Wisconsin is not establishing Catholicism as the State Church by including a Catholic student group called the Badger Catholic in the list of groups which receive funding from the University of Wisconsin. Five years of lawsuits later, the University will now provide the student group with $500,000 in back funding. The University asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, but the High Court refused to do so, declaring that funding such groups does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. http://cvote.to/3t

President Obama said: “Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it,” But guess what? President Obama lied. No, not simply a little stretching of the truth or blurring of the lines. A flat out lie. I know, shocking. The fact checkers are on the case. http://cvote.to/3x

Four abortion facilities in south Texas will soon close. This action is directly related to the State of Texas cutting funding to Planned Parenthood in a bill signed by Gov. Rick Perry. The abortion businesses closing are located in Rio Grande City, San Carlos, Progreso and Mission.  http://cvote.to/40

Other articles of interest:

Poll: 88% of Hispanic voters in FL support photo ID laws. 71% in CO. 73% in NM. http://cvote.to/3v

Riot police called in to protect pro-life protestors in France. http://cvote.to/3w

Nine myths on school debunked. http://cvote.to/3y

Peyton Manning, the star quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, went to Europe to receive an adult stem cell procedure. http://cvote.to/3z

The last official opening day prayer, Jan. 19, 2011.

Why is the ACLU so successful? Because people capitulate so easily to their threats. The ACLU wins so many battles without breaking a sweat.

A citizen complained to the Hawaii Attorney General’s office that prayers given by invited speakers before the Hawaii Senate often referenced Jesus Christ. The Attorney General advised the Hawaii Senate that if invited speakers continued to reference Jesus Christ (which would be Christian-specific) the courts would intervene because it could be construed as an establishment of religion.

The Hawaii Senate could have instructed invited speakers to make prayers simply to God (rather than Jesus, Abba, Allah or Buddha). In fact, a 3-member panel of State Senators recommended just that. But the Hawaii Senate decided to end the daily prayer completely.

The only Senator to address the legislative body in support of preserving the decades-long tradition of the daily invocation was Sam Slom:

“The Senate must stand for something and not back away when there are challenges by individuals or organizations who make it their point nationally to have this as an objective. As intelligent as we may be, we can still call on someone higher to help us and guide us. And again, I’m fine with this being voluntary. We don’t have to have this as a formal part of the day, if that’s what Members want. But I think that to take this out of our rules, and by our omission tell the community that we no longer think this is important, I think, is a mistake.”

Perhaps this is telling, but Sam Slom serves as Minority Leader because in fact he is the only Republican in the Hawaii Senate.

Rocco Palmo over at Whispers notes the historic nature of his inauguration for Catholics:

Fifty years ago today, after three centuries of persecution, struggle and prejudice, the American Catholic journey into the nation’s mainstream was accomplished as a member of the fold took up the highest office in the land.

As if the milestone of a half-century wasn’t striking enough on its own, the poignancy of it has increased as the “last link” to those days — Sargent Shriver, the cardinal’s altar boy, Kennedy in-law, father of five and daily communicant who founded the Peace Corps, led Special Olympics and the War on Poverty and whose all-around “life of grace” been praised across the spectrum as “personifying the ideal” of the Catholic public servant — died Tuesday at 95.

There’s no doubt that Catholics have entered the public square. Joseph Biden is the first Catholic Vice-President, John Boehner replaced another Catholic to become Speaker of the House, two-thirds of the Supreme Court is now Catholic and 30% of the Congress is Catholic (we make up 23% of the population). In addition, Catholics have leadership roles in business and other professions.

But what impact do these people have?

In what way are they Catholic? In offering reflection on the 50th anniversary of JFK’s presidential campaign last September, Archbishop Chaput offered caution against too much pride when Catholics achieve certain landmarks.

“What this has actually meant for the direction of American life, however, is another matter. Catholic statistics once seemed impressive. They filled many of us with tribal pride. But they didn’t stop a new and quite alien national landscape, a ‘next America,’ from emerging right under our noses.”

Many Americans are leaving the faith of their parents and grandparents. Some have no faith at all. Chaput noted that 31% of Americans say they were raised in the Catholic faith, yet fewer than 24% of Americans now describe themselves as Catholic. This matters a great deal, the archbishop said.

Traditionally, religious faith has provided the basis for Americans’ moral consensus. And that moral consensus has informed American social policy and law. What people believe—or don’t believe—about God, helps to shape what they believe about men and women. And what they believe about men and women creates the framework for a nation’s public life.

Or to put it more plainly: In the coming decades Catholics will likely find it harder, not easier, to influence the course of American culture, or even to live their faith authentically. (Emphasis his).

As Catholics, we need to remember that influence isn’t just about numbers. And we need to be stop the notion of being a politician or businessman “who happens to be Catholic.”

In public life or in business there should be certain things that we simply won’t do because we are Catholic. Likewise, there must be things we lovingly do because we see in each person the image of our Creator.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee

Bishop Thomas Tobin continues to be one of the best writers in the Church today. His recent article on the inauguration of Governor Lincoln Chafee is no exception. Chafee was once a pro-abortion Republican, but he left the GOP in 2007. This past November, he was elected Governor of Rhode Island as an Independent.

For his inaugural festivities, Chafee broke with tradition and decided not to include any public prayer service. To this, Bishop Tobin said: “I’m neither surprised by nor disappointed by the Governor’s decision.” The bishop said the Governor’s decision was “completely his prerogative.”

But Bishop Tobin did take issue with something else.

I’m more concerned by the reason for the no-prayer decision given by his spokesman who said that the Governor’s “point of view is that his inaugural day needs to respect the separation of church and state. Separation of church and state is an important constitutional principle.”

The explanation is disappointing and confusing; it raises some rather significant questions.

First, if it’s imperative to maintain the alleged “separation of church and state” on inauguration day, why were prayers offered at the inauguration ceremony itself? And why did the Governor invite religious leaders to have a prominent presence at the event?

Read the rest of Bishop Tobin’s article to see him describe why the so-called Separation of Church and State is used to “silence the faith community.”

H/T  CatholicCulture.org

A federal appeals court today ruled that the Mount Soledad Memorial Cross is unconstitutional (though they didn’t say that the landmark must be removed.) The ruling came down from Judge M. Margaret McKeown, whose office is just miles from the cross. McKeown was appointed to the bench by President Clinton in 1998.

Judge McKeown claimed that having the cross on federal land was a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Really?

So the United States Government has now established an official  state church because the Defense Department has a cross at a war memorial? So which Christian denomination is the new official religion of the United States? I’d like Judge McKeown to enlighten us.

Judge McKeown has fallen for that old canard that the federal government has suddenly adopted an official state church just because it permits a religious symbol on federal land.

I’m sure her crusade won’t stop in California. She’ll next take aim at that carving of Moses at the Supreme Court building in Washington, DC. And California sent a statue of Blessed Junipero Serra to be honored in the Rotunda at the United States Capitol. Does that make Catholicism the official religion of the United States or just California?