Democracy for Vancouver

Interesting, potentially troubling Church/State separation story from Oxy-abuse addled Appalachia:

The Community Church of Manchester is leading the way through “Court Watch,” a program in which volunteers attend court hearings to monitor judges overseeing drug-related cases.

“It’s kind of a new position and very controversial,” said Becknell, who also runs his church’s local Christian television station. “A lot of churches shun getting involved in politics or going to court.”

The Rev. Doug Abner, pastor at Community Church — whose slogan for a 2004 anti-drug march was “get saved or get busted” — said the presence of Court Watch volunteers puts “mild pressure” on judges “to do the right thing.” The volunteers collect information for a database and look for trends in drug crimes.

The program concerns some other people of faith, who say it cuts against Christian values.“The churches have traditionally been the humanitarian influence in society,” said the Rev. John Rausch, director of the Catholic Committee on Appalachia.

Read rest of story at MSNBC