USA Update
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Campus Crusade head has cancer. Campus Crusade for Christ President Bill Bright is suffering from pulmonary fibrosis and prostate cancer. Bright, 79, underwent medical testing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and received confirmation from his doctor he has pulmonary fibrosis of the lung. His wife, Vonette, announced her husband's condition in a letter to Campus Crusade staff on Oct. 27. Pulmonary fibrosis is a buildup of scar tissue in the lung that results in the tissue permanently losing its ability to transport oxygen.
___ Churches challenged over Clinton, Gore appearance. Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Internal Revenue Service to launch an inquiry into whether churches in Michigan and Virginia violated a federal tax law that prohibits churches from taking sides in elections by allowing President Clinton and Vice President Gore to speak from their pulpits. Americans United said Gore's appearances Oct. 29 at Greater Grace Temple of the Apostolic Faith in Detroit and Clinton's appearance at Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., violated the law by supporting political candidates. Clinton's appearance "appears to have been a campaign rally held during a church worship service that was designed to benefit certain candidates," said Americans United Executive Director Barry Lynn.
___ Court upholds moment of silence. A federal court has affirmed the constitutionality of a Virginia law requiring public school students to observe a minute of silence in class each day. In a 15-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton rejected the American Civil Liberties Union's contention the law violated the constitutional separation of church and state because it allowed for prayer during the moment of silence. "The momentary silence neither advances nor inhibits religion," the judge wrote. "Students may think as they wish--and this thinking can be purely religious in nature or purely secular in nature. All that is required is that they sit silently."
___ Donations to large charities up. Private donations to the nation's largest charities blossomed to $38 billion in 1999--a 13 percent increase from the previous year, according to a philanthropy journal's report. For the eighth consecutive year, the Salvation Army topped The Chronicle of Philanthropy's survey of 400 charitable organizations, collecting $1.4 billion. Other top charities included the YMCA of the USA, $693.3 million; American Red Cross, $678.3 million; the American Cancer Society, $620 million; Lutheran Services in America, $559 million; United Jewish Communities, $524.3 million; America's Second Harvest, $471.8 million; Habitat for Humanity, $466.7 million; Catholic Charities USA, $446.3 million; Boys and Girls Clubs of America, $362.3 million; World Vision, $331.4 million; and Campus Crusade for Christ International, $315 million.
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