In this Issue:

Christians Sue for Intolerance:Religious Right targets anti-discrimination policies

Michael Piazza to Speak in Crawford:Bus ride on April 15

Take it to the Streets:Opportunities to Work for Peace & Justice

H4PJ to Launch Peace Training:Empowering Cultures of Peace April 21 & 22

Church Group Calls IRS Unfair:Cites Political Violations of Tax Code

H4PJ Presents Pageant:Support H4PJ on April 30th

Kentucky Gov cut gays from discrimination policy:Decision on Diversity Day

Christians Sue for Intolerance
Religious Right targets anti-discrimination policies against gays
By Stephanie Simon
April 10, 2006
Originally Published by the LA Times

Atlanta - Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.

Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she's a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.

Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So she's demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.

With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.

The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. "Christians," he said, "are going to have to take a stand for the right to be Christian."

In that spirit, the Christian Legal Society, an association of judges and lawyers, has formed a national group to challenge tolerance policies in federal court. Several nonprofit law firms — backed by major ministries such as Focus on the Family and Campus Crusade for Christ — already take on such cases for free.

The legal argument is straightforward: Policies intended to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination end up discriminating against conservative Christians. Evangelicals have been suspended for wearing anti-gay T-shirts to high school, fired for denouncing Gay Pride Month at work, reprimanded for refusing to attend diversity training. When they protest tolerance codes, they're labeled intolerant.

A recent survey by the Anti-Defamation League found that 64% of American adults — including 80% of evangelical Christians — agreed with the statement "Religion is under attack in this country."

"The message is, you're free to worship as you like, but don't you dare talk about it outside the four walls of your church," said Stephen Crampton, chief counsel for the American Family Assn. Center for Law and Policy, which represents Christians who feel harassed.

Critics dismiss such talk as a right-wing fundraising ploy. "They're trying to develop a persecution complex," said Jeremy Gunn, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.

H4PJ strives to combat the Religious Right and the use of name of God to promote discrimination against GLBT people. H4PJ needs your support.
Join the H4PJ Equality Coalition
Donate to H4PJ

H4PJ Online Action Center
Tell Ruth your Story
Fight Discrimination through Understanding

Click here to continue reading.

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Michael Piazza to Speak in Crawford
Join the Bus ride on April 15

Hope for Peace & Justice and the Cathedral of Hope’s Order of St. Martin is planning a daytrip to Crawford, TX to join other peace activists from around the country for an Easter Revival at Camp Casey and the Crawford Peace House. With President Bush planning to take his usual Easter vacation at his ranch, this will be the perfect time to rally for an Easter of peace, love and hope.

Buses will leave Cathedral of Hope at 9 a.m. to arrive in Crawford at approximately 11 a.m. The buses will depart Crawford around 6 p.m. Lunch will be provided at no charge, though donations will be accepted. You can also carry snacks and other things aboard the buses. Cost is $20 per seat. Families are more than welcome to attend.

Rev. Michael Piazza, President of Hope for Peace & Justice is scheduled to speak, and there will be rallies, performances and teach-ins. The Crawford Peace House cultivates an atmosphere of peaceful respite. Individuals are invited to explore the peace garden and labyrinth in meditative reflection.

For more information, or to reserve your seat aboard a bus, please contact
Jason Bradberry at jwbradberry@yahoo.com.

H4PJ Online Action Center Updates
	Tell Ruth Your Story Fight Discrimination through Understanding Demand Compassion in Immigration Reform Contact your Senators Today Support Bi-Partisan Immigration Reform Tell your Senator to Vote Against the Frist Bill

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H4PJ Ready to Launch Peace Training Program

Hope for Peace & Justice is working to heal violence and bring about peace and justice through education and nonviolent activism. Our task is to train and equip people to be Peace Practitioners, those who reconcile conflict in all types of human relationships.

Sound like a monumental task? It is. However, the need for peace in our lives, communities, nation and the world is urgent. So is the need for your support.

In May, H4PJ will be taking Empowering Cultures of Peace: A Two-Part Basic Seminar for Peace Practitioners on the road. H4PJ hopes to send Rev. Shelley Hamilton and conflict resolution specialist Dennis Bolin across the nation to train Peace Practitioners in 100 cities by the end of 2007. However, Hope for Peace & Justice needs your financial support to defray the costs of publishing the comprehensive materials and travel for the speakers.

Click here to support this program.

H4PJ hopes to raise $50,000 for the immediate costs of this program. I hope that you will be able to support us. The H4PJ Curriculum Team has completed the work for the initial seminar. We believe this program will change people’s lives.

A gift of any amount will help H4PJ bring peace to our work. Click here to donate.

You are Invited
Empowering Cultures of Peace Scheduled on April 21 & 22

We invite you to participate in this process because we know you to be people striving for peace and justice. If you would like to attend, please email Rev. Shelley Hamilton at shamilton@h4pj.org.

Bob Munro has generously offered a 15% donation to H4PJ for every piece of art sold through Hope for Peace & Justice. Please visit Sacred Pause online.

Church Group Calls I.R.S. Unfair
Cites Political Violations of Tax Code
By Stephanie Strom
April 7, 2006
Originally Published by the New York Times

A group of religious leaders accused the Internal Revenue Service yesterday of playing politics by ignoring its complaint that two large churches in Ohio are engaging in what it says are political activities, in violation of the tax code.

In a letter to Commissioner Mark W. Everson, the clergy members cited reports of political events involving Fairfield Christian Church in Fairfield and World Harvest Church in Columbus and groups affiliated with them that have occurred or been disclosed since they raised the issue in January.

The group argues that the churches may be violating prohibitions on political activities by charities and other tax-exempt organizations and has asked the I.R.S. to audit their political activities.

The group often notes that the agency is investigating All Saints Church, a large liberal Episcopal church in Pasadena, Calif., over a sermon in 2004 that imagined a debate among Jesus, President Bush and Senator John Kerry, then the Democratic presidential candidate, and asks why the agency has not begun a similar audit of the two Ohio churches, which are conservative.

All Saints has denied wrongdoing and said the tax agency had not responded to its lawyers' calls.

The Rev. Eric Williams of North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus has been coordinating the activities of the critical group and said it was sending a second letter to Mr. Everson because the troublesome activities were continuing. "The I.R.S. really needs to take a more proactive stance if it's truly concerned about the political activities of all churches," Mr. Williams said.

Last year, the inspector general of the Treasury Department said political considerations played no role in selecting charities for reviews.

"For the 2006 electoral season, we are poised to look into allegations quickly and get an agent involved promptly if there is a valid reason for concern," the I.R.S. said in a statement.
A spokesman for World Harvest Church, Giles Hudson, said the tax agency had not contacted his church.

"This latest complaint filed by a group of left-leaning clergy amounts to nothing more than a campaign of harassment, and with the primary election just three weeks away, the timing couldn't be more obvious," the church said in a statement.

No one returned messages seeking comment from Fairfield Christian.

The critics' group says that the two churches' activities continue to support the gubernatorial candidacy of Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell almost exclusively, violating requirements that nonprofit organizations treat all candidates in a race even-handedly.

In 2004, Mr. Blackwell flew to three events on the World Harvest Church plane with its pastor, the Rev. Rodney L. Parsley, to protest same-sex marriages. Mr. Blackwell paid $1,000 for the flights, The Associated Press said, and Mr. Hudson noted that Mr. Blackwell took the trips before he was officially a candidate.

Support H4PJ at PAGEANT
Presented by Hope for Peace & Justice
An Uptown Players Production
Special One-Time Benefit Performance
Sunday, April 30
7pm | Trinity River Arts Center

Support Hope for Peace & Justice on this special night. The cast of Pageant has donated a special performance to Hope for Peace & Justice. By purchasing your tickets to Pageant through Hope for Peace & Justice, you help us raise money for important campaigns, programs and workshops.Your $50 ticket includes an invitation to a post-show dessert reception.

Click here to buy your tickets.

Book and Lyrics by Bill Russell and Frank Kelly
Music by Albert Evans
Conceived by Robert Longbottom

You've never seen a beauty pageant like this one! Pageant pits six beauty queens (all played by men) against each other in an extravaganza of evening gowns, bathing suits, and not-to-be-missed talent.

While les girls swirl around the charming host in the funniest beauty contest ever seen, judges selected from the audience decide who will be crowned Miss Glamouresse. A different winner each night ensures non-stop nail-biting fun!

Theatre: Trinity River Arts Center
2600 Stemmons Freeway, Suite 180, Dallas, Texas 75207
The Trinity River Arts Center Theatre is located across from the KD Studio in the same building complex.

Click here for more information.

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Kentucky: Gays cut from anti-bias policy
Change for state workers comes on Diversity Day
By Deborah Yetter
April 12, 2006
Originally Published by the Louisville Courier-Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gay state workers and job candidates have lost anti-discrimination protection as a result of an order that Gov. Ernie Fletcher issued yesterday as part of the state's "Diversity Day."

Fletcher replaced the 2003 employment policy of former Gov. Paul Patton with one that bans employment discrimination because of "race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, veteran status and disability."

It makes no mention of sexual orientation.

Patton's policy included protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Ryan LaFollette, 26, a gay state worker in Louisville, said the Patton policy was one reason he applied to become a researcher for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights.

"I just started working for state government six months ago,'' LaFollette said. "In hiring and firing, I knew I would be protected."

The new policy "doesn't protect me," said LaFollette, who said he was speaking personally and not on behalf of his agency.

It also drew criticism from some lawmakers, including Sen. Ernesto Scorsone, D-Lexington, who is gay and said the policy amounts to "open season on gay state employees."

But Fletcher spokesman Brett Hall said the governor has no intent to discriminate against gay workers. Rather, the new order mirrors federal affirmative action policy and is meant to prohibit all discrimination, he said.

"This is in no way to discriminate against anyone," Hall said.

Hall said the administration was concerned that the Patton policy on sexual orientation was too broad and extended to others, such as transgender people.

That caused a dispute at the state Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet over which restroom an employee undergoing a sex change should use, he said.

"These types of special privileges are not only difficult to comply with, but it's very expensive," Hall said, saying it could lead to lawsuits or require the state to build additional restrooms.

Mark York, a spokesman for the environmental cabinet, said a question arose last year about which restroom a transgender employee should use, but it was resolved by setting aside a particular restroom for the worker.

"We were able to work something out to everyone's satisfaction," he said.

H4PJ stands strongly against discrimination in all forms.
Join us in the journey toward equality.
Join the H4PJ Equality Coalition
Donate to H4PJ

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