WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Supreme Court has declined to reconsider its decision in the controversial Pledge of Allegiance case from earlier this year. On Aug. 23, the justices turned down atheist Michael Newdow's request that they revisit their June decision…
Themselves pounded by Charley, Florida Baptists start relief work
ORLANDO, Fla. (ABP) — Not being able to get out of his own Orlando neighborhood because of fallen trees made it difficult for David Harding, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's national disaster-relief coordinator, to do his job. After making landfall a…
Boykin violated military rules with speeches, report says
WASHINGTON (ABP) — The Pentagon's chief intelligence official violated military procedures while giving controversial religious speeches, an internal investigation has reportedly found. News organizations reported Aug. 19 that the Pentagon inspector general's office had given lawmakers a long-anticipated report on…
Judge upholds marriage law in first federal DOMA ruling
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A federal judge in Washington State has upheld the constitutionality of a 1996 federal law that defines marriage exclusively in heterosexual terms — making him the first federal jurist to rule on the law. Judge Paul Snyder…
African-American churches rally for traditional marriages
FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) – Energized and angered by comparisons between the fight for homosexual unions and the civil-rights movement, many African-American churches are turning out to stand for traditional marriages. African-American churches across the nation have come together to…
Charley hits Florida hard; cleanup, recovery in full swing
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (ABP) — Hurricane Charley's unexpected course left death, devastation and frustration as it passed through heavily populated Central Florida Aug. 13. But even before the wind died down, plans for relief were well under way. Officials from…
Want to help hurricane victims in Florida? ‘Don’t just show up,’ advises one official
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Across Florida and the southeast United States, individuals, families, churches, businesses, and non-profit organizations will undoubtedly want to do something to assist those hit hardest by Hurricane Charley. But determining what that is may often be…
Florida appeals court rules against vouchers
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (ABP) — A divided state appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that the state's school-voucher program violates the Florida Constitution. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the state's First District Court of Appeals ruled that…
Bush has gone around Congress to implement plan, study shows
WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new report by an independent group explains in depth what observers of President Bush's “faith-based initiative” have been noting for years now: That Bush has used his presidential powers to bypass Congress and “aggressively implement the…