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While donating Bibles to the Zambia Police Service Bible Society of Zambia general secretary Mpundu Ntala attacked the country's politicians, saying they speak of Christianity only to profit themselves, reports The Post of Zambia. "These politicians walk into our churches just to win votes," Ntala said. "But they dont have the faith in their hearts. Once voted, they disappear from us and they become more important than God."

The Washington Post takes a closer look at Sister Maria Stephanopoulos, sister of former White House chief of staff George Stephanopoulos, who has become a key part in the rivalry between the "red" and "white" factions of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Katharine Drexel was officially attributed yesterday with a second miraculous healing, a step the Washington Post calls "the most difficult obstacle on the road to sainthood." Drexel will be the second American-born saint in the Roman Catholic pantheon. Newspapers weigh in on Beliefnet, iBelieve.com

Two recent articles say the new Web site's content offerings are of high quality, but writers in the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, and Internet magazine (they hate to be called that, but it's what they are) Salon.com both have questions. Globe staffer William Davis writes, "Beliefnet's menu offers a virtual smorgasbord of spiritual concepts and religious practices whose strength—and weakness—is its one-stop shopping approach to matters of the soul. It's an equal-opportunity portal where major and minor religions get equal access." He wonders if it's spreading itself too thin. Chicago Tribune religion columnist Steve Kloehn is more direct. "The site offers a little of everything without a lot of anything. … Beliefnet.com does not bring order out of chaos, it simply gives you the Cliffs Notes. It is well-meaning, efficient, devoted to convenience, ambitious in scope and ultimately driven by the belief that there is a consumer market out there waiting to be filled." He also criticizes iBelieve.com, which he says "looks like an enormous, shiny store." Salon's Damien Cave sees a bright future for Beliefnet—and for iBelieve.com, which launched this week. But he wonders if their e-commerce approach and "sell, sell, sell" mentality is really consistent with their message. "But wait: Aren't the poor supposed to inherit the kingdom of God? Aren't profit and holiness as compatible as pagans and the Pope? Not according to these guys." (Today's New York Post makes a similar comment about other religious Web sites, such as Promise Keepers and CBN.)

See our past Weblogs: January 27 | 26 | 25 | 24

January 21 | 20 | 18 | 17

January 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10

January 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3

December 30 | 29

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January (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44