Note: Weblog will return to its regular format later this week. Until then, enjoy commentary-free "Weblog lite."

John Ashcroft:

• Pentecostal faith underlies Ashcroft's conservatism | Defenders cite his morality and integrity; his critics fear he'll politicize office (USA Today)
• Ashcroft's life and judgments steeped in faith (The New York Times)
• 'No king but Jesus,' Ashcroft told Bob Jones (Los Angeles Times)
• Interfaith Alliance raises concerns on Ashcroft (CNN)
• Can a deeply religious person be attorney general? (Tony Mauro, USA Today)
• Ashcroft's pragmatic conservatism | His record shows ideological zeal and accommodation to political realities (Tom Curry, MSNBC)
• Assemblies of God growing at fast pace outside U.S. (UPI)

Church and state:

• Son of Billy Graham continues tradition | Franklin Graham will replace father for Bush inaugural invocation (The Washington Post)
• A win for religious rights: "The 'free exercise' of religion is a right of the American people too often lost sight of by the zealots of secularism (Editorial, The Boston Herald)
• "Ten Commandments judge" sworn in as Alabama chief justice (Associated Press)
• Bar on former Catholic priests entering Commons to be repealed (The Guardian)

Christians and Jews:

• Jews criticize 'proselytizing' at Holy Land theme park (The Orlando Sentinel)
• Christianity's original sin | According to the author, the relationship with the Jews is the central issue in the history of the church. (Andrew Sullivan reviews Constantine's Sword in The New York Times)
• Papers link Romanian church to hate (Associated Press)
• Romanian church dignitary accused (The Guardian)
• Israel's Ministry of Tourism hopes visits by Falwell, Hinn, will boost tourism (Ha'aretz)
• Class learns about unburied treasures of Holy Land (Chicago Tribune)