TEN COMMANDMENTS Appeals court says Ten Commandments monument endorses religion

DENVER (AP) A federal appeals court has ruled that a Ten Commandments monument outside Oklahoma's Haskell County Courthouse "has the primary effect of endorsing religion." A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to federal Judge Ronald White so he could issue a new ruling consistent with theirs. White previously rejected arguments that the monument promotes Christianity at the expense of other religions.

The latest ruling prompted Haskell County Commissioner Mitch Worsham to say, "Whoever was the judge in this, I feel sorry for him on Judgment Day." Haskell County's attorneys can now ask all the judges on the appellate court to review the panel's decision, or appeal the case directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Worsham says, "We're not going to take it down."


CLinton-RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Clinton meets with agency that tracks religious freedom

STATE DEPARTMENT (AP) Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has held her first meeting with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The commission comprised of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders tracks violations of religious rights and has recommended sanctions against 13 "countries of particular concern." The State Department has applied that designation to eight countries, including China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Before Monday's meeting, Clinton noted that President Barack Obama had emphasized the importance of religious liberty in his speech to the Muslim world last week in Cairo. She said the administration considers freedom of worship an essential human right and a "core American value." Clinton also met with visiting Middle East democracy activists, assuring them that the Obama administration wants to work "with Muslims across the world" to promote human rights.

Sound: (3:06 a.m. audio feed) CUT ..328 (06/08/09)


00:58 "" Steve Coleman A Closer Look: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has held her first meeting with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports.

CUT ..329 (06/08/09)


00:09 "and religious expression" Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomes members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to meet with her.

CUT ..330 (06/08/09)


00:11 "core American value" Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says religious freedom is a fundamental human right.

CUT ..331 (06/08/09)


00:20 "and human rights" Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomes Middle East democracy activists to meet with her at the State Department.

MOSQUE SURVEILLANCE FBI director defends use of informants in mosques

LOS ANGELES (AP) FBI Director Robert Mueller says his agency will continue to use informants inside American mosques, despite complaints from Muslim organizations.

Mueller told reporters Monday in Los Angeles that investigations in places of worship will be respectful of First Amendment rights, but will continue if warranted by evidence of possible wrongdoing.

A Muslim organization has asked the Justice Department to investigate complaints that the FBI is asking followers of the faith to spy on Islamic leaders.

MUSLIM SCARF-LAWSUIT Suit claims woman was fired for wearing Muslim garb

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) The U.S. Justice Department has sued Essex County, New Jersey, over its firing of a corrections officer for wearing religious headwear.

The federal lawsuit claims that Yvette Beshier was first suspended and then fired by the county for wearing a Muslim head scarf.

The suit seeks monetary damages and a new county policy that accommodates the religious observances and practices of employees.

A county spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.

RECRUITERS SHOT-FUNERAL Funeral held for soldier gunned down in ArKansas

CONWAY, Ark. (AP) A clergyman has eulogized the Army private who was killed outside an Arkansas recruiting center as a "seeker" who needed to find himself.

About 200 mourners packed a Baptist church in Conway on Monday for the funeral of 23-year-old William Long. Monday was the day he was supposed to deploy to South Korea.

Long was killed June 1 outside the Army-Navy Career Center in west Little Rock, where he had volunteered to tell others about his military experience.

A Muslim convert allegedly out to avenge mistreatment of Muslims pleaded not guilty to capital murder.

Pastor John Harrington described Long as sharp and gifted.

abortion SHOOTING-MEMORIAL Slain abortion doctor eulogized at interfaith memorial

Washington (AP) The Reverend Carlton Veazey says late-term abortion Dr. George Tiller was a martyr "who gave his life for what he believed" and "for the work that he did." Veazey, who heads the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, presided Monday at an interfaith memorial service in Washington.

Tiller was shot to death a week ago Sunday while serving as an usher at his church in Wichita, Kansas.

Investigators have said Scott Roeder, who's charged with murder, appears to have acted alone. But Veazey says he believes anti-abortion groups even if they denounced Tiller's killing "created the climate to allow this to happen." Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said she hopes those who sought to make Tiller's life difficult "will search their souls."


Sound: CUT ..332 (06/08/09)


00:05 "that he did" The Reverend Carlton Veazey The Reverend Carlton Veazey says he considers Dr. George Tiller a martyr.

CUT ..333 (06/08/09)


00:14 "they bear responsibility" The Reverend Carlton Veazey The Reverend Carlton Veazey says it's hard for him to accept denunciations of Dr. Tiller's killing by anti-abortion groups.

CUT ..334 (06/08/09)


00:10 "search their souls" Cecile Richards Cecile Richards hopes Dr. Tiller's killing causes anti-abortion groups to consider their tactics.

CUT ..335 (06/08/09)


00:10 "service on Saturday" Cecile Richards Cecile Richards notes that Dr. George Tiller was killed in church while he served as an usher.

BIOHAZARD VANDALISM Bleeding vandal with HIV forces congregation out of church

SEATTLE (AP) Members of a Seattle congregation expect to be back in their church next Sunday after a biohazard team cleans up blood from a vandal with HIV and hepatitis C.

The Unity Church of God in Christ held a prayer meeting Sunday in the parking lot. The Rev. James Hicks prayed for the man who was naked when he hurled himself through a window early Saturday and broke a trophy case, leaving blood splatters.

After police arrested the suspect, officers told church members he has the diseases that can be transmitted by blood and advised them to call a biohazard cleaning crew.

The suspect was treated and jailed. Church members say the man's brother hanged himself on church property the first Sunday in June 29 years ago.

PONZI SCHEME-CatholicS Businessman pleads guilty to defrauding Catholics

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) A businessman is facing up to a 25-year prison sentence and a $50 million fine after admitting he orchestrated a multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme that targeted Catholics.

As about 150 of his victims looked on, 82-year-old Richard Piccoli pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion in Buffalo, New York.

Piccoli admitted promising guaranteed returns on real estate investments he knew didn't exist. Early investors were paid with money collected from later victims. Prosecutors say Piccoli targeted clergy, cemetery funds and other church entities by advertising in Catholic publications.

He was released until sentencing Oct. 21 and didn't speak on his way out of court Monday.

MARRIED PRIEST Married minister becomes a Catholic priest

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) Three newly ordained Roman Catholic priests in Nebraska include one who has a wife, four children and several grandchildren.

Bishop William Dendinger says the Rev. Sidney Bruggeman is one of only about 100 married Catholic priests in the United States.

They represent what he says is the "very small exception" to the church policy of mandatory celibacy for priests.

Bruggeman was a minister for another denomination. He joined the Roman Catholic Church and, to become a priest, received a special dispensation from the pope.

He was ordained Friday with two other men the first ordinations in the diocese in five years.

REFORMED CHURCH-BELHAR Reformed Church adopts Belhar Confession

HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) Leaders of the Reformed Church in America have adopted a declaration of human unity, reconciliation and justice that was written in South Africa during the apartheid era.

The Belhar Confession is the denomination's fourth "standard of unity" and its first new one since 1619. It was written in 1982 by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, a black denomination in South Africa, and says race "or any other human or social factor" should not divide the followers of Jesus Christ.

The Reformed Church in America's General Synod approved it Monday while meeting in Holland, Michigan.

The church's other three historic standards are the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort and the Belgic Confession.

SUPREME COURT-SKI FLAP Supreme Court steers clear of sacred peak dispute

SUPREME COURT (AP) The Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from Indian tribes that want to block expansion of a ski resort on a mountain they consider sacred.

The justices refused to get involved in the dispute between a half-dozen Western tribes and the Arizona Snowbowl ski area north of Flagstaff. The tribes want to block the expansion because the resort plans to use treated wastewater to make artificial snow on the mountain.

The tribes argue that doing so would violate a federal law on religious freedom, but a federal appeals court said the tribes' rituals won't be affected and none of their places of worship will be inaccessible.

Hopi Indians make pilgrimages and pray toward the peaks and consider them home to the spirits that bring the world water, snow and life. The peaks also are central to the Navajo tribe's creation story.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-09-09 0231CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list