Two Christians were beaten to death in Hazaribagh, Bihar, India, April 4 for being "enemies" of a Hindu extremist group. The Times of India reports a "people's court" tied the Christians' hands and feet with rope and they beat them with laths until they died.

"Like many who start out as political gadflies, Christian activists are blurring into the mainstream," writes Hanna Rosin. "Where once pollsters found solid agreement among those who identify themselves as religious right, they now find disagreement, even on fundamental questions such as prayer in schools. Where once they found a single-issue focus, they now find distractions; religious conservatives define their top priorities for candidates as anything from their morality to their education policy to their tax plan. They still care about abortion, but many care about other issues more."

Though dissent continues in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America over the doctrine of historic episcopate, the denomination's Church Council voted overwhelmingly to enter full communion with the Episcopal Church.

Jerry Falwell, who initiated ties with the Southern Baptist Convention three years ago, is donating $250,000 to a proposed Southern Baptist megachurch in Long Grove, Illinois. His Thomas Road Baptist Church will also send several teams missionaries to get the church off the ground. The SBC's North American Mission Board will also contribute $250,000. (A subsequent article in the Chicago Tribune says Long Grove is "flattered" by the idea.