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No Weblog until Wednesday
Merry Christmas, everybody. Christianity Today assistant online editor Todd Hertz will be filing Weblog next week. Ted Olsen will return New Year's Eve.

Christmas:

• A girl on a hillside | Little is known about the Virgin Mary (ABCNews.com)
• Ol' St. Nick's home is a very long way from the North Pole | Turkish town struggles to save church where 'Santa' served (The Washington Post)
• HUD: Symbols shouldn't be banned | Religious symbols for faith-based events okay in public housing, says government (Associated Press)
• Winter break | There are many thoughtful ways schools can handle these cultural and religious conflicts so as to actually advance student knowledge. Removing Christmas from a school calendar is not one of those ways. (Editorial, The Denver Post)

Martin and Gracia Burnham:

• Burnhams wrap up their trip to capital | The couple meets with a White House aide and FBI officials, among others, on their kidnapped son and his wife. (The Wichita Eagle)
• The Abu Sayyaf-Al Qaeda connection | Officials see bin Laden ties to Abu Sayyaf, but do the ties remain strong? (ABCNews.com)

Cathedral of St. John the Divine fire:

• N.Y. fire damages largest U.S. church | Gift shop gutted, 17th-century tapestries marred at Cathedral of St. John the Divine (The Washington Post)
• Also: Cathedral is bruised, but remains sacred haven (The New York Times)
• Also: 2 of cathedral's baroque tapestries lie in a soggy, charred pile (The New York Times)
• The cathedral fire | This fire comes as a reminder of a place where all the cacophonous brashness of secular life suddenly grows silent amid the interior echoes (Editorial, The New York Times)
• Also: Power strip sparked fire at St. John (New York Post)

Church and state:

• School prayer developments | The courts are confusing the issue with inconsistent decisions (Editorial, The Kansas City Star)
• Louisiana school board OKs Bible course | High school juniors and seniors can take "The Bible as History and Literature" as elective (Associated Press)
• Virginia defends military college's dinner prayers | Evening dinner prayer is intended for development of military leaders, not for religious indoctrination, says lawyer (Associated Press)

New York's homeless:

• Judge orders end to rousting of homeless near church | A federal judge ordered the police to end its policy of ejecting the homeless from the grounds of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. (The New York Times)
• Also: Ruling favors church, homeless (Newsday)

Islam and Christianity:

• No offense, but Muslims love Jesus as much as Christians do | Taking note of The Muslim Jesus, by Tarif Khalidi (John Casey, The Daily Telegraph)
• Is Bush too nice to Islam? | So says a growing group of conservative Christians. (Beliefnet)

Billy Graham goes to Texas:

• Graham crusade planned | Evangelist's first event in area since 1971 to be at Texas Stadium (The Dallas Morning News)
• Graham to preach at Texas Stadium (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
• Rev. Graham to hold Dallas crusade (Associated Press)
• Billy Graham accepts invitation to hold October 2002 mission at Texas Stadium (BGEA press release)

Crime:

• Connecticut attorney general probing divinity school | State investigation follows internal audit, dean's resignation (The Hartford Courant)
• Teen charged with nun's killing | 19-year-old Dubliner allegedly murdered 68-year-old nun in broad daylight (Associated Press)
• Nigeria angry over human rights report | Officials say they tried to stem violence (Voice of America)

Other stories of interest:

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December 20 | 19 | 18 | 17

December 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10

December 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3

November 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26

November 21 | 20 |19

November 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12

November 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5

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December (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45