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Republicans in Congress have sided with commercial and large noncommercial radio broadcasters against a Federal Communications Commission program to allow low-power radio stations (see our earlier coverage here). Now that the applications for the low-power stations have come in, however, it turns out that half are from churches. Will Republicans continue to protect the radio stations (backed by the National Association of Broadcasters, National Public Radio, and the National Religious Broadcasters) or will some now support low-power radio? "It looks like money's talking, maybe at the expense of what would be logical long term -- the Republicans supporting their supporters," the National Association of Evangelicals' Rich Cizik tells The New York Times.

Faithful Central Bible Church, one of the Los Angeles area's largest churches, is in exclusive negotiations to buy the Forum for $23 million. The arena seats 17,500, and the church currently draws about 8,000 to Sunday services. (That's less than some other area churches, like Saddleback Valley Community Church, First African American Methodist Church, and West Angeles Church of God in Christ.) The news made the front page of the Los Angeles Times.

"Centuries ago, Spanish conquistadors came here for glory, gold and God," reports The New York Times. "Now many visitors come to this nation whose name means the Savior searching for a more elusive treasure along modern-day Stations of the Cross. They come to conquer their own spiritual doubts, looking for lessons from priests, nuns and lay people whose embrace of liberation theology's blend of religion and social activism exacted such a brutal price." Later in the story, writer David Gonzalez notes how liberation has few followers even in San Salvador today. "Evangelical Protestants," he says, "have recruited thousands of Salvadorans wary of an activist Catholic clergy."

Mere days after Christianity Today magazine published its current issue, with the cover story about teen sexuality, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that fewer teens are having sex. Talk about having an immediate impact! (That's a joke, but the statistics are not. Though they're improving, they're still sad. Half of all teens had sex in 1999, 16 percent had four or more partners, and 8 percent said they'd had sex before age 13.)

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July (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44