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As for the two of them, Betty Jo says she's surprised at how they're holding up: "I thought we wouldn't be able to eat or sleep but God has been supporting us and we just thank the Lord for all the good Christian people who are praying for our children."

Politics:

• Talk of religion provokes amens as well as anxiety | The Bush presidency has so far been defined by its fight against terrorism, but faith has become a central part of his administration as well. (The New York Times)
  
  
• Simon aide may cause rift in GOP | Steve Frank is prolife activist, former lobbyist for the Church of Scientology (San Francisco Chronicle)
  
  
• DeLay criticized for 'only Christianity' remarks | Christianity offers a reasonable answer to basic questions about the purpose of life, said House Majority Whip (The Washington Post)
  
  
• Be careful which faiths you respect, Charles | No doubt it takes great religious faith to blow oneself to bits in order to kill lots of defenceless civilian infidels, even if one can expect a substantial heavenly reward thereafter, but it is surely not a faith that should receive the three feathers of the Prince of Wales. (Minette Marrin, The Times, London)

Church & state:

• Church plea on devil worship | Christians want Kenya's new constitution to outlaw devil worship and cults whose teachings are a threat to social order. (The Nation, Nairobi)
  
  
• Prevent religious electioneering | If allowed to do endorse candidates, houses of worship would be the only institutions in the country that could directly promote political campaigns with tax-exempt money. (Editorial, St. Petersburg [Fla.] Times)
  
  
• Labor debuts Bush's faith plan | The Department of Labor Wednesday became the first Cabinet agency to enact President Bush's faith-based initiative when it announced creation of a grant program designed to help ministry groups provide job training and counseling for the needy (The Washington Times)
  
  
• Student sues community college over founding of Christian club | Suit claims man deprived of his constitutional rights by denial of club (The Ann Arbor [Mich.] News)
  
  
• Nebraska high court: Church needn't own property to be a church | Majority sides with city, which had sought to deny liquor license to convenience store located within 150 feet of the House of Faith. (Associated Press)
  
  
• Religious issues bubble up in the political hot pot | In recent weeks, issues with religious or moral undertones—such as requiring the Pledge of Allegiance and allowing prayer in public schools, questioning of the morality of a state lottery and the death penalty—are popping up in state and local government and then being rehashed on talk shows, in churches, synagogues and homes (The Tennessean)
  
  
• Permits under fire | Because of candles, churches required to pay $25 fee (The Times Reporter, Dover-New Philadelphia, Ohio)

Vatican summit:

• Rome: Can we talk? | The Pope summons American cardinals to discuss the sex scandal bedeviling the Catholic Church (U.S. News & World Report)
  
  
• Left, right, and center | There's a broad ideological spectrum among cardinals called to the Vatican (U.S. News & World Report)
  
  

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April (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46