July 25, 2008

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
What's tougher to get than a same-sex marriage? A same-sex divorce
Steven Senne/Associated Press (07/25/2008: latimes.com)
Cassandra Ormiston is surrounded by books and a typewriter in her Providence, R.I., home Wednesday, April 9. Ormiston married Margaret Chambers in Massachusetts in 2004, but the two are unable to get divorced in their home state of Rhode Island. 'They've given us no choice but to be married forever,' says a Rhode Island woman. Her state doesn't recognize gay marriage, and the state where she was wed limits divorces to residents.

DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE
Catholic Groups Ask Pope to End Contraception Ban
Philip Pullella/Reuters (07/25/2008)
ROME - More than 50 dissident Catholic groups published an unusually frank open letter to Pope Benedict on Friday saying the Church's ban on contraception had been "catastrophic" and urging him to lift it.

Muslim Day at Six Flags a time to relax and connect with others
Deborah Horan/Chicago Tribune (07/25/2008)
For the fourth time since 2004, Six Flags in Gurnee is sponsoring Muslim Day, bringing in outside caterers to provide halal food and turning an amphitheater into a makeshift mosque to accommodate Muslims who observe dietary laws and strict prayer schedules. Muslims who plan to go say they appreciate the sense of community the event creates as well as the opportunity to talk about Islam with curious non-Muslims at the park.

From the shadows, Anonymous battles Scientology
Melissa Patterson/Chicago Tribune (07/25/2008)
With their dark suits, leering masks and signs warning of what they call the "cult" of Scientology, the protest group Anonymous may startle a few visitors to Millennium Park on Saturday. But that's what the participants are hoping for.

EDUCATION
Pledge of allegiance ruling may spur suits
Nirvi Shah And Kathleen McGrory/Miami Herald (07/25/2008)
A former Palm Beach County high school student's desire not to stand during the pledge of allegiance was supported by a federal appeals court this week -- though the court wouldn't go as far as to say that means every student in Florida is exempt from standing during the school-day ritual. But the ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta could trigger more lawsuits if other students are forced to stand for the pledge or punished if they do not, said Randall Marshall, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented Cameron Frazier.

Citing need for unity, Baylor University fires President John Lilley
Sam Hodges and Scott Farwell/Dallas Morning News (07/24/2008)
The Baylor University Board of Regents voted Thursday to fire the school's president, John Lilley. The decision came after a five-hour discussion at the regents' annual retreat, held this year in Grapevine. The board's chairman, Howard K. Batson, said the move wasn't triggered by a single issue.