
agreed that the state's flag-mutilation law is unconstitutional,
siding with a Kansas church that stages protests outside military
funerals.
The stance by Bruning and other officials, made in a conference
call with a federal judge, cleared the way for the judge to issue a
permanent injunction preventing the state from enforcing the law.
A member of Westboro Baptist Church had filed a lawsuit
challenging the constitutionality of Nebraska's flag law, which
makes it illegal to intentionally cast "contempt or ridicule"
upon an American or Nebraska flag by mutilating, defacing,
defiling, burning or trampling it.
Even though a final judgment in the case is pending, Bruning and
others' agreement that the law is unconstitutional essentially
settles the issue and leaves the state without a flag-mutilation
law.

SCHOOL-PRAYER BANNER
RI ACLU wants public school prayer banner removed

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union says a
banner with a prayer on it that hangs in the auditorium at Cranston
High School West in Rhode Island may violate the First Amendment.
The ACLU, citing a complaint from an unnamed parent, is asking
school officials to take down the banner that starts with the words
"Our Heavenly Father" and exhorts students to do their best and
bring credit to the school.
School Committee Chairman Michael Traficante told the Providence
Journal he's been to the auditorium many times but can't recall
seeing the banner. Still, he says if it's a constitutional
violation, it must either be removed or amended.

CHURCH ZONING
Court again sides with church in expansion dispute

LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) - An appeals court has again ruled that
officials in Boulder County, Colo., violated a federal law when
they denied a church's request to expand.
A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Denver said it would stand by its earlier ruling in favor of Rocky
Mountain Christian Church.
Boulder County commissioners denied the church's request for a
permit to more than double the size of its campus, saying it would
violate land-use codes. The church sued, accusing the county of
violating the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act.
A district court and the appeals court sided with the church.
The commissioners asked the appeals court to reconsider, leading to
Monday's decision.

KENNEWICK CHURCH SUIT
Couple seeking to start church sues city

KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) - A couple who have been blocked from
starting a church in their home in Kennewick, Wash., are taking the
city to court.
The Tri-City Herald reports Joshua and Julie Morgan accuse the
city of religious discrimination.
City officials say the church registration was denied because it
was part of a plan to continue holding outdoor weddings and
receptions on the property, and the Morgans have been told to stop.
Neighbors have complained about traffic, noise and litter.
Joshua Morgan says he has performed hundreds of weddings and
felt called to start a church. He has a license for home-based
portrait photography and wedding planning, but not weddings and
receptions.

CHURCH ABUSE-WISCONSIN
Wis. justices uphold ex-Jesuit priest's conviction

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld the
sexual abuse conviction of a once-prominent Jesuit priest who
insisted he was unfairly prosecuted for acts dating to the 1960s.
In a unanimous ruling, justices said they were satisfied that
Donald McGuire received a fair trial.
McGuire, a former spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa, is
considered one of the most influential figures convicted in the
Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal.
Advocates for childhood victims of clergy sex abuse praised the
court's ruling.
Peter Isely, midwest director of the Survivors Network of Those
Abused by Priests, said a ruling in McGuire's favor could have
jeopardized the convictions of 20 clergy members who have been
found guilty of decades-old sexual abuse in Wisconsin.

AUSTRIA-CONFESSIONAL CONTROVERSY
Confessional can't become sauna, church rules

VIENNA (AP) - Some Catholics may sweat in the confessional as
they admit to sins they committed.
But the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria, has ruled that the
box-like structure where believers confess their sins cannot be
turned into a sauna.
Bidding on a confessional described on eBay as ideal for
conversion into a one-person sauna, a small bar or a children's
playhouse was ended when the archdiocese stepped in.
Archdiocese spokesman Erich Leitenberger told an Austrian
newspaper that auctioning "objects that were used for dispensing
the sacraments is not acceptable." He said that means
confessionals "should not be converted into saunas or bars."
The confessional was offered for auction by a Vienna church
undergoing renovations.

CUBA-PRISONERS
Cuba dissidents are told Spain exile muddles US asylum

HAVANA (AP) - U.S. diplomats in Havana have told relatives of
jailed Cuban dissidents that it will be harder for them to apply
for asylum in America if they first accept a Church-brokered deal
to trade jail for exile in Spain.
The meetings, confirmed by relatives of six imprisoned
dissidents, could complicate releases of some 52 activists,
journalists and opposition leaders arrested in a 2003 crackdown.
Under a deal brokered by Havana Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Cuba has
freed 11 political prisoners and flown them to Madrid. Nine others
have accepted the offer and are expected to arrive there in coming
days.
The rest of the jailed dissidents have either refused to go, or
have not yet been contacted by Roman Catholic officials. The church
has said exile in Spain is an "option," but has not specified
what will happen to those who refuse to leave Cuba.

SPAIN-ISLAMIC VEILS
Spain parliament rejects banning burqas in public

MADRID (AP) - Spain's Parliament has rejected a proposal to ban
women from wearing in public places Islamic veils that reveal only
the eyes.
The nonbinding proposal had been put forward by the leading
opposition Popular Party, which portrayed it as a measure in
support of women's rights.
The ruling Socialist Party opposed the ban, but said it favors
including a ban on people wearing burqas in government buildings in
a bill to be debated after parliament's summer vacation break.
Other European countries have also debated banning body covering
clothing such as burqas or niqabs. Within Spain, the city
government of northeastern Barcelona and some neighboring town
councils have banned the wearing of such garb in public buildings
such as town halls and hospitals.