November 8, 2024

Trump’s Path to Victory Still Runs Through the Church

What to Do After the Election

Power Without Integrity Destroys Us

Civility, Calvinism, and the Coming Judgment Day

PAID CONTENT FROM COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL

Raise Compassionate Kids in a Self-Centered World

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Calling Is More Than Your Job

We often conflate vocation with God’s purpose for our lives. Is that biblical?

Gen Z Is Turning Online for Spiritual Guidance

My generation is spiritually curious. We’re just looking in the wrong places.

Conservative Anglicans Call for Archbishop to Repent Over Same-Sex Relationships Stance

As the issue continues to divide the Church of England, Justin Welby spoke on a popular podcast about how his views have “evolved.”

Beijing, Let My Daughter Come Home

China should honor its promises to the last 300 children matched with families through international adoption. 

The post The Weekend – 11-9-24 appeared first on Christianity Today.

Vance is an evangelical convert to Catholicism, and it is social conservatism more than the economic variety that defines his politics. He is a family man, genteel where President-elect Donald Trump is brusque. His faith journey was an important part of his initial appeal as an author and commentator, even before he ran for the Senate and joined the 2024 Republican ticket.

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God Is Faithful in Triumph and Despair

Nicole Massie Martin

In fact, it is Vance’s style of traditionalist Catholicism that differentiates him from free-market conservatives in a party that is increasingly pitching itself to workers, not management. For better and worse—like the now-infamous “childless cat ladies” remark—he has focused his attention on strengthening the family, sounding the alarm over falling fertility rates and the practical struggles of working parents.

“At a fundamental level, if we’re worried about moms and dads not being as involved at home, if we’re worried about rising rates of childhood trauma, if we’re worried about the fact that in this country today, for maybe the first extended period in our country’s history, we’re not even having enough children in this country to replace ourselves—if we’re worried about those problems,” he said at a gala in Washington, DC, in 2019, “then we have to be willing to pursue a politics that actually wants to accomplish something besides just making government smaller.” 

Sometimes small government is a priority, Vance added, but it’s not the highest priority in his pro-family “vision of conservative politics.”

That theme has been consistent for Vance since well before this campaign cycle, and he routinely ties his ideas about family back to his faith. “How do you be a better husband, a better man, a better father?” Vance asked in a podcast the year before he became a Republican senatorial nominee. 

“How do you build a sense of masculinity that is protective and defensive and aggressive but isn’t just showy?” he continued. “Elites don’t care at all about the difference between men and women and how we need to inculcate masculine virtues and feminine virtues. But Christianity really does.”

Trump doesn’t talk like this. But many conservative Christians who have voted for him do. The president–elect, a thrice-married, twice-divorced, one-time playboy and sexual libertine, has developed quite a following among people who care deeply about family cohesion and declining birth rates. 

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Kids Aren’t Cheap. That Doesn’t Fully Explain Why We’re Ambivalent About Having Them.

Bonnie Kristian

Trump’s selection of his first running mate, Mike Pence, was intended to address that dissonance. He needed to establish ties to evangelicals and other social conservatives, not least because he’d briefly run for the presidential nomination of Ross Perot’s Reform Party as a “very pro-choice,” socially liberal candidate in 1999. Even in 2016, the organized Christian Right largely preferred rival Republican candidates like Ted Cruz. That cycle, journalist Tim Carney found Trump had a strong appeal for Christians who professed certain evangelical beliefs but no longer attended church regularly. 

But Pence was always an uneasy fit with Trump’s bid to remake the GOP in his populist image. Pence’s conservatism was that of the Ronald Reagan era. He served as Trump’s ambassador to the old-guard Republican leadership, lawmakers like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, never effectively bridging the gap between conservative Christians and Trump’s crude populism. It’s no accident that Pence ultimately broke with Trump’s wider political project after their falling out over January 6, 2021, and began inveighing againstthe “siren song of populism.”

Vance has taken a different route, not hearkening back to the small-government approach of the Reagan years but pushing the GOP toward a new kind of Christian conservatism. “Look, my basic view is that if the Republican Party, if the conservative movement stands for anything—and I’m running as a politician trying to advocate for what we should stand for—the number one thing that we should be is pro-babies and pro-families,” The New York Times quoted him as saying at a conservative Catholic event. “That’s what this whole thing is all about.”

Whether that will remain “what this whole thing is all about” for Vance—and Christians who want a pro-faith, pro-life, pro-family conservatism from the new Trump administration—remains to be seen.

Trump has borrowed some of Vance’s family rhetoric himself. But he has also compromised on abortion—despite facilitating the reversal of Roe v. Wade through his judicial appointments—and endorsed in vitro fertilization practices that entail a high amount of embryo destruction. Unlike Pence, Vance has gone along with this. And where Pence did the right thing in certifying the 2020 election results, Vance has raised questions about what he would have done in a similar set of circumstances.

Thus there’s no guarantee Vance will steer Trump’s party more successfully than Pence did, whatever we conservative Christians may hope.  But there is an opening here to create a brand of faith- and family-friendly politics that moves beyond the limitations of the old Moral Majority. Vance, as understudy to a term-limited Trump, could be the right person to take that chance. 

W. James Antle III is executive editor of the Washington Examiner magazine.

The post Vance’s Chance appeared first on Christianity Today.

In other mainline denominations, like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (USA), the conservative exodus has tended to come after the progressive victory. But in the UMC, the conservative American contingent is already gone, so the vote wasn’t close.

With that settled, the next and perhaps final battle between American Methodists who have been on opposite sides of theological and social issues for more than half a century will concern who can win over the Africans, who have been the “main group opposing the changes in policy” on sexuality and are also the largest UMC contingent outside the United States. The breakaway conservative denomination called itself the Global Methodist Church in no small part because members hoped to remain in fellowship with churches in the Global South, where Methodism is more orthodox—and growing as Methodism in the US hasn’t in years.

But the United Methodist Church has also set in motion a plan to allow regional autonomy on the very issues that broke up the denomination domestically. This would permit African churches to remain traditional in how they define marriage and—so the pitch goes—otherwise insulate themselves from the Americans’ liberal course.

United Methodists Strike Ban on LGBTQ Clergy

Yonat Shimron – Religion News Service

African Methodists have previously rejected similar proposals, likely understanding how such rules would dilute African churches’ influence over the denomination and exempt leaders of the shrinking US church from accountability to their African counterparts. They would be wise to reject the plan again.

I give that advice as a conservative Methodist myself—and one facing a similar quandary over denominational affiliation. For now, I remain a United Methodist. My church is theologically traditional but fell short of the congregational vote threshold to disaffiliate, and there’s no Global Methodist presence in my area.

Yet, longer term, I see no future for conservatives of any nationality in this denomination. With so many evangelical congregations and much of the organized resistance to theological liberalism gone, the trajectory displayed in this week’s conference votes will only accelerate.

A better path, as we near the end of the mainline, would be continued connection between the African and American Methodists who together prevented the UMC from going down this road for more than 50 years. Global Methodists have an opportunity to inherit the most vibrant parts of United Methodism while disentangling from its outdated bureaucracy. More importantly, they have a chance to provide an orthodox Wesleyan witness that is compromised neither by liberalism nor by fundamentalism.

The UMC held together as long as it did because it was orthodox on paper but progressive in practice, except in jurisdictions where traditionalists were numerically prevalent. But eventually, liberals who saw prohibitions on same-sex marriage as morally equivalent to racial discrimination could no longer live with even nominal orthodoxy. And conservatives could no longer watch those prohibitions being routinely flouted without consequence.

Yet our divides were never solely about same-sex relationships. When Methodists began debating homosexuality in 1972, it was a reliable proxy for beliefs about biblical authority and the Christian understanding of love. Today, I still believe liberalizing on sexual morality reflects an errant, culture-conforming view of Scripture and tradition, but I also think Methodists have other pressing questions to address—questions that sometimes cut across lines of debate over gay marriage and related topics.

Today there are more Methodists who passionately disagree with each other on LGBTQ questions while being able to recite the creeds together without crossing their fingers. And there are Methodists who are slipping away from very basic doctrines about Christ and Scripture. If we can complete the denominational split and welcome the African churches into Global Methodism, perhaps conservative Methodists can set aside decades-long sexuality debates and focus instead on core theological matters—and the broader work of the church—without compromising on marriage or abortion.

Global Methodists Run Toward Renewal

Daniel Silliman in North Carolina

That vision is particularly appealing because many of us on the conservative side have come to believe we were not ambitious enough. Over a long period of time and with considerable effort, even without real executive authority to expedite the process, maybe we could have gradually transformed the UMC from a center-left denomination with a strong evangelical subculture to a (mildly) center-right one with a strong liberal subculture.

That opportunity, if it existed, has passed. But now, perhaps, we can do even better by going our separate ways. I was recently at a dinner outside Washington, DC, with longtime combatants in the fight for Methodist renewal. Many expressed their wonderment and relief now that the fight was “lost”—that they could now follow conscience and conviction without active resistance from progressive church leaders.

Just a few years ago, they would have been hunkering down to do battle at the General Conference, an experience a pastor friend once described to me as being like attending the Republican and Democratic National Conventions at the same time. Now, conservative Methodists are free to practice an orthodox faith marked by the distinctive parts of our Wesleyan heritage.

There’s no guarantee that conservative Methodists will flourish, of course. But the new beginning offers real promise, and our prospects will be better if our African brothers and sisters join us. Global Methodism is continuing a tradition that shares their values and biblical perspective, and membership from the Global South is vital to the church we’ve sought to build together for so long.

W. James Antle III is executive editor of the Washington Examiner magazine.

Intensity in Tent City

After Schism, United Methodists Vote to Restructure Denomination

Yonat Shimron – Religion News Service

Are the Global Methodists Evangelical?

Daniel Silliman

United Methodists Down 7,659 Churches As Exit Window Ends

Kate Shellnutt and Daniel Silliman

The post Conservative Methodists, Unite appeared first on Christianity Today.

1. Rowan Williams seems to give Episcopal Church a pass There will be news today out of New Orleans, where Episcopal bishops are working on a statement responding to … something.

“Anglican leaders set a Sept. 30 deadline for the Americans to pledge unequivocally not to consecrate another gay bishop or approve an official prayer service for same-gender couples,” says the Associated Press.

Not so fast, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said at a press conference. “Despite what has been claimed, there is no ‘ultimatum’ involved. The Primates asked for a response by September 30 simply because we were aware that this was the meeting of the House likely to be formulating such a response.”

Really? Sure sounded like an ultimatum back in February. That’s why we headlined our story “Global Ultimatum,”and The New York Times headlined its story “Many Episcopalians wary, some defiant after ultimatum by Anglicans.”

Here’s the relevant part of the February document:

In particular, the Primates request, through the Presiding Bishop, that the House of Bishops of The Episcopal Church 1. make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorise any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention; and 2. confirm that the passing of Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consent; unless some new consensus on these matters emerges across the Communion.

The Primates request that the answer of the House of Bishops is conveyed to the Primates by the Presiding Bishop by 30th September 2007.

If the reassurances requested of the House of Bishops cannot in good conscience be given, the relationship between The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion as a whole remains damaged at best, and this has consequences for the full participation of the Church in the life of the Communion.

“You know, if that works for you. If not, that’s cool,” the document does not then add.

2. IRS drops investigation into All Saints anti-war speech “Our examination of your activities concluded that your organization continues to qualify for exemption from Federal Income Tax,” the Internal Revenue Service wrote to All Saints Church in Pasadena, California. The church had been under examination for an October 31, 2004, anti-war sermon. The church is “pleased that the IRS exam is over,” pastor J. Edwin Bacon told the congregation Sunday, but he’s upset about this section of the IRS letter:

“Based on the existing record, the Church’s actions lead us to the conclusion that the Church intervened in the 2004 Presidential election campaign. We note that this appears to be a one-time occurrence and that you have policies in place to ensure that the Church complies with the prohibition against intervention in campaigns for public office.”

But since the letter doesn’t say what in the sermon constituted intervention into the campaign, the church has “no more guidance about the IRS rules now than when we started this process over two long years ago,” Bacon said.

The IRS’s rhetoric “requires a crazy reading of the actual text of the sermon, and calls into serious question what the IRS is up to — and who is directing its bureaucrats to so opine,” an editorial in the Pasadena Star-News said. “All the IRS or anyone else has to do is go to the sermon, available for all to read on the church’s Web site, to see that absolutely no endorsement was made.”

Focus on the Family announced earlier this month that it had been cleared by the IRS.

3. Newsweek wonders if evangelical Republicans will really switch parties The Democratic Party has undertaken “an audacious, if not quixotic, effort to win over a constituency that has been solidly Republican for a quarter century:” evangelicals. It bears repeating that more than one of three evangelicals voted for Bill Clinton over Bob Dole in 1996. But let’s pretend that not-quite-two-thirds constitutes “solidly Republican.”

“For now, the Democrats’ best target may be Hispanics, the fastest-growing subset of evangelicals,” Eve Conant writes. “They voted strongly in support of Bush in 2004, but many are now angered by the GOP’s handling of immigration. … Luis Cortés, president of the Esperanza USA network of 10,000 evangelical churches … is flirting with the Democrats, or at least they’re flirting with him.”

Richard Land is skeptical about a sweeping change, but says, “If the Republicans are foolish enough to nominate the pro-choice Giuliani, that will give the Democratic Party license to hunt for evangelical votes. I don’t know how successful they’ll be, but at least they’ll have that license.”

So what would a Democrat need to be considered successful in an attempt to “woo” evangelicals? A Clintonesque 35 to 40 percent of the evangelical vote? Would less than that be considered failure? Do they need simply to do better than Kerry’s 22 percent in 2004? What’s the bar here? What’s the goal?

4. Born alive? Christy Lynn Freeman will not be charged with murder because, Maryland state’s attorney explained, “In a homicide investigation, you have to prove that the victim had lived.” She had reportedly admitted giving birth to a live baby and letting it die in the toilet. But a pathologist said there was no way to know if Freeman was right in believing the baby was really alive.

5. King Herod’s quarry? “Archaeologists have found an ancient quarry where King Herod’s workers may have chiselled the giant stones used to rebuild the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago,” Reuters reports.

Quote of the day “It’s certainly not the case that there’s a prejudice that eliminates people with strong religious perspectives from the academy … People who are evangelical Christians can come in with an aggressive attitude that can cause a backlash, and then they do feel discriminated against.”

— George Marsden, author of The Soul of the American University and The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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Anglicanism | All Saints vs. IRS | Church and state | Politics | Environment | Life ethics | Canada faith schools fight | Education | Higher education | Books | Art and entertainment | Music | Kathy Griffin | Rex Humbard | People | Pope John Paul II | Pope Benedict XVI | Church life | Abuse | Crime | Mary Winkler | Jeffs polygamy trial | Homosexuality | Missions and ministry | China | Sudan | Israel | Money and business | Other stories of interest

Anglicanism:

• Episcopalians try to prevent split | With the Anglican world anxiously waiting, Episcopal leaders weighed their response to demands that they bar any more gays from becoming bishops (Associated Press)
• Gay issue looms over Episcopal Church | Bishops of the Episcopal Church are in New Orleans this week, tackling a job that may need a little divine intervention (Morning Edition, NPR)
• Episcopal bishops see “clear” statement on gays | U.S. Episcopal Church bishops, hammering out a response to a request by the broader Anglican Communion that it stop ordaining openly gay bishops, said on Monday its answer would be “clear and unambiguous” (Reuters)
• Episcopal Church remains divided on gay issues | A standoff over the Episcopal Church’s liberal stance on homosexuality increases the possibility of splits within the world’s third-largest Christian denomination (The New York Times)
• Analysis: Anglicans already breaking up | As Episcopal leaders consider barring more gays from becoming bishops to prevent an Anglican schism, the world Anglican family is already dying by a thousand cuts (Associated Press)
• ‘God wants unity’ but doesn’t get it | Lesbian chaplain protests Anglican archbishop’s talk in Wheaton (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Anti-gay Anglican archbishop speaks in Wheaton | Nigerian archbishop known for anti-gay views (Chicago Tribune)
• US bishop defects to Catholic Church in row over gays | In the most high-profile American defection to date in the row over gays in the Anglican Church, a diocesan bishop has explained why he is to be received into the Roman Catholic Church (The Times, London)
• Anglican head downplays split over gays | After two days of private talks with Episcopal leaders, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader, said “there is no ultimatum involved.” The goal, he said, is “compromise.” (Associated Press)
• Anglican showdown over gays looms in New Orleans (Reuters)
• Anglican leader plays down schism | The head of the Anglican Communion offered words of encouragement yesterday to U.S. Episcopal bishops under fire for their support of gay men and lesbians, saying they aren’t facing an “ultimatum,” even as other leaders of the worldwide church insisted the Americans are teetering on being forced out of the communion (The Washington Post)
• Archbishop holds out hope for compromise | Says Episcopal- Anglican schism can be avoided (The Boston Globe)
• Archbishop addresses religious fissure | The Anglican Communion, torn by disputes over theology and church authority, must push for compromise or it would be “an admission of defeat,” says Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the world’s third largest Christian denomination (USA Today)
• Anglican Church could split by end of year | The worldwide Anglican Church is expected to split radically by the end of the year under plans being drawn up by a leading conservative archbishop to “adopt” a breakaway group of American dioceses (The Telegraph, London)
• US bishops try to find compromise on gay clergy | The move, which will be discussed within the US house of bishops at its meeting today, seeks to allow liberal clergy to continue offering pastoral support to gay couples while ruling out, at least for the present, formal blessings services or the appointment of more openly gay bishops (The Guardian, London)
• Archbishop prays for miracle in gay rights row | “This is not a very comfortable place to be,” he said. “It is somewhat like the situation for soldiers in the First World War in the trenches — we can’t remember how we got here and most of us don’t want to be here.” (The Telegraph, London)
• Homosexuality not a ‘disease’, says Archbishop | Warning that “violence against gay and lesbian people is inexcusable,” he added: “Gay and lesbian people have a place in the Church as do all the baptised.” (The Telegraph, London)
• Internal bickering leaves Q-C Anglican churches in turmoil | The Rev. Steven McClaskey really didn’t want to retire right now from his pastoral post at Trinity Church in Rock Island. Yet, he also didn’t want to risk losing his pension, which advisers and he felt was endangered, by the continued dispute between Episcopal Church leaders and the worldwide Anglican Communion (Quad-Cities Online)
• Preparing for the Anglican summit | This week’s meeting between Rowan Williams and the American bishops will be my swan-song as a religious affairs correspondent, after eight years covering the subject for The Guardian (Stephen Bates, Religious Intelligence)

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All Saints vs. IRS:

• Pasadena church wants apology from IRS | All Saints’ rector also demands that the agency clarify its findings after closing its probe into an antiwar sermon in 2004 (Los Angeles Times)
• Minister: IRS has dropped investigation | The Rev. J. Edwin Bacon Jr. told the congregants at All Saints Episcopal Church that the Internal Revenue Service has closed a lengthy investigation into a speech by the church’s former rector, the Rev. George F. Regas (Associated Press)
• IRS ends church probe | The IRS has dropped an investigation into an anti-war sermon preached at All Saints Episcopal Church two days before the 2004 presidential election, the Rev. Ed Bacon told his cheering congregation Sunday (Pasadena Star News, Ca.)
• A victory for free speech | Although it’s certainly fine, fair and right that the IRS has dropped its investigation into a Pasadena church’s anti-war sermon, delivered two days before the November 2004 presidential election, the federal tax agency is still trying to have it both ways on the issue (Editorial, Pasadena Star News, Ca.)

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Church and state:

• Court says Halloween decorations are secular | A secretary in Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice claimed that she was retaliated against for complaining that “pagan” office Halloween decorations offended her Pentecostal Christian religious beliefs (Religion Clause)
• Prayer nixed at rite for victims | The Wisconsin Department of Justice has removed religious content from a memorial service for murder victims planned for next week after a watchdog group complained (The Capital Times, Madison, Wis.)
• At State Dept., blog team joins Muslim debate | Two Arab-Americans have been hired to post on blogs and Internet forums in an effort to improve America’s image (The New York Times)
• Pentagon can’t find major named in suit | Military officials are investigating an Army specialist’s allegations that he was harassed for being an atheist but said Saturday they have found no trace of the officer listed as a defendant in the soldier’s lawsuit (Associated Press)
• Pair files suit after county withholds marriage license | Only those of the Quaker and Bah’ai faiths may perform their own weddings, says county register (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
• Also: ACLU sues over self-uniting marriage license dispute (Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
• ‘God’ gets an attorney in lawsuit | The mystery of one response to a lawsuit against God has been solved. Eric Perkins, an attorney in Corpus Christi, Texas, said Friday he filed a response to the lawsuit from Nebraska State Sen. Ernie Chambers (Associated Press)
• MEP has church flags removed | The decision to remove both a tricolour and a papal flag from the altar has caused controversy locally, but Ms. Doyle yesterday defended her decision (Wexford Echo, Ireland)
• Sign from God caught up in bureaucratic wrangle | A new sign for a church has become a sign of the times, showing how even a simple project can be entangled in costly red tape (The New Zealand Herald)

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Politics:

• The miracle workers | For 25 years, evangelicals have voted Republican. But the Democrats are courting, and their efforts may have a prayer (Newsweek)
• The Religious Left grapples with the war | Many progressive Protestants are struggling to reconcile their support for the troops with their moral opposition to war. They’re making a fresh case for more religious-political dialogue (The American Prospect)
• Christian right looks to rebound | Headed into the 2008 election season, Christian conservatives are weary (Associated Press)
• Religious right summit draws prominent speakers | Conservative Christians from around the nation come to Brandon (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
• Bauer disappointed by Dobson memo ‘savaging’ Fred Thompson | Prominent evangelical leader and former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer fears Dr. James Dobson’s highly critical comments about presidential hopeful Fred Thompson will further divide conservative Christians (OneNewsNow.com, American Family Association)
• Multi-faith prayers thrive in US politics | Bowing and mouthing prayers, Saleh Williams prostrates himself on a white sheet beside his colleagues. For these Muslims, Friday worship takes place not in a mosque, but a meeting room in the Capitol — at the heart of US democracy (AFP)
• For congressman, humanism matters | US Representative Pete Stark of California, a Unitarian who this year became the highest-ranking American politician to declare himself a nontheist, received the annual Humanist of the Year award from Harvard’s humanist chaplaincy (Rich Barlow, The Boston Globe)
• What’s wrong with the religious right? | Less than four years after widespread declarations that the religious right had taken over the Republican Party, these social conservatives seem almost powerless to influence its nomination process (W. James Antle III, Politico.com)
• How religious do we want our presidential candidates to be? (Andrea Cornell Sarvady and Shaunti Feldhahn, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Southern Baptists, push immigration reform | They could truly be the “tipping point” that comprehensive immigration reform needs (Sean McKenzie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Christian group wants elections to reserved minority seats | Says joint electorate does not protect minorities’ rights (Daily Times, Pakistan)
• Religious leaders call for House dissolution | Religious leaders say MPs can no longer conduct parliamentary business. And they now want the House dissolved so that the legislators can seek fresh mandate from the voters (East African Standard, Kenya)

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Environment:

• Going green for God | Several Indy-area congregations integrate environmental stewardship into mission (The Indianapolis Star)
• No faith in Howard’s end, says priest | John Howard’s pre-election bid to establish his green credentials by announcing clean energy targets of 15 per cent has failed to impress a leading international religious advocate for the environment (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• A pardoner’s tale | Environmental climate initiative adopts one-size-fits-all indulgences to relieve carbon guilt. (Iain Murray, The American Spectator)
• John Calvin: Green Socialist? | Yes, says his representative at the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (Mark D. Tooley, FrontPageMag.com)
• “What Would Jesus Drive?” | Electrified evangelical theological confusion (Jay W. Richards, National Review Online)
• Offset away our guilt | If we can buy ‘carbon offsets’ for our environmental missteps, why not for our other sins? (Peter Schweizer, USA Today)

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Life ethics:

• Freeman case needed proof of live birth | A pathologist who examined skeletal infant remains found at Christy Lynn Freeman’s Ocean City home concluded there was no way to tell if the babies had been born alive, the medical examiner’s office said yesterday (The Baltimore Sun)
• Judges scrutinize Missouri inmate abortion policy | Federal appeals judges asked pointed questions Monday of lawyers defending Missouri’s 2-year-old policy banning inmates from obtaining abortions unless medically necessary (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Order stalls Missouri abortion law that changes clinic requirements | A new Missouri law imposing added restrictions on abortion clinics will remain in limbo for at least two months while two abortion providers and state health officials negotiate over some of the law’s provisions (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• 3rd circuit rejects free exercise challenge to giving minor “morning after” pill | The court rejected Melissa’s free exercise claim, finding that she was not coerced by the government into taking the pills and that she does not allege she ever informed the clinic staff about her religious beliefs (Religion Clause)
• Salmond seeks abortion law review | First Minister Alex Salmond has backed the setting up of an independent commission to examine abortion laws (BBC)
• Stem-cell research question to remain on ballot, judge rules | Arguments by right-to-life groups that the wording is misleading are rejected (The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.)
• Also: In Trenton, judge says item on stem cells stays on ballot | A state judge ruled on Monday that a $450 million bond proposal to finance stem cell research must stay on the November ballot, dealing a blow to abortion opponents (The New York Times)
• The real estate of abortion politics | The fight over building permits for the Aurora, Ill. Planned Parenthood clinic is just one more example of how the fight over reproductive health is coming down to questions of infrastructure (The American Prospect)
• The light’s on, but is anybody home? | An extraordinary brain study concludes that a woman in a vegetative state is aware of herself. It’s a dangerous claim that could throw families and physicians into turmoil (Robert Burton, Salon.com)

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Canada faith schools fight:

• Caucus dissent grows over schools policy | A candidate says he won’t vote for the measure, but Leader John Tory dismisses the remarks of a ‘maverick’ (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
• Ontario election race may turn on religious schools | The premier of the province of Ontario, Canada’s industrial heartland, admitted during a tough televised debate on Thursday night that he has broken promises, but that may not spoil his chances in the October 10 election as religious school issues come to the fore (Reuters)
• School funding fight escalates | Provincial government urged to stop paying for Catholic system as civil liberties group weighs in on debate (Toronto Star)
• Ontario should end funding for religious schools, civil liberties group says | The religious-schools debate dominating the Ontario campaign trail took another sudden turn Monday as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association called for a constitutional amendment to end public funding for the province’s Catholic schools (Canadian Press)

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Education:

• Welcome or not, Orthodoxy is back in Russia’s public schools | The drive by a revitalized Russian Orthodox Church to weave its tenets into the education system has prompted a backlash (The New York Times)
• Teacher wants kids to use Bible in class | Bob Pawson is asking students to bring Bibles to school for the week. And he doesn’t want Scripture sitting in lockers or backpacks (The Record, Hackensack, N.J.)
• Little reaction from students, parents on religious freedom rules | But a month into the school year, there has been no reaction from students or parents reported at any local school district, officials said (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
• Vitter earmarks funds for religious group | Nonprofit supports creationist education (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
• Time to grow up | “Abstinence only” education does not slow the spread of AIDS (The Economist)
• Crisis of faith in first secular school | Headteacher is told establishing non-religious education would be ‘politically impossible’ (The Guardian, London)
• Schools need policy on activities, religious holidays | We hope the Rochester School Board discusses at more length the decision to move the John Marshall-Mayo football game from Friday to Thursday of last week (Editorial, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.)
• LDS amiss on voucher neutrality | It remained silent as the biggest moral issue of a generation passed it by (Rebecca Walsh, The Salt Lake Tribune)

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Higher education:

• Three more staff to leave Wycliffe | Another five academics have left the institution in recent months (Religious Intelligence)
• Religious intolerance? | Some evangelical professors say they are discriminated against, but others ask whether that is because of faith — or politics (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Adjuncts and God: Why are 2 instructors out of jobs? | Instructor at Southwestern Community College says he lost job for not taking Bible literally. Colorado AAUP says instructor lost job for taking faith too seriously (Inside Higher Ed)
• Teacher: I was fired, said Bible isn’t literal | The community college instructor says the school sided with students offended by his explanation of Adam and Eve (Des Moines Register, Ia.)
• Update: Students: Teacher’s style, not faith, led to firing | Students of a fired Iowa community college instructor say they were offended more by his brash teaching style than the remarks about the Bible that he claims led to his dismissal last week (Des Moines Register, Ia.)
• Catholic character | After years of planning, a new generation of ideological colleges takes shape, in purposeful counterpoint to traditional institutions they see as having lost the way (Inside Higher Ed)
• Chinese to study online with Dallas seminary | Dallas Theological Seminary, responding to the rapid growth of Christianity in China, will soon offer online theological training to Chinese pastors and leaders all over the globe (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
• Seminary responds to reported conflict | Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s administration responded via a six-paragraph statement Sept. 21 to a reported conflict between MBTS President R. Philip Roberts and trustee chairman Gene Downing of Oklahoma City (Baptist Press)
• Methodists mount Bush library fight | It urges Methodists to rescind support of policy center at SMU (The Dallas Morning News)
• ‘God got my attention’ | New president of the Salt Lake Theological Seminary will help the school beat back the odds and stay afloat (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Study: College campuses may nurture faith | For any who think that the university is hostile territory to religion, there is new evidence that Jesus is still a big man on campus (The Denver Post)
• Does God want women to stay home? | Southern Baptist seminary offers B.A. concentrating on homemaking, stirring a pot of theological questions (Mary Zeiss Stange, USA Today)

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Books:

• Prisoners in S.C. to get ‘Purpose’ | Church groups bought special copies to donate (The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.)
• Graham’s gift | John M. Buchanan reviews The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House, by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy (The Christian Century)
• Mailer talks about God in new book | On God: An Uncommon Conversation, a series of “Platonic dialogues” between the author and literary executor Michael Lennon, will be published by Random House on Oct. 16 (Associated Press)
• Desert storm | Understanding the capricious God of the Psalms. James Wood reviews Robert Alter’s translation of The Book of Psalms (The New Yorker)
• Divine politics | In The Stillborn God, a history of the separation of church and state, Mark Lilla urges the West to remember the religious fanaticism in its past — or risk its return (Laura Miller, Salon.com)
• Extreme makeover | What if you spent one year following every rule in the Bible? A. J. Jacobs did exactly that (Newsweek)

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Art and entertainment:

• “Reaper” a devilishly fun piece of nonsense | In the pilot, Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison), a kindhearted slacker of whom little is expected, learns a terrible secret on his 21st birthday. His parents sold his soul to the devil (Reuters)
• Bible schooling | Documentary delves into emotional religious issues surrounding gays (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Pot-bellied Jesus ad irks Church | Catholic bishops in Belgium have protested against a TV ad depicting Jesus as a pot-bellied hippy picking up half-naked women in a nightclub (BBC)

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Music:

• Tracing the evolution of sacred song | Whatever its organizational and conceptual shortcomings, the celebration is offering a broad survey of early repertory, with focused explorations by groups that specialize in specific corners of it (The New York Times)
• Does simple music form simple faith? | Interesting music does not tell us to be good or bad. It asks only to be admired. Getting great music and simple faith together happens, but with difficulty (The New York Times)
• Skaggs, the Whites share family values on “Earth” | Some collaborations are so obvious, yet for whatever reason, it takes them a long while to come to fruition. “Salt of the Earth,” the new album from Ricky Skaggs and the Whites, is an example of a long-anticipated project that was well worth the wait (Reuters)
• Joni Mitchell attacks Catholic Church | “Shine on the Catholic Church/And the prisons that it owns,” she sings. “Shine on all the Churches/that love less and less.” (Fox News)
• Nothing compares 2 normalcy | After years of controversy and depression, Sinéad O’Connor gets right with God, her family and her fans. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

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Kathy Griffin:

• Profane | The ‘D-List’ star uttered a profanity about Jesus. Controversy ensues (Newsweek)
• Make fun of faith? Sure. Jesus? Uh, no | Comedian Kathy Griffin dissed the Christian Messiah in her (censored) Emmy speech, revealing a sensitive part of Hollywood’s funny bone (The Washington Post)

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Rex Humbard:

• Rex Humbard, TV evangelist, dies at 88 | Mr. Humbard, a guitar-strumming revival preacher, became a pioneer of television evangelism in the 1950s and remained a familiar Sunday morning presence in millions of American homes (The New York Times)
• Televangelist Rex Humbard dies at 88 | His ministry once reached more parts of the globe than any other religious program (Associated Press)

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People:

• Zimbabwe bishop ‘victim of state’ | The Zimbabwean archbishop who resigned after allegations that he committed adultery has told the BBC that the charges were state orchestrated (BBC)
• Family embraced in prayer | Church asks for help in finding woman (Chicago Tribune)
• Aldrin’s notes sell for nearly $180,000 | Buzz Aldrin’s handwritten card with a Bible verse that the Apollo 11 astronaut planned to broadcast from the moon fetched nearly $180,000 at an auction of space memorabilia (Associated Press)
• Priest’s blessings, under the big top | Father Jerry Hogan is not just a circus priest. He is the circus priest (The Washington Post)
• Mormon ousted as an apostate | Being excommunicated for apostasy by the Mormon church is one thing, but Lyndon Lamborn is livid that his stake president has ordered bishops in eight Mesa wards to take the rare step of announcing disciplinary action against him to church members today (The East Valley Tribune, Mesa, Az.)
• Fight the good fight | Preacher who knows more than most about Bible-bashing (The Independent, London)
• The ennui of Saint Teresa | On average, religious people are much happier than others. (Arthur C. Brooks, The Wall Street Journal)

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Pope John Paul II:

• Pope’s robe cut up for 100,000 ‘holy relics’ | Fragments of a cassock worn by Pope John Paul II are being offered for sale to the faithful, causing concern in the Vatican over the resurgence in the veneration of relics (The Times, London)
• Clamour for free Pope John Paul II relics | The Vatican has been inundated with more than 160,000 requests for “relics” of the late Pope John Paul II, after offering them free on the internet (The Telegraph, London)
• John Paul II relics online not for sale | Roman Catholic officials reminded the faithful Monday it is sacrilegious to buy or sell religious relics, after news reports and a church Web site suggested fans of Pope John Paul II could get a piece of his white cassock by making an online donation (Associated Press)
• Was John Paul II euthanized? | In a provocative article, an Italian medical professor argues that Pope John Paul II didn’t just simply slip away as his weakness and illness overtook him in April 2005 (Time)

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Pope Benedict XVI:

• Pope warns against uncaring capitalism | Pope Benedict on Sunday warned that unbridled capitalism is widening the gap between the world’s rich and poor and threatening the future of the planet (Reuters)
• Pope says overemphasizing ‘logic of profit’ can bring ruinous effects | Pope Benedict XVI said overemphasizing the “logic of profit” can bring ruinous effects, as seen in global poverty and the ecological crisis (Catholic News Service)

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Church life:

• A return to architectural traditions | A new church building in Houston has become the focal point of what some architects are calling a revival of traditional religious architecture in the United States (The New York Times)
• Worship goes big-screen and hi-fi, with direct-deposit tithing | Technology Raises fears of a lost reverence (The Washington Post)
• Skip church? Some in U.S. being asked to | Next month across the United States several hundred Christian congregations plan to tell their faithful to skip coming to church — and head out into the community to help those in need (Reuters)
• Pastor of Owensboro’s largest church resigns | Myke Templeton, pastor at Owensboro Christian Church for nearly 28 years, abruptly resigned because of “inappropriate” conduct, church elders said (Associated Press)
• Also: Pastor of city’s largest church resigns (Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky. sub. req’d.)
• The world comes to Georgia, and an old church adapts | An influx of immigrants and refugees to Clarkston, Ga., sparked a battle that led a church to change both its name and its mission (The New York Times)
• The legacy of “Sweet Daddy Grace” lives on | Charismatic church known for fire hose baptisms and “shout bands” celebrates 81 years (Savannah Morning News, Ga.)
• Priest’s journey answers call of need | The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is employing Jane Bearden for at least two years to work as a priest at a historic parish whose seaside building was one of six Episcopal churches along the Mississippi coast that were demolished by the devastating storm of August 2005 (The Boston Globe)
• Church not macho enough for men | Despite the proliferation of churches in Jamaica, there has been a distinct absence of men in the pews (Jamaica Gleaner)
• Longmont petition seeks to halt church plan | Opponents want the council to repeal its OK of LifeBridge’s huge development or let voters decide (The Denver Post)
• Church dispute moves to court | Ouster vote’s propriety at issue for Jackson Street Missionary Baptist Church (The Tennessean)
• Edward Cardinal Egan ducks irate E. Harlem parishioners | Edward Cardinal Egan bypassed protesters yesterday and curtly dismissed questions about a shuttered East Harlem church – telling reporters to “grow up” (New York Daily News)
• Also: Cardinal sees red | Egan stormed by angry Spanish Harlem parishioners (New York Post)
• National Cathedral celebrates centennial year | In its centennial year, the National Cathedral has accumulated an impressive guest list (Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR)
• In God’s name | Call them wolves in sheep’s skin if you like but today more than ever before, men of the Cloth are seeking carnal pleasures under the guise of the Word of God (Mangoa Mosota And Nicholas Asego, The East African Standard, Kenya)

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Abuse:

• Two courts reject free exercise defenses to liability for clergy sexual abuse | The Salvation Army and Catholic hierarchy claimed First Amendment protection (Religion Clause)
• Southern Baptists open hearings into clergy sexual abuse | Proposals include creating database to track offenders (The Tennessean)
• False assault charges unlikely, expert says | The 54-year-old Fresno man who says he was sexually abused as a child in Bakersfield by Orange County Bishop Tod Brown has stated he once thought he had imagined the alleged abuse (The Orange County Register, Ca.)
• State, victim clash over monastery | James B. Wright Jr. and prosecutors alternate from allies to adversaries when it comes to the Christ of the Hills Monastery, depending on the case at hand (San Antonio Express-News)
• Naugatuck priest arrested again | A borough priest accused last month of sexually assaulting a teenage boy was arrested at St. Mary’s Church on Saturday after he attempted to have contact with his alleged victim. (Republican American, Waterbury Ct.)
• Church choir leader charged | Case alleges sex with teen girl (Courier & Press, Evansville, Ind., update)
• Priest named in sex lawsuit | A former Windham resident has filed a lawsuit against a former priest and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, saying he was sexually abused by a man church officials knew was a threat to children (Kennebec Journal, Me.)
• Former Island Pond church teacher gets time served in sex case | Molested as a child, a 23-year-old man wept in court Monday as he confronted the former church teacher who abused him when he was 11, telling him: “Don’t you ever do it to anyone else.” (Associated Press)
• Finding forgiveness instead of vengeance | Lori Haigh has a change of heart toward the priest she says 25 years ago ignored her cries of abuse by another clergyman (Dana Parsons, Los Angeles Times)
• Shining the light on church misbehavior | Public disclosure of church sex-abuse scandal is an antidote to years of secrecy and cynicism (Steven Greenhut, The Orange County Register, Ca.)

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Crime:

• Killing of missionary couple in Pakistan leaves tears and questions stateside | The circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths of two missionaries from Pequannock, N.J., who had been living in Pakistan for the past 11 years are still murky (The New York Times)
• Egypt: Muslims, Christians detained over sectarian clashes | Muslims and three Christians were injured, and about nine cars were destroyed in the clashes before security forces were deployed to the area, a police official said speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the press. (Associated Press)
• Also: Nine injured, 25 held after Egypt sectarian brawl (Reuters)
• Pastor’s hut set on fire in Barauli | The hut of a pastor in Barauli village where he performed rituals every Sunday was burnt down by some miscreants. They also threatened the pastor and his wife (The Times of India)
• Dara Singh gets second murder term | Dara Singh, the man already serving a life sentence for the murder of an Australian missionary and his two sons, was given a further jail term on Saturday for killing a Roman Catholic priest the same year (Reuters)
• Human trafficking evokes outrage, little evidence | U.S. estimates thousands of victims, but efforts to find them fall short (The Washington Post)
• Pastor arrested at church meeting | An organizational meeting between divided members of St. Mary Primitive Baptist Church became heated Saturday and ended up with the arrest of the church’s pastor (Tallahassee Democrat, Fla.)
• Also: Pastor arrested at heated church meeting | Witnesses claim Broadenax grabbed a church elder by the neck as he tried to take a microphone away (WTLV/WJXX, Jacksonville)
• Rebirth of a struggling church? | Arlington congregation vows to overcome money troubles, pastor’s crimes (The Dallas Morning News)
• Two women arrested in church scam | Cooperative Christian Ministry, a charity organized to prevent scams, became the target of one (News14, Charlotte, N.C.)
• Revenue agent: Pastor manipulated church funds for his personal use | Jonathan Yates’ tax evasion trial enters its second week (Mobile Press-Register, Ala.)
• Prankster group ‘killed pet goat in church’ | A pet goat was stolen by a group of drunken revellers before it was decapitated in a Brisbane church as a Friday the 13th prank, a court was told (The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Australia; also at Brisbane Times)
• The mask of reputation | Juanita Bynum’s first act was teaching women how to quit being victims and heal their broken hearts. May her next act be teaching women how to quit being victims and heal their broken bones (Editorial, The Dallas Morning News)

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Mary Winkler:

• Winkler’s testimony sheds light on new life | Mary Winkler was the first to take the stand last week in a courtroom battle that pits her against her former in-laws in a fight for custody of her three daughters (Jackson Sun, Tenn.)
• Slain preacher’s wife wants custody | Mary Winkler convinced a jury she was physically and emotionally abused by her preacher husband before she shot him to death. Now, after a short jail sentence, she is trying to persuade the courts to let her have her children back (Associated Press)
• Huntingdon Church of Christ members rally behind Winklers | Members of Huntingdon Church of Christ rallied behind their minister, Dan Winkler, and his wife at Wednesday’s custody hearing between them and their former daughter-in law, Mary Winkler (Jackson Sun, Tenn.)
• Why we wrote about the man who dated Mary Winkler | Explaining our decision (Steve Coffman, Jackson Sun, Tenn.)

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Jeffs polygamy trial:

• Juror removal delays Jeffs verdict | Deliberations began from scratch Tuesday in the trial of a polygamous sect leader accused of sex charges, after a juror was replaced on what had been expected to be a day of verdicts (Associated Press)
• Jeffs trial: Jury stalled on 2nd count, but close to verdict | Judge reminds jurors to keep an open mind; they say they’ll ‘sleep on it’ (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Jeffs trial offers look inside his church | Testimony depicts a culture in which teenagers don’t flirt, iPods play devotionals and members are aware of how the outside world sees them (Los Angeles Times)
• Jeffs’ attorney says religion is really on trial | In closing arguments, the county prosecutor counters: ‘Belief is one thing. Hurting young people is another.’ (Los Angeles Times)
• Jury resumes deliberations in polygamous leader’s accomplice-to-rape case (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Jury continues deliberations in Jeffs case (The Spectrum, St. George, Ut.)
• The exiled children of Utah | The Warren Jeffs trial has opened a window to a generation of street kids cast out from their polygamist communities (Time)

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Homosexuality:

• Church’s influence over shore town tested in gay unions fight | A dispute between the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and gay groups over the association’s refusal to allow same-sex couples to use a boardwalk pavilion to hold civil union ceremonies may loosen the Methodist church group’s hold on the community (Associated Press)
• Same-sex marriage battle quickly moves to next arena: The assembly | Equality Maryland, the gay-rights group on the losing side of last week’s court ruling upholding the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, has issued a call to arms (The Washington Post)
• A defeat for gay marriage | Maryland’s legislature should take up the challenge in a Court of Appeals decision (Editorial, The Washington Post)
• No biases: Sexual orientation shouldn’t affect employment | No one would have to change their views on homosexuality under ENDA. But they would have to abide by the basic American value that everyone in the work force has the right to be treated fairly and not be subject to discrimination (Editorial, Houston Chronicle)
• Fabricated fears about hate crime legislation | Americans who understand basic principles of justice have no problems with the hate crime bill known as the Matthew Shepard Act (Cornel West and Sylvia Rhue, The Boston Globe)

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Missions and ministry:

• Few first-time converts left Franklin Graham preaching to the choir | It was billed as history-making evangelism for Hampton Roads, but the Franklin Graham Christian revival in May fell short of anticipated attendance and religious conversions (The Virginian-Pilot)
• Church mission to get people back to pews | Campaign aimed at lapsed churchgoers; Department store trains priests to be more inviting (The Guardian, London)
• Church nurses aim to fill in U.S. health care gaps | Parish nursing, which is also called faith community and congregational nursing, has been around since the mid-1980s but it has grown recently to plug some of the health care gaps in a nation where 47 million people lack insurance (Reuters)
• To East Africa with love | Louisville’s Father John Judie Ministries becomes a force for education and relief (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
• Pastor brings Jesus into an L.A. dance club | Dancing and singing are typical at the Mayan, but on Sundays it’s dancing and singing for God (News & Notes, NPR)
• Good news goes whole hog | And lo, the disciples rode in with great noise to carry a message to their brethren (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
• Connecting with the Almighty | Colorado is “an area of intense spiritual warfare,” said world-famous revivalist Steve Hill — and he was here to do battle (The Denver Post)
• Christian council blasted | A senior Anglican clergyman on Sunday lashed out at The Bahamas Christian Council, accusing it of compromising the word of God and failing to speak out against injustices plaguing The Bahamas (The Bahama Journal)

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China:

• The Vatican quietly signals its approval of a new bishop for Beijing | The move was an apparent shift for the Vatican, which has long struggled with the Chinese government over the authority to appoint bishops in China (The New York Times)
• China Catholics throng to church | Beijing’s Southern Cathedral has the kind of congregation many Catholic churches in Europe can only dream of attracting (BBC)
• Bush and China’s ‘Genocide Olympics’ | China’s merciless Communist dictators, eager to sanitize their image around the world, are now gladdened by President Bush’s acceptance of an invitation from China’s president, Hu Jintao, to attend the Summer Olympics in Beijing (Nat Hentoff, The Washington Times)

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Sudan:

• Cracks in the peace in oil-rich Sudan as old tensions fester | The two-year-old peace deal between Sudan’s government and southern rebels is in danger of collapsing as the two sides are deadlocked over borders, reform and oil (The New York Times)
• Israel settles Darfur asylum deal | Israel is to allow 498 Darfur refugees, who entered the country illegally from Egypt, to stay in the country although their legal status remains unclear (BBC)

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Israel:

• Quarry used for Jewish temple unearthed in Israel | Archaeologists have found an ancient quarry where King Herod’s workers may have chiselled the giant stones used to rebuild the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago (Reuters)
• Israeli rabbis to shun Christian event | Israeli rabbinic authorities have abruptly called on Jews to shun a major Christian tourism event, baffling and upsetting evangelical groups that traditionally have been big supporters of the Jewish state (Associated Press)
• Welcome Christian friends | It’s gratifying to note that Jerusalem’s municipality has paid no heed to dire assertions by the Rabbinate’s Committee for the Prevention of the Spread of Missionary Activity in Israel. (Editorial, The Jerusalem Post)

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Money and business:

• Order from above: Thou shalt not run raffles | Sydney Anglicans have condemned the State Government’s reliance on gaming revenue and voted to practise what they preach by seeking to ban raffles for fund-raising in their own parishes (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Also: Hooked in the shadow of casinos | Gaming addiction poses heavy costs (The Boston Globe)
• Ex-employee alleges religious bias | She says co-workers mocked Christian faith (Concord Monitor, N.H.)
• Halo to Christian profits | Christian bookselling is a rapidly growing business. Sales in the UK through these stores has nearly doubled in ten years. Jesus might save, but he also sells (The Telegraph, London)
• Why churches make good business sense | Churches, once associated with charity, are turning out to be big business in Kenya. And urban centres such as Nairobi are literally bursting at the seams with them. Every available space from beer halls to metal containers are being converted into churches (The Nation, Kenya)

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Other stories of interest:

• Public expresses mixed views of Islam, Mormonism | Benedict XVI Viewed Favorably But Faulted on Religious Outreach (Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life)
• Merck’s experimental AIDS vaccine fails | In a disappointing setback, a promising experimental AIDS vaccine failed to work in a large international test, leading the developer to halt the study. Merck & Co. said Friday that it is ending enrollment and vaccination of volunteers in the study, which was partly funded by the National Institutes of Health (Associated Press)
• Creationist vs. atheist YouTube war marks new breed of copyright claim | A dispute between an atheist group and a creationist group over some postings on YouTube has critics of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act crying foul. They say it’s a new and inappropriate use of DMCA, which is becoming a frequent weapon in nasty political and cultural battles (Wired News)
• Also: Youtube backs creationist complaints | Orders evolution video take downs (The Inquirer)
• Clearwater, Fla.: Scientology stronghold | Folks in this picturesque Gulf Coast city have come to accept that Clearwater is to Scientologists what Salt Lake City is to Mormons, what Mecca is to Muslims. Though not everybody is happy about it (Associated Press)
• Earlier: Building Scientopolis | How Scientology remade Clearwater, Florida—and what local Christians learned in the process (Christianity Today, Sept. 8, 2000)
• Africa’s sudden splash of good news | I am far more optimistic about Africa’s future than I was when I started working in Africa’s worst war zones a quarter-century ago (John Prendergast, The Washington Post)
• National extinction and natural law | The debate between “natural theology” and “command ethics” continues around the circle, and I see no end to it (Spengler, Asia Times)
• Are religious fasts ruining your health? | While there is no danger to healthy people who fast during Ramadan, many people still feel sluggish without regular food. Research has, not surprisingly, also linked the lack of food and water to increased irritability, changes in mood and a lack of concentration (Homa Khaleeli, The Mail & Guardian, South Africa)
• The link between porno and war | It’s time to admit that the subordination of women perpetuates the very conditions of repression and violence liberals abhor (Riane Eisler, AlterNet)
• Catholic & cohabiting | The increasing acceptance and practice of cohabitation poses numerous challenges for the Catholic Church, not the least being pastoral issues: how to prepare men and women for marriage in this environment, whether the couple live together or not (Pete Vere, The Washington Times)

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Congress | Politics | Romney and Mormonism | Australia | U.K. | Life ethics | Sex and marriage | Abuse | Crime | Money and business | Theology and ethics | Church life | Catholicism | Education | Books and history | These kids today | Other stories of interest

Congress:

• On Capitol Hill, mixing faith and politics | How much of a role will religion play in the new Congress? In a special live broadcast from Capitol Hill, congressmen talk about how their religion factors into their thinking and voting (Talk of the Nation, NPR)
• New majority’s choice: should GOP policies be reversed? | As they take control of Congress, Democrats are divided on how much energy to spend trying to undo tax cuts, deregulation and abortion restrictions (The New York Times)
• Jefferson’s Koran used in ceremony | Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Michigan Republican, said, “It was much ado about nothing. All 435 members just took the oath, en masse, without anyone putting their hand on any book. (The Washington Times)
• Also: Ellison uses Thomas Jefferson’s Quran | And now he wants to talk about something else (Associated Press)
• Lawmakers take swearing-in oath twice | Religious texts were used for the re-enactments, but not for the group swearing-ins (Associated Press)
• Sen. Boxer pulls award to Muslim leader | “We made a bad mistake not researching” the Council on American-Islamic Relations, she said (Associated Press)
• ‘What happened to … religious tolerance?’ | Rep. Mazie Hirono was raised in the Buddhist tradition but doesn’t actively practice the religion (The Honolulu Advertiser)

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Politics:

• Ford and faith | Though “quiet and off the record,” religious beliefs shaped the former president (Edward E. Plowman, World)
• The Sunday alcohol sales debate: Laws stand on secular grounds | Despite the strongly religious origin of these laws, beginning before the eighteenth century, nonreligious arguments for Sunday closing began to be heard more distinctly and the statutes began to lose some of their totally religious flavor (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Even on Sunday, alcohol sales should flow freely | Why are we allowing a bunch of Baptist preachers to control our choices and restrict our commerce? In a secular, pluralistic democracy, does the will of a few theocrats determine whether we can buy beer and wine on Sundays? (Cynthia Tucker, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Romney and Mormonism:
• Faith no obstacle | Is Romney’s Mormon faith a bridge too far for evangelicals? (Vincent Carroll, Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Is it Mormon in America? | As Mitt Romney prepares to run, secular liberals develop their own religious test for public office (W. James Antle III, The American Spectator)
• A modern prophet goes global | The Mormon faith is spreading. But is it a world religion? (The Economist)
• Is Mitt Romney a tool of the Mormon church? (Damon Linker & Richard Lyman Bushman, The New Republic)

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Australia:

• The church, the state and the minister | This week’s spat over the involvement of pro-life agencies in government-funded pregnancy counselling has again brought the uncomfortable interface between politics and religion — church and state — into the spotlight (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
• Also: Abbott sermon defies belief | Here we go again. Just when it seemed our leaders had accepted there’s little political mileage to be found in the issue of abortion, Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott seeks to muddy the waters once more (Sarrah Le Marquand, The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
• Hillsong blesses Rudd Labor | The hugely influential leader of the Hillsong Church has praised Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd’s Christian values in a sign the Labor leader is breaking through in key marginal Sydney seats (The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
• Room for religion as moral compass | With the ascension, of Rudd both major parties now have leaders who represent the strands within the Christian tradition that promote private piety around family values, and social piety around justice and compassion – a self-help faith that says “Bless me Lord”, or a social reform faith that says “Bless the poor through me” (Tim Costello, The Sydney Morning Herald)

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U.K.:

• A new old-fashioned Christmas | Why the post-Christian English are delighted to wish everyone a “Happy Christmas.” (Daniel Allott, The American Spectator)
• Secularising Christianity | My hope is that a new sort of Christian culture will emerge: one that is critical of religious institutionalism and affirms secular freedom (Theo Hobson, The Guardian, London)

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Life ethics:

• Medicine faces ban on rabbit-human embryos | The proposed ban on fusing human DNA with animal eggs is an affront to thousands of Britons suffering conditions such as Alzheimer’s, scientists said (The Times, London)
• Hybrid embryo work ‘under threat’ | UK scientists planning to mix human and animal cells in order to research cures for degenerative diseases fear their work will be halted (BBC)
• Stem cell research could be jeopardized | British scientists have warned that an impending government decision that may ban stem cell research using animal eggs will jeopardize finding treatment and cures for degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and spinal muscular atrophy (Associated Press)

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Sex and marriage:

• Foundation wants stricter rules for splits | After its victory in last year’s fight over a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Virginia, the Family Foundation of Virginia announced Thursday that it will push to change the state’s divorce laws to make it more difficult for parents to end their marriage (The Washington Post)
• Suit against legislators who recessed is pulled | Opponents of same-sex marriage are withdrawing a federal lawsuit that sought $5 million from lawmakers who voted in November to recess a joint session of the Legislature, a move that threatened to kill a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage (Associated Press)

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Abuse:

• Pastor given 7 years for molestation | A pastor who repeatedly molested a parishioner’s grandson was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison (The Orlando Sentinel)
• Also: Convicted child molester longtime pastor of Southern Baptist churches (Ethics Daily)
• Was there a cover-up at Trinity Baptist Church? | Some people were shocked. Others weren’t surprised for a second when former Trinity pastor Bob Gray was charged with molesting children years ago. Those who weren’t surprised say it’s because they told current pastor Tom Messer and other key leaders in the 1990s and they hushed it all up (WLTV, Jacksonville, Fla.)
• Spokane Diocese settles sex abuse claims | The Spokane Catholic Diocese has agreed to pay at least $48 million to people molested by priests as a part of a deal to emerge from bankruptcy, a federal mediator announced Thursday (Associated Press)

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Crime:

• Embezzlement is found in Catholic dioceses | Eighty-five percent of dioceses said that they had discovered embezzlement in the last five years (The New York Times)
• Also: Study finds embezzlement to be common in dioceses | A new study by Villanova University has found that 85 percent of Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States have discovered embezzlement during the last five years, with 11 percent having been embezzled out of more than a half-million dollars each (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Church tries to win return of stolen treasure from Spain | The Church of Sweden is going on the offensive to try to get objects stolen from churches in northern Sweden returned from Spain. Around one hundred objects were stolen over a period of twenty years from churches in Norrland. A Spanish man was jailed for four years for the thefts by a court in Sundsvall in July (The Local, Sweden)
• Priests hope to find missing IRA victims | The outlawed IRA, which is rooted in the Catholic minority in the British territory of Northern Ireland, in 1999 admitted it killed and buried nine people in unmarked graves from 1972 to 1981 (Associated Press)
• Man arrested in killing near Greektown church | Police arrested a church custodian early this morning in connection with the shooting death of 47-year-old Suzanne Ware at historic Second Baptist Church (Detroit Free Press)

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Money and business:

• Workplace proselytizing: A cross employers may have to bear | The culture wars are coming to a workplace near you. (The National Law Journal)
• Samaritan decision is upheld | Judge: Methodist church owns foundation money (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)

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Theology and ethics:

• Bishop wants to see Christianity go native | The Anglican Church of Canada’s newly appointed national bishop to native peoples said yesterday his job will be to bend mainstream Christian theology so that it fits with aboriginal spiritual beliefs (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
• Drink to that? | Have Baptists watered down their objections to alcohol? (The Baptist Standard, Tex.)
• The end of the world is coming … well, eventually | I thought the whole point was to behave like spiritual Boy Scouts — always prepared — by living lovingly, not by peeking at the skies from behind the shutters of our metaphorical bomb shelters for evidence of Jesus’ right foot stepping through the clouds (Cathleen Falsani, Chicago Sun-Times)

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Church life:

• Some see politics behind probe of Episcopal cleric | The investigation of the Rev. Don Armstrong could stir discord on the right and the left in the diocese (The Denver Post)
• Also: Priest under inquiry | Episcopal diocese investigates charge of misuse of funds (Rocky Mountain News)
• Rosalynn Carter ordained as deacon by Baptist church | Though raised a Methodist, Carter, 79, has been active in Baptist congregations since her marriage more than 60 years ago to former President Jimmy Carter, a longtime Baptist deacon (Associated Baptist Press)
• Cortland resident: Church bells are too noisy | The planning commission decided Wednesday to wait one more month before voting on a request from the Cortland United Methodist Church to operate an electronic bell system, after one neighbor said the noise from the chimes hurt her property’s value (Daily Chronicle, DeKalb, Ill.)
• ‘Anatomy’ of a push to fill up the pews | Are there spiritual lessons to be learned from “Dr. McSteamy”? That and other burning questions linked to the characters on one of television’s hottest shows, “Grey’s Anatomy,” will be explored during a series of five weekly sermons beginning Sunday at Snellville United Methodist Church (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Here’s the church, here’s the garage? | … here’s all the people protesting (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• Thursday: Fort Lauderdale P&Z board rejects Colee Hammock church project | The city’s planning and zoning board late Wednesday rejected a controversial $24 million life center and parking garage project proposed by the First Presbyterian Church in the Colee Hammock neighborhood (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• Exclusive? That’s the problem | Many mainstream Christians are a little embarrassed at what is being done by those claiming to share their religion and, with the wider community, a bit bewildered about what this narrow group is trying to achieve (Barney Zwartz, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)

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Catholicism:

• Poland archbishop tied to secret police | Roman Catholic church officials in Poland said Friday they have evidence that Warsaw’s new archbishop collaborated with the hated Communist-era secret police, but they said they had no proof that his actions hurt anyone. Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus conceded he had contact with the secret service but denied working as an informer (Associated Press)
• Also: Polish archbishop takes office amid scandal over communist-era role | Polish media in recent days published files showing that Wielgus was recruited by the Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa (SB) secret police in 1967 as a 28-year-old philosophy student and continued to collaborate for two decades (AFP)
• Catholic schools head shortage ‘scandalous’, says report | The failure of the Roman Catholic church to deal with the long-running shortage of headteachers for its schools is highlighted in a report today (The Guardian, London)
• Photographer snaps $1.8M in Eastie church deal | Pushed condos, studio, then sells Catholic land to evangelicals (Boston Herald)
• Also: What is the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God? | Beware any definition that defines it firmly as “evangelical” (Boston Herald)
• Also: Church deal infuriates | Did Cardinal Sean O’Malley make a colossally expensive mistake — or worse? (Brian McGrory, The Boston Globe)

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Education:

• Church’s eviction of charter school disputed | The Village of Oak Creek Community Church of the Nazarene evicted Desert Star Community School from its basement on Dec. 21. Church members objected to lessons in Greek mythology, fliers that used images of dragons and some of the books used by the school that contradict their beliefs (The Arizona Republic)
• Church fought to open preschool | Neighbors say business park is unsafe for children; Talega Life official argues there are few locations available (The Orange County Register, Ca.)
• Christian Union takes legal action over suspension | A Christian Union suspended from using student facilities at the University of Exeter is taking legal action against the student guild under the Human Rights Act, it emerged today (The Guardian, London)
• Also: Christian students in legal fight | Exeter University Evangelical Christian Union was suspended from the student guild and had a bank account frozen (BBC)
• Sex-ed plan could revive heated debate from 2005 | Montgomery County school officials previewed new middle and high school lesson plans yesterday on sexual orientation and condom use, topics that could refuel the debate on how much the county’s teenagers need to know about homosexuality and premarital sex (The Washington Post)

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Books and history:

• Parks agency leaves controversial book on shelf | The book offers a creationist account of the formation of the Grand Canyon (The New York Times)
• Vatican comes out of the closet and embraces Oscar | Poet’s gem in Church collection; Book ‘a wake-up for Christians (The Times, London)
• Blessed memory: The Vatican goes Wilde | He hardly seems the obvious candidate for Catholic approval, but the Irish author who was once a byword for decadent behaviour is quoted in a new book by a Roman priest as an example to 21st-century Christians (The Independent, London)
• Black priest’s story unknown to many | There are only small signs that Augustine Tolton was here in Chicago. And few know the story of the man himself — a slave who grew up to become the first acknowledged black Catholic priest in the United States (Associated Press)

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These kids today:

• Meeting in St. Louis | Thousands of young Christians gather to find their missions (The Wall Street Journal)
• Young people express views on religion, politics | Forty-four percent of young American adults agree that religion is a very important part of their lives, according to a study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Generation Next’s changing attitudes toward faith and politics (The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS)

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Other stories of interest:

• Iran: Arrested Christians freed but one still in jail for “debt” | 15 members of a community of “free evangelicals” were accused of “evangelization”. All were released on bail save one leader from Teheran who stands accused of not having made good damages incurred in a car crash (AsiaNews.it)
• Without God, gall is permitted | Modern atheists have no new arguments, and they lack their forebears’ charm (Sam Schulman, The Wall Street Journal)
• Reviving Judaism | Consultant-speak goes religious (Naomi Schaefer Riley, The Wall Street Journal)
• Inside Christian Embassy | An exclusive interview with the chief of staff of Christian Embassy, the behind-the-scenes ministry in the news for proselytizing in the Pentagon (The Revealer)

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1. National Association of Evangelicals gets attention, but doesn’t address critical letter At its board meeting late last week, the National Association of Evangelicals did not directly address a letter from non-member Christian leaders criticizing NAE vice president Richard Cizik’s work against global warming. The board did, however, reaffirm its 2004 document on political engagement, “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility.” Among that document’s seven emphases is “stewardship of creation,” but it does not specifically call for action on global warming.

There are a few updates since Focus on the Family released the critical letter on its CitizenLink website March 1. Newsweek reported that Richard Land had been asked to sign the letter but refused. “I didn’t feel that it was the most productive, most redemptive way to address the problem,” he said.

A Saturday New York Times editorial criticizes those who did sign the letter for limiting “the definition of morality to the way humans behave among humans. … The greatest moral issue of our time is our responsibility to the planet and to all its inhabitants.” That resonates with one of the thrusts of the NAE statement on creation care (e.g. “The Bible teaches us that God is not only redeeming his people, but is also restoring the whole creation. Just as we show our love for the Savior by reaching out to the lost, we believe that we show our love for the Creator by caring for his creation.”) At the same time, one of the interesting aspects of Cizik’s work, as well as the work of those behind the Evangelical Climate Initiative (from which Cizik withdrew his signature due to earlier pressure) is that they frame the global warming issue very much in terms of the way humans behave to other humans. The emphasis is on how climate change will, in the ECI statement’s words, “hit the poor the hardest.”

Los Angeles Times reporter Stephanie Simon, meanwhile, parses out the letter’s critique that Cizik’s views “seem to be contributing to growing confusion about the very term, evangelical.” Simon writes:

In religious terms, an evangelical is a Christian who has been born again, seeks a personal relationship with Christ, and considers the Bible the word of God, to be faithfully obeyed.

But Dobson and his fellow letter-writers suggested that evangelical should also signify “conservative views on politics, economics and biblical morality.”

Simon notes that most of the letter’s signatories are “activists, not theologians,” but the evangelical activists Weblog knows of have been eager to define evangelical theologically or sociologically and chafe at political characterizations. You can talk about evangelical political behavior, but that doesn’t make it a political movement. Evangelicalism is no more a political movement than Mormonism is— and Mormons tend to vote between 80 percent and 90 percent for Republicans, compared to 60 percent to 70 percent of evangelicals.

While we’re speaking about numbers, it’s also worth fact-checking the letter’s statement that Cizik does not “articulate the views of American evangelicals on environmental issues.” According to an August 2006 poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, evangelicals are indeed less likely than the general public to believe that there is solid evidence that the world is getting warmer. But 70 percent of evangelicals do believe it (compared to 79 percent of all Americans). Of those evangelicals who agree that the earth is getting warmer, a significant majority believe that it is the result of human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels. Still, while they’re majorities separately, only 37 percent of all evangelicals agree that there’s solid evidence that earth is getting warmer because of human activity, while one-half of all Americans believe it. 68 percent of evangelicals believe that global warming is a serious problem, and a plurality of evangelicals (47%) believe that stricter environmental laws are worth the cost (compared to 38% who say such laws would cost too many jobs and hurt the economy).

Back to the NAE for a moment. While it didn’t say anything directly about global warming, it did release a statement on torture. Media coverage is starting to pick up on it, and we have a story in the works as well. More on that soon, as we’d like to focus on it more closely rather than treating it as a sidenote to the global warming fuss.

2. News alert: Pope still against gay marriage and abortion! Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday released a 130-plus-page document called Sacramentum Caritatis (“The Sacrament of Charity”). If you saw any news on it, you probably didn’t bother to read beyond the headlines, let alone the papal statement. The New York Times headline: “Pope Reaffirms View Opposing Gay Marriage and Abortion.” Reuters went with “Catholic politicians can’t back gay marriage: Pope.” Then there’s the Associated Press’ scintillating “Pope reaffirms traditional views.”

“The document released Tuesday contained no surprises,” Ian Fisher of the Times reports, “repeating in a more comprehensive form positions that the church has long held and that Benedict frequently addresses.” Well, yes and no. There are no surprises on marriage and abortion. But that doesn’t mean there’s no news here. As a document largely on liturgy, Benedict’s statement has much to say on how Catholics worship. And the “worship wars” can be as fierce in Catholic churches as they are in evangelical Protestant ones.

So when the pope talks about “the importance of gestures and posture, such as kneeling during the central moments of the Eucharistic Prayer” and the need for “greater restraint in [the sign of peace] gesture, which can be exaggerated and cause a certain distraction in the assembly just before the reception of Communion,” religion reporters should understand Benedict is talking about issues that are very deeply felt and often very contentious in parishes throughout the world. When he gives specific instructions on encouraging the use of Latin, passions are inflamed. Likewise, when he criticizes “generic and abstract homilies” and says, “Given the importance of the word of God, the quality of homilies needs to be improved,” he’s talking about something on which parishioners and preachers have strongly held opinions.

Honestly, I’m not sure that “Pope criticizes gay marriage and/or abortion” still qualifies as a news story. But “Pope criticizes abstract preaching” does. One of the points that Benedict emphasizes in Sacramentum Caritatis is that the liturgy—particularly the Eucharist—correctly orients our thinking. That orientation is not mainly a political one.

3. Klouda sues Southwestern In January, we noted that Sherri Klouda had been denied tenure at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary because the Hebrew professor is a woman. She’s now suing the school. But since neither she nor the school is saying anything about the suit right now, there’s little new to say about it. There are many comments at Wade Burleson’s blog (he broke the news of her tenure denial), but not much news.

In other Christian higher ed lawsuit news, transgender professor Julie Nemecek (formerly John Nemecek) and Spring Arbor University reached an undisclosed financial settlement Monday. “I’m smiling ear to ear,” Nemecek told the Jackson Citizen-Patriot. The Free Methodist school had dismissed Nemecek when he started appearing in public as a woman.

4. ‘Like requiring treated sewage for baptisms’ The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says the U.S. Forest Service broke the law—specifically the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)—by allowing Arizona’s Snowbowl ski resort to use artificial snow in an expansion on the San Francisco Peaks. The Navajo, Hopi, and other Native American tribes’ case was less about the expansion or the artificial snow itself than about how the artificial snow is made—it’s from treated sewage. The Forest Service allowed Snowbowl to drop up to 1.5 million gallons of effluent on the Peaks per day—more than 100 million gallons each season.

“From time immemorial, [the appellant tribes] have relied on the Peaks, and the purity of the Peaks’ water, as an integral part of their religious beliefs,” Judge William A. Fletcher said in the court’s decision. “To get some sense of equivalence, it may be useful to imagine the effect on Christian beliefs and practices — and the imposition that Christians would experience — if the government were to require that baptisms be carried out with ‘reclaimed water.’ … If appellants do not have a valid RFRA claim in this case, we are unable to see how any Native American plaintiff can ever have a successful RFRA claim based on beliefs and practices tied to land that they hold sacred.”

5. Franklin Graham’s youngest son injured in Iraq Evangelist Franklin Graham’s youngest son, Army Ranger Capt. Edward Graham, has been injured in the Iraq war. The 27-year-old grandson of Billy Graham “got shrapnel in his arms, legs, and back,” Graham spokesman Jeremy Blume told The Charlotte Observer. “And he was recovering … in a hospital that can’t be named for security reasons.” As Blume explained to the Asheville Citizen-Times, “Rangers aren’t allowed to disclose much information — even where he is.” But, said Blume, “We know that he is fine and has asked for prayers for his men.”

Quote of the day “When the Secular Coalition asked me to complete a survey on my religious beliefs, I indicated I am a Unitarian who does not believe in a supreme being.”

—U.S. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Ca.), the first member of Congress to publicly declare that he does not believe in God.

More articles

NAE and environment | NAE and torture | Life ethics | Politics | Immigration | Scottish politics | Newt Gingrich | Romney | Other Republican candidates | A “nontheist” member of Congress | Church and state | Snowmaking RFRA case | Land disputes | Cell phone towers in churches | Church conflicts | Homosexuality | Anglicanism | Mark Lawrence | Catholicism | Church life | Jerry Johnston’s First Family Church | Crime | Abuse | Killing at church | Sudan | China | Israel and Palestine | Iraq | Missions and ministry | BattleCry returns to San Francisco | Stephen Prothero’s Religious Literacy | Education | History | Books | Media | Sports | Art and entertainment | Money and business | Spirituality | People | Other stories of interest

NAE and environment:

• Evangelicals battle over agenda, environment | Global warming and other causes stray too far from battles on abortion, gay rights and similar ‘great moral issues,’ some leaders say (Los Angeles Times)
• Evangelical body stays course on warming | Conservatives oppose stance (The Washington Post)
• Evangelical group rebuffs critics on right | Board members say that the notion of censoring Mr. Cizik never arose last week at their meeting in Minnesota, and that he had delivered the keynote address at their banquet (The New York Times)
• BeliefWatch: Tree hugger | What has Rich Cizik done to make Jim Dobson so mad? (Newsweek)
• Christians called to save Earth from global warming | Are Americans of faith ready to put aside their squabbles and begin working together to solve the greatest moral issue of our day? Nothing less than the fate of God’s creation depends on our answer (J. Matthew Sleeth, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
• Evangelical board split on global warming | Board member worries that the NAE is losing sight of its mission (CitizenLink, Focus on the Family)
• Keep the faith, help the Earth | There once was a time when Dobson and his supporters could get away with this sort of naked power politics. How much better for both heaven and earth that such a time seems to have passed for most open-minded people (Editorial, Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.)
• Evangelical environmentalism | The greatest moral issue of our time is our responsibility to the planet and to all its inhabitants (Editorial, The New York Times)

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NAE and torture:

• Evangelicals condemn torture | The National Association of Evangelicals has endorsed an anti-torture statement saying the United States has crossed “boundaries of what is legally and morally permissible” in its treatment of detainees and war prisoners in the fight against terror (Associated Press)
• U.S. evangelicals slam torture in war on terrorism | A major U.S. association of evangelical Christians has condemned torture by the U.S. military and reaffirmed its commitment to environmental activism, positions that highlight broader splits in a movement associated with conservative causes (Reuters)
• Evangelical Christians attack use of torture by US | Statement on torture suggested a new determination on the part of the evangelical churches to detach themselves from the Republican party and stake their independence (The Guardian, London)

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Life ethics:

• MP fights for change in law on teenage abortion | A Conservative MP is trying to get the law changed to give parents the right to know before their under-age daughters are given contraception or are having an abortion (Reuters)
• Beyond the pleasure principle | Given that 18- to 25-year-olds are the least Republican generation (35 percent) and less religious than their elders (with 20 percent of them professing no religion or atheism or agnosticism), it is curious that on abortion they are slightly to the right of the general public (The New York Times Magazine)
• Who cares about abortion? | Political realities (Rich Lowry, National Review Online)
• Kroger to its pharmacists: No refusing morning-after pill | Georgia woman claimed she was denied the so-called “morning after” pill at one of the company’s stores (Associated Press)
• Helping make Life Choices | Agency offers support in pregnancy decisions (Commercial Appeal, Memphis)
• Law change to allow cell cloning | Victorian scientists will be able to clone human embryos for medical research under controversial new legislation that is expected to divide the state’s politicians, religious leaders and ethicists (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
• Stem cell research gains ground in Catholic church | 10 Catholic hospitals in New Jersey have signed contracts with blood repositories for public banking of umbilical cord and placenta blood. The stem cells from those donations will be stored at the not-for-profit Elie Katz Umbilical Cord Blood Program facility in Allendale, set to receive $10 million in state aid, and the Coriell Institute in Camden, also to receive state funding (The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.)
• Oregon takes stock of ‘right to die’ law | 292 patients have died with aid of physicians since the law went into effect in 1998, new figures show (The Christian Science Monitor)
• Euthanasia trial for French pair | A doctor and a nurse have gone on trial in southern France accused of poisoning a terminally ill cancer patient (BBC)
• Another kind of appeal from death row: kill me | Of the more than 1,000 executions in the United States in the last three decades, 124 inmates have chosen not to fight their death sentences (The New York Times, sub. req’d.)
• At the end of life, a racial divide | Religion also appears to be a key factor. A part of the Harvard study that focused on 230 patients and was published last month found that religious people are much more likely to want to keep fighting at the end of life and that religion tends to play a particularly important role for minorities (The Washington Post)
• A place to turn when a newborn is fated to die | Families whose babies suffer from fatal conditions are turning to specialized hospice programs for help (The New York Times)

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Politics:

• Poll: Character trumps policy for voters | For all the policy blueprints churned out by presidential campaigns, there is this indisputable fact: People care less about issues than they do about a candidate’s character (Associated Press)
• Also: Results of AP-Ipsos poll on voting (Associated Press)
• Money for faith-based work went astray, records show | State government records show that at least some of welfare money assigned to faith-based initiatives was used to pay for downtown parking spaces, two giant screen TVs that aren’t fully functional, and office rent for We Care America, the out-of-state contractor hired to help oversee the grants (Dayton Daily News, Oh.)
• Christian group moves toward bipartisanship | Randy Brinson hopes people saw a different Christian Coalition of Alabama on Tuesday (Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.)
• Biblical prophecy finds way to legislators in battle over ID plan | As Arkansas legislators line up against the U.S. government’s attempt to standardize driver’s licenses nationwide, some believe it is a beastly plot that will draw the world closer to the apocalypse (Associated Press)
• Family foundation to file suit in effort to stop table games | West Virginia Council of Churches, other groups fighting blackjack, poker, craps and similar casino games at racetracks (Charleston Daily Mail, W.V.)
• In Atlantic City politics, they hit below the belt | A high-tech scam gone bad that has captured the lowbrow nature of a city still struggling to reinvent itself 30 years after the dawn of casino gambling. At the center is City Councilman Eugene Robinson, who is described in his City Hall bio as a “minister of the Gospel” at the Second Baptist Church and a singer in two choirs (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Booze laws highlight GOP struggle over less government | Libertarians vs. moralists (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Seeking security, Dutch turn to Bible Belt | A small political party long associated with the Dutch Bible Belt, the Christen Unie, is benefiting from a surge of support outside its rural heartland triggered by nostalgia for a more moral, compassionate society (Reuters)
• Rhetoric or true believer? | When Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich invoked God while pitching his tax-increase-for-health-insurance plan last week, it raised a few eyebrows. It also led several lawmakers to criticize Blagojevich, not previously known very much for religion, as a phony (Eric Krol, Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)

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Immigration:

• Call to take Christian refugees | The Reverend Fred Nile says Australia should give priority to Christians fleeing persecution in Muslim countries and stop Muslim immigration for a decade (The Courier Mail, Australia)
• Also: Muslims dominating communities: Nile (AAP, Australia)
• Also: Nile’s Muslim moratorium | Clearly not a man to turn the other cheek, Fred Nile from the Christian Democratic Party has called for a moratorium on Islamic immigration (Damien Murphy, The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Immigration raids split families | When illegal-immigrant parents are swept up in raids on homes and workplaces, the children are sometimes left behind — a complication that underscores the difficulty in enforcing immigration laws against people who have put down roots and begun raising families in the U.S. (Associated Press)
• Also: DSS urges release of 21 more detainees | Some immigrants ill or have children (The Boston Globe)
• At revival, Catholic Hispanics pray for those caught in raids | There was music, preaching and jokes about bumbling Protestant proselytizers, but the festive atmosphere at yesterday’s Roman Catholic revival quieted briefly as thousands of worshipers joined hands and raised them high (The Washington Post)
• Expert explains immigrants’ rights at forum | People who are arrested don’t have to answer police questions, lawyer tells packed church (Daily Pilot, Newport Beach, Ca.)

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Scottish politics:

• Labour lacks Christian values, says bishop | A Catholic bishop is urging his flock not to vote for Labour in next month’s elections for the Scottish Parliament, claiming that the party is “devoid” of Christian values (The Telegraph, London)
• Labour and the turbulent priests | The bishop’s intervention is not a lone cry. Several other senior Catholics are understood to be preparing to speak out, and a pastoral letter, to be read out in Catholic churches before the election, is being prepared (The Scotsman)
• Christian soldier takes up arms as hustings near | Onward Christian politics, marching to the Holyrood elections. Bishop Joseph Devine, one of Scotland’s leading Catholics, has put the religious cat among the Labour Party pigeons when he said that he would not vote in protest at the new law on gay adoption (The Herald, Glasgow)

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Newt Gingrich:

• Falwell invites Gingrich to give address | “He has admitted his moral shortcomings to me, as well, in private conversations,” Falwell wrote after Dobson’s broadcast (Associated Press)
• Learning the meaning of the word repentance | Des a mea culpa on Christian radio help Gingrich among evangelicals? A little, but not a lot (Newsweek)
• Candidate confessional hour | Now is the season, apparently, for Republican presidential candidates to air their past indiscretions (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
• Newt on his knees | Will confessing to James Dobson help his campaign? (John Dickerson, Slate)
• Confessing to weakness | Gingrich’s admission may make a difference (Paul Chesser, The American Spectator)

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Romney:

• In Romney’s bid, his wallet opens to the Right | Mitt Romney contributed tens of thousands of dollars to groups in a position to influence his image on the right (The New York Times)
• Romney places focus on family | Candidate showcases wife, children in race (The Boston Globe)
• Can a Mormon be elected president? | Mitt Romney’s faith spurs debate, much as JFK’s Catholicism did (Daniel Patrick Sheehan, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.)
• Romney isn’t the first to flip on abortion | Reagan, Gore and Gephardt all reversed positions. It can work, depending on how voters gauge the sincerity (Los Angeles Times)
• Romney says government shouldn’t have gotten involved in Schiavo case | “I think it’s probably best to leave these kinds of matters in the hands of the courts,” Romney said (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)

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Other Republican candidates:

• Voters accept divorced candidates, but they have limits | The American public may not mind if presidential hopefuls have personally checkered lives, but will they be able to stomach adultery? (The New York Times)
• In crowded GOP field, a lesser-known hopes to capitalize on the issues | Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, is struggling to convince voters that his conservative views are more important than name recognition (The New York Times)
• Giuliani’s private life may hurt his run | Republican strategists say estrangement could raise a question in voters’ minds: If Giuliani can’t keep his family together, how will he keep the country together? (Associated Press)
• Are pro-lifers ready for Rudy? | Abortion opponents may not think the best choice is a Planned Parenthood Republican (W. James Antle III, The American Spectator)
• McCain: Keep 2008 spotlight off gossip | Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who remarried one month after his 1980 divorce, said Friday that the personal lives of White House hopefuls shouldn’t become an issue in the 2008 campaign (Associated Press)
• Practical issues weigh on GOP | That conservative evangelical voters are even considering these candidates as presidential prospects is a sign of their political maturation and their more pragmatic view of what can be expected from politics and politicians (Cal Thomas, The Sacramento Bee)

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A “nontheist” member of Congress:

• Congressman says he doesn’t believe in God | Democrat Pete Stark of California is the highest-ranking elected official in the U.S. to make such a public acknowledgement (Los Angeles Times)
• California lawmaker becomes highest-ranking official to say he’s a nonbeliever | Fortney “Pete” Stark Jr., an 18-term Democratic veteran of the House, made the unusual declaration after being queried by secular groups running a contest to find the highest-ranking atheist in American politics (The New York Sun)
• Stark gives confession | Congressman is highest-ranking elected official to admit that he does not believe in God (The Argus, Fremont, Ca.)
• Will Rep. Stark’s confession make area lose faith? | Congressman is highest-ranking elected official to admit he doesn’t believe in God (San Mateo County Times, Ca.)
• Stark’s atheist views break political taboo | A spokesman for Stark said Tuesday that he would have nothing further to say on the matter (San Francisco Chronicle)
• First ‘nontheistic’ member of Congress announced | Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, D-Calif., is the first openly “nontheistic” member of Congress, the Secular Coalition for America announced Monday, March 12 (Religion News Service)
• Nobody here but believers | There are no atheists in foxholes, as any dogface soldier could tell you, and neither are there any atheists in presidential politics (Suzanne Fields, The Washington Times)

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Church and state:

• Zimbabwe police accused of torture | Top opposition leaders were assaulted and tortured by police who broke up a prayer meeting planned to protest government policies, colleagues of the activists said Monday (Associated Press)
• Religious groups get a waiver | Government officials will amend new regulations on nongovernmental organizations to exempt religious groups when it comes to accounting for services and donations, Kommersant reported Friday (The Moscow Times)
• The custody battle for the heart of the Czech Church | After six months of being owned by the cash-strapped Church, the cathedral had been ordered back by the country’s Supreme Court in to the custody of the more affluent State—and the management of the president’s private office (The Times, London)
• Church battle targets loos | An ablution block has become the focus of a marathon legal battle between the eThekwini Municipality and one of the oldest churches in Chatsworth (Sunday Tribune, South Africa)
• The law is for Christians too | New Zealand has freedom of religion. The law endeavors to treat all religions equally, and to regard citizens’ religious beliefs – or lack of them – as something that is no concern of the state. That is a sound principle (Editorial, The Dominion Post, New Zealand)
• Muslim inmates demand equality on their plates | The inmates claim that they are not able to adhere fully to their faith because county jail officials have declined to meet their demands in one area: Their diet (The New York Times)
• Monument could have companion | The Ten Commandments monument standing outside Fargo City Hall may be getting a nonreligious neighbor (The Forum, Fargo, N.D.)
• Council will pray beforehand | Coatesville resolution, unanimously adopted last night, states that the prayer shall not be an agenda item and that no council member, city employee or person attending the meeting will be required to participate (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Also: Council approves prayer policy (Daily Local News, Pa.)
• Church, state, and taxpayers | It would be most unfortunate if the Supreme Court imposed severe limits on taxpayers’ ability to question whether their money is being used in violation of the Constitution (Cass R. Sunstein, The Boston Globe)

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Snowmaking RFRA case:

• Fake snow out for Snowbowl | Appeals court overturns ruling that OK’d treated effluent to extend skiing (The Arizona Republic)
• Court blocks snowmaking at Indian sites | Thirteen tribes, along with environmentalists, had appealed the decision to allow spraying of treated wastewater on mountains considered sacred (The New York Times)
• Plan for snow from sewage struck down | The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Arizona resort’s project for peaks held sacred by tribes was a violation (The Denver Post)
• Decision: Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service (Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals)

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Land disputes:

• Korean Church’s relocation to Centreville causes unease | Residents fear traffic; worshipers feel less than welcome (The Washington Post)
• Land trust faces deadline in $11 million deal | Two years ago the Diocese of Trenton approached a conservation group based in Princeton Township with a land-use proposal that was both benevolent and self-serving (The New York Times)

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Cell phone towers in churches:

• Threat to church phone masts ‘that relay porn’ | The Church of England is facing an embarrassing test case over whether mobile phone masts on steeples are illegal because they can relay pornography (The Telegraph, London)
• Bells may fall silent in mobile dispute | A Church’s bells may fall silent for the first time in 500 years due to a dispute over a mobile telephone mast. The bellringers are worried about potential health risks. (The Telegraph, London)

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Church conflicts:

• Cleveland church members, ex-pastor square off in trial | Some Harvest Missionary Baptist Church leaders accused Artis Caver of crowning himself with popelike powers, of spending $85,000 a year on self-promoting radio broadcasts and of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the collection basket to his private business ventures (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
• Concerns raised over minister, donations | One calls situation ‘pathetic’ (The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, Ca.)
• Church council backs pastor in lawsuit | A minister and three other defendants being sued by a former church employee have the complete faith and support of their parish, a parish official said in a letter to parishioners (Associated Press)
• Cheers, jeers greet pastor | Mostly poor flock welcome minister living the good life as critics rally outside his church (Toronto Star)
• Also: Mega church launches an audit | Prayer Palace also hires PR firm in wake of questions over its spending practices (The Toronto Star)
• Church offers space for 60 homeless to camp | But some dislike the idea of another tent city (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)

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Homosexuality:

• Catholic church tells gay couple communion won’t be available | Recently Lynne Huskinson and her spouse Leah Vader were told they will no longer be allowed to take communion in the Catholic Church because of their open public opposition to Senate File 13 and their marriage that is not recognized by the church (News-Record, Gillette, Wy.)
• Defrocked pastor, bishop appeal Lutheran church decision | The appeals committee, which consists of 12 lay and clergy members, will take at least two months to reach a decision (Associated Press)
• Also: Gay pastor continues job fight | St. John’s Lutheran Church Pastor Bradley Schmeling has appealed a church jury’s decision to defrock him over his same-sex relationship (Southern Voice, gay newspaper)
• Gay-rights groups upset with Dungy | Colts coach to attend event by organization fighting gay marriages (The Indianapolis Star)
• Activists report vandalism, harassment at Iowa college | A group promoting inclusion and gay rights gets hate messages during a visit to Dordt College (Des Moines Register, Ia.)
• Gay? You’re fired | Gay Christians have to fight prejudice on two fronts, forced to defend both their sexuality and their religious views. Toby Green discovers a group trying to challenge widespread assumptions (The Times, London)
• Top general calls homosexuality ‘immoral’ | Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he supports the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on gays serving in the military because homosexual acts “are immoral,” akin to a member of the armed forces conducting an adulterous affair with the spouse of another service member (Chicago Tribune)
• Update: Gen. Pace regrets comments about gay acts being ‘immoral’ but doesn’t apologize (Chicago Tribune)

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Anglicanism:

• New criticism for Episcopal bishop | Her liberal allies wonder why she signed ultimatum on gays (The Washington Post)
• Canadian Anglican leaders promote same-sex blessings | No core Anglican doctrines should prevent the blessing of same-sex unions, Canadian Anglican leaders said in a decision that could set their church on a collision course with the global Anglican Communion (Reuters)
• Same-sex solidarity brings end to all weddings | Grace Episcopal Church stands up for homosexuals (Amherst Bulletin, Mass.)
• Priest loses licence over gay marriage | A Saskatoon Anglican priest is losing his licence to minister because he refuses to abide by a church policy prohibiting priests from performing gay marriages (The Star Phoenix, Saskatoon)
• What will the church decide? | Episcopal bishops gather to discuss future in Anglican Communion (Houston Chronicle)
• Episcopal church may go own way | Members uneasy over liberal trends (Chicago Tribune)
• Episcopal bishop has faith that controversy won’t split church | Episcopalians need not worry about a break with their Anglican brethren, said the Rev. Don Taylor, bishop vicar of the Episcopal Diocese of New York (Times Record-Herald, Middletown, N.Y.)
• First female bishop in state | Election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as presiding bishop said to be encouraging votes for more women bishops (The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
• A more positive approach to sexuality | Fidelity, faithfulness and commitment are virtues of which homosexual and transgendered people are capable, just as much as heterosexuals. The church needs to open itself to new knowledge, and to the experience of all its people (Michael Ingham, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)

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Mark Lawrence:

• Episcopal nominee at center of storm | The combination of the Rev. Mark Lawrence’s conservative theology and a determined effort by church liberals to block his confirmation have caused Episcopalians to characterize the vote as a bellwether of where the 2.2 million-member church is headed (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Bishop-elect debate mirrors larger struggle | Conservative Episcopal leader waiting for votes to be consecrated (The State, Columbia, S.C.)
• Episcopal leader closer to securing bishop post | Mark Lawrence is now one vote shy of receiving the 56 votes needed from dioceses from around the country (The State, Columbia, S.C.)
• Local pastor hoping to take role of bishop | A schism in the U.S. Episcopal Church had a Bakersfield pastor on pins and needles Monday as he waited to find out if he will become bishop of the church’s South Carolina diocese (The Bakersfield Californian)

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Catholicism:

• Catholic politicians can’t back gay marriage: Pope | The Church’s opposition to gay marriage is “non-negotiable” and Catholic politicians have a moral duty to oppose it, as well as laws on abortion and euthanasia, Pope Benedict said in a document issued on Tuesday (Reuters)
• Document: Sacramentum Caritatis (Vatican.va)
• Pope’s envoy hails Putin meeting | A meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Russian President Vladimir Putin next week will benefit Russia’s small Catholic community, the pope’s envoy to Moscow said on Vatican radio Saturday (Associated Press)
• Vatican delegation wraps up visit to Vietnam | A high-level Vatican delegation wrapped up its weeklong visit to Vietnam with the two sides proposing the formation of a working group on bilateral ties, officials said Monday (Associated Press)
• Also: Vatican says Vietnamese Catholics are hoping for a visit by the pope | It is unusual for the Vatican to speculate about a papal visit, particularly to a communist country which has had strained relations with its influential Catholic community over the years (Associated Press)
• Vatican watchdog eyes Spanish Jesuit | The Vatican office that safeguards doctrinal correctness is examining Jon Sobrino, a Spanish Jesuit who is a prominent champion of liberation theology, a Vatican official said Monday (Associated Press)
• Sainthood exam for John Paul II ends | The Rome diocese has wrapped up its examination of Pope John Paul II’s virtues and life, an important step in the Catholic Church’s process that could lead to sainthood for the late pontiff (Associated Press)
• They go where the spirit takes them | A Catholic priest travels from Poland to find and minister to his Romani flock, wanderers once shunned by the church (Chicago Tribune)
• Navy officer relieved of duty amid anti-Semitic accusations | Lt. Cmdr. John Sharpe leads the Legion of St. Louis as well as IHS Press. He says he’s Catholic, not anti-Semitic (The Virginian-Pilot)
• A marriage made in heaven? | When Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo rejoined the wife chosen for him by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the Catholic Church excommunicated him. But Milingo says it’s all part of a divine plan (Peter Manseau, The Washington Post)

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Church life:

• Chesapeake church gives offering back to parishioner each Sunday | Congregants never know who may receive the “seed” on Sunday morning, but in nearly three years, Mt. Lebanon’s s owing ministry has steered more than $500,000 of the offerings back to members (The Virginian-Pilot)
• Church tailors quick service for busy city commuters | A Sydney church in the heart of the CBD offers quickie 10-minute church services to attract busy, time-poor city workers (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Spring forward, skip God? | Churchgoers lose the faith when they lose an hour (World News Tonight, ABC)
• An O.C. church recalls its roots | Calvary Chapel holds a revival meeting on the site where gatherings began in 1971 (Los Angeles Times)
• Faith on the job | Orlando’s Discovery Church joins national movement that promises to lead by example (The Orlando Sentinel)
• ‘God wants you to have great sex’ | But not until marriage, says pastor Matt Keller, trying to speak to a different generation, with different values, at the Next Level Church (Naples Daily News, Fla.)
• Pastor leaves door ajar for other black women | As mentor, role model and advocate, the Rev. Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook tries to help African-American women who aspire to enter the male-dominated field of ministry (The New York Times)
• Inside Pastor Patience Rwabogo’s church | This is not your everyday church with the conservative architecture, rather snow-white tents at the residence of the senior pastor and second daughter to President Yoweri Museveni, Ms Patience Rwabogo. The church is well organised and there is no rush of humanity as in other Pentecostal churches (The Monitor, Uganda)
• Churches to be used as rural post offices | The proposed scheme may be extended to include local services, such as dry cleaners and grocers, that face closure, particularly in rural areas (The Telegraph, London)
• Couple drowns after baptism | As she emerged from the water after baptism, Nomatter Kambewu reportedly got into a trance, turned and grabbed her husband, Thomas Moyana, by the waist. Asst Insp Kasoso said Moyana also became possessed, resulting in the couple drowning (The Herald, Zimbabwe)

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Jerry Johnston’s First Family Church:

• Lax financial oversight riles some church followers | At First Family Church, money mysteries leave some of the faithful wondering: Is the church serving God’s glory or the pastor’s? (The Kansas City Star)
• Business offshoots add to bottom line | Dad sells books and videos, while son buys TV air time for church. (The Kansas City Star)
• Lavish lifestyles at odds with pastor’s calls for the faithful to sacrifice | Johnston and his family travel abroad, live in big houses and drive church-owned SUVs. (The Kansas City Star)
• Honorary degree elevates ‘Dr. Jerry’ | He didn’t graduate from high school, took the GED, and will get a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from Midwestern Baptist College in May (The Kansas City Star)
• Church camp turned around a troubled childhood | Johnson’s youth (The Kansas City Star)
• A family affair | First Family payroll includes several Johnston family members (The Kansas City Star)
• Pastor, church have been delinquent in paying tax bills | In addition, thousands in building contractors’ fees haven’t been paid, according to liens against church (The Kansas City Star)
• Update: Rev. Jerry Johnston’s radio show dropped | Bott Radio Network cites accountability concerns (The Kansas City Star)
• Fiscal openness would enhance trust | At First Family Church of Overland Park, financial questions cloud the picture (Editorial, The Kansas City Star)

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Crime:

• Retired Louisa priest hit with 12 more counts | Period for ‘stolen church funds’ extended (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
• Also: Priest facing 12 more counts | Rodney Rodis faces new indictments for embezzling money from two Louisa County churches (The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.)
• Also: Embezzlement charges mount against former Va. priest (Associated Press)
• Related: Louisa church’s funds climb after priest’s departure | Recorded collections rise 18 percent in period since embezzlement suspect left (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
• Priest, now accused of theft, fought audit | The priest, the Rev. Frank Guinan, 64, of St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Delray Beach, Fla, wrote that the audit was “demeaning, embarrassing and humiliating” (The New York Times)
• Fairview Baptist Church vandalized | The sanctuary’s once white walls were covered in graffiti, its pews splattered with red, blue and purple paint. Some spots had been sprayed with fire extinguishers. The wooden pulpit was toppled over, with paint smeared across the piano and organ (The Gainesville Times, Ga.)
• Also: Investigators ID suspect in Hall church vandalism | Hall County officials do not think the vandal who defaced a Gainesville church with gang graffiti and did more than $4,000 in damage belongs to a gang, despite gang graffiti (Athens Banner-Herald, Ga.)
• Shot priest ‘survived by praying’ | Priest Father Kieran Creagh had accepted that he was dying as he sat in the dining room of his hospice in Saulsville, Tshwane, bleeding profusely from three bullet wounds, one to a lung (Cape Argus, South Africa)
• He befriended a serial killer, and opened the door to God | Roy Ratcliff, minister of the Mandrake Road Church of Christ, continues to be identified as the man who baptized Jeffrey Dahmer (The New York Times)

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Abuse:

• Judge orders inquiry into diocese abuse case | A circuit judge on Friday refused to approve an agreement to settle claims of sexual abuse against the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, instead ordering an investigation to determine whether there was a cover-up of additional abuse cases (The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.)
• Also: S.C. judge orders church sex abuse probe | A judge ordered an investigation Friday into whether there are unreported cases of sexual abuse involving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston (Associated Press)
• Seeking closure | When S.D. diocese filed for bankruptcy, woman lost day in court over sex-abuse case that tore her family apart (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Diocese loses bid to seal abuse documents | Accusers’ names to be kept private in bankruptcy case (The Boston Globe)
• Robinson’s accuser appeals dismissal of her civil lawsuit | “Our case, Survivor Doe’s case, is fundamentally different than any other because our client didn’t know who the abusers were,” says lawyer (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
• TV anchor: I was sexually abused by Catholic priest | Thomas Roberts, a Headline News anchor since 2001, says he was abused by Jeff Toohey (CNN)
• Forest Grove pastor charged in sex crime | Richard E. Sacks was the pastor for the Calvary Christian Fellowship (Hillsboro Argus, Ore.)
• Third suit filed against Trinity Baptist | A third civil suit has been filed against Trinity Baptist, a large church on Jacksonville’s Westside. The action concerns Bob Gray, the former pastor now charged with sexually molesting children years ago (WTLV, Jacksonville)
• Florida church aide accused of molesting girls in Vermont | An assistant youth minister for a Catholic church near Miami molested “multiple” teenage girls while they were on a field trip in Stowe in April, according to a lawsuit filed this week in Florida by one of the victims and her parents (Burlington Free Press, Vt.)
• Pastor held in sex assault | His arrest follows a boy’s report of being molested in a library restroom (The Sacramento Bee, Ca.)
• Also: Congregation supports embattled pastor | “He’s a man of God. The devil has tricks. We believe God’s report, not that of the news media,” said one church member, who did not want to be identified (KXTV, Sacramento, Ca.)
• Also: Church community stunned over pastor’s arrest on child molestation charges | Reaction from local pastors and parishioners (KXTV)
• Update: Pastor says he’s innocent | Suspected of sexual assault, he remains in jail and faces arraignment today (The Sacramento Bee, Ca.)
• Pilgrim Church weighs whether to allow sex offender to attend services | Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad has long been known for being open and accepting, but that philosophy has been put to the test recently as members struggle to decide whether a convicted child molester should be allowed to attend services (North County Times, San Diego, Ca.)
• Also: The ‘Least of My People’ award | A raspberry, albeit a conflicted one, to the folks gathering petitions outside of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad last week to pressure the church into not welcoming a convicted child molester into its congregation (Editorial, North County Times, San Diego, Ca.)
• A dangerous closet | A psychologist argues that the Catholic Church’s message to gay priests—that homosexuality should be a shameful secret—contributed to the sexual abuse scandal (Mary Gail Frawley-O’Dea, The Boston Globe)

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Killing at church:

• Woman shot dead at Oakland church | Authorities seek estranged husband as ‘person of interest’ (The Oakland Tribune, Ca.)
• Relatives discuss slaying | They say bitter divorce was behind killing at church (San Francisco Chronicle)
• ‘I forgive him,’ slain woman’s father says | Victim’s parent says he’s not supposed to judge accused son-in-law (The Oakland Tribune, Ca.)
• Husband planned killing, cops say | Estranged spouse turned himself in on day wife shot in church parking lot (The Oakland Tribune, Ca.)
• Husband arrested after wife gunned down | The estranged husband of a woman who was shot dead in a church parking lot just before Sunday morning services has been booked on suspicion of murder after surrendering to police (Associated Press)

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Sudan:

• Sudan orchestrated Darfur crimes, U.N. mission says | A U.N. human rights mission on Monday accused Sudan’s government of orchestrating and taking part in war crimes in Darfur and called for urgent international action to protect civilians there (Reuters)
• Report condemns Sudan over Darfur | UN investigators have accused Sudan’s government of “orchestrating and participating” in crimes in Darfur that include murder, mass rape, and kidnap (BBC)
• Darfur’s aid groups on the front lines | Their tireless commitment in the face of severe security threats deserves thanks and support (Editorial, The Christian Science Monitor)

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China:

• China’s global go-getters | Wenzhou’s spirit of capitalism might have been further nurtured by the spread of Christianity in the city in the same way the Protestant work ethic pushed America’s economic development (Los Angeles Times)
• Unholy shame | China should respect religious liberty if it wants to be a world power (Doug Bandow, National Review Online)

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Israel and Palestine:

• Palestinian Christians look back on a year of troubles | Christians in the West Bank say insecurity rather than religious persecution is to blame for their community’s vulnerability (The New York Times)
• Misery tempts Palestinian Christians to flee | “There is a real fear that 50 years down the road, the Holy Land will be without Christians,” said Mitri Raheb, 45-year-old pastor of the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem (Reuters)
• Illegal migrants in Israel pray for better times | Where Israel previously welcomed many Christian migrant laborers from Africa and Asia — to replace Palestinians who used to do the work — it now aims to reduce their number, to cut unemployment among Jews (Reuters)
• German bishops’ remarks on West Bank are denounced | Jewish groups are condemning comments that drew a link between the plight of Palestinians in the West Bank and Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II (The New York Times)
• Also: German bishops rile Holocaust memorial | The director of Israel’s Holocaust memorial has said he was “appalled and surprised” by comments three Roman Catholic bishops from Germany made that compared conditions in the West Bank to the Holocaust (Associated Press)

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Iraq:

• Franklin Graham’s son hurt in Iraq | “He got shrapnel in his arms, legs and back,” says Graham spokesman Jeremy Blume. “And he was recovering … in a hospital that can’t be named for security reasons.” (Tim Funk, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
• Against odds, Iraqi refugees reach U.S. | As the violence rages in Iraq, a small stream of Iraqis is trickling into the United States despite improbable odds (The New York Times)
• Disagree about Iraq? You’re not just wrong — you’re evil | A wide body of psychological research shows that on any number of hot-button issues, people seem hard-wired to believe the worst about those who disagree with them (The Washington Post)
• The playwright and the seeds of ‘Doubt’ | The war in Iraq played a key role in John Patrick Shanley’s Tony-winning tale (The Washington Post)

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Missions and ministry:

• Crank calling for Jesus | A “family values” media watchdog group called the Dove Foundation hopes to clean up Hollywood by making vaguely sinister computerized phone calls to millions of people all around the country (Wired)
• On a mission to reduce world poverty | Is any Christian against ending world poverty? If not, why is the Rev. Ian T. Douglas, a professor at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, evangelizing about the Christian obligation to help poor countries? (Rich Barlow, The Boston Globe)
• Church organist required for jungle meteorite hunt | Church organists are rarely an essential part of expeditions into the Amazonian rainforest, but a team of scientists about to embark on a journey to a far-flung meteorite impact site in Bolivia believe that one will be key to achieving their mission (The Times, London)
• Ex-Muslim tells how he became Christian | Daniel Shayesteh is one of a handful of former Muslims working to mobilize the Western church to make converts of Muslims living next door and overseas (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)

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BattleCry returns to San Francisco:

• Christian teens flock to BattleCry | More than 22,000 evangelical teenagers prayed, sang and screamed at AT&T Park on Saturday during BattleCry — a mix of pep rally, rock concert and church service (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Christian teens give voice to BattleCry | Event in San Francisco brings more than 20,000 youths to worship (Contra Costa Times, Ca.)
• Dueling world views in San Francisco | By the tens of thousands, Christian teens poured into proudly liberal San Francisco on Friday for a two-day evangelical extravaganza where they would rock, pray and provoke progressives, who accused the movement of working toward a theocracy endangering “San Francisco values.” (San Jose Mercury News, Ca.)
• Teens ’embracing the coolness of Christ’ at BattleCry (San Jose Mercury News, Ca.)
• Christian right invades ‘gay capital’ | It is the type of event that cities usually salivate over. But when the group in question is a Christian ministry from Texas that condemns homosexuality and the place is San Francisco, the civic welcome wagon collapses pretty quickly (Scotland on Sunday)

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Stephen Prothero’s Religious Literacy:

• Worshiping in ignorance | Colleges must address America’s crisis of religious ignorance (Stephen Prothero, The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)
• ‘New idea, that religion matters in international politics’ | An interview with Stephen Prothero (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Religious literacy | If ignorance is bliss, many Americans are in a euphoric state when it comes to their knowledge of religion (Editorial, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)

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Education:

• Gender suit hits seminary | Baptists ended tenure-track professor’s instruction of men (The Dallas Morning News)
• Also: Professor sues Baptist seminary, saying she was dismissed because of her gender | A former professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has sued the institution and its president, L. Paige Patterson, contending she was fired because of her gender. She is seeking damages for breach of contract, fraud, and defamation (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)
• Spring Arbor University, fired prof settle dispute | As part of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mediation agreement, the amount of the settlement was not disclosed (Jackson Citizen-Patriot, Mi.)
• Ruling favors religious colleges | The California Supreme Court’s 4-to-3 ruling that municipal agencies can provide tax-exempt bonds to religious institutions benefits three schools in Southern California: Azusa Pacific and California Baptist Universities, and a Christian secondary school (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)
• Justices to hear landmark free-speech case | Defiant message spurs most significant student 1st Amendment test in decades (The Washington Post)
• Controversy over suspensions grabs national attention | Administrators at Heritage High School repeatedly asked the students not to pray in the busy commons area and offered them room where they could meet before school. The students refused, triggering a showdown that ended with 11 suspensions (Religion News Service)
• Religion policy questioned | Meeting sought with Wake board (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
• Bowing to Sikhs’ call, California wants textbook change | The textbook contained a depiction of the founder of the Sikh religion wearing a crown and was deemed offensive (The New York Times)
• O.C. Catholic teacher is fired | Officials won’t say why, angering many students and parents at Santa Margarita Catholic High School (Los Angeles Times)
• Threat to close schools | The Government is threatening to shut down two Christian schools unless they say whether staff are illegally hitting children (The Dominion Post, New Zealand)
• Back to Ghana, to bear gift of education | Couple, who met in Africa, are raising money to build a school that will include girls (The Washington Post)
• Church opposes education on sex | The Catholic Church voiced concern over the ongoing talks to introduce sex education in the current system of education as a way of curbing immorality, which is rife among the youth (The East African Standard, Kenya)
• Not just the Bible | A bill that would allow public schools to teach a Bible course has been introduced in the Legislature, and already it has run into opposition from those who say the text book could lead young readers astray. Republicans are concerned it’s a ploy by Democrats to “out religion” the GOP (Editorial, Times Daily, Florence, Ala.)

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History:

• Crystal amulet poses question on early Christianity | An overlooked crystal amulet in the National Museum suggests new understandings about Christianity’s origins in Denmark (The Copenhagen Post)
• The theologian and the historian | When Barth met Schlesinger (Ernest W. Lefever, The Weekly Standard)
• Scene 1: Discredit religion; Scene 2: See Scene 1 | The much-ballyhooed ‘Lost Tomb of Jesus’ didn’t prove much of anything … well, except that attempts to disprove Scripture are deemed more newsworthy than discoveries that support biblical accounts (Michael Medved, USA Today)
• Bones of contention | Those who argue that finding Jesus’ bones would change nothing about the faith have a faith that is cordoned off from history (Editorial, The Christian Century)

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Books:

• Defender of the faith | Michael Burleigh seeks to write Christianity back into European political history. Tony Judt reviews Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religion and Politics, From the Great War to the War on Terror (The New York Times, new link)
• Where politics and dogma meet | Christopher Bray reviews Sacred Causes (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Author says ‘Judas Gospel’ questions emphasis on Jesus’ death | Harvard scholar will explore implications of text in Dallas talk (The Dallas Morning News)
• Tales of a sinner | Anne Lamott may be pro-Jesus, but she continues her ongoing struggle with faith (Chicago Sun-Times)
• The Jesus Machine | Another excerpt (Dan Gilgoff, Huffington Post)

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Media:

• Talking about life | Radio host Krista Tippett finds conversation easily intersects with religion (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Onward Christian content | Local Web site’s TV shows are wholesome (Boston Herald)
• Cyber church | Pastor Mike Furches’ The Virtual Pew aims to draw people into discussions about spirituality (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
• A miracle worker? | Shore man, 25, an answer to churches’ tech prayers (Asbury Park Press, N.J.)

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Sports:

• Basketball, beliefs get day in court | Attorneys debate the scheduling of tournaments on a player’s Sabbath before, and with, Oregon’s top justices (The Oregonian)
• Div. II standout plays by rules of his religion | Faith keeps Kelvin Green from taking court on the Sabbath. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
• He makes his faith a priority | Cash Myers rides to rope calves, but says his Christian walk comes first (Houston Chronicle)

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Art and entertainment:

• Church theaters offering far more than pageantry | Troupes challenge and provoke with dramas and musicals (The Washington Post)
• Hail Cherry, full of grace: No ‘Doubt’ of Jones’ talent | “People are constantly com-ing up and telling me that my character, Sister Aloysius, is bringing back nightmares of nuns and Catholic school. I’m astounded that a Methodist from Paris, Tenn., is capable of having that effect,” says Cherry Jones (The Washington Times)
• His monastery documentary brings order to life | “Into Great Silence” director Philip Gröning waited 16 years for permission to film the Carthusians, a strict order of monks founded in 1084 (The Boston Globe)
• Collectors still groove on vinyl | Tim Harris’ crates of quirkier finds included subgenres of “outsider music,” “loner folk,” “spiritual jazz,” “Christian ventriloquist” and “Christian pirate” music. That last category, he explained, typically involves former biker guys who got into bad accidents, lost limbs, and got into singing Christian music (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
• What are we singing? | The Church of England’s sidelining of old hymns is cultural vandalism (Christopher Ohlson, The Guardian, London)
• These mocking artists have no principles | They talk about a free society and love attacking our leaders, but religion makes them run (Nick Cohen, The Guardian, London)

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Money and business:

• Charities boost pay to lure talent | Salaries for top executives at nonprofits have climbed 25% to 50% since 2000 (The Wall Street Journal)
• Putting faith in religious mutual funds | More and more mutual funds are investing according to religious principles (Morningstar)
• Grocery chains face wrath of God | Diocese of Exeter has waded into the debate over whether Tesco and other British supermarkets have grown too large (The Telegraph, London)
• OPM’s ruling on charity drive draws protest | The controversy involves a decision by the Office of Personnel Management, which administers the Combined Federal Campaign, to drop a requirement that charities spend no more than 25 percent of their revenue on fundraising and other overhead expenses (The Washington Post)

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Spirituality:

• Faith everlasting? | More than ever, Americans are questioning their religious identities to find what fits them best, a study says (Religion News Service)
• Religion vs. spirituality | If you don’t want to practice organized religion and you do want to practice a good life, that’s fine. I know lots of people who live virtuous lives without going to church. I just question folks who justify their claim to be spiritually connected to a God when they cannot make the sacrifice of spending a few hours a week doing something they should do, not everything they want to do (Tim Gallagher, Ventura County Star, Ca.)
• Clapping hands in church can be a way to praise God | I can’t deny Scripture. As long as people are led by the Holy Spirit, clapping in honor and in praise of God appears to be appropriate. But I probably won’t do it (Lonnie Wilkey, The Tennessean)

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People:

• Pastor gives up his daily bread | Cedric Portis has lost 80 pounds in the last 18 months as part of a commitment to the congregation of Third Presbyterian Church (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• The popular pastor | The Rev. Alyn Waller leads the fast-growing Enon Baptist church (Philadelphia Daily News)
• Robert MacNeil and the cudgel of culture | At speech, he went so far as to compare Islamic fundamentalism with Jewish and Christian fundamentalism.”I am not for a moment suggesting that our fundamentalists harbor any violent intentions,” he said, “but the initial psychology is similar to that which inspires Islamic reformers.” (Philip Kennicott, The Washington Post)

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Other stories of interest:

• WTC search could find church relics | The search for the remains of Sept. 11 victims has moved across the street from the site of the World Trade Center to the lot of the destroyed St. Nicholas’ Greek Orthodox Church, where important relics, including the bones of three saints, may also be buried (Associated Press)
• Beyond stones & bones | The new science of human evolution (Newsweek)
• Slaves among us | Nearly 400 years since the British ban, slavery still extends to all corners of the world — developing and advanced (John Miller, Los Angeles Times)

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The post No Consensus on Whether NAE Conflict Is Getting Hotter appeared first on Christianity Today.

1. Lebanon gets worse as Christians targeted Two commuter buses were bombed Tuesday in the small Christian village of Ain Alak (photos). “Many residents simply shrugged over the culprit’s identity, a seeming gesture of weariness over a crisis that has brought Lebanon perilously close to civil war,” The Washington Post reports. But everyone agrees that the target was Lebanon’s Christian community, and the victims were among the poorer members of that community.

“The buses were packed with students, blue-collar workers, Sri Lankan maids and women making their way to Christian theology lessons,” the Los Angeles Times notes.

“The attacks, spaced 10 minutes apart … appeared to mark a new chapter in Lebanon’s months-old crisis, with the aim shorn of any apparent political objective beyond killing civilians,” says the Post.

If you haven’t read our recent coverage of the Lebanon crisis from the perspective of two Lebanese evangelicals, be sure to read Martin Accad’s “The ‘Jesus Manifesto’ for Lebanon” and Riad Kassis’ “The Colors of Lebanon.”

2. Coptic Christians attacked again in Egypt It seems not to take much for Muslims in southern Egypt to attack Christians in the area. Reuters reports that “rumors of a love affair between a Muslim woman and a Coptic Christian man” set off a riot in Armant, with Muslims attacking Christian shops and a minivan. Eight Muslim men (who are permitted to marry Christian women, but whose daughters are not allowed to marry Christian men) were arrested.

3. Anglicans, Presbyterians face splits The big Anglican primates’ meeting is underway in Tanzania. Despite truckloads of predictions and analysis (the Anglicanblogosphere seems both ablaze and weary), there’s very little to report so far. We’ll let you know when something actually happens.

Meanwhile, it looks like 130 or so of the 151 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations in the New Wineskins Association of Churches are taking steps to leave the denomination, likely for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. The EPC may create a new, non-geographic presbytery for the New Wineskins group. Will it really happen? We’ll see. But we’ve learned to be cautious about these realignment / breakaway / exodus stories.

4. ELCA disciplinary committee criticizes but follows policy on gay pastor In another of these almost-a-real-decision stories, a disciplinary committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to remove Bradley Schmeling from the ministry because he engages in homosexual behavior. But the committee also said that the rules barring gay ministers “are at least bad policy, and may very well violate the constitution and bylaws of this church” and urged the denomination to “initiate a process” at its August assembly to remove the prohibitions against gay clergy. Hoping to see such changes made, the committee didn’t make Schmeling’s removal effective until after the assembly.

5. Is KDKA to blame in pastor’s suicide The story of the Rev. Brent Dugan, pastor of Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon, Pennsylvania, is a tragic one. After a lifelong struggle with homosexual desires, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last year, in 2002 Dugan “became close friends with a man who claimed to love him, and with whom he had occasional sexual encounters. That man cajoled him into leaving specific kinds of sexual fantasies on his answering machine, and then betrayed him by setting up a meeting at an adult bookstore, where KDKA-TV recorded him.”

In November, a sweeps month, KDKA repeatedly aired promotions for its expose of Dugan, but didn’t mention him by name. Reporter Marty Griffin said his investigation “uncovered illicit, possibly illegal, activity by a local minister, activities which, at the very least, violated the rules of his denomination.”

KDKA never aired the report. It canceled its broadcast plans when it heard that Dugan was “considering doing harm to himself.” The next day, Dugan committed suicide by overdosing on aspirin and alcohol. That set off a wave of criticism of the station.

“It’s the use of key words — possibly illegal, at the very least — that call into question whether the report was worth doing in the first place,” Post-Gazette TV columnist Rob Owen said. “If the best Griffin could dig up was a trip to an adult bookstore (not illegal) and violation of church rules, then there’s not much in it to serve the public interest. It comes off looking like another ‘gotcha’-style story designed for no benefit except the TV station’s ratings.”

“What kind of culture (individual+church+politics+press+commercialism) sets the stage for this sort of pain after a lifetime of service, sacrifice and silent struggling? What kind of people patiently plan and then wait for such a person’s failure?” Grove City College psychology professor Warren Throckmorton asked on his blog. “Brent Dugan apparently led an honorable, commendable and generous life. He deserved much better than treachery for the sake of commercialism.”

James Mead, pastor to Pittsburgh Presbytery, told members in December, “It is the view of many, including me, that KDKA may well be said to have crossed boundaries of acceptable journalistic practices in its development and treatment of this story, and its treatment of our pastor who was its subject.”

This week, Pittsburgh’s main ecumenical body filed an official complaint with the FCC as the station seeks renewal of its broadcast license. While Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania says it doesn’t want KDKA’s license revoked, it does want an apology “for the misleading promos and unfortunate lapse in journalistic reporting that led to the Rev. Brent Dugan’s unfortunate death.”

The Post-Gazette‘s Ann Rogers reports:

[The letter to the FCC] says the promos “sentenced” the Rev. Dugan before the presbytery had time to look into the situation, which could have produced a church process that “provided for repentance, rehabilitation and forgiveness.” It says that the promos violated the Code of Broadcast News Ethics, and the letter deplores “the exploitation of religious leaders and issues for increased ratings at the expense of journalistic integrity and the truth.” Mr. Mead said they were not asking to stop coverage of clergy who commit crimes, but to refrain from sensationalistic stories that would not be considered news if they were about someone in a different profession.

You might wonder why Weblog is covering this now, instead of on November 3, when Dugan committed suicide. We probably would have given this more attention, but we were busy. On November 2, Ted Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals amid news reports that he had been involved with a male prostitute. So far, Weblog has seen no comparisons of media coverage of those two cases. But one wonders: What made the Haggard case such an acceptable story that we’re still seeing articles and commentaries about it (Haggards to leave Colorado Springs! Mike Jones to auction his massage table on eBay!), while the Dugan case is a sensationalistic “gotcha” story “with no benefit” that “would not be considered news if it was about someone in a different profession”?

Quote of the day “When you’re a Christian and a middle linebacker for the Colts, you still hit people when they come over the middle. You just make sure it isn’t a cheap shot.” —Political strategist Ralph Reed, on why he uses negative campaign ads. He added, “In politics, you try to make sure it’s not personal. I’ve never felt comfortable with a family situation, even a divorce. … You also have to make sure that the negative information is true. … We’re all going to make a mistake. I think about Peter and the ear of Malchus, how after he severs his ear Christ heals it. … If we’re willing to say, I went too far, I think we have to trust Christ to heal it.” He was speaking at a symposium at Yale Divinity School and quoted by Huffington Post blogger Chris Meserole.

Special note We had trouble getting the Weblog put together last week, but we’ve compiled stories under the “better late than never” principle. Unfortunately, some of the stories from last week are a bit outdated, and some of the links may be broken. To help you find the most recent and relevant stories, then, we’ve split the links below into two sections. The first are articles that have been published since last Friday. The second are older articles published last week. Sorry for the delay.

More articles

Anglican meeting in Tanzania | More Anglicanism | ELCA verdict | Ted Haggard and New Life Church | Homosexuality | Sexual ethics | Church life | Presbyterians | Catholicism | Abuse | Lebanon attacks | Crime | Remnant Fellowship murder trial | Funding prison ministry | Church and state | Politics | Mitt Romney | Other Republican candidates | Democratic candidates | Environment | Life ethics | Death penalty | Religious freedom | India | Fiji | Sudan | Israel and Judaism | Blood libel | History | Evolution | Education | Sexual education | Higher education | Research | Books | Media | Entertainment | People | Money and business | Missions & ministry | Islam | Other stories of interest

Last Week’s Articles

Ted Haggard | Homosexuality | Marriage | Spring Arbor’s transgender prof | Evolution | Education | University of Sydney | Life ethics | Parental notification | HPV | Healthcare | Adoption | Church and state | China | Malaysia | Religious freedom | Religious displays | Property disputes | Anglicanism | Baptists | Eastern Orthodox | Catholicism | Robert Drinan | People | Dungy and Smith | NFL vs. churches | More on Super Bowl and churches | Media, art, and entertainment | Books | John Edwards’s bloggers | Barack Obama | John McCain | Mitt Romney | Other 2008 candidates | Politics | Environment | Fiji | War and terrorism | Crime | Abuse | Remnant Fellowship murder case | Arson | Theft | Money and business | Church life | Florida tornadoes | Judaism | Islam | Other stories of interest

Anglican meeting in Tanzania:

• Anglican leaders under pressure to prevent schism | At Wednesday’s meeting, 38 church leaders will grapple with how to avoid a split between traditionalist and liberal factions (The Christian Science Monitor)
• Anglican conference opens in Tanzania | A conference of Anglican leaders opened Wednesday as the 77 million-member church struggles with a potentially disastrous fight over the Bible and sexuality (Associated Press)
• Williams faces fresh effort to stop Anglican split over gay clergy | Archbishop handed letter from church conservatives warning that Canterbury may lose central position (The Guardian, London)
• Archbishop faces Church split | The Archbishop of Canterbury arrived at a critical Anglican summit yesterday looking increasingly likely to back a “parallel” Church for conservatives, a move that will appall liberals (The Telegraph, London)
• Archbishop faces boycott at gay summit | The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, could find himself “excluded” from the meeting after protests from African and Asian archbishops representing the conservative Global South (The Times, London)
• Archbishop battles to ward off final Anglican split on homosexuality | Rival faction plots tactics before Tanzanian meeting; conservatives refuse to meet US pro-gay bishop (The Guardian, London)
• Archbishop’s peace talks threatened | The Archbishop of Canterbury flies into the biggest Anglican crisis since the Reformation today without even knowing whether his fellow Church leaders will sit in the same room together (The Telegraph, London)
• Last bid to stop Anglican split | Archbishop Williams enters ‘pivotal’ battle to find a compromise in homosexuality row (The Observer, London)
• Why is the Anglican Church facing a schism, and can it be prevented? | A Q&A on the meeting in Tanzania (The Independent, London)
• Tanzania bishop breaks ranks in gay Anglican row | Tanzanian Bishop Mdimi Mhogolo says it is with a clear conscience that his diocese of Central Tanganyika continues to accept money from its liberal counterpart in New York (Reuters)
• No pain, no gain | Worldwide Anglicans, facing split, prepare for key meeting that’s all about losing (World)
• New Episcopal leader braces for gay-rights test | Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori may face hostility at a meeting in Tanzania with Anglican bishops (The New York Times)
• Blunt bishop at the center of a schism | How Archbishop Peter Akinola’s rejection of liberal “sins” and the ordination of gay clergy could push the Anglican Church to split (Time)
• The real Mr Big? | The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is the nominal head of the world’s 78 million Anglican Christians. But he now faces a challenge from Nigerian archbishop Peter Akinola, whose fiercely anti-gay stance could tear the Communion apart (The Guardian, London)
• Njongonkulu Ndungane invites Africa’s Anglicans to gather under a bigger tent | A global meeting of Anglican leaders in Tanzania will focus on the issue of homosexuality, which currently threatens to break the church apart (The New York Times)
• The Episcopal Church’s struggles concern us all | If you care about the erosion of civility and general polarization going on in America, you might think of the Episcopal Church as a canary in the mine shaft (Barry L. Beisner, San Francisco Chronicle)
• Gays, marriage and Rowan Williams | Neither side sees homosexuality as the most important factor in a Christian life. It is just a focus for differences on Scripture and authority. Schisms have turned on lesser matters—the date of Easter, say. Fallen mankind tends to break up (Christopher Howse, The Telegraph, London)
• Blathering bishops | Some of them say the silliest things, at the worst possible moment (Stephen Bates, The Guardian, London)
• Church must confront this clash of convictions | We must be welcoming, but we cannot embrace indifference about doctrine and hope to survive. (Peter Jensen, The Sydney Morning Herald)
• It is time for the Anglican Luthers to divorce | An obsession with unity is blinding Anglican leaders from seeing the truth now facing them (Ruth Gledhill, The Times, London)

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More Anglicanism:

• Controversial priest weighing legal options | Diocese refuses to lift restrictions on parish contact (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• National church backs diocese vs. breakaways | The Episcopal Church on Friday filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County similar to ones filed last month by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia (The Washington Times)
• Judge says Episcopal Diocese can’t amend lawsuit | A Superior Court judge Wednesday denied a request from the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego to raise new legal claims in a lawsuit against a Fallbrook church that already had been decided in the church’s favor, an attorney for the church said (North County Times, San Diego, Ca.)
• Lodi church rejects Episcopal schism | Issue of whether gays can join the clergy splitting the world Anglican Communion (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Christians want Bishop Onono out | The continued row at the Gulu Anglican Church has taken another twist with Christians of Christ Church demanding that Bishop Nelson Onono Onweng, the northern Anglican bishop leave the diocese (The Monitor, Uganda)
• Earlier: Gulu church row deepens | The troubles in the Gulu municipality Church of Uganda seem to deepen by the day. On Sunday, Christians were treated to free drama when Ray Otim, a catechist, grabbed a microphone from Martin Okulluyere, a former parish council member (The Monitor, Uganda, Feb. 7)
• Cohabitation, church style | Two signs can be found outside a modern church building in Oak Harbor: One announces “St. Stephen’s Anglican Church,” the other “St. Stephen Episcopal Church.” (Joel Connelly, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• Episcopal Church will survive latest strife | As has happened before, the Episcopal Church will survive its passionate divisions (Ed Jones, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.)
• One holy catholic | Anglican dioceses should be more expressive of their catholic identity (Martyn Percy, The Guardian, London)

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ELCA verdict:

• Lutherans hedge in verdict on gay pastor | A detailed reading of the decision —- and even the timing of Schmeling’s removal —- convinces the 44-year-old pastor and his supporters that he eventually may be vindicated (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Lutheran panel votes to expel gay minister | A disciplinary committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ruled Thursday that a gay pastor in Atlanta must give up his pulpit, saying it was reluctantly enforcing a “bad policy.” (The Washington Post)
• Gay Lutheran pastor removed over partner | The delay in Schmeling’s removal gives the ELCA a chance to nullify it by changing the document at an August meeting (Associated Press)

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Ted Haggard and New Life Church:

• Board to lead ‘day of hope’ at New Life | An associate pastor of New Life Church says Feb. 18 will be “a day of hope” for the 14,000-member congregation, weary from three months of scrutiny and scandal (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Jones’ charitable side offers eBay bidders a piece of Haggard history | He’s auctioning off his purple massage table on eBay (The Denver Post)
• Know thyself | Mr. Haggard could find his master’s program a mind-opening experience (Editorial, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• The price of Ted Haggard’s silence | As in the past, the amorphous movement comprising the Christian right will move forward unscathed (Max Blumenthal, Huffington Post)

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Homosexuality:

• Gay churchgoers more likely to quit mainstream religion | “Christian religions by and large have done an excellent job in communicating that a Christian identity and a homosexual identity are incompatible, or at least difficult to reconcile,” says Massey University’s Mark Henrickson (The New Zealand Herald)
• Minister defies Kirk on ‘gay weddings’ | Church of Scotland minister Kim Cran will go ahead with the blessings, even though she risks disciplinary action if an official complaint is made (Scotland on Sunday)
• Some tormented by homosexuality look to a controversial therapy | Some people have been trying to eliminate their gay desires through therapy or religious ministries dedicated to that end (The New York Times)
• Where sexuality, religion meet | Local conference will address gay issues in context of church (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Evangelist’s therapy fuels “gay debate” | Religiously motivated men who say they have made the journey from gay to straight say it is a long one (Reuters)
• Drive for marriage amendment launched | Plan bans gay nuptials but not civil unions (The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.)
• Ending childless marriage as we know it | In their wisdom, gay marriage proponents in Washington state have come up with a drastic solution (Robert VerBruggen, The American Spectator)
• Uncivil unions | In Vermont, love makes a family — but motherhood doesn’t (W. James Antle III, The American Spectator)

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Sexual ethics:

• Church at logger-heads with priest | The Catholic Church is embroiled in a legal conflict with a priest who has been accused of fathering a child with a poor young woman, having several girlfriends and failing to account for church funds. (Cape Times, South Africa)
• Catholic Church slams free Brazil Carnival condoms | Catholic bishops criticized on Friday Brazil’s plan to hand out millions of free condoms in the world’s largest Catholic country when its famously bacchanalian Carnival begins next week (Reuters)
• After so many deaths, too many births | Though Rwanda is predominantly Catholic, the church’s leaders here are not expected to oppose a campaign for population control. A number of priests, nuns and lay workers participated in the 1994 genocide, which weakened the church’s moral authority, and has led it to avoid politics (The New York Times)
• Bill to require HPV vaccine stirs concern | Some believe making California schoolgirls get inoculated against the sexually transmitted virus would violate parental rights (Los Angeles Times)
• Also: HPV vaccine for girls promoted in Maine | Proposal sidesteps controversy by focusing on education and funding, leaving it up to families to decide whether their daughters should be vaccinated (Bangor Daily News, Me.)
• AIDS and abstinence | Governments starting to realize that promoting condoms has left things worse, not better (National Catholic Register)
• Abstinence saves lives | The Catholic Church is often pilloried, or worse, for opposing condoms (Editorial, National Catholic Register)

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Church life:

• Pastors’ wives move beyond the front pew | ‘First ladies’ of black churches take on more leadership roles (Religion News Service)
• Overlake Christian pastor resigns | The Rev. Rick Kingham, pastor of one of Washington’s largest congregations, will step down March 1 to move into what a church elder called a “season of change in life.” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• Also: Senior pastor at Overlake announces he’s resigning (The Seattle Times)
• Southeast Christian to add site in Indiana | Clark County satellite seen as first of about 5 in area (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
• Church vows to fight on after verdict | Jury finds for county in case sparked by shelter (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• City to church: What could be built on land if street is demapped? | Planning agency asking that Atonement Lutheran revise application for Oakwood site (Staten Island Advance, N.Y.)
• Remaking the black church | The pastor of New York’s largest church disavows the anti-corporate rhetoric of old-guard clergy—and embraces Malcolm X (The Christian Science Monitor)
• He stumped, he stumbled, now he’s suing | Inviting a personal injury attorney to your property can be risky. Just ask Bell Shoals Baptist Church of Brandon, target of a lawsuit by Carlos Pazos, a criminal defense attorney who dabbles in personal injury law (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
• Churches sing the gospel according to U2 | Services turn to Irish rock band’s Scripture-grounded music to help attract young (Chicago Tribune)
• Churches must ask why the English Hymnal is out of tune | Is the era of the congregational singing of hymns — and songs — ending as a fruitful part of Christian life and worship in Britain? (Stephen Plant, The Times, London)

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Presbyterians:

• Top Presbyterian tackles issues, decline | In Dallas visit, pastor acknowledges gay ordination is divisive (The Dallas Morning News)
• Evangelical Presbyterian Church woos PC(USA) congregations seeking to leave | EPC Assembly will consider creating ‘New Wineskins Presbytery’ (Presbyterian News Service)

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Catholicism:

• Hub groups resist closing of churches in 3 other states | Dissident Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston have joined parishioners in New York in struggling to keep open some of the 21 churches slated to be closed there and are working with groups in Ohio and Arizona to encourage resistance to parish closings nationwide (The Boston Globe)
• A church protest ends quickly, but the anger is likely to endure | A tense mood lingered a day after the arrests of parishioners who took part in a sit-in to protest the closing of a church in East Harlem (The New York Times)
• Tuesday: After vigil to protest church closing, six women are arrested | East Harlem parishioners declared that they would not leave their church until the archdiocese dropped plans to shut it (The New York Times)
• Monday: Protest vigil begins at church set to be closed by archdiocese | The protest at Our Lady Queen of Angels in East Harlem apparently took the church and the archdiocese by surprise (The New York Times)
• 6 arrested as church sit-in ends | Cops and Archdiocese security guards last night forcibly ended a sit-in to save Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in East Harlem, convincing more than a dozen protesters to leave voluntarily and arresting six women who wouldn’t (New York Daily News)
• Parishioners argue before high court | Seek assets, land of closed church (The Boston Globe)
• Bankruptcy sidesteps trial for diocese | For all the hardship the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport is undergoing as result of molestation claims, bankruptcy may be better than what the church in Iowa could have faced — the civil trial of a former bishop from a neighboring diocese. (Associated Press)

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Abuse:

• San Diego diocese wants abuse trials postponed | It has also asked that some of the pending claims be dismissed (The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Ca.)
• Too close for comfort | Former priest, sex offender living in building with day care (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Youth pastor accused of sex abuse | One of the teen boys a Katrina survivor (The News-Press, Ft. Meyers, Fla.)
• Church knew of abuse by priest | Archdiocese worked to protect Milwaukee cleric, records show (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
• Rector charged with sexual assault of teen | The Rev. Jim Carlton Wooldridge, is the longtime rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Lampasas (Lampasas Dispatch Record, Tex.)
• St. Joseph pastor out on bond, charged with having child sexual material | Randy Doyle is pastor of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ (South Bend Tribune, Ind.)

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Lebanon attacks:

• Lebanese Christians targeted by bus bombers | At least three people have been killed after bombs ripped apart two buses in a Christian area of Lebanon, on the eve of the second anniversary of the killing of Rafik Hariri, the country’s former prime minister (The Telegraph, London)
• Bombs kill 3 on Lebanese commuter buses | Attacks precede demonstration to mark 2005 slaying of ex-premier (The Washington Post)
• Bus bombings put Lebanon on edge | Three people are killed and 18 wounded in the latest violence to hit the destabilizing country (Los Angeles Times)

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Crime:

• Love rumour sparks Muslim attack on Christians in Egypt | Groups of Egyptian Muslims set fire to Christian-owned shops in southern Egypt after hearing rumours of a love affair between a Muslim woman and a Coptic Christian man, security sources and a witness said on Tuesday (Reuters)
• Radic has a book, but betrayed flock left with questions | His book deal and website likely will disappoint those looking for an explanation for what prosecutors say was the 54-year-old pastor’s secret sale of the First Congregational Church of Ripon’s sanctuary, his sealed plea agreement or his upcoming testimony at the murder trial of a fellow jail inmate (The Modesto Bee, Ca.)
• Also: California pastor stole the whole church | But he won’t serve any more time behind bars (Associated Press)
• Accused priest appears in Nevada court | The 52-year-old priest answered just one question, telling Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith he could not afford to hire a lawyer. Diocese administrators said George Chaanine was responsible for his own defense. (Associated Press)
• Teen who robbed priest gets year in youth lock-up | The pistol was a BB gun, but the priest who felt the cold steel against his head didn’t know that (The Columbus Dispatch, Oh.)
• Monday: Church apology helps heal hurt | Priest intervenes, gives half brothers second chance after robbery, carjacking (The Columbus Dispatch, Oh.)
• Courthouse preaching a path to jail | Michaelene Cooney, who is homeless, has been arrested 18 times for trespassing (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
• Arrest warrant issued for church leader | Prosecutors said Mark Mehner embezzled nearly $300,000 from Zion Lutheran Church starting in October 2004 (KETV, Omaha)
• Omaha priest accused in theft case surrenders | The Rev. Stephen J. Gutgsell will plead guilty to felony theft by deception, perhaps as soon as this week, his attorney said Monday (Omaha World-Herald, Neb.)
• Arson suspect denied bail | A judge yesterday ordered a woman accused of burning down a Belchertown house used as a church held without right to bail because she is dangerous (The Republican, Springfield, Mass.)
• Statue is desecrated | Toppled and head knocked off in WNY (The Jersey Journal, Jersey City, N.J.)
• Update: Volunteer to repair Jesus statue (The Jersey Journal, Jersey City, N.J.)

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Remnant Fellowship murder trial:

• Couple charged in son’s beating death won’t take stand | A couple accused in the beating death of their 8-year-old declined to testify in their own defense Tuesday, after a judge strongly advised them not to (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Older brother takes stand in child death trial | Mistrial denied after brother’s words stun court (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Doctors back parents on trial in child’s death | Key points disputed (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Experts tell jurors 8-year-old boy died from bacterial infection, not from parental abuse (Court TV)

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Funding prison ministry:

• Lawyers defend Christian prison program in Iowa | United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit hears Prison Fellowship Ministries case (The New York Times)
• Prison ministry case argued | Ex-justice O’Connor is on panel hearing case (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Redo prison ministry to uphold Constitution | Faith-based treatment can’t discriminate (Editorial, Des Moines Register, Ia.)
• Signs point to compromise | Notes on Prison Ministries trial (Rox Laird, Des Moines Register, Ia.)
• Case from Iowa is new battle front in church-state war | Both sides of the issue see prison case as a landmark First Amendment fight that could have a direct impact on future entanglements of government and religion (Rox Laird, Des Moines Register, Ia.)
• Elsewhere: State stops funding prison program | Christian group hasn’t charged all states equally (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.)

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Church and state:

• HK cardinal hits out at China over “acts of war” | The top Catholic official on Chinese soil has lashed out at Beijing, saying the ordinations last year of three bishops without Vatican approval were illegitimate and “acts of war” (Reuters)
• Baptist church will move | Town residents vote to accept ownership (Concord Monitor, N.H.)
• Camps’ tax tussle may ripple | Ruling on whether YMCA of the Rockies is exempt may affect other religious groups (The Denver Post)
• Pastors: Christian government not Jesus’ cause | Local ministers and religious experts are concerned about Christian Exodus (Independent Mail, Anderson, S.C.)
• Churches, signs clash with city | Mayor, planners look to ease sign ordinance (The Noblesville Enquirer, Ind., link via Religion Clause)
• Christian legal group enters debate over GJ library exhibit | Though no one is threatening a lawsuit, Carol Anderson, who created the religious anti-gay, anti-adultery and anti-divorce display in the library’s rear stairwell, has the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund going to bat for her against the American Civil Liberties Union (The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, Co.)
• S.Africa expropriates first farm in reform drive | The farm in the Northern Cape province had belonged to the South African Evangelical Lutheran Church, which has been ordered to sell it for 35.5 million rand, the commission said (Reuters)
• Redmond church risks big fines as it hosts homeless camp | Defying an order from the city of Redmond, St. Jude Catholic Church welcomed Tent City 4, the Eastside’s traveling homeless encampment, to its grounds Saturday (The Seattle Times)
• God help needy Christian charities | It is perfectly reasonable for the public authorities to say that they do not want to spend taxpayers’ money on the work of conversion. But it is another matter to attack religious beliefs, and to try to keep the people who hold them away from all public money, and from the drunk and homeless and poor and handicapped and old, and from children, all of whom need so much more help than a society without belief can give them (Charles Moore, The Telegraph, London)

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Politics:

• Congressman’s imam is taking a lead in interfaith efforts | Makram El-Amin has become Representative Keith Ellison’s imam putting an Islamic imprint on the role of spiritual adviser in American politics (The New York Times)
• Baptist group fights Texas coal plants | Texas’ largest Baptist group is taking a rare step into environmental advocacy, working to block Gov. Rick Perry’s plan to speed the approval process for 18 new coal-fired power plants. (Associated Press)
• Policy on asylum-seekers faulted | Report criticizes detentions by U.S. immigration officials (The Washington Post)
• Punishing the persecuted | A twisted interpretation of U.S. law has turned thousands of victims of global oppression, who sympathize with America, into terrorists ineligible for asylum (Doug Bandow, The American Spectator)
• Keeping the faith | The House of Lords should not be subjected to a risky electoral process, nor should it lose its bishops (Anil Bhanot, The Guardian, London)
• Rudd a cafeteria Christian | If the Leader of the Opposition wants to pursue the Catholic vote — something the ALP has taken for granted far too long — he’s perfectly entitled to do so. However he can’t pretend that sometimes, when it suits him, deep down he’s still a member of the tribe (Christopher Pearson, The Australian)

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Mitt Romney:

• Will Mormon faith hurt bid for White House? | A national political race that conveys Romney’s focus on family life and traditional values could improve church’s image (USA Today)
• Romney affirms opposition to abortion | “I am firmly pro-life,” he said in South Carolina. “I was always for life.” (Associated Press)
• Romney’s stem cell view may upset the right | Use of excess embryos at issue (The Boston Globe)
• Poll: Romney’s Mormonism may be an issue | Americans have less favorable view of Mormon faith than of most other religions (CBS News)
• Poll recap: Mormon a better choice for president than Muslim, Atheist, Scientologist (Fox News)
• In 2008, Will it be Mormon in America? | Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ponders a presidential bid (Terry Eastland, The Weekly Standard)
• Romney’s Mormon faith wouldn’t prevent me from voting for him | A candidate’s faith is of no consequence to me unless it harbors the possibility of guiding his or her actions in a way I would disapprove of. (Mark Davis, The Dallas Morning News)
• Embodying the contradictions of ‘a peculiar people’ | Can a Mormon ever become president? Yes, if he keeps quiet about it, and talks fast about his MBA-honed ability to fix the nation’s healthcare finances (Bronwen Maddox, The Times, London)
• American Mormon-bashing 2007 | Americans seemingly want their presidents to be church members, but not too religious (Mark Shields, syndicated columnist)

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Other Republican candidates:

• McCain, Romney vying for support of conservatives | But they both face hurdles with conservative Christians (The Washington Post)
• McCain courting Christian conservatives | To forgive is divine. To forget may be asking too much of religious conservatives when it comes to Sen. John McCain (Associated Press)
• Evangelical vote: down to two | But Huckabee still has the edge over Romney (U.S. News & World Report)
• The pastor populist | Southern governor + folksy flare + ability to connect = proven presidential prospect. Mike Huckabee puts a new twist on an old formula (World)
• Huckabee defends traditional marriages | “People have a right to decide how they live their lives. But they have to respect not changing the definition of marriage,” said Huckabee, who served as a pastor in Baptist churches before becoming governor in 1996 (Associated Press)
• Searching for Mr. Right | Wanted: A candidate who truly opposes abortion and gay marriage — and who can win (The New York Times)
• Litmus test for hypocrisy | Why is it that abortion, a subject on which political candidates often claim to be expressing their most deeply held moral convictions, is often the issue on which they seem especially opportunistic and unprincipled? (E. J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post)
• Giuliani’s faces uphill fight in GOP presidential race | He is pro-choice and in favor of civil unions for same-sex couples. He also has been married three times and was involved with his future third wife while still married to his second (The Journal News, White Plains, N.Y.)
• Giuliani shifts abortion speech gently to right | Rudolph W. Giuliani has directed questions on abortion toward discussion about judges, saying he would appoint “strict constructionist” jurists (The New York Times)
• Culture warrior | Don’t write off Giuliani’s appeal to social conservatives (Brendan Miniter, The Wall Street Journal)

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Democratic candidates:

• A blogger for Edwards resigns after complaints | Amanda Marcotte blasts “right wing shills” for driving her out of the campaign (The Washington Post)
• Edwards blogger flap discomforts Religious Left | “We’re completely invisible to this debate,” said Eduardo Penalver (Politico)
• Targeted blogger quits Edwards campaign | Amanda Marcotte posted on her personal blog, Pandagon, that the criticism “was creating a situation where I felt that every time I coughed, I was risking the Edwards campaign.” (Associated Press)
• Update: Second blogger quits Edwards campaign | Melissa McEwan wrote on her personal blog, Shakespeare’s Sister, that she left the campaign because she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the level of attention focused on her and her family (Associated Press)
• Friday: Edwards keeps bloggers on staff amid controversy (The Washington Post)
• Presidential prejudices | Did John Edwards hurt his chance at the Catholic vote? (John Batchelor, The New York Sun)
• Obama stresses appreciation for faith | Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Sunday he does not think voters have a litmus test on religion, whether evangelical Christianity or his childhood years in a largely Muslim country (Associated Press)
• Black power sermons test Democrats’ faith | In a country where a candidate’s spiritual beliefs are a make or break factor, the charismatic Democrat is coming under scrutiny about his church’s creed (The Telegraph, London)

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Environment

• Science and religion unite on climate | The active involvement of religion is necessary for wide-scale social change (Stephen H. Schneider and Sally G. Bingham, San Francisco Chronicle)
• Saving souls – and the planet | Religious conservatives could become a bulwark against environmental disaster. (Mark Vernon, The Guardian, London)

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Life ethics:

• Low turnout undercuts Portugal vote on abortion | A referendum to liberalize the abortion law was approved, but turnout was too low for the result to be deemed valid (The New York Times)
• Portugal fails to overturn abortion law | Portugal’s prime minister said he will enact more liberal abortion laws in the conservative Roman Catholic country even though his proposal to relax restrictions failed to win complete endorsement in a referendum (Associated Press)
• Analysis: Portugal’s abortion rethink | With abortion legal in all but three other European countries, Portugal can draw on experience elsewhere in dealing with this sensitive issue (BBC)
• Strict abortion bill revisited in S.D. | But none of the Legislature’s leaders, notably some sponsors of last year’s bill, are joining the effort this year because waging last year’s fight was so exhausting (Associated Press)
• States fund antiabortion advice | Public grants surge for the crisis centers. Some ban contraception talk (Los Angeles Times)
• Lynch backs notification repeal bill | House panel takes up abortion proposal (Concord Monitor, N.H.)
• Diocese, abortion foes are at odds | Who’s more pro-life, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington or Northern Kentucky Right to Life? (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
• Code of silence | Another source of useful stem cells has been found–and the media and the cloning crowd are trying keep it quiet (Michael Fumento, The Weekly Standard)
• Anything goes | The International Society for Stem Cell Research issues its “ethical guidelines.” (Wesley J. Smith, The Weekly Standard)

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Death penalty:

• Death penalty bears down on O’Malley, Kaine | Legislatures are preparing to debate bills on repealing or expanding executions (The Washington Post)
• The needle and the damage done | Lethal injections are often botched and sometimes painful. Doctors don’t want to administer them. Is it time to kill this form of execution? (The New York Times Magazine)
• Catholic lawmakers oppose death-penalty repeal | Key Catholic lawmakers in the General Assembly are splitting with major Catholic groups over an attempt to abolish the death penalty in Maryland (The Washington Times)

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Religious freedom:

• Uzbek authorities arrest Protestant pastor on illegal proselytizing charges | Dmitry Shestakov led an underground Charismatic Pentecostals church in the eastern city of Andijan and was converting Muslims to Christianity, the State Religious Affairs Committee said Tuesday, without specifying the date of his arrest (Associated Press)
• Residents demand local church closes | Dozens of residents of Warung Satangkal kampong in Majalaya, Bandung, rallied in front of a house belonging to a Christian family Sunday in reaction to the use of the house as a venue for religious rituals (The Jakarta Post, Indonesia)
• Religious freedom in America | If we value religious liberty, we should value the Christian faith as its guarantee. (Roger Scruton, The American Spectator)

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India:

• Police register case against Orthodox Church members | Nearly 3,000 people mentioned as accused in the case (The Hindu, India)
• Mob attacks family over conversion | The family has been facing social boycott for converting to Christianity, police sources in Kokrajhar PS said (The Assam Tribune, India)
• Priests expel Indian Catholics over child marriages | The Catholic Church in an eastern Indian state is excommunicating Christians under its fold who are found to be forcing minors into marriage, senior diocese officials said on Wednesday (Reuters)
• Law aims at dividing Church: Archbishop | Archbishop Susaipakiam, head of the Thiruvananthapuram Archdiocese of the Catholic Church (Latin rite), admitted that the issue of reservation vs. minority rights was an area of `friction,’ but held that the Church was not ready to give up one for the other (The Hindu, India)
• Activists chastise India on untouchables | Indians at the bottom of India’s Hindu caste system are attacked, raped and killed daily due to their status, even though the rigid social hierarchy has been outlawed for decades, an international human rights group said Tuesday (Associated Press)

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Fiji:

• Church stands by call for President, interim PM to quit | Fiji’s Methodist church is standing by its call for President Ratu Josefa Iloilo and interim Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, to resign (Fiji Times)
• Methodist leaders meet with military | The Methodist Church in Fiji has reaffirmed its stand raised in its official paper says president Reverend Laisiasa Ratabacaca (Fiji Times)

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Sudan:

• U.S. evangelist, a critic of Islam, reaches out to Sudan’s president | In a meeting between Franklin Graham and Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the semi-serious proselytizing continued (The Washington Post)
• Frist joins evangelist Graham on trip to south Sudan | A U.S.-backed peace agreement between the southern Sudanese and the government in Khartoum is faltering badly as world attention has shifted to Darfur, the western region of the country where the government is accused of waging a campaign of violence that the United States and others have labeled genocide (The Washington Post)
• Killing fields | It’s becoming obvious: No one is going to save Darfur (Editorial, The New Republic)

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Israel and Judaism:

• Conditional approval | Government’s precondition for Greek Orthodox patriarch’s appointment: ‘Sell church property only to Israelis’ (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
• Ousted Republican senator criticizes Bush on Israel | “The religious thing is driving the foreign policy here,” Chafee said following a speech at Brown University (Associated Press)
• Some work delayed near Jerusalem holy site | Jerusalem’s mayor decided on Sunday night to postpone plans for the construction of a controversial new footbridge near the religious compound in the Old City (The New York Times)
• Monday: Israel approves work at religious site, scene of clashes | Despite Muslim protests, the Israeli government on Sunday approved the continuation of construction work near a sensitive religious compound (The New York Times)
• Lack of 2nd Temple period rabbinic control may have caused assimilation | Into the vacuum left by the lack of rabbinic oral tradition stepped the Christians, says a study in The Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha (The Jerusalem Post)
• Divided loyalties | Harry Bernstein grew up in a Lancashire street with Jews on one side and Christians on the other. Now, at the age of 96, he has written a memoir recalling the tensions that the split created (The Guardian, London)
• The danger of a ‘chosen’ nation | Israel holds a sacred place in the words of the Old Testament. But does Christian doctrine give that country a free pass at the expense of peace in the Middle East? (Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, USA Today)

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Blood libel:

• Bar-Ilan prof. defiant on blood libel book ‘even if crucified’ | Professor Ariel Toaff said he stood behind the contention of his book, “Pasque di Sangue,” just published in Italy, that there is a factual basis for some of the medieval blood libels against the Jews. However, he said he was sorry his arguments had been twisted (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
• Bar-Ilan turning aside pressure to fire author of blood libel book | Bar-Ilan University is resisting pressure to fire history professor Ariel Toaff for writing a book arguing that there is a factual basis to some of the blood libels against the Jews in Europe in the Middle Ages, university president Moshe Kaveh’s media consultant said Monday (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
• Author admits blood-libel claim was meant as provocation | Ariel Toaff, the author of Bloody Passovers: The Jews of Europe and Ritual Murders said Monday his previous statement that some ritual murders of Christian children by Jews “might have taken place” had been an ironic academic provocation (The Jerusalem Post)

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History:

• Polish bishop seeks special court probe | The former Warsaw archbishop who resigned after admitting he agreed to cooperate with the communist-era secret police has asked a special court to investigate the case against him, a court spokesman said (Associated Press)
• Also: Slovak church plans to review its past 50 years | The Roman Catholic Church in Slovakia said Tuesday that it would create a council to review its history over the last 50 years, including the period of fascist state rule during World War II and the subsequent Communist era (AFP)
• Revealed: secret of the lodger living inside St Peter’s | Michelangelo had a secret bedroom inside St Peter’s Basilica in Rome where he lived for the last 17 years of his life, it emerged yesterday (The Telegraph, London)
• Bill to honor Paine stalls in Arkansas | Legislation designating Jan. 29 as Thomas Paine Day failed after a member of the state House of Representatives protested Paine’s criticism of religion (The New York Times)
• Teacher’s dad exiled from church | Paula Barkley remembers being about 7 years old when her father was voted out as pastor of Louisville, Ky.’s Weaver Memorial Baptist Church in 1956 for wanting to open its doors to African-Americans (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• The hypocrisy hunter’s guide | Sex, politics and religion have been bedfellows since 1804 (Debby Applegate, The Wall Street Journal)

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Evolution:

• State Board of Education eliminates criticism of evolution | It’s the fourth time the board has changed the standards in eight years (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
• Also: Science standards evolve again (Associated Press)
• Memo: Stop teaching evolution | Georgia lawmaker’s plea comes to Texas through No. 2 in House (The Dallas Morning News)
• Believing Scripture but playing by science’s rules | As a paleontologist and a creationist, Marcus R. Ross has produced academic work that contradicts his own beliefs (The New York Times)
• Churches observe Evolution Sunday | Cultural war still simmers over Darwin (San Jose Mercury News, Ca.)
• Believers accepting evolution | Founded by a professor at Butler University, Evolution Sunday reconciles faith and science in churches in Indiana and across the country (The Indianapolis Star)
• Church makes evolutionary change over time | To Evolution Sunday-goers, notions of a grand designer threaten to undermine the science (Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Dumbing down evolution to kill it | On Darwin’s birthday, vocal opponents of his theory fundamentally misunderstand what they don’t believe in (Edward Humes, Los Angeles Times)
• The Gospel according to Darwin | There is scant reporting on the anti-religious zeal with which many atheists promote Darwinism (John G. West, National Review Online)
• Happy Darwin Day! | Celebrating mankind’s discovery of eugenics (David Klinghoffer, The Weekly Standard)

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Education:

• Guv quietly signs school voucher bill | The watershed program rolls out in the fall (The Salt Lake Tribune, Ut.)
• Judges to rehear school prayer case | Arguments set before full court May 21 (The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.)
• Cornerstone sues to play ball in UIL | A private school in San Antonio filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing the state’s largest extracurricular organization of unfairly excluding private schools from league competition, and the school is seeking a court order to halt the alleged practice (San Antonio Express-News, Tex.)
• National Council of Churches questions ‘No Child’ | Although the event will include secular participants, the involvement of the nation’s largest ecumenical religious organization signals a growing grass-roots concern about the 2002 law, which is scheduled for reauthorization by Congress this year (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland)
• Home schoolers find strength in numbers | More and more, parents are forming co-ops, where they meet to share teaching talents and advice, as well as socialize (The New York Times)
• Senator causes stir by reading profanity | Comments made at a high school (The Boston Globe)
• Religious land use trial against Alameda County begins | A long legal battle over a proposed Christian school near Castro Valley finally went to trial Monday, with a 10-person jury ready to decide whether the situation is a civil-rights violation or sound suburban planning. (San Mateo County Times, Ca.)
• School refuses to deny smacking | A Christian college is continuing to defy state agencies over its right to use corporal punishment, saying it is up to parents to decide (Dominion Post, New Zealand)
• Also: Greens urge action on corporal punishment (The New Zealand Herald)

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Sexual education:

• Abstinence-only sex ed finds few scientific fans | Birth control taught in shrinking number of schools, study says (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Students get lesson to chew on | Gum sharing disgusts Montgomery parents, officials (The Washington Post)
• Update: Md. ‘gum game’ used for 9 years | Barred group says sex-ed lesson was popular in schools (The Washington Post)
• Schools picked to pilot sex-ed lessons | Program will introduce the topics of sexual orientation to students, an effort three citizen groups are fighting (The Washington Post)

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Higher education:

• Rally backs transgender prof | Church says university fulfills duties (Jackson Citizen-Patriot, Mi.)
• Also: Professor’s plight heard worldwide | Nemecek getting lots of attention after story appeared in newspaper (Jackson Citizen-Patriot, Mi.)
• UGA lets religious groups restrict membership | Policy move may head off lawsuit by Beta Upsilon Chi (Athens Banner-Herald, Ga.)
• W&M grad sues for cross’ permanent return | A scholar said a First Amendment lawsuit against the College of William and Mary would be frivolous. (Daily Press, Hampton Roads, Va.)
• To fulfill a prophecy | Mount St. Mary’s Seminary has 38 seminarians. And a basketball team (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
• Who wants to be a priest these days? | The Roman Catholic Church in Germany is running out of vocations. Who wants to be a priest in this day and age? A visit to St. Georgen Seminary in Frankfurt (Der Spiegel, Germany)
• Polygamy page finds new home on an Internet site | Assistant college dean had addressed the topic as a ‘personal project’ (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Religion edition sends student newspaper editor into hiding | The editor of a Cambridge University college newspaper is in hiding after his attempt at religious satire backfired (The Guardian, London)
• Stem cell research affects education bill | The bitter fight over embryonic stem cell research in Missouri led to six university building projects being axed Wednesday from a higher education bill by the Senate Education Committee (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Ex-Baylor star walks away from basketball | Emily Nkosi said she also feared losing her Baylor scholarship because of her evolving relationship with Ashley Taylor, then a graduate student and roommate and now her partner. The administration at Baylor, a Baptist school, says it does not revoke scholarships, including athletic scholarships, for homosexuality (USA Today)
• Questions of faith | I find richer spiritual exploration teaching students at Piedmont College than I did leading congregations (Barbara Brown Taylor, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• ‘To teach or exercise authority over a man’ | Southwestern scholar was badly served (Benjamin Cole, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)

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Research:

• Economist sees value in religiosity | In a 2005 paper subtitled “Is Religion Good for You?” Jonathan Gruber concluded that it is, and he believes it makes sense for public officials to encourage religiosity (as opposed to specific religions) (The Boston Globe)
• More spiritual help needed for the dying: study | Spiritual support appears to help improve the quality of life among people facing death, the research from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School found (Reutesr)
• Abstract: Religiousness and Spiritual Support Among Advanced Cancer Patients and Associations With End-of-Life Treatment Preferences and Quality of Life (Journal of Clinical Oncology)

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Books:

• Jurist passes positive judgment on radio host’s book | Pennsylvania judge sentences sex offender to read a volume about addiction written by Laguna Beach Christian broadcaster (Dana Parsons, Los Angeles Times)
• A familiar and prescient voice, brought to life | Carl Sagan has rejoined the cosmic debate from the grave, with “new” words on the boundary between science and religion (The New York Times)
• In the beginning was the Word, and it was so cool | Some pastors say “amen” to the so-called Biblezine, which wraps articles around a modern-text New Testament. It may put the Bible in the hands of youths who might otherwise not read it, they say. Others say the trendy mag trivializes the Good Book (Contra Costa Times, CA.)
• Trust them, it’s a hit | Unlike its movie and TV kin, the publishing industry keeps book sales figures to itself (Los Angeles Times)

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Media:

• Christian group chides KDKA over pastor’s suicide | Group says promos “sentenced” the Rev. Dugan before the presbytery had time to look into the situation (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Also: Complaint links TV promo, pastor suicide | A Christian group complained to the Federal Communications Commission about a TV station’s investigation of a minister who committed suicide after the station taped him entering an adult bookstore (Associated Press)
• Religious TV channel on carpet | A religious television channel that has encouraged viewers to liquidate their retirement savings and charge up credit cards to make donations in the name of God may learn on Monday whether it answers to Canada’s broadcast regulator as a higher power (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
• Also: Miracle Channel’s expansion questioned | A Christian television channel that was rebuked for encouraging viewers to donate their retirement savings is looking to expand its viewership in Alberta (CBC)
• Christian network, author Lindsey are back on the same side | TBN and the end-of-the-world series host had split over their attitudes toward Islam. But technology that allows blocking his shows to the Mideast has helped put the writer back on the air (Los Angeles Times)
• US tycoon to build religious broadcasting empire in Rwanda | Family Christian Network Decarol Williamson, promises a US$20m television and radio network (Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion)
• Churches angry over cuts to Praise Be program | Funding will be given for a new programme about religions other than Christianity (Radio New Zealand)
• Olympic champ Jonathan Edwards insists his marriage is intact despite his Christianity crisis | Jonathan Edwards, the Olympic champion who once refused to compete on a Sunday, has quit as presenter of the BBC’s long-running religious programme Songs Of Praise because he is no longer convinced of the existence of God (Evening Standard, London)
• Also: Olympian Jonathan Edwards has ‘crisis of faith’ | Jonathan Edwards, the Olympic triple jump champion and renowned Christian, refused to talk yesterday amid reports that he was questioning his faith and that his marriage was in trouble (The Telegraph, London)

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Entertainment:

• Was missing Grammy winner in bathroom? | “I wasn’t literally in the bathroom,” said Third Day guitarist Mark Lee. “It happens every year. There’s just somebody that gets caught. This year it happened to me.” (Associated Press)
• Relient K draws fans in Christian, mainstream markets | After toiling away for seven years and building a rabid fan base in the Christian market, Relient K broke through to mainstream success with the 2004 release “Mmhmm.” The band’s career illustrates that sometimes the least calculated of efforts reap the most rewards (Reuters)
• Bluegrass duo revisits gospel roots on new album | “Tell Someone,” the new Rebel Records release from the Kenny & Amanda Smith Band, is a musical feast not only for the group’s bluegrass base but for country and Southern gospel music fans as well (Reuters)
• Charles, Maher film to take potshots at religion | The prospects of an untitled movie from “Borat” director Larry Charles, narrated and presented by comedian Bill Maher, which takes potshots at major religions from Judaism and Islam to Christianity, has buyers salivating (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Eastern Nazarene College mounts play banned in China | It might seem a bit unusual for a Christian college in New England to put on a little-known avant-garde Chinese play with Buddhist themes (The Boston Globe)
• Irreverent? Oh, heavens! | Blend Christian pop and boy bands. The result: The cheeky stage musical ‘Altar Boyz,’ which draws its own congregation of faithful (Los Angeles Times)
• Who critiques the critics? | The makers of The Last Sin Eater seem to be a rather touchy lot. (Peter Chattaway, FilmChatBlog)

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People:

• Prayers for Nowak but few answers | For those who don’t know her, Lisa Nowak might be just the centerpiece of a salacious media scandal that makes for a great Saturday Night Live skit, but to her church, she’s a fellow parishioner who could really use some prayers right now (Houston Chronicle)
• Also: Nowak’s Houston church offers prayers of support | The astronaut’s parish priest describes his congregation as a ‘real tight NASA family.’ (The Orlando Sentinel)
• Bodybuilder says Robertson threatened to kill him and his family | Phillip Busch, in a federal lawsuit against Pat Robertson, says the televangelist threatened his life and that of his family at a legal proceeding Wednesday in the Norfolk federal courthouse (Reuters)
• Watchdog group: Church violated federal tax law | A complaint alleges that the Living Word Christian Center arranged sweetheart deals for its senior pastor, helping him buy a plane and home (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
• Also: The kingdom and power of Mac Hammond | The leader of a Brooklyn Park megachurch sees no conflict among his faith, wealth and politics. Others believe he crosses lines that should be more sharply drawn (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
• Pastor remaining quiet about life insurance plan | Lawyer maintains that everything is as it should be (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Also: A man with friends | Bishop Acen Phillips has a record of service to the underdog in Denver that goes back to the 1950s, but his reputation, while unquestioned by his supporters, has not gone unsullied (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Minister plans ’07 convention to fill MegaFest void | Bishop Paul Morton, one of the nation’s most popular preachers and gospel singers, announced Monday that he will bring a convention to Atlanta this summer that he claims will fill the void left by MegaFest (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Bishop Wanjiru bars media from her church | The Bishop’s wedding failed to take place Saturday as the court has issued a temporary injunction filed by one James Kamangu who claims to be Wanjiru’s customary husband (KBC, Kenya)
• Also: Bishop Wanjiru celebrates love without a wedding | The controversial preacher obeyed a court order barring any such celebration as her fiancé stayed away from the Jesus is Alive Ministries Church on Saturday (The East African Standard, Kenya)
• Bill Donohue vs. the world (especially women) | Frances Kissling, head of Catholics for a Free Choice, talks about the right-wing activist who forced the John Edwards campaign to part with one of its bloggers (Salon.com)
• Sports, religion strange bedfellows | There is a part of Dungy’s philosophy that troubles me — and, I believe, many others — and that is his insistence upon making proper coaching not just a matter of good heart but of religious zeal, even dogma (Rick Telander, Chicago Sun-Times)

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Money and business:

• Religious tension in workplace on the rise | Complaints alleging religious discrimination are up dramatically, with confrontations arising over how people publicly observe their faith, when and where they pray, how they dress, what hours they work — and generally what they believe (The Seattle Times)
• New tax laws alter face of donations | A new set of IRS rules that toughens the tax laws for charitable donations could change the way many Americans donate to houses of worship (The Gainesville Sun, Fla.)
• NHS ‘cutting chaplain services’ | Hundreds of hospital chaplains face the sack or a reduction in their hours as a result of the NHS cash crisis (The Telegraph, London)

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Missions & ministry:

• City proposing new law, fee for volunteer workers | Mayor of Lynch, Ky., says he’s worried about residents getting bad repair work and the city being liable for it. But local ministry leaders say the plan could drive volunteers who just want to help away (WYMT, Hazard, Ky.)
• A ministry in the cold, with a gospel of propane | In Ocean County, N.J., the homeless hunker down in scattered tent encampments. Connecting them is a minister who delivers the gift of survival (The New York Times)
• Churches grieve for members who died in Honduras | “They were doing the work of God when death came,” the Rev. Don Hattaway told the congregation at Tabernacle Baptist in Cartersville (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Mayor looks to churches to help end homelessness | Already 122 congregations have signed on, each pledging to raise $1,200 to help pay first month’s rent and deposit on an apartment and establishing a “mentor team” of two to six people who agree to work with the family or senior to help them leave homelessness behind (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Christian leaders commit to tackling poverty | Christian leaders from the country’s broadest-ever ecumenical group have issued a statement condemning the “scandal of widespread poverty” and calling for action by the public and private sectors to combat it (Religion News Service)

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Islam:

• A split after Muhammad’s death that still resonates | Who is Sunni, and who is Shiite, and what is the difference between the two? All this week NPR’s “Morning Edition” presents a five-part primer (The New York Times)
• The partisans of Ali | A history of Shia faith and politics (Morning Edition, NPR)
• Nigerian Muslim convicts in legal limbo | In Nigeria’s Muslim north, sentences of amputation and death by stoning are routinely imposed under Shariah, or Islamic law. But no stonings have ever been carried out, and no amputations since 2001 (Associated Press)

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Other stories of interest:

• Christianity in Africa: Jesus in the morning, voodoo in the evening | The old natural religions continue to thrive in Africa. While Christianity and Islam vie for supremacy in many countries, they have failed to banish the rain gods and spirits south of the Sahara. Frequently the pagan rites have fused with a faith in Jesus Christ (Der Speigel, Germany)
• Minority report | Christians in Jordan (Jason Byassee, The Christian Century)
• Pray for a special Valentine, says Church | Forget speed-dating and lonely-hearts columns. The Roman Catholic Church has come up with a more reliable way of finding love on Valentine’s Day: pray to St Raphael, the little-known patron saint of “happy meetings” (The Telegraph, London)
• Groovin with God | Many Jesus People still follow faith (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Thou shalt not bloat | Many Christians spurn nutrition and exercise (The Columbus Dispatch, Oh.)
• Darien church owns half of Fay’s condo | A Darien church and its former pastor’s boyfriend are now co-owners of a luxury condominium in Florida (Stamford Advocate, Ct.)
• Crowds flock to ‘miracle’ statue | A statue of Jesus Christ is causing a sensation at an art gallery after witnesses said they saw sparks shooting from its eyes (Metro, U.K.)
• Forgive us their trespass | Western evangelicals are plotting an apology to China for 150-year-old imperialist abuses. Critics wonder, how do you make up for the past? (World)
• Doctors who fail their patients | A new survey has revealed that a disturbing number of doctors feel no responsibility to inform patients of treatments that they deem immoral or to refer them to other doctors for care. (Editorial, The New York Times)
• Black churches must address HIV/AIDS | Of the more than 85,000 black churches in the United States, only a handful, primarily in major cities, are actively involved in this important work. The others have descended into denial, ignorance and homophobia, and they focus on the so-called Great Beyond (Bill Maxwell, St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)

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Last Week’s Articles

Ted Haggard | Homosexuality | Marriage | Spring Arbor’s transgender prof | Evolution | Education | University of Sydney | Life ethics | Parental notification | HPV | Healthcare | Adoption | Church and state | China | Malaysia | Religious freedom | Religious displays | Property disputes | Anglicanism | Baptists | Eastern Orthodox | Catholicism | Robert Drinan | People | Dungy and Smith | NFL vs. churches | More on Super Bowl and churches | Media, art, and entertainment | Books | John Edwards’s bloggers | Barack Obama | John McCain | Mitt Romney | Other 2008 candidates | Politics | Environment | Fiji | War and terrorism | Crime | Abuse | Remnant Fellowship murder case | Arson | Theft | Money and business | Church life | Florida tornadoes | Judaism | Islam | Other stories of interest

Ted Haggard:

• Haggards will leave Colo. Springs | Three months after being ousted in a drugs and gay-sex scandal, the Rev. Ted Haggard is telling friends that counseling has given him hope, and he and his wife plan to leave Colorado Springs and pursue psychology degrees (The Denver Post)
• Haggard says he’s not gay | The Rev. Tim Ralph of Larkspur, part of Haggard’s team of overseers, also said the four-man oversight board strongly urged Haggard to go into secular work instead of Christian ministry if Haggard and his wife follow through on plans to earn master’s degrees in psychology (The Denver Post)
• Haggard, Colo. Springs church he founded reach a settlement | Ex-pastor agrees to financial deal, continued therapy (Rocky Mountain News. Denver)
• Ted Haggard says he’s leaving the Springs | Haggard’s family has been “offered two places” in the Midwestern states, Haggard wrote (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Ousted pastor ‘completely heterosexual’ | The Rev. Ted Haggard broke a three-month silence over the weekend when he contacted members of the New Life Church by e-mail to tell them that he was healing (The New York Times)
• Pastor: Haggard is heterosexual | Gay relationship was ‘acting out’ (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Jones doubts Haggard’s restoration | Was surprised by reports former pastor now straight (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)

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Homosexuality:

• Solution elusive as churches weary of gay clergy debate | Many members say they would like to move on to religious missions (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• He’s ‘out,’ he’s saved, what’s the problem? | Bruised in one encounter with evangelicals, gay actor Chad Allen gets a different reaction the second time around (Newsweek)
• About Isabella | Janet Jenkins and Lisa Miller got hitched and had a baby together. Vermont says that’s a simple truth. Virginia said it was all null and void. The future of a little girl hangs in the balance (The Washington Post)
• Court bars government benefit for same-sex domestic partners | A three-judge panel found that an amendment banning same-sex marriage also prohibits government agencies from recognizing domestic partnerships (The New York Times)
• Brokeback Mutton | More on the gay sheep (William Saletan, The Washington Post)
• A pink reformation | Churches have always faced difficult moral issues and they have muddled through, but with homosexuality things are different. Why? (Theo Hobson, The Guardian, London)

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Marriage:

• University to ban gay marriages on campus | Academics and students are shocked by ruling at institution with close links to Anglican church (The Guardian, London)
• Ministers say ‘I do’ to policy | Fifteen area pastors affirm traditional marriage and sign the Greater Raymond Area Community Marriage Policy (Union Leader, Manchester, N.H.)
• Initiative ties marriage, procreation | A group of gay-marriage supporters could begin collecting signatures today for a November ballot initiative that would limit marriage in Washington to couples willing and able to have children. The measure would also dissolve the union of those who remain childless three years after marrying (The Seattle Times)
• And the bride and groom were smelly pigs | Two Musk hogs were married in a lavish ceremony in Taiwan, with the blessings of a Catholic priest (Reuters)
• Focusing on virginity also sexualizes girls | Something like a “purity ball” essentially minimizes a young woman’s very humanity (Betsy Hart, Chicago Sun-Times)

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Spring Arbor’s transgender prof:

• College dean John Nemecek decides to be true to his inner woman | Firing and lawsuit follow decision by Spring Arbor University’s associate dean of adult studies to become a woman (The Jackson Citizen-Patriot, Mi.)
• University firing transgender prof | Professor John Nemecek picked tough ground to make a stand in his journey to womanhood (The Jackson Citizen-Patriot, Mi.)
• Gender change costs dean a job | When a man started appearing as a woman, a religious college asserted its right to dismiss (Inside Higher Ed)

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Evolution:

• Debate rages in Kenya as evangelicals try to keep ancient skeleton in the closet | The display of the most complete skeleton of a prehistoric human ever found is at the heart of a growing storm—one pitting scientists against Kenya’s powerful and popular evangelical Christian movement (SAPA/AP)
• Christian faith in the other good book | Flocks of Christians in the US are to hold special services celebrating Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution (New Scientist)
• Cardinal: Schools quiet evolution debate | An influential Roman Catholic cardinal whose comments on evolution are closely followed condemned a court decision Wednesday that barred a Pennsylvania school district from teaching “intelligent design” in biology class (Associated Press)
• Darwin Day puts spotlight on intelligent design | ‘Flock of Dodos’ sparks debate (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• The Bible vs. science | Some creationists have decided to pick a fight that is neither necessary nor wise. Let science be science, and let religion be religion. The two need not be reconciled. After all, shouldn’t faith be enough? (Tom Krattenmaker, USA Today)

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Education:

• Cross removal stirs Va. college campus | More than 10,000 supporters have signed an online petition since last fall asking for the cross to be placed back on the altar permanently (Associated Press)
• Also: W&M board to consider cross issue | But the Wren Chapel matter is not expected to come up for vote (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
• Public school students getting abstinence lessons from church | New Hope Baptist last fall received a federal grant of $3 million—$600,000 annually over five years—for its Outreach Ministries program to teach abstinence to students from middle school through high school in Birmingham city schools (The Birmingham News, Ala.)
• Seattle Pacific University embraces a new global awareness | Many students, faculty and administrators are taking seriously the spirit of president Philip Eaton’s motto — “engaging the culture, changing the world” — even if the ubiquitous slogan sometimes engenders good-natured eye-rolling (The Seattle Times)
• Real-world studies proposed at Harvard | The task force earlier jettisoned a preliminary recommendation that every student be required to take a religion class after some professors objected last fall. However, members of the task force said that religion is covered by several of the eight broad categories, including one called culture and belief (The Boston Globe)
• Atascadero school board to rethink religion class | The Atascadero school board voted Tuesday night to reconsider a controversial resolution allowing students to attend a church class during school hours (The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Ca.)
• Potter’s House faces expulsion | Basketball team is ousted from playoffs; school put on brink of severe penalty (The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Fla.)
• Public schools: Why we don’t fight more | Some say public schools create war zones of clashing values — but more and more they’re proving to be places where students learn to find common ground amid their differences. (Charles C. Haynes, First Amendment Center)
• Can we really let students skip drama classes on religious grounds? It’s time liberals fought back | A truce has been reached in some areas of US society, whereby the liberals can have their culture so long as anyone could opt out on the grounds of conscience or religious belief. It’s a truce I am uneasy with. (Mark Ravenhill, The Guardian, London)
• Taking kids spiritual hostage | Under the pretense of wanting kids to engage in healthy activities, religious youth groups are infiltrating schools and neighborhoods and working through churches in an attempt to convert children (Dennis & Sandy Sasso, The Indianapolis Star)

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University of Sydney:

• Uni caveat: no stem cell research | The University of Sydney has paid one if its residential colleges $600,000 for land to build a medical research centre, but only on the condition it is never used to carry out fetal stem cell research (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Academics disturbed by university’s deal to limit research | Academics at the University of Sydney are disturbed by its decision to restrict the research that can be conducted at a new medical institute and will meet today to discuss the decision (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Church land offer worries stem cell researchers | There are concerns about what the deal could mean for future medical work and academic freedom (PM, Australian Broadcasting Corp)
• Sydney university stem cell ban sparks academic row | An Australian university has agreed not to conduct stem cell research in a new medical center to be built on land bought from a Catholic college, sparking criticism the deal undermines the freedom of academic research (Reuters)

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Life ethics:

• Wider death penalty sought | At least a half-dozen states are considering broadening the death penalty, countering a national trend toward scaling back its use (USA Today)
• Miss. looks to restrict abortions | The Mississippi Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would ban most abortions and charge those who perform the procedures with a misdemeanor (Associated Press)
• Pope says compassion no excuse for euthanasia | Pope Benedict on Sunday renewed his appeal to Catholics to reject abortion and euthanasia, saying life was God-given and could not be cut short under “the guise of human compassion.” (Reuters)
• Portugal abortion vote to test modernity | Even though campaigners on both sides say the issue goes beyond a woman’s right to choose, almost half the Portuguese may ignore the referendum (Reuters)
• New law urged on assaults involving an unborn child | The Catholic Church and right-to-life advocates yesterday urged a House committee to pass a bill allowing murder charges to be filed in assault cases where a pregnant woman loses her unborn child (Union Leader, Manchester, N.H.)
• Va. House advances bill to punish forced miscarriages | But rejects a proposal to give fertilized eggs and fetuses the “right to enjoyment of life.” (The Washington Post)
• Man places abortion pills in girlfriend’s food | A 26-year-old man in western Sweden faces criminal charges after placing abortion pills in his girlfriend’s food (The Local, Sweden)
• Boozy festive parties led to high abortion rate | Alcohol-fuelled Christmas parties, which led to unprotected sex, are believed to be the reason behind a record number of abortions carried out by a charity last month (Reuters)
• Risky business | What does a woman’s weight have to do with birth control? According to FDA experts, a recent rise in pregnancies among women on the pill may be linked to obesity (Newsweek)
• Compassion for rape victims | Connecticut apparently needs a state law to force hospitals to provide rape victims with emergency contraception (Editorial, The New York Times)
• Are you sure enough to kill? | You may have thought that legislating for killing people under carefully controlled conditions was a long way away from anything to do with the political platform of the Greens. If so, your view is not shared by Greens Senator Bob Brown, who plans to introduce a private member’s bill in Federal Parliament entitled “Euthanasia for Death with Dignity” (Gordon Cheng, The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
• The biotech bubble | Why stem-cell research won’t make states rich (David Hamilton, Slate)
• Dissatisfaction on the marches | Several readers complained that the story on the Jan. 22 antiabortion march was underplayed and that the Jan. 27 antiwar march was overplayed (Deborah Howell, The Washington Post)
• Lucy is learning. Are the doctors? | People fear what they don’t know. And people, doctors included, don’t know enough about Down syndrome (Beverly Beckham, The Boston Globe)

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Parental notification:

• Parental abortion notice has new snag | A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Illinois officials must put proper courthouse procedures in place before he will consider their request to revive a much-debated abortion law. (Chicago Tribune)
• Notification law challenge halted | A federal judge has put a temporary halt to a legal challenge of the state’s parental notification law, giving New Hampshire lawmakers time to rewrite the law or gut it all together (Union Leader, Manchester, N.H.)
• Also: Abortion law repeal on table | Lawmakers weigh partial or full rollback (Concord Monitor, N.H.)
• Protecting the helpless: Not in NH anymore | Pro-life legislators in New Hampshire are in hostile territory in the State House this session. Yet they strive on, attempting in vain to protect the weakest and most defenseless among us (Editorial, Union Leader, Manchester, N.H.)
• Judge gives Legislature a graceful way out | Seize the opportunity the judge has given you, Representatives and Senators. Repeal this law (Editorial, Concord Monitor, N.H.)

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HPV:

• HPV vaccine: Who chooses? | Because immunization can prevent cervical cancer, bills seek to mandate shots. Some say such measures are ethically suspect (Los Angeles Times)
• Texas is first to require cancer shots for schoolgirls | The requirement was praised by health advocates but caught many by surprise in a largely conservative state where sexual politics is often a battleground (The New York Times)
• Opposition mounts, but Perry stands by HPV vaccine order | Despite growing pressure from lawmakers, Gov. Rick Perry firmly defended his order requiring anti-cancer vaccines for all Texas schoolgirls and said he’d rather “err on the side of protecting life” (Associated Press)
• Florida may require vaccine for girls | Some key state lawmakers want to require Florida girls to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease that causes cervical cancer (The Miami Herald)
• Wash. state offers free HPV vaccine | There are no plans to make it mandatory (Associated Press)
• Va. House OKs measures boosting parental say in health matters | Parents would have more say in how their seriously ill children are medically treated and whether their daughters would be required to receive a vaccine against a virus that causes cervical cancer under legislation passed by a hurried House of Delegates yesterday (Associated Press)
• A vaccine to save women’s lives | Congratulations to Texas for becoming the first state to require vaccinating young schoolgirls against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts (Editorial, The New York Times)

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Healthcare:

• Values play into treatment recommendations, study finds | Many doctors believe they have the right not to tell patients about treatments that they object to on moral or religious grounds and to refuse to refer patients elsewhere for the care, according to the first study to examine physicians’ views on such situations (The Washington Post)
• Study: Moral beliefs may sway docs’ care | A disturbing number of doctors do not feel obligated to tell patients about medical options they oppose morally, such as abortion and teen birth control, and believe they have no duty to refer people elsewhere for such treatments, researchers say (Associated Press)
• Many doctors stay mum on controversial care: study (Reuters)

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Adoption:

• Keeping faith | As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the adoption fight will go on (Alice Wyllie, The Scotsman)
• Adopt change after 2,000 years? Never! | The dangers of taking on the Guards or the Church (William Rees-Mogg, The Times, London)

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Church and state:

• Ugandan govt to regulate churches | According to the draft concept paper on the proposed policy on religion that Daily Monitor has seen, the autonomous body would regulate all religious institutions in the country (The Monitor, Uganda)
• Oconee County to open meetings with silence | Council Chairman Marion Lyles said he hoped the moment of silence would end what he called Oconee County being used as a Ping-Pong ball by those wanting the council to keep its opening prayers in the name of Jesus and the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes sectarian prayers (Independent-Mail, Anderson, S.C.)
• Pastors, laymen discuss prayer in government, homosexuality | “We need to get Christians running (for government offices),” says Councilman Dwight Cornelison. “The unsaved will run the country different than a saved person.” (The Dispatch, Lexington, N.C.)
• Call for Texas flag pledge to include ‘one nation, under God’ | “Our nation and our state was founded on Judeo-Christian ethics, Judeo-Christian values and I think it’s a good thing to recognized that,” says Houston representative Debbie Riddle (WFAA, Dallas)
• Amish facing passport dilemma | Medical trips to Mexico, Canada in jeopardy (Lancaster New Era, Pa.)
• Inmate pushes to end ban on his prison preaching | A new warden prohibited Wesley Spratt from preaching in the fall of 2003, with prison officials saying it was dangerous to give an inmate such a position of authority (Associated Press)
• Appeals judge to rule on Christian prison program | A federal appeals court panel of three judges including former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will hear arguments next week in the Prison Fellowship case (Associated Press)
• City to church: Turn away homeless | In a letter delivered by hand Wednesday afternoon, Redmond officials warned St. Jude Catholic Church that if the church welcomed a homeless encampment this weekend, it would be breaking city code and subject to code enforcement (The Seattle Times)
• Also: Orlando’s homeless laws spark debate | Advocates for the homeless feared it wouldn’t be long before other cities passed similar laws. As it happens, they were right (Associated Press)
• Church drop-in to stay open | All Saints will continue to receive funds from city, at least until end of summer (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
• At Regent, scholars discuss religion in democracy | Scholars at a Regent University symposium on Friday cited the Founding Fathers in asserting that American democracy and religion are indivisible, regardless of the public debate around mixing religion and politics (The Virginian-Pilot)
• Euless tries to block Santeria lawsuit | Judge asked to dismiss priest’s challenge to longtime ban on killing 1animals (The Dallas Morning News)
• Proposal to bar religion challenges is dangerous | Legislator’s plan shows disregard for basic principle of church-state separation (Editorial, Arizona Daily Star)
• A witches’ brew of religious discrimination | When he was alive, the U.S. government had no trouble finding a place for Patrick Stewart, never mind his unconventional beliefs. It was only later that Uncle Sam had second thoughts (Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune)

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China:

• Religious believers thrice the estimate | The number of people who describe themselves as religious is a startling three times more than the official estimate, according to the country’s first major survey on religious beliefs (China Daily, official govt. media outlet)
• Also: Survey finds 300m China believers | A poll of 4,500 people by Shanghai university professors found 31.4% of people above the age of 16 considered themselves as religious (BBC)
• Poll finds surge of religion among Chinese | “More Chinese feel unstable and harassed by the rootless lives they lead now,” Liu Zhongyu, a philosophy professor who helped organize the survey, said in a telephone interview (The Washington Post)

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Malaysia:

• Malaysian man seeks to renounce Islam | An ethnic Chinese Malaysian mistakenly given by doctors to a Malay Muslim couple at birth nearly three decades ago is bracing for a possible legal battle so he can renounce Islam, an action that can be considered a crime in parts of Malaysia (Associated Press)
• Also: Malaysian switched at birth wants to switch religion (Reuters)
• Going his own way since he was 13 | Zulhaidi Omar is hoping the authorities would allow him to state his religion as Buddhism on his MyKad (The Malaysian Star)
• Changeling baby finds family after 21 years. Now he is caught between faiths (The Times, London)

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Religious freedom:

• Myanmar’s military government denies suppressing Christians | The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper countered Wednesday that allegations of Christians facing severe restrictions, discrimination and persecution were intended “to tarnish the image of Myanmar internationally” (Associated Press)
• US downplays Montagnards threat | A senior US government official has said Vietnamese Montagnards no longer suffer significant persecution (BBC)

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Religious displays:

• Lauderdale condo bans religious symbol on doorposts | Wreaths were allowed on doors during Christmas, but condo board won’t allow mezuzah (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• ACLU sues over Dixie monument | It took almost three months to find a resident upset with the display(The Gainesville Sun, Fla.)

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Property disputes:

• Parishioners look to SJC to set policy on use of church assets | Although the arguments made by St. James parishioners focus on the limited issues of the land sale and cash gift, the case is being closely watched by parishioners at other closed churches (Associated Press)
• St. Jeremiah parishioners await ruling | Framingham Catholics fighting the Boston Archdiocese’s closing of St. Jeremiah Church are closely watching a similar legal battle waged by Wellesley parishioners that the state’s highest court will hear Thursday (MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, Mass.)
• Church, neighbors at odds | Congregation faces choice: move, sue or alter expansion plan (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Historic Corinth church begins process to leave denomination | Some other PCUSA congregations in Mississippi are reportedly considering severing denominational ties (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
• Also: Presbyterian Church (USA) confident it will retain Corinth property | The presbytery will seek a declaratory judgment as to whether the Mississippi courts will recognize and uphold the PCUSA constitution’s property trust clause (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
• Remodeling the churches | As European worship steadily declines, many grand old buildings have fallen into disuse. What should become of them? (Newsweek)
• The end is nigh for most of our chapels | Paul Chambers has warned this stereotypical slice of religious Welsh life is now in near-terminal decline, with only 2% of chapels built a century ago likely to last another 20 years (Western Mail, Wales)
• Couple must pay £200k church bill | A couple have been ordered to pay more than £200,000 for repairs to a church, which falls within land they inherited after the death of an elderly relative (BBC)
• Right to build not an inviolate religious freedom | One of the most basic rights of cities and counties is the right to decide what types of buildings should go where within their borders to maintain some sort of order and to protect public health and safety (Editorial, The Californian, Temecula, Ca.)
• Federal law smites those in way of churches | Group will, quite literally, put the fear of God in anyone who dares stand in the way of anything a church wants. How Christian (Phil Strickland, The Californian, Temecula, Ca.)

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Anglicanism:

• Primates: Schismatics to be “pruned from the branch” | Tom Wright looks ahead to Tanzania meeting (The Times, London)
• Drive to bar liberal from Church’s crisis summit | The Archbishop of Canterbury’s efforts to defuse the bitter Anglican row over gays looked increasingly doomed last night after conservative leaders threatened to bar a leading liberal from a crisis meeting in Africa next week (The Telegraph, London)
• Episcopal church’s new dawn | Jefferts Schori herself stands for a new day in her church (USA Today)
• Episcopalians open reclaimed Attleboro church | Anglicans had left at diocese’s order (The Boston Globe)
• In search of a new house of worship | A long developing disagreement brings a schism to Episcopal church (The Providence Journal, R.I.)
• St. Anne’s Church votes to quit Episcopal Diocese | 2nd congregation in 2 months to leave (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Episcopalians spend 40 days praying about Hendersonville parish’s future | Split from mainline church is possible (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Local clergyman takes over Anglican diocese | All Saints’ Daren K. Williams is consecrated Saturday (Orange County Register, Ca.)
• Church names 1st female bishop in Cuba | The Episcopal Church has named a woman as bishop in Cuba, the first such appointment by the church in the developing world, church officials said Tuesday (Associated Press)
• Also: First woman bishop in Cuba won’t copy men | The Rev. Nerva Cot, the first woman bishop named by the Episcopal Church in a developing nation, said she will bring a feminine touch to leadership of her rapidly expanding congregation in Cuba (Reuters)
• Church of England to debate tighter controls on pornographic material | Diocese warns of eroding boundaries in the media; synod faces battle over attitude to homosexuals (The Guardian, London)
• Challenge for the Church | The Anglican Communion is one of several supra-national bodies (such as the Commonwealth) whose ambitions no longer correspond to reality. Dr Williams should let it fade away, and instead apply his intellect to holding together our national Church (Editorial, The Telegraph, London)
• Church’s hard line on gays hurts kids | Twenty Tanzanian teenagers who expected to start school in January did not, because the scholarship money we sent for them was not accepted (Ellen Painter Dollar, The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
• A new bishop for a troubled diocese | A pair of popular Seattle-area clergy, along with three priests serving urban parishes in Texas, Ohio and Maryland, have been nominated as finalists to become the new Episcopal Bishop of Olympia (Joel Connelly, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

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Baptists:

• 2 Baptist churches leaving N.C. group | St. John’s, Park Road vote to exit convention rather than be tossed out (The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
• New effort aims for Baptist unity | Coalition would take on social issues (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
• Baptist leader calls for unity | Southern Baptists must work collectively through the Cooperative Program, the denomination’s program for national and international missions and ministries, as well through their local churches, Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page told more than 700 people Tuesday at an evangelism luncheon (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
• Ex-Rep. Bill Gray departs family pulpit | The pastor whose family has led the Bright Hope Baptist Church for three generations plans to give his last sermon on Sunday, when he will turn over his ministry to an outsider (Associated Press)
• Also: Passing along his Bright Hope | Rev. Gray gives farewell sermon at Baptist bastion of social good (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

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Eastern Orthodox:

• Church painting of Lenin sparks Greek row | A half-finished painting in a Greek Orthodox church of Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin cutting off the beard of a Christian saint has offended traditionalists who want the revolutionary painted over (Reuters)
• ‘Holy relic’ ad angers Russians | The Russian Orthodox Church has expressed indignation at an attempt to sell a skull and bone allegedly belonging to Saint Philipp (BBC)

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Catholicism:

• Controversial bishop forced by church to cancel Arizona appearances | The Vatican has silenced Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, forcing him to cancel two planned talks in Arizona, organizers of the talks said Monday (The Arizona Republic)
• Also: Fans upset that retired bishop not given OK to talk here | Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit spoke by DVD instead (Tucson Citizen, Az.)
• Letter criticizes diocese’s treatment of retired bishop (The Arizona Star)
• Sabinal’s test of faith | The prospect of glimpsing God’s presence is drawing hundreds of believers to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church where it’s said that a small ceramic statue of Baby Jesus cried tears after local children used it in a Nativity play (San Antonio Express-News)
• The modern US nun is an ex-soldier, lawyer and has a blog | A growing number of women in their 20s and 30s across the United States have shed high-powered jobs, career ambitions and boyfriends for a nun’s veil and a life devoted to the church (AFP)
• Principal allowed to return to Catholic high | Principal Lawrence Monroe on Monday returned to Santa Margarita Catholic High School, after the Diocese of Orange found he hadn’t acted maliciously when he failed to respond appropriately to accusations of staff misconduct (The Orange County Register, Ca.)

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Robert Drinan:

• Former priest and congressmen remembered | The Rev. Robert Drinan’s career took him to the halls of Congress, but mourners on Saturday also remembered him for his dedication to human rights, commitment to the disadvantaged, and his humor (Associated Press)
• Hundreds remember Drinan at BC | Inspiring teacher, politician praised (The Boston Globe)
• Father Drinan was our unfailing champion | For me and countless others, it was his role as a mentor that distinguished Father Drinan (Mark D. Gearan, The Boston Globe)

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People:

• Roberta Semple Salter, daughter of L.A. evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, dies at 96 | Groomed from an early age to succeed her mother, Salter lost a dispute over church management and was removed from the organization’s leadership in 1937 (Los Angeles Times)
• Florida televangelist is God’s man for the multimedia age | He salvages souls one mouse-click at a time while thriving on the personal contact with callers to his unorthodox TV show, “Live Prayer With Bill Keller.” It airs now on the local CW network affiliate but is slated to go national and move to the afternoons in March (Associated Press)
• Rickie Lee Jones receives some divine inspiration | The singer Rickie Lee Jones talks about her new album, which derives much of its content from the life and words of Jesus (The New York Times)
• Briefs filed in E. Bruns. team prayer appeal | The latest in the saga of praying football coach Marcus Borden (The Home News Tribune, East Brunswick, NJ)
• Two queens visit historic church in Amsterdam | Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is on a visit to the Netherlands to meet her Dutch counterpart, Queen Beatrix (Radio Netherlands)
• God and mammon on her side | Sister Patricia Daly is a nun with a fund, a thorn in the side of corner cutters, child exploiters and polluters (The Guardian, London)
• Bill Donohue: The Catholic League’s attack dog | His ability to manufacture controversy has brought a moribund advocacy group firmly into the black and turned Donohue into catnip for the press (Women’s Wear Daily)
• Rebuilding churches ‘a restoration of hope’ | Bill Frist’s journal as he travels with Franklin Graham to Uganda, Sudan and other African nations (The Tennessean)
• The pope’s right hand man | Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone doesn’t have the guarded air of those who tend to rise to the heights of Vatican power (Time)
• Dalai Lama gets prof’s chair at Emory | He is expected to deliver his inaugural lecture during an Oct. 20-22 visit to the university, and to participate in a conference on science and spirituality and an interfaith session on religion (Associated Press)
• Earlier: Hollywood’s Idol | CT visits the Dalai Lama, spiritual hero to millions (Christianity Today, June 11, 2001)
• Jimmy Carter goes Episcopal | Still another way to move evangelicals to the left (Mark Tooley, The American Spectator)

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Dungy and Smith:

• Dungy looks ahead while savoring win | There had been conjecture he might step down, perhaps to pursue a Christian ministry, after reaching the NFL mountaintop (Los Angeles Times)
• All-class Dungy may heed greater calling | For Dungy, his faith is the impetus for trying to live a life with meaning. But you don’t need religion to grasp that this is bigger than anyone one person (USA Today)
• Christian values guide Dungy and the Colts | After Tony Dungy led the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl victory on Sunday, he made it clear that his success had not affected his strong attachment to Christianity (The Jerusalem Post)
• Super Bowl coaches buoyed by shared faith | For all the hoopla about Smith and Dungy being the first African-American head coaches to reach the Super Bowl, there’s also a common bond in the friends’ spirituality (Religion News Service)
• At top of game, Dungy, Smith still feel higher calling | Not that other coaches who came before Dungy and Smith weren’t religious. But their coaching demeanors were fiery, steel-fisted and frequently profane (Bill Ordine, The Baltimore Sun)
• Dungy reaches summit without sacrificing values | He is a man who repeatedly talks about his Christian faith without seeming overly preachy, nor hypocritical (J.A. Adande, Los Angeles Times)
• Dungy well aware of what he said | Dungy had to know when he told the biggest audience of his life that promoting his Christian identity meant more than achieving a racial milestone, he was poking a hornets’ nest (Kevin Modesti, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
• Super Bowl is a super pulpit | Anyone who’s a fan of football, and many who aren’t, know that Dungy is a religious man. Amidst the celebration after winning the Super Bowl on Sunday, he never let anyone forget. Neither did his friend and losing Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith (Waveney Ann Moore, St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
• Coaches of faith | Public professions of faith by NFL coaches Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith before and after Sunday’s Super Bowl surprised and pleased Inland clergy, who said the two men are the kind of role models American youth need (The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Ca.)

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NFL vs. churches:

• Some of the faithful did not concede to NFL’s demands | Many churches canceled their party plans rather than try to cram a large crowd around a small set. Some scaled down their screens to comply. And some defied the NFL altogether (The Indianapolis Star)
• Church parties on despite ban | Despite an NFL ban against Super Bowl parties with giant screens, at least two churches have decided to go ahead (The Indianapolis Star)
• NFL not budging, even for churches | Despite anger over ban on giant TVs, ‘we’re not backing off anything,” league says (The Indianapolis Star)
• No sanctuary for Super Bowl flock | Churches scramble to cancel big-screen bashes after an NFL warning (Los Angeles Times)
• Parties pit NFL against pastors | The NFL’s warning to an Indianapolis church has raised concerns for local churches planning Super Bowl parties (The Miami Herald)
• Religious houses balk at NFL rule | Many local religious groups went ahead with their plans, not knowing – or, in some cases, not caring – that the NFL bars public venues from displaying games on big screens (Newsday)
• Super Bowl on a smaller screen | Church downsizes picture over rule (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
• Super Bowl Sunday on a slightly smaller screen | Church scales down to a 42-inch screen after hearing about restrictions (York Daily Record, Pa.)
• Pastor says the game must go on | “I don’t think they care about anything in Chico. They’re not going to show up here,” Pastor Ron Zimmer said Sunday. “The NFL has enough issues with their image. I really don’t think they’re going to sue me.” (Chico Enterprise-Record, Ca.)
• Church’s Super Bowl party could violate NFL rules | The Stealey Assembly of God church is taking on the National Football League – in its own small way (The State Journal, Charleston, WV)
• Church shrinks screen and shows the big game | But smaller size seems to have meant a smaller crowd at Southeast (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
• NFL bristles as churches embrace Super Bowl | Among those not canceling: Ed Young, senior pastor of Fellowship Church in Dallas, which also has a ministry in Miami. Both locations have big Super Bowl parties planned, and are even giving away tickets to the game (Weekend Edition Saturday, NPR)
• NFL sacks church Super Bowl parties | Jonesville Baptist Church encouraged members to boycott the game and showed the movie “Facing the Giants” instead (The Gainesville Sun, Fla.)
• NFL stops church SB parties | River Hills Christian Church cancels (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
• NFL calls foul on churches’ viewing parties | Some local churches that had planned big-screen Super Bowl parties have canceled them or opted to show the game on smaller televisions after learning at the last minute that the National Football League has strict rules on what they can do (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)
• NFL trying to bully pulpits | Won’t give Super TVs a screen pass (Mike Lupica, New York Daily News)
• NFL sacks church Super Bowl bash | Woodbury Lutheran cancels plans after learning of conflict with league rules (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.)
• Church reverses call on holding Super Bowl bash | At least one other suburban church, Poplar Creek Church in Bartlett, plans to go ahead with its Super Bowl showing (Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)
• Some churches ignoring NFL warning | At least two San Antonio churches plan to ignore an NFL warning that showing the Super Bowl to large audiences on big screens would violate federal copyright laws (San Antonio Express-News, Tex.)
• NFL’s ban on viewing Super Bowl at churches, but not bars, shows greed | Breaking up such gatherings is heartless and un-American (Editorial, The Morning Journal, Lorain, Oh.)
• Seeing the light from dark suits | Yea, verily, a state that prides itself on praying in public and legislating chastity got a revelatory taste last week of what America’s true religion is (Dan Carpenter, The Indianapolis Star)
• NFL doesn’t do church a service by nixing bash | Dungy used to wear a WWJD bracelet. Wonder what would Jesus do if he showed up at Fall Creek on Sunday night expecting to see the game? (David Whitley, The Orlando Sentinel)
• Parties cancelled at some churches, continued at others | There remains confusion over exactly what the NFL’s policy is (Baptist Press)

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More on Super Bowl and churches:

• Gimme that pigskin religion | Does modern-day America worship football? (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Wheaton College professor examines why we worship football | James Mathisen sees sports as America’s biggest folk religion — complete with record books that act as scripture and halls of fame where saints are enshrined (Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)
• It does pay to attend church | Fellowship Church on Saturday gave away a Super Bowl trip (The Dallas Morning News)
• Football and faith | Churches cater to fans during Super Bowl services, parties (Evansville Courier and Press, Ind.)
• Church shows ad-less Super Bowl | No beer, no Prince and no “malfunctions,” but coach shares taped testimonial (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla.)
• Mixing gospel and gridiron on Super Bowl Sunday | Some churches either shift or cancel Sunday night service to accommodate Super Bowl fanatics (Corey Hodges, Salt Lake Tribune)
• Church prays to God and for the Bears | Sunday Services at Cross View Church were a little different than usual. There was praying, scripture reading and songs of praise and worship — to God and for the Chicago Bears (Lake County News-Sun, Ill.)
• Heaven help the Bears — or maybe not | A little prayer couldn’t hurt, could it? Depends on the benediction, area spiritual leaders say (Daily Herald, Chicago suburbs)
• Super prayers could help us all | Is it OK to pray for the Colts to win? Would God choose a side? (Dan McFeely, The Indianapolis Star)
• Faith moves to forefront | God got a lot of media attention at this year’s Super Bowl (The Tampa Tribune, Fla.)

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Media, art, and entertainment:

• Jerusalem Post launches Christian edition | Why is Israel’s oldest English language daily courting American evangelicals? Tourism, along with that group’s strong support for the state of Israel, has a lot to do with it (Editor & Publisher)
• Take that, Pharaoh! Bible dolls all mighty | Don Levine, the man who created GI Joe, is now introducing “Almighty Heroes,” a collection of biblical action figures that includes Old Testament heroes such as Moses, Samson, David and Noah (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Five questions with Mr. Hymn | From an early age, Chris Tomlin says he set out to write songs people would want to sing along to. Now, at age 34, the Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter is among the most-sung artists in the world (Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.)
• Also: Christian music star doesn’t crave praise | Scrutiny “can wear on you at times” (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
• New York label launches Christian music division in Nashville | New York-based Koch Records has launched Kosmos Records, a Nashville-based Christian music division (Nashville Business Journal)
• Avant God | Troupe bases play on local religious climate (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Believers and doubters, inspired by the Word | The omissions of works by blacks, Latinos and younger artists keep “Biblical Art in a Secular Century” from making a cogent case for the 20th century as either secular or religious (The New York Times)
• Saving a treasured trove, ever so slowly | Ancient manuscripts from Mt. Sinai move into the digital age with the help of a Bedouin camel driver’s son (Los Angeles Times)
• Subverting violent computer games with religious poetry | Unreal: The Baha’i version (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Books:

• Prison for MySpace perv | He’s also sentenced to read Arterburn’s Every Man’s Battle (The Express-Times, Easton, Pa.)
• Blame Satan! | Chris Hedges sees hypocrisy, violence on Christian Right (Bloomberg)
• Hip puritan sex | In his latest book, Rob Bell gives a slick makeover to some old truisms and prejudices about sex (Astrid Storm, Soma Review)
• Whose God is it anyway? | The renewed debate about the role of religion in Australian political and cultural life turns on a series of untested assumptions. David Burchell reviews Australian Soul by Gary Bouma (The Australian)

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John Edwards’s bloggers:

• Unholy hire | The anti-Catholic rants of John Edwards’s blogospherically famous staffer (Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online)
• Catholics slam bloggers hired by Edwards | Catholic League cites posts that the women made on blogs in the past several months in which they criticized the pope and the church for its opposition to homosexuality, abortion and contraception, sometimes using profanity (Associated Press)
• Edwards’s bloggers cross the line, critic says | The Catholic League is demanding that John Edwards dismiss two bloggers for expressing anti-Catholic opinions (The New York Times)
• Edwards’ bloggers regret critical posts | “I’ve talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone’s faith, and I take them at their word,” Edwards said (Associated Press)

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Barack Obama:

• Race, religion sensitive subtext in presidential campaign | South Side church’s tenets spark criticism of Obama by some conservatives (Chicago Tribune)
• Indonesian school still smarts from Obama link | “I feel this school has become a victim of irresponsible American politics. These innocent children are now linked to a negative image,” said lawyer Andri Ismangun, whose two children sit in the first and fifth grades (Reuters)

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John McCain:

• McCain recruits social conservative operative | Guy Rodgers, a former national field director for the Christian Coalition, will serve as deputy director of McCain’s “Americans of Faith Coalition,” the Arizonan’s exploratory committee announced Monday (CNN)
• McCain touts ties with the right | In Dallas, senator says he’s reached out to many evangelicals (The Dallas Morning News)

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Mitt Romney:

• Romney’s go-to guy for conservatives | Peter G. Flaherty, a devout Roman Catholic with deeply held socially conservative views, says, “Obviously I’ve got to believe he’s for real, or I wouldn’t be wasting my time.” (The Boston Globe)
• Romney: It’s politics over pulpit | LDS member gives his vision for the nation and hears few questions about his religion (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Mitt Romney says he opposes abortion | Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has had an epiphany on abortion — not once, but twice (Associated Press)
• Mormon candidate braces for religion as issue | Mitt Romney expressed confidence that he could quell concerns about his faith as he runs for president (The New York Times)
• Faith could be hurdle in Romney’s White House bid | Faith an issue among evangelical voters (Morning Edition, NPR)
• Latter-day lifer | Mitt Romney ought to tell his political-conversion story (Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Online)

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Other 2008 candidates:

• Hillary’s religious roots | At 13, she met a Methodist minister who became a lifelong friend (Newsweek)
• Giuliani: ‘Good chance’ I’ll run in ’08 | “The fact is I appeal to conservative Christians the way I appeal to everyone else,” Giuliani said at a news conference. “I don’t think you have separate appeals to people.” (Associated Press)
• Religion and politics in the 2008 race | What role is religion likely to play in the 2008 presidential election? How are the candidates dealing with the issue? An interview with John Green (Morning Edition, NPR)
• Huckabee bets on conservative base for 2008 | His evangelical and conservative credentials could make him a potent force in next year’s primary (All Things Considered, NPR)
• Tithe and spend Republicans | Can conservatives really trust a man who lost 100 pounds with the presidency? (W. James Antle III, The Wall Street Journal)
• Rightwing warrior Falwell has eyes on 2008 | Not that he’s running for anything (Reuters)
• Keeping the faith | Evangelicals remain wary of the Democrats’ overtures. (Patrick Hynes, The American Spectator)

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Politics:

• U.S. may be mishandling asylum seekers, panel says | A commission warned that the Bush administration may be leaving asylum seekers vulnerable to deportation and harsh treatment (The New York Times)
• Faith, politics cross in debate | When religious leaders address immigration, some take offense (The Dallas Morning News)
• President’s budget freezes faith-based programs, lowers domestic spending | The White House said the budget represents a continued commitment to the Faith-Based and Community Initiative (The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare Policy)
• Are evangelicals in political thicket? | Evangelicals should be applauded for rethinking political orthodoxies. But in doing so they must avoid becoming ensnared in another secular political web (Doug Bandow, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.)

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Environment:

• World’s churches go green and rally to cause | Dire warnings from top scientists that mankind is to blame for global warming set off alarm bells everywhere — but many of the world’s churches have already “gone green” in the race to save the planet (Reuters)
• The greening of the world’s religions | Religious institutions have come to tackle daunting social issues like abolition and civil rights. Now a new, great challenge summons them: environmental crisis (Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)
• Global warming report: a call for all to care for God’s creation | Faith and science can compliment each other to accomplish a common cause (Joel C. Hunter, The Christian Science Monitor)

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Fiji:

• Earlier: Church blasts ‘treasonous’ coup as police arrested | Fiji’s Methodist Church, the country’s largest religious denomination, issued a statement condemning the December 5 coup as illegal and “treasonous” (The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
• Church silent on politics | The Methodist Church in Fiji does not want to comment on any issue concerning politics at the moment (Fiji Times)
• Earlier: Church backs statement | The president of the Methodist Church in Fiji, Reverend Laisiasa Ratabacaca, had sighted and approved a press statement before it was released to the media, says church spokesman Rev Iliesa Naivalu (Fiji Times)
• Fiji Methodists retract coup criticism | Fiji’s influential Methodist Church has withdrawn a statement issued in its name last week attacking the military takeover and President Iloilo (Radio New Zealand)
• Methodist Church withdraws 20 point resolution | The Methodist Church of Fiji has withdrawn the 20 point resolution released last week regarding the interim administration and the armed takeover on December 5th. Church General Secretary, Reverend Ame Tugawe said the decision was made yesterday after senior church executives said that the resolutions were not endorsed by the church standing committee (FijiVillage.com)

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War and terrorism:

• Bishop Sentamu slams UK over detention of terror suspects | In a twist of political and moral irony, a Ugandan-born priest has blamed Britain’s anti terror laws for turning the country into a “police state” not different from the dark days of the late dictator Idi Amin’s government (The Monitor, Uganda)
• Bali bomber taught Poso militants from jail — police | An Indonesian convicted of plotting the 2002 Bali bombings was able to give guidance from jail to Muslim militants in the troubled Poso region, a police statement submitted to parliament showed on Monday (Reuters)
• Jesus loves Bali victims | Theologically, the newly installed Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Philip Freier, is correct. As Christ proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount, Christians should pray for those who persecute them. But Dr Freier’s judgment in supporting churches who have put up signs saying, “Jesus Loves Osama”, is seriously flawed (Christopher Bantick, Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia)

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Crime:

• Brazilians’ arrest focuses scrutiny on evangelical groups | Estevam Hernandes-Filho and his wife, Sonia — who oversee more than 1,000 churches in Brazil and several in Florida–were under house arrest in Miami, accused of carrying more than $56,000 in undeclared cash (The Washington Post)
• Also: Brazil church leaders plead not guilty | A Brazilian couple accused of plundering millions of dollars from their evangelical church pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges that they illegally smuggled $56,000 in cash into the United States (Associated Press)
• Also: Couple pleads not guilty to currency smuggling | Megachurch leaders’ supporters, including two men wearing hooded sweatshirts and jackets, linked arms around the couple as they hurried out of the courthouse. The group rushed the pair into a gold Chevrolet SUV that bore a sticker saying ”God is Faithful” across its dark tinted windows (The Miami Herald)
• In Kenya’s capital, a sense that danger is ever stronger | A missionary’s slaying illustrates that Nairobi, once a favorite playground for Westerners in Africa, is spinning out of control (The New York Times)
• Ruling: Man arrested for cursing at meeting should get day in court | The Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2005 U.S. District Court decision that held Montrose Township police officer Stephen Robinson had probable cause to arrest Thomas Leonard, who used the word “goddamn” while addressing the township board in 2002 (Associated Press)
• FBI agents go to Haiti in kidnapping | Nathan Jean-Dieudonne, 58, a U.S. citizen of Haitian descent, was abducted Sunday afternoon as he and three others drove home from church in Croix-de-Bouquets, a suburb of Port-au-Prince (Associated Press)
• Suicidal monk has wrestled with past | The Catholic monk who stepped in front of a train Tuesday in Elkhorn had joined the Benedictine order partly to atone for a dark past: He murdered his 3-year-old daughter in 1976 (Omaha World-Herald, Neb.)
• Church assault 911 call | The 911 call from the night Father George Chaanine allegedly attacked a choir singer (KVBC, Las Vegas)
• Church of convicted pastor owes thousands in tax bills | Agape could lose half of its land if debts aren’t paid (The Dallas Morning News)
• Cutting Edge: Godless in America | This part-detective story revolves around America’s No.1 atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Why my lovesick son shot his pastor | Mvusi Dondolo, 30, was so desperately in love with a woman at his church that when she spurned him he decided to kill himself. But after four failed attempts the tormented young man found a gun and went on the rampage, killing the very pastor he had earlier turned to for help (Helen Bamford, Cape Argus, South Africa)
• Ministers asks community to unite at shooting victim’s funeral | Boston ministers and family members of a youth slain in Dorchester today urged the city’s black community to embrace and support its young men (The Boston Globe)
• Sheriff enlists faith groups to help curb crime in Avery | Inmates in the 20-bed jail could get counseling from clergy or simply a promise of help for their families, as they wait for trial (Asheville Citizen-Times, N.C.)

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Abuse:

• Ex-pastor gets death | Jurors sentenced Adrian Estrada to die in what’s believed to be the first death penalty handed down under Texas’ 2003 fetal protection law (San Antonio Express-News, Tex.)
• Also: Texas man gets death for killing fetus | A former youth pastor was sentenced to death Wednesday for killing a teenager and her fetus in what is believed to be the first such order in Texas, the nation’s busiest death penalty state (Associated Press)
• Legal legacy | There’s an unsung hero in the story of bringing clergy abuse to light: the plaintiff’s lawyer (The Boston Globe)
• Judge says priest files must be released | A judge Tuesday ordered the Roman Catholic Church to release insurance records and confidential files related to a priest who had been convicted of molestation before being transferred to California (Associated Press)
• Ex-Norwich pastor receives 10 years | Charles Johnson Jr., the former head of the Norwich Assembly of God, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor for having inappropriate contact with a former church member who was 9 or 10 years old (Norwich Bulletin, Ct.)
• Man arrested here in Pennsylvania sex assault case | Gerald Klever was the assistant pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, on the outskirts of Philadelphia, from 1977 to 1983 (Tucson Citizen, Az.)
• Also: Ex-Delco pastor arrested in Arizona | Gerald L. Klever, formerly of Springfield’s First Presbyterian, faces 1970s sex-abuse charges (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Defendant requests second DNA test | Pastor accused in girl’s pregnancy (Hartford Courant, Ct.)
• Ex-student accuses Jesuit of misconduct | Priest censured (The Washington Post)
• Judge orders release of church files on molester priest | Though agreeing to release material as part of a settlement with eight Orange County victims of Siegfried Widera, the Milwaukee archdiocese had sought to withhold some records (Los Angeles Times)
• Retreat facilitator’s past as sex abuser resurfaces | A victims’ advocacy group says the adult participants in an Episcopal center’s retreat should be told that the facilitator is registered with the Texas Department of Corrections. The former priest says he is reformed (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
• More clergy abuse files turn up in Ft. Worth | Lawyer in civil case outraged over diocese’s failure to admit papers (The Dallas Morning News)
• Also: More allegations against priest (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Tex.)

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Remnant Fellowship murder case:

• Remnant Fellowship tape could be evidence | On the tape, Sonya Smith talks with Gwen Shamblin, the founder of Remnant Fellowship, about what she learned from church leaders about child discipline (WTVF, Nashville)
• Ga. couple on trial in son’s death | The Smiths are members of the Franklin, Tenn.-based Remnant Fellowship Church, which grew out of church leader Gwen Shamblin’s Weigh Down Workshop (Associated Press)
• Child’s death renews scrutiny of local church | Members say accused Georgia parents innocent of murder (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Teen testifies she heard father hit son | Incident was at Brentwood-based church event (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Cobb cop testifies parents feared son, 8 | The father of Josef Smith said his family was “really scared” of the 8-year-old son he and his wife Sonya Smith are accused of murdering, according to testimony from a Cobb County police officer Wednesday (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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Arson

• Church arson suspect held in jail | Evan Walgren, the woman charged with burning a Gulf Road house that has been serving as a pagan church, will be in jail until a Feb. 12 hearing on whether she is dangerous (The Republican, Springfield, Mass.)
• Christians’ tour bus set on fire | The caravan was parked by Franche Evangelical Church in Kidderminster at the time of the attack on Sunday. Luggage belonging to the Canadian Life-Force group was also destroyed (BBC)
• Pastor wants plea deal for arsonists | The Rev. Jim Parker doesn’t think the three former college students responsible for destroying his church a year ago should serve time in an Alabama state prison (Tuscaloosa News, Ala.)

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Theft:

• 4 years in prison for former Baptist Foundation treasurer | Donald Deardoff also ordered to pay $159 million to make up for money investors lost when the foundation collapsed in 1999 (Tucson Citizen)
• Also: 5 Baptist fund figures sentenced | Even a 6-year-old fraud case can hold surprises (The Arizona Republic)
• Also: The Baptist fraud | The sordid story of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona came to an ignominious end on Friday when five men were sentenced and ordered to pay restitution (Editorial, Tucson Citizen)
• Embezzling pastor cuts deal | He embezzled more than $500,000 out of the First Congregational Church in Ripon, but authorities want him to testify in court about the Mary Morino-Starkey murder case still being investigated (Manteca Bulletin, Ca.)
• Also: Ex-pastor likely to avoid prison | Ripon’s Radic agrees to testify in murder case (The Record, Stockton, Ca.)
• Also: Ex-pastor’s deal tied to Ripon slaying (Modesto Bee, Ca.)
• What’s a little religious artifact theft among allies? | Of callow youth, learning to respect other cultures, and a 40-year-old confession (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
• Priests remain parishes fiscal agents | The Catholic Diocese of Richmond may change little about its financial practices, at least immediately, in the wake of embezzlement scandals at three churches (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
• Also: Embezzlement case hits city church | A camera in the office of St. Peter Catholic Church recorded Bernadine Brown handling money from the church’s Sunday collection (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
• Fake church official jailed for forgeries | A man who bilked at least six area businesses out of thousands of dollars in merchandise last year by posing as an official of a nonexistent Naperville church has been sentenced to six months in DuPage County Jail in two of those crimes (The Beacon News, Aurora, Ill.)
• Seminary student led a double life | Once found out, he disappears with cash (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
• Suspect charged with swindling S.C. church | Police: Chester man posed as contractor to get money (Rock Hill Herald, S.C.)
• Charges surprise parishioners | St. Peter priest talks with congregation about news of collection-plate thefts (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)

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Money and business:

• Court dismisses church group’s suit against Weil Gotshal | A Texas bankruptcy judge has thrown out a suit against Weil, Gotshal & Manges by the social services arm of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), who had accused the New York law firm of steering it into a “disastrous” Chapter 11 filing (New York Law Journal)
• Bishops say microcredit can save dying farmers | Bishops and priests from India’s biggest Catholic charity are formulating a microcredit plan for farmers whose mounting crop debts have led thousands of them to commit suicide (Reuters)
• Salvation Army unit seeks to gain more of a huge gift | The Salvation Army has gone to court in Seattle to challenge a trust dividing more than $260 million among eight charities, including Greenpeace (The New York Times)
• Archdiocese set to end ownership of hospitals | Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley and a tight circle of archdiocese leaders have made a tentative deal to transfer ownership of the six hospitals in the Caritas Christi Health Care system (The Boston Globe)
• Also: In Caritas deal, fears for two city hospitals | Archdiocese says Ascension will strengthen local system, but Menino thinks cuts could loom (The Boston Globe)
• Church ‘will always do what’s right,’ embattled bishop vows | Embattled Bishop Acen Phillips thanked his church’s members for their support Sunday in the wake of an investigation into questionable life insurance policies (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Also: Embattled minister: Church will continue to do what’s right | Acen Phillips has no state license to sell insurance (The Denver Post)
• Beamer struggling with missions | The organization that rallied a nation after the September 11 terror attacks with the phrase “Let’s Roll” is looking for a rescue of its own (Nonprofit Times)

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Church life:

• A soaking for the spirit | A Pentecostal congregation draws many to a South L.A. street for a richly symbolic street baptism by fire hose, probably a first for California (Los Angeles Times)
• No altar, no pews, not even a roof, but very much a church | A small but growing number of congregations now go outdoors to bring church to the homeless and anyone else who happens along (The New York Times)
• Police probe church disruptions | Attendees at some of the churches are still trying to figure out how to describe what happened (The Charlotte Observer, N.C.)
• Barriers to worship | Congregations increasingly seek ways to improve access for people with disabilities to participate in services (The Washington Post)
• New organization aims to unite five Christian ‘families’ | ‘Christian Churches Together in the USA’ launches Wednesday with 36 denominations and more than 100 million churchgoers represented (The Christian Science Monitor)
• Churches march to mark ‘regret’ over slavery | Churches organise event to symbolise nation’s guilt (Sunday Herald, Glasgow)
• Reaching out with the Word — and technology | As area congregations grow, churches build satellite sites, televise sermons (The Washington Post)
• Black communities consider modern role of the church | Some Christian leaders say even though the church still holds sway with black people, the level of influence it once had has lessened (The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Ca.)
• Bellevue megachurch welcomes new preacher after firing its old one | The Rev. David Perez will take over as pastor of the Bellevue Community Church, a West Nashville mega church whose charismatic pastor was fired last July in a bitter parting-of-the-ways (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Church carillon volume angers neighbor | Another bell fight (Connecticut Post)
• Revivals’ aim: To restore their flock | The revival, which is tied to the start of Black History Month, incorporates styles of worship that are common in Pentecostal and Protestant evangelical churches but remain rare among Catholics (The Miami Herald)
• Church’s billboard campaign isn’t subtle, but it is personal | More tales of church marketing (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• U.S. evangelicals eye renewed domestic drive | The number of southern U.S. evangelical Christians is not growing as fast as the wider population, leading to a renewed effort to win converts on the domestic front from key groups like the Hispanic community (Reuters)
• Land swap would allow a flock to go home | Free-standing church proposal a break from tradition in Columbia (The Washington Post)
• Christian cool vs. Christian too-cool | In the beginning, it wasn’t this much fun. While the American youth-group culture grows, some hope to make worship more modest (Associated Press)
• Faith leaps in to lead, raise funds, face tough issues | The six weeks since Christmas has been an eventful time for Southern California’s faith community (Los Angeles Times)

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Florida tornadoes:

• After the destruction, seeking a time to heal | A lyrical sermon resonated with those affected by the tornadoes that took 13 lives in the Paisley area of Central Florida (The New York Times)
• Tornado victims attend church in Florida | 100 people gathered at the wreckage of the Lady Lake Church of God for a Sunday service, three days after tornadoes killed 20 people and destroyed hundreds of homes (Associated Press)
• Lady Lake church to get check to help with rebuilding | Florida’s leader of the Church of God is due to deliver a check today to get the rebuilding process under way at Lady Lake Church of God, which was destroyed by Friday’s killer tornadoes (The Orlando Sentinel)
• Church in Lady Lake pledges to persevere | The trash, the broken trees, the media and the other onlookers did not deter members of the church from praising the God they believe has bigger and better plans for them (Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.)
• Amid cleanup, a call to keep faith | Wrecked church meets outdoors (Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

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Judaism:

• Anti-Semitism sermon title rankles Maine Jews | The title of the sermon, “The Only Way to Destroy the Jewish Race,” appeared in an advertisement for the First Baptist in the church announcements section of Saturday’s Portland Press Herald (The Boston Globe)
• Also: Pastor, newspaper apologize over ad | The minister of a Baptist church in South Portland asked for forgiveness Monday for frightening members of the Jewish community with a provocative newspaper advertisement that promoted his Sunday sermon about anti-Semitism (Portland Press Herald)
• Also: Preacher’s trick title a bad call (Bill Nemitz, Portland Press Herald)
• Why early Christians stopped observing Jewish codes | An interview with James G. Crossley, author of Why Christianity Happened: A Sociohistorical Account of Christian Origins (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• Church rally supports Israel | Event organized by evangelicals, Jews (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)

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Islam:

• Iraq’s shadow widens Sunni-Shiite Split in U.S. | Sectarian tensions have been blamed for vandalism and student confrontations in American Muslim communities (The New York Times)
• Teacher sacked over religion row | Pupils at the predominantly Muslim school claimed he said most suicide bombers were Muslim (BBC)
• Ellis’ conversion to Islam gets a broad response | Ellis said as far as city property is concerned, his name change would mean only an alteration to his portrait in City Hall (Macon Telegraph, Ga.)
• Reporting on Muslims while Jewish | Differing reactions to the author of a book on American Islam show the religion is anything but monolithic (Paul M. Barrett, Los Angeles Times)
• Tolerating intolerance is still this country’s besetting sin | If the majority of Muslims truly want to integrate, they could start by kicking out the preachers of hatred from their mosques (Henry Porter, The Observer, London)

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Other stories of interest:

• Morality play | A Harvard researcher believes that humans have an innate sense of right and wrong, but others say morality is mostly learned (The Boston Globe)
• Religious billboards along I-65 pulled after protests | Catholic League protested signs about Sabbath (News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.)
• 3 on mission trip die in Honduras crash | About 10 other people were also hurt near the village of Mal Pais, seven hours from the capital city of Tegucigalpa, says Honduras Outreach (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Also: Missionaries killed in Honduras bound by passion to help | Honduras Outreach organized the trip that included 28 people from four churches in Newnan and Cartersville (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Will Pope Benedict become a Mormon after he dies? | The Church says it cannot stem the tide of dead baptized in its own temples (Reuters)
• In Damascus, religions, cultures, and worlds collide | The ‘Eternal City’ is the original crossroads of commerce, culture, and religion (Good Morning America, ABC)
• As church shows its age, bard is still the rage | It is a familiar story in England, where hundreds of centuries-old churches, left largely devoid of worshipers by a modern trend toward secularism, need hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of repairs (The Washington Post)
• Ugandan warrior priestess laid to rest | Alice Lakwena, a Ugandan warrior priestess who led an insurgency in the 1980s and claimed to have spiritual powers to protect her fighters from bullets by anointing them with oil, was laid to rest at a funeral attended by several hundred followers (Associated Press)
• Bless this church | Welcome to the Universal Life Church. You are to be ordained at our Modesto world headquarters. Congratulations. And remember: do only that which is right (Los Angeles Times)
• Shuttered windows to the soul | We can know what people are prepared to say as a result of their religious beliefs, but what they understand by their words is another question (Andrew Brown, The Guardian, London)
• The benefit of doubt | Doubt is not paralysis. Certainty is. Doubt keeps the doors and windows open. Belief is one room with no way out. Don’t look to have life explained to you, presented to you. Live the life that emanates from your interior greatness (John Patrick Shanley, The Boston Globe)
• With God on their team | A child growing up in 1940s Ireland soon learned that there were Catholic sports and Protestant sports. Play croquet and you were forever doomed (Frank McCourt, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)

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The post Lebanon Bus Bombs Target Christians appeared first on Christianity Today.

1. “I would accept schism” For a century, the fight between liberals and conservatives in the mainline denominations has usually meant that conservatives have broken away to create new denominations while asserting that it’s the liberals who have truly departed from the church and its teachings. It has been difficult to convince the liberals that they’re the ones who are schismatic. But while that story looked to be happening again in the fight between orthodox Anglicans and liberal Episcopalians, it now appears that something different may indeed occur. Faced with a unanimous ultimatum from the world’s Anglican leaders to bar gay bishops and same-sex union blessings by September 30, Episcopalian liberals seem to be realizing that church unity is incompatible with their promotion of a new sexual ethic and rejection of biblical authority.

“I would accept schism,” Bishop Steven Charleston, president of the Episcopal Divinity School, told The Washington Post. “I would be willing to accept being told I’m not in communion with places like Nigeria if it meant I could continue to be in a position of justice and morality. If the price I pay is that I’m not considered to be part of a flawed communion, then so be it.”

Mark Sisk, the bishop of New York, is one of the most-quoted voices of rebellion this week. “Being part of the Anglican Communion is very important to me,” he told The New York Times. “But if the price of that is I have to turn my back on the gay and lesbian people who are part of this church and part of me, I won’t do that.”

Notably, the gay and lesbian people who are part of Sisk’s church say the choice is stark. Both the current and former heads of Integrity, the denomination’s main gay organization, say there’s no middle ground between approving homosexual behavior and staying in the Anglican Communion.

“The American church has been very skillfully and strategically painted into a corner where we really need to face a ‘Sophie’s Choice’ of staying true to our understanding of the inclusive gospel or staying true to our commitment to being a constituent member of the Anglican Communion,” Integrity president Susan Russell told the Post.

Even the debate is a problem, former Integrity president Michael Hopkins told The New York Times. Gays and lesbians are already leaving the Episcopal Church, he said. “People like me can only convince other people to hang in there for so long.”

Boy, does that sound familiar.

2. Bones discovered at Christian hospital in India In India, where gender-based abortion and infanticide are problems even in the Christian community, hundreds of bones and other human remains have been discovered on the grounds of Ratlam Christian Hospital, a mission hospital in Madhya Pradesh. The Church of North India’s Bhopal diocese runs the hospital, and Catholic officials say there’s a conspiracy at work. Diocesan spokesman Suresh Carleton says the hospital “was framed” and that the remains belong to stillborn babies.

“It seems to be conspiracy by some quarters like the Bajrang Dal to damage the reputation of the hospital and the Christians in the state,” Bhopal bishop Laxman Maida told the Indian Catholic newspaper. “It is a ploy to defame us. I was inside the hospital when the Bajrang Dal activists were on a rampage, shouting slogans against Christians, that we convert and alleging feticide. We don’t do abortions, and we don’t even have the machine.”

3. New Life Church issues report on Haggard Last week, overseers at New Life Church disclosed some of their findings from their investigation of Ted Haggard and the congregation’s current leadership. “Numerous individuals … reported to us firsthand knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships,” Larry Stockstill, who pastors a church in Baton Rouge, told New Life during Sunday morning services. “These findings established a pattern of behavior that culminated in the final relationship in which Ted was, as a matter of grace, caught.”

The overseers also corrected widespread reports that Haggard had been “cured.”

“There should be no confusion that deliverance from habitual, life-controlling problems is a journey and not an event,” Stockstill said. “Ted will need years of accountability to demonstrate his victory over both actions and tendencies.”

Another overseer, Tim Ralph, earlier said Haggard was “completely heterosexual.” What he had meant to say, Ralph explained, was that Haggard “received a lot of good tools and wisdom to embrace completely the heterosexual man he is. We all know he has some problems. He’s on the road to recovery.”

As for the current church leadership, the overseers said, “We have found a few staff members struggling with unrelated sin issues. Each such person has been confronted and has submitted to discipline. To our relief, we are finding no culture of immorality among the staff here as we might have initially expected.”

If you haven’t read it, be sure to read Patton Dodd’s Beliefnet essay, “We Are Completely Sexual,” which rightly corrects a lot of the “reactionary and unfair” punditry regarding Haggard’s orientation.

4. What’s “surprising” about it? One of the worst headlines of the week appeared in The Washington Post: “Surprising Unity on Va. Hospital Visit Bill: Conservatives Support Right That Includes Gays.”

The bill lets hospital patients choose their visitors—even those of the same sex. And it’s surprising that conservatives would back this? Only for those who think that conservatives are heartless bigots. The Post writer assumes that support for Virginia’s marriage amendment would mean opposition to this bill. But religious conservatives have long supported hospital visitation rights (and bereavement leave) and have said that bills precisely like this are a much better solution than redefining marriage. Has anyone been paying attention?

5. “Darwinists” against Darwin “Was Darwin Wrong?” asked the cover of the November 2004 National Geographic. Inside, David Quammen’s article began with a word in massive type: “No.”

That word is omitted in the online version of the story, and with good reason. Darwin was wrong. And it’s evolutionists who say so. Among them: Ulrich Kutschera, one of Germany’s preeminent evolutionary biologists and a widely quoted critic of Intelligent Design. “It must be made clear that the modern theory of evolution is in part anti-Darwin,” he said in an American Association for the Advancement of Science speech earlier this month. “Darwin did not, for instance, take into account the principle of evolution by cooperation.”

Scientists, he said, should “no longer talk about Darwinism. You could say that Darwinism is one man’s outdated ideology of the 19th century. And Darwinism sounds like Marxism, Leninism, Stalinism. That’s a problem.”

Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, agrees, telling MSNBC, “Geologists don’t refer to themselves as Lyellists. Physicists don’t refer to themselves as Kelvinists. We don’t refer to ourselves by our 19th-century representative. The science has grown up.”

Meanwhile, University of Pittsburgh’s Jeffrey H. Schwartz, another critic of Intelligent Design, says Darwin got it really wrong. Evolutionary change happens rapidly, not gradually, he says. But the scientific community too dogmatically defends Darwin, he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which followed up on a paper he published in Biological Theory. “Really I’m just saying, ‘Look, nobody’s saying that evolution is not happening, is not real. I’m just trying to figure out how change happens,'” he says.

Quote of the day “What’s this we hear about the end of the world?” —Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, in an uncharacteristically sarcastic response when asked, “What’s this we hear about you guys joining up with the Roman Catholic Church?” Williams went on to dismiss the widely circulated report of Catholic-Anglican union as overblown and garbled.

More articles

Anglican primates’ meeting (late news) | Anglican primates’ meeting (early news) | Anglican primates’ meeting (responses) | Anglican primates’ meeting (opinion) | Other Anglican news | Anglicans and Catholics really together? | Catholicism | Ash Wednesday and Lent | Church life | Ted Haggard | Homosexuality | Pornography | Parenting | Family planning | NYC condoms | Vaccines | Health | Life ethics | Abortion | John McCain | Mitt Romney and Mormonism | Republican candidates | Democratic candidates | Edwards bloggers | Politics | Voting rights | Immigration | Iranian refugee in B.C. | Environmentalism | Religion bills die in Co. and Ut. | DOJ religious discrimination project | Church and state | Czechs, Romanians fight over cathedrals | Religious freedom | Military | Indonesia | Lebanon | Iraq | Israel | New Zealand | Bones at Christian hospital in India | More on India | Amazing Grace and William Wilberforce | Film | Music | Art and entertainment | Sports | Media | Books | “Blood libel” book | History | Evolution | Education | N.J. taped teacher case | Higher education | Missions and ministry | Money and business | San Diego diocese may declare bankruptcy | Criminal justice | Abuse | Crime | Theft | The pastor who sold his church | People | Margaret Wanjiru | Spirituality | Other stories of interest

Anglican primates’ meeting (late news):

• Anglican leaders demand U.S. church end gay unions | Leaders of the Anglican Church have demanded that the U.S. Episcopal Church stop blessing same-sex unions and consecrating gay bishops. Two American Anglican leaders review the decision and discuss how it impacts the Episcopal Church (The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS)
• Anglicans rebuke U.S. branch on same-sex unions | The Episcopal Church was told to ban blessings of same-sex unions or risk a reduced role in the denomination (The New York Times)
• Anglican leaders rule on gay bishops | Anglican leaders demanded Monday that the U.S. Episcopal Church unequivocally bar official prayers for gay couples and the consecration of more gay bishops to undo the damage that North Americans have caused the Anglican family (Associated Press)
• Anglican Communion wants U.S. action in gay row | The Anglican Communion gave the U.S. Episcopal Church a September deadline on Monday to stop blessing same sex unions, but did gave no clear indication of what action it would then take (Reuters)
• Anglicans tense but not split after talks | Leaders meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, call on the U.S. church to bar the blessing of same-sex unions (Los Angeles Times)
• Anglicans seek a middle way | Leaders of the 77-million-member Anglican Communion — deeply divided over the biblical view of homosexuality and other issues — ended a contentious six-day meeting in Tanzania Monday with the first steps toward a set of core principles spelling out who is truly Anglican and who is not (USA Today)
• Gay ultimatum for Anglicans in US | Anglican leaders have issued an ultimatum to the US Church by demanding an end to the appointment of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex couples (BBC)
• No schism for now: Williams gets tough on liberals to save the church | Episcopalians ordered to give up on gay blessings; Anglicans must wait on decision of US bishops (The Guardian, London)
• Church deadline to curb gay rights | In an unexpectedly hard-hitting set of recommendations, primates of the Anglican Communion demanded an “unequivocal common covenant” under which dioceses in the Episcopal Church agree not to authorise same-sex blessings (The Times, London)
• Episcopal leaders expect Anglican schism | American church’s support for gays draws international ultimatum (The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
• Episcopalians under fire over gays | If the Episcopal Church in the U.S. was expecting a moderate message on homosexual equality from its Anglican counteparts at their annual meeting in Tanzania this week — or even some kind of benign stalling action — it was sorely mistaken (Time)
• Anglican rift may hit Canada, archbishop says | Support of homosexuals not acceptable in world communion, meeting indicates (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
• A move to heal Anglican rift, but short of conservatives’ goal | The Episcopal Church has not compromised as much as conservative Anglican leaders have demanded, a report issued at a crucial meeting of the Anglican leadership said on Thursday (The New York Times)
• Anglican Church leaders give ultimatum to liberals | In a strongly-worded unanimous communiqué, only agreed at the eleventh hour, the Anglican primates called on the Episcopal Church to state unequivocally that it will not consecrate more gay bishops or authorise same-sex blessings (The Telegraph, London)

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Anglican primates’ meeting (early news):

• Anglican summit scrutinizes U.S. stance on gay clergy | A group of senior Anglicans have drawn up a report saying the U.S. church has on the whole responded positively to criticism after it consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003, infuriating traditionalists (Reuters)
• ‘No talk of schism’ at Anglican conference | Leaders gather in Tanzania amid fears of a church split over divergent views on gay bishops and same-sex unions (Los Angeles Times)
• Anglican leaders avoid church split over homosexuals | US Episcopalians take steps to avoid rift; Archbishop’s report seen as rebuff to conservatives (The Guardian, London)
• Setback for Church conservatives | Conservative Anglican archbishops have suffered a rebuff in their efforts to expel the US Episcopal Church over its liberal stance on homosexuality (BBC)
• Primates consider ‘parallel’ Church | The creation of a “parallel” Church for conservatives will be considered by Anglican primates today after a report surprisingly gave American liberals an almost entirely clean bill of health (The Telegraph, London)
• Sitting at the Lord’s Table | Primates explain absence at Holy Eucharist (Press release, The Church of Nigeria)
• U.S. Anglican leader met with boycott | Seven conservative Anglican leaders refused Friday to take Holy Communion with the head of the U.S. branch of the church, who supports ordaining gays and blessing same-sex unions, in the latest sign the fellowship could be headed for a split (Associated Press)
• Conservative Anglicans seek rebuke to U.S. stance on gays | Anglican leaders met on Friday to consider a report about the U.S. church’s response to criticism of its backing of gay clergy and same sex unions, in a row threatening to tear the church apart (Reuters)
• Conservative Anglican clergy snub top US bishop | Seven conservative Anglican archbishops said they refused to take part in a key church ceremony with the head of the U.S. branch of the church on Friday in protest at her support for gay clergy (Reuters)
• 7 Anglican clerics snub U.S. bishop | The conservatives object to the Episcopal Church leader’s stands (Los Angeles Times)
• Anglican prelates snub head of U.S. church over gay issues | The clergy disagree with the new head of the American Episcopal Church over her support of gay clergy and blessings for same-sex unions (The New York Times)
• Archbishop of Canterbury appears to chide faction of Anglicans | Facing a possible church fracture over the issue of homosexuality, the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion reminded bishops of the need for humility (The New York Times)
• Anglican head calls for humility in gay clergy row | “Very early in the history of the church there was a great saint who said God was evident when bishops were silent,” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said to some laughter in a packed cathedral in the predominantly Muslim Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar (Reuters)
• Anglican leader urges humility over rift | “There is one thing that a bishop should say to another bishop,” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the Anglicans’ spiritual leader, told the Anglican leaders and several hundred worshippers in a packed cathedral Sunday. “That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great savior.” (Associated Press)
• Episcopalians wrestling | African meeting focuses on fixing painful divisions (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Would an Anglican split have mattered? | A schism has been avoided after the American wing of the church gave in to African demands that it installs no more gay bishops (The Observer, London)
• Archbishop snubbed in gay bishop row | Seven developing world archbishops last night refused to share communion with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and fellow Anglican leaders at their biannual conference in Dar es Salaam in protest at the presence of the leader of the American Episcopal Church (The Guardian, London)
• Anglican Church on verge of schism | The worldwide Anglican Church was battling to survive last night after talks broke down amid acrimony during the final stages of the primates’ meeting in Tanzania (The Telegraph, London)
• Church rift exposed as primates snub liberal | Divisions in the worldwide Anglican Church surfaced yesterday when a group of senior conservative primates refused to share Holy Communion with a leading liberal (The Telegraph, London)
• Dr Williams will find little comfort | Whatever the package that Dr Williams achieves by Monday, he will then have to sell it to his own increasingly restless clergy, whose loyalties are becoming strained (Jonathan Petre, The Telegraph, London)
• Bitter fudge | Anglicans have come close to an open split but baulk at schism (Editorial, The Times, London)

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Anglican primates’ meeting (responses):

• Many Episcopalians wary, some defiant after ultimatum by Anglicans | Many Episcopalians took umbrage at what they saw as foreign primates imposing their culture and theological interpretations on the American church (The New York Times)
• Some U.S. bishops reject Anglican gay rights edict | Several leading liberal Episcopalians said yesterday that they would rather accept a schism than accede to a demand from leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion for what they view as an unconscionable rollback of the U.S. church’s position on gay rights (The Washington Post)
• U.S. Episcopalians react to church ruling | Relief and anger follow the Anglican directive that the church in the U.S. stop blessings of same-sex unions (Los Angeles Times)
• Anglicans ‘in interpretive free-for-all’ over their future (USA Today)
• Episcopal leader asks for time | The San Francisco-based Diocese of California, which blesses same-gender couples, said Tuesday that the church should not “compromise the essentials of our theology or our polity.” (Associated Press)
• Episcopal leader’s gay views won’t waver | “The spirit of Anglicanism will prevail here and there will be a middle way forward,” said Jefferts Schori’s aide, Robert Williams. But he said she “will not waver in her stand for justice and inclusion of all people in the body of Christ”(Associated Press)
• Difficult choices | The Episcopal bishop of New York fears that the Anglican Church’s demands over gay issues could force the American church into a corner (Newsweek)
• Episcopal bishop refusing gay ban | The orders came from on high, but New York’s Episcopal bishop won’t reconsider his position on gay rights (New York Daily News)
• Episcopal rift seen as ironic | ‘Shoe is on the other foot’ in Valley after Anglican ruling on gay blessings (The Fresno Bee, Ca.)
• Same-sex edict worries Bay Area Episcopalians | “If we have unity where we have hollowed out our moral core to achieve it, then it’s a hollow victory,” says Bishop Marc Andrus. “I don’t think we can build our unity on a foundation of injustice.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Episcopal diocese mum on lawsuits | An official with the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia said yesterday the diocese is committed to meeting the needs of its churches, but did not address whether the diocese will drop lawsuits against the 11 congregations that recently left the denomination (The Washington Times)
• Tensions still exist between diocese and local church | Communique from Anglican leaders hasn’t fixed things yet (Lodi News-Sentinel, Ca.)

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Anglican primates’ meeting (opinion):

• Anglican angst | The church is split over issues like homosexuality. Where some see progress, others see decadence (Editorial, Los Angeles Times)
• Unity over integrity | The Communique issued at the end of the five-day session will dishearten all those who retained some hope that the Archbishop of Canterbury might be able to steer the church into less turbulent and more tolerant waters (Editorial, The Guardian, London)
• Divided communion | If evangelicals or rainbow-coalition liberals reject the authority of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and place themselves under the jurisdiction of an overseas primate, they will have left the Church of England (Editorial, The Telegraph, London)
• Crossing the divide | The US Episcopal church goes head to head with Anglican primates in opposition to its liberal attitude towards gay members (Stephen Bates, The Guardian, London)
• Pray lift your eyes above the belt | The Churches’ sexual obsession makes me despair (Libby Purves, The Times, London)
• An unholy togetherness | Fissiparous evangelical Christians are now being reunited by hatred (Giles Fraser, The Guardian, London)
• An Anglican unity of sorts, but bring on Lambeth | The unity that has been preserved is, in many respects, a unity in name only (Chris McGillion, The Sydney Morning Herald)

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Other Anglican news:

• The voices of the Va. Episcopal schism: Martyn Minns | Shortly after becoming an Episcopal priest in the late 1970s, Martyn Minns visited Tanzania and was changed forever (The Washington Post)
• The voices of the Va. Episcopal schism: Peter James Lee | If the Episcopal Church has been a rocky boat in recent decades, Virginia Bishop Peter James Lee has been one of its anchors (The Washington Post)
• A church torn in two | At St. Stephen’s there are now two distinct congregations — a small one that remains in the U.S. Episcopal Church and a larger one that has severed ties and aligned itself with a conservative Brazilian bishop in the Anglican Communion (The Seattle Times)
• “It is wrenching to realize how fragile” church family is | Seattle Times political reporter Alicia Mundy attends an Episcopal church just outside Washington, D.C., in Alexandria, Va. The high-profile rift in that state over biblical interpretation and acceptance of gay clergy has become especially rancorous (Alicia Mundy, The Seattle Times)

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Anglicans and Catholics really together?:

• Churches back plan to unite under Pope | Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year (The Times, London)
• Pope rules ok. Or, ‘Growing Together in Unity and Mission’ | Excerpts from the declaration (Ruth Gledhill, The Times, London)
• Pope an Anglican? Church unity plan | Australian leaders from both churches dismissed the move as highly improbable last night, although the Australian who heads the Catholic side of the project, Brisbane’s Archbishop John Bathersby, said it was a significant step forward in an attempt at unity that began 35 years ago (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Universal primate plan ‘overstated’ | It’s nowhere near time for Henry VIII to start rolling in his grave, but Anglicans bowing to the authority of the pope has been acknowledged as a theoretical possibility (The Australian)
• Catholics and Anglicans discuss reuniting | Issues surrounding a possible reuniting of the Catholic and Anglican churches under the pope are discussed in a 42-page statement currently being prepared, church leaders said on Tuesday (Reuters)
• Sydney Anglican Bishop says unity is ‘fanciful’ | While some leading Catholics say it’s God’s will to unify Christians, the Sydney Anglican diocese has flatly rejected the proposal (The World Today, Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
• Praying for religious harmony | In what some call a post-Christian era, talk of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches reuniting should hardly raise eyebrows (Editorial, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
• Forget church unity | But both Australia’s Catholic head and Sydney’s Anglican archbishop believe it is impossible (Andrew Carswell, The Daily Telegraph, Australia)
• Religious numbers game | The best way to come to understand the push towards “full visible unity” between Catholics and Anglicans is to read the 42-page document drawn up by the group of bishops including Brisbane’s Archbishop John Bathersby who co-chairs the group (Tess Livingstone, The Courier Mail, Brisbane, Australia)
• I’m sort of an atheist for Jesus | The big question really is: “Is Anglican-Catholic union really important to the people in the pews?” And here’s the answer. No. It’s not (Catherine Deveny, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
• Look before you leap into bed with Rome | For generations, Roman Catholic schoolchildren in this country were taught to pray for the conversion of England. Their prayers may soon be answered: as talk of an Anglican schism grows, a leaked report hints that the Church of England may recognise a modified form of the papacy (Cristina Odone, The Telegraph, London)

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Catholicism:

• Priest was given coffee for spying on Pope | Insulin, coffee and football tickets: it didn’t take much to recruit a spy in communist-era Poland, even if the target was a future Pope (The Telegraph, London)
• A call to confession, for it is fading | D.C. Archdiocese opens an ad barrage to revive the elemental rite (The Washington Post)
• The Pope’s progressive challenger | Cardinal Martini continues to embody the Catholic Church’s more liberal spirit — and he doesn’t mind voicing his differences with Pope Benedict (Time)
• Vatican takes steps to control overcrowding | With shorter hours and long lines, visitors may miss more than they see (The New York Times)
• Church puts its faith in the people | Public hearings would be held to determine fate of Catholic shrines in financial trouble (The Montreal Gazette)
• Locked doors don’t stop prayers at East Harlem church | Parishioners and their supporters conducted an outdoor service at a church that the Archdiocese of New York closed last week (The New York Times)
• Also: Hail Mary pass | Lithuania prez begs Egan to spare church (New York Post)
• Also: Church protester “done” with organized religion | One of the two men arrested Sunday for protesting the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York’s decision to close his church said yesterday that he was “done” with organized religion, after a court appearance for him and a fellow parishioner (The Journal News, White Plains, N.Y.)

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Ash Wednesday and Lent:

• Church decides that Lent really should be more of a giggle | The Church of England launches a “Love Life, Live Lent” campaign, accompanied by a website inviting communicants to share Lenten jokes (The Times, London)
• Palming off the Ash Wednesday dirty work | Few churches still burn fronds to make the soot, so commercial suppliers now do the messy job (Los Angeles Times)
• Ash Wednesday means services, and business | F.C. Ziegler Company of Tulsa, Okla., offers palm ashes for religious services in vials and quart-sized bags. Ziegler president Dennis Ziegler says his company has sold hundreds of both varieties in preparation for Ash Wednesday (All Things Considered, NPR)
• Filet-O-Fish hooked patrons | First local McDonald’s owner had lost Catholics on Fridays (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
• The imposition of the ashes | Out, out, damn spots, says the Church of Self-Esteem (Jennifer Graham, National Review Online)
• The irony of Romping Monday and Fat Tuesday | The irony of carnival is that, while religion is one of its targets, religion is also its source (James Carroll, The Boston Globe)
• On Ash Wednesday, religion and joy | On this Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and a period of fasting, Father James Martin reminds us that joy is one of the upsides of being religious, although it’s not mentioned nearly enough among the faithful (All Things Considered, NPR)
• Why giving up is hard to do | Abstaining at Lent for self-improvement has been practised since medieval times. But does it still carry resonance today? (Christopher Howse, The Telegraph, London)
• Believers give up to grow up during Lent | In a time of indulgence, priests and ministers say they hope only that people sacrifice something, be it as small as a self-imposed chocolate ban or as inconvenient as donating time to charity as a volunteer (Michael Amon, Newsday)

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Church life:

• Presbyterians ask churches not to leave | Some conservatives working on exit (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
• Also: Presbyterians face defections to evangelical denomination | The New Wineskins Association of Churches says it’s tired of battling the PCUSA over theology and policy and has found a better fit in the EPC, a small denomination founded in 1981 (Religion News Service)
• Cash and carry | Sources say a giant Eastside evangelical church borrowed tsunami/Katrina relief funds to cover its own expenses (Seattle Weekly)
• Also: Church borrowed from disaster donations | Two top leaders at Redmond’s Overlake Christian Church confirmed reports that the church initially used for other purposes money that congregants had donated to disaster-relief efforts. But the leaders maintained there was no wrongdoing, saying the money ultimately went to disaster victims (The Seattle Times)
• Pastor, principal at Millvale parish resign | A Catholic priest who had been under fire from some parishioners on their Web site resigned Friday as pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Millvale (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Also: Pittsburgh diocese investigates Millvale allegations (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
• Church seeks use while case pending | Court still to rule if community center can bar religious events. (Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.)
• Explicit recordings disrupt N.M. Mass | Three CD players hidden under a cathedral’s pews blared sexually explicit language in the middle of an Ash Wednesday Mass, leading a bomb squad to detonate two of the devices (Associated Press)
• Megachurches desegregate worship | Researchers who study race and religion say a vanguard of megachurches that are breaking down racial barriers in American Christianity, altering the long-segregated landscape of Sunday worship (Associated Press)
• Black megachurch reaches out | Sprinkled among the black faces at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Hispanic worshippers listen intently to the congregation’s leader, Bishop Eddie Long (Associated Press)
• Preaching fashion | Minister advises clergy on style (The Boston Globe)
• A booming church | Brentwood Baptist Deaf Church has more than 30 speakers beneath the floor so congregants can feel the vibration of the music (Associated Press)
• Rolling in the aisles at church | A stand-up comedian has been drafted in to help members of Leicester’s clergy brighten up their sermons (BBC)
• Boozing probe for minister | A Church of Scotland minister has been suspended amid allegations of heavy drinking (Daily Record, Scotland)
• New pastor aims to heal wounded congregation | On his first Sunday at St. Agatha Catholic Church, Rev. Larry Dowling was feeling anxious. He worried about this new chapter of his life, taking over a congregation whose last pastor had been charged with sexual abuse of children. (Chicago Tribune)
• Throwback Christians | ‘House church’ faithful on the rise (Los Angeles Daily News)
• Church attracts the trendy, the tech-savvy and controversy | A kind of surprisingly out-of-date Associated Press story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Where have they been? (Associated Press)
• Profit or prophet! | The dust has seemingly settled in the recent impasse between gospel singer Stitchie and the promoters of the Montego Bay leg of Genesis 2007, whom he prevented from videotaping his performance, intimating it was an attempt to exploit his talent without paying for it (The Jamaica Gleaner)
• Also: Rip-offs in church | The widely publicized contractual issue between Jamaica Youth for Christ and gospel artiste Rev. Cleve ‘Stitchie’ Laing in addition to raising intellectual property concerns as noted by Mr. James Moss-Solomon in one newspaper, also brings into focus the wider issue of ethics in the church (Jamaica Gleaner)
• The trouble with Born-again churches | They’re hotbeds of the “wealth and prosperity” gospel (Editorial, New Vision, Uganda)
• Churches have forgotten whom they are serving | The dividing line between successful and unsuccessful churches has little to do with doctrine, attitudes toward Scripture, facilities, quality of clergy or music, or even location. It has to do with “customer service.” (Tom Ehrich, The Indianapolis Star)
• Like, see what I’m praying? | Because they have reference to mysteries that can never be wholly encapsulated in speech, traditional prayers, like other symbols in the liturgy, such as the use of water, fire, signs of the cross, kneeling and silence, point to more than they say in words (Christopher Howse, The Telegraph, London)

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Ted Haggard:

• Flags in Haggard’s fall from grace | New Life Church outlines “dark side” that culminated in Ted Haggard’s downfall but says congregation will heal (The Denver Post)
• More allegations for Ted Haggard | Church leaders tell congregation of ‘sordid’ acts (Rocky Mountain News)
• New leaves turned over at New Life | Congregation looks forward, not back (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• New Life Church searches for pastor, closure | The pain hasn’t subsided for the members of Ted Haggard’s congregation. Some miss his presence, while others struggle simply to explain the situation to their children (Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR)
• Haggard has fresh chance to right wrongs | It was the kind of story that the Ted Haggard I knew in high school would have loved (Cindy Schroeder, The Cincinnati Post)
• Haggard can’t pray away gay if he truly is | Haggard has a choice, but switching from gay to straight is not it. He can admit he is gay or admit he is a heterosexual who engaged in homosexual behavior (Steve Gushee, Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
• We are completely sexual | Debates about sexual orientation leave out a larger truth: all humans are sexual (Patton Dodd, Beliefnet)

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Homosexuality:

• Religion today: Readying defiance | Schmeling’s congregation may not let him go, despite ELCA decision (Associated Press)
• Cardinal’s permission for gays’ Mass dismays Catholic traditionalists | Homosexual rights campaigners have gained permission from the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales to hold special Masses for gay parishioners (The Telegraph, London)
• Vicar defiant over marrying gay couples | But weddings unlikely to be included in Sexual Orientation Regulations (The Telegraph, London)
• Surprising unity on Va. hospital visit bill | Conservatives support right that includes gays (The Washington Post)
• Lesbian activists arrested at Focus | Protesters dispute group’s teachings on homosexuality (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Demonstrators protest ‘ex-gay’ seminar | 70 or 80 people participated in a daylong seminar by Desert Stream Ministries. About two dozen protesters held signs outside (San Francisco Chronicle)
• R.I. to recognize Mass. gay marriages | In a legal opinion issued yesterday, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said the state will recognize same-sex marriages validly performed in Massachusetts — making Rhode Island the first state to take that step (The Providence Journal)
• Evangelical churches say no to gayism | The Association of Evangelicals of Africa has hit out at those advocating for gay marriages in the country (Kenya Broadcasting Corporation)
• Nigeria moves to tighten gay laws | Nigeria’s House of Representatives has held a public hearing on a new bill seeking to outlaw gay relations (BBC)
• Gay couples get licenses in N.J. | Hundreds of gay couples were granted the same legal rights, if not the title, as married couples Monday as New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions (Associated Press)
• As New Jersey opens door to civil unions, couples rush in | The stroke of midnight ushered in a new era for same-sex couples in the Garden State (The New York Times)
• Eagerness and some resignation as civil union law takes effect | About a dozen New Jersey couples submitted applications for civil unions, which guarantee all the rights and benefits of heterosexual marriage (The New York Times)
• Prodi tries to close rift with Vatican over same-sex unions | Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi met late yesterday with the Vatican’s top diplomat to try to end the Catholic Church’s public attacks on proposed legislation that paves the way for same-sex unions (Bloomberg)
• Married to the cause, one state at a time | Evan Wolfson envisions equal marriage rights for gays becoming a nationwide reality (The New York Times)
• Spouse abuse | A gay marriage ban that hurts conservatives (Jonathan Cohn, The New Republic)

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Pornography:

• Group helps Christians battle porn addiction | It’s a pastor’s problem, too (Grand Rapids Press, Mi.)
• Canadian company offers nude photos via cellphone | Archbishop Raymond Roussin says Catholic churches and schools in the archdiocese would cancel their cellphone contracts with Telus (The New York Times)
• Update: Telus suspends cellphone porn downloads | Vancouver Roman Catholic Archbishop Raymond Roussin had said the situation was a “grave concern,” and he urged his flock not to renew their mobile phone contracts with Telus (Associated Press)

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Parenting:

• Spanking: When parents lift their hands | It’s better not to use corporal punishment, researchers agree. But, in fact, people do. Now we’re learning the consequences (Los Angeles Times)
• Uganda should copy Rwanda’s three-child limit | with its current birthrate, Uganda is going to balloon from 25 million souls to a 180 million by 2050 (Editorial, New Vision, Uganda)

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Family planning:

• New research finds that a natural family planning method is as effective as the contraceptive pill | “There are precise rules that work” (EurkAlert)
• Also: Natural contraception ‘effective’ (BBC)
• Abstract: The effectiveness of a fertility awareness based method to avoid pregnancy in relation to a couple’s sexual behaviour during the fertile time: a prospective longitudinal study (Human Reproduction)

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NYC condoms:

• A new condom in town, this one named ‘NYC’ | This is New York City’s first municipally sanctioned and labeled condom (The New York Times)
• Catholics attack NYC’s free condoms | Egan and DiMarzio said the $720,000 cost of the program “would be far better spent in fostering what is true and what is decent” (Associated Press)
• ‘Condom’nation by outraged church | In a rare joint statement attacking Mayor Bloomberg’s administration, Edward Cardinal Egan and Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said they were particularly disturbed that the “NYC” branded condoms were handed out by city workers to young teens on the streets Wednesday (New York Post)

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Vaccines:

• HPV drug maker ends lobbying | Perry stands by vaccine mandate despite uproar (The Dallas Morning News)
• HPV is fueling a familiar fight | Social conservatives oppose science advocates on vaccine for schoolgirls (The Dallas Morning News)
• Furor on rush to require cervical cancer vaccine | At about $400 the vaccine is costly, and many say the rush toward mandatory inoculation could prove counterproductive (The New York Times)
• Should vaccine be required for all girls? | Debate centers on state’s role against cervical cancer virus (The Hartford Courant, Ct.)
• Vaccinate against cervical cancer | Merck should show at least as much determination to make it available and affordable in such countries as it has in getting US states to mandate it at $360 per child (Editorial, The Boston Globe)
• Islamist militants claim vaccines are US plot | A doctor was killed by a roadside bomb in Pakistan today as Islamist militants tried to halt a polio immunization campaign which, they say, is an American plot to sterilize Muslims (The Telegraph, London)

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Health:

• White House vows to help small charities fight malaria | Small charities and religious groups in Africa can play a key role in fighting malaria and federal money is being allocated to increase their efforts, Bush administration officials said during a White House meeting on Thursday (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
• Ruling on medical-bill ministry upheld | A Kentucky trial judge refused to reconsider a decision exempting an unusual medical-bill ministry from compliance with state insurance laws (The New York Times)
• Health system struggles with spiritual care | In a survey of 230 people with less than a year to live, nearly half say they received little to no support for their spiritual needs from religious communities (USA Today)
• Religious faith may help stroke victims: study | The study does not point to a “higher cause” but suggests that a strong dose of spirituality can reduce the emotional stress linked to obstacles in stroke recovery, according to a report Thursday in the journal Stroke (Reuters)
• Plagiarism accusation | A controversial study that claimed to demonstrate the efficacy of prayer in medicine has suffered yet another blow to its credibility, as one of its authors now stands accused of plagiarism in another published paper (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)

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Life ethics:

• Euthanasia in Oregon: By any other name | Just don’t mention suicide (The Economist)
• Loans launch state’s stem cell ambitions | California draws on public money, awarding about $45 million to 20 research institutions (Los Angeles Times)
• Fraud in death row cases is alleged | Prosecutors say a private eye forged statements by jurors and others to boost inmates’ appeals in one of the biggest such cases in state history (Los Angeles Times)
• Is Kansas wavering over death penalty? | Poll suggests voters open to other punitive measures (The Wichita Eagle, Kan.)
• O’Malley seeks end to Md. executions | Death penalty repeal splits assembly (The Washington Post)
• Earlier: Death penalty debate has legislators looking inward | Legislators grapple with death penalty (The Washington Post)

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Abortion:

• The grassroots abortion war | Crisis pregnancy centers are fielding an anti-abortion guerrilla army to win over one woman at a time. Are they playing fair? (Time)
• Panel kills abortion ban | But Senate still could resurrect issue (Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D.)
• Also: Abortion ban fails in S.D. Senate panel (Associated Press)
• Jersey top court hears abortion case | Somerset woman’s suit would require doc to tell patient procedure would kill a person (The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.)
• Also: Human like me? | The New Jersey Supreme Court case that could define the fetus (Emily Bazelon, Slate)
• Death certificates on abortions proposed | Legislation introduced in Tennessee would require death certificates for aborted fetuses, which likely would create public records identifying women who have abortions (Associated Press)
• Panel hears testimony on Indiana bill saying life begins at conception | Bill also require doctors to tell women seeking an abortion that their fetus might feel pain during the procedure and would mandate that women receive information at least 18 hours before an abortion about the availability of adoptions and be told that having an abortion poses physical risks (Associated Press)
• Portugal church says mutation sparked abortion loss | Portugal’s Catholic church blamed “cultural mutation” on Friday for the large number of people who voted to legalize abortion in a referendum and urged doctors to refuse to carry out the operation if asked (Reuters)
• Also: Portugal abortion bill may soon be okayed | Portugal’s prime minister said legislation relaxing the conservative Roman Catholic country’s strict law on abortion could be approved by the end of March, a newspaper reported Saturday (Associated Press)
• Case vs. abortion provider dead for now | An investigation into an abortion provider that was initiated by Kansas’s previous attorney general has been dropped, though the official’s successor has the option of refiling charges (Associated Press)
• GOP rift swells in Va. General assembly | Bills on abortion, immigration clash (The Washington Post)
• 6th Circuit: Abortion foes may sue police over traffic stop | In June 2002, activists were detained by Ohio, FBI officers for three hours after driving trucks displaying photos of aborted fetuses (Associated Press)
• Conservative litmus test | War on terror usurps abortion for right’s base (Jonah Goldberg, Chicago Tribune)

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John McCain:

• National Religious Broadcasters gets visit by McCain | The presidential hopeful is warmly received by Christian conservatives (The Orlando Sentinel)
• McCain defends Christian outreach effort | “Nobody accused me of courting and pandering to the liberals when I went to the New School,” he says (Associated Press)
• McCain: Roe v. Wade should be overturned | McCain later attended an evening rally promoting an abstinence program (Associated Press)
• Romney hits McCain on abortion | “Ask the pro-life movement where his leadership has been in the six years since 2000 that he’s been running for president,” says Gary Marx, who is charged with handling conservative outreach for Romney. “What has he done?” (Politico.com)

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Mitt Romney and Mormonism:

• Romney once tilted left, now right, of official Mormon teaching | Presidential candidate Mitt Romney once sounded like a Mormon liberal. These days, Romney talks like a Southern Baptist (Religion News Service)
• Mitt Romney’s wife opens up on campaign issues | Ann Romney wants her husband to give a speech on the Mormon Church (The Boston Globe)
• Also: Conversation with Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney | Candidate’s wife discusses MS, stem cell research and abortion and debunks Mormonism myths (Good Morning America, ABC News)
• Romney: ‘I’m not running for pastor-in-chief’ | “I think we are, if you will, one family of humanity,” Romney said, in what appeared to be an attempt to reach out to voters suspicious of his religious affiliation (This Week, ABC News | full interview)
• GOP candidate Romney defends religion in Villages | A man stood amid the crowd and called Romney “a pretender” who doesn’t know “the Lord.” The crowd booed the man from the room. (The Orlando Sentinel)
• Romney defends position on stem cells | Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Monday defended his opposition to most embryonic stem cell research despite its scientific promise to cure diseases like multiple sclerosis that afflicts his wife, Ann (Associated Press)
• Mr. Romney jumps in | The GOP candidate’s record offers much to debate, but there’s one topic that shouldn’t matter (Editorial, The Washington Post)
• Nothing sinister about candidate Romney | Accusations that he is anti-Semitic and a religious cultist are unfounded (Zev Chafets, Los Angeles Times)
• Meet Mitt. He’s Mormon. | Is the focus on Romney’s religion fair? (Brian Montopoli, CBS News)
• Romney targets message to religious voters | Former Massachusetts governor cloaks himself in the Reagan mantle (Today, NBC)
• Heard the one about the Mormon President? | The shaky prospects of Mitt Romney (Gerard Baker, The Times, London)
• What matters about Mitt Romney | Consider George Romney’s campaign (Stephen Stromberg, The Washington Post)
• The talented Mr. Romney | I surf the Web with trepidation, bracing myself for the story that I fear might be coming: “Romney Says He Is Not Really a Mormon.” (Richard Cohen, The Washington Post)
• Romney’s religion shouldn’t matter, but it does | Though Constitution bans any religious test for political candidates, some raise groundless fears about former Massachusetts governor’s Mormon faith — similarly to what was said about JFK’s Catholicism (Charles C. Haynes, First Amendment Center)
• Politics and religion | Did anyone really think JFK would try to ban birth control, require eating fish on Fridays or consult with the pope on foreign policy? (Alan Reynolds, The Washington Times)
• Related: What Is Mormonism? | No large religious denomination has faced more controversy over the years than Mormonism, sparked by a set of beliefs and traditions that many Americans consider out of the mainstream (Richard N. Ostling, The Washington Post)

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Republican candidates:

• Battle for 2008 evangelical vote remains open | Republican candidates seek support at NRB (Morning Edition, NPR)
• The great courtship | A “values voter” tally, looking at what this bloc sees as the pros and cons of top GOP hopefuls (Newsweek)
• Tough task on the right: Finding the best social conservative for ’08 | The three leading contenders in early polls — Arizona Sen. John McCain, ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — all have extensive baggage with cultural conservatives (USA Today)
• Evangelical leader sizes up GOP field, says Giuliani’s campaign is doomed | Richard Land says the top tier of Republican presidential hopefuls lacks a candidate social conservatives can be fully comfortable voting for (The Hill, D.C.)
• Giuliani, Romney to visit Regent | Both plan spring stops at college; Giuliani is in Richmond today (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
• Giuliani praises conservative judges | Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who favors abortion rights, said Friday if elected in 2008 he wouldn’t hesitate to appoint anti-abortion conservatives such as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito to the federal bench (Associated Press)
• ‘Amen’ to Brownback | On the stump, Brownback preaches the gospel of the Christian right, stating his strong opposition to abortion and gay marriage (Politico.com)
• Social conservatives losing faith in values of Crist, ’08 hopefuls | Catholic, conservative and concerned, former Florida Christian Coalition leader Pat Neal says many social conservatives are “a little disappointed” in the state’s new governor and worried about the coming presidential election (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
• Also: Moderates move to Right | But Charlie Crist’s experience might suggest the presidential candidates are making a mistake in courting Florida’s religious and social conservatives (The Tampa Tribune, Fla.)
• Preacher primary | Republican presidential hopefuls court evangelical kingpins that could determine the 2008 nomination (Howard Fineman, Newsweek)
• Abortion contortions | Why John McCain and Mitt Romney are having trouble gaining the trust of pro-life voters (W. James Antle III, The American Spectator)
• Christian voters and the 2008 race | What role will Christian voters play in the 2008 elections? They’re being courted from all angles, by many different varieties of candidates (Michael Cromartie, Morning Edition)

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Democratic candidates:

• Narrowing the religion gap? | In this presidential race, it could be Democrats, not Republicans, who are most at ease in church (The New York Times Magazine)
• As Clinton runs, some old foes stay on sideline | Many conservatives say that the intensity of anger toward Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has subsided (The New York Times)
• Unchristian bumper stickers | For sale at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention: Bumper stickers depicting an elephant, a donkey and Sen. Clinton. Captions under the three figures read “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” (New York Post, final item)
• Obama’s better off not playing pulpit politics with S.C. pastor | If you want to see what power looks like, go to a megachurch. On Sunday, I visited the Bible Way Church of Atlas Road — the church where state Sen. Darrell Jackson is also the pastor. The senator is an awesome preacher. Still, I don’t see how he got away with a questionable deal in which he appeared to have peddled his influence to the highest bidder (Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times)

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Edwards bloggers:

• Why I had to quit the John Edwards campaign | During my brief tenure as blogmaster for a Democratic presidential contender, I experienced the right-wing smear machine firsthand (Amanda Marcotte, Salon.com)
• Curse of the Christian-bashers | The spirit of the Edwards bloggers haunts Democrats (Mary Eberstadt, The Wall Street Journal)
• Blogging with bile | Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan may be off John Edwards’s campaign payroll, but there are plenty of other liberal activists who share their anti-Christian views (Megan Basham, The American Spectator)
• Extremists drown out serious debate | The Edwards bloggers were right. Too bad they were vulgar, too (Bonnie Erbe, syndicated columnist)

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Politics:

• Supreme Court’s new tilt could put Scalia on a roll | The outspoken justice is poised to lead a new conservative majority (Los Angeles Times)
• Election in Nigeria has US ramifications | Hopes are for first peaceful handover (The Boston Globe)
• As we outlaw discrimination so we need discernment | Discrimination is a word which has suffered in our own day, as recent controversies make clear (Geoffrey Rowell, The Times, London)
• Religious thinkers have a role for 2008 | Like Niebuhr, theologians can help clarify politics (William McKenzie, The Dallas Morning News)
• Short on questions of faith | Nearly all of the major contenders want to have it both ways on religion: They want credit from religious voters for having a strong faith, but they don’t want to talk about what they actually believe (Paul Waldman, The Boston Globe)
• The Religious Right’s era is over | Evangelicals — especially the new generation of pastors and young people — are deserting the Religious Right in droves (Jim Wallis, Time)
• Dear Bible-thumping, fundamentalist hypocrite | The Religious Right is ruining Jesus (Erin Schulte, Esquire)
• With God on your case | The agenda of the Christian right is more about politics than religion (Ian Williams, The Guardian, London)
• Building bridges | The religious left goes to Iran (Mark D. Tooley, The Weekly Standard)

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Voting rights:

• Liberal church groups join fight for D.C. voting rights | More than a dozen religious groups have joined efforts to pass the D.C. Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act, which would give one House vote to the predominantly Democratic District and an additional House vote to Utah, a mostly Republican state (The Washington Times)
• Democrats eye voting-rights extension for former felons | Democratic lawmakers and church leaders yesterday called for more voting rights for ex-felons in Maryland (The Washington Times)

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Immigration:

• Theme for Lent is immigration | Southland Roman Catholics are urged to fast and take other steps to help ease the burden of underdogs (Los Angeles Times)
• Also: Withholding their ‘amens’ | As Lent begins, some Catholics object to sermons calling for a revised immigration policy (The Orange County Register, Ca.)
• Church joins union fight to help migrants | The Catholic Church, whose ranks are being swollen by a flood of Polish immigrants, is working with trade unionists to stem the abuse of migrant workers by rogue employers (Financial Times)
• Immigrants ‘overwhelm’ Catholic churches | In at least three London parishes, more than three-quarters of those attending Mass were found to be illegal immigrants, while others are using churches as job centers and social welfare offices. (The Telegraph, London)
• Again British Catholicism gains an accent | Such has been the influx of Catholic immigrants in recent years that a new study suggests that the old faith is on course to replace Anglicanism as the dominant religion in Britain. We have been here before. (Graham Stewart, The Times, London)

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Iranian refugee in B.C.:

• Iranian ‘a free man’ after arrest ends almost 3 years in church sanctuary | An Iranian refugee claimant who spent almost three years in sanctuary in a Vancouver church before being arrested on the weekend is suddenly a free man (Canadian Press)
• Iran refugee free after years in church | The Canada Border Services Agency released Amir Kazemian from custody after Citizenship and Immigration officials granted him residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds (Associated Press)
• After 2 years in church refuge, he walks free | Iranian refugee Amir Kazemian, his mother by his side, is told he can stay in Canada for good (Vancouver Sun)
• Also: Iranian refugee granted asylum (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
• Earlier: Police arrest Iranian living in Anglican church | Call for help after being threatened lands refugee claimant in jail (The Province, B.C.)
• Earlier: Iranian refugee claimant jailed | Lawyer says it’s only second time Canadian police have violated sanctuary principle (Vancouver Sun, B.C.)
• The case of this asylum seeker wasn’t so simple | A board so often lambasted for being too easy on refugees was actually being the gatekeeper it should be (Gary Mason, The Globe and Mail, Toronto)

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Environmentalism:

• Evangelical groups join call for global warming action | Evangelicals have long allied themselves with America’s conservative right. But when it comes to global warming, a growing number of worshippers find they agree more with scientists who believe humans are responsible for climate change and that leaders must take drastic measures to avoid catastrophe (Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.)
• Religious leaders gather to save God’s green earth | Dozens of clergy members and religious leaders came together at the Garrison Institute for a meeting of the institute’s Hudson River Project, an ambitious effort to fuse the values and manpower of the religious and environmental communities (The Journal News, White Plains, N.Y.)
• Area churches going back to the garden | Faithful take small steps to address global warming (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Stewards of the earth | Evangelicals, environment a match made in heaven (Editorial, Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
• Ideological match made in heaven? | Evangelicals traditionally relish dark warnings about a judgment that results from bad behavior. They are also susceptible to simplistic solutions. So thinking a global climate catastrophe can be battled if Americans just abandon their SUVs is appealing to Americans as a whole and evangelicals in particular (Mark Tooley, Albany Times Union, N.Y.)

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Religion bills die in Co. and Ut.:

• Religious rights bill dies in committee | Sen. Dave Schultheis’ Religious Bill of Rights, which he described as an idea that could draw national attention, died with barely a whimper in a Senate committee Wednesday (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Also: Religious rights bill dies in committee | Bill, which would have required all public schools to post a religious bill of rights for students and employees, defeated in party-line vote (Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Co.)
• Confronting the veil | There must be some way of protecting religious liberty that doesn’t turn the exercise into a bureaucratic burden (Vincent Carroll, Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Bill that would protect religious speech is pulled | Would prohibit government from interfering with religion. Next step: Will be reworked and studied for a year. (The Salt Lake Tribune)

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DOJ religious discrimination project:

• Gonzales says religious freedoms a priority | Attorney general tells Baptists of new federal effort (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• AG targets religious discrimination | Alberto Gonzales says The First Freedom Project would increase education about religious discrimination by holding a series of training seminars throughout the country over coming months (Associated Press)

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Church and state:

• Fighting faith-based spending in court | A Supreme Court case could set the standard for challenging grants that break down the wall between church and state (Los Angeles Times)
• Also: Atheist group takes on Bush initiative | Annie Laurie Gaylor as helped transform the Freedom From Religion Foundation from obscurity into the nation’s largest group of atheists and agnostics, with a fast-rising membership and increasing legal clout (Associated Press)
• State weighs issue of faith | Bill would give wives an equal stand in Orthodox Jewish divorce (The Baltimore Sun)
• Corinth church property battle back in circuit court | U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Mills has decided the federal court doesn’t have authority to determine who owns the property that makes up First Presbyterian Church of Corinth (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
• Boulder County effort draws leaders’ ire | Religious leaders plan to protest an attempt by Boulder County to overturn a provision of a federal law governing church expansion (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
• Ministry sues South Orange for denying use of village square | “Government officials do not have the right to discriminate against Christian groups,” said a lawyer for Care and Share Ministry. “When village officials open up a public arena for members of the community, they must be fair and allow for equal access.” (Associated Press)
• Elder sues over city’s demolition of East St. Louis church | Mayor: Program being overhauled (Belleville News Democrat, Ill.)
• Jensen church has no love for beer-selling neighbor | Gary Landsberg, pastor of the Jensen Beach Christian Church, said he already has canceled upcoming youth events such as lock-ins and Boy Scout meetings for fear of people wandering from the restaurant to his church after having one too many (Palm Beach Post, Fla.)
• Ex-court worker sues, alleges religious bias | A former deputy court administrator is suing 19th District Court and its chief judge, Mark Somers, claiming he has a religious beef with her live-in relationship with a fellow judge. (The Detroit News)
• Church appeals jury verdict on shelter | Tabernacle owes $30,000 in fines for housing homeless without permit (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• Our stake in this tent flap | St. Jude’s is not relying on prayers alone. The church is taking a serious financial risk to make an in-our-face point (Kate Riley, The Seattle Times)
• Government says church can’t practice religion? | I really look forward to seeing which legislators intend to step up and declare that government should indeed be able to dictate how a church can practice its religion (Ken Schram, KOMO, Seattle)
• South African authorities seize farm | The South African government has seized a 600,000-acre game and cattle farm from its owners, the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Southern Africa, and will divide the land among poor rural communities, ministers said Thursday (Associated Press)

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Czechs, Romanians fight over cathedrals:

• Court returns landmark cathedral to state | St. Vitus Cathedral, one of Prague’s most popular tourist attractions, doesn’t belong to the Catholic Church, the Czech Supreme Court ruled Friday. The Church must now return the building to the state. The decision annulled previous verdicts by the Prague 1 District Court, which had ruled in favour of the Church (Prague Monitor, Czech Republic)
• Update: Government not to enter dispute over St Vitus | The Czech government will not enter court disputes over the ownership of St Vitus’ Cathedral at Prague Castle in any way, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told journalists yesterday (Prague Daily Monitor)
• Czech churches demand settlement of state-church relations | A memorandum urging the quick settlement of relations between churches and the Czech state was given by its authors yesterday to Czech Culture Minister Václav Jehlička, who is in charge of church issues (Prague Daily Monitor, Czech Republic)
• Cardinal angry about judge’s past in St Vitus’ case | Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk considers unacceptable that Supreme Court judge František Formánek, who decided the Church vs state dispute over the ownership of Prague St Vitus’ Cathedral, was a member of the Communist Party before 1989 (Prague Daily Monitor)
• New initiative demands final settlement of disputes between Church and State | Last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which handed control of Prague’s St. Vitus’ Cathedral to the Czech state has once again focused attention on the tense relationship between the Catholic Church and the Czech government. (Radio Prague)
• Romania: Catholic clerics protest in Romania | About 200 Roman Catholic priests and nuns protested Thursday in the capital to demand the government halts the construction of a new high-rise office building near their main cathedral in the capital. (Associated Press)

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Religious freedom:

• Eritrea authorities arrest founder of Full Gospel Church | Three jailed Protestant leaders released on bail; Muslims also detained (Compass Direct)
• Uzbekistan officials admit arrest of Protestant pastor | Indictment equates ‘Charismatic Pentecostals’ with Islamist extremists (Compass Direct)

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Military:

• Providing a place of sanctuary and solace for the faithful on the frontline | Services are just a small part of the help provided by chaplains in a war zone (The Guardian, London)
• Chaplain shortage for Army Natl. Guard | Some Army National Guard units may have to deploy overseas without a chaplain if recruitment incentives, including $10,000 signing bonuses, don’t work to fill hundreds of vacant positions (Associated Press)
• For gods and country | The Army chaplain who wanted to switch to Wicca? Transfer denied. (The Washington Post)

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Indonesia:

• Preachers, revenge push Indonesia terror | “The preachers told us it was a form of worship,” says accused terrorist. “They said, ‘The Christians cut of the heads of Muslim girls in the war, so now it is payback time.'” (Associated Press)
• Australia warns of attack in Indonesia’s Sulawesi | Australia warned on Friday of a militant attack in the restive Indonesian province of Sulawesi, long the site of deadly Christian-Muslim rivalry (Reuters)
• Indonesia seeks 20 yrs jail for Christian beheadings | Indonesian prosecutors on Monday sought a 20-year jail sentence for the main defendant in the beheadings three Christian schoolgirls from religiously divided Central Sulawesi province (Reuters)

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Lebanon:

• Dispatch from Beirut | Forget about Shiites and Sunnis. Lebanon’s deepest fault line is between rival Christian groups (Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Slate)
• A history of violence | Syria reminds Lebanon of their “special relationship.” (Lee Smith, The Weekly Standard)

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Iraq:

• White House opens doors to Iraq refugees | The Bush administration agreed Wednesday to greatly expand the number of Iraqi refugees allowed into the country and to pay more to help Iraq’s Arab neighbors cope with the human tide fleeing increasing violence and economic hardship in their country (Associated Press)
• Iraqi refugees dismiss U.S. resettlement | Some Iraqi refugees living in Syria dismissed on Wednesday a Bush administration plan to allow some 7,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the U.S., saying they preferred to stay closer to home and planned to return to Iraq (Associated Press)
• Iraq war tests unity among U.S. Muslims | Leaders of the U.S. Islamic community are fearful that sectarian slaughter tearing Shi’ite and Sunni communities apart in Iraq is testing unity among Muslim immigrants in the United States (Reuters)

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Israel:

• Violent protests in Kashmir over al-Aqsa excavation | Police fired teargas in Indian Kashmir’s main city on Friday to disperse hundreds of people protesting against Israeli excavations near Islam’s third holiest shrine in Jerusalem, police and witnesses said (Reuters)
• Webcams broadcast Israeli dig | Israel has installed Internet cameras near an archaeological excavation close to a Jerusalem shrine that had sparked Muslim protests, in a bid to show the work does not harm the holy site, officials said on Thursday (Reuters)
• Calm prevails at holy site in Jerusalem | Despite calls by Muslim religious figures for mass protests, Jerusalem’s Old City was largely calm on Friday (The New York Times)
• Old Israeli find fuels Muslim ire at Jerusalem dig | Islamic officials intensified calls for Israel to abandon a controversial dig in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying they were upset they had not been told sooner about a discovery of relics at the site three years ago (Reuters)
• Arabs say Israel is not just for Jews | A manifesto argues that the nation’s minority is entitled to share power in a binational state (Los Angeles Times)
• Pope meets relatives of Israeli soldiers | Relatives seeking information on two Israeli soldiers who were seized by Hezbollah militants in northern Israel at the start of last year’s Lebanon war met Wednesday with Pope Benedict XVI (Associated Press)

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New Zealand:

• Draft statement due on country’s religious identity | But state schools will be expected to treat all religions equally, as will the government (Radio New Zealand)
• Denying state religion like treason, says Brian Tamaki | Evangelical churches are accusing the Government of “religious treason” for promoting a statement that Christianity is no longer New Zealand’s state religion (The New Zealand Herald)
• Non-Christians looking for more than tolerance | Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims at a national forum in Hamilton yesterday all objected to the word “tolerance” in a draft National Statement on Religious Diversity (The New Zealand Herald)
• State religion for further debate | A national interfaith forum has agreed to a statement that New Zealand has “no state religion” – but only as a basis for further public debate (The New Zealand Herald)

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Bones at Christian hospital in India:

• Christians allege conspiracy in Ratlam Hospital case | Church leaders say that the twist given to the recovery of bones from the Ratlam Mission hospital is a deliberate effort by fundamentalists to malign the whole Christian community in Madhya Pradesh (Indian Catholic News Service)
• Tiny bones found at India hospital | The police in central India discovered 396 small bones and bone fragments that they say could be the remains of newborn babies or fetuses (The New York Times)
• Hospital super held, probe ordered | The superintendent of the Ratlam Mission Hospital and a sweeper were arrested on Sunday after the sensational recovery of more than 350 bones, suspected to be of infants and aborted foetuses, from the hospital premises on Saturday (Hindustan Times, India)
• Crime hinges on foetus sex test | Mystery about the fetuses remained unravelled even three days after the sensational recovery of 390 bones from the Christian Mission hospital even as the superintendent and sweeper were freed by a local court on bail on Monday (Hindustan Times, India)

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More on India:

• Indian American author pleads for Staines’ murderer | ‘We are hopeful of a real change and transformation in the life of Dara Singh, who is a victim of Hindutva, an ideology of hate,’ says Vishal Mangalwadi, author of ‘Burnt Alive’ (IANS, India)
• 10-month-old baby boy abducted from church | A 10-month-old boy was allegedly abducted from a church at Madhapur by a woman even as his mother was offering prayers on Sunday afternoon (The Hindu, India)
• ‘No’ to reservation for Dalit Muslims, Christians | Says untouchability is peculiar to Hinduism only (The Hindu, India)
• Priests sell baptism certificates | A CNN-IBN and Cobrapost investigation has found that some unscrupulous members of the church are selling baptism certificates, which are needed to prove that a person is Christian (IBN)
• Also: Faith vendors under scanner | The Baptist Union of North India has reacted strongly to a CNN-IBN and Cobra Post’s expose that found some unscrupulous members of the church selling baptism certificates. (IBN)
• Also: India 360: Are priests corrupt? | Rev Walter David President, Baptist Union of North India, Sister Nirmalini Principal Carmel Convent School, Chanakyapuri (Delhi) and Aniruddha Bahal Editor-in-chief, Cobrapost.com (IBN)

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Amazing Grace and William Wilberforce:

• Britain’s slave empire, as the sun set | Long before Gettysburg, activist Quakers challenged Parliament. The film Amazing Grace seeks to tell that story (The New York Times)
• Churches reminded of slavery in song | Amazing Grace Sunday, an event sponsored by the abolitionist organization The Amazing Change, asked thousands of people in churches across North America to sing “Amazing Grace” and pray for those who are still enslaved (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Churches unite to end global slavery | “Amazing Grace Sunday” is an innovative attempt to raise a wave of public outrage over slavery in the United States and other countries in such forms as forced laborers, domestic servants, sex workers and child soldiers (Detroit Free Press)
• Churches on ‘Amazing’ crusade | Churches pray for freedom for modern-day slaves (York Daily Record, Pa.)
• Film chronicling the work of William Wilberforce will have local premiere | Wilberforce University will premiere the upcoming movie Amazing Grace on Friday, a week ahead of its theater release and for free (Dayton Daily News, Oh.)
• ‘Grace’ movie enters churches | Indy congregations take part in promotion as another way to connect with mission (The Indianapolis Star)
• Evangelicals rally around — and disagree on — ‘Grace’ | Some criticize the film’s “toned down” approach to faith. Supposedly. But there’s really no evidence of that in this article, anyway. (USA Today)
• Abolition’s ‘Amazing’ hero | Film gives William Wilberforce his due — and maybe more (Philadelphia Daily News)
• Brewer launches Fairtrade beer to mark 200th anniversary of slavery abolition | William Wilberforce Freedom Ale. Yep. (Kent News)
• Amazing grace always defeats hatred | Two things essentially cooked slavery’s goose. One was Christianity, because of its conception that there were no chosen people and that all had equal access to God. The other was the idea of universal humanism (Stanley Crouch, New York Daily News)
• British abolition’s faith-based roots | William Wilberforce relied on his deeply held religious beliefs for inspiration in fighting the slave trade (Joseph Loconte, Los Angeles Times)

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Film:

• Hollywood set to honor faith-based movies | Religious conservatives have a newfound cachet in Hollywood thanks largely to their significant spending power (Reuters)
• Abortion documentary set for October release | Indie distributor ThinkFilm has picked up worldwide rights to the provocative, graphic abortion documentary “Lake of Fire,” the first feature from director Tony Kaye since 1998’s “American History X.” (Reuters)
• Film keeps focus on pedophile priest | Deliver Us From Evil, which chronicles Oliver O’Grady’s legacy of abuse, has made him a pariah in his Irish homeland and brought new attention to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony (Los Angeles Times)
• The spiritual side of Jim Carrey | Star of The Number 23 talks about what inspired him to take the role (Los Angeles Daily News)
• De Niro may have role in Opus Dei’s film fightback | A spokesman in Rome said yesterday that Opus Dei was collaborating in the production of a full-length feature film on the life of its founder, Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. The producers said they were hoping to enlist Antonio Banderas and Robert De Niro for the leading roles (The Guardian, London)
• Author finds Christianity in ‘Star Wars’ series | Robert Banta, author of Star Wars, Jesus: A Spiritual Commentary on the Reality of the Force, says, “‘Star Wars’ taught me how to be, how to see faith, how to relate to God” (The News Leader, Staunton, Va.)
• Philippine group opposes U.S. film on Abu Sayyaf | Disney and Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer bought the screen rights to “Jihadists in Paradise”, an article written by Mark Bowden for the Atlantic Monthly (Reuters)

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Music:

• Tomlin leads way with nine Dove nominations | 38th GMA awards gala set April 25 at Opry House (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Also: Tomlin, Jars of Clay top Dove nominees | Again. (Associated Press)
• A rap sermon calls out converts | Christian hip-hop takes on skeptics, negative image (The Boston Globe)
• It’s her party, she’ll praise if she wants to | Jennifer Hudson sings gospel at home church (Chicago Tribune)
• Also: All roads lead back to church for Hudson | For Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson, there was no question where she’d celebrate her success in the week leading up to the Academy Awards — at her family’s church (Associated Press)
• Review: Anberlin’s “Cities” | Thanks in part to the efforts of Tooth & Nail, Christian bands have played an important role in the continuing emo boom, though the signs aren’t always obvious (The New York Times)

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Art and entertainment:

• Exhibit celebrates religion in 20th Century art | “Biblical Art in a Secular Century: Selections, 1896-1993,” at New York’s Museum of Biblical Art, features artists whose work was often expressly religious in theme—Marc Chagall and Ben-Zion, for example—as well as artists like Andy Warhol, whose work is rarely linked to religion (Religion News Service)
• Christians say Hirst exploiting religion to create sensation | Skulls, graphic images of Christ, crucifix encrusted with pills … and all in an exhibition inside a church (The Independent, London)
• Idle’s Messiah is Spamalot sequel | Former Monty Python star Eric Idle is to follow up his smash hit musical Spamalot with an oratorio based on the comedy troupe’s Life Of Brian film. Not The Messiah (He’s A Very Naughty Boy) will premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto, Canada in June (BBC)
• New York troupe comes to “Save” Colorado Springs | “Save This City” is the name of a New York theater documentary exploring evangelism in the Springs (The Denver Post)
• ‘Monastery people’ video featuring gay anthem ‘YMCA’ pulled from YouTube | Critics say it “promotes homosexuality inside the Catholic Church” (UK Gay News)
• No sex, please, we’re engaged: couples who wait for the wedding | MTV’s new reality serial about people who wed before they’ve slept together is a clever inversion of a rape thriller (The New York Times)

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Sports:

• No “hand of God” goals in priests’ European cup | A hundred Roman Catholic priests from all over Europe swapped their cassocks for football strips in Sarajevo this week to compete in an indoor football championship organized by the church (Reuters)
• Point, God: Religion is key for Raymond | After sitting out all of last season to reflect and sort through personal spiritual matters, Wheaton College’s Kent Raymond has come back playing even better than before (Chicago Sun-Times)
• So nice guys can finish first: Dungy’s win may break new mold for NFL coaches | Now that Dungy — a man who rarely raises his voice and doesn’t curse — stands atop his profession, he could influence future coaching hires (USA Today)

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Media:

• KDKA, church leaders concur on story ethics | Clergy wanted an apology, but instead ended up issuing one (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Miracle Channel told to repent, on pain of losing licence | Federal regulators told the station yesterday they are considering a rare step that would see the Miracle Channel’s right to broadcast linked to how well it abides by its own internal standards (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)
• Shock jock Stern infiltrates area Christian airwaves | Blending of signals upsetting to broadcasters (The News-Press, Fort Myers, Fla.)
• Taking the debate about God online, and battling it out with videos | A religious battle is taking place on the Internet, with two very different groups arguing over the existence of God (The New York Times)
• Clergy put their faith in YouTube | S. Florida religious leaders broaden exposure on Web (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• A free crypt for the columnist from Cardinal Mahony? | Mahony recently gave a tour of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels to my editor and publisher. In the mausoleum under the altar, where crypts are available for purchase, the cardinal offered my bosses a deal. He said he’d provide a final resting place, free of charge, if they promised to put me in it (Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times)

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Books:

• Nelson out of CBA winter show | Nelson’s decision will almost certainly spur an exodus of publishers, who have felt burdened for the past several years by having to do two annual trade shows for the Christian retail channel, especially when one of the shows has seen a steep drop in retailer attendance (PW Daily)
• Police have dirt on mystery odor | The “hazardous material” that sickened two Zondervan Publishing House workers and triggered a large-scale response by police, firefighters and hazardous-material workers turned out to be dirt, the Kent County Sheriff’s Department said (The Grand Rapids Press, Mi.)
• Dear Dan Brown, all eyes are on you | Thanks, Dan Brown. Look what you started. In the sound-like-Brown genre the stakes are high, the scruples are absent and the copycatting is out of control (The New York Times)
• Gathering once a month for a voyage to Narnia | One a month, the members of the New York C. S. Lewis Society immerse themselves in the writer’s fantastical realm (The New York Times)
• The fatal history of misplaced faith | In Sacred Causes, Michael Burleigh tracks the fate of religious and secular forces in the 20th century, registering their collisions and their effects on the culture we live in today (The Wall Street Journal)
• If Christian soldiers really are on the march, where’s the evidence? | Chris Hedges’s American Fascists charts the rise of the Christian Right (The Observer, London)

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“Blood libel” book:

• Blood libel revisited | After an international furor, an Italo-Israeli historian has withdrawn his book claiming that some medieval Jews did ritually kill Christian children (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)
• Professor pulls book with controversial ‘blood libel’ claim | The book, “Easter of Blood,” by Italian Jewish professor Ariel Toaff, has resurrected charges of “blood libel.” Toaff said Thursday (Feb. 15) he wants to “re-edit those passages which comprised the basis of the distortions and falsehoods that have been published in the media” (Religion News Service)
• Blood-libel prof pledges book revenues to ADL (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
• Author of blood libel book holds distribution to make changes (Haaretz, Tel Aviv)
• The real blood of Passover | There is plenty of evidence to suggest hatred between Jews and Christians, as many scholars have demonstrated regarding the Middle Ages. It is, however, quite a leap of imagination to take testimonies obtained under torture and to construct a hypothetical reality based on unrelated circumstantial facts (Ronnie Po-chia Hsia, Haaretz, Tel Aviv)

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History:

• Fears for Ethiopia’s crumbling churches | The roofs of some of the ancient churches, dating to the 11th and 12th centuries, have even started to collapse (BBC)
• Michelangelo had private room at Vatican | A 450-year-old receipt has provided proof that Michelangelo kept a private room in St. Peter’s Basilica while working as the pope’s chief architect, Vatican experts said (Associated Press)
• Also: Michelangelo gem finished five centuries late | The magnificent façade that he designed for the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, is to be erected thanks to the detective work of Renaissance scholars (The Times, London)
• Window into Puritan life | Renovation of 1648 house offers a look at settlers’ everyday lives (The Boston Globe)
• Visiting a landmark Baptist church | Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Beech Island, S.C., is said to be the nation’s first black Baptist church. The church dates back decades before the Revolutionary War. (Day to Day, NPR)
• Lancaster group wants to save its hall | Lancaster Camp Ground is deteriorating but was deemed worth saving (The Columbus Dispatch, Oh.)
• What Washington saw in God | And how that vision shaped his life and presidency (Michael Novak and Jana Novak, USA Today)
• Also: What George Washington really believed | Neither conservatives nor secularists will like the answer (Steven Waldman, Beliefnet)
• Debate began before Jefferson | The idea of the separation of church and state was the product of a much older debate. It was first suggested as a public policy by religious dissenters in the 16th century (David C. Steinmetz, The Orlando Sentinel)

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Evolution:

• Lawmaker apologizes for memo linking evolution and Jewish texts | A leader of the Texas House of Representatives apologized for circulating an appeal to ban the teaching of evolution as derived from “Rabbinic writings” (The New York Times)
• Earlier: Evolution memo prompts call for apology | State Rep. Ben Bridges denies writing the memo, which attributes the Big Bang theory to Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism (Associated Press)
• Churches discuss evolution | Congregations seek to square science and faith (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
• The case for ditching Darwin | An evolutionary biologist proposed at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco last week that scientists might win the argument on evolution by ditching Darwin and emphasizing that evolution is a fully formed field of biological study (The Chronicle of Higher Education, sub. req’d.)
• Pittsburgh professor thinks evolutionary change was rapid | Outspoken critic of teaching Intelligent Design thinks Darwin was wrong on gradual, constant evolution (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
• Article: Do Molecular Clocks Run at All? A Critique of Molecular Systematics | Review of the history of molecular systematics and its claims in the context of molecular biology reveals that there is no basis for the “molecular assumption” (Jeffrey H. Schwartz, Biological Theory)
• So help us Darwin | The intelligent liberal community should not impose on anyone a requirement of believing that there is only the single, materialist word on origins (William F. Buckley Jr., National Review Online)
• Religion and politics | Unavoidable. (John Derbyshire, National Review Online)
• Don’t monkey with science | Science teachers have no trouble staying out of pulpits. Why is the opposite not true? (Robert M. Thorson, The Hartford Courant, Ct.)

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Education:

• Nativity scene is too religious for New York City schools | The Supreme Court this week let stand rules that keep menorahs and Christmas trees in holiday displays—but not crèches (The Christian Science Monitor)
• Also: High court won’t hear NYC schools Nativity case | Justices let stand 2nd Circuit decision upholding policy that bans displays of Nativity scenes but allows Santa Claus, Christmas trees and Jewish, Islamic symbols (Associated Press)
• Schools’ barring of student religious literature found unconstituitonal | The court held that the allegations, if proven, demonstrate that a number of the defendants engaged in unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination in banning religious viewpoint material while permitting students to distribute secular material to their classmates (Religion Clause)
• Court rules for religious tolerance | A Pietermaritzburg High Court judge has dismissed an application by a parent who has challenged attempts by the recently appointed governing body of Newcastle High School to move away from the Christian-based ethos of the former whites-only Afrikaner school and strive to promote religious tolerance among the now culturally, racially and religiously diverse school community The Mercury, South Africa)
• Lawsuit: School banned Jesus costume | Officials at Willow Hill Elementary School in suburban Glenside reportedly told the boy Oct. 31 that he could not wear his faux crown of thorns or tell others he was dressed as Jesus (Associated Press)
• Bible essay stirs trouble for teacher | Lake Stevens student objects to questioning of creation story (The Daily Herald, Everett, Wa.)
• Students told to shun Muslims | A national Muslim advocacy group has rebuked the Wake County Public School system for allowing a Christian evangelist to speak at Enloe High School and distribute pamphlets denouncing Islam (The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.)
• Also: Group: Pupils given anti-Islam material | A high school teacher allowed a group whose declared mission is to “raise an awareness of the danger of Islam” to distribute literature in his class, including a handout titled “Do Not Marry a Muslim Man,” according to an advocacy group (Associated Press)
• Schooltime religious education called off in Atascadero | Board members voted unanimously to rescind a resolution that would have allowed high school students to leave campus and attend a class at church next fall. They had originally approved the concept Jan. 16 (The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Ca.)
• School calendar has no religion | The Hillsborough School Board appears ready to embrace a calendar with no days off for religious holidays, including Good Friday (St. Petersburg Times, Fla.)
• Also: Secular school calendar wins favor with board (The Tampa Tribune, Fla.)
• Don’t gum up sex-ed | Leave instruction to professional teachers (Marc Fisher, The Washington Post)
• Schools shouldn’t cater to Gideons’ mission | Handing out Bibles to students gives Christianity preferential treatment (Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal)

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N.J. taped teacher case:

• Student, 16, finds allies in his fight over religion | A high school student drew some legal heavyweights into his battle with school officials over a teacher’s proselytizing in class (The New York Times)
• Kearny student moves to sue district | He cites harassment after challenging teacher’s preaching (The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.)
• Classroom pulpit sparks legal action | Matthew LaClair, a Kearny 16-year-old, is fighting his public high school after they took little action against his teacher’s use of the classroom as a pulpit (Herald News, West Paterson, N.J.)
• Teacher defends religious comments in class | The teacher who is the subject of a potential lawsuit regarding proselytizing in a public high school history class denied on Tuesday night that he had preached in class and said that the student who taped him had never expressed discomfort to him about his comments (The New York Times)

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Higher education:

• College leader resigns post | Embattled Carson-Newman president takes position in Georgia (Knoxville News–Sentinel, Tenn.)
• Also: Carson-Newman president resigns amid turmoil, becomes Mercer VP (Associated Baptist Press)
• Earlier: College chief’s neck on the line | While he remains upbeat, board will decide Netherton’s fate on March 23 (Knoxville News–Sentinel, Feb. 15)
• In constitutional clash with university, Christian fraternity wins big | case exemplifies the difficult road some religious fraternities and sororities travel on public university campuses where there are church-state issues involving funding and facilities-access (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• At William & Mary, a cross becomes a lightning rod | Restore the cross, and let’s move on (Andrew and Constance McRoberts, The Washington Post)
• Also: Wren Chapel when to display a holy symbol? | The debate over the Wren Cross is a worthy one (Editorial, Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.)
• Baylor aims to lead Christian music field | According to the vision document which will be given to the board of directors, “The vision for the center is to provide leadership in all aspects of Christian music by becoming the pre-eminent Christian music center worldwide and to foster the growth and effectiveness of efforts to utilize Christian music to its God-given potential.” (The Lariat, Baylor)
• Asbury hosts pope’s preacher | Protestant-Catholic ‘convergence’ praised (Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.)
• BYU blocks campus access to YouTube | “We use the filtering process for two reasons,” said BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins. “First to protect students from inappropriate material. The other is because of our limited bandwidth. That bandwidth is used for academic purposes.” (Daily Herald, Provo, Ut.)
• Going to the Chapel | Harvard wasn’t the only school to appoint a woman last week (Mark Oppenheimer, Slate)

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Missions and ministry:

• 10 Americans ordered to leave Belarus | Ten Americans left Belarus on Friday after authorities ordered them deported for allegedly singing religious songs and reading spiritual literature, in violation of laws restricting religious activity in the former Soviet republic (Associated Press)
• Volunteerism figures fall to four-year low, federal study finds | More than 61 million Americans donated their time to charity last year, the lowest number of volunteers in four years, according to new data from the federal government (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
• Church members let their fingers do the praying | Members of First Christian Church pray through the phone book (Clayton News Daily, Jonesboro, Ga.)
• Where the poor live, so shall he | A Christian missionary paid his dues on Santa Ana’s Minnie Street in the 1980s. But he keeps paying them (Los Angeles Times)
• Help not wanted | By pushing their alternative development model, wealthy nondemocratic regimes effectively price responsible aid programs out of the market exactly where they are needed most (Moisés Naím, The New York Times)

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Money and business:

• Faith-at-work movement going mainstream | First companies were encouraged to be family-friendly; today they are lauded for being gay-friendly. Now there are some advocating to break down that final office taboo: religion (The Miami Herald)
• Court upholds Wiccan-Boscov’s ruling | Superior Court says store discriminated when it canceled pagan classes (The News Journal, Wilmington, Del.)
• Corporate ‘dropouts’ find calling | Ministry helps clients recover from behavior problems (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Preacher wins case in court | Judge finds no evidence of mishandling estate (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
• Also: Judge okays handling of songwriter estate | The children of a hit country music songwriter won’t get control of his estate, a judge ruled, but a bigger battle looms between them and their aunt, an evangelist with a worldwide ministry (Associated Press)

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San Diego diocese may declare bankruptcy:

• S.D. diocese eyeing bankruptcy | Faced with claims that could exceed $200 million, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego may be on the verge of declaring bankruptcy rather than proceed to trial on sexual abuse lawsuits (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• San Diego Diocese considers bankruptcy | The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego said in a letter to parishioners this weekend that it is considering declaring bankruptcy to avoid going to trial on more than 140 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests (Associated Press)
• Diocese’s bankruptcy threat upsets abuse victims in San Diego | San Diego’s Catholic churches may file in face of lawsuits over alleged sexual abuse by priests. Critics call it an attempt to avoid disclosures (Los Angeles Times)
• Clergy meet as activists blast idea of bankruptcy | San Diego Bishop Robert Brom met behind closed doors yesterday with hundreds of priests, a session clouded by a possible bankruptcy filing as the first civil trials in the sex-abuse scandal loom (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Priest abuse case lawyers ordered to appear in L.A. | Judge likely aims to prevent bankruptcy (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Brom’s gambit | Diocese history hovers over bankruptcy talk (Editorial, San Diego Union-Tribune)

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Criminal justice:

• For one man, God’s mercy is more than a theory | Several days before the lawyers gathered on the 28th floor of the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse to argue the legal merits of a religious program in an Iowa prison, I met Alan Varrin. He was paroled a week before Christmas (Bill McClellan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Churchgoer and gospel performer sue SF police | A teenage churchgoer handcuffed for allegedly breaking a window and a hip-hop gospel performer who was pepper-sprayed after coming to the teen’s aid filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit today against San Francisco police (San Francisco Chronicle)

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Abuse:

• Faith community plays big role in the plan to end child abuse | Expert Victor Vieth says area churches offer an avenue for reaching at-risk families (Springfield News-Leader, Mo.)
• Baptists asked to crack down on abusers | The victims’ advocates who dogged the Roman Catholic Church over sex abuse by its clergy have now turned their attention to the Southern Baptists, accusing America’s largest Protestant denomination of also failing to root out molesters (Associated Press)
• Pastor arrested for soliciting sex online | Pastors at Northgate Colonial Baptist Church reportedly solicited what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl online (WLTX, Columbia, S.C.)
• Church deacon acquitted of sexual assault on girls | He’s the second of four charged men associated with Ambassador Baptist Church to be acquitted of all charges (London Free Press, Ont.)
• Fort Myers youth pastor faces additional charge | Elantonio T.O. Gomez, 50, was a youth pastor at the Safe Harbor Church in Fort Myers (Naples Daily News, Fla.)
• Friend saw signs of abuse in church leader’s victim | A church youth leader accused of repeated sexual assaults on two teenage boys now has a $300,000 bond after his first court appearance (WBBH, Fort Meyers, Fla.)
• Greensburg man charged with sex assault of boy | A man is again facing sexual assault charges, this time involving a 5-year-old boy in a bathroom at the First Presbyterian Church in Greensburg in October (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
• Mill Creek church youth leader charged with molesting girl, 13 | Joshua Tanner Beals, 22, is accused with repeated sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl on church grounds (Daily Herald, Everett, Wa.)
• Lawyer accused of destroying evidence in Connecticut pornography case | Philip D. Russell was indicted on charges that he obstructed justice in the investigation of a former church choir director whose computer contained images of naked boys (The New York Times)
• Sect man jailed for sex abuse of girl | The sentencing of Lindsay Ronald Jensen yesterday for abusing a young girl in Albury brings almost to an end a saga of squalor and betrayal that has embroiled the religious sect the Exclusive Brethren and its leadership for four years (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Cardinal says he warned Mahony | A Catholic leader in Mexico says he sent the head of the L.A. Archdiocese a letter about a priest later charged with abuse (Los Angeles Times)
• Sins of the father? | Five decades after a priest allegedly molested 3 brothers, their case plays out (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
• Van Wert County parish defends accused priest | St. Mary vents grief to bishop (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
• Archbishop deposed in sex-abuse case | After fighting his civil deposition for months, the Archdiocese of Miami on Tuesday praised Archbishop John C. Favalora for his openness in answering closed-door questions posed by an attorney for an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a former Catholic priest (The Miami Herald)
• Reflections of an archbishop | Kelly takes stock of tenure, says keeping abusers in ministry “probably offended some people” (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.)
• Priest abuse claims led to suspension | Greek Orthodox leader retired July 1 (The Dallas Morning News)

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Crime:

• Parents guilty in child murder | Death occurred while Joseph and Sonya Smith punished 8-year-old (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Also: Church’s critics say verdict is a lesson | Georgia couple guilty of murdering son, 8 (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Also: Closing argument forces Cobb parents to tears | As prosecutor Eleanor Dixon concluded her closing remarks Wednesday, she produced a birthday cake with eight candles. Missing, she said, were candles marking Josef Smith’s subsequent birthdays. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Cab driver arrested for running over student after religious debate | The passengers — college students from Ohio visiting Nashville — got into an argument over religion with Ibrahim Ahmed as he was dropping them off at the Vanderbilt University campus, police said (Associated Press)
• Also: Cabbie in trouble after allegedly running over college students for religious dispute (Fox News)
• Lighter sentence | Woman charged in drunken-driving killing of priest pleads guilty to all charges in return for reduced prison term (Newsday)
• Widow killed by burglar she tried to help | A church preacher was murdered by a burglar she had invited into her home to recover after he had become drunk while celebrating his release from prison (The Times, London)
• Teen allegedly attacks priest with church’s cross | A wallet belonging to the teen was found outside the church a short time later just outside the church (KOVR, Sacramento, Ca.)
• Church vandal pleads guilty | Prosecutors say Alix Rolland, 20, scrawled anti-Semitic slogans and satanic symbols on two statues at the Good Shepherd Church (KNSD, San Diego)
• Cross sparks probe | Law enforcement officials are investigating a strange case of vandalism in which a wooden cross was placed atop the 200-foot tower of a Milton radio station whose owner is Jewish (Pensacola News Journal, Fla.)
• Rwanda frees genocide prisoners | Rwanda is releasing more than 9,000 prisoners, most of whom are in jail over the 1994 genocide which left about 800,000 people – mostly Tutsis—dead (BBC)
• Missionaries freed, but motive still unclear in abduction | Captors likely thought the four were oil workers before realizing their mistake (The Salt Lake Tribune)
• In Haiti, abductions hold nation hostage | Despite U.N. troop presence, much of capital controlled by gangs (The Washington Post)
• Sri Lanka says finds rebel grenades, cyanide at church | Sri Lankan troops have found Tamil Tiger rebel grenades, cyanide capsules and communications equipment in a Catholic church in the island’s besieged far northern Jaffna peninsula, the military said on Wednesday (Reuters)
• No prison sentence for Middletown pastor | Bishop of Power of Deliverance Temple sentenced to probation and community service after pleading guilty to money laundering (Middletown Journal, Oh.)
• Foe of gay marriage to face assault case | Catholic group leader accused in rally incident (The Boston Globe)
• Romanian priest sentenced for exorcism | A Romanian priest who led a dayslong exorcism ritual for a young nun that ended with the woman’s death was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison. Four nuns were also sentenced in the case (Associated Press)
• Troubles at Our Lady of Las Vegas ongoing | Priest accused in attack brought in to heal rift over previous pastor (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

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Theft:

• Suspect accused of stealing church donations | Maintenance worker caught on videotape during communion (Times Herald, Port Huron, Mi.)
• Norfolk church wants to ensure no one helps himself to the money | Eight hundred tamper-proof money bags arrived at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Norfolk the other day, just in time for the Richmond diocese’s drive against collection plate embezzlement (The Virginian-Pilot)
• Also: Richmond diocese seeks to guard cash | Procedures, tamper-proof bags suggested to assure collection donations are safe (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
• Former church bookkeeper sentenced | A New Geneva woman who pleaded no contest to accusations she stole nearly $90,000 from a Uniontown church will spend 6 months under house arrest, followed by a period of intermediate punishment (Herald Standard, Uniontown, Pa.)
• Pilfering priests | Still recovering from the sexual abuse scandal of five years ago, the Catholic Church is facing another crisis: clergy who steal money from their parishes (Time)
• Bishops look at fleecings of flocks | The past year saw several cases where clerics were accused of stealing from their faithful. Some churchgoers say the thefts result from putting too much trust in one person and say more oversight is needed to stop it (USA Today)
• Former church officer accused of scam | Ex-treasurer indicted in theft of $25,000 from Athens man, 77 (The Decatur Daily, Ala.)
• Checks & balances | Churches have responded to recent thefts by starting or improving structures of accountability around their finances (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
• Priest is not fleeing, attorney says | But other members of Spotsylvania household are moving to N.M. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.)
• Man admits church theft | A former business manager has pleaded guilty to stealing $118,000 from a Catholic church in Lebanon, Ohio (The Cincinnati Enquirer)

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The pastor who sold his church:

• Blogger posts clip of purported Radic interview | The man purporting to be Radic is remorseful and attempts to explain why he cheated the members of First Congregational Church (The Record, Stockton, Ca.)
• Pastor sentence delayed again | Judge wants to hear Radic’s testimony (Modesto Bee, Ca.)
• Also: Ex-pastor to be sentenced today after eight delays | Minister convicted after selling Ripon church; new judge given sentencing duties (Tri-Valley Herald, Ca.)

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People:

• Bruce Metzger, scholar and bible translator, dies at 93 | Dr. Metzger, an eminent scholar and translator of the Bible, was a world-renowned authority on translating the New Testament from the original Greek (The New York Times)
• Also: Bruce Manning Metzger dies at 93 | New Testament scholar helped edit, update Bible translations (Los Angeles Times)
• An icon? This ponytailed monk will leave that image to others | Father Justin Sinaites has ‘rock star’ status as overseer of a Byzantine exhibition at the Getty Museum. He’s eager to return home to Egypt (Los Angeles Times)
• Tyler Perry’s grass-roots path to fame | But some say Perry is TOO old-school — that his portraits of modern black life are based on stereotypes and that his over-the-top, cross-dressing style derives from 19th-century minstrel shows (Associated Press)
• A hard right punch | Michelle Malkin’s conservative fight has others coming out swinging (The Washington Post)
• Obituary: Roberta Semple Salter | Daughter and one-time heir to the ministry of the colourful Los Angeles evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson (The Times, London)
• The religious right’s Canadian godmother | Credit Ontario-raised evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson with popularizing the politically-charged belief that the United States is God’s “Chosen Nation.” (Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun)

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Margaret Wanjiru:

• Bishop Wanjiru’s bid to grill Kamangu thrown out | Embattled televangelist Margaret Wanjiru suffered yet another setback when she lost a bid to have the man who claims to be her common law husband cross-examined. At the same time, the High Court for the second time stopped her intended marriage to South African preacher Samuel Matjeke until a case filed by Mr James Kamangu Ndimu challenging the union was heard and determined (The Nation, Kenya)
• Also: Kamangu will not be quizzed, rules court (East African Standard, Kenya)
• Wanjiru joins ODM | Making the move at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Nairobi, Bishop Wanjiru said she will contest the Starehe parliamentary seat on an ODM-K ticket (The Nation, Kenya)

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Spirituality:

• What to believe in if not in God? | Just what do non-believers believe in? Despite all the tempting spiritual goodies our world offers, enlightened skeptics still seek to practice a secular, humanist morality. But the lure is growing hard to resist: Even pious Catholics are starting to dream of reincarnation (Der Spiegel, Germany)
• Spiritual aptitude tests help guide church works | Assessments of talents tell people about selves (The Tennessean, Nashville)
• Rally for God | Dozens of Christians gather on steps of the courthouse (The Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
• Even in religion, boomers call the shots | As with housing, they want lots of room; for ministry, they want service even more than sacrament to manage the everyday pressures and sorrows of life (Eugene Cullen Kennedy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Is America too damn religious? | Barry Lynn, Susan Jacoby, Alan Wolfe, Jean Bethke Elshtain Albert Robateau, and William Galston debate (NPR)

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Other stories of interest:

• Religion news in brief | SBC leader calls for examination of denomination’s spiritual health; Grand sheik at top Muslim school agrees to meet pope in Rome; and other stories (Associated Press)
• Misplaced faith | Why no one questioned the implications of bringing large Muslim populations into a secularizing West (William Anthony Hay, The Wall Street Journal)

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Yes, ten. So many interesting stories that we can’t stop at five.

1. Australia lifts ban on human cloning Both the Prime Minister and the new Opposition Leader had wanted to keep the ban on so-called therapeutic cloning, but the House of Representatives still voted 82-62 for the bill. It had earlier passed the Senate by a two-vote margin. The U.S. also allows such cloning, as do Britain, Singapore, and a few other countries.

2. Bible attack case shocks Australia Young teens from East Preston Islamic College were reportedly feuding with workers at a school camp when three of the boys, ages 13 to 15, got a Bible, threw it on the ground, urinated on it, tore pages out, and then set them on fire. An Islamic Council of Victoria spokesman called it a “prank” and explained, “They’ve probably seen things on TV where soldiers in Iraq and in Guantanamo Bay have reportedly done things to the Koran, and they’ve seen other things that have influenced their way of thinking.” The school principal says the students didn’t know it was a Bible, but has expelled two of the students and suspended another.

3. Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages call for “all possible leniency” for kidnappers “Should those who have been charged with holding us hostage be brought to trial and convicted, we ask that they be granted all possible leniency,” said a joint statement from Norman Kember, James Loney, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, who were held hostage for four months. A fourth member of their team was killed by their captors, but the survivors claimed to speak for him. “I know that he would have stood with us today (to ask for) clemency for our captors,” Loney said. Kember said he won’t testify against his captors, and would only testify to plead for clemency. “In our view, the catastrophic levels of violence and the lack of effective protection of human rights in Iraq is inextricably linked to the U.S.-led invasion and occupation,” the joint statement says in part. “As for many others, the actions of our kidnappers were part of a cycle of violence they themselves experienced. While this is no way justifies what the men charged with our kidnapping are alleged to have done, we feel this must be considered in any potential judgment.”

4. Malaysia’s Muslims drop claim to body Apparently, the general rule of thumb in Malaysia is that the only people who can leave Islam are the dead.

5. Congress session endsThe fetal pain bill didn’t pass, but tithing protection for the bankrupt did.

6. Weinstein Company launches Christian label The company has already announced plans to adapt Joyce Meyer’s The Penny and Max Lucado’s The Christmas Candle. “[The] goal is eventually to release six theatrical titles per year,” Variety reports. The Weinstein Company will chiefly be working with Impact Entertainment, which made One Night with the King and other Christian films.

7. Pastor shot to death in Prince George’s County, Md. Police are now following leads that the shooting of “well-known” pastor of Warriors for Christ Ministries may have been premeditated. But the police “have not ruled out the possibility of random street crime,” The Washington Post reported.

8. Ohio megachurch pastor again faces DUI charge Michael Pitts, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Maumee, Ohio, pleaded no contest to driving under the influence in 2000. In the late ’90s he faced more serious accusations , but most charges were dropped after witness testimony problems. Pitts pled guilty to criminal trespassing and served 14 days of house arrest. Cornerstone has 3,000 members and runs two local Christian radio stations. Pitts “serves as overseer, or bishop, of the Cornerstone Network of Harvester Churches, an organization with 12 other churches across the United States and 13 in Mexico,” The Toledo Bladereported last year.

9. Latin American politics is getting JesusyHugo Chávez made headlines by repeatedly invoking Jesus in his election victory speech. One example: “The kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of love, of peace; the kingdom of justice, of solidarity, brotherhood; the kingdom of socialism. This is the kingdom of the future of Venezuela.” Andres Oppenheimer writing in The Miami Herald notes that Chávez is not alone: Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, Ecuador’s Alvaro Noboa, and others have made religion part of their political message, too. “Religious populism is on the rise worldwide, and may be growing in Latin America as well,” he writes.

10. Who’s buried in Paul’s tomb? “Vatican archaeologists have unearthed a sarcophagus believed to contain the remains of the Apostle Paul that had been buried beneath Rome’s second largest basilica,” says a widely circulating Associated Press report. That basilica is called St. Paul Outside the Walls. It’s named that because it’s the place where Paul’s remains have been believed to have been buried since the first centuries of the church. And if this story sounds familiar, it should.

Quote of the day “Without being able to utilize churches, we’ll be in dire straits. There are many areas of the county where we don’t have suitable polling locations, if we were not able to utilize churches, synagogues, and whatever else. They are essential to us being able to service our community adequately and being able to avoid congestion.” —Arthur Anderson, supervisor of elections in Palm Beach County, Florida, which has been sued for using Emmanuel Catholic Church as a polling site.

Bonus story: We couldn’t stop at ten. One of the odder church-state cases in recent years—a suit against the school district logo in Las Cruces, Nevada—has been dismissed. The plaintiff yesterday appealed his case against the city’s logo. Both logos depict three crosses, in reference to the city’s name.

More articles

Australia okays human cloning | Fetal pain bill aborted | Life ethics | Saddleback AIDS summit | Iraq | Crime | Abuse | Theft | Past major crimes | Religious freedom | Bible desecration in Australia | Malaysia | Islam | Qur’an oath | China | Fiji | Politics (non-U.S.): | Politics (U.S.) | Come on ring those bells? | Christmas wars in the U.K. | Christmas commerce | More Christmas | Voting in churches | Church and state | University of Georgia frat ban | Higher education | Missions & ministry | Homosexuality | Anglicanism | Church life | Private prayer language | Spirituality | Money and business | Entertainment and media | Left Behind: The Video Game | Music | History | Richard Dawkins | Other stories of interest

Australia okays human cloning:

• Embryo cloning gets the go-ahead | Australian scientists will be able to clone human embryos for medical research under legislation passed by Parliament which divided the country’s most senior politicians (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• A clear conscience on therapeutic cloning | The bill’s emphatic victory in the House suggests the community is comfortable with relativism (Editorial, The Age, Melbourne, Australia)
• Stem cell bill gives an important research tool to the scientific community | The Patterson Bill gives Australian scientists an opportunity to fully explore every aspect of embryonic stem cell research (Stephen Livesey, The Sydney Morning Herald)

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Fetal pain bill aborted:

• Anti-abortion bill stalls; session nears end | The House on Wednesday rejected an anti-abortion measure offered by Republicans as Congressional leaders struggled to bring the 109th Congress to a close (The New York Times)
• Abortion bill fails in waning Republican House | The bill failed by a vote of 250 to 162, short of the two-thirds majority required under rules that limit debate (Reuters)
• Pro-life bill fails in vote by House | The bill didn’t garner the two-thirds majority it needed for approval under a fast-track process (The Washington Times)

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Life ethics:

• Catholic clergy attack French telethon over stem cell aid | The French Roman Catholic Church has called a telethon’s financing of research on embryonic stem cells immoral (The New York Times)
• Religious order runs drug lab for cures, ethics | Behind the religious order’s acquisition is an unorthodox plan: If it becomes a successful, albeit niche, player in the pharmaceutical industry, the order hopes to have bigger clout in pushing for more ethical business practices from the inside out (The Wall Street Journal)
• Plan B pill now readily available | Planned Parenthood celebrated Wednesday with a free giveaway of the emergency contraceptive, while critics insisted that Plan B’s accessibility will soon be a cause for regret (Associated Press)
• Senate approves FDA chief | Frist ends ‘holds’ that long stalled vote on von Eschenbach (The Washington Post)
• Also: Senate approves FDA chief nomination | The Senate on Thursday confirmed cancer surgeon Andrew von Eschenbach to head the Food and Drug Administration, but only after breaking a filibuster in which he was accused of impeding congressional investigations (Associated Press)

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Saddleback AIDS summit:

• A broader church | Why an evangelical preacher invited a Democrat to take an AIDS test (The Economist)
• Purpose driven AIDS plan | Pastor Rick Warren stirs passions—and politics—at church AIDS summit (World)
• Everyone has AIDS! | A dispatch from the Global Summit on AIDS at Saddleback Church (Rebecca Schoenkopf, OC Weekly)
• Burnt offferings to hypocrisy | Barack Obama said “condom” in church the other day. It shouldn’t have been news (John Young, Waco Tribune-Herald, Tex.)

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Iraq:

• Kember: I will not testify at trial of my kidnappers | Norman Kember, the Christian activist who was kidnapped in Iraq and freed in a military operation, has said that he will not testify against his captors (The Times, London)
• Ex-Iraq hostages urge forgiveness for captors | Three Christian peace activists held hostage for nearly four months in Iraq said Friday that they “unconditionally” forgive their captors and don’t want to see them face the death penalty (CBC)
• Kember: We ‘unconditionally’ forgive captors | Norman Kember, the freed Iraq hostage, and two other men held with him have announced today that they “unconditionally” forgave their captors and wished them no “retribution” (The Telegraph, London)
• Iraq marshlands rebound to go on despite turmoil | The marshlands, believed by some to be the location of the biblical Garden of Eden, once totalled an area nearly the size of Wales and provided a resting spot for thousands of wildfowl migrating between Siberia and Africa (Reuters)
• Music to cynics’ ears | The National Council of Churches latches on to the Baker-Hamilton report. But contrast the NCC’s tone to, say, that of the well-meaning Catholic bishops (Mark Tooley, The American Spectator)

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Crime:

• Pastor fatally shot in Prince George’s | Minister is attacked outside his church (The Washington Post)
• Update: Pastor’s shooting was possibly premeditated | Police declined to discuss possible motives for the shooting (The Washington Post)
• Pitts charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol | Cornerstone pastor faced similar charge in 2000 (The Toledo Blade, Oh.)
• Porn charges against pastor could collapse | A judge rules that a search of his computer was improper (The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville)
• Singing Santa silenced, Jesus stolen | Paula Barstow’s singing Santa stopped singing after holiday vandals pulled out his power cord and ran over his head. Baby Jesus was literally cut out of the Shalimar Presbyterian Church’s wooden Nativity display (Associated Press)
• Guilty verdict for disrupting church | Adam Crawford Huber entered three churches in Yuba City and one in Paradise, shouting insults and quoting from the Bible (Appeal-Democrat, Marysville-Yuba City, Ca.)
• No dismissal for killer of abortion doc | A judge on Thursday rejected all defense motions to dismiss a federal case against James Kopp, who admits fatally shooting a doctor who performed abortions, and barred Kopp from discussing his anti-abortion views at trial (Associated Press)
• All in the name of religion | Leaders seeking to sponsor others’ visas easily able to evade background checks (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Ontario, Ca.)
• Church worker will not be charged by county | He attempting to recruit children to enroll in religious classes, not kidnapping them (The Times, Ottawa, Ill.)

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