LITTLE ROCK — Illinois pupils gain moment of silence
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois public school students are required to observe a moment of silence at the beginning of every school day under a new law.
Supporters say the goal is to give students a bit of peace and quiet to reflect on the day ahead - "to listen to the rustling of leaves, to listen to the chirping of a bird, to listen to the tip-tap of a child walking," state Rep. Monique Davis said.
But critics called the measure an attempt to promote school prayer.
"It may not mandate prayer, but that's what it's about," Rep. Lou Lang said.
The law originally passed during the spring legislative session, but Gov. Rod Blagojevich vetoed it, saying the law's requirement of a moment "for silent prayer or for silent reflection" might be unconstitutional.
The Senate overrode the veto Oct. 3. The House did the same Oct. 11, voting 74-37.
The law took effect immediately, so every public school must now begin the day with a moment of silence.
- The Associated PressGlobal Adventist
membership on rise
Worldwide membership in the Seventh-day Adventist Church has increased to 15.4 million, according to statistics announced at a recent meeting in Silver Spring, Md.
Membership is now 15,435,470, a net increase of 681,448, or 4.62 percent, as of June 2007, said John Torres, media relations manager for the international church.
During the meeting Oct. 14, Matthew A. Bediako, secretary of the international church, also provided figures that show how many members have departed, Adventist News Network reported. For every 100 members who joined the church between July 2006 and this past June, 24 left. He called this year's retention rate of 76 percent "healthy."
Although statisticians found that more than 1 million people joined the church, when departures were factored in, the net growth was 681,448.
In the fiscal year that ended June 2006, the church lost 45 people for every 100 new members.
Since 2000, church officials have sought membership audits to determine more accurate figures for membership. The 4.62 percent growth in membership this year and the greater retention rates should be viewed with caution, Bediako said.
- Religion News ServiceNativity fi ght spurs
Michigan town vote
BERKLEY, Mich. - It's an early skirmish in this year's edition of the Christmas wars. Voters in Berkley, a Detroit suburb, will decide Nov. 6 whether to return a Christian nativity scene to City Hall.
Under threat of a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, the city council voted last year to move figures of an infant Jesus, Mary and Joseph in a manger off city land and onto church property.
A group of citizens collected 952 signatures to force a vote on returning the nativity scene to its home for at least two decades - a small patch of grass behind City Hall.
"I'm tired of these organizations coming into a small-town community and threatening us with lawsuits and the city rolling over," said 37-year-old Georgia Halloran. "We are celebrating a national holiday. We are not promoting a religion. The government isn't supposed to be hostile toward religion."
After the ACLU threatened the city with a lawsuit in 2005, it moved a Santa mailbox closer to the nativity scene. But the ACLU returned in 2006 and the council sent the fi gures packing after lengthy public debate and examining several options from its legal department.
The U.S. Supreme Court has found that nativity scenes are permissible on public land as long as secular symbols are displayed, too.
Religion, Pages 16 on 10/27/2007