Religion and Ethics Newsletter

Following is a brief outline of the stories Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly will be covering this week. Every Friday evening, new stories are uploaded to the Web site at http://www.pbs.org/religion.

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Cover Story: Supreme Court Argument: Church and State

Ever since Washington was admitted to the Union in 1889, the separation of church and state has been clearly defined in its constitution. Today, more than half the states have similar provisions called “Blaine Amendments” after proponent James Blaine, who served as President James Garfield’s Secretary of State. Adhering to Blaine’s strict separation of church and state was a condition of admission to the union for many states. Now, this issue is before the Supreme Court, which is set to consider whether state constitutions go too far in this matter based on the case of Joshua Davey, a former student at Northwest College, who applied for a state-administered scholarship. Davey took the state to court after his application was rejected because he wanted to study theology, claiming the denial violated his First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion.

Tim O’Brien reports on the Davey case and what the outcome could mean for future cases involving religious freedom and states’ rights. According to Narda Pierce, Washington Solicitor General, “We have not prohibited Mr. Davey from any of his religious practices or pursuing certain religious studies. We’ve just declined to subsidize them because of our state constitutional policy.” However, Davey notes, “The state can’t legitimately say ‘we’re not preventing you from practicing religion’ when they’re actively discouraging that practice through withholding funds, or through any other means.”

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week712/cover.html

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Perspectives: Gay Marriage and Homosexuality

This week, the Massachusetts Supreme Court declared that gay couples have the right to marry under the state constitution and gave the Legislature 180 days to rewrite the state’s marriage laws. Also, on Tuesday, a poll released by the Pew Forum and Research Center examining attitudes about homosexuality, found that, despite the overall rise in tolerance toward gays since the mid-1980s, many Americans remain highly critical of homosexuals — and religious belief is a major factor in these attitudes. E.J. Dionne, co-chair of the Pew Forum and Research Center, joins Bob Abernethy for a discussion about reaction to the Massachusetts court ruling and what the findings in the Pew survey reveal about American attitudes toward gay marriage and homosexuality.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week712/perspectives.html

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Feature: Mary Magdalene

Was Mary Magdalene a penitent prostitute, devoted disciple, or the love interest of Jesus? While popular culture has portrayed her as all three, Mary Magdalene’s true identity is the subject of much speculation and discussion. Mary Alice Williams talks with scholars about Mary Magdalene’s role in the Christian Church, including evidence that she was both an apostle and a leader in the Church after the Resurrection. Karen King, a professor of ecclesiastical history at Harvard Divinity School who has written a book about Mary Magdalene based on the ancient Gnostic text, “The Gospel of Mary,” observes, “Mary Magdalene is important, I think, to women of all faiths because it tells women that they, too, have a history — and a history that places them at the center of their own traditions.”

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week712/feature.html

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