Religion Briefs
Religious figures lead opposition to Iraq war
CHICAGO >> More than 2,000 people joined local religious leaders Sunday protesting a possible war with Iraq.Protesters carried candles and sang "We Shall Overcome" and other songs while marching down Michigan Avenue.
"There is beginning to move in this nation a voice of sanity in the midst of insanity," Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, of the United Methodist Church in Illinois, said to applause. "The polls are beginning to show that we are not as alone as we once thought we were."
The vigil came two weeks after the city's top Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders drafted a letter to President Bush explaining their opposition to a pre-emptive strike on Iraq.
"We believe there is ample time and latitude for pursuing alternatives that could avoid warfare, saving untold thousands of lives," wrote the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago.
ACLU questions policy catering to Mormons
PROVO, Utah >> Civil libertarians are questioning a city policy barring schools from planning events on the night the Mormon church has directed Mormons to stay home.School officials barred this month all activities on Monday nights after a plea by Gordon Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to keep that evening free for Mormon families.
Dani Eyer, director of the Utah American Civil Liberties Union, said the policy may violate the First Amendment.
"The question is whether the district is motivated by dictation from the church or as a practical matter of 90 percent of the people being Latter-day Saints and wanting to stay home that night," Eyer said.
Richard Sheffield, school board president, said there was broad support for the policy.
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